Summary: This is a story that my friends and I are working on. We alternate chapters, so there really isnt a summery, because nobody knows what will happen next ourselves. When whoever does the next chapter, the others are clueless about where we are going to take it. Dani's chapters are in normal writing, Ayleens are in italics and mine are in bold, so you know who has done what. One guideline made by Dani is that there must be mention of a naked guy in each chapter...and there is some humor that you may not get...its kind of inside jokes between us...other than that, hope you like it!!! Please review!
Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: Group, Other
Genres: Humor, Romance
Warnings: Sexual Content
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 15 Completed: No
Word count: 79712 Read: 21959
Published: 12/23/03 Updated: 02/26/04
1. Chapter One by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
2. Chapter Two by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
3. Chapter Three by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
4. Chapter Four by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
5. Chapter Five by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
6. Chapter Six by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
7. Chapter Seven by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
8. Chapter Eight by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
9. Chapter Nine by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
10. Chapter Ten by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
11. Chapter Eleven by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
12. Chapter Twelve by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
13. Chapter Thirteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
14. Chapter Fourteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
15. Chapter Fifteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
Chapter One by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 1*
“Why did your dad name you Glory,” Orlando reached over Glory to grab a paintbrush out of the cup of water sitting on her side.
“Because he was a crazy fool,” Glory muttered back not paying much attention to him. Orlando gave her a sideways glance then shrugged and turned to his own artwork.
“That’s not a good explanation,” He argued back.
“Okay,” Glory set her paintbrush down into the cup and walked behind Orlando’s stool wrapping her arms around his chest. “He named me Glory because that’s what I was supposed to be, his pride and joy. A lot of good that did him.” She mumbled the last part under her breath almost like it was a curse.
“You made me proud, I’m sure he’s proud too,” Orlando told her looking up at her. She never ceased to amaze him. After cutting her long blonde hair off to her ears, with paint smudges covering her fair skin, and the oval glasses she hid her green eyes with she was still beautiful to him no matter how many times she said it wasn’t true.
“He’s the one who disappointed me,” Glory reminded him. “But that’s in the past,” She sighed and looked at Orlando’s painting. “What the hell is that supposed to be?” She asked him looking directly at the blue oval smeared roughly across the canvas.
I’m not quite sure, I was going for that whole abstract thing you do,” Orlando told her pointing over to her painting.
“You missed,” She joked. “And I mean really missed,” Glory teased him. Orlando frowned at her trying his best to look disappointed. “Maybe you should go back to ceramics.”
“Sculpting,” Orlando corrected her. No matter how many times he told her it was sculpting she still said it was ceramics. To her anything that involved molding and baking clay was ceramics.
“Sure, you keep telling yourself that,” Glory laughed and wiping a bit of green paint off of his bare shoulder from where she had rested her chin. She was used to being covered in paint. This was her job. Since the day she learned what paint was at the age of five, she painted everyday.
“It so is too sculpting,” Orlando shook his head and looked at his painting again. He glanced over at hers briefly before coming back to his. “Okay so I do suck at painting,” He admitted not liking the fact that he had to say that. “I don’t know how you manage to get that abstract thing down.” Orlando scrunched up his nose remembering back to the first time he had seen one of her paintings. He had seen it before seeing her. It had been of a tree lit on fire with blue in the background. It had moved him to see that painting and how it had portrayed her view on deforestation.
“I do have fifteen years, fifty-six showings, three hundred and ninety-three paintings and drawings, and close to two million dollars on you sweetheart,” Glory laughed standing in front of her own painting again. She picked up her paintbrush and went back to work ignoring the world around her. That was the one thing that scared the hell out of Orlando. The house could be on fire and she wouldn’t even notice. He couldn’t even begin to count the times he had to open doors for her to keep her from smacking right into them because she had an idea for a painting.
“Speaking of your dad though, did you ever call him back?” Orlando asked remembering a conversation he had had with her dad the week before. Orlando himself had never met the father in question and from what he could tell the man was trying to make an effort with his daughter but she wouldn’t forgive him yet.
“Yup, well I got his secretary actually. She thought I was one of his whores, made it a point to mention that Mr. Angelo was engaged to be married,” Glory told him with no emotion coming across her face before going silent again.
“Are you going to tell me what she said or do I have to guess?” He asked her.
“You can guess if you want to,” She told him, still emotionlessly before cracking a smile. “All she told me after I told her I was one of the museums artists was that my next showing is at the end of the month or something like that.’
“Are you going to be ready?” Orlando asked. Since he had gotten home to LA from his latest movie premiere he had been forcing her out into public taking her away from her paintings.
“I have like ten already sent over I think,” Glory told him. “Five more shouldn’t be that hard to do”
Orlando shook his head and let the subject drop, he knew better then to question her work ethic. She would have fifteen new paintings ready to be put on display and he probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. “So did your dad call back?”
“I don’t think so, I haven’t checked the machine in a while,” She shrugged. Orlando knew that was her code for she had been avoiding answering the phone since calling him.
“You really should, he’s not that bad,” Orlando pushed knowing at any moment she could snap and he would be sleeping on the couch again.
“Not that bad for someone who likes to use me for my money,” Glory looked at the painting in front of her. One more brush stroke should do it. She gingerly applied the last of the orange across the canvas and stepped back to look at it. “See? Now only four more to go.” She laughed looking over at Orlando again.
“Why don’t you talk with your accent?” He asked her throwing her off guard again going back to their previous discussion.
“I don’t like it?” She nearly asked him hoping he would just leave it alone already.
“It would sound cute though,” Orlando told her standing up off his stool. He always sat down while working while Glory insisted that standing up made her work better. “I think London accents are sexy.” He whispered into her ear getting her to giggle a little.
“I sound like a prostitute though,” Glory laughed trying to push his hands away from her.
“But everyone thinks my girlfriend is some bloody American,” Orlando teased letting his hands grasp at her waist again pulling them away from the atrium she had designated off to the side of the living room as her work area since it was all windows.
“You know, technically I am some bloody American though,” She told him letting him pull her down to the couch. “I did get my citizenship last year.”
“Only because your mom owns a farm in Ohio,” He joked kissing her briefly on the mouth.
“You know,” Glory mumbled in between kisses. “This whole making out thing is only going to leave you very, very frustrated.” She laughed letting her accent slip in a little. They both knew the real reason she never spoke with the accent was because she didn’t want to be anything like her father, the British museum curator.
“That’s what cold showers are for,” He laughed letting more of his weight push on to her.
“And that would be why the water bill is so high,” Glory told him letting her hands glide along the muscles across his shoulders. The shirt had been long since tossed with him saying he was too hot with the heat turned on and it wasn’t helping him paint any. “And besides Cadence and Winona are supposed to be here any minute.”
“Fine,” Orlando kissed her one more time before backing away and laying down next to her on the oversized couch. This couch was the only thing in the whole house he had gotten to choose. Glory had told him it was too big and gray for her house, but she had let him bring it in anyways. “You got paint on the couch.” Orlando reached over her and pointed to the spot of blue on the side.
“Dear boy you were the one using the blue,” Glory laughed resting her head against his chest shifting a little to make it work. “I only used orange, green, and red.”
“Oh,” He raised an eyebrow at her. “But how come there is a spot of blue on her arm right where the spot on the couch is?”
“This is your fault, don’t try and blame me,” Glory rolled her eyes at him.
“You’re the one with the blue paint spot,” Orlando told her. “So I think I should be repaid.” He said as suggestively as he could without laughing.
“You know where the bathroom is and I believe you’ve already met your left hand,” She joked back. Orlando let out a laugh at her sense of humor.
“Just how long are you planning on doing this whole no sex thing?” He asked her knowing in his head what the answer was going to be, she told him every single day when they are lying in the bed together.
“Until I see a silver, diamond wedding band on this hand,” Glory held up her left hand in demonstration.
“I know, I know,” Orlando grinned. He had actually bought the ring for her but was trying to think of the right time to give it to her. He was beginning to think the right time was now. She had almost found the hiding spot cleaning the day before but fortunately Dom had been over to stop her from finding it. “But just think how much fun it would be.” He laughed.
Glory rolled her eyes at him again. “And just think how much it would hurt when I beat the hell out of you.” She grinned.
It was Orlando’s turn to roll his eyes at her this time. “You know, no one believes me when I tell them we’ve never slept together.”
“I think they’re just amazed you went three years without sex.” Glory returned his joke falling into another comfortable silence. Glory let her mind fly thinking back to how sweet Orlando was with her. All her other boyfriends had chalked her up as being prude after she told them she was waiting to get married before sleeping with them. She had her reasons that most people didn’t know about her. Orlando had never once pressured her into anything even after they moved in together and she refused to let them get past anything other then fooling around a little. As much as he joked with her about he always told her he was perfectly fine with her choice knowing they would have a better relationship because of it in the end.
Glory closed her eyes almost falling asleep when she heard a soft knock at the door. She sat straight up nearly knocking Orlando off the couch in the process. “Pizza!”
“Calm down love,” Orlando laughed making it known she could have just potentially injured him. “You didn’t order pizza.”
“Cadence and Winona were bringing over pizza,” Glory pushed him all the way off the couch this time in order to stand up. “Go take a shower.” She ordered him.
“Do this, do that,” Orlando mocked her teasingly. “Are you not even the least bit concerned that you just knocked me on the ground?”
“Fine, are you alright?” She asked him looking down on the floor.
“Well, now that you mention it,” Orlando started but was cut off by her.
“Go take a shower Orli,” Glory laughed and pulled him up off the floor as the knocking at the door increased. “And don’t get any paint on the walls!” She yelled after him. Glory waited until she heard the bedroom door slam shut before she raced off to get the front door.
“Could you have taken a little longer?” Winona asked annoyed as she pushed past her blonde friend. Winona was close to Glory’s height, a little shorter but not by much with long, dark hair and the same attitude as the blonde.
“I could have but I’m hungry,” Glory laughed as she took the pizza box from Cadence and ushered her in. Glory had always thought Cadence was too passive for her own good. Cadence cautiously walked into the house and brushed her curly brown hair over her shoulder.
“It has to be like ninety degrees in here,” Cadence scrunched her nose and followed the other two girls through the living room and into the kitchen.
“I know,” Glory motioned to the tank top and shorts she was wearing. “It got cold last night so I turned the heat on and I think I broke it.”
“Did you call a repair man?” Cadence asked like this was something Glory should have known.
“Yes,” Glory gave her the “you so didn’t ask that question” look. “And they said it would have to wait until tomorrow when the part came in to fix the damn thing.
“Times like this make me miss Ohio,” Cadence said sadly. She had just recently moved out to LA leaving behind her boyfriend of a year temporarily.
“It snowed in Ohio last night,” Winona raised her eyebrows. “My sister called to complain, two feet of snow and it’s only November.”
“So much fun,” Glory agreed even though no one could understand her through the slice of pizza she had just inhaled into her mouth.
“That is so gross,” Winona laughed.
Glory swallowed the pizza and burped loudly. “I bet that was even grosser,” She laughed evilly. Normally she wouldn’t have done that, something she learned from living in London until she was ten, but she figured she was an American now. It was okay since everyone else seemed to act horribly rude in public in her opinion. “I can’t help it that I was starving.”
“Did you forget to eat again today?” Winona asked. She was thankful Orlando lived with Glory now. She was tired of having to call the girl to remind her of simple things like eating. Glory was the one who got to solve everyone in the free world’s problems but when it came down to it, she never could remember anything if she was busy working. Winona was glad though that she was the one who got to remind her of things. If she hadn’t she wouldn’t know anything that went on in Glory’s life. Cadence still had yet to learn about Orlando even though Glory had been dating him for over three years now.
“I think I had a bagel this morning,” Glory shrugged and picked up another slice of pizza.
Winona shook her head seeing the girl had eaten a good portion of the medium sized pizza. She looked over at Cadence for a moment. “You better start eating before she eats all of it.” Winona joked.
“I’m on a diet this week,” Cadence told them.
“What diet it this time?” Glory asked in between bites. “The starve yourself to look like all the bitches around here diet?”
“No,” Cadence told her smirking. “I’m just trying to eat healthier.”
“There’s some tofu crap and a bunch of fruits in the fridge,” Glory motioned to the silver side-by-side off in the corner of the room. “Orli’s back on that whole vegan thing again.”
“Again?” Winona laughed.
“Yup, went back to no dairy,” Glory told her. “Do you know how bad it sucks to wake up thirsty at four in the morning, go to the kitchen and pull out the milk to find it’s soy milk?”
“Eww,” Winona laughed again. Cadence gave them a strange look trying to figure out who this Orli person was.
“You’re telling me, I was just minding my own business and took a drink from the jug and got that, it was just wrong.” Glory said seriously before laughing again.
“You know you could just go to the store and buy regular milk.” Cadence joined in as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out the container of chopped fruit. “Can I eat this?”
“Sure,” Glory told her. “I did go to the store thank you very much,” She said stubbornly. “And he threw everything I bought out, even my Doritos!”
“And he still has his balls intact?” Winona asked. She knew very well from living with Glory for a year in New Zealand that it was not safe to mess with the girl’s junk food.
“He’s too cute to kill,” Glory grinned. “Besides he might not give me that ring he’s hiding on the plant ledge.”
“He bought a ring?” Winona asked, her eyes going wide.
“Yeah, he thinks I don’t know about it,” Glory laughed. No one understood that there really was nothing anyone could do to keep secrets from her, she always had her way of finding out. “He made Dom come over yesterday to monitor me cleaning. Dom threw a fit when I tried to clean the ledge so the minute Orli fell asleep last night I climbed up there.”
“You so ruined your surprise.” Winona laughed. She had always wanted her future husband to surprise her when he proposed. She didn’t want to have any clue that he was about to do that.
“I don’t like surprises,” Glory told them finishing off the pizza. She couldn’t believe how hungry she had been. Maybe it was time for her to start listening to Orlando more often. “Besides, Viggo called and asked what my ring size was, just to know,” She scrunched up her eyes saying that last part. “I know Viggo is nuts but not that nuts.” She laughed.
“You never know with him though,” Winona laughed. She could still remember these weird messages he would leave on her machine rambling on and on until the machine cut him off about things like the grass outside his house and such. She was glad to have met him though, through Glory of course. The two had shared a gallery a few years before the filming of The Lord of The Rings. He had told Glory she was the single most talented painter he had ever met and asked to keep in contact with her. During the actual filming, Glory had gone on set with him and drew everything she saw for two months for a project Viggo had done. That was how she had met Orlando of course.
“Okay, who is Viggo?” Cadence asked. She hated when those two knew something she didn’t. They kept telling her it was nothing and that they just shared a few friends from when they had lived in New Zealand but she always thought there was something more to it. Glory had tried to tell her that they had met a whole bunch of movie stars there, but Cadence knew better then to believe that.
“No one important,” Glory laughed and turned her attention back to the pizza box. “You guys want to go out for Chinese?” She asked them.
“You’re still hungry?” Cadence asked laughing a little. “How are you skinny?”
“My dad used to forget to feed me as a child,” Glory joked.
“You didn’t have anything planned for tonight?” Winona asked. Usually when Glory asked them to come over and bring food that meant that she had something in mind to do after eating.
“Not particularly,” Glory shrugged. “The guys were going to go to some pool hall uptown.”
“Nothing on the Backstreet front?” Cadence asked hopeful. That was one of the main reasons she had moved to LA, to find one of the members of the girl’s favorite band. Two months later she still had yet to even spot one of them.
“Not this weekend.” Glory laughed.
“But what about next weekend?” Winona asked catching on.
“Nick and Aaron are supposed to be at the opening of Pirates 2 if you guys wanted to with us to that,” Glory shrugged.
“Of course we want to go!” Winona nearly yelled at her friend. “Why would you think we wouldn’t want to go?”
Glory laughed at her over eagerness in this situation. “Well hot damn, I guess I have three dates to the premiere then.” Glory laughed.
“How are you going to get us in to that?” Cadence asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer to that one or not. She had a feeling it would involve them breaking and entering somewhere down the road.
“I told you we know movie stars.” Glory shrugged her shoulders.
“You do not, I’m not dumb enough to fall for that.” Cadence shook her head.
“Okay then,” Glory walked to the kitchen door. “Orlando!” She screamed through out the one story house. They could here a strangled “what” come back.
“Come here for a moment.”
The door to the bedroom opened as Glory saw him pop his head out.
“I’m naked.” He told her.
“So get a towel,” Glory rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen knowing he would do exactly what she told him to.
“What is so damned important that you make me walk out here still wet?” Orlando asked walking into the kitchen, a towel wrapped around his waist, the water falling out of his dark hair. He stopped short seeing Cadence and Winona leaning against the center island.
“Tell Cadence she can come to the Pirates premiere.” Glory told him oblivious to the fact that Cadence’s mouth was dropped open nearly to the floor.
“Sure love anything,” Orlando shook his head at Glory’s style. She didn’t give a damn what anyone thought so this was considered normal to her. I’m going to go change now.” Orlando told her walking back out of the kitchen.
Glory waited until she heard the door slam shut again. “I told you so.”
Chapter Two by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Two*
“ That was” Cadence started.
“ Orlando bloom” Winona finished for her.
“ He was” Cadence voice broke.
“ Naked” Winona stepped in.
Glory busted out laughing watching her friend in shock. Suddenly Cadence’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fainted.
“ Uh oh that’s bad” Glory said.
“ Go get her a wet wash cloth that you can wet her face with” Winona instructed.
Glory ran into the kitchen and returned a few minutes with a wet washcloth. Winona took the cloth and rung it out on Cadence’s face.
“ Ah that’s so cold” She mumbled opening her eyes.
“ You feeling ok” Winona asked her helping her to sit up.
“ Yeah I just had the weirdest dream I had a dream that you were dating Orlando Bloom.
Glory and Winona looked at each other and sighed.
“ Its no dream its real you just fainted” Glory said.
“ I know”.
Cadence got up and straightened herself up. The door to the bedroom opened.
“ Hello guys” Orlando greeted.
He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and no shirt showing off his abs.
“ Orlando these are my two best friends Cadence and Winona” Glory said.
“ Hi nice to meet you both” He said shaking their hands.
“ Hi” They both said back in unison.
The doorbell rang.
“ I will get that” He said.
He walked over to the door and opened it.
“ Hey come on in” Orlando said as he opened the door wider for the person to come in. A guy that both girls recognized walked in.
“ Hey Elija” Glory replied casually.
“ Hey Glory how are you”? he asked.
“ I am good” She answered. “ I want you to meet my friends Winona and Cadence”.
“ Hello”. he said.
“ Hey” Both replied.
“ How about we all get some pizza there is enough for all of us” Glory suggested.
The group had fun eating pizza and talking. Cadence and Winona were both warming up and not acting so star struck. A few hours later The girls were left in the living room watching a TV show on MTV while the guys were watching a game on the TV in the bedroom.
“ I have to pee” Cadence announced.
“ Thanks for sharing it” Glory joked.
“ I will be back in a minute” She said.
“Ok” Winona said without looking up from the TV.
Cadence went in search of the bathroom. She walked into the guest room and opened the bathroom door.
“ AHHHHH” She screamed.
Winona and Glory who had heard it came running in. When they saw the reason she screamed Glory and Winona started laughing.
“ Do you people mind I was about to get in the shower” Elija said. “ We don’t mind” Winona replied in between giggles.
Both girls pulled Cadence out of the bathroom.
“ Well that was an experience” She said.
“ Your telling me I wasn’t expecting it to be that big” Glory announced.
“ Glory” Cadence whined.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I can’t believe that we are actually going to meet Nick and Aaron tonight” Cadence said putting on foundation.
It was exactly one week later and all three girl’s were over at Orlando and Glory’s house getting ready for the Pirates 2 movie premiere that night. Orlando had taken Cadence’s boyfriend Todd to get a tux fit since he was a little on the heavy side and had to get a specially fitted one. When Glory had tried to set her up with another one of Orlando’s friends she had said No and had called Todd and invited him.
“Me either we are all going to have a great time tonight” Winona agreed.
“I am still in shock that you are dating Orlando Bloom” Cadence told Glory.
“I tried to tell you but you wouldn’t believe me” Glory told her.
“Gee I can’t imagine why” Cadence said sarcastically.
Winona rolled her eyes knowing exactly where this argument was headed. She walked into the bathroom to change her clothes.
“Could it be that you tricked me in to believing that you were married to Nick Carter that one time not so long ago”. Cadence said with annoyance.
“That was pretty funny” Glory replied smiling at the memory.
“No it wasn’t”.
“It’s not my fault you fell for it and I told you the truth eventually” Glory argued.
“Like four months later” Cadence reminded her.
“I was going to tell you sooner but it was too much fun plus I was waiting for you to catch on and figure it out”.
“But still” She whined.
Winona emerged from the bathroom dressed and ready to go. “Will you guys stop”?
“She started it” Glory said.
“Did not” Cadence argued.
“Did too” Glory argued back.
“I don’t care who started it both of you stop and we need to finish because the guys will be here any minute do that we can go to dinner”.
They had decided to go to dinner before the premiere at a fancy Italian restaurant that Orlando and Glory went to all the time.
“Do I look fat in this“? Cadence asked.
Glory looked over at Winona. “You take this one”.
“You don’t look fat you look great”. She told her.
Cadence was wearing a Pink spaghetti strapped top with a pink skirt to match. She had her brownish blonde hair up in a French twist.
“Really”? “
Yes really I am the one that obviously looks bad”. Winona sighed. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back.
She was wearing a long blue dress with a slight going down the leg.
“No you look great” Cadence assured her.
“You guys are so annoying when it comes to how you look” Glory complained.
“Easy for you to say you both have boyfriends” She replied.
“You will get a boyfriend you just have to be patient” Glory told her.
“I wish people would stop saying that” She rolled her eyes.
“ Its true though I mean look at me I was the one that had the no dating rule and I convinced myself that no decent guy would want to date me”. Glory reminded her.
“Yeah your time will come”. Cadence piped up.
“Yeah whatever because there are tons of guys lined up” She said sarcastically.
They all her a door slam.
“Girl’s we are home are you guys ready” Orlando’s voice boomed from the front hall way.
“Yeah we will be out in a minute” Glory called.
She took one last look at herself in the mirror. She had decided on wearing a green no sleeved shirt and a black mini skirt.
“Ok guys we all look great so let’s go” Glory told them.
They walked out and as soon as she saw them Glory walked up to Orlando and kissed his cheek.
“You look beautiful” He said.
“Thanks you look hot yourself” She replied.
Todd smiled at Cadence and whispered in her ear. “You look stunning”.
“Thanks you look…..really nice” She replied. She didn’t want to lie and tell him he looked hot but she didn’t want to be mean about it.
“We should get going we don’t want to be late for our reservations at the restaurant so we can make it on time to the movie premiere” Dom said.
Dom was Winona’s date since his girlfriend was out of town.
“Ready to roll”. Orlando asked.
“Yep let’s go” Glory said.
The group headed out to the limo that Orlando had rented for the night.
“This is so neat” Cadence exclaimed.
“This is the really good kind” Glory commented.
The limo that had been rented was a black stretch limo that had everything a teenager’s room would have.
Glory since she had started dating Orlando had become accustomed to Limo rides, expensive dining and formal affairs where celebrities would be attending.
They all got in and settled down as the driver took off towards the restaurant.
“Thanks a lot for inviting me and Winona to come along” Cadence said.
“Yeah I needed to get out since aside from work and school I haven’t really gotten to go out with friends” Winona told her.
“No problem I figured you guys would want to go and I wanted to hang out with my best friends” Glory said with a shrug.
“Yeah we are going to have a blast” Todd said speaking up for the first time that night.
“Yeah I know that you will since you will have the most passionate thing in your life besides your girlfriend which turns out to be food” Glory remarked.
Todd gave her a dirty look and Cadence elbowed her in the side.
“Ouch”.
“That was really mean Glory” Cadence said.
“What I was just stating the obvious” She defended.
“You had no right to be mean that way apologize to him”.
“Uh are you kidding me” Glory snorted.
“IM not kidding I am very much serious that was uncalled for” Cadence replied harshly.
“I am not apologizing end of discussion” she hissed.
“It’s not the end of the discussion” Cadence yelled.
“Yes it is you can’t make me apologize so I win”.
“We have arrived” The driver told them.
“Thank god” Winona muttered.
She was sick to death of the fighting which was their usual ritual when going out. They entered the restaurant.
“Wow” She breathed.
“It’s gorgeous here” Cadence said.
“Yeah it is and wait till you taste the food it’s delicious” Glory told them.
The restaurant was quite elegant. It looked like a ballroom with a big chandelier on the ceiling providing the light. The tables consisted of elegant silverware and a candle lit in the middle. There was a small dance floor in the middle of the room next to a guy tickling those piano keys.
“Can I help you” A guy with an Italian accent asked.
“Dinner reservations for Bloom” Orlando told him.
“Ah yes right this way sir” He replied leading the way to a table for six.
The group sat down and looked over the menu.
“This stuff is expensive” Cadence muttered to Winona.
She nodded and looked at her menu. She felt weird having Dom as her date considering he was famous and already has a girlfriend. She wished that she had a guy of her own.
“Hello I am your waitress Shelly lets start off with drinks” She said.
“We are all going to have some wine so bring me the bottle of your best” Orlando told her.
“Ok I will be right back” She said.
After she left the group all tried to figure out what they wanted to eat.
“What are you getting to eat”? Orlando asked Glory.
“Um I am going to have the cheese ravioli” She replied.
“Excellent choice” he smiled.
“So how are your paintings going”? Winona asked.
“Mine is going really good I hope to finish by next week” Glory replied.
“You know I never thought that you would become an artist” Cadence told her.
“Oh and what job did you think I would do”?
“I always thought that you would be either a TV anchor woman for the news, a newspaper reporter or a writer” Cadence explained.
“Those were the jobs I was considering but I though that art would be better because I love it and I seem to do really well with it” Glory said.
“So how are things at the hospital”? Glory asked Winona.
Winona was in medical school finishing up her internship at the hospital. She also worked there as an assistant to doctors and nurses.
“Its really good I am almost done with med school and I can’t wait to start at the hospital as a real live doctor instead of their assistance bringing supplies and stuff”. She replied.
“Well I am happy that pretty soon you will be doing what you had wanted to do for years” Glory told her.
“How is that restaurant of yours doing”? Glory asked Cadence.
Cadence owned her own restaurant Cadence’s candies. Glory had been so busy with her sculpting the past few weeks that she had hardly talked to her friends.
“Great business is going strong and I am happy” Cadence told her.
“That’s great”.
The waitress came by. “Here is the wine can I get you anything else sir”?
“Thank you I think that we are ready to order”. Orlando told her.
He looked around at everyone as they nodded in agreement. She went around the table taking the groups orders. After she finished she repeated it back.
“Yep sounds just perfect” Orlando confirmed.
“Ok great I will be out with your orders shortly” She told him and walked away.
“Oh shit I forgot to order a salad with my meal I will be back in a minute” Orlando told the group.
“OK” Dom replied.
On his way out Orlando kissed her on the lips.
“Awe he is so sweet” Winona gushed.
“Yeah Todd take lessons” Cadence told him.
“I am a sweet and romantic guy” He protested.
“Oh yeah your idea of sweet and romantic is to play on my laptop at home and to eat my cooking when I cooked us dinner” She snorted.
A second later Orlando showed up at the table.
“Did you find her and tell her about the salad”? Glory asked.
“Yep she is going to bring that with my food” Orlando replied.
A familiar tune started playing and Orlando smiled. “My dear would you like to dance”?
“I would love to” Glory replied softly.
Orlando took her hand and led her to the dance floor which was completely deserted. The tune was I’ll never break your heart by the Backstreet Boys.
“ I love this song” She whispered.
“ I know and you know what else”? He asked softly.
“ What’s that”? She asked.
“ I love you” He said.
“ I love you too Orlando” She replied.
She laid her head on his shoulder.
Back at the table the group of four watched.
“ They are so cute together” Winona said. “ Yeah they are” Cadence agreed,
“ You know I am glad that Orlando found a girl that’s not after his money and that makes him truly happy” Dom told them.
“ I agree the same goes for Glory” Cadence said.
“ Yeah she deserves to be happy for the first time in her life” Winona added.
“ Orlando said that she has a bad experience with guys” Dom said.
“ Yep its true” Cadence answered.
“ What happened”?
“ Not too sure she never has really told us” Winona explained. “ We don’t push its part of her life that no one really knows about”.
“ Ah I understand” Dom said.
Todd who had sat there without saying much stood up and held out his hand to Cadence. “ You know you made a point earlier I would be very honored if you would dance with me”.
A smile spread across her face. “ Are you sure”?
“ Yes I need to start acting more like a boyfriend” He replied.
“ Than I would love to dance with you” She answered with a grin.
She grabbed his hand as he led her to the floor.
That left Dom and Winona.
“ So your name is Winona right” Dom asked.
“ Uh yes” She replied.
She hadn’t met Dom up until that night.
The table was quiet neither knowing what really to say. The uncomfortable silence was starting to get to her.
“ So you have a girlfriend”?
“ Yep she is out of town shooting a movie” He answered.
“ Oh cool who is your girlfriend” Winona asked.
“ Mandy Moore: He said.
“ Oh that’s cool”.
The waitress appeared. “ Your food is coming”.
“ Oh Ok thank you” Dom said.
Winona walked over to the dance floor and told the two happy couples their food was coming. They all headed to the table.
“ Wow that was nice” Cadence said.
“ Yeah I agree” Todd said.
The waitress appeared and served their food.
“ Well guys dig in” Orlando told them.
Everyone ate their food in silence not really having much to say. Glory went to take a stab at her food with her fork when she felt something hard.
“ What the hell” She mumbled.
She took another stab at it again and once again she felt something hard.
“ What in the hell is in this food” She asked aloud.
“ What’s wrong”? Dom asked.
“ My food is hard” She told him.
“ That sounded so dirty” Cadence pointed out with a giggle.
Glory gave her a weird look. “ You have a really dirty mind”.
“ I am going to call the waitress” Winona said.
“ Why don’t you look and see what is hard in their so you can tell the waitress” Orlando suggested,
Glory gave him a look.
Orlando pointed to her food.
She picked up her fork again that she had dropped on the table and started picking at it. A few minute later she uncovered a black box. A familiar black box.
“ What’s all this”? She asked.
Orlando picked the box out of her food and opened it for her too look at it.
“Oh my” She whispered.
“ Glory the moment I saw you I knew that you the one for me and these past three years have been the happiest of my life, I love you with all my heart and when I can’t hold you in my arms I feel like life isn’t worth living, I want to be with you forever will you marry me”? he asked.
“ Oh Orlando Yes I will marry you” She said with tears started streaming down her cheeks.
Orlando picked her up and hugged her tight. “ Thank you ,you have made me the happiest man on earth” He cried.
Orlando than took the big engagement ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.
The happy newly engaged couple looked around as the saw the whole restaurant in applause. Glory looked over at her two best friends who were crying. They came up to her and gave her a big hug.
“ Congratulations” Cadence said.
“ Yeah we are so happy for you” Winona told her.
“ Thanks guys” She said.
Dom walked up to where the Piano guy was.
“ Everybody I thing that the newly engaged couple should have a dance don’t you think”.
The audience replied with an applause.
Dom whispered into the piano guys ear and he nodded.
“ Ok Orlando and Glory get up here” He demanded.
Orlando and Glory made their way to the dance floor. Glory gave him a dirty look as he grinned. The song started and Glory recognized it as This I swear By Nick Lachey.
“ I am so happy right now” Glory told Orlando.
“ Good cause I always want you to be happy” He replied.
“ So how long have you been planning this” ?She asked.
“ Awhile” He answered. “ I had it hidden in the house”.
“ I know” She replied.
Orlando stopped dancing. “ You did”?
“ Yeah I did I found it a couple weeks ago while I was cleaning”.
Orlando started to move again. “ Oh I thought that Dom had stopped you from seeing it”.
“ Nope he was like two minutes too late”.
She started laughing when she saw him pouting. “ Orlando look at me”.
He slowly moved his eyes to hers.
“ Its Ok’.
“ No its not ok I wanted to surprise you” He sighed.
“ If It makes you feel any better you did surprise me tonight”. She told him.
“ I did”? He asked.
“ Yeah I had no idea when you were going to give it to me”.
“ But still” He started.
Glory put a finger to his lips. “ All that matters is you asked I accepted and we are getting married”.
“ And we love each other” He added.
“ exactly” She said.
“ I guess your right”.
“ I am always right remember that” She joked.
The song ended and Orlando leaned in and gave her a big passionate kiss. The restaurant awed and whistled. Once they broke away Glory looked around. “ Ok show is over nothing to see”.
They all laughed and went back to their food. Orlando and Glory came back to the table and they all finished their dinner.
“ Let’s get going guys.” Orlando said.
They all got up and walked out while Orlando paid the bill and called for the limo. A few minutes later the limo pulled up and they all piled inside. Dom pulled put six glasses and poured some Champaign into each glass handing them to each person.
“ A toast to Dom and Glory on their engagement”.
“ Cheers” They all said clinking glasses.
“ Sir we have arrived” The driver said a few moments later.
“ Its party time” Glory called.
Chapter Three by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Three *
“Is that Nick and Aaron Carter?” Cadence asked in amazement, her eyes as wide as saucers as she and her friends all chose seats to wait patiently for the premier of Pirates 2 to begin.
“No,” Glory stated sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her friends dumb question, “It’s Fabio and Marilyn Manson.” She shook her head, not believing that Cadence had actually asked that question, “Don’t you listen? I told you that they were going to be here. It’s that damn selective hearing, I’ll tell ya.”
Cadence snorted, but couldn’t help but laugh a little. She supposed that it was a little obvious that it was the Carter brothers that they’d sat directly behind.
“God, they are so gorgeous,” she whispered loudly to Winona, “How can anybody look so good.”
“I have no clue,” Winona replied, “But I want some of that…I wonder if A.J. is around here somewhere.”
“Could you two be any more obvious?” Glory said with another shake of her head, then looked ahead of her at the two blonde brothers, raising an eyebrow, “What, for the love of Bob, is Nick wearing?”
Cadence could hear Glory snickering, and she could see why. Nick wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion, unlike his much younger sibling, who had made a point to look nice. She knew that her friend would point out this fact to Nick later on. Glory had always taken every chance that she got to poke fun at Nick when he was on TV. Why would she make any acceptions just because he was in person this time? In fact, Cadence was almost positive that this would temp Glory even more.
“Do I look gorgeous?” Todd asked, trying to draw his girlfriend’s attention off of her long time favorite star, starving for a compliment.
“Uh, yeah, whatever babe,” Cadence stated, not taking her eyes off of the back of Nick or Aaron’s heads. She would much rather look at that than someone who had barely stuffed himself into his tux jacket.
Cadence didn’t notice the hurt expression that came over Todd’s face by her lack of attention that she was paying towards him. She was determined to have a good time that night…not feel like she had to be bound to her boyfriend for the whole night, who she knew would just want to be lazy and just sit there whining about wanting to leave after the premier instead of mingling with everybody during the after-party. Cadence figured he could wait there alone if he was going to be a stick in the mud. He wasn’t going to ruin her time. Not this time.
“Hey, Glory,” Cadence said, leaning over Winona to poke her friend. Her curly blondish hair spilled over one of her shoulders as she leaned in further, “Glory,” she whispered again. Glory looked over at her friend, letting her know that she’d gotten her attention, “Congrats on your engagement…even though I just found out who the heck you were dating…hell, I didn’t even know you were dating anybody. Went against your beliefs or whatever.”
Glory laughed, “Thanks, I guess…just remember…he’s all mine now. Don’t get any ideas.” She warned, although her eyes were light and joking.
“I don’t want your man,” Cadence laughed, then looked to the other side of her at her pouting boyfriend, “I have my own…if you would call Todd a man…either way, I’m taken.” At that comment, a sour look came over Cadence’s face. She looked less than thrilled over this fact.
Glory raised an eyebrow, but before Cadence could catch her look, the lights dimmed and the movie started. Glory couldn’t wait to see her Orlando in the movie. She knew he would look amazing…and it would tempt her to do other more personal things to him once they got home.
“Are we going to talk to Nick later?” Cadence whispered loudly to Glory, “Please. I’ve been waiting at least twelve years to meet him…”
“Cadence,” Glory warned, “Shut up so we can watch the movie.”
Cadence wasn’t about to let it go though. She wanted an answer so she would have something to look forward to in approximately two hours. Her plan was to bug Glory until she got a final yes or no for an answer.
“Please, please, please,” she begged, sticking her lip out, even though she knew that it wasn’t visible in the darkness of the room.
“Cadence,” Glory said through gritted teeth, “Quit acting like a teeny bopper star struck moron. It’s embarrassing.”
Cadence let out a huff of air. If she met Nick, she was almost sure that she wouldn’t act like a fool. She’d been preparing herself for this moment for years, and she was sure she would act like he was just any other normal person. Cadence just wanted an answer, then she would let it alone…until the movie ended.
“Yes or no,” Cadence asked, at one last final attempt, hoping that Glory wouldn’t jump to her seat, over at her and strangle her to death.
Glory didn’t answer, pretending that she didn’t hear Cadence. She was trying to ignore her, hoping that Cadence would get the hint and leave it alone until after the movie. No such luck though. Cadence wasn’t one to leave things be until she had her satisfying answer.
“Glory…” Cadence’s voice lingered in the air as looks came from all over, glaring at her. She could tell that she was annoying much more than just Glory. Nick and Aaron seemed the be the only ones oblivious to the commotion that was directly behind them…leave it to them.
“Yes,” Glory whispered loudly, “We’ll meet him. Now shut up already so I can watch the movie.”
Cadence smiled in victory. She had gotten a definite answer. Yes, it was through bugging Glory to death, but she had something to anticipate later on. Cadence knew that her attention wouldn’t be on the movie, but of finally meeting Nickolas Gene Carter later on. She knew that Winona would be excited too. This was going to be the happiest day of her life…happier, even, than the day that she met Todd…much, much happier.
“Hey Winona,” Cadence whispered, leaning in to her friend, “Guess what?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Come on, come on, come on,” Cadence squealed softly, jumping up and down, “Let’s go meet Nick.”
Glory rolled her eyes at Cadence’s obnoxious, childish behavior. She wished that her friend would act her age…especially since they were out in public at a private event. The movie had just ended, and the curly haired girl took no time at all afterwards to start bugging her about the promise she’d made earlier.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Winona urged, joining in with Cadence, “We’ve only been waiting since were about eleven years old!”
“Not you too,” Glory groaned, catching a glimpse of Nick off in the distance conversing with Aaron, “If you guys don’t cut it out, you’ll both be walking home tonight. Don’t think I won’t tell the limo diver to leave you both behind.” She added, her tone threatening.
Cadence and Winona both looked at one another, trying to stifle laughs. Cadence knew though, that she couldn’t hide the humor she found in the situation from her dark chocolate eyes. She knew also, that Glory might tell the driver to go without them, and it would happen, just to scare them, but within ten minutes, they’d be back to pick the two up, and then Glory would tell them, “Next time, you won’t be quite so lucky.” She’d gotten the same threat many times before, and nothing had really ever happened…except for prolonged practical jokes which made her look like a gullible idiot in the end.
“And yes, we can go see Nicky now,” Glory smirked, “I have a few thing’s I’d like to say to him myself.”
“Oh no,” Winona moaned, “This can’t be a good thing.”
Cadence agreed. She was afraid to know what kinds of things her outspoken friend would say to Nick.
“Hey, Orli,” Glory stated, “I’m taking the girls to meet Nick.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, “Be back soon.”
Orlando kissed her back, telling her to have fun.
“Have you seen Todd?” Cadence asked, it more being a fact of wondering where he was than caring.
“Probably went to find a food buffet,” Winona cracked, laughing at her own joke.
Cadence rolled her eyes, finding the sad truth in the matter, “Yeah, probably.” She stated.
The two followed Glory over to where Nick and Aaron were standing. Winona’s palms were starting to sweat a little because of how nervous she was becoming. She hoped that she didn’t fuck up her first, and possibly last, encounter with Nick.
“Hey, Nicky,” Glory called out.
Nick looked up seeing the three girls walking towards him. A big, lopsided grin spread over his face as he held out his arms for a hug.
“Hey, Glory,” he stated as she returned the hug he was asking for, “Haven’t seen you in a while…and quit calling me Nicky…you know I hate it.”
“Been busy,” she answered nonchalantly, “ And I can call ya whatever I damn well please,” Glory’s eyes then lit up as she held out her left hand for him to see the enormous, sparkling rock that was on her finger., “I’m engaged.”
“Congrats,” Nick told her, giving her another hug, “I’m happy for you. You deserve it.”.
Cadence gaped at her friend, wondering what in the world was going on. Giving her arm a tug, she pulled Glory a few feet away from the brothers.
“You know him?” she asked, “I thought that you said all of that was a joke?”
“I said me being married to Nick was a joke,” Glory corrected her, “I never said I didn’t know him.”
She smirked and walked back over to where Nick and Aaron were…with Winona standing looking extremely uncomfortable and out of place. Cadence took a spot in between her two friends, still confused. Glory hid so much from her and Winona, she never knew what really went on in her life, nor the difference between what was the truth and what really wasn’t. Glory was looking at Nick, shaking her head in amusement, eying him up and down. Cadence had a feeling that she was about to start pointing out his choice in ensemble for the evening.
“Nick,” she said, “What the hell are you wearing? This is a movie premier not some sort of gansta party. You did know that, didn’t you?”
Yep, she was right.
Nick looked down at his outfit. He was wearing an extremely large hooded gray sweatshirt, that Glory was sure would have fit Todd even, and the crotch of his baggy, three-sizes-too-big jeans were sagging all the way down to his knees. Not to mention, he had a baseball cap, which was placed on his head backwards and tilted at an angle.
