Rewrite The Past.

Chapter 2 - A New Yorker Burger With Fries And A Soda

Chapter 2 - A New Yorker Burger With Fries And A Soda.

I woke up the following morning quite early. I rolled over and looked at my window. The sun was bursting through the gap in the curtains and it felt really warm. I got up and opened the drapes to see the clear blue skies and sun beaming over the lake. I smiled. Since I had lived in London for so long, such weather was a much rarer occurrence than in Beverly Hills. I grabbed my sun screen, towel and book after changing into my favourite leopard print 2-piece bathing suit and went into the yard. I rummaged around the shed and found an old sun lounger which I placed my towel on. I put my shades on and lay down with my book once I was confident I had enough sun screen on. The sun was really hot considering it was so early in the day.

My first interview wasn't scheduled for another 2 days so I had plenty of time to get settled in and get some serious retail therapy on Rodeo Drive. I wanted to get a good tan first since I hadn't had a spray one done in a while and I was a little pasty from the British weather. After sunning myself, I planned to go and find Tony. Bennett had given me an address for him and also said that he liked to sit in Gloria's a lot. I looked up from my book and watched the sun glisten on the water. It was so quiet here compared to at my old house where I actually had neighbours right next to me who had noisy kids that played in the street pretty much every day. By now those kids would be almost the age that I was when I lived next to them... That's a pretty scary thought. Suddenly, I felt quite old.

After lying out it the sun for a couple of hours and I was confident I had a light bronze colour, I went back into the house to take a shower. I then decided I should go and find Tony but I was also quite hungry. So Gloria's would be my first stop. 2 birds, 1 stone as they say. I put on a pair of cream shorts that were embellished with silver stones, studs and pearls around the leg hem with a grey bra-let top. I threw on some silver sandals and grabbed my bag before driving to the bar.

When I entered, I saw Andrea standing behind the bar. She looked exactly the same as I remembered but clearly I didn't because we locked eyes for a moment and she just gave a small smile and went back to the customer she was speaking to. If she recognised me, she would have said something. It's Andrea, for goodness sake. I sat down at the bar and waited for her to take my order. She walked over to me once she had finished speaking to a man who happened to have now occupied the stool next to me. "What can I get for you sweetie?", said Andrea as she prepared her pad and pen. "Umm... H-hey Andrea", I said shyly, tucking my hair behind my ear. Her head snapped up, obviously wondering how I knew her name. She squinted her eyes, as if she was expecting that that would help her figure out who I was and how I knew her. "It's me, Arielle", I smiled, more confidently. Her eyes widened. "Oh my goodness! Look at you darling! You've gotten so beautiful. Not that you weren't before of course, but you're all grown up! How are you?". I grinned "Thanks Andrea. You're looking great too. I've been doing pretty well thank you. How's life treating you?". "Wonderful, actually", she said timidly. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. She glanced down, to give me a hint. I looked at her hands placed on the counter and saw an engagement ring and wedding ring on her finger. "Congratulations!", I squealed, hugging her over the counter. "Thank you sweetpea. Now enough about me, what can I get you superstar?", she said happily. Before I could answer, the guy sitting next to me spoke up. "A New Yorker Burger with fries and a soda", he said in a gruff voice, "that's what she'll have". Wait, what? How could a complete stranger possibly know what my order would be? How could he know that that was the only thing I ordered from Gloria's because it was my favourite. Unless... "Tony", I breathed, looking at him properly for the first time. He turned to face me fully and sure enough, it was him. He looked like he was in bad shape. He had a five o'clock shadow and bags under his eyes. It was still obviously him however. His beautiful blue eyes were the same, although they looked sad. And his pink, plump lips were just as inviting even though they were twisted into a slight frown. I didn't like seeing him like this. Andrea sensed the tension and excused herself to get my order. "Hi", I said after a long, awkward silence. Tony didn't say anything. I looked around the bar, at anything but him. Though I could still feel his eyes on me. I studied his wardrobe out the corner of my eye. He was wearing black denims and a checkered shirt. If he didn't look so sad, he would have been so much more attractive. The stubble quite suited him. He looked more "adult", if you get me. "5 years", he whispered at last. I flinched a bit, I hadn't expected him to speak to me, "you never called... Or wrote... Nothing". A wave of guilt washed over me. He was right. And I knew he was right. There was no way I could deny it or hide from it. It was completely my fault. Don't think that I'm trying to make excuses but honestly, it got harder and harder to write or to call. Nothing to do with not having the time but because I couldn't speak to them knowing that I wasn't going to see them at school the next day or at Gloria's for lunch that weekend. It made me sad. And I didn't want to be sad. A single tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. Tony's face softened a bit when he saw this but he didn't look any happier. "I'm sorry Tony, I really am. There's no excuse for it and I don't know what to say", I sighed. His face hardened again and he stood up. "5 years. A single text would of been nice", he said as he turned and walked out the door. Andrea returned with my lunch and I thanked her before eating in silence.

After having a chat with Andrea and catching up, I headed to Rodeo Drive for some shopping. Just as I left my last store, my cell rang in my pocket. It was Ivy. I answered reluctantly. "Heeeey Ivy", I laughed dryly. "Arielle!!! Why didn't you tell me where you were going? The boss is going to kill me! I'm supposed to go on all business trips with you", Ivy ranted, panicked. "Ivy I'm sorry! it's just this is my home town... I didn't want to show up with my assistant like I owned the place. It's not exactly common to have an assistant in my village. You can fly out anytime if you want but I just wanted to be alone at first", I sighed. I could practically see her relax. "Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do", Ivy sighed before hanging up. Damn that girl was work.

Just as I was about to start walking again, my phone rang again. I scowled. What now Ivy?! I pulled my phone from my back pocket and was surprised to see that it wasn't Ivy. I pressed accept call and brought the phone up to my ear, "Bennet?".

[AN:- I know this chapter kind of sucks but it's a filler chapter for what's to come. Not a lot happens in this but I threw in some Tony for you. I kind of wanted this chapter to be more about how Arielle and some of the smaller characters with whom she was once close, reacted to her return. I loved Andrea even though I only used her in 1 or 2 chapters of the original book and I think I might try and include her more in this book. Next chapter, a lot more of our favourite characters will be back so you know! Be prepared for drama ;)... Maybe...

Anywho, I hope you liked it as much as I liked writing it! Get me some votes for this book please and lots of comments and I'll have the new chapter up ASAP!

Much love

- xoxo Gillyan ;)]