To: tasomaki7266@gmail.com
"SUCCESS! SUCCESS! SUCCESS!" is what I scream in my head. It's 5:44 in the morning and I'm jittery and happy, I'm ball of energy and I haven't slept a wink! I am on cloud nine.
I wish every life decision could be as easy as the one I made last night.
But if every life decision being easy meant that last night wouldn't have happened, then I would only want that one decision to be easy. Does that make sense?
I want to jump in the bed and wake you up and just enjoy your company until you leav-
"Did you sleep?" Ashton's groggy voice sounded. I smiled, shutting my laptop. We only had a few minutes until he left and I was going to enjoy every second of them.
"No, I had some stuff to do." Ashton sighed at my response, pulling the laptop from my grasp and setting it on the nightstand on his side.
"You need to sleep, T." Ashton pulled me into him and draped a leg over both of mine.
"I'll be fine." I giggled into his chest as he playfully squeezed me.
"I don't want to leave you." Ashton murmured against my hair. "Can we just runaway? Take the kids with us? No one would have to know where we are."
I shut my eyes, lying in the silence.
"We could be a family; you, me, and the kids." He wrapped his arms around me tighter. "It's the perfect daydream."
We lied in the scene of our little bubble that was somewhere between solace and familiarity, not speaking, only listening to our heartbeats come to unison like they did before. A feeling of complete bliss and peace washed over me even though this wasn't permanent. Even though this wasn't long-lasting, Ashton was still the only person I could involuntarily feel comfortable around even if we'd gone years without speaking. Those were the people that needed to be held on to.
"We should get up." Ashton kissed my cheek and squeezed my side as he sat up.
-
Our goodbye was the hardest thing. We both shed a few tears, laughed, made fun of each other all because we didn't know when we'd see each other again. We used a lifetime of happiness within five minutes just to part on content terms.
20 minutes after Ashton left, the only person I had no appeal to see showed up, clutching to his numerous bags. I'd greeted Dick by casually stepping aside and letting him into the apartment. He dropped his bags in the living room before pacing to the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.
"What's that shirt you're wearing?" Dick pointed to Ashton's shirt before downing some water.
"Oh," I looked down at the shirt. I forgot to change. Shit. "It's a shirt that Xander gave me a long time ago. It didn't fit him..." Xander would sometimes hand down his old shirts to me, ones that didn't fit him after long hours in the gym.
"I'm going to the library in a few and then I'll be having lunch with some friends." Dick stated, changing the subject. "I will most likely have dinner with them as well."
Why did he even come back if he was already trying to leave? The fact that he appeared anxious to get out made it worse, but I tried not to think anything of it. He was Dick, no one that should exactly matter to me, so I found myself brushing off whatever shadiness was behind his words.
"Yeah, okay." I nodded. "I'm gonna get myself and the kids ready."
He pecked my lips, "Glad to be back."
-
I wasn't sure if people still used instant messaging today, but it was the only way Xander and Sofia were going to be able to talk to me. Xander was at work and Sofia was sitting in her home office probably answering a bunch of phone calls while trying to tend to the baby. This would be the perfect time to talk to them because Jack was down for a nap and I had finished anything work related that involved my opinion or signature.
greekgod101: don't tell dad that i'm using instant messaging at work. whO STILL USES THIS STUFF????
queensofia: we do apparently.
fluffykozma: our screen names are the worst
fluffykozma: why did i ever think this name was a good idea
queensofia: yours is better than greekgod101
greekgod101: HEY
fluffykozma: thank you queensofia ;)
greekgod101: SOOOOOOOO
queensofia: what
greekgod101: GIVE US THE DETAILS TALIA
greekgod101: WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT????
fluffykozma: stuffffff
greekgod101: like??????????
fluffykozma: we played an intense game of chess and swapped hair conditioning routines.
greekgod101: um what
queensofia: ??????????????????????????????///////
fluffykozma: it was a fantastic night!
greekgod101: fuck you i'll block you on this IM thing and on Instagram and on my phone. I'll block you on mom and dad's phones too
greekgod101: you're rude and that's why you look crusty
queensofia: it sounds like it was a pretty kinky night.
queensofia: i'm almost tempted to buy a chess set for us xander :)
greekgod101: i'll burn it
greekgod101: i'll burn the house down before you buy a chess set sof
fluffykozma: ashton and i did stuff and then we talked and i love him and aiu2hab;oihgÓG'H3IOG I HATE EVERYTHING WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT
greekgod101: OH MY GOD T
queensofia: IASHFDABFHEBIJG
greekgod101: was he as good as you remember him to be???
