Sleeping With a Friend

Chapter Five

That sweet smell of crushed coffee bean might be the only thing keeping me awake today. This week had been a week from hell and It was only Wednesday, which gave me now hope for the remaining two days I would have to get up and do the same things.

After what happened at my place on Saturday, I hadn’t even talked to Sophie. The boys and her had left around 1 am after cleaning up their share of the mess, which wasn’t much, but was still nice of them to offer. A huge part of me was so angry at Sophie for saying those things, I didn’t even have the will to talk to her. That same part in my head that was spewing how terrible of a person she was, was also very thankful for Ashton. It made me see a whole different side of him and push away my doubts I had created of his personality. I had come to fear that I was growing feelings for him, which I didn’t’ want to happen what so ever. My focus right now was work and getting the promotion to an executive where i would be able to have input on what style each issue of the magazine went. Not to mention another girl was in the running for the same job so I really had to step up my A-game. This job would mean so many great things: better hours, more money; giving me the chance to finally move out of my shitty apartment and away from my terrible landlord who made my life a living hell. A relationship was the last thing I would need right now.

When I got to the office, I could already tell there was stack of folders on my desk from my boss. It was like she knew I’d do anything to get a promotion and was just using me to do busy work that didn’t actually need to get done. But here I was, doing it anyway. It was only typical that I do everything I’m told, otherwise where would I find myself. I began to wonder if Sophie is right as I rummaged through endless amounts of pointless paperwork. Was I really that much of a prude? I mean, there were times when I didn’t stay in and went out to have a good time, they just weren’t as often as hers. Was I really that bad?

I sighed heavily and rested my back against my chair. I was only about half way done with my work load and it had already been four hours.

“Y/N.” My boss, Julie caught me off guard and I shot up, turning my head to look her.

“Yeah, what is it?” I half yawned.

“It’s time for your lunch break, or are you skipping again today?” She rested her hand on her hip.

“Uh, no. I’ll take it.” I shook my head, wanting to get out of that damn cubicle for my own good.

“Alright, you know the deal. I’ll see you in an hour.” She patted the wail and walked off. I guess that was one of the perks of my job, an hour lunch break. Now that I think about it, it’s pretty sad that I look forward to a lunch break as my freedom from work. I picked up my purse and made my way toward the elevators, pressing the button to go down. I hummed to myself and tapped my foot to my made-up tune as I waited for the ding of the elevator.

“Y/N?” As the elevator opened before me, a grinning Ashton appeared, leaning against the metal.

“Ashton? What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping on, seeing that the first floor was already pressed.

“I work on the floor above.” He nodded his head upward.

“Oh really? I wonder why I’ve never seen you there before.” I replied more like a question, leaning my full back against the same metal as him and crossed my arms over my chest to hold my elbows.

Ashton shrugged, “I just started a few weeks ago.” I nodded in response.

The elevator grew silent as a flat smile grew on my lips. I looked away, up at the moving numbers above the elevator doors. It read one and the doors opened, allowing us to step off.

"I have an hour for lunch, would you wanna grab some with me?" Ashton asked as we walked out into the lobby.

I grinned, “Yeah, sure. There’s actually this little cafe just right down the street I go to all the time. We can head there if you don’t care.”

"That’s fine," He agreed smirking, "I just need food." I chuckled at him and placed a hand on my purse handle as we walked out the building. The cafe was only a few doors down so there wasn’t much time for a full conversation on the way there.

"I promise, this place has the best hoagies." I told as we approached the door. Ashton opened the door and we heard a small ringing of a bell at the top of it. I muttered a "thank you" walking through and he followed. I sat at a table close to a window so I could admire the view of the city, something I loved to do any time I came here.

“Have you talked to Sophie at all?” Ashton wondered, placing his phone on the table.

I shook my head, “No, I don’t even want to. I just feel like she was out of line and I don’t have anything to say to her.”

“Maybe you should let her know how you feel.” He suggested.

I raised my eyebrow at him, “Didn’t you tell me to forget it ever even happened?” I didn’t follow that advice either though.

“Yeah, that night. But don’t you think you should at least confront her about it-“

“No,” I cut him off while shaking my head. “You don’t know Sophie. She’ll just deny she said anything and then pretend like nothing happened.” He opened his mouth to continue, but I refused to get a lecture, “Ashton I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s over and done with.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, “Alright, sorry I even brought it up.”

“It’s alright,” I sighed lightly, “Now, do you want a hoagie?” I smiled innocently as a waitress finally came over.

We ordered and sat in an awkward silence and I turned my head to look at the window. I didn’t know where this conversation was going, but I sure knew it wasn’t a date. Ashton seemed stubborn in getting an answer out of me, but he wasn’t going to get one.

The rest of the lunch went just as awkward as the silence we were in. We paid separately and walked out of the café.

“That hoagie was really good.” Ashton chuckled once we were walking on the sidewalk. I mentally thanked him for breaking the silence first.

"I told you." I giggled. We continued walking in silence, to the building and into the elevator.

Another heavy sigh left my lips, “Look Ashton, I didn’t mean to be hostile toward you earlier.” He tilted his head to look at me while we were I the elevator, “I don’t like always doing the right thing, or the proper thing. I just can’t help it. It’s who I am, it’s always been.” I finished with a shrug.

Ashton smiled, “Maybe, just once, you should try something new. Step out of your shell.” The elevator dinged on my floor and I stepped toward the door. As they were opening Ashton continued with a smirk, “You never know what you’ll discover about yourself.”

I walked through the door and turned back to see the doors close with him behind them and his words running through my mind for the rest of the day.