by Sian Ceinwen
“Fuck the fine.” Harrison laughed. “As soon as Heather finishes this drink, I’m going to go and have a ten-thousand-dollar screw.”
Everyone laughed, as Gabriel skipped Harrison and dealt his card to Sebastian instead. Harrison had given up any pretense of watching the game, now. His hand had reached under her skirt to stroke her inner thigh, and her breath caught every time he got slightly too close to the place she was aching for him to touch.
“Are you okay, there, angel?” Harrison whispered into her ear, and she nodded. “Are you sure?”
His fingers reached the edge of her underwear, and she thought that her heart might stop beating any second, now, as she shook her head. She was decidedly not okay right now.
“Finish your drink, angel.” He smirked at her.
Heather picked up her drink and drank it as quickly as she could, leading her to have a coughing fit as she finished it.
“Wow, Heather,” Sebastian said, “you sure seem thirsty.”
Everyone laughed, and Heather flipped him the bird as she jumped up off Harrison’s lap, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the door as she announced to the group.
“This thirsty bitch is going to get a drink. Night, guys! You’d better treat the birthday boy right, Ally!” Heather winked at her.
“Oh, I fully intend to.” Ally laughed and kissed Hayden.
They left them playing poker and retreated to their bedroom for a repeat of the previous two weekends’ events. Harrison seemed to want to spend as much time with her body during these weekends together, as he would’ve if they’d been together all week. He loved to drive her wild with lust and wouldn’t fuck her until she was begging him to do it.
*****
It was a good weekend, hanging out with the guys and Ally. The band had performed on Saturday Night Live before, so they gave her some tips and helped calm her down. Ally promised to come along to the show and support her, so she’d have someone there with her, after all.
When the time came for Heather to leave on Monday morning, Gabriel found her as she was walking to the garage to put her bag in the car before she left.
“Hey, Heather.”
“Hi, Gabriel. How are you this morning?” She smiled at him.
“I’m good.” He looked serious. “Look, Ariana asked me to give you this.”
He handed her an envelope. It had her name written on the front of it in neat writing that Heather recognized as Ariana’s, and Heather frowned.
“What is this?” she asked, Gabriel, even though it was kind of obvious.
“It’s a letter for you, from Ariana.” He confirmed.
Heather flipped the envelope over and prepared to rip it open when Gabriel said, “No, don’t open it here.”
“What? Why not?”
“It’s not short.” He laughed. “Also…” he trailed off.
“Also, what?” she asked him.
Gabriel looked uncharacteristically nervous. “I don’t know, Heather. Just, please remember what I said. Hear her out, okay? Don’t read the letter if you’re not ready to forgive her yet. Promise me?”
Heather smiled at him. “I promise.”
She gave him a hug; he would always be one of her favorite people on the face of the planet. Heather tucked the letter carefully away in the front pocket of her bag; she would read it when she got back to Chicago. Maybe she and Ariana could catch up sometime this week before she flew to New York.
Chapter 12
LIVE FROM NEW YORK…
HEATHER THOUGHT SHE HAD experienced nerves when she did Fashion Week, but this was a thousand times worse. Knowing that she was going to be on live TV in only a few hours made her feel sick to her stomach.
“You have to eat something, Heather.” Ally smiled at her.
They were sitting at a restaurant in Rockefeller Plaza, having an early dinner before Heather had to go head to Studio 8H to get ready for the dress rehearsal.
“If I eat something, it had better be tasty, because I’ll be experiencing it twice.” She grimaced.
“You’re going to be fine. You were just as nervous as this before your show, and that was amazing.”
“No way, I was nowhere near this nervous!” Heather took a perfunctory mouthful of the salad she’d ordered.
Ally laughed at her, “Yeah, you were. Remember when I told you Nicole Spencer had turned up? I thought you were going to hit me!”
“That’s totally different; this is live television. I’m going to fuck everything up. I should never have agreed to this; I could be in Los Angeles with Harrison right now.” Heather sighed.
“Nope, no pity parties, woman. I wouldn’t let you have one over Nicole, and I’m not letting you have one now. The sketch is hilarious, and people are going to love you. How can you equally be the most self-assured and confident woman I know, while also being a nervous wreck?” Ally frowned as she speared some of her penne pesto pasta on the fork she was holding and put it in her mouth.
Heather laughed. “Ah, see, that’s because you’re getting to know the real me, darling. I think it comes from being with Harrison for the whole ride. I learned very early on that perception is everything, and I work very hard to ensure that what people perceive from me is a certain thing.”
Ally reflected on what Heather had told her. “That must be exhausting. I shall feel honored that you like me enough to freak the fuck out in front of me, then,” she said this with a grin.
“You should. You’re in very elite company; you’re in with people like your epic-in-bed crazy-hot-sex man.” Heather laughed. “How is that going, by the way?”
“He’s the best, Heather. So relaxed and chill, not at all like other guys I’ve dated. Men in New York tend to be”—she searched for the right word—“uptight. To say the least.”
