Stumbling Into Perfection...

Chapter 14

Jennifer emerged from her room the next morning with a splitting headache. She had tried rubbing her temples to get rid of it but to no avail. She could only assume the cause had been the fact that she'd barely slept a wink last night after Harry had left.

The look on his face was the same look he'd given her when she'd left for treatment. That broken-hearted, sullen, face full of sadness and regret. She had sworn to herself she'd never be the reason for that look again but here she was, causing him pain.

And to make things worse when she sat down at the table for breakfast, Holly was refusing to look at her. She ran a hand through her hair and then let it fall to her lap with a clap against her bare leg,

"You're not talking to me now?"

"How'd last night go?" Holly asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Jennifer sighed,

"Holly...do we have to do this?"

"Do what? I was just asking how your night was."

"I didn't drink anything."

"I know you didn't."

Jennifer closed her eyes and tipped her head back in exasperation,

"Then why are you acting like I shot your puppy?"

Holly looked up at her,

"Because I don't understand why you would put yourself in the line of fire like that. You JUST got out-"

"Yes, I did. And I was eventually going to be put in a situation where there was alcohol. So why not just get it over with?"

Holly stared back at her,

"Do you care about yourself at all? Do you not worry about how much I worry about you? Do you not understand what I go through-"

Jennifer shot up from her chair,

"God, would all of you stop?" She threw her arms out as her anger boiled over to the point where she couldn't control it anymore, "Between you and Harry, seriously, you cannot run around checking up on me for the rest of your lives. You have lives of your own to lead. I am not a child!" She yelled, her voice raising a bit more than she'd wanted it to. She stopped, taking a deep breath, "I'm not a child." She repeated before giving Holly a hard look and turning back to her room. Suddenly, her headache was gone, she wasn't hungry anymore and she was in desperate need to talk to someone who knew exactly how she felt.

---------------------------

Liam pulled his hotel room door closed, glancing over at Holly's door with a deep sigh, he shook his head and started towards the elevators. His plan was to stay at the venue all day and out of Holly's way. He knew they needed to talk, but he also knew that she had quite enough going on with Jennifer being back and her record company meeting coming up.

His heart just about hit his feet when Holly's door opened as he walked past. Jennifer came out, half stomping towards the elevator. It was clear she was irritated with something. He half wanted to just let her go by without saying anything but the fixer in him wouldn't allow it.

"Hey Jennifer!" He called out, jogging towards her. When she whirled around and he finally saw her face he knew just how exasperated she really was. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Everything ok?"

"No, everything's not ok." She said, turning back towards the elevator.

"Whoa...what's going on?"

She jabbed at the down button,

"I'm not a child, Liam. So if your goal here is to keep an eye on me so I don't drink, I cannot tell you how much I don't need your bullshit right now." When Jennifer looked up and saw his face she sighed and closed her eyes. Some of the anger drained out of her, "Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to-" She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and shrugged, "It was a rough night, followed by a rough morning."