Every Road Leads Back

By Dottie

Copyright 2012

Chapter 27

            Giselle decides to throw herself into work and not think about Nick. While she gives it all she's got, when she falls in bed at night, he's the one on her mind.  After two weeks she knows she has to talk to someone. After making a date to have dinner with Kendall, she immerses herself in paperwork at the store. 

She always thought managing a business was what she wanted, but the day to day tediousness of it is boring her to tears. At the moment, she's filing paperwork on one of her newest employees when she glances up at the security feeds on the monitor. There, in the stock room, is the new employee, plus two others and they are smoking. She shakes her head, slowly standing.

As she walks toward the stock room, she has an overwhelming urge to just run. Leave it all behind. She wants to move to a place where there are no people, no phones and no responsibilities.

When she slips into the stockroom, the smell of smoke assaults her senses. She stops and listens as Jim says, "Open the door.  It's getting bad in here."

She hears the door open as Ed, the new guy, asks, "So, what's the deal with the boss? She's fucking hot."

Rob snorts. "Don't waste your time. She's the freaking ice queen."

Ed guffaws. "What, none of you tapped that?"

Rob replies, "Are you kidding? She's so freaking straight laced it's unreal. I can't even have wet dreams about her because she's so closed off. I tried flirting a few times, but it's like she doesn't know what to do with a man. Hell, one day she had on this super-low-cut blouse and I could see everything when I stood over her in the office. I had a hard on like you wouldn't believe and she didn't notice."

Jim says, "From what I heard about her last job, she's a tease. Kept this one guy going, went to dinner, he spent money on her, but she wouldn't put out. Now what kind of chick doesn't spread ‘em for an expensive meal? Seriously?"

Giselle bites the inside of her jaw. Is she a tease? Did she lead Mark on? Is that what she's doing with Nick? Leading him on? Tears sting her eyes and she turns, blindly leaving the stock room.

Once in her office, she starts to hyperventilate. Her assistant manager comes in, finding her doubled over gasping for air. As scared as she is, she starts to call 9-1-1 until Giselle stops her. "Don't!"

Kate says, "What's wrong Giselle? Are you sick?"

A hysterical laugh bubbles up from deep inside Giselle. "Sick? I guess you could say I'm sick. Oh my God, how could I...I didn't mean...Kate, I have to get out of here. I'm sorry, I can't do this..."

She grabs her purse as Kate says, "Giselle, wait...tell me what's wrong. Let me call someone..."

Giselle fumbles for her keys. "I'll be fine. Don't...I'm sorry Kate. I'm so sorry."

She stumbles out of the office and bursts through the stock room to the back door. The guys are stubbing out their cigarettes and all of them have an "oh shit" look on their faces. She blushes deeply and hurries past them, running to her car.

Once inside the sweltering vehicle, she feels like she's going to vomit. She starts the engine and is pulling out as Kate comes rushing out the back door yelling, "Giselle WAIT!"

Giselle floors it, almost side-swiping a car as she screeches onto the road. Horns blare as she weaves in and out of traffic and hits the highway. She doesn't pay attention to anything and just drives.

An hour later, she finds herself parked outside her childhood home. Memories wash over her in waves. The way her mother treated her, the days she spent crying, praying someone would take her away. She watches closely as a woman in her mid fifties comes out onto the porch to water flowers. Her mother.

She's shocked at how she's changed. Gray hair mixes in with the dark blonde and she's lost a good thirty pounds. Giselle seems lost in time as her mother slowly makes her way across the porch with the watering can stopping once to pick up a gray tabby and give it a hug.

Tears sting her eyes. She was never allowed to have a cat. They were a nuisance, her mother said. Now the cat gets more love than Giselle ever did. She looks back up to find her eyes locked on her mothers. Her mother seems shocked to see her and for a brief moment, a smile lights her face. She takes a step towards the car, but Giselle springs into action, starting the car and taking off before coming face to face with the woman who bore her.

She drives till her car runs out of gas.  She sits on the side of the road and stares at an orange grove. How did her life become this? Why can't she just go back and start over again? As she's mulling over things in her mind, her cell phone jars her from the past.

When she answers, she hears Kendall frantically asking, "Where are you? Giselle? Are you ok? Kate called. You scared her to death, what's going on? Giselle? GISELLE?"

Finally, she manages to quietly say, "I'm here."

Kendall sighs. "Where is here?"

