THE MUSIC NEVER ENDS
©Mirandagk@aol.com
CHAPTER 22
A muffled argument could be heard from outside the quaint house. If someone were to walk by, they would be tempted to call the cops. A stranger would never believe that the couple inside those four walls were just months away from wedded bliss.
"Whatever! Fuck you!" JC slammed the front door behind him with such tremendous force that his body seized up in fear that the glass would shatter.
As he reckslessly backed out of his driveway, a car horn sounded, forcing him to jam his feet on the brakes...Stopping just inches away from hitting a car that was coming down the street. JC drove down the street and pulled over into a gas station to make a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lance. Can I come crash at your place tonight? Me and Rachel just got into a huge fight."
"You know I would, man, but I have someone over right now."
Is wasn't often that Lance brought a woman home, so JC knew that his timing was terrible. "Ooooh..."
"Why don't you try calling one of the guys?"
"Yeah, I will. Thanks though." JC pressed end on his phone and leaned his head back against the seat. After taking a deep breath, he looked down and pressed 3 on his phone and waited.
"Hello?"
"Joey? You there?" JC could barely hear the person on the other end of the line. Thinking it was his reception, he started off down the street.
"JC! What's up?"
"Nothin. Where are you?"
"Me and Chris are on our way to Tampa for the night. Why?"
"Ah, Never mind. I was hoping I could crash with one of you tonight. Rachel and I aren't getting along right now."
"You're more than welcome to meet us here."
"Nah. I'll just go to a hotel."
"Call Justin. He's home."
"I might. Talk to you later." JC and the guys didn't live that far from one another. It was about a 10 to 15 minute ride between their homes. He stopped at the 7-11 just down the road, before heading to the entrance of Bay Hill. Once he passed the golf course and the small apartment community that was just across the street, he turned the corner and stopped at a set of large gates.
A tall, lanky man came out and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Chasez."
"Hey. Is Justin around?" he leaned his arm outside the car and started to type in a code on the keypad.
"Yeah. He just came back from hitting a few balls around the course."
"Thanks." JC waved as he slowly drove ahead. When he turned the corner, he noticed a golf cart sitting in the driveway and pulled up next to it. The front door was still open and he decided to knock instead of just walking in like he usually did.
"What the hell you knockin' for?" Justin called out to him from the other side of the door. JC could see him standing in the hallway with a towel draped over his neck.
"Thought I would be courteous for once." JC commented sarcastically as he entered the house.
"You want a beer?"
"Thanks" he replied as he took Justin's. Justin grabbed another beer from the fridge and plopped down on the couch in the living room. He noticed JC's silence and asked what was up.
"Rachel is trippin'. She is on this cock and bull about Laura. One minute she is being supportive and the next, she doesn't even want me talking to her. I came home late today from the studio and I didn't even get one foot in the door before she started interrogating me. She needed to know every little thing I did today from the minute I walked out the front door till the minute I came home."
Justin smirked. "Yeah, she called over here earlier looking for you." He brought the bottle to his lips and took swig.
"See what I'm sayin?"
"She's just paranoid, JC." Justin seemed to be the only person that knew why at this point. He had been trying to come up with a plan of his own on how to catch Rachel in another lie, but knew he needed some help. He didn't want to let JC know of his suspicions until he had some sort of proof.
"...So can I crash here tonight?"
Justin had zoned out of the conversation. "Oh. Sure. You don't think that would enrage Rachel even more?"
"Fuck what she thinks."
"Ooookkkayyy. Me and Hallie are about to go out and catch a movie. Laura wasn't feeling up to it, so she's staying here. Can I trust you two by yourselves?"
JC ignored his question and headed back towards the guest room. Hallie was walking down the hall as JC was headed up. "What are you doing here?" she asked ignorantly.
"Not like you care, but things aren't going well back at my place so I'm crashing here tonight."
Hallie stood there looking up at the ceiling, "ummm...You're right, I don't care. Just don't bother Laura. I'm specifically here to make sure the stress is at a minimum. Don't mess up my evening." she ordered.
JC just rolled his eyes and went into the bedroom and shut the door.
