Allison's POV
I feel like an ass, the man I love saw me call him Mr. Doom and Gloom. My life is over, how can I face him again? How am I supposed to move on from this? I have never wanted the ground to open up and swallow me so bad before. Not even when I tripped on my prom dress and face-planted in the gym in front of the whole school! Classy I know, you would think because I come from money, I would have some grace. You would be wrong, dead wrong. I think when I was made God gave me two left feet and disguised one as my right foot. Honestly, I didn't think anything would top the prom incident, but here I am.
After stopping at my Penthouse to pack my suitcase, I Pull through a drive-through to pick up something quick to eat. I know I shouldn't, but you know the Big M has the greatest fries, and after today's mess up I need some junk food. Picking up enough food for me and my bestie I head over to Shandra's house to whine to her about today. Shandra has been my best friend since we were three. She is not from an affluent family like I am, but she is always here when I need her. She has never asked for anything in return, unlike most of the people I know. Shandra was Clark's, our gardener's only daughter. He would bring her to work after his wife passed away when she was little. We would play in my "own personal" park as she called it. As we grew up we became inseparable, my dad paid for Shandra to go to the same schools I went to. Dad would give Clark "extra" work to do to pay for schooling. Clark had no idea how expensive the schools were, or he never would have allowed Shandra to go. As for the extra work, that was for Clark's peace of mind. Lucky for Shandra and me Dad has a soft spot for us both.
"Shanny, I am here and I brought Big M's" I yell as I unlock her door and walk in.
"I'm in my room. I just got out of the shower. Just bring it in here and we can eat while I get ready." She responds already knowing I was coming. I texted her to let her know what happened at work.
"Shanny, what do I do? I think I messed up really bad!" I whine at her while tossing the bags dramatically on the bed as I follow. I hopped on her bed and started pulling items out of the bag. I pull out her a cheeseburger, fries, and a Caramel Frap while she shimmy's her dark blue skinny jeans over her hips.
"Shanny, he's going to fire me and I will have to go back with my tail tucked between my legs." I whine again
"You are overreacting. If he was going to fire you he would have fired you right then and there, but he didn't instead he asked you to get plane tickets. By the way, where are you going?" She inquires taking a bite of her cheeseburger.
"I am not sure I was told to fly to LA and get a rental car, I didn't think to ask where we are going." I mentally face-palm myself for the thousandth time today.
"Do you know how long you will be gone? Catlins birthday is next week and she wants us at her next show, which is on her birthday."
"Shit, I forgot to ask that too! Do you think Catlin made us dresses?" I ask, knowing she did. She always does.
"You know she did, and I am here for it." She giggles
Finishing lunch and complaining I cannot put it off any longer, it is time to face up to what I did and go to Kaden's estate.
Pulling up to the estate I hit the intercom button to be buzzed into the gate. I have been here so many times they know my car by sight. Pulling my Silver Honda Pilot through the gates and into the reserved parking space, I open the trunk to pull my suitcase out. I have no idea where we are going so I looked up the weather for LA, surprise it is supposed to be hot. Not looking forward to wearing work clothes in the heat. Luckily I packed some fun clothes too, for when we are not working. Taking a deep breath I walk toward Edward who is waiting at Kaden's limo to load my suitcase in.
"Hello Edward, do you know where Mr. Everdeen is?" I ask
"Ah good afternoon Ali, I believe he is in the foyer giving some last-minute instructions to Selene. She got into a bit of a tight spot last night, and he was upset with her this morning." He responds with a shrug.
"I'll go see if I can rescue Miss, Selene before he grounds her for life." I chuckle as I walk towards the mansion.
"Selene I don't want another word or you will be grounded until Christmas!" I hear Kaden say through gritted teeth. Selene his sister just turned 17 and is a bit rebellious, especially when you take into account how straight-laced Kaden is. To be honest with how hard he is on her sometimes I wonder if he is jealous because she has all the freedom he never had.
Selene seeing me coming up the drive runs out of the mansion, grabs my arm, and flings herself behind me.
"Ali, save me! Kaden is being mean, he said I am grounded until Christmas!" She pouts.
