Nothing Is Ever Simple

AMELIA

Being in LA was a whole different experience to the last time Amelia had been there. There was no Johnny to chaperone her around and now she felt like a lost tourist as she tried to get around the city, especially with her English accent. Already she had been there for a week and Jeff had rented a car for her but Amelia had spent most of her time visiting Steve or hiding away at Jeff’s house. She had not heard from anyone back in Westchester except from the occasional text from April to say that Brandon was ok. She had still not told her mother in law that she was leaving Bam. That was not going to be a fun conversation. It was difficult enough telling her own mother the news when she rang unexpectedly one afternoon. Amelia had been lounging around Jeff’s house and feeling sorry for herself after visiting Steve when she heard Dico’s ring tone and recognised the number as an English one.

“Hi, mum?”

“Amelia, what’s going on? I’ve been trying to ring all week but you weren’t answering your phone. I had to ring April just to get hold of you.” Her mother ranted without pausing for breath.

“Sorry mum, I’m not in Westchester at the moment and I left my phone behind.” Amelia explained, trying to work out how she would handle this situation. Should she tell her mother everything?

“Yes, April said something had come up. Where are you? Is everything ok Amelia? Rose is worried about you after her visit at New Year.” Her mother continued. Amelia silently groaned. She could just imagine her sister letting something to slip to their mother. She hadn’t wanted to involve her mum as it would just make her worry unnecessarily. Amelia was old enough to look after herself or so she thought.

“Are you sitting down mum? This is going to take some explaining.” Amelia sighed. She was going to have to get around to telling her parents eventually.

“Yes I’m sitting down Amelia. You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

Amelia took a deep breath before letting the bomb drop. “I’m leaving Bam.”

“What?” her mother exclaimed in horror. “Since when?”

Amelia proceeded to explain for the fourth time that week about the breakdown of her marriage. She realised this was coming out of the blue for her mother as she had never mentioned to her parents the problems she and Bam had been having.

“But you’ve not even been married for a year.” Amelia could just picture her mother shaking her head dramatically at the other end of the line. “Couldn’t you just try and fix things?”

“Mum, he’s been cheating on me. I’m not prepared to forgive him for that.” Amelia reminded her mother angrily.

“What are you going to do then? Why don’t you come home?” her mother suggested, and Amelia knew how desperate her mother was to see more of her grandson.

“I really don’t know. I’m staying with a friend for now until I get my head sorted. I’ve been offered a job here in LA.”

“Well you know your father and I will support you no matter what you decide to do. Maybe you should come home for a while and take some time out?”

“Thanks mum. I will come and see you. I just need to figure out what I’m going to do first.”

Jeff came back from the office that evening and announced that they were going out. Chris had flown back over from Florida and Dave and Ehren were over to visit Steve so it had been decided that they would all go for a few drinks with the rest of the crew. According to Jeff, Amelia was not exempt from this and he would drag her to the bar kicking and screaming if he had to.

To begin with, Amelia had no desire to go out what so ever and she thought that Jeff might well have to live up to his promise of dragging her there, but by the time she had changed into some nice clothes and done her hair and makeup she started to look forward to seeing the guys. It was just what she needed to take her mind off the failure of her marriage and how much she wished Johnny was around. She had still not heard anything from him and she did not want to be the one chasing after him so she continued her vow of silence where he was concerned. She was incredibly grateful that Jeff had not brought the subject of their relationship up during the time she had been staying with him.

The guys were over the moon to see Amelia, as she had not seen most of them since the takeover in November and it was now February. She was happy that Jeff had made it a sort of work related do and none of the guys had brought their girlfriends as she would have found herself incredibly out of place. As ever, Amelia fit back into the group perfectly and it was as if she had never been away from them. They were as much a family to her as the others back in Westchester and it was a relief to know that she had good friends here too.

Amelia saw no point in beating around the bush or denying anything so she told them all straight out that she was leaving Bam, which meant she could enjoy the rest of her evening without worrying about what they might think. To her surprise, the news did not seem to come as much of a shock for the guys and they were all very supportive of her, telling her she could do a lot better, even if he was their friend.

“Bam’s a fucking moron.” Dave told her, while Chris wasted no time in expressing his feelings on the situation. “Damn it Amelia, now you’re single and I’m unavailable. Bad timing or what!” Amelia laughed and started to relax as the drinks flowed steadily.

As usual, Ehren was the one to put his foot in it and mention Johnny but Jeff quickly punched him in the groin and Amelia had enough to drink that she let it slide. By the end of the night Amelia was in her element and she had managed to clear her head from thoughts of Bam and Johnny for most of the evening. She was even starting to consider taking Jeff’s job offer up as it would mean that she got to see more of the guys and they were spending most of their time pushing the idea on to her. There would be an issue of finding somewhere to live and childcare for Brandon but she definitely had to think about it as it would be an amazing opportunity.

Over the next few days Amelia was beginning to feel better about things. April and Phil had found out about the situation from Ryan and April, horrified at her son’s behaviour, was flying out on the next plane to LA with Brandon to spend some time with her daughter in law. The prospect of being reunited with her son was a most welcome one. What she needed now was a fresh start and she was slowly realising that LA might just be the place she could find it. She already had plenty of friends there and finding work was not going to be an issue. Amelia had made a habit of jumping in at the deep end and now it was time to take another leap.

When Jeff was safely out of the house and on his way to the offices one morning, Amelia started to get ready. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it properly. She had told Steve of her plans before anyone else and he had seemed enthralled by the prospect of her being around on a permanent basis. She had continued to visit him every day without fail and she was starting to see a slow but steady improvement now that his body was getting used to the lack of drugs flowing through his system. However, he still had a long way to go and Amelia wanted to be there to support him.

An hour later, dressed in a smart blouse, jeans, heels and a blazer and feeling more confident about herself than she had in a long time, Amelia climbed into the rental car and made her way to the offices. Jeff was suitably surprised to see her standing outside his office for the second time in three months. “You’ve got a funny habit of turning up at my office like this.”Jeff laughed as she walked in.

“I just can’t stay away Jeff.” She grinned, taking a seat in the empty chair opposite him.

“So to what do I owe this honour?” He folded his hands underneath his shin and stared at Amelia curiously. The devilish glint in his eye suggested that he actually had a fairly good idea of why she had come to see him.

“I’d like to apply for a job.” She smiled, watching Jeff’s face unfold into a huge grin.

“You’re hired.”