Ashton Scott

“I haven’t seen him yet. I’m on my way to the hospital now. Have you heard anything more?”

“No, but I went to see his mum and ended up spending the day and most of tonight with her. She’s more worried about him than she ever has been. Apparently, he was saying some out-there stuff to her while he was here.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“That he’s tired of his life and of being alone, and that he would do anything to switch his mind off. She mentioned they’re things he’s said before, but that this time he seemed really lonely and desperate for an end to it all.”

“Fucking hell. Why didn’t she call either of us?”

She sighs, and I hear her weariness. This is happening to Jack, but we’re all feeling it. “I don’t know. It felt pointless to ask her now. I’m just glad the worst thing he did in all of this was trash that restaurant. I get the sense things could have been a whole lot worse this time around.” She pauses before softly asking, “Ashton, we’re going to get him better, aren’t we?”

“Yes.” I won’t accept anything less than that.

“I’ll do whatever you need so you can stay over there for however long it takes. Anything. You just have to say the word.”

Her promise puts my mind at ease. Jessica is more than capable of handling things, and that will give me the time and space I’ll need to dedicate to Jack. But first, Lorelei. “Jessica, what the hell has happened since I left? Lorelei thinks I’m back with Cassia, and I have no idea why.”

“Shit, I don’t know. I’ve been offline today while I was with Bronwyn. I’ll look into it now and call you back.”

After we end the call, I think about what it means for Jessica to be in the dark as much as I am with this. She’s never in the dark about anything. It’s one of the reasons why she’s so damn good at her job; she makes it her business to know everyone else’s business. That she doesn’t right now tells me a lot about where her head is at with Jack. Jessica plays it cool and gives the appearance of not caring about too many people or very much in life, but she cares very deeply for Jack. Even after everything that went down between them. And this clearly has her worried.

In the time it takes her to call me back, I check the other messages on my phone. A few problems have cropped up with various developments, but nothing that can’t be fixed. There is one message, though, that I replay. It’s from my father, congratulating me on making the right choice with Cassia and telling me he’s looking forward to buying the Willow Street buildings. I’ve just finished listening to his message when Jessica calls. If I wasn’t intent on calling Lorelei and sorting out this mess, I’d call my father and set him straight. Hell will freeze over before he gets his hands on those buildings. On top of that, I also want to set him straight about Cassia and me. And let him know that if he ever makes Lorelei feel worthless again, he’ll have me to answer to.

“You’re not going to like this,” Jessica says, “And let me just say I told you so.”

Jesus. “About what?”

“About that bitch you were dating for far too long. I told you she’d play dirty to get you back, and she finally has. Unless of course it was you who initiated that kiss on Friday night and then told the papers to print a story that you were back together. But since I know your dick has eyes for only one woman these days, I’m fairly sure it wasn’t you who did all that, which leads me back to I told you so. And by the way, I know you haven’t checked social media because of Jack and flying and all that, but seriously, we need to get you up to speed with Facebook some more. You miss out on so much by not being on there very often.” She pauses briefly before adding, “Also, why did you not think it necessary to let Lorelei know about that kiss? Honestly, you need to take a course in dating. That could have saved a whole heap of drama here.”

Logging into Facebook every damn day is not on my agenda, and Jessica knows that. I’ve made it more than clear I have no interest in any of the gossip or bullshit that goes on there. But every few months she tries to boss me around about it. And just like every other time we have this conversation, I ignore her. Besides, my mind is busy processing what she said about Cassia, and that is a far more important discussion to be having.

“I tried to call her before I flew out, but she didn’t answer any of my calls, and she wasn’t home when I dropped by her apartment on the way to the airport.”

My intention had been to call Jessica and ask her to keep Lorelei in the loop; however, Jack’s mother had phoned me at the last minute, preventing me from doing that. Bronwyn had been distraught with worry over her son, and I’d refused to rush the conversation. She can’t fly due to her health, so I’d stayed on the line attempting to calm her down. In the end, the flight attendant had almost ripped my phone from my ear as the plane prepared to take off.

“Do you want me to do anything for you now? Maybe call upon Cassia and rip shreds from her? I wouldn’t do this for just anyone, not at this time of night, but I would do it for you.”

At any other time, Jessica’s snark would make me smile, but not today. Not when all I can think about is making this right.

“I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

“You’re no fun. I’m going to sleep now, but don’t hesitate to call if you need me to take care of Cassia or if there’s an update on Jack I need to know about.”

“Goodnight, Jessica.”

We end the call and I pull up Lorelei’s number on my phone. I don’t care that she’s probably asleep; we need to talk.

She doesn’t answer my call so I try again. This happens four times. On my fifth attempt, she answers.

“Ashton, it’s late and I’m tired. And I pretty much said everything I needed to say in those voicemails.” Her voice wavers, and my anger with Cassia grows. She will incur my wrath over this once I’ve corrected Lorelei’s assumptions. And I will ensure she never comes between Lorelei and me again.

“And now it’s my turn to speak, because the story you got is wrong.”

Muffled sounds fill my ears, as if she’s shifting positions in bed. When she replies to what I said, she sounds more awake. “That’s the thing, though, I didn’t get any story from you. I didn’t hear from you. And now isn’t the time to call me. Not when I’m trying to sleep. It’s been a long day, and I’m too exhausted to be having this conversation. Goodnight.”

With that, she disconnects the call. I immediately phone her back, but when she doesn’t answer after three attempts, I decide she’s probably switched her phone to silent and has no intention of answering again.

Christ.