Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 36 ~

"Melissa, are you sure you're alright?" I heard Diana's voice on the other end of the phone. "Uh-huh. I'm just, I don't know, a little tired. Ready for a break." She gave a small laugh and said "Well, I'm sure you are. Taylor said that he thought it had been a little rough. Touring isn't easy and I may be wrong here but I'm guessing you thought you'd get to spend more time with Zac than you actually are." I was thankful for her understanding of it all. "I'll tell you something Melissa, between sound checks, meet and greets, the occasional photo shoot or interview, helping to update the website, the meetings about album and ticket sales and the merchandise, helping plan the route to each city and small changes needed for every stage, trying to find a minute here and there to eat and shower, plus staying in touch with us, I'm surprised that child gets the little bit of sleep he does." She and I both laughed a little at her rundown of Zac's life on tour. Well, I thought to myself, she hasn't been told anything about Zac's little vanishing acts or his attitude lately. We chatted for a bit longer and then said goodbye. I hung the phone up and returned Tori's smile that she was giving me when I glanced up at her. "I know what you're thinking." she said, pointing her index finger at me. "Oh really? What?" I asked slyly. "You're wondering why she doesn't know about Zac's stunts here in the last couple of days." she said. I sighed and nodded. "Well, I'll tell you." She readjusted herself on the couch and faced me. "Number one, it would worry her more than she already is. Two, there really isn't anything she could do. Three, it would make things worse because she would talk to Zac first thing. Then all hell would break loose and no one needs that." I raised my eyebrows at her. I knew she was right, about all of it.
"Alright y'all, we're heading out in about fifteen minutes." Shelly said from the door. Tori and I smiled and then began to gather things up to load back on the bus. We cleaned up the room as much as possible and then walked out. We slowly walked down the long hallway and out the back door where the bus was parked. Dave was sitting in the driver seat looking at a map and looked tired and confused as he ran his hand through his shoulder length gray hair. "You ok Dave, are we still behind?" Tori asked as we waited for the guys to get done signing autographs and get on the bus. "No, thanks to Taylor trailing Zac and keeping him on time and in sight tonight, we are back where we should be." He smiled at the thought of seeing Taylor follow Zac around the venue all night. Even though everyone could tell Zac wasn't happy about it, we were all surprised that he never said anything. I think in a way, we expected a fight to break out. Zac seemed anxious and almost paranoid, looking at his watch and pacing around, checking his cell phone and e-mail. He spent a lot of time on his laptop. I wondered what could have been so important. The noise of the fans outside shook me out of my thoughts. "Ahh, the rock stars must be emerging." Tori said with a giggle. The guys waved and said goodbye as they filed onto the bus with Shelly and Mark. Mark sat next to Dave as the bus pulled out onto the highway and headed toward Georgia. We were in for another overnight drive and Shelly had started making coffee.
Isaac walked straight to the back of the bus and shut and the door without so much of the slightest acknowledgment of the people around him. "What the hell is going on with him? He's been acting weird all evening." Taylor said, sitting down next to Tori. "I don't know Tay. You mean you weren't babysitting him too?!" Zac asked, with a sarcastically surprised tone in his voice, without looking away from his laptop screen. "I thought that was your special job tonight." he finished as he began typing. "No, I pretty much had my hands full babysitting you. Which, if I may add, I wouldn't have to do if you would just show up to things on time and let someone know where you were going when you planned to leave." Taylor replied. Zac simply rolled his eyes and continued on with whatever he had to do as soon as he'd walked onto the bus. "Seriously Zac, do you know what's bothering him?" Taylor asked. Zac never looked away from the screen or stoped typing. His only answer was shaking his head 'no'. Taylor sighed and he and Tori stood up. "He's all your's. I'm on break." Tay said as he leaned down toward me with a smile. Then he and Tori walked into their room and Shelly turned to go sit up front with Dave and Mark.
"Zac, who are you talking to?" I asked. He looked up and smiled. Then he ran a hand through his hair and sat back away from the computer. "How much is Taylor paying you?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "What? Zac, I was just wondering is all." was my reply. He stood up and walked over to sit next to me. He pulled me close to him with one arm and ran the back of the other hand down my cheek. "Didn't you get enough of me last night?" he asked teasingly. "Isn't that what you've been wanting, attention?" he asked, gripping my chin to make me look up at him. I nodded and he quickly kissed me. Then stood up and went back to the booth and began typing again. I rolled my eyes and walked to the back of the bus. I knocked on the door and Ike said "C'mon in Mel." I opened the door and shut it asking "how'd you..." Ike smiled and said "Just a guess." He patted the couch next to him and I sit down. He let out a long, almost shaky, sigh. "Ike, what is it? What's going on? Please tell me."
He sat up on the edge of the seat and rested his elbows on his knees. His head hung down and he said very quietly, barely above a whisper, "I saw her." I leaned up to sit right next to him and asked "Who? Who did you see." He sighed again and looked over at me. His eyes held a hurt and confusion that I'd never seen in him before. My stomach tightened and I knew the answer before he spoke. "Karen. I saw Karen." My heartbeat quickened as I asked "What? Well, When? Did you talk to her?" He looked back down at his hands and said "I saw Karen. Tonight, before the show. No, I didn't talk to her." Before I could say anything else, he started the story. "I don't think anyone else did. I was walking down the hall and as I turned the corner, I saw her by the door. She had a pass around her neck and she was walking up and down in front of the door that led outside. She kept looking at her watch and out the window. Melissa, I know you think I'm crazy, but I swear it was her. I couldn't get any closer at first. I was too shocked. Just as I was about to yell out at her, she left. She just looked at her watch again and then walked out. She was angry. I thought she was gonna break the door the way she pushed it open. Really hard, like with all the force she had in her."
I sat there in silence. My mind was spinning and my heart was beating so fast. Karen, that was it. She was the old friend. I couldn't even guess how it had happened or for how long it had been going on. It all fell into place though. It was Karen. Zac couldn't meet her because of Taylor following him around. Zac was not only cheating on me (which I had already suspected long ago, call it woman's instinct.) but he was cheating with his brother's ex-wife. I couldn't understand. Why Karen? I tried to calm myself down before I spoke, but I couldn't before he did. "Melissa," Isaac turned to me and took my hand, "I've been suspecting this for a long time. Trust me, I didn't want to believe it any more than you do. I honestly think she and Zac are well, ya know, and that's why she was pacing and looking at her watch. She was waiting for him and she got angry when he didn't show up. He couldn't because this is obviously a secret and Taylor was on Zac's heels all night. That's why he immediately went to the computer when he got on the bus, to e-mail her and let her know why he didn't meet her. That's why he was acting so anxious, looking at his watch every five minutes." He hugged me gently and asked "Mel, what are we gonna do? I can't handle this." I sighed as we pulled away and answered. "I don't know. I just don't know. I think that maybe..." Suddenly I heard him yell down the hall. "Melissa?!" I quickly wiped away the tears that had filled my eyes and looked at Ike. He just nodded and said quietly "GO on, don't want him getting angry that you and I were alone too long." I smiled an apologetic smile. He nodded again and slightly smiled "Go on. We'll talk later." I squeezed his hand and stood up. Then I heard Taylor's voice say "She's probably back here Zac." I heard him walking toward the back of the bus and and whispered "Later" to Ike as I quickly walked out and shut the door.

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