“Hey so can I borrow your car? Mom needs mine for God knows what, because Derek took hers.”
Rochelle had called Elisa at work the next day.
“Yeah, I guess. Just drop it off at my house when you’re done. How you getting here?”
“Mom will drop me off.”
“Okay.”
An hour later, Rochelle walked into Elisa’s office, frustrated.
“You need to start telling her no,” Elisa said to her little sister, handing the keys over.
“Wish I could, but I’m not like you. But that woman is going to make me lose my job one day.”
“Don’t let her, Chele!” Elisa said urgently.
“I gotta go. Oh yeah, you still need to fill me in on what happened at the concert that night. Tell me later?”
“Will do.”
_________________________
Elisa woke up to Rochelle knocking on the door the next morning.
“Hey, here’s your keys. Mom’s out in my car so I don’t have long, so give me the short story.”
Elisa grinned.
“I have Nick Carter’s number now.”
Rochelle’s jaw dropped.
“No fucking way.”
“Way.”
A car horn honked.
“Be right there!” Rochelle shouted. “Aren’t you glad Mom needed me to get my kid now?”
“I guess so. I don’t know what’s going to happen, though.”
Rochelle scoffed.
“This is a good thing, Leese. Trust me.”
She hugged Elisa and ran out to her car.
Elisa made eye contact with her mother, who was on the phone. Her mother, Diane, glared at her, and Elisa returned the glare. What her mom had done was unforgivable, but it definitely wasn’t the worst thing that she had put her through.
Diane seemed to blame Elisa for ruining her life. She had had Elisa at nineteen. Elisa could not remember her mother being nurturing for a moment. Her father was the nurturing one, but he was killed when she was younger.
Diane had boyfriend after boyfriend, and finally she had found one that she truly liked. However, after the guy had done something terrible, Diane blamed Elisa for it and had hated her since.
To hear Diane talk, Elisa was an ungrateful lying bitch who hated her mother and manipulated everyone to turn against her. And most people believed Diana. The only ones who didn’t were Rochelle and her father’s mother. Sadly, her grandmother died the previous year, right around the time Elisa caught Diane and Derek together.
Diane broke the glare as Rochelle pulled out of Elisa’s driveway.
Sighing, Elisa walked back inside, and called her therapist. She needed to schedule a session.
__________________________
Nick had just gotten off the phone with Elisa. It was the first time she had called him. She had called him, just to talk. She had just gotten off of work, and needed time to kill before her therapy session.
“When did you start therapy?” Nick asked.
“When I was fourteen. It’s a long story, one I don’t want to get into right now,” she said.
“Okay?”
Elisa sighed.
“Mainly issues with my mom.”
“What happened?”
“If I started with the entire list, I’d write a book. So I’ll start with today. She had my aunt call me, to see about Thanksgiving. That was fun. ‘No, Aunt Connie, I don’t want to go to Thanksgiving because your sister fucked my fiance and I’m just a little bitter about it.’ But that’s my fault, too, so it’s whatever. They’re the reason I’m in therapy, and normally I feel better after I go to see my therapist, so wish me luck,” Elisa said.
“Wait, wait do you mean by fucked you out of a fiance?” Nick asked, confused.
Elisa groaned.
“That wasn’t supposed to slip out. I was engaged last year, until I found them together, in my bed.”
“Who the fuck does that?” Nick asked, disgusted with a woman he didn’t even know.
“My mom.”
“Hold up, why is it your fault? Did you make her fall on his dick or something?”
Elisa cracked up.
“It was my voodoo powers. I was running short of reasons to hate my mom so I made her screw my ex.”
They laughed some more until it was time for her session. She promised to text him with how it went.
Now he was sitting in his room, packing up Maureen’s things for her. She was coming by sometime that week to get it, and he didn’t really want her in his house for too long. He was still stinging but it was getting better. He was sure Elisa had something to do with that.
_____________________
Elisa couldn't concentrate at work . All she could think of was Nick.
It had been three weeks since they met at the gym, and while they had talked on the phone, she hadn’t seen him since then. He was actually a great person to talk to, and he made her feel better when she was dealing with her crap. He wasn’t at all self adsorbed. He always asked how her day was before going into any detail about his.
