Her Game: Song Story

Her Game: The Song-Story

[based on the song by Kevin Max]

Cameron Bailey stared out over the ocean from his boat. There was so much fog he could hardly see the boat docks, which were his destination. He'd been out on his boat for a few days to get his mind off of all the problems he was facing. Half an hour later he was standing face to face with one of those problems. Her name was Adrienne Reilly and she came in a small, fit form which was stronger than it looked. Her dark black hair and eyes almost made her seem evil and at times Cameron couldn't help but wonder if she was ... but she was beautiful and Cameron couldn't get her out of his mind if his life depended on doing so.

"What's wrong, Cam?" she pretended to pout, her bottom lip forming a perfect frown. "Surprised to see me?"

The seductive way she walked got to him and Cameron knew how big of a fool he was. This woman would end up killing him emotionally, no doubt about it, and yet he merely stood aside to watch her walk all over him. It was like an out-of-body experience. It was like he was standing farther down the dock, watching as Adrienne wrapped her perfectly sculpted arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him. There was nothing he could do but watch it happen.

~ * ~

Nick Carter danced around his girlfriend's living room in complete abandon. His girlfriend, Brittany Thompson, had left for the grocery store moments before, leaving him to his own devices and all he could think to do was put on loud rock music and simply ... dance.

There were moments when Nick knew nothing but conformism and this was one of the rare occasions when Nick could merely be himself. He didn't have to become anybody else. He simply danced.

~ * ~

Brittany Thompson had everything on her shopping list except for eggs, when she made her way to her car. How could she have forgotten eggs? Eggs were the simplest, most commonly bought item at a grocery store and she'd forgotten eggs? She was paid to remember things and she'd forgotten eggs.

With a sigh, Brittany placed her shopping bags into the trunk of her red 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse, before locking her car again and running back into the grocery store for the eggs.

"I can't believe I forgot eggs," she mumbled to herself as she grabbed the carton and sprinted to the express check-out lane.

Brittany Thompson never forgot things. If she did, she practically flipped out. When you're paid to remember things, and fired when things are forgotten, you make sure you don't forget. Brittany was the assistant to the owner/producer of Evans Films. She told him when his meetings were, she told him when he needed to call people, she told him where he'd last left his car keys. Brittany had to know every date and time of Mr. Evans' life and if she didn't...

She'd forgotten eggs. That was enough to ruin her entire day.

~ * ~

James Evans found life discouraging. His bedroom, his house, his office, his car was perfectly immaculate and his brain was completely cluttered. He hired an assistant not because he needed someone to set up appointments for him, or to make calls for him, but because he needed someone to remind him when HE had set up appointments and needed to make calls. James was a perfectionist in many ways and the fact that he needed somebody to practically remind him when it was time to go home pissed him off.

Brittany Thompson had reminded him plenty of times when it was seven o'clock and his work hours were through ... and as much as James would regret to admit it, the majority of those times he had remembered it was time to go home ... he just didn't want to go. It wasn't that his marriage was a complete flop, but James wasn't a very personal person. He was professional. And sadly, James often felt that he could be more open and honest--and personal--with his assistant than he could with his wife ... and that scared him.

~ * ~

Kalee Smith-Evans was a singer, a songwriter, and an actress. Kalee did it all. At the age of 25, she had been in too many Broadway productions to count. But Kalee wasn't happy. She lived in a beautiful condo in Tampa, Florida, with her husband, James. They were rich, there was no doubt about that, but Kalee wanted so much more.

Kalee had loved James since her Junior year in high school, when he'd been a Sophomore. It had never mattered that he was a year younger than her. She had known from the moment she'd laid eyes on him that she wanted him in her life. They'd dated off and on her Junior year, but James had never shown a high interest in her. He'd led her along enough for her to still want to be with him, but he was distracted in the relationship ... with what, Kalee didn't know.

~ * ~

Matthew Carter had always been known as Nick Carter's cousin. No matter what Matt accomplished in his career, the title his cousin had unknowingly managed to bestow upon him had stuck with him. Matt was big in Broadway. He and Kalee Smith-Evans had worked alongside one another in numerous musicals, and those were the ones that always sold the most tickets. Everyone loved the work that Kalee and Matt did together, but still ... he was Nick Carter's cousin.

Matt knew that Kalee's husband was rich, as was she, but that they lived completely different lives. Kalee was in the spotlight, famous, and well-known, especially around New York. James, or Mr. Evans, liked to keep to himself, run his filming business, and aside from that stay as far away from the limelight as he could ... and one couldn't help but notice that he seemed to stay far away from Kalee as well. There was one thing that Mr. and Mrs. Evans had in common: their private lives were their private lives.

Though Kalee never talked about her home-life, Matt felt as though he knew her fairly well and could see through most of the facades that she put up to protect herself from media criticism. He knew how unhappy she was, he knew how treacherous she felt her life was, he knew that even though she seemed to have every material object that she wanted, they weren't fulfilling her needs.

