The seat belt sign shut off and Hope restlessly took it off. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked at Taylor sitting next to her. His eyes were glazed over from staring out the window so long. If he insists on me sitting next to him how come he won�t talk to me? He won�t even look to me and I�m afraid to say anything cause he might snap at me.
She figured he noticed her staring when his eyes drifted from the window and to the floor. She let her eyes drop and he turned his head to her. He looked like he was going to say something.
"So he just dropped you? Just let you go after one thing?" Hope nodded.
"It wasn�t just one little thing, Tay. I explained it to you, it changed everything and once he found out he figured it would ruin his rep and all that and he didn�t want anyone to find out about him. He never once thought about how I felt and how I was going to deal with everything. I mean I worked for him from the beginning of my career."
"And you only�"
"Yes, only once and look what happened. Everything got screwed." She saw Taylor smile. "You shut up! I don�t need people knowing about this. I swear if your mom finds out I�ll lose my job and I won�t have anywhere to go."
"Don�t worry, she won�t. No one will find out. I won�t even tell Zac." Zac popped his head over the seat in front of them.
"I heard my name." Taylor shook his head, motioning for him to turn back around. Zac noticed a guy walking up to them. He stopped at Hope�s seat.
"Hello." Zac saw Hope�s face go white. Figuring he wasn�t accepted in the conversation, he turned around, ignoring what was going on behind him. He heard Hope and Taylor say something, an unfamiliar voice sound like an accusation.
It went on for a while, too. Sheesh, what�s going on back there? Oh well, it�s none of my business. But my God it�s tempting. The fighting went on until the seat belt sign went back on. Zac had to listen in, it was driving him insane. They�d been back there for hours. He tried to hear what was going on.
The seat belt sign is back on, go back to your own seat, Hope said.
No.
I suggest you listen to her and leave us alone, haven�t you done enough? Taylor asked.
This is none of your business, Taylor. You stay out of this.
He�ll be in it if he wants to. He�s my support, you sure the hell aren�t anything anymore, Hope said.
Well if you wouldn�t of been such a bitch then maybe I would be something, Hope.
Zac heard someone being punched. The other person got up and walked away, holding his right cheek. Zac smiled, and continued to listen.
Come on Hope, it�ll be O.K. He won�t bother you anymore, Taylor said.
But he�s suck a jerk, I don�t know what I ever saw in him. He totally changed ever since�
Ike was worried. He had seen Hope and Taylor in the seat diagonal to his. After the other guy had left, he never found out who it was, he saw Hope crying and Taylor trying to console her. She�d seemed so happy until he came by and then she was a total mess. Some bodyguard.
He couldn�t make out what they were saying, but he noticed Zac could, and his face went white when he found out. Apparently he knew he shouldn�t of listened in because he heard something he didn�t want to hear.
Ike was left to think as the plane descended to the ground. Tay continued to hold Hope as the plane went down, mostly because she hated planes more than anything in the world. She was shaking the whole time but that wasn�t from the plane ride. Something triggered an old memory and she couldn�t get it out of her head.
Hope stayed in his arms. Tay seemed to be so trusting, the whole time they were fighting he keep sticking up for her. He�s so good to me, I just pray he doesn�t change. The last thing I need is another one of him�you think you know a person and then all of a sudden they change. For the worst.
She looked up at Taylor. "Thank you," she said.
"It�s nothing."
"It�s a lot. You don�t know it but it means so much to me that someone cares." He only smiled and looked out the window, realizing for the first time that the plane was on the ground.
Soon people started getting off, so Taylor let go of Hope. They got up and she took his hand as they got off, trying her best to ignore the one person on the plane who cared if she holding his hand.
Zac was right behind them, and all the thoughts kept running through his head. Oh my God, I can NOT believe that Hope�s a�stop thinking about it Zac! Come on, this is none of your business and you know yourself. By tomorrow everyone�s going to find out that you know. He glanced at Hope, who was trying her best to get out of the plane quickly.
Or maybe sooner.
