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» CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: MAKE A CHOICE «

Three weeks later, England...
I didn't hear you leave
I wonder how am I still here
And I don't wanna move a thing
It might change my memory

Ariana, Alex, and Laura stood outside Jennifer's closed bedroom door. They exchanged wary looks.

"You knock." Laura nudged Ariana.

"Alex should knock," Ariana objected. "Jennifer is her sister."

"But she could kill me." protested Alex. "You guys are the friends-that means your safe."

"For Heaven's sake-I'll do it, then." Laura raised her fist and knocked steadily on the door. "Jenn? You in there?"

It swung open immediately, and Jennifer walked out, dressed in jeans and her favorite white t-shirt, freshly showered. "Afternoon, girls." she said cheerfully, trailing the three dumbfounded women behind her.

"Jennie…you look good." Alex looked confused.

Jennifer turned and gave them a wicked grin. "Why shouldn't I look good? Honestly, you three have been walking on eggshells for weeks around me. I'm fine, really."

Ariana gave her a skeptical look. "We just thought you'd be more upset about Nick leaving and still being attached to that girl of his."

"He had to go sometime." Jennifer shrugged. "I knew he couldn't stay in England forever and dote on me. He has a commitment to his singing career, his fans, as well as a commitment to Chanel." Though Jennifer tried to hide it, Alex didn't miss the flash of contempt when the Evil One's name was spoken.

"Are you feeling sickly at all, Jennifer? You're not acting normal, for you." Alex grinned to show she was teasing.

"Hmmph." Jennifer sighed, acting frustrated. "Do you mean to tell me you miss the sobbing, blubbering mess that I was a few years ago? Because I certainly don't, and I don't want to be like that again. This is the new and improved me-you dish it out, I can take it."

"What brought on this change of heart?" asked Laura. "We all know something happened three weeks ago when Nick left-something really big-but you haven't said a peep at all. I know for a fact when you came home, you sat in your room all night and bawled your eyes out. We'd like to know what's going on."

Jennifer hesitated, then nodded and shooed them towards the living room. Once they were comfortable, she began. "Nick told me he loves me." The room was quiet, for though the news made them all happy, Jennifer's face was solemn.

"…And?" Alex prodded, her fingers braiding and un-braiding the fringed ends of a throw pillow.

"And…Chanel is pregnant, so they're getting married. That's basically the gist of it."

Protests from all around clogged the air up with voices. "Whoa, wait a minute!" Ariana exclaimed, holding up her hands. "Please start from the beginning. With details, if you please."

I don't wanna call my friends
They might wake me from this dream
And I can't leave this bed
Risk forgetting all that's been

I wrapped up that eventful afternoon fifteen minutes later, with meticulous detail. Alex wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. What are you gonna do?"

I gave them a sad smile. "Nothing. What else can I do? I'll just go back to living my life before Nick showed up, only better, cuz now the past is definitely behind me. Maybe I'll even find someone else to love one day."

"But that can't happen!" objected Alex. "You and Nick are soul-mates through and through. You can't let him end up with a bitch like Chanel."

"I already tried, but it's no use. It's not gonna happen."

Alex snorted rudely. "'Already tried'? I don't think so, honey."

Laura stopped us before we started an argument. "Guys, please. That's not the part to be focusing on. Besides, something just sounds too fishy in all of this." We all looked at her. "Think about it," she said. "They show up here, you and she fight, Nick starts falling for you, Chanel sees that but doesn't want to let him go, so she devises a little plan to make sure he can't leave. It's just too convenient how it happens like this."

"Even if she is lying, how could we prove it?" I argued. "She's not here, Nick's not here, the only one who could prove you right, Laura, would be the doc-" I faltered, remembering what Chanel had said three weeks ago.

Chanel frowned at me. "I went to, uh, Dr. B-Brian Ross, at the Princeton Hospital." she answered.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, pleased with myself for remembering her doctor's name.

Laura, Ariana, and Alex stared at me. "Care to explain?"

"Chanel told me she went to Princeton Hospital, to some doctor named Brian Ross."

"That is great!" Laura responded enthusiastically. "Now all we need to do is call the hospital and ask if Dr. Ross had any patients named Chanel Valara."

Ariana grabbed our phone book from the kitchen and we huddled around our cordless as I dialed in the numbers. Alex leaned her head against mine so she could listen in. The line rang twice, then a cheery female voice answered. "Hello, you've reached the main desk at Princeton Hospital, may I help you?"

