“Hey, Car, it’s Nick.” It was Monday night and Nick was finally getting back to Carly. Unfortunately, he had to talk to her voice mail. “I wish I could talk to you—where are you? Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I acted like a jerk this afternoon. I’ve had time to rest and think and I’m much better now. Everything’s cool. So, anyway, the guys and me leave early tomorrow morning for Tennessee and I just wanted to say that—I love you and I will miss you. You can try to call me on my cell or at least leave me a message. I hope… I mean, I would like to see you when I get back on Friday. Take care.” Nick hung up the phone, watched a movie and then trudged upstairs to his bedroom to go to bed early. He had to be up at 5:00 am. He wished he was going to bed with her instead of facing that big bed alone…
Carly was dealing with demons of her own. Her brother, Connor had arrived at her house unexpectedly that evening, full of drama as he usually was.
“Carly, what were you thinking hooking up with a Backstreet Boy for God’s sakes! Don’t you have any taste?! And what happened with you and Derek anyway?!” Connor demanded when she opened the door.
“Well, hello to you, too, big brother.” She said sarcastically and followed him into her living room. Carly had been taking a nap until his harsh knocking rudely awakened her. Thankfully Carly had not seen or heard from Derek since earlier that afternoon and it was now 6 o’clock.
“Sorry. Hey there, sis.” He reached over and gave her a cursory hug. Connor was 31, blond-haired, blue-eyed; an all-around good-looking guy and as Carly looked at him, she realized he looked a little like Nick. She had never noticed that before. Huh. That couldn’t be the reason why she loved Nick, though because Connor got on her nerves most of the time.
“So, are you going to answer me?”
Carly yawned and stretched out on the couch; barefoot and scantily clad in a tank top and shorts she had thrown on when she was startled awake by his presence.
“Sit down. God, give me a minute. You woke me up. OK, so what was the question again?” She stifled another yawn, trying desperately to wake up. She usually didn’t take naps but after getting little sleep last night and all the stress and drama with Derek and Nick, her body and mind needed the rest.
“Carly! I asked you why the hell are you with Nick Carter and not with Derek!” Conner was clearly getting impatient with her; but she was used to that—it was nothing new.
“Oh. Well, it’s none of your damn business.” After 29 years, she was used to him sticking his nose into her personal life. He was always the quintessential big brother; the protector; warding off evil men in Carly’s life. It had bothered her for many years, especially when she was younger and just started dating. Carly’s parents had divorced when she was 13 and Connor was 15 and he felt he had to step into the “father figure” role by protecting her from possible rapists and evil men who might corrupt her mind and/or body. It was probably part of the reason why she remained a virgin until she was almost 21… Connor had imparted all of his “men are dogs” wisdom to her from an early age, plus she used to be petrified that he would scare any potential boyfriends away or poison her mind to them. He was basically a good guy with his heart in the right place, but his sensitivity was misplaced a lot of the time…
“Bitch.”
“Dick.”
“Wow, you’ve picked up some language. Did Nick teach you that?” He asked sarcastically.
“Yeah, as a matter fact, he did. Do you have a problem with that?” Sibling rivalry was alive and well between the two of them.
“Yeah, I do. I don’t think I like my sister having a potty mouth.”
“A potty mouth? Come on, is that the best you can do?”
Connor couldn’t help it. Her comment struck him as funny, so he just started laughing.
Carly smiled and then laughed as well. It felt good to laugh with him; they didn’t do it as often as she would have liked.
“Wait a minute… how do you know about me and Nick? I haven’t told Mom or Dad anything.”
“God, you are so naïve. Look at this.” Connor pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. It was printout of six different photos of her and Nick Saturday night at The Crustacean and Club Acacia. Shit! She should have known. How come she hadn’t noticed the photographers? She looked at the photos. There was four at the restaurant when she first approached Nick outside and the other two were of them exiting the club and walking towards his car. She realized how good the paparazzi were at being sneaky because she had no idea they were even there. She stared at the photos. Well, at least she looked good! And of course, so did Nick—as usual. They were smiling and talking to one another at the restaurant, his arm around her as they walked in and at the club, they were arm-in-arm before they entered his car.
