The loud knock at the door woke Dawn from her sleep. It almost made her fall off the bed. 
She lifted her head and looked at the clock.

"Nine thirty-eight.  Who the hell is bothering me this early in the morning", she grumbled as she
covered her head with her pillow. 

The sunlight shining in the window made her head feel like it was about to explode. 

"I shouldn't have had so much to drink last night," she groaned.

The knock came again.

"What?!?!" She yelled.

There was no answer, they knocked again.

"Damn it!"

She got out of bed and walked over to the door. She flung it open and saw D standing there
with her arms folded.

"Morning, little Miss Sunshine", she said closing the door behind her as Dawn walked back
to her bed.  "How are you feeling today?" 

"I want to sleep, and my head hurts."

D sat down on the bed as Dawn crawled under the covers.

"Want to go downstairs and get some breakfast?" D asked.

Just the thought of food make Dawn nauseaus.

"Ugh,no, I just wanna stay in bed," she pulled the covers over her head.

D pulled the covers from Dawn's head.

"So, what happened with you and J last night?"

Dawn mumbled something D couldn't make out.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"He's not coming tomorrow, D."

"Why not?" She asked, surprised.

"They have to go out of town, some producers they have to meet with in LA today.   So,
it looks as though Nick won't be coming either".

D frowned, but tried to concentrate on the subject at hand.

"But it's not their fault.  Why are you mad at AJ?"

Dawn sighed, "You know, I really don't know. I know it's not his fault, but he won't be
coming for two, maybe three more weeks now, and I don't know why."

"He has a lot on his plate right now with you being gone and Arianna and everything.   This has
to be hard on him, too, you're being selfish".

Dawn looked at her, shocked.

"I'm not being selfish!  What's wrong with me wanting to see my fiance'??"

"Nothing's wrong with it, but the fact that you're actually mad at him because he has
to go out of town is selfish. You know how much he loves you and I'm sure if he had a
choice he would be here with you in the blink of an eye. He does have a job to do, he has
other obligations, and you shouldn't make him feel guilty for that.  You should be understanding
of that and not make his life harder.  If you want your relationship to work, you have to
compromise."

Dawn sighed and put her face in her hands,

"I know, I know.  I just miss him.  He has me so spoiled.  He's always been there when I
wanted or needed him and I think this is the first time that I haven't gotten my way.   I
gotta tell you, I don't like it," she let out a small chuckle. "I never realized how dependant I was on
him, until now. I never used to be like this, I always dealt with things on my own.   I don't know
what happened.  I guess he just made it so easy to depend on him," her face fell.

"You can still depend on him, of course, he's your fiance', but you're in Europe for
crying out loud…have fun!  Live a little!!  You're young, your man is far away…" she joked.

"Speaking of men, how are you holding up without Nicky?"

D sighed, "Well, we aren't as close as you and J, but I do miss him.  I can't wait to see
him."

"Do you guys talk a lot on the phone?"

"Yeah, every other day or so.  I just hope we make it through this, our relationship is
so new…"

"You will, just remember the old clich�, 'if it was meant to be, it'll work itself out'".

"Yeah, I know," she changed the subject.  "You gonna call AJ today?"

"I don't know, I want to, I want to apologize for being such a bitch, but they're leaving
today.  I don't know if I can catch him".

"Well, with the time difference, you still have plenty of  time.  Let's go get some
breakfast, then you can come back and call him.  I want to call Nicky, too."

"Okay, give me a few, I need to take a shower. Want me to just meet you down there?"

"Swing by my room before you go down, I'll be there."

D left and Dawn hopped in the shower.  When she got out she put her hair in a towel on
top of her head and threw her robe on.  There was another knock at her door.

'Geez, what's a girl gotta do to get a little peace and quiet around here?' she asked
herself.

"Welcome to Grand Central Station", she said sarcastically as she opened the door. 
Noah was standing there holding a yellow rose. 

"Morning beautiful", he said as he handed her the flower.

"Awww, that's so sweet,  thank you," she said, taking a sniff of it.   "Come on in".

