Chapter 56 

            After Teri and Tricia left the hotel for the concert, Alyssa fell asleep for about two hours on the extra bed in Teri and Howie’s room, and when she awoke she felt refreshed and rejuvenated. Her earlier argument with Stephanie seemed like only a distant bad memory, and her threats and discouraging words were seemingly forgotten. Instead of taking her sister’s warning seriously, she focused all of her energy onto preparing for her night with Nick.

            The first thing she did was take a nice long, hot shower, since she still felt kind of grimy from all her traveling. Afterwards she made sure to lather herself in her favorite coconut scented body lotion before slipping into a pair of blue plaid boxer shorts and a grey tank top. Then she struggled with the hair dryer and a brush in an attempt to style her unruly hair. When she was somewhat satisfied with the outcome she decided that it was time to head over to Nick’s room and continue to get ready over there.

            She double checked to make sure that she still had Nick’s room key and grabbed her suitcase heading towards the direction of his room which was thankfully on that same floor. As she swiped the key card, she looked around her to make sure that no one was watching, feeling sort of like she was trespassing or something. Not like you’re doing anything wrong, she told herself. She heard the lock click and then the door swung open. She stepped inside and flicked on the light switch, smiling as she noticed Nick’s suitcase sitting on the floor with his clothes haphazardly scattered about. That was typical for him.

            Before she did anything else, Alyssa walked over to the phone and ordered room service to bring up a bottle of champagne on ice for later. Once that was taken care of she took her makeup case into the bathroom and meticulously worked on making her face appear absolutely flawless. By the time her makeup was finished, the champagne had arrived. It was almost ten and all she had left to do was set up a few candles around the room and get dressed.

            She completed the last two items on her agenda quickly, and once she was finished she took a quick survey of the room and of her own reflection in the mirror. You look hot; she mentally coached herself with a little pep talk. Her eyes darted over to the clock and she realized that she still had almost two hours left until Nick would come back after the show. That was brilliant. All this planning and now you have time to kill. With nothing better to do, she flopped back onto the bed and turned on the television, looking for something to amuse herself with.

            Of course there was nothing that seemed very worthwhile on, which left her no other option, but to lay there and start to have doubts about everything not being absolutely perfect. At 10:15, Alyssa decided that she hated the way her hair looked straight, so she decided to take out her curling iron and some hairspray and attempt to give it more body. At 11:00, after looking carefully in the mirror, she felt like she could use some more eye makeup, which led to her almost entirely redoing her whole face. And finally at 11:30, she decided that the lighting in the room seemed a little bit off and began moving candles around and playing with the light switch.

Finally, she came to the conclusion that there really wasn’t much more to do, but wait. Nick would be getting back to the hotel within the next half hour and it finally hit her that he probably would care less about such minor details as the amount of light in the room. Instead of making any more last minute adjustments, Alyssa swung her legs back up onto the bed and waited.

            The first thing that Nick did the minute that he walked offstage after their encore, and entered the dressing room was pick up his cell phone to see if maybe Alyssa had called or at least left him a text message during the concert. He found himself disappointed when he flipped open his phone and saw that he had no new calls or messages. “What the fuck?” he muttered under his breath. It was completely out of character for Alyssa not to call, and for a moment Nick wondered if maybe something was wrong.

            Maybe I should call her? he wondered, but then quickly changed his mind. He’d been the one calling her every few days lately. Come to think of it, she hadn’t called him once this whole tour. Pretty fucked up when my own girlfriend can’t call me on my birthday. He almost wanted to laugh once the thought left his head. Since when had he turned into such a sap? A few months ago something like this wouldn’t bother him at all.

            His birthday had passed by pretty much uneventfully. Yea, of course the guys had presented him with the standard birthday cake onstage and the audience had sang to him, but otherwise nothing special had occurred. He hadn’t even gotten any presents outside of the little trinkets some fans had passed on to him outside of the hotel and the arena. Maybe it was just because he was getting older. All of a sudden he found himself missing those days when he was younger, when his birthday seemed like such a big deal.

            Ignoring all of the chaos going on around him, he scooped up his backpack and headed towards the back exit of the arena, anxious to get some fresh air and a relief from all the activity backstage. Thankfully enough there weren’t too many people lingering around the stage door outside of a group of three girls who appeared to be in their early 20’s, passing around a cigarette. Remarkably they’d yet to notice him.

