The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|71|

Again.

She blinked slowly. Then, carefully, she moved her eyes down to her hand. No ring.

It felt more fragile this time. Everything about it. At first, she was afraid to move, to even blink. But the feeling didn't subside. And she couldn't just stand there.

Ashley took a step forward. Cold marble floor. Plants on both sides. Stale air.

And Ilse.

Ashley walked faster. She reached the girl with a smile on her lips. Ilse smiled back and took her hand. But she didn't kiss it. There is no ring, Ashley thought, right as Ilse squeezed her hand. Ashley's breath hitched as her vision flickered. No, no, no, not yet...

She stayed dreaming. Her vision calmed, her feet were steadily planted, and she was still dreaming. A breath of relief escaped her.

Ilse looked down; her fingers brushed over Ashley's knuckles. Her lips moved, but before she could make a sound, it all slipped away.

When Ashley woke up in her bed, Ilse's unspoken words were burned in her mind. Find the ring.

She was out of bed and pulling on a shirt before she knew what was happening. She let go of her hair, which she'd automatically started braiding, and blinked a few times, looking around the dark room. The sun wasn't even up yet, and as she checked the time, she couldn't help a disbelieving scoff from escaping her lips. Five thirty AM? For what? Aimlessly wandering around her apartment to find a ring she knew wasn't there? 

She'd left it at the hotel. On top of the piano. How had she not remembered that until now?

The last traces of the dream faded, and finally, Ashley sat down on the bed. She ran a hand over her face. What the hell was going on? This was not normal, rational behaviour. She needed to get a grip on herself.

With a sigh, she took her phone and opened the door to her balcony, stepping out into the cool night air. A shallow breeze played with her hair and calmed her racing heart.

Upon opening Instagram, she saw the few birthday wishes in her DM requests, sent by eager fans. A smile twitched on her lips. Twenty-nine years old.

"Happy birthday to me," she whispered. Another unusually cool gust of wind brushed the hair out of her face.

A few hours later – time seemed to fly as soon as she started rewatching Stranger Things – her regular alarm rang. She jumped up, startled by the noise. As she picked it up, she realised it wasn't her alarm, it was a phone call.

"Any reason you're calling me at eight in the morning?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Happy birthday!" he exclaimed before she could even finish the sentence. "I wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday. Did it work?"

She let out an exasperated laugh. "It's eight AM, everyone here is asleep, of course it worked," she huffed.

"Great. So. Any plans before the fateful evening?"

"You're asking me that because...?"

"General curiosity," he replied, and she could hear the shrug in his voice.

"Well, I was planning on taking a nap before the party because I hardly slept tonight," she said before she could decide otherwise.

"Oh?" Colby asked, "Any reason for that?"

Ashley hesitated. She did have a pretty good reason why she'd gotten hardly any sleep, and on one hand, she was itching to describe the dream to him. On the other hand, she knew how he treated anything that was close to the paranormal, and she doubted he'd take it casually.

"Nope," she said, hopefully not too late. "Just nervousness, I guess. And a little stress. And, you know, the usual tension over here."

Colby chuckled. "Well, today you've got the chance to let all of that go."

"Yeah," Ashley sighed, "trust me, I will."

It was silent for a while before Colby cleared his throat. "Well. I'm gonna let you go back to whatever you were doing, didn't want to intrude on your morning routine or anything. Just... happy birthday and have a great day!"

She smiled. "No, it's fine, you're good... thank you, though. I really appreciate it."

A few more trivial words were exchanged before he hung up, and Ashley turned her attention back to her laptop screen. She sighed in relief as she realised she'd missed her least favourite scene in the entire series. The second-hand embarrassment she felt every time she watched Eleven try to use her currently nonexistent powers wasn't bearable.

After finishing the episode, she closed the tab and left her room in search of something to eat. It was still fairly early, and since she knew Jerry had done a late-night stream yesterday, she tried to be silent as she fried two pieces of bread in the toaster and looked for something to eat with them.

-----------

This was the first time Ashley ever hosted a party. And honestly, it was going great. She silently congratulated herself on simple choices she'd made as she wandered around the rooftop restaurant.

The music was good, enough people invited to comfortably fill the space, drinks seemed to be popular – almost everyone was holding a glass –, and the view over the city was fantastic.

Jerry, always the most organised guy in the room, had helped her plan most of it, and he'd take control of the evening while she could lean back and enjoy her birthday.

Her own plan? Drinks, dancing, and as little conversation with Sadie as possible. That should be doable.

After a few drinks, she felt herself starting to relax into the music and lose most of the tension she didn't even know was in her body. That was also when she spotted Colby standing at the railing, looking at the city. It wasn't exactly a private spot, so Ashley took the liberty of walking over to him and standing next to him.

"So... are you enjoying your birthday so far?" he asked a little awkwardly. Ashley chuckled and went with it.

"Of course," she said, tracing over a bracelet with her fingertips. His eyes followed the movement. "Great drinks, great location, great music..." She glanced at Colby. "Great company, too."

"Yeah?"

They were leaning on the railing, looking down at the city. Ashley scooted a little closer to him, sidestepping until her shoulder was hovering right next to his. Colby looked at where they almost touched and then up at her. He didn't talk, and neither did Ashley.

What she could neither see nor feel was how his thoughts were racing. He was convinced that she could hear his heartbeat or that she would at least notice the way his palms were sweating.

But she didn't. She just smiled, content to be here, next to him.