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Kindred Souls
two
Alivia started school at eight-fifteen in the morning, so that meant I never saw her before lunch. I usually slept until ten-thirty unless I had an appointment with a client or needed to go into the office of the agency I worked for. On days I didn't have much to do, I would hang around until lunch, where I would usually meet with Alivia.
That day, I had a meeting in the morning with a newly engaged couple. I met them at their house and they explained to me what they needed help with. Sometimes I was there every step of the way, and others I was only there to get things started. It seemed like this particular couple wanted me there for the whole thing, every step of the way. I gave them a run through of everything to expect and they gave me a list of ideas they had come up with.
Lisa and Shaw were a young couple. She was blonde and had a pretty smile while he had black hair and sleeves of tattoos. He told me that's what he did for a living, tattoos. She was a florist. Her parents happened to be loaded which made things a lot easier on me.
It was weird to people whenever I told them I was a wedding planner. They always said I didn't come off as the romantic type, which was true, but I still knew what people liked. I wasn't romantic, but I could still put together a damn beautiful wedding. I was getting bored, though. That's what I did. I tried things out for a little while then got bored and moved on. Some said that made me seem very unstable and flighty, but I just had a bad case of A.D.D. when it came to my life.
When was done at the future Mr. & Mrs. Asher's house, I met Alivia for lunch at a Mexican lace we frequented called La Piñata. It smelled like beans and meat when I walked in. And it was hot, but it always was for some reason. I think it had to do with the kitchen in the back and how small the restaurant was.
Alivia was sitting at a table in the middle of the small eatery already, eating tortilla chips and guacamole. My stomach growled at the thought of it. “Hey.” I said over the loud mariachi music overhead as I sat in the rickety wooden chair across from her.
“Hi.” She said a bit glumly.
“What's wrong?” I questioned as I scooped a big chunk of guac onto my chip.
“I'm just having a shitty day.”
Chewing still, I let out a muffled “Why?”
She sighed, “School sucks, I'm tired, I'm upset about Kennedy still, and I need a vacation.”
My eyes brightened, “Let's go somewhere!” I was always up for an adventure. Alivia stared at me from across the table as if I were dense. “What?” I questioned as I stuffed another chip into my mouth.
“You're aware that I have school and a job, right? I can't just take off on vacation.” Realization crossed her features, “You can't either; you have a job!”
I rolled my eyes, “Come on Aly.”
She shook her head, “No, Leland. We had our fun after we graduated. Now we have to live like real people and suck it up when things get frustrating.”
A waiter came by just then and took our orders. Even though it was practically the same every time we came in and they knew us on a first name basis. The food was so great that we always went back.
“So, what did you think about Garrett last night?”
It took me a second to remember who she was talking about. Soon enough, a face popped in my head and I remembered the guy who complimented my hair and stopped me from tumbling over. “He was nice, I guess?” I asked more than said, “Why?”
She shrugged, “You guys just seem like you'd get along.”
I eyed her, “What's his sign?”
She sighed in annoyance, “Leland, will you get over the whole astrology thing?”
I shook my head, “Alivia, will you get over your insecurities?” I challenged.
She narrowed her eyes at me then it was like a light bulb went off in her head, “How about this, I'll ask Kennedy out if you go on a date and not worry about what sign they are and how compatible you are with them.”
It was like my whole world stopped. Was she really asking me to do this? “That's not fair! He's going to say yes and I'm going to be stuck on a date with someone I will not get along with.”
She shrugged, “Not my problem.”
“Let me guess, you already have the “perfect” guy for me.”
She smirked, “There might be someone I know.”
My eyes narrowed, “On one condition,” I paused and she took a drink of her water, “I have to be there when you ask him out just so I can gloat in your face when he says yes.” I could tell her heart was thudding in her chest just by the frozen look on her face.
“Fine.” She finally agreed and I nodded, satisfied, “But you have to go on this date first.” Seriously?
“Okay, I'll go on the date and meet you at work after.”
Her brow furrowed, “How do you even know if he'll be there?”
I rolled my eyes at her naivety, “He just got home and he already loves you. I'm sure he'll be at the bar as much as possible.”
She rolled her eyes at me with a scoff, “You're ridiculous.” I only shot her a cheeky smile and stuck the straw of my drink in my mouth.
The “perfect” guy Alivia set me up with was the brother of one of her school friends or something along those lines. I wasn't paying too much attention to her explanation before I left. All I knew was that his name was Adam, he worked in an office, dealing with numbers... or something. He was boring. Mildly attractive, but boring.
