Chapter 13

That night, Maria lay in bed watching TV. Heathcliff was next to her taking a bath. It felt good to be in her own bed again, but Maria wished that a certain someone were beside her. The phone rang.

"Hello?" There was a pause. "Hello?" she said again.

"Please don’t hang up." Maria almost did just that when she heard his voice.

"What do you want, Geoff?"

"I just want to talk to you. I miss you Maria, but I’m not gonna beg for your forgiveness," he said.

"No, you’re just gonna send me a freakin’ flower shop? Nice try, but it didn’t work," Maria told him.

"Why won’t you even consider trying to work it out? We were together for a long time. How could you just forget everything that we shared?" he asked.

"Because the most recent memories I have of ‘us’ include you burning me, our constant fights, you hitting me in the face and oh, yeah, your cheating on me. Remember how you slept with another woman? That’s a wonderful memory."

"I don’t need your sarcasm, Maria. I apologized for that."

"Well I don’t accept your apology. I’m moving on and I suggest that you do the same. Now, please, Geoff, leave me alone," Maria said before she hung up. She didn’t think that she was being too hard on him. He had hurt her and she couldn’t trust him to not do it again. Besides, she had feelings for Jacob Underwood. Jacob…a guy whom she had slept with only once…and it hadn’t even been serious. He was constantly challenging her and he intrigued her in a way no one ever had before. She missed him. A lot.

Four weeks later

"Is Alex here?" Susan asked as she came into the lab where Maria and Jocelyn were currently working. Maria was busy putting the finishing touches on the O-Town issue of Star Power, which would be the November issue due out the first week of October.

"No. She took a personal day off. She’s got family issues that she’s dealing with," Maria answered. "Here, check this out." Maria held up a black and white photo of Jacob. She had used both color and black and white film during his shoot at the music shop. Susan held up the picture.

"That’s great. You really caught the ‘serious musician’ in him." Susan hadn’t talked to Maria regarding Maria and Jacob’s relationship, but Susan wasn’t stupid and knew that Maria felt more than just friendship for him. Maria smiled.

"I know. He was really a great sport during this shoot. Mike told me that it was the most patient he’d ever seen Jacob during any photo shoot," she said, taking back the picture. Maria looked at it longingly. Jacob hadn’t called her and she hadn’t called him either. She had lost his cell phone number. She figured that he was busy, which was why he hadn’t had time to call her…at least that’s what she hoped anyway. With O-Town’s schedule the way it was, she knew that he could be anywhere…he probably wasn’t even in Orlando right now.

"I don’t understand," Jocelyn suddenly said. "Why is the magazine wasting a month doing a cover of an unknown boy band?" Maria frowned.

"They aren’t exactly ‘unknown.’ They had a TV show and ‘All Or Nothing,’ their second single, made it to number one. I was with them for three months and they are a hard working band," she said. Jocelyn shrugged.

"Whatever. I doubt they’ll sell many magazines, though. The boy band thing is fading out. It’s old and overdone. You can’t tell one from another these days," she said. Maria wanted to hurt her. Susan saw this and put her arm around Maria, leading her out of the lab before she decked Jocelyn.

"Don’t let her get you all worked up," she said.

"She’s such a bitch. I can’t believe that Kyle hired her. Is he sleeping with her or something?" Maria asked. Susan laughed.

"Uh…no. He’s just worried that you’ll leave soon and he needs someone who can do the job."

"Why is he so paranoid about that? I’m not leaving---yet, anyway. He’s got nothing to worry about. So, she could go," Maria said. Susan smiled.

"No, she can’t. You’re gonna have to just try and ignore her. Do you think that you can do that?" Susan asked. Maria nodded and sighed. "My dad called last night. The baby is due at the end of this month." Susan nodded.

"Are you going to go out to see them?" Maria shrugged.

"It’s exciting. I mean think about it, a new baby stepbrother or stepsister. Either way, the baby is still going to be your sibling," she told her.

"I know. I’ll see. I have to talk to my dad again." Maria sighed again. There was so much going on. She felt like she had a million things to do and no time to do them in. She needed a break already.

"I need a break!" Erik moaned as he lay flat on his back in the rehearsal studio. The other guys were similarly wiped out. Sweat poured off of them, even with the air conditioning on.

Jacob pulled off his shirt and threw it onto a chair. He swung his arms as he tried to stay loose. The bandanna on his head was soaked through with sweat. "Come on, guys. We have to get Girl and Take Me Under down perfectly before we quit today. That’s Ed’s assignment." Ed had to step out for an hour or so, which left the guys on their own for the time being.

"Dude, we’ve gone through them a million times already," Ashley whined as he sat on the floor drinking from his water bottle.