Matt felt a certain connection to her and if he'd ever really thought about it, which he tried not to do very often, he would realize that over a period of time he'd begun to fall in love with her. But Kalee was married, and that was against everything Matt had ever believed was right.

After all, he was just Nick Carter's cousin.

~ * ~

"I'll help you put the groceries away. Thanks for shopping for me, by the way," Nick walked into the kitchen and began helping Brittany put all the food in their different locations. "I'm so terrible at the grocery store."

"I know, Nick. That's why I went. No, that doesn't go there! D*mn it, can't you ever remember where things go in your own house???" Brittany rolled her eyes and Nick knew immediately that she wasn't joking around.

His eyebrows jutted together in quiet concern, "What's wrong, Britt?" he walked behind her and began to gently massage her tense shoulders. "What happened?"

"I forgot eggs," she turned around and looked at him pointedly, though the look wasn't really directed at Nick himself. She continued dramatically and the sad part was she wasn't joking about this either. "I got all the way to the car and I realized I'd forgotten eggs. I had to go back in to get them! Nicky, how could I forget EGGS?"

Nick burst out laughing and quickly had to cover his mouth and turn away at the hurt look he was getting. "I'm sorry, baby," he instantly stopped laughing when he realized how serious she really was. "I didn't mean to laugh. It's just ... baby, it's eggs! Who gives a flying rat's ass?"

"I do, Nick! Maybe I'm losing my mind."

"Maybe you lost it a long time ago if you're getting this hysterical over something that millions of men and women do on a daily basis."

Brittany's mouth dropped open in insulted shock, "Thanks for the compassion, Nick! You really know how to cheer a person up. Why don't you rape me and kill me while you're at it-"

"It'd be a pleasure," he growled sensuously before pushing her against the wall and kissing her square on the mouth. Their kiss was cut short when his laughter peeled through. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he grew serious and ran a hand across her face, affectionately. "Why does this bother you so much, honey?"

Brittany sighed and began to calm down, her face letting go of the contorted state it had been in since the horrible incident. "Nicky, I'm paid to keep another scatterbrain in control. I take my job very seriously, I love my job, and if things keep going the way they've been going Mr. Evans said that he wants to give me a shot at being a screenwriter. You know how much that would mean to me. If my mind starts going, my job is gone. I like working for Mr. Evans."

"I don't."

"You don't work for him, you geek."

Nick chuckled and released her from the wall, pulling her into his embrace as an alternative. "No, I meant that I don't like YOU working for him. Look, I may be a guy, but I can still admit when another guy is a good-looking fella."

A slow grin began to spread across his girlfriend's face.

"Are you-" Brittany stopped as a humored laugh came forth. "Are you saying that you're jealous, baby? Of my boss??"

Nick glared at her, though he wasn't really mad. Unlike Brittany, he took things a little lighter. "Baby, I'm just saying that-"

"No, don't say it. Honey," she sighed and smoothed his rambunctious hair down, "I love you, okay? I ain't going anywhere. And Mr. Evans is married."

"Not happily from the things that you say."

"I don't know that for sure. Don't go saying anything about that at the next Evans Films Christmas party," she reprimanded before giggling. "You're silly."

"I am not," Nick defended and pinched her.

"Did you just give me a smurf bite?!"

"Nooooo," he looked down at her innocently.

Brittany laughed, "You little bitch."

"I love you too, honey."

~ * ~

James sat in his office at home, swirling the water in his glass around in slow circles. His film company had just finished up their latest film and he'd decided to wait a few weeks before doing anything for the next one. The only thing that was planned was to offer his assistant, Miss Thompson, a place as one of the screenwriters. And if she agreed, he'd start working with her on that. But that was the only thing that he was going to do for at least two weeks. The rest of his time would be spent resting--at least as much resting as James Evans could do for such a long period of time.

James sat up straighter as he heard the front door open and shut. His wife was home. What was it about their relationship that made James not even want to leave his office to say hello to her anymore? It seemed as though they hadn't had a serious conversation in months, and James could hardly remember the last time they'd made love with more than the need to be pleased driving them. The want to please the other had long since left them. Maybe it had never been there. The thought almost made James shudder, but he caught himself and refrained. Don't show emotion, don't get hurt. Don't care, don't get heartbroken. Don't be vulnerable, don't be trampled on. His list of don'ts was long and strenuous, yet he could have made it much simpler by putting at the top "Don't show emotion" and getting rid of the rest of them.

"Hi, James," Kalee stopped in the doorway of his office, leaning against the doorjamb. She hardly waited for him to respond and James knew it was because he hadn't truly responded to her in years. She'd learned to not let it bother her ... or so he thought. "I'm gonna be upstairs reading over a script, if you need me. Remember, we're going to my mom and dad's house for dinner."

