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A cruel grin slowly formed on the man’s face. In an hour or so, he’d be inside Nick Carter’s house. Not even the world’s most famous pop group’s security could stop him from reaching her. She WOULD be there, of course. It was time he refreshed her memory.
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One last look at herself in the full-length mirror convinced Jenny that she was ready to head downstairs. Well, she would never be READY, but this was as prepared as she could be. At least she thought she looked nice, even if inside she was freaking out. She grabbed the pass, which showed any security guards that she was indeed allowed to be there, from off of the bed. It had a silver chain attached to it, letting it hang nicely around her neck. Jenny had to admit that with wearing the pass, she definitely felt important. What a silly notion, she thought to herself just before stepping out of her room and closing it quietly behind her.
The party had already started; in fact, people had begun to arrive a half an hour ago. From the sounds of the crowd, she was sure there must be fifty or so people in the house already. The fact that that many people would be in the place didn’t surprise her, for it was a huge house. It was the fact that that many people had actually been invited that shocked Jenny. She shrugged it off, silently wishing she could shrug off the nervousness she felt just as easily, and began her descent down the staircase.
With all of the people talking at once in Nick’s home, Brian hadn’t a clue Jenny was on her way down. That was, he didn’t know until Nick stopped talking and let his gaze land somewhere behind Brian. He could have guessed without looking what it was that had caused that reaction from Nick. He turned to see Jenny, his wife’s eyes following where his were going. Brian smiled at Leighanne’s gasp of delight.
Nick stared, almost rudely so, at the person coming toward their group. Her short golden sandy hair curved around her chin, framing her face well. The deep peach-orange knitted spaghetti strap top accented the hue of her hair well. That same color also appeared in her streaked skirt that reached a few inches above her knees, along with a light maroon color and a cream color. The tan high-heeled sandals that she wore only added to her long legs.
Jenny couldn’t help but feel the stares on her the moment she came into view of the living area of the house and every sound around her seemed to cease. All she heard was her heart beating wildly. Cowardly, she looked down, pretending that she was keeping her eyes on the steps for safety reasons. She didn’t have the strength or will enough to venture into returning any of those stares for fear of what she might see in them. Anger. Rejection. Hostility. With no attention on where she was going, it was amazing that Jenny’s step never once faltered until she was within a few feet of Nick. To do her any credit, it hadn’t been her footing that had caused the lack of balance, but rather the realization that Nick’s eyes were glued to her once she had looked up. Even more unsettling was the gleam in his eyes. That particular look was one she hadn’t ever seen on Jake or her father’s face; one she didn’t know. Just then, as a woman next to Brian began to speak to her, Jenny realized that everyone around the room had been talking in their own little conversations the whole time. Apparently, the booming silence had only been in her mind.
“Hello! Is this the famous Jenny?” The unknown woman asked her. Jenny dragged her gaze away from that strange look in Nick eyes and turned them toward the blonde. She was average height, with a strong jaw line and a soft smile. Most important was the kindness radiated from her eyes.
“Yes, I am Jenny…” she answered with a smile. Noticing that the woman and Brian were holding hands, she prayed to her Maker that her next words wouldn’t make a fool of her. “… And, you must be Leighanne. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Oh no, dear. It’s all my pleasure,” Leighanne answered with a sly and almost too quick to be noticed glance at Nick’s awed expression. Following that was a slightly knowing look shared with her husband. “Why don’t you and I have a little girl chat, hmm? Tour starts tomorrow, and from past tours, I’ve got plenty of advice you’ll probably want to hear!” With that, Leighanne grabbed Jenny’s arm lightly to lead her away from the group and Nick’s attempted protests. Jenny was too relieved over her correct assumption to even care or notice.
Now standing by the back patio door that looked out onto the beach, Leighanne stopped their journey and turned excitedly to Jenny. That expression immediately put Jenny on her guard. “Do you like Nick?” The woman definitely didn’t believe in subtlety. She didn’t know this person at all, and here she was asking for personal information.
“Why would you ask me something like that? This is ridiculous! You have no right!” Jenny returned, very irritated and ready to take it out on someone. Shock marked Leighanne’s face. It was followed the same sly look that she had cast at Nick just moments earlier.
“Oh… well, I’m sorry. I was just curious…”
“And you had no right!”
“Can’t you just answer the question?”
“No! Ok? NO! I do NOT like Nick Carter. God, I can’t believe this!” Jenny swore to herself, refusing to even acknowledge Leighanne anymore. Nor her hurt expression. She’d suffered from her own and others’ hurt feelings too many times in her life, and she wasn’t going to let it happen again. Even when she could feel the guilt at her rash reaction creeping into her mind. Letting it eat her alive again wasn’t worth it. Rudely facing Brian’s wife with her back, Jenny headed off in the opposite direction from where Nick and Brian were. Maybe she could find one of the other Backstreet Boys somewhere in this mess. Not that she wanted to be with anyone at the moment, period. However, anyone she knew was better than another stranger.
