Chenford: One Shot to the Heart

Okay, Really? I'll Be Surprised If You Didn't See THIS Coming

A/N: Part 3 cause I couldn't help it but I also didn't want to make a separate fic, so sorry. 

She wasn't a fidgeter. But at this moment, under these circumstances, she was. 

She was about to have "brunch" with her recently new boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. No, it didn't sound like a disaster in the making. 

She crossed, then uncrossed her legs.

She curled, then uncurled her toes.

She fisted, then unfisted her hands.

Sweet mama, this was agony. She wanted to bang her head on the table. But the waiters already had a wearily trained eye on her. She needed to maintain some sense of decorum. The bell on the classy diner's door jingled. Her gaze shot up from the glass that had been gathering condensation in front of her for the last ten minutes and met the blue-hued eyes of a blonde-haired beauty. Ashley. She stood, not sure of what to do when Ashley all but launched herself at Lucy.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in forever. I'm so happy this worked out!" Her genuine excitement threw Lucy off, sending her into a tailspin as they sat down. Ashley turned to the waiter who had been hovering anxiously nearby for the better part of the last fifteen minutes. "I'll get the breakfast omelet, she'll have the same but no meat, and an order of your bottomless mimosas for the both of us," she said, shooting Lucy a wink. "Right away," was the relieved waiter's only comment.

The moment they were alone, Ashley jumped onto the back of the elephant in the room. "I know you can't not be obsessing over why I of all people would want to connect with you. How am I not bothered by the fact that you're dating my ex? What good is this little conference going to achieve?"

Set more at ease by Ashley's relaxed and champagne-bubbly temperament, Lucy leaned back in her chair, saying with a small smile, "I'd be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind more than a hundred times or so."

"All of which," Ashley said, "I promise, you'll get the answers to. But for now, please, can we just pretend we don't know each other and start over?"

The food and drinks came out before Lucy could make a reply. But she took a sip of mimosa and said, with a bright and genuine smile, "Sounds like a plan."

~~~~

They talked for hours.

It was easier than Lucy thought, starting over. She got to know Ashley, not as Tim's girlfriend. Part of it may have been the amount of spiked orange juice they both consumed. They were currently fighting through peals of laughter over a cocky trainee who had questioned Ashley's physical ability and foolishly challenged her to a push-up contest. 

"He was-he was dying," she choked out through the laughter. "I was putting up three to his one. He had all these other trainees around him, either nagging on him or yelling at him to pick it up! Because there was either no way I wouldn't beat him or, no way I could."

The waiters were silently amused.

Their laughing spree eventually softened and died out. 

"Can I ask you now?" Lucy prodded.

"Ask me what?"

"You know...um..."

"Girly, I'm teasing. I know what you mean. We're friends now, right? You don't have to feel uneasy, asking me about my ex who is now your boyfriend."

"You really have a way of putting things."

She carelessly tossed her hair back over her shoulder, "It's a gift. But to answer your questions, don't sweat it. I've had the answers from before I walked in that door three hours ago."