Chapter VII

After the race Hilda had decided to go out to dinner with Mac Fraser at the dinner in the hotel. They shared laughs and talked about the race that had just occurred. She didn't tell her friend, but Psymon's question had bothered her all day. Truthfully, she hadn't talked much to JP since the Tricky tour, never being one who was impressed by fortune. In her eyes he had always been quite the ladies' man and had quite a public affair with Marisol for a while that ended miserably. Could it be that that was all a ploy to cover up the real truth of his sexuality?

Somehow after dinner Hilda had been dragged out to a local club by Mac who had insisted she needed to get out of the hotel. Personally she didn't understand why she had to leave the hotel and if she did why she had to go to a club that didn't play any music she remotely liked. That was one thing she always enjoyed when she use to visit Psymon in Canada, he knew exactly where to take her to listen to music.

Kaori had met up with them at the club, watching the two "get their groove" on the dance floor. Sighing, she seriously considered going home even though she just got there. Bad music and a crowded room was enough to make her just want to go away. She leaned her elbow against the long bar, bored. What the hell was she supposed to do? It wasn't even like she drank.

As the married couple moved to the music, she felt a presence next to her at the bar, "One rum and coke please!"

The bartender nodded and went to get Eddie's drink as the grey eyed woman questioned over the loud music, "Rough day?"

"You have no idea." The orange haired man sighed, plopping down on the barstool next to her.

Even though the two of them never spoke in the past, the worn down American was happy to be next to someone who wasn't talking about Psymon for a change. The bartender came back with his drink, Hilda eying his demeanor, "What's up with you?"

"It's Elise," He grunted, "We use to be so close-"

"Do you like her?"

"What? No! We're friends, man, like we're supposed to be cool. She's never been this involved in a man. We use to…just hang."

Folding her arms, she scanned around the room while asking, "Perhaps you need a girlfriend."

Eddie took a gulp of his beverage, sourly replying, "Who'd want this?"

"Well, that girl over there has been eying you since you've walked in." She pointed over to some cute little blonde who was wearing a little pink dress.

She smiled and waved over at the funky man as he adjusted his shirt and made his way over. Hilda rolled her eyes in an amused fashion, taking her leave at that moment.


When Hilda arrived back at the hotel, JP was just leaving. She stopped the Frenchman, "Hey, JP."

He smiled dashingly at her, "Why, Miss Pride, how shocking to see you outside of zee hotel."

"Ha ha," She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "How have you been doing? Going to a club to break some hearts no doubt?"

"Just meeting a friend for dinner."

At this she raised her eyebrow and tilted her head, eying his neck. He wasn't sure what she was looking at as her skinny frame closed into him. In the Tricky tour he had mildly considered her attractive and got on to being friendly with her. But the two of them had two very different views on lifestyles and they hadn't talked much since.

"Are you sure you two haven't met already?" She questioned coyly, pointing to the fresh hickey on his neck.

Like a little giddy school girl, he slapped his hand over the hickey and turned away. Leaning against the wall with a smug smirk, she thought aloud, "Now…I need to think about this correctly. That hickey is fresh and the only time you would've had time to get that either before or after the race and you wouldn't have had time to leave the hotel. Now let's see, Elise is with Psymon, Zoe is with Hiro, Kaori is married, I would hope you'd stay away from Seeiah, you hate Marisol, and it certainly wasn't me. There's no more girls left so-"

"I'm gay, ok!" JP yelled in a whisper, making sure no one was listening.

After confessing, the rich man explained the whole story that Brodi had told Psymon, Hilda also promising to keep his secret to herself. The two of them hugged after that, leaving him to meet up with his lover.


Zoe knew that pictures of her and Moby out to dinner would hit the newsstand the next day. Of course she planned on leaving Hiro; the newspaper would be acting as a catalyst for her to do so. In the beginning, despite her pain and hurt of being forced to leave Psymon, she had slight feelings for the Japanese man. But, after ten miserable years all she had was rage and disgust for him. If anyone deserved this it was him.