"Then we do it a million more times. We are going to be in front of twenty thousand people every night on Britney’s tour. We can’t look like sucky amateurs. You know we’ll be compared to Backstreet and N’Sync. I want to look at least somewhat polished," Jacob said, irritably. Dan looked at Jacob. He knew that Jacob’s attitude problem lately had more to do with than the tour. He missed Maria. Every time one of the guys asked him about her, Jacob always brushed the subject aside, but they knew that he was missing her. Dan felt badly for Jacob. He had to do something to ease his frustration.

"Fine, let’s do it, then," Trevor said. His excitement about touring with Britney made him work all the more harder to be good. He agreed with Jacob…because they were with such a huge superstar, they’d be judged all the more harshly. The guys reluctantly got back to rehearsing.

Alex sighed as she knocked on the door to her mother’s house. After a minute, it opened and Alex was looking at her mother, Gloria. "Hi, Mom." Gloria opened the door and hugged her daughter.

"I’ve missed you, baby," she said. Alex smiled sadly.

"I know. I’m sorry for not keeping in touch. I’ve been away and just got back a few weeks ago. Work has been busy, too," she said as she followed her mother into the house. She looked around nervously.

"Carlos isn’t here. He’ll be back later," Gloria said, knowing that Alex was uptight about seeing him again. Alex nodded. Her father, Javier, then came out of the kitchen.

"Alexandra. To what do we owe this honor?" he asked.

"I wanted to come see you," Alex said, not liking his tone.

"What do you want? Usually when you stop by, you want something," her father said. Alex frowned. She hadn’t come here to argue.

"I don’t want anything. If you don’t want me here, I’ll just go," she said as she turned around to head back to the front door. Gloria chased after her.

"No! Alexandra, don’t go!" she said, grabbing Alex’s arm.

"I don’t want to fight. I just want…" She stopped when she saw her younger brother, Miguel, coming down the stairs.

"What, Al? To see Carlos? You never wanted to see him when he needed you the most. Why now?" he asked. Alex’s eyes teared up. Miguel was so handsome. He looked like Enrique Iglesias, only lighter-skinned. He had a cute, baby face, but Alex knew that he was as tough as they came.

"I had my reasons for not going to see Carlos in jail. Please, don’t hate me," Alex said. Miguel continued down the stairs and stood in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn’t tall, only slightly taller than Alex, but he could be intimidating when he wanted to be.

"I love you, Al, but you abandoned your own brother when he needed you. That, I’ll never understand," Miguel said and turned around to go into the kitchen. Alex shook her head.

"I shouldn’t have come here," she said as she turned to leave. She froze. Coming in the door was Carlos. He stopped to look at her. He was big. Very big and very tough-looking. He was a lot taller than Miguel, and looked older than his twenty-six years. Prison must’ve hardened him. "Carlos," Alex said softly. He just stared at her. Alex shrunk under his gaze. She backed up and Gloria put her arms around her daughter.

"Alexandra came to see you," she said, but Alex heard a slight tremor in her voice. Carlos didn’t say anything. He just walked past them and went up the stairs. Tears slid down Alex’s face. She shook her mother’s hands off of her shoulders and ran out the door. She shouldn’t have come here.

O-Town dragged themselves wearily into their house at eleven that night. It had been a wicked day and the next week didn’t look any better. It had been constant work with no relief: practicing, writing for the album, a few photo shoots, interviews about the Britney tour, a couple of TV appearances, and more rehearsing. The guys were already tired and the tour hadn’t even started yet.

Jacob went right to the studio where he sat on a stool, his guitar in hand, writing in a small book when Dan appeared at the door. He looked too happy about something.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have some good news," he said. Jacob looked up at him.

"What’s up?" he asked.

"I spoke to the Mikes and we’re going to have a couple of days off at the end of next week. It’s right before we leave for the Hammerstein performance in New York," Dan answered, smiling widely.

"Great. So, why are you so overly happy?" Jacob asked.

"I was thinking, you know, why don’t you ask Maria to come over?" Dan said. Jacob thought about it. He had to see her again. It was driving him crazy. She hadn’t called, though, which had him confused. When it came to Maria, though, he often found himself confused.

"Should I? She hasn’t exactly tried calling," Jacob said. Dan shook his head.

"So what? She’s probably getting the magazine ready and has been busy. Just like we’ve been busy. Come on, call her and ask her," he told him. Jacob smiled. He put his guitar down and went to his room. Dan watched him go, the smile still on his face.

Maria had just settled in bed with Heathcliff when her phone rang. She located it under the covers and answered. "Hello?"

"Remember me?" Maria smiled.

