Only Forward

(9) The Other One

    After Ross and I's first kiss, our visit with Rowan and the drive back to my parents' house, I sailed upstairs and lay on my bed for a while, seriously contemplating the fact that I may be sixteen again. My heart was all a flutter and half of me felt silly for getting all giddy and part of me wanted to get all excited over the fact that I had finally found someone who wanted to be more than friends.
    I was always pretty good at making friends: whether that was in middle school, high school or college. I would exchange numbers with classmates so that we could study together, in our rooms or halls. As I told you before, I never attended a dance without a date, but none of those guys ever asked me out again. It did not mess with my self esteem, surprisingly, but it would get lonely sometimes. Vanessa living at home all the way up until her marriage to Ellet was helpful in giving me a companion but obviously, we were totally independent from each other.
    BlueCorn has been good. Since getting that job, I have not been on the lookout for anything else. I would like to stumble across something, most suited to using this degree that I paid and received scholarships for, so attempted to keep my eyes open for something to come my way. Job fairs would probably be an excellent idea to scour; I just had not made that appointment yet.
    After sharing kisses under the oak tree, we agreed to make it official: to our families and ourselves. I think he had already decided we were together but for some reason, my mind had not caught up with the present time and realized the reality of the situation. Sitting in his car on the way home, I smiled broadly. Although he was driving and keeping his eyes on the road, he still caught a glimpse of my beaming.
    "What is tickling your fancy? I have not said a single thing remotely raging in the last couple minutes."    I rolled my eyes, so he could laugh at his ridiculousness and just smiled. "I am just happy."
    He smiled back. "Me too."
    We agreed that I should come over and meet the rest of his family. Riker was out for the rest of the week with the tv show he was currently starring in, but would be able to see family on the weekend. Although Ross and I hung out during the end of the week, he would officially pick me up from BlueCorn on Saturday when I got off and take me back to his house for dinner.
    Saturday was super busy at BlueCorn. The sunny Cali weather was immaculately pristine and everyone wanted iced coffee and an amble through the park. Muffins were sold out in a mere fifteen minutes and the baker in the back worked hard and quickly at whipping fresh ones up and in and out of the oven. I wiped tables when I could get to it but mainly had to ring and make drinks to keep up with everything.
    In the middle of chaos, but near the end of my shift, someone slipped me a note with a red heart on it. I smiled, assuming it was Ross and looked up expectantly, freezing instantly when I spotted some jet black curly head staring back at me. I raised my eyebrows a bit and inquired what I could do to help him.
    "You." He said, point blankly.
    I frowned. "What?"
    "Did you see my note?"
    I was sure that I looked frazzled, as I was, but instinctively glanced back down at the scrawny piece of white paper that had been shoved in my direction. It appeared to have a love poem composed on the front of it or something, the penmanship being so tiny that I was having a hard time reading it.
    Seeing the ever-growing line of customers impatiently standing behind him, I rapidly nodded. "Yeah, I got it. What kind of coffee may I get for you?"
    He did not seem to be in a hurry. He just proudly smiled. "Did you get my gift?"
    I looked at him weirdly. "Hmmmm? I think you have the wrong person. And I don't mean to be mean, but if you aren't ordering any beverages, would you mind stepping to the side so I can get to the next person?" I crossed my fingers behind me that he would not consider that incessantly rude.
    He seemed to snap out of it slightly, as he gripped his bag a little tighter but still did not move. "The cupcakes on your porch last week? Did you get them?" Even though I did not wish to continue this odd conversation, my eyes went wide at that piece of information. At least I partly knew where those velvet desserts had come from. I looked closer at this stranger to see if I could recognize anything about him. Nada.
    Finally, seeing as I was not immediately answering any of his persisting probes, he moved away from the counter and I shook my head while addressing the next person. Forgetting about him for the time being, I managed to fill coffee cups with precision and hand out slices of crumb cake before Black Hair appeared in front of me again. I groaned inside, but was a bit weirded out that he knew where I lived if I did not recognize him from anywhere.
    "You didn't answer, but your eyes seemed to answer yes, in agreement to receiving the cupcakes?"
    I nodded. "I'm sorry? Have we met?"
    The man frowned for the first time since we had begun this interaction of sorts over twenty minutes ago. "You don't recognize me?"
    I shook my head, wondering what bridge I was burning by not knowing.
    "Does Andrew Westover mean anything to you?"
    It clicked. Andrew had been my date to senior prom, practically my last date anywhere and a lot of rumors had spread around school, saying that we were in a relationship. We were friends for sure, but not romantically involved. I'd sit next to him in mutual classes and at graduation but afterwards, he moved straight to the east coast and not a peep from him again.
       Until now.  I wanted to quietly sneak around the corner and beg Alyssa to take over for me, but I feared never fully getting rid of him. Obviously, he still remembered where my parents house was. That freaked me out.
      I decided to scoot around the corner and ask Alyssa for a few minutes to step aside and address this issue.  She nodded and took my place at the counter.
       Andrew strolled right over. "Hey beautiful!"
    I had planned on sitting at a table to talk with him but at that greeting, I dismissed the sitting and went right to the point. "This needs to stop. I have a boyfriend."
    Andrew did not seem bothered.
    "And I like him," I added firmly, wondering why he was saying nothing and just standing there absently.
     "I still could take you out. I'm in town for a while," Andrew suggested. 
     I shook my head. "Not really. I'm happy where I am."
     "I had you first though. You never know, you could change your mind."
     Although we weren't engaged or anything, I was not going out with two guys at the same time. While I was contemplating how to write him off once and for all, who other than Ross walked in. Glancing at my watch, I realized that my shift was in fact over. Ross caught my eye and I waved him over.
     "Ross, this is an old friend of mine, Andrew. We graduated in the same class." Ross shook his hand while I was introducing them, all the while quietly standing super close to Ross to prove a point.
     Andrew smiled and nodded at Ross. "I took her to prom. She was the most beautiful girl there!" He proclaimed as if that would mean something. 
     Ross seemed indifferent.  "I was there, you know."
     Andrew shrugged. "Well, seeing as I could not sway her to go out with me today, I'll just stand on the sidelines and wait for you to break her heart. Then I will take my rightful place at her side." 
     Still wearing my BlueCorn apron, I felt Ross' hand stretch around my waist protectively. He looked Andrew straight in the eye and announced, "I will not hurt her in any way, especially not on purpose. I see no need for you to wait around. Apparently you had your time and you did not take it. Please back off my girlfriend before I have to get mean." 
     Andrew threw his haughty gaze my way as if he expected me to subdue Ross down, but seeing as I silently stood there, he put his hands in the air and backed up. "Whatever. It's your life."  Thankfully he walked out then and I exhaled the deep breath I was holding in.
     Ross gave me a hug. "You okay?"
     I nodded. "He's the one who left the red velvet cupcakes on my porch," I informed him.
    He grinned. "Good thing I smashed it on your face then. No need to eat my rival's food."
      I smiled. "I have to take this apron off and clock out before we leave."
      Ross smiled. "Of course. I'll be waiting here."
      I smiled again and before I disappeared in the back, I called his name.  He turned to face me and I whispered, "By the way, you have no rival."