Chance Meeting

Three

The next few months passed by quicker than it seemed, and it was safe to say that Aerin and Ashley–whom she now called by his nickname of Ash–were very compatible as roommates. Once she'd moved into his home with him, she hadn't ever moved out, nor had he made her get a job since she more than earned her keep around the house.

        Considering how busy he normally was with his Music–mostly for release as a solo artist–his clothing line, and his mental Health, there was a lotta shit he'd to slack on. He was beyond grateful that, while it was a bit sub-par compared to his norm, she kept up on the house work and even took care of the yard work, too. In fact, it was at her insistence that he canceled the service of his landscaping crew that he'd been paying for the past few Years ever since he moved to Nashville. Gone were the exorbitant fees he'd been paying in favor of letting her have at his yard since she swore it was actually relaxing for her.

        By the Time October rolled around, though, the bassist'd been forced to come to a decision he'd never wanted to have to make. Things weren't getting any better with his band, particularly Andy–who was always stuck up his wife's ass, if he were honest–but rather getting even worse. Nobody seemed to be taking him seriously when he said that he really needed to focus on himself when it came to his mental and Emotional Health, and he got cut outta the Creative process even more.

        Fed up with his band's lack of support when they professed to be some of his best friends, Ashley'd decided it was better for him to part ways with them. While she'd been upset with his decision, his young roommate could completely understand why he'd made it, and he hoped the rest of the fan base was just as understanding. He needed to move on before this band drove him insane, rather than giving him the Creative outlet it'd once given him back when he'd joined it. There was apparently no way to bridge the rift between them, and he was done throwing Time and Energy into it.

        "I still Wish ya weren't gonna do this," Aerin sighed the afternoon of the band's announcement about a week before Thanksgiving. "I get why, but I still don't have to like it."

        "I know, sugar," he said, using the pet name he'd taken to calling her as their friendship'd blossomed.

        "I think the reason why it's hitting me so hard is 'cuz, next to Mötley and Poison, BVB was one of my favorite bands," the young woman admitted.

        "Kinda like Mötley's always been one of my favorites," Ash agreed.

        "Yeah, and after that stunt they pulled with their cessation of touring contract a few Years ago, I didn't wanna see another one of my favorite bands get ripped to shreds," the young woman admitted.

        "That's just the Nature of the beast, unfortunately," he told her, taking his turn to sigh. "It happensta just about every band that ever forms at some point, it seems."

        "Yeah, 'cuz like Bobby Dall once said, it's kinda like having three other wives–four, in your case," Aerin chuckled.

        "For fuckin' sure," he laughed. "God, sometimes I wondered if I really had married those four!"

        "Who knows, though? Maybe one Day, you'll reunite with 'em like Vince did with Mötley, and CC did with Poison," the young woman said.

        "For the moment, I doubt that'll ever happen, but who knows?" Ash chuckled. "The Future's never set in Stone."

        Nodding her agreement, she went back to whatever she'd been typing on her laptop, which was prolly another one of the fan-fictions she'd admitted to writing. The bassist'd to say that–after reading a few of her works–she was certainly a talented writer, even if some of what she wrote was more than a lil disturbing to him. He'd particularly enjoyed a story she'd entitled Hanging by a Moment, and not just 'cuz it'd involved himself as a main character.