Shelby was sitting in a large, wood and leather chair in front of her boss's desk. Her boss, John, sat behind the desk in an even larger leather chair. They were talking about Shelby's latest piece of work which were a group of pictures of Scott and Jena together; the theme was family.
"Your latest pictures were very moving, Shelby," John said and walked from behind the desk.
"Thank you," Shelby replied with a smile.
"You're welcome," He said and picked up one of the pictures. "Now, I recognize the girl as your daughter but who is the man?"
"He's my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend? I wasn't aware you had a boyfriend."
"Yeah," Shelby replied and was confused as to why he cared so much. "Why?"
"Well," John said. "I was always hoping that me and you had a future."
John rested one of his hands on Shelby shoulder and slowly started to move it lower, towards Shelby's chest. Shelby smacked his hand away from her and stood up from the chair. She moved away from him and almost hugged herself.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shelby asked, clearly appalled.
"What?" John asked innocently with open arms.
Shelby was disgusted. John was only in his mid-thirties and he was actually still pretty attractive but he was still her boss.
"You were just hitting on me," Shelby stated.
"Don't over react, Shelby. You were practically begging me to be with you after you came back from that trip," John said referring to how Shelby was sucking up to him when she came home from Horizon late.
"Yeah, I was sucking up to you so I wouldn't loose my job."
"And you didn't, did you? You can keep your job as long as you wish," John said but Shelby could tell that there was a 'but' coming in that sentence. "But, if you want to keep your job, you have to make me happy with you. The little, revealing shirts, short skirts or tight pants you wear are very nice, but I want to see more of you, Shelby. I want to see all of you."
Shelby was taken aback by his suggestion. She was with Scott and even if she wasn't, she would never do anything with John. He was her boss. One is not suppose to sleep with their boss or be hit on by their boss.
"What do you say?" John asked with arched eye brows.
"I quit," Shelby said and barely had to think twice about her decision.
With her final words, Shelby stormed out of the John's office. The thought of what happened disgusted her. She was happy she quit, as long as she didn't have to work for him anymore. But, there was one problem, Shelby no longer had a job and she still had to support herself and Jena.
Shelby walked to her desk and started to grab her things.
"Shelby, think about this. If you quit, how are you going to pay your bills?" John asked as if he had read Shelby's mind. "How are you going to support your daughter?"
"I'll figure something out," Shelby retorted and pushed past John.
Shelby walked out of the building and got into her car. Before she started the car, a sigh left her lips. She had no idea what she was going to do. Shelby shook her head, rubbed her eyes and drove home. The drive wasn't long but it was silent. Shelby thought to herself about what she was going to do money wise and how she was going to survive.
She felt completely lost.
After about a fifteen minute drive, Shelby pulled into her driveway and turned off her car. The entire drive home still didn't give her enough time to think of what she was going to do. She had so many things going through her mind right then and she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Shelby resisted the urge. She got out of her car and slowly walked into her small house.
Shelby looked around the silent house. Jena was at school so Shelby was left alone. She was actually, kind of, grateful for Jena not being home for she had no idea how she was going to explain to her why she was home three hours earlier than she usually was.
Shelby needed someone to talk to so she racked her mind and thought of someone she could vent to. Her mind stopped on Scott. She knew he had the day off so she picked up her house phone and dialed his number from memory. After two rings, Scott's voice came over the other line.
"Hey," Scott said and sounded pleased to be hearing from her.
"Hey," Shelby replied with an unsteady voice.
"What's wrong?" Scott asked, concerned.
"Nothing," Shelby said as she gained control over her voice. "What makes you think something's wrong?"
"I can tell by the tone of your voice."
"It's nothing."
"If it was nothing then how come I could tell something was wrong so easily?"
"'Cause you know me too well."
"Shel, tell me," Scott said, sweetly.
Shelby tried to think of a good way to tell Scott that she had quit her job but she couldn't.
Shelby took a deep breath and said, "I quit my job."
"You what?" Scott asked loudly, clearly surprised but he quickly quieted himself. "But you loved that job."
"Yeah, I did but I didn't love my boss. Especially, not the way he wanted me to."
"What do you mean?"
"He hit on me today and then said a bunch of bullshit basically saying that if I don't sleep with him that my career will suffer," Shelby explained briefly. "So, I quit."
"That's good."
