Who's Crying Now

"I wish it could be that easy," he said. "I wish more than anything else that we could be back together, but I'm still pissed, I'm still hurt and I'm still not sure it wouldn't happen again."

"Kevin, Don't Stop Believing," I said. "I gambled coming here in the first place. Meg and Deena stayed with me. I may have lost yet another job staying here after our story was over. I'm..."paying anything to roll the dice, just one more time."

He smiled. "That was really cheesy," he said. "...Using song lyrics from a Journey song."

"When you're desperate, you have to go with what you have," I said. He smiled.

"I did that once," he said. "I had to lie to go after something I really wanted."

"When was that?" I asked. "Who did you lie to?"

"You," he said. "I have a confession to make, Karla. When we first got together, it was at that party. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. So when you asked me if I liked Journey..."

I hugged him. "You liar," I said kissing his neck. "Come on the show is starting."

Apparently we'd argued longer than we thought. The band was several songs into their set when we got to our seats. Although no one really sits down at a concert, the band was doing a slower song so most people were seated during it. "This is your seat Mr. Canard," said the usher. "And here's..."

"Uh uh," I said pushing Kevin down into his seat. "My ass is still too sore to sit on anything hard." I sat down in Kevin's lap just as the band launched into "Lights." It was very romantic. That had been one of the songs we listened to more than once our first night together, when we had fallen asleep in my dorm.

The next song they did found Neil and Arnel standing right over us as they played. When they got to the second verse I was sure that though the song had been written long before Kevin and I met, that it was meant for us.

"So many stormy nights. So many wrongs or rights. Neither could change their headstrong ways," he sang.

"And in a lover's rage they tore another page. The fightin' is worth the love they save."

I smiled thinking back to our argument from only a few moments before. I realized then that everything was going to work out. Our argument was just a way of working out our issues.

I smiled again as they came close enough to the edge of the stage that I could almost touch them.

One love feeds the fire. One heart burns desire.

Wonder who's cryin' now

Two hearts born to run. Who'll be the lonely one

Wonder who's cryin' now

The music washed over us like a wave that wiped out all of the pain we'd gone through. Unbelievably I had what I wanted most. I had my husband back and we could still have the life we'd always wanted. I wrapped my arms around Kevin and kissed him. It was just getting good when I felt an insistent finger poking me in the shoulder.

"Hey, who's sitting next to you?" asked Meg.

"I think the whole row is reserved for friends and family of the band," I said. "Just sit down. Hi Ed."

Kevin turned to look at Ed. "Where've you been?" he asked.

"Heather fired me, because I...I told Karla where to find you the other day," said Ed.

"Well you're unfired," said Kevin. "I'll find a job for you where you won't have to be around her."

"Can you do that?" asked Ed.

"Ed, Heather works for me, not the other way around," said Kevin.

"Are you sure SHE knows that asked Ed.

"Maybe I'll have to remind her," said Kevin. Kevin looked at Ed as the man turned pale right in front of him.

"What's wrong Ed," asked Kevin.

"I think now would be a good time to tell her," said Ed.

As he looked the towering form of Heather approached us. She looked like a Viking war goddess on the hunt. Her eyes flared angrily as they locked onto us. Her presence was a pure buzz kill. Even the music faded as she came to us.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked angrily.

"I think it's called a concert," I said snarkily.

She ignored me after noticing that I was sitting in Kevin's lap. "Why are you still here?" she asked Ed. She looked at Meg who was sitting beside him and shook her head.

"Do you see this Kevin," she said. "We can't trust them. This is why I fired him and broke off our engagement. He's been cheating on me with this..." She paused and a tear rolled down her cheek. She turned and stood in front of Kevin. "This is just another thing that we have in common, Kevin. We fall in love too easily. We trust the wrong people and they betray us. See, just like you trusted her and she stabbed you in the back, I trusted Ed. We've both been betrayed by people we love. But we'll get past it. We just have to get them away from us and out of our lives. When we leave tomorrow, I'll..."

