PART 11
�Wake up, Lil� Darlin!�
�Neil,� Jenna said, putting a pillow over her head, �let me sleep in! Too many birthday margaritas last night.�
�Okay, but if you�d rather not hear about �Chicago���
�Oh my god!� Jenna sat bolt upright in bed. �Did they call? Neil, did I get the part? Oh my god!�
�Oh my, �Jenna� is more like it,� Neil said leaning up against the dresser with his arms folded at his chest, �because you, my dear, are going to be �Cell Block Tango�-ing for the next few months on Broadway!�
�AAAGGGHHHHH!� Jenna screamed and jumped up. �Are you fucking serious?� she said jumping up and down on the mattress. �I mean, are you really serious?�
�I�m serious,� Neil said. �Now stop jumping up and down like that, I paid a fortune for that antique bed frame and if you break it, I�ll throw your ghetto booty out on the street.�
�Oh my god!� Jenna screamed and jumped onto Neil, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
�Ugh,� he said catching her. �Is this what you heteros do? Would this turn a straight guy on? Your cute lil� ass all spread eagled on his junk.�
Jenna laughed and gave him a big kiss on the mouth. She�d been in New York for a little over a month and had yet to get any of the roles she auditioned for. She got a few modeling jobs with the photographer who shot her Maxim spread with Dale Junior, but no dancing or acting jobs. She was told she was too skinny, too curvy, to �ethnic� looking, not �ethnic� looking enough, too short, too pretty and too edgy, just to name a few of the reasons she wasn�t selected for one role or another. Jenna figured she was lucky that she had more than enough self-confidence for an army of aspiring performers because it was hard to let all that criticism roll off her back.
�Happy Birthday, Jenna,� Neil said as he out her down. �Think of how wonderful it will be to tell everyone the news when they call you with birthday wishes. They are all going to be ssoo jealous. And happy for you of course.�
Just then her cell started to ring. �Yay! The first announcement,� Neil said as Jenna answered her phone.
�Hello?� Hi, Daddy!� Thank you!�
Neil watched her and jumped up and down clapping his hands. Jenna swatted at him, listening to her father on the phone.
�Guess what, Daddy? I got a job! I�m going to dance in �Chicago�. On Broadway!�
Neil smiled, seeing Jenna�s face light up as her father talked.
�Mommy?� Thanks!� I got a job dancing in �Chicago� on Broadway!�
�I bet Kitty will be on the horn to all the country club ladies all day long,� Neil said in a whisper to Jenna.
�Okay, I love you both, too. Bye.�
�AGGHH!� Jenna screamed again. �Neil, this is unbelievable!�
�No, it isn�t,� he said. �It was only a matter of time. Just be happy none of those other roles worked out or else you wouldn�t be dancing in� Neil turned around and struck a pose, �Chicago!�
�Stick with being a manager, Neil,� Jenna said laughing at him.
�I�m insulted, Jenna,� he said in mock seriousness. �I was thinking of giving this all up and going on tour with Miss Hilary Duff. And you just squashed this poor girl�s dreams!�
�Well, I�m sure Hilary would make an exception for you, Neil,� Jenna said. You�re probably the only man over twenty, hell probably the only grown man period, who knows every word to every song she sings.�
�I�ll have you know that Hilary is the new Madonna for the gay crowd, Jenna,� Neil said. �After Britney went all marital on us and chained herself to a man who I wouldn�t even let wax my legs, someone had to fill the role."
�Ah yes, Disney queens and drag queens; a perfect combination!�
�But of course,� Neil said. �Now go get a shower. We�re going shopping to celebrate!�
�Aye, Aye, Capn�,� Jenna said saluting Neil.
�Speaking of Capn�, do I have a story for you��
************************ *********************************************************
�Morning, Kale.�
�Hey, Kase,� Kale said looking up from the newspaper. �What�s up?�
�Got a busy day ahead of me, man,� Kasey said, sitting down at the table with his bowl of Lucky Charms.
