Page 2 of If We Meet Again

That was the push Ashley needed. She wasn’t about to let her best friend speak to the girl she had been so eager to make contact with.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Girls like that don’t just sit around and smile forever.”

“It was obvious, wasn’t it? The way she smiled at me? I didn’t dream that, did I?”

Ashley glanced over her right shoulder. The mystery girl was swaying side to side with the music—she wanted to dance, but she wasn’t intoxicated enough to let loose.

“It was so obvious. She is into you.”

Madison removed the drink from Ashley’s hand; there was no time likethe present.

“Seriously, go over there now. You’ll regret it tomorrow ifyou don’t.”

The peer pressure mounting caused the nerves to set in. After another minute of tough persuasion from her friends, Ashley plucked up the courage to approach the girl in white. It was a moment of rare confidence that stemmed from the electrifying smile aimed directly at her.

Ashley sauntered through the crowd of people. As she got closer, the girl appeared unaware of her approach, which made Ashley agitated.What if she didn’t reciprocate her advances?The alcohol levels in her system were not high enough to warrant such a confident exterior; inside she was crumbling, but the urge to try far outweighed the fear ofthe outcome.

Ashley was now face-to-face with the girl whose name she was yet to discover. Despite the precarious looks from her friends flanked on all sides, Ashley kept her composure and leaned in towards her left ear, placing one hand gently at the base of her back. The noise in the bar amplified as the DJ warmed up, making the intimacy of the communication between thema necessity.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

The girl looked surprised at the request. Ashley found it hard to believe that this wasn’t a regular occurrence for someone as beautiful as her. She smiled graciously beforeresponding.

“Maybe later?”

She gestured towards her already full glass. The response was kind and promising, which gave Ashley some hope that eased the discomfort of complete rejection.

“Okay, sure.”

Ashley retreated to her friends as swiftly as she had approached. She could feel the eyes burning in the back of her head as she walked away. The confusion of the mystery girl’s friends was evident. The excitement radiated from Emily and Madison, both were qualified enough to be the ultimate wing woman and Ashley was fortunate to have both.

Despite the outcome being somewhat of an anti-climax, Ashley, for the first time in a long time,felt alive.

“So? What did she say?” Emily probed.

“You came back quick! Did she say no?” Madison followed.

“She said, ‘maybe later’. Is thata blow-off?”

A chorus of laughs erupted; Ashley’s included.

“Maybe she was looking over at me instead?” Madison teased.

“Or maybe it was me? We were all standing pretty close. Should I go over and see if she lets me buy her a drink?”

Emily rose from the bar stool, poised and ready to make her advances toward the unknown girl. She took two steps forward before spinning and playfully embracing Ashley.

“I’m kidding. Believe me, she was staring at you.”

Ashley felt relief. They continued to make light of the situation over the next two hours. Emily became preoccupied with her phone—girl trouble—while Madison and Ashley danced the night away. On several occasions, Ashley surveyed the bar looking for the girl. Their eyes locked once and a small smile crept up on their faces as if they anticipated it would happen.

“How long is acceptable to wait? Like, what does ‘maybe later’ even mean? Twenty minutes? An hour? Three hours?”

Madison shouted above the blur of the music, “Does she still have afull drink?”

Emily looked up from her phone for the first time in fifteen minutes. “Does it really matter? If you keep waiting for her drink to be empty, you’ll never go over.”