[chapter fourteen]
(A week and a half later)
"I just can't decide if I should keep dating them both." Jon lamented
has he helped Caitlin fold laundry.
"And they're roommates, right?" Caitlin asked, folding towels on top of the washer.
"Well, yeah. But they don't know that I'm seeing them both." Jon said with a guilty grin.
"Playing with fire, dude. Either pick one or the other, or neither, but don't keep playing both. You're going to get busted, then you'll be totally out of luck." She replied. "And why does your social life always have to resemble a soap opera?"
"Keeps it interesting. And like you have room to talk, being splashed all across the internet as the love of young Joshua's life." Jon said, smiling. He glanced at his watch and his smile turned to horror. "Argh! I'm supposed to be on duty in like, 2 minutes!"
"Go! Be careful driving!" Caitlin yelled after him as Jon shot out of the laundry room towards the garage.
"I will! Talk to you tonight!" Jon yelled over his shoulder, slamming the door behind him. Caitlin shook her head with a grin and grabbed the laundry basket. She walked through the suddenly silent house, heading for the upstairs bedroom to deliver the freshly laundered clothes. Just as she walked by it, the phone rang shrilly. Jumping slightly, she threw down the basket and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" Caitlin said. There was a slight pause, but Caitlin could hear someone on the other end of the line. "Hello?" She said again.
"Hello, Caitlin." Came a low, dangerous quiet voice.
"Who is this?" She asked guardedly.
"You know." Came the voice.
"I don't. I'm hanging up now." Caitlin said, starting to pull the receiver away from her ear.
"I wouldn't do that, Caitlin Elizabeth, born on December 21. Driver of a Blazer and owner of a pink nightie that says 'doll' on it." The voice replied.
She slowly put the receiver back to her ear, her hand shaking slightly. Whoever the voice was, it knew her name, birthday and more. Closing her eyes, she suddenly placed the voice on the other end of the line. "Ray."
"Very good. I'm disappointed you couldn't recognize the voice of an old friend." Ray said.
"Gosh, the last thing I'd want to do was disappoint you, Ray." Caitlin said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You always were a bitch, Caitlin. And yet, I still loved you with everything I had." Ray said.
Caitlin remained silent on the other end of the line, trying to remain calm. This was the first time she had actually spoken to Ray in months. And after reading the first few letters he had sent her in Orlando, she had torn up the rest. She couldn't imagine why he was still pursuing her. Not after the way things ended...
"I've been writing to you." Ray said matter-of-factly. "But you haven't responded."
"I haven't read them." Caitlin said evenly.
"Why?" Ray demanded. "I poured my heart into those letters. Told you how I felt about you. About us. About how much I miss you."
"That chapter of my life is closed Ray. Closed. Forever. If you ever cared for me at all, you'd stop writing, stop calling, and let me get on with my life. Away from you." Caitlin said, her patience wearing thin. She wanted to get off the phone, away from his voice. Just hearing his words was making her relive their entire relationship over and over, and she never wanted to do that again. Nightmares were bad enough, she didn't need harassment during the waking hours as well.
"Not going to happen." Ray said with a sinister tone. "I'll always be where you are. Always know what you're doing. Always know that we should be together."
"Goodbye Ray." Caitlin said.
"Not for long. We'll talk again soon. And the next time I write you a letter, you damn well better read it." Ray threatened. "Just remember, if I can find an address to write to you, I can always find where you are. And we can always relive some past moments from our relationship."
With that, Caitlin slammed down the phone. Looking down, she saw that her hands were shaking. Without a second thought to the strewn laundry basket, the lights on throughout the house, or the food thawing for dinner in the kitchen, she grabbed her car keys and ran out of the house.
***
"Guys, please. There's no reason we should still be at this point on this choreography." Wade lamented as the five exhausted singers took a breather from the heavy dancing they had been practicing. They had spent all their waking moments the last several weeks at the Compound, dancing, singing, rehearsing, having meetings and generally exhausting themselves. JC could feel his body wearing down, and was looking forward to an early night of nothing but sleep, which Johnny had promised them for tonight.
"Sorry Wade." Lance apologized. "Can we start from the breakdown and take it from there. I think that's where I'm getting off beat."
