(The Next Morning)
JC was standing in the
doorway of Laurie’s room saying goodbye when Lance saw them. Laurie was wearing only her robe and JC was
playing with the tie on it. Lance
approached them with the stealth of a cat and as JC leaned in to kiss Laurie,
Lance pushed him into the room and closed the door behind him.
“What the hell
Lance?” JC exclaimed once he had
recovered from stumbling back into the room and he had turned around to face
Lance.
“What did I tell you
about being discreet?”
“We are!” JC protested.
“I don’t call leaving
Laurie’s room at eight in the morning and kissing her in the doorway being
discreet.” Lance growled.
“Lance…” JC began.
“No, I’m not covering for
you anymore. The guards already think
that something is going on because of the way you two were carrying on in the
hallway yesterday. You’ve got to tell
the other guys, because if they find out from someone other than you…” Lance’s
voice trailed off.
JC ran a hand through his
hair and glanced sideways at Laurie. “I
don’t know Lance. Both Laurie and I
have a lot at stake… we’re both married and the press can’t get wind of this.”
Lance scoffed. “Like any of us would let it slip.”
“What do you think,
Laur? How would you feel if the rest of
the group knew?”
Laurie placed her hand
lightly on JC’s arm and spoke softly.
“Josh… whatever you decide is fine with me.”
“All right,” JC
relented. “We’ll have a group meeting
in an hour. I just…” He took a deep
breath. “I just hope this doesn’t
backfire on us.”
**********
Chris
groaned as his cell phone rang. The
last place he remembered having it was in the front pocket of his jeans, which
were lying in a heap on the floor beside the bed. He rolled over to reach for it, misjudged how close he was to the
edge of the bed and fell onto the floor with a thump.
“Fuck,”
he muttered and opened his phone with a snap.
“What?”
“Good
morning to you too, sunshine.” Lance laughed.
“We’re having a group meeting in one hour.”
Chris
yawned and climbed back onto the bed, slid his body under the covers and
snuggled up to Michelle’s still sleeping figure.
“Why?”
“You’ll
find out when you get there. Just be in
Laurie’s room in an hour.”
“Fine.”
He
turned his phone off and placed it on the table beside the bed and looked at
the clock. He figured he could sleep
for at least another forty-five minutes before throwing some clothes on and
walking across the hall to Laurie’s room.
Chris closed his eyes and quickly fell back to sleep.
**********
“Josh,
I really don’t need to be here for this, do I?”
“I
think it would be better if you were here, yes. It is your room, after
all.”
“That’s
not what I meant and you know it.” She glared at him. “They’re your friends
and they’re going to think badly of me for
cheating on my husband… you can tell them on your own, I’m going to go
downstairs and have some breakfast.”
Laurie made a move toward the door and JC lightly grabbed her arm.
“Oh,
I don’t think so sweetheart. We’re in
this together.” His eyes gazed intently
into hers.
“Please
don’t make me do this,” she whined.
JC
laughed. “It won’t hurt, I
promise. Do I have to call Lance back
in here to make you stay?”
“You
can’t, he left to wake up Hannah.” Her arms were now folded across her chest.
JC
rested his hands on her shoulders.
“Hmm. Well maybe there’s
something I can do that will convince you to stay.”
Laurie
arched an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
JC simply smiled, took her hand and began leading her into the bathroom.
“You’re
going to make me hide in the bathtub?” She asked incredulously.
JC
couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“No,
I’m going to help you reach all those spots on your back that you have trouble
with.”
“Oh.”
She said and then her eyes widened with understanding and she grinned. “Well what are we waiting for?”
**********
Laurie
exited the bathroom thirty minutes later while JC was drying his hair and got
dressed. It was the perfect opportunity
to sneak out. She knew he wouldn’t hear
the door open over the sound of the hair dryer and she slipped her keycard into
her purse before she left her room. She
was giddy with excitement and failed to look around before she started to walk
down the hallway. A hand on her
shoulder stopped her.
“Going
somewhere?” Lance asked.
“I
thought… I was just…”
“I
know what you ‘thought’ you were ‘just’ going to do.” He grinned. “You were trying to skip out on the meeting
and make JC face the wolves on his own.”
Laurie
hung her head guiltily.
“Listen,”
Lance said sympathetically. “I know its
going to be hard. Both you and JC are
very private people and I know that you would be more than happy to keep this
to yourselves. But I honestly believe
it’s in your best interest to let the other guys know. Now get back in your room or I’ll tell JC to
tie you to the bed just so he can keep you there.”
A
smile flitted across Laurie’s face. “I
think he might like that.”
“TMI.”
Lance covered his ears and watched Laurie re-enter her room. Just as her door closed, the door to Chris
and Michelle’s room opened and Michelle stepped out. Lance grinned. “Where are
you going?”
