The more reviews I get, the faster, and longer my updates will be. And you all know you want a huge update everyday(or every 2 days).
Once again, thanks for pointing the mix up of Arthur's name. In the book, the father's name is Phillip so sometimes I accidently put that instead of Arthur.
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It was twenty minutes to seven when Ash heard Arthur Carlin's car drive off.
She lay back in bed, listening to the staccato whistle of an oriole singing outside her window. She thought about the conversation she had with Spencer yesterday. The blonde hadn't seem too affected by her being gay; no freak outs, no weird glances, nothing. Not that Ashley would have cared. It's just that, she wanted to know what Spencer thought about it. Maybe Spencer didn't care. Ashley knew one thing though, Spencer was extremely attractive. Blonde hair, blue eyes, even the cast gave off a weird cuteish vibe. It was like she was so helpless and all Ash wanted to do was take care of her. But Spencer was so stubborn and wouldn't take help from anyone, which happened to be a major turn on for Ashley as well. Shit! I'm so screwed this summer, she thought.
Arthur must have gotten an emergency phone call to leave early. He left around 6:35 and it didn't take one and a half hours to get to the airport. He sure received a lot of emergency calls flying him out of state to be an accountant.
Ash liked Carlin. He was a pretty decent guy It was a good opportunity, too, to intern for an official in the U.S. Department of Energy. Carlin's specific duties centered around the import of oil. The way Ash understood it, he was some kind of specialist. One-of-a-kind expertise Ash had been told. As a result, Carlin moved around a lot. Aruba's oil refinery had been purchased recently by a U.S. company. Carlin's assignment had something to do with that.
So far, that was as much as Ash knew about what the old man did. Of course, she'd only been on the job for three weeks. If her own tasks were any indication, though, there was a lot of number-crunching and paper-pushing involved.
Around 8:30, Ash padded barefoot across the courtyard to the villa. The sliding door was open. She could see all the windows had been opened too. The air-conditioning unit was silent.
"We'll see how long that lasts," she murmured. The air was pleasant now, but this looked to be another day with no breeze. Ash knew that in another hour or two, the heat and humidity would be brutal.
She called a loud greeting into the house, but as she poked her head inside, she could hear the shower water running in one of the bathrooms. She stood in the doorway for a minute, considering if she should leave and come back in a little while. She didn't want Spencer to get creep out.
As she turned to go, the phone started ringing. She knew Arthur's answering machine would pick up, and after three rings, it did kick in. But it disconnected and the phone started ringing again.
The shower continued to run. After the third ring, Ash figured someone was trying to get a hold of Spencer. As far as she knew, it might have been Arthur.
She walked over and picked up the phone after the fourth ringing attempt.
"Hello. Carlin residence."
The connection was horrible. It sounded like she was she was talking into a tin can. A big tin can from the sound of the echo. It had to be an overseas call.
"Spencer, is that you?"
"No. Spencer is in the shower at the moment. Would you like to call back later?"
"No, that would be very difficult. I really need to speak with her now."
"Oh, wait a minute." She listened again. The shower had stopped. "I think she's done. Let me go get her for you."
"Spencer, telephone!" she called loudly, approaching the bedroom with the phone in her hand.
Her bedroom door was closed so Ash knocked. "Spencer?"
Ash thought she heard her voice. It sounded like it was coming from a deep well.
"What?" Ash called.
The blonde said whatever it was again, but Ash couldn't make out the words.
The bedroom door was unlocked. She poked her head in. The bed was made. The suitcases were open on the desk and on a luggage stand. The closet doors were left partially open and it looked like she was half unpacked.
"Spencer?"
"I'm in the bathroom. I need help."
She wasn't sure she heard her right. "Did you say you need help?"
"Yes." She sounded frustrated. "My foot is stuck. Please help me."
The woman on the phone was saying something, giving Ash some kind of instructions. Ash dropped the phone on the bed and approached the bathroom door. She tested the knob. It was locked.
"You have to unlock it," Ash said through the door.
"I can't. I told you, my foot is. . . My cast is wedged between the bathtub and toilet."
"How did you do that?"
"When I stepped out of the tub, I slipped and . . . It doesn't matter how I did it. It just happened. And I'm stuck. And I'm starting to panic. And that's not a good thing. I have asthma, and even though I haven't had an attack for awhile, stress is one of my triggers. And right now, I'm feeling really stressed. And it's really hot in here. And I-"
"Spencer," Ash said sharply. "Stop talking. I'm going to get you out in a couple of seconds. It's no big deal."
