"I'm starving TO DEATH!!" Brian said reaching in front of Alesha to grab a menu.
"HEY!!" she said poking him with a fork. "Rude butt. Ask."
Sighing dramatically he said mockingly, "Can I please have a menu?"
Alesha shook her head. "Grammatically correct."
Brian looked at her funny. "Huh?"
Howie started laughing. "Alesha darlin, he's from Kentucky. They don't understand them big words," he said in his best southern accent.
"Hey, I take offense to that," Kevin said almost pouting.
Nick laughed. "Ya'll both are hicks."
Lori grinned. "Ya'll, eh?" she said looking at him.
He blushed. "Oh be quiet," he mumbled hiding behind his menu.
Rebecca looked at Brian and said, "I believe she means for you to ask 'May I please…' instead of 'Can I please…' We all know you CAN have a menu. But you MAY have a menu if she decides to give you one."
"Hmph," Brian pouted. Looking at Alesha with puppy dog eyes, he asked softly, "MAY I puhleeeese have a menu?"
Alesha laughed. "Since you asked so sweetly, I'll let you have one," she said handing him a menu.
"FINALLY," he said. "I was wasting away to nothing over here."
"Where's AJ?" Howie asked, looking around. "Thought they were coming."
"They?" Lori asked looking up quickly.
"Yeah. He met some girl at the hotel or something. Said he was bringing her with to dinner," Howie said shrugging.
"Hmm…" Lori said looking back down at her menu.
AJ suddenly appeared behind Howie. He put his finger up to his lips and then put his hands over Howie's eyes. "Guess who?" he said in his version a high pitched voice.
"Ummm…Cindy Crawford?"
"No."
"Ummm…Britney Spears?"
"Ewwww…Howie," Alesha said wrinkling her nose.
Howie laughed. "Guess I'd of known if it was her."
"Ummm…Mr. Rodgers?"
Sighing, AJ took his hands down. "How'd you get that?" he asked sliding his arm around the waist of the pretty brunette who had followed him into the restaurant. "Everyone I'd like for you to meet Tiffany. Tiff, this is Howie and…Rebecca, Nick, Alesha, Brian, Kevin, and Lori." He said pointing at each of them in turn.
"Heyhey," Howie said with a wink.
"Heya," Kevin said smiling.
"Welcome to our world of craziness," Brian grinned.
"Heya," Nick said glancing up from the menu and then back over at Alesha's.
"Nice to meet you," Alesha said peeking over at Lori who seemed a bit distracted.
Rebecca smiled at Tiffany. "At least I'm not the lone newbie," she said with a giggle.
Realizing she was the only one who hadn't said something, Lori smiled half-heartedly and mumbled a quick and quiet, "Hello."
AJ pulled a chair out for Tiffany. As she sat down, he leaned over and kissed her softly on the neck. He whispered something in her ear that caused her to giggle quietly. Grinning, he sat down directly across from Lori. "So, what's for dinner?" he asked picking up a menu.
"Oh goodness, Alex, it's all so fattening. Don't they have a light menu or something?" Tiffany asked grimacing at the selection.
Lori almost started choking, as the water she had just drank went down the wrong way. "You okay hon?" Kevin asked, his voice full of concern.
"Let me check doll," he said, glancing over at Lori while waving at the waitress to get her attention.
"What can I do for you?" she asked walking up.
"My beautiful companion here would like to know if there is a low fat menu," he said placing his hand on Tiffany's.
Lori, who had recovered from her choking episode, coughed as quietly as possible, trying to clear her throat. Alesha looked over at her wondering what was going on. "Sure, I'll be right back," the waitress said giving Tiffany's petite figure a strange look.
The waitress came back and they ordered their food. Looking back and forth between AJ and Tiffany, Kevin asked, "So, how exactly did ya'll meet?"
AJ smiled over at Tiffany. "I was in the lounge getting a drink, and she was sitting there all alone at the bar. So I introduced myself and BANG, we hit it off."
Tiffany nodded. "He was the sweetest, most caring guy I had ever met."
AJ smiled. "She didn't run away from me, so I guess that's a good thing," he said looking directly at Lori. Lori, who'd been stealing glances at him, looked down at the table and closed her eyes.
"HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!!" Brian said loudly as he flicked a paper football through Nick's fingers that were set up as a goal. "Oh. Sorry guys," he said grinning sheepishly.
"You're awfully quiet," Howie said quietly leaning closer to Alesha. Rebecca had gone to the restroom, leaving Howie all alone.
She smiled. "Just…observing."
"Ahh…and what are you seeing?" he asked smiling.
"Well, I see that you and Becca are…close," she grinned at him.
He nodded. "She is so cool. I don't know what to say. Thank you for bringing her. We hit it off immediately. I don't know. WOW…that's about all the reaction I can come up with."
Alesha laughed. "Well, thank GOD. She was sooooo worried you weren't going to like her."
Howie blinked. "WHY? She's beautiful and funny. I just wish there was more time."
"Dude, she lives in Orlando."
