A Treasure Worth Seeking
By: Shellie - shelliemg at gmail.com
Chapter 16When Shellie knocked, Caroline answered the door. "Hey, honey." She spoke to the child who reached her arms up to be held. Sitting her bag inside the door she lifted the girl onto her hip and looked around curiously, Lauren was nowhere to be seen. "Where is your mother?"
"Outside." Caroline pointed toward the opposite end of the house and Shellie followed her direction, stopping to watch through the screen as her friend rocked slowly in the swing.
"Who died?"
Lauren jumped, nearly falling in surprise. "Shellie!" She stood, staring at her long time friend. "Wha…what are you doing here?"
"I came to see what was wrong with you. I haven’t heard from you in fucking weeks."
"Oh… sorry. Things have been a little more than I could take."
"Does this have to do with the sexy man that lives next door?"
"Lived."
"He’s already gone?"
"Two weeks."
"Are you okay?"
"Nope. It sucks. But I will be. She’s not helping though." Lauren gestured toward her child. Shellie watched carefully as the mother and child exchanged sour glances.
"Caroline?"
"She’s started crying for him at night."
Shellie looked down at the small bundle in her arms that watched her with sad round eyes before dropping her head onto Shellie’s shoulder. "Oh."
"Did you get her out of her bed?" Lauren questioned.
"No, she answered the door."
Lauren sighed and dropped back down into the swing, running her fingers through her hair. "I’m going to have to get her a normal bed. She’s been climbing out of her crib every day and I’m scared she’s going to break her freaking neck."
"So we will get her a new one this weekend. Honey, you’re a nervous wreck."
"It’s been a long two weeks."
"Well tonight, over a bottle of wine we will talk about it. Until then I want you to take a nap and a long hot bath. Carrie and I are going to spend some time shopping and then we are going to cook some dinner, aren’t we?"
Caroline nodded in agreement. "Mac ‘n cheese."
***
Hours later Lauren swirled the glass of wine in her hand, watching the dark liquid coat the surface. "This is good shit."
Shellie snorted, "It better be."
"I think I’m approaching drunk. And considering the amount of food I ate, that means I’ve had a lot to drink."
"Good. Now tell me about what’s been going on."
"Where do I begin?"
"Start with the neighbor. Tell me about him. I can’t believe he left before I got a chance to see him. Damnit."
Lauren stood, "I knew you didn’t come here to see me." She walked past Shellie and into the kitchen, plucking a photo from the bottom door of the refrigerator. She handed it to her friend over the back of the sofa before circling and climbing back into her chair. She added more wine to her glass and leaned back to watch Shellie look at the picture.
Their eyes met. "Lauren…this is…"
"Yes."
"He was your god damn neighbor? The guy from NSync?"
"Yep. Carrie makes me hang the picture down low so she can see it. She loves him."
Shellie flung the photo onto the coffee table between them. "And so do you."
Lauren leaned forward and picked up the picture staring at it for a long moment. It was a picture of Josh, wearing his swim trunks and a grin brighter than the sun. Caroline was riding his shoulders. They were each beautiful, and they were beautiful together. "Yes. Unfortunately, I do."
***
"Talked to Lauren lately?"
JC looked at Joe and nodded slightly. "I called last night but no one was home. I left a long message for her and Caroline."
"Good. Tell them hi when you talk to them."
"I will."
"Hey, want to come to the house tonight? Ami’s been asking about you."
"Uh…sure. I don’t have anything else to do," JC grinned.
"Gee, I’ll be sure to share your excitement with Ami when I tell her you’re coming over. Ass."
***
"Did you sleep at all?"
Lauren looked up as Shellie entered wearing her robe. "Yeah, a little on the couch. This is just really flowing. I’m scared to stop."
"Did you call him back?"
Lauren nodded and continued to type. "Yes. Twice. He didn’t answer."
***
"Hello?"
"Lauren?"
The silence between them was long as they each pictured the other. "Hey…" her voice was a whisper.
"I can’t believe I finally caught you."
"I can’t believe you keep missing me. I rarely leave the house and like clockwork, you call every time."
"I thought you were avoiding me."
"Why would I do that?"
He shrugged but she didn’t see. "Joey sends his love."
What about you? "Tell him back, from me and C."
"I will."