She looks around. "I don't know. I just...drove. Kendall, am I hopeless as a woman?"

Fear laces Kendall's voice. "What? What are you talking about?"

Giselle sniffles. "I love Nick. I always have. I can't let go because I love him. I can't move on because I love him. The men at work...they were right. I'm a freaking ice queen because I love Nick Carter!" She hangs up and throws her phone into the floor board, ignoring the continuous ringing as she gets out and climbs over the barbed wire fence surrounding the trees.

Deep gashes cover her arms and legs, but she doesn't feel it. She runs straight back through the trees, finally collapsing half a mile from the road. She hugs a tree trunk and sobs. "Nick...oh Nick why couldn't we make it work?"

AJ panics when Kendall calls him and explains the situation. He and Nick are in a conference call with Brian and Howie, talking about how to get Kevin back into the group.  He leaves the room quickly, saying, "Kendall, where is she? What happened?"

Kendall says, "I don't know. Her assistant manager called me, I'm her emergency contact. She said Giselle flipped out and just left, squealing tires and crying. I called her...AJ she sounds...sad. Angry. Something's wrong. Bad. She's not answering now. She kept talking about Nick and how she loves him. AJ, we have to find her, but the police...she has to be missing 24 hours before they'll look for her."

AJ says, "I'll find her. Give me a minute. I'll call you."

AJ quickly hangs up and calls his manager. Nick walks in just in time to hear him say, "I don't care how, I just have to find her. Get a private detective. Have them track her cell phone, her car, SOMETHING."

Nick steps up. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

AJ throws him a frosty glance. "Giselle is missing. She had some sort of breakdown at work. We can't find her."

Nick pales, pulling out his phone. He presses a number on his phone and waits. "Billy, it's Nick. Where is she?" AJ listens dumbfounded as Nick says, "Off 27? How far?" AJ turns off his phone. "Dundee? OK, stay close, I'm on my way."

When he hangs up, AJ pounces. "You had someone following her?"

Nick nods. "Sandy didn't handle the break up well. She threatened Giselle. I knew G would never let me protect her now so I've had Billy and the guys taking shifts. James called Billy when Giselle tore out of work like a bat out of hell. They were getting ready to call me."

Nick turns and heads out the door. AJ follows, ranting, "Where the hell are you going?"

Without a backward glance, Nick climbs into the car. "To take care of the woman I love."

AJ scrambles in quickly. "Not without me you're not. That's my best friend you know."

Nick nods as he backs out onto the street. "I know AJ. And right now, maybe she needs you more than me, but I can't just sit here." He signals, turning at the corner. "Call Kendall. Tell her we know where she is and we're going to get her."

As Nick maneuvers traffic, AJ calls Kendall. She's as shocked as AJ about Nick's take charge attitude, but at this moment, she's more than happy to know that Giselle is ok. After promising to call her back, AJ hangs up and a heavy silence fills the car.  Apprehension hangs thick in the air as Nick drives as fast as possible to get to the woman he loves.

When Nick parks behind her car, James pulls up beside him.  "She went into the grove here. There's blood on the fence, she must have gotten cut up pretty bad. I was gonna follow, but Billy said you were on your way, just to keep an eye out."

Nick gets out. "Thanks. Call a tow truck for her car. I'm going to find her."

AJ follows closely. "We are."

James nods. "Throw something over that fence first. It's wicked."

Nick tugs off his shirt and drapes it over the fence before crossing it. The blood on it makes him blanch, but he's determined to find Giselle. AJ follows closely, swallowing the bile that bubbles up in his throat. They quietly follow the path Giselle took.

When Nick first sees her, relief floods his body. He and AJ slow their pace, trying to discern the best way to approach her without scaring her. Until Nick sees her face. Tears have stained her cheeks and blood is smeared under her nose from the cuts on her hands where she wiped her face. AJ starts to charge forward, but Nick grabs him. When their eyes meet, AJ sees it. It's time for Nick to prove himself.

AJ steps back as Nick slowly walks over to Giselle. He sinks to his knees in front of her and whispers, "G?"

She slowly opens her eyes, fresh tears springing forth. "Nick?"

He reaches out and wipes her face gently. "What happened?"

She sniffles, shying away from his touch. Pain lances through his body as she pulls away, but he knows why she did. She's still unsure of him. With a shaky voice she says, "I'm hopeless."