Authors: Madison Kent
Ashton picked the phone up, “Paramount Star, can I help you?”
“Hey Ashton, how are you? Is Ari there?”
“Welcome home, Adam, we’re all happy you’ve returned. Yes, she’s here. We’re just closing up shop. You should see the office, it looks great. There have been a lot of changes since you left. Well, let me get Ari for you, hope to see you soon.”
“Arianna, it’s him, your true love’s calling for you. I don’t know how you do it, woman.”
“It’s him. It’s Adam. That’s either a very good sign or a very bad sign. He said he would call in the next few days. Look at me, I’m shaking. He has so much power over me.”
“Adam, how are you? I’m glad you called.”
“I wasn’t sure if you would still be there but knowing you, I thought you might be. I got weirded out about calling you. I know you must hate me and I would understand if you did. If I didn’t tell you before, I’m damn glad you’re still in business and I’m proud of you that you made it. It must have been a hell of a ride for you girl, to do this all alone.”
“When you first left, I was in bad shape but when Ashton and Chloe stepped in and then I met this guy Stan and they all helped a lot. It’s changed a lot since you were here. I hope you come and see the office sometime before you leave again.”
“Umm….how ‘bout tonight?”
“You kind of caught me off guard. Let me call Chris and see if he’ll keep the boys overnight.”
“I’m only ten minutes away. If he can’t, at least I can see you for a little while and talk to you.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be waiting.”
“Arianna, I hope you know what you’re doing this time. I’m heading out. I hope your meeting with Adam goes well.”
“Girl, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time; however it goes I’ll know he’s right here with me, like I dreamed it a thousand times.”
Chris said the boys were asleep and he would just bring them by in the morning. Arianna flew around the make-up room, fixing her hair and searching for a new outfit in the items she always left at Paramount. She chose a peacock blue top with black string ties down the front and white skins. This time when she saw him at least she would look a little like the girl he used to know. She was confused by his call. She hadn’t been sure he would even call her at all except to reclaim his motorcycle.
When the elevator door opened, she was a nervous wreck. She heard his footsteps coming down the hall and wanted to run out and jump into his arms. Shyly, they both look at each other as if they had never met before. They sat and talked about his trip and he told her of some of his escapades, about both the men and women they tried to pick him up and offer him shelter and how he made money to exist by playing pool. He said he would find a pool hall and stay there most of the day, drinking and challenging people. He said he would scratch by and usually have enough for a hotel room and something to eat. Sometimes he said, women would take him home and fix him a meal. She grimaced inside at this, but tried not to show it on her face.
After almost two hours of him speaking about his trip, he had pulled her against him and held her as he talked. It seemed so natural, even after all that had happened between them. Slowly he began to kiss her, tears fell from her eyes as she responded and after all these months, she began to breathe again and come back from the dead. For this moment, he was here again, after all those times of wishing he would appear. He was here, holding her and she would cherish this moment.
They made love, sweetly and softly, gently caressing each other and stroking the hurt away. Around 4:00AM he said,
“I guess I better let you go now and get home and I better head out.”
“I’m glad you came by. It seems strange to part and not be going home together. I’ve missed you so terribly but I’m glad your back and that you’ve returned safely. I’ve been so worried about you.”
“And I’ve worried about you too, girl. I know I’ve screwed up your life and mine. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve just feel I need to be by myself. I don’t think I should ever be married, I know now I can’t live up to those responsibilities.”
“We’ll talk another time about all that. The main thing is your home and I hope you don’t feel the need to go away again. We’ll work things out somehow. If it means we have to get divorced, then so be it but I don’t want to push you out of Florida.”
“I guess, after all that’s happened, divorce is the only thing that’s left. I better go, I’m starting to feel messed up again. Looking at you, seeing again the beautiful and loving person you are, I’m wondering why I ever left you.”
Lying in bed at home that night, she dreamt of him and wept. She held his pillow where he used to lay his head and sobbed. Just the touch of him on her arm had brought all manner of love and passion back to her and all that he had done to hurt her had dissolved. Her heart once again opened and all the love she had for him spilled out.
The next day, he phoned her early in the morning at the office.
“I was just thinking since I don’t have a job and you need a new photographer, maybe I could do it. I know a little but I could take some classes at the college and maybe I could help you out. That’s the least I could do for you after all that’s happened. I can’t offer you any financial assistance but I could do that.”
“You would do that? Are you kidding, of course, I would welcome it. I could trust you, the last two guys I had ended up trying to hit on the girls. I had to let them go almost immediately. It would be great to have you part of the agency again.”