"Hi," I replied, clearing my throat. "I was wondering if you could tell me when a patient named Chanel Valara, my sister, went to Dr. Brian Ross for her pregnancy check-up. Probably sometime this past week." Ariana shot me a thumbs up and hissed, "Ooh, good one."

"One moment, please." I could hear keys being pressed in the background, and a voice on a loudspeaker paging a doctor filled the phone line. The receptionist sounded puzzled and a bit suspicious when she returned to the phone. "What doctor did you say she went to?"

"Brian Ross." I said firmly.

She sighed. "There is no such doctor working here. You might have gotten the hospitals confused. Can I help you with anything else?"

Alex looked at me, wide-eyed. I faced her grimly. "Um, can you tell me if Chanel Valara was there at all?"

"I have no records of a Valara, Chanel being in this hospital this past week nor any other. Maybe she visited a different hospital."

"Yes, maybe. Thanks for your help." I hung up the phone and faced my roommates.

"That conniving, little, lying bitch." Alex muttered angrily.

"Are you positive that was the hospital she told you?" Laura asked me.

"Yes, I'm definitely sure. I can't believe she'd do this." I bit my lip, shocked.

"I can." Alex informed us. "She's probably at their house in Orlando now, laughing and cackling about how she's gonna get away with this…"

Oh I am what I am
I'll do what I want
But I can't hide…

Chanel slipped a pale pink, sleeveless sundress over her head and let it swish around her ankles, admiring in the mirror the way it accentuated her curves. She grabbed a light straw hat and fixed it to the top of her black hair, then made sure her new silver anklet Nick got her was fastened above her brown, open toe sandals. She stuck little pink earrings in her earlobes and smiled.

"I'm ready, honey!" she called.

Nick appeared in the bedroom doorway, dressed casually and a cell-phone attached to his ear. "Hold on a second, Len." he spoke into the phone, then covered the mouth-piece and smiled at Chanel. "It's Lenny, and it sounds pretty important. I promise we'll go in a little bit, sweetie. Why don't you lay down and rest?"

Chanel let out a sniff of impatience. "You're always on the phone with Lenny. Why must he always call!"

Nick's eyebrows knitted together. "Chanel, he is my manager."

"You'd think you were getting married to him instead of me." she pouted, swishing her skirt. Seeing Nick wasn't going to give in, she sighed and gave up, plopping very un-ladylike onto the bed. "Well, get on with it. The mall isn't gonna stay open forever!"

Nick refrained from rolling his eyes, then left. After his voice faded down the hall, Chanel moaned loudly. "I'm bored!" she whispered. She leaned across the bed and grabbed the phone. She hadn't had a chance to call one of her closest friends,  Gwen, since pre-England, and hadn't been able to gloat about her engagement and false pregnancy. She thought about keeping her plan to herself-after all, the less people who knew, the less chance Nick had to find out-but by the time she finished dialing Gwen's number, she decided she'd burst if she didn't tell someone soon. She felt like a cat who had just nabbed its first mouse, but had no one to flaunt it in front of.

The phone was picked up by Gwen's maid, Maria, on the fourth ring. "Shalolm residence, how may I help you?"

"Well, it's about time." Chanel snapped. "I don't have all day to wait for you to get to the phone, Marla."

"It's Maria, ma'am." the maid snapped back. "Shall I inform Ms. Shalolm of your call?"

"Of course, you dolt. I didn't call to hear your sorry voice." Chanel rolled her eyes. 'What lousy service these days…who ever taught servants to talk back?'

A minute later Gwen's rich voice came over the line. "Chanel, darling, how was the trip to Europe?"

"Awful." Chanel pouted. "There were so many screaming teenagers everywhere we went, I nearly lost my hearing. Then we stopped in England, and oh, Gwen, I've got so much to tell you. First of all, Nick was still harboring that stupid idea that he wanted to see that old best friend he used to have, Jennifer Alton. Then we actually found her," She grimaced. "and that's when everything started to go all wrong. Can you believe she actually called me a bitch?"

Gwen clucked her tongue. "Chanel, she sounds terrible, I feel horrible for you. What did you do?"

Luscious pink lips curled into a smile. "Are you sitting down, Gwen?"

Ten minutes later, Nick said goodbye to his manager and hung up his cell-phone. "Finally," he muttered. "Now, where are those song lyrics?" He looked around the living room for his collection of song lyrics he had promised Lenny he'd look for, to get to him by no later than the next day.

