Half Hearted

Chapter Thirty Nine

| Teresa |

"Well, I'm grateful that you'd think of inviting me to such a personal event," I hushed into the phone, scratching my neck in angst. "But I feel like it's not my place to be there."

Peter paused before replying, "I'm inviting random photographers from all over the world to be there, of course you'll be fine. You can even bring a guest as well, to keep you company, if you'd like."

I thought about Steven and Oria, who would probably end up saying no since they were still hopping islands in Mexico. "I'll-uhm-I guess I'll think about it?"

"You'll have four days to think about it cause the wedding's this Saturday," Peter stated. I could have sworn I heard the grin in his voice.

"Saturday?" I almost spat out my juice. "That's a little short of a notice, haha."

"Yeah well, Mauds wanted to rush the whole thing. Anyways, I'll be waiting for your response, okay?"

"Of course," I breathed, saying a farewell and hanging up the phone. I then picked up Claire on the line again. "Hey, sorry about that."

"It's fine," she said. "But who was that?"

"The old boss of mine, you know, Ash's manager," I told her, standing up to put my dish in the sink. The dirty plates and cups were starting to bother me, since I hadn't washed the dishes since Steven and Oria left.

"Oh? Why'd he call?"

"He invited me to his wedding this Saturday - in London," I tried toning down my sarcasm.

Claire giggled on the other end, "isn't there supposed to be a formal paper invitation where you would RSVP?"

"I don't know," I sighed, falling back on the couch after having a staring contest with my dirty dishes. "Honestly, I think I'm just going to tell him tomorrow that I'm not going."

"But Ter!" She whined, making me wince since I was holding my phone close to my ear. "You have to. You've gotta get your closure sooner or later, or else you'll stay stuck like this forever."

"Closure?" I retorted. "The only closure I'm going to get is him slamming the door in my face and telling me to go away or something. Anyways, the more you tell me I should, the more I won't."

Claire paused for a while, and then I heard some background noises. "I could even go with you. C'mon, let me do something radical once in a while."

My eyes grew wide, "no way, really? Wouldn't your parents disown you?"

"Well, it's not like we've been super busy. Since Christmas is so near, not a lot of people have been coming. Anyways, they told me I could have a break since I did well on my finals."

Laughing, I put the phone on speaker so I could pull my hair up in a bun. "It's seriously like you're still under eighteen."

"Hey, they're actually taking things really easy on me nowadays," she weakly defended. "Anyways, don't change the topic. I'm going with you."

"But it's such a waste of time and money and effort."

"Hello? Is this really Teresa? You're in love with all things Great Britain, don't even try denying it. We are going to that wedding, and I'm crashing it whether you like it or not."

"He told me I could bring in a guest if I wanted to."

"Then you are going to call him tomorrow and tell him that you're bringing me in as a guest," her voice was firm, and I leaned my head further into the couch.

There were so many pros and cons of going.

And whether I liked it or not, she was right. I did need closure.

After we had the chance to catch up over coffee, Claire gave me so much more insight on everything that had happened. She was the goddess of advice, and she was almost always right.

Which brought me back to the topic.

Ever since Ash left, all I'd been doing was immensely stalking his social media - but not necessarily following. I was also comparing every guy I saw, with every feature he had. No hipster had any tattoos good enough for me to give a second look.

Claire was right. I felt miserable.

"We're just going so that I can get closure," I decided, pressing my lips into a thin line. I heard her squeak from a distance.

"You better ask him right now when and where so that we can start finding plane tickets."

"Alright," I smiled faintly. We hung up, and I obeyed, dialling Peter's number.

| Ash |

Peter's phone rang midway through their argument. Ash felt as if his veins were about to pop, while Peter was ecstatic that it was Teresa on the phone.

"And at this time he picks up the damn phone," Ash muttered, forcing himself to take a seat. He was outraged that his manager - most of all, his friend - would even think of doing something so stupid.

"Hello?" Peter spoke into the phone, holding up a finger at Ash. "Yeah. So the verdict is...? Really? Perfect! I'll see you there, then!"

At this, Ash looked up from the floor. "See who?"

Peter hung up and then shoved his phone in his pockets. Ash asked again, this time with more force. "See who?"

"You already know."

Grunting, he frantically ran his hands through his hair and started pacing the room. "Why are you doing this? It was fine when you set us up as a fake couple. It was fine when you stuck us together - not only once, but numerous times. All of that was fine. But this? For fuck's sakes man, why don't you fucking let this go?"

"Calm down Ash."

"How can I fucking do that when you don't understand that I don't want her in my life?" He was screaming now, and Peter shook his head slowly.

The man let Ash take a few breaths before he spoke. "You don't have to come to our wedding if you don't want to see her, but I'm not uninviting her just because the two of you have something you've got to deal with. This is my choice, and I want her to come to my wedding."

"Fine," he huffed, stomping off and grabbing his coat. "As if this'll be your last wedding anyways."

Ash slammed the door behind him as he left, and he called Maudie while he got in his car. "Hello?"

"Deal with your own shit from now on," he stated as he started up his car. Without giving Maudie a chance to respond, Ash hung up and drove away from the house.

He was so sick and tired of Peter's manipulative tactics, always trying to get planned outcomes. Laughing bitterly, Ash slammed his hand on the steering wheel as he stopped at a red light. This was only expected.

This was the entertainment business, where everyone breathed lies and lived on emotional manipulation. The only mistake he'd made was trusting anyone enough to believe it wasn't so.