A Glimpse of Forever

December 2010 - Getting Along

Chapter 4

December 2010 - Getting Along

After Sophie’s rude interruption the other night, I thought that it would be a good idea to set up another dinner with everyone and invite both Sophie and Drew so everyone could get to know one another. Luckily, Ryan agreed that this was a good plan and put it into action. We had exactly….8 minutes until I lost my cool and went on a killing spree, Sophie being the first on my list to kill. I have never met anyone who takes as long as she does to get ready. How much make-up can one person need? I mean, honestly?

I tried my best to be patient and wait for her but I was at the edge. Drew wasn’t helping. He can really get on my nerves sometimes. Most of the time, I didn’t even have a particular reason for disliking him, he just annoyed me. I found it hard to be in a room alone with him. I obviously swallowed my feelings for Sophie’s sake.

After horrendous minutes of waiting, she was finally ready to leave, “Let’s go, we don’t have all day!”

I felt a lot more confident when knocking on Ryan’s door this time. I didn’t hyperventilate, which was an achievement for me. As per-usual, Ryan opened the door with a warm, welcoming smile. Gesturing us to enter his apartment, his friends were all sitting around, most likely waiting for us to get here so they could eat.

“Sorry that we’re late, some of us clearly don’t know how to read a clock”

I sometimes forget that I have only met these people once before now and should lay off the sarcastic comments until our third or fourth gathering. To my surprise, I heard chuckling from Chris. Chuckling, that was always a good sign.

We ate Ryan’s delicious food and afterwards, sat around the coffee table to chat. I knew that this was a good idea, introducing Sophie to everyone and vice versa. If this were to be a regular happening, Sophie needed to know who these people were. Am I jumping ahead too much? I tend to get a bit ahead of myself when it comes to positive social outings. I always think that I’m going so well and that I have a chance that these people could enjoy my company, but then they wait until the moment I think we are friends to inform me that we aren’t and they send my world crashing on top of me. You would be surprised how many times this can actually occur in one’s lifetime.

Despite my paranoia, everything seemed to be going well. Sophie was laughing and containing her flirtatious nature for Drew’s presence. Drew had even sprung up conversation with Chris and seemed to be enjoying himself. Everyone was making friends and getting along okay.

“Amelia, how are you doing over here in the corner?” Ryan’s voice startled me.

“Actually, it isn’t so bad here in my corner”

“Well, if you don’t mind sharing, I would love to experience the joy of this corner with you”

“I don’t mind at all”

The rest of the night continued like this, everything went smoothly. No one murdered anyone else so that was always an encouraging indication. We ended up leaving at well past midnight. We all were so distracted by each other’s company that no one managed to keep tract of the time. Sophie and Drew went back to the apartment while I stayed back to help clean up.

“You didn’t have to help, I could have made Tom do it. Really, it’s late and I don’t expect you to pitch in”

“I don’t mind helping out. Don’t laugh but I almost enjoy cleaning”

It wasn’t an ‘almost’ enjoy, I definitely enjoyed cleaning. I had trouble dealing with things if they weren’t clean but I wasn’t about to tell Ryan that, he would think that I was some weirdo.

“If you insist, I wouldn’t mind you staying here to help at all”

We had done 80% of the cleaning when the others came and offered to assist us. Considering I had terrible people skills and experience massive panic attacks in the presence of others, I really didn’t mind this group of people. I hope that they didn’t mind me either, because for once, I actually wouldn’t mind spending more time with them. I’m pretty sure Sophie felt the same way, since she never really had a problem with spending time with attractive males.

I said my goodbyes, making sure to give everyone mine and Sophie’s numbers because if I had forgotten, Sophie would suffocate me in my sleep.

I made my way over to my apartment, thankfully she wasn’t waiting up for me this time. I was worn out from all the socialising; I was definitely ready to sleep.

I was cosy in my cat pyjamas and in my warm Harry Potter sheet covered bed when my phone went off. With heavy eyes, I managed to read the text message;

Text to Amelia

Hey, its Ryan. I just wanted to say thank you for your help today. It looked like everything went okay. I hope that this means no-more angry Sophie charging through my door to attack you with her words! J

Since we are all friends now, I wanted to see if you wanted to grab a coffee or something. I know that you are most likely busy or something but no harm in asking, right? Anyway, good night! Sweet Dreams. I had a good time. Hope to do it again soon.

Text from Unknown Number

I saved his number to my phone and hit reply;

Text to Ryan

Hello! I think it went well too. Ha-ha, no matter what we do, I don’t think we can ever stop angry Sophie from charging through doors and attacking me with her words. As for your invite, I would love to get coffee sometime. Nighty night, Ryan! Sweet Dreams.

Text from Amelia

I fell asleep smiling like the idiot I am.