“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Drake. How’s your dad?”
“He’s great. I mean I can see little things like he gets tremors and he’s more forgetful, but he’s going on like nothing ever happened.”
“That’s great. I guess. He really should be taking it easy.”
“I keep telling him that but he’s stubborn. I think part of it is that he really wants to prove to me he’s ok.”
“Then maybe you should get out. Come meet me for lunch tomorrow at that Mexican place on Elm. I know it’s small but they’ve got great food.”
“Sure, sounds good. I’ll be there. See you tomorrow!”
***
After a hectic day of fighting with the director, a couple of stars, and the insurance company because of the “reckless” stunts planned for the film, I looked forward to a non-business lunch.
The tiny restaurant was the converted first floor of a house in a residential neighborhood. I found a parking spot and walked up the block of old houses to the restaurant. I made sure to get there early so Ashley wouldn’t have to wait.
Because of the suffocating heat, I left my suits at home. Something about the extreme humidity of that state begged for a casualness I would adopt everyday if I could. Dressed in khakis and a pale green and white striped linen shirt, I stood under the shade of a tall tree for some extra relief from the sun.
I marveled at the silence of the neighborhood. I enjoyed small towns because most people didn’t recognize me. It gave me the chance to be normal and not have to worry about what would show up in a tabloid.
It had been over 24 hours since I left Samantha that voicemail. No matter how much I tried to not think about her, she kept popping into my thoughts. I called her several times since but no answer and I didn’t leave another message.
I wanted to talk to her. I needed to know what happened to change her mind. I looked up the empty one way street and decided to try Sam one more time. Her voicemail picked up again.
“Hi Samantha? It’s Drake. I can take a hint. I thought you were going to give me a chance, but I can see that you’re not. I guess in the end you got what you wanted. I’ll leave you alone. Good bye.”
Ashley drove past in an old Toyota as she looked for a spot. While I waited in the shade of a tall tree, I watched her navigate the broken sidewalk in a pretty orange print sundress.
She smiled as she got closer and we stepped forward to kiss hello. Ashley’s shoe caught on a particularly bad part of the sidewalk and she stumbled into my arms as I accidentally kissed her lips instead of her cheek.
Laughing she steadied herself and smoothed her hair. “If you were anyone else I would’ve been embarrassed,” she said.
“If you were anyone else I wouldn’t be laughing so hard.”
She playfully punched me on the arm. Something about her reminded me of Samantha. Ashley must have noticed my change of expression.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I just left another message for Samantha.”
“What do you mean another?”
“She’s avoiding my calls. She–”
“Drake. Please stop. The party was only two days ago.”
“Yes but it was just yesterday I woke to find she left my house after I fell asleep. I don’t even know how she got home.”
We entered the traditionally decorated restaurant and were seated right away. As we looked through the menu Ashley resumed talking about Samantha.
“Give her some time. You don’t know, maybe something happened. She’s friends with Jackie, I’ll ask her if she heard anything.”
“Thanks Ash. You’re a good friend.”
“Don’t you forget that. The next time you decide to start bossing me around, remember I’m you’re friend.”
“I’m sorry about that. Patience is not an attribute I’ll even pretend to have.”
“I’ve noticed.”
We had a good lunch, but Ashley worried about being out for too long and wanted to head back. She knew her dad wouldn’t relax like he needed to and might hurt himself.
“If your dad is feeling better, I’m heading back home in a couple of days. Would you like to join me?”
“Join you?”
“Yes, I took the jet. There’s plenty of room.”
Chapter Nine
Ashley
A couple of days after meeting Drake for lunch, his limo picked me up at my dad’s. Instead of bringing us to the gate, it drove towards the smaller airplane hangars and entered one. Just outside gleamed a white jet. I watched as two beautiful women in short blue uniforms climbed the stairs to enter the plane.
“I can’t believe you have your own jet.”
“I can’t believe Xander doesn’t.”
“He’s more practical and down to earth.”
“And I’m not down to earth?”
I blinked looking at him as if he was crazy. Every so often Drake would say something and I’d wonder if he was serious or pulling my leg. When he winked I realized he knew how absurd it was to a normal person that he traveled in his own plane.
“I worry about you,” I teased and shook my head.
He motioned for me to enter the jet and I climbed the stairs. Upon entering I stopped in amazement. The plane was small but luxurious. Eight large, cream colored leather seats lined the center walkway, four seats on each side. Since they weren’t all facing forward, I assumed they swiveled. In the back the flight attendants prepped for take off.
“Sit wherever you’d like. We’ll be taking off soon. I’ll have you back to your husband within the hour.”
“What? No, please Drake you’ve done enough. I’ll take a cab home. Jefferson Manor is out of your way.”
“Yes ma’am. If its one thing I learned lately is to always listen to a woman.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. It’s just when a woman says she doesn’t want something, she means it.”
“You still haven’t heard back from her?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “I guess she got what she wanted. I have to say its strange being on this end of it.”
