The Stand-In Girlfriend Ch. 10-13

Clues like how tight he wrapped his arms around her and was rubbing the fingernail of her middle finger. That meant that he was tense or he was wrestling with a decision he had to make.

Chevonne thought from the way he was rubbing her fingernail that it might be a little bit of both. She knew that he had spoken to Katrina over the phone and the conversation must've been an intense one.

"You had to tell her didn't you?" she asked.

"Not about us or the fact that we're getting married," Ashton said, "but I did break up with her."

He felt Chevonne's body tense because she thought he had broken their agreement. He was supposed to fly to Atlanta and speak end his relationship with her in person.

"I had to end it with her, Chevonne," he said. "Katrina left me no choice. The moment she heard my voice she knew that something was off. Then like an idiot when she asked how things were going I told her how well you and my mother were getting along and she became upset and suggested that she come to London and we tell my parents everything. I tried to tell her there wasn't any reason for her to come here but she wouldn't listen to me or to anything I said to her. That's when I asked her if she had her laptop with her, she said she did and I sent her the email with the pictures of her and Martin."

"Did she say why and how long she and Martin had been seeing each other?" Chevonne asked.

"She said she slept with Martin because she was lonely," Ashton said burying his face into Chevonne's hair as he repeated Katrina's words. "And that she was only doing it until I returned. I didn't ask how long they'd been sleeping with each other."

"How're you feeling," Chevonne asked, "about her cheating on you?"

"I wish we could get married today," Ashton said changing his position so that he was now leaning against the headboard and Chevonne was in his arms.

"You know we can't do that," Chevonne said acknowledging his change of topic. "Your mother and my mother would have a fit."

"They would get over it," Ashton said., "once they saw how happy we would be."

"I'm not sneaking off and getting married," Chevonne said. "That would break my our mothers' hearts. Besides we've already told the newspapers that we're getting married in a month. I'm sure they have people watching us just in case we were thinking of doing something like that."

"We outsmarted them when we went to the movies," Ashton said with a devilish look in his eyes. "I'm sure we can do it again."

"I'm sure we could too," Chevonne said chuckling when she turned and saw the look in Ashton's eyes,

"But we're going to be patient and wait just like we agreed to."

"You're no fun," Ashton said pretending to pout.

"I'm lots of fun," Chevonne said. "I just don't relish the thought of facing our mothers if we ruin their plans for our wedding by running off and getting married."

Ashton had to agree with his fiancée on that point. The combination of his mother and Chevonne's mother could be a scary thought when they both became angry.

"How do you think Katrina took you breaking up with her?" Chevonne asked bringing them back to their original subject.

"I think she's on a plane winging her way to London," Ashton said.

"Really?" Chevonne asked turning to face him.

"Yes, really," Ashton said. "She won't accept things are over between us until she hears me say it to her face to face."

Chevonne had to agree with Ashton. Katrina wouldn't accept him breaking up with her over the phone, she would have to confront him. She would demand that he do it with her face to face.

"How do you think we should handle it?" she asked.

"We?" Ashton said amazed that she would use the word 'we.'

"Ashton, you're MY fiancé and in a month you're going to be MY husband and I love you so...."

"You love me?" Ashton said.

"Why do you think I'm marrying you?" Chevonne asked poking him on the shoulder. "We're gong to face Katrina together so she'll know that we're a couple and there's no chance of you and her getting back together."

"Say you love me again," Ashton said.

"I love you," Chevonne said.

Her words surrounded him like a warm blanket on a cold night. Wrapping around him making him feel loved and planted firmly in her heart.

"You're willing to confront Katrina with me," he said his voice filled with awe. "I find that amazing."

"Are you saying you wouldn't protect our relationship from anyone who tried to attack or challenge it?" Chevonne asked.

"Of course I would," Ashton said. "I'm just surprised you would stand with me against Katrina. Especially when everything that has happened is my fault."

