I found the apartment. It’s on the lakefront. There’s a beach right below it. Not such a big drawing card in January, granted! LOL! But August in Chicago can be beastly. Of course, the Big Star will have to stay indoors, I guess, so he won’t get swarmed by fans, but he can come out on the balcony and I can wave to him from the beach.
Talk to me about furniture styles. It was kind of hard to tell what you like from your house in California. I get that you like Japanese art and I’ve picked out a spot for the leather sofa.
Take care,
Abby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Abby had resigned herself to the fact that Nick was “moving” to Chicago. They had finally gotten around to discussing that in California after the disastrous affair with the vase. And after…
That evening after everyone finally left, Nick laced his fingers through hers and walked her up the stairs. She muttered some nonsense about tidying up, but he had been the sensible one and just kept walking her up to the bedroom. He made sweet, passionate love to her, letting her know that she wasn’t the only one who could make someone lose their mind.
He undressed her with his eyes, and then with his hands. He laid her back on the bed and he spread her legs with his hands, pressing down gently on her inner thighs, until she lay totally open to him. And then he ignored that part of her body, moving his lips to her forehead and then her cheekbones and then her jaw and then her lips…touching every part of her and taking forever to work his way downward…until…
Abby would never forget the look on his face. He kissed her all over…her face, her neck, her breasts, her stomach…without looking at her, concentrating totally on the task at hand. And then, as his lips trailed across her stomach and down her thigh, he looked up. He smiled…a tiny smile, almost not there and he mouthed something, she didn’t know what…she couldn’t hear it and she sure as hell wasn’t about to say ‘pardon’…and then he put his mouth on her and she went blind…or insane…or both. She wasn’t really sure which. But she knew that she completely lost the power of cogent thought and that she was only capable of making one sound…sort of a strangled howl, a small animal noise of some kind…something that she hoped said ‘passion’ and not ‘choking goat’. The world disappeared in a haze of white light, blinding but somehow comforting…
She threw her head back on the pillow and arched her back and just wanted the sensation to never, ever end. And then she needed him inside her. Now. Right now. Nick, she cried. She was afraid that it sounded like a demand or a plea or a… she didn’t really know, but it seemed to work because now he was between her legs…he was poised to enter her…oh, for God’s sakes, couldn’t her hands just light on him somewhere instead of fluttering around him like freaking Tinkerbell in Peter Pan? She forced her hands to behave, to rest on his shoulders, to run down his back as he moved himself into her, as he built the rhythm that would put both of them somewhere else...somewhere…Abby mouthed something at him that he didn’t quite catch. But he didn’t really care. He was somewhere else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“…to Chicago?”
Abby raised her head off Nick’s chest. “Sorry,” she said, “what did you say?”
“I asked if it was okay to send my Nintendo stuff to Chicago.”
Abby put her head back down. “Of course, it’s okay,” she said, sleepily.
“Well, you just seemed surprised a little earlier, you know, when Aaron mentioned it…”
“I was surprised,” she confessed. “I didn’t know what you’d decided to do.”
“I don’t think it makes sense for me to buy another house out here. I already have the one in Florida. And we’re going on the road so I’m not really going to be anywhere for very long.” That didn’t sound right to Nick, but Abby got his meaning.
“Of course, it’s okay,” she said again. “But I’m warning you, I intend to practice on that Nintendo thing. When you come to visit, I’ll beat the pants off you.”
Nick ran his fingers down her spine. “You don’t need Nintendo to get the pants off me,” he laughed.
Abby kissed his chest and snuggled down into his arm. “True,” she whispered. “Very true.”
“I just didn’t want you to think…” Nick continued, fumbling for his words. “I don’t know…that I was moving in, taking over your life.”
Abby wrote his name on his stomach with her fingernail. “Parking a video game in the corner is hardly taking over my life,” she said. “Besides, it’s like you said, you’ll be on the road most of the time anyway.” And when you’re not, she thought, I’ll lock you in the apartment with your video games and not let anyone know you’re in town.
“Okay,” said Nick in a resigned voice. He still didn’t have the impression that Abby wanted him in Chicago. Oh well, it wouldn’t matter for the next couple of months anyway. He’d be too busy in Florida.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hey, Abby!
Great news about the apartment. Free at last, free at last, great God almighty, you are free at last. That’s a quote. But I bet you already knew that.
Furniture styles? You got me! I trust your judgment, though, you’re the one with class. But if I have to choose, I’d say a brass bed. A big, brass bed.
