Not close enough

4. Party at Ari's.

Pacing back and forth, Haley listened to the muffled yelling from her former best friend.
She definitely was upset with her ex wife and as much as Haley didn't want to admit it, she was relieved. Yelling wasn't a good sign and she just hoped that her farmer girl wouldn't be as forgiving as she always is and let her back.
It was tense, you could feel the energy from the room over.

People were looking concerned, Haley had to do something to save the opening and so she did just that.

"Okay" Haley clasped her hands together "Leah wanna help me take some more pictures for people as others browse the products?" Leah nodded anxiously, not wanting anything else to go wrong.
"Let's do this!" Haley smiled, trying to bring the vibrant energy back.

The other pelican town residents got to work trying to get things back on track.
Eliot managed the music, Emily handed out more drinks, Pam chatted with some guests to easy the tension and Abigail and Sebastian played some ice breaker games to keep people occupied.

After about 20 minutes the arguing died down and a very red, very angry Aria emerged. To other people she just looked slightly annoyed but, Haley knew that look anywhere. She was seething with rage.

"One moment guys very sorry" Haley said to the people whose photos she was taking as she skipped off and took Aria's hand leading them to the corner of the room.
"What happened?" Haley felt bad for even asking but knowing Aria, she had some things to get off her chest.
"That snake, she's vile I hate her, pure narcissistic, nosey little-" Aria caught herself and looked into Haley's eyes seemingly calming down slightly.
"I'm sorry I just don't think I'm over what she did, she wants to be friends and I don't know if I can allow her that type of reassurance" The farmer girl explained.
"Hey it's okay, you don't have to be forgiving all of the time, I don't even think you should've forgiven me if I'm being honest" Haley says, scratching the back of her neck.
"I was always going to forgive you Hales, that was never out of the question, besides you didn't do anything like THAT, we were never together and we certainly weren't married" Aria let's out and admittedly it hurt Haley to hear her say they were never together, especially since Haley had tried to make them a thing but Aria didn't allow it, drunk or not.
"It's okay to be angry sometimes, maybe this is the closure you needed A" The blonde reasons with her former best friend, trying to help her see the good in todays events.
"Something tells me this isn't the last I've seen of her" Aria spits out angrily, realising that she's scaring Haley a little bit before trying to calm down some more.
"Thank you for trying to salvage this opening" She concludes, wrapping her arms around Haley.

The pair stood there for a moment, soaking the intimate moment in, they had longed for this closeness again for so long.
But of course the moment was to be interrupted.

"So that's why you won't forgive me, you're still caught up on her? When I saw her picture in your desk when we were still just friends you told me she broke your heart and you could never see her again, I see now that I was just a place holder...but don't you worry I will take back what's mine..eventually" Cassidy's voice was laced with sadness and anger, the realisation dawning on her that her ex wife still held an immense amount of love for Haley.
"I think you should leave, maybe one day we can talk about this like mature adults but for now, the emotions are too high as well as the stakes" Aria sounded a lot calmer now, Haley's presence being the defining factor in her being able to calm down.
It was bittersweet for Haley, on the one hand, she was flattered that she had been the reason Aria had calmed down, on the other hand however, she knew that for Aria to say they may talk about it eventually meant that Aria was considering possibly giving Cassidy the time of day at one point.
"If this is a war, just know, I. Always. Win." Cassidy whispers to Haley before leaving.

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

About an hour after the dramatics, Haley decides to help Aria clear the building out, leaving just Aria and the pelican town residents.
"Why don't you all come back to my place and we can catch up?" Aria asks once the place has died down.
"I'd love to" "hell yeah" "Party at Ari's" The now business woman was relieved that the previous events hadn't dampened anyone's mood, she considered hosting to everyone as a thank you for them not letting her opening get ruined by her spiteful, jealous ex wife.

Aria's house was a few streets away and everyone took off for the walk in their respective pairs:
Aria and Haley, Emily and Pam, Eliot and Leah and Seb and Abigail.