It was about three am and I couldn’t sleep again. Instead of going outside I sat awake on the couch pretending to sleep. I stayed as quiet as possible. I was thinking about how awkward Spencer had been all day. When Kyla had asked her about work, Spencer usually gave a short, one or two word answer and then tried to change the subject. I didn’t understand why. I had a feeling though that maybe she was tired of me. Maybe she was sleeping with someone else from work. After all, we never claimed to be exclusive. Maybe it was only a short time until she kicked me out. Maybe she was just waiting for the right time. Then another thought. Maybe she never had feelings for me and they were just now getting to her. Maybe I really was just a charity case.

I fell asleep and dreamed of all different scenarios. In one, Spencer turned out to be sleeping around. She actually had four girlfriends and four apartments, four names, and four lives. I woke up sweating and then fell back asleep. In one she broke my heart and then stabbed me. In that one, I woke up screaming. Thank god I wasn’t too loud and I didn’t wake Spencer up. By then it was already seven in the morning and light out. I decided on taking a shower to wash away the filth of those thoughts. It was a long shower, longer than I expected. When I got out and I was dressed and dry, it was already eight. I walked out into the living room and saw Spencer in the chair with a notebook. She was jotting things down and looked serious about it.

If I was going to beat Spencer to whatever it was, I had to find out what it was first. And that would mean doing some research and prying.

“Good morning, beautiful” I said as if nothing was different.

“Hey Ash” What a dull reply, she could have at least pretended to be enthusiastic.

“What are you working on over there? You look so serious.” I said. Let the prying begin.

She was silent for a second. Not one time did she look up? “Just this story that Jack has me working on.” Jack was her boss. I took mental notes. First name basis. I walked behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, squeezing slightly. She closed her notebook really fast. “You know what?” She shot out of her seat. “I didn’t want to wok yet, why don’t we go out to breakfast?”