About an hour later he heard a glass shattering. He walked into the kitchen and noticed Laura trying to kneel down on the floor to pick up the broken glass. "Don't. I'll get it." JC walked over and grabbed a broom and dust pan from the laundry room. "You should get out of the kitchen before you step on a piece of glass."
Just as sure as he said it, she did just that. "Shit!" she hobbled out of the kitchen and over to the couch.
JC finished cleaning of the shards of glass and headed over to see if she was okay. When he saw her tipping over on the couch and struggling to pick her foot up off the floor, it took every bit of self-control for him not to laugh out loud. "Here, let me help you, Laura."
"Thanks." she chuckled.
JC sat on the edge of the coffee table and gently took her foot in his hand and searched for the embedded glass. He gently grabbed it and pulled it out slowly, wiping away the blood with a tissue. "I think that was it. But let's make sure" he said. He gently ran his hand up the sole of her foot checking to see if she felt anything. Laura closed her eyes, and lost her self in his touch. He hadn't touched her like that in a long time. She had grown used to not having his arms to hold her at night. But seeing him taking the most delicate care with her foot, made memories flood back through her mind. She had been lying to herself the entire time they were apart. For months, she had told herself that she was better off without him, and she had actually started to believe it.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Huh? No," Laura stuttered.
JC sat down on the far end of the couch beside her. They both sat in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. She looked around the house and noticed that it was unusually quiet. Too quiet. "Not to be rude, but Justin and Hallie went out...Why are you here?"
"I asked Justin if I could crash here tonight. Needed some time to myself."
Laura knew those words all too well. She had heard them so many times before during the course of JC and Rachel's first attempt at a relationship. "You and Rachel got into a fight." she pointed out.
"I sometimes forget that I can't hid anything from you." he admitted with a smile.
Laura changed the subject and the two of them sat and talked briefly about the next day's studio session. Jerry wanted to finish up with a mock studio session and then end the day with an interview. This would be the last time the two of them worked with one another.
Saddened by the thought, Laura decided to turn on the tv to create a distraction. JC's cell began to ring and he rustled through his pocket to find it. After looking at the number on the screen he turned the phone completely off and went back to watching the show. Laura knew it was Rachel by the troubled expression on his face.
After about 45 minutes, Laura decided to retire to her bedroom. She thanked JC again and said goodnight before getting up and leaving the room. JC sat there deliberating on whether or not he should talk to Laura about their unborn-child's future.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Yes?"
JC pushed the door open slightly and could see Laura sitting up in bed writing in her journal. He looked down and noticed a set of headphones wrapped around her stomach. Laura noticed where his gaze was pointed and smiled, "It's soothing. When I play the music the baby doesn't kick as much."
A smile crept across his face. He eased into the room and stood there in silence. Laura looked confused as to why he was there. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.
"I figured, I might as well take the chance to talk to you about this now before your bodyguard returns.
Laura laughed. JC walked over to the other side and sat near the foot of the bed. "So what are we going to do once the baby's here?"
Laura set down her journal and crossed her arms before looking his way. "I'm ready to take care of the baby on my own. It would be nice if you want to be apart of our child's life, but if not, that's fine too."
"And you're ok with that?" he asked in disbelief.
"No. But I have to face the reality that there might not be any room in your new family for this baby."
"That's kinda harsh.."
"It's a harsh world, baby." She no longer cared what he thought of her anymore. But those blue eyes had a way of pushing through all the lies she was telling herself. Underneath it all, she loved that he was just a few feet away from her. The light scent of his cologne filling her bedroom with a familiar aroma. She had remembered waking up to it morning after morning.
"Laura, I need to set up some form of visitation with you before the baby is born."
"As much as you don't want to hear me say this, I have to. You aren't the average Joe Blow, JC. We can't decide on every weekend, or every other weekend, for you to see the baby. Because I know there will be plenty of times when you aren't going to be able to make it. To set up certain days when you will see the baby and then call and say you can't make it, is unstable for our child." Laura could see the hurt in his eyes. She leaned over and sympathetically rubbed his hand, "These are things that we both have to think about, JC."