James sighed. He remembered now. It really was hard for him to keep all the dates and times in his head that he needed to. When Miss Thompson wasn't there to remind him five minutes before the dinner date, it was almost guaranteed he'd forgotten. And suddenly James remembered that she had, indeed, reminded him just that morning that he was having dinner with his wife and her parents.

James leaned over and rested his elbows on his desk. His fingers went to work at massaging his temples in an ineffective way of relieving his fast approaching migraine. Kalee didn't even bother to offer assistance anymore. They'd long-since stopped helping each other.

"All right. Dinner. Your parents. What time?"

"Seven."

"Dinner. Your parents. Seven o'clock. Got it."

Kalee sighed, "Write it on your hand," and with the emotionless statement, she was back out the door and heading upstairs to read over her script.

James closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, feeling a cold sweat coming. Now was not the moment to get sick. He didn't have time for it.

~ * ~

Kalee sighed as she sat on hers and her husband's bed, script for her upcoming Broadway production in hand. Though the many pieces of paper, which were neatly stapled in the top left corner, were held up in front of her face, Kalee's eyes were elsewhere. Sometime in the last fifteen minutes they'd drifted over to a picture of she and James on their wedding day and she was reminded, like she was almost every day, just how far apart they had grown. They weren't even the same people.

Kalee remembered hanging out with friends and laughing and being silly while in high school. Now everything seemed so mundane, so day-to-day, so ... so ... spiritless. James used to be the same way. She knew that even then he had been depressed, but there had been moments when he could at least see some light in such a world of darkness. Moments when the world didn't seem quite so bad, quite so out to get him. Moments when he could laugh--possibly even giggle, when feeling "overly immature." But sometime during his time at college and the first few years of their marriage, he had grown even more calloused, even more despondent ... even more disconsolate.

What was it that had pushed James Evans off the edge? And why couldn't Kalee, his wife, bring him back?

It was while pondering these thoughts, while sitting on their bed, script still in hand and still left unread, Kalee suddenly realized that she hadn't really tried to bring him back. And the saddest part was that she didn't really care to try.

~ * ~

Brittany had been sitting at her small desk for hours, glasses that she hardly needed perched on her nose. The script for Evans' Films' next movie sitting in front of her, closed. She'd read the entire thing three times and it still made her cry. Mr. Evans' movie ideas were always sad and Brittany couldn't help but wonder exactly what those ideas were stemming from.

"Miss Thompson."

Brittany looked up to see Mr. Evans leaning in the doorway. She'd never seen him look so comfortable, at least not around her, and it was almost making her uncomfortable. No, it was making her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat.

"Umm, hi, Mr. Evans?" Brittany rose from her seat, standing safely behind her desk. "Can I get you something? Was there something you needed?"

"No," he sighed, biting his tongue to stop himself from telling her to "stand at ease, soldier."

"Oh," Brittany paused in confusion and watched as he stepped further into the room, eventually taking the chair that sat in front of her desk, facing her, "okay."

Finally James let a small smile grace his face. Brittany was relieved. He was possible of human expressions!

"It's okay, Miss Thompson. You can sit back down," James leaned forward, his elbows resting on her desk, his eyes cast down. "What were you up to?"

"Uhhh... I was just, uh, reading the new script."

He looked up with raised eyebrows, "Oh, really? I didn't know you read those things. You like to act?"

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged. "I used to through high school and stuff, but it was never something I thoroughly enjoyed. I always liked writing and singing much better."

"Writing... Yes, we need to talk about those writing skills you have."

"Oh," Brittany's eyes widened. Was she ready for this conversation? She'd been looking forward to this pending promotion for what had seemed like forever, but now that it was coming closer she was getting scared. "Yes, sir?"

"Please, don't call me sir."

Brittany nodded, "Ummm ... Sorry, Mr. Evans."

James sat there silently for a moment, now leaning back in the chair again, his arm on the armrest, his chin resting in his opened palm. He looked up and right at her, for the first time since she'd worked for him. "In fact, just call me James."

"Uh," Brittany laughed, nervously. What had gotten into him? "I don't think I can do that, sir--I mean, Mr. Evans!" She would have sworn she saw him shudder at the title and finally conceded, "Or... James?"

"Yes, James. Thanks."

This was far too weird for her.

~ * ~

Nick glanced up from his cereal and looked at his distraught friend. "Cam, I'm tellin' ya, man, if you don't get this chick outta your life she's gonna eat you alive."

"Nick, you don't know her, okay?" Cameron groaned, plopping down in the chair next to Nick. "When we're apart, I can easily say that I need to get rid of her, but as soon as she's there, I'm gone."

"Look, Cam, I've been there before, okay? You gotta--"

"No, Nick!" Cameron interrupted him, pounding his fist uncharacteristically against the table. "You haven't been there before. Not this way. Adrienne... she's... she's psycho or something! But she's got me in this spell that I can't get out of, Nick!"

