Chapter 11: Crossfire

Present day Los Angeles, California…

            It was a bright and beautiful Sunday morning. The temperature was a perfect seventy-six. The birds were chirping, sun was shining, and the flowers smelled great. It was the beginning to a seemingly perfect day.

            Scarlette had made herself a fresh pot of coffee and grabbed a day old croissant out of the basket on her kitchen counter. She walked to the breakfast bar and sat down on a barstool. Picking at the croissant, taking small nibbles as she waited for the coffee to brew, debating if she should scramble some eggs and fry up some bacon. Maybe some pancakes too. Ooh, pancakes sounded delicious, with butter. Groaning with delight she hopped off the barstool and began to gather ingredients.

            Humming to herself and she went through the refrigerator, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder which caused her to almost scream and drop the eggs she had.

            “Holy crap!” She gasped.

            He had grabbed the eggs before they toppled to the floor. “Forget about me?” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

            “Yeah, kinda.” She smiled. “What? Afraid of my morning breath?” She grinned at him.

            He leaned back forward and kissed her on the lips. After a minute they broke away. “I know women don’t have morning breath.” Grinning, he went to the stove placing the eggs carefully down so they didn’t roll off. He began going through the cupboards. “Where are your pans?”

            “David, you don’t…” He cut her off before Scarlette could finish.

            “Hush. I want to cook for you.”

            “Alright, fine. But if you burn breakfast you’re taking me out for breakfast then.” She went back to her barstool. “Pans are under the stove, in the drawer. Spatulas are on the drawer to your left, dishes are two cabinets to your right.”

            He mocked offense by placing a hand over his chest. “You don’t think I can cook?”

            She shrugged with a smirk as she broke apart what was left of the croissant.

            He turned back around and turned on the stove. “Challenge accepted.” He bent down opened the drawer and pulled out two pans, a small and medium. Then retrieved a spatula from the drawer.

            She giggled.

            “Oh, by the way, I used your toothbrush. Hope you don’t mind.”

            Scarlette froze, staring at his back, too disgusted to say anything.

            He turned back to her smiling then burst out laughing. “Oh my god, you look like you just ate a worm. I’m kidding, babe, kidding.” He went over to her and kissed her. “Finger & toothpaste, I swear.” He kissed her again.

            “I swear, I would have broken up with you right here, right now. That’s so gross.” She mocked heaving.

            He laughed and went back to the stove. “What’s so bad about sharing a toothbrush? You have no problem sharing each other’s saliva.” He winked back at her.

            “Eww, that’s different. Toothbrushes harbor food debris  and tarter and god knows what else.” She scrunched up her face. “That’s like eating my vomit or sharing underwear or something.”

            “Well, when you put it like that…” He tried to hide a grin.

            It was comfortably silent for a few minutes. Scarlette brushed the crumbs of her stale croissant into her hands, walked over to the trash that was hidden in a cabinet and tossed it in there. “I know we haven’t been seeing each other very long but I just wanted to say thanks for waiting...”

            He was placing some bacon on a plate with paper towels. “Hmm? What waiting?” He quickly glanced back at her as he placed uncooked bacon in the pan. “Can you mix the pancakes together for me please?”

            “Sure.” She grabbed some more eggs and milk from the refrigerator then a mixing bowl and measuring cup from a cabinet. Slowly began to measure everything and place it in the bowl. “I meant waiting to have sex.” She could feel her cheeks get warm. Yes, let’s talk about sex and the lack of it over breakfast, you numbskull. She thought to herself.

            “Oh. That.” He waited a few beats before continuing. “Sex is nice, but it’s not everything. It’s not something I want this relationship to be solely built on. I mean, I love sex, I’m a guy. Of course I love sex. But does that mean it’s everything? No. I’ll be ready for it when you are.”

            She smiled to herself. “Thank you. It won’t be all in vain. I promise.”

            “I know.” He smiled over his shoulder.

            Silence drifted over them again. She thought about a few things for a moment. “Don’t you wonder why?”

            “No. You have your reasons and if you want to share them, you will. If you don’t that’s okay too. It’s none of my business. You’re getting divorced and you’re probably stressed enough about that and what moronic thing or things he’ll do.” He turned to her. “I know I was stressed as hell and sex was the last thing on my mind when I was going through a divorce.” He walked over to where Scarlette was mixing the pancake mix and leaned his lower back on the edge of the counter. “It’s no big deal.” He smiled. “Yet.”

            She gave him a slow smile. “You’re right. I have my reasons.” She scraped some of the pancake mix off the inside of the bowl. “There’s the divorce that plays a role and another…”

            David stiffened a little.

            “I’m just afraid of how you’ll react.” She looked at him. “Oh, no. My vagina is clean. I can even go get a test done and show you the paperwork and everything. It’s nothing like that.” She tapped the spoon on the edge of the bowl repeatedly. “Of which, I would like some paperwork from you. Not right now, but in the near future.” She looked him dead in the eye.

            He stared right back into hers. “Not a problem. I was going to bring that up with you, if you didn’t, at some point anyways.” He shrugged.

            She nodded and handed him the bowl. “We’ll have ‘the talk’ at some point. Don’t worry.”

            He nodded and went back to the stove. “Like I said babe, whenever you’re ready. I’m in no rush.”

            She took in a breath and thought that maybe now would be a good time to talk to him about Rob. “Well, I guess I should mention something else.”

            David was placing the last of the bacon on a plate and turned off the stove. “Yeah?” He turned to her with a plate and pan in hand.

            “Rob.”

            He took in a loud breath and sighed. “Okay. What of him?”

            “He might not be so keen on us hanging out, dating, whatever we’re doing.” She tried to make eye contact but couldn’t bring herself to hold it for long. So she just stared down at the counter top.

            David crossed his arms over his chest. “So you’re saying he might get jealous.”

            Scarlette nodded. “There are something, that have happened between him and I. Some really bad things. Things I should have left him for a while ago and that he probably signs that he is capable of bad things.” She looked up to see David raising an eyebrow and staring at her. “At least, that’s what I’ve been thinking…” She put the temple of her head in the palm of her hand. “I hope I’m really wrong & over thinking thing of him. Over estimating him.”

            David shook his head and turned to get plates. “Well,” He began to serve them both. “It couldn’t be that bad, if what has happened now has made you leave him.” He went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of orange juice.

            “Cupboard next to the fridge.” Telling David where the glasses where. “No, it should have been why I left him. I should have left him months ago. I damaged a lot of relationships because of it.” She just couldn’t bring herself to say it, still unable to completely fathom what had happened. Even looking at the pictures of herself made her feel like she was looking at someone else, not herself. It felt like another life time, someone else she knew. Not her. It felt too surreal to have happened to be in that moment, to talk to officers, doctors, examiners, district attorneys, friends, family, over and over about it. An out of body experience, that’s all it felt like.

            She looked back up at David remembering where she was.

            “Are you okay?” David froze in a position because he was leaning over the sink to hand her a plate of food. He searched her face for something.

            She put one finger up and hopped off the barstool. She walked back into her office and opened a drawer in one of the mahogany filing cabinets. She knew exactly where it was, which manila folder it was hiding in. She stared at it for a moment before reaching to it. She grabbed it, flipped through it. It was all there, even at a glance she knew it was all there. Police reports, doctors examination, photos, copies of copies of everything about the case. She walked back out of the office and made her way to the kitchen again.

