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In The Storm: A Workplace Romance
Chapter One
Ashlyn knew that the hurricane was coming, and she knew that it was dangerous. But there was a part of her that still believed herself invincible. Everything this far in her life had turned out so well. Why should she have trouble with a little hurricane? Ashlyn stood by the window and watched the ocean dance in angry, jagged lines. The waves were coming up higher than she had ever seen them.
A few foolish surfboarders were out there trying to balance on top of the waves. Ashlyn shook her head. Now they were truly acting foolish. It was like they wanted to die. Why would they purposely put themselves in such a dangerous position? The rain droplets fell like hail pellets and blocked Ashlyn’s view. It started looking like a big, grey stew outside.
There was nothing to see out the window anymore except fat drops of rain. Ashlyn stuck her tongue out. Their filming was being put off today. They only had one more scene to complete, but they couldn’t do it until the storm had left.
Ashlyn turned and saw Brandon and Mark, standing up face to face. Neither one looked happy with each other. Ashlyn instantly felt guilty, and she went over to see what was going on.
“Don’t think you’re trying to help. I didn’t ask for you to be my mom!” Mark was saying. His face twisted into a downward snarl. Ashlyn flicked her eyes over to Brandon. His mouth was in a straight line, and his arms were crossed.
“I thought I was helping. You don’t have to get your britches in a knot over it.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m obviously the problem here. You shouldn’t ever touch my stuff! Is it yours? No, then don’t touch it.”
“Hey, guys, it’s okay,” Ashlyn said. “What happened?”
“It’s none of your business!” Mark quickly spat out. Ashlyn turned to look at Brandon, assuming he would give her a straight answer.
“Just go away,” Brandon said, his eyes not even locking on hers for an instant. “We’re working something out, and we didn’t ask for anyone else to get involved.”
His words hit Ashlyn hard. It wasn’t like she was trying to be nosy. She really wanted to help. She had thought maybe she could help sort out the disagreement. But even Brandon thought she was useless. Ashlyn frowned and turned away. Her eyebrows knit together as she tried not to cry.
She balled her hands up in fists and marched away. Maybe she did look like a baby, but she didn’t care. Brandon’s words really hurt. They didn’t have to need her help. That was fine. But he could at least have told her that civilly, instead of telling her that she was annoying them and they didn’t need anyone’s help.
Ashlyn flopped down on her bed, kicking her flipflops off and curling up in a ball. She wanted to be strong and keep herself from crying, but she had never been able to hide her emotions well. A few tears trickled down her face. Pamela and Katy, Ashlyn’s roommates, weren’t in the room, and she was grateful. Sometimes, a girl just needed to be by herself.
When Ashlyn had wiped away her few tears, she noticed how loud the wind had become. It was beating against the windows. Ashlyn wondered how strong the wind had to be to do some damage. She looked outside. While the rain didn’t let her see far, she could see a few palm trees being blown to the left. All of their leaves were flowing to the left, like an urgent invitation had been extended them and they were trying to break away from the tree to go.
Ashlyn bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a smile. Maybe Brandon would leave soon, and she could just avoid Mark. It wouldn’t be so bad. They were going to have sloppy joes that night, and maybe Ashlyn would call her mom. Maybe Ashlyn had been wrong about Brandon’s sweet-tempered character.
Two raps sounded on Ashlyn’s half-open door, and she turned around. There was Brandon standing almost contritely. “May I come in?” he asked.
Ashlyn shrugged and let the curtain fall back over the window. “Sure.”
Brandon took a few steps inside. “Do you want to sit?” It was strange to have him come in her room and invite her to sit down, but Ashlyn was tired anyway. She had been going out on the beach too much. It was making her exhausted.
Ashlyn sat cross-legged on her bed, and Brandon sat on the edge.
“Are you okay?” Brandon asked. Fifteen minutes ago, Ashlyn would have poured everything out without wavering. She had been trying this new thing where she allowed Brandon to see every side of her, where she didn’t hide anything. She knew she stood a big chance of getting hurt, but he had shown himself trustworthy so far. Ashlyn knew that she was falling hard for him, and it would be hard to leave Brandon behind if he decided at the end of her time here that he didn’t like her as much as he thought he did.
Ashlyn shrugged, and her eyes followed the carpet’s jagged pattern. “I’m fine. I’m not dying or terminally ill. I eat food every day. In comparison to a large majority of the world, I’m amazing.” Putting her problems in that perspective made her feel like a slug for throwing a miniature pity party. What did it matter if Brandon said one thing that wasn’t so nice? She still had a lot to be thankful for.
“I know,” Brandon said, leaning back on the palms of his hands. “Isn’t it crazy how we stress about the stupid stuff every day? Like just now, my argument with Mark.” Brandon closed his eyes and shook his head. “That guy is crazy, but we both got pretty upset about something stupid.” Brandon shrugged. “I didn’t want to drag you into it.”
Ashlyn pursed her lips. “You could have said that without being so harsh.”
“Was I harsh?” Brandon seemed surprised.
Ashlyn wondered if she was simply being too sensitive. Maybe he hadn’t really been that harsh. She didn’t really remember anymore, and it didn’t seem to matter. Finally, Ashlyn just shrugged. “Yeah, a little. I was only trying to help, and I just thought that, I don’t know. It kind of hurt that you didn’t need me.”
Brandon studied Ashlyn seriously for a few minutes. “Okay, let me tell you something about guys. We will love a woman if she lets us, and we will, at least I will, be faithful. But, guys, no matter how much they might like a woman, they don’t want her interfering in the disagreements they have with another man. Would you want me butting in when you’re arguing with Pamela over leaving her dirty clothes on your bed?”
Ashlyn laughed, but she understood Brandon’s point. “I guess I would be pretty irritated.”
Brandon opened his arms to Ashlyn, and she crawled over into his lap. “Sorry,” Brandon said. “But I guess we both learned something, huh?”
“Yeah,” Ashlyn replied, wrapped her arms around Brandon’s neck. “I learned that you still look really cute when you’re upset, and you learned that you better treat me like a lady.”
Brandon leaned forward and gave Ashlyn a quick peck on the cheek. “I already treat you like a lady.”
“Yeah, you do,” Ashlyn agreed. She laid her cheek against Brandon’s chest and wondered if he was thinking about the future. Every night after they had walked down to visit the turtles, Ashlyn had wondered if the two of them together was something that could last. When filming time was over, would he make some sort of effort to see her again? Where would she go? Would she be willing to stay with this man that she had known twelve days?