Sid tumbled through the revolving doors of Ito Hotel moist and tired and as soon as she approached the front desk, she became annoyed and panicky. Very annoyed and panicky. Her teeth ground into one another and her feet refused to move even though she pleaded with them to.

"Hey, Sid." Aiden was behind the check-in desk with two other guys Sid recognized as the Concierge and Hotel Manager. His gray suit was tailored to every angle of his body. Sid sucked her teeth. The two guys widened their eyes. Right. Aiden was a big deal around here. She etched a tight smile onto her lips.

"Hello, Aiden." She even threw in a shallow bow for good measure before pivoting and marching across the busy lobby and down the hall toward the restaurant. Even with the expensive carpet cushioning his footsteps she could hear him catching up. It's not often that one prays for a fire alarm, a swat team, absolutely anything to burst in and evacuate a space but right now Sid prayed with every fiber of her being that something unfortunate would happen to stop this conversation. There's no AJ in the middle to distract them. No Whitney to run interference. No Tomi to scowl and throw snide comments. And she's at work so she can not afford to go full baby mama and curse him out. A second later he was in front of her blocking her path to the restaurant doors.

"I'm going to be late for work." Sid sidestepped him and tried to continue on but his body was in front of her again a second later. She almost ran into him. The thought of pressing up against him was...bad.

"Sidney, come on. Can you please just chill for a second?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm the regional manager. I'm managing...regionally." He met her eyes and a smirk played on his lips. Was he seriously trying to be cute? It was the last thing Sidney needed right now. With a shake of her head she tried to dodge left but again he blocked her.

"But for real, some Council Member is hosting a rally here tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure everything is in place. I did hope to run into you though." Aiden's eyes took on that endearing quality of theirs and Sid knew it was coming... "How are you?"

"You ask me that all of the time like you expect me to fall apart. I'm not falling apart Aiden. I'll send an email if I do."

"I'm not expecting you to fall apart. Tomi told me that you got into an accident last week and since you made me drop off AJ to Whitney I didn't get to see you. Contrary to what you may believe I do care about you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Sidney stared at him, furious. She was always bare in front of him. Recovering from a Citibike accident, three days removed from a jail visit, or raw and on the verge of a breakdown. Collapsing and broken. It wasn't fair that he always got to be the better person. The one who was always taking a step in the right direction even if that direction left her untethered and heartsick.

"And AJ caught a baseball last week. I wanted to show you...I'll just text it."

He was out of her sight as quickly as he had appeared. Her body twisted to go after him but instead she pressed against the urge and felt like crap for wanting to. Her body still had not learned how to unlove him. Her phone chimed a moment later. A video message from Aiden. She pushed through the double doors of the restaurant, happy to be early. Happy that no one was there. It offered her the chance to lock herself in the office and press play. Aiden tossed the ball to AJ who merely smacked it with the small mit that was on his hand. 

Aiden ran out of frame to retrieve the ball and returned to his stance. Coaching AJ to keep his eye on the ball. He was barely two and Sid was sure he didn't understand at all but Aiden spoke confidently and tossed it to him anyway. The ball sailed toward AJ, pass his little outstretched glove and landed on his chest, but AJ reacted quickly and crossed his arms to hold it there. Whether it was an 'actual' catch was debatable but the joy that erupted from Aiden and AJ was undeniable. Sidney wished that that was what resonated with her most. But instead she couldn't help but notice that her son and his father were fully in frame and the voice cheering them on off camera wasn't hers.

***

"Come on, I'm starving."

"You're literally surrounded by food." First one in and last one out was Sid's mantra and today was no different. The kitchen was empty again except for her and her whiny friend. Tomi yanked open the industrial refrigerator and pulled out strawberries. After hoisting herself onto the counter she began to munch on them sending juice down the side of her mouth and Sidney's nerves into a loop.

"You really couldn't have just finished dinner with the guy?" Sidney emerged from the stock room and entered the final inventory count into the iPad she was holding before sitting it on a shelf and stared at her friend who was a bit more than tipsy but not entirely drunk.

"He wore a fucking trench coat Sidney. Refused to take the shit off. It's June! It's hot as hell."

"Maybe he was nervous."

"He's a psycho. You want to know why? Because I mentioned once that I like a man in uniform so he decided to wear his trench coat from when he was in Junior ROTC.The. Whole. Night." Tomi popped an entire strawberry in her mouth and chewed. "I hate my life."

Sidney slid her white coat off and hung it on a free hook in her office as she dissolved into chuckles.

"Aww, he was trying to impress you."

"He wanted to lock me in his basement and wear my face. I'm sure."

"So morbid."

"I watch enough Japanese horror to know what happens. And he's a med student. Probably is excellent with a scalpel."

"I mean, I wish I could argue with you but you haven't been wrong yet." Not only did Aiden never completely take to Tomi but Tomi wasn't too fond of him either from the jump. Sid thought it was just jealousy because of the amount of time she spent with Aiden meaning less time for her and Tomi to get into college shenanigans but it seemed that Tomi knew better. She sensed something was amiss early on. Sid looked over at her friend, sitting there chewing strawberries with her eyes closed. Maybe she should just tell her. Spill everything that's been going on and unload some of the mental trauma. Try for once to reach out a hand and explain. Her mind couldn't get off of Kru. It was stuck in a loop. Too much information had been entered in a short period of time and her brain was frozen into nothing. The only time it broke free was to allow the images of her father's death to seep through.

"Tomi..." Sidney whispered.

"Mhm?"Tomi popped another strawberry in her mouth. Sid didn't speak. Her breath caught and the weight of everything she'd been through these last few weeks refused to leave her. Tomi opened her eyes and looked toward Sid, the silence unnerving her.

"You're getting strawberry juice everywhere."

"Oh, shit. I'll clean it." Stumbling around the large kitchen Tomi tossed the strawberries back into the fridge and grabbed the closest rag to wipe down the counter. "Good as new. Can we go eat now? I want so much pasta."

"I don't even know what's still open. It's late." Sid cleared her throat and clicked off the lights and allowed Tomi to trail her toward the exit. The lobby of the hotel was quiet. The last patron left the restaurant over two hours ago and the night stretched toward the wee hours of the morning.

"Let me see." Tomi pulled her phone from the pocket of the loose summer dress she wore and Sid balked.

"It has pockets?" Sid's voice rose with excitement.

"Yes, Queen. Look." Tomi shoved each hand into a pocket and twirled around.

"I gotta borrow that."

"Anytime."

Sidney's hand rested on the revolving door and she prepared to push.

"Sidney!" A tiny female voice called out behind them. Sidney knew it belonged to the Front Desk Clerk for the night shift. She was nice and usually didn't bother Sidney at all. Curiosity peeked, Sidney turned around.

"Sorry, sorry. I know you're leaving but he's been waiting for a while for you." The girl pointed a discreet finger toward a cluster of cushy couches near the window. "He asked me not to call and bother you", she added in a whisper. If Aiden had waited around to corner after work she was literally going to die.

"Thank you." Sid dismissed the girl and shot a look at Tomi who seemed to sober up in last thirty seconds. She was all ears and all eyes as Sidney approached the couch. She was still pretty far aware when his profile gave away his identity.

"Who is that?" Tomi whispered in her ear, keeping pace with her as they approached the man. Hearing their approaching footsteps he stood up and turned toward her wearing a nervous yet full smile on his face.

"Surprise." His voice was hopefully and happy. Nothing like it was behind those bars a few days ago.

"Hi, Phil."

DId y'all miss Phil? I must admit, I did. What do you think of him just popping up at her job? Sweet or suspicious?