Heather stopped talking as Meg started clapping abruptly. Several of the people around us started clapping too. They thought they were clapping to bring the band out for an encore.

"Bravo," quipped Meg. "Heather, that was wonderful. You should have been an actress instead of a manager. I'll bet no one in porn, can act as well as you do. Of course you're forgetting the facts. Like the part where Ed and I didn't get together until after you fired him and broke off your engagement. So whatever we did can't be considered cheating." Then Meg turned to Kevin.

"Kevin, Karla called you at least fifty times yesterday alone. How many messages did you get? You'd think someone who calls herself your manager would have managed to get you at least ONE of them."

"Heather, from now on if Karla calls me or tries to get in touch with me, you will drop everything to make sure that I get the message. As of this moment...actually as of thirteen years ago, Karla is the most important thing in my life," said Kevin. As I heard him say the words I was so happy I thought my heart would explode.

Heather lost it. "Are you out of your fucking mind?" she screamed. "Do you understand how hard I've worked to keep that bitch away from you? It cost me nearly ten thousand dollars just to buy out the rest of the tickets to this dog and pony show. There's no way I'm going to just roll over and let her move into my place. I'll get her an apartment and you can just stop by and fuck her when you're not busy, but that's all I can offer her."

"Heather, you're right," said Kevin. "This just won't work, so you're fired."

Heather's mouth opened and closed without anything coming out of it. Then she finally started to get sounds coming out. "I'm...Did you say...Me...I'm fired?"

Kevin turned to me. "Okay past and future Mrs. Canard what do you have in mind for the rest of the evening?"

"Loving, touching and squeezing," I said. He shook his head and smiled.

"Anyway you want it," he smirked, playing right along with me.

"I'm forever yours, faithfully," I smiled. "God, I'm happy," I said breaking our string of Journey songs. "This is the first time in forever that I'm not alone in a room somewhere crying my eyes out over you. Tonight, I'll be in a room but I won't be alone, cuz you'll be there and we won't be crying."

"I like that idea," he said.

"But, Kevin, my ass is off limits for a while," I said.

"That was your idea," he said.

* * * * * *

Departing Shot (epilogue sounds too formal)

I rolled over on the bed and wrapped my arms around Karla. She sighed and snuggled contentedly against me. Over the past few hours many things had been settled. Karla was giving up her job. She didn't want to be a reporter anymore. Meg was taking a position with me. She'd be my new media director. She'd handle anything and everything related to internal and external media from advertising to press conferences. She would be replacing three of Heather's assistants. And even paying her twenty percent more than she had been making as a producer, would save me money. Ed would be taking over Heather's job. He's been her assistant for so long that he knew the job anyway.

"I want to do it again," she said. "It's New Years Eve and I know you know how I want to bring in the New Year. But it's really important this time." She took the hand on the arm that was wrapped around her and put it on one of her breasts. The nipple was already hard.

"Karla, you're killing me, Honey. We have all the time in the world to enjoy each other," I said.

"Kevin, I love hearing you say that, but we don't have a lot of time. We're thirty five years old. Our window is closing. I'm so happy I could burst but at the same time, I want to have a baby. Shit, I want babies, and as I reach forty, I'll have fewer and fewer viable eggs, so get back on the job," she said.

I swung a leg over her and smiled. As we kissed, I felt that same spark of passion that I'd always felt with her. From the way she smiled back at me, I was sure she felt it too. She crinkled her nose suddenly and giggled.

"What is it?" I asked, knowing that she'd just had one of her bizarre thoughts.

"The two of us are together and happy," she said. "We're in our version of heaven."

"So...?" I asked knowing there was more to it.

"Nothing," she said. "I wonder who's crying now."

* * * * * *

Two floors down, in the same hotel, a tall voluptuous blond woman balled her eyes out and swore she'd get Kevin back.

Across town in the police station's temporary lock up, a massive, man-faced woman also cried and swore she'd have revenge against both of them

The end