"Nickums, I'm gonna check my email while you shower," Alesha called from the bedroom.
"Kay," he said walking in the room and grabbing some jeans. He blew her a kiss and wandered off to the bathroom.
YOUR MAILBOX HAS REACHED ITSMAXIMUM QUOTA. NO MORE MAIL CAN BE
RECEIVED.
"Oh bother," she grumbled and started deleting. "Sighsighsigh. I should dump most of these stupid lists. Not all...There's a couple of them that are okay, but JESUS this is ridiculous," she mumbled. She came across the 4 old messages from Nick. She slowly clicked to open the first one.
Aleshababy, Where are you? What did I do? What did I say? I'm sorry for whatever it is that I did to make you leave.
o~/I'd turn back time/To make you mine/And find a way back to your heart/I'd beg and plead/Fall to my knees/To find a way back to your heart/~o
- Nick
Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked rapidly trying to clear them away. She clicked on the second message.
Oh the stars in the sky/Ain't nearly as bright/When you're not by my side/The heavens seem to cry/When your love/Is out of my life/I need you here/I need you now/Where are you/Why'd you go/I miss you so much/I need you so much/Come back baby/Come back to me now/I'll never let you go again/
No matter what she did to stop them, they fell. They continued falling as she opened the third message. And they fell harder after the fourth.
Leshangel...How did it happen? God only knows. You never realize these things until it's too late to do anything about them. Fate's cruel joke on the world. I tried to deny it. God knows I did. Too risky, too soon...just too everything... But God knows, I love you. It won't go away. No matter what I do. Your touch, my body remembers still. Your smile, haunts me constantly. You laughter still makes my heart sing. Your voice I hear on the wind. I'm lost without. Why were you given to me only to be taken away so quickly? Why didn't you, why couldn't you stay? Please come back. I don't think that I can live without you. Nick
Alesha, my love...I guess it's really over. I should have known. It was too good to be true. You were, you ARE my angel. My beautiful Leshangel. What will I do without you here? Oh the world is a terrible evil cruel place. Fate is a terrible evil unfair player. Why do all things so wonderful have to end? Why do questions have to remain unanswered? Why do intentions have to remain unmet? Why do plans have to remain unfulfilled? Oh Alesha. I love you so much. There is no way I could ever say goodbye. So I leave you with this..."until we meet again..." Nick
Alesha wiped the tears away from her eyes so she could see and hit the reply button.
My darling Nickybaby...Do not under any circumstance blame yourself for my leaving. It was nothing you did or said. It was my own misunderstanding of life and love that caused me to go. But my love for you proved to be stronger than my will to stay away...for here I am. And I have no idea what to expect. You leave me in mere days to begin your tour, and I'll be left here. Alone. With memories of you. Such is the cruel humor of the one who writes the story of our lives. To get this close to heaven, only to be pushed back even farther than we were before. But I will wait for you my darling. Until you once again are with me. This I can promise, as I promised I would never leave you again. Your Leshangel.
As she hit the send button, Nick sauntered in the room adorned with only a towel around his waist. "Hey babygirl...have you seen my gray button up?"
Alesha had no clue what shirt he was referring to so she shook her head. When she turned around, she almost stopped breathing. "Damn but he is hot," she said softly. She turned back around to the computer and closed her eyes. Opening them and trying to return her thoughts to her email, she clicked on a letter from Lori.
She had called Lori not too long after Howie had dropped her off that terrible day. Lori had been as upset as she about the whole thing. She swore that if and when she ever got to meet Brian, she was going to smack him for trying to ruin Nick's friendship with her best friend. Alesha smiled softly.
Hey Lor...I guess I have a lot to tell you...
Alesha began typing quickly, relating to Lori in brief, the events of the last day. She finished and hit "send", just as Nick's strong arms snaked around her waist and he whispered in her ear, "Babygirl." He kissed her neck (he loved doing that for some reason). "God I love you," he murmured. Nick spun her around in the chair and kissed her hard on the mouth. He slowly pulled back and looked at her. "You...you've been crying," he whispered, wiping the remaining tears away. "What's the matter?" A look of worry crossed his beautiful face.
"Nothing," she said smiling softly and shaking her head. "Just checking my email. I haven't done so in a couple of weeks."
