"How about there, eh?" Zac asked. His three Grammy awards sat on the mantel the next morning, one of the many places he'd put them. So far Ginger hadn't like any of it. He was really getting sick of it and was a step away from just sticking them in a cabinet. Ginger looked at the mantel, looked around the room, then nodded.
"That works."
"Ugh, finally," Zac said. He sat down. "Who thought that would take an hour?"
"Are you going to come with me to pick up Jenny?" Ginger asked. "I hope Kris didn't kill her out of spite."
"Yeah, I'll go with you."
"Did you call Peter?"
"No."
"You should call him," Ginger said. "Last night was a big night for you." Zac shrugged. She walked up to him and gave him a kiss. "I'm so proud of you, though, baby."
"All we need now is an Oscar from you, eh?" he asked.
"Fat chance," she said. "I don't make Oscar movies, baby. I make MTV Movie Award movies."
"Didn't you get one of those?" he asked.
"Yeah�"
"Where is it? We should put it up next to my three Grammy's," Zac said. He looked at his awards on the mantel and shook his head. "I cannot believe I have three Grammy's."
"I can. You're an awesome artist, baby," she told him.
"So?"
"So what?"
"Where is your MTV award?" Ginger smiled.
"It's with my parents. It's a constant reminder to them that I am a successful actress, no matter what they think."
"Then it can stay there," Zac said. "As long as you replace it with an Oscar." Ginger snorted and walked away.
"Let's go pick up our baby, baby."
"You make it sound like we ordered her from a store or something." Ginger shrugged. They left the apartment and went downstairs to the parking garage. Zac got behind the wheel while Ginger sat in the front seat next to him.
"You realize the only reason I asked you to come along is because I'm afraid of Kris," Ginger said.
"I only came because I know you're afraid of Kris," Zac said. "It's okay, baby. I'll take care of you." Ginger smiled. "Have you spoken to her since yesterday?"
"No."
"So they don't know we're coming?"
"No."
"Great�" Although Kris and Taylor's apartment building was walking distance away, it was just habit to drive. Along with that, if Zac or Ginger went out onto the street, there was always the chance they could get recognized. That was always a big threat.
Zac parked the car and Ginger got out first. They went into the building and up to the penthouse. Zac knocked, Ginger holding onto his hand. A minute later the door opened and Kris appeared. "Oh my God, congratulations!" she said, throwing her arms around Zac. "I'm so happy for you!" She let go and turned to Ginger. "Ging�I'm sorry."
"It's okay, sweetheart. Do you think we could do this inside, though?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, come on in." Zac and Ginger came inside. "Taylor, your brother's here."
"Where's my baby?" Ginger asked. Kris gave her a strange look.
"Taylor?" she asked.
"No! Jenny!"
"Oh�you scared me there for a sec," Kris said.
"Me too," Zac said, eyeing Ginger.
"Don't even," Ginger said. Taylor came in holding Jenny. "There she is! There's my little girl." Ginger took Jenny from Taylor and gave her a kiss.
"I'm guessing things are better here," Taylor said, cautiously eying everyone in the room. "I'm not sensing any tension."
"Yeah," Kris said. "Things are better. Zac apologized on TV in front of millions of viewers�that makes everything better all the time."
"I'll have to remember that the next time I'm in trouble," Taylor said. "Congratulations, little brother, you proved you're better than me."
"I know," Zac said. "It wasn't the same without you there, though."
"So, where'd you put them?" Kris asked. They moved into the living room.
"They're on the mantel," Zac said, sitting down. Kris and Taylor's apartment was structured the same as Zac and Ginger's, although it had a completely different feel. Zac's apartment still reeked of Gwen's taste (only because Ginger loved the way the apartment looked), while this apartment was purely Kris and Ginger. "I told Ging she has to win some Oscars to balance it out. But she's going to have to win more than one because there's three up there�"
"Three?" Kris asked. "I thought you only got two!"
"No, I got three," Zac said. "I got one before the show. They probably didn't announce it or anything. I got Producer of the Year for the Feeling Left Out album."
