NEW YORK CITY, NY – FEB. 15TH, 2002 – FRIDAY

     Kirstin knocked on the door and waited until someone answered.

     “Oh, my God! What happened?” Grace asked, motioning for Kirstin to get into the house. The tears were still falling and Kirstin was a mess.

     “I guess… it’s over…” Kirstin stuttered, she couldn’t say anything straight.

     “What? Is… Ashley?” Grace asked worried, helping her friend sit on the couch. Kirstin just nodded “What happened, baby? Oh, my God! The meeting with Tom…” Grace took a deep breath. She knew something would happen at this meeting, she just didn’t warn Kirstin. Now she regretted not telling anything “Tell me what happened exactly.”

     “I don’t know… I mean… everything seemed ok at the restaurant. Ok, so they were arguing a bit, but that’s normal when you put Ashley and Tom in the same place at the same time. So I thought when we left the restaurant, that was as far as things would go. Oh, was I wrong?” Kirstin shook her head and looked at her friend “I don’t know. I think… I don’t know! But out of nowhere, Ashley started to say terrible things to me, like, I had made him feel like a third wheel during my conversation with Tom. And that’s not true, G. Not true at all. I told Tom that Ashley would be by my side! That that wouldn’t change. Ashley would be there, whether Tom liked it or not. But in the car, Ashley snapped at me! Like… from out of nowhere! Telling me that I was flirting with Tom. Come on! I wouldn’t flirt with Tom! I know what he did to me. I wouldn’t go back to him! I just want Tom to be around the baby. That doesn’t mean I wanna get back with him! But Ashley clearly didn’t understand that.” Kirstin placed both her hands on her face and continued crying.

     “K, baby, but what happened after? Like… where’s Ashley?”

     “I asked him to leave me, that I didn’t need to hear his jealousy bullshit talking, that he could just go back to the hotel. And so he did. He got out of the car and I just drove back here.”

     “Good. You did good driving back here. You don’t wanna be alone right now.”

     “No, I don’t.” Kirstin hugged her friend.

     “That’s alright, honey. But I think you should talk to Ashley. Clearly he misunderstands you ,so you've gotta make him understand what really happened.”

     “Why? I am not wrong here, G! He is! He should come to me!” “K, could you just… leave your pride aside just this once? You can’t loose Ashley! Isn’t he important to you?” Kirstin nodded.

     “The most important person right now, I believe.”

     “See? You can’t loose him! Even if you think you are right, it’s just what I told you, he probably didn’t understand what happened in that restaurant. So you gotta explain him that. I’m pretty sure he’ll be ok with Tom being around. Ashley is a great guy. We both know that. Just gotta give him a chance to hear what actually happened. From your point of view.”

     “I guess…”

     “No, that’s what you’re gonna do! I’m telling you to do this! I can’t see you break up with this guy again. I’m pretty sure you guys deserve each other. So, that can’t end just like that. From a stupid jealousy fight!” Grace was trying to help her friend. And she meant every word. She didn’t want to see Kirstin hurt again.

     “Ok…” Kirstin said, trying to control herself “G?”

     “Yeah?” Grace asked from the kitchen.

     “My stomach hurts.”

     “Oh, no. You still have those pains?”

     “Well… yeah. It’s not going to disappear just because I’m carrying a baby now. That’s what the doctor said anyways.”

     “Oh… and you have been through a lot tonight.” Kirstin nodded “Do you have your medicine with you?”

     “No. But that’s ok. I better get going anyway. I’ll take it when I get home. Thanks, G. For everything, girl.”

     “Oh, come on! You know I’ll always be here.”

     “Yeah… That’s why I love you.” Kirstin said, heading to the door.

     “I love you too, sweety.” Grace hugged Kirstin.

     “Ok, then. We’ll talk later.”

     “Alright.” Grace opened the door to Kirstin.

     “See ya.” Kirstin waved and got into the elevator.

    

NEW YORK CITY, NY – HOTEL

     “Ok… just… get here!” Ashley said after Dan opened the door of his room. Erik and Dan were sharing a room, so they both just followed Ashley to where he was going, which was his own room.

     “What happened, man?” Erik asked when they were both inside Ashley’s room.

     “Oh…” Ashley started, pacing around the room “I just… blew up!”

     “With Kirstin?” Dan questioned.

