(A couple of weeks later – December 22, 2001)
After attending the Billboard awards in Las Vegas
and filming the video for ‘Girlfriend’ in LA, JC flew home with three of his
four best friends but without Laurie.
She told him that she had a lot of work to catch up on and that it was
probably better if they spent some time apart.
JC felt like he was losing her for good.
He spent two weeks alone at his house in Orlando,
before calling Lance who had chosen to stay in LA to spend some more time with
Hannah before he flew home to Mississippi for the Christmas holidays. Lance told him the same thing he had been
telling himself for the last two weeks: ‘Give her some time and she’ll come
around on her own.’
JC just thought Lance was trying to avoid talking
to him.
When he glanced over at the clock, he sighed. Johnny had left a message with his answering
service three days earlier saying that he would be in the office at three
o’clock and could he please meet him there?
JC was stressed out enough without wondering what Johnny wanted. He looked at the clock again. It was time to go.
**********
“I’m sorry I
didn’t give it to you sooner,” Johnny apologized. “I just remembered that I had
it and I called you as soon as I could.”
“It’s cool Johnny.” JC replied and turned the
envelope over in his hands. It was
postmarked in the Dominican Republic and it didn’t look official, so he didn’t
think it was from the lawyers that took care of his divorce.
“JC?” Johnny’s voice interrupted JC’s thought process. “Did you want Jive to release a statement
about your divorce?”
JC nodded slowly. “Yeah… just umm… irreconcilable
differences or something. Anything is
fine.”
“Is that from her?” Johnny nodded at the envelope.
“No.” JC replied.
“I don’t know what this is.”
**********
When JC returned
home again, he threw his keys on the table in the front hall and walked into
the living room. He placed the envelope
on the coffee table and continued to stare at it, as if it’s contents might
explode if he tried to open it. He
finally got the nerve to open it several minutes later. He scanned the contents quickly and did a
double take. He read the letter again,
more slowly; absorbing everything it had to say. He reached for his cell phone.
“Joey? I
need a ride to the airport.”
“That’s cool, I’m just getting ready to leave to
pick Michelle up from there… I’ll swing by on my way.”
“Great, thanks.” JC breathed a sigh of relief and
ran outside to wait for Joey.
**********
“So what’s the
sudden hurry to get to the airport?” Joey asked once they were on their
way. “Considering, y’know… you don’t
have any luggage with you.”
“I’ve got stuff in my house in LA.” JC murmured as
he looked out the window. Winters in
Orlando usually received a lot of rain and on the rare occasion, snow. “I’ve got to go see Laurie.”
“I thought she wanted some time to herself?”
“That was before.”
“C, you’re talking in circles. What’s going on?”
“I received a letter a few weeks ago from the woman
I spent the night with in the Dominican… well, Johnny actually received it and
forget to give it to me. I just… I need
to talk to Laurie about it now and I don’t want to do it over the phone.”
“Oh.” Joey said, unsure of what else he could say. He figured that if JC wanted to elaborate, he would.
“So why are you picking Michelle up? I thought she wasn’t flying in until
Monday.”
“She wasn’t going to,” Joey laughed. “But apparently Chris has sent her so many
flowers to make up for his attitude that she said her apartment is starting to
look like a funeral parlor. She wants
to surprise him by flying out early.”
“How come she asked you to pick her up?”
“Lance is in LA, you weren’t answering your calls
and she didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask Justin… so I called Chris
after Michelle called me and told him I was coming over later to help him clean
his house.”
JC started to laugh. “You two are the worst slobs… he actually believed you when you
told him that?”
Joey pouted.
“We’re not that bad when
we’re at home.” He muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I said I have to remember to tidy up before my
parents come over on Tuesday. I’m
having Christmas dinner at my place.”
JC burst into laughter. “And how is the Fatone clan?
Are Steve and Janine coming too?”
“Yeah.” Joey cleared his throat. “Steve is even bringing a date.”
