by Tania Sparks
Scott’s Lizzie is there waiting for him. As soon as they spot each other, they rush into each other’s arms. Scott lifts her up off the floor and swings her around in circles while she giggles profusely, then he devours her in a passionate kiss. Scott briefly introduces us. Lizzie seems really lovely, she’s pretty with shoulder length light brown hair and has a tiny button nose. She’s got a bubbly and cheerful personality and I already know we’ll get on really well. Scott is keen to get her home and in private as quickly as possible, so they don’t hang around to chat.
At Ash’s insistence we share a taxi. I’m sure he just wants to knows where I live in case I disappear on him! Which is ironic really because there’s no way I’m going to let him go now I have him back in my life. We get to my place and Ash tells the taxi driver to wait for a few minutes. We both get out of the taxi and Ash helps me get my bag out of the boot. Even though it’s not necessary, he helps me carry by bag up to my apartment. Ash plonks my bag down by the door and as I’m trying to dig around in my handbag for my keys, he flips me around and crushes me into the wall with his body as his mouth crashes into mine. After devouring me he gives me a second or two to catch my breath, then he leans his head back, his body still pressed against mine. “Can I come around to see you tonight Angel?” he asks hopefully.
“Yeah, that would be great Ash. How does seven sound?”
“Seven it is Angel.”
I pull a funny face as I realise Trixie will be home tonight. Oh well¸ I guess they have to see each other again sometime. I’m not sure how Trixie will take to me being with Ash again, she still remembers what I went through at college when he left, I don’t think she’ll be too happy to see him!
“Why the strange face Angel?” Ash asks curiously.
“Well, you remember Trixie, my old dorm mate at college?”
“Yeah…” he answers a little confused.
“Well, we’re best friends and we share this apartment together now. She’ll be home tonight when you come over.”
“Sounds perfect Angel. It’ll be good to catch up with Trixie again. I only knew her for a couple of months before I left, but she seemed like a cool chick.”
“Umm, there’s only one thing Ash...”
“Yeah…” he looks at me worriedly.
“Well, she was there when you left and she saw what it did to me, she might not like you very much!”
“Oh, I see!” Ash exclaims as his eyes widen. Then he smiles and says confidently, “Well Angel, we’re together now so I guess Trixie’s just going to have to get used to me.”
“Yeah, I guess she will!” I snicker.
Ash gives me another long passionate kiss before he darts off down the stairs back to the taxi. He yells over his shoulder, “See you at seven Angel.”
“Yeah, see you at seven.”
I get inside the apartment and put my bag in my bedroom. Unpacking can wait until later, it’s only three in the afternoon, but I need a drink. I need to mentally prepare myself for tonight. I have a feeling that Trixie and Ash seeing each other again is going to be like a fire storm. I grab myself a bottle of red from the cupboard and a couple of wine glasses and plonk myself down on the couch. I pour myself a glass of wine and take a long eager sip. Trixie will be home soon and I might need to soften her up a bit before I let her know about my adventures of the past few days.
At about four I hear Trixie coming in through the front door. “Hey Trix!” I yell out.
“Hi stranger, you’re back!” she calls cheerfully.
“I’ve got wine!” I yell back.
“Fucking perfect.” She walks around the corner into the sitting room and plonks herself down on the couch next to me. She gives me a big hug then pours herself a glass of wine. “So, how was your trip? Did Richard even have the balls to show up?” she asks.
“Hell Trix, I have so much to tell you – sooo much has happened in just those few days, I don’t know where to start!”
“Just start at the beginning, we have all night, I’m happy. I have nowhere to go. My best friend is back home and I have some wine in my glass. I’m sweet, start talking.” She holds up her glass and we clink them together as we both call out “Cheers.”
“Okay Trix, but you have to promise not to be angry at me.” I say uneasily.
Trixie crooks her head and squints her eyes at me. “Okay Eve, this sounds interesting, but you better not have done something stupid!” she snarls playfully.
“Well, your idea of stupid and my idea of stupid might be two different things!” I grin.
