STEPHANIE:

      "Hey, can you answer a question for me, Steph?" Macy inquires, as she leans against the kitchen island while she waits for her coffee cup to fill.

      "Won't know until I hear it, but I'll give it a shot," I reply.

      "Is it just my imagination, or is Ash a bit more irritable than usual?"

      I put the dog food can I've just emptied into Mickey's bowl into the trash and sigh. "Yeah, he's been having those moments here and there," I agree. "He never really wants to discuss it much when I ask him about it, he just says he's stressed out about crap at work, and he can handle it himself. I wish he'd let me in on what's bugging him, but if he just wants to sit and brood about whatever's going on, it's not like I can force him to tell me. But to be completely honest, he's been so moody lately that I was actually kind of glad that the folks had to postpone their visit 'til next month."

      She picks up her cup and takes a drink, then muses, "Things have been a little off at the studio the last couple of weeks, so I wonder if he's talking about that when he said 'work', or if shit's going down at APFI."

      "You'd have to ask Lylah about that one, because like I said, he's not being real specific about the nature of the problem. And what exactly do you mean by 'off'? I haven't had the chance to stop by lately because of the restaurant job I've been working on, y'know."

      She's quiet for a few seconds, then says, "I'm not sure I know how to explain it, really. It just seems like the..." She pauses, apparently searching for the word she wants, then continues. "Like the dynamic has changed somehow. You remember how they'd always be piling up in the lounge, or the control booth, just goofing around and joking? Well, now it seems like Ash is winding up kind of on the fringes lately, almost like they're uncomfortable around him or something."

      "Why the hell would that be?" I question. "He hasn't mentioned arguing with any of the guys lately, or any issues with the recording. But as far as you can tell, does it seem like his moodiness might have set it off, or that this situation with the guys might be what's causing it?"

      She considers this for a minute, then replies, "From my perspective, it kind of seems to be six of one, half-a-dozen of the other, as Grandpa would say. It kind of seemed to start before the mood swings got really noticeable, but now it's almost like they're snowballing each other. They, particularly Andy and Jake, kind of seem to be trying to control everything, and it's even spilling over onto Jinxx and CC, just not to the degree that it is on Ash. And I can understand why CC is a little less patient with other people's attitudes, because he's fighting with Tiff again, and he's almost as snappish as Ash right now. And Jinxx just seems to be stuck in the middle, like he's not sure which side to be on."

      "So now it's verging on turning into an avalanche, and I'd almost be willing to put money on somebody's temper exploding at some point." I groan. "I just hope when it happens, there's no collateral damage."

      We both jump when a voice comes from the living room, saying, "Well, if y'all are talking about Ash, I'm gonna have to be the bearer of bad news, and tell ya that you're too late hoping for that."

      We both turn to see Lylah come into the kitchen, looking very tense, and walk right past us without even giving Macy her standard home-from-work kiss. And when she gets a bottle of beer out of the fridge, and slams nearly half of it in one swallow, we know that things must be pretty bad, because she rarely drinks, and when she does, she can nurse one beer for hours.

      "You're home early, babe," Macy ventures. "I thought that you guys had a big shoot, and you'd be home late. What changed, or should I even ask?"

      Even knowing that something serious had obviously occurred, neither of us expects the answer she gives. "Yeah, that got pretty abruptly rescheduled. Kind of hard to do a photo shoot when your hairdresser and both of your makeup people quit without notice."

      "Excuse the fuck out of me!?" I practically shriek. "You're saying that not only Dori and Nina walked out, but so did Dane? How the hell did that happen!?"

      "Because Ash had a major meltdown, and pissed just about everybody off. I wasn't in the room when it started, I just caught the tail end of it. But I heard bits and pieces from a couple of the girls who were there, and apparently Shane accidentally knocked something off of one of the racks, and Ash started yelling at him and actually made the poor little dude cry. So of course Midori quit on the spot, and when he wouldn't apologize, so did Dane and Nina. And I'm afraid we'll lose Ren before it's all over, since he and Midori started dating a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, if this is how it's gonna be now, I'm not sure I wanna hang around myself."

      This is so out of character for Ash that my brain doesn't want to process it, so I grab my phone off the table and try to call him, but there's no answer. I do this several more times, but it keeps going straight to voicemail, which is as unusual as everything else, because he's never ignored my calls before. Even if he can't answer, I always get a text saying he'll call back when he's free. Then, as I'm letting it ring through for about the sixth time, I hear the chime that means I've gotten a notification on my Facebook page, but I ignore it, until I hear Macy let out sort of a garbled squawk, and Lylah says, "Well, criminy on a cupcake. Just when you think things can't get worse, they decide to prove you wrong."

      "Huh? What is it now?"

      "You might wanna check that notif, sis," Macy informs me. "I think we might have found at least part of the problem."

      I end the call, go to my Facebook and click on the notification, and almost instantly wish that I hadn't, because I end up looking at a rather lengthy rage-rant that Ash has posted to his page. He told me when we started dating that he's had issues with a few rather unstable "fans", and that a couple of them were worse than others, which was why he'd dropped off of social media on several occasions. Recently, I was even contacted by one of them, who seems to believe that she's actually in a relationship with him, even though he says that to the best of his knowledge, he's never even met her.