How’s it going otherwise? We are really busy. We got set back a bit when a flu virus went through. Only Howie and Kevin got it, weird really, when you think about it, because they are the two that take the best care of their bodies. Anyway, they were down and out for two solid days and then we had to make up the time.
It’s going to be a great show. I think we’re all thinking the same thing, that this is going to be our last tour together, so we’re making it really special.
Send any new stories that you might have.
Nick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dear Nick,
Abby typed the words and then stopped. She had spent the last two weeks telling him all the details about the apartment, describing the layout, talking about the neighborhood. She had told him that she was going to take her time and decorate it bit by bit. She’d asked his opinion on everything and got very little back other than his restated confidence in her ability to make it look ‘classy’. She’d told him about school and the hospital and the kids and the teachers. She’d told him about her mother and her father and even Mrs. Smith.
But she hadn’t told him the most important thing. She hadn’t told him about her new best friend.
Ronni was back in her life and Abby couldn’t seem to get rid of her. It started when Abby came home from California. She was looking to buy a condo and James and Ronni were looking to sell one. The two women ran into each other at the real estate office.
Abby was there to sign the final papers. She had looked at a lot of different buildings. There were condominiums everywhere in Chicago, and more springing up each day. This was a big step for Abby, leaving the wood-paneled walls of Fremont Fortress to set out on her own and she didn’t want to jump at the first apartment that didn’t have her mother in it. She wanted to get the perfect one.
Sharon Fremont, to Abby’s surprise, had been all in favor of her getting an apartment. It said to Sharon that a wedding was in the offing and she started talking about dates. Abby forestalled her every time by mentioning the tour. When she complained about it to Nick, he emailed her back a date in early June and one in mid-September. Pick one, he said. Sharon picked September and started referring to the condo as the “Honeymoon Suite”. Sharon figured they would live there until Abby got pregnant and then they would buy a house in Oak Park. It never occurred to Sharon that Abby would leave Chicago. But then again, it never occurred to Nick either…or Abby.
Abby finally found the apartment that ‘spoke’ to her. It was large with bright, spacious rooms and a view over the lake. It had three bedrooms, a sitting room, a large living/dining room and a kitchen big enough for a table and chairs. Abby loved it and sent off the details to Nick who emailed back that is sounded nice and he was sure she was very excited. She was. The day was perfect and she told him all about it, except for the part where she ran into Ronni at the real estate office.
Ronni had been looking at houses for nearly two months and the agent had just about run out of patience. He understood that people wanted the ‘perfect’ house but he couldn’t conjure one up out of thin air. For someone as eager to have a house as Mrs. Fenton seemed to be, she sure was picky. She’d turned down one house, for God’s sake, because she didn’t like the shape of the driveway, another because the color of the fixtures in the ensuite bath “wasn’t quite right”.
The truth was that Ronni couldn’t make up her mind about a house because she couldn’t make up her mind about her marriage. She wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in Chicago. It was so boring here! But she knew that James would never live anywhere else.
“Abigail?” The two women met in the lobby. Both agents had shaken hands and left. There was nothing to do but be polite.
“Ronni,” Abby nodded crisply. She was high on life at the moment and refused to let Lady Vera bring her down.
“What are you doing here?” asked Ronni, not unpleasantly, just surprised.
“I’ve just bought a condo,” said Abby, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
“Really?” said Ronni. “Where?”
The two women walked up the hall to the elevator. Abby pushed the button and prayed that the elevator was already at that floor. It wasn’t. She told Ronni the location of the building.
“I know that building,” said Ronni. “It’s got a great view on the lakeside. Are you…?”
Abby nodded.
Of course, you are, thought Ronni. A Fremont would never be on the back side of a building. “Do you have any plans, you know…drawings, layouts?”
Abby patted a manila folder sticking out of her bag.
Ronni looked at her watch. “It’s nearly one o’clock. Why don’t we get some lunch and you can show them to me?”
Because you’ll ruin it for me, thought Abby. I know you will. But she didn’t see any way she could politely refuse.
So Abby and Ronni went to lunch and Abby waited for Ronni to ruin her day. But she didn’t. Ronni expressed interest in the plans and asked intelligent questions.
“I can tell you’ve been house-hunting,” laughed Abby at one point, when Ronni asked if the plumbing was copper or plastic.
“Yes,” said Ronni, “and I think we’ve found one.” The wheels had been turning in Ronni’s brain the whole time she’d been listening to Abby. She had initially expressed surprise that Abby would be buying a condo in Chicago. Wouldn’t she be moving to Florida or L.A. once she married Nick?
