Maggie pushed open the door to her apartment and dropped her bag of groceries on the floor with a “oomph”. She tossed her keys on the table and rolled her head. Placing a hand on the back of her neck she massaged her irritated muscles and sighed. The day seemed to last forever and the young woman was glad to be home.

Glancing at the clock she saw it was 4:15pm. There were 3 hours left until the concert. “The concert!” Maggie exclaimed. The bag of groceries was quickly lifted to reveal a white envelope that held the ticket and pass. Gingerly lifting the envelope from the hardwood floor Maggie walked into the kitchen and discarded the items. “Good bye Nick. Good bye AJ.” Giving a healthy laugh she sneered, “good riddance Kevin. Good riddance to you all.”

Returning to her grocery bag Maggie set to putting away the few items she had purchased and forget about the evening. Eventually she retired on the large, plush, tan couch. Leaning over the right arm of the couch her emerald eyes scanned over her CD collection. It was then that she saw the Backstreet Boys “Millennium” CD standing out like a sore thumb.

Her heart felt heavy as she thought back to the morning. Nick had reached out to her. Feeling a tinge of curiosity Maggie pulled the CD case out and opened it. She ran her fingers over the silver and blue compact disk and as though it were fragile glass she lifted it from the tongs that held it in place. Rising from her seat she placed the CD into her player and returned to the couch. Retrieving the remote she pressed play and scanned through the tracks until she stopped at number seven.

The melody began to play through the speakers. Maggie shut her eyes and lay down on the fluffy inviting cushions. Her body melted into the sofa as the words thawed her heart. By the second verse she knew what Nick was trying to say. After all her fear and running away he still wanted her in his life. She had pushed him away and he still needed her. Tears rolled down her soft skin as the lyrics of the song took on a whole new meaning.

I’ve got this feeling you’re not gonna stay
It’s burning within me
The fear of losing
Of slipping away
It just keeps getting closer, baby
Whatever reason to leave that I’ve had
My place was always beside you
And I wish I didn’t need you so bad
Your face just won’t go away

Don’t want to loose you now
Baby, I know we can win this
Don’t want to loose you now
No no, or ever again
Don’t want to loose you now…

Maggie knew what she had to do. She jumped off the couch and hurried into the kitchen. Taking the phone off the receiver she dialed the familiar numbers to Nick’s cell phone.

“You’ve reached the Sprint PCS voice mailbox of,” the woman’s voice greeted Maggie after a few rings.
“NiCK,” she heard his voice say quickly, then the recorded voice returned.
“To leave a voice message, press one, or wait for the beep. To leave a numeric page, press two now.”

After a brief pause Maggie heard the beep inviting her to begin speaking. “Nick, hi. Listen, we need to talk. I’m sorry about tonight. I will explain everything tomorrow. Meet me at the Starbucks at Universal City Walk at 10am. Good bye.”

*

Nick, still sweating from the energy of the show pressed the seven key on his phone to delete the message. He scribbled the information on some scrap paper lying on the small counter of his hotel room. After rereading the note several times he gave a satisfied smirk. “She’s back,” he said to his reflection in the mirror. Balling his hand into a fist he jumped and gave an excited punch upwards. “SHE’S BACK!” He yelled in celebration.

His heart feeling full Nick stripped off his sweat pants, T-shirt and boxers and made his way to the bathroom. He turned the shower on until steam leaked from within the curtains and then he entered the tub. Closing his eyes he let the warmth of the water take his mind off all the stress from the day and soon his body began to feel relaxed.

Not knowing how long he had been in the shower, Nick finally shut the now cold water off and stepped out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and quickly brushed a second one through his damp hair. He kept the second towel around his shoulders and before leaving the bathroom he flexed in front of the fogged mirror. “I’ve still got it.”

“Got what?”

Nick heard Kevin’s voice call from the other room. “Kevin?” The puzzled blonde asked, as he exited the bathroom.

“The one and only.” The older man smiled from where he sat at the suite’s make shift living room. “I didn’t mean to startle you, but I just wanted to ask you something.”

Nodding, Nick came over to the sitting area. He choose to sit on the rose-colored chair. Leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his hand clasped together he looked up at his band mate. “What’s up, dawg?”

“I was wondering if you could explain your antics from this morning, on the radio. What possessed you to bring your personal life on air to thousands of people? Didn’t you think before throwing that out there? Do you not realize what your choices do for the rest of us?” Kevin badgered, his deep voice seemed to echo in the room.

“Calm down, man,” Nick finally got a word in. “I got permission with management before I played the song. It’s not like I didn’t check things out first. As for the listeners, you weren’t there, you didn’t get to hear all the calls the poured in from fans and non-fans wishing me the best of luck.” As he spoke he got up from the chair and got a pair of boxers from the drawer. “I’ll be right back.” And with that said Nick went into the bathroom to change.

