“Ainsley, you have no idea how amazing work has been lately. I’ve been getting shoot after shoot and I’ve met so many amazing people. You need to take a couple days off and spend the night. I’ve told them all so much about you and they want to meet you so bad!”

“I don’t know, Mal. Me hanging around a bunch of models? I’d look like the ugly fucking duckling,” Ainsley replied with a laugh as she put on her makeup in the mirror. She had her phone sitting on speaking on the counter beside her while she struggled to conceal the puffiness and dark circles around her eyes from her crying the night before. “I can’t even do simple fucking make up,” Ainsley huffed and threw her eyeliner into her makeup bag, giving up on trying to feel good about how she looked.

“Rawr, easy Tiger,” Malorie laughed. “So tell me about this Jeric guy again? He’s thirty-two and has a fifteen year old daughter? That’s weird to me.”

Ainsley sighed and lightly ran her straightener back over her hair. “Yeah, I know, I wasn’t expecting it either. I also wasn’t expecting him to be so old. He looks our age.”

“Well, you are the baby of the bunch. He’s close to Vic’s age, so it’s not too weird. It’s just weird that he has a fifteen year old daughter. Fifteen is old, dude. Remember when we were fifteen? It’s just so weird to me, I don’t know how to explain it,” Malorie said. “Do you think you’ll hang out with him again?”

“Well, yeah, I mean he’s going to help with my car, and stuff,” Ainsley shrugged and took the phone off of speaker and pulled it back up to her ear. “Plus, I don’t know, I feel like we can relate really well because of everything that’s happened. And it would be nice to have somebody here in Oceanside. I’m sick of being alone all the time.”

“I’m telling you, Ains. Take two days off, that’s it, and come over! We’ll go out to a club, maybe bar hop a bit. Trust me, these girls are great. No funny business – clean, adult fun! I promise it’ll be the best time ever.”

Ainsley could hear the pout in her voice. Although she didn’t really want to hang out with a bunch of tall, skinny models Ainsley had to admit that it did sound like a lot of fun. Malorie was a great judge of character and if she said these girls were great, then they really had to be something. Ainsley sighed and finally caved in. “What days should I take off?”

“OH MY GOD YES!” Malorie screamed on the other side. “Can you take tomorrow and the next day off? I’ll be there to pick you up from work, take you back to your house so you can get your things and then we can head back over to mine?”

“Okay, fine,” Ainsley huffed. “Aw fuck! I don’t have a ride to work. I gotta go, Mal. I need to call a cab or something.”

“Just call Jeric! I’m sure he’ll give you a ride. That way you don’t have to pay for a cab,” Malorie suggested.

“I don’t know. I’ll feel bad. Like I’m using him or something,” Ainsley pouted.

Malorie chuckled. “You worry too much, Ains. I doubt he’ll care! Just do it. What time do you get off?”

“I’m off at seven,” Ainsley replied.

“Okay, perfect. I’ll be there to pick you up from work,” Malorie said. “Call Jeric, I mean it. Bye!”

Twenty minutes later Jeric pulled up into Ainsley’s driveway to give her a ride to work. Ainsley slipped into the car and gave him the directions to her work.

“That’s my car,” she said, pointing to the fairly new Impala sitting in the parking lot. “I have no idea what’s wrong with it.”

“What year is it? A 2011?” he asked, eyeing the car as he parking beside it. “It looks great – like brand new. It won’t start, you said?”

“Yeah. It just won’t start and I know absolutely nothing about cars. It shouldn’t need a new battery because I just got one not too long ago.”

“Can you pop the hood?” he asked as he stepped out of the car.

Ainsley walked over to the driver’s side, unclocked the door, and pulled the lever that popped the hood. She watched as Jeric pulled it open, pushing his sleeves up on his arms before immediately getting his hands dirty with poking and prying around at the engine.

“Oh!” he said quickly. “Right here. Come here,” he said.

Ainsley got out of the car and walked over to Jeric’s side. He reached into the car and pointed at a small area around what Ainsley knew what a spark plug. “See this? This is the distributor cap. Watch this,” he said as he quickly popped the cap off. Water fell from under the cap. “Moisture from the rainy weather got trapped in there.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Well, it’s an easy fix, really. You can either just leave it and whenever it rains take an aerosol can to it to dry it out, or you can drive it over to my shop and I can replace the caps. Let’s see…if you buy a full-engine check I can replace the caps for free. This way I can also make sure there’s nothing else wrong.”