Nick glared at his friend and stood from the table, practically tossing his cereal bowl into the sink, "Look, Cam, don't come over here and yell at ME when I try to give YOU advice, okay? If you don't want it, then don't come to me, okay? What are you gonna do, kill her since she's got these magical powers?" he waved his hands in the air in mockery.

Cameron scoffed in disgust as he stood from the table, "Shut up, Nick."

Nick watched him walk out and a moment later heard the front door slam shut.

~ * ~

"I don't get what's up with him, Britt," Nick sighed as he laid down on his couch that night.

Brittany lifted his feet and sat down, setting them in her lap. She laid her head back on the back of the couch, her mind wandering with her own problems. She didn't have time for Cameron's. After all, this Adrienne girl couldn't be that bad.

"Where are you tonight?" Nick whined, sitting up and tugging on her hand, trying to get her to pay attention to him. "I'm tryna talk to you here."

"Nick, not now, okay? And please don't whine, I have a head ache."

He sighed and laid back down. She'd been quiet the entire evening and it was starting to piss him off. "Fine."

"Look, it's just problems at work, okay? Nothing big."

"Does it have to do with 'Mr. Evans'?"

She didn't like his tone of voice and she was already in such a bad mood that it rubbed her wrong all the more. "Shut your face, Nick. There's nothing wrong with me working for Jame--Mr. Evans, and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop makin' smart ass remarks about it!"

Brittany sighed as Nick stood up from the couch and left the room. Minutes later she found him sitting at his drums in his den, drumsticks in hand and making no sound at all.

"Nick."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

Nick sighed and reached behind him, taking her hand and guiding her into his lap. He laid his head on her shoulder and looked up at her with sad eyes, "Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Nick," she smiled slightly, her hand running gently through his hair. She loved his hair. "It really isn't anything, okay? I'm just being grumpy. Don't worry about it. Now tell me all about what happened with Cam, okay?"

"You sure, babygirl? I'm here to listen if you need someone."

"I know. I wanna hear about Cam though."

Nick sighed and launched into the entire story about Cameron coming over that day and whining about some girl named Adrienne that he'd been seeing off and on for a few months.

"I really don't see how she can be as bad as Cam makes her out to be," Nick rambled, not really caring if Brittany was listening anymore or not. He felt better just talking about it. But Brittany was listening. Intently. Something Nick had said had caught her ear long ago.

"Wait, wait," Brittany cut Nick off in mid-sentence.

"What?"

She looked at him carefully and he could almost see the wheels turning in her head. "What did you say her name was?"

"Adrienne."

"Adrienne what, Nick?"

Nick sighed, thinking, "Um, I can't remember. I know Cam told me."

"Adrienne Reilly?"

He looked at her oddly, "Yeah, that was it. How'd you know that?"

"I went to school with her, Nick. And trust me, she's as bad as Cam says she is."

~ * ~

The house was dark and uncharacteristically eerie as James set foot inside the stately Evans home. When he and Kalee had first gotten married he would have called for her, but now he was too tired to even pretend to care.

Okay, so maybe the Evans' relationship hasn't been shown in the correct light up until this point. It wasn't as though they despised each other. They cared about the others' well being. But they weren't in love and they knew they never would be again. Out of habit, or something similar, they stayed together. And because of what their relationship was, it was hard for them to speak to each other like normal people would. On top of all of that, James had never been very good at communication and Kalee had stopped trying to change that.

With a sigh, James heaved himself onto their bed in hopes of falling asleep and forgetting the earlier events of his day.

~ * ~

Nick cast a deep shadow across the room as he entered, waking Brittany from her restless cat nap. She'd hoped that Nick wouldn't bother to come over that day--after work, all she'd wanted to do was sleep and Nick was definitely not the person she wanted to see. After everything she'd been feeling for the past week and a half, her guilt was almost consuming her, making it near impossible to look her boyfriend in the eye. It wasn't that she'd really done anything wrong, except for letting inappropriate feelings get ahold of her. After all, she hadn't kissed him or touched him; she'd hardly even talked to him. But Brittany's feelings for her boss, for James, were beginning to get out of hand. The stomach ache when he walked in the room, the flutter and the pounding of her heart when he smiled, the goosebumps on her skin when he spoke to her. It all led to one conclusion ... she was losing her mind and it was completely out of her control.

Mr. Evans--James--was her boss! He wasn't one of her high school peers that she even had the right to have a crush on! He was completely superior to her ... he was married ... and she had a boyfriend ... she had Nick, who at the moment was staring at her with complete worry in his eyes.

"What has gotten into you lately?" Nick sat down on the edge of her bed, reaching over her to turn on the light.

Brittany's heart was pounding. Could she really tell him what was going on? No, of course not. But what COULD she say? Nick, I just don't feel like this is working? Nick, I think you deserve better? At least the latter would be the truth. Nick did deserve better. How could she do this to him?

"Nick, nothing, I'm fine."

