Carmen looked over pictures and smiled. "Good job. Here's your payment." She handed an envelope to the man that was sitting across from her.

The male took the envelope and shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

She shot him a glare. "Oh, I do."

------

Benji sighed into the phone. "I miss you. Can't you come back?"

Ella chuckled. "No, I have to work like you."

"Work? I don't really work, I just play."

"Yeah, where are you now?"

"In Las Vegas baby! Sin city."

"Nice, no booze or strippers, got it?" she teased.

He snorted. "Yeah, sure. When are you coming back to the States? You're in France?"

"No, I'm in New Zealand."

"Oh, right. I knew that, but when are you coming back?"

"In about three months. We just started to shoot, so it's going to take a while."

Benji whined. "Three months?!"

"Yeah, baby, three months."

"That's a long time."

"I know."

"Do you like the necklace?"

Ella touched the gold star pendent that was in the dip of her collarbone. It was on display at a jewelry shop and Benji said it reminded him of her. It was gorgeous; a gold star with a small diamond incrusted in the middle gave it a little more sparkle. "I love it."

"I love it too."

------

Billy choked on his water as he scanned the magazine. "JOEL!" he screamed.

Joel ran out from the bathroom with a panic look. "What? What's wrong?"

"Look." He handed Joel the page he was looking at.

Joel eyes widened. "Is that Benj?"

Billy nodded. "It's a pretty clear picture."

"Shit." He ran to Benji's room with the publication in hand.

------

Carmen cleared her throat as she entered Ella's dressing room. "Here, I thought you should see this."

Ella looked at Carmen then at the magazine that thrown onto her lap. "What is it?"

"Just look, page 15."

Ella sighed and picked up the glossy magazine and flipped to page 15. Her breath was caught in her throat and her heart lurched out. "What the hell? What's the meaning of this? Is this some kind of sick joke?" she looked at Carmen.

"It's right there in front of you. Your lovely boyfriend with another chick who is half-naked."

Ella took a shaky breath and stared at the pictures. She felt like someone had ripped her heart out and crushed it. She couldn't believe it and she didn't want too, but the evidence was in plain sight. Benji was kissing a female who was wearing nothing but her underwear, his hand covering one of her breast and the female's hands were busying unzipping his pants. She could feel the bile rising to her throat; it made her sick.

"You two have been apart for about a month and a half, I guess he couldn't wait for you."

"When was this taken?"

Carmen shrugged. "Probably three to five weeks ago."

Ella shook her and looked at the other pictures. It looked like they were in a secluded area of a club.

"I told you that you should have been careful." Carmen tried to hide her smug smile.

------

Benji sighed and plucked the strings of his guitar. "Fucking shit." He softly said.

Paul looked over to where Benji was sitting. He looked so miserable and frustrated. Ever since the pictures were published, his life was bombarded with questions and doubts. Ella had never returned any of his calls and he was distancing himself from the band. He always said he was okay, but he never was. He was falling into a spiral that never ended.

"When is she supposed to come back to the states?" Paul asked.

Benji closed his eyes and leaned deeper into his chair. "Today in New York."

"Why don't you go and see her?"

Benji scoffed and looked at Paul. "Do you really think she would want to see me?"

"Maybe."

"Sure."

"Maybe she's waiting for you to see her or do something to prove that you're still attached to her. Damn it, Benj, she's probably testing you. She's a chick and you know when chicks get mad, they have these loyalty tests after you screw up. She's probably waiting for you to surprise her and tell her that you love her." He said breathlessly.

Benji blinked and frowned. "What makes you think I love her?"

Paul sighed. "What makes you think you don't love her?"

Benji looked down at his guitar and brushed his fingertips over the strings. "It's weird. All this time, I thought I was falling in love with her, but now that she's gone, I know that I was already in love. It had to take something bad to tear us apart to make me realize how much I love her and how much I care for her." He paused and looked up to Paul. "Weird, huh?"

"No." Paul shook his head. "Deep inside, I think you knew you were in love with her, but you just were afraid to admit it."

"Yeah." Benji rubbed his forehead. "Loyalty tests, ehh?"

Paul chuckled. "Oh, yeah. One word, brutal."