Sam: same
Tanner: …
Tanner: mozz sticks made it didn’t they?
Sam: ????
“I need to book a plane ticket, apparently,” Sam announced.
“I’m sure gonna miss those boys out front.” Mom peeked through the window and waved. “I’ll make them a sandwich for the road.”
“Mom?” Sam asked. Then she held up the frozen cheese sticks. “Make ’em these.”
* * *
“Thanks for coming with me,”Sam said, following Ashley through the jetway.
Sam had gone incognito with her hair pulled up in a baseball cap, Clark Kent glasses, and baggy clothes with a hoodie for good measure.
A few people did double takes, but one look from Ashley and they kept their distance.
Ashley came along even though she didn’t have employment in Denver anymore. She still had an apartment to clear out, and she didn’t want Sam to be alone. Hans had arranged for Ashley’s car to be waiting at Denver International Airport when they landed. That was super nice.
“I would do anything for you,” Ashley said, pausing as they spilled into the airport. The mountain air greeted them immediately, something that took a little getting used to. Both the altitude that made the air thinner, and the lack of humidity that dried everything out.
“Can we talk about what happened?” Sam asked. She’d been biting her tongue the whole way back. Unable to broach the subject.
When a person ran from their problems, meeting them head on was definitely not an easy skill to assimilate.
“Of course.” Ashley nodded. She moved so they weren’t in the way of foot traffic.
“It really hurts that you and Tanner kept this whole Catiana mess from me,” Sam said, biting her lip because she seriously didn’t want to have this conversation.
But Mom was right, it needed to happen.
“I am so sorry,” Ashley said, her eyes pleading. “I should’ve told you right away. As soon as I knew. I just… you were so happy with Tanner. And you deserved that happy. Anything I said about what I saw could’ve wrecked it. I didn’t want that for you. But it wasn’t my decision to make. I can see that now.”
“So what do we do now?” Sam asked, unsure what a person did when they met their problems head on and didn’t hide from them.
“We just keep going.” Ashley closed her eyes. Then opened them. “Because you’re my best friend.”
“I’m so glad you’re my best friend, too,” Sam said.
“We’re going to hug now, aren’t we?” Ashley asked, already moving in for a hug.
Sam nodded.
Getting out of the airport and into the car Hans had waiting for them was easier than Sam thought it might be. But somewhere along the way somebody had tipped someone and now they had a fleet of cars following them, attempting to get close and take photos.
Ashley kept up a game of cat and mouse, easily moving out of their line of sight when they got close.
“You want to be my manager?” Sam asked. Yes, it was out of the blue, but it’d been on her mind since Ashley started doling out those stay-back glances to the lookie-loos.
Besides, Ashley was good at managing things. People. Worse came to worst? She’d throw herself on the floor.
“Sure, I could be your manager. I have nothing else to do. What’s the pay?” Ashley asked.
“Funny thing, there’s no pay. Until I make money. Which, who knows?” Sam shrugged.