They got to the hotel without any problems. Typical girls screaming and Hope screaming above all three hundred of them. A few thought that she was one of their girlfriends, but they soon found out she was a bodyguard.
"Damn, Hope, I didn�t know you could scream that loud," Ike said when they got to the hotel.
"There�s a million things you don�t know about me." Zac saw her glance and Taylor and grin. Their little secret, and Zac knew all of it. He knew everything.
The hotel room was a typical hotel room. Two beds, small fridge, TV, whatever. Hope realized something as she went into the room. "Where are we?" she asked, turning around.
"Hope, we�re in London. I thought you knew that."
"You mean to tell me we flew over an ocean?" Hope said, turning around and putting her hand on her head. "I will not be able to go back home."
"Why are you so ghastly afraid of planes?" Taylor asked. She took a deep breath and turned back around.
"It�s just that when I was in boot camp they made us jump out of planes, and my friend�s parachute didn�t open." Taylor shook her head. She was so calm about it, and she had a smile on her face.
"Did your friend die?" Zac asked. Taylor turned to him with a scolding look on his face.
"Yeah. Don�t matter, it was years ago and she wasn�t that good of a friend. Tay stop giving him looks, I said it was O.K."
"Well it�s not just that he said it to you, but he says it to a lot of people and he�s got to realize that one of these days someone�s gonna get really hurt or something," Tay snapped. Hope put up her hands in defense, stepping back. "Sorry."
"Whatever." Diana walked in.
"O.K., who�s staying in here?" she asked.
"I want it, it�s got a nice view of a�" Hope said, and turned around to the window. "A brick wall? I don�t want this room! Tay, you can stay in here." Hope gave him a smile and went across the hall. "I got this one!" Hope said.
"Tay, go in there," Diana said.
"Why do I have to go in her room?" Tay asked.
"Because you�re staying with her." Taylor gave her a shocked look. "Don�t look so shocked, I trust you and anyway she told me she�s still baffling over some other guy."
"Not after the flight," Taylor muttered and went across the hall. Diana shrugged and left, leaving Ike and Zac to the brick wall room.
They looked at each other and then at the room. "I claim wall bed!" Zac yelled and jumped on the bed next to the wall. Ike grumbled and put his stuff on his bed, then walked out of the room.
Tay walked in and over to Zac who was getting comfortable in his bed. "Zac, there�s something odd about you today," Taylor said. "Ever since we got off the plane you�ve seemed different."
"Just tired, I guess," Zac said, his voice coming out muffled because he was totally underneath the covers.
"No, you�re not tired, there�s something wrong. Something�s bothering you. You can tell me, I don�t care."
"You will."
"Excuse me?"
"Oops. Not supposed to reveal any information, ignore me!" Zac said, turning around, making the comforter on the bed a total wreck. "Stupid bed, it�s not big enough!"
"Maybe your ego needs to get smaller. Come on, tell me. What�s up?" Zac looked at Taylor, then looked up.
"Uh, there�s a ceiling, a fan, and the other floors above us. They have ceilings and fans too, probably." Taylor sighed. He wasn�t getting anywhere. Zac wasn�t saying anything, even though Tay knew he wanted to.
"I know you want to. Zac, you used to tell me anything. What�s going on in that head of yours? Did you skip your sugar pill for today?"
"No, wait�what sugar pill?" Zac asked, his eyes falling from the ceiling and now looking at Taylor. He�s on to something, he knows. Oh God he knows!! Wait, maybe he doesn�t. Let�s just hope he doesn�t�oh no! Hope! I wonder how she�s doing over there in that room by herself. Maybe Taylor should go over there and find out.
"Zac, I�m not leaving until you tell me what�s going on." Dammit!!
"You don�t want to know." But Taylor insisted he did. They bickered for a while, Tay insisting he find out, and Zac insisting he didn�t want to know. After a while, Zac gave in. "Fine. But you�re not going to like it."
"Just tell me."
"I know about what happened with Hope and Jonathan Taylor Thomas!" Zac said quickly, then put his pillow in front of his face, squeezing his eyes shut. When he realized he was still alive, he opened his eyes and lowered the pillow, looking over at Taylor.