“It’s comfortable,” Nick shrugged.
Glory shook her head, “Only you, Nicky. Only you.” She paused for a moment before speaking again, “Anyways, I’d like you to meet my two best friends. This is Cadence,” Glory pointed right next to her, “And the girl on the other side of her is Winona.”
Nick smiled, sticking out his hand and shaking both of Glory’s friends, “Nice to meet you both. I’ve heard a lot about both of ya’ll. Especially you, Cadence. I’ve heard quite a few blonde stories bout’ ya. Glory keeps us all entertained with them.”
Cadence blushed, giving Glory a murderous look. She couldn’t believe Glory would tell him about all of her not-so-smart blonde moments. She embarrassed herself with them, but always got a good laugh. Now though, she was just plain humiliated.
“Oh, really,” Cadence replied, raising one of her dark eyebrows. “I have a few stories on Glory as well…”
“He knows just about everything,” Glory interrupted her quickly.
Cadence cursed softly under her breath. There was no fooling Glory, or making her sound like an idiot as well. Glory would make sure that Cadence didn’t have the chance to tell Nick any of her own blonde moments.
“Anyways,” Cadence said, turning back to Nick with a smile, “Great to meet you. I absolutely love your music. You’re very talented.”
Nick smiled back, “Thank you,” he replied.
Everybody turned to Winona who was just staring at Nick with a glazed over look in her eyes, her mouth open.
“You…you’re Nick Carter.” She stated, “Oh my god…”
Nick and Cadence laughed while Glory smacked her forehead.
“Winona, for the first time, you are the one that worries me…a lot,”
Winona looked over at Glory blankly, “Huh?”
Glory shook her head, “Do me a favor and act normal, okay.” She stated, not even trying to be private about it, keeping it between just the two of them.
Winona scowled. That was easy for her to say. She was used to constantly being around big stars…her secret hidden life that her and Cadence had finally discovered after all of these years. Glory had finally come out and told them the truth…even though she had known slightly more than Cadence before that evening.
Winona took in a shaky breath, and turned to Nick, smiling.
“Hi, Nice to meet you too,” Winona answered
“Sooo,” Glory said, turning to Nick, ready and willing to poke fun at him some more, “Run over anyone lately?”
Nick’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, “That wasn’t my fault,” he pouted.
“Oh yes, I forgot. The car just drove itself into that poor man,” Glory stated sarcastically, “Nice try, Nicky.”
Winona started giggling, which soon turned into a fit of laughter. Every time she thought of the joke that had been played on Nick a couple of months earlier, she couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. The look on his face had been priceless.
“I didn’t know…”he whined.
“Which is why it’s so fun to make fun of you over it,” Glory reminded him, “Face it, Nick. You ain’t never gonna live that one down.”
Nick rolled his eyes, knowing that if she had anything to do with it, then he probably wouldn’t.
“Listen, I’ll catch ya later, Glory,” he said, “Gonna go mingle a little with some others.”
Glory hugged Nick and he started to walk…or rather waddle, as low as his pants were, away. Aaron smiled and waved before following his brother. Glory raised an eyebrow. Aaron usually wasn’t that shy. She wondered what had been wrong with him. Knowing Aaron, he’s been attracted to one of her friends. Now that would be an amusing thing to see. Glory kind of was hoping that was it, just so she could see what came of it.
“He’s…different,” Winona stated, trying to find the right word to describe Nick, “Then again, what did we expect from him?”
“Seems nice though,” Cadence put in, “Down to earth and friendly…like I’ve always suspected.”
“He’s a good guy,” Glory agreed, “Interesting, but he tries.”
The three continued to watch Nick walk away, and Glory could see a disaster about to happen as his jeans started to sink lower and lower off of his butt…or wherever they were being held up by. Sure enough, after a few more steps, his jeans fell to his knees, exposing his bare ass, then slid to his feet in a pile around his ankles. The sad thing was, Nick didn’t even seem to notice…yet. Shrieks and laugher erupted from the room. Glory drew back, wondering where his boxers or briefs were.
“Hey, girls, watch this,” Glory said, running to Nick before she lost the opportunity. She yanked at his sweatshirt, pulling it up quickly in one swift movement and sliding it over his head completely, taking a run for it back to her friends, sweatshirt in hand.
“Oh my god,” Cadence gasped, laughing in between words, “I can’t believe you just did that?”
Glory, Winona and Cadence had the perfect view of Nick standing completely naked in the middle of the room. A circle had begun to form to get a good look at the man as cameras were starting to flash from the press. This definitely wasn’t something that was seen every day…especially at a movie premier party. Glory couldn’t say that Nick didn’t deserve what had happened to him. The way he had dressed, he’d been asking for it the whole time.
“Well, the rumors of his size are definitely true,” Glory commented, watching as Nick scrambled to pick his pants back up and cover his exposed bare bottom. Before she knew it, Nick was heading in her direction.
“I am going to kill you, Glory,” he growled, “Could I please have my hoodie back?”
“Where are your undies?” Glory asked
“Not wearing any, now give me my sweatshirt back,” Nick asked again.
Cadence and Winona giggled as Glory hid it behind her back, making it more difficult for him to obtain what was already his. For once though, they were actually seeing Nick shirtless…and up close and personal, to make matters even better.
“Please?” Nick asked, his eyes pleading, his voice soft and pathetic, “This is embarrassing.”
Glory rolled her eyes, “Oh, keep your pants on.”
Cadence and Winona broke out into hysterics at that comment and even Glory was laughing a little, realizing the irony and humor in what she’d just said. Glory handed Nick the sweatshirt, and he quickly pulled it on over his head, putting the hood up and looking down to hide his face.
Glory jumped when she felt a pair of strong arms being wrapped around her. She looked up and saw that it was Orlando, and he’d come to find her.
“Is my little demon causing trouble again?” he teased, telling Glory that he’d seen the whole ordeal containing to Nick.
“Who, me?” Glory asked innocently, batting her lashes,, pretending to be insulted, “Never.”
Orlando laughed, “Right. You’re never up to any good, and you know it.” He then turned to Cadence, “Your boyfriend is still in the theatre…I think he snuck some peanuts or skittles in the pocket of his jacket. He’s munching on something and sulking. Poor, pathetic bloke. ” Orlando shook his head, feeling sorry for Todd, or at least acting like it.
Cadence let out a disgusted sigh. Leave it to Todd to not be able to make it through a simple evening event, which would last no more than six hours, without bringing snacks. It was no wonder he couldn’t fit into any tuxes that were sold at the stores and had to have one specially made and tailored just for him.
“Stupid pig,” she muttered, “Let him sit there and feel sorry for himself. His sorry, blubbery ass isn’t getting any pity from me.”
Winona was glad that Cadence was finally standing up for herself in her relationship. Lately, she’d been just plain blunt…about her feelings of how he was treating her, as well as telling him how he was looking lately.
“Maybe you should give him some carrots,” Glory cracked.
After a round of laughter at Glory’s comment,
“So, how have you and Dom been getting along this evening?” Orlando asked Winona.
Winona shrugged, “He seems nice,” she replied, then scowled, “He has a girlfriend though.”
“I don’t know for how much longer,” Orlando replied, “I saw the way that he was staring at you.”
Winona smiled in appriciation at Orlando attempt at trying to make her feel better. She knew better than to get her hopes up though. She’d had enough of doing that, only to be let down and disappointed.
“Maybe if you go and talk to him, something will happen sooner or later,” Orlando hinted a little with a wink, hoping that Winona would catch on.
“Maybe,” Winona shrugged, “I might later.”
“How about now?” Orlando suggested, “And Cadence, how about you go check on Todd. I’m sure he would love to see you.”
He was making every desperate attempt that he could to get the girls to leave. He wanted some alone time with his new fiancé, and that wouldn’t happen unless he somehow got rid of her friends. Orlando didn’t want to be mean, but he’d already been as nice as he could about it.
“Want to go find our dates?” Winona asked, feeling as if they were unwanted, “Couldn’t hurt to pay them a little bit of attention tonight.”
“Sure, why not,” Cadence responded, getting the same exact vibes that Winona was. She sighed dramatically, “Let’s go find Dom and Toad…erm…I mean Todd.”
Winona laughed at Cadence’s little slip up, but then wondered if it really had been a slip, or if she’d intended to call her own boyfriend a toad.
The two friends walked off and Glory could make out Winona’s fading voice saying, “Wow, I can’t believe how many celebrities are here.” She turned to Orlando and smiled, pulling him down for a kiss.
“Alone, finally,” she stated.
Orlando picked his head up, looking around the area that was filled with other people that had come to the premier.
“I wouldn’t exactly say we’re alone,” he said.
“Yeah, but, nobody here right with us either,” Glory reminded him, “I was wondering if they would get the picture and take off.”
“That’s a little harsh now, don’t you think,” Orlando laughed.
“You know that you wanted it too,” Glory pointed out.
Orlando shrugged, bending down to kiss her again. The kiss started getting more intense and passionate, neither of them caring if they were being stared at by those around them, and Glory was certain that they were. She was happy, and that was all that mattered. But soon, they were interrupted.
“Glory,” came a timid, but all too familiar voice.
Glory looked up and saw Aaron. Trying to hide her annoyance, she smiled. She liked Aaron, but he had terrible timing.
“Hey little man,” Glory greeted him, “You finally speak.”
Aaron shrugged, “Nick was doing all the talking earlier,” he said, “And I was a little nervous.”
Glory smiled smugly. She was almost positive that he was there to ask about what she had thought to be the reason for his silence earlier. And Glory was always right. She watched as Aaron nervously fidgeted, looking towards the ground. Glory couldn’t help but think that he looked like the spitting image of his older brother.
“Why were you nervous?” Glory hinted, “It was just me…” her voice trailed off. This was going to be fun if he confirmed what she thought to be true.
“There was something I wanted to ask you about that I couldn’t earlier…”
Chapter Four by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 4*
“Yes?” Glory asked looking over at Aaron worriedly. He had been standing in that same spot for about twenty minutes now.
“I wanted to ask you a question.” He finally told her.
“I know, you already said that,” Glory laughed a little stopping when she saw Aaron didn’t find this amusing in the least bit.
“Well see, I was wondering if you would do me a favor,” Aaron told her shyly.
“Okay, depends on what it is.” Glory replied looking around for Nick anywhere. Aaron was probably going to ask her to set him up with one of her friends and she definitely didn’t want to have to break the poor kid’s heart like this.
“Since I’m not eighteen yet I was wondering if you would do something for me.” Aaron started and then lost his nerve again.
“If your gonna ask me to buy you a drink keep in mind I’m only twenty and Orli here,” Glory patted Orlando’s chest a little just to prove her point. “Won’t even buy me any drinks.”
“No,” Aaron said quickly. “Nothing like that,” He stopped again. Glory watched as he looked around the crowd, probably for Nick also but only to make sure he wasn’t coming this way anytime soon. She knew that couldn’t be good. “I was thinking that since you used to work at a tattoo shop if you would do something for me.”
“Sweetie I’m not licensed do that kind of stuff in America,” Glory told him. There for a while she had been an apprentice to a tattoo guy when she was living in Liverpool right before her fourteenth birthday. It had been a time when she had gotten really mad at her dad and told him she was never painting ever again and that he would have to find some other child prodigy to show to the world.
“But you did yours.” Aaron complained.
“I did my own what?” Glory asked afraid of the answer she was going to get. Aaron wasn’t supposed to know about a lot of the stuff she and Nick had done involving tattoos and drinking games.
“Pierced your eyebrow.” Aaron reminded her. Glory had almost completely forgotten about that one. She hadn’t wanted to get all dressed up for some showing in Germany so when her father and manager forced her into a dress she had took a needle to her own eyebrow. That had also been the night she had met Viggo for the first time.
“Oh,” Glory breathed a sigh of relief thankful that he hadn’t said something else. There was no way she was ever going to put a tattoo on that kid, unless she was really in the mood to be hospitalized. “Aaron, you’re mom would shoot me if I pierced your eyebrow.”
“She’ll never have to know who did it.” Aaron wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“Yes she will because you know she’ll blame Nick for this since I’m assuming your staying with him,” Aaron nodded his head in conformation. “And then Nick will have to tell her it was me just so she won’t forbid him from seeing you.”
“I’ll tell her I did it right before I left while I was still in Florida with a few of my friends.” Aaron tried to convince Glory.
“I don’t think so, I don’t want to have to deal with Jane this week.” Glory shook her head once more. Of all the bad ideas she had heard from the Carters, this one was took the cake.
“Please Glory? Call it an early birthday gift,” Aaron begged her. “This is something I’ve wanted for years now, it’ll look so cool. Please?” He begged taking Glory’s hand into his. “Please, please? Pretty please?” He kept begging her.
“Fine,” Glory said after listening to him grovel for a little longer then she should have let him continue. “But you better not tell your mom I did it or get Nick in trouble. If your mom doesn’t like it, you’re taking it out,” Glory told him. Aaron nodded in agreement before hugging her. “I’ll stop by Nick’s house tomorrow to get you and we’ll go to a friend of mine’s shop.”
“Thank you Glory!” Aaron said hugging her again. “You’re the best fake big sister in the whole world.”
“Air!” Glory choked out as Aaron let go of her.
“Sorry,” Aaron mumbled. “I forget I’m bigger then you know.”
“Bite me,” Glory laughed. “Now go, I think we’re going to be heading out soon.” Glory laughed as Aaron waved and started to walk away in search of some poor girl close to his age to pester.
You’re not seriously going to pierce him are you?” Orlando asked Glory as soon as Aaron was out of earshot. He didn’t want Aaron to hear the talk he was about to have with Glory.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Glory asked him not understanding what the big deal was.
“He’s only sixteen!” Orlando sputtered out. (A/N: I had to make Aaron a year older just because the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 probably won’t be out for a while plus I wanted Dom and Orli to be done with the LOTR stuff)
“He’s almost seventeen,” Glory reminded him. “Plus most kids his age have at least one piercing.”
“I didn’t when I was his age!” Orlando rebutted.
“Yes but you lived in London when you were his age which was ten years ago I might add,” Glory held a finger up accusingly. “I already had fifteen by that time.”
“Glory his mom is going to kill you when she finds out,” Orlando shook his head knowing the way Jane Carter would react to this. She already wasn’t too thrilled Nick was friends’ with Glory let alone her precious Aaron.
“She’ll never know it was me,” Glory told him. “You have no idea how much stuff Nick and I have hid from her over the years. This will just be another of those things. I’ll give Aaron the name of a tattoo parlor in Florida near his house that doesn’t ID. The worst that will happen is Jane going there with the cops and bust someone who should have been busted a long time ago.”
“That’s not the point,” Orlando grabbed Glory’s shoulders gently and forced her to look up into his eyes. “What if she does? I know you, the last time you got in a fight with her, you went to England for two months without telling anyone.”
“I told you,” Glory said softly.
“Only because your dad had your electric shut off and you had to,” Orlando grinned a little at the memory. It had been right after they had started dating. Glory had shown up on his doorstep, soaking wet saying her dad was an arse. She had fallen asleep in his bed. “Look Glory, I’m just worried that this is going to blow up in your face,” Orlando told her. “I’m going to use the restroom before we leave, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“That can’t be the reason you’re mad about this.” Glory said taking his hand and refusing to let him get very far away from her.
“Glory, we can talk about it later.” He told her freeing his hand. Orlando started to walk towards the men’s room with Glory on his heels.
“No, I think you should tell me now before I forget.” Glory told him simply. She knew there would be no way in hell she would remember this conversation in the morning since it hadn’t involved too many emotions yet.
“I will talk with you about it when we get home,” Orlando kissed her forehead before walking closer to the men’s room door.
“Orlando, tell me.” Glory demanded.
“You’ll just get mad at me.” He replied.
“As opposed to any other day?” Glory teased. “I’m not going to get mad.”
“Fine,” Orlando muttered and turned back to face her. “If you can’t even say no to him, what are you going to say when our kids ask you if they can get pierced or tattooed?”
“Ouch,” Glory mumbled looking at him. “I don’t understand how you can jump to the conclusion that just because I told Aaron I would I would tell our children that.’
“See? I knew you would get mad,” Orlando shook his head. “I’m going into the men’s room now, we can talk about this at home.” Orlando said walking into the bathroom leaving Glory standing outside the restrooms too stunned to even move.
Glory stood in her spot for what seemed like an eternity before it snapped in her head that he had just said she wouldn’t make a good mother. Glory took a breath of air and walked straight into the men’s room. “Orlando you can’t just bring our hypothetical children up like that and then just walk away.” Glory told Orlando’s backside as he faced the urinal.
“She still hasn’t learned to knock,” Glory looked over to the urinal on Orlando’s right to find Johnny Depp currently using the facilities. “Nice to see you again Glory. I’d shake your hand but I’m kind of in the middle of something here.” Glory shut her eyes trying to not stare at Johnny any more. She had seen the man run around shirtless while filming the movies with Orlando, but this was different. He certainly hadn’t run around pant-less although Glory sure wouldn’t mind if he had.
“Glory, could you please wait outside love, this is the men’s room after all.” Orlando glanced back seeing Glory covering her eyes with her hand.
“No worries, I’ll leave,” Johnny smiled at Orlando sipping up and heading over to the sink. “And just so you know Orlando, bringing up kids when you’ve only been engaged for a whole four hours isn’t the best idea.”
“Thank you Johnny,” Glory called out spinning in a half circle trying to listen for where Johnny’s voice was coming from.
“You can open your eyes Glory,” Johnny told her on his way to the door.
“I’m assuming you’ve already seen Orlando nude.” He grinned before leaving.
Glory opened one eye looking around just to make sure there was no one else in the room before opening the other eye. She turned back to Orlando this time. “Why would you say something like that to me?” She asked accusingly. She already knew she wouldn’t be the best mom in the world, but having the person you’re supposed to be marrying tell you that really hurts.”
“I didn’t mean it like whatever your taking it as.” Orlando zipped his pants up and headed over to the sink knowing Glory would yell at him if he didn’t.
“Then how am I supposed to take it?” She asked placing her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know,” Orlando admitted. “I was just pointing out that Aaron is supposed to be someone who looks up to you for advice and you just told him you would pierce his eyebrow.”
“That doesn’t mean I would let our children do something like that.” Glory told him stubbornly.
“Okay,” Orlando turned around to face her crossing his arms across his chest. “How would you handle that if our seventeen year old son asked you if he could pierce something?”
“I, I,” Glory stuttered trying to think of a good answer. “I don’t know what I would say,” She admitted. “But,” Glory held her finger up at him again. “I have at least eighteen years to think about it.”
“Glory things like that are supposed to come naturally, you are supposed to automatically say no.” Orlando told her. He walked over to her and pulled her by the arms closer to him.
Glory freed herself from his grasp and stepped back a little. “I don’t know what I would say because if the kid is anything like how I was at that age, he would just do it anyways at some cheap tattoo parlor that doesn’t meet the codes.”
“That’s not the point though, you need to be able to say no.” Orlando told her knowing he was being a little harsh on this but something had to get through her head.
“What am I supposed to say when he asks me when I got my first tattoo or piercing?” Glory nearly yelled at him. “I’m not lying to my kids like my parents did to me.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Orlando grabbed her arms again and pulled her into him. “I just want to know that you’re not going to let them run around like your parents did.”
“So you think I’m going to make the same mistakes my parents did by default?” Glory asked. She wanted to tell him that she knew her life was never perfect and she wouldn’t want anyone having to grow up the way she had. She knew all the mistakes he parents made and knew how to stop them from happening with her kids but the one thing that stuck out in her mind was that Orlando was right. She inevitably would mess up her kids the same way her father had.
“No,” Orlando looked down at her. He pulled her chin up with his hand gently. “I just don’t want you to think that what they did to you was okay.”
“You’re right,” Glory said softly. Orlando’s head shot up hearing that. Glory never said stuff like that. “I’m going to be a bad mum.”
“No you’re not,” Orlando almost laughed at the thought. She had always been good with the neighborhood kids, all the parents in their old building in London were always calling her to baby-sit. “You’re going to be the best mother.”
“I can’t even take care of myself,” Glory muttered. “I almost set the house on fire yesterday, did you know that?” Glory looked up at him.
“You did what?” This time it was Orlando’s turn to yell. “Never mind, that’s not important. You’re going to be a good mum, even if you are a little forgetful.”
Glory smiled at his attempt to make her happy again. “As long as I don’t forget and leave them somewhere, you know that’s bound to happen.”
“Yeah but that’s why I’ll have a cell phone,” Orlando joked around wrapping his arms around her waist. “But I think first we need to survive the wedding,” He laughed not even wanting to think about planning everything. It was going to be one giant mess trying to have to outrun the press and the fans.
“I was thinking about that earlier.” Glory told him. “The date and all.”
“Oh really?” He asked. “Let me guess, February in the snow in Ohio?” Orlando teased hoping that wasn’t what he was going to say. His mum would kill him if he told her she had to get out of snowy Canterbury just to come to an even snowier Ohio.
“Not quite,” Glory looked up at him. “How about next Saturday in Hawaii?”
Orlando almost choked on thin air at her suggestion. “Next Saturday, as in a week from tomorrow?” He asked stunned that she would suggest that.
“Yup, at my Uncle’s ranch in Hawaii.” Glory told him.
“Okay,” Orlando sighed. “I should have known you would say something like that.”
“Look on the bright side,” Glory leaned up pulling his face down to her level (A/N; what? He’s like almost six feet tall and I’m well, not) to kiss him briefly. “We can get to the honeymoon part faster.”
“I think I like that part,” Orlando joked about ready to kiss her again when the door opened a little. A shocked man saw the couple and back right out. “I think we should go find everyone before we get in trouble,” Orlando laughed. “I really don’t want to be in the Enquirer tomorrow.”
“Me either,” Glory laughed as she took his hand and led him back outside in the lobby of the theater where everyone was waiting.
“Did the elf finally get some nooky?” Dom teased as soon as he saw Glory and Orlando come back to them. Nick and Aaron were standing around near by while Winona, Cadence, and Todd stood next to Dom.
“You’re so perverted,” Glory shook her head at him. “And did you just say nooky?”
“Yes I did,” Dom grinned proudly.
“Yeah never do that again.” Glory told him.
“Why not?” Dom asked innocently.
‘Don’t answer that,” Orlando told her. “We need to get over to the after party soon” He told the group. Winona and Cadence both shook their heads still a little shocked by seeing Nick and Aaron there.
Glory looked up at him smiling before breaking into song. “After the party it’s the hotel lobby and after the lobby then it’s probably cris.”
Dom grinned at Glory. “Well, if you’re aloud to rap so am I,” Dom laughed.
“Wait! I can do one better,” Glory laughed knowing she had forgotten the words she to the song from before. “Skinny, slim women got the ghetto within them. You can hump them, lift them, bend them, give them something to remember yell out timber when you fall through the chop shop.” Nick looked over at Glory laughing.
“Boy am I glad I got you that cd,” Nick laughed coming over to join the group.
“My turn,” Dom grinned. “Snap back to reality oh there goes gravity oh there goes rabbit. He choked, he’s so mad but he won’t give up that easy. No, he won’t have it, he knows his whole back’s city ropes. It don’t matter, he’s dope, he knows but when he goes back to his mobile home that’s when it’s back to lab again. This whole rap shit, he better go capture the moment and hope it don’t pass him.” Dom broke into laughter along with the rest of the group
“I can do one,” Orlando joined in.
“You don’t know any rap songs.” Glory laughed with her arm around his middle.
“I do to,” Orlando told her smugly. “Go, go, go shorty, it’s your birthday, we goin sip Bacardi like it’s your birthday and you know we don’t give a fuck it’s not your birthday.” (A/N: yeah I’m picturing the remix where the British guy sings this, very disturbing.) Orlando finished his attempt.
“Well, you don’t see that everyday,” Johnny came up beside the group. “Three Brits trying to rap.” He laughed.
“Three?” Cadence screamed.
“Nothing!” Glory said quickly. “We should go before someone takes our table at the club.” Glory told them leading Orlando towards the exit.
An hour later, the rapidly growing group had been seated at their table and handed their drinks. Technically Aaron, Glory, Winona, Cadence, and Todd had all been served pop while Nick, Johnny, his girlfriend Vanessa, Dom, and Orlando had chosen drinks.
“I still don’t see why I can’t have alcohol.” Glory complained.
“Remember the Two Towers premiere in London?” Dom asked.
“No,” Glory told him.
“There’s your reason why.” He laughed taking a sip of his drink.
“I’m an artist, I’m supposed to have at least one overindulgence,” Glory whined settling back into her seat. Winona and Cadence were still not talking as much as normal so she had to entertain herself some how even if it was bugging the guys into buying her drinks since she knew she would be carded. One miserable year left before she could show them her ID. “You know, if we were back home right now I could drink.” Glory complained again.
“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” Todd stood up in front of the crowd. “I have an announcement to make.”
“Well, this should be interesting.” Winona whispered to Glory.
“Twenty bucks says he announces that he’s decided to be a better boyfriend because Cadence was drooling all over Nick.” Glory laughed.
“I just wanted to thank you all for inviting me tonight,” Todd motioned to Orlando. Orlando tried to smile at him without making it overly known that the only reason he had gave the kid a ticket was because Glory said she didn’t want to have to listen to Cadence complain all night that she was the only person in the building who didn’t have a date. “And I also wanted to say something to Cadence,” He turned to her in the booth. “I know I haven’t exactly been the best boyfriend I could have, but I want to make it up to you.” He told her.
“Oh look I was right again,” Glory whispered to Winona. Orlando jabbed her in the side to get her to be quiet. “Ouch, I was just telling her the truth.” Glory harshly whispered at him.
“So my big announcement is that I’m moving to LA next week.” Todd told them breaking out into a huge grin. The entire table fell silent at that not sure what to say.
“Drinks all around!” Johnny declared breaking into a Captain Sparrow moment. “Or not.” He said seeing everyone was still in shock.
“How could you think that would make everything all right?” Cadence said out loud before getting up and running off.
Todd looked around the group for a minute before slumping back down into his seat. “Well, that went well,” He said glumly. “Glory, could you send me home now?” He asked her. Glory was the one in charge of calling cabs and what not since she knew LA like the back of her hand.
“Sure,” Glory said standing up. “I’ll be back in a minute,” She told everyone before walking away in the direction Cadence had gone. She found the girl sitting in one of the empty VIP rooms. “And you got mad at me for being rude to him.” Glory told her sitting down next to her on the giant red couch lining the wall opposite the curtains.
“Why did he think that would be okay to do?” Cadence asked Glory looking over at her with tears in her eyes.
“Gee let me think, could it be because you’ve telling him for the past year that you would move in with him?” Glory asked.
“I never said that,” Cadence started to say before she realized Glory was right. “So I did say that, but he thinks he can just move out here and I’ll be willing to just let him.”
“That would be a part of being in a relationship,” Glory told her. “You’re the one who said he was the most important thing in your life.”
“Well, that’s changed though.” Cadence said stubbornly.
“And you didn’t tell him, just like you never tell him anything,” Glory sat forward resting her elbows on her knees. “If you don’t want him here tell him, if you want to break up or make a change you have to tell him this because complaining to Winona and me is never going to fix anything.”
“I know,” Cadence said softly.
“Then why are you still sitting here with me?” Glory asked. “I think you need to go talk to him before I call him a cab, you really hurt him with this one.”
“I did?” Cadence asked.
“You really fucked up this time,” Glory laughed a little. “One way to break a guy’s spirit is to crush all his hopes and dreams in front of a group of guys who all happen to make a living looking pretty,” Glory teased her. “Now go and find him.” Glory stood up taking Cadence’s hands and pulling her up. “Just keep in mind, you did promise to be there with him forever. You said you’d love him no matter what. You need to at least give him a chance to prove he can change. He’s trying.”
“I thought you hated him.” Cadence said letting Glory lead her back out into the club.
“You really do have selective hearing,” Glory shook her head. “I don’t hate anyone, I can’t,” Glory walked back over to the table. “Where did Todd go?” She asked them.
“Outside, I think.” Dom pointed to the doors.
“Go,” Glory instructed Cadence.
Cadence stood a minute in front of the table before getting another deathly look from Glory and even Winona this time before waking outside. Todd was sitting outside on a bench outside the club. “Hi,” Cadence said walking up to him.
“Did Glory call my cab yet?” He asked her not even bothering to look up.
“Not yet,” Cadence told him.
“Just like her, she can be a real bitch sometimes.” Todd grunted.
Cadence rolled her eyes. “No she’s not,” Cadence said wishing Glory was here to hear that one since it had been one of the first times she had really halfway stood up to Todd. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about earlier at the table. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Why did you run off like that?” Todd asked still looking straight ahead.
“I told you I didn’t know what to say,” Cadence sighed and sat down next to him. “You caught me off guard.”
“Well, do you want me here or not?” Todd looked over at her.
“I don’t know,” Cadence admitted not sure if she was supposed to be completely honest here or sugar coat it for him. “I don’t want to lose you but,” Cadence took a breath of air in willing herself to have the courage to continue on. “I haven’t been happy for a while.”
“I know,” Todd sighed. “That’s why I thought me moving out here would make things easier. It’s bad enough we weren’t working in Ohio but you moving all the way across the country wasn’t helping anything,” He looked over at her. “I just wanted to come here and prove to you that I can be everything you’ve wanted me to be, at least let me try and prove that,” Todd begged. He was quiet for a moment letting his words sink into her head. “So, do you want me here or not?”
Back inside, Winona had chosen to go the bar since Glory was out on the dance floor with Dom and Orlando. She had forgotten how close Glory had become to the cast members when Winona had left to come back to the States to finish high school leaving Glory in New Zealand. She had wanted to stay at the table with Nick and Aaron but they seemed to having an argument about something Aaron wanted to do tomorrow. Winona hadn’t wanted to eavesdrop so she had gone to the bar.
Now she was sitting by herself drinking her Sprite wishing the guy on the other end of the bar would stop looking at her like that. She was tempted to go tell him she was only twenty years old but with her luck he would be one of the forty-something year olds who thought it would be okay to date someone young enough to be their daughter. Winona flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back down at her drink twirling the straw between her fingers. “There you are,” Winona turned around to see Dom standing behind her. “I thought I had lost you.” He said sitting down. He ordered a rum and coke from the bar tender before looking back at Winona. “So why are you sitting here all by yourself?”
“Nick and Aaron were having a conversation.” Winona told him dryly. She liked the guy enough but he still had a girlfriend and she didn’t want to be one of those women who interfere in other peoples’ relationships. It seemed to her like it was going against sisters.
“You should have come out on the dance floor with us.” Dom grinned at her taking a sip of his drink before sitting back down on it’s respective napkin.
“I thought Cadence would have come back already and I think she’s going to need me to be there and tell her she made the right choice.” Winona explained. She knew her friends all to well. While Glory did everything on her own without talking to anyone at all, Cadence was the complete opposite depending on someone to be there and tell her everything was going to be alright.
“What was with that anyways?” Dom asked. He was going to ask Glory the next day but he figured the girl most likely wouldn’t tell him anything other then Todd is a moron.
“Cadence isn’t sure she wants a boyfriend anymore but she won’t break up with him.” Winona sighed hoping whatever Glory had said to Cadence had changed that.
“That makes a lot of sense.” Dom said sarcastically.
“That would be what Glory told her,” Winona laughed. “But she doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“Then why bother asking for advice?” Dom asked curiously.
“Another thing Glory likes to point out,” Winona looked over at him. She had to admit the blond hair, greenish-blue eyes, and the slight stubble of a beard made him look even more attractive.
“But enough about them,” Dom grinned again. “Why didn’t we ever meet on set?” Dom asked. “I can remember Glory being there practically every day for the last couple of months shooting and she goes on telling us about trying to teach you to surf, so why did I see you?”
“Mainly because I was down there for a total of three months before I had to go home,” Winona smiled unsteadily. Something about this question was making her nervous. “See, I actually did have to finish high school.”
“And she didn’t?” Dom asked confused. He knew the two girls were only born about a month apart. Glory should have had to finish at the same time as Winona.
“Normally she would have but when you drop out of school at age fifteen, you don’t have to finish. She said she had enough money in the bank to not have to worry about, needed time to work on her art instead of leaning stuff she already knew.” Winona explained. She was used to this line of questioning about Glory’s past. She had, after all, been the youngest artist to ever have an exhibit anywhere when she was five. “And the sad thing is, she’s the single most stabile person I know.” Winona muttered slightly under her breath halfway resenting that statement. Glory was insane, that was a given, but she wasn’t supposed to be the one picking up everyone else’s pieces after things went wrong.
“I know,” Dom told her. “Same with me, it’s sad really that the one person who is aloud to be a little scatterbrained is the one everyone depends on,” Dom agreed. “But enough about her too,” He laughed. “I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could go out for lunch or something. I know a great restaurant.”
“Which would be?” Winona asked not sure if she should take his invitation.
“My house,” Dom said quickly. “I used to be a chef so I could make you anything you want.”
Winona looked at him skeptically. “What about your girlfriend?” She asked looking him over.
“Girlfriend?” Dom repeated. “Oh her, wasn’t working anyways,” He laughed. “Please come to lunch with me?” Dom asked giving his best puppy dog expression.
“I guess I could,” Winona laughed. She was about to say something else when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked behind her spotting Nick as the culprit.
“Hi, Winona right?” Nick asked. “I was wondering if you would like to dance with me.”
“Sorry mate,” Dom turned to Nick also. “She was about to dance with me.”
“I think you should let the lady choose.” Nick said calmly looking over at Dom.
“I was about to ask her so I think she would much rather dance with me.” Dom retorted obviously trying to get Nick to bugger off.
Winona was about to say something to try and help the situation when she saw Glory run up to them. “Excuse me Winona, I think I need to borrow these two for a moment, Orlando and Aaron are both at the table if you would like to join them.”
“But we were” Nick started only to be cut off by Glory.
“Don’t make me drag you both by your knickers,” She warned. “Or lack thereof,” She said looking over at Nick.
“Fine,” Both guys sighed and started to follow Glory too afraid to say no to her leaving Winona alone at the bar again.
“Get in here knuckleheads,” Glory pushed them both into the same VIP room she had been in earlier with Cadence. “Two problems right now,” Glory stated pushing them both down in the couch. “First off, can you both act like grown ups for just one night? Stop acting like six year olds,” She reprimanded. “And secondly you can not date my friends.”
“Why not?” Dom asked thinking about a second ahead of Nick.
“Between the two of you,” Glory pointed wildly at the two of them. “I can count at least fifty girls that you two have brought home.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Nick asked.
“You haven’t had a serious girlfriend in four years,” Glory looked over at Nick before turning to Dom. “And you were dating three girls at one time a couple of years ago.”
“But I haven’t done that since then.” Dom complained.
“That’s beside the point,” Glory yelled at them. “Just don’t date my friends. I love you both but I can’t be put in the middle when it doesn’t work out or when you two start fighting over her.” Glory said before walking away.
“You wouldn’t think a midget would be that intimidating.” Dom turned to Nick.
Chapter Five by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 5 *
“Well there went two possible dates,” Winona thought.
She took her sprite and walked back to the table.
“Where is Glory”? Orlando asked.
“Yelling at Nick and Dom” She replied.
“Why what did they do now”? He asked.
“They both were arguing because they wanted to dance with me and than she came to the bar and I believe she is yelling at them that they can’t date her friends”. Winona answered.
“Oh I see” Orlando laughed.
He knew that she was protective of her friends.
“Why do you look so unhappy“? Johnny asked her.
“I am not I am fine” she told him.
Johnny gave her a skeptical look but decided not to press her any further.
“I am going to go out and dance anyone want to come”? Winona asked standing up.
She was determined to have a good time at with or without a date.
“I will go” Aaron replied standing up. “I am really bored just sitting here”.
Orlando watched as they walked on to the dance floor and laughed when Aaron nearly got trampled.
Glory walked out of the VIP room and back to the table with everyone.
“Hey stranger” Orlando joked.
“Hey yourself” She answered.
“What did you do with Dom and Nick“? He asked.
“They are still in the VIP room,” She answered.
“You mean their bodies” Johnny joked.
Glory rolled her eyes. “That’s right”. “Besides how did you know I went to talk to them”?
“Winona told us that you were probably yelling at them”. Orlando explained.
“Oh” She said.
She looked around. “Has Cadence come back yet”?
“No I think she is still out talking to Todd,” Orlando told her.
Orlando stood up. “Let’s go dance again”.
Glory shrugged. “Lead the way”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Well“? Todd asked. “Its not rocket science do you want me here”?
Cadence looked at him and into his brown eyes. She could see that they were full of sincerity.
“I do want you here” Cadence finally replied. “Only if you promise that you will at least try and be a better boyfriend”.
“I promise” He replied.
He scooted closer to her and they shared a romantic kiss. Cadence could feel the spark that she had been longing for a long time. After they parted.
“So how was that” He asked with a big smile.
“Heaven” She answered.
Todd stood up and held out his hand “let’s go back inside”.
Cadence smiled and took it as she stood up. They both walked in hand and hand.
“I can see you guys worked everything out” Johnny guessed.
“Yep everything is perfect” Cadence replied.
“Would you like to dance”? Todd asked.
“Only if you want to,” she answered.
Todd smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. “I want to”.
As they made their way to dance, a slow song came on. Todd held her close as she laid her head on his shoulder. She saw Winona and Aaron walking off the dance floor. Winona flashed her a thumbs up on her way out. Cadence smiled.
“This is nice,” He whispered in her ear.
“Yeah it is,” She agreed. “It’s been ages since I felt loved like this”.
“Guys I hate to split this up but we should really be getting going it’s getting pretty late,” Glory said coming up to them with Orlando behind her.
“Ok” Cadence replied as her and Todd broke apart.
“I am going to go find everyone else so meet me at the table in a few minutes ok,” Glory instructed.
“Got you” Todd replied.
“Don’t talk,” She said shaking her head.
Cadence and Todd walked over to the table and joined Aaron, Johnny, Vanessa and Winona.
“ So are we only missing Dom and Nick”? Cadence asked.
“ Well technically its only Dom because Nick and Aaron didn’t come with us, remember”. Winona said.
“ Oh yeah” Cadence replied.
Winona shook her head and laughed knowing that when it came to Nick she had a one track mind.
“ Ok we are all here” Glory announced coming with Nick, Orlando and Dom.
“ We it was nice meeting you guys” Nick said.
“ Nice meeting you” everyone replied.
“ I am sorry we didn’t have that dance” Nick said to Winona apologetically.
“ Its ok” Winona answered.
“ I will make it up to you” He promised.
Winona smiled.
“ Come on Aaron” He said.
“ Bye everyone and thanks again Glory” He said.
Glory winked at him and waved at the two blonde headed Carters. Once they were out of sight she looked at the group.
“ Lets head out”.
~*~
About an hour, later Glory and Orlando were the last dropped off. Orlando grabbed the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. They walked into the door.
“I am so tired,” Orlando complained as he turned on the lights.
“Me too” Glory agreed.
“Did you have a fun evening”? Orlando asked her.
He always made sure that she was happy in everything that they did together.
“Yeah I did how about you”?
“It was a lot of fun,” He answered. “You know I do think that you should lighten up on Dom and Nick”.
“Look I think that it would be a very bad idea if either one dated Winona or Cadence”. Glory argued.
“I can tell that Dom really likes her though,” Orlando pointed out.
“I am really tired we will talk about it later,” Glory said.
She hoped that he would forget about it.
Orlando walked into the bedroom and took off his shirt. Glory watched with much want, as he started undressing to get ready for bed. She smiled a mischievous smile, walked over to Orlando, and kissed him hard o the mouth. He responded by wrapping his masculine arms around her waste. She finished undressing him till he was naked and nibbled on his earlobes.
“I like that” She told him.
“You always say that when I am not wearing anything” he pointed out
“Yep” She answered.
After they both were ready for bed, they got in and Glory snuggled up against him.
“Night Orli”.
“Night baby” He answered.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day Glory was working on her painting some more. She took some green paint and added some more onto the painting to make the green a shade darker.
“I am leaving” Orlando announced bas he walked in to give her a kiss.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
“Dom and I are going out to do guy stuff,” He answered.
Glory raised her eyebrows. “Oh like what”?
“Well Dom and I were going to go and shoot some pool and stuff,” Orlando answered.
“Ok have fun,” She said kissing him on the cheek.
After Orlando left, she spent an hour on her painting before starting to get bored. Suddenly the phone rang.
“Hello”
“Uh Hi is this Glory”? A male voice asked.
“Yes it is,” She answered.
“Hey this is Aaron am I calling at a bad time”? He asked timidly.
Glory laughed at the poor boy. He was always afraid to ask her stuff.
“No your not calling at a bad time is there anything I can help you with”? She asked him.
“Uh yes kind of” He replied.
“What is it”? She asked.
“I was wondering if you could take me to get my eyebrow pierced today”. He told her.
She smiled at the boy’s excitement at a piercing. “Sure I will be over their in a half hour to pick you up”.
“Awe thanks Glory you’re the best,” He said.
Glory hung up with him and decided to take a shower and change before going. Fifteen minutes she was ready to leave. She grabbed her keys and than the phone rang again.
“Hello”.
“Hey Glory what are you up to”? Cadence asked.
“I am on my way out” She replied.
“Where you going”?
“I am running an errand for someone” Glory told her.
“Oh cool can I come I am really board” She whined. “I was calling to see if you wanted to come over”.
“Where is Todd”? Glory asked her.
“He went back home to pack his stuff since he is moving in with me” She explained.
“ Alright but I am in a hurry so you better be ready to go and when I say ready I mean you walk out of your house when I honk the horn”. Glory warned.
“Don’t worry I will” She promised. “But I do have one other request”.
“What is it I really have to leave if I am going to come get you?” She told her impatiently.
