"Do you have any idea how long it takes to clean up your messes?"
Archie just shrugged and leant further back on the headboard; those girls had really worn him out.
"Dammit Archie, one of those girls was a senators daughter for crying out loud!" His manager threw his arms up in the air exasperated at Archie's lack of understanding or care.
Archie raised his eyebrows and chuckled lowly, before springing up from the bed and clapping an arm round his manager's shoulders.
"Hey Mickey, don't worry, not as if the senator in question would want to have his daughter's nightly escapades splashed across the evening news, so this time you don't even have to worry about the paparazzi!"
"That's not the point Archie and you know it!" Archie removed his armed and started walking across the room to his en-suit bathroom, "You know what could happen, if this 'Bad Boy' rep goes too far, no one will want to hire you!"
"They don't care about this sort of crap! It's the talent all they care about and the amount of people I pull in to see me, and sure so what if I sleep around a bit? They would welcome the publicity, it would make more people want to see me." Archie just shrugged and went to clean his teeth.
Breathing out a sigh, Mickey controlled his temper, and followed Archie into his bathroom, leaning against the door-frame before breathing out a sigh knowing what would come next.
"You know as well as I do that is not what they want, yes some publicity about you being out and about in the town is good, but not when it is every night with a different girl! You already know what they are saying about the amount you drink."
Archie growled and turned round to his manager.
"I do not have a drinking problem! So don't start this bullshit about it again, because I'm sick of it!"
"I wouldn't except I agree with them, and I know the truth whereas they don't! You do need to cut down; drinking yourself into oblivion every night isn't going to stop you hurting! You need help, talk to someone. Otherwise you're just going to turn into the next fucking Lindsay Lohan."
"Get out." Archie grounded out; barely containing the rage he felt combusting inside his chest.
"Archie please just…"
"I said get out!" He exploded. Pushing his manager in the chest making him stumble backward.
Mickey stood shocked at the fact Archie had never outwardly shown any violence before. The regret already shone through Archie's eyes, but his arrogant chin rose to ensure that no word of an apology would pass his lips.
An unknown energy pass between them, like the calm before a storm, until Mickey finally decided it would be best to get out, and allow Archie to pass on this one.
Archie slammed his fist against the wall, his chest heaving, hearing the heavy footsteps of Mickey along his corridor. Each thud sounded like a condemnation of what Archie was, and as the sound begun to fade, he couldn't help but think that his salvation was slowly but surely fading as well.
---
Stress was not usually a word Isobell liked to associate herself with; however her boss today it seemed was doing anything to evoke the feeling from Isobell.
After piling on a second stack of paper work on her already full desk, he proceeded to tell her that they needed to be done by the end of the day.
Gritting her teeth, Isobell merely smiled back at him, until he turned his back on her, when which she stuck her tongue out at him. Isobell did love her job… most of the time. Working at an advertising agency was something she had always wanted to do, but the downside was that she had to deal with all the crap jobs, before she could be seriously considered for a creative job within the company.
No matter, she was willing to slog her way through, and gain the goal.
The clock seemed to tease Isobell by ticking a lot faster than it should do, and the closer it got to five, the more worried she got about not finishing the stack of files. Furiously she worked her way through, and breathed a sigh of relief at finally having finished with five minutes to spare. Though she was sure the pads of her fingers had been worn to the bone.
Stretching her way out of the seat, it afforded Isobell a view of whether her boss was still around or not. His desk empty and his jacket gone, Isobell decided to go and visit Marcus her boyfriend on her way home, knowing that today he only had a half-day.
---
Gasping for air, Isobell made her way up the final steps to Marcus's apartment. Just to make her day even better, it seemed as though the lift in his building had decided to break down, leaving her ten flights of stairs to climb, in high heels.
"I need to exercise more." Isobell panted to herself.
Regaining her composure, she walked the few steps to Marcus's front door, and knocked.
After a few moments silence, she heard movement within before the door was flung open to reveal Marcus clad in only a towel.
Raising an eyebrow Isobell looked him up and down, partly revelling in the sight of seeing her boyfriend undressed as he was.
"Are you so lazy, that you've only just had a shower?"
"Ha erm… Isobell, umm wh... What are you doing here?" He managed to stammer out.
Walking past him, Isobell let herself into his apartment.
"Why else do you think? To see you silly, I've had such a crap day at …" Her words caught in her throat as she caught sight of a blond walking out of Marcus's bedroom, also only clad in a towel.
They stared at one another for a moment, before Isobell let go of the breath she was holding and bolted for the door.
"Isobell! Wait! Wait! I can explain! She's a mistake! Please let me explain!" Marcus shouted after her, trying to run whilst not exposing himself.
His words fell on deaf ears as Isobell flung herself down the stairs, time to time wobbling precariously on the heals she was wearing.
Blindly she pushed her way through the front doors of the building, and managed to flag down a cab. Isobell was gripping her hands so tightly to prevent herself from crying, that blood started to draw from the palm of her hands.
Even the cabbie's hazardous driving through the streets of Manhattan did nothing to distract Isobell from the pain that had started to burn its way up through her throat.
When the cab drew up to her apartment building, Isobell threw some notes at the driver, and got out as quickly as she could, fearing she wouldn't be able to keep her composure for much longer.
Finally she got into her apartment, and allowed a sob to overtake her, sliding down the wall, Isobell huddled herself into a ball, whilst her body shook.
Why? She kept on repeating in her mind. Why? Why would he do this? What had she done? Or what hadn't she done to deserve this?
Crawling across the floor, Isobell reached for her phone, to ring the only person she knew who couldgive her comfort.
---
Thud, thud, thud.
That's all Archie could hear as his feet pounded against his running machine. He didn't know how long he had been running for. All he knew is that he had to keep his mind off wanting to have another drink.
Sweat poured down his back, and the muscles in his legs were screaming to stop.
Suddenly his phone rang, causing his to stumble. Finally he caught his composure, shutting down the machine he made his way over to the phone.
"Hello?" he panted out.
YOU ARE READING
Wrong Number
Romance"So you guys had phone sex yet?" "NO!" "So you've been talking to this guy for two months, and you haven't had phone sex yet? God how boring." "How can I when I don't even know his name?" "Aha! So that means you WANT to have phone sex with him!" "Wh...
