Brian continued looking between AJ and Ben who were glaring at each other. “Someone had better start talking. What the fuck is going on?”

AJ turned to Brian first. He stood and grabbed Brian by the shoulders. “Brian, nothing is going on. You need to relax. Nothing is ever as it seems on paper, okay?”

“Oh, please,” Ben scoffed, not letting AJ or Alexa get off that easily. “Everything is exactly how it seems. Alexa works for me. Her entire goal was to get you to come back to Jive. She did and we win. The end.”

Brian shook his head and began to walk backwards toward the door. “No. She doesn't work for you.”

“You're right,” Ben replied with a smirk, “once she accomplished what she set out to do, I fired her.”

“That's not true!” AJ exclaimed, then turned back to Brian. Kevin, Howie and Nick were sitting back utterly confused by the display in front of them. “Brian, that's not true.”

Brian could feel his heart breaking in his chest. He still didn't completely understand the implications of what Ben had just told him. Brian turned to AJ, his voice was low. “You knew about this?”

AJ looked over at Brian sadly. He noticed the look on his friend's face. It was the look of betrayal. “No, Brian, don't twist this around on me. I didn't have anything to do with any of it. I was trying to protect you.”

Brian shot a fiery look at AJ. “I don't know how many times I need to tell you, I don't need anyone's protection or pity.” He then turned back to Ben. “I want to be with this group. I don't want, no, I'm not GOING to be with Jive. There is nothing that you could say or do to make me open my mouth and sing for you. You dare AJ to try to break his contract. I dare you to try to keep it.”

With a final glance around the table, Brian grabbed his jacket and left the conference room. He was humiliated. Everything that he thought that he had with Alexa was a lie. It was all some big ploy to convince him that he was happy enough to let the past stay in the past. They all knew. Everyone knew what was happening and they didn't say a word. He didn't know if that was true, but he did at least know that it was true that AJ had known and he hadn't told him. He hadn't made him aware of who the deceitful person sleeping in his bed really was. Sure, he would give Alexa the chance to explain, but nothing that she could say could possibly make this right, unless of course, she could prove that it was all a lie.

-----

Back at the hotel, Alexa was pacing around the living area. If Brian hadn't found out at the meeting that morning, she had decided that she was going to tell him. She had to tell him. It had to be better that he heard it from her. She couldn't keep going on like this. She couldn't give Brian all of her until he knew her every last, deepest-darkest secret. He loved her, Alexa knew. There had to be a way that this could work out in the end.

“Brian,” She said to herself softly. “I'm not really who you think that I am.”

She shook her head. That was terrible. She couldn't put it like that, then it would really sound like she set out to hurt him in some way.

“Brian,” She whispered again. “You know that I love you so much, but I have something to tell you-”

Just then the door to the hotel room flew opened. Alexa turned quickly to see Brian standing in the doorway. There was fire in his eyes. He knew. Ben had told him everything. A sheer state of panic began to rise from Alexa's stomach. She should have told him sooner. She should have said something. What was she going to do now?

Brian stood in the doorway staring at her. Just that morning he had promised that he was going to love her forever, now he didn't even know who she was. Instead of saying anything, he started pacing in front of the door. Even though there were so many holes to their entire relationship, he wanted nothing more that to just take her into his arms. How could it be possible that the one person that he wanted comfort from was the one who had hurt him to begin with? “Who are you?” He growled in Alexa's general direction. He was finding it hard to look at her. He shook his head. Tears were brimming on his eyelids at the thought of all the possibilities. “Who are you, Alexa? Who are you?”

Alexa inhaled deeply. She too was trying to keep her tears from spilling over. “I'm exactly who I told you that I was Brian. I never lied to you. I never-”

Brian had to laugh at her statement. “You never lied to me? Seriously? You lived across the street from my house, knowing that I was your neighbor. In fact, if I have this correctly, you moved across the street from my house BECAUSE I would be your neighbor. You knew about my wife, about my pain about who I was and where I had come from. You work at my record company, but you never lied to me? Omission is nothing but an unspoken lie.”

“Brian, you have to listen to me.” Alexa exclaimed, panicked. “I did move across the street from you because Ben asked me to deceive you in this unimaginable way, but that's never want I intended. I never even intended to talk to you.”

“So, you saw me crying on the street that day and just thought, 'oh, that pitiful man. I should go try to help him'? You didn't know it was me. You hadn't been watching me beforehand?” Brian stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Yes, I knew who you were. I knew that you were Brian Littrell-- Backstreet Boy. I knew that you had lost your wife, but so did the whole world.” Alexa argued. She needed to calm him down. She needed everything to be all right. “But Brian, I didn't approach you because of Ben. In fact, Ben was the furthest thing from my mind when I talked to you that day. I was drawn to you the instant that I saw you. I love you, Brian. I-”

Brian shook his head and held his hand up, signaling her to stop speaking. “No, don't say that to me. Don't you dare say that to me! You don't love me. You can't love me. If you loved me, you wouldn't have kept this from me. You would have told me and let ME make the decision as to whether or not to have you in my life.”

