Chapter 30

Later that evening, Ashley waited anxiously in the lobby of the hotel with Mike C. and a cameraman, who was filming. "Where is she?" he asked Mike.

"For the millionth time, she’ll be here," Mike told him, rolling is eyes. "Her plane was probably delayed or something." Ashley nodded and paced the lobby, avoiding looking at some fans who were standing by the doors staring at him.

A limo pulled up outside the hotel and Ashley smiled when he saw the familiar head of brown hair with dark red highlights. He hurried out to help her with her things.

"Emily!" Ashley called. Emily turned around and smiled at Ashley, who hugged her tightly when he reached her. Mike came out behind Ashley, as did the MTB camera. "I’ve been waiting forever for you." Ashley smiled down at her. Emily was happy to see him. She had missed him more than she thought. He looked a little tired, but as good as he always looked. She still couldn’t believe that she’d had sex with him.

"Yeah, well, traveling is a bitch," she said. Ashley laughed and leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips.

"I’ve missed you," he said, softly. Emily’s face became hot. "We need to talk," he added. Emily agreed, but wasn’t looking forward to their discussion.

"Come on, you two, let’s go," Mike ordered, as fans began to appear. They went into the lobby and made their way up to the floor that the band was staying on. "I got you a room down the hall." Mike handed Emily a key and she smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said.

"You can always share with me," Ashley said. Mike shot him an, ‘I don’t think so’ look. Ashley laughed. "Just kidding, Mike. Don’t have a heart attack." Mike just shook his head and walked to his room.

Ashley followed Emily to her room. She went in and Ashley placed her suitcase on the bed. "This is beautiful," she remarked, looking around.

"So are you," Ashley said. Emily turned to him and he walked over to her, gently putting his hands on her face. Slowly, he brought his mouth to hers, kissing her tenderly. Emily held onto to him and deepened the kiss, moaning when their tongues made contact. Ashley pulled away, his face flushed, his eyes bright. "Emily…"

"No, don’t talk, Ashley," she said as she pulled him to her again, her arms wrapping around his neck as she kissed him passionately. Ashley smiled against her lips. He reluctantly pulled away.

"Wait, Emily, we have to talk a minute," he said. Emily nodded slightly.

"Okay, talk," she said, not taking her arms from around his neck.

"What’s going on between us? I got the feeling that you regretted…"

"No, I didn’t regret anything," Emily interrupted. "I was just surprised that I got so carried away with you that night, but I wanted it to happen." Ashley smiled.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I’m not sure about getting involved with you, but I know that I want you. I’ll just have to deal with the publicity and attention." She looked unconvinced that she’d be able to do that.

"I don’t ever want you feeling, like, uncomfortable when you’re with me," Ashley told her.

"I just don’t want to be hated by your fans. Face it, you’re the most popular member of the group and I’ve heard stories about how fans treat pop stars’ girlfriends. I don’t want to be disliked by strangers." Ashley kissed her forehead.

"Maria isn’t hated," he said.

"She’s strong enough to not let things like that bother her. Frankly, I don’t know how she does it," Emily told him. Ashley smiled.

"You’re strong, too. I promise, I won’t let anyone hurt you," he said and leaned in to kiss her lightly. Emily hugged him tightly. Ashley smiled. The tour had just gotten a whole lot better.

Erik knocked on Jacob’s door. It opened and Alex was standing before him. "Why are you still here?" Erik asked, irritably. He saw Jacob sleeping on his bed. Alex pulled Erik into the room.

"Be quiet and let him sleep. He’s not having an easy time right now," she said.

"No one is," Erik mumbled. He looked at Alex. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yes. He’s confused, Erik. It really hurt him that you made him choose between the band and Maria. He’s being pulled in two different directions and that’s not fair."

"I’m sorry if he’s upset and maybe I was a bit harsh, but a choice had to be made. The band has to come first. When Maria has the baby, then, of course, Jake should be with her, but he’s got to concentrate on the band right now," Erik told her. Alex sighed. She was tired of dealing with this.

"I know what you’re saying. It’s just the way that you said it sucked," she said. Erik smiled slightly.

"Does that mean that you’re not mad at me anymore?" he asked, running a finger down her cheek.

"Maybe. I don’t know yet," Alex said.

"Will you guys shut up!" Jacob’s scratchy voice said. Alex laughed.

