Chapter Two

It took a minute for JC to stop laughing before he was able to reply. That was the last question that he had expected out of her mouth.

“I get that question a lot these days,” he told her, still laughing.

“Do you ever answer it?” She teased.

“I’m rebelling. Alexandria, my wife, hates my hair like this.” He sighed and ran a hand through it. Laurie raised her eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing. “Six months ago, she gave me an ultimatum. Either we married before the year was over or she was going to leave.”

“But why…”

“Don’t you see Laurie? You’re the only woman who would have made me happy. And since I couldn’t find you…” he paused and took a deep breath. “I gave in to her ultimatum. I would rather face a life with her, than have so much time alone to think about what could have been… what should have been.”

“It looks like we both married for the wrong reasons,” Laurie observed quietly.

“It’s almost like we were trying to replace each other.”

Laurie raised her eyes to meet his. “There’s no one who could ever replace you Josh.”

Over the next few hours, Josh and Laurie spent their remaining time together catching up and becoming reacquainted with each other. It was almost six o’clock in the morning before Josh looked at his watch and sighed.

“I can’t believe it’s morning already. I don’t want to say goodbye. Alexandria and I need to leave at eleven… we’re flying to Mexico for a few days before we go back on tour.

“Craig and I leave in a couple of days… he hates being away from work.” She paused as a wave of guilt washed over her. “I feel so guilty… I spent my wedding night with another man. I should have been in bed with my husband. But I don’t regret it at all.”

Josh stood up and offered his hand. “I’ll walk you back to your room.” He suddenly stopped and walked up to the bartender. He wrote something on a piece of paper and rejoined Laurie.

“What’s this?” She asked when he gave the paper to her.

“Everything you’ll need to get a hold of me. My cell number, pager, home number and email. I won’t lose you again.”

“Would you like my information?” She asked. When he nodded, she ripped a piece of paper off the bottom of the one he had given her and wrote her information on it.

The elevator doors opened on their floor and they stepped out together turning down the corridor where their suites were located. As they looked at each other, their hearts filled with longing.

“I hate that you’re walking away to be in someone else’s arms.” He frowned.

“The feeling is mutual.”

Suddenly, Laurie was in his arms. “Kiss me,” he whispered.

It was more of a demand than a request and Laurie felt his lips brush against hers gently before turning more passionate. When they finally separated, Josh pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll call you as soon as I can,” he whispered and kissed her one last time before disappearing into the suite he shared with his wife.

Laurie unconsciously raised her fingers to the lips that he had just kissed and stared at his door. Reluctantly, she withdrew her keycard and unlocked her door. With one last look at Josh’s door, she walked into her room.

“Where have you been?” Craig asked in a soft voice.

Laurie froze. “I couldn’t sleep, so I just went for a walk around the hotel.” She moved to sit beside him. “How come you’re awake?”

“I just got a call from the office. There’s a problem with one of the major accounts and they need me back there today.”

“Craig, we’re on our honeymoon! Can’t they…”

“No, they can’t.” He sighed. “I’m sorry Laur, I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

“You always say that and I’ve yet to see it happen.” She huffed.

“Laurie…”

“Check out is at eleven. I’m going to try to get some sleep.”

**********

JC quickly and silently stripped off his clothes and slid into bed. He sighed with content and closed his eyes as his head hit the pillow.

“Where the hell were you?”

Her cold, suspicious voice made his blood freeze and his stomach tighten. He was thankful that his eyes were already closed and he groaned inwardly. Of all the mornings she could have chosen to wake up before noon, she had to choose this one. He rolled over to face her.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went down to see if the coffee shop was open yet.”

“You couldn’t sleep? Since when JC?”

“Dria, I don’t need this shit right now. Even I have trouble sleeping every once in a while.”

“By the way, when we get to Mexico I’m going to need your credit card so I can do some shopping.”

“Fine, whatever.” JC replied just to get her to shut up. “Can I get some sleep now?”

“Fine.” She huffed and laid on her side with her back to him. JC just rolled his eyes and fell asleep.

**********

Laurie sat on the sofa in the reception area while she waited for Craig to settle the bill for their room. She looked around at the prints on the walls and her eyes landed on JC and Alexandria as they entered the lounge. JC spotted her right away and winked at her.

“Just hurry up and check out JC, I want to get out of here.” Laurie heard her complain.

“Alexandria, can you please stop whining for like, thirty seconds? We just got here and we have to wait our turn.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll be waiting over there. Come and get me when you’re done.”

“Please don’t sit here,” Laurie thought. Her eyes closed as she felt the other woman flop down beside her.

Alexandria snapped her purse open and withdrew a package of cigarettes. She chose one, lit it and took a long drag from it. Sighing with pleasure, she turned to Laurie.

“You don’t mind, do you?” She asked and deliberately blew smoke in Laurie’s direction.

“Actually…” Laurie coughed. Craig came to her rescue.

“Come on Laur, we’re all set. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.” She replied. For the first time since the night before, she was actually glad to see her husband. Craig gently took her hand into his and headed toward the door. As she was walking out, she caught JC’s eye and the look on his face broke her heart.

“Goodbye,” he whispered as he watched her walk out the door.

“Aren’t you finished yet?” Alexandria demanded.

“Almost.” JC gritted his teeth and prayed for patience. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

Alexandria narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed, “I’ll be waiting in the car.”

**********

When their plane landed in Mexico, Alexandria barely gave JC a second look before she disembarked and headed for the hired car that was waiting on the tarmac for them. JC just sighed and gathered their carry-on bags from the overhead compartment, and made sure he had everything before he left the plane.

