"You, are a very brave young woman," Officer Smitts admitted to her, sitting down. "You saved two lives tonight: Kristina Harp and Kevin Richardson . . . not to mention your own life . . ." His voice trailed off, as he stared into Victoria's eyes.
Victoria shifted under his intense gaze. She glanced up at him. "Can I go now?" she asked softly.
"No, I need to know some things first," Smitts replied. He smacked a thick folder on the table. "Namely, your connection to Kristina Harp."
"The woman in the street?" Victoria asked. "I don't know her. What happened to her?"
"She's in the intensive care unit at Victoria Hospital, but it looks like she's going to survive," the officer responded. "What I need to know, is why you were out so late at night, and if you had any prior involvement with the two men you shot."
Victoria's hair hung in her eyes. She felt dazed. "Are they okay?" She asked softly. Her eyes began to well up. "I mean I . . . I didn't . . . did I?"
"Victor Black was just nicked in the shoulder, but Blain Milton is in surgery right now," He told her softly. "Both very bad men. You did what you had to do. Now why were you there in the first place?"
"I was going to help Kevin," Victoria whispered, slouching further in her chair. "He was in trouble-"
"How did you know-" his words were cut off by the opening of a door.
An older police officer entered the room. His dark skin shone beneath the flourescent lights, his smile was friendly, and his eyes held some long lived wisdom. "She's free to go," he told Smitts. He looked down at Victoria kindly, with some curiosity. "I've spoken with a friend of hers. They've only been in town one night. They're on some sort of tour, so there is no way she could have had any previous connections to the group." He turned to her. "You're free to go, Miss. You've been a great help to us."
Victoria stood slowly. Her muscles ached, and she had bruises on her right side, from hitting the ground so hard. Just as she was about to walk through the door, the officer stopped her. "You have a gift." He told her softly. "I know people who can help you access it . . ."
She turned to him slowly. His kind, dark eyes were bright. Victoria's hair fell in her face as she looked down. "I'm not ready. I didn't ask for this."
"You're a very brave young woman," he commented, echoing the first officer's words. "There are people who can help you when you're ready." He handed her a card, which she accepted, and placed in her pocket.
"Thank you." Victoria walked quickly out of the office, and out of the building.
Kevin didn't say anything as she approached him, wide eyed and crying. He reached out silently, and wrapped his strong arms around her. Victoria hugged him in return, glad to be in the warmth of his embrace.
"I thought you were dead," she whispered, squeezing him tighter.
"Shhhh," he told her, rocking her slowly. "You saved my life . . ." Victoria buried her head in his neck at this statement. Kevin ran a hand over her head, through her thick, blond hair, and rocked her slowly.
When Victoria finally pulled away, she saw tears in Kevin's eyes. He leaned down, and kissed her lips softly, lingering in front of her face. Victoria smiled tearfully, and touched Kevin's cheek with the tips of her fingers. "I love you . . ." she murmured.
"I'm sorry . . ." Kevin said softly, leaning forward and nuzzling her neck. "I didn't mean to say that I didn't trust-"
"Shhh, I know," Victoria replied, covering his mouth with her hand. Kevin caressed her arm, and kissed each finger on her hand, before drawing her back into a hug.
"If they keep this up we'll never get out of here," Brian muttered into Lara's ear.
"Quiet," Lara returned. "Just give them a minute."
"Okay, that was great," Ani DiFranco smiled at Alison, through the plate glass window. Alison smiled in return, and removed the brown headphones from her ears.
"Can I listen to it?" Alison requested, stepping outside the recording booth.
"Of course you can listen to it! Your the artist!" Ani laughed, fiddling with some switches. The song blasted through the speakers, and Alison's breezy voice filled the studio.
"Alone in a world, lost in the night, my feet my only traveling companions. The stark city darkness, is good for getting lost in, getting lost in the shadows of losing you . . ."
Alison smiled to herself. She had never heard her voice completely on its own before, singing a song that was written for only her, about only her. Ani smiled at her. "What do you think?"
"Where's Alison?" A.J. questioned Cora, as he passed her in the hall. "I've been looking for her."
"I don't know where she is, probably out in the great city of Buffalo somewhere," Cora shrugged.
"Where would she go?" He pressed, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head.
Cora raised her eyebrows. "I told you, I don't know. Why are you looking for her?"
"I don't know," A.J. shrugged. "She was acting weird earlier. Talking about . . . I don't know."
"Don't worry about it," Cora replied. "That girl goes through more moods than a camel wearing underwear. She's probably just in one of her poetic modes. She'll get out of it. Victoria is practically her best friend, so if you wanna talk to her, she, Kevin, Brian and Lara just got here like an hour ago. Victoria had to stay to talk to the police, about . . . anyway, she might know what's up with her."
A.J. nodded, and walk away. "Maybe . . ."
Andrew half-heartedly tried to touch Kristen's hand as they walked down the buzzing streets of Buffalo together. Kristen jerked her hand away quickly, and folded her arms in front of her chest in annoyance. She steered their walk towards a small park, sitting humbly amongst the buildings and the deep growls of the city. She sat on a bench near the center, teeth tied together by all the things she wanted to say, all the emotions she wanted to smear across that guilty face of his. Her face was set like shiny mica: reflective of her anger, looking hard and tough, but ready to flake away with the softest brush.
"You better say something, because I'm sure as hell not going to," she muttered, glancing at the immense church to their right. The sun bounced off the stain glass windows, creating a sparkling sheen over the pretty surface. Kristen regarded Andrew angrily.
