Chapter 8

“Why can’t things ever go smoothly?” Destiny sighed and continued talking to herself. “First Jack is cheating on Carolena and she’s too blind to see it. Then Justin is starting to have feelings for Carol and she can’t see that either. She’s too caught up in her “love” for Jack. Abby and Carolena are fighting over the truth. And now Ariella has a thing for JC. Sheesh, what else can happen?” Destiny shook her head as she paced back and forth, trying to calm herself down. All this stress wasn’t good for the baby. She patted her stomach and took a deep breath.

Sometimes Destiny wondered who had life better: her or the emotional, hormonal beings on Earth who called themselves humans. The one she was thankful for was Ariella not acting on her feelings for JC and messing up what he had going with Abby. As if on cue for something else to come up, Fate gently put his hand on her shoulder.

“Darling?”

“Hmm?” Destiny replied, turning around to face him.

“You may want to take a look at this.”

“What is it?” Destiny questioned, looking at him curiously.

“Just come look.” She followed Fate to the table where their “Grand Master Plan” was. What she saw made her groan. More work would have to be done.

“Did you have anything to do with this, sweetie?” Destiny questioned, raising one eyebrow at Fate. He held up his hands in defense.

“I swear I had nothing to do with this.”

“So why is this happening?”

“I only control what happens to the person, not what the person does. This is all on the one above us,” Fate said, pointing his finger up.

Destiny sighed, knowing nothing could be done. She and Fate would just have to do their best trying to help these humans overcome some major obstacles heading their way. They both seemed to be resilient people but apparently, Destiny thought too soon.

JC and Abby had been hanging out quite often in past few days. After her conflict with Carolena, Abby wanted to stay out of the apartment as much as possible. She wanted this fight to be over, but there was no way she was apologizing. What was to apologize for? Carolena was the one who put this on herself. Abby was only trying to be a good friend and look out for her. That’s what friends did. She hated being like this, but nothing she said or did could convince Carolena otherwise.

Abby was now with JC at his place. Most likely later on, the two of them would join the others guys and the whole group would go do something together. But right now, they were relaxing by the pool and talking about nothing in particular, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Did you know that women’s buttons on shirts and dresses are on the opposite side than on a man’s shirt?” Abby asked.

“Really?” JC questioned.

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s because women had maids that would help them get dressed and they would button it up from a different angle than men, who would dress themselves.”

“Heh. Never thought of that. Do you know how we came to have sandwiches?” When Abby shook her head ‘no’ JC continued. “It’s because of a king named Earl of Sandwich, who loved to gamble. But back in those times, whenever you ate a snack or meal, which was mainly meat, you had to put on gloves. The king didn’t want to stop playing his game, so he put the meat between two slices of bread so that his hands wouldn’t get dirty and voila. We now have what is known as a sandwich since it was named after him.”

Abby laughed at that. “The interesting facts people know,” she said.

JC just smiled and shrugged. He loved being able to spend so much time with her lately. It seemed to him that they just…clicked. He secretly wished this “vacation” would extend a little longer so he could be with Abby even more. But he knew Justin’s foot was getting better. He had a wonderful career that he loved and wanted to continue for as long as he could. JC shook his head and shoved that thought out of his head. Abby didn’t care if he was famous or not. Together they could figure something out for the two of them once things got back to his normal reality of a world famous singer. He was just about to throw another useless fact at Abby when another voice interrupted him.

“G’ afternoon Josh. I just stopped by to – Oh. I wasn’t aware you had company. Afternoon, uhh…”

“Abby.”

“Abby…right,” the person replied. It was Ariella and what she was doing here, they had no idea.

“Did you need something Ari?” JC asked, using her nickname and decided to ignore her obvious redness towards Abby.

“I just had some business stuff to discuss with you. It’s really important,” Ariella said, looking at Abby when she made her last statement.

“Oh? What about?” JC asked, still not budging from his spot by the pool, his hand still intertwined with Abby’s.

“I think this conversation should be discussed privately…just the two of us,” Ariella replied again, looking at Abby. Abby took the hint and stood up, JC standing with her.

