Chance Encounters

AJ stormed into her flat slamming the door behind her. The step-monster did it, trying to control her life once again! AJ then stomped into her room greeted by her dogs, Owl and Ashba. She leaned down to pet them, the familiarity soothing her. AJ sat on her bed pulling off her jacket and laying back calling the one person she could rant to. Louis. The phone barely rang two rings before he answered.

"AJ?" The voice of her best friend answered on the other side.

"It's me. Are you off work yet? I need someone to talk to," she said knowing he had gotten off five minutes prior to her calling him.

She heard a small distortion of noise before hearing him speak. "I am. I’m about a street away. I was already on my way over."

AJ smiled and sent a quick good bye before closing her eyes for a moment. The trip to her fathers was emotionally exhausting. She almost drifted off before she heard the door open and close just as quickly.

"AJ!" A voice called from the living room that AJ matched to Louis. She should have known. He had a key.

AJ heard him reach her room and she looked up as he stood in the doorway. Before she could stand up, her dogs were already greeting her best friend. "Sometimes I think they like you more than me."

Louis chuckled, picking up Ashba (a Yorkie) and sat on the bed. "Nonsense, now… what do you need to rant about?"

AJ flopped down beside Louis. She had let it slip her mind. "My step-monster!"

Louis chuckled at the nickname that AJ gave her step-mother long ago. "That's not new. What did she do now?"

AJ's rage boiled once again as she flopped backwards onto the purple duvet, "The better question is what didn't she do?"

Louis sighed, turning to face her. "Just tell me what happened," he said calmly. He was now an expert on how to handle AJ in these rants.

"She seriously thinks she runs my life! The first thing she does is criticize my outfit which is every time I enter my father's house. She then tells me that if it weren't for my father and his money, I would never get married." AJ let out a puff of air, the anger rippled through her as she looked at the ring on her finger. She could get married without money, or an arranged marriage. She didn't want to get married anyway—not now, at least. AJ got angrier by the second as the rage she had against her step-monster filled her body as she angrily threw her expensive ring across the room. "I hate my life."

Louis looked at her, slightly amused. Same Arabella Juliet Davenport she's always been. He moved off her bed to get the ring that landed by Ashba's dog bed. Louis walked back over and handed it to her and smiled. "Oh they're mad devils for tying you down!" He joked, lying beside her.

AJ laughed a bit at his joke and turned around facing him. "Lou, this is why you're my best friend. You're one of the very few who puts up with my crazy and stays this long."

Louis laughed at her, grinning cheekily. "Well, I've been with you so long, I couldn't back out. Besides, I already tried but it was too late," he said earning a playful shove from AJ.

"I'd be happy to let you know, that I'm amazing," she said before standing up, stretching. "Alright, time to go to the bar. I need a drink."

Louis faked a whine. "But I just left work, I don't wanna go back!" He then sat up to look at her. "I'm also pretty sure your fiancé is still there."

With a look of playful disdain aimed at Louis, AJ sighed. "Well, I need a drink and I am spending the rest of my life with him," she replied grabbing her keys and jacket.

Louis shrugged, walking out the door with AJ. "Alright but if Niall is short staffed and I end up working, I'm killing you."

The sky was almost a deep red color over London as Louis and AJ exited her luxury suburban flat across from the university. They walked the few blocks to the local, popular bar where Lou worked. It was the main hangout for most university students. When they reached it, AJ sighed as she saw her fiancé’s car in front but entered anyway.