Beach House - Part 2

**Longer post today since I haven't given you guys a bonus in a while! So almost like two in one :) Have a great weekend, xoxo**

Seven - the number of times Dylan and I accidentally touched on our morning escapade for coffee and bagels. Not that I was counting, or noticing the electric feeling I got whenever he was within six inches of me, or anything. 

When we got back to the house most of the group was already awake, sleepily sipping on waters in the kitchen and rehashing funny stories from the night before. They greeted us like we were kings for bringing home breakfast, and I made sure to give Dylan all of the credit. After all, it had been his idea and he shelled out the $50 for all of the food. I loaded my plate with an everything bagel, veggie cream cheese and fruit and sat cross legged on the living room floor. Ash came over and sat next to me.

"You and Dylan got breakfast?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes, he took your spot in the bed since you slept with someone else," I said, raising my eyebrows at her.

"I'll fill you in later," she whispered. I gave her a little shove with my shoulder before tucking into the food. Ash and I had forgotten dinner the night before - which probably had something to do with why I had gotten so uncharacteristically drunk. 


An hour later we were putting on bathing suits and gossiping in the bedroom. Apparently, Ash had slept with Ryan but she had no idea he was engaged. "Seriously? I feel awful. He didn't mention her once, and he wasn't even on his phone all night."

"Yes well, it's not typical fashion for someone to mention their betrothed when attempting to bone someone else," I quipped, pulling my black see-thru cover up over my head. It dipped low in the front, exposing the edges of my green bathing suit and cinched at the waist. Even though I wasn't necessarily planning to hook up with Dylan, didn't mean I couldn't look good for him..

"I'm going to hell," Ash said, slumping onto the floor. 

"I think you maybe were already going to hell for cheating on Steve," I joked. 

"Helpful." Ash retorted, pulling herself up to standing. "Okay, lets go." 


We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, alternating between napping, playing volleyball and wading into the freezing ocean. I gave up distancing myself from Dylan about an hour into the day. Him, shirtless, running around on the beach was like a god damn Abercrombie ad.

"I can't tell if I need these sunglasses because it's sunny, or because I need some layer between my eyes and Dylan's abs," Ash joked, pulling her sunglasses up and then back down.

"Seriously. Why does sweat look so bad on me, and so good on Dylan?" I replied.

"You two!" Laura giggled. "Cut it out." She tossed a handful of wet sand our way, causing us to get up and run. Soon, the others joined in and the whole group was engaged in a full-on sand war. I was attempting to use a chair as a shield when I felt a hand wrap around my waist, lifting me upwards. 

I squealed in response and turned to view the attacker, pleasantly surprised when I discovered it was Dylan. "We're taking refuge in the water!" He explained, smiling down at me with his rows of perfect teeth. Thank god I wasn't standing because I think my knees would have given out.

I felt the icy water on my calves first, and instinctively gripped him tighter. I saw him smile and I wasn't sure if it was due to my arms wrapped around him or just because he was having fun. "Ready?" he asked over the roar of the waves, his expressive eyes playful. 

I grinned in response and he leapt in the air, holding me securely around the waist until I felt the water envelop us. I jumped up, tossing my hair back and laughing. I felt like a kid again playing in the ocean, except this time with extremely dirty thoughts about my playmate. 

Once we were safely back on the beach, Dylan offered to reapply my sunscreen. Pulling my hair across one shoulder I faced away as I heard him open the cap and squeeze lotion out. My whole body felt on edge as I waited for the feel of his skin on mine. When he finally touched me, his whole palm moving down my back and under my bathing suit, my whole body shivered.

"Sorry are my hands cold?" he asked. 

I bit my lip, not wanting to give away the real reason my whole body had shook under his touch. "They're okay," I replied, rolling my eyes at my own inability to ignore how he made me feel.

A little while later, we all packed up and headed back to the house, tan and relaxed. We gorged on leftover bagels, fruit, cheese, chips and boxed wine on the porch. I reclined in my chair, full and happy. 

"Don't get too comfortable," Dylan said from across the table. "Happy Hour starts in 30." He winked at me again before taking a swig from his beer. The inside of me burned up, and it wasn't from the sun.

"In that case, we should get ready," Laura said, heaving herself up off the lounge chair. We hurried  inside to clean ourselves up from the day spent at the beach. My face was much tanner than it had been that morning, so I swiped on some mascara and let my hair stay long and loose around my shoulders. No one else was changing out of their suits, so I kept mine on and headed out the door.

We grabbed a seat inside the bar and ordered a round of beers. Dylan entertained the table with stories of his "little brother", who lived in Camden and apparently had dreams of becoming a marine biologist. He was immersed in a story about how last winter, the kid had attempted (and almost succeeded) stealing a penguin from a traveling penguin exhibit. Dylan had everyone in fits of laughter, and seated at the bar beside me, he smelled of sand and warmth and a hint of beer. I was acutely aware in that moment that I had never wanted someone as much as I wanted him. I ran through all of the reasons not to do it - he lives in Philly, I am seeing other people, he's an alleged player - but I couldn't get any of those reasons to stick. 

As if he could read my thoughts, his hand slid from the table onto the bench between us and rested on my thigh. I thought I was going to pass out as he slowly slid his hand upwards, stopping where the edge of my bathing suit cover up began. I bit my lip, silently pleading him to keep moving. I shifted my weight slightly towards him and he turned to face me, his lips inches from mine. I wished more than anything that there weren't six other people at the table. 

"Shots!" Ryan said triumphantly, setting down eight shots at the table and effectively breaking the spell between Dylan and me. I could have killed him. Dylan removed his hand and grabbed two shots, handing one to me. We cheersed and downed them - fireball - and decided to mosey outside to the other bar. 

As we walked, I sidled up to Ash and whispered to her, "Do you think it's a bad idea if I hook up with Dylan?"

She grinned in response, "Do you think he wants to?" 

I nodded my head. Unless he thought my thigh was his own, I was pretty sure that was a clear sign. "Do you think it's stupid? Between Keith and Nick and Laura calling him a player.." 

"Forget what she said, you need to form your own opinion of him. Plus, it's not like you're trying to be his girlfriend. So it doesn't even matter. If you want to go for it, go for it girl!" 

"Okay," I said, feeling emboldened by Ashley's encouragement. 

