Chapter 27: Thick or Thin “Lau, calm down,” Riley said as Lauralee got up and paced the floor. “I can’t believe him!  He actually had the nerve!  How could he do this?” “Who could have done this Lauralee?” Tommy asked. “Who do you think?  Jerry did!  He must have told the press.” “Lau, are you sure about this?” Riley asked. “Who else knew Riley?  The only people who knew wouldn’t dare publish anything about this.  You know my family.  I’ve prided them with keeping my family life out of the press.  They would never bring my personal life out to dry.  He’s the only one who would be this vindictive!” Tommy put his hands on her shoulders.  “Well, we don’t know who spilled.  The point is that it will be out and people are going to read it.  The papers won’t give any information about the source… damn first amendment.” “Why now?  After everything we’ve done and gotten through.” “Lau, this will be resolved.  That’s why we have a crackpot staff.  How we deal with this is up to you.  Do you want to make a statement to the press?” Lauralee heaved a sigh.  “I don’t know.  I think I need to discuss this with the girls.  They’re gonna be affected too.” “OK, would you like for me to call the driver and tell them to turn around?  We won’t have anybody around.  I’ll tell Mario to keep the area clear.  No one will hear what goes beyond the room.  We’ll even leave.” “No, you need to be here too.  They didn’t get… the whole story,” Lauralee whispered. Tommy looked wide-eyed as Riley called the limousine driver. ~*~ “OK, what’s this all about?” Elizabeth asked worriedly to Lauralee. “Yeah and what’s with all the secrecy?” Bianca added. The area was cleared, with Mario and his staff surrounding the doors and walls of the conference room.  The girls were hurried into the room with Riley and Tommy waiting there with a swollen faced Lauralee. “The reason I called everyone in here is because I have something to tell all of you,” Lauralee said as she faced them.  The girls, Tommy and Riley were all seated. She began to tell them the whole story, from when Jerry was first introduced to her, to the night of Laura’s wedding.  Bianca and Elizabeth looked stunned as the story went on, Laura looked sympathetic, and Riley and Tommy slightly shook their heads.  “So that’s why you needed a detective,” Riley said. Lauralee nodded.  “The thing is, the press somehow got a hold of it.  They are gonna publish it in every tabloid this week.” “Oh my God,” Bianca gasped. “Lau, why didn’t you tell us about it when it happened?” Elizabeth asked. “It wasn’t you.  I was gonna tell you all about it, but I didn’t want you guys to worry about me.  Bianca, you were so happy about Nick moving in with you.  Elizabeth, you’ve been so happy with Brian, and Laura’s wedding.  I didn’t want to ruin the vibe that was happening.  I felt I could deal with this on my own.” “Like Veronica,” Bianca said. “Yeah, but I can’t now.  This is going to affect all of us.” “Why didn’t you tell us?  Did you think we wouldn’t understand?” Elizabeth asked. “Maybe,” Lauralee whispered. Elizabeth walked up to her.  “Well, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” “What?” Bianca smiled as she got up. “Lauralee, you have given us so much over the past 3 years.  We have a career, relationships, but most of all, we have our friendship.  There’s nothing we can’t get through together.” “Although it’s a little strong, we’ll help you get through this.  We’ll deal with the press together,” Elizabeth said. “Thick or thin, remember?  We’ve been through a hell of a lot worse than this,” Laura added. “So, we’ll be there,” Bianca said. “Really?” Lauralee said through her tears. “Will this help?  Come on ladies, group hug!” Laura yelled as they all hugged and laughed. “Screw the press,” Bianca said.  “They’ll write worse.” “Yeah but it’s true,” Lauralee said. “But it’s a tabloid Lau.  Whoever did this it’s all speculation.  It’s just words,” Elizabeth added. “Words hurt you know.” “But not destroy,” Laura reasoned.  “They ain’t gonna destroy us.” “But my family…” “You’ll cross that bridge when you come to it,” Elizabeth said.  “But now we gotta see how we’re gonna handle this,” Riley said.  “At least they don’t know the whole story, yet.  But how do you want to go?” “I don’t want to say anything,” Lauralee said.  “My family is private.  They may know a little about my life, but they don’t have to know everything.  My statement is no comment.” ~*~ “What am I gonna do Alex?” Lauralee asked as she was on the phone in her hotel room. “I don’t know baby, I don’t know,” Alex sighed.  “You want me to come down?” “No, it’s OK.  I’ll be fine.” “You sure?  I can be there in three hours.  We can get out, or else just stay in.” Lauralee paused.  She didn’t have to say anything. “I’m getting the first flight.” ~*~ 3 ½ hours later… Lauralee waited patiently as Alex arrived in New York.  She didn’t want him to make the trouble; however, she needed him so bad at this point. She heard her cell phone ring and picked it up.  “Hello?” “Hey it’s me.  Which room?” “1436.” “I’ll be up in two minutes.” “OK.” “Bye.” She waited as she heard the knock at the door and she ran to it.  She opened the door and saw Alex, holding a bag and smiling. “Hey beautiful,” he dropped the bag and held her tightly.  “Told ya I’d be here in three hours.” “Well, 3 and a half,” Lauralee laughed into his shoulder. He pulled away from her and smoothed her hair from her face.  “I always like to make an entrance.  Can I come in or do we stay out here in the hallway?” Lauralee stepped aside as Alex walked in and closed the door behind him.  “So, do you wanna order room service, or maybe go out to eat?” Lauralee paused as she looked at him, her emotions overwhelming her as she started to cry.  Alex came up to her and held her again.  “It’s OK honey.  It’s gonna be OK.”  He pulled away from her.  “You wanna just stay in and talk?” Lauralee nodded.  “OK, then that’s what we’ll do.”  He put his arm around her and led her into the living room. ~*~ After ordering dinner, they cuddled on the living room couch.  “So, what are you gonna do about the story?” “Just leave it.  I can’t expose all of my dirty laundry to the world.” “True.  It’s bad enough they found out about my father and all,” Alex rested his head on top of hers.  “Do you know who leaked the story?” Lauralee’s body tensed up.  Alex pulled away and looked at her.  “You don’t think…” “Yes, it’s what I think,” Lauralee said getting up. Alex got up.  “Wait a minute, you honestly think Jerry would tell people about what happened?” “Why not?  He lied about everything else.” “Lau, making accusations is what got us here in the first place.” “Alex think about it!  The people who knew would never do this.  Maybe he did this to hurt me, you know, revenge.” Alex sighed.  “Maybe you should call your mother.” “Oh no!  I’m not calling her.” “But why?  Don’t you think she should have the heads up on the situation?” “Maybe now she’ll realize what’s going on when she reads it herself,” Lauralee said and gasped.  “And maybe she’ll hate me!  Oh Alex, she’ll blame me!  She’ll think that I did this to rub it in!” Lauralee was crying again and Alex held her close. “She won’t think you told anyone about what happened.  She loves you very much.  She’s just mad.  You think she isn’t agonizing just as much as you are?  She’s probably very torn.” “Torn?  She left with Jerry that night, not stay with me!” “Because you’re her daughter, and Jerry is her boyfriend.  She doesn’t want to decide between the two of you.  It’s a lot harder than it looks.  She probably just needed to get away from the situation.  But you need to talk to her sometime.” “I know,” Lauralee sniffled.  “I just wish that I could focus on the album instead of this.” “You will,” Alex smiled.  “You’ll have a great album, tour, and your family will be there cheering you on.  Even if, you’ll always have me.” “Will I?” “Hey, no matter what happens, thick or thin, better or worse, you know that I’ll love you.” “I love you too.” “Damn right,” Alex kissed her lips gently.  “Hey, we better just take advantage of this while we have it.  You’re gonna be super busy in a few weeks.” “I know, and I’ll love every second of it.” Alex picked her up in his arms.  “And you’ll love every second of tonight.”  He led her to the bedroom. 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