“You mechanics and your bargaining. You’re not ripping me off are you? How much is an engine check?”

Jeric laughed as he wiped his pants onto his already greasy blue pants. Ainsley looked over his appearance and noticed that he was already dressed in his work clothes. “I’m not ripping you off, don’t worry. And it’s only fifty bucks for a thorough check. I’ll even do it myself.”

“Okay, fifty bucks is do-able. Thank you so much Jeric. Can I bring my car to the shop after work tonight?”

Jeric stopped to think for a moment before he shut the hood. “What time do you get off?”

“Seven.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. You know where the shop is?” he asked.

Ainsley nodded and smiled widely. “Yeah, I have your business card in my wallet.”

“Cool,” Jeric smiled and began to head back over to his own car. “See you tonight!”

“Thank you so much for the ride, Jeric. Really.”

“It’s not a problem. I mean, you did cook me dinner and listen to my sad life stories. Plus, that’s what friends are for, right?”

“Aw, I finally have a friend here,” Ainsley said with a laugh. “I’m not a loner anymore.”

“Well, I’m not too popular myself. So it looks like we’re just going to be loners together,” Jeric laughed and looked down at his phone. “I really gotta get going. See ya.”

Ainsley waved and watched at Jeric pulled out of the parking lot. He turned to give Ainsley one last wave before disappearing out onto the main road.

-

“Girl’s night!” Malorie screamed as she walked into the empty bakery. A few of the workers that were closing for the night gave Mal mortified looks until Ainsley told them it was okay. Ainsley said goodbye to her night crew and walked out the door. “Tonight is going to be so much fun, Ains! I’m so excited.”

“Me too,” Ainsley said with a shy smile. “Hey, I need you to follow me to drop my car off to get fixed. It’s right around the corner.”

“Oh so you talked to Jeric, then?”

“Yeah I ended up asking him for a ride. He looked at my car this morning and said it’s an easy fix. I just need to pay fifty bucks for an engine check and he’s going to fix the problem, too. Something about moisture in some caps or something…I know nothing about cars,” Ainsley explained, waving her hand around toward the end of her speech.

“Have you talked to Jaime, yet?” Malorie asked, her voice a lot softer than before.

Ainsley frowned and pulled out her phone to see if she had any missed calls from him. Only a few alerts from some apps, a missed call from Malorie, and a couple random text messages. Nothing from Jaime. “He usually calls around nine, so we’ll see.”

Malorie smiled and got into her car to follow Ainsley to Jeric’s shop. They arrived in a short four minutes. As soon as Ainsley arrived, one of the garage doors to the shop flung open and Jeric stood there, waving her forward. She pulled her car up onto the designated strips and killed the engine before stepping out.

“Is the shop closed?” Ainsley asked with a confused smile.

“Yeah, we close at five,” Jeric said.

“What? Oh my goodness. You waited for me? You really didn’t need to wait, Jeric.”

“It’s fine, really. I needed to do some paperwork anyway,” Jeric smiled as he swiped his hair back and away from his face. “Oh, is that your blonde friend?” he asked, pointing over at Mal who was leaning against her car, texting.

“Yeah, that’s my best friend Malorie. I’m going to spend a couple nights at her house in San Diego,” Ainsley explained with a smile. “Looks like you have to be a complete loner for these next few days.”

Jeric laughed a bit and awkwardly shifted his feet. “That’s fine, as long as you promise that we can hang out when you’re back home. I mean, no matter what I have to see you again since I have your car now.”

“Of course I’ll hang out with you. I’ll let you know when I’m back so I can get my car and we can make plans then. You can show me around Oceanside since I only know where four places are: work, McDonald’s, Alberton’s, and now here.”

Jeric laughed at Ainsley while staring into her eyes. Ainsley began to feel slightly awkward so she looked away. “Here’s the keys,”she said while handing the keys over to him. “I’ll call you, Jeric.”

“Alright,” he said with a slight cough. “Have fun!”

Ainsley got into Malorie’s car and she pulled out of the parking lot and toward her house in complete silence. Something wasn’t right – Ainsley could feel this strange tension in the air of the car.

They got to Ainsley’s house rather quickly and the two of them stepped inside. “I just need to do the dishes and pack my things before we go,” Ainsley explained while heading straight toward the kitchen. Pots and pans were sitting in the sink along with the bowls of pasta from her dinner with Jeric the night before. She turned the water on and filled up the sink, adding a bit of soap to let the dishes soak while she went to pack a bag.

