Chapte Four: Twisted Logic

The perfection of the LA day was gone. It was raining. No, not just raining, pouring. A torrential down pour. But depending on the people you asked, this could be considered perfect, too. I myself did like the rain…sometimes. And now was one of those times.

Laying out on one of the patio chairs by the pool, I was thinking. I can't tell you what exactly I was thinking. There was too much to think about. I couldn't just pick one over all the others. This is what led me here. Here as in outside. Solitary confinement, if you will. Ashley, tonight, Davey, Jay, Ashley. It was all too much. What was I doing? Am I crazy? …Well technically, I sort of am. But that was not the most of my worries.

"You okay?"

I heard the door slide close and she approached me. She was already soaking wet even though she had only been out here for seconds. She sat on the chair next to me.

"You know…I'm the one who told Ashley to come,"

My eyes opened and flew to Claire. She what! She was the reason for all of this? You gotta be kidding me.

"What…Why would you?" I stared at her. She twitched every time a raindrop fell on her face, which was a lot.

She laid back into the chair and I knew I was in for a story. "A few nights ago, I was at The Red Room. You remember, right? You wanted to stay in with some friends, and hang," she laughed a little. She had the strangest sense of humor.

My mind instantly blew back to that night…

"Craig, do you want to hear this or not?" Claire hit my arm and I was knocked out of my little memory and back to reality. "As I was saying…At the club I was just hanging around, doing the regular things. I looked across the room and I saw her. Right away I knew it was Ashley, that girl you were running away from," she stopped talking. She expected me to say something about Ashley but I didn't.

"I made my way over to her side. I didn't want to seem weird so I took my time. Once I was close enough I said hello….

(Club scene)

"Hey! Haven't ever seen you around here!" Claire smiled at Ashley. She was holding a drink in her hand. She didn't seem to be having that much fun. She plastered a smile to her face and replied.

"I'm not from around here. And this really isn't my kind of fun,"

"It was obviously she didn't want to talk to me. She can be very condescending."

"Well, it depends on what kind of fun you're looking for." Claire smiled seductively and Ashley forced a laugh. "I'm Claire Hayeins."

"Ash-"

"Ashley Kerwin," Claire interrupted. Ashley was shocked.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? Do you know me?"

"Not really. I know you from what I've heard."

"Heard. From what have you heard about me?"

"Craig. Craig Manning,"

"Oh you should have seen the look on her face, Craig," Claire smiled and returned to the story.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say Craig Manning? That's not possible."

"It's very possible, Ashley. Would you like to sit down? This is going to take awhile,"

"So we sat down and talked. I didn't tell her everything but I told her enough to make sure she'd show up,"

"And so, you told her to come today?" I interrupted.

"Well, it's been four years. Hasn't it?"

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Claire, why?"

"After tonight, you are no longer Craig Manning. You're Michael Smith. I wanted to make sure you knew exactly what you would be giving up,"