"Kristen - I," he started. Andrew sighed, and sank down next to her. "I really fucked up . . ." She glanced at him in slight surprise, but said nothing. "I did not, I would never want, I had no intention of hurting you. I thought, that when I broke up with Tara, you'd be happy, and you'd want to be with me. I know that being a little drunk is no excuse for the way I treated you, but I wasn't thinking straight. And I, I really care about you. I thought that if I just kissed you, I could just . . . sweep you off your feet. I could just make you want to be with me." Andrew sighed, and stared down at his hands. "I realize that's impossible now, but I want you to know, that I am sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry for leading you on while I still had a girlfriend, and for the way I treated you last night. I hope you'll forgive me, but I can understand if you don't want to talk to me again . . ." his voice trailed off. He looked up at her.
Kristen was crying softly, making no sound at all, but slimy little tears were slipping out of her eyes and soaking her face.
"Kristen," Andrew murmured softly, reaching out to touch her arm.
"Don't," Kristen's voice cracked, as she snapped at him quietly. "Don't touch me . . ."
Andrew sat back in the bench, looking sideways at Kristen's blotchy, tear-stained face.
Alison lay sprawled out on the couch backstage that night, after the show. "Good for nothing," Cora muttered, sitting down beside her.
"Good for what?" Alison laughed, sitting up and strangling her friend.
"Nothing . . ." Cora laughed, tickling her friend. "Isn't this nice?" Cora asked, pushing her friend away. "Everybody happy and together like this . . ."
"I guess," Alison shifted uncomfortably. "Victoria's still pretty upset, and so is Kevin for that matter. Nick was acting very strange on the bus over here . . . Not to mention the fact that Kristen is unbelievably pissed at Andrew, who is still cowering in the corner somewhere, and-"
"You are such a pessimist!" Cora interrupted.
"Optimist!" Alison shot back.
"Cynic!"
"Idealist!"
"This is getting us nowhere . . ." Cora giggled, ruffling Alison's hair. "A.J. said you were acting sort of weird with him - anything up?" Cora asked finally, getting to the point.
"No, nothing," Alison said quickly. Cora observed her suspiciously. "Really," Alison insisted. "I'm still getting over David, and I've just been kind of out of it lately. But I am fine."
Cora nodded. "Okay, I just wanted to make sure." She told her, getting up off the couch. "If you need someone to talk to-"
"I know," Alison nodded, and lay back on the couch to rest.
Kristen starred at her pale reflection in the crisp, glass mirror, and wiped a swab of make-up remover over her face. Her hands didn't shake as she did this routine after-performance clean up. Her skin was dry and white, like a squeaky new plastic grocery bag, and her hair felt slick and sticky with styling gels.
Dancers and crew members bustled around her. She heard Fatima laughing somewhere in the room. She had decided not to talk to Andrew anymore, and she had told him as much. Fatima knew bits and pieces of their relationship, and she had warned Kristen not to let it get in the way of her work. Kristen would never have let that happen.
But now her mind spun with irrational thoughts, and chaotic dreams. Her life felt like it was leading to nowhere, a dead-end, and no-woman's land. Around her, the usual things were happening - the monotonous tour schedule - the clean-up - the interviews - the triangular complimentary sandwiches. It was unromantic. It was breakneck, and tiring. Kristen sighed, convincing herself that all this would pass. She couldn't let it go on like this. She needed a change. She needed to be on her own, doing her own thing.
Doing her best to be discreet and normal-looking, Kristen silently removed the rest of her make- up.
Victoria made an unsuccessful attempt to roll over in Kevin's strong arms. He held her tight, and nuzzled her neck. His smooth hands caressed her body softly. Victoria let out a small sigh of contentment.
She could stay there forever, comfortable in his embrace, safe and warm. She liked the raw feeling of his strong, muscular body next to her naked skin. The safety and pleasure that accompanied being there, and staying there. She laughed quietly as he nibbled her ear lightly.
She rolled over to look at him, and this time he didn't make any attempts to stop her. Her laughing eyes peered slowly into his dark ones. Victoria ran one long, manicured finger over his upper arm. His skin was soft, but the muscle beneath was tough and strong. His eyes questioned her thoughtfully.
"I could stay here with you forever," Kevin told her.
"Then do it," Victoria replied with a smile. She rolled over, and pulled herself on top of him, kissing his mouth softly. She lay her head against his bare chest. "So could I . . ."
Kevin closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her naked back beneath his hands, her shiny hair tangled in his fingertips. Slowly, he drifted into a contented sleep.
"Ani?" Alison asked from her Victoria-less hotel room. "I'm so sorry for calling you so late, but you did say any time . . . I'm just calling because I've decided to take you up on your offer. I'm very interested . . . I realize I don't have to leave the group, but I don't think it's fair to you, or to me, or to the other girls if I stay and divide my time and energy. I need to be able to focus on one thing, and I think this is really right for me . . . No, I don't need any more time. If you're offer still stands, then I've made my decision . . . I can appreciate that, but I really should stay and finish up the tour. There are only nine days left for Nova anyway . . . Thank you very much. I know this is the best move for me . . . Alright, thank you. I'll talk to you after my tour is finished then. Good-bye."
Alison hung up the phone, and stared at where it lay in its cradle. She could not believe how quickly she had made her decision . . . She didn't know how she was going to tell the girls.
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