She packed only a couple of cute outfits and then mostly comfortable clothes after that. She knew that she would only be going out to party for that night, and the next night would be a sleepover night with just the two of them. She was excited to spend time with Malorie. She wanted to hear all about her working, her new friends, her relationship…everything. She missed her best friend.

Once they hit the freeway, Ainsley couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Mal? Why are you so quiet? You’re scaring me.”

“I don’t know if I like that Jeric guy. He’s really flirty,” Malorie finally said. Ainsley sighed, relieved to hear that Jeric was the only thing bothering her, but also somewhat upset because she didn’t like Ainsley’s first friend in Oceanside.

“He’s a single dad,” Ainsley chuckled. “What do you expect? He’s harmless though. He knows I have a boyfriend. I made it very clear and he backed off right away.”

“Backed off? Did he make a pass at you?” Malorie was starting to get worked up.

Ainsley shook her head. “No, not really. He kind of went to touch my hand, but I pulled it away. And then we started talking about Jaime. He got the hint right away, trust me.”

Malorie relaxed a little bit and smiled. “Well, if you’re sure he’s harmless, then I guess I can be okay with him.”

“Next time you come visit I’ll invite him over. He’s really nice,” Ainsley explained with a smile. Just then her phone started to ring. “Jaime’s calling me!” Ainsley nearly shouted in excitement.

“Answer it!” Malorie mirrored Ainsley’s excitement and bounced in her seat just a bit.

Ainsley unbuckled her seatbelt and began to climb over the center console between the two of them so she could head to the very back of the SUV so she could talk to Jaime in private. “I want privacy, Mal.”

“Okay, just no phone sex please.”

Ainsley gave her a disgusted look before quickly answering the phone. “Hi,” she said with a goofy grin.

Jaime sighed on the other end. “I almost thought you weren’t going to answer,” he admitted. “What are you doing?”

“Malorie picked me up. I took the next two days off so I can spend some time with her San Diego.”

“Oh that’s great, babe! You need some fun,” Jaime chuckled a bit. “So…um…what about your car?” he asked very softly.

“Oh, I got it all taken care of. And I actually made a friend! His name is Jeric and he happened to be a mechanic so he’s fixing my car for cheap. There was moisture in some caps or something. But yeah, he’s really nice, babe. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

“I’m so glad,” Jaime said softly. “Gosh…I miss you so much. And I’m so sorry for yesterday, Ains.”

“No, no, no,” Ainsley said quickly. “I’m sorry, Jaime. What I said was really mean and out of line. I just…I mean, I guess I really do kind of feel that way though. I don’t want you to feel like you need to buy me things to keep me around.”

Jaime sighed, but she could still hear the slight smile in his voice. “Okay, so we’re both sorry,” he laughed a bit. “And I know, I know. I just like to buy you things to show you how much I care about you. I know you wouldn’t cheat on me or do anything to hurt me – you’re way better than that. I just don’t know if I’m very good about expressing how much you mean to me. So I like to buy you things to make you feel appreciated.”

Ainsley’s cheeks flushed red and she immediately thought about how Jaime makes her feel appreciated. Not by buying her things, but in the bedroom. Because Ainsley was never so sexual, her sexual relationship with Jaime really meant a lot to her. “Oh trust me,” she said lowly. “You make me feel appreciated.” She bit her lip, feeling her neck heat up.

“Ainsley…” Jaime said softly, his voice low and husky. He breathed heavily for a few seconds. “God, I fucking miss you.”

“I miss you too, Jaime.”

“Only a few more weeks,” he said. “And then I can hold you and kiss you and make love to you.”

Ainsley’s cheeks heated up once again. “Jaime, stop,” Ainsley said, slightly embarrassed at her sudden longing that she was feeling for Jaime’s touch.

“Stop what? You know you don’t want to. You want me to keep going,” Jaime said in his deep voice.

“I’m in the car with Mal,” She said. “She specifically said no phone sex before I answered the call.”

“Damn it,” Jaime chuckled. “Well, another time then, I suppose. I just miss you so much. I’m deprived. I need my fix of Ainsley.”

Ainsley laughed a bit loudly. “You’re so lame,” she laughed. “I love it.”

Jaime laughed, but it got cut short when there was talking in the background. “Alright, well I have to go. We’re going out drinking. Have fun with Malorie and be safe, baby. I miss you and I’ll talk to you later. Send me pictures tonight!”

