Life After That

by Barbara Kevin

  Copyright © barbara kevin, 2012

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Prologue

  Flashback

  Ashley stood there. He was still pretty confused with all the feelings he felt the night before. The kiss they had in his car made him feel alive. He had never felt like that in his whole 18 years of life.

  And now, there he was. At Kirstin's front door's house. He was there to talk to her. He had to talk to her. He had to find out why she ran away the minute they separated from the kiss. Didn't she feel the same as he did? He had to find out!

  He took another deep breath, left his thoughts aside and pushed the doorbell button. Mrs. Addams was the one who answered the door.

  "Oh, hello Ashley!"

  "Hello Mrs. Addams. Is Kirstin home?"

  "Ow Ashley, she already left. About 30 minutes ago. Didn't she call you? She said she'd call all her friends before leaving."

  "She left? Where did she go?" he asked surprised.

  "Yes, she decided she wanted to go to NY right away."

  "But college doesn't start until September!"

  "Yeah, but she wanted to go today. She seemed really anxious to get out of here. I didn't mind cause I thought she would want to get used to the city before the beginning of classes, so I let her go. I thought she was happy to get out the house, but now that it comes to mind, she looked more sad than happy…" a concerned Mrs. Addams continued and asked "Did something happened at the prom last night?"

  Ashley was listening but at the same time, thousands of questions were in his mind. Still confused, he managed to say:

  "I don't know. Hm, ok then. Guess I'm gonna go now. Maybe she'll call me when she gets to NY and I wanna be home for that."

  "Oh, I'm sure she'll call, honey."

  "Ok. Thanx Mrs. Addams! Bye!"

  "Bye dear."

  End of Flashback

  "But she never did…" whispered Ashley.

  "She never did what Ashley? Ashley? ASHLEY!"

  "What?" Ashley answered to an angry Dan.

  "Where were you? Daydreaming AGAIN?"

  "Sorry, just thinking."

  "Same answer, all the time!" an also angry Jacob said.

  "I really am sorry" back to his normal self, he ordered "Let's try once again! 'There are times it seems to me, I'm sharing you with memories…' "

  Chapter 1

  NEW YORK CITY, NY - THURSDAY

  "Ok K. I'll get ready and you can come pick me up in 30 minutes, alright?"

  "Yeah, but when you say 30 minutes, you gotta mean 30 minutes! Not 31, not 32. 30!"

  "Yeah, Yeah. I swear I won't keep you waiting this time."

  "You better not. So, I'll hang up now so you can go get dressed, and I'll meet you there in 30 minutes. See ya!"

  "Buhbye!"

  Kirstin Addams smiled at the phone as she hang up. That on the phone with her was Grace Dawson, her best friend from college. They were both students at NYU, majoring in Journalism. They had met each other on their first class together and hit it off right away, and they have been best friends ever since. It had been two years already.

  Kirstin got off of the couch and went to take a shower. She was the kind of person that could take a bath and be ready to go in 20 minutes.

  While in the shower, she remembered something she couldn't get her mind off since earlier that day no matter how hard she tried. Kirstin worked as an intern at MTV Studios and that day was the premiere of the O-Town's video "Liquid Dreams". That was actually the first time Kirstin had seen Ashley after that... after their kiss. She did know that he had made it into this band, and there was even a TV show about it. Her mother had told her about it, but she preferred not to watch it. Sometimes she'd run through some pictures of the group in magazines and newspapers, but she would quickly turn the page so she wouldn't really see them. She wanted to forget him, forget his smile, forget the prom, forget the kiss - especially the kiss - but she worked there and the video was playing right in front of her face. She tried to turn her head the other way around and close her eyes, but she couldn't fight it anymore. The urge to see how he looked after two years was bigger than her, so she watched the video... the whole video. And somehow it was still playing in her mind. He was just like she sadly remembered. Then something escaped from her mind and she ended up saying her upsetting thoughts out loud.

  "He doesn't even remember me anymore! Maybe it's for the best." She then suddenly looked down at her wristwatch. 25 minutes had gone by. She had to get out and get ready. Luckily, they weren't going to a fancy club. That just wasn't the girls' type of fun. They weren't into the whole fancy dresses and heavy make-up, so it just took her 10 minutes to put on her clothes and some lipstick on. She took the keys to her Toyota Rav-4 and ran out of her loft.

  When she got to Grace's apartment building, Grace was already there, waiting for her. "So, I can't be late 'cause you have no patience and hate waiting, but it's ok if I am the one waiting right?"

  "I'm so sorry Grace. I really lost track of time in the bath. But hey, maybe this will serve you as a lesson! Maybe now that you know how terrible it is to wait for someone you won't be late next time." she then thought again and with a smiled continued "Ok, so who am I kidding?" they both laughed.

  A little while later, they were getting into "Inferno", this bar/club that they went to every Thursday night.

  "Don't you get a little tired of coming here every single Thursday? Don't you think it's time for us to look for someplace else to hang next week?" Kirstin said in a bored voice.

