“Aje?” Sarah began tentatively, cuddling up to her fiancee on the couch. “Can you tell me about Krista?”
“What?!” AJ exclaimed, thoroughly surprised and taken off guard by her question. “Why do you want to know about her?”
“Because she’s part of your past,” Sarah explained. “If we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, don’t you think I’d want to know about her?”
“Actually no, Sar.” AJ couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way he was going to talk about Krista. He never talked about her with anyone. Not even the guys. Why would he open up to the one person who he could hurt with stories of his ex-girlfriend. “I don’t understand at all. I have no idea why you want to know about her?” He detached himself from her and stood up, walking over to the window.
“Why are you so afraid of being honest with me?” Sarah desperately tried to fight the tears that were pooling in her eyes. “Why are you so damn afraid of being honest with yourself?”
“What are you talking about, Sarah?” AJ spun around angrily. “I have been honest with you. And I have been honest with myself. What the hell are you insinuating?”
“You’re lying, AJ,” Sarah said, shaking her head sadly at him. “You’re lying to me and you’re lying to yourself. If you were truly honest with yourself, you would admit that you weren’t over her. You never really got over her. You didn’t have the chance.”
“What are you saying, Sar?” AJ was confused. He couldn’t even begin to understand what she was getting at. “Why are you all of the sudden bringing this up?”
“It’s not all of the sudden, AJ.” She stood up and began walking out of the room. “I’ve noticed things about you lately. I can tell you’re not over her. There was never really any closure. So why don’t you do yourself a favor. Go find her. See her again. See if the feelings are really there. If you realize that they aren’t, then come back to me because I love you. But if you realize that they are still there, you need to tell me because I can’t compete with your past.” Sarah, slowly and sadly, walked out the front door of the house, hoping to God that she just did the right thing.
***** ***** ***** ***** **** *****
“Hey,” Brian greeted, quietly, walking into the bedroom he shared with Ang. “What’s wrong?”
Ang sighed, tossing the phone on to the bed. “I just got off the phone with Kate.”
Brian rolled his eyes. Here we go again, he thought. “What is it this time?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ang shot back. “Why are you being so damn rude?”
“Nothing Ang.” Brian sat down on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry. What happened?”
“Your fucking best friend,” Ang spat. “That’s what happened.”
“What’d Nick do?” Brian asked, confused. “According to Nick, he was the innocent one in all of this.”
“Nick is far from innocent,” Ang snorted. “He found out about the baby because the adoptive couple was killed in a car accident. They gave full custody of Aidan to Nick instead of Kate, not knowing that Mr. Taylor was dead. They felt that he should’ve been with at least one of his biological parents. So Nick got full custody.”
“So?” Brian questioned. “That’s not his fault.”
“I know that.” Ang rolled her eyes. “Just let me finish.” Brian nodded, urging her to continue. “He went over to Katelin’s, absolutely furious and went crazy on her.”
“I’m sure gave her no less than what she deserved,” Brian commented, his eyes widening when he saw the look on Ang’s face.
“What is with you?” She exclaimed. She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Neither you nor Nick just what the hell she went through when she had to give that baby up. It killed her, Brian. And then to find out that full custody was given to Nick? She doesn’t deserve that, Brian. “She also doesn’t deserve the fact that Nick is refusing to ever let her see him again.”
Brian was stunned into silence. He didn’t know what to say. He was secretly proud of his best friend for finally standing up to her. Although he wasn’t sure that this was the way to do it. Purposely keeping a mother away from her son out of spite was just plain heartless. For once, he was on Katelin’s side and he was going to have a talk with Nick as soon as he could.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Lanie stared at the phone, willing it to ring. She had been calling Nick’s cell all afternoon and he wasn’t answering. She was worried as hell that something had happened to him. Or, even worse, that he had run in with Katelin and that was why he was ignoring him all day. She hated the fact that a girl who hadn’t been in Nick’s life in years was so threatening to her relationship. It was driving her insane. Lanie knew that Nick loved her. But that was before his ex-girlfriend resurfaced in his life. Lanie sighed, tired of thinking about it. Maybe it was just all in her head. Maybe Katelin really wasn’t threatening to her. Maybe Nick had put Katelin out of his mind completely.
Nick rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was a little after five and he had just woken up from a restless nap. He reached for his cell phone, realizing that he hadn’t ever called Lanie, as he had promised. The truth was, he had been putting it off as long as possible. He had no idea what he was going to say to her or how she was going to take the news. Taking a deep breath, he began dialing the number to the beach house, silently praying that only the answering machine would pick up so he wouldn’t have to give any explanations yet.
Lanie jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. Crossing her finger and praying that it was her boyfriend, she picked it up off of the receiver. “Hello?”
“Lane?” Nick asked hesitantly.
Lanie let the air rush out of her lungs in relief at hearing Nick’s voice. “Hey. I was wondering when you were going to call.”
“I’m sorry, babe,” Nick apologized. “I’ve had some stuff on my mind and just needed to do some thinking.”
“Is everything okay?” Lanie asked, nervously. Something in her gut told her that everything was NOT okay.
“No,” Nick sighed. “Not really. But I don’t want to get into it over the phone.”
“Oh.” Lanie couldn’t help the disappointment in her voice.
“How fast can you get up here?” Nick hoped he didn’t sound too desperate. He really wanted to tell her. He didn’t want any secrets between them. But he really wanted to be face to face when he explained everything to her. No chance of her hanging up on him.
“What’s wrong, Nick?” Lanie was genuinely concerned. Something sounded really off. Something in his voice that she couldn’t quite place her finger on.
“I just really need you,” Nick practically whispered.
“I’ll be on the next flight up,” Lanie said, jumping off of the bed and walking into her closet. She got her suitcase out and began frantically throwing clothes in it. “What hotel are you at?”
“Marriot,” Nick answered. “Times Square. I’ll leave a key at the front desk for you.”
“Okay.” Lanie stopped packing for a second so she could say goodbye. “I’ll be there as soon as I can get a flight. See you later.”
“Yeah, you too.” Nick was about to hang up the phone when he paused for a second. “Oh, and Lane?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” It was so quiet but the raw emotion in his voice was clearly evident.
Lanie’s heart melted. “I love you too, Nick. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Nick hung up the phone and sighed deeply. He didn’t think he could wait any longer, let alone another four hours or so. But just hearing her voice brightened his day immensely. He was so in love with her. He knew that. All he had to do was see her and reaffirm those feelings. But there was still that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He couldn’t get her face out of his head. He would close his eyes and see the heart-broken look on her face. The sad eyes as he told her she would never see their son again.
“Goddamnit, Katelin,” he whispered to himself. “Why do you always manage to do this to me?”