Chapter Sixty-Three

It was shortly before ten o’clock in the morning when JC arrived at Lance’s house in a taxi. He didn’t want to bother any of the guys by asking them to pick him up. Lance was usually an early riser and he hoped today was no exception. He knocked on the door and held his breath as he waited for someone to answer it. He didn’t expect that someone to be Laurie.

“You’re back.” She said quietly once she recovered from the shock of seeing him. His tan was a little deeper after being in the sun for a few days.

“Can I come in?” He asked hesitantly. He had an ominous feeling that she already knew… but then why wouldn’t she be happy about it? And how could she have found out if he and Alexandria were the only two that were supposed to know?

She stepped back and started to walk away. She wrapped her robe more tightly around her body to ward off the sudden chill that ran through her bones. “It’s not my house, feel free.”

“Laurie,” he caught up to her just as she reached the bottom of the stairs and touched her arm affectionately when she stopped. “I’m guessing that you probably know that I was with Alexandria when I was gone.” He removed his hand from her arm when he felt her tense beneath it. “Can we… can we go somewhere and talk… and I… I really need you to listen.”

“All right.” She conceded. “Just let me get dressed first. I’ll meet you in the living room.”

**********

“Ok,” she sat on the sofa across from him. “I’m listening.”

JC didn’t say a word, but instead he dug inside his travel bag for an envelope and placed it on the table between them. When she didn’t immediately take it, he pushed it towards her.

“Go ahead,” he told her softly. “It’s an early Christmas present for both of us… kind of.”

Laurie looked at him quizzically and reached for it. She noticed her hands were shaking as she pulled several folded documents out of the envelope. They were almost identical to the ones she had signed a month earlier.

“D-Divorce papers?” She looked at him. “W-What…”

“Alexandria decided that she wanted to marry the man she cheated on me with and she wanted a quick divorce. So that’s why we flew down to the Dominican… it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“It is a surprise.” She told him. “But I don’t understand why you couldn’t have told me what your plans were.”

“Because I wanted to wait until Christmas to give this to you. I wanted to gift wrap it and tell you that we were finally free to be together forever… I couldn’t think of a better present…”

“It almost sounds like there’s a ‘but’ in there.”

“There is… kind of.” He sighed and looked down at his hands. “I went to a few bars last night to celebrate my divorce and I got drunk. Really drunk. I don’t remember anything that happened last night, but when I woke up this morning…” He lowered his head. He didn’t want to see her reaction because he knew he had already hurt her. “I was in someone’s hotel room in her bed.” JC heard Laurie suck in her breath. “I still had some clothes on, but not all of them… she… she wasn’t wearing very much either and… I have no idea if we slept together or not.” He gathered the courage to look up at her and immediately wished he hadn’t. “Laurie…” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, I don’t…”

Laurie placed a hand over her mouth. She felt like she was going to be sick. She could feel the tears beginning to prick her closed eyelids. There were several minutes of silence between them.

“Laurie… say something, please. Yell at me, hit me, anything. Just… don’t sit there and not do anything.”

“I can’t… I don’t… I think I need to be alone right now.” She stumbled over her words as she tried her hardest to prevent herself from crying in front of him, because the last thing she wanted him to see were her tears.

She slipped into her sandals that were waiting for her at the door and was immediately grateful that the weather was co-operating, even though she had heard that November’s in Orlando weren’t always very nice. She knew exactly where she was going.

**********

JC buried his head in hands when he heard Lance’s front door close behind Laurie. He almost had it all and he was certain that he just screwed up any remaining chance that he had to build a life and a family with Laurie. She was never going to trust him again. Tears had just started to fill his eyes when Lance came into the room.

“Hey, I thought I heard your voice…” he looked around. “Where’s Laurie?”

“She… umm… went for a walk.” JC told him hoarsely. He didn’t look up.

“What’s going on?”

“I was down in the Dominican Republic… but you already know that part. Alexandria wanted a quick divorce and I sure as hell wasn’t going to say no. I jumped at the opportunity to finally be free from her.”

“That’s great!” Lance exclaimed. “But I don’t understand why Laurie isn’t here with you celebrating.”

“That’s the thing,” JC sighed. “I decided to do a little celebrating of my own last night since my plane was delayed and I woke up in someone else’s hotel room this morning. I just don’t remember what happened… if anything.”

“You idiot!” Lance hollered. “What the hell were you thinking getting drunk? You know damn well how easily suggestible you are when you’re intoxicated. Jeez JC…” Lance ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t believe you did that!”

“In my defense Lance, I don’t know that I did do it. The more I think about it, the more I think that nothing happened. I don’t even feel like I had drunk sex.”

“That’s a bonus, I suppose.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “But you could also be just telling yourself this to make yourself believe it – because you want to believe it.”

“Lance, do you…”

“I don’t know what to think C, I wasn’t there. But I know that you love Laurie more than anything else in the world and the more I think about it, the more I have doubts that you did anything except actually sleep with that woman.” He grabbed the keys to his Pathfinder. “But it’s a moot point right now, because I have to find Laurie. You go home, eat something and have a shower and I’ll let you know when I find her.”

“Thank you,” JC whispered and hoisted his travel bag over his shoulder. “Tell her… tell her I love her… please?”

“Yeah.” Lance nodded and headed out the door. He hit number three on his speed dial as he pulled out of his driveway.

**********

“Chris,” Michelle gasped as he ran his tongue over her bare stomach. “The phone…”

“Go ahead and answer it,” he murmured against her skin.

“H-Hello?” She breathed and tried to push Chris away.

“Wow,” Lance laughed. “Did I interrupt something?”

“Hi Lance.” Michelle said and tried to sit up, but Chris held her down. “What’s up?”

