A/N: Hey guys, this chapter had been already uploaded but I took it down because I wanted to add a scene I left behind. Sorry for taking this long. Next chapter is going to be the wedding. I hope you like it. Thanks for the feedback I've been getting. Also, I'm currently working on another story but I don't know when I'll be posting it.
3 Days before the wedding (Thursday)
As maid of honor it was Lauren's duty to organize a bachelorette party for Karma. She had made reservations at a bar in the city because there was nothing closer. She thought Karma should have a memorable occasion and New York City was the perfect place for it.
Shane was Liam's best man; he decided to take the rest of the groomsmen to an overnight stay in Atlantic City.
The girls took advantage of the warm weather and decided to spend their day by the pool since the guys were already on their way to start off their bachelor party.
"Whose phone is this?" One of the bridesmaids, who was sitting on a chair by the pool said. She couldn't help staring at the contact picture.
"It's mine." Lauren responded when she recognized the phone that Mellissa was holding was hers. She had Emma in her arms, she handed her daughter to Karma so she could take the incoming call. The woman passed the phone to Lauren before she decided to make her way out of the pool.
Lauren saw the name Raudenfeld on the screen. "If it isn't the world's best doctor." Lauren greeted.
"Hey, I'm just calling to let you know that I just gave my last lecture." Amy said, Lauren could tell she was excited.
"How'd it go?"
"Pretty good," She answered. "Yesterday one of Kate's students pulled me aside wanting to ask some questions about an assignment; we ended up talking for about a good 30 minutes. Turns out that the student is related to one of the members from the teaching board and he went on and on about how much the class benefited from my lectures, and today most of the members from the board stopped by and at the end of my lecture they said they were interested in offering a position here as a professor." Amy finished speaking.
"Amy that's great! Who knew you had it in you." Lauren said surprised. "For how long are they proposing?"
"They say its up to me, it's either one semester or a full year." Amy mentioned. "Kate said I could stay with her if I decide to accept."
"You're taking it the job right?" Lauren asked. She wasn't sure why was Amy still considering it.
"I really don't know." She answered honestly. "This is all very sudden."
"And that's exactly why you should do it." Lauren paused. "You're still young, you don't have anything or anyone keeping you in one place." She could hear Amy sighing at the other end. "I think this could be good for you."
Amy stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. "I'll let you know when I make a decision."
"Can't wait to find out," Lauren said hanging up and setting her phone on the chair.
Lauren reentered the pool and swam her way to where the small group was.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help but notice the contact picture of your incoming call. I recognized her; that wouldn't be Raudenfeld as in Amy Raudenfeld right?" The bridesmaid pressed.
"The one and only." Lauren confirmed but it still didn't make sense as to why or how would she know Amy. "I didn't know she had friends over here."
"Well technically not friends, we went out on a date." Mellissa revealed.
Lauren didn't need further explanation, "probably just another dead end date." She thought to herself. "I'm her sister." Lauren said. "Step sister actually." She clarified. Lauren could tell that the woman was very interested in Amy, but like in almost every case, Amy wasn't.
"Small world isn't it?" The woman let out a stiffened smile.
"What are you guys talking about?" Karma tried to join in the conversation.
"Do you remember I told you I went on a date with a woman couple of months ago?" The bridesmaid asked Karma. Karma nodded remembering. "Turns out she is Lauren's sister."
Karmas eyes almost popped out of their place. The bridesmaid was in fact one of Liam's cousin. Never in a million years Karma would've thought that they were going to cross paths. Come to think of it she remembered that night, Liam's cousin said she had gone on a date with a very interesting doctor. Little did she know Mellissa was talking about Amy. Her Amy.
"She was calling to let me know that Yale offered her a job as a professor." Lauren informed them, "One of her friends even agreed to let her move in with her for as long as she needed." Lauren regretted revealing that last part immediately.
"Wow. That's great." Karma murmured and plastered a fake smile. The thought of Amy and Kate working together in Connecticut, and existing the possibility of them living together made her stomach turn into knots.
