"The One" – Part 71
Summary and additional notes in part 1.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Curious to know if they'll actually eat? Read ahead… :D
Anonymous - Good to know! Didn't want to give the plot away, hehe. Thanks for the review!
This is not related to my Degrassi timeline fics. (See my Author's profile for details!)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!
-oOo-
"That smells good," Fiona noted as she walked to the table. She had taken a quick, yet thorough shower and redressed. She was taking an 'extended' lunch break, but she had about twenty minutes left to eat if she didn't want to her absence to be too conspicuous!
"And it tastes even better," Adam promised. He wasn't out to pad his own ego, but he thought the sauce had turned out really well! He had made them meatball sandwiches with marinara sauce served on Italian bread. He also prepared a light Caesar salad on the side.
She sat down at the table and began eating.
"So, have you seen FaceRange?" he asked several minutes later.
Fiona looked at him. She had nearly forgotten about that! "Yes, I have."
Adam grinned at her, amused. "It seems like everyone in our networks have something to say!" So much for keeping it low-key!
"There has quite a bit of chatter about it," she agreed. She took another bite of her sandwich as her thoughts returned to Drew's ill-timed comment.
He raised an eyebrow. "That's a good thing, right?" he questioned.
Fiona smiled, deciding not to dwell on it. "What do you think?" she asked playfully.
Instead of answering Adam leaned over and kissed her cheek. She giggled in response.
"Hey mister! I've got limited time here," she teased.
"Oh, that's right!" he feigned surprise.
The two of them laughed.
"So, how do you think things are going to go tonight?" He took a sip of his water.
It was vaguely worded, but she knew exactly what he was asking. Tonight, after work they were going to Gretchen's dinner party. He would be meeting several of her friends for the first time, and almost all of them were also mutual friends with her Ex, Beth.
She met his eyes. "It's going to be a fun night. I know it might be a little awkward at first, but they're a great group of people."
Most of Fiona and Gretchen's friends worked in various artistic fields. They were interesting, diverse, intelligent, and witty. A few of them could be judgmental at times, but she had faith they would give her boyfriend the benefit of the doubt!
Adam nodded. "Cool." He was hoping for the best. Fiona had met all of his close friends – his college friends, his work friends from Boston, and she already knew his hometown crew from Toronto. He had met her work friends and a handful of others, but this last group was the final puzzle piece in integrating their two worlds.
Fifteen minutes later he walked his girlfriend downstairs to hail a cab on the corner.
"I don't want to go," she lamented as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Adam chuckled and kissed the top of her head. He had one arm around her waist and the other was in the air, signaling for a taxi. "Hey, the day's half over, princess," he pointed out.
She smiled a little. "That's true."
A yellow cab pulled over and they walked to the curb. He opened the door for her and they shared one last kiss before she got inside.
"See you tonight," he told her as he closed the door.
She smiled back at him. "I love you."
Adam's smile broadened further. "I love you, too Fi."
-oOo-
"I get that, but they say it's easier to dig a hole than build a pole, right?"
Fiona looked at Laura. That saying had been around since forever! "Generally speaking," she affirmed.
It was three in the afternoon. After she had skipped out on group lunch, Laura made to sure to pull Fiona aside for a coffee break. A small group of them were relaxing in the conference room. Fiona had just given them a brief summary of her amorous clothes optional weekend at Adam's apartment. She hadn't delved too far into details, but Laura and the others were taking full advantage of the opportunity to ask more questions!
"So how does that work out for FTMs?" Laura asked.
Fiona smirked. "You know, there's this thing called a computer. If you log onto a site called Google you can find information about almost anything," she deadpanned.
"Ooh! Burn!" George said amused. He initiated a fist bump, which Fiona promptly met halfway.
Kai joined in on their laughter. "Sorry Laura, but that was an epic question fail!"
Laura pouted. "Oh come on, you know what I meant!"
"We all know what you meant!" Lynn teased her.
Fiona grinned. She was happy that the rest of them had her back but she expected no less. Still, she took a moment to debate what to say without heading off to TMI land! She wanted to put this to rest once and for all.
"He completed his transition during college," she reminded Laura. "He has a pole and we're both very happy with it," she added with a wicked smile as memories of 'lunch' came to mind.
"I guess that answers that!" Lynn giggled.
Lynn wasn't the type to usually 'giggle', so everyone instantly laughed upon hearing her do so.
"Wow," Kai said as he recovered. "This convo is most fun I've had all week!"
"It's only Monday!" George pointed out.
"Well, doesn't make it any less true!" Kai joked. He turned to Fiona. "So what size pole are we talking about here?" he playfully inquired. That was one question he had been curious about every since he first saw a picture of the dude – shirtless on the beach, no less!
Fiona raised an eyebrow at him and he relented.
"Too personal?" he backtracked.
She nodded.
Laura smirked triumphantly. "Even I knew not to ask that!"
Kai stuck out his tongue.
"What are we, eight?" Lynn admonished them.
They all laughed again.
Hanna walked into the conference room. "Okay, so what did I miss?"
The five of them looked at each other before sliding into another round of laughter.
-oOo-
Fiona sighed as she reluctantly signed back onto FaceRange. It was near the end of the day, and the rest of it had gone well! She was preparing to leave soon and head back to the Penthouse to pick up more clothes and to change into a dress for this evening. She hadn't been home since Friday night. However, a few minutes ago she had gotten a cryptic text from Gretchen.
** Are you guys still coming tonight? – Gretchen Y. **
Fiona had frowned upon reading it. Of course they were! She agreed right away when Gretchen had first asked. Also they had discussed it when the three of them met up for Frozen Yogurt the weekend before last. In the week that followed she and Gretchen had ended their conversations with 'See you on Monday!' so she was taken aback by the question.
She had texted back a response.
** Of course. Why wouldn't we? – Fiona C. **
About a minute later Gretchen sent another text.
** Just checking. I wasn't sure after… Have you seen Beth's FR? – Gretchen Y. **
Fiona went on to send another response reassuring her friend that she was indeed still coming.
** No. I'll check it now. Either way, Adam and I will be there, G. – Fiona C. **
As she waited for the website to load, Fiona massaged her temples. She was sick of the drama with her Ex! It felt like it was never ending! Yes, she realized she broke off things between them abruptly. And, yes, she could acknowledge that she moved on very quickly. But four weeks had passed already! Why couldn't people let it go? She had made her decision! She wasn't going to change her mind, so it was really annoying to have to tiptoe around 'the Beth factor'!
Fiona sighed again. She logged in and navigated directly to Beth's page. When she read her ex-lover's status she instantly frowned.
.
tbc
A/N: Oh boy! Lots of questions. Lots of answers. With an extra helping of drama at the end! But the plot has certainly moved ahead...
Review! You know you wanna :D
In the next chapter… We'll find out what Beth wrote! And we'll get to that dinner!