“ Well see when I called to ask you if you wanted to come over I already called Winona before you and she is on her way here and I don’t want to ditch her since I am the one that called her” Cadence explained.
“Fine she can come too,” She told her.
“Cool so where are we going”? Cadence asked.
“I will explain after I pick you guys up” Glory replied.
“Ok see you when you get there,” Cadence said.
“Ok bye” Glory hung up the phone and was out the door.
~*~
“This is so cool” Cadence exclaimed.
Glory had just gotten done explaining what was on the agenda and neither girl could be happier about going to see Nick’s house or spending some time with Aaron.
“Won’t Jane be mad when she finds out what Aaron is doing”? Winona asked.
“ Yes but we have a deal that he is not to tell her I took him to do this and that Nick had noting to do with it”. Glory replied.
Glory pulled into Nick’s driveway and parked the car.
“I will be back both of you stay here,” She instructed.
“But I want to come with you” Cadence whined.
“Stay put,” She repeated pointing her finger at both girl’s as she got out.
She walked up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later Aaron appeared.
“Ready to go Air boy” She asked ruffling his hair.
“Yes and please don’t call me that or touch the do,” He warned. “I am taking you to get this done so I can say and do anything that I want,” She told him.
“I don’t approve of this,” Nick said coming up behind Aaron.
“Nick its ok” She assured him.
“My mom is going to kill both him and me,” He told her.
“She won’t I have that all figured out” She said rolling her eyes.
“It better be good,” He warned her. “Cause If I get blamed than you are a dead woman”.
“Carter what are you going to do”? She asked him folding her hands in front of her.
Nick looked at the ground knowing full well that there wasn’t anything he could do. She was stronger than he was.
“Yeah that’s I thought” she said. “Anything else”?
“Yeah actually there is,” He told her firmly.
“What would that be” She sighed. “You are just full of complaints today”.
“Why can’t I date Winona”? He asked.
“Oh for the love of bob it’s not up for discussion”
.
“ But why you never gave a good explanation” He told her.
“ Because I explained it last night and I am not about to repeat myself”.
“ She is the first girl I took an interest to in a long time” He whined.
“ That doesn’t make me feel sorry for you” She told him.
Nick gave her a puppy dog look.
“ Not working Carter”. She sighed walking away. “Come on Aaron”.
Aaron walked out the door and to the car. Glory laughed and shook her head when she heard Nick stomp his foot like a five year old not getting his way before slamming the door shut.
~*~
“Does this hurt a lot”? Aaron asked Glory.
“It hurts but not a lot” She replied.
They were waiting on the person to come out with the gun.
“Don’t worry it will be ok” She assured him.
“Ok are you ready”? The guy named Woody asked Aaron.
Glory had known him for years and never went to anyone but him when getting a tattoo or piercing.
“Yes” Aaron told him.
A few minutes later Aaron looked into the mirror. “I love it”.
“I think it looks good,” Winona told him.
“Yeah Aaron good choice” Glory told him.
Aaron paid for everything.
“I want to get a third hole in my ears,” Winona said.
“Go for it” Glory told her.
So woody pierced Winona’s ears again.
“Looks cute” Aaron told her.
“Thanks I like it” She replied as she paid.
“Ok guys ready to go”? Glory asked.
“I am” Aaron replied. “Me too” Winona agreed.
Glory looked around for Cadence and fond her looking at the belly button rings. She walked over to her. “Want to get it done”?
“Yes but it looks too painful” She replied.
“It doesn’t hurt that much just ask me or Winona,” Glory told her.
“Still isn’t there anyway you can numb it”? Cadence asked.
“No” Winona said coming up to the girl’s with Aaron following.
“Than I think I will pass” she replied.
Glory rolled her eyes and grabbed the girl’s arm. “This is ridiculous”.
“Woody she wants her belly button done,” She told him.
He laughed. “Ok than”.
“No its going to hurt” Cadence complained.
“No it won’t” Winona told her.
“Fine but If it really hurts and your lying than I am going to be so mad,” She warned them.
Glory laughed. “No you won’t”.
“Ready” Woody asked as he brought out the needle and finished stretching it out.
“Yes” Cadence replied through gritted teeth.
Glory rolled her eyes and Cadence shook her head. Aaron could see that she was afraid and that she was in some pain from the clamp.
He walked over to her and grabbed her hand. “Give my hand a squeeze when it hurts”.
Cadence gave him a smile and took a hold of his hand. She couldn’t help but think how sweet he was.
“Done its in” Woody said.
“Wow already”? She asked amazed.
“Yeah see it wasn’t so bad,” Winona said.
“It really wasn’t”.
“I tried to tell you”. Glory said. “But you didn’t believe me as usual”.
“Thanks Aaron” She smiled.
“No problem” He replied.
“Are you getting something pierced”? Woody asked Glory.
“Might as well” She replied.
Glory usually when taking a friend to a piercing or Tattoo place ended up getting something.
“So what will it be this time“? Cadence asked. “You have like everything pierced”.
“So”? She shrugged.
“I think today I will get my nose pierced a very tiny stud” She told him.
“Ok” He said.
A few minutes layer Glory examined the tiny stud. “ I really like it.
“ I do too” Aaron agreed.
“ Its weird looking” Cadence said.
“ Its so cool” Winona told her. “ But isn’t Orlando going to kill you”.
“ No he doesn’t care what I do with my body anymore” Glory replied. “ Just as long as it’s not on someone else”. Glory walked to the counter and paid.
“ Thanks for everything Woody” Glory said.
“ Not a problem It was my pleasure” He replied with a smile.
“ Woody would you do me a tiny favor”? She asked sweetly.
“ What is it”? He asked.
“ Don’t tell my father”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orlando, Johnny, and Dom all decided to go to the local pool hall to play some pool, darts and have a guy day.
“So have you guys thought of a date yet” .Dom asked as he took a swig of his beer.
“Yeah actually we came up with a date last night” Orlando replied taking his shot.
“Oh so when is it”? Johnny asked.
“Next Saturday” He replied.
“Next Saturday”? Dom repeated. “As in six days a way next Saturday”.
“Yep” he answered.
“How are you going to throw a wedding in that short of time”? Johnny asked.
“Actually we are eloping to Hawaii,” Orlando told them.
“Eloping why”? Dom asked.
“We don’t want a long engagement and it’s the best way to escape the press,” He explained.
“That’s a good idea”. Dom said.
“Yeah it was Glory’s idea,” Orlando told them.
“I want to have a big wedding when I
“When do you plan on popping the question“? Orlando asked him.
“I am not sure but soon I hope,” He answered.
“Yeah that’s a good idea considering you do have two kids with the woman” Orlando joked.
“Yeah and you are forty” Dom said.
“Thank you guys your making me feel so young”. Johnny said with a laugh.
“Yeah well we can’t help it,” Orlando told him.
“Its our job as your friends,” Dom explained.
“So have you talked to Mandy lately”? Johnny asked trying to get the light shined at someone else.
“Nope we have been having problems lately” He replied.
“Problems”? “What kind of problems”? Orlando asked.
“We just don’t click anymore” He started. “I know that she feels that way too so I am going to break it off when she gets back into town”.
“And that would be”? Johnny pressed.
“Thursday night” He answered.
“Good luck man” Orlando said patting him on the back.
“I have my eye on someone,” Dom told them.
“Who”? Johnny asked.
“Winona” he replied.
Orlando gave him a look. “You know that Glory would kill you if you dated any of her friend’s right”.
“Yeah I know she made it clear last night,” Dom answered. “That’s why I was wondering if you would talk to her”.
“Oh no I am not going to do that”. Orlando told him shaking his head.
“Please’? Dom begged.
“No I am not going to get her mad at me especially before we get married,” Orlando said.
“Will you at least bring it up that I am unhappy and breaking up with my current girlfriend and that you think in your opinion Winona would be a good match for me”? Dom asked.
Orlando saw the pitiful look Dom had on his face.
“Ok ill do it”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once Glory had dropped her home Cadence walked in the door and set down her bag of cleaning supplies for the piercing she had just got. She walked into the kitchen and looked through the mail pile.
“Junk” She muttered.
Cadence felt a furry thing rubbing against her leg. She looked down and bent to pet the fur ball.
“Hey Malcolm” She said rubbing the orange kitten’s tine ears.
Suddenly the phone rang and she stood up to get it.
“Hello”
“Hey baby” Todd’s voice said.
“Hey Todd what’s going on”? She asked.
“Not much I am missing you like crazy right now” He answered sweetly.
“Todd you just saw me yesterday” She pointed out with a giggle.
“I know but still,” He said.
“Are you packing up your stuff”? She asked looking through her cabinets for something good to eat.
“ Yep as we speak” He responded.
“ I can’t wait tll you move in with me” Cadence gushed.
“ Me neither us being closer will help to repair our relationship” He told her.
“ Yeah I agree with that” she said. “ When are you coming”?
“ I hope by this upcoming weekend” He replied. “ I want to pack as much as I can in my car to transport there that way I can send for the rest later”.
“ That’s a great idea” She told him.
“ So what did you do today’? He asked her.
“ I went out with Aaron, Winona and Glory today” She replied.
“ That’s cool what did you all do”? he asked suspicious.
“ We went to a piercing and tattoo shop” She answered.
“ Why in the world did you go there” He asked obviously surprised.
“ Aaron got his eyebrow pierced, Winona got a third hole in her ears, Glory got her nose pierced and I” She stopped.
“ You what”?
“ Promise you won’t get mad”? She asked him timidly.
She didn’t want him to blow up at her.
“ I promise now tell me what did you do”? he said.
“ I got my belly button pierced” She told him finally.
“ You did”? he asked.
Cadence couldn’t tell whether or not he was made but in the case that he was she was ready with an argument.
“ Yeah I did do you have a problem with that” She asked in a challenging voice.
“ Baby don’t get bent out of shape I think that’s great” He said laughing.
“ You do”? she asked him making sure.
“ Yeah I do I think that’s very sexy” He told her.
She laughed. “ Uh thanks”.
“ Well I need to go and finish packing” He told her sadly.
“ Ok” She replied.
“ I love you and I will call you later tonight” He said.
“ You better” She replied in a firm but teasing tone. “ I love you too”.
“ Bye honey”.
“ Bye” She answered.
Cadence hung up the phone and smiled.
“ Maybe things will get better from now on” She thought.
Chapter Six by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Six *
Winona dashed to her phone as she heard it ringing, hoping that she caught it on time before the person on the other end hung up. Go figure, the two minutes she goes to get the mail is the time when somebody tries calling her.
Diving for the phone at the final stretch of the last three feet, Winona picked it up, hoping that whoever it was was still there. She wondered how football players ran down the field, diving for footballs all of the time, then felt silly for comparing the two things that were nothing alike.
“Hello,” Winona said, breathless.”
“Hi,” came a male voice that sounded familiar, but Winona couldn’t place a finger on it, “Is, um…is Winona there?”
“This is her,” Winona answered, getting up off of her position on the floor and sitting on the comfort of her loveseat.
“Hey, this is…this is Glory’s friend…Dom,”
Winona closed her eyes and shook her head, not believing that she hadn’t known who it was. She could kick herself for not being able to put his name and face with the unmistakable voice.
“Hey,” Winona said, cheerfully, “What’s up?”
“Not too much,” Dom answered, “Glad I got a hold of you. I almost gave up after there was no answer.”
Winona was glad that he hadn’t, making a mental note to give him her cell number before they got off of the phone, so he could call her on that if she didn’t answer the other, in the event that she left for a few minutes. Then another thought came to her mind, which made her extremely curious.
“How did you get my number?” Winona asked, her voice full of questioning.
Dom chuckled a little, “Had a feeling you might ask that of me.”
Winona laughed lightly, but that still didn’t answer her question that she wanted an answer to. Winona didn’t say anything, waiting for him to reply. Dom must have sensed her waiting, because he began to speak again.
“Um, well, I got it from Orlando,” he said slowly, hoping that this explanation would be enough for the cute brunette.
“Oh,” Winona replied, then wondered something else that didn’t seem quite right, “What was Glory’s boyfr…fiancé doing with my phone number?”
“I, um...I asked him for it, and when Glory wasn’t home, he got it from her personal phone book…he wasn’t thrilled about me asking him to go behind her back, but I had to talk to you.”
Winona smiled, feeling very honored that he would go through such troubles just to speak to her. She couldn’t help but wonder why though. Her skepticism of the male species was coming in to play. From much learned experience, men weren’t in to things for a long relationship.
“Are you mad?” Dom asked, worriedly, when she didn’t answer for an extremely pro longed moment.
“No, no, not mad at all,” Winona answered cheerfully, “That’s cool…so, what’s going on?”
“Not much…” Dom’s voice trailed off, and Winona could tell that there was something on his mind, “I was…I was wondering if, um…you’d join me for lunch tomorrow.”
Winona paused, raising an eyebrow. She would love to. She found Dom to be extremely attractive and if given the chance, she would definitely jump at the opportunity to have a relationship with him. There were just two major problems that interfered with that though.
“Are you forgetting that you have a girlfriend?” Winona asked him, stating aloud the first problem, “I mean, I don’t want to be just, someone on the rebound for when Mandy is out of town and away.”
Dom laughed, and Winona didn’t see what he found to be so funny. Had she figured him out, or was her asking her out for lunch just for company, and she was reading too far in to it…or possibly, he was joking.”
“What?” Winona asked, rather annoyed with him.
“It’s nothing like that,” Dom answered, “Mandy and I…it’s just not working any longer. We are too different and we have different wants and needs for a relationship. I am ending things when she comes back in a couple of days.”
“Oh,” was all that Winona could think of to say.
She felt foolish for thinking that he was going to be two-timing Mandy…or that he would be using her when he needed something he couldn’t get from his girlfriend at that exact moment. Then came her second concern…the larger of the two.
“Glory…her friends can’t date her other friends…or something along those lines.” Winona reminded him, “Forget last night so soon? She told you no way in hell…”
“She never has to know,” Dom said, interrupting her, “It’s ridiculous…that bloody rule of hers. I can tell that you aren’t too fond of it either.”
Dom was on a role. He wanted to date Winona more than anything, and that was impossible if he let Glory’s rules stop him. Maybe that was partly why he wanted her so badly…because for the first time, somebody he wanted a chance at was off limits to him. Dom put this thought in to great consideration.
“I don’t know…” Winona’s voice trailed off, “I don’t want to go behind Glory’s back. If she ever found out, she would be totally pissed…at both of us.”
“She’ll want us to be happy though,” Dom protested, “Maybe, if we date a while without her knowing, then we tell her after it works out…and we prove her wrong…and she sees how happy we are, it could work…and if it doesn’t work, we will prove that she doesn’t have to take sides.” Winona hesitated. The offer was tempting. She was honestly stuck in between wanting to obey her best friends rules of dating and going against it to fulfill her own dreams of having a relationship with somebody who genuinely seemed to care.
“I don’t know…” Winona said again, truly confused on what the right thing to do would be…making herself happy, or one of her greatest friends.
“Please,” Dom begged, “At least let’s give it a try.”
Winona paused. She knew that she would regret saying no, but feel guilty by saying yes. She started to speak, but then decided against it, not knowing what to say, wishing that she did. This was definitely one of the toughest decisions she’d ever been forced to make, by far. Winona thought about what she truly wanted…risking having a friendship being temporarily on the rocks, or risking the possibility of not being able to find somebody that did fit Glory’s standards for a very long time. Winona finally thought she had her answer. Just when she was about to speak though, there was a beep in her ear.
“Hold on a sec, Dom. Somebody is on the other line,” Winona said with a sigh, “I’ll give you my answer when I get back.”
“Okay,” Dom answered her, and she could tell that he wasn’t happy about the interruption.
“Sorry, be right back,” Winona said in a rush, before pressing the flash button on her phone to switch over, “Hello.”
“Hi, um, Winona?” came a male voice.
“Yeah?” Winona asked, noting the impatients in her voice.
“It’s Nick…Carter,” the voice answered, “From last night.”
“Oh right, I think I remember you…”Winona answered, deciding to play with the blondes mind for a few minutes.
“You think?” Nick asked, his voice coming off sad and hurt, “I asked you to dance…Glory introduced us…umm…Dom and me were fighting over you.”
Winona laughed, “God, don’t freak. Of course I remember you.”
She shook her head. Men could be so pathetic sometimes. Nick’s desperacy when she acted like she didn’t know who he was proved that point well. She could swear that she heard him breath a sigh of relief after admitting that she did remember.
“What can I do for you?” Winona asked him, “I have someone waiting on the other line.”
“Whatcha doin’ tomorrow?” Nick asked, deciding to cut right to the chase of why he was calling her.
“In the process of making plans with someone else,” Winona answered slowly, wondering what he was getting out
“Oh,” Nick pouted, “Think you could fit me in to your schedule?”
Winona squeezed her eyes shut and groaned silently. She just couldn’t win. Either she had nobody interested in her, or too many. This time though, those too many were not people that she was supposed to be interested in…same went the other way around. Go figure
“I don’t think so,” Winona stated regretfully, “I don’t know how long I’ll be out or what’s going on.”
At least there was truth in what she said. She didn’t even know if she was going out…and if she did, she had no clue what she would be doing. It could be enough to last the whole day, or just take up an afternoon.
“Oh,” Nick said again, feeling dejected. Rejection wasn’t something that he was used to, “Maybe we could do something the day after tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.
Winona tried not to laugh. He sounded so pitiful when he was desperate or wanted something and didn’t get his way with it. “I don’t know,” Winona answered, “We’ll see…and just curious…how did you get my phone number?”
“Orlando,” Nick answered.
“Oh my god,” Winona muttered in a whisper under her breath, through gritted teeth in complete disbelief. Was he just handing her number out like there was no tomorrow? Winona wondered how many other men would be calling her that day, asking for dates.
“Will we ever go out?” Nick pestered her.
“God, you’re persistant,” Winona told him, then decided to ask him the same question she’d asked Dom, “What about Glory’s not allowing her guy friends to date her girl friends?”
“I don’t give a fuck about that anymore,” Nick informed her with pride, “I can do whatever the hell I want to. I’m twenty three.”
Winona rolled her eyes, “Look, I really don’t know, okay?” she said, “Now, I really have to go get back to the person on the other line. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Winona didn’t wait for Nick to reply, having the feeling that if allowing him the chance, he would persist even further. She hadn’t even known the boy for a day, and she already pretty much had him figured out, or so she thought.
“Sorry bout that,” Winona told Dom, “Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” Dom answered boredly, “Who was it?”
“Just a friend,” Winona answered, wondering if Nick was even that.
Dom didn’t say anything for a moment, and Winona wondered if he knew who it had been. In his mind, Nick was competition, in Nick’s, Dom was his. Winona couldn’t believe how immature they both were being.
“So,” Dom finally said, “What were you about to say in response to my question, before we were so rudely interrupted.”
Winona hesitated. She had been about to answer him, but, since Nick’s call, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, because she liked them both a lot. Either way, yes or no, yes to one, no to both, she was losing something. She just couldn’t win. Only one of them liking her would make her life easy, god forbid that happen.
“I’ll have to get back to you on that,” Winona answered, and that was the best that she could do until she had things figured out.
“Okay,” Dom answered, “That’s fair…at least it isn’t a ‘no’”
Winona could tell that he was slightly upset with her answer, but gave him credit for going along with her.
“Well, I have to go now,” Winona told Dom, “Lots of things to do today.”
“What about lunch tomorrow?” he asked her in a rush, before she hung up.
“We can do that,” she replied, “Call me tomorrow with a time.”
“Okay, talk to you later,” Dom answered.
“Okay, bye,”
Hanging up the receiver, Winona slumped down in her chair, closing her eyes. She had made up her mind that she was going to date one of them. Where the problem lied though, was she wasn’t sure which. Damn Nick for calling right as she had almost made up her mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So, are you gonna come over to me and Orli’s for a pool party tomorrow,” Glory asked Winona.
Winona cringed, wondering how she was going to explain to her best friend that she couldn’t go due to other plans. Better yet, how would her and Dom explain, since they would both be missing from the event? Glory would find that highly suspicious. Winona decided to take her chances anyways.
“I’m sorry. I can’t,” she stated
“What?” Glory asked, incredulously, “I’m leaving to elope in less than a week, and you don’t want to come see me before I leave? Gee, thanks a lot.”
Winona felt bad, knowing that this was true. Her friend was leaving soon, and this was probably her wedding party…exactly how she knew Glory wanted it; informal and just plain fun.
“C’mon, you have to go,” Glory begged, something that definitely wasn’t her usual style.
Winona was silent for a moment, completely confused on what to do. She wanted to see Dom, but she didn’t want to miss her chance at going to her friend’s party. After all, she could always see Dom while Glory was away. Winona knew that she was taking way too long to answer when Glory started to speak.
“Come on, it’s not like I am asking you to donate a lung or anything,” Glory said in her famous sarcastic tone
“Who’s all going to be there?” Winona finally asked, “Does it really matter?” Glory replied.
“Does it really matter?” Glory asked skeptically, and Winona could tell that she was beginning to get suspicious.
“No, just wondering,” Winona answered, cringing a little. She hoped that Winona hadn’t figured her motives out. Not yet…
“Let’s see, Aaron, Nick, Cadence…I’m surprising her by bringing Todd out, God knows why,” Glory stopped to snort, “Um, let’s see…Orlando, of course, Johnny and Dom…just got off of the phone with him before I called you.”
Winona’s heart did little flips at the sound of that. He was going to be there, so she wouldn’t be missing out on anything anyways when it came to having lunch with him. Winona guessed that he was going to call her the next day or later that night to tell her. Either way, she was going to be around him.
“Sure, I guess I could go,” Winona stated casually.
“No dating my friends,” Glory warned, “If that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I know,” Winona protested, crossing her fingers, silently asking for forgiveness for planning on going behind her friends back. She wanted to date someone so badly, and she was going to no matter who it was since she was being given the chance.
“So, be there any time after about three,” Glory stated, “I don’t care, just show up.”
Winona laughed. Same as every other important event, including graduation and birthdays, Glory had always pretty much said ‘Just show up any time after’ and then gave a certain time.
“Okay,” Winona replied, “I’ll be there.”
“Okay,” Glory answered.
There was an awkward silence that took over for a few moments. Neither knew what to say. Winona bit her lip, wondering nervously how Dom would act towards her the next day in front of Glory. How would she act in front of him?
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Glory asked, making sure that their plans were together and they were on the same level.
“Yep,” Winona said, “Definitely.” There was another long pause. Winona wasn’t sure if their phone call was over or not, and wasn’t sure what to say next. After another minute of neither saying anything, Winona assumed that it was.
“Well, bye,” Winona stated
“Bye,” Glory said
Winona placed the phone back on the receiver. It had been one crazy day when it came to phone calls. First, it was Dom, and then Nick. Next, her mother had called, then Glory. She sat by the phone, waiting for it to start ringing again. After a long wait, she decided that she was safe to leave for a few hours.
Grabbing her purse, Winona checked to see that she had her credit cards before heading out. She had a hard afternoon of shopping to do to find the cutest outfit and bikini before the next day. It was going to be huge.
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“Hey, was beginning to think that you weren’t going to show,” Glory stated as she walked over to Winona who was on the other side of the huge iron gate surrounding the house, trying to get in to the back yard.
Glory’s pool party had come, time passing too quickly for Winona. There was still so much that she had to do, and she hadn’t had enough time to do so. Winona smiled though, looking down at her outfit. She was wearing an adorable pair of cut off shorts with a top that she could not resist in her favorite color; blue. She loved the bikini that she had on underneath even more. Winona hoped that Dom liked it. He was the sole reason for her shopping spree.
“Is everybody here?” Winona asked in curiosity as Glory unlatched the gate for her to let her in to join the party.
“Yuppers,” Glory stated, “Well, everyone but Todd. The others though…they’ve been here for awhile now. You’re so missing out on a good time. Ya just missed Nick running into the sliding glass door…” Glory’s voice trailed off as she shook her head, a smile spreading over her face.
“He does that a lot, doesn’t he?” Winona asked, “Didn’t he do that a few years ago too?”
Glory nodded her head.
“Will he ever learn?” Winona asked.
Although she had just met Nick, she knew enough about him to make it seem like they were long time friends. Her sources of information were TV shows, interviews, and of course, Glory.
“Probably not,” Glory stated with a shrug, “But he tries…and if he wasn’t…him…who would I have to make fun of.”
“Yeah, that’s true…” then Winona stopped for a second, pondering that thought before saying, “You’d still have Cadence.”
A wicked grin appeared on Glory’s face. She always had a great time pointing out Cadence’s blonde moments, never letting them go…like the time she got her hand stuck in the blender at one of her previous jobs. Another would be the time she drove all the way to school in a snowstorm before deciding it was too bad out to be at school, then turned around and went home in it. There were many other stories where that came from. Winona was right…if there wasn’t Nick’s lack of common sence, then there would always be Cadence to take his place.
“Yeah,” Glory finally said aloud, “I wonder what her next blonde moment of the century will be.” The two friends walked over to the rest of the group. Winona’s eye caught Dom, as she ventured off on her own to unite with him. She hoped that she wouldn’t be bothering him, but he was the one who had suggested lunch with her for that same day. Winona figured that this would be making up for it since they had to cancel.
“So,” Glory said, raising an eyebrow watching Winona, questioning her motives before looking to Cadence who seemed to be completely bored, “What do you think?”
“Just tanning,” she smiled, “Having fun. It’s great to spend time with ya’ll.”
“You look like you’re having a blast,” Glory smirked. She couldn’t wait to see the look on her friends face when Todd showed up.
“I am,” Cadence insisted with a large grin, “Eyeing those two yummy Carter boys.”
“Off limits,” Glory stated.
“To have, but not to eye,” Cadence reminded her.
Glory shook her head, “You worry me.” Then her eyes grew wide and a smile spread over her face, backing away.
“What?” Cadence asked as she felt a pair of hands being placed over her eyes.
“Guess who?” a voice asked.
Cadence tensed, wondering who it could be. There really wasn’t anybody who she could think of, and Todd was back in Ohio getting ready for the move.
“I don’t know,” Cadence finally stated after trying to guess and getting tired of it, “Kevin Richardson.”
“No,” the voice pouted, and the hands were removed off of her eyes. She could see a shadow on the pavement as a form moved around and in to her line of vision. Cadence’s eyes widened as she saw who it was.
“Todd,” she squealed, a smile spreading on her face a she jumped up, “What are you doing here?”
“Came to surprise you…Glory invited me,” Todd informed her, “ I’m going back in the morning to finish packing up before the big move. You know what? Glory is really not so bad…if she wants to be nice.”
“Well, DUH,” Cadence stated, “I’ve been trying to tell you that for like, the last two years.”
Todd just shrugged, knowing that this was true. His stubbornness made it so he refused to believe her though. It was the typical male ego thing of not wanting to admit when you are wrong about something, so they continue to do it anyways. Cadence did not get it, nor would she ever.
Giving him a huge hug and kiss, Cadence pulled him towards the pool.
“Let’s go swimming,” she suggested.
Todd tensed, “I’m not going to swim.” He stated, “Just came to be with you.”
“It’s a pool party though,” Glory stated, and Cadence looked back, mouthing a quick “thank you” for surprising her. Glory just nodded and walked away. Cadence looked back to her boyfriend then.
“She’s right, and we’ve been together for a really long time,” she complained, “I still have never seen you without a shirt on.”
“You will…someday,” Todd promised her.
Cadence rolled her eyes. She would believe it when she saw it. Until then, she would remain skeptical and, if in the right mood, crack the occasional joke with Winona, which to her, was better than crying all of the time over it.
Todd saw Nick waving him towards him, and he pulled gently away from Cadence. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll be back in a few,” he informed her.
Cadence shrugged, figuring she could catch up with Winona, who was sitting alone on the lawn in the distance as she watched Todd walk away. Heading in her friend’s direction, she felt slightly dejected. She hoped that his wasn’t how it would be all of the time now once Todd moved there for good.
“Hey there,” Cadence called out as she neared Winona, sitting down next to her.
Winona looked up and smiled, “Hi,”
“What’s wrong?”
“Dom…wanted to do lunch today. I thought since we were both here now, we could hang out. He’s busy with Orlando though.”
Cadence snorted. Was it just a guy thing in general? She wasn’t sure, but it was beginning to look that way.
“Same with Todd,” Cadence said, hoping to make her friend feel better.
“I’m sorry,” Winona sympathized, knowing that Cadence was sick of him doing this to her. The point of the move was to bring them closer together again. Not for him to continue his old behaviors closer to her.
Cadence shrugged, “It’s fine.” She forced a smile, hoping that she would be convincing enough for Winona to believe her.
Suddenly, the loud music was turned off. Everybody looked around, wondering what had gone wrong with the stereo, wanting the music back.
“Bloody system,” Orlando muttered, ready to walk back into the house to tamper with and try to fix the expensive surround sound system , but was interrupted with a voice coming from within.
“Everybody clear the pool,” Aaron yelled from the inside of the large house
“Why,” Glory asked, her tone slightly a whine, but mostly annoyed, and then she asked, “What are you going to do?”
“You’ll see,” Aaron called back, “Just clear the pool.”
Everybody slowly climbed out of the pool, wrapping their towels around themselves while they waited to see what the young blonde had up his sleeve. Nothing had happned after a few long minutes, and everybody was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen. Looking around, each individual was seeking a sign to hint at what was going to take place which was so important for them to exit the pool. Without any warning, Aaron went flying out of the house, completely stark naked, running as fast as he could as everybody stared at his naked, well toned, teenage body.
“CANNONBALL,” Aaron yelled, jumping into the pool, causing an enormous splash, soaking everybody who was dry and making those who were wrapped in towels even more wet than before.
“Aaron,” Glory screamed, “You little shit…after what I did for you…”
Nick was on the ground by this point, laughing hysterically at his younger brothers little stunt. Glory walked over to him, slapping him over the head.
“Hey,” Nick said, not believing she’d just hit him. He ducked away a little, covering his head for protection from further abuse.
“Well,” Cadence stated, staring at Aaron’s tanned nakedness as he swam to the edge of the pool and crawled out. She eyed him, seizing the sight of him, scanning him up in down licking her lips, “He definitely isn’t shy.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Winona laughed. It amazed at how gutsy the boy actually was. She smiled, admitting to herself that although Dom and her hadn’t spent any alone time together, coming to the party hadn’t been a total waste of her time. In fact, she was having a lot of fun just spending time with her friends…and witnessing one of the crazy things that went on in Glory’s life up close and personal. That in itself made the whole appearance to her party worthwhile. The only thing that she regretted was that the end of the night was rather quickly approaching. In less than a week, her friend would be married. She just hoped that it didn’t change their friendship for the worst. It was something that she and Cadence both feared, and only time would tell what happened.
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Glory gently laid her silk lingerie into her suitcase on top of a pair of a more casual flannel pajamas set. She was packing for she and Orlando’s getaway for their eloping and honeymoon to Hawaii. The day had finally come. It was Thursday night, and they’d decided to leave a little early, hoping to do a little sight seeing and getting plans together. With a small smile, while humming words to one of her favorite Backstreet songs, she scanned her room, searing for any other clothing she might need and be completely missing before retreating to the bathroom to collect up all of her toiletries and hair accessories. And she couldn’t forget her lip gloss. That would be a complete disaster. Glory used so much of it, that she knew that she’d most likely end up using an entire tube of it in the week to two weeks that she was gone. If she left without it, she would feel as if she were naked. It was a habit for her to pull it out and uncap it, sliding the sweet smelling gloss over her lips every ten minutes to a half an hour, and her waiting that long was stretching it.
Tossing her toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream and razor, shampoos, lotions, barrettes and other random items into a small pocket on the side of her suitcase, Glory looked across the bed from her at Orlando packing his own suitcase. She had to give him credit for that. Most girlfriends, and wives, ended up packing their mans suitcase because they were too lazy to do so themselves. That was one thing about her Orlando. He was always willing to step in and help her out. She liked her independence, but didn’t mind the occasional having help from him.
Zipping up her luggage, Glory looked at Orlando. She watched him with interest as he finished up. Orlando looked up at her, catching her eyes with his, staring deeply into them and smiled, taking in her beauty, feeling so lucky to have someone so amazing in his life. He tucked away the last of the things he wanted to take, hoping that he was remembering everything. If not, he figured if worst came to worst, he could just buy new somewhere along the way.
“Are you ready, love?” Orlando asked, latching his own suitcase and straightening up to look at his soon to be wife.
Glory nodded excitedly. She never thought that she’d be in this situation, but she was, and honestly could not be happier. She picked up her own suitcase, ready to load the car and leave for the airport, “Yup,” she stated, “Let’s go get married.”
Chapter Seven by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 7*
“Wait,” Glory stopped in the middle of the living room dropping her suitcase down with a plop. “I can’t do this.” She declared looking over at Orlando who was already at the door.
“What?” Orlando asked nearly laughing not believing what she had just said. “What do you mean you can’t do this? You were the one who wanted to get married this soon.”
“Not like this,” Glory shook her head. “I can’t get married like this, this isn’t what I had in mind for my wedding day,” She told him sitting down on the couch. Glory buried her face into her hands on top of her knees.
“Glory everything will be fine, I promise,” Orlando told her walking over. He sat down next to her on the couch and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Now let’s go to Hawaii.” Orlando urged.
“No,” Glory said more loudly this time and looked over at him. “I can’t like this.”
“Okay,” Orlando looked down at the carpet. “What would it take?”
“Let me borrow your credit cards,” Glory gave him a quick smile before it faded again. Orlando raised an eyebrow at this but reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Thank you,” She said taking the three platinum cards he had. She stood up and went over to the cordless phone base in the corner of the room and dialed a few frantic numbers. A few minutes later she came back over to him. “Okay, now we can go.” She said taking his hand in hers again.
“What did you do?” Orlando asked suspiciously.
“You’ll see later,” Glory smiled again picking up her bag and walking towards the door.
“You always say that right before something really bad happens,” Orlando complained flipping the lights off and shutting the front door behind him.
For most of the flight, Glory was on the phone. Orlando shook his head reminding himself this was normal for her, the whole unpredictability thing. He had to laugh at her attempts. She wanted things her way or no way at all so of course her wedding was going to be exactly like how she had always imagined it. Orlando turned to fall asleep and the next thing he knew Glory was gently pushing on his shoulder waking him up. “We’re here,” She smiled at him.
Orlando blinked the sleep out of his eyes for a moment before realizing he was still on the plane. “Did you sleep at all?” He asked Glory.
“No, I was on the phone the whole time.” Glory admitted as she helped Orlando stand up. She knew they had to get off the plane as quickly as they could, there were two very frantic looking fans eyeing Orlando.
“It’s a ten hour flight, how were you on the phone the entire time?” He asked still trying to wake up as Glory pushed him down the aisle.
“Because it was morning in Scotland,” She told him proudly. “I had fun messing with a not so awake Scot,” Glory grinned ear to ear making Orlando wonder if he was one friend short now. “Plus your mum wouldn’t let me off the phone until she knew every single detail.”
“Great,” Orlando mumbled as he was pushed outside into the bright sunlight. “I thought it was supposed to be nighttime.” He complained.
“Nope,” Glory said following him. They had taken a private plane to the airport on one of the smaller island instead of having to drive for forty minutes crossing three bridges instead of just the one. “It’s about five in the afternoon. We can get something to eat, go surf a little, then watch the sun set.”
“You’ve planned this out?” He asked pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket.
“You don’t have to go surfing with me,” She laughed pulling their luggage off of the conveyer belt before dragging Orlando into the airport. She stopped in the middle of the open area and stood up on her tip toes looking around for her family. “There they are.” Glory pointed to man in his fifties wearing a fish print shirt, Orlando had to shake his head thinking only Glory’s family would wear something like that. Beside the man was a shorter, Glory-sized woman wearing a pair of shorts and a plain light purple tee shirt. She was obviously Hawaiian with the long black hair and tanned skin.
“Glory,” The man walked up to the couple pulling Glory into a huge hug. “It’s been too long since you visited us.” He exclaimed.
“Yeah well now I really do have to support myself you know,” She joked. “In fact I have another showing this month in London if you guy wanted to go see Jake,” Glory mentioned her cousin who was living in London for the time being attending school there.
“That might be nice,” He aunt spoke up. She had a definite Hawaiian accent. “Is this the soon to be husband?” She asked pointing to Orlando.
“Oh I’m so sorry,” Glory laughed at her forgetfulness. “This is Orlando,” She pointed to him. “Orli this is my aunt Lynn and my uncle Randal, on my mom’s side.” She quickly told him knowing that question would come next.
“He’s cute,” Lynn declared looking over Orlando. “He’ll do,” She laughed pulling both of them to the car.
Two hours and one very large meal later, Orlando found himself lying on the beach trying to fall back asleep. He had almost succeeded when Glory came running up to him. “Orli?” She asked standing over him, her hair dripping water down across his bare chest.
“Yes?” He asked not even bothering to open his eyes. He felt her lay down next to him on the blanket, her wet bathing suit brushing up against his side.
“What do you think of Hawaii?” She asked him.
“Much more different then any other time I’ve been here,” He commented. Glory’s aunt and uncle owned one of the smallest islands located right off of Maui. They had built a large ranch with thirty-two bedrooms to serve as a bed and breakfast, plus a stable and riding area were they trained locals for rodeos. Glory had drug Orlando off right after dinner to one of her favorite beaches, the one very few people knew about. “But I like it.” He smiled pulling her head down to rest on his chest. “I thought your aunt’s head was going to explode when I told her I was a vegan.” He laughed.
Glory laughed. “At least you’re not going to be forced into eating something that she keeps insisting is chicken, I think it’s probably something she scraped off the road,” Glory giggled.
“That’s a great image,” Orlando laughed. “I’m sure if you told Cadence that one, she would stop eating all together.”
“At least while she’s here,” Glory joked looking up at the sky. The sun was already beginning to set over top of them. In the distance the red flaking into the sun’s glow was bathing them in light.
“Did you tell your dad about this?” Orlando asked curiously.
“Why would I tell him?” Glory asked. “You know if I told him, my mom wouldn’t even set foot near here,” Glory halfway answered.
“He is your dad, he’s supposed to walk you down the aisle you know.” Orlando reminded her.
“He’s not a good dad so he doesn’t get the privilege of it,” Glory sighed onto Orlando’s chest. “Besides I’m going to tell him next week, probably.”
“So that means you’re actually going to talk to him?” Orlando pointed out.
“Well the gallery does happen to be in the same museum he runs,” Glory said still watching the sky. “I suppose somewhere down the road I’m going to have to at least be pleasant to him.”
“Better then nothing I guess,” Orlando muttered wondering if she was ever going to follow through with that statement. “So, just when exactly were you planning on having this wedding?” He asked. The two hadn’t even thought about the details to the wedding. Orlando had just assumed she would have most of the things sorted out by now.
“I was thinking tomorrow night about this time right here,” She grinned leaving out a few major details. “Then we party at the house for a while before going to what my aunt keeps calling the tiki hut.” Glory laughed at her aunt’s wording.
“The tiki hut?” Orlando repeated.
“It’s a small cabin on the other side of the island, my uncle built it for his daughter but she never uses it so it’s like the guest house.” Glory explained.
“And then you’re going to end this little three year streak you’ve got going?” Orlando teased.
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“Oh look, it’s Hawaii,” Winona stated sarcastically as she stepped off the plane followed closely by Cadence.
“You wanna be the first to kill her or should I do it?” Cadence asked walking down the stairs to the side of the plane to wait for their baggage.
“I think I should get the honors since she’s been messing up my life worse then your lately,” Winona grinned not being too serious about things. Besides, Glory still didn’t know that Winona had agreed to date Dom behind Glory’s back.
“What about me? I think I deserve the first crack,” Winona and Cadence spun around to find Elijah and Dom standing behind them. “I was just peacefully sleeping when she runs into my room yelling ‘fire’ before telling me I have to drive here to get the two of you.” Elijah teased.
“Thanks for the consideration,” Winona grumbled still a little mad that Dom hadn’t called her or even talked to her at the party. “Why didn’t she come here herself?”
“She said something about a dress fitting,” Dom shrugged his shoulders as he took Winona’s bag from her to carry to the car.
“She’s getting her dress without us?” Cadence said pouting. “She’s supposed to go with her bridesmaids.” She complained.
“It’s Glory,” Dom stated. “Have you ever once seen that girl do anything normal?”
“Good point,” Cadence said letting Elijah take her bag from her as they walked towards the car.
“So, where’s your boyfriend?” Dom asked Cadence as Elijah drove the group towards the house. Dom had wanted to drive but Elijah insisted saying something about Dom never remembering which side of the road to drive on.
“He had to stay at home, he has to work,” Cadence told them all regretfully.
“Or as she’s been saying for the past ten hours straight, he’s staying at home to cheat on her,” Winona rolled her eyes as Cadence jabbed her in the stomach. “What was that for? I was just telling the truth.” Winona said stubbornly.
“Too bad, I’m sure he would have liked Hawaii,” Elijah told them trying to pretend like he hadn’t heard Winona’s comment seeing how it was already causing bickering among the two.
“He’s been here before,” Cadence said casually as she watched the scenery fly by. She couldn’t believe she was actually in Hawaii. From the road she could see miles of beach leading out to the clear blue ocean water and tons of people surfing along the waves in the sun.
“I’m sure he’s never seen anything like this though,” Dom said with a grin before turning around in the front seat to face the girls. “We figured out where all of Glory’s insanity comes from, it’s hereditary.”
“That bad?” Winona asked giggling slightly. “I’m sure her family can’t be that bad.”
“Just wait until you meet them,” Dom said with another grin.