She reached above the door, just like in her family's house while she was growing up. When Ash was a kid, her younger brother's middle name had been mischief, and the monkey liked to lock himself up. So, as a family, they were always prepared.
This was Aruba, though, not Los Angeles. There was nothing on the ledge. She looked at the doorknob again. It looked the same as the ones at home.
"You can't get me out. Can you?" she asked. The was definitely a touch of panic in her voice.
"Of course I can." Maybe something thin and sharp would work. Ash wondered if Arthur had a tool box.
"You're lying, I'm stuck in here."
"I don't lie."
"I can hear it in your voice."
"You don't know me well enough to read that kind of stuff in my voice." Ash said. "Just hang in there. I'll be right back."
"Well it's not like I have anywhere else to hang at the moment so. . . wait, where are you going?" There was worry written in her voice.
"I'm just going in the kitchen for a second."
"Great," she said. "While you're having your breakfast, be sure to make yourself some coffee and. . ."
While she was talking, Ash hurried to the kitchen and opened cabinets and drawers in search of anything that might work. Spencer called her name a couple of times.
"I'm coming," Ash shouted back, grabbing a very thin meat skewer.
"I don't have an inhaler with me," she was saying as the brunette reentered the room. "My chest is getting tight."
"Spence," she said calmly through the door. "I'm getting you out. Now talk to me. Tell me something."
"What?"
"Anything," she said, sticking the tip of the skewer in the hole. It fit in the hole, so good so far.
"My mind is blank." She paused for a second. "And no wisecracks from you."
Great. She's feeling claustrophobic, stuck in a bathroom, in need being helped and rescued, and still finds time to be annoying
, Ash thought."I wouldn't think of it." Ash moved the piece of metal around in the lock. Trying to feel for the little button she needed to push in order to unlock it. "Tell me about your high school."
"No."
"Why not?"
"It's not my high school anymore. I have to go to a different school for my senior year."
"Why is that?"
"My mom is moving into my step dad's house once they get back from their little escapade. I have to live with them."
Just as she almost had it, the metal rod slipped out of her hand and fell with a clatter to the floor. She picked it up and pushed it in again.
"Tell me about your friends."
"I don't have any."
"You're lying."
"Oh how'd you figured that? Read it in my voice?" Spencer mockingly asked.
"Maybe I did," Ashley countered. She crouched down to get a better grip on the skewer.
"What happened to not knowing me long enough to do that?" Spencer asked.
"It doesn't apply to me," Ashley said.
"Say's who?"
"Say's. Me." Ashley huffed as the doorknob clicked. "Finally," Ashley grumbled.
She opened the door to the sight of the blondes naked back. Spencer screamed and Ash scrambled to close to door.
"Jesus, I just opened the goddamn door. You didn't have to yell."
"What do you think you're doing? You can't come in. I don't have anything on."
"You didn't tell me that before. Besides, we're both girls. It's not like you have something I don't," Ash said in self-defense.
"Just because we have the same body parts doesn't mean I want you ogling over mine," the blond said, looking exasperated and a little flushed.
"Okay, okay. No peeking. Happy? Do you have a towel in there?"
"Of course I do, but I can't reach it. My foot is stuck remember?"
Ash stuffed her hands in her jean pockets and shook her head, smiling. She was wearing short jean cutoffs and a yellow wife beater "You're a piece of work."
"What did you say?"
"I said, tell me exactly what you want me to do."
"That's not what you said," she replied in a reprimanding tone.
"Would you like me to leave?"
"No, she said quickly. "I'm really stuck here. And I don't want to break anything again."
"Instructions, Spencer."
"Well, you have to throw me a towel."
"Where is it?"
"There's one hanging from the wall behind the door. It's just out of my reach."
"Most people put a towel within reach before they get in the shower." Ash smiled again as she heard the blonde mimicking her words back at her under her breath. "How am I suppose to throw you a towel?"
"Are you one of those boy-horny lesbians that get all turned on from the slightest sight of exposed skin?" Spencer asked.
"Depends on the person I guess." Ash answered nonchalantly.
"Well then, close your eyes. Reach around the door and hand the towel to me."
"You trust me to do that?" she asked, amused.
"What. . . To keep your eyes closed? You'd better. Besides, there isn't much to see. Trust me."
Ash had seen, and the blonde was wrong. But she wasn't going to correct her on that count right now.
