As Cassidy read over the letter for the hundredth time making sure it sounded okay, she almost crumpled it up. She couldn’t believe she wrote it, she felt like a star struck teenager, but she had to write it, she had things she had to say to him, things she wanted him to know.
For all she knew he would never even get the letter, but it made her feel better knowing maybe, just maybe he would and he would know how she felt about him. He would know that she admired and respected him, that she liked him for his heart, not his fame or his money, but for the person he was inside, the person he hardly ever let anyone see.
“Mommy!” said a little voice around the corner, “Can I have some water?”
Cassidy sighed, this was the third trip she had made into her sons room in the last 10 minutes. As much as she loved Kyle with all her heart, she wished she could have just 5 minutes to herself.
Being a single parent was incredibly difficult, but she was determined to do it, she didn’t want or need help from anyone. She had gotten this far by herself, she certainly didn’t need help now.
She looked at the letter one last time, put it in the envelope and tossed it into the pile of bills she had to mail the next morning.
“Coming sweetie,” she called as she got up and filled up a small glass with water, heading in the other room.
“Alex!!”, Ashleigh screamed through the house.
AJ rolled his eyes. Just by the tone of her voice, he knew something was wrong, she was going to bitch at him about something. He didn’t answer, he was sick of hearing her complain day after day. He turned his attention back to his game of pool. She came walking down the stairs right as he was about to make a shot.
“Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
“I heard, I was trying to concentrate. Sorry,” he said, avoiding her gaze.
“Did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?”
He ignored her comment, he didn’t want to argue with her. He was sick of trying to explain himself to her. She never understood anyway, it was pointless. “Well, I brought in the mail, there’s more fan mail for you. I wish they would stop sending you things here. How do they get our address anyway??” She walked over and handed him the envelopes.
“I don’t know Ash, it’s not that big of a deal. I like fan mail, anyway.”
She gave him a dirty look, turned, and walked up the stairs.
“I’m going shopping with Kasey today. As soon as I get changed, I’ll be leaving,” she called over her shoulder.
“Whatever,” he said only half paying attention to her. The way she shopped, she was lucky he had money.
He looked through the envelopes she had just handed him. One in particular caught his eye. It was light blue with no return address on it. He found it odd that whoever sent the letter wouldn’t put a return address on it, usually fans wanted some kind of letter or autographed picture in return.
He sat down in a nearby chair and opened it. As he pulled the letter out of the envelope, a faint scent of perfume appeared.
“That’s not Ashleigh’s perfume,” he said to himself puzzled.
He brought the letter to his nose. The perfume was on the letter. The scent was beautiful, different. He closed his eyes and took in the scent. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before. He couldn’t get enough of it.
He opened the letter and looked it over. The handwriting was beautiful. The letter was long, but he didn’t mind. It’s not like he had much else to do for awhile. Plus, he knew he had to read it, there was just something about it. He made himself comfortable and began to read it.
“Dear Alex,”
‘Alex? Since when do the fans call me that?’ he thought to himself.
He continued to read through it. Some parts made him laugh, whoever wrote it had a great sense of humor. He turned to the last page to find out the person’s name.
“Cassidy,” he whispered.
When he said her name aloud it sent a warm feeling through his body. He shook it off and continued to read. She didn’t divulge much information about herself, just that she was 24 years old and lived in Indiana. She was also the single mother of a 3 year old little boy. She also went on to say that she would be coming down to Orlando, where he lived, for business, in a few weeks.
As he continued to read the letter, a strange feeling washed over him, a feeling that whoever this woman was, she knew a lot about him, things that no one else knew. Things that he never let anyone see. No letter had ever captivated him like this one. This Cassidy person saw right through him, right into his soul, and it scared him. He thought he had done a good job of hiding his true self from the outside world. It bothered him to find out that there was someone, even if only one person, that wasn’t fooled.
“How can that be?? I don’t even know her. She says right here that we’ve never met.”
The last paragraph tugged at his heart the most.
“I truly respect and admire you not for what you have or for what you give to your fans, but for the person that you are inside. The fact that you have overcome so many obstacles to become the sincere wonderful person that you are makes me drawn to you that much more. I’ve never met you and probably never will, but that makes no difference to me. I wish you every happiness in life and I sincerely hope that you are truly happy. I also hope that you have someone in your life that you can confide in and truly loves you for who you are. She would be the luckiest woman in the world. Take care of yourself and remember that your fans are there for you, loving you unconditionally, especially one in particular in Indiana! Love always, Cassidy”.
He glanced over the letter one last time, looking for anything he may have missed.
“Alex!” Ashleigh’s voice ripped right through him like nails on a chalkboard. She certainly knew how to bring him back to reality. “I’m leaving, and I’m gonna be using the Visa today!”
He rolled his eyes. “You think you could take it easy on the plastic??” he yelled back.
“But Alex, that’s why we have it,” she whined as she walked down the stairs.
He hid the letter quickly in the couch cushion next to him before she could see it. She walked over to him, sat in his lap and nibbled on his ear. She knew exactly what to do to get her way. She ran her hand over his chest and kissed him passionately. He couldn’t help but get excited. He pulled her closer to him.
“Baby, I’m in a hurry, I’m already late, but I swear, I’ll make it up to you later,” she purred in his ear.
He sighed and lay his head back as she got up and walked up the stairs. No matter what the situation, when it came to Ashleigh, he couldn’t win. She had a hold over him. One he couldn’t explain. As long as he continued to provide her the material things she wanted, she gave him what he needed, comfort and security.
It was a good partnership. Something was missing though, something that he desperately wanted, unconditional love. The kind of love that Cassidy mentioned in her letter.
He pulled her letter out from the couch and looked it over again. He couldn’t help but feel that he wanted to meet this woman. He didn’t care what she looked like, he didn’t care where she lived, all he knew was that he had to find her. He felt connected to her for some reason, he had to find out why. But how could he find her? She didn’t give him her address or any way to contact her. All he knew was her first and last name and that she would be coming to Orlando soon. He lay his head back on the chair and closed his eyes, the perfume from Cassidy’s letter still lingering around him.
“I have to find her, I just have to,” he said to himself jumping up from his chair and running up the stairs.


Chapter 2
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