Chapter 9

"Jacob, stop," Maria said. Jacob had gone through the recreation room and now stood out by the pool, looking down into the water. "I’m sorry."

"For what? You keep apologizing, but…never mind. Just stop apologizing, okay? It’s over. You had your fun," he said crossly.

"No, it wasn’t like that. It’s Geoff, I…"

"I don’t care about that bastard and you shouldn’t either, but you can’t seem to let him go," Jacob said.

"That’s not true. You don’t know anything about my relationship with Geoff. He isn’t the monster that you keep seeing. I don’t know why he’s acting the way he is, but there must be a reason," she told him.

"I don’t care! If you’re so worried about him and the way he’s acting, go see him. Talk to him instead of telling him to get lost and playing stupid games," Jacob practically yelled at her. Maria frowned, turned and walked angrily back into the house. She probably deserved that, but the way that he had said it still made her angry. She had to find Geoff and talk to him.

Jacob watched Maria go. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from being attracted to her. He wanted her, but he refused to be her toy. He thought about Janie. Thinking about her didn’t cause him pain in his heart anymore. That was good because it meant that he was finally letting her go. Jacob wished that Maria would let Geoff go, though.

Orlando

Kevin and Kathleen had just finished lunch and were walking to their cars when Kevin’s cell phone rang.

"Start talking," he answered.

"Hey, it’s me," Geoff said, sounding horrible.

"Dude, where are you? I’ve tried calling you about five times in the last half hour," Kevin told him. Kathleen mouthed ‘Geoff?’ and Kevin nodded.

"The shit’s hit the fan." Geoff laughed humorlessly.

"What happened?" Kevin asked.

"Man, it was bad. It was really bad. I shouldn’t have come here. Why did I come here?" Geoff yelled. Kevin frowned.

"What happened?" he asked again.

"Where the hell do I start? Maria told me to get lost several times. She didn’t want to see me or talk to me. Then, she threw a drink in my face and I caught her making out with one of those boy band members and I got into a fight with him and accidentally hit Maria in the face," Geoff said. Kevin was shocked. Kathleen was beyond curious as to what Geoff had said. Judging from the look on Kevin’s face, it had been interesting.

"You hit her?" Kevin asked. Kathleen frowned.

"It was an accident," Geoff moaned. "I was trying to hit the bastard that she was all over. Man, it was just…bad."

"Who won the fight?" Kevin asked.

"It wasn’t that big a deal," Geoff answered quickly. Kevin guessed that Geoff had lost. He wondered how badly Geoff had lost.

"Where are you staying?" Kevin then asked him.

"A hotel. I’m coming home tonight," Geoff answered.

"I told you not to go chasing after her," Kevin said.

"I know you did, but when did I ever listen to you? I’ll be back tonight, so I’ll see you then," Geoff told him.

"Yeah, okay. I’m sorry, man, that things didn’t work out," Kevin said.

"Thanks. I’ll see you later."

"Bye." Kevin hung up. Kathleen was looking at him with a ‘well?’ look on her face.

"Well?" she finally asked.

"What?" Kevin said with a smile. Kathleen hit him on the arm.

"What do you mean, ‘What?’ Tell me what happened," she said. "He hit her?"

"It was an accident. Apparently, he caught her kissing one of the guys in the band and went to hit him, but hit Maria instead. He said it was a bad scene," Kevin told her.

"Maria kissed one of the guys in the band?" Kathleen couldn’t help but smile. She wondered which one. "I bet it was the one with the dreads that she danced with at the party. It couldn’t have been Ashley. She’s not into ‘pretty’ guys, although, Geoff is kinda ‘pretty.’ But that dreaded guy didn’t seem to like her." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Do you know what you sound like?" he asked.

"What? I’m just dying to know what’s been going on with my best friend, that’s all. It sucks being away from her for so long," Kathleen said. "And you need to keep your best friend under control. This is the second time in, like, two months that he’s physically hurt her. Accidental or not, it has to stop." Kevin nodded. He agreed with that. Geoff was a little out of control and if he wasn’t careful, it could lead to bigger problems.