David had placed himself on a barstool next to hers at an angle. Sitting at an angle, he watched her make her way back to the barstool, eying the folder in her hand. “What’s that?”

“Eat first, then we’ll get into it.”

About an hour later, the food was eaten and the kitchen was clean. Another pot of coffee was brewing. Scarlette had realized in their silent but delicious breakfast, that this was something that could break everything. She had mentally prepared herself, but only that could do so much.

They sat on the barstools again, in silence. David patiently waited for Scarlette to begin, to open the folder. Hopefully, he had mentally prepared himself as well.

“This…” Scarlette began slowly. “This is probably something I should have gone over a long time ago.” She motioned to the folder that was laying on the countertop. “It’s a lot, a lot of…” She tried to search for the right word or words. “Information, I suppose, a lot to take in. I, myself, have a hard time understanding it still. Or accepting it, maybe is a better way of putting it.” She took in a deep breath. “I am willing to accept whatever you decide. If you want to stay or go because this is probably the worst way I can tell you.” She pushed the folder in front of him. “It’s a bit graphic.” She winced.

David nodded, taking in a deep breath himself. He slowly opened the folder. The top page was the police report. It took a few minutes for him to read it, or maybe he kept re-reading it. He turned the page, it was a stack of photos, he began to grit his teeth as he flipped through each photo carefully, studying each one briefly.

Scarlette looked away as he looked at the photos, she quietly got up from the barstool and padded over to the coffee maker, pouring herself a cup of coffee and him a glass of water from the fridge. She placed the water in front of him and mixed up her coffee the way she usually did with creamer and sugar. She leaned against the cold counter and watched him from across as she sipped soundlessly.

He went over each picture at least twice. Carefully read each report and statement. Flipping back and forth, scanning everything again. Maybe to make sure he was seeing everything clearly. Maybe to compare and contrast to see if it was real.

After a while, Scarlette was more than half way through the twelve cup pot of coffee. She had just returned from her room, she had gone to use the bathroom but decided to at least change into some jeans and The Killers tee shirt. She was putting her hair up into a ponytail as she came to the kitchen. She paused for  a brief moment when she saw him close the folder, pushed it away and stared straight ahead. She quietly and slowly sat next to him, facing him, waiting for him to speak first.

He stared forward for a while long before glancing at her. Taking the glass in his hand and drank about half of the water. He took in a deep breath and exhaled it again.

Scarlette noticed he was slightly shaking by the way the water rippled in the glass. She scooted a bit back in her chair and sat up straighter as she eyed him, trying to read his body language. Still, she sat quietly and waited.

“This wasn’t that long ago.” He still didn’t look at her.

“No.” She shook her head.

“Why wasn’t this everywhere?”

She licked her lips as she looked down at the floor but never faltered in her posture. “We did a lot of overtime covering it up.” Her voice sounded hollow to her.

Finally David turned his head to her. “He should have gone to prison for this.” He voice was steady and even, even though he was having a hard time controlling it.

“A year and community service. He wouldn’t even serve a year in jail anyways.” She looked up at David. “We both know that.”

He shook his head and went back to staring at the cabinets or wall or whatever it was he was staring off into. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why show me this now? I mean, I know but you could have gone on pretending nothing like this happened.”

She tilted her head to the left. “To show you what kind of person he can really be.”

“Do you really think he’ll…”

She cut him off. “I’ve taken self-defense classes and I still continue to as a precaution.” She swallowed. “I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

David stood which startled Scarlette. “I’m going to go get dressed.” He turned away from her without giving her so much a glance.

Once he walked out of the room, let out the breath she was holding and ran her hands over her face. “Whoops!” Turning to the counter and rested her head in her palms. Going over things in her head, deciding it was the best thing. She can’t hold it in as much as she and everyone tried to hide it. It always made things worse, it never helped. Rob probably sat there thinking she’ll always try to hide things to protect herself, he could hold anything over her head. To avoid media confrontation or any kind of confrontation. Her mind was running a million miles a minute. She needed to make her first step to standing up for herself clear. The shame she carried wasn’t because of what he did, it was because of what she hid behind.

She went back to her office and put the file back, when she came out David was putting his glass in the sink. “I’m going to go.”

Oh, I see. “Okay.” She said nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the door frame, keeping her eyes on him.

He couldn’t keep eye contact on her. “I’ll call you later.” He walked by her.

“I’m sure.” She looked down at her nails.

He stopped and turned to her. “I need time to think.”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “We both know you have.”

“No.”

“Just get out. Don’t look back.” She nudged her head towards the door. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been,” She paused, the words caught in her throat for a moment. “beaten,” Wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. “I’ve been married to someone that is clearly lost, so this isn’t the worst thing to have happened to me.” She held his eye contact. “I’d rather have told you now than later down the road when things really could have been messy. Sorry to have dropped a proverbial bomb on you, but it is what it is. It’s a part of me as much I hate it. Things are just not meant to be between us. Thanks for the good times though.” She shrugged.

David shook his head. “I just need to get my head in the right space. Don’t end this all so quickly.”

She looked at him and shook her head. “You are where you are. Nothing is going to change that. That’s fine. If can’t accept this part of my history, I don’t know what to tell you. I thought you would have handled it better, a lot better.” She walked over to the front door and opened it. “I think it’s time you go.” She looked at him.

David stopped in front of her at the door. He looked like he wanted to say something, but sighed instead and walked out the door.

Scarlette didn’t wait for him to even get down the steps before she shut and locked the door behind him. She leaned her back against the door and let a few silent tears roll down her cheeks. Not the way she was hoping for but it was for the best. Maybe it wasn’t the best time, maybe she could have done it in a better way, but what was done was done and there was no looking back now. This is why she didn’t want to date. She didn’t blame David at all. She blamed Rob and herself. But how else was she going to do it. “Hi, my name is Scarlette and my husband beat me, wanna see the pictures???” She grunted and pushed herself away from the door, glumly walking to the living room. Next time, no file, just talking. If she could manage. She let herself collapse on the plush of rich peacock blue sofa and just laid there a moment.

Her phone started to ring on the kitchen counter. She just let it go to voicemail, not wanting to move. Just wanting to slowly process everything that just happened in the past two hours, figure out where to go from there. Her phone rang two more times, she just stared off into space. At least she knew one thing for sure. She was going to push forward and never go back to Rob.

Bonus #2

If he was at all smart, he wouldn’t have let her go from the beginning. He silently cursed himself and his stupidity. She was the love of his life after all. Deep down he felt that he was suppose to be the one married to her, starting a family with. He didn’t even know how it got to be this way or when it happened. He would question himself, if he cared and loved her so much, why did he ignore her and push her away?

Here he was, on his way to San Diego to hopefully mend his broken friendship with Scarlette. He had plenty of time to think about what to say to her and how to say it. He figured apologizing would be the best way to start, but what to say after, he didn’t know. Should he tell her what has been happening? How Lara left him? How they lost a baby? How long he has been in love with her? So many thoughts and questions rushed through his head, making him dizzy. He shook it off, one thing at a time. Like how Lara left him, and then go from there and see what happens.

He still had about forty five minutes until he arrived at her new home; it gave him sometime to think about what to say and how to say it. God, he could couldn’t believe how much he missed her. How much he’s missed. Hopefully, she would forgive him. She had to forgive him, of course, it would take but she had to forgive him. He didn’t know what he would do if she didn’t.

