Author: Priscilla
Chapter 1: Complications
Angel shook her head at her boyfriend of three years. There was an underlined sadness etched on her face, sympathy resonating in her voice as she told him the inevitable.
"I'm sorry Jason, I can't marry you." She wanted to cry at the look on Jason's face as he knelt in front of her. All the happiness and expectancy that had radiated from him only seconds before seemed to melt away. But she knew it was best to break it off now. What she'd felt for him at the start of their relationship had deteriorated during the years they'd been together. Especially since his father made him a partner in his firm, she hardly ever saw him. Jason was her second boyfriend, all she'd really known about relationships, but she wasn't going to marry him if she didn't love him. Jason shot to his feet. Shock and hurt radiating off him in waves. He couldn't believe it.
"What?!?" He asked in a harsh whisper as he stared at the woman he was in love with. Angel got off the bench she was sitting on and looked him in the face.
"I can't marry you. I don't love you anymore, Jason. I'm sorry." Jason looked dubious, like he was waiting for her to jump up and say 'gotcha!' or 'just kidding'.
"Angel, you just need time to think this through, baby. Don't throw us away just like that." He said trying to wrap his arms around her shoulders in a hug. Angel pushed his hands away, fed up with his refusal to hear what she was saying.
"No. I'm sorry." She said walking back towards her parent's house. Jason caught her arm and spun her around to face him. His anger and humiliation getting the best of him.
"Fine. Just remember this moment Angelica. Remember that you left me in the dust after three years together. God, I thought you loved me! But I guess I was wrong, you don't love anyone but yourself." He spat those words at her before letting go of her arm walking briskly towards the main house of her parent's estate. Angel sighed as she walked into the house a couple of minutes later. Her mother, Maryanne, came to her immediately, concern etched on her fine facial features.
"Jason just stormed out of here. Is there something wrong between you two?" Angel looked at her mom and chuckled bitterly.
"Yeah I guess you can say that."
"What happened to Jason?" Both women turned towards the doorway where Angel's father stood cleaning his reading glasses after spending a few hours in his study. Angel had always felt like walking on eggshells around her father, this time was no exception. But she took a deep breath and calm her nerves and said the truth.
"He proposed. I said no. We broke up." She said in the same boring monotone he liked to use when lecturing her.
"What?" Both her parents looked at her as if she'd grown a third head suddenly. What did they expect her to do? Marry a man she feelt nothing for? No way. Angel looked to her mother's face and found understanding in her eyes, but she remained silent. Always the quiet, submissive wife. She was on her own.
"Angel may I have a word with you in my study?" Her father asked. Franklin Wallace had never had an ideal temper and right now was no exception. He royally pissed. His normally bright blue eyes were now a dark turquoise. Angel nodded her head..
"Sure dad."
They walked in silence to his study. Angel watched Franklin shut the door quietly behind him and turn his icy blue gaze on her.
"What the hell are you thinking Angelica? That I'll stand idly by as you throw you're whole life away?" He roared. Angel shot to her feet, ready to defend herself.
"I was thinking that I should do what's right for a change. I was thinking that I don't love Jason enough to be his wife."
"Love is beside the point! You are an intelligent, beautiful, young woman who comes from a wealthy family--" Angel cut him off in mid sentence.
"Money had nothing to do with this. Even if it means everything to you." She shot back. She hated when he was openly this self absorbed and pretentious. She hated the small smile he was giving her even more.
"Money has everything to do with it." He said coyly. But then the smile faded from his features and his face hardened. "Now I've stood by you when you decided to run to New York and become a 'writer'. I stood by you when you decided to move into that decrepit apartment with your wannabe rock star friends--"
"What are you saying dad?" Angel cut him off again and closed the distance between them slowly.
"I'm saying that you have a decision to make. Either you fix this crap you pulled and marry Jason Vaughn or don't bother coming back here after you return from New York." He sounded distant, cold, more than he'd ever sounded in her life. His eyes betrayed no emotion as he relayed his ultimatum.
"Are you threatening to disown me?" Angel asked incredulously, barely above a whisper.
