Fifteen Weekends (17 page)

  Ashleigh returned home from her week in New York feeling relaxed and refreshed. On Sunday, she drove out to the Hamptons with Liam for lunch and a polo match. Over the course of the week, she and Liam spent their time shopping and walking around the city. During one of their event free evenings, they went to see an Off-Broadway play about two teenage vampires who were in love, but their parents would not allow them to be together because of some lifelong feud among the two families. Ashleigh thought it was all very Hatfield and McCoy’s. Liam compared it to Romeo and Juliet, of course he did. Needless to say it was ridiculous, but Ashleigh and Liam got a kick out of making fun of the performance.

  After the long week of meetings, cocktail receptions, food and wine tastings and events at The Refinery Hotel, Ashleigh spent her last day in New York at the spa being pampered. She even went to Dream Dry for a blow out and Oribe treatment.

  Telling Liam about losing Nick and the baby was painful, but she was glad she confided her secret to him. Besides Emily, Ashleigh considered Liam one of her best friends. Keeping this part of her life from him seemed a bit unfair or like she was hiding something.

   Ashleigh began to unpack. She accidently bumped the nightstand with her suitcase and heard something fall to floor. Bending down to see what it was, she spotted the Union Jack keychain Liam had given her. She picked it up and placed it back on her nightstand. Grabbing her phone off the dresser, she pulled up the Skype app to see if Liam was online. He was not.
Where could Liam be?

  He left New York a day before she did. She looked at her watch and realized that it was nearly eight-thirty in the evening in London. Liam was probably having dinner with friends, but she found it odd that he had not checked in with her. Usually he sends her a message to see if she arrived home safely.

  She decided to check her email and found there was a message from her Editor. It was the assignment schedule for the next few weeks which included travelling to California, Seattle and then Montreal after the Fourth of July. After Montreal she would be back in London. Summer was going to go by fast, she thought. She had better make some plans or these remaining weekends would pass her by. 

  Ashleigh continued to unpack, and she saw a flash of lightening in the distance. She threw some clothes into the washing machine and headed downstairs to retrieve her mail. Crossing the lobby to where the mailboxes she came face to face with Amanda.

  “Amanda?!” she inquired, her voice thick with shock.

  “Ashleigh!” Amanda shouted excitedly. “Hi. How are you?”

  “Amanda, what are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in a few months.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been busy. I moved out of my apartment, and I live here now,” Amanda said grinning from ear to ear.

   The first question that came to Ashleigh’s mind was, how the fuck could Amanda afford to live at the River House? Then, she wondered what unsuspecting rich man she had taken advantage of to give her such a posh lifestyle, thinking it better not be Mr. Sullivan. The man was a serial husband, he had just finalized his third divorce in five years.

  Ashleigh could not hold her tongue, and the words sarcastically fell out of her mouth. “
How
are
you
living here Amanda?”

  “The man I’m seeing, his name is Vince, he lives here, and he asked me to move in with him,” Amanda replied sharply.

  “Oh? I didn’t know you were involved with anyone,” Ashleigh quipped.

  The dislike these two women had for each other was quite obvious. There was an awkward silence—the tension hung in the air around them. Emily had introduced Ashleigh to Amanda a few years ago at a dinner party, Emily naively thought Ashleigh might be able to help Amanda make some connections that could to lead to a job opportunity, since Amanda had just been fired from the radio station. Although, Ashleigh quickly found out that Amanda had no intention of getting a job.

  Amanda told Ashleigh she had a plan to win her ex-husband back, and if not him she would find another rich guy. That worked out well for Amanda, as Ashleigh knew she had been working at the mall for the last few months and her only known sexual relationship was with her divorce lawyer. Ashleigh thought Amanda probably traded sex for legal representation.

  After Amanda had gone completely broke, she made everyone feel sorry for her to get free drinks and food, always playing the “help me I’m poor” card.  Ashleigh never liked Amanda, but she didn’t have the heart to tell Emily. After all, Emily was a sucker for helping someone she thought had potential.

  Emily saw Amanda in a different light. She knew her back during the
happier
times. According to Emily, Amanda used to be pretty funny. Ashleigh didn’t see it, but what exactly did Amanda have to laugh about these past few years? Amanda and Emily had met at a charity event a few years ago, before Amanda lost everything.  Now, she was divorced, lost her job, was publicly humiliated by a cheating scandal and her wealthy family disowned her.

  “Yes, I have been dating Vince for a while now, and he just bought me a Mercedes. Not to mention, he spoils me like crazy, buying me designer clothes, shoes and fabulous jewels.”

  Amanda was laying it on pretty thick for Ashleigh. Part of her wondered if Amanda was just lurking in the lobby to see if she could find a man with money, and this was all just a fabrication.

  A brittle smile crossed her lips. “Oh, that sounds amazing. I’d love to see your place, Amanda.” There was only one way to find out if Amanda was telling the truth or not, and that was to see if she actually had an apartment in the building.

  “Sure thing, Ashleigh. I’ll take you there now. Do you have the time?” Amanda said with a grin.

  “Yeah, just let me grab my mail first,” Ashleigh said as she took her key and unloaded her mailbox. 

  Both women walked in silence to the elevator. Amanda pressed the up arrow, the doors immediately opened. Amanda pressed the button for the 20
^th
floor.