�Kase, what ever happened to Fruit Loops? You ate those every morning for the last god knows how many years.�
Kasey looked at his bowl and shrugged. �I don�t know. Jenna hated Fruit Loops so I bought her Lucky Charms for when she stayed here. I guess I got hooked. Today�s her birthday, you know. I ripped yesterday off my daily calendar at the shop when I left last night and it said �JENNA�S B-DAY� in her writing on today�s date. She must have written one day when she came to visit me. �
Kale stared at his brother as he ate his cereal. �I know I said I wasn�t going to bring her name up to you again, but since you brought her up, I�m really curious to know your reasoning behind not seeing her off.�
�What�re you talking about?�
�I�m talking about you not even telling her goodbye before she left for New York.�
�What?� Kase exclaimed, dropping his spoon into his bowl, causing marshmallows and milk to fly onto the table. �New York? Kale, what the fuck are you talking about?�
�Jenna�s gone, bro,� Kale said. �She�s been living in New York for about a month now.�
�You�re joking, right?� Kasey asked.
�No, I�m not joking. She said she emailed you the day before she left and invited you to her going away party.�
�I never got an email from her, Kale. Do you honestly think I would have let her leave without saying goodbye?�
Kale shot his brother a look.
�Okay,� Kasey said, �I was a dick. But I�m not THAT big of a dick. Why the fuck didn�t you tell me?�
�I promised Jenna I wouldn�t tell you and I�d let her do it herself, in her own way,� Kale told him. �I definitely pressured her into telling you Kase. She wasn�t going to. Said it was hard enough for her to leave and talking to you about it would make it even harder.�
�Well, she didn�t tell me!�
�She swore she emailed you. And she was really bummed that you didn�t show up. Junior and I both considered calling you to make you get your ass over there, but we knew Jenna wouldn�t have wanted to see you if you didn�t make that choice yourself.�
�Junior was there, too?� Kasey exclaimed, pushing his chair back from the table. �She must really think I�m a dick, Kale!�
�You really didn�t get an email from her?�
�No, I didn�t get an email from her. I would have been there begging her not to go, man.�
�I don�t see why. You didn�t talk to her for three months before she left and you obviously haven�t talked to her in the month since she�s been gone,� Kale said.
�But I didn�t know she was leaving for New York!�
�That shouldn�t have made a difference, Kasey. You blew it way before she even left.�
�Fuck, man,� Kasey said picking his bowl up off the table and putting it in the dishwasher. Kale watched him slam around the kitchen, cleaning things up. He always did that when he was frustrated.
Kasey went into his office and opened up Outlook express. He went through his Inbox thinking maybe he�d accidentally missed Jenna�s email, but there wasn�t one from her.
�Shit,� he said rubbing his temples.
�Hey, honey,� Mandy said walking into the room, toweling of her wet hair. �Whatcha doing?�
�I�m looking for an email that I missed.�
�Oh yeah,� Mandy said. �What kind of email? A work one?�
�Nah. One from a friend who�s moved away.�
SHIT! Mandy thought. He�s talking about Jenna. I know it.
�Are you sure it was sent, Kase? You know how easily things can get messed up in this cyber world we live in.�
�I�m pretty sure.�
�Well, if you didn�t get it, then it must not have come through,� she said walking up behind him and planting kisses on his neck. �Mmhhhmmm, I love the way your skin smells after you shower, Kasey.�
He leaned forward and away from her. �Maybe I deleted it by accident. I have this set up so that anything I delete from my Inbox is saved in a Trash folder until I delete it permanently, and I haven�t done that recently.�
Fuck! Mandy thought as he opened up his Trash folder. Why didn�t I know that? I have to do something.
�Come on, Kase, look later,� she said. �I�m hungry and I don�t want to sit there by myself.�
�I already ate. Kale�s down there. Sit with him,� Kasey said, shrugging her hands off him as his eyes scanned the names on the screen.
�God, Kasey!� Mandy said angrily. �I�m your girlfriend, not Jenna and besides if she wanted to tell you how much you changed her life so badly, she would have emailed you before the day before she left.�
�What?� Kasey said. �I didn�t say who emailed me, Mandy.�
Mandy bit her lip. �I heard you and Kale talking about it earlier, Kasey.�
�No, you didn�t, Mandy� he said standing up and facing her, his eyes hot with anger. �You got in the shower while I was changing and you just got out. I would have heard you coming down the steps.�
�No, I swear, Kasey, I heard you talking about it with Kale,� Mandy said, afraid of what she saw on his face.
