Irreconcilable Differences

++++++++++



Kelly answered her phone as she walked out of the room. She had just finished a radio interview and was looking forward to a long lunch with her brother and best friend.



"Are you still in L.A.?"



"Hello to you too," Kelly replied.



"Are you still in L.A.?" Carrie asked again, not really in the mood for witty banter.



"Unfortunately, yes," Kelly said, unhappy about the fact that she had been in the figure-crazed town for nearly two weeks now, while her baby was back home. She had had to fly straight from North Carolina after the banquet to Los Angeles. One of her friends was house sitting and taking care of Sam, but she couldn't help but worry.



"Are you busy tonight?"



"No, I don't think so. Why?" Kelly asked, dreading the answer.



"There's a party for a club opening."



"A party for a club opening?" Kelly laughed.



"Yea," Carrie replied, not seeing the humor.



"Why would you have a party for a club opening? I mean, isn't a club like one giant party as it is?"



"So?"



"So that would be like having a party for a party," Kelly pointed out.



Carrie couldn't help the small smile that crossed her features, "Yea, I guess so. Anyway, Clive thinks it's about time we make another appearance. You game?"



"Um, what type of club is it? Like what am I supposed to wear?"



Carrie sighed sadly, knowing that the girl on the other end was being completely serious, "Talk to your make-up chick. She'll help you out."



"Ashley," Kelly reminded her.



"Yea, her," Carrie said. "I'll pick you up at nine, ok?"



"Alright."



+++++++++++



"Ash, I look ridiculous," Kelly replied, tugging at the red dress some. "It's not even black."



"That's the point, Kelly," Ashley laughed, hooking the dress's halter straps behind Kelly's neck.



Kelly frowned in the mirror, not liking the amount of skin that was showing.



"I don't get you," Ashley said. "You're going to the opening of one of the most anticipated clubs in a gorgeous dress, and you'd rather be sitting in your hotel room, watching t.v. in you pajamas."



"Yea," Kelly nodded.



"Have I taught you nothing?" Ashley asked, making her laugh. The doorbell sounded throughout the apartment.



"Can you go get that?" Kelly asked.



"Where's Jason?"



"He went pick up some food for y'all. The fridge is completely empty right now."



"Alright," Ashley replied, exiting Kelly's room.



Kelly looked back at the mirror, trying to pull the dress down, to cover some more of her leg, which only made the low v-neck go even lower. She turned to the side, the scoop back of her dress revealing even more than the front. She couldn't help but laugh at her reflection. With her small waist and big butt, she reminded herself of a cartoon character.



She could hear voices coming from the living room and decided to save Ashley from her torture, knowing that her best friend didn't like the country singer too much. Well, maybe she was more saving Carrie's life than she was saving Ashley's sanity.



"Hey," Kelly greeted, walking into the room nervously, realizing how ridiculous she was gonna look standing next to the stunning blonde who didn't seem phased at all by the amount of skin that she was revealing.



"Hey," Carrie smiled. She quickly hid it though, going back into bitch mode. Kelly sent Ashley a look, hoping she had caught that. Ashley nodded in response, trying not to laugh.



"You ready?" Carrie asked, not sure what was so funny.



"Yea," Kelly nodded. "See you later Ash."



She nodded in response.



"And tell Jay not to wait up. I'm not a little kid, you know."



Ashley shook her head, pretending to wipe a tear, "They grow up so fast."



Kelly could feel a blush rising so she quickly turned to Carrie, "Let's go."



++++++++



The limo ride there had been a mostly quiet one. Kelly wasn't sure what was with all the limos, if it was a Carrie thing or a Clive thing. She would have been much happier in her own vehicle, but she just tagged along, not seeing the need for another argument. Left alone to her own thoughts, she once again began to tug on her dress nervously.



Carrie watched her, not sure why she seemed so nervous. The girl looked stunning walking out in the red dress earlier in her apartment, and the side profile was even better.



"You look great," Carrie assured her.



"Not compared to you," Kelly replied.



Carrie raised an eyebrow, wondering if the girl needed glasses. Every minute she spent with her was another minute Carrie was surprised by her.



