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Howie paced around his kitchen nervously biting his lip and feeling confused. He had just called Mia’s cell phone, but the service had apparently been disconnected. He figured something had probably happened with the payment; maybe it was lost and they disconnected her service in error. That was a perfectly feasible explanation. At least it was until he decided to call her at home and he heard that familiar tone followed by female recording: We’re sorry, but you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Please hang up and try your call again. That was when Howie really began to worry. Sure, the phone company could make mistakes, too, but what are the odds that neither phone would be working because of a missing payment?

Rolling his head from side to side, he tried to ease the tension he felt building. It had been four days since he had seen or spoken to Mia and he was definitely more than a little worried. It wasn’t like her not to call or come by. He didn’t expect to talk to her every single day because that’s not the type of person she was, but he normally saw her about three times a week.

He began to drum his fingers on the counter as he tried to decide what to do. He thought about going to see Mia, but what if he just barged over and everything was fine? He would look like a crazy man. Hell, she might not even realize that her phones were not working. But what if something was truly wrong? Nodding to himself, Howie decided that he should just go over and make sure nothing was wrong. He would never be able to sleep until he was sure so he grabbed his car keys and headed out the door.

Mia’s apartment was completely across town and it took him about twenty minutes to drive over. Howie parked in the guest space directly beneath Mia’s apartment. Looking up at the balcony, he noticed that there were no lights on inside the apartment. Just stop assuming the worst of things, he tried to calm himself but he still took the stairs two at a time. A moment later he was standing outside apartment 2A wondering if he was overreacting. He knocked three times and listened for movement inside. Nothing. Three more knocks yielded the same results. Finally, Howie sorted through the keys on his key ring, a feeling of dread settling inside his stomach.

Mia had given him a key to her place a couple of months before, telling him to use it whenever he needed to. Until now he had never entered her apartment without her knowing about it or being with him. He felt almost as if he were intruding. Taking a deep breath, Howie slipped the key into the door and unlocked it, slowly pushing it open. When he walked into the spacious apartment, he felt his jaw drop at the site before him. Everything that had been there was gone. There was no furniture anywhere to be seen and the only thing in the room was one empty cardboard box and an old wadded up newspaper. It was almost as though no one had even inhabited this apartment less than a week before.

Howie took another look around the apartment and knew that he wouldn’t need to check the other rooms; he would find exactly the same scenario he was sure. Turning around he quickly left the den, not bothering to close the door. Question after question shot through his mind as he got into his car and drove back home. He didn’t know what to make of the whole situation at all, it was so unreal. Mia was gone…like she fell off the face of the earth. It was almost as though she never even existed in the first place.



Bianca stood in the airport looking at her family, not really wanting to leave them just yet. Hunter grabbed her and gave her a big squeeze and a noogie just as he had when she arrived. He ruffled her hair lovingly and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away; the only words escaping his mouth being “I love you”. Goodbyes were always hard for her big brother.

Holly just gave her a hug and a sympathetic smile. Bianca had explained everything that had been going on to her, knowing that her secret would be safe. Squeezing her friend in a tight hug, she smiled.

“I’ll call you as soon as I get the results,” Holly whispered. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

Bianca nodded, but stayed silent before releasing her. With a sad sigh, she turned to her mother and tears filled her eyes. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you, too, sweetie. Call me as soon as you get home, okay? And give AJ a kiss for me.”

Bianca laughed and nodded. She reached up to wipe her tears and gave her mother another hug. She didn’t want to let go; she always felt so safe in her mother’s arms. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and was comforted by the scent. “You always smell so good, Mama.”

Shirley squeezed and kissed her daughter’s cheek before pulling back, looking into her daughter’s eyes. “You need to rest when you get home,” she said. Her eyes sparkled happily as she continued, “You always tire easily during pregnancy.”

Bianca’s mouth dropped open and she just stared at her Mom. “What?”

“Did you forget who I am? Or did you just think you could fool me?”

She stuttered for a moment before looking down at her hands. Who was she kidding? Her mother could always tell when a woman was pregnant and she could even tell her the sex of the unborn baby. Bianca had seen her do this many times while she had been growing up. Why she ever thought she would be any different was completely beyond her, but now she was at a complete loss for words.

“There’s your boarding call,” Shirley’s voice broke into her thoughts.

Bianca nodded and forced a smile feeling dazed. “I’ll call you from home.”

***

After Bianca boarded the plane and got settled into her seat, she began to feel excited at the thought of seeing AJ. It had only been four days since she’d left LA, but it felt like a lifetime. As soon as she was out of the terminal, she spotted him. He was standing a few feet away wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt with a vest over it. And of course, he had on a newsboy hat and shades to complete his outfit. Bianca smiled when she saw him, but his head was lowered and he had his hands shoved deep into his pockets; she could tell by his body language that something was wrong.

“Hey stranger,” she said quietly when she was in front of him. Reaching up, she gently tugged on his beard and leaned up to kiss him. “Miss me?”

“Hey baby,” he smiled, but even through the shades she could see something in his eyes.

Bianca frowned and tilted her head to the side as she gently ran her thumb over his cheek. “Aje, what’s the matter?”

“We need to get home baby.”

Suddenly, Bianca felt panicked. Something was very wrong, but she had no idea what it could be. Did he know? Or was it something else? “AJ, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t think this is the right place, babe,” he answered as he fidgeted with the button on her jacket. He took her hand and started to walk toward baggage claim, but Bianca tugged him over to a set of chairs instead.

When they were seated, she lifted his shades from his face and clearly saw the worry in his chocolate eyes. “Please tell me what’s going on. I am not leaving until you tell me, AJ.”