“I didn’t realize he was seeing anyone… why do you
sound like you care?”
Joey briefly took his eyes off the road to look at
JC. “Because he’s seeing Denise.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Joey looked back at the road. “It’s cool though, I’m happy being single
for the time being and they seem happy together.”
“Well, sorry anyway man.”
Joey shrugged.
“It’s cool.”
The rest of the ride to the airport was silent and
Joey turned the heat on in his car since the rain was making the air damp and
chilly. He glanced in the backseat to
make sure he had a hat ‘just in case’ and sighed as he pulled into the
airport’s parking lot. At the rate
things seemed to be going, it seemed like he and Chris would be the only ones
left in Orlando for Christmas.
“What gate are taking off from?”
JC looked down at the information he had scribbled
when he received his e-ticket information.
“Gate seven.”
“Perfect,” Joey grinned. “That’s the gate Michelle is arriving at. I don’t have to go far.”
“Lazy ass.” JC laughed and Joey took a swipe at
him. They started play fighting and
didn’t stop until they heard someone clear their throat.
“I thought you were supposed to meet me inside
Joey?” Michelle raised an eyebrow, then looked at JC. “Oh, you are alive. What
are you doing here?”
“He’s flying out to LA to see Laurie.” Joey replied
in a tone of voice that told her the subject was not currently open for
discussion.
“Ah… have fun.”
“I hopefully will.” JC smiled. “If I’m not back by Tuesday, I hope you guys
have a wonderful Christmas.”
“Thanks C, you too.” Joey hugged him and slapped
him on the back. Then JC hugged
Michelle.
“Don’t you go running home to call Laurie. I want this to be a surprise.” He told her.
“Oh trust me,” Michelle muttered under her
breath. “She’ll be very surprised.”
**********
“Thanks for the ride Joey… are you coming in for a
bit?” Michelle asked as Joey placed her luggage on the front porch.
“Nah, I’m gonna head home. I umm… have to clean my house before my
parents arrive.”
Michelle snorted.
“Do you even own cleaners?”
Joey scratched his head. “I’m sure I do… maybe… somewhere in my house…”
“Good luck Joey… you’d be better off to just hire
someone… I’m sure that’s what your mom expects you to do anyway.”
“You people have so much confidence in me. I don’t know why I even bother talking to
the lot of you.”
“Aww come on Joe… you know we love you.”
“Sometimes I wonder.” He suddenly grinned. “Are you and Chris coming over to my place
Christmas Eve to open presents?”
“Of course, it’s tradition.” She hugged him. “Thanks again for the ride.”
“No problem… I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
Michelle used her set of keys to let herself into
the house, leaving her luggage where it was for the time being. She slipped her shoes off and quietly began
to sneak through the house in her sock feet looking for Chris. She found him in the kitchen with the phone
to his ear and it sounded like he was ordering more flowers. She swallowed her laughter and crept up
behind him.
She slid her hands up his back and made him jump.
“If you’re ordering more flowers Kirkpatrick, they’d better be for your mom or
for your funeral, cause if they’re for me, I’m going to kill you.”
Chris quickly hung up the phone and turned around
to embrace her. “What are you doing
here? You’re not supposed to be here
until Monday.”
“I decided to surprise you,” she shrugged. “Surprise?”
Chris laughed and hugged her more tightly. “I’m
glad you’re here anyway, because I have some things that I need to talk to you
about.”
**********
JC rubbed his face tiredly when he stepped off the
plane in LAX several hours later. He
was getting rather anxious to talk to Laurie and his patience was wearing thin
because of all the other weary travelers that surrounded him. He rented a car without a problem and drove
to Lance’s house.
He was surprised to find that the house was dark,
so he decided to wait on the front steps because he didn’t have a key to this
particular house since it was a temporary residence. He tried her cell phone and was immediately sent through to her
voice mail, so he figured that she had it turned off. It was a nice night though, so he was content to wait.
