-* *-The Road To Take-* *-

Morgan ran into her apartment and threw her bags down on her bed. She flopped back onto the pillow and squealed with delight. Her roommate, CJ knocked at her bedroom door and stared at her. She was holding a spoon in her right hand and a pint of ice cream in the other.

“So Mo, how was Vegas? I see that you brought home some extra baggage this time!” CJ said as she licked the final drops of ice cream from her spoon. “Who were those cuties?” “NO ONE!!!!” she replied coyly. “Oh, come on Morgan, are they friends of yours or are they with Howie? Tell ME!” “They’re just a couple of REALLY nice guys that came into the lounge to hear me sing. Howie struck up a conversation with one of them and next thing I know they’re coming home with us, like little lost puppies.” she said sticking her bottom lip out into a pout. “So what’s there story? Which one wants you?” CJ pried, flopping down on the bed beside Morgan. “They were both supposed to have gotten married this weekend, but Kevin, the tall one, got cold feet and ran out on his bride and Brian, the little teddy bear one, found his bride in bed with his best man.” “Oh, so it’s Brian that’s put that smile on your face! Did you kiss him?!?!” “WHAT? NO!!!! Brian’s a really nice guy, but he’s having a tough time right now!”

“So, it’s KEVIN!!!! C’mon Mo! I know that you’re hiding something! I can always tell!” CJ said as she rolled over and stared closely at Morgan, defying her to lie. “OK-OK! Gee! Kevin came into the bar after it was closed. He had forgotten his keys. We were all alone and....” “You kissed him!!!??? How could you?” “Yes, I kissed him.....and then we.........y’know...” Morgan trailed off. “You mean you....Mo that’s not like you! How could you? How could you do that to Howie? What were you thinking?” CJ scolded. “I dunno. I just got all caught up in him.....he is just the most beautiful person that I have ever laid my eyes...and hands on!” “What will Howie say when he finds out? You’re gonna tell him, aren’t you?” “Of course NOT! OMG! Howie would DIE. It would break his heart. He is such a sweetheart....and I love him with all of my heart, but when I was with Kevin....he was the furthest thing from my mind.....”Morgan paused and took a breath. “Besides, he’s not going to find out. I’m not going to tell him and I’m pretty sure that Kevin won’t, so, what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him I guess. Now C’mon, we’re all meeting at Marley’s Sports Bar tonite, so we have to shower and change.”

“Welcome to my humble little corner,” Howie said as he pulled his key from the lock and opened the door to his apartment. It was a loft inside a rare two-story ranch house. It was a busy place, lots of knickknacks, but it was also spotless. “Man, do you have a cleaning lady?” Brian asked as he marveled at the cleanliness of Howie’s bachelor pad. “NO! I don’t.....I just like everything to be..uh...orderly.” Howie remarked. “Here, I’ll show you where you can shower. I only have one spare room, so you’re gonna have to flip for the couch.” Brian and Kevin exchanged glances and then Kevin reached into his new shorts pocket and pulled out a nickel. “Call it in the air....” Kevin said as he tossed it high. “Tails!” Brian shouted. Kevin caught the coin with precision and slapped it on his wrist. He moved his hand, revealing the ‘tails’ side of the coin. “Dang!” Kevin exclaimed as he realized that he would be sleeping on the couch. “Don’t fret it Kev, we’ll switch tomorrow nite.....if we’re still here that is!” Brian laughed as he followed Howie to his room.

The boys each showered and changed; Kevin put his suit pants back on with his dress shirt. He kept the flip flops though, he thought maybe he might start a new trend. “Better than sandals!” he proclaimed. “So what’s there to do around here for fun?” Brian asked as he flopped down onto the couch, as Kevin was trying to transform it into a bed. “Well, do you fellas like to golf? There are a whole bunch of great courses around here.” Howie said. “I LOVE to golf....it’s why I was born, I swear!” Brian beamed. “I like to golf too, on occasion, but it’s not why I was born!” Kevin teased as he punched Brian in the arm. “Well we could drive over to Scottsdale tomorrow, there’s a great course I love to go to there.....I’ll call and set up a tee-time......7:30 OK?” Howie asked. “In the MORNING?” Kevin grumbled. “YES!” Brian replied as he punched Kevin back. “Are you two sure you’re not related cuz you sure act like you’ve known each other your entire lives!” Howie observed as he dialed the phone. After calling to reserve the tee-time, Howie then called and made sure that Morgan and CJ were ready. “Wait a minute! 3 guys and only 2 girls, I don’t like these odds!” Brian said as they were walking down to the car. “We’re going to a club....there will be an entire roomful of girls, if that’s what you’re after!” Howie said as they drove away.

All through dinner, there seemed to be some tension at the table. Morgan kept staring at Kevin, Kevin tried to force himself not to stare back, for fear that Howie would notice. Brian was staring at CJ, but CJ was staring at Howie. Although everyone at the table were friends, new or old, they acted as if they were all strangers. “Would you like another drink before we go, honey?” Howie asked Morgan. “No, not now. We’re going next door, aren’t we? To the Arizona Center?” she replied. “Well honey I didn’t get dressed up like this for nothin’!” CJ replied as she motioned for the waiter to bring them their check. CJ was a bold girl who knew what she want out of life, she wouldn’t sit back and wait for things to happen, she would jump out there and grab it. She’s a tall, slim, beautiful girl, whom Morgan had met at nursing school. Morgan would always tease her about her aggressive bedside manner, but CJ would just laugh and say ‘well I haven’t killed anybody yet!’

