~*~ Chapter 3 ~*~
NEW YORK CITY, NY – KIRSTIN’S LOFT – JAN. 18TH, 2002 – Friday
Kirstin woke up with the worst stomachache she had ever had. She had been dreaming. In her dream, Tom would show up at her door, claiming that they were not over yet and things between them would only be over when he said they were. He then forced her to kiss him and that’s when she woke up with her heart all jumpy and her stomach hurting pretty bad. She ran upstairs to get her medicine. She took 3 pills at once. She had never felt it hurt like that before.
She looked at her watch. It was 9:30 am. She had to get ready to go to college already. Making an incredible effort to just stand up, she managed to change and leave her loft.
LOS ANGELES, CA – RECORDING STUDIO – JAN. 18TH, 2002
“Man, I’m really worried about Kirstin. She didn’t sound too good on the phone this morning.” Ashley sat with Trevor on a couch outside the recording booth while the others were inside it passing their parts.
“What happened?” Trevor turned to face his friend.
“No idea. She was all mad and I don’t know why. She said she was sad to know she had no one in town to talk to because Tom was gone and Grace was traveling. I feel bad for her.”
“Well, it’s hard to find yourself alone.”
“Yeah, I know. And I feel it’s my fault, you know? She didn’t feel like that when she was with the waiter boy, because he’d always be in New York.”
“But he’d be cheating on her!” Trevor exclaimed.
“I know! But… she didn’t feel alone. I know it’s terrible to think like that, but she was happy with him there, even if he was cheating and she didn’t know about it. It’s that whole ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thingy. That’s pretty much the truth.”
“I think that even now that she’s feeling alone in town, she should feel thankful for not having that jerk anymore. I think she’d be better off without that jerk than with that jerk cheating on her.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Don’t know what came over me! Me, telling her it was better if she was with Tom?” Ashley frowned. ‘What was that?’ he asked himself.
“Ashley, you’re up.” the producer informed him when it was his time to record.
NEW YORK CITY, NY – KIRSTIN’S LOFT – JAN. 18TH,
2002
It was 8 pm and no Grace yet. Kirstin looked at her watch every 5 minutes. She wanted someone near her. That’s when she heard the door being unlocked. She ran over to it. Then something came over her. ‘Tom never gave me his key back!’ she thought to herself. What if it was Tom? What if the dream she had that day with him was a warning? What would she do? She got back from the door and got a statue from her center table to defend herself in case it was Tom.
Suddenly, her heart stopped biting so fast.
“Thank God it’s you, G!” Kirstin dropped the statue on the couch and ran to hug her friend.
“Wow, easy!” Grace smiled as her friend embraced her. She managed to close the door behind her still attached to her friend “Where’s Tom?”
When Kirstin pulled back from the hug, Grace could notice the tears on her face.
“K, sweetie, what is going on? Really. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this sad!”
Kirstin just sat on the couch and wiped the tears away. She had promised Ashley she wouldn’t cry over Tom anymore. Grace sat beside her.
“He’s gone. I called the wedding off.”
“What?” Grace asked astonished “What the hell happened? I leave for a week and this place turns upside down?”
“Well, that’s what it looks like, huh?” Kirstin managed a weak smile.
“No, seriously, Kirstin, tell me that the hell happened!”
“Tom was cheating on me.” Kirstin looked down. Somehow, she felt embarrassed by that. Like it was her fault he cheated on her.
“What?” Grace stood up “But that can’t be. He’s sweet, he’s… shy. He’s… he loves you.”
“Apparently he’s not those things anymore and apparently he doesn’t love me enough.”
“Oh, my God!” Grace paced around the living room “I can’t understand! This doesn’t make any sense! The guy has been through so much to be with you. You played him and he still managed to accept you back. My God, what happened? What came over him? What did he say when you asked him why he cheated on you?”
“I didn’t.” Kirstin frowned. She had realized just now she hadn’t asked Tom for a reason.
“What? You didn’t ask him why he did it?”