"I didn't know you worked on that," Taylor said.
"That was before we were talking again," Zac said. "That was the producing job I took when I came out here."
"Oh�wow, so you must have done a damn good job."
"I guess so," Zac said, scratching his forehead. "Of all of the awards, that was the one I really wasn't expecting."
"It was massively gay that John Mayer won Song of the Year instead of you," Kris said. "I was booing."
"She was," Taylor admitted. "Unfortunately."
"John Mayer's a great guy, though," Zac said. "I met him once."
"He's dating Gwen."
"That bastard," Zac said. Ginger cleared her throat. He turned to her. "Only because, um�never mind. I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight."
"Damn right you will," Ginger said. "Wait, was she there last night?" Zac shrugged.
"I don't know."
"You two were watching," Ginger said, looking at Taylor and Kris. "Was she there last night?" They both nodded. "Oh, so you saw her?"
"Yeah, she was there with John, I saw her on the red carpet," Taylor said. "They even asked her about what she thought about the two of you being engaged. This was before you mentioned you were married."
"What'd she say?" Zac asked. Ginger hit him. "What? I want to know what she said! I'm allowed to know what she said."
"It was very forced," Kris explained. "She said something like 'As long as he's happy, I don't care who he's with.' You could tell she was so mad, though. She doesn't know how to dodge questions she doesn't want to answer."
"Yeah, that was something she never picked up," Zac said. Ginger hit him again. "Okay, that is it. What the hell is your problem?"
"Zac, she's your ex-girlfriend! You don't just talk about her in front of me!"
"Oh my God, like the world is going to end if I say her name!"
"We can talk about this later," Ginger said, giving him a pressing look.
"No! You're going to find a way so we don't talk about it later. I want to talk about this right now."
"Fine," Ginger said. "But everybody doesn't need to hear it." Ginger put Jenny on the floor and left the room with Zac, leaving Taylor and Kris trying not to listen in the living room. Ginger pulled him into a bedroom and shut the door. "So what do you want to say?"
"I'm sick of this, Ginger," he told her. "I don't love Gwen anymore, but you know what, I did at some point. I don't know how many other boyfriends you've had, but they don't matter to me, all right? I don't care who you talk about."
"Really? I mention Taylor's name and you still wince when it comes out of my mouth."
"That's different."
"How?"
"You slept with Taylor while you were with me! Gwen is a completely different story. You and I were completely broken up with when I was with her. There was no you when I was with her. I know it's uncomfortable if I talk about her but that's life, Ginger. She happened. I dated her. I had sex with her. That's all true. You don't need to go around changing everything because she happened, though! Getting a new bed, yeah, I can understand that now. I wouldn't want to sleep in a bed you slept in with someone else either, but hitting me and yelling at me every single time I mention her is too much. It's not like I'm saying I'm in love with her or I regret breaking up with her or any of that shit that isn't true. It's just a simple statement."
"What am I supposed to do, Zac? Allow you to go on talking about her all the time?"
"All the time? I never fucking talk about her�"
"Oh that is a lie and you know it. You're always mentioning her. 'Gwen wore this designer last year. Gwen didn't bring an entourage with her. Gwen wore a sexy dress. Gwen did this and that�' It never ends, Zac! It's like you can't get away from her!"
"That's only because of the awards last night. I went to the Grammy's with her last year and that's how she got her in modeling contract. The show reminded me of her. I'm sorry but it did. And it's not like this is my fault anyway. It's not my fault every time you open a magazine she's there. It's not my fault she's always on television doing a commercial. It's not my fault her face is everywhere you turn."
"Yes it is!"
"How is my fault?"
"You were the one who brought her to the show last year wearing that dress. If you hadn't done that, she would have never gotten that contract."
"Like I had any idea that would happen? She was my girlfriend. They invited me and said I could bring someone, so I brought my girlfriend. I didn't know she was going to wear something like that! She wouldn't let me see the dress! That's not my fault! Even if I hadn't taken her, she would have gotten a contract somehow."
"Why? Because she was so beautiful?"
