Chapter Twenty-eight

Megan chose to walk around the room as she spoke. She didn’t feel like sitting down and having all eyes on her.

“Things have always been strained between Charlene and me,” she said, making her way past Kevin and Dana. “I always got the impression that she didn’t like me very much, like she was jealous of me. She was never very affectionate with me. Very few hugs were exchanged between us, and she didn’t talk to me about anything. I guess it didn’t help that my dad doted on me more than her. He was an accountant for a big law firm here in Phoenix, which meant that we lived comfortably, and Mom didn’t have to work. He went away on business trips a lot, and whenever he’d come back, he always had a gift for me, something special he’d picked out. I remember Mom and him getting into so many fights over how he spoiled me. He would just respond that I was his only child, so it was his right to do so. This just angered Mom even more.

“When I was eleven, my father died in a plane crash just outside of Dallas. That was the worst day of my life, when I found out he was dead. But what horrified me more was that, I never saw Mom cry. Not once. Maybe she did when I wasn’t around, but. . . not even at the funeral did she cry. I found myself wondering if she ever even loved him.”

Megan stopped at the windows and gazed out at the city below her. With her back to them, she continued.

“After my father died, we found out he had started a special bank account for me. It was to send me to college, and it had been going since the day I was born. There was over $100,000 in that account. The only problem was that I couldn’t touch it until my eighteenth birthday. But my mother could.”

The collective gasp she heard told her that they all knew where this story was headed.

“I didn’t worry about that though. I mean, why would I? I was only eleven. Not even six months after the funeral, Mom started bringing men home with her. I just couldn’t understand why she did it. Didn’t she feel anything? Or was she just cold and heartless?”

Everyone watched as Megan turned slightly and wiped away an unshed tear from her eye.

“She got a job at this hotel, working at the front desk. While working here, she met husband number two. I hated him and I did my best to avoid him. He lasted about a year. Then it was on to husband number three, also met through her job here. He was better, but not by much. At least he spoke to me and acknowledged my existence. But after a few months, that marriage was annulled and out the door he went. Number four came along and stayed for two years. I didn’t like him either, so I just ignored him. By this time, I was sixteen and itching to get the hell out of here. I had plans to go to college on the east coast somewhere, and all I could think about was the glorious day when I turned eighteen and could get that money.”

Megan swallowed the lump forming in her throat and faced everyone. Howie was already nursing a drink, as was AJ. Dana and Brian sat back quietly, eyes closed, listening. Denise’s expression was blank, except for the tears glistening in her eyes. Nick’s attention was focused on a spot on the carpet, brow furrowed, deep in concentration.

But it was Kevin’s gaze that nearly knocked her over. His jaw was set in a straight line, his dark green eyes hard like rocks, staring back at her. But there was something in his eyes. . . Sympathy? Compassion? Fear?

Megan couldn’t tell. She chose to look elsewhere as she continued talking.

“One day, I got home from school early, and Leo, her latest boyfriend, was there. We exchanged words, and then all of a sudden, he was all over me. I mean, physically, all over me.”

Her voice began to shake and AJ was on his feet in an instant, his arms around her in a protective embrace. Kevin forced himself to remain seated. He’d almost done that himself, but he was glad AJ beat him to it. Instead, he slipped his hand into Dana’s.

Megan was in tears by now, reliving that horrible day.

“I fought him off and locked myself in my room. When Mom came home, I told her but, but, she didn’t believe me! She called me a liar and accused me of coming onto him. I didn’t tell anyone, thinking others would say the same thing.”

Nick gulped hard and grabbed one of the miniature bottles of Scotch and downed it easily. He rubbed his eyes and rolled the bottle between his fingers. This was much worse than he’d ever expected. He had troubles with his own mother, but nothing as serious as this.

AJ guided her to the couch, sensing that she was mentally exhausted from telling her story. She gratefully sat down and AJ knelt beside her, still holding her hands. Brian passed a box of tissues Megan’s way, and she took a handful.

“She broke up with Leo a couple weeks after that, and then she disappeared for a month. She told me she was going on a vacation with some friends, and was sure I could take care of myself. When she came back, sh-she...”

Megan took a deep breath and said in a rush, “She’d had her face done, her nose, her lips, her cheekbones, and her chest too. It was all different. I didn’t recognize her at first.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with one hand and reaching into her back pocket with the other, retrieving a crinkled photograph. She passed it around for everyone to see.

“That’s what she looked like before all the surgery. The man is my dad,” she explained.

The picture circled the room, ending with Kevin. He stared at the image, noting the resemblence Megan bore to her mother. They had the same eyes, nose and smile. Obviously, Charlene hadn’t wanted to look like her daughter anymore. Megan’s voice broke into his thoughts.