"So, do you want to go to dinner?" Kevin asked, smiling. Kathleen frowned.

"Lunch and dinner? What’s the special occasion?" she asked.

"I like your company?" Kevin asked. Kathleen smiled.

"Fine. Sure. Pick me up at seven," she said and walked to her car. Kevin watched her go. Well, at least Maria and Geoff’s screwed up relationship was helping him out in the dating department.

San Francisco

"Every six seconds/ My body starts begging/ Your sweet thing is wreckin’ me/ Until you give me some/ Ten times a minute/ Six hundred times an hour/ Another cold shower/ Until you give me some/ Every six…"

"Stop," Dan said, breathing heavily. "Something’s off." The group was rehearsing on the stage at the performance venue. The Mikes had gotten them permission to use the stage. The guys wanted to replace ‘Take Me Under’ with ‘Every Six Seconds’ for a change.

Jacob looked at his feet. It was him. He was ‘off’ and he knew it. "You okay, Jake?" Dan asked. ‘No. Not really,’ was how he wanted to answer.

"I’m fine," he said, twisting back and forth. "Maybe a little stiff." His head hurt, too. He wiped the sweat that was sliding into his cut and winced.

"You look pale, dude. Why don’t you rest a minute?" Erik asked. Jacob looked at him.

"I’m fine, Erik. Come on, we need to practice this," he said. The dizziness that suddenly came over him was unexpected. Erik saw Jacob sway and he caught his arm before he actually fell.

"You’re not fine. Come sit down," he said. Jacob didn’t argue. He sat on a chair and Trevor brought him a bottle of water. Jacob drank some water, his head hanging down as the dizziness passed.

"My head, it just hurts," he said, his head still down, his eyes closed.

"What’s going on?" Mike M. asked when he saw the guys all crowded around Jacob, who was sitting in a chair.

"Jacob’s not feeling well," Ashley said. Jacob looked up and glared at him. Mike came over and knelt in front of the chair that Jacob was sitting on.

"I’m taking you to a doctor. Don’t argue with me. I don’t know the details of what went on last night, but that doesn’t matter. Your health does. Come on," he said as he stood up. Jacob sighed and reluctantly followed him. He wiped his face with a towel and threw it aside angrily. The guys watched them go.

"Do you think this has anything to do with Maria?" Ashley asked.

"I don’t think she can make him get dizzy," Erik said. "He looks sick to me."

"Man, Jacob’s taking a beating on this trip, huh?" Trevor asked.

"Where are you going?" Dianna asked Maria as she watched her pull on a short sleeve black button down shirt over her tank top.

"I have to go out," was all Maria said. She slipped on a pair of black sandals and grabbed her bag. Alex came into the bedroom and frowned. A light went on over her head as she realized where Maria was going.

"Oh, no you don’t! You are not going to see him," Alex said firmly, grabbing Maria’s bag from her. Maria grabbed it back.

"I have to. It’s the only way to end all of this shit that’s going on. He traveled across the damn country to find me. I can’t just let him go all beat up and hurt back to Orlando without at least hearing him out," she said as she pushed by Alex and headed for the front door. Marilyn had told her that she could borrow her Volkswagen. She grabbed the keys off of the counter.

"Maria, you’re making a mistake," Alex called after her, but Maria ignored her. She got in the car and headed for the hotel that she knew Geoff was staying at. It hadn’t been hard to track him down. The desk clerk clearly remembered a guy with bruises all over his face checking in late last night. What Maria would say to Geoff…she had no clue.

Alex returned to the bedroom. She looked at Dianna and shook her head.

"Sometimes that girl drives me crazy," she said, throwing herself down on her bed. Dianna laughed. Alex sat up a little. "I think she should go for Jacob like she did last night. I mean, the guy is cool and he really likes her."

"So does Trevor," Dianna said. Alex looked at her.

"I know. That’s kinda bad, but he could see that Maria likes Jacob."

"He wants me to ‘interrogate’ Jacob during Jacob’s next treatment. I don’t think Jacob will say anything to me, though," Dianna told her. Alex smiled.

