Chapter 36
She sat on the bus, two weeks later, swinging her leg back and forth, her laptop open, but her eyes looking out the window. She had been watching some videos from some of the after parties. Not that she attended anymore, but the three of them had. And it was about time she changed that. AJ had said he wanted her, Resa, and Resa alone, but yet again, that wasn’t happening.
It was also killing her because she had tried to set a lunch date up with Denise, for she wanted to talk about some ideas, and yet Denise had said she was busy. But, lucky for Resa, Kris had left her email open and Resa did a quick glance, seeing an email from Denise. In that, she was almost begging Kris to come over to her house for a meal.
They were stopping in Orlando in two days for a week, it was their first real vacation, and as of now, the only thing Resa knew that was going on, was a huge family BBQ at Nick’s brothers house.
Resa sighed, shut her laptop and curled her legs up. AJ was asleep, Kris was in bed, fighting a cold and Howie, Howie was…currently, she didn’t know. Not that it mattered. She was tired of all of them and was really mulling over the idea of just going home. So lost in thought was she, that she jumped and clutched her chest as someone started to rub her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you were in such deep thought.”
“It’s okay Howie. I just, was thinking over things. Thought you were busy?”
“I was. Talking to my mom about a few things.” He took the seat by her feet and looked at her, waiting for her to talk. When she didn’t, he grabbed one of her feet and started to massage them.
“Is that a trick or something?”
“What do you mean?”
“When I never talk, you start to massage. Why?” He grinned and winked.
“Because it relaxes you enough to open up.” Ah, Mr Howie D was very conniving. She watched him for a few moments before pulling her feet back, which caused Howie to frown. “What? You don’t like that?”
“It’s not that. AJ just always tells me I have ugly feet. That’s why he never touches them.” Howie snapped his brows together.
“Are you serious? Damn that man has more issues than I thought.” Resa rolled her eyes at him. “I’m serious. I don’t have that problem though. So, let me have that foot back.” Howie reached over and grabbed it. “Now, Theresa, talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I’m leaving.” Resa paused, not even aware that she had decided that but knew that was the best choice for her.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m leaving the tour. I don’t wanna stay. To be honest, this crap ain’t good for me. The lying, the stupid ness.”
“What lying?”
“AJ is claiming that he wants me and only me. That I’m his true love and yet, I see the videos the fans are posting.” Resa sighed and closed her eyes, her heart clenching.
“Theresa, you can’t leave. I need you here.” Howie stopped massaging her feet, not knowing why that bothered him so much.
“Why in the world would you need me? You have your friends, your fans, and now your girlfriend. As it goes, I really think that I get in the way. So, it’s fine. Maybe that will be the saving grace that I need to clear my head.” Howie just stared at her.
“You’re still questioning everything?”
“Yes and no.” Resa had stayed mum about what she had found out in those cards with Nick. Did she buy it? At this point in time, yeah; which hurt to no degree. Everyone then would have betrayed her and that’s a thought that she had a hard time with. “Look Howie, I don’t want to talk about it.” With that, Resa stood up and walked over to the fridge, not really wanting anything but just needing to get away.
“Resa, that’s not fair. We all want you here.”
“You do? All of you?” Resa rolled her eyes at that. “I don’t buy it.”
“Why not? Because you see a few videos that the fans post?”
“No. God, I don’t fit in, anywhere. Not with you all, not with AJ, or with his family.” Howie slowly stood up; nodding his head, knowing what was bothering her.
“You know that Kris and Denise are gonna have lunch?” Resa sat down at the table, the tears slowly coming down.
“I had called her, Denise, asking her to do lunch, but she told me she was busy! I didn’t know she was busy with her adoptive daughter until I accidentally peeked at Kris’s email. My soon to be mother-in-law wants nothing to do with me!”
“That’s not true! You know they have a closeness. And Denise hasn’t seen Kris in years. You can’t say she doesn’t want anything to do with you.” Howie sat down and gently took her hand.
“I can.” Resa finally glanced up at him. “Really, who am I kidding? No one really wants me. After all, my own fiancé seems to be questioning everything now and I’m supposed to be the love of his life, right?” Resa snorted at that, slowly seeing the truth and knowing that she wasn’t nearly as perfect for him as Kris was. Or rather, maybe she had seen that for a while, but hadn’t wanted to say it out loud for fear of it being true.
“Theresa!” Howie grabbed both of her hands. “AJ is a fool. Everyone knows this, you included.” He let go of one of her hands and wiped her tears away, his heart breaking for her. Words were becoming hallow and meaningless, and they both knew that. In this case, actions were speaking louder than words. And why that was happening, well, the only person who could answer that was elsewhere. “Besides, if you left, who is gonna help me take care of the guys?”
“You have a girlfriend.” Howie slowly shook his head.
“Kris is great. And I enjoy being with her, but she’s not you. She hasn’t been around us, she doesn’t know us.”
“Whatever Howie. I’m not your mom or your babysitter. You don’t need me.” With that, Resa stood up but Howie was faster. He captured her arms and hauled her against his body; her eyes staring into his for a few moments before his head descended and his lips captured her lips, and then stole her breath away.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Yes, i know it's long over due and i'm sorry! But with WmSm almost done, I can work on this...
