Alison Found

"Wait, Just who is she?"

"Didn't I introduce you? No, I didn't." She sighed, "You need to tell me if I don't explain things, I'm so used to people working around me I assume they know everything. Lucy is my girl Friday, my assistant, secretary, friend, and she's very protective of me. You are an unknown, a wildcard, and she's never seen me behaving like this over a man; I think it scares her."

She took my hand, and we re-entered the bedroom. Lucy had a worried expression which she hastily masked.

"What time do we need to leave for the studio?" Ali asked Lucy as she sat down at the desk for the second time.

Lucy glanced at her phone, "We've got half an hour before the cars get here. Let me sort out your makeup." She gave me an accusatory look.

Lucy began repairing the damage, and after a few minutes Ali asked, "Did you call the restaurant?"

"Yes, it's all confirmed, a table for two at eight, I had to use your name." She gave me a smirk as she said it.

"Can you call them back and cancel please."

Lucy's mouth opened in surprise, "Why?"

"Because it's not where Josh wanted to take me. He reminded me that he asked me, so it's his choice," she glanced up to look at me in the mirror in front of her, "and I'm looking forward to finding out where he's going to take me."

That was a problem as I didn't have a favorite restaurant in London that I thought I could take someone as well-known as Ali to. There was one place, but it was near Brighton, a good fifty miles away, and a favorite place of mine when I used to live there. It was owned by two friends of mine, in fact.

"Do you remember Lesley Coombes?" I asked Ali. "She was at school with us."

Ali thought for a moment, "Was she the redheaded girl with freckles, quite a pretty girl?"

"That's her, she's married now, and she and her partner run a gastropub on the South Downs. We are good friends, and I used to eat there a lot when I lived in the flat. They were at the funeral and asked if there were any chance I'd be down anytime soon to see my godchildren. It's a bit of a drive, but do you fancy going there this evening?"

Her face lit up, "I'd love that. I'd like to see Lesley again."

"I'll give her a call and see if I can get reception to arrange a car and a driver for the evening."

"Jos, you know I said I wouldn't interfere, but would you mind if I got David to sort out the car and driver. He gets a bit nervous if I go out without any security."

"A bit," snorted Lucy.

"If that makes you both feel more comfortable with the situation, then I'm fine with that. We'd need to leave about six, is that going to work with your schedule?"

It would, she agreed, and then was slipping on her dress and shoes. She gave me a kiss, and moments later she and Lucy were being escorted down the hallway by David and a second female bodyguard.

The room was so quiet after I closed the door. The suitcase still sat on the bed, half the clothes spread across the cover, a promise to me that she would be back.

I found the number for Lesley and gave her a call. It only took a few minutes to exchange pleasantries and to confirm a table for two that evening, even though the restaurant was fully booked.

"We'll always have a table for you," Lesley told me. "So who are you bringing?"

"It's a surprise; it's someone you know, that the only clue I'm giving you."

"Bastard, see you tonight, oh and if the car park's full, park in our driveway."

I said my goodbyes and after placing my papers and laptop into a bag, I put on a tweed jacket and left for my appointment.

The lunchtime meeting with my agent and publisher went on to the early afternoon. It was a productive meeting as far as I was concerned. One of the independent film studios had taken an option out on my most successful novel, and on the basis of that, I was being offered a new two-book deal to expand on the characters from the same novel.

Back at the hotel I ordered coffee at the bar and opened up my laptop to check my mail and deal with any issues. My phone buzzed, which reminded me I'd been ignoring the damn thing since last night. Julia's last message was 'call me damn it, how do you know her,' and it wasn't the only similar message I'd received from my dinner companions.

Julia answered her phone on the first ring. "Josh, how the hell do you know Ashley Bell?"

"I don't; I do know a girl called Alison Peters who used to live next door to me. She was my first girlfriend."

"Who?" Julia sounded completely confused.

"Alison is Ashley," I said. "Do you remember me telling you about the girl who used to live next door to my parent's house? The one who disappeared when I was seventeen?"

"Oh she's that girl; I remember you telling us about her..." she paused, gathering her thoughts. "Did you know she was Ashley before last night?"

