MMF BISEXUAL ROMANCE: Phoenix Running (8 page)

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shley begged
Tegan for the keys, but the manager shook her head. “Not until you call your mum. She’s worried about you.”

“Tegan, fuck all! Give me the keys! Cee-Cee’s waiting for me.”

Tegan handed him the cellphone. “Call her.” Ashley knew his mother had been trying to get in touch with him, but he hadn’t answered. He hadn’t spoken with her since he left the country. She had dropped a bomb on him about her past that he hadn’t been ready to hear. He still wasn’t ready to deal with the vast majority of the things she had said to him, but since Tegan was being difficult…

Ashley snatched the phone and angrily dialed Nora’s number. Tegan dropped the keys to the rental car on the table and quietly slipped out of Ashley’s new hotel room. Ashley threw his body on the loveseat and stared at the ceiling while he waited for his mum to pick up. She answered quickly.

“Son! How is it in America? Is the tour going well?”

“You’ve been here. You know exactly how it is in America.” Something he had recently found out.

“Right. You’re upset. I knew that was why you were avoiding me.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you, but I know what you want me to do, and that’s not happening. So, there’s no point in calling, trying to get me to change my mind. I still can’t believe you told that fucker I was performing in a town near him.” He grimaced at his choice of words, feeling like a jerk for talking to his mum like that. Ashley had always had difficulty bridling his tongue; Nora was well aware.

“He’s your father, Ashley.”

Ashley sat up restlessly. “Mum, a father is someone who’s there for you, not someone who leaves your mother pregnant and alone, waiting on a lie. He promised that he’d come back and marry you, but instead he left you with a baby and no real way to take care of me. You’re too forgiving. My father is William. He’s the man who raised me. I don’t know any Reginald Harold.”

Things he had learned in the week before departing for his first tour had left him feeling like he didn’t even know himself or his family. The man he had called Dad all his life was no relation to him. Instead, Ashley discovered his mother had been an escort in the wild days of her youth, and she had met a wealthy businessman and shared a whirlwind courtship that resulted in his birth. Reginald Harold hadn’t so much as sent a postcard since.

He didn’t understand why she was intent on making father and son meet after all these years. Ashley was happy with the way things were. He felt to meet Reginald Harold would be an insult to William, even though his stepfather had expressly asked him to meet the man, too.

The closer his tour had brought him to this town, the more insistent Nora had become, but Ashley just wasn’t interested. He was getting frustrated with the constant reminders of Reginald Harold’s existence after a lifetime of not knowing the man. He realized he was unfairly taking out his frustrations on his mother and bit his tongue before another sharp retort flew out.

“Mum, I’m sorry. You caught me at a bad time. I was on my way out, and I didn’t want to get into this right now, but Tegan felt I needed to talk with you.”

“Ashley, there’s a lot you don’t know.” Nora took a shaky breath, and Ashley thought he heard her sniffle on the end of the line.

“I wish he hadn’t hurt you.”

“I’ve made my peace with it. You’ll understand it better by and by. Sometimes love isn’t something that lasts for eternity or gets shouted from the mountaintops. Sometimes it’s a secret moment between two people. That doesn’t make it any less real. Besides, think of how differently our lives would’ve gone had things been otherwise. I’m happy with William, and I’m happy with the young man I’ve raised. You’re a good boy, Ashley.”

“You’re wrong about one thing, though. Love shouldn’t be a secret. I’ll never understand that. When I fall, I won’t ever be content with hiding in the closet. Now, I’ve gotta go, Mum. I have someone waiting to meet with me. I promise I’ll call you later when we can really talk.”

“That’s fine, son. I wanted to hear your voice.”

“I love you, Mum.”

“Love you, too, Ash.”

He hung up the phone and held it awhile, staring at the floor. His mother had sacrificed much for the man she loved, but Ashley would never be able to do that. He was pleased Nora had quickly found happiness with William, a man who loved her in return. Ashley pushed up from the seat and grabbed the keys. He tossed the keys in the air and caught them and skipped out of the hotel room. Despite the dreary topic of conversation, he felt better for having spoken with his mother.

But he had no plans to meet with his father while he was in America. He was here to sing, dance and have a good time, and the most promising time seemed to lie with hanging out with Cee-Cee and her truculent friend, Phoenix. He sent the text with the address to Cee-Cee:

T
he frozen yogurt
treat curled from the machine into the cup. Baby Joe, awake now, reached for the frosty sweetness, and Cee-Cee giggled as she pulled his hand out of the way. He vocalized his displeasure with a grunt.

