Part 134
The last morning at the hut, Sarah woke early as the sun was coming up. She reached for Howie but he wasn’t there. Looking around the hut, Sarah didn’t see him anywhere so she got up, pulled on the wrap that Chuck had left for her, and went to find Howie.
As she made her way to the beach, Sarah spotted Howie sitting on the beach. As she approached him, Howie turned to see her and smiled. "Hey, Angel," he greeted as he extended his hand to her.
Sarah took it and he pulled her to sit in front of him between his legs. She leaned against him. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Mmmm….thinkin’. I watched you sleep for a little while before I came down here. You were so peaceful and I knew if I stayed there, I was gonna wake you."
Howie wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck, as Sarah ran her hands across his arms. "This has been so wonderful. I wish we never had to leave," said Sarah dreamily.
"We can always come back."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart," said Howie as he made a cross over Sarah’s heart.
"You goof! That’s MY heart," she laughed as she wove her fingers with his.
"But you ARE my heart," he said tenderly as he kissed her neck again.
The two sat together watching the sun come up and signs of life beginning to appear on the boats that lined the entrance to the cove.
"I can’t believe Raoul and Carlos gave up their break to come down here to do this for us," said Sarah.
Hugging her, Howie said, "Angel, you don’t realize just how captivated you have everyone. You and Becca have them wrapped so tight, they’d walk through fire for you."
Sarah snickered, "Yeah…and Billy is TERRIFIED of Becca. God, to see a 5’ 4" girl terrify big, bad Billy!! It’s a riot."
Howie laughed too. "Yeah…not just anyone can do that."
"But D, those guys are paid to protect us when we’re on the road…"
"Not you and Becca."
Sarah looked back at him. "What?"
"Our contract only covers the five of us. You and Becca reap the benefit being with us all the time."
"In more ways than one," said Sarah sexily.
"Don’t start, Angel," Howie moaned softly as Sarah reached behind her to stroke him. "Actually, you have been protected but I’ve had to pay extra…out of my pocket ever since we got together."
"Even when we broke up?"
"Yeah, but Kevin and Alex helped with that time period since they were dating you too. I do need to talk to Billy about redoing the contract now that we’re married. Come on, I see Raoul getting ready to come get us and we need to get our stuff from the hut."
Sarah began to pout, "I don’t WANNA leave."
Howie stood up laughing and helped Sarah up too. "You’re so cute when you
pout but it won’t work this time. We need to get back so you can start being
my slave."
"But D!"
"Don’t ‘But D’ me, young lady! You lost fair and square…well, you lost even with help and now it’s time to pay up. You can be my slave for one night or you can do it for a week…it’s up to you."
"What do you have in mind for the one night?" asked Sarah curiously.
As they walked back to the hut, Howie told her about the contest at one of the local clubs and how he wanted her to do it. Sarah listened and was quick to agree to do it. The only protest she offered was, "How fair is it for me to enter the contest?"
"Extremely fair. You haven’t recorded yet or have a career."
"But my husband is a professional, not to mention part owner of the label
who wants me to record."
"If you win, you don’t have to take the prize."
"Is it tonight?"
"Yeah. Billy told me about it when I mentioned coming here in the first place. I want you to do this for the experience, Sarah. You were awesome at Tabu but you need to do some places where they don’t know you."
"But they’re gonna know me when I walk into the club with you tonight."
"Not necessarily. Besides, you’re not gonna use your real name."
"And just what name am I gonna use?"
"Angel…for your stage name."
Sarah laughed. "Okay…so what am I gonna do?"
"I’ve got a couple ideas…depends on the crowd," said Howie as they reached the hut.
******************
Sarah and Howie spent the better part of the afternoon working on songs. They had what Alex had done for Sarah that included the poem she had said for Howie at their wedding. They’d also looked at the music Howie had done for her but Sarah wasn’t ready to do any of it. She wanted to rehearse the material first before performing it. They finally decided on J-Lo’s current hit, "Love Don’t Cost a Thing’.