            Damn… I could really use one of those right now, he found himself craving a cigarette for the first time since he’d stopped after the New Year as he watched the girls from afar. Ok, so he’d had a few small cravings here and there, but never this strong. It would be so easy just to go over there and ask if they can spare one. Alyssa’s face flashed across his mind. No, you promised her you were quitting, he argued with herself. Then again if she didn’t care enough to call him on his birthday he supposed that he could not care enough to keep up his promise. Finally letting temptation get the best of him he approached the trio. “Hey, do you think I could bum a smoke?”

The three girls looked up in shock, obviously surprised that Nick Carter had approached them to ask for a cigarette of all things. “Uhh sure… Anything for you Nick,” one of the girls replied with a nervous smile, fumbling in her purse until she’d pulled out her carton. She pulled one of them out and handed it to him. “Here you go.”

            “Thanks. You got a light?”

            The girl nodded, pulling out a lighter. Nick placed the cigarette in his mouth and bent forward while she lit up the end for him. He took a nice slow drag, savoring the taste of the nicotine that he’d been craving. Never had a cigarette tasted so good. “I needed that,” he shared.

            “Rough day?” one of the other girls questioned.

            “You could say that,” he vaguely replied.

            “Happy birthday by the way. That sucks that you’re having such a bad day. At least we could do something to make it better,” the third girl chimed in.

            “Thank you. Again I really appreciate it.”

            “So…” the girl continued. “Do you have anything special planned for tonight?”

            Nick just shrugged. “Not really… I’ll probably just chill in my room or something.”

            One of her friends pouted. “That sounds pretty boring. You sure you don’t want any company? We’d be happy to entertain you.”

            Nick smirked as soon as he heard the word ‘entertain’ fly out of her mouth. I’m sure they would entertain me all right. Unfortunately, it’s the type of entertainment that would get me into big trouble with Alyssa. It would be so easy to bring all three of them back to the hotel with him, and he had to admit that the Nick of a few months ago probably would have agreed without another moment’s hesitation. But, he wasn’t the same guy, and although he was pissed at Alyssa for not calling, he knew it wasn’t worth placing himself in a situation that could potentially lead to him jeopardizing everything he had worked so hard to achieve with her. It was one thing to spite her by smoking, but completely another to invite three girls back to his hotel room with him.

            “That’s okay. I think I’d just rather be alone,” he turned them down.

            “Your loss,” the girl replied.

            Sensing the awkwardness of the moment, Nick dropped his half smoked cigarette and ground it out with his foot. “I should get going. Thanks again for the cigarette.”

            “It was our pleasure,” the original girl told him.

Dejected, he began to make his way up towards his room, but stopped once he got to the elevator. It seemed pretty pathetic to spend what little time he had left of his birthday up in his hotel room by himself. Instead, he turned back around and headed towards the direction of the hotel bar. If nobody wanted to party with him, he’d party by himself.

            He took a seat at the bar and pulled some cash out of his pocket, slapping it down on the counter. “Two shots of Jack and a Corona,” he ordered. He was already in a bad mood and hoped that the alcohol would help make him feel better.

            The bartender quickly filled his order setting both shot glasses and the beer in front of him. Nick downed the first shot of whiskey, chasing down the aftertaste with a few sips of beer and then downed the second. He could already feel his body start to relax. See, I don’t need Alyssa or any of the other guys. I can have a good time completely on my own. He just about finished his beer when he felt his Sidekick vibrate against his leg, alerting him that he had a new text message. Eagerly, he pulled it out of his pocket anticipating that it was finally Alyssa wishing him a Happy Birthday. Instead he was disappointed to realize that it was only Chris. Not even bothering to read what it said, he shoved the device back into his pocket. “Fucking women…” he muttered, apparently louder than he realized.

            “Oh, come on… We can’t be that bad,” a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Nick snapped his head back up to find a tall, thin woman with chestnut colored curls standing in front of him. He immediately recognized her as one of the three girls from outside the arena earlier that he’d bummed a cigarette from. If he remembered correctly, this was the one who had asked him outright if he wanted them to come back to his room with him. Embarrassment flooded his face. He hadn’t intended for anyone to overhear his comment. “Oh, I guess I didn’t exactly mean that the way it came out, no offense,” he stammered. Then it hit him that he had no reason to explain himself to a fan, so why was he getting all flustered?