An hour later, whiskey and coke in hand, I was standing next to the bar with Dylan enjoying the breeze from the ocean. The bar was situated in the sand and the live music from inside was filtering out through the doors, the sun having just retreated over the waters edge to go wake up another part of the world.

"So New York, huh?" Dylan said to me, signaling to the bartender for another beer. 

"Yep, me and the ol' apple are celebrating our one year anniversary soon."

"Do you like it?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Enough to stay. I like my job and my friends, and that I can get anything I could possibly want at the drop of a hat. But I miss my family and the outdoors. I don't think I'll live there forever, but it's perfect for right now." 

He nodded in response. "I've always liked the city, a few of my buddies live up there.. I'll have to call you next time I'm in town." 

"Absolutely," I grinned a little too enthusiastically. I was already mentally choosing where we could have our first romantic date.

"Maybe I'll come up soon," he continued, fumbling slightly over his words. It was endearing, seeing such a handsome guy come across so shy. "I'd.. I'd really like to see you again."

"Well I'm right here," I said with a smile.

He stepped in closer to me, his leg finding the space between mine. His hand snaked around my back, lifting me up slightly. "Trust me, I've been very aware of where you've been all day." 

My chest tightened and I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I was waiting eagerly for him to kiss me, but he wasn't moving. I pressed myself into him, inviting him to make a move and he tucked his free hand around my neck, pulling me towards him. 

His kiss sent a thousand chills down my spine. I gasped at the sensation but pressed into him, desperate for more. "Lets get out of here," I managed to say. He nodded and lead me out of the bar, my tiny hand enveloped in his massive one.

We spent the walk home stopping every ten feet to kiss - up against cars and garages - until we finally made it back to our house. I knew everyone else was at the bar still, so we didn't even try to make it up to the room we had slept in. He carried me up one flight of stairs to the kitchen and put me down on the counter, slowly pulling my cover up off. I yanked off his shirt, then his pants and he untied the strings to my bathing suit. Pressing his palm into me he whispered forcefully.

"Spread your legs." I did as I was told, leaning back and groaning loudly as his head dipped between my thighs. Within minutes I was screaming out loud, gripping his hair and arching my back. He stood up, the counter putting me at the perfect height and slowly slid into me. 

"Harder," I gasped, dying to feel him. His hands reached forward and wrapped around my shoulders, pushing me onto him. 

"Oh my god," he groaned, "I've wanted to do this to you all day."

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer. He lifted me up and carried me over to the couch, sitting down with me on top. His hand moved into my hair and the other touched me in just the right spot. I moved up and down until I came, crying out his name. He followed a minute later and we laid side by side on the couch catching our breath. 

"That.. was incredible," he said, breaking the silence. 

"Eh I've had better," I joked, standing up to retrieve our clothes. I tossed him his bathing suit and curled up next to him on the couch. "Should we go back to the bar?" I asked, noticing it was only 10 o'clock.

"No way," he said, pulling me into his lap. "Because at the bar I can't do this." He pulled me in for a long kiss, giving me chills again. I silently hoped that his kisses would always do that, even if it was only for a night. 

Beach House

"So, that's pretty much it!" Kristen said, spinning her chair to face me. I tried not to stare, but her massive preggo stomach was really all I could see. "Any questions?"

I shook my head, glancing down at the two pages of notes I had taken on how to run the blog. "But I'm sure I'll have some next week." 

"Great," Kristen said, her hand instinctively resting on her belly. "Well like I said, we can have you take over starting next Wednesday so that if you have any questions I'll still be in the office for three days to answer them." 

"Perfect," I said, taking that as my cue to leave. It was already 5:30 which meant I had less than an hour to hightail it down to Penn Station in rush hour.

I quickly shut off my computer and started to gather the things I had strewn all over my desk throughout the day, while trying to send a quick text to Ash to let her know I was leaving work. I was hunting in my desk for my phone when I heard Elena behind me.

"Plans this weekend?" she asked. 

"Sea Isle," I said shortly. We still hadn't gotten the chance to talk about what had happened and until she apologized, I wasn't budging.

"Oh, well have fun," she replied, still lingering. 

"Thanks!" I squeaked, yanking the phone out from under a pile of advertising contracts. I headed towards the elevators without another word to Elena.

Three hours, one cab, one train and one car ride later, Ash and I were walking into the gloriously air conditioned house in Sea Isle. I hadn't seen a beach in nearly a year and the smell of the salty air was lifting my mood tremendously after such a long week. The house was three stories high and settled just two blocks from the beach. A few of our friends from high school rented the place for the summer with a handful of their miscellaneous friends from college. 

We spent the next hour getting ready and sipping loaded coronas while catching up with friends who I hadn't seen in months. I sat on the floor curling my hair while Ash stood above me, applying a second coat of mascara. Our friend from high school, Laura, was cross legged on the bed telling us stories about their summer so far.

"It's been so much drama," she said, after finishing a story about how one of their housemates had been sleeping with a guy Dylan, who was also in the house. "She really likes him but he's a total player." 

The story reminded me a lot of Elena and Jeff, and I made a mental note to stay away from this Dylan character. If he was anything like Jeff then he was probably trouble with a capital T. That was, until he walked in to introduce himself a few minutes later and I realized he was some sort of cruel hybrid between Patrick Dempsey and Freddie Prince Jr. Swoon.

As soon as he walked out of the room, I picked my jaw up off the floor and turned to Laura. "For the love of all that is gorgeous - are you kidding me?!" 

Ash just stared at the empty doorway, longingly wishing for him to come back. 

"Guys, no." Laura said firmly. 

"Hey, I'm just looking. I have enough on my plate," I said, throwing my hands up in surrender. "But she's the one you should be worried about," I pointed at Ash who was now craning her neck around the door to try and catch a glimpse of Dylan in the kitchen.

"You said the girl he hooks up with isn't here this weekend?" Ash asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. I bit my lip to stifle the laugh that was bubbling up in my throat. 

"Yes, she's at a wedding this weekend. But don't say I didn't warn you," Laura narrowed her eyes at Ash for about ten seconds before she started laughing.

We finished getting ready and headed into the large kitchen to have another drink. The bars here were dirty and musty, so most people required a strong buzz before entering them willingly. 

I was making small talk with a few of my high school friends when I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. I pulled it out, knowing it was Bray before I even saw his name on the screen.