“I don't know how else to tell you this. I don't work for Ben. I stopped working for Ben before we got together! Before that, for the entire time that I had been in Georgia, I never spoke to him. I wasn't deceiving you. I wasn't running back with information. I was just being with you because I liked to be with you.” Alexa finally let the tears escape. “Whether you believe me or not, I do love you. I love you with all of my heart.”

Brian clenched his jaw tightly and shook his head again. Seeing her cry was so painful. As much as he hated her at that moment for betraying him, he didn't want her to hurt, which seemed crazy, because how did he even know if he really knew her at all? “So, what?” Brian finally exclaimed, also letting the tears escape. “What? Did your dad really kill himself? Do you really have no family? Did you get in with my family, only to get closer to me? Only to fool me into falling in love with you? Is your favorite color really blue? Is your favorite flower really a lily? Is your favorite book really Pride and Prejudice? How am I supposed to know what's real?”

Alexa took a step closer and took his hand gently. “It's all real, Brian. Everything that I told you about my life is true. I just left out my former place of employment. I never meant to hurt you. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. I already told you-- the entire time that we were together, I didn't work for Ben. I promise you. They were not paying me to be with you.”

“We started sleeping together before we officially got together, Alexa. Was he paying you then?” Brian held his breath as he waited for her answer. This was it. This was the question that was going to make or break their future.

Alexa's lips started to tremble. Could she lie to him again and just tell him no? Would he believe her or would that only make the situation worse? What did he already know? Alexa decided to be truthful. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. “Yes.” She whispered softly.

Brian pulled his hand away from hers. He felt used. He felt dirty. He felt sick. “In my book Alexa,” Brian replied in a cold, even tone, “that makes you no better than the average street whore.”

Brian watched as she shattered. It was as if he could see the pieces of her falling to the ground. Not being able to take another minute, he turned and stormed out of the room. It felt like there was no air left in the world. He couldn't breath. His heart was broken into a million pieces. He had fallen so deeply in love with her that he couldn't completely fathom her betrayal.

Inside the room, Alexa fell to her knees. She covered her eyes with the palms of her hands. She was in physical pain. She didn't know that having a broken heart could hurt this badly. She had screwed up. She had screwed up so bad. She didn't know how to fix it. He hated her. She could see it buried in his eyes. He hated her so much for hurting him, for taking advantage of his situation, but she loved him so much. Her life without him in it was so completely unimaginable. She didn't know how to live without him anymore.

------

Hours had passed and Brian was no where to be found. The Boys had been out looking for him all day. They knew that he wasn't going to be at the hotel. Brian wouldn't be able to stay in a room that was littered with thoughts of the woman that he had loved. The woman who he believed had betrayed him.

Alexa had stayed in the room hoping that Brian would calm down and come back. She hoped that somewhere deep inside, he would realize that she hadn't really betrayed him. Though, she couldn't even bring herself to believe that. How could she imagine that Brian would be able to come to that conclusion?

She had been calling him for hours, until finally he shut his phone off and she was sent directly to the voice mail. She wondered if she should go out and find him or if she should just wait for him to come back to her. If she did find him, would it only make him that much more angry that she showed up when he was trying to find solace? What was she supposed to do?

Her cell phone suddenly rang on the table in the living area of the room. She lunged for the phone praying that it was Brian. It was AJ instead. “What the hell happened in there?” She greeted.

AJ sighed and shook his head. “Alexa, I didn't even see if coming. He seemed cordial enough. He threw this envelope down. It was your employee file or something, I guess? I don't guess that you've heard from Brian?”

“No,” Alexa replied. “Of course not. He called me a whore and he left. I can't believe this. I can't believe that I got myself into this mess and you... I can't believe that I got you into this mess either.”

“Look,” AJ replied. “Brian and I will be fine. You and Brian on the other hand may not be, not for a while. You need to step back and give him some time. Can you do that? Please. I don't want him to break again, Alexa. You helped to put him back together, now I need you to help keep him together.”

Alexa nodded, understanding exactly what AJ was trying to tell her. He wanted her to leave. “Okay.” Alexa replied. “You're right. I'll go.”

“I'm not trying to kick you out of his life. I'm not trying to tell you that I don't believe that you love him because I do and I know that he loves you too, but if you want this to work, at least at some point in the future, you need to give him some time to sort all of this out on his own.” AJ reasoned. He didn't mean to make her feel any worse than she already did. He knew that her heart was breaking just like Brian's was, but he'd known Brian for a decade. Brian was AJ's first priority.

