Behind the Screen

Chapter 42

After his most recent showing at the office, Mason thankfully hadn't shown up again for a few days. Who knew how long it would last, but it would hopefully be for a while.

Chloe and I still hadn't set up a time to hang out, but I knew we'd get to it eventually. Whether or not it was a good idea was another story, but I was willing to try.

I was getting ready to leave work one night, and I saw Spencer's name come across my phone screen.

"Want to meet somewhere for drinks?" He asked.

"Sure, same bar?" I responded.

Another decision that I wasn't sure was a great idea, but we'd had fun last time, so why not?

I walked out to my car as I read his response.

"Yeah that works, see you soon."

"Hey, have a good night," Chloe's voice pulled my attention away from my phone.

"Thanks," I grinned, "you too."

I drove to meet Spencer, still questioning my decision, but I went through with it. When I went inside, he was sitting at the bar waiting for me.

"Katie, hey," he said with a big smile on his face.

"Hey Spence," I said.

He got up and gave me a hug before pulling the bar stool out.

"Thanks," I said to him as I sat down.

"I was a little surprised you agreed to come honestly," he told me as we ordered our drinks.

"Well, I had fun last time, so I decided to give you another chance," I teased him.

"Wow, thank you, I'm honored," he said with a grin.

"So uh," he continued, "has your situation gotten any better since the last time we talked?"

"Um," I hesitated, "a little bit actually...yeah. It's still complicated, but better than it was."

"That's good," he said, "I think."

"It is," I said with a smile, "I'll get everything figured out eventually."

"Yeah I'm sure you will," he agreed.

We stayed at the bar for a while and had another good conversation. The time went flying by and I eventually realized that I probably needed to go home.

"Okay," I sighed, "this has been fun, but I should get going."

"Yeah, sure," Spencer said.

"I just need to close my tab," I told him.

"No don't worry about that," he said, "I'll get it."

"Spence, you don't have to do that," I said as I shook my head and reached into my purse.

He put his hand on my arm to stop me as I looked up at him.

"I got it," he grinned.

"Fine," I reluctantly said.

"Thank you," he said, "for not being too stubborn."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes at him.

The bartender brought our bill over a few minutes later, and Spencer quickly grabbed it before I could even look.

I smiled and shook my head at him as he set his card on the bar.

Once he had paid, he walked me out to my car in the parking lot.

"Thanks again for coming," he said.

He gave me a hug, but he hesitated before he fully pulled away. He kept his arms around me as his gaze slowly met mine.

I didn't want to break the moment between us, even though I knew this was a bad idea, it was like he was pulling me in.

He leaned down towards me as he took my chin in his hand, and I felt a spark between us that I thought was long gone.

He brought his lips closer so they were only inches away from mine, but he paused. It was almost like he was giving me a chance to back out before things went any further.

I knew that I should, but I didn't.

His lips gently met mine as I closed my eyes and gave in to the kiss. It went on for longer than it should have, but I finally snapped out of the trance that I must have been in, and I pulled away.

"Shit, I'm sorry Spencer," I mumbled, "I - things are too complicated right now, I can't."

Spencer let his arms fall back down to his side as he let out a loud sigh.

"It's okay," he said, "I um, I had to try."

"I mean," I hesitated, "maybe if the timing was different, but I just can't complicate things any further."

"I get it," he said as he looked down at the ground, "it's fine, really."

"Okay," I said as we stood there awkwardly, "well I'll um - I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, maybe," he said, "later Katie."

He walked off towards his car, and I felt a sudden pang of guilt begin to overtake me. I felt guilty for misleading Spencer, guilty for kissing him when I knew that I still wanted to be with Chloe, and guilty for not wanting to tell her about this kiss.

"God damn it," I said to myself as I got into my car.

I just had to go and make things worse than they already were.

As soon as I started to drive, I instinctively called Emily. I needed her calm voice of reason right now.

"Em, I think I fucked up," I said when she answered.

"Oh boy, what happened?" She asked.

"Spencer asked if I wanted to hang out again, so we were just at the bar for a while," I said.

"Yeah, that's not so bad, is it?" Emily asked.

"Well no," I responded, "that part wasn't...but the part where I kissed him definitely was."

"Oh...shit Katie," Emily said, "didn't see that one coming."

"I'm such a mess," I said, "I don't know what the hell I was thinking. There was just - I don't know there was something between us, and he went for it and I didn't stop him."

"Okay you are kind of a mess," Emily admitted.

"Wow, thank you for that," I laughed, "but I did stop things pretty shortly after they started."

"Was he mad?" She asked.

"No...not really mad," I said, "but he was a little upset, disappointed maybe. I don't know."

"Yeah that would make sense," she responded.

"Damn it I feel terrible about this for so many reasons," I said as I hit my hand against my steering wheel.

"Hey, it's not the end of the world," Emily said, "you're single and he's single, look at it that way."

"I know," I sighed, "I just - with things the way they are with Chloe, the last thing I needed was something else to make it more difficult."

"No offense Katie," Emily said, "but I don't really think Chloe should have any reason to be mad or upset about this after what she pulled."

"I guess you're right, but I still feel bad," I said, "for Spencer too."

"Spence will survive, don't worry about him," Emily said.

"Oh and Katie," she continued.

"Yeah?"

"Get your shit together," she laughed.

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