Heading to the OD - you? 

I put the phone away and decided it'd be best not to answer. I was definitely not going to pre-plan a meeting. 

I rolled over in bed and peeled my eyes open one at a time. It took me a minute to figure out where I was, but the white walls adorned with beach scenes quickly reminded me. I sat up, and groaned with my head in my hands. I felt the body next to me shift. "Oh my god, Ash," I groaned, trying to remember the last thing I could. I had a recollection of being at an outdoor bar, doing a round of tequila shots and then - nothing.

I heard a chuckle next to me - and it was not Ashley's light laugh. I immediately dropped my hands and saw Dylan sprawled out in bed next to me, shirtless.

"Oh my god," I said, glancing down at myself. I felt a wave of relief wash over me when I saw I was still in my dress from the night before. "What happened?"

"I wish I could say something fantastic, but in reality I saw you asleep in here and there was an empty spot next to you. So I jumped in," he shrugged, turning on his side to face me. I tried not to let my eyes linger too long on his perfectly sculpted pecks. I silently prayed to the morning-after gods that I didn't have mascara running down my face. 

"Gotcha," I said, trying to keep my mouth as closed as possible to avoid killing him with my morning breath. "Where's Ashley?" 

"Last I saw, she was heading up to the third floor with Ryan," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

"Who is Ryan?" I said, trying to rack my brain for the names of all the guys I had met last night.

"He's my buddy from college, he's a good guy. A little bit engaged though."

"Define 'a little bit'," I said disapprovingly. 

"Wedding is in four months.." he trailed off, suddenly fascinated with a stray thread on the pillow case. 

"Ugh," I groaned, flopping back down into the mattress. "I'm too hungover for this." 

We sat in bed for the next hour talking. It was funny to hear about my high school friends from his perspective. I was shocked at how humble and down to earth he was for being so ridiculously good looking. He worked as an accountant, was on the board for two nonprofits and volunteered with big brothers big sisters. 

"What time is it?" I asked Dylan, noticing that the sunlight filling the room had shifted significantly since we woke up. 

"No idea," he said, patting around in the bed. "This yours?" he asked, offering me my iphone.

"Yes, thanks," I said, relief flooding me that the phone had made it's way home safely. 

I clicked it on to see it was only 9:34, I repeated this to Dylan before scrolling through my texts. My heart stopped when I read one from Bray.

Great catching up. Hope you're not too upset with me. But I really meant what I said. Miss you, D. 

"Oh.. my.. god.." I said, reading the text twice more. I had the faintest memory of seeing Bray, but no clue what I had said. Or what "meant what I said" was in reference to.

"What, did you drunk text an ex or something?" Dylan asked with a chuckle.

I shook my head. "No. More like apparently ran into one." I showed him the message.

"Oh, the tall dude with the long hair?" Dylan asked. 

I nodded slowly, "Yesss.. wait, did you see us?" 

"Yeah, you were talking to him at the bar for awhile. Looked pretty serious. Then you two started making out," he said. 

My eyes widened in horror. "We what?!" I nearly screamed.

Dylans serious face broke out into a huge grin, the skin around his aqua eyes crinkling in a way that I noticed. "Okay I'm sorry, no you didn't make out." 

I reached over and punched him square on the shoulder. "So not funny." 

He laughed a deep, loud, infectious laugh and I tried my best to ignore the fact that he made my stomach flip and lose every other breath. 

"But you two did talk for awhile, and when I asked you who he was you said, and I quote, 'a giant new york asshole'." 

"Sounds about right," I said with a grin, glancing down at my phone once more. "I wonder what he meant about what he said though."

"Are you going to text him back?" Dylan asked. 

I shook my head, "No. Past is the past. Even if drunk me decides against that theory." 

Dylan hopped out of bed and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to devour his body with my eyes. He walked out of the room and I took the free minute to sprint over to the mirror and wipe away any stray makeup from my face. Luckily it wasn't as bad as I had thought. 

A minute later, Dylan walked back in holding two bottles and silently handed me one. "No one is up yet," he said. "Want to grab breakfast? There's a bagel place we can get coffee and a couple dozen bagels for everyone." 

"Sure," I said in between gulps of the glorious water. "Let me just get changed." 

"Why? I think last nights outfit looks great on you," he winked, reaching over to tug at the hem of my dress. Every particle on my skin felt like it was reaching out for him and I couldn't help but take notice that no guy had ever done this to me. 

I tried my best to smile back, "Ha, well I think a little black dress would be too much for 9 a.m." I headed to my bag to dig out shorts and a t-shirt. Dylan left the room to give me some privacy to change. As I stood in front of the mirror brushing out my hair I tried my best to reason with myself. Laura said he was a player, and I already had too many men on my plate. I would not make a move on Dylan, no matter how badly my body wanted to. I just needed to get through 24 more hours. 

"You ready?" he said, popping his head in the room. 

I nodded and followed him out the door, staring at his strong, tan shoulders as he bounced down the stairs in front of me.

Just 24 hours. 

Ghosts of Boyfriends Past

"I have no clothes!" Ash whined, sitting on the floor next to my bed with various skirts, crop tops and bathing suits in a heap around her.

I rolled my eyes at the familiar complaint, "You have a thousand clothes. You also have the option of all of my clothes." She looked at me, clearly frustrated with my unhelpfulness. 

It was Thursday night and we were attempting to pack for the weekend in Sea Isle. Well, she was attempting to pack. My weekend bag was zipped up and waiting by the front door, and I was enjoying leftover chinese while watching Ashley.

"How about this?" she asked, holding up a black crop top.

"That's great!" I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. We had been at this for over an hour and I was exhausted. Just then, my phone vibrated from where it was balanced on my knee. Looking down my stomach did a little flip at Keith's name.

Hey you, got any weekend plans? My buddies are having a rooftop party tomorrow night.

"Ugh," I said out loud. "Keith just invited me to a party tomorrow night."

"Wait do you really like him? You barely even mentioned your date," Ashley replied.

"I think I do, I'm not sure yet," I answered while typing a reply.

Damn, I'm heading to the shore this weekend. Rain check? 

I took another bite of the cold lo mein, watching the three dots as Keith typed his response. 

Sounds good.. are you free Tuesday?