I look over to Kaden raising my eyebrow to him. He rubs his face with his hand and paces back and forth.
"Look Selene, you cannot go to parties and get drunk. Do you know what could have happened if Charlie didn't have the sense to call me last night? You were so drunk, you didn't even know I picked you up! You could have been kidnapped, raped or murdered!" He spits through gritted teeth.
"Selene, even though I would have worded it differently, I have to take Kaden's side on this. If what he is saying is true, you could have been harmed seriously last night. I am not saying not to live your life and have fun, but you should know better than to get so drunk that you are not aware of your surroundings. Not that I am advocating for a 17-year-old to be drinking, but if you are going to do something like that don't do it at a party. Do it in a safe location with people you trust." I lecture her.
"She shouldn't be drinking at all!" Kaden states as he runs his hands through his hair.
"While I agree, I am just saying, if she is going to do it whether you want her to or not. She needs to make sure she is in a safe location. Somewhere there is always someone sober to keep everyone safe." I look between the two.
"Fine, Ali you're right. But Kaden please don't ground me. I have cheer practice after school and I cannot miss it." She whines.
Blowing out a deep breath, Kaden looks at the two of us. "Fine, but you are not to go to any parties while I am out of town, I won't be here to save you." He responds while nodding to himself.
"I have to get going, make sure you get your homework done, and don't give mom a hard time while I am gone. Please!" He begs with his eyes.
Selene and Vivian have not had the greatest relationship since losing Kent. Vivian in an attempt to deal with her grief threw herself into work. She is just now starting to come back to herself, trying to care for her daughter like she should have been. I don't think she intended to dump the responsibility on the staff and Kaden, but she did. Shocker, Selene is not responding well to it.
Kaden and I head to the limo. Once seated Kaden looks at me, I mean really looks at me I think for the first time. "How did you do that?" He asks in a gruff voice.
"Do what?" I scrunch my eyes in confusion.
"Deal with Selene. See another way of handling her." He responds running his hand through his hair again.
"Can I be totally honest with you?" I ask
"Please, I would rather you be honest." He states looking into my eyes.
"You did not have a normal teenage life. You were thrown into the adult world before you were even allowed to be a teenager. You started working with your dad when you were 15 when he started getting ill. You were never given an option, so how would you know how to navigate teenage drama? You were never allowed to live it." I responded hoping I had not offended him.
Kaden is looking at me, really looking at me. My heart is pounding in my chest, all I want to do is grab the back of his head and pull him down for a kiss. Clearing my throat I continue. "You are doing the best you can, with the knowledge you have. No one can fault you for that." I whisper. His green eyes pulling me in.
"We are here sir." The driver says uncomfortably clearing his throat.
Not knowing how to respond I turn to open the door of the limo, and as per usual trip over myself and land on the ground. Great, just great now I am on the ground of a busy airport with everyone staring at me. I really know how to make a good impression, I think to myself. Kaden comes to my side and helps me up. This is the first time in two years I have had physical contact with him, are those sparks I feel? Lifting my eyes in confusion I look at Kaden to see if there is a reaction. He also seems shocked. He lets go of my hand clearing his throat. "Edward has already checked us in and the private security line is set up. We can head to the lounge to wait for our flight." He says pointing me in the right direction as Edward follows with our luggage.
We make our way to the lounge, I order a Margarita and a Whiskey on ice for us. I head over to the table to wait for our drinks.
"Mr. Everdeen, do we have an appointment in LA? I'm ashamed to say I forgot to ask earlier." I say blushing as I remember why I didn't ask where we were going.
"No, we will be driving from LA to Blythe." He responds sipping his Whiskey
"Blythe, like the desert that borders Arizona?"
"Yes, the one and the same." He responds with clouds in his eyes.
"Why are we going to Blythe? I thought we already had the contract drawn up with the city council?" I questioned, knowing that the town was nothing but a dried-up ghost town.
"Someone is trying to pull the contract out from under me. I wouldn't be to concerned about it, but this project is personal to me." He turns away from me to look out the window.
Personal? What ties does he have with a dried-up old farming town?