*Author's Note: As a referrence note to understand the circumstances surrounding this chapter, notions here for clarification purposes, are a direct parallel to those found in Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of A Tale of Two Popstars.*

When one door closes another one opens…

For some strange reason or another that line kept on ringing in Shane’s mind as he sat back and surveyed his surroundings.  And like many times in the last couple of days the strange feeling of déjà vu took over his senses.  Fuzzy and blurry as all hell…  And it was about to get worse.  If the phone call he received earlier was any indication, it was going to be downhill from here.  She was going to kill him.

“So Aliesa settling in alright?”

Shane focused back in on his conversation with Bryan.  “For the most part.”  He raised the glass in his hand, taking a long sip of his drink.  “Management finally got off my back…press hasn’t died down-but you know how it is.” Shane swallowed.  “But with the fans and all…”  

“Shannon’s been working later hours for you both I hear,” Bryan echoed knowingly.

Shane cleared his throat,  “And boy she doesn’t let me forget it either.”

Bryan chuckled good-naturedly at the comment,  “I’d imagine she wouldn’t.  Shannon is a character.”  He laid a hand on Shane’s shoulder reassuringly.  “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do mate.  It’ll all die down eventually.  And it’s worth it, right?”

Shane simply nodded.  “Of course.”

Bryan grinned,  “Yeah, I’ll bet,” he teased, nudging him as they both looked on to Aliesa’s whereabouts on the dance floor, specifically watching the way she moved to the music.  “Your wife is something else.”

“Yeah, she is,” Shane responded absently.

A pair of eyebrows rose in question.  “You didn’t tell her about your parents did you?”

Shane’s jaw tightened.  Bryan had picked up on the uncertainty quickly.  “It didn’t come up,” he answered, purposely eluding the line of questioning.

“You need to tell her Shane.”

Shane let out a frustrated breath.  “And how am I supposed to do that?”  He took on a fake air, as he initiated the imaginary conversation  “Hey baby, congrats on the award, you look beautiful, by the way my parents are coming tomorrow and we all have to get together because my mum is going to overanalyze our marriage to shit.” Shane stopped his tirade, and looked pointedly at his friend.  “Trust me, with the way my family is, it’s better to tell her later.”

“You need to give her some warning Shane,” Bryan cautioned.  “This is the first time she’s meeting your parents.  Girls get freaked over stuff like that.”  Bryan shook his head.  “What are you gonna do?”

“Why are you assuming I’d have to do something?”  Shane contested.  

Bryan cleared his throat.

Shane rolled his eyes at the condescending attitude.  “Look- She won’t freak out okay,” Shane shrugged off.  “She’ll be alright with it.”

Bryan just shook his head again.  “What time are your parents getting here?”

Shane took another sip of his drink before answering,  “They’re already here.”

A low whistle erupted.  “Man, you better come up with something quick Shane.  I’m telling you.  From one married man to another.  She’s going to be upset.”

Shane heaved a sigh.  Not like that it’d be any worse off as far as Aliesa and he were concerned.  They couldn’t carry a polite conversation unless they weren’t alone and playing happy couple anyhow.    

“You know at this point, flowers wouldn’t hurt,” Bryan advised, patting Shane on the back knowingly.  “You still got time.”

Shane’s gaze darted over towards the other side of the room again, where Aliesa was dancing away, laughing with Kian.  He caught Aliesa’s eye.  Her smile...

“Right,” he conceded.   

Shane dropped his glass down on the bar counter.

When one door closes…

“Right,” Shane commented solidly, leaving behind a bemused Bryan in his wake as he headed towards the dance floor and effortlessly cut-in on Kian, securing Aliesa into his arms.   

She hesitated only slightly when he brought her a little closer.  Her brown eyes widened just enough for him to see, and no one else.  “What’s going on?” Aliesa asked tentatively when he continued to sway her on the dance floor without reprieve.

Shane smiled down at her.  “Dancing.”

Pause.

A look.

Tug of hand.

Understanding.

And that’s what it was, wasn’t it?

Ideally….

Shane and Aliesa.

When one door closes another one opens...

Looked like Shane was going to be ordering some flowers…
 
Eight
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