Daniel impatiently waited for the limo driver to find a way out of the
early morning traffic. He wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as he possibly
could, but the rain that began outside caused an accident on a major street.
He looked down at his watch the out the window until he finally decided to make
a mad dash through the streets for the next four blocks to the hospital. He
slipped a rain slicker over his jacket and the hood over his head then opened
the door, letting a cool breeze into the back of the limo and onto his face.
Outside, the rain fell in heavy droplets and formed large puddles on
the sidewalks making it almost impossible to run without getting wet. Daniel
didn’t care. He had to get to Chance. She was in trouble and probably needed
him. He made his legs run faster as he thought of the shock she must be going
through. Darren sounded frightened and confused over the phone, but Daniel could
tell by his tone he was scared for Chance’s well being.
Out of breath and ready to collapse, Daniel finally reached the doors
to the emergency room nearly ten minutes later. He rushed inside, slipping off
his raincoat and looking for the front desk. Breathlessly, he asked the nurse
on duty, “Where can I find Chance Malone?”
“Hold on one moment, please. She’s being interviewed by an officer,”
the old woman said in a raspy voice.
Daniel tried again. “Please, just show me where her room is. I have to
see her.”
“Look, sonny, if you’re not immediate family, you’re not allowed to go
back there.”
“But I’m her brother,” he lied.
“Well, your accent sure didn’t give it away.”
“I’ve been living in
“Excuse me,” the old woman muttered under her breath. She pushed a pair
of large rimmed glasses farther up the sharp ridge of her nose as she read the
computer screen in front of her. “Room 12A, and make sure to keep it down.”
Daniel rushed down the hall and past the double doors into a brightly
lit hallway. He could see Darren making his way towards him in a rush. Daniel
was relieved to see him, but as he got closer, something felt very wrong about
everything.
“Daz, what happened? Where’s Chance?” he asked as Darren walked past
him, his face showing a hurt expression.
“I don’t care,” Darren coldly replied as he walked outside to his waiting
limo.
Daniel stood there wondering what had just happened between him and Chance.
He began to walk down the hall again until he found her room. She was sitting
on the bed, her head in her hands, crying once again. He sat down beside her
and she looked up at him with puffy red eyes. He took her hand and held it.
They sat in silence for nearly ten minutes before Chance could bring
herself to speak to him. “I keep thinking about what you said to me that night
I danced with you at The Palm Court and how true your words were,” Chance said,
her thumb tracing circles over the top of his hand. “You were so right when
you said that if I wasn’t careful, I’d fall out of my perfect world. I keep
wondering how you could be so right. I feel so guilty now that I’ve realized
I brought this upon myself. I should have been more careful, I should have taken
your advice, but I was reckless and inexperienced.”
Daniel softly placed his hand on her cheek. ‘How could I have said that
to her? Am I really that stupid?’ he asked himself as her words echoed through
his mind. He hated himself for even giving her such worthless advice.
“If it’s any comfort to you, I’m sorry for giving you that advice. I
didn’t know this was going to happen,” Dan replied. He prayed that it would
calm her down even slightly. “I don’t want you blaming yourself for what happened
tonight. It’s not your fault. You haven’t been reckless, you’ve been the girl
that we’ve come to know and love, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You shouldn’t
be putting these kinds of things on your shoulders.”
“But it is my fault. Brad was supposed to hit me, not Scott. Brad was
mad at me, not Scott. This is my entire fault because I’m the one who embarrassed
Brad in front of a huge crowd of people. Scott was just an innocent bystander
that got in the way,” Chance cried. “He wasn’t supposed to die tonight. I was
supposed to die. Why did he have to save me?” Her head fell into her hands as
she choked out tears.
“Because he loved you,” Daniel said softly, lifting her chin with his
hand. He took Chance’s hand and squeezed it. “He loved you, Chance.”
“But he’s gone!” she began to wail. “And now I’m all alone, again.”
“You’re not alone. You still have Darren and me. We’re always going to
be here, no matter what. You’re always going to have a place in our hearts.”
“Scott was my one true love, though. Who will ever replace what we had?”
“Well, you could start with Darren. He’s madly in love with you,” Daniel
honestly suggested. That was when his ignorance hit him. This was one of the
secrets he had promised Darren he would keep. This accidental slip of the tongue
was something he would end up regretting later on.
Chance sat in her bed and stared at him with wide eyes. Daniel didn’t
know whether to take her silence as a good sign or a bad sign. She placed her
hand over her mouth to conceal her jaw as it dropped. Daniel saw the two tears
that dripped down her face as she shook her head. This was when he realized
he had told her the wrong thing at the wrong time.
“No, that can’t be true,” she said, trying to believe likewise.
“It is. That whole fight we had in the hotel room wasn’t about the next
album, it was about you,” Daniel said quietly. ‘Maybe if I explain everything
now, I’ll get out of trouble later,’ he thought, but knew his stupidity would
only catch up with him. “He told me that when you two were dancing, he could
feel what you were feeling and that he completely understood you. I told him
he was crazy, but he wouldn’t listen. What got him so angry was the fact that
I said you were way out of his league and that you were too young for him.”
