Title: Glad I Met You
Pairing: AmericaXReader
Summary: You are a young and accomplished business woman who's heart was been broken by someone you loved so much you could barely stand it. You have put walls up to keep from being hurt, but after meeting a fun loving speaker out a conventions those walls slowly start to deteriorate.


Her time in London seemed too short. After lunch she had exchanged numbers with Alfred, but didn't know when it was appropriate to contact him. She saw him a few times during her days at the convention after he was done with his seminars- he seemed to always find her in the crowed and talked to her until he had to head back to his appointed room.

"Liking London more then you thought?" Her boss had questioned her when he noticed her good mood.

"Whatever Edelstein," She had scoffed, but secretly she was becoming happier. This feeling slowly left when she stepped back on a plane to head back to America to return to her daily routine. Alfred had told her he lived and worked in Washington D.C- he was hours away from where she lived in Chicago, Illinois.

When she arrived back to her apartment, she changed into her most comfortable clothes and called Matthew- asking for (demanding) his company.

"How was your trip?" The blond asked, reclining back onto one of her couches.

"It wasn't bad actually," She replied. "The seminars weren't that bad. There was a speaker there named Alfred Jones who had a really nice presentation. You would have liked it and could have used some of his suggestions."

"Eh? Did you just say Alfred Jones?" He questioned. "As in Alfred F. Jones, blond, blue eyes and tall?"

"Yeah," She replied. "Why?"

Matthew chuckled- it almost sounded bitter. "He's my half-brother."

"Half-brother?" She echoed. "I never knew you had siblings! You always made it seem like you were an only child."

Matthew shrugged, "It's a long story." There was a comfortable silence between the two as they watched a movie on TV. The silence was broken however when Matthew asked: "Have you heard from them yet?"

Them. During her time in London she had never thought of the two people who hurt her pride and broke her spirit. "No," She replied.

"Scarlett called me while you were in London," Mathew said quietly. "I didn't want to tell you, but I feel like I should."

"Just because we are no longer friends doesn't mean you can't be friends with her," She replied half meaning what she said. Of course she didn't want Matthew to be friends with her ex-best friend, but she had no control over who he was and wasn't friends with. "What did she say?"

"I can't bring myself to be friends with someone who hurt you so bad," He replied. "She said that she and Francis are…" The sharp look he was given made him continue his sentence. "She said they were getting married. They got engaged a few days ago."

Once again, [Name] felt her world fall to pieces as she felt tears slid down her face. She knew it shouldn't affect her as much as it was- she told herself countless times that she was done crying, but the sobs vibrated in her chest. Matthew moved to sit next to her on the couch she was on and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Married?" She questioned through her tears. "But, we were supposed to get married. Francis and I were supposed to live in the apartment they cozy up in now. Francis and I were supposed to be taking that trip to Mexico next month. Francis and I…" she buried her face into Matthew's shoulder before she lost herself even more.

"I'm sorry [Name]," Matthew whispered into her hair, running his hand up and down her back soothingly. "I'm so sorry."


{2 Month Later}

[Name] hadn't talked to Alfred in almost three weeks. He had called once, but she was on her way to a meeting so she couldn't talk for him long, but in that short amount of time she felt a surge of joy course through her. Though she couldn't talk to him, they emailed back and forth consistently which filled that hole of loneliness. She looked forward to that new alert on her computer screen and seeing the sender was Alfred.

"I'm getting lunch," Ludwig announced, coming into her office and setting a few reports on her desk. "Would you like me to get you something?"

"A coffee from the Corner Bakery would be nice if you don't mind," She replied.

"Ja," He replied. "I'll get you a sandwich as well."

"Danke Ludwig," She replied, using the small amount of German she knew. He simply nodded and walked out- leaving her to continue her work. Her cellphone then rang and she answered without looking at the caller ID. "This is [Last Name]."

"[Name]!" A chipper voice boomed through the receiver. "What's up?"

"Hey Alfred," She grinned, turning away from her computer and gazing out the window of her office. "I feel like it's been forever."

He chucked, "I know. I've been traveling a ton and just got back onto American soil though my traveling doesn't stop even when I get back into the country. Guess where I'll be next week."

She felt a tingle go up her spine- hoping that he's about to say what she thinks he will. "Where will you be next week, Al?"

"Chicago, Illinois babe," He yelled excitedly. "Will you be in town?"

She quickly glanced at her calendar and almost jumped for joy when she saw she had nothing planned. "Yep!"