  "Oh, c'mon! This is a great place! We tried something else before and you know how that turned out to be." Grace was referring to this bar the girls checked out two months before, and it turned out to be a bar full of punks that wouldn't stop staring at them.

  "Yeah, I guess you're right…" Kirstin decided to give in.

  They got to their usual table. As soon as they both sat down, this 6'3" guy with black hair, amazing bright-green eyes, strong jaws, and a totally fit body just came up to them.

  "K, G, my prettier clients. What can I get you tonight?"

  "Hey Tom. I'll have a Strawberry Daiquiri." Grace ordered.

  "And you gorgeous?" a too-smiley Tom asked.

  "Hm… Lemme think… A Tequila shot!"

  "Great choice!"

  "Thanx! I'm pretty good at choosing my drinks!"

  "Then a Strawberry Daiquiri and a Tequila shot coming right up!"

  "Thanx!" – both girls said at the same time.

  "Man, could he be any more obvious?" Grace said thru a smile. "Kirstin?"

  "
What?" an absentminded Kirstin asked.

  "K, are you ok? Cause first you're late for picking me up and now you're daydreaming? That's so not you! What's going on?" Grace wondered knowing already she would get nothing from Kirstin. Kirstin just didn't share her problems with people and Grace knew it but tried asking her anyways. 'Maybe this time she'll say something´ Grace hoped.

  "Oh nothing really. Just work. I'm kinda tired of college and work every single day you know?" Grace nodded knowing that wasn't the real problem. But if Kirstin didn't feel like talking about it, she wouldn't pressure her friend "But what were you saying?"

  "That Tom couldn't be more obvious."

  "Oh, here we go again!"

  "It's true! He totally digs you! It's so out there! You're the only one that can't see it. Or doesn't want to."

  "Oh c'mon! Don't start it! You know I don't go for guys! If he's so interested, he'll come to me, sooner or later." she scanned the place and found Tom taking orders from other clients "I want him, though. He's gorgeous!" she smiled at the figure of Tom now talking to the bartender.

  "So why don't you go for him? Just this once. Tom is a great guy, but he's really shy. If you want him, why don't you talk to him?"

  "You know I don't do that."

  "I do, but he doesn't. And maybe he's afraid you're gonna blow him off. Maybe he's not confident about the situation. You know how you can be pretty intimidating for some guys." Grace was right. Kirstin was a gorgeous 20 year-old girl. She was 5'11", 130p, light-brown hair that went to the middle of her back, brown eyes and some guys were too afraid to go for her and be blown off.

  "If he's not confident, maybe that's thereason I shouldn't hook up with him. Besides, you know I don't hook up with a guy more than once. What happens if I hook up with him and then we come here the following week? It would be too awkward!"

  "Well, I think you should go for him. He obviously doesn't know you dig him. And if you find it too awkward afterwards, we could always find a new bar!" said Grace with a smirk.

  "Yeah… maybe you're right… So, what should I do? I've never done this before."

  "Just say something that will make him know you're interested in him."

  "Like…"

  "I don't know! When he comes back, compliment him on something… and your famous smile, of course!"

  "Oh ok… I can do that. I think… Oh Shh! He's coming."

  "Here ladies, you drinks." he said putting the drinks from his tray down on their table "Hope they are good."

  "Bet there are not even half as good as you are!" a line too cheesy for Kirstin, but she looked at Grace mouthing 'Nice' and then gave him her pretty smile, the one that could light up a whole room and knock any guy out.

  Tom was took of guard. He got totally embarrassed. This was the first time she had giving him some sort of signal. Tom really liked her, but he never knew she could like him back. He couldn't hide him happiness though. Not knowing what to say, he just smiled back, turned and left.

  "Wow! You really got him speechless!"

  "Maybe now he'll do something about it. But, as I'm pretty sure he won't do anything about it tonight, as I got him speechless, let's go dance! I need to hook up with somebody tonight!"

  "Of course! It wouldn't be Thursday without Kirstin and the 'Thursday Guy'."

  10 minutes after they went to the dance floor, Kirstin had already hooked up with a 6', blond, brown-eyed guy and Grace decided she could use a drink. Getting back to their table, she waved to Tom so he would go to her table.

  "Another Strawberry daiquiri, please Tom?"

  "Sure" with something on his mind, and a hurt-feeling face, he said to Grace "So, another 'Thursday Guy', huh? That one was fast…"

  "Yeah…" seeing the expression on Tom's face, Grace told him "She likes you Tom."

  "It doesn't look like it. I thought she did when she made tha pass on me earlier, but now I can see she was just playing me as she does with all the other guys every Thursday."

  "Tom, that's Kirstin. You know us ever since the first time we came here and you know that she has always been like that. I don't know why she won't settle already, but why don't you talk to her some time? You are a great guy and she likes you too. She doesn't go for guys, so maybe you should go for her. I'm pretty sure she'll say yes."

  "Yeah, maybe I should do that." he said looking at her and the 'Thursday Guy' in a corner near the dance floor "Anyways, I'll get your drink right up."

  "Thanx!"

  Two hours later, Grace saw Kirstin dismiss the 'Thursday Guy' and head towards their table.

