Marshall's P.O.V:
"Chicken or pepperoni?" I say as I pick up the phone and look up at Iris. She lets out a frustrated sigh and folds her arms across her chest. "Fine. Chicken it is." I mumble as I dial the number and place it to my ear.
"I just don't understand." Iris shrugs.
"It's because you're to young to understand." I mumble. Iris lets out another sigh and mumbles something under her breath. "I didn't catch that. Speak up?" I say and look up at her.
"Why won't she want to see me?" Iris asks.
"Who told you Tessa doesn't want to see you-" I start but get cut off by one of the employees picking up.
"Hello-" He starts but I cut him off.
"Hi, yes. Can I have one large chicken pizza." I say as I look away from Iris.
"I want a vegetarian pizza." She says quickly.
"Why?" I look up at her. "You love chicken pizza." I add.
"Well I am a vegetarian now." She states as she jumps off her stool and walks towards the fridge.
"Since when?" I raise my brow.
"Since this morning." She says as she takes out a Pepsi can from the fridge.
"It's a new diet." She mumbles.
"And this new vegetarian diet includes you eating bacon for breakfast?" I smile lightly.
"This morning was a one off." She tuts.
"And what about the afternoon when you had a beef burger-" I start but get cut off.
"Well I'm starting properly now." She rolls her eyes.
"Sir?" The employee cuts in.
"Yes. I'll have one medium chicken pizza and one medium vegetarian pizza." I say into the phone before I give him my address and hang up the phone.
"Why doesn't she want to see me?" Iris asks again, making me look up from my notebook.
"Did she say she doesn't want to see you?" I ask.
"No." She shakes her head.
"Then how do you know Tessa doesn't want to see you?" I ask slowly and look up at her as I let out a sigh.
"Well, it's been over a week and-" She starts but I cut her off.
"She's probably busy." I shrug and open my notebook again to finish writing the verse I started.
"Busy clubbing?" Iris says. "No. You can't lie to me like that Marshall." She says making me sigh. "She's all over magazines. There's photos of her at a club and having dinner with Nick." She states. "Plus, her manager said that-" She starts but I quickly cut in.
"You've been talking to Leroy?" I ask quickly.
"Am...I not allowed to talk to him?" Iris says slowly in confusion.
"No. You don't go near him." I say in anger.
"Well, I didn't know. I'm sorry." She shrugs.
"I don't want you going near him or Paul, you understand?" I raise my brow.
"Jeez, calm down. How was I supposed to know." She rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry. I won't talk to them anymore." She adds.
"What did he say exactly?" I ask.
"Well, he was leaving your place with Tessa's suitcase and I asked him if I could come along." She sighs. "He didn't let me. He said that Tessa doesn't want to see me because she needs a break from this mess and drama." She finishes and looks up at me. "Did I cause a mess or make any dram-" She starts but I cut her off as I walk towards her.
"You didn't do anything, kido." I sigh and watch her force a smile onto her face as she looks up at me.
"Are you sure?" She asks. "Are you arguing because of me? Is it my fault? Did I do something? I mean-" She starts but I cut her off again.
"I never want you to blame our arguing and grudges on yourself." I say as I hug her. Iris sighs as she hugs me back. "Promise me you won't ever blame our arguments or fights that we have on yourself." I add.
"I promise." She lets out a sigh.
***
"The meeting is in ten minutes." Paul says but I just ignore him as I slowly pull on my Jordans and reach for my jacket. "Marshall." He calls me, making me ignore him again. "Marshall. We'll be late." He sighs.
"You're acting like I give a shit about this contract." I mumble.
"And you're acting like you didn't sign it." Paul shoots back. "Everything we say, you do." He says, making me clench my jaw. "I'll wait in the car." He adds as he walks out of my room.
Letting out a small sigh, I pick up my phone from my bedside table and tuck it deep in my pocket before I walk out of my bedroom, closing the door behind me.
I pull on my jacket as I walk towards Iris's room. I knock on the door and wait for Iris to shout a quick 'come in' before I push the door open and step inside.
"Hey, what you doing?" I ask as I walk further in. She started to decorate this room when Tessa was still living at my place. I've been helping her since Tessa hasn't been around and we haven't got much left.
"Homework." She sighs as I pick up the buckets of paint and place them to the side. "Can I go to the movies with Harry and Claire?" She asks, making me look up at her.
"Well." I let out a small sigh as I place the last heavy bucket of paint against the wall and out of the way. "It depends on who Harry is." I ask as I fold my arms across her chest.
"He's a friend." She tuts.
"A friend." I repeat slowly.
"Yeah. Harry Mannings." Iris nods.
"Nathan doesn't seem to like this kid called Darren Mannings." I say, making her roll her eyes.
"So what? I can't go out with Darren brother just because Nate doesn't like him? How's that fair?" She asks.
"I didn't say you can't go." I shrug. "I just want you to hang around the people that can be trusted." I add.
"Trusted with what?" She asks. "Oh." She nods quickly. "Harry doesn't really ask anything about you or Tessa and I promise I won't say anything either." She says quickly. "So. Can I go?" She asks.
"As friends?" I raise my brow.
"Nothing more." She smiles.
"How much you got left?" I ask as I nod towards her books.
"I got my maths homework and history homework left." She says.
"You can go once you've finished it." I say.
"Cool. Thanks." She smiles as she gets up from her bed.
"I told one of the cooks to make you lunch." I state. "Go eat." I add.
"Thanks." She smiles. "Where are you off to?" She asks as she walks towards her study desk.
"I have a meeting." I tell her as I lean off the wall.
"Is Tessa going to be there?" She asks.
"No." I shake my head.
"Oh. Well when will you be back?" She asks.
