ephemeral // matty healy

ronan's top five +1

Shortly after their meeting, Blair felt weird returning to her desk. Like she was recovering from a punch in the gut.

"Jesus, that was like the longest meeting ever," Ronan said with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, it felt like a lifetime." Blair quickly pulled out her cellphone and sent a quick message to Stella.

I know I said I would call when I found out who my client was, but I seriously need to see your face when I tell you. See you at home.

She knew her roommate was working the lunch shift at Roscos', so Blair knew that she wouldn't have to keep the secret for too much longer.

"Was it good though?" Ronan prodded. He wanted to know more but also wanted to seem cool and aloof. So far, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Sort of. I have a bunch of vague ideas, but I think I need to brush up on some sci-fi movies to get some real inspiration." Ronan tried to hide a gasp but ended up jumping to his feet. Blair's eyebrows shot up quickly when she saw her coworker staring down at her over the monitors. "What?"

"I'm the biggest sci-fi nerd you will ever meet, can I please binge some stuff with you? I know all the best ones so that way you won't waste your time on the stupid ones."

Blair weighed her options. She could either: wander into a genre she knew very little about and watch every movie she could find, or she could use the only coworker she was friends with to her advantage and garner extra information from him.

"Sure," she said. "You can visit my place after like 6 pm, say." Ronan could hardly contain his smile as he sat back at his computer. They both stopped working for a moment, then wondered.

Is this a date?

-

Stella ran home when she read Blair's text message. The head chef didn't even notice that she had left her shift twenty minutes early, but she handed that off to the lull in service before dinner. She burst through the front door and saw Blair making what smelled like tacos.

"Babe!" She threw her bag into the living room and ran into the kitchen. "You gotta tell me right now! Who are you working with? I've been thinking about it all day!"

"As much as I want to tell you, it's not as much fun as you think it is. Plus, I sort of invited someone over tonight that also wants to know."

"Bo is coming too?" Stella dipped her fingers into the taco mixture, tasting the ground beef and vegetables. She reached into the spice drawer and threw in a bit more cumin and cayenne.

"No, it's not Bo." Blair kept stirring. "It's a coworker of mine, he and I are getting some inspiration for the project."

"Oh, 'he', huh?" Stella's eyebrows wiggled around.

"Yes, but before you make any more comments, you should know that I don't think of him as anything more than a coworker." Blair watched as Stella raised her arms in surrender and wandered into her bedroom.

"You got me, girl," she said behind the door. "I won't make any assumptions."

"Hey!" Blair called from the stove. "Are you lying?" Stella came out of her room in a new sweatshirt and didn't say anything for a while. "Hun, are you joshing me?"

"Oh, me? Yeah, obviously," she admitted. She spoke with a smile but Blair grew really weary now that she invited Ronan. "I'm gonna make this as date-ish as I can. Now, where did I put the good wine?"

Blair aimed the wooden spoon at Stella's face, which helps a wondering expression. "I won't hesitate to use this, bitch."

A knock at the door caused them both to look away from their scuffle. Slowly, like a Mexican standoff, the girls stepped away from the kitchen and walked towards the door. Blair raised a hand and turned the handle.

Ronan stood in the doorway, with his ginger hair tucked into a knitted hat. He gave a small wave to Stella and a big smile to Blair.

"Ready to get started?" He smiled, he pulled out a small piece of paper in his pocket and patted his backpack.

"Yeah, we still need to eat, but that's not a problem. Come in," Blair stepped to the side. "There's probably some more taco shells if you're hungry."

"No, thanks, I already ate dinner," he sat down in the chair next to Stella and took off his coat and hat. His hair stuck out in all directions, but he didn't mind and didn't try to smooth it out.

"So, are you going to tell me who you met today?" He asked Blair. She was in the middle of preparing plates for her and Stella, who was now leaning into the conversation a bit too much.

"She still hasn't even told me yet." Blair rolled her eyes at Stella's comment.

"I wanted to tell you guys at the same time," she handed Stella her tacos. "Anyway, it was Matty Healy from The 1975."

Stella and Ronan's mouths hung open for a moment, then Stella broke the silence. "Weren't you...?"

"Friends at one point? Yes. But he messed it all up." Blair's shoulders sunk into her body. "And now I have to work with him like nothing is wrong."

"You guys were friends?" asked Ronan. "What happened?"

"Well," Blair debated whether or not she wanted to relive this experience, but decided to just bite the bullet and come clean. "When I got accepted into New York, everyone was really excited for me. I told Matty and he didn't seem too excited, but then he offered to drive me to the airport, which I thought was a nice gesture." She let her head fall into her hands. "Turns out he just wanted to bring me to the gate so he could tell me he didn't think I should go. He said New York was riddled with crime and high rent prices and that I should stay in London. He didn't even care about my education or my feelings."

She bit into her taco. Maybe it wasn't the smartest choice to bring this up, she thought.

"Yikes," said Stella. "You said you had a falling out, but you never told me the extent of it. I'm sorry, Blair."

"Yeah, that sounds awful," Ronan said earnestly. He felt a bit guilty for asking now, but he made up for it with his bag of tricks. "You're going to like the movies I brought, though."

"Yeah?" Blair raised her head and looked at his excited face. He pulled his laundry of list from his breast pocket. "What did you bring?"

"Only the most perfect selection of movies for science fiction beginners: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Blade Runner, Star Wars: Episode IV, Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey." He flipped over the paper. "And a personal favourite, which is not a movie, but still a classic: Red Dwarf."

"Alright, alright," Blair took the paper from his hand and examined it. "Blade Runner is my dad's favourite, too."

"A man of taste, I see."

"Unfortunately, I am not a woman of taste," Stella said with wide eyes. "I'll have to pass on your marathon, but this was a lovely meeting, Ronan. I'll see you again, I presume."

"No worries. Nice to meet you, too Stella." Ronan watched her enter her bedroom and shut the door.

"So?" He turned back to Blair. "What shall we start with?"

"Let's go with Alien. I've heard good things about it."