�It Should've Been Easy� Chapter 9: Drowning In Defeat

Later that afternoon�

Rachel had called an emergency management meeting right after she had talked to Josh. She was shaky but rather calm for what she was about to do. Josh had come with her to be her moral support. She sat before the boys of O-Town looking each one of them in the eye.

Erik and Ashley gave her comforting looks. They had no idea what was about to happen. Jacob gave her an angsty look that told her to get on with it so he could write some angsty music. Trevor�s gaze was saddened and somber. He knew why she was here and had some idea what was about to happen. Dan wouldn�t look at her for more than seconds at a time. He knew all too well what she had to say. He didn�t want to hear it.

Josh gave her hand a quick and reassuring squeeze before she stood before the group. As soon as she was standing all six people were silent. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak. No words came out. She was too heartbroken to speak. Rachel cleared her throat again. This time, she was ready to speak.

�Guys, I am sorry that I called this meeting on such short notice,� she paused. �And I am sorry that I have to tell you what I am about to.� Dan looked away. Rachel could see tears glistening in his eyes.

�I love you all very much,� Rachel didn�t know if she should add to that comment. She did. �Some of you more than you would expect.�

Dan struggled to keep his emotions at a minimum. It didn�t do much good because Rachel saw tears escape from the corner of his right eye. She would miss those beautiful blue eyes. Her own tears threatened to fall so she kept talking.

�That�s why this is so hard. It�s extremely hard to tell you goodbye,� The group gave a collective gasp. Dan stayed quiet. �I have to resign my position as your manager for reasons I would rather not get into. It is not something that can be worked through. I just need to let you go. Thank you for being so good to me. I�ll never forget you.�

Her last words were directed right at Dan. He pretended not to hear them. She cleared her throat once more. �I have to go now. I wish you the best of luck on your sophomore album and in your future endeavors. Goodbye guys.�

Rachel and Josh started to walk toward the door. Dan stood up abruptly knocking over his chair. �Rachel, I�m sorry. I am so sorry. Please don�t do this. We can work it out. It will be okay!�

Rachel turned to face him. By this time, her tears had won the battle and were shimmering on her cheeks. She wiped them away before she spoke. �No Dan. I tried to make it okay. I can�t live this lie anymore. I need to go.�

Nothing Dan could say would make Rachel stay. He finally figured this out. He let her go with a heavy heart. He had lost the only girl he had ever really loved. She was now with another guy that she loved and that loved her too. He wished that he hadn�t been so stupid and just told her what he felt for her when he had first starting feeling that way. Now, it was too late and she was gone.

�It should�ve been easy to say that we were through, but to walk away from love that way was more than we could do.� (Almost Goodbye, Mark Chesnutt)

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