“He’s a demanding little one, isn’t he,” Ashley chuckled. He reached for the baby to let Cee-Cee free her hands to finish fixing her yogurt. She hurried to the caddy where candies, nuts and syrups were arrayed.

Once the three of them had what they wanted, they took a table near the wall and Cee-Cee strategized how to get Ashley to agree to her terms. He smiled at her so openly and honestly that she felt a little guilty about what she had to do.

“Gosh, he’s the cutest! His mum must love him to pieces. She’s your younger sister, right? How old are you again?”

“Twenty-two. She’s, uh…twenty. She was very young when she had him.” Cee-Cee shrugged, embarrassed to admit it. “But, I mean, it’s not like she doesn’t have a future just because she’s a young mom. She’s in school now, and she’s working. I’m trying to talk her into continuing her education after she gets her bachelor’s. She’s so smart.”

Ashley didn’t respond like most people did when she confessed her sister had been a teen mom. He smiled and said, “Very young and very brave to not have taken an easier route and given him up. She’s also blessed to have you as an example of how to go after her dreams.” He beamed at the toddler.

Cee-Cee felt her heart melt a little more for this rock star with the kind words and gentle eyes. He was so the anti-asshole. Why weren’t there more men like him?

“Yeah, she’s a great mom. I’m proud of her.” She meant that. She really did. Recalling some of her ungracious thoughts about Josey, she was certain she had been unfair to her sister lately. She had never thought of herself as a role model, but maybe she really had been instrumental in Josey sticking to school and work.

She made a vow to herself to start encouraging her more, like she had today. She was enjoying having Baby Joe along, too. He was a riot. But she had work to do, and that meant steering the conversation in the right direction. Turning to her briefcase, she addressed the issue at hand. “So, have you and your manager heard from Briton’s council yet? I had a meeting with them earlier today.” She pulled out her tablet and set it on the table away from Baby Joe’s grasping hands.

“Hmm, the sexy, charming Phoenix Briton. Why would I be hearing from him or his council? He made it clear the night we met that he wasn’t interested.”

“They’re planning a fundraiser, and they want you to perform at the event.”

Ashley scooped a spoonful of frozen yogurt into his mouth. “Your doing.”

She grinned. “After seeing you perform at the Yellow Lounge, I was impressed. You’ll appeal to exactly the demographic Briton is targeting. Now, I’ve convinced Phoenix this will help his campaign, but he has some legitimate concerns about having you at the fundraiser.”

“Such as?”

“He’s worried you’re too public. Your face is all over the Internet, and Phoenix just isn’t like that. He wants to ensure that if you come to the show, you’ll stick to the stage. I guess you could say he needs reassurance you’ll keep things…professional.” Ashley guffawed, knowing exactly what she was hinting at. His laughter caused Baby Joe to giggle as well, which made Cee-Cee chuckle. “In order to mollify him, I took the liberty of bringing along some forms for you to sign in support of that. Standard stuff.”

She casually handed him her tablet, which was already cued up to the appropriate form. Ashley stuck his spoon into his frozen yogurt, took it, and looked it over. At the top of the PDF in bold print were the words Confidentiality Agreement. Ashley shook his head.

“This isn’t standard stuff, and I don’t sign anything without my manager or lawyers present. Not even for a beautiful girl like you.”

“Joey, don’t!” She reached for Baby Joe in the highchair next to her. He was poking his fingers into the frozen yogurt. When she wiped off his hand with a baby wipe, the toddler grabbed a candy piece and shoved it into his mouth. He blew bubbles as he chewed, which left his face a spitty, sticky mess. She gave up trying to fight the toddler wars.

Finally looking up at Ashley, she confessed, “No, it’s not standard stuff. He’s into you, Ashley. He’s just nervous that public knowledge of that interest could hurt his career, and I don’t blame him. He’s right about you being much more open about your personal life. I’ve seen your vlogs. But promising in writing that you won’t blast him could get you the shot with Phoenix that you want. He just needs to know you won’t put anything about him on the Internet. Understand?”