"Maybe he will. I guess Jacob won’t tell the guys anything. He might tell you how he feels if you ask him the right way," she said. Dianna shrugged.

"I don’t want to pry into his personal business, though. He seems like a very private guy and I don’t want to ruin the therapist/client relationship we’ve developed," she said.

"Yeah. I understand. Well then, just tell Trevor to ask Jacob himself," Alex said. She jumped from the bed and took a binder from her bag. She had to find outfits for the guys to wear for their group photo shoot…if Maria ever got around to it, that is.

Maria walked into the lobby of the hotel. She inquired about Geoff and the desk clerk called up to inform him that someone was there to see him.

"You can go up. It’s room 213," the clerk said with a smile. Maria nodded.

"Thank you," she said. She located the room and took a deep breath before knocking. The door opened and Maria was shocked by Geoff’s appearance. His face looked very bad. It was very bruised and beaten. "My God," she breathed. Geoff managed a small laugh.

"What? I thought you’d love seeing me like this," he said as he moved aside for Maria to pass him. She walked into the room and saw his packed suitcase on the bed. "I’m leaving in a little while. You just caught me. I’m going home. It should give you a reason to celebrate, at least."

"Stop it, Geoff. I’m very confused. You cheated on me. And now you come all the way out here to get me to forgive you. Why?"

"Because after I…did that, I realized that it was the biggest mistake I could’ve ever made and I didn’t want to lose you. I love you, Maria. That’s the truth. I’m sorry for what I did, but I was feeling neglected and unloved and you acted like it was normal to treat me like I wasn’t even there. It hurt me, so I wanted to hurt you," he told her.

"Oh? And what was threatening Kathleen then?" she asked.

"That was stupid. I panicked when I saw her there. I didn’t want you to know what I’d done and I didn’t know how to get her not to tell you."

"You’re right, it was stupid. I don’t know you anymore, Geoff. It just, it’s not right. You and me…we aren’t right together anymore. Our lives are going in two different directions." Geoff gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, yours is headed right on top of that guy with the dreads," he said. Maria frowned.

"Don’t say it like that. I wasn’t using him to make you jealous," she said.

"Yeah, right. I’m sure that’s what he thinks. He did the hero act rather nicely, though," Geoff said, touching his split lip gently.

"You’re the one who hit me. He was protecting me."

"It was an accident! I’m sorry. When I saw you kissing him, it hurt like hell, Maria. I love you and I don’t want to see you with another guy," he said.

"Well that’s too bad! You did it to yourself by betraying me. I don’t love you, Geoff. I never did and I never will."

"That’s great. So, what…you love that guy that you’ve only known for two months, if that?" he asked angrily.

"I don’t really know how I feel about him, but I know that I have feelings for him," Maria told him. Geoff shook his head. He went over and picked up his suitcase.

"Then I wish you all the best. Let me know when you manage to get him into bed. I’ll send you a ‘congratulations’ card," he snarled. Maria turned away. She didn’t want to inflict any more physical damage to his already damaged face. The door slammed and she walked to the window, looking down at the city below.

The group wearily entered the house. Jacob had never returned to practice and the guys were worried about him. Alex came running when she heard them.

"Hi. Where’s Jacob?" she asked.

"Well, Mike brought him to see a doctor about an hour ago and he never came back to practice," Erik answered.

"Is he okay?" Alex asked. Ashley shrugged.

"He got, like, dizzy at practice and was really pale," he said.

"Maria went to see Geoff. When she came back, she locked herself in the study and has been in there ever since," Alex told them.

"I think it’s a good thing that she’s going to Connecticut for a few days. She just needs to relax. Especially after everything that happened last night," Dan said. They headed for the recreation room to rest until it was time to go to the show.

Trevor located the study and knocked lightly on the door. "Maria? It’s Trevor. Can I come in?" After a minute, the click of the lock was heard and the door opened. Maria sat back down on the floor. She had her drawing of O-Town in front of her and her paints beside it. Trevor smiled. "Wow. That’s great. You are very talented."

"Thanks," Maria said. "I’m not going to the show tonight. I have to finish some work that I should’ve had done already." Trevor nodded.