"I don’t know. You may need to refresh my memory," she said.

"Um…I’m in a band and you spent three months with me, during which time, I beat up your boyfriend and you and I had amazing sex in your hotel room."

"Oh, now I remember. You’re the elusive Jacob Underwood, whom I haven’t heard from in four weeks," Maria said.

"Why didn’t you call me?" he asked.

"Because I’m an idiot and lost your number," Maria replied. Jacob laughed. It was so good to hear her voice again.

"How’s the article coming? Is it ready to be published yet?" he asked.

"Almost. I was actually developing more of your pictures today. You look good in black and white," she said, smiling. She then yawned.

"I didn’t wake you up, did I?" Jacob asked her.

"No. It’s just been a busy couple of weeks and I’m tired. I’m actually lying in bed with Heathcliff," Maria said, petting the kitten’s head.

"Who the hell is Heathcliff?" Jacob asked.

"Why? Are you jealous?" Maria asked, smirking into the phone.

"Of course not. Heathcliff? That’s a cartoon character, isn’t it?" Maria laughed.

"Heathcliff is my kitten, if you must know. And he’s named after the character from Wuthering Heights, not the cartoon. Besides, he’s gray, not orange like the cartoon cat," she said. "I wish you were here, but I guess you’ve been busy, huh?"

"You can say that. We’re doing the Britney Spears tour that starts at the end of October, plus cameras’ll be following us around again for season three of Making The Band. It’s just constant fun," Jacob said. Maria smiled at the sarcasm in his voice. "Oh, we have a concert coming up next week on the eleventh in New York. We’re going to be performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom and it’s going to be filmed for a concert video and DVD. I could arrange for you to come if you want." Maria smiled.

"At this point, I’d do anything to see you again," she said.

"Well, it just so happens that we also have a couple of days off next week before we leave for New York. Are you busy?" Jacob asked, praying to God that she wasn’t.

"I’ll have to check, but I think I can ‘persuade’ Kyle to give me a day off," she said. Jacob smiled. He gave her his cell number again and they talked for another ten minutes before hanging up. Maria was happy. She really wanted to see him again. It had been too long already.

Jacob hung up the phone, smiling. Dan came in. "That smile, I assume, means that she can come over?" he asked. Jacob nodded.

"She’s gonna try to come to the house next week and to the Hammerstein concert," he said. Dan smiled.

"Cool," he said. "I’m glad that things worked out so that you guys can see each other again. How’s your back, by the way?"

"Okay. It stiffens up a little once in a while. Why? Do you want me to call and get Dianna back here?" Jacob asked with a smirk.

"That would be cool, but I don’t see it happening. I just got the sense that she wasn’t happy. Maybe I’m wrong, but, I don’t know," Dan said. Jacob stood up and walked over to him.

"Yeah, well. It’s too bad that she works in Boston. Come on, let’s get something to eat," he said. Dan shook his head. There was nothing he could do about Dianna.

"I think all we’ve got is leftover pizza," he said.

"Then, let’s get us some leftover pizza," Jacob said as he ran out of his room and down the stairs. Smiling, Dan followed quickly after his band mate.

"Who was on the phone?" Sarah asked as she made herself comfortable on Maria’s bed. Maria looked at her. Sarah had been good lately. She cleaned the loft, went grocery shopping and helped Maria do other errands that she couldn’t do because she was too busy. Maria wondered what the hell Sarah was up to.

"Jacob," she said. She noticed a frown appear on Sarah’s face, and then disappear quickly.

"How is he?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"Fine. I’m going to see him next weekend. There’s also a concert in New York in a couple of weeks. Maybe you can come," Maria said. Sarah nodded.

"What about Emily? She hasn’t met the guys yet and I want her to. She has to get out. All she does is go to the park to play her guitar. I think something’s wrong, but I don’t want to pry or anything."

"She’s just quiet, that’s all," Maria said. Sarah got up.

"Well, goodnight, then," she said as she left the room. Maria shook her head. Sarah was up to something, she was sure of it…and she suspected it had to do with Jacob.

Sarah went to her room and got her cell phone out. She went to Maria’s office, which was a small room next to the guestroom. She dialed a number and listened while it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Geoff, it’s Sarah."

The week passed by slowly. Maria had arranged to take Friday off to go and see the guys---and Jacob. Especially Jacob. She couldn’t wait. Usually, she didn’t get this hyped about seeing a guy, but Jacob was different. She went from spending almost every hour of every day with him for the past three months to not seeing him at all.