“No…” Kirstin still had the frown on.
“Why?” Grace was lost.
“I’m not quite sure…” Kirstin seemed lost at that moment too.
“Then you gotta ask him.”
“Oh, no, no, no, no! I promised Ashley I wouldn’t see him anymore.”
“What does Ashley have to do with… Wait! You’re with Ashley!” Grace pointed at her friend as she had just solved a mystery.
“Yeah…”
“Oh, my God! It’s totally changed here!” Grace paced around rubbing her forehead “Now what? You’re with Ashley and Tom is completely out of the picture?”
“Yeah, guess so.”
“Just like the last time then? That you were with Tom, and then you were with Ashley. What happens if you leave Ashley again, huh? Are you gonna go back to Tom?” Grace was mad at her friend.
“I’m not gonna leave Ashley again, G. Jeez, you make it sound like I’m a bitch!” Kirstin felt offended.
“I’m sorry, Kirstin, but I’m just too confused! Everything’s changed in a matter of one week!”
“I know, but it’s not my fault it changed. Tom was the cheater. He made it change. And Ashley was so sweet to me.”
“He had always been sweet to you, Kirstin! Wake up! He loves you and we all know that. But you were never sure if you loved him back. What made you change your mind and go back to him?”
“I love him. I always have. It was just a matter of getting it out of my system. I didn’t want to love him. I was scared to love him. But I know now that I don’t have to be afraid. Ashley will always be part of me.”
“Oh, yeah? And where is he now?” Grace crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh, well, he had to… to go back to… California… to… record some stuff.” Grace just gave her a look and Kirstin got up “Grace, the last thing I need now is for you to judge me for getting back with Ashley! You weren’t here all this time! You were with your incredible baseball player boyfriend! You don’t have any idea what happened to me these last few days, so don’t judge me for breaking things up with a guy who was cheating on me and getting together with one that never felt anything but love for me, alright? You don’t have any idea what I’ve been through these days, so don’t give me that look! When I needed a friend the most, you weren’t here. So fuck off!” Kirstin burst out in tears as she sat on the couch, her back to Grace. Grace didn’t know what to say. Her friend had never told her to fuck off. She had never heard Kirstin so angry in her entire life.
“Where are you going?” she asked Kirstin as she saw her friend standing up and trailing to the stairs.
“My stomach hurts.” Kirstin answered without looking at her. Grace ran to her friend.
“Stay here. I’ll get it for you. Under the sink, right?”
“Yeah.” Kirstin answered angry, but in too much pain to not accept her help. She was sitting on the couch when Grace showed up in front of her with a pill and a glass of water.
“Listen… I’m so sorry, K.” Grace sat next to her “I had no idea. Really. I am so sorry. But I never really had a boyfriend so I think I was a little mesmerized by that. Sorry. I shouldn’t have forgotten you. You are the most important person for me. I love you as my sister and I should have been here for you. If I knew all this was going to happen, I can assure you I wouldn’t have left you a minute alone. But I really didn’t know. Everything was more than fine when I left. I wasn’t judging you, I was just trying to get all the facts. I can’t judge you on this because I know that if I were in your place, I would have done the exact same thing.”
“Thanks… And sorry for…” Kirstin looked down and was cut off by Grace.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything. I was wrong here, not you.”
“Thanks, G.” Kirstin hugged her.
“I love you, silly.” Grace hugged her tighter.
“I love you, too.” Kirstin smiled.
“Is your stomach better?”
“A little bit. I just have to get my emotions back in control and it will go away.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ve been having them pretty often now. A lot of stress and all.”
“Yeah, can imagine that. If you want, we can go to the ER tomorrow to have that checked again.”
“Guess it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe the doctor could give me something stronger to kill the pain.”
“Yes. Well, now, tell me every little detail of these past few days, please.”
* Thanx Stacie and Taryn for reviewing and correcting the grammar errors *
~*~ Chapter 2 ~*~
~*~ Chapter 4 ~*~
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