“And then I asked her where the money came from. She said she’d been saving ever since she started working, but I didn’t believe her. There was no way she could have saved that much in that amount of time.”

Denise rubbed her temples slowly and asked, “She stole from you?”

Megan nodded. “I called the bank and found out that it was all gone. Not a penny was left and she’d closed the account. All my dreams and plans weren’t possible anymore. It was then I decided to leave. I packed a bag, emptied my savings account and hopped a bus for Florida. My aunt took me in, Dad’s sister. She always hated Charlene, and was angered beyond words. I convinced her not to do anything, that it would be pointless because there was no way I could get the money back. So I cut off all ties with Arizona and began a new life in Orlando.”

Megan giggled and smiled, remembering her first day at her aunt’s house.

“I was moping out in the backyard and suddenly this perky little blond girl pokes her head over the fence and wants to be friends. She annoyed me at first, all bouncy curls and a perfect smile-”

“Excuse me!” Dana burst out. “I was just trying to be nice!”

Megan reached over and patted her friend’s hand. “I know, but really, hun, you did annoy me.”

“So that’s how you guys became friends?” Howie asked, setting his empty bottle on the coffee table.

“Yes, sir. She’s been following me around ever since.”

Dana huffed and threw a sofa pillow at her.

“Hold up, back to your mom,” Nick interrupted, waving his hands in the air. “Did she ever say why she took the money from you?”

“Oh sure, she told me,” Megan said, nodding her head emphatically. “She told me she deserved the money, after putting up with my dad and me for so long.”

“She deserved it? That’s, sick, twisted,” Brian said, shaking his head. “How could someone be so evil? To their own child?”

“I’ve been asking myself that for years. Now, it seems as if she’s settled into another marriage, and if I remember right, Clayton's family has a penthouse here in the hotel, so they probably live here.”

Silence settled down over the room as everyone thought about what had just been said. Finally, Nick rose to his feet and turned to Megan. He pulled her to a standing position and enveloped her in a hug. Soon, the rest of them were doing the same, until Megan was smack dab in the middle of the biggest bear hug she’d ever seen. She couldn’t help but laugh and it released the tension that hung so heavily in the air, making them all feel better

She glanced at all of the people surrounding her with all their love and support, and her eyes met Kevin’s and locked. He nodded once at her and smiled. She couldn’t ignore the warmth that suddenly spread through her, and she nodded back.

For the first time in a long time, she actually felt safe.

Megan rolled over in the bed and reached for AJ, surprised to find he wasn’t there. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, glancing around. She listened for the sound of the television in the other room, but heard nothing.

Where could he have gone? she wondered.

She backtracked in her mind everything that had happened since she’d told everyone her secret. They were all very supportive, and she was glad she’d told them. She was amazed at the weight that had been lifted from her shoulders after getting it all out.

Kevin had given her back the picture of her parents and expressed his sympathy over her dad. She remembered his own father had died when he was 19 and knew he could relate.

After everyone had calmed down, they ordered room service and pigged out in Denise’s room. Then it was time to head over to the arena for a quick run through of the show.

“Maybe we should have eaten after the rehearsal,” Brian groaned, holding his stomach.

After that, they had a fan conference. Megan had never been to anything like it and found herself growing bored after the standard, “Boxers or briefs?” and “AJ, how many tattoos do you have?” questions. Much to Dana’s embarrassment, Megan joined the line of girls waiting to ask the Boys something. When she reached the microphone, all the guys burst out laughing, wondering what she would ask.

“I’d like to know which of you has belly button lint, right at this moment,” she said with a straight face.

This led to a few minutes of the guys revealing their toned stomachs to the audience as they searched for lint, laughing the entire time. Kevin, Nick and Howie were clean. Brian and AJ weren’t.

Satisfied with the answer, and vowing to clean out AJ’s belly button later, she sat back down beside a red-faced Dana.

The fan conference ended and they went back to the arena to get ready for the show. The show itself was fantastic, and this time, Megan got to see the fireworks at the end.

Too tired to do anything else after that, they called it a night and went back to the hotel to crash. Now, at 2am, Megan was alone in her hotel room and had no clue as to where AJ had disappeared off to.

She got out of bed and flipped on the lights. Her eyes fell to a piece of the hotel stationary on the nightstand. She recognized AJ’s familiar scrawl and read, “Downstairs in the bar, couldn’t sleep. Be back soon.”

She decided to join him and quickly dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, then rode the elevator down to the lobby. The night desk clerk nodded at her as she walked to the hotel bar.