Now I really have her attention. “Come on Eve, talk up or I’ll have to beat it out of you. She picks up the corked bottle of wine and jokingly waves it at me threatening to hit me over the head.
I start my story. “Well … Richard did show up, and we had a massive fight. Trix, it was ridiculous. He was acting like we’d never even been apart. He thought he could just come back and everything would be the same as it had been before!”
Trixie shakes her head in disbelief, “Unfucking believable, that arrogant ass. No apology or anything?”
“Nope.” I reply.
Trixie then looks at me with a grave look on her face. “You didn’t go back to him did you Eve?”
“No, no, no, no way!” I exclaim in horror.
She looks at me suspiciously, “But that’s not all is it Eve? After what he did you know I wouldn’t be mad at you for giving him the boot once and for all. So why would you be concerned I’d be mad at you?”
This girl doesn’t miss a thing! I look at her apprehensively. “Well, I sort of hooked up with someone else!” I grin.
“Holy fuck!” she squeals. Trixie grins at me and slaps me on my knee excitedly as she says “You go for it you little slut! You deserve to have a bit of fun! So tell me all about him! Is he hot?”
I sit there looking at her, not saying anything, I’m so nervous. Trixie is going to go mental at me! After a few seconds she realises that I’m not saying anything.
“Spit it out Eve, why are you looking as guilty as a fucking teenager caught behind the bike sheds?”
I bite my lower lip, close my eyes and blurt it out in one big rush of air, “It’s Ash, the person I hooked up with is Ash Miller!”
I keep my eyes closed and wait for the explosion. Silence. I slowly open one eye to see what her reaction is.
It takes her a few seconds to register what I’ve told her, then all hell breaks loose. She jumps up from the couch. If her glass of wine hadn’t already been empty it would have been all over the floor. “No fucking way Eve! – you hooked up with that asshole! I don’t believe it. Are you a fucking idiot! Don’t you remember what he put you through back in college!”
I look down at my clasped hands, tears start to silently fall down my cheeks. What Trixie thinks really matters to me. She’s my best friend and we’ve been through a lot together. I sadly whisper, “You promised you wouldn’t get mad.”
She notices my reaction and instantly mellows. She sits back down and wraps her arms around me. “Oh Eve, I’m sorry for my outburst. It’s just that you shocked the shit out of me! I can’t believe you’d hook up with him again!”
I spend the next couple of hours trying to explain to Trixie the relationship that Ash and I have rekindled over the past few days, how great it’s been and how important it is to me. Trixie’s reluctant, I can see that she’s trying to be supportive, but she has serious doubts and is worried about me. She really is a great friend and I can see her concern eating at her.
At about six o’clock I tell her about Ash coming over at seven. Trixie suddenly brightens up. “Fantastic!” she exclaims. “I’ll be able to warn that bastard that he had better not hurt you again. I feel like a protective parent. I should be standing at the door with a shotgun so I can ask him what his intentions are!”
“Don’t you dare Trixie!, promise me you’ll be nice. Talk to him, you’ll see he’s a really good guy. You’ll see how good we are together.”
“No promises!” she laughs as I nudge her in the ribs.
We get up to go to get tidied up. I unpack my luggage and have a hot shower, standing under the hot streams of water is relaxing and I feel refreshed. I get changed into some jeans and an old t-shirt. I dry my hair and put on some lip gloss and mascara. I wouldn’t normally bother with make-up if I’m staying at home, but I want to look nice with Ash coming over. I meet Trixie back in the sitting area. She’s already opened another bottle of wine and is lounging on the couch relaxing. She hands me a full glass and I slouch down next to her. We sip our drinks and listen to some music she has playing on the stereo.
At just before seven there’s a knock at the door. Trixie goes to get up but I quickly jump up and shake my finger at her, “Sit down Trix!” I scold. She pouts and flounces back down.
I go to the door and open it up for Ash. “Hi there beautiful.” he rumbles as he leans in and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips.