  This should be good,
Ashleigh thought to herself.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Emily
and Ashleigh

   Emily’s phone rang, it was an unknown number. Not recognizing the area code, thinking it could be someone from LA Business Design, she answered, “Hello, this is Emily Greene.”

  “Hello Emily. Are you having a good afternoon?” The gruff voice said. “Did you have a nice time in California?”

  “Hi. Yes I did have a nice time in California,” she said while walking to the kitchen.

  “Why are you with
him
, Emily? You know he’ll never love you.” The voice was now seething with anger.

  Emily replied, “I’m sorry, may I ask who this is?”

  “You don’t get to ask the questions. I do. Do you like games, Emily? What about surprises?”

  “Excuse me?” Emily inquired. All she heard was a faded laugh and then a click.

  On top of being annoying, these calls were downright harassing. A million things ran through Emily’s brain:
Who is calling? Why are they calling? He’ll never love me?
She thought about changing her number, but that would be more trouble than it’s worth.

  Emily grabbed her workout bag and headed for the gym. She needed to blow off some steam.

  After her workout she met Ashleigh for coffee at the Bagel Beanery. Despite her best efforts of switching gyms, Emily managed to run into Andy. He explained that he had a few clients he worked with at both locations. Even though he still made her uncomfortable, Emily maintained a polite conversation with Andy. Surprisingly, he didn’t pester her or make crude comments today. He actually left Emily alone as she finished the remainder of her workout session.

  “Okay, so tell me about Amanda. I want all the gory details, Ash.”

  Ashleigh explained all she knew about Amanda’s current living situation and what little she knew about the man she was cohabitating with at the River House.

  “Vince Everett,” Emily commented. “Yeah, I’ve heard of Everett Sterling Airlines. I read a recent article about the company in the
Lakeshore Press.
They’re hosting some big event in a few weeks, a dedication for the new Aviation building at Graysen College.”

  “Amanda seemed pretty happy, Emily,” Ashleigh remarked.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t an act?” Emily’s tone was sharp.

  “Honestly, for once she didn’t seem to be faking the happiness. I saw a real spark in her eye when she talked about this guy. It
could
be love.” 

  Emily remembered when she had first met Amanda at a fundraiser for the Phillip Cooper Foundation, the Cooper of Cooper Bentley. Amanda’s then husband Brandon’s law firm handled all of Cooper Bentley’s legal matters, and they still do to this day. At the fundraiser Emily and Amanda were seated at the same table. Finding themselves a little bored at the event, the two women were able to bond over fashion and travel while sharing a bottle of chardonnay. Emily ran into Amanda at another event for the Foundation later that summer, and it was apparent they were going to be good friends.

  Today, it was like she didn’t even know Amanda. Since Amanda lost her job, her husband, her family and her lifestyle she had become a bitter person. For the last several months Amanda’s ugliness had festered into a cancer that was draining Emily to the point where she didn’t seem to care about Amanda’s well-being in the least.

  “Can we change the subject please?” Emily wailed.

  Ashleigh laughed, agreeing another topic would be much more pleasant. She told Emily about her trip to New York and her time spent with Liam.

  “So you told Liam about Nick, had sex with him and then left his bed?” Emily interjected. “That’s kind of cold, don’t you think?”

  Ashleigh looked away from Emily’s biting gaze. She swallowed the lump in her throat feeling a twinge of guilt. The guilt was because Ashleigh knew it was shady to have snuck out in the early morning hours, leaving Liam to question why she’d gone back to her room and possibly feeling used. Although he never asked her directly, Ashleigh could only assume those were Liam’s thoughts. Also, Ashleigh might have used Liam for sex as an escape that night, like drugs or booze, to dull the stinging pain she was left with upon recounting her memories. That didn’t mean that Ashleigh didn’t enjoy it, but it probably wasn’t the best time for sex.

  “We usually sleep together, yes,” Ashleigh corrected.

  “Sleeping together means you actually sleep next to him and wake up with him after you’ve had your way with him,” Emily scoffed.

  She shot her friend an irritated glare, “Are you lecturing me about Liam, Emily?”

  Truth of the matter is that Ashleigh has never stayed the night with Liam. She always ends up back in her hotel room. She never invites Liam to her room. It would break her heart to kick him out. Continuing to have sex with Liam might be confusing for him. It’s definitely confusing for her. But the rules have been established— they are good friends who have occasional casual sex. But, it’s been two years. Suddenly, Emily’s haunting words from their previous conversation came screeching back.
Was Liam waiting for her? Was she waiting for him? Why hadn’t they engaged in relationships with other people?

  Emily sighed, “I’m sorry Ash. I just think you and Liam could have something really great. I just want you to be happy.”

  “What makes you think I’m
not
happy?”

  Emily felt the tension in her body tightening. She took a sip of her latte and said, “You’re right Ashleigh, I have no right to question you or your relationship with Liam.” She paused then continued, “It’s your life, and it’s not fair for me to lecture you.”

  Ashleigh leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She was defensive because she knew there was a hint of truth to Emily’s words.

  Ashleigh bowed her head, sighing, “No, Emily, you bring up some good points. I need to talk to Liam or better yet just stop having sex with him.”