Just as she entered, she heard a deep, sultry female laugh that sent chills up and down her arms. Only her mother laughed like that.

Megan ducked behind a huge potted plant and peered cautiously around it. Sitting at the bar, sharing a bottle of brandy and a pack of cigarettes, sat AJ and Charlene. She watched silently, her heart constricting painfully in her chest at the sight.

AJ said something, and Charlene leaned towards him, running her fingers along his cheekbone.

That was all Megan could stand to see. Biting her tongue to keep from screaming, she ran out of the bar, not caring if they saw her. She punched the elevator button with her fist, ignoring the pain.

When she reached her intended floor, she raced to her room, cursing out loud when she realized she hadn’t grabbed a card key before she left. There was no way in hell she was going downstairs to ask AJ to let her in.

How could he?! her mind screamed. After all he knows about her, how can he be down there flirting with her?!

She felt utterly betrayed at this point, with nowhere to turn. She slapped the door to her room in disgust and whirled around. Her eyes fell on Kevin and Dana’s door, just across the hall.

She went over and knocked.

Kevin opened it, wiping sleep from his eyes. When his vision cleared and he saw Megan, he immediately ushered her inside.

“What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

The genuine concern in his voice made her lose it, and soon she was crying openly. Kevin pulled her over to the couch, forcing her to sit down.

“He’s down there, with her!” she wailed.

“Who’s with who?” he asked, not understanding.

“AJ! AJ’s with my mother!”

“What?!”

Dana came into the living room. “AJ’s with who?” she asked, coming over to sit beside her friend.

“AJ is downstairs in the bar, drinking and smoking with CHARLENE!” she cried hysterically. “They’re down there, chatting like old friends!”

“Are you sure?” Kevin asked doubtfully. “Why would he do that?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Megan demanded angrily. “Maybe she invited him down there. Maybe she’s going to try to get him into bed! I don’t know!”

Dana hugged her protectively, scowling at Kevin.

“Can I stay here tonight?” Megan whispered. “I locked myself out of our room, and I don’t want to be with AJ.”

“Sure you can,” Dana said soothingly. “Tomorrow we’ll figure everything out.”

Kevin got a glass of water for Megan and she sipped it. “Thanks,” she said, noticing for the first time that he was wearing only pajama bottoms. She downed the entire glass and set it aside. “Um, maybe I should go stay with Nick or Howie.”

“What? Why?” Dana asked. “We weren’t, uh, we weren’t doing anything.”

Megan noticed how unconvincing Dana sounded and shook her head. “No, I’m interrupting. I’ll just go crash with Nick. Sorry to bother you.”

She stood to leave when a knock came at the door. It was AJ.

“Hey, guys, sorry to bother you, but Megan’s not in our room. . .Megan!” he cried, seeing her. “There you are! What have you been up to?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, her voice lowering slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what the fuck were you doing downstairs with my mother?!” she cried, stepping directly in front of him and glaring evily.

AJ paled and gulped.

“I didn’t know she was down there, I just ran into her,” he said quickly.

“And so you decided to stay and have a drink? Instead of leaving?”

“Megan, please listen, I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to see how she was.”

“I told you how she is! Didn’t you believe me?”

AJ glanced helplessly at Dana, who was standing with her arms crossed, waiting for an explanation, then at Kevin, who shrugged and shook his head.

“Megan, babe, please, can we talk about this in our room?” he pleaded, rubbing her arms.

“No, I want to talk about this right now. Well? What did you find out?”

AJ looked her square in the eye. “She’s a phony. Her smile, her attitude, everything about her is fake.”

“Including her boobs, go on,” Megan said.

“She tried to charm me, but I didn’t fall for it. I told her I had to get going because it was late. I asked her about your childhood and she painted a beautiful picture, nothing like what you told us. I totally believe you, Megan, your mother ain’t no saint.”

Megan listened and sighed.

“Do you believe me?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m sorry. I just saw you with her, and it hurt.”

AJ hugged her. “I would never hurt you on purpose, babe. I promise.”

Dana sniffed at the emotional scene. Kevin just watched, angry with AJ for making Megan upset and wanting to knock some sense into the younger man.

Sometimes he just doesn’t think about how his actions can affect people, he thought.

“What do you say we go back to our room?” AJ asked, his voice husky.

Megan smiled and turned to Dana and Kevin.

“Sorry about the intrusion. I guess I got a little ahead of myself, as usual.”

Dana stepped forward to hug her. “No problem. This has been a stressful day for us all. Hey, are you guys going shopping with us tomorrow morning? It might make you feel better to blow some money on something.”

“Shopping? Sure!” Megan said. “Again, I’m sorry about bothering you. See you later. Good night, Kevin.”