Talking about Ally’s love life was a good distraction from her nerves. She was so grateful to have such a wonderful person in her life; she hadn’t chatted with a friend like this since Ariana had left the tour two years ago; it was comforting. Heather was reminded of the letter that was sitting in her bedside drawer at home.
She had intended to read it when she’d gotten back to Chicago, but she’d had to go straight to her workspace to handle a production issue that had arisen. Then, she’d been so tense and worked up about this trip to do Saturday Night Live that she had wanted to honor what Gabriel had asked of her and decided to wait until after she got back to read it.
Once she got SNL over, she could hopefully relax. She was ready now to hear what Ariana had to tell her, but she didn’t want her nerves to temper whatever reaction she might have to what was written in the letter.
“Heather?” Ally asked her, and she realized that she’d zoned out and hadn’t responded to what Ally had said.
“Sorry, got distracted. I’m so nervous! But yeah, Hayden’s always been like that. He goes with the flow and doesn’t get worked up about shit. I mean, given the choice you had, Hayden is a much wiser choice than Sebastian.” Heather winked at Ally, and she laughed back at her.
“You say that like I even had a shot with Sebastian.” Ally rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure he was fucking one of the models backstage as soon as she was off the runway.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Now that I think about it, I wonder how he’s coping being out at Galena with no women around.”
“The skin on his palm is probably red raw.” Ally smirked at her, and Heather laughed.
“He’ll get his blue balls attended to at the Halloween event tonight, no doubt!” She pulled out her phone to send a text to Sebastian.
Hey there, darling. Ally and I know you’ve been sans ladies out at Galena, just a reminder to use protection tonight, don’t forget it just because you’re a horny fucker. STDs aren’t hot.
The charity event they were going to in Los Angeles tonight was a big deal. They were at a table with Cooper and his team for the dinner. It was a very high-profil
e event that initially Heather was going to attend, but she’d pulled out when SNL had come up.
“Okay, so I haven’t asked Hayden this, but I’m curious,” Ally said after Heather had told her what she’d texted Sebastian. “Does he really sleep with as many women as people make out that he does?”
“More,” Heather confirmed, “a lot more. I’m surprised the media doesn’t hear about all of them. Then again, if I’d slept with Sebastian Fox, I certainly wouldn’t be shouting it to the world.” She clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my god, I’m a terrible friend!”
Ally laughed. “No, you’re right. I’d be embarrassed to be a notch on that man’s bedpost, that’s for sure.”
On cue, Sebastian’s reply to her text pinged through, and they both read it on her phone screen as it lit up.
Don’t you worry about me, lover. I never trust the bitch with the contraception. I ALWAYS use my own condoms. So I won’t give you anything the next time we fuck.
“Ugh. So goddamn gross.” Ally faked a gag.
“Yeah, welcome to my life. I love Seb, I do, but he’s just so…awful to the women he sleeps with,” she said as she wrote a reply to his text.
Charming. With sweet talk like that, I can see why women are lining up to be with you.
“I kind of get why he is the way he is, though. Women have always just thrown themselves at him, so he doesn’t see them as having any value. Even before he was famous, he was always with some girl or other. He hasn’t had an actual girlfriend since we were teens, though. He just sleeps with whoever he wants and moves right along to the next person in the queue.”
“Tell me Hayden isn’t like that!” Ally looked horrified.
“Nope, not at all.” She smiled back at her.
“Good. I can’t lie; I was worried. Because of the whole Cruise Control reputation, I had vowed to stay away from you guys and keep our relationship purely professional when you hired me. Why are you so damn nice?”
Heather was surprised by this. She didn’t know exactly when she and Ally had ended up becoming friends, but it wasn’t just because she was with Hayden now. Sometime before her fashion show, during all of the craziness and tension, she supposed. They’d started sending random, funny texts to one another to lighten the mood. Ally getting together with Hayden had just helped them get closer, and it was nice to have a friend.
“I know some people who wouldn’t call me nice.” Heather cringed.
“Ariana?” Ally asked her.
“Oh, no, I didn’t actually mean her! To be honest, despite everything, I think she still wants to be friends with me.” Heather shrugged.
“But you don’t want to be friends with her?”
“No, I do. She’s really nice.” Heather pondered exactly what her problem was. “It’s just a case of once bitten, twice shy, I guess.”
“Do you want my advice?” Ally looked solemn.
“As long as it’s not fluffy bullshit.”
She grinned at Heather’s comment, “Okay, well, your world is fucking crazy. Hayden told me a bit about what happened with her, and I might have done similar if I’d been in her position at her age. There’s a reason I’ve been going out to Galena, not just because that’s where they are right now. I don’t particularly want the insanity of being ‘with’ Hayden.”
“If you and Hayden ever break up, can we still be friends?” Heather was saddened by what Ally was telling her; it was painfully reminiscent of the sort of things Ariana had said to her back in the day.
“Oh, Heather, you were my friend first! Look, Hayden and I have talked about it. We’re just having fun; it’s nothing serious. I can’t see him relocating to New York, and I’m so busy here, I couldn’t move there. I’m literally not looking to settle down any time soon; my focus is on my business right now. Basically, I’m just here for the crazy hot sex!” Ally winked at her.