�There is nothing I hate more than a liar, Mandy. If you�re fucking lying to me�� Kasey sat back down at his computer and continued looking at the emails in his Trash file.
�Hah!� Mandy spat out, trying to distract his attention from the screen. She never got angry and figured it would catch him off guard. �You lied to me, Kasey! You didn�t tell me that you were seeing someone while we were broken up, and you definitely didn�t tell me that she was in New York with you before I got there. I mean, I could-�
�Fuck!� Kasey yelled clicking on the email from Jenna titled �Tonight� in his deleted file.
Kasey~
Surprised? I bet you weren�t expecting an email from me. And what I am going to say is going to surprise you even more.
I�m sorry for waiting until the last possible minute to so this, but I went back and forth deciding whether or not to even tell you: I�m leaving tomorrow afternoon. I�m moving to New York.
I don�t even know how long I�m going for! Hopefully, something will work out for me and this won�t be temporary. I�m staying with Neil for the summer and by July, I�ll make my choice to stay and get my own place, or to come back to Charlotte. They will hold my job at Dean�s until August first.
Can you believe it? I�m actually doing it! I�m scared to death, Kase. I�m sure you know the feeling. Hell, you picked up and left home at 18,not knowing what your future held! But this is something that I have to do. I have to see if this is what my life is supposed to be.
I can�t leave here without tying up all loose ends. And I tied them all up except with you. I�ve never been as happy as I was from December until February. Running into you in New York before the banquet was the best thing to happen in my life (and not just because I had sex in a dressing room in Barney�s�)and I will be forever changed because of you. Thank you.
I don�t know if you�re reading this and rolling your eyes or if you�re screen is blurry because of your tears like mine is right now, but I want to see you, Kasey. There are some friends, including your brother, who has become a permanent fixture on my couch, coming over tonight, Wednesday, for a get together before I leave. I would love for you to come. Even if it is just for a minute so I can look at those baby blues before I get on that plane�
~Jenna
�You read my email, you fucking cunt!� Kasey said turning on Mandy. �And you deleted it! How else would you know what Jenna said about me changing her life?�
�What did you just call me?� Mandy said.
�You fucking heard what I called you!� he yelled. �Now get the fuck out of my house!�
�Stop it, Kasey,� Mandy said. �You�re scaring me!�
�Mandy, just fucking leave! You�re lucky I would never hit a girl, because I�ve never wanted to kick someone�s ass as bad as I want to kick yours right now!�
�What the fuck�s going on?� Kale said running into the room when he heard Kasey yelling at Mandy.
�He�s threatening me!� Mandy said.
�Kale, get her the fuck out of my house right now,� Kasey said, his face red. �Seems like Mandy here took it upon herself to play postmaster and delete the email Jenna sent me when she left before I even got to read it.�
Kale looked at his brother and knew he was really close to losing it. �Mandy, come on, get your shit,� he said. �I think you need to leave. Kasey, just stay here, I�ll make sure she gets all her stuff.�
Kale shuffled Mandy out of the room, and led her to Kasey�s bedroom. �Get your shit and go home, Mandy. You�re not welcome here any more,� Kale told her.
�You Kahne boys are too much!� Mandy said, picking up her clothes and going into the bathroom for her shower things. �You�re going to get this upset because of some ho who fucked both of you and half the guys in NASCAR?�
�Seriously, Mandy,� Kale said, �just get your shit and leave.�
�Whatever,� Mandy said pushing past Kale and heading down the stairs. �I hope he realizes that he is letting the best thing that ever happened to him walk out his front door right now because of some slut.�
�No, Mandy,� Kale called from the top of the stairs, �the best thing to ever happen to him is in New York, thinking he�s a dick for not seeing her off, but that is all about to change in like 5 minutes, now that he�s gotten rid of the trash on his life.�
�Fuck you both!� Mandy said and slammed the front door.
Kale heard her peel out of their driveway and out onto the street before he walked back into Kasey�s office. His brother was just staring at his computer screen.
