Is Love Enough

Chapter One

Laurie lay beside her husband of only a few hours, unable to sleep. She listened to his deep, even breathing and his barely audible snoring, which indicated his slumber. She sighed and slowly got out of bed, wrapping her robe around her body tightly. She walked over to the glass doors that led out to the balcony, slipped out, and closed the door quietly behind her.

The warm wind blew her long, thick golden brown hair around her pretty features, causing her to tie it back with the elastic she had in the pocket of her robe. Taking a deep breath of the night air, she gazed over the balcony at the Manhattan skyline that her honeymoon suite at the Plaza afforded.

Sighing, Laurie stepped back from the edge of the balcony and sat in the nearest chair, her fear of heights finally taking over. She closed her eyes and leaned back, savoring this time alone and she let her mind review the day’s events. A wave of guilt washed over her when she remembered that during the ceremony, she had found herself thinking about a man she had known briefly five years earlier.

Laurie only spent a few weeks with him before she left Europe to return to the United States. But in that short period of time, she had fallen madly in love with him. He was her soulmate. As her mind traveled back to when she had met him, she was completely unaware that the man on the next balcony was watching her.

***Flashback – Five Years Earlier***

Laurie looked around the little café in Paris where she was eating a light lunch. Her eyes landed upon the noisy group of seven sitting in a corner booth and they were speaking English. She figured them to be Americans.

As she watched them interact with each other, she found herself longing for the United States. Home. She took a sip of her iced tea, which was made with real tea leaves and glanced over at the group again. This time, Laurie’s eyes came to rest on a man with brilliant blue eyes that seemed to look right through her soul.

Blushing shyly, she averted her gaze from his own and developed a sudden interest in her beverage. She didn’t look up again until she heard the chair opposite her being pulled out and someone sitting in it. When she finally looked up, her emerald green eyes met his startling cerulean ones and her breath caught in her throat. The man grinned and extended his right hand.

“Hi, I’m Josh. But my friends over there call me JC.” He introduced himself and Laurie accepted his hand to shake it. The touch was warm and firm, and it made her body tingle.

“I’m Laurie.” She replied and reluctantly pulled her hand away from his. “Are you American?”

“Absolutely.” Josh laughed. “I was born in Maryland, but now Orlando is my home base. The other four guys and I just formed a vocal group and we’re here trying to promote it.”

“What kind of vocal group?”

“Pop mostly… but we love performing a cappella… for anyone who will listen.” Josh grinned and leaned back. “So what brings you to Europe?”

“I just graduated from college and I wanted to travel and see some of the world before I joined the working force,” Laurie replied. “It’s kind of a reward I’m giving myself.”

“What did you go to school for?” He inquired.

“Accounting. Nothing too exciting. But it’s something I’ve always been good at, so I figured why not make it my career?”

“As long as it makes you happy. Are you here for very long?”

“Two more weeks, then I fly back to California and join the real world.”

“Listen…” Josh hesitated. “Would you like to go for a walk with me? I’d like to get to know you a bit better.”

“I’d like that a lot,” Laurie replied.

***Present Day***

“Laurie?”

The sound of his voice snapped Laurie out of her reverie and she opened her eyes. She turned in the direction that the voice was coming from and felt her stomach lurch when her eyes met his. He was the most beautiful man she had ever known, with his sculpted cheekbones, slender body and brilliant blue eyes that seemed to look right through her soul.

“It is you,” he whispered, almost in awe.

“Josh.” She said softly and drew her robe a little more tightly around her body. Standing in front of her was the man she thought she would never see again. It had been five long years and all the feelings she once had for him came rushing back to her. “How are you?”

He didn’t answer her question. Instead, his eyes pierced into hers and his eyes began to roam her body. “I wrote you a letter not long after you left Europe.”

“I never received it, there was a postal strike in my area. What did it say?”

Josh thought about that for a while, an uneasy silence settling between them. “You don’t want to know.”

“Oh.” Laurie looked down at her feet and then back at him. “I got married today.”

“Figures,” he replied quietly and shoved his hands into the pockets in his pants.

“What do you mean?” She inquired.

“I just got married a few days ago myself.” There was a long pause as they processed this new information. “How come you never called me?”

“I did call… once.” Laurie paused. “There was a woman’s voice on the answering machine, so I didn’t leave a message. I thought maybe you had found someone else.” Another pause. “Why didn’t you ever call me?”

“I did, but I kept getting the operator. And after I didn’t receive a reply from my letter, I just figured that you had moved… or that you didn’t want to hear from me again.”

Laurie’s mind was spinning and she felt like she was falling down a very deep hole, and it took her breath away. It was several seconds later when she realized that Josh was speaking to her… and she never heard a word he said.

“Sorry?”

“I said, what are you thinking?”

“I hate you,” she replied. It was the only thing that came close to the way he was making her feel at the moment.

“Come here,” he laughed and stepped up to the balustrade. She could tell from his body language that he didn’t want to be heard.

“Look, umm… I’m going to do a reality check here. I’m going to go back into my room and then I’m going to come out again and I’m going to see… I’m going to see…”

Laurie walked back inside. Her husband was snoring on the bed. It didn’t help. She walked out again. “You’re still here.”

“Come here,” Josh repeated and she went to him. He spoke quietly into her ear. “This isn’t… this isn’t how it was meant to be.”

