Behind the Screen

Chapter 38

I got to the restaurant and didn't see Emily yet, so I got us a table. She got there a few minutes later and I waved her over to where I was sitting.

"Hey," she said as she sat down, "so is this like an emergency meeting, or what?"

"No," I laughed as I shook my head, "I just needed to vent...and I wanted Chinese food."

"Fair," Emily shrugged, "so what's been going on then?"

"Well let's see," I said, "it's been an eventful couple of days."

"Okay..." Emily said hesitantly as she waited for me to continue.

"Mason has shown up at the office twice to see Chloe," I said.

"Mason as in -" she started.

"Yup, Chloe's boyfriend," I finished the thought for her.

"Damn," Emily said quietly.

"Yeah...super awkward," I said, "she didn't sound very happy that he was there, she told him that she had said to stop coming there to see her."

"That's weird," Emily said, "or maybe not I guess since she's still trying to talk to you."

"I guess so," I said with a shrug, "she stopped me and told me that he only came because he knew that I found out about them."

"Wow, sounds like a nice guy," Emily rolled her eyes.

"Right? I told her I didn't care...but it was obviously super uncomfortable," I said.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Emily responded.

"And then," I sighed, "I went to the bar after work, and I saw Spencer."

"Jesus," Emily mumbled, "you weren't kidding when you said you had a lot to tell me."

"Nope," I said, "but the more surprising part is that it actually ended up being kind of nice."

"Really?" Emily asked in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, I was about as surprised as you are," I laughed, "but it was good to talk to him again, just as a friend I mean."

"Okay wow," she said as she raised her eyebrows, "yeah you've had an eventful few days to say the least."

"Oh I'm not done yet," I told her.

"There's more??" She asked.

"Yeah, so Chloe asked me to stay late at work tonight to help her with a project," I said.

"Oh really, a project, huh?" She said as she put air quotes around the word project.

"Uh huh," I nodded, "that's what I thought too, but she swore up and down that it was all work related."

"And was it?" Emily asked.

"For the most part, yeah," I said, "until she apologized to me before we left."

"She said she realized she never had," I continued, "which I guess is true."

"Well that's not terrible," Emily said.