ASHLEY:

      "Okay, I think that should do it," Feldy says into the mic, letting CC know that he can escape from the booth for awhile. Jake and I are sitting behind him, while Andy is curled up in a chair in the corner, scribbling on one of his ever-present legal pads, and Jinxx is on the couch whispering something to his new girlfriend.

     Now, this is something that we're all glad to see, because he was pretty down when things imploded between him and Sammi. It got a bit better after a while, but he still wasn't quite his old self, until he met Alice a couple of months ago. She's British, an actress-slash-dancer who moved to the States to give Broadway a go, but wound up moving out here to California earlier this year. This apparently turned out to be a lucky break for both of them, since she and Jinxx probably wouldn't have met otherwise, and that would be a damn shame, because they seem to be perfect for each other.

      I watch the two of them being cutesy with each other for a couple of minutes, but the door opens, and my attention gets diverted by one of the assistant engineers bouncing through the door, saying, "Hey, Feldy! You do remember that I'm not gonna be here for the next couple of days, dontcha?"

      "Yes, I remember, Macy. You have someone coming to visit from out of town, right?"

      Macy Logan is an absolute knockout, and I made a huge play for her when we first met. But unfortunately for me, I'm not her type, since she's not into men. She didn't hold it against me, though, and I've become pretty good friends with her and her girlfriend, Lylah, who's a professional photographer, and sometimes does work for my fashion line. Lylah is also a Halle Berry lookalike, so I wouldn't toss her out of my bed, either. But she's as immune to my particular charms as Macy, so I'm out of luck there, too.

      She practically skips over to the control board to stand by Feldy and says, "Not exactly. My sister is moving back to the States from overseas, and she's moving in with us, so we're taking a couple of days to help her get everything arranged. She split with her fiancee a couple of weeks ago, so she decided it was time to come back."

      "Where was she living?" Andy inquires. "And since you said that she's just had a breakup, is there any particular topic we should avoid if we meet her at some point?"

      "She moved to London to finish her last two years of college, and then stayed on for awhile after she finished," Macy explains. "And the only topic you'd need to avoid is my loathsome lowlife cousin, since she's the actual reason for the breakup."

      "So I take it the fiancee was cheating on your sister with your cousin, right?" CC chimes in. "Kind of sounds a bit like a soap opera."

      Her tone is undeniably sarcastic as she responds, "You could say that, yeah. Basically, as I understand it, Philip the Fuck-Up decided that the best way to demonstrate his utterly awe-inspiring sophistication and maturity to everyone was to break off his engagement to Steph by sneaking off and secretly marrying my cousin."

      Andy looks up from his pad and nods. "Yeah, I think that would do it."

      We're all a bit surprised when Alice sits straight up on the couch and blurts, "Wait, you're not referring to Philip Grantham-Kemp, are you? Stephanie Logan is your sister?"

      Macy appears to be a bit puzzled at the question, but replies, "Yeah, I am, and she is. You know her, then?"

      "Absolutely, she's one of my dearest friends!" Alice exclaims. "Steph and I, and our friend Talia, used to do practically everything together before I moved over here. We've kept in touch through social media, and on the phone, but I haven't seen her in something over a year, so this is going to be lovely!"

      "I know I've heard you mention Talia, but I don't remember if you've said anything about a Stephanie before," Jinxx muses. "Should I know which friend she is?"

      "Yes, love, Stephanie is the artist," she informs him. "She's the one who made the figurines I keep on my mantel, the little ceramic cats." He nods, apparently understanding the explanation, and Alice turns back to Macy. "I never would have guessed, though. You have the same last name, of course, but it's not terribly uncommon, and you really don't resemble each other at all."

      "Yeah, we get that a lot," Macy snickers. "Dad is half-Greek, on my grandma's side, and Max and I look more like him. Steph looks like Mom's side of the family, so most people don't catch on right away if they're just looking at us."

      "Is she older or younger than you?" I inquire. 

      "I'm the middle child. Max is just over two years older than me, and Steph is seventeen months younger. She'll be twenty-five the day after Valentine's Day."

      "And she's an artist, too? You'll have to bring her by one of these days, I'm always down for having somebody else to talk art with."

      "I was kind of planning to bring her in sometime later in the week, to show her where I work, so that should be doable. Just don't hit on her, okay, Ash?"

      "Hey, I'm not a complete lout!" I protest. "I wouldn't try to pull a rebound thing on someone who's still getting over what you just told us about. Especially not when the chick is my friend's sister. Give me a little credit, okay? Besides, I'm seeing somebody right now anyway."

