When Brett and Shelli are away, Ashley and Alanna are going to play. And play they did. In a lot of ways, it was even better than Redding, which was saying a lot. They spent every moment that they could together, knowing what they were doing, too in love to really care. They should have been more careful. Alanna knew that Brett was getting dangerous, that it took very little to set him off, and that he showed up at the most inopportune times.
She and Ashley had been sitting on the porch swing, on the front porch, kissing. They didn’t care who saw them, but they should have. Brett chose that moment to pull up to the house, and see her kissing Ashley. He waited until he had gone inside, then stalked up to Alanna, grabbing her arm.
“OW!” Alanna cried out, when Brett pinched her arm. He responded by slamming his fist into her eye. Brett slapped her, splitting her lip, before Ashley came outside.
“You whore! You’re a good for nothing hoe! That’s all you ever were. A good for nothing swanky tramp who thought she had talent.”
“Get the hell off of her!” Ashley growled, shoving Brett. He threw Alanna to the ground and turned on Ashley. They had just started to fight when she heard police sirens. No sound had ever sounded sweeter and she realized that someone must have heard her yelling. The police officer who pulled up noticed that Brett was attacking Ashley, and took one look at Alanna on the ground, and knew who to take into custody. The officer explained, after Brett was subdued in the car, that charges of assault were going to be brought upon him for assaulting Ashley and for assaulting her.
She numbly got up, barely aware that Ashley was there beside her. Alanna turned to face him, horrified when she saw his bloody nose, and the bruise forming underneath his chin. He brought his hand up to her face, lightly tracing the bruises that were forming.
“How could he do this to you?” Ashley whispered. “You told me that he never hit you.” Alanna looked up at him with wide gray eyes, filled with tears.
“I lied.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “He did it all the time. Whenever he got angry, or when I tried to leave him, any excuse to hit me. I became a statistic. Just another woman who stayed with her abusive boyfriend, because somewhere deep down she actually loved him. I don’t know how I could love him, with the way he treated me, maybe I just think that I did. But I also lied for him. Everyone could tell that he abused me, but I still lied, and I still stayed.” She shook her head, starting to sob. “I am so stupid!” Ashley took her into his arms, rage bubbling inside of him.
“No, baby. It’s not your fault. You’re not stupid, baby. Brett is the one who is stupid, for not seeing what he had in front of him.” She sobbed, shaking in his arms. He held her tighter and eventually, the sobs subsided. “Let’s go inside.” She followed him into the bathroom, and he wet a washcloth. Despite her protests, he wiped away the blood from her cuts, his heart breaking as she winced in pain. He noticed that blood that had dripped onto her white shirt and gently pulled her up. “Come here.” She followed him to his bedroom where he pulled out a freshly washed white tee shirt.
“Thank you.” Alanna said, sniffling. She started pulling her shirt off before she realized that Ashley was still in the room. So there she was, standing in Ashley’s room in her bra, realizing how much she wanted to just . . . kiss him. He crossed the distance between them, and captured her lips with his, careful to not put too much pressure on her split lip. They grew more passionate and Alanna broke the kiss to pull his shirt over his head.
“Is this the right time?” Alanna whispered. Ashley couldn’t help but smile against her lips. She had remembered when they had come close to making love in Ashley’s bunk in the tour bus. Ashley had told her that it wasn’t the right time.
“Yes.” Ashley whispered. “Now is the right time.” They kissed again and Ashley pulled away to finish undressing her and lead her over to the bed. He place feather light kisses all over her body, not able to get enough of her, the scent of her intoxicating. They made love for the first time that night, and while Alanna wasn’t a virgin, it was the most gentle, and romantic night of her life. There was nobody forcing himself on her, wanting to please only himself. It was about pleasing each other, worshiping each other with their bodies. They lay in bed afterward, exhausted but pleasantly sated. Ashley heard footsteps in the hallway and didn’t think anything of it until Shelli stepped into the room. Shelli didn’t look happy. Of course, given the circumstances, nobody would be happy. Her angry glare shifted from Ashley to Alanna and back to Ashley again.
“I knew that dating you again would be a mistake.” Shelli spat out angrily. Ashley looked down at the ground when Shelli started to cry. Even though he was not in love with her anymore, he still didn’t like hurting Shelli. She had been his first love, and his best friend. “I actually believed you for awhile. I thought that you had forgotten all about her since she’s part of your PR team, but I guess that doesn’t matter. I thought with the way she chose her job over you, you would want nothing to do with her.”
“I still love her.” Ashley said softly. “I never stopped loving her. You knew that Shelli. You said that when you looked into my eyes, when you kissed me, you could tell that it wasn’t you that I was thinking about. Yet you stayed.” He shook his head. “I used you, I led you on, and that was wrong. I’m sorry for that.” Shelli laughed bitterly.
“Don’t worry about apologizing. It means nothing to me anymore. But I have no worries. You’ll get yours soon.” She turned on her heel, and stomped out of the house, leaving Ashley to wonder what she was going to do, how bad it was going to be, and how soon it would affect his life.