Taking a deep breath, he looked down at his hands. He reached over and took her hands in his before lifting his eyes to meet hers; he bit his lip and tried to find the words he would need. “Bean… your Aunt Linda called about an hour ago…”

“Really? She probably just wanted to bite my head off for not visiting,” she smiled and squeezed his hand.

“No,” he cleared his throat. It had suddenly gone dry and he felt like he could hardly swallow. “Bean, there was an accident today… Holly and Hunter were going to get something for your Mom. I think she said they were on their way back from the grocery store.”

“An accident?” she asked slowly. “But everything is okay, right? I mean, they weren’t hurt were they?”

AJ lifted his left hand and scrubbed it over his face, scratching his beard. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wasn’t working. Slowly, he nodded his head. “It was pretty bad. Holly is in ICU. When they took her in she was in critical condition, but she’s stable now.”

Bianca felt her breath woosh out in relief. If Holly was okay, she didn’t have to worry about Hunter. “What about my brother?”

“I’m sorry, Bean.”

“Sorry?” she felt her throat close when she looked into AJ’s eyes. Her breathing became labored and tears welled up in her eyes. “Tell me he’s okay AJ. I need to hear you say he’s okay.”

“Baby,” he reached out and pulled her to him as his own eyes brimmed with tears, “your Aunt said they did everything they could for him, but it was too late. Hunter didn’t make it, Bean.”

“No!” she yelled and pushed away from AJ drawing the attention of a few people standing nearby. “No, that’s not true! He was fine when I left! He hugged me and messed up my hair like he always does and I know that he’s okay! He has to be!”

“Bianca,” AJ spoke her name quietly. More people were staring at them and she was becoming hysterical. “I’m so sorry, Bean.”

Finally, Bianca collapsed against his chest as she began to sob uncontrollably. Pain welled up inside her as she tried to wrap her mind around what AJ just told her. What he was telling her couldn’t be true. It was all just a misunderstanding. “I have to get back home. I have to leave now.”

AJ nodded. “Okay, but I’m going with you.”

Bianca had already jumped up and began running at full speed through the airport toward the check-in counter. When she reached the counter, the woman standing there looked at her as though she was interrupting a very important event.

“May I help you?”

“I…I need a t-ticket to North Carolina that leaves as soon as possible,” Bianca choked out between sobs.

After typing something into her system, the woman sighed and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, we don’t have anymore flights leaving today.”

Bianca bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming a string of profanities at the woman. “Look, I need a flight out of Los Angeles that is going to North Carolina right now. It’s an emergency.”

The woman, Connie, slowly lifted her eyes to give Bianca the once over. “Well, I’m sorry miss, we don’t have any flights,” her voice was laden with sarcasm. After a moment she mumbled something else just loud enough for Bianca to catch. “Stupid celebrities… they think they can have anything they want.”

“Look Connie, I’m in the middle of a family emergency. If you can’t appreciate that then I wouldn’t consider you a human being. I realize I’m being quite demanding right now, but my brother just died, okay? I have the right to be a little fucking demanding. Now I would appreciate it if you could help me get a goddamn ticket home.”

AJ grabbed Bianca and pulled her close just as she broke down again. He just glared at the woman who now looked shocked beyond belief. “C’mon, we’ll get a flight back for this afternoon if I have to fly you home myself,” he mumbled against her cheek and pulled her tighter against him as she sobbed.



Kevin stood outside of Alice Wellman’s home for a moment before knocking. He could hear people inside and suddenly felt very uncomfortable about meeting Tara’s family. It wasn’t like they were dating, and he wasn’t sure if her mother or the rest of her family knew the circumstances of their relationship. After a few minutes, he shifted Chris a little being careful not to wake the sleeping toddler and looked up as the door opened suddenly.

“Kevin,” a woman he presumed was Alice greeted him with a warm smile. “I’m glad you were able to get here tonight. Here, let me take Chris and put him down.”

Kevin only smiled and let Alice lift Chris from his arms. Hiking the strap of his backpack higher on his shoulder, Kevin followed her inside the house and stopped when she disappeared into a room to the left of the den. She reappeared a moment later still smiling and motioned for him to follow.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” she offered as they passed by the kitchen.

“No thank you.”

“I set the guestroom up for you to sleep in. Please let me know if there’s anything you need.”

“Oh, thank you, but I can stay in a hotel Mrs. Wellman. I don’t mind at all,” Kevin said quickly. He had not planned on staying there with them.

“First of all, call me Alice. Second, no you can stay here. We have plenty of room, and Tara asked me to have you stay.”

Kevin shifted his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Good then,” she smiled warmly. “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping and then I’ll go let Tara know you’re here. She’s just taking a little nap.”

Feeling very awkward indeed, Kevin walked past Alice into the guestroom. It was cheerfully decorated in light greens and blues and seemed quite welcoming. He dropped his bag on the chair in the corner and just stood looking around. He put his hands in his pockets and felt unsure of what to do next. It’s not that he felt like he was intruding at all because Alice made him feel more than welcome, but he didn’t know what to do with himself. The fact was that even though he had gotten to know Tara, they were still very much strangers and this was bound to be awkward. He turned at the sound of Alice’s voice and smiled.

“Tara’s awake now and she asked if I would come get you to see her.”

“Sure,” he offered yet another smile (something he felt he was doing a lot) and followed her out of the room and down the hall. He slowly walked past Alice when she stopped in the doorway and motioned him to continue into the room. For whatever reason, he had become nervous.

“Hey Kev,” Tara spoke quietly and motioned for him to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. “I’m so glad you came.”

Kevin’s brow furrowed at the sight of Tara lying on her side in the bed looking pale and weak. Usually, she looked vibrant even when she was exhausted, but now she just looked sick. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she smiled and took his hand in hers. “I’m just glad you’re here.”