I smiled at his response, which prompted Ashley to ask what he had said. I showed her the short exchange. 

"He doesn't play any games does he?" she said while considering a striped blue and white skirt.

"Nope, and it is very refreshing. Especially after Nick and Bray." 

"Speaking of Nick..." Ash said, discarding the skirt. "Do you think he'll be down this weekend?"

"Doubtful, we've been talking off and on and he didn't mention anything. He usually sticks with North Jersey beach towns." I shrugged. Nick and I had texted a few times since our dinner but he had made no mention of his weekend plans. 

"Okay, I think I'm done!" Ash declared, standing up.

I stifled a laugh at the bag which was bulging with clothing. "We're going to be gone for like, 36 hours. You packed for a ten day safari."

"Hey. You'll thank me when you need options," she remarked, bending down to try and zip the bag. 

I can make myself available. What did you have in mind?

I typed back to Keith before starting to get ready for bed. As I walked past Ash into the bathroom, I could overhear her mumbling curse words at the stuck zipper. I ducked into the bathroom before she could recruit me to help. 

"Your lover responded!" Ash yelled from outside the bathroom moments later while I was brushing my teeth. I wiped my mouth and lept out of the bathroom before she could do anything devious with my phone. Too late, I thought as I saw her standing in the kitchen, my phone in her hand.

"Give me that!" I yelped, leaping for the phone. She held it up over her head, completely out of my reach. Yet another downfall of my shortness. Finally she deposited the phone back in my hands. "That was your punishment for being a very bad helper during packing," she said before disappearing into the bathroom.

I glared at her back, but looked down to the screen. I was shocked to see Bray's name next to Keith's.

There's this great wine bar in the west village, I'll meet you there at 8? 

Keith followed up with the address and I told him I'd see him there before opening the message from Bray. We hadn't spoken in weeks and I had no clue what he was going to say. 

Hey stranger, I saw on facebook you're going to sea isle this weekend - me too. Headed down with a coworker. Would love to meet up.

"Ohmygod," I said while practically sprinting to the bathroom where I could hear Ashley brushing her teeth. I barged in and showed her the phone. As she read, her eyes widened. After spitting out the toothpaste she turned to me.

"Whaaat." 

"I know, what the hell? We haven't spoken in weeks," I said. "It didn't end badly.. but it just..ended." 

"Are you going to respond?" Ash asked.

"Well considering there are about four bars in the whole town, I'd say the odds of us running into him are pretty good. So I may as well just text him back." 

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, contemplating what to say back. I couldn't very well lie since the town was roughly the size of a square block in New York. After two more minutes of staring at my phone, I decided on a vague response.

Yeah, heading down after work tomorrow. I'm sure i'll see you around. 

I plugged my phone into its charger far, far away from my bed. I didn't want to engage in a full conversation with Bray, so I figured going to sleep was the best way to avoid that. 

This weekend was definitely going to get interesting. 

Revolution

When I woke up for work Thursday (twenty minutes late) Ashley was no where to be found. I frantically reached for my phone, relieved to see her name on the screen from a text I had missed while sleeping.

Hey won't be home tonight. It's not what you think - I'm literally sleeping on the couch. It just got late and I don't feel like heading back at this hour. Fill you in tomorrow. 

I looked at the time stamp on the message, 3:34. Sheesh. I quickly typed a reply.

Meet me for lunch, no excuses! Roast on 7th at 1pm. 

I hastily dressed for work, grabbing an apple from the fridge on my way out the door. The biggest plus of Ashley living with me had to be her good habit of picking up groceries once a week. It was something I had always failed miserably at, preferring the simplicity of ordering online to the tiresome task of actually going to the store, and then lugging the heavy bounty all the way home. I'd seen many a grocery bag break on the street and send people's food rolling all over the dirty sidewalk. No thank you.

As I approached work, the familiar pit returned that had made a home in my stomach the last few days since the Elena drama started. Her coldness was making work almost unbearable. My heels clicked across the lobby floor and I quickened my pace when I saw that an elevator was just about to close it's doors. I slid in at the last second and then immediately regretted rushing when I saw that the only other person in it.. was Jeff. 

Clearing my throat, I turned around and settled as far away from him as I could get. "Hey," I said shortly, keeping my gaze locked on the metal doors.

"Morning," he said, his voice laced with just as much discomfort as I felt. I willed the numbers to go faster and tried to focus on what I had scheduled for that morning instead of on the human I was sharing precious air with. 

Thankfully the doors opened to the 28th floor without Jeff trying to discuss anything that had happened. I practically leapt out of the elevator, narrowly missing a collision with the receptionist. "Sorry!" I squeaked, sneaking by her and heading for my desk.

I had given up on trying to interact with Elena, so it surprised me when she pulled out a chair next to me at our morning staff meeting. I gave her a puzzled look which she countered with a warm smile. "Want to grab lunch today?" she asked, as if the last week of my life had been a dream.

"Um.. I have plans," I answered skeptically. 

"Oh," she said. She didn't have a chance to say more though, because just then one of the senior editors, Colleen, started the meeting. We went over a few pieces that would be featured in the October issue, followed by a lengthy discussion about a lack of advertisers. I was pondering what Ashley and Steve could have possibly discussed last night when I heard my name said - apparently for the second time.

"So are you up for it?" Colleen was directing this question at me, clearly annoyed that she had to ask twice.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking about an angle for our next Twitter chat," I heard myself lie. "What did you say?" 

Colleen all but rolled her eyes at me before replying, "I asked if you would be interested in handling the blog while Kristen is on maternity leave." 

I felt my spirits lift tremendously at this question. Our blog had tons of traffic, and Kristen was the one who chose and wrote almost all of the posts. I had contributed a handful of times and always got a thrill out of seeing my byline. Not to mention the amount of shares these posts got. 

"Absolutely!" I said, nodding my head a little too enthusiastically. 

"Great," she said shortly, turning her attention to Kristen. "So you two set up a time to go over anything Danielle needs to know, since you're leaving in a few weeks." I glanced over at Kristen who definitely looked like she was about to pop. I felt giddy as potential topics started to flood my mind, and I made a mental note to scribble them down into my iPhone as soon as I got out of the meeting. 

As we filed out of the conference room nearly 30 minutes later, I was excitedly heading towards my desk when Elena interrupted. "Congrats," she said sounding genuinely pleased for me. 

