The Cheat

Part 8

My eyes locked in place, staring at the person stood in the doorway. What on earth were they doing here? I must have looked like a deer in headlights with the way I was frozen in place but I couldn’t help it. No one but my family heard me play, I don’t think I even played from James in the time we were together. I had stage fright I guess you could call it, I’d played in front of a crowd once or twice but quickly decided it was not my thing. I wanted to play guitar to relax not for people to listen to. And yet here I was, first week in a new city and already someone had heard me play. Even though I didn’t mind people knowing I played, after all it is pretty hard to hide a guitar every time someone comes over, I certainly did not plan to ever play for anyone. Nice one Ash

“Ash? You there?” Huh, I guess my panicking caused me to drift off. I blinked once, yep they had moved from in front of the door to standing in front of me. Guess I couldn’t avoid them anymore. On second thoughts.

“Haha yeah, I’m just uhh I’m gonna put my guitar away…”  I limped away as quickly as I could, surprisingly that was pretty quick.

“Wait Ash-!” I slammed the door behind me before they could catch up with me. I so did not want to talk to them now, or ever again. Standing my guitar against the wall, I slid down against the door.

I know what you’re thinking. ‘Wow Ash, you’re dramatic...’ I might seem it but I’m not. I really don’t like singing in front of people. I don’t mind playing guitar in front of people, or even singing along to a song in front of people. But playing AND singing, for some completely irrational reason that was something I was petrified of doing. I have no idea why, like I said I’ve done it once or twice but it really was not my thing. Try panic attacks and complete meltdowns before and after I perform.

There was a sudden yet dull thud against the door and I frowned slightly wondering what it could be.

“Ash, I guess you don’t really want to see me at the moment, huh?” I didn’t reply. I wasn’t doing it to be rude I just figure if I don’t talk to him then he couldn’t bring up what he’d heard.

“Ok...well I guess that gives me my answer then. I’m not entirely sure what I’ve done wrong but I don’t want you to be mad at me. I know we don’t know each other very well but I thought we could be good friends, ya know? Cameron likes you, which trust me is kinda rare, and I think you seem like a pretty cool girl to be around. I’m really sorry for whatever it is that I’ve done Ash, whatever it was I didn’t mean it or mean to do it. So uhh yeah, that’s all I have to say.” I almost sighed in relief, that meant he was leaving. Right..?

“Oh one last thing, I’m going to sit outside this door until you talk to, whether that’s through this door or face-to-face is up to you.” Spoke too soon. Well ok let’s play the waiting game them. I knew I couldn’t move away from the door since he would just walk in, my bedroom didn’t have a lock on. Better put that on the to-do list. What was I gonna do till he left? I looked around but the only thing I could reach was my guitar and I certainly wasn’t going to play that again. Looks like I just have to sit here and wait him out, surely he’ll get bored soon.

...some time later…

I guess I was wrong. It had been around an hour according to the clock across the room and he hadn’t shown any signs of leaving or giving up. Occasionally he would say something, usually asking if I was ok or ready to talk to him yet. They mostly went kinda like this:

“Hey Ash?”

SIlence.

“Are you ready to talk to me yet?”

Silence,

“No?”

Silence.

“I’m still not leaving,”

Silence.

It hadn’t taken long for him to figure out that I was hoping he would get bored and leave. So the question is; why wasn’t he? I heard him take a breath and guessed that he was ready to talk to himself again.

“Hey man...yeah can you do me a favour?” Maybe he wasn’t talking to me, it sounded like he was on the phone. To who? I couldn’t hear anything from the other side of the conversation.

“No questions asked?...Yeah, I’ll owe you one…. Yes, I know. Will you help me out or not?”

“Awesome, thank you. Could you bring my guitar to Ash’s place?.... You said no questions asked… Thanks man.”

Huh? That made no sense, what is he planning? No Ash, you don’t care. You don’t want to ask him, But doing both is a no go. I have no idea why, I just can’t do it. It’s an irrational fear, but one I had all the same.

“Ash come out.” I really didn’t want to have this conversation so I didn’t answer them.

“Ash I’m not leaving until you tell me what I’ve done wrong. Even if that means I have to stay here for hours.”

“I mean it, I’ll sit out here all night if I have to Ashlee.” Damn.

“Ok then, I’ll be waiting right here when you want to talk to me Ash.”

I rolled my neck, trying to get comfortable against the door without much luck. I was beginning to get really super bored but a quick look around told me that the only thing in arms reach that I could use to entertain myself was my guitar. That was so not going to happen and if I moved away from the door then they would know. That would mean they could come in and we would have to talk. Not happening. I wasn’t ignoring him to be a bitch I just really do not know what to say to him.There was a quiet shuffling sound from the other side of the door and I stiffened, maybe he finally got bored and decided to leave.

“Hey, what are you doing down there?” That was a different voice, I guess he wasn’t leaving after all. What a shame.

“She won’t come out and before you ask, no I don’t know why but I’m hoping this might help.” There was his voice.

“Ok...well I’m gonna get going anyway, I’ve got plans.”

“Ok man, I owe you one thanks. I’ll see you later.”

“You got that right” Shortly after that my front door slammed shut, I guess it was just me and him again.

“Ash…” I didn’t respond. Surprise, surprise.

“Ok well uhh I hope I’m not going to make a complete ass out of myself but if it gets you to open this door and talk to me then I guess its worth it. If it doesn’t then I dunno what else to do, I guess I’ll just have to wait for you to get hungry or need a pee or something like that.” Now that he said it, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to go much longer without needing to pee and there was no other way to deal with that then opening the door. Damn.

“So yeah...here goes nothing.” I heard him take a deep breath and shuffle slightly before I heard guitar strings being plucked.

Suddenly a voice started to fill the air, making me sit up straight against the door.

“When your legs don't work like they used to before

And I can't sweep you off of your feet

Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?

Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?”

I slowly moved away from the door as the beautiful playing continued and the voice carried on singing like silk. As he played the last few notes of the song I slowly opened the door a crack. The first thing I noticed was that he had moved away from the door and was no sat against the wall next to it. His grey eyes met mine and he smile.

“So are you finally gonna talk to me?”

“Chase...that was beautiful…”