My Father's Best Friend

Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you guys so much for 20k+ reads! That means so much to me. I never thought this story would even get that far, so thank you for that. I'll be regularly updating from now on because I'm a lot less busy. Expect a new chapter at least once a week! :)

Mark's P.O.V.

"And you'll need to give this number a call, too. It's the paper supplier, something about being out of cardstock. Mr. Sterling? Are you okay?"

I snap out of my trance, and focus my attention back on my secretary's droning voice.

"Yeah, will do. Thanks, Tracy." I say, dismissing her. She nods, then walks out of the room.

I put my head down on my desk, and let out a long breath. I can't stop thinking about what happened to Aria. Even thinking about it makes my fists clench. That scumbag.

I took her back to her dorm that night, and she was so tired that we only talked a bit. She told me how grateful she was that I'd been there, and then she fell asleep. We've only talked a few times since.

I sigh, then throw my coat over my shoulder to grab a cup of coffee from the cafe down the road. The coffee in the break room is downright atrocious.

"I'll take a mocha frappe, thanks." I say to the cashier.

I sit down at a table and decide to shoot Aria a quick text:

Hey, you feeling okay? Let's do something fun tonight. My place, 8:00? Tell me if you can't make it x

After hitting send, my frappe arrives and I twirl my straw around in it, thinking about where I could take Aria tonight, as friends. Yeah, we're back to that, I guess. It's fine, though. As long as she's happy, I am.

That's it! Bowling. Bowling would be perfect, we used to go all the time!

I grab my coat and head back to work, fussing over some boring business report I have to make. I decide to just bring it home.

Aria: Sounds fun! I'll be there :)

By the time 8:00 rolls around, I'm ready, and just sitting at my desk working on the report while waiting for Aria. She texts me saying she's walking up and I tell her not to bother knocking.

"Mark?" She calls.

"In here! I'll be out in a second!" I reply, and she comes into my room.

"Whatcha working on?" She says, and I turn around in my seat to look at her.

She looks beautiful. Even wearing light blue skinny jeans and a simple black cardigan and white shirt, she still manages to take my breath away. But, friends don't think about friends that way, right? I'm distracted as she balances herself on her feet, which are sporting cute, bowed black flats. Her sense of style is impeccable.

Her beauty has distracted me so much that I forget what she asked.

"Um....w-what?" I murmur, trying hard to avert my eyes.

"I asked what you're working on?" She laughs, obviously finding humor in my embarassment.

"Oh, um, just this stupid business report. God, it's like I never left college. I'm always having to write some kind of paper." I sigh.

"Well, I'm not majoring in business but I am majoring in English, so let me help!" She smiles, pulling up a seat.

"Oh god, Mark, your grammar is bringing tears to my eyes. How did you manage to spell your own last name wrong?" She doubles over in laughter, and I glance at the paper. Sure enough, my last name's missing the R.

"Alright, alright, let's go Miss Comedy. I think you'll like where we're going." I grin.

Her eyes widen. "Are we going to Paris?" she says in mockery.

"No, now get in the car. They're closing soon." I say.

She pouts playfully. "Aw, well now my standards are set high."

We laugh and I roll my eyes at her high maintenance act. She's the only person making me laugh lately.

While we're driving, Ar puts her Lana Del Rey CD in, and as she's belting out the lyrics to Blue Jeans, we pull up into Bowl of Fun, her favorite place as a kid. Her mouth drops.

"Mark, oh my god! How did you remember?" She squeals.

"How could I forget?" I reply, and walk to the other side of the car to open the door for her.

"A true gentlemen." she says, in a mock haughty voice. I chuckle, and we head in.

"Hi, shoes for two please?" I say. The grumpy old man just gives me a grim look and nods.

"What size are you?" I say.

"6." She says, looking down at her small feet.

I nod. We get our shoes, strap them on, and pick out our balls.

"Ooh, I want this pink one! It's so-- Oh no!" She fumbles and I look over, seeing her about to drop it. I rush over and pick it up before it hits the ground. Then look up to see her staring down at me, shocked. Our eyes lock and she doesn't say anything for a while, and I finally break the ice.

"Here's your ball." I hand it over.

"Th-thanks." She says, kinda breathlessly, taking it from me. I nod.

We play a game, and her ball keeps going in the gutter so I help her out, standing behind her and guiding her arms.

"Like this." I say, pulling her arms back and releasing it. I try to keep my distance because my friend down south is acting up from the close proximity, but before I can pull away I think she's noticed.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." She says shyly. I mentally slap myself. Awkward.

But by the time she makes her third strike in a row, I think she's forgotten about my little mishap.

"Haha, sucker! I win!" She squeaks, just like a little kid again. I laugh with her, and we head over to the snack bar to order greasy pizza and some Cokes.

"How was your day?" She asks, taking a slice.

"Pretty boring, until now." I smile.

"Yeah, I have that effect on people." She laughs, and I roll my eyes.

"Sure." and she hits me playfully.

"I've missed you." She says suddenly, taking me by surprise.

"Me too." I reply, smiling, then continue by saying:

"How are things with you, though? Has that ass tried talking to you at all?" I say, my jaw clenching.

"Nah, not really. Just endless texts saying how sorry he is and all that sappy bullshit that he doesn't really mean. I don't even care anymore, really. I'm just like, disappointed, you know? I thought he was my friend, my actual friend, and all this time he was just waiting for sex! I wasted my time on him.."

I nod, sympathetically. It's bothering to know someone has hurt her.

"Well, if it helps, I absolutely love being your friend." I say, putting my hand over hers. She smiles.

"Thanks, Mark. It means a lot." She says.

"Don't mention it. Now come on! I wanna kick your ass in this next game!"