"Thanks," I replied. I grabbed my purse and headed for the elevators to go meet Ash for lunch, all while typing ideas into my phone.

"Dani?" I heard Elena's voice again. I turned around to face her, but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry.." she said. I shrugged, really unsure of what to say. I was mad at her for how she had acted, but I didn't want to start an argument over it right now.

"It's okay," I said, knowing we would have plenty of time to talk about it later. She smiled in response and I continued on my way out of the building, nose buried in my phone.

As I stepped out into the day, the heat encompassed me from head to toe. We had finally reached the 90s in New York and the sweltering heat clung to every inch of your body. New York in the summer is where blow outs come to die.

As I approached Roast, one of Ash and my favorite lunch spots in the city, I saw her standing outside people watching.

"Hey you!" I greeted excitedly, my spirits still high from the staff meeting.

"Hey," she replied. "I'm starved."

I led the way into the air conditioned restaurant. We both ordered salads and settled in at a table near the window to enjoy them. 

"So," I said, digging into a bite of the caesar with spicy chicken. "What made you go over there?"

"I don't know," Ash sighed. "Everything felt so... unresolved. Plus I missed Murph," she said, referring to their shared dog. 

"What did you two talk about?" 

"Me and murph? The usual, milkbones, the dog park, this poodle on the 3rd floor he's trying to bang.."

"Ashley," I said, stifling a laugh. "You and Steve." 

"Ugh. Everything... I told him about other times I had cheated. Maybe it was selfish to do that, but I felt so guilty carrying that around. I felt like I couldn't start fresh until I came clean to him completely."

"Wow, how did he take it?" I asked. Realizing that she hadn't gone over there to win him back afterall like I had thought. 

"Not too well but it's not like he can dump me twice," she said with a small smile. 

"Didn't you dump him?" I asked, half joking.

"Minor insignificant detail." 

I rolled my eyes, but laughed.

"Anyway," she continued, "I feel like we could really start to be friends. I mean it was totally normal when I woke up there this morning. We made breakfast and it felt... comfortable. But not like I wanted to hook up with him. You know?"

I didn't know, but I nodded my head anyway. I couldn't imagine a time where I would be able to stand next to Nick and not want to jump his bones. 

"Did you ask about the new girlfriend?" 

She shook her head, "No, and he didn't mention her. But his phone did go off a few times." 

"Well I'm glad you got that closure," I said. 

"Me too, now it really feels like a fresh start."

"Well what better place to make your fresh start than Sea Isle?" I said, referring to the New Jersey beach town we were headed to this weekend. A lot of my college friends and Ashley and my friends from home had houses in Sea Isle and Avalon, so we were taking the weekend to go celebrate two of our close friends birthdays. 

"Exactly!" she said. "Speaking of, what time train should I buy for Friday?" 

"I already bought us both seats on the 6:20, can you make that?" 

"Yep," she said, a piece of lettuce hanging out the side of her mouth.

"Learn some proper eating etiquette before you go on your next date," I laughed, nodding to her chin. 

The rest of lunch was spent laughing and planning outfits for the weekend trip. I was excited to get out of the city for a few days. I needed some space to clear my head and get the creative juices flowing for when Kristen went on maternity leave. 

The First Kiss

On Wednesday after work, I stopped home just long enough to reapply some makeup and switch to more casual clothes before meeting Keith. It had been another long day of Elena giving me the cold shoulder, and I knew that if she kept acting this way sooner or later I was going to snap. Jeff was the one she should be mad at, but instead she was parading around the office with him and ignoring me. 

I tossed my eyelash curler back in my makeup bag and was heading out the door as Ash was coming in. "Hey!" I said excitedly. "I'm just heading out."

"Okay," she answered solemnly. 

"You okay?" I asked, hand hesitating on the door knob. 

"Just a shitty day at work," she shrugged, dropping onto the couch. "Followed up by finding out Steve already has a new girlfriend."

"What?!" I nearly screamed. It seemed impossible - it had only been a few weeks, plus he was head over heels for Ash their whole relationship. I couldn't imagine him moving on so quickly. 

"Well, I don't know if they're official, but she's all over his Facebook." As she spoke, I could see her scrolling through her phone to show me. I walked over to the couch and took the phone. On the screen was Steve's Facebook page, with photos of him and some blonde covering his whole wall. On a blanket at central park, at a club, on a roof top. She was pretty, but not as pretty as Ashley.

"Do you know her?" I asked, handing the phone back.

"She looks familiar, I think he might work with her. All of our mutual friends are his coworkers." 

"I'm sorry Ash.." I started, tapering off once I realized I had no idea what to say. She was, afterall, the one who had ended it.

"It's okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Where are you off to anyway?"

"Meeting Keith.." I started, feeling guilty. "Want to come?"

"No," she shook her head. "I want to wallow. Or download Tinder," she cracked a small smile.

"Oh geez," I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back soon."

As I walked towards the bar where I was meeting Keith, I felt a pang in my stomach for my best friend. I hated that she was going through this, but reasoned that soon she would find someone new. She always did.

When I got to the bar, Keith was already posted up on a tall table outside. I walked over to give him an awkward half hug before sitting down.

"You look great," he said with a genuine smile. 

"Thanks, so do you," I said. He was so handsome, with dark brown hair that fell in a carefully messy way, and brown eyes framed by long lashes. I was definitely attracted to him, and I hoped he was as well.

"How's your week been so far?" he asked after the waiter came over to take our orders. 

"It's been.. okay," I started. 

"Only okay?" he smiled.

"Just a lot of friend drama going on right now," I said with an accompanied eye roll.

"Tell me about it," he said.

"You really want to know?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I'd like to know more about your friends." 

"You asked for it," I said with a laugh as the waiter returned with our drinks. I took a sip of my jack and coke before beginning the long, sordid tale of Ash and Steve. Followed by the drama-filled tale of Elena and Jeff. By the end, Keith looked exhausted just trying to keep the timelines straight.

"So that's everything," I said with a nervous laugh.

He let out a long whistle. "Well, at least you're a good friend, they both seem like they need that right now." 

"Thanks," I said. "But who knows what will happen with either of them at the moment. What about you?" I asked. "Any recently dumped friends you're putting up in your place I can set Ash up with?"

