Four: Surprise

I groan as I push the glass doors to the station open with my hip. One of my hands was occupied keeping my purse from sliding off my shoulder while the other was gripped tightly around my iced coffee. To be honest, I would rather lose the purse than lose this coffee.

Staying up late last night waiting on Jace may have not been the best idea. I tried desperately to cover my dark circles with a thick amount of concealer, but I'm sure by now the dark circles are evident. No amount of concealer, foundation, and setting spray could fix the disaster that is my face.

On top of the dark circles I didn't have time to do my hair after sleeping well past my alarm. I'm sure nobody would say anything about the messy bun on my head, but I can't help but feel like everyone is going to take in my appearance quite negatively.

"Good morning, Octavia," one of the deputies says to me as I make my way into the lobby of the large building.

"Good morning, Harley," I chirp back at him.

Harley was one of Anthony's good friends. He's how Jace and Anthony met, which started this group of friends with weekly meet ups. He may not be as close to all of us as Jace and Anthony, but he was definitely considered one of us.

I trudge up the tight staircase to the third floor, nearly out of breath by time I get to the floor with my office in it.

I should just give in and take the elevator. After getting hardly any sleep and running late, I know I deserve to get some kind of break in the short elevator ride.

Sighing, I slide inside my office and shut the door behind me. I toss my bag down on the leather seat in front of the desk and make my way to sit behind the desk.

It wasn't until about five minutes of sitting at my desk contemplating if having a job was a necessity or not until I realized the beautiful bouquet of flowers and small box on my desk. The bouquet was a mixture of different shades of pink roses and pink alstroemeria that contrasted perfectly against the green Fiji mums. The vase is a clear glass cylinder with a gold painted bottom. It was probably the most beautiful bouquet I had ever seen. The smell of them erupted throughout my tiny office and it was heavenly.

I run my finger tips along the flowers, feeling the soft petals. I search for a card, but am left disappointed when the sender decided to stay anonymous.

As I search over the flowers, my eye catches the box and my hopes of finding the sender grows. The box is small, the size of a gift card box. To be honest, it probably is a gift card box. Either that, or jewelry.

I untie the black ribbon and pull off the lid, revealing a note. I smile wide as my eyes scan over the pen written words on the paper.

Meet me at our bench tonight at 8PM . Would love to see you again. Enjoy your gifts. T.

T for Tyler.

I set the note down and peak back at the box, finding a long, gold chain with a heart pendent on it. The heart had to be half the size of my pinky nail, but the size of it didn't matter to me. All that mattered was Tyler wanted to see me again.

To be honest, I hadn't given Tyler any thought since the news had hit yesterday evening about Joeli's. Once we had said our goodbyes that night my mind was consumed with getting Evan home safe and sound.

Of course I had to deal with Evan's constant question on who he was and why I was talking to him. Not that I had minded though. I had always been the one in the group to be single, so having a mysterious man in my life made me feel a sense of pride.

I push my thoughts and memories out of my head and place the necklace down in the box. I then slide the box and flowers to the side of my desk and get focused on my work. This case study definitely won't write itself.

•

"You're going out with a stranger?" Haley asks, confusion written all over her face as I sort through my closet to find something to wear.

"He's technically not a stranger," I answer back.

"Not a stranger? What do you know about him? You don't even know his last name," she fires back.

I roll my eyes at her and pull a pair of skinny jeans off one of the hangers. I think keeping it causal would be the best choice. Tyler doesn't seem like the type to wear a suit and tie.

"So I get to know it tonight. It's not that big of a deal. We're going to be in public so it's not like he can kidnap me or anything."

Haley lets out a groan and falls back on my bed. I fight back yelling at her for laying on top of the jeans I was about to change into. She did have a point about me meeting a stranger tonight. It probably wasn't my best idea but I liked the recklessness of my actions.

Working at a police station always made me feel as if I had to do everything right. I always felt self conscious when I did anything that was considered breaking the law or just bad actions. I felt like I was suppose to be an example of a good citizen, like everyone would be watching me.

"Is he at least hot?" Haley puffs, tilting her head up to peak at me.

"Dark hair and green eyes," I smile, recalling the image of Tyler in my mind.

"Ugh, your type. No wonder you're being dumb," she groans.

I laugh at her. She's right. Physically, Tyler is definitely my type. I just hope his personality charms the pants off me. Literally.