**********
“…So then she tells me that she’s a devout vegetarian
and that I’m going to hell for eating God’s creatures.” Craig laughed and
pushed his plate away. “So that’s my
latest experience in the dating world.
What about you, are you seeing anyone?”
It was the question Laurie was hoping wouldn’t come
up. She dabbed her mouth with her
napkin slowly, allowing her the time she needed to think of her response. “Actually, I am.” She told him. “He’s someone I knew years ago and when we
both became single, we decided that we wanted to try again.”
“Does he make you happy? Does he treat you right?”
Laurie nodded and a smile spread across her
face. “He does… he’s everything I’ve
ever wanted.”
“I’m glad.” Craig stood up, having already taken
care of the bill earlier. He offered
his arm to her. “May I escort you
home?”
“You may.” Laurie giggled and accepted the offered
arm.
Craig and Laurie made light and casual conversation
on the way home and Laurie became slightly concerned when she saw a strange
vehicle in the driveway and the silhouette of someone sitting on the front
steps.
“Umm… Craig… would you mind walking me to the
door? There’s someone sitting there and
since no one really knows about this house I’m a little concerned.”
“Sure, it’s no problem at all.” Craig replied and
left the car running while he got out and walked around to the passenger side
to open the door for Laurie.
When they started walking toward the front door,
Laurie had her keys ready but she was ready to bolt when she saw the figure
stand up. Craig felt the tension and
tightened his grip on her waist to comfort her and let her know he was there
for her.
“Laurie?” JC’s voice called out through the
darkness.
The tension immediately seeped out of Laurie’s body
and she sighed with relief. “Josh?” She
said as he came into view. “What are
you doing here? I thought we weren’t
planning on seeing each other until the day after Christmas?”
“I needed to talk to you about something and I
didn’t want to do it over the phone.” He looked suspiciously at Craig. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, I forgot you two have never met. JC, this is Craig, Craig, this is my
boyfriend JC.”
The two men shook hands and Craig said, “But I
thought you called him Josh a few seconds ago?”
“That’s his real name… something he lets very few
people use.” She smiled at JC and he looked slightly more relaxed then he had
before he knew it was Craig with Laurie.
“It’s very nice to meet you JC. Laurie, I had a lovely time with you
tonight.” Craig kissed her cheek and turned back to JC. “Take care of her… that’s a very special
lady you have here.”
JC’s eyes
softened when he looked at Laurie. “I
know. It was nice to meet you too,
Craig.”
“I’ll call you
soon Laurie.” Craig said and turned around to go back to his car. JC and Laurie watched him back out of the
driveway and then turned to look at each other.
There was a
twinkle in JC’s eyes when he asked his next question. “So do you want to go inside or do you want to talk out here?”
“Oh sorry,”
Laurie blushed. “We can go
inside.” Laurie opened the door and
kicked her shoes off. “What did you
need to talk to me about? Because when
I spoke to you this morning, you didn’t even mention anything about flying out
here. I didn’t think I was supposed to
see you until the day after Christmas.
Not that I mind…” She smiled.
“That’s because I
Johnny didn’t give me this until after we spoke.” JC pulled the enveloped out
of his jacket pocket and handed it to Laurie.
“Apparently he’s had it in his possession since the beginning of the month. I think you should read it.”
“What is it?” She
asked curiously and picked it up.
“Just read it.”
He encouraged.
Laurie slid the
single piece of paper out of the well-worn envelope and began to read.
“Dear JC,
You left so quickly this morning that we
didn’t have a chance to speak. Yes, I
know who you are and I had plans for you when I walked up to you in the bar
last night. You were so drunk however,
that you kept babbling on about someone named ‘Laurie’ and about how much you
loved her and then you proceeded to pass out.
I didn’t know where your room was and the front desk wouldn’t have given
out that information regardless, so I brought you to my room undressed you and
went to sleep. That’s all that
happened. So if you left because you
thought something happened between us, you could have stayed. Because nothing happened.
