by Ellie Danes
“Let me guess, she was the prom queen, or homecoming queen?”
“No, she was always runner up, which pissed her off even more. She was always right behind Manda Perkinson.”
“Oh yes,” I joked, “Manda of the Gwyn, Stephy and Manda Trio.”
“Technically it’s the quartet because you forgot Alicia.”
“So you had your own group of mean girls. Sorry.”
“Yeah.”
As the people began to fill the school it appeared that the same old cliques of people were gathering together. Little groups in each of the corners laughed, occasionally looking over their shoulders at another group and then whispering.
We walked to the make-shift bar and grabbed two drinks before we were cornered again.
“Ashley? Ashley Richmond? Is that you?” A petite brunette approached us with a balding, overweight man following closely behind.
“It’s me, Susan Whitlow, I mean Bristow, but now Whitlow,” she said with a giggle. “You look even more amazing than I remember.”
“Oh, thank you.” Ashley beamed back. “This is Stone.”
I extended my hand as she shook it and then introduced her husband, Rob.
“Stone? Do we know each other?” Rob asked, tilting his head to the side. “You look really familiar.”
“Doubtful,” I said quickly.
“No, I’m positive I’ve seen you somewhere before. It’ll come to me,” Rob insisted.
“Oh, Rob travels all over the world. He’s in sales. He was the top salesman in his company for the last two years. Sometimes I think he knows some of the flight attendants better than he knows me, they see him so much.” Susan wrapped her arm around Rob and kissed him on the cheek. “Maybe you’ve seen him in one of the airports.”
“Stone’s a chef,” Ashley blurted out. “A really good one.”
“Oh yeah? Where?”
“Not around here, I’m from New York,” I said.
“I travel there a lot, you know, I’m always entertaining my clients, maybe I’ve been there before.”
“That’s probably not it, Rob. It’s actually a new place, it’s just getting ready to open.”
“Nice, I’ll put it on my list, what’s the name?”
Ashley squeezed my hand tighter and I could feel myself getting frustrated with the conversation. As much as I didn’t want to give in to Rob’s inquiries I felt the game of cat and mouse for information beginning to grate on me. “Avalon,” I blurted out.
“In the city? I was just by there last week and I saw it, there was paper on the windows, but it said it was coming soon.”
“It is,” I said looking at Ashley who quickly began to pull me away.
“We’re going to grab a refill and maybe some of the finger foods over there, let’s catch up in a bit,” she said as she tugged at my arm. “What the hell was that? That wasn’t what we talked about. How does Rob know you? What’s Avalon?”
“I don’t think Rob knows me. I have a pretty common face and people say that all the time…and Avalon is restaurant around the block from where I live.”
“Wait, you live in the city? How did I not know that?”
“Well…” I hesitated, “I guess you never really asked.” The truth was, I didn’t give her much information on who I really was all, on purpose. It was nice to escape my life for a bit and just be someone else, mostly unrecognized.
“I feel like you’re not telling me something.” Ashley turned to face me.
“Ashley, everything I’ve told you has been the truth. I mean, except the chef part, I’m not a chef… and the catering company thing, but that’s stuff you made up, not me.”
“Come on you two, let’s grab a seat, dinner is getting ready to come out.” Susan and Rob called out to us and waited for us to follow them. I knew I didn’t want to be questioned throughout dinner and Ashley clearly felt the same way as she pulled me in another direction.
We sat at a table filled with people who apparently didn’t have many memories of Ashley, or anyone else in high school. They made small talk and it was the perfect opportunity for us to continue to refine the fake story that Ashley had concocted for us.
I wondered just how long the whole event was going to be--it didn’t seem like the kind of event that was designed to be hours long, but everyone seemed to want to talk to everyone. I met Ashley’s best friend, Jess, who gave me a knowing look and took Ashley aside for a few minutes. I wondered just how much Jess knew about Ashley’s real life, and whether Ashley had clued her friend in about our scheme.
“Jess said she loved you,” Ashley said as she returned.
“Does she know everything?” I asked.
“Enough. Obviously we’re friends and she would have known whether you and I were, you know,” Ashley lowered her voice, “an item.”
I leaned in and kissed Ashley gently on the cheek, catching her off guard.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“I didn’t want people to think we were telling secrets, so now it looks like you said something sweet to me,” I said, kissing her again.
Chapter Nine
Ashley
A warmth overtook my body is Weston’s lips pressed against my cheek. I wanted to hold on to that moment as long as I could, but it was interrupted by a commotion at the front of the room.
A woman dressed in an expensive looking evening gown walked to the front of the room. The moment she opened her mouth I knew exactly who she was, aside from the fact that she looked as if she hadn’t aged a day. She grabbed the microphone from the small PA system that had been set up and tapped it a few times.
“Hi everyone, I’m Manda Perkinson, I’m sure everyone remembers me,” she said.
A series of giggles and whispers followed her introduction.
