“Hello?” Brooke sat down on the edge of the stage, her cell phone attached to her ear.
“Brooke?” Kevin’s voice could be heard through the connection.
“Hey,” Brooke said, softly. It had been days since she had last spoken to him.
“I’ve been leaving messages for you for a few days now,” He told her. “Why haven’t you called me back?”
“I’ve been busy, Kev,” she replied, tiredly.
“Too busy for your fiancée?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“I don’t want to fight with you right now.” Brooke rubbed her hand over her eyes. She was exhausted to begin with and she didn’t have the energy to argue with him.
“Fine.” Kevin sighed. “Where are you right now?”
“Cincinnati,” Brooke answered, after having to think about it for a minute. “Anyway, I can’t really talk right now. I’ll call you from the hotel tonight, okay?”
“Fine,” Kevin reluctantly agreed. Every time he had called her lately, she was always too busy to talk to him. He didn’t understand it. When Fatima was with them, she always had the time to do her own thing. These guys never seemed to give Brooke time off.
Before Brooke could say anything else, Kevin had hung up the phone. She dropped her head into her hands, trying to fight off the threatening tears. It seemed like her relationship just kept crumbling around her. She knew what the problem was, but it seemed like she was powerless to stop it. She couldn’t help it. Everything was so new and different. It was more excitement than she had had in a very long time and she wasn’t sure that she wanted it to end.
“You ready?” She heard a voice call from the wings.
She stood up and walked over to him, grabbing his arm. “Yup. Let’s go.”
On his end, Kevin stared at the phone, dejected. He didn’t understand what was happen. Every time he had called her, she didn’t want to talk to him. She always seemed to come up with some excuse on why she was too busy to talk to him. He had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know if she was truly very busy or if there was some other reason. In the back of his mind, he knew that Brooke really loved him but he couldn’t get over the fact that something was desperately wrong. Was there someone else? Or did these guys really just work her too hard? He had no idea. And he was determined not to let it get to him. He decided that two could play at this game. He didn’t want to seem like he was always chasing her. It was time for her to do a little chasing of her own.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“You okay with watching him tonight?” Katelin asked, as she gathered her purse and her jacket.
“Yeah,” Nick replied. “He is my son afterall.”
Katelin glared at him. “Yes I know that. Believe me, I know that. I even think he’s mastered the puppy dog look in the last few weeks.”
“Yeah.” Nick grinned. “I taught him well, didn’t I?” He grabbed Aidan off of the ground and walked him over to the sink to wash his messy hands. “Didn’t I, Aidan?”
“Yeah,” Aidan giggled, as Nick tickled his tummy. Katelin watched from her spot at the kitchen table, shaking her head, although she had a huge smile on her face. Nick was incredibly hyper and crazy to begin with. Put him with Aidan and he went off the charts. “Anyway,” she stressed. “I’ll be at the beach house if you need me.”
“We’ll be fine mom,” Nick answered, grinning at her. In the last couple of weeks, Katelin and Nick had put the past behind them and learned to get along. While old feelings still lingered, they had learned to push them down far enough in order to get along for their son’s sake. While they weren’t a traditional family, they had become friends and that was what most important. That they could get along without any animosity between them. Although Katelin had a secret problem with Lanie being around all of the time, only because Lanie seemed to have a problem with Katelin, she didn’t bring that to Nick’s attention. She knew that Nick loved Lanie and there was nothing she could do about it except learn to deal with it. And as long as Lanie was able to deal with the fact that Katelin lived there and would be a permanent fixture in Nick’s life, than all would be okay.
“Alright.” Katelin walked over to where Nick was holding Aidan. “Give mommy a kiss.” Aidan leaned in and placed a small kiss on his mother’s cheek.
Katelin grinned. “Bye sweetie.”
“Bye mommy!” Aidan waved, excitedly.
“Bye mom!” Nick waved, just as excited.
Katelin rolled her eyes as she walked towards the front door. “Bye guys! Behave!”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Hey!” Alyssa greeted, letting Krista in the house. “I’m so glad you came!”
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Krista asked, tentatively. She knew that Sarah would be here and, while she hadn’t actually met the girl in the few weeks she had been here, she didn’t think that Sarah would be too thrilled with the fact that she was here.
