Westlife Romance -- Chapter 58
Bryan didn't sleep well at all that night. All he could hear were Nicky's terrible words. They kept repeating over and over again, refusing to let Bryan get any rest. He began to formulate a plan to make Nicky see that he was wrong about himself. He had to make Nicky see that he was not a bad person. He knew he would need the lads to help him out. Even though he still had reservations about Kian, Bryan knew that Kian would play an important role in Nicky's recovery.
The next day was a free day for lads. As expected, the lads had all sorts of ideas as to how to spend their day. Eventually, they agreed on an itinerary than included shopping, watching a movie, and dinner. Nicky was awfully quiet during the entire discussion. When the lads asked him if he had any ideas, he politely declined to join them for shopping and the movie, but did agree to meet them for dinner. When asked why, he gave the excuse that he didn't sleep well and wanted to get some rest. Of course, Bryan knew that this wasn't truly the case. While he was worried about Nicky, he was secretly glad that Nicky declined to join them. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to discuss Nicky's situation with the rest of the lads.
"You're kidding, right?" Shane asked incredulously.
Bryan replied by simply shaking his head and sighing.
"He really said that?" Shane asked again, still finding Bryan's revelation hard to believe.
"Yes," Bryan answered. "And he said it more than once. I tried all sorts of ways to reason with him, but you know how stubborn he is. He is absolutely convinced that he is a bad person."
Kian had kept quiet throughout the conversation, his feelings of guilt again threatening to consume him. "This is all my doing," he thought to himself.
As if reading his mind, Bryan turned to Kian. "I don't think Nicky blames you, Kian. I get this feeling it's not just isolated to that incident." Bryan still couldn't bring himself to say the word rape when describing that fateful night. "Plus...he'll need your help to get back on his feet. So blaming yourself won't do our cause much good."
"Don't worry, Bry," Shane began. "We'll find a way to get through to him. We'll do this together..."
The ocean waves crashed against the rocky shore. The sounds of the waves were loud, yet to Nicky, these sounds brought him peace. He had been walking along the shore for well over an hour now. Finally, he picked a spot and sat down. He looked out into the ocean and just admired its beauty. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but the next thing he knew, there was someone talking behind him.
"Mind if I join you?"
Nicky turned around to see Annette smiling at him. "Sure...make yourself comfortable," Nicky offered.
The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Annette spoke again. "So why didn't you join the guys?"
"Just a bit tired," Nicky answered quietly.
"Is everything alright?"
Nicky simply nodded.
"You looked really upset last night..." Annette continued, trying to gauge Nicky's reaction. "Want to talk about it?"
"It was nothing," Nicky replied. It was another couple of minutes before Nicky spoke again. "So how are you finding the job?"
"Awesome," Annette replied. "I absolutely love it. Thanks so much for doing this for me."
"Hey, no need to thank me," Nicky answered with a smile. It was the first smile that crossed Nicky's face all day. Again, there was silence, but not an awkward silence. Nicky again looked out towards the ocean while Annette sat and observed Nicky as the wind gently blew his soft, blond hair. Nicky slowly turned towards Annette, and she noticed that his brief smile was gone. "Annette, there is something that I haven't told you...I should have told you much earlier..."
"What is it? Are you a serial killer or something?" she joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
"I'm gay," Nicky said simply. "I should have told you earlier. I know you might feel uncomfortable working with me now that you know. So if you want to rescind the contract, you don't have to worry about any legal implications..." Nicky again looked towards the ocean as his voice drifted off.
There was no reaction from Annette, none whatsoever. Not one sound. Wanting to at least get some sort of answer, Nicky turned towards Annette, only to see tears trickling down her face. This time, it was Annette's turn to look away.
"Oh god, Annette," Nicky whispered. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you...I guess I'm probably the last person you want to see now," he continued dejectedly. As he got up to leave, Annette reached out and grabbed Nicky's hand, telling him to stay.
"You remind me of my older brother," Annette began. He didn't really know why, but Nicky felt like Annette was about to tell him something very important. "We were very close. We did everything together." Annette wiped some of the tears from her face before continuing. "One day, he came home and told us that he was gay and that he was seeing someone. Coming from an ultra-conservative family, my parents reacted very negatively. They practically disowned him. I didn't know what to think at that point. But in the end, I was afraid to anger my parents so I took their side. For one whole year, I did not see him or talk to him."