"I found out a couple of years ago, but it turned out it impossible to get in touch with her. Last night was the first time I've seen her in person for years."

"She said she was an old friend when she spoke to us last night. We gave her your number and told her where you were staying. Was that okay," she sounded concerned. "She rushed out after you; did she find you?"

"She found me," I told her. "We spoke and cleared up a few of our issues. We're meeting up again this evening." I wasn't going to tell her that we'd spent the night together. Unfortunately, Julia was a notorious gossip, and I didn't want the publicity.

"Listen, Julia, do me a favor and keep this quiet. I'd rather not see my face plastered all over the papers."

"Okay," She sounded disappointed as she agreed. "Can I tell the others how you know her?"

"I guess so, but tell them the same thing please."

I ended the call with promises to keep in touch and relaxed back in my chair. The waitress freshened up my coffee and I returned to dealing with my emails. That only took a few minutes, so I googled Ashley Bell to see what I could find. I hadn't done this since the email rejections a couple of years ago.

I was browsing an article when a man in a suit and a badge on the lapel announcing to the world, he was the duty manager approached me.

"Mr. Thomas," he said diffidently. "We've had a request to move you to one of the top floor suites."

I gave him a surprised look; I'd made no such request, then I got a sickening feeling that Alison was involved. Again she was trying to organize my life, I liked to room I was in, and I was pissed off that she thought I would dance to her beat.

"I've not requested a room change," I told him. "I'm quite happy where I am, so there's no need to worry."

With that said, I looked back at my laptop hoping that this would be the end of this. I could sense him standing there, not moving. He cleared his throat, and I look up at him again.

"She was very insistent that we move you. I've had the room service manager pack up your things and move them to your new room. Here are your replacement keycards." He held out a room card folder.

No, she wasn't doing this, snapping her fingers and expecting me to jump. I liked Ali, but I had my own life, and regardless of my feelings for her, I was sure I was a passing fad with her. I didn't expect that there was any future to this relationship. I was expected to change my plans to suit her; I was grateful I hadn't changed my flight because at this rate I wasn't going to be hanging around London.

"You will put my belongings back in the room I booked," I snapped back. "I said I was happy in my original room."

"The lady was adamant that you were to have the best room in the hotel and I'm afraid she scares me a lot more than you do."

"I don't need to scare you; I just need to check out and find somewhere else to stay, if you don't put my bags back in my old room."

I closed my laptop and with a sigh of exasperation, stood up. "I'm going to sign for my drinks then go back to my room, if my things haven't been returned then I'll be checking out."

He looked concerned and then downright panicky as he glanced past me at the entrance to the bar. I turned to see Ali and her little group of sycophants entering the bar. He scurried across and bent down to whisper in Lucy's ear. She gave him a surprised look and a calculating glance at me.

Interesting, I thought. The woman he was scared of wasn't Alison; it was Lucy. I wondered if Alison even knew about the room change request. I paid the bill for my coffee that the waitress gave me before Alison walked over and gave me a hug. I was a bit stiff in returning it, and she felt it.

"Is everything okay, Jos?"

"Yesss," I hung the word out and then shook my head. "No, not really. What did I say about not wanting to be ordered about. As soon as I got back here, I'm told, not asked, mind you, that I've been moved to another room. If you didn't like my room, you could have asked if I minded moving, not just do it and cancel my old room."

"I... I didn't; I just mentioned that it would be different not staying in a big suite. Not bad different, just different." She looked at Lucy and Lucy stared back defiantly.

"Will you come and stay with me at my apartment," she asked hesitantly.

I shook my head; staying at her apartment would be the same as moving to the hotel suite. I had a second thought; I still had a key to the flat in Brighton which was presently unoccupied, my new tenants weren't scheduled to move in for another few weeks.

"You could come and stay at my flat; it's not occupied at the moment. I've just had it redecorated ready to rent out again." I offered.

She gave me a considered look and pursed her lips. "I'd like that; it's in Brighton you said?"

I nodded, and added, "I guess we could take the car to the restaurant and then go on to the flat afterward."

Ali agreed and called over Lucy and her bodyguard. She told them of the change in plans, Lucy didn't look happy, but David, her bodyguard, just wanted to know if the building was secure. I was able to reassure him.

