Chapter 17
Sidney stood at the gateway as long as she could. She could no longer see
Nicky as the doors finally shut. The slam of the heavy door made Sidney jump
as she closed her eyes. He was gone, the man she loved. As quick as she fell
in-love with him, the quicker he was gone. It took all of her strength not to
run after the plane, not to tell him to stay. She stood firm as they hugged
for the last time and kissed for the last time. No tears came for the two;
their eyes were dry from the night before. They would never forget each
other, the good times, the laughter; the way Nicky protected her with Briana.
The smiles, the lovemaking and the simple touch would never be forgotten.
Nicky and Sidney might have been, could have been and should have been.
The wipers kept in time with Sidney's heartbeat as the rain symbolized the
tears in Sidney's soul. She felt so alone, so lost. Bailey was at the
Kavanaugh's for the night, Andrea was with Shane and Kian was with Emily
finally enjoying a quiet night together. Even seeing Bryan came to mind as
Sidney couldn't bear to be alone, to go home to nothing. But Bryan was
working. Sidney pulled into the driveway and sat in the silence of the car.
She starred at the house; lights were dim in the afterglow of the TV. Sidney
found herself at the place she only found solace, comfort and hope.
"Please God, don't let him reject me." Sidney said as she prepared
herself to
see him. To see the reason why she stayed. She made her way up the sidewalk
as the door got closer and closer. Her heart raced with fear and confusion.
She knew that she shouldn't be there; he was not the person she needed to
see. But he was, he was the only person that could make sense of her life.
She stood frozen in the first step as she reached for the door. She lightly
placed her hand on the hard wood as she saw him pass by the window. She
caught her breath placing her hand on her heart. She couldn't do it, she had
to leave. She turned around to walk back to her car when she heard the door
open. She could hear the TV in the background as the light blinded her. She
didn't say a word to him, she didn't look at him but simply walked in the
house as he closed the door and followed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crowd cheered Bryan on as he took his final bow. He had a perfect night
of performance, as always. A group of girls swarmed around him as he made his
way over to the bar.
"Whiskey." Bryan said as Alex turned to face him giving him one of her
bright
smiles. "What are you doing behind there?" Bryan asked taking in
Alex's
beauty. He had noticed her the first time Shane introduced her to him. He
noticed her smile, her clear green eyes and of course, her amazing body. He
hadn't really thought about another woman since Sidney but his heart was
quickly healing, healing due to Alex.
"Tom called in sick. Kian asked me to fill in." Alex poured the
whiskey for
him and handed it to him.
"Is there anything you can't do?" Bryan said taking a sip.
"Can't cook. Well, I can but not very well." Alex wiped the counter as
she
watched Bryan. He had the most beautiful blue eyes and a smile that could
suck anyone in. �In the sea of beautiful men in Sligo, Bryan was the one
she
was most impressed with but she had to keep reminding herself she was in
Ireland to deal with issues, she couldn't make more issues in her life.
"How are you liking Sligo?" Bryan asked over the music.
"I haven't seen much of it, too busy working." Alex took care of the
next
drink order from the waitress as the music kicked into high gear.
"Oh my God. It's 'When you put your hands on me' by Christina Aguilera, I
love this song." Alex yelled.
"You do?" Bryan yelled back listening to the words as Alex began
getting lost
in the music. The crowd around the bar began chanting as Alex grabbed two
silver drink containers and began her juggling act. She danced to the beat of
the music, never losing a step. She threw up one container and caught it
behind her back. The crowd screamed with excitement. One of the other
bartenders threw a whiskey bottle at Alex as she caught it, twirled it in her
fingers and filled the four shot glasses in front of her. She then jumped up
on the counter, lifted up her knee high black leather skirt and began her
dance to the music. She made her way down the bar counter, kicking her
leather boots in the air as her red, backless halter top flowed in her
twirls. The crowd cheered her on as the men watched the beauty perform. Alex
got lost in the music. She had missed her dancing, it was her way to release
and create. Bryan stood by, admiring Alex and along with the men, getting
lost in her body. She made her way back to Bryan as he helped her down and
once again juggled the containers. She threw the small one up in the air, did
a turn as it came rushing down, missing Alex's hands and hitting Bryan on the
head. The crowd silenced, Alex stood horrified as Bryan sat in the stun of
the hit.
