Falling Into Love

by Selene Chardou

  “Well, she’s loyal, I’ll give you that much. She has the same best friends from university and she’s known Seth since they were children. Talia can’t leave him because everyone in his life has let him down and she doesn’t want to be yet another person to do that.”

  “Let’s go back inside.”

  The two brothers made their way back inside and took their seats at the table.

  Syd ran a hand through his dark, silky hair. “What’s the matter? You look like you have seen a ghost.”

  “I’m fine, really. I just…I need this tour to be over.”

  She laughed before she kissed the side of his mouth. “I think we all do.”

  KAZ TRULY THOUGHT that was the last time he would speak about the FUBAR situation between Jaden and Talia but she caught him outside as he shared a cigarette with Syd.

  “Can I talk to you?” she questioned in a gentle voice.

  Her vocal chords were strained and she tried not to raise her voice if she could help it. She stayed away from alcohol and had nursed hot lemon water with honey all evening while everyone else had copious amounts of booze.

  Syd handed the cigarette back to Kaz and kissed his cheek. “I will see you inside.”

  Talia looked terrific as usual with her long dark hair and pale green eyes which stood out from a gorgeous face with minimal makeup. Her olive skin was a bit paler than usual but she seemed healthy overall.

  “If this is about you and Jaden then I want you to know I don’t judge you. I am no one who likes to throw stones because I live in a glass house myself and we all have our secrets,” he replied before he dragged on his cigarette and put it out.

  “It’s not about Jaden…not entirely.” She looked away quickly before she turned toward him again. “Listen, I get enough flak from my best friends about Seth and Jaden goes out of his way to never mention the guy. You guys all think I am stupid or maybe I was dropped on my head as an infant. That isn’t why I stay with Seth. Without him, I would be no one but some writer at Introspect Records, thinking up cute songs for all those pop bitches. No offense but that isn’t how I wanted to live my life.

  “I used Seth and I do love him…more than you could ever know…but I wasn’t upset when he overdosed because he stole this band from me. Winter’s Regret? That was my idea! We talked all the time as stupid little kids and I didn’t think he was listening, not really. Winter is my middle name…granted it’s spelled with a ‘Y’ instead of an ‘I’ but the name and the concept were all mine,” she explained calmly.

  “So, what happened?”

  Talia glared at him with bitter green eyes. “My mom left my dad and married my stepfather who is filthy rich. There went my rock dream. I attended the best schools and Vassar College. It was my sophomore year when I found out he had stolen everything I told him in confidence. He took the poems I wrote to him over the years when we were apart and turned them into songs…do you know how betrayed I felt?

  “I still loved him and gave him my virginity and you know what my thanks for it was? A baby and an abortion at nineteen. Then he blamed me for killing our kid like I had a fucking choice. He didn’t have any money and everything he had was because he’d known me. I couldn’t take that chance and after he let me join the group, I still couldn’t trust him. It was no surprise what his dad was doing to him—usin’ him as a punching bag before he fucked him? Seth is beyond damaged and I will stay with him through thick and thin but I would never allow him to impregnate me again. I can’t trust him but I need him around so I can make sure he doesn’t stab me in the back again.”

  Kaz had to give Talia credit. Not only was she way too gorgeous but she was much more intelligent than he’d ever thought and he hated he’d underestimated her simply because she was a beautiful woman. Her looks didn’t negate the brain she had.

  “What do you plan to do with Jaden when you two get back to L.A.?”

  She rolled her eyes. “He’s married in biker code. They just need to make it official but as far as Dizzy and the rest of that lot are concerned, Faith is his old lady and she’s pregnant with their kid. I think she knew about us before…she left. That makes me feel like a slut and maybe I am because I just don’t give a shit anymore. I have shoveled so much crap from other people over the years the only thing that means anything to me is fame and freedom.

  “It’s my own sorry fault. I can deny it all I want but that abortion…it destroyed a part of me and I have never been the same. I don’t have that empathy or maybe I’m verging on the border of being insane because I didn’t care about her feelings or Seth’s. I cried about his overdose but that was worry Dominic might pull the plug on Winter’s Regret, not really because he’d OD’d. I mean, I knew how weak of a human being he was and I knew it was only a matter of time but I just couldn’t conjure up the…fucking will to really care.”

  Kaz embraced her and held her close. “I have an excellent therapist. She’s very understanding and I am going to refer you to her when we get back. You may not think it because you’ve never experienced war or atrocities but you’re obviously suffering from PTSD.”

  “What are you talking about? I don’t lose it or get angry with people, Kaz.”

  He shook his head. “You are a classic case of avoidance and numbing: feeling emotionally numb and avoiding close relationships to people. All the men you sleep with are just there but they don’t have your heart and that is dangerous because I have to tell you Jaden has fallen in love with you. He won’t tell you because he knows you aren’t a home wrecker but he’s never felt the way he feels about you for anyone, not even Faith.

