Chapter 11: One Down
Sebastian awoke the next morning sure his head was going to pop off.
As he lifted his head off his pillow it felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds. He could barley move but he slowly pulled himself up and tried to remember what happened. He was wearing only his boxers but he wasn't under the covers. There were two empty wine bottles next to his bed which explained the pounding headache. But who was he with? Kathryn?
Kathryn, oh fuck. As he remembered her name images of the previous night began to come back to him. Annette. Getting caught. The girls fighting. Pictures. Annette and a guidance councilor. Lies. Kathryn lying. Fighting. Alcohol. I hate her. Alcohol. I want her. More Alcohol. Tracy and her friend. Even more alcohol. This is my Kathryn. Jealous. One step up. Fuck you. And yet even more alcohol and then...
Jesus he couldn't remember. The last thing he recalled was getting undressed and then everything was black. Did he fuck them? He couldn't remember. What he did recall wasn't pleasant. That scene with Kathryn had been messy to say the least. He dimly remembered comparing her to a ten dollar hooker, or a step down from one. That was going to take some major damage control.
And then there was all that shit about Annette and what Kathryn kept from him. Apparently to protect him but he still wasn't convinced. However he saw no reason to go to war with Kathryn over it. In the end it didn't matter. Him and Annette were threw anyway. He had more pressing issues like getting his revenge.
Somehow he managed to get up and to the bathroom. He needed coffee desperately so he didn't bother to get dressed but rather put a robe on and wander into the dinning room were the maids were serving breakfast. Kathryn and Tiffani were already in there sitting on either end of the long dinning room table. Both were impeccably dressed as usual and both glared at him as he walked in. He expected the look from Tiffani. Ever since his father married the women and Sebastian made it clear that he wasn't interested in an extremely close mother son bond, she considered him to be no more than a pest.
He wasn't expecting the look Kathryn threw at him which was one of pure contempt. He immediately knew this was going to take more than the usual charm to get him out of this mess. "Morning ladies"
"Good morning Sebastian, rough night?" Tiffani asked with a smirk.
Sebastian looked over at Kathryn but she avoided eye contact. He glared at his step mother "something like that. Where's my father?"
Tiffani's smile vanished and was replaced with a scowl "he had to work late last night. He stayed at the office."
"Oh he's been doing that a lot lately. Strange" Sebastian said knowing how much it would infuriate his step mother. Sebastian was pretty positive that his father was screwing around behind her back, not that he blamed him.
"It's completely normal Sebastian."
"Yes I suppose your right. He use to spend a lot of time at the office shortly before him and my mother divorced."
She stared daggers at him "meaning what?"
Sebastian smiled pleasantly and took a sip of his coffee "nothing."
All of this managed to bring about the desired reaction which was to fluster Tiffani. "Well I have better things to do than play these little games with you Sebastian."
She then got up and scurried out of the room making Sebastian laugh. He glanced over at Kathryn in hopes that she to found it amusing also but she only glared at him. "Oh come on it was a little funny."
"Actually" Kathryn said as she slowly got up and approached him, then brought her mouth to his ear drum "I THOUGHT IT WAS FUCKING IMMATURE!" She screamed at him.
Her loud voice made him wince and grab his head as it ached with pain. Kathryn laughed "now that was funny."
"Jesus" he groaned "how long do you plan on being a bitch to me?"
"Does the term until hell freezes over mean anything to you?" She asked as she poured herself some coffee.
"Why? I mean if anything I'm the one who should be freezing you out. You've been lying to me for weeks."
She turned around annoyed "and I told you why, but you refused to believe me. Instead you went out and found some cheap sluts to make you feel better. Where are your little friends anyway?"
"Umm they left I think"
"Did you at least have fun?" Kathryn asked avoiding his eyes.
"I don't...I don't exactly remember."
She glared at him disgusted "you don't remember? Jesus I guess you and Chris have more in common than I thought."
As she turned to leave he grabbed her and pulled her back. "Wait a minute, don't compare me to him. I am nothing like him."
Kathryn pulled out of his grasp "why not? You compared me to a hooker."
He winced "I didn't mean that, I was drunk. Look I don't want to fight with you anymore, please Kathryn."
For a minute she was tempted to give into him but then she recalled how shitty she felt last night and pulled away from him. "No, no I think you were right last night. Were both too fucked up to be together in any way that's...just forget it ok."
"No I won't" he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I want you...so bad" he whispered before kissing her forcefully.
Kathryn struggled in his grasp and tried to pull away. For once she didn't kiss him back. As she tried to pull away she said "stop it, stop it."
"No" he whispered and pulled her back. This time she gave in and kissed him back but only for a moment before pulling out of his reach. "I'm sorry how many times do you want me to say it? I overreacted I know that, I should of believed you-"
"But you don't" she interrupted him. "You don't trust me and you never will."
