Corinne stared down at the rock sparkling on her ring finger. She was engaged! And not only engaged, but engaged to Kevin! If someone had told her this morning she would be engaged to Kevin today, she would have laughed since her commitment to Nick was so strong earlier. And yet now, here she was, engaged to another man. However, as far as Nick knew, she was still his girlfriend.
How did this happen? Kevin looked at her with his beautiful green eyes filled with love, proposed to her with his sultry deep voice and suddenly she was saying yes. The excitement in his eyes was apparent as he hugged her and told her how happy he was. She was happy, too, or at least she thought she was. She couldn’t shut off her feelings for Nick so easily, but she could bury them; bury them underneath her contempt for his actions. And that is what she intended to do.
They were laughing in bed and Corinne’s stomach started growling. Kevin laughed.
“I guess you’re hungry!”
“What time is it?”
“Ah, it looks like 7:15.” Kevin looked at the clock on the wall.
“Oh my God, I haven’t eaten since before noon— no wonder I’m starving!”
“Well, let’s go see what you have in the kitchen.” Kevin said.
“Uh, no good. I only bought enough groceries to last me through this afternoon. I had originally planned eating in town tonight.”
“Well, then let’s go. I’ll take you out.” He said, getting up. God, he had such a hot body, Corinne thought as she allowed her eyes to roam the strong curve of his back, his perfectly round ass and strong calves. Unlike Nick, he was tattoo-free.
Kevin whipped around to see her stare, laughed and said, “Were you checking me out?”
Corinne laughed and grabbed his ass. “Yes, I was. If you’re going to be my husband, you better get used to that!”
“Oh, I could definitely get used to that.” He said, turning to kiss her. The kiss got deeper and Corinne came up for air and said, “Me need to eat now. More sex later!”
“OK, Cavewoman. Kevin feed you now.” He said in a caveman-esque voice and she giggled as she pulled her clothes on.
The town of Big Bear was somewhat small, but quaint filled with a few restaurants, shops, real estate offices, a few other small businesses and a grocery store or two.
Kevin and Corinne decided on a American restaurant called Nottinghams in the middle of town. It was a Saturday so they were fairly busy but they were able to get a table within a few minutes. It was a nicely decorated and fairly large. The restaurant had a tavern and offered banquet and conference facilities as well.
Corinne gnawed on bread sticks while she waited for their food as Kevin teased her about being a true Cavewoman. They laughed and talked until their meal was served.
“Happy now?” Kevin asked her as she took her first bite of pasta.
“Yes, me happy.” She nodded and giggled.
“Good. Then me happy later.” Kevin laughed and they enjoyed the food and company.
After dinner, they moved into the tavern and sat and talked over glasses of wine.
“If we could be serious for a minute— I know and that’s asking a lot,” She smiled at him, “ I wanted to talk to you about something.” Corinne looked across the table at Kevin.
“Uh oh. Okay…” He took a deep breath and then exhaled, smiling at her. “I’m ready. Go for it.”
She smiled and said, “I’m just going to come right out and say this— since we’re getting married, which I still can’t believe, but since we are, how do you feel about me having a baby?”
Kevin about choked on the sip of wine he had just swallowed. “Now?”
Corinne laughed. “No, sorry about that! I’m not pregnant. I should have clarified that. I mean within in the next year, year and a half or so…”
“Oh, yeah, that’s better.” Kevin recovered, laughing. “Um, well, you know what I’m going to be doing for the next year or year and a half— making an album and touring the boys, but sure, that would be great!”
“Oh, good.” She smiled, relieved. They hadn’t really talked about it much before.
“But weren’t you going to wait for Nick to marry you within a year a half? Why do you all a sudden want to have a baby with me within that time frame?”
Corinne reflected on that. “Fair question. If I had thought Nick would have been ready to marry me within a month, I would have.”
“Well, then I think you should marry me in that time.”
“What? In a month? That soon?” Corinne asked, surprised.
“Yeah, why not? We’re still recording now, but it’s a 8 to 5 or 6 thing and you work during that time, too. We probably won’t be going on the road for probably another five or six months or so and you can come on the road with us if you want.”
Corinne mulled it over. It was a lot to think about and right now she just wanted to concentrate on the engagement and not the planning part.
“There’s a lot of details to be worked out, Scotty and if you don’t mind, I don’t really want to talk about them all tonight. I just want enjoy our time together.”
Kevin raised his wine glass to her in a toast. “Here’s to our new life together and not talking about it.” Corinne clinked glasses with him and they both laughed.
A few minutes later, they walked out of the restaurant, arm and arm. Kevin grabbed Corinne and planted a kiss on her lips, elated to be with her. Corinne pulled away laughing and she suddenly heard a voice behind her say,
“Corinne? Is that you?”
Corinne whirled around to see Chris and Celia standing there.
“It is you. How are you?” Celia said and they hugged.
“Oh my gosh, you guys! Good to see you again! How are you?’
“We’re great.” Chris said, staring at Kevin.
“Hey, man, how’s it goin’?” Kevin said to Chris, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
“Good.” Chris said. Damn, did Nick know this was going on? He thought.
“Hi Celia.” Kevin said.
“Hey, Kevin.” She said, equally as confused as her boyfriend.