“I’m not sure if everyone is keeping tabs on the weather, but it looks like we might get a bit of snow this weekend. We’ll keep an eye on it, but for now, everything is still on as planned,” she said. “Me and the girls spent quite a lot of time putting this reunion together and we’d hate to miss out on anything.” Manda took a swig from the champagne glass she was holding and continued, “The bar will be open for another hour, so everyone please enjoy yourself and don’t forget to come by and say hello to me.”
“She hasn’t changed a bit,” I whispered to Weston, “Same old stuck up bitch.”
Weston nodded as if he knew exactly what I was talking about. My mouth was just inches from his face and I could smell the slight scent of his cologne. I hadn’t remembered smelling it before, but maybe I had tuned it out, attempting to block my attraction to him, but now it was overwhelming. Spice and sandalwood notes filled my nose and I wanted to bury my face in his neck, just nuzzling with him.
“Travel magazine! That’s where I know you from.” A familiar voice rang out behind me. “That’s it, isn’t it, Stone?”
I turned to see Rob hovering above us and staring at Weston.
Weston forced a smile. “I still don’t think so.”
“No, I’m positive, it was last month. You had a big spread, talking about all of the restaurants you own.”
I watched as Weston stood up and placed his hand on Rob’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear. A moment later Rob smiled, shook Weston’s hand and left without saying much else.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Weston said. “Any chance you want to get out of here a little early?”
I scanned the room and saw the same cliques gathering as they had in high school. Cliques I was never really a part of. “Sure, let’s go.”
Weston draped his jacket over me and I huddled in it as we escaped the reunion through the back door and made our way to my car.
“You drive,” I suggested, handing him the keys from my purse. It would--I thought--look more couple-like for him to drive us, even if the thought of someone else taking the wheel of my precious car was enough to put me on edge.
“You’re reall
y committed to looking like we’re together, aren’t you?” Weston didn’t argue with me, though, and in a moment or two we were in the car, the heat turned up as high as it would go.
“How do you think we did?” I asked.
“I think we did fine,” Weston replied. “We had to improvise a couple of times, but like I said before, even people who have dated for years don’t know some things about each other.”
“We need to work more on your cover,” I pointed out. “And I almost slipped once or twice and called you Weston instead of Stone.”
“We can cover for that if it happens again,” Weston said, “Although it does sound more of a pet name.” He laughed and reached over, touching my leg.
Electricity pulsed through my body and I enjoyed it for a moment and then frowned, remembering the story we had created. “I don’t know. It just...I want it to be airtight.”
Weston looked at me from the driver’s seat and shrugged. “I mean, if you really want to sell this, we could get a hotel room where most of the people are staying.”
I thought about that. “Share a room?”
Deep down that didn’t bother me and I knew I wanted to be closer to him, wanting this to be much more real than it was.
“I heard a group of people talking about staying at the Clairmont,” Weston said, turning the car around to head in that direction. “Nice place.”
“It’s where they’re supposed to be having the big dance on Sunday,” I said. “I figure there’s probably a handful of people staying there.”
“I’m sure. I know the quartet of mean girls will be there.”
I let out a sigh as I imagined having to deal with them again. “So, are you going to tell me what your conversation with Rob was really about?”
“Um,” Weston hesitated. “We really didn’t discuss much about who I am.”
I felt an uneasiness fill my stomach as the next set of words fell from my lips. “What do you mean? Who are you?”
“Well, there’s a chance Rob might have seen me in that magazine.”
“Really?” I asked. “So, you are a chef or something like that?”
“Something like that,” Weston replied. “I own some restaurants.”
“Some? How many?”
“Can we just keep it at some? I like what we have going on here.” Weston sank deeper into the seat as he focused on the road.
“I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“Ashley, I’m still the same person. You wanted this mysterious boyfriend for a weekend. You made up a life for me and I kind of like it, for now. But I promise, I’m a good person. You have to trust me. I mean, you’ve trusted me up to this point.”
“Fine, for now,” I snapped back.
“Good,” Weston said. “We’ll get the room and then--if you’re okay with it--I’ll go back to your place and get our stuff,” he suggested.
“I didn’t unpack very much,” I said, more thinking out loud than actually saying anything meaningful. The thought of Weston going up to my room and gathering up my things gave me a combination of thrills and worry, especially now that I knew there was some real mysterious secret he was keeping from me. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite shake--something that had actually deepened on seeing how he danced to the beat of the social atmosphere at the dinner. He’d been everything a girl could want in a boyfriend, and I had to admit that if I’d had any interest in actually dating anyone, it would probably be someone like him, and then he added this extra bit of mystery that made me wonder who he really was.
“I promise I won’t snoop in your underwear drawer,” he said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just see if the Clairmont has a room for us. If they do, we’ll figure out how to get our stuff there. If not, then we’ll just go home and it won’t matter,” I said.
Weston nodded his agreement and we passed by the school again. More and more people were spilling into the parking lot, hurrying to their cars before heading in different directions.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” As Weston pulled into the parking lot for the Clairmont Hotel, he almost seemed to want to stop the car before we even made it to a space.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.
Weston looked over at me and held my gaze for a long moment. “Because if we get a room here, and your classmates are in the hotel, too, we’re going to have to be ‘on’ constantly.”