“I will, Himes,” Ainsley smiled widely. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Jaime said softly before hanging up the phone. Ainsley stared at the screen for a moment, savoring the picture of Jaime’s face that was up on the screen during their call. The screen went black and she sighed before climbing back up to the passenger’s seat.

“I’m sad now,” Ainsley admitted. “I miss him so much.”

“I know how it is,” Mal sighed. “But hey! Tonight we are going to dress up and go have a girl’s night and get wasted and just let loose! It’s going to be a blast, I promise.”

Ainsley smiled widely and pushed her phone back into her purse. She was feeling a bit nervous about meeting Malorie’s new friends, but she was also excited to go out drinking and dancing. She hadn’t been out and acted her age since her twenty-first birthday.

-

Ainsley held the champagne out in front of her as the bubbles spilled over and the rest of the girls in the back of the limo cheered. Ainsley carefully brought her mouth up to it and began to suck the bubbles away, careful not to get anything on her dress. Ainsley was already having a blast with Malorie and her new friends. There was only three other girls: Becky, Helena, and Parker. They were all so much fun and Ainsley felt accepted by them right away. The only thing that made Ainsley feel a bit out of place was their height and astounding beauty. Malorie fit right in with them, even though she wasn’t the tallest, she was just as beautiful. Ainsley felt plain compared to them, but she didn’t let that get to her.

They pulled up outside of an unknown club and all climbed out of the limo that Parker had gotten for them to travel around in. Ainsley brought the champagne with her and the bouncer let them in, even with Ainsley’s opened bottle. She didn’t know why she brought it in with her – her mind was already much from the few hours they had spent bar hopping before hand.

Once inside the club, Ainsley linked her arm around Malorie’s waist, careful not to lose her in the large mass of people.

“Do you guys want to come up with us?” Helena asked. She pointed over to a secluded set of stairs that led up to a red, velvet-looking rope with a sign hanging from it that read VIP Only.

Malorie looked over to Ainsley for an answer, but Ainsley was too focused on the music to do anything. “I think we’re going to dance,” Mal answered.

“Then we will, too!” Helena exclaimed happily. She waved the other two girls over and the five of them headed over toward the dance floor.

“Wait!” Ainsley said quickly. “Helena will you take a picture of me and Mal?” Ainsley handed her phone to Helena and the two girls immediately struck a pose. Ainsley held the champagne up to her mouth and leaned her head backwards as if she was taking a drink. Malorie’s left arm went around Ainsley’s shoulders as she gave the camera a shocked expression while holding her free hand up in the air with her back lightly arched.

“So cute!” Helena squealed. She continued to take a few more pictures as the two posed.

“Let’s get one of all of us!” Malorie exclaimed happily. “Excuse me, could you take a picture of us?” Malorie asked a passing waitress and she happily agreed while taking Ainsley’s phone from Helena’s hands.

They took several pictures together and Ainsley couldn’t help but feel extremely happy. She was surrounded with four girls that were all so much fun. She felt accepted, and she felt far from alone.

Once their posing was done and Ainsley got her phone back, she quickly sent some of the best pictures to Jaime. Wish you were, baby. I’m having so much fun she typed out before sending it.

“Come on, Ains!” Becky tugged on Ainsley’s arm, pulling her toward the center of the dancefloor where the other girls had already disappeared to.

Ainsley shoved her phone into her bra since she had left her purse in limo. The last thing she wanted to do was lug around a purse while trying to dance.

Her body was immediately pulled into the circle of dancing models as she finally approached her friends. She lifted her hands up in the air, suddenly realizing that she had left her bottle of champagne somewhere. She had already forgotten what happened to it, but she didn’t care. She instead allowed herself to get lost in the bass of the music and sway her hips with her friends.

She felt like she had been dancing for days by the time they decided to leave the dance floor. Helena got them into the VIP section by simply giving her name to the man guarding the rope. The five girls walked up into the lounge and took a seat around a circular table that was on a balcony over-looking the rest of the club.

“Is this what you have been doing, Mal?” Ainsley asked in shock. “This is amazing. You have quite the life.”

“Yeah, it’s amazing, but it’s ten times better with you here, Ains,” Mal smiled.

“Oh yeah, whatever. You’re just trying to make up for the lack of time we’ve been spending together.”

“No, I’m serious!” Mal laughed. “I swear, Ains! I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

“It’s true,” Parker spoke up with a large smile. “We’ve been to this club several times, but this is my favorite trip by far. You’re a lot of fun. It’s too bad you didn’t live in San Diego anymore.”