“Of course!” Alyssa grabbed her arm and dragged her into the living room. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know,” Krista replied, sitting down on the couch. So far, she was the first one there. “I’m sure there are some people who are coming here who won’t be too excited about my presence.”
“Well, I don’t care,” Alyssa told her, walking into the kitchen. “You’ve been here for three weeks and I haven’t seen you once. Why don’t you ever come out with us?”
“Because it’s hard,” Krista replied. “He’s there. She’s there. I’m starting to think that I shouldn’t even be down here.”
“Krista,” Alyssa began, returning to the living room and handing Krista a drink. “Are you here for AJ? Or are you here for yourself? Tell me now if you were happier in New York than you are in Florida?”
Krista glanced down at her hands. There were reasons why she was happy in both places. New York had her family. It was where she had grown up. But she hadn’t been happy there in the last few years. Sure, Katelin had been there. But Krista didn’t even get in touch with her until recently and then, Katelin had decided to come back down here. With everyone else. Krista knew as much as any one did that these people were more her family than anyone else. Even though she was only with them for a short period of time, they did more for her than anyone ever could. And in one bad decision, she had tossed everything away.
“I guess I’m happier in Florida,” she finally answered. “You and Kate and Ang and Brooke have been more like a family to me than my own. I can’t ever forget that. And while Sarah may not like me and AJ may not be thrilled that I’m here, I’m not going to let that stop me from being happy. I’m going to start living my life for me.”
“That’s the spirit!” Alyssa reached over and hugged Krista just as the doorbell rang. “Let me get that.” She stood up and walked over to the door. “Ang? Why the hell are you ringing the doorbell? You live here.”
“I can’t find my key,” Ang replied, simultaneously walking through the house and digging through her purse. “I’m positive I had it when I left.”
“It’s probably upstairs or something,” Alyssa told her.
“Yeah.” She tossed her purse onto the table in the foyer. “Anyone here yet?”
“Just Krista,” Alyssa replied. “Lanie ran to the liquor store, Sarah and Christine should be here any minute, and Katelin just called about ten minutes ago and she was just leaving.”
Ang shook her head. “She has the farthest to come but yet she leaves the latest. I swear that girl moves on ‘Katelin time.’”
No sooner had they walked into the living room when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Ang said, running back over to the front door. She opened it to find Sarah on the other side. “Hey! Come on in!”
Sarah smiled and followed Ang into the living room. She froze, seeing who was on the couch. The girl looked remarkably like the girl that AJ was with in some old pictures. Ang noticed how tense Sarah had gotten and knew she must have recognized Krista. “Sarah, this is Krista. Krista, this is AJ’s fiancee, Sarah.”
“Nice to meet you,” Sarah lied. She reached out and tentatively shook Krista’s hand.
“You too,” Krista replied quietly, her eyes on the floor the whole time. This was one of the most uncomfortable positions she had ever been in. The truth was, she absolutely envied this girl. Sarah had everything that Krista wanted. Well, maybe not everything, for no one could ever bring her son back. But she had AJ and he was who Krista wanted most in the world.
An hour later, everyone but Katelin had arrived at the beach house. The girls were lounging around eating pizza and drinking Margaritas. So far, everyone seemed to be getting along fine. But that was before Katelin had gotten there. Everyone knew that Katelin and Lanie had a tendancy to be bitchy with one another. Neither one of them liked the other. Although, Katelin would forever be grateful to Lanie for convincing Nick to let her be a part of Aidan’s life. Lanie knew this and used to her advantage in any way that she could.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
She glanced at the shiny object in her hand. ‘Now this is just too easy,’ she thought as she inspected the silver key. Placing it in her back pocket, she began to walk back to her car with a sinister grin on her face. Soon she would have the girl right where she wanted her. She laughed to herself, thinking Ang wouldn’t even know what had hit her. She had fucked with her too many times in her life. And now she would have to pay. She knew what really happened in that hotel in Los Angeles. And at the club before it. And afterwards when those guys came to rescue her. But Ang had no idea. It was all part of the plan. Soon Ang would pay for the way she had treated her all those years. And she would finally know how it feels to have someone out there make your life a living hell.