"So you're saying that you would rather me not be in my child's life then?"
That's exactly what she was thinking. Laura could feel the tension starting mount. "No. Not at all. Let's just not designate weekends knowing the reality of our lives and schedules. When you have the time and you aren't working, call me and we'll set something up. I know that you want to be there for the baby...I can see it in your eyes. But it's unrealistic to say that you will be there when you know you can't."
JC knew she was right. He just didn't want to admit it to himself or, most of all, to her. But he couldn't complain. This was the life he chose. Spending hours on end in the studio, traveling from city to city, country to county, for months at a time...It's what he loved to do. He would have no problem taking Nikolas and Rachel out on the road with him. That would be soon be his family and knowing that Rachel didn't want him to have anything to do with Laura was weighing heavily on his mind. "Do you honestly believe that this will work?"
"Only if you want it to, JC." Laura could feel that there was something else bothering him. He couldn't look her in the eyes. He just sat there staring down at the pattern on the bed spread. "What does your fiance think of all this?"
"One minute she's gung ho, by my side all the way...The next she is completely against me having anything to do with you. And if we can't communicate, I can't I see my baby. I refuse to involve lawyers."
Laura was stunned. It was as though she were sitting there with a completely different person. This wasn't the Joshua Chasez that she had loved and respected. This was a mere shell of the man that she had adored for so many years.
"I'm in a lose to lose situation here, Laura. I'm in love with this woman...This incredible woman..." Laura rolled her eyes as she thought of Rachel. "And I can't be with her unless I give up everything I've just found." JC searched her eyes for some form of reaction to his outpouring, but found nothing. Laura picked up her journal and went back to writing. Did she not understand who he was talking about?
"I'm going on like I have been for the past 7 months."
"When are you going back to Chicago?"
Laura went on to tell him that she wasn't planning on leaving at the end of the week. Justin had talked her into staying a few more days to look at homes in the area. Justin felt she made a dumb move by leaving town. She and JC also discussed the offer she was given for a partnership in a record company that was set to open soon. She could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't thrilled to hear the news of her possibly permanency in Chicago.
The silence between them became deafening. JC could hear his own voice coming from somewhere and looked over noticing that it was originating from the headphones around her belly. He immediately perked up. She wasn't paying much attention to his presence in the room until he grabbed the headphones to hear what song it was.
Shock loomed on his face as he looked towards her and asked, "Where did you get this from?"
"Last year, your mom had let me borrow a few old tapes of you on the show. I liked a few songs and recorded them."
"Now and forever...I will be your maaannn." he sang along.
"So my voice is soothing to our baby, huh?" he smiled.
Laura sheepishly grinned, knowing the satisfaction he was feeling from realizing she played his music for the baby. Even when he wasn't there, he was. It was comforting to know. He leaned dangerously close to her ear and whispered, "Thank you." before lightly kissing her cheek.
Laura was startled by his closeness and turned her head towards him, their lips just barely touching. "You're welcome…Ow ow ow ooouch!!"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"I got a cramp in my calf." she whined flexing her toes to try and ease the pain.
JC grabbed her leg and began to massage the tight and tensed muscles in her right calf. Laura's head fell back on the pile of pillows and she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Remember that time we were in the pool and you got that charlie horse?"
"God, don't remind me."
He started to laugh uncontrollably, "You were practically drowning while I was sitting on the lawn chair sleeping my ass off!"
Laura gasped and started to bash him in the head with a nearby pillow. A small pillow fight ensued and she was the first to give up, feeling utterly spent. She found herself wrapped in JC's arms. Realizing the situation their smiles slowly faded. Laura didn't want him to let go. She wanted to spend the rest of her life in those arms, but knew they now belonged to someone else. She moved forward slightly to free herself from his grasp, but his grip suddenly became stronger. Neither of them said a word. The baby began to kick at Laura's left side. She put her hand over his and moved it down so he could feel their child.
"Will we ever, regain the friendship, we used to have?" he whispered.
"We can never truly be friends again, JC."
