By: Rachel
© August 2001
Chapter One
"Chris? Hello? Christopher??"
Chris Kirkpatrick's gaze shifted from its lazy stare out of the dirty windowpane to the inquisitive eyes of his best friend, Justin.
"Man, where were you at?"
"Thinking."
"Chris, we've told you time and time again that isn't good for a man your age. No thinkie."
Chris made a valiant attempt at unbridled laughter at Justin's pathetic joke, but failed miserably. All that came out was a whisper of a jovial whimper.
"Thinking about her again aren't ya, Kirkpatrick?"
Chris didn't even bother to answer as he once again diverted his gaze from Justin's all too penetrating blue stare back to the less probing windowpane. Although Justin noticed Chris's "I don't want to talk about this" look, he continued, knowing all too well the source of Chris's woes.
"Chris. You can't keep doing this to yourself. Sitting here and moping around is not going to bring her back."
"I KNOW it's not going to bring her back, Justin. Jesus. I'm ten years older than your ass, I really don't need a lecture from YOU." His angry words were iced over with a harsh bitterness that didn't go unnoticed by Justin.
"Look, man. Get mad at me if you like. I'm still going to give you a lecture that you most obviously need. I don't care how young I am in relation to you. By God, if I can talk some sense into you, I will. You're not yourself, anymore, man. It's getting crazy the way you're acting."
"How am I acting, Justin? You tell me, Mr. 'I've Never Had Relationship Woes Because My Life Is So Damn Perfect.'"
"Whoa, back up. I've never had relationship problems? Before Brit, I was the *king* of relationship problems. Chris, lest we forget Stacey and Veronica? Big winners in the "Let's Tear Justin's World Apart" game show, let me tell you."
"Okay I will give you that. They were losers. But this is different. She was not a loser."
"I know."
"And another thing," Chris continued. "Look at it from my point of view. A great girl waltzes into my life unexpectedly and turns my entire world upside down. For the first time in my life, I feel this, this, LOVE that I've never felt anywhere else. She saw through the flashes of light and didn't care what my name could bring her. She saw ME. And only me. She was absolutely perfect, Justin. Just the way you think Britney is. Justin, what if all of a sudden your perfect little world with Brit Brit turned upside down if Britney ever happened to leave you? How exactly would you feel?"
"Lost."
"Thank you! My point exactly. So, if you don't mind, let's end this conversation now. As you can see, I'm really not in the mood to talk about it." With an annoyed roll of his eyes, Chris again re-concentrated his focus on the tour bus window.
"Okay, man. I'll leave you alone for now. But I'm warning you, Chris. You're hanging onto her memory with every ounce of your being and probably passing up the best thing as we speak. Mark my words."
"Honestly, Brynn, I don't know why I try anymore. I mean, I hang onto him for dear life, and what do I get in return? Nada!"
"Honey, to be honest with you, I don't know why you do either. Sure, I know you love him, but sometimes that's not always enough. Does Blake love you?"
"Maybe. Hopefully. Oh damn, I don't know."
"Ash, my advice would be to do some serious soul searching. Think long and hard about your relationship with Blake from a subjective point of view. Make a list of all of the qualities you want your perfect man to have and see if Blake adds up. If he doesn't, don't sell yourself short."
"Brynn, I think I should pay you to become my therapist. How do you do that so well?"
"I'm good."
Brynn snickered at the thought of her friend. she had known Ashleigh since her days in high school back in Tennessee. While Ash had brain smarts that envied even the biggest geniuses of the world, she couldn't quite seem to get the whole relationship thing down pat. Her latest problem was the guy she had dated for about a year, Blake. Nice guy, sure, but when it came to being top grade boyfriend material, he seriously lacked. Most girls probably would have left as soon as they got the feeling they were unwanted, but not Ashleigh. Her hopelessly romantic heart made her cling to men that she should have kicked to the curb months before. And leave it to Ashleigh to call her "doctor" and best friend, Brynn, long distance when she needed expert relationship advice.
"Okay, I know you're busy, and I really shouldn't be bothering you at work with all of my crap. Email me later?"
"You know I will."
"Thanks, Brynn."
"Sure thing."
Ashleigh replaced the cordless phone into its cradle and sauntered into the bathroom of her apartment. She flipped on the light and sighed at the reflection that appeared in the mirror.
"You, girl, have some serious issues."
