It was Saturday and Trevor had left her ten texts and three voicemails. He was freaking her out and she didn't know what to do. Noah had left after they shared a cup of coffee together that morning. It was a bit strange to wake up next to him, but cuddling all night felt so comforting. She tried not to think too hard about it.
She didn't have any plans that night to go out. Sarah had a new guy in her life, but she still wouldn't tell Alissa who it was. She was thinking it was Mike who worked under her. Hwan was pretty smitten by Grace. She couldn't believe he was getting so serious with her, but she couldn't blame them. They were both in their thirties, Grace in her late thirties. He was most likely spending his evening with her.
She slouched on her couch browsing through the TV guide that afternoon. Her phone buzzed, but she felt no desire to look at it. By around dinner time, Alissa decided to give Veronica a call. They hadn't seen each other since before Christmas. She hoped things were going well for her.
"Hey!" she answered in a smooth voice.
"Hey, Veronica! It's been a while." Alissa scratched the back of her head.
"It has." She could hear Veronica's smile through the phone.
"Listen, I know it's short notice, but was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight and catch up? Just have a strictly platonic girl's night in?"
"That sounds like a great idea! Sure! Let me just cancel something and then I'll head over."
"Oh, if you already had plans, don't cancel them for me."
"Nah, I wasn't too excited about it, anyway. I'll tell you why when I'm there."
Alissa smiled, "Okay, see you in a bit!"
She felt truly grateful that she wouldn't be spending the night alone.
Veronica arrived an hour later with her overnight bag and a bottle of wine.
"Hey! So I rented from RedBox 'Home Again' with Reese Witherspoon. I thought a romcom would be nice for tonight since you sounded a bit off on the phone."
Alissa pulled her into a hug. She really was amazing. She pulled away and let her in.
"You could tell?"
Veronica nodded as she put her bag on the couch and then headed towards the kitchen to open the wine. Alissa grabbed two wine glasses and then took the wine from her to open it herself. Veronica pulled the DVD out of her bag and then popped it into the player.
"Want some popcorn?"
"Sure," Veronica said as she grabbed both wine glasses and then sat down on the couch.
After the popcorn was ready, Alissa sat down next to her and Veronica hit play.
The movie was hysterical and heart-warming. She really liked it.
"Thanks for coming over," she said.
Veronica faced her on the couch, "Of course. Now, tell me what is bothering you."
Alissa had been debating with herself the whole hour it took from inviting Veronica over to her arrival on whether or not to be honest with her. It didn't affect her like it did Sarah, Hwan, or even Trevor. She had no one to confide in about this. At least in college with Marc, she had her housemates to talk to about it without fear of judgment.
Alissa sighed, "I'm in deep shit."
Veronica put her hand on Alissa's, "Tell me."
And so Alissa told her everything, starting in the beginning at the holiday party, to when Mr. Walker and Samantha were fired, to how she first felt with Trevor, and then with Noah, and finally with Trevor confessing his love to her and her running into bed with Noah as a result.
She felt ashamed of herself. She felt like a dirty, undeserving human piece of garbage.
Veronica sighed, "You're not a dirty, undeserving piece of garbage, Alissa. You're just human. Humans make mistakes. Sometimes multiple mistakes at the same time."
Alissa stared at her hands in her lap.
Veronica leaned in and pulled her into a hug, "It's okay, though, Alissa. You're going to be fine."
"Thanks, Veronica," she said pulling away.
She smiled, but then scrunched her eyebrows together. "So, you have two men interested in you. Who are you going to choose?"
Alissa stared wide-eyed at her, then groaned and leaned back into the couch.
Veronica laughed as she patted her knee, then stood up to refill their wine glasses.
"Well, while I torture myself with that question, let me ask you why you weren't too fond of your initial plans for tonight?"
Veronica scoffed as she returned with two full glasses of wine. "I had plans to meet with... someone at a bar, but wasn't really looking forward to it. I just agreed to go because I felt..." she paused and picked the dirt under her nails, "worried that if I said no, she'd show up at my place, instead."
"Who's someone and why would they show up at your place?" Alissa squished her eyebrows together waiting for Veronica to explain.
"I was supposed to meet with Jackie," she mumbled.
"What? I thought you weren't going to speak to her again."
She sighed, "Yeah, but then in February she called me, and I had never saved her number, but gave her mine, so I didn't know it was her before I answered. That was the first time she had contacted me since that night, but so she had apologized to me and wanted to see me again. She said that how she acted wasn't her and she was ashamed of how things happened. She said she wanted to start again, and really thought I was beautiful and liked me."
"When was this?"
"About two weeks ago, now. I have been talking to her on the phone and through text on and off since then, but tonight was the first night I was going to meet her. I don't know... I guess I was also nervous. You know, I've never been romantically involved with someone with her assets, but she's really sweet and she makes me laugh." Veronica smiled as she spoke.
"You like her," Alissa stated.
Veronica giggled, "Yeah, I guess so, but I'm still really nervous about it, about her."
"Have you told her about only ever being with women and women assets before?"
She nodded, "Jackie has been so understanding about everything, and, honestly, Alissa, I'm growing more and more open to the possibility of something with her."
Alissa smiled, "I hope if anything happens with you two that it makes you very happy. You deserve that." Alissa held Veronica's hand who smiled back at her.
"Thank you. Let's watch another movie. It's not that late yet."
Alissa picked up the remote and turned to Netflix, thinking about how Veronica was right. She was going to need to choose. Noah wasn't boyfriend material, but Trevor definitely was. Trevor, yet great at what he could do, didn't thrill or satisfy her fully the way Noah could. How would she choose?
Trevor listened to her. Noah didn't. Trevor was great emotional support, but kind of routine, like Marc had been, and Noah would never be there for her in the way she would want a partner to be. But was she really wanting a partner? She was only almost twenty-five. She still wanted to figure out more about her life before she settled down.
She knew she'd eventually have to tell Trevor, but she tried not to think about it as she scrolled through Netflix with Veronica.
~~~
A/N: Isn't it nice to have a friend like Veronica to confide in every once in a while? Someone who will just say everything is okay, even when it's not?
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