He laughed, "Unfortunately, no. Just Josh who seems blissfully in love with Haley."

"Oh man don't I know it," I started. "I went to drinks with her last week and she spent most of the time talking about him. It's sweet though, I've never seen her like that with a guy."

"Yeah, she's a great girl," he said. "A little loud though..." 

"Oh god you don't mean..?" I said, stifling a laugh.

He nodded. "Things I never wish I had heard." 

We were both laughing so hard I had to wipe away a few tears. I could just picture him, head buried under the pillow.

After another hour I told him I should be getting back to Ashley. I had texted her twice to no response and it was starting to worry me. Also, the chemistry between Keith and I was definitely there and I was eager to see if he would actually kiss me this time. 

As we stepped out onto the sidewalk, he grabbed my hand. "I'll walk you home," he said. I grinned from ear to ear at his gesture. We filled the five block walk to my apartment with more conversation. When we stopped outside my building, I felt emboldened by the whiskey and his nearness. I took a step closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hearing Haley's voice in my head telling me to make the first move. I also, however, heard another voice in my head firmly reminding me that not 24 hours ago I was kissing Nick.

"Thanks for the drinks," I said, tilting my head up towards him. He had a good six inches on me.

"Thanks for the invite," he said softly, sexily. I moved my hand up from his waist and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him into me as I stood on my tiptoes. His mouth landed on mine and we were - finally - having our first kiss. After a few seconds he pulled away and I wasn't sure if it was the heat or the kiss, but I was practically panting. 

"Goodnight, Dani," he said, walking backwards and releasing my hands. He bit his lip as he looked back at me once more before turning around. 

Feeling giddy I practically sprinted up the stairs, eager to tell Ash. When I got inside my apartment though she was no where to be found. I was about to get out my phone to call her when I saw a note scribbled on the back of a recipet sitting on the kitchen counter.

Went to Steve's to talk - don't wait up. xo A

"Oh no," I said aloud. This was not good. 

Hard being Easy

I decided to take Haley's advice and come on a little stronger with Keith. I wasn't sure what his deal was, but he seemed like a great guy and I didn't want to just give up on him - no matter how many times he wanted to spoon instead of fork. So on Wednesday I gathered up the courage to send him a text.

Hey, want to grab drinks tomorrow night?

I clicked the phone to black and set it face-down on my desk. I had just started to sort through my emails when one came in from Elena, asking if I had the updated content calendar for social media. I looked up to where she was sitting at her desk, face buried in her phone. Unless we were exorbitantly busy we almost always walked the ten feet to ask other things, because it then allowed for extra minutes of chatting. I sighed loudly, it had been two days and this was the only communication we had exchanged. I opened a gchat to her and started typing away furiously.

Me: The cal is updated where it always is, could you not find it?
Elena: Got it now. Thanks.
Me: Are you mad at me or something?
Elena: Not at all, just super busy.
Me: Okay.. want to grab lunch later?
Elena: I actually have plans with Jeff, but thanks.

My jaw literally dropped when I read her response. Plans with Jeff? Three days ago he was mounting an intern in this very room. The vibration of my phone interrupted the elaborate scheme I was starting to concoct that involved somehow poisoning Jeff. I recalled him announcing an allergy to shellfish a few months back... 

I'd love to, just tell me when and where

I smiled at Keith's answer; short, sweet, easy. No games. I sent him a time and place, relieved to have something to focus on besides Elena and Jeff. 

I worked straight through lunch, determined to keep my mind busy. I saw Elena and Jeff head out together around one and they didn't return until almost 3. I scanned Elena for any sign of a hookup - slightly mussed hair, skewed skirt - but she looked completely put together. When she walked back in she gave me an awkward wave but didn't come over to talk like she normally would have. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders at the tension that now existed between us. Maybe I never should have mentioned what I had seen.

When I was walking out of work later that night, I heard someone call my name on the street. I craned my neck around but the post-work crowd on the street was too tough to navigate from my short vantage point. I shrugged it off, assuming it was directed at one of the other 3.4 billion Danielles in the world. I continued heading West, distracted by the blister forming on my right heel. I really needed to chill with the four-inch heels during work hours, when I spent a large majority of my time running between departments. I was going to form a bunion by age 27.

"Dani!" I heard it again, distinctly closer this time. I turned around and nearly ran smack into Nick.

"Woah!" I said, taking a step backwards. He had been heading towards me at an alarming pace. "Where's the fire?" 

"Just trying to catch up to you," he said with a charming smile. The humid 80 degree weather did not help the fire that I felt in my face at seeing him.

"What are you doing up here?" I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"I was nearby for a meeting, and thought I'd swing by your work to say hello. But then I saw you walking out," he said, starting to walk the way I had been heading. I jumped in stride with him.

"Oh."

"Wanna grab a bite?" he asked confidently. 

"Sure," I replied. I had no other plans but to go home and veg out on the couch with Ash. 

"Great," he grinned over at me, lazily dangling his arm across my shoulders. "So, you never answered where you were the night I so zealously drunk texted you." 

I gave out a small snort. "You never asked."

"I'm asking now," he replied with a serious tone.

"I was with Haley," I said. I wasn't going to offer him any more of an explanation than that. 

He peered at me suspiciously, but thankfully dropped the subject. We stepped into a pub close to my apartment and snagged an outdoor table. We both ordered burgers and settled into our familiar banter, catching up on each others' lives. 

"You clearly aren't worried about bikini season," he joked as I poached some of his fries after devouring my own. 

"I missed lunch today," I answered between mouthfuls. 

"Busy at work?" 

"Yeah, but mostly was avoiding Elena," I shrugged, then caught him up to speed on the Elena/Jeff situation.

"I don't know Elena well, but that sounds a little harsh," he said after I had recounted the series of events.

"I know," I agreed. "I'm so confused now, but I guess I'll just let it play out."

"Sounds like all you can really do for now," he said. He declined my offer to split the meal and we stood up to head home. It felt just as comfortable as it used to be, but I was acutely aware that had it been six months ago, we wouldn't be heading to separate apartments right now.

"Thanks for dinner," I said as we stood by the subway stop that would take him downtown.

"It was nice," he replied, stepping in closer to me. My heart and stomach twisted into one large knot as a lump formed in my throat. The tension between us felt tangible and I bit my lip, staring up at him.