She eyed herself critically and wondered what exactly was so wrong with her that she couldn't get a good man. Sure, she wasn't Tyra Banks or Britney Spears or even anything remotely close, but she wasn't completely unattractive, either. Her naturally dark brown hair cascaded down to the middle of her back in healthy layers. She had a natural olive tone and rosy cheeks that required little to no use of makeup, except on the very rare occasion that her boyfriend actually took her out. Her figure was firm, but neither skinny nor fat, and her long legs had always been one of her favorite features. She sighed in defeat and walked back into the living room, plopping onto her couch and pulling out her books.
"A little homework, would be nice, Ash. Then ya can get out of this hellhole."
An hour passed as she dove into work from her classes. She had attended a local university kind of close to home instead of choosing a larger, out-of-state school. Brynn had even started her college career at the same school, but had dropped out in favor of her career. Somehow, Brynn had managed to get a top-paying job as a public relations executive at an artist management company without a degree. Ashleigh, on the other hand, was still in school and struggling to obtain her degree in Music Business before she turned 30. Needing a welcome break from poring over her extensive Media Law notes, she pulled out a piece of paper and, thinking of Brynn's advice, began listing the top qualities in her perfect man:
Handsome, charming, absolutely hilarious. Generous, talented, intelligent. Unique, no scratch that, interesting. He'd have to have nice, soft hands, dark brown eyes, tousled hair, athletic. I want a *firm* man, too. Not too skinny, not too big. Just enough for me to love on....
Ashleigh dug into her brain, trying her best to think of that one quality that was missing, that only her perfect man could have. A ha!
No ass.
He couldn't have a nice ass. No ass would be Ashleigh's preferred type of ass. The "he has to have a nice ass" trait was so overused and cliche and Ashleigh couldn't stand it. Besides, there was something endearing about a guy with hardly anything to flaunt on his posterior. The ringing phone halted her creativity, though, and Ashleigh snatched it off of the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey Ash. It's Blake. Listen, about tonight..." Ashleigh rolled her eyes and waited for the inevitable and way overused excuse "that something had popped up" or that he "couldn't make it" as an outlet for escaping their Friday night date. After Blake hung up, Ashleigh wickedly grinned to herself as she pulled out another piece of paper and titled it:
| 1. Blonde hair. |
| 2. Blue eyes. |
| 3. Tan and muscular. |
| 4. Inconsiderate. |
| 5. Absolutely dry humor. |
| 6. No life outside of himself. |
| 7. And, oh yes, a nice ass. |
"Hey Chris, c'mere. I gotta proposition for you." Chris rolled his eyes and lightly jogged over to his bandmate, Joey.
"You have a proposition for me? I dunno, Joe. Sounds kind of scary."
"Shut up. Okay, anyway. Steve's girlfriend is coming into town for four days and she's bringing her friend, Skylar. I was kind of wondering if you'd be willing to hang out with her so she doesn't feel so, ya know, left out."
"No, thank you, Joey. I'd rather not subject myself to hoochies that you and Steve are so prone to picking out."
"Man, come on. Skylar's not a hooch. She's downright, gorgeous, man. If I wasn't taken, I'd be getting in on some of that."
"Joe, no offense, but you'll probably be 'getting in on some of that' regardless if you're taken or not."
"Chris, please? Just take her out once? It won't hurt."
"Yeah, Chris. Joe's right," Justin chimed in. "It might even slowly get you back into the dating game a little."
"Thanks, guys, but no thanks. I really don't need your help with my love life. Besides, I'm not quite ready to be thrown into the pool of sharks again. It's only been a few months."
"Chris, I'm not asking you to marry her. Just one date. You can ignore her the rest of eternity if ya want, just show her a good time."
"See if JC will do it. You know he's always looking for an excuse to run like Hell from Bobbitchy."
"Man, where have you been? You know Josh ain't getting away from her so easily. Like Roberta is going to be like 'Sure, Joshy, you can go screw around with some other cute blonde. I'll just sit at home and hang out all by my money-grubbing, skank-ass self.' Right!"
"What about Lance?"
"Nope. You know Lance is with Brynn."
"Damn."
"Please, Chris? Just once? I will do whatever you want to make it up to you."
Chris sighed dramatically and threw his hands up in the air in defeat.
"Okay, Joe. Just once. That's it."
