Chapter Seven: It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane….No It’s…

Alyssa slid out of Nick’s arms moving around the room grabbing clothes. Nick looked at her realizing what she was doing. It had been the first time they’d been at her place in a while and she was kicking him out. He knew she was going to at some point but he hoped that somehow he could beckon her back into bed and convince her otherwise.

As she passed by him wearing just an ankle-length black silk robe, he reached out grabbing her wrist and pulled her on top of him. “Nickolas, don’t…” She stated giving him a look.

He smiled at her and flipped her onto her back untying the robe and slipping it off of her. Nick leaned done kissing her neck then whispered in her ear, “It’s my last night in LA, if you think I’m not waking up with you, then you are sorely mistaken.”

A week later…

“So what’s going on with Brandon?” Jenna asked curious how this guy had caught Alyssa’s attention.

Alyssa rolled her eyes, “Nothing is going on with Brandon, we’re friends period. Both our hearts belong to other people we just talk and get advice from each other that’s all.”

“You’re sure of this?”

Alyssa sighed, “Yeah I’m sure. Granted Brandon’s attractive. I’d have to be blind not to be attracted to him. But I’m not attracted to him the way I’m attracted to Nick. With Brandon the attraction is purely that I think he’s handsome. With Nick it’s that I love everything about him, his eyes, his smile, everything.”

“Then WHY are you being so stupid about Nick?” Jenna countered.

“I’m not being stupid, we were moving too fast again.” Alyssa reasoned.

Jenna sighed, “And that has nothing to do with the fact that you’re so crazy in love that it scares the fuck out of you.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes, “Okay it’s pretty much that.”

“Well explain what you’re so afraid of.” Jenna coaxed.

Alyssa thought a moment gathering her thoughts, “I’m afraid of him. How much he loves me, he tells me all the time. Which of course I love that he does that, I appreciate it so much. But how serious his feelings are. How serious mine are. It scares me that I know I’ve found my soul mate. I mean I’m 22 I should be partying every night, making out with frat boys and none of that appeals to me. All I want to do is go home and curl up on the couch with him and watch a movie, talk about the future, make love ‘til dawn.”

Jenna smiled at her, “But why are you scared of that? Most girls your age would KILL for that kind of intimacy.”

“I know but I’m so scared that he’s going to lose interest in me, that I’m not enough. Or that I let my heart take over completely and I marry him and get pregnant and 15 years from now he figures out that ‘oh I don’t really love you the way I thought I did’ and divorces me.” Alyssa explained.

“Honey he wants to spend forever with you. He knows what marriage means to you.”

“Yeah but I feel like I love him too much. He makes me want to get pregnant. I want him to ask me to marry him. I want everything with him and it hurts everytime I leave his arms. But I’m so afraid to let myself go that I’ll scare him with how much I care about him and make him run off and cheat on me.”

Jenna’s expression softened, “He wants all that with you. Do you remember how hurt he was when he found out you had a miscarriage? Or how he held you while you cried after your father passed away?” Jenna reasoned.

Alyssa looked away, “I know and all of that made me fall deeper in love with him. I just feel that marriage means the loss of individuality. Like I’d be accountable to someone else for everything that I do.”

“And that’s bad?”

Alyssa sighed, “I don’t want to lose who I am and in effect lose him in the process.”

Three nights later…

Alyssa waited while she heard the ring in her ear. “Come on Nick pick up the phone.” She spoke hoping he’d answer.

Meanwhile Nick was in Florida he’d been to three night clubs in the greater Miami area, none of which were different to him, all white interior, women who looked like they had appeared on Nip/Tuck as a patient all around. Balding single men, and 20-something college guys looking to score with one of the many busty blondes dancing just barely two feet from his table. None of it interested him nothing in this part of the world was real to him, plasticized women, men who over compensate their short-comings with cars and money, not even the people he was with seemed like they ever had to struggle for anything.

He knew going out with Bean was going to be an exercise in futility. The entire night Bean had been thrusting girl upon girl in Nick’s face only to receive the same reaction, a respectful decline, that he had a girlfriend and wouldn’t cheat on her.

“Dude stop being a pussy and get laid.” Rob admonished thrusting another beer in Nick’s face.

Nick shot him a glare getting up and walking out, forgetting that he left his sidekick on the table as a trail of women followed him hoping to get an autograph, a photo or even get lucky.

As the music lulled Rob saw Nick’s sidekick buzz across the table seeing a Los Angeles area code. Figuring it was either one of Nick’s siblings or Alyssa he picked up, “Yo,” He slurred.

Alyssa recognized the voice to be one of Nick’s perennially drunken friends, and rolled her eyes, “Is Nick there?” She asked loudly making sure he heard her over the blaring music in the background.

Rob looked around he figured it was time his friend got his head out of his ass and moved on from ‘lil Miss Wishy-washy’, “No he left with a smoking hot blonde, two in fact. Do you want me to take a message for you?” He managed to slur out he had really lied, there were quite a few blondes that had followed Nick out of the club he just fudged the part about whether or not he would be going back to the hotel alone or not.

Alyssa hung up the phone as the rage coursed through her. So he’s with other women? How could he? She trusted him, loved him, and what does he do, the one thing he promised he wouldn’t! He promised he wouldn’t make her feel like a fool for trusting him, he swore time after time that he loved her.

‘All lies,’ she told herself, ‘all lies to get you to spread your legs for him and what did you do? You believed him, you stupid, stupid girl you believed him.’

