Obsession

Ch 55 - All Of You

When I told Ashton that I'd accept his gift, he e-mailed me the details of the trip as promised, along with his credit card information for me to buy whatever flights I wanted. It felt so weird allowing him to pay for so much. So weird, in fact, that I nearly backed out. But Traci was so excited that I didn't want to pull the rug out from under her. Besides that, I really needed a getaway. I hadn't been away from home since the last time I saw Ashton. It was time that I did something and stop moping around.

I did as Traci suggested, and took plenty of time to think rationally about giving it another shot with Ashton. I was leaning more towards giving it a go, but I wanted to take a little more time before talking to him. I figured I'd wait until after my birthday trip to make a decision.

As the time drew nearer, I was more excited about the trip than I thought I'd be. The day of my birthday, Ashton sent a text, which I wasn't expecting at all.

From Ashton: Happy Birthday, beautiful. Be safe and enjoy your trip.

Knowing that he was with Brandi (Or maybe not. I'd stopped trying to keep up at that point.) it made me feel a tiny bit guilty that he'd called me beautiful, let alone arranged for such a trip. It wasn't like he was cheating on her, but I still felt like it was a little taboo, especially since he'd already said that he still loved me. But another part of me couldn't help but to be happy, knowing that he was thinking of me, even if he shouldn't be. Nonetheless, I didn't reply as to not stir anything up until I was prepared.

It was so great being reunited with my friend. As always, we picked right up where we'd left off, as though it hadn't been months since we'd seen each other.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the huge suite Ashton had gotten for us. It was more like an apartment. We were in awe.

We had a tentative itinerary of things we wanted to do and see, but nothing in particular on that first day since we didn't get there until the afternoon. Traci suggested we leave it open to hang out and "get acquainted with our surroundings" or something like that. I was fine with it, because we had a whole week ahead of us.

We'd ordered room service and were recovering from the large feast when there was a knock on the door. Traci jumped up, but then just stood there frozen, staring at me with an apologetic smile.

"What? You want me to get it?" I asked, and stood, but she stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"Um, no. I'll get it." But she continued standing there, looking worried.

"Dude, what is it?"

"Okay, so, well, you're either going to kill me or kiss my feet. But... "

She was killing me with the hesitation. "Spill it, T. What have you done?" My mind was racing with the possibilities. Had she hired those male strippers she'd once joked about doing for my birthday?

She started pacing and wringing her hands, as she did when she was nervous. "First, you should know this was completely my idea. Not the trip, that was all Ashton and I didn't know about it until you told me. But I got to thinking, and..."

"Fucking Hell. You got to thinking what?!"

She gave me another unsure smile when there was another louder knock on the door. She shouted, "I hear ya! Chill for a second! Jeez."

I laughed at her and asked again what she was up to.

"Remember, this was my idea, okay? So don't get all bent out of shape, because he turned me down several times, because he thought you wouldn't want to see him. But I wouldn't take no for an answer."

I realized then who she was talking about. I clutched my chest because I immediately started having palpitations and was short of breath. "You're fucking lying, T. Tell me you're joking. You didn't."