double trouble

Zachary was at the bar and it was a rather slow day, Tuesdays always were, especially in the middle of the day. “Hey,” said Zachary as he pointed to one of the employees and snapped his fingers at him. “Can you go clean up those tables or something?” he asked him. “Make yourself useful. Maybe see if the Chinese place down the street wants to trade some Chinese food for pub food. I could go for some fried rice.” @ashtonxmorgan

Ashton was in the corner reading the script for tomorrow’s shooting since the bar is very slow at the time when he heard someone calling him. He looked up and saw the new boss Zachary calling him, “No one’s here man,” he said, closing the script but not yet getting up from the chair, “And do people do that? Trade food?” he looked at him, “You know what, you should be the one going there, maybe take the boss lady while you’re at it, she’s been in the office since the second she got here. Pretty freaky.”

“Neat is fine.” Nora said as she picked up the glass and took a sip of the liquor before she settled down on the couch. She needed this. It had been so long since she had been able to even sit down and it had been such a long flight. Her meds had been taken, she could relax now with a drink, thankfully. 

“Because I look like shit.” She said and I haven’t told anyone that I’m back around yet and I don’t want my parents to get word of it just yet.” She said, shrugging her shoulders, “I’m kind of enjoying sneaking around a bit.”

Ashton handed Nora the glass without the ice in it and sipped the one with the ice himself, “I think that is something impossible, you looking like shit?” he scoffed and shook her head, he truly thinks that Nora White is probably one of the most stunning woman he ever seen in his life, “I mean I agreed that you’re not looking your best tonight, but I think it’s the rain and the fact that you look troubled...” he said as he sat down on the couch with her. 

“Where were you anyway?” he asked and sipped his drink again before laughing, “Well you’re welcome to sneak around here anytime when you need to, as I said, you can stay as long as you want,” he said again, “And well since you’re here, I was just about to cook some dinner, I hope you’re hungry,” he sat up again from the couch this time and move to the kitchen island.

Nora stepped into the place, wiping the bottom of her boots on the welcome mat before pulling them off and leaving her carry on by the door. The boots had definitely raised her a few inches, so once they were off, Nora was back to her real tiny self. She followed Ashton, not wanting to sit in case she soaked everything else, “Doesn’t look like nothing.” She replied, though his further explanation at least served as a proper response. Ah, his job was rather dangerous - made sense. 

“Thank you.” Nora said upon taking the towel to wipe herself down, rolling her eyes at his teasing, “Shut up.” She chuckled, nodding her head now, “Yeah, I’ll take you up on that. Scotch is good. I’ll expect it ready.” Nora teased back, going back to pick up her carry on to go into the bathroom.

Once learning how the shower worked, having one and changing into some more comfortable clothing, Nora emerged from the bathroom again, tying up her hair in the process, “Sorry about all this - wasn’t a good time for me to go back to the hotel.” She admitted.

“It was just some bruising,” he said again, “It was a big scene and I got kicked,” he laughed as he explained what happened. “Alright, scotch coming up,” Ashton nod his head, “The bathroom is just down the hall by the way,” he told Nora as he went to where he put his liquor and grabbed a scotch with two glasses.

“I wasn’t sure if you want it neat or on the rocks,” he said, offering the two option of the drink in each hands, fine in taking whichever she won’t pick. “Don’t be sorry, I mean I don’t quite get why it’s not okay to go back to the hotel that you actually owned, but you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to,” he reassured the petite girl with a smile.

It was quite a reflex - her eyes instantly falling to his torso before it was concealed. He was toned, ripped even but then again, she should have expected that and Nora had - she had just forgotten about it. The discolouring of his side was hard to miss and posed as a pretty good excuse for her eyes intrusion. So, looking back up at him, Nora blinked, nodding as he allowed her into his place, thankfully.

Her eyes scanned around the interior, gathering the little hints here and there of what kind of person Ashton was. After all, a home held a person’s hidden identity, their safe haven was a truth bomb that was told to anyone who walked through those doors. She didn’t walk too far however, considering her hair was dripping and she didn’t want to wet the floor. Instead, Nora continued to hug her arms, rubbing her palms up and down to hopefully relax the goosebumps that rose from her skin. A shiver passed her as a raindrop rolled down her spine, courtesy her soaked hair that had stuck to the back of her neck… “I didn’t call a driver and the only cab I could get didn’t want to take card so I had to take the bus.” She admitted, frowning at the thought. When was the last time she had taken public transport besides this one time? Ridiculous. “My cases are at another airport but I should have something in here, yeah.” she assured, gesturing to her carry on before looking to him once again, “What happened to your side?” She wondered aloud now.