"Sorry. We’re going now. See you tomorrow," she said, walking over and pulling on one of his curls. Jacob reached up and took her hand.

"Thanks, Al," he said. She smiled down at him.

"No problem." After he dropped her hand, Alex and Erik left the room. Erik frowned.

"You guys look cozy," he remarked. Alex just smiled and began to walk to her room. Erik reached out and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply right there---in the middle of the hallway. Alex clung to Erik, missing their closeness. She accidentally pushed too hard on his shoulder, causing him to wince and let her go.

"I’m sorry," she said, her face falling.

"It’s okay and it’s not your fault what happened," he told her, not liking the look of guilt on her beautiful face. Alex nodded. She kissed him quickly once more before she headed to the room she was sharing with Kristi. Erik sighed as he watched her go. He wished that she’d talk about the shooting with him, but she hadn’t said a word. He turned and went to his room. If she wanted to talk, she knew where to find him---he wasn’t going to force her.

March 6^th

Orlando

Maria got out of bed at around 10 a.m., had some breakfast, and was now sitting at her computer. She tried not to do what she wanted to do, but it didn’t work. She ended up at the Destination O-Town website. She had registered and logged into the message board forum as ‘PictureChick.’ She scrolled to the ‘Articles and Interviews’ section and clicked on it.

A transcript from an interview that she hadn’t attended was posted. The interview had been done on February 16^th, but it hadn’t been shown in Germany on VIVA until just a couple of days ago. Maria sipped her cup of tea and read through the transcript. Jacob had been in a good mood. Maria could tell because of the way he answered the questions. She got to a part of the transcript where the guys had discussed Ashley’s fall in Ireland:

Voiceover: Ashley, Jacob, Erik, Dan and Trevor bewitched the 3,000 strong crowd in Cologne with a perfect live show. But not every show goes without a hitch for O-Town.

Maria smiled as she read. She then went to the ‘General Discussion’ board to see if there was anything new there. She noticed a thread that said, ‘Jacob’s girlfriend.’ Maria didn’t want to look. After the episode of Making The Band that had aired on Saturday, she didn’t want to know what the fans thought of her. She logged out and sighed.

"Wow, you’re up!" Sarah exclaimed as she entered Maria’s small office, which was next to the guestroom.

"Yes, I am. I’m actually feeling better," Maria said.

"Wanna go shopping?" Sarah asked, smiling. Maria thought about it. It had been a long time since she’d splurged on any new clothes or jewelry for herself.

"Sure. Mind if I call Kathleen to see if she wants to come?" Maria asked as she stood up. Sarah shook her head.

"No, call her. I’ll go get dressed." Sarah was always up for shopping. Maria smiled as she went to call Kathleen.

Monaco

4 p.m.

"You can’t be serious," Alex said.

"What’s wrong?" Erik asked.

"I saw your outfits for the awards show tonight and they’re horrible. You have to dress up, it’s the World Music Awards for God’s sake!" she exclaimed.

"We don’t want to pretend we’re something we’re not. We want to look like the ‘all-American boys’ that we are," Erik told her. Alex rolled her eyes.

"You’re gonna look sloppy," she insisted.

"We’re gonna look ‘real,’" Erik argued. Alex gave up.

"Fine, whatever. As long as you guys are getting along, I don’t give a crap what you wear," she said. Erik hugged her.

"Jake’s been cool these last couple of days. Whatever you said to him worked."

"I was calm with him and didn’t attack him like you did. Have you apologized yet?" Alex asked, pulling away from him.

"Not yet. I will, though. He’s seemed to cool down, so hopefully we’ll be able to have a civilized conversation with no yelling."

"I’d love to see that," Alex told him. Erik smiled and kissed her. He released her and nodded. "Everything will be fine…you’ll see."

Jacob went to Ashley’s room. Emily opened the door and just stared at him. "Hi, Emily. Is Ash here somewhere?" he asked with a smile. Emily just turned and walked into the room. Jacob caught the door before it closed. "Okay, I’ll come in," he muttered.

"Jake, what time do we have to be ready?" Ashley asked, pulling a tee shirt over his head.

"Do I look like Dan?" Jacob asked back. Ashley smiled.

"How are you doing?" he then asked him. Jacob glanced at Emily, who was looking out the window.