  "Well, I don't know about you but I'm tired. Let's go home!"

  "So, what was this one's name?

  "I guess it was Clark… or Clint… No, it was Clark!"

  "Oh, that was a special one then!"

  "Oh, you know me too well!" Kirstin smiled, put some money on the table and left the bar.

  After leaving Grace at her place, Kirstin got home. Something was still bothering her. She put on her pajamas, and turned on the TV in her living room. She just stared at the TV, not minding what was on. Thinking out loud she said:

  "What is this? Why am I still thinking about him? It has being 2 years already. I was just with a great guy tonight. Clint was a great guy. Or was it Clark? Oh! Doesn't matter! He was a great guy! So why don't I think about Clark instead? I was doing fine 'til today. What happened? I should have not seen the video. I should have not seen it. Oh Kirstin, why were you so stupid? Why did you kiss him? You knew better than that. You knew you couldn't kiss him. Not after what happened with the first two guys. Ashley wouldn't be any different. No man will ever be any different than those two."

  In tears, she closed her eyes. She wished she could erase it all from her mind. Minutes later, she was sound asleep.

  Chapter 2

  ORLANDO, FL - Monday - 7 P.M.

  "Dude, that was exhausting!" Jacob stated getting into the O-Town house, followed by the other 4 members of the group, plus both their managers, Mike Morin and Mike Cronin.

  "Oh, that was nothing! You'll see what's exhausting after I give you guys the schedule for the next few days." said Mike Morin in a pretty serious look. Staring at 5 faces already tired just by the news, he continued "I'll give you guys some time to rest and we'll meet at the dinner table in 40 minutes."

  "I'm starving. What do we have?" asked Trevor sitting on a chair at the kitchen's table.

  "Oh, you're gonna have to guess! And if you do, you'll win the GRAND prize! Are you ready? But the careful! You only get one shot!" Erik joked in a 'game show host' voice.

  "Wow… Jeez, I don't know. That's a tough one. Lemme think for a sec here." Trevor decided to play along with Erik and made a thoughtful face; - hand on the chin and everything - Jacob wasn't in the kitchen, but Dan and Ashley were having some fun watching them act like fools. Trevor then replied "Could it be… cereal with cold milk?"

  "Congratulations! You just won the grand prize! And the grand prize tonight is this beautiful blue bowl! Here it is! Enjoy it! Oh wait! That's not everything! Because you didn't take to much time to answer, you get a bonus prize: This spoon! Now help yourself!" Erik then handed Trevor a box of Lucky Charms.

  "Hey man, give me a bowl and a spoon too!" Dan ordered.

  "Yeah, me too" Ashley said.

  "That's not fair! They didn't answer the question!" Trevor said making a hurt-feeling face.

  "The guy has a point, you two, so go get it yourselves!" Erik chose to agree with Trevor because he was too tired from rehearsal anyways.

  10 minutes later, Ashley's cell phone started to ring and he answered.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey honey, it's me!" the voice on the other side of the phone said.

  "Hey baby. How are you?" It was Jen, Ashley's girlfriend.

  "Good, you?"

  "Good. A bit tired. We got back from rehearsal a while ago, and now I just finished eating. What's up?"

  "Nothing really. I was just wondering if you were home cause if you
were, I was gonna drop by. I miss you!"

  "Me too. Yeah, you should come, but we got this meeting in like… 10 minutes. Why don't you get here in an hour? Is that ok?"

  "Yeah, that's great! I can't wait to see you!"

  "Me neither."

  "Ok then I'll see you in an hour?"

  "Yeah, in an hour."

  "Ok, bye bye! Love ya!"

  "Ok, bye!" Ashley then hung up.

  "Was that Jen?"

  "Yeah."

  "So how are things with her?" Only Trevor and Ashley were at the kitchen at that moment.

  "Pretty good. Better than I thought it would be."

  "You guys are together now for how long?"

  "5 months."

  "Oh yeah. That's kinda a lot, isn't it?

  "Yeah, but she's a great girl. Sweet, beautiful, and she loves me…"

  "But you don't love her…"

  For a moment there, there was a silence. Ashley was trying to figure something out to say… say that he did love her, but those words just couldn't come out of his mouth. He decided then to be truthful to his friend, but all he managed to say was:

  "Is it that obvious?"

  "Not that much."

  "Really? 'Cause I don't wanna hurt her. I wanna give this relationship some time to grow. Maybe in time I'll get to love her, you know?"

  "Dude, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I think you gave this relationship enough time. If in 5 months you still don't love this girl, I don't see it happening."

  "I don't wanna break things up with her. Not right now anyway. I think I'll give it some more time."

  "Well, that's really up to you. I was just trying to help ya."

  "I know, and I thank you for that. Really!"

  "Hey, no problem man."

  They got off of their chairs and male hugged each other.

  "Hey guys, get in here!" they heard Mike Cronin yell from the dinning room.

  When they got there, Erik and Dan were already sitting at the table so were the 2 Mikes.

  "Where's Jacob?" asked Morin.

  "Probably in his room. I'll go get him." Trevor said going to get Jacob.