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twelve

T W E L V E

"CHRIST," BRETTON EXCLAIMED OVER THE PHONE. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D WIND UP BECOMING THE MAN'S BABYSITTER!"

He was definitely making it sound a lot worse than it actually was, but I didn't feel like overly explaining the whole thing to him. Right now, I just needed someone to vent to over the phone and since this call was originally going to be a rant about how he had dislocated me for some girl and if they weren't together, then I would've had to punch him in the stomach. But then he mentioned his rock-hard abs which got me thinking about Ashton's rock hard abs. Brett told me that I should do a google search for his 'Speech on the Beach' for some huge charity event last year, and there enough, Ashton was, in low-resolution-but-still-shirtless glory.

Which was how we got ourselves on the topic of his unorthodox methods of treatment towards his employees, especially personal assistants. I was the personal assistant in hot water, so it was bad enough for me, but he told me that Ashton had asked Kelsey to come in on Halloween to the closed building and hand out candy to anyone who happened to pass by the door (which was near the heart of downtown). She even got put on a sex offender registry for offering someone's daughter free candy. It was all cleared up, thanks to her high profile and very threatening boyfriend, but the incident had just put another straw on top of the pile and it took only a few more months for her back to break.

"I mean, it's not that bad," I said in defense of Ashton's honor. "I admit, it's not very cool, but it's what I deserve. Besides, she's only seventeen. I originally thought I would be babysitting a thirty year old woman."

When Ashton and I got there and they finally let her out, I was surprised to see that she was the girl from the party. The snooty-looking one who beckoned me over to the table where I saw Ashton for the first time. Her name was Vivian Baldwin and they both had a startling resemblance with her glossy black hair and bright eyes. She was stunning and it was impossible to believe that she wasn't in her twenties or even eighteen yet.

"Fiona," he sighed. "Sweet, innocent, naive Fiona. Did you ever stop and think about what exactly would land a seventeen year old in jail? This girl could be easily some kind of criminal. And by keeping her at his house under your watch, you could become an accessory to harboring a criminal."

"He paid her bail and everything," I said with a groan, "she's one hundred percent free to go. I know what I'm doing, Brett." As much as I didn't want to admit it, he had a point with all of this. How exactly was I supposed to tame his delinquent sister, especially when I had already created a slew of messes for him to deal with, ones that could potentially be his downfall? I guess the best part in all of this was that I wasn't supposed to tame his sister, just keep her under check, but even that seemed like a Herculean task. I was just afraid that I would let him down again.

"Do you want me to stop by and help you out," he offered, but I turned him down.

"I'll call you if I need to, but just keep worrying about your practice."

He sighed on the other line. "Alright, Fiona. But I'm asking Kelsey about this Vivian Baldwin so I can see if there's anything you need to know about her."

I nodded, entirely grateful that I had someone like Bretton who I could always rely on.

-

I EXPECTED ASHTON TO PICK ME UP, BUT HE DIDN'T.

Instead, I had to ride in silence with the same driver from yesterday, Wallace. He barely even glanced in my direction, so I could only guess that he was given special instructions from Ashton to give me the cold shoulder and it was definitely working. Each second alone in the car with him was uncomfortable, so when he pulled up in front of Ashton's apartment, I nearly jumped for joy.