“It's fine, AJ.” Alexa responded, softly. “Thanks for everything.”

“Alexa, I-” AJ started to reply, but was cut off by the beeping of the phone that signaled that the line was dead. AJ sighed deeply and looked at the phone as he flipped it shut. He hated to hurt her, but at this point, she couldn't help Brian.

AJ had looked for Brian around Central Park. He had looked around Times Square. He had even called the local hotels and hospitals to see if he had either checked in or been admitted respectively. He had one other place that he could think of to look, however, he didn't know if he wanted to find Brian there or not.

AJ hailed a cab. When the driver stopped he asked AJ, “Where to?”

AJ sighed deeply. “Ground Zero, please.”

-----

Through her tears, Alexa packed her things quickly. She had just come to the realization that she would probably never see Brian again. It was like a knife though her heart. He had walked away and it was no one's fault but her own. She hated herself so much.

She glanced at the notepad that was sitting on the desk in the living area. She had written Brian a letter, but she didn't know if she wanted to leave it for him. Would it be cold and unfeeling for to her to leave her feelings for him written on hotel paper? Would he ever even find it? Would he come back or would he send someone else just so that he knew that there was no chance of walking in and finding Alexa there?

She sighed deeply and looked around the room one final time. She glanced at the bed where she and Brian had made love. She glanced at the table where they had breakfast. She glanced over at his opened suitcase. Without thinking, she reached in and grabbed a t-shirt. She brought it up to her face, took in his scent and then stuffed the shirt into her suitcase.

She walked back over to the desk and ran her fingers over the letter that she had written. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to keep the last of her tears inside. Alexa reached into her pocket and placed the brass key to Brian's house down on top of the folded letter.

“Goodbye,” She whispered softly as she turned to leave life as she knew it, and possibly Brian, behind forever.

Outside of the hotel, Alexa hailed a cab to take her to Brooklyn. It was time to go home. It took the driver close to an hour to get across town and over the bridge. He stopped in front of Alexa's brick apartment building. Alexa paid the cab driver and exited the cab with a sigh. She pulled her suitcase up to the fifth floor.

The ever-present yellow eviction notice was taped to the door. Alexa sighed and ripped it off angrily. If Ben was going to tell Brian that she used to work for Jive, the least that he could do was pay the rent. Brian already thought that she was a pandering whore, why not make that true?

Alexa stuck her key in the lock and attempted to open the door. Nothing. She shoved the key in further. It would hardly turn from side to side. The locks had been changed. She had already been kicked out. Alexa kicked the door angrily, again and again. How did she get here? How had she let her life get so messed up? A fresh batch of tears began to fall down her face. Now, she really did have nothing. She had the clothes on her back and a suitcase full of jaded memories. She kicked the door once more and leaned her head forehead against it. None of it mattered if she could only have Brian. He was all that she wanted in life. She didn't care about her apartment or any of the things that were once inside. The only thing that she cared about was being in his arms. He was the only one who could make any of this better, but he was gone and he wasn't coming back to her, not after everything that she had done to him. She deserved every single thing that he thought of her.

-----

The sun was starting to set behind the tall New York City buildings. Brian had been sitting in this same spot since earlier that morning. He had vowed that he would never come here. He had vowed that he was going to stay as far away from this area as he possibly could. Now, here he was, sitting at the mass grave of hundreds of souls. Somewhere among the grave was his wife and his unborn child. He was as close to them as he could possibly be. Closer to them than he had been in years.

He'd been sitting there, running the last seven or so months of his life over and over in his mind. His memories spanned from the first time that he and Alexa had met, to the first time that they had made love, to today when he finally found out that she had been paid to sleep with him. Every time that he got to the final memory, a bit of bile would raise in his throat and he would apologize profusely to his wife for ever thinking that he could leave her behind. How could he think that he had another soul mate? How could he ever have replaced her in his heart, in his mind or in his bed?

Brian wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands as a figure approached to his side. “What are you doing here?” Brian asked AJ as he drew closer.

“Somehow, I knew that I'd find you.” AJ replied and sat down next to Brian on the bench. “Talk to me, Man.”

“I don't have anything to say to you.” Brian responded. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes.

“Brian, you can't possibly blame this on me.” AJ said as he ran his hands through his hair. His friend had come so far from this place, it was truly a tragedy that he had been sent back. “I just found out a few weeks ago, and if I believed that Alexa was it in for anything other than love, then I would have told you, but I didn't see any reason to hurt you, when the past could just be put in the past.”

“Shouldn't I be the one to decide what part of the past belongs there?” Brian exclaimed as he turned to AJ. “Shouldn't that have been my choice? You would have let me be with Alexa until the day that we died and never told me that we met because she was being PAID to talk to me. Seriously?”