Alyssa took her phone and dialed a number needing an outside opinion.

“Hello?” Brandon answered.

And that’s when Alyssa broke down, “He promised Brandon, he promised…”

The next morning…

Alyssa stirred stretching a little, her head felt like a million pounds, her entire body felt sore. She stretched her arms out hitting something. She froze as that something groaned and moved. Nervous she looked over her shoulder her heart stopped when she saw Brandon lying there a thin cotton sheet coming up to his waist leaving little to the imagination that he was indeed naked as was Alyssa. Her breathing increased as the events of the night before came rushing back to her.

The phone call to Nick that resulted in a jealous tirade that lasted for hours. The second call to Brandon. The third call to Nick leaving him a message telling him how much she hated him, and that she hoped the blondes he met would satisfy him in ways she obviously didn’t know how.

Brandon had come over after that listening to her go on and on about how much she loved Nick and how he betrayed her. She listened to him as he spoke about how much he missed Courtney, who was currently in Europe filming. The massive amounts of alcohol they both consumed to quell their emotional pain.

Then the sex……fuck had that really happened?

It was nothing like what her and Nick had, it wasn’t better, wasn’t worse…just different.

It was solace, both of them finding comfort in each other in ways they should have never even thought of. Granted they both got off, but it left her feeling horrible, like in her mind she was no better than Nick. Not only had she cheated on Nick, she helped Brandon cheat on Courtney, who had done nothing but go to work.

What she didn’t know was that night, Nick drove to Orlando. To see Howie, who was visiting his family before going back into the studio. The two of them stayed up all night discussing everything that had happened between him and Alyssa, how things went from perfect to unstable so fast.

Alyssa got up going into the bathroom and turned on the shower, she had to wash this feeling off of her. She felt dirty, cheap, like a whore. True she was only doing to him what she thought was done to her, but still her heart ached that she betrayed the man she loved so much.

In Florida…

Nick walked back into the hotel getting ready to pack up for the flight home to LA. A plan in his heart to get Alyssa back somehow, someway to make her see that it didn’t matter how fast they moved, but that as long as they were together that, that’s what mattered.

As soon as he opened the hotel door the stench hit him. A mix of sex, marijuana, alcohol and cigar smoke hung in the room. Rob stumbled into the great room wearing a bathrobe. “Nicky!!!!” He shouted cringing at the sound of his own voice. He walked over handing Nick his sidekick, “Believe me man, I did you a favor last night!” He exclaimed going over into the bathroom of the suite and starting the shower.

Nick looked down at the phone in his hand seeing he had two voicemail. He dialed it punching in his pass code.

“Hey lover, it’s Lissa. Hope you had an awesome time at the game, don’t drink too much, I’m not there to bail you out…again. I love you, come home soon.”

The smile he had quickly faded as the second message began to play.

“….You promised me…You promised me that you wouldn’t make me feel like a fool for trusting you. You made me believe that you loved me, was that all a lie? Was it to get me into bed? Are you having fun huh? I called your phone and one of your friends said you left with two girls. I should have known you’d cheat on me, you did with everyone else, why should I be any different? I gave you everything, my heart, my body, everything and this is how you repay me? I hate you. I hope your happy Nickolas, I hope those girls satisfy you the way I obviously can’t. Goodbye.”

Rob walked out of the bathroom minutes later robe back on towel drying his hair.

“What the fuck did you do?” Nick asked him.

Rob looked at him seeing the murderous look in Nick’s eyes. “I told her that you left with some smokin’ hot chicks last night, which technically you did there was like a trail of girls following you out of the club.”

“So you lied to the woman I love, telling her that I’m on my way to cheating on her?”

“I didn’t say that you were cheating on her, just that you left with two girls. She assumed that you were going to have sex.”

“It’s a logical thought though, you fuck.” Nick shot back, “I don’t even know why I’m friends with you. I think it’s because I pity you. That you have to name drop every celebrity you know just to get blown by some floozy drunk chick in a dive.” He stated grabbing his bags and walking out the door. Nick hit the speed dial on his phone to call Alyssa, he had to set this straight before she did something she’d regret. His heart sank when he heard Brandon’s voice pick up the phone.

“Hello?” Brandon asked still very groggy from being woken up by the phone.

He didn’t know how to react obviously Brandon was with Alyssa, he’d answered her sidekick for God’s sake. “…Is Alyssa around…”

“Nick?” Brandon asked receiving a ‘yeah’ in response. “She’s in the shower, and I don’t think she’ll want to talk to you after what you pulled last night.” Brandon chided unintentionally.

‘Yeah you idiot and what did you do to Courtney last night? You betrayed her, you helped Alyssa betray Nick.’ His mind screamed.

“Brandon it was a lie….” Nick began and then stopped thinking, it should be 5:30 AM in LA right now, why would Brandon answer Alyssa’s sidekick at 5:30 in the morning on a Sunday? And then it dawned on him, she’d spent the night with him, a revenge fuck to get even with Nick in her mind. Suddenly feeling weak he pressed the end button on the phone ending the call.

She couldn’t have, she wouldn’t have…would she?

Nick knew Alyssa would be furious if she had been told that he was cheating on her with not one but two girls. Hell he was furious at Rob for telling her anything lie or truth. But would she really have gone so far as to sleep with another man? He didn’t know for sure as he hailed a cab to take him to the airport, but he did know that he’d soon find out.