You Again

Book 2: Part 4

Astrid was finishing up at work when she got a phone call. Aaron Gordon. She silenced the phone and kept reading a new ordinance that was passed just last week. It had now been a month since Aaron texted her and she had yet to respond. There was just no right way to approach the situation, so she avoided it all together. She honestly regretted telling him that he should message her. 

The phone vibrated to indicate that she received a text message and she threw the phone in a drawer. "Am I interrupting something?" Sven asked as he stood in the doorway. Astrid regained her composure and smiled at him. "Not at all. Come in". Sven sat in the seat in front of her desk.

"How has your work day been?" he asked. "Oh fine. Just been going over that new ordinance looking for the flaw because I know it's there," she chuckled. "It always is," Sven agreed. "I just popped in to say that I heard back from the mayor and he would like you to come in and explain to his staff all about wildlife conservation and how they can help the alligator community along with all the other little critters in the ecosystem". Astrid filled with joy at the news. "I'm honored!" she smiled widely. "When is the presentation?" she asked. "They've scheduled it for two weeks out so I hope that's enough time for you," Sven said.

"More than enough," Astrid beamed. Sven stood up from the chair and smiled. "Great. Of course I'll want to look at the finished product". Astrid nodded eagerly and Sven left her office. She squealed with excitement at the opportunity.

*****

Astrid's work day had ended and now she was driving home. She was still so excited at the news that she would be doing a presentation for the mayor and his team. It was an opportunity she knew she couldn't afford to mess up. 

As she pulled into her small driveway, there was an unfamiliar luxury car parked in front of her house. Since Darius was back in town, she just assumed it was his and he was making a surprise visit to welcome her to Orlando. Or even a visitor for one of the other residents in the community. Astrid turned the car off and didn't give it a second thought. Had it been Darius, he would've texted me first.

Astrid got out of the car and walked towards her door. The drivers side door of the luxury car opened and Astrid could hear it close. She turned around to see who had gotten out and saw Aaron coming toward her. "Nope," she said as she unlocked her door and quickly closed it after slipping inside. She continued to do her usual routine as she ignored the knocks on her door. 

"Astrid," she heard him say. "We live in the same city, you can't avoid me," he said. "Oh but watch me!" she yelled. She opened her laptop and huffed as the knocking continued. The townhouses were small and she knew her neighbors on both sides could hear the noise. She didn't want to be known as a troublesome neighbor so she did what she didn't want to.

Astrid opened the door and was face to face with Aaron. "I was going to stand here until you opened the door," he said. "I always admired your persistence," she groaned. "Are you going to invite me in?" Aaron asked. "I don't have much of a choice now do I?" she said as she moved to let him in. Aaron walked in and observed how well decorated her home was. 

There was a small green sectional facing the television. Her kitchen was small, but large enough since it was just her. The dining room featured a small square table with four multi-colored chairs. There were shelves on the walls that featured various miscellaneous items. A bookcase placed against the wall had wildlife and nature books. There was a picture of her family on the wall and Aaron smiled as he reminisced on meeting her parents.

"I don't recall you being so childish," Aaron said as he sat at the table. "Please explain to me how I'm being childish," Astrid said taking a seat across from him. "You're actively avoiding me. If I remember correctly, you're the one that broke up with me". Astrid leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. "We don't have to talk about the past," she said. "I think it's worth a conversation". Astrid stared at him intensely. What could she say? What was there to say?

"Well you start," she scoffed. Aaron put his forearms on the table and leaned forward. "Why did you do what you did?" he asked. "I told you, I wanted to finish school and stay close to my mom," Astrid explained. "How is your mom by the way?" he wondered. "She died my junior year". Aaron took a deep breath as he leaned back in the chair. That wasn't at all what he expected to hear. "I'm really sorry about that. She was a nice woman". Astrid glanced at the picture of her family on the wall and smiled at her mother's face before she turned her attention back to Aaron. "How did you know where I live?" she asked him. "I messaged Gia and she gave me your address. I had called and texted you to let you know I was stopping by".

Astrid checked her messages and sure enough, there it was.

Aaron Gordon
It's been too long. I'm stopping by to talk.

"Mmm". She locked the phone and put it in between her thighs. As she looked at him, she had the overwhelming urge to just come clean. Just to tell him that she was scared. Aaron was the first guy Astrid loved and his life was too much of a risk for her.

"I watched the draft," she said softly. "You did?" Aaron smirked. "I turned it off after they called your name but I wanted to see where you were going. I was curious and did some research of my own". This was true. Once the draft was over and Darius and Gia had gone to sleep in the guest room, Astrid looked up everything there was to know about Orlando. 

"It's crazy how you can push memories to the darkest depths of your mind so much so that you don't even remember the crazy things you did. I looked up the roster and what the arena looked like. I googled what was in Orlando, housing costs, restaurants, attractions. Colleges". Aaron moved his head slightly to the side in intrigue as she talked.

"You were looking at colleges out here?" he questioned. "Yeah. Orlando didn't seem like my kind of place at the time, but I said I wanted to give it a try if it meant it would make you happy," she informed him. "So what happened?" Aaron asked. Knowing that she could be completely honest with him, she told him the reason. "It just didn't feel right. I had broken up with you and made sure not to run into you on campus after that so I just let it be. I kept telling myself that if it was meant to be then you would reach out".

"I didn't reach out because of what you did. You said you were so insulted that I asked you to come with me that I just knew there would be no changing your mind". Astrid looked into his eyes and smiled. "So it all falls on me huh?" she asked. "A little bit, yeah," he chuckled. Astrid smiled as she looked down at the table. "I just can't believe you were actually going to come here for me," he expressed. "You do crazy things when you-" she stopped herself before she made a slip of the tongue and admitted how she had felt about him. "You do crazy things when you're young," Astrid corrected herself.

"Well you're here now," Aaron said. "That I am," she responded.