Lucas:
Hey...
Mrs. Bailey and I both
have to leave early.
Do you still have your
office key? She needs you
to lock up tonight.

I read the text and roll my eyes. I'm so glad I didn't give him any information about Kinsley or I would have never gotten those snacks he would have promised me.

Yes
I still have the office key.

Lucas:
Ok cool
She needs you to come
in 30 minutes earlier.
See you on Sunday.

"Great! Now I have to rush into work." I turn off my phone's screen and grab a fry from Madison's to-go box.

"Why?" She asks smacking my hand away.

"Lucas and Mrs. Bailey are taking the afternoon off so it'll just be me. I need to get there early." I grab another fry and give her a sassy facial expression.

"Sorry. Did you still want to go shopping tomorrow after class?"

"Yeah. I'll text you later." I get up from the grassy area we were sitting at during our lunch break and dust myself off.

By the time I'm changed into my work clothes and rushing down the hallway to the elevator, it's already twenty minutes until I need to be there. Luckily, it's not far from campus, so I think I'll be able to make it. I briskly walk across the parking lot to my car and unlock the door, tossing my purse to the passenger seat as I sit down, but when I try to turn on the engine, it just clicks.

"Not today!" I whine as I try to turn the ignition again.

Nothing.

I realize the headlights were left on all night. Putting my head on the steering wheel, I groan out in frustration. There's no way in hell an Uber or taxi would get here in time. Before I raise back up, someone knocks on my window making me jump from the surprise.

"Car won't start?" Justin asks as he sees my forlorn expression when I open my door to greet him.

"Nope. Dead." My shoulders sag in defeat. My eyes big and a pout forming on my lips.

"I can give you a ride if you need one. Where are you going?" He asks holding out his hand to help me out of the car.

"Really? That'd be great!" I quickly snatch my purse from the seat next to me and grab his hand to allow him to help me stand up from my little Beetle. "I was trying to head to work."

I follow Justin a few rows over to his large white Dodge Ram. His car is dramatically taller than I'm used to and I have to damn near launch myself inside, making him laugh at my struggle.

"It's not funny!" I giggle as I pull my legs in and grunt while trying to reach to shut the door.

"You and Madison both have the hardest time getting into my car." He smiles and starts the engine.

We pull up to the gallery with a few minutes to spare. I turn to him and thank him before sliding out of the door as gracefully as I could as he laughs at me slowly slipping down towards the ground until I feel my feet touch the pavement.

"Hey, I won't be able to pick you up, but let me know when you're free tomorrow and I'll jump your car for you." He says to me before I shut the car door.

"Okay, I will. Thanks again Justin. Really." I smile up to him.

"Any time!"

I shut the car door and walk up to the gallery, adjusting my shirt and running my fingers through my hair. The gallery always seems a bit eerie and cold when no one else is around and the lights are all off. Even during the day since the sunlight doesn't reach the main area where all of the artwork is displayed, all of the eyes seem to follow me around until I get the lights turned back on.

Walking into the office, I do my usual routine. Place my purse in the drawer with my keys, turn on the computer and start looking through any paperwork I need to take care of. I notice a pink sticky note posted to the front of Ethan's Manila folder.

Mr. Michaels will be in to collect his commission check this evening around 5:30. Check is ready to go inside. Thanks for taking over today!
-Mrs. Bailey

Well, it looks like I may be seeing him again sooner than I expected. It seems as if the universe has some sick joke about constantly putting he and I together. It's not like I despise the man or anything. He's been decent. But the fact that he's another man who finds me attractive makes me feel like I should distance myself. A man who I know, as much as I don't want to admit it, might have at least gotten the chance to go on a date with me if I wasn't with Taehyung. Even though I know I'd never betray Tae, I feel as if I shouldn't allow myself to be closer to him.

The chime dings shaking me from my thoughts as I scoot back in the chair to see who just came in.

"It's just me." Mr. Edwards calls out as he sets down his things.

"Hi Mr. Edwards!" I yell out as I get up to meet him in the lobby. "It's just you and I this afternoon."

"So I heard." He smiles at me and pats for me to sit down on the bench next to him. "Catch me up on what's going on. How is school? Taehyung?"

I tell him all about my classes and which ones I love and can't stand as well as how Taehyung is doing. He's extremely happy that I'm going to be going to South Korea for eighteen days straight, but I let him know how worried I am about having to learn the language and culture in such a short amount of time.

"Well, I don't know much about anything, but if my son had brought home a girl like you, I'd be over the moon." He smiles at me and places his shaky, slightly wrinkled hand on my upper back.

"Thank you Mr. Edwards. But wait, so do you not like your son's wife?" I giggle when I really think about what he just said.

"To be honest with you sweetie, I don't even think he does." He laughs and I can't help but to do the same.

The afternoon wasn't extremely slow like some days so in between playing cards with Mr. Edwards and doing random things around the gallery, I attend to guests who came in. Many of them, as usual, were out of town guests who were just out sightseeing.

"Go fish!" Mr. Edwards exclaims at my failed attempt to see if he had a four in his hand.

"Aw man..." I pout as I grab another card.

The door chimes again and I stand up without looking up, my eyes still trained on the cards in my hand. "I'm taking these with me." I joke as I stuff them into my pants pocket.

"But I'm just a sweet little old man." He winks.

"Nuh uh." I begin to walk towards the front door. "You're not fooling me and don't think I didn't count how many stacks of cards you've put down." I smile wide as Mr. Edwards chuckles to himself.

"Thank you for coming to Bailey's Fine-" I'm cut short when I see Ethan leaned up against the window with his hands in his pockets and smirking at me. "Is it five thirty already?" I go to check my watch, realizing I didn't even put it on today.

