Chapter Eight

“C-Craig,” Laurie stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here, remember? I flew back early to spend some time with you because I’m not needed for the next couple of days. I got home around eight o’clock last night,” he folded his arms across his chest. “Now – where were you?”

“Can we discuss this inside please?” She requested. They were still standing on the front porch.

Craig stepped to the side without saying a word and let her pass over the threshold into the house. He followed her into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of iced tea and began to drink it to buy herself some itme. It wasn’t fair to use Kris as an excuse again, especially without talking to her first. An idea entered her head and she prayed that it would work.

“I was bored so I spent the night over at my sisters.”

“Your sisters, huh?” Craig examined her for a minute. “Is that why she called here last night shortly after ten to talk to you?”

“Shit,” she thought. She averted her gaze from Craig’s intent stare. Caught in an obvious lie, she contemplated her options. “I was just out… ok?”

“No it’s not ok,” he grabbed her arm. “Are you seeing someone else?”

“How can you say that?” Laurie glared at him and yanked her arm out of his grasp. “I took a vow to be faithful to you… I wouldn’t cheat on you, especially this early into our marriage.”

She watched her husband’s expression as he let her words register. He sighed almost defeatedly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry Laur, I shouldn’t have said that. It just feels like ever since we took our vows, all we’ve done is argue. Or spend time apart. It can be very detrimental to a new marriage.”

Laurie stepped over to where Craig was standing and gently placed her hand on his arm, her soft green eyes meeting his hazel ones.

“Craig, you’re my husband. All couples argue whether they’re newlyweds or not. And I understand that you have to travel – but you have to let me have a life of my own outside of our relationship, or this is never going to work.”

“I know,” he paused. “And we also need honesty. Laurie, I need to know – where were you last night?”

“I found a job,” she replied after a minute. “And the woman who hired me turned out to be a friend of a very old friend of mine, so we were up most of the night talking.”

“Congratulations,” Craig said warmly and sincerely. “What did you find a job doing?”

“I’m going to be the accountant for a charity associated with FuMan Skeeto. It’s going to be a camp for underprivileged kids.”

“FuMan what?”

Laurie couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a trendy clothing line created by Chris Kirkpatrick from *NSYNC. His girlfriend is the one who hired me.”

“As long as it makes you happy,” Craig leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I guess you want to get some sleep?”

“That would be wonderful,” she smiled tiredly. “How long are you home for?”

“I leave again Sunday night. When do you start working?”

“Monday morning,” she yawned again. “I guess I’ll see you when I wake up.”

“Ok… I might join you in about an hour. I’m pretty tired myself.”

Laurie just nodded and sleepily made her way upstairs.

**********

“Dria?” JC called as he walked through the door. When he didn’t see her downstairs, he threw his keys on the kitchen table and went upstairs. Alexandria was in their bedroom packing her things. He leaned against the doorway and looked at her. “What are you doing?”

His voice made her jump. “I’m leaving. I have a flight back to Orlando after lunch.” She told him, her voice void of any emotion.

“I’d like you to stay so that we can talk.” He said quietly.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Isn’t there?” He challenged softly and walked over to where she was standing. “I think you’re wrong.”

“Fine JC,” she huffed and sat on the bed. “What do you want to talk about?”

JC sat down next to her and rested his hand just slightly above her knee.

“I just want to know what’s going on with you lately. You’ve been a major bitch since we got married, you’re not happy and I’d like to know why.”

Much to JC’s surprise, Alexandria’s eyes filled with tears. “None of the guys like me and Stacy and Michelle positively hate me.” She began to sob. “And I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Alexandria,” he sighed and wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders. “The guys don’t hate you, they’re just looking out for my best interests. As for Stacy and Michelle, that’s probably just a woman thing.” He paused. “Did you leave because of what Michelle said?”

“Partially,” she agreed. “And I felt like you didn’t want me there.”

“I didn’t,” he thought. “Not while Laurie was there.” Outloud he said, “Dria, you knew what you were getting into when we started dating. It shouldn’t bother you when we shoot videos, because it’s part of my job to be around those women. Most of our fan base are young girls and women of all ages… it’s something you’re going to have to learn to deal with.”

She gave him a weak smile. “So I guess I should just ‘suck it up’, huh?”

“Something like that,” JC laughed. “Now I would really like it if you would reschedule your flight and spend some time with me. We can sleep all day.”

“Ok,” she yawned and left the room to make her phonecall. JC rubbed his hand over his face wearily.

“At least that situation is temporarily diffused,” he thought. He pushed his wife’s bag to the floor and lay down on the bed. He was asleep before she returned.

Alexandria smiled to herself when she re-entered the bedroom ten minutes later. She quietly walked over to the bed and bent over to retrieve her bag off the floor. JC changed positions just as she was straightening herself and she froze.

When she was sure that he was still asleep, she made her way out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her.

“I can’t believe he actually thought I was going to stay,” she laughed quietly. “If it wasn’t for his fame and fortune, I wouldn’t stay married to him.” She laughed again and walked outside to her waiting taxi. “I wouldn’t have married him in the first place.”
Alexandria climbed into the back of the car.

“LAX please.”

“He’s so easy,” she thought as she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. “I still can’t believe he fell for the ‘nobody likes me’ line… I should go in to acting… JC is such a fool.”

**********

It was midafternoon when Craig walked up the stairs to wake Laurie up. She was buried deep within the covers and he sat on the bed before he gently shook her shoulder.