“It’s ok, I better get going anyway,” she said, seeing a questionable look on JC’s face.

“No, you don’t have to leave. I’m sure whatever it is will only take a second,” JC told her. He held both of her hands and looked at Abby, his eyes pleading.

Abby glanced between him and his assistant. The look Ariella was throwing at her wasn’t pleasant. Not wanting to start anything, she decided to leave. “It’s ok. I need to go figure out a way to make up with Carol and I need something to wear for the graduation party tomorrow,” she said, making up an excuse.

“You sure?” JC questioned.

Abby nodded. “You guys are still coming tomorrow right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Abby smiled at his statement. “I’ll walk you out. Be right back Ariella.”

The couple walked past Ariella towards the front door after Abby had collected her stuff.

‘Nice choice bitch.’ Ariella thought. ‘Something will have to be done about you and Josh getting so close.’ A smile formed on her lips as a small plan was thought up in her mind. If things continued between the two, the plan would have to be put into effect.

“Can I ask you a question Lance?”

“Sure, fire away.”

Justin and Lance were at the doctor’s office waiting to get Justin’s weekly checkup on his foot. They figured they were going to be sitting there for a while until it was Justin’s turn. It was the middle of the day and the place was practically empty. People were at work, and school was still in. The only other person besides the two of them was an elderly man, most likely waiting for wife. He was reading a magazine and was softly humming to himself. The man looked up and shot Lance and Justin a quick grin, who both politely nodded back, before going back to the article he was reading about “Organic Foods.”

“Do you think I’m too desperate?”

“What are you talking about J?”

“I mean…after everything at the karaoke place last week with Carolena. I don’t know what’s going on in her head. She just walked away from me without a word. I haven’t stopped thinking about her and…”

Lance sighed and clasped his hand on Justin’s shoulder. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you Justin. I hate that fact that Carolena’s getting hurt and things are being done behind her back. But until she finds out herself about all of this…I don’t think anything’s gonna convince her.”

Justin lowered his eyes and nodded. “I…I just wish there was something I could do.”

Lance made no reply as they sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

“Mr. Timberlake?” A male doctor peeked out of the door in the corner. Justin looked up and acknowledged him. “Let’s check out that foot, shall we?”

Before Justin had the chance to get out of his chair, Lance quietly spoke up. “Me too J...I guess we’re just gonna have to let fate take its course.” Justin sighed and nodded once again, slowly limping his way towards the door.

As soon as the door shut, Lance picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. The words and pictures were just a blur as his mind was still on Carolena and Justin. ‘I just hope something turns out right.’

Destiny’s head jerked up and she let out a slight gasp.

Fate quickly went towards her. “What’s wrong?”

“You know what? That spiky haired, green eyed human that we chose for our plan just gave me a brilliant idea.”

“He did?” Fate looked at their project participants to see what could have happened to spark any change in their plans. Seeing nothing, he looked to Destiny for her response.

“Yup. And you are going to make this work.” Destiny had a smirk on her face, knowing that she could get anything she wanted at that moment.

“Oh really?” Fate asked, wondering what was reeling through her mind.

Destiny slinked her arms around Fate and gave him soft kisses all over his face and continued down his neck, knowing all his exact weak points. She pulled back and had an evil grin on her face. Fate couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew her mind was processing something and nothing was going to stop her now.

Not even him.

“Alrighty,” Destiny said, her mystic eyes sparkling. “And this is what you’re gonna do…”

Carolena was lying on the couch, her legs propped up on the end as she stared up at the ceiling. The apartment was quiet. Too quiet. Things still weren’t going well with her and Abby. They barely said a word to each other. Maybe a “good morning” and then they went off their separate ways. Nothing seemed to be going right for Carolena.

She hadn’t talked to Jack in a while. Maybe if she called him, she might feel a little better. She picked up the phone and dialed from memory, Jack’s home number. 6 rings. 7 rings. 8 rings. No answer. Carolena tried his cell. It went straight to his voice mail. ‘Hmm, that’s strange.’ She thought.