+++++++++



The driver of the limo opened the door, helping Carrie slide out. Kelly followed, slipping her arm through Carrie's for support as she nearly stumbled.



"You ok?" Carrie asked, watching her carefully.



"I suck at heels," Kelly confided, her arm still linked through Carrie's.



Carrie wondered if this violated the no touching rule because she was not too fond of the glares Kelly could throw. But she figured that since Kelly had initiated it, then it was ok. She stepped onto the red carpet, letting Kelly set the pace as they walked forward. The last thing she needed was a front page of Kelly sprawled out on the carpet after tripping. She could see how someone would spin that into Carrie pushing her down or tripping her.



They posed for the pictures, arm in arm, smiling as they were blinded by the flashes. They answered the questions, Carrie still caught off guard at how much the reporters seemed to genuinely like Kelly. She had never really seen them act that way towards another celebrity.



"You've gotta be kidding me," Kelly said, freezing in her spot.



Carrie couldn't help but laugh at the look of genuine fear on her face, "What's wrong?"



Kelly pointed in the direction that they were walking. The direction to the front door of the club. The front door that happened to be conveniently located beneath an alleyway of steps.



"A basement club, cool," Carrie smiled, but noticed the fear still on Kelly's face. She looked back, realizing that the fact that they had to walk down twenty odd steps to get there, probably didn't seeming to appealing to the Texan. "Come on," Carrie urged. "I got you."



Kelly nodded, allowing Carrie to usher her towards the steps. Carrie put one hand on the railing, watching as Kelly grabbed the other railing tightly. She couldn't help but laugh as Kelly looked at her frightfully when she retracted her arm from Kelly's.



"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.



"Relax," Carrie said, wrapping her arm around Kelly's waist. She could feel the smooth skin of Kelly's back against her arm. "I said I got you."



Kelly smiled appreciatively as they slowly made their way down the stairs.



"You probably think I'm weird huh?"



Carrie looked at her, wondering if she was that easy to read.



"I mean, I'm supposed to be some super star, and I can barely walk in heels."



"It's cool," Carrie shrugged as they reached the bottom. Her arm slipping from around her waist, linking with Kelly's once more as the bouncer opened the door for them.



+++++++++



"So, what do you do at one of these things?" Kelly asked as Carrie led them to the VIP area. Kelly smiled at the sight of a couch. "Thank God," she sighed, sitting down.



Carrie laughed, "You just hang out. You know, suffer through all the middle-aged men, who think they're cool because they got into a club-opening, trying to hit on. You listen to all the good-looking guys brag about they're latest achievement. You dance, thinking that'll shut them up, and you drink, hoping that you'll forget it all in the morning."



"Seems like fun," Kelly replied sarcastically.



Carrie shrugged, "You get used to it."



"But why would you want to?"



"It's the thing to do, right?"



"If you say so," Kelly said, disappointed in how uncomfortable the sofa was. She couldn't see how anybody would want to go through this, especially if it's even half as bad as Carrie had described it. She'd much rather be back at home, drinking and playing pool with her friends.



"I'm going to get something to drink," Carrie said. "You want something?"



"Already have something you want to forget?" Kelly asked.



"Trying to get a head start," Carrie replied before walking over to the bar.



Kelly looked around at all the pretty people, drinking and dancing all over each other, the majority of which completely spaced out on some drug or another. She started to wonder why Carrie would put up with all of this. Sure, she could be a bit cold at times, but she didn't seem like the type of person that would go along with this mess.



"What you got?" Kelly asked as Carrie sat down on the side of her with a glass in her hand.



"A diet coke," she replied.



Kelly looked at her confusedly.



Carrie shrugged, "Tonight hasn't completely sucked yet."



Kelly smiled in response.



+++++++++



"I didn't realize you had it so rough growing up," Carrie commented as Kelly took a sip of water.



Kelly just shrugged it off, "It's no big deal. I'm good now."



"No big deal?" Carrie asked in disbelief.



"Yea, I mean, everything I've been through has helped make me who I am, so it's not like I can be mad about it forever, right?"



"Yea, I guess," Carrie replied. "I would never had been able to survive all that, especially not ending up as happy as you are now."



