I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. I've been getting busier. Thank you for all the wonderfully inspiring reviews, and next chapter, I will identify and thank you all by name. Enjoy.
Jax had left. Courtney had no clue where he was, and frankly, she didn't care—not now. She ventured into the kitchen and sat sipping out her now cold coffee.
She had been up all night. She wasn't even in her pajamas yet. She would often stay up late and then get up early. That's how she was. She cared about to many things to just sleep. If it wasn't necessary, she wouldn't do it at all.
She really needed to take a shower. She felt dirty and used and abused and everything else under the sun.
She walked back to her room as quiet as possible and slipped out of her clothes. She took her hair out and glided into the shower. She let the hot water relax her neck muscles once again.
She closed her eyes. She wanted to make everything go away. She just wanted to be happy, but, obviously, that was too much to ask for.
She turned the water off and slipped into a robe. She twisted her hair to get the water out of it and pulled it back into a messy bun. The clock in the bathroom said it was four thirty, so she decided to just stay up instead of trying to get sleep that would not come.
She pulled a pair of jeans and a polo shirt out of the drawer and put them on. Sonny had probably gotten everything stocked up before they came.
After she dressed, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was a stranger—even to herself. Dark bags encircled her eyes which looked like glass. She noticed an appearing blemish on the side of her cheek from all the stress. Then, there were the clothes. She had never worn anything tight, except for the time she had to strip, but otherwise, she despised tight clothes. Here she was, standing in one of those tight polo shirts.
A sigh escaped her lips. They were chapped, and she knew that if she went out into hot or cold weather, they would bleed.
Things had changed. Some were for the better, others for the worst.
A soft knock grabbed her from her thoughts. She walked over to the door and opened it.
"Hey, Aunt Courtney," Michael said cheerfully as he hugged her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Courtney asked.
"I wanted to come see Dad, so he let me come," Michael explained. "Are you coming to dinner with us tonight?"
"I don't know," Courtney replied hesitantly.
"Come on. You have to come." Michael's voice was full of excitement, and Courtney knew at that moment that she would go to dinner with them, for Michael.
"Michael," Carly interrupted, "I told you not to wake Courtney."
"It's fine. I was already up, and it was good to see him again." Courtney's voice had something resembling happiness in her voice, but Carly noticed that there was something else.
"We need to go shopping. You don't have any cocktail dresses with you here; do you? We're going to eat dinner tonight at the Pathétique. You're into music and stuff so you'll love it." Carly kept on rambling, asking questions without letting Courtney answer them, and Courtney only rolled her eyes.
Tonight was going to be more than awkward for Courtney.
Short: yes. I'm sorry, but I really want to get to the dinner, and I really didn't know where to go from here. Hopefully, another update will be out by tonight.