"Hey," I say awkwardly as she looks over and notices me.
She doesn't reply. A cab pulls up in front of us. The driver pops the trunk and gets out to load Carolyn's suitcase.
"Going to the airport?" I ask her shyly.
She nods.
"Mind if I share the cab? Might be a while 'til another one comes in this snow," I ask as snow falls ceaselessly down onto us.
"Whatever," Carolyn says coldly.
I take it as a yes and wheel my suitcase over to the trunk, then hop into the backseat.
"Airport, please," Carolyn says to the driver, and we pull away from the curb.
The snow is really coming down and traffic is backed up. We sit in the taxi silently for a few minutes and then I decide to try to talk to Carolyn about the situation with A.J.
"Listen C, I know you're really mad at me right now, but -"
"I don't want to hear it," Carolyn interrupts.
"So you're just never going to speak to me again?" I ask, feeling irritated by her attitude.
"If I made out with Nick behind your back would you ever speak to me again?" she asks hurtfully.
"Point taken," I reply, almost inaudibly.
Again we sit silently for a few minutes but the emotions building up inside me make it impossible not to speak.
"You know, A.J. kissed me, and not the other way around. I never made the first move. If you want to be mad at someone, maybe you should be mad at him," I say bitchily.
Carolyn looks over at me, dumbfounded.
"Are you even serious right now? Do you hear yourself?!" she says in disbelief. "Who cares who made the first move!" she yells. The cab driver looks a bit uncomfortable. "Of course I'm mad at A.J. I'm furious with both of you! The fact that you would try and put all the blame on him is disgusting! It takes two to tango, Ally!" She pauses and takes a deep breath to compose herself. "I knew he had feelings for you because of what I overheard on the bus that day, but you let me believe that it was one-sided," she says, fighting back tears. "I never for a second thought you had feelings for him, or that there was something going on between you. You made me look like such a fool."
I can't hold the tears in any longer. "I'm so sorry, " I say, tears streaming down my face. "I did have feelings for him," I admit, "but I don't anymore, and I swear to you that since we came on tour nothing has happened between us... I've been trying to get you guys back together - "
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Carolyn asks angrily.
"No," I say sincerely. "I just wanted you to know the truth." I pause. "You've been a really great friend to me, C. I love you like a sister," I choke back tears. "I am so sorry I hurt you like this, and I hope that you can forgive me and that we can get back to the way things were, because I really want you in my life."
Carolyn looks over at me with watery eyes and I see her warming up, but she says nothing and looks back out the window.
Forty-five silent minutes later we're still in the cab and the snow storm outside is intensifying.
"We're going to miss the flight," I say, checking my watch.
"In weather like this I doubt there'll be a flight," the driver remarks.
I take my phone out of my coat pocket and call the airline.
"Hi, I'm wondering if you can tell me the status of a flight I'm supposed to be on in an hour?" I ask. "Flight 107."
"I'm sorry Miss, but all flights out today are cancelled due to the storm," the lady at the airline replies.
I sigh in frustration and Carolyn looks over at me, having heard my question.
"The flight is cancelled," I tell her.
"So when will the next flight to Florida be leaving then?" I ask into the phone.
"I can't tell you for certain," the lady replies, sounding a bit frazzled. "The storm is supposed to hit us hard tomorrow morning and until the snow clears for a significant period of time, all flights out will be indefinitely postponed. Call back when the storm clears," she advises.
I rub my head, feeling a stress headach setting in. "OK, thank you for your help," I say before hanging up.
I turn to Carolyn. "All flights out are cancelled until the storm clears."
"Great," she says in frustration.
I dial Nick's cell number.
"Hey," he answers, seeing my name on the call display.
"Hey," I say nervously. "Umm, I'm in a cab with Carolyn. We've been stuck in traffic for ages now because of the snow and I just found out that all flights are cancelled indefinitely until the storm clears," I explain, waiting to hear his reaction.
He sighs loudly. "OK, well just come back to the hotel I guess. I'll go down and book you one of the empty rooms on our floor," he says.
My heart sinks, hearing that he wants us to stay in separate rooms. "OK. Thanks... Get Carolyn a room too, will you?" I ask.
"Yeah, no problem. Later," he says before hanging up.
"Thanks," Carolyn says quietly. I smile in response.
"Can you take us back to the hotel please?" I say to the driver.
Finally we arrive back at the hotel and after struggling to pull our luggage through the snow on the sidewalk we go inside and make our way up to our floor.
Nick comes out of his room upon hearing the elevator open. "Hey," he says as we pull our suitcases out of the elevator. "Here are your keys," he says unenthusiastically as he hands us each a room key.
"Thanks Nick," Carolyn says before heading to her room.
"Yeah, thanks," I say. "So, I guess I'll just give you some space until I can catch a flight back to Florida."
Nick nods. "Yeah, OK."
I inhale deeply. "OK." I turn to go to my room. I walk down the hall with a heavy heart. Once inside my new room I lay down on the bed and let the tears escape. A few minutes later there's a knock at the door. I wipe my eyes and get up to answer it.
"Liss," I say, wrapping her in a hug.
"Hey," she smiles. "You OK?" she asks, coming into the room.
"Been better," I reply honestly.
She looks at me sympathetically. "Nick said your flight was cancelled?"
"Yup, all flights out of the city today are cancelled because of the snow," I explain.
We both sit on the bed.
"Did you and Carolyn come back together?" she asks, surprised.
"Yeah," I sigh. "We were sharing a cab. Got pretty tense at one point," I explain.
"So you two spoke?" she asks. "She hasn't said a word to me since she overheard you and A.J. talking... She didn't even say goodbye to me," Alissa says sadly. "I think she thinks I'm 'on your side' or something. I think she's mad that I knew what happened between you and A.J. and that I didn't tell her."
I look at her sadly. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this," I say sincerely.
"It's OK. We'll all get past this," she says optimistically. "In three days we'll all be back home for Christmas, and we'll have a little break from each other and all the tension, and things will be a bit more relaxed when we come back on tour after the holidays," she says wisely.
"I'm not so sure," I reply. "I'm not even sure if Nick and I are spending Christmas together," I say sadly. "Maybe he'll still want his space."
"But he said you should go back to the house, right? So obviously he plans to spend Christmas with you - he wouldn't just leave you there by yourself. If he wanted to be apart for Christmas he would have told you to fly home to your family for the holidays."
"I guess."
Alissa leans over and hugs me. "Hang in there," she says supportively. "You'll be fine."
"Thanks. It just feels so weird that I've got my own room and that he's right down the hall but I can't go talk to him," I explain.
She nods.
"So I guess I should check the weather network," I say as I reach for the remote and turn on the T.V. "The lady at the airline told me that flights wouldn't resume until the storm clears."
"This storm is just getting started, folks," the weather man says, pointing at the screen behind him. "We haven't seen snow like this in decades."
Alissa and I look at eachother worriedly.
"We're seeing a significant amount of snow this evening as the storm system makes it's way into the city," he continues. "But this is just the tip of the iceberg. We're expecting heavy snow consistently for about four days, which means it's going to be a very white Christmas."
"Four days!" Alissa and I exclaim.
"This is a record-breaker, folks," the weather man says in the background.
Alissa groans with frustration. "Looks like we won't be going home for Christmas afterall..."