"Sure, let's take it from there, okay, guys?" Wade asked, turning towards the stereo in the corner. Suddenly, the door behind him flew open and Caitlin stood silhouetted in the doorway, her face red from crying. Wade, JC and his band mates all turned at the sound of the door, and practice was immediately forgotten. Wordlessly, JC crossed the room in a moment and wrapped Caitlin in his arms.
"Shh. Shh. Baby, what is it?" JC asked softly, rocking her body slightly.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt practice, but I didn't know where else to go." Caitlin said, her tears starting anew.
"Guys, can you give us some privacy?" JC asked quietly. Wade signaled for the guys to follow him out of the practice room, and shut the door behind them. "What happened, sweetie?"
"He called me. Out of the blue. Basically threatened me. Says he knows where to find me." Caitlin said, running her sentences together.
"What? Who?" JC asked.
"Ray." She answered in a whisper. "He said he misses me, and knows where I am, and pours his heart into those damn letters he sends me. And he basically said he could find me and, oh, what did he say?" Caitlin paused, trying to remember the exact phrase. "And we can always relive some past moments from our relationship."
"Sonofabitch." JC said, his voice low. "What else did he say?"
"Nothing much, really. He misses me, he loves me, all that stuff." Caitlin said, wiping away her tears with the back of one hand. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have burst in like that. Wade's going to be mad."
"Don't be silly. I'm glad you came here. Everything's going to be okay. I promise." JC said, wrapping his arms around her once again.
"I just got spooked. Being alone in the house, his call, all the things he said...my first instinct was to find you." Caitlin said.
"I'm glad you did." JC said. "Besides, if I had to dance one more step, I was going to fall over." He said, trying to lighten her spirits. It worked, as she laughed out loud. "I love you, Caitie. I won't ever let him hurt you."
"I know." Caitlin said, her voice muffled against his chest. "I love you, too." Raising her head, she looked into his blue eyes. "I do." Giving herself a shake and squaring her shoulders, she stepped away from JC slightly. "I think I'm going to go to the bathroom and freshen up a bit, and then apologize for breaking up your practice."
"No need to apologize. We'll probably be on the back porch." JC said. "I'll see you in a bit." He watched her leave the room and head for the bathroom then turned and walked outside, where he knew his friends were waiting. Walking outside, he walked right past them without saying a word.
"Hey C, you okay?" Justin asked, starting to stand and follow his friend, who was striding away from him towards the back lawn. JC merely put up a hand and kept right on walking. He stopped a short while later at the punching bag Johnny had set up for his morning workouts. Without pause, he walked up to the bag and punched it with all his might.
"Stupid sonofabitch. Stupid fucker. Come near her, I will fucking kill you." He grunted as he repeatedly hit the bag with his bare hands. "She's so good, and you are so fucking evil."
Seeing their friend punching the bag, the five guys on the porch immediately jumped up and hustled over to where JC was still beating the bag, his chest heaving as he sucked in gulps of air between expletives. That had seen JC lose his temper before, and this was obviously one of those moments. "Dude. Dude! What happened?" Justin demanded, pulling the bag to one side so JC would stop. "Is Caitlin okay?"
"She's okay. It's just..." JC said, his breath returning. "Well, I'd rather not say. It's kinda private."
"C'mon, don't play that." Justin said. "She's our friend too. If she's upset, we want to help."
"She's having…ex-boyfriend problems." JC said. "How's that?"
"Is it about that fucker in Michigan?" Chris asked. JC nodded, but said nothing. "But she's okay, right?"
"Yeah. She's okay. But don't say anything to her about it, alright?" JC asked. "I don't want what happened last time when I spilled to you guys about him to happen again..."
"No problem." Joey said, slapping JC on the back in a brotherly manner. "But let us know if you, or her, need anything, okay?"
"Thanks, man." JC said.
"You better clean those up before Caitlin sees." Lance said, gesturing to JC's bruised and bloodied fists. "I don't think that would go over very well."
"Probably not." JC said. "But it sure as hell made me feel better."
"Yeah, but you won't be saying that in the morning." Wade said. "It's gonna hurt like hell."
"If he comes near her, his face is gonna hurt like hell." JC said, his voice low with conviction.