Delete --> a.i au

Chapter Sixteen --> Personal Space

Alexis put all of her blood, sweat and tears into working at the ice cream shop. Multiple times Paisley tried to reach out to her, confessing over a dozen voicemails that Michael had told her that she had broken up with Ashton. Both her aunt and uncle knew that the bubbly Alexis was gone and replaced by a solemn Alexis. Honestly, this break up was the worst one she had ever dealt with and she hated that.

Like many times before she kept her distance from Ashton and the apartment complex. The difference this time was that she never ran into Ashton anywhere and she was thankful for that. Even seeing his face would bring on more tears and a wave of anger that she was sure she would not be able to control.

With this wave of anger she might try to break into the Skyscraper alone and Delete Ashton and only Ashton. This time it was only him that caused her pain and no one else.

With her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat, Alexis started the walk to work. Driving was always an option, but lately she had been walking, since it gave her time to think and then clear her head. That meant by the time she reached the ice cream shop she was in a much better mood then if she had driven the ten minutes it took to reach the 50s themed ice cream shop.

Keeping her head down and eyes to the ground, she should have known that she would have bumped into someone at some point. This time she did not run into Ashton, but her ex, Austin.

Shock flickers on her features as she stared at the shaggy haired blonde who she had left without a real reason. There were many things that she wanted to say to him, but none of them were coming to her mind at this time and being spoken. After a good minute or two of just staring and letting other people pass by, Austin spoke up.

"Alexis, how have you been?" he asked, gripping the strap of his backpack.

"Fine," Alexis curtly said back. "I am on my way to work."

"Where do you work?"

Alexis should have figured that Austin would ask that. If you told anyone you worked somewhere they wanted to know where. It was like they were suddenly going to go out to the store and seek you out only to tell you that they saw you at work.

Shifting her weight from foot to foot, Alexis sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "An ice cream parlor, ice cream shop, or ice cream place or whatever."

"That's...great," Austin replied, now starting to shift his weight from foot to foot.

Tilting her head to the side, Alexis narrowed her eyes. She knew enough about body language that something was off. Austin was hiding something. He had never been good at keeping secrets, unlike her. At least she thought she had been good at keeping secrets until Ashton went ahead and ruined that by pretty much reveling to her that he knew about all of her past and secrets, some that she did not even realize.

Stepping forward, Alexis reached out, wanting to take his hand, but pulled her hand back to her side. "What's wrong with you?"

It seemed like Austin wanted to say something, but could not seem to find the correct words. "Ah...eh...ah," he mumbled, looking left to right in a frantic way.

Rolling her eyes, a short laugh escaped. "Come on, we dated for two years, you can tell me what is wrong."

"No, I don't think I can," Austin responded. "You know, bro code or something of that nature."

Cocking an eyebrow, Alexis wanted to roll her eyes. "Bro code is so dumb. Just tell me," Alexis said back, flashing him a smile, turning on the charm she used once before to lure him into talking to her.

There was this silence between the two of them, as if Austin was building up the courage to tell her. "Alright, I hacked into the Skyscraper files and got intonation about your 18 years on this Earth for some guy who said he wanted information on you," Austin exclaimed all in one breath.