     “Yeah, with Kirstin.”

     “What exactly happened?” Dan asked again.

     “Oh… That waiter boy happened! Man…”

     “Ashley, for crying out loud, why when you explode like that, does it always comes back to the waiter boy?” Dan couldn’t understand his friend.

     “Because he’s always a problem! He’s never gone for good! He’s always there!”

     “So… I’m thinking this meeting didn’t go quite well…” Erik stated the obvious.

     “You think?” Ashley looked mad at him.

     “But what happened? Can you just answer that simple question? What happened?” Dan wanted to know the reason he was acting the way he was.

     “Oh, a flirtation between Tom and Kirstin. That’s what happened! Right in front of me!”

     “That can’t be.” Erik shook his head.

     “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you got that wrong.” Dan tried to help.

     “Oh, you weren’t there, so you don’t know how clear the flirtation was. It was right there! Even a blind man could see it!”

     “But…” Dan didn’t even know how to respond to that anymore “like what? What were they saying to each other?”

     “Well… Tom said he wanted to raise the baby and Kirstin couldn’t have been happier about it. And she sure didn’t make any effort to hide her happiness either. I mean, yesterday she was all freaking out that she would have to raise this baby alone. Now, she wasn’t satisfied just with me raising this baby, she had to go to waiter boy for help too. Unbelievable!” Ashley shook his head and continued his pace.

     “But… Ashley… He is the father of the baby.” Dan pointed out.

     “Ok, what side are you on? Because this is not helping me!” Ashley snapped.

     “I’m sorry, Ash… It’s just that I wanna understand what really happened. And I think I’ll have to agree with Kirstin on that. The kid has to know his real father. It doesn’t matter if he’s gonna help out raising it or not, he just has to be there.”

     “But the guy wasn’t there 2 days ago! He cheated on her for crying out loud! I wouldn’t want that guy anywhere near me if I were Kirstin!”

     “But it’s different, Ash. A baby is involved now.” Erik was trying to open his friend’s mind for his own good.

     “Oh, forget it.” Ashley just turned his back on his friends “But that wasn’t just that. Then they were talking about finding out the sex of the baby, and Tom was proposing for them to go to the ultrasound together and it was like I wasn’t even there! They were talking like I wasn’t there! Come on! No one asked my opinion and I’m raising this baby too!”

     “Well… that sucks.” Dan said.

     “Yeah!” Ashley felt relieved that his friend was finally agreeing with him.

     “But you snapped on her just because of that?” Erik wondered.

     “No…” Ashley started his pace.

     “Then what?” Erik asked again.

     “It’s just that… Kirstin went to the restroom and then I was left alone with Tom and he… well… I don’t know. He started talking about how this would be difficult for me, that this baby wouldn’t see me as a father figure if Tom was gonna be there for him, that I would just be mommy’s boyfriend and… I don’t know… I think I let him get to me. And I know I shouldn’t have, but… he did. And it got me thinking, you know? I’m gonna spend the rest of this baby’s life as mommy’s boyfriend?”

     “Ash, don’t be an idiot! Of course this guy was trying to get to you! So you’d walk away and leave the way clear for him. And wasn’t that what happened? Because I don’t see Kirstin anywhere around here.” Dan told him.

     “Yeah, Ash. I think this guy got what he wanted. And you can’t let that happen.”

     “You guys are right.” Ashley frowned, remembering how he had told Kirstin she could go back to Tom that he wouldn’t care. And that wasn’t true. Of course he’d care. He was carying already. And too much!

     “Of course we’re right! You can’t let that happen. Dude, you cannot lose that girl again. I don’t think I’d handle you babbling about loosing her like every other time that happened.” Erik shook his head.

     “I guess…”

     “No, you have to do this! You can’t let that guy win! You gotta go talk to Kirstin! I’m telling you to go. I’m ordering you to go.” Dan alleged.

     “Ok. I’ll do that.”

     “Ok. Don’t do that today. Today you stay here and think of what you’re gonna say to her. And don’t do like last time that you went there in the middle of the night. Just… think harder this time, alright?”

     “Ok. Thank you, guys. Again.” Ashley said, hugging his friends.

     “Yeah, yeah.” Dan said.

     “I think we should start charging for all the advices we give you about your relationship with Kirstin. Dan and I would make a fortune!” Erik joked.