by Lauren Wood
***
“Ashlyn, what are you doing here?”
I hadn’t seen her in a while and by the expression on her face, I wasn’t going to like the conversation most likely.
“I am wondering what you were doing in my niece’s apartment this morning.”
I was a bit surprised that Keenan told on me and I almost couldn’t believe it. “How do you know?”
“Because I am friends with her doorman. Who do you think got her into that place and subsidizes the rent for her?”
So she knew and I was left wondering what I was supposed to say or do about it. Why was she here? It wasn’t like Stacy was under age. She could make her own decisions and that meant that I could be one of them.
“What do you want Ashlyn?” I wasn’t used to having people talk to me like this, but Ashlyn never had cared about etiquette or where someone was on the food chain. She was a shark in her own right and I wanted to tread softly. I didn’t want her as my enemy. She was in most of the city’s ear.
“I want to know what you were doing at Stacy’s apartment last night Chris and why you didn’t leave till she was long gone the next morning.”
That was a lot to answer and flashes went by that made me wish I didn’t have her aunt breathing down my neck right now.
“I don’t think it is anyone’s business Ashlyn, not even yours.”
“That’s where you are wrong. She is my responsibility. I told her mother that I would watch over her when she was in the city. I mean to and keeping her away from men like you is first on my agenda.”
I was shocked at how angry she was. I don’t know why, but it felt like she hated me in those moments. What had I done so wrong to warrant this? It was a beautiful night. It wasn’t ugly and it certainly was not a reason for her to fly off the hook.
“I think you are taking this too far Ashlyn. You don’t understand. I really care about your niece, a lot.”
She didn’t want to hear it though. I tried to think of what I had done to her to make her so upset with me, but I don’t think I was really going to get an answer. I knew that I had a reputation and the old me would have agreed with her, but this was different. Everything that was going on with me and Stacy was between me and her. It was different than anything I had experienced before. There had been this thought in the back of my head that if I was able to get inside of her once, I would get over this mind consuming need I ad for her. Now I realized that it was only worse. Now I wanted her even more than I had before. Nothing had changed at all.
“I don’t care what you think you feel Chris. You need to leave her alone and not see her anymore. I am not leaving until I get you to agree.”
It would have been easier to just tell her that I agreed and do whatever the hell I wanted to do anyways. It was that kind of thing that got me in trouble though. I didn’t want to lie to her, not when in the back of my mind, I knew that we may be family one day.
“I think that your niece is old enough to make decisions for herself Ashlyn. There is something good between us and I am not going to agree to anything like that.”
Ashlyn didn’t look happy. It was the first time that she had really been that upset with me before. I had never seen her angry and I had to notice the same flash in her eyes when she as mad, as I saw in Stacy’s eyes. It was hard to not see the resemblance between them in moments like this.
“I am warning you Chris. I don’t care how much money you have, if you hurt Stacy, I am going to make sure you wish that you had never met either one of us.”
I was starting to have that feeling about her right now. I knew that she wanted to throttle me at that very moment, but she didn’t. Instead she huffed out of my office and I was left to contemplate it all. What had just happened?
Pushing the conversation out of my mind, I tried to call Stacy. I wanted to make sure that I was still able to talk to her, that it was still real. It didn’t help my thoughts that she didn’t answer her phone. I left a message and waited a few minutes before I was looking at my phone again.
Why did I want to talk to her so badly now? Was it because she was even more forbidden than before?
Chapter 19
Stacy
I didn’t answer my phone when Chris called because I didn’t know what to say to him. After what me and Ashlyn had talked about, the last thing that I wanted to do was talk to Chris. I had known he had a reputation, but my aunt felt the need to make sure that I really knew what that entailed. Well now I did and I can’t say that I liked it all that much.
The way Ashlyn described it, I was better off to never see him again. It wasn’t that I had expected any different, but I had hoped that it would be different somehow. I knew that we weren’t meant to be together, but the fact of the matter was that I wanted us to be written in the stars. It was a pipe dream, I knew that, but it was still a dream that I couldn’t brush off. I wanted everything to be perfect, but Ashlyn brought it all back down to me. She made me realize that I was not even in the same world as Chris, let alone the same league. He wasn’t the man I was looking for and I knew that now.
It didn’t mean that I had to like the way it all turned out. Every time he called and he called often, the first thing that I would want to do was to call him. I wanted to hear his voice and I wanted him to tell me all of the things he had said before. Ashlyn must be wrong if he keeps calling me, right? Why would he call if he didn’t want to have anything to do with me?
I was getting weaker to his calls and then he came by my apartment a couple of times. Again, I didn’t answer because I didn’t want my mind to be where it was now. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that he was just toying with me. Chris was never going to give me what it was that I wanted.
