Snap Out Of It || Ashton Irwin

3

Sparks are flying! Could Talia Kozma be Ashton Irwin's shoulder to lean on as he goes through a traumatic divorce?

We spotted the two having a friendly dinner where a very distraught Ashton sat across from Talia as they were both in deep conversation. Could this be the new power couple to run the show?! We're hoping so!

It was quick, almost sixty words had the power to nauseate me. I read over the article a few times, being repulsed more each time I read it. I looked at the photos attached of me leaving the restaurant, hiding my anger behind a pair of sunglasses that consumed my face. It was just like me to forget that I needed to be aware of people capturing photos of me whenever I left my house. I was still learning the proper time to have my guard up and down and I was definitely not succeeding.

Mel, my manager, had a negative manner filling the space of her office, one that could tell me that I was in trouble for this. Most of our problems came with my defiance, trying to do what I wanted without having someone calling the shots. I wanted to be normal still.

Funny how I could throw around a six letter word so easily regardless of my situation.

"I don't want to see any of this anymore," Mel sat in her desk chair, rubbing her temples. It felt odd to sit on the other side of authority for a change. I was to take orders, not give them. "I give you the freedom to do what you want and you repay me with hanging out with someone who will only bring you negative publicity!" That was valid. My acts of defiance (like flying out of the country to have lunch with Donatella Versace to exchange the present-day opinions of the trends all of those magazines wanted people like me to follow) caused Mel to cut the leash and let me free, but not without the warning that she would attach me to a brand new leash with one minor slip up. And Ashton was not minor, he was a major slip up.

Ashton was the sort of publicity that Mel and her - or my - colleagues didn't want me to have. Evidently, they believed a sad boy such as Ashton could not amend my public persona in a constructive way. It was agreements such as the one with Mel that could keep a person from helping a fellow friend get out of obscurity. As frustrating as this was, I liked that Mel wanted to keep me away from Ashton. It helped the entire process with him. I wouldn't fall back into his trap and do a complete 360 back to where I had started.

"Hang out with him in the privacy of your home, but for the love of all gods, do not hang out with him in public where everyone can see." Ashton was not welcome in my home. My new home. I moved out of the chaos of the apartment that brought nightmares of love, lust, and sadness, taking the kids and our belongings to a spacious penthouse that had a family friendly atmosphere. A family friendly atmosphere that New York City could offer, however. "No one wants to see Talia Kozma try to put Ashton Irwin back together."

I found myself rolling my eyes at the preciseness of Mel every time she spoke. She was right, because not even did I want to watch myself fix someone who broke me. It was a tragedy replayed over and over again and somehow the tape didn't break. It kept rewinding itself and leaving me to wonder why I wasn't getting anywhere within myself.

Mel was not precise to take it upon herself to call in Ashton and his manager Joe. Or was it Joshua? His unkempt beard screamed, Joe.

Mel's disappointment mixed with the gloom of Ashton was enough to drive me insane sitting in this office any longer. It had been so long since I had sulked in such emotions, that I had forgotten what they truly felt like. I didn't speak a word to Ashton as we waited for the authoritative verses to be given. I didn't have much to say to him anyway. This was one of those situations that we all played in our heads as we fell asleep and we came up with the most clever sentences to say to the person who destroyed you, just in case you were ever face to face with that person again. But I had nothing. My mind was blank.

"You could be the girl to bring Ashton back!" Joe exclaimed. Joe was eager about this meeting. His handshake lingered too long and he couldn't wipe his blinding white smile off his face. I almost snorted at his level of giddiness as he contradicted everything Mel had just told me five minutes ago. "Everyone wants to see a beautiful, happy, and successful girl pick up the pieces of a sad, broken boy!"

"I agree." Mel nodded. She was agreeing with this suddenly when two second ago she was trying to shut the whole situation down.. Hypocrisy at its finest, truly. The city was full of hypocrites. Left and right, they were always there.

It was constant mind games in this business. You were told one thing by the superior commander and a few seconds later they were telling you the opposite. I did not like the feeling of being kept on my toes, especially when they could break at any second.

"All I'm saying is, you two get photographed out and about, make a few public appearances at big events, sort of brag about your friendship, or relationship, on social media, be coy about it in interviews and everyone will forget about Sarah!" Joe had too much faith in his "plan" or maybe he practiced the level of confidence in his voice to himself in the mirror every day until one of his clients were to get an offer of such. Actually, too much caffeine could be the culprit and Joe was the victim it was taking over.

"Quite frankly, I think he can fix this all on his own because he does not deserve any favors from me." I would oppose to this for as long as I was alive. Well, as long as I had to until Mel eased off. I didn't want to be seen as a phenomenon for picking up where Sarah left off. I was not going to be a miracle worker in the life of someone I could do without.

I questioned Ashton's opinion. Could he feel the same? Did he have high hopes on this? Why the fuck was I even putting a thought into his opinion?

"I'm for it." Ashton spoke up. His voice brittle and scratchy like he hadn't spoke in days or had been on the verge of crying. I ignored all waves of his voice being sent into my ears. Something could trigger an agreement or misery. I never thought I'd be the girl avoiding the sound of her exes compelling mannerism. But of course he agreed to it. It was another case of his selfishness that I didn't want to be starring in. "We'll have to work out the fine details and everything, but I'm for it."

All eyes were on me now. Pressure was something I could not handle well. I would explode and leave this room in a disastrous crime scene clean-up with my emotions splattered on the walls.

"How much are you willing to pay?" We were all driven by money, one could counter, but we all know it was true. It wouldn't hurt me to ask about money.

"Fifty grand an appearance and ten grand for every gossiper that writes about you." Mel could slam a briefcase on her desk full of all the possible earnings this agreement could make and I would still be hesitant about it. "I'll throw in an extra twenty grand for the kids of yours."

"No." I stood. "The kids will not be involved in this. I'm trying everything in my power to give them normal lives like their parents would've wanted, so they are not being involved in a sick publicity stunt that you guys think is such a grand idea!"

Ana and Jack were low key about their relationship. Of course, it took Ana at least five months into their relationship to finally admit that her and Jack were seeing each other. She always spoke about giving the kids a quiet, normal life, allowing them to live out the childhoods the two lived. I understood that. It was important for me to give that to the kids. It was the least they deserved after going through rough times.