"Thanks, man, I owe ya one!"
"So, then, I had to like, go and buy this, like, new dress, because you've got to have something to match your new shoes. You know?"
"Yeah, uh-huh. What a travesty to not match for .2 seconds." Skylar giggled idiotically and Chris inwardly groaned.
"You're so funny, Chris. That's what I love about you." Chris's eyes popped out of his head in extreme shock as he saw Skylar's clueless facade morph into a completely different personality. Her voice lowered seductively as she spoke, and she brushed her hand lightly over Chris's. Chris cringed as he jerked his hand away.
"Enough of the charade, Chris. I'm not as dumb as you may think I am, right now. I can see the whole bimbo thing isn't exactly working for you. In all seriousness, you need to know that I'm not here for 'company' as Joey probably put it. I requested a date with you."
"What?"
"Yeah. This was all a part of my ultimate plan."
"Okay, back up. You're telling me I just suffered through an entire hour of half of shopping woes that you've unearthed at Lord and Taylor's and that I also endured an even worse conversation about the dos and donts of the fashion world? Just because it's part of your ultimate plan? What is your ultimate plan, persay?"
"To get in your pants."
"What?? I need a drink." Chris summoned the waiter to the table and hastily ordered a double shot of Jack. "Why me," Chris continued, "when you can have hot little Thrustin' Justin or even Hoey Joey?"
"Justin and Joey aren't what I want, Chris. I want you. Always have."
The welcome dose of liquor graciously arrived at the table and Chris quickly downed it.
"You can't be serious."
"Oh, I am. Something about you drives me insane. I always watch you on the tube and imagine what your uncanny sense of humor would be like in the sack."
"Oh my." Chris's mouth felt like cotton and his palms began to sweat. Skylar leaned closer to him over the table, taking careful pains to lower her shirt just enough so Chris's eyes could peak at her ample breasts. Even though he willed himself not to look, he did, and an instant tightening in his groin made him groan softly.
"Come on, Chris. No strings attached. That is you guys' motto, right? One careless night of passionate sex. You'll never hear from me again."
"You have balls, lady."
"Take me up to your room and I'll show you what else I have."
Skylar sensed the remaining hesitation left in Chris's mind, and softly moved her foot up his pants leg as she spoke.
"Chris, I keep tabs on you. I know you're living the single life right now. I also know it's been a while since, to put it bluntly, since anyone has rocked your world. So what are you waiting for? You can't lose."
Chris ordered one more shot of Jack and downed it before slowly rising from the table, his excitement painfully aware through the thin fabric of his pants.
"Let's go."
The sunlight beaming through the thin curtains hanging in the room window awoke Chris from his slumber. He wrinkled his forehead as a dull ache pounded in his temples. He looked to his right and groaned as he noticed all of the empty bottles of liquor stacked onto the little night table, obviously retrieved the previous night from the mini-bar in his room. Slowly he became aware that he wasn't alone and looked to his left, where his eyes focused on a sleeping blonde in his bed.
"Great." Chris thought to himself. "What have I done now?"
His brain hurt as he fought to remember the girl's name. Surely he couldn't have nailed a woman with no name. He wasn't like that...or was he? No, no. Her name was Pilar. No, Susan. Skye? That's it, Skylar. The blonde Joey had so generously hooked him up with. He vaguely remembered having an actual date with her, and didn't remember at all the events that had unfolded afterwards. He lifted up the covers and peered under them. He silently cursed himself as he realized that both of them were completely naked.
"Yep. You're a groupie fiend, now, Kirkpatrick. What has Joey done to you?"
Chris slowly crawled out of the bed, trying to be careful not to wake his "sleeping buddy." He somehow managed to find his boxers in the midst of the piles of scattered clothes on the floor and pulled them on.
"Good morning." Skylar's voice startled him, and he jumped at the sound.
"Ummm. Hi."
Chris's eyes widened as she carelessly jumped out of bed and nonchalantly strolled around the room in her birthday suit. Chris quickly picked up her clothes and threw them to her.
"Here."
"Chris, you act like you've never seen a naked woman."
"Certainly not one I just met last night, no."
"I see." Skylar slipped on her new dress and her new matching shoes. "Thanks for a fun night, baby."
"Sure."
She blew him a kiss and walked out of the door, without another word. Chris flung himself back down on the bed and groaned.
"Joey's gonna love this."
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