She knew it'd be easier to just tell him when she got home; rather she'd wait for the media to do what they did best; ruin relationships. Hiro would be mad no doubt; he thought he was God's greatest gift to women. He'd probably be baffled, wondering how anyone would want to leave him. Zoe growled, that's what angered her the most. He had no idea that how he treated her was in no way how you should treat a girlfriend.


Hot Affairs on the Cold Mountain

Last night SSX powerhouse Zoe Payne was spotted out to dinner with the Mr. Moby Jones. Although Miss Payne has been in a ten year relationship with other SSX member Hiro Karamatsu, she seemed just fine holding onto-

As predicted the news of Zoe and Moby had hit the stands instantly the next morning, making front page. Psymon Stark almost spit out his coffee that morning when he went to go pick up the daily paper, sitting down in the lounge to read the whole article. No doubt this article would cause some fireworks, watching one of the offenders enter the lounge as well.

"Hey, Jones, you photograph pretty well." He snickered.

Moby turned around with an eyebrow raised, walking over to see what the tattooed man was talking about. He then groaned, "Bloody hell, they don't spare any time, do they?"

Turning his attention back to the paper, Psymon continued reading, "…And how long has this affair really been going on? They seemed pretty close in the first SSX tour and despite Miss Payne's public relationship with Psymon Stark, could it be possible she was seeing Mr. Jones the whole time?..."

"You know that's not true, Mate."

"Yea, I know," The Canadian replied, setting down the paper, "But, I'm sure it'll drive Hiro crazy. Is she gonna leave him?"

The black man folded his large arms, "She said she would. You mind, mate?"

Psymon shrugged, Moby and him had always had a friendly competition going on and a mutual respect for each other, "I'd rather you then him."


"What the FUCK is this!"

Zoe and Kendall were in the middle of making pancakes when Hiro stepped in the room, that morning's paper in hand. The little girl could see that there was going to be a fight and didn't feel like having ringside seats to yet another all-out brawl. So instead she took her pancakes and scurried away to her room.

Any other day Zoe would have just let him yell and even try and make something up, today though was a new day, "Um, that looks like a newspaper, darling."

"You know what I mean!" He snarled, smacking the front page down on the counter in front of her, "How could you poison our relationship with this filth!"

She let out a loud cackle, holding her side, "Poison? Has this even been a relationship, Hiro?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Please, you've been carrying me around like a trophy wife for ten years as some sort of way to show off what you've won. Isn't that what I've been, Hiro? You're so crazy about winning that all I was, was a prize that you've won."

He looked at her wildly, the punk observing how terrible his face had looked all twisted. God had the years been terrible to him, "Psymon threw you out like a used rag."

Her fist clenched, looking at him wildly, "This isn't about Psymon. That was ten years ago. What have you been for all these years? Fucking terrible that's what."

"Me? I've been terrible, speak for yourselves," He sneered, "You're always in your head. Never in this relationship. This relationship sucks because you've never put any effort in to it!"

"I never wanted this!" She shouted, "I never wanted a relationship with you. You…you were just a fuck."

Zoe could tell Hiro was mad. He was fuming and it took every fiber of his being to not strike her, "Oh yea, that's how you feel about me?"

It was her turn now to fold her arms and stand her ground, "And not a very good one at that. If it weren't for Kendall we wouldn't have stayed together longer than the tour."

"Oh? Real great, Zoe, telling me that you regret our-"

"Don't turn it like that!" She commanded, "I love Kendall. I'm disgusted how you've turned her into your little cheering squad. Who was there for her all those business trips you took? You never once took her with you."

Hiro didn't reply, how could he? She knew everything she said was true and he knew. Rather he clenched his fists and bowed his head, staying incredibly silent. Her eyes shifted to see Kendall had cracked open her bedroom door and popped her head out, not saying a word. She didn't know if the man had noticed his daughter appear, regardless he stayed silent.