Alright, slow down. Everything will be fine, one step at a time. Don’t want to look like a blubbering idiot. He would tell himself. Finally he started to go things over in his head. About Lara, the miscarriage, the divorce, the therapy, those were good places to start. Maybe saving the whole love bit for another day, he rationalized. Too much information may freak her out.

Baby steps. He reminded himself.

So he skimmed through the channels, settling on some random rock station, which had a morning show that was apparently in it’s current gossip/news segment. The DJ and his counter part/partner where talking about someone and how hot she was, and now that she was single he’d like to get a chance to “tap that”.

“People still stay that?” He said incredulously and shook his head.

“Oh yeah,” the main DJ said. “I don’t know what he was thinking, he messed that up. I mean LOOK AT HER! She’s just, just, look at her breast and these pictures. The man is a fool and a total tool.”

The co-DJ spoke up. “I don’t think she’s that hot, she is pretty, but come on! She’s been with HIM!” He laughed. “Why did he leave her?”

D got a funny feeling in his stomach. “You seem like a total tool yourself, dude.” He sneered.

“Oh no, she left him, irreconcilable differences, apparently. Or that’s what the official papers, say. There have been rumors about him having some orgies, heavy drug use, drinking, and other typical rockstar douche bag crap.”

“That’s unsurprising.”

“Yeah man, Rob is a total idiot. Do that to a fine female like Scar. Hot piece of ass…”

D growled and turned off the radio. He gripped the steering wheel a little harder while cursing under his breath. Then he wondered how Scarlette was handling this or if she has even heard anyone talking about it, he worried. Of course she had to. Mich would let her know so they could go over how to handle it.

He shook his head as if he was shaking the thought out of his mind. Scarlette was a big girl, she had dealt with problems and scandal like this before. He tried to focus back on how he was going to talk to Scarlette instead.

After minutes of thought, he finally settled on the “if it feels right” moment to tell her then. Otherwise, he would just answer her questions and try not to lead the conversation to that until a later time. He owed it to her and didn’t want to pile up more problems and thoughts on her. She had enough to worry about.

In what felt like forever, the GPS unit in D’s car finally began to lead him to Scarlette’s house. Once he stopped at a red light he shot Scarlette a quick text letting her know where he was. Within ten minutes of pulling off the freeway, he slowly pulled up the gated community where her house was behind. After talking to the guard, showing him his driver’s license, and answering a string of questions, he continued a few minutes until he pulled into Scarlette’s driveway.

He parked the car and sat for a minute to gather his thoughts. Taking in a few deep breaths and a tiny bit of meditation, he opened his car door and slowly stepped out. He felt like he was moving in slow motion. When he got to the door, it felt like time had stopped.

D took a deep breath in. "Here goes nothing..."

Chapter 10: Feel It In My Bones

Present day San Diego, California…

It was a warm and sunny day, birds were squawking, seagulls were chillin’, and people were outside enjoying the weather. Like always. Scarlette was in her backyard, lying out by the pool in her royal purple and gold bikini. Liz walked out of the house wearing a rose pink and black with black lace trimmed bikini with a tray of drinks and fresh cut fruit. She placed the tray on a small round white painted wrought iron table, between the two lounge chairs they laid on.

“So,” Liz began. “How was your date?” She smiled as she sat down.

Scarlette shrugged. “It really wasn’t a date but I had fun. He seems like a nice guy.”

“Oh.” Liz still smiled. “So when are you going to see him again?”

Scarlette turned towards Liz and pulled her sunglasses down a little. “I’m not dating him.” She put her sunglasses back on, grabbing a handful of grapes, and settled back into her chair.

Liz smiled, watching Scarlette. “I think you like him.”

“Of course, he’s a very nice guy.”

“Ha! You really like him, like you WANT to see more of him!”

“I’m not going to start another relationship with a rock star.” Scarlette shifted in her seat in an effort to get comfortable and more sun. “He’s really nice, I had a nice time with him, and that’s all.” She placed a strawberry half in her mouth.

Liz squinted at Scarlette through her sunglasses. “Don’t tell me you’re going to stereotype all rockers’ now.”

“No. I’m going to try and not have Rob ruin it for everyone else.”

“Then, why not?”

Scarlette sighed. “Can I get divorced first, get my shit together, and then maybe ponder upon that?” She was getting slightly irritated at Liz’s pushing.

“Fine. I’ll never bring him up again.” Liz half tossed herself back onto the lounge chair.

“Thank you.” Scarlette closed her eyes.

“I still think you should try now, though.” She said through closed teeth.

Just as Scarlette was about to say something a cell phone rang, she grunted. Liz answered, exchanging a few pleasantries and uh huh’s, she held the phone out to Scarlette.

“It’s your divorce lawyer.”

Scarlette sat up and took the phone from Liz. “Hello George. He signed the papers? That’s a relief.” She smiled and silently thanking the Gods. “Okay, court on Tuesday the twenty fourth at two p.m. I’ll see you then. Yes, I’ll call if anything comes up. Thank you, bye.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to Liz. “Well, maybe he’ll make this easy.”

Liz scoffed as she put the phone down on the table. “I have a feeling, in the pit of my stomach; he’s going to do something at court.”

She sneered. “Don’t jinx it.”

“I’m just trying to be realistic. He’s making it far too easy.”

“Maybe he’s sober…”

They looked at each other and then laughed. “Yeah right.” They both shook their heads.

Scarlette sighed. “I hope he just lets it go, lets me go.”

Liz shrugged and leaned back. “Let’s just enjoy the now and soak up these rays in this beautiful weather.”

★★★★★★★

Dressed in a dark blue crepe fabric USO dress slightly below the knee and flowed elegantly over her curves, paired with black pumps, cream pearl earrings, and necklace. Her hair was pinned up in victory rolls; make up was light but finely defined eyeliner, giving her a complete 1940’s look.

She sat next to her lawyer in a small court room, behind a metal and faux wood table. They were waiting on Rob to show, he was apparently stuck in traffic. She had given a half smile when his lawyer gave the Judge that excuse.

The Judge shook his head. “I’ll give him five more minutes, Goldberg; he’s wasting not only my time but everyone else’s that is in this room. I’ll hold him in contempt for this.” He was now irritated and turning slightly red.

Scarlette’s lawyer stood up. “If I may your Honor,” He paused waiting a moment for the Judge to approve his speaking, the Judge gave him a nod. “This just shows Mr. Davis’ character, no regard for others weather it’s his wife or an honorable Judge.”

“Sit down Hornstein, I think we all know his character at this point. We all watch T.V. and the news.” The Judge leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk and rubbed his temples.

Then a man in a black three piece suit walked into the room briskly. “I apologize I am late.” He took a seat next to Goldberg.

The Judge narrowed his eyes at him. “I assume you are Mr. Roberto Davis?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Lucky you walked in when you did, I was about to hold you in contempt. I still might.”

“I’m sorry, your honor.”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Five minutes later, Scarlette and her lawyer walked out of the courtroom smiling. Rob and his lawyer followed behind and few steps behind. Each were talking to their respective lawyers in hushed tones.

“Half the battle is over Scarlette, personal properties will be discussed in the next hearing; that is where the real battle will lie. He could really drag it out then.” He leaned close to Scarlette so only she could hear.

She nodded. “There really isn’t much he could fight for, I have proof my money is mine and he can have the vehicles, house, and whatever else that is in both of our names. I’ll happily give him those things.” She leaned towards him now. “I don’t know how he could drag it out.”

“I’m just telling you, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. If there is any kind of discrepancy...”

