Ghosts of the Past

Ghosts Of The Past: Chapter 4; Ambushed

Marshall takes his seat behind the signing table again, a million thoughts running through his head not one of them the task at hand, this doesn't escape the attention of the waiting fan and his irritation grows,

"How about that autograph that I have been waiting in line half the night and morning for?"

"Yeah sorry about that, who am I making it out to?" still distracted Marshall's heart isn't in it anymore and he cant even focus enough to be annoyed at this guys attitude, after all he had already apologized and here he was finally signing the CD.

The man takes the CD mutters some curse words under his breath and walks out of the store, Marshall rushes through the rest of the line, still trying to figure out what had just happened with a girl he hadn't seen in 14 years and in all honesty assumed he would never see again.

As he climbs into his waiting car he flips her business card between his fingers, the driver pulls away from the curb and heads off to the studio,

Chloe Martin, literary consultant with NZAUAM.

'Took after her bitch mother' he thinks reading the job title, the fact that her surname had changed implying she was married was the first thing he had noticed, was she wearing a ring though? He couldn't quite remember, he'd been blindsided by how well she had aged, her hair still blonde, her brown eyes still laughing and her smirk still cheekily hinting at a joke she knew no one else could get. It's not that he hadn't thought of her over the years, he had, in fact she was the inspiration for quite a few of his songs, some that had been attributed to Kim of course and mostly unpleasant but that was how he vented. He didn't however expect to see her, let alone be ambushed at a promotional CD signing for his upcoming show, how long had she been in town? Where was the Mr Martin? God there was no use asking himself these questions, especially when he had her number right in front of him, plus a hundred other questions he had been asking himself for years,the key one being why. He slipped the card into his pocket, he couldn't bring himself to ring her now, he recalls how keen she was to hand him her card, she could wait in silence for a while after all he had to, it wasn't mature but something about this made him feel like a kid again.

******

Pushing through the hotel doors Chloe's heart is still pounding, she had been inches away from him, close enough to be engulfed by his cologne, she heads straight to the bar needing some hard alcohol. She orders a whiskey and takes a seat in a far corner away from the few customers, guess drinking at 10:30 in the morning wasn't a popular past time here she scoffs to herself as if having a drink before 12 was a regular occurrence in her life. The first swig is heaven and her heart starts to calm, the third swig her body begins to hum and she relaxes, sinking into the booth she rolls the glass around in circles ignoring the disapproving look of the guest across the hall checking in.

He looked good, a little stressed, a little tired but good, he had really grown into himself and those eyes were as penetrating as ever. Despite seeing his face countless times over the years it had never seemed like her Marshall just some stranger acting, but up close it was him alright, albeit a lot older.

Signalling the bar tender to bring her another Chloe pulls her phone out, hell she was already one drink towards alcoholism this morning why not go all in. The bar tender drops a fresh glass in front of her and bless his soul not one hint of judgment in his attitude, he is going the right way for a tip. There's three missed calls and a voicemail flashing on her screen, her heart returns to nearly slamming through her chest as she raises the phone to her ear, the automated voice has never been more welcomed as it informs her of the new message, then her heart sinks as she hears Chris' voice, with that comes the rush of guilt. Resting her head on the table she questions herself again, what the fuck was she doing! What did she want to happen? God what kind of person did that make her. The coaster under her forehead slides back and forth as she shakes away the thoughts and questions, she really needed to get it together.