Code Red 2: Life Sentence ~ Chapter 9

Mika’s Note: Even after four years, I take an exceptional amount of joy out of this chapter.  *snerk*

Oh, and if some of the dialogue sounds an awful lot like hijacked song lyrics, well, it's because they are.  Not mine and I admit it.
 
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Having to say good-bye for good the second time was even harder than it had been the first go ‘round. Seeing the hurt and anguish in his beautiful blue eyes made it hell. Neither of them had wanted to be the first to say the words they knew had to come, but eventually Ali took it upon herself to start the unpleasantries. At first, he had refused to listen to her, but he came around before long, crying and holding her tightly, begging her to find a way to fix this.

No such luck.

He’d eventually pulled himself together, although it had been hard. They’d spent most of the night before discussing where they might have gone had the outcome of the weekend been different. Ali refused to consider the idea that she’d have to raise his child on her own; there wasn’t any way she could have coped with that. She’d been down that lonely road once before. Never again.

She sat in her office, staring at the computer screen, wishing she was anywhere but here. Despite her best efforts, her mind kept wandering back to their last moments together. It became almost impossible for her to get him off her mind. And it had been two weeks since their last good-bye. He’d had no idea that last night what he was going to do when he left her, although he’d sworn he’d never go back to Leslie. Not after the lying. The cheating. All the heartache.

But Ali often wondered.

He’d probably be easier to get over if he quit texting her every twenty minutes. She looked at her phone as it buzzed on the desktop. Snagging it and reading the message, she couldn’t help but smile. He was trying; he just wasn’t succeeding very well. With a sigh, she responded quickly to his standard, “I miss you, this is BS” text with her usual, “Ditto x 2”.

“And just what are you smiling about?”

Ali looked up guiltily, attempting to hide her phone. Seeing her redheaded roommate standing in the doorway, she sheepishly waved her cell at her. “A text I just got.”

“Hmm,” Shana mused, stepping inside and closing the door. “And who might it have been from?”
Shrugging dismissively, Ali lied, “No one special.”

Shana grinned, knowing better. “I know these last couple weeks have been hard and I was thinking we both needed a night out.”

Studying her friend for a moment, she became aware of the dark circles under her eyes. “Shana, I’m so sorry, I’ve been so self-absorbed lately, I hadn’t noticed…”

She stopped her friend before she could go any farther. “It’s not like my issues are anything new, you know. Caleb’s on my ass about everything these days and becoming more annoying by the minute. I finally just told him to take a flying leap.”

“And thus your need to go out?” Shana nodded emphatically. “Good. Not that either of us needs a reason!”

“Amen, sister.” Shana grinned and hugged Ali tightly. “Eight sound good?”

“Perfect.” She patted the other’s back. “I’ll meet you at home.”

~*~

“Hey Ali,” Shana semi-shouted into her friend’s ear, “I think that guy’s checking you out.”

“Which one?” she asked, looking around the crowded bar.

“That one,” she replied, half-pointing to an attractive, brunette sitting with a young blonde at a table on the other side of the bar.

“He looks… familiar. I just can’t place where from.”

“Not our base,” Shana agreed. “But somewhere. He’s cute anyway.”

“Yeah,” Ali confirmed. “But if he’s not a green shirt, why’s he here? Not too often we get non-military in here.”

“I’m not sure but he’s headed our way.”

Ali looked up, taking a drink of her margarita. Seeing who was headed her way, she almost choked. Smiling past the burn of tequila, steeling her nerve, she waited for him to close in.

“Don’t I know you?” he asked Ali. Turning to Shana, he got quiet for a moment and then pointed in her direction. “You look familiar too. Have we met?”

Trying to hide her embarrassment, Ali nodded. “Yes sir, Mr. McTavish, we’ve met, but just once.”

Ashton McTavish, up and coming country music heartthrob, blinked his blue eyes at her and thought. “Hm, I can’t figure out where though. And have I met you as well?” He looked at Shana; she nodded. “I’ll have to think on it then.”

Waiting until Ashton had gotten a safe distance away, the girls giggled and spit margarita all over each other. “Oh my god…” Shana spluttered.

“Yeah, no doubt!” Ali agreed. “Good thing he’s married.”

“Why’s that? Having naughty thoughts like I am?”

“Maybe…” she admitted. “Blake’d have a fit if he finds out.” Realizing her mistake, she quickly amended her faux pas with, “Not that he has a say any longer, that is.”

“And speaking of the devil…” Shana grinned as Ali’s cell phone began ringing, Blake’s voice coming from the speaker.

