Half Hearted

Chapter Thirty Eight

| Teresa |

Of course, life went by, and another two months passed in a hurry. It was already December and Christmas lights were being hung up everywhere. It made me feel nostalgic of the times when I would help my parents in placing the ornaments on the fake tree.

Oria and Steven went to Mexico for a week's vacation, and they even offered me to come with, but I willed myself to stay. I wouldn't have liked being the third wheel at a foreign place anyways.

Sitting down at my couch, I was watching the last High School Musical while scrolling through my newsfeed. A picture of Oria and Steven popped up, with them at a white sand beach.

I liked it, commented a teasing 'you lucky asses', and then continued to scroll down. It was about a minute into scrolling when I noticed an article. Sure, it must've been a clickbait, but the title caused me not to be able to take my eyes away.

'Ash Stymest, now dating Johnny Depp's daughter.'

I'd gone weeks without seeing news of him - the last piece of news being about him and talk of an upcoming guest role in a movie - but this... This was new.

I couldn't help but let my thumb glide to the article, and soon enough I was torturing myself by reading about his happy life with Lily-Rose Depp.

Sighing, I forced myself to shut off the phone and continue on internally crying about Troy and Gabriella.

| Ash |

"Do you think this tie's better? Or the navy blue with the line printings?" Peter nervously rambled on, staring at himself in the mirror.

Ash didn't bother looking up from his phone, "you mean, plaid?"

"Navy blue or black?" He repeated himself, causing Ash to look up with judgement.

"The navy blue with the line printings is good," he retorted, then resumed back to the game on his phone.

"Sorry, this wedding's got me all sorts of messed up," Peter sighed, rolling up the black tie and placing it back in the drawer. "I'm starting to regret the rush."

Ash shook his head, "everyone regrets the rush."

As Peter frantically searched his closet for his suit, Ash got in the washroom and brought the black piece of clothing with him. Peter heaved out a sigh, and then thanked him while wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

The wedding was in a week, and Peter was plotting something - more than the wedding itself. The only thing was that he hadn't made the call yet, and time was ticking by.

Today they were checking out the venues, and he was still to buy another pair of shoes that somehow fit with the tie.

He had all his days in the fashion business, and yet he couldn't even decide his own set of clothes for one of the most important days of his life.

Trying to shake away all the angst, Peter took deep breaths to compose himself and then told Ash that the interview was in the next hour. They drove there, and Peter dropped Ash off, wishing him well - also reminding him not to pull any stupid stunts.

Peter then left to go to check out the venues with Maudie.

Meanwhile, Ash dealt with the entertainment news reporter. He tried as best as possible to sound like he was in love, but the truth of the matter was that he was a model, not an actor.

There were times during the interview when the woman would awkwardly laugh, knowing that the person in charge of the videos would have to edit some of the moments out.

He was tired of all the lies, but this was something he needed to keep his job in check. He was a model, and models didn't make it very far without popularity. He needed Lily for popularity. And also to try and fill in the gaping hole that he'd made for himself.

Giving out a sigh of relief, the woman - whose name in which he didn't even bother trying to remember - held out her hand and he shook it politely. He then smiled at the rest of the crew, making his way out of the building fast and furious.

The day still wasn't over so he went to go grab some takeout before going back to his flat.

Although the relationship with Lily wasn't completely real, he still felt exhausted - keeping up with the media and all. Sometimes he'd feel that she'd be putting in more work than he was, and it was true, since he basically lost the will to go on with publicity stunts. He'd gone through so many fake relationships, he didn't know how to differ a real one anymore.

When Ash got back home he finished his takeout while watching some rugby. And then he went to have a shower.

After the refreshingly steamy shower, he went back to his room to change when he realized that his phone's LED light was blinking. Picking it up, he noticed that there were two missed calls and one voice mail from Maudie.

Shrugging, he listened to the voicemail on speaker.

"Hey Ash, it's Maudie. I'll really need you to call me soon because Peter's doing something really stupid and I need you to help talk him out of it. Bollocks. Okay he's almost done. He's not listening to anything I'm saying so please do me a huge favour. Look, Pete just called Teresa and invited her to our wedding. Deal with this. Please."

And like the towel around his waist - which he was holding with one hand - Ash's jaw fell to the floor.