"Damn, when you hit on a guy, you really hit on a guy." Bryan said
rubbing
his head and smiling. The crowd cheered and the festivities continued.
"I am so sorry." Alex said quickly. "I usually don't miss. Here
let me get
you a drink." Alex turned to walk away as Bryan grabbed her arm.
"Just promise me you won't quit your day job." Bryan smiled as he
moved his
hand to hers.
"This will only be my part-time job." Alex returned the smile as she
continued working. Bryan never stopped looking at Alex as the feelings began.
His heart was being stolen and marked by Alex, even if Alex wasn't returning
it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kian slammed the phone down as Emily entered the living room. She was holding
two glasses of wine.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked as she set the glasses down on the end
table.
"I can't find Sidney. She took Nicky to the airport and I want to know how
she is." Kian sat down on the couch as he spoke.
"Maybe she wanted to be alone. I am sure she is fine, Kian." Emily sat
down
next to Kian, placing her legs underneath her as she moved closer to him.
"I
think it is so nice how you worry about Sidney. You are such a great
friend."
Emily placed her arm around Kian's neck.
"I promised Michael I would take care of her." Kian took Emily's hand
and
held it.
"When did you promise that? I thought he died suddenly in a plane
crash?"
Emily asked. Kian didn't say a word as he looked down. "Looks like I am not
the only one keeping a secret." Emily smiled. "When you are ready to
talk,
let me know."
"When you are ready to talk, let me know." Kian moved in and kissed
her.
"There is only one secret I want to know now." Emily said pulling back
from
Kian.
"And what would that be?" Kian said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Where you are ticklish." Emily grabbed Kian and began the tickle war.
The
two laughed as the walls began to fall down. It was their last night
together, alone. Taylor was arriving the next day for a visit. Emily couldn't
wait to see her daughter as the months away from her was simply killing her.
She had to keep telling herself that leaving her daughter with her parents
was the right thing to do; for Taylor's safety. Taylor would be meeting Kian
for the first time and Emily couldn't help but be nervous. But she knew that
Kian would win Taylor's heart the instant his smile would meet hers. And she
knew that Taylor would love Kian, just like she had come to love Kian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shane Steven Filan, what are you doing?" Andrea asked laughing.
"I have a question." Shane said looking up at her. He kneeled before
her
holding a small black box. "I know that we have only been back together for
a
short while. But I have loved you since the first time we met in London. I
never stopped loving you and I am not going to let you go. I love you. Andrea
Matthews. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
"Oh my God! Shane, I don't know what to say." Andrea screamed as her
heart
raced.
"Say yes, three little letters." Shane said smiling, fearing the
possible
rejection.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Andrea yelled as he kneeled down to him grabbing him.
"I
will marry you!" Shane returned the hug as he stood up, lifting her off her
feet and twirling her around. The two kissed and giggled, yes giggled. They
were in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nicky walked into his flat searching for the lights. He stumbled over some of
the boxes as he moved his hand down the walls to find the switch. The lights
were finally on as he looked around his cold and empty new home. He walked to
the phone and dialed Sidney's number. He waited impatiently for her to
answer, to hear her voice. He slammed down the phone after the 10th ring and
made his way out the door. He ran downstairs, outside and hailed a cab. He
asked for the nearest pub as he leaned back in the seat closing his eyes. She
was gone and he had to deal with it, deal with it in a drink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sidney fell asleep on the couch as Mark gently placed the blanket over her.
He stood silently and watched her sleep. She had found some peace finally in
her slumber as just hours before she cried in Mark's arms. Mark was torn
between Nicky leaving. He was glad that Sidney was single but if it meant
that she would be happy, he would bring Nicky back. Mark leaned down to
Sidney as he softly kissed her cheek. He turned to walk to his bedroom as he
felt a warm hand reach for him. Sidney squeezed his hand as he turned to look
at her.
"Don't ever leave me, Mark." Sidney said softly.
"I will never leave you." Mark said as he sat down next to her. She
placed
her head on his lap as he stroked her hair. She closed her eyes, thinking
about the man that had always been there for her. She couldn't deny her heart
anymore; hopefully Mark wouldn't either.