Chapter 17
A buzzing sound got her attention. She walked to the front door and noticed her jeep outside the gate. "What the hell?" she asked out loud. She pushed the button that opened the gate and her jeep pulled into the driveway. Maria sighed when she saw her mother, Sarah and Emily get out of the jeep. "Why me?"
Maria opened the door and waited while they walked up the sidewalk to where she was standing. "Hi. What brings you here?" Maria asked, looking at Sarah.
"Guess?" she said sweetly. Maria looked at her mother.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I came to Orlando to see you and I’m not leaving until I talk to you," Caroline said.
"Leaving Orlando or this house?" Maria asked.
"May we come in?" Caroline asked.
"This isn’t even my house. You shouldn’t have come here," Maria told her.
"Come on, Maria. She wouldn’t shut up unless she saw you," Sarah said. Maria sighed again and led them into the house. Caroline looked around.
"How successful are these young men?" she asked.
"They’re doing well," Maria replied. They all settled in the sitting room where there was an older-looking sectional couch in front of a large TV.
"Where are the guys?" Sarah asked.
"They have rehearsal," Maria answered. They sat in silence for a minute. Emily stood up.
"Sarah, why don’t we go check out, um, the pool?" she asked, pulling Sarah with her. After they had left, Caroline looked at Maria.
"I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you needed me," she said.
"I’m used to it," Maria told her.
"That’s not fair. I’ve tried to be a good mother after the divorce, but…"
"But nothing, Mom. You were never a good mother after Dad left. You walked around feeling sorry for yourself while I raised Joey and Sarah. I had thought about running away when I was thirteen. Did you know that? I couldn’t take it anymore. I was doing everything that you should’ve been doing. All I wanted to do was draw and take pictures, but that was stupid to you. It was childish. I had to do something more ‘substantial’ because I’d never ‘make it’ drawing and taking pictures. That’s what you told me. Then, when other people told you how talented I was, you suddenly changed your tune and bragged about what an ‘exceptional’ daughter you had. You also badmouthed Dad to everyone who would listen, making me, Joey and Sarah miserable. We love Dad, no matter what you say about him. And nothing will ever change that," Maria said.
"Maria, please. I never meant to put all of that responsibility on you. I was distraught and didn’t know what to do. Without you, I never could’ve survived. I love you, dear. Please don’t ever think that I don’t love you or your brother and sister."
"I cried," Maria said. Caroline frowned.
"What? I don’t understand," she said.
"I cried. Jacob made me cry."
"What did that boy do to you? I knew he was bad news. I’ll tell him exactly what…" Maria cut her off.
"I wanted to cry, Mom. It was a few weeks after the disaster. I was holding my hurt and pain in because you always said that only weaklings cry. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was strong and that I wasn’t weak. It hurt me more to hold everything inside. I had to cry to let out my grief. Jacob was the one who got me through that. What would you have done? Would you have sat with me, holding me while I sobbed in your arms? Or would you have said, ‘Oh, stop being so weak and suck it up. You’re strong, stop bawling?" Caroline looked at her hands.
"I love you, sweetheart. You are my baby. When I heard that you had been there when it happened, my heart almost stopped," she said, softly. "I may not have been a good mother while you were growing up, but I’m here now and I love you," she said again, tears pooling in her eyes. Maria sighed.
"God, I love you, too. It’s not that I don’t, it’s just…I needed you while I was growing up and you did nothing but put me down."
"I did not! I supported anything that you wanted to do! Maybe not at first, but when I realized how serious you were about painting, photography and your piano playing, I did everything to see that you got the lessons you wanted and that you became good at it," Caroline told her.
"So now you’re taking credit for my talent?" Maria asked.
"I can see that you are trying to start an argument with me and I refuse to allow it," Caroline said, standing up. Maria stayed seated. "Sarah? Emily? Let’s go." Sarah and Emily reappeared.
"What’s wrong?" Sarah asked.
"I want to go. I have a plane ticket to leave in a few days," Caroline said. "You can call me if you want to talk to me further." With that, Caroline walked to the front door. Sarah sighed and followed her. Emily gave Maria a sympathetic look before following Sarah. Maria closed her eyes. She now had a major headache.
"Alexandra, sit down," Kyle said, smiling at her. Alex sat down after closing the door to his office.
"Susan said that you wanted to talk about Maria and Jacob. Mr. Walsh, I really know nothing except what Maria tells me and I don’t know if she’d appreciate me telling you about her relationship with Jacob," Alex said, nervously. Kyle shook his head.
"I’m not digging for gossip, here. I was just wondering how serious they are in case there’s a conflict of interest regarding an offer I got from O-Town’s record company and management concerning the upcoming Britney Spears tour," Kyle explained.
