Socializing

Chapter 26. Horns

"May I have the regular please," Jake said.

"Sure," Ana replied.

It's been months since we last saw Jake at the cafe. After the night out with Ana, he'd simply vanished and we honestly cared less but, he was quite a sight! There were dark circles under his eyes, and he appeared unkempt.

"Here you go," Ana said handing him his coffee.

"I see you're doing well," he said as he paid.

"Very well, actually," Ana replied smiling. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he said hesitantly. "See you around, I guess."

"Yeah..." Ana said as he turned and left.

My guess was as good as hers. The girl he had hooked up with that night was simply bad news or worse, he was bad news and we'd just found out about it.

"Something tells me Suho was my guardian angel that night," Ana said turning to face me.

"You're telling me," I replied watching Jake cross the street clumsily.

"So how is he?" She asked eyeing Adrian in his office.

"Well, he's doing okay as far as I can tell," I replied glancing in his direction.

We had not talked much since the cliff incident, but he certainly looked at me differently. It's as if he wanted to say something but was afraid of my reaction.

"Should we swing by the new place after work and check out the apartments?" I asked stacking the freshly baked muffins.

"Good idea," Ana said. "Hey, I was thinking...how about you move in with Adrian and Luke? They have a lot of space and it's not far from the cafe or Suho's."

"Ana, are you out of your mind?" I blurted out stunned.

"No. I am not. I just think your presence in their life will do them both good. And yourself too." She said confidently.

"How am I even supposed to-"

"Take the bull by the horns Donna. Ask Adrian out or I will on your behalf. I am tired of watching you two as you stare at each other like you're both in pain."

"Goodness! How did I end up stuck with you?"

"You won't be for very long," she said nostalgically.

She was right and that was the worst part of it all.