"Happy?" Kelly smiled.



"You're not? You always seem so sweet and kind."



"Thanks, but don't confuse being happy with being polite."



"Rough couple of weeks?"



"Rough couple of years," Kelly replied. "But I'd rather not talk about that. I was actually having fun for a while there. What about you? You happy?"



"Oh yea, I'm forced to hang out with a girl that hates my guts, and what's worse, she's been a better friend to me than all of my real friends have been," Carrie said sarcastically.



"I don't hate your guts," Kelly pointed out.



"Whatever."



"Why don't you believe me?" Kelly asked curiously, worrying as she could hear the edge returning to Carrie's voice.



"Because I've heard what you said, and not just in the magazines--Clive's told me how you feel about me," Carrie said, her anger getting the best of her once again.



"Of course," Kelly sighed. "And you believe him. I mean, I've met you before all this. I've been nothing but nice to you, yet you choose to believe the devil."



Carrie just shook her head, choosing to ignoring her.



"You are unbelievable," Kelly informed her. "The guy treats you like shit. He has you by these...these marionette strings, sucking everything he can out of you, and as soon as he says you're done...you're done. Doesn't matter that he can't actually take away your talent. He'll get bored of you, and say you have nothing left. But you chose to believe him."



"You don't know what you're talking about," Carrie replied, although from the look in her eyes, Kelly could tell that she had hit the nail on the head.



"I know exactly what I'm talking about. You think I don't know how that guy works? You can't just let him do this to you. You are way better than this."



"Bitch," Carrie spat, standing up.



"Excuse me?" Kelly asked, looking up at her from her spot on the couch.



"Bitch," Carrie repeated. "You come in here, thinking you know everything about me, completely trash-talking my life? Who the hell do you think you are?"



"I wasn't trash-talking you," Kelly pointed out. "I was giving you a compliment."



"You called me a puppet."



"I said you had too much talent to be a puppet," Kelly corrected, standing up as well, but still having to look up to meet her gaze.



Carrie just shook her head, narrowing her eye, "Don't talk to me."



"Carrie?" Kelly called after her as the country singer walked away.



"Clive was right about you. You're just jealous of me and my career," she said turning back around. She gave Kelly the once over and laughed, completely walking away.



Kelly sighed deeply as she fell back onto the couch. That girl definitely had issues.



++++++++



"How'd it go?" Jason asked as Kelly tossed her purse onto the floor and kicked off her heels. She just grumbled something about a crazy taxi driver and a horny dog as she stretched out on the couch, placing her feet in his lap. He had to fight not to laugh. The couch wasn't so much a couch as it was a love seat, and a normal person wouldn't be able to stretch out completely on it. Kelly, however, had several inches to spare.



"Wait, did you say you rode a taxi back?" he asked.



"Yea," she frowned. She could still smell the smoke on her from that godawful club and the incense from the cab on her clothes.



"Why didn't you ride back with Carrie?"



"We had a disagreement."



"So she made you take a taxi? By yourself? Does she not know how dangerous that is?"



"It's fine," Kelly replied. "It's not like she knew I was leaving. I didn't see her after the argument anyway. She disappeared to someplace."



"She left you alone at the club?" Jason asked in disbelief.



"Jay, it's no big deal. I can take care of myself."



"But Kell, the people at those things aren't exactly the best of people. Especially for you who considers everybody an angel until they end up screwing you over, and sometimes even after that."



"I'm fine," Kelly insisted. "I just want to go to bed."



"Alright," Jason replied with a concerned frown, standing up. "Want a ride?"



Kelly nodded with a tired pout. He helped her off the sofa and turned around, squatting down for her. She jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder.



"You've lost weight," Jason commented as he gave her a piggy back ride to her bedroom.



Kelly smiled. He was probably the one person that could say that and not have it sound offensive in the least way, which was probably because he wasn't judging her, he was just making a comment.



"Yea," she replied. "That tour kicked my butt."



"Poor thing, it must be tired. " he smiled.



"Huh?"



"The tour, I mean," he laughed. "Cause that's a lot of butt to kick."