"You're right," Chevonne said, "everything that has happened is your fault (with the exception of Martin and Katrina getting together). And it all could've been avoided if you had just been honest about your feelings for me. But we can't erase anything that has happened and as selfish as this may sound we have to move forward with out lives. When she gets here you're going to do the only thing you can do and that is apologize for using her, for not being honest and if I were you I would be prepared for her to slap your face when she realizes you used her to be close to me."

"You expect her to try and slap me?" Ashton asked.

"You used her, Ashton," Chevonne said, "of course she's going to try and slap you."

"But she didn't love me."

"That doesn't prevent her from being hurt," Chevonne said.

"You didn't slap me," Ashton pointed out.

"I socked you in the jaw," Chevonne pointed out. "I wanted to do more than that when I thought about the type of person Katrina is and I thought you were."

Ashton knew immediately what Chevonne was talking about and he began to panic inside.

"You don't have to worry," Chevonne said. "I'm not going to ask you why you went along with her racist remarks. I don't want to know. Because I don't know what I would do if I didn't like your answer. I'm going to trust you not to ever let them past your lips again. Because if you do I don't think I could stay married to you."

"I promise you, you'll never hear those words come from my lips," Ashton said grateful Chevonne didn't ask him to repeat the words he and Katrina used behind closed doors.

"I'm not holding this against you because I've used racist words or said things derogatory when I've been out with my friends or when someone from another race or people of my own race made me angry," Chevonne said. "I've felt ashamed of myself afterwards but it didn't keep or stop me from saying them."

"We'll work on it together," Ashton said putting his arms around her. "We have to because we're going to be blessed with beautiful children one day and we don't want them to learn such ugliness from us."

"Thank you," Chevonne said. "You've given me a reason to never use those words again. For the sake of our children."

Katrina buckled up her seatbelt as the pilot announced that they would be landing soon. She couldn't wait until the plane landed and she reached Ashton.

She knew they would work out their problems and their relationship would go back to the way it should be. They would talk, she would tell Ashton that she didn't care if his mother didn't like her and she wanted to be with him. And everything would be alright.

She had been mentally kicking herself for coming up with that stupid plan. She suggested it because she thought it would solve two problems she had been dealing with. The problem of Ashton' mother not liking her and Ashton's infatuation with Chevonne.

Katrina noticed the first day they met that he had a thing for Chevonne. She couldn't miss the way he would almost light up like a light bulb in a dark room when Chevonne answered the door instead of her.

The way he didn't complain about how long it took her to get ready for their dates if he was able to talk to Chevonne while he waited. His attitude was totally different if her roommate wasn't there.

He would complain about having to wait and ask her why she couldn't be ready when he arrived and what did she do with her time.

Once he even asked her why she couldn't be like Chevonne and be ready to walk out the door when he arrived.

Everyone thought because she didn't mention the way he talked incisively about Chevonne that she wasn't paying attention but she noticed, she just didn't mention it because there was nothing she could do about it.

Katrina just prayed he would get over his infatuation with her roommate. But it didn't seem to be happening and her patience was wearing thin. That's when she came up with a plan that she thought would help her kill two birds with one stone.

First get Ashton over his infatuation with Chevonne and introduce Alice to the woman her son had been talking his head off about.

Katrina had seen hints of what she called her ghetto side especially when Chevonne became angry. She would go into this thing call the Sistah-Girl head-roll.

Katrina remember Chevonne telling her any woman could do it but black women perfected it. During one of the rare times they were actually getting along and talking to each other Chevonne offered to show her how to do it.

Katrina turned her down because she felt it was something only women from the ghetto did and most of the black women she knew avoided doing it because they didn't want to be labeled ghetto.

She was hoping that Chevonne's ghetto side would come out fully and be revealed for both Alice and Ashton to see. Katrina hoped Ashton would see how wrong Chevonne was for him and Alice would see the kind of trash her son her son was attracted to.

She was hoping that Alice would tell her son that he should aim higher for a woman like her a woman that would be an asset to him in everyway instead of ghetto trash like Chevonne.

Katrina didn't count on Chevonne knowing how to behave like a lady, impressing Alice and worming her way into the rest of Ashton's family's good graces.