"Good? How is that good, Scott? I don't have a job."
"And now there's nothing to stop you from moving in with me," Scott said.
Shelby paused before she responded to what Scott had just said. She wanted to be with Scott, true, but moving down there to live with him? Shelby wasn't sure she was ready for that and she wasn't sure Jena would be able to handle that either.
"Scott," Shelby began.
"Shelby, I'm sick of only being able to see you and Jena every other weekend," Scott cut her off.
"I'm tired of not being able to see you on a daily basis too but I can't just take Jena and move down there."
"Why not?"
"It would be a big change. Everything she knows is up here."
"Will you at least think about it?" Scott asked.
"Yes," Shelby said with a sigh. "I'll think about it."
"Good. Well, I have to go now. I love you."
"I'll talk to you later. I love you."
Neither of them said 'bye'. After saying 'I love you' they both hung up and went back to what they were doing. Scott had to go visit Susan and Shelby went into her room.
She laid down on her bed and a sigh left her lips. She was seriously thinking about Scott's offer but she couldn't just take Jena and bring her to a whole new place. Shelby realized that she didn't really have much of a choice though. She had no job and therefore couldn't pay for her house or to support Jena.
Shelby's eyes slowly closed and her mind cleared of everything she was thinking about. She let sleep wash over her for the short time she could.
After a couple of hours, Shelby was woken up by her cell phone ringing. Shelby's eyes opened but she still didn't want to answer her phone for she wanted to go back to sleep. She knew better than to ignore her calls though. She reached next to her and grabbed her phone. She saw that it was Daisy calling and flipped open her phone.
"What?" She asked, obviously not sounding happy about being awake.
"Were you asleep?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah."
"Why were you sleeping? Aren't you suppose to be at work."
"I quit today. And before you ask, no, I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Oh. Well, if you want me to call back later then I can go," Daisy said.
"No," Shelby replied. "What did you have to tell me."
"I have to move."
"What?" Shelby asked and shot up off her bed. "Where to?"
"St. Louis."
"So you're going to be moving by Scott."
"Yeah."
"Why are you moving?"
"Me and Jason have to move down there. That's where our branch of the company is moving."
Shelby understood what Daisy meant. Her and Jason worked for a specific branch of a big, Scientific company. Daisy and Jason knew they were going to be moving soon but no one realized just how soon. Shelby wasn't expecting it but she thought it could work as an advantage.
"That's actually kind of good," Shelby said.
"What? How?" Daisy asked.
"Well, I was talking to Scott earlier and I told him how I quit and he asked me to move in with him."
"Okay," Daisy said, sounding kind of confused.
"Well, I told him that I couldn't because I would be taking Jena away from everything she knew but if you guys move down there too then I wouldn't be," Shelby and sounded eager but then quickly relaxed. "Who am I kidding? I can't move in with Scott."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't put Jena through all that."
"But you can put Jena through hardly ever seeing her father and going down there every other weekend," Daisy said in a contradicting voice.
"Daisy," Shelby said.
"Don't 'Daisy' me. You know I'm right. You're having her suffer more now with the current situation then you would be if you guys moved down there."
Shelby sighed. She knew what Daisy was saying right then was probably true but she was still very apprehensive about moving in with Scott. She wasn't sure why didn't want to move in with Scott but she didn't. She was using Jena as an excuse but she knew she wasn't the real reason why she didn't want to move in with Scott. Jena would probably be thrilled if they moved in with Scott.
"Or maybe Jena isn't really the reason why you don't want to move in with him," Daisy said.
"Do you have telepathy or something?" Shelby asked with a small chuckle.
"No, I just know you," Daisy replied with a chuckle. "Why don't you want to move in with him?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, you better figure that one out, Shelby."
"I know."
"You have a week to decide. We're moving then and I want an answer before I go."
"Fine."
"I have to go now. I'll talk to you later and I want you to think about why you don't want to move in with him."
"I said fine," Shelby said.
"Uh-huh," Daisy said with a smirk and hung up.
They never said 'good bye' to each other. They never have and they never will. They always just had an understanding on that situation and knew when the other was done talking. They never really saw a point in saying 'bye'.
Shelby put her cell phone down and she started to think about what Daisy had said. It was true, that there was another reason, besides Jena, for Shelby not wanting to move in with Scott. It was similar to why she left him all those years ago; she was afraid. Not of anything imparticular but she was afraid of living with him. She was afraid of such a commitment. Shelby had no idea why she felt that way but she did.
