Page 5 of Dreaming About Forever

Stacy gasped and pointed at Alicia. “Are you still wearing his ring?”

Alicia looked down at her hand. Sure enough, the massive rock of betrayal was still on her finger. She pulled it off and slammed it down on the bedside table.

Lillian stepped into Alicia’s bedroom behind Stacy. It was still dark outside the window, but Lillian was dressed in a gray-and-white pencil skirt and fitted white blouse, ready to tear someone’s ears off during the morning meeting.

“Sorry, but you need to get dressed,” Lillian said.

Alicia tossed the covers off and flopped onto her back. Wasn’t she entitled to feel? Being a celebrity apparently meant she wasn’t allowed to show emotion, but could she have ten minutes to get it all out in the privacy of her own home?

“Alicia! What are we going to do?” Stacy threw her hands in the air and paced beside the bed. “I want to strangle Mom and Dad, and I want to tie Ashton to a cinder block and throw him in the Pacific Ocean.”

Alicia opted not to respond. Her thoughts weren’t running in kind circles either this morning.

Lillian sat on the edge of Alicia’s bed. “Are you okay? Do I need to move the meeting back an hour?”

Alicia stared up at the ceiling, wishing the nightmare would end already. “No, I’m fine, Lil.”

“I’ve got Ashton’s team on the line. He’d like a conference call.”

“A conference call? At five in the morning?” Stacy shouted. “He doesn’t have the backbone to meet with her in person or at least wait until she’s out of bed?”

The news about their parents leaked at the height of the event. Reporters stopped asking who she was wearing and started asking if she was going to go after her parents for stealing from her.

That was about the time Ashton had pushed away from her and left her paralyzed and alone in front of the entire world. She’d been broken open for the whole world to see, but no one had cared one cent if her family and relationship were falling apart.

It was funny how she could be surrounded by hundreds of people but be so completely alone.

Lillian had swooped to her rescue, pulling her from the crowd while the media followed, pressing close until she couldn’t breathe.

The panic attack in the back of the car was tame compared to the onslaught waiting in her inbox and on every news headline.

The hits kept coming well into the night, and Alicia hadn’t gotten to sleep until after three in the morning.

“Tell him he can man up and show up if he has something to say to her, and it better be a big apology,” Stacy said with a lecturing finger in the air.

“Something tells me that’s not why he wants to talk,” Alicia whispered.

Stacy’s ears were working because she whirled on her. “He’s a loser. I know you grew up with him, but he’s the worst. What kind ofmanleaves his fiancée like that when she’s clearly upset?”

It wasn’t something she’d expected from Ashton. He wasn’t a mean person, but he also wasn’t very emotional. Always so even keel. Still, the complete abandonment had been unexpected.

“I’m sure his team had already briefed him on what was going on and told him to distance himself from the sinking ship,” Alicia said.

“You say that like it’s an excuse.” Stacy stalked over and looked out into the hallway. “Where are Dag and Raul?”

All of the color drained from Lillian’s face. “That’s something we need to talk about. They resigned this morning.”

“Theyresigned? And it’s not even morning yet!” Stacy shouted. “You mean they quit. I bet Ashton had something to do with that. I hate him.”

“Stacy!” Now Alicia was getting in on the yelling too. All before breakfast.

“I meant it. He’s awful. I can’t believe you were with that guy.”

Were. That tiny word was so powerful, sending a wave of nausea from her stomach up her throat. It seemed even Stacy knew why he was calling.

Alicia threw off the covers. “Tell him he can wait until after my meeting with Henry. He woke up and chose violence today, but I don’t have to join him on the battlefield just yet.”

“Make him wait. You don’t have to jump when he calls,” Stacy said, being the ever-loyal cheerleader.

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