  “Do me a favor. Before we leave New Zealand, break it off with him and I don’t care how you do it. I know you now and you don’t give a shit about him so it should be quite easy for you to do.”

  A vein throbbed down the center of her forehead as they looked at one another. “That’s not entirely true. I’m not saying I don’t suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the abortion but…I am capable of feeling and what started off as fun turned into something else but there is nothing we can do about it. I am not a whore or some selfish skank who only cares about herself. Faith needs Jaden more than I do and…don’t worry, we’ll end it before the tour is over.”

  Kaz hugged her again before he kissed her mouth quickly. There was nothing sexual about the kiss what so ever. “Thank you for not shattering my brother’s heart.”

  “I know better than to fuck with the Cox family.” She winked at him before she smiled crookedly and walked back inside.

  Kaz strolled directly to the suite he shared with Syd and found her in bed reading on her Kindle Fire. She closed it immediately and set it on the dresser next to her.

  “Everything okay?” she inquired as she stared at him.

  He quickly undressed until he was nude and crawled into bed beside her. “As far as I can tell. Talia has been through a lot. I didn’t think her life was nearly as complicated as it is but I recommended my therapist in L.A. I’ll call her when we get back and refer Talia to her because she needs to talk to someone about all the issues going on in her head.”

  Syd wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. “Why don’t you work out some of the physical issues we have and I’ll spend some time with her tomorrow. I seriously need a girly day and Laurel is so wrapped up in Will, we hardly get to spend any time together. That shit is gonna change once we get back to L.A.”

  “I’m sure it will,” Kaz responded before he kissed her.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a very long night.”

  “Agreed,” he said before he peeled off the small negligee she wore and exposed her breasts.

  No matter how many times they made love to another, it would never be enough because he could never tire of her. She was the one and soon, he would have to seriously reassess his whole “no marriage” promise to himself. He didn’t want Syd to forever be his girlfriend.

 
He wanted to marry her.

  Kaz had no idea who was more frightened by the idea: him or her? It was a question he would have to know the answer to before they left Australia because he’d already bought the ring and was just waiting for the right moment to ask her.

  Who would have known?

  He’d fucked up and fallen in love with the one woman he swore he could never love. Life was definitely stranger than fiction and he didn’t intend to solve the issue that night but he would make love to her all night and wake up satisfied when he discovered her nestled in his arms.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sydney in Sydney

  THE FOLLOWING DAY was a free day since the first concert wasn’t until the following night at the famed Sydney Super Dome and I enjoyed the day with Talia.

  It wasn’t so hard for me to pry her from Jaden because he and Kaz had decided to spend the day together sight-seeing. We both wished them good luck with that since both of us were women, we could disguise our looks a lot better than they could.

  I wore a pair of royal blue capri pants and white tube top. My blonde hair was tucked into a short, pixie cut, dark brown wig and after Talia did my makeup, I was barely recognizable to myself.

  She had to spend more time on herself.

  Since we’d left the States, we’d become celebrities in our own right. Everyone knew about my relationship with Kaz Gillian, lead singer of Scarlet Fever. I’d been on the cover of more tabloid rags and magazines like US, In Touch, OK! and Society Magazine more than I cared to admit.

  Talia, on the other hand, was a virtual superstar overnight now that she was the lead singer of Winter’s Regret. Dominic Stenfeldt had held a press conference at the beginning of the year to announce the line-up change in the band and she’d been there via satellite.

  All the sudden that obscure Rolling Stone cover she’d done for February was sold out within days of it going on sale. The writer was forced to meet her a couple of weeks before publication so he could make the appropriate changes. She insisted the whole band be photographed—sans Seth, of course, since he was still in rehab—and that is when she’d officially been accepted by Linx and Niko.

  It was a sexy cover. The men were all seated and she lay across them all sexed up in nothing but a gold designer bikini and a pair of Yves Saint Laurent gold Tributes. She hated the cover but everyone else loved it and the reporter had done her justice. Her answers to his questions were intelligent and she came off as the “every-woman”.

  Keren had been right the whole time and I had to give my biker chick friend credit. Overnight, the two albums Winter’s Regret had released to date began to sell in massive amounts because it was already rumored that Dominic planned to have them re-recorded with Talia singing instead of Seth. The actual CDs and vinyl records were collector’s items because it wasn’t merely a rumor. Not only did the band have to work on their third album but Talia had to go into the studio and re-record the first two albums.

  Those would sell as well; Introspect Records wasn’t stupid. Talia’s voice sold her and she would sell those albums to people who had the originals just because they would want both copies of each album.

  She pulled her dark hair into a wig net and plastered on an auburn wig which was a cute bob cut and did not look like a wig. Her makeup was minimal and she only wore lip gloss.