She nodded. “I don’t think there is, but you’re right, anything is possible. Especially with him.”

Now they were outside of the court house, there were a few photographers laying in wait. Scarlette stayed close to her lawyer and kept her mouth closed, so no one could over hear while she was focusing on getting away from the hand full of photographers and their questions, she neglected to realize Rob was now walking next to her.

“Are you just trying to win me back or something?” He said through gritted teeth, leaning close to her left ear.

She gave a cold laugh and tried to push past him and the photographers, shaking her head.

He caught back up with her, shoving photographers out of the way. “You know how much I like you dressed like that.”

Before she could react in disgust, her lawyer placed a hand on her back and rushed her out of the now growing mob, to their cars. She jumped in her vehicle and locked the door. She sat for a few moments breathing, before she turned her SUV on. Thinking of what he said made her stomach turn. “Unbelievable.” She shook her head and began to slowly pull out of the parking lot.

★★★★★★★

“Oh barf.” Liz made a face of disgust. “Because you only use to dress like that for him… Right.” She shook her head. “What a pig. What a… ugh, I can’t even pick out enough words to get to the point of how disgusting he is.” She shoved a tortilla chip with guacamole on it, into her mouth, then took a drink of her beer.

They were in Scarlette’s kitchen, eating carne asada burritos with home made guacamole and tortilla chips. “I know. I don’t know how I stuck around for so long.” She said in between bites.

“Maybe,” Liz swallowed down more beer. “You should be seen with David. Like go where there will be a ton of photographers who’ll care.”

Scarlette gave a half laugh. “I’ll run it by Mich.”

Liz was going for guacamole. “Maybe then he’ll give up.”

“Or he’ll become a psycho and stalk us both.” Scarlette took a long drink of her beer.

“You really think so?”

Scarlette just looked at Liz.

“Point taken.” Liz took a bite of her burrito.

“I really don’t think there is much to do about getting rid of him, aside from the obvious things I’ve already done. Maybe once I go out of the country on tour he’ll leave me alone.” Scarlette shrugged getting up and walked to the refrigerator and grabbed two more beers.

“I guess we’ll find out in time.” Liz took beer from Scarlette’s hand and opened it. “We need to do this more often.”

Scarlette nodded as she sat back down on the barstool. “We seriously do.”

Liz nodded. “You should invite D down more often you know. Try rebuilding your friendship.”

Scarlette shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I’ve called a few times, but he never answers or calls back.” She took a bite of her burrito. “And I do leave him messages.” She said in between chews.

Liz shrugged and nodded. “Maybe it’s done then.”

Scarlette shrugged in sadness.

“Or he’s just really busy.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She took a drink from her beer. “I’m use to him being out of my life, sad to say, but it doesn’t bother me like it should. I think, at least.”

Liz nodded and picked up her beer. “Let’s toast, to a new hopeful beginning then!”

Scarlette smile and picked up her beer. “To taking out the trash and starting new relationships!”

They laughed and clinked their beers together, each taking large gulps.

Chapter 9: What Do I Have To Do

Six months ago…

She wasn’t sure when things had turned so sour, or even why it did. Maybe it was because of all the vicious rumors going around. Rumors of infidelity, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and god knows what else, were flying around. She was trying her best to ignore them all, it was all apart of the territory. It was just getting really hard, especially with the questionable photos floating around. The band was very famous. It felt like overnight they were catapulted into stardom. Everyone wanted a piece.

It was causing her horrible and sudden panic attacks, without any warning she’d feel her chest tighten and her vision would get dark and hazy. Sleeping was non-existent. Between constant headaches, chest, and kidney pains, Scarlette was feeling a bit like a zombie, as well as looking the part. Poor make up artist struggled to make her look like a classic beauty without looking like a caked on face. “Thank god for airbrush…” some would mutter under their breath, not like that was helping her situation.

Alexander Volkov, the man who was just a few years older than her and boosted each others careers, came over to her before one for her huge magazine photo shoots. Concerned for her health and well-being, as well as to make sure she wasn’t doing anything stupid like heroin binges or purging foods, he sat in front of her as the stylist did her hair and make up.

“Tell me, what is going on with you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She tried to feign happiness but failed horribly. She was one who kept business and personal as far apart as she could, but the line was starting to blur.

He pursed his lips and turned his to the side slightly. “Really, what’s going on? Are you on drugs?”

She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. “Oh god I can’t do this here. I’ll ruin the make up.” She began to frantically wave her hands in front of her eyes as she looked up.

“Honey, it’s already ruined.” The stylist doing her hair muttered under his breath. He finished curling her hair up into a retro Chignon.

“Out and consider yourself fired.” Alexander glared the stylist down as he sheepishly walked out of the room. “Fuck them sweetie,” Waving a hand in the air as if swatting away a fly. “Tell me what’s wrong.” He placed a hand on her knee, as to comfort her.

“I think my husband is cheating on me and developing horrible habits.”

He sighed crossing his legs and resting an elbow on his knee. “Well, it is part of the lifestyle.”

Scarlette shook her head. “Then he’s lying to me, his wife.” She started to sob heavily. “Our vows mean nothing to him.”

He shook his head. “I’ve seen what’s been printed about him and they are pretty rancid. Do you know for sure though?”

She just shook her head as she sobbed.

“Well,” He got up and went behind her and began to rub her shoulders. “You know what you gotta do, hun. I know you can smell lies, so first whiff, get the fuck out.”

Scarlette’s sobs slowed and Alexander snapped at someone to get her water. “You’re a smart cookie, you can handle this, and you’ll make it through.” He opened the bottled water for her and handed it to her. “Now, clean up your face and go work that fucking camera like I know you can!”

She nodded as she drank. She suddenly felt a little lighter and looked a little bit better too.

★★★★★★★

In a loose gray sweats and black tank top, Scarlette had fallen asleep on the dark brown couch with the remote in her hand. Her hand hung over the edge of the couch, threatening to drop the remote to the tan carpeted floor. The TV was quietly lulling on about the latest, greatest, easiest, and cleans everything cleaner.

She had been waiting for him to get home, from a photo or video shoot; she couldn’t remember and didn’t care especially after the events that unfolded on her own shoot. Even though the designer was her friend and confidant, who understood what she was going through. The photographer was a friend as well, but she still couldn’t help be embarrassed. Word would travel around quick and she would probably get a call from Christine in the morning.

It was around five forty in the morning when he finally decided to stumble in, only allowing Scarlette to get a little less than four hours of sleep. She sat up and rubbed the sleep and black eyeliner out of her eyes, to see him leaning against the door, fumbling with the deadbolt.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” She mumbled as she sat there and watched the deadbolt win the battle. She shook her head and looked at the clock. “Nice.” She stood up. “Where in the hell have you been?” She kept her voice even and flat, as she watched his back stiffen.

He slowly turned his head towards the voice, swaying slightly. “Hi honey, I’m home!” He spun around to face her, all the while loosing his balance and falling against the door. He laughed like someone had told him the funniest joke with the greatest punch line.

Scarlette shook her head and ran her hand back through her hair. “How in the fuck do I put up with this?” She gritted her teeth.

“Aww, come on baby.” He swaying as he walked to her with open arms. “It's fun being like this and it makes other things even better.” He gave her a sloppy smile when he finally made it to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close to him, running his fingers through her hair.