“Hi Ash, come on in.” I say as I wave him inside the door. We get inside and I close the door behind us. I hold his hand and pull him through the hallway. Before we get to the sitting room he grabs me by the waist and gives me a scorching kiss that leaves me panting and weak at the knees. Ash snickers and mumbles, “That’s better, that’s a proper hello.” Before my senses come back to me he grabs my hand and drags me through to the sitting room. He glances over to Trixie, smiles and confidently plops himself down on the couch, kicks off his converse and puts his feet up on the coffee table. With a smug grin on his face he says, “Hey Trix.”
“Ash.” she says sternly. Trixie sits there staring at him then blurts out, “Ash, you asshole, if you fucking hurt her I’ll personally see to it that your balls are removed with a blunt knife and shoved down your throat.”
I shriek, “Trix – you promised you’d be good!”
“Believe me Eve, this is me being good!” She smiles coyly at me then moves her focus back to Ash.
Ash looks at her in shock. The smug smile momentarily disappearing from his face, then he grins, the biggest grin I’ve ever seen, then he bursts out laughing. His laughter is contagious and before long Trixie and I both join in, all of us laughing hysterically at Trixie’s over the top declaration.
Trixie stops first and pointedly looks at Ash, “So anyway Ash, now that’s out of the way, and believe me when I say that I meant every word of it, how’ve ya been?”
The three of us spend the next few hours chatting and drinking our way through a couple of bottles of wine and half a dozen beers. We order in Chinese take-out for dinner. I notice that whenever I step out of the room Trixie has some stern words for Ash, but he doesn’t seem mad or offended and it looks like he’s really trying to convince Trixie that we’re meant to be together. I hear him promise her that he won’t hurt me.
Towards the end of the night Trixie and I step into the kitchen to clean away the empty bottles and Chinese take-out boxes. I turn to Trixie and nervously ask her, “So what do you think of Ash?”
Trixie grabs both of my hands looking at me candidly, “Eve, Ash seems really nice and it’s so cute how he still calls you Angel. I must admit before he arrived I really had my doubts, but he seems to really dig you. I can see that he genuinely cares about you. You two seem really good together. But Eve, please be careful, don’t fall too quick too fast.”
Ash walks into the kitchen and smirks, “You two girls gossiping about me?”
“No.” we both respond together, making it completely obvious that’s exactly what we were doing.
“Bed time then!” Ash exclaims as he grabs me around the waist from behind and nuzzles his face into my neck. Well I guess that means he’s staying over!
Trixie grins at us and excuses herself. “Night guys, you kids have fun!”
“Night Trix.” I call after her.
“Night Trix.” Ash laughs.
The next morning Ash and I wake up early. I jump up and make my way out to the kitchen while Ash takes a shower. Trixie’s already up and putting on the coffee. “Morning Trix, sleep well?” I ask chirpily.
Trixie just smirks at me shaking her head, “No not really…Jesus fucking Christ Eve, I thought you two were going to shake down the walls last night with all that noise. My god that boy knows how to make you scream! How the hell are you even walking this morning!”
I can feel the heat rising in my face. I know we weren’t quiet but I really had no idea we were that loud! Trixie just laughs at me and continues to get the coffee. We chat jovially and I catch up with what she’s been up to over the past few days.
A few minutes later Ash walks into the kitchen. Our conversation stops dead in its tracks as Trixie and I both stare in unadulterated appreciation. Ash is wearing his jeans…only his jeans, which are slung low around his hips. He has his t-shirt in one hand and his other hand is ruffling his damp hair. Holy fucking Christ he looks hot! I’m drooling. Trixie gives him an exaggerated once over and a slow wolf whistle. “Looking good Ash.” She grins and then turns back to the coffee machine as she nudges me in the ribs to wake me up from my observations. Ash stands there grinning smugly as he rumbles, “Morning ladies.” and pulls his t-shirt on, much to our disappointment.
The three of us spend the next hour lounging around the kitchen, eating our breakfast and chatting comfortably.