“I’m sorry Drake, I’m sure you’ll find your girl one day.”
“That’s it Ash, I’m sure I did. I guess this is just karma getting back at me for all those other women.”
One of the flight attendants gave us hot towels to freshen up with. She spent a little extra time with Drake, obviously flirting, but he didn’t seem to even notice her. I felt bad for him, but maybe he was right. Maybe that was how karma worked.
The cab ride home made me think of my first ride to Jefferson Manor, just a year ago. Xander offered to come to my dad’s with me, but I wanted to be able to focus on my dad and make sure he really was alright like he said. Unfortunately I missed Xander terribly. It was the first time we were apart from each other and it felt worse than I could ever imagine.
Xander and I spoke every night before bed and texted throughout the day while I was gone. I couldn’t wait to see him, but I thought it would be more fun to surprise him. As the cab drove up the noisy gravel driveway, I wondered if he would come out to see who arrived.
As I stepped out of the cab with my bags, I saw Tara approaching from the stables. She wore her usual worn jeans, plaid shirt, and old cowboy boots. She was a sight for sore eyes.
“Hey there Ashley. Good to see you home.” She had the heaviest southern drawl I’d ever heard. Somehow it comforted me.
“Hi Tara. Is Xander home?”
“No, I was hoping you were him to be honest. He left this morning for the office, some big deal went south. But his mother is here. In the house. She arrived about half an hour ago.”
She was the one person I did not want to see. Not after everything I had heard about her and especially not after how she treated me. I felt myself becoming nauseous just thinking about her.
“Hopefully he’ll be home soon. Thanks Tara.”
I quickly texted Xander that I wa
s home with his mother. I didn’t want to bother him when something was going on with his company. I knew there was a big merger that he was trying to manage that guessed it wasn’t happening as smoothly as he planned, but I really did not want to be alone with that woman.
I entered the house and left my bags by the stairs. Heading into the living room, I expected to find her but she wasn’t there. It was just like her to take advantage of no one being home. I wondered if she was like this with Xander’s first wife.
I carried my bags up the stairs and as I walked through the circular study to the hall, I saw her step out of Xander’s office. What was she doing in there? Her spiky silver hair was perfect as always and as usual she wore a business suit, this time lemon yellow. I wanted to question her but instead kept walking down the hall to our bedroom.
“Hello Ashley, I didn’t expect you to be home.”
“Hi Mrs. Boo–”
“No, please no need for formalities, you’re married to my son now. We’re family.”
“Ok.” I didn’t know what to say, but I had a feeling she was up to something. “I was going to unpack and rest a bit until Xander got home.”
“Yes well I’m sure you’re exhausted from your vacation.”
I gave her an odd look but didn’t say anything. I continued down the hall which seemed longer with her walking beside me. As I finally reached the double doors to our room, I hoped my lack of conversation would send her away. I guessed she didn’t get my hint, so I replied to something she said before.
“I wouldn’t call it a vacation, I was checking on my dad.”
“Yes, yes well I’m sure he’s fine,” she said dismissively.
She followed me into the room and I excused myself to the bathroom to splash cool water on my face. I didn’t know why but I was feeling more sick. I began to worry I caught something when I visited my dad. Hopefully I didn’t pass it onto him.
When I came back to the bedroom she was in the middle of unpacking my bags. It reminded me of when she rifled through my things when I packed to leave after Xander fired me. I felt a little dizzy.
“You’re not looking well dear, afraid I’m going to find something?” Her voice was devoid of all emotion.
“No, what? I think I’m coming down with something.”
“Hmm maybe guilt? Oh what do we have here?” She held up ties still wrapped in their packaging.
“Huh? Oh, ties. Neckties.”
“Why did you have ties with you?”
“I was in a hurry, I took our bags for the honeymoon.”
“And why did you have neckties?”
“They’re Xander’s. he must have packed his ties in there.”
“Sure.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“If those are Xander’s then why are they still wrapped in their packaging?”
“I don’t know! He’s your son, why don’t you ask him why he’s anal?”
She didn’t respond. She walked out of the bedroom in silence. I sat on the bed confused and lightheaded, wondering what just happened. Was she accusing me of cheating? I heard footsteps coming down the hall and Xander entered the room.
“You should’ve told me you were coming home, I would have picked you up at the airport.”
He hugged me tight and kissed me. I felt so much better being in his arms.
“You’re mother just left.”
“Did something happen? You look like something’s wrong.”
“I…I’m not sure. She…was weird. I’m not sure what to think.”
I picked up the ties and told him about the conversation. He looked horrified.
“She accused you of cheating on me while you were at your dad’s,” he said angrily. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and shook his head. “She just texted me to look on my desk.”
“She was in your office when I got home.”
He walked out of the bedroom and towards his office. I sat back on the bed, still feeling nauseous and lightheaded. Hearing him enter his office, then slam his office door, I knew he was mad. He reentered the bedroom and dropped a tabloid newspaper onto the bed beside me.
