Everything Better Plan

“So, you're in Baltimore?” he asked, although the answer was pretty obvious, but he wasn't really looking for an answer, he was trying to take in the current situation – and failing. The pair had managed to collect themselves just enough to find their way to a booth where they now sat across from each other.

Olivia couldn't believe it, she was sat with Alex Gaskarth. Her best friend all throughout high school; the first person to ever call her beautiful; her first kiss and a whole lot of other firsts. He looked the same and yet he also looked so different. His hair was shorter and darker than she remembered; he was a lot taller; a lot more muscular, but his eyes were the exact same; deep and captivating. “Yep,” Olivia responded, popping the 'p', trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing.

“What-what brings you here?” Alex stuttered, clearly still nervous, confused, desperate for answers.

“Uh, the holidays, just wanted to be at home, yano?” Olivia quickly answered, looking down. She began playing with the lid on her coffee, anxious. She glanced up and caught Alex smirking a little, a light chuckle escaped his lips. “What?” Olivia questioned, narrowing her eyes at him.
“I just, dunno, didn't think you'd still think of this place as home,” the corner of his mouth tilted up slightly, but his eyes weren't exactly happy.

“Yeah, it's been a long time but,” she shrugged, “you can't change where you were born and raised, Baltimore will always be special to me,” a small pause followed, neither of them really knowing what to say. “So, what do you do now?” Olivia quickly asked. She was the queen of small talk, the amount of pretentious cocktail parties and snobby events she'd been to the past couple of years really had come in handy.

“Oh, I'm a teacher,” Olivia's eyes widened in surprise, “Yeah,” Alex laughed, “I get that a lot.”
“No, just I didn't expect that,” Olivia shook her head, smiling.

“Nobody ever does, I mean I was a rockstar in high school,” Alex bragged sarcastically, causing Olivia to laugh. Memories of standing in run-down bars and out in the freezing cold at festivals, watching Alex and his band play any gig they could manage to get came flooding back to her and she couldn't help but grin.

“So, what do you teach?” she asked, trying to suppress her smile.

“Art, at Dulaney,” he responded, which again was greeted with wide eyes, as well as a slight gaping mouth.

“Are you serious right now?” she retorted, her brow furrowing. Who even is this guy? She didn't know him.

“Yeah,” he laughed. He was so used to this reaction, every time he ran into an ex-classmate. Nobody ever expected this career path from him, he was the Hot Topic rocker kid who listened exclusively to Blink-182 and formed a punk band with his three best friends who also happened to be Hot Topic rocker kids. He never pictured himself doing a normal job, he never even pictured himself going to college, but he loved it. He loved teaching and bonding with his classes; he loved the creativity his job allowed; he loved painting and art and he loved sharing that with others.

“Wow,” Olivia breathed, looking down. She felt strange, almost guilty for not knowing all of this. Alex was a totally different person, with a new life that she was no longer a part of and it hurt in a weird way. She knew it shouldn't, because he was no longer a part of her life either, that's just how things go, but it just felt so odd.

“So what do you do?” Alex asked, taking a sip from his coffee, his pinky raised – a habit Olivia remembered mocking back when they were close – she smiled at the thought.

“Uh, I'm working on it,” she laughed lightly, he raised his eyebrows; intrigued, “Well, currently I'm doing some modelling work, mostly shoots, but some runway stuff,” she began, watching as Alex's expression shifted to impressed, “but what I really want to be doing is something in makeup, yano, makeup artist; my own makeup line, something like that.”

“I would say I'm shocked, but honestly I'm not,” Alex responded, nodding, “I mean, you look amazing.”

Olivia smiled wide showing her gleaming white teeth, “thank you,” she said softly, her eyes sparkling. It had been a while since she'd felt genuinely complimented, she was used to compliments sure, but often times they just seemed like a formality, something you have to say when greeting someone.

A silence descended on the pair, it was hard to tell if it was uncomfortable or not, but either way it was heavy. There was so much to say, but also nothing at all to talk about. The couple no longer knew each other and that was apparent.

“How long are you in Baltimore for?” Alex finally chirped after a good few minutes of coffee sipping.

“I'm not entirely sure, until I can get a ticket home, I guess.”

“You don't have a ticket home? Man, you could be stuck here a good couple weeks with it being so close to Christmas,” Alex responded, looking at the girl quizzically. He was so confused, she hadn't visited in 4 years and suddenly she was back indefinitely, for no real apparent reason.

“Yeah, well, I didn't think I'd be alone,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes lightly. She regretted it as soon as she said it, she knew it was going to provoke questions. In a way, she wanted to talk to someone about it, but in the same way she was so embarrassed; her own fiancé didn't want to spend Christmas with her.

“You're here alone?” Alex furrowed his brow at her, worry across his face. So not only was she randomly back, but she was also alone?

“Kinda,” she laughed, “I mean, the bellboy at my hotel is very nice, so technically I'm not totally alone,” she joked, deadpan.

“Let me get this straight, for the first time in four years you come back to Baltimore, you're totally alone and you don't have any idea when you'll be able to get back home?” Alex looked at her, his tone almost accusing.

“I know, I know, it sounds strange, but honestly it's fine,” she brushed it off, not really wanted to continue this conversation.

“Are you going to be alone on Christmas?” Alex asked quietly, scared of this answer. Olivia laughed at his worried face. What a loser.

“I don't know, maybe,” she shrugged, picking at her muffin, not wanting to meet his eyes. Christmas was only a few days away, but for Olivia it really didn't feel like it, uncomfortable she decided to put an end to the situation, grabbing her handbag, “Anyway, I really should get going, I have some work to do and some Skype meetings to attend,” she laughed lightly before getting to her feet and grabbing her coffee.

Alex followed suit and got to his feet, grabbing his own coffee before pulling out his phone, “Yeah, I have some places to be too, but hey, could I get your number? I'd love for us to get together again whilst you're still in town.”

“S-sure,” Olivia stuttered, she was surprised, since this meeting had been a little strange, “yeah I'd love that too,” she smiled and took his phone, punched her number in and with a small, awkward side hug and a quick wave she left the cafe and made her way down the cold streets of Baltimore, smiling all the way back to her hotel.

Notes