Winona couldn’t believe just how right he was though. Glory’s uncle had greeted them at the front gate still wearing yet another brightly colored shirt, this time though it was a bright red print with white hibiscus flowers covering the shirt. Glory’s aunt had come running up to them as soon as they got out of the car throwing lei’s on all of them singing some Hawaiian tune that Winona now had stuck in her head. The woman had told each girl that there was a navy blue sarong in each of their rooms for the wedding later on that night. Then the woman lead them up to their rooms leaving them there saying lunch was going to be in two hours and to be back at the ranch by seven to met Glory again.
“I can’t believe we’re not even going to see Glory until an hour before the actually wedding.” Cadence complained as she stretched out across her bed. Winona had come over to her room as soon as Lynn had gotten out of ear range. The two had identical rooms side by side facing the ocean on the second floor of the house.
“It’s Glory, did you really expect this to be anything but weird?” Winona said looking out across the water. She spotted Dom, Orlando, Elijah, and some guy Orlando had introduced as Billy surfing around the water, a few of them waiting to catch the next wave while the other two rode out the current wave sweeping across the pristine waters. Winona knew he was another cast member but she hadn’t gotten a chance to meet that one either until just now. The only cast members she knew from meeting them in New Zealand was Viggo, Sean Astin, and Liv. “I’m just more in shock that we’re actually in Hawaii.”
“I know, it’s weird that Glory’s family owns something like this,” Cadence admitted rolling over onto her stomach to face Winona.
“I never expected it to be like this,” Winona said still watching the guys surfing wondering if Dom was ever thinking about her. Maybe this was why Glory didn’t want him dating any of her friends, Winona thought to herself. “I was thinking they owned a beach house or something not a whole island.”
“I think I’m going to call Todd and tell him about his place, maybe convince him to come out for a while,” Cadence said sitting up suddenly.
Winona sighed shaking her head. “You do that, I’m going to go look around for a while,” Winona stalked out the door positive Cadence hadn’t even noticed her leaving as she called Todd. Winona wandered around the house for a while finding a large TV room, plus the massive kitchen and dining room. She couldn’t help but wonder where Glory was going to be having this wedding of hers later that day. She knew it wouldn’t be anywhere indoors so Winona wandered outside hoping to find some signs of people putting up decorations or something. She walked through the grassy courtyard past the deck where she found the in ground pool. Winona had to laugh a little thinking only Glory’s family would build a pool with the ocean being as close as it was. She found another building right off the pool. All the French doors were open inviting Winona in. She peeked into the room seeing it scattered with paint and easels.
“Glory’s room” A male voice said from behind her. Winona jumped nearly screaming. “Whoa love, only me.” Dom said holding his hands up in the air.
“God, don’t scare me like that,” She scolded him. “I thought you were out surfing with the others.”
“Got bored, decided to try and find Glory at least,” He pointed to the room. “This is where she paints when she comes here. I thought maybe she would be in there.”
“Nope, still out getting her dress or something,” Winona mumbled starting to walk off.
“The other reason I came over here was because I saw you walk over here,” he admitted. Winona stopped walking and turned around to face him suddenly interested in what he was saying. “I wanted to explain that the only reason I didn’t talk to you at the party was because I didn’t want to make Glory suspicious or anything.”
“I figured that much,” Winona told him almost bitterly. “That girl makes some of the most ridiculous rules.” Winona sighed.
“No she doesn’t,” Dom shook his head leaning up against the smooth rock along the side of the building. “She knows what’s best for her friends and she thinks I’m not it.”
“I hate when she does that though. It makes us seem like we’re three years old and incapable of running our own lives.” Winona complained.
“I know, but she’s right,” Dom looked over at Winona. “I still want to prove her wrong on this though,” Dom grinned mischievously. “Maybe tomorrow we could go grab some lunch in town or something.”
“She’ll definitely know about that though.” Winona laughed. She couldn’t believe how she could be fuming mad at this man one minute and then be smiling with him the next. All it took was one grin from him and she was happy again.
“Well if what Orlando says is true, three years without sex is going to be a guarantee that we’re not going to be seeing Glory for at least five days,” Dom laughed. “Lynn said they were going to the private cabin on the other side of the island. She’s not coming back for a while.”
Winona stopped to think. As much as she wanted to give him a shot, she still wasn’t too sure about going behind Glory’s back. “I guess we could try that.”
“Great,” Dom grinned again. He leaned over and pulled her into a hug. “I’ll meet you at the main gate at about ten,” He pulled back for a moment looking down into her green eyes getting lost in them. Before he could stop himself Dom found his lips crushed up against hers. He closed his eyes letting himself get swept up by their kiss. “Sorry about that,” Dom said pulling away. “Ten tomorrow,” he reminded her as he started to walk away stumbling a little.
Winona turned back around and headed off for her room. “Damn,” She muttered to herself thinking back to that kiss.
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“You kissed him?” Cadence asked loudly as they walked towards the room where Lynn had told them Glory was getting ready in.
“Could you say that a little louder? I’m not sure China heard you,” Winona whispered harshly. “And he kissed me, I think. It all happened so fast.”
“But still, you guys kissed,” Cadence said more softly this time. “Was it good?”
“Of course it was,” Winona hissed remembering back to the moment. “It was the most incredible kiss I’ve ever had.”
“You do know Glory is going to shoot him when she finds out right?” Cadence reminded her.
“That’s why she’s not going to find out about it,” Winona shook her head.
“Something tells me she will though,” Cadence said softly. “She always does.” She added muttering it under her breath.
“I’ll worry about that one when it happens,” Winona said approaching the door.
“So are you going to do anything with him?” Cadence pried. Winona was the one friend of hers that would always tell her the details of her life and not keep anything secret like Glory did.
“I don’t know, I agreed to have lunch with him tomorrow,” Winona said. “It’s a start I guess.” She was about to knock on the door when her cell phone started to ring again. “Hello?” She said not even bothering to check the caller ID figuring it had to be her insane mom wondering why she wasn’t answering her phone at her house.
“Winona? This is Nick again.” Nick said softly, almost enough to make Winona have to hold the phone even closer to her head, just another thing to increase her chances of getting brain cancer.
“Hey,” She said walking away from Cadence a little. “How did you get this number?” She asked.
“I stole Glory’s phone,” Nick admitted.
Winona pulled her cell phone away from her head to check the caller ID seeing it was in fact a phone call from Glory’s cell. “I see,” She laughed. “Well, what can I do for you?”
“How about a date with me tomorrow?” Nick asked boldly.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Winona told him suspiciously.
“Okay, let’s not call it a date. How about we go to the beach and I’ll teach you how to surf or something?” Nick offered.
“I still don’t think that would be the best idea.” Winona admitted not wanting to tell him about her date with Dom.
“Please?” Nick begged. He had never begged a girl for anything, this was a first for him although for this girl he would gladly keep begging.
“I,” Winona paused figuring what the hell. It was every day that two hot guys, one an actor the other a singer, asked her out on dates. She threw Glory’s words into the wind and decided to live a little. “Sure, why not?”
“Great, I’ll meet you on the north beach at three.” Nick agreed before they hung up
Winona made her way back over to where Cadence was patiently waiting for her to return. Cadence raised her eyebrows asking about the call. “Don’t ask,” Winona shook her head and knocked on the door leading to the room where Glory was. A second later Liv Tyler of all people opened the door ushering the two girls in.
“Just as a warning, she’s been drinking,” Liv said with a grin. “You two look so pretty though,” Liv gushed pulling them both into the room before any of the guys walked in. The girl both had wore their matching sarongs. Cadence had pulled on a white peasant top while Winona had worn a black strappy tank top. “I’m Liv by the way,” She said holding her hand out to Cadence.
“Cadence,” She said shyly.
“This is our other friend,” Winona explained as she walked further into the room.
“Hey, you guys did show up,” Glory said with a bright smile.
“I see you have been drinking,” Winona laughed at Glory’s unusual positive mood.
“Just a little, but AJ took the rest away from me,” Glory mumbled looking back at the mirror in front of her as she put on a little bit more glitter around her eyes. Winona was surprised to see the girl actually had done her make-up normal for a change although she was sure it had something to do with Liv being in the room.
“I took it away from you because Viggo doesn’t need to have to carry you down the aisle.” Winona heard a man’s voice in the room coming from the corner blocked by the large mirror.
“I would have been fine,” Glory said leaning around the mirror. “I’m not dizzy or anything.”
“She says before slurring all of her vows,” Winona said with a grin as Cadence approached Glory.
“You two look so cute,” Glory said turning around to examine them both. “Except for one thing,” Glory said looking at them. She reached down onto the floor where a pile of white hibiscus flowers lay. “AJ, would you mind helping me a little here?” She called as she took a bobby pin off the table and walked over to Cadence. “These are my corsages since I’m cheap.” She grinned pinning the flower into Cadence’s hair. She was almost done when she saw the man get up from the corner. Cadence let out a loud sigh in shock seeing the man was AJ McLean.
“I suppose you want me to pin the flower in her hair right?” AJ said pointing to Winona.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Glory said smiling.
“This is what Liv is for.” AJ grumbled taking the flower from Glory and pushing Winona’s hair up over her shoulder.
“I suck at that though,” Liv laughed.
“Hey, my hair looks good,” Glory laughed.
“There you go,” AJ said looking closely at Winona as he pushed her hair around. “You look perfect now.” He smiled at her before turning to Glory. “Anything else my queen that you need?”
“More vodka?” She asked.
“Except for that,” AJ laughed. “I’m going to go find the blond twins.” He waved walking out the door to go find Nick and Aaron.
“I suppose you want me to explain that too?” Glory asked pointing back at that door.
“It would help,” Cadence shook her head.
“It’s a long story,” Glory sighed and sat down at the table in front of her.
An hour later, the sun began to set. “I’m standing in a foot of water,” Dom complained. “My jeans are soaked.” He continued.
“I told ya ta wear a kilt,” Billy laughed looking out at the scenery.
“She just had to pick the ocean,” Elijah grinned.
“Well, this is her day, I let her pick everything,” Orlando told them trying to get the three guys to shut up about having to stand in water. Glory had wanted the ceremony to actually be in the water. The guests, mostly the rest of the cast of Lord of the Rings, Orlando’s mom and sister plus his dad, Glory’s mom and a few other friends and family, were spread out across the beach watching the sun set behind the wedding party waiting for Glory to walk down the beach.
Orlando watched as Glory walked down the stone path with Viggo on her arm. She had chosen him to walk her down the aisle since her real dad was a jerk and her grandfather had passed away a few years before. She said he was the closest thing she had to a real dad. “Thanks for choosing me.” Viggo whispered as they made their way towards Orlando.
“Thanks for doing it,” Glory grinned getting closer. She slipped off her flip flops and walked into the water. Viggo took her hand in his briefly kissing it before handing it over to Orlando. He smiled and then walked back to join Liv and her husband on the beach. Glory looked behind her making eye contact with Winona and Cadence both before glancing over at the guys. Billy, the token Scot really had worn the kilt he had been threatening to wear. Glory laughed a little before looking up at Orlando. He had worn jeans, or course, and a white button down shirt with his hair pulled back. “Well, I feel a little overdressed.” She laughed pointing down to her dress. She hadn’t gone with white but one of her aunt’s friends had made a shirt light pink sundress with a pink sheer overlay to it just for this day.
“You look beautiful,” Orlando grinned kissing her cheek.
“Would you two wankers mind starting this thing, I think a fish just swam around my feet.” Dom complained.
“Oh fuck off,” Glory slipped her won accent in.
“You’re the only bride who can manage to use the f-word in her ceremony,” Cadence laughed.
The ceremony only lasted around twenty minutes thanks in part to no one really wanting to have to sit around to listen to the full Christian service. Glory had told the pastor to cut it down a lot. The pastor hadn’t liked the idea but finally agreed after twenty minutes of arguing with Glory letting the two say their own vows, kiss, and then be pronounced. It had all ended with Glory declaring it was time to party. And party they did.
Lynn and Randal had decorated the courtyard with tables brought from the pool area, a stereo system, and enough white and blue Christmas lights to keep all the run ways at LAX lit during a rainstorm. The group had spent the night eating the vegetable plates Lynn had made especially for Orlando while consuming large amounts of champagne and dancing the night away. Glory leaned her head on Orlando’s shoulder. She made eye contact with AJ before motioning over to Winona sitting next to Cadence at one of the candle lit tables.
AJ took his cue and walked over to the table. “Winona?” He called. She turned her head and looked up at him surprised he would know her name since they hadn’t been formally introduced. “Would you like to dance?”
Winona looked over at Cadence shocked for a moment trying to figure out his motives. “Sure I guess,” Winona shrugged and held her hand out for AJ. He took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor Randal had put out.
“So, Glory tells me you’re single,” AJ said putting one hand on her waist and the other into her hand dancing old-fashioned.
“I guess you could say that,” Winona grinned a little not sure what to tell him really.
“Well then you wouldn’t mind joining me for dinner tomorrow night,” AJ explained. Winona was sure her mouth had dropped open a little. Six years of dreaming of this moment had finally paid off except she still had to think of where Dom and Nick fit into this.
“Sure,” Winona said suddenly. She couldn’t try and fit the other two guys into place when her mind was in overdrive at the thought of going out to dinner with AJ.
“Good,” AJ smiled. “Glory told me about this private beach. We could have a picnic over there,” AJ continued on. Winona knew she should be concerned by the fact that Glory probably had something to do with planning this, but currently she had more pressing concerns. Like the fact that she had three guys after her and no idea where her heart wanted to be. Her life had been so much less complicated twenty-four hours ago when her biggest concern was which toothpaste to buy at the store.
~*~
“What exactly are you up to?” Orlando asked Glory as they danced for the final time that night.
“Nothing,” She lied still looking past Orlando to where AJ and Winona were dancing. Orlando looked down at her quirking an eyebrow at her.
“Then why did you send AJ to dance with Winona?” Orlando asked pulling Glory closer to him. He knew she was behind AJ.’s motivation to ask Winona to dance. He had seen the little gesture she had made to AJ.
“I think they should be the ones dating,” Glory explained. “It’ll make those two knuckleheads I call friends see my point,” Orlando looked down at her again shocked and a little panicked wondering what exactly she knew. He didn’t want to spend his first night married to the girl sleeping on the porch when she found he had been the one who gave Dom and Nick Winona’s phone number. “I’m not stupid. I see how those two look at her. They’re just going to ignore everything I said.”
“What makes AJ so different?” Orlando asked.
“He wants a wife.” Glory stated simply.
“And Dom doesn’t?” Orlando challenged.
“Nope, he wants something warm in his bed,” Glory grinned. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” She stepped on to her tiptoes and kissed a line down his chin before whispering into his ear. “No do you want to stand around here and argue or do you want to get out of here?” She asked.
Orlando joked around looking like he was deep in thought for a moment. “I think I’ll take the second option.” He grinned taking her hands into his and pulling her off the dance floor. They quickly said their good byes to everyone thanking them for coming before slipping off to their private cabana dropping the handcuffs Dom, Billy, and Elijah had decided to give the couple as a wedding gift in the sand.
They hadn’t even made it up the front steps to their one roomed cabin before Orlando attacked her lips. Glory fumbled with the door finally getting it open and stumbling inside. Orlando pushed her hips back into the bed gently pushing her up onto the edge of the bed settling between her legs still standing up. Glory’s hands went to his shirt carefully undoing each button (A/N: whew it’s gettin hot in here) letting her hand slid over each new piece of skin she uncovered. Orlando kissed down her chin finding his lips drawn to her neck. Glory finally reached the last button of his shirt and pushed it over his shoulders running her hands along the muscles she loved to touch. He let the shirt fall off his arms and down to the floor not caring if it got dirty as his hands started tugging at the hem of the dress pushing it up her thighs.
“Wait, wait,” Glory called out pushing his hands off her.
“Please don’t ask me to stop.” Orlando said breathlessly.
“No,” She smiled up at his running her hands through his hair. “I have to get all the shit Liv put in my hair out first.” She said pushing herself up. She kissed Orlando’s forehead before walking into the bathroom. Glory flipped the light on looking at her reflection in the mirror seeing the red flush growing across her skin. She went to work pulling out the giant hibiscus flower, ten or so tiny blue flowers Liv had picked from her Aunt’s garden, and the dozens of sequin pieces Glory’s youngest cousin Miranda had found. After getting everything out, Glory pulled her silk nightgown out of the bag she had left in there earlier. She quickly slipped the tiny gown on after removing the dress and looked in the mirror. It was now or never.
Glory pushed the door open and found Orlando, still clad in his jeans, lighting candles all the way around the room. He stopped seeing her walk out. “You look wonderful,” He told her running his thumbs across her cheeks smiling at her before leaning down to capture her lips with his again. Glory’s hands went to work unzipping his jeans and pushing them along with his boxers down to the floor. Orlando groaned into her mouth at the sudden coldness against his legs pulling her body against his even more. He broke the kiss bending down to pick her up. Orlando gently laid Glory down on the bed cuddling up against her side running his hand along the silky material thinking it was the only thing separating them right now. “Why am I the only one naked again?” he joked.
“You’ve never seen me naked.” Glory told him softly.
“And that would be the problem right now,” Orlando teased seeing the pained look come across her face. “Love, I know what he did to you and I still think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He assured her cupping her face with his hands.
“But you’ve never seen it,” Glory insisted knowing she was being childish. She had gone five years without letting anyone see what he had done to her, five years of never being with her boyfriends the way they wanted her to be with them, five years of wearing bathing suits that covered them.
“Glory, I love you and always will, only you,” Orlando smiled determined to make her see as he leaned down to kiss her with everything he had inside him. Glory sighed letting his hands pull the gown up inch by inch until it was over her head and he was staring at her naked before him. “See? Still beautiful,” Orlando told her kissing one of the five-inch long knife shaped scars running along her chest.
“I love you so much,” Glory whispered looking into Orlando’s eyes. (A/N: Ha ha, betcha thought I was going to go into WAY more detail with that, well ha I left out the dirty part’s in this version)
Chapter Eight by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 8 *
The sunlight streamed through the cabin window the next morning as Glory opened her eyes. She smiled as the memories of the night before came running through her head. She turned over to look at Orlando who had one hand behind his head and was grinning at her.
“What are you smiling at”? Orlando asked.
“Lots of things” She answered looking at him next to her.
Orlando pulled Glory close to him. “Oh like what”?
“Like you and me and how good we are together and the wedding and last night” She told him.
“I liked last night a lot” He told her grinning.
“It was pretty amazing.” She agreed. “I have never been so happy”.
“Good that was my intention” Orlando told her. “Last night I promised you that I would love you and take care of you for the rest of my life and I meant it”.
“I know that you did and you have made me happy” Glory assured him. “Happier than I have been in a long time and even more so than I thought I would ever be”.
Orlando kissed her passionately. “I have an idea”.
“And what’s that”? Glory asked.
“How about a repeat of last night” he replied raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“Not yet I want to get a shower first” Glory told him.
Glory got up and walked to the bathroom. She looked back at Orlando who looked with anguish at her attempt to torture him.
“Uh Orlando this would be the part where you suggest that you join me and follow me into the shower”. She told him with a laugh.
“I knew that” He said getting out of bed and coming up next to her kissing her neck.
Glory licked her lips at his nakedness and allowed him to follow her into the bathroom as she started the shower.
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Winona woke up the next morning and looked over at the clock on the nightstand. The clock read eight o clocks.
“I hope that Glory is enjoying her honeymoon” she thought to herself.
Her mind than started wondering about that upcoming day and remembered all her plans.
Just thinking about her busy day with AJ, Nick and Dom made her feel happy yet confused all at the same time.
“Three dates” She thought.
She loved the attention and the fact that it made her feel good to have three guys like her. That was something that had never happened before. She remembered College and high school. She had a total of two boyfriends, and a million crushes that getting set up with always turned into a disaster.
“What am I going to wear“? She wondered allowed.
Winona got out of bed and looked out the window at the ocean. It was a beautiful morning. She decided to go sit out by the ocean for a half hour before getting ready. She walked out of her room careful not to disturb Cadence. When she came out on to the beach she saw her friend already sitting in the sand.
“Hey what are you doing out here”? She asked.
“Not much thought I would come out and get some fresh air” Cadence replied with a smile.
Winona knew that there was more to it than that but decided that she would wait till she felt like talking about it. The next couple of minutes were spent in silence.
Finally Cadence said. “You think Glory is enjoying herself”?
“Oh yes I am sure she is” Winona replied.
“I am so happy for her” Cadence said.
“Me too she really deserves this” Winona agreed.
“You know watching her get married and seeing her light up last night made me think of Todd and me” Cadence said. “I want to have the fairytale wedding some day”.
“You will” Winona assured her. “You and Todd will make it I know you will”. “He loves you”.
“I know that he does”. She replied with a smile.
“You know what surprised me though”? Winona asked.
“What”? Cadence asked.
“That Glory actually invited us and had all those guests” Winona said.
“Your right that is weird” Cadence replied.
Every time the three girls had talks about getting married and their weddings Glory had always told them that she just wanted to elope and not have any guests there. It was better that way she has always said.
“I wonder what changed her mind”. Cadence said.
“I don’t know but I am going to make a point to ask her” Winona told her.
“So are you excited about your three dates“? Cadence asked her.
“Yeah I am but I am but everything is just so complicated” Winona sighed. “ Between worrying about which guy I want and trying to decide whether they truly like me or not and keeping Nick and Dom a secret from Glory and feeling really guilty about it is just too much at once”. “I can understand that” Cadence told her. “And I truly think all three guys are interested in you”.
“Maybe Dom and Nick but AJ IM not so sure about” Winona told her.
“Why”? Cadence asked. “He seemed interested to me”.
“I know that Glory had something to do with that set up” Winona said. “AJ might just being asking me out because Glory told him too”.
“I agree with the idea that Glory had something to do with the set up but I think that AJ really does like you” Cadence said.
“Well I need to go get ready for my lunch with Dom” Winona said getting up and wiping her pajama pants off. “Help me pick out an outfit”? She asked.
Cadence smiled. “Sure”.
Both girls walked back inside to Winona’s room and picked out three different outfits. Winona took a quick shower while Cadence got out her make up and hair stuff. At five minutes till Winona looked herself in the mirror.
“You look awesome” Cadence said.
Winona was wearing a blue dress top and black dress pants and had her hair half up curled at the ends.
“You should get going”. Cadence told her.
Winona turned to her. “Will you be ok alone”? “I feel bad leaving you”.
“Don’t” She replied, “I want you to have a great time besides I want details after all three of your dates” She warned.
“Yeah I know it looks like we will be up all night” Winona laughed.
“Don’t worry about me I am going to take this time and get a great tan”.
Winona grabbed her purse and said goodbye to Cadence. She walked to the main gate where Dom was waiting.
“Hey you look great” He greeted.
“Thanks you don’t look so bad yourself” She replied eyeing his hot body.
Dom handed her a bouquet of white roses. “These are for you”.
“Thanks that’s sweet of you” She told him. “So where are we going for lunch”?
Dom grinned. “It’s a surprise”.
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Orlando and Glory were now backing in bed with Glory lying on his chest.
“Man I love getting married” Orlando said.
“Gee I can’t imagine why”. Glory said with a smirk.
“Hey don’t pretend that you aren’t enjoying yourself too” He said.
Glory gave him a skeptical look. “I guess”.
“You guess”? Orlando asked. “I guess we should just end this honeymoon now”.
“I was just teasing you” Glory said.
“I knew that you were because I was teasing back” He told her.
“So what do you want to do now”? Glory asked.
“I have a few suggestions” He told her proudly.
“Again”? She asked. “Let’s do something else”.
“Like what”? He asked.
“Well we are on a private island why not going out and sit out on the beach”. She suggested.
“Ok but just one problem” Orlando said.
“And what’s that”? She asked looking at him.
“We don’t have our suits or any clothes besides what we wore here last night” he told her.
“Your right that is a problem” She answered smugly. “Guess we are going to have to go without”.
“I really like that idea” Orlando grinned.
“Thought you might” She answered getting out of bed. “I’ll race you out there and whoever wins gets to take control with what happens next” Glory challenged.
Orlando hopped out of bed. “You’re on”.
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Dom and Winona arrived at a small restaurant on the outskirts of the island that they were staying at.
“This place is nice” Winona commented as they walked in arm and arm.
“Yeah it is whenever I am here in Hawaii I like to come here a lot” he told her.
Dom walked over to the funny looking guy wearing the hula skirt and said something in the native language. The guy said something back and walked away.
“Ok what did you say to him I didn’t catch any of that” Winona whispered on his ear.
Dom laughed. “I told him that I wanted the best table in the house”.
“Oh” Winona shook her head.
The guy came back and motioned for the two to follow him. He showed them to a very cozy looking booth that had a couple candles lit and the view was looking over the crashing waves.
“This is a great view”. Winona commented as she sat down.
“That’s why I like to sit here when I come” He replied taking a seat across from her.
“So I guess being a famous celebrity has its perks” She teased.
“I guess you could say that” He shrugged. “Now finally we get some alone time”.
Winona smiled. “So why did you ask me out”?
“Because I thought that you were pretty and you seem like you have a great personality”. He answered.
“Thank you but you don’t know me all that well”. She pointed out.
“I know more about you than you may think” he told her.
“Oh and how is that”? Winona asked.
“From Glory” He replied.
“Uh oh what did that girl tell you” Winona asked laughing.
“She told me a little about you like you are in med school and that you’re a big Backstreet Boy fan like her”.
“ I see the basics”. She answered.
“ Yeah well I am interested and she wouldn’t give me much or else that would be like her encouraging me to go for it”. he said
“ You act like you don’t have a girlfriend”. Winona said.
“ Well I won’t when I get home” He replied.
Winona laughed and shook her head.
“Today is a chance for me to get to know the real you and hopefully it will be the first of many lunches to do that”. He told her. “ Is that cool with you”?
Winona smiled. “ I’d like that a lot”.
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Cadence walked out to the beach a little while after Winona left and set her beach bag down. She looked around and spotted a lawn chair next to the patio doors. She walked over and drug it back to the spot she had left her bag and spread the BSB towel on the lawn chair. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and stripped down her clothes revealing a bikini.
“ I look nasty” She thought.
She dug into he bag and pulled out her sunglasses, magazine and portable CD player. Cadence sat down and slipped her CD player on.
“ Everybody yeah rock your body yeah everybody rock your body right Backstreet’s back all right” She sang.
Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and Cadence jumped out of the chair screaming. She turned around to see her captor.
“ Damn it that’s not funny” She yelled.
“ What no hey baby I am so glad you here”? Todd asked with a laugh.
“ Jeez you scared me” She told him crossing her arms.
“ I am sorry baby I just couldn’t help myself” Todd told her. He stuck out his lip. “ Forgive me”?
Cadence tried to keep a straight stern face but the pout on his face was too much. A smile broke on her face and she walked over to him.
“ Ok forgiven”.
“ Thanks sweetie” He said grabbing her in a bear hug.
“ What are you doing here I thought you had to work”? Cadence asked.
“ I missed you like crazy and since I am moving in with you in LA I just quit on the spot” He answered.
“ Awe your so sweet” Cadence gushed.
“ I am trying to be” He told her seriously looking in her eyes.
“ I know you are” She told him. “ You have no idea how glad I am that you’re here or how much I missed you”.
“ Oh trust me I do”. He told her.
“ When did you get here”? Cadence asked as she walked over to the house and brought over another lawn chair for Todd to sit in.
“ Just got here” He responded as he sat down. “ The cab just dropped me off and I left my stuff at the door after some weird woman attacked me”.
“ Oh that’s Glory’s aunt” Cadence told him.
“ I can see the family resemblance” Todd joked.
Cadence lightly smacked him in the shoulder.
“ This place is great” He told her as he starred at he ocean than turned his gaze back to Cadence.
“ Yeah it is” She agreed.
“ So I am assuming that Glory is on her honeymoon” Todd said.
“ Yep and Winona is out” She told him.
“ So that means we have privacy” Todd grinned.
Cadence laughed. “Yeah, so”?
Todd stood up. “ Go and get changed”. He told her.
Cadence gave him a confused look. “ Why”?
“ Because I have a fun filled day planned for the two of us” He responded. “ Now I am going to go and get a shower and dress and you do the same and we will meet here in an hour”. “ Ok” She answered getting up and packing all her stuff up. “ What do you want me to wear”?
“ Something really nice” He answered her.
Cadence smiled in excitement wondering what he had in mind.
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Winona ran inside after Dom had dropped her off after having a an awesome lunch and changed into her bathing suit for her date with Nick. Nick was going to teach her how to surf. After she changed and put her hair in a bun. She met Nick at the gate.
“ Hey Nick” She greeted.
“ Hey yourself” He replied.
“ Looking good Carter” She commented looking him up and down.
“ You are looking damn good yourself” Nick answered. “ Its just too bad that you have to put on a wetsuit to surf”.
“ I am looking forward to seeing you in a wetsuit cause its tight clothes and that’s something you rarely see”. She told him.
“ What is that supposed to mean”? Nick asked her as they walked down to the beach.
“ Well you never wear tight clothes or ever show your chest like at concerts or photo shoots” Winona explained.
“ That’s not true”. Nick protested.
“ Yes it is “ She replied. “ In videos like Everybody and Quit Playing Games With My Heart all the guys but you have their shirts unbuttoned exposing their chests.
“ I still disagree with you” He argued.
Winona rolled her eyes. “ Whatever you say Nick”.
Nick went to change into his wetsuit while Winona grabbed Glory’s wetsuit and one of the twenty surf boards she owned.
“ You ready” ?Nick asked once they were both ready.
“ Yep” Winona replied.
“ Great let’s start”.
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“ Oh wow” Cadence gasped at the sight.
“ You like it”? Todd asked her.
“ Yeah I love it” She exclaimed.
Todd had seen a cliff overlooking a beach on the way to the house so he had decided to bring Cadence up there.
“ You can see for miles up here” she commented.
Todd grabbed her hand,. “ Come here I have a surprise for you”.
“ Oh Todd what is it”? She asked excitedly.
“ You shall see but first put this blind fold on” he told her.
Cadence did as he asked and slipped it on. “ Ok now what”?
Todd grabbed her hand and led her to what felt like a few feet.
“ Ok you can take it off now”. He said.
She took off the blindfold and started to cry.
“ What you don’t like it”? He asked in a panic. “ We can leave if you want”.
“ No its not that at all” She answered wiping away the tears. “ I am just so happy”.
Todd had set up a blanket with a basket and a couple of candles burning bright in the middle.
“ When did you do this”? Cadence asked.
“ While you were getting ready I got all this stuff together and set it up when you were looking at the view” He said.
Cadence grinned “You are amazing”.
Todd smiled and took her hand. “ Your worth it. So shall we sit down”?
“ Sure” She answered.
They sat down and Todd turned the CD player where a familiar tune started playing.
“ You sure you can put up with this music” Cadence teased.
“ I am doing it for you” he said. “ Now are you hungry”?
“ A little” She replied.
“ Well my dear we have bread and cheese, with some strawberries and whipped cream” he told he as he took it out of the basket.
“ Looks really good” She commented.
“ Oh and I can’t forget the most important part” He said getting up and walking over to the car that Glory’s aunt let him borrow.
Cadence wondered what that boy was up to now but quickly found out when he came back. He pulled a bouquet of red roses.
“ For you my dear” he said sweetly.
“ Awe Todd” She whispered starting to cry.
“ Oh no I made you cry again” He said with a smile.
“ No its happy tears you have made me so happy” She said.
Todd sat back down next to her and pulled her close to him.
“ You deserve all this and so much more” He told her. “ I love you”.
“ I love you too” She answered as she leaned in for a long sweet kiss.
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“ Thanks for teaching me to surf Nick” Winona said as they walked back to the front of the place.
“ No problem I really had a great time with you” He said.
“ I had a blast with you too” She smiled.
Nick leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. Winona kissed him back and when they moved apart Nick whispered so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face. “ Can I see you again”?
Winona nodded and waved goodbye as she walked into the house and up to her room for a quick shower and another change of clothes. She hadn’t changed her clothes that many in a day since she was four. An hour later she was ready to go wearing a light blue one strap top with a black skirt and her hair curled at the ends. She walked downstairs and out the door just as AJ pulled up.
“ Damn girl you are looking fine” He said.
“ You looking good to AJ” Winona replied.
AJ walked over to her and handed her a single red rose. “ For you”.
“ Awe thanks that’s so sweet” She replied.
AJ took her hand. “ Ready to go”.
“ Yep lead the way” She answered with a grin.
AJ drove her to a restaurant that served a very elegant dinners.
“ Wow AJ this is so extravagant” She exclaimed when they got there.
“ Yes but you haven’t seen the best part about this place” He told her.
He led her inside and greeted the host.
“ Reservations for Mclean” He said.
“ Aw yes Mr. Mclean we have the table you
requested all ready to go”. The host said with a smile.
“ Great thank you” He answered.
The host led them to the table in the far corner that was by a fireplace and a huge window.
Winona sat down and gasped at the window. “ Its so pretty”.
The window was facing a garden that had couples hand in hand walking on the different paths.
“ This is why I brought you here” AJ replied.
Winona smiled at how sweet he was being to her but than a thought entered her mind. “ Did Glory give you money to take me here”.
AJ’S head whipped around to face her. “ No not at all. What makes you think that”?
“ Because I know that she had something to do with asking me to dinner” Winona said.
“ Glory for the past two months has been saying that she had friend that would be perfect for me and that this friend was a fan of mine” AJ started.
“ I knew it” Winona replied.
“ No just let me finish”. AJ replied. “ When Glory invited me to the wedding she said that this friend would be there and that I should get to know you and I thought ok but when I saw you and Glory told me a little bit about you I really wanted to get to know you better”.
“ Wow so the dinner had nothing to do with Glory”? she asked making sure she understood.
“ Nothing all my idea”. AJ assured her.
Winona smiled. AJ was charming and everything she was looking for in a guy but the problem was, so where the other two.
Chapter Nine by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Nine *
“Thank you again for such a great night,” Cadence smiled over at Todd, putting her head on his chest as they lay under the stars on the picnic blanket, “It was absolutely amazing.”
It was a perfectly clear night, the temperature perfectly warm; not too hot, not too cold. There was a gentle, soft breeze that came by every so often. To Todd, it was the perfect way to end the evening that he’d worked so hard to plan out and get just right for Cadence. She deserved it; that he was sure of.
“I owed it to you…a long time ago,” Todd admitted aloud, guiltily, pulling his girlfriend more closely into his arms, holding her tightly, kissing her forehead gently, “I guess it took you almost leaving me, telling me that you didn’t know if you wanted me around, or weren’t sure if you wanted to live together after all, and your friends bitching at me to be a better boyfriend to realize what an asshole I’ve been towards you. I’m…I’m just sorry that it took me so long to believe it and do something about it.”
“Well, at least you finally got there…even if it did take you a year and a half,” Cadence joked lightly with the last part, kissing him back on the cheek, “Honestly though, I had forgotten what it felt like to be cared about and loved until tonight. It’s a great feeling. I missed it.”
All was silent for a few minutes. Todd could not believe he’d almost allowed his selfishness to let the most important thing ever to step in to his life slip away. The sad thing was, he’d been so into himself that he hadn’t even seen or noticed how she’d distanced herself, becoming cold and unexcited about everything. He hadn’t noticed how she quit complementing him, or saying sweet things to him herself, nor how she’d starting hanging up the phone first after a conversation, instead of waiting to hear him hang up before doing so herself. He hadn’t noticed any of it, and felt stupid for letting all of the signs get around him.
“I swear, I’m going to make up for all of the lost time I’ve caused us,” Todd promised Cadence, running his fingers through her long, blondish curly hair.
Cadence just smiled, wanting to believe him, but at the same time, not wanting to get her hopes up in case he went the other way around again. In the past, he’d done better for a day or two before sinking back into his old habits. To make up for all of the times he’d made her feel unimportant and worthless, it would take an awful long while and a whole lot of romance to get her trust back in him. She wanted to know that he’d always be there for her, and make her feel good, but again, it would take more than one night of sweet surprises to get there. It would take months, possibly a couple of years, to repair the damage he’d caused. It was almost like they’d be starting their relationship over from scratch, only this time, Todd, she hoped, wouldn’t allow things to get ‘old’ and the spark to fade away.
Todd noticed that Cadence hadn’t responded, knowing that she doubted his intentions. This made him all the more determined to prove to her that he could be the boyfriend she’d always wanted him to be, and knew he could be. He had matured quite a bit over the past few months, leaving all of his little boy behaviors behind.
“It sure is beautiful out here…better than when I came with my family,” Todd mentioned, “Gotta hand it to Glory…she knows some amazing places,” Todd paused for a moment, looking around him, and then suddenly stated off of the top of his head “Let’s move here.”
Cadence laughed out loud, sitting up. Todd sat up too, facing his girlfriend, staring deeply into her dark brown, chocolate eyes wondering what she found to be so funny. He stared at her for a long moment, waiting for her to explain herself.
“What?” he asked, feeling slightly self conscious.
“Todd, we…I…you’re moving to LA in just a couple of days to live with me,” Cadence finally said, still chuckling a little bit, “Remember?”
“We can both move here instead,” Todd offered hopefully, slight excitement hidden within it, “It’s so nice, and peaceful. LA will be loud and there are always so many people around.”
“Todd, I love LA. Plus, I can’t leave my friends, my job, my…my…,” Cadence stuttered, thinking up something else, then finally just went with, “I just can’t leave. I have so much there.”
Todd’s face fell, disappointment coming over him. He’d just wanted to live in a romantic place like Hawaii with Cadence. Someplace where the scenery was gorgeous, the weather was warm and she could be relaxed, instead of the hectic, busy, always on the go life of an LA resident. Cadence could tell that he’d been let down by her refusal, but for once, she was going to stand up for what she wanted and believed in. She placed a hand on top of his, forcing him to look at her.
“Todd,” she said softly, “The plan was for you to move to LA. That’s what you agreed to. If you don’t want to now…if you’re backing out, then maybe you should stay in Ohio.”
“No,” Todd said quickly, panic overcoming him, then he calmed down some, embarrassed for his outburst. He realized that his suggestion had been selfish, even if he hadn’t meant it to be. He wasn’t about to lose her though, “I mean, no. LA is fine…more than fine. It’s great. As long as we’re together, I’ll be happy. I can’t stand living across the whole country from you anymore. I’d miss you like crazy.”
Cadence smiled at him, and Todd smiled back. She was so glad that he was making a point to make her happy. He really was trying to set things right between them and become a better boyfriend. But Cadence couldn’t help but wonder how long it would last this time.
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Winona sighed in complete happiness as she walked into her room. Her date with A.J. had gone so well…no, better than well. It had been perfect. With a silly grin on her face, Winona hung her purse on the back of the door handle, not even noticing Cadence sitting on her bed reading a magazine, waiting up for her. Cadence looked up, and could tell by the dazed look on her friends face that she’d had a really good day.
“I’m taking it things went well?” Cadence asked, who had a smile drawn on her face as well. She couldn’t wait to get details from Winona’s three dates as well as telling her friend that Todd had shown up out of nowhere and had actually been better than decent towards her for once.
Winona jumped a little, startled at the sight of her friend. She just stared at her blankly, confused for a moment, wondering what she was doing in her room, but once she snapped back into reality, realizing where she was, she ran over to her friend excitedly, jumping on to the bed.
“Oh my god,” she squealed, “You have no clue how much fun I had.”
Cadence laughed, “Tell me all about it,” she urged, “And don’t leave out anything. I mean it.”
Winona took in a deep breath. Her mind was a jumble. So much had happened that day, and she wanted to get all of the facts straight. Three men in twelve hours was quite a bit of information to comprehend and deliver. A smile traced Winona’s lips as she recalled her date with Dom.
“Well, first off, I had lunch with Dom. He is so incredibly nice. We went to a little restaurant on the outskirts. I can tell he really likes me. It was so so cool.” Winona beamed, “ He just wanted to get to know me…for me.”
Cadence listened intently for her friend to continue. There was plenty of time to ask the questions in which she had containing to each date later.
“And then there was Nick,” Winona bubbled on, “We went surfing. He is so sweet…a little slow, but a complete softy. He was wearing this tight little suit…and wow…just…wow. Completely amazing. He looked great. Only thing that could have made it better was if he hadn’t been wearing anything at all. We got into this argument about how he never shows off his assets…like in music videos, he is the only one with his shirt buttoned. He disagreed with me, but we all know it is true.” Winona shook her head, rolling her eyes, but she couldn’t stop smiling, “And then there was A.J. He took me to this exquisite restaurant. At first, I thought that Glory paid him to take me out, but he confessed that he truly wanted to get to know me. I’m telling you, Cadence, he is just as amazing as I always knew he would be, if not, more so. I’m so happy that Glory set me up with him…even if it was a set up, and him doing her a favor…things turned out for the best. Ohhhhh, I am so excited.”
Winona was bouncing on the bed like a three year old on Christmas morning, bugging her parents to wake up so that she could open up her presents. Cadence was happy that her friend had had such a great time. It was a great change to see the girl happy. She had sparkle in her eyes that Cadence had never seen there before. She could tell that Winona was truly happy.
“I’ll tell ya, Cadence,” Winona said, “It’s so great knowing that you are liked. This is definitely a nice change from having nobody interested in me. It was a challenge keeping the other two guys secret from the guy I was with for the moment though. I kept fearing that I was going to call A.J. Dom or Dom Nick or Nick A.J. That would have ended so badly, and I would have ended up with nobody again. I was also terrified that I was going to be caught too, like, in the middle of lunch with Dom, Nick or A.J. would show up and see me. I am so not sure how I would have explained that.”
Cadence laughed, knowing that she wouldn’t know either. Then again, she’d never had more than one guy interested in her at a time, and most of the time, she had nobody. Todd was making a point to be a romantic though, and she was completely happy with him. She honestly could say that she didn’t want anybody else. Her momentarily strayed thoughts went back to Winona’s fears. It definitely would not have been a good thing if she’d been caught. Cadence was glad that her friend had gotten away with her triple date afternoon.