Oh, that was great. Lie to him even more. Brittany wasn't fine. She wasn't fine in the slightest. She was having an affair of the heart with a man that she shouldn't even have the right to call by first name ... which she had strangely gotten used to rather quickly. Making a trip back to reality, she realized that Nick was still staring at her ... in complete doubt of her ability to be honest with him.

"Brittany-"

"Look, I'm just having a hard time at work, okay?" Brittany sat up and held his face in-between her hands, placing a gentle kiss on his mouth in hopes of bringing back a little normalcy. "Don't worry about it, all right? Why don't you and Cameron go out tonight or something?"

"Cam's back with Adrienne, Britt; you know that. I'm sure he'll be with her tonight."

Brittany sighed and looked at him hopefully, "Then why don't you go with them?"

"Uhh," Nick laughed, "you're the one that told me how much of a psycho she is. Why would you send me with them?"

"I'm not sending you with them, Nick."

"Well, sure you are."

"I am not!"

Nick sighed and stood from the bed. He looked down at her, sternly, "Something's up with you and if you don't want me to know what it is, then fine. I won't know, okay? Maybe I don't even care. No, scratch that. I DO care, Brittany, but I'm not gonna force you to talk with me. I'll go out with Cameron and the psycho, you can sit here and wallow in your own self-pity over whatever the hell it is you're going through. And I'll talk to you later, when you're ready to let me in again."

Brittany groaned as she watched him leave the room. Her life was definitely falling apart. She had a great job, where she was being promoted; she had a boyfriend who loved her and, like the good girlfriend that she was, she unwillingly never ceased to treat like crap; and she had a boss, who she was slowly falling for ... who was married.

~ * ~

Nick sighed as he sat in the club, watching Adrienne and Cameron dancing on the dance-floor. Completely bored out of his mind and sick of waiting for the waitress to come and refill his drink, he stood and walked to the bar. As he stood waiting while the bartender filled his glass, he watched Cameron head toward the restrooms and moments later Adrienne was walking toward the bar.

"Hi, Nick," she yelled over the loud pulsing music, her body still bouncing to the movements in an inconspicuous manner, "having fun?"

"Yeah," he shrugged and moved over, giving her room to stand next to him.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not having much fun either. What do you say you and I get out of here while Cam's still in the bathroom?"

It wasn't so much the fact that she'd asked that had him so disgusted, it was the fact that he actually hesitated in his response. The thing that frustrated him the most about his hesitation wasn't just from the shock of the question ... but he'd actually thought about it! Of course, he didn't want to leave with her--he had a girlfriend that loved him. Right?

~ * ~

Kalee looked out the kitchen window, seeing James sitting with his feet in the pool, talking on the phone. It wasn't often she saw her husband so relaxed and looking so emotionally normal; it almost scared her. Trying not to wonder who he was talking to, she walked to the door that led out onto the patio and called out to him, "James, I'm leaving, okay? I have to go meet Matt for dinner; we're running over our scripts together."

James told the person on the phone to hold on a second and turned toward Kalee, surprising her in the slightest, "All right."

She hadn't really expected him to say much more than that; she hadn't even expected him to acknowledge her presence. "Umm," she fumbled through her words, "there's food in the fridge, a few things that are already made that you could just heat up in the microwave for dinner."

"Actually I'm going to the office tonight. My assistant is being promoted and she and I have to run over some paperwork."

"Oh," Kalee shrugged, swallowing hard. Why was he freaking her out so much? Why was he being so civil? So lucid? "All right, well, whatever then. I'll see you later tonight. I should be home by--"

"It's fine, have fun."

"Yeah, uh, see ya."

~ * ~

Brittany could feel her pulse beating faster and faster as she sat next to James in his office. From the moment that she saw him she'd noticed he'd gotten a haircut. It looked so good on him that it was making her skin tingle every time she glanced at him. And glancing was all she'd been allowing herself to do. She knew that if she stared at him, or truly looked at him, she'd be a goner and she'd already decided that was something she could not be. She had Nick, who she really did love, and James had Kalee, and though Brittany couldn't tell what was going on with he and his wife that wasn't her problem. If they hadn't divorced, she had no right to even lay one finger on him.

"Hello??" James laughed, waving his hand in front of her face in an attempt to regain Brittany's concentration. Somewhere between reading and signing document number 1 to reading and signing document number 500 (exaggeration) she'd managed to let her mind wander just a tad. Imagine that!

Brittany jumped and could feel her face beginning to blush, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I, um, guess I'm just a little more tired than I realized."

James looked down at her sympathetically, understanding that reading tons of boring business documents is more than a little exhausting. "Why don't we take a break from these, finish them tomorrow night--that is if you're not busy--and right now we can go and get something to eat?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "that sounds great. I'm starved."