Now, as she stared at her clothes trying to decide what to wear, Sarah was in a very strange mood. She wasn’t really nervous about performing and yet, she still wasn’t comfortable. She had a very unsettled feeling…well, more like this strong desire to just sit down and cry.
Howie had picked up on her mood over dinner but had chosen not to say anything. He knew there were two ways of handling her when she was like this; either be forceful with her or just let her work through it. He chose to do the latter. As she was getting ready, he was making business calls. If she didn’t hurry though, he’d have to take charge…not something he really wanted to do. Russell had always dominated her and he didn’t want to be like that. Sarah was his partner, his equal…not some subservient woman.
While Howie handled the phone calls, he heard the bathroom door slam shut and instinctively knew what was going on. It had only a couple weeks since they’d found out she was pregnant but at the strangest times during the day, Sarah would be overcome by nausea and have to throw up.
Hanging up the phone, Howie went to check on her. "Angel, are you okay?"
Sarah was washing her face as she looked up. "I guess so."
"You need to get a move on, Angel. I called to let them know we’re coming and Billy said the lobby is packed with fans."
That was all it took for Sarah to break down. Howie hadn’t said it angrily or hatefully…just matter-of-factly but it still upset her. Sarah began to cry as she yelled at him, "I CAN NOT HELP IF I’M THROWING UP!! IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT I’M PREGNANT!"
‘Oh great…here we go with the mood swings,’ thought Howie. Trying to take her in his arms, Howie said calmly, "Angel, I didn’t mean anything by it."
Sarah pushed him away. "Leave me alone!! You can go alone! I’m not going," and she tried to storm out of the bathroom.
Howie grabbed her by the waist. "Angel, I’m sorry. Come on, calm down. It’s just your hormones screwing around with you. I’ll go with you and help you get ready."
Wiping her tears, Sarah whined, "I don’t know what to wear."
This was her sign for Howie to take charge…whining…so he turned her in his arms so that her back was against his chest and he walked her out to their room. He stood behind her searching through her clothes looking but couldn’t seem to find what he wanted.
"Didn’t you bring your black mini skirt and white halter top?"
Coolly, Sarah said, "I don’t have it anymore."
"Why not?"
"I threw it away. It was what I was wearing that night."
"Oh…okay." Seeing a white outfit, Howie reached in and handed it to her. "How about this?"
The outfit was new and Sarah had never worn it before but she loved it. The top was a crop top and form fitting; long sleeved and off the shoulder. The skirt was short with a slit up the side leaving very little to the imagination.
Taking it from Howie, she began to get dressed. While she did, Howie searched for her angel earrings he’d given her to match her necklace and a pair of sandals.
"What about my hair?"
Howie looked at her as she stood in front of him with the outfit on. He thought for a minute, then said, "Leave it down but pull it back behind your ears."
Sarah turned to finish getting ready as Howie sat on the bed to watch her. She could see him in the mirror and she smiled to herself. ‘God, he has put up with so much from me and now I’m in this funky mood. Damn hormones! He’s gonna be ready to kill me by the end of this pregnancy.’
As Howie watched Sarah, his thoughts were about her. ‘She has been through so much because of me…for me. She loves me so unconditionally…never complaining when the fans interrupt…never asking for anything…so tolerant of my career, my quirks. I just hope I can get her through these mood swings. I hope they get better.’
Sarah turned to him. "How do I look?"
Howie moved to her and put his hands on her hips. "You look absolutely edible."
Just as quickly as she’d started crying, Sarah was laughing now. She said sexily, "We could always stay here and….."
"NO! You need to do this," said Howie sternly, trying to act mad but he couldn’t keep a straight face. Loosing out to laughter, Howie said, "You have to be my slave."
Sarah pouted, "I had HOPED you’d forgotten that."
"NEVER…cuz after the show, we’re coming back here," said Howie as he nuzzled her neck. "Come on…Billy and Raoul are waiting."