“So, who are you going to chose?” Cadence asked her friend, “I mean, you got a feel for how they all are, so, who’s it gonna be?”
Winona’s face fell at the realization that she would have to take her pick of who she connected the most with. She didn’t want to hurt any of them, but she knew that she would have to hurt two. Dom had been the one who’d come forth first, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. She could truly say that she liked them all the same, in one way or another. Each one made her feel special in a different way and she had fun with each in a different way. The object of the day was to live a little and have fun, being care free and risky. She knew though, that if she wanted the serious, long-term relationship in which she’d always dreamed of, she would have to take a pick, before she really was caught.
“I…I don’t know,” she said solemnly, “I like them all so much. One date isn’t enough to know who I like the most. I need to spend more time with each…like, a week or something. That won’t be possible though.”
Cadence felt bad for bumming her friend out when she’d been in such a great mood minutes before. Her question had obviously been on that Winona wasn’t ready to decide on and answer. Winona made a good point though. One day wasn’t enough to decide, out of three very sweet, extremely attractive guys, which would be the most like her and the perfect partner.
“How about with each of them, you go on a small get away,” Cadence suggested, “For three or four days. See how you have the most fun with. See who you have the most in common with, and who you argue with the most. Out of the arguments, see which are silly and which are bigger. See if you catch any vibes of being pressured in to sex and if you sense any, then that guy is definitely out.”
“That doesn’t help though when I would fuck A.J’s brains out and he would be the one feeling the pressure,” Winona whined jokingly, and Cadence laughed, “That’s a great idea though. I’ll have to see what I can do and where that will go. You have the bestest advice ever.”
Winona leaned in to give her friend a hug to prove how much she appreciated the help. Cadence smiled, glad that she had done her good deed of the day. Looking over at the clock, she realized that it was half past midnight, or midnight-thirty, as she would call it.
“So,” Winona asked, “What did you do all day? I still feel bad for leaving you alone.”
Cadence laughed. It was obvious that neither of them was the least bit tired, so she decided to give her friend all of the details of what had gone on during her day. She was so excited about it, that she wasn’t going to leave out a single thing.
“Believe me,” Cadence said, “I wasn’t alone.”
Winona’s eyes widened, automatically thinking that Cadence had met a gorgeous Hawaiian guy to spend her time with. That was as far from the truth as it could get. What had really happened was the one thing that Winona would have never guessed in a million years. “Todd showed up to surprise me,” she gushed, watching as Winona’s eyes wided in surprise. Nope, she definitely wasn’t expecting that one, “He quit his job on the spot, since he is moving in with me, and decided to join me.”
“Oh my god,” Winona muttered, then said more clearly, “I’m so happy for you. See, I told you that he still cared. He’s a guy. They suck at showing that sort of thing…” then her voice trailed off, realizing that her statement wasn’t necessarily true.
“He showed it plenty tonight,” Cadence informed her friend, “After telling me to put on something nice, he took me to the most gorgeous spot ever, that overlooked the beach. He then blindfolded me, leading me somewhere that was a surprise. When he took it off, there was a picnic basket, blanket, candles, just…it was so romantic. He even gave me roses…Todd has never done that for me before. It was all such a great change. He made me feel so special and it made me realize that he really does still love me.”
The memories of it all brought tears back to Cadence’s eyes. Tears of happiness. She wondered if Glory had threatened Todd in to doing it all for her, but it really didn’t matter. He had done it, on his own, or with a slight push of one of her friends.
“I’m so happy for you,” Winona gushed, “Even Todd is capable of changing for the better.”
Cadence laughed through her tears, wiping them away. It was foolish to cry when she was so happy. Then she remembered the only spoiler of the evening. The part that had almost ruined it all.
“Todd wants us to move here,” she informed her friend.
Winona’s eyes grew wide in panic at the hearing of this information.
“You are so not moving to Hawaii,” she demanded her friend, “I won’t allow you to, and neither will Glory. If it takes locking you up in a closet, then that is what we will do to keep you in LA with us.”
“Winona,” Cadence said, hoping to put a stop to her friends ranting, “Calm down. I told Todd ‘no way’. I said that he agreed to move to LA. Hawaii was not in the picture, and if he was having second thoughts about it, then he could stay in Ohio.”
“Wow,” Winona said, “I’m impressed. You actually turned him down instead of jumping at his every suggestion.”
“Hey, I am so not that bad,” Cadence said, throwing a pillow gently at her friend jokingly.
“Yes, you really are,” Winona replied, throwing it back, “So, anyways, what did he say to that?”
“He is still moving to LA. Said he just wanted to be with me. I think me threatening him to stay in the shitty ass state of Ohio straightened him back out pretty quickly,” Cadence giggled, “I got out…I think he realizes his desperacy to get out too, even if LA isn’t his first choice to live in. That is tough though, cuz I love it there.”
Winona laughed, proud of her friend for telling Todd how it was going to be for once in their relationship. She should have known that Cadence would never allow him to take her from her friends. Her heart was in LA, and she knew that nothing would take her from there. Cadence had a successful business there for one, catering and making wedding cakes. She’d even done a few for big stars, although she’d never gotten to meet them.
“Hopefully Toad…Todd will keep up the nice act,” Winona said with an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, hopefully,” Cadence answered, and for the second time since her romantic evening, she was beginning to doubt that Todd could continue to be the best boyfriend that he could be. She honestly wasn’t sure if he was capable of it, but decided to have enough faith in him that it would last this time.
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A.J. sighed as he stepped in to the steaming hot shower. The warm water felt good as it poured over his bare skin, beating against him softly. Winona was on his mind. He had to admit that his date with her had gone extremely well. He liked her a lot. He knew though, that she had two other fools after her…one of them being one of his bandmates and best friends. A.J. laughed. He had never thought that there would come a day that he would be fighting for a girl with Nick. To him, there didn’t seem to be much competition in the matter. This was different though. A.J wasn’t saying that Nick wasn’t worthy of a females attention. That wasn’t it at all. Nick was a great guy. The thing was, was that he tended to be immature and child like for the majority of the time, which turned most woman off. Not Winona though. She was different. Winona liked him, Nick and Dom though. A.J. could tell this. The point of his date with her had been Glory’s hopes of trying to stray her attention away from the other two, her eyes becoming only for A.J. A.J. wanted this too. He could tell that she was really special. A.J. really liked Winona now, which caused a slight problem. He wasn’t sure if he would be the one that she chose for her boyfriend.
He had just seen the girl two hours prior, but he already felt the desire to call her up. Finishing up in the shower, quickly washing the lathered soap off of his toned, masculine form, A.J. shut the water off and stepped out. Water dripped from his body onto the floor, puddling around him, but he didn’t care. He grabbed a soft, white towel he wrapped it over his naked lower half, tucking the top corner under, inside of the towel so that it would stay in place around his hips.
Padding in to the bedroom, A.J. sat down on his bed, and took the small piece of paper off of the dresser, which had Winona’s number on it, picking up the phone and dialing. It rang four times before he got an answer.
“Hello,” came a voice that was very much awake. A.J. smiled, knowing that it was his, as he hoped, soon to be girlfriend.
“Hey there,” he answered, “It’s A.J.”
“Oh, hey,” Winona answered, her voice coming out peppy and excited.
“What are you up to?” he asked her.
“Not much,” Winona answered, “Just chatting with Cadence. How about you?’
“Just finished up in the shower,” A.J. told her, “Actually, I just wanted to call you and tell you again what a great time I had tonight.”
A.J. smiled, sure that he was scoring extra points with her already by his small, kind gesture. He knew that ladies loved it when guys made an effort to do things like that.
“Aww, me too, A.J,” she replied softly, “It was a lot of fun.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,’ he said, deciding to cut right to the chase, “Can I see you again?”
“Sure,” Winona replied without hesitation, “I was thinking that maybe just you and me could get away for a few days and hang out.” she added, taking Cadence’s suggestion and putting it in to play.
“Wow, I’d like that,” A.J. replied, “We can talk about it tomorrow more in depth. I wanted to tell you goodnight though.”
“You’re sweet,” Winona giggled, “Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Yep,” A.J. answered, “G’night.”
“Goodnight.”
A.J. hung up the phone and smiled. He had gotten a second date with Winona, plus her wanting a small getaway with him. He was sure that that was a good sign of where things were going with them. If only he knew that she had the same thing in mind for the other two as part of a plan of deciding who she wanted to be with the most.
Chapter Ten by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 10*
“Oh god,” Glory moaned thrusting her hips down to meet Orlando’s for the final time. Orlando grunted and held on to her hips until she finally stopped moving and looked down at him. (A/N: yes I know that was unnecessary but oh well, it’s not my brian/brain that’s trying to claw itself out now)
“Do we really have to go back today?” Orlando asked letting his death grip on her hips loosen a little. He knew Dom would tease him to the breaking point if he saw bruises on Glory’s hips.
“Yes,” Glory laughed and leaned down to kiss him before coming back up. “I have to see what kinds of messes Dom and Nick have created for me now.” She grinned.
“That can wait one more day,” Orlando groaned as she rolled her hips to tease him.
“My aunt is going to be here any minute to bring us a fresh change of clothes,” She grinned. The two had spent the past few days running around naked which didn’t bother Glory that much anymore, but she didn’t want to have to put her dress back on from the wedding so she had asked her aunt to bring them more clothes today so they could head back. “And we have to go to London soon anyways.”
“No one would miss us if we didn’t come back until right before the plane takes off,” Orlando tried to convince her. He pushed his hips up trying to tell her to move again.
“Again?” Glory asked teasing him some more. Orlando nodded his head yes fiercely. “I’m telling you my aunt’s going to walk in here any minute,” Glory laughed. “And anyways I have to finish one more painting before we leave.”
“Less talking love, more grinding,” Orlando took hold of her hips again forcing her to move. Glory leaned down to kiss his chest when she heard the front door to the cabin open.
“Hello kids,” Lynn walked right in to the room not even bother to shield her eyes. “I brought you the clothes you wanted.”
“Thanks Aunt Lynn,” Glory said trying to keep her face from turning another shade of red. “Do you think you could wait outside or something?” Glory asked pulling the sheets further up around her body. She knew her aunt couldn’t see anything from where she was standing but she sure as hell knew what they were doing.
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Lynn giggled and set the stack of clothes she had brought on the dresser. “I’ll leave you two alone. You’re friends though are waiting out by the pool eating,” She said turning around to head out the door. “Glory is that a new tattoo on your back?” She asked laughing.
“Yes Aunt Lynn,” Glory said in a monotone voice. “Thanks for the clothes now please leave,” Glory turned to see her aunt shake her head before walking out the door. Glory heard the screen door slam shut before she started laughing.
“That wasn’t funny you know,” Orlando tried to hide his giggles. “She could have seen one of us naked.”
“I know,” Glory laughed. “But that’s my family for you. At least she didn’t give us advice on which position works better.”
“Well, I think we go back now love,” Orlando grinned. “She just killed the mood.”
“I noticed,” Glory joked and got off Orlando wrapping the sheet around her body. “Looks like she brought you jeans and a tee shirt while I got a skirt and tank top,” Glory frowned seeing the long denim skirt her aunt had brought for her. “Oh well,” Glory shrugged and threw Orlando’s clothes to him as she slid hers on.
“I thought you had all your paintings done,” Orlando commented as he slid his jeans on.
“Nope, just the one. I thought if I came here it would help me for inspiration,” Glory explained as she thought about everything she might have missed back at the house. She was almost positive the guys had been bugging Winona but what exactly they had done was still on Glory’s mind.
“And did it?” Orlando asked walking over to her and sliding his hands around her waist.
“Yeah but I don’t think my dad will be thrilled if I start painting nude pictures of you.” Glory laughed.
“So you really are going to tell him about us?” Orlando turned her around in his arms so she was finally facing him. He had let everything about her father slip for the past few weeks but now he knew he had to push her.
“I don’t know,” Glory admitted trying to free herself of his arms but he kept her close. “I don’t even know if I really want to talk to him at the gallery opening.”
“He’s going to be there you know,” Orlando reminded her as if she didn’t already know this fact. “You can’t go the entire night without talking to him.”
“He doesn’t care what I do with my life,” Glory shook her head. Most parents wouldn’t have let their daughter drop out of school at age fifteen or move to New Zealand for a year with an artist/actor twenty years older then her or get married right after her twentieth birthday. “As long as I still let him show my paintings in his museum so he can tell people he discovered me.”
“He’s not like that anymore,” Orlando let his arms drop from around her knowing she didn’t want to have this conversation and was willing to do anything including kicking him to get out of it. “Just please talk to him,” Orlando tried to give her his best puppy dog face. “For me?”
Glory sighed out loud, she never could resist that face. “Fine, I might talk to him for a split second when I have a chance,” Glory told him. “But that’s it. I’m not talking to him outside the museum.”
“I’ll take that,” Orlando laughed and threw his arms around her again. He picked her up in the air swinging her around. “I’m so happy,” He laughed kissing her gently.
“Whoa, dizzy,” Glory laughed as he set her back down. She faked being overly dizzy stumbling a little before composing herself again. “We should go back,” Glory took Orlando’s arm hooking hers into his. “Are you ready for the jokes?”
“I think I can handle them,” Orlando laughed. The guys would definitely be ready with a whole week’s worth of jokes saved up for the newlyweds as soon as they got back to the house. “It helps that they’re afraid of you.”
“Tell that one to me right after I find out what Dom and Nick have been up to,” Glory mumbled as they walked down the path heading back to the main house. Just like Glory’s aunt had told them to expect, all their friends were gathered down by the pool finishing their dinner. Glory had to laugh at the fact that her aunt was the only cook the island had. She figured that would keep the woman busy for at least a few more hours since the regular guests had come back after the wedding.
“It’s about time you two got back,” Elijah came up to them throwing his arms around the two of them. That was something Glory loved about the kid, he was very touchy feely and loved giving hugs. “We thought we would have to call someone to pry you two out.”
“I still have a painting to finish,” Glory told him trying to ignore his last comment.
“And look, she can still walk straight,” Dom came over followed by Billy.
“No bite marks either,” Billy commented as Glory looked him over. He was still wearing the kilt he had worn to the wedding. “He wasn’t too rough on you was he Glory?” Billy teased her.
“Yeah fuck off,” Glory used her infamous line on him again before leaning over to Elijah. “Psst! Is there a reason he’s still wearing a kilt?” She whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear her.
“I ran out of other clothes and this was the only thing I had left that was reasonably clean,” Billy explained.
“Sure,” Glory laughed. “You could always do laundry you know.”
“Me? Do laundry?” Billy laughed. “I’m a world famous actor, I don’t do my own laundry.”
“Wow, I was gone a whole week and his head got stuck up his own ass,” Glory teased him right back. At least now the attention was on the Scot and not her.
“I was in a movie with Russell Crow you know,” Billy continued on before breaking into a laugh. “Your aunt is taking care of my laundry. She said she didn’t want any of her guests having to lift a finger.”
“That would be her,”Glory shook her head at her aunt’ over eagerness to please everyone. Glory looked around the area spotting Winona standing next to Nick on the edge of the pool. They seemed to be having a conversation as AJ looked on. Glory raised an eyebrow seeing the way AJ was staring at her talking to Nick. She could tell her tattooed friend wasn’t liking the idea of Winona and Nick too much. Glory mentally patted herself on the back for thinking up that idea. Glory turned back to the guys in front of her reminding herself to go over and talk to Winona before she went back into the house if she could.
“Earth to Glory,” Dom waved his hand in front of her face as Glory realized the conversation she was supposed to be engaged in had continued without her even noticing. “What were you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” Glory shook her head trying to get back into the conversation that was beginning to consist of jokes again. Glory felt Orlando’s hand rest against her back again as she watched the guys talk. She was about to say something when a sudden gust of wind swept across the pool off of the ocean. Billy was mid-sentence when the gust hit. He kept right on talking not even noticing the wind had pushed his kilt up. Glory let out a slight chuckle covering her eyes with her hands. Everyone had stopped their conversations to stare at Billy’s bare lower half, even Winona was looking over now. “You wanna be the one to tell him or should I?” Glory whispered to Elijah.
“I don’t think I want to even go there,” Elijah laughed.
“Hey Billy, you feel a breeze or anything?” She asked motioning downward with her eyes. He looked down realizing what everyone was laughing about and quickly pushed the fabric back down. “That’s why only women wear skirts.” Glory told him.
“It’s not a skirt,” Billy argued. (A/N: he wouldn’t have said that in real life, he would have used this cute lil Scottish word in place of not but I can’t spell it and it might break my spell check if I try)
“And your skirt is still too high,” Elijah joked trying his best to not look at Billy.
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” Billy shook his head. Glory tried her best to keep from crying from laughing so hard. This was what she had missed most coming back from New Zealand. These guys were completely out of their minds. They didn’t care if their friends saw them naked just as long as it was funny the way it happened.
“On the bright side, I always wondered what you guys wore underneath the kilts.” Glory commented as she walked towards the house wanting to see if her mother had left yet.
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“That was interesting,” AJ walked up to Winona as soon as Nick had left. He had went inside with most of the other group while Winona had stayed to watch the sunset through the tall palm trees blocking the view of the ocean. She had always loved the ocean in her own way. It was so much bigger then her it had nearly frightened her as a kid, but now it was calming. She figured that was due in part to moving to LA where everything was so hectic. She was glad at the end of the day to come home to listen to the sounds of the beach since her house was situated in between Venice Beach and LA.
“That’s why I’m glad I didn’t get to meet most of them in New Zealand,” She laughed as AJ sat down in the long grass beside her.
“You didn’t get to meet them? I thought Glory said you lived down there with her for like a year or something.” AJ took his sunglasses off and set them down next to her.
“I did for a total of three months. The only people I got close to where Viggo, Liv, and Sean.” Winona admitted. She was surprised Sean hadn’t shown up the wedding as she made a mental note to call him the next day and check up on that. She figured it probably had something to do with the fact that he and his wife did have two children.
“You seem to be pretty close to Dom,” AJ reminded her.
“Yes but I don’t think anything will ever come of that,” Winona told him. “Glory doesn’t want him or Nick dating me or any of her friends for that matter.”
“I see,” AJ grinned to himself. Glory would have to get a bouquet of flowers for her plan to keep Dom and Nick away. “Can we have that talk now?” AJ asked sheepishly trying his best to be shy for a change. “That is if you’re not busy.”
“I should go talk to Glory, but I guess she can wait,” Winona laughed. Seeing Glory was the last thing on her mind right now as she watched AJ’s face light up.
“I was thinking sometime soon we would have to get away.” AJ told her.
“We are away, Hawaii is as far away as you can get,” Winona laughed.
“I mean the two of us, or at least somewhere where Nick and Dom won’t be around to interrupt us,” AJ explained. He didn’t know what he was getting himself into with this, but he was drawn to this woman.
“I think I could arrange that,” Winona smiled at him. “The only problem is Christmas is coming up pretty soon.”
“That’s perfect,” AJ raised an eyebrow at her. “Why don’t you go to London in a few days with Glory and Orlando for her gallery opening and then we can spend New Years just the two of us in London.”
“I don’t know, I think I should check with my mom before I make plans for Christmas,” Winona shook her head again. It was the middle of December already and she had yet to even call her house to see what was going on. She didn’t really want to have to spend another holiday in that woman’s house but that was her only family after all. She knew Glory was definitely going to stay in England once she got there since Orlando’s family lived there so that was one less person to party with on New Years. “I’ll have to think about this.”
“What’s to think about?” AJ laughed again. “All you do is get on the plane with us and then we have fun in London.”
“What about our families?” She laughed along with him. There was something about him that made her want to smile all the time.
“What about them? I think they can manage to have one holiday without us,” AJ said looking out across the water as the sun rapidly lost more light. “Live a little, I promise you will have fun.”
“I’ll still have to think about this,” Winona told him. She wasn’t exactly known for her spontaneity. She was the one always running after Glory when she decided to do something insanely crazy like flying to Paris just to get a baguette. “I don’t think Glory would want me there though. This is her first showing in London in years. I get this feeling that there’s something there that she doesn’t want to face.”
“She won’t mind,” AJ told her. “She already invited me along plus Billy’s going to go over and last I heard Viggo was going to be there. One more person, especially you of all people, wouldn’t bother her.”
“But still,” Winona looked back behind her seeing Dom watching them from the sliding glass doors. “I don’t make split second decisions like that,” She nearly laughed at that statement. This probably wasn’t the best thing in the world to be telling AJ. He was the ‘bad boy’ of the Backstreet Boys. “Let me think about it and then I’ll tell you.”
“Okay,” AJ grinned. “Just get back to me quick.” He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before standing up and pushing the grass off his legs. “I’m going to go inside and see if Nick and Aaron want to go see a movie or something.”
“Bye,” Winona waved him off. She laid back into the grass looking up at the sky. Stars were just starting to shine through as the sun finally set over the horizon. She hadn’t seen the stars in months. It had been almost ten months since she had been home to Ohio. That was the last time she had seen the stars. It was too bright in LA to see them. Even when she got out of LA, the lights were still too bright. She laid there watching the sky for nearly twenty minutes thinking about things. She had three guys after her and no clue what to do about it. She liked Dom’s sense of humor and AJ’s romantic side and Nick’s silliness. They all three seemed to be her type. She was starting to develop places in her heart for all three. Times like these made her want to date all three of them but that seemed so unfair to them plus Glory would have to choose between her friends and that wouldn’t end well for Winona. Maybe going to London was a good idea after all. She could take Cadence’s advice starting off with AJ. He seemed nice enough and if she wanted to bail at anytime Glory would still be in the same city to save her.
“Stupid heart,” Winona muttered to the sky. Even though she wanted with everything in her to love AJ, the man she had obsessed over for the past six years, she still thought about what it would be like to be with the other two guys too. She sighed out loud and decided she defiantly should go to London. Winona pushed herself up determined to find Glory and ask about joining her in London. She looked around the pool area trying to decide where to start. She glanced back over at the building that Dom had told her was Glory’s painting room. All the lights were on and some of the doors were open. The girl must have gone to do some work, Winona reasoned with herself. She slid her flip flops back on and walked towards the room only to have Dom jump in front of her.
We have got to stop meeting like this,” Dom joked. Winona laughed a little walking past him. “What? No ‘hi Dom how are you tonight’?”
Winona turned back around to face him. “Hi Dom, how are you tonight?” She asked with a grin spreading across her face.
“Excellent now that I have found you,” He tried sweet talking her. He wanted to prove to her he could be romantic if he wanted to. “And you?”
“Fine, actually looking for Glory. You wouldn’t happen to have seen her would you?” Winona asked looking into the room through one of the doors. A blank canvas was sitting out on an easel with paint scattered about. The radio was still blaring some rock song Winona couldn’t quite place her finger on even though it sounded vaguely familiar. Glory must have left everything out again.
“I think she said something about going to find more blue paint,” Dom shrugged his shoulders. “Why were you looking for her?”
“I just wanted to ask her something about her trip to London this weekend.” Winona told him.
“Are you going with them?” Dom asked curiously. He had never been to one of Glory's art shows before. It was beginning to sound like a lot of fun.
“I was thinking about it,” Winona lied to him. She had stopped thinking about sometime after she had left the pool area and decided to ignore the little voice in her head that was telling her this is a bad idea. She wondered how glory managed to tune that voice out or if she even had one to begin with.
“That’s good, I was thinking about going myself.” Dom stated proudly.
“Really?” Winona turned to him in the moonlight. “I mean you don’t seem like the type that would want to stand around a gallery looking at paintings for three hours.” Winona told him trying to cover up her surprise. Just when she thought she had it down to one guy, in came another.
“I’m hurt by that,” Dom joked placing his hand over his heart. “Actually, I’m quite an art buff myself. That’s why I wanted Viggo to introduce me to Glory the first day he brought her on set.”
“I see,” Winona laughed. “Well, I hope to see you there,” Winona said determined to get away from him. The longer she stayed around him, the more she wanted to be with him and that wasn’t good right now.
“Where are you going?” Dom laughed and grabbed her arm.
“I need to find Glory,” Winona reminded him.
“Maybe I should help you find her,” Dom whispered closing in on her. He leaned down and kissed her swiftly on the lips. “She can be very elusive when she wants to be.” Dom mumbled before kissing her again.
Every sane thought Winona had in her body was telling her to stop him before she couldn’t force herself to make him stop. “Wait, we shouldn’t be doing this here,” Winona said pulling away quickly. She looked over at him seeing the lust in his eyes for her. She grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him again. “What if Glory comes back?” She whispered against his lips.
Dom’s eyes opened at the though. “You’re right,” He said backing up. “I need to prove to her that I can date you without being like I normally am with women,” Dom sighed. “I will see you later on I guess,” Dom kissed her hand letting his eyes meet hers again before he slipped off in the darkness.
Winona leaned her head against the coolness of the building. “What am I going to do?” She asked herself.
Meanwhile, Glory set her paint on the ledge leaning around the corner to get a better view of what was going on right outside her painting room. She watched as the pair kissed once, then twice, and even a third time before he walked off leaving her to wonder about what was going on. Glory watched as Winona walked off towards the main house before she grabbed her paint again, the anger growing in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t believe Dom would stoop that low to go behind her back like that. She knew he and Nick both would try and convince Winona that she should date them, but Glory never thought Dom would kiss her like that. Glory grabbed a paint brush and dipped into the paint before flinging the brush at the canvas letting her anger take over. All she could see was the red seeping into her brain.
This was how Glory painted half the time. She let whatever emotion she was having build up in her stomach before she let it take over her body coming out in the form of paint on her canvas. Every single emotion she had ever felt for someone was in a painting of hers. This would be her angry painting.
Twenty minutes later Glory let out an earth shattering scream before dropping to the ground, her hands covered in paint. The painting was done but she still was mad and feeling betrayed by Dom. Glory stood up, pushed the hair out of her face effectively getting yellow paint smeared across her face and stormed off towards the kitchen.
Nick was sitting at the counter eating an apple by himself watching the ocean through the picture window in the breakfast nook. “Hey Glory,” He greeted her as she walked into the kitchen and started tearing through drawers.
“Knife, knife,” Glory searched another cabinet. “If I were a knife, where would I hide?” Glory asked herself stopping in the middle of the kitchen to look around.
“And who are you pissed at now?” Nick said not even bothering to look at her but keeping his attention on the half eaten apple in his hand.
“Dom,” Glory answered shortly still looking for the knives.
“And what did he do?” Nick asked.
“Messed with Winona,” Glory answered in the same fashion.
Nick looked up at her panicked a little. “You’re mad at him for that?”
“Yes,” Glory looked over at him seeing the fear in his eyes. “You didn’t happen to kiss her did you?” Glory asked. “Because that’s what Dom did. Did you kiss her Nick and don’t even bother to lie to me Carter you know you can’t.”
“I,” Nick paused looking over at her appearance. Paint covered her hands and arms dripping down on to the sweat pants and tee shirt she was wearing. Her hair was sticking up in a thousand different places to add to the disheveled look. “I may have.”
“Run Nick,” Glory told him in a low voice. “Run now, run as far as you can before I find the knives.” She warned him.
“I just wanted to say,” Nick started before dropping his apple and running out the side door wondering where in the hell he was supposed to go. He was on an island, one with one bridge. She knew the island better then she knew LA.
While Nick was contemplating a hiding spot, Glory had finally found the butcher knives. She grinned to herself as she picked up the two longest ones and headed for the stairs. She knew Dom would probably be staying in the same room he always did so she walked up the door. “Stupid boy,” She murmured to herself pushing the unlocked door open. Dom was inside lying on the bed.
“Hey Glory, I just got back from talking to Orlando, I guess I’m going with you to London,” He looked over at her before his smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
“You kissed Winona,” Glory held up the first knife. “I told you, you couldn’t date my friends and I meant it.” She said throwing the knife as hard as she could. It stuck to the wall right above Dom’s bed.
“You’re crazy,” Dom exclaimed as she held up the other knife. “I’m twenty-eight years old, I can date who ever I want to.” Dom tried to defend himself as he jumped off the bed to avoid her if she threw the other knife.
“But I asked you not to date Winona, you promised me you wouldn’t,” Glory closed in on him. “I would have been fine if you had just taken her out on a date or something, but you had to go and treat her like every other woman you’ve been with, like she’s some whore,” Glory screamed at him. “Well she’s not! She happens to be one of my best friends, almost like a sister to me.”
“I know this!” Dom yelled back. “I don’t have any intentions of hurting her.”
“You could have fooled me!” Glory yelled. “Of all the women, you just had to go and pick her.” Glory muttered to herself dropping the knife on the floor in front of her feet before turning to leave.
“Glory wait,” Dom reached to grab an arm but the paint made it easier for her to slide it away from him. “Would you please just let me explain?”
“No,” Glory mumbled not even bothering to look at him. “I don’t care what you have to say to me.” She insisted.
“If I told you I really liked her would that change anything?” Dom called after her. Glory turned around at the door to face him.
“That’s just it, you don’t like her the way you should,” Glory told him.
“And how do you know this? You’re not me,” Dom looked at her seeing the venom in her eyes fade. Now she just looked too hurt by him to be there. “I like her and I want to do my best to prove that to you and her.”
“Fine,” Glory shook her head and opened the door. Dom looked at her too stunned to say anything as she turned back around to face him. “But remember, I’ve known Nick and Winona both longer then you. When someone gets hurt, you’ll be the first to go.”
“Glory that’s not fair,” Dom tried to protest only to have her look him right in the eye.
“It’s not fair that you’re going to make me choose,” Glory spat at him. “It’s not fair that you promised me something and then broke that and I don’t think I can live with that.” She said softly as she walked out the door shutting the door behind her. Glory took a deep breath and went to her own room. She still had one more person to kill before she went to bed. As mad as she was at Dom, she had heard what he said to her about going to London not to mention she was sure a certain someone was involved in this whole mess.
She pushed her door open looking around the room. The TV was turned on to some infomercial but the bed was empty. The bathroom door though was partly shut. Glory walked over to the door pushing it too open to find Orlando lying in the bathtub halfway submerged in water. He looked up and smiled at her watching her walk in the door. “Did you finish your painting?”
“Yup,” Glory told him as she shut the bathroom door behind her. She grabbed her hairdryer off the counter and swiftly plugged it in. “And then I had an interesting conversation with Dom.”
“Oh really?” Orlando asked watching her walk up to the bathtub still carrying the blow dryer. She sat down on her knees right in front of the tub and rested her chin on the edge of the porcelain.
“You know, it’s really not smart for you to be naked in a tub full of water when your wife is homicidal,” Glory told him skimming her hand across the warm water.
“But my wife isn’t homicidal,” Orlando grinned at her knowing this was just another way for her to tease him. “She wouldn’t do anything.”
“Maybe I would. Did you know that my paintings will sell more if I go to jail, plead insanity and then get institutionalized?” Glory asked dangling the hair dryer over the water. Orlando tensed up watching her hold the cord up over the water. “So I heard you told Dom he could come to London with us.”
“I did do that,” Orlando told her. “Love, why don’t you put that dryer back on the counter?”
Glory rolled her eyes ignoring his comment. “Did you know I already asked AJ to go with us and try and talk Winona into going too?”
“Yes I did,” Orlando told her bravely. “But Dom is from England you know. I can’t very well tell him he can’t come home.”
“No, but you invited him to fly there with us to London to my showing,” Glory insisted as she let the cord loose a little catching it a few inches above the water. “And somehow he magically knows where I am all the time. I get the feeling he’s had a little help with that.”
“Glory, he’s a grown man, him and Nick both, you can’t control everything,” Orlando told her wishing he had gotten out of the bath a while ago.
“I don’t care,” Glory insisted. “They don’t know how to treat her right. All they know about women is based on all their flings with groupies.” She pulled the hair dryer away from the water and sat back on her ankles pulling away from the bathtub.
“Stop worrying about it,” Orlando sat up and reached out to grab her shoulders. “You can’t fix everything and everyone. You still need to fix you before you can tell others what to do,” Orlando pulled her closer to the tub before standing up slightly and pulling her up and in with him. He pulled her against his chest wrapping his arms around her.
“I was fine until five years ago you know,” Glory mumbled. “This wouldn’t have affected me then because I would have known what to do.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Orlando coaxed running his hand through her hair. “Everything will be okay,” He leaned down to kiss her forehead. She gave him a slight smile. “Now it seems you’re covered in paint. I think I need to wash you.”
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Winona woke up at the crack of dawn, with the help of her trusty alarm clock of course, two days later. She had wanted to get up early to find Glory to scream at her until the woman got the point to stop messing up her life. The day before Glory had done a good job avoiding Winona by saying she had to make sure Elijah, Nick and Aaron and Viggo all got to the airport safely. Today though, Winona was determined to catch Glory before she could run away. Today was their last day in Hawaii. At five in the afternoon they were supposed to catch a flight to London so Winona knew this was her last chance to find Glory.
She showered and dressed sometime before the sun rose then headed off to scour the grounds. Lynn had seen her coming down the stairs and told her Glory had went to the beach ten minutes ago to surf for one of the last times that day before everyone else woke up. Winona put her shoes on and padded down the trail to find Glory standing in the sand watching the waves come in. Her surf board was lying out on the beach next to her feet along with the towel she had dropped. Winona approached her carefully walking around her. Glory looked over at her seeing Winona coming up beside her. “I always loved surfing here in the morning. There aren’t any boats or anything out from the other islands.” Glory looked back at the water. Winona looked over the girl seeing her wearing a bikini for the first time in her life. Winona’s eyes stopped at her chest (A/N: Ashley stop being perverted, that wasn’t meant like how you took it lol) once seeing the scars. “You’re the first person to come down her to join me, normally I put my half wet suit on over top of them,” Glory said watching where Winona was looking.
“Sorry,” Winona tore her eyes away from the scars.
“Don’t be, you didn’t put them there,” Glory joked. “So, why did you stalk me down here?”
“I wanted to yell at you,” Winona said softly. All of her courage had gone flying out the window seeing Glory’s scars. She had never told Winona anything about her past so this was a first. She couldn’t be completely mad at her now that she knew a part of Glory’s secret. “You yelled at Dom for kissing me.”
“I see he told you,” Glory said still looking out at the ocean. “I was just looking out for you.”
“Well don’t, I’m twenty years old. I can make my own decisions about people.” Winona argued.
“Why does everyone think I don’t know how old they are?” Glory chuckled to herself. “I know you can but you’ve known Dom and Nick for less then a month. I’ve known Nick my whole life and Dom for nearly four years. I know how they are.”
“And how are they exactly?” Winona asked. Her question came out snottier then she meant it to be but Glory just kept looking straight ahead knowing it was malicious.
“They are young, they both enjoy having women throw themselves at their feet,” Glory laughed slightly. “They’re not ready to give that up yet.”
“But Dom had a girlfriend.” Winona protested feeling an urge to stand up for the guys.
“He only dated her for a month,” Glory told her. “And it was part of screw a pop star week. Elijah was trying to get to Christina Aguilera but she was out of town,” Winona looked over at her horrified at the thought of the guys making a game out of women. “They’re all good guys but they’re Hollywood,” Glory tried to explain. “They’re not ready for anything other then flings.”
“They could change,” Winona said softly.
“They could, but I wouldn’t put my money on it,” Glory shrugged. “Just don’t hold your breath waiting for either one of them to sweep you off your feet for more then one night, you’ll just end up hurt,” Glory mumbled before reaching down to pick up her surf board.
“So you’re not mad at them anymore?” Winona asked.
“Not mad, hurt that they would go behind my back but life goes on. It’s not like I haven’t been stabbed in the back before anyways,” Glory told her. “Literally,” She laughed and pointed to two more knife scars on her shoulder blades. “I’ll get over it sooner or later.”
“But how much later?” Winona asked her quietly.
“Come on, let’s surf. Go get changed, I want to see what Nick taught you before we leave.” Glory laughed and ran into the oncoming surf. Winona shook her head thinking something would never change about that girl.
Throughout the flight to London Winona kept thinking back to the conversation she had had with Glory out on the beach. Dom would look over at her every few minutes or so and smile at her reassuringly. Before talking to Glory, Winona was sure Dom and Nick were both after her because they really truly liked her but now she wasn’t sure. After having those thought she would look over at AJ sleeping peacefully in his sleep snoring lightly before Glory would smack him with a pillow. “Stupid heart,” Winona mumbled to herself again. Why did she have to be in love with three men? Why couldn’t her life be normal for a change? Winona asked herself those questions over and over again in her head until she stepped off the plane. “Oh look, it’s London.” Glory grinned at Winona’s comment
Chapter Eleven by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 11*
The group walked down to the Airport terminal to retrieve their baggage. Glory smiled at the thought of being back in London. She loved it there.
“Love what you thinking about”? Orlando asked as he walked in step with her. The others were behind since they had no idea where they were going.
“Just thinking about being back in London” Glory replied with a smile, “I still have a lot of work to do on my painting for the opening of the Art Gallery,” She said. “Its only three days away”.
Orlando grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. “ You will get everything ready in time and there still will be time for fun”.
“ I know” She said.
“ You still planning on talking to your dad”? he asked making sure she was going to back out.
“ Yes I told you that I would” She replied. “ If you keep harassing me than I won’t”.
Orlando didn’t say another word just smiled.
The group arrived at the baggage claim and grabbed their bags.
“Where exactly are we staying”? Viggo asked.
“Well Orlando and I have an apartment here in London,” Glory told them.
“So I guess we all have to go in search of hotel than” Viggo replied.
“We already made reservations at a hotel a block away from the apartment for you,” Orlando explained.
“We have two spare bedrooms and one is yours Winona unless you rather stay at one of the room’s at the hotel”. Glory said to her.
“I think that I will stay in the guest room,” Winona answered.
“Ok than Dom you can have the other spare room,” Orlando said.
Glory shot him a look but did not say anything. They walked out into the warm air of the city and called for a limo. A few minutes later the Limo pulled up and everyone got in. fifteen minutes later the limo pulled up to a classy looking place with a sign that read The Ritz hotel.
“This would be your guy’s stop,” Orlando told them.
They got out. “Are we doing anything tonight”? Viggo asked.
“Probably will I’ll give you guys a call when we are rested up and have decided on a few ideas?” Glory told them.
Viggo nodded and waved goodbye.“This place is so cool,” Winona, said looking out the window at all of the buildings going by.
“Just wait till you get a chance to see the city,” Glory told her with a smile.
The limo came to a stop.
“We’re here,” Glory said.
The driver of the Limo came out, opened the door, and popped the trunk open so they could grab their luggage.
Glory smiled as she looked up at the apartment building. She missed the place.
“Wow this is a tall Apartment complex” Winona commented.
“Wait till you see the inside” Dom told her.
“Come on guys let’s go inside”. Orlando commanded.
The group of four walked inside and was greeted by a man that looked about to be around the age of fifty or sixty.
“Orlando your back” He exclaimed his English accent thick and rich.
“Yes I am, is it possible to get someone to bring our luggage to the apartment”? He asked.
“Of course it will only be a moment” The guy replied.
A minute later a younger looking guy wearing what looked like what a bellboy would wear in a hotel room came up with a cart, placed the luggage on the cart, and immediately lead the way up the ten floors to the apartment door. Orlando walked up jingling his keys and opened the door letting the man go in first.
“Home sweet home love” Orlando whispered into Glory’s ear.
Glory sighed in contempt as she looked around the living room.
“Is that all sir”? The guy asked as he set down the last suitcase.
“Yes thank you Fredrick” Orlando replied handing him a tip.
The guy’s eyes widened at the bill. “Thank you call if you need anything”.
“Will do thanks” Glory replied as he walked out.
She shut the door and looked over at Winona who looked blown away. “What do you think”?
“This place is amazing” She replied.
“Come on I will give you a tour,” Glory said. “You can guess that we are standing in the living room.
The living room was a huge room that contained a couch, two chairs and a marble table with a few magazines neatly stacked. A huge screen TV took one side of the room while the other had a CD player with a collection of CD’s.
“ Now in here is the kitchen” Glory told her as they walked into a room on the left.
“ This is the biggest kitchen I have ever seen”. Winona gasped. “ This would be like a haven to Cadence”.
Glory walked out of the kitchen and into a hallway. Winona followed carrying her luggage. Glory stopped at the first door on the right.
“ This is the room you will be staying in” Glory said.
Winona looked around in awe. It was decorated in blue and the window looked out into the city.
“ I love this room” She said.
“ I thought that you would” Glory shrugged. “ Across the hall is the bathroom and the room next door will be Dom’s and Orlando and I have the master bedroom at the very end”.
“ Cool” Winona replied. “Where is Cadence staying when she comes in two days”?
“ She will probably share a room with you” Glory replied. “I hope that you don’t mind”.
“ Nope” Winona said.
“ Well I see that you have gotten yourself settled in” Orlando said peeking his head in.
“ Of course” Glory stated.
“ Yep thanks for letting me stay here” Winona replied.
“ Not a problem” Orlando shrugged coming in with Dom behind him. “ So what do you guys want to do”? Glory asked.
“Dom how about you take Winona out and show her the city” Orlando suggested.
“ How about Dom doesn’t take her out” Glory suggested giving her husband a look.
“ Ok that’s sounds great” Dom replied with a smile.
He looked over at Winona. “ How about it”?
Winona wanted to but was afraid she would lose her life by her friend if she accepted.
“ Please” Dom begged sticking his lip out.
She smiled. “ Ok”.
Winona and Dom strolled out of the room and once Glory heard the door close she gave Orlando a glare.
“ Are you crazy”.
“ No I am not” Orlando replied coming up close to her.
“ What in the hell are you thinking inviting him to stay with us and practically sending them out on a date”? She screamed.
“ First off love if you got to invite a friend to stay in the apartment with us than I got to also” He told her folding his hands.
“ You couldn’t as Viggo too instead”? She asked him.
