You'll Never Stand Alone

Chapter 18

(Four Months later)

"Oooh look at this sundress! I'll bet this will look great on you D!" Whitney told her cousin Dionne Warwick as they shopped on the Hollywood strip. Dionne looked at the dress. "Child, I look good, but I don't think I would ever be caught dead into something so...open!" Whitney laughed. "Come on D, just because you're OLD doesn't mean you have to be OLD- fashioned." She joked. "Try it on. For me." "Fine" Dionne agreed and went into the dressing room. A few minutes later, she emerged in the sundress. It wrapped around her slender frame regally and elongated her signature legs. "D, you are wearing that dress!" Whitney exclaimed. Dionne looked in the mirror to reaffirm what her young cousin was telling her. "It does look nice." Dionne said. "I love it. You're getting it. And I'm buyin' it!" Whitney said. Before Dionne could object, Whitney brought it up to the front to get rung up. The store was pretty much sparse so it wasn't shut down as they shopped. The few people in the high end store kept their distance but gawked on at the star relatives. Whitney tried her best to ignore being looked at "You don't need to do that." Dionne said. "I'm doing it and there's nothing you can do about it." Whitney told her. "Besides I owe you a belated birthday gift!" she winked at her. Whitney was feeling silly, which was a much better mood than she had been in months.

The night she had spoken with Kim, she threw Bobby out of the house and filed for the divorce papers the following day. Bobby begged and pleaded with her to let him stay and "Work things out." But Whitney stayed strong and stood her ground. She was tired of his treatment towards not only her, but their daughter and despite trying to defy all of the bets about their marriage not lasting long, she had put up with a lifetime of drama in the near three years they were together. At first Bobby seemed to regret what his actions had caused. Then, he became very angry with what he would be losing. It wasn't as though he hadn't signed a pre-nuptial, so he would be standing to getting little to nothing out of the whole deal. And then there was the custody with Krissy. Whitney wanted full custody with him getting weekends and some holiday visits. Bobby tried to fight that one as well and they were waiting to hear the ruling on that. With that and other kinks, Whitney was ready to be done with things and move on with her life. The entire divorce process drained her emotionally and physically. No matter how anyone put it, divorce to Whitney was a complete failure on her attempt at marriage and she was disappointed in herself. The media had a field day running stories on television and magazines about her "Leaving Bobby Brown after tumultuous times and infidelity" Of course she couldn't go through anything in private, which did not help matters as well. During the first few weeks of everything, all she wanted to do was sleep and be left alone. But she knew she had work to do and to be strong for Krissy. Somehow, she was able to come back to the set of "Waiting to Exhale" and thankfully everyone on set had been supportive of her through the tough time. Her parents and family members have been supportive as well, which also helped her get through the bad days.

Dionne had come down to visit her to make sure she was okay, since her mother had to do some singing engagements that week. They decided to spend a weekend away from the set and come to L.A. for a couple of days of shopping and pampering. And Whitney was glad to have one of her favorite people in the world uplift her sprits.

"So where you wanna go eat for lunch?" Whitney asked her as they exited the store with arms full of shopping bags. "Oh, you know I don't care." Dionne deadpanned. Whitney looked across the street and saw the famous restaurant Dolce lively full of famous patrons who dined to be left alone but seen in the public's eye. She nodded her head in that direction "Let's go to Dolce." Dionne agreed and they found themselves walking in a few minutes later once they put their bags up in the car. As the waiter led them to a table, Whitney passed by a familiar face....an all too familiar, handsome, comforting face.

Kevin looked up from the menu and his glare immediately went over to Whitney's presence. "Whitney!" he yelled out at her. She looked beautifully casual, with a copper-colored shoulder length hair style, light blue jeans with a few rips in them and a Von Dutch shirt. Whitney lowered her wide framed shades and looked back. "Kevin!?" she yelled back. She walked over to him. Kevin immediately stood up they embraced in a big hug. "Oh my gosh, it's been a long minute. How are you?" she asked him. "It's been a minute too long actually," he told her. "You look great, as usual." Whitney found herself blushing again, as Kevin was the only one to have that charm and effect on her. "Thanks." She mumbled. "And you're not looking so shabby yourself." Kevin had on a pair of jeans and a Cal State Fullerton baseball jersey and shades. His hair had grown out a bit which to Whitney, had complemented him well. They stared at each other, both in their minds going back to a few years ago, when everything that involved just the two of them was magic. When they didn't have a care in the world when they were together. When things seemed perfect.....

A lady cleared her throat, bringing them both back to present time. Whitney peered over to the young lady sitting down at Kevin's table. She was an attractive, skinny blonde who could easily pass for an actress or model. Kevin turned around, gave a quick smile at her then turned back to Whitney. "Hello." Whitney forced herself to say. Kevin nervously cleared his throat, thinking that this was completely bad timing. "Um Whitney, I'd like you to meet Christine. She's...my girlfriend."

Whitney plastered a smile on her face as her heart dropped on the inside.