Author: lindslvsdwts
Title: Why Can't I-Chapter 4
Part: 4/?
Pairing: Sabrina & Mark
Disclaimer: Still don't own them.
Summary: Alright 2 weeks later the next chapter is finally here. So I am trying to make this story as how it would play out in real-life. So obviously, they aren't back together..I don't know how well this chapter is, so hope you all like it. Thanks to Krissieli for putting up with waiting so long for me to update! and everyone else that reads and comments.


Chapter 4

 The bright sunlight from outside shone into Sabrina’s hotel room. She rolled over and saw that it was nearly 11am. After getting ready for the day, she sat down on her bed and thought back to the previous night events. So we talked, danced, and kissed...just like old times.  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Sabrina opened the door and saw a guy who looked to be around her age.

“Hey there. Sorry to bother you but I am staying in the room next door and I accidentally left my key and was wondering if I could go through and retrieve it?”

 Sabrina smiled and said, “Yeah sure the door is open.”

 Once he retrieved his key and locked the door behind him, he came back to where Sabrina was still standing. “I’m Josh by the way. Thanks so much”

 Sabrina held out her hand. “Sabrina. And you’re welcome”

 Josh started to walk away and then turned back. “Listen are you busy? I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk around the pool with me, maybe get a drink?”

 Sabrina nodded her head. “That would be nice. Let me just grab my purse.”

Mark rolled over and rubbed his eyes. He saw that Joanna was still sleeping so he thought back to the previous night events. He remembered talking with Sabrina, and then the next thing he knew, he was kissing her, and then she left. Just like the way she left him, when she found out about him & Joanna. Ugh I was so stupid. Sabrina was my everything. And now look where I am. Well I am happy but I miss being with Sabrina.

He shook the thoughts out of his head and got up out of bed. After waking up Joanna with a kiss, they decided to go down to the pool to swim.

-----

  The sun was shining, kids splashing their parents, just a normal day down by the pool. After grabbing drinks at the bar, Sabrina and Josh sat down in some lounge chairs.

“So what’s a beautiful girl like your self doing all alone in Vegas?”

Sabrina chuckled and grinned. “Well I was supposed to be hanging out with some of my girlfriends but they couldn’t make it, so now I am just here alone. What about you?”

“Here on a business trip. I work for a tile company and I am the lucky one who got to come with the boss.”

“Sounds fun.” Sabrina took a sip of her drink not sure what else to say.

Josh turned to look at Sabrina. “Sabrina was it? That’s a great name. What do you do when you aren’t planning girl’s only trips?”

“Let’s just say I am living up to my role as being a role model for girls of all ages.”

 
The look on Josh’s face lit up. “Wait, I thought I recognized you. Aren’t you Sabrina Bryan who was apart of that girl group and on that dancing show?”

Sabrina laughed out loud. “Yep that’s me. The Cheetah Girls and Dancing With The Stars. I take it you have a niece or little sister that is a fan.”

Josh shook his head. “Actually no. I occasionally read those gossip magazines and that’s how I recognized you. I didn’t want to bring it up at first because well I wanted to get to know you a bit before.”

“Well thanks. Even though I haven’t really told you anything about me, it’s nice that you are so kind.”

As they talked some more, Sabrina thought to her self how cool this was just talking to a normal guy like Josh, someone who didn’t know what it was like to be in the spotlight all the time.

 As Josh was telling Sabrina about the movie he last saw on TV, Sabrina heard splashes and laughs coming from behind her. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Joanna splashing Mark and him swimming over to grab her. Sabrina turned back to Josh and tried to ignore the actions from behind.

Josh saw where Sabrina last looked and said “Do you know those people over there?”

“No, no I don’t. I was uh just wondering what all the commotion was.” She drank the rest of her drink trying to distract herself.

Josh stared over at where Mark was. “You sure cause he is looking over at us and that girl he is with doesn’t seem very happy.”

Sabrina sighed. “Alright I do know who they are. But I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s a long story. Do you mind if we go back to the lobby?”

Josh nodded and took Sabrina’s hand to help her up. As they were walking back to the hotel, Mark smiled at Sabrina. She responded with a short grin of her own.

Once they got back to their hotel rooms, Sabrina turned towards Josh. “Look about what happened back at the pool. That was my ex boyfriend and his current girlfriend.”

“Oh wow. That must be hard for you seeing him with her. I feel ya, my ex cheated on me with her current boyfriend while I was on a business trip to New York, we broke up a few months after I returned, and now she is 6 months pregnant and engaged to him.”

Sabrina was in awe. “Wow we have more in common then I thought.”

BEEP BEEP. Josh’s pager went off. “Dang my boss needs me. Hey it was great to meet you. Would you like to go out to dinner sometime?”