She stood up and slightly limped her way towards the kitchen, dragging her feet across the cold tile floor. Carolena opened the fridge in hopes of finding a snack to eat. No luck. ‘Oh great. It’s my turn to go shopping.’ Carolena went to her room and changed into some jeans and a t-shirt. As she walked out of her bedroom and into the hallway, she stopped for a quick second at Abby’s room and sighed. Something had to be done. But Carolena didn’t feel like thinking about that right now.

She grabbed her keys off the counter, as well as her purse and some money off the small table by the door. Her foot was feeling good today since she didn’t have to worry about the cast anymore, so she didn’t need to limp that much. Carolena opened the door to the apartment and headed down towards the parking lot.

When she got to her car and sat down, memories of the accident flashed into her mind. Abby’s car was ruined. Carolena had enough money to get through the day but never enough for a car. It was hard enough for her share of the rent. She received her car as a going-a-away present from her parents. Abby had worked her butt off to get her car and now she had nothing but a bus pass, money for a cab, and the help of her friends to get around.

Carolena felt guilty that she had said all those horrible things to Abby just days before at the karaoke bar. She had been so sure Abby was wrong. She trusted Jack and today she was going to prove to him that she really did. Like she told Abby, she was ready to tell Jack those 3 words he had already been saying to her many times before.

She turned the ignition and noticed a light come on. “Dammit!” The car was running low on gas. The store would have to wait. She pulled out onto the street. ‘I could have sworn I filled it not too long ago.’ She shrugged it off, figuring it was nothing.

Carolena made her way down the road until she spotted a Shell station. She opened the door and walked over to where her gas compartment was. She slid her card in the machine to pay for her gas and stuck the nozzle into the car. As it was filling up, she noticed a familiar car on the other side of the gas station. She looked up to where the mini store was and saw Jack walk out. A smile came to her face, happy that she had ran into him. Coincidence? She didn’t care. Carolena was about to call out his name before something made her keep her mouth shut. She watched him open the passenger door and noticed another person in there. Jack was talking to the person and soon he walked to the drivers’ side of the car and got in. The car started up and was gone in a flash. Most likely he was heading home.

‘Must be a business partner or something.’ Carolena thought to herself, shaking her head. Jack had told her that sometime he worked at home and had people come over to help him.

After the car was filled, she got back in and started it up. She decided to head over to Jack’s house, hoping he would be there. Then she could talk to him and get this whole mess straightened out.

As Carolena turned onto Jack’s street, she noticed his car there. Relieved, she continued on down until she saw his house and pulled into his driveway. She sat there for a few minutes, contemplating on what she was going to ask him. Soon, she was in front of his door and knocked. No answer. ‘He must’ve not heard me.’ Carolena rang the doorbell. She heard muffled footsteps on the other side and then the door opened. There, stood jack with nothing on but boxer shorts, which looked to be thrown on at the last minute. ‘Probably just came out of a quick shower.’ Carolena thought as she smiled up at him. “Hey.”

He seemed surprised. “Carol. Umm hi…what are you doing here?” he started fidgeting and looking back and forth between her and the inside of his house.

Carolena smirked. “Well duh, I came here to see how you’ve been. I missed —”

“What’s going on baby?” a female voice came from behind him. She was only in a t-shirt, which looked to be one of Jack’s. She kissed his back and put her arms around his waist, placing her head on top of his shoulder.

A look of pure terror came upon Carolena’s face. Abby’s voice seeped into her head as she stared at the two people at the door.

“You know damn well I’ve never liked that man.”

“He’s never there anymore.”

“He treats you like dirt if you even talk to another guy.”

“That night, when I went with the guys to their party, when it was time to go, I saw Jack with another girl.”

“He’s doing stuff behind your back, Carol. You don’t deserve that.”

“Jack doesn’t love you.”

Carolena never noticed the other girl go back inside the house leaving her and Jack alone. Jack reached out to touch her arm. Anger was boiling up inside of her. She jerked her arm away from him.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.”

“Baby…I can explain.”