"I just wanted to see how you were feeling this morning," he sat down on a nearby chair.

"Well, other than my head feeling like it's going to explode, I guess I'm okay."

"Yeah, you did drink quite a bit.  Want to go downstairs and get some breakfast?" He asked.

"D just stopped by a little while ago and asked me the same thing!  We can all go down
together!" she yelled from the bathroom.

'Oh goody,' he thought to himself. 

He looked over and saw the roses that AJ had sent her a week earlier sitting on the dresser
next to a picture they had taken together when he was in town.  He fought the urge to
'accidentally' knock it in the garbage can.

"So, you never told me, is AJ coming in tomorrow?"

She sauntered into the room and sorted through her clothes, looking for something to wear.

"No, he has to go to LA on business. Hopefully he'll be here in a couple weeks."

"Mmmm", he said.

"What?"

"It's nothing...really..."

Dawn looked at him and put her hands on her hips.

"Tell me."

Noah sat forward, put his elbows on his knees and looked at her.

"Do you remember what I told you on the plane? About the two of you growing apart?"

"We are not growing apart, we both have jobs to do," she stopped and sat down in the
chair next to Noah. 

He took her hands in his.

"Listen, I don't mean to hurt you, I'm just being honest.  I'm trying to prepare you.
Maybe you should try not talking to him so much, every day is a little much.  Make him
miss you.  If you make yourself available every time he calls, he won't have a chance
to miss you.  Not to mention he'll know you're just sitting waiting for him to call. Don't
let him take you for granted, remind him what a special woman he has in his life. 
Make him appreciate you".

Dawn thought for a minute. "But he does appreciate me.." her voice trailed off as she
looked down at her hands.

Noah picked her chin up so she was looking at him.

"If he truly appreciated you, he would be here with you.  He wouldn't hurt you like
this", he said softly.

Dawn felt tears start to well up in her eyes.

'Maybe he's right', she thought to herself. 'I have to make Alex miss me.  I have to stop
being so dependent on him'.     

The sound of Noah's voice broke her train of thought. 

"When will you be ready?  Wanna just meet me downstairs?"

"Um, yeah, give me a few minutes to get dressed and get D, then we'll be down."

He got up and kissed her on the forehead.

"Okay princess, I'll have the coffee waiting for ya. See ya in a few".

Dawn watched the door close behind him. She looked over at the clock, then at the
phone, then over at the clock again. 

"I just want to hear his voice.  I need to tell him I'm sorry," her voice trailed off. 

She picked up the phone and started to dial.  She put the phone back down.

"Make him miss you, remember?"

She got up, put her hair in a ponytail, threw on a pair of tight brown leggings and short
sweater, put on her sunglasses and headed for the door. She stopped and grabbed her
purse and cell phone, then headed out. 

"Noah's having breakfast with us", Dawn said to D as they walked down the hall.
 
D tried to hide her expression of disgust.

"When did you talk to him?"

"He stopped by for a few minutes this morning.  He brought me a yellow rose, wasn't
that sweet?"

"Yeah, sickening", D wouldn't look at her.  "What did he have to say?"

"Oh, not much," Dawn sighed as they got in the elevator.

"You know, he did say something that made sense,though," she added after a short
silence.  "I think Alex and I are growing apart".

D looked at her shocked.

"What? He said that?"

"Well, yeah, but I think he's right..." her voice trailed off. 

"Listen to me, you are not growing apart.  If anything, you're getting closer.   So what
if you argue every now and again, all couples do, it's normal.  I would worry if you didn't. 
You guys are more than just a couple, you're a family and you love each other.  I've never
seen two people so in love in my life.  It actually makes me sick. You and AJ have
something the rest of us dream of having one day, and you have to protect that and
nurture it.  Don't listen to Noah, he has his head up his ass", she said, fuming. 

'When is he gonna learn to keep his big mouth shut, damn it,' she said to herself as they
stepped off the elevator.

"Yeah, I know, I love Alex so much it overwhelms me sometimes.  But I'm gonna try to be
a little more independent, live my own life."

"Well, that's fine, just don't shut him out of it. Talk to him about it."

