Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Twenty Eight [Edited]

Daniel and I, though we cared a lot about each other before, were now inseparable. We were almost as bad as Kory and Kaleb. We spent the next few months together. Daniel stayed over at my place a few times when we were too lazy to move from the couch, cuddling as we fell asleep.

Many birthdays passed. I called my mother for her birthday. Olivia spent hers with Will. The two of them were becoming very close, despite my initial misgivings. I suppose that they just had an initial spark, but it did not seem to be dying out. In mid-May, Shelbie started dating someone she knew from the bar. Lily and Margaret still were flying solo, though. They went out partying together a lot, which made me relieved. I didn’t really want Margaret out partying alone.

Shelly confided in me that she and Jack were figuring out their finances and wanted Shelly to get pregnant soon. Their anniversary passed in June on the 16th, and the two of them were getting along really well. They had an occasional spat, but they both loved each other an incredible amount.

Our friend group was really enjoying life. Work was hard, but we were all loving our adulthood. Looking back on the past year or two, I had to say that we had come a long way. Maybe I was just nostalgic, but I felt like they were really the people I had grown up with and who had made me the person I was today.

It was the end of July. Velisa and Dave were celebrating their six month anniversary, and Daniel and I were at his apartment.

“So, I have something to tell you,” I paused our movie and looked at Daniel, shifting in my seat a little.

“What’s up?” He asked, turning to face me.

“I’m being considered for a promotion!” I said, a huge smile splitting my face, bouncing in my seat a little bit.

“That’s great!” Daniel said, picking me up and twirling me around.

“Antony’s leaving the company. He was a nice boss, but he was really incompetent. He wasn’t good with time management, and he couldn’t delegate jobs and organize the departments very well. They’re interviewing a few other people but I think I have a really good chance.”

“Awesome,” Daniel said, smiling at me.

I smiled back at him, resting my head on his chest. “I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you too.”

I smiled up at him, leaning up and pressing my lips gently against his.

A few weeks later, it was settled: I had taken over Antony’s job. Around the same time, a little after my promotion, Margaret was also promoted to the Head of Advertising. She moaned and groaned about the extra work, but Velisa gave her a stern talking to, making her realize how lucky she was to have the job.

However, though Daniel was taking things slow with me, I still felt like I was being incredibly inconsiderate of him. He wasn’t asexual, and I knew he wanted to have sex with me at some point, but I just didn’t want to.

‘Am I being selfish for not wanting to have sex with him? It’s not a reflection of him at all; I’m just not into that. He knows that. But can I ask him to forego his sexual desires for his whole life? That doesn’t seem fair to me.’

Finally, one day, I got fed up with my moping around and invited Shelly over to talk to me. ‘She’s married, so she can probably give me good advice,’ was my reasoning.

We spent the day hanging out and watching movies, but then finally Shelly approached me. She knew me well enough to know that something was wrong. She had just been waiting to bring it up. Shelly, though, was pretty impatient, and she wasn’t going to wait forever.