Alesha cried herself to sleep that night. Not because she was mad at Brian or because she was alone again. She cried because she knew Nick was hurting. She knew he was confused. She was sure Brian had made up some bogus story about her, making her seem completely different than she was.
She awoke the next morning around 10:00, feeling worse than her worst hangover. She lay in bed feeling on motivation to move. Then phone rang, but she didn't even budge to answer it. The machine clicked on.
HEY IT'S LESH. YA KNOW WHAT TO DO. TALK TO YA SOON.>beep<.
"Alesha, it's Nick. What happened? Why'd you go? Give me a call. I'm worried.">beep<
She buried her head in her pillow and cried again. She cried until there was nothing left to cry, and yet, her sobs continued.
Around 1:00, the phone rang again. Once more, she let the machine get it.
"Alesha, it's AJ. Give me a call. It's important. Please? *** *** ****">beep<.
Sighing, Alesha got up. Going to the computer, she booted it up, and then logged on.
YOU HAVE 153 NEW MESSAGES
She scrolled through them not even bothering to open them or to delete them. Most of them were from her lists, 2 were from Lori, and 4 were from Nick. There was one she had no clue who it was from. Puzzled, she opened it.
Hi. This is Brian. Just to let you know, I never told Nick why you left. What was I supposed to say? I'm sorry for not believing in you. I see now how sincere you are about how you feel about him. I guess I was a little jealous that he had turned to you instead of me. I've been his best friend for many years now. I guess I felt a little threatened. I'm sorry. I see now how much you mean to him, and I feel like a complete ass for taking you away from him. I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry - Brian.
Alesha clicked on the reply button.
I believe one would call this "too little too late". I don't blame you, Brian. I blame me. See, I have this problem. If a person is able to find the opening into my emotional being, it's hard for me to deny them anything or see them suffer. I'll do anything, give up anything, sacrifice anything to keep them happy. For some reason, the first time Nick and I talked, he found that opening. I'm the one that needs to apologize for even giving him the chance to. Even though I don't know how he did it, I should have had stronger defenses. Just do me a favor and take care of him. I'm sure you will. He's going to need you. Alesha
With that, she turned off the computer and went to back to bed.