He closed the remaining foot of space between us, wrapping his arm around my lower back. I let him. Tilting my head up I finally felt our lips meet and the twists in my stomach released, bursting with fire throughout my whole body. I gripped him closer and heard him moan into my mouth. 

Pulling away I smiled sheepishly. "I wanted to do that all night."

He seemed shocked by my remark, "I wanted to do that for weeks."

I gave him one final kiss on the cheek and started towards my building. When I turned around, I could see the top of his head descending into the subway. I shook my head, but didn't feel the usual guilt at giving into Nick. Maybe we weren't as done as I had thought.

Defense

I spent all day Sunday writing and then deleting texts to Elena. I talked it over with Ash and after finding out that Elena had spent the better part of Friday evening texting Jeff, it felt wrong not to tell her.

By lunchtime on Monday I had made the executive decision to tell Elena what I had walked in on. I knew that if I were Elena, I would want someone to tell me. So I was going to grow a pair and fess up. 

"Okay, so I have something to tell you," I began as we headed back to the office with salads in tow. 

"That sounds ominous," Elena replied, keeping her gaze fixed ahead of us. It was 1 p.m. on a Monday and the streets were appropriately packed with people milling about on their lunch hour. 

"So I came into the office on Saturday to get some work done," I started.

"Yes I saw, you overachiever. I had about five emails from you," she looked over at me with a smile. "What are you telling me to step up my game or something?" 

The left corner of my mouth curled up in a forced smile, "No, that's not it." 

A serious look came over Elena's face. "What? Did you overhear Tom talking about something bad?" her words were laced with fear with the mention of our boss' boss, who had laid off three people in the last few weeks. 

"No!" I replied hurriedly. "Ah, I walked in and saw Jeff making out with one of the interns," I spat out. 

Elena looked stunned, but kept walking. So I continued. "It was that editorial intern, Becca, you know the one who always wears those ridiculously short skirts? I thought it was you two when I saw so I just walked over..." 

"They were just kissing?" Elena asked, hopeful.

"Um, yeah technically but he had her up on his desk and her legs-" 

"So just kissing?" Elena interrupted.

"Yeah, I guess," I said, confused.

She let out a small snort and kept walking.

"What?" I lengthened my strides to keep up with her hurried pace. 

"Well you had me all worried that I was going to be fired or something Danielle," she said with what I detected to be a condescending tone. "Please. So you saw the guy I was casually seeing, what? Kissing a slutty intern? Who cares." 

"Oh," I said, stung. "I just thought you should know, that's all." Elena and I had never so much as disagreed on what to order for lunch, so I had no idea how to react to her putting up this defense. 

She shrugged as we approached our building. We walked in wordlessly and stepped into the elevators. The silence was awkward and heavy and I stared at the numbers willing them to go faster.

I sat down at my desk holding my mostly-forgotten caesar salad and was overcome with confusion. I had just seen a side of Elena that I had never been exposed to before, and I had no idea what to do next. I glanced over at her, eating her salad at her desk while answering emails. I wasn't sure if she had been so cold because she really liked Jeff or because she honestly believed I was being ridiculous. I didn't have much time to dwell on it though because we had a live Twitter chat happening at 2 p.m. Taking a deep breath, I tried my best to push the Elena/Jeff drama as far from my mind as possible.


When I got home that night, Ashley was already back from work. "Hey!" I said cheerfully, letting the weight of the door shut itself behind me. After the confrontation with Elena I was desperate for a friendly face.

"Hello my dear," Ash said, taking a bite of an apple. "I went grocery shopping!" 

"I can see," I said, taking note of the fresh baguette on the counter and the apple she was noshing on. 

"I'm cooking lasagna for dinner, so I hope you're hungry."

"I'm meeting Haley for drinks," I said with a frown. "But I'll bring my appetite home with me?"

"Fine, go out with other women and leave me here to slave over a hot stove," Ash said, tossing her hair dramatically over her shoulder.

I laughed, "Oh hush."

I quickly kicked off my pumps and threw on a pair of sandals to go meet Haley.

"Wait, how did telling Elena go?" Ash hollered from the kitchen, her voice cut off by the random banging of pots and pans.

"What are you doing in there?" I asked in response. 

"I can't find your casserole dish." I walked into the tiny kitchen to find her head and shoulders completely obscured by a cabinet.

"Here," I said, pulling open the drawer under the oven to expose the limited baking supplies I had. "I used it once, for a cake." 

"Ah ha! Thanks," she said, extracting the glass dish from my hands. "So, Elena?" 

"Ugh terribly," I said with a sigh. "All I did was tell her what I saw, and she acted like I was blowing it completely out of proportion."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "She said about three sentences to me and then ignored my existence the rest of the day. Oh! But she did make a point of sitting on Jeff's desk and laughing with him for a solid five minutes around 4 p.m." 

"Weird," Ash said with a confused look.

"Very," I agreed. "It's like she had to prove it wasn't a big deal or something. I don't know. Anyway, I'm going to be late. Do you want to join, Martha?"

"No thanks," Ash said, turning her attention back to the task at hand. "I have culinary genius to create."

I laughed as I headed towards the door, "Looking forward to tasting said genius later!" 


We were halfway through our second beer and midway through the 8th reason Haley had about how compatible her and Joshua were, and I still hadn't gathered the courage to ask her about Keith. The more I thought about it, the sillier it seemed that I thought he was gay.

"And we both hate jalapenos which is definitely a sign," Haley said earnestly, capping up a tale about the time they accidentally ate jalapeno poppers.

"It sounds like you're really happy, Hal," I said sincerely. "And he's great."

"He is! And soon you'll be in this place, with Keith," she said, with an accompanied eyebrow wiggle. Now's your chance I told myself.

"Yeah, about that.." I trailed as Haley finished off her Sam Adams. "We've hung out a few times now and... I don't know..."

Haley grinned knowingly, "You think he's gay, right?" 

I felt my eyes grow as wide as my forehead, "Yes!" I blurted out. 

She laughed, "He comes off that way with girls, apparently," she said. "According to Josh at least. He's super shy at first, but definitely not gay." 

I breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not even that I thought he was gay, it just was so odd. He wouldn't even touch me. And when I slept over the other night, all we did was cuddle."