"Um…I don’t know how that works, but I know that Maria and Jacob are serious. She’s still kinda confused I think, but I know that Jacob cares for her," Alex told him.
"Okay, that’s fine. Thank you for your time. Did you get the schedule about the upcoming shoot that you have to prepare for?" Kyle asked. Alex nodded.
"Yes. I’m going to start on that now," she said, standing up.
"Oh, Alexandra? I was wondering, would you be interested in throwing a party for O-Town? I was talking to Mike Cronin about it yesterday and the sales figures for the last issue are so good, I offered to arrange something as a kind of going away party, you know, right before their tour and also to celebrate the success of their cover issue," Kyle said. Alex smiled.
"That sounds awesome! Do you want me to help plan it?" she asked.
"Sure. I’m looking for volunteers," he answered. Alex nodded vigorously.
"I’d love to! Just let me know the details and I’ll get back to you," she said. Kyle nodded and smiled at her.
"Thank you," he said. Alex left his office, the smile still on her face. She loved planning parties and she would make this one a party to remember.
Trevor, Ashley, Erik, Dan and Mike M. entered the house at 5 p.m. Maria was at the long table, which she had turned into her workplace. She was working on a painting for her father. It was a collage/mural of all different cartoon/storybook characters. She had wanted it to go into the baby’s room and she hoped that there still would be a baby’s room. Maria had tried calling her father several times, but she hadn’t been able to reach him and had no choice but to leave several messages on his machine.
"Maria?" Ashley smiled when he saw her. "Working hard? Is that Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck?" Maria nodded.
"Yeah. This is for my baby brother’s room." She sighed. "I had an encounter with my mom this morning. It didn’t go well, but then again, discussions with her never do," Maria told him. Mike M. walked over to her.
"I got the agreement you signed and this is for you," he said, holding up a mic pack. Just then, Gillian and her camera appeared.
"Thank you, Mike. And I thought that you didn’t like me, although I’d prefer flowers," Maria said. Mike smiled as he placed the mic pack on the table.
"You’re welcome. The guys will show you how to put it on," he said.
"I’ll do it," Trevor volunteered. Erik smiled. Dan hit him before he said anything.
"Let’s order some dinner," Dan said. Ashley and Erik followed him out of the room, arguing about what they wanted for dinner. Gillian went with them and Mike M. also left the room. Maria stood up. She picked up the mic pack.
"Okay. Go ahead," she said, holding her arms out like she had seen Ashley do earlier that morning. Trevor smiled and took the mic pack. He then realized how awkward ‘hooking’ her up would be.
"Um…you need to kinda pull up your shirt a little," he said. Maria did so and Trevor tried not to look at her bare midsection as he reached around her to put the microphone on her. Maria held her breath. Trevor was very close to her and she was aware that he still liked her. It was very uncomfortable.
"So, did Jacob get in trouble or did you forget to bring him home?" Maria asked. Trevor finished with the mic pack and she pulled her shirt back down as he backed away from her.
"Uh, he, um, yeah, Doc wanted to go over what he missed yesterday when he was with you, you know, at your place," Trevor told her. Maria nodded. "He’ll be home in an hour or so." Maria smiled. Trevor looked at his feet. "Maria, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Trevor."
"I know you and Jake are, you know, together and all, but…" Maria’s cell phone rang. She was actually relieved. She had a feeling about what Trevor had been about to ask her and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to deal with it right now.
"Excuse me. I’m sorry," she said as she answered her phone. "Hello?" She looked at Trevor. "It’s Kyle. I have to talk to him." Trevor nodded and made a hasty retreat out of the room. "Hi, Kyle. What’s up?"
Jacob’s throat hurt by the time Doc was through with him. ‘You’d think I missed a week of rehearsals instead of one day,’ Jacob thought as he gathered up his belongings.
"Ready?" Mike C. asked. Jacob nodded, tiredly. "If anything, we don’t have to worry about your work ethic, Jake."
"Look, I wasn’t deserting the group. I just had to be there for Maria, okay? It won’t happen again," Jacob said. Mike nodded.
"It’s cool that you two hooked up. She’s gorgeous and talented. Perfect for you," he said as he opened the van door. Jacob smiled.
"It was a surprise, that’s for sure," he said as he climbed into the van.
"I just hope she realizes that what you do takes up a lot of your time. But, then again, she’ll probably be on the tour with us, so…" Jacob’s head shot up.
"What?" Jacob asked. Mike looked back at him.
"Yeah, didn’t Mike tell you?"
"Tell me what? No, he told me that Maria had to stay here and that there was no way she’d be able to tour with us," Jacob said.
"Well, the record company got in touch with us and they want her as O-Town’s exclusive photographer," Mike told him. Jacob frowned.