She tried to shrink back from him as he pulled her towards him. He made her rest her head on his chest, smothering her in the vile stench of cheap vodka and whiskey, cigarette smoke, god knows what else, and perfume. The perfume made her stop and think about it, there was no doubt about the fruity floral scent of the perfume, cheap but it was inarguable.

He tried to kiss her as she shoved him away from her. “What the fuck, Rob?” She was almost screaming at him, forgetting about the time and the neighbors.

He stumbled backwards a bit and stared at her for a moment before grabbing her head and forcing his mouth on hers.

She fought to push him away but his grip was so tight around her head and hair, it was starting to hurt. So she did the next logical thing she could think of, bite his lip. She tasted blood as he shoved her off of him and she fell backwards onto the couch.

He had his hand to his mouth. “What the fuck, Scarlette?!” He seemed to be a little bit more sober now.

She was more than confident now. “Who is she?”

“What?”

“Don’t fucking play stupid with me, who the fuck is she?” She tried to keep her voice even and full of anger, hoping she was successful.

He scoffed at her. “There is only you.” He voice held something behind it and Scarlette didn’t like it.

“Bull-fucking-shit! I smell her on your clothes in between the cheap vodka, whiskey, and cigarettes; I smell the cheap whore’s cheap perfume!” The anger was holding her tears at bay.

He took a step towards her. “No, there is no one.” He voice was now holding a tinge of anger.

She stood up from the couch. “You’re fucking lying. Explain the perfume.”

He thought about it for a moment. “Models.”

She glared at him. “Fuck you.” She walked past him, to the bedroom but her grabbed her by the wrist. She looked down at his hand then back at him. “Let me go.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She tried to yank her wrist away but he wasn’t freeing his grip on her. “I’m leaving you. You’re a coward and a fucking liar. I’m done. Now let me go.” She turned away from him and tried to walk to the bedroom, but he yanked her back so hard her shoulder threatened to pop out of place. She winced in pain as he caught her with his free hand and arms. “You’re hurting me.”

He held his grip on her. “What do I have to do? You just don’t understand.” He hissed into her ear.

“Go to hell.” She was sure his grip was going to leave bruises on her wrist and shoulder.

Once again he forced his mouth on hers but also tried to rip her tank top off at the same time. She bit his lip once again and kneed him in the groin. She stumbled backwards at his sudden release. He doubled over for a moment, slowly straightening back up. He looked at her, something was in his eyes, something she didn’t notice before. It didn’t hold any sort of kindness at all, something darker, and almost lost.

She took another step backwards, in shock and fear, even though a voice deep down told her to run for the bedroom and lock the door. He took a step forward and raised his arm. Before she could even think of what to do, she was trying to regain her focus, which happened to be the ceiling. She could see little multi colored dots in her vision as she tried to figure out what exactly happened. Then she felt a sharp throbbing pain on the right side of her face. She gingerly touched it and winced. Looking at the fingers that had touched it, cover covered in deep red liquid.

A figure hovered over her, she felt herself sitting up, and then dragged backwards. She felt sharp pain on her scalp as he was dragging her across the floor by her hair. He threw her against the bed, during the entire time he had been spitting horrible words at her, mean, vulgar, and vile things that no other human being should repeat or ever say for that matter.

He shoved himself on top of her, trying to pull her sweats down and choke her with his free arm. She fought to get him off of her, squirming, kicking, punching, hitting, anything. Finally, her nails connected with his eye and she dragged them down while kicking at him to get off of her.

They didn’t hear the banging or the breaking down of the front door while all this was happening. There were flashlights dancing throughout the room and apartment. Men in dark blue uniforms yanked him off of her and another gave her a blanket to wrap herself up in. She didn’t realize it but she was shaking and bleeding everywhere. Someone from the crime scene investigation unit took pictures of her face, hands, arms, legs, thighs, hips, stomach and back as she told an officer her story. She was covered in cuts and bruises. She only could imagine what she looked like, especially with the faces each officer made to her. Mostly looks of sadness, pain, pity, and horror. She held the blanket tighter to herself as she sat on the back of the ambulance.

Apparently, from the officer in charge of the scene, said that the neighbors had made a call about someone being drunk in the parking lot around five thirty, then they received another around five fifty about an argument, then another call at six oh five of more screaming and loud banging. An officer shortly appeared on scene only to hear a female screaming “bloody murder” and decided to call for back up. He let her know another officer would be at the hospital to take her account of the night again.

Scarlette sat there, staring into oblivion, trying to make sense of it all. Praying that she’d wake up and this was all a horrible nightmare. She watched as the closed the ambulance doors and drove off. The paramedic asked her questions and tried to make small talk.

“Wait, I recognize you now.” He gave an excited smiled.

She slowly turned her head and gave him eyes that asked “You’re not serious?” even though it sent sharp shooting pains down her neck and back.

He shrank back a little and made himself busy by pretending to check and read her IV bag.

She tried to relax and close her eyes as they finished their trip to the hospital. “Worst start of the day ever.” She grumbled to herself and gave a stiff choked laugh.

Chapter 8: Don’t You Want Me

Author's note: I'm a butt. I'm sorry. That's all I'm gonna say. Now, let's hope I can keep this up with my new founded creativity! Okay, NOW that's all I'm going to say! <3

Present day Los Angeles, California…

She had ordered a small caramel macchiato and took a seat in the back of the coffee shop. Scarlette was about ten minutes early but figured she could use the time to organize her thoughts and give herself a mental pep talk. She sipped on her warm drink as she thought about all the things that could or couldn’t happen. As she was lost in her thoughts she didn’t take notice of the man that walked in, then sat across from her.

“Hey.” He gave her a nervous smile.

She blinked her eyes a few times. “Oh hey, sorry I was lost in my own mind.” She smiled at him.

He nodded, relaxing his smile. “Can I get you another one?” He motioned towards her drink.

“Oh sure, that would be great. A caramel macchiato, please.” She reached for her purse.

“Don’t worry about it, this one is on me.” He gave her a smile as he got up and walked over to the counter. A few moments later he returned with two coffees in hand, placing one in front of Scarlette, and sat back down across from her.

“Thank you.” She took a sip. “So how have you been?”

He gave a small nod as he sipped on his drink. “I’m good and you? Did you finish moving in?”

She nodded. “I’m great, especially since I finished moving in. Everything is pretty much in its place, all I need is the landscapers to finish up the backyard.”

“That’s good.” He took another sip, then placing the cup down in front of him and lacing his fingers together on the table. “I’m glad you wanted to meet. I didn’t think I would ever hear from you, since Sophia had mentioned that you weren’t interested. It was a nice surprise to say the least.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I’m kinda surprised at myself.” She gave a small laugh. “I just figured ‘Why not, what do I have to lose?’. You seem like a stand up guy and if anything we could be friends.”

His smile faltered a bit. “Yeah, I suppose that wouldn’t be too bad.” They sat in silence for a moment, watching each other and the other people in the café. It was a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Scarlette cleared her throat. “So, to be honest and frank, I don’t want to lead you on or give you the wrong idea. I’m just going to lay my cards out for you and you can decide if you want to give anything a shot with me, see where this goes.” She took a sip of her coffee. “I’m not too sure about what I want right now. Friends are always a best place to start, if something grows from that, well, we can take it from there. It’s going to take a lot of patience, since I want to take very small baby steps.” She took in a deep breath and watched him, waiting for his reaction.

He leaned back in his chair, nodding and spinning his coffee cup on the table. “I don’t think you’re asking for too much. I think I can be friend.” He gave her a relaxed smile that showed off his pearly white teeth.