It had been quite a day for Amy. She was still giving serious thought to the job offer she had been given. Amy invited Kate out to dinner at a local restaurant. She wanted to say goodbye because was heading back to New York.
"You know you didn't have to do this." Kate said referring to the food.
Amy shook her head in disapproval and smiled. "This is the least I can do, these days have been incredible. Its my way of saying thank you."
Kate smiled shyly. "So, have you made up your mind?" She inquired curiously.
Amy sighed before responding, "I would love to come here and teach, but I don't think I could be away from my family."
Kate nodded understanding Amy's reason. "I get it, but think about this: when was the last time you did something for yourself?" Amy didn't answer. Kate was right; ever since they knew each other she noticed Amy always tended to put everyone else before herself. "You can always visit them or have them come over."
"I'll think about it." Amy concluded. She wasn't saying no right away, but there was still some considering left to do.
"Who would've thought we'd be having work conversations years after medical school." Kate said smiling at Amy.
"I know, 4 years seem like so long ago." Amy agreed. After they graduated from med school they only saw each other occasionally during seminars or medical conventions.
"I never told you this, but I had this silly high school crush on you." Kate confessed.
"I kinda picked up on it." The blonde admitted.
"Do you remember the first thing I said to you when I met you?" Kate asked laughing at the memory.
Amy couldn't hold in the laughter as she thought back. "How could I forget? You said to me "You're really cute", and then you left."
Both of them were laughing at this point. "I had to leave I couldn't believe I had just said that to a person I literally just met." Kate exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Amy wondered.
"Because you were happily taken." She stated. "And by the time you weren't, I liked having you as a friend more than I would've wanted to be your girlfriend."
Amy's mind flashed back to those years. After what happened Lauren and Kate never left her side. In all honesty Amy didn't know how she would've gotten on with her life if it weren't for these two.
The women arrived at the club and they immediately went crazy. It was funny how uptight socialites turned loose with loud music and of course tequila shots. Everyone was enjoying the ambient. The group was near the bar when two men approached them.
"Good evening ladies," one of them said trying to start up conversation. "Would you two care to dance this song?" He said referring to Karma and Lauren.
"I'm married so I don't think that's allowed." Lauren said in her slightly bitchy tone. She raised her left hand showing them her marriage ring.
The guys nodded and turned to look at Karma waiting for her response.
"Actually, dancing isn't really my thing." Karma said dismissing the pair.
"Well can we least buy you guys something to drink?" The other man spoke.
"We just got drinks maybe for the next round." Karma said hoping they would forget and give up on them.
The pair nodded and retrieved away from them. Lauren grabbed Karma by her arm trying to get her of the barstool.
"Come on, Karma." Lauren nudged Karma's shoulder. "Try and have some fun."
"I'm really not in the mood for any of this." Karma said. She was not happy about the occasion they were celebrating.
"All of Liam's cousins and sister are here. They're going to tell him how miserable you were tonight and he's going to start asking questions. Do you want that?" Lauren reasoned.
Karma took into consideration what Lauren was saying. She hated to admit it, but Lauren had a point. "Yeah, you're right. But how do you expect me to pretend to have fun when in the back of my mind I'm about to get married to someone I literally hate."
Suddenly a song that everybody knew started playing and all the women wanted to go to the middle of the dance floor. Lauren tried to get Karma to move she didn't have any success. "Go, I'll watch the purses." Karma offered. Lauren gave her a look knowing that there was no point in trying to convince her.
Karma observed the girls dancing from a distance as she took the last sip of her drink. When she went to place it on the counter the bartender had another one waiting for her. Karma shook her head and tried to return the drink.
"No, I didn't order this." Karma told the guy behind the bar.
"I know. They did." He informed her tilting his head towards the direction the two guys from before were.
They raised their glasses indicating a toast from afar. Karma did the same and she took a sip from the drink. By the time the girls had returned her drink was halfway gone. Lauren noticed something had changed in Karma's behavior.