Shelby sat back down on her bed and a sigh left her lips. She needed to figure out what she was going to do. Especially if she only had until the end of the week.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, Shelby thought to herself.
After several days, Shelby still hadn't figured out what she was going to do. She knew she had to decide on what she was going to do but she had no idea how to figure everything out. Daisy, Jason and Scott all wanted her to move in with Scott and Shelby, in a way, wanted that too.
But it wasn't Shelby who she was worrying about, it was Jena. Shelby knew that she should ask her daughter about what she wanted to do but that would, also, involve telling her that she lost her job. Shelby didn't know how to tell five-year-old about something so complex as the situation. Then again, she didn't know how to tell her about Scott being her Father either and she was able to do that.
Shelby took a deep breath and walked over to Jena, who was sitting on the couch, in the living room, watching The Little Mermaid. Shelby sat down next to her daughter on the couch but Jena barely noticed, she was too involved in the movie.
"Sweety," Shelby said. "Do you think we can stop the movie so I can talk to you real quick?"
Jena looked at her Mom and one could tell that she didn't want to stop the movie but she nodded, agreeing with her Mother's request.
Shelby stopped the movie and turned to Jena. She fiercely tried to think of something good to say but she couldn't think of anything. Instead, she just told the real story, without changing anything, besides something that would help Jena understand better.
"Jena, I lost my job. Do you know what that means?" Shelby asked.
Jena nodded and said, "But your job is what got us money."
"Yes, that's our problem. We won't be able to stay in our house without me having my job."
"So where we gonna go?"
"Well, your Dad asked us to move in with him," Shelby said and paused for a moment before continuing. "What do you think about that idea?"
"Move in with Daddy and leave Auntie Daisy and Jason here?" Jena asked and sounded upset about leaving Daisy.
"That's another thing. Auntie Daisy and Jason have to move down by Daddy anyway."
"So, we wouldn't be leaving them?"
"No," Shelby said with a small shake of her head and a small smile. "We won't be leaving them. But, even if we don't move in with your Daddy, Auntie Daisy and Jason have to move down there."
Jena looked like she was deep in thought. She knew she didn't want to leave Daisy and Jason but if they were moving down there anyway then she wouldn't be leaving them. If they moved in with Scott then they would be staying with them. And Daisy and Jason weren't the only reason Jena would be happy with moving, she would be with her Dad as well.
Jena turned to Shelby and asked, "Do you wanna go, Mommy?"
Shelby thought about Jena's question before she responded with, "Us moving is up to you, Jena."
"Do you wanna go?" Jena repeated sternly. She could be very pushy when she wanted to be.
"Part of me does but part of me doesn't."
"Why don't you?"
"I don't know," Shelby replied with a small shake of her head.
"If I wanted to go with Daddy would you be mad?"
"No."
"Good," Jena replied quickly and nodded. "I wanna go."
"Are you sure?" Shelby asked.
"Yeah. I wanna live with Daddy."
Shelby nodded but she wasn't sure why. Now the decision was completely up to her. Everyone wanted her to move in with Scott but herself and she wasn't even sure why. Shelby still didn't know what she was trying to avoid but she knew it had to do with Scott.
"Okay, you win, I'm moving in with him," Shelby said, while talking on the phone with Daisy.
"Don't sound so happy," Daisy warned sarcastically.
"I'm happy," Shelby stated.
"You don't sound like it."
"Maybe I will sound more happy after I tell Scott."
"You still haven't told him your decision?"
"No."
"Then what are you doing on the phone with me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Call that boy and tell him. I'm sure he'll be very happy," Daisy said with a smirk that was evident even just by her voice.
"Fine. I'll talk to you later," Shelby said as a smile crept onto her face and she hung up her phone.
Shelby was going to put the phone down and call Scott later but decided against it. She turned her phone back on, dialed his number from memory and held it to her ear, waiting for him to answer.
"Hello?" Scott asked from the other line.
"Hi," Shelby said.
"Hey, Shel. What's up?"
"Is that offer still open?"
"If you mean the one about you and Jena moving in with me then hell yes."
"Okay," Shelby said with a smile. "Then I'm taking you up on it."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Daisy and Jason moving down here too, would it?" Scott asked.