She felt her heart flutter at his smile, catching her breath in her throat. She tried to not show it by looking down at her cup. She swirled what little coffee was left in her cup. This was something she didn’t want. She had decided dating wasn’t a bad idea but she didn’t want to fall head over heels for someone just yet. This was something she hadn’t anticipated, especially after everything that had happened with Rob. She mentally shook her head and sat up straight, she didn’t realize she had been slouching a bit.

“Nervous?” David gave her a small smile that made her heart flutter again.

She gave a light laughed. “A little.”

“Let’s get out of here and go do something. The smell of coffee and tea is making me a little light-headed.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Alright, anywhere in mind?” She began to get up from her seat.

He nodded, standing up from his seat. “Yeah, I know of a nice little park and killer taco stand.” He put his hand out to her.

She looked up and him and smiled. “Okay sounds good.” She took his hand and stood up.

★★★★★★★

They sat together on a park bench munching away at their chicken and shrimp tacos, enjoying each others company and view of the small lake in front of them.

“Those were good.” Scarlette nodded and gently wiped the corners of her mouth, before taking a sip of her bottled water. “Possibly better than the one my grandmother use to make.” She gave him a small smile.

David smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He finished his can of soda and motioned for her to give him her garbage.

She looked out over the lake and watched two swans swim next to one another, preening, and nuzzling each other. When David came back from throwing away their garbage he held a hand out to her.

“Ready?”

She looked at his hand and the up at him. “Sure.” She took his hand and stood up. “What’s next?”

He entwined their fingers together. “How about we stroll through the park and talk a little bit?”

She smiled and nodded as they began to walk forward. “Okay.” She silently thanked herself for wearing ballet flats instead of her usual heels.

“So, Sophia tells me you model?”

She slightly cocked her head to one side. “Should I be offended?” She mocked hurt and put her free right hand to her heart, smiling.

He gave a light laugh. “Well, to be honest, I’ve been out of the model loop since… awhile.” He last words held a small sadness. He sighed. “I do believe I’ve seen some of your earlier work. If that makes it any better?” He smiled.

She laughed. “It’s alright, but to answer your question, yes. I do a bit of modeling. It’s just a thing.” She playfully shrugged.

He laughed nodding. “I know what you mean, this whole being in a band is a thing for me too.”

They both smiled at each other and walked a few steps in silence.

“So what made you get into modeling? Was it one of those things you were walking into Hot Topic and some scout was there and you were his muse?”

“Oh that is far too glamorous.” She giggled. “Actually, I was working at a Saks Fifth Ave, helping this I’m-too-important-stuck-up-everyone-owes-me agent.” She gave a slight smile while smirking.

He nodded. “What made you do it then?”

Scarlette gave a heavy sigh. “It was the first time I had left my soon-to-be ex-husband and as much money as I made at Saks, it was exhausting and my co-workers… talk about complete backstabbers, as well as other colorful words.” She nodded looking down at the ground for a beat then back at him. “Apparently, she saw something in me and gave me her card. And as they say, the rest is history.” She gave a slight shrug.

“So how’d you get into burlesque and pin up and the like? From the sounds of it, it doesn’t seem like you were looking like Bettie Page at work.” At this point, he lead Scarlette to a bench that was right in front of the lake. He motioned for her to sit before him.

She stared out into the lake for a few moments. “Well,” she took a deep breath. “Christine tried to pimp me out to catalogue shoots. I wasn’t right for them. The photographers could never put their finger on why but that I just didn’t have ‘the look’.” She turned her hips slightly to him and looked at him. Looking into his eyes sent a shudder down her spine causing her to laugh nervously. “Christine almost gave up, until an up and coming L.A. designer said he wanted me for his Fall L.A. Fashion Week show. I puked for a week straight, not to fit into a dress obviously, but because I was a nervous wreck. Yeah, I had been doing small photo shoots but this was major.” She laughed at herself. “Once I got up on the walkway. It just fell into place.”

David gave a confused look and shook his head. “But that doesn’t explain…”

She smiled interrupting him. “He wanted all the models to look like they came straight out of the forties.” She smiled. “That’s how Scarlette Laurent was born.”

“Scarlette isn’t your real name?”

She nodded. “It is, just spelled differently, the common way I guess you could say.”

“Why Scarlette Laurent?”

“Well, Alexander Volkov, he was the designer I worked for, pretty much picked it. Never asked him why, just kind of went with it.” She shrugged.

David laughed. “Volkov! He did a lot of the designs we wear in most of our videos. Great guy. And why not ask? It could be interesting, seeing how he is… rather interesting himself.” He elbowed Scarlette lightly.

“Maybe next time I work with him I will. I hardly see that fabulous jetsetter now.”

“So what’s next for you?”

“I have a few burlesque shows coming up across the country, as well as a few alternative magazine photo shoots.”

“Burlesque, eh? Better than Dita?” He smiled, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh!” She playfully slapped his knee and shook her head. “I am no Dita von Teese, now that woman is magic. She lives and breathes the forties. Pure magic. Absolutely pure magic.”

He nodded. “She is. She puts on quiet a show. I’m sure you do too.”

She laughed. “Perhaps. I guess you’ll just have to find out one day.” She gave him a wink.

★★★★★★★

Once Scarlette got home, she went straight to her master bathroom and began to run hot water in the overly large jacuzzi tub, throwing in a few lavender scented bath pearls to help her relax. She didn’t realize how much her body ached until she walked in the front door to the house she and Liz shared in L.A. She let her hair slide out of the make shift messy French twist and peeled off her clothes.

After cleansing her face of make up, she slowly slid herself into the steaming hot water that was not just about her chest. She switched the faucet to cooler water and let it run for a bit longer til it was about to her chin.

“Perfect.” She slowly let herself slid down into the tub, so the water was over her head. Sitting back up, she slicked her hair back from her face. She instantly felt her pain melt away as the heat of the water worked down to her bones. She leaned her head back to rest on the cushioned head rest of the tub and closed her eyes.

Just as she was dozing off, the bathroom door flew open, causing her to a bout jump out of the tub as well as her skin. “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Liz burst through the door with a laptop in hand. “You are so not going to fucking believe this!”

Scarlette groaned and rolled her eyes has far back as she could. “Can’t this wait?” Clearly irritated and out of meditation, she growled. “Give me forty-five minutes to myself. PLEASE?”

“No, no, no. You HAVE to see this.”

She sighed and stared straight forward. “Fuck me.” She said under her breath.

Liz sat on edge of the tub and turned the laptop to Scarlette.

“Give me one good reason to not drown you right now.” She said through gritted teeth.

“This.” She hit the enter button and a video began to play.

Scarlette sat for a few moments of silence looking at what seemed to be a home camera in night vision. “I’ve already seen parts of One Night In Paris, thanks.” She began to put Liz away.

“No.”

Just has Liz had said that everything became clear. One guy and four girls, you can imagine the rest. Lots of nudity, fondling, drug snorting, and god knows what else. Scarlette didn’t want to find or figure out what else there was and pushed the laptop close with disgust. “When?”

“They’re saying it was made within the past four to six days. Apparently, his beloved fans, the girls in the video, released it.”

“Classy. On all five of them.” She growled. The light floating feeling she had in her stomach had now turned into a big heavy ball of anxiety and rage, making her feel sick.