"Karma, are you okay?" Lauren looked at Karma concerned.
Karma nodded her head uncontrollably. "Never better." She said as her voice sounded slurred. "I think I want to dance." Karma tried to stand up from the stool, but she stumbled. "Why is everything spinning?"
"Okay, I don't think dancing is a very good idea right now." Lauren held Karma's waist as she tried to sit her down again.
Lauren extracted her phone and began dialing a phone number. In about three rings later the other end picked up.
"Hello, Amy can you hear me?" Lauren said loudly. Not knowing if her sister could hear her.
"Yes. What's going on?" Amy asked.
"Please tell me that you are near the city." Lauren begged.
"I'm on my way to my apartment." Amy informed. "Lauren what happened?" Lauren could hear the worry in her sister's voice. "Are you okay?" Amy pressed.
"It's not me. It's Karma." Lauren replied. "She doesn't look too good. And you said to call yo-."
"Where are you?" Amy didn't let Lauren finish. Lauren could hear Amy's tone of worry.
"Were at a bar in Chelsea." Her sister answered.
"Lauren pin me your location." Amy ordered.
"Okay I will." She agreed.
"Keep an eye on her. I'll be there soon." Amy hanged up.
Amy was grateful that she was the one behind the wheel, because she immediately sped up and tried to make it to the city as fast as possible. About fifteen minutes later Amy had arrived at the location Lauren had given her. Amy went inside the club and began searching for her sister and the rest of the group. She didn't know if it was her, or if she was exaggerating, but she found this club extremely packed which made it more difficult for Amy to find them. She approached one of the bartenders to ask if someone had seen the group that fitted the description she was giving them. One bartender that was in charge of taking the drinks to them pointed out where they were.
Lauren was looking in all directions waiting for Amy's arrival. "Oh thank God you're here." Lauren let out a breath of relieve. When Amy got closer she saw Karma with her head resting on top of the bar.
"How much did you give her to drink?" Amy asked as she observed the state in which Karma was.
"Not much. I swear. We left her alone for like five minutes because we wanted to dance the song they were playing and when we got back we found her like this." Lauren said. The other bridesmaids nodded in agreement with Lauren's story. One of the bridesmaids had her eyes glued to Amy hoping she would make eye contact with her, it happened and Amy quickly broke it.
"Hey we couldn't help but notice, your friend doesn't look too good." The guy from the bar returned. "We have an apartment nearby, we could take her and we'll make sure she gets better." The other one suggested.
"Thanks, but I got it." Amy replied with a stern tone. She stared at them knowing what their intentions were. And there was no way in hell she was going to allow them to take advantage of Karma's state.
Amy nudged Karma on her shoulder; she began to do it with a bit more force causing Karma to lift her head. "Is the party over?" Karma slurred.
"Yes, were going back to the hotel." Lauren replied. Lauren grabbed one arm and Amy the other one trying to make it easier for Karma to walk. This was not working because Karma could barely stand on her own.
"I have an idea." Amy stopped halfway. "Karma I need you to put your arms around my neck. Can you do that?"
"Amy is that you?" Karma fluttered her eyes. She couldn't keep them open for long.
"Yes its me, Amy." The blonde responded. She knew it was useless to give instructions to Karma so Amy gently took hold of Karma's arms and placed them around her neck then she picked her up bridal style and continued to make their way to the exit. Almost automatically Karma moved her arms from where they were and she snuggled closer against Amy's chest.
They finally reached the exit. Amy handed the valet her ticket and he went to look for her car. After her SUV was brought up, she already had a taxi waiting for them. Lauren approached the other girls and told them to get in the taxi as Amy was placing Karma in the back of her car. Lauren sat in the passengers and they drove off. The cab was following closely.
"I can't believe you are driving us to the hotel." Lauren said to her sister.
"You're crazy if you thought I was going to let you guys take a 45 minute ride in a cab at 3 in the morning." Amy stated. She had always been protective of Lauren and Karma.
