"What?" Gary looked at his friend, shock written over his face. "What? Why?"
"Look, all we talked about was marriage. I told her-"
"Tell her what she wants to hear!" Gary shouted. "Lie to her!"
"No! Okay?" Ash shouted back. "I'm not going to lie to a twenty years old girl! That's your field, Oak. Not mine. I'm not doing it. I'm not dragging her with me falsely. That's why I ended it." Serena could have been the best girlfriend if Ash had truly liked her. He just didn't. He felt nothing toward her.
Gary looked at him for a moment. He took out his phone. "Shut up, idiot. Leaf is taking a shower in the room next to us."
"Sorry."
"But, you know what? I think I've got your type right here." Gary showed Ash his phone screen. "She didn't add me! I did."
Ash read her name, "Anabel..."
"She seems like a hard one, so I'm only going to talk to her if you're sure you want this."
Ash shrugged. His mind was slowly drifting, thinking of a certain cat lover who was probably torturing her cat's face on this holiday.
"Hey, I asked a question."
"Did you?"
"Yes or no?"
Ash took a deep breath. "Yes."
"Wait..." Gary narrowed his eyes as he scrolled down his phone quickly. "Wait, wait, wait – this woman and Leaf..."
When Leaf came out of the bathroom, Ash and Gary were staring at her as if she stole their food.
Ash slid his chair toward Misty's desk. "Hey Misty." He sounded hesitant.
"Uhm?" Misty looked at him.
"I've got a date tomorrow." The words were... bitter.
"Oh," Misty blinked. "This quick?"
"It's not the same woman as before."
"Huh? How come?"
"Anyway!" He slid back toward his desk and said, "The woman is friends with my childhood friend's girlfriend, so if things go wrong..." He fixes his eyes on hers.
"What if things go wrong?"
"Thing is, she talked to her into this, and she refused at first – but she said yes in the end..." Ash shrugged. He watched carefully Misty's face, trying to catch any changes or hints. "And it'd be awkward if it doesn't work out."
"Oooh."
Misty paused for a moment. She tilted her head and put her finger on her chin. Ash watched her. Why wasn't she reacting to this? Maybe she thought it was okay. Maybe she didn't care he had a date. It didn't seem to move anything in her. She looked absolutely fine with the whole thing. Or was she just pretending to be fine? What's the deal with this way too cute girl?
"Why did she refuse at first?" Misty looked at him.
"I-I don't know."
"I don't understand why she'd say no." The redhead shrugged and picked up her glittery pink travel mug with, of course, a cat printed on it. She took a sip of her cucumber juice and put it down.
Ash wasn't sure why he was blushing. He turned to look at his laptop, hand slightly hiding his nose and mouth.
"You don't need to overthink this," She said. "Go there and be yourself. If she likes you for you, then it's a win. If she doesn't, then you don't need her."
"That sounds easy, right?"
She smiled at him, cheeks slightly flushing. "If you feel comfortable the moment you sit, it's a good sign."
"Yeah."
Misty looked down at her keyboard, her hair falling to her face, hiding some of it. She put it behind her ear and started typing again.
"You're a very beautiful girl, Mist." It was going up and down his throat. He finally took it out. Finally. Whatever the outcome is; he didn't care. He needed to tell her, for some reason.
"Thank you. That's nice." Her voice was low. "I don't get that a lot."
"It's..." Ash shook his head, oblivious to the blush forming across his face. "They're terribly wrong."
"Well," she began and finally looked at him. "That woman was terribly wrong for refusing at first."
Ash licked his dry lips. His heart pumped.
"Excuse me..." He watched as Misty grabbed quickly her mug and rushed out of the office.
He spun his chair to face the wall and talked to no one, "She didn't notice the nickname. She didn't. Calm down."
