Fools Rush In

Chapter 10

I stayed in the tub for a while. It felt relaxing. I was so relaxed that I had almost fallen asleep in the tub when I heard dogs barking downstairs. That woke me right up.
"Drake's mom," I thought to myself, and got out of the bath. I toweled off and got dressed. I wasn't sure I was ready to meet her. I had no idea what she would think of me. Some strange, poor girl her son met a few weeks ago and then married after a drunken binder in Vegas. She would probably hate me and think I was only try to get his money. To say I was nervous was an understatement.
I crept out of the bathroom and down the hall to the opening above the living room. Standing there in the shadows I could hear them talking.
"So what exactly happened?" his mom asked.
"We got drunk, thought it was a fake chapel," he simplified.
"Do you even like this girl?" she asked.
"I do, mom," he said. "I think I'm in love with her."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "You barely know her?"
"I know," he said. "But there is a connection there."
"But is it a strong enough connection for a marriage?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said. "This wasn't part of my plan, that's for sure."
"What was your plan?"
"I wanted to help her," he said. "She deserved better than how she was living. She is talented and beautiful. I figured if I could get her out here she'd have a chance at a better life. I never expected to have feelings for her."
"And what about Paydin?"
"I haven't talked to her yet," he said. "Not since before the show in Vegas."
"She isn't going to be happy about all this," she said.
"No," he agreed. "She isn't. But it's her own fault."
"Don't tell me you used that poor girl to get back at Paydin?"
"No," he said. "Maybe it started that way. I don't know, I was just going with it. Living in the moment I guess. Everything else just happened."
"So when do I get to meet her?" she asked.
"She's taking a bath," he answered. "I'll go get her."
I froze for a minute as I saw him disappear. I quickly crept back to the bathroom and just as I opened the door he rounded the corner in the hall.
"Oh good, you're finished," he said. "My moms here. She wants to meet you."
I closed the bathroom door acting like I had just come out of it, "Are you sure it's a good idea?"
"Definitely," he said. "She's gonna love you."
"What if she doesn't?" I asked, nervously.
He laughed, and brushed my hair out of my face, "Trust me she will."
He grabbed my hand and led me downstairs. I took a deep breath as we approached the living room.
"Mom," he said. "This is Gemma. Gemma this is my mom Robin."
"Nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand to her.
She took it and looked me over for a second, "Nice to meet you too dear. Or I guess I should say welcome to the family."
She smiled warmly and I felt at ease.
"Thanks," I chuckled. "Guess that'll teach us to get drunk in Vegas."
She laughed, "Oh yes. I'd say that lesson was received. So Drake tells me you're a pretty good singer?"
"That's what he says," I blushed.
"That's what a lot of people say now," Drake said. "Stop being modest."
"Modesty isn't a bad thing, Drake," Robin said.
"I know mom," he laughed. "But trust me this girl is too modest! Almost Taylor Swift modest, cept Gemma's is more sincere."
She laughed, "Okay maybe that is a little too modest."
My face was beet red at this point.
"Isn't she cute mom?" Drake said, and hugged me to him.
"She is," Robin said.
I laughed, "Okay, Enough about me. Have we figured out what we're going to do about this whole marriage thing?"
They laughed and Drake said, "I think we may have to stay married for a little bit, if you don't mind?"
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "We have to prove that this is something we both wanted. We'll make an official statement, tomorrow before the last show. If we just have it annulled it really will look badly on our careers. Then we can just get a divorce later and call it good. Everyone wins then."
"Oh," I said, not really hiding my disappointment. "Yeah. That sounds like a good plan."
He looked at me curiously but didn't say anything.
"Good sounds like you got everything figured out Drake," Robin said.
She stayed for a little while longer then said her goodbyes before leaving.
"Do you want to go to dinner?" he asked, me after she had left.
I shook my head, "No I'm not really hungry."
"Well how about I at least order a pizza, in case you get hungry later?" he offered.
"Yeah," I said. "That sounds good. Where am I sleeping tonight? I'd like to go lie down for a bit."
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. He pulled me into his embrace.
"Yeah," I said. "Just a headache."
"With a side of heartache," I thought. It was really bothering me that he was more concerned about this marriage thing from a career standpoint than anything else.
"Aww," he said. "I'll show you to my room and get you some aspirin. I'll take care of you."
I forced a smile and allowed him to lead me to the bedroom. I climbed into the bed and closed my eyes. He kissed my cheek, and whispered that he'd be right back. I opened my eyes and watched him leave the room.
I couldn't help it I started to cry.
"Hey hey hey," he said, when he came back into the room. He rushed to my side, setting down a bottle of water and a bottle of aspirins on the nightstand. "What's this about?"
I shook my head and rolled over so my back was turned to him.
He laid down next to me, wrapping his arms around me in a spoon position.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"I think I need to go home," I said, wiping my cheeks dry. "Back to Pennsylvania."
"What?" he said, taken aback. "Why?"
"I don't belong here," I said, sitting up.
"How do you know?" he asked, sitting up next to me. "You've been here five minutes."
"Five minutes too long," I said. "I'm not like you. I can't think of everything from a business standpoint. Or how things are going to look to everyone else. Or how to explain to other people how I live my life. I can't do it."
"This is about the marriage thing isn't it?" he asked. "I know you wanted to get it annulled, but just trust me it will end up being better for us both this way."
"It's not that I wanted to get it annulled," I said. "It's just that -. I don't know. I guess I just thought if we were going to stay married, it should be because we want to, not because it will look better for our careers, or whatever."
"I didn't mean it to sound like that," he said. "But I guess I can understand why you would think that I did. I don't know what the future holds for us, maybe marriage will work really well for us, maybe it won't. Maybe we'll end up hating each other, or maybe we'll spend the rest of our lives together. But I do know that we both have careers we definitely have to watch out for. And this business can be rough. I've been in it a long time, so I know how it works. Sometimes it's easier for me to think in terms of that than it is to think in personal terms. But I do like you a lot, I am falling for you, more and more each day. Don't think I've changed my mind about us, because I haven't."
I didn't know what to say. And I didn't have a chance to say anything because the doorbell rang.
"Did you order the pizza already?" I asked.
He shook his head, "No. I'll go see who it is and get rid of them, then we will finish this conversation."
I nodded and he kissed me before leaving the room.
I lay back down on the bed, letting my mind wander. I was starting to feel better about the whole thing when i heard yelling from downstairs.
I crept out of the room and went back to the spot I was at earlier in the hallway to see what was going on.
In the living room Drake was arguing with a beautiful blonde with short hair. I knew immediately this had to be Paydin.
"She's probably just using you for your money," Paydin said.
"You don't even know her Pay," he snapped.
"Oh and you do?" she asked.
"Better than you do," he said. "I've spent every day for the last 3 weeks with her. "
"And what about the last 3 years you've spent with me?"
"You ended it remember?" he pointed out.
"It's what we do, Drake," she said. "We fight, we break up, we get back together."
"It got old Pay," he said. "Real old. I don't want that anymore. Don't you want more than that?"
"Yes," she said, moving closer to him. "But I want that with you."
"You say that, now," he said, softly. "But you don't mean it."
"Yes I do," she said and kissed him.
In that moment I bumped into a table beside me and something fell over. He jerked away from her and looked up. He made eye contact with me and I turned and ran down the hall.
"Get out," I heard him tell her as I ran. "Just leave!"
I ran toward the stairs and crashed into him as he was coming up them. I fell backwards and landed on my butt.

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Author's note:
I hold no ill will toward Paydin. This is strictly for fictional purposes. She seems like a very lovely person and I wish her only the best with everything. :)