The Stand-In Girlfriend Ch. 07-09

"Tell my parents I'll be in later," Ashton said. "And please call Evelyn before she calls Scotland Yard and reports you missing."

"Alright," Chevonne replied

'I have to go and have a talk with Mr. Commons,' Ashton thought to himself taking out his wallet and pulling our Eric's business card. 'He needs to understand that he can't go around putting his filthy lips on women who are off limits to him.'

Ashton headed to the garage so he could go and have a chat with Eric.

CHAPTER 8

Chevonne was sitting out on the patio after eating a British-style breakfast. She was alone out on the patio trying to think of a way of bringing an end to the ridiculous situation she'd gotten herself involved in when Ashton joined her on the patio after he'd returned from his talk with Eric.

Chevonne looked him over as he sat down on one of the lawn chairs, she couldn't miss the big red bruise on his jaw.

She was about to go get him some ice to put on it when one of the servants brought a cold compress and handed it to Ashton.

Ashton said "thank you" and placed it on his jaw. Feeling guilty, responsible and unable to continue looking at the bruise on Ashton's face Chevonne stood to go back into the house. As she passed him Ashton reached out and took hold of her hand.

"This isn't your fault Chevonne," he said.

"I know that you moron," Chevonne said pulling her hand out of his grasp, "at least not completely. I can't believe I'm attracted to such an idiot."

"What did you say?" Ashton replied.

"Nothing," Chevonne said heading towards the house once again.

"You said you're attracted to me," Ashton said his hands grasping Chevonne's arms to keep her from leaving.

"Take your hands off me," Chevonne said the warning in her voice letting Ashton know that she was serious.

"Only if you promise not to leave," Ashton said his hands still on her arms.

Chevonne growled at him, pulled her leg back, brought it forward and kicked Ashton in the shin.

"Ow!" Ashton said taking his hands off Chevonne, jumping away from her and limping over to the closest chair to sit down. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked rubbing his ankle.

Chevonne didn't answer him, she stormed off the patio into the house.

"Come back here!" Ashton yelled getting up and going after her.

As he got closer to Chevonne, Ashton reached out and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. He pulled his hand back when she suddenly stopped, turned around and gave him a that said touch me and die.

"Chevonne we need to talk about his," Ashton said.

"No," Chevonne said whispering so Alice and Charles hopefully wouldn't hear them. "What I need to do right now is get as far away from you as I can. I'm going upstairs where I can be alone and you're gong to stay down here so I won't harm you. Have I made myself clear?"

Alice walked into the kitchen and saw that Ashton and Chevonne were fighting. They both turned and looked at her.

"Lover's quarrel?" she asked.

"No," Chevonne replied.

"Yes," Ashton replied.

"Oooookay," Alice said. "Could the two of you stop fighting or not fighting for a moment? I have something I would like to discuss with both of you in the family room."

Chevonne and Ashton followed Alice into the family room and they all sat down on the couch. Ashton sat next to Chevonne and took hold of her hand.

Chevonne fighting the urge to snatch her hand out of his grasp managed to allow him to keep holding it.

"I've gotten calls from family and friends after seeing Ashton's proposal at the airport on television and they're asking when they're going to meet Chevonne. I want to give the two of you an engagement party so everyone can meet Chevonne and Chevonne can meet some of our family and friends."

"I don't know mother," Ashton said, "Chev...."

"I think an engagement party would be wonderful," Chevonne said cutting Ashton off. "I would love to meet my future relatives and I can't think of a better way of doing that."

"Great," Alice said a big smile on her face, "I'll go start the preparations."

"What're you doing?" Ashton asked when he and Chevonne were alone again. "There is no way my mother can put together a party big enough for all my family and friends in two weeks or have you changed your mind about leaving?"

"Yes," Chevonne said too stubborn to admit that she forgot that she was planning to leave in two weeks. "I'm going to stay at least until after the party where I might let everyone know just the kind of person you really are."

"You wouldn't dare," Ashton said.

"Why wouldn't I?" Chevonne asked. "You brought me here to use me. Why wouldn't I embarrass you? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let everyone know what you intended to do to me?"