Lauren turned around to see how Karma was doing, she had her head against the glass it looked she was knocked out. "Do you know what happened to her?"
"I've seen these symptoms before, she was probably roofied." She informed Lauren.
"Roofied?" Lauren furrowed her eyebrows "Like drugged?"
"Exactly, it's a common date rape drug. Someone may have slipped it in her drink." Amy deduced. She was familiarized with it. She had treated a couple of patients who'd come to the ER.
"It was probably Thing 1 and Thing 2. They had been watching her since we got to the club." Lauren said referring to the men from the club. "Speaking of watching I saw Mellissa looking at you. Do you know her?" Lauren changed subjects.
Amy ran one of her hands through her hair. "Um, yeah. We went out for a date one time when I was in the city. We used to run into each other in Central Park when I jogged in the mornings."
"And?" Lauren waited for more. "Anything else happened?"
"Not really." Amy replied truthfully. "I said I'd call her sometime. But I never did." Amy felt bad; she didn't like to be seen as the person who says that will call but doesn't. "To be honest that had got to be one of the worst date I've ever gone out." Amy confessed to her stepsister.
"Just so you know she's Liam's cousin." Lauren informed her.
"Well that explains everything." She said sarcastically. "I can't even stand his family." Amy smirked at her remark.
The rest of the drive was quiet. Amy looked to her side and saw Lauren had fallen asleep as well. It wasn't long until they had arrived to the hotel. Amy stopped her car in the area where they drop off guests. She stepped out before waking Lauren up to pay the taxi in which the rest of the bridesmaids had traveled. Once the cab left Amy told Lauren to give her Karma's room key and number. Amy picked up Karma up again and made her way to the room.
As they continued to walk Amy felt Karma was shifting as if she were trying to free herself. "Karma its okay. It's me, Amy. Everything's fine. Go back to sleep." She whispered softly.
"I love you Amy. I never stopped." Karma slurred against her chest and she nuzzled closer taking Amy's warmth in.
Amy didn't know how to react to what Karma had just said. All she knew was that she had been waiting to hear those words since their break up. What she didn't know was if she really meant it, or if that was just her subconscious taking over her. "I love you too, Karma." Amy said softly, she knew Karma didn't hear it because she could her breaths getting heavier which meant she had dozed off.
Amy slid the card at the door as she entered. She gently placed Karma on the bed. She remembered how much Karma hated going to bed with the same clothes she had been in. Amy searched around the room to see if she could find Karma's nightclothes. Eventually she did, Amy slowly undid Karma's dress and slipped off praying she didn't wake her up. Amy tried her best not to stare at Karma, but she couldn't help it. Through Amy's eyes Karma was perfect in every way. After she dressed her up, she pulled the sheets up to her neck tucking her in. Amy searched in the medicine cabinet for some painkillers and placed them on top of the nightstand along with a glass of water for when Karma woke up. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could. Lauren was waiting for her in the hallway.
"You have my keys right?" Amy extended her hand out.
"You actually think I'm letting you drive at this hour." Lauren scoffed. She could tell Amy was beat; after all she drove from Connecticut back to the city and then add another 45 minutes into the mix.
"You know I can drive back." Amy said back. Last thing she wanted to do was stay here.
"I don't care if you think you can drive all the way to Florida. All that I'm saying is that you're not driving back tonight. There's an empty bed in my room get some sleep and you can leave first thing in the morning." Lauren reasoned.
Amy recalled that Lauren told her that the guys weren't in the hotel because of their overnight stay. Amy rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Fine, you win." She gave in because when Lauren had her heart set on something she would not take "no" for an answer. "Let me just get my stuff."
"Already done." Lauren smirked. "Come on. I'll even let you surprise Emma tomorrow." The little one stayed with Bruce and Farrah for the night. The duo walked back into Lauren's room. They took a shower and fell asleep rather quick.
