Harrison heads to the gym as planned to complete his lower body workout. After stepping off the elevator he sees Rob and Nyemah standing in the hallway talking. And as he passes by, he can tell they're arguing. He minds his business but hears him ask, "What's wrong with her? And he doesn't understand why she's pushing him away." He thinks to himself, why are they having this conversation publicly.
Upon entering the gym he runs into some friends and they chat him up for a while, until he checks the time and realizes he needs to get his workout in before his study group. He ends the conversation with his friends by saying, "Hey guys, it's been real. But I've gotta get to my work out."
He friend Irvin says, "Sorry to keep you man, it was good catching up. Take care dude." He replies, "You too man."
With the social hour over he commences to his warm up and then his complete workout. Two hours later he's done and completing his cool down. He then sees Rob on the heavy bag working out some frustration. They lock eyes, but it's brief and they return to their individual workouts.
Ten minutes later Harrison is in line getting his protein smoothie and he hears his name. He turns around and it's Rob. He says, "Hey man."
Harrison nods as he replies, "What's up? I haven't seen you in a while, everything good?" He sighs as he responds, "It is what it is bro. I'm not sure what's good anymore."
Remembering seeing him talk with Nyemah earlier, but doesn't want to get involved. He responds, "Sounds heavy man, but I'm sure whatever it is, it will work out as its supposed to, you know."
Rob looks dejected and sounds rather upset as he replies, "I guess bro. It's just crazy how things can change so fast from good to bad, you know?"
His bail out comes in the form of his number being called and he capitalizes on it, as he says, "Sorry man, one second. Hey Hailey, that's mine."
She smiles at him as she replies, "Hey there Harry, I thought your order sounded familiar. I've got it right here for you." He smiles as he responds, "Thanks, I appreciate you." She nods as she says, "Sure thing, you take care." He replies, "You too."
When he turns around Rob whispers, "Damn, she's throwing it at you bro, you're really going to ignore her?" He responds, "I'm good man, I'm just here to workout and I've done that so, I'm going to be on my way." He prepares to walk away and Rob responds, "Best way to get over one is to get on top of another." He then hears Hailey say, "Hey Rob how are you?" And Rob says, "I'm much better now that you're smiling at me beautiful."
Harrison shakes his head as he thinks to himself, dude is going from one unhealthy situation to another, and he wishes him well with that journey. He makes his way to his apartment and as he gets off the elevator he gets a text from Abby. She sends him a photo of a shadow of an assembled look. He smiles at her photo as he walks in and is surprised to see Stacy sitting in the living room.
He says, "Hey Stacy, what's up?" She replies, "Nothing much, what's got you all smiley?" He responds, "Oh, nothing, just a funny picture, you know how social media can be." She nods as she says, "Gotcha. The internet can be entertaining if nothing else." He agrees as he sips his smoothie and makes his way to his room, as he asks, "Where's Drew?" She replies, "He's in the shower, we just got back from our morning rotation, and have to head back for the evening shift, so we are taking a meal break."
He has a thought to pick her brain about Abby. After all, she's a female and she knows her too. She sees him in thought and asks, "Hey, you okay?" He replies, "Yeah, I'm sorry. Can I ask you a question?" She sits back on the couch and says, "Sure, what's up?"
He responds, "How did you know Drew was the one for you?" She smiles as she says, "OOOW good question. Uhm, I'd say it was about a year in. I was sick and he came over to my house and he nursed me back to health without complaint."
He responds, "It was that simple?" She replies, "Yes. Because he didn't have to do it, there was nothing in it for him. We weren't even together at the time. We'd broken up a week or so before hand, but he still showed up for me. And afterwards, he still didn't want anything from me. After that I knew he genuinely cared about me as a person." He nods as he responds, "Wow, a whole year huh?"
She laughs at the fact that's all he heard. But she says, "Yep. A whole year." The expression on his face lets her know she needs to clarify her statement.
So she replies, "Don't get me wrong. Before that moment I liked him allot, and we definitely had a connection. But for me, I believe in relationships being battle tested. So it's one of those things where when everything is going as planned it's easy to be together. But when things aren't going as planned, that's when you find out more about the person you're dating. They can't help but show you who they are."
He sits back on the bar stool he's sitting on and sips his drink as he says, "Battle tested. That's a cool perspective and makes a hell of allot of sense. Relationships can be complicated."
