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Chapter 11
Claire went downstairs to retrieve the paper, so she could read it while Kevin made a few phone calls. They had discussed going to see a movie that afternoon so Claire went straight for the entertainment section. She felt her heart skip a beat when she read the headline "Backstreet Boy Keeps Secret." Claire felt her heart beat faster and her palms started to sweat as she read the first paragraph of the story.
Kevin walked into the kitchen and could tell immediately that something was wrong. "What is it Claire?" Kevin asked as he looked down at the paper. He became alarmed when he read the headline. He picked up the paper and felt sick as he read the first paragraph. He looked at Claire who was now crying and said, "How could you? I trusted you."
Through Claire’s sobs, she said, "I didn’t breath a word to anyone Kevin. I swear I didn’t."
"Don’t lie to me know Claire. You are the only person that I told about this. What did your boss Tom, convince you to seduce me to try and get dirt out of me." Kevin said in a raised voice.
"No Kevin. I swear I turned the story down and they turned it over to someone else. All Tom knows is that we are dating." Claire said.
"Were dating." Kevin said as he turned and left the kitchen.
Kevin grabbed his bag and threw his stuff into it. He could not believe someone could be so cold. He trusted Claire and he had even fallen in love with her, and she did a pretty convincing job of playing along. He dialed Denise’s number. He didn’t even give Denise a chance to say hello, he just said, "I need a car here to pick me up at Claire’s immediately."
"What’s wrong Kevin, why are you so upset?" Denise asked.
"I’m not in the mood to talk, just get me the hell away from here." Kevin said.
"Ok Kevin, I’ll send a car out there right away." Denise said.
Claire could hear Kevin yelling in the other room and backed up until the wall stopped her. Claire sank to the floor and broke out in tears. She heard the telephone ring and got up to answer it. It was Brian on the other end and he wanted to talk to Kevin. Claire walked back to the bedroom and quietly said, "Brian is on the phone for you Kevin." She watched Kevin pick up the phone and left the room, knowing that he did not want her around.
Kevin took a deep breath before he said, "Hey Brian."
"Have you seen the New York Times yet today?" Brian asked.
"Yes I have and Denise has a car on her way out to Claire’s now." Kevin said flatly.
"Why doesn’t Claire just bring you back down?" Brian asked.
"Because I trusted Claire and now what I told her, has popped up in the same newspaper that she works for." Kevin replied.
"Kevin, there’s no truth to this story is there?" Brian asked.
"Unfortunately it’s all true Brian." Kevin said, feeling his anger grow by the minute.
"Kevin, why didn’t you come to any of us?" Brian asked.
"Brian, can we just talk about this later." Kevin said.
"Yeah sure Kev. Are you going to be okay?" Brian asked.
"As soon as I get out her here." Kevin said harshly.
Twenty minutes later, Claire watched Kevin leave her apartment without saying a word to her. Claire pulled herself together and decided she needed to go in and have a chat with Tom about this story. She hated the fact that Kevin thought she had betrayed him, and even if they could never be together again, she had to clear her name and find out what really happened.