"They told you?"
"Daisy called me," Scott admitted. "Ya know what, though? I don't care what your excuse is. The point is, you're still moving in with me and I won't be stuck seeing my daughter and love of my life only every other weekend."
Shelby could tell that Scott was happy she agreed. She knew there was a smile on his face which caused one to creep onto her face. Shelby was starting to forget all about her being nervous and being afraid to move in with Scott and was just becoming happy about it.
"Well, I still have to sell my house so I don't know how soon it will be," Shelby said.
"Will you kill me if I tell you that's already taken care of?" Scott asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I kind of already put your house up for sale. I hope that's okay. And there's already an interested buyer."
"Don't they want to look at the house?"
"Yeah. They actually want to look at it tomorrow if that's okay," Scott said.
"Yeah, that's fine," Shelby said with a smile. "So if everything goes well with them then I should be with you in, like, a week."
"Exactly."
"Okay, well, I guess I should start getting everything together then, huh?"
"Probably."
"I'll talk to you later then. Love you," Shelby said.
"I love you too. Bye." Scott said.
"Bye."
Shelby hung up her phone and looked around her room. She had a lot that she had to pack and that was without any of Jena's things added in. Shelby sighed as she realized just how much she had to do.
She stood up from her bed and started to pack her things.
"So you're actually moving in with him?" Daisy asked Shelby as she was packing her car.
"Yes," Shelby replied. "I don't really have a choice anymore anyway. My house is sold."
"I know. Where'd the change of heart come from?"
"Well, Jena wanted to move in with him. And, the closer it came to me moving in with him, the more I liked the idea."
"Oh," Daisy said and added one of the boxes in the trunk.
"Yeah," Shelby said and added the last bag to the trunk.
"Is this all?"
"Yeah. The movers are getting everything else this weekend."
"So this is goodbye, then."
"Only until you guys are down there. And, hey, since when do we say goodbye?"
"True," Daisy said with a smile. "I'll see you in a few days."
"See ya then," Shelby said and got in her car.
Shelby looked back at Jena in the back seat and asked, "You ready to go?"
"Yep!" Jena said with a huge smile and a nod.
"Okay then."
Shelby waved to Daisy and pulled out of her drive way. Before she drove away, she took a final look at her house and nodded to herself. She drove down the street and was heading towards the free way where she would go to Scott's house.
After putting Jena to bed, Shelby walked into Scott's room with him following. He had a huge smile on his face and wanted to take full advantage of them being together.
"Scott, we still have to get the rest of my stuff out of the car," Shelby said, only half serious.
"It can wait until morning," Scott contradicted.
Shelby thought about that for a moment and realized that Scott was right. She wanted to take advantage of them being together as well. She didn't say anything, only nodded and Scott knew exactly what it meant.
Scott walked over to Shelby and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Shelby wrapped her arms around his neck as Scott slid his arms around her back. The kiss grew more intense and they fell backwards on the bed, taking advantage of living together.
(A/N)- First off thank you all so much for all the reviews from: Melms213, ScottandShelby334, hdrox, Linkie, keke1, twin muse, Ishbu girl, Ghostwriter, OliverWoodsGurl4life, Gabriela, iluvtv2much, OthfanAnna, nefftys, tribaltaisan, Ashlyn Alexis, Natalie Skywalker, Tracy, ScottandShelbyfan, Mandy, LilSoccerBaby20, Ems, Grey Daze's Nirvana, Jessa Faerie, Neptunes Princess, 2008ccampbell, sweetgirl,Lavender Brown-Halliwell, mary-023, angel, Saun,HCLvr, SethxSummer4Evah, and jessmerrick. I'm happy you all enjoy this story!
Secondly, I'm SO sorry this took so long to get up. I had several court dates that I had to go to and that got be in a big slump and then school got me completly swamped. I have finals coming up and everything is just crazy for me right now. I hope to get my next updates up quicker than this one took. My next update with be my next "All Because of a Play" chapter. I'll update this again after I update "Memories" again. I have a strange order for my updates.
Another thing, I'm not very pleased with this chapter. It seemed pretty boring but it was a necessary chapter. I hate when I have those where I just have things that need to be done but none of those things are fun. My next one for this story will be very dramatic though so hopefully I can make up for this one.
Please review! I would like to how much I screwed up. ;)