Friday finally came and Maria got up early to shower and dress. She was expected at the house at ten and would stay there until whatever time she wanted to leave. She didn’t want to dress up or anything, so she chose jeans and a light blue tank top with a gauzy, see-through button down light blue shirt over it. She put on tennis shoes and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

Just as Maria was about to leave, Sarah appeared at her bedroom door. "Someone’s here to see you," she said. Maria frowned.

"This early? Who is it?"

"Come see for yourself," Sarah said and turned around to leave. Maria followed her and shook her head when she saw Geoff.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Sarah pretended to go to her room, but stayed in the hallway so that she could hear.

"I wanted to see you. How are you?" Geoff asked. Maria looked at her watch.

"I’m late. I have to go. I don’t have time to chat right now," she said. "Wait a minute. You never get up this early. You knew that I was going out and you know where I’m going, don’t you? Did Sarah tell you?" Maria asked. Sarah should’ve known that Maria would figure it out right away.

"I was doing some errands and was in the neighborhood, so I decided to stop by," Geoff said. Maria shook her head.

"Bullshit. I don’t have time for this."

"You really can’t wait to see him, can you?" Geoff asked.

"No, I can’t. Geoff, it’s over. How many times do I have to tell you? Just let me go," Maria said as she started to walk past him to the door. Geoff roughly grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. Maria pulled away. Sarah was shocked. True, she had called Geoff and informed him of her sister’s plans, but Sarah didn’t want Geoff hurting Maria in any way.

"Don’t you ever touch me again! Do you understand?" Maria shouted as she stalked away from him and opened the door. "Get out! If I see you here again, I’ll call the cops!" Geoff frowned as he walked to the door.

"You still want me. Don’t think that sleeping with some boy band bastard will make you forget me."

"Get lost, asshole," Maria sneered. She waited until she was sure that Geoff was gone. "Sarah, we’ll talk about this later," she called, knowing that her sister was lurking somewhere listening to what was going on. Maria then left the loft.

Emily had heard the shouting. It had woken her up. She now came up behind Sarah. "What did you do?" she asked. Sarah sighed.

"I screwed up---bigtime."

Dan was passing Trevor’s room and noticed that the door was opened. He peeked in and saw Trevor dressed and messing with his hair.

"You’re up early," Dan remarked, sitting down on Trevor’s bed.

"It’ll be cool seeing Maria again," Trevor said, smiling. Dan nodded.

"Yeah. You realize that she’s coming here mainly to see Jake, though, right?" Trevor shrugged.

"I know. I’m still friends with her, though, Dan. Can’t I get up to see her?" Dan nodded.

"Yeah, man, I just don’t want you to, you know, think…"

"I don’t think anything, dude. I just want to see her. Relax, okay?" Trevor said as he left the room.

"Okay," Dan said to no one and followed Trevor.

Dan next went to Jacob’s room. Jacob was up and tying a bandanna over his unruly dreads.

"Hey, man," Dan said, leaning against the door to the room.

"What’s up? Is she here yet? Why the hell am I so nervous?" Jacob asked, smiling. Dan laughed.

"No, she’s not here yet and I don’t know why you’re nervous. It’s only Maria," he said. Jacob nodded.

"I know, dude. I’m just nervous for some reason."

"Have you thought of, you know, maybe pursuing an actual relationship with her?" Dan asked.

"If our schedule wasn’t so busy, then…maybe. I know that I’m over Janie and we’re cool just being friends, but I don’t know if I want another serious relationship with someone else right now."

"I understand, but if you have strong feelings for Maria, don’t miss your chance with her," Dan said. He smiled, turned around, and ran down the stairs of the guesthouse. Jacob sat on the bed. He didn’t know what to do. Standing up, he walked slowly down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen where he found Trevor making French toast.

"That smells good," Jacob said. Trevor smiled.

"I figure since I’m up, I might as well have a big breakfast," he said. "I think Dan’s the only other one up."

"Big surprise," Jacob said as he poured some juice for himself. He knew that Trevor still liked Maria, so things were a little awkward between them. "When are Erik or Ashley ever up early on a day off?" Trevor laughed.

"What’re you gonna do today?" he asked. Jacob shrugged and drank his juice.

"I don’t know. Hang out. I’m sure we’ll find something to do," he said, smiling. Trevor nodded, but didn’t look at Jacob. Jacob was about to say something when Dan called from the other room.

"She’s here!" Trevor didn’t look up as Jacob quickly left the kitchen. It wasn’t good for him to be jealous of Jacob and Maria’s relationship. It wasn’t good for the band or for their friendship. Trevor felt closest to Jacob since they had endured the whole audition process together from start to finish. Fighting over a girl just wasn’t right. Not that they were fighting, but Trevor couldn’t help but wish that he were the one who had Maria instead of Jacob.