The two talked for almost another twenty minutes until Alfred had to run to a meeting. When she got off the phone she smiled to herself- barely noticing Ludwig set her drink and sandwich on her desk.

"You're happy," He commented. "About time, maybe you'll talk to me now when you're not busy instead of brooding in here."

She let out a laugh, something she hadn't done in a while in front of someone at work. "Sorry Ludwig, I'll be sure not to neglect you too much."

The German simply shook his head and went back to his office. Ludwig didn't know the whole story as far as she knew and she was grateful that he wasn't the type to run to her whenever he heard a rumor and wanted to hear the truth from her. The truth hurt too much.


{1 week later}

"Are you excited to see him tonight?" Matthew asked. The two were eating brunch at a restaurant not far from where the two worked.

[Name] smiled, "I am, but I'm really nervous too."

"Al's a good guy," Matthew said, putting an unhealthy amount of maple syrup on his pancakes and even putting a few drips in his coffee. "He can be oblivious and doesn't always remember to read the atmosphere, but overall he's a good guy."

She looked at him curiously. "Are you an off limit topic?"

Matthew shrugged, "I don't care really. He probably doesn't even remember I exist."

She seriously doubted that, but decided not to push the topic any more. Talking about Alfred seemed to rub Matthew the wrong way and she didn't want to upset him. Instead, she began to ask him questions about work and how his projects where doing.

Alfred and [Name], texted back and forth until they agreed on meeting at a restaurant not far from his hotel. The restaurant was semi-casual which was perfect for the way she was dressed. She stood outside in the brisk air, watching the crowds of people pass her by and taking in the sounds of the city she loved. When she caught sight of the blond man she was waiting for she smiled and waved him over.

"I hope you weren't waiting long," He said, tugging a bit at his bomber jacket that was over his pressed white shirt and slacks.

She shook her head, "I just got here about five minutes ago and put our name in the book. It's about a twenty minute wait."

"Aw," He pouted (which she found absolutely adorable), "I hate waiting."

"Impatient are we?" [Name] teased.

"Extremely, but since I'm in the company of a beautiful lady I think I'll be fine." Beautiful: not cute, not sexy, not hot-beautiful. She loved the feeling that word gave her coming from Alfred as he smiled down at her. "You look beautiful tonight."

She tugged a piece of hair behind her ear- a nervous habit. "Thanks, you look handsome yourself. I think you're the only one who could rock a bomber jacket without looking out of place."

Alfred laughed. "Yeah, I'm cool like that."

The night was filled with laughter and stories of their jobs and college days. They didn't delve into family or past relationships- just comfortable surface level conversations and [Name] was perfectly okay with that.

"What do you do in your free time Alfred?" She asked curiously.

"Man this is going to sound lame," He chuckled. "Well, I like traveling for myself- no business attached and when I can't do that I guess I just play video games. I go for hikes though when the weathers nice though and just hang out." He rubbed the back of his hair nervously, "Work really does take up most of my life."

"I know," She replied with a sigh. "Half the time I do work at home because there's just so much to do."

"What do you do when you're not working?"

"I play some video games- not a lot of them though and I love going on bike rides and traveling when I can," She replied. "Ever heard of Fallout? I also of most of the Call of Duty games which I'm sure you've heard about."

"Seriously?" He exclaimed, drawing some attention to them. Most of the time [Name] would have cared about the stares, but she was so absorbed in the conversations her and Alfred were having that she didn't notice them. "I love all those games."

She smirked, "Up for a challenge after dinner?"

"Only if you're up for losing."

Needless to say that after dinner she did lose most the rounds she played with Alfred. She was so at peace with him being around that she almost didn't care about losing- it was just an excuse to challenge him again. But, it was around midnight when he needed to leave to get ready for his next round of speaking.

"[Name]," He began nervously. "I would really like to keep seeing you, even though our schedules are crazy and we live in different states."

She looked into his blue eyes and saw the truth behind his words. "I would really like that too."

He smiled, relieved that they were on the same page. He slipped on his jacket- giving her a hug before leaving her apartment, promising to shoot her a text when he was done with his conferences. When she closed the door and locked it the apartment felt empty and made her feel lonely again.

Alfred, what are you doing to me? She wondered, leaning her forehead against the cold door.


[Author's Corner]

Character lineup:
Alfred Jones (America): Love interest
Matthew William (Canada): Best friend
Francis Bonefey (France): Ex-Fiance/boyfriend
Scarlett (OC- she can look how ever you see fit): Ex-Best friend
Ludwig "I won't even attempt to spell his last name" (Germany): Secretary
Rodrick Edelstein (Austria): Boss