Until the Stars Fade

Chapter 29

I slowly open my eyes and peek at the clock on my nightstand. It's 10am. My mouth feels like it's stuffed full of cotton and my head has a faint throb to it. As I sit up, I see a glass of water and two Tylenol on the nightstand and I'm impressed by myself to think ahead like this. I down the pills and drink the entire glass of water. I sit up in bed and can't believe I've slept this late, it's been so long since I've slept this late.

I'm startled when I hear someone talking outside my door and that's when I remember Oliver drove me home last night. Apparently, he never left. I shake my head at myself, thinking I had the foresight in my drunkenness to leave out a glass of water. I guess I have Oliver to thank for it.

The bathroom connects to my bedroom and the hallway, so I slip in to use the bathroom and brush the awful hangover taste from my mouth. Before having to face Oliver, I listen at the door trying to hear who he's talking to on the phone.

"She's going to have questions you know, assuming she can remember anything about last night. She seemed like she had a lot to drink." I can only guess that Oliver is talking to Asher again. I remember now that he had called him last night after we got back to my place. "I don't know if that's a good idea man. She wasn't too happy that you sent me to check on her....yeah, for sure...she does, she really does." I don't like not knowing what they are saying about me but also feel bad for eavesdropping. I go back into my bedroom and pick my phone up off the nightstand to see I have a few missed texts.

Jake: Did you get home ok? Call me.

Jake: Haven't heard from you. You ok? Call me when you wake up.

Darcy: How are you feeling this morning? And who is the hot guy from last night? Is he single?

I quickly text them back to let them know I'm alive and hungover and will call later. Now, I need to go face Oliver and find out exactly why he's still here. I head out to the living room to find him sitting on my couch, drinking Starbucks and watching ESPN.

He glances up when I walk in, "Morning, how're you feeling?" He points at another cup of coffee and says, "I got you some coffee, but wasn't sure how you took it, so I got it black and then brought a bunch of cream and sugar and stuff."

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that," I say as I lift the cup out of the container and take it to the kitchen to fix it the way I like. Once I have the right amount of cream and sugar, I take a sip and realize this is exactly what I needed. "This is amazing. I so needed this right now, hopefully this will kill of the last of my headache. Oh, and thanks for the water and the drugs. Both were super helpful." I raise my cup in toast to Oliver and sit down on the couch next to him.

He turns off the tv and faces me. "I figured you would need them after last night. Seems like you had a good time with your friends."

"Yeah, they're great and we always have a good time. I can't say I normally have that much to drink though." He looks at me while sipping his coffee. It's like I can feel a hundred questions about to be fired at me, so I do the only thing I can think of, I fire the questions at him instead.

"How did you know where I live Oliver? You've never been here, I know that. You moved to LA with the show, why are back? How long have you been back? What are you up to now?" I can't get them out fast enough. He raises his hand motioning me to stop.

"Geez Kinsley, at least give me a minute to answer the questions. You're right, I did move to LA with the show when they left, but LA wasn't for me and I moved back after about a year. I still work at the studio here in town, I do both security and some personal training stuff. What else do you want to know?"

"You didn't answer the first question."

"What was the first question?"

"How did you know where I live?"

"Oh, right, that question. Well, um, funny story." He looks at me like I'm going to say something, but I'm waiting this one out. "Gogo told Asher and Asher told me." I almost choke on my coffee when he says this. Gogo told Asher? What the hell?

"What do you mean, Gogo told Asher? When? Why? I don't understand." My mind is spinning and my headache that was almost gone seems to be coming back quickly.

"Look Kinsley, it's not really my place to say. But, Asher and Gogo have kept in touch since he moved to LA. You would need to talk to her about it or talk to him about it. All I know is that he called me last night after he got off the phone with you and asked me to come pick you up and make sure you got home safely. That's all I'm doing. I slept on the couch to make sure you were ok this morning because I knew if I didn't, Asher would harass me all day until he knew you were fine."

I stand up and start pacing back and forth. "Well, I'm not fine Oliver. None of this is fine. I drank too much and made a stupid mistake in calling Asher. I clearly wasn't thinking straight. But you can call him and tell him whatever you need to tell him. You can go now Oliver, you completed your assignment."

I open the door to the apartment and gesture to the door. He rubs his face, sighs, gets up and walks toward me. "I know it's a lot Kinsley and I'm sorry to dump it all on you like this. Maybe you should call Asher and talk to him. I know he would love to hear from you when you're sober. It was good seeing you, even under these circumstances." He takes me in his arms and kisses the top of my head. "I left my number on the counter if you need anything, call anytime, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Thanks Oliver. I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of this." I hug him hard and then pull away. "I need to get myself together. Seems like I need to pay Gogo a visit."

"Go easy on her," he says, "she's just looking out for you. Bye Kinsley." And with that, he's gone. I close and lock the door and sit back down on the couch. Asher has kept in touch with Gogo. I had no idea, she never said anything. He's been in LA three years and she's never said a word. I don't know how I feel about this.

I pull myself up, get in the shower and go through the motions of getting dressed. Gogo has kept in touch with Asher. It's playing in my head on repeat. The only way to make it stop is to go talk to her, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.