The groups went dutch on the bill and Kevin left a rather generous tip hidden under his unused tea cup. He always liked to think about the waiter cursing him as he would leave a restaurant, assuming that he hadn’t left a tip, until they began to bus the table and find their hidden treasure. The bass was pounding that night at the Arizona Centre, people were squished in there like sardines, after all, it was Saturday night, what did they expect? Brian was somewhat of a reluctant dancer, he quickly made tracks over to the bar and ordered a beer. Morgan followed him and he bought her a drink too. He quizzed her on CJ and all Morgan told him was ‘to watch out for that girl. She’s a sweetheart if you’re on her good side, but cunning if you’re not!’

Kevin loved to dance and needed no invitation to shake his groove thang. He ran up onto that dance floor and quickly shook what his mama gave him. Morgan stood at the bar with Howie and CJ and watched him, closely. Kevin caught her staring again, and motioned for her to join him. Friends dancing with friends, who would suspect? “Howie, I’m gonna go dance with Kevin, K?” Morgan yelled into Howie’s ear. He nodded in acknowledgment and returned to the conversation he had struck up with CJ.

“So when are you going to asked Mo to marry you?” CJ yelled over the music. “Marry?” Howie laughed shyly. “I don’t know....why fix it if it ain’t broke?” he said as he watched the beautiful Morgan sway to the music. “Aren’t you worried about her, oh I don’t know.....getting a wandering eye?” “I think I would know if Mo was getting bored with me. Things have never been better!” Howie said. “OH, so you’re ok with what happened in Vegas than?” CJ said. “Vegas? What about it? What happened there?” Howie yelled sounding quite concerned. He grabbed CJ by the arm and led her down to a corridor, away from the pounding bass.

“What do you mean, CJ? What happened in Vegas?” Howie demanded to know. “Hey, I thought that she would have told you, but if she didn’t than I think this is between you and her.....I don’t want to get in the middle and cause trouble!” CJ said. Howie grabbed her by the arm again, this time a little more forcefully, which didn’t scare CJ, instead it turned her on. He grabbed her arm tightly and pushed her up against the wall. “I’m going to ask you one more time, and I want you to tell me the truth. We have known each other a long time and if you know something that I should know, I would appreciate you telling me.....” Howie said through gritted teeth as he squeezed her arm a little tighter. “Now - what happened in Vegas? Was it another man?” CJ looked at Howie, hurtful tears began to well up in her eyes. “Yes, it was another man.” she said reluctantly.

“Who, do you know who?” CJ batted her eyelashes at Howie. He loosened his grip on her arm and apologized for hurting her. She stared at the hurt in his eyes and threw her arms around his neck. “It was just some guy who came to hear her sing, I think.”she whispered into his ear. He hugged her back then pulled away.

“Did she sleep with him?” Howie asked. CJ sheepishly nodded her head ‘yes.’ She watched as the anger swelled up in Howie’s face. She took his hand in hers, hoping that he would stay with her and not make a scene. Howie thanked her for her honesty and for being a good friend and then ripped his hand away. He pushed his way through the crowd, zeroing in on Morgan. He saw Kevin sitting at the bar alone. He headed out onto the main dance floor where Morgan had convinced Brian to join her. Howie pushed past Brian and yelled, “I’m sorry Brian, but I need to have a word with my girlfriend!” Brian could see the anger in Howie’s eyes and quickly retreated back to the bar. “You BITCH!!!” Howie yelled over the music and slapped her across the face with his hand. Morgan was stunned and caught the full force of the blow. She hung her head down and her hair covered her red, stinging face. “How the HELL could you do that to me? How could you FUCK somebody when I’m in the next room?” he yelled. Morgan looked up at him through her shield of red hair. The crowd directly around them had now stopped dancing and someone had gone for the bouncer, who came up and grabbed Howie from behind and dragged him from the club.

Howie stumbled out into the street, engorged with anger towards the most important thing in his life. He kicked at the fire hydrant, nearly breaking his toe, then sat down on the curb and waited for a taxi.

“How could you do that to me? You know how important Howie is to me. You’re nothing. You meant nothing to me!” Morgan yelled at Kevin while they all sat at the bar. “What? I didn’t tell him anything!” Kevin defended himself. “You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut could you? Why the hell did we bring you here anyways? What was I thinking?” Morgan continued to yell. “C’mon CJ, I don’t feel much like partying anymore!” Morgan stormed towards the door as CJ stood up and patted Kevin on the back. “Thanks for everything, man!” she said as she followed Morgan outside.

“What the heck was that all about?” Brian asked Kevin. Kevin filled Brian in on the missing pieces as Brian sat and listened to every detail wide-eyed. “Well that’s just great! Does he know it was you?” Brian asked. “Dunno, I guess he would’ve hit me too, if he did.!” Kevin laughed. “Well, if he does know, do you think he’ll still let ME stay with him?” Brian asked. “There’s only one way to find out.........let’s go home and face the fire.”