Episode 25...

“I’m here!” I yell, dashing into the studio. I am about twenty minutes late, and I know Ashton is going to be pretty pissed.
“Finally, where have you been?!” he asks, coming out of his office. He stands there in the doorway, hands on hips while I struggle to catch my breath.
“I’m sorry, really. Are the guys here?” I ask, following him into his office.
“James can’t make it. He’s doing a promo for the show, but Josh is right through there,” he tells me, pointing into the main room. “I have a luncheon with Carson Daly, we’ll be doing a piece on him in a few days. I might need back-up again.”
“No problem, I can do it.”
“You’re a doll. I’ll be back in a few hours, I’m sure you will be done by then.”
“Alright, have fun,” I smile as he gets up from his chair.
“I’ll throw in a good word for you,” he sticks his wallet in his jacket pocket.
“Thanks Ash, I can find my own man.”
“Don’t I know it,” he mumbles, whistling under his breath.
He quickly exits the room. I stare after him, completely bewildered. That was the fourth guy this week to act like that. They all act like I have a million guys surrounding me. Why the hell would they think that? I shrug to myself and walk toward the main studio. Noticing all the lights were off and the room was black except for several candles, I stand there, shocked out of my mind.
“Hey you,” Josh comes behind me, covering my eyes with his hands.
“Excuse me? What is going on here?” I jump out of his arms.
Turning around, I see the same replica of True Love that I photographed a week ago. Inside it was a bottle of wine and bed sheets.
“What the hell?” I ask, picking up the wine and dropping it. It smashed on the ground and splashed all over the floor. “Why in the hell do you have this fucked up idea I’m going to sleep with you?!” I rage, storming over to him.
His eyes widen as he steps away from me. “I heard… I mean-“
“You HEARD?! What the hell did you hear?!”
“Well, JC Chasez told me you were easy…”
“JC Chasez?!” I close my eyes, thinking about his last remark. JC Chasez. N*SYNC. Brooklyn. That’s how I knew him. He had been one of my boyfriend’s best friends. I vaguely remembered he paid very highly. One of my best customers.

Having nothing left to say to the bastard, I ran out of the studio and jump into my car. The tires squeal as I peel out of the lot, speeding down the highway to my apartment. What do I do when I get mad? Have sex, simple as that. After I had started going to a shrink he had made me take after-school lessons to keep my aggressions to a minimum. I took classes in dancing, karate, baking, and even photography. I mastered that one, and my parents thought it would be good to send me to Atlanta to pursue it, though we all know that’s not why they sent me off. Before I know it, I’m climbing out of my car. Still completely pissed off I throw the front door open. I barely notice Brian lying on the couch. Making no move to acknowledge him, I continue on going into the kitchen. I slam around for a while, getting out all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies.
“Ali?” Brian calls from the living room.
Ignoring him, I continue to slam cabinets, throw silverware, and pretty much destroy my surroundings. Pulling open a drawer of kitchen utensils, I reach for a spoon. Shuffling around in the drawer I slice my hand open with a knife.
“Owww!!! Dammit!” I yell.
Brian rushes into the room. “Shit girl, what did you do to yourself?” he asks, his eyes wide. He glances at my palm, which is gushing blood. As the blood drips onto the floor he winces. “Come here, girl,” he takes my hand and runs it under running water.
“Ouch! Stop! It hurts.”
“Of course it hurts! You just cut your damn hand open.”
“Oh fuck off. It’s not like I meant to!” I scream in his face.
“Then where did that come from?” he asks, pointing to a scar on my wrist.
“It’s not what you think. Actually…forget it. It’s a long story.”
He takes a paper towel and wraps it around my hand and ties it. He glances up at the clock, “Jade won’t be back for a long time and I got time, you can tell me.”
I sigh as he pulls me back into the living room and I plop down on the ‘pink monster.’
“I’m not sure if I should tell you.”
“I’ll understand. I’m a good listener,” he promises, urging me to tell him.
“Here goes…” He nods, waving me to continue. “I used to live in Brooklyn. You knew that. Anyway, I lived downtown, which was the really bad part of Brooklyn. I used to get in all these street fights, I knew tons of gangs, and I was a total delinquent. I got into more serious things, I started sleeping around. I was a total slut, and eventually became a hooker.” Brian’s eyes widen but I keep on talking, looking away from his shocked face. “I didn’t have a job, and my parents didn’t have much money. I made really good money, and I was a pretty big help to my family. My parents didn’t know about it until about two years later when I was 18. Anyway, at first I wouldn’t do it with anyone I didn’t know. Then I started working at this bar, lying about my age. My parents didn’t know about that either. That’s when I got the big bucks. Every night I made about 300 dollars. Finally my parents did find out, and they were really worried about me. I was still into fighting and sneaking out, and stupid things like that so my parents sent me to a psychiatrist. He helped a little, but not for long. Finally my parents just decided to ship me off to Atlanta. When I got there I met Jade. I had stopped getting into fights, and was a lot less violent.”
Brian interrupts me. “That’s pretty harsh. I can’t believe it, you don’t seem like that sort of person at all. I mean, when I first met you, you were the peacemaker – you still are.”
“I know, but I wasn’t always like that. When I moved to Georgia I was still the school slut. Jade really tried to help me out, but I couldn’t stop. So then we moved to Tampa, and I stopped. I’m not like that anymore, I don’t do it anymore,” I start sobbing. “But the other day when Nick and I made love, he asked me if I was a virgin. He said it would make him feel really special if I was, and he kept goin’ on about how he couldn’t believe a great person like me hadn’t given herself to someone. So I lied and told him I was. He just glowed after I told him, and I still feel guilty.”
“He doesn’t know?!” Brian speaks up, his voice growing louder with every word. “I can’t believe you lied to him. I can’t believe you did that to him!”
“What are you talking about? You did the same thing to Jade! You knew about AJ’s thing for her but you stabbed him in the back anyway! You’re just as guilty as I am!” I fight back.
He throws his hands in the air, preparing for a debate. “That was DIFFERENT! I did it cos I love Jade. It didn’t threaten her LIFE or anything! Nick has probably got some STD now because of you! Like there’s HIV and all sorts of crap goin’ around!”
I start crying even louder. “I don’t have any diseases! I’m perfectly healthy thank you very much! I knew I shouldn’t have told you!” I wail, throwing myself on the couch trying to cover my tears. I sob loudly as Brian stands back, red-faced from anger.
At that moment, Jade comes in. Her relaxed smile fading as she takes in my state and Brian’s face.
“What did you do to her?” she yells at Brian, rushing over to me. Kneeling down she pulls me in her arms as I sob on her shoulder. Brian just shrugs innocently. “Tell me what happened!” she glares at him.
“Asshole!” I choke out, as she puts me back on the couch.
She jumps to her feet and stands right in front of him. “What did you do to her? Why is she crying like that?”
“I don’t have HIV!” I cry, smothering myself in a pillow.
“HIV?! Oh, she told you?” Brian nods. “And you told her she had HIV?! You insensitive bastard! Why the fuck did you say that?!” Then the phone rings. Jade picks it up. “Nick?” she asks, looking over at me.
“I’m sorry, Nick!” I scream, crying loudly.