“You have any plans today Angel?” Ash asks.
“Nope, I don’t have to be back at the hotel until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Great, why don’t you come to my place at the beach for the day. Later this afternoon the guys are all coming over. We plan on going to the local bar, having a few drinks then going back to mine for a barbecue. Scott’s bringing Lizzie, it’ll be good for you girls to have a chat and get to know each other, you’ll be spending a lot of time together when we’re on tour.”
“Sounds great Ash.” I reply cheerfully.
Ash looks over to Trixie. “How ‘bout you Trix? What are you up to tonight? Why don’t you meet us at the bar then come back to my place too?”
Trixie grins at Ash, “Any hot, fun single guys in your little group of friends Ash?”
I stand behind Ash frantically nodding my head at Trixie. Ash turns around and catches me mid nod.
“Mmm Angel. You haven’t been checking out my band mates have you?” he jokes.
“No not me!” I say batting my eyelids and putting on the most innocent doe-eyes I can manage.
Ash laughs and smirking he responds, “Yeah, there’s a few single guys in the band Trix.”
“Count me in then!” she chuckles. Trixie’s never been one to miss out on a party and she’ll be right in her element with a group of fun guys who I’m sure will be fawning all over her.
Chapter 12
Mid-morning, after getting ready and packing an overnight bag for myself, we jump into Ash’s car and head off to his place at the beach. As we drive along the oceanfront road. The houses get far and fewer in between until eventually Ash pulls into an isolated driveway. There’s quite a distance between the road and the ocean, and the driveway is long. As we drive up closer to the beach a cottage comes into view. It’s right on the beach, looks very homely and is nothing like I’d imagined Ash’s place would be like. I turn to Ash, “This is not what I was expecting!”
Ash smiles at me and shrugs, “Well it’s not all rock star glamour or anything, but it’s home.”
“Ash it’s amazing, just what I would envisage a perfect house at the beach to be!”
Ash smiles warmly, obviously pleased that I like it. “You know Angel, the guys all have flashy pads around the city, but we usually all end up gathering here at my place, it’s more relaxed here, it’s just a cool place to hang out.”
As we get out of the car and head towards the front door I turn to Ash and say to him, “I remember years ago I had a really vivid dream about living in a place just like this.”
Ash looks at my shyly, “Yeah, I know Angel, we were in high school, you told me all about it. As soon as I
saw this place I just knew I had to have it and every time I come home it reminds me of you.” We look at each other for a few seconds, he puts his arm around my shoulder, pulls me in close and squeezes me tightly.
We go inside and Ash shows me around. It’s much larger on the inside than it appears from the front. There are five bedrooms, each with their own ensuite bathroom, but the most amazing part of the house is the open plan kitchen and living area. It’s fitted out with modern furniture, but it looks comfortable and lived in. The white granite kitchen is set back along the back wall with a large island and breakfast bar. The enormous living area has a huge dining table, a leather sectional couch, a number of different chairs scattered around and coffee tables covered in books and magazines. There’s a few guitars resting against the furniture and various original art works hang on the walls. Along the front wall of the living area, the entire side opens up with bi-fold glass doors onto a large wooden deck that steps straight down onto the beach. Ash slides the doors open and as we step outside the refreshing sea air breezes around us. The view is absolutely incredible. There’s a large expanse of beach, the surf crashes violently against the sand a short distance away and seagulls are squawking and darting around. The beach looks deserted and is very private with the closest house being at least a couple of hundred feet down the beach.
Ash holds out his hand to me, “Let’s go for a walk on the beach Angel.” I take hold of his hand and we walk down the steps to the soft sand, kicking off our shoes to walk barefoot. It’s so peaceful and calming as we stroll towards the ocean. We reach the cool damp sand, the tide must be on its way out. Waves smash down about twenty feet from the water’s edge then turn into masses of white water that tumble toward us. We wade into the cold water, the chilly breakers only come up to mid-calf and we walk parallel to the beach enjoying the cold water and warm sun.