“ Dom is like a brother to me just as Winona is like a sister to you and about sending them off its not a date” He replied.
“ Yes it is it seems you are trying to put them together when you know how I feel; about that” She told him.
“ I don’t see the problem with them dating cause I know that Dom likes her and I sent them out so that we can have some alone time”. Orlando explained.
Glory’s face softened a little. “ That was sweet of you but you are practically getting together and I don’t want that”
“ I am sorry love I just wanted to have some time to spend with my wife is that so much to ask”? He stuck out his lip knowing that Glory couldn’t stay mad at him for that.
Glory smiled slightly. “ No its not but please from now on please just leave it alone and do it my way since Winona is my friend”.
“ Dom is my friend too and I want him to be happy but I will try and stay out of it” Orlando replied.
He walked over and kissed Glory passionately. Glory kissed back and a few minutes later felt like she was floating. She pulled away and saw that Orlando had picked her up and was carrying her to their bedroom softly placing her on the bed. It didn’t take long before all the clothes had come off being tossed to the floor. Orlando got on top of her. “ I love you”.
“ I love you too” She whispered before they attacked each other.
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Cadence grabbed the last box and shut the trunk door. She walked into the house and set it on the table.
“ Where do you want this”? She asked Todd.
Todd took another bite of his doughnut and chewed loudly. “ I will take that box upstairs to the bedroom in a minute.
Cadence gave a frustrated sigh and walked over tossing the doughnut aside.
“ Hey I was eating that” Todd cried.
Cadence put her hands on her hips. “ Listen Rolly Polly you are on a diet and need the exercise so I suggest you get your lazy ass off the chair before you break it and help me move all your shit in here”.
Todd’s mouth dropped open. He had never heard his girlfriend get angry at him before especially to insult him. The sad truth was she was absolutely right.
“ I am sorry baby” He mumbled.
She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She felt a pang of guilt and remorse but shook it away knowing that he needed to hear it. “ Look let’s just move all this stuff in here and attempt to put it away before dinner”.
Todd and Cadence worked for three hours moving everything in and putting everything away. They got done just before dinner.
“ I am so glad that we are done how about dinner at subway”? She suggested.
“ Sounds good to me” Todd answered.
The two arrived at Subway a few minutes later and sat down with the food.
“ I am so glad we were able to get done” Cadence said as she took a bite of her sub.
“ Yeah me too” Todd agreed.
“ Oh before I get to tell you I am going on a trip in two days” Cadence said.
“ Where”? Todd asked.
“ I have to go to London for Glory’s art show” She replied.
“ Do you have to go”? Todd asked looking really sad. “ I just moved in and your leaving me”.
Cadence laughed at how cute he was when he looked sad. “ Todd sweetie I am only be gone two or three days”.
“ I know but I will miss you”. he told her. “ I guess it will give me a chance to look for a job and to become more familiar with the town”.
“ Yeah that will keep you busy” She smiled.
After they finished eating they arrived back home.
“ What are you in the mood to do”? Todd asked her.
“ I don’t care its up to you” Cadence replied with a shrug.
“ I don’t care what we do as long as I am with you” Todd told her sweetly.
“ Quit kissing ass” She laughed. “ What is it that you want”?
“ Nothing I just feel guilty about earlier”. he answered.
“ Just forget about it and watch a movie” she said.
“ How about we play video games on the X box” Todd suggested with a grin.
“ Uh no”. she answered rolling her eyes.
“ Why not” He whined. “ I haven’t played all day”.
“ Boo hoo cry me a damn river: Cadence said. “ Video games is so childish”.
“ No its not” Todd argued. “ Can we please play one game”.
“ I don’t even know how” she told him.
“ I will teach you” He said. “ Please”.
She shook her head at the puppy dog look. “ Ok fine but first we watch a movie that I pick out”.
“ Deal” he answered.
Cadence walked over to the movie stack that she had and picked out How to deal.
“ Not a chick flick” Todd complained.
She grinned. “ Yes a chick flick I like this movie”.
Todd sat down on the couch while Cadence put in the movie. She than walked over and sat down next to him. He put his arm around her holding her tight as the movie started. She hoped that moving in together would bring them closer together.
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Winona and Dom walked out of the building and Dom looked around.
“ Where would you like to go” ?He asked.
“ I don’t care its up to you” She replied.
Dom took her hand and they started walking. Winona couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around him. The conversation with Glory played over and over in her mind and now she wasn’t even sure if this was a good idea.
“ You do realize why Orlando wanted us out right”? Dom asked with a grin trying to break the silence.
Winona laughed. “ Uh yeah I think so”. “ Where are we going”?
“ Its my favorite place in London” He told her.
“ And that would be”? she started.
“ A surprise” He grinned. “ Trust me you would like it”.
Winona wasn’t sure if she should but considering she had no idea where they were it wasn’t really a choice.
“ I am glad you came on this trip” He told her. “ I think that this will give me a chance to get to know you a little better”.
She smiled. “ Yeah”.
Dom led her into what looked like a park of some sort and steered her over to where a body of water lied.
“ Wow this is beautiful”.
“ Isn’t it I love to come here to kind of think and stuff”. he told her.
They sat down on a bench and Winona continued to stare out into the water.
“ Are you ok”? Dom asked.
Winona turned to face him. “ Yeah why”?
“ You seem different since we got here” he explained. “ I don’t know what it is though”.
“ I am fine just a little tired” She lied.
“ This wouldn’t have anything to do with Glory catching us together in Hawaii would it”?
“ No not at all” She said.
Dom gave her a look and she did her best to hide the fact that she was lying.
“ She said something about me to you didn’t she “ Dom asked sounding a little angry.
“ NO she really didn’t say anything” Winona replied hoping that she sounded truthful.
“ I really do like you” He told her taking her hands. “ I just hope that you will give me a chance to show you”.
Winona really didn’t know what to say and she really didn’t want to talk or discuss anything . She laid her hand on top of his and both stared off looking at the blue sparkle of the water.
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“ That was amazing” Orlando said with a sigh.
“ As opposed to every other time we had done it in Hawaii” Glory said.
“ I just love making love to my wife” He said kissing her neck. “ And I to my husband” Glory said.
“ Want to do it again” ?He asked.
Glory laughed. “ We can’t”
“ Why not”? Orlando whined.
“ You know why Winona and Dom will be back anytime now plus I promised Viggo I would call him and plan something for tonight”. Glory told him getting up out of bed.
“ Where are you going love”? he asked her.
“ To get a shower” She responded. “ I am all sweaty now no thanks to you”.
“ Can I join”? he wiggled his eyebrows.
Glory smiled and shook her head at his attempts for another round. “ No because than we will never come out”.
Glory walked over to her bag and grabbed a fresh new pair of clothes before walking into the bathroom and locking the door. About fifteen minutes later she was dressed and walked over to the phone in the bedroom as Orlando went to take his shower.
“ Hello” Viggo’s voice picked up.
“ Hey its me” She said.
“ Oh hey what are we doing tonight”? he asked.
“ I was thinking maybe we could go to a club” Glory said.
“ That works” Viggo replied. “ We are all sitting here board as all hell”.
Glory laughed. “ Sorry we didn’t call earlier we had some things that we had to get done first”.
“ Uh huh” He replied.
“ Ok so how about we leave in a half hour” Glory proposed.
“ That sounds perfect”. He answered.
“ Good”. Glory heard a noise and looked up to see Orlando out of the bathroom and wearing only a towel. She licked her lips.
“ Glory” Viggo shouted interrupting all the dirty thoughts that were racing her mind.
“ Oh um what was that”? She asked.
“ I said I have to go get ready now”. He replied.
“ Ok see you in a bit”.
Glory hung up and walked up to Orlando. “ You know dressed like that I could take you here and now”.
Orlando grinned. “ Is that an offer or a request”.
“ Its neither we have to leave in fifteen minutes to go and pick up Viggo and the gang to go clubbing”.
“ Why can’t we just stay here”? Orlando asked.
“ Because we are in London with friends and we can’t stay in bed all day” Glory said.
Orlando pouted.
“ I promise once we get back to our house we can stay in bed all week if we want to” Glory told him with a sly smile.
“ Ok then I am going to get dressed”.
Glory walked out of the bedroom and into the living room to wait for Dom and Winona. They came walking in five minutes later laughing.
“ I see you guys had a good time today”. Glory said.
“ Yep” Dom answered. “ Well we are going clubbing so you have ten minutes to get ready” She told them.
“ Ten minutes isn’t enough time to get ready” Winona complained.
“ Not my fault that you came in just now” Glory pointed out.
“ I didn’t know that’s what we were doing”. Winona retorted.
“ Well I am going to go and get ready” Dom said walking into his room.
“ Come on I’ll help you pick out an outfit and fix your hair” Glory said.
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AJ starred off looking at the window. AJ and the rest of the band were in the meeting with the new record label talking about the new album that they were in talk of recording. He kept thinking about Winona and the fact that she was in London at that very moment with Dom one of the competition. Suddenly he felt a poke on his arm and looked up.
“ The meeting is over” Howie told him.
AJ looked around and saw that everyone had filed out except for him and Howie.
“ Oh I knew that” he said getting up.
“ No you didn’t I can tell you have no idea what went on” Howie answered with a grin. “ You have that chick on the brain again.
“ Yeah so what’s your point”? AJ asked.
“ Nothing” He said. “ So are you leaving for the airport”? Howie asked.
“ No why would you think that”? AJ asked him.
“ Because that’s’ where Nick is going” Howie told him.
“ And that would involve me how exactly”? AJ replied walking out of the meeting room.
Howie ran and caught up with AJ taking big strides to keep up with his good friend. “ Nick is interested in that girl too right”?
AJ nodded. “ Yeah”.
“ Well he left to go to London to see Glory’s art show and try to win that girl of yours”. Howie told him.
AJ’s face was full of rage. “ What”?
“ Sorry to be the bearer of bad new” He told AJ solemnly. “ Just thought that you should know”.
“ Nick is a dead man” He said full of anger.
“ Didn’t you know”?
“ No I didn’t” AJ replied bitterly.
“ So what are you going to do now”? Howie asked.
“ I am going to London and I am going to win her heart” AJ vowed.
AJ pressed the button to the elevator and impatiently waited for the doors to open. A few seconds later the doors dinged and opened and AJ stepped inside.
“ Good luck man” Howie called as the doors closed.
Chapter Twelve by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Twelve *
Cadence woke up, groggily sitting and looking at the clock. It was just 3:13 am, but it seemed like it should have been much later. She looked next to her, seeing that Todd wasn’t there, which caused an eyebrow to raise. Cadence figured that he was probably playing an X-box game. Bringing a hand to her throat, she realized that it was dry, and she let out a small cough, wheezing slightly. She was extremely thirsty, dying for something to drink to get rid of the scratchy, cotton mouth feeling. It was driving her crazy
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Cadence slid her feet into her fuzzy tie-dye slippers and got up, walking sleepily into the kitchen to fetch a glass of ice cold water for herself. She was startled to see Todd sitting at the counter, a dim light shining above him. When he saw her coming, he shoved something into his mouth, practically swallowing it whole to try and hide any traces of his midnight snack.
“Hey baby,” Cadence said, walking over to Todd, wrapping her arms around his massive shoulders and kissing his puffed cheek, surprised that he wasn’t playing his lame video games, “What are you doing up so late?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he told her, swallowing the last bits of what he’d been eating, “It might take a few nights to get used to L.A.
Cadence shrugged, letting go on her grasp on him and walking over to the cupboard for a glass. Going to the freezer, Cadence opened it to grab a few ice cubes. She began to close the door when she noticed something was missing. Opening it again, she saw that it was the box of ice cream sandwiches she’d just bought the day before, which hadn’t been opened yet. Closing the door confused, she turned around, going to the sink to fill her glass.
“Todd, do you know what happened to the ice cream sandwiches I bought?” she asked him, her face still scrunched up in a quizical expression.
“No,” Todd lied, almost convincingly, except for one thing. “What’s that on your face?’ Cadence asked, making her way over to Todd and looking carefully at the corners of his mouth, wiping off a smudge of chocolate. Todd froze. He’d been caught in his guilty act.
“I was hungry,” he immediately defended himself, “I woke up and my tummy was growling. It was from moving earlier.”.
Cadence let out a noisy, annoyed puff of air while rolling her eyes. She could not believe him. He hadn’t even been there a day and was already eating them out of house and home. She couldn’t afford to feed a person who ate like a buffalo.
“You’re always hungry,” Cadence spat out angrily, “That’s what is so pathetic about this. And an entire box? Todd...do you not have any self respect? Do you not care about me and how I worry about you? Do you not care about yourself?”
“I do care,” Todd said, meaning it, “I’m trying...I’m working on it.”
Cadence let out another disgusted growl. He was so stubborn and in such denial that it wasn’t even funny any longer. It had never been funny to begin with, but now, it was just getting plain old and tiring to her.
“Trying is not eating an entire box of ice cream sandwiches, Todd,” Cadence cried out in frustration, holding up the empty box and waving it in the air frantically, “Trying is not saying you exercise, but don’t, or thinking stepping on a god damned treadmill for five minutes is a hard workout. You’ve gained seventy pounds since we started dating...forty of it after I started telling you that I was worried about your health.”
“I did not,” Todd denied, not agreeing with her statement.
Cadence put her hands on her hips, looking at him skeptically. The motion reminded Todd of what Cadence’s mother did when she was upset, which was rare.
“How much did you weigh when we started dating?” she asked
“Two hundred and fifteen,” Todd answered right away
“And now?”
“Two hundred and eighty...” his voice trailed off, proving her point right then and there. He’d no idea he’d let things go so far. The truth was, he hadn’t even thought about it until then. Now he realized why his girlfriend was always worrying herself sick over him.
“I can’t do this any longer, Todd,” Cadence yelled, “I can’t watch you kill yourself slowly. You’re a fucking time bomb waiting to go off and have a heart attack. I can’t watch you do this to yourself.” It’s hurting me so much. Can’t you see that?”
Todd looked down, ashamed with himself. A slight blush arose on his cheeks. He didn’t blame Cadence for yelling, but it was the second time that day. He had the feeling that she had been keeping it all inside for years now, and this was where it all came out at once. This was where she really let him have it instead of trying to spare hurting his feelings.
“I’ll really start trying now,” Todd said, meaning his words, but Cadence had heard it all before. She wasn’t conviced.
‘Bullshit, Todd,” Cadence screamed, “I’ve heard that at least a hundred times. And every time, you gain even more weight. Every time I believe you are going to change, and every time, I am let down. I’m not believing your false intentions any longer. I’m not going to believe in something that is never going to happen.” Anger flared up in Todd as he clenches his fists tightly at his sides. His normally pinkish colored knuckles were almost a ghostly white. It wasn’t like her to put him down like this. She never had before, and now she was really laying it down hard all at once. What hurt him most was that she didn’t believe that he was capable of changing his ways.
“I don’t have to deal with this,” Todd yelled, grabbing his keys, “This is emotional abuse. I’m outta here.”
“Fine, go resort to food like you always do when you’re mad,” Cadence shouted, “Go crawling like a pouting little baby with your bruised ego to McDonald’s for a super sized double Big Mac value meal to console you and clog your arteries even more.”
“Fuck you,” Todd blasted, and then he was gone, slamming the door behind him so hard that the room shook as if a minor earthquake had struck momentarily. The sad thing was, Cadence wasn’t sure if it was the force from the door closing or Todd running down the wooden steps to the ground of their apartment building.
Cadence’s body started to shake violently in anger and grief. They’d never had a fight so big before, and it had happened the day Todd had moved in with her yet. She was beginning to think that the distance that had been between them before was a good thing. She let him go though, not even trying to stop him.
Sobs wracking her body, Cadence walked back to the bedroom on legs so wobbly, she thought she might collapse onto the carpeted floor. It surprised her when she made it to her bed without falling. But now that she knew she’d land on something soft, she let herself fall freely. Burying her face in her pillow, Cadence sobbed, crying herself back to sleep.
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Anger flared through A.J’s body as he stepped off of the large jet. He practically ran through the airport, wanting to be on his way to his mission as soon as possible. He had to find a cab or rental car. He had one blonde six foot two blonde to murder for trying to move in on Winona. The flight to London had seemed to take a lifetime. He hoped that finding Nick and beating the crap out of him would seem to take less time.
A group of young girls in the airport noticed A.J and recognized him. Letting out shrieks of delight, they ran after him, making him stop to sign autographs and take pictures from a camera that took five minutes to find in their luggage. A.J. stopped, not happy with the delay on his hunt for Nick Carter, soon to be former Backstreet Boy. After signing some random sheets of paper and taking some photos, acting pleasant, which normally would have come naturally rather than forced, A.J. made a dash for it, running all the way to the huge glass doors which would lead him to where he could get a car to take him to his destination. Seeing the line for rental, he quickly decided against that option. He hadn’t the time for waiting.
Waving down the first open cab to come his way, he knew just where he would probably find the guy. More than likely, Glory’s apartment. If not, there was always the art show, which would take place the day after tomorrow. He knew for a fact that Nick would be there. A.J grinned evily as he thought of the things he would say to the boy, and especially the things in which he would do to the blondes body. He’d thought that his competition was out of the way, beings Glory didn’t want her best friend to date the two numskull male best friends of hers. Appearantly though, Dom and Nick were ignoring her orders completely. They were causing his chances with the most beautiful, intellegent woman he’d ever met to slip away. He wasn’t quite upset with Dom as he was with Nick though. When a cab stopped, A.J opened the door, heaving his body inside. He didn’t know the address by heart, but hopefully the driver would know exactly where he was talking about.
“Orlando and Glory Bloom’s apartment, please.”
The driver turned and smirked at A.J. as if he were insane.
“Right,” he laughed, “Like I can really take you there. What are you, crazy?”
A.J. grumbled some choice things under his breath as he tilted sideways a bit to dig his wallet out of the butt pocket of his jeans. With it in hand, A.J. opened it, pulling out two one-hundred dollar bills, waving them in front of the British man’s face.
“Will this help persuade your decision?” he bribed, watching the man’s eyes follow the cash, then decided to add guilt, “It’s important. I know them, and Glory is a great friend of mine.”
The man still didn’t look convinced. His eyes never laid off of the two hundred dollars, but he was also hesitant to argue again with A.J’s request.
“C’mon. I’m well known...it isn’t like I am some psycho fan.” A.J. stated in sarcasm, pretty sure he’d caught that from hanging around Glory too much, but he didn’t mind. He loved the girl like a sister. “I have to get there.”
The driver sighed, hesitating for another second before pulling the two crisp bills out of A.J’s hands. A.J. let them slide easily between his fingers as he grinned triumphantly. He hadn’t lost his charming touch. It worked like a charm on everyone. Now if only he could win Winona over with it. Given the right opportunity and enough time, he was pretty confident that he could.
“I’ll take you there,” he informed A.J, “But if you get arrested for trespassing, I had nothing to do with it, got it buddy.”
“Oh, believe me...I won’t get arrested. They’re expecting me.” A.J. lied convincingly, “I’m going to Glory’s art show.”
“I don’t care where you’re going,” the driver said gruffly, “But if my name comes up if you end up in prison, I will deny like there is no tomorrow.”
A.J. rolled his eyes at the man’s negative, so sure of himself attitude. He wished that there was some way to prove to the man that he knew what he was doing, and knew Mr. Bloom.
“So, where is your luggage?” the driver asked in his thick accent, which A.J. noticed for the first time. He wondered how he’d missed it before, “Kind of a long travel for some American to be coming without anything.”
“I’ll only be staying for two days,” A.J. told the man, “I won’t be needing anything. Too much hassle going through luggage checks and stuff.”
The man snorted, and A.J. could tell that he thought that he was conceited or something. That was as far from the truth as things could get. A.J. hadn’t the time to pack a suitcase for a two day trip, and take an extra three hours in luggage checks going in and coming out. He wanted to find his blonde band member as quickly as possible. He wondered how many fans would miss him when he was gone. Despite how angry he was with his friend, he still felt a sort of brotherly love for him. All he knew was that they were after the same girl, and A.J. was going to win her heart over if it was the last thing he did.
Looking out the window, A.J watched as the scenary passed by. It sure did look different when he wasn’t touring the country. In fact, most of the time, he didn’t even pay any previously to it. He was normally sleeping, or making business type arrangements. Either that, he was flying above the country, and all he could make out, on a clear day, was ocean, land and specks. London really was a gorgeous city, given being in the right parts. He was glad that he got the chance to really experience it now, rather than not giving any attention to what had been around him prior when he visited with the group.
“We’re here, Mr. McLean,” the driver stated, bringing A.J. out of his daze. He hadn’t even realized that they’d driven so far already. He’d been so wrapped up in looking at his surroundings that he supposed he’d lost track of time.
A.J. gave the man another fifty dollars. His eyes widened at A.J’s generosity. Sure, it was American money, but he knew where he could exchange it for the English currency. A.J. Thanked the driver before hopping out of the car. He ran in to the building and past the doorman, taking the steps two at a time to reach the floor that his friends were on. He hoped that Nick was there. He wanted more than anything to break his jaw.
Reaching the right level, A.J. was slightly out of breath, not knowing why beings he was used to much more work than that on stage. He figured that it was because he was so furious. Running the short distance to Glory and Orlando’s apartment number, he banged on the door. Getting no answer, he knocked again.
“C’mon,” A.J. muttered, “Answer, damnit.”
Minutes later, nobody still answered to his calling. He didn’t know that he had just missed them all by ten minutes, leaving to go out to the club. Little did he know, Nick had made it on time to join them all. Sitting down, A.J. figured that all he could do now was wait for them to return. They
couldn’t be out too late, could they?
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“This is so much fun,” Winona squealed happily as she got her groove on to the loud, upbeat music that was playing over the oversized speakers, “Ahhhh. London clubs are sooo much better than American one’s. Wow, the USA could learn a thing or two from this place.” Winona looked around the club as strobe lights flashed in every direction, making everything appear to be blinking and moving in super slow motion.
Glory rolled her eyes, “Yeah, and the girls here in London are a whole lot skankier too,” she stated, sticking her tongue out in disgust as she watched a random girl dance her way over to Winona and start grinding her body against her friends in ways that just looked wrong, “Wow, I sure as hell hope I don’t do that.” she added, knowing that she probably had before, as she pressed her body against Orlando’s, claiming her territory.
Winona danced with the girl, seeming to have the time of her life. To her, it was just another form of dancing, and she would do whatever it took to do it right and have fun. Glory knew that if Cadence had been there, she’d have thought that the way they were dancing was completely disgusting. Just like the time they’d gone to a club in Ohio. The girls were practically having intercourse with one another, only with their clothes on, as Cadence had described it. She’d found it disturbing and almost unbearable to watch, but kept her eyes locked on the stage anyways just so that she would not miss when Nick came out.
Glory laughed and shook her head. Cadence had always been one to miss the most obvious things. Nick could have been standing right next to her in the club, and chances were, it would have taken her fifteen minutes to realize who it was.
“Look at me,” Nick cried out, as he shook his ass.
Glory smacked her forehead as she looked at the boy. His disguise for the night was a long, straight haired blonde wig, sunglasses and a funky shaped hat that looked like something a chick would wear. His idea of dancing off stage was just plain embarrassing.
“Nicky,” Glory said, tugging on his shirt to pull him down to her level so she could yell in to his ear, “Do us all a favor and just dance like you do with Backstreet.”
Nick shook his head stubbornly, continuing to make an idiot of himself. He was definitely not going to do anything to draw attention to himself. Fans in Europe were insane. If he was found out, it would be the end of his life as he knew it. He’d be mobbed, smothered and trampled to death.
“Nope,” he yelled, “This is safe.”
“Not for those watching,” Glory muttered, then said aloud, “You know, oh smart one, that just by stepping out of the house, that you have a pretty good chance of being recognized. I mean, sweetie, think about it. If ya don’t want to have people noticing you, then your safest bet is watching TV and chugging beer.”
Winona, Orlando, Dom and the others laughed at Glory telling Nick exactly how it was, and what she was thinking. It was just like her to be like that, but nobody ever took offense. They knew she, for the most part, was just joking around and didn’t mean for her bluntness and outspoken ways to be taken personally.
Nick picked up one hand and flipped glory off. She was right though. If he was hoping to not be recognized as Nick Carter, pop star, he was better off hiding in a closet. Nick was thankful for the strobe lights. They made it almost impossible to focus on any one thing. That pretty much saved him right there. All he had to worry about was the dash to the car once they were all ready to leave and call it a night.
“Hey babe,” Dom said, pushing the girl out of his way that had been dancing with Winona and taking her place to get in with the girl he wanted to have as his very own, “Having a good time this evening, my darlin’?”
Winona laughed at Dom’s cheesy attempt at being sweet. It was quite flattering though, to be honest. That still didn’t change the fact that she still felt somewhat odd around the man. Glory had caught them in the middle of a steamy kiss, and now she felt self conscious and guilty for going against the girls wishes.
“I’m having the best time ever,” Winona yelled over the music, “I wish that Cadence could have come though. She’s busy helping Todd move his lazy ass in to her apartment though.” Winona rolled her eyes, knowing that the oversized man would have been perfectly capable of moving his own sorry self in. It was a matter of being too lazy though.
“So, have you ever been in London before?” Dom asked her as a slow song came on and he pulled Winona in to his arms for a slow dance.
Winona shook her head, “Not for long enough to count,” she told him, resting her head on his chest as he pulled her in closer, “Since when do they play slow songs in clubs?” Winona asked.
“They play about one every two hours or so,” Dom laughed, “Hardly worth it, but they have em every once in a while.”
Winona laughed again, beginning to feel more comfortable around Dom already. He had a great personality; one that made her feel at ease around him. Once again, Winona was thinking of disobeying Glory. The problem was, she still didn’t know which guy she wanted. Winona knew that she couldn’t date them all forever. She’d have to come up with a decision, and fast.
Nick watched from a distance of fifteen feet away as Dom and Winona danced. Jealousy boiled throughout him. He wanted to be the lucky man that Winona was with. He didn’t want Dom to be with her. He had to do something, and quick. Winona was beginning to look way too comfortable with Dom. So comfortable in fact, that Nick was beginning to feel a bit uneasy. He had to change this very quickly.
“You’re a great dancer,” Dom complimented, “You sure do know how to have loads of fun, you know that?" Winona blushed, “Thanks,” she yelled over the music, which was still quite loud for it being a slow song, “Same goes for you.”
Before having the opportunity to respond, Nick, trying to appear unobvious, danced right in front of Dom, taking Winona in to his own arms. Dom stumbled, falling to the ground. Nick looked behind him, shrugging before looking back to Winona.
“Oops,” he muttered, and them smiled at Winona, “How ya doing?”
Winona laughed, looking at the boy strangely, “Good, and you?”
“Can’t complain,” Nick grinned, “Dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room.”
Winona giggled, “Oh, that’s such a line, Carter,” she said, playfully slapping his shoulder, “Can’t you do any better or be any more original.”
Nick shook his head. The truth was, he had been honest with what he had told her, so he didn’t think he could do any better.
Winona stared at Nick closely, stifling a chuckle. He was so cute, yet looked so ridiculous that night. She figured now was the time to say something to him about it if ever.
“That wig does nothing for you, Nicky,” she said, tugging lightly at the stringy blonde fake hair, “Don’t ever grow your hair out...ever.”
Nick laughed at her telling him exactly what she thought. Truth be told, he had been told numerous times that he looked horrid with long hair. He wasn’t planning on letting it grow long again. It just wasn’t him.
“What do you say we go out tomorrow?” Nick asked Winona, “ We don’t have anything to do. Glory’s show is in two days.”
Winona bit her lip. She didn’t want to upset anyone. With Dom there, she knew that he would be hurt if she went off with Nick. Winona opened her mouth to reply, but her eyes widened instead at what appeared behind Nick.
Dom slammed his hand down on Nick’s shoulder, spinning him around roughly. Nick faced him with courage before Dom punched Nick in the jaw, full force.
“That is for messing with my woman,” Dom shouted, causing people to form around them in what appeared to be the beginnings of a fight.
Nick’s hand mechanically went to his mouth, and he brought it down to examine it ,seeing blood. Anger filled him as he took a swing at Dom, pelting him right in the side of the head. Winona stepped back, not wanting to be in the middle of the bout.
“Guys,” she yelled, hoping to stop the fight before it started, “Stop it. I don’t belong to either of you yet.”
Either Nick and Dom were ignoring her pleas, or they hadn’t heard her, for Dom lunged at Nick, pushing him backwards. Nick lunged back at Dom, and soon, they were on the ground, rolling on top of one another, punching one another. A circle had formed around them which contained the whole club chanting and cheering, urging the fight on. Glory rolled her eyes, knowing that the fight consisted of her two lovely friends. Pushing through the people to get to the center, she saw them on the ground. Shaking her head, she was humiliated by their behavior but wasn’t going to show it.
“Dom, Carter, get up off of the floor,” she yelled, walking over to them to try and pull them up off of the ground, “You are acting completely immature.”
The guys didn’t budge, continuing attacking one another and yelling insults at each other, and Glory hopped up and ran back a few feet before she started getting pounded on by the two tall men. This is what she got for having a friend who attracted guys as if there were no tomorrow.
She didn’t have to worry about the fight lasting though, because minutes later, four extremely large bouncers broke through the crowd, two grabbing on to Nick, the other two taking hold of Dom. They tried to punch one another from the arms of the security as they were drug out of the club, all of their friends following closely behind. Thrown on to the ground, the doors were locked behind them all. They’d been kicked out.
“Happy now, chubby,” Dom spat at Nick, hitting his sensitive spot.
“You started it, Brit,” Nick thrashed back at Dom.
“You moved in on my girl,” Dom yelled.
Winona rolled her eyes, finding both men extremely unattractive at that particular moment. Shaking her head in disgust, she stepped between them before they went after one another physically once again. She knew that they would if given the right opportunity.
“Quit acting so damned immature,” she screamed, “I am not either one of yours woman. And if you keep this up, I won’t go with either one of you.”
“She won’t anyways,” Glory stepped in, “Because one, I don’t want her to be with you, and two, you are both proving why I forbid it in the first place.”
Both men scowled at one another. Dom let out a huff of air, turning to walk away. A night that had started out to be fun had ended so sourly.
“Stupid, bloody Yank,” Dom muttered, hoping to score a date with Winona for the next day. It would be a challenge, considering she was angry with both of them, but he needed to prove that he could be the kind of man she wanted.
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Cadence woke up with a throbbing headache. Her eyes were sore, and she had a feeling that they were swollen too, and her body ached like she’d fallen off of a cliff. Sitting up, she became dizzy almost instantly. Pressing her hands firmly against the mattress to steady herself, Cadence looked beside her at the empty spot where Todd should have been and what had happened just six hours before came swarming back to her. She’d had the worst fight ever with Todd, and he still had not come back yet. Normally, when they argued, apologies came minutes later, and they kissed and made up. This time was different though. She’d really messed up this time, but to her, she was not entirely at fault. He had overreacted, and now she hadn’t a clue where he had disappeared to. Cadence figured that he was at the Waffle House, then felt bad for thinking those sorts of things. She knew that she should have been a little more supportive of him when he said he would really start trying, but to be honest, she was sick of him being all talk and no action.
A few tears slid down Cadence’s cheeks as she realized she may have lost Todd for good this time. It wasn’t like him to just not call or let her know that he was safe. Sure, she may have said harsh things about him behind his back out of frustration. Sure, she may have said hurtful things to him. The truth of the matter was though, that she did still love him and care about him and want to be with him. Cadence thought about calling his cell phone, but quickly thought better of the idea. When Todd what mad, it was best to let him be and let him do his thing and come back on his own will. Calling would only anger him and make things worse than they already were, if that was even possible. Cadence doubted that it was.
Looking around, she realized that all of his belongings were still there. He wouldn’t just leave without everything he owned, would he? He had to come back for them sooner or later, right? Cadence wasn’t sure, but knew that she couldn’t stay and find out. It would hurt her too much to sit in misery for a day, all alone, hurting and wondering where Todd was, assuming he wouldn’t be back for at least another day. All of her friends were in London at that moment. She had stayed behind to help Todd move in, planning on meeting them all a couple of days later. A lot of good that had done her. She’d been slapped in the face for all of the help she’d offered her boyfriend. Now, she knew that that wasn’t going to be the plan. She decided that she was going to leave a day early, and meet her friends. She knew that they would be thrilled to see her there early to show her support towards Glory. She was going to put the fight out of her mind and enjoy herself for a few days. She deserved it. Cadence refused to stress over her moron of a boyfriend. He wasn’t worth it at the moment. She would worry about Todd when she returned after Glory’s paintings were in the show. After Glory’s paintings won some first prize awards and they celebrated.
Getting up, Cadence trudged in to the bathroom, taking a quick shower. She hoped that it would make her feel better, and as she stepped out, dried off and slipped into a pair of tight jeans and an orange sweatshirt, she realized that she did feel much more refreshed. As she combed her hair out and styled it, then applied her make up, Cadence went to her closet and drug her suitcase out, throwing in another pair of jeans and a few shirts, a pair of black dress pants and a white blouse for the showing, for she knew that she would have to look presentable and professional, along with some clean underwear. She tossed in her makeup and hair supplies, her cool berry deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, figuring that it would be plenty to last her what would probably only be a four or five day trip.
Zipping up the suitcase, Cadence drug it to the living room, ready to walk out of the door before pausing for a moment. She felt as if she were forgetting to do something. What if Todd came back and she was gone? Would he think that she left him then? Cadence didn’t want him to worry in the same way he’d made her feel. She was above that. Setting the suitcase down, Cadence walked over to the fridge and pulled off a piece of paper from her magnetic notepad she was always sure to keep filled to jot things down when she was worried she might forget something important. Grabbing a pen out of the drawer, Cadence jotted down a note which read:
Todd
I decided to leave a day early for London to be with Winona and Glory. I will be back within a week, so don’t worry. I am sorry for the things I said before you left. We’ll talk about it when I get back, only more rationally this time. We’ll get a lot further that way, and we both know it. I love you, and I mean that. Please don’t be mad at me and please don’t hate me. You moved to LA so we could become closer. Let’s prove that we can make this work. Let’s not give up after one fight on our first day living together. I know that it is new to both of us, and will be challenging, but we can make it work. I am confident of that.
Yours Always
Cadence
Setting the letter down on the counter, Cadence looked around her apartment one last time before picking up her keys and the suitcase again and walking out of the door, locking it behind her. She was thankful that Todd had taken her piece of shit car with him rather than her new one which she’d worked hard to save for over the past six years of her life. At least he’d had that much decency, which surprised her. Men always wanted to show off sporty cars. In LA, Cadence would have thought it would have been the first thing on Todd’s mind. She appearantly was wrong about that.
Cadence threw her suitcase into the trunk of the yellow Porch, and hopped in to the drivers seat. Shoving the key into the ignition, Cadence floored the accelerator in reverse, put it into drive and sped out of the complex. She couldn’t wait to get to the airport. Part of her thought that Todd might be there, waiting to tell her goodbye and kiss her, saying he’d be waiting for her return and looked forward to it. Part of her wished he really would be there, telling her that he was sorry and loved her. But another part told her that she was being foolish, that her little daydream fantasies weren’t likely to happen. That part told her that she was stupid and didn’t want to see him before her departure, that it would ruin her whole trip, or make her feel guilty for leaving. She wanted to leave. She needed to get out for a little while. That thought made Cadence all the more determined to get to her jet early and get out of the country.
Veering on to the highway, Cadence sped up, flying at speeds that made her feel free and like she could do anything. With determination in her eyes, Cadence rolled down the windows and turned on her Black and Blue CD, cranking up the volume to it playing, ironically, ‘Get Another Boyfriend.’ Cadence sung along for awhile, feeling great about herself and she smiled. The Boys always knew how to pick up her mood. It wouldn’t matter if she were having the worst day of her life. All she had to do was pop in a Backstreet Boys CD and within minutes, she would be laughing and in a great mood again, forgetting she’d even been sad. Laughing, Cadence sang a little more to the lyrics which she thought nothing of, which she actually had many times before during her little spouts with Todd. This time, she wasn’t going to play what she liked to call her “Boyfriend Bashing Hits’ She was going to forget him for awhile. Maybe when she got back, they would be closer than ever.
“Goodbye Todd and Las Angeles, London here I come,” she screamed out the window at the top of her lungs, feeling better about things already.
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Todd gulped down another shot of vodka, feeling sick to his stomach. He felt as if he were about to vomit, spilling everything that was in his stomach, food, alcohol, everything. He was beginning to see double, and couldn’t think clearly to save his life. He was going to have one massive hangover later on, but it was well worth it. He was miserable. Once he could remember the phone number, he made a vow to call Taylor and thank him for obtaining the fake ID for him. It had helped him to get drunk off of his ass and drown away his sorrows. His girlfriend had more or less called him an elephant and a hopeless cause. No matter how true her words might be, it had still hurt him more than he could say. He had no reason to try and stay sober. Sober meant facing the reality of what she had said. He was worthless. He had disappointed her; something that he had never wanted to do, but succeeded at quite well anyways. Todd wondered how she had but up with him for three whole years. He was curious to know how she had dealt with him, and not ended things long ago. It was a question he could not answer.
Ordering another beer, Todd chugged it down in less than two minutes. Standing up, he decided he should be done and had done enough damage. Any more, and he might give himself alcohol poisoning. Swaying a little bit, Todd stumbled towards the door of the dimly lit bar. When he stepped outside, he squinted in to the bright sun. Had he really been drinking for that long? It hadn’t seemed like it, but the sun being up proved that it was at least noon. Standing, staring at the empty lot that had been full during the early hours of the day, Todd knew that he was completely wasted, but it didn’t stop him from getting in to Cadence’s old car and driving away. He didn’t want to go back to her apartment yet, but didn’t know his way around LA either and feared that if he wandered too far, he might get lost. Especially in the state that he was in at that moment.
After several misses of trying to get the key in to the ignition, Todd finally got it. Driving out of the parking lot, Todd let his foot floor the accelerator, not caring how much over the speed limit he was doing. Todd knew very well that what he was doing was foolish and irrisponsible. All he wanted was to continue to let out his anger. He turned on his 50 Cent CD, turning it up loud. He knew that Cadence hated the rap group, and the music in which they produced, wanting to do something he knew that she would hate and be annoyed by. Todd was so unbelievably angry with his girlfriend. He was half tempted to end things with her, but the other half of him knew that he couldn’t live without her and just wanted what was best for him. He was confused, knowing that he should wait until morning and his head was clear before making a decision about where their relationship should go. If he did something right then, he was pretty sure that he would be regretting it once he really was sober again. In a matter of hours, he had a feeling they would have talked, and everything would be fine between them.
But then, the thoughts of Cadence calling him fat and worthless came back to his pounding head all over again, causing him to grip the steering wheel tightly. His grasp was enough to cut off all circulation from his fingers as he sped up even more. The car made a noise which he was sure was unsafe. It sounded as if the engine was about to drop out from under the car at any moment, but that didn’t stop him. In fact, it just made him force the car to go even faster.
“Stupid bitch,” Todd slurred, “I wan to...make her pay n hurt her...like she...hurt me.”
Todd thought of ways to get even with Cadence, wondering what something he could say to her would be that would upset her emotionally. He thought of bringing up things from her past that she’d been picked on for, but didn’t want to do that. It would be too cruel. Then again, why did he care. She hadn’t spared his feelings any.
Todd continued to speed, taking corners on the empty, deserted back road he’d decided to take, at unsafe speeds, swerving in to other lanes in the process. A couple of times, he went off of the road, jerking back on to it. If being plastered wasn’t enough, he was also tired. He hadn’t a clue as to where he was going. He was just driving aimlessly without any particular destination.
Todd, in the distance, could see a car coming the opposite way towards him in the distance. Flashes of glittering metal flashed as the sun reflected off of it. The closer it got, Todd saw two of it, and two of the road. He wasn’t sure which one was an illusion and which was the real thing. Todd veered over, taking the wrong way, headed straight towards the other car. Tires squealed as the other car skidded to a stop, and a horn blared, a hit for Todd to get back in to his own lane. The next few seconds went by in slow motion. Todd aimed right at the other car, hitting it head on going at speeds exceeding one hundred and twenty five miles per hour. He hit with such impact that the front ends of both cars smashed up, buckling and going in to the front seats of the cars, trapping both victims. The cars, no doubt, were totaled beyond repair. Todd’s car flipped over in mid air, landing on top of the other upside down, denting in the hood down to the seats. The sound of metal against metal screeched, grinding together, deafening to anyone who was conscious. Before any of this happened though, for Todd, everything went black on the first split second of impact.
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“Thanks for agreeing to see me today,” Dom smiled at Winona from across the picnic blanket he’d made up for her, “You won’t regret it.”
It was the day after the embarrassing club scene and Dom had knocked on Winona’s bedroom door, beings they were staying in the same apartment during the duration of their stay, begging her to speak with him. He had apologized, swallowing his pride in doing so. Once she forgave him, or at least said that she did, he had moved onto asking her to see him the next day. That was a challenge in itself, for Winona wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with him. Nick had asked her to spend the day with him. She was still waiting on him to call her and take her up on the offer. He hadn’t though. Dom had persisted, and Winona finally agreed.
Now, they sat in the special place that Dom had taken her to the day before. It was beautiful, Winona had to admit. It was so secluded and private. That’s what she liked so much about it, she figured.
“No problem,” Winona smiled, “And I know I won’t. You’re a great guy. I’d like to get to know you better.”
That was the truth. She wanted to get to know A.J. and Nick better too. Dom just didn’t know that, and he wouldn’t either.
“I’m sorry for causing a scene last night,” Dom said, apologizing again, “I...I don’t know what came over me. Seeing Nick with you cause something to go off.”
