Best Friend's Ex Box Set

She scribbled down a number on a bar napkin and handed it to me.

“That's it. And hey, if you lose that, just look me up on Facebook. My profile picture is me in an orange bikini on a beach.”

“Alright, I'll look you up. Nice running into you, Angie.”

“Yeah, great running into you Alic-, I mean, Vivienne.”

I smiled, waved a polite goodbye and then headed back to table with Graciela, where I finished off my beer.

It was around an hour later when I left, and I headed straight home. It was late, but not super late; around 10. As I pulled into my driveway, I had to sneak a glance across the road at Everett's place, and I saw that his garage door was open and the light was on, and he was inside setting up power tools. Feeling a little emboldened by the wine I'd had, I parked my car and walked across the road and up his driveway. He saw me coming and smiled.

“Good evening, Viv,” he said. “Nice night, huh?”

“Sure is,” I replied. “I hope you're not going to be starting up any of these power tools right now. It's a little late to make noise like that in this neighborhood. Not too many night owls.”

“Actually, I was planning on cranking up my chainsaw, maybe saw through a couple two-by-fours, see how tolerant my new neighbors are of loud and annoying noises late at night.”

I laughed.

“You do that; we'll see what Mrs. Dobbins across the road has to say about it!”

“Is she gonna come out with a double-barreled shotgun pointed at me? With an army of cats trailing behind her?” he asked with a cheeky grin and a wink.

“Everett!” I exclaimed with mock shock. “She isn't a crazy old cat lady! I can’t make any promises about the shotgun, though!”

He chuckled.

“You know I'm just kidding.”

“I know, I know. How was your first full day at JFK?”

“Ah, there was a lot to do. It's always crazy busy at the beginning of the academic year. But I think I'm gonna enjoy it there. The staff is fantastic and the deputy principal is a real great guy. Yeah, it's gonna be good.”

“Good to hear! Well, I saw your garage light on and I just wanted to come over and say hi.”

“Oh, where were you?”

“Just at this little Irish pub called MacFey's. It's a great spot. My coworker, Graciela, it's her birthday tomorrow, so we just had a quiet birthday drink to celebrate.”

“Oh, so you were slamming tequila shots and chugging beers through a funnel, huh?” he said with a playful smile.

“Yeah, as you can see, I'm totally wasted right now,” I replied with a laugh. “Well anyway, I better get back to my house. Another early start tomorrow morning, and a long day of work lies ahead.”

“Yeah, I've got an early start too,” he said. “So, I guess this is where we say good night.”

I looked at him, and our eyes locked for a while, and an intense look passed between us.

“Yeah... This is where we say good night.”

I smiled, and so did he, maintaining eye contact all the while, and I could feel a powerful sense of attraction crackling in the air between us.

“Good night then, Everett,” I said as I turned and walked off.

As I got to the street, though, I heard him jogging up behind me.

“Wait, Vivienne,” he said as I turned around.

“Yeah?”