"I feel like crap because of what I did to Maria, but I can’t take it back," he answered. "How is she?" he asked Emily, who turned to look at him.

"She came home devastated. I’ll admit, she didn’t tell me what you did, but the way that she looked, I can guess that it wasn’t good. How could you hurt her like that? She didn’t want to get pregnant, Jacob, it just happened. You can’t leave her now," Emily told him.

"I’m not leaving her! I just told her that she would be better off home, that’s all. The stress and everything was getting to me and I didn’t want it to get to her, too---especially because of her condition," Jacob said.

"Well, she’s not less stressed now---she’s miserable!" Emily shouted. She calmed down. "Look, I don’t want to fight with you. If you feel better without Maria here, fine, but you hurt her and I just hope you feel guilty," she told him right before she went into the bathroom.

"I do feel guilty, if that makes you feel better," Jacob called to her. Ashley shook his head. He went over to Jacob and placed his hands on his band mate’s shoulders.

"Dude. You and Maria are going to get through this! The band is going to get through this! And we’re all gonna come out of it as friends." Jacob smiled at him.

"I hope you’re right," he said. "You know, I’ve been praying every night for His guidance and it’s helped."

"Good. If anyone can help you, He will. Now, let’s find out when the heck we have to go tonight," Ashley said, pulling Jacob with him to the door.

Orlando

1:15 p.m.

Maria, Sarah and Kathleen were just leaving the mall. Sarah wanted to drive the jeep, so Maria let her. Kathleen sat in back. It was a warm day, so the top was off of the jeep. Maria turned on the radio as Sarah backed out of the parking space.

"Maria, can I ask you something?" Sarah asked, not looking at her.

"Sure," Maria said.

"Um, well, I was wondering, uh, what’s it like, you know, to have sex?" Sarah asked. Maria looked back at Kathleen, who couldn’t hide a smile. She then looked at Sarah.

"Why?" she asked.

"No reason," Sarah said quickly. "I was just wondering."

"Are you seeing someone?" Maria asked, frowning.

"No, I was just wondering," Sarah said, still not looking at her sister.

"She wants to know what it’s like to have sex with Jacob," Kathleen said, laughing. Sarah blushed.

"No, I don’t!" she protested loudly. "Shut up, Kathleen!" Maria shook her head.

"I’m not gonna go there with you," she told Sarah.

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"Because. I don’t want to discuss my sex life with you. Face it, you still have a crush on Jacob and I’m not going to fulfill some fantasy of yours by giving you visuals of what it’s like to have sex with him," Maria told her.

"Why?" Sarah asked. Kathleen started laughing hysterically. Maria turned up volume on the radio. She closed her eyes and listened as Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx came on. Maria turned it up louder:

Oceans apart day after day/ And I slowly go insane/ I hear your voice on the line/ But it doesn’t stop the pain/ If I see you next to never/ How can we say forever/ Wherever you go/ Whatever you do/ I will be right here waiting for you/ Whatever it takes/ Or how my heart breaks/ I will be right here waiting for you/ I took for granted, all the times/ That I thought would last somehow/ I hear the laughter, I taste the tears/ But I can’t get near you now/ Oh, can’t you see it baby/ You’ve got me goin’ crazy/ Wherever you go/ Whatever you do/ I will be right here waiting for you/ Whatever it takes/ Or how my heart breaks/ I will be right here waiting for you/ I wonder how we can survive/ This romance/ But in the end if I’m with you/ I’ll take the chance/ Oh, can’t you see it baby/ You’ve got me goin’ crazy/ Wherever you go/ Whatever you do/ I will be right here waiting for you/ Whatever it takes/ Or how my heart breaks/ I will be right here waiting for you (‘Right Here Waiting’ by Richard Marx).

Maria turned down the music and wiped tears from her eyes. Kathleen put her hand on her shoulder. "It’ll be alright. He’ll be back soon," Kathleen said, knowing that Maria was missing Jacob terribly.

"I’ll be okay," Maria said, softly. "It’s just hard. I really miss him." Sarah stopped at a red light at a four-way intersection and looked over at Maria.

"Jacob won’t desert you, Maria. He loves you and he will be home soon," Sarah said. Maria nodded and smiled.

"I know. I’m just surprised that he asked me to leave," she said. "But, like you said, he’ll be back in four days. I’ll see him then."

