Loren had drifted off to sleep and was awaken
later by Danny’s pounding on the door. She groans and stands up holding
her head and glances at the clock, Shocked to see it reads 1am. She had been
sleeping for 3 hours. Loren walks down the hall and opens the door.
Danny - “it’s about time, woman”
Loren gives him a look and steps aside letting him come in. Danny, as he walks up the hall towards the living room, “ you know you probably have a concussion,
and you shouldn’t be sleeping” Danny stops when he gets to the living
room. “Where’s pretty boy?”
Loren - “who knows”
Danny - “ I thought you said he was here,
look this pill is gonna knock you out. Someone needs to wake up every hour to make sure you don’t have a concussion,
I can’t give this to you without him here”
Loren whines “Danny please my head hurts
so bad I want to die. And I don’t know when Berg is going to call.”
He rolls his eyes “I’ll call Mooney,
it won’t be the first night I’ve spent here” He grabs the phone and heads to the kitchen to get Loren a
glass of water. He comes back and hands her the glass and pill.
Loren - “What did she say?”
Danny sits down in the chair, Kevin had vacated.
“She says if I need her call otherwise she’ll see me in the morning. She’ll
stop in to check on you then.”
“ thanks Danny Boy”
Danny - “you
know you are almost as much of a brat as my real little sister”
Loren - “ thanks, I knew you loved me”
She lays there watching what ever he turned on
the television, but after 5 minutes she was out. Danny gets up and covers her
with the blanket that is on the back of the sofa and then sets his watch alarm for 1 hour.
Then he gets comfy and watches Dee Snyder’s House of Hair on MTV.
About 2 minutes before his watch beeped Danny
heard the door open and footsteps in the hall. He looks up to see Kevin walk
in the living room. Kevin stops when he sees Danny siting there.
Kevin - “hey Danny”
Danny looks at him, “hey, look what the
cat dragged in.” Kevin sits down in the other chair. “Where the fuck you been man. I think she has a concussion
and you go out bar hopping.”
Kevin - “Well that’s why she has you
and Berg and Pete and Ev and Stifler and all the other GUYS she runs to every time she needs something. What the fuck does she need me for”
Danny - “what the fuck are you talkin’
shit about”
Kevin - “you know exactly what I am talking
about. She called you, you drop everything and come to her aid case proven. Sometimes I don’t even know why I bother.
I mean she gets everything she
needs from you guys and I have recently discovered that I do mean everything”
Danny - “Do you really want to go down this
road, Kevin. I don’t think you do and when you are sober you’ll remember
why you don’t want to fuck with me.”
Kevin - “Is that a threat”
Danny - “Take it anyway you’d like
to”
Kevin - “I think you need to leave”
Danny chuckles “I think I need to stay,
you are obviously in no shape to take care of her.”
Kevin - “do you take care of her often, Danny”
Danny - “what the fuck are you talkin’
about”
The two of them didn’t realize they were
yelling at each other, until Danny saw Tristan out of the corner of his eye standing there, holding his stuffed dragon, rubbing
his eyes.
Danny - “hey, hey King Arthur” Danny
walks towards him. “ You want a drink of juice Buddy” Tristan nods
and Danny carries him into the kitchen..
About that time the phone rings and Kevin answers
it. “Hello”
Berg - “hey, Kevin, it’s berg is Loren
there. She said to call regardless of the time”
Kevin - “she’s sleeping.. Danny beat
you to her rescue”
Berg - “huh”
Kevin - “she’ll call you later”
He hangs up the phone and turns to see Danny standing
there.
Danny - “what
the fuck is with you, huh? Where the hell do you get off accusing anyone of fuckin’
Loren. We are all her friends and try to help her out and keep a protective eye on her and her kid, that’s all. She loves you man. Right now I don’t
see how she possibly could. You’re acting like an asshole but she does
and I ain’t seen her with anyone else. She ain’t playin’ you
man, she…”
Kevin - “whatever”
Danny shakes his head, “you know what, I
was wrong abut you. You aren’t good enough for her, so why don’t
you do her and yourself a favor and get lost.”
Kevin - “I’m not going anywhere”
Danny - “Then sit your ass down and shut
up, or I’ll knock you out”
Kevin looks at Danny and even in his drunken state,
Kevin can see Danny is dead serious. So he mumbles something about going to bed
and stumbles down the hall and does just that.
Danny shakes his head and nudges Loren awake,
not really able to believe that she had slept through all of that. He makes her
sit up and checks her pupils.