When he reached the car, the chauffeur took the bags from him and JC shot him a grateful look before sliding into the backseat. He relished the feeling of the air conditioning on his overheated body and closed his eyes before slipping into a relaxed state.

“You’re not listening to a single word I’m saying,” Alexandria complained. JC found himself praying for patience for the second time that day.

“I’m sorry Dria, I’m just tired.” He apologized to placate her. “What is it that you were saying?”

“You wouldn’t be so tired if you had stayed in bed last night!” She snapped.

“Not this again…” he groaned. “Why are you being such a bitch? It’s worse than usual.”

“Excuse me?” She exclaimed. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me.” JC looked at her and his cerulean eyes glittered with anger. “I don’t need to repeat myself.”

Alexandria narrowed her eyes at him and moved to the other side of the car. With shaking hands, she opened her purse and removed a cigarette from the package. As she brought a lit match up to the end of the rolled tobacco, JC’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She glared at him.

“You know the fucking rules. No smoking around me.”

“I’ll open the window.”

“I’ll break that fucking cigarette in half if you light it, Dria. Don’t test me, you won’t win.”

With a final glare, Alexandria returned the cigarette to the package and blew the match out, filling the car with the rich scent of sulfur. JC more or less let his wife do whatever she pleased, but he drew the line at letting her smoke around him. He didn’t want the toxic fumes to irritate his throat and affect his voice.

“Thank you.”

Alexandria just rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. JC sat back. He knew it was going to be a long ride.

As soon as the car stopped in front of their hotel, Alexandria got out and flounced into the reception area and waited for JC to check them in. The driver brought their bags in and left them at reception. After receiving the room key, they rode the elevator up to the penthouse in silence. JC tried to take her hand into his and she jerked it away. The doors opened and they made their way down the hallway.

Once they were inside the room, Alexandria walked into the bedroom to change out of her traveling clothes and have a shower, leaving JC alone to think. He heard the shower start and sighed.

He knew marriage to Alexandria wasn’t going to be easy, but he didn’t think it would be this hard. She had always been a little bitchy, but ever since he proposed, things had gotten worse. Much worse. It was like wearing his ring gave her the right to say and do whatever she wanted. Like spend his money almost as fast as he could make it. JC frowned when he realized what his last thought had been. Was that the only reason she was with him? Because of his status?

The guys had told him straight out what they thought when he announced that he was getting married.

***Flashback – Six Months Earlier***

“Can we make this quick, C? I’m supposed to meet Stacy’s parents tonight and I’m nervous enough without being late.”

“Justin, this is really important, so just chill. Ok?” JC paused and took a deep breath. “I asked Alexandria to marry me last night, and she accepted.”

Silence fell across the room as they looked at JC with stunned expressions. Even Chris stopped fidgeting. Joey was the first to speak.

“Are you out of your mind?”

JC shot a glare in Joey’s direction. To his dismay, the rest of his bandmates had a similar opinion to Joey’s. Lance was the only who kept quiet until the others were finished with their tirade.

“You’re awfully quiet Lance,” JC noted. “What’s your opinion?”

“I more or less agree with the guys,” Lance paused as he saw a muscle in JC’s cheek twitch with anger. “However, I sincerely think that it’s who you’re marrying that we have issues with, rather than the marriage itself.”

JC contemplated this and slumped down in his chair. “Why don’t you guys like her?”

“We don’t think she’s good for you,” Chris said bluntly. “She’s a bottom feeder and she’s only with you because of what you are.”

“Chris is right,” Lance added. “When was the last time Alexandria let you do anything by yourself?”

“And she’s rude to the fans,” Justin said. “Even Stacy can attest to that. Come on, Jace…don’t tell us that you can’t see all this for yourself.”

“Hey C?” Joey piped up. JC looked at him. “Do you really love her? Or are you just scared of being alone?”

***Present Day***

“Scared of being alone,” JC murmured to himself. “Maybe that’s the reason I asked her to marry me. But if I had known Laurie was going to come back into my life…”

Laurie. Just thinking about her made him smile. He couldn’t wait for Alexandria to leave so he could call her. He had seen her leaving with her husband that morning, but where was she going? It almost looked like they had checked out. Just when he had gotten used to the idea of not having her in his life, she walked back into it.

It was almost half an hour later when JC heard the shower stop. The bathroom door opened and Alexandria emerged with a towel wrapped around her hair and a thick terry cloth robe wrapped around her body. She glared at JC as she walked by him to go to the bedroom. He followed her.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re being such a bitch?” He demanded. “Or do I have to guess?”

“What are you talking about?” She laughed. “I’m not acting like a bitch.”

“You just glared at me as you walked by… for no reason. What’s your problem?”

“You want to know what my problem is? Fine, I’ll tell you what my problem is. I’m still pissed off that you chose Mexico as the destination for the final days of our honeymoon.”

JC sighed. “You said you were fine with it. You were there when we chose where we were going and you were there when we paid for it. You could have chosen anything else and I would have been fine with it, so you really have no reason to be glaring at me.”

“Ok,” Alexandria smiled and her attitude quickly changed. She took JC’s face into her hands and kissed him. “I don’t want to fight with you today. Do you want to come shopping with me?”

“Umm, no.” JC shook his head adamantly. He had made the mistake of shopping with her a few times when they had first started dating. He still had nightmares. “You go ahead, I’m probably just going to have a nap.”

"Ok," Alexandria grinned. "I'm just going to change and head out. Love you!"

Chapter 3