Author:
Fandom: South of Nowhere
Pairing: Spencer/Ashley
Category: Angst, AU, Femmeslash
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: Chapter 3: 1,649
Summary: Shouldn't love conquer all? Ashley wish it did.
Notes: I originally wrote this story for another fandom but decided to put a Spencer/Ashley spin to it. It's starts of iffy, but stick with me please. It's not what it seems.
Disclaimer: South of Nowhere is a property of The-N and Viacom. I'm not a crack monkey therefore I do not work for the writers of South of Nowhere. I just borrow their characters for my own pleasure.
Chapter Three
Ashley sat down at her kitchen table and started to read the morning newspaper. The date on top, although, wasn’t the current one. It was dated about a month ago. The paper was worn as if it’s been folded and unfolded daily.
…tragic accident last weekend when a car lost control and went over the Bay Bridge. It appeared that the vehicle was trying to avoid another car which was later determined was being driven by someone under the influence.
Los Angeles local, Ashley Davies who was returning home from San Francisco, appeared to be the only injured although the police is still searching for other passenger in the car, Spencer Carlin. But with the severity of the storm the past weekend and the circumstances of the accident, the search…
Ashley stopped reading and refolded the paper as she did every day. Sighing, she picked up her coffee mug and brought it to her lips. She expected it to burn, but as always, she had left her coffee alone long enough for it to become tepid.
“That’s the fifth cup of coffee you wasted this week.”
Ashley looked up at the familiar voice and smiled. “Look who’s talking, every time you order an iced coffee, it ends up in the freezer for four days.”
“Touché.”
“Tell you what, I will drink this cold coffee, if you drink the two frappuccinos that you’ve left in the freezer last month.”
“Ew, that’s not a fair deal. Drink it in one gulp and I’ll drink one of them.”
Ashley thought for a moment. “Deal.”
She was about to drink it when Kyla came through the door, carrying the current newspaper. “Ashley?”
“Yeah?”
Kyla looked around for a second before sitting down across from her sister. “Who were you just talking to?”
Ashley refused to look at her as she got up and dumped the cold coffee down the sink. “No one.”
Kyla bit her lip nervously. “I swore I heard you talking to someone.”
“Well, then you must be hearing things,” Ashley snapped and grabbed her leather messenger bag. “I have to get to work.”
Kyla watched her cautiously. “Ashley, it’s okay, you know.”
Ashley stopped searching through her purse for her keys and stared at her sister. “What?”
“It’s only been a month, no one expects you to-”
“I’m fine, Kyla,” she said exasperated. “I really wish people would see that. You didn’t need to move in here to check up on me.”
Kyla got up and approached her. “Ashley, yes I did.”
A few days after Spencer’s funeral, Ashley had closed herself from the entire world. Refusing to take any calls, Kyla became worried and went to go check on her. She’d never forget finding her sister passed out on her bed, an empty bottle of sleeping pills on her bedside table.
Kyla was terrified that Ashley wasn’t going to make it but thankfully, she only needed to get her stomach pumped. But what scared Kyla the most was Ashley’s explanation of what happened.
“I just wanted to sleep,” Ashley had told her indifferently.
That was when Kyla decided she needed to keep a very close eye on her.
“Kyla, I’m fine,” Ashley repeated and glanced at her watch. “But I’m very late, so I’ll see you later.” She went to open the door when Kyla stopped her again.
“Paula called yesterday.”
Ashley felt something constrict in her chest. “She did?”
“Yeah, you had just went to bed,” Kyla explained and swallowed. “She wants you stop by the house.”
Ashley hadn’t spoken to any of the Carlins since the funeral. It was too painful to see the sorrow in their eyes. Eyes that looked so much like Spencer’s.
“Did she say why?”
Kyla shook her head. “Are you going to?”
Ashley sighed. “I don’t know.”
“I think you should. It’d be good for you-”
“I said I don’t know!” Ashley yelled and Kyla stepped back. Ashley ran a hand through her hair and finally opened the door.
Kyla watched the retreating form of her sister and sat back down. Her eyes fell upon the newspaper that Ashley was reading and picked it up. She sighed as she read the title of the article.
“Ashley, it wasn’t your fault.”
