Chapter Two He picked up his bag before taking one last look around the living room. He hadn't forgotten anything, yet somehow, something was missing. He sighed, knowing it was her. She had left a week ago. When he had told her, she hadn't taken it well. She had packed and left the next morning without a goodbye. He left the room and quickly made his way to the hotel elevator, his backpack slung over his shoulder. He pulled his baseball cap low over his eyes, hoping the avoid the rush of fans outside. Instead of going directly out the front as he normally would have, he ducked out the back door of the restaurant, heading straight for his rented SUV. He avoided making eye contact with anyone he passed along the short trek, for fear of a fan spotting him, but he managed to get in and get out on the road without an incident. He turned on the radio and the sounds of his own voice filled the air. He listened for a moment, trying to pinpoint any imperfections they may have missed, but he grew restless and he changed the station. A love song filled the air, and he sighed once again, thinking of Karine. How he had let it get this far, he didn't know. Couldn't she understand that he needed to put his career first in order to make a living? Why couldn't she support that? One thing he had always told himself was that he would never date someone who couldn't or wouldn't support his career choices. In his mind, his ideal mate would never hold him back. Yet Karine was doing that, she was holding him back. Or, was he holding himself back? He pulled the car into the small parking lot and turned off the ignition. He sat for a moment before gathering his things and turning to go inside. He entered the small building, approaching the desk. "How may I help you?" A young blonde receptionist asked. "I'd like to return my rental." Ashley replied, lacking any enthusiasm. "Okay, I'll need your name and your key tag." He handed her the set of keys dangling from his finger. "Ashley Angel." She typed the name quickly, scanning the screen for a match. "I'm sorry, there's no Ashley Angel in our system." she said, looking at him curiously. "Excuse me?" he asked, dumbfounded. "I said..." she began repeating herself. "I heard you. But how can that be? I rented this car on friday." "Well..." she began, searching the screen yet again. "The key tag number says it was rented to a Mr. Caleb Matthews, on Thursday of last week." "Well, there's some mistake." "Okay, I'll go get the manager." she said, standing up, heading for the back office. The manager emerged a moment later, a grumpy expression across his face. He was tall and round with a grouchy mustache. "What seems to be the problem here?" he asked Ashley politely. "There seems to be a mix-up. I rented this car on Friday, and my name isn't in the computer and the key-tag says it belongs to someone else." "Well..." he said, furrowing his brow in thought. "I'm not sure how that could have happened. Are you sure you didn't get the tag mixed up with someone else?" "Yes, sir. I am positive. Look, I'm really in a hurry, I have a flight leaving for Atlanta in an hour." "Okay, well why don't you leave your information with us and we'll contact you once we sort everything out?" "I'll pay the bill now, and then you won't have to contact me." Ashley replied curtly. "I already put a deposit of one hundred dollars." "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but we cannot put it through our computer until we have this mix-up fixed." Ashley pulled his wallet out, finding two-hundred dollars in cash. "Here, the bill won't be any more than that." he said, laying the money on the counter. Without another word, he turned and walked out of the building, hailing a cab once he reached the street. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the airport, somewhat disgruntled, and dreading his three-hour flight to Atlanta. Chapter 3