"Oh do you trust me?" He volley back and he could tell she didn't know how to respond to it. "See? You can't be mad at me for that when you don't trust me." Sebastian smirked and slowly advanced on her "come on Kathryn, this is stupid. I forgive you for all the things you kept from me." He nuzzled his nose against hers "now its your turn." They were inches from kissing again when Tiffani burst into the room. The two immediately flew apart but she didn't even seem to notice how close they were.
"Its Chris, he's on the news!" Kathryn glanced over at Sebastian with wide eyes. Neither said anything as they followed Tiffani into the living room.
A young newscaster was broadcasting from the police station steps and talking in an earnest voice. "A community is in shook today after the arrest of twenty one year old Chris Ashton a promising Harvard student. Ashton is the son of business man Samuel Ashton and social light Meredith Ashton. Early this morning the police after receiving an anonymous tip, raided Ashton's upper east side apartment and found tons of child pornography dating back years. It is even rumored that his home might have been where some of the pictures were taken. The young man is denying all knowledge of these activities and is vowing to fight them. He...oh here is comes now" the reporter was soon joined by many others as the camera zoomed in on Chris, handcuffed and getting out of a police car. Reporters asked him questions but his face remained ice. The reporter came back on "it appears Mr. Ashton will not be arraigned until tomorrow. Will bring you more as this story develops."
As the reporters went back to discussing rising gas prices Tiffani turned the t.v. off. "I just can't believe it! He always seemed so normal. I never would of guessed he was some sort of...pervert."
At this news Kathryn nearly burst out laughing. She knew Chris would most likely get arrested within the coming days but with everything that was happening between her and Sebastian she had forgotten. Her mothers attitude didn't surprise her in the least. In this society your guilty until proven innocent, and even then your still thought of as guilty. Even if Chris did get free by some weird twist of fate, he would always be thought of as some sort of child molester in the back of people's heads. Which in Kathryn's opinion was exactly what he deserved.
As Tiffani babbled on Kathryn looked over her shoulder at Sebastian who had a sly grin on his face. "Well I just can't believe this. I have to make some phone calls" she said as she quickly left the room.
When she left the room Kathryn laughed which only made Sebastian smile more. "We did it! We did it, he's finally going to pay for what he did to me!"
He nodded "I told you we would make him pay. It appears Chris's life as he knows it is over."
"Yes" Kathryn said as she threw her arms around him.
He hugged her back and was surprised when she pulled him into a kiss. Sebastian hungrily kissed her back. When they finally pulled away both breathless he asked "so does this mean you forgive me?"
"Two things, first you ever treat me like that again I'll slice off your balls were you stand, understand?"
He nodded "understood, what's the second thing?"
"Fuck me" she whispered before he pulled her into his bedroom.
* * * * * *
Right around the time Kathryn and Sebastian were making up Annette was telling her parents about there break up. As expected they were both overjoyed and even more so when they found out about her feelings for Chris. "Oh sweetheart that's fantastic. I mean I know you really cared about Sebastian but I think Chris is just such a better match for you" her father said with a huge smile.
Annette nodded "I know you guys disapproved of Sebastian. It's just things didn't work out."
"Did you find him with another girl?" He mother asked.
She was tempted to say 'yes and you'll never guess who'. But she thought better of it and said "umm no we just grew apart and then Chris arrived and...oh I really love him."
"That's wonderful honey, I'm going to get breakfast" her mother then went to the kitchen.
"How about I take the two of you out to celebrate. Welcome him to the family."
"Dad" Annette laughed "were not getting married. Were just going out."
Mr. Hardgrove shrugged "well you never know."
As the two laughed Mrs. Hardgrove came rushing in with a worried expression on her face "it's Chris."
* * * * * *
"Ten fifty miss" the taxi driver said.
Annette quickly handed him the money then ran out of the cab and into the police station. It couldn't be true she told herself, it just couldn't. Chris a child pornographer there was no way.
When her mother called her in to watch the news program the whole family watched in shock. Her father had insisted it was some sort of set up. The Ashtons weren't that kind of family. Annette had quickly agreed with him saying something wasn't right about this. She had grabbed her coat and headed out determined to find out what was going on.
As she filled out the necessary forms to see him she noticed her hands were shaking. It just couldn't be true. The middle age women took her purse before opening up the heavy door it let her into the room. Chris was already out of his cell and sitting behind the glass patrician. He was already dressed in a dark uniform and looking uneasy.
"Annette" he said into the gray phone "I can't believe you came."
"Of course I came, where else would I be? Chris what's going on?"
"I didn't do it. I don't know how this happened. I get waked up by the police and they had a warrant to search my place and the next thing I know I'm in jail. This is insane!"
"I believe you" she said softly.
"Thank you. God I don't know what I'm going to do, there talking life sentence."
"You have a good attorney right?"
"One of the best, but even he's not sure I'll get off. I just wish I knew who set me up."
Annette forehead wrinkled "what do you mean?"
He leaned forward "well someone obviously set me up I just don't know who."
At the word set up Annette immediately remembered last night. She dropped her phone as it occurred to her who could of done this. "Oh no" she whispered grabbing her head.
"What?"
"Kathryn and Sebastian"
- to be continued (Please Review)