Chapter 21

Abigail woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed after such a good night’s rest. She went straight to the bathroom to freshen up and get dressed before walking out into the living room where she found Rick sitting up on the sofa, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Good morning.” She said brightly, walking over to the mini bar to get a bottle of water before returning to the living room.

“What’s so good about it?” Rick grumbled looking at her.

“I had such a good night sleep. That bed is really comfortable!”

Rick scowled at her.

“Rub it in my face why don’t you?”

“Hey! I offered you the bed!” she returned trying not to notice that he was sitting half naked on the sofa, still wearing only boxers.

“But I’m the one with the photo shoot this morning. I’m supposed to be looking my very best.” He told her.

“You should have thought of that last night.” She said unscrewing the bottle and taking a sip, “Besides, you look pretty good for a guy who didn’t get a decent night’s sleep.”

The words were out of her mouth before she’d even realized she’d said them.

She watched as a slow smile spread across his face.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Abigail shrugged as if she couldn’t care less about what he thought and changed the subject.

“What time did you say the photo shoot was?”

“Ten sharp.” He said watching her closely, “But we’ve got to go down to breakfast in-“ he glanced at the clock on the wall in front of him, “Shit! Fifteen minutes!” he finished, jumping off the sofa and heading into the bathroom just as the phone rang.

“Could you get that?” he shouted over his shoulder.

Abigail picked up the receiver and hesitantly put it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Abby! Hey, I was hoping to catch you before you guys left the hotel.” She heard Jason say.

“Why? Is something wrong?” her eyes narrowed.

“No, no. I just wanted to check in with you that’s all.” He told her.

“Oh okay. Well so far everything’s been going pretty smoothly. He hasn’t gotten any messages or anything and I’ve been keeping an eye on him.” She said.

“You do that. Rick can get himself into some pretty sticky situations if you let him have his way.” Jason informed her.

“I can see why. He’s very stubborn.” Abigail told him.

“So what’s the agenda for today?” Jason asked.

"Well, he’s got an interview and photo shoot with Teen People magazine today at 10 so we’re going down to breakfast in a while before we go.” She stated.

“Okay. It sounds like you’ve got everything under control there.”

Abigail was a bit insulted.

“Of course I do. Do you have such little faith in me?” she asked him.

“No, God no, I didn’t mean it like that.” He corrected himself, “It’s just that…”

“Yes?”

“Umm…”

“Just spit it out Jason! Come on, we’re friends right? What’s bothering you?” she asked, very curious to know why he was so tongue tied.

“You like Rick.” It wasn’t a question or a statement, just a fact and when she didn’t reply, he continued, “And I can understand why, I mean he is a huge.. pop star.”

“That isn’t why I- I mean to say, I’m here to do a job Jason. I’m not looking for love.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Well, not here anyway.” She assured him, “Wait, why are we even talking about this?” she asked irritated.

“Because I wanted to make sure that you weren’t being side tracked.”

“I’m not. Look Jas, I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I can take care of myself. You know that.”

“I know.” He said with a sigh, “And I’m really sorry if I was way outta line here.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She told him, “I think of you as a friend Jas and as a friend, I would understand why you would be concerned.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

“Rick just came out of the bathroom if you want to talk to him.” Abigail told him.

“No that’s okay. I spoke to him last night when you were already asleep.”

“Oh.”

“I better let you go then.”

“Yeah. I’ll call you if anything happens.” She said.

“Sure and Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

“I already told you Jason. I’m keeping a close watch on him.”

“I’m not talking about Rick.” He said, “I was talking about you.”

“Oh.” She murmured, “Do you think I’d be in this line of work if I wasn’t?”

“Point taken.”

“Now hang up before I think you have so little faith in my ability as a detective that I quit the force!” his laugh followed him off the phone.