“I cannot believe he did THAT!” Rebecca screamed as she paced back and forth across the Persian rug in the lounge
“Nick’s never been one to make extremely wise decision” Brian sighed, crossing his left leg over his right
“You have to talk him out of it, the girl is the devils daughter” Rebecca announced, stopping abruptly in front of Brian
“Uh, Becca, you know I’ve never been-“
“Talk to him Brian”
“But-“
“But nothing, talk to him before it’s too late”
“They got married, I think it’s already too late”
Rebecca tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.
“Okay, okay” Brian said raising his palms in a surrendering motion, “I’ll go now”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ashlee shoved what little belongings she had into a Tartan suitcase as hot tears burned down her cheeks.
“Ash, where are you going?” her mother inquired, holding a dish rag in one hand as she stood in the doorway, concern riddled across her face
“I don’t know, London, Sydney, I’ve heard New Zealand nice this time of year” Ashlee proclaimed, frantically gathering her things
“You had travelling in planes around the states, how do you propose on keeping occupied on a 12 hour flight?” he mother smiled as she took a seat on the edge of the double bed, which was covered with scattered clothing and belongings
“I don’t know” Ashlee sighed, flopping into a heap on the floor
“What’s this about?” he mother inquired, her eyes gently scanning her daughter
“I’m in love with a man I barely know and he loves someone else”
“The young man who came to see me here?”
Ashlee looked up, her eyes questioning the last remark.
“Young blond man, he was anxious to know about you, he told me he was your boyfriend, I thought he was, I told him about Jacob, about you, I saw something in him that I recognized”
“What?”
“A destiny” Mrs. Baker whispered
“I don’t understand” Ashlee whispered
“You will dear, when you’re meant to see it, you will”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh hey Rok, what’s up?” Nick questioned as he opened the door to a worried looking Brian
“We need to talk” Brian said as he shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other
“Okay, sure, come in”
Nick opened the door and gestured for Brian to go in. As Brian walked in he took note of the dozen cardboard boxes lining the floor.
“Amanda moving in?” Brian questioned as he followed Nick into the lounge
“Uh, no, I’m moving out, Manda doesn’t like in much here, we’re moving to LA”
“LA?” Brian gasped, almost choking on the rush of air that filled his mouth
“Sure, it’s nice enough there” Nick shrugged
“You’re families here, you’re friends are here”
“It’s not like I’m moving to Australia” Nick smirked
“You made a big mistake” Brian announced, resisting the urge to point his finger like a scolding mother
“Come on Brian” Nick laughed
“I’m serious, Amanda doesn’t care a damn for you, and you know you don’t love her”
“Butt out” Nick spoke, his body language stiffing
“Admit it Nick, you two don’t even LIKE each other let alone LOVE each other”
“You have Rebecca, maybe you should let me have who I pick”
“You picked the devil”
Nick muttered a non-consequential answer.
“What about Ashlee?” Brian questioned
“What about her?” a scathing voice questioned from the entrance
“Amanda, I thought-“ Nick began
“What about her Brian?” Amanda hissed
Brian looked to Nick.
“Nothing, she’s just the stupid girl that was in a coma, Brian had some spastic idea that I should see how she’s going” Nick chuckled
“What a pathetically stupid idea’ Amanda smirked, deliberately waving her hand with the ring in the air
“Whatever you say man” Brian replied, stomping toward the door
As he opened the front door he turned around.
“You realize what you’ve done when it’s too late to fix it” he called before slamming the front door behind him
“What was that supposed to mean?” Amanda hissed
“Nothing” Nick shrugged
“I don’t like him”
“Who Brian?”
“I don’t want you to see him anymore”
"But he’s my best friend”
“And I’m your bloody wife” Amanda shrieked before marching out of the room
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(One Month Later)
Ashlee focused on the picture in front of her. The soft pout of his lips sprung off the page, his eyes, a clear blue eyes reminded her of the ocean, she had once looked into them, and felt a rush that she could neither repeat nor explain.
“Goodbye Nick” she whispered, standing up
A car tooted a horn outside her window. She adjusted her shoulder bag and dropped the photo into the trashcan of her empty room. She took one last look and sighed gently.
“Goodbye”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick wandered from empty room to empty room in the vast Tampa Bay house. The moving truck had long since left, filled with every worldly possession he had. Amanda had flown up to LA a week ago to ‘make preparations’. He knew he would miss the clean smell of the ocean as he traded it in for a large concrete fence and a hot pavement in the very center of Beverly Hills.
As he wandered into what had been the master bedroom he noticed something on the floor in the very far corner. He walked closer and saw a blood stained handkerchief in front of him. He kneeled down, staring at it strangely. It had a small NC embroidered in a dark blue thread. He remembered it as the one his mother had given him a few years back. A flash of another piece of history blinked in his mind.
“Ashlee” he whispered as he remembered the day he’d first seen her
He’d been so frightened by the amount of blood over her, but something made him feel the urge to wipe the blood from her cheek, as though to reveal her face. He’d done so with the only thing he could find in his pocket, the small white handkerchief with NC in the corner. He’d wiped gently the blood from her cheek, and a rush on wonderment came over him, he remembered struggling to think if he’d known her. He searched every ounce of memory he had as he waited for the ambulance, yet he’d come up with nothing, he had not known her physically – but something, deep down told him he knew her in his mind, and maybe even in his heart.
“Whatcha looking at?” Rebecca queried standing slightly behind Nick
“Do you believe in reincarnation?” Nick questioned
Rebecca looked at him strangely and shook her head. “Why?”
“How do you explain knowing someone without actually having met them?”
“Fate, Déjà vu” she shrugged
“God, I am SO sick of people saying that word Fate. Don’t we control what happens in our own lives?”
“Of course we do Nick, but sometimes, for no known reason a door opens to us, a path lights up, its our choice what we do with it. We call is fate because we have no real answer to why things happen, all we know is that once the door opens we either take it or we don’t”
“What happens if we didn’t?”
“It’ll close”
Nick sighed wearily, he finally realized he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.
“But” Rebecca said softly, “Another door will open, another path will come, and maybe, just maybe your path will lead to where you’re meant to be”
“Which is?”
“Only you know that Nick, and only you can decide that”