Ainsley felt tears hitting the backs of her eyes. She missed San Diego more than anything. If she could she was move back the very next day – but she knew that it wasn’t going to happen that easily. Ainsley opened her mouth to say something, but before she could there was a hand being placed on her shoulder.

She turned around and was met with the narrow hazel eyes that she could never forget. “B-Bret?” she choked out. She looked over his appearance and took in a shakey breath. Bret Jennings, her most recent ex-boyfriend, was standing before her wearing a fancy, perfectly pressed suit with a large, gold watch on the hand that was resting on Ainsley’s shoulder. His brown hair was combed straight back and held in place with gel, a few stray pieces fell onto his forehead and he swiped them back with a smile.

“Ainsley,” he spoke sweetly. “It’s so great to see you. What are you doing up here?” he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Ainsley replied with a curious expression on her face. Bret would never go to clubs and he would never wear such expensive clothing. Something was different – he was much more out there as opposed to his reserved, personal self.

“Change of occupation,” he explained as he looked at the time on his watch. “It’s been good. Are you still at the bakery?”

“I’m a manager now, actually. But at the Oceanside location.”

“Oh, you’re leaving in Oceanside now? I have a condo there.”

Ainsley was taken aback by his words. A condo there? Does that mean he owns multiple properties? “Oh wow, that’s great.”

“Funny how much can change in just two years,” he laughed to himself. He checked his watch once again before suddenly removing his hand from Ainsley’s shoulder. “Well, I have to get going. But hey, here’s my card. Call me sometime to catch up. Or if you ever need a little extra cash; I could probably get you a few side projects if you need them. It was nice to see you,” he smiled warmly and then looked up to meet the gaze of the other girls around the table. He nodded once more and then left the area.

Ainsley slowly turned around, holding his business card in her hands and a blank expression on her face.

“How do you know Bret?” Becky nearly gasped once she knew that Bret wasn’t within ear shot anymore. “He’s such a babe, oh my god.”

“Wow, he had his hand on your shoulder and the way he looked at you!” Parker gushed as she pretended to faint on top of Helena.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ainsley asked, looking at all of them confused. “It’s just…Bret.”

“Just Bret!” Helena exclaimed as she waved her hands in the air. “Hun, he’s like a legend in our industry. Once you’re in with Bret Jennings you know you’ve made it big.”

Ainsley furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the business card once more.

Bret Jennings
Photographer / Amateur Director
619-234-5545

She flipped the card over to see his cell phone number written in black ink. Ainsley was even more confused. He didn’t see him write anything down. Did he already have his number written on this card before giving it to her? What the hell had Bret gotten into?

It started to make sense – he offered her a ‘side project’, which probably meant some sort of modeling job. Ainsley scoffed. Me, modeling? Yeah, right.

“It’s no big deal, Ains, just ignore them,” Malorie said softly as she put her hand on Ainsley’s forearm.

“Obviously it is a big deal. Why didn’t you tell me, Mal?”

Malorie just shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell. What does it matter, anyway?”

Ainsley shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t really matter. I just…I thought maybe you’d tell me something like this. Especially since we both know how Bret was when we were together. He’s changed so much.”

“Woah woah woah,” Becky held her hands up. “You dated Bret?”

Ainsley shrugged with a slightly nod. She was starting to sober up, and the more she did, the more she wanted to get out of there and just go back to Malorie’s house and spend time with her and only her.

“Spill it, girl!”

Ainsley sighed. “Okay, well. Bret and I started dating like four years ago. We dated on and off for almost a year before we were official. He was always so reserved about everything. He didn’t share much about himself, and he didn’t really open up to anybody except for me. He was friends with all of our friends,” I paused to motion toward Malorie, “but he still kept this wall up. He wouldn’t let me talk about our sex life with Mal. He didn’t even let me talk about it to him. He was always so weird about it. The break-up was really peaceful. We just didn’t have as strong as feelings for each other anymore and ended things. I haven’t seen him since.”

“Dang, that’s crazy,” Parker spoke up. “He’s not quiet or anything like that at all.”

Helena and Becky each laughed to themselves and then the three of them shared a long smile with a knowing look. Ainsley ignored it and reached out for her drink, downing it quickly. “Well, let’s not talk about that anymore. I’m ready for shots!”

The girls all cheered as they ordered another round of shots and spent the next couple of hours taking shot after shot in the VIP Lounge.