"Because it would hurt and embarrass my parents," Ashton said, "and they had nothing to do with any thing that's happened to you."

"What about my family?" Chevonne asked. "They think I'm engaged to be married, when they find out everything about this situation is a lie they're going to be hurt, embarrassed and angry and none of this is their fault either."

"Chevonne.."

Without saying a word Chevonne turned and headed back into the house making her way upstairs putting much needed space between her and Ashton. Because she didn't want to spend time in a London jail and that was where she was going to wind up if she didn't get away from him.

Limping Ashton followed her upstairs.

"We need to talk about this," he said as Chevonne entered the guest bedroom and tried to slam the door in his face.

"Okay," Chevonne said plopping down on the bed, "talk."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ashton asked.

"I don't want to talk about that," Chevonne said.

"We have to talk about that," Ashton said. "We have to deal with this."

"No, we don't," Chevonne said, "this is MY problem to deal with not Ours. We can talk about the engagement party or how we're going to tell our families we're not actually engage and how this entire situation is a lie, those are Our problems. My attraction to you is MY problem so it is not open for discussion."

Chevonne was giving Ashton a headache and the more she spoke the worse his head felt.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again.

Chevonne blew out a breath. "What good would it to have done Ashton?"

"If I had known how you felt I wouldn't have asked you...."

"I needed to do this," Chevonne said. "I needed to see you do something so repulsive it would cause me to almost hate you. I needed you to do something to me that would put an end to what I was feeling for you, something that would deaden the pain I felt when I found you and Katrina were/are getting married."

"I don't know what to say Chevonne," Ashton said.

"Well, you're going to have to say something," Chevonne replied. "I told you didn't want to talk about this but you wouldn't listen. You can't back now that I've spilled my guts."

"I....I....I."

"Don't," Chevonne said holding her hand palm up towards Ashton, "say a word. I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to put an end to this farce. You're going to tell your parents the truth and I'm going to tell my parents the truth. Then we're going out on a date, fight, publicly breakup and get back to our own lives."

"We have only been engaged two days," Ashton said. "If we breakup now everyone will figure out that we were never actually engaged. There will be a reporter out there who'll investigate and find out this whole thing was a sham and the fallout would be horrible for everyone."

Chevonne just stared at him. She couldn't believe he wanted to continue with his plan. He was ignoring the pain she was feeling, the only thing on his mind was making sure his family's reputation wasn't damaged by what HE had done. She looked at him and noticed that his mouth was moving but she hadn't heard anything he said.

"Okay?" Ashton asked.

"Alright," Chevonne said not knowing she had just agreed to but too tired to care.

"I'll select the restaurant and make the reservations," Ashton said. "Thank you, Chevonne. I know this is hard on you and this whole situation is the fault of Katrina and myself but I promise to make it up to you."

"You know when I said you had to do something to help me get over my feelings for you," Chevonne said, "I didn't expect you to accomplish it so quickly."

Ashton watched Chevonne as she went into the bathroom slamming the door behind her. His mind still swimming with the knowledge that she was attracted to him.

He couldn't picture her being attracted to him the thought inconceivable to him. Chevonne a woman who was smart, confident, kind and beautiful interested in him.

No way. But he had heard her say it with her own beautiful, full luscious lips so he couldn't and wouldn't ignore it.

After he got over the shock of her words they would deal with her feelings for him and the ones he thought he would have to bury away for her because he thought there was no way he could have her. Things would change now that he knew she wanted him. They had to.

Sarah Michaelson was still reeling from the conversation she had with Alice Bishop two days ago.

She didn't know what to think as she listened to Alice explain what was going on between Chevonne and Ashton. Alice's confidence son Ashton belonged with Chevonne unnerved Sarah just a little.

She couldn't understand why or how Alice could be so sure that Chevonne was the one for her son. That was until Alice started explaining all the reasons for her thinking.

Like how Ashton would go on and on about his girlfriend's roommate. She chuckled when Alice said he talked about Chevonne so much she wanted to meet the young lady that had unknowingly caught her son's attention and made such an impression on him.