fluffykozma: um i'm not sharing those details with my brother
greekgod101: was he as good as he was that evening in the bathroom at that one restaurant??? ;))))
fluffykozma: what
greekgod101: nothing :)
queensofia: was he good as the time we heard you guys in the pool??? you guys weren't home alone that time HAhahhAHHAHAH
fluffykozma: SOFIA WHAT THE FUCK
fluffykozma: YOU GUYS WHAT THE FUCK
greekgod101: I LEFT THE HOUSE WHEN I FOUND OUT WHAT YOU GUYS WERE DOING. SOFIA STAYED IN THE LIVING ROOM AND LISTENED.
fluffykozma: okay bye
fluffykozma: meeting timE
greekgod101: i bet you're blushing right now :)
queensofia: byeeee
Jet stood before everyone, talking numbers that we made this month with the store. A meeting for numbers! Wow! She could've just emailed this stuff to everyone or printed out a spreadsheet with a few charts to educate us on this stuff. Jet was always calling meetings upon us, she always talked about insignificant things. Noelle and I found that Jet liked the meetings because she felt "important" and "hard-working." Really, we still let her call these meetings because we understood how much of a math geek she was. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if her panties were completely soaked any time she got to be in the presence of numbers.
I was virtually yawning my way through this gathering. I would need twelve hours of sleep to get through one of Jet's meetings, for nothing made me sleepier than a discussion about how many shirts sold in comparison to jogging pants.
I brought my phone to the meeting in case Trixy needed me because the conference room didn't have a fucking phone. I was a bad role model as I chose to check my text messages during the meeting.
Ashton: Last night was incredible. I'm missing you already :'(
I could reply just once, there would be no harm. I was basically a boss here, no one could tell me I couldn't sit here and text. I could just take a look at the "numbers" later anyway.
Me: I miss you more :( :( :( Come visit meeee
Ashton: The last time I visited you at work, we had to deal with an intruder.
Ashton: I can't promise you I'd be able to keep my hands off you
Ashton: I can't even promise that I'd stop fucking you if someone walked in.
I was not the best at discreet texting. I realized that as I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from screaming.
Me: I AM IN A MEETING ASHTON IRWIN.
Me: DO NOT DO THIS TO ME RIGHT NOW.
Ashton: OKAY OKAY SORRY
I took that chance to lock my phone and focus my attention on Jet.
*buzz buzz*
Ashton: So Luke, Cal, and Mikey's girlfriends are in the city and they want to meet up with you for lunch.
Me: Why me?
Ashton: Alya talks about you a lot. She might be obsessed with you...
Ashton: Tessa and Sasha are dying to meet you
Me: What about Jack??
Ashton: Luke will pick him up in an hour. Be readyyyyyyyy!!
Me: Do I HAVE to go?? :(
Ashton: If you want to see me again then yes you HAVE to.
Me: Is this a form of blackmail?
Ashton: It could be.
Me: You wouldn't be able to go very long without seeing me. As I'm sure you're going mad right now because you can't survive without me and it's only been a few hours since we've last seen each other.
Ashton: You know me so well. Dammit.
Ashton: So maybe my form of blackmail turned into self-blackmail without me trying.
-
Me: Lunch deets? :)
Alya: Perry St. On Perry Street haha
Me: I'll see you there!
Alya: Tessa and Sasha can't wait to meet you!
-
Luke was actually a half an hour early picking up Jack, so I was left with the option to get down to the restaurant early.
Me: On my way. See you soon!
Alya: Ahh, I'm so excited!
Alya: I'm here all alone. Tessa and Sasha are going to be a bit late. Something about Mikey and Cal holding them up.
Me: Ooooooo ;)
Alya sat on a sleek metal chair outside the restaurant, her thumbs manically working her phone. Her cream and beige jarcard cocktail dress was paired with a pair of pointed black high heels that matched the color of her trench coat that was altered to her perfection. Her raven hair was styled in its usual straight do that rarely frizzed. She must've come out of the womb looking like perfection. Alya was one individual that never failed to impress me. I slightly envied her and I slightly enjoyed admiring her whenever I was in her presence.
"If I was Luke I would know better than to have you sit out here alone where a man could sweep your gorgeous self off your feet and marry you right away." I teased, making myself known to Alya. She looked up from her phone, her smile instantly glowing when our eyes met. She shot up and engulfed me in an embrace.
