on deck; a. judge

4.

[e]

I met a new girl at work today; Her name is Hannah and I could tell we were going to get along great. It was nice to finally meet a girl in my department so I didn't feel like I was singled out.

I hadn't really talked to a lot of people since graduating. A lot of them went off to bigger and better things. I was content with living in New York, I had come to grow such a love for it over the last couple of years at Columbia. New York sports fans were loyal, and I loved that.

Once I got back to the duplex, I heard loud laughter and banter going on from the lower section. Aaron had friends over. Great.

Aaron looks over at me, "El! You're home! Guys, this is Ellie, my new housemate. Ellie, this is Giancarlo, Oswaldo, and Andrew. They're teammates."

I nod, throwing them a small wave.

"We're more like a parental figure to him, since he thinks he can live on the wild side all the time," Giancarlo says. He had a flashy smile.

"Shut up dude," Aaron chuckled as I sat on the other couch. Why not shoot the shit with them for a while?

"So what do you do?" Another one spoke, I think it was Oswaldo. "Why are you in New York? And why did you agree to live with this guy?"

I shrug, "I like baseball, and I like New York. Got a job with the Yankees, saw his posting of the upper part of the duplex, and now I'm here." I pull my knees up to my chest as I was kind of shy around of group of guys I wasn't really familiar with.

"Oh, that's awesome. So do you do like social media and shit?"

I shake my head. "Analytics, marketing, PR, kind of all over the place." I tell them.

"That's awesome." Oswaldo said. "That's cool, never really see girls in that part of the job. They usually want to be like social media or something, talk to us, if you know what I mean."

I chuckle quietly, nodding at him, "Yeah, I got what you meant."

Aaron walked back in with drinks for him and the guys. "So which one you got your eye on, El?" He asks, unable to contain his laughter.

I roll my eyes at him and just gave him a disapproving look. "They're all lovely, Judge. More polite than you were when we first met."

They all 'oooh'ed', knowing I had just dissed Aaron. It was true though, they were all super nice to me. Something I didn't get from Aaron the night we met.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy, they're taken, besides Oswaldo. He's a single guy, ready to mingle!"

"Oh yeah, totally, Judge. But I like to get to know a girl before I'm hopping in her pants.."

I liked him.

----

I decided to retreat back upstairs for a little while to focus on myself and do a little extra side work. My eyes were starting to burn, staring at the screen for so long does a number to you.

I could hear faint music coming from downstairs. I kind of liked that Aaron kept to himself when he wasn't busy at the ballpark. It wasn't really the frat house I was expecting to live in.

"I got some Gin in me.
A hundred bands on me.
I'm feelin' myself, yeah.
I might say too much...

She got me going psycho,
She got me going down, down, down...."

I could hear Russ playing as I walked down the stairs. I smile to myself, he told me that he wouldn't listen to him, he wasn't into that type of music was his excuse.

I knock on his door quietly before opening it more, "So I see you're liking Russ.." I say, causing Aaron to jump and look back at me as he closes his laptop slightly.

"Some of it is actually good, I won't lie." Aaron says, turning his chair to look at me. "You can come in.."

I walk in, sitting down in a beanbag chair and looked up at him, "I haven't seen the inside of this room yet, and I heard Russ so I got curious.."

"This is kind of where I come to unwind, have a moment to myself, breathe." Aaron told me. "I have some memories in here, I don't bring the guys in here, this is like a chill room for me." He says before sitting in the other beanbag chair next to me.

"I like it," I tell him, my feet brushing against his, "It's a quiet, peaceful room. I think everyone needs a room like this." The way we were sitting near each other almost felt intimate. I wasn't complaining.

"Yeah, I come in here if I just want to sit in silence of if I wanna play some video games after a stressful game or practice." He says as he looks around and then looks at me.

His hand brushes against my thigh, I'm only wearing a baggy hoodie and some fuzzy socks to cover my feet as it was fairly cold outside and I just feel my cheeks blush up. I shake my head, smiling to myself. I couldn't let myself fall for him.

Not yet.