  Despite the temps, she wore a pair of skinny jean capris and a white tank top that had Scarlet Fever splattered across it in a paint motif. She actually looked like a fan as opposed to the famous lead singer of the opening band on tour.

  I whistled as she slid into a pair of jean mules with three-inch slender heels.

  “Thanks. I kinda got good at changing my looks in college. It’s a nice trick to have when I want to go out without being noticed.”

  I laughed at her as my Ulysse Nardin cell phone began to rang. I wasn’t going to bring it and instead use the prepaid iPhone Kaz had picked up for me in Europe. I looked down and realized it had to be Faith because Promises was prominently displayed and she had no access to her own cell phone.

  “Hello?” I greeted in a happy voice as soon as I answered the call. “How are you? You must be so excited since this is your last week—”

  “Will you shut the fuck up so I can talk?” she cut off rudely. “I’m in the hospital ward because I…” she trailed off and began to sob out loud.

  Talia stared at me with a puzzled look on her face before she mouthed, “What’s wrong?”

  I shrugged my shoulders as I sat down on the sofa in the suite she shared with Jaden. “Honey, you aren’t making any sense. What happened?”

  Faith stopped sobbing long enough to sniffle and then blow her nose. “I lost the baby, Syd. It’s all my fault too. I fell down the stairs because Seth and I got into it and…it was too bad of a fall. I began to hemorrhage and the doctors had to take the baby early but he was too young…he died shortly after they removed him from my womb.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. “Faith, baby, I’m so sorry. Jaden is with Kaz—”

  “I know that. Who do you think I called first? He tried to fake sympathy but he’s still fucking that guinea bitch, isn’t he? He’s probably relieved. Now they can go off and have their happy fucking ending!” she exclaimed bitterly.

  “Faith, it’s not like that. Jaden is devastated but we are all exhausted at this point and we just want to get back home. He wasn’t trying to be insensitive but he’s at the end of his rope emotionally. He’s stopped using drugs and he is just trying to keep it together without resorting to…having to get high. I’m sure he’ll smoke a joint or two now but a little THC is nothing in comparison to coke and Oxy.”

  “Save the excuses, babe. I know you better than you think. With Laurel wrapped up in Will, that leaves only Talia so you two must be thick as thieves. Tell that man-stealing cunt this is all her fault.”

  “I’m not going to repeat that,” I replied in an incredulous voice as I stood and began to pace. “You’re on drugs to relax you and you need to get some rest. You two can always try again—”

  Faith’s cruel laughter cut me off in mid-sentence. “Fat chance when they had to give me a partial hysterectomy. My gynecologist has assured me I can still get pregnant but I don’t know if I want to put my body through that again. Three fucking failed pregnancies—the universe seems to be sending me a clear cut message I shouldn’t reproduce.”

  “I’ll call you later when you’re feeling better. Get some rest, sweetie, and I love you.”

  I ended the call and dumped my phone into my hobo bag.

  “She lost the baby?” Talia wondered out loud.

  “Yep and had a partial hysterectomy thrown in as an added bonus.”

  “Fuck…something similar happened to one of my best friends. Paul’s wife, Jerrica, dealt with that at the end of our last semester at Vassar. They had to do some pretty heavy work down there and miracle of miracles, she managed to get pregnant. It’s not the end of the world though I know she must feel like it is.”

  I waved it off. “Come on, let’s go shopping. If I think about Faith anymore, I just might slit my wrists. That woman is more melodramatic than Kim Kardashian.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible…however, I didn’t spend that much time with her when she was on tour so you would know better than me.”

  “Faith and I grew up together and I’ve known her my whole life.” I rolled my eyes. “Everything is always made to seem worse than it really is when it comes to her. I’ll deal with her when we get back to the States.”

  Talia smiled half-heartedly. “Then what are we waiting for? Sydney, here we come!”

  THE TWO OF us ended up at the Westfield Shopping Centre located in the heart of Sydney. It was a huge monstrosity of glass and steel with every top designer store a disgustingly wealthy, former stupid girl like me could want.

  It truly was something to behold and both Talia and I had way too much fun walking through the crowded mall, trying on various expensive i
tems and buying too many purses, clothes and shoes we didn’t need.

  “I haven’t had this much fun since Tokyo,” I replied as we tried on clothes in Chanel.

  “What do you mean? When we got lost in the Harajuku and Omotesando district? That was awesome and some of those fashions? I have to hand it to Harajuku women—Gwen was right. They have wicked style. I still can’t believe I was able to find something in my size after being there and seeing how skinny those chicks are—”

  “What are you talking about? Your body is perfect. I’m the one who stood out like a sore thumb. Tall, blonde and big-boned. Damn Norwegian-German-Irish genes!” I exclaimed in mock anger before we both burst into laughter.

  Talia sat next to me in a beige velvet knee-length dress she’d tried on and her left hand grabbed my right. “Can I tell you something?”