Chapter Text
“You have to do something about him or it’ll never stop,” said Daria as Ariel complains to their group for the third time that week.
“That’s what I’ve been telling her!” she hears Eric yell from the next room over, muffled by the door, although Ariel can tell her friends have heard when Gili snorts and Miriam snidely comments, “Ariel, just this once maybe listening to Eric wouldn’t hurt.”
The four women had been friends since they met in grad school- they’d all been pursuing different careers- Gili was hoping to get her MD in neuroscience, Miriam to get a PhD in educational psychology, Daria in theater history, and Ariel going back for a second major in physics- however they’d all met in their intramural ultimate Frisbee league. It wasn’t too time consuming, two practices a week and games on Saturdays, but it was a chance for the women to bond. They all enjoyed it so much that they all did it again the next year, Daria even stepping up to be their captain, when they met the illusive “him”, Jack.
Everything had started out fine between the women and Jack, they’d all been on good terms, Gili a bit closer to him then the rest. The two of them would swim together in the mornings until one day he asked her out. She declined amicably, but he wouldn’t stop. Eventually she just bit the bullet and went with the only excuse that seemed to get him to stop, coming out to him only because he forced it out of her. That shut Jack up about it for a while.
The whole exchange made his presence in their group a bit awkward, but they kept being friends with him nonetheless. Things were more tense with Jack, but the women still chatted with and even texted him regularly (with the exception of Gili).
Since grad school they’d all gone their separate ways. Ariel ending up teaching Physics at a local high school in DC while Miriam could be found working in Seattle as a school psychologist, Gili worked as a neurosurgeon up in Boston, and Daria jumped in whatever productions she could, traveling through the country. Jack also headed to Chicago, finding a job as a corporate lawyer.
The women had kept in touch, and some had kept in touch with Jack, but after he made strange advances towards Miriam and Daria, the four of them had decided to cut him off.
Not that he was totally gone. Miriam, Daria, Ariel, and occasionally even Gili got texts from him that made them uneasy, even after many requests for him to stop. Eventually all of the women had blocked Jack except for Ariel. Which, it turned out, was a mistake. Especially when she found out he was moving to DC.
She’d agreed to have dinner (she didn’t know why, you always say lunch when you don’t want it to be a date), and when it was all done they’d gone back to his place and well, she’d made him promise it would stay “no strings attached”. She didn’t like him romantically, honestly she hardly liked him at all, but she did need the release sometimes. Every week or so they’d meet at one of their places, until eventually it became habit.
Jack started getting attached though. Ariel saw it happening and knew she had to do something. She waited a bit longer to see if she could possibly feel something back. She knew she was leading him on, but she had to get an answer. She had to figure out how she felt. It wasn’t until her friend and coworker, Ollie, a government teacher she’d grown close to through their time working together asked her out on a date that realized there was definitely nothing there for her and Jack.
Ariel told Jack that she was going on a date and they needed to end it, thinking that it was as good a reason as any to let him off easily without naming names. Jack wouldn’t give up though, asking over and over until she eventually told him. She expected anger, but what Ariel didn’t expect was the sheer amount of jealousy that radiated from Jack. Ollie had screenshotted a conversation between the two men, with Jack congratulating him on his “sentimental and intimate achievement”. It was out of line and disgusting and she thought then that she was done with him for good. She would just ghost him.
Five days later, as Ollie and Ariel went on their first date, they realized that at the present a relationship wouldn’t work. They were great friends, but right then they couldn’t be more. They left the dinner amicably, enjoying the company but satisfied with going home alone.
Somehow, their exchange had convinced Jack that Ariel was in a relationship with Ollie after all. Her only responses to him stated over and over that they were platonic, until eventually he shot back with a “Prove it! Go on a date with me!” She knew this date wouldn’t end well so she told him no, and Jack continued to believe that there was a relationship between Ariel and Ollie.
So that brought her back to not knowing what to do. She couldn’t block him, she knew it would make him escalate, but she couldn’t keep talking to him. She continued to ghost him, left him on read, and declined his calls. It didn’t stop him from trying.
“Why not file for a restraining order?” suggested Gili, “I mean, it’s better than nothing.”
“I looked into it already,” replied Ariel, “I can get probably get a temporary restraining order, but even then it’ll probably just block against communication, and even that is something that I might not get. I mean come on, he’s a lawyer, and as much as I hate to admit it, he’s charming. I need evidence and witnesses, and nothing he’s sent me after I broke it off could be counted as harassment. It doesn’t present that way and he knows it.”
“Okay, but you have to do something. He was quieter while you were dating Matt a couple of years ago, right? Why don’t you just find a boyfriend?”
“Or a girlfriend, I know you hate going out with me, but we could give it another shot this weekend. It’s been a while since I dragged you to the club with me,” chimes in Eric, stepping into their communal living room with his laptop open and glass of water in hand.
Ariel heard Daria giggle through the screen and immediately recognized it as her thinking laugh.
“I don’t want to hear it,” she stated.
“No, hear me out. What about that teacher you went on a date with- Ollie?”
“Yeah… what about him?”
“What if you asked him to be your boyfriend? You know, just for appearances. You don’t have to actually do anything, but you do live awfully close to Jack, and it might help to have someone you can call on if you see him around or if he comes up to you. Eric, you’re great, but you’re not going to threaten him well. Ariel needs someone to actually be a presence. Just think about it!” exclaimed Daria.
As Eric let out a sound of mock hurt, Ariel snorted, “Really Dar? We’re not all world-class actresses.”
“Just think about it,” retorted Daria, “it could work.”
The women moved on, eventually wrapping up their call and saying goodbye’s, promising to keep the others posted and call again next week. Soon enough Eric settled back into the couch with a glass of wine for each of them and Ariel put on When Harry Met Sally while Eric slowly dosed off. As she sobbed through the final scene, Ariel knew it was time to knock Jack out once and for all.
To: Ollie Mellor
From: Ariel Bailey
Hey Ollie, I have a weird favor to ask, can I call you?