Nick sighed as he stepped into his house, a weird expression crossing his face as he noticed the light on in the family room. Taking a deep breath, he dropped his keys and wallet on the entryway table and headed toward the lighted room, ridding himself of his jacket on the way. His head dropped as he came in to see Brittany sitting on the couch watching TV. He loved his girlfriend, he really did; how could he have even thought about leaving with Adrienne earlier that night?

With a deep breath, Nick walked to the couch and sat down, his arm resting on the armrest and his teeth gently biting at his thumbnail. They sat in silence for a full five minutes before Brittany finally leaned over toward the coffee table and grabbed the television remote, turning the TV off.

"How was your night?" she chirped, looking over at him with a big smile. Play happy, appear happy. Wrong.

Nick sighed and stretched his legs out, resting his feet on the coffee table. "It was, um, interesting."

"Interesting?" Brittany sat up on her knees and looked at him sitting on the other end of the couch, still not making eye-contact with her.

"Brittany," he sighed, finally raising his head, his eyes at least looking in her general direction now, "something's going on here and I don't know what it is. For the first time in our 2 year relationship, you and I are not in tune here. And something's goin' on with you and I don't know what! Do you know how scary that is, Brittany? Why won't you talk to me?"

"I can't," she wailed, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't know what to do, Nick, but I can't tell you, I can't."

Nick watched her place her head in her hands as she began to cry. They'd always been able to communicate well and suddenly in the past couple of weeks they'd been way out of tune. What was happening to them?

"Maybe it's the physical part of the relationship. I mean, we've always been so good at talking and hanging out, but I kind of think that after a while, you need more to the relationship than that. Why don't you move in with me?"

"Oh my gosh, Nick," Brittany scoffed, looking up at him in disbelief. "How--I--I can't believe you just said that! I'm not shacking up with you and you d*mn well know it!!"

"Britt," Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way; it came out wrong--"

"Yes, you did!" she stood from the couch, with her hands on her hips. "If you think that we're falling apart because we don't have a bountiful physical side of our relationship, well then, then, then, I don't know!!"

Nick groaned and leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. This night could not get any worse. "Look, Brittany, I'm gonna be honest here, okay? I love you, I really do, and I think that you feel the same way. But tonight something really scary happened. I was out with Cameron and Adrienne and like the conniving little b*tch that she is, she asked me if I wanted to leave with her while Cameron was in the bathroom. And you know what?! I contemplated it! I actually thought about it," his voice became hushed as though if somebody were to hear him, he'd be sent straight to hell.

Brittany stood there, her breathing ragged and her eyes filling with tears once again.

"I'm sorry," Nick whispered. "I'm not saying that we're over or anything like that. I'm saying that we definitely need to face the fact that something's going wrong. Will you tell me now ... what's been going on with you?" He watched her begin to cry as he took her hands in his and sighed in relief when she finally sat back down next to him.

~ * ~

Brittany walked into Evans Films' office building, trying to appear confident, though inside she was falling apart. With a deep breath she knocked on James' office door, her breath catching in her throat as he opened it.

"James, I have to talk to you. It's really important."

"Come in," James smiled as he moved aside and motioned her into the room. He looked so good in his jeans and white Nike sweatshirt. She loved how he looked when he dressed so casually. But she wasn't here to stare at his wardrobe or attractiveness.

Brittany walked inside and took a seat on the couch as he closed the door behind her. She looked like she was going to either throw up or cry and the thought scared him.

"Britt, what is it?" he walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. "What's going on?"

"James, I can't work for you anymore."

"What?? Brittany, you're being promoted. You're not gonna be an assistant anymore, you're going to be writing movies!"

"James, I can't," Brittany sighed and she leaned forward and let her head fall to her hands. "You don't understand. I have a boyfriend, I have a boyfriend that I have been with for 2 full years. We're in love, I love him, but I'm starting to feel things for you! You're married, I can't-"

"I'm not married."

"What?!?!"

"I mean, I am, but we're not," he sighed and stood up, walking over to the window that looked out over the city. "We hardly even talk anymore, Brittany. But you know what, I get it, okay? If you don't feel the way that I feel for you, then just go. Just leave, okay?"

"James-" she stood up and was about to walk over to him, but he was suddenly screaming at her.

"Get out!!! Just get the hell out of my office!!"

"James!"

"Look, I finally opened up to somebody, I finally let myself go. I haven't even been able to do that with my wife!" he turned back around to face her and Brittany saw tears in his eyes for the first time. "I open up and you walk away," he laughed in spite of himself, "but that's how it always goes, isn't it?"

"James, I... I'm so sorry," Brittany whispered as she walked to him, taking his face into her hands. "I don't know what to do. What do I do?"

"Stay with me," his tears fell from his eyes as he pulled her closer to himself. "Please, stay with me."

"I-I told Nick I'd quit. I told him about the feelings that I'm starting to have for you and we worked out a compromise. But it means I have to quit."

James stood there, waiting for her to continue and after a few minutes Brittany leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll stay."

