“Hey, Nick, what’s up?” Kevin asked when Nick appeared unexpectedly on his doorstep Saturday morning.
“Not much. Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure.” Kevin invited him in and they plopped down on his couch.
“Hey, do you happen to know where Corinne is today?”
Kevin raised an eyebrow. “Why are you asking me?”
“Well, I’m guessing you took her home last Monday from the studio and maybe you guys talked about something? Something that might make her avoid going out with me for the past two days? Kev, I think something’s up and I have a weird feeling that you know about it and that I’m in the dark.”
Kevin shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t quite know what to say…
“Uh, yeah, I did take her home. That’s no secret. She asked me to. And we did talk, yes.”
“What about if you don’t mind me asking? You know, because I am her boyfriend after all.”
Kevin stared at Nick. “I’m well aware of that fact, Nick. You don’t have to remind me.”
Nick realized his error and immediately felt guilty. “Hey, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean to be rub it in. I’m not trying to be a jerk, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with Corinne.”
Kevin said there quietly. Obviously Corinne hadn’t told Nick about her daughter. And now Kevin was thrown into the middle of this; exactly the position he didn’t want to be put into. He sighed. Shit, what did he do now? Tell his good friend the truth and piss Corinne off? But it was her fault she hadn’t told Nick; she should have. Still, it was her story to tell, not his. Even so, he didn’t want to lie to Nick and he knew if he pleaded the fifth, his friend would never accept that.
“Nick, I don’t know what to tell you, man.” He said finally.
“What the hell does that mean?” Nick said, getting frustrated.
“It means that I want to be honest with you, but I feel like Corinne should have told you…”
“Told me what?”
Kevin was quiet again. Damn, this wasn’t going well…
“Kevin, just tell me what the fuck is going on! Are you guys screwing or something?”
“No, man, it’s not like that! We’re just friends.”
“Okay, so what then?!”
“All I will say is that she went to meet someone today at a restaurant in Claremont.”
“What? Who?”
“Corinne should tell you that. It’s not a guy; nothing like that. It’s just someone she wanted to meet, that’s all.”
“Kev, you’re not making any sense! Who did she go meet?” Nick vented.
“I’m not going to tell you that.” Kevin decided to stand his ground. It wasn’t his place to tell him.
“Fuck man, you are really starting to piss me off.” Nick ran his hand threw his hair and tried to calm down.
“What restaurant?”
“I…” Kevin was sorry that Corinne had mentioned where they were going to him. She had only brought it up because the two of them had gone there once and she thought it was interesting that that was the restaurant Tawny had chosen.
“Kev, man, please… I just want to talk to her. I really care about her and I want to know what’s going on.” Nick pleaded.
“Okay, it’s called Fleur de Lis on Towne Avenue. Are you going to drive over there?”
“Yep. Do you know what time she was meeting this “someone”?”
Kevin shook his head. Corinne hadn’t mentioned that.
“Okay. Just one more thing. Why is she telling you this secret and not me? Is she that afraid to tell me?”
Kevin shrugged.
“That’s alright, I’ll ask her. Thanks.” Nick stood up to leave. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you guys?”
“I’m sure. I do like her sister, though.”
Nick held up his hand. A conversation for another time. “See ya.” And he was gone.
Nick now found himself standing in front of the woman he loved among a bunch of people he didn’t know. He shook Mr. and Mrs. Emerson’s hands, as well as another couple’s and then he was suddenly standing face-to-face with a young girl who looked no more than 15 or 16. She looked almost exactly like his girlfriend, or at least how she probably looked at the same age. He was awestruck at the resemblance and then his conversation with Corinne last Monday night popped into his head:
“So would you tell a man you slept with that you were pregnant if you were?”
“Yes, I would.”
“So have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Told a guy you were pregnant?”
No answer. If Nick recalled correctly, Corinne had excused herself then. OH MY GOD!! This was Corinne’s DAUGHTER!! The shock must have registered on his face because Corinne intervened immediately.
“Nick, hi! Can I talk to you in private for a moment? Excuse me, everyone, if you don’t mind going ahead and finding a table, we’ll join you in a few minutes.”
The restaurant’s bar was conveniently located on the opposite side of the restaurant’s dining area, so Corinne pulled Nick into the bar.
“Nick…”
Nick was still in shock, but he finally found his voice. “Corinne! Is that your DAUGHTER?!”
Corinne swallowed hard. Oh, God, he had figured it out. What was he doing here anyway? How did he know where she was? Then she remembered she had told Kevin. He was the only person she had told. Damn him!
“Did Kevin tell you?”
