Asher graciously looked away to give me a moment to pull myself together.
“Good. Well, now I’ve got to get my lazy ass into the office. I probably won’t see you before you go. Have a safe trip back.” Asher dropped his coffee mug off in the sink, stuffed his paper into his briefcase and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll catch up with you guys in a couple weeks.”
“Thanks, Ash. For everything, you know ... standing by him, through everything.”
“Wouldn’t have done it any other way.” He winked in my direction and shut the door behind him.
I plopped down on his oversized leather chair and took a deep, soothing breath. “We just need to get through this day,” I mumbled to myself. I finished my coffee and decided on a quick run. I scribbled a quick note to Chase in case he came back early and then headed for the streets of Boston. Alone with my thoughts and my iPod.
Forty minutes later and completely sweat-drenched, I stumbled back into Asher’s apartment. It was cool and quiet. I tossed my note in the garbage and grabbed water from the fridge. I stopped to admire some of Asher’s mementos in the family room. There were a few unique relics displayed. Random stuff, only a single guy would ever buy. Looked like he had the travel bug. How was it that Ash was still single? He was awesome. Any girl would be lucky to land his affection. Before my matchmaking mind got ahead of itself, a small cluster of personal photos caught my eye.
A simple dark wooden frame of a teenage Chase, Asher, Kim and a fourth stood out. Chase’s guitar was slung over one shoulder and his other arm draped around a mystery blonde. Yet it was no mystery, it was Talia. Had to be. Chase was right. She didn’t look anything like his sister but was stunning in her own way. They were all flushed and sweating, probably from just finishing a gig. They were laughing, not posing and not even looking at the camera. Asher twirled a drumstick and Kim looked down at her guitar. They looked carefree. They looked invincible.
This was a glimpse of their world. And in a blink of an eye it all changed. The only world they knew came crashing down. Never to be the same. I sunk into the sofa and sipped my water. God, why does that happen?
The annoying chime of my phone interrupted my thoughts. I sluggishly stood and walked back to the bedroom to grab it from the charger. I scrolled through my texts. Dad, Sierra, typical. And Kate.
Hey. Guessing ur with Chase :)
Does he hv his phone on?
Scheduling trying to get in touch with him-
Going straight to voicemail.
Weird?!
I’ll tell him to call when I see him.
Everything ok?
It was kind of weird, Chase always had his phone on twenty-four, seven, just in case the hospital needed to get in touch with him.
Not a big deal - think they need to confirm case times.
Having fun?
Jealous - wish CJ would steal me away for a day :(
CJ not planning a spontaneous getaway was the least of Kate’s relationship problems. He needed basic manners 101 before anything else. I adored Kate too much to point that out via text, but it was a conversation we needed to have.
His loss.
Thx :( Safe trip home.
Btw - Guy’s been looking for you all morning.
Shit. Not that I forgot or maybe I was subconsciously hoping it never happened, but we never really addressed the kiss. I pushed Guy away and left him with a thought we were just friends. Holy awkward. I dreaded that conversation tomorrow. Chase and I hadn’t even discussed it yet. Not that I was looking forward to that conversation either. Luckily, the packed dance floor and my oblivious co-workers missed it, or so I hoped. Except Chase, of course. Ugh. All of a sudden my morning coffee was burning my stomach.
Thx.
Did he say why?
No. Just kept asking why you were out today?
Seemed concerned.
Does he know about Chase?
Good question. I wasn’t sure. Although with Leanne back at work for at least two hours, I was confident the grapevine was flowing with details from the weekend. The girl couldn’t help herself. It was like she had a gossip disease. If Guy was still in the dark, he’d be informed by noon. Fabulous. The rumble below continued to fester.
Why would he care?
We’re friends.
Probably just needs help w paperwork.
Friends?
Right - u keep telling yourself that.
Better yet, maybe u should tell Guy that.
Ur crazy!
Sound like Leanne now-
Turd :)
Lol!
Safe trip home!
I really liked Guy. A lot. He was a great friend, who just so happened to be extraordinarily good-looking and a little flirtatious. Okay. Maybe a lot flirtatious. Somehow my gut told me Chase saw it differently, not that he had anything to worry about. Ever. I had to convince Dr. Jealous. Good luck with that one, Lil, never gonna happen. Yep, still talked to myself. Charming.
I peeled off my running clothes and stepped into Asher’s amazing four-spray shower, vividly remembering every detail of last night. Chase could rest assured; it was burned into my memory as well. And turned out, I didn’t want to share either.
I steamed and scrubbed and shaved my legs before getting out and dressing in a pale pink sundress. I blew out my hair and applied my staple mascara and lip gloss. Then I extracted the necessary items from my luggage and switched over to my new purse while I waited for Chase.
“I had the hellhole leveled,” Chase said out of nowhere, talking over the music playing in the car. Thankfully music no longer seemed to trigger Dr. Intensity. If anything, Chase had pretty strong opinions about the style of music we listened to. I put up a half-hearted fight before I always caved and agreed to his choice, selfishly hoping he might relax enough to sing along. His version of my now all time favorite song played on repeat in my head whenever I was alone. Sorry, Jason Mraz. He didn’t hold a candle to the love of my life’s tender shower serenade.
Chase’s voice was muffled by the wind blowing in my ear, so I turned down the volume and rolled up my window. “What did you say?”
“I had the hellhole that Kimi was in leveled. Completely destroyed, nothing but a pile of dust when the bulldozers were finished. After what she went through, how she suffered, I couldn’t physically, with any sense of conscience, let one more life come through those doors ... so I fucking leveled it.” Oh my god. Not what I expected him to say. We hadn’t talked about where in Boston Kim was laid to rest.
“As in renovated and rebuilt?” I was a tiny bit confused. Even though I heard him loud and clear.
“No, baby, as in now it’s nothing but green grass and park benches. My parents wanted to bury her in New York. They suddenly had an opinion, three goddamn years too late. Convenient, but I told them to go fuck themselves. They left her to rot in hell; they got no say. Especially since they were up shit’s creek without a paddle and I was sitting on two inheritances.”