Pleasantly Surprised

I hope you all had an amazing Fourth! I took a few extra days off and am feeling nice and refreshed for my two-day work week. This post is a return to Allie's storyline, and the next one will be up sometime between tomorrow and Saturday night!

*****

I awoke the next morning to my phone buzzing loudly somewhere in the general vicinity of my left ear. I groaned and turned over, clawing around in my bedding to try and put both me and the phone out of our misery. My hand finally fell on it, and I swiped the screen without even looking, closing my eyes and falling back against the pillows. "Hello?" I rasped.

"Kill me," Rhiannon's voice groaned into my ear. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Before you say anything, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I did try to get you to leave with me," I said.

"Shut up and kill me," she whined again.

I sighed. "What happened?"

"I fucking slept with Eric is what happened. With ERIC," she repeated, for emphasis.

I laughed again, then felt a pang of guilt as I remembered the look on Rachel's face the night before. I tried to be charitable. "He's not so bad. You could've done much worse."

Rhiannon snorted. "You hate him. You have called him the OG douchebag. Repeatedly."

 "I don't hate him," I said half-heartedly. I sighed deeply, rubbing a hand over my face. It was too early for this. "We only ever see him in a group, and I'm sure he's way different one on one. I mean, if you like him..."

Her incredulous laugh cut me off. "Like him?! What are you talking about? Do I have the wrong number? Who is this?"

"You're hilarious," I said dryly. So much for that. Guess nice just isn't my colour. "I take it that it wasn't a love connection then?"

"Definitely not," she said with disdain. "I was reeling over the whole Teo thing, and I just needed a distraction. Total rebound."

"Makes sense." I paused before venturing, "Speaking of Teo -"

Rhi cut me off sharply. "I don't want to talk about it." She exhaled deeply, and when she spoke again, her tone was softer. "Sorry Al, I'm just not ready to dive into that clusterfuck right now."

"All good, I get it." I said, and then changed the subject mischievously, "Sooooooooo, how was it?"

She laughed. "Well, from what I remember, it was good. Really good, actually. Although I was wasted, so we're kind of grading on a curve."

"Well that's something," I said. "Go Eric."

"Yeah," she said, laughing again. "I was pleasantly surprised. He didn't even try to sneak out while I was sleeping, or pull some other asshole maneuver this morning when we woke up. He was actually very cool about the whole thing. He even offered to make coffee before I tossed him out on his ass."

"Really? That's impressive." Rhiannon made a skeptical sound and I corrected myself, "Okay, not impressive, but good. Solid. I dunno, he doesn't completely suck, right?"

"Gee, how reassuring," she said sarcastically.

"I'm doing my best! I'm barely functional right now, work with me here," I protested jokingly.

"Oh God, I hear you. I feel like death." There was silence on the other end, and then Rhiannon took a deep breath. "There's one more thing," she said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"What?" I asked, amused.

She exhaled deeply, before saying, "I may have agreed to go out with him on Friday."

I laughed out loud. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I dunno, we woke up and he was being all nice, and I was so embarrassed and awkward, and I really just wanted him to leave, and so when he asked if he could see me again, I said sure." She groaned. "I was under duress! It doesn't count!"

"Yeah well, I think it's a little late for take-backsies," I teased.

"You have made your amusement clear. Be helpful now, please!"

I smothered a laugh, and then sighed.

Rhi waited a beat before asking, "Are you judging me right now?"

I snorted. "Definitely not. Do you not remember Single Allie? I slept with a guy wearing a pirate costume once. And it was not Halloween. You do not even know the meaning of shame."

"Oh yeah, Pirate Guy," she said fondly. "I forgot about him."

"Well, Eric is no Pirate Guy," I said. "Actually, he's a pretty good catch."

"What is with you right now? Have you been drinking the Lisa Frank Kool-Aid? You're all rainbows and unicorns and it's weirding me the fuck out. Just give me your honest opinion."

I sighed, "Honestly Rhi, why not go out with him? Like you said, you're in rebound mode, and Eric, despite his other qualities, is hot and funny. I bet you'd have fun with him." She didn't say anything, so I continued. "Do whatever you want to do. But it's just one date. It's not like you have to marry the guy, right? And it might be nice to get back out there."

