"Be strong. You can do it. Don't be nervous," Nick said to himself. He had decided to confront Destiny about what he'd seen the day before. Though he still wasn't upset about it, he needed to know why she felt she had to lie to him, or at least hide things from him. That was what bothered him. Did she not trust him enough to tell him the truth? If she couldn't be open and honest with him, what kind of relationship could they possibly have?
He was trying to rehearse what to say as he drove. But, he couldn't seem to find the right words. He wanted to let her know that her lack of confidence in him really bothered him without making her feel that he was angry.
Still searching for words, Nick pulled into the park. He sat there a while thinking and watching joggers pass by every little bit.
"Ok, Carter," he started. "What exactly is it that you want to say?"
He rubbed his chin, trying to will the words to his brain. As he sat there, racking his brain, another group of joggers passed by. He hadn't really been paying much attention to them. But, as this last group passed, he noticed there was one lone runner lagging back from the rest of the pack. He smiled, thinking this poor guy must be out of shape. But, the closer the runner got, he realized it wasn't a guy at all. As she passed his car, she turned to look at him, her eyes catching his. He felt that familiar pain deep in his chest as she passed. His heart began to race and his breathing quickened as he fully realized who it was.
Nick sat motionless in his car, battling his emotions on whether he should run after her or not. He finally decided he had better take this chance while he had it. Once out of the car, he saw that the girl was several hundred feet in front of him. He began to run, slowly at first, then picking up his pace. As he got closer and closer to her, he called out to her.
"Stop!" he cried. "Stop, please!"
She didn't stop. It was like she hadn't even heard him.
He knew they'd be coming up on the main part of the park soon, where the crowd usually was. If he was going to catch her, he had to do something now.
"Wait! Please.... stop!"
Still nothing.
He gave it one last try.
"Caitlyn.... Please stop!!" he cried.
Finally, he saw the girl slowing down. He came upon her as she began to turn around. Her hair was a little longer, but he was sure it was her. The way she moved, the way her eyes twinkled, the soft smile on her lips.
But, as she turned to face him, he realized this was not the girl he had seen... or at least not the girl he thought he had seen.
"Uh.... I'm....uh... I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else," he said, turning to walk away, thoroughly embarrassed.
Tears began to fill his eyes and spill out as he walked slowly back to his car. He had been so sure it was her. He had seen her.... she looked right at him. How could she just keep going like that? Or had she even really been there?
Once back inside the safety of his car, Nick picked up his cell phone and began to dial.
"Hello," he said, his voice shaky. "This is Nick Carter. I need to speak to Dr. Grant. It's an emergency."
As he sat on hold, he ran his fingers through his hair, and tried to shake the visions from his head. It had been so clear. She was right there.... close enough to touch.... almost.
"This is Dr. Grant. Everything ok, Nickolas?" he asked, through his thick German accent.
"No, doc, it isn't."
"Ok. Tell me what happened," he said.
"I saw her," he stated.
"You saw who? The girl from before? The one you've told me about?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," he answered. "I saw her. I even followed her. But, when I got to her.....,"
"It wasn't her?" the doctor finished.
"No. It wasn't," he said regretfully.
"Don't worry. That happens all the time. It's fairly common. But, tell me. Have you been under any added stress lately?"
"Actually, I have," he said, the image of Destiny and AJ flashing through his mind. "But, what does that have to do with it?"
"Your mind associates this girl with feelings of safety and comfort. That's why you saw her. Your mind created the image of her as a way to deal with this added stress."
"But, doc, I'm telling you, she was there. She was real," he argued.
"I know it felt like it, Nickolas. It's like this. Drug addicts become addicted to the high the drug gives them... that 'false sense of well being'. Because of the history you share with this girl, your mind associates her with that same kind of false sense... the sense of comfort, happiness."
"But, the only feelings I've associated with her has been pain."
"Maybe on the surface all you see is pain. But, because you haven't dealt with that pain, it is hiding all the emotions you ever felt for her. And deep down, they are still there. Your mind is playing on those emotions to try and give you a way out of this new stress."
"Ok, then, doc, if that is the case, tell me how I deal with this. What if I see her again?"
"You have to take control of your mind.... stop letting it control you. When you see these visions, you have to remind yourself that it isn't real. That SHE isn't real."
"Well, I'll try, but this vision was so real I'm not sure I can do that."
"You have to try, Nickolas. If you have any more problems, feel free to call me... day or night."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile at Destiny's....
"So, how'd the tour go?" Faith asked.
"It was good, for the most part," Destiny replied.
"Uh, oh. What's wrong?"
"What makes you think anything is wrong?"
"I can tell by that tone. Now, spill it."
"Ok. But, you have to promise you can't tell ANYONE about this. You promise?"
"I promise. Now what is it?"
"Here goes," Des sighed. "Nick, being a man, of course saved the bedroom for last. Well, once in there, he made a move, and one thing lead to another, and we found ourselves in the middle of a heated make out session."
"Ok. Sounds good so far," Faith laughed.
"Well, during this makeout session, my cell phone rang."
"You didn't stop to answer did you?"
"Yes, but that's not the worst part," Destiny admitted. "I had to answer it. I was afraid it might be someone from work."
"So, was it?"
"Not exactly. It was AJ."
"AJ?? What did he want? And what did Nick think of him interrupting you two?"
"I didn't exactly tell him who it was," she said, cringing already waiting for Faith's response.
"What?!? What do you mean you didn't exactly tell him? What exactly did you tell him?"
