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Chapter Six
ASHLEY
“CAN I GET TWO SLICES OF cheese pizza, please? With extra, extra sauce?” Ashley signaled to the cashier at the greasiest pizza joint in all of New York City.
“Extra, extra sauce? Coming right up!” The teenager behind the counter repeated back.
Ashley took a seat at an empty booth by the window. The pizza shop was usually empty on Friday nights; clubs and bars usually took precedent during this time, with beer-filled stomachs seeking out the greasy, fatty stuff much, much later.
But that scene was never really for her. Her partying days were more isolated to when she was in college, hopping from frat party to frat party, but truth was, she was getting too old to deal with that sort of thing nowadays. Curling up at home by the fire with a man’s arms wrapped around her was a much more ideal Friday night for her. Too bad her luck with men had been pretty shitty lately.
Ashley sighed as she took a long sip of her coke. Why was it that all the men she wanted never wanted her back? The ones who did were usually the creeps she’d only go out with out of pity. Tara was the beautiful one among the two, with gorgeous blonde hair, a blemish-free face, and eyes so mesmerizing that any man would fall to their knees instantly upon looking at her.
It was too bad that her relationship with Rowan didn’t work out. When she was at their wedding, everyone, including their friends and family, thought they were perfect for each other, the quintessential couple to look up to. And now when even the most compatible of relationships was falling apart, what hope was there really left for her and the other lonely hearts in the world?
“Your pizza, ma’am?”
The teenager distracted her when he placed a tray down on the table in front of her, each of the two paper plates carrying an extra-large slice of the cheesiest and sauciest pizza she could ever ask for. Even the smell alone made her want to order a whole pie just to chow down later on in shame.
She took a bite and could feel her worries all wash away. Ashley used to have a problem with food. In fact, it never really went away. She’d lived a life of isolation, always the weird loner no one wanted to hang out with, not even her parents.
Before Tara, she’d only really had one close friend, Milly, who was equally as weird as her, and they both hated the rest of the world together. It was probably the best friendship of her life, until Milly’s family decided to move to Canada one day and took it all away from her. Even Tara never really measured up to Milly, caring more about her appearance and self-respect than she did about just enjoying life. Always stuck in the mud, that Tara was.
When she finished her pizzas two hours later, she looked down at her phone. Still nothing from Tara. She must’ve really hit it off with Declan.
Another hour passed, and still no messages came through.
“That’s weird,” Ashley said to herself. “She said she’d say something if she were leaving. Maybe she’s still there.”
She wiped the oil from her face with a paper napkin, slid out of the booth, and headed back next door. The club was due to close in just under an hour, and the place was starting to clear out. She pushed through the drunk crowd lingering by the door and walked past the tired waitresses praying to call it a night, but her friend was nowhere to be seen. Not even the obnoxiously bright emerald earrings she was wearing was enough to distinguish her from the crowd.
She walked up to the bartender and sat down.
“Excuse me, but ha—” she started to speak.
“Bar’s closing soon, but what can I get for you, little lady?”
“Uh… just some water is fine. You wouldn’t happen to have seen a blonde girl, would you? Long hair, green earrings, around my height?”
He shook his head as he handed her the glass. “Plenty of girls like that trickled around here tonight. Even if I had, sure as hell can’t remember.”
“Hey, man, can I get a vodka soda, please?” A woman around her age sat beside her while she gestured to the bartender, who shot her a thumbs up and turned away. She had a pale face, her hair styled in a short black pixie cut with hot pink highlights, and a shiny nose ring pierced in between her nostrils. She looked like she had just gotten high in one of the restroom stalls, and Ashley prayed she wouldn’t try and talk to her.
“Sup,” she suddenly said and turned to Ashley.
She didn’t respond. She didn’t want to be bothered. She just wanted to find her friend and get the hell out of here.
“Got a stick up your butt or something?” the woman said again.
Ashley shook her head. “Nothing, just looking for my friend, is all.”
“Oh, yeah? Maybe I can help. I come here way, way too often. I know every face that crosses my path.”
“I think I’m alright, thanks.” Ashley turned her head away and resumed back to her phone, waiting for Tara’s message to come through.
“You don’t like me, do you? I can tell. You’re all the same. You think I’m some low-life druggie who’s up to nothing but trouble. Trust me, honey, no one’s trying to steal your Gucci knockoff.”
Ashley turned back around. She knew she wasn’t being fair. The woman was just trying to start a conversation; she didn’t deserve a cold shoulder. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s nothing against you. I’m just trying to find my friend so we can go home.”
