Retreat (A.I.)

34. Party time

---Kelly---

"Come out with us, pleeeease Kelly?!" Tracy has been begging me for two hours. Tom mentioned going out for drinks after work and Tracy hasn't stopped bugging me about it since.

"Just a drink Kelly, even if it's just a Coke," Tom adds.

"I was going to go home and Skype with Ashton."

"So just text him and tell him. I'm sure he won't mind. You have a life, too, ya know! Err well, you need to get one at least!"

"Tracy! What the fuck?"

"Sorry, that was rude. But seriously though, have you gone anywhere besides work since they left?"

"I went to lunch with Mali!" I say proudly.

"You went to lunch with your roommate, the sister of one of the guys?" Okay, I get what she's saying, but she just doesn't understand.

"I'm sorry guys, but I don't go out around here anymore. It's that simple." Especially not knowing if Melanie has been bailed out yet or not.

"Oh, come ON!" Tracy whines. Why is she so insistent? God she's starting to sound like Mel, which makes me definitely not want to.

"Okay, leave her alone Tracy. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to." Tom is thankfully sticking up for me.

"Thank you Tom."

As soon as our shift ended, I went to security and asked for an escort to my car. Something about Tracy's behavior really got me freaked out tonight.

I hurry home and run inside the apartment. "What's wrong Kelly?" Mali asks right away. She looks concerned, and I know it's because of my erratic behavior.

"I just got spooked today. I don't know why. Tracy and Tom asked me to go out for drinks after work and I refused to go. There was just something about Tracy's reaction that reminded me of Melanie. I'm probably just overreacting though." Like usual.

"Never doubt a woman's intuition my dear sister!"

"I'm gonna go Skype with Ash!"

"Alright, oh hey! I'm going out to Chili's with some friends around 8 if you wanna join us!"

"Alright! Thanks Mali!" I say, locking myself in my room and logging on to Skype. While I wait for him to get on, I log on twitter to see what antics they are up to today, but before I get a chance to, I check my notifications and see a few people mentioning me. They're all really sweet and seem to love that Ashton's happy!

My Skype alerts me that Ashton's on and I get the call request. I instantly accept and see Ashton's face on the screen. He gets his huge dimply smile when he sees me and we say hi. We talk for awhile and I can tell he's getting tired.

"Baby, is there something wrong?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask. I know I haven't been myself, but I didn't think he'd notice!

"You just seem like there's something on your mind. It's just all the littlest cues I've picked up on," Well damn! That makes me feel really good that he knows me so well! "Baby, we promised to tell each other about everything. So what's on your mind?" Nothing gets past him!

"It's just Tracy. She asked me out for drinks after work and I didn't feel like going. For several reasons. But she wouldn't drop it. There was just something about her reaction that reminded me of Melanie. It just got me weirded out. That's all. I mean, there hasn't been a peep or any indication of Mel even being around. I don't know."

"I'll have Mi- um, hold on," he begins to say but I'm really confused. In the background I can hear him talking to Michael

"Please let me tell her Mikey"
"No way"
"Why? It's Kelly! Come on! I wouldn't ask you if I didn't have a good reason to! You know that!"
"Fine. Let me tell her"