Annette paused as she thought back to her past. She didn't know why she was telling Nicky all of this, but she just couldn't help it. "At the end of that year, I began to think things through and I decided to approach my brother to work things out. But before I got a chance to do that, the cops came to our house and told us that he had committed suicide." Annette broke down in tears as the painful memories came flooding back.
Immediately, Nicky wrapped Annette in a hug, comforting her to the best of his abilities. "I'm so sorry, Annette...I should never have brought this up..." Nicky whispered. "Please forgive me..."
As Annette calmed down, she decided to continue with her story. "For a long time, I blamed myself for his death. It was as though I was the one who killed him, because I know that my rejection of him was a big blow to him. But as time passed, I came to realize that he was probably never angry at me because he loved me too much. And I don't think he would want to see me blame myself for the rest of my life."
Nicky smiled at those words. He was glad that Annette seemed to have thought things through. "I'm sure that he is watching over you every day, making sure that you're safe and happy."
Annette smiled at those words, knowing that Nicky was right. "From then on, I promised myself never to judge anyone again because of their sexual orientation. I had learned a lesson, though it was a most painful one. So to answer your question, I have no problems with you being gay, Nicky. It doesn't change who you are. But I'm very glad that you're so honest to me."
"Thanks, Annette," Nicky answered with a grateful smile.
"No problem, Nicky. You really remind me of Eric. You two even look so much alike. And personality wise and everything...it's almost like I lost my brother only to gain him back again..."
Nicky brought Annette into another hug. "You know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything, okay?" he asked gently.
"Thanks, Nicky..." she answered. "I miss him so much...so much..." she whispered as tears trickled down her face again.
There were plenty of tears being being shed on that rocky shore, for at that very moment, a young Irish singer was watching the scene unfold before him. His heart sank as he watched Annette and Nicky from afar, and tears swelled in his eyes. After several minutes, he turned around and walked away, crying silently to himself.
Meanwhile, in a casino in Las Vegas...
"FUCK!!!" The young man stared at his empty wallet and looked around desperately. "Shit...I need to get some extra money...I can't believe I've blown $200,000 in a week!! FUCK!!!" His eyes settled on a booth in the corner of the room and he walked slowly towards that booth.
"Back again?" the young man in the booth asked. "My, you're sure quick...how much this time?"
"Can I have $50,000?"
"Let's see...it's Derek, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, you've already taken out $100,000...I don't think the casino can lend you anymore..." Derek's heart sank as he heard those words. "But I'm sure I can arrange something for you. Wanna come outside with me while we discuss this?"
With that, the two young men walked into a dark alley outside. "So how much can you lend me?"
"I suppose we can arrange $100,000 for you."
"Really??"
"Definitely."
"Well, what do you want for it?"
"Hmmmm...how about your life, Derek?" Before Derek could react, the young man rammed a long dagger into Derek's body repeatedly while covering his mouth to prevent him from screaming. After at least ten stabs, he smiled as he saw Derek's limp body slump to the ground. He laughed lightly as he watched Derek gasping for air. Then, he took out a gun, attached the silencer, and shot the semi-conscious body several times, until the body was totally motionless.
After several minutes, Annette and Nicky finally broke their hug. "I must look like a mess now," Annette laughed.
"Nah, you look fine," Nicky reassured her.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to join you guys for dinner? I mean..."
"I'm sure, Annette," he answered. "The lads would be thrilled. I'm sure of it."
At that time, Nicky's mobile rang, piercing the peacefulness of the countryside. Glancing at the display, Nicky walked a small distance from Annette before answering the call.
"It's done..."
"Are you sure?" Nicky asked in a low voice.
"100% sure..."
"Good...I don't want any mess ups..."
"Don't worry. There will not be any mess up. Everything's taken care of."
"Excellent..." Nicky ended the call, deleted the name of the caller, and placed the mobile back in his jacket pocket. A smile slowly crept onto his face.
...to be continued...