"Now you're just putting words in my mouth." He groaned in frustration. "You're being so irrational here, Ginger, I don't know what to say."
"I just don't like it, okay? You talk about her, so that means you're thinking about her, and if you're thinking about her, then you're not thinking about me," she said, her voice lowering as she stopped being so angry and started to get serious. "That hurts, Zac. You left me once for her, what's stopping you from doing it again?" Zac sighed, looking lovingly at his wife as tears came into her eyes.
"Ginger, baby," he said, shaking his head. "You're my wife. I married you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. She doesn't matter at all. I regret every day that I broke up with you. I think about that every single day. I regret ever being with her, but Ginger, it happened and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. I didn't leave you for her then and I'm definitely not going to leave you for her now. I don't want to be with her. I want to stay with you." A tear slipped out of Ginger's eye and she wiped it away.
"Do you mean that?"
"Of course. I love you." She slipped into his open arms.
"I love you too," she told him. "But this still hasn't solved the problem."
"I'll do whatever I can to not mention her again," Zac said. "But if I do, you have to promise not to get worked up about it. Sometimes you just can't control things."
"All right," she said, resting her head against his chest. "I won't get worked up about it." She smiled. "Just as long as it never happens again."
"Are you done yet?" Kris yelled from the other room. Zac sighed
"Yes!" He turned around, holding Ginger's hand in his, and walked out of the bedroom back to the living room. "Jesus, nobody can have a decent moment with the two of you around."
"Sorry," Kris said. "I just don't like it when people fight."
"Well it's better now," Zac said. "We're better now."
"Good," she said. "So�are you two going on a honeymoon? Did you go on a honeymoon?"
"No," Zac said. "We're going to do all of that when we get married again."
"Again?" Kris asked. "What do you mean?"
"We want a wedding too, you know," Ginger explained. "After Zac's tour and my promotions, and after the baby's born, we're going to have an actual wedding."
"Oh good, so I do get to be your maid of honor after all!" Kris said, giving Ginger a hug. "That's really the only reason I was pissed off yesterday." Ginger shook her head.
"No, Kris, I would never deprive you of that lovely experience," Ginger told her. "And when I forget my shoes, you can give me yours too."
"You forgot your shoes too?" Taylor asked.
"You forgot yours?" Kris asked. He nodded. "Wow."
"Zac and I figured they must have been in the same bag and you just forgot it," Ginger said. Taylor shook his head.
"No," he said. "They weren't in a bag together or anything. We just both individually forgot our shoes." The phone rang.
"I'll get it," Taylor said, getting up. He walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello? Oh, hey Jess. Yeah, just a sec." Taylor walked over to Zac and held out the phone. "It's Jess."
"Hello?" Zac asked.
"Zac, uh, have you talked to Peter lately?"
"No. Why? Did he talk to you?"
"Yeah�he offered me a record deal."
"Did he really? You didn't take it, did you?"
"I told him I'd think about it. I wanted to check it out with you first."
"How about this? I'll take you down there and we'll check it out together. I'll tell you if he's ripping you off or not," Zac said. "Jess, do you want to do this? You don't have to do if you don't want to."
"No," Jess said. "I want to."
"What made you change your mind?" Zac asked.
"I don't know�I think it was that performance last night. If he had asked me yesterday morning I would have said no. But now�now I want to do it." Zac smiled.
"Yeah, you looked great up there. Anyway�I'll call Peter and I'll talk to him, then I'll stop by the hotel and pick you up. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Great. See you then." He hung up the phone.
"What's going on?" Taylor asked.
"Peter just offered Jess a record deal."
"No way!" Zac nodded. "He's not swindling her, is he?"
"I don't know," Zac said, standing up, "but I'll find out. She hasn't said yes yet. I'll go with her to talk to him about it so she doesn't get caught in anything she doesn't want." He looked at Ginger. "I'm gonna go now, so do you want to stay or do you want me to take you home?"
"No, I think I'm going to stay here," Ginger said.
"All right. See you later." Zac said his goodbyes and left quickly, a smile on his face.