This story is not dead quite yet, lol. I'm extremely sorry for such a gap in my updates. I flocked to Tudors fiction for a while. :/ I hope to be back to complete this story.

Thanks so much for reading, and please review!

Scarlett felt dirty.

It was three o'clock in the morning, and she sat with sheets bunched around her hips in Rhett Butler's bed. How had she arrived here? All Scarlett could recall of the previous night was the thundering blood in her veins and her lack of senses.

She sorely removed herself from the bed and gathered her skimpy bikini. Her fingers picked the garment up like it was infested with a disease. Scarlett began to piece together some clues: A bikini on the floor, a severe hang over, and waking up in her boss' bed, naked. Not good. Sighing, she threw the bathing suit hastily over her body, along with shoving her feet into a pair of discarded flip flops.

It was lucky that she had set her alarm two days earlier, knowing that without one she would miss her flight back to Atlanta. Her head was pounding like a drum. Every ray of light blinded her to the point of pain. Good God, I must have been wasted.

Her cellphone beeped once again, alerting her that she had half an hour to get to the airport. She resorted to think about this entire, ugly mess later. Scarlett took one last wistful glance at Rhett. She assumed the worst had happened between them. He looked peaceful, with a lock of hair dangling over his eyes. One of his long arms dangled over the edge of the bed, hanging limply in the air. The worst part about this entire situation for Scarlett was that she reduced herself to a common office whore. Surely Rhett had no respect for her now. Her eyes locked onto his sleeping body, unable to look away. She had blown it. Scarlett had been so excited to lure Rhett with her charms and break him like she broken every other male. She wanted one, just one victory over him, and that was the only card she had. And damn it, he even won that.

The hot tears were building up behind her eyes. Scarlett absolutely hated this feeling. This 'what the hell did I do' thing. It happened so often. One of her last boyfriends had screamed at her after finding out about an overnight party she had with an ex. He told Scarlett that she couldn't keep her legs closed. Resurfacing memories bubbled into her mind. Memories she certainly did not want to remember. -She turned for the door, surprised to face a broad mirror. Her reflection was not the girl she knew. Stale sweat on her skin, hair askew, left over eyeliner trailing down her cheeks. What happened to the lively, pretty Plantation daughter her mother had raised her to be? What happened to that girl?

"I'll think about that later," She hissed to herself, knowing this was not the time or place for a self examination. Scarlett knew well enough who she was.

She flung the door open and turned one last look upon Rhett. With a watery smile, she blew him a kiss and left the room. Her cellphone emitted a loud sound and vibrated once again. Twenty-Five minutes until her flight. Quickly, Scarlett jogged down the hall. Which one's my room?

As fate is a bitch, there were no pockets in her bikini for a room key. And as hang overs go, she had no recollection of which room she was checked into. The only thing she did have was her cell phone.

"Ashley?" Scarlett whispered when he answered his phone. Her eyes self-consciously skimmed the halls for any other on-lookers. Most guests were not awake at three in the morning, luckily.

"Scarlett? Where the hell are you?" Ashley was extremely angry. She could tell simply by his voice.

"At the hotel, you?" Her voice was meek, hoping that sounding gentle would fend off some of his rage.

"At the airport. Scarlett, get down here, now." She could hear him suck in a breath of frustration. "You always do this. Always! You run off with some guy, get wasted, get him laid, and don't know what to do with yourself the morning after," He paused. Scarlett clenched her fists, forcing the lump in her throat down with a swallow. How dare he! Had he not forgotten that pretty little brunette he took home last night? When his voice resumed in the speaker of the phone, it was slightly more cautious. "Listen, just get down here as quickly as possible, meet me at the entrance, get through security, and board the plane. That's all I need you to do. I have your luggage checked in already."

"Fine." Scarlett said, snapping her wireless closed. She glanced through the window facing out of the hall. Farewell New York, I'll remember you with fond, fond memories.

_________________________________________________________________________-

Fifteen long hours later, Scarlett sat safely in her apartment in her pajamas with Emily and Cathleen at her side. Both were spooning through a carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, while Scarlett nursed a glass full of straight vodka. She was regaling her friends with stories of Ashley's four hour long lecture on the plane, mimicking his voice with perfect clarity. Then came the shopping myths and tales of the fabulous New York City. And finally came the heartbreak.

"He was amazing." She said, taking down another mouthful of her drink. And I lost him.

"What exactly happened between you and him? Which base did he get to?" Cathleen asked, her voice begging for scandal. Scarlett laughed at the fourth grade question.

"He got to first and ran all the way home," She said, the smile quickly disappearing from her lips. I didn't even fight it.

"Do you love him?" Emily asked earnestly, dropping her spoon of Marshmallow Whipped.

"I hate him," Scarlett replied. Emily and Cathleen paused their feasting to look at one another.

"Then why-?"

"I don't effing know, okay?" Scarlett cried in a sudden burst of feeling. Tears collected and fell from her eyes too rapidly for her to stop them. "Maybe I'm easy, who knows? Maybe I was curious about him!" Choking on her own tears, Scarlett gasped for air. Emily placed a comforting hand upon her knee, hushing her.

"Calm down, hunny," She cooed. Slowly, the gasps became gurgles. Scarlett's distress slowed and the tears began to dry from her eyes. She scrubbed at the wetness on her cheeks with the back of her hands."Have you called him?"

"No! I could never face him again," Scarlett tried to imagine the scene where she and Rhett met face to face. The mocking words he would throw at her, the memories he would flaunt in her face. Oh God, it would be humiliating!

"Then forget about him!" The ever-so-practical Cathleen cut in, her blue eyes bright. "If you don't want to see him, avoid it."

"Cathleen, you know that's not right. He's her boss," Emily leaned back on the cushions of the couch, resuming her dig for morsels of marshmallows.

"A boss that is up North about a million miles!" She leaned towards Scarlett, grinning like a school girl. "Scarlett, forget about it. What you've done, you've done. Focus on something more important,"

Still teary-eyed, despite the advice, Scarlett shook her head. "But I just let him have me, Cathleen. Mama always said-"

"Oh, forget all of your mother's preachin' and teachin'! You're too young and too beautiful to waste your mind like this!" Cathleen rose to her feet. "Em, we have to save Scarlett and get her out of this place." She said, racking her mind for places they could visit at nearly nine o'clock at night.

"Nail Salon?" Emily tried to interject helpfully.

"It's nine o'clock!"

"Then how about a crappy scary movie. The theater will be empty and we can scare her out of this mood she's gotten herself into."

"Good!" Cathleen turned mischievous eyes towards Scarlett. "Get your ass into some jeans. We're going to see a movie."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

End Chapter Eleven.

The next chapter will be all about the movie and a few unexpected visitors.

This chapter might be a little bit choppy. I typed it up as quickly as I could so I could post. :D


Thank you so much for reading. And thank you for advance for reviewing (because I know you will!) :D