Page 3 of Charming my Best Friend

Chapter 2: Aiden

I braced myself as I climbed the stairs, doing my best to put Lucy’s head massage out of my mind. The last thing I needed to be thinking about while I confronted Chelsea about her black bra was the image of Lucy’s.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to broach the subject of Chelsea’s suspected infidelity, but it had to be done. Our relationship was becoming hard work, and I wasn’t keen to keep working so hard on something that was a dead end.

When I unlocked the door and pushed it open, Chelsea was scrolling through her iPod next to the speaker on the table.

“Aiden!” she said, picking some upbeat music and walking over to me.

“Hey,” I said, chucking my keys in the bowl. “Am I dreaming or does it smell like pizza in here?”

“You’re not dreaming,” she said, throwing her arms around me and kissing me on the lips. “We’re celebrating!”

“Hence your good mood.”

“I’m celebrating with a salad, of course, but I thought you would be excited to sink your teeth into some deep dish.”

“You know me so well,” I said, thinking I was going to need a drink pronto.

“Can I get you a beer? I picked up those crafty ones you like.”

“Sure, yeah. Thanks.”

“Did you get a haircut?” she asked, running her fingers through my hair.

“I did.”

“It looks fab,” she said.

“Lucy did it,” I said, perhaps because Chelsea’s manic happiness was too much for me.

“Well, she did a great job.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

“And how is she?” she asked, heading towards the fridge.

“Good. Fine. Same old Lucy,” I lied.

Chelsea pulled a beer out of the fridge and looked around the kitchen for the bottle opener.

“So what are we celebrating,” I asked, following her over to the kitchen past the peppy music and the pre-set table.

“I got a job!” she said, lighting up in a way I recognized from the early days of our relationship.

“That’s great, babe.”

“So you know how Bianca and I had that casting this morning?”

“Yeah,” I said, relieved that she had genuinely been with Bianca last night. “I got your note.”

“Well, they gave me the job on the spot!”

I leaned an arm on the counter top. “No kidding? That’s fantastic.”

She reached over the counter and set the beer down in front of me. “Which just proves that I was right.”

“About what?” I asked, taking a sip of the cold beer.

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