"I'm making you take some initiative in your life." Angel let out what sounded like a snort and backed away from him.
"Yeah, well you can stick your initiative up your ass. I'll be out of here tomorrow." She said walking out and slamming the door behind her. She ran past the kitchen where the cook was chopping vegetables, past the maid that was vacuuming the dining room carpet, up the spiraling stairs to her bedroom. Tears were stinging her eyes but she blinked them back. She would not cry. There were more pressing matters at hand, like where the hell she would go tomorrow? Angel walked over to the bay windows that showed the view of the expanse of yard, the flowers, and all that she'd called home for the past twenty years. She had some money that she'd saved up from the novels she'd published. Two New York Times Best Sellers, but would she want to write for the rest of her life? She's never really had a job....
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Gwen Stefani stepped out of the recording booth and grabbed the bottle of water Adrian, her band No Doubt's drummer, handed her. They had just laid down the last track for their soon to be released, Tragic Kingdom. It had been such a long day with the Teen Magazine cover shoot and the interview with Rolling Stone. She hadn't had one moment to herself, but all that would change tomorrow. That's when her very richly deserved six-month hiatus would begin and she couldn't wait. A smile formed on her lips as she thought about how she was going to kick it off. Gwen had promised herself that she would spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend Tony, and maybe have some friends over......
No Doubt piled out of their California recording studio and into their awaiting limo, discussing what they were going to do with their down time.
"We should throw a jam, you know, to celebrate." Tony suggested putting his arm around Gwen's shoulders.
"Sounds good to me. Only question is, where the hell are we going to have it?" Adrian asked, knowing full well that wherever it was, it wasn't going to be at his place.
"At my place of course. It's the only one suited for supporting human life forms."
Gwen arrived at her house a couple of minutes later. Tony had decided to go out with the guys, but she hadn't felt up to it. She shook a shower and changed into a baby doll t-shirt and sweat pants. She passed out as soon as she hit the pillow. When she woke up, she immediately checked her email and looked at her buddy list trying to figure out who to invite to her party. Gwen stopped at Angel�s screen name. They�d used to be so close. Almost sisters when they�d met in New York. What had happened? Gwen logged out of the internet and dialed the number hoping Angel hadn�t changed it. The phone rang about three times before Angel picked up.
�Hello?�
�Ang, it�s Gwen.� If there was a God, he most certainly answered at least one of her prayers. She could always count on Gwen.
Title:Everything But Zen
Author: Priscilla
Chapter 2
"Gwen! Oh my God, it's been so long since we've spoken." Angel gushed into the phone, truly exited to talk to her friend.
"I know and I'm sorry about that. But that's why I was calling." Gwen said.
"What do you mean?" Angel was confused now.
"Well, I have some down time coming up and was wondering if you'd want to come over to my place while I'm here? It would give us some time to catch up."
"Absolutely, I would love to come. The truth is that I kind of need to get out of here for a while. "
"Well then awesome! Can you head out, like, tomorrow?" Gwen could barely contain her excitement over the phone. She felt like she was twelve again inviting her friends over for a slumber party. Angel sat on the other end thinking it over. Did she really have another choice? No, and she could use this to get reacquainted with Gwen.
"Um, yeah, I think I can swing that." She finally replied.
"Ok!" Gwen said as she proceeded to tell Angel about where to pick up her tickets and the limo that would be waiting to pick her up at the airport when she got to California.
"Ok, great, I'll see you tomorrow Gwen!" Angel said and then the girls said their goodbyes. As Angel started to pack her bags, she thought about how good it felt to be making her own decisions and not have to worry about what her father thought. She would be out of here tomorrow. Starting over with her best friend at her side. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other and she was looking forward to it. Things were finally looking up.
