Life After That (18 page)

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I just got together with Kirstin and now I'm leaving for 2 months? How am I suppose to be with her, to make her trust me and make this relationship grow if I'm always here in stupid Orlando or somewhere in Europe for 2 months?"

"I know it's hard Ashley. But… Do you love this girl?" Dan already knew the answer, so he smirked before Ashley even said anything.

"I do. Dan, I love her so much."

"I know. Just checking. And I'm sure she loves you too. That's all you guys need to make this work."

"I don't know. I'm not so sure she loves me back."

"Why you say that?"

"I don't know. Little things like yesterday, when we were on the phone, she said she had to hang up 'cause her friend was on the other line, when she was saying goodbye, she was a little… cold, you know?"

"Ashley, you're tripping, man!"

"Am I?"

"Of course you are" And here, look at the schedule." Ashley had the paper in his hand but never bothered to look at it 'til Dan asked him to "See? Before we go to Europe, we have 4 days in New York" What else do you want? It doesn't get better than that!"

Ashley was excited. They did have 4 days in New York. 4 whole days, just before going to Europe. His face lit up:

"Yes! Oh my God! I gotta call K and tell her the good news." Ashley abruptly stood up.

"Hey, easy tiger." Dan stood up after Ashley, calming his friend "You cant call her now 'cause we have rehearsal. And didn't you say she starts working today?" Ashley nodded "So let's go finish rehearsal then you can call her when we get home. We won't go home anytime soon anyways, so by the time we get to the house, I bet she'll be off work."

"Yeah. You're right." and with that, they headed back to where the rest of the band was.

NEW YORK CITY, NY – MTV Studios

Kirstin stepped foot on the 10th floor. She was nervous. Now her work was definitely starting. She was so nervous the minute she got out of the elevator she forgot where Andrew's office was. She stopped a girl that seemed to be about her age to ask for directions.

"Hm, excuse me. I'm sorry but I'm a little lost. Can you tell me where Andrew Jackson's office is?"

The girl smiled sensing the nervousness on Kirstin's tone of voice.

"Yes, sure honey. Come with me."

Kirstin smiled back and followed the girl as she introduced herself.

"I'm Lexie Gold." the nice girl introduced herself. She was pretty. She had blond hair that went all the way 'til her shoulders, blue eyes, was 5'5'' and about 115 lbs.

"Kirstin Addams."

"So Kirstin, you know Andrew?"

"Yes, I'm his assistant actually. I work here now. This is my first day."

"Oh, I sensed you were nervous. So what are you working on?"

"Making the Band."

"Nice! New show! A challenge!"

"Yeah, well… what about you? You work here on the editing floor too?"

"Yes. I'm an assistant too. For Kayla Watson. We work on 'The Real World'."

"Wow, Real World! That's big!"

"Yes, it is. It has a big crew working on it." Lexie stopped and pointed to a closed door behind her "This is Andrew's."

"Oh, thank you so much. I should draw a map, this place looks like a labyrinth."

"Yes, it's hard to move around here at first. Listen, I get out around 6, what do you say we go out for a coffee later? We're floor buddies now, we should hang out."

"Sure! I'd love that. I could really use a friend at work."

"So, ok! We'll meet here at Andrew's at 6, alright?"

"Right."

"Good, then see ya."

"Bye."

Kirstin had made a new friend. She loved getting friends. She treasured her friends more than her own family.

Knocking on the door, she waited 'til she heard Andrew's voice:

"Come in."

"Excuse me." she entered the room closing the door behind her.

Around 5:50, Andrew excused Kirstin from work. They had worked only on 2 tapes, but Andrew had a last minute meeting and had to go. Kirstin liked the work. She spent almost 4 hours watching O-Town tapes. Andrew had explained her how to work the editing board, which buttons to push, which ones not to push. That day she had mostly watched Andrew do all the work, so she could learn better from him. But still, she had fun. As Ashley said, the exciting scenes were most from their tour with Britney Spears. Other than that, just scenes with the boys playing videogame on the tour bus or eating. But Kirstin didn't mind the parts where they'd shown Ashley taking a shower. She even laughed at her boss' comment "Your friend sure takes a lot of baths."

