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Kevin looked around his hotel room and made sure that all of his belongings were packed; he wanted to be sure he hadn’t left anything. Certain that he had not forgotten something, he slung the back over his shoulder and exited the spacious suite. Nodding to the body guard at the end of the hall, he held up his index finger to indicate that he needed another minute and knocked on his cousin’s door.

After a minute, Brian opened the door and smiled at Kevin. “Hey, cuz, what’s going on? Where are you headed?”

“I decided that I would fly back early and surprise Bree and Kyra. Hopefully I can convince Brianna to fly back with me,” he answered an uncertain shrug.

“Maybe you’ll be able to,” Brian, always the optimist, grinned. Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he sighed. “Have you seen AJ or Nick?”

“No. After last night, I’m not sure if we should bother either of them just yet.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Brian mumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I love Bianca, but she needs to make a decision.”

Kevin only nodded in agreement, but decided to keep his opinion to himself. “Well, I just wanted to let you know where I was going, but I should head out. I don’t wanna miss my flight.”

“Alright man,” Brian nodded and pulled Kevin into a quick embrace. “Be careful.”

Kevin smiled and nodded. “You, too. Don’t let anybody get into trouble while I’m gone.”

***

Kevin slowly stood up and stretched for a brief moment before grabbing his bag from the overhead compartment. His flight hadn’t been long, but it seemed longer than usual because he was anxious to be home with his family. His patience was wearing thin as he waited to get off the plane.

Once off the plane and in the airport, Kevin pulled his baseball cap (actually, it was Brian’s but he had forgotten his own and borrowed this one) lower over his face. He was dressed down in a pair of old denim jeans and a plain gray t-shirt, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized. He walked casually up to the car rental counter and groaned inwardly when he saw only a younger woman was not busy. I hope she’s not a fan…

“May I help you?” the woman asked with a polite smile but not one ounce of recognition.

Thankfully, Kevin was able to rent a car and get out of the airport in one piece. Glancing down at the clock in his rented SUV, he saw that it was just after 2pm. I’ll have time to go visit Dad’s grave, he thought with a pleased smile.



Bianca sighed to herself as she entered the lobby of the ritzy hotel she was supposed to be staying in. She was quickly met by Madd Dog and a few eager fans who had found her hotel.

“Where have you been?” Madd Dog asked, obviously annoyed.

“Have you seen AJ?” she ignored his question as she looked past him toward the elevators.

“No, I haven’t. Now can you tell me where you’ve been?”

“I was fine,” Bianca locked eyes with the man that was more than twice her size. “Just drop it, okay?”

“No, I won’t drop it.”

“You know what? You were hired to make sure I’m safe and as long as I’m okay, which I am, you have nothing to worry about, so let it go.”

Bianca brushed coolly past Madd Dog stopping only to sign a few autographs and pose for a few pictures. Turning back to her angry body guard she smiled. “I’m going to pack my stuff because we’re heading back to Orlando and then out to LA.”

Once inside the privacy of her room, Bianca headed straight for the phone. She stopped when she saw a folded piece of tattered paper beside it. She knew who it was from before she even opened. Lifting the paper from beside the phone, she sat down on the sofa and carefully opened it. She skimmed over the messy handwriting for a moment before actually reading it

Bianca,

I don’t know exactly what to say to you. I meant what I said to you last night—I don’t think it’s fair that I have to come in second to Nick after what we’ve been through. So, I’m gonna ask you not to call me or contact me right now. I love you, but you can’t have both of us and I’m willing to make that sacrifice so that I don’t get hurt. Call me crazy, but I would prefer not to have my heart broken again.

-AJ

Short, sweet and to the point. There was nothing sappy and romantic to make her come crawling back to him begging to be taken back.

Bianca let out a shaky breath, but she refused to cry. Balling up the piece of paper, she stood and headed to the mini bar when Nick’s words suddenly flashed through her mind. What’s up with you and drinking, Bianca? You’re not even old enough to buy alcohol, but you sure do know how to drink it. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. Sitting back down, she rolled her eyes. She did not have a problem



Kevin smiled to himself as he drove up to the cabin he shared with Brianna. He had been to his father’s grave and had a nice, long talk with his Dad and then he’d stopped in to have a quick visit with his Mom. Now, he was home to see his fiancée and daughter.