I was out with Ashlyn a week later and again Chris was calling me. It was lunch time and I was sure that he wanted to go out. I quit my job with Keenan without much of an answer. The truth was that I just couldn’t run into Chris. I didn’t have the strength and if Keenan knew where I was, then that meant that Chris knew.
“Who is it that keeps calling you and making you look at your phone in that way Stacy?”
I shrugged and refused to tell her about Chris calling me. She had bashed him enough and I just didn’t want to hear it. I knew her opinion and everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to hear it again. And it didn’t mean that I had to agree with her, because I didn’t.
“Don’t tell me that it is Chris.”
“What if it is? So what? It is not like I am going to answer it.”
“Good for you Stacy. It really is for the best.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“Well it will get better. You just have to take your mind off of it and I have an idea for that.”
“Oh?” There was no telling what kind of an idea she had, but Ashlyn usually had good ones. I needed something to take my mind off of the man that I loved and wouldn’t ever love me back. It wasn’t healthy to feel this way about him. It really wasn’t. Especially when I knew down in my heart that whatever I felt for him, wasn’t reciprocated and that wasn’t going to change.
“Yeah I have a few friends out in California that do some marketing for all of the big names in Hollywood. I think it would be a great opportunity to go down there the last month and a half of summer. It will be good for your resume and I think it will be even better for to get out of here for a while. It seems like you need to clear your mind Stacy and this will help.”
She was right. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get Chris off of my mind when I was here. I knew that I didn’t want to have to run away, but the truth of the matter as that I did. It was going to be the only way that I was going to be able to feel normal again. I needed to jump into something head first and I had almost 2 months until my first class started.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
She looked surprised, like I wasn’t going to agree to it. But she was right that I needed to
get out of here and get away from Chris. She had warned me about it him a long time ago and for a while I had tried to tell myself that she as wrong. Ashlyn wasn’t though. Being around here and where Chris could keep contacting me was just going to make it impossible to forget and I really needed to forget.
“Yeah, okay. I think that this is going to be for the best.” I wasn’t too sure about that, but I was sure that I needed a change of scenery.
“Good Stacy. I was afraid that you were going to argue with me about it. But I am glad that you see this is for the best.”
I wasn’t going to go that far, but it was a good idea and I could see it like that. It wasn’t going to be easy, but with something to do I would be able to recuperate sooner.
Ashlyn never was one to take her time with anything and this time was no different. She had it all set to go the next day and all I had time for was to go home and pack. I didn’t have time to really think about it and I didn’t have time to change my mind. I think that that was the whole point. She didn’t want me to back out of it and she might have been right that I would have done it.
So the next day I met Ashlyn at the airport and I was determined to make this an adventure and to look forward to it. It was going to be great for when I graduated. It was real life experience and it wasn’t in stocks, but marketing like I wanted. This was going to be a good thing.
***
It felt like an eternity that I had been gone when I got back to my place. It was strange to be home after being in California again. I almost stayed there, but instead I came home. It was more out of duty than anything else. I had only one semester left to go and I was determined to finish it. It would mean more money for me when I graduated, even though I had been offered a job while I was there. The pay was good, but I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t get the degree that I had worked so hard for. I was in the final stretch and with new information coming to light, I felt like I had to get my degree before it was too late and life got in the way. I had seen it happen many times before and I wasn’t going to be one of those girls.
The irony of it all was that Ashlyn had given me the opportunity to go to California to get away from Chris and to get him out of my mind. The sad part was though, that there was no way I was going to be able to forget him, not when there was a reminder of him growing in my belly. That was something that couldn’t just be forgotten and the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that there was no way that I was going to get over him. I was still not sure what I was going to do, but I knew that I had to figure something out soon. Soon I was going to be showing and there would be no ignoring it anymore. People were going to want to know.
It was something that I never thought I would be. I was going to be a single mother and I knew that if I didn’t have my degree before I gave birth there was a good chance that I would never get it.
So I made the decision to get back to school and not even worry about anything else. I needed to focus all of my attention on that and see what happens. The problem was that I took it a bit too far. I forgot to sleep and eat with my appetite gone as my life became messier by the minute. I must have collapsed because I woke up the next day in the hospital, not sure how I got there. The first person that I saw was Chris and I didn’t know what he was doing here.
“What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t have any ID on you Stacy. All you had on you was your phone.”
I was still a little fuzzy and my eyes had to adjust to the bright fluorescent light overhead. I didn’t remember what I was doing the last time I remember anything. The last thing that I remembered right off the bat was that I was in between classes or maybe I was going to a class. Either way, it appeared that I hadn’t made it. I felt a rush of embarrassment run through me and I didn’t even want to look over at the man beside me.
“So what are you doing here?”