They finally made their way back to the limo around four in the morning. Becky and Parker were carrying Malorie since she could hardly even stand. Ainsley was stumbling in her tall shoes and decided to stop for a minute to pull them off her feet. “Wait!” she called after the girls who were walking down the street to where the limo was parked and waiting. Ainsley sat her bottom down on the pavement and quickly untied her shoes and slipped them off. She tried to stand up, but her legs failed her and she ended up plopping right back down onto the pavement.

“Fuck,” Ainsley muttered. She reached into her bra and pulled her cell phone out to try and call them, but she didn’t have any of their numbers except for Mal. She called Mal but it was sent straight to voicemail.

“Ainsley? Are you alright?”

Ainsley looked up and saw Bret stepping out of a shiny, white limo. She shrugged. “I lost my friends,” she admitted quietly. “Could you help me up?” She held her hands up like a child waiting to be picked up.

Bret reached down and grabbed onto her wrists to lift her up. Once she was on her feet, he placed one hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder to try and allow her to regain her balance. Once she was standing alright, he let go of her and bent down to grab her shoes for her.

Ainsley looked off into the distance and saw that the limo had left her. She groaned and tried to fight back her drunken tears. A few tears slipped from her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. What was she going to do now? She was in an unknown location that wasn’t in the same area of San Diego that she was familiar with and she was all alone. Her friends had forgotten her like she was nothing.

“Do you need a ride somewhere?” Bret asked.

Ainsley shrugged. “I just want to go home,” she admitted. “You can leave, Bret. I’m just going to try and get ahold of somebody.”

Bret shook his head. “I’ll wait until you know what you’re doing. There’s no way I’m going to leave you out here all alone. Especially when you’re drunk.”

Ainsley smiled. “Okay, thank you,” she said softly.

“I’ll just be sitting inside the limo. Come on over if you need anything,” he said quickly before walking over to the limo and climbing inside.

Ainsley stared at the dark tinted window for a moment before she thought about what to do. She tried calling Malorie again. Voicemail. She searched in her phone for anybody else in San Diego that she could call. But everybody was either gone touring, or right there with her (Bret), or had their phone off (Mal). Ainsley was beginning to panic. She decided to call Jaime so he could try and calm her nerves.

“Hello?” Jaime answered right away.

“Jaime,” Ainsley immediately began to cry. She sobbed uncontrollably into the phone. “They left me here and I’m all alone and I’m really drunk.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?”

“Mal and Parker and Helena and Becky all left me here and now I am outside the club all by myself. I want to go home,” she cried.

“Oh no. Did you try calling them?”

“Yeah. Mal’s phone is off or dead or something. And I don’t have the other girls’ numbers. I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, baby. I wish I was there to pick you up,” Jaime said with worry. “Well…what about Jeric? Do you think he would come pick you up?”

Ainsley’s tears slowed down as she thought about it. “I’ll try to call him,” she said finally. “Thank you so much, Jaime. I was starting to freak out but you really know how to make me feel better.”

“That’s what I’m here for baby. Now call me back as soon as get ahold of him, okay?”

Ainsley nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “I will. Bye,” she said softly. Jaime returned the goodbye and she hung up the phone.

She quickly called Jeric and he answered in an instant. He was worried and sounded like he was sleeping, but agreed to pick her up nonetheless.

“I will take you to my house and he can pick you up from there,” Bret chimed in. “Tell him you’ll text him the address.”

“I’ll text you the address, okay? Thank you so much, Jeric,” Ainsley slurred slightly.

“It’s okay, no need to thank me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Once the call ended, Ainsley climbed into the limo with Bret. She was nervous and felt extremely out of place, but felt a bit better knowing that she would soon be able to go home and be in the comfort of her own bed. She didn’t think about Malorie or any of those other girls. She was too drunk to worry about them. And she didn’t want to get angry at the fact that they had left her there.

“Here,” Bret smiled as he handed Ainsley a small glass filled with what looked to be whiskey on the rocks.

Ainsley accepted the glass quickly and tossed it back as soon as it reached her lips. She closed her eyes and her mind shut off, blacking-out before she could even remember the feeling of the glass leaving her lips.

Notes

Ainsley's Outfit

Uh oh! Malorie left Ainsley behind! What do you think is going to happen? And what do you guys think about Ainsley's ex, Bret? Any predictions about him? Is anything going to happen since Ainsley blacked out?

I love to know your reactions. And I apologize for the shorter/shittier chapter. I just couldn't write it how I wanted to for some reason. The next chapter will be a lot better, I promise. :)

Thank you for reading and subscribing and rating and commenting! xoxo