Chapter eighty-seven:

Jenna excused herself to go to the washroom, sneaking into the tiny bathroom in the back of the nail salon, thankful to be away from the watchful eye of the body guard.

She knew Becky and Christy suspected something was wrong, and were studying her carefully to see if they could catch a flaw in her tough exterior, but she didn’t want to have to keep her feelings from the body guard too.

She reached into the front pocket of her jeans and removed her cell phone.

She had been up most of the night thinking of the best way to break up with Luke, and had written out several possible speeches to give to him.

However, the first two times she had called, he wasn’t home, and his sisters didn’t know where he had gone.

She searched through the contact list on her phone and dialed Luke’s cell phone number. She held the phone to her ear and held her breath.

Instead of Luke’s voice she heard the automated voice of the operator claiming “The customer you have dialed is not available. Please try again or leave a voicemail.”

Jen swallowed hard and racked her brain for a message to leave.

It was very unusual that his phone would be off for an entire day, but there were all kinds of reasons for his phone to be off.

The phone beeped in her ear and she began to speak without even thinking about the words.

“Um, hi Luke… it’s Jen… I’m just calling to say…” She paused.
She couldn’t break up with him in a voicemail message, could she? It would be easier…

“I’m just calling. I was hoping you could call me back when you get this… it’s kind of important… my cell is on, or… or you could try the house, I don’t know when I’ll be there, or when you’ll get this message…” She paused. “I just hope you get it soon.” She hoped he would get it before she changed her mind and decided not to break up with him. “I guess I’m using up space. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.” She pressed the end button quickly in slight relief that she had managed to buy herself a little time.

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Isaac called Christy during his break, looking for any excuse to speak to his fiancé.

She had answered almost immediately, and excitedly filled him in on all of the details. The girls had gone to the mall, which he did not remember allowing the body-guard to do.

However, he was quite surprised to find that Taylor had given permission on everyone’s behalf.

Isaac pushed open the door to the small lounge just off the recording studio, where Taylor was listening to his vocals on a song, making notes on a yellow legal pad.

“Tay? Did you tell the body-guard that he could take the girls to the mall?”

Taylor pressed the button on the CD player, and the music stopped. “Yeah, why?”

“Don’t you realize how much danger that puts them in! They’re sitting ducks now! Anyone could simply come along and anything could happen!” Isaac was angrier than he thought he’d be.

“Will you relax? We can’t treat them like prisoners! Let them have one day out!” Taylor retorted.

Isaac sighed heavily, calming significantly. “Sorry. I’m just pissed that you didn’t talk to me first. Or Zac. Our girlfriends are there too, you know.”

“I know. I should have talked to you guys first. But I didn’t want you guys to talk me out of what I have planned.”

“What’s that?”

“I needed to get the girls out of the house because… well, you know how Jen has been upset lately?”

“Yeah…” Isaac said slowly.

“Well, I called Luke. He’s flying out today. I talked him into coming out here, and paid for his ticket.”

Isaac was completely taken aback by what his brother had said.

“Wait, why? I mean, you like Jen. You went through the trouble to tell her you liked her… and now you’re flying her boyfriend out here? Is it some weird way to make things less awkward between you?”

Taylor paused. “Kind of… I just… I like her, you know? And Luke makes her happy, and I want her to be happy, even if it isn’t me who makes her happy, you know? I saw how upset she was without Luke, and I couldn’t stand to see her like that… so I called him, and talked to him. I explained to him that she was terribly upset, and on the verge of breaking up with him, and he agreed to fly out here for a week.”

“Well… that’s… that’s very kind of you Tay… but how does that help you? You’re still going to be miserable. And now you’re going to have to see some other guy with the girl you like…”

“I’m working on that. I went out last night, and got laid. And, I’ve got a date tonight.” Taylor declared proudly.

“Same girl?”

“No…”

Isaac chuckled. “Nice.”

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