After several more drinks, Pearl managed to convince David to head back to their room. He was clearly drunk and Pearl wasn't even angry. After he went on to talk about his horrible father, she disliked him even more than she did at dinner. What a selfish, money hungry prick, Pearl thought. Thank god his mother had a prenup and was smart about money or David would have had nothing. And his father was only making this merger happen to come back into his life, and David was suspicious it was because of his money. How horrible. They hailed a cab and Pearl told the driver what hotel they were staying at. As they rode, David grabbed Pearl's hand and held it in silence. It was not in any way uncomfortable and she was happy to be there for him. He always treated her like an equal at work. Lately, he wanted to be near her more and she wondered how many friends he had. His wanting to be around her at work more started about a month ago and she was putting it all together now. He ha

Pearl stared at herself in the mirror for what seemed like hours, locked in the hotel bathroom. Her life had done a complete 180. She went from a mentally defeated, miserable, unhappy, unwanted married woman to a woman being desired by a man that was a celebrity. And valued as a person by a billionaire Robert Redford look alike. What the hell was going on? She was seriously thinking regular her went to some kind of Total Recall type place and decided to give herself a little brain vacay and have some new memory implanted in her mind. No way this was happening. “Pearl..are you ok? You've been on there awhile and I'm slightly concerned." David said as he knocked lightly. "I'm fine. I just needed a long bath. It's been a week." Pearl said to the door. "Yes, I understand. I can call his hotel and cancel for you if you'd like." David had already made the decision that he wasn't going. He didn't want to intrude and he said he had a lot of work to do. Which she knew may or

David offered her a drink. And she took it. She watched him run his fingers through his sandy blonde hair. And she began to think about The Great Gatsby. How the choices we make in life can sometimes haunt us forever. She had left her marriage. She took that chance. And what if David was something she'd regret forever? She wasn't getting any younger. She didn't know how old he was, but she thought about Gatsby and Daisy. Could she see him married to someone else in a few years and honestly tell herself she'd have no regrets? Rhys was in the back of her mind. But he lived states away and had a career in movies. What would ever realistically come of that? Could anything? Was their attraction just pure sex? David was right in front of her. He was tangible. Real.  Beautiful. Rich. (Not that rich mattered but damn it was good icing on his amazingness cake). She decided she'd slam her drink and see what she felt. So she did. She felt good still about this line of thought. "David" she

Rehearsal was great. It felt good. The loud drums. The bass. They guitars. It felt alive. The had a solid set going for the following Saturday, even though she didn't have a chance to work on any songs when she was out of town, it came together and she learned the two that were unfamiliar pretty quickly. They were working on another original and Dylan was eager to make suggestions and talk her through some lyrics changes. It was awesome. "We are going to see Blake's band tonight. Dylan has the night off. Tony is coming out for a little while too. You should come Pearl." John said as they were packing up. She was exhausted. But she decided to go for a little while. She felt she had been neglecting the boys lately and they were her closest friends. She ran back to her place to change out of her sweaty rehearsal clothes and realized that laundry was an afterthought the way this month had went. She had a pair of jeggings and two shirts clean. Both were not for public exposure. So she gr

Pearl cancelled with Dylan for dinner. She just couldn't get herself out of house. She was tired and let down. Dylan didn't need to be around her like that. No one did. She took a hot bath and went to bed early. She knew the next day was going to awful. She got to the office early. She didn't see David. It was the first time in a long time he wasn't there to greet her in the morning. It hurt. She finished her morning meeting with her assistant and made her way to the break room to get coffee. She was pouring a cup when she someone next to her. She looked up and saw David standing there. "Good morning, Pearl" he looked tired. Not his normal put together look. Pearl didn't respond. She just walked away back toward her office. Seeing him stung. She ached for him still. She was so defeated by this. "Pearl I need you in my office, we have a problem with the new billboards." David buzzed. Great, Pearl thought. Just what I need today. She made her way to his office. He was on a