"By 7ish." I say as I look down at my watch. "I want you home at 8. Not a minute later." I say as I look up at her.
"Okay." She shrugs and kisses me on the cheek before she walks away. "I'll see you later." She adds.
"Bye." I smile and walk away.
Tessa's P.O.V.
I look up from the kitchen counter when Nick slams an envelope down infront of me. I smile lightly as I rip it open and let out a short laugh.
"You got another speeding ticket?" I ask. "I'm suprised they haven't banned you from driving." I add.
"This wasn't my fault." He says as he takes out OJ from the fridge.
"Never is." I say sarcastically.
Nick and I talked out everything and we were back to normal. I'm still staying at a hotel room but since I have a meeting with Leroy and Paul I came here. Nick is also coming incase they make me sign anything.
"You ready?" Nick asks as he places his empty glass in the sink.
"Yes." I sigh and stand up before I close my diary. "Let's go." I mumble.
"I'll go grab my briefcase." Nick says before he walks away to his bedroom. I pull on my jacket as I stand infront of the mirror. I don't really dress up for meetings but Leroy and Paul told me to dress formally.
I pull down at my black and white dress that hugs my figure a bit to tightly for my liking. Lilly had picked it out and said that there would be two other people attending the meeting. She could have picked out something more loose.
"Could you get that!" Nick shouts from his room when there's a knock on the door. "We're getting late so whoever it is, tell them i'm not home!" He adds as I walk towards the door.
I pull open on the door and my eyes lock onto light green ones. The women smile drops at the sight of me. She's dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white button up shirt. She tucks a strand of her muddy blond hair behind her ear as she holds her hand out to me.
"Hi." She forces a small smile on her lips. She looks at me sadly, which I don't usually get from fans or anyone else that recognises me.
"Uhrm. Hey." I say slowly as I shake her hand. "I'm sorry but Nick isn't home." I lie.
"Oh...Right, okay." She nods. "Well can you tell him I came by?" She asks. "Your Tessa Black, right? His ex....I mean his close friend." She lets out a shaky laugh.
"Mhmm." I nod. "Well. Okay then." I say slowly as she takes a step back as I start to slowly close the door. "Oh. Can I take a name." I say quickly and open the door again.
"You don't recognize me?" She asks.
"Uhrm, should I?" I say slowly in confusion.
"Right. I guess he didn't talk about me much." She says as she takes out her hand again for me to shake. "My names Oliva." She states. "Oliva Demore." She says, making my heart drop.
"Oliva. What are you doing here?" Nick asks quickly.
"Nicklaus. It's nice to see you too." She says as I turn back to face her.
"I'm sorry...You said your name is Oliva." I say in slowly. "Oliva Demore. You....You said your names Demore." I say in confusion.
"Yeah." She nods. "I'm his wife." She says, making me turn around to face Nick quickly. "It's our fifth year anniversary today." She adds as Nick and I just stand there and stare at eachother.
***
"You're married." I hiss.
"Drop it." Nick says as we step into the lift. Nick lets out a sigh as he leans back against the wall.
"You've been married for five years." I state in disbelief.
"When are you going to drop this?" He sighs.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.
"I didn't know I had to." He says in anger as he turns to face me. "You wanna know?" He asks.
"I-" I start but snap my mouth shut when he cuts me off.
"Fine. I'll tell you. We've been separate for two years now. I was 24 when we met. I met her at Vegas. We became a couple. We went back to vegas and got married at the same place we met when I was 26. I loved her. She loved me. I had work. Eventually we drifted apart. She wanted kids, I didn't. She wanted a big house and a big family and a prefect husband. I didn't want to live in a big house. I didn't want a big family and I didn't want a wife anymore. I asked for a divorce. She didn't want one. Now she's here and I don't know why and I don't know what to do. It's been two years since I last saw her. I love her but as a friend and not a wife or girlfriend. We're over and we have been for the last two years." He finsihes and lets out a sigh. "Now that you know everything, let's concentrate on this meeting." He says as the doors to the lift open.
I watch Nick step out of the lift before he walks down the hallway. Letting out a small sigh, I walk out and follow behind him. Nick fixes his tie before he opens the door to the room the meeting is held in and walks inside.
"I'm sorry we're late." Nick steps in. I follow inside and stop in the door way at the sight of Marshall.
Marshall looks up at me and holds my gaze for a few seconds. He clenches his jaw and fist before he leans back into his seat and looks away from me and down at the glass table.
They didn't tell me Marshall would be here and I guess by the expression on his face, they didn't tell him I was going to be here.
"Tessa. Nicklaus. This is Mr Stonewell and Mrs Lawrence." Leroy says as he stands up and gestures towards the grey haired man in a dark suit and the blond haired woman sitting next to him.
"I'm Nick Demore. Tessa's lawyer." Nick shakes hands with the man and then the woman.
"Nice to meet you." I force a smile onto my lips as I shake their hands but get no smile in return.
Lovely.
"The meeting was supposed to start an half an hour a go." Leroy whispers as I take a seat between him and Nicklaus, right across from where Marshall is sitting.
"A lot of traffic on the way." I lie.
"Let's begin." The woman clears her throat as she looks down at the papers and frowns.
Someone got out from the wrong side of the bed this morning...
"Right-" The man starts but I cut him off.
"I'm sorry but what's going on?" I ask quickly. The old man looks up at me, making me quickly look away from his cold stare.
"We're are the ones the created the contract." The man says, making me look up at him. "You broke a lot of rules that we are now just finding out about." He adds.
"We are here to end the contract before the year 2006." The lady adds. Marshall quickly sits up in his seat before we look away from the creators of the contract and looks at me. We hold eachothers gaze as a million thoughts run through my head.