Chapter Sixty-Four
Laurie took a deep
breath before she knocked on JC’s door.
Lance was waiting in the driveway, but she assumed that that was more to
prevent her from running away then it was about waiting for JC to answer the
door. She didn’t have to wait long.
When JC opened the
door, he looked haggard and his eyes were bloodshot. A faint glimmer of hope flickered across his face before it was
replaced with another expression that she couldn’t readily identify.
“Umm…” he cleared
his throat. “Do you want to come in?”
“If you don’t
mind,” she told him almost shyly. “I
think we need to talk.”
Something flashed
in his eyes. “I think we do too.”
Seeing that Laurie
was entering the house, Lance put his Pathfinder in reverse and started to head
home. He needed to call Hannah and he
silently prayed that whatever happened between JC and Laurie, it was something
they could work out.
**********
JC and Laurie sat
in silence for a long time before either of them said anything. JC paced around the room and straightened
things that didn’t need straightened, while Laurie sat on the sofa and
nervously played with her hair. It was
JC who finally spoke first.
“I didn’t mean to
hurt you.”
“We don’t know if
you have.” She said as lightly as she could and shrugged.
“It doesn’t
matter. The possibility is still there
and if I did…” his voice trailed off.
“I have no idea if you’ll be able to trust me ever again.”
Laurie was silent.
"I
really want us to be able to work through this," he said quietly.
"We’ve been through too much to give up now…" He stared out the
window and braced his arm against the frame.
“I don’t want to
give up either,” Laurie told him. “I’ve
loved you since the moment we met. I
know… things… tend to happen when people are drunk and their inhibitions are
down, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”
JC walked over to
her and knelt down in front of her.
“So… are we… ok?”
“I think… for now.”
She touched his face gently. “But I
won’t be staying with you when we fly out to LA. I’m going to going back to work and stay out there when you fly
back here after you film ‘Girlfriend’.”
“Are you going to
stay with Chris and Michelle?”
Laurie shook her
head. “Lance and I have worked
something out.”
**********
“You bought her a
house?” Hannah exclaimed over the phone line.
“What the hell, Lance?”
“I didn’t buy her a
house per se… I decided to rent one for six months because I’ll be flying out
to LA a lot and she’s going to be staying there.”
“Why can’t she stay
with JC? Or Chris and Michelle?”
“I told you why she
can’t stay with JC. And she usually
does stay with Michelle when she’s in LA, but she thinks that she’ll be
intruding now that Michelle is pregnant.
It’s not a big deal Hannah, really.
She’ll stay at the house and I’ll stay with you… if that’s what you
want.”
“Of course I want
you to stay with me Lance,” Hannah told him softly. “I just don’t understand why you feel the need to rescue Laurie
every time she needs help.”
“Hannah, I like
Laurie, I consider her a very good friend.
Having said that, I’m not having this discussion with you anymore.” He
said firmly.
“It just seems to
me… that maybe you more than ‘like’ her…” Hannah began hesitantly. “I mean… you don’t buy a house for someone
you just ‘like’.”
“We’ve had this
discussion before. You said you were
all right with everything… Hannah, where is all of this suddenly coming from?”
“Lance, it’s not
that I don’t like Laurie… I think she’s incredibly sweet and caring… she just
seems to be getting a lot more of your time and attention than I do.”
“Hannah,” Lance
sighed. “Laurie is a friend, nothing
more. If you’re not ok with her and I
pretending to date, then you need to tell me so we can make other plans. She’s in love with JC and vice versa... I
just want to seem them happy together.
They deserve it after all they’ve been through.”
“I realize that,
it’s just…” Hannah stopped. “Never
mind, it’s cool. So when are you guys
flying out here to film ‘Girlfriend’?”
“In a couple of
days… are you going to meet us at the airport or do you want me to come right
to your place?”
“It would probably
be better if you just came right here.”
Hannah thought for a moment. “I
at least get a tour of your new house, don’t I?”
Lance laughed. “It’s not my new house, I’m just renting it
for six months, that’s all. But yes,
you can have a tour of it.” He lowered his voice to porn quality. “And then we can proceed to break in every
room.”
**********
Michelle woke up on
the bed in the guest room a few hours later and her eyes were sore and scratchy
from the crying she had done. She
walked into the bathroom and wiped her face with a cold facecloth and changed
her clothes. She needed to go for a walk;
she had to get away for a while.
She unlocked the
door and went downstairs. Chris was
sitting on the living room sofa watching a football game – probably on one of
the satellite channels. She didn’t want
to have to deal with him right then so she grabbed her house keys as quietly as
she could and headed for the front door.
