CHAPTER NINE
ARIA
"Aria! You awake over there?" Paige called with a laugh. It was early Tuesday morning and they had both been assigned to cover the first flight of Philadelphia Airport's newest airline. Unfortunately, that required them to be set up and ready to interview at 5am.
Sighing, Aria ran a hand through her hair and took a long drag from her coffee. "I'm awake. Barely."
"I see that," Paige laughed. Dropping into the seat next to Aria, she continued, "So… how was your private after party with James Marsden's doppelganger?"
"His… what?" It was too early for this kind of inquisition, Aria was positive of it.
"Hotty McHotstuff. The guy you abandoned us for at the bar in NYC this past weekend?"
Aria rolled her eyes at Paige's description. Ezra certainly made an impression on everyone he met.
"It was fine. Nothing spectacular happened," Aria responded nonchalantly. "When's the aircrew supposed to get here again?" she asked, attempting to change the subject. That did the job, Paige went back to chattering exuberantly and Aria went back to successfully tuning her out. As much as she liked Paige, she often was quite the talker.
Aria's stomach rolled a bit during Paige's babbling, causing her to suddenly sit up straighter in her chair and nervously grab for a water bottle she had stored in her purse.
Stopping short with whatever she had been saying, Paige worriedly backed away from Aria. "You ok, Aria? You look a bit white."
"Yeah, I'm…" Aria's words caught in her throat before she was able to reaffirm her coworker, her stomach officially deciding it no longer wanted the bagel and hot coffee she'd ingested that morning. Pushing up from her seat, Aria barely made it the restroom before losing the breakfast she'd eaten less than an hour ago. Paige, luckily, didn't follow her.
Aria sat back on her heels wiping at her forehead with some tissue once she felt stable enough to stop throwing up. Maybe she'd caught some kind of bug? She'd been sick for four days now, surely that wasn't normal? Taking a couple deep breaths, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way out of the restroom to rejoin her friend.
Aria wasted no time in heading home that day the second the clock hit 5 o'clock. Regardless of her early start, she was still expected to stay until her normal hour and as a result, her day had dragged. She was drained, especially after her episode in the restroom. Walking into the house, she dropped her keys and purse on the table just inside the entryway and followed the sound of music into the living room. Spencer was set up on her computer, obviously listening to Pandora, with mountains of files surrounding her on both the coffee table and couch. Aria dropped dramatically into a chair opposite where she sat, causing Spencer to glance up from her work.
"Long day?"
Nodding her head, Aria tucked her feet beneath her and leaned her head back against the chair. "I think I may have a flu bug or something, Spenc. I got sick again this morning at the airport."
Spencer nervously shoved her laptop away from her and turned to face Aria, pushing a few stray strands of hair behind one ear.
"I've actually been thinking about that, Aria. I need to ask you something… and don't take this the wrong way, please."
Aria looked at Spencer with confusion. "Ok…"
"You didn't sleep with Fitz on your overnight to New York this past weekend, did you?"
"No, Spencer!" Aria shot out in surprise. She sat up straighter in her chair and stared Spencer down with a look of complete bewilderment. How could she think that?
Spencer moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table, putting her directly in front of Aria. She reached out tentatively to take her friend's hands before continuing. "I think… Aria, I think you should take a pregnancy test."
Aria's breath left her body in a gust of shock. "A pregnancy test?" she whispered.
"Your sickness every morning for the past couple of days can't just be from your one night out on Friday, Ar. You've been moody and temperamental lately. I tried attributing that to what happened with you and Jason… but I think it's bigger than that."
Aria was silent for a moment, staring out the large living room window. "Ok."
Shocked, Spencer pulled away to look at Aria fully. "Ok? Just like that? Well there goes the whole speech I'd planned on giving. I'll save it I guess for the next scare," Spencer joked, cracking a half forced smile.
Aria sat there, unable to respond or even to react to her friend's humor. It couldn't be true. The last person she'd been like that with was… Jason.
"Could you… could you run to the store for me and grab a couple tests?" Aria asked, suddenly sitting up and grabbing her phone. She checked the date on her calendar. She was late. The pieces were slowly falling into place.
"Actually…" Spencer got up and walked towards the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a paper drug store bag. "I grabbed a few on my way home from work. Along with some actual flu medication in case you aren't actually pregnant."
