Chapter 98

Pearl cleaned up the studio and sat alone for awhile, having a drink. She needed to be calm before she went in.

Pearl went inside to find Rhys, Jim, Ian and Rhys' attorney in the living room.

"What's going on?", Pearl asked.

"What took you so long? I wanted you here for the call. We took care of the Carys situation. She's not going to bother us anymore." Rhys said.

"How do you know?" Pearl wasn't so sure.

"Ian just called her. They talked on the phone last night and he set up a call today. He recorded their conversation. We have her recorded, admitting to the set up." Rhys said, smiling.

"Really?" Pearl said.

"Yes. And I just called her back to let her know what we had and threatened legal ramifications if she continued." The lawyer said. "I will be back in a couple of weeks to meet with the attorney for your situation, Pearl. If anything changes, I will let you know." He said and excused himself.

Ian seemed down. "Thank you, Ian. For helping with this", Pearl said.

"No problem. I loved her. And now I need to figure out a way to move on." He grabbed his drink and went to the guesthouse.

"Are we sure this is ok now?" Pearl looked at Rhys. She still felt uneasy about it all. The implications were severe if it wasn't resolved.

"Yes. I'm certain. I talked to her, too", Rhys said.

"Oh."

"No, don't say it like that. I told her I loved you. And that nothing she could do to me would change that. She knows there is nothing for her here now." Rhys hugged her.

"Ok. I'm taking your word for it." She smiled and hugged him back. But something nagged at her. Nothing was ever this easy.

The weekend went well. Jax and Jason both came and stayed with Ian in the guesthouse while they worked most of the day Saturday and all of Saturday night into Sunday working on. Jax was a skilled piano/keyboard player and they over dubbed and experimented with different sounds and Pearl was thrilled with what they had accomplished. They were four solid songs into an album. Rhys came and sat in for a lot of it. He loved watching Pearl sing and was more supportive than she could have imagined.

Monday came faster than she had wanted. Rhys had to go back to the set and Iris was coming in to start as Pearl's assistant. "I don't want you to go." Pearl handed Rhys his suitcase and hugged him at the door. "I don't want to go. But I'll be done the last week of this month and then we will have all of February before I have to go back to finish up the editing. We are on the home stretch now." He lifted her face to his. "I love you, so much." He kissed her and picked up his suitcase.

"I love you, too." She said as she watched him walk to the car.

Jim packed up his things and they drove off.

"I have breakfast for you." Martha called to her. She didn't feel very hungry.

Ian would be there another week. They had more things to work on that Jax had delegated. John had booked them a show in Chicago the upcoming weekend to get them out and some exposure. Pearl wanted to ask Ian where he lived and what his plans were moving forward, without Carys, but she didn't want to pry.

Jim picked Iris up from the airport that evening and brought her back to the house.

"Pearl! I missed you! I'm so glad I'm finally here!" She said, hugging her. Pearl was happy, too. She hadn't had a lot of female interaction and she was really looking forward to it. She showed Iris to her room upstairs and explained that once Ian was gone, she would be in the guesthouse.

After Iris settled in, she came to the living room, where Pearl and Jim were sitting and asked Pearl if she wanted to have dinner out somewhere. Pearl was excited at the thought of a night with a girl to just relax and have fun.

"Yes. That sounds awesome, actually." Pearl said, getting up.

Jim glanced at her from the top of his reading glasses. "No. I'm not in the mood for another one of you drunken escapades." He said.

Just then, Ian came into the main house, asking about dinner.

"We are going out! You should come!" Iris said. Pearl was not thrilled. "I thought it could be just us girls."

"I already invited Blake and Dylan", Iris said. " I can call and cancel, though."

"No. It's ok. It will be fine." Pearl said as she went to change her clothes.

They all met at a restaurant in the city. It was an Irish style pub and Pearl loved their fish and chips. "Blake!" Iris practically jumped onto Blake's lap when she saw him, sitting at the bar. Dylan was sitting next to him. He looked happy to see Pearl and not so happy to see Ian. He still didn't trust him and he still wanted to put his foot up his ass.

They got a table and sat down, ordering drinks and appetizers. Out of the corner of Pearl's eye, she saw a familiar face. It was Ashley, her old assistant at her marketing job. She got up and walked over to her. She felt bad about how she left. Ashley looked like she had seen as ghost as Pearl approached her. "Ashley! Hi! I'm so glad to see you here. I wanted to apologize for leaving the way I did, you were a wonderful assistant. I hope you know how appreciated you were." Ashley still looked like she was in shock.

"Wow. Thank you. I mean. How are you? I see you all over the news and online. You're a celebrity now." Ashley finally said. "It's still me. I'm still the same." Pearl looked around. "Are you here alone? Would you like to join us?" Ashley looked down. "I'm actually meeting someone here", she said. And as soon as the words left Ashley's mouth, Pearl heard a voice behind her.

"Hello, Pearl." She turned to see David standing behind her.