The majority of the group decided to go to a club
after the concert. JC hung back so he
could pack his clothes and be ready for check out the following morning. Chris packed his clothes and got Lonnie to
drive him to Michelle’s apartment, which left Joey, Justin, Lance, Stacy and
Hannah with plans for the club. Joey
bought the first round when they arrived and then immediately left to find
someone to dance with.
Stacy was continually mumbling under her breath and
stopped only when Justin poked her.
“What is going on with you?” He hissed. “You’ve had a sour look on your face all
day.”
“Come on Hannah, let’s dance.” Lance motioned in
the in direction that Joey had previously headed. He wanted to give Justin and Stacy some time to sort out whatever
problem was currently gnawing at her.
Hannah nodded and took the hand that Lance offered
her and followed him out of their private booth.
“Stace,” Justin stroked her arm lightly. “Honey, what’s got you so worked up that
you’re mumbling?”
“Some people just shouldn’t have children!” She
exclaimed and she slapped the table with her hand.”
“Oh.”
“Alexandria isn’t nice enough… she doesn’t have any
common sense… she’s too self-centered… she doesn’t have any patience… can you
imagine what any child of hers would grow up to be like?”
“I’m hoping it will be like JC and not Alexandria.” Justin rubbed her shoulder and tried to calm
her down. “Come on, let’s dance. It will help take your mind off things.”
**********
Laurie drove almost six hours up the coast of the
Pacific Ocean before she decided to stop.
Her stomach began to growl and although she wasn’t particularly hungry,
she figured it would be best if she ate something. She parked her car along the beach she had stopped at and collected
her purse from the seat beside her before she jumped out.
She walked up to the vendor and ordered herself a
slice of pizza and a diet Dr. Pepper before she chose a spot on the warm sand
to rest. It wasn’t far from the water’s
edge and she was tempted to change into her suit and go for a swim. Instead she chose to remain where she was
and mull over how she had lost everything that she loved so quickly.
She tried to make herself believe that it was all
Alexandria’s fault, but that explanation didn’t sit well with her. It took two to make a baby. She thought maybe God was punishing her for
cheating on Craig, but people were unfaithful to their spouses’ everyday and
stuff like that didn’t happen.
Laurie had left her stable – albeit lonely – life
with Craig so that she could make a life with JC once he had said goodbye to
Alexandria. She had no idea if she was
ever going to be able to face him again without completely breaking down;
especially if Alexandria was with him.
Her thoughts turned to the possibility of moving
away from everyone, but she didn’t know if she could leave all of her new
friends and the job that she loved behind.
Though she supposed Chris and Michelle would let her work from home if
they felt it was absolutely necessary.
The pain in her chest was incredible. She was thankful that she still had her
sunglasses on as she watched happy couples walk by almost continually. Tears filled her eyes again and she fought
against them falling in public.
Laurie knew she was having a pity party for herself
and she was willing to admit it. A few
stubborn tears trailed down her cheeks and she wiped them away. She reached for her half-eaten pizza and
decided that she was no longer hungry – it turned her stomach to think of
eating the remainder of it.
She stood up and brushed the sand off her legs and
gathered the few things she had brought from her car. She didn’t realize she had been sitting there for more than two
hours. She threw her pizza and her warm
soda into the garbage can and walked over to the information center.
“Excuse me?” Laurie said.
“Yes?”
“Can you please tell me if there are any bed and
breakfasts located in this area?”
The man behind the counter gave Laurie a few
pamphlets and she thanked him. She
chose one not far from where she was and turned on her cell phone to make a
reservation. She had eight messages
waiting. She turned her phone off again
and decided to just drive to the bed and breakfast and take her chances.
She lucked out when she arrived; the elderly couple
that owned it had one room left and she checked in to it. She told them she wasn’t sure how long she
would be staying and they didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
Once she had unpacked her car, Laurie took her bags
to her room and laid down on the neatly made bed. She reached over and turned the radio on.
We’re
staring at the end
When
all we think about
Is
starting up again…”
She snapped the radio off and covered her face with
her arm. It was his song. And then her mind
ran through the other lyrics and she couldn’t understand why the station was
playing a Christmas song in July. It
almost made her want to laugh. And she
would have if the tears hadn’t already been rolling down her face.
**********
Michelle was dozing on the sofa when she heard a
key unlocking the door of her apartment.
It was almost one o’clock in the morning and her first thought was that
it might be Laurie returning. She threw
the blanket off and ran to unlock the rest of the locks.
“Laurie?” She said and when she saw Chris her face
fell. “Oh… it’s only you.”
“Gee thanks, I love you too dear.” He gave her a
lopsided smile and kissed her cheek as he passed by her.
“I’m sorry, I thought you were Laurie.” She
apologized, closed the door and locked it again. “I don’t think she’s coming home tonight. Speaking of which, what are you doing home
so early? I wasn’t expecting you until
tomorrow morning. Did JC drop you off?”
“I decided to come home earlier and spend time with
you and the dogs. Lonnie dropped me
off.” Chris opened the fridge and peered into it. “I guess we need to go grocery shopping, huh? Where are the dogs?”