He pushed his head against her back and asked himself why. They both were slowly drifting into slumber, but Laura managed to give him an answer, "It's so hard to be around you and not show I'm hurt. It's impossible for me to act like we never were."
She could hear JC's breathing was heavier and she knew he was on his way to dreaming. His hand was still on her stomach. She gently rubbed it, burning the impression of the three of them in her mind. This would probably be the only time that they all would be this close to one another again. And in a whisper so low not even a mouse could hear she faintly said, "We'll never be friends...Cuz I'm still in love with you," before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep in the safety of his arms.
CHAPTER 23
Sleep well last night?" Justin asked his friend, spooning scrambled eggs onto JC's plate.
"The best I've slept in a long time." he yawned before grabbing a fork and digging in.
"Yeah, I went in to check on Laura and discovered you had already taken care of that." Justin popped a grape into his mouth, staring at his friend.
A light shade of red filled his cheeks. He didn't know why he was blushing. He didn't even understand why he felt he should justify why he slept in Laura's bed the night before. A small part of Justin was happy to see them together the night before, while the other part of him was upset. He couldn't figure out what JC was trying to do. He decided not to mention it anymore and focused on the plans he had put into motion with Hallie the night before.
~~~~~
"What the hell were you doing?" Hallie scolded.
"We fell asleep. Nothing more. Calm down."
"Did you talk to him about the baby?"
"We discussed the situation. I don't think we got very far with it. The plan right now is for him to call when he wants to see the baby. I don't want pre-set dates. It will never work given his career. Why are you more upset about this than me?"
"Guys are such jerks. I sit here and see how miserable you are without him, and want to kill him. And since we've come back here, you've perked up just a little bit more, and your smile is wider. But it's like you are trying to live a false reality. And he isn't helping the situation at all. Especially after last night." Hallie was visibly upset and Laura couldn't understand why.
Hallie hated that JC was bouncing back and forth between Laura and Rachel like a yo yo. "He get's into an argument with the wife-to-be and knows there will always be room for him with his other baby's mom. It's not right."
"You weren't here last night, so don't pass judgments about what did and didn't happen. It's taking every bit of strength I have to be here. And I asked you to come along to keep me from stressing out, but lately you are only adding to it. I am by no means living a false reality, Hallie. I know, we're threw. You don't have to fuckin' remind me every time he and I are in the same room together." Laura stormed out onto the balcony to be alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura awoke from her nap to discover that she was home alone again. Justin and JC had gone out to the local bar, while Joey took Hallie out to dinner and a little dancing. She used the time to her advantage. She took a long hot shower and made her way into what Justin liked to call his "great" room.
There was a pure white baby Grande piano sitting on the side of the room near to window. Along with a black leather couch that wrapped around the room. It was the one room in the house that hardly anyone went into because it was so clean, and almost everything in the room, including the carpets, were white as snow.
"Tell the kids about me, when their old enough to...understand...Tell them that their daddy was a good man."
Laura couldn’t help relate to the song. It could have been due to the hormonal roller coaster she was on, but the song seemed to predict her future. Deep down inside she knew that JC might not be around for their child. She knew her ex-best friend like the back of her hand. Rachel would do whatever it took to prevent it. And just as if she swung a magic wand in the air, Rachel came rushing through the front door, calling out to JC. Laura got up and followed the sound of her voice until they were face to face in the foyer. "Where is he?"
Laura was in disbelief over how Rachel barged her way into the house and was demanding to know where JC was. "He’s not here."
"Don’t give me that. His car is outside." Rachel looked her over, robe and disheveled hair, automatically assuming something was awry.
Laura could see the fear on Rachel’s face. Just at that moment you would think a commercial was going to prolong the climax of the moment. Laura found it ironic that Rachel believed they’d had sex. As much as she wanted to make her squirm, Laura decided not to stoop to her level by leading her on. "He’s out with Justin. They left earlier this afternoon."
Rachel didn’t believe her. She walked past her up the stairs to search for him in all four bedrooms of the house. She descended back down the steps almost disappointed to not find him naked upstairs.