Yolanda, her co worker and good friend, knocked at her office door, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Hey, I have the list of the seniors who still need to pay their graduation fees," she said.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, just put it on my desk," Elisa said.
Yolanda did, and smirked.
"Okay, what has you off in a daze today? You came in with a bright smile this morning, and you've been daydreaming all day."
Elisa laughed.
"Nothing I want to talk about right now."
"A guy?"
Oh, you have no idea, Elisa thought.
"You can say that," she said.
"Who? Do I know him?" Yolanda asked.
"Nah. I don't think so. His name is Nick, and it's something...complicated. We're just friends but he did act like he wanted more, so I don't know what we are now."
“Is he cute?”
“Beyond.”
“You have a picture?”
Elisa sighed.
“Shut the door.”
Yolanda did. She sat down in a chair across from Elisa.
Elisa took out her phone, and found a picture from the concert weeks ago. Nick in his black tank top, playing his guitar.
She handed her phone to Yolanda.
“Um, Elisa, that’s Nick Carter.”
“Yep.”
“Nick Carter is engaged.”
“Not anymore.”
“He’s in the Backstreet Boys.”
“Yep.”
“You’re telling me that Nick Carter seems interested in you?”
Elisa laughed.
“Yes, I think so.”
Before Yolanda could speak, Elisa’s phone rang.
“Elisa…it says it’s Nick…”
Yolanda handed her the phone, pale and shaking.
Elisa smiled and answered it.
“Hey.”
“Hey, girl. What you up to?”
“I’m working, and my friend here doesn’t believe we know each other.”
“Most people won’t at first, Leese. Look, what are you doing Friday night?”
“The usual. Go home, watch a movie, eat a ton of popcorn.”
“How about chilling with me?”
Elisa winked at Yolanda.
“I guess I could. Why?”
She could practically hear him rolling his eyes at her.
“Because. We’re friends. Friends hang out together. And I haven’t seen my friend in three weeks.”
“Okay smart ass. We can hang out Friday.”
“My ass’s intelligence has nothing to do with this conversation, although I’m sure it appreciated the compliment. Have a nice day, I’ll call later.”
“Okay, laters.” Elisa hung up, giggling.
Looking at Yolanda, she smirked.
“Believe me now?”
“Oh my GOD…I am so happy for you!” Yolanda squealed. “I want details on Friday!”
“As long as you don’t sell them to the paparazzi rags.”
“I promise!”
Elisa smiled, and began to work again.
_____________________________________
Nick was sitting in his music room, playing his guitar. He was practicing “Trust Me”, which was looking to be the next single from the boys’ album. But he couldn’t stop thinking of a certain brunette he’d met almost a month ago.
He was trying to figure out where to take her on Friday night. Elisa wasn’t the flashy type, she was more laid back than the other girls he’d dated.
“You’re not dating Elisa,” he reminded himself.
He sighed and strummed a few more cords. Elisa was cute, with brown wavy hair, and big brown eyes. She wasn’t skinny, but she wasn’t big either. She was much shorter than he was, maybe 5’4.
AJ and Brian thought she was hot and told him to go for it, but Howie and Kevin, the older men, advised against it. They thought he needed more time to move on from Maureen, but the fact was, he didn’t hurt over her anymore.
He heard someone come in the house. Putting down his guitar, he walked out of the room.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
“Um, it’s me. I came to get the rest of my clothes,” a female’s voice sounded.
It was Maureen.
“Oh. Yeah, go ahead,” he said, shrugging and going back into his music room.
A few minutes later, she tapped on the door.
“You okay?” she asked, concerned.
Nick smiled at her.
“I’m better, yeah.”
“No drinking?”
Nick shook his head.
“Not a drop.”
Maureen smiled.
“Good. I didn’t mean to hurt you, you know that, right?”
Nick nodded.
“Yeah. Sometimes, things just don’t work.” He got up and hugged her.
“Yeah. But hey, it was fun,” she said, smiling.
“It was. And I’ll always care about you.”
“Call me if you need anything,” she said, kissing his cheek, and pressing her ring in his hand.
“You too,” he said.
He watched her walk out of the house, and sighed. He’d expected this to hurt more, but it didn’t. Sure, it stung, but he wasn’t heartbroken anymore.
Nick was going to get through this.
Author's Chapter Notes:
We learn more about Elisa's troubled past in this chapter.