“They gave up long ago and are probably flaked out
on the bed.” She whistled for them and
Busta and Korea came running down the hall.
They froze when they saw Chris and then began barking happily. “If you’re hungry, I can order a pizza for
you.”
“That would be great,” he told her and sat down on
the floor and started playing with the dogs.
Michelle went into the kitchen to place their order
and when she came back out, Chris was teasing the dogs and making them bark.
“Chris, it’s late and we have neighbours, can you
keep it down?”
Chris looked up at her with a gleam in his eye and
stood up. He slowly advanced towards
her and when he was close enough, he let his hands rest on her hips. He pulled her body against his and moved so
his lips were almost touching her ear.
“Is that what you’re going to be asking me later?”
He breathed into her ear and it sent shivers down her spine. Michelle temporarily lost her ability to
speak and shook her head. Chris dropped
a kiss on her neck. “Good… I’m going to
take a shower before the food gets here.”
Chris walked down the hall to the bathroom and
Michelle stared after him and waited for her pulse to slow back to normal.
**********
“Honey I’m tired,” Justin wiped the sweat from his
forehead. “Why don’t you see if Joey
wants to dance?”
“Joey always wants to dance.” Stacy laughed and
gave Justin a kiss. “Ok, can you order
me a soda when you get back to the table?
I won’t be long.”
Justin nodded and wandered back to the table where
Lance and Hannah were also taking a break.
“You’d think Stacy had never been to a club
before,” Justin laughed. “She’s like
the energizer bunny.”
“Joey’s the same way,” Lance shrugged and peered in
the direction of the dance floor with sudden interest. “How come Stacy never dances with you that
way?”
“What way?”
Justin asked just as he turned to face the direction Lance was staring
in. His face flushed with anger.
Joey had one of
his legs between Stacy's and she did the same to him, their bodies melded
together and their hips moved to the beat of the music as if they were one
person. Justin watched as Stacy laughed
and wrapped her arms around Joey’s neck while he placed his hands on her hips
and drew her closer.
“Whoa,” Hannah giggled. “No more drinks for Stacy.
She’s rockin’ on with her bad self.”
Justin threw a glare in Hannah’s direction that
would have made anyone else wilt from the heat of it. Justin threw some money down on the table for the drinks he and
Stacy had consumed and stormed out to the dance floor. He grabbed Stacy’s arm and forced her to
look at him.
“What are you doing?” He demanded.
“I’m dancing!” She laughed just as Joey dipped her.
“Not like that.” He told her through gritted teeth
and tried to pull her away from Joey.
“What’s you problem man?” Joey asked. “We’re just having fun.”
Justin just glared at Joey and then looked back at
Stacy. “I’m going back to the hotel
now, are you coming with me or are you going to stay here?”
“I think if you’re going to have an attitude like
that, I’m going to stay right here.”
Stacy told him indignantly and wrenched her arm out of Justin’s grip.
“Fine.” Justin huffed. “I’ll see you back at the hotel whenever you decided to come
back.”
Joey and Stacy watched as Justin stalked off the
dance floor and left the club with an attitude bigger than his ego. Stacy had a hurt expression on her face when
she looked at Joey. He gave her a hug.
“Don’t worry about him,” he told her. “I think it’s that time of the month or
something for him.”
Stacy laughed.
“I really should leave with him…”
“And let him ruin the fun you’re having? Why?”
“Well…”
Joey grasped Stacy’s waist tightly and spun her
around. “Nope, you’re staying here.” He
laughed evilly. “You’re stuck with me.”
Stacy laughed again. “Well if you insist.”
**********
“Mmm, that was good,” Chris said as he polished off
the last slice of pizza and washed it down with the remainder of his beer. “I know we eat pizza all the time on the
road, but there’s nothing like eating it in the comfort of your own home and
feeding the dogs the toppings you don’t want.”
“You’re terrible.” Michelle grinned and
snuggled up next to him on the sofa.
She sighed happily. “I could
stay like this forever.”
“Me too,” he agreed. “Except the bed is more comfortable.” He
paused. “Not that… y’know… I ever get a
chance to sleep in it.”
“You’ll have lots of time before Friday
to sleep in it.”
Chris raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so you have other plans?”
“Actually, yeah I do.” She
laughed. “You haven’t mentioned how JC
is doing.”
“You haven’t asked.”
“Well I’m asking now.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because you’re here and he’s not.”
“Do you want him to be here?”
“And what would I do with him if he
were here?” Michelle paused. “Never
mind, don’t answer that.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Shut up.” She nudged his side. “So how is he doing?”
“He seemed ok during the show, he put
on a good front. He had locked himself
in his room before I left, so I doubt he’s feeling better.”
“I feel so bad for him. I don’t know what I would do if I was in
that situation.”
Chris wrapped an arm around Michelle’s
shoulders. “Hopefully you never will
be.”
Michelle looked at him. “I love you, you know that?”
Chris kissed her nose. “Yeah.
I know.”