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» CHAPTER SIX «

~ The Next Morning ~

 It was 5:30. The sun was rising. The birds were starting to sing. There was a slight breeze that brought in the smell of the sea. Everyone was asleep. All except for Nick.

Nick was awake with Mary on his mind. He saw that Mandi was waking up so he quickly shut his eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Nick, are you up?" Nick didn’t move. "Well okay honey, I’m leaving for work now," Mandi said as she shut the door behind her.

Nick sat up, but he knew it was too early to wake up Mary. He decided to do some snorkeling. He got his stuff together and went down to the beach. After about an hour Nick went back to his car.

He was going to open the door when he spotted A.J. He was going to say hi, but then A.J. started talking to a woman. ‘It’s none of my business,’ Nick thought as he drove away.

"How is she?" A.J. asked nervously.

"Not very good," Pamela answered.

"I’m gonna get fired," A.J. said.

"What do you mean?"

"Stacey is my daughter and she’s dying. When Julie died I wasn’t there, but I don’t care anymore. When Stacey goes, I’m gonna be there instead of at work," A.J. said, almost in tears. "I gotta go to a press conference. Beep me if something happens to her."

A.J. got in the car, but he couldn’t turn on the ignition. He looked at the picture of Stacey he kept on the dashboard and broke down and cried. A.J. turned on the ignition and started driving. The tears kept pouring down his cheeks and it blurred his vision.

There were many thoughts going through his mind. He thought about when Julie died. She was so young and beautiful. A.J. had met Julie at a club one night after doing a show at Madison Square Garden. They talked about everything under the sun and really hit it off. Normally, A.J. would meet women at a club, take them home, and then never talk to them again. But Julie was different. All he wanted was to be with her.

After about a year, their relationship became very intense and they were deeply in love. A.J. knew Julie was someone special and he felt a person’s love life was a very personal thing, so he kept it completely secret, even from the guys. Eventually, they got engaged and Julie got pregnant. They eloped, and a month later Stacey was born.

About a year later, two terrible things happened. Stacey was found to have Leukemia and Julie was shot and killed. She worked for the NYPD, and got shot in a shoot-out by a criminal. When Julie died, A.J. thought his life was over. But he forced himself to live for Stacey. But she was terribly sick. A.J. knew that with his career he couldn’t take care of her the way she needed, so he hired Pamela as her nurse.

But now Stacey was coming to the end of the road, and A.J. was waiting out the days until her death. He decided he’d risk Donna being pissed and pulled into Pamela’s driveway to be with his daughter.

"It’s 9:55, where’s A.J.?" Brian asked worriedly as he and the others waited for the conference to begin.

"He’d better show up soon," Howie said. "Or Donna’s gonna kill him."

~ One Hour Later ~

 "Where the hell was A.J.?" Donna yelled furiously as she stormed through the door.

"Donna, calm down," Howie said. "I’m sure he has a good excuse."

"He’d better, or I’ll see to it that his career is over." With that, Donna stalked away.

"Sh*t," Kevin said. "Do you think that Donna meant that?"

"No way," Brian answered. "She’s just bluffing."

"For the sake of A.J.’s career I hope so," Howie said.

¤ Chapter 7 ¤
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