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Alissa waited for her cousin and Lucas, her new boyfriend, at Martelli’s just like her cousin has asked. She was nervous and was hoping that they weren’t planning on setting her up on some blind date. She wasn’t ready, or in the mood, for dealing with that tonight. It had been a long day and she was already questioning staying out in Cali.  Alissa was considering going back to Boston and was thinking about telling her cousin tonight.

 

“Hey there sweetie” Brooke leaned in and gave her cousin a kiss on the cheek. “This is Lucas.”

 

“Nice to meet you Alissa. Thanks for meeting us here.” Lucas smiled and sat down.

 

“No problem.  There is actually something I wanted to talk to my cousin about anyway.  If you don’t mind me asking, why did we have to get a private table in the back?”

 

“My friend, Tony, asked if we would mind if he joined us and said he was bringing someone with him that probably wouldn’t like the attention of the main restaurant.”

 

Alissa paused for a minute and said, “You guys aren’t setting me up on some blind date right?’

 

Brooke laughed. “Absolutely not! I know how much you have been through and I would never do that to you.”

 

“Hey Tony!” Lucas called out. “Here he is.”

 

As Tony introduced himself to everyone, Alissa noticed that there was a man standing behind Tony that didn’t look too happy about being there.  All of a sudden, Tony moved to sit down and she was staring into AJ McLean’s eyes and he did not look like he wanted to say hello!

 

AJ stared at the woman in front of him. He was shocked to finally come face to face with the woman that had been eating at him for 10 years.  She was not what he expected at all.

 

“You’re Alissa!” AJ blurted out before he could stop himself.

 

Brooke sensed the tension although she had no clue where it was coming from. “I’m guessing you’re AJ McLean unless you have a twin. If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you’re doing here and why you look like you want to kill someone?”

 

“Her! I’m here because of her!” AJ shouted pointing at Alissa who looked shocked and close to tears.

 

“What do you want with my cousin?” Brooke yelled back, defensively.

 

Ignoring Brooke’s question, AJ turned to Alissa and started to unload all of the feelings that had built up in him over the last 10 years.

 

“I can’t believe you lady! You sent me this ridiculous card 10 years ago and you’ve been taking up space in my head for that long. How dare you even assume to know what I went through. You don’t even know me. You’re probably some stupid groupie that just wanted her chance at 5 minutes of fame by claiming you had this close relationship to me! Maybe you thought I’d get all weepy from the card and want to meet you. Well, I’m here to tell you I don’t. You’re not my type! In fact, I don’t think you’re any guy’s type. You’re just some stupid woman that no one will ever care about!”

 

Brooke suddenly leapt out of her seat and was in AJ’s face in 30 seconds. She started yelling at him and bitching him out for what he said to her cousin.  Finally she told AJ exactly where he could go and how could he get there.  AJ turned on his heel and stomped out of the restaurant.

 

When she turned around to see if her cousin was ok, she realized that Alissa was gone. Brooke started to panic and turned to Lucas.

 

“Where did she go? Where did Alissa go?”

 

________

 

By the time Brooke noticed her cousin was missing, Alissa was half way down the street heading towards the freeway. She had to get out of that restaurant and away from HIM. She was going home to pack and head out on the next flight.

 

Alissa was so lost in thought that she almost missed her exit and made it just in time. She thought back to the card she had sent and, in this moment, absolutely regretted sending in. She wasn’t trying to upset any of them. She didn’t mean anything by it and wasn’t thinking that any of them would want to say anything to her.  Alissa just knew how it felt to be struggling with those demons and just wanted to send a card and some support.

 

She started crying and was so lost in her tears that she didn’t see the person who was running the red light on her right side.  Before she could swerve, the person slammed into her passenger side and pushed her car into the tree across the intersection.  She felt the impact and lost consciousness a few seconds later.

 

_______

 

Brooke had been calling Alissa’s cell phone over and over again and wasn’t getting an answer. In fact, it just went straight to voicemail without even ringing. 

 

“Lucas, take me home! I need to see if Alissa went home or to my house. We need to find her!” 

 

Before Brooke or Lucas could move, Brooke’s cell phone started to ring.

 

“Alissa, Alissa! Is that you? Are you ok?” Brooke cried into the phone.

 

“Is this Ms. Emerson? Ms. Brooke Emerson?” the voice asked on the other end of the phone.

 

“Yes this is her. Who is this?” Brooke demanded.

 

“This is Officer Burgos. Unfortunately, I have some bad news about your cousin. Can you meet us at California General?”