“You should! It’s so good,” I told her.

“Maybe I will.”

“How was the concert?” I asked.

“Eh, it was alright. The music was mediocre, but the people were cool,” she explained.

“Are you still hanging out with anyone else from high school?”

“No, not really… just Aiden. Most of my friends are in the music business or something related to it, I guess. Oh… and I have one friend who’s a lawyer… but she’s all the way in New York so I never really see her.” I laughed in response, glad that she was at least calling me her friend. “Do you think… um… do you think I could see you sometime?” Okay, now I wasn’t laughing anymore.

“What?”

“Well, um… I’m supposed to be going to New York for, uh… work-related stuff.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“When?”

“Next week?” That sounded more like a suggestion than an answer.

“Are you… asking me?”

“Sort of. I mean, the, uh, work I’m doing is pretty flexible. So I’d rather go when, you know, you’re not going to be totally swamped with your job and everything.” I remembered what Michelle had told me about how Ashley was really just coming to see me. I smiled knowingly.

“Yup… well, next week sounds good,” I told her. So does tomorrow…

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Sweet!” she exclaimed. “So, uh… I guess I’ll figure out flight arrangements and everything and I’ll get back to you later.”

“Alright,” I replied.

“What part of the city do you live in?”

“Huh?”

“I just want to make sure I get a hotel that’s not, like, on the other side of the city from you,” she informed me.

“Oh… I live in the meatpacking district.”

“Wow, you do?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a really nice area, isn’t it?”

“I guess so. It’s safe and not too far from my office, so it works,” I told her.

“Cool… well I think I should get going. I’ll call you back when I know the details and everything.”

“Alright… I’m excited!” I admitted.

“Me too! I can’t wait,” she replied. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Bye!”

“Bye Spence.”

When I hung up, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to smile any wider. Ashley was coming to New York next week. To visit me, nonetheless. I wanted to call somebody to tell them, but there wasn’t really anyone I could call. Michelle was most likely in mid-flight… I could call Aiden, but would that mean he would tag around the whole time she was here? I couldn’t say for sure, so I figured I’d wait to talk to Michelle to see what I should do. God, this was crazy. At this time last week, Ashley and I hadn’t even been talking. Now, she was flying over to see me. My feelings of excitement were diluted by my nerves and confusion. What was I going to say? Where were we going to go? What were we going to do? This was all happening so incredibly fast.

After a couple hours of contemplation, I figured I should probably call Aiden to see how he was holding up with Michelle leaving. I found my phone and dialed his number.

“Hey Spencer,” he answered after two rings.

“Hi Aiden… what’s up?”

“Not too much, and you?”

“Same,” I replied. “You doing okay? With Michelle leaving and everything?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, she’s gonna be back next month but still… that’s a long time.”

“I know.”

“So, uh… did you hear anything about Ashley coming to the city?” he asked. Damnit. How did he know? Michelle couldn’t have gotten in already, could she?

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, well, she called me but I was in the shower, and her voicemail said something about her flying over next week.” Great… just great.

“Yeah, um… she’s coming.”

“Sick! How excited are you?”

“I’m very excited. I’m just really nervous, though,” I admitted.

“Yeah, I bet,” he replied. “I wish I had some wisdom to impart to you… but just be yourself, and it’ll all work out just fine.”

“Thanks Aiden.”

“No problem,” he assured me.

“So what am I supposed to do with Ashley?” I asked.

“Do you need me to draw it out for you on paper?”

“Shut up! I’m serious. She doesn’t drink. That rules out… oh, about everything. And it’s going to be so tense and awkward without alcohol.” Blame it on my Irish heritage.

“Yeah… just be glad you can still drink. Up until, like, a few months ago, Michelle wouldn’t even let any of us drink around her. She was afraid Ashley was gonna be too tempted. She’s actually fine with it, though,” he explained.

“I can’t get drunk though. Because Ashley will remember everything I do or say, even if I don’t remember it.”

“Relax! She’s not the CIA, Spence. I’m sure she’ll be fine with whatever you want to do,” he assured me.

“I hope.”