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“Let’s go eat.” Sarah said getting up.
“Yeah, I’m pretty much starving.” I said rubbing my stomach.
“Let’s go to Cassie’s Café.” I nodded.
“I love her place!”
“Me too.” We went outside and got in my car and drove to Cassie’s. We got there and there seemed to be paparazzi hanging around. Then they started taking pictures of Sarah and I knowing who we were. “Uhm, Mary did you get overnight fame?” Sarah questioned.
“I get them every once in awhile for who I work with on their albums, but how would they know where we were?” We sat at an outside table and a waitress came over.

“I think it’s great you guys are talking to him…” She said getting her pad ready.
“What?” I asked her.
“AJ, I’m glad you guys are talking…He’s here.” I stood up and got my purse.
“C’mon Sarah…” Sarah stood up.
“What’s wrong?” The waitress asked.
“I’m not speaking to him, and I haven’t in three years hun…” All the sudden the paparazzi got louder with the clicks of their cameras as AJ walked out. I froze and so did Sarah, it’s been a year since she saw him. AJ looked over and dropped his cigarettes and sunglasses unknowingly. I put my hair behind my ear and he walked over.

“You two hanging out to talk about me?” AJ asked. I laughed.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I said as I put my sunglasses on. “I only talk about who you used to be...and that’s not often anymore.” Sarah and I turned around and went to my car.
“You know…” He said before I opened my door. “I’m sorry Mary…” He picked his sunglasses up and cigarettes too.
“You didn’t cheat on me…”
“I already told her I was sorry.” He said walking away. “She wouldn’t accept it.” He turned the corner and was gone. I got in the car and put my head on the steering wheel and just started crying. Sarah put her hand on my back.

“Mary, you’re not over him are you?” I picked my head up.
“You don’t get over people you love…You only try and get stronger from it.” I hit the wheel and then turned the car on.

ONE MONTH LATER

I’m reaching for a box of cereal on the top shelf and can’t seem to reach it, when an arm covered in tattoos outstretched mine and grabbed it for me. There stands AJ again.

“This has got to stop…” I said taking the box vigorously and putting it in my cart. He follows.
“What does?” He asks.
“Us running into each other. People are talking, and I don’t like it. I’m not seeing you.” I stopped walking and looked at him. I guess last time I didn’t really look at him. “You…You look good AJ.” He did, he looked like the 17 year old AJ…only much taller now, and tanner. As well as a different hair color and his mustache had changed again. “I wouldn’t recognize you without puffy eyes.” Ouch. I ruined that conversation. I kept walking down the aisle.
“Mary, c’mon!” He yelled and I stopped and looked at him again.
“WHAT?” I yelled back. “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU!?” He got closer to me.
“I want you to tell me everything is ok again…tell me I’m still someone you love. Tell me that us being together was one of the best experiences of your life…Tell me that you haven’t hated me all three years we haven’t spoken. Tell me…” I shook my head and put my head down and then looked at him again. I choked up. “Tell me, just tell me!”
“I…” I sighed. “I still love you, I love you so much.”
“So why do you hate me so much?”
“I hate you because when I told you to stop drinking you couldn’t; I hate you because you ruined my life. I hate you because you started doing drugs. I hate you because you treated Kevin like shit, I hate you because you cheated on Sarah, and I hate you because no matter what I do or what you do…I can’t not love you!” He looked at me.
“I couldn’t stop drinking! I was an addict!” I laughed.
“Look who’s not drinking now…You.” He smiled a little.
“I went through a lot to not drink now…”
“And I’m really proud of you…But you moved on when you dated Sarah.”
“I fucked that up, I would be married to a beautiful woman right now if I wasn’t so stupid.”
“She doesn’t even know you, AJ.” I laughed.
“What?” He said a little sad.
“She was asking me all these questions about you…You never told her anything about you. She doesn’t know you; she knows how bad you were. That’s it. She never experienced the same guy.”
“I was me a lot of the time with her, when I wasn’t drinking that day or something.” I shook my head.
“Not enough to tell her about me.” He put his head down. “Look, I don’t want to do this here.” I left the cart where it was and walked out the store with him. “Do you want to come over maybe?” He nodded while he smiled a little.
“I’d like that.” We both got in our cars and headed to my place. We got there and he followed me to the front door.
“Sarah lives across the street you know?” He sighed and just walked into the house without a word. “Don’t worry…I won’t tell her you were here. She’d just freak on me.”
“I know…” He sat at the same stool Sarah did before I saw him last and I smiled to myself as I shut the door. “This is a nice place you have Mar, all this is from owning that studio?” I looked at him.
“How did you know about that?”
“Howie.” I laughed. “He also told me you asked for my number.”
“Well, I did. I was going to call you to ask about why you never told Sarah about me really.”
“Ahh, I see.”
“So why didn’t you?” He shrugged.
“Did you tell all your boyfriends about me?”
“Sweetie, they knew.”
“I guess that makes sense.” I sat at the stool next to him. “This is weird…” He said slowly.
“What?”
“Sitting next to you after three years.”
“Oh.” I giggled. “It really is.” There was a knock on the door and AJ and I both stood up. “I know that it’s Sarah, go find a room and hide or something!” I whispered to him. I saw him jog down the hall quietly and I opened the door.