Sarah switched the radio to a station that was playing Bon Jovi’s, Livin’ On A Prayer, and she smiled, cranking up the volume. The light turned green and Sarah started forward. A horn blared behind her and Sarah frowned, looking in the rearview mirror. A guy was gesturing wildly to the left. Sarah turned, froze and then screamed when she saw a pickup truck bearing down on the jeep.

Maria looked over when Sarah screamed. She realized what was about to happen and braced herself as the speeding truck hit them, but she wasn’t prepared for the impact. The truck ran the red light and crashed forcefully into the jeep. It pushed them into a bus that was waiting at the other side of the intersection. Maria felt intense pain as she was pushed into the front of the bus. Sarah had been jolted sideways and was now leaning against Maria, who was being crushed. Maria felt a warm wetness running down her face. She was dizzy, but refused to pass out. She had to help Sarah. She had to help her baby.

Miguel was making his way home when he thought he saw Maria’s jeep up ahead of him at the intersection. He looked closer and noticed that she was in the passenger seat. He couldn’t make out who was driving and there was a familiar-looking blonde girl in the back seat. What happened next, he’d never forget. The light turned green. The jeep slowly started forward and that’s when a navy blue pickup truck came flying through the red light, hitting the jeep hard and pushing it with a screech of crushing metal and squealing tires into a bus that was at the other red light across the intersection. He saw frightened witnesses immediately getting out of their cars. About five people were already on their cell phones, presumably calling 911.

Miguel jumped from his car and ran to the accident. The blonde had been thrown from the jeep on impact and was lying in the street. She was unconscious and already had several people around her, trying to help her. Miguel felt tears come to his eyes when he saw the jeep. It had been crushed like an accordion. He ran closer. That’s when he recognized Sarah. She must be related to Maria. No wonder she looked so much like her. He had noticed the resemblance the night he had met her. She was probably her sister. And the blonde had also been with her at Planet Hollywood that night.

Sarah was lying almost on top of Maria. Sarah’s seatbelt was still on, digging into her side, but she had been thrown against Maria anyway. Sarah was unconscious and her face and arms were bleeding profusely. Her left leg was twisted at an impossible angle Miguel tried to get closer. He pushed through a couple of men. He smelled gasoline and hoped that a gas tank wasn’t leaking. Even if it was, he didn’t care---he had to help them.

"Move! I know them!" he yelled. "Maria!" he couldn’t get close enough. The jeep was sandwiched between the van and the bus. The bus driver had gotten out to see if he could help. "Get help!" Miguel yelled to anyone who could hear. He was frantic to help them, but how?

Finally, unable to just stand there without doing anything, he climbed carefully through the wreckage and onto the jeep. He didn’t want to move Sarah or Maria and risk further injury to them. "Maria! Can you hear me?" he asked. Maria moaned. "Maria, it’s Miguel! You’re gonna be okay." Miguel could already hear sirens.

"My baby," Maria moaned. Miguel frowned and looked around for a baby.

"What?" he asked.

"My baby. Please, help my baby," she said weakly, tears sliding down her bloody face. Miguel then remembered that Alex had told him that Maria was pregnant.

"It’s okay. Help is coming," Miguel told her.

"Jacob. I love him so much. I love him," Maria said. "Jacob…" she whispered his name once more and lost consciousness.

Monaco

7:30 p.m. [AN: I don’t know what time the awards were actually taped, so I’m going to make it 8 p.m. Monaco time]

O-Town was backstage at the World Music Awards. They had done their sound check earlier and were just hanging out. Alex was off looking for Enrique Iglesias, much to Erik’s annoyance.

"Who’s hosting again?" Dan asked.

"Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mark McGrath and Shaggy," Mike M. answered.

"Mark is cool," Ashley said, smiling. "Hey, Erik, does Alex still hate our clothes?" he asked, looking at him.

"Yes. She thinks we look like American slobs," he said, rolling his eyes.

Jacob laughed as he put a yellow baseball cap on backwards. "I’m not dressing up," he said.

"She thinks that since we’re representing the U.S. of A, we need to look ‘presentable,’" Erik said. Jacob shrugged.

"Whatever," he said. He was getting along better with the guys. He had decided not to fight with them anymore. He was part of the group and couldn’t let his personal life interfere with his work. ‘I’ll talk to Maria when I get home,’ he thought.