[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Jo answered her phone with a smile. She’d been bored out of her mind the entire day, the boys had a day off, and that meant Brian and Leighanne were spending time with Baylee, Lina was with Nick, and Alex was somewhere only God knew. Not that she wanted to spend time with him anyways, she said to herself.

“Hello?”

“Hey, It’s Ryan. How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. You?”

“I’m great. Listen... I was thinking... since we’ve got the day off I was wondering if you’d like to do something with me. Before that dinner I’m gonna take you out to. If you don’t have to work, that is.”

Jo hesitated for a moment. What damage could this do? She decided not to care about that for the moment, and shrugged. “I don’t have to work, so I’d love to. But listen. I don’t want this to come out. A-Alex can’t know. No one can.”

“If you want it that way, I’m fine with it. So, I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby in an hour?”

“Sounds like a plan!” she hung up and turned on the radio, then jumped straight into the shower, singing along to the music at the top of her lungs. She got dressed in a white turtle necked knitted sweater and a black skirt that came down to below her knees, finished the look off with a pair of cowboy-inspired high heeled boots and a black leather belt with a large silver clasp. She braided her hair into a long braid that fell down her back and put on some make up. She took a step back and watched her reflection. “I need some colour,” she muttered and went through her make up bag until she found what she was looking for, a bright red lip gloss, and dabbed it onto her lips. Finally satisfied she smiled at the mirror and headed outside the door, grabbing her purse on the way out.


When she got down to the lobby Ryan was already waiting for her. She smiled at him.

“Hi!”

His eyes widened. “Wow. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you. You’re not half bad yourself.” She caught herself staring at him. He was really, really cute in a pair of black pants and a dark blue jacket, with a green sweater showing underneath it.

“You wanna get going?” he asked.

“Sure. Where exactly are we going?”

“I thought we’d do some sight seeing. See if we can find any interesting stuff to watch. If that’s ok with you?” He headed out the door, holding her by the arm.

“Of course. It’s a beautiful day, and I’m sick of the hotel.”

“They tend to get boring after awhile, yeah.”


They spent the day walking around town, the sun was shining and the air was crisp, so they decided to skip the museums and walk around watching the buildings. Jo had a great time, and when Ryan put his arm around her where they were sitting on a bench, she leaned closer to him, inhaling his scent. She was attracted to him. Very much so. 'Am I a complete fool for doing this?' she asked herself. 'I like him, I like all the attention he’s giving me, he’s keeping my mind off Alex. I think we could really have something here.'


He sighed deeply, waking her from her daydreaming. “Where did you run off to?” He smiled.

“Nowhere. I really like this.” She smiled back at him.

“Me too, Jo. Me too.” He took her hand, entwining their fingers. They fell silent again, remained sitting in the bench watching the beautiful autumn colours until the sun started to set.

“We should get going. You’ll freeze.” He got to his feet, grabbed her other hand as well and pulled her up. She looked up into his eyes. Even now that she wore heels he was significantly taller than her. Before she knew what had happened his lips met hers and he kissed her ever so softly. She sighed, opened her lips to him and felt herself getting lost in the moment.


Alex moaned with pleasure. He looked over at the naked Ashley who was covered only with a towel and smiled. “This was a great idea.”

“I told you it was.”

“It’s just what I needed. To relieve some of the stress from the tour and everything.”

“There’s nothing like a day at a spa to relieve stress. And this one is the best. I told you these massages are to die for.”

“That you did. And you were right. So, are you happy that you came with me here?”

“I am. But I’m not here with you. I’m visiting my mother.” She laughed.

He smiled. “Oh, right. I feel sorry for your mother, though. You come to visit, and the only time she gets to see you is late at night, and early mornings.”

“It’s still better then having me outside Stuttgart, right? At least she gets to see me now. Even if it’s only like an hour a day.” She smiled a thank you at the masseuses. “So, how about a sauna before those facials?”

“You really are my kind of girl.” He got up off the table and stretched his arms towards the ceiling, waiting for Ashley to wrap her towel around her.


Jo was sitting at a table in a small restaurant she and Ryan had found earlier during their walk around town. He was sitting across the table from her, holding her hand. They had ate, a lovely pasta accompanied by a bottle of red wine, and now they were waiting for their desserts. Jo was feeling a bit dizzy, she wasn’t used to drinking anymore, and she was giggling at something Ryan said.

“You know, this is so much fun. I usually don’t drink. Bad experiences. But right now this was just what I needed. We should have a brandy with the coffee, you know.”

“Yes, we should.” The waiter came with two plates of rich, dark chocolate cake, and two cups of coffee. “Thank you. Some brandy for me and the lady as well, please.”

“Of course.”

They finished their meal, and got up to leave. When they came out onto the street Jo stopped to kiss Ryan, and then she threw her head back laughing. “You know, I don’t wanna go home. Why don’t we do something else?”


Alex finished getting dressed in the locker room at the spa. He and Ashley had eaten at the spa restaurant, and were getting ready to leave. He packed the last of his things in a bag and headed out to meet Ashley.

“Hey.” He spun around to see her exiting the women’s locker room.

“Ooh, you look pretty.”

She smiled. “Thanks. You know what?”

He shook his head.

“I feel like dancing. I know we’re not supposed to go out in public, but I know this club around the corner, it’s not very big, and they won’t find us there.”

“I don’t know, Ash. No one knows about us, they still think I’m with Jo, except for the guys, but they don’t know about you either, and I don’t know if I want them to. Too much trouble.”

She looked at him, her eyes showed how hurt she was. “Ok, then. I’ll just go home and hang with my mother.”

He grabbed her by both arms, looked into her eyes. “You know that’s not what I meant.” He kissed her softly, it was the first time he did so, and he enjoyed her mouth, the feeling of her body against his. When he let go of her he smiled. “We’ll go to that club. Come on!”

“Yey!” She laughed. He grabbed her hand and kissed it, then let go of her opening the door so she could pass. They walked the short distance to the club and walked past the line, straight into the club. His eyes scanned the room for anyone who could possibly sell them out, then put his arm around her when he didn’t recognize any faces. He hugged her tightly and turned around, then quickly let go of her as if she’d burned him. She looked up at him, not understanding what had just happened. He was staring straight ahead, she followed his eyes and saw a tall girl who was holding the hand of a blonde, gorgeous man, but keeping her eyes locked in Alex’s. The two couples stood ten feet apart just staring at each other. Nothing happened. 'So that’s the famous Jo,' Ashley thought to herself. Alex’s eyes were now moving from Jo to Ryan, and he looked furious. 'Yeah. He’s over her. Right. And I’m the Dalai Lama.'