They reached the table where Noah was sitting, he stood up and kissed Dawn on the cheek.
He pulled out the chair next to him and Dawn sat down. D glared at him and sat down in a
chair across from them.   

They had just ordered their food when Dawn's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Angel."

Dawn closed her eyes and smiled.  She was so relieved to finally hear AJ's voice.

"Hey you," she said quietly.

"Can we talk?"

"Hold on a sec".

She got up from the table and excused herself.

"It's Alex.  We need to talk.  I'll be back in as soon as we're finished."

"Take your time," D told her, knowing that they needed to talk things out.  

As Dawn walked away D noticed Noah staring after her with a scowl on his face. 
D watched him and smirked, enjoying the fact that Dawn was off talking to AJ and
it was bugging Noah.  He looked at her and noticed her smirk.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

"It just bugs the hell out of you doesn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"You keep trying Noah but you will never come between the two of them.  They love
each other too much," she stated, sitting back in her chair.

"If he loved her so much he would have come here to see her."

"He had to go away on business.  It had nothing to do with not loving her.   He has a job
to do, too.  You, of all people, should understand that".

"That's exactly what I'm talking about.  He's got a job of his own.  He's not going to
have time.  She's not going to have time.  It's like I keep telling her...they will grow apart. 
It's already started."

Noah sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. D sat forward and glared at him.

"You need to stop talking to her about her relationship with AJ.  She doesn't need that
shit right now.  She has enough on her plate without you putting stupid ideas in her head."

Before Noah could speak the waitress came and brought their meal.  Noah asked her to
take Dawn's back and keep it warm until she came back.  He flashed the waitress a
killer smile and she did as he asked.  D rolled her eyes.

"Wasn't that just thoughtful of you," D said sarcastically.

"I don't want her food to get cold.  She'll appreciate it."

"You're counting on it aren't you?" She asked, disgusted at his confidence.

Noah just smiled at her.  D picked at her food.  She lost her appetite a long time ago.

"It bugs the hell out of you doesn't it?" He reiterated her words from earlier, taking a
bite of his eggs.

D looked at him with a questioning look.

"It bugs you that we are so close.  That Dawn likes and trusts me."

"Yeah it bugs me.  It bugs me to no end.  She has no clue about how big of a weasel you
are. If she did you can bet that she'd hate you, too."

Noah laughed.

"I'm going to tell you one more time Noah.  AJ and Dawn are engaged.   They are going to get married and spend the rest of their lives together.  Nothing you say or do is gonna change that.  They have their problems like everyone else, but in the end they will end up together.  So you can just keep your negative comments to yourself, or you will pay for it."

"I'm only going to tell you one more time.  You don't want to threaten me."

"I already told Nick everything," she cut him off.  "He's not very happy about it, let me tell
you.  He's a big guy Noah.  I'd be scared if I were you."

D sat back with a satisfied smile.  When he didn't say anything she continued.

"And I'm going tell AJ about all of the shit you've pulled.  He's not going to be very
happy, either.  You should see what he did to the LAST guy that messed with Dawn."

Noah set down his fork and wiped his mouth.  He took a sip of his orange juice and sat
back in his chair.  He looked at her saying nothing.  They sat there staring at each
other a few minutes.  He sat forward with his elbows on the table clasping his hands.
D was waiting for him to say something…the silence was making her uncomfortable but
she wouldn't show it.  Finally he spoke.

"You know that Dawn's career is in my hands. I can get her thrown off the tour just
like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. "I will make some excuse that she can't
go on with the tour.  I will halt the release of her album indefinitely."

"You can't do that.  You can't halt her album release," D challenged.

"Oh, I can stop the tour just like that.  The album release may be a little more difficult, but,
I could do it.  I'm her manager, her career is in my hands".  He leaned closer to her.  "Get that, D?  In my hands".

"You wouldn't do all of that..."

"Wouldn't I?  If you tell AJ then Dawn's career is over before it even gets started."

D sat back, stunned.

'That can't happen.  He can't get away with this.  What the hell do I do now?' She asked herself.

Chapter 20
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