He wasn�t there, and the door was open. Zac leaned over to see out the door, and saw Taylor explaining this to Hope, pointing in the room. Hope was about to kill Taylor but he said that he didn�t say anything.
Hope looked over at Zac, who had a worried look on his face, then turned back to Taylor. "Let me kill him."
"You can�t kill him, he�s worth too much."
"Can I hurt him?" Hope asked. Taylor shook his head. "What good are you? He knows, and I believe that you didn�t say anything. I trust you, but I don�t trust him. He�s too hyper, he�ll tell someone. I need to kill him before this gets to your mom and I lose my job."
"You won�t lose your job, my mom loves you too much." Hope shook her head, dismissed him and went into Zac�s room, closing and locking the door behind her.
"Please don�t kill me." Hope turned around, her hands now folded. She looked down at her hands.
"What do you know, Zac?"
"Everything." Shit, Hope thought. She looked up at him, noticing his fear.
"Specifically, what to do you know?"
"I know that you used to work for Jonathan Taylor Thomas and you slept with him and you had a kid so he fired you. But that�s it."
"Zac, that�s all that I don�t want you to know! Do you realize what trouble I can get in if someone finds out? I won�t be working here anymore, I can tell you that. I�ve only been here two days but I can tell you already that I love this job a hell of a lot more than I liked working with Jonathan." Zac gulped. "This job is everything to me now, because he�s gone to everyone else I�ve applied to and told them what happened. You guys are the only ones out there that I can actually work for, and I don�t want your mom to find out."
"She won�t."
"I don�t know if I can trust you. I could tell from the minute I met Taylor that I could trust him, it�s sort of an instinct I have. I�m not sure about anyone else but with him it was just an instantaneous thing. He understands how serious this is but you don�t."
"I can try."
"You shouldn�t know this, Zac."
"I�m sorry."
"It�s not going to help."
"Just don�t kill me."
Hope laughed. But the way she did made Zac nervous. "Zac, you don�t know what it�s like to kill someone. You civilians take that word so plainly, like someone�s going to actually do it but it won�t happen. You know it. See Zac it�s not till after you�ve killed the person that you grasp what you�ve done. I�ve had to, once, and afterwards I realized that he had a family, he probably had a wife and a kid or something and he just made a bad decision. I regret every part of it now."
Zac didn�t have anything to say. He didn�t really understand what she was talking about, but he listened anyway. "It was a hostage situation, they said that when the guy came out, to shoot him. Well he was just a normal guy who had nowhere to turn and he wouldn�t negotiate with us. So when he came out, shooting at people I got him and he died right there."
Hope sank to the floor, tears forming in her eyes.
"I didn�t mean to kill him, I was aiming for his side but the gun wasn�t adjusted right and he died. I�m telling you Zac, I didn�t mean to kill him! It went on my record that I was ordered to, and your mom hasn�t seen those records yet. It also says in there that I had a �close� relationship with Jonathan, but she has no idea what really went on. No one does, I can�t explain what went on unless I relive it and I really don�t want to."
"Um okay�" Zac stated.
Hope wasn�t paying attention to him. "When I met him on the plane everything just came flooding back towards me so fast I had no control over the situation and I�ve been taught to always have control, no matter what the situation. If you don�t someone can die or something. He had a picture of my daughter, she�s three months old now, and he showed me the picture. I almost wanted to kill him, literally, for what he had done to me. But knowing inside that he was the father of my child, I just couldn�t even talk to him. He was just being a total ass, saying �Aya Maria did this� and �Aya Maria did that�. I couldn�t say anything, the dork!" She looked up at him, her voice now in a whisper. "Zac, I can�t have people knowing I have a daughter. I�m only fifteen and I made one wrong decision and my whole life changed. The only one here who can actually relate to me on this matter is your parents and I�m not about to talk to them about it."