I hope you had a safe trip back home and I
hope everything goes well for you in the future.
Sincerely,
Sara Miller.”
Laurie’s hands
were shaking when she placed the envelope on the coffee table. “Nothing happened?”
JC grinned. “Nothing happened.” He sidled up beside her
on the sofa and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “So do you still want your ‘space’?”
“Hell no!” Laurie
exclaimed and launched herself into his arms.
“So did you miss
me?” He murmured.
“Yeah… it’s been
pretty lonely around here.”
“But every time
we spoke, you said that you had plans with Michelle…” he reminded her and
nuzzled her neck with his lips.
“I did.” Laurie
let her head fall to the side to allow him better access. “But then I come back to a lonely house…
Lance is always with Hannah and it’s just been… me.”
“I’m sorry,” JC
whispered and slipped his hand underneath the material of her blouse to caress
her skin. “Let me make you feel… less
lonely?”
“Mmm,” Laurie
breathed. “If you insist.”
“Oh trust me,” JC
said huskily and slid his other hand up her shirt. “I insist. Laurie?”
“Hmm?” Her hands
started to roam restlessly over his body.
“I love you.”
“Are you just
saying that so you can get laid?”
“It depends…
would it work?”
“It’s quite
likely.” Laurie giggled.
“I love you
anyway.” He murmured. “Even if I could
never make love to you again, I would still love you with all my heart and
soul.”
Laurie felt tears
spring to her eyes and held him more closely.
She had a feeling most, if not all, of their problems were over. “I love you too.”
**********
“So what did you
want to talk about?” Michelle asked hesitantly. “Is something wrong?”
“Nope, not at
all.” Chris grinned and they walked out to the living room where the Christmas
tree was set up in the corner. “I’ve
been thinking about this for a while and since I found you were pregnant, it
kind of pushed me into making a decision… I think it’s a good one, but I wanted
to talk it over with you first.”
“Umm…” Michelle’s
brow furrowed in confusion. “All
right.”
Michelle was
sitting on the sofa and her eyes widened when Chris got onto both his knees in
front of her. He rested his hands on
her thighs and caressed them gently.
“What would you
think about moving FuMan Headquarters here to Orlando? That way you could move in with me for good
and there wouldn’t be a lot of flying back and forth between LA and Orlando
with the baby.”
“Wow, when you
got down onto your knees I thought you were going to ask something else,” she
laughed and ran a hand through her hair.
“It sounds like it would be a lot of work to move everything here. What if the other employees don’t want to
move?”
“Well, if JC and
Laurie ever get together, I’m not sure which coast they’ll be spending most of
their time on because C owns homes here and in LA… other than that, I’ll leave
the decision up to the staff, but I wouldn’t want to lose them.” He paused and
worried his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Umm… when you said you thought I was going to ask something else… what
would you do if I did?”
Michelle’s eyes
widened again. “Chris… I thought…”
“Listen… loving
you has always come so easy to me,” he told her softly and reached up to run
his hand down her left arm. When he
reached the bottom, he held her hand in his.
“When we met in that club in Toronto and you turned me down…” he
chuckled. “I knew that I had to have
you and I wasn’t going to give up until I did.
I wrote ‘Falling’ that night as soon as I got back to the hotel.”
“I love that you
love me enough to put me in my place when I need it.” Chris reached into the
tree and pulled out a small box.
Michelle’s breath caught in her throat.
“I was going to ask you on Christmas Eve, but…” he shrugged. “I’m just too impatient. I never thought that I would want to be
committed in such a final way – and I know it’s something we’ve discussed – but
since September 11th happened, I decided that I want to get my
priorities in order. Spending the rest
of my life with you and creating a family with you is all I’ve been able to
think about lately.” He opened the box.
“So… will you marry me?”
Tears were
streaming down Michelle’s face. “Yes… I
will.”
Chris slipped the
ring onto her finger and hugged her tightly.
He was crying too. “Thank you… I
love you.”