“Well they called me last night because I was the phone number that was on your phone. I guess they didn’t think that the fact that it was all missed calls seemed to matter. I am glad that you are okay and that they called me. I didn’t know who else to call, so I went through your phone a little bit, but finally just called Ashlyn. She doesn’t want me here, but I told her that I wasn’t leaving until you woke up.”
“Don’t go.”
He turned to me and I looked away. I can’t believe that I had said that out loud, but I had and I meant it. I wanted to see him and now that he was right here, the last thing that I wanted to do was to watch him go. We had to talk and I didn’t know how I was going to say it out loud what I felt inside.
“I am not going anywhere. Where have things to talk about Stacy, a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
He gave me this half-cocked look and smiled. “Well the doctor came by. Do you know why you passed out?”
I told him that I didn’t know. It could have been a multitude of things that caused it. I knew that I wasn’t taking care of myself like I was supposed to and I hadn’t eaten much that way. That was the conclusion that I had come to while I was laying here. I don’t know if I was wrong, but it seemed like if I didn’t know, he knew and I was not sure if I wanted to hear it or not.
“Because you are pregnant Stacy, but you knew that already, didn’t you?”
I shook my head that I did. “I was going to tell you eventually, but I didn’t figure you would care either way.”
“You really think that I wouldn’t care?”
“Why would you?”
“Because I love you Stacy and I have been a wreck since you left. Your aunt refused to tell me where you were and it has been driving me crazy. I thought you had gotten another phone. Why didn’t you ever answer?”
“I wanted to forget about you Chris. I knew that you were going to break my heart and I didn’t want to let you.”
“I understand why you think that way. I have had a lot of time to really think about it and I know that I wasn’t the best man before. But all of that is going to change, it already has changed. I am so happy you are back and we can finally really be together. There is nothing that I want more than that.”
I looked up to the IV stand that was beside me and I figured that there was some really good stuff in there and that was why I was seeing Chris here. He shouldn’t be here, so why was he here?
“Do you not have anything to say about what I just said?”
I didn’t know what to say and the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that I had heard it all wrong
“I love you Stacy and we are going to be together. You and the baby.”
It was the last thing that I remember before I went back to sleep again. I dreamed about a life with just me and Chris and I woke up with this sadness because none of it was true. When I looked over and the chair next to me as empty, I was sure that I had seen it all in my mind. I relaxed back into the bed when I realized that he wasn’t coming. I don’t know what I was thinking. A man like Chris would never really love me, not really.
“Stacy, you are up. I was just getting something to drink. I knew if I left I would be gone when you woke up.”
“What are you doing here Chris?”
He smiled at me and shook his head. “I told you Stacy, I am not going anywhere.”
I closed my eyes, the tears that had threatened to fall were now doing so. Chris looked alarmed. “Why are you crying Stacy. Are you hurting? Do you want me to get the doctor?”
His concern just made me even sadder. I didn’t know wat to say. “I thought you were a dream.”
No, afraid not. I am really here and you are really mine Stacy.”
He moved into the bed with me and I knew that he was real. I needed to do was feel the touch of him on my body and I knew. Chris wasn’t a dream or he was rather and I had been lucky enough to find him.
THE END
MORE STEAMY ROMANCE BY LAUREN WOOD
TWIN ALIEN
Chapter 1
“I can’t believe that I’m
left holding the bag and my sister has decided to wash her hands of the entire ordeal. Louise can be a bit of a handful, but at least I always knew that she had my back. I guess I didn’t know much about her relationship with our father. They apparently never saw eye to eye on anything, especially her mixed marriage with Thomas.” This was not the highlight of Vanessa’s week and their father had not been in the grave more than two months. She knew that this would be something that she would have to contend with eventually, but she really did think that her sister Louise would be standing right by her side.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa, but this is something that you’re going to have to deal with on your own and I just can’t stand being in that house any longer than necessary. I think it’s a good idea that we get rid of it, as soon as possible. You can even have the profits from it. I want nothing to do with it and having him out of my life has given me a sense of freedom that I’ve never had before.” Vanessa could hear the relief in her sister’s voice and she had a momentary attack of the conscience. If their relationship was that bad, then she had no choice, but to allow her sister to walk away cleanly.
“Its okay, Louise and I’ll do what I can to make this easy on you. I’m sorry that I didn’t know about the rift between you and father. I guess I had blinders on this entire time.” Vanessa was twirling her hair around on her finger and now she was biting into the strands. It was a nervous habit that she picked up from her mother. Her dark hair was the perfect contrast to her sisters blond locks. You wouldn’t even know that they were sisters, except for the slight resemblance in their faces. They had their own attitude, their own way of thinking about things and the only thing they really did have in common was a stubborn streak.