Aria gave a small smile at this. She could always count on Spencer to be prepared, no matter the situation. "Thanks, Spenc."
Taking a deep breath, Spencer handed the bag over. "So I'll wait out here for you?"
Aria nodded and after a moment of silence, stood and headed towards the restroom.
EZRA
"On a lone and lonesome highway, east of Omaha, you can listen to the engine moanin' out his one lone song. You can think about the woman or the girl you knew the night before…"
Signaling towards the barkeep for another scotch, Ezra ran a hand roughly through the hair that hung long and unkempt across his forehead. He loosened the tie he'd been wearing all day, shoving it without care for future dry cleaning into the inside breast pocket of his blazer and stood to find the restroom.
He locked the door upon entering the men's room and found his way to the sink, turning the water on full force and splashing it upon his face. This is what his mother and driven him to. He was stressed beyond the point of reason and unable to think clearly. The only way he knew how to deal with it, with her, was with alcohol. Lots of alcohol. He was far from drunk but he planned on rectifying that before the night was over.
Gripping the edges of the sink, he stared into his reflection. He had always heard about how handsome both he and his brother were. About how they had been lucky to have been born into one of the most attractive gene pools in all of Philadelphia. All he saw, though, was a broken man; a man unable to face his problems like the adult that he was. Instead he was at the local watering hole, drowning his sorrows in beer, just like every other redneck in town. Sighing, he forcefully pulled a couple paper towels out of the holster to dry his hands before making his way back out to the bar.
That's when he caught sight of her.
She was sitting a couple of bar stools down from where he'd resided, wet from the drizzle that had started to come down about an hour ago. She had no drink sitting in front of her but instead looked off into the distance with a look of complete defeat written across her face. Without thinking, Ezra picked up his beer and slid onto the stool next to her.
"You know I'm beginning to think you have a problem with alcohol," he smirked. "That would explain your inability to walk without running into people."
Aria turned to look at him, shooting half of a smirk back at him. "Well I'm beginning to think you have a problem with stalking. How else would you explain how often we actually do run into each other."
Ezra let out a short laugh, lifting his beer to his mouth and taking a small sip. "Can I get you a drink? I believe I still owe you one."
"Sure, I'll have-" Aria suddenly stopped short with what she'd been about to say, a look of realization coming across her face. "Actually, I'm fine. I'll just get a water."
Ezra furrowed his brow in confusion. "You come to a bar to order water…"
"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Aria snapped. She then took a deep breath, running her hand through her damp hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have barked at you like that."
"Trust me, I've had worse," Ezra responded with a soft smile. They sat there in silence for a minute or two, listening to the soft pattering of rain against the windows and the music playing from the jukebox. "Is there… something wrong?" Ezra asked, feeling the insurmountable level of tension radiating off of Aria.
She tensed up, shooting him a tight smile. "You don't normally ask women that do you? How'd it taste coming out of your mouth?"
"Like vinegar," Ezra laughed. Her witty comebacks and snarky attitude were drawing him further in, making him feel things he'd only read about. It left him confused.
Twirling a ring around on one of her fingers, Aria avoided his gaze. "Well, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I just have a lot on my mind."
Ezra reached out to turn Aria's face so he could stare into her eyes, taking in the wide array of emotions that flowed through them. She most definitely was not fine. Before he could think about how to respond, Ezra resorted to his old self.
"I could help you forget about things for a while. I know of a couple activities we could do to help take your mind off of things," he smirked, running his thumb across her bottom lip. He watched as Aria took in a small gasp of air, staring intently into his eyes. Without warning, she was pushing away from the counter, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door. Confused, Ezra quickly rose and grabbed her arm before she was able to fully pass him. He spun her around to face him.
"Hey, I was just joking. Come on, let me buy you a drink to apologize."
Shaking her head, Aria looked up to meet his gaze. "You know. I've heard a lot about you. I know about your history with women, about the stack of money you have attached to your last name, as well as the hoard of drama. Well, thank you but no thank you. I've got enough drama in my life that I refuse to be another notch on your bedpost. See you around, Ezra."
With that, she was gone.
What do you all think is going on with Aria? Is she pregnant? Did Ezra really deserve how she treated him? Your reviews keep me writing, so let me know your thoughts!