Danny - “what’s
up with your boy, sweetie”
Loren - “Is he back”
Danny nods “with a vengeance I am afraid”
Loren - “I have no idea.. I guess he is
upset about something, do you think he found out about Jess” when Loren
got back from LA she had to confide in someone and she knew Danny would keep a secret to the grave.
Danny - “no, I don’t think that’s
it”
Loren - “what did he say to you” Danny tells her everything that happened. He
paints a pretty nice picture of the actual statements Kevin said ( he knows and hopes rather, that Kevin is simply venting
some drunken thoughts and Danny has been there done that so he feels obligated to cover for Kev, this one time besides he
likes the kid- as he calls him.) Loren is still aghast at what Kevin said and
apologize, but Danny just tells her to forget about it. “So will I get
better”
Danny - “I think you’ll make it” Loren smiles and lays back down. “Oh,
Berg called and Jess left a message. Her’s sounded rather urgent”
Despite the pain Loren sits up very fast and grabs
the phone. She dials a number and after a few rings it is answered by a groggy
Jessica
Me - “hello”
Loren - “is everything okay. You’re not in labor are you”
Me - “no!”
Loren - “so everything is ok, Danny said
you sounded urgent”
Me - “no everything is not okay. Why the hell did Kevin call me bitching to me about Chad”
You – “what” Loren sinks back into the sofa and panic starts to set in.
Me - “He called me up yelling demanding
to know who the fuck Chad is and basically
being an asshole. Threatening me, he said if I didn’t tell him who Chad was, that he was gonna come out here. And I really can’t take that chance.”
Loren - “so you told him.”
Me - “What did you want me to do? I am in no condition to deal with Kevin’s jealousy”
Loren - “how did he find out about Chad?” Then she sees the note on the top of her purse. “Oh my god”
Me - “what”
Loren - “fuck shit.”
Me - “What?!”
Loren - “What exactly did you tell him?”
Me - “I told him that Chad was your high school sweetheart and that it’s been dead and buried for
years and by the way what the hell is this sudden re-emergence of McGregor?”
Loren - “god. You know I ran into him at the Renaissance Fair a few years back and we talked and exchanged numbers and
stuff and then when he was in New York on business we went
to dinner I told him about Kevin, he told me about his cat, no big thing. We
decided to stop the childishness and be friends and so I thought what’s the harm in inviting him to the wedding. We’re friends now, or so I thought, I mean he seemed really happy that I met
someone Christ I would have preferred bitter enemies to this.”
Me - “So how did Kevin find out?”
Loren - “He read Chad’s note”
Me - “That would explain his mood. L’s that note was borderline begging you to take him back. I mean I know how you feel for Kevin and even I asked you
if you were having second thoughts.”
Loren – “I know”
Me - “ok, don’t start crying, ok. I am an emotional mess and once I start crying I usually can’t stop without
the aid of Ben & Jerry’s”
Loren - “Why does every good thing in my
life always get compromised”
Me - “you need to talk to him, let him know
about Chad and that he isn’t a threat
nurse his ego and let him know you still love him”
Loren - “what am I doing, look who I am
taking advise from. Are you in any shape to give me advise on being honest and
telling the truth.”
Me - “Not really, but it comes from years
of living with my mother and you. You speak your mind regardless of what anyone
thinks, we’re women. People had to fight for our right to do that very
thing”
Loren smiles and wipes tears away. “Okay, thank you Susan B. Anthony”
Jessica giggles. “Okay, I am going to bed
now. You go grovel and then you make him call an apologize to me.”
Loren - “ok” She hangs up and looks at Danny.
Danny – “What did you do? You didn’t tell Jess the whole truth, I can see it in your eyes”
Loren - “Spilling my guts won’t help
me, so what’s the point”
Danny - “ the point is I love gossip and
I truly think you have a concussion so I can’t let you go to sleep”
Loren groans and sits back, “Is he here?”
Danny - “he who”
Loren - “Kev”
Danny - “He’s passed out in the bedroom. He’s a little drunk”
Loren - “Oh my god.” She sighs, “where should I start?”
Danny - “ tell me what you didn’t
tell Jess”
Loren - “I almost cheated on Kevin” Danny tries to hide his grin behind his hand.
“DANNY!!! This is not a laughing matter”
Danny - “No
it’s not, but I am so proud of you.”