I couldn't figure out why Alivia would ever think we would be good together. He had a nine to five job and was stable. Didn't she know me by now? Didn't she know I needed movement in my life? This Adam guy was not for me. I could already tell he was none of my compatible signs, I didn't even need to ask.
After he paid for dinner, he walked me to my car and I got in without giving him the chance to make a move. After an awkward let down, I pulled out of my stall and got out of the parking lot as quick as possible. Alivia was going to get an earful when I got to the bar.
Just as I suspected, Kennedy was at the bar. Jared and Garrett were there again as well, along with two other guys. A tall, lanky one and a shorter, nerdy looking one. Unlike a few days prior, this night, the bar was a bit more crowded. There was a spot next to the group of boys, though. I took this as an invitation. Grabbing the barstool, I pulled it away from the bar and into their group.
“Aye! Leland!” Jared greeted happily from next to me.
I smiled at him, “Hey, Jared, how are you?”
He nodded, “Not so bad, what about you?”
“I need a drink.” He laughed.
“I would love to buy you a drink.” I turned to the unfamiliar voice from next to me and was met with the nerdy looking one.
I raised an amused eyebrow at him, “Would you now?”
He nodded, “And maybe I could get your number.”
This time, I laughed, “Oh, yeah?” He nodded again, confidence not faltering, “Tell you what, you get me the drink first and I'll give you my number.”
His eyes lit up and I saw all of the guys look at me in shock, “Well, all right! What will you be drinking?”
“Shock top.” With a nod, he was gone. Poor kid. Turning back to the group, I sighed, “So, what, does that kid have a mental disability or what?”
They all cracked smiles and chuckled, “Eric is well...” The tall one said, “Eric.”
I nodded, “And you are?”
He seemed surprised by my bluntness, “I'm John.”
I nodded again, “Okay.” He laughed and took a drink from the bottle in his hand. I turned to the brown haired boy next to him, twirling a pair of car keys around his pointer finger, “Hi, Garrett.” I smiled, being polite.
He looked up and locked eyes with me, “Hey, Leland.” He said.
That was the end of that conversation because a beer was suddenly in my face. My fingers took if from his grasp and brought the bottle to my lips.
“So, can I get that number?” Eric had his phone out with a hopeful look on his face.
“Eighteen.” I replied then lifted the beer to my lips again. He looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to go on, “Oh, did you not want my favorite number?” The boys all began cracking up at their friend's expense.
“That's not cool.”
My face scrunched up, “You're not my type anyways.”
He rolled his eyes in irritation, “I'm a guy, I have a good sense of style, I'm in a band. What more do you want?”
My eyebrow rose, “Not someone so desperate. Get it together, Man!” Everyone laughed once more. I felt a little bad for the guy, but I could already tell he wasn't what I was looking for. I wasn't even really looking to begin with. “Anyways, where's that bitch of a best friend of mine?” I asked, not seeing her behind the bar.
“She, uh, went somewhere with Kennedy, I think.” Garrett said then took a sip of his drink. It wasn't beer, I knew that much. It was dark and he was only taking small sips. I figured it was whiskey.
My eyes widened considerably at my friend's whereabouts. Maybe she was already asking him out.
“Oh, so you're friends with the girl Kenny's had a constant hard-on for for the last six months?” John asked and I nodded.
“Yeah. Aly and I made a deal. She's supposed to ask him out if I go on a blind date she set me up on.”
“Oh?” Jared questioned over his bottle of Budweiser and I nodded again, “Well, he was finally going to ask her out tonight, so you might have gone on your date for no reason.”
My face dropped, “What?”
That's when my best friend walked up to our group wearing the biggest smile I'd ever seen her wear, “We're going out on Sunday. He asked me, I didn't have to.” She beamed.
“So you're telling me I didn't have to go out with Mr. Boring, wasting two hours of my life? You're a bitch.”
She shrugged, “It's good practice for future dates!”
My brow furrowed, “What?!”
“Leland, I'm making it my mission to find you your Mr. Right.”
I became horrified at the thought of Alivia setting me up on another one of her infamous blind dates. No matter how hard she tried, I would never be okay with anyone she set me up with. I was stubborn like that and wasn't even looking to begin with. I was perfectly fine by myself.
“Aly, seriously, you've tortured me enough these last few years. I'm fine by myself. It'll all work itself out, I'll find my match.” I had been telling her this for years, but she never seemed to take it in.
She narrowed her eyes at me, “Too bad; you have a date with Drew Bradley on Tuesday.”
My mouth dropped, “Drew Bradley? As in your ex's brother?” I knew all of the guys were watching our exchange, but I didn't even care; I was too upset with Alivia.