******************************
Shelli didn’t know that much about Ashley’s PR rep except her name and the other job that she had. Vivienne Martin divided her time between being on O-town’s PR team and being the chief editor of Tampa Daily Magazine, the magazine where Alanna was currently employed.
To tell the truth, the fact that Ashley had cheated on her with Alanna didn’t really surprise Shelli. She had known all along that he was still in love with her. Shelli knew that she had been Ashley’s first love, but even she had to admit that she wasn’t in love with him anymore. They had grown out of that stage of their lives, moved on to different people, different things and taken steps forward in their lives. Their love was a part of their past.
Shelli went up to the front desk, and asked where Viv’s office was. The receptionist recognized her as Ashley’s girlfriend, and immediately gave her directions. Vivienne’s office was on the second floor, the third door on the left. It was a spacious office, but the overpowering flowery scent of Vivienne’s perfume made the office seem confining, without enough air to breathe.
“Shelli! What a surprise.” She motioned toward the chair in front of her desk. “What bring you here?” Shelli cleared her throat, trying to decide if this was the way that she really wanted to go. After all, this would ruin not only Alanna’s career, but possibly Ashley’s as well.
“Well,” Shelli said, pausing. “I have something to tell you.” You guys had this coming, Shelli thought to herself. “I know how much you hate the thought of Ashley having a relationship with Alanna so I hate to have to come to you with this.” Vivienne nodded.
“You can tell me anything.”
“Ashley cheated on me with Alanna.” Vivienne’s mouth dropped open.
“WHAT?” Shelli felt an anxious dread start to begin in her stomach, making her feel sick.
“They slept together.” Vivienne’s delicate features turned bright red with unabridged fury. “I thought that you should know.” Vivienne nodded, her face starting to turn back to it’s normal shade.
“Don’t worry, Shelli. I’ll take care of it.” Shelli nodded and walked out of the office. It wasn’t until she was sitting on a bench outside the Tampa Daily Magazine headquarters did she let the tears start falling. The tears she cried were for the love that had died, the relationship she would never have, and the horrible thing she had just done. She knew that she had just ruined Alanna’s career, but it made her stomach churn when she thought about the fact that she very well could have ruined Ashley’s career with that move as well. Alanna deserves it, Shelli thought to herself. When it came down to the basics, Alanna didn’t have any idea what she had in front of her. She had chose a stupid job at some boring half wit magazine over a lasting love with Ashley. Shelli was no idiot; she knew that what they had together was special, with the potential to last a lifetime. Alanna didn’t deserve Ashley, and that was the bottom line.
Shelli headed home, feeling sick and defeated, having lost the love of her life a long time before Alanna even came into the picture.
************************
(One week later)
Ashley had been finishing his lunch on the back porch while reading the paper when Vivienne Martin stormed into the house. He took off his headphones and heard her yelling at Eric, trying to find out where he was. Moron, Ashley thought. If she would just look through the glass doors, she would find me. As if she had heard his thoughts, Vivienne looked through the large sliding glass doors and saw him lounging in a recliner. Ashley quickly put his headphones back on, and protested when Vivienne stormed outside and tore them off his head.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Vivienne bellowed. Ashley looked at her with wide, innocent blue eyes.
“Enjoying lunch and the paper before heading downstairs to put the finishing touches on some songs for the album.” Vivienne’s face was turning a weird shade of purple.
“That’s not what I mean, AND YOU KNOW IT!” Ashley cringed, thinking that she desperately needed a breath mint. “Do you know what kind of publicity this is going to bring? Two months before the release of your new album? You are such a SCREW UP!” Ashley stood up angrily.
“Okay, LOOK. Last time you went on some stupid trip like this, I didn’t have the strength to stand up to you.” Ashley shook his head. “Do you know what that did to me? You purposely kept me away from the one woman that has my heart and soul. Only a heartless BITCH does something that cold and mean. I refuse to take it this time. I want to be with her and there’s nothing that you can do about it. There is no clause that says that we can’t have girlfriends. There’s no clause that says that we can’t date people on the PR team. So take whatever complaint you have and shove it up your ass.” Vivienne gasped.
“You just wait, Ashley Parker Angel. You just wait.” Viv stomped back into the house and disappeared from Ashley’s view. He breathed a sigh of relief. Ashley sat back down, the relief turning into dread. He knew that Vivienne had no right to fire him for anything that he did, but Alanna was fair game. As her boss, Vivienne had the right to fire Alanna for misconduct. Ashley sighed, his head in his hands. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Alanna’s cell. Please pick up, Ashley prayed. I need to warn you about Viv. Alanna picked up on the third ring, out of breath.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Lana.”
“Ashley!” He smiled when he heard her happy tone. “What’s up? How come you’re calling my cell? I’m gonna be at the house in like three minutes.”
“I really needed to talk to you. About Vivienne.” He heard her sharp intake of breath, and cursed under his breath.
