Hideout (gxg agegap)

10

Evelyn's PoV

My phone screen lit up, brightly revealing the time to be 2:33 am.

Timothy was driving us to Ashleys apartment. I felt bad for having him work as late, but he insisted on it.

Ashley was sitting next to me, comfortably leaning into me. I could smell her vanilla scent and feel her warm body move against mine with every breath she took.

A 7th call was added to the notification of missed calls from my fiancé and I felt an uneasy tug in my gut. Getting home to him would be hell and I truly wasn't sure I'd be ready for that any time soon.

"Are you okay?", Ashley whispered, glancing at me.

"Yeah", I mumbled, my gaze still locked on my phone. The screen had turned back to black, hiding the anxiety-inducing messages.

"I really liked your friends", Ashley said, trying to avert my attention.

"I'm glad you did", I said, slowly redirecting my stare from my phone to her eyes. "I'm glad you liked them."

We soon arrived at Ashleys apartment building and the thoughts about Robert began to fade. Seeing Ashleys smile turned the panic to butterflies, that wildly swarmed my body.

Timothy opened the door for us and allowed us to step out of the vehicle. Ashley walked towards the building, while I fell back for a moment.

"Thank you for your services tonight. You can go home now and rest. I'll find a way home", I gently spoke to Timothy, knowing how long I've kept him awake and feeling bad for his lack of sleep. He had a newborn and a stressed wife waiting at home.

"Thank you, Miss. And happy birthday", he whispered, taking my hand in his to give it a warm and firm squeeze.

"Thank you Timmy", I said with a soft smile of appreciation playing on my lips.

"Don't you think you should tell her?", he asked, nodding towards Ashley "I think she'd like to know."

"What good would it do?", I asked, softly shaking my head.

"I think you'd be surprised how much she'd care", Timothy said, letting go of my hand to let me go.

I felt his caring eyes securely on my back while I walked up to Ashley.

"Thank you for waiting, dear", I said, glancing at her beautiful green eyes.

The drivers door audibly closed and I heard Timothy start the motor of the car. He drove off as we closed the buildings door behind us.

"You're welcome", Ashley spoke, opening the door to her apartment for us, after a short climb of a few flights of stairs, "Why were you so weird in the car?"

"Oh just", I took off my heels, putting them down near the entrance "a few messages I didn't expect to get."

"Unpleasant ones?"

"Sort of", I looked around, getting a proper look at Ashleys apartment for the first time. The first and only other time I've been here I could only catch a few quick glances inside.

It was a little chaotic. Plants were scattered around the place, art was hanging on the walls, there was a bowl on a dresser in the hall which held keys and all sorts of small gimmicks, like lighters and jewelry.

There were a lot of different rugs on the hardwood flooring, blankets on the sofa and empty coffee mugs all around. A laptop and piles of paper on her breakfast table and herbs hanging and drying from the ceiling in her kitchen.

Every open space I could see was filled with books and art supplies and propagations from various plants around her flat. There was a record player in her living room and massive piles of records on the floor.