“Wow.” She said finally.
“Wow? That’s all you can say? Carly, there are a lot more pictures than this. I just printed out the first page. There’s even one of you guys kissing in the car! What were you thinking?!”
Carly hid a smile. She knew Connor wouldn’t appreciate her smart-ass attitude right now. She decided to honor him with an honest answer. “Look, Connor, I’m in love with Nick. Derek and I are over. That’s the long and short of it anyway. So, get over it.”
“What? How can you be in love with him? You’ve known him for like a week or something!”
“Over a month. And when you know, you just know, but you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Connor rolled his eyes at her. “Let’s leave my love life out of this, shall we? What the hell happened with you and Derek? I thought you loved him and wanted to marry him! Two years, Car…”
“I know, I did, but things happened. Things that you don’t know about, Con.” It hurt her that she was hurting him. He and Derek had become close over the past year.
“Try me.”
“No, I’m not going to tell you. It’s personal. We’re just over and that’s the end of it. Derek knows. I told him today and he’s okay with it.”
“Damn, I liked him, too. Geez. So, what, you think Nick is going to marry you? I know all about his history… he’s not the marrying kind.”
“God, Connor, when are you going to butt out of my love life and get a life of your own? What woman do you have in your life?”
That shut him up. “There isn’t one.” He said quietly.
“Yeah, I thought so. What are you waiting for? You’re almost 32 and never been married. Again, what are you waiting for?!” She really did want to see him with the right woman and truly happy.
“I’m waiting for you to get married, have kids and be happy yourself. You deserve that.”
She looked at him in shock. “You’re waiting for me?! Connor, I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself! I’m not the naïve 15, 16-year-old you have to take care of anymore. I’m 29 and I don’t need to you protect me!” Years of exasperation and frustration welled up in Carly.
“Well, excuse me for caring! All I ever wanted for you…”
“Was for me to find the right man, the perfect man, right, Connor? Well, I’ve got news for you, he’s not out there! There’s no such thing! But I came pretty damn close to finding him when I met Nick. Strip away all his fame and fortune and he’s just a regular guy who’s as sensitive and vulnerable as you or any good man!”
“Sis, I get what you’re saying, but do you really know what he’s like? Does he deserve you?”
“Yes and yes. Please, just give him a chance. I was going to introduce him to you one of these days, but I was scared to because…”
“Because I’m such a brute, right? Don’t worry, if I see that he’s treating you right, I’ll back off.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. OK, now about your love life. What happened to Veronica?”
“Oh, well, she wanted to get married; I didn’t. End of story.” He said sheepishly.
“Con, I’m sorry. I kind of liked her. Well, at least she stuck by you for, what, a year?”
“Ten months technically. I don’t know, I’m such a schmuck. I just can’t seem to commit, at least not to the point of the dreaded “M” word. I guess Mom and Dad’s divorce really affected me.”
She put her arm around him. “Yeah, me, too for awhile, but now I realize that just because it didn’t work out with them doesn’t mean, it can’t for us.”
“How can you be so optimistic?”
“Don’t you remember? I’m Carly Sunshine!”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.” Connor smiled. That was one of their dad’s nicknames for her. She was always looking on the bright side of things; well, almost always…
“Yeah, I guess you were always a lot more positive than I ever was. I have a lot of Eeyore in me and you’re more like well, Tigger or something!” He laughed.
Carly grinned and chuckled at that. Tigger. She would never have thought of herself as a Tigger. She preferred a more feminine fictional character, like Snow White. Miss Eternal Optimism herself. And look where it got her, Carly thought wryly. No, there would be no wicked witch or poison apple in her life—she refused to believe there was such a thing. But a handsome prince, well, yes, she had one of those already, she smiled, laughing to herself. She wished he were here with her right now.