Alivia nodded eagerly, clearly missing how upset I was, “Yeah! He walked in here earlier and he was all for it! He remembered you and is really excited. He's picking you up at seven.”
I was in such a state of shock. Why did she keep doing this to me? “I'm not going.” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest. She opened her mouth to object, but I cut her off, “Drew is such a sleezeball! He wears Ed Hardy, Alivia. He always has a baseball hat on, he types words out like some preteen and doesn't know the difference between obvious and oblivious. He's hit on me countless times when you were with Mark and all but put his hands down my pants at our Halloween party. But you never knew because you get so wrapped up in your own head when you're in a fucking relationship.” She was stunned by my outburst, but I didn't care. With an aggravated sigh, I turned to the guys, “Sorry you had to witness that.” I handed my barely touched beer to Eric, “Thank you for the drink, but I'm going to have to go.” He nodded in understanding, “Have a nice night.”
Standing from my stool, I went to walk away, but Alivia stopped me, “He's not a bad guy.” I rolled my eyes and continued out the door. Of course she didn't hear anything I said to her.
Alivia stormed into my room at around one in the morning, after she got home from work. I was already in bed with the lights off, cuddling with Ryan and watching a late night marathon of Storage Wars on A&E.
Her hand slapped my light switch on, causing me to squint in the harsh light, “What the fuck, Alivia?!”
“We need to finish our conversation.”
I rolled my eyes and paused the show. At least I'd get to fast forward through commercials now, “There's no more to discuss! Drew is a douchebag and I'm not going out with him.”
“Stop being so difficult, Leland.”
My eyes widened, “I'm being difficult? Why don't you stop setting me up on all of these dumb dates? I'm fine being single. I knew me, Alivia. I don't do well in relationships. I can't stay with someone for too long. You know just by how often I switch professions.”
She clucked her tongue in annoyance, “Leland, I'm asking you to go on a date – one single date with this guy. I'm not asking you to marry him.”
“You're not getting the point, Alivia. I don't want to go on the date. I don't even care if he's compatible! He's a dick an I just don't want to do it.”
Her eyes went wide as she stuck her bottom lip out, “Please?! I promise not to set you up on anymore dates. Just one more.”
I let out a long, angry sigh as I glared at her. She was not letting up.
That day, I had a meeting in the morning with a newly engaged couple. I met them at their house and they explained to me what they needed help with. Sometimes I was there every step of the way, and others I was only there to get things started. It seemed like this particular couple wanted me there for the whole thing, every step of the way. I gave them a run through of everything to expect and they gave me a list of ideas they had come up with.
Lisa and Shaw were a young couple. She was blonde and had a pretty smile while he had black hair and sleeves of tattoos. He told me that's what he did for a living, tattoos. She was a florist. Her parents happened to be loaded which made things a lot easier on me.
It was weird to people whenever I told them I was a wedding planner. They always said I didn't come off as the romantic type, which was true, but I still knew what people liked. I wasn't romantic, but I could still put together a damn beautiful wedding. I was getting bored, though. That's what I did. I tried things out for a little while then got bored and moved on. Some said that made me seem very unstable and flighty, but I just had a bad case of A.D.D. when it came to my life.
When was done at the future Mr. & Mrs. Asher's house, I met Alivia for lunch at a Mexican lace we frequented called La Piñata. It smelled like beans and meat when I walked in. And it was hot, but it always was for some reason. I think it had to do with the kitchen in the back and how small the restaurant was.
Alivia was sitting at a table in the middle of the small eatery already, eating tortilla chips and guacamole. My stomach growled at the thought of it. “Hey.” I said over the loud mariachi music overhead as I sat in the rickety wooden chair across from her.
“Hi.” She said a bit glumly.
“What's wrong?” I questioned as I scooped a big chunk of guac onto my chip.
“I'm just having a shitty day.”
Chewing still, I let out a muffled “Why?”
She sighed, “School sucks, I'm tired, I'm upset about Kennedy still, and I need a vacation.”
My eyes brightened, “Let's go somewhere!” I was always up for an adventure. Alivia stared at me from across the table as if I were dense. “What?” I questioned as I stuffed another chip into my mouth.
“You're aware that I have school and a job, right? I can't just take off on vacation.” Realization crossed her features, “You can't either; you have a job!”
I rolled my eyes, “Come on Aly.”
She shook her head, “No, Leland. We had our fun after we graduated. Now we have to live like real people and suck it up when things get frustrating.”
A waiter came by just then and took our orders. Even though it was practically the same every time we came in and they knew us on a first name basis. The food was so great that we always went back.
