Blind Date(58)

It scared him. I can see it in his face. For a brief moment, he thought I'd been taken. He was afraid. My heart aches. I'm an idiot. An absolute idiot. Before I can say anything else, he turns and storms out of the apartment, slamming the door so loudly I flinch.

Dammit.

I fucked up. Bad.

* * *

I sit on the sofa for an hour.

I know there is an officer outside my door, I've heard him shuffling around and I even heard him speak to Ace at some point. I thought Ace might have come back, but he didn't. So I let him be. But it's eating away at me. I made a huge mistake, and worse, I upset Ace and that wasn't ever my intention. I didn't think what it would be like for him to see my things lying on the ground. 

I can't sit here any longer. I need to go and see him, to apologize again. The last thing I ever wanted to do was scare him. That wasn't meant to happen, and I won't sleep tonight knowing he's next door angry, upset, and mostly hurt. I can't imagine how that would have felt, to see all my things strewn about on the floor and panicking that I had been taken.

I stand, straighten my clothes, walk over to my door, and open it. The officer guarding me is standing on the outside, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at nothing. What a boring job. I guess this is the part they all have to do at some point, even if they don't really want to. His eyes swing to me when I clear my throat, and he straightens. "What is it?"

"I'm going next door to see Ace. I just wanted to let you know."

He's already shaking his head. Why is he shaking his head?

"Ace has requested no visitors."

I don't think so.

"Look, I'm going over there, one way or another."

The officer raises his brows. "That's not going to happen."

"It is going to happen whether you like it or not. You can either walk me over there, or I'm going to scream this entire hall down. And trust me, I'm loud."

"I have a Taser," he warns.

I snort. "You Taser me, you're fired, and you know it."

He grumbles something under his breath, and then resigns himself to the fact that he is going to have to take me next door one way or another, and extends a hand. "Well, hurry up. If I get into trouble over this, you'll owe me."

I flash him my best smile. "I hear you. I'll tell him I forced you."

"Please, for the love of God, don't say that. I'd rather endure his wrath."

I giggle as I walk towards Ace's door. When I reach it, I knock three times and then step back and wait. It takes a few minutes, but finally the door swings open and Ace appears. His eyes flick to me, then to the officer behind me, and he growls, "I said no visitors."

"He had no choice," I say, crossing my arms. "Can I come in?"

"No."

He slams the door in my face. My mouth drops open and I start banging my fists on the door over and over. "I can do this all night, Ace!" I call. "Or I can try screaming, yelling, singing if I must … "

The door swings open again, this time Ace looks more than a little pissed off. "I'm busy. Can we do this tomorrow?"

"No," I say, stepping past him and walking into his apartment. "We do it now."

With an angry sigh, he closes the door after muttering something to the officer outside. He locks the door and turns to me. "I'm not in the mood, Hartley."

I cross my arms and stare at him. "I'm fully aware of that, Ace. But the fact of the matter is, I upset you earlier and I owe you an apology for it."

He doesn't say anything, he just stares at me, face blank.

"It's going to take a little more than that, huh?"

I exhale, rub my hands over my arms, and say, "Listen, I'm really sorry, okay? I mean that. I should have stayed at the restaurant. I shouldn't have gone off on my own. I can only imagine what it would have been like, you seeing all my stuff on the ground … "

"Are you done?"

Oh boy, he is really angry.

Now he's making me angry.

"If you're going to stand there and be a jerk, I won't bother saying sorry!" I snap, crossing my arms. "Honestly, Ace, I'm trying to do the right thing here, and you're just making it difficult-"


      ///
       
         
       
        

He takes a step towards me. I keep talking.

"I know I screwed up. I know and I'm trying to fix it."

Another step.

"But there is absolutely no need to be a jerk about it. Seriously. If you want to yell at me, go right ahead."

Another step. Oh God.

"Scream at me if you need to," I say, tilting my head back and looking up at him when he stops in front of me. "But don't treat me the way you are treating me right now."