"When did this happen?" he asked. Mike shrugged as he turned and started the van.
"Yesterday or the day before. I don’t know exactly. Her boss was supposed to tell her about it," he said. Jacob sat back and smiled. He couldn’t wait to get home to talk to Maria about this latest good news.
Sarah was on her bed, listening to her stereo while reading a magazine. She was also eating a bag of chips and cursed when the bag fell off of the bed onto the floor. She knelt down to pick it up and saw a shoebox underneath Emily’s bed. She pulled it out and saw that a picture was lying loosely on top of the box. It was a picture of a cute guy. A guy who looked a lot like Ashley. ‘What’s Emily got a picture of Ashley for?’ Sarah asked herself. "She probably does have a crush on him," she said out loud, smiling.
"What are you doing?" Sarah looked up at Emily, who was looking down at her, an angry scowl on her face.
"I, uh, dropped the bag of chips and was, um, picking it up," Sarah stumbled over her words as she stood up. Emily grabbed the picture out of Sarah’s hand.
"This isn’t a bag of chips," she said, picking up the shoebox and putting the picture back.
"I’m sorry. The picture was on top of the box and I didn’t want it to get lost, so I was going to put it back in," Sarah explained, hoping that Emily believed her. "Em? Why do you have a picture of Ashley?"
"It’s not Ashley and I wish that you’d mind your own business and stay out of my stuff. Now, your mom’s looking for you," Emily said as she turned and quickly left the room. Sarah sighed. She followed Emily out of the room.
Alex waited while the gate swung open. She parked her car in the driveway and ran up the sidewalk. It had started to rain not long ago and Alex didn’t want to get soaked. She ran to the door that was already open and Erik smiled as she launched herself into his waiting arms. Erik kissed her hard on the mouth as she clung to him. When they separated, Alex laughed.
"What is up with you?" Erik asked, smiling. "Not that I’m complaining."
"Oh, Erik! I get to plan a party for…guess who?" she asked. Erik thought about it.
"I give up. Who?"
"YOU! And Jacob and Dan and Trevor and Ashley!" Erik frowned.
"Why? What for?"
"The magazine and as a going away, good luck thing for you guys before the tour starts. Mr. Walsh asked me personally to arrange it." Alex was so excited she kissed Erik again. Erik smiled against her lips. He had to eventually let go so that he could breathe.
"That’s great. I’m always up for a party," he said.
"It’s gonna be the best party! I want to see if Maria will help me, too," Alex told her. Erik smiled. He couldn’t help it. Her excitement was contagious.
"Well, it just so happens that Maria is here. She’s staying for a couple of days until her mother leaves," he said. Alex looked confused.
"Maria’s mother is here? In Orlando?"
"Yeah and she took over Maria’s loft, so Jacob offered to let Maria stay here," Erik told her. "She was afraid that she would either go insane or physically hurt someone if she stayed there."
"God, that’s just what Maria needs," Alex said. "Where is she?"
"Um…probably Jake’s room. He’s in the guesthouse. I’ll show you." Erik led Alex out past the pool and up to Jacob’s room. Sure enough, Maria was sitting on the bed, her head in her hands, just staring straight ahead.
"Maria, you have a visitor," Erik said. Alex immediately noticed that something was wrong. Maria looked pissed.
"What’s wrong?" Alex asked. "Besides your maybe not having a job and the fact that your mom is in town." Maria sighed.
"Erik, can I speak to Alex alone?" Erik nodded and left. Alex closed the door.
"Nice décor," she said, looking at the octopus on the wall.
"Kyle called. He told me about this ‘offer’ that J Records made," Maria told her.
"I know. Susan told me about it. Mr. Walsh actually spoke with me about you and Jacob. He wanted to make sure that your relationship didn’t interfere with the job. You think it will?" Alex asked.
"I don’t need for Jacob to be getting me jobs, Alex. I can handle my own career. I don’t need handouts."
"Oh, come on. I’m sure if he did have anything to do with it, he didn’t want to make you mad or give you a ‘handout.’ He believes in your talent and he most likely thought that this would be a way for you guys to be together. I’d be happy about that," Alex said. "If I could go and be with Erik, I’d be happy."
"I should be happy, but still…I don’t want to get a job because of who I’m involved with. People will think, ‘Oh, she’s sleeping with Jacob Underwood, who’s in the group, that’s why she got the job.’ That’s not what I want." Maria stood up and went to the window. Alex looked at her.
"Why don’t you talk to Jacob about it. I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm." Maria nodded. She knew that he had been thinking of a way to get her to go on the tour with the group, but she didn’t like the way that it looked. She then realized that she still had the mic pack on. ‘Great. Now everyone who can hear me knows that I’m sleeping with Jacob,’ she thought.