"There's a lobby with a manned security desk, and the lifts only work with an access key."

David nodded in appreciation, "That should work."

Ali spoke to Lucy, asking her to go to the apartment, pack some clothes for her and bring them back here.

I got the duty manager, who was still hovering in the background to bring my bags down and I checked out. While we waited for Lucy to get back with Ali's things, we sat in the bar. David and a second security guard stood in the lobby, their attention split between us, the main entrance and the waiting limousine booked for this evening.

The traffic out of London was bad, only easing as we joined the M23 motorway. David had asked me for the keys of the flat so that one of his team, who was traveling in a second car, could drop off our luggage. I'd given him a note for the security desk allowing access to the flat.

Ali had given Lucy a couple of days off, arranging that they would meet up in her apartment on Saturday to get ready for the film premiere that evening. Only David accompanied Ali and me, sitting next to the driver.

Ali was eager to hear what had happened to me over the years and was constantly asking questions. I was happy to respond, but I began to notice that she was far more reticent in answering my questions. She would either give me the barest of details of change the subject. She would repeat that her life was an open book, the press attention had ensured that!

Yet when we pulled up outside the gastropub, 'The Downs,' an hour later, I wasn't sure I knew any more about her than I'd gleaned off the internet, and that had been lacking facts and full of innuendo.

'The Downs,' sat in a hollow in the northern face of the South Downs. It was a large converted barn set 50 yards from the thatched cottage where Lesley and her partner lived with their two children.

The car park was full, so I told the driver to ignore the private sign and use the driveway by the cottage.

Samantha, Lesley's wife, must have been waiting for me. The door to the cottage opened, and she smiled as she saw me as I exited the vehicle. On her hip sat Jilly, their five-year-old daughter. I'd been a bit sparse in my details to Ali about my friends who owned the place. She'd known Lesley at school, but not that she was a lesbian.

I only found out because a very drunken Lesley confessed to me at a party that it was such a pity that she was gay as I was the only man she'd ever considered taking to bed. Later, when she'd sobered up a bit, she made me promise not to tell anyone. It was a promise I kept for years until she came out.

I'd met Samantha when I'd worked for a travel company after leaving university, and we shared the same office. We became friends, drinks at lunchtime, the odd meal and visits to the cinema type of friends, and I hasten to add that's all we ever were: friends that were comfortable in each other's company.

When I first moved to the flat in Brighton, I held a housewarming party to which I invited all my friends, including Sam and Lesley. They clicked, and the rest is history. No, I'm not the biological father of their children, but I am godfather to both of them.

"Good you're here," she said as she walked over and gave me a hug that ended with Jilly wrapping her arms around my neck and slipping from her mother's grasp and into mine.

"Missed you, uncle Jos, Mummy said we are going to your boat, when are we going?"

"Soon, baby girl," I said. "In the summer?" I looked at Sam, and she gave me a nod.

"I can swim now," Jilly added, then she looked over my shoulder. "Who's the pretty lady?"

I glanced in the direction she was looking in. "Jilly, this is Alison, she's an old friend of your Mama Lesley."

Ali smiled at the young girl I held in my arms, coming over to say hello. Jilly gave Alison the type of deep calculating non-verbal examination that only a five-year-old can achieve. It seemed that Alison passed as Jilly held out her arms to her with a cute, "carry me."

Ali took hold of her, and Jilly settled with a happy chuckle against her. I heard them talking softly, but I was unable to make out the words

Sam took my arm and said, "Josh, isn't she the actress, Ashley Bell?"

I nodded, and said quietly, "She is, she went to school with Lesley and me, but we knew her as Alison then."

Sam paused looking intently into my eyes, then replied just as quietly, her voice sounding worried. "She's the Alison that you and Lesley told me about; the girl who disappeared in your last year?" The unspoken question was, 'and the one who broke your heart?'

"That's the one; I bumped into her in London yesterday."

"It's funny, Lesley always said she reminded her of a girl she knew at school when we saw her films, but as we thought she was American, I guess she never made the connection."