---
Ashley Davies hated her job. She worked in an auction house that once belonged to her late father. But with mergers and buy outs, Ashley lost all claim to it but still stayed in honor of her dad. What made her angry was the fact that the auction house probably could’ve stayed under the Davies’ name if her mother attempted to keep it.
But Christine Davies didn’t care for old auction houses. She took the money that came from all the deals and went off to live someplace where the sun probably never stopped shining and the men got younger and younger.
Ashley was not the type to work in a place like this. She wanted to work at the photography magazine that offered a job a few weeks ago. Photography has always been one of her passions ever since she was in high school. She always wanted to move out east and become a photojournalist.
Spencer and her had it all planned out. They’d live in a nice loft in New York where Spencer would write and Ashley would take pictures. It was their dream. A dream that was shattered.
Ashley used to love the auction house when she was younger but now it was just a constant let down. The entire place was stuffy, her office had no window, and her boss was the biggest prick.
He constantly made passes at her, but never crossed the line that would lead to sexual harassment territory.
This drove Ashley crazy because she would love to nail the bastard with a lawsuit. Lawsuit meant money and money was definitely something Ashley needed it if she wanted a roof over her head. Kyla had offered to pay for rent but since Ashley told her that she was only going to be there temporarily, she didn’t see the point.
She was up to her nose in paper work, when Glen walked through her open door.
“Hey,” he said tentatively.
Ashley looked up surprised. “Glen, what are you doing here?”
Glen smiled. “I’m on my lunch break and thought I’d come by to see if I could take you to lunch.” He put his hands in his pocket nervously.
Ashley gave him a weak smile. “I’d love to, but I’m really busy right now.” She swept her hand over desk at the copious amount of paper stacked on it.
Glen nodded. “Ash, you know I’m here for you, right?”
Avoiding his eyes, Ashley started to sign some random papers. “I know, Glen, I’ve been really busy,” she fibbed. She knew he was just concerned but she just wished people would let her be.
He nodded again understanding the brush off. “Okay, well, you have my number and my door’s always open. Take care of yourself, Ashley.”
“Bye, Glen.”
On his way out, Glen ran into Ashley’s boss, who eyed him up and down. “And who might you be?” he asked rather rudely.
“I was just leaving.” With one last look at Ashley, Glen left.
“What the hell do you want, Roger?” Ashley asked once her boss closed the door, which he did every time he went into her office.
“Well for starters, I would not like random male visitors dropping by.”
Ashley gripped the pen in her hand tightly trying very hard not to use it as a weapon.
“Go to hell, you don’t control my life.”
“Ah, no I don’t but I do control your paycheck and your job status.” He leaned over her desk close enough just to look down Ashley’s shirt. “And you wouldn’t want me to be angry now, would you?” He winked at her which made her want to take the pen and stab him in the eye.
Reminding herself that she needed this job, Ashley took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
“What can I do for you, Roger?” she asked feigning politeness.
“There we go, it wasn’t that bad. Now I would like you to sign this.” Roger took out a file and placed it on Ashley’s desk.
She opened it and started to read. “What is it?”
Roger took a pen out of his breast pocket and smirked. “It’s kind of a waver that relinquishes your part to the Beal’s collection. Sign the dotted line, and it says I was the auctioneer on it.”
“Why the hell would I do that, considering I was the auctioneer on this collection.” She closed the file and threw it on her desk. She resisted the urge to throw it in Roger’s face.
“Because Ashley, this is my auction house and so it’s my decision. And plus I know you’ve been stressed out since the death of your friend, Stephanie-”
“Spencer. Her name is Spencer.” Ashley felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Whatever, like I was saying-”
“I’m going on my lunch break.” She abruptly got up and pushed passed Roger who conveniently stood in her way.
“Alright, you can sign this later then!”
Ashley tried very hard to figure out what the hell she did to deserve any of this. She looked up in the sky once she was outside the parking lot.
“Do you hate me? Is this your way of punishing me because I survived?” Ashley asked sky. “You already took her away and now…” She stopped when she realized she was talking to no one.
“Get a grip, Ashley,” she told herself and walked to her car. “There is no God. If there was, Spencer would be here.” She got into her car and rubbed her temples. Looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror, Ashley scowled.
She stared at her lifeless eyes. “I hate you.”
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