Again came the pause as they struggled to keep from saying what they really wanted to. Do you miss me? Was it just a fling to you? But neither would say the words out loud. Realizing the silence was stretching uncomfortably, she asked the first safe thing that came to mind. "So…how’s the album coming?"
Relieved to have something to talk about, JC rushed forward, "Oh man, Lauren, it’s going to be unbelievable. You were so right. It’s like…god, it’s like everyone is filled with this passion. Cause we actually mean the songs, ya know? I don’t even care if anyone buys the damn thing. I don’t think any of us do. I’m so fucking proud of this."
She smiled at the excitement in his voice, tears running down her face as she listened. "That’s so great, Josh. I’m so happy for you guys."
Unable to pretend he couldn’t hear her he said softly, "You don’t sound very happy."
She swallowed hard. "It’s…it’s just lonely out here. You know, just me and C. But we are getting used to it. I’m writing a lot lately."
I’m so sorry, Lauren. "Is your book finished?"
"Almost. I sent it to Shellie again. She’s supposed to call any day now…"
"That’s awesome. How is Caroline?"
"She’s a terror. I had to get her a real bed because she kept crawling out of her crib. I’m also using the deadbolts always now to keep her inside but yesterday she pushed a kitchen chair over to the door and unlocked it."
"No she didn’t!"
"Oh yes she did. She misses you though."
What about you? "I miss her too. Kiss her for me."
"I will."
"Hey…they are calling for me now. We are working in the studio today. The others were finishing their lunch. I’m glad we got to talk finally."
"Me too."
"Well… I guess I’ll talk to you later."
"Bye."
"Bye, Laur."
With a heavy heart Lauren hung up the phone, searching for Caroline, needing to feel the touch of another person. She searched the quiet house for her daughter, feeling as if the solitude of the empty rooms was closing in on her. She was almost frantic by the time she spotted her daughter huddled on the other side of her bed. "Carrie?" The child stood, her eyes wide with guilt. She moved to stand against the bed, shoving the large Mr. Joey’s Bear behind her. "What are you doing?"
"Nofing."
"Caroline…"
Lauren sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her child, pulling her onto her lap. The bear fell sideways onto the floor and Lauren stared at it as if it were a snake. Finally, her shoulders slumped in defeat and she dropped her head down against Carrie’s. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"No."
Sighing she reached for the bear, turning it to look at it and what it was wearing. She’d know the shirt anywhere; it was his favorite. "Where did you get this?"
"I found it under your bed."
"And you decided Mr. Joey’s Bear should wear it?" One of the poor bears arms was trapped in the twisted shirt.
"It smells like C."
Pain engulfed her as she stared at the shirt with blurry eyes. She wrestled with the bear for a moment, twisting the shirt until each arm fit in its perspective hole. Then, holding the bear in one arm and her baby in the other, she lay back against the pillow and wept.
***
"Shellie?"
"Hey, girl. I’ve been calling you for hours."
"Carrie and I were at the mall. What’s up?"
"It’s ready."
"What?"
"Your book. It’s ready. It’s perfect."
A jolt of excitement shot though Lauren as she stood and began to pace the room. "Are you serious? No more rewrites? It’s done?"
"Stick a fork in it, baby."
"Oh my god, I can’t believe it."
"See, you should answer me when I call. I had good news."
"Actually, I was planning on calling you tonight."
"You were? Well I’d have passed out cold."
"Shut up. Just forget it."
"I’m kidding! What’s up? If you were calling me, this has to be good."
"Well…I was thinking of maybe coming to see you for a while…"
"For real? Oh my god! Come on! You can stay with me as long as you like!"
"I just have to get out of here for awhile. I go to the mall just to be near other people. It’s only C and me now and I’m getting a little stir crazy. I think I need to get out of here for awhile and regroup."
"Well, you know my door is always open. I’d love to have you here! I’m so excited! Lauren and Caroline are coming to see me!"
Lauren laughed, relieved that her friend was so open to the idea. She’d decided the night after she’d talked to Josh that she just couldn’t sit around waiting for him to come back and denying even to herself that that was what she was doing. When he had been there with her it was easy to pretend that "JC" was someone else. Someone he claimed to be, but that was someone that lived in another world and another time. Talking to him had permanently meshed the two in her mind making her realize that the person that really didn’t exist wasn’t JC at all…it was Josh. But she was back to living in the real world where JC Chasez was a pop star and thirty-one year old divorced single mothers did not date pop stars.