Finally he straightened himself up, sternly speaking, "I'm going out to practice. Someone still has to provide for this family. We will talk about this when I get back."

"When you get back, I'll be in another room."

He raised his eyebrow, "Are you leaving me?"

Zoe gave out a small laugh and took a sip of her coffee, "What do you think?"

Hiro stared at her wide eyed, not believing what he had just heard. He then looked over and noticed his daughter looking in, getting angry, "You hear that, Kendall, your mother is leaving us! She doesn't care about u-"

"I don't care about you," Zoe growled, "I love Kendall and she deserves to live in a household where two people actually love each other. If nothing else I'm doing this for her, bad enough I ruined my life for the last ten years, and she should see that a girl deserves to be happy no matter what. What would I have taught her if I stayed? That regardless if you're miserable who cares? She deserves better than that."

Kendall watched her parents argue, taking in everything her mother had just said. She may had only been nine, but Kendall was wise beyond her years. After nine years of watching her parents absolutely hate each other and inheriting both their abrasive attitudes, she was no normal nine year old. She didn't realize how sad mom had been and when she had come home from winning the gold medal yesterday it was the first time in years she had seen her smile.

"You're going to regret this, Payne, I doubt you'll venture to Japan to even see your daughter."

"Yea, I doubt you'll go to America to see her."

Hiro scoffed, how could she think his daughter would actually choose to stay with her?

"Mommy?"

The two adults turned around to see their daughter walking towards them, staring up at Hiro, "I want to stay with mom."


Psymon had finished his morning coffee and had promised Elise he was going to take her out to breakfast. The nursery wasn't open and he personally didn't feel like dropping Heavyn off at Rahzells. He knew that the man was only doing what the board was telling him, still he knew that his anger was solely channeled towards him. Well that and Hiro.

So he headed to the person he knew wouldn't mind doing him the favor of watching his daughter and who he knew would take good care of her. Waiting at her door, the little child pulled at his dreads gently with a smile. He smiled back at her when suddenly the door opened, "Well, good morning, Stark."

"Hey, Hilda."

"Hi!" Heavyn shouted.

Hilda smiled warmly while touching the girl's hair, "Is this a friendly visit? Or do you need something?"

Psymon gave a wicked smile, "Well, you see my bathroom has all the wrong types of color on its walls and I can't seem to shit in it. So, I wanted to see if I could try out yours."

Rolling her eyes, he then got down to the real reason why he was there, "I wanted to go out to breakfast with Elise and I was wondering if you could watch Heavyn."

He observed how cautiously she looked at him for a moment, having briefly watched the baby once before. She then nodded while taking the baby into her arms and grabbing the backpack, "Have fun."


Hiro stood in place. This moment was a whirlwind of emotions; emotions Hiro had never really come in contact with before. He could take Zoe turning him down, away, and out of sight; but his daughter? Daddy's little girl?

"Kendall. Why? I'm the one who provides for you. I gave you clothes, toys, and beautiful home to live in."

Zoe cut in, "Those things are just materialistic. Kendall needs a family, not things. I'm the one who held her when she cried, took care of her when she was sick, played with her when no one else would, and gave her a real parent's love. That's why she's staying with me; she doesn't have to answer to you!"

Kendall began to cry. They would usually just fight and then proceed to different rooms for the night. The next day things were back to normal. But she knew this was different, her mom wasn't backing down.

Zoe walked passed Hiro, "Come on Kendall, let's go pack your things, we're moving into another room."

Hiro was mad as hell yelling furiously, "Fine, be that way. I don't need either of you! Be gone by the time I get back!"

Hiro stomped out the door slamming it shut. Zoe immediately hugged her daughter as the child began to cry. She could tell Kendall's feeling were beyond hurt; more like permanently damaged. Zoe let a tear slip from her eye. "We're gunna be ok. Just you and me." They embraced again.


