[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 15.

The next morning Nick woke up when he thought he heard a pounding at the front door. He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Avery. She was curled up in a little ball on the corner of the bed. She had kicked the covers off of herself. Nick heard the knocking again. He got up, covered Avery in blankets and went to answer the door. He found Kevin standing there under an umbrella. It was still raining. “Morning.” Kevin said.

“Is it?” Nick asked looking at how dark it seemed outside.

Kevin nodded. “Eight o’clock.”

“Really? We were supposed to be up an hour ago.”

“Power’s still out and lightning hit the telephone lines.”

“So what’s going on?”

“The resort won’t have power or telephone until the rain stops and they can get somebody out here. That may be a while so get your stuff packed. We’re all going into the city to finish filming. James wants to be on the road in an hour so wake up the girls.”

“I don’t think Natalie ever came back last night but Avery and I will be up there as soon as we can.”

Kevin left and Nick went to wake up Avery. He bent over her and kissed her. “Good morning sleeping beauty!” he said.

Avery opened her eyes and an instant smile spread across her face. “Pack your stuff.” He said.

Nick explained to Avery what was going on. She got up and got in the shower and Nick made a run for it through the rain back to his room to get ready.

Across the resort, Brian opened his eyes. He was surprised to find Natalie’s head resting under his chin. Her arm and leg thrown over him like he was some kind of giant pillow and he had his arms around her. He smiled. He looked at the window but it still looked dark out so he stayed right where he was. He squeezed Natalie and she stirred in her sleep snuggling up even closer to him. He closed his eyes again enjoying the moment. Minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Natalie woke up taking in a deep breath. She pulled her head up off of Brian and saw him smiling at her. She smiled back. “Is there someone at the door?” Natalie asked.

Brian nodded. “Are you going to answer it?” Natalie asked.

“Do I have to?” he said.

The knock was louder. “Brian!” a voice called.

With a sigh Brian got out of bed and answered the door. “Kevin? What’s going on? What time is it?”

“Just after eight.”

“What? How are we so late?”

“It’s OK. There’s nothing to miss. We still have no power or telephones. James says to pack your stuff. Bus leaves in an hour.”

“Where we going?” Natalie asked greeting them at the door.

Kevin smiled not so surprised to see her there. “Into the city. We have to find alternative locations. You girls are supposed to leave tomorrow, so we can’t wait out the rain.”

“That should be fun. I’ve never been to Orlando before.”

“Really?”

Natalie shook her head again. Kevin smiled, “You’ll love it.”

Kevin offered to walk Natalie back to her room under his umbrella. She quickly changed back into her clothes that were still kind of damp and walked with Kevin back to her cabin.

“If we’re riding the bus with you, what are we going to do with our car?” Natalie asked.

“James said he has arranged for it to be sent over. He doesn’t want you to have to drive in the storm.”

Natalie said goodbye to Kevin and went inside to find Avery packing her stuff. They eventually got there things all packed after exchanging stories of what happened to them the night before.


It was amazing how much crap they had for such a short time. They looked at the pile of luggage and then at the rain out the front door. Somehow they managed to gather it all up at once and they hurried as fast as they could to the lodge. By the time they got there they were soaked. AJ laughed as they plopped their bags down in front of the bus. “We’re only going to be gone for one night.” He said.

“We had to pack everything. We’re not coming back here. We have to go home tomorrow.” Avery said.

AJ’s smile turned into a pout. “So soon?” he asked.

Natalie sighed. She smiled politely and said, “Dreams can’t last forever,” as she climbed onto the bus. AJ looked at Avery as if to ask what’s wrong with her? Avery shrugged.

