17. Ashley

17

ASHLEY

“Okay, so wait, let me get this straight. You said you met him at the bar.” Nadia’s voice was on speaker.

“Yes.”

I was almost back in Firefly. The six-hour drive from Atlanta had flown by. I had to admit most of the time had been spent thinking about my hot hookup, but I had also come up with some ideas for the clothing line. Nadia called me when I only had about fifteen minutes left before I was back in town. I was going to head straight to Stella’s to thank her for the hotel room and makeover and also go over my new ideas.

“And he told you his name is Xavier, but you don’t think it is, so you nicknamed him Big and told him your name was Carrie.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“That’s so hot!”

“I know, right?”

“But your friend knows him and vouched for him.”

“Yes. She assured me I would not end up on Dateline or 20/20.”

“Amazing. So you met him at the bar and actually asked him if he was going to ask you to go to his room?”

“Yep.”

“I’m so proud of you. I feel like my little girl is growing up.”

I laughed.

“Okay, so you went upstairs with him.”

“Yes. He was in the presidential suite. It was the entire top floor.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“And then you had hot, hot sex all night.”

“Not all night, but yes.”

“Okay, wait, but what happened with the audition?”

“Oh, yeah, right, I totally forgot. Nothing happened. Right before I got called in, I found out that Garrett, my high school boyfriend?—”

“High school boyfriend,” Nadia chorused with me.

When I moved to Firefly Island, I’d told Nadia all about Garrett. She’d known that I thought I was going to marry him and have his babies. She knew that he’d broken my heart.

“Yes, him. He is engaged to Jenny, my childhood best friend, and she’s pregnant.”

“What the actual fuck?! Didn’t he break up because he didn’t want to settle down, and he didn’t want to have kids?”

“Yes, and not only that, I saw a picture of them together a year before we broke up.”

“What an asshole.”

“That was my take on it, too.”

“So you think you blew the interview because of that?”

“I didn’t even go into the interview.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Actually, once I met Big at the bar last night, I hadn’t given Garrett or Jenny another thought. Even the drive home today, they hadn’t crossed my mind until now.

As if reading my dirty mind, Nadia said, “Well, on the bright side, your trip wasn’t a total waste; you had a hot one-night stand with Big. Are you going to see him again? What happened this morning?”

“No, I’m not. And nothing happened. I snuck out before he woke up.”

“What?! Why?!”

“Because it was just… I don’t know.”

When I woke up in his arms, it felt…good. Too good. It was so good that I actually felt myself getting teary-eyed. If I felt that way after one night with the man, what would happen if I saw him again? What if we dated for a month or even two?

There was something different between us. Something I couldn't explain and something that scared me. What I felt was too intense, too raw, too intimate for two strangers.

I heard a bell ring in the background of the phone call.

“Shit, I have to go. I have a faculty meeting. Girl’s night soon?”

“Yes, girl’s night soon.” I disconnected the call.

As I drove across the causeway onto the island, I wondered what Big thought when he woke up in bed alone. Was he relieved not to have to face the awkward morning after? Was he disappointed that I was gone? Was he indifferent?

That might be the worst of all. If he barely even noticed my absence, that would hurt. But since I would never actually know, there was no point in pondering scenarios.

I’d been tempted to leave a note with my number. I told myself that the reason I didn’t was because I’d have to come clean about giving him a fake name, but if I were being honest, the truth was my fear of rejection. I didn’t want to play the game of waiting for him to call. I didn’t want every day that passed to be another one in which he didn’t reach out to me.

Oh well, we had one perfect night together. One night that would never be tainted by him not calling, or not texting back, or cheating on me, or falling out of love with me, or any other relationship pitfall. It will forever be preserved as the best, hottest night of my life.

When I got to the estate and stepped out of the car, I felt sore in places I’d never been sore before. And when I walked up the steps, I wondered how long the physical reminders of my perfect night would remain. Even though they were a little uncomfortable, I hoped they’d last for a while.

I knocked on the door, and Fred opened it, wearing his signature cardigan, tie, and slacks, but today he also had on a flat cap. “Hey, Fred.”

“Hello, sunshine! How did the interview go?”

“It didn’t. I blew it.”

“Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“It was,” I assured him. “It didn’t even happen. Is Stella around?”

“She’s in the sunroom.” He tipped his hat to me.

“Thanks.” I nodded and headed down the hallway.

On my way, I noticed Dorothy upstairs cleaning the banister. I waved and said hi, but she didn’t see me and couldn’t hear me because she was wearing earbuds. Looking around, I wondered how long it took her to clean this house. It had to be at least ten thousand square feet, if not more. I had a difficult enough time keeping my fifteen-hundred-square-foot farmhouse semi-clean. This place was white glove spotless.

“Hi!” I smiled as I walked in and found Stella seated in her armchair. She was wearing a light gray tunic, white slacks, and black ballet flats. A colorful scarf was tied in a bandana-style wrap around her head, giving her a chic and pulled-together look.

Everything she wore looked effortlessly glamorous, like a movie star from the Golden Age.

“Hello, darling.” She held out her arms.

I crossed the room, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow. How did it go? Tell me everything. Did you see my grandson?”

“Your grandson? No.” I shook my head as I lowered into the chair beside her. “Was I supposed to?”

“I asked him to check in on you last night.”

“Oh.” I felt my cheeks flush. I had been a little busy and spent the night in someone else’s room. I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit that to her. Not that I was ashamed of my behavior. I wasn’t. Whatever happened last night was not anything that I would take back, but also, I didn’t exactly want to advertise it. “No, I didn’t… um, no.”

“He wasn’t able to stop by last night, but he was going to try this morning. Although there were some personal issues he had to deal with. I’m sure that’s why he wasn’t able to see you.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But, tell me.” She shook her head. “How was it? How was the interview? Are you going to need some time off?” Her crystal blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

It was sweet that she was so invested in this entire process. I felt bad that I’d let her down.

“No.” If I had been selected, then I would have needed to take two weeks off to film the wedding and honeymoon, which would be in some tropical location. After that, the participants lived with their new spouses for ten weeks, and then they would decide whether to remain married or go their separate ways. During the ten weeks I could have still worked. “I will not be needing any time off.”

She reached her hand out and patted my knee. “You don’t know that, dear.”

“Yes. I do. I left the interview before it even started because I was crying. Right before I went in, I found out that my ex-boyfriend, who I was with for twelve years and broke up with me because he didn’t think that he ever wanted to get married or have kids, is engaged to my childhood best friend, and they are having a baby.”

“Oh. Well. It seems there is a lot of bad behavior going around.”

“Really?”

“Yes. My grandson just walked in on his fiancée in bed with another man.”

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”

That was much worse than what I was dealing with. Garrett had cheated on me, but finding out a year and a half after we were broken up wasn’t the same as it would have been if I’d walked in on him when we were engaged.

“He says he’s fine, but that may be why he didn’t stop by to see you last night.”

“Your grandson…” I knew that she had two grandsons. One, I thought she said, was married and his name was Derek, and the one who had the stick up his ass was the one who I assumed was engaged, was named Declan.

Even though I wasn’t a fan, I still didn’t think he deserved to get cheated on. I wondered if that was also one of the personal issues he had to deal with this morning.

“Declan. He’s leaving to go overseas for six months tomorrow, so hopefully, that will clear his head. It’s a trip my Dexter made every year.”

Mr. Stick Up His Ass was going to be out of the country for six months. Between my night with Big and finding out I wouldn’t have to deal with Mr. Stick Up His Ass for the next six months, maybe my luck was turning around after all.