The promise Hollywood Heights
The big Apple chapter 12
Loren answers the phone. "Hi Cam, yes we should be there in an hour, yes of course, I'll call you as soon as we get to the Hotel, thanks, love you too."
Alex is awake. "Are we there yet?"
Eddie's quiet, his eyes fixated on Loren, she doesn't look at him, but deep down he knows she'll eventually face the truth, he isn't about to give up on her. He finally acknowledges his son. "We'll be landing soon; Brenda will let us know."
"I'm hungry." He tells Eddie.
Loren looks for his bag of snacks. "I have some crackers you can have."
Eddie turns his attention on Loren. "We're not done talking."
"I'll give you a progress report soon, Alex is doing well."
He purposely gets closer to her and kneels down to where she's sitting with Alex. "You know what I'm talking about, we can do it right now, right here?"
Alex looks at his dad, and back to Loren. "Daddy likes you Loren."
Loren blushes. "Here sweetie, eat your snack."
Brenda walks in. "Eddie we'll be landing in 20 minutes, everyone needs to sit and buckle up!"
"Thanks Brenda." He turns to Loren again. "We're not done."
The Plane lands, the Limo drives them to the downtown area of New York.
They're taken to the top penthouse of New York's most popular Hotel and suites.
Loren's at awe with the beauty of the place. She holds Alex's hand. "This is a beautiful room."
"Daddy, where is my room?" Eddie walks towards the back area of the suite. "This is your room and Loren will be in the room next to you."
"What about you?" Eddie smiles. "I'll be upstairs. There's a small kitchen, balcony patio and this huge living room, we will be very comfortable here."
"Come on Alex, we'll get you settled in your room." She guides him and takes his suitcase with her, Alex follows her.
They walk into his room, Loren puts his things away; she places his school things on the huge book case, and hangs his clothes. "It's time you took a shower young man."
"I'm hungry father."
Alex yells out. "Dad!"
He comes running. "I've told you not to scream that way?"
"I'm hungry." Eddie sighs. "I'll call room service, what do you want?"
"Pizza." Eddie looks at Loren. "Are you hungry?"
"Whatever you're having is fine with me."
"I distinctively remember you love Lasagna; can you pronounce it now?" He smirks.
Loren smiles; he remembered. "I still can't pronounce it, thank you, I'm taking my suitcase to my room."
She walks away, Alex looks at Eddie. "Daddy, is Loren special?"
He smiles, and sits next to his son. "Yes she is, I've known Loren for a long time, I was your age when we met, we lost touch for a while, I'm happy she's back in my life."
Alex gives him a confused look. "You lost Loren?"
Alex always makes him smile. "Yes I did, but I found her."
"We can't lose her anymore daddy."
Eddie holds his son's hand. "I don't plan too; you need to make sure we don't."
Alex smiles. "I won't daddy, I promise."
"Good to know, let's order our food."
Eddie orders and several minutes later. There's a knock on the door. It's room service. The food is brought in and Alex runs to get Loren.
"The food is here, let's go eat."
She stops him. "Alex wash our hands first."
They walk out into the huge balcony; Eddie sets the table.
"Look Loren, we're really high here." He holds her hand.
"I know, come and sit so we can eat, she makes sure he's in his seat and Eddie places a slice of pizza on his plate.
"The view is amazing from this level; I hope you don't mind eating here?"
"It's fine." Her cell phone rings; she looks at it and smiles. "Hi Mel, yes we're here, I'm eating, sure, you're coming next weekend, that's great, let me finish and I'll call you, bye, love you too."
They finish eating, Eddie is curious about Mel flying in.
"Mel's coming to New York?"
"Yes, she's coming to help me look for a dress."
Eddie looks at her; he knows what she means. "Shop for a dress?"
She looks at him. "Yes a dress, I hope it's for Mel to fly here?"
"Yes of course, it's weird you are shopping in New York for a dress."
Loren knows he knows what she meant. "Is there a problem?"
"No not really, wondering why fly all this way for a dress."
"Are we going to be doing this while I'm here?" Loren questions.
"No, I want you to be honest with yourself."
Alex looks at his dad. "Daddy, are you mad at Loren?"
"No Alex, I could never be mad at her."
Loren's quiet and looks at him, she's trying to remain calm. "Alex, get ready for your bath, and a book for bedtime."
"Ok, I'll wait for you in my room."
She turns to Eddie. "If you're going to be questioning everything I do, then I'll get my own room."
Eddie lets out a huge sigh. "I can't believe you're still going through with this wedding."
She crosses her arms. "Why?"
"Because we both know you still love me as much as I love you, Lorie is the one to blame for everything that happened, it's her fault we're not together, and you're still marrying what's his name!"
"His name is Cam; he's been nothing but a perfect boyfriend."
