Either You Do...Or You Don't

Allison’s POV:

Knock knock knock. “Melanie…” I mumbled rolling over on her couch. “Mel! Some one is knocking…”

Melanie startled awake from the floor, where she had passed out the previous night, and headed to the door, “What in the world?!” she stammered opening it. “Sidney…what brings you here?”

“Is Nealzy here?” I heard Sidney ask

“Uh…no? Why would he be and how did you get let in?” she asked

“I’m Sidney Crosby. This whole state knows me and this entire city loves me. The door guy just let me in. I told him I needed to see a friend and he didn’t question it…and I’d figured he’d be here because Allison is. I saw her car…”

“Morning, Sid.” I called from the couch

“Have you spoken to James?” Sidney asked turning to me

“Not since yesterday morning…why?”

“Damn, none of us can get a hold of him…he was supposed to be at the arena today for a meeting, but never showed up. Adzy said that he talked to James last night and that James was pretty upset about some thing…he didn’t give much details.”

“Did you try his house?” I asked, hurt that James call Craig Adams over me when he was upset

“No, I just came all the way out here, when James lives two fucking blocks away, just on a hunch that he wasn’t home.” his sarcasm irritated me

“You don’t have to be an ass, Sid. She was just asking.” Melanie chimed in

“I’m sorry. Yes, I checked his house and Payton said he left this morning…”

“Who the fuck is Payton?!” I demanded

“Uh…his neighbor? Jesus…” Sid mumbled

“Stop it, both of you. I’m sure he just went to the bar early or some shit like that…or he went home…”

“Home? I already said he wasn’t at his house…”

“I meant to Whitby…when he and I were…seeing each other, he’d mentioned going there soon.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell me he was leaving?” I asked

“Yeah, or tell us?” Sidney added

“I don’t know…maybe he just wanted to get away…” Maybe Melanie was right. The stress was probably not good for recovery. He probably didn’t want to bother anyone, so he just picked up and left. Either way, I had to find out.

I grabbed my phone, dialing his number and hoping he’d answer…

James’ POV:

“Hey, Allison.” I said, answering my cell.

“Where the fuck are you?!” she demanded

I was confused by her tone, “Uh…I just got back from an appointment…”

“If you had a doctor’s appointment, why did you tell the guys you’d be at this meeting?” she asked

Fuck…I’d forgotten about the meeting…”Shit, that was today? I forgot.”

“Well, what’d the doctor say?” she asked

“I never said it was a doctor’s appointment…” I replied

“What was it then? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine…I can’t talk right now, okay?” I lied. Silence on the other end, I could almost hear the anger stirring up in her. “Come to my place at 4:30, we’ll talk then. Bye.” Before she could protest, I hung up. I knew she’d be pissed, but there was too much to explain. Too much that needed to be said in person.

Truth was, I’d went to see my lawyer. To talk about my options. I had two. 1. Was to sue Jennifer for defamation of character, and 2. Was to re-file for custody, or even just visitation of the kids. I hadn’t made a decision on what to do…before I could do that, I had to talk to Allison.
I wanted her to hear the whole story from me and not when everything came out in court. Adzy had promised me he wouldn’t tell the guys the content of our conversation. He also promised to keep my whereabouts this morning a secret.

I planned on telling everyone eventually, but I sure as hell didn’t want them knowing now. Not until I got things figured out. I had wished it wouldn’t come down to more court dates with

Jennifer, but it was the only way…I had tried calling her again that morning and she hung up on me. Didn’t even answer when I called the second time. I didn’t know what I did to make her so mad…but then again, maybe I did…

Notes