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“Hey Josh it’s me, Lexie. Again. Call me when you can. Whatever, ‘bye.” It was 11 pm on a Friday night, and she was home alone, for the fourth night in a row, curled up on the couch watching movies on Oxygen, while having a total carb-fest. She knew that she should be used to it by now, but that didn’t make the situation suck any less. For the past six months, it seems as if she’s been seeing less and less of her fiancé and spending more time by herself. Alone, in this big ass house, that felt just a bit creepy at night. Even though the centuries old French Chateau had been modernized through a series of renovations, she still felt as if it had left behind the eerie essence of its past inhabitants.

She felt as if at any moment she would hear the faintest sounds of Charlotte Hollis whispering, “Get off of my property.”  Yeah so, they were in present-day Los Angeles, but still, the place was kind of creepy to say the very least. There were still rooms in certain wings of the house that she hadn’t even been in yet. She often wondered if the rumors were true about certain rituals going down in the basement amongst 1950’s and ‘60’s Hollywood Elite. The very thought chilled her to the bone. It was thoughts like this that consumed her mind when she was alone and her active imagination seemed to always get the best of her, but being a Publicist in Hollywood, she’s seen way more things go down than she’d care to admit.

Suddenly, the phone rang, breaking her from her reverie. Startled, she almost spilled her glass of grape juice. At least she’d finally get to hear him, now she wouldn’t feel so alone. “Hello?”

“Alexia.”

“Oh, it’s you,” she replied, at the sudden realization that it was just Shelley.

“Wow, you don’t have to sound so excited,” she replied flatly.

“Sorry, I just thought you were Josh.”

“Late night again?”

“Yeah, the usual.” Alexia knew that it was pretty bad if she was an engaged woman, and being home alone was considered the usual. That was already a bad sign.

“Well, you know you could always come out,” Shelley suggested.

“I know I could, but I’ve really been trying to get used to this place. It’s Christmastime Shells, and I want it to feel like home.”

“Girl, you and JC have lived in that place for almost a year, what do you mean get used to it?”

“I don’t know Shell,” Alexia sighed. “I guess I just feel like a stranger in my own home. I’ve been trying my best to make it feel homier, but it’s really hard when the only input that my fiancé has had was turning that dungeon of a basement into a recording studio. And then, it seems like when he’s not down there, then he’s out at a recording studio. Or at a meeting, or with the girls, or with Jimmy or whoever else. Some nights he’s out working until midnight, or even three in the morning. It’s like he’s forgotten that we even have a wedding to plan.”

“Aw Lexie, I’m sure that’s not true. You know more than anybody how much of a workaholic JC is, even more so than you.”

Alexia laughed at how crazy it seemed that she happened to meet someone who loved what they did just as much as she did, it was one of the first things that they had connected over. “Yeah that is true, but sometimes I feel like with my job, I can just leave everything at the office, but his career is a lot different; late nights, crazy hours, an unpredictable schedule… “

“Well hey, you’ve got yourself an artist!”

“And the crazy thing is, I thought that when the group went their separate ways that his life would be a little less… hectic, or I don’t know chaotic for lack of a better word, I guess. But sometimes I feel as if nothing’s changed.”

“Well, you guys have been together a while, Lex.”

“Twelve years.”

“Which is why you guys have to make it work. Figure something out. Make time for each other. Get back to where you used to be, and remember what it was that made you guys fall so hard for each other.”

“You’re right Shell, we do need to get back to that. I remember how he used to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world!” Alexia said, smiling to herself, remembering how it felt to be twenty-five and completely swept off her feet by JC.

“Once you guys work through this rough patch I’m sure you guy’ll be fine,” Shelley assured her.

“I know, I just don’t know if he’ll have enough time in his busy schedule to work things out,” Juliana joked, although it had sounded a bit more bitter than she had intended for it too. “Speaking of the Devil, hear he is now,” she said as she saw the headlights of his silver Lexus Coupe pull into the circular driveway.

“Well I’ll let you go. Let me know how things go.”

“Sure, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ‘bye,” Alexia said before hitting the end button on the cordless phone, and tossing it on the cushion next to her. Butterflies swirled in the pit of her stomach, in anticipation of the oncoming confrontation. She hated fighting. No, she would not pick a fight; she would simply speak her mind for once.

“Hey Babe,” JC said, upon entering the door, dropping his laptop bag down by the coat closet. “How was your day?”