~ * ~

Nick stood up as he heard the front door open. He'd been waiting for Brittany to come over. She'd said she'd be there as soon as she quit her job, but she'd been gone all day. It was already eleven at night. That was later than when she got home when she was still working.

"Nick?"

Nick walked out of his bedroom and down the stairs to see Brittany standing at the bottom, her hands clasped neatly in front of her body. "Hey, you okay?" he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, hoping to calm her down. She looked like she was going to throw up.

Brittany licked her lips and pulled away from him, "I didn't do it, Nick."

"What?"

"I didn't quit. In fact, I finished signing all the papers for my promotion."

Nick stood there, stunned. What was he supposed to say to that? They'd agreed that she would quit her job and get one writing songs for the band. That way she could be with him even more ... and most importantly, away from James Evans.

"I don't want to write songs," she looked at him and appeared awfully calm. Calmer than he'd seen her in days. "I don't want to, Nick. If you don't understand that, then I'm sorry. But I like my job, and I like the job that I just received from Evans Films even more. I'm staying there."

"Do you love him, Brittany?"

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes adverted from his, but only for a moment. "I don't know," she finally whispered, looking straight into his eyes.

Nick nodded and very slowly turned and walked back up the stairs.

~ * ~ 2 Months Later ~ * ~

The sun was shining brightly as Brittany walked outside to her car, shielding her eyes from its strong rays. She ducked inside the brand new Mitsubishi Eclipse and tossed her purse onto the passenger seat. She'd been searching for her car keys for a few minutes when Nick began to pound on the window, dangling her keys in the air. Brittany laughed and opened her door.

"Thanks," she said, while taking them from his hand.

"You left them on the bed."

Brittany had moved in with him a month and a half ago, but for money reasons more than anything else. She was living there for much cheaper than she'd been paying for her own house and that had enabled her to save up money to buy the Eclipse on her own.

"Thanks," Brittany repeated, smiling against the sun. "I'll be home around nine."

Nick nodded, "Have a good day." He watched her drive away, thinking about how strange their relationship was. They hadn't talked about the situation with James in over a month, but Nick knew that the problem was still there, whether they ignored it or not. They stayed silent about their feelings and basically acted as friends would ... basically. When he wasn't busy with the Backstreet Boys, he was either hanging out at the house by himself, since Brittany worked until 8:30, or he was out with Cameron and Adrienne. It was weird, in his eyes, that he hung out with them so often. Since their first night out together and Adrienne's offer to leave with him, Nick tried not to find himself alone with her. And when he did, he merely ignored everything that she said to him.

~ * ~

James and Brittany had been working closely together for the past 2 months, now that she'd gotten her promotion. James wasn't the kind of owner who merely owned a company; he was deeply involved in every aspect ... and especially every aspect that involved Brittany, as of late. It's not that James had been having a full blown affair, but his heart was definitely not his wife's anymore, though Kalee had already known that much. Hers wasn't his either. But Brittany made sure that her relationship with James never grew physical in any way. They hadn't even kissed. Not to say that their lip-service status made Brittany feel any better about their wrong situation, but still, it seemed to be worth noting. Brittany refused to be with him romantically until things were completely over with Kalee and surprisingly she'd never once asked him to terminate his marriage. And James respected her even more for it.

~ * ~

Nick knocked on Cameron's door for the fifth time.

Every Sunday evening Evans' Films had a mandatory meeting that lasted from 7:30-9:00. Nick, in his cynical frame of mind, figured it was just another way for James to see Brittany on the weekends.

So that's why Nick was there at Cameron's house on a night that would ultimately change his entire situation forever. After his fifth knock, he'd been about to turn around and leave when the door flew open and Adrienne stood on the other side. The first thing that Nick noted were her bloodshot eyes.

"Come in," she spoke quietly and her movements were agitated and uncomfortable as she stepped aside so that he could come through the door.

"Are you okay?" he spoke hesitantly, as he stood in the doorway, and looked at her skeptically when she nodded her head yes.

Adrienne sighed and dropped down onto the bottom stair, letting her head fall into her open hands. "No," she mumbled with a strained voice. "No, to be honest, I'm not okay."

Nick was standing awkwardly above her and finally he sat down next to her, his elbows resting on his thighs, leaning forward so that he could try and get a look at her covered face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Nick, everything," Adrienne wailed as she began to cry, her shoulders shaking with unrestrained sobs. She felt Nick's arm wrap around her shoulders as she continued. "Cam and I got in a fight and I just don't know what to do. He stormed out of the house completely pissed off at me."

They sat in silence for a while, Nick staring at her. This wasn't the girl he'd come to know ... or think he knew. And something inside of him told him that she wasn't putting on a facade; she was being real for the first time since he had met her. He'd never seen her so vulnerable and his heart almost ached for her.

"Yeah, looks like we're both having trouble in paradise, huh?"

Adrienne lifted her head and gave him a quizzical glance, "What do you mean?"