“No, Kevin is way too good a friend to do that, but I just figured it out. She looks just like you! Why the hell didn’t you tell me that you had a daughter!” Nick was still reeling from the shock.
“Nicky, I so wanted to tell you and I was going to… look, I had her when I was 19 years old. The father is Rob, my first boyfriend whom you just met with his fiancé. We were both too young and immature to raise a child, so we willingly gave her up for adoption. I have been trying to forget all these years because it’s been too painful, but I’ve always known it was the right thing to do. Rob called me when you and the guys were at lunch Monday on my cell phone. He had started searching for Tawny…” She paused, “…that’s her name, Tawny, a few weeks ago when he got engaged so she could be at his wedding and he had just found her and asked me to meet them here today. Kevin was there so I told him about it and asked him to drive me home. I was in shock. Nick, I wanted to tell you so many times, but I was scared.”
“Scared of what? That I would leave you?” Nick said quietly. He was still digesting the news and her unwillingness to tell him about it.
“Yes! You don’t want kids and I didn’t know how you would react to me having a 15-year-old! I know she won’t be living with me, but still, I was petrified of your reaction. I just couldn’t take it if you left me over this…” Tears ran down her cheeks and she didn’t even try to hide them. She wanted him to see the sincerity in her eyes.
Nick turned away. Her inability to trust him rocked him to the core. His shock suddenly turned to anger.
“I can’t believe you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. Instead you lied to me and even told Kevin before you told me! I’m happy you found your daughter, but I’m really pissed at you right now, Corinne.”
Corinne looked at Nick and realized what a serious error in judgment she had made. She saw now how selfish her decision to not tell Nick was. He probably would have been shocked and surprised when she told him, but would more than likely been able to deal with it. However, now that she had deceived him, he may not what to deal with it or her at all.
She walked up to him and put her arms around him. “Baby, I am so sorry. I made a mistake. I should have told you…” Her heart was breaking that she had hurt him.
Nick looked down at her and said, “Yeah, you should have.” He extricated himself from her and walked out of the bar. Corinne ran after him just in time to see him walk out the door.
No! This can’t be happening! How could she have done this to him, to their relationship! Her fucking past coming back to haunt her again. She realized that she had some serious trust issues that she would have to face and deal with before and she and Nick could ever maintain a so-called normal relationship. What the fuck was normal anyway? She thought wryly. Nothing about Nick’s life was “normal”. Why was she with another goddamn celebrity? Why? Because she was so unbelievably in love with him, that’s why. A love that was causing her heart to break into a million pieces right now. Corinne crumpled into a pile on the floor, sobbing. Ignoring the stares from patrons nearby, she allowed herself those brief moments of self-pity. Realizing that she had people waiting on her, she finally got up, walked into the restroom to gather her wits about her and correct her disheveled appearance.
Corinne put on a brave face; never letting on that her boyfriend had probably just dumped her.
“Corinne, is your boyfriend Nick Carter?” Tawny whispered, excitedly.
Corinne’s heart sunk. Oh God, she didn’t need this right now…
But she smiled and said, “Uh, huh. Cute, isn’t he?”
“Well, duh, yeah! Oh my gosh, I love him and the Backstreet Boys!” She clasped her hands over her face. What an adorable girl. She reminded her of herself at that age. Sweet and innocent and in love with “movie stars”.
“Where is he? Is he joining us?” Tawny looked around.
Corinne sighed. “No, honey, he’s not. He just came by to tell me something. But I might be able to arrange for you to talk to him and the boys later if you want. That is, if it’s okay with your parents.” Corinne smiled at Lois and Michael, wanting to respect their wishes.
“Would it be okay? Please!” Tawny pleaded with her parents.
“Yes, I think that would be okay.” Lois smiled.
“Corinne, thank you, thank you!” Tawny gushed.
Corinne smiled, but then thought, God, I hope Nick is still speaking to me after this and I can ask him… She knew AJ, Howie, Brian and Kevin would be more than happy to meet with her, though.
Corinne felt she owned Tawny the respect of her full attention so she put Nick out of her mind and allowed herself the precious time she had with her. Tawny loved school, she was a straight A Honor Student, member of the drill team, had lots of friends, no boyfriend yet, but Corinne suspected boys were always after her, and best of all, she was thrilled to meet Corinne and Rob. Corinne and Rob shared knowing smiles, happy they gave her up to wonderful people who could raise her the way they couldn’t and that their daughter was happy they were a part of her life. For that moment, Corinne forgot about everything else and thanked God that he had brought this beautiful child into her life again…