The young woman laughed. “None taken. I know as women we can be pretty spiteful at times. So, it’s kind of weird that I’ve now bumped into you two times in one night, huh?”

“Yea, I guess you could say that,” Nick hesitantly replied. There was something about this girl that made him slightly uneasy and he wasn’t sure why. “Where are your two friends?”

“They decided to go out to a club tonight. I think they were kind of hoping that you would change your mind and show up. I could tell that you really didn’t feel up to going out though just from talking to you earlier, so I decided to stay behind. We’re staying at this hotel too,” she explained. “Actually I’m not that surprised to find you here.”

Nick frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The girl shrugged. “I got the sense that you weren’t having the happiest birthday and you said that you didn’t have any plans. I figured that you’d get pretty lonely up in your room by yourself and you’d want to be around people, just not in a huge crowd like a club or anything like that.”

He found himself taken back by how perceptive she was. Sometimes he forgot just how well his fans could read him, which usually led to trouble. “You’re right,” he admitted. “I didn’t even make it up to my room.”

She grinned and held out her hand. “By the way I’m Michelle. Sorry I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier.”

“Nice to meet you Michelle,” he politely responded.

“So, excuse me if I’m being too nosy, but I take it that the reason you’re having such a crappy day has to do with a woman?” Michelle probed.

“You could say that,” Nick vaguely replied, not wanting to get into details with a fan he’d just met.

“Well, if you want to talk about it I’ll listen.”

“That’s okay,” he told her. “I’d rather not if you don’t mind.” Alyssa would just love it if he decided to randomly confide in a random fan about their relationship. Not to mention that there was the possibility that everything he said could quite possibly be posted on LD in the morning.

“I understand. Well, the least I can do is buy you a drink right?” she offered.

            Nick knew from personal experience that letting fans buy him drinks usually led into dangerous territory, and although he was pissed at Alyssa, he wasn’t sure if he should risk encouraging Michelle anymore than he already had. “You don’t have to do that,” he insisted.

            Michelle pouted. “But I want to. Besides it’s your birthday. Someone’s got to buy you at least one drink.” Before Nick could further protest, Michelle had flagged the bartender over to them. “Can I have two Coronas and two SoCo and lime shots?”

            “A shot too?” Nick asked. Shots were definitely bad in this type of a situation.

            “What’s a birthday without shots?” Her eyes floated to the two empty shot glasses in front of him. “Besides, looks like you’ve had a few before on your own.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you were trying to get me drunk.”

            She just shrugged a mischievous grin on her face. Obviously she took his accusation to be flirty. “And would that be a problem?”

            It could be, a voice in his head echoed back at him, but he quickly shook it out of his head. Just because Alyssa never called him didn’t mean that he had to be miserable. He had intended on getting drunk anyway and it would be a lot more enjoyable and less depressing if he at least had someone to get drunk with. “Not at all,” he told her, his stubbornness pushing Alyssa out of his mind as he picked up his shot glass. “Cheers.”

            “Cheers.” Michelle repeated as they clinked their glasses together.

            Okay… Where the hell is he? He should’ve been back over half an hour ago. Alyssa was beginning to get worried. The concert had to have ended quite a while ago and she assumed that Nick had to have arrived back to the hotel by now. She couldn’t seem to think of any reason why Nick wouldn’t have at least stopped by his room upon returning to the hotel. Even if he had planned on going out afterwards, he’d have to come upstairs to at least shower and change, right?

            Then Alyssa began to panic. Maybe something had happened. Maybe his bus had broke down or gotten into an accident on the way back from the arena. He could be laying dead on the side of the road for all she knew. Once she realized how irrational she was being, she almost laughed. The chances of any of those scenarios were slim. She was positive there had to be a logical explanation for his disappearance.

            Just in case though, she superstitiously pulled her cell phone out of her bag and dialed Teri’s cell phone number. The phone rang two or three times before she picked up. “Alyssa?” she uncertainly asked.

            “Yea, it’s me. What’s up?” Alyssa answered.

            Teri sounded confused. “Uhh, not to be mean or anything because you know I love hearing from you, but why the hell are you calling? I thought that by now you’d be having multiple orgasms or something.”