********************
Angel woke up around 6:30 a.m. She had a long day ahead of her, but she was more than ready to leave all of this behind. She took a shower and washed her hair, dressing in a pair of light blue jeans and an aqua tank top with black wedge sandals. Her long dirty blonde hair was up in a clip. Looking around her room, Angel made sure she had all her prized possessions packed, everything else would stay behind. She put her travel bag's strap on her shoulder, picked up her two large suitcases, and struggled to get them down the stairs without breaking her neck. Just then her driver came in and offered to take them to the car for her. Angel handed them over just as her father came out to the hallway. He stared at her for a while, speechless for probably the first time in his life.
"You- You're leaving?" He managed to choke out.
"Yeah dad, I am."
"If you leave now, don't bother coming back." He warned. Angel tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ears and pushed her black shades on her nose. She turned her back to her father and grabbed the doorknob. She stopped only briefly.
"Don't worry. I won't" Angel said silently closing the door behind her. Once inside the sanctuary of the 2001 Mercedes Benz, Angel took one last look at her home for 22 years and then signaled the driver to leave.
A couple of hours later Angel's plane touched down in sunny California. Angel got her bags and made her way to the exit where Gwen said a limo would be waiting. A man dressed in a nice suit was standing outside holding a sign that said "Angel Wallace" in his hands. Angel smiled and walked over to him. She introduced herself and soon they were on their way to Gwen's.
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"I completely agree Nigel. You have to bring Gavin. He can't stay cooped up forever." Gwen sighed into the phone. She was really worried about Gavin. After his breakup with Alexis, he wasn't acting like himself.
"I know, it's just he's so damn hard headed. He hasn't spoken to any of us about it but I know he's hurting. He's been getting high again. He used to only take it when he's stressed about something, but now I think he has a drug problem." Nigel said quietly, he was also genuinely worried about Gavin, everyone was.
"God, Alexis is such a bitch to break it off with him like that."
"Yeah well, I'll do my best to make him come with us."
"Alright. I hope to see all you guys soon then. I gotta go Nige, there's someone at my door. Gwen hung up her phone and ran downstairs to her front door, swinging it open quickly.
"Angel!" She shrieked when Angel was standing on the other side. They hugged for a long time and then pulled away slowly.
"You look great." Gwen said looking her over. Angel's hair had grown out since the last time they'd seen each other and she was considerably thinner too. Angel snorted through her nose sarcastically and lifted an eyebrow at her.
"I look great? Ms. 50 Most Beautiful People?" She teased.
"Oh shut up. C'mon I wanna show you your room." Gwen said taking hold of Angel's hand and leading her up the stairs. "Show you your room" turned into "Show you the entire house". When they reached the pool area, Gwen finally let Angel sit down.
"God Gwen, you are so lucky."
"Yeah, too bad I'm never home to enjoy it all."
"True, but at least you know what it's like to work hard for what you have. Almost everything I own was given to me." Angel looked down at her feet then, and became very quiet. Gwen was looking at her, concern written all over her face. She reached over and placed a hand on Angel's knee.
"Hey, what's up?" She said in her motherly voice. It always took Angel off guard when she did that. Everyone thought of Gwen as this snotty bitch goddess, but her close friends knew different. The real Gwen Stefani was a complete 160 from the one she showed to the outside world.
"I broke up with Jason." Angel said with a sigh.
"Why?"
"He proposed." Gwen laughed at that and gave her a wary look.
"Are you serious? I thought proposals were a good thing."
"Not when you're not in love with the personal proposing." Angel said, trying to gauge Gwen's reaction.
"Oh. So I guess daddy wasn't so happy about that huh?" Angel snorted and then flat out laughed.
"I guess you could say that. He disowned me." Gwen was quiet for a while and then a slow smile crept onto her face.
"That's what you meant when you said you needed a change of scenery?" Angel nodded her head and smiled too. Gwen moved closer to her and took Angel's hands in hers.
"Well I'm glad you came here and let me be the one to help you. Everything will be alright in the end, you'll see. Hey! I'm having a party tomorrow. Perfect chance for you to meet new people."
Angel groaned out loud but found herself smiling at Gwen's excitement. This could only mean one of two things: Gwen was planning to set her up with someone or had already done it. The girls spent the rest of the night lounging around the pool, telling stories, and catching up.