March 2020:

      "Fucking hell, this shit itches!" Ashley grumbled to himself as he shut off his car, then reached around to brush at the back of his shirt, which was liberally coated in tiny pink fibers. "I always hate this part. Putting the new stuff in is fine, since we have the foamboard now, but pulling out all of this.. cotton candy from hell , is a gigantic pain in the ass!"

      After getting out of the vehicle, he pulled out the large sheet of plastic he had been sitting on and stuffed it into the trash bin, then closed the garage door and walked to the large utility sink that stood in the far corner. He dropped his work boots in the corner, then stripped down to his underwear, tossed the insulation-covered clothes into the sink, and turned on the water. Once that was done, he let himself into the kitchen and started toward his room, noting the sound of dramatic music from the living room, which meant that Aerin was probably watching one of the paranormal shows that she enjoyed. He thought about calling out to let her know that he was home early, but then reconsidered, knowing that he'd catch all sorts of hell if she decided to hug him, and acquired some of the fiberglas he was festooned with before he could warn her.

      "Besides, that would take too long," he told himself. "The quicker I get into the shower, the quicker I can stop feeling like I'm covered in chiggers."

      He hurried to the shower and scrubbed himself until the itching subsided, wrapped a towel around his head as he dried himself , and then wrapped that towel around his waist and padded barefoot toward the front of the house. As he reached the archway between the breakfast nook and the living room, he heard an unfamiliar voice saying, "You would honestly not believe how bad that smelled! It was like someone opened up every single bottle of bleach in Wal Mart, then dumped them over a litterbox the size of Kaufman Stadium that hadn't been cleaned in a month. Even standing on the far edge of the parking lot my eyes were watering!"

      He moved into the room to see Aerin sitting on the floor, with her laptop on the coffee table, Skyping with a woman who appeared to be around her own age, or perhaps slightly older, with short auburn hair and a slightly rounded face. Her expression showed a significant degree of frustration as she took a sip of her drink, then continued speaking. "Then, when it got to the point where we couldn't keep from coughing even when we went all the way across the street, it finally occurred to the jack-wagons to send us around the block to go sit in the breakroom on the other side of the building. They even had to unlock the soda machines and call the grocery store and have them deliver some deli trays, because none of us could get to our lunches. So we just sat there bored off our asses for about five hours before they..."

      Her voice trailed off, and her face took on a bewildered expression as she stared blankly at her computer screen. Aerin gave her laptop a puzzled look and inquired, "You okay there, hon?"

      "Is that supposed to be a trick question?"

      "No, pretty sure that wasn't what I had in mind," Aerin responded. "Why do you ask?"

      "Because if it's not, then there are only two other possibilities," the redhead declared. "Either I sucked in more of those fumes than I thought and need to go to the ER, because I'm hallucinating big-time, or you've been a bit less than forthcoming about your... living situation." 

      This reply was what led them both to realize that she wasn't looking at Aerin, but past her, and they both flushed with embarrassment: Aerin because she realized that her friend was now aware of the secret she had been keeping, and Ashley because he belatedly remembered that he was wearing nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his waist.

      "Umm, I think I should probably go get dressed," he informed his roommate. "So I'll get out of your hair and let you continue your conversation."

      "Yeah, clothes might be just the tiniest bit helpful," she retorted. "But you might as well come on back after, so I can make the formal introductions."

      He hurried back to his room and hastily put on some jeans and a Motley Crue T-shirt, then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before returning to join Aerin. He dropped to the floor beside her and looked toward the computer screen with a slight smile. "Hi," he said. "I guess you must be Aidan, right?"

      "Last time I looked, yes," she replied. "But the way this day seems to be going, I'm not sure I know what the hell is going on anymore, so maybe I should double-check my ID to be certain."

      "Ash, this is my friend, Aidan Ashcroft. And, Aidan, this is my roommate, Ashley Purdy. Obviously," Aerin explained. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before. It's not that I don't trust you, but I wasn't sure if he actually wanted me to tell anyone."

      "Well, I obviously don't want you to go broadcasting it all over Facebook or Twitter, or some shit like that," Ashley told her. "But if you two are communicating somewhat regularly, she's probably gonna find out eventually, so I probably would have been okay with that. But it's not even two, I thought that you two usually talked later in the day."

      After inviting him to sit in on the conversation, Aerin explained to him that when he had first come into the room, Aidan had been filling her in on the chemical spill that had forced everyone to evacuate her workplace barely twenty minutes after the shift had started, which had finally resulted in management sending everyone home two hours early, giving her the opportunity to come home and call Aerin.

      As the three of them chatted, Ashley couldn't rid himself of the nagging feeling that he had seen her somewhere before, or that she resembled someone he knew, and he finally inquired, "Were you ever at one of our meet and greets when I was still in the band, or maybe a store signing? Because you look very familiar to me, and I can't quite figure out why."