I took a deep breath. “As long as we’re alone in the room it won’t be a problem, will it?”
“We should be fine there,” he admitted.
“And I’m guessing that we won’t constantly be surrounded by people from the school. There’s bound to be some time when we’re at breakfast or whatever that there’s hardly anyone,” I pointed out.
“As long as you’re sure you want to go this route, I’m down for it,” Weston said. “Just wanted to make sure you were one hundred percent.”
I looked at the entrance to the hotel, and spotted two of my classmates going in. It would increase the pressure, but I’d always worked well in stressful situations.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “Even beyond everything else, it’s going to be so cold I’m not going to want to deal with running around in this weather--we might as well be at the center of things.”
Chapter Ten
Weston
There were about a half-dozen people waiting around in line at the reception desk at the hotel, and I recognized a few of the people Ashley and I had talked to at dinner; clearly we weren’t the only ones from the reunion who’d decided to stay close to the center of the action.
“How are we going to do this?” Ashley asked.
I looked at Ashley, confused. “We walk in and get a room.”
Ashley raised an eyebrow as we came closer to the line. “I mean, who’s going to pay? This is my thing, I feel like I should pay.””
I smiled at Ashley, a pang of guilt coming over me and wrapped my arm around her. “I have this, seriously. It was my idea to stay here.”
“I can more than afford it,” she said.
I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I know. So can I and I insist.”
By the time we got to the reception desk, more people had come in behind us, and I took my wallet out as the woman working--a dishwater blonde with sea-green eyes who had a look on her face like she was determined to stay calm--finished up something on the computer before looking up at me. “Are you with the reunion group?”
“Yes,” I said, giving her a smile. I pulled Ashley close to me again. “We need a room for two.”
“Single king-sized bed, or two queen beds?” the receptionist asked.
“We’ll take the king,” I said without hesitation.
“I dunno, Weston. The way you snore I might want to put some space between us,” Ashley said, giving me a quick, hidden look.
“I guess we can just push them together for everything else we have in mind,” I countered, returning her look. What was she thinking? I’d thought the bed arrangement would be straightforward.
“That sounds like too much trouble, now that you mention it,” Ashley said. “We’ll stick with the King--and I’m sorry we’re holding you up like this.”
The woman behind the desk gave Ashley a warm smile and then tapped away at the computer. “I hope both of you will enjoy your stay with us at the Clairmont Hotel,” the woman said, smiling at both me and Ashley. She gave me my card back and turned around to a key-card coder. I gave Ashley’s waist a squeeze and leaned in to kiss the top of her head, the way I’d done dozens of times with my real girlfriends.
The receptionist gave us two key cards in little folders, and I took mine and shoved it in my pocket. “Which room are we in?”
“Right there, on the outside. It’s room 3140,” the blonde said, standing to point out the information on Ashley’s key card. “The elevator is just on the other side of the front desk, and the stairs are at both ends of each hallway.”
&nbs
p; We thanked her again and left the front desk arm-in-arm. I wanted to get up to the room already, and when we got onto the elevator I was able to relax a bit, since we were the only ones there. It would be good to get alone, even if we were going to be in close quarters for the weekend. At least I’d be able to make the run back to Ashley’s place and have some time to myself for about thirty minutes or so. I had nothing against companionship, but playing a role for half the night was wearing on me.
The room was pretty spacious, which was a relief. There was no couch, but a couple of comfortable-looking chairs and a little breakfast nook-type table, along with a dresser, a closet, bed stands, and--of course--the big, sprawling bed. The attached bathroom contained the usual toiletries and a pretty deep bath tub, along with the showerhead. It was as good as anywhere I’d been, at the end of the day, but the big, glaring problem was the fact that we were two people who barely knew each other, and there was one bed.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” I said. I’d hoped the room would have some kind of settee I could curl up on, but I thought I could at least arrange the chairs to make a decent camp bed.
“No, that’s ridiculous,” Ashley countered. “I’m sure we can share that big bed. I mean, nothing has to happen.” Ashley blushed as she turned the other direction.
The thought of her and me in the bed together made my cock twitch. I knew there was no way I’d be able to slide under the covers with just our pajamas between us. For a moment I imagined her perfect ass pressing against my hips as we spooned, my arm reaching around her. I could feel my cock getting harder at the thought and I had to distract myself before my thoughts got too obvious.
“I’ll go get our stuff from the house,” I suggested, as Ashley looked around the room, almost seeming at a loss.
“You’re sure? It’s getting cold out there,” Ashley pointed out.
“Better to do it now than when the storm starts up,” I countered. “Besides, you’ll want stuff to sleep in, and all that.”
Ashley nodded her acceptance and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching over to the bedside table to grab the remote control. As I crossed the room, I saw that she’d already kicked her shoes off, and I smiled to myself. It was a weird situation and the oddest date I had ever been on. We had already shared a few kisses and the tension between us had been growing, but somehow, she seemed to turn it off at the oddest times, which made me want her even more.