Sarah also laughed when Alice talked about how the twit Ashton brought home to meet the family took no notice of how much her son talked about Chevonne.

She said it was because the girl only listened to the words that came out of Ashton's mouth, she didn't take the time to listen to the tone of his voice or the look in his eyes when he spoke of Chevonne.

Alice said twit only heard the things he said about Chevonne when he spoke of her only wearing sweat suits, sweatshirts or jeans and that he doubted she owned a dress because he sounded as if seeing Chevonne dressed that way disgusted him.

She missed how his tone changed when talked about the one time he did see Chevonne dressed up. He spoke of that one time with reverence and awe and it was burned in his memory.

He even remembered the smell of what he thought was perfume but later learned was simply body lotion.

The twit didn't seem to mind Ashton going on and on about her roommate because she heard everything he said as a complaint or a slam.

So she didn't see Chevonne as a threat because as she kept pointing out Chevonne was African-American like that would automatically make her unsuitable for Ashton.

That remark made Sarah angry but what Alice said next made Sarah want to fly to London and get all up in Ashton's face.

Alice was honest and told her everything about why Ashton brought Chevonne to London to meet his family. Sarah was really surprised and didn't believe Alice when she told her about the conversation she heard between Chevonne and Ashton where Chevonne told him she knew why he brought her to London.

Sarah couldn't believe that her daughter went with Ashton knowing what he was planning on doing. That was until she did a little remembering of her own about the time when Chevonne came home from college during a Christmas break and doing something she'd never done before.

She started talking about her roommate and the new man in Katrina's life. Chevonne told her about how she thought the new guy Katrina was dating wouldn't be like the other men she'd dated before. How this guy wouldn't fall over backwards to please Katrina and Katrina would have to work to keep him interested in her.

Sarah took notice of the twinkle in her daughter's eyes as she spoke of Ashton. She said Ashton was interesting and if he were black she would take him from Katrina. That remark made Sarah raise and eyebrow at her daughter.

"Why would the color of his skin keep you from taking him from Katrina?" she asked shocked that Chevonne would say such a thing.

"Mom, you and dad would have a fit if I brought home a man who wasn't black," Chevonne said.

Her mother's eyes grew big and her mouth fell open. Chevonne knew she had said the wrong thing.

"So you think your father and I are bigots?" her mother asked.

"No," Chevonne said, "I just think that parents expect and want their children to date and marry within their own race."

"You're right," her mother said, "your father and I would prefer that you stay within your own race and by race I mean the human race. I would go off on you if you brought home a dog, cat or horse professing your love and declaring that you're going to marry said animal. But Chevonne, you have to know that as long as you bring home a "MAN" who loves you and whom you love the color of his skin wouldn't matter to me or your father."

"So you're saying you meant it when you said you would welcome any man I choose to love?" Chevonne said.

"Baby, we raised you the best we could," her mother said, "Taught you right from wrong and hopefully prepared you to make your way in the world. We also taught you not live your life seeking anyone's approval not even ours because your life is your own to live not ours. We raised you from birth knowing that you were not ours to keep, but to take care of until you were old enough to make it on your own. The one thing your father and I always remembered about being parents was that we couldn't pick whom you and your brother fell in love with and as far as I can recall we've never stressed in any manner that the person you dated or married had to be black."

"No, you and dad never said that," Chevonne said, "but isn't it like some sort of unwritten rule or something?"

"When have you ever followed rules written or unwritten?" Sarah asked.

Mother and daughter laughed.

"I'm sorry mom," Chevonne said.

"You should be," Sarah said. "You should know that your father and I are not bigots."

"I know that you and dad aren't bigots," Chevonne said, "but I thought you had preferences."

"We do have preferences," her mother said. "We prefer that you be with a man that makes you happy and who isn't already married."

Chevonne laughed out loud at her mother's little add on.

Sarah brought her thoughts back to the present and the situation with Chevonne and Ashton. She fought to control her anger when she thought about why Ashton took her, daughter to London.

His reason for taking Chevonne to meet his family left an awful taste in her mouth. Alice didn't sound like a bigot and Sarah couldn't make the assumption that she was based only on Aston's actions not after the conversation she had, had with Chevonne about love and race.