After a beat, she replied, "Yeah, I guess." She let out a surprised laugh. "Wow, I can't believe you, of all people, just talked me into going out with Eric."

The irony did not escape me. "Trust me," I said, wryly, "I find it hard to believe myself."

*****

Finals had arrived, and I was basically spending any free moments I had holed up in the library, studying. The fact that job interviews were right around the corner made this round of finals especially stressful. That stress, combined with the recent mindfucks in my life, made it hard to sleep, and the effects were starting to show. By mid-week, I was basically grumpy and exhausted all the time, and I was starting to resemble the Cryptkeeper.

Bridget and I were studying together in the library on Thursday afternoon. We each had our last final of the week the following morning. For the most part, I had taken my harder classes in second year, but Tax Law had been killing me all semester, and my brain was feeling like complete mush. The only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that a two day break was coming, and the fact that I'd been mainlining Starbucks since 8 AM.

I was re-reading an especially complex section of my notes for what felt like the hundredth time when someone slid into the empty seat next to me. The familiar scent of expensive cologne tickled my nose and I sighed, before turning to acknowledge Julian briefly.

"Hey Bridge, Alexandra," he said smoothly.

"Hey," Bridget replied, "All done your finals for the week?"

He leaned back in his chair. "I have Torts tomorrow, but it's a cake walk. I actually came to see if you guys wanted to take a break and grab a drink."

I blinked at him in scornful disbelief, before turning back to my notes.

"I take it you're gonna pass, then?" he said teasingly.

"Allie has her Tax final tomorrow," Bridge said in a sympathetic voice.

Julian laughed. "Oh God, how badly do you want to die right now?"

I turned to him and raised one eyebrow. "At this moment? Desperately."

"Well you guys should take a break," he announced, ignoring my jibe and slapping his hands on his legs. "Come have a drink, and then you'll be refreshed and ready to hit the books again."

Bridget tilted her head to the side and raised her brows like she was considering it. I let out a short laugh, shaking my head, and said, "Sorry, I actually have to do well on my exams. Mommy and Daddy can't just snap their fingers and get me whatever job I want."

If I had hoped to take Julian down a peg, I completely missed my mark. He simply laughed and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, if this whole law school thing doesn't work out, you can always marry rich. I'll hook you up with a sugar daddy." He bent, giving me an assessing look. "Although, you may wanna clean yourself up a bit. You look like shit."

I knew he was joking (even Julian's not that big of an ass), but I just didn't have it in me to make a stinging comeback. I was way too exhausted for one of our verbal sparring matches. Plus, I knew he was right; I did look like shit, and I felt like shit, too. I simply sighed and looked back down at my notes.

I could feel Julian's eyes on me as he worked on Bridget, but I stared resolutely at my page, willing him to leave. Bridget wavered for a few more minutes before electing to stay with me and grind out a few more hours of studying. I sent a silent thank you up to the heavens when he finally gave up and slid out of the chair.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, and when I ignored it, Julian tipped my chin up to look him in the face. To my surprise, he looked genuinely contrite. "Hey," he said in a low voice, "I was just kidding, Allie. I didn't mean to like, hurt your feelings."

I pulled my chin out of his grip, uncomfortable. After the last two years, I knew how to handle any shade of obnoxious that Julian threw my way, but this sincerity? I had no clue how to take it. "It's cool," I said, shrugging with a lightness I didn't feel. "I'm just tired, and not feeling especially witty. Don't worry, I'll burn you twice as hard next time to make up for it."

He laughed. "There's the girl who loves to hate me! I'll hold you to that. It's only fun when you fight back."

I rolled my eyes at him, and he grinned, before turning to go. As he walked away, he tossed over his shoulder, "Good luck on your exams, try-hards. Alexandra, I look forward to doing battle with you!"

We both laughed, and Bridget nudged me me with her shoulder. "See?" she said, brows raised. "He's not completely terrible."

I nodded, conceding the point. "Not completely," I agreed. I turned back to my notes, feeling slightly less disheartened. After all of the unexpected ugliness with Reid, Teo, and Rachel, it sure was nice to be pleasantly surprised.