�She said that the happiest times in her life were when she was with me, Kale,� Kasey said staring at Jenna�s email. �And I let her leave.�
�Yeah, man, I don�t know what to tell ya,� Kale said sitting on the couch in the office.
�How about �I told you so�? You were right about everything, man,� Kasey said. �I pushed her away and then I got tangled back up with Mandy. What was I thinking? If I wouldn�t have gotten involved with her again, I would have seen this email. I could be with Jenna right now.�
�Jenna�s doing what makes her happy, Kasey,� Kale told him. �Maybe it was a good thing that stuff went wrong with you guys. Otherwise, she wouldn�t have picked up and went to New York to pursue a performing career.�
�I have to call her, Kale. I can�t let her think I didn�t care enough to say goodbye to her.�
�Do what you need to do, but remember, she�s there living out her dreams. Don�t make her second guess herself. I�ll be in the living room,� Kale said, walking out and shutting the office door.
Kasey picked up his phone and selected Jenna�s cell from his phone book.
�Hello. Jenna speaking.�
�Jenna? Hey, it�s Kasey!�
�Kasey! I didn�t even look at the caller ID before I picked up,� she said.
�Yeah, well, Happy Birthday,� he told her.
�I�m surprised you remembered.�
�Really? You wrote it in pink highlighter on my calendar at the shop. How could I miss it?�
�Sorry about that,� she laughed. �It�s a habit I have. I just can�t resist writing my birthday on peoples� calendars.�
�So, how�s New York?� he asked.
�Oh my god, Kasey. I got the most wonderful news today. I was cast as a dancer in �Chicago�!�
�You�re moving to Chicago?�
�No, ass. I�m dancing in the musical �Chicago� on Broadway. In New York!�
�I know where Broadway is, Jenna.�
�Well, you didn�t know that �Chicago� was the name of a show.�
�Yeah I did. I saw the movie. So who are you playing? Catherine Zeta Jones or Rene Zelwegger? You�re definitely more of a Catherine Zeta Jones.�
�Kasey, I�m just a dancer, not one of the leads! I�m no where near that level yet! I�m gonna have my rookie stripe for quite some time before I can even think about auditioning for a lead role. Let alone being cast.�
�Nah, it�ll happen faster than you think. I am really happy for you. Congratulations!�
�Thanks so much! I can�t believe this is actually happening. I can�t believe I actually took a chance and it�s paying off!�
�You�re really talented, Jenna. Someone would have to be an idiot not to hire you.�
�Well then there are a lot of idiots in this business. You wouldn�t believe how many auditions I went on and was turned down for. Let�s see. I�ve been too sexy, too good of a dancer, to short, not short enough, too well developed to play a teenager, too �ethnic� looking. What the fuck does that mean? I don�t look like I just got off the boat from Italy or anything. I think they just couldn�t get past the last name. Do you know one of the agents at Neil�s firm told him I should change my last name? He said my name sounded like someone who got killed by Tony Soprano.�
Kasey laughed. �You can�t even tell you�re Italian besides your last name.�
�That�s because of my mom�s pure white-anglo-saxon genes.�
�Don�t listen to that guy, Jenna. Or take him up on it and audition for The Sopranos. Now that would be kick ass!�
�I gotta get through �Chicago� first.�
�That�s amazing. Good for you.�
�I hate to cut this off, but Neil and I are headed out for a day of shopping and he�s standing here tapping his foot at me.�
�Yeah, well, congratulations again. I�m really happy for you. And have fun shopping with Neil.�
�I always have fun shopping, especially with Neil.�
�And be careful if you go to Barney�s. I hear that some crazy NASCAR driver pulled a woman into a dressing room one time and had sex with her there.�
�Nah, I hear that only happens with Rookies of the Year at banquet time. But I�ll be careful. Lord knows I would never want to be dragged into a dressing room by some hot young racecar driver and ravaged. Bye, Kasey.�
�Bye,� Kasey said and closed his phone. He walked downstairs and sat in the recliner.
�Well?� Kale asked him.
�I couldn�t even bring it up,� Kasey said. �She�s so happy right now. I guess I just have to let her go.�
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