            Ordinarily the comment would have elicited a laugh from her, but at that moment she didn’t find it at all amusing. “Nick still hasn’t shown up. I was wondering if you or Howie knew where he might be? I know its stupid, but I’m just concerned.”

            “What do you mean he hasn’t shown up?”

            Alyssa sighed. “If he’s in the hotel, he hasn’t come up to his room. I’ve been up here for the past few hours and there’s been no sign of him. Did he mention that he was going out or anything?”

            “Not that I know of. He definitely arrived back because all the buses pulled in about the same time. Last I saw him he was in the lobby signing some autographs and then he seemed like he was about to head up to his room. We all purposely didn’t invite him to do anything tonight because we all knew that you were waiting for him,” she reported.

            “Do you think that maybe he could’ve changed his mind and decided to go out anyway?”

            “I guess it’s possible. Maybe you should just call him, Lyss.”

            “But then he’ll know I’m here and the surprise will be ruined!” she whined.

            “Not necessarily. Maybe you could just drop some hints that he has a surprise waiting for him in his room or something,” Teri suggested.

            “I don’t know…”

            “Just call him Alyssa, okay? It’s better than sitting around worrying.”

            “I guess you’re right,” she finally admitted. “Thanks for the advice.”

            “No problem. Now I don’t want to hear from you until tomorrow morning at the earliest, got that?”

            Alyssa nervously giggled. “Yes Ma’am. Talk to you later.” After Teri had said goodbye she ended the call and then stared at her phone for a moment contemplating on whether or not she should call Nick. She hadn’t called him all day in fear of blurting out the fact that she was in Australia, and she was now wondering if that was a wise decision on her part. Taking a deep breath, she dialed his number and waited. The phone rang and rang before finally going to voicemail. Great, he’s not picking up, she realized, which gave proof that maybe he was at a club or bar and it was too loud for him to hear his phone ring.

            Now what? She continued to stare at the phone before flipping it back open and clicking a few buttons until she had a blank text message in front of her. If he was at a bar he’d be more likely to read a text then listen to a voicemail. After thinking for a moment she began to type:

Happy Birthday! Sorry I did not call sooner. I tried earlier, but u didn’t pick up. Call me when u get this.

Rereading what she’d just wrote, Alyssa wrinkled her nose. It sounded so blah and boring. If she’d received a text like that she had to admit that she probably would not immediately call the person back, especially if she was having a good time. She needed something more enticing that would grab his attention and peak his curiosity. She deleted the message and opened up the camera feature on her phone. Biting her lip, she angled the phone upwards and snapped a picture of herself, making it very apparent that she was wearing some sort of lingerie. Satisfied with the finished product she saved the picture and then added a text message to it:

 Hey Birthday Boy... Sorry I never called. There is a surprise in your room though that should more than make up for it.  

Perfect, she decided as she pressed the send button. Sexy and mysterious, but still somewhat subtle. Hopefully the sultry tone of the message combined with the picture would be enough to send Nick running from whatever else he was engaged in and back to his room as soon as possible.

Little did she expect that what Nick was engaged in at the moment was another woman…

About an hour or so later and after a few more beers and shots, Nick was nowhere near as guarded as he was after Michelle first approached him. If anything, he was much less inhibited and more willing to speak about his mixed feelings about Alyssa. The alcohol seemed to make him forget all about how detrimental it could be to his relationship to confide in another woman that he barely knew.

He watched as Michelle pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse. “You wouldn’t mind sparing me another cigarette?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she replied, handing him one and her lighter. “I thought I heard some rumors that you quit though.”

“I did,” he told her, lighting up the cigarette. “You can see how long that lasted. Actually I was doing pretty good. After the show was the first one I’d had since the New Year.”

“So, what made you cave?” Michelle curiously asked.

Nick shrugged. “I was pissed at someone who wanted me to quit, so I saw it as sort of a way to get back to her. Pretty stupid huh?”

“Is that someone that girl that made you curse all women earlier?”

“How’d you guess?” He sighed. “It’s a fucked up situation.”

“Not mentioning any names, but is this girl someone that you had a relationship with the past and have been rumored to have been seeing a lot of lately?” she continued to pry.

Nick frowned for a moment surprised that Michelle seemed to know so much about Alyssa. They’d been keeping such a low profile he’d just assumed that no one knew about it. He had underestimated his fans though. Admittedly he hadn’t done his usual lurking around the message boards that he usually did since things between him and Alyssa grew more serious. Could his fans know more than they let on?

