Nick was speechless. Ashley looked down in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry… I guess I should go" she said, standing up and taking her purse.
"No… don't" he replied, grabbing her arm and making her sit down again.
"Why? So, that I can humiliate myself even more? I already said it, Nick. There's no way back now"
"Ash, please… I'm kind of shocked right now. I'm sorry I kind of reacted that way. I don't even know what to say anymore"
"Then, don't say anything… I really made a fool of myself. I understand that you're happily married and that my best friend is your wife..." She cringed with the idea that she just kissed his best friend's husband. "I'm really sorry, Nick" she sighed, closing her eyes and looking down.
"Hey, it's okay… I'm not mad at you… I kinda overreacted to the whole thing" Nick took a deep breath. "But, I want to ask you one question"
"What is it?" she whispered.
"For how long… I mean… how long…"
Ashley knew what he was going to ask. "Since I met you...I liked you ever since I met you, Nickolas. But you never seemed to notice me. I tried to be with you, I don't know how many times, but you didn't seem interested"
"What do you mean, I didn't seem interested?"
"Well, you were always with Yvette. You had this thing with her and you never really pay attention to me. And you know what? Yvette's my best friend and above all, I want her to be happy and I don't want to cause her pain...I know that with me telling you this, she's going to be fuming with anger if she finds out. Nick, I didn't mean to like you the way I did, but when you and Yvette started dating, I kind of gave up on you just because of the fact that she was my best friend"
Nick nodded, still awed by what she did earlier and by what she was saying. "I didn't have a clue that you were feeling those things for me" Nick finally said.
"I know… I tried to hide it. Well, cause, I didn't want to hurt you or Yvette"
"Ashley, you got to understand something..I love her"
"God, I know..I don't mean to break you two up or anything… I know that you love her and I respect that"
"Then, why did you kiss me?"
"I- I don't know" she said, filled with embarrassment.
"Ashley… I don't think we should see each other again" Nick replied, looking deep into her eyes. He knew that this would hurt her but it was the best for the two of them at the moment.
"But… what about the tour? What about me being your manager? What about that?" she said, firing the questions without even thinking them.
"I guess we will have to finish the promotional tour together… but then, I want us not to see each other"
Tears welled up in Ashley's eyes, as she took his hand. "What about Yvette?"
"I guess I'll have to talk to her about this"
"No! Nick, please… she'll hate me" she replied, a little too quick.
Nick closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. "I can't help but tell her Ashley… I promised that I would tell her everything"
"Nick please… I didn't mean for this to happen… I couldn't control it"
"Would you like me to take you to the hotel?" Nick said in a serious tone.
Ashley sighed and looked deep into his blue eyes.
"It's okay… I can walk. Just go to the hotel and talk to Yvette. I'll try and get out of your life as soon as possible" she answered in a stern tone.
"Okay then" he said, standing up from his chair and getting out of the restaurant, leaving Ashley, as she broke down in tears.
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Nick went towards his rental car and got in, thankful that no one recognized him. He banged his head on the steering wheel a couple of times before he dialed the oh so familiar number and waited for it to ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey Emma" Nick said, referring to Yvette's mom.
"Hi, sweetie. What's going on?" Yvette's mother said, to Nick or how she preferred to call him, her son.
Emma and Nick developed a strong friendship over the time that he was with Yvette. He felt that he could tell her anything, due to the fact that she was very young. She was only 44 and she was the kind of mom who would be a friend to her daughter first, rather than a nagging mother. That's the thing that Nick liked most about her. Yvette's father died when Yvette was only 15 so, Emma was always around them. He planned to tell her everything that just happened with Ashley, he just didn't know how. He needed someone close to Yvette to give him advice and she was the best person that he could find.
"Momma… I gotta tell you something" Nick stuttered, turning the engine on and getting out of the parking lot.
"What is it, sweetie? Is there something wrong with Yvette or with you?"
"I'm not with her right now, Momma… I'm in a promotional tour in California"
"Oh baby, you miss her right?"
"A whole lot" he said, fidgeting with his fingers and figuring out a way to tell her what went on with Ashley.
"Nick, is something wrong? You're hiding something"
Nick chuckled lightly. She knew him too well, almost as well as his mother.
"Well… the thing is that…"
"I knew it" she whispered at the other end of the line.
