Page 59 of Back Up Plan

As they arrived, looking up at the building and seeing dim lighting, and hearing loud music from Elle’s unit, Cass stopped in her tracks.

She looked up at the unit, one she had spent a lot of time in… far too much in fact.

Ari slid her hand from Cass’s bicep down to her hand and held it in her own, “Listen, it’s not too late to just ditch. You don’t owe her shit.”

Cass’s breath hitched. But, she forced a gulp of fresh air into her lungs.

“It’s not too late for you to dip either,” Cass offered, “I’d still come to your office thing.”

Ari laughed, “I mean we could just go get some pizza and watch a movie on your couch with Gabby.”

Cass laughed, looking into Ari’s eyes made her heart melt. She let her head rest on Ari’s strong shoulders, not even worrying about rubbing off her foundation.

Ari shook her head, “But… on the contrary… wouldn’t it be so much more fun to go in there, make her jealous as all hell, andthenget pizza and a movie?”

Cass scrunched her nose, considering it for a second before nodding, “Hell yeah.”

They moved toward the door together and rang the bell for Elle’s unit.

The apartment was on the fourth floor of a walk-up, leaving both Cass and Ari out of breath at the top of the stairs. They agreed to wait to catch their breath before knocking.

“I never got used to that,” Cass complained through gulps of air.

Once they had, Cass knocked on the door – skipping over the entirely useless doorbell. There was a moment of calm before the door swung open, music pouring out of the space.

“Hi!” Leila exclaimed as she saw Cass.

Cass offered a smile and a handshake, but was quickly overpowered and brought into a hug, somehow, Ari ended up in the mix too.

“Come on in,” Leila said as she walked back inside. Cass and Ari squirmed through the crowd, holding hands as they went single file through the crowd.

Within seconds, Cass was being recognized by old mutual friends, some of whom she still spoke to and some of whom Elle had turned against her. Cass still found it laughable that Elle eventriedto turn them against her, considering they broke up on relatively decent terms.

As the music flooded their ears and the dim lights made faces nearly indistinguishable, Ari tried to keep up with Cass as she rapid-fire greeted each person who recognized her.

It was clear to Cass that it had been a long time since Ari had gone to a house party, something Elle had never quite grown out of.

Cass turned to look at her, asking “You good?” with her eyes. Ari nodded as she kept pace. The narrow hallway made way to a large living room with strangely high ceilings. It was more decorated than Cass remembered it, with some items that were definitely not to Elle’s taste.

Perhaps they had been true to sapphic stereotypes and already moved in together. Cass shivered, the thought giving her the ick, knowing that Elle had sent her explicit messages while her soon-to-be fiancee was living in the same house.

Before she could even consider whether to tell Leila that, Elle was heading straight for them.

She moved in for a hug and before she could make contact with Cass, Ari had placed her hand in front of Cass.

“Good to see you again, Elle,” Ari said, clenching her jaw.

Cass put her arm around Ari’s again, hoping to stop any potential engagement from Elle.

Elle nodded, “yeah, I’m so glad you guys could make it.”

Cass smiled and waved, “Us too.”

She made a point to look at Ari after saying “us”. It felt natural, real now. And when she looked at Ari, who was doing her best to keep Cass safe from what she could, she was starting to wonder if maybe something serious wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Elle gave Ari a slap on the arm and said, “Have to make sure you’re good enough for my girl.”

Ari almost bit back but Cass added, “Well, what’s on tap?”

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