“Laur?” He said quietly. “There’s someone named Michelle on the phone for you.”

Laurie groaned and rolled over to take the cordless from Craig. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Michelle laughed. “Are you still sleeping?”

“I was. What’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to take a drive to Fu Headquarters so that I can show you around and introduce you to everyone. I can also take that time to show you your office and give you an overview of your responsibilities. Interested?”

“Very!” Laurie practically exclaimed, thankful for an excuse to get away from Craig. “What time would you like me there for?”

“Anytime you’re ready.” Michelle gave her the address. “Do you need directions?”

“No, I should be ok, I’m pretty familiar with that area. I’ll meet you there in about an hour.”

“Great! Talk to you later!”

Laurie sighed and looked at Craig. “Michelle is the one who hired me. She wants me to meet her at the office to show me around and go over some stuff with me.”

“Then I guess you’d better get out of bed, huh?” Craig held the blanket down on each side of her, preventing her from doing that.

“Craig, don’t. Please?”

“Ok.” He said and got off the bed. “It’s ironic that I come home from work to spend time with you and then you have to leave.”

“I know,” Laurie swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Craig shrugged. “You have to put up with it from me for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah I do,” she laughed nervously and avoided his eyes.

“Do you want something to eat before you leave?”

“No, I’ll just grab something on the way… but thank you for offering.” She smiled at him.

“Ok,” he kissed her forehead. “Go have your shower.”

Craig stepped to the side and helped Laurie stand up. She walked into the bathroom and pulled the curtain closed before she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. She stepped under the water and let it thoroughly soak her body before she started massaging the shampoo into her hair. As she began to rinse it, Craig’s arms encircled her waist.

“I figured I could use a shower too,” he whispered huskily.

**********

Because of Craig’s actions, Laurie left her house fifteen minutes later than she had originally intended. She couldn’t believe that making love to her husband had actually made her feel dirty. As she made her way to the Manhattan Beach address that Michelle had given her, she picked up her cell phone and dialed JC’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, did I wake you?” She asked softly.

“Umm…” JC looked at the clock beside his bed with bleary eyes and vaguely wondered where Alexandria was. “Yeah, but it’s cool, I should be getting up soon anyway. How are you?”

“Don’t ask,” she thought. “I’m all right… Craig was home when I got home this morning.”

“Shit,” he said. “What did he say? What did you say?”

“He asked me where I was all night. Which is perfectly understandable, because he is my husband.” She replied and JC flinched when she said ‘husband’. “But I just told him that I ran into a friend of a friend and that she was the one who hired me. Which isn’t exactly a lie… it’s just an omission.”

“Ok,” JC breathed a sigh of relief. “So everything is cool over there?”

“Absolutely. He even let me sleep all day… well, until Michelle called, anyway.”

“Yeah? What did she want?”

“Just to show me around Fu Headquarters,” Laurie suddenly cursed. “I guess it might help if I stopped for this red light.”

“What?” JC exclaimed.

“I almost ran a red light,” she told him sheepishly. “But there’s no one around!”

“Jeez Laur, be careful! You shouldn’t talk on the phone while you drive.”

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I wanted to hear your voice.”

“Apology accepted,” JC couldn’t help but grin. “But now that I’m awake I need to grab something to eat. Call me later?”

“If I can, I will. Craig is probably going to be home for a couple of days, and I don’t know how easy it will be to talk with him around.”

“Whatever works best for you sweetie. Drive safely and tell Michelle she’s an old fart.” JC laughed.

“Umm… ok,” she said. “Inside joke?”

“Yeah kind of. It’s just because she and Chris are older than the rest of us.”

“So am I Josh.”

“Yeah, but you’re too cute to be an old fart.”

“Good to know.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I can.”

“Hopefully sooner than later.” He said softly. “Bye Laur.”

“Bye Josh.”

JC ended the call and stretched languidly, wondering again why Alexandria wasn’t beside him. He slid out of bed and walked into the bathroom to wash his face, brush his teeth and run a brush through his tangled hair before he headed downstairs.

“Dria?” He called out. “Honey, where are you?”

He looked around the main floor and he knew she wouldn’t be in his studio downstairs. A piece of paper on the table in the front hallway caught his eye. He quickly scanned it and swore.

“Fucking BITCH!” JC crumpled the note and threw it out. The phone rang immediately after he did that and he grabbed the cordless off the table. “What?” He snarled.

“Whoa,” Lance was taken aback. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“Sorry Lance,” JC sighed and rubbed the back of neck, trying to relieve some of the tension he felt. “What’s up?”

“I called to ask you something, but I think for the time being, I’d rather know what your problem is.”

“My problem?” JC laughed harshly. “My problem, as you put it, is Alexandria.”

“Uh oh.”

“Yeah… divorce has never looked so good.”

“Jace… come on… you can’t mean that.”

“You wanna know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. I came home this morning and Alexandria was packing to go home. I asked her to reschedule her flight and stay with me. So she left the room to make her call. But I had fallen asleep before she got back and she still left. Then I found a note in the front hallway that said ‘Haha, I lied, I’ve flown back to Orlando anyway. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Wow… I’m sorry man, I had no idea.”

“It’s cool… I should be used to this shit from her by now. But I’m sure you didn’t call to listen to me rant… what did you want to ask?”

“Well… I had a little chat with Laurie last night…”

“Yeah…” JC said apprehensively.

“And I was just wondering how you felt about seeing her again?”

Chapter Nine