Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding 2)

"I…" he began.

"Oh my God, Ramsey Bridges," a girl squealed rushing up to their table completely uninvited.

Lexi looked the girl up and down and groaned in protest. She was gorgeous. At least 5'7" but still rail thin with long flowing blonde hair and perfectly flawless skin. She could have been on a runway. Lexi tore her eyes from the girl and moved to Ramsey face. His cheeks flushed a light pink and his mouth was agape. She could tell in his eyes that he wasn't happy about the interruption.

"Ashley," he acknowledged her standing to give her a hug. "What a pleasant surprise."

He said the words, but his mouth was strained around the edges. His body wasn't comfortable with the touch of another woman. Lexi knew he wanted to be far far away from this moment in time. Though she was curious who this woman was, she was more satisfied with his discomfort. She wasn't sure how he always found himself in this situation….oh wait yes she did.

"Holy cow, what are you doing in New York City?" she crowed her Southern accent coming out thick with his recognition of her. Lexi figured she had to go through a lot of work to get rid of that.

"I'm actually here with my girlf…uh…," he stammered breaking off his statement and glancing at Lexi. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm visiting my friend Lexi," he corrected gesturing in her direction.

Lexi smiled sweetly and extended her hand politely. "Ashley Turner," the girl replied shaking her hand meekly. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Lexi said hoping she sounded sincere.

"Ashley went to private school with me," Ramsey informed Lexi filling in the gaps. Lexi raised her eyebrows once. She had bad luck with people that Ramsey had known for long periods of times. Hopefully, the girl would just disappear, but she wasn't that lucky.

"Mind if I interrupt your friendly dinner," Ashley asked snapping her fingers at a passing waiter and commanding him to bring her a chair. "My hubby can just wait." She wagged her fingers at a handsome gentleman across the room who barely noticed her disappearance.

Lexi looked around at the restaurant and wondered how many people came here when they weren't on dates. The girl needed to get a clue. It was pretty obvious that the tension between her and Ramsey was palpable. Lexi just hoped that whatever this was went smoothly.

"Uh…actually Ashley," Ramsey said scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh, come on. I'll only be a minute. I haven't seen you in forever," she practically pleaded.

Ramsey looked at Lexi anxiously who just stared back. They hadn't seen each other in almost a month and after everything they had gone through, they both knew that an interruption of their night wasn't a good idea.

"Geez, I've never felt so unwelcome from a Bridges family member before. Aren't you supposed to Bridge all my troubles or whatever?" Ashley asked expertly arching an eyebrow.

"By all means," Ramsey murmured gesturing for her to take the seat that was offered her. Lexi clenched her hands together under the table to keep from rolling her eyes at the woman.

"So, tell me what's going on with Bekah?" Ashley gushed. Lexi involuntarily gagged at the mention of her name. She sputtered a bit and made it seem like a cough, but the look on Ramsey's face showed that she wasn't playing it off very well. "Oh dear, are you alright?" Ashley asked reaching out and touching Lexi's arm.

She cleared her throat once and tried to force a smile. "I'm just fine," she said shooting Ramsey a look that clearly stated change the subject.

"She's doing fine," he murmured hoping to cut the conversation short.

"Isn't she like getting married?" Ashley asked wide-eyed.

Lexi nearly lost it. She quickly stood from her seat scraping the chair back against the floor. "I…uh…need to use the restroom. Excuse me," she said throwing the napkin on the table and stalking out of the room.

Lexi wandered into the bathroom and waited for her heart to stop palpitating so fiercely. She knew that she shouldn't have reacted so negatively towards the subject, but Ashley had managed to bring up two of the three subjects she liked to discuss the least in the world. She hated Bekah down to her very core and the thought of her marrying the one person she had loved with every bit of her heart just made everything worse. She wasn't sure she would have been able to control herself if she had been sitting there any longer. Why did Ramsey always have to know everyone?

After a few minutes, she figured it would begin to look suspect if she stayed away for much longer. Lexi peered around the bathroom door towards her table and pleasantly saw Ashley standing up and walking back towards her own table.

Lexi sighed and made her way back across the room. Their eyes locked together as she sat down across from Ramsey. She wasn't going to apologize for leaving, and he knew that she had every right to want to leave. Luckily, their food had just arrived and they didn't have to fill the uncomfortable silence with anything but the scraping of silverware against glass.

Dinner ended without any additional complications. After an evening on Broadway, Lexi and Ramsey headed back to her apartment. She knew he had a hotel in the city somewhere, most likely the Plaza, but since the incident with Ashley had all but dissipated from her mind, she was becoming more comfortable with the idea of him coming over…at least for a little while.

Fumbling with the lock, Lexi finally pushed open the door to her apartment. Ramsey's arms were around her instantly holding her flush against him. He kicked the door closed with his foot and his mouth came down upon hers. He kissed her feverishly, hungrily as if the last month had been years. It had certainly felt like it. His hand crawled up her shirt and cupped her breast. He groaned into her mouth at the feel of her.

They heard someone clearing their throat behind them, and Lexi quickly backed away. She yanked her shirt down and ran her fingers across her wet lips. "Ray," Lexi murmured staring between Ramsey and her roommate. "I didn't know you were back in town."

Rachelle had been interning much of the summer at a Boston law firm and had rarely been around. "Ramsey," she said nodding her head in his direction but glaring nonetheless.

"Rachelle," he said smiling guiltily.

"Claire and Elizabeth were in town so we were all going to meet up," Rachelle told her. "I thought you'd be home and would want to come out with us."