Karma fluttered her eyes couple of times. It took her a while to register where she was or better yet how she got to the hotel. She winced in pain. She felt her head pounding. Karma looked to the side and saw a pack of Advil and a glass of water. She thought Lauren had done all this. Karma took the pills and slowly made her way to the shower.
After a long shower Karma felt her stomach grumbling. She walked to the breakfast buffet and saw Lauren was about to sit down.
"Good morning, how are you?" Lauren greeted Karma as she approached the table.
"I feel as there's an animal trying to get out of my skull." Karma huffed. She rarely drank but this was by far the worst hangover she's had. "What the hell happened last night?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Lauren inquired.
"I remember you guys leaving to the dance floor, then I had a drink and after that it's all a blur." Karma answered. Ever since she woke up she's been trying to piece up her mind to last night's event.
"You were drugged." Lauren waited before explaining. "What the hell did you had to drink?"
"The bartender gave me a drink the guys who wanted to dance with us bought me." The auburn girl replied.
"I should've known they were up to no good." Lauren stated. "We carried you all the way to the car and then to your room."
"I didn't know you were that strong." Karma sounded impressed.
"Oh I didn't carry you." Lauren said nonchalantly, "Amy did."
"Amy?" What do you mean Amy?" Karma furrowed her eyebrows.
"I got scared seeing you like that and I called her she arrived at the club, and drove us here." The blonde answered back.
Karma couldn't believe that she didn't remember the night before. Amy carried her and did all that for her. "She wanted to drive back last night, but I didn't let her." Lauren spoke again.
"Is she still here?" Karma said hoping she could see her.
Lauren nodded. "She's in the room changing because Emma threw up on her."
Karma made her way up to Lauren's room and knocked on the door. Seconds later the door swung open. Amy moved to the side indicating Karma to come in.
"Hey, I wanted to say thanks for what you did last night." Karma said sincerely taking a seat on the chair nearby.
"I'm guessing you spoke to Lauren." Amy deducted. Karma nodded raising her gaze to meet Amy's. "You don't have to thank me."
"Did you undress me?" Karma asked in a low tone.
"I remember how much you hate sleeping with the clothes from the night before." Amy replied smiling a little. Her mind flashed back to when they were in college no matter how tired or drunk Karma was she still wanted to get out of her clothes. Most cases it was Amy who did it for her.
Karma couldn't resist but to smile too. These minimal gestures made everything harder. She shook her head unconsciously as she was trying to repress all the feelings she still had. "So I heard about your job offer at Yale. Kate must be excited that you two are going to get to work together again." Karma's words came out with more jealousy than she would've wanted.
"It isn't like that." Amy spoke. "But if it were, it isn't your place to say anything either."
"I know it isn't." Karma kicked herself for saying the last comment. "It's just funny how you always said that nothing was going on back then between the two of you, yet years later you are moving in with her."
"I'm not the one who walked out on who, remember." Amy snapped back at her.
Karma's face changed completely. She never thought Amy would say those words. "Amy." Her voice softened. She was about to crack.
"Was it easy?" Amy raised her voice. She had a built up grudge inside her and she was about to let it all out.
"Was what easy?" Karma questioned without being able to look at Amy.
"Leaving me." Amy declared. "Having our future planned out and then just walking away like it was nothing. Like we were nothing. Like I was nothing." Amy finished. She was fighting back her tears and she was succeeding. Amy didn't want to cry in front of Karma. At this point Karma couldn't form any sentences even if she wanted. She kept shifting her eyes to anywhere in the room, except at the blonde who was standing a few steps away. Karma knew that all of her being wanted to come clean and reveal to Amy the truth about everything.
"I have to go." Amy said breaking the awful silence. She gathered her belongings and walked past Karma. If this was devastating for Amy, it had to be heart-breaking for Karma. As soon as she heard the door close, she collapsed onto the floor. Her sobs were becoming more and more audible. Her only consolation was that her mind kept telling her that this had to be done to save Amy.