| Chapter 50 "Thanks Kris, we'll have to do this again soon," Kira said grabbing her bags from the trunk. "Yeah, just give me a call anytime," Kristin said. "K, see ya later," Kira said and walked into the house. The house was silent, and she wondered where Howie was. She set her bags on the couch and turned to go upstairs. There on the first step was a note: Kira, Go up to Nick's room. H. "OK, what's goin on here," Kira said as she headed up to Nick's room. When she walked in there was a beautiful dress laid across the bed and another note. Put this on and meet me in the kitchen. She stood there for a moment wondering what Howie had up his sleeve. She finally shrugged her shoulders and put the dress on. She went into the bathroom to fix her hair and make-up. She didn't know what was in store, but it never hurt to look your best. When she was satisfied with everything, she took a deep breath and headed down to the kitchen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gary escorted Leighanne to her door. They had done four interviews that afternoon, and they were both exhausted. At every interview, the reporters wanted to talk about Leighanne's impending divorce, and at every one Gary had stepped in and taken care of the situation. "I guess I'll see ya at seven," he said. "Yeah," Leighanne said digging out her keys. Gary waited until she found her key and got the door open before he turned to leave. "Gary," Leighanne called after him, "Thanks for doing what you did today." He smiled, "You're welcome. That's your private business, they should have more respect than that." Leighanne laughed, "You apparently haven't been around many reporters." Gary smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, but still. See ya in the morning." "K, goodnight," Leighanne said and walked into the house. She peered out the window and watched Gary get in his car and leave. When he was out of sight, she turned and headed to the bedroom. She had to be up early in the morning, and she was ready to call it a night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kira walked into the kitchen, but there was no Howie. She looked around and found another note on the counter. I'm outside on the patio. H. She laid the note back down on the counter and headed to the patio doors. When she walked outside her mouth dropped to the floor. There were lit candles everywhere, and dozens upon dozens of roses in baskets all around the edge of the patio. There was a table set up, with formal dinning ware, and she could hear music playing. Howie walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She jumped. "You scared me," she said turning around to face him. He was standing there with a suit on. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "Yeah, I am," she said. Howie took her hand and led her to the table and pulled the chair out for her. She sat down and he uncovered her plate to reveal an elegant home cooked Italian dinner. Kira looked up at him, "Did you cook this?" Howie smiled at her, "Yep." He poured her a glass of wine, then he sat down in his chair. "Howie, you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble," she said. "It's no trouble, I like doing this for you," he said. She stared at him, still wondering what all this was about. "I thought you said you were hungry," Howie said noticing she wasn't eating. "Oh, I am," she said grabbing her fork and taking a bite. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat on the beach shivering and coughing. He'd been there all day. His eyes were swollen from crying, but even that didn't stop the endless flow of tears. It was dark now, and the moon gave everything a silver hue. Nick looked up to the sky, "Why'd you do this to me? Why'd you tell me to let her go and leave me here like this?!" He wiped his face and coughed some more. "I don't understand, I did what you wanted me to. Please make the pain go away, I can't take it anymore! Everywhere I look I see her. I miss being with her, her smile, the way she did things. I feel so empty inside. I don't want to be here without her," he cried. *Tracy and Jade exchanged worried glances.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie and Kira had finished eating. The meal was excellent, and Kira wondered if he really did cook it. "You wanna dance?" Howie asked. She looked at him and smiled, "Sure." Howie took her hand and led her away from the table and they began to slowly dance. "What'd I do to deserve this?" Kira asked. Howie looked at her, "Nothing, I just wanted to show you how I feel about you." She smiled at him and laid her head on his shoulder. They danced for a few more songs. Howie looked down at her, "You ready for your surprise?" She looked at him confused, "I thought this was surprise enough, there's more?" He smiled and led her back to her chair, "Now close your eyes until I tell you." She did as she was told. She could hear him walking around for a minute. "OK, you can open your eyes," he said. Kira opened her eyes and her heart jumped into her throat. Howie was in front of her on one knee. He had a single white rose in one hand, and a ring box in the other. He handed her the rose, "Kira, I know we haven't known each other for very long, but in the time we've spent together I've come to love you dearly. I can't imagine a day without you with me. You make me happier than I've ever been in my life, and I want to feel that for the rest of it." He opened the box to reveal a huge princess cut diamond ring. Kira had tears in her eyes. "Kira, will you marry me?" he asked. She was crying now, "Yes." Howie was smiling from ear to ear as he pulled the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. "I love you," he said. She reached out and hugged him, "I love you too." He pulled away and looked at her. She had tears running down her face, and he gently brushed them away. Then he pulled her in for a slow passionate kiss. Suddenly Howie pulled away, got up and put all the candles out. Now they were completely in the dark. He walked back up to her, picked her up, and carried her into the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick wrapped his arms around himself and cried. Nothing mattered anymore, not his family, his friends, career, fans, nothing. If he wasn't with Tara then he had nothing, he was nothing. "God, I trusted you! I thought things would be OK, but their not! I can't take this life anymore!" he screamed. He stood up and looked out over the ocean. * "It's now or never," Tracy said. Jade nodded her head and dissappeared.* Nick slipped his jacket off and let it drop to the sandy beach. He then kicked his shoes off and headed into the water. The girl was sitting at her desk working on some papers. She got up, papers in hand and walked across the room, near the windows. * Jade whispered in her ear, "Look."* She stopped and walked over to the window and looked out. She saw Nick heading into the water. She dropped her papers to the floor, "God no!" The water was freezing, and it immediately sent Nick into shock, but he kept wading deeper. It was up to his chest now, and the waves were hitting him in the face. He closed his eyes and dove in. He swam out a little ways, then just stopped. He started to sink, but he didn't fight it. He watched as the reflection of the moon got further and further away. He realized he was holding his breath, and let it out. He watched the waves move above him, and suddenly started to feel warm. He embraced it, and slipped into unconsciousness. Chapter 51 |