“Uhm, fine. Your’s?”

“Great!” He smiled. “The girls are gonna be on Lance’s radio show again to promote their Christmas song.”

“That’s great Honey,” Alexia replied.  It’s not that she wasn’t happy for him. She was thrilled. Ever since he had formed Girl Radical, the eleven member all girl pop group, he’d seemed to change for the better. She hadn’t seen him so excited about a project in almost ten years, and the girls were really sweet. It’s just that she felt like she was coming in twelfth place in his life, and she didn’t quite know what to do about it. She didn’t want to take away his happiness or rain on his parade, but she just wished that there was some type of balance.

“So, what’d you make?” He was now sitting down next to her.

Really? She hadn’t seen him all day, and he wanted to know what she’d made for dinner? “Your favorite, Chicken Alfredo.”

“Great, I’m starving” he said, getting up from the couch, and heading into the kitchen, leaving Alexia by herself.

“Hey Josh,” Alexia called, following him into the kitchen.

“Yeah?” He turned to her, after turning on the stove to heat the pot of chicken and pasta.

“Baby, I think we should talk.”

“About?”

“Us,” Alexia replied, sitting down on a stool at the island.

“Us?” JC repeated. “What about us?”

“I just, I umm…” she stammered. “Josh, this is the fourth night in a row you’ve been home late.” She finally said.

“Okay,” he said slowly, wondering where this was going. Was she upset with him? Were they in a fight? He figured he’d better tread lightly.

“And I mean, I don’t know how to say this exactly, but I think your working too much.”

“Wait, what?!” JC exclaimed.

Shit. She’d said the wrong thing. “I just, I mean-“

“I can’t believe that’s coming from you,” JC interjected, with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

“Are you implying something?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I am,” JC replied.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“That you’re the female Ryan Seacrest!”

“Oh, you did not just call me Ryan Seacrest,” Alexia scoffed.

“You have an elliptical in your office so that you won’t miss a workout between conference calls and event planning,” JC pointed out.

Okay, that was true. “I mean, well I uh-“

“You’re being a bit hypocritical do you think?”

“Oh, so now I’m a hypocrite?” She asked, incredulously.

“Pretty much yeah,” he replied, turning off the stove. “Never have I ever asked you to sacrifice work, which, I know you love so much-“

“I wasn’t asking you to sacrifice work, Josh.”

“You know how much this group means to me,” JC said, lowering his voice.

“Yes, I know,” Alexia replied through gritted teeth.

“And you know how much my music means to me. I’ve always made that clear to you.”

“I know.”

“So right now, my main focus is Girl Radical, and trying to make them happen. Alexia, I need you to understand that,” he said sternly.

Alexia couldn’t believe her ears. Was, was he scolding her? Did he forget that she was his fiancée, and that they had a wedding to plan? Because the princess-cut Cartier that was weighing down her left ring finger was a sure reminder. She didn’t even know what to say to that.

“Understood?”

Nothing. No words, no comeback, nothing was coming to Alexia. Her mind was drawing blanks. This discussion had taken a completely different turn. Did he even understand what she was trying to get through to him? Unbelievable! “Understood,” she finally said, swallowing the huge lump in her throat- along with her pride- and fighting back tears. Without another word, she quickly got up from her seat at the island, and made her way up the stairs, like the child that JC had made her feel like.

After Alexia had locked herself in their bedroom, she’d given herself time to reflect on the conversation that she had just had with JC. Seeing as he would most likely hole himself up in the recording studio all night, she had all the time in the world to herself. She couldn’t believe how their discussion had managed to take a turn for the worst, and how it turned into an argument over who works the most.

Granted, she did often work extensive hours, but what he didn’t know was that a lot of those extra hours have been spent with a wedding planner, planning the wedding that so far, JC’s had no hand in at all. And if she really did work as much as he said she had, then she would be willing to change that. For him. He was going to be her husband. They were going to be a family, and what he needed to understand was that in order for them to work, he’d have t be willing to give in a little as well.

Curling up on her side of the bed, Alexia had been wracking her brain, desperate to come up with a resolution. They needed to find a balance in their lives if this was going to work, and they needed to do it soon, because some things just couldn’t wait. Rubbing her hand over her stomach, she smiled lightly as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Maybe, you’ll be lucky enough to hold Daddy’s attention.”