"You mind stopping the soap opera dramatics and tell me what you are really here for?" Laura asked with arms folded across her chest.
"I was looking for my fiancé. That’s it."
Still not believing her little act, Laura walked over to the door and opened it. "Ok. Well now you know he isn’t here, you can go."
Rachel brushed passed her towards the front door and was confronted by Justin and JC as they were walking in.
"What are you doing here?" JC demanded.
"I should be asking you the same question." She blasted. For the next 5 minutes a shouting match occurred. Justin stood back against the wall like an eager spectator. It raged on for a few more minutes before Hallie and Joey found themselves in the middle of "shut the hell up’s" and vigorous hand gestures. Hallie and Joey walked over to Justin who was still standing there, and asked what was going on. He explained and the three of them stood side by side and observed. Hallie spotted Laura out of the corner of her eye. She was leaving the kitchen with a cup of warm milk and seemed unfazed by what was going on.
Embarrassed to have Laura see her being as nosey as the other two, she whispered that she was going upstairs.
The word ‘slut’ and other expletives started flying around. Hallie had enough. "Slut?" She started back down the steps. Laura tried to call after her tp stop her, but it was too late. Joey lunged to stand between the two women who were flailing their arms towards one another. JC wrapped his arms around Rachel to pull her back. In his struggle he looked up and saw Laura standing there blowing into her cup. He was confused by her indifference towards the whole situation. Rachel and Hallie yelled back and forth to one another through Joey and JC’s bodies which were shields to keep them from fighting.
"I got your number, bitch!"
"Hallie…" Justin shook his head for her not to say anything. "Stop…Hallie."
"Why don’t you tel-"
"HALLIE, SHUT UP!!" Justin’s voice was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire house. Everyone froze. Even Laura stopped in her tracks and had to look over at them.
"Hey Laura. Why don’t you fight your own battles instead of having your girlfriend fight them for you?"
Laura grinned at her and calmly stated, "These people don’t know you like I do, Rachel. So this act that you are putting on doesn’t phase me in the slightest. I’ve seen this charade a thousand times in the past. It gets old."
JC’s looked at her questioningly. Rachel began to spout off more accusations and curses her way, but Laura wasn’t going to sink to her level. "I don’t know what you are up to, nor do I care. Just take your fiancé and go home, Rachel. Just go home."
"He is my fiancé. You just make sure to remember exactly that."
"Take out an ad. Put up a sign. Take a picture. I don’t care." Laura said goodnight to everyone and continued off to bed.
"Let’s go." JC pulled Rachel’s arm and looked towards Justin, "We’re going. I’m sorry about all this."
Justin nodded and followed them to the door. They could hear the two of them shouting in the driveway and everyone remained quiet trying to listen.
"That bitch is whacked out." Joey commented. Hallie, Joey and Justin remained downstairs discussing what had just occurred and their plans of discovering the truth about Rachel.
CHAPTER 24
Yeah. Just a little over 8 months now, Mrs. Chasez…My mom is coming to Chicago in a couple weeks to help out during the last month…" Laura laid across the bed with the phone propped on her shoulder as she turned the pages of a binder full of homes for sale. "Yeah, she said she had something really important to take care of, so she is away…She’ll be back sometime this week, so I’m all covered in the help department, but thanks."
The two women ended their conversation and Laura was relieved to know that Mrs. Chasez was anxiously awaiting her grandchild’s arrival into the world. They seemed to be the only ones. She hadn’t spoken to JC since their conversation at Justin’s. He hadn’t even called. She knew that he had Justin checking up on her for him. She also knew Rachel had something to do with the lack of contact. But every fiber of her body was praying that Rachel didn't have that much control over him.
RING RING
"Hello?" Laura could hear someone breathing, but they never spoke. This had been happening almost everyday, since she got home from her trip.
"Hello," she huffed. "Why do you keep calling me if you aren’t going to say anything?" Still no one responded. She decided to play along and sat there breathing into the phone. She continued to read her magazine. "I can do this as long as you can." She stated.
Laura faintly heard a tiny voice in the background say, "Da." The phone suddenly went mute. Was it Nikky’s little voice she heard?