His hesitation seemed to be as good as an admittance to Michelle. A smile spread out across her lips. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“All right,” Nick finally gave in. “You got me.”

“Hmm… She must have done something really hurtful for you to be this upset on your birthday. Maybe it’ll help to talk about it?”

Before Nick could respond his Sidekick began to play Beverly Hills by Weezer, his current ring tone. When he made no move to answer it, Michelle frowned. “Is that your phone?” she asked.

“Yea, but just ignore it. It’s probably not who I’m hoping it’ll be and if it is she’s too late anyway.” He didn’t even bother to check if it was Alyssa. If she’d made him wait all day for her to call him, then he’d just make her wait for him.

“Alyssa?” Michelle asked. It was the first time either one of them had spoken her name out loud.

“Yea… She never called to wish me a Happy Birthday today,” he admitted.

“And that’s why you’re so upset?”

All of a sudden Nick found himself feeling pretty embarrassed. It was a pretty immature thing to be angry over. And since when did he of all people feel let down when a girl didn’t call him? Usually he was the wrong to forget to call in relationships. For once Nick was beginning to realize how it felt to be on the other side of the fence. “Yea… It’s stupid right? I mean I’m sure there’s a good reason and I’m just overacting as usual. Besides how many guys actually give a damn about things like this? It’s pretty gay if you ask me.”

“I think it’s kind of sweet that you feel that way Nick. I don’t think it’s wrong at all. You should be mad,” Michelle defended him.

He looked at her a little unsurely. “You think so?”

“Absolutely. It might not seem like that big of a deal to anyone else, but your birthday is obviously important to you. And for someone that you’re so close to choosing to ignore it, I can see why you’re hurt. Do you think she has a good reason?”

Nick shrugged. “I’d like to think so. I mean she’s been pretty busy lately and then with the time difference and all…”

“Or maybe she’s distracted by something else. Like someone else,” she suggested. Seeing the look of horror on Nick’s face she shrugged her shoulders. “You don’t think that’s a possibility?”

“No way! Alyssa would never… I mean she’s been the one pushing us to become exclusive, so why would she cheat?” Then he paused for a moment, remembering her last night in LA and the way that the waiter at Koi had been so openly flirting with her. She’d done little to discourage him. Alyssa was a pretty girl and he wouldn’t be surprised if there was some guy in New York who was interested her. A fellow teacher perhaps. The question was would she be one to reciprocate feelings like that even though she was involved with him?

Michelle immediately zeroed in on his hesitation. “You look like you’re not so sure about that.”

Nick didn’t respond to her comment directly. “She wouldn’t… Why would she make such a fuss about us not seeing other people while we’re on tour?”

“Maybe she said that just to throw suspicion away from her. If she really presses the commitment issue, then it would give you the impression that she’s not looking for anyone else, so you wouldn’t even consider the idea. It’s a mind game a lot of women play.”

Nick sighed, feeling torn. Deep down, he knew that Alyssa was not that kind of girl at all, but Michelle was pointing out the possibility that had been at the back of his mind for some time now. Alyssa knew how much it killed him to see her with other guys. Maybe this was her way of getting back at him for something? Maybe he was the one being played this whole time. She’d made him think that they were about to get back together and give a second try at a relationship, just to rip the carpet out underneath him in an attempt for revenge for breaking her heart a few years prior. The more his irrational, alcohol induced mind considered this scenario the more realistic it became to him. Maybe Michelle was right.

Michelle grinned as she leaned forward and put a hand on his arm. “You think it could be a possibility, huh?”

He just nodded. “I guess your theory makes a little bit of sense.” All of a sudden he found himself very aware of her touch.

“Now the question lies in what you’re going to do about it…” She leaned a little closer into him so that he could clearly smell the intoxicating scent of her perfume and her hair tickled against the side of his face.

“And what do you suggest?” he asked, his breath caught in his throat.

“Revenge,” she breathed in, moving her mouth closer to his, so that they were only inches apart. “If she’s out screwing another guy then why shouldn’t you be allowed to take exactly what’s in front of you?” Without even giving him a chance to answer, she closed the gap between their lips, softly at first, but steadily growing more aggressive until her tongue had pushed its way into his mouth and her teeth latched on to his bottom lip sucking gently.

