Ashley couldn’t believe this. Here she was, sitting across from a very unenthusiastic Glen in a touristy, trendy faux-diner that she normally would’ve never stepped foot in. She looked over to her left and there was Spencer, sitting erectly in the booth with a forced smile on her face. To her right there was Clay, who pretty much looked like he always did…smart. And finishing out the happy group was Arthur Carlin…Mr. C…who looked helpless to improve the situation.

“That’s the way we became the Brady Bunch…” Ashley sang to herself quietly, sure that no one could hear anything she said anyway in the loud, over-crowded tourist trap of a restaurant.

“Did you say something, Ashley? You’re going to have to speak up, I’m afraid,” Arthur said, pointing to his ears.

“Oh no, Mr. C. I just said…uh…I’m glad to uh….be here! Yeah. Glad to be here, that’s it,” Ashley replied, her voice a pitch higher than usual.

“Well, we’re glad to have you,” Arthur said, smiling and nodding.

“Speak for yourself,” Glen mumbled, slumping down even further in the booth.

“Come on, Glen,” Clay begged, obviously uncomfortable with the tension between the two.

“Hey, I’m just saying, why does she have to be here? It’s a day for family. The last time I checked she wasn’t one of us,” Glen fired back.

“Thank God!” Ashley exclaimed.

“Hey,” Spencer said, slightly offended, “luckily we don’t all share Glen’s opinion.”

“That’s right. Now let’s decide what we want to eat so we can maybe one day get out of here, ok?” Arthur said.

Ashley grabbed Spencer’s hand underneath the table, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Spencer replied, squeezing Ashley’s hand in return.

Ashley trailed her fingers down Spencer’s thigh, her intentions obvious. Spencer shook her head slightly, but made no effort to stop Ashley’s fingers from lightly touching her.

“So, Ashley, Spencer tells us that your Dad is a pretty talented musician. Band, tours, write-ups in Rolling Stone…whole nine yards, is that true?” Arthur asked, obviously trying to make Ashley feel more comfortable.

“Uh, yeah. He’s got the whole rock star thing going. It’s pretty cool,” Ashley replied politely, her fingers getting closer and closer to the warmth she felt between Spencer’s legs.

Spencer try her best to keep a neutral face, but she couldn’t suppress the soft sigh that she let slip as she felt Ashley’s fingers move closer to where she wanted them. Thankfully, everyone was too engaged in the small talk to notice and Spencer let out another sigh—of relief.