      She decided that it was "her duty" to inform me that he was in love with her, and I was nothing but a "distraction" for him because he was lonely and horny, since he was stuck in LA recording, and she lived on the East Coast. She also said that I shouldn't be surprised when he dumped me to come back to her when the album was done, because no one else could make him as happy as she could. He was annoyed when he heard about it, but he just asked me for screenshots and told me to block her, instead of making a big fuss about it, so I guess something new must have happened to make him hit his tipping point.

      But when I read further and see that he's actually posted her name, along with all of her contact information, it feels like I have an anvil in my stomach, because I know that this could cause all sorts of trouble. Macy and Lylah are just standing here staring at me, like they're not sure what to say, so I stuff my phone in my pocket and dash to the living room to grab my keys and my bag, and call back over my shoulder, "Y'all let Mickey out in a few, okay? I'm gonna go see Ash, and try to figure out what the hell is going on. I'll call and let you know if I decide to spend the night."

      I get into the Highlander and start heading for his place, trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened today. Considering how long he says that he's been having trouble with delusional fans, and this one in particular, I can kind of understand how he might snap if she pushed him too far, even if his response was kind of poorly thought out. But I can't even begin to wrap my head around him yelling at Shane, or any other kid, for that matter, especially to the point that he made him cry. Ash is normally great with kids, he's very patient and easy-going, and always trying to make sure that they're having a good time; so this actually worries me, and makes me wonder if there might be something else going on that he's not telling me about.

      When I pull into his driveway, the garage door is open, and the Mustang is inside, which tells me that he's definitely home, so I pull my keys out of my bag and let myself in. "Ash? Where are you, hon?" I call out.

      I hear a noise from the kitchen, so I start to move in that direction, only to almost run into him standing in the doorway, with an uncapped bottle of Coldcock in one hand. He makes no move to hug me, or give me a kiss, like he usually does, and doesn't even smile. His only response is, "Hey, Steph. Are we supposed to be doing something tonight?"

      "No, I just wanted to make sure that you're okay," I reply. "I heard that things were a bit rough at the office today."

      Then, instead of getting himself a glass, he takes a drink directly from the bottle, which starts bells going off in my head. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he mumbles after swallowing the alcohol. "Nothin' I can't handle, though, so don't worry about it."

      "Yeah, I know that's what you keep saying, but right now I'm having a little trouble believing it," I retort. "Lylah said that you actually made Shane cry today, and that's not you. Also, I saw your Facebook post before I came over, and I..."

      "And you what?" he interrupts. "You think I overreacted, like everyone else does? Hell, all that I've gotten since I made the motherfucking post are texts or voice mails from the guys, Blasko, Dina, and every-fucking-body else I know saying, 'Ash, you need to take this down,' or 'Dude, pull back a bit, we don't need this kind of heat right now,'  What the hell do you expect me to do, just sit around with my thumb up my ass until this bitch destroys my entire life!?"

      "No, you should know better than that. I understand how aggravating this must be, but there are other ways to deal with it. You could always go through legal channels, get a restraining order or something."

      "Already got Dina working on that one," he chuckles, taking another swig from the bottle. "But in the meantime, I figured what the hell, she's made my life miserable for years, so why not give her a taste of her own medicine?"

      "Because this could end up escalating things," I point out. "People like that have already bounced their reality check, so who's to say that she might not try to actually do something violent if she thinks she's got nothing to lose anymore? Plus, putting her info out there like that could actually cause you some legal trouble if some of the other fans start harassing her, or worse."

      "I doubt that, since she started the shit. I've got fuckin' boxes full of the letters, and nude pictures, and sex toys that she's sent me, so she's got no room what-so-fucking-ever to try to play the victim card. And who knows? Maybe she'll learn something if her Facebook and Twitter start getting blown up."

      He takes another pull from the bottle, so I reach out to take it, but he moves it out of my reach. "Ash, why don't you put the bottle away for now?" I suggest. "You remember what happened the last time you started drinking like this, so..."

      His eyebrows come down in a scowl, and I jump back several inches when he turns around and launches the bottle toward the fireplace, where it explodes into a spray of glass slivers and booze. "Damn it, Stephanie, can't you ever just let people alone to do what they fucking want to do!?" he snarls. "And I thought you'd be on my side with this, instead of being all,  'Ash, you shouldn't do that,' or, 'Ash, you did this wrong,'  or, Ash, you need to do it my way!'  For fuck's sake, I thought you were supposed to be my girlfriend, not my goddamn parole officer!"

      I just gape at him for several seconds, completely unable to form words, until my eyes lock onto something behind him in the kitchen, which makes it very clear why he came out here, instead of letting me come to him: A small plastic bag on the kitchen island, with two lines of white powder clearly visible on the black marble countertop.

      Well, that pretty much clears everything up, and makes my next move a no-brainer. I work his key off of my ring, step closer to him, and drop it into his shirt pocket. Then I tell him, "Y'know what? I just lost interest in being either one. If you wouldn't mind packing up my stuff whenever you're actually functional again, I'll have Mace and Lylah pick it up when they bring you your shit from the house. Goodbye, Ash."

      Then I walk out of the house, get into my car, and pull out of the driveway. And hope like hell that I can actually make it home without having to pull over, because it's already hard to see through the tears that are streaming down my face, whether I want them to or not.