The alcohol in Nick’s system took over and he found himself involuntarily responding to the kiss. His hands traveled around her back, pulling her closer to him as the kiss deepened. It was only just one kiss, but he could already feel himself getting aroused. I guess this is what going nearly a month without sex does to a man, he thought in the back of his mind. All the pent up sexual frustration that he had been harboring seemed to be ready to explode and he knew at this point that he was not going to be able to resist the temptation any longer. Alyssa won’t care, he tried to justify to himself. If she really was serious about this relationship she would’ve called.

Breaking away from the kiss and breathing heavily Nick sealed his fate. “I think I like that idea. Let’s head up to my room.” He rummaged through his pockets and threw a few bills on the bar before grabbing Michelle’s hand and leading her out into the lobby towards the elevators.

He hadn’t changed at all. He still dealt with rejection the same way that he always did. With a few drinks and the arms of another woman…

The bartender shook his head at him. “Sorry Mr. Carter, but I think you’ve had enough.”            

Nick looked outraged. “Are you cutting me off? That’s fucked up man!”            

 He just shrugged in response. “Yes, I am cutting you off. You’ve downed at least half a dozen of those and I doubt you’ve been here longer than two hours. I’d say you’re done.”            

“My fucking girlfriend just walked away from on what was supposed to be our wedding day! I think I deserve a few drinks after that! Stupid bitch had to change her mind right at the last second…”            

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, the older man looked at him sternly. ”Mr. Carter I suggest that you leave now on your own free will, before I have to call the authorities. Is that clear?”            

 “Crystal,” he muttered as he paid his tab and slid off of his bar stool, nearly toppling over from his lack of coordination. Thankfully enough the bar was located right on the resort that he was staying at, so he didn’t have very far to walk at all.            

As he stumbled back to his room, his mind angrily played over the events of the past twenty-four hours, starting from his impromptu proposal to Alyssa in the hot tub, to their heated fight out on the beach. He still couldn’t believe she’d walked away from him like that. The sting of rejection stung so strongly that he’d become numb inside. They were really over. She’d chosen not to marry him here in the Bahamas and to walk out of his life completely. After everything they’d been through together…            

 By the time he reached his hotel room, his depression had quickly turned back into anger. How dare she treat him like that? A lot of girls would kill for the opportunity that he had bestowed upon her and she just pissed it away like it was nothing? Maybe if she didn’t want anything to do with him, he could turn his attention towards someone who actually would appreciate his companionship.            

She froze just then as she thought she heard some muffled voices from outside of the room. Could that be him right now? She ran a hand through her hair not even wanting to think about how she probably looked at the moment. The door began to rattle as it opened and Alyssa could’ve sworn she heard something almost like a giggle. She panicked for a moment, hoping that she was wrong and that Nick was indeed by himself. How embarrassing would it be if Nick walked in with one of his friends and there she was all decked out in lingerie? I’m probably just hearing things, she convinced herself.            

Since Nick’s room was a suite, the bedroom was further back with a living room area in front of it when you first walked in. Alyssa waited impatiently for Nick to enter in through the bedroom door, a bubbly feeling of anticipation rising through her at the thought of seeing him again. Finally after what felt like hours, the bedroom door sprung open, only it was definitely not the sight that Alyssa had expected to see.            

Nick wasn’t alone as she had originally predicted and Alyssa found herself wishing that it had only been one of Nick’s friends accompanying him back to the room for some more partying. The sight before her was much worse. There was Nick his tongue rammed down some trashy looking girls throat. The girl had evidently lost her shirt somewhere along the way in because she was only wearing a cheap looking leopard print bra on top. Her hands were not so discretely shoved down the front of Nick’s pants which she’d already managed to unbutton. The evidence quite clearly displayed what was about to transpire.            

 The only sound Alyssa could make was a shocked gasp; she was so unprepared for the scene that lay in front of her. Finally finding her voice she managed to speak. “What the fuck is going on here?” Her voice was surprisingly steady and calm. Almost too calm.            

 Nick’s head jerked away from his female companion once he heard Alyssa’s voice. No way… It’s impossible, he argued with himself. But it was. Standing beside his bed in a very short, skimpy, little red number stood Alyssa, eyes blazing and hands on her hips. And boy did she look pissed…            

 “I can explain!” he insisted, wincing at how clichéd he sounded.            

 “I think you better,” she coldly replied.