Mistaken Identity (Identity 1)

He stayed at the hotel for a bit longer before calling it a day. Being at the home he’d once shared with Lis would be too creepy, so he opted to stay with his younger brother. As he drove home from the hospital he was eager to talk to Kansas. He could use some light humor after all the heavy. Plus, he needed to get to know his mystery woman more in order to sweep her off her feet properly. Unlike the brisk character out of tune with his emotions on the show he was a bit of romantic. His Dad taught him there was nothing more manly then showing your woman how much you loved her.

When he pulled up in the drive he was grateful his brother’s black sedan was missing. He parked, hurried inside the house to his guest room, stripped down and took a quick shower. Dressed in a pair of blue boxers he collapsed onto the bed, and grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand and dialed.

“Well aren’t you prompt, handsome.”

“I try. Are you still at the Con?”

“Yeah. Had to act normal.”

“You didn’t tell your friend?” He frowned.

“No, I wasn’t sure if I should or not.”

“Why? Is she some kind of a nutcase?” He grimaced, picturing a crazed friend begging her for every last detail of their night together.

Kansas laughed. “Yes, but not in that sense. She’s a harmless hippie, I promise. She owns her own new age shop, sells books about chakras and auras, that kind of thing. ”

“Oh. So what’s the problem?” His brow furrowed.

“You trying to put a label on me?”

“I like knowing where I stand.”

“Me, too … dating?”

“Yes … exclusively.” The thought of anyone putting their hands on Kansas made him want to maim.

“All right, we’ll try it. Though starting off long distance…”

“I can swing it if you can.”

“Oooh, a challenge?”

“If you want it to be.” Whatever will get you to agree, sweetheart.

“You keep appealing to the writer in me.”

“As long as I appeal.”

“You sound tired. How’s the emergency situation?”

“I’m exhausted. Better, but it’s nowhere near solved.” He paused. It isn’t really my story to tell completely, but in many ways it is.

“Jett? You still there?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking. I know you’re wondering what’s going on, and I want to be totally honest with you.”

“Okay.” She sounded guarded.

“Lis … she’s got anorexia. She’s in the hospital right now. They have her hooked up to an IV and a feeding tube. I think this is the worst I’ve ever seen her, and that’s saying a lot.”

“Oh my God! Jett.” She gasped.

“It’s the reason why we broke off our engagement. She couldn’t handle being in the public eye. She’d been refusing treatment and not opening up to her parents or her friends, so they called me. I was always the one who got her in gear when the lows hit.”

“Is she going to be okay?” The compassion in Kansas’s voice told him plenty about her.

“Yeah, I think so. We have a lot of things to work out. There was major co-dependency going on. I just wanted to help her so bad I think I overstepped my boundaries, and now we have to undo bad behavior. That’s why I came here. We made this mess together, and that’s how it needs to be cleaned up.”