“Yes Cowboy, what can I do for you?” She turned from watching Ashton return to his table and watched the bartender instead.

“Just checkin’ in on ya, as usual. This being away from you is killing me.”

“I know, me too, but so far, I don’t have any ideas on how to fix it.”

“Hurry, please.”

“I’m trying, honey, I swear.”

“Glad to hear it. Where are you now? It’s kinda loud.”

“Hangers. It’s a bar not far from base. Red and I are unwinding.”

“Uh-huh,” he said doubtfully. “I’m jealous. Don’t go home with anybody if he isn’t me, okay?”

“Hey!” Ashton shouted, coming up behind Ali. “I remember where we met.”

“Hold on a sec, Blake.” Ali covered the phone briefly and grinned. “Really? Where?”

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Blake demanded.

“Someone. Give me a sec.”

“Tell him you’re taken!” Blake growled.

“Hush you, you’re not allowed to own me anymore, remember?” Turning back to her visitor she asked, “Where is it we’ve met?”

“In Vegas last year, for the awards show. I remember you both from that night.”

Ali and Shana grinned at each other. “I’m Shana, Mr. McTavish. This is my partner, Ali.”

“Hi ladies. Can I get you a drink now that I know who you are?”

“Tell him no and to go away,” came the angry voice in Ali’s ear.

“Mr. McTavish?”

“Ashton, sweetie.”

“Okay, Ashton…”

“Ashton? I only know one person with that name, Allyson. What the f…”

“Blake, shut up.” She said into the phone. “Ashton, my friend on the phone here told me to tell you that I have no life of my own and that I belong to him,” she waggled her eyebrows at him in amusement, “and then he wanted me to tell you to go away.” She grinned evilly at Ashton.

“Did ya tell your friend I was married?” he asked.

“I doubt he’ll care.” Turning back to her phone she murmured, “I’ll call you when I get home. I promise to be good.” Before he could reply, she hung up.

“So, what jogged your memory so quickly?” Shana asked him.

“My tour mate over there said she recognized you,” he pointed to Ali, “as being the bitch who stole her boyfriend. And I’m paraphrasing here.”

This time, Ali did choke on her drink. Looking up she remembered suddenly that Leslie Morgan was touring with Ashton McTavish this year. “Oh god help me,” she muttered into her glass, seeing Leslie steaming over at the table. “I swear I didn’t steal him…” she began to laugh.

“Nope, sure didn’t,” Shana confirmed. “Blake came by his own free will.” Taking her own words in the wrong way, Shana began to laugh too.

“Oh, and then some,” Ali coughed into her margarita. “Bartender? Another two please.” She continued to laugh, not knowing what to say now.

Ashton’s eyes widened. “So, you’re the one she’s been ranting about for the last several months?” He laughed along with the girls. “I guess Blake has better taste than Lee’s been giving him credit for.”

“That’s debatable,” Ali and Shana said together.

Grinning, Ashton shook his head at the two tipsy girls. “So, I’m guessing that he was who you were talking to a minute ago?” Ali nodded. “Hm, I’m guessing he didn’t have any idea who you were talking to when he told you to tell me off?” Ali shook her head this time, trying not to die of embarrassment. “Nice Blake. Don’t ever tell my wife about this or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Ali laughed and took another sip of her drink. “Yeah well, you know how it goes, jealous men and all.” She didn’t have the heart to bring up the very evident fact that they weren’t together any longer.

“Really? That’s too…” Ashton was suddenly pushed aside and a glaring, angry Leslie Morgan stood in his place.

“You fucking cow!” she screamed.

Ali looked at Shana and raised her eyebrows. Shana swigged the last of her drink and set her glass on the bar.

“Pardon me?” Ali asked, attempting to remain as calm as possible. If she flipped, so would Red, and then Leslie would be in little bleach-blonde bits on the floor.

“You heard me, you whore! Man-stealer! Home wrecker!”

Ali looked at Ashton and repeated what she’d said earlier. “I swear to god, I did not do anything to encourage that incorrigible man.” Looking back at Leslie, she grinned. “Home wrecker, huh? So, is that why you were sleeping with my commanding officer two weeks after you left Blake’s side?”

Knowing Bryan had been bragging loudly about it certainly helped her cause. “Still think that I’m the home wrecker?”

“Absolutely, you bitch!”

Ali set her glass down on the bar and stood up. “Well then, in the words of Gretchen Wilson, babe, ‘You can take this somewhere else or we can take it outside.’ Which do you prefer?”

