NEW YORK CITY, NY – SHOPPING MALL – FEB. 3RD, 2002 – Saturday

     Kirstin was at the mall with Grace. They didn’t have anything special to do that Satuday, so they decided to hit the mall. Maybe catch a movie later that day.

     “So, has he called?” Grace asked Kirstin while they were having their dinner at the food court.

     “Well, every other day. He says he’s pretty busy with studio things. I guess that’s right, right?” Kirstin looked at Grace hopefully. Her friend would tell her if she thought Ashley were having an affair, wouldn't she?

     “Of course. Why? Do you still have that crazy idea in your head? That he’s cheating on you?”

     “I don’t know. I’m so confused! It sounds like everything is fine between us. He’s so sweet on the phone and he’s always saying he loves me. He’s really like… the perfect boyfriend. But… I can’t help but compare our relationship with the one I had with Tom. We were also the perfect couple. Everyone thought so too. Even my parents! Now look!” Kirstin took a deep breath. Talking about her relationship with Tom still hurt her “So… I don’t know. I guess it’s safe to say I’ve lost my faith in men.”

     “Don’t say that, K! Ashley is a wonderful guy that loves you. You have to trust him. What does the guy have to do for you to trust him?”

     “I don’t know. And he doesn’t know I don’t trust him, so he’s probably not going to do anything about it.”

     “You haven’t told him about your suspicions?”

     “Nope. I mean, I told him I heard a girl in the background while we were talking, I asked him who she was and he said she could be anyone, because a lot of women worked in the studio. So… I don’t know if I trust him or not because it sounded to me, over the phone, that she was kinda whispering things to him.”

     “Maybe she was! Maybe she needed to tell him something about the recording session and didn’t wanna disturb his conversation.”

     “Yeah…” Kirstin stopped to think more about that “But I still don’t know. Still not so sure about that.”

     “K, I really don’t…” Grace stopped as they heard a cell phone ring. It was Kirstin’s.

     “Hello?” Kirstin answered it.

     “Hey, girl.”

     “Hey, Ashley.” Kirstin answered.

     “Where are you? Called you at your place and no one picked up.”

     “I’m out with Grace.”

     “Oh, yeah? Where are you girls?”

     “At the mall, just eating. We might catch a movie later.”

     “Cool. Just you two?” Ashley asked intrigued.

     “Yes. Just the two of us.”

     “Nice. Listen, I was gonna call you yesterday when I got the call, but I was really busy. The doctor’s secretary called and we’ve been postponed.”

     “No!” Kirstin was disappointed. She didn’t have the stomachaches as strong or as often now, but they weren’t going away.

     “Why are you so disappointed? Does it hurt? Did the pain come back?”

     “Yeah…” Kirstin wouldn’t lie to Ashley “Not so strong, though. But sometimes it comes back.”

     “I can’t believe it. I thought it was gone.”

     “It was. But now it’s back. The day after you left, I felt the pain again.”

     “Shit. Now what?” Ashley wondered.

     “When was it postponed to?”

     “To the 12th. Monday.”

     “Man!”

     “I know. But the secretary said he would be out for some conference.”

     “Can’t you find another one?”

     “I already told you he’s the best one and I want you to go to the best one.”

     “Ok, ok. But, man… it’s too far away!”

     “I know. And I just talked to Mike and I’ll only be able to go to New York on the 11th. So…”

     “Shit!” Kirstin missed Ashley too much. Now she’d only see him in a week?

     “I know. I got pretty pissed off too! But there’s…” Ashley started.

     “Nothing you can do.” but Kirstin finished, rolling her eyes.

     “Sorry.”

     “Yeah.” Kirstin took a deep breath.

     “I gotta go, honey.” there was the female voice once again.

     “There! Who’s that? That girl that just whispered!”

     “Who? What girl?”

     “That girl that just whispered something to you. I just heard her!” was Ashley joking with Kirstin? Because if he was, she wasn’t finding it funny. She was pissed “Who was she, Ashley?”

     “Oh, that? Just one of the producer’s assistant.” Kirstin didn’t say anything, so Ashley continued “I really have to go. But we’ll talk, alright?”

     “Yeah.” Kirstin was still mad, clearly.

     “Bye.”

     “Yeah. Bye.” Kirstin turned off the phone and looked at Grace “See? The girl was there again! And he didn’t say I love you before hanging up this time! Now, do you still think I’m imagining things? Because I sure don’t think so.”

     “I don’t know. I didn’t hear her in the background, so… I can’t say anything.”

     “Oh, shut up.” Kirstin was pissed at the world. What if Ashley was cheating on her? What would she do?