She nods as she says, "Exactly, and they're not all fairy tales either. I think sometimes people get caught up in the idea of what love is instead of what it can really look like for most people." He responds, "So you don't think the fairy tale love is real?"
She responds, "I think it depends on what one considers a fairy tale love. Do I think there's a such thing as a perfect relationship where life is always perfect? No. But I do believe that couples can create their own fairy tale love based on what works for them. Not based on something you read in a book or you even see in other people's relationships, because the truth is you never know what goes on in other people's relationships, just what they tell you."
Before he can respond he hears Drew ask "What's got you on your relationship advice soap box babe?" They all laugh as Harrison replies, "Its my fault man, I asked when she knew you were the one, and that opened the door." He smiles as he comes down the stairs and says, "I'm sure it did."
She interjects, "Don't act like you don't agree with me!" He laughs along with both of them as he continues to say, "Patience my dear." They share a smile at each other as he persists, "I was just about to say I can't say I don't agree with her. Perfection doesn't exist, that's why it's unattainable. And the more people who try to chase things that aren't real, the more disappointed they become when they find out the truth."
Harrison nods as he says, "That's profound bro. And very helpful, thanks to both of you." Drew responds, "Glad we could help, but what sparked this conversation anyway?" Stacy blurts out, "It's Abby, isn't it? You're feeling her aren't you?"
Both Drew and Harrison share a look as Drew says, "Sorry man, she's kinda excited about people finding relationships." She quips, "Excuse me, I'm in the room!"
The doorbell rings and he says, "We see you babe. Can you do us a favor and grab the food?" She stands up and says, "Fine, I can tell when I'm not needed."
They chuckle as she passes by them to get the door, and Drew says, "Seriously, you and Abby taking things further?" He replies, "Yeah, it feels like it. I asked her out and she accepted. So we'll see what happens."
He nods as he says, "Are you excited about the date or conflicted?" He responds, "Is both a good answer?" He laughs as he replies, "It's definitely an honest one, so don't worry about it. You and Abby should go out, and enjoy yourselves to see what life with you two as a couple out on the town looks like. You may be surprised at what you discover. but do yourself a favor and understand every love story is different, some takes time to develop and others may develop quicker, there's no magic answer to that question, okay."
He nods as he replies, "Okay. Thanks again man." He smiles at him as he says, "You're welcome. Now go get your girl bro." Harrison responds, "That's the plan. You two enjoy your night." He replies you two." Stacy comes into the living room with their plates made and their drinks. Harrison sees her and Drew says, "Thanks babe." She replies, "You're welcome." They share a kiss and Harrison makes his way to his room.
Thanks for reading my fan fiction tale. Well this installment is setting up the next one pretty well. Now that Mellie has seen Olitz together, do you think Olivia should bring it up to her, or should she leave it be? Abby and Fitz ultimately made the point that Mellie needs to get over herself, in respect to Olivia and Fitz being together. Do you agree? Or does Mellie have a legit gripe with them being so affectionate around her?
Do you think Edison is behind Jake being charged with extortion, or is it Barron? More importantly, does it really matter which one is driving the bus? I'm not sure Jake is going to care when he puts together his plot of figuring out how to get revenge on Edison.
Additionally, it appears that the mystery around Nyemah's role in this story is heating up; what could she possibly be doing in a government vehicle? Kind of makes you wonder who is responsible for her living in that building, right? And what exactly is the trouble between Nyemah and Rob? Could her involvement with him be collateral damage due to her connection with the government vehicle? And what exactly is taking so long for the information on Nyemah to come back? Makes you wonder whose responsible for blocking the information, right? And how does Lupe tie into all of this?
The Grant family dinner is coming up fast, I wonder why Gerry wants to be there. Is he finally going to answer all the questions that Fitz has posed over the years about his parents marriage and his mother's death? It may end up being answers he isn't ready to hear or at least answers he'd never expect.
Lastly, it seems like Abby and Harrison's quig pro quo arrangement is flourishing. What do you think about the conversations Harrison had as well as Abby with their confidants? Seems like things are unfolding rather quickly, but Harrison has some apprehension despite his affinity for Abby. Or is it that he's just curious about the perspectives of others?
We learn the answer to all of these questions and more in the next installment of Between Friends. Thanks again for your continued support.