Kris and I grew closer after our day out. It had been a over week since then, and we found ourselves passing from the acquaintance territory and more into the friendship territory. Over the course of the week, we hadn't seen each other every day but we had hung out several times. We had gone out to breakfast (the only time Kris was available because of his games) once, and I had found myself at his place after games twice. On the days that we weren't together, Kris made sure to keep up with me by texting and Snapchatting me throughout almost the entire day.
He had left for a road trip five days ago, though, and I already found myself missing him. Since I had met Kris, I hadn't spent an entire day in front of the computer. That place also happened to be where I had spent the last week or so. Without Kris there to distract me, I was consumed by my work, only stopping whenever he (or someone else, but that was extremely rare) contacted me. The keys on my laptop were wearing out, and my couch was likely gaining a body imprint. My food supply was drastically waning, and I couldn't wait for Kris to return. He was scheduled to get home that day, and I had told him we could hang out once he got back.
That particular day, I had grown tired of sitting in my dark living room with the only light coming from my laptop and the television. Ashley had already left for work, so I found myself dressing and deciding to get coffee. There was a little shop a few buildings down that was nice and decently cheap, so I decided to go there.
Already dressed in a burgundy Vineyard Vines shirt and a pair of Nike shorts, I slipped on my Roshes and headed out the door, not bothering to switch from glasses to contacts. My hair was haphazardly thrown into a messy bun and I wasn't wearing any makeup, but the only thing on my mind as I shut the door to the apartment was the black iced coffee that I would be holding in my hands in only a matter of minutes.
What I did not expect as I left the apartment was to run into Anthony Rizzo's girlfriend at the coffee shop. I had been standing in line for my drink for almost two minutes when there was a tapping on my shoulder and a voice in my ear.
I turned around and found myself face to face with a brunette girl. She seemed to be close to my height and had a somewhat timid smile spread across her face. She was already holding a drink in her hand, so she must have come to the line with the sole intention of speaking to me.
"Sorry to be a bother," she told me, "but are you Kennedy Simmons?" Her hands fiddled with the lid of the coffee nervously, as if she were genuinely worried that I would get upset with her for talking to me as I stood in line for a coffee.
"Yeah, that's me," I nodded, pushing back a stray hair that had fallen out of my bun.
The girl bit her lip and stuck her hand out to me. "My name's Emily. I'm Anthony Rizzo's girlfriend. Kris has told us a lot about you."
I took the girl's hand, but my mind was moving a mile a minute as we shook. I had known that Anthony and Kris were best friends, but I hadn't known that the friendship extended to Emily as well. I also hadn't known that Kris talked about me to them. It made me both slightly nervous and a little bit excited.
"He has?" I asked as we pulled away from the handshake and the line moved up. We both took a quick step forward to stay with the crowd and resumed the conversation.
"Oh yeah," she nodded, "He never really shuts up about you, actually." The last sentence must have been a slip-up because the hand that wasn't holding her coffee flew up to her face and covered her mouth. Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly before withdrawing her hand and saying, "Sorry, I'm sure Kris wouldn't appreciate me saying that. Let's pretend that didn't happen."
The line had moved up again during our conversation so I quickly told her that I wouldn't tell him and stepped up to order my drink before the people behind me got upset. I ordered my drink from the exhausted looking barista and paid, expecting Emily to be gone by the time I was done. When I turned away from the counter, however, she was standing just a few feet away from the line and looking a little bit anxious.
I made my way over to her and smiled sheepishly at the grin that spread across her face when she saw me approaching.
"I was, um, I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me to drink your coffee," she offered.
I gratefully accepted her invitation and the two of us selected a table that sat pressed against the windows nearest the street. We must have looked like an odd pairing, with Emily in the fashionable outfit that she had put together that morning and myself in clothes that could almost qualify as pajamas. I don't think that either of us minded, though. I certainly didn't.
"I'm glad Kris met you," Emily told me after a minute of the two of us sitting in silence. She too a sip of her drink and continued, "For purely selfish reasons. I mean, I'm glad he's happy, but it's just that none of the other girlfriends are our age, you know?"
My eyes widened at the idea that Emily thought Kris and I were dating. What had Kris told her and Anthony? "Oh, we aren't dating," I told her, trying to sound way less panicked than I actually was.
"You aren't?" Emily asked, sounding positively mortified. "Oh I'm so sorry! It's just that Kris talks about how you guys go out to eat or hang out at his house and he just sounds so... Oh I'm sorry! If it's any consolation, I think you guys would make an adorable couple."
"It's fine," I smiled. "I'm pretty sure my roommate thinks we're dating as well, so it's definitely not just you."
"If you don't mind me asking," Emily began, a little sheepishly, "Is there any chance of a... romance sprouting between the two of you?"
I thought about it for a minute before shrugging. "Maybe," I told her, "I can't vouch for how Kris feels, but I don't know I'd maybe try something out." I took a sip of my coffee before realizing just how close Kris and Emily probably were. "Wait, please don't tell him that," I hurried to get out.