      "Oh, yeah, I forgot about your new chick! Sorry, Ash," Macy apologizes. "I don't remember what you said her name is, though."

      "Her name is Joleen. She subbed in for one of my regular models a couple of months ago, and we started going out after that. I guess I should bring her by one of these days, and introduce her to you and Feldy, since everybody else has already met her."

      "Yes, why don't you do that?" Feldy chimes in. "It should be interesting to see what sort of girl can actually get you to stop playing the field."

      "Yeah, she must really be something to pull that off," Macy agrees.

      "Well, just so you two don't die from the suspense, I'll give you a hint," CC chuckles from the door of the recording booth. "Significant boobage is involved."

      Feldy looks at CC, his expression completely deadpan, and retorts, "Really? I never would have guessed! Please allow me to show you my shocked face."

      "What is this, 'Make Fun of Ashley Day' or something?" I interrupt. "You guys make it sound like my only criteria for a girlfriend is a set of double D's! She does have other qualities, y'know! You don't hear me giving any of you shit about your significant others, do you?"

      Everyone just stares at me for a second, seeming to be a bit surprised, and then CC walks over to my chair and says, "Dude, I wasn't trying to diss your girl, and I apologize if that's how it sounded. I'm sure that isn't the only reason you're with her, but you have to admit that you do seem to have a certain 'type' when it comes to chicks, bro."

      "Sorry, Ash, but I have to agree with C," Jinxx concurs. "You do usually tend to gravitate toward the 'life-size Barbie' type of girls. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course."

      I look around the studio, and from the way the others are looking at me, I can see that they're all in agreement with CC and Jinxx, and for some reason, it actually bothers me just a little. "Okay, maybe I do have a certain physical preference, I'll give you that one," I acknowledge. "But I don't actually date every attractive blonde I meet, there has to be a little bit of substance for that. A one-nighter on the tour bus is a completely different matter than spending extended time with somebody. And if you recall, I have gone out with other types of women, too."

      "If you guys remember, he was trying pretty hard to get me to go for his sales pitch when I first started working here," Macy points out. "And one thing I've never in my life been accused of is looking like a Barbie doll. A porcelain doll, maybe, but never a Barbie."

      We all have a bit of a laugh at that statement, because with her waist-length, gypsyish black curls and sky-blue eyes, plus the fact that she's only about five-foot-two, she's pretty well on the mark. About the only similarity she might have to the Barbie stereotype is her rather impressive rack, but since she mentioned once that her brother has taught her some military-type self-defense moves, I decide to take a pass on mentioning that particular fun fact.

      "Okay, point taken," Jake says. "From now on, we don't automatically assume that Ash is more interested in a woman's bra size than her brain. Agreed?"

      Everybody gives some form of agreement, and we manage to get back to work, but I just can't get the conversation out of my head. I guess I get what they said about me having a 'type', because probably ninety percent of the women I've dated have been blonde with big tits, usually models or porn actresses. But the ones that stuck around for any period of time were also pretty bright, and fun to spend time with when we weren't fucking. Maybe personality doesn't matter that much if you know you're only going to spend an hour or so with someone, and then probably never see them again, but for me to want a woman around long-term, it's a must.

      I think maybe everyone has just sort of gotten the impression that I'm only interested in appearances because most of what they've gotten to see of my relationships, with the exception of Kina, is after things start going south. There have been a couple of girls who have been able to hide their real personalities from me, and a lot of other people, until things started getting serious, and I think the drama that came out of those breakups are the main reason people think of me this way, because they didn't see what came before. But Joleen is a very sweet, bubbly girl, with an adventurous streak and a great sense of humor, and I'm willing to bet that when they get to know her a bit better, they'll really like her.

      We work on a couple more tracks, and then Feldy decides to call it a day, because he has something he's already committed to this evening. As we're getting everything together, I hear Alice say something to Jinxx about looking forward to seeing her friend again, and it gives me an idea. I walk over to her and Jinxx, and say, "Hey, Alice, I just had a thought I want to run by you guys, and Macy, so can you hang out for a minute until I can find her?"

      "Sure, we're not in a great hurry."

      I go to the other room, where I find Macy doing something on the computer. I ask her to join us, so she finishes up what she's doing and follows me back. Once we're all together, she says, "Okay, you've got me curious. What are you up to, Ash?"

      "I wouldn't say that I'm actually 'up to' anything, I just had an idea a couple of minutes ago," I clarify. "You said that you haven't seen this chick for awhile, right, Alice? Well, then what if Macy doesn't say anything to her about working with us, since I assume she knows you're going out with Jinxx, here. Then you guys can work out a plan for when she should come by, you can make sure you get here before her, and it can be a surprise. I mean, after someone gets kind of sucker-punched like that, it's always nice to have something good to balance it out. Trust me, I've been there more than once, so I know what I'm talking about."