“So, what did you think about Garrett last night?”
It took me a second to remember who she was talking about. Soon enough, a face popped in my head and I remembered the guy who complimented my hair and stopped me from tumbling over. “He was nice, I guess?” I asked more than said, “Why?”
She shrugged, “You guys just seem like you'd get along.”
I eyed her, “What's his sign?”
She sighed in annoyance, “Leland, will you get over the whole astrology thing?”
I shook my head, “Alivia, will you get over your insecurities?” I challenged.
She narrowed her eyes at me then it was like a light bulb went off in her head, “How about this, I'll ask Kennedy out if you go on a date and not worry about what sign they are and how compatible you are with them.”
It was like my whole world stopped. Was she really asking me to do this? “That's not fair! He's going to say yes and I'm going to be stuck on a date with someone I will not get along with.”
She shrugged, “Not my problem.”
“Let me guess, you already have the “perfect” guy for me.”
She smirked, “There might be someone I know.”
My eyes narrowed, “On one condition,” I paused and she took a drink of her water, “I have to be there when you ask him out just so I can gloat in your face when he says yes.” I could tell her heart was thudding in her chest just by the frozen look on her face.
“Fine.” She finally agreed and I nodded, satisfied, “But you have to go on this date first.” Seriously?
“Okay, I'll go on the date and meet you at work after.”
Her brow furrowed, “How do you even know if he'll be there?”
I rolled my eyes at her naivety, “He just got home and he already loves you. I'm sure he'll be at the bar as much as possible.”
She rolled her eyes at me with a scoff, “You're ridiculous.” I only shot her a cheeky smile and stuck the straw of my drink in my mouth.
+
The “perfect” guy Alivia set me up with was the brother of one of her school friends or something along those lines. I wasn't paying too much attention to her explanation before I left. All I knew was that his name was Adam, he worked in an office, dealing with numbers... or something. He was boring. Mildly attractive, but boring.
I couldn't figure out why Alivia would ever think we would be good together. He had a nine to five job and was stable. Didn't she know me by now? Didn't she know I needed movement in my life? This Adam guy was not for me. I could already tell he was none of my compatible signs, I didn't even need to ask.
After he paid for dinner, he walked me to my car and I got in without giving him the chance to make a move. After an awkward let down, I pulled out of my stall and got out of the parking lot as quick as possible. Alivia was going to get an earful when I got to the bar.
Just as I suspected, Kennedy was at the bar. Jared and Garrett were there again as well, along with two other guys. A tall, lanky one and a shorter, nerdy looking one. Unlike a few days prior, this night, the bar was a bit more crowded. There was a spot next to the group of boys, though. I took this as an invitation. Grabbing the barstool, I pulled it away from the bar and into their group.
“Aye! Leland!” Jared greeted happily from next to me.
I smiled at him, “Hey, Jared, how are you?”
He nodded, “Not so bad, what about you?”
“I need a drink.” He laughed.
“I would love to buy you a drink.” I turned to the unfamiliar voice from next to me and was met with the nerdy looking one.
I raised an amused eyebrow at him, “Would you now?”
He nodded, “And maybe I could get your number.”
This time, I laughed, “Oh, yeah?” He nodded again, confidence not faltering, “Tell you what, you get me the drink first and I'll give you my number.”
His eyes lit up and I saw all of the guys look at me in shock, “Well, all right! What will you be drinking?”
“Shock top.” With a nod, he was gone. Poor kid. Turning back to the group, I sighed, “So, what, does that kid have a mental disability or what?”
They all cracked smiles and chuckled, “Eric is well...” The tall one said, “Eric.”
I nodded, “And you are?”
He seemed surprised by my bluntness, “I'm John.”
I nodded again, “Okay.” He laughed and took a drink from the bottle in his hand. I turned to the brown haired boy next to him, twirling a pair of car keys around his pointer finger, “Hi, Garrett.” I smiled, being polite.
He looked up and locked eyes with me, “Hey, Leland.” He said.
That was the end of that conversation because a beer was suddenly in my face. My fingers took if from his grasp and brought the bottle to my lips.
“So, can I get that number?” Eric had his phone out with a hopeful look on his face.
“Eighteen.” I replied then lifted the beer to my lips again. He looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to go on, “Oh, did you not want my favorite number?” The boys all began cracking up at their friend's expense.
“That's not cool.”
My face scrunched up, “You're not my type anyways.”
He rolled his eyes in irritation, “I'm a guy, I have a good sense of style, I'm in a band. What more do you want?”
