1. Dreams

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Ainsley turned to April with a look that she hoped explained the entire story. An audience wasn't needed, though she couldn't help but notice that this was started in the middle of a masked charity event. She was sure seeing her features in the dancing lights was hard, but April had been paying attention. She would worry about the repercussions of that later.

"Okay," April began exiting, to Ainsley's relief, even if it were begrudgingly; she didn't want her to get the whole story. She was sure she'd get an edited version tomorrow that wasn't close to what actually happened.

Picking up her drink from the bar, April scanned the crowd for someone she knew to spill what she knew was happening to her best friend, wishing she could see everything. Ainsley's breakups were always entertaining and made for hot gossip. It wasn't that she was fond of telling one's secrets, but sometimes, when she opened her mouth, they just fell out. Besides, she was glad this was happening with this guy - she couldn't stand the dud. It was the only thing she and the boss agreed on. But as she looked for someone to talk to about the current situation, she stopped suddenly, her own face a telling one.

"I'm going to go murder...MINGLE," she shouted the correction, startling Ainsley as if the murder part wasn't enough of a shock.

Ainsley wasn't sure if her friend was being intimidating, not that she cared. She couldn't deny that she was also thinking of different scenarios involving the person next to her, one a little more demented than the next, but something else seemed off with her friend.

"April?"

"Mingling," April repeated, followed by a closed-mouth laugh that would cause anyone who didn't know her to step back.

Except it wasn't the dud that April wanted to murder, but her own, whose hands were all over a blonde in cat ears and a black mini. Ainsley's mouth dropped open and then closed, unsure what to say to her friend. What could one say? He's not worth it? That didn't seem appropriate. Ainsley's stomach dropped, even if she wasn't the one going through it.

"Yes. Mingle," April repeated through clenched teeth, took a deep breath, and turned to look back at Ainsley. "I need to take care of something. You two have something to talk about anyway, and I don't want to be a bother."

"That's a first," she heard the dud mumble and cut her eyes at him.

April gave some semblance of a smile, knowing it looked like a sneer, before hissing at the dud. And then disappeared into the crowd of dancers, leaving Ainsley not only stupefied but questioning if she should follow her to ensure she wouldn't commit some horrendous crime. Then again, she'd like to help take care of that two-timing jerk; she never cared for him anyway. Maybe she could get April before she got to him, and they could get out of there and finish the night off with a couple of pints in front of the TV. She took a step forward and stopped as a throat cleared behind her.

"As I was saying."

Ainsley's shoulders dropped. She had forgotten about Chris for that split moment and what was about to transpire between them. Staring at April, she thought about following her anyway. This was nothing a text message couldn't cover, but then again, there was this weekend.

Sighing with the weight of one who doesn't want to ask for something, she turned to look at her doe-eyed problem. It was best to get it over with and find out if she could do anything to rectify the current situation. At least until the holiday was over. After, he could kick rocks for all she cared, or so she lied to herself.

This one was going to hurt a bit.

For once in her short years of dating, she had found someone who seemed to want to stick around through her crazy work schedule until tonight, when everything seemed to swirl down the drain, starting with his sudden change of heart. If she were being honest with herself, she knew it was coming; it always did.

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