He grinned. “Awesome. Do you want me to pick you up? Or do you want to meet up there?” he asked, getting up from the chair. She thought for a couple of seconds.

            “I’ll meet you there so then I can drive home after. I don’t really plan on drinking.” She replied, starting up her computer. He nodded.

            “All right, I’ll see you tonight at around 8.” With that, he left her office, closing the door behind him.

            She sat in the silence and began thinking. Fun sounded really nice. She hadn’t gotten out of the house much since … since … yah. She didn’t want to think about that. Fun. That’s what’s on the mind tonight. She thought.

             The day went by faster than she thought it would. By the time she looked at the clock on her computer, it was already 6:30. She only had about an hour before she had to get going to James’ house to play poker. A game she was never really good at. She shut down her computer and packed up her paper work in her briefcase. She locked up her office and made her way down to her car in the parking garage. When she got in, she put on her favorite mixed CD and blasted it all the way home.

            When she got there, she ran in the house, leaving all of her things in the car. She ran upstairs to her bedroom and began taking off her clothes and jumping in the shower. When she was down with her shower, she changed and made herself look as pretty as she could for tonight. She walked down stairs and looked at the phone. She took a deep breath and walked over to it. She pressed the record button for the answering machine.

            “It’s Wednesday night and I’ve gone to play poker with a few friends. If it’s Thursday, I work late, I should be back home by 9:30 or so. If you’re selling something, don’t bother leaving a message because I’m not interested. P.S. if this is Ashley, I still love you.”

            And with that, she grabbed her keys and walked out the door.

Chapter 2: