Shane laughs. “What game? Andrew, I’m serious. I don’t know where they are, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you!”
“Shane,” Andrew growls, “You better hope you don’t cross paths with me anytime soon. If you do I will beat you beyond your wildest imagination.”
“Oohh! Such big threats from a beaten boy!” The Boy Wonder mocks. “Listen Andrew, give up while you’re ahead.”
“I’ll never give up. If I find out Joey has even looked at Ashlee the wrong way, he’s going to pay.” Andrew threatens.
“I think he’s done more than look Andrew…” Shane informs, chuckling at the growl Andrew lets out.
“You better watch your back..” Shane hears a click
and then a dial tone.
“Boy, what a loser!” Shane exclaims out loud,
dialing Joey’s number.
* * * * *
“Ring, ring!”
“Damnit!” Joey shouts, looking at the ringing
phone with an angry expression on his face. He picks it up.
“What do ya want?” he shouts.
“Oh, Shane? Hi buddy. You know you
call at the worst times.”
God! Thank you! You couldn’t have called at a better time. Nothing would’ve stopped Joey. Ashlee silently says to herself.
“What?” Joey asks loudly, breaking Ashlee’s train of thought. “You’re serious? He threatened you??”
Ashlee looks at Joey, curiosity shown on her face.
“Want us to come over now?” Joey glances at the clock on the side of the bed. “Sure, um, can ya wait a few minutes? K, bye.” Joey hangs up the phone and turns to Ashlee, a stern expression on his face.
“What?” She asks.
“Well, it seems Andrew got a hold of Shane.”
“Really?!” Ashlee’s voice is filled with hope.
Joey stands up next to the bed. “He threatened Shane, but Shane wouldn’t tell him where we are. Anyway, we gotta go over to his place and picks up our plane tickets. He wants us to leave the state. I forget to where though..”
Ashlee lowers her head, frowning. Joey places his hand under her chin and lifts her head up, forcing her eyes to meet his. “Don’t be sad sweetheart. We’ll get away from Andrew. He’s no good for you anyway.”
Her eyes harden. “You’re wrong there Joey. Andrew is one of the most sweetest people I have ever-“
“Shh! We’ll have no more talk of Andrew or Stevie, alright?”
“But..”
“Got it?”
Ashlee sighs. “Yeah, yeah, but can I ask a favor?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I make one last phone call to Andrew?” Ashlee begs.
“NO!”
“Please? If you did care about me, you’d care about my feelings and how I’d like to say goodbye to a good friend…”
Joey sighs. “You know I care about you Ash. Why would you think otherwise?”
“So, I can call Andrew?” she asks, ignoring the upset look on Joey’s face.
“I..” he looks down at the floor. “I guess so.”
Ashlee’s face lights up. “Thank you!” she exclaims, hugging Joey. She pulls back quickly after she realizes who she was hugging.
“But you better not tell him where we’re going or where we are.” Joey warns.
“Yeah, yeah.” Ashlee picks up the phone and dials Andrew’s cell phone number. 1 ring. 2 rings. 3 rings. On the fourth ring Andrew finally answers. “Yes?” he asks coldly.
“ANDREW!!! It’s me!” Ashlee shouts, grinning.
“Oh my God! Ashlee! Are you okay? Where are you?” Andrew asks excitedly.
“I’m fine Andrew, just fine. As for where I am…” She looks at Joey, who’s shaking his head. “I can’t tell.”
“Why not?”
“It’s, well, Joey.”
“He’s there?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“That son of a bitch! What’s he done to you?”
Ashlee frowns. “I’d rather not talk about it..”
“Did he..?”
“NO! God no! Almost, but Shane called, thank the Lord.” She explains.
Joey looks at the clock. “We have to get going, sweetie.” He says, making sure it was loud enough for Andrew to hear.
“Ashlee! Don’t hang up, please.” Andrew begs.
“I-I have to Andrew.. I called to say goodbye.” She chokes back a sob.
“Goodbye? I don’t understand..”
