iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

“And maybe you don’t know her at all anymore. People change. You’re my boy and I don’t want to see you go down because of some old fling. Cut it off. Trust me”

250

“Ade, I would love to spend a day in that too trusting brain of yours. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You might not want more but Charlie might” “You don’t know her like I do,” he pushed back Charlie wasn’t that kind of girl

250

Adelio sat up and took a deep breath before he explained himself “I know you think exes can’t be friends. I’m not saying I want to be best friends with her, I just don’t see a point in hating each other and pretending we don’t exist. I just want civility”

“Cut it off now and never speak to her again” “There’s nothing to cut. We’re friendly, that’s all” “And what if she wants more” “She doesn’t. Charlie knows I’m with Aspen. She respects that” William scoffed. “Like I said, low IQ”

“You know for someone who is hella smart, your IQ when it comes to women is severely low” “Like yours is any better,” Ade rolled his eyes “I’m not the one cozying up with my ex. If you want my advice—“ “I don’t”

He planned on telling her when she came back home so he could look her in her eyes and reassure her nothing happened and nothing would He didn’t want Charlie back “She has a lot on her plate, I’m not trying to make it worse. Can you spot me?”

“Does your girlfriend know?” Will asked Adelio shook his head no as he adjusted the barbell He knew the second he told Aspen over the phone she would freak out. She was dealing with her father’s health problem and the last thing he wanted to do was cause her unnecessary stress

340

He shared a drink with them, kept things strictly platonic, and made it a point to gave no ideas or signals he wanted something more, before disappearing to find Cliff The most he could be was Charlie’s friend, nothing more

He hadn’t see her since she was at his place for her demos and they happened to be at the same nightclub Uptown She was with an artist who just performed and he stopped by to say hello while he waited for Cliff to show up

040

The ship carrying their relationship had long sunk and their conversation two nights ago was one he would categorized as closure over how things ended He was moving on with Aspen and he could finally stop feeling guilty over how things went down

Despite what his friends and sister thought of him, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew how the optics could look from the outside with Charlie back in town Of thing Adelio was sure: he had no desire to rekindle any kind of flame with his ex

“When you phrase it like that, you make it sound like I’m being shady. I’m not. We’re friendly and it was drinks, not dinner, with an artist of hers. Casual,” Adelio shrugged off the words

Williams Sterling was one of Adelio’s college friend who recently moved to San Myshuno in hopes that the job market would pan out a lot better than his hometown of Copperdale

150

Two days later at Sky Fitness… “Let me get this straight, Charlie, your ex girlfriend is back in town and you’re having dinner with her while your new girlfriend is out of town”

It strangely felt like the early college days of their relationship as they caught up with each other, the background noise and the world filtered away If only things could be so easy for the both of them…

150

Like that, the two fell into easy conversation with each other Under Octavia’s tutelage, Charlie realized she wanted to open and operate her own independent recording studio Adelio for once was serious about getting his fitness instructor license

050

“Mom mentioned that. She had high praises for your performance. Avery’s good. She’s somewhere in a jungle I think” “Jungle?” “Yeah. She’s working for this archaeologist now, which isn’t surprising. Avery’s the biggest history nerd I know”

040

“Hence why I’m hardly in mine. I feel like the studio sees more of me than my bed” “You always did live in the studio. Apollo’s great though, he keeps good company” “I bet. Oh, I forgot, I ran into your parents at a charity event last month. How’s your sister?”

Behind them, Apollo barked as he played with his toy and Charlie chucked shaking her head. “I can’t believe you got a dog” “It was quiet after you left and honestly a little lonely coming home to an empty apartment,” Adelio replied honestly