“I
thought I would go downstairs and grab some breakfast while you guys are having
your meeting. Am I not allowed?”
“You’re
allowed, if you like. But I think
you’re going to want to be at this meeting.”
“Umm…
ok. Since when am I suddenly part of
the group?” Her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Since
the meeting is taking place in Laurie’s room and she’s going to be there. There’s going to be a little announcement
that concerns everyone.”
Michelle’s
eyes widened knowingly. “You mean…”
“Just
be there.” Lance winked.
**********
Chris
was still in the same position she had left him in when she left the room. He was sitting on the side of the bed, half
asleep. She watched with a smile as his
hand came up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before running over the rest
of his unshaven face. It was then that
he noticed she had returned.
“That
was quick,” he commented with a yawn.
“Did you miss me?”
“Not
in the least,” she grinned and sat down beside him, giving his knee a light
caress with her hand. “I ran into Lance
in the hallway and he told me that I should go to the meeting.”
“Since
when are you in the group?”
“That’s
what I said.”
“And
what’s the deal with the meeting being in Laurie’s room? I can’t figure that out.”
“I
don’t know, Chris. Maybe JC planned it
that way just to make you question it.”
Chris
stuck his lower lip out. “You’re so
mean to me, Shelle.”
“I
know, but you love me anyway.” She kissed the lip that was still sticking
out. “Lance told me that Laurie is
going to be at the meeting and that it concerns everyone.”
Chris
groaned and let his upper body fall back to the bed. “This can’t be good.”
**********
Half
an hour later, JC and Laurie were in the kitchenette in her room while the
others waited for Justin to show up.
Lance had left Laurie’s room to kick Justin’s ass out of bed and
instructed JC to have a large bowl of cereal waiting for when he returned with
the elusive member.
“Have
you thought about what we’re going to say?” JC asked.
“Umm…
I thought I’d let you do all the talking.”
“Come
on Laurie, we’re in this together… it’s not something I can just blurt
out. What if we walk out holding
hands?”
“I
doubt anyone except for Lance and possibly Michelle would notice.”
“True,”
JC sighed and pushed his hands through his hair.
It
was at that moment that they heard Justin griping. Lance had returned with him.
“Sit
here.” Lance commanded.
“I
don’t know why we have to be up at the ass crack of dawn,” Justin
grumbled. “We don’t have to be anywhere
until two.”
“It
is not the ‘ass crack of dawn’ as you
so eloquently put it. It’s nine o’clock
in the morning and this meeting is important.
I’ll be back in a minute with your cereal so you can at least act like you belong to the human race.”
Lance
entered the kitchen and looked at Laurie who was shaking so much that she was
using the counter to keep herself in an upright position. His gaze moved to JC and back to Laurie
before he spoke.
“Are
you all right? You look like you’ve
seen a ghost.”
“I
– I can’t do this, Lance.”
Lance
walked up to her and took her hands gently into his. “Yes you can. And you
need to for the sake of my sanity. I
can’t keep covering for the both of you.”
His eyes narrowed when he noticed that Laurie’s eyes kept darting toward
the balcony. “No.”
“No?”
“You’ve
already tried to sneak out once… you’re not sneaking out by way of the balcony,
either. You don’t like heights.” Lance
told her.
JC
looked confused and he interrupted.
“When did she try to sneak out?
She’s been with me the whole time.”
Laurie
bit her lip and looked down at the floor.
“Probably
almost forty minutes ago… her hair was wet, so it must have been shortly after
she showered.”
“Laur?”
JC looked at her questioningly.
“Umm…”
she said in a quiet voice. “You were
umm… drying your hair.”
“You
were actually going to make me do this on my own?”
“They’re
your friends,” she told him
tearfully.
“Aww
honey…” JC pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair while the tears
continued to run down her face. Lance
quietly picked up Justin’s cereal and gracefully exited the kitchenette. JC placed his fingers beneath her chin and
made her look at him. “Sweetheart, they
aren’t going to think badly of either of us… at least, I hope they won’t. We’re like brothers, we try to support in
each other, no matter what stupid decisions we make.”
JC
realized his choice of words was poor and quickly amended them.
“Stupid
decisions like my marrying Alexandria.
They saw right through her, but I didn’t admit it to myself. They like
you… and they’ll probably give you a medal for putting up with my sorry
ass.”
Laurie
laughed in spite of herself. “I love
you.”
JC
kissed her forehead. “I love you
too. Are you ready?”
“Can I hide in the bathroom?”
“No.”
“Can
I go out and get everyone breakfast?”
“No.”
“But…”
“Hey,”
he said softly. “The sooner we tell
them, the sooner we can stop hiding from them.” He took her hand into his and gave it a gently squeeze. “Come on.
Let’s do this.”
They
walked out into the main room, hand in hand.