Chapter XXIII

I was in the elevator, dressed nicely, but not too nicely. I was fashionably late, which I didn't even plan on being, but I remembered at the last moment, that I should probably bring a gift. When I stepped out of the elevator, I could already see them through the glass doors of the conference room. There was not a lot of people, so it wasn't crowded at all. It made me feel this party was a lot more intimate and I was worried about how much I was actually intruding. The speakers were playing Christmas music, which made me smile. When I stepped into the room, no one seemed to notice me at first. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just kind of stood there for a moment, thinking about what to say. Greeting might not sound like something you would need to analyze, but I got really nervous all of a sudden. And when I get nervous, I overthink.

"Hello," said someone.

I turned to the left, where a black-haired man with friendly brown eyes and drink in his hand, was looking at me.

"Hi," I managed.

He lifted his eyebrows, probably waiting for me to say something. God, for a psychologist I really should be better at interacting with people.

"Right. I'm Aron, nice to meet you."

He shook my hand.

"Sam."

He seemed nice. He gestured toward a bottle I was holding.

"A gift? Very polite of you."

I smiled: "Of course."

"Aron!" someone yelled and then an arm was thrown around my shoulders.

"Hi, Lukas."

"You came!"

I chuckled: "I said I would."

"I actually expected that you would be too busy with wallowing in self-pity. So this is a nice surprise."

I rolled my eyes: "Thanks."

"Welcome. Hey, what do you have there?!"

He must have been tipsy already since he had trouble controlling his volume.

"It's a gift."

"For what?"

"You invited me, so I'm giving you something."

"Oh, you shouldn't have...But I'm glad you did because I see alcohol and I'm not saying no to..."

He took it from my hands and looked at the label.

"Holy shit Spencer! Do you know how expensive is this?!" he practically shouted.

I really didn't.

"It was just some unopened bottle of whiskey I picked up at home. I was in a hurry, so I didn't even look at it."

"I don't think I can take this."

"You should. I never drink things I have at home."

I didn't mention it was because they were my fathers'.

He smiled at me, laid the bottle on the table with other liquor and shouted: "People!"

Someone lowered the volume of music and everyone turned to us.

"This is Aron Spencer. My partner. From work."

"Um, hi," I just greeted them awkwardly.

"Aron, these are Taylor, Scarlett, Ben, Victoria, you know her and her boyfriend, Adam."

He just kind of...waved at me.

Lukas continued: "This is Blake, beware of her, she is a gold digger."

A black haired girl rolled her eyes: "Thank you, darling. I appreciate it."

He winked at her.

"Then there are Mia and Nathan. They are a couple, so not as much fun."

"Fuck you," Mia sneered at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't date engaged women. Call me old fashioned."

Nathan chuckled at that.

"That is Edmund. We call him Ed. He is also from a richy-rich family so you have something in common. You can talk about your trust funds or something."

He shook his head and took a sip of his drink.

"And this is," he gave a side hug to a woman beside him, who had a familiar dark green hair: "Is my gay best friend Isabella."

She rolled her eyes: "We talked about this. You are not allowed to introduce me to people like that anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because it makes you sound like one of those annoying white girls."

I smirked.

"Am I not though?"

She shook her head, smiled at me and shook my hand: "You can call me Isa or Bella, but I would prefer Isa, to avoid any Twilight comparisons."

I laughed: "Understandable."

X

I've been here for about three hours and it has actually been fun. I talked to most of his friends and they were really nice. Blake did try flirting a little, but it was pretty obvious she didn't mean anything serious by it.

Right now I was leaning on the table, sipping my Pepsi and thinking about nothing, when my eyes caught sight of Lukas talking to Edmund, while constantly touching his arm and ignoring his personal space. He really was smashed. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Funny isn't it?" said Isabella, now standing beside me.

"Huh?"

"Him drunk. I always thought it was hilarious. He has probably the lowest alcohol tolerance of any person I've ever met."

"Really?"

"Mhm. And when he does get drunk, he gets way to touchy and loud. And it's funny as hell."

"That I believe."

"I must say, I was interested in meeting you for quite some time now."

I lifted my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"After Lukas' many complaints about you, I just wanted to know who is the man able to annoy the crap out of him that much."

I frowned. That cry-baby.

"Just so we are clear. He is no picnic either."

"Oh Aaron, believe me, I know."

A beat of silence followed. Lukas was now laughing with Scarlett and Sam. I cracked a smile. He looked a lot younger like that.

"I'm glad he has someone like you."

I turned to her, not even trying to hide my surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just...He attracts people easily, but...He drives them away just as quickly."

She was also a little bit intoxicated.

She shook her head: "I probably shouldn't be telling you this."

"Then why are you?"

"I like that he trusts you and I just wanted you to know that, because he's sure as hell not telling you. That stubborn ass."

"He-he does?" there was no way she missed the shock in my voice.

She chuckled: "Yes. He would never admit it though."

Her face hardened: "So don't make him regret it."

My mouth went dry and I looked over to Lukas again. He was now rapidly chatting with Taylor.

"I'll try my best."

"Good. Otherwise, I will key your car and cut off your balls."

I absolutely believed she would. She reminded me of Vanessa in a way.