She regretted that thought the moment she saw him coming toward her. He was older, obviously, and he appeared to be doing well, but that hard look to him was still there. That ruthlessness that she had only ever noticed after he had attacked her. Most disturbing was the realization that she still found him handsome, with his slightly spiked chestnut brown hair and tan skin. It was so much easier imagining him as undesirable. Just then he was in her face, looking as if he wanted to beat the hell out of her. In the next moment, his features transformed into a look of delighted surprise.
“Jenny! Oh my goodness! What are YOU doing here?!” He exclaimed as he pulled her into a tight, all too friendly hug. When he released her, she just continued to look up in stunned disbelief. Laughing, he hugged her again. “Come on, Jen! Don’t tell me you don’t remember me!” She shook her head slightly. Jenny wasn’t sure if it was in refusal to believe what was happening, or if it was in answer to his question.
“I remember you, Jake,” she admitted, not sure she was hearing herself in that timid, weak voice she hadn’t used in years. Either he was ignorant or just chose to ignore, for Jake seemed totally oblivious to the fear rising inside of her and showing all over her face. Instead he appeared only elated that she knew who he was.
“Oh, Jen! I haven’t seen you in forever! How has life been going?” At that last question, a wicked gleam formed in Jake’s eyes. It was apparent to Jenny in that moment that Jake knew exactly how her life was going, why she was there, everything. Those thoughts led to another, more disconcerting one.
“Why are YOU here? Hmm, Jake? What do you want?” she demanded with all the courage she could summon.
“Why, Jenny, I just wanted to dance with you again.” Her face paled at what he might say next. “And maybe this time the night can end like it should have last time?” In that instant, Jenny was once again the scared little sixteen-year-old that was discovering that the man she loved wasn’t who she had thought he was. The five years that it had taken to distance herself from the monster and the memories didn’t even exist anymore. Jake just chuckled good-naturedly at her expression, returning back to the falsely amiable façade. “Let’s go, Jen! You used to be a great dancer! I wanna see if you still have it.”
“I would rather die than dance with you! Much worse, to be seen with you. You have no business with me anymore!” she demanded with a glare. “Get your hands off of me!” Jake was practically dragging her out into the crowd of dancers.
“Listen you little bitch,” he hissed quietly into her ear, “if you so much as say a word or give any kind of a struggle, I will go find your little pretty boy and HE’LL pay for your behavior!” The pain that flashed across her face just then both pleased and infuriated him. He liked knowing he was hurting her and that he had some kind of leverage over her in the situation, but it also proved his suspicions about her and the blondie. His eyes turned even crueler, if that was possible, and he gave her a hard jerk toward himself. “You do like him, don’t you? You stupid little fool! Tell me this, Jenny: do you actually think he returns these feelings? He’s famous; he has access to any woman he wants. Why would he ever want you? You delude yourself to believe otherwise!”
Her eyes showed the confusion and betrayal that she felt. Jenny had never once considered the fact that Nick was a famous pop star, or that he may not like her back. Not that it mattered: she wasn’t going to give him the chance to get close to her anyway. And now that she was thinking past her own feelings, she could stop him from breaking her heart before he even had it. Sure, she liked him, but she hadn’t given her love to him. Of that, she was sure.
Jake appeared smug with the satisfaction that Jenny was now thinking twice about Nick. He pulled her along side him and they finished their walk to the dancing. Spinning her to face him, Jake gave a jovial smile at Jenny and they began dancing. She wasn’t even paying attention to what she was doing. Dancing she knew how to do, and she believed that she would no longer have to worry about Nick. It was how she was going to escape Jake before the night was over that now played in Jenny’s mind.
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“Hey, Leigh! What’s up, sweetie?” Brian asked as he saw his wife approach. Her worried features caught his notice then. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s Jenny, Brian,” she gave, nodding toward Nick. He was pretending not to hear, but it was obvious where Nick’s attention was centered. Brian understood her meaning, but unfortunately, he knew Nick would only follow or become pissed at not being let in on whatever they were saying. He shook his head at his wife to let her know that it didn’t matter whether Nick listened or not.
“Where is she?” Nick wondered, picking up a little bit of Leighanne’s worry when she seemed reluctant to say anything else. She ignored his question.
“Brian, are you sure about her? She gave a very vehement denial when I asked her if she liked him,” Leighanne whispered as lightly as she could, praying Nick wouldn’t hear what she had to say. Brian seemed confused and very thoughtful over this information. Nick’s repeated question seemed to prove that he hadn’t heard what the two were discussing.
“Where is Jenny?!” he inquired, a little louder and definitely with more annoyance in his voice this time.
“Nick, I don’t know! Ok?” Leighanne admitted. “We were talking and then she walked off in the other direction.” Brian looked at Nick helplessly, showing he also hadn’t a clue where she had gone. Fed up with the lack of information he was getting in the conversation, Nick walked off in the direction Leighanne had indicated that Jenny had gone in. He didn’t get more than several feet before what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
Broken Promises