Disclaimer: I do not own South of Nowhere or the characters. I'm not really sure why I have to write this in every time, considering you guys are smart enough to know that if I did own the show I wouldn't be writing fan fiction for it…but if there was any question before…I hope I cleared that up.
Chapter 12After the chaos that was last night, we all ended up sleeping in this morning. When I did finally pull myself out of bed, I could hear Spence telling Kyla about our run in with the two unnamed idiots. I wasn't really in the mood to relive the whole thing just yet, so I decided to grab a quick shower until the discussion died down. Even though I'd had the whole night to let myself cool down from the disaster that was Ethan Marks, I still couldn't help but be angry. He wasn't one to back down from something he wanted. At one time, because of discovering my father, he had been an extremely powerful man. He wants that back; and I'm afraid of exactly what he'll do to get it.
My thoughts were interrupted by loud music coming from my bedroom. I turned the shower off and burst out laughing when I heard Duncan Sheik's 'Barely Breathing' blaring. I quickly got out of the shower and threw my robe on, grabbing a hairbrush for a microphone as I barged out of the bathroom to my awaiting Spencer. I began singing loudly and dramatically into the hairbrush, leaving Spencer in hysterics as I cornered her against the bed.
"A little loud isn't it?" I questioned, looking her in the eyes as she began tracing circles around my stomach through the robe.
"Well, it's one of my favorite songs," she teased. "A real eye opener if you will." I laughed and pushed her, jokingly. Once she had fallen back onto the bed, I jumped up, straddling her as I continued singing into the hairbrush. When I looked down into her eyes, the teasing expression was gone. I could tell she was experiencing new feelings and emotions but didn't know exactly what to do with them just yet. I slowly brought myself down on top of her, kissing her neck softly. I could feel her hand making its way through the robe to find my bare waist and the chills rising on my skin as her fingers brushed against it.
For the first time since that night in the dressing room, our lips found each other. This kiss didn't start off as slowly as the other. There were no questions. There was only desire and desperation; a need to be closer. It quickly began to get more heated, almost silent moans escaping us both. Unfortunately, Kyla's bad timing forced us to reluctantly emerge into the living room; both of our faces flushed and full of slight irritation at being interrupted.
"Yea Ky?" Spencer answered. I was pleased to see that Spencer was just as disappointed as I was.
"I was just going to let Ash know that Ethan just called. He said he tried to call your cell but you weren't answering; and he just wanted to let you know that a record label was going to be stopping by tonight, so you needed to look hot." I immediately felt my face grow pale as Spencer's hand touched my own.
"You are amazing. Tonight won't be any different." I just smiled and kissed her on the cheek before running back to the room to decide what to wear.
Kyla spoke with Neil about what happened last night, and he insisted that the club provide us with a car to cart us around from now on. "We can't have the club's star getting into any trouble," he had teased. However, we all knew it was Kyla he was worried about. I think she actually liked this guy, and he seemed pretty fond of her too.
The second we walked in to the club, the guys in the band basically tackled me to the ground in excitement. We were all laughing and joking about how I would soon be on the cover of Rolling Stones when the manager motioned for us to go on stage. We started off with all of our weakest covers, trying to save the best stuff for when Ethan signaled that the label guys were here. Once we got that sign from him, we lit the place on fire with energy. We played mainly originals with a few covers to make sure we had audience participation. It was common sense that this was a major factor in their grading scale.
As hard as we tried with our frequent glances, it's nearly impossible to know what was going on in these guys' heads; but as we left the stage, we felt pretty good about our performance. I sat on the edge of the stage for about an hour signing autographs while Spencer and Kyla went over last night's fiasco with the club manager. Kyla seemed to enjoy sharing the story, but I could tell Spencer was becoming drained of the subject. I had just finished with the autographs and was about to make my way over to save Spence when the taller of the two label guys walked up to address me.
"Ashley Davies I presume," he smiled. I just nodded and held out my hand.
"Ted Nix. I'm the founder of TNM Records. I was wondering if you would be interested in meeting with us to discuss the possibility of working together. You are a very talented young woman Ms. Davies." Every piece of myself went into shock as he said these words. TNM Records? …working with The Ted Nix! I just nodded and gave him my information as he quickly jotted it down and shook my hand before turning to walk away. Not even ten seconds later, a very concerned Spencer and a very anxious Kyla found me standing there, speechless.
"So I'm guessing by that goofy grin on your face that things went as planned?" Kyla teased. I nodded before being embraced by both of my best friends.
"I need vodka," I announced, and we headed for the bar. The other guys in the band quickly joined us, declaring that this round was on them. I'm not one to protest random acts of kindness, so I agreed. They left soon after to catch some sort of party before it died down. Me, Spence, and Kyla were laughing and talking about how our entire worlds were about to change when some tall, pale guy with a camera came walking up with Ethan.