"One question at a time. AJ said he needed to talk to me, and asked if I could meet him."
"And?" Faith asked, waiting for the rest of the answer.
"AND, I told him I'd be right there. Nick just assumed it was work, so I didn't correct him. I just let him think that. So, see, I didn't exactly lie to him."
"True. You just didn't tell the truth is all," Faith retorted.
"I know, I know. I feel bad enough about it already. I don't need you coming down on me too. I can't imagine how angry he will be when I tell him."
"Tell him?!? You're gonna tell him?"
"Yeah. I have to," she answered.
"I think that would be a huge mistake."
"And why's that?" Destiny asked.
"Nothing happened did it?" Faith asked.
"You mean between me and AJ? NO! Of course not."
"Well, see. You didn't go to meet him with any kind of intentions like that, did you?"
"Of course not," she replied.
"So, why tell him and upset him for nothing," Faith replied. "I think it would just be best not to say anything. No one saw you, so you have nothing to worry about."
"Well, that's something else," Destiny admitted.
"Uh oh. That doesn't sound good. What else is there?"
"Ok. You really have to promise not to tell anyone... I mean ANYONE - not even Howie.... about this."
"Ok, Ok. I won't say a word. Now, what is it?"
"While we were there, AJ and I saw something. Something we shouldn't have seen. Something that could ruin a marriage and hurt more than one friend."
"What? Would you tell me already?"
"We saw Maddie having lunch with another man," she finally said.
"So? Maybe he is a business contact? How do you know it wasn't a 'working lunch'?"
"That's what we thought at first, but then quickly realized it was more than that," Destiny admitted.
"How'd you realize that?"
"They were sitting way too close..... laughing a lot.... holding hands... pretty much all over each other," she said.
"Oh," was all Faith said.
"So? What do you think?"
Taking a deep breath, Faith said, "You have to tell Kevin."
"No, we can't. That will tell him that we were there together. If I don't tell Nick about that, then we can't tell Kevin."
"Then you have to tell both of them. But, you have to tell Kevin. He needs to know," she answered.
"Hold on just a minute," Destiny said. "I have another call."
On the other line....
"Hello?" she answered.
"Thank God you're home."
"AJ? What's wrong?"
"You've gotta meet me. Now!" he answered.
"Why? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Kevin wants to talk to us.... both of us."
"What?!? I thought we agreed not to say anything. Why'd you tell him?" she asked.
"I didn't tell him," he answered. "He already knew something. He asked me if I'd ever noticed anything about her, I tried lie, but he knew I was hiding something. He's always been able to tell when any of us are lying."
"Damn it!" she muttered. "This is just great. What the hell are we gonna do?"
"I don't know. But, we have to talk to him. If we don't, he will definitely tell Nick. And he is gonna find out about Maddie anyway."
"Ok," she answered. "Where and when?"
"Same place, in thirty minutes," he answered.
Back on the other line....
"Hey. I'm back. But, I've gotta go," Destiny said.
"Something wrong? You sound flustered," Faith stated.
"Everything is wrong! Kevin knows, and he wants to talk to me and AJ.... together."
"What do you mean he knows? He knows what? All of it? Does he know about you lying to Nick?"
"I honestly don't know what all he knows," she answered. "I'll call you when I get back, though, and let you know."
"Ok. Good luck," she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the restaurant....
"Hey, guys. Sorry it took me so long," Destiny said as she slid into the seat beside AJ, facing Kevin.
For the first minute, no one spoke. The three of them just sat there, staring back and forth at each other. Finally Kevin broke the tension.
"Look, guys, I'm not trying to put you in the middle of anything. And I don't care why you two were here together. That's not my concern. If you're having an affair, I'd rather not know...," he said.
"But, we aren't.....," AJ interrupted, but was stopped by Kevin holding his hand up.
"Man, I don't care," he repeated. "All I want to know is what you saw concerning my wife."
"Kevin, it may not have been anything," Destiny started. "All we saw was her at a table with someone having lunch."
"Were they facing each other or sitting side by side?" he asked.
"Uh, side by side, I think," she answered. AJ agreed.
"And about how close were they sitting?" he asked.
Destiny stood up and went to sit beside Kevin, showing him how close Maddie and the mystery man had been.
"This close, huh?" he asked. "Anything else?"
He looked like he had already been crying. Destiny didn't want to add to his obvious pain. She didn't say anything. It was AJ who finished the story.
"Man, I'm sorry," he started.
"I don't need your pity," Kevin interrupted. "Just tell me."
"They were just talking and laughing at first," AJ said.
"But...?" Kevin asked, waiting for the rest.
"But," he sighed. "We noticed later that they were, um, uh...,"
"Just spit it out!" Kevin ordered.
"They were holding hands... and um, they appeared to be more of a 'couple' than just business associates," he finally admitted.
"I knew it," Kevin said, dropping his head, tears dropping down his cheeks.
Destiny and AJ just sat there looking at each other. AJ shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I don't know what to do now'. Destiny leaned over and wrapped her arm around Kevin's shoulder, pulling him to her. He laid his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist in a loose embrace.
AJ sat there watching Destiny console his friend. As he watched her stroke the back of his hair, visions began to flash through his mind. Visions of Destiny and Kevin.... in bed.... their naked, sweaty bodies entangled.... soft moans escaping between their hungry kisses. He shook his head to clear it of the image. But, he found it creeping right back in. What is wrong with me? he thought to himself. She is consoling him.... they are friends.... and so are she and I.... FRIENDS.... so why the hell does this vision bother me so damn much