A Trail of Whispers

Chapter Six

ARIANA'S POV

     After that phone call with Harry, I slowly moved to the bathroom to clean up. I put on a pair of leggings, a baggy sweater, UGGs, threw my hair up in a bun and called it a day. I grabbed my purse then slid down the railing to the front door. I got into the car and hugged my knees tightly in the back seat. Frankie and my mom were both out again, which meant going to the recording studio all by myself. Myself and meeting my manager there, that is. Today included re-recording Honeymoon Avenue so the sound was better quality, better sounding, and simply because my voice had grown. I had hoped that my buddy Leon from Victorious would record his part with me, but since he only had a small part, he recorded it on his own.

     The next few hours were tiring. I probably went through 3 pots of tea and 2 tissue boxes by the end of the session. "Alright Ari, thank you so much for pulling it together. I know you're not feeling well right now," the studio manager said. I took off my headphones and sighed. "You're free to go whenever you're ready. I'll send you the final cut when it's ready."

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      "I don't know why it's tearing me apart if we weren't even together yet," I told my best friend Alexa over the phone. "He was single and I was with Jai. It's normal."

      "I think it's because you're worrying that he may still be connected to her," Alexa responded. "You don't want him to leave is all."

     "But why am I stressing over a boy when he was single. It's over with now..."

     "Is it really?" she asked. The doorbell rang and I sighed. I got up to get it, but when I looked through the peep hole, I nearly dropped my phone.

     "Alexa, I need to call you back."

     "Ari I swear if that's-" she never finished her sentence. I opened the door slowly and saw Harry standing there with a large bouquet of pink and white roses in a glass vase.

     "Harry, if this is your way of apologizing-" I began.

     "No, Ari, please just hear me out, I can explain everything," he pleaded. I sighed and brought him inside. He placed the flowers on a table in our main entryway and followed me into the living room, where the puppies were jumping all over him. We sat next to each other on the couch, but without touching.

     "Alright. Explain."

     "After our failed date, also the day we met and I fell for you," I felt the corner of my mouth slightly smile at his added detail. He continued, "I took Emily home. She must've known there were paparazzi because I know for a fact she didn't originally plan on kissing me."

     "And how do you know that for a fact?" I questioned. He sighed and answered,

     "She asked me why I was so distracted on the date, and she suggested that it was because of you and it all went downhill from there. She suddenly got angry, and then boom she kissed me."

     "And you met..."

     "Last time we were in Australia... I swear, I was single at the time and I needed to blow off some stress, so I called her."

     "Blow off stress by-"

     "No, I know what you're going to say. I just wanted a nice evening out. I would never use a woman like that." I nodded my head and he smiled pleadingly. "Now you know. I didn't think you'd find out about her. I didn't want you to think we're still connected."

     "You're not?"

     "I haven't talked to her since that night, and I intend on keeping it that way. It's in the past, it's not worth talking about unless it'll help you forgive me." I looked up at Harry and he smiled.