Ashes

Chapter 51

The very same Lexus parked in front of the apartment the next day. When Ashanté arrived home from church around noon, Jolene got out of the car and rushed to the front door.

"Hey, Ashley! Remember me? I'm a friend of Bryce Walker. I interviewed you once before. I wonder if we could chat a minute?"

Ashanté really didn't feel like it, but didn't want to be rude either. "Sure." She fumbled putting the key in the lock, but eventually opened the door. "Do you mind if I use the bathroom first though? It'll only take a minute."

"Go ahead. I'll just wait here in the living room." Jo took a seat on the couch and set up her equipment while Ashanté ran into the bedroom, wondering why a little chat required recording equipment.

Shutting the door behind her, she tried to think what to do. Argh. What is there to do? I can't give an interview; I'm scared to death I'll say the wrong thing.  But the woman was already out there setting up her equipment. Ashanté dug into her sock drawer and pulled out the bottle she'd hoped she'd never need again. There was a cup in the bathroom; she filled it with water and downed one of the pills. What could Jolene possibly want to interview her about? Her new single? What was there to say about that?

No, wait.

She'd called herself a friend of Bryce. Maybe she knew they'd gone out last night? Maybe she knew they were going out again tonight. Maybe she was trying to break them up, or expose their relationship before it began. Was it illegal for the head of A&R to date an artist? Maybe there were rules about dating employees.

Ashanté took another pill.

Was this interview going to be on TV like the other one? She hadn't thought of that when she'd agreed to a chat. A chat meant audio, right? Not video. Or did it? Ashanté didn't know the rules. I haven't signed anything. Maybe I can get out of this.

She popped another pill. What if she embarrassed herself saying something really stupid and ruined her career? Other people had done that.

Bryce would hate her.

His success depended on her success. What would he think if she made a fool of herself? It would be worse than the Superfest. There'd be only a million people at the Superfest, but on TV there were billions.

She took another pill.

Okay, there was no option. She'd just have to tell Jolene she wasn't feeling well and couldn't do the interview after all. Plenty of people got sick and couldn't do things they'd agreed to. There was no contract with Jolene, right?

It wasn't lying; she really didn't feel well. Just worrying about this interview was making her a nervous wreck. She took another pill.

Wait, how many was that? She'd never taken more than two, and two put her under the table, especially when she hadn't eaten anything. And she hadn't eaten anything today.

Argh. That woman was probably wondering what the hell she was doing in here. Ashanté shoved the cap back on the bottle and tossed it into her drawer. Smoothing her hair, she faked as much confidence as she was capable of before returning to the living room.