She looks at Joey, tears welling in her eyes. “Yes. We’re leaving.. out of state.”
“Hey Ash! Hang up the phone!” Joey orders.
“Andrew, please! You gotta save me. You have to-“ The lines cuts off as Joey grabs the phone from her and hangs it up.
“What was that all about?”
Ashlee doesn’t reply, but instead starts to cry. Joey frowns. “Aww, honey, it’s ok. I’m sorry.” He pulls her close, wrapping his arms around her. Her sobs quiet down after a few minutes. “There, there. Joey’s here.” He says reassuringly. She looks up at him with tear stained eyes. He doesn’t say a word as he leans down and kisses her gently. She doesn’t fight back nor return the kiss. She stands there motionless. This is how my life is going to be from now on, huh? Might as well get used to it.. she thinks bitterly.
* * * * * *
“God damnit!” Andrew throws his cell phone on the floor.
“What?” Stevie asks.
“First, Shane called Joey and told him I called him. Then secondly,” Andrew’s eyes harden, “Joey’s taking Ashlee out of state and away from me, which means-“
“-we’ll never see her again.” Stevie finishes.
“Right. What pisses me off more is the fact that I can’t do anything about it.” Andrew mutters unhappily.
“Yeah, “ Stevie agrees. “I wish there was something we could do about it.”
Andrew’s face lights up. “Wait! I got an idea!” He limps quickly out of the room, leaving Stevie totally and utterly confused.
* * * * * *
Shane sits on his couch, tapping his foot impatiently. Moments later, there’s a knock on the door. He jumps up and opens it.
“Hiya Joey, Ashlee.” He greets the two and lets them in.
Ashlee motions at the silver cuff on her wrist. “Oh right.” Shane says. He makes his way into a different room and a minute later returns with the tiny key. Ashlee snatches it from him and quickly unlocks the handcuffs. She makes her way over to his couch, taking fast strides. She sits down, a sorrow filled expression on her face. Shane chuckles lightly then turns his attention to Joey.
“Where exactly are you sending us, Shane?” Joey asks, keeping his eyes focused on his wife.
“Well, I was thinking. Since your dear Ashlee is from New York, that maybe she’d like to go back there for a while. Maybe have you meet her folks and tell them what a wonderful and loving husband you are.” Shane suggests evilly.
Joey grins. “I like that idea! Hey honey, did you her that?” he walks over to her.
“Hear what?” she asks coldly.
“We’re going to New York! And you’re going to take me to meet my in-laws!” he exclaims, sitting down and placing a hand on her knee.
“Really?” she looks at Shane surprised.
“Yup! But first, we have to go buy some rings, otherwise they’ll never believe us.’ Joey stands up and pulls Ashlee up with him. He brings her over to Shane, who’s holding out 2 plane tickets. Joey takes them and smiles at Shane. “You’ll call when you get there, right?” Shane asks.
Joey nods. “Right.” He looks down at the tickets. “Plane leaves at 10:30 A.M?”
“Uh huh. Bright and early. No fooling around tonight,” Shane laughs, winking at Ashlee. She rolls her eyes at him.
“Ya never know Shane. There’s always time for fun..” Joey informs.
“Yeah, you’re right. You two better get going. I’m sure you have lots to do. I know I do. I have to call Mark and go over to the hospital and check up on some… friends.” Shane explains.
Ashlee glares at him. “Hospital? Friends? You don’t mean Stevie and Andrew, do you?” she demands. Shane doesn’t reply. “Shane, you better not go near them! If you do, I swear I’ll-“ In mid-sentence, she lashes out and punches Shane in the nose.
“OW!” He shrieks, grabbing his nose in pain. He glares at Ashlee with pain filled eyes. She smirks at him.
“Yikes! Shane, you okay buddy?” Joey asks, concerned.
“I’m fine. Mostly surprised, that’s all.” Shane waves the two of them away, leaving the room.
“K. Bye Shane!” Joey grabs onto Ashlee’s hand tightly and leads her outside, shutting the door behind him.