Chapter 25

Jake and Samantha packed up his truck, and now she was standing there on the front porch taking one last look at the house. She kissed and hugged her mother and her brother, trying to stay strong and not cry like a baby. As she stood in front of her dad, she smiled a little and hugged him. He whispered in her ear, “You’re doing the right thing,” and kissed her on the cheek. She just nodded in response, too choked up to speak. They all said their goodbyes ten times, until Jake and Samantha finally got into the truck and drove off to their apartment.

Settling in to life with Jake was a struggle. She had quickly learned that talking to Nick did not make him happy at all, since he was very jealous. So she stopped. She wanted things to work with her and Jake. They both were making adjustments, trying to get used to each other. It was working, and Samantha was happy about that. Living together was very different, but as each day went by, the two of them fell into a routine, and things became easier after a while. Jake was so happy that they were together, he hadn’t tried anything. They were getting along perfectly, like they did when they first started dating. Samantha felt like he had changed for good, and now that they had the baby coming, things had never been better.

Samantha talked to her family every few days, since she missed them terribly. She had also gotten a job at the local pop/rock station, running errands, taking care of contest winners, and other things of that nature. A basic intern job. So between working and taking care of the house, she kept busy. But she knew there was something, or someone, missing from her life. She had tried to ignore the feeling at first, but after a month of not talking to Nick, she couldn’t take it anymore. She just didn’t know how things were going to work trying to balance Nick and Jake.

Samantha sat in her car at the radio station parking lot. She had been debating for the past ten minutes whether or not to hit send on her cell phone. She sat there thinking about her and Nick’s last conversation, almost a month before.

Nick, I can’t talk to you anymore. I want things to work

out with Jake, and he gets jealous and….

Bye, Nick said, as he slammed his phone shut.

Samantha shuddered remembering how cold he sounded. He had called her back and left a message a few hours later apologizing, saying that he really did understand, and if she needed him to call. It had taken all the strength she had not to call him back then, and every day since. But she couldn’t do it anymore. She needed her best friend.

“Fuck it,” she said, as she finally hit the send button.

“Nick! Your phone is ringing dude!” Brian yelled to the bathroom door.

“Who is it? Just get it, and take a message for me!” Nick yelled back at him.

“Damn boy thinking I’m his secretary now,” Brian grumbled, as he grabbed Nick’s phone and answered it, “Hello?”

“Brian? Hey it’s Samantha,” Samantha said.

“Samantha?” Brian asked, as Brian moved up to the door where he knew Nick would hear him. “How are you Sam?”

The bathroom door flew open when Nick heard that, as he grabbed the phone out of Brian’s hand. Brian cracked up in response, and Nick smiled back while shooting him the finger.

Nick turned his attention to the phone, rolling his eyes at Brian.

“Sammy, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just….” she started, but stopped.

“Just what? Jake? The baby?” Nick asked.

“No. I missed you, I can’t believe I haven’t talked to you in a month,” she said.

“Longest month of my life, but then again this wasn’t my choice,” Nick said, as he felt himself starting to get pissed.

“Nick, not talking to you has been really hard for me. You are the best friend that I have on this entire planet, and of all people I would think you can understand where I’m coming from here. You’re the one who told me to go and be with the father of my baby. You know I love him. I don’t want him pissed, and I don’t want you pissed. I want to make it all work out somehow, because I miss talking to my best friend,” she said, starting to get a little upset.

“I know, I know. Damn words are coming back to haunt me. And since when did you start listening to me?” he asked, as he laughed a little.

Nick saw Brian mentioning that he was going out, but he just waved him off.

“So what’s been up?” he asked her, “Dude, I have so much to tell you.”

“Dude, me too,” she said, as they both went to laughing. Nick laid back on the couch in the hotel suite, and smiled as he settled into conversation with Samantha.

“Rok, where’s Nick?” Kevin asked, as Brian walked into Kevin’s hotel room where Kevin, Howie, and AJ had all been waiting for him and Nick so they could have a meeting about leaving their management company.

“Samantha called,” Brian said.

“Thank you God,” AJ said, as he took his hands and prayed to the ceiling.

“Yeah, Nick’s been a bitch since their little tiff,” Howie said.

“Tell me about it, I have to room with him. I tried to remind him about the meeting, but I have a feeling he will be on the phone for a while,” Brian said.

“Well I’m sure he’s happy she called, but damn I don’t know about that. She’s pregnant with someone else’s baby, I think Nick’s heading for a heartbreak there,” Kevin said, as they all shook their heads in agreement.

“Just don’t tell him that,” Howie said, “Let him find out on his own.”

“Yeah well, let’s get on with this, Nick hasn’t wanted to deal with this anyway,” Kevin said.

“I hate this,” Howie said.

“Ditto,” AJ replied.

“Tritto,” Brian said, as they all looked at him. “Triple, I agree, whatever. What did the lawyer say Kev?” he asked, as Kevin started to give them all the update about how they were going to break away from their management company.

Brian walked into his hotel suite to see Nick lying on the couch still on the phone.

“What the hell? You’re still on the phone?” Brian asked as he looked down at Nick on the couch.

“Damn Rok you’ve only been gone for a few minutes,” Nick snapped.

“Nick, I was in that meeting with the guys for…” Brian said, as he looked down at his watch, “for almost two hours.”

“Shit! I missed it?” Nick said, as he smacked his forehead with his hand.

Brian just walked away, rolling his eyes.

“Sammy, you know we’ve been talking for two hours?” Nick asked. “I feel like we just got on.”

“Yeah, it’s already dark here, I’m still sitting in my car outside the radio station,” she replied. “I better get on home.”

“Okay,” Nick replied, “You know what?”

“What?” Samantha asked.

“It feels like we never stopped talking. Just picked up right where we left off,” he said.

“I think that’s how it’s supposed to be between best friends,” she replied.

“So we stick to the plan?” he asked. “Talking during the day and all? I’ll call your cell phone?”

“Yeah, it’s just easier that way,” she said, “I’m so glad I called you.”

“Me too, ‘night,” he said.

“‘Night,” she replied, hanging up.

Samantha smiled as she put her cell phone in her purse, hearing the battery begin to beep because it was about to die out. She smiled as she started up her car. She had Nick back, and she was going home to Jake, the man she loved. He had proven in the last month or so that he has really changed. She rubbed her belly, and smiled even bigger thinking about the baby on the way. As she drove down the road, she realized she hadn’t felt this happy in a long time.