Winona sighed. She supposed that it was sweet of Dom to not want to see her with any other guys. But then again, jealousy was never a good thing. She didn’t know if she really wanted to have a guy who would go mental on her every time she so much as spoke with another species of his own sex. That would cause problems. There was one thing to add to the negative side of Dom’s list.
“It’s fine,” Winona said after her pause, “But you have to realize that I am not dating either of you. You don’t own me.”
“It was rude of Nick to just...push me out of the way though,” Dom stated, scowling at the memory of it, “Bloody American.”
Winona couldn’t disagree. It had been very rude of Nick to butt in on her and Dom. She hadn’t thought of it that way before, but she did now, and could see why the man had been upset with the blonde bimbo. Then again, she was angry with Dom. He was insulting Americans in general, it seemed, and not just Nick.
“He’s...he’s Nick,” Winona said, feeling the need to defend the boy she’d just met, even though she had just met Dom too, “He’s expected by all to screw up.”
Dom rolled his eyes, “I’ve known him for years. I know this,” Dom paused, realizing he was souring the date, smiling sweetly at Winona, “You know what? Let’s not speak of this right yet. Let’s have a good time and enjoy ourselves.”
Winona grinned. That sounded like a great idea. She hadn’t wanted to spend the whole day talking about what a dumbass Nick was. She wanted to get to know Dom, and so far, she was seeing his undesirable jealous side. She needed to see if there was anything about him that she could find attractive in his personality.
“So, how do you think Glory will do in the show tomorrow?” Dom asked, taking the contents of the basket out and placing them on the blanket for them to enjoy.
Winona sat thoughtful for a moment as she picked up a small bag of red grapes and picked some out, popping them in to her mouth. She wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Glory is very talented,” was what ended up coming out, “I think she will do quite well. I mean, her pieces would not be shown if she wasn’t one of the best.”
Dom saw Winona pause hesitantly. He saw in her eyes that there was more to it than what she had said out loud.
“But,” Dom said, urging her to say the rest.
“But her father is going to be there. Who knows what will come of things since she isn’t exactly thrilled to be speaking to him.”
Dom shrugged, “I think she’ll be fine,” he said, staring intently at Winona. She was so gorgeous to him. She seemed to be intelligent, funny, sweet, caring. Everything he wanted in a woman. He was willing to quit playing games if he could have her as his own.
The two sat in silence as they enjoyed their lunch that Dom had packed for them. Winona wondered what Glory would think if she knew that she was back to considering Dom an option. She cringed at the thought. Then she decided that she was a grown woman, capable of making her own choices. Dom was a grown man, capable of making his own. If they wanted to be together, then so be it, they would be, disapproval or not.
Winona looked at Dom and could tell that he was deep in thought. Taking a sip of her diet Coke, she tilted her head to one size, trying to analyze his thoughts, but couldn’t.
‘Whatcha thinkin bout?” she asked then.
Dom looked up, distracted. It was obvious that he hadn’t realized the daze in which he had been in. Winona laughed at the confused look on his adorable features.
“Huh?” he asked
“I asked what you were thinking,”
Dom smiled, “Oh, just how amazing you are.”
Winona blushed, not used to compliments of that sort. She was eating up all of the attention that she was receiving from all three men. She didn’t want it to end.
Suddenly, Winona’s head snapped up, “I left my cell phone in the car,”she stated, “I need to go and get it.”
Dom smiled, as Winona took a quick gulp of her Coke, got up and rushed towards the car. He was feeling bold, doing something that went back to his old ways, as he watched her open the door and reach inside to grab the cell from the distance.
Dom layed out on the blanket as Winona shut the door and ran back to him, looking at the phone to check for missed calls or messages. When she slid it in to her pocket and looked up at him though, she drew back, stunned. Dom lay there completely naked, his clothes strewn off to the side. Dom had whipped cream sprayed over parts of his body, a trail of strawberries thrown carelessly about. Winona’s eyes widened. She didn’t know what to do. This was definitely not something she had expected to happen. ‘Come here, babe,” Dom cooed, seductively, reaching out and tugging out at Winona’s leg for her to come near, hoping she would strip down and join him on the ground.
Winona just stood there staring, her mouth agape, her eyes still wide with shock. It was clear that she hadn’t expected his move.
“What do you think you’re doing,” she whipsered shrilly
“I just thought...”
“Glory was right,” Winona stated loudly, interrupting him, “Glory was right about you. All you care about is a piece of ass. All English men want is sex. They are horny bastards. You’re no different. All you want from me is sex.”
She shook her head in disbelief at how insensitive he had turned out to be.
Dom’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even thought about the impression that he would be giving Winona. He truly was just showing Winona that Glory was right about him. He wanted to change for Winona, and he’d possibly just ruined any chance at that.
“That’s totally stereotypical,” Dom stated in reference to her comment about English men.
Winona refused to respond. She wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn’t what she had thought he was. Why hadn’t she listened to her best friend’s warning?
“I’m sorry,” Dom said right away, getting up and quickly sliding his jeans back on, slipping his shirt over his head, “I wasn’t thinking.”
“I want to go back,” Winona told him stiffly, “I think it would be best.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Dom said, “I’m truly sorry.”
Tears threatened to fall from from Winona’s eyes. She squeezed them shut though, willing them away. She had to stay strong.
“You violated me, Dom,” Winona said so calmly that it scared her. All she wanted to do was scream at him, “I want to go back.”
Dom just nodded, knowing that there would be no convincing her that the had made a stupid mistake. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that he had fucked up big time, as hethrew everything back into the basket, picking it and the blanket up and taking it to the car with Winona behind him. He threw them in to the back seat, and opened the passenger door for Winona. She got inside, staying as close to the door as possible. She didn’t trust the man any longer. He had betrayed her trust.
Winona tried again not to cry as Dom started the car and drove away, fulfilling her request and taking her back. They endured the whole ride in silence. This knocked her decision down to having to chose between two men. Dom had been knocked out completely. The hardest part about this whole thing would be admitting to Glory that she had been correct. She could almost see he triumphant “I told you so” grin on her face already.
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“He expected you to have sex with him?” Glory practically screamed incredulously, “Dom actually thought you would...” she was so upset that she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Winona had just walked in the door, or rather flew through the door, in front of Dom. Dom had come through a minute later, sulking, shoulders hunched as he trudged to his room. Glory had immediately known something was wrong by the way Dom was pouting and Winona coming in to the building in a huff. Winona had plopped down on to one of the bar stools at the counter, crossing her arms over her chest as she affixiated her eyes one the photo of Glory and Dom which was on the fridge, glaring at it. Glory had asked her what was wrong, and after much prying, which had been something like pulling teeth, Winona finally spilled...everything.
“Shhh,” Winona scolded, “He is in the other room, you know. I don’t want him to know that I told you.””
“I don’t care,” Glory yelled, “He expected...he...after I told him.” Glory stuttered, before yelling, “No. Dom is a dead man now.”
Glory hopped off of the bar stool she’d been sitting at, charging straight towards Dom’s room. Winona stared at her in horror though before grabbing her arm and yanking her back to stop her from doing...well, doing something that was just so Glory.
“No,” Winona growled in a low voice, “Just leave it be. I’m ignoring his stupid sex-craved ass.”
Glory growled, knowing that Winona ignoring him would just have to do. She was, however, going to have a talk with Orlando about it. If she had any say in the matter, Dom would be sleeping in a hotel for the rest of his stay.
“For the record, I’m sorry that he did that to you,” Glory stated, but then ruined it by opening her mouth again, “But I did tell you...”
“That he was like that.” Winona finished, “Don’t remind me.”
Glory walked over to Winona and gave her a comforting hug, knowing that she must be scarred after seeing what she had. She was about to reply when there was a knock on the door.
“Be right back,” she muttered, her accent coming out slightly, “Who in bloody hell is here now?”
Unlocking the door, Glory opened it to find Cadence on the other side, grinning at her.
“Hey,” she greeted, throwing her arms around her smaller, blonde friend, “What’s up?”
Glory just stared for a second, wondering if Cadence being there was a figment of her imagination. Sticking a finger out, she poked Cadence in the shoulder to make sure she was real.
“Oh my god,” she muttered, “What are you doing here...we...I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow morning, right before the show.”
Glory opened the door wider, letting Cadence in. Cadence walked over to Winona, sitting next to her as she looked around the place in awe. She had to hand it to Glory...she’d done well....very, very well.
“Todd and I had a fight,” she explained, “He walked out, and when I woke up and he still wasn’t there, I decided to just pick up and leave early. I don’t have to deal with that kind of crap from him. If he’s gonna walk out, so am I.”
Winona laughed at just how much her friend truly had changed. When they’d first become friends, the girl was quiet and never spoke what was really on her mind, afraid she would embarrass herself or hurt someone. Over the years, she had come out of her shell slowly, and now, she was outspoken, stood up for herself and was blunt and to the point on issues that she strongly believed in. Todd was becoming one of those issues.
“What happened?” Glory asked, wondering just what the boy had done this time to piss her friend off, “I mean, he just moved in, and you’re already walking out on one another?” She slapped her forehead with her palm, “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”
Cadence laughed, “I woke up, and he’d eaten, well, let’s just say way more than he needed to. Something inside of me snapped, and I completely went off on him. He got his ego bruised, and left.” Cadence shrugged as if it were an every day occasion. “You don’t seem to upset about that,” Winona observed, “I remember a time when you would be bawling when you fought...for days.”
“I cried last night, but woke up this morning with a different attitude, and here I am,” she grinned, “Surprise.”
Glory hugged her friend again, happy that she’d come early as well as the fact that she was moving on, even as Todd acted like an idiot. She’d always let it be known that she thought that Cadence could do way better, but she never listened.
“Things will be better when I get back,” Cadence said with confidence, “I’m almost one-hundred percent sure of it.”
“Well, you’re not the only one having guy problems,” Glory stated, “Just ask Winona what my darling friend did to her.” her voice dripped with sarcasm at the last statement.
Cadence looked over at Winona expectantly, wanting to know what Nick had done to her, not even thinking that it could have been the other friend.
“He wanted me to have...he thought I would be willing to fuck him,” Winona said, “Stupid pig.” there was a sense of hate in her eyes.
Cadence’s eyes widened, “Nick did what?”
“Dom,” Winona corrected, taking Cadence by surprise, “I so should have gone out with Nick instead today.”
“Oh no, you shouldn’t have,” Glory corrected, giving Winona a threatening glare, “No Nicky. He’s not much better.”
Winona rolled her eyes. She had a feeling that Nick would be much more respectful of her if they were ever alone together again. She wasn’t sure how likely that was though, considering the previous events that had just happened. Winona sighed. Why did life have to be so god damned difficult sometimes?
“Anyways,” Cadence said, wanting to change the subject. The topic of men was obviously a sensitive one for all of them at that moment, “I really love what you’ve done with this place...amazing. And the kitchen...I could have fun in here.”
“Told ya so,” Winona grinned, elbowing Glory.
“Good, then you can do all of the cooking,” she joked.
Cadence laughed as her two friends lunged at her to give her another hug. She didn’t know what had come over her.
“So glad you’re here,” Glory said, “Makes me feel more important than Todd for once in my life since your relationship started.”
“You are anyways,” Cadence promised.
Glory raised an eyebrow skeptically. She was sure that this was true, but Cadence did a lousy job of proving it. Just then, another knock came at the door. Glory threw her arms in to the air in frustration, letting out a growl.
“Who now?” she almost yelled.
Walking to the door in obvious annoyance, she swung it open, startled to see who had come to see her this time.
“A.J?” she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too,” he laughed, “I came last night, but you weren’t here. I waited until about two in the morning, but decided to get a hotel and try back later on.”
Glory hugged her friend, leading him inside, “You didn’t answer my question though.” she reminded him, and then asked again “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you to come to my showings. You said you had BSB stuff to take care of.”
“More important things here,” he stated, shooting a charming grin in Winona’s direction. She smiled back sweetly. A.J. decided to get right to the point of things, “So, where is Nick? I desperately need to speak with him.”
Glory shrugged, “I don’t know. Might want to check the Ritz Hotel. That is where Viggo is staying. I assume he is too." .
A.J. sucked in a breath. That was where he had checked in to as well. How could he have missed he blonde fuzz ball?
“Winona, I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, “I have to get there to speak with sweet Nickolas Carter.”
And with that, he was gone again, leaving the three girls to sit there in confusion, wondering what that had all been about.
“I don’t know what you two thing,” Glory stated, “But I caught on that he isn’t too pleased with Nick.”
The others laughed, seeing that she was right. The question was, what had Nick done to piss A.J. off? If they only knew that Winona had an enormous part to do with his anger.
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The next day rolled around before any of them had time to blink, it seemed. They’d all awoken early to go to the museum and help Glory set up. Dom kept on trying to speak with Winona, but she wouldn’t hear of it, walking away every time he came within five feet of her.
With the help of her friends, Glory brought all five of her paintings in to the hotel, setting them up in their designated showing spot. Setting three of them on easels, and hanging the other two on the wall behind, Glory stepped back on shaking legs to take a look at what she had produced. She nervously scanned her eyes over them, her confidence in their turnout fading as nervousness washed over. She looked around at the other artists works, wondering if hers had turned out to be even half of what the others were.
“Do they look okay where they are, or should I move them around a little?” She asked, “I mean, they may look better if I switch them and stuff.”
“They look great the way they are,” Nick complimented, walking up to her, “I can’t believe that the big day is finally here.”
“Yeah, and don’t fuck it up, got it, Carter?” Glory warned, pointing a finger at Nick, giving him a look that told him that she was dead serious.
Nick held his hands up in protest, “I won’t. Gawd, why would I ruin this for you. I mean, jeez. Know how important this is to you.”
Glory nodded in satisfaction with his answer, knowing that he wouldn’t be dumb enough to do something so Nick. Not on this day. Looking around, she watched as more canvases were brought in, wrapped in sheets to protect them. She looked around at those which were already up as knots formed in her stomach again.
“Wow,” she gasped, “Some of these are exquisite. I...maybe mine aren’t good enough to be here. I mean, look around.”
Her fears were piling on all at once. Her normal “I don’t care” attitude was washing away as fear and nervousness came over. Those were definitely not normal Glory emotions.
“Relax, love,” Orlando stated, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms lovingly around her waist, “Yours are absolutely marvelous. The judges will love them.”
“He’s right,” Cadence piped up, staring at the paintings in astonishment, “If I had this kind of talent, I’d put some use to it.”
Glory laughed, becoming less tense at her friend’s complimenting. She knew that she was good...great, in fact, but being there with others who were equally as talented was scaring her in a way she didn’t think to be possible.
“When do the judges come out?” Winona asked.
Glory looked at her watch, “Um, well, it is about eight now,” she heard groans at the reminder of her dragging them all out of bed so early, “The judges should start coming out at around three or so. So, um, in seven hours. And then they present awards and ribbons and such.” Glory hoped that she received an award for her hard efforts.
“So why did we get here so early?” Nick whined, “I mean, one hour would have been plenty long enough before.”
Everyone stated at Nick as if he had grown two heads. He was appearantly the only one who didn’t understand the concept of arriving so early.
“You worry me, Nick,” Glory stated, shaking her head, “Just, shut up and be pretty.”
Snickers came from all around as Nick stuck out his bottom lip in an insulted pout. He hated to be called ‘pretty’ It was a term used to describe girls, not twenty-four year old men.
Suddenly, the shrill ring of a phone cut through the large, open building, echoing throughout the entire place, the ring tone playing, “It’s Gotta Be You”. Looks came from all around as Cadence, blushing profusely, brought it out of her purse.
“Ever heard of vibrate,” Glory scowled, scolding her friend, “They look down upon cell phones in these types of things.”
“Sorry,” Cadence whispered, looking at the caller ID, not recognizing the number and bringing it to her ear.
“Hello?”
There was a pause that lasted no more than two seconds.
“Yes, this is Cadence.”
There was another pause as the others looked at their friend in curiosity. Her face turned ashen as the person on the other end spoke.
“Oh my god, is he okay?...Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Cadence hung up the cell, and with shaky hands, placed it back in to her purse. She looked up, not trusting her voice to speak, not knowing if she could.
“It’s Todd,” she whispered, “He’s in the hospital.”
Tears formed in her eyes as she got hugs from all around her. She felt as if her chest were caving in on her.
“Is he okay?” Winona asked, concerned for the boy that they so often made fun of.
Cadence shook her head, “I don’t know...they wouldn’t tell me anything.” Her voice trembled as her body shook. She could read sympathy in all of her friends, new and old, eyes.
“Go,” Glory told her, “Go back there and be with him.
“But your show...”Cadence began, not wanting to miss her friend’s pieces being judged later on that afternoon.
“You came, that’s what matters. Todd needs you. Go. I’ll call and tell you how things went later, after everything, okay.”
Cadence hesitated before turning around and fleeing from the building to catch the next flight back to LA. She should arrive back just as Glory’s pieces were being judged, assuming her’s wouldn’t be until closer to the end. She felt guilty for leaving Glory, but she had to see if Todd was okay. She prayed that he was as she flagged down the next cab to pass. It stopped and she got inside, breathless, her face tear stained.
“To the airport,” she demanded softly, choking on tears, handing the man a fifty, hoping it would give him the insentive to get her there faster, and they were off..
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Nine hours later, Cadence flew through the doors of the hospital that they had told her Todd was stationed at, and up to the front desk. Her hair was in wild, frantic curls around her face, her features sickly. Pressing her hands against the ER desk firmly, she stared at the receptionist. Her breath came out in heaves.
“Where’s Todd,” she asked in a panic.
The receptionist looked up, blinking, “Excuse me?”
“Todd Mason. I was called...he was brought in. Where is he? Is he okay?”
The nurse typed in something on her computer, her expression unreadable. She was used to this kind of behavior from those close to the victim. Looking up, stated, “Mr. Mason is on the seventh floor...for trauma victims.”
“Oh my god,” Cadence whispered. Trauma was bad. Very bad.
“Go up, take the first left. Six rooms down on the right is the waiting room. You can wait there to get any information from the doctor. I’ll give him a page to let him know that you are here.”
Cadence nodded, not knowing what else to do as she ran to the elevator. Her legs were shaking as she stepped into the small box. The doors closed and she went upward. It stopped a few times on the way to the seventh floor, but she eventually reached her destination.
When the doors finally opened, Cadence dashed from the elevator, taking the direction that the nurse had given her. She stepped inside of the room that was supposedly the waiting room. It was completely deserted. Cadence wondered if she was in the right place as she wandered inside and took a seat. If this was the trauma waiting room, wouldn’t there be more people? Cadence wasn’t sure, but she suddenly wished that she wasn’t alone. She wanted her friends there with her, but they were helping Glory, just as she would have been. Cadence wondered if Glory’s pieces had been judged yet. If on cue, her cell started ringing. Picking it up, Cadence answered, somewhat in a daze.
“Hello,”
“How is he?” came Glory’s voice. It surprised Cadence that she cared.
“Don’t know yet,” Cadence answered in monotone, “How did the judges like your work?”
“They’re running late,” she could sense irritation in her friend’s voice, “Nick is growing restless. I fear what he will do.” Normally, Cadence would make a crack, making fun of Nick, but wasn’t in the mood. Nick acting like a mental case, with his short attention span, was the least of her worries.
“They are here now, but I still have quite a ways before they reach me,”
Cadence didn’t reply. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She wanted someone there to console her when she got the blow of Todd’s condition, but she didn’t want to speak.
“Good luck,” she told her friend, sniffling a little, “You’ll do great.”
“Thanks,” Glory replied, “Hang in there, kay? I’ll check back in a few.”
“Okay,” was all Cadence said.
There was a long pause. Cadence just wanted to get off of the phone. She appriciated the concern, but just didn’t want to talk. Glory caught on to that.
“Well, I’ll talk to you later,” Glory said, “Bye.”
“Bye,” Cadence said, hanging up the phone and letting it slip through her fingers. It fell to the ground in a clatter, but Cadence didn’t make any attempt to pick it up.
Putting her elbows on her knees, Cadence buried her face in her hands. Why weren’t they telling her how bad off Todd was? Why weren’t they letting her know the extent of his injuries.
With new tears forming in her eyes, Cadence didn’t even try to stop them from falling. She knew she’d said some hurtful things to Todd, but it didn’t mean that she’d wanted this to happen. She wondered if he’d gone back to the apartment and saw her note. She wondered what had happened. Millions of things crossed her mind...suicide attempt, car accident, mugged, car jacked. Cadence didn’t know. She wanted to find out. She wanted to draw him in to her arms and tell him how sorry she was, and love him unconditionally.
Cadence was so deep in her own misery and thought that she didn’t hear someone else walking in to the room, distraught and also in a daze. He walked over, sitting just a few seats down from Cadence. It was then that she sensed the person’s presence, wondering why he had chosen that particular place to wait. There were at least thirty other seats in the room.
Cadence tried to ignore him, but with her crappy luck, he started talking. Unlike her, he wanted to speak.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked, his voice masculine, but full of saddness. The question had an obvious answer.
“My boyfriend...” she answered, looking up into a very familiar pair of green eyes. Wiping a tear away with her shirt sleeve, she wondered if she was dreaming, knowing very well that she wasn’t. Go figure, the day she meets the person she most wanted to ever, and she is in a hospital waiting room, looking like shit, “You’re...you’re Kevin Richarson.” she said, then winced at how stupid she sounded right then.
Kevin gave her a small smile, sticking out a hand to shake hers, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” Cadence replied. All of the things she would have said to the man under normal circumstances wouldn’t come out. It wasn’t the time to tell him all of the things she would have liked to. Not there, not then.
His eyes were troubled, and suddenly Cadence wondered why he was there. She wondered if Glory knew him, and had sent him to her to be there until she and Winona could be.
“Why are you here,” she asked.
“My wife...Kristen,” he explained.
“I’m sorry,” Cadence said, meaning it, even after all of her dreams of ending up with the man, “Is she okay?” Kevin shrugged, “I don’t know. I haven’t been told anything other than she is here.”
“Same,” Cadence replied with a sigh, then thought of another question to ask, “What was Kristen doing in LA? And you? I thought you were in Chicago for a meeting with the Boys.”
“She was here for a modeling photo shoot,” he explained, “And I was in Chicago. I got a call from the hospital, and flew right out.”
Cadence could read that he was scared out of his mind. She knew how he felt. Dark circles hung under his tired eyes, but he couldn’t sleep. Not until he saw his wife and was assured that she was all right.
“I wish I knew where Nick and A.J. had run off to,” Kevin said, “They ran off after the meeting. I need to tell them.”
“London,” Cadence told him, a feeling of calm coming over her as she spoke to the man.
“What in the world are they doing in London?” Kevin asked, and then said, “And how do you know this?”
He looked at Cadence oddly, wondering if she were some sort of spy or journalist in disguise, just wanting a story, and she knew that she should explain. Chances were, he knew Glory. If the others did, then he would too.
“Nick went to win my best friends heart...and then A.J. showed up...I think he is mad with Nick.”
“Winona?”
Cadence nodded her head, “Yep, that would be her.”
“That’s the chick they both keep talking about....you know them...her?” Kevin looked very confused as he tried to comprehend all of this, “Wow, it’s a very small world after all. I can’t believe they would go to London for the girl though. I assume you know Glory too then?”
Cadence nodded, “I was helping her get ready for her showing when I got the call...” her voice trailed off as her lip quavered a bit, “I just want to know if Todd is okay.”
Kevin got up and moved to the chair right next to Cadence. Although they had barely just met, he pulled her gently in to his arms. They both had something in common, for their significant others were in the wretched place, and neither had a clue as to what was going on with them. Cadence let tears fall, and she could sense that Kevin was crying as well.
“We’re a sorry sight,” Kevin joked, “Don’t even know what’s wrong yet, and we’re already acting like this.”
Cadence sniffled, but smiled a little. He was right. For all she knew, Todd was just suffering a broken leg and she was getting all worked up for nothing.
“Yeah,” she said, “I always tend to overreact.”
“Same,” Kevin admitted, “I’m actually really sensitive. I don’t show it, because everyone expects me to be the strong one.”
She could tell that wondering what was going on with his wife was torturing him. She was being tortured as well. So when a doctor finally breezed in to the small room, both of them looked up expectantly.
“We have word on both of whom you are waiting on,” the tall, white haired man explained.
Kevin sucked in his breath. He could tell by the way the man held himself, that the news was not good. He feared what he would say.
“Mr. Richardson, your wife was hit head on by a drunk driver,” he stated, and saw fear fill Kevin’s eyes. Cadence feared for Kevin on what he was about to hear, “I’m sorry, but she was killed instantly on impact.”
Kevin squeezed his eyes shut as tears puddled his eyes. He sucked in his breath, and choked on a loud, wracking sob. Cadence’s heart went out to him. She put a comforting arm around his shoulder, feeling awkward. She stared at the doctor, waiting for him to deliver the news about Todd. She knew that it couldn’t be as bad as death.
“Miss Cusack,” the man said, “Todd is very bad off. He was in an accident with another vehicle. The other person died. He has massive head trauma, and is in a coma right now.”
Cadence gasped. She wasn’t hearing this. Not her Todd. She refused to believe it. She couldn’t. He couldn’t...
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“To be bluntly honest, he’s in a coma that he will never wake from. In other words, he’s going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life.”
Cadence held her breath. Kevin had calmed down a little, but not much. Now it was her turn to let out her grief. If she hadn’t yelled at him, he would be safe at her apartment. If she hadn’t wanted him to move out to LA to make their relationship better. Now, they wouldn’t have one at all together, ever again.
After sucking in a few deep breaths and letting them all out slowly, Cadence got up enough courage to ask the doctor something before he left.
“The person in the other car...who was it?” she asked.
The doctor hesitated, looking highly uncomfortable. He glanced from Kevin back to Cadence, his eyes shifting every few seconds.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not authorized to share that information.”
“Please?” Cadence tried again, “I...my boyfriend killed someone. I want to write a letter to apologize for the grief he’s caused their family.”
Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Cadence felt as if she were in a movie. She felt as if none of this were real. Reality had yet to sink in. She was just going along with the motions. Until things set in, she would be fine.
“Why write a letter when you can apologize to the family in person.”
Cadence froze, “Wha...what do you mean?” she asked.
Again, the doctor hesitated. He always hated to tell people bad news. It was the hardest, and by far the worst aspect of his career. This was a day that he wished would have never happened. He took in a breath before answering her question of concern and curiosity.
“The victim which Mr. Mason killed,” he began, “Was Kristen Richardson.”
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Glory breathed heavily, feeling as if she were hyperventalating. Never in her life had she been so nervous, and the more prolonged her judging was, the more panicky she became. Glory was, to be honest, about to just take off and forget the whole thing. She still hadn’t come face to face with her father yet either. She knew that it was coming though. She could feel it. She wanted to avoid it, but she promised Orlando she would speak with him. She paced back and forth, walking in circles like a chicken with her head cut off. Glory wanted to scream. She’d been cooped up in t he museum for going on ten hours now. She wondered how Cadence was holding up, and if she knew anything on Todd yet. She hoped more than anything, for Cadence’s sake, that her boyfriend was okay. If he wasn’t though, she knew with time that her friend would move on with time, after grieving and mourning for a bit, and find someone who was more suitable for her with time.
“Hey woman,” a voice came, and Glory turned around, seeing A.J there, “Sorry I’m running late getting here.”
Glory forced a shaky smile, “Hey,” she said.
A.J. spotted Winona wandering around, looking at other artwork nearby. Grinning, he slipped past Glory to join her.
“Hey, Winona,” he stated.
Winona jumped, startled. She whipped around, seeing A.J. there. Her eyes widened, surprised to see him there, talking to her.
“Hey,” she grinned, throwing her arms around him in a huge hug, “I’ve been wondering where you’ve been, boy.”
“At the hotel,” A.J. told her. He had been searching for Nick. He’d found out that the blonde was definitely staying at the same hotel, but had yet to run in to him. There at the showing was the perfect chance to confront him. It was also the perfect opportunity to talk it out, rather than get physical with him. There was no way he’d throw fists in Nick’s face right in the middle of the museum. He wouldn’t hurt Glory and her big moment like that for anything.
“So, are you enjoying your stay in London?” A.J. asked as he and Winona moved on to look at something else. He gently took her hand in his, loving the feel of it. The perfect fit in his own.
“Yes, I really am,” she smiled, “I love it.”
The two walked around for a little while. Winona kept her hand nestled in his for the entire time. The longer she was with him, the more she liked the man. He was incredible in so many ways. Winona really wanted to be with him, but she hadn’t gotten to know Nick well enough to make her choice. She didn’t know what was so difficult about making the decision and was seriously about to just write both names down, thrown them in to a hat, and draw one. That would be the easiest way to decide.
The two continued to walk in silence, turning around after looking at less than half of the exhibits, heading back to Glory’s station. They were just enjoying one another’s company. It had been a long day for both of them and Winona yawned.
“Tired?” A.J. asked
Winona nodded her head, and A.J. pulled her in close to his side, letting her head rest on his upper arm.
“I really like you, Winona,” A.J. stated.
“I really like you too,” she replied sleepily.
Just as they were in front of Glory’s paintings, Nick ran up to A.J., pushing him roughly away from Winona. Winona flew backwards a bit since they had been holding hands, but caught her balance before falling hard on her butt.
“What do you think you’re doing with my woman?” Nick asked.
“Excuse me?” A.J. asked, “She isn’t your woman.”
“Yeah, well, I saw her first,”
‘Glory wants her to be with me,”
Just then Dom walked up, hearing the argument about who Winona belonged to. He advanced towards them, joining in.
“Winona wants me. Just because we’re having problems doesn’t mean that we’re not still together.” he stated, clearing things up for the both of them, or so he thought.
A.J. turned to Dom, shoving him away roughly, “She doesn’t want you,” he shouted, “She wants me.” Winona closed her eyes as the fight continued. She wanted to disappear in to thin air. The men were acting so immature and childish that it wasn’t even funny. The way that they were acting, she didn’t want anything to do with any of them. A.J. had gone from acting sweet and sophisticated to a complete beast.
“Guys, stop it, NOW,” Winona demanded, but she was ignored as they continued to yell and shove one another.
‘Dom, AJ and Nickolas, quit it,” Glory screamed, “I’m panicking, and your bickering isn’t helping.”
They ignored her as well, and Glory was near tears as she watched them bicker and argue like women in a cat fight. She rarely got to the point of tears.
“If Winona wants you, then why did she see me yesterday,” Dom challenged.
“She wants to go on a small get away with me,” A.J. shot back.
The yelling continued, as well as the shoving as stares came from all around. Glory wondered where security was when she needed them most. She would have all three men kicked out so fast if she could just grab a hold of a security guard. Glory’s breath caught in her throat as the men got closer and closer to her paintings. Dom gave Nick one large push right at the one easel with the work of art which she was most proud of.
“Noooo,” she screamed.
But it was too late. Nick couldn’t catch his balance on time, falling in to the easel. The painting shook a little before falling off sideways. Nick fell straight back on to the easel. He lay there, stunned, his body aching.
“You ass,” Glory yelled at Dom, running over to
her painting and picking it up. She inspected it, looking for any damage at all. Luckily, there wasn’t any done to it and she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been saved.
Nick stood up, holding his aching side as the others looked around ashamed and helpless. Glory picked up the easel, which was slightly broken, but would have to work a she set the painting back down on to it.
Winona was losing her temper quickly and it was only a matter of seconds before she blew her top. She tried to calm herself, but it wasn’t working like she wanted it to. No time at all now... Three...two...one...
“I don’t belong to any of you,” she shouted, “Dom, you are a pig. I don’t even want anything to do with you,” she began, ignoring the hurt in his eyes from his comment, “Nick, I...this is the second time you’ve picked a fight over me. I am not your girlfriend. Read my lips. And A.J.” she turned to face him, “You were at the top of my list, but then you had to ruin it by joining in with those other two...clowns. Right now, I’m not sure if I want to have anything to do with any of you.”
Now it was Glory’s turn to give them all a piece of her mind. She was so angry with them all, and she was embarrassed to have friends such as them.
“You are a disgrace to human nature...all of you,” she yelled, “Not only did you almost ruin one of my works,” she turned to Dom, blaming him for being the one to cause Nick to fall, “But you...you...argh, I am so angry I can’t think.” she let out a few noisy huffs of air, angrier than she’d been in a long time, “If you can’t act like mature adults, then you shouldn’t be here for me either. Next time, I’ll get a babysitter.”
With that, Glory spun around, ready to walk away to get a glass of something cold to drink and some fresh are to compose herself, but instead found herself face to face with her father.
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Cadence continued to stare at the doctor in shock. He hadn’t just said what she thought, had he? She didn’t want to believe it, but knew that it was true by the way Kevin tensed up beside her, sobbing harder all over again.
Turning to Kevin, she put an arm around him in comfort, “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry for what my idiot boyfriend did.”
Kevin didn’t say anything for a very long moment. Cadence wondered if he was going to speak to her, but wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to. Because of Todd, his wife was dead. Because of Todd, he was suffering. She was paying as well though. He would never wake up again. Todd might as well be dead.
“It’s not your fault,” Kevin told her, then turned to the doctor, who was still standing there. With the saddest, most grieving look Cadence had ever seen, he asked, “May I...can I please see Kristin one last time? To say goodbye?”
The doctor nodded, leading Kevin out of the room. He followed without another word, his expression somber. Cadence ran after them, wanting to see Todd. She needed to see him.
“Doctor,” she called out.
The two men stopped as Cadence caught up. Out of breath, she got up the courage to ask the question she knew she had to.
“Can I see Todd?” she asked, “Please.”
The doctor nodded. He dropped Kevin off first, leaving him alone with his wife. He then returned for Cadence. He took her on a journey which lasted about four doors down, leading her in to the Trauma ICU. He led her back to a bed, in a secluded corner.
“Take your time,” he stated, before turning and leaving, knowing that this would be the hardest experience of the young girls life. She needed to be alone.
Cadence timidly walked up to Todd. She could see already that he was hooked up to many machines. There was a breathing tube going down his throat. The only thing that wasn’t there, it seemed, was a respirator, doing the breathing for him. Taking one of his hands in hers, Cadence felt as if she were about to lose it. Tears fell down her face, as this wasn’t how things were supposed to end for them. It was funny how things changed so fast sometimes.
“Hi baby,” she said softly, “I know you can’t hear me...you might as well not even be alive. I just had to see you.”
She started to choke up, stopping to take in a deep breath. She had things that she needed to say. Things she had to get off of her chest. Her heart hurt, feeling as if it were being ripped up and shredded into pieces.
‘I don’t know why you had to go and get drunk,” she said softly, not trusting her voice to go any louder, “You aren’t even legal to drink, damnit. Now you killed an innocent woman and look where it got you.”
Cadence knew that reality was setting in. She was realizing that she had lost her boyfriend. Really, truly lost him. Bringing a hand to her mouth to stifle a loud sob she could feel coming, Cadence squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to hold the tears inside.
Bending down, Cadence kissed Todd on the forehead.
“I love you,” she said, her voice shaking, “I’m so sorry for causing you to run out. I love you so much....why do you have to be a damned vegetable for the rest of your life? Why?” she wailed, falling to the ground on her knees, crying harder than she ever had before. Cadence didn’t know how long she had been there, but after what seemed to be hours, she stood up, suddenly calm. She wondered if she’d fallen asleep. Standing up, she stared at Todd before turning and walking out of the room. She couldn’t promise she would go to see him again. He wouldn’t know it, and it was too hard on her.
Out in the open hallway again, Cadence begun walking, retracing her steps to find her way out of the hospital. She’d had enough of the place. She didn’t know where to go though. She couldn’t go back to her apartment. Not with all of Todd’s belongings there. It would be to hard on her this soon. She would have a breakdown if she went back just then.
Cadence was in such a distraught state that she didn’t notice someone coming up behind her, staying close for a few steps before speaking.
“How did it go,”
Cadence stopped, spinning around. Kevin was there. He looked awful, and she knew that whatever she had just gone through, his experience had been ten times worse.
“Okay...I wasn’t prepared,”
“Me neither,” Kevin stated as they walked together. He hurt so badly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to live, feeling the kind of pain that he did, “She was so...pale...and her lips..her nails...blue. She looked like she were sleeping, but her color wasn’t normal. God, I can....can’t beleive...that she...that she’s gone.” he stuttered as he choked up on his words.
Cadence stopped him, giving him a big hug. He needed one, and so did she. Cadence didn’t know how she was going to explain to her friends what had happened. She didn’t know how she would talk to his parents about it.
Pulling out of the hug, Cadence hated what had come of things. She felt that it was her fault that it had happened. If she hadn’t called him a rhino, to put it mildly, he would be alive.
“I need to leave,” Kevin stated, “I can’t be here..I need to get back.”
Cadence could tell that he was in a state of panic, not knowing what to do, or where to go. She understood.
“Thanks...for being there for me,” Kevin stated somberly, “No hard feelings....not your fault that it happened, so don’t think that it is.”
Cadence shrugged, “Thanks to you too. I didn’t want to be alone.”
There was a small pause. Neither knew what to do next, or who should begin the departure. Cadence started to walk away when Kevin stopped her again.
“I’m going to give you my number,” he started, pulling a pen out of his pocket and writing the number down on a piece of paper he’d found crumpled up inside his jeans. He handed it to Cadence and she looked at him strangely.
They’d both lost someone they loved, and he was giving her his number already, “In case you need to talk,” he explained, “We’re going through the same thing...it might help to talk, ya know.”
“Yeah, it might,” Cadence replied sadly, tucking the number away safely, before jotting her own number down for him and handing it over, “I might call you...” her voice trailed off, “You call me too if you need to.”
Kevin stared at the number for a long moment. When he looked up, he didn’t look directly at her, but rather past her. Neither said anything for another minute. Leaving would be like admitting that they were leaving a part of their past behind. They knew that it had to be done, but weren’t ready. The sooner though, the better. Kevin though, had the funeral to face. Cadence felt so sorry for him.
“Well, goodbye....for now,” Kevin said.
“Bye,” Cadence softly replied as they both walked in opposite directions. Cadence looked behind her as he walked away, his shoulders sagging sadly, his posture showing his depression. She had a feeling she’d be using his number a lot. She, after all, had nobody else to talk to that could relate to how much grief she was feeling.
Chapter Thirteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter 13*
(quick A/N before I get started on this chapter. I probably should have explained better what an art showing is for an artist but then again I did mention that Glory’s dad is the curator of the London Metropolitan a couple of times and that Glory is already an established artist but to clarify things more an art showing is where an artist displays a gallery of usually 10-20 pieces of art that will be sold off at the end of the night. So I’m going to re-do a few things from the last chapter to fit what was already stated in previous chapters and hope it doesn’t get too confusing. I’ll add more A/Ns if I do any major damage. Oh and one more thing that’s been bugging me for a while now, I haven’t been using the full Brit dialogue. Just thought you guys should know that Dom, Orli, and Billy don’t talk like this in real life, but for the sake of your American dialogue it would be safer if I just stuck to things most people understand. Plus they use the c-word a lil too much if you ask me lol)
Kevin headed towards the doors of the hospital hoping to catch a cab back to his house. He didn’t think he was sane enough to drive at the moment. The thought of having to deal with the press right now was the last thing on his mind. All he wanted to do was go back home to Kentucky and try and to be normal again. “Mr. Richardson!” A voice called out to him. Kevin didn’t even bother to turn around. He didn’t want to have to face anything else today. “Mr. Richardson!” The voice was more persistent until he finally come upon him forcing him to turn around. “Your wife,” The man, a short balding doctor, put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder trying to catch his breath. He had been trailing Kevin down the long corridor for some time now trying to catch the man. “She’s not, she’s,” The man sputtered. He stopped in the middle of his sentence and took a big gulp of air. “She’s not dead.”
“What?” Kevin squinted his eyes in confusion.
“She’s not dead,” The man repeated as he took his hand away from Kevin’s shoulder.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I was just told she had died instantly in a car crash,” Kevin spouted. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him figure out why someone would tell him his wife was dead and then take it back.
“There was a mix up,” The doctor admitted figuring if Kevin was going to sue it wouldn’t take much for him to make up a case with or without his last statement. “The woman she was traveling with was killed. Your wife was saved by her seatbelt.”
“You’re joking right?” Kevin asked suspiciously. If this man wasn’t telling the truth, Kevin wasn’t sure he would be able to hold all of his anger in long enough to not beat him into a bloody pulp.
“If you’ll just come with me,” The doctor held out his hand motioning for Kevin to follow him to the elevators. “My name is Dr. Carmichael,” He tried to explain. “I was working on your wife when she was brought into the ER.”
“No offense, but could you just skip this part?” Kevin asked anxiously.
“Sure,” Dr. Carmichael gave Kevin a reassuring smile as they stepped off the elevator. They had arrived back in the Trauma center. Kevin looked back at the chairs to find Cadence still sitting there looking lost. She gave him a strange look wondering why he was still there. Kevin turned back around as the doctor led him into a small room. Through a large window, he could see his wife’s lifeless form lying in the bed with dozens of wires sticking out of her. He closed his eyes not wanting to see anymore. “You can open your eyes Mr. Richardson. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“My wife is lying there dead and you”re telling me it’s not that bad.” Kevin said through gritted teeth.
He thought he had told the nurses where to send the body an hour ago.
“She’s not dead though, that’s the thing,” Dr. Carmichael told him. Kevin opened his eyes again looking down at the man. “Here you can listen for yourself,” The doctor went over and flipped a switch to an intercom system. The sound of a heart monitor filled the room with its steady beeping. “That’s the sound of that machine,” He pointed out the monitor to Kevin. “She’s not dead.”
Kevin stared at the monitor for what seamed like an eternity. His beautiful wife was still there, her heart was still beating. Kevin felt the happiness soar through his body as he watched her chest rise and fall with every breath she took, she was still there. “Is she okay?”