Loren - “Why? I did a hurtful, vulgar, wrongful thing”
Danny - “I knew that goody-goody façade
would come crashing down sooner or later”
Loren - “what good goody façade, I have
been anything but a goody-goody since I came to this country”
Danny - “Whatever, according to my standards
you are practically a saint. So tell me more”
Loren rolls her eyes, “hey, should I go
to the hospital or something if I have a concussion?”
Danny - “Nah, they’ll just give you
medicine and tell you not to sleep and well what I gave you is 10 times better then anything they would and I have already
dispensed the no sleeping advise so go on with your story telling”
Loren - “ you are a sick person” He just grins. “What kind of details
do you want?”
Danny - “who”
Loren - “old flame”
Danny - “Ouch. When?”
Loren - “March”
Danny - “where”
Me - “LA”
Danny - “What when you were out for the
twin’s birthday?” She nods, Danny laughs. “No shit. You little devil.”
Loren – “This is so not funny. Anything else you want to know”
Danny - “if I may be so bold as to ask why”
Loren tenses up and exhales deeply “ I don’t
know”
Danny - “that’s a bad answer sweetie”
Loren - “Worse than that, it’s not
an answer at all. I mean if I say I was bored
that sounds better than I don’t know.”
Danny nods in agreement “Was it fun.”
She throws a pillow at him. “ you are sick”
Danny - “I’ll rephrase the question,
was it worth it”
Loren - “that is not the same thing”
Danny - “I didn’t say it was”
Loren - “no it wasn’t worth it and
yes at the time it was a hell of a lot of fun, but afterwards I felt like shit”
Danny – “guilty conscience”
Loren - “I guess. So what am I going to do?”
Danny - “Every fiber of your being is going
to tell you to tell him. I hate to play the devil’s advocate, but I will, I don’t think you should. There
are some things men just don’t understand and a cheating girl is one of them.”
Loren - “But that is screwed up. 50% of
a cheating guy’s problem is a cheating girl otherwise they wouldn’t be any one to cheat with.”
Danny - “Don’t try to get all rational
on Me.. The whole point about irrational behavior is that it is irrational.”
Loren - “But don’t you think I owe
it to him to be honest”
Danny -
“ok, I am going to break the guy code and let you in on a little secret.
There are rules to cheating”
Loren - “Rules?”
Danny - “Shut up and listen: the number one rule is it’s not cheating if you do it in a different zip code…so was Kevin
in LA at the time”
Loren - “no!”
Danny - “see, not cheating”
Loren - “that is just screwed up. So what you are telling me is if Mooney cheated on you in a different zip code she wouldn’t have
to tell you.”
Danny - “When did I say that this rule applied
to my wife”
Loren - “Ok, I see how you are. What, so I should just forget it happened? These things have
a way of coming back to bite you in the ass”
Danny - “Like I said you have a good thing
with Kevin, why spoil it by being honest”
Loren - “that sounds dreadful.”
Danny - “even people who murder people can
have their moments of insanity”
Loren - “You’d side with me no matter
what”
Danny - “I’d never pit against you
in public. You know I’d tell you like it is in private but against the
world I would side with you even if you were holding a bloody knife over a dead body.”
Loren - “so what do you think I should do.”
Danny - “I think you need to just live life
as it happens but remember Kevin is now entitled to one get- out-of- a-real-big-fuck- up-free card”
Loren - “ok, you can go home now, I am going
to go to bed”
Danny - “I told you, you can’t go
to sleep”
Loren - “I am not planning on sleeping”
Danny grins and stands up and kisses her cheek.
“Take it easy Blondie”
Loren - “thanks for ALL your help Danny
Boy” She walks to the door with him.
She then checked on Tristan, who is sound asleep,
cover him back up with the blanket and then walk across the apartment to her and Kevin’s room. Kevin is passed out across the bed. Loren smiles at the sight
of him and tucks her guilty feelings way down deep inside. She decides against
waking Kev up he is sleeping very peacefully. But when she goes to cover him
up, he wakes.
Loren – “hey Baby”
Kevin smiles, “how’s your head?”
Loren - “been better. How’s yours?”
Kevin groans. “It hurts just enough to remind
me why I don’t do this on a regular basis. What time is it?”
Loren – “quarter of five”
Kevin - “good not breakfast time yet”
Loren - “why, what’s for breakfast”
Kevin - “it seems I will be eating my words. I wasn’t nice to a few people. One
of them being you. Do you think you can forgive me for being a jealous jerk.”
Loren – “I think that can be arranged”
