“Okay, fine,” Liz replied. It wasn’t like she was about to tell him to leave. This was the guy she had been missing since she left. Hmm, if he was here now, why did she still feel lonely? She quickly shook the thought from her head. She wasn’t lonely. She was depressed about the baby.
When they got into her room, she changed into a pair of flannel pajamas and brushed her teeth. Her entire body felt numb, especially her heart. She felt no emotion whatsoever anymore, except emptiness. She ached for something, someone, but she couldn’t figure out what or who.
After washing her face, she crawled into bed next to Joel and sighed as he massaged her shoulders and kissed her neck gently. Still no emotional feelings. This wasn’t right. Something was weird. Maybe it was just shock. Yeah, that was it. This wasn’t exactly an every day thing. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.
In a few minutes, she dozed off, but woke up after a little while from a bad dream that she now couldn’t remember. Her eyes opened to see that Joel had turned off the light, and a faint snore told her he was asleep now. She slid out from under his arm and out of bed. Then she put on her robe. She needed to get out of that room.
She stepped out into the hallway and nearly ran into Howie. “Hey,” he said. “What are you doing out here?”
“I’m not exactly sure. I just couldn’t stand being in that room anymore,” she replied.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m all right, I guess.”
He hesitated. “Liz, I won’t tell anyone what you say, but is the baby really Joel’s?”
“No,” she whispered. “I thought everyone had figured that out – well, everyone except him, of course.”
“So it was Nick’s then, huh?”
“How did you know?”
“We saw how you two were acting at the club that one night. We knew you were drunk, but we could also tell it wasn’t the alcohol that was making you guys act like that. You’re in love.”
She laughed. “Love. I’m beginning to doubt it even exists.”
“I wouldn’t if I were you. It’s there, Liz. You just haven’t seen it yet.”
“If you insist.”
Sensing he needed to back off, he changed the subject. “The tour is almost over.”
“I know. That’s crazy.”
“I always want it to be over so bad, and then as soon as it ends, I want it back. I guess I should be thankful we have so many fans to come to our concerts. Our success is a blessing, and we often don’t realize it.”
She smiled wryly. “I know how that feels. It seems no one really appreciates what they have until it’s gone.”
“That’s for sure.”
A few moments of silence passed. “I should probably go to bed,” Liz stated. “It was nice talking to you.”
“Nice talking to you, too. Sleep well,” Howie said. He gave her a friendly hug before she went back into her room.
As she got back under the covers, she began to wonder if what Howie said was true. Maybe she was in love with Nick. No, of course not. She only thought it was possible because she had had a long day and she needed to get some sleep.