      He was a bit confused when both women started giggling, but then Aerin grabbed her phone off of the table, and after a few seconds of tapping, slid it in front of him, saying, "Here, maybe this will help."

      He glanced at the screen and saw that Aerin had pulled up an old nineteen-eighties publicity shot of the band Cinderella, which didn't seem to have any bearing on the conversation until he gave it a closer look and realized that Aidan bore a striking resemblance to Tom Keifer, the band's vocalist, during that time period.

      "Yeah, that clears it up," he agreed. "Are you sure you're not related? Because except for your hair, you could pass as his sister."

      "People have been saying that since I was in middle school," she chuckled. "And as far as I know, there are no Keifer's in our family tree. So I guess it's just one of those weird coincidences. Kind of like how people say you look like Axl Rose, or Johnny Depp." 

      He laughingly acknowledged her point, and they continued on to other topics, carrying on the conversation for another hour, until Aidan had to end the call, as she said it was her turn to make dinner for herself and her roommate. So Aerin and Ashley said their goodbyes, and Aerin turned off her laptop. 

      Turning to glance at Ashley as he rose from the floor, she inquired, "So, do you still think she's not for real now?"

      "Okay, you got me," he admitted. "I was wrong. But yeah, I guess she's pretty cool. She actually seems like she might be fun to hang out with. Maybe you could ask her to come up for a weekend sometime."

      "I'm gonna hold you to that," Aerin replied. "I'll throw the idea at her the next time we chat, so we can get some advance planning done. But for now, I guess we should start getting something resembling food together, too. It's your turn to cook today, in case you don't remember." She paused for a moment, a sly smile playing across her lips. "So, if you come up with something really good, maybe I'll show you how that rope trick you liked so much the other night actually works."

      This prompted Ashley to dash toward the kitchen, Aerin's laughter following him as he declared, "Then hang onto your taste buds, sugar, because tonight I'm Bobby Flay!"

          *******************************************************************************

        6:15 PM      

      "Hey, anybody home in there?" Kyra questioned as she waved her hand in front of Aidan's face.

      She jerked in her chair, slightly startled, then said, "Sorry, I was just kind of spacing there for a minute."

      "A minute, my ass! You've basically been a zombie since I got home. What's up with you, anyway?"

      Aidan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Something kind of odd happened a little while ago, but before I tell you, I need you to promise not to tell anybody else, because it could wind up causing problems for someone else if you do."

      "Okay, if it's that important, sure," Kyra agreed, looking at her curiously. "What's going on?"

      "Well, you remember me talking about my friend Aerin, right?"

      "Your Skype buddy, yeah. The one who considers the term 'evil bitch' to be a term of endearment," Kyra responded. "Isn't she the one who basically ran away from home last year because her mom should be packaged in plastic and sold as a snack, and managed to get some random dude to let her move in with him after they spilled Starbucks all over each other like some weird-ass One Direction fanfic?""

      "Yeah, that's her. Well, I Skyped her when I got home this afternoon, and while we were talking, her roommate came home."

      Kyra waited for her to continue, then, after several seconds, she prompted, "And? What's so weird about that?" 

      Aidan's answer nearly caused her to drop her drink. "Well... it turns out that 'random dude' is Ashley Purdy."

      "You've got to be shitting me!" Kyra exclaimed. "You actually saw him, then?"

      "Wet. In a towel. My brain is still a bit vapor-locked," Aidan replied.

      "Okay, I'm officially jealous. Is he really as hot as the pics make him look, or is that Photoshop?"

      "No Photoshop necessary," Aidan declared. "If he were any hotter, he'd spontaneously combust. But after he put some clothes on, he sat and chatted with us, and he seems really nice. He's got a pretty wicked sense of humor, too."

      Kyra nodded, then gave her a mischievous look. "Well, who knows. Since your friend has an in with him, maybe she can put in a good word and get you a date with him."

      Aidan stared at her friend blankly for several seconds, then began laughing hysterically, until tears streamed down her cheeks. When she was once again able to form words, she said, "Geez, Kyra, you should go for one of the open-mic nights at the stand-up clubs, you'd get a standing ovation. That's the funniest thing I've heard in months."

      "Oh, stop putting yourself down, for fuck's sake!" her roommate demanded. "There is no reason at all why any guy shouldn't find you attractive."

      "Any guy who doesn't make a habit of dating lingerie models and porn stars, maybe," Aidan rejoined. "You've seen enough pictures to know that I'm not his type, just like I have, so we might as well not lose touch with reality. Maybe I'll get a chance to make friends with him, but that would prolly be the extent of it, if I even get that far." She got up from her seat and moved toward the stove as the timer began to buzz, and as she opened the oven door, she cast a wistful glance at Kyra and added, "I admit, dating Ash would prolly be a dream come true, if he's actually anything like he seemed to be today. But there's no way that's ever gonna happen to me. Never in a million years."