No, said Abby, not wanting to bring him into this conversation at all, Nick has sold the house in L.A. We’re making our headquarters here, at least while he’s on tour.
So Nick would be coming to Chicago, mused Ronni. Well, well, well…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Abby ran into Ronni at the club the next day after her tennis match. Ronni was just coming in as Abby was coming out. Ronni remarked on how much she had enjoyed the lunch the previous day. Abby acceded politely that she had done so as well.
“We’ll have to do it again some time,” said Ronni, airily.
Over my dead body, thought Abby, but she smiled and said that would be lovely.
“Veronica Fenton called,” said her mother two days later. “She wants you to call her back.”
Abby grimaced.
“What’s the matter, Dear?” asked her mother.
Ronni Fenton is a bitch, thought Abby, but she didn’t say it. She realized that if it ever got out about Ronni and Nick, Abby’s dislike of her would be put down to jealousy. “Nothing,” she said, “We just weren’t the best of friends in school.”
“Well, Dear, that was years ago. I’m sure she’s changed now. I mean, you certainly have. She seemed nice enough at the party.”
“Yes, well…” Abby didn’t want to talk about Ronni and the party. “I’ll call her.”
Ronni wanted to invite her to lunch and bridge on Sunday. They needed a fourth, she said. It was usually Susie Fairburn, Clarice Beaumont and Maggie Sutton. “But Maggie can’t make it,” said Ronni. “She’s going to be in Aspen.”
Oh God! thought Abby. Susie and Clarice. Ronni’s evil henchmen during high school.
“Please,” wheedled Ronni, “I know they’d love to see you again.”
Will they be armed? Abby almost asked. Then she accepted. She remembered how surprised Nick had been at the lack of young people at the engagement party. He assumed it was because the senior Fremonts were, in fact, having the party for themselves and invited their friends and business associates. The truth was that Abby didn’t have that many friends her own age. And maybe, just maybe, age had mellowed the other women.
So she went to the lunch. It was all very polite and friendly. How nice to see you, Abigail. You look lovely. Ronni directed the conversation carefully, avoiding any reference to the ‘good old days’ of high school. She had warned Susie and Clarice over the phone that James did a lot of business with Ducky’s father and so she had to suck up to the daughter. Ronni had never mentioned to them who she had been seeing in California. She had thrown around a few names, and like James, Clarice and Susie assumed it was an actor.
Nick was mentioned at the lunch. Of course, he was mentioned. Susie brought him up almost before she had her coat off. She threw her arms around Abby and said, “Congratulations. Let’s see the ring.”
A startled Abby held out her hand.
“Oh, that’s beautiful,” exclaimed the other woman. “And speaking of beautiful, my God, Abigail…Nick Carter!? He’s just so gorgeous.”
Abby smiled but said nothing. She did not want to talk about Nick.
“So when is he coming back to Chicago?” asked Clarice.
“He’s rehearsing for a tour at the moment,” replied Abby obliquely. “Then he’ll be on the road.” She shrugged.
Ronni changed the subject by offering them all a Bloody Mary.
“So will you be joining him on the road?” asked Susie over lunch – salad and a quiche that Abby knew was not homemade. She wondered if Ronni knew how to cook. Abby was a pretty good cook, thanks to hours spent in the kitchen with Mrs. Smith, hiding from her mother and her life.
“I don’t know,” said Abby. “It’s so hectic from what he says, and they don’t get a lot of private time.”
“Well, if you go, bring me back Brian,” said Clarice with a growl.
The four women laughed. “Oh, Clarice, you haven’t gotten over him yet? Come on, he’s married…with a kid, even,” said Susie.
“So’s Kevin,” retorted Clarice, “and you’d do him in a heartbeat.”
“True, true,” laughed Susie. Abby joined in the laughter but she didn’t like the look on Ronni’s face or the assumption that being married didn’t put a Backstreet Boy off limits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sharon Fremont insisted that Abby reciprocate Ronni’s kindness, so Abby invited her to play tennis and join her for lunch at the club. Ronni followed this by asking Abby to accompany her to two houses to help her make the final decision.
And the crowning horror came at the Board Meeting of the Symphony when Chairman Miles Fenton said he was pleased to see some interest happening amongst the younger generation. “We’ve always had Abigail,” he said with a kindly nod in her direction. “And now my daughter-in-law Veronica wishes to help out with the fundraising as well.”
It seemed like Ronni was everywhere in her life. Abby didn’t like it and she never told Nick about any of it.