"Ash, this man would like to have a word with you. The paper wants to do an exclusive on your rise to fame." I was about to decline when Ethan insisted that promotion was most effective if it started early on in the game. As much as it pissed me off, I figured he had a point; so reluctantly, I walked over to 'have a word' with this stranger. He asked me all of the expected questions. What had brought me here…how I'd ended up at this particular club…how my dad's death affected my life and how it will continue to affect or rather inspire my music career, etc. I was becoming quite bored with the interview by the time he wrapped it up, insisting that he get at least a couple shots of me to record the night I was 'discovered.'
I smiled and took the shot, anxious to get back to my friends waiting at the bar. Once the picture was taken, Ethan made his way over with Kyla and Spencer. "Why don't you get a shot of the group?" he suggested, pushing them over to my side. Kyla immediately started posing, always up for exposure; while Spence stood nervously, not really knowing what to do. I pulled her in closer and we all smiled for a few more shots before being informed that the man was done harassing us and we were free to go.
Ethan was acting weird again. He was almost acting too normal; like all the sudden he was okay with Spence and I, but I knew better than to think he was giving up so easily. "I think we're going to head back to the hotel," I informed him. He nodded before speaking.
"You guys just be careful. Neil told me about your little experience with the freaks last night. Make sure you have the driver wait until you get inside the hotel before he leaves." He gave us a quick wink and turned to walk away.
"What's up with Ethan?" Kyla asked. "He's all the sudden freakishly nice to you. That's kinda weird considering the brawl you two got into the other day." I winced as I felt Spencer's eyes questioning me. I'd made the mistake of confiding in Kyla about Ethan's unwelcome opinions of my life and how it should be.
"What brawl Ash? I knew something happened!"
"I'll talk to you about it when we get back to the hotel, ok Spence?" She smiled and nodded, a little taken back in finding out I was hiding something from her. I didn't want her to think there was anything I felt like I couldn't tell her, but I also didn't want her having second thoughts about us…not when we seemed to be progressing so well.
I spent the whole ride home contemplating how I was going to explain; however, when we walked in to the hotel room, all thoughts and explanations were thrown out of my head when I saw two strangers sitting in the dining room. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breath. Nothing made sense…did these two losers have the wrong room or what? Spencer's face was expressing the exact emotion running through my body; yet she was the first one who composed herself enough to speak.
"Mom? Dad?" Spencer's parents? What the hell?
"Spencer!" her mom exclaimed, running over in tears to embrace her daughter. Her dad quickly followed while me and Kyla just looked at each other in confusion. Are we missing something?
"Paula…Arther? Not that I'm ever unhappy to see you guys…but this is a surprise! What are you doing in New York?…in our hotel room?" Kyla's discomfort in the situation wasn't exactly hidden from her questions, and Spencer's dad quickly began explaining.
"We got a phone call last night…he told us all about how those two guys attacked you and…Ashley is it?" I nodded, still full of confusion as he continued. "We came as soon as we could…are you two alright?" Spence and I nodded, exchanging similar looks. When I finally spoke, my voice almost didn't sound like my own.
"Who called and told you guys about the whole thing?" Arther looked at Paula in question before she answered.
"Umm…I don't quite remember his name. He said he was a close friend of Kyla and her sister…I'm sorry, what's your name again hun?"
"A-Ashley," I stuttered.
"Yes…Ashley. He said he was a close friend and thought we should know. We would have thought that Spencer here would have called to tell us something like this."
"I didn't want to worry you guys over something that was over and that you couldn't do anything about," Spencer quickly explained. "Besides, we are fine, I'm sure whoever you spoke to told you that…so why are you here?"
"Well, after hearing that, we had to see for ourselves that you were ok." Paula continued speaking as she turned to me. "Your friend…I forget his name…Arther, do you remember the young man's name?" Spencer's dad shook his head. "Well, he offered to set us up in a nice hotel for a few days so that we could spend some time with you three and make sure you were alright. Very nice man, you'll have to be sure and thank him for me." All of the pieces began coming together in my head. Ethan. He did this shit because he knew it would put Spencer in a position where she would be forced to choose between her parents and me. He did this on purpose to try and screw us up. But how the hell did he know about those two guys trying to rob us? Neil hadn't told him until this morn…??? Oh my God!
"Mrs. Carlin?"
"Please dear…call me Paula."
"Yes…Paula…when did my friend call you to tell you about what happened?" She was deep in thought for a moment before replying.
"I'd say about 11:00 last night hun." Let's see…11:00 to them would be 2:00 to us...?? Holy shit! I'm going to fucking kill him!
"Mom…are you sure?" Spencer asked in confusion. "Because the whole thing didn't even happen until around 3:00 here…which would have been 12:00 there…?" I didn't answer Spencer's silent questions as she watched me leave. I didn't answer Kyla as she asked where the hell I was going. I just grabbed my jacket and stormed out of the hotel room to find my little 'friend'. We had a few things we needed to talk about.
That's it until tomorrow. Let me know what you guys think.
