Megan Richards waited and watched for a chance to catch Jonnie North alone at his birthday party in the posh nightclub that the modeling agency had rented for their star client. But she rarely ever saw him without that gorgeous model Kristina Davidson hanging on his arm. But she stayed unobtrusive and observant, thinking the other woman was bound to get sidetracked at some point...
Jonnie had asked the agency to be sure to invite all of his friends... including Megan. He wasn't as angry any more... Kris had been keeping in touch with him and spending a lot of time with him when they were working together and she was a nice distraction. But although he enjoyed her company and did find her very attractive, he knew he wouldn't fall for her... his heart belonged only to Megan. And he was starting to feel guilty, thinking that he might have been leading Kris on in some way so he was planning to talk to her at some point that evening to make sure she understood that they could never be anything more than friends.
Megan was at the party, but she was avoiding him and he figured it was because Kris was with him every moment and that was bound to bother Megan if she still loved him. But he'd never really doubted that... Megan wouldn't have been so hurt and pissed at him when she thought he'd betrayed her if she hadn't loved him. But he was just as hurt and pissed at her for believing him capable of betraying her...
And round and round it would go forever unless both of them finally got to a point where they could just let it go... he just had no idea when he would reach that point. But he was beginning to see that he would soon forgive her and be ready to start again. He needed to let her know that so she wouldn't lose all hope and give up... and possibly turn to someone else for comfort...
Jonnie looked at his beautiful friend and said, "Would you please excuse me for a few minutes, Kris? I need to go speak to Megan privately... OK?" He kissed her cheek when she smiled and nodded and left her to go find where Megan was currently hiding herself.
Kris watched him walking away and her smile grew wider. She was hoping that Jonnie was going to tell Megan that he was falling in love with her and it was time for Megan to realize that and let him go. Kris had felt it was only a matter of time before Jonnie would realize that they were perfect for each other... she loved him and all the fun times and the jokes they'd shared over the "rumors" that had been spreading about their "hot" affair. She felt perhaps he was meant to be her soul mate...
Megan saw Jonnie strolling through the nightclub looking around and he was alone... she finally had her chance. She stepped out from behind the column she'd been leaning on and moved toward him. He nodded at her slightly, indicating that he had been looking for her, so she squared her shoulders and walked right up to him.
Before he could even open his mouth, she stated what she most needed to hear from him. "Jonnie... if you have feelings for Kris Davidson and there is no hope that you will ever be able to forgive me, then please tell me right now so I know where I stand!"
He raised his eyebrows and stared at her for a moment. She looked scared to death and was obviously afraid that she was not going to like his response. He took a deep breath and frowned slightly as he figured out how to phrase his reply. He didn't want her to get the impression that he wasn't still mad at her...
He spoke quietly, "Well... I do have feelings for Kris..." He clenched his jaw to hide a slight smile when Megan's eyes widened even further, but he didn't want to be cruel to her... "Feelings of friendship," he added sincerely and saw her take a deep breath as a look of relief flooded her eyes.
Then he continued sternly, "As for forgiving you... I'm still working on that. As far as I'm concerned, you have a lot of work to do to earn my trust again and to prove that you trust me! And I realize how hard that is to do when we aren't spending any time together, so we'll have to start working on that. But it's going to be difficult while our schedules are still so busy, but that's going to change by the end of this year. I'll be quitting this modeling gig so I can get back to USC and finish my degree. You know I've only been doing this for the money and now I have enough to finish school."
That was an understatement! He wasn't about to tell Megan that he had several hundred thousand dollars in the bank and a contract in the works to be a commercial spokesman for a new brand of men's cologne that could net him another several thousand over the next few years... not that he believed she wanted him just because he had money! According to her Mom and Dad, Megan was on the verge of making quite a bit of money herself if her album turned out to be a hit... and he was sure it would.
Megan smiled at him and he felt that familiar ache in the pit of his stomach again... for the first time in a while he felt that longing for her again. But he wasn't about to give in to it just yet... he was still mad at her after all! He frowned and shook his head as he replied, "So, by the end of this year, we should be able to start working on repairing what went wrong. And if we can get together any time before then, it would be a good way to try to talk honestly about the pain we both experienced so we'll be past that by then. OK?"
She nodded solemnly and then frowned herself as she asked him one last question. "Jonnie... I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but... I've been reading in some magazines about a rumor that you and Kris are... lovers..." She winced as she said the word. "Is it... true?" she asked hesitantly.
Jonnie smiled ruefully as he shook his head and then replied sarcastically, "Well, at least you are ASKING about it this time instead of just assuming!" He hesitated and sighed heavily as he continued. "No... it's not true." He snorted a laugh as he added, "Kris and I always get a good laugh every time we hear that another rag has printed it again!"
Then his face softened as he said, "You'd like Kris... she's really sweet and she's been very kind to me throughout this whole mess. If it hadn't been for her, I'd probably still be pissed as hell at you. But she was the one who helped me to realize that you had lashed out at me because of your own pain, which made me realize you wouldn't have done that if you hadn't loved me. But trust should've made you come to me before you had to be smacked between the eyes with the truth!" he ended emphatically.
Jonnie paused and shook his head again as he realized that every discussion they got into would keep coming back around to the same issue until they were able to sit down at some point and just hash it out. He looked over and saw Kris waiting for him with a questioning look on her face and it reminded him that he still needed to talk to her and make sure she understood their relationship.
He looked back at Megan and said, "I have to go... Kris is waiting for me and she is an out-of-town guest and I don't want to be rude to her. So... do you understand where we're at right now?" She nodded and smiled sadly and he leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. Then he touched her cheek and said sincerely, "Learn to trust me, Megan, and we'll find our way back to each other... I promise."
