Here's the setup for a new story! Hope you like it and let me know your thoughts/suggestions!
Talk It Out Or Have It Out
Chapter 1: The Plan
Aaron and Logan had been best friends since childhood. From meeting on the playground at five years old, all the way to now at age 23, they had always gotten along famously. They did everything together and shared everything together. And now, freshly graduated from college, they were planning their adult lives. They had both graduated with honors, gotten offered fantastic paid internships that they were to begin within the year, and both had met a beautiful girl each, and had spent the better part of two years with them, give or take a month or two. They really did seem to have everything going for them.
There was, however, one small problem. When Aaron had begun dating Emma, and Logan began dating Sophie, the opportunity for all of them to meet together did not present itself right away. Little did they know, several months into their relationships when they finally had suggested a double date...it was discovered that Emma and Sophie already knew each other. In fact they knew each other quite well.
And they despised each other. Dinner on the night in question had passed in an awkward and icy cold silence as the guys tried to salvage the night in their own ways, unaware of what the issue was. The girls had related the problem once they had all separated for the evening, and the two boys were left with quite the dilemma. Some old drama that is not even worth recording had driven both girls, who had originally quite good friends apart. It had festered, and boiled and had been allowed to age into a bitter hatred. The two had never come to blows, but it had been close a few times. The boys of course had grown to care about their girlfriends very much, but they were absolutely unwilling to let the two of them drive a wedge between their friendship. To them, the solution was simply not to bring them to the same place at any time. However, this had not been a good solution in the long run.
Of course, both couples would meet several times over the next couple of years that they had been together, and of course, it had been a disaster every time. Always a night of cold silence and tension at best, and an entire debacle where the girls had to be forcibly separated at worst as the enforced proximity had brought them to the boiling point a time or two. The last straw however was when they had been at the bar together. They had met by chance, not having planned to hang out or meet up. The boys had again tried to get them talking and break the stony coldness that had come between them. However, fueled by one too many tequila shots, which the girls had ordered in quick succession, they had begun to snipe at each other. Finally, the four of them had been kicked out of the bar entirely with a life long ban as the girls had dived across the table to get at each other, smashing a table and several glasses in the process.
Three nights after this incident, Aaron and Logan met up at another watering hole to have a beer and discuss their issue. “I’m going to be honest man, I’m fucking sick of this. Didn’t these two get along really well when they were younger?” Aaron said, rubbing his forehead with his palm. “Apparently.” Logan nodded and sighed. “Sophie is such a sweet woman. I don’t know what it is about Emma that pisses her off so badly. Sure, they dated each other’s brothers and it ended badly...but why is that such a problem even now?” He mused as much to himself as he did to Aaron.
“Hey, you remember that one time when we got really, REALLY mad at each other? We both wanted to date Amy Blackwood in like...tenth grade?” Aaron laughed. At the memory, Logan let out a guffaw of his own. “Oh yeah, that was legendary. She was flirting with both of us and had us tied around her finger.” The ridiculousness of the episode from the past got both of them chuckling openly. Aaron continued for them. “We didn’t talk for like a week, then I called you and told you to come to my house and meet me in the backyard because mom and dad weren’t home. Man, we beat the dog shit out of each other! I’m pretty sure I still have a scar on my head from when I crashed into the tree.” He reminisced, still chortling. “Our parents grounded us for a month, but as soon as it was over, we just hugged it out! Like nothing had ever happened.” He trailed off as he saw Logan’s eyes pop wide open as if he had just remembered something. Aaron looked at his best friend for a moment in puzzlement, but quickly caught on. They didn’t have to say a word, but they both knew it.
They had a plan.
Fast forward one week. Aaron had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on Emma’s knee. Her slender legs were tucked into her light gray yoga pants tightly and she was smiling at him. “I’m glad you suggested a trip to the gym tonight. I feel like I could use a little exercise. It’s awfully late though.” She said the last part with a tone of question. Aaron shrugged and gave a sound of noncommitment. “No one will be there. I like having my pick of the equipment.” Emma let it go at that, as this statement was not entirely untrue and it was perfectly reasonable.
They arrived and as they entered, as expected they found no one inside. Aaron took her hand and led her to a back room where yoga classes usually took place. Once they reached it, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.
It was exactly as he and Logan had planned. The floor was covered in gymnastic tumbling mats, Logan and Sophie were already there, engaged in stretching exercises, and neither girl had any idea what was going on. Aaron gave Emma a firm but gentle push in the small of her back, forcing her into the room as she indignantly exclaimed ‘What the fu-” before being blindsided. Logan, who was standing, bolted from the room as well while Sophie scrambled to her feet in equal confusion and anger. Both boys smiled brightly and winked at their respective girlfriends before slamming the door. They both made sure that they had the key cards with them and quickly slid some heavy equipment in front of the door to keep it from swinging outward.
“Aaron WHAT THE FUCK??” Emma screeched from inside the room through the door. “Let us OUT!” Sophie screamed as the two of them pondered just what was happening. “No.” Logan was the one to answer. “We talked about this, and here’s the bottom line.” Aaron continued. “You two are stressing us the fuck out. So, you’re going to stay there until you learn to get along.” He said with a firm tone. “Aaron I swear to God.” Emma hissed through the door. It was Logan who answered next. “You’re both smart, reasonable women except when it comes to each other. So...figure it out. We can’t keep doing this.” He said, leaning against the wall next to the door.
It was Aaron who offered up the real plan then. “Either talk it out or have it out. We don’t care which. But none of us is leaving until you two can get along. Period.” There was a pronounced silence at that comment which caused both of the boys to lean into the door. Inside, Emma and Sophie had turned slowly toward one another and glared viciously. “Guess we need to talk then huh?” Sophie said. Her own black yoga pants and salt and pepper colored sports bra stretching a microscopic amount as she tensed her muscles. Emma frowned and felt herself tense up as well, her hands balling into fists. “Oh, believe me...I’ve been wanting to talk for years now.” She said simply. The boys could not make out the words, but could hear the tension and yes...anticipation in the muffled sounds coming from behind the drywall. They didn’t say a word, but both of them shared a look that said one thing and one thing only.
Best. Plan. Ever.