Carolena opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “This has gotta be a bad dream. Yeah, that’s it. I’m gonna wake up any second.” She opened her eyes back up to find herself exactly where she had been. “Why?” she whispered, looking up. “Why?” She asked, her voice getting louder.

Jack shrugged. His words were like daggers, piercing through her body. “Hey I have to get some pleasure in my life one way or another. It’s not like I was getting anything from you.”

She already felt her eyes watering up. Carolena gathered up the strength she never knew that she owned and as hard as she could, put her palm against his face. Afterwards, she turned around and headed back to the car. She heard him yell out “What the hell was that for?”

She turned and faced him. She couldn’t believe she was living a lie for who knows how long. Carolena took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she possibly could, not caring who heard her. “I have two words for you. Restraining. Order.”

With that, she opened her car door and got in, never seeing Jack’s grin or hearing him whisper “Oh don’t worry my dear. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Abigail Darice.”

The sound of her name through the speaker made her burst with pride as she stood up to walk the stage. She made it. Abby had graduated her first 4 years of college. Time seemed to be frozen as she reached out for her certificate. She turned her string on the hat and looked out into the crowd. People she loved most were there, staring right back at her, smiles across their faces. Her mom, her stepdad, and even her real dad were there, rooting for her. Carolena was seated next to them, as well as their new friends, the guys. Even though their friendship was new, less than a month of knowing each other, Abby knew they would become closer. One guy in particular. She locked her brown eyes with his blue. Nothing could make her happier than what she was feeling at that moment.

As Abby walked down the small steps off the stage, she felt so happy with herself. She sat in her seat and let the rest of the names be called.

After the ceremony was over, everyone was free to walk around, greet each other, and get a snack. Abby walked over to her good friend Erica. They had known each other for 4 years now, ever since they met on their first days of college in class.

“Hey, we did it.” Abby hugged her friend.

Erica smiled and hugged her back. “Yup. I can’t believe the years went by so fast.”

Abby nodded, agreeing. “I know right?”

A new face appeared behind Erica. “Hey baby sister. I’m so proud of you.”

Erica turned around and hugged her. “Abby? Meet by big sister, Bianca. Bianca? This is my friend Abby.”

The two shook hands. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Bianca smiled back. “Hi. Congratulations.” She had dark brown skin and dark brown eyes, much like Erica. She had a dark brown afro unlike her sister, who had hers straightened. Bianca looked to be pregnant as Abby noticed her stomach sticking out.

“When are you due,” Abby asked.

“In about a month or so.”

“Good luck then. Hey, let me introduce you to some of my family and friends.” Abby grabbed both of their hands.

Bianca stopped and turned around. “Richard!” She rolled her eyes. “Husbands.” The girls waited for him to arrive and soon all 4 of them headed over to where Abby’s gang was. After everyone was introduced and greeted, the group decided to head out, wanting to get ready for the party. 

Silence filled the air as Carolena closed the glass sliding door and walked onto the balcony. Music was blaring on the other side and she didn’t want to hear it. Abby had invited her friends over to their apartment for a grad night party in celebration. The guys were there as well, each of them having a great time. Carolena sat in the chair and looked out into the darkness of the night. Tears trickled down her face as thoughts of the day before entered her mind. Even though the two friends had made up before the graduation, Carol still couldn’t believe how she treated Abby. Abby had told her plenty of times but she still fell into his trap. She truly thought Jack was the one. Never did she think this would happen to her. But it did. Over a year of her time with him was wasted. She shivered and closed her jacket around her tightly. But Carolena knew it wasn’t the night breeze that made her do that.

Carolena heard the door slide open with a click and she knew she wasn’t alone anymore. Figuring it was Abby, Carolena spoke up. “Listen Abs, I don’t wanna ruin your party. I’ve done enough to you already. I know we made up and all but I still feel guilty about what happened between us.” She heard footsteps walking towards her as she continued. “You don’t know how sorry I am for not believing you. My best friend. And I completely ignored you. You knew something jut wasn’t right, but I still couldn’t open my eyes. The footsteps stopped and she knew the person was right behind her. Carolena felt a hand on her shoulder and she choked up a sob. “This whole year has been a lie.” She felt the hand tighten. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

“You could talk to me more about it.” Carolena froze. That wasn’t Abby’s voice. She noticed Justin walk in front of her and kneeled down. Carolena turned her face away from him, embarrassed that she had let him see her like that. He gently grabbed her chin and turned her face back to him.