Ashton flinched a little when he need to stretched his torso to get the shirt on as he moved around the place, “Come in, sit down, or stand, anything you like, make yourself at home,” he said to Nora as he went to where he kept his towel and went back outside to where Nora was, “Oh it’s nothing,” he said as an answer casually because it wasn’t a big deal for him, “Occupational hazard,” he showed him a toothy grin as it should explain everything. 

“Do you want to use the bathroom? Take a shower or something?” he asked while handing her the towel once he came back to her. “Wow, I’m impressed that you know how to take the bus,” Ashton teased Nora. “You know what? You should really go take a shower before you got sick and I’ll have some hot tea ready once you’re done. Or are you prefer cocoa? Or scotch?”

MIA wasn’t anything unusual for Nora considering she was always moving and working, going from place to place without missing a beat but this time, it was a little bit different. Nora had been in Australia, supposedly working in one of W’s hotels but if anyone were to contact the offices - she wasn’t around. Miss White isn’t avaliable at the moment. Whether that was her falling asleep at the office, sunglasses on to conceal those puffy eyes or not being there at all. As time went on, the lazier she looked in her appearance and presentation but - with the exception of one of her employees, no one knew exactly what Nora had been up to. Needless to say, Erin had earned herself a raise for concealing that secrecy.

But now she was back in Eureka, rainy and she hadn’t even called for a driver. She was drenched from head to toe, wheeling her hand luggage along with her since the damn cases were lost… She couldn’t go to the hotel like this! That was why she found herself outside, knocking on the front door over and over until finally, they answered, “Hey -” Nora greeted, albeit, awkwardly, shivering from the downpour, “Do you mind if I just… Stay here for the night. I mean - Just a couple of hours - My case - my cases even - they’re not going to be here till tomorrow morning and I forgot to call a driver so… Yeah.” She wasn’t making much sense, but truly, Nora didn’t know how to go about explaining herself properly.

Ashton winced a little as he looked at his reflection on the mirror and see the bruising on the side of his ribs from a fall earlier today from a stunt he did for the tv series he worked for, while it was painful, the pain didn’t bother him too much since he was still buzzing from the excitement, it was the hardest stunt they’ve been working on, he supposed they need to pull all the punches for the season finale and he was so proud seeing the footage even though no one will know he was the one doing it, at least he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and it’s enough for him. 

He was trying to applied some ointment to help with the bruising when he heard the knock on the door, frowning a little because he was interrupted, he closed the lid and went to the door, grabbing his shirt on his way there. He only managed to slid one arm before he opened the door, “Hey, why the hell do you look like a drenched puppy?” Ashton asked Nora, “Yeah come in, you’re welcome to stay, let me get you some towel, do you have change of clothes there?” he pointed to the carry on.

“Well, I’m an ex detective and I now run my own private investigation, I think i can handle a bit of dangerous.” Freya quipped back with a grin, “Yeah? It does sound fun to me. I love stuff like that, you must be a hell of an adrenaline junkie, huh? What’s the craziest stunt you’ve done?” She asked in keen interest.

“Woah, for real? Never met a real life PI before, only ever seen it in TV, big fan of Castle,” Ashton admitted with a laugh, “I guess you can call it that,” he nod his head when the girl called him an adrenaline junkie, “I was a parkour artist before, so I’ve tried about anything,” he said, though to be honest his craziest stunt was the one that land him in a wheelchair and he wasn’t keen on talking about it, “But as for the tv show? It’s pretty tame, just a bit of jumping here and there, a bit of fighting and stuff like that.”

When Nora shook out the last pill from her bottle, panic settled in her core as it always did. Even if she didn’t feel the stress of her workload or the strain whenever she looked down at her phone and saw the caller I.D of her father, she couldn’t help but feel slightly irritable at everyone around her. All she could focus on was ‘get a refill. you need a refill’ before the effects of her last one ran dry and she would have to deal with some form of withdrawal. By the time she had made it to the waiting room, that withdrawal was beginning to take its toll, especially when she heard the dreaded PING of her father’s call. However, a voice seemed to draw her attention away from that and she looked over at the man beside her, “Do you know if they’re gonna take forever?” She asked, “Because you’re right, just sitting here makes it worse.”

Ashton’s back hadn’t been bothering him too much lately, though sometimes after a particularly hard stunt, he might need them, after all he’s not as fit as he was before the accident, but at least he didn’t need to take it everyday, he wouldn’t want to be dependent on the pills, if anything Ashton liked to pushed it to the limit until he can feel the ache in his bones, in a way, it’s his way of feeling alive. Though he insist on not needing the pills too much, his trainer and physician always told him to always have it with him just in case, that’s why he ended up waiting to have his prescription filled. “Oh they’re the worst,” he shook his head, “I don’t even know why it always took forever to filled one tube of pills,” he rocked his legs restlessly, “At least I’m not in any hurry this time and I bought snacks,” he said again, stopped rocking his legs and leaned back on the chair as he pulled a box of Cracker Jack from inside of his jacket and offered it to her.