My eyebrow rose, “Not someone so desperate. Get it together, Man!” Everyone laughed once more. I felt a little bad for the guy, but I could already tell he wasn't what I was looking for. I wasn't even really looking to begin with. “Anyways, where's that bitch of a best friend of mine?” I asked, not seeing her behind the bar.
“She, uh, went somewhere with Kennedy, I think.” Garrett said then took a sip of his drink. It wasn't beer, I knew that much. It was dark and he was only taking small sips. I figured it was whiskey.
My eyes widened considerably at my friend's whereabouts. Maybe she was already asking him out.
“Oh, so you're friends with the girl Kenny's had a constant hard-on for for the last six months?” John asked and I nodded.
“Yeah. Aly and I made a deal. She's supposed to ask him out if I go on a blind date she set me up on.”
“Oh?” Jared questioned over his bottle of Budweiser and I nodded again, “Well, he was finally going to ask her out tonight, so you might have gone on your date for no reason.”
My face dropped, “What?”
That's when my best friend walked up to our group wearing the biggest smile I'd ever seen her wear, “We're going out on Sunday. He asked me, I didn't have to.” She beamed.
“So you're telling me I didn't have to go out with Mr. Boring, wasting two hours of my life? You're a bitch.”
She shrugged, “It's good practice for future dates!”
My brow furrowed, “What?!”
“Leland, I'm making it my mission to find you your Mr. Right.”
I became horrified at the thought of Alivia setting me up on another one of her infamous blind dates. No matter how hard she tried, I would never be okay with anyone she set me up with. I was stubborn like that and wasn't even looking to begin with. I was perfectly fine by myself.
“Aly, seriously, you've tortured me enough these last few years. I'm fine by myself. It'll all work itself out, I'll find my match.” I had been telling her this for years, but she never seemed to take it in.
She narrowed her eyes at me, “Too bad; you have a date with Drew Bradley on Tuesday.”
My mouth dropped, “Drew Bradley? As in your ex's brother?” I knew all of the guys were watching our exchange, but I didn't even care; I was too upset with Alivia.
Alivia nodded eagerly, clearly missing how upset I was, “Yeah! He walked in here earlier and he was all for it! He remembered you and is really excited. He's picking you up at seven.”
I was in such a state of shock. Why did she keep doing this to me? “I'm not going.” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest. She opened her mouth to object, but I cut her off, “Drew is such a sleezeball! He wears Ed Hardy, Alivia. He always has a baseball hat on, he types words out like some preteen and doesn't know the difference between obvious and oblivious. He's hit on me countless times when you were with Mark and all but put his hands down my pants at our Halloween party. But you never knew because you get so wrapped up in your own head when you're in a fucking relationship.” She was stunned by my outburst, but I didn't care. With an aggravated sigh, I turned to the guys, “Sorry you had to witness that.” I handed my barely touched beer to Eric, “Thank you for the drink, but I'm going to have to go.” He nodded in understanding, “Have a nice night.”
Standing from my stool, I went to walk away, but Alivia stopped me, “He's not a bad guy.” I rolled my eyes and continued out the door. Of course she didn't hear anything I said to her.
+
Alivia stormed into my room at around one in the morning, after she got home from work. I was already in bed with the lights off, cuddling with Ryan and watching a late night marathon of Storage Wars on A&E.
Her hand slapped my light switch on, causing me to squint in the harsh light, “What the fuck, Alivia?!”
“We need to finish our conversation.”
I rolled my eyes and paused the show. At least I'd get to fast forward through commercials now, “There's no more to discuss! Drew is a douchebag and I'm not going out with him.”
“Stop being so difficult, Leland.”
My eyes widened, “I'm being difficult? Why don't you stop setting me up on all of these dumb dates? I'm fine being single. I knew me, Alivia. I don't do well in relationships. I can't stay with someone for too long. You know just by how often I switch professions.”
She clucked her tongue in annoyance, “Leland, I'm asking you to go on a date – one single date with this guy. I'm not asking you to marry him.”
“You're not getting the point, Alivia. I don't want to go on the date. I don't even care if he's compatible! He's a dick an I just don't want to do it.”
Her eyes went wide as she stuck her bottom lip out, “Please?! I promise not to set you up on anymore dates. Just one more.”
I let out a long, angry sigh as I glared at her. She was not letting up.
♠ ♠ ♠
Hello all! Here's the next chapter. As you can see, Leland and Alivia argue quite a bit. It's just part of their friendship. There's more Garrett in the next one. (:Thank you elleeann for being my first and only comment. I think more of you need to comment and tell me what you think so far.
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