Inside the bus was huge. Natalie and Avery were surprised at how much room there was. It was more like a motor home. There were couches and a dining table in the back, a few bunks for sleeping and in the front there were some chairs. The girls sat down on one of the couches in the back. Nick plopped down next to Avery and rested his head on her shoulder. “Better make yourselves comfortable, we have like a two hour drive ahead of us.” He said closing his eyes.
Avery pulled a blanket over them and closed her eyes as well. Natalie moved to the other couch, put her headphones on and closed her eyes. Pretty soon she had Brian and Kevin sitting on either side of her. She opened her eyes when they sat down. Brian smiled. Natalie forced a smile back but Brian could tell that she was upset about something. Kevin saw it too but neither of them said anything. They all just sat there in silence for a while and pretty soon they were on their way. After a while just about everyone had fallen asleep. They had all had quite a long night. Natalie sat there listening to music looking at the others sleeping peacefully. She got up and moved to one of the chairs in the front of the bus. Kevin woke up as she stood up. He watched her leave and then got up himself. He saw her staring out the window. “So,” He said sitting down in the chair next to her, “You must have had an interesting night.”

Natalie wondered what he meant by that. She could feel herself starting to blush. “No crazier than the rest of this week.” She answered.

Kevin smiled impressed at the way she avoided the unasked question. “We had walked quite a ways up the beach last night. Got caught in the storm.” Natalie explained.

“Well that explains a lot.” Kevin said, “But it doesn’t explain why you seem so upset.” He continued.

Natalie forced a smile. “I’m not upset.” She said.

Kevin didn’t believe her. “Was it something Brian did?”

Natalie sighed realizing that Kevin wasn’t just going to let it go. “No. Brian didn’t do anything wrong.”

She looked out the window again and under her breath she barely whispered, “It was quite the opposite.”

Natalie didn’t think she had said that out loud. She didn’t realize that Kevin had heard her. He smiled. “So what do you think of Brain?” he asked.

Natalie was surprised by the question. She wasn’t sure what to say. She smiled nervously. “Do you like him?” Kevin continued.

“What’s not to like?” Natalie replied, “He’s an amazing guy. You all are.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Kevin said.

“What do you mean?” Natalie asked hoping he wouldn’t really ask.

“You know what I’m talking about, Brian. You and Brian?”

Again, Natalie smiled nervously. “I only ask because I’ve never seen Brian like this before.”

“Like what?” Natalie asked confused.

Kevin smiled, “It’s hard to explain,” he said, “But I’m pretty sure it’s because of you.”

Natalie tried to hide the smile on her face. She didn’t respond. She looked out the window to avoid making eye contact. “So, is there something there?” Kevin asked again.

The smile faded from Natalie’s face, “Even if there is, I don’t see the point.”

Kevin looked confused. Natalie smiled and said, “We’re from two different worlds, and I go back to mine tomorrow. End of story.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” Kevin said. “Avery and Nick seem to think it will work.”

Natalie turned away from the window and gave Kevin a challenging look. “And how long does that last? A phone call here and there? A visit a few times a year when you can find the time? Who wants that? I think it’s great that they’ve had such a fun time this week, but they’re just kidding themselves. It’ll never work out.”

Just then James turned around in his seat. He had been sitting in the chair right in front of her. “Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!” he said startling Natalie “You know it’s worked for Kevin for like two years now.”

“I see her a lot more than a couple times a year.”

“Sometimes Kristen even comes along for the ride.” James said.

“Look I appreciate what you guys are trying to do.” Natalie said, “But even if Brian had expressed any interest in trying to make something work, which he hasn’t, I’m not interested. It would be just like Paul all over again.”

“Paul?” James asked.

“The ex-boyfriend?” Kevin asked.

“He was never my boyfriend.”

James and Kevin looked at each other confused. Natalie sighed. “I was in love with someone I could never really have. I recently had to watch him fall in love and get married to someone else. It broke my heart and I am not going to let that happen again. It would be the same thing with Brian. I could never really be with him. I’m not going to sit around waiting for him to call and tell me he’s found someone he can be with all the time. I’m sorry you guys but I just don’t want to be hurt again.”

Natalie stopped horrified. Kevin and James looked up to see Brian standing there staring at them. Everyone waited for him to say something but he didn’t. Natalie sat there frozen. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and stared out the window again. She didn’t say a word. Her eyes welled up with tears. Kevin and James both felt really bad. They smiled nervously at Brian. “Hey.” James said.