Ashton sat down waiting for his back pain prescription in the waiting room with a bored look in his face, grabbing a magazine from the table next to him, he flipped through the magazine absent-mindedly before he felt presence on the chair next to him. He looked to his side to the girl who was just sitting next to him, “I hate the waiting in this place, it makes all the pain in the world almost bearable in comparison,” he said, starting a conversation to ease his bored mind while waiting.

“Sure, badass works.” Freya joked, letting out another laugh in the process. She rose her brows, curiously, however, as he went on to state the true nature of what he was doing, “Oh? Like on a set? You’re a stunt double?” She asked. “That must be fun.”

“Hey, mime can be a very dangerous work you know, climbing those invisible ladder and all,” Ashton joked as he tried to mimed the classic mime signature move of climbing a ladder, before nodding his head in response to her guess of his profession, “Yup! I’m a stunt double,” he confirmed, “It is fun, I mean I guess it depends on what your idea of fun I guess?”

She bit her lip, not knowing what to say either. “I can’t really relate, at all really. At least you do have a good bond with your family. It must be nice.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, “Not close with your family?” he knew not everyone is as close with their parents, he didn’t always have the best relationship with his parents as well, there were some tough times for sure. “It’s nice, but sometimes it felt too much,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah, she’s in for a rude awakening, that’s for sure. I’m sure it’ll go down a bit then but I think I'll always be protective.” Aurora smiled, cradling the stomach. “A little girl.”

“Ah a little girl,” Ashton smiled, he always like kids, “I’m sure she’ll be the cutest,” he nod his head, “And I think if I ever have a little girl on my own, I’d be as bit of protective as my mom if not more,” he laughed. “Any idea on the name?” he asked.

“Well, it’s good she worries. It’s better than her not worrying at all. I guess that’ll just be awkward if she didn’t. Do you get into a lot of dangerous situations or something then?”

“Yeah well, sometimes it feels like she treated me like a kid,” he said with a laugh, “I’m a stunt double, being in dangerous situation is an occupational hazard I guess.”

“Just a bit.” Freya replied with a soft laugh. She had her forearms placed firmly on the bartop, one hand holding a chilled beer bottle which she brought to her lips to take a sip. Mason was being cared for while she had been working, this was just a brief moment where she could look over some stuff she had gathered for the investigation, “You looked like a mime or something.” She teased. 

Ashton laughed when the girl said he looked like a mime, “At least a very badass mime I hope,” he said with a laugh as he made a boxing movement with his hands before he let his arms down, “I’m just learning this script for a scene I have to do tomorrow, I like to get an image of what kind of stunt I would do the next day,” he explained.

Kiara shook her head, letting out a small giggle. “No, my grandma. She’s a very small lady who just loves all her grandchildren.” She nodded, “Same with them! Mum is in New York and phones me every day to make sure I’m alive. If anything, she’s more at risk than me.”

“Ah... Good thing I at least asked to make sure,” Ashton laughed, “Your grandma sounds nice, both of mine had passed away few years back,” he said, “My dad is much more chill tho, he only phoned once a month of asked my brother to check up on me. They weren’t always that way, but after the accident, they just worried about me.”

Sebastian had been out on a run through the park, not particularly paying attention to where he was headed to. As he approached the man, he slowed down slightly and was about to turn back when he spoke. “Yeah, it was pretty odd. I was all ready to move away.”

“I was just trying to practice some movements for tomorrow’s shoot,” Ashton explained, “Just trying to get a sense on how the fight going to play out and how I should move,” he said again.

“Not in the slightest. She’s too busy being a bitch.” Jamie nodded, “It’s a blessing, for me. She’s known for completely ruining my mood.”

This time it’s Ashton’s turn to not being able to relate to what the girl was saying, “Sorry?” he wasn’t sure what to respond to her rant about her mother, “That sounds, uh... unfortunate.”

Jaxton nodded, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout. “Uh-huh.” Darcy chuckled at the words, ruffling the hair of the little boy. “Yeah, he’s about to start kindergarten and I can tell he’s ready for it. He’s a loose cannon, I look away for two seconds and he’s gone.” She nodded, “Fortunately he is, though he’s going to be given another lesson in safety.”

Ashton smiled, he remembered when his brother was younger, the two of them used to play and run around and causing troubles, and he remembered his brother love to run away by himself making their parents yell at them, the memory brought a smile into his face, “He reminded me of my younger brother,” Ashton said, “Is he your brother?” he asked.