“Umm…” he tried not to giggle. “I won’t keep you long, because I can tell you have other things on your mind, but if Laurie shows up there, can you keep her there and call me? I don’t think she will, but just in case?”

“Lance? What’s going on?”

“JC came home this morning and told her everything… including how he woke up with someone else this morning.”

“WHAT?” The volume of her voice startled Chris and he looked up at her.

“I’ll fill you in later, or someone will. I’ve got to go because I’m driving and I really need to find Laurie.”

“All right,” she agreed softly. “I’ll call you if she shows up here.”

“Thanks Michelle.” He suddenly laughed again. “Tell Chris I said hi.”

**********

There was one place that Laurie really enjoyed going to when she went for her walks at night. If he wasn’t too busy, he usually went with her. He only hoped that that was where she went this time, because if it wasn’t… he had no idea where to start looking.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled into the tiny parking lot and saw a lone figure sitting on the beach staring out at the water. He bit his lower lip when he saw that she had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. He reached for his phone again.

“C?”

“Lance? Did you find her?”

“Yeah, she was where I thought she would be.”

“Is she all right? Do you think…”

“JC. I haven’t spoken to her yet, I just wanted to call you and let you know that I found her and that she seems to be all right. I’m sure if she wants to call you later, she will – just don’t press the issue.”

“All right.” JC sighed. He felt completely defeated. “Just… never mind. Thank you Lance.”

“You’re welcome JC.”

Lance ended the call and put the phone down on the driver’s seat while he took his shoes off – he hated getting sand in them. He locked up the Pathfinder and made his way down to Laurie.

As he drew closer, he was dismayed – but not surprised – to find that her shoulders were shaking from the sobs that wracked her petite body. She didn’t hear him approach, so he walked around in front of her and waited until she looked up at him. He spread his arms and she willingly fell into them so that he could comfort her.

“I give up Lance,” she told him tiredly. “It seems like every time something good happens for Josh and I, something bad happens.” She buried her face into his shoulder. “It’s just not worth it anymore.”

“Nothing worth having ever came easy.” He told her softly. “Laurie, look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his own before he continued. “If you can look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that you’d really think JC would cheat on you, I’ll drop the subject right now.”

“But Lance…”

“I know it doesn’t look good, but in his defense he doesn’t remember what happened. My guess is that was probably too drunk to remember where his room was and this woman offered her room for the night.” He shrugged. “That’s what I think.”

“I don’t know what to think.” Laurie felt tears welling up in her eyes again.

“Do you trust him?”

“I don’t know… I-I thought I did…”

“Laurie.”

“I love him Lance. I don’t want to not trust him.”

“Then don’t push him away because of a mistake he may or may not have made. Because if he didn’t and you find out later, then you wasted time that could have been spent loving him.”

“And if he did?”

“I don’t think he did.”

Laurie rested her head on his shoulder again. “Why are you always so nice to me?”

Deep laughter rumbled within Lance’s body and he ruffled her hair. “I’ve grown kind of fond of you over the last few months.” He gave her a tight hug. “Do you want me to drop you off at JC’s so you can talk to him?”

“Yeah,” she nodded and hugged him back. “Thanks Lance.”

“Anytime.”

**********

“Fucking JC.” Michelle growled. “I’m going to kick his scrawny white ass.”

Chris sighed and sat up. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get any lovin’ that morning, so he pulled his boxers back on. “What did he do now?”

“He woke up in someone else’s room this morning,” she snarled. “A female someone else.”

Chris’ eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“That’s what Lance just told me.”

“That’s not like JC.” Chris frowned. “But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“If JC was down there with Alexandria, why would he wake up in someone else’s bed?”

“I…” Michelle stopped. “You’re right.”

“I just can’t believe he would cheat on Laurie though… she means too much to him.” His brow furrowed in thought.

“Oh come on Chris, once a cheater, always a cheater.” Michelle scoffed. “He cheated on Alexandria with Laurie and now he’s cheated on Laurie with someone. My father was the same way remember?”

Something changed in Chris’ expression. “Really. Does the same go for you as well?”

“I can’t believe you brought that up Chris, it was two and a half years ago and we were both drunk. Very drunk.”

“’Once a cheater, always a cheater.’ Isn’t that what you just said? So it must apply to you too.”

Michelle’s eyes filled with tears. “Fuck you. I told you it would never happen again and it hasn’t.”

“Probably because he met Stacy not longer after the night he spent with you.” He hissed.

“I’m not having this conversation with you again. I made a mistake by sleeping with Justin and I’m tired of apologizing for it… I thought we were over it… I guess I was wrong.” She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm to stop her.

“You don’t want to talk about your own indiscretions, but yet you won’t believe that JC didn’t cheat on Laurie.”

“I don’t know Chris, I wasn’t there, but all the evidence seems to point in that direction. He was drunk, so why wouldn’t he sleep with someone when he was down there? He didn’t care enough to tell Laurie where he was going, so it’s obvious that he was trying to deceive her.

“Right.” He crossed his arms. “Because apparently JC doesn’t have any morals. Nobody has morals when they’re drunk… they’re not responsible for their actions… right?”

“Fuck. You.” She spat and yanked her arm out of his grasp. She ran upstairs to the guest bedroom and locked the door behind her. “Asshole,” she sobbed. “Fucking asshole.”

**********

(Back in the Dominican Republic)

“Hi,” the blonde woman smiled at the receptionist behind the desk at the hotel. “I know you can’t give out personal addresses, but I was wondering if you could forward this to the gentleman I came in with last night. It’s very important that he gets it.”

“Of course,” the receptionist smiled back and wrote something down. “That’s not a problem at all Miss. Miller.”

“Thank you very much, I appreciate it.” She sighed with relief when she turned away. “That’s that taken care of.”

Chapter Sixty-Four