Brian glared at Kevin angrily. Kevin got up without saying a word and gestured for James to follow him. Kevin and James went to the back of the bus leaving them alone. “I’m sorry about that. Kevin’s always trying to play matchmaker for the rest of us.” Brian said.

“How long were you standing there?” Natalie asked keeping her eyes focused on the road.

Brian smiled. “Long enough.”

Natalie wiped her eyes. “May I?” Brian asked.

Natalie looked up to see Brian pointing at the chair next to her. She shrugged and Brian sat down. “I’m sorry.” Natalie began, “I-

“You don’t have to explain.” Brian said. “I understand. In fact that’s exactly what happened with Linda and I. Except I was the one receiving the phone call. I had been gone with the guys for about 5 months. We were trying to get the band going. We were working hard. I saw her a couple of times and we talked on the phone all the time, but I got so busy I never even saw it coming.”

“What happened?”

“It was her birthday so called to sing happy birthday.”

“You sang to her?” Natalie said dreamily. She smiled imagining the moment. “I think I would die if you called just to sing to me.”

Brian laughed and Natalie blushed embarrassed. “I guess Linda didn’t feel the same way. She said thank you and then asked me to stop calling her.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Brian sighed. “She was my girlfriend for three years and she just said. ‘Brian please stop calling me.’”

Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “No wonder Laura gets so mad.” Natalie said.

“What?” Brian asked.

“Nothing.” Natalie said shaking her head. Brian gave her a weird look.

“I think you win.” Natalie said, “Your story’s worse than mine. I totally understand why you’ve stayed single all these years.”

Brian picked up Natalie’s hand. “Then you understand why last night was a really big deal for me.”

Natalie looked down at him holding her hand. She became really nervous again. Brian sighed, “Look, I understand if you don’t want to get involved with me, but I just want you to know that I’ve never met anyone like you before. Even Linda never made me feel this way and I don’t want you to leave without knowing how I feel.”

Natalie smiled. Brian was still holding her hand. She put her other hand on top of his but she still said nothing. “The fact is,” Brian went on, “No matter what happens in the next two days, no matter how we leave things between us, when you leave I’m gonna miss you. Even if it’s only as friends, I’ll still want to call you all the time. And, I’m still going to want to come see you whenever I can. And especially if we’re just friends, I will still wait for that phone call when you tell me that you have found the love of your life. And no matter what, it’s gonna break my heart.”

Natalie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She suddenly became so confused. Minutes ago she was sure that she should not get involved with him and now she was ready to marry him. The tears returned to her eyes. She stared down at Brian’s hand afraid to look at him. Brian waited patiently while Natalie sorted the million thoughts in her head. After a few minutes of silence, Natalie looked him in the eyes. He seemed so sincere and a little scared. She was still very confused. She knew she wanted him but was still convinced it would only lead to heartbreak. Finally she smiled and said, “My birthday’s March 5th. You know, in case you’re in a singing mood.”

Brian was a little disappointed with her response. He forced a smile not knowing quite what he expected, but still relieved that she didn’t just reject him. He thought it best to leave it alone for now so he didn’t say anything more. He just sat there and his eyes drifted toward the window. Natalie was relieved and without saying anything else she turned her attention back to the window as well. She held his hand tightly in hers. Brian glanced down and smiled. Soon enough they were both asleep.

Howie, who had been sleeping this whole time in one of the bunks, walked toward the front of the bus. He saw Brian and Natalie asleep in their chairs. Their heads were resting on each other and they were still holding hands. He was surprised to see it. He went to the back of the bus where everyone else was awake, grabbed his video camera and went back up front. Everyone was curious what he was up to and they followed him. Kevin and James looked relieved. Everyone else just smiled at how cute they looked. Avery took a picture. The flash of the camera made them stir and everyone dove behind seats. When the coast was clear everyone went to the back of the bus. “Thank goodness.” Kevin said when they all sat down.

“It’s about time.” Howie added and they all laughed.