"How the hell can you misplace a stack of papers in this spotless house?" Nick wrinkled his nose. The large, bright, airy house was a choice Chanel had picked out, full of rare art and statuettes, and expensive white furniture that screamed 'don't put your feet on me' rather than 'kick back and spend the evening watching a game'. If he had any choice in the decision, he would have picked a place closer to his parents and to the city, comfortable and casual, rather than in the country and stuffy.

In the kitchen, gleaming kitchen-ware stood in corners on the counter. 'I'll bet Chanel has never once turned on that electronic blender she just 'had to have'.' thought Nick, taking deep breaths so he wouldn't get pissed off. 'Maybe after she has the baby, she'll loosen up a bit. Allow a chip dip blob or two to fall on the coffee table every now and then.'

When he was making his second trip into the dining room, he spotted the stack of papers lying neatly on a straight-back, royal blue upholstered chair. Grinning impishly, he scooped them up and made sure they were in order, then decided to call Lenny back to tell him he'd drop them off at his office before he and Chanel went to the mall.

He grabbed his phone in the living room and frowned at it. 'It was full of juice this morning.' Tossing it on the couch, he decided to use the home line. 'I've really gotta get out of the habit of using my cell when I'm at home.' He smiled to himself.

He picked up the white extension phone in the kitchen and held it to his ear to make sure of the dial tone. Instead, he heard Chanel's annoying and stuck-up friend, Gwen's, voice. She was giggling helplessly as she tried to talk. He was about to hang up when the words she said made his blood run cold.

"So you mean, the whole thing was a scam? You're really not pregnant and you just told him that so he'd have to give up that girl and marry you?"

Chanel, his Chanel, groaned, but didn't deny it. "For the third time, Gwen, yes! I thought we already went over this. I'm not really pregnant. Now are you gonna help me decide on what kind of wedding gown to wear, or not?"

And I won't go
I won't sleep
And I can't breath
Until you're resting here with me

I jumped up from the couch and ran to my room. Worried, my three roommates followed me. "What are you doing?" called Ariana.

They watched me open my closet and drag my suitcase down from the top shelf. "I'm going to stop Nick from making the biggest mistake of his life."

"You are?" Laura began to smile.

I paused in the act of opening my dresser drawer and looked at them. "Yes! I am. You guys are right, Nick should be with me. He just needs a little push in the right direction."

"And I suppose you're gonna be the one doing some pushing." Alex said mildly.

I grinned. "Damn right, Ali. I'm prepared to fight."

"All right, Jennifer!" she cheered, hugging my shoulders. "You go there and slap that Chanel around a few times for me."

I threw two more shirts into the suitcase and began with my socks. "Would someone grab me the phone and the phone book? I need to make reservations on the next flight to Florida."

Laura dashed off to grab the phone, and Ariana and Alex helped me pack the rest of my things. I took my carry-on and packed my toiletries from the bathroom, then raided my nightstand. I thanked Laura and took the phone.

And I won't leave
And I can't hide
I cannot be
Until you're resting here with me

"OK, everything with the tickets are all set to go." I announced fifteen minutes later. "There's a flight leaving tonight at midnight. Ariana, you don't mind if I call long distance, do you?"

Ariana shook her head. "You chip in on billing charges, so there's no problem with me."

I laughed. "I just need to call my parents and tell them I'm coming, hopefully I'll be able to stay with them if things do or don't work out." I explained. "And I also need Nick's address, so…"

I was about to dial when the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered.

"Good morning, is this Jennifer Alton?" a male voice inquired. I shot my friends a confused look. "Yes, this is she. How may I help you?"

"Jennifer!" the voice sounded excited. "This is Joseph Morgan, the director of 'Shallow Ends'. I'm very sorry about the long delay, but I'd like to congratulate you on winning the role of Cordelia! You were absolutely perfect for the part, and my assistant director, Gordon Thomas and I would love for you to play opposite Cory Davis."

My mouth dropped open. I had completely forgotten about the play. "Mr. Morgan, w-what a surprise." I stammered. I cleared my throat. "I would love to do your play-"

"-Excellent." Joseph crowed.

"-under normal circumstances." I finished. "But you see, I'm in the middle of this crisis, and I'm afraid I won't be in England much longer, hopefully for the next few weeks, and that wouldn't be fair to you. I'm very sorry."

Joseph sounded disappointed. "Oh. Well, I do understand. Perhaps we will meet again under another script someday."

"Yes, that would be lovely." I said sincerely. "Thanks again."

