Chapter II

James’ POV

When Jay stepped aside, I was at a complete loss for words. My cheerful smile faded and I clenched my jaw, waiting for Scarlett to speak. My mind flashed back through hundreds of memories all at once, memories that I’d buried away at the back of my head for they were too painful to think about.

"I didn’t know you were in town," I finally mumbled as I uncomfortably scratched at my chin. She seemed equally as displeased to be within close proxmity of me as I was with her.

"You guys know each other?" Jay asks, looking from myself and to Scarlett with a small smile.

Scarlett nodded slowly, “You fucking bet we do.” Turning to Seth, she patted him on the shoulder and forced her best fake smile, “I’m going to go get alcohol poisoning.”

"I’m so confused…" Jay said quietly.

As Scarlett walked away, I remained frozen on the spot processing what just occurred. Earlier today as I was getting ready for Seth’s party, the little voice in the back of my mind brought up the possibility of seeing Scarlett here tonight. I merely shrugged away that thought, given the fact I’d heard through the grapevine that her band has been busy doing a lot of touring and promoting in Australia, New Zealand and apparently parts of Europe. I felt slightly foolish for thinking so as I’d totally disregarded the fact that her and Seth are best-friends. She wouldn’t miss his birthday no matter how busy she was. That’s how Scarlett is.

I’d always imagined what it would be like seeing her again, and the things I would say to her if I did. What I didn’t envision was seeing her in the exact same place we met years ago, and having my tongue involuntarily glue itself to the roof of my mouth. Suddenly, I became overwhelmed with the impulsive need to chase after her. I want answers to the questions that sometimes still haunt me from time to time when I think of her.

Seth whistled to break the silence, rocking on the balls of his feet, “Well…it could have been worse.”

"So I’m guessing you two don’t like each other?" Jay asks awkwardly shuffling his feet. Nodding, I patted his shoulder and mumbled something along the lines of ‘talk to you later’ as I jogged past him.

"Scarlett, wait!" I called out after her.

Scarlett’s POV

"Scarlett, wait!" I heard James call out after me. It almost made me stop in my tracks had I not remembered the reasons why I hate him. Quickly blending into the crowd of party guests, I rushed indoors feeling much too eager to find somewhere that I could lay low. I grabbed a bottle whiskey bourbon from the drinks caterer and then raced upstairs to hide in the guest bedroom, which was where I usually stayed whenever I was in town.

Before I turned the handle, I knocked on the door. With my experience of being on tour with musicians, “knock before you enter” was standard protocol in any social situations where bedrooms are located nearby. It becomes force of habit after a while and is also common decency, because let’s face it, no one enjoys being interrupted when they’re having sex.

When I heard nothing but silence from the other side of the door, I deemed it safe to open. I wasn’t planning on burning some bedsheets at some ungodly hour of the early morning once all the guests had left just so I could sleep on a bed. Heaving a sigh, I ran my hand through my hair and placed the bottle on the bedside table.

"Can’t bring yourself to drink?" I heard James speak from behind me, causing me to jump in fright. Expressing my disgust for him with a scoff, I took a swig from the bottle. Cringing as the familiar bitter taste of alcohol burned the back of my throat, it left me feeling even more bitter on the inside than I was without it in my system.

James reached out and took the bourbon from me, “You hate alcohol.”

"I also hate you," I fired back at him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw James flinch, or maybe he just took a deep breath. Either way, his calm disposition bothered me and I felt rather pathetic. Childlike, even. I wasn’t behaving the way I normally would and he, of all people would know that.

"Could I please have that back?" I asked, referring to the bottle that was clasped firmly between his hands. James shook his head at me, "I’m not making you do that." Frowning, I sat up on the bed resting my back against the headboard.

"We need to talk," James speaks firmly.

"About what, James?" I replied in frustration, throwing my hands up, "There’s nothing to talk about!" He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, "We never actually broke up, Scarlett."

"Oh, you’re still on about that? James, you CHEATED on me," I raised my voice. "I called you and told you it was over and you said nothing." My patience with him was growing thin and the worst part is I know he’d easily deflect any pathetic punches I’d throw his way. I stood up and began pacing around the bedroom, trying to collect my thoughts and calm myself down.

"I never cheated on you Scarlett," He says calmly, staring directly at me. "You didn’t even let me get a word in. You told me it was over and that you never wanted to see me ever again. Where the hell did you find out I cheated on you? JustJared? Perez Hilton? Because they love to make a mockery of my life," James replied bitterly.

"Chris, actually," I explained. James laughed darkly, "Right, right. You believed him, a production assistant over me? I was your boyfriend."

"My boyfriend who lived thousands of miles away from me, in New York, that spent most of his time studying or preparing for some movie and was too busy to call me let alone send me an email." I shouted angrily, "Considering Chris was there on set with you, of course I believed him! He told me he saw you getting rather cosy numerous times with some blonde woman numerous times on set. You always like the blondes, I don’t know why I thought I had a chance at keeping your interest."

"Well he lied to you, Scarlett!" James shouts, losing his cool. "The guy was in love with you, he would have done anything to get between us and clearly he succeeded."

"He went on tour with my band and he was an excellent friend, I highly doubt he would have lied to me," I responded, shaking my head, "Besides, we hadn’t spoken for three months, James. You deliberately shut me out so you could focus on work. If you didn’t want me, you could have just said so but no matter what you did to me I stood by you every single time." I turned away from him, my blood was boiling and I was about to go insane.

"Oh and that makes you the perfect one?" James spits back, "If I can recall correctly whenever you went on tour you didn’t contact me at all! I always had to speak to your manager if I wanted to get a word in with you, and on top of that I was constantly worried about you. Did you ever think about me? Or were you too wrapped up in yourself and your precious little band? If anyone cheated, you cheated on me. Probably with that drummer of yours…"

I froze in disbelief at the last words he said. Spinning around, I collided with his chest.

"You’ve got a lot of nerve, haven’t you?" I whispered shakily.

"You’re just as bad," James whispers back. His hot breath tickled my neck and I glanced up to see his eyes intensely asking me for one thing. Suddenly, all my memories became flooding back and the desire to remain by his side grew. Unable to control myself, I pulled him towards me and made our lips collide together.