Despite being three or four sheets to the wind, Ali sidestepped the swing coming her way. Placing her boot to Leslie’s ass, she pushed her while she was unbalanced and watched her fall. Turning, she downed the last of her margarita quickly, waiting to see if the blonde would resurface.

Instead of Leslie, she got two angry men. Band mates of the downed singer. Shrugging, Shana asked Ali, a little too eagerly, “You want the blonde or the brunette?”

“I’ll take the blonde. Got a grudge against them at the moment.”

“Deal.”

Totally in synch, Ali and Shana pulled back and let loose, hitting both band members square in the jaw. Ashton couldn’t help but laugh; watching two drunken women take out two young men in one punch was more than he’d bargained for. He knew he should be rooting for his tour mate, but he couldn’t help but like these two feisty girls.

Leslie pulled herself off the floor and got back into Ali’s face. “I don’t know what he ever saw in you except for a cheap lay,” she spat angrily. “But I do know that I’m better off without him.”

“All I know for certain is one: I’m not cheap. Two: you are one psycho bitch and I feel sorry for him for ever getting mixed up with you.”

Paling with anger and embarrassment, Leslie pulled her fist back and connected with Ali’s abdomen. Pissed, Ali swung again, not holding back like she had before. Her fist met the bitch’s eye, knocking her into Shana. Grabbing hold of the instigator, Shana kicked the back of her knees, sending her down to the ground yet again.

Ali reached out, shook her friend’s hand, and noticed the combination of amusement, fear and awe on Ashton’s face. “Thanks, Red.”

“Anytime, Ali.”

“Okay, ladies. Break it up.” Came a stern voice from the back of the bar.

“Crap,” Ali and Shana moaned together.

~*~


“Caleb, I swear to you, I was just defending myself.”

“Yeah, Cal, it’s true.”

“You two are on my list at the moment. I’d keep my mouth shut if I were either of you.” Caleb Lockhart marched angrily down the row of jail cells. He’d bailed them out, but he wasn’t happy about it. Fuming might be a better word. Steaming, even. “What the fuck possessed you to take on a celebrity, Allyson?”

“She called Ali a man-stealer and a home wrecker,” Shana giggled.

“You two are freakin’ drunk to boot,” Lockhart sighed angrily. “I give up.”

Ali stuck her tongue out at Leslie Morgan as they passed her cell. Wiggling her fingers at the blonde, she watched her blanch and then turn red. “Yeah, I swear, I didn’t steal him. He gave himself to me.” Ali started to laugh again too.

Caleb turned to the officer in charge and moaned, “Can’t I leave them here until they’ve sobered up?”

Grinning, the officer shook his head. “Sorry, once you’ve claimed ‘em ya gotta keep ‘em.”

“Hey Ali,” Shana perked up suddenly.

“Yeah?”

“I bet Blake would love the handcuffed look.”

“No doubt. He’s funny that way.” Ali laughed and looked at Caleb. He was beyond pissed.

Stopping short, he turned on Ali, fuming. “I just don’t get you. You have the man you were after, why did you have to pick a fight? She’s half your size for cryin’ out loud!”

“First of all,” she spat in frustrated anger, “I don’t have him any more, remember? You and freaking Bryan made sure of that.” She caught her commander’s eyes and refused to let them go. “Secondly, I didn’t pick…”

“I don’t care. I want to know why you fought with her.”

Ali looked at Shana and shrugged. Taking a deep breath, she sang loudly, “I watched her for a while but I didn't like her walk. She came across kinda cheap to me, but hey, how's that my fault…”

Shana grinned and joined in, “I'm a crazy ex-girlfriend…”

Caleb looked them both over and sighed. “I give up. When they’re sober, I think I’ll try again…”

Pushing them both into the back of the Jeep, he buckled them in and drove off towards base.

~*~

“Hello?”

“Blake? It’s Asthon. How’re you doin’?”

“Um, good, I think.” Depending on whether you had the nerve to touch my woman or not. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to tell you that you have one spitfire of a woman on your hands.”

“Ah, so you’ve met Ali then,” Blake braced himself for what was coming next. He never knew how people were going to react to Ali.

“Yup. And her redheaded friend too.”

“Oh gods,” he moaned, putting his head in his hand. “Please tell me they weren’t drinking when you met up with them.”

Ashton laughed. “Oh yeah. What a team those two make, attractive, intelligent, and feisty. Oh, and don’t be expecting that call she promised you until tomorrow sometime.” He laughed even harder, thinking about all three women being led out in handcuffs.

“Why? When should I be expecting it?”

“Probably not until she and the redhead make bail.”

“Oh. My. God.” Blake hung up the phone and stared at the wall. What now? Not like he could just come to her aid.