"Hey pretty girl."
"Hello to you too." I chuckled as she pulled from the hug.
"You arrived just in time. Tessa and Sasha are like a block away." Alya ran her fingers through the ends of my wavy hair.
"Sounds good."
"You're gonna love them!"
Yeah, I guess I would love them if they were exactly the opposite of Sarah. Anyone could like someone if they were not like Sarah.
As we waited for the other girls, Alya began talking about how she became a makeup artist and had worked with so many models and visited beautiful places. She mentioned she met Tessa at a photo shoot. Tessa was a model that Alya met while doing her makeup and Alya hooked up Tessa and Michael a year ago and the two had been an incredible pair together. Then she spoke about Sasha who was an actress. Sasha met Calum at an after party for some award show three years ago, they'd been a bit rocky lately but nothing Sasha and Calum couldn't handle. Alya made a gagging noise when she started on Sarah. She claimed Sarah to be the worst person anyone could meet, and well, yeah, that was true. Sarah attempted to become a model, but not a single agency would take her in, so she was working part-time at some boutique that sells knock-off items of big designers. None of the girls were fond of Sarah. I'd marry them all if that was the case. I felt special that they excluded Sarah from the lunch plans and invited me.
Halfway through a conversation about Luke's tendency to leave cereal on the kitchen floor, Alya cut herself off because Tessa and Sasha were walking up. It was easy to tell the difference between who was whose girlfriend because Tessa's long blonde locks were dyed a teal color at the tips and Sasha sported a dark brown messy bob.
We were seated instantly despite most restaurants being packed with lunch time rush hour. The girls were quick to make me feel welcome in conversation, never trying to leave me out on purpose.
"Sarah just texted me, saying she went to my condo and knocked and she's upset because I didn't answer." Tessa groaned, placing her phone beside her appetizer. "Have you heard about Sarah?" Tessa asked, stirring her cocktail.
"Once or twice, I suppose." I shrugged.
"Isn't she the worst?" Sasha exaggerated her words by using awkward hand motions, her flashy nail artwork glistening with her movements and the gold bracelets stacked on her wrists clinging together.
"What do you mean?"
"She's so clingy and so annoying. Like what the hell? Let Ashton breathe!" Alya exclaimed. She was getting too into what she was saying that she dropped her fork on the floor, disrupting a few people sitting by, but all she did was dramatically toss her hair over her shoulder and graceful lean over to pick up the fork like it was nothing. "She's always so mean with him too. She's yelled at him in front of us on numerous occasions."
"We literally snuck on a plane over here without telling her." Sasha ruffled her hair.
"We consider you apart of the girlfriends more than we do Sarah." Tessa added. "I mean just based off what we've heard about you, you're a whole lot better than Sarah."
Was that supposed to be an honor? Should I even be feeling slightly honored by that? Yes and yes. For a change I'd let things like this get to my head because I deserved to feel nice.
"This could work, you know?" Sasha began. "We completely alienate Sarah. I don't know, maybe send her to a deserted island and hook Talia up with Ashton." She shrugged.
"You're Ashton's type, so it's possible." Tessa said behind her hand as she chewed her food. "Plus, we all know he's still madly in love with you."
Alya and I shifted uncomfortably through a few nervous chuckles. Alya knew what happened between Ashton and I (what Sarah did to completely ruin what we once had), but neither of us knew how to tell the girls about it. There were some things you couldn't casually slip into a conversation when you were me.
"I could totally get Mikey to help set you guys up!" Tessa squealed, pulling out her phone.
"We could do a quadruple date tonight!" Sasha chirped.
I turned to Alya, who was turning red, "Talia is engaged..."
"Oh, it'll be fine." Tessa's fingers tapped her phone screen. "Once you have Ashton Irwin in your life, you won't remember who put a ring on it."
"Ashton's engaged too." Alya snapped.
"A little ring has never stopped anyone before." Tessa said knowingly, tucking her hair behind her ear. That truly sounded like something Michael would say. They probably saw too much of each other or they were actually just really alike. I could see Tessa lazily sitting around, eating pizza with Michael as he played some video game that he got his hands on a month early or them, making a boring situation fun by swapping the most inappropriate things they could think of.
We all sat silently finishing our food. A quadruple date? Really? And being set up with my ex? No, that'd never work in a million years.
"Mikey says Ashton is down." Tessa locked her phone, setting it on the table.