"Goodbye, Ms. Alton."

I terminated the conversation. Recalling Mom and Dad's home number, I dialed it before I could receive sympathy from my roommates.

Dad answered immediately. "Hi, Dad." I said. "How's everything going?"

"Jennie!" Dad exclaimed. "Haven't heard from you in awhile. Everything's going fine here. How are you and your sister?"

"We're fine. Listen, Dad, I'm just calling to tell you that I'm planning a spur of the moment visit to Florida, and I'll explain why when I arrive, but I was wondering if you would give me Nick's home address?"

"Sure, sweetie." he replied without hesitation. I jotted the number and address down, then said goodbye and hung up.

"So is everything set?" asked Ariana.

"Yep. Now I just need to get through the day until I leave."

Your heart is not open
So I must go
The spell has been broken
I loved you so

"I'm sorry, Chanel, I just can't get over it. It's a perfectly diabolical plan, and it flows so smoothly. If you hadn't told me now, I probably never would have guessed you'd fake a miscarriage." Gwen giggled. "But aren't you worried Nick will be upset when the baby doesn't come?"

"Oh, he'll get over it." Chanel waved her hand. "There's plenty of time for more little brats in our future." Clearing her throat, she switched to a lighter, more interesting topic. "So I was thinking the wedding colors should be beige and maroon…"

Nick slowly hung up the phone, taking care that it rested gently down so the two parties didn't know another person had been listening. He tried to walk towards the living room, but instead he stumbled and fell into a kitchen bar stool. He dropped his head to his hands and shook his head in shock.

Chanel wasn't pregnant? She had faked it all so he would leave Jennifer for her? To make him marry her when he wasn't ready? She…lied to him. And worst of all, she wasn't the girl he thought she was.

'Only a twisted person could come up with a sick plan like that.' The world around him was spinning dizzily, so he shut his eyes tightly.

Freedom comes when you learn to let go
Creation comes when you learn to say no
Fate is a warning that something's wrong
I pray to God that it won't be long

Nick sat there for almost a half an hour, his thoughts and feelings churning inside of him, making him sick to his stomach. He was desperately trying to come up with a decision.

'No,' he realized. 'I've already come up with my decision since before the engagement. I don't want to marry Chanel, before I just had to. Now, there's nothing stopping me from leaving. And there's nothing stopping me from telling her off.'

He heard whistling coming in the direction of the stairs; Chanel was in a glorious mood now that she had let everything out. She preened herself outside the kitchen door, then walked in, walking on air. "OK, Nick, I'm ready to go when you are." She noticed his hands were cell-phone free. "Did you finish with Lenny? If you are, then we'd better start shopping. I want to hit all those little baby stores, like Baby Gap. Infant clothes are just adorable!"

Nick had remained still at the kitchen table until the last comment. He turned to face her, and for some reason, Chanel's feet crashed to the ground. She wasn't Nick's girlfriend of five years for nothing; she could see the red hot anger in his eyes, and hear the warning bells going off in her head.

"Nick?" she said nervously. "Is something wrong, sweetheart?"

"Why don't you tell me?" His voice barely raised above a whisper, but Chanel flinched as if he had screamed in her ear. There was a steely edge to his voice, a cold and un-feeling note, that she had never heard from him before. She didn't even think Nick could be nasty.

"Tell you what?" she asked.

Nick studied his fingers before looking up to catch and hold her gaze.

"Why don't you tell me…" he started, standing up to walk beside her. "…tell me why you're not pregnant."

The cold finger of dread pierced Chanel's insides, washing a freezing chill over her entire body. She lurched away from him; she couldn't stand to be near his burning body. "N-not-not pregnant?" she sputtered, giggling desperately. "What are you talking about, Nickolas?"

"I heard your phone conversation with Gwen." Nick's eyes were blazing with anger. Anger at her. It was something that shouldn't ever have happened, he was supposed to look at her with love for the rest of his life.

"I heard you and she say that you weren't pregnant, that you made it up so I'd have to marry you."

"Nick, try to understand. I was afraid of losing you-"

"Afraid of losing me to whom!" Nick exclaimed.

"-I, I did it because I love you." Chanel faltered, seeing Nick's face turn bright red.

"You don't love me!" he bellowed. He started to walk out of the kitchen, trailing Chanel helplessly. She followed him up the stairs, and into their bedroom. "If you loved me," Nick said, in only a slightly lower voice. "You would have never done anything like that to me! You lied to me, you tricked me, you were deceitful. That is not love."