"Oh," he said smiling in relief. "So, you gonna go get ready to go now?" he asked grinning mischievously. Suddenly his smile faded. "A couple of weeks? Then you never...you just...what did...you..."
Alesha laughed. "Yes, baby. I just read your emails. I just couldn't bare to do it before."
Nick pulled her close and kissed her gently "Do you mind some help getting ready?" he teased as he started pulling her shirt up slowly.
"OH NICKAY!!" AJ shouted from the front room. "I'm back. Ya'll ready?"
"Damn, but he has terrible timing," Nick grumbled.
Alesha grinned and kissed him on the cheek. "On that note," she said standing up, "I'm gonna finish getting ready." So she grabbed her make-up bag and some clothes and went into the restroom.
"Don't tell me she isn't ready yet!" AJ shrieked as he paced the front room.
"Oh be quiet Bone. We aren't supposed to be there until 9:30. It's only 8:00," Nick said buttoning his shirt. He was wearing a pair of baggy (but not RIDICULOUSLY large) light blue jeans, a white tee shirt, and a light gray button up. He sat down on the couch and started pulling on his NIKE hi-tops. Halfway through putting the first shoe on, he kicked it off, almost hitting AJ in the head. "Oops," Nick grinned and ducked as the shoe came sailing back at him. Laughing, Nick went into his room, grabbed his Timberlains and put them on.
Walking back out in the front room, he grabbed a Nintendo controller and tossed it at AJ. "We have time for a one-on-one."
AJ grinned, "You're on. HAHA!"
Alesha walked out of the restroom and into the front room a few minutes later. Nick had his back to her so he didn't see her, but AJ noticed that she had come in the room. "Hey Lesh," he said glancing up. "Bout ti-" He looked up again. "DAYUM CHICA!!" Alesha laughed, embarrassed. She was wearing an outfit that he had helped her pick out. It was a very simple, chic, yet comfortable ensemble. A long, black, figure hugging skirt with a thigh-high slit in the side; a dark green shirt made of a really thin, silky material (AJ had said that it made her hair look like it was on fire. "Sexay," he had said with a grin.) with small double spaghetti straps connected to the shirt with diamond cluster looking buttons. A pair of simple strapped black shoes with a small heel completed the look. She had tried to pile her hair on top of her head, but it was so thick that it kept coming loose.
Nick threw a pillow at AJ trying to get his attention. "Hey dude. I just scored on you. Whaddaya think about - " he started as he turned around to see what AJ was staring at. Nick's mouth fell to the floor. "Oh my God," he said.
Alesha took his response as dislike. "I'm...uh...I'm gonna go change," she said softly as she turned around to go back down the hall.
"NO!!" Nick shrieked as he almost killed himself jumping the couch and grabbing her arm. "I just..ummm...yeah," he stammered. "Where'd you get this?"
Alesha laughed softly. "The last time you ran off screaming that if you had to look at any more clothes you were gonna start living nude."
"Oh," he grinned.
AJ walked over and put his arm around Alesha and looked at Nick smugly, "Ya like?" he asked. Nick nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off from Alesha. "And you didn't want me to tag along. HA!!" he yelled as he tapped Nick on the head.
Alesha grumbled as her hair fell looser when AJ moved. Stepping away from him, she went down the hallway to the bathroom to fix it. Nick followed. "I think," he said softly turning her around and kissing her, "that you should let it fall." He reached up and grabbed the barrette holding her hair up and took it out. He ran his fingers through the softness of it. "God you are so beautiful," he whispered in her ear.
"AHEM!!!" AJ said annoyed. "Come ON!"
Alesha laughed, "Would you like a kiss, too, Ageepoo?"
Nick started laughing, "Ageepoo? Hehe."
AJ glared at Nick. He then looked at Alesha and nodded, giving her his puppy dog eyes. Alesha walked over and leaned into kiss him on the cheek. He turned at the last moment and she got him on the mouth. "Hey," Nick said pulling Alesha over to him. "Knock it off Bone." AJ laughed his maniacal laugh and headed out the door.
Alesha snuggled up to Nick and said softly, "If it makes you feel any better, you kiss a helluva lot better than him."
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "Come on beautiful. Tonite, I'm gonna show you off to the world," he said as they walked to the car.
"Oh great," Alesha thought, remembering the looks she received from the girls at the mall when they seen that she was with their "beloved Nicky."