“As far as we can tell. She’s still unconscious but should come out of that in a few days. We’d like to keep her for observation since there was a slight sign of internal bleeding but nothing too serious. Other than that she broke her left leg and a few ribs. She should be fine in a couple of weeks.” Dr. Carmichael gave Kevin another smile to tell him everything was going to be all right.
“How did this happen? The mix up,” Kevin looked back at the doctor. It didn’t seem right that they had told him only two hours ago that the love of his life was dead before telling him she wasn’t. No man should ever have to go through that.
“The woman who was driving,” The doctor struggled to think of the girl’s name.
“Casey,” Kevin filled in. He knew the girl well. She was right out of college working for Kristen’s manager. The two women had hit it off instantly. Casey wasn’t the assistant anymore, she was the best friend. She spent most of her free time going places with Kristen when Kevin was away or working.
“Yes, Casey,” The doctor paused. “She was driving when the cars collided. She was the one killed instantly. Your wife’s purse and this young woman’s ended up getting thrown from the car. When the police arrived on the scene, they could tell which purse was which and with the state the pieces of identification where in, they had to guess.”
“Because Casey was blonde too, she could have passed for Kristen’s sister,” Kevin slumped his shoulders a little. He was glad his wife was saved but now he had to tell her when she woke up that her best friend had died.
“We’ve notified her family already,” Dr. Carmichael said softly watching Kevin stare into the room where his wife was still lying.
“Can I see her?” Kevin asked. He had to go in and touch her just to make sure she was still there.
“Of course you can,” The doctor smiled and opened another door to his left before motioning for Kevin to go in. The two nurses watching the monitors dropped their clip boards recognizing Kevin as her wife and exited the room to give him some privacy.
Kevin slowly approached the bed thinking this was still a dream. He would wake up and she would be sleeping next to him like nothing had ever happened. Worse yet, he would wake up to find out she was still dead and then have to face a life without her. He walked over next to the bed and sat down on the metal chair one of the nurses had left for him. He took her hand in his pulling it up to his face to gently kiss it. Her touch was still warm. A single tear dropped down Kevin’s face as he buried his face in the itchy sheets covering her. “Thank you god,” Kevin said into the bed. “I promise I will never leave you again,” Kevin looked back up at his wife’s face giving her the same solemn oath he had said on their wedding day. “I will protect you from this,” Kevin squeezed her hand again. “Just don’t leave me.” He whispered.
Minutes slid into hours as Kevin sat their watching her face. The morning grew into afternoon before Kevin finally got up to move. They were transferring her to her own room outside of the intensive care unit since she wasn’t critical anymore. Kevin followed as they wheeled her out into the hallway. He looked across the hall to find Cadence looking on into Todd’s room. Kevin told the nurses to take his wife to her own room. He felt he had to tell the girl his wife was okay, she looked like she was still blaming herself for this. “I thought you’d be gone.” Cadence looked over at Kevin as he walked over to her. Kevin looked into the room to see Todd still hooked up to all the machines.
“I thought so too,” Kevin gave her a quick smile. “I just wanted to tell you though that he didn’t kill my wife.”
“What do you mean?” Cadence looked over at him horrified. If he had convinced himself Kristen was still alive then maybe he should be admitted to the hospital, the psych ward though.
“It was her friend that was killed, not that that’s much better but my wife is still alive,” Kevin rambled. “They looked alike and I guess their ID’s got mixed up or something.”
Oh,” Cadence sighed looking back into the room. “I’m happy for you,” Cadence tried to say without it sounding so false.
“He’ll wake up, I know he will,” Kevin put his hand on her shoulder.
“It would take a miracle, he’s brain dead,” Cadence said glumly.
“I believe in miracles today,” Kevin told her. “It will happen,” He squeezed her shoulder again. “Well, I’m going to Kristen’s room in case she wakes up. I hope to see you again.” Kevin waved before walking off towards the elevators leaving Cadence alone once again.
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Meanwhile (A/N: Batman moment(don’t ask my dad used to watch the TV show with me) back in London Glory was still standing outside in the brisk London air. She was still fuming as she dug through her purse finally finding what she was after, the pack of cigarettes she had forced Elijah into giving her back in Hawaii. She had always hated when people smoked around her so she made it a point to take their cigarettes away, except for tonight though. She pulled one out and lit it up quickly before inhaling the smoke into her lungs deeply. She exhaled forgetting how much she loved the nicotine. “I thought you gave up smoking.”
“I did,” Glory didn’t even bother to turn around, she knew who was standing behind her on the balcony. He walked over to her putting his hands on the rail looking out on the sky with her. “But if you had friends like that you would smoke too.” Glory commented taking another drag from the cigarette. She glanced over at him for the first time in five years. He had aged slightly, but not much. The only thing that had really changed was the crease in his forehead had become more pronounced and the gray coming in around his ears had spread slightly only making him look more distinguished.
“You know, your mother always blamed me when you took that up the first time,” He commented.
“You are the reason I took it up remember? I was thirteen and you didn’t try to stop me,” Glory inhaled the smoke again. She knew she had hurt him with that comment. “Orlando would kill me if he caught me. We gave up smoking together when he was filming Lord of the Rings.”
“I see,” He looked over at his daughter amazed at the woman standing next to him. She had grown into her body in the five years of his absence. “One of your paintings sold for two point four million dollars, that’s the highest any of them have ever sold for,” He commented trying to make small talk with her. Glory snorted remembering his world revolved around money and only money. He could sense she didn’t want to discuss her paintings, normally she ended up giving most of her money to charity just to annoy him. “So, Viggo told me you and Orlando were married two weeks ago in Hawaii. I wasn’t invited.”
“I didn’t think you would come.” Glory responded.
“I would have, it’s my job to walk you down the aisle.” He looked back out on the city. Glory hadn’t bothered to turn to him again keeping her gaze fixed on the clock tower looming in the distance.
“You lost that right when you left me. Viggo was more of a father to me then you ever were.” Glory spat out finishing off the last of the cigarette. She wanted another one but Orlando would definitely notice that the next time she saw him.
“I guess I deserve that,” he admitted looking down at the ground and his two hundred dollar shoes. “But I’ve changed.”
“So have I,” Glory told him emotionlessly.
“I want to be close to you like we were when you were little,” He paused. “I want you at my wedding. Carol says she would be delighted if you were a bridesmaid.”
Glory looked over at him, the anger flaring in her eyes. “You don’t talk to me for five fucking years and now you come back wanting me to be in your wedding? What is it that you really want from me?” She asked him.
“I want you back, I want you to be my daughter again and trust me.” He pleaded with her.
“Where were you five years ago when I needed you?” She asked him. “When that bastard killed me.” Glory reminded him. She had been dead for nearly twenty minutes before the doctors could revive her again and still her father hadn’t bothered to even call.
“I didn’t know what to say other then you’re the one who got yourself into that mess.” He told her softly. That wasn’t the answer that she had wanted but it was the only truthful one she could give her. He wanted to be honest with her this time around.
“Stay the hell away from me,” Glory warned him as she walked away. “I did your damn little showing. This is the last time I ever want to see you again. Don’t call me, don’t even acknowledge my existence,” She shook her head as she walked away. She stopped before she got to the doors. “You seem to be good at ignoring me,” And with that Glory walked away from him for what she hoped was the last time she would ever see him again even though she had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last.
As soon as she walked into the building she was stopped by Dom. “Glory, I just wanted to say I’m really sorry about what happened earlier.”
“Save it,” Glory cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it from any of you. Just get out of my house before I get home.”
“Where am I supposed to stay?” Dom protested.
“I don’t give a damn anymore,” Glory told him coldly. “Manchester is only about an hour away. Use your imagination.”
“Orlando invited me to stay though, I am still his friend too you know,” Dom tried to defend.
“I don’t care,” Glory said walking past him. At that moment she just wanted everyone and everything to go away.
Inside Winona watched as Glory walked in not looking happy at all. The three guys were all still staring at her waiting for Winona to make a move and talk to them but she wasn’t having any of that. She walked over to Glory catching her arm in the girl’s. “Having fun?”
“Wanna get out of here?” Glory asked. She had to get out of there before she lost it completely. There would be many dead bodies lying around, mainly the guys and her dad, if she stayed any longer.
“Are you going to tell me what just happened?”
Winona tried to pry it out of her as they stopped to check on the last of Glory’s paintings.
“Nope,” Glory said shortly as she smiled politely to someone who looked like they were about to compliment her. She couldn’t stand to have another person tell her she was talented tonight. “Let’s just leave now.” She said gathering their coats and heading out into the night air.
“Shouldn’t you tell Orlando where you went?” Winona asked as Glory flagged down a cab.
“Who?” Glory asked before realizing what Winona had meant. “He’ll understand.”
“Okay,” Winona shook her head knowing that wasn’t true but Glory was in one of her moods where no one would have been able to talk her out of whatever she was about to do. “Where are we going?”
“I know a place,” Glory said with a slight grin across her face.
Two hours later Winona found herself sitting at a table right next to a stage with some muscular guy wearing nothing but a shiny yellow g-string dancing in front of her. “So, they’re going to get naked?” Winona asked Glory who was busy stuffing some money into the g-string of a tall, dark, handsome, almost naked guy. Glory was about to answer Winona’s question when the guy dancing in front of Winona ripped off the tiny piece of material. “Never mind,” Winona laughed watching Glory gulp down another mysterious pink drink. From what Winona had counted that would be the ninth one Glory had drunk since getting there.
“I love being home,” Glory shouted laughing as the guy dancing in front of her leaned forward to pull his own g-string off. “Naked guys and we’re allowed to drink here,” Glory clanked her glass against Winona’s finishing off her own drink.
“Don’t you think you should slow down?” Winona asked. Her world was spinning pretty fast. She couldn’t even imagine what was going on inside Glory’s. “Better yet, don’t you think we should be going home?” Winona asked looking past Glory. It was a little past two in the morning already. She was sure Orlando was going to chew them both out the second they walked into the house.
“Why bother?” Glory asked. “Actually, I know of another place.” Glory stood up dragging Winona with her out the front of the strip club and down the street a little. Winona was glad that she had drunk a few glasses of wine otherwise she would have been freezing her butt off in the black mini-skirt she was still wearing. Glory pushed her into a tiny pool hall.
“Wow, another bar,” Winona commented as Glory pushed her down into a booth. A tall bartended walked over to them.
“I’ll have a rum and coke and she’ll have a Sprite.” Glory told him slipping him some money for the service. Normally she would have had to go up to the bar but fortunately the young bartender seemed to like having two young women wearing short dresses in his company.
“Why can’t I have any more alcohol?” Winona slurred. She hadn’t realized the wine she had consumed before had messed with her like this until now. She figured it had to be because the tiny dive they were in now was nothing compared to the club they had just been in. The club was filled with strobe lights and dancing people to keep the alcohol from settling in. Here though, the dim lights were only obscured by the glaring TV above the bar and the lights over top of the three pool tables. The smoke must have helped that too even though Winona couldn’t remember it being that smoky in there until she looked across the table to see Glory puffing a lit cigarette. “And since when did you smoke?”
“Pissed off habit,” Glory took a drag again. “And you don’t need any more booze. You can’t even keep your head up long enough to look at me,” Glory laughed as Winona slumped forward on the table a little.
“I’m fine, I just need a little nap.” Winona mumbled lying her forehead against the cool table.
“I’m sure you do,” Glory shook her head seeing the girl was almost passed out as the bartender came over to them. “Thank you,” She said taking her drink from him. “Do me a favor,” She grinned at him. “Just bring me your bottle of Jack. It’ll save you the trip.”
By the time Winona had woke up, she had the worst headache in the world. Her body kept telling her to go back to sleep but her forehead was telling her to get up. She slowly lifted her head to discover they were still in the dim bar. Glory was sitting at the bar smoking her cigarettes still with an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels in her hand slurring some story to the bartender. Winona pushed herself up and sat down at the bar. “And then he said I would be a bad mum,” Glory told him. Winona looked over at her realizing this was the first time she had ever heard the girl use her natural accent. She knew she was from London, something that Cadence still had yet to learn. But Winona had always thought that since Glory’s mom was American, that’s the accent she would have.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by that,” The guy wiped another glass. Winona looked up at the clock thankful she had only been passed out for an hour. It was almost three thirty but that would be better then morning. The bartender looked over at her realizing she was awake. He walked over to her leaving Glory there still telling her story. “Do you think you could give me a number to call for someone to pick you two up? I’ve been trying to get her to me for the past twenty minutes now.” He said motioning back to Glory with his hand.
“Sure,” Winona mumbled and went back over to the table to find Glory’s purse. “Here,” She handed him Glory’s driver’s license since it was the only thing she knew had the right address and phone number on it.
“Thanks, I’ll have someone down here soon,” He smiled at her wondering if the two pretty women were worth all this trouble.
Glory was still rambling on about something that Winona couldn’t understand when their ride finally got there. The only thing that her still drunk mind could comprehend was knives and idiots. She looked up feeling someone place their hand on her back. “Come on,” She let AJ guide her off of the barstool wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her upright. “You got Glory?” He asked as Orlando rounded the corner walking up to his wife.
“Yeah,” Orlando gritted his teeth walking up to her. “Come on, it’s time to go home.”
“I don’t want to go back there,” Glory pushed his hands away from her. “I know Dom’s still there.” Glory tried to stand up only to fall on the ground in front of Orlando’s feet.
“Glory, just come on, you need to go home.” Orlando reached down only to have her smack his hands away.
“No,” She yelled at him. “You don’t get it. I hate him now, him and my father both.” Glory pushed her face into her knees to try and make everything go away. She was too drunk to have to deal with everything right now.
“You don’t mean that,” Orlando could feel his face getting red in anger. He hated when she was like this, ready to run away again. “Come on,” Orlando easily lifted her up and flung her over his shoulder.
The next morning Glory awoke as something loud hit the floor. She opened her eyes to find she was the thing that had hit the floor, or rather her hand had. She was lying in front of the door on the wood floor. Glory pushed her hair out of her eyes and sat up looking around. “It’s about time you woke up.” Glory looked over at the couch to find Billy sitting there watching TV.
“Why am I on the floor?” She asked him.
“I think you should ask Orlando. He’s the one who dropped you there.” Billy commented.
Glory looked down at her arm to find a row of bruises there before she remembered getting incredibly sloshed the night before. Winona must have called Orlando who, in his anger, literally dropped her on the ground.
“Where is he?”Glory asked.
“I don’t know, he left a note for you in the kitchen,” Billy told her. “So why are you so mad at Dom?”
“What is with you people? Can’t I have just one day of peace without having to deal with something?” Glory asked frustrated. She pulled her high heels off throwing them into the hallway.
“It’s a hobbit thing,” Billy grinned. “But why did Dom high tail it out of here last night?”
“He actually left?” Glory asked taking a deep breath in. Her lungs hurt from the cigarettes. She didn’t even have to look in her purse to know she had smoked them all.
“You did tell him to,” Billy reminded her.
“I know,” Glory sighed and stood up. She walked into the kitchen to find the note from Orlando stuck to the counter. “Meet me at our restaurant at one,” Glory read out loud. “Great,” She shook her head. “Why do I suddenly feel like a three year old about to be put in time out?” She asked herself before heading off to her bedroom to get a shower in before her death.
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Cadence awake with a jolt hearing the phone ringing in the distance. It seemed like she had been home for only minutes but the house was pitch black. She had only meant to sleep for an hour so she could go back to the hospital to stay in Todd’s room overnight. “Damn it,” She cursed trying to find her phone. She was tempted to give it up but she had a gut feeling it was something important. Winona had her cell phone before she left the hospital explaining everything she had missed at the showing so Cadence knew it couldn’t be them again. “Hello?” She yelled into the phone finally finding it.
“Cadence, this is Dr. Carmichael,” He paused to let it sink in who he was. Cadence held her breath in praying this wasn’t the call she had been dreading all afternoon. Todd’s parents had decided to take him off life support so they figured it would only be a matter of days before his body finally succumbed to death. “I just thought you should know he’s awake.”
“What?” Cadence yelled again not sure if she had heard him right.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but he woke up about an hour ago asking for you,” Dr. Carmichael paused again. “It seems there was another miracle today.”
“Oh my god,” Cadence dropped the phone and sat down on the couch letting herself cry. This time though she was crying because she was overwhelmed with happiness for the first time in months. He wasn’t dead. Cadence grabbed her keys off the counter running out of her house not even bothering to lock any of the doors before speeding to the hospital.
Cadenced was directed to a small room on the third floor. He had been moved from intensive care and given his own room just like Kristen had. Cadence stood outside the room listening to him talk to his parents grateful to hear his voice again. She took a deep breath and walked in. For all she knew he could still hate her for the things she had said. Todd looked up at her as soon as she walked in and smiled. “Could you give us a minute?” He asked his parents. They both nodded and left the room as Cadence sat down next to the bed.
“I’m so happy you’re okay,” Cadence beamed.
“I came back for you,” Todd told her. “I was there, almost at the light when I was given an option. I chose to have to life I was meant to have with you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Cadence said crying again.
“Shh, don’t cry,” He told her. “I’m the one who messed up.”
“But it’s all my fault,” Cadence cried. “If I hadn’t said anything you wouldn’t have almost died and that girl would still be alive.”
Todd cringed at the thought that he had killed someone. “I chose to drive, this is all my fault. I’m willing to take the blame for my own actions.”
“Her family isn’t going to press charges,” Cadence sniffled. “They figured you had suffered enough if you ever woke up,” She told him. “I just can’t stop thinking that if I hadn’t been so insensitive, none of this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Stop beating yourself up over this,” Todd ran his fingers threw her hair. “I think this is God’s way of giving us a second chance. I can be a better boyfriend now.”
Cadence smiled knowing he was right. They had a second chance on their lives. She knew she had to start being the person she had always wanted to become and from looking at him, she knew Todd would understand how she had to be treated. Everything had worked out just like it should have.
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“Stupid British television,” Winona muttered under her breath as she flipped through the channels again. She couldn’t believe Glory only had twenty different channels to chose from here. Winona sighed and threw the remote down on the couch. Everyone was gone for the afternoon leaving her alone. Dom hadn’t even called after he left, for all she knew he could be back in LA by now. Glory had left to go meet Orlando while Billy mentioned something about having to buy something for his girlfriend leaving Winona all alone. She was glad to be alone though. She still felt like she had been run over by a truck during the night. Her body hurt everywhere and her stomach had yet to recover. She was almost sure she had puked on AJ’s shoes but she figured he had it coming.
Winona was about to try and go back to sleep when she heard the doorbell ring. She pulled her robe tighter around her pajamas and walked up to the door. “We’re sorry,” Came three voices as soon as she opened the door followed by handfuls of flowers being thrust into her face.
“What the,” Winona looked past the flowers to find Nick, Dom, and AJ all standing there trying to look pitiful for her.
“We just thought we should come here and apologize for our behavior since, well since meeting you.” Nick started.
“We were acting like immature sex-driven morons.” Dom handed her some more flowers.
“And we just wanted you to know we want to be friends.” AJ explained.
“Nothing more unless you want there to be more and then the other two will be okay with it.” Nick added on to AJ’s comment.
“Guys, this is really sweet,” Winona told them smiling at their generosity. Not many guys she knew would go this far to prove they were sorry for acting like jerks.
“So, can we be friends?” Dom asked.
“I guess,” Winona grinned knowing she couldn’t resist them. “But it’s going to take time.” She told.
“We completely understand.” Nick held up his hands to prove his point.
“Thank you for that.” Winona said leaning up against the door.
“We should be the ones thanking you. Most women wouldn’t forgive us for acting like asses.” Dom commented. “We thought we should make it up to you.”
“I’m not the one you have to make it up to.” Winona whispered to them before shutting the door leaving them out in the hallway.
Chapter Fourteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
Chapter Fifteen by sweet18_2003 Ayleen n Dani
*Chapter Fifteen *
The plane ride back to LA was a long and tiring one. They’d had to wake up at three in the morning to catch their five o’ clock flight back. Glory was sad to leave the beautiful country behind, but was excited to get back to her life in the state which her other home was in, knowing that she could visit London any time her heart desired. She did, after all, have a home there too. Leaning over, she rested her head on Orlando’s chest, closing her eyes. In just a few hours, she would be back in the privacy of her home...no Winona or Dom just doors down to hear her and Orlando’s screams of passion in the night. Dom and Winona were the reason that she and her new husband had refrained from rated R action during their stay, for the most part. They were the reason that she and Orlando were going through sexual withdraw already. She loved her friends to death, but it was well past time for them to be off, taking their separate ways to their own homes in LA.
“Tired?” Orlando asked, kissing his wife’s forehead softly.
“Mmmm,” Glory responded with a smile, picking her head up to look at his handsome face and in to his beautiful eyes, “Just looking forward to being ho...going back to my second home. And yes, am very tired. Jet lag is gonna be setting in very soon....stupid eight hour time different.” she then muttered under her breath.
Orlando grinned wide, “I am looking forward to being home too...if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows seductively, ignoring her second statement, hoping that she was catching on to what he was getting at.
Glory rolled her eyes, socking him in the stomach playfully, “Men...and their over-driven hormones. Is sex all your species thinks about?” she joked.
Orlando shrugged, a sexy smile taking over his face, “You know you miss it too, and no, sex is not all my species thinks about. Just ninety-eight percent of the time.”
Glory didn’t say anything, deciding to torture her new husband for a little bit, making him think that she didn’t want any bedroom action. Her thoughts strayed back to all that had happened since she had been in London, causing her to frown. She thought of her father...her idiotic, moronic, ass-hole of a father. The father that had been so horrible to her, she hated to even call him that. No, to her, he wasn’t much of a father. He was more of a burden...a thorn in her side. Something she wanted to forget, but couldn’t seem to. She thought of the disasters of Dom, Nick and A.J. all getting into physical fights over Winona, and on more than one occasion. She thought of Cadence leaving because of Todd getting in to an accident, which reminded her that she still needed to call her friend back and catch up on what had happened with him. Glory made a mental note to call her friend once they landed and she was home again and check up on the lastest with Todd. Glory cringed, remembering that she had promised Cadence that she would call a few hours later. That was before she had come face to face with the man that she despised most. Glory shook her head in disgust at the nerve of him. How dare the man expect her to be in his wedding, after so long of them not even speaking...after all of the horrible things he’d done, said, and made her feel about herself. She knew that he only felt obligated to ask that of her. What else was he going to say when they were staring right at one another. He was the reason also, that she’d stressed completely, pulling out her cigarettes and then going to a club to get completely trashed, resulting in Orlando becoming disappointed in her and angry. No, this definitely wasn’t one of her best trips to London, but at least her paintings had sold for quite a large sum of money. That aspect of the trip made her proud. She just hoped that her next trip back would, all together, be better and she could have fun.
“You okay, love?” Orlando asked, staring at Glory in concern, “You look like you’re about to kill someone.” he chuckled nervously, hoping that him bothering her wouldn’t make it him that she wanted to rid of..
Glory whipped her head around, distracted by Orlando speaking to her, “Huh?” she asked in confusion, missing everything he’d said.
“I asked if you were okay,” he repeated, “You look out of it, is all.”
“Oh, um....yeah, I’m fine,” Glory responded, forcing a convincing, or at least what she hoped to be, convincing smile, turning her head to look out of the small window of the plane at the ground miles below them, praying that Orlando wouldn’t push things and would leave her alone. She got her wish because Orlando knew better than to disturb her then, turning his attention to a magazine. When Glory turned away, avoiding conversation, he knew that it was best to leave her alone until she was ready to speak.
Meanwhile, Winona was a row behind the newlyweds, listening to a CD on her walkman. Bopping her head to the tunes, she closed her eyes, oblivious to the body which had suddenly moved over right next to her. She jumped when she felt a light tapping on her shoulder, letting out a slight shriek of startlement. Looking quickly to her side, she saw A.J. sitting there, grinning at his ability to scare her so easily. Winona smiled back, sliding the headphones off of her ears and letting them drape around her neck.
“Hey babe,” A.J. grinned, “Still mad at me?” He stuck his bottom lip out in a small pout which caused her to laugh lightly.
“Aje, I told you that I wasn’t,” she said, “Remember?”
A.J. nodded, “Just making sure...I don’t want you to be mad at me. I know that I was an ass...and I am embarrassed for how I acted.”
“Did Glory put you up to this?” Winona asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. She wouldn’t put it past her friend to try and get A.J. to butter her up...especially when the man made her knees weak and she found him irrisistable.
A.J. shook his head, throwing his hands up in protest, “No...no...I swear, this is all me. I really like you a lot. I want you to know that.”
Winona grinned, blushing slightly at his
compliment. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that the gorgeous man sitting beside her would ever speak those words to her...but he had, on several occasions. The times before, she’d slightly doubted his intentions, afraid that Glory had threatened him with her infamous baseball bat. This time though...this time, she felt differently. This time, she believed that the words were coming straight from him...from his heart, intended solely for her.
“I really like you a lot too,” Winona told him, feeling a slight jolt as the plane hit a mild turbulence, “I’ve liked you a lot for quite some time.”
“So let’s date,” A.J. suggested, “Forget the others...be friends with them...but we should date. Glory approves, we both really like one another. How about it?”
Winona sighed, wishing that she could tell him ‘sure, let’s go for it’. She really did like A.J, but she couldn’t just jump at the chance, as much as she wanted to. A.J looked at her expectantly, the look in his eyes telling her that he was waiting for her to agree to his proposal. Winona bit her bottom lip, knowing that her response would hurt him.
“I wish it was that simple,” she said slowly, “I mean...I really want us to...be an item.”
“Then why can’t we?” A.J. interrupted.
“Because I need to give the others a fair chance too. I...I like you all...sure, I like you the best at this point, but...I can’t just jump at the first offer.”
“Oh...um, of course. I understand,” A.J. said with a forced smile, but Winona could tell that he didn’t understand. She could tell that she had hurt him, and wanted to kick herself in the ass for it. In all reality, A.J. was probably the best one for her. Nick was nice and all, but was immature and goofy. She knew that his natural personality and behavior would eventually get on her last nerve, and that a relationship could not work out between them. She didn’t want to lose her temper on him and end up screaming up a storm on how stupid he acted. And then there was Dom...he was nice as well, but Glory freaked when she saw them together, and plus, he had violated her, and had somewhat of a cocky attitude. She shuddered at the memory of coming back from the car, only to see him laying in front of her completely naked. No...she definitely wasn’t sure if he was the one for he either. She would forever fear that he would try and force her in to sexual actions. But despite Dom and Nick’s flaws, she felt that she should still at list try and give them another chance, just to make sure that she was making the right decision. Winona just hoped that when that time came, that it wasn’t too late and they’d all moved on to other women.
“When do you think you’ll know?” A.J. finally asked her, “I mean...when do you think you will know who you want to be with?”
Winona bit her lip, not sure how to answer that question. She honestly didn’t know how long it would take her, but A.J. wanted an answer, and she had to come up with a good estimated guess for him right then and there.
“I’m not sure...probably no more than ten days,” she answered, knowing that she could squeeze in three dates per guy in to that time span, and get to know each one better before the final decision was made. At the end, she would get all of the guys to come to her apartment, and tell them all who she was going to pick, in front of all of them, so that there was no confusion, and so she could tell the two who she didn’t pick how great they were, but why she had decided to say no. She felt that it was the best approach; to do it all at once. Rolling her eyes, she felt like she was going to make her final decision Survivor style, “I’m going to go out with you and the others a few more times before I decide. How about we go out tomorrow?”
“Okay, sounds like a plan,” A.J replied with a satisfied nod, “I can wait that long, I suppose...but I can’t wait like this forever. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be led on. And tomorrow is good with me for a date. I’ll pick you up around eleven.”
Winona nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. She knew that if she did, it would be trembling. She knew that if she spoke, she would tell A.J. that she would date him, only to regret it in a day knowing that she’d made the choice too soon, and then have the burden of telling him that she took it back until she knew the others better. She also knew that she would cry for making him feel led on. But lastly, the thought of him moving on and forgetting about her upset her more than words could say.
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Cadence sighed as she walked the halls of the hospital which she’d come so familiar to her over the past few days. The doctors had shown up in Todd’s room to run some tests and check up on how he was doing. Cadence had decided to head down to the cafeteria for half an hour so that they could do their work without any distractions.
Making her way in to the large, yet almost vacant cafeteria, Cadence went up to the counter, ordering a plain bagel and a hot chocolate. Paid and took her purchases and turned around, looking for the best place to sit beings her options were open. She saw a seat by the far window which outlooked a garden. Cadence started to make her way towards it when she spotted Kevin off in a corner by himself sipping a cup of what she guessed to be coffee. Cadence smiled, making her way over to him. She really didn’t want to be alone. She hated silence. The closer that Cadence got, she saw that Kevin had a far-away look in his eyes as he stared blankly ahead. He seemed to be deep in thought.
“Hey there,” she greeted, causing him to look her way. He smiled tiredly back at her, “Mind if I sit here?” she pointed to the seat across from him.
“No, go right ahead,” Kevin said, “It was getting kind of lonely here...but Kristin was taken for some X-rays, just for a final check up to make sure she is okay.”
“She’s being released today, right?” Cadence asked, and Kevin nodded, taking another sip of the steaming liquid, “That’s great...I am so happy that she’s going to be okay.”
Kevin smiled again, “Thanks...how’s, um...Todd doing?”
Cadence shrugged, “He seems to be doing good, but he feels guilty about this whole thing...we’re both blaming ourselves for it.”
“How would it be your fault?” Kevin asked in confusion.
“I...I don’t know if I told you this, but we got in to a huge fight over his excessive weight gain and how much I worry about him. I pretty much told him that he was a hopeless cause.” A slight blush arose on her cheeks as she realized how cruel that sounded, “I was so angry...and he left. If I hadn’t gone off on him, letting out all of my anger over the past year and a half, it would have never happened.”
Kevin listened intently, and when Cadence finished, he said, “But he didn’t have to go and get drunk...he didn’t have to leave. It was an accident...don’t beat yourself up over it, and tell Todd not to either.”
Cadence tilted her head to one side, staring at Kevin in curiosity, “How are you so understanding about all of this? How are you so forgiving? My boyfriend almost killed your wife.”
Kevin shrugged, “But Kristin is okay, and he is going to be okay. I’m just to thankful for that, that I can’t be mad at him for anything else.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say next. Cadence gave great respect towards him for being so understanding and forgiving.
“Does Kristin know about her friend?” Cadence asked, “I mean...has anyone told her that Todd ki...killed her?” She could hardly get the last word out.
Kevin nodded somberly, “Yeah...I told her this morning.”
“How did she take it?” Cadence asked, immediately regretting her question, mentally slapping herself for it. How else would she be taking it? Her best friend was dead.
“Not well,” Kevin admitted, “She screamed, saying that it wasn’t true...and even tried to kick me out of her room. I had to comfort her to calm her down, which took quite a while. She’s in denial about the whole thing, saying that it was another mixup. I wish that it was...but it isn’t...this is real.” He sighed, wishing that nobody had died in the accident.
“Good luck with that when she realizes what happened...ya know?” Cadence responded, “I, um...I...” Cadence flustered, not knowing what to say, realizing that the words that she spoke really weren’t making much sense at all.
“Yeah,” Kevin said, knowing what she was trying to say, then chuckled somewhat bitterly, “Hopefully, things will turn out better than I am thinking they well..
Cadence looked at Kevin, and for the first time, noticed how bloodshot his eyes were, with dark circles under them. His hair was disheveled, making it obvious that he hadn’t really taken enough time to clean up over the past couple of days. He looked like he’d aged about ten years. He looked exhausted.
“You should try to get to get some sleep, you know,” Cadence told him with a small smile, “It would help you feel better.” She knew that in a week, he would look back to normal, slightly younger than his thirty-three years rather than nearing forty.
“I’ve tried,” Kevin admitted miserably, “I can’t seem to fall asleep. Every time I try to get rest, I can’t...I don’t want to. I’m afraid that once I wake up, Kristen being alive will have all been a dream. That she’ll be dead...and I’ll be without her again. I can’t bear the thought of being without her. Thinking I would have to live without her was painful enough.”
Cadence knew what he was saying, and told him so, “I know...when I thought I’d had lost Todd...I was a mess. I mean, sure, I’d said very hurtful things to him, but it wasn’t out of hate. It was out of love and frustration. I worry about him. Believe me though...this isn’t a dream. Kristen is alive and going home today. Todd is awake, and leaving in a day or two. Everything is going to be okay now...” Cadence bit her lip, remembering Kristen’s friend, “For the most part anyways.” she added solemnly in almost a whisper.
“Quit thinking about that,” Kevin scolded, “Yes, it’s horrible, but it can’t be changed. You did nothing to cause it, and nothing can change it.”
Cadence didn’t know what to say. Here sat across from her a man she’d always dreamed of dating. He was just as amazing in person as she’d always thought he would be just from watching him on TV. He was sweet, sensitive, caring, understanding, honest, truthful, forgiving, friendly, gorgeous...he had every perfect quality. Todd almost dying though had caused her to realize how much she loved her boyfriend. She didn’t think that she’d fantasize about what it would be like to be with Kevin. He would be nothing but a good friend, if that even.
“Thanks for not being a total ass about this whole thing,” Cadence laughed lightly, “I mean...not blaming me and stuff. A lot of people would have.”
Kevin just smiled at her, “Won’t get anywhere being like that, now.” he said, “Besides, you were miserable too. We were going through the same thing.”
Cadence sighed, looking at her watch. She was surprised to see that forty minutes had passed already. Time had flown by in the time she’d been talking to Kevin. She smiled, standing up, “I’d better get back to Todd.” she explained.
Kevin stood up too, “Yeah, and me back to Kris,” he said, “It was nice talking to you again.”
“You too,” Cadence replied.
Kevin reached out, giving her a friendly hug, grateful that he’d had somebody to talk to through all of this.
“Tell Kristen that I said I hope she feels better,” Cadence said. “Same with Todd,” Kevin stated, “Call me sometime. Maybe the four of us can go to dinner somewhere nice or something sometime.”
“Just might do that,” Cadence said, then hesitated, uncomfortable suddenly, not knowing what to do next, “Well, I’ll see ya later.”
“Yup, see ya,”
The two stood there for another second before parting, going their separate ways so that Cadence could check up on Todd and Kevin could prepare to take Kristen home. It had been a long past couple of days and neither could wait to put this part of this nightmare behind them and move on, getting on with life like none of it had ever happened.
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Winona smiled to herself as she unpacked her suitcase, hanging her clothes back up in her closet and placing her shampoo and other beauty products back in the bathroom. She and her friends had arrived back the day before. Catching up on jet lag had been a bitch, but she was caught up on the time change already, feeling great. She hummed along to the song that was playing loudly over her stereo, Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely, as she worked. She loved the song, and found A.J’s voice extremely captivating in it. It was hypnotic almost, making herself become lost in her own thoughts. His voice was so sexy, husky, slightly raspy...amazing. The thought of A.J. brought a huge smile to her face, even larger than the one she’d had on before. She and A.J. were going out that night to dinner at a fancy restaurant and then to a movie. She was happy that he was no longer upset, disappointed, or whatever he had been feeling towards her...or maybe he was. Winona didn’t know, but this date was the next step to helping her make her choice, although she was pretty sure that she already knew what it was going to be.
Finishing up unpacking, Winona shut of the CD, not wanting to miss A.J’s arrival because of the overpowering sound generating from the speakers, She was expecting him in what was supposed to be fifteen minutes. Winona bit her lip, suddenly slightly nervous about the date. She felt as if it were the first time she was going out with him. She figured that it was probably because this was the one of three dates with A.J. that would help her make her final decision. Winona wanted to make the best impression that she could with A.J, and she found herself mechanically walking in to the bathroom to apply some fresh makeup and re-straighten her hair so it looked freshly done. Taking a step back, Winona examined herself in the full-length mirror. She had to admit that she was please with the reflection looking back at her. All except for one thing...what she was wearing. Winona knew that if A.J was taking her to dinner, that he would be wearing a suit, looking like a picture-perfect gentleman. Her tight, hip hugger jeans and skin tight top wouldn’t do. Charging towards her closet, Winona started tearing thorough her hangers of dresses in the corner of the closet. By the time she was finished, it looked like a tornado had torn throughout the place, but she knew that she would look great when she brought out the dress that she was looking for. It hit slightly above her knees, and was tight and form-fitting. The color was a midnight black with a light glitter, making it sparkle at certain angles. Winona threw off her jeans and shirt, sliding the dress gently over her head. It slid over her form gently, making her feel sexy. Putting on some strappy black heels, and a small, silver bracelet, she finished off her attire with a pair of tiny, sparkling diamond earrings. Going back to the full-length mirror, she checked herself out once more. She spun around before giving a satisfied nod at how she looked right as there was a loud knock on the door. Winona picked up a bottle of perfume, giving herself a quick spray with it before scurrying out of her room and towards the front door to meet her date. Taking a deep breath to compose herself and calm her nerves, Winona slowly opened the door, revealing A.J. on the other side. He was wearing a bright smile and looked just as amazing as she’d suspected he would in a black suit with a crisp whit shirt underneath. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, revealing his beautiful chocolate eyes. She felt lost in them as she stared, hoping that she would be able to find her voice.
“Wow,” he whispered, almost speechless, “You look incredible.”
“You look pretty damn good yourself,” Winona grinned, surprising herself for saying something that wasn’t incredibly lame, eyeing him up and down and licking her lips at the sight of him.
The two just stared at one another, both somewhat uncomfortable, yet excited for the date to take place.
“So, um...are you about ready?” A.J. asked.
“Mmm hmm,” Winona responded, “Just let me grab my purse. Come on it. It will just take a second.”
A.J. stepped inside of the apartment as Winona ran back to her room, cursing at herself for forgetting about the purse. She grabbed a small black one that she’d used for prom years before, throwing in lipstick, blush, a small brush and a credit card, in case of an emergency. Her knees shook as she did this, her stomach in turmoil. Winona slowly sat down on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut. She didn’t think that she’d ever been his nervous in her life.
“Calm down, girl,” Winona muttered to herself, “It’s just A.J...you’ve been out with him before. You’ve known him for...well, not long at all actually. But it’s no different than any other time you’ve been out with him.”
Winona took a deep breath, hoping to stop her body from trembling. When she was sure she had herself under control and could do the date, she stood back up, feeling better already. Snapping the purse shut shut, Winona did a double check in the mirror before taking of back towards a beaming A.J.
“Okay, all ready,” she grinned, as she looped her arm through AJ’s and they were out the door to start begin the evening.
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Glory stared at her phone before picking it up. Orlando was still sound asleep, but she knew that she had gotten her rest for the night. She’d been awake for a good two hours, staring at the ceiling. Now she was bored, her attention span wandering to something new every few minutes.
Dialing Cadence’s cell phone number, Glory let it ring five times before it was answered by Cadence.
“Hello?”
“Hi...it’s Glory,”
“Oh, hey!,” Cadence greeted, taking Glory by surprise by her cheerfulness. She wondered if Todd had died and her friend was celebrating, “How did your art thing go?”
Glory rolled her eyes. Just like Cadence to call it an ‘art thing’, “My showing went fine.” she laughed, “You worry me...a lot.”
“I know,” Cadence said, and Glory could tell that she was grinning, “You know ya love me though.”
“Okay then,” Glory replied, then whispered in her joking, sarcastic tone, “Just keep telling yourself that.”
Cadence laughed, loving her friends strange sense of humor. You had to know the girl to understand it and appriciate it.
“Um...how is Todd,” Glory asked, getting to the point of why she was calling.
“He’s doing good...which is a miracle by far, but at least he’s alive and awake.”
“You’re confusing me,”
Cadence didn’t feel like explaining everything, beings she was visiting with Todd, but Glory wanted to know, so she stepped in to the hall. No use in making him feel bad by reminding him of what he had done.
“Todd went and got drunk out of depression of what I said to him. He was in an accident, hit someone head on. They thought that she was dead, and he was brain dead and a vegetable. Turns out though, that he did kill someone, but not who they originally thought...and he woke up, perfectly fine.” Cadence let out a breath, beings she’d said all of that in one.”
Glory was silent for a moment trying to comprehend the information she’d received. She had many questions running through her head...the first one being how had a guy as underaged as Todd gotten drunk? He didn’t know anybody in LA yet to even buy him the alcohol. Before she had the chance to ask anything though, Cadence started talking again.
“I met Kevin,” she said, “He’s a really great guy.”
“Huh,” Glory asked, “How did you meet Kevin?”
“Hospital.,”
“What’s he doing there?” Glory asked, her overprotective instincts overcoming her, “Is he okay...is he hurt?”
Cadence laughed “No...freak thing, but, Kristen’s car is the one that Todd hit...and she is the one that they thought was dead.”
“Kristen is dead? Your fat ass boyfriend killed Kristen?” Glory screamed so loudly that it was almost deafening.
“No,” Cadence was quick to interrupt, “They thought she was...but it was her best friend that was dead. Kristen is fine, thank god.”
“Oh,” Glory said, “But Todd still murdered someone..all because the truth hurts...I hope the girl wasn’t who I think that it was...”
Glory’s voice trailed off as she watched Orlando come out of his sleep. He sat up, bearing his naked torso and shoulders. Her eyes bugged out of her head, she licked her lips at the sight of him. Orlando leaned over and gave her a kiss on the mouth before getting up, exposing the rest of his naked manhood.
“Yo, Glory...ya there, girl,” Cadence asked with a laugh.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m here.” Glory answered watching her husbands naked body walk in to the bathroom to do his morning duties. She was eager to join him, “I gotta go though. I’ll call you later.” and then the phone went dead, Cadence left in confusion staring at the phone as Glory rushed in to the bathroom to take part in some X-rated action with her husband while he was still wearing his birthday suit.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.