"Okay, here we go." She opened the door, closed her eyes, and put one foot in.
"Close your eyes."
"My eyes are closed." This is so babyish, Ash thought. "I thought there wasn't much to see," she commented.
"Just keep them closed," Spencer said, agitated and slightly embarrassed. "Turn to the right."
Ash's hand, by mistake, brushed against her skin. She was wet. And she smelled great. The blonde pushed her hand away.
"Hey I meant my right, your left. The towel is just behind the door."
Ash tried not to think of which part of her body she just touched. She turned to the left, grabbed the towel, and pulled it off the rack. As she turned and took a step, her foot caught on something and she felt her other foot slip out from under her. The next thing she knew, she heard her head bang on the wet tile floor, and she was lying flat on her back.
She saw this hazy image of long blonde hair brushing over her as the towel was wrenched out of the brunette's hand.
"Are you okay? You should be more careful."
"Careful?" she asked, lifting her head to see what she tripped over. "What are your crutches doing in the bathroom?"
"I need them to get around."
She laid her head back on the floor. She could already feel a small lump growing on the back of her head. She looked at the other girl. Spencer had the towel slightly wrapped around her, and she was sitting on the edge of the toilet. She had long, beautiful arms and shoulders. Ash's eyes traveled up her neck to her mouth.
"You don't look to good," Spencer commented. "You're not gonna pass out on me, are you?"
Ash caught her hand. It was a strange feeling. All of a sudden, she needed to touch her. She looked to beautiful to be real.
"Ashley," she said, more sharply. "Snap out of it, will you? I can't even get to a phone to call 911. I don't even if they have 911 in Aruba. Please!"
"The phone! She said, letting go of the blonde. "Somebody is on the phone for you."
"They'll have to wait. I'm still stuck." She reached down and helped Ash as she sat up.
Ash felt the back of her head, stretched her arms, and turned around to see how Spencer had gotten herself so jammed into that little space. The culprit seemed to be the plastic bag she had tied around her cast. It was also caught on a plumbing valve behind the bowl.
She started to pull it away.
Spence touched the back of the brunette's hair, and felt the small lump on the back of her head. Ash winced.
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged in response, not wanting to look up. Ash was at a total disadvantage, sitting there. She didn't particularly mind the feel of the blondes fingers in her hair, but the rest was too much of a temptation.
"
I promise not to make a habit out of this."
"Of what?" Ash asked. The plastic cover came free. She figured Spencer could pull her foot out now, if she tried. But she didn't tell her that.
"Of hurting you."
Ash looked up into her face and smiled. "You think you're a tough guy don't you?"
"Very tough. So maybe it'd be better if you keep your distance." She pulled her cast out, and bent over her knees to check Ashley's progress. The intoxicating smell of soap and shampoo went right to Ash's head. Their faces were mere inches apart.
"I think that'll be a little difficult."
Their gazes met. "Why do you say that?"
Spencer noticed her eyes took on a darker bronze color. Uh oh, she thought.
"You're the bosses daughter. And his specific instructions were to stick close to you."
"I don't particularly like that."
"You don't want me, thee Ashley Davies, hanging out with you?"
"I don't want you to do it because it was Arthur's orders," she responded, sitting up straight again. "I don't need a keeper."
"
I'm afraid you do." She touched Spencer's cast. "At least, until this thing comes off."
"Wrong again. I've been living with this thing for six weeks. I've only missed one day of school because of it. I've been doing it all. Climbing stairs, getting on the bus, catching the subway."
"Taking a shower."
"Accidents happen. I won't do it again. Now don't you have to go to work or something?" She started to get up.
"No I have the day off." Ash pushed to her feet and stretched an arm out to help the other girl get up. Spence shook her head and got up on her own.
"Then you should go visit your friends. Do whatever you do when you have a free day."
Ash hadn't realized till hat moment how crowded they were in the bathroom and how small that towel was on Spencer. She was a knockout. "If you don't mind, I'd like to spend the day with you."
Spencer followed the direction of the other girl's gaze, and a blush began too rise from the top of her chest, onto the skin of her neck and face.
"That may not be such a good idea." Spencer pushed the other girl out of the bathroom ahead of her. "Now out of here, out of my bedroom."
Ash stopped as she saw the phone on the bed. "I don't think they're still holding."
"If they're not then they can call right back. "Now out," she yelped.
Outside in the hall, Ash heard the click of the bedroom door lock, and smiled.
This day would definitely be too much fun to miss.