"That’s cool. You do what you feel you have to do. We’re gonna miss you when you leave though, even if it’s only for a couple of days," he said, smiling. Maria smiled up at him.

"Thanks again, Trevor. I guess I’ve messed up some things pretty well, huh?"

"Nah, it wasn’t your fault that your boyfriend showed up."

"I shouldn’t have kissed Jacob," she said. Trevor looked at her closely wondering if she really meant that.

"You wanted to, though, right? I saw it, Maria, and you put the moves but good on him," Trevor said with a sad smile. Maria shook her head.

"It was a game…at first. I don’t know. Once I was kissing him, it was like, I didn’t want to stop," she said. Trevor looked down.

"You must have feelings for him then," he said. Maria nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I just don’t know what to do about them, though," she said and sighed.

"You could forget them and go out with me," Trevor said hopefully. Maria looked up at him and laughed. She stood up and hugged him. Trevor held her close. She’d never go for him. She had it bad for Jake. He knew that, but it still hurt.

"You’re sweet, Trevor," she said. Trevor smiled at her and Maria could see a little hurt in his eyes. "Come on, let’s see what the others are doing," she said, taking his hand.

Jacob and Mike M. entered the house and walked to the recreation room where they found everyone hanging out. Ashley was watching TV with Erik. Dan, Dianna and Alex were playing pool, while Maria and Mike C. sat at the bar. Maria had her notebook opened in front of her. Trevor was behind the bar talking on his cell phone. They all looked up when Jacob and Mike entered.

"Jacob will not be performing tonight, guys," Mike M. said in a lazy drawl.

"Why not? What’s wrong?" Ashley asked.

"I’ve got some kind of virus that causes dizzy spells and just makes me feel like shit really," Jacob said as he slowly made his way over to one of the chairs and sat down.

"What about your eye?" Maria asked. His cut now had a white bandage over it. Mike M. answered when Jacob didn’t.

"He didn’t need stitches, but the doctor cleaned it up. He’ll be okay," he said. Maria looked at Jacob. He didn’t look good. ‘This is all my fault,’ she couldn’t help but think. Taking her notebook, she left the room. Jacob looked over and watched her go. Mike M. followed her. Alex walked over to Jacob.

"Maria went to see Geoff," she stated. Jacob shook his head.

"So?" he said.

"It appears to be over between them," she told him.

"So?" he said again. Alex gave up and went back to the pool game. The other guys didn’t say anything…they knew better than to bother Jacob when he was in one of his ‘moods.’

After everyone had left for the performance, Maria came out of the study where she’d locked herself up again. She needed some privacy…that was all. Time to think and time to just be alone.

"Honey? Marilyn and I won’t be late. We’re just going to dinner with some friends," Joseph said when he saw her. "If you’re hungry, there are some leftovers and frozen dinners."

"My favorite kinds of food," Maria said, rolling her eyes. Joseph hugged her tightly.

"I love you, sweetheart," he said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, too, dad," she said.

"If Jacob is hungry, he can have whatever, too," Joseph said, smiling. Maria had forgotten that Jacob was still there.

"Did one of the Mikes stay?" she asked. Joseph shook his head.

"No, but they won’t be late, right? It’s probably better to have you here if Jacob is sick," he said and after waving once more, he left the house with Marilyn. ‘Great. I’m home alone with Jacob,’ Maria thought. She heard a guitar and followed the sound to the recreation room where Jacob was sprawled out on the couch, playing. Maria walked over and sat on one of the chairs. She leaned back and closed her eyes, just listening to the music. Jacob looked at her. He didn’t know what was going on. With Janie, there were never any games or hidden feelings. Jacob knew how he had felt about her and he had told her. With Maria, though, it was much more complicated.

"I feel like throwing something," Maria suddenly said, her eyes still closed. "I feel like breaking something. I have anger that I want to let out. How should I do that without destroying my father’s stuff?" She opened her eyes and looked at Jacob. She smiled. "I’ll go swimming," she said. Running from the room, she appeared a few minutes later in a silver and blue one-piece swimsuit. "Are you allowed to swim?" she asked.