Hope got up, drying her eyes as she walked over to him. Zac thought nothing would come of it because she was still a little watery in her eyes. She picked him up and threw him against the wall the window was on. He slid to the ground, and then she picked him up again and faced him towards the window, looking to the brick wall.
"If you say a word about this to anyone�anything you know, and especially the fact that you saw me cry�you will forever be a part of that brick wall. You got that?" Hope pinched his pressure point on his shoulder. He winced, trying to get her hard grip away.
"Yeah�please stop!!" She let go and he fell to the ground again. Without a look back she walked out of the room, halfway to a fit of rage. When Taylor saw her walk back into their room he noticed the look on her face.
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing," she said and sat on her bed. Taylor didn�t believe her so he ran into the room and saw Zac on the floor, sitting up now, looking out the window at the brick wall.
"Zac?"
"What?"
"You O.K.?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"She hurt me," Zac said, turning to Taylor. He had a red mark on his face where he was thrown into the wall. "She seemed O.K. and everything but then she threw me against the wall and threatened me." Taylor snickered.
"You�re lucky that�s all she did to you, Zac. If it was me you would be severely beaten right now. The make-up artists can cover up a bruise so don�t worry about it."
"What�re mom and dad gonna think, though?" Zac asked. His cheek still burned.
"Just tell them I hit you or something. They are not going to find out Hope did anything because I want her around."
"Why?"
"Because, that�s why. It�s none of your business, anyway." Taylor turned around and left the room. He went across the hall and into his room. Hope was on her bed, crying. Woah, she�s serious about all this.
He closed the door, knowing she wouldn�t want anyone knowing about it all. "Hope?" She turned to him, quickly wiping at her eyes. Taylor realized she had been crying pretty hard.
"Oh hi," she said, trying her best to smile. Taylor shook his head. Of course he�d seen her cry before, but that was with Jonathan there. He was just being a total asshole.
"I don�t mind you crying." She shrugged, and turned away. No matter what he thought, she couldn�t cry in front of him. "Well do your thing, I�m staying in here."
Hope turned to him, kneeling up on her bed now. His eyes gazed right into her. She looked at him for a brief moment then flung her arms around him.
"Taylor I can�t believe him�how could he do something like that to me? Oh yeah, �you�re pregnant, you should of seen it coming. By the way I never want to see you again after the kid is born, you�re fired. He was so cruel�but when I think about it now, what if someone finds out? What if your mom finds out? This job is really all I have left. It�s this or join the marines and do that till I die. I don�t want to, I just want to stay here and have a good life. And that won�t happen if your mom finds out."
"She won�t find out," Taylor whispered in her ear.
"Well I can�t take my chances. You guys are all I have, and even before I got here I ruined it. Oh God, and now she�s gonna find out what I did to Zac, I probably gave him the biggest bruise�"
"You didn�t hit him, I did." She took her head off his shoulder and looked in his eyes.
"What?"
"From now on, I got mad at him and hit him, you didn�t do anything. You didn�t even know about it. It says nothing in your contract about sibling rivalry."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Helping me out like this. I don�t know anyone else who would help me out like you do, and I know a lot of people." She sighed, and let go of him. "Tay, what�s wrong with me? Why do I always make the wrong decision?"
"Well you�re working for me now, that proves you made one right decision."
She didn�t even crack a smile to his joke, she sat back and looked right through him. "Tay, I�ve heard Zac has a big mouth�is that true?"
"Um, to tell you the truth, he does." She stopped looking through him and met his eyes. "I�m sorry, it�s not going to be a secret for very long." Hope got up and started heading towards the door. "Oh no, Hope, you�re not going over there."
Taylor tried to grab her but she easily threw him off. She ran over to the next room. Ike was in there watching TV, and didn�t even know she came in until he heard Zac squeal. Hope had him pinned on the floor, tickling him.
"What the hell?" Ike asked, not wanting to know so much anymore. Hope continued until Zac was red in the face from laughing.
"Stop!" he screamed.
When Hope did let up, she took his head in her hands. "Don�t tell anyone Zac, I can tickle you to death." Zac laughed and she left the room.