“You say that now, but if it does go sour, just don’t ditch me without a word of warning, please?”
“I want to make a sarcastic comment,” Ally told her with a smile, “but you seem pretty sensitive about this, so I’ll just promise that I wouldn’t do that.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Fuck, what’s the time?”
Ally checked her watch, “Yeah, we should go”—she looked at Heather’s practically full plate—“you really should’ve eaten more. They’ll probably have some snacks there if you feel like it later, I guess.”
Callum met them at the entrance of the restaurant and joined them for the short trip through the building to the Saturday Night Live studio and disappeared when Heather went into hair and makeup, but she knew he’d be nearby.
“April!” Heather said when she saw her friend backstage.
“It’s so good to see you, Heather.”
They exchanged hugs and talked for a few minutes before Heather continued on to hair and makeup. She was sitting in the chair, having her makeup done when her phone buzzed, and Harrison’s name was on the screen. She answered it and put it on speaker so she could talk while her makeup artist continued working on her.
“Hi, honey, how’s it going?”
“Good, angel. Are you nervous?” His voice was soothing, and she smiled.
“Not as much now that I’m talking to you. What time are you guys leaving for the event?”
“It starts at seven, and it’s just downstairs, so we’re all chilling and waiting to head down.”
“Hi, lover! You’re going to be the sexiest cameo that SNL has ever had!” Sebastian’s voice came from somewhere in the background, and Heather laughed as she saw her makeup artist’s eyebrows raise at his comment.
“Am I on speaker?” she asked Harrison.
“No, do you want to be?”
“Yeah, go on,” she waited until he confirmed she was on speaker, “thanks, Seb. Who else is there?”
Hayden, Gabriel, and Ariana confirmed they were there, and suddenly Heather’s nerves were back. She wanted to tell Ariana that she would read her letter soon and organize a time to catch up, but it wasn’t an appropriate time. They were on speaker, and her makeup artist had already made it obvious that she was listening.
“Have a great time tonight, guys. I wish I was there with you instead of being here!”
“No, you don’t,” Gabriel said, “you’re going to be amazing, and you’ll have fun, trust me. Charity events are a dime a dozen, Saturday Night Live is a rare occurrence.”
“Gabe’s right,” Ariana’s voice was soft and kind, “try not to be nervous. Can you tell us about the sketch?”
“Thanks, Ariana.” Ally caught Heather’s eye in the mirror, and Ally smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Oh god, you’re going to die, Sebastian. So, it’s Harrison and me getting married, but then you stop the wedding and tell me you’re in love with me, and we run away together!”
Everyone on the other end of the line burst into laughter when she told them this, and Sebastian’s voice came through after a minute, when he’d managed to control his laughter.
“Just how much input did you have into that sketch, lover?”
“Not much, actually,” she said seriously, then only just managed to finish the rest of her sentence without laughing, “but one of the writers got a hold of my diary and read all my secret fantasies. The rest is history.”
This caused another outburst of laughter from the other end of the phone before Harrison spoke up this time.
“I love you, angel. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, and we can watch the show together.”
“Love you too, honey. I can’t wait to see you, either. I’ll call you after the dress rehearsal and let you know how it went.”
She said goodbye to the rest of them, and they gave her another round of good wishes and luck for the show before she hung up the call.
“That went well,” Ally said.
She caught Heather’s meaningful glance at her makeup artist in the mirror as she rummaged around in a cart fu
ll of makeup for the right mascara to use. Ally nodded, understanding not to say any more until they were alone again.
They didn’t get any time alone, however. Before her makeup artist had finished, the hairstylist arrived to do Heather’s hair, and then the costume designer entered to assist her with getting changed before she was directed out in front of the live crowd to do her part in the eight o’clock dress rehearsal.
It went really well, and Heather was pleased. One of the other sketches fell flat and was cut in favor of extending the wedding sketch, which got massive amounts of laughter from the crowd. They decided to make it the last sketch of the evening, as well, instead of being mid-show.
She was back with Ally in the green room afterward, and she called Harrison while she had the chance.
“Hi, honey,” she said when he answered the phone.
“Hello, angel.” His voice was soft and seductive, and she longed to be with him.
“God, I miss you so much,” she said.
Ally turned away to give her some privacy, even though she’d still be able to hear every word that was said.
“I miss you, too. Less than twenty-four hours, and I’ll be home,” he said.
“Not a moment too soon, I’m going to fuck your brains out the minute I see you.”
“Is that a promise?” he asked with a laugh.
“You bet your sweet, fucking ass it is.”
“How did the rehearsal go?” She could hear the unspoken lust in his voice as he changed the topic.
“It went really well; I’m feeling much less nervous now.”
“I’m glad. I have to go, angel. I’ll talk to you later. Love you so much.”
“I love you too, honey.”
She hung up the call, made her way over to a table at the side of the room, and grabbed a selection of food from it. She got a couple of sandwich quarters, some fruit and cheese, then went and sat down on the sofa.
“You two are so disgustingly cute,” Ally said with a grin as she sat down next to her, then indicated to the plate Heather was holding. “I’m glad to see you’re eating some food, too!”