"I need for you to help me plan a party," Alex then told her, smiling. Maria turned to look at her. "It’s for O-Town and it’s gonna be big!"
Jacob was tired as he walked into the house. Immediately, a camera was in his face. He looked right at it. "I’m home. I’m tired. I’m going to my room. Go away," he said before turning and heading for his room.
"Ouch. Don’t worry, Freddie, he’s just in a mood," Ashley said. He had been in the sitting room and had heard what Jacob had said. "I’d stay away from the guesthouse, though."
"You’re not supposed to talk to me, Ashley," Freddie said, exasperated.
"Sorry," Ashley said and resumed watching TV.
Trevor sighed when he noticed a camera had followed him to Dan’s room. "Dan? Can I talk to you?"
"Yeah, come in, Trev." Trevor walked in, the camera right behind him.
"Man, I wanted to talk in private," he said, sitting down on the bed. Dan had a guitar in his hands and he strummed it lightly.
"We don’t get any privacy, so you might as well just talk," he said. Trevor leaned back.
"I care about Maria, man, and it’s killing me because I know that she’s with Jake," he said. Dan glanced at the camera. He didn’t know if they should be discussing this on camera.
"Um…that’s a tough situation. You need to be careful," Dan told him.
"I know and it sucks because there are so many girls out there, but I happen to fall for the one who goes for Jake. I can’t help but feel jealous, you know? And I don’t want to feel that way. I don’t want this to get between Jake and me either because we’re close. It’s bad for the group, but I can’t help the way that I feel," Trevor said. Dan could tell that Trevor was on the verge of tears.
"Look, I’m sure that you’ll meet someone else and your feelings for Maria will change. Just give it some time and I’m sure everything will work out." Trevor nodded.
"I hope you’re right. Thanks, man," he said, slapping Dan’s hand. Dan smiled and watched as Trevor left his room. It would be bad if Trevor’s feelings didn’t change…very bad.
Jacob walked into his room and was surprised to see Alex there with Maria. He dropped his things on the floor and collapsed onto the bed.
"Well, I’ll just go find Erik," Alex said, making a hasty exit. Jacob groaned.
"I’m wiped. My throat is killing me," he said. Maria stood with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I was asked to be O-Town’s exclusive photographer on the tour," she said. Jacob picked his head up and he looked at her.
"Mike told me a little while ago. It’s great, isn’t it?" he asked, smiling. Maria frowned and bit her lip.
"You didn’t know?" she asked, incredulously. Jacob sat up and shook his head.
"Not until Mike told me. Why, what would it matter?" he asked.
"I don’t want to get any special treatment because I’m involved with you," Maria said. Jacob stood up.
"I had nothing to do with it," he told her. "Besides, what difference would it make if I had helped in getting you this job?"
"I don’t want to depend or rely on you for everything. I’m a very independent person, Jacob, and I won’t tolerate anyone running my career but me, do you understand?" she asked. Jacob’s jaw tightened.
"I didn’t do anything!" he said, his voice dangerously quiet. Maria could tell that he was trying to control his temper. "The record company saw how talented you are and wanted you for the tour. It had nothing to do with me! Don’t go accusing me of trying to, what? Run your career? That’s just stupid. Besides, I thought that you’d be happy to be going. That way we’d get to be together, but I guess you don’t want that, do you? Fine. Why don’t you just go home and be with your mother? I think she was right when she said that you were unbalanced." Jacob then stalked angrily out of the room and disappeared into the bathroom across the hall. Maria stood beside the bed.
"Shit," she said.
Alex located Erik’s room, thanks to Ashley’s directions, and knocked on the door. Erik opened the door and smiled when he saw her. He pulled her into the room. "Hurry up, this is currently a camera-free zone," he said, closing the door the minute Alex was in. She frowned.
"I noticed the camera at the studio yesterday. Is there something I have to do, like sign something?" Erik nodded.
"If you want to be on the show, there’s a contract, agreement thing that you have to sign," he said.
"Oh, okay. Erik, I also noticed that you didn’t kiss me in front of the camera."
"Yes I did."
"On the cheek. Do you not want anyone to know that we’re together?" Alex asked, her doubts about their relationship returning. Erik touched her cheek gently.
"It’s a tough situation. Fans can be mean and I don’t want you hurt," he said.
"I can take it," she said. Erik smiled.
"I’m sure that you can, but I don’t want you to. For now, we’ll just be friends…for the cameras," he said. Alex sighed.
"I guess that’s okay," she said. Erik nodded. He pulled her into a hug.
"It’s for the best. Trust me," he said. Alex put her arms around him. She did trust him, but her doubts still remained. And the fact that Carlos wanted to meet Erik scared her.