I reach into the closet and grab a cream colored sweater, pulling it over top of me before I slide my leggings off.

Haley rolls over just enough for me to pull my jeans out form under her and i put those on as well. I pair the look up with some brown boots and add the necklace Tyler had given me to tie it all together.

Just as I finish putting some perfume on there's a knock on the door of the apartment, making Haley groan again.

She's being very difficult today.

"Please, if that's my pizza will you please get it for me I am comfy right here," she moans, not even bothering to look at me.

I roll my eyes again at her even though I knew she couldn't see me and head to the door to get it.

When I open the door though, I am shocked to not find a pizza delivery person. Instead, I come face to face with two people. One face being a friend and one of them definitely not a friend.

"Okay, before you get mad at us showing up uninvited, this was Will's idea and not mine," Jace defends, pointing over to his younger brother.

Will gives me a mischievous smile and steps closer to me, grabbing my shoulders and pressing a wet kiss to both my cheeks.

"Octavia, baby!" He shouts, his voice much louder than it needs to be while inside.

He pushes past me and steps into my apartment and Jace gives me an apologizing look, following behind.

"How have you been? Still a bitch?" Will says, plopping down on my couch.

"Suck my dick," I hiss, glaring at him as he puts his feet onto the wooden coffee table.

I had many reasons to dislike Will. I couldn't ever hate him. Jace and Will only share a dad and because that, they both grew up with very different life's. Jace lived in a healthy home with his other brother and sister while Will wasn't so lucky. He didn't have the best life and I could never hate him for the person he is.

However, I can definitely dislike him.

"You look hot. Who you trying to impress? You already had me and Jace is pretty much married, so where to?" Will questions me.

"I didn't know four days of talking and one night together that didn't consist of anything sexual was considered "having you," but go off sis," I sneered at him, making the sheepish smile go away from his face.

It was Jace's idea to set me up with his little brother. We were close in age and according to Jace we were a lot alike. I guess Jace just didn't know me well enough at the time because it backfired big time.

"Best four days of your life," he comes back.

"The best days of my life are everyday that doesn't involve you," I say back to him.

It's his turn to say something back but he chooses not to, just glaring at me instead. Jace must be giving him the look because he looks at Jace before turning to look away from us both.

I look over at Jace to find him already looking at me. He's studying me and I can tell he isn't very happy. His eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are in a firm line.

"Will's right. Where are you going?" He finally asks.

"I have a date," I say, making Will laugh out loud.

I can tell it was a forced laugh, but it's still a laugh and it's still annoying me.

"A date? Who would want to go on a date with you?" Will says between laughs.

"You did, but you got rejected so," I say, recalling the memory.

Will shuts up real quick and I can't help to feel a sense of pride when his antics come to a full stop.

"I'm going to tell Caleb you're cheating on him. Boy's going to be heartbroken," Will laughs, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans to probably text Caleb.

"With who," Jace whispers to me, quiet enough to where Will can't hear anything.

It isn't until his whisper that I realized just how close we were standing to each other. I could pretty much feel his breath hit my face when he spoke. Even though I was about to go out and meet Tyler and possibly make something more happen between us, Jace still made my heart beat faster when he was this close to me.

"I met this guy at the bar Friday," I say to him, and he looks down, his head inches from my shoulder.

"Do I know him?" He asks me and I shake my head.

Jace knew just about everybody in town, and everyone that came to Joeli's. He could know Tyler, but I doubt it.

"You don't have to give me a talk about being safe and cautious and all that. Haley already beat you to it," I tell him.

"No, you'll be fine. I'm happy for you," he says, stepping away from me.

That confuses me. Jace isn't trying to be protective for once? Completely opposite of Jace, but I'll take it. After all, it's nice to have his support.

"I better get going," I say, looking at the clock on the wall, seeing that it's almost 8.

"Where's Haley?" Will asks, looking around for my best friend.

"She's in my bed. Go tell her to come out," I instruct him.

"I knew you guys were lesbians," he says, causing both Jace and I to yell at him.

Fighting back a smile, I give Jace a quick hug before I leave. I could only imagine the mess I am leaving behind with Will. He and Haley together were complicated to say the least. I'm sure Jace will have his hands full with them.

However, I couldn't think about the drama that was about to unfold with my friends and Will. I could only think about Tyler and what tonight may be.