We were interrupted by the sound of a scooter driving up to the cottage. A young girl got off, pulled her helmet off and gave Sam a puzzled look.

"Our au pair," Sam said, then spoke a bit louder, "Look, let me take Jilly, and it's past her bedtime. I'll get her settled down and then come over."

Ali reluctantly gave Jilly up, and I belatedly introduced her to Samantha. The news that our school friend was a lesbian and, in a relationship, hadn't phased Ali except for one point.

"Is Jilly your daughter, or Lesley's?" Ali asked sounding a bit unsure of herself. "Only she called you both mama."

Sam smiled, "We don't really differentiate between us, but Jilly is Lesley's, and Luke is mine, they both have the same father."

Alison gave me a quizzical look, and I shook my head, "No, it's not me."

"Josh knows the story," Sam said. "We can explain everything later, but I need to get this one to bed, she's half asleep as it is."

Sam took Jilly indoors, and I led Ali across to The Downs. David accompanied us, then indicated he would wait in the bar for us. The woman at the hostess desk at the entrance to the restaurant, smiled when she saw me and greeted me by name. It had been a couple of years since my last visit, and I was pleased that she remembered me. When she saw my companion, her eyes went wide. She showed us to our table. It was a round table set in an alcove, set back from the kitchen pass allowing an excellent view of the kitchen activity. It was the chefs table and usually kept for friends of the chef, it could seat six, but as only two places were laid, it seemed tonight it was just for us.

Lesley bustled over as soon as she saw us. She was a beautiful red-haired woman dressed in chef's whites and an apron. Both Lesley and Samantha were involved in the business, Lesley in the kitchen and Sam front of the house.

"Holy shit, Alison, is that you?" She held out her arms, and they hugged then separated.

"Hi, Lesley. My God, motherhood really suits you."

"Thanks, I think. You are her, aren't you?"

Alison laughed, "I'm still that girl from school."

"But you're Ashley Bell?"

Alison nodded, and then her face grew white as Lesley continued conversationally, "and we all know Ashley is a major film star. So my question is to the Alison I remember, not Ashley, are you back here to correct the damage you did? Only I saw what Josh was like after you disappeared. He's my friend, my children's godfather and I'm not going to let you hurt him again. Are you going to stay around longer this time or are you going to run away again."

I didn't know what to say, I'd always known Lesley liked me, but even I was surprised at the anger in her words. She gave me a smile and then settled back in a seat, waiting for Ali to reply.

It took her a moment to gather her wits. "The only reason I'll leave him is if Josh wants me to," was her reply. "I'm not sure he believes me, but I've already told him that I'm still in love with him."

Ali paused to gather her thoughts, and then said, "I didn't run away, I was taken away, Lesley. I didn't have a choice, or at least I didn't think I had one at the time. My big mistake was believing the story my mother and her boyfriend told me, and letting them convince me I shouldn't contact Josh."

Lesley didn't look convinced, and I was intrigued as well.

Ali squeezed my hand and said. "I don't think I would have been as gullible if Josh had been there, but he wasn't, and everything got away from me. By the time I got a chance to properly think we were already in the States and staying in an isolated cabin."

She shrugged, "There was no phone, cell phone coverage or the internet, just a lake and trees, oh, and a momma bear and her cubs. I had no way of contacting anybody. Mum said she would arrange for a message to be sent to Josh giving him a contact address for us, but it appears she lied to me. I waited for him to write or call, but he never did."

She saw I was about to speak and put her finger to my lips. "I know now that you couldn't, but at the time I guessed that you were so angry with me that you'd not wanted to get in touch."

I gave her a glance, this wasn't exactly what she'd told me earlier, but it seemed to reassure Lesley. She sat down, and a few moments later, Sam joined us.

Ali and Lesley had been friends at school, not BFF's, but friends nevertheless. They began catching up, both wanting to know what had happened since they'd last seen each other.

"You know," Ali admitted to me. "Lesley was the one girl I was jealous of at school. She and you seemed so close."

"But ..."

"Yes she not interested in men, but I didn't know that, did I!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Sam said. "I happen to know that he is the only man she's ever considered in that way. We were both put out when he refused our request for some of his sperm. She even offered to let him donate it naturally."