"I've hung out with Ashley a lot"
"Ashley, as in Yvette's friend?" Emma asked, a little nervous about what he was going to tell her.
"Yeah, that Ashley… and she kissed me"
Emma sighed. "Did you kiss her back?"
"No, no… I didn't… but I'm afraid she'll do it again… she told me that she liked me ever since she met me"
"Are you planning on telling my daughter?"
Nick sighed, not knowing if she would be furious with his answer. "To be totally honest, I don't know" he said, grasping the steering wheel.
"Don't tell her for now, Nick" she said, something that surprised him to no end.
"W-what?"
"She is the kind of person who would get mad at the smallest thing…and if you said that nothing happened, there's no need to confess anything to her. It was a mistake… but don't let it happen again"
"But, what if Ashley tells her?"
"She's not going to tell her. She'll probably be praying for you not to tell her"
Nick nodded. "Okay, momma… I won't tell her for now"
"If you feel you have to tell her in some time or another, just do it. Don't stay with that inside, if you know you have to tell her"
"Alright then. Thanks so much, Emma"
"Please, call me Momma better. You know it makes me feel old that you called me by my name" she said chuckling at the other side.
"Okay, Momma" Nick smiled. What would he do without her, he thought.
They talked about Yvette for a couple of minutes more and then he hung up. Soon after, Nick got a call from Ashley telling him that he had an out of the blue interview with some radio station.
"Please, don't let anything else happen" he whispered to himself, heading back to the hotel.
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Meanwhile, back in Florida, Yvette sat in the porch talking to Aaron and AJ. Her eyes darted from them to her cell phone. She was getting really worried, since she hadn't received a call from Nick in almost a week and every time she called, his voice mail would answer.
"Are you still thinking about, Nick?" AJ chimed in, getting her out of her daze.
Yvette smiled and didn't say anything, but they already knew her answer.
"How about going partying tonight so, that you can forget him for a while?"
"No, not partying… I'm not in the mood for that" she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, let's go get a few drinks or something. Remember that Aaron's legal now for certain pubs.
"Yeah!" Aaron responded a little over excited, which made them laugh.
"I have to find Nick to tell him that I moved to his old house" Yvette said, playing with her fingers. Yvette had moved a week ago to Nick's old house in the Keys. She felt that she was being a burden on Nick's parents' house although Aaron reassured her that she was not.
"Talk to him later" Aaron replied, taking her hand and helping her up from her chair. "Now go and dress up… look pretty for us tonight" he said with a grin.
Yvette rolled her eyes and smiled. "You go and invite your girlfriend so, that you can leave me alone" she said, making AJ laugh.
"Oh I will"
Fifteen minutes later, they were all ready. AJ had some clothes at Nick's house so, he used those and Aaron brought some clothes from his house, since he would be staying with Yvette to keep her company. Yvette opted to wear a simple black dress with some sandals and both Aaron and AJ wore black shirts and jeans.
"Hey, you match" Yvette said, coming down the stairs greeting AJ and Aaron with a smile.
"You look beautiful" AJ said, taking her hand and kissing it softly.
"Hey, watch out" Aaron said, taking Yvette's hand and showing her wedding band to AJ.
"I know, I know" AJ snorted as Yvette laughed.
"Are we ready to go?" Yvette finally said, walking past them and greeting Hillary on the way.
"Yup, let's go then" Aaron said, taking Hillary's hand and walking past the door with AJ and Yvette after them.
They didn't have the mood nor the energy to go to a club, so they decided on going to a little pub near the house and chill there. A few hours later and a couple of drinks later, they decided that they did have the energy to go to a club.
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Nick was calling Yvette nonstop that night to no avail. He needed to talk to her about what happened with Ashley. He couldn't hold it back anymore. That's why he didn't call her in almost a week. The week before that, he tried telling her but didn't find the guts to do it. Now, he was determined to tell her but he didn't find her on his cell phone.
"Maybe she's gone out with my parents or something" he thought to himself, darting off to sleep.
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Yvette opened her eyes the next morning with a huge headache. "Oh man, I have to stop drinking" she whispered to herself. She closed her eyes again and opened them just as fast. She looked at her side and gasped.
"Oh my God…" she whispered. "What the hell did I do?" She finally said, watching a figure lying next to her. Little did she know that AJ slept next to her the whole night, having no sense whatsoever of what they did the night before.