“So, what are you guys doing here?” Corinne asked, trying to hide her extreme embarrassment at being caught with Kevin.
“Oh, my parents own a cabin here. We just came up for the weekend.” Celia said.
“Oh, so do mine! Where about?” Corinne said.
“Oh, near the golf course on Sierra Drive. What are your cabin?”
“Oh, we’re near the marina on Big Basin Road.”
“Oh.” Celia said. What else was there to say? How could they make small talk in this kind of a situation?
“Well, we’re going in to eat. Nice to see you guys.” Chris said.
“Yeah, you, too. Bye.” Corinne and Kevin said and watched them walk into the restaurant.
“Oh my God, Kevin, that wasn’t good!” Corinne said.
“Yeah, I know. I felt really weird about that.” Kevin said.
“I’m going to go in and talk to them!” Corinne said.
“Wait! Why?”
“Why? Because I don’t want it to get back to Nick that they saw us here. I was going to talk to Nick myself and break up with him in person. No matter what he did to me, I don’t think that’s right.”
Kevin had to agree with her. “Alright. I’ll meet you down the street at that bar over there.” He pointed to a sign that said, “McGinty’s Pub” and she nodded.
She found Chris and Celia sitting in the entry area, talking. About them, no doubt, Corinne thought. They looked up when she approached them.
“Hi again! Celia, do you mind if I borrow you for a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Celia looked at her boyfriend and he nodded his approval. They went into the tavern and sat down at the bar.
“Look, I wanted to explain to you why Kevin and I are here together.”
“Corinne, you don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do. I’m sure you and Chris are wondering why the hell I’m with Kevin and not with Nick and I want explain. Please let me explain…”
Celia nodded.
“Can I get you ladies anything to drink?” The bartender approached them.
“Yeah, I’ll have a Screwdriver.” Celia said.
Corinne said, “I’ll have the same.”
“You have the floor.” Celia said.
“Thank you. OK, I came up here last Sunday for a few days to sort out my feelings for Nick and our relationship and relax by myself. I came to the conclusion this morning that I wanted to be with Nick, but Kevin surprised me by showing up on my doorstep tonight. He accidentally let it slip out that Nick had cheated on me last night with some girl at a bar.”
“What? That asshole!” Celia said. She had always liked Nick, but that was uncalled for.
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, one thing led to another, you know…” Corinne laughed nervously.
“Yeah, I know.” Celia laughed, too.
“And then he proposed to me afterwards. I don’t know if you knew this, but we dated for six months before Nick and I got together.”
“Yeah, I knew that.”
“OK, well, anyway, I was surprised that he proposed at first, but then I realized that he can offer me all the things that Nick never could.”
“Yeah, but do you love him?”
“Of course I do.” The bartender served their drinks and they both took a sip right away.
Celia looked doubtful. “Look, Corinne, I don’t know you very well; I just met you that one weekend, but this is what I think. I’ve known Nick over a year; since Chris and I have been dating and I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. I had never seen him act the way he was with you, to the point where I knew he falling for you. I’ve seen him since that weekend and he has always talked about you favorably; to the point I half expected him to propose to you. Maybe you didn’t really know how much he cared about you, but he really does. Anyway, for him to screw up like he did, I’m sure he must be devastated and if I know him, he will do anything to make it right. He is going to be so hurt when he sees you guys together. So, this is all I’m going to say and then I’ll shut my mouth because it is none of my business after all… I hope you really love Kevin the way Nick loves you or you may be making a big mistake.”
Corinne looked at her in shock. That was not what she expected to hear at all. Who the hell was she to talk to me like that? Who is she to question my motives, my love for Kevin? She was thinking. Her first instinct was to be hurt, but deep down she knew Celia was right. Nick really did love her and he probably was really upset with himself about his slip. Did she love Kevin more than Nick? She gulped down the rest of her cocktail and shook her head. She wasn’t ready to answer that question right now. She was marrying Kevin and that was all there was to it.
“Look, Celia, I know you mean well, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve got to go. Bye.”
Corinne got up and walked out of the bar. She first had to go to the bathroom to compile herself since tears were streaming down her face. Damn it! She still loved Nick. She loved Nick more than she loved Kevin! Why the fuck did Celia have to remind her of that!
Corinne found Kevin at the bar and said, “Hi.” She looked perfectly composed as if nothing was wrong.
“Hey, Baby. Do you want a drink?”
“Uh, no. I’ve had enough to drink. Do you mind if we go?”
“No, not at all. Let’s go.” Kevin paid for his drink and walked out with her.
“Where do you want to go?” He asked.
“I want to go home. Do you mind if I go back to the cabin so I can finish packing and take off?”
“No, that’s fine, but what’s going on? Did everything go okay at the restaurant?”
“Yeah, fine. I just really want to get home so I can tell Nick as soon as possible that it’s over and we’re getting married. I just want to get it over with.”
Kevin could understand that, so he took her home, she was packed within a few minutes, closed up the cabin and on the road. She told Kevin she would call him later, after she spoke with Nick.
Corinne arrived home a few hours later, so relieved to finally be back in her own place. She set her luggage down on her bedroom floor and laid down on her bed. Minutes later, Corinne was snoring soundly and was able to escape from the world for a few more hours…