“What about her?” Ashley paused. “Ashley, what happened?” He sighed and ran a hand through his spiky blond hair.
“Vivienne found out about . . . well us . . . I think Shelli told her. Scratch that, I know Shelli told her. She said I was going to get mine.” He shook his head. “She went off the deep end, Lana, I mean off the wall angry.” It was Alanna’s turn to sigh.
“Great. Stupid wen--”
“Alanna.” Ashley said, cutting her off. “I’m worried about your job. I don’t have anything to worry about. She can’t fire me, because there is nothing that says we can’t date people on our PR team. But you work for her, not for the band, so you’re job is in trouble.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes okay?” She paused. “I love you Ashley.” She hung up before he could say he loved her too. Ashley flipped his phone shut and flopped down on the lounge chair. A few minutes later, he heard a car pull into the driveway. Moments later, Alanna appeared in the backyard, dressed in a flowing white skirt and a fitted gray top. Her white sandals laced halfway up her calve. She gladly put herself into Ashley’s welcoming arms, snuggling against his broad chest.
“I’m gonna lose my job.” Alanna said, her voice muffled. Ashley stroked her short brown hair. “I’m definitely gonna lose my job.”
“It’s okay, Lana.” He hugged her tighter. “No matter what happens, you’ll write for someone else, and you’ll have me.”
“But what if something happens to your car--” Ashley put a finger up to her full red lips, silencing her.
“She can’t do anything to my career, Alanna. There is nothing in my contract that says I can’t date someone on my PR team. Besides, writing for our website doesn’t fall under PR work anyway.” Alanna nodded.
“I don’t care what happens to my job, Ashley.” She shook her head. “Now that I’m with you, I’m not going anywhere.” Ashley grinned. Despite everything that happened, they had finally gotten together and nothing was going to tear them apart. Alanna pressed her lips to his and he pulled her closer. They had been kissing for a few minutes when Alanna’s cell phone rang. She groaned, pulled away, and flipped open the phone.
“Hello?” Alanna said, exasperated. Ashley laughed and Alanna punched him. The caller said something and Alanna wasn’t smiling anymore. “I’m at the house Vivienne. No, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you come back. Fine.” Alanna slapped her phone shut and sat down on a lounge chair, sighing. Ashley sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
“What did she want?” Ashley inquired. Alanna sighed and put her head on Ashley’s shoulder.
“She’s coming back to the house, to talk about my misconduct.” She shook her head. “She just wants to fire me in person.” They were silent for awhile, until the heard a car pull into the driveway, and the angry slamming of the car door. Ashley put his arm around Alanna’s waist when Vivienne tromped through the sliding glass doors. Her cold gaze landed on Ashley’s arm around Alanna’s waist, before turning to Alanna.
“You.” Vivienne spat. Alanna smiled coldly.
“You.” Alanna spat back. Vivienne’s face was turning the same weird shade of purple that it had when she had yelled at Ashley earlier.
“I knew that I should have never sent you back here. You two just can’t stay away from each other can you?” Alanna laughed bitterly.
“We’re in love, you moron. But you never cared about that did you? You know what I think? I think you were scorned and that’s why you can’t stand to see two people in love.”
“You’re fired, Alanna. Unbelievably fired. You will never have anything to do with O-town again.”
“Oh dry it up. You can’t tell Ashley who he can see. It was never in his contract that he couldn’t date someone on his PR team. Besides, writing for their website isn’t really considered PR work anyway. As their unqualified PR rep, even you should know that.” Alanna shrugged. “I don’t care if you fire me. I can always write for a better, more qualified magazine. I still have Ashley, and I won’t have to put up with you as my boss. All in all, I think this will turn out for the best.”
“You bi--”
“Buh bye.” Alanna said, cutting her off. Vivienne stomped off and Ashley started laughing so hard, he was clutching his stomach.
“That . . . was . . . classic.” Ashley said, between gasps. Soon Alanna was joining him and they had the remaining members of O-town out on the patio wondering what was going on.
“Um . . . what’s going on?” Dan asked, perplexed. Alanna and Ashley couldn’t stop laughing long enough to give an answer.
“Guys?” Eric inquired. Ashley wiped away the tears that were streaming down his cheeks and took a couple of deep breaths.
“Alanna . . . finally told off . . . Vivienne.” Eric started laughing and his band mates joined him. After another five minutes of laughing, they finally gained back some of their composure and caught their breath.
“We should throw a party.” Trevor said. “Anybody who tells off Vivienne deserves a party.”
“Well . . . come to think of it, my birthday is next week.” The band looked at her in surprise. “The 24th.”
“Then we’ll throw a party to celebrate telling Vivienne off and you’re birthday. You’re finally gonna be legal!” Ashley declared. Alanna laughed.
“Sounds good to me.” Ashley hugged her tightly and beamed.
“Things are finally coming together.” Ashley said, kissing her quickly. Alanna grinned, confident in the fact that things had finally fallen into place, without an ounce of sadness anywhere. Things were finally going her way.
Chapter Five
Chapter Three
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