Sabrina nodded. “Well I am single..that would be lovely.”

“Great! How about around 8pm?”

“Sure. See you then.”

"Yep, everyone is on there way over. It's going to be a blast! But enough about me. What are you up too?

"Let's see, I promoted the third movie, wrote a book, BYOU 2, and lots of other inspiring projects. Nothing really has changed much. What about you?" She took a sip of her drink waiting for Mark to answer.

" Great! Much more exciting then having an album come out" He said with a grin.

"Oh my gosh Mark, how exciting! So happy for you and Derek! You two have been hoping for this in so long and it finally happened! Congrats!"

"Aww thanks Bri!" Mark leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.

 The bartender came over asking them if they wanted another round of drinks or some desert. They choose the strawberry cheesake and decided to share.

 "Yes Mark, Joanna"

Mark sighed and looked towards the elevator. "She's upstairs. I told her I had to talk a walk and clear my head, maybe get something from the car. I am surprised she hasnt come looking for me. Let me call her, is that okay?"

Sabrina shrugged her shoulders. "Well I mean she is YOUR girlfriend. I'm just the EX. Why do you need my permission?"

Mark laughed at her witty sense of humor. "Alright give me 2 seconds."

 As Mark was on the phone, Sabrina looked over at Mark and smiled at how calming this was. It felt just like old times. She wished things were like then, but was hoping that maybe one day down the road she could forgive him and things would be back to normal.

 BOOM BOOM BOOM

 The music from the club next door shook the thoughts out of Sabrina's head. Mark came over and said "Well she didnt answer so she must still be asleep." He looked over at Sabrina who was smiling at him. "What? You want to dance?"

"Well it has been awhile since I last danced with you, and I kinda of miss it." She held out her hand and Mark took it.

  Once inside the club, Sabrina pulled Mark towards the dance floor and started rocking out to Lady Gaga's Just Dance.  Just like the performers they were, they ruled that dancefloor causing everyone to clap and smile.

  As the song ended and changed to a slow song, Mark pulled Sabrina closer and whispered in her ear. "May I have this dance?" She nodded and leaned up next to him. They danced to the music, swaying back and forth in slow movements, his hand on her back, the other in her right hand, while she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Sabrina?"

She looked up at Mark. "Yeah, Mark?"

"I have always loved you"

Sabrina smiled and nodded. "I know. Me too."

Slowly, they both leaned their mouths towards one another and stared into each other eyes. Without speaking, the pressed their lips together. The kiss was slow yet meaningful.  It had felt just like the first time they had kissed. As Mark started to deepen the kiss, Sabrina let out a tiny moan and backed away.

The car pulled up to the Bellagio hotel. There was lots of people as it seemed everyone planned a weekend get away to Vegas. As Sabrina was checking into her room, her cell phone rang. She checked the caller id and saw that is was Derek.

“Hey Derek! What’s up?”

“Hey Sabrina. Nothing much just wanted to say hi. Are you busy this weekend?”

“Um actually I am in Vegas right now” , Sabrina said as she was paying for the room.

 
“Oh really! Well cool cause you know how I always go to Vegas for my birthday and well I wanted you to come join but since you are already there, I thought we could hang out and..” Derek was cut off by the other line.

“Sorry Bri, but Shannon is on the other line. I’ll call you later.”

Once Sabrina & Derek hung up, she picked up her bags and started to head towards her room. The view of her room was spectacular. She wished that Kiely or Mel was there with her as it was supposed it be girls only weekend, but she was glad to have time to her self for once. After taking a quick nap and then checking in with her mom to make sure Rocky was okay, she decided to head down to the local restaurant for some dinner.

“How may I help you miss?” the waiter said to Sabrina. “Um I would like a Pina Colada please.”

 
As she was waiting for her drink, she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on a couple sitting in the back booth. She narrowed her eyes to get a better glance. Is that? Oh Sabrina enough already!

“Here you go miss” Sabrina took her drink and smiled at the waiter in thanks. “Anything else I could get you?
She glanced at the menu and selected her choice, a cheese enchilada with rice and beans. Once the waiter left, she headed to the bathroom. As she opened the door, she bumped into someone that was leaving. 

 “Oops I’m sorry” she said while looking up at who this girl was that she bumped into. As she caught her eye, all the anger from the past couple months that Sabrina had, came back.

“Joanna.”

Joanna looked over at Sabrina with a sneer. “Hello Sabrina.”

The two girls stood in silence just staring at one another until Sabrina spoke.

“Well I have to um…” She started to walk towards the bathroom stall. Joanna nodded, checked her self out in the mirror, and then walked out the door leaving Sabrina there alone.

Well that was interesting. So she is here on the same weekend as me, most likely with Mark. Joy.