Eddie walks closer to her. "Really? Does he kiss the way I did? Does he hold you like I did? Does he whisper in your ear I love you?"
Loren's eyes fill with tears. "Stop it Eddie!"
She steps back, smelling his cologne weakens her, she can't, not now, she can't hurt Cam, not this way, a voice calls out. "Loren!"
She turns away. "Alex needs me right now." She wipes the tears that stream down her cheeks, Eddie knows she still loves him, he can feel it, he doesn't know how or when, but she'll be his again.
Loren makes sure Alex takes his bath, she reads him a story, she steps out of the room and Eddie tucks him in bed, she walks back to her room, she closes the door behind her, this is hard.
The first week flew by; Eddie's at rehearsals most of the time, his Concert starts that following weekend at Madison Square Garden. Loren avoids him, she stays busy with Alex. The following weekend Eddie's at M.S Garden preparing with Jake and Kelly, Alex stays in the penthouse suite with a Hotel nanny, while Loren heads to the airport in a Limo to get Mel at the airport.
Loren waves as soon as she catches sight of Mel. "It's great to see ya, miss you so much."
Loren laughs. "Come on Mel, it's been a week."
She gets Mel's suitcase, and they're driven back to the Hotel. They ride the elevator all the way to the top.
"This is beautiful! Where am I staying?"
"You're in the room with me, I have a huge king size bed."
They walk inside the suite.
Loren takes Mel to her room. "Look at the size of this room, it's bigger than our rooms back home."
"I know, look at the view."
"Must be nice to tutor the kids of the rich and famous?"
The Hotel nanny stops by Loren's room. "Miss Tate, little Alex is already in bed, he says you're going to read to him."
"Thank you, we'll call you when we need your services again."
She leaves and Mel looks at Loren. "Who is she?"
"The Hotel provides Nannies if we need them, I couldn't bring Alex with me to pick you up."
"Go read to him, I'll unpack, this walk in closet is huge."
"There's space for your things, I'll be right back."
Loren walks into Alex's room. "Do you have your book ready?"
"Yes, I want this one tonight, the little bear that could."
She sits by his side and begins to read to him, as soon as she's done he's fallen asleep.
She leans in to kiss him on his forehead. "Goodnight Alex, you're the sweetest little boy, love you very much, you look just like your daddy."
Mel's standing by the door watching Loren talk to Alex. "He could have been your son." She whispers.
Loren sighs. "I know Mel; the thought goes through my head every time I look at him."
Loren walks out of the room closing the door behind her quietly. "Where's Eddie?"
"At his concert, I'm relieved."
"Why? What happened?"
"The first day here, he asked about the wedding, why you were coming to help me look for a dress."
"He's trying to get you to admit you still love him."
"I can't call this wedding off, you know why."
"It's not fair, there's a reason why Eddie's back in your life."
"It's too late; I'm going to marry Cam."
Mel rolls her eyes. "Yes I know, and you'll live happily ever after."
Loren picks up her hair in a bun. "Don 't patronize me Mel, how long can you stay?"
"Maybe 2 weeks, I spoke to my boss, he said I can use this as vacation time, might as well tour the big apple."
"We'll be here for 3 more weeks, then we head to New Jersey and later D.C."
Mel changes the subject. "Do you have an idea of the type of dress you want?"
Loren sighs. "No, I really don't care, any dress will do."
"I flew here to help you find a dress, not just any dress, Cam said the price isn't a problem."
"I know Mel, tomorrow is Sunday, Eddie wants me to take Alex to his evening Concert, we can shop in the morning."
"We get to see Eddie in concert?"
"Can you believe this will be my first concert?" Loren smiles.
A scream comes from Alex's room; both Loren and Mel run to his side. "What's wrong sweetie?"
Loren sits by his side. "I had a bad dream, I'm afraid." He tells Loren.
Loren looks at Mel. "Mel, go to our room, I'll be there as soon as Alex calms down."
"Call me if you need anything."
Mel leaves, and Loren hugs Alex. "It's ok sweetie, sometimes that happens."
"There was a bad storm, I couldn't find daddy, and you!"
"I'm here now, go back to sleep, hold your teddy bear, he's scared too, I'll stay until you fall asleep."
Alex looks at Loren. "Ok, I'll try."
He leans on Loren; she sits next to him; she falls asleep holding Alex. It's 2 a.m. when Eddie arrives, he makes his way to his room to drop off his things, he heads towards Alex's room to kiss him goodnight. He walks in and finds Loren asleep next to his son, he's holding his teddy bear and leaning on Loren. He smiles, that scene means so much to him.
He walks to where Loren is sitting next to Alex's. He whispers softly. "Wake up Loren."
She moves and slightly opens her eyes. "I love you Eddie." She closes her eyes again.
YIKES!
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