~Ch. 1~
by: Aimee

~ It was cool outside and there was a light breeze, which made her hair blow in front of her face. The moon was out, bright and full, lighting the road. The leaves in the trees, lined up on either side of the road, rustled in the wind and the crickets chirped loudly in the night. The only other sound was the clicking of her heals on the sidewalk. She was on her way home from work. Considering the office was only 3 blocks away, she liked walking to and from work. She lived with her boyfriend of 2 years on a quiet street in a small town. As she turned up the driveway to go to her door, a dog started barking, which startled her .
~ "When did the Johnson's get a dog?" she asked herself, seeing that the barking dog was in their neighbor's backyard. She shrugged it off, walked up to the door, unlocked it and went in. It was unusually dark in the house, but she figured that her boyfriend had gone to be early since he had not been feeling well earlier that morning. She put her purse on the kitchen table, dropped her keys in the candy dish and proceeded to the bedroom.
~ "Dyre! I'm home sweetie," she said when she entered the room. The man laying on the bed turned over and smiled.
~ "Hey Ash. Sorry there wasn't much light. The bulb in the lamp died and I was just too damn lazy to fix it tonight. Did you have a good day at work?" he asked as he watched her change out of her work outfit and into a nightshirt.
~ "Yeah sure. It was the same as always. John was determined to prove that he was better than anyone else so that he'd get the upcoming promotion, but we all know he'll never get it. Stacey was out sick, and it was actually pretty quiet," Ashley laughed, "and oh, of course, the boss was doing some interviews looking for Bob's replacement."
~ "Why did they fire Bob anyway? He was so cool. He was one of the more out-going and easy-going people up there," Dyre replied propping himself up on his elbows.
~ "'Cuz he got caught with Ana in the lounge. Ana was let go, however, for other reasons, though no one knows what they are."
~ "Oh, I see. Well, I'm gonna get some sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow and I'll be gone probably all day. You might even get home before me. I love you."
~ "I love you too." Ashley got into bed, kissed Dyre good night and cuddled up next to him. As Ashley drifted off to sleep she thought about her day at work and she pondered what Dyre would do at this convention he was going to the next day. Or at least that's all she thought he was doing.
~ Ashley Mills and Dyre Tilson had met in their last year of high school and after they both graduated Dyre bought a small house. He asked Ashley to move in with him so that he wouldn't be alone and she willingly accepted. Soon thereafter Ashley got a job working in an office building right up the road. Dyre, on the other hand, was working with a company who put together and organized large-scale conventions for larger companies. They were both happy with their lives at the moment, but they had begun discussing moving into a larger place in a more prosperous town.
~ At exactly 5:30 AM, Ashley's alarm clock went off, buzzing loudly. She opened her eyes, reached over and turned it off. then she looked at the sleeping man next to her and smiled. She leaned down, kissed him on the forehead and proceeded on waking him up.
~ "Time to get up sleepy," she said quietly in his ear. She kissed him again and this time he moved. He opened his eyes and looked up at his girlfriend, who was still smiling.
~ "Morning baby," he said as he pused the blanket off of himself so that he could get up. "I don't wanna go today baby. Can't I just stay here with you?" he said looking over his shoulder at Ashley, who had already gotten up and was getting ready for work.
~ No silly. I have to work too. Besides, how are we supposed to live in this place if you're not working and earning the money?" she asked jokingly.
~ "Meh," he laughed, "yeah you're right. Okay, okay, I'll get ready for work." Dyre got up and started getting ready for work as well. Ashley left the room and returned a few minutes later, "Hey sweetie, can you give me a ride this morning? It's raining and I don't want to get my suit wet."
~ Yeah sure no problem, but if its still raining tonight I don't think I'll be able to get you," Dyre replied not looking up.
~ "Why not?"
~ "Because Ashley, you know that my conventions aren't short. Even after the convention is over we stay and clean up. Turn the arena that we're using back into an arena."
~ "Can't I call when I'm ready to come home and see if you're done?" she asked looking over at him.
~ "No Ashley , you..."
~ "Why not Dyre?" she interupted, "You used to never have a problem with me calling you at work. Why the sudden change?" she said sternly.
~ Dyre stood up and turned to look at Ashley. "You know this Ashley. I told you, two weeks ago when we had this same situation. I'm busy and can't be interupted. If my boss catches me on the phone, he'll go nuts."
~ "Fine Dyre, whatever. If its still raining I'll get Kris to take me home," she replied.
~ Ashley and Dyre continued getting ready for work in silence. The only noise was the gentle rainfall outside. Half an hour after they got up, they headed out to Dyre's car. When he pulled up to the front of Ashley's work, he leaned over, kissed her and told her to have a good day.
~ "Uh huh. See you when you get home." She shut the doo and ran up the steps to the front doors and into the warm, dry office building. "Today is going to be a long day," she said to herself as she walked towards the elevators.