Chapter 2

At 10 o'clock, after her favorite program Ally McBeal, Nicole turned off the TV and decided to pack it in for the night. She walked past Kevin's studio and found herself stopping in front of the door. She lightly knocked on the door. She heard a muffled "Come in" and opened the door. She found Kevin in the same spot she had found him earlier that evening. "I'm going up to bed. Are you coming?" Nicole asked.

"I'll be up in a little while." Kevin said brushing his wife off.

"Before 2 in the morning would be nice." Nicole said before she left the room.

Kevin found himself cursing Nicole under his breath once she had left the room. He pushed her out of his mind and continued focusing on the piece he was working on. He almost had it finished.

Nicole made her way up to the master bedroom and started to run the water for a hot bubble bath. She walked slowly discarded all her clothing and put her hair up in a bun. She exited the bathroom and was shocked to see Kevin in the room. She found herself quickly reaching for a robe and covering her naked body. "You finished for the night already?" Nicole asked as she tied up the robe.

"I just came up here to get a few things." Kevin said as he took a few things out of his briefcase.

"Oh yeah, your ever so important brief case. You would never come up here to see your wife. How foolish of me." Nicole said as she turned on her heels and walked back into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, slid to the floor and dropped her head into her hands as the tears started to fall.

Nicole sat there for a few minutes until she felt a wet puddle growing on the floor. She looked up and saw that the bathtub was over flowing. She quickly got up and turned off the water, but she already had a huge mess to clean up. She reluctantly exited the bathroom to go get some towels. She noticed Kevin was still looking through his briefcase and said, "Having problems finding something?"

Kevin looked up and saw the water on the floor in the bathroom. "Nicole why is the bathroom floor all wet?" Kevin asked as he stood at the entrance of the bathroom.

"What does it look like? It over flowed." Nicole said as she pushed past her husband.

"Why didn't you turn the water off in time?" Kevin criticized.

"Maybe if you didn't just brush me off I wouldn't have been so upset and forget about the tub." Nicole said as she glared at Kevin.

"Nicole, you know I have work to do." Kevin said as he continued to stand there.

"Convenient excuse." Nicole mumbled under her breath.

"Why are you giving me a hard time all of a sudden Nicole?" Kevin asked as he became annoyed by Nicole's unusual behavior.

"All of a sudden? Is it really that sudden Kevin? For the past couple months you spend all your time in that bloody studio and forget that you have a wife. Maybe I'm tired of being ignored Kevin. Did that ever cross your mind?" Nicole said in a raised voice.

"You know I have some tight deadlines coming up Nicole." Kevin said in a flat tone.

"You always had deadlines in the past Kevin and you still found time for us." Nicole barked back.

"I don't have time for this." Kevin said as he turned to leave the room.

"No Kevin, you're going to make the time for this." Nicole said as she followed him out of the bedroom.

"What do you want out of me Nicole?" Kevin said as he paused at the top of the stairs.

"My husband back. Is that too much to ask for?" Nicole said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why don't you take your bath and I'll be up by the time you're finished." Kevin said, hoping he could get Nicole off his back.

"I've heard that one before." He heard Nicole mumble as she walked away.

Nicole went and took her bath and crawled into bed at a quarter to ten. There was still no sign of Kevin. She turned on the TV to catch the late night news. She lay in bed waiting for Kevin until eleven thirty and finally gave up. Nicole pulled the covers over her body and tried to hold the tears back. Why did she think tonight was going to be any different?

Nicole lay there and while she was trying to get to sleep, she thought back to the first few years of their marriage. Kevin was still on tour with the hugely popular Backstreet Boys and Nicole took a leave of absence from work for three months to accompany her new husband on a European tour. They couldn’t bear to spend any time apart after they were married. Even when the group had decided to go their own way for a while and explore their own solo careers, they maintained a healthy relationship. Kevin followed his dream of writing and producing music and he spent a year working on several projects. By that time, Nicole was four months pregnant carrying the twins. Kevin predicted that his projects would wind down right before the twins were supposed to be born. And it worked out perfectly. Kevin took a year off after the twins were born and both Nicole and Kevin experienced parenthood for the first time together. When the twins were just over a year old, Kevin accepted an offer to produce the score and soundtrack for an upcoming movie. It was at that time that Nicole made the difficult decision to hire a nanny and go back to work. A few months after Nicole had returned to work, they were both surprised to find out that they were expecting another baby. Again when Kylie was born, Kevin took some time off and they spent a full year just being a family. Kevin and Nicole had now been married for four years and were still inseparable.

Nicole rolled over onto her back and said to herself, "Where did we go wrong Kevin?"

Little did Nicole know that Kevin was just at the entrance to their bedroom when she said that aloud. Kevin stopped himself and leaned against the wall just outside their bedroom. Kevin couldn't answer that question. All he knew was the distance between them had grown over the years. At first, Kevin was jealous of all the attention the kids got from Nicole and he suspected that was what started their problems. He started distancing himself from Nicole and now it felt like the only reason they were still together was for the kids. They continued going through all the motions for the sake of the kids.

Kevin pushed the thoughts out of his head and entered the bedroom. He quietly made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. He stripped down to his boxers and brushed his teeth. He deposited his dirty clothes in the hamper and made his way to the large king sized bed. Kevin decided to try and please Nicole and just hold her, just the way he knew she liked it. "Nicole, why don't you let me hold you." Kevin said as he gently ran his fingers through Nicole's shoulder length brown hair.

Nicole accepted Kevin's invitation and pressed her body against his and rested her head on his chest. Nicole needed more though. She lifted her head and quietly said, "Make love to me Kevin."

Kevin felt his body respond to his wife's request and responded by covering her lips with his own. They quickly disrobed and Kevin positioned himself between Nicole's legs. They continued to kiss and touch each other's body for a few minutes before Kevin slowly entered Nicole. It had been more than two months since they had made love and Kevin could feel the tightness. "Are you okay?" Kevin asked.

Nicole simply nodded and let her hands roam up and down Kevin's back. Nicole felt Kevin's pace quicken and she moaned as Kevin lowered his mouth to her breasts. A short while later, Nicole felt her climax quickly approaching and with a few more thrusts, Kevin sent her over the edge. Nicole's climax made control impossible for Kevin and he moaned her name as he climaxed.

Kevin retreated to his side of the bed and took Nicole in his arms. "I love you Kevin." Nicole said as she rested her head on Kevin's chest.

"I love you too." Kevin said as he kissed Nicole on the top of the head.