*

Kevin glanced over the kitchen area and noticed a piece of paper lying on the counter. Curious to see what it was, he stood and walked over to the note. Caution that Nick didn’t notice, the raven-haired man pretended to get a drink of water. From the corner of his eye he read “Starbucks, Maggie, 10am” scribbled on the paper.

The sound of Nick clearing his throat brought Kevin’s attention back to his purpose of being there. “Listen, little bro, I’m sorry I might have over reacted,” Kevin began. “Just know that I was looking out for you. I know you want Maggie back, but you should know the truth.”

He watched as Nick’s face registered confusion. “You mean to tell me AJ didn’t tell you?” Kevin raised an eyebrow as the blonde shook his head. “Figures,” he frowned, taking a long pause to drink the rest of his water.

Placing the glass down on the counter top Kevin shrugged. “It seems you’ll find out tomorrow though.” He concluded before turning to exit the room. He grinned to himself as he heard Nick muttering to himself in anger.

*

The following morning Maggie woke with butterflies in her stomach. This was her chance to finally lay everything out on the table for Nick. He deserved to know it all. Tossing the covers back she yawned before making her way into the bathroom.

Soon after her shower, Maggie stood in the full-length mirror in her room. Her red hair hung over her shoulders in braided pigtails and she had dabbed some rouge onto her cheeks, giving them warmth that had been lacking in recent times. She pressed her hands over her light purple button down top to smooth out the wrinkles and turned around once before going out to the living room. It was 9:24am. Grabbing her keys from the table she had left them on the previous night, she took a deep breath. “You can do this.” She reassured herself before closing the door and walking towards her red Toyota Camry.

- - - - -

Just as she hoped, Maggie arrived at the Starbucks first. Taking a seat outside where she could watch the people come and go she pulled her sun glasses down over her green eyes.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as she waited for Nick to arrive. Finally she saw a tall male walking amongst the crowds of people. He was dressed in a white sweat suit, a blue baseball hat covered his messy blonde locks and sunglasses hide his familiar blue eyes. He strode up to her with a confidence that would have intimidated any other girl, but Maggie was used to it.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Nick offered while taking the empty seat across from her.

Shaking her head Maggie glanced around for a moment before returning her gaze to Nick. “You alone?” She wondered.

Shrugging Nick nodded his head a few seats away where a large black man sat, his arms crossed in a protective manor. “I got it covered,” he reassured, knowing what Maggie was talking about. “So what’s up?”

After an awkward pause Maggie reached her hands out and cupped Nick’s own large hands. These were the same hands that had once protected her, loved her and touched her in ways that no one would ever be able to again. “Nickolas, I asked you to come here to tell you face to face how I feel.”

Nick nodded and waited for Maggie to continue.

“I’m sorry I didn’t go to the concert last night, but…”

“Wait, you didn’t go last night?”

Maggie shook her head. “It was not the right time or place,” she lied.

Feeling rather stupid Nick realized that the girl he had seen was like so many times before, just a hopeful fantasy that Maggie had come back. “Go on,” he insisted.

After another moment of silence Maggie began where she left off. “You need to hear it from me face to face that you and I will never be together again.” The words blurted out of her mouth so quickly she didn’t have a chance to say it the way she had rehearsed.

It was obvious from the shocked and hurt expression on Nick’s face that he was not expecting her meeting to be what it was. He quickly pulled his hands back from hers and frowned.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she started slowly, being more cautious of her words. “It’s just that I’ve left the other times with out saying good-bye and this time I felt you should know how I feel, with out running away again.”

As Maggie concluded Nick leaned back in the chair and held back the tears that threatened to spill from his baby blues. “Then tell me this,” he said with a bitter tone. “Why do you still have that.” He motioned to Maggie’s neck, where the promise ring he had once given her dangled, reflecting the sun.

Playing with the chain Maggie shrugged. “You’re right.” As the words left her mouth she reached behind her neck and unhinged the memory that she had held onto. Putting the chain and ring on the table she pushed it towards the man in front of her, no emotions showed on her face the entire time. “You should have it back.”

Gingerly Nick took the charm and threw it back at Maggie. “Take it. Keep it. Do whatever you want with it,” he snapped before standing. “Just don’t tell me you don’t love because you and I both know it’s a lie.”

The words lingered longer than Nick, who had already stormed off from the table, his hands clenched in tight fists. The moment he dreamed would end in happiness of he and Maggie together again had ended in a nightmare he never wanted to relive.

Left alone at the Starbucks table Maggie buried her face in her hands and let the tears flow freely. She had let go once and for all, but her heart would never forgive her. But worst of all her mind would never forget the lies she had just spoken to the only man she loved.