SL - Chapter 3 Two Days Later Kari figited her hands as the limo pulled up in front of the theater.  "Stop.", Jason said grabbing her hands, "You have nothing to be nervous about.  You’ve got this thing one.  Hands down."  "That’s what I’m nervous about.", she said forcing a smile.  The crowd screamed and the flashing from the cameras was almost blinding as the three muskateers stepped out of the limo and made their way up the red carpet.  "Don’t let go of my arm.  I might pass out.", Kari whispered to Jason.  He took her hand in his.  "Don’t worry, I’ve got you.", he said with a reassuring smile.  They got inside and made their way to their seats, stopping along the way to say ‘hello’ to some of her fellow actors.  Mr. Connery was seated in front of them and Nicholas behind them.  As the show started, Mr. Connery turned around and wish Kari luck.  "Good luck to you too.", she returned with a smile.  The awards ceremony went on as planned.  It was time for Kari’s category.  The nominees were announced by Harrison Ford.  Nicholas put his hand on Kari’s shoulder and Jason grabbed her hand as the winner was announced.  She couldn’t believe that he really said her name as the winner.  She stood up, hugged Shea and kissed Jason.  She stepped out into the aisle and received hugs from Nicholas and Mr. Connery.  She made her way up onto the stage, careful not to trip over her full length black dress, that was very low cut in the front.  She trembled slightly as Harrison gave her a congratulatory hug and handed her the treasured statue.  She was so nervous standing there in front of so many of her idols.  "Oh wow.", she started.  She thanked all of her costars and the many producers and directors, then she hesitated.  She folded up the piece of paper that she had in her hands and forgot her speech, "Every time I’ve won, I’ve always made sure to thank the people that I worked with.  This time, I need to thank a few other people.  Shea and Jason, thank you for being my best friends in the world and putting up with my craziness.  But most of all, I need to thank the one person who supported my decision to come out here in the first place.  The one person who forced me to leave my little hometown and follow my dreams.  Gilbert, this one is for you, as promised.  Thank you for EVERYTHING."  And with tears in her eyes, she grabbed her Oscar and headed off stage.  After the ceremony, they attended a couple of the after show parties.  They were standing around talking at one of the parties, when Kari looked up and saw Tommy glaring at her.  His new trophy girlfriend was hanging on his arm.  The poparazzi was there snapping pictures left and right.  Everything started to get to her.  The room started getting blurry.  She leaned over to Jason, "I need to go home."  "Okay, let me get our coats.", he said concerned about her.  "No, you don’t understand, I need to go home, to Cameron.", she revealed.  Two Days Later Kari parked her rental car on the side of the road in front of her old house.  She got out and stared at the house.  It was obvious that someone had bought the house because it looked like it had had some work done on it.  She didn’t look up when she heard a vehicle pull up behind her.  "Can I help you Miss?", she heard the familiar voice call.  She turned around to find Gilbert walking towards her.  "Kari?  I don’t believe it.  What are you doing here?", he asked as he hugged her tightly.  "I guess I just needed to come home.  I missed you guys.", she answered still hugging him.  "Well, I’m glad.  We’ve missed you too.", he said turning her loose.  She turned to look at the house, "It looks a lot better now."  "Yeah, Jeff fixed it up pretty nice.", he said smiling.  "Jeff bought the house?", she asked.  "Yep.  Come on over to the house and I’ll fix us a pot of coffee so we can catch up.", he said.  "I’d like that.", she said with a smile.  She got into her car and pulled up into his driveway.  They sat around talking for a couple of hours.  It felt so good to her to be in that house again.  It was so comforting, so safe.   The boys were on their way home from a week out on the road.  They had just finished their third cup of coffee when they heard the front door open.  "I’m home.", called a very tired Matt.  "We’re in here.", Gilbert called back from the kitchen.  Matt’s eyes grew big as did his smile when he saw Kari sitting at the table.  She stood up, "Hey there stranger."  He picked her up and swung her around as he hugged her.  "Wow!  It’s great to see you.", he said kissing her on the cheek.  "You too.", she said as he put her down, "Where’s the squirt?"  Matt laughed, "He went on to his house.  He was pretty tired and Kristin was waiting for him."  "Kristin?  Who’s that?", she asked.  "His girlfriend.", Matt responded.  He then joined them at the table.  They talked for a couple more hours.  Matt filled her in on the whole story of their rise to the top of the wrestling world.  "I can’t believe that all my kids are famous.", Gilbert said laughing.  "Speaking of all of your kids, why don’t we go over to Jeff’s so I can say ‘hi’."  Gilbert and Matt gave each other an uneasy glance and then agreed.  Matt picked up the phone and called his brother, "Hey, bro, we’re gonna come over.  There’s someone here who wants to see you."  "Who?", Jeff asked.  "You’ll see when we get there.  We’ll be over in a minute.", Matt said as he hung up the phone.  "Let’s go.", he said.  As they walked in the front door, Kari was amazed at how much different the house looked.  She was standing behind Matt when Jeff walked out of the back room and asked, "So, who wants to see me?"  "Hey squirt!", Kari said stepping out from behind Matt.  Jeff’s face almost went pale when he saw her.  "Hey", he said quietly and with a look of confusion on his face.  "Well, don’t I get a hug or anything?", she asked becoming uneasy at his stand offish attitude.  He reluctantly hugged her slightly.  She didn’t understand.  She thought that he would be happy to see her.  He grabbed the cross that he wore around his neck and stuffed it under his shirt, hoping that she wouldn’t notice.  She did, but didn’t say anything.  "Where’s Kristin?", Gilbert asked trying to break the tension that filled the air.  "She had to run to Fayettevile to take care of something.", he answered.  Kari made her way out into the back yard.  She felt the need to see the entire place again.  The three Hardy men followed.  She noticed Jeff’s motorcycle parked beside the house.  "You still love motorcycles?", she asked approaching the bike.  "Yeah.", he simply answered.  "Take me for a ride.", she said smiling at him.  "No.  Maybe some other time.", he replied.  "Oh, come on.  Please.", she pleaded with big puppy dog eyes.  "I’ll take you.", Matt spoke up.  "No, I will.", Jeff said, "You’re not driving my motorcycle."  He smiled as Matt pretended to pout.  "Put this on.", Jeff said as he handed Kari his extra helmet.  He strapped his on and took his seat on his bike.  Kari sat down behind him.  He squirmed a little as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.  He revved up the engine and pulled out onto the street.  He drove to the highway so that he could get a little speed behind him.  Kari tightened her grip as Jeff pulled the bike up onto it’s back wheel.  As the front wheel touched the ground again, Jeff turned the throttle wide open.  The adrenaline pumping through her veins was exhilarating.  They rode for about 30 minutes before they pulled back up at Jeff’s.  They pulled off their helmets and Jeff got off of the bike.  "Thanks.  That was fun.", she said.  Jeff didn’t say anything as he made his way towards the house.  "What?  You’re not going to talk to me?", she asked growing angry.  He stopped, not turning around.  Suddenly, he slung his helmet out into the yard, "Why did you have to come back?!?!  We were doing just fine, just like we have the whole time without you!"  He turned and glared at her, "Why don’t you just go back home, to Hollywood.  This isn’t your home anymore!"  And with that he walked in the house and slammed the door behind him.  She stood there confused.  She knew that she should have kept in touch, but the other two had welcomed her back with open arms.  Why couldn’t he?               Last Chapter ..*.. Next Chapter ..*.. Chapter Index ..*.. Home