A noise behind her made her stop.
“Heading to
Justin’s?” Chris sneered.
Michelle slammed
the door on the way out.
**********
“So you’re still
going to be staying with Lance.” JC said flatly.
“No.” Laurie told
him softly. “I told you that he’s
likely going to be staying with Hannah.
And I really don’t think that you’re in any position to be jealous.”
“It’s not that… I
just wish… you were staying with me.”
“We both know that
isn’t possible. Even now that you’re
divorced, people still think I’m dating Lance… it wouldn’t look good if I were
to stay at your place.” She
paused. “And everything is still kind
of up in the air with… the new situation.”
“I know baby, I’m
sorry.” He whispered. “Are you going to
stay here tonight?”
“I don’t think that
would be a good idea.” She shook her head and stood up. “I should probably get going too… would umm…
would you mind giving me a ride back to Lance’s?”
“No… just let me
grab my keys.”
The ride to Lance’s
was silent except for the radio that was at a low volume, but it provided the
needed background noise. When JC pulled
into Lance’s driveway, Laurie turned to look at him.
“Josh… I… I don’t
think you cheated on me.” She told him quietly. “I just need to know for sure.”
“I love you
Laurie,” he whispered when she kissed his cheek.
“I know. I love you too.”
“Will you sit with
me on the plane ride out to LA?” JC
asked hopefully.
Laurie couldn’t
help but laugh. “Yeah. I’ll see you
then if I don’t see you within the next couple of days.”
“All right.” JC
agreed. “Tell Lance I’ll call him
later.”
Laurie sighed
almost wistfully as she stood on Lance’s porch and watched JC drive away. She wanted nothing more than to go back to
his house with him, but she had to stay strong. It was the only way.
**********
(A couple of days
later – Johnny’s Office)
Johnny received the
letter that was addressed to JC, but he didn’t open it. He just placed it aside and made a mental
note to give it to JC next time he saw him.
He didn’t recognize the return address, but he saw that it had come from
the Dominican Republic.
**********
(Same day – On the
plane to LA)
“What the hell are
you doing?” Joey hissed when he sat down beside Chris. Michelle was sitting a few rows back by
herself. “Why did you bring up the
whole Justin/Michelle issue again?”
“I don’t know,”
Chris murmured quietly. “I regretted it
as soon as I said it… it’s not like I’m even mad at her anymore for doing it…
it was a long time ago.”
“And yet you made another snarky comment before she left
the other day.” Joey said and Chris looked at him in surprise. “Yeah, she walked over to my house after you
asked her if she was going to Justin’s… apparently she went over to Lance’s
first to talk to Laurie and she wasn’t home… do you know how much walking that
is for a pregnant woman to do?”
Chris didn’t say
anything.
“If you didn’t mean
to bring it up, then you need to get your ass back there and apologize to
her. You have no idea how badly you hurt her by bringing that up again. It was uncalled for.” Joey growled. “You’re one of my best friends Chris, but I’ll kick your ass if
you hurt her like that again… she did nothing to deserve it.”
“I know.” Chris
fiddled with his complimentary bag of peanuts.
“I’ll talk to her, ok?”
“Now.”
“Joey…”
“NOW Chris. Not later.
This isn’t an option. I don’t
care what you have to do, but work it out.”
Joey looked at Chris and suddenly smirked.
“What?”
“I hope the baby
gets Michelle’s ears… otherwise she’ll never be able to push it out.”
“Shut up.” Chris
threw the peanuts at him. “Asshole.”
“Go on,” Joey gave
him a light shove. “Go talk to her.”
Chris blinked and
unbuckled his seatbelt. He made his way
back to where Michelle was sitting and sat down beside her. “Hey.”
“Hey.” She said,
but didn’t look at him. She was afraid
that if she did, the tears would start again.
Chris placed his
hand gently on her knee. “Umm… could
you look at me please?”
Michelle looked
over at him and tears immediately filled her eyes.
“Shit,” he swore
softly. “Honey, I’m so sorry… I didn’t
mean… I never… I didn’t mean what I said.
I’m sorry I brought it up again.”
He gathered her
into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.
After a few minutes, Michelle pulled back and wiped her face. “I don’t understand why you would say those
things to me if you didn’t mean them.”
“I don’t know why
either baby, I think it honestly just slipped out. Please… I’m sorry.”
“Ok,” she nodded
and let him hug her again. “You know
I’d never do that to you again, right?” She murmured.
“I know.” He
nodded. “I know. I love you.”