Chapter Twenty Four

Alecia hurried around her room, trying to get organized. She had a mandatory meeting for her job in an hour and she couldn't find her damn shoe. She searched a few minutes longer and was ready to give up when she found it under the bed. She quickly slipped it on, grabbed her key card and headed out the door.

"Ok, so does everyone know what they're supposed to do?" Kevin asked.

There were shakes of heads. Kevin passed around the walkie talkies and everyone went off to their stations. AJ and Howie were waiting in the lobby, and Kevin and Nick headed off to their rooms. Kevin to make the call to the front desk. Brian was waiting in the hallway.

"I can't believe we have these things." AJ exclaimed looking down at the walkie talkie in his hand.

"They're crucial for this mission."

"D man, don't you think you're getting a little carried away here. I mean this is just a..."

"AJ, we've got to have all areas covered. We need to let each other know what's going on. If this apology is going to be a success, we've got to have a solid plan which will be executed in the proper way with the proper tools! I will accept no less!" Howie exclaimed vehemently.

"Lighten up man! Damn! You need help. " AJ replied, looking at Howie uneasily.

Howie shook his head and looked back over by the entrance. "Here she comes!! Code ten, code ten!" He yelled into the device. AJ looked at him shocked.

"She's coming into the building. Everyone be ready."

AJ shook his head and sighed.

Alecia walked into the building, she was tired. These last few days had been rough and she hadn't gotten much sleep. She saw AJ and Howie sitting on the couch and they looked like they were waiting for someone. When they saw her, they jumped up and walked over to her.

"Hey girl. What's up?" Howie smiled.

"Nothing, just heading back up to my room. Had an emergency meeting at my job. Took the whole day! I'm so tired! I need sleep. Hey AJ."

"Hey there sweetie. Come on and sit and talk with us for a while please." AJ smiled.

"Oh AJ, I'm really tired. Can we do this some other time please."

"No, no, we really wanna talk to you. Just for a few minutes." Howie pleaded.

Alecia sighed and walked over to the couch and sat, putting her briefcase down next to her and her purse beside her. "Ok, so what did you want to talk about?"

"Well we just wanted to know how you've been, like how are you holding up?" Howie asked sympathetically.

"I'm ok guys. I'm over it. I'm moving on, I'm better off without him."

"Yeah, we figured you'd say that." AJ mumbled.

"Well I still think you should talk to him." Howie announced.

"I know, so do Kris, April and Michelle. I really don't think that's a good idea. Besides it'd be weird talking to someone who didn't care if I rotted in hell." Alecia frowned.

"You know he didn't mean that. He says things when he's upset." Howie stated.

"Yeah, well I don't care."

"Are you sure about that?" Howie asked softly.

Alecia looked at him before standing up quickly and grabbing her purse and briefcase from the floor. "I'm sorry, I have to go." and she walked off.

Howie shook his head sadly and looked over at AJ. "Did you get it?"

AJ held up the card and grinned. "Bingo!"

"Rok, she's coming up your way...be ready." Howie called and high-fived AJ.

Brian heard the ring from the elevator and got ready and watched as Alecia stepped off the elevator. He hurried over to her.

"Alecia! Cool seeing you here! What's up?"

"Hi Brian. Nothing, just going to my room. I'm beat."

"Yeah, I hear ya. Well I'm gonna get going. I'll talk to ya later. " He smiled and hurried off.

Alecia stared at him, they were all acting weird. The only one she hadn't seen was Kevin. She was expecting him to pop out, she turned to her door and searched her purse for her card. "Where the...hell...is it? I know I put the damn thing in here...I can't believe this!" She turned quickly to look for Brian but he was no where to be found. She searched her bag again to find nothing. She sighed. What could she do? She had to call the front desk to get another key. She needed a phone. She couldn't just ask some stranger to use their phone. She groaned as she thought of the only person who was close enough to ask. She sighed heavily and walked over to Nick's door and knocked.

"Get ready Nick, this is it. Kev, get ready to call, she's at Nick's room now. Good luck Nick!" Brian called into his walkie talkie and sighed.

Her heart was racing as the door slowly opened. She didn't know what to expect, but she wasn't expecting the sight before her. The door opened to reveal Nick standing there watching her sadly. He looked all dressed up, his hair was done nicely and he had on dockers with a dress shirt. She swallowed hard and forced herself to look into his eyes...big mistake.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but it appears that I've lost my card and I need to use the phone. So instead of going to a complete stranger, I thought I'd come to an...aquaintance since I'm familiar with you. So do you mind if I use the phone?"

Nick stepped aside and she entered the room. Her mouth dropped. The lights were off and there were candles all around surrounded by roses. She looked over at the bed to find a single long stemmed red rose lying on the pillow. He was expecting someone apparently. She felt the heat of anger and embarrassment rise in her and she cleared her throat. "I see you're expecting someone so I'll make it quick." She walked over and picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.

He watched her, his heart beating so loud he was sure she could hear it. He could do this, he had to do this. This was his only chance. He took a deep breath and walked over to the door and waited as she finished the call and turned to him.

"Ok I'm done. Thanks for letting me...What are you doing?" She watched as Nick slowly locked the door and turned to look at her.

"Nick, unlock that door. Now!"

He shook his head and started towards her. Her eyes widened. "I mean it, open that door or I'll scream." She whispered. Nick looked at her. "Let me go!"

"No, not until you listen to me. And you will listen to me."

Alecia stared at him. She wasn't mad, she was scared.

Chapter Twenty Five
Back to Veronica's Page
Back to Hosted Stories Index
Back to Main Page