"JC?" Still nothing. "If this is you. We’re doing okay." Three seconds later she heard a click and knew he'd hung up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel threw down her napkin and looked across the table. "How long are you going to give me the silent treatment, JC?"
"I’m not giving you the silent treatment. I’d just like to eat in peace for once."
"You never home anymore. It’s like any chance you get to leave the house, you bolt out the door and don’t come back till late at night."
"This is nothing new to you, Rachel. That’s how my life is."
Rachel dropped her fork onto the plate making a loud clanking noise. "Well, you seem to have all the time in the world for Nikky, but no time for me."
"Would you rather it be the other way around?"
"No. I just think that we need to figure out a plan before we get married. Because I don’t want this to be a problem for us in the future, baby."
"We will." JC went back to eating.
"Is this because of how I feel about Laura?"
JC stopped in mid-chew. "I don’t want to talk about it. You’ve voiced your opinion and I am trying to make a compromise by not calling her right now. But next month don’t expect me to not keep in touch with her on a regular basis. I refuse to not be there when my child is born. You’ve already deprived me of that once. You’re not going to do it again."
JC got up from the table and went into the living room to finish his meal. Rachel sat at the table starring down at her plate, forking through her potatoes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can’t find any information on that girl, Justin. I need to know where she works or has worked and then I can get my friend to look her up in the system." Hallie said trying to prop the phone up between her ear and her shoulder.
"I can find out from Rachel."
The two of them began to bicker back and forth about the consequences of Justin asking too many questions about the new friend in her life. He quickly came up with a plan to act interested in Cassandra to gain more information. All the investigative work over the past month had led them back to square one. They had no idea who this woman was or what part she played in Rachel's deception. Justin was beginning to feel that his suspicions were incorrect.
"What if this Cassandra person only turns out to be an actress?"
"Then I'll be wrong about everything. For Rachel to pull something like that off, she would need an actual nurse."
"Do you know how psychotic we must seem?"
"I don't think wanting to know the truth is psychotic, Hallie."
"Yeah, but this isn't any of our business."
"JC is my family...He is my business." Justin defended before focusing back on their plans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 3am and Laura had awaken for one of the 12 routine bathroom trip. As she lifted herself off the bed she could feel warm liquid running down the inside of her thighs.
"Don’t tell me that I just pee'd on myself!" She whined to herself.
She went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up. When she returned into the bedroom, the liquid started to run down again. "What the hell? I just went to the bathroom."
Laura felt embarrassed that she couldn’t even control her body anymore. She went back into the bathroom and stayed there for 10 minutes, hoping that her bladder would be empty soon. Still having no luck she grabbed a stack of towels and retreated back into the bedroom. She set the towels down on the chair and sat down rubbing her belly. "You just won’t be satisfied till mommy has a nervous breakdown huh, little one?"
She grabbed the phone and decided to call Hallie, but there was no answer. She then dialed her mom. "What’s wrong? You okay?" Mrs. Charles asked frantically.
"I’m fine, mom. I'm sorry to wake you up so late, but I just needed to know if it’s normal for someone to lose control of their bodily functions during pregnancy."
"What happened?"
Laura explained everything to her mother. Mrs. Charles had never really heard of anything like that happening to anyone she knew. She told Laura to call her doctor to make sure everything was ok. "Call me back as soon as you talk to them."
Laura hung up and dialed her doctor but only got in touch with his service. She left a message for him and went on to call the emergency room.
"...You say you are in your eight month of pregnancy right?"
"Right."
"What I would suggest is that you come on over so we can check you out and make sure that everything is ok." The triage nurse took down most of her information to be prepared for her when she arrived.
A simple trip to the emergency room turned out to be a mission. They sent her from one room to another until eventually sending her over to the maternity ward. One of the head nurses came in a did an examination.
"Well, you aren’t going home today."
"Why? What’s wrong?"
"There is a tear in your sac." The nurse could see the worried look on her face and tried to calm her fears. "It’s ok. It just basically means that your water broke. You're in labor. We're having a birth in here soon!"