But she didn't like the fact that he believed enough in his stupid plan to actually try and pull it off using her child. Sarah had to face the fact that Chevonne wasn't an innocent in this situation.

She went into it according to Alice with her eyes wide open, meaning she knew what Ashton intentions were.

The reason Chevonne gave for agreeing to go with Ashton sounded far fetched to Sarah but she knew her daughter.

Once Chevonne made up her mind about a person the only thing that would make her change her mind about that person would be seeing whatever it was for herself.

Especially if she cared about that person or if she was attracted to said man. And Sarah knew that Chevonne was attracted to Ashton.

Sarah hadn't met Ashton or seen Chevonne with him but from talking to Alice and hearing about the way Chevonne was acting, everything she knew about her daughter said that she was attracted to Ashton.

'Well I have to meet the man who my daughter is attracted to,' Sarah said to herself. 'I also have to let him know that there are consequences for setting out to deliberately hurting my daughter. It would seem that my future son-in-law might need to be taught a lesson. If he does I'm going to be the teacher.'

CHAPTER 9

Chevonne looked at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw. She wore a pair of jeans and a white short sleeved cotton blouse decorated with small blue iris bouquets all over it.

She slipped on a pair of white flats and patted the French braid she'd fashioned in her hair then made her way downstairs where Ashton was waiting for her so they could go out on their first date.

She just wanted the evening to be over with so she could put this day in the over column.

"Where have you been mother?" Ashton asked standing up from the couch when his mother walked into the family room. "I had some business to take care of ," his mother replied. "Did you need something?"

"No," Ashton said sitting back down on the couch.

"I was just wondering where you had been all day."

"I thought you and Chevonne were going out to dinner tonight," his mother said taking note of Ashton's casual dress of jeans, a pullover shirt and tennis shoes.

"We were," Ashton said, "but Chevonne wasn't in the mood. So we decided to go to the cinema instead."

"What movie are you going to see?"

"We're going to wait until we reach the cinema plex to decide which movie we're going to see," Ashton said.

"I'm ready."

Ashton and Alice turned towards the sound of Chevonne's voice to see her standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look lovely," Alice said walking over to Chevonne and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," Chevonne said.

"I love your hair," Alice said commenting on the French braid Chevonne had styled her hair.

"Thank you," Chevonne said patting her hair glad she had decided to do a French braid instead of letting her hair hang loose.

"I agree with my mother," Ashton said walking over and taking hold of Chevonne's hand, "you look lovely."

"Thank you," Chevonne said as she tried to decipher the strange look in Ashton's eyes as he stared at her.

"Well, I think the two of you had better get going," Alice said breaking Ashton out of his hypnotic trance. "You don't want to be late for the cinema."

Ashton and Chevonne still holding hands made their way outside to the limo. The chauffeur stood by the car with to door open waiting for Ashton and Chevonne to get into the car. Chevonne stopped.

"Can you drive?" she asked Ashton.

"Of course I can drive," Ashton replied.

"Do you know the way to the cinema plex?"

"Yes."

"Would you mind driving instead of being driven?"

A big smile appeared on Ashton's face. He loved driving himself around but he never got the chance to whenever he and Katrina went out because she insisted on riding in the limo saying it left his hands and arms free to touch and hold her. But Ashton thought it was because she liked being driven around.

"I wouldn't mind driving at all," he told Chevonne. "You can take the night off Winston," he told the chauffeur. "You wait here," he told Chevonne.

Ashton climbed into the limo and rode with Winston back to the garage. When they reached the garage Winston told Ashton there were reporters from both the newspapers and the telly waiting outside the front gate hoping to catch a glimpse or get a picture of him and Chevonne.

Not wanting to be hounded by reporters their first evening out Ashton came up with a plan.

Just as Winston said there were reporters from all over standing around the front gate. A police officer had been stationed at the front gate to make sure none of the reporters broke any laws trying to get a story or a picture.

They were all sitting around discussing how they might get an interview with or a picture of Ashton and Chevonne when the gate opened.