[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
*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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.