"I do wish I talked to you at the club before Lukas dragged you out, but you know..."

"You were preoccupied."

I lifted my eyebrows, remembering the make-out session.

She smirked: "Mhm. It was fun."

It looked fun.

"What about you? Were you looking for a guy or just accidentally detoured?"

That was the first time I thought of Matt this evening and I immediately got choked up. I excused myself and walked out of the room as quickly as possible without being noticed. I don't know how and why but I ended up in our office. I sat on the floor and leaned on the wall. It was so quiet and I just couldn't stop feeling like shit. This breakup really fucked me up good. Tears were now staining my shirt and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't stop them. I turned my head to the sound at the door. Lukas came in and sat beside me before I could say anything.

"How did you know I'll be here?"

"Isa told me you looked upset and practically ran out. So I did what you usually do and made an educated guess."

I didn't lift my eyes to him, just kept them focused on the floor.

"Good job. You might have a future in psychology."

He scoffed: "I'd rather die."

That almost made me smile a little. We haven't talked properly since I came to this party. I could tell him to go back and have fun, but at the moment I felt selfish and just didn't want to be alone.

"What did you do for Christmas?" I asked, desperate for another topic.

He sighed and threw his head back, banging it against the wall. I flinched, but it didn't seem to cause him any pain.

"I was with my family," there was annoyance in his voice, but I couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous. I couldn't remember the last time I had a family Christmas. That includes the time when my parents were both still alive.

"Lucky you," bitterness slipping into my tone.

He chuckled, but it didn't sound happy: "Not really."

"Well, I was with just my sister, who I love, but eating take out and watching Die Hard doesn't really scream Christmas magic."

He shook his head and smiled, but again in a sad way: "It sounds nice to me. I'd rather have no family, than a shitty one. And right now my family is worse than shitty."

"Is that a Blink 182 song?"

He laughed at my comment and it made me crack a smile as well.

"Cute. Nice avoidance technique by the way. Changing the subject that smoothly, it takes practice."

"Thank you."

My face fell again. He turned to me and even though his eyes were, not even a moment ago, clouded with alcohol, they now shone with intensity.

"Spencer, I get you are heartbroken or whatever, but it's going to be New Years in," he glanced at the clock "about 30 minutes. So how about you forget about him for a little while and enter 2019 single and with your head held high like the rest of us."

I couldn't look away from his eyes, so I just nodded.

He smiled: "Good. You can even kiss whoever you want, well except Mia and Nathan. They would probably want to kiss each other. They are so disgustingly cute."

He used the word cute twice now. He must really be drunk.

"How did you meet them? All of them I mean?"

I have been wondering that all night.

"Mia and Blake are both my Ex-s..."

"Wait, stop. Does Nathan know he is engaged to your Ex?"

He rolled his eyes: "Who do you think introduced them? Anyway, I've known Nathan since high-school. Same with Isabella and Sam. Taylor just kind of appeared in my life and to this day, neither of us can recall how we even started talking. But he is great, so I'm really happy we did. Scarlett, I met in college at the orientation and Ed was Victorias' friend before he switched teams."

I had to bit my lip so I didn't smirk at the term he used. Yes, I'm a 24-year-old adult, thank you for asking.

"You snatched your sisters' friend?"

"What can I say, I'm fun and she didn't appreciate him. So her loss, our gain."

"That's a shitty thing to do."

He shrugged: "Probably, yet I still don't care. Speaking of my sister, what do you think about her new victim?"

I suspected he meant boyfriend.

"I didn't talk to him much, but he seemed nice I guess."

"Yeah, he is quite a tool isn't he?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, I'm telling you, he is."

"Is this you being a protective brother or can you just not handle nice people?"

"If the only thing people can say about you is that you're nice, then you've failed in life."

"Feeling a little bit philosophical are we?"

"Oh, you have no idea. You should have been there for the rant about candy corn of 2014. It's historic."

I chuckled. Somehow I felt better. I stood up and when he tried, he wobbled a little, so I helped him steady himself.

"How are you planning on getting home, since you can't even stand properly?"

"I usually just crash on a couch in the break room. No one will come here for at least two days."

I nodded.

"How will you go home?"

"Bus or a taxi."

"It would be easier for you to just sleep with me."

My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat.

"Here. For you to sleep here with me. Most of them crash here anyway."

He smirked at my shocked face.

"Don't worry Spencer, I might be drunk, but definitely not that drunk."

I didn't know if I felt relieved or a little...disappointed?

Relieved. Yeah, almost certainly relieved.

X

It was 10 seconds to 2019. 9 seconds until ˝New Year-New me˝ resolutions start. 8 seconds until I'll have to listen to all those crappy ˝OMG we haven't seen each other since last year˝ jokes again. 7 seconds until fireworks will be heard all around and we would be able to see them through the windows. 6 seconds until I realize that next year will be the same as this one. 5 seconds until I figure out that it will actually be worse since Matthew will not be here with me anymore. 4 seconds until the fun of New Years celebration wears off and I crash back down. 3 seconds until I start feeling sorry for myself again. 2 seconds until the beginning of a shitty and depressing January. With 1 second to go, I locked eyes with Lukas and he gave me a reassuring smile. Yeah, I think I might be ok.