Crashed

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

New York was probably one of the coolest cities Azalee had been to. She and Mackenzie had walked throughout as much of the cities as their feet would carry them. They stopped outside of a pharmacy and Azalee looked inside for a moment, biting her lip. She looked at Mackenzie.

“You want something to drink?” she asked. Mackenzie shrugged.

“I could use something,” she said. Azalee nodded.

“Stay out here,” she muttered, “I’ll get us something to drink and I also need some Tums. My stomach is a bit upset.” Mackenzie nodded and continued to snap pictures with her digital camera. Azalee stepped inside the quaint, little drug store. It was small for what she’d expected New York to have; but it was nice. There was an older, Asian woman standing behind the counter smiling at her. Azalee grinned back at her and then stepped over to the fountain machine to grab drinks for she and Mackenzie. She then walked down the aisle that housed items for indigestion and upset stomachs. She grabbed a bottle of Tums and turned around. She came face first with what she had no better phrase for than the “sex items.” Condoms, lubricants, pregnancy tests. It had everything. She picked up a box of condoms and started to read the back of the box while taking a sip of her drink. She and Chris hadn’t used condoms before. She had heard that some condoms made the experience better. She shrugged and put the box back.

Back outside, Azalee handed Mackenzie her drink and decided that it was time to make their way back to their hotel as it was getting to be close to lunch time and they wanted to make sure the others didn’t want to eat with them.

~*~

Azalee stepped into Chris’s enormous hotel room and dropped a bag of food she’d purchased for them, trying to stay quiet as she realized Chris was on the telephone. He smiled at her.

“All right,” he muttered into the phone, “Okay…….yeah…….all right, thanks Barry….yeah see you later.” He hung up his phone and grinned at Azalee again.

“What’d you get me?” he asked. She opened the bags and dug around for a moment.

“Mongolian beef and egg drop soup,” she told him and handed over his food. He grinned at her.

“Thank you,” he told her. She smiled and dug into her own food, General Tso’s Chicken, rice, and egg drop soup. Chris swallowed a large bite of food and then looked at her.

“Okay, so,” Chris started and Azalee looked up at him, “Barry called just a little bit ago and I guess a bunch of people recorded the duet we did. Apparently a couple of people have been calling him, wanting us to come do the duet for them.” Azalee chewed and swallowed.

“Like who?” she asked. He smiled.

“Ellen Degeneres, Oprah, Regis & Kelly,” he told her. She gasped and stood up, clapping and jumping up and down.  He smiled and then sighed.

“The only problem is that we have to leave right after the show tomorrow to get to the Oprah show on time,” he said. She flopped back to the couch and groaned.

“I guess I can go one more night without sleep,” she sighed dramatically and then laughed. He grinned at her and his phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the caller display and then sighed looking up at her.

“What?” she asked. He shook his head, held up a finger, and then stood up and stepped into the bedroom. He closed the door, but left it open a crack. She heard him answer the phone.

“Hey,” he muttered, “No I’m sitting in my hotel room…..with a friend….About?....Just tell me what you need to talk to me about, Deanna….No, first I think we need to talk about us….I’m not even going to be back in California for another few weeks….No, I’m not flying all the way back out there….Because I have things that I need to do….Then you’ll have to wait a few weeks….I miss you too, but--….Would you just stop and listen to me?....”

Azalee stood and decided that it would be best to leave the room. She didn’t want to hear anymore anyway. She was afraid of what she might hear. It was obvious that something was still going on with Chris and his wife. Did that mean that she, Azalee, was just a side-show for him? That she was just someone that was there until his wife wanted him back? She let a few tears streak down her face slammed the door. She rushed down the hallway, wiping the tears away from her face frantically. Almost instantly, the door opened again and she heard him behind her.

“Az,” he said, “Az stop.” She stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn toward him. He grabbed her shoulders. She jerked away from him.

“Don’t touch me,” she bellowed. He sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, “ I shouldn’t have taken that phone call.” She chuckled darkly.

“No, what you mean is that you shouldn’t have taken that phone call while I was there,” she corrected him. He shook his head.

“No, that is not what I mean,” he griped, “This is the first time she’s called me since Florida.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“So?” she asked, “She’s your wife. She has a right to call you.” He sighed.

“Things are different now, Azalee,” he told her. She smirked.

“Yeah,” she muttered, “I guess they are, but are you even considering getting a divorce from her, Chris?” He sighed and dropped his head, looking at the floor and rubbing his forehead. He looked back up at her.

“I don’t know, okay?” he asked.

“Then what are we doing here, Chris?” she asked, “Why should I continue to fight for you if you’re not sure that this is what you really want?” He groaned.

“That isn’t what I meant, Azalee,” he burst. She laughed. It was NEVER what he meant. He never said “what he meant.”

“Then what is that you mean, Chris?” she asked, “Tell me. For once. Tell me what you actually mean.” He stood there for a long while and didn’t say a word. She stared at him.

“Tell me right now, goddammit, or I’m walking out of here and I’m not coming back,” she burst. He threw his head back.

“I want you,” he blurted, “I do want you; but I just…you can’t---.” She sighed.

“That’s what I thought,” she murmured and then turned on her heel, leaving him standing there with a confused look on his face.

~*~

The door to Mackenzie’s bathroom was shut and the person inside was not coming out. There was a knocking at the door.

“Az?” it was Mackenzie and Azalee sighed.

“What?” she asked. Mackenzie paused for a little while.

“Chris just stopped by,” she muttered, “I’m not sure what happened but, and he wanted me to ask you this, are you guys still going to do the duets? He needs to know so he can tell Barry to book them.” Azalee hadn’t even been thinking about the duets, but she couldn’t do something that was going to jeopardize her career more than she’d already done.

“Sure,” she said, “Whatever. Just tell him to book them.” She sniffed loudly and wiped her nose.

“He also wanted me to tell you he was sorry,” Mackenzie told her. Azalee didn’t say a word. She heard Mackenzie mumble something on the other side of the door that sounded a lot like, “Even though I don’t know what he should be sorry about.” Azalee sniffed again.

“Az?” Mackenzie asked. She knocked once.

“Az, can I come in?” she asked. Again, she received no answer from Azalee. Mackenzie took a deep breath and turned the door knob, letting the door swing open and hit the door stop behind it. Mackenzie stared down at Azalee, her heart suddenly shattering into a million pieces.  Azalee was sitting in the corner of the bathroom, her knees pulled to her chest.  She looked at Mackenzie, her eyes red.  Mackenzie opened her mouth a bit, as if she were going to say something. Azalee’s hand shifted and Mackenzie saw a long, white, plastic stick hanging between her thumb and pointer finger.  Her stomach lurched.  Azalee’s face crumpled then and she dropped the object to the ground.  She covered her face with her hands, and sobbed loudly into them, moaning out cries.  Mackenzie swallowed hard and stared at the plastic stick on the floor then, and let her eyes take in the bright red plus sign that was staring up at her.