      Jinxx raises an eyebrow and nods his head approvingly, saying, "I've got to hand it to you, Purdy, that's a really good idea."

      Then, Alice leans in and actually kisses me on the cheek. "Yes, it's a lovely plan, Ashley! I'm all for it if everyone else is. And it's so sweet of you to think of someone that you don't even know, too."

      I'm not sure if it's her words, or the kiss, but I can feel my face getting warm, and Macy sort of giggles, saying, "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen that before! The legendary Ashley Purdy actually blushing!"

      "Surprisingly enough, it's not as unusual as you'd think," Jinxx informs them. "This guy can flirt with every chick in a room, and spout off dirty jokes or pickup lines without batting an eye, but give him a compliment and he's totally tongue-tied."

      I manage to regain my composure, and say, "Well, Macy said that the girl basically just got metaphorically stabbed in the back, not only by her fiancee, but by someone in her own family. I've been in a similar position myself, so I kind of understand how she probably feels, and to be honest, I kind of wish I'd had someone to do something like that for me."

      Jinxx stares at me for a few seconds, then comments, "For some reason, I get the idea that you're not referring to Kina. Was it one we'd know about?"

      "No, the one that came to mind was a chick I dated pretty briefly right before Stolen Hearts split up. I thought she was perfect, and I thought I was crazy about her. Turns out I was just crazy."

      "How so, if you don't mind my asking?" Macy inquires.

      "Well, I had more than one person tell me that she wasn't what she was pretending to be, but I wouldn't listen. Truthfully, I was pretty nasty to one of them, I said some really harsh, hurtful things, which I still regret," I admit. "And this chick was not only the one who introduced me to coke, but made sure that Nan and Pop knew I was using, which I never wanted to happen. She did this while dumping me right in front of them, and making sure I knew that she had not only been screwing around the whole time, but that she had absolutely no faith in my ability to succeed. And the cherry on the whole toxic sundae was the fact that I found out that she'd stolen a bunch of stuff from my apartment and hocked it. I had to file a police report and everything, but her family paid everything back rather than have her go to court."

      Alice looks completely shocked, and Jinxx says, "Wow! I knew you said you'd kind of flirted with drugs before we knew you, but you never really told the story behind it."

      "Yeah, I know. That shit turned me into somebody I never wanted to be, and I'll be damned if I'll ever let myself get sucked back into it.  But do you want to hear something that's almost funny? As much as I thought I cared about that girl, it turned out that I missed the drugs more than I ever missed her."

      Macy lets out a short laugh and says, "Kinda sounds like some of the stunts my cousin has pulled. If she and your ex ever got together, it'd probably be a coin-toss as to whether they'd wind up as BFF's, or kill each other."

      Laughing, I hold up my hands in a warding-off gesture. "Oh, let's not go there! Two of them in the same room would be a recipe for disaster."

      After arranging for Macy to let her know when she'll be bringing her sister by, Alice and Jinxx leave, then Macy and I head out a few minutes later. She's on the phone with Lylah as she heads to her car, filling her in on the plan so she knows not to mention us before the visit to the studio, and I stop to pet Feldy's dog for a second before I go. As I close the door behind me, my phone goes off, and I pull it from my pocket to see a text from Joleen:

      "Hey, sexy!  Got off work early, all alone at home w/a bottle of wine and some new lingerie. Care to join me?"

      I chuckle as I head to my car, and quickly answer:

      "Do you really need to ask? I wouldn't want you to get too lonely. C/YA in 20!"

      I pull out of the lot and start heading toward Joleen's apartment, thinking about what I might wind up doing with, and to, her before the night is over. But as I work my way through traffic, I think again about my grandparents. Nan passed away last year, and even though she never actually said anything to me about it, I know that she was sort of disappointed that I've never gotten married, or had a family. Truthfully, it's not something I've really thought about seriously, at least not yet, but now I'm sorry that she won't get to see it when, or if, it ever happens. 

      I force this train of thought onto a side-track for now, and turn my attention back to my driving, since it's almost rush hour, and I'd like to get there in one piece. It wouldn't be much fun for either of us if I end up in traction. 

      But, as I make the turn into her parking garage, I have to wonder: Have I finally found "the one", or is this just another side trip along the way? It's too soon to know for sure, but I'm pretty sure I'll have a good time finding out.