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Nick’s mind was still racing as he entered his hotel room. Emma was being stubborn about moving in together and he was bothered by her calling him out and saying it was just a revenge thing. His plan made sense no matter what the reasons were. He was headed towards the bathroom to shower when he noticed the blinking light on the hotel phone. Not this again, he thought as he lifted the receiver.

“Hi Nick, its Lauren. Can you call me when you get this? It doesn’t matter what time it is.”

Nick smiled as he listened to the message. Maybe he’d finally gotten through to Lauren and she was starting to see things from his point of view. He dialed the number and waited for her to pick up.

“Hello?”

Nick was shocked to hear a man answer Lauren’s phone. His shock went to anger seconds later and he asked to speak to his girlfriend. There were a few seconds of silence before he heard her voice come on.

“Hello?”

“Lauren?”

“Hi Nick.”

“Hi Nick? That’s all you’re gonna say!” Nick yelled.

“What do you mean?”

“I call my girlfriend’s phone and some dude answers? What the hell Lauren?”

“You need to relax Nick. It’s just my manager.”

“Manager? Since when did Nicole have such a deep voice?” he asked loudly.

“Nicole is no longer my manager.”

“What? You guys have been friends for years and she’s always been your manager.”

“The company thought it would be a better idea to have a man take over the position. Some of the sponsors find it difficult to deal with women.”

“So you ditched one of your best friends because a sponsor can’t handle dealing with women?”

“I had to. I need this sponsor Nick and you just don’t seem to understand.”

“Apparently, I’m not understanding a lot lately.”

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. My manager thinks these issues between you and I are distracting me and I think he’s right.”

Nick pulled the receiver away from his ear and stared at the phone. Was he going deaf?

“Nick? Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“No.”

“I already told you that I was gonna be gone for the next month or so and I think maybe we should take a break for a little bit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think that we should spend some time apart…..”

“That’s not what we’ve been doing?”

“I mean apart relationship wise Nick.”

“Are you seeing someone?”

“No!” Lauren yelled. “I can’t believe you would think I was.”

“You can’t believe it? I call your phone and some guy answers and my friends are texting pictures of you and some guy lookin’ awfully cozy!”

Lauren was silent for a moment.

“So are you seeing someone?”

“No.” she answered flatly. “This whole thing is a distraction for me and I need to put it on the backburner for a while.”

“Do I get a say?”

“No. I’ve made up my mind and I just wanted you to know. I’ll call you when I’m back in town.”

Nick started to protest but Lauren had already hung up. He couldn’t believe what was going on. His whole world was going to shit right now and he didn’t even get to participate in it. Instead of showering, he climbed into bed and pulled the covers over his head. Maybe he could go to sleep and wake up to find that none of this had ever happened.