Chance sat silent again. She looked up at Daniel and said, “Get out.”
“What?” he asked puzzled to why she had become so aggressive all too
suddenly.
“Leave!” she roared.
Daniel quickly stood up. He had outworn his welcome and it was time to
go. He could feel the anger that radiated from Chance, and wasn’t about to get
on her bad side. As he walked out of the room, Daniel looked back at Chance
to see her head fall into her hands and her shoulders shudder with the muffled
sobs she had been holding back. A painful lump formed in his throat as he watched
her break down. There was no worse feeling than the one that came after seeing
a dear friend going through so much pain.
~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel returned to his hotel room around two that afternoon. He had been
roaming the streets of
As he walked into his room, Daniel discovered Alexia curled up in his
bed sleeping with the TV still on. He slowly made his way towards her careful
not to disturb her peaceful rest. He turned off the TV before heading into the
bathroom and changing into something more comfortable, an old gray sweatshirt
and black track pants.
With his mind still a total mess, Daniel headed for the bed and lay beside
Alexia, gently wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his head in the
golden locks of her soft blond hair. He inhaled the scent of her shampoo, a
mixture of lavender and sunflowers, and closed his eyes in hopes of getting
some rest before his trip home later that day.
Alexia stirred beside him and turned in his direction. She watched as
Daniel fell asleep beside her, his arms still holding her tight as if she were
his safety blanket. Pulling up the covers, she snuggled closer to him for comfort
and also fell asleep again.
It would be another three hours before the two were woken by the sudden
ring of the telephone. Daniel was the first to hear it. He shot up in a cold
sweat and reached over Alexia to pick it up.
“Hello?”
“Rise and shine, Danny. We have to get going.” Rebecca’s happy go lucky
tone almost made him sick. She was completely oblivious to what had happened
that night.
“Go away,” Daniel replied as he slammed down the receiver and fell back
onto his pillow.
Alexia stared at him as he tried to lift his head up and look at her.
She reached over and slowly brushed away some of the brown hair that had fallen
over his eyes. Daniel was exhausted. His tiredness showed in the way he looked
at her. His eyes were droopy and his face had a stony expression indicating
that he was not only cranky, but also confused and hurt.
“What’s wrong?” Alexia quietly asked hoping he wouldn’t shut her out
like he had Rebecca.
“Guess,” Daniel softly replied.
“Chance?” she questioned already knowing the answer. He nodded his head.
“So I heard. It’s been on the news all morning. Poor girl. I can’t help but
feel sorry for her. First she loses her parents, then her fiancé. It’s a shame.”
“How did you know about her parents?” Daniel inquired.
“They said it on the news. I must have heard it nearly 20 times while
I was channel surfing.”
“Oh.” Daniel rolled his face onto the pillow and held his breath to relieve
some of the stress he was feeling. Alexia placed her hand on the small of his
back and rubbed it. Her gentle hands provided the comfort he needed to get away
from the world. He let out a sigh of relief and turned towards her. She smiled
at him and moved in for a slow kiss.
As Daniel pulled away, Alexia stood up from the bed and said, “I’ll go
make you some tea. Maybe that’ll help you calm down.” He nodded his approval
and closed his eyes.
Alexia returned to his bedside a few minutes later and handed him a cup
of piping hot liquid. Daniel sat up and nodded his thanks as he drank the tea.
It felt good going down. He lay back on the headboard of the bed and closed
his eyes, relaxing for the first time in hours. Even in his sleep he had been
tense.
“Tired?” Alexia asked.
Daniel nodded then opened his eyes. “This has been the most stressful
day of my life,” he answered.
“Is there anything you wanna talk about?”
Daniel stared at her for a long time trying to figure out if she was
trustworthy enough to tell his secrets to. Seeing the innocence and youth of
Alexia’s eyes was refreshing, and she had that quality of being so attentive
you couldn’t keep things from her because she would automatically know.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
Alexia nodded. “Did I ever tell anyone you were on the plane?”
“Okay, this is what’s going on. Darren is madly in love with Chance,
but hasn’t told her. He’s only told me and I promised I’d never say a word.
Well, my mind slipped while I was talking to Chance this morning, and I told
her about Darren’s crush. She kicked me out of her room soon after, and I know
she’s going to do something rash because she’s already stressed out over Scott,”
Daniel explained.
“You’re afraid Chance is gonna tell Darren and that he’s gonna get pissed
at you for telling her,” Alexia observed.
“Exactly.” Daniel took another sip of his tea and placed the cup on the
nightstand next to the bed.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. Both of them will get over
it and maybe end up together in the long run. You just gotta give it some time,”
she advised, her wisdom being the key to the con at hand.
Daniel smiled. “Thanks for the advice,” he replied. “It’s strange not
to be the one who ends up giving it in this situation.”