Liz nodded. “They’re saying that aren’t sure if it’s really legit. If it’s really him…”

She shook her head. “Oh no, I saw enough to know it’s him. Pig.” She shook her head more violently. “Like the first one WASN’T enough.” She balled her fist up under the water. “So glad I filed. SO GLAD!”

Liz got up. “Mich already called, she’s got most bases covered. She also wanted me to tell you to say…”

“No comment.” They both said in unison.

“Yeah, I know. Now leave me please. Maybe I can drown myself before more shit comes arising.” Scarlette turned away from Liz.

Liz walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Scarlette sighed in frustration. No matter where he was or what he was doing, it always manage to disrupt her life some how and some way. She could never fully enjoy a day, he’d have to do something to royally fuck it up. Scarlette took a couple of deep breathes and let the lavender re-relax her and re-release the tension in her body. This was one of those moments where she wished she had some vodka and cherry ginger ale on hand.

Chapter 7: Meet Me Halfway

Author's Note: Not going to give out an excuse for my ultra-lateness. I'm just lame. :/ Enjoy this one, since I'm not too sure where to go next.

Present day San Diego, California…

“So this is it?” Sophia set down a box and put her hands on her hips, gave the empty room a look around. The house was a 1920’s Mediterranean & Spanish style home, located in the Mission Hills Historic District area of San Diego. It had a huge lush backyard, four bedrooms and three baths. The kitchen, dinning/front room, and living rooms were relatively large. “It’s really nice. I love how green it is here and the neighborhood seems really nice and quiet. Big difference, compared to LA.”

Liz brought in another box. “The furniture should be here at two. Then the house should look a little more filled.” She put her hands on her hips, looking around the front room. “I still cannot believe we knocked out all the furniture shopping in two days.” She sighed, nodding her head.

“I know.” Scarlette placed a box next to the one Liz had brought in. “I’m quiet please with myself in that.” She smiled. “Now, all I have to do is paint this place. White walls are quiet drab.”

Sophia nodded. “Where are the paint swatches?”

“In the car.” Scarlette handed Sophia the keys to her car, Sophia went to go get the swatches.

Liz eyed Scarlette, debating if now was the time to bring him up. “So…” She started off slowly. “Have you heard from him?”

She turned her head a bit to look at Liz. “No, but I heard from his lawyer.” She picked up the box again and walked towards the kitchen.

“And…?” Liz followed her.

She set the box down on the black marble countertop. “He’s going to drag this out as painfully long as he can.” She sighed. “I called Tony, my lawyer, and he’s trying to move things as fast as he can but Rob’s lawyer isn’t being very cooperative either.”

“You think he’s doing it on purpose ‘til he gets back into the US? Maybe try to win you back?”

“Undoubtedly.” She let out a heavy sigh.

“Shit.” She placed a hand on Scarlette’s back.

She shook her head. “It’s going to be a battle.”

By this time, Sophia had found them in the kitchen. She handed Scarlette the paint swatches. “Forget it, let’s start picking out colors and making this place a home for you.” She smiled.

Scarlette nodded. “But let’s get the rest of the boxes in here and maybe order some Chinese take out?”

Liz and Sophia smiled and nodded in union.

They all went out and in of the house a little more than a dozen times, but brought in every last box and placed them in the respective rooms. They all took a seat on the beige carpet floor in the living room. They all sipped on their bottled water as Liz called in the Chinese food order. They had a couple of hours before the movers brought in the furniture.

Scarlette laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed happily and stretched. “I think this room would look good in a light mauve color and a deeper accenting color on a wall, maybe leaving the trim white?”

Sophia nodded. “Yeah, I think that would look really nice. And the three bathrooms do them in some shades of blues or teals. I think those colors would accent the tan tiles in them nicely.”

Liz joined in the conversation once she got off the phone with the Chinese restaurant that was going to deliver the food. By the time the food arrived they had already looked through the swatches, coming up with color schemes, placed the coordinating swatches in the respective rooms, and made plans to go buy the paints the next day.

Excitement filled the room as they ate and discussed how the furniture could be arranged. Then the talk of getting a dog or two came up.

“I just think you should have some sort of security.” Liz stuffed moo shu pork into her mouth and Sophia nodded in agreement.

Scarlette shook her head. “I have a security company coming in to install in two days, plus I think I travel too much. Who’s going to watch the dogs when I’m gone?”

“What about D?”

Sophia and Scarlette looked at Liz as she made her suggestion, making her quickly regret that she had said that. Scarlette looked down and let a silence fall down over them.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Scarlette shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” She poked at her General Tso’s Chicken with her chopstick.

Sophia looked at Scarlette. “I’m sure someone could take your dog in, I would if I wasn’t traveling myself.”

Scarlette shrugged half-heartedly. “I’ll think about it.”

Sophia shot Liz a look, as if to say “See what you did?! Fix it.”

Liz looked at Sophia and shrugged. “We should go curtain shopping tonight.” She continued to look at Sophia, shaking her head and shrugging.

Scarlette nodded. “Yeah, that might be a good idea since we already picked out the colors.”

They started to gather the take out containers and clean up since there was about forty-five minutes before the movers would arrive. Liz opened the door so the movers could just walk in and Sophia went around the house to make sure none of the boxes were in the way. Scarlette opened the backdoors to let some fresh air in. She took a few steps out into the back yard and surveyed the area. It was really large, even though it had a decently sized pool. She tried to visualize what type of patio furniture she wanted, something that would look well with the red bricked and Spanish tiled grill/bar area.

As she was deep in thought, she about jumped out of her skin when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She answered it up without looking at the caller ID, a habit she was going to have to change. “Hello?”

“Hey.” The voice on the other end made her catch her breath in her throat. “Are you busy?”

She shook her head. “Uh, no no.” He was the last person she had expected to call her, she was taken aback to say the least.

“I just thought we should talk.”

“Talk?” She tried to keep her voice calm and even, she was slightly scared where this conversation could be going since they had not talk in a long while and the last time they talked, it did not end well for Scarlette.

“Look, I’m sorry I was an ass the last time we talked. I just… can you blame me for not believing you? After all the other breakups and get back togethers.”

“If this is going to be about the past then I really think this conversation should end now. I’m trying to move forward with my life, not hang out in the past like I always use to and I don’t need someone constantly reminding me of what a fucking moron I use to be.” She didn’t mean to snap at him, but it was bound to come out sooner or later. “I’m tired of him thinking I’m always going to stick around when he treats me like trash and I’m tired of you thinking I’m some poor weak helpless little girl. Either you move forward with me or you can kindly get the fuck out of my life now.” She ground her teeth as she drove her last point home.

He sighed. “I’m really sorry. I never meant to doubt you.”

She scoffed at that. It wasn’t that she was so much angry at him, she was hurt and disappointed with him, especially since he had been calling himself her best friend for years. She let other things go when he had turned his back on her and would go on for months without talking to her. The straw that had broke more than one camel’s back, was when a sex tape of a groupie and Rob had been released on the internet. It sent off such a chain reaction between not only Scarlette and Rob, but Scarlette and D.

Even though the turning point of their friendship was at the surprise wedding in Vegas, it had always been rocky since she had moved out of the apartment, D and Lara had shared, two years after she had moved in. Though, she was hardly there once she had signed on to a contract with Christine, to begin with, Scarlette could never figure out why exactly they had let their friendship get that way. She left it to the reason of him and Lara’s planning of their wedding and relationship issues. Scarlette tried to be their for the both of them, but learned she would have to back away from both friendships, as to not let them think she was choosing one more over than the other.