“Justin, I…I don’t even wanna think about a relationship right now.”

“I didn’t say anything about that. Can’t I just be here for you?” Justin questioned.

Carolena shook her head. “You deserve better than me. I lied to you, lead you on, and pulled you into my messed up life.” She lifted herself out of the chair and stood up. Justin stood up as well, his tall figure looking down at her. He gently grabbed both of her shoulders.

“No. Don’t you understand? HE did this to you. HE’S the one that doesn’t deserve you. How he could do that to you, I have no idea. But what I DO know is that I want to be here with you. As your friend. Maybe something more can turn out later. Who knows? But right now, I just wanna take it one step at a time.” He smiled at her.

Carolena looked up into his eyes. He truly meant what he said and right now, more than ever, she needed a friend. For the first time in a while, Carolena genuinely smiled back. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and put her head against his chest. “Thank you,” she whispered, as she felt Justin’s arms around her back, returning the hug. He leaned down and kissed the top of Carolena’s head.

Finally, something was going right.

Caught up in the moment, neither of them saw the 5 pairs of eyes watching from the other side of the door.

“Sheesh. Finally!” Abby rolled her eyes as she watched Carolena and Justin hugging. “I knew he could knock some sense into her.”

“Why don’t we just leave them alone?” JC asked, putting his arm around Abby’s waist, trying to turn her around. He felt like dancing.

“Aww, just a little longer,” Chris whined. His face as well as both of his hands were pressed up against the glass, making him seem like a small child looking at a puppy or toy at a store.

“Yeah. We want to see some lip action.” Joey rubbed his hands together. He moved to stand next to Chris, his face against the glass in the same manner.

“Just because you’re not getting any, doesn’t mean you should be all up in their business,” Lance spoke up.

“Hey now. Look who’s talking,” Chris replied, never turning away from the two outside.

“Yeah!” Joey added, not budging either.

Lance tapped both of their shoulders. “What?” They both whined.

“Oh well, I guess ALL of these hot college graduated babes are ALL for me.” He shrugged and started to turn around.

At the same time, both Joey and Chris replied and whipped their heads around to face him. “Oh hell naw!” Soon, both of them disappeared into the living room, completely forgetting about Justin and Carolena.

Lance rolled his eyes and turned to smile at JC and Abby. He soon left as well, leaving the two alone.

“Dorks. I swear to god.” JC shook his head.

“Wanna know something?” Abby asked, putting her arms around JC’s neck.

“What?” he asked, leaning down to face her.

“You’re my favorite dork of them all.”

“Oh really?” JC raised one eyebrow at her and grinned at her.

“Yup. And for your reward, you get to dance with me.” Abby felt her dancing mode kick in as a fast pace song blared through the apartment.

JC kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m a very lucky man then.” He put his arms around her shoulder and together they headed towards the front of the living room, dancing the night away.

Fate slinked his arm around Destiny. Her little plan had worked out well, pleasing them both. As soon as the plan was explained, Fate jumped at the chance to do as she asked. It allowed him to be devious and stir up trouble, something he liked to do. It gave him excitement. These humans were his puppets and Fate loved to make little soap opera dramas happen to them.

Admiring their work, Fate kissed Destiny’s temple. “I love how your mind works.”

She smirked and let out a little giggle. “Don’t we all,” she replied.

“Well, that should take care of them, but what about the other two?”

“Hmm…I’m not sure yet. It was going so well until that other human stepped into the picture. We’ll just have to see how that progresses first.”

“Ok. Now what?” Fate questioned.

“Now we leave the project alone and see the one above us.”

“Why?”

“He could give us some insight as to what our precious puppets are thinking.”

“You really think he’d do that?”

Destiny shrugged. She honestly didn’t know. “It’s worth a try.”

Chapter 9