He quickly clambered out of the SUV, leaving his bags inside. He was too excited to see his family and decided his luggage could wait until he’d kissed Brianna and held Kyra.

“Baby, guess who’s home,” he called happily into the quiet log cabin. An eerie silence followed his greeting which he found terribly strange. “Brianna?”

Dropping his keys on a small table, Kevin quickly hit the stairs taking them two at a time. “Bree?” Still no answer.

Entering their bedroom, everything looked normal, but there was still no sign of Brianna and Kyra. His mother had told him Brianna was home; he’d asked her to check in on her from time to time and she had agreed after some persuasion.

Letting out a worried sigh, Kevin went back into the hallway and looked around. It was obvious she wasn’t home, but where could she be? There were just too many places in town to go looking for her. “I’ll wait for them in the nursery,” he said with a smile. He knew that would be one of the first places she went in the house after she got home.

Nodding to himself, Kevin went down the hall to the nursery and opened the door. The site of the room made his knees so weak, they nearly buckled beneath him. The crib, as well as the rest of the furniture, was bare; all of the toys were gone. Walking over to the dresser he opened one of the drawers and found it completely empty. Becoming frantic, he began to open each drawer, desperately hoping to find the clothing and belongs that should have been there. But each drawer was bare just like the first.

A ball of dread settled in Kevin’s stomach as he stumbled from the nursery. Heading back to his bedroom, he decided that this was all just a bad dream. Fumbling with the door to their walk-in closet, he threw it open and nearly lost all his sanity. All of Brianna’s clothing was gone.

Could this really be happening? He had just talked to Brianna over the phone the day before and even though it hadn’t been the greatest call, he never would have expected to come home and find all of her belongings gone. This had to be some sort of mistake; would she really have left without telling him or leaving a letter or something?

Leaning against the wall, he slid down to the floor and put his face in his hands as he began to sob. Just like that, his life was turned upside down. For a man who was supposed to be on top of the world, he sure felt like he had just hit rock bottom. And reality sets in…



Bianca sat on the sofa in her hotel room watching television. She was bored out of her mind and she wasn’t actually “watching” anything—just flipping through the countless channels. The sound of her telephone ringing brought her out of her daze.

“Hello?” she answered, uncertain as to who would be calling her.

“Bean?”

“Nick?” she was surprised to hear his voice. They had both agreed that some time away from one another to process the events of the night before would be good for them both. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” he sounded unsure of himself. “Can I come by for a little while?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” she said quietly. “I’ll meet you in the restaurant downstairs.”

Fifteen minutes later, Bianca was sitting in a booth in the back of the restaurant waiting for Nick to come in. He had sounded worried about something and that only made her worry as well. Thankfully, she spotted him entering the sparsely crowded restaurant so she stood up to allow him to see where she was located.

“Hey,” he greeted with a weak smile.

“What’s the matter?” she asked sliding back into the booth. “You’re worrying me.”

“Well, I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking since last night…” his voice trailed off as a waitress came up.

“Can I get you two anything?”

“Could I have a glass of ice water?” Nick asked quietly.

“Sure thing, hon. Anything for you?”

“No,” Bianca shook her head and turned her gaze back to Nick.

“Look, Bean, I don’t think we need to rush back into anything yet.”

Bianca blinked once and turned her gaze away from Nick. “What?”

“Look, we’ve both changed a lot, and you obviously don’t know what you want from life right now. We’re just in two different places and I don’t think it would work out.”

“Wait a minute…you mean to tell me that after professing your love for me last night, getting in a fight with AJ and then taking me back to your hotel room, you’re not sure if we should try and work things out right now?”

“Basically.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Nick?”

“I just think we need to go our separate ways for now. You have a lot of growing up to do, Bean, and you can’t do that with someone attached to you. I had to learn that the hard way.”

Standing up, Bianca almost knocked over their waitress. Looking at the shocked woman, Bianca snatched the glass from her hand and dumped the ice water over Nick’s head.

“Get out of here you son of a bitch,” she said and stormed away angrily.

Once inside the elevator, Bianca leaned against the wall and tried to force back her tears. The tables had suddenly been turned and she didn’t want to cry over him. But as the reality of the situation set in and the elevator began to ove updward, she couldn’t help but do that very thing.

The End