“Have you seen this?”
On the cover were large red letters that said “Who is Drake’s mystery girl?” The picture underneath was from the other day when Drake and I met for lunch. It looked like we were in an embrace and kissing. A Post-It note on top of the cover said “isn’t this your wife?”
Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to explain but nothing came out. Suddenly the room began to spin and everything went black.
Chapter Ten
Samantha
I had a big job coming up and Jackie said she was free to help me so I dragged her out to the grocery store with me. We strolled up and down the aisles with our cart, looking at the different foods as I came up with some new ideas to try when she suddenly grabbed my arm and turned me up another aisle.
“What was that for Jackie?”
“Oh um nothing.”
“Why are you being weird all of a sudden?”
“No reason.” She shrugged and I noticed her eyeball me.
“What? You’re driving me crazy!”
“I was just wondering what ever happened with that Drake guy. You never told me if you saw him at Ashley’s museum event.”
“Oh, that.” I paused for a minute as I thought about not telling her anything at all, but I really felt like I needed to tell someone or I was going to explode. “He’s really not that bad. I think I was too hard on him.”
“So you talked?”
“Uh yeah…we talked.” I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Ha! You slut!” She teased. “I knew it! So are the rumors true? Is he hung like a horse?”
“That’s what you want to know?” I burst out laughing, glad to have a girlfriend to talk to and help clear my mind. “Honestly it was great. It ended up being a perfect night. One of the most romantic nights of my life. But it’ll never happen again.”
“What? Why not? What happened? Did he do something? Did he say he had to get up early for a meeting? Because I’ve heard that line before,” she scoffed.
“Um no, actually I left before he got up.”
“You did what? Why?”
“I don’t know. I just…” My voice trailed off while I thought for a moment. “We’re not right for each other. We’re from two different worlds and to be honest, you know his reputation, I mean what was the first thing you asked me? Tantric sex, hung like a horse. How do you date that?”
“You just do. I mean if you really like the guy you forget about all that. You know how it is, all those movie people have skeletons in their closet but they’re not all true. Imagine what the magazines would hold over your head if you were famous.”
I thought about that for a few minutes and while I wanted to agree with her and say she was right, I couldn’t. Sure there were things I was embarrassed about in my life. There were things that I did or happened that I didn’t have control over. Living at the Winslow estate was one of them.
I believed that if people were following me around and taking pictures, I would be more careful. Drake Winslow had a reputation as a womanizing asshole. There was a reason for that.
“I’m sorry Jackie, I just have to believe it. There’s truth in everything. All those pictures of him with models, starlets, anything he can get his paws on.” I sighed. “He’s probably just going through a slump or something and decided to slum it with the local fatty.”
“Stop that! You are not fat. Jeez what is it with you?”
“Shut up. Really, hearing from the skinny girl that I’m not fat is not high on my list right now.”
“I’m just saying you should really look at yourself. You don’t see what other people see.”
“Please stop. A lecture isn’t what I brought you along for.”
“Fine, I’m just saying.” She was quiet for a little while before speaking again. “Have you heard from him?”
I pulled o
ut my cell phone and showed her all the inbound calls from Drake. I listened to the couple of voicemail he left, the first one he asked if something happened that I had to leave, the last one he said I wouldn’t hear from him anymore. It had been a couple of days since he called and I had to admit I wished he kept calling.
“I don’t want to talk to him. I’m telling you, its a waste of time. I’d rather remember that night for what it was–a booty call.”
“Booty calls aren’t romantic Sam, you know that.”
She was right. I secretly hated her for five seconds for being so right about everything.
He confused me. The night was romantic. The whole museum after hours with the set was the most perfect thing. And here I was calling him a womanizer and saying I was a booty call, when I was the one who said we should go back to his place.
Maybe he was being honest. He admitted to mistakes in his past, maybe he really was trying to change. It didn’t make sense though. Why would he want to change and have a relationship with me? There were so many other women in his world, he had his choice, why me? I could never compare.
“Maybe I should call him.”
We came to the end of the aisle and just as I turned the cart towards the next aisle something caught my eye. Ahead of me were the check out lanes and at the end of each lane were all the tabloids. It wasn’t like me to really pay much attention to them but this one had bright red letters on the cover that read “Who is Drake’s mystery girl?” In the photo underneath was definitely Drake, but he was kissing a woman.
Leaving the cart, I beelined to the magazine and flipped to the article. My stomach dropped as I looked at the girl in the picture. She wasn’t thin, she had curves. She was a little thinner than me, but still. She was plus sized for sure.
I skimmed through the article and found out he met her for lunch when he was out of town. The pictures were taken two days ago. The same day as his last voicemail.
“I guess I was right, I was nothing to him. He’s just a chubby chaser.”
Jackie was looking at her phone when her face turned white. “I gotta go Sam.” Her voice trembled.
His Simple Wish Page 4