Connor looked at his sister, standing there smiling like a dufus. “Yeah, I can see what both Derek and Nick see in you. You’re happy all the time, full of life, full of promise, innocent… you’re what a lot of girls aren’t these days.”
“Nick has told me that’s one of the things he loves about me. I don’t know if Derek ever truly appreciated those qualities in me.”
“Well, good for you then. I’d like to meet Nick one of these days, even though I hate his music. God, I want to gag when I hear ‘As Long As you Love Me.’”
Carly laughed. “Yeah, but it’s pretty apropos when it comes to he and I. Anyway, you’ll meet him, but first, I want you to meet this girl Tracy at my work. She’s hot!”
“No set-ups. You tried that before and it didn’t work, remember?”
“Oh, yeah! Paula!”
“Yeah, Paula. That blind date sucked.” Carly laughed when she remembered that one. It was a few years ago; a girl she had met in college turned out, to everyone’s surprise, to be married.
“OK, but really I want you to meet someone that you can settle down with.”
“I will someday. But you first.”
Carly frowned at him. Would he ever give up? She suspected he wouldn’t.
“Listen, sis, I’ve got to go. I have to work in the morning. We’ll talk later. Oh, and try not to get any more pictures taken of you and Nick for awhile. I get teased at the office!” Connor worked as a trial lawyer for a law firm in San Gabriel and it was definitely very much a “boys club” there.
“Don’t worry, Nick will be out of town for the next few days with the rest of the guys working on their new album.”
“Oh, OK, good. I don’t plan to buy it though.” He teased.
Carly gave him a dirty look and then laughed. “Later, bro.”
“Bye, sis.” And he left.
Nick is leaving tomorrow! Carly thought and looked at her watch. It was only 6:45; hopefully he’ll be at home. But maybe he called and left a message. She walked into her bedroom, grabbed her purse, dug out her cell phone and sure enough there was a voice mail message from Nick.
She stood and listened it and smiled. She dialed Nick’s number and waited as it rang. Just as the second ring began, she clutched her stomach suddenly and the phone dropped out of her hand landing on the floor at her feet. The pain shot through her body so intensely, it brought her to knees causing her to double over. Oh God, what was happening to her!
“Hello? Carly?” Carly heard a faint voice coming from the receiver near her and then she remembered she had dialed Nick’s number.
“Nick! Help!” She cried out, sobbing. She felt a liquid gushing from her vagina so she put her hand underneath her. She pulled it out to see her own blood. Oh God! Oh God! She panicked.
“Carly? Carly? What’s wrong?” She could hear Nick’s voice coming loudly from the receiver.
The pain subsided a little, so she sat back on her knees gingerly, tears streaming down her face and grabbed her cell phone.
“Nick, something’s wrong! I’m bleeding!” She sobbed.
“I’ll be right there! Just stay there!” Click.
An ambulance siren sounded in the distance. Nick found her there several minutes later, lying on her side on her bedroom floor, crying softly.
“Baby! Are you okay?” He said, thankful she was alive. It had been a horrible 35 minute drive over to her house; he had driven 80 MPH almost the entire way; not giving a damn if any policemen were around. She sounded horrible over the phone and all he knew was that he had to get to her right away. Several prayers were uttered during his excrutiating trek to her house.
“Nicky, this isn’t good. I think I lost it… I’m so sorry…” She said in a hoarse voice, starting to cry again. Nick sat down on the floor beside her, gingerly lifted her head and laid it in his lap, brushing her hair away from her face and gently wiping her tears away with his fingers. He didn’t want to move her just in case she was injured badly.
“Shh… I’m here. It’s going to be alright.” He had no idea what she was talking about. She must be delirious, he thought. He looked at her; physically she looked unharmed, but when he saw the pool of blood staining the carpet beneath her, he freaked; his heart beating out of his chest in fear. He loved this woman more than anything or anyone. Holy shit! What the hell was he going to do if he lost her?!
