CHAPTER ONE

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She sighed as she made her way into the house that was now officially hers and not theirs anymore; and after shaking her head at the thought, she threw her keys on the kitchen table before making her way over to the blinking answering machine.

Not having expected anyone to call her in the two hours that she had been gone, she raised an eyebrow curiously at seeing she had three new messages, before hitting the play button.

"Hey ya'll, this is Chrissy, as you can see Jorgie and I aren't home right now, so if you can please leave your name, number, and a brief message after the beep, we'd really appreciate it."

After her voice vibrated off the walls in the house, Christina couldn't help but grit her teeth as her ex's voice, on the machine, chimed in telling her that the message was cute; before the beep signaled, cutting off any response that she had given him that day.

***BEEP***

"Christina? Hey baby, it's me." A familiar voice, that she could only place as her mom's, said; causing her to tense up a little. "I just got a call from Jorge, and he told me what happened. Call me as soon as you get home. Maybe we can work it out for you two. Love you."

Christina sighed as she heard her Mom hang up.

She should've known her Mom would back Jorge up on this one; the older woman wanting her daughter to be happy, but also wanting her daughter to settle down with someone who would be with Christina all the time; if just to tell on the girl if she did something that was not of Shelly Aguilera's standards.

Rolling her eyes, Christina waited for the next message to play.

"Chrissy...look, I don't know if you're home yet or not, but I just wanted to call you and tell you that I am SOOO sorry. Baby, I know what I did was wrong, but you have to believe me..he meant NOTHING. I didn't even mean for it to happen, he just..I just...he just kissed me, okay. And I tried to pull away, I really did, but I couldn't..He just..I love him and I love you too, and I'm sorry. You have to understand..please forgive-"

Having heard enough, Christina hurriedly pressed the stop button on the answering machine before Jorge could continue.

Not wanting to cry over Jorge, the one person who she loved more than anything, and the one person who took away everything by cheating on her; with a man, nonetheless; Christina quickly sniffled and blinked away the tears that threatened to spill down her face. "I cant cry....I will not cry, there's nothing to cry over. Him and I wouldn't have worked in the end..he knew it and I knew it. We both...knew it."

No matter what Christina said to herself, she couldn't help but feel an aching in her heart as she thought of the previous scene in her head. The scene of her walking in on Jorge lying face down on the carpet, in the dancer's dressing room, with his ex-boyfriend on top of him. His ex-boyfriend on top of him, fucking the brains out of him.

"Carlos can have him, their perfect for one another." Christina said, as she felt her legs give out on her, just before she felt her heart break in two.

Hearing the phone ring, beside her, Christina reached over and picked up the handheld set off it's charger; before briefly taking note as she opened her eyes, that she must've fallen asleep; seeing as the room was not as bright as it was when she walked in earlier, but a soft bluish tint. "Hello?"

"Thanks for calling me back, woman."

Wincing as she straightened her legs from the fetal position that she had fallen asleep in on the floor, Christina furrowed her eyebrows; mentally trying to figure out who she was on the phone with. "Alicia?"

"The one and only..where you been at all day, girl? Didn't you get my message? I've been trying to get in touch with you for hours."

At the first question, flashbacks of what she had been doing, or better yet, what she had been earlier viewing, came to mind; causing Christina to have to choke back a slight cry. "N-no, I didn't get your message....I've just been out, ya know."

A brief pause was heard on the other end, but Christina didn't pay any attention to it; knowing how her friend constantly was getting off track.

"So, what's up?"

"Huh?" Alicia, also known as Pink, said, silently proving Christina correct about her friend being off somewhere else; mentally speaking of course.

"The phone call..what can I help you with?"

"Oh..yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight..." Alicia said, her voice going from confused to, almost, peppy excited in two seconds flat. "I'm at the studio, and I have to finish laying down a couple of tracks, but then I want to go out tonight. You know, get this party started."

Christina slightly smiled at her friend's behavior, through the phone, knowing how excited they both got when it came time to produce a new album. "Sounds like fun...but I don't think so. Not tonight."

Another pause was heard on the other end, but just as Christina was about to voice it, Alicia spoke up again.

"Oh c'mon. I can't even remember the last time I saw you, let alone went clubbing with you." She said, causing Christina to wonder just how long it had been since they were last together, in the same state. "It'll be a girls night out. None of my many men, and none of Jorge, and his many men either."

Having always kidded that Jorge was looked on by more men than Christina was; Alicia giggled at her slight joke; not realizing how too close for comfort she had brought Christina with that small sentence.

Christina bit her lip, in pain; pain from the hurt she had felt earlier, caused by her now-exboyfriend, and his past/new lover.

"I'm sorry..I just, I don't think.."

"Please." Alicia said, using a much softer voice than Christina had ever heard her use. "You're the only real friend I have out here, and I just want to celebrate, ya know. Please..for me."

Not being able to take her friend's slight sad, yet, pleading tone, Christina sighed. "Fine, I'll meet you at the studio in ten."

"Make it five, and I'll love you forever."

Christina rolled her eyes, but mumbled out a fine, causing Alicia to scream with delight, and causing her to smile, for, what she felt, was the first time in a long time.

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