Music of the Heart (24 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

ASHLEIGH

              “Hey Hannah.  Is Dixon in his office?  I really need to talk with him.”

“Sure Ashleigh.  Go on in.”

              I decided to pay Dixon a visit at his office to see what is going on with him.  Merritt mentioned he was acting strange and I thought maybe I could figure it all out.  I stopped by the Sweet Peach to grab us some lunch.

              “Knock, knock.  I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

              “Hey Ash.  Come on in.  What a nice surprise.”

              Dixon stands up and walks around to kiss me on the cheek.  He takes the bag from me and leads me over to his conference table.

              “So, am I in trouble or something?  You’re bringing me lunch and coming to visit unannounced?  What’s up?”

              “Really, I just wanted to come see you and talk to you.  Merritt mentioned something is going on with you but she wasn’t sure what it was.  I thought for sure you would talk to me.  Right?”

              The look on Dixon’s face changes quickly to one of stress and I can tell he’s getting nervous.  Yep, something is up with him.

              “Seriously Dixon.  The look on your face says it all.  What’s wrong?  Lord knows I have enough crappy shit going on in my life right now.  Why not share yours with me too?”

              “Ugh.  I wish I could but I promised I wouldn’t say anything.  I’m sorry.”

              Hmmm… I know it has nothing to do with any of the girls because they would have already told me.  It has to be one of the guys. 

              “Okay, listen.  I get you want to be respectful to whoever told you something but you are incredibly stressed.  Maybe you just need to get it off your chest.  You know me well enough to know I won’t say anything to anyone.”

              I take a huge bite of my chicken salad sandwich when he stops eating and looks at me with almost a sympathetic expression.

              “Fuck.  Look, you did not hear this from me, okay?  Shit, he is going to kill me.”

              “What the hell Dixon?  What is going on?  And who the hell is going to kill you?”

              Taking a sip of my tea, he looks at me again.

              “Cross is the person responsible for you being on a permanent break.”

              I spit my drink out everywhere and start choking. 

              “Excuse me?  I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear you right?  Why don’t you tell me again what’s going on please?”

              Dixon stands up and starts pacing around his office.  If what he just said is the truth, I might be sick.

              “I can’t believe I just told you that.  Oh shit.  Okay, listen.  Long story short.  Cross is a silent shareholder and on the board of trustees for JMA Music.  He’s the one who talked to Jamie about your voice and throat.  Listen, he was really worried about you and when he saw how bad you were hurting one night and then overheard you talking about your throat, he mentioned it to the label.  That’s how they got access to your doctor as well.”

              I start hyperventilating.  Oh my gosh, I think I’m having a panic attack.  What in the hell has he done?

              “Calm down Ashleigh.  You’re starting to have a panic attack.  Please listen to me.  He seriously thought he was doing something good, not bad.  He cares so much for you and didn’t want to see you ruin your career over not taking care of your voice.”

              “Holy shit.  I’m going to kill him.  He didn’t help me.  He ruined everything.  I am supposed to be on tour all summer and I had to cancel everything.  I mean, he already controls my recording studio.  Is there anything else he’s secretly involved in?

              “Well, he owns the Sweet Peach Café too.”

              Of course he does.  It seems like every single fucking thing I am involved in or like, he owns it.  All of a sudden, a calm comes over me.

              “Is he coming tonight with us to dinner and the club?  I haven’t talked to him today and now, I don’t plan on it.”

              “He told me this morning when he called that he would miss dinner but would meet us at East Andrews.  Why?  What are you going to do?”

              “Dixon, don’t worry about me or what I may do.  I will be fine.  Do not under any circumstances tell him that I know.  And please do not mention this to any of the other girls or guys.”

              With that, I stand up and walk out.  Not do anything, my ass.  He’s going to get what he deserves tonight.

CROSS

              My plane rolls in about thirty minutes before I’m supposed to meet everyone.  Thomas is waiting on me and drives me towards East Andrews, a fun and young club that has great bands, great drinks and a VIP area for us to be away from the craziness.

              Happy I landed the deal, I can’t wait to see Ashleigh and kiss her.  I’ve missed her and it’s only been two days.  I could never get in touch with her today and I got a little worried until Dixon told me he had seen her and she was busy with the girls today at the spa.