“I do understand. Phoenix Briton,” he bit the name off sharply, “wants me to be his dirty little secret. I’m surprised you and he would go so far as to try to trap me into a contract restricting my free speech about my personal life. I thought we were better than that. I thought we could be friends.”

She frowned at the darkening of Ashley’s grey eyes and the way his eyebrows came together over the bridge of his nose. Her heart beat faster. Had she screwed up again? She had thought she was ready to be a professional. “Hey, this wasn’t Phoenix’s idea. I’m sorry. I didn’t think bringing it up would make you so upset.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “The hardest part of PR is people,” Uncle Bryan had told her, “and there’s no crash course in that.” She hadn’t understood—people liked her; she was respectful.... Ashley’s lips smiled wryly, but the smile didn’t reach any further. Cee-Cee impulsively reached across the table and touched his hand, but she forgot what she had just been touching. She left a sticky residue on his skin. She frowned and swiped it with a baby wipe, only to leave behind fluffs of lint, which made Ashley laugh and lightened the situation.

He grabbed another wipe from the pack in Baby Joe’s diaper bag and cleaned his hand. “I’m not upset, per se. But let’s get one thing straight, Cee-Cee. I’m not anyone’s down-low option. I never will be. You can tell Phoenix either he accepts me as I am, or he doesn’t have to worry about me coming around. I think he’s cute, but I’m not changing to fit his circus act.”

She looked at him for a minute. He wasn’t holding the forms against her, but he wouldn’t sign them either. She sighed. “Of course I’ll tell him, and I understand, but I really am excited about the idea of having you at the fundraiser. Your music is great. I’m not sure I’ll be successful playing middle man between you two.” Cee-Cee pulled her tablet back to her side of the table with a look of disappointment. She didn’t know where to go from there. Phoenix would probably cancel having Ashley at the fundraiser now.

Ashley shifted the conversation to talk about his week of shows. It sounded fascinating, but Cee-Cee was more concerned with this one show in particular. She had all but assured the PR-ISM team Ashley would be at the fundraiser, but without his guarantee that he wouldn’t openly flirt with the mayor, Phoenix wouldn’t agree to that.

She took a chance and murmured, “Like I said, this was me trying to find a middle ground for you two. You don’t have to be a secret, but can you at least promise that if you mention anything about Phoenix online, you run it by him first? And at the fundraiser, I think it would be best if you not approach the mayor at all. Is that okay? Can we make that deal?” She smiled winsomely.

He hesitated for a second, and she was worried she’d insulted him again, then he said, “That’s reasonable.” She beamed. It was the best she could hope for so it would have to be enough. “I think I can set your boy’s mind at ease if the three of us were to socialize together a bit more. You think he’d like frozen yogurt as much as little Joe here? We should invite him here,” teased Ashley.

Baby Joe was back to shoving his fingers into the cool frozen yogurt. Cee-Cee gave up trying to stop him. She giggled as he put his chocolate-covered fingers in his mouth. “I don’t think anyone over three can love frozen yogurt as much as Baby Joe. I already passed the message along to Phoenix that we should get together. He asked me out this weekend. Maybe then.”

“Oh! So, you two are an item.”

“No.”

Ashley grinned, unconvinced. “Cee-Cee, have you ever been in a polyamorous situation before?”

“A poly what?” she asked. She grabbed Baby Joe’s yogurt and pushed it across the table. She had to do something about this mess. He was ruining the suit she had borrowed from her mother.

“Polyamorous. More than one love. I’ve been reading up on the subject, and I find the idea intriguing. It’s when a couple or a group of people decide they can have multiple loving—or at least meaningful—relationships without lying. Some of them form communities and some just have outside lovers without all the secrecy and drama. Like polygamy without the marriage part.”

“Marriage? Oh, god, no. Ha! That’s probably why I haven’t heard of it. I’m not the marrying kind. I’m not even very dateable. I’m always too busy to go out. I hate cuddling. Love is a four letter word that I don’t use. Why are you asking if I’m into that, Ashley? Still trying to get me and Phoenix in your bed?” She covered Baby Joe’s ears while she said the last part. Ashley leaned away from the table with a hearty laugh.

“I was only asking. I’m curious about people. I wonder what would make anyone consider a multi-partner relationship. It seems complicated. There must be some jealousy involved. Take the three of us, for example. Hypothetically speaking, what would I be supposed to do while it was Phoenix’s turn to have you?”