Emily laughed and said, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
She had opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the dinging of my phone. I hadn't even realized that the volume was on, and the two of us jumped at the sound. I glanced down and looked at the notification. It was a Snapchat from Kris, and I laughed aloud at his timing.
"Speaking of the devil," I told her, sliding my phone to the middle of the table so that she would be able to see the Snapchat as well when I opened it.
The photo turned out to be one of Kris and Anthony on a plane. The picture was pretty blurry, and it showed the two of them grinning widely at the camera. Anthony was sitting in the seat behind Kris, leaning up to get into the frame. Kris had included the caption, "On our way home! Can't wait to see you!"
The caption made me blush and Emily laugh a little bit, but I had Emily come take a selfie with me to send back to him. The two of us were smiling widely at the camera and the coffee shop could be seen behind us. I sent the photo with the caption, "Pumped! Look who I ran into today."
Emily maintained a nice conversation as we finished our coffee. I found her pretty easy to speak to, and as long as Kris and I continued to talk I could see the two of us becoming friends. We decided to share numbers before going our separate ways, and I walked out of the coffee shop with one more female to talk to, and I was glad.
~~~
I knocked on the heavy wooden door that night, feeling awkward as I waited. The hallway was dark and empty, and I wished that there was some hustle and bustle for me to blend into. Alas, there was not and I was the sole inhabitant of the hallway for him to take notice of when he opened the door.
It didn't take him long to open the door. He swung it open to reveal himself, clad in a pair of royal blue athletic shorts and an old USD sweatshirt that looked as if it had seen better days. His hair was all over the place and there were bags under his eyes, but as he opened the door there was a smile plastered onto his face.
"Kennedy," he greeted. I hadn't even opened my mouth to reply when his arms opened and he pulled me into the apartment, enveloping me in a tight hug. My face was pressed against his chest, his scent invading my nose and, for a reason I could not place, comforting me.
He pulled away from the hug after a couple of minutes and shut the door behind me. He turned to face me after he had completed the action and leaned against the door. "Hey," I told him.
A smile crossed his face as he stood up completely and said, "I missed you, you know." He began to walk towards the kitchen and I followed behind, the hint of a smile on my face.
"I missed you, too," I answered. There was an empty bowl on the counter that Kris hurried to put in the sink before he turned back to face me.
"Can I get you anything?" he asked, sounding way to formal for my liking. I just shook my head, and he took that as a cue to continue speaking. "I'm so glad that I'm back. You don't even know how much I missed you."
I let out a short laugh and took a step closer to Kris. "Oh, me too," I told him, "I'm sad to be leaving tomorrow."
Kris seemed to take a moment to register what I had said, and when he did his face furrowed in confusion. "You're leaving?" he asked, "To where?"
"Shit," I cussed, hoping that the word wouldn't offend him. "Did I not tell you? I'm sorry. I leave for Boston for a week. Dave wants the baseball guys to get together, go to some Sox games."
"Oh, okay," Kris seemed a little relieved, as if he had expected that I was leaving the city permanently or running away from him. "That seems like a fun business trip."
I shrugged and said, "It'll be alright. Between you and me, Dave's a little bit annoying but the AL guy is alright."
Kris took a couple steps closer to me so that our bodies were almost touching. He tilted his head down so that when I looked up at him, I could feel the heat from his breath on my face. "Well," he said lowly, "Try not to fall in love with any Red Sox players while you're gone, alright?"
I had to try my hardest not to blush at the idea that he was hinting at the two of us dating. It was an idea that I had considered, but I was not aware that Kris had as well.
"Will do," I muttered, my eyes searching his bright blue ones. I half expected him to kiss me again, like he did that one night with the movie, but instead Kris took a step back and let out a laugh.
"Good," he said, "So you met Emily today, then?"
I tried to hide my sigh of disappointment as I nodded and replied, "Yeah, she seems nice. I can see why you're friends with her. We swapped numbers."
"I'm glad you like her," Kris told me, "She's known Anthony for a long time, and all of her friends are in Miami. She gets along with the other wives just fine, but none are our age."
I nodded again and hopped up to sit on the island that sat in the middle of Kris' kitchen, trying not to think about how he had insinuated, yet again, that we were dating. "Yeah," I said, "She said something like that to me."
Kris and I retired to his couch after that, where we sat and watched a Friends marathon all night. It was nice to spend relaxing time in the company of someone who wasn't Ashley. I sat leaned against the arm of the couch, my legs draped across Kris' as he fiddled with the material of my pants every once in a while. It was a calming night, but it left me confused about where the two of us stood nonetheless. After that night, I was beginning to sway from considering dating him to definitely wanting to date him. I just wasn't all that sure where Kris stood.
A/N:
Unedited.
This chapter is out faster than expected. It's a little short, but I had free time tonight (aka time that should be spent studying for history) and this seemed like a good place to end. I hope you enjoy!
-Abby