The Vegas fiasco

Part 6

Chapter 6

Astrid groaned as she ignored the knocking at her front door. She popped another spoonful of vanilla pudding in her mouth. The knocking stopped before a click of the lock was heard.

"Hiiiiii!" Astrid said, giving a lazy wave, at those that entered her apartment. She must look quite a sight she thought. Clad in her baggiest sweats, draped over her couch with a large container of vanilla pudding in her hand, a half-eaten lemon pie on the coffee table, and several empty containers that once housed tiramisu next to it.

"Thor almighty, she's sugar high." Heather groaned as she saw Astrid. The twins walked in behind her, both wearing Hawaiian shirts. They were slightly wary as a sugar high Astrid was less predictable than a furious-axe-wielding-Astrid.

"I don't know what you mean!" Astrid told them before popping another pudding filled spoon in her mouth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Heather asked calmly while indicating for the twins to get rid of any other sweet in the house.

"Hey! Leave my desserts alone!" Astrid shouted but the twins weren't deterred. She then looked at Heather "There is nothing to talk about."

Heather scowled and yanked the pudding away from her. "The last time you binged like this was when your publishers forced you to change editors!"

Astrid gave her a look that said 'Return my pudding or face the consequences'. Heather recognized the oncoming sugar high rant. "I binged because management wouldn't do anything about the advances he made towards me! And there was no way that I'd get out of my three year contract unless they fired me."

Heather raised a brow and Astrid answered the unspoken question "No I did not sabotage my new book. I'm still a professional. My old editor would have fought tooth and nail to get it published. Drago just went with whatever those PR people thought."

"But that isn't why you're so upset now is it?" Heather asked.

"No, no it isn't." Astrid sighed. "It's a little more complicated than that."

"How so?" She asked and wondered what the twins were up too. It was suspiciously quiet in the kitchen. "I know you just ended a four year relationship. Do you regret it? Don't tell me you want to take Martin back!"

"No no.... That's not it." Astrid mumbled. "You're right...... I just ended a four year relationship...... I should feel something right, but I just don't."

"Oh Astrid." Heather said before hugging her best friend.

"Heather, I'm supposed to feel sad aren't I? Yet I just feel relieved. Like a huge block has been lifted off my shoulders. I can't even remember when I fell out of love with Martin, and just became the dutiful fiance." Astrid mumbled. "Everything is just so complicated now." she sighed.

"Well you can't stay wallowing here." Heather stated. "Don't you have a date with Hiccup tomorrow night?"

"It's not a date." Astrid told her. "He invited me to a dinner with the person he knows in the publishing business."

"Uhuh, but you're still married to him." Heather told her. "Don't tell me you regret that."

"Heather, I got married after meeting him for one day. I regretted doing something so stupid while I was engaged to someone else, I regret a lot of things, people tend to do stupid things." Astrid snorted. "However, I don't regret meeting him. He's really nice."

"I doubt Hiccup regrets marrying you Astrid. Gods, that night he was head over heels for you." Heather told her. "I never saw you laugh so much either."