Page 51 of Home to Me

Karina sighed, her tone growing more serious. “Look, babe. You know I am one hundred percent Team Lauren, right? Let's just start off with that right from the jump. But you've gotta realize—you hook up with this guy, then he asks you to go to a very public event with him, and you blow him off, telling him you were already going with “a friend.” You don't mention that said 'friend' is a gorgeous guy. You then end up sucking face with said gorgeous guy in front of not only Ben, but also the whole town.

“Then you show up to work Monday and are actually surprised that Ben is giving you the cold shoulder? Come on, Lauren. You aren’t that naïve.”

Lauren was completely taken aback by this recitation and said in a small voice, “People saw Eric kiss me?”

“Yep. But more to the point, they saw you kiss Eric right back.”

Lauren said defensively, “Well, it’s just… I wanted to give it the…you know, the old college try. I “should” like Eric. On paper, he's perfect for me. He was my first, he’s hot, and he’s a really nice guy. He's exactly the sort of person I should end up with.

“But there was nothing between us when we kissed. Nada. No sparks, no chemistry, nothing. Zilch.”

“Okay. Perfectly reasonable. Makes sense to me. Probably because, you know...I've now heard you say it. Have you explained this to Ben?”

“No,” snapped Lauren, her defenses rising back up. “I don’t owe him an explanation.”

“Hmm, true. Kind of like he doesn’t owe you an explanation for a girl being in his room. Right?”

Lauren was quiet. She knew Karina was right, but she didn't want to admit it.

Into the silence, Karina said, “Look, if you don't want to talk to him, how about just showing up at his door in nothing but a coat and then flashing him?”

“Oh my God, I'd never do that!” Lauren protested.

Karina sighed. “I really think you have somehow missed the memo on the power of female nakedness.”

Lauren laughed. “That powerful, huh?”

“Hey, they don't call me the Puppet Master for nothing.”

“No one calls you that.”

“Sure they do.”

“I've never heard anyone call you that.”

Karina snorted. “Whatever. Like you know all the people. Anyway, just food for thought. Gotta go, Bernie’s calling. Love you, girlie! Call me if another crisis occurs that you need me to enlighten you about.”

Before Lauren could come back with a witty retort of her own, Karina had disconnected the phone.

Lauren couldn't say that she really felt any better after the phone conversation with Karina. No, she still felt all of the acidic emotions that had been burning inside of her before the call—anger, despair, sadness, and confusion. The only difference was that, now, they were no longer directed at Ben, but were rather focused squarely upon herself.

Why did this have to be so complicated?

--- ~ ---

Ben opened his hotel room door and gestured for his gorgeous young companion to enter ahead of him. As soon as they were inside, he wrapped her in his arms, emotion filling his face.

“God, I've missed you!” she exclaimed.

“Me too, Bri,” he said, the power of his affection making his throat tight.

She drew back, laughing happily, and then ruffled his hair. “You know, Mom's gonna kick your ass if you don't call her soon just to talk. Every time you call, it's to get an update on her medical situation, and she feels like you're too worried about her.”

Ben sighed. “Gee, sis. So glad you could make it out from UCLA on such short notice. You're like a little ray of sunshine popping into my life.”

Brianna shrugged. “I live to serve, big bro.”

Ben spoke carefully, knowing full well that he was broaching sensitive territory. “So...how is Mom doing? It's hard to tell on Skype.”

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