When Andrew and Kirstin left the editing room, Kirstin went back to Andrew's office to meet Lexie, but it was a little to early. She then decided to use the phone in her boss' office. She went through her purse and picked up her phone book to find Ashley's numbers. She called the house but no one was answering. She got the machine but hung up and tried the cell. Voice Mail.

"Hey, this is Ashley. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. But after the beep you know what to do." BEEP

Kirstin smiled hearing Ashley's voice and left her message:

"Hey Superman! I'm just calling as I promised I would. Just got out of work, so call me whenever you hear this, ok? Bye."

The minute she hung up, she heard a knock on the door. Not knowing what to do, she got up from the chair she was sitting in to answer the door. She saw Lexie standing there.

"Oh, hey. It's you."

"Yes, I heard someone talking in there so I decided to find out if it was you. So, ready to go?"

"Yes, let me get my purse and coat."

Outside the building, Kirstin asked:

"Where are we going to get coffee?"

"Well, I always go to this Dean and Delluca that is 4 blocks away from here. I know it's farther than these other coffee shops around the block but there's this gorgeous guy that works there, so I always go there to check him out. But I've never actually been there this late. Hope he's still there."

When they got there, Kirstin's hands were freezing:

"Oh my God. My hands! Can't believe I forgot my gloves. At least, it's warm here."

They both took their coats off and sat down at this table, facing the counter.

"So… where is he?" Kirstin scanned the place looking for any cute guy wearing a Dean and Delluca t-shirt.

"Shit, he's not here! I think he leaves at 6. We have… oh, no no no! Wait, wait! He's there. He's on his back, I can't see his face, but it's definitely him with that tooshie!"

"Where?"

"There, leaning on the counter. With that light red shirt and tight jeans. Jeez, he looks good when he's not wearing Dean and Delluca's uniform."

"Well, I can't see his face, but he does look hot!" Kirstin knew she had Ashley now, but look doesn't hurt, right?

The guy was wearing a tight long sleeve red shirt that revealed all the muscles on his fit body. He had also on blue jeans, tight to his body.

"Do you know his name? Maybe we can get you his number!"

"Yes, it's… oh look, he's turning around."

And when he turned around, Kirstin saw that the guy she was checking out was Tom.

"Oh my God!" Kirstin turned her head hoping that some way Tom wouldn't notice them sitting there.

"What? Kirstin, what?" Lexie had no idea what was wrong.

"His name is Tom, right?" Kirstin faced her newest friend.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Lexie frowned. Just when Kirstin was about to talk, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello Kirstin."

Pretending she was not embarrassed by meeting him there and putting on a smile, she greeted:

"Hey Tom! How are you?"

"I'm ok. Doing better than a few months ago, I guess. How about you?"

"Good, good." she glanced down. There was an awkward silence.

"Tom, why don't you join us?" Lexie broke the silence and immediately Kirstin shot her a deadly glare. Lexie mouthed 'What?' and Kirstin faced Tom.

"So, what are you up to these days?" he asked.

"Well, I got promoted."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yes, that is."

Lexie coughed and Kirstin got the hint.

"Oh, Tom, this is Lexie Gold; Lexie, this is Tom…" she frowned when she realized she didn't even know Tom's last name.

"Tom Walsh. Pleasure to meet you, Lexie." he said shaking her hand.

"Pleasure is all mine." they held hands, Tom smiling and Lexie smiling back. 'Is he flirting with her? Tom's not the flirting type of guy!' The sound of her cell phone made Kirstin wake up from her thought.

"I'm sorry, I'll get this over there. Excuse me."

She went to a spot near the restrooms to answer her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey K, it's me, G."

"Oh, I thought it was Ashley."