"Really? Wow."
Suddenly, there was water running all over the table. Alesha looked up, to find Lori looking down at the glass she had just knocked over. She then looked over at AJ who was locked in a passionate kiss with Tiffany. She narrowed her eyes a bit and stood up. "I'll be right back," she said to Nick. She walked over and tapped Lori on the shoulder. "Come with me."
Lori glances up and sees the look on Alesha's face. Sighing she looks back at Kevin. "Umm…I'll be right back."
"Okay babe," he says smiling up at her.
Lori got up and followed Alesha. As they walked off, Alesha noticed AJ watching Lori with a mixture of sadness and desire. "Hmmm…" she thought. When they reach the ladies room, Alesha turns to Lori with a look of confusion. "Care to clue me in?"
"What?" Lori asked.
"What's going on? You're…distracted with…SOMETHING."
Lori sighed. "I don't know what to do Lesh."
"About what? Something to do with AJ, I'm assuming."
Nodding, Lori said softly, "I'm so confused."
"Well, if you'd tell me what's going on, perhaps I could be of some help."
Smiling sadly, Lori began to tell Alesha of what had happened the last time she had seen AJ. She told her of when she and him had gone to the club, and what had almost happened that night in his hotel room. "But ya'll didn't do anything, so I don't understand why you'd feel so guilty about it," Alesha said.
"I feel GUILTY because I WANTED it to happen. And part of me REGRETS leaving."
"Oh," Alesha said looking at Lori's forlorn expression. "I'm so sorry darlin."
"Me, too."
"But you love Kevin, right?"
Lori nodded. "More than I ever thought I could love someone."
"So what is it that you feel for AJ?"
"I've no clue."
"Complete and utter lust? He is one sexy piece of male," Alesha said trying to make a joke.
Lori looked at her. "Alesha, really. You are NOT helping."
"Sorry. So…here's a suggestion. Sleep with AJ, get it out of your system…then live happily ever after with Kevin. No one has to know. Nothing else has to be done about it. Nice and easy."
"Alesha. That is not even a remote possibility. I could NEVER do that to Kevin. I'm not that type of person. You know that."
Alesha sighed. "I know. I was just trying to help," she said hugging Lori. "Just remember darlin, that no matter what, I'm here for you. Whatever you decide."
"Thanks," Lori said smiling sadly. "I just wish it didn't bother me so bad to see him with that…that…"
"Bimbo?" Alesha finished for her. Lori nodded. "Was it me or was he TRYING to piss you off?"
Lori shrugged. "I was thinking that, but didn't want to seem too conceited."
Alesha laughed. "Well, I don't think that we'll see her again. She's sooo not AJ's type."
Lori shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter WHO he's with, it's still going to bother me."
"I know darlin. Perhaps we should clone you."
"Oh haHA," Lori said. Shaking her head she added, "You've been around Nick for WAY too long."
"I've only been around him for," Alesha glanced at her watch, "about 6 hours. Don't know what you're talking about." She grinned. "We should probably be getting back. They're gonna think we ran away."
Lori nodded, so they went back to the table. Lori leaned over and kissed Kevin softly. Alesha grinned as she seen AJ's eyes narrow behind his shades. Shaking her head, she sat down next to Nick. "Where'd you go?" he pouted, wrapping his arms around her.
"Girl talk, baby," she answered.
"Hmph," he said.
Brian looked at him and laughed. "You're so pathetic. Even I'm not that bad," he said throwing a napkin at him.
Their food had arrived, so they ate, talking in small groups. Howie and Rebecca were in their own world, talking about getting together after the tour was over. Alesha, Nick and Brian were discussing the NCAA basketball tournament. AJ was trying not to stare at Lori while pretending to be interested in something Tiffany was babbling about. Lori and Kevin were talking about some movie they'd just seen, and Lori was having difficulty focusing on what Kevin was saying as her eyes kept straying to AJ's side of the table.
After eating and paying the bill, they all decided to go back to the hotel and chill in their respective rooms for the evening. So they said goodbye and went their separate ways. As AJ walked past Lori, he handed her a folded piece of paper. Looking around, she caught Alesha's gaze. Shrugging she unfolded it slowly.
Dear Lori,
Lori looked at her and started laughing. "You make it hard to be upset."
Alesha grinned. "I try darlin. I try."
Don't hate me for what happened. I couldn't bear to think of your feelings for me being negative. As much as I would like to blame the alcohol for what happened that night, I can't. I knew exactly what I was doing and I'm sorry for putting you in that position. I have wanted you for so long and I finally had the chance to show you, and I wanted to take advantage of it. And I know now that is what I was doing. Taking advantage of you and the condition YOU were in. I never meant to hurt you or make you feel bad. Please accept my apologies and know that until YOU come to ME, nothing like that will ever happen again.
Always and forever…AJ
Lori looked up with tears in her eyes, walked over to Alesha, and handed her the note. Alesha quickly scanned the letter and then looked at Lori. "Oh darlin," she whispered hugging her. "See, he's not ALL bad."
