"You know, Taylor, you're gonna have to face him sometime," Luke said as he walked in the kitchen, just getting home Friday evening as I was finishing up dinner.
"Why do you say that?" I asked. "I could not go to Starbucks for the rest of my life and my problem is solved."
"Oh please." Luke rolled his eyes. "You are a common white girl. There is no way you'd be able to just not go to Starbucks for the rest of your life."
I rolled my eyes at Luke, dishing our pasta onto a couple plates for dinner.
All week, I'd been ignoring phone calls from Ashton and coming straight home from work rather than stopping at Starbucks, not wanting to run into him. I didn't even bother going on days that weren't the days Ashton went just to be safe.
"I made dinner early so we can leave to make it to Michael's party by 7:15," I said, placing our plates on the table. "I won't need very long to get ready and I know you won't either."
Luke sat down and started digging in to his plate right away, finishing a good 5 minutes before I was done. He left the kitchen as I finished my own food and a minute later I heard the bathroom door shut.
I got up and went to my bedroom and got out a red dress to wear to Michael's party. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and touch up my hair and makeup before Luke came back in wearing a nice button up shirt with a tie and slacks.
"Are you ready to go?" Luke asked me as I pulled my shoes on and wrapped my jacket around my shoulders.
"Yes," I said, making sure I had my purse and apartment key before leaving with Luke outside.
We caught a cab to make it to a block away from Michael's house and walked the rest of the way, arriving right at 7:15 like I'd planned.
We walked up the front porch steps, knocking on the door. A girl with soft features and dark hair and eyes opened the door, smiling warmly at us as she stepped aside for us to come in.
Michael was right at the door a moment later, welcoming us. "Luke, Taylor, I'm so glad you guys could make it. This is my girlfriend, Julie. Julie, this is Taylor, my coworker and her roommate Luke."
"It's so nice to meet you guys." Julie hugged us both and escorted us into the kitchen, where there was wine, champagne and snack trays on the counter.
"Would you guys like a drink?" she asked as we walked in, joining a few other people in the room.
"No thank you," I shook my head. "Maybe later though."
"I'm not gonna be modest, I'll have some wine please," Luke smiled, looking down at me. I rolled my eyes at him.
As Julie poured Luke a glass of wine, I stopped to talk with a couple of my other coworkers.
"Taylor! I hardly see you around anymore," Niall, a blonde with blue eyes who worked in the editing branch smiled at me, pulling me in for a quick hug. "You're always glued into those stories that come in and you hardly join anyone for lunch."
"She's a bit of a recluse," Michael winked, joining the conversation and making me smile at them.
"I just like to get my job done," I shrugged, going along with their teasing.
Niall continued talking, telling me about his new girlfriend and how she always had something to gossip about and seemed to always know everything about everyone else in the building, and how she'd told him that there was a rumor going around that I was dating a college guy.
I laughed when Niall said that. "Oh no, he's just my roommate. I'm not dating anyone."
"Well I figured as much," Niall laughed as well. "Do you ever date anyone? You've been single for almost 6 months now haven't you? At least."
"Well... I mean I went on a couple dates with this guy recently but he turned out to be a total dick so yes, I am back to my single self," I shrugged.
"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Taylor. There really are some assholes out there that don't know how to treat women right," Niall shook his head.
Oh believe me, I know all about that.
"Well it was nice chatting with you again, but I should really get going home. I need to be up way early tomorrow because I'm going to Portland to meet my girlfriend's parents," Niall said. "I'll see you around."
Niall gave me a smile and a friendly wave goodbye, which I returned before glancing around and deciding to go into the living room to see if there was anyone worth socializing with in there.
Bad idea.
"Taylor!" Michael smiled and waved me over, and I hesitated, looking between the kitchen again and Michael before deciding to just come over to him.
Ashton was standing and looking at some DVD's on a stand next to Michael and his head shot up and looked directly at me when he heard Michael call my name.
I stepped carefully over to Michael, who was holding a couple glasses of champagne and looked between Ashton and I, who were staring each other down. I couldn't exactly tell what his expression was and I'm sure he couldn't tell what mine was either.
"Taylor, this is Ashton, my friend from college, and Ashton this is Taylor, my coworker." Michael introduced us, still neither of us breaking eye contact.
"Yeah, I know him," I said, staring at Ashton.
"Small world, isn't it?" Ashton mumbled, still watching me intently.
Michael stood awkwardly for a moment. "Who wants champagne?"
I broke eye contact with Ashton to look at Michael before gratefully taking one of the glasses. I was going to need alcohol if I was going to survive this.
Ashton took the other glass, which Michael took as his cue to leave and scurried quickly out of the awkward situation and into the kitchen with Julie.
"You haven't answered any of my calls," Ashton said. "Or called me back."
"You're right," I nodded, taking a sip of my champagne.
"I think I deserve a chance to at least explain what was happening," Ashton said. "I know what it looked like and I think you deserve to know what was actually happening."
"Continue." This ought to be good.
"The girl I was sitting and talking with," Ashton started. "Her name is Jessica. I knew her in high school and she moved to Florida my senior year."
"Okay?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"We were catching up on what has happened the past 6 years," Ashton said. "I haven't seen her in a while and we dated for a short period of time my junior year."
"And...?"
"Well that's what we were doing. I was waiting for you to show up, and I was kinda worried because it took you a long time. I didn't know if something was going on or not, and then Jessica came in and she recognized me before I recognized her, and then she sat down and we started talking."
"You act like this explains the fact that you were leaning in while she was talking and she put her hand on your knee," I said flatly.
He rolled his eyes. "Jessica is a very touchy person. If I introduced you to her, she would pull you in for a hug and then probably slap your ass. She's just that type of person."
"Okay and that doesn't explain why you were leaning in," I crossed my arms after taking another gulp of my champagne.
"She said something funny, and I leaned forward because I laughed," Ashton said. "She's a funny person, she has a very bright personality. Besides, Taylor, I wouldn't be too worried about me flirting with her because she likes girls anyways."
"Wait," I said, slightly taken aback. "She's a lesbian?"
"Yes. Exactly." Ashton took a sip of his champagne, gauging my reaction.
"Wait, if she's a lesbian then why did you guys date in high school?" I asked.
"Because she didn't know she liked girls back then," he shrugged. "It was a really awkward relationship anyways. She would always get so uncomfortable whenever I'd try to kiss her or even hold her hand. And now I know why."
"And when did you find out she was a lesbian?" I asked.
"Well when we were catching up, she was telling me about how she's engaged to this girl and that she realized after we graduated that she just really wasn't into guys," he explained. "And then I told her I was seeing someone too, and she said she was happy for me but then..." He trailed off a little.
I scowled at Ashton, taking another last drink of my champagne before he looked down at me.
"I know what it looked like from the outside," Ashton said. "And I'm sorry that it came across that way. But Taylor, I can assure you that after a couple dates and starting to finally open you up a little bit and get to know you better, I wouldn't go flirting with some other girl. Especially not one who was only passing through and I may never even see her again and if I do it would probably be nowhere in the near future."
I sighed, debating whether or not his story seemed believable.
"Would it be too far of a shot to ask for another chance?" Ashton asked, chewing his bottom lip a little.
"No," I said. "I suppose I did overreact a little bit."
"I completely understand why you reacted the way that you did," Ashton assured me, stepping forward towards me so that someone could get around him.
"Then yes, we can give it another try," I managed to smile, and Ashton smiled back at me.
"I want more champagne," Ashton said, walking into the kitchen and I wasn't far behind him to get myself another glass as well.