Psymon opened the door for Elise walking into a diner in the nearby town. They were seated and pick up their menus. As they read the items, Psymon noticed Elise eyeing him. "Yes?" he asked.

"Just looking," she said with a Cheshire smile.

"See anything you like?"

She played the sexiest tone she could muster up, "Oh of course I do," her cleavage on the table.

His eyes widen, "Wanna skip breakfast?"

Her laugh told him no and he laughed with her. Being with her was nice, it was fitting, and it was definately sexy. But something just didn't seem right. She was high maintenance with a high profile. Internationally famous and only gaining more fame. He wanted to like her, but not for those reasons. He didn't like the fact that they were followed by paparazzi constantly; like right now. He knew they were outside hawking them, just waiting.

In reality, he knew why his heart didn't want to love Elise. He had another woman on his mind. After Zoe had cheated on him he had swallowed his tears and hardened his heart but demolished those walls when Hilda came into his life as more than a friend. Hilda was on his mind constantly since discovering her return to the circuit. They had an odd and awkward relationship before but she had left him too soon after. He knew who he wanted but refused. Then it hit him; was he trying to replace Hilda with Elise? Why couldn't his subconscious just flat out tell him why he wanted Hilda more than the woman in front of him?

"So what are you getting?" he asked her trying to forget the other woman for a minute.

"Hmm… I'm not sure, maybe egg whites and wheat toast. How 'bout you?"

"I don't know," he said in all honesty. He was too busy comparing Elise to Hilda.

The waitress came and took their orders; Psymon deciding to go with just a bagel and a soda.

"So what are your plans for later?" he asked her.

"I don't know; maybe drag Eddie or Kaori shopping with me. Kaori usually likes that. You don't like her very much do you?"

He had to laugh, "It's been ten years since Tricky, there's no way she's still immature and naive as she was. She's married now. I wouldn't say I'll be her best friend but I most likely won't be going out of my way to make her life hell again."

"She talked about you, surprisingly good things too. I don't think Eddie likes you very much though."

Psymon honestly didn't care if Eddie liked him or not, "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged, "Well, yesterday after the race I told him I was going to your room and asked if he wanted to come but he turned me down."

"I highly doubt he wants to see his crush with another guy."

Elise laughed and then gave a snort, "You think he has a crush on me? Oh please!"

"Totally. Think about it, you two have known each other for how long?"

She didn't have to think about that, "Ten years."

"And you two have seen each other in that time right?" she nodded yes, "No man in his right mind would not just 'hang out' with you. You're Elise Riggs."

She blushed twirling her hair in her fingers, "Well, I don't know about all that."

"It's so obvious the way he's always around you, always wants to hang out. He's either crushing on you or he's gay."

Elise sipped on her coffee, "He's not gay."

Psymon leaned back knowing he's shed some light on her, "It was obvious back in the day and its obvious now. He'd be all over you like Luther on a cake if he were to choose to do so. Take me out in the process."

They laughed together. The waitress finally brought their food and they started eating in peace.

Elise perked up, "Well what about Hilda?"

"What?"

"Hilda. You two are always hanging out. I see the way she looks at you and Heavyn."

"Ehh," he paused swallowing a bite of his bagel, "we had a dead end relationship and she eventually left to go back to America. We stayed on good terms though."

Elise didn't know they were that close. Now she felt a little threatened, "How long ago was that?"

He thought for a minute, "A while ago. I'd say almost three… years ago…"

He seemed to drift into a deep epiphany. He looked down at the table. "Psymon?" she asked.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

"Psymon are you ok?"

Psymon stood up pulling out his wallet. He dropped fifty dollars on the table not caring it was way too much for what they ordered.

"I gotta go," he told her, "I'm so sorry Elise."

And with that he left. She was totally stunned at what just happened… what did just happen?


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