Square One

"FUCK HIM," Ashley's voice boomed, and it was a toss up which was louder - her blistering remark or the heavy slam of the apartment door. It was Sunday night I and was standing in the kitchen watching my pasta boil on the stove, fresh off the bus from Philly.

"WHO!" I yelled back, mirroring her rage in an attempt to mock her melodramatic entrance. 

She glared at me, clearly not amused.

"STEVE," she snapped, stomping (seriously, stomping) into the kitchen and pulling out the first bottle of wine she saw. She snatched the corkscrew out of its home in a bowl on the counter and started stabbing at the cork. 

"Woah now," I said, walking over and taking control. "The cork is just an innocent bystander, don't take it out on him." 

She relinquished control of the cork's imminent torture and went to stand on the opposite side of the counter.

"Wine first?" I asked, pouring her a healthy glass of the red. Wordlessly, she took the offering and downed the entire glass in one long gulp. 

"He's marrying her," she said, a mixture of anguish and rage dancing behind her words. 

My shoulders slumped and I felt a look of pity flash across my face. I quickly recovered and put on a brave front for the sake of my friend. "I'm sorry Ash," I said.

"He's marrying her," she repeated, and I could tell she was fighting back tears. She shook her head when I tried to pour her another glass, instead taking the bottle out of my hands and heading towards the couch. I turned off the stove and followed obediently. 

"Did you just see him?" I asked tentatively. 

"All weekend. We spent all weekend together." 

I really needed to start putting her in a cage when I went to Philly. 

"Did you..." I trailed off, nervous to suggest the act of them sleeping together.

"No," she said between swigs of the wine. "I tried, I threw myself at him like a goddamn idiot and he kept saying he wanted to wait until he had ended things with her."

I waited silently, knowing she would fill in the details on her own.

"He came over Saturday morning and we cooked brunch.. then he stayed all day and night. He left this morning, walked out all defiantly saying grandiose things about how he was going to end things with her." 

Another swig, and I noticed the bottle was 2/3 gone.

"Then when I hadn't heard from him in a few hours, I went over there," she said.

I widened my eyes at her bold move, but kept my mouth shut. Had I been here, I certainly wouldn't have let her traipse over there - the other woman showing up on the doorstep - but it was too late now. 

"And?" I encouraged. Her eyes were fixed on the wall, clearly reliving the memory of what she was about to tell me. 

"He answered, and then looked panicked. So he asked me to take a walk. I guess she was inside asleep or something. Probably napping after their afternoon of makeup sex." 

Again I remained silent, grasping for words all the while knowing nothing I could say would lessen the hurt. 

"He told me that he's too invested in what they have. That he has feelings for me still, but we didn't work out before and he couldn't leave her to try and ultimately fail with me again. He said that he does love her." 

"Ash..." I started, wanting to hug her but knowing she'd shrug it off. 

"I look like a fool," she said, her voice finally lowered to normal speaking level. 

"You don't look like a fool, he does," I said, silently noting that Steve did have a point. Why would he walk away from his fiancee to try with Ashley, when all she did was cheat on him when they were together? 

"Either way, back to square one," she brought the bottle back to her lips. 

"You like being single though, remember?" I encouraged, trying to shine light on the positives here.

Ashley rolled her eyes, "Yeah when I had someone to be single with. Now you and Dylan just make love eyes at each other and it makes me miss that."

I sighed loudly. "You'll find that again Ash," I said. "You just have to push Steve out of your mind."

"I know," she replied, tossing her head back to rest on the back of the couch. "Sorry for being a brat. I'm just upset, but I know that in reality I have no right to be."

I was stunned to silence for a minute, this was very un-Ashley to apologize for her actions. 

"It's okay," I replied after a beat. "You're entitled." 

I walked back over to the stove to resume pasta making. Ash followed me, dropping the now-empty bottle in the recycling. How was she not drunk?

"How was Philly?" she asked. "Did your parents like the ol' ball and chain?"

I rolled my eyes at her but laughed, "Yes he got the stamp of approval."

"Good," she said, taking a bite of an apple from the counter.

"Didn't you already consume enough fruit for the evening?" I asked jokingly. 

She fake glared at me.

"When is he visiting again anyway?" Ashley asked. 

"Dylan? Not for two weeks. He has another business trip next week that goes through Saturday." 

This perked Ashley up. "So you're around this coming weekend?" 

"Yesss," I said, draining the pasta and searching in the cabinets for sauce.

"Girls night!" she yelped, and I could tell the wine was kicking in. "Invite Elena, so I can have a single comrade." 

"I wouldn't be so sure about single," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Last I heard she was starting to see that guy Trey that we met the other weekend."

"Trey?" Ashley asked.

"The bartender."

"Ohmygod," she replied, mouth agape. "Jealous."

I nodded in agreement. "I'll text Spence, maybe she can come down."

"She's not single either," Ash pouted. 

"Isn't that better? Less competition for you," I replied with a laugh.

"Maybe you're right. Anyway, we should plan a whole night. Bottle service, the works." 

"Sold," I said, reaching for my phone to text Spencer. Even if it was 5 days away, the weekend was already making me excited. 

I saw a text that had come through ten minutes ago, and my heart beat a little faster seeing it was from Nick.

Have a good time in Philly?