He chuckles at me just staring confused at my own skin. "I got done a little early today so I thought I'd go ahead and swing by. It's five o'clock. Is Mrs. Bailey around? I'm here to pick up the check."

"No, she and Lucas took the afternoon off." I walk past him into the office making him follow behind me. The sound of my heels clacking against the tile makes me all too aware of my own footsteps.

I walk behind the desk as he stands on the other side, watching me as I look through the items for his folder. I can feel his eyes on me. My mouth dries from being so on display.

"Ah, here it is." I slip out the folder from underneath a stack of paperwork I was working on earlier.

Handing him over the check, I look up at him and notice his eyes soften as soon as our gazes meet. Crap. Madison was right, he doesn't just find me attractive. I think he has a crush.

"I didn't notice your car outside. The little red Beetle, right?" He rakes his fingers through his hair, giving him that messy look he usually goes for.

I shake my head, "No, my car wouldn't start. I got a ride from Justin. Madison's boyfriend."

"Oh. Do you need a ride home? You close up soon, right? I can take you." He quickly offers.

Well, I do need a ride and I do need to have a talk with him apparently. "Sure, that'd be great. I get off at six."

"Okay, cool. I'll be back..." He looks up at the clock, "in forty five minutes." He smiles and turns to leave out.

I walk back out towards Mr. Edwards after putting away everything that was on the desk. Pulling out my cards from my pocket, I shuffle through them to reorganize them and make sure they're not visible.

"Okay. It was your turn, right?" I sit down in front of him.

We play for the next forty minutes and I expect for someone to come by, but no one does. After being defeated in Go Fish multiple times, I give up and let Mr. Edwards know I should begin locking up.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Mr. Edwards asks as I grab my purse and keys and start turning off all of the lights.

I notice that Ethan's car is in the parking lot and tell Mr. Edwards that he can go ahead and leave since I'll be right behind him. We say our good nights to one another and he makes me promise to tell Taehyung he said hello. It's so cute how much he adores my boyfriend as if he's part of this gallery's little family.

I turn off the last light and set the security alarm before walking out. Ethan smiles when he sees me just as I turn to lock the front door. When I turn back around, I see that he's gotten out of the car and is waiting for me by the hood.

"Your Uber has arrived." He jokes as he walks around to open the door for me.

"Funny." I roll my eyes with a smile.

He gets in the driver's seat and my heart starts nervously pounding. I don't know how I'm going to bring this up. With Lucas, it was easy since I couldn't stand him, but Ethan hasn't done anything wrong. He's been respectful and just been there for me as a friend. I can't fault him if he did somehow get a crush on me and the last thing I'd want to do is hurt anyone's feelings.

But alas, Taehyung's feelings are more important to me.

"So I heard you met Mr. Bradford." He breaks the silence between us.

"Yeah I did. How does he know you?" I ask, still curious about that little detail.

"He was my therapist for many years. Now he's just a family friend." He explains as he turns on to another street.

"He taught you how to paint?" I look over to him for the first time since I sat down.

He chuckles. "I guess in a way he did. He used it as a technique when I was in high school, that's when I picked up the passion for it."

I nod my head understandably.

We're down the street from the dorms. The R&B music plays softly through the speakers and the streetlights brighten up the car every few feet. Why does it have to be so dark so early? It just makes this whole interaction feel even more awkward.

"Thanks for the ride." I smile as he pulls into a parking spot near the entrance.

"No problem." He smiles back at me and runs his hand around the steering wheel, the sound of the leather softly creaking.

He notices me hesitating to open the car door and his brow knits in confusion. My fingers mess with the keys I just pulled out of my purse as I stare down at them.

"Is something wrong?" He asks and I scrunch up my nose.

I know I need to say something but these kind of interactions are not something I'm fond of. Or well versed in for that matter.

"Can I ask you something?" I look over to him, unable to remove the worry from my face.

"Anything."

"You find me attractive, right?" I could throw up right now.

"You know I do." He answers quietly. "What do you really want to ask, Ava?"

I swallow to try to ease my nerves. Why am I so awkward around the male species? It's just a stupid question!

"Do you like me? Like...have a crush on me or anything?" I blurt out before I can talk myself out of it.

"Do you want me to be honest?" He looks back over to me, shifting his body slightly and I nod in response. "I do, but don't worry. I won't cross any lines. I have more respect for your relationship than that."

A moment goes by between us where nothing but the smooth purr of the engine and the voice of Tory Lanez are heard.

"Well, ok then." I pull the handle and he reaches across me to shut the door back closed. My heart feels like it will pound right out of my chest!

"Wait." He pauses and looks at me, my eyes widen at our closeness and he can see that I feel uncomfortable. "Oh shit. I'm sorry. I-I don't know why I did that." He pulls away instantly.

I look over to him confused and unsure if I should say something.

"I don't want to come in between your relationship. I don't want to cross any lines but I don't want it to be where I'm never able to see you again either." He looks back up at me and I can see his reddened cheeks even in the darkness of night.

"But you know I'll choose Taehyung, right? I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to ever hurt him but if I had to make a choice, the choice would be to hurt you. I don't want you to get your hopes up." I lay it all out on the table. Friends I'm cool with but he's got to know where it begins and ends with us.

"I understand." He looks at me as if he has more to say but won't say everything he wants to. "I'll never compare. I'm happy for you, really."

"Knowing all of this, do you still want to be friends?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything right away. Surely processing the information given to him, but he takes a deep breath and looks into my eyes. "Yes."

I nod and readjust the strap of my purse resting on my shoulder. My phone begins to ring and I flip it over to look at the screen.

"I have to go." I show him the screen and he nods.

"See you some other time." His smile barely visible.

"Thanks again for the ride." I pull the door handle and answer the call. "Hey baby!" I beam just before I shut the car door.