AJ shrugged guiltily. “I guess that I never really thought about it like that.”

“That truth is, you never thought at all. You were too busy worrying about how destroyed poor Brian would be to give me the benefit of the doubt. Instead, you let Ben-fucking-Silverman tell me in front of everyone. You let me walk into a building full of people that used to work with her.” Brian shook his head. “Do you know how humiliating that is to me?”

“I can understand that, but you also have to understand where I was coming from.” AJ sighed and looked over at Brian. “I found out the day of the concert, when you sang with us for the first time again and you were so happy. Then I went out for a smoke and there Ben was man-handling Alexa and talking about some plan that had succeeded and all that Alexa wanted was for Ben to let her go. She was going to tell you that night, but I told her not to. I didn't think it was a big deal because she quit before the two of you got together. She went to Georgia for a vacation. She never expected to fall in love with you.”

Brian scoffed and shook his head. “Don't take up for her, AJ and don't say that she loved me, because I'll never believe it. I did love her, though. God, how I loved her. I was thinking of a future somewhere down the line with a ring and babies.”

“And now?” AJ questioned.

“And now,” Brian replied slowly. “I don't know that I ever knew her enough to say that I love her now or that I ever did. She says that she was truthful about the things that she told me, but how do I know that? I can't imagine trusting anything that she says.”

AJ shook his head. He knew that deep in his heart Brian didn't really mean that. He did love her and he was going to miss her. Now, he was speaking out of anger. “So, why did you come here?”

“This is my confessional. It's my wife's only grave.” Brian replied as he bit his trembling lip. “I needed to repent.”

“Brian,” AJ said softly. “You didn't do anything wrong by falling in love with Alexa. Let's say that you're right and that everything that she ever told you was a lie. That just means that you fell for the wrong girl. That doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be happy or that you were being punished.”

Brian pursed his lips and shook his head. “It's just not right. It's just not right that out of everyone that I could have fallen in love with, it had to be Alexa. It had to be the one person that set out to have me fall blindly into her arms. She was like the flute player and I was her serpent. It's just not fair.” Brian wiped the new tears that were falling down his face. He had always been so careful when he gave his heart away. How could he have been so careless this time?

AJ put an arm around his friend and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “You let her in. There had to have been something about her that you believed in, Brian. Maybe it'll just take some time to figure out what that was. It's not like you were on the prowl or ready to jump into a relationship. Something about her had to be genuine.”

No, Brian thought to himself. The only genuine thing about Alexa turned out to be that she was good at what she was paid to do. She was genuinely good at breaking hearts.

-----

Alexa stormed through the doors of the offices of Jive Records. She walked right past the security desk and took the elevator up to Ben's office. She ignored the people still scattered about the floor that were trying to say hello or ask how she was doing. She was on a mission.

She burst into Ben's office without knocking. Ben looked up quickly. “Have you lost your mind? What are you doing here?”

Alexa threw an envelope down onto his desk. “It's all there. Every dime that you gave me. I tapped into every resource that I have. I don't want it. I don't want anything to do with it.”

Ben opened the envelope and smiled. “You should keep it. You accomplished your goal didn't you?”

“I didn't accomplish anything other that breaking Brian's heart and my own.” Alexa shook her head, not wanting to open up to him. “That money is dirty and I don't want it.”

Ben sat back in his large desk chair and laughed. “It's a little bit late for that now, isn't it Sweetheart? The damage is done.”

Alexa rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “It must be a really horrible thing to be you. All you do all day, every day is go around ruining people's lives. You got want you wanted. Brian joined the group, but that wasn't good enough. You have to get revenge because I didn't follow your little plan even though it worked out well for you in the end anyway.”

“This wasn't about revenge.” Ben scoffed. “That was going to be part of the plan all along. You didn't think that I'd allow Brian to stay with a lowly assistant like you, did you? OR did you think that you were actually going to be moving up in this company?”

Alexa shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. She clenched her jaw tightly. If she had a gun, she would have shot him.

“You're nothing, Alexa.” Ben continued icily. “You're nothing without me. You're nothing without Brian. You'll always be nothing.”

Alexa nodded her head slowly and put her hands on her hips. She wasn't going to cry in front of Ben. She inhaled deeply. “That's fine.” Alexa replied shakily. “I'd rather be nothing without you, than to be something and be at all associated with you. I'm done. Have a nice fucking life.”

Alexa left Ben's office quickly. She could hear his laughing behind her, but she didn't care. For today to be the day that she was officially released from Ben Silverman's clutches was at least one positive in a day full of heartbreak and failure.

She walked out of the Jive building one last time and over to the cab that she had paid to wait for her out front. She opened the door and took one last look around at the city in front of her. She closed her eyes and sighed, “Goodbye, New York.” She whispered softly before climbing into the cab that was set to take her to the airport.