"He's a great guy," Haley said. "Give it a chance. Why don't you try making the first move?" 

I considered this, not opposed to the idea. Now that I knew he wasn't playing for the other team. "Maybe I will."

Haley held her drink up in a salute and I cheered my half-full beer to her empty one, maybe I had misread Keith all along. 

Hanky Panky

I stood on the street, desperately searching for a cab with its light on. It was 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and I was doing something I hadn't done in a while - the walk of shame.

I yelped with joy when one finally slowed to a crawl and pulled up to the curb in front of me. He rolled down the window and my heart sank, praying he wasn't going to turn me down.

"Where you going?" he grunted at me. 

"53rd and 9th," I replied, pleadingly. 

He gave me one sharp nod, "I'm changing shifts, but okay." 

I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly scurried into the back of the cab. Tourists were milling about all around me, and I was desperate for the safety of my own apartment asap. 

As we started uptown I pulled out my phone, which had been tucked away in my purse since I arrived at Keith's 12 hours earlier. I had three texts from Nick.

10:34 p.m.

What are you up to tonight? Just ran into Ash and Elena, but didn't see you.

12:07 a.m.

Come on, Dani. Are you with another guy or something??

1:48 a.m.

Come over babe.

I typed a quick reply, feeling almost guilty for ignoring all of his messages. 

Hey, sorry. Didn't have my phone all night. 

I quickly scrolled Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and before I knew it, we were crossing over 9th ave. 

"Thanks," I squeaked to the cabbie as I stepped out and onto the street after paying. I unlocked the door to my building and took the steps two at a time to my apartment. I unlocked the door slowly and tiptoed in, not wanting to wake Ash. 

"Hey!" I heard her voice from the kitchen. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Hi! God you scared me," I said with a laugh. 

She raised her eyebrows, "Isn't it a little past your curfew miss?" 

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing even happened." Flopping down onto the couch, I kicked off my shoes and curled up into a ball. Ash sat down next to me, handing me a cup of steaming coffee. 

"Thanks," I said taking a long sip. "So I get there, and it's him, Haley and Joshua sitting on their roof drinking beers. Which was then pretty much what we did all night. Then around 2, I was about to head home since he wasn't making any sort of move. I mean not even touching me once." I started to get frustrated retelling the story.

"That's weird," Ash chimed in.

"I know," I nodded. "So I start to gather my stuff and he's like 'just say, it's late', so I took this as a sign he was maybe going to make a move. But he ended up just handing me one of his tshirts, and spooning me."

Ash tried to hold in a laugh, but it came out in a loud snort with coffee everywhere. 

"Stop it!" I cried, trying to suppress my own laughter.

"Is he gay or something?" I added. "I just don't understand."

Ashley shook her head, "I don't know but that's way weird. I mean he definitely didn't seem gay."

"He doesn't even try to kiss me," I said, frustrated. 

"Why don't you ask Haley about it?" Ashley offered.

"Don't you think she'd end up telling Joshua?" I said.

"No, just ask her." 

I nodded my head, making a mental note to ask Haley out to drinks this week. 

"So how was the rest of your night?"

Ash grinned, "I got a really cute guys number after you left."

"Ohhh do tell," I said. 

"Well actually, we ran into Nick. It was one of the guys he was with, I think his coworker." 

"Yeah, Nick mentioned he saw you," I said nonchalantly. 

"Wait, what?" 

"Oh, he drunk texted me," I said rolling my eyes. 

"Yeah he was in rare form. He must have asked us where you were ten times," Ash replied.

"What did you tell him?" 

"That you were at home," Ash answered. "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything more believable on the spot." 

"I mean, I have every right to see who I want," I said, staring down at my coffee. "Plus, my new boyfriend appears to be gay anyway." This caused us to erupt in another round of giggles. 

"What should we do today?" Ash asked. 

"Ugh I have to go into work," I answered. "Missing yesterday to help someone move put me a little behind." 

"Fine," she said. "I guess I'll have to entertain myself." 

An hour later, I was walking into work. I had to go in a side door since the main doors locked on the weekends, and I was creeped out at the eeriness of the building. 

I pressed 28 on the elevator and let the steel box sweep me up. I was mentally making a task list of everything I wanted to get done in the next few hours when the door opened with a ping. 

Stepping out into the floor, I was a little surprised to see that no one else was there. I had come in on the weekend a handful of times and was usually greeted by at least a few graphics people who came in to catch up on work.

As I rounded the corner to my department, I heard the sound of something falling off a desk. I quickened my pace, curious to see who was there. When our group of desks finally came into view, I stopped in my tracks. 

Jeff had his back to me, with two woman's legs wrapped around his waist. Some girl was in front of him and they were clearly absorbed in shoving each other's tongues down their throats. Assuming it was Elena, I cleared my throat loudly, about to bust their chops.

"Ahem," I said a second time. Both Jeff and the girl whipped around towards me, looking sheepish. My stomach dropped when I realized it wasn't Elena at all.. but one of the interns, Becca something. 

"Dani..hey.." Jeff said, extracting himself and straightening his jacket. 

I narrowed my eyes at him, You've got to be fucking kidding me. I thought. Instead I said nothing and walked over to my desk.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have some work to do. Think you guys can take that elsewhere?" I snapped in an accusing tone.

Becca scurried away without a single word, but Jeff stood there looking uncomfortable. I ignored him and turned on my computer, fuming. I started to pull things out of my bag as I waited for my computer to start up.

"Dani," Jeff started. I looked up at him giving him the most bored expression I could muster. I was done giving him one minute of my time if he was going to keep pulling shit like this. We were at work for christ's sake. Elena's desk was ten feet from where he was attempting to impregnate an intern.

"Can we keep this between us?" he asked. 

I considered this, since I really didn't want to intentionally hurt Elena by telling her. But if she was going to start hooking up with him again I would never be able to keep it from her. 

"Jeff you can do whatever you want," I said. "Just so long as you don't hurt Elena. She's way too good for you." 

He looked a little hurt at my comment but didn't say anything else. He gave me a short nod and walked away. As soon as he left, I texted Ash what had happened. 

Oh my god.. what an asshole. Elena was texting him last night, but she didn't end up seeing him. 

I sighed loudly. Sincerely hoping she wouldn't see him anymore so that I wouldn't have to tell her what I had just walked in on.