"Well, my girlfriend's openly in love with her boss, as he is with her. She and I are just kind of pretending like the dilemma isn't there. It's pretty emotionally draining."

As Adrienne watched him so intently, something inside of Nick completely broke and he knew at that moment that he wasn't as okay as he'd been trying to assure everybody else that he was. Slowly tears began to fall down his face and Adrienne's followed.

There was nothing different about the way he looked at her. He'd been seeing her through the same eyes for half of a year now, and though things were hard, things were normal ... things were comfortable ... beautiful, at times. But things were wrong. And it was tearing the both of them to pieces.

James had served Kalee with divorce papers after two months of being with Brittany in secret. Their divorce would be final in a matter of weeks and Kalee had seemed to not mind as much as he thought she would ... she was constantly hanging out with Matt, and James figured that had something to do with her apparent lack of emotion when it came to them parting ways.

As for Brittany, she and Nick had finally officially broken up and she had moved from the house that they'd shared together and into a condo of her own ... one awfully close to James' own home. As for Nick, James knew from Brittany, who was even better friends with Nick than they had ever been, that he was carrying on a secret relationship of his own. But his was different from James' and Brittany's previous discretion. He was seeing one of his best friend's girlfriends ... He was seeing Adrienne.

~ * ~

Nick sighed as he slipped his sunglasses down from the top of his head and covered his eyes with them. The sun was bright and hot and completely uncomfortable as he drove into Tampa City. Being from Ruskin, his house was about fifteen minutes from Adrienne's, which was located right smack in the middle of the city. He'd been living their secret for months now and it was beginning to wear on him. Adrienne had begged him to let her break it off with Cameron, who still seemed oblivious to what was going on between his girlfriend and best friend. But Nick insisted that they keep things just between the two of them. He didn't know what he planned on happening in the future, but for now ... he couldn't tell Cameron what he had with Adrienne.

~ * ~

Cameron parked his car in the driveway of his girlfriends house, his eyebrows knitting together in curious wonder at the sight of Nick's SUV parked by Adrienne's. Shrugging it off and figuring it wasn't what it seemed to be, he shut his car door behind him and made his way to the front door. He found it unlocked, and opening it without a second thought made his way into her expensively laid out condominium.

"Hello?? Adrienne?" Cameron called out, getting no response.

Moments later Cameron heard a few noises come from upstairs. His stomach was knotted as he made a quick run for the staircase, the sounds so familiar they sent chills running up and down his spine. He walked down the hall quietly, each step he took shaky and unstable. She wouldn't do this to him--they wouldn't do this to him--but as he looked into her bedroom, his entire life came crashing down around him. How could they?

~ * ~

"This is crazy, James. I can't live like this."

Silent tears made translucent paths down Brittany's face. If she had to go one more day with somebody in the office making a rude remark, or another magazine labeling the relationship she had with James as scandalous, or either of their parents telling them that they should break up, she swore she would kill herself. They'd been together long enough to be left alone and Kalee and James were almost divorced. Though it wasn't a situation that Brittany, personally, felt was morally right, she didn't understand why the press was blowing it so out of proportion. Those in the public eye were often immoral and people didn't usually freak out about it. James was famous for making movies ... he wasn't the president! And even then, the president hadn't even been punished for his disgusting and irresponsible behavior.

James sighed and stood from the couch, making his way into the kitchen. "I know, Brittany, okay? You're not the only one who has to deal with all of it. Look, the people in the office knew and loved Kalee ... they saw the completely 'happy' side of our marriage ... it looked real to them. They don't know a d*mn thing, so let them think what they want to think, and just drop it."

James' nonchalance about their whole ordeal was really starting to wear on Brittany. If he told her to "drop it" again she was liable to get up and walk right out of that door.

"James, I'm getting really sick of you not doing anything about this. Release a statement or something! I can't even walk down the hallways in the office without feeling like a demon or something. I can't work in an environment like that."

"Brittany," he shouted from the kitchen, startling her. It was a rare occasion when James raised his voice to her. "Just shut up about it, okay? If we release a statement, it'll only make it worse, trust me!"

James sighed as he sat down at the kitchen counter. He half expected her to come in and confront him about his tone of voice, but he heard nothing but silence. Minutes later the front door closed.

~ * ~ One Year Later ~ * ~

"I now pronounce you man and wife ... you may kiss the bride."

The guests began to clap as the groom leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the mouth of his bride. It had been a long time coming to this point, but both knew that the journey had only strengthened their bond.

Forty-five minutes later, the wedding reception was in full swing, and the bride and groom were getting ready to throw the bouquet and the garter. Brittany laughed as James caught the garter belt and almost squealed in delight when she turned around to find that Adrienne had caught the flowers she'd thrown. She let a slow grin creep across her mouth as she turned and looked at her husband.

"You think?" she giggled, eyeing the two who had been branded as being the next to tie the knot.

Nick just laughed.