All of that would change once she and Ashton were back together, back in each other's arms. Katrina sat back in her chair and imagined how their reunion would go.

She imagine Ashton seeing her and realizing that he was wrong for breaking up with her. He would smile and run towards her with his arms wide open ready to give her a hug thinking that being in his arms would cause her to forget what he put her through. But she wasn't going to make that easy for him.

He would do some groveling before she forgave him. If that didn't work she had a way of ruining everything between him and Chevonne. She once heard Chevonne say she didn't date or sleep with men who had a dated or slept with people she was friends with or that she knew.

Especially people she spent time with. She said it complicated the situation and kept the ghosts of past relationships alive.

She felt that doing so was like wearing the other woman's underwear and she didn't do that. Well she and Chevonne weren't friends but they were roommates and they had spent time together Katrina hoped that would have the desired affect.

Katrina's eyes flew open when she felt the plane's landing gear on the runway. When the plane came to a complete stop she unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbed her purse, her carryon bag from the overhead compartment and made her off the plane.

As she was going through customs she heard a worker talking about a man who had proposed to his fiancée for all the world to see in Heathrow had set a date for their wedding and that they would be getting married in a month. A chill ran up Katrina's spine.

'That can't be Ashton and Chevonne', she thought to herself.

The worker said that a picture of the happy couple was featured on the front page of one of the newspapers. Katrina was rushing over to one of the shops to get a newspaper when she spotted a man reading a newspaper.

He had it open and partially raised in front of his face enabling her to see the front page and just like the worker said there was a picture of a man and a woman announcing their plans to get married next month and it was Ashton and Chevonne.

Katrina rushed inside the store, purchased a newspaper then she went outside to hire a taxi. The taxi driver put her things in the trunk/boot of his car, she gave him the address to Ashton's parents' home and they were on their way.

As they made their way to Ashton's parents' home she looked at the picture of Ashton and Chevonne and her anger grew as she stared at their smiling faces.

'This wedding isn't going to happen', she said to herself.

She didn't know how she would prevent the wedding but she was going to stop it.

CHAPTER 13

Katrina stormed through the lobby of the hotel where she was staying angry because once again she had been thwarted in her attempt to see Ashton by his banshee of a mother Alice.

Katrina had been in London a week and she hadn't been able to see or speak to Ashton at all. She replayed in her mind what happened the first day she arrived in London.

She didn't even get an opportunity to knock on the front door because Alice opened it before she could raise her hand. Katrina wanted to slap the smug look she wore off her face.

"May I help you?" Alice asked her voice flowery, sweet and polite.

"I want to see Ashton," Katrina said not in the mood to play games.

"I'm sorry but he's not available at the moment," Alice said.

"When will he be available?" Katrina asked.

"To you never," Alice said a big smile on her face.

"You can't keep me from seeing him," Katrina said.

"Oh, I can't," Alice said her smile growing. "Let's see, I'm standing in the doorway, Ashton is upstairs snuggling with his fiancée and you're down here on the outside wanting to see him and yet you can't. Why because I won't let you in. I think you're the one wrong Miss. I can keep you from seeing him."

"This wedding isn't going to happen," Katrina said her determination coming through in her voice and enjoying the way the smile on Alice's face slipped ever so slightly. "Ashton loves me and we're going to get married and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"I don't have to do anything to stop it," Alice said, "because my son never loved you and he wasn't going to marry you."

"I will not discuss my relationship with Ashton with you," Katrina said.

"That's because there is nothing to discuss," Alice said. "I suggest that you accept that you and Ashton are over. You should go home and get on with your life."

"My life is with Ashton," Katrina said confidently. "He's upset with me right now because of something stupid that I did, but he knows like I do that we're meant to be together. Which he'll come to realize once he gets over being angry with me. So you see by keeping us apart you're only delaying our reunion and setting Chevonne up to be hurt when Ashton realizes his mistake and comes back to me."

"Ashton has already realized his mistake and ended things with you," Alice pointed out. "You need to accept his decision and leave."

