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****THE NEXT DAY****

“Okay, so can you please tell me what happened at that club last night?” Hayley asked Nick while she played a video game. “You just kinda shocked me, ya know?”

“Sorry,” he sounded distracted, “I didn’t mean to get you into this mess, but I really didn’t know what else to do.”

Trying her best to keep the telephone balanced on her shoulder, she continued to play the game. It was getting harder to play in that position though. “Well, what sent you into such a panic?”

“Bianca is my ex-girlfriend.”

Pausing the game, Hayley gave her full attention to Nick. “That’s why you did that! You want her to see that you’ve moved on with your life and you’re happy, when neither of those is true.”

“But that’s the thing. I have moved on and I am happy,” Nick protested.

“Then why did you feel the need to make such a big deal about the situation?” she asked. When Nick didn’t answer, Hayley sighed apologetically. “You know, Bianca didn’t look very happy. You think maybe she misses you as much as you miss her?”

“Trust me, she’s fine. She’s got AJ. Besides, she left me…why would she do that if she didn’t really want to?”

“Maybe something is or was wrong and she felt like she had to leave?” Hayley suggested.

“Like what?” Nick questioned skeptically.

“I dunno. It was just a thought,” she replied, continuing her game.


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Bianca woke up, her head pounding. “Oh, man, what did I do last night?” she asked aloud, not expecting anyone to answer.

“You, darlin’, had a pity party and got loaded,” AJ replied, causing Bianca to jump. Handing her two aspirin and a glass of water, he smiled. “Take these.”

Bianca did as she was told ad started to get out of bed before she realized she was completely naked. Oh, no. “Uh, AJ…what happened?” she asked hesitantly.

“Well, first you cried, then you turned the radio to country and proceeded to get drunk while you sang very loudly. I think you woke up everyone n the neighborhood.”

He paused to think. “Ah, yes, you smashed a glass against the wall, fell asleep, woke up and drank some more. Then you attempted to seduce me.”

Bianca buried her face in her hands as blurry bits and pieces of the night before crept back into her mind. “Oh, God, AJ, we didn’t…did we?”

“No.”

“Thank God.”

“But I don’t think you should get drunk at a club or bar. Really, nowhere in public.”

“Why?” she asked, trying to remember all the details of the foggy night.

“Well,” AJ began, clearing his throat. “I found out that you are an exhibitionist when you drink…very willing to undress. And…uh…well…”

“What?” Bianca asked her face scarlet with embarrassment.

“You like to dance…a lot. And you’re very persuasive….hard to say ‘no’ to. I’ll leave it at that,” he said, his face turning as red as hers. “I almost didn’t stop you, but I could never let you do something like that. Luckily, you passed out and I put you in the bed.”

“I’m so sorry, AJ. Oh, gosh, I’m so embarrassed.”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, AJ wrapped his arms around Bianca. “Don’t worry about it. No one has to know you secretly have the hots for me,” he said causing her to laugh. “It’s not a big deal anyway. You were drunk.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod.

“I’ll let you get dressed.”


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Ivy closely watched the man that brought her here. He was sitting in a chair, nodding off. She took a deep breath and decided this was an opportunity she had to take. “Uh, excuse me?”

“What?” he asked, without opening his eyes.

“Um, I have to go to the bathroom,” she said meekly.

“Then get up and go,” he said hatefully before covering his face with his arm.

“I’m handcuffed to this table, remember? You had to leave the room earlier to get food.”

With an irritated grunt, he got up and unlocked the cuff. “Hurry up.”

As soon as Ivy was in the bathroom, she locked the door and pulled out the cell phone. The battery was charged, but she knew she only had a few chances to try and call someone for help. She dialed her home number first. No answer. Deciding to take a risk, she dialed the number to her cell phone. She never used it so she knew that it was very unlikely that anyone would answer. She was shocked when she heard Howie’s voice on the other end.

“Hello?” he greeted sadly.

“Howie!” Ivy whispered frantically. “Oh my gosh, Howie!”

“Ivy! Where are you? I’ve been so worried. Are you okay? You aren’t hurt are you?” He asked, not even taking a breath.

“No, I’m alright; just scared. I don’t know where I am though…somewhere outside Orlando.” Just then she heard her captor beating on the door and yelling. “I’ll be out in a minute. I’m not feeling well.”

“Oh, God. Ivy…I wish I could come get you right now.”

“Howie…give the police the name Andrew Davidson…he’s responsible. I’ve gotta go. I love you, baby,” she whispered, tears stinging her dark eyes. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and flushed the toilet. She splashed some water on her face so the man would think she had really been sick. Walking back over to the couch, she waited for the man to handcuff her back to the table.

“Didn’t sound like you were sick to me,” he said in his gruff voice. “Sounded more like you were talking to someone.”

“I was,” she replied bluntly. “You ever heard of praying? That’s what I was doing.” God, please let Howie find me.


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“So, Julie…how was your date last night?” she was greeted by her coworker with a smile and a cup of coffee.

“It wasn’t a date, Melanie. I’ve known him since I was a little girl and he’s just a friend. We only went to dinner,” Julie said before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Well, it looked like a date to me,” Melanie smiled. “He’s cute and I noticed he was carrying a rose. How sweet is that?”

“Yes, I agree, it’s very sweet, but we are not dating. Don’t we have some work to do?” Julie asked, trying to change the subject.

Melanie smiled again and replied, “Yes, but I would much rather talk about your date. He looks like a real sweet guy; he definitely has manners. You deserve someone like that.”

“Brian is very sweet and he is a true-blue southern gentleman; born and raised in Kentucky. However, it was not a date.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” Melanie shrugged. “We can talk about it later.”

Julie just groaned and prepared herself for a very long day. She knew that before her shift was over, every nurse in the emergency room would know about her ‘date’ with Brian. And they would no doubt be asking her about it. “Why do they think anytime a guy so much as smiles at me, it’s chemistry and I’m gonna marry him?” she mumbled before greeting a little boy with a broken arm It’s gonna be a looooong day.


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Kevin looked around the department store for a Christmas present for Brianna. He knew what he wanted to give her, but it just wasn’t possible. He wished they could have their wedding now and that her parents could be there. There’s just no way. For one; they couldn’t have the wedding they wanted if they rushed to have it now. And Kevin knew he couldn’t just call George and Irene out f the blue; they were still very angry with both Kevin and Brianna anyway.

Kevin sighed to himself and made his way to the jewelry counter. Growing frustrated, he headed toward the exit. Everything he saw seemed to shallow and unimportant; nothing was good enough for Brianna. This was their first Christmas together as a family and he wanted everything to be completely perfect. He just didn’t know how to make it perfect. That was his only problem. Suddenly, Kevin had an idea. I know exactly what I can do, he thought, leaving the crowded department store. This is gonna be great.


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Bianca sighed to herself and ran some bathwater. She still had to finish packing before she and Holly left for North Carolina. Settling back into the warm water, she closed her eyes and let her entire body relax. She could still feel the effects from the night before. She had just started to doze off when she heard someone knock on her door. “Why? Why now?” she whined and slipped on her bathrobe.

Bianca let out an exasperated groan when she saw Holly’s keys on the table by the door. “If you’d learn to take your keys with you, this wouldn’t happen,” she called out before opening the door. “Would it?”

Looking up, AJ smiled. “Well, if I had a set of keys, I would have let myself in.”

“AJ…what are you doing here?” she asked, pulling her bathrobe tighter around her body.

Before she could say anything else, AJ cupped her face in his hands and captured her lips with his. Breaking away to take a breath, he smiled and let her pull him inside.