              The guy working the door at East Andrews lets me in and I’m shown upstairs to the VIP area by a waitress.  We lucked up with our room and bar tonight.  We are overlooking the whole dance floor that is outside and I can already hear people yelling up at Ashleigh, having recognized her.

              Walking up behind her, I wrap my arms around her stomach and kiss her neck.  She quickly jerks away from me and turns around. 

              “What the hell Cross?  Don’t do stuff like that please.”

              “Excuse me?  Why the hell not? You are mine.”

              “Let’s get one thing straight.  I am not anyone’s property so no, I am not yours.  Secondly, our friends may know about us but all the people below that can see us don’t know and I really would prefer not shouting it to the world tonight.  I’d rather not be a front page tabloid story tomorrow morning or see my picture on someone’s Instagram tonight.”

              Wow.  She is pissed off about something and taking it out on me.  Awesome.  Just the way I wanted to be welcomed back by her.  She has already walked away to where Merritt is standing and I notice some extra faces joining us tonight.  I knew my brothers were going to be here but there are a few former baseball players from Auburn up there that the girls were friends with and their girlfriends.  Then I notice Ashleigh’s ex, Bennett. 

              “Dixon, what the hell is Ashleigh’s ex doing here?”

              “I invited him.  It’s mine and Ava’s night.  Seriously Cross.  I think you know they are more like brother and sister than anything romantic.  The last thing she wants is to start things up with Bennett again.  Plus, if you would take a minute to get your head out of your ass, you would see he has his new girlfriend with him.”

              “She just bit my head off.  Told me not to touch her tonight in front of people.  What the hell is that about?  I get not wanting to flaunt us for the world to see yet but I don’t see how a hug could hurt anything?”

              Dixon makes a face but doesn’t let on that he knows anything.  If something is going on with Ashleigh, I’m going to find out tonight.  I’ll make sure of it.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ASHLEIGH

              It totally pisses me off that he’s here right now but I’m letting on that I know what he’s done yet.  No worries though.  That moment is coming later.

              “Ashleigh, what the hell just went on between you and Cross?  I thought you were excited he was coming back to go with us tonight?  What’s up?  And don’t tell me nothing because I know you better than you know your self.  Spill it bitch.”

              I grab Merritt’s hand and drag her to the ladies room to talk.  I click the lock so no one interrupts us and spill everything to her.  I replay what went down at Dixon’s office today and she flips out.

              “What the fuck is wrong with him?  Why didn’t he just talk to you first instead of trying to rule every aspect of your life?  That fucking asshole.  I’m going to rip him a new one and beat the shit out of him.”

              “Merritt, calm the hell down.  Look, don’t say a fucking word to him about this right now.  Trust me, he’s going to find out I know and when he does, his world is going to be rocked.”

              I storm out of the bathroom before Merritt has a chance to say anything else.  Ava, Laken and Ellis are all looking at us and come straight to the bar where Merritt and I are headed.  Lord knows I need another drink. 

              “Bartender, a round of tequila shots for me and my girls!”

              I feel his presence before I see him. 

              “Ashleigh, do you really think that’s a good idea?  You seem to have had a few drinks already.”

              “I’m sorry but I’m pretty sure you aren’t in control of me.  Oh wait, at least not in this part of my life.”

              I turn around and storm off down the stairs.  The girls are fast on my heels.  When we get to the bottom of the steps, Ava stops us.

              “Okay, just wait a minute.  What in the hell is going on?”

              Merritt fills the other three in on my situation and they are equally as pissed as I am.  Of course, Laken is always the voice of reason between everyone so she has something to say in his defense.

              “Ashleigh, I know what he did wasn’t right and he should have talked to you first but we can all see he loves you and he was just looking out for you.  None of us want to see you damage your voice anymore than you already have.  You know you need time to heal or you will be stuck working with us at Bello forever.”

              “I get I need to rest but he’s such a liar.  He has kept so much from me and going behind my back to the record label is unforgiveable.”

              I lead the girls to the dance floor downstairs and security is hot on my heels.  They know I’m supposed to be in the VIP area and they aren’t very happy with me.  I grab a shot from the waitress walking around with them and turn to look at the security guards.

              “Look boys.  I know I am supposed to be upstairs right now but last time I checked, this was a public place and I am part of the public so I am going to dance down here no matter what.  You can stand and watch me all you want and if things get out of control, you are more than welcome to throw me back upstairs.”