"You think Ashton is going to be happy with that...that...that..."

"That what?"

Sarah Michaelson her hands on her hips walked towards Alice and Katrina the look on her face letting everyone know that she was ready to put her foot up Katrina's arse if she completed what she was about to say.

"Hi, Sarah," Alice said struggling to keep her laughter from bubbling up her chest and out of her mouth. "I'm sure you know Katrina."

"I've never had the displeasure of meeting Katrina," Sarah said never taking her eyes off Katrina. "Every time we visited Chevonne at school she made it a point to not be there. So we've never met."

"Hello, Mrs. Michaelson," Katrina said a fake smile on her face and her hand extended for Chevonne's mother to shake.

Sarah looked down at Katrina's hand like it was the most disgusting thing she'd ever seen. Fighting the urge to wipe her hand on her skirt Katrina withdrew her hand.

"Don't let me interrupt your conversation," Sarah said her tone daring Katrina to finish what she was about to say about Chevonne, "please finish what you were going to say."

Katrina wasn't stupid. She wasn't about to say anything offensive about Chevonne in front of her mother. She told Alice the name of the hotel she was staying in and her room number and asked her to ask Ashton to call her or come by to see her.

Alice said told her not to hold her breath waiting for Ashton to come by.

That was two days ago and Katrina hadn't seen or heard from Ashton. So she assumed Alice hadn't given him, her message. Katrina was trying to think of what she should do next when someone knocked on her hotel room door.

Ashton stood outside Katrina's hotel room thinking about the conversation he was about to have with her and dreading what her reaction might be to what he was about to say to her.

He almost turned around and left because he didn't want to deal with the situation but the conversation he heard between his mother and Chevonne's mother two days ago and the talk he had with Chevonne this morning came to mind.

He was going downstairs to the kitchen when he heard his mother and Chevonne's mother talking to Katrina. He knew he'd come in on the last part of their conversation because he heard Katrina tell his mother the name of the hotel she was staying and the room number and asked her to ask him to call or come by to see her.

It was what he heard his mother and Sarah say after Katrina left that got him to thinking.

"That little trollop," Alice said as she closed the front door. "I can't believe she actually expects me to give Ashton her message."

"You have to tell Ashton," Sarah said.

"What?!" Alice said looking at Sarah as if she had grown another head.

"Ashton is going to have to end his relationship with Katrina before he marries my daughter," Sarah said. "If he doesn't Katrina is going to become a part of their relationship and our children's marriage will be over before it can began."

"He did end his relationship with that little schemer," Alice said.

"Not as far as Katrina is concerned," Sarah said. "Ashton telling her over the phone that it's over between them isn't strong enough for her. He is going to have to tell her face to face that it's over between them or stick his foot up her behind. You saw how determined she was to see Ashton. She's not going to give up and if Ashton doesn't tell her to her face that it's over she'll turn that determination to ending his marriage or in her mind saving him from making a horrible mistake."

"Well, I think we need to do something to throw a monkey wrench into her plans," Alice said thinking so hard Sarah could see the wheels I her brain turning.

"What're you up to, Alice?" Sarah asked her voice showing just a little apprehension.

"We're going to cut that little gold digger off at the path," Alice said almost jumping up and down happy that she'd thought of a way to keep Katrina out of her son's life. "Come on Sarah. You and I have some plans to make."

Sarah allowed Alice to lead her out of the foyer shaking her head wondering what she was getting herself into.

It didn't surprise Ashton to hear his mother saying the same thing Chevonne had said to him a few days before.

He spent the next five days wrestling with ways to tell Katrina that things between them was over because he didn't want to hurt her anymore than he already had.

It was when he was preparing to go talk to Katrina that the need to talk to Chevonne over took him.

He found her upstairs in his room reading a book, not wanting them to be overheard he took her by the hand, led her out of his bedroom, through the kitchen, out the back door to the gazebo.

"What's wrong?" Chevonne asked knowing from the look in his eyes that Ashton was worried about something.

Ashton told her about the conversation he heard between their mothers.