“Can we start from where we left off?” He had an edge of pleading in his voice.

Scarlette closed her eyes and wavered her head in though. “Perhaps.” She shook her head.

“Okay then.” He took in a deep breath. “How are things with you today?” He tried to lighten his voice, slightly failing.

“I’m fine. A little exhausted since I’m moving into my new house.”

“Oh?”

It was an awkward conversation but she tried to put the awkwardness aside. “Yeah, I’m living in San Diego now. It’s really nice here.”

“San Diego? Wow. You really are moving on, I’m happy for you.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“If you need anything, help moving in furniture, painting, or whatever, let me know. I want to make up for all the lost times I haven’t had with you.”

“Well, the movers are bringing in the furniture right now as we speak… but we are planning to start painting by, hopefully, tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll drive down there tomorrow in the early morning. Maybe we can talk more, in person, so it’s not so awkward.”

She nodded. “Okay yeah, but Sophia and Liz will be here too.”

“That’s fine. Just send me the directions to my phone and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you then.” She hung up her phone and walked back inside where Sophia and Liz stood staring at her. “He’ll be here tomorrow morning to talk and help out.”

They looked at each other and Liz spoke up. “By he, you mean D, right?”

Scarlette nodded. “I assume you both were listening in.”

They looked away from her sheepishly. “Yeah, but we also have been telling the movers where to put everything too.” Liz shrugged.

Scarlette rolled her eyes then looked around the room. Thankfully, all the furniture was still wrapped in plastic, one less thing for them to do before they started painting. “Then you can send him the directions to the house, Liz.” She raised an eyebrow at Liz. She didn’t care that they were listening, she actually figured that they would, which was funny to her. ”We need to pick up plastic sheets or painters cloth to lay on the floors tomorrow.”

“Oooh random thought,” Sophia chimed in. “We should plan for a house warming party too!”

Scarlette and Liz both looked at Sophia. “That’s all you ever want to do it party.” Scarlette laughed.

“Hell yeah!” She stuck out her tongue and made the devil horns with her right hand.

They all started laughing and resumed watching and directing the movers where to go.

★★★★★★★

It was about eight o’clock in the morning when Scarlette and the girls got up. They had past out early, being exhausted from the all the moving, arranging, and rearranging of everything. All three had past out on the plastic covered bed in the large master bedroom. Some how, during sometime in the night, someone went out to a car a grabbed a blanket from Scarlette’s SVU. She always kept a thick blanket in her vehicles, just in case, part of an emergency kit of sorts.

The three went to the bathroom and tried to freshen up as much as possible, washing the sleep off their faces as much as they could. Once Scarlette had just finished toweling off her face, she received a text from D letting her know he was ten minutes away from the house. Sophia had offered herself to go out and get coffee and food. Liz went with her to make sure she got everything and had help, it was just an excuse to give Scarlette and D privacy.

Once they left Scarlette had changed her shirt and jeans to some older and ratty shirt and jeans, since they were going to be painting. She pulled her waist length hair into a folded ponytail and pushed her bangs back with an old thin white plastic headband.

Just as she was finishing up in the bathroom, the door bell rang. She slowly made her way over to the front door. Once she reached it she took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

She opened the door. “Hi. Come on in.” She stepped to the side.

D was wearing paint stained jeans and a white shirt. He ran his hand through his short black hair. “Thanks.” He stepped inside and looked around. “This is really nice. Really beautiful.” He nodded. “Hell of a lot better than LA.”

She closed the door and walked past him. “Thanks.”

He followed her into the kitchen/dining room area. He leaned against the counter top of the bar. Scarlette was leaning against the countertop across from him, facing him. “It’s a really nice place here, Scarlette.”

She nodded, looking at him straight on, waiting. Arms crossed in front of her.

He sighed heavily. “Alright, I’m sorry for that past few…” He searched his mind for the word he was looking for. “Years.” He hung his head slightly. “I know I probably don’t deserve forgiveness at this point, but I want you to know I am sorry. For everything.” He cleared his throat. “I know excuses are lame and that’s all explanations are but it’s been really hard, especially the past two years or so. Stressful is too light of a word for it.” He smirked. “It may sound selfish but I really didn’t want to hear the repeat problems of yours and deal with the reality of mine at the same time.”

Scarlette raised an eyebrow.

He leaned back a little and let out a sad sigh. “Lara and I had been going through some problems, as you know, but they only got worse. Then after the baby…”

“Baby?” She interrupted him, with her eyes widened with shock and confusion. With all the mutual friends that had had, she knew of the problems he and Lara had faced over the years but none of them ever mentioned them having a baby.

He leaned forward onto the bar, resting his elbows on the cold counter top and pressed his palms into his eyes. “I really wanted to tell you. I really did.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to drag anyone down with me, with us. It was hard enough as it was and Lara… She just disappeared. Not physically, but mentally. The lights were on but no one was home.” His voice started to shake.

Scarlette’s back became rigid, her mouth dropping open a little as she slowly figured out what he meant. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Was all she could come up with. She debated on what to do, deciding that anything else rather than standing there and staring at him, was better. She walked around to him and placed a hand on his back softly, letting him know she was there.

“I just…” He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t know what to do, how to deal with it. I was just so stricken with grief.” A tear rolled down his cheek. “I thought Lara would snap out of it, but no. Instead she took it out on me, blaming me.” He put his face back into his palms, sobbing heavily.

Scarlette felt her heartbreak with him. She wrapped her arms around him, moving her hand in small circles on his back, and rocked him. Here she was half his size, trying to console him for once. She had a mix of emotions run through her, she still wanted to be pissed at him for leaving her stranded but then guilty for never knowing what was really happening between Lara and him, even more so when this news. Maybe she should have called to see what was going on, maybe then he would have told her. There was no use in dwelling on the past though.

“I lost her.” Was all he said in between slowed sobs. He stiffened and stood up straighter.

Scarlette let go of him and watched him, handing him a rough napkin from the previous nights Chinese take out. “Sorry, it’s all I have.” She gave him a weak smile.

He took it, thanking her with his own weak smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She rested a hand on his shoulder.

He sighed letting his muscular shoulders slump forward. “I tried, I really did. I suggested therapy, moving, everything and anything. Then she said she was moving back home to see if that would help.” He shook his head and turned to look at Scarlette. “She served me with divorce papers two weeks ago.”

She squeezed his shoulder. She didn’t want to ask him any questions or push him to talk, she just wanted him to know that she was there for him.

He shook his head again and walked around to the kitchen sink. He splashed cold water on his face, then wiped his face on his old worn shirt. “I said I would help paint. I can’t do that bawling my eyes out and feeling sorry for myself.”

Scarlette gave a weak smile, shaking her head. “If you need anything, and I mean anything…” She stood next to him. “Let me know.”

“Even after everything?”

She smiled and nodded. “I told you I wanted to leave things in the past, and well that is the past.”

He rubbed the back of his head. “I still have to make it up to you somehow, I was a pretty shitty person, especially when you called me to tell me it was over between you two.”

She shrugged. “Let’s just not let anything get in between or friendship again, okay?”

He nodded.

Just then Liz and Sophia came through the door, yelling for help to get the rest of the coffee and food from the car. After everyone settled in and got organized, the food was handed out and coffee was creamed and sugared. It was like old times, everyone laughing and smiling. It continued through out the day and well into the night. Things were starting to look up for the best.