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*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.

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“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.”