She was so close that she could sense a tremble deep within him and it made her want to put her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be all right.

“I thought about you,” he told her.

“I thought about you too,” she replied and she felt like she was swooning.

“Do you want to go downstairs for a drink? Its still fairly early, and I… I think we should talk.”

“Sure,” she accepted without a second thought. “Just let me throw some clothes on and I’ll meet you in the hallway.”

“Ok,” Josh whispered. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

***Flashback – Five Years Earlier***

Laurie found herself feeling very comfortable in Josh’s presence. She couldn’t remember the last time she had held hands with someone and with him it felt incredibly natural. They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when Josh finally spoke.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“There’s not really a lot to tell,” she shrugged. “I’ve always lived in California, my mom is a teacher, my dad is an accountant, I have one brother and one sister and I’ve never been in love.”

“Come on,” Josh encouraged. “I’m sure you can elaborate a little more than that. How come you’ve never been in love?”

“I’ve never met anyone that could ever mean enough to me,” Laurie replied honestly, meeting his scrutinizing gaze.

***Present Day***

As Josh pulled on a pair of drawstring khaki’s and a t-shirt, his eyes drifted over to the bed where his wife Alexandria was sleeping. He had met her in New York; at the very hotel they were staying at and was immediately smitten with her. With her long dark hair and exotic brown eyes, she looked like she belonged on a beach in the South Seas. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his already unkempt hair and grabbed his keycard off the table by the door.

A nervous Laurie was waiting in the hallway as he exited his room. She had changed into a pair of black shorts, showing off her long, shapely legs and a midnight blue t-shirt. As he admired her legs, he remembered that during their few weeks together, she had told him that she was on the swim team in high school and college.

“What?” She asked apprehensively, feeling his gaze burn through her skin.

“Just checking you out,” he grinned, throwing her off guard. “Your legs are still incredible… so is the rest of you.”

“Oh.” Laurie blushed furiously and looked down at the floor. “Well… stop it.”

Josh just laughed and wrapped an arm around Laurie’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him. He pressed the down arrow for the elevator and they waited for it to arrive. They rode down in silence, enjoying being in the company of one another. Josh chose a table with a corner booth and Laurie slid in beside him.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Iced tea is fine, thank you.”

“Some things never change,” Josh grinned and motioned for the waiter to take their order.

“What does that mean?”

He waited until the waiter was gone again before he replied and he took her hands into his. “You were drinking iced tea the day we met.”

“I can’t believe you remembered that,” she said softly.

“I remember almost everything about the time we spent together. They were the best two weeks of my life.”

“Me too,” Laurie admitted.

“So how have you been? Tell me what I’ve missed.” Josh requested.

“Not a lot. I’ve been working as an accountant, I met my husband through my sister and we got married.”

“What’s your husbands name?” He paused. “What does he do?”

“His name is Craig and he’s the vice president of a very well known company and even though he’s hardly ever home, he prefers that I not go back to work after the honeymoon.”

“Do you love him?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on Laur, it’s not a hard question… do you love him?”

“Craig is… I care for Craig very much. He’s a wonderful, kind man…” Laurie’s voice faltered.

“But?”

“But he’s just not you.” When Josh didn’t respond, Laurie quickly changed the subject. “You’ve done quite well for yourself… I was so happy when I heard ‘Tearing’ Up My Heart’ on the radio for the first time over here.”

“You followed our career?”

“I caught a few news clips here and there… I have all of your CD’s.” She replied nonchalantly. “I’ve even been to a few concerts… they’re a lot different from the ones I watched while we were in Europe.”

***Flashback – Five Years Earlier***

Josh picked up the phone in the room that he was sharing with Justin and dialed the number of Laurie’s hotel. The operator connected him to her room and he waited impatiently and counted the rings until he heard her voice.

“Hello?”

“Hi Laurie, its Josh.” His smooth voice came over the line. “I wanted to apologize for not calling you in the last couple of days, the guys and I have been really busy trying to get this CD off the ground.”

“Josh,” Laurie laughed. “There’s no need to apologize, I completely understand.”

“Thanks,” he breathed a sigh of relief and continued. “Listen, I know it’s kind of short notice, but I was wondering if you wanted to come to our concert tonight and watch us perform. That will also give you a chance to meet the other guys.”

“Sure, that sounds great! Did you want me to meet you somewhere, or…?” She asked, letting her voice trail off.

“We can swing by and pick you up at your hotel before we head to the venue if that’s all right. Around seven o’clock ok with you?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Laurie couldn’t help but grin. “I’ll see you then.”

***Present Day***

“I never knew… why didn’t you try to contact me while you were there?”

Laurie gave him a look of disbelief. “Josh… how many fans do you think have tried that line? ‘Oh, we’re old friends, he’ll remember me… really!’ Give me a break.”

“You have a point.” He admitted sheepishly.

“How are the rest of the guys? Have any of them gotten married?”

“Justin is practically married. He’s completely in love with his girlfriend and we expect him to pop the question any day. Chris is living with his girlfriend – neither of them believe in marriage. And Joey and Lance are single.”

“Are they happy?”

“They seem to be.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” She paused. “Can I ask you a question Josh?”

“Go for it.” He leaned closer to her and grinned.

“What the hell did you do to your hair?”

Chapter 2