You were my lesson I had to learn
I was your fortress you had to burn

Nick held up a hand to stop her protests. "I can't believe you could ever do something like that, Chanel. I thought I loved you, really loved you, but this cannot and will not, be forgiven."

She watched in horror as he opened his duffel bag and began throwing various items of clothing and necessities inside. "No, no." she gasped, grabbing his arm. "You're not leaving me! Surely you can learn to forgive me, I-I made a terrible, horrible mistake, I was all those things you said, but I do love you, I do. Please, just give me another chance, I won't ever lie to you again. I feel like I betrayed your trust, but I can earn it back, really I can! Please, don't leave me."

Nick zipped up his bag, shrugging her arm off. "It's time for us to make a choice. You already made your choice in England." he told her coldly. "You don't deserve my love. Now I'm making my choice. And that is to leave you, and never see you again." He looked down at her quivering hand, which was re-attached to his wrist. "I'd like my ring back, please. It needs to be sent back to the jeweler in England."

Chanel sobbed loudly, weeping into his shirt. "Please, no, Nick, no. Don't leave me. That isn't my choice. I love you, I want you! I'll do anything you want me to, just don't go!"

He took her hand off his arm firmly. "Geez, Chanel, I would have thought you'd have more poise than that."

Hate rose in her throat. "Get out!" she screamed through her tears. "Just get out! I don't need you, you bastard. I don't need you!" She viciously yanked her beautiful engagement ring off of her finger, and threw it as hard as she could at Nick's face.

He caught it easily, and tucked it into his pocket, then regarded her somewhat sadly. "You need help, Chanel. This kind of behavior isn't healthy."

There's nothing left to try
There's no place left to hide
There's no greater power
Than the power of goodbye

Chanel growled, grabbed the closest thing to her-an old Chinese vase-and chucked it at Nick's back as he walked through the bedroom door.

"Leave me alone!" she shrieked, following him down the stairs, throwing her priceless art collection at him. "Get out! I hate you! Stay away from my house! You're a heartless bastard!"

Nick didn't even turn to look at her when he opened the front door. "Goodbye, Chanel." he said, then stepped outside.

She threw her last statue at the screen door and it went through the glass, shattering it and breaking the piece in two. She slammed the door when she heard Nick's car engine start up, and the squealing tires as they tried to leave her as fast as they could.

Chanel stopped screaming and surveyed her once impeccable looking living room, now covered in strewn pieces of ceramic and glass. 'He's really gone.' she thought in disbelief. 'He actually left me. I'm alone.' With that thought, she threw herself on the floor and sobbed.

There's nothing left to lose
There's no more heart to bruise
There's no greater power
Than the power of goodbye

I checked my bag at the ticket desk and received my tickets from an overly-happy attendant. It was nearing eleven-thirty, and all three of my friends had come to see me off. Laura and Alex were huddled up in the chairs near the gate, resting their heads on each other's shoulders as they fought to get a few precious minutes of sleep. Ariana sat with me quietly, her presence comforting.

"Do you think Nick will believe me?" I asked her.

She smiled gently. "Yes, Jennifer, I think he will. Why would you lie to him?"

"I'm just so nervous," I admitted. "What if everything doesn't work out? What if something happens and I just…" I sighed. "I really need to stop this whining. Everything is gonna go perfectly, right Ana?"

Ariana laughed. "Exactly."

"All passengers with first class tickets for rows 1-6 for Flight 469, non-stop air to Orlando, Florida please begin boarding at Gate 12."

I stood up with my friends and moved toward the gate. "I'll be called soon," I explained, showing them I had a seat in row 20.

"Ok." Alex said. "Bye then. Good luck, sweetie." She hugged me, then kissed my on the cheek.

"Bye, babe." I smiled at her. Laura hugged me next, then Ariana. By then my row was boarding. I got in line and let the attendant tear off my ticket stub, then walked down the hall to the plane. I found my seat without trouble and settled in. Next to me was an elderly man reading a paper, and a middle aged woman in a smart business suit, drooling on her shoulder as she
lightly snored.

I was lost in my own little world until the plane started to jet down the runway, then my excitement began to mound as the lights of London whirled by. 'I'm coming, Nick. It won't be long now.'

And I won't go
And I won't sleep
I can't breath
Until you're resting here with me
And I won't leave
And I can't hide
I cannot be
Until you're resting here with me

¤ Chapter 19: The Tree House ¤
REMEMBER to send feedback to the author, Stephanie