Alexia laughed. “I know what you mean. I’ve never been good with advice.
I think this is the first time I’ve actually said something to make a situation
better.”
“I don’t know if you made the situation any better, but I know you made
me feel good about what I did,” Daniel replied as he leaned in to kiss her.
Just as he reached her lips, the door flew open with Rebecca and Charles standing
behind it. Alexia jumped away from the bed in fear as she stared at the two
intruders.
“What the hell is going on?” Rebecca angrily asked as she surveyed the
room.
“Nothing,” Daniel yelled back. “What right do you have to barge in on
me like this?”
“I thought something was wrong when you slammed the phone down after
I called you to tell you to get up,” she retorted, her hands falling onto her
hips.
“Will you leave him alone? He’s had enough for the day,” Alexia joined
in on Daniel’s side.
“Stay out of this,” Rebecca hissed as she gave Alexia the evil eye.
“Don’t you dare talk to my girlfriend like that,” Daniel argued, standing
up from the bed. Alexia grabbed his arm and held onto him. She was more than
surprised to hear him call her his girlfriend.
Charles still stood at the door knowing a full-blown argument was eminent.
He didn’t dare to get himself stuck in the middle and have to choose sides until
things got out of hand. He watched as Daniel, Rebecca, and Alexia bickered with
each other about what happened that afternoon. Rude, uncalled for words flew
across the room from one side to the other, each person getting their time to
say something mean to the other. Charles was getting sick of it all and finally
decided to stop it before it got out of hand.
“Will you all just shut up!” he yelled, the tone of his voice silencing
everyone in the room. “You’re all acting like children. Just listen to yourselves.
The entire hotel can probably hear you.”
Daniel looked down and put his hand behind his neck to scratch the back
of his head. He didn’t want to argue anymore, but looking across to Rebecca
and then to Alexia, he could see that they still weren’t through with each other.
“I want you all to apologize to each other this instant, and no snickering
about it,” Charles firmly said.
“Sorry,” Daniel mumbled as he walked away from the two women still staring
at each other with icy eyes. He headed to the bathroom to get ready from the
trip home.
Alexia knew he was gone when she heard the door shut to the bathroom,
but her glare never strayed from Rebecca. She was ready to rip her to shreds,
the only thing standing in her way was Charles, and even he was getting on her
nerves.
“Well, your turn,” he said, still trying to get them to apologize.
After a few tense minutes of standing around and staring, Rebecca finally
gave up and said, “Sorry.” Her tone was stone cold yet it gave Alexia the upper
hand at how to deal with her in the future.
“Sorry,” came Alexia’s apology. Charles took a hold of Rebecca’s shoulders
and ushered her out of the room quietly.
“Tell Dan he needs to be ready in the next twenty minutes because we’re
going to miss the plane if we don’t get to the airport soon,” Charles said as
he left the room.
“I will,” Alexia replied. She closed the door and walked to the bathroom.
“Charles says to get ready ASAP because you’re going to miss the plane,” she
yelled through the door as she walked to the bed and retrieved her personal
belongings.
Daniel’s wallet on the nightstand was tempting to look through again.
Alexia tried to find something to stop her from doing it, but the overpowering
voice in her head kept telling her to. Slowly, she made her way to the nightstand
and took up the wallet in her hands. She pulled out one credit card and scribbled
down the information from it in a matter of seconds on a scrap piece of paper
she found on the stand. Just as Daniel was opening the door to the bathroom,
she slid the card back into its proper place and placed the paper in her pocket.
He walked out of the bathroom and headed straight to his suitcase without noticing
her.
“Sorry about Rebecca,” Daniel said as he passed Alexia. “She can get
out of hand sometimes, but she’ll cool down sooner or later.”
“Hey, it’s okay. At least she apologized,” Alexia replied. “Well, I’d
better get going. I have a million things to do today, and I probably missed
them all because it’s nearly seven.”
“You can’t go. You have to come to the airport with me so we can spend
a little more time together. I’m going to miss you too much if I leave without
saying goodbye. You have to stay with me,” he pleaded with her.
Alexia smiled. She like it when Daniel became putty in her hands. She
walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Anything for you,
babe,” she said then placed a kiss on his sweet lips.
~~~~~~~~~~
Alexia and Daniel stood in each other’s arms at the terminal as the flight
to
“I’m going to miss you,” Alexia said, her voice being muffled as she
pressed her face against his chest.
“I know, I’m going to miss you too,” Daniel replied as he hugged her
to comfort his own fears of leaving her alone in such a big city. He heard the
final boarding call for his flight, but wouldn’t let go.
“You’d better get moving before the plane leaves without you,” she told
him.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear as he kissed her for the last
time. They let go of their hold on each other and Daniel began to walk towards
his gate. He turned back and blew her a kiss. She pretended to catch it with
her hand and placed it on her lips. He disappeared behind the double doors.
Alexia ran to the large windows and watched as the plane moved away from the gate and started off for the runway. She pressed her face against the darkened glass and watched until it took off into the night sky.