So things went on for the next few months in a partial limbo, neither of them confronting their unusual half commitment to each other. At least he didn’t leave town and now she was seeing him on a regular basis. He had come for the remainder of his clothes and his motorcycle. His things gone from their home made her once again face the reality that despite his frequent presence, perhaps everything was over between them except for the final divorce papers. She thought, is this how it ends then, they would be the amiable divorced couple who sometimes worked together. She was glad to work with him and unspeakably sad each time he left her when work was through. Almost every time they were together, before they parted, they would make love. Sneaking off to places as if they were teen agers and not still a married couple, they made fervent love to each other but still departed to stay in separate homes. He had rented a small room, just steps from the gulf. She remained at their home in Tampa.
“Your photography skills are excellent. You have captured the lighting effects I have wanted. When we work together, we’re a pretty good team. Don’t you think?”
“I agree about that, but I don’t think you really need me girl. It looks as if you got along just fine without me. In fact, you probably did better than if I were here. You’ve accomplished so much.”
“I could never do better without you. Maybe I could or couldn’t be more or less successful, but I would never do better without you in my life. That’s impossible. Every time something exciting happened or we did a show, all I could think about was you. I wished you were by my side.”
“I promise I won’t let you down with the photography. That much I can commit to, at least now you have an unpaid employee that will work for you.”
“You can’t know how great that makes me feel to have you back in my corner again.”
Business was continuing to stream in and everyone loved Adam. The girls flirting with him shamelessly and the guys all wanted to talk to him about his motorcycle and motocross competitions. Everyone whispered about where he was before this, but Arianna constantly sidestepped the issue. Ashton was spending a great deal of time with them, at the agency and after work. Charlie now barely spoke to her, believing she was the source of all the problems that he and Ashton were having.
Adam was shooting some pictures for one of the girl’s composites inside the photo room and Ari was at the office making promotional calls. Ashton and Chloe were there teaching class.
Julie, a newly hired receptionist, was at the front desk when Charlie came bounding into the office and demanded to speak to Arianna.
“Gees, Charlie, what is it? If you want to speak to Ashton, just go into her class.”
“Ashton, no, I want to talk to you, you wicked woman.”
She interrupted quickly, “Hold on a minute. I know she’s spending a lot of time here but it’s her choice to do so.”
“You pretend to be such a little innocent when behind closed doors; you’re just a kinky little witch.”
She thought about calling Adam in but then realized it would be a scene that would not end well.
“Look, I’m sorry if things are not going well for you and Ashton. I know what that feels like but I am not to blame for your troubles, you need to work that out with her.”
“Oh, pulllease, don’t act ignorant. Don’t pretend you don’t know what you have done.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ashton told me that the two of you were sleeping together and that she loved you and that you felt the same way.”
Her eyes popped and for what seemed like a lifetime, she was silenced by his ridiculous remarks.
“I don’t know what in the hell you are talking about.”
“Ashton told me you and her are lovers, and you with two little boys. Aren’t you ashamed of what you have done? That’s what you were doing when she spent all those nights here! That’s disgusting.”
“Wait, this has gone too far, let’s just call her in here.”
Arianna went to Ashton’s class and dismissed it, sighting an emergency and a promise of an extended class the next time they came in.
“Ashton, I can’t believe what Charlie just told me. Please tell me it isn’t true and you didn’t tell him we were lovers.”
By this time, the commotion attracted everyone’s attention and Adam began knocking at her door. From the look on his face, he seemed aware of how shaken she was. It was obvious to observe that Charlie was blood red faced and Ashton had her head down. He dismissed his client and now the four were locked in steely glances inside her office.
“Ashton, please speak. Tell me these things he is saying didn’t come from you.”
“I…yes, I said it. I’m sorry, woman. I was so sick of his jealousy and I told him I wished he was half as bold and capable as you are; that you had more cojones than he did and that I liked you better. Well, Jesus, it’s true. It was crazy, I know but he acted like such a baby.”
Adam’s reaction to all this was the strangest. While they were all in stages of crazy, he just smiled and seemed to be enjoying the show.
“Arianna, I’m sorry. It just came flying out of my mouth when he was putting you down and saying nasty things about you. I know I shouldn’t have but I just wanted to shock the hell out of him by saying a preferred a woman to him. I’m sorry to you, too, Charlie. You didn’t deserve that, hell; I guess I’m just as crazy as Adam.”
Charlie said, “Shit, I’m sorry Arianna. I would never have thought that Ashton would make up a story like that, I was sure it had to be true. Even for her, this is too much. If that’s the way you feel about me, I’m gone. You are crazy, you’re all fricking crazy. I’m out of here.”
He left slamming the door. She was glad she had dismissed the classes and that no one but the staff was privy to this confrontation.
Ashton said, “I’m leaving, I have to go after him. I shouldn’t have done that. He’s right, it was too much. I was drunk when I said it because I was sick of him trying to stop me from coming to the agency. I’m sorry to you, Arianna. I never thought you would have ever known I said those things. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”
Chloe had left earlier before all this had started. She told Julie good night and she and Adam remained alone in the office.