After finishing up her dinner, with Mark & Joanna no where in sight, she headed back up to her room. Once inside, she took a shower and then settled in bed to check her Twitter updates.  An hour later she decided to call it a night.

----

 “Hey Jo, have you seen my notebook. I want to look over the new song lyrics some more.”

 Joanna handed Mark the book then started to get ready for bed. As she was undressing, she turned to Mark. “Hey Mark have you seen Sabrina lately?”

 Mark’s head shot up as he stared at Joanna. “Why do you ask? No I haven’t.”

Joanna sat down next to Mark. “Well, I ran into her in the bathroom while we were at dinner. She is here at the hotel.”

Mark’s mouth opened a tad as he tried to process what Joanna was telling him. “She’s here? Was she with anyone?”

 
“Um no I don’t think so. She seemed like she did not want to be bothered. But anyways the only reason why I was asking is, did you invite her to your party? Because if you did, that’s fine but you know…”

 
Mark shook his head and got up to pace the room. “No I didn’t. Unless Derek, Em, or my mum told her. But her and I haven’t spoken to each other since…”

Joanna nodded and said, “Look forget I brought her up. She’s out of your life now and you and I are happy. Let’s just have fun this weekend without any distractions.”  Mark nodded and gave Joanna a kiss on the lips. “You’re right. Thanks babe.”

***

“Oh dear god!!!!”

“More Sabrina, more!”

Sabrina woke up her heart beating fast. She looked around and saw that she was dreaming.  Oh you have got to be kidding me. Ugh! She tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t so she decided to take a way around the hotel.

***

 “Mark? Mark? Are you okay?” Joanna woke up to see Mark putting on his pants. He grabbed the room key and said “Uh yeah I’m fine. I just need to get something from the car. Ill be right back.”  Joanna shook her head, decided to go after him, but then decided to stay behind. If he’s not back in 10 minutes, I’m going after him.

 ***

As Sabrina was walking down the hallway, she turned the corner and bumped into a trashcan knocking her purse on the ground. As she leaned down to pick it up, her hand brushed against someone else’s. She looked up and saw the night-shift janitor that had out a hand to help her up.

  “Here you go miss”  “Thanks so much.” She shook hands with the janitor. Once he disappeared around the corner, Sabrina leaned against the wall and let out a big sigh.

 God Sabrina, stop thinking about him! He didn’t want to be with you anymore, nor did he even accept the fact that you two were even a couple. Just forget about him.

 
Sabrina took a deep breath and walked towards the elevator. But once around the corner, she bumped into yet another person.

 
Sabrina looked up into the eyes of Mark.

As Sabrina was in her seat waiting for the plane to take off, she heard a girl giggle. She looked over and saw the same girl from check-in who was engrossed in conversation with her boyfriend. Sabrina smiled at them and saw how much they reminded her of exactly how her & Mark once were.  She leaned her head back and reminisced back to their last night together.

****

Mark looked over at Sabrina who was sleeping peacefully. Sabrina had been home for a little over 3 months from working on her movie in India. It was hard having to spend so much time apart but thankfully Sabrina was back home like she had never left. He leaned over and gave her kiss on her forehead. He got dressed and walked out to the kitchen. After getting a bite to eat and cleaning up their plates that were left on the table, he walked over to the couch to check his voicemails.

“Hey Mark it’s your Mum. I know it’s early and you are probably still asleep, but I wanted to let you know I will be in town next week and wanted to know if you and your darling Sabrina would like to have dinner with me. Hope to hear from you soon.

 Luv ya.”

Mark smiled and made a mental note to call his mom back later in the day. He felt a pair of hands wrap around his shoulders. He smiled and then pulled back to see Sabrina smiling at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Hey you. Whatcha doing?” She kissed him on the lips and nestled into his arms.

Mark set his phone on the coffee table and then turned to look into her eyes.

“Oh just checking my voicemail. My mom called and wants to have dinner.”

“Oh goody! I love when your mom comes to visit. Can I listen to the message?”

Mark nodded and handed her the phone. “Yeah I am just going to take a quick shower and then how about I whip you up your favorite breakfast?”

Sabrina smiled and gave Mark a huge kiss. “I’ll take that as a yes” Mark laughed

Once Mark was in the shower, Sabrina grabbed his cell phone. She saw a blinking light flashing which alerted a new voicemail. Hmm I thought Mark already read his messages, Sabrina thought to her self.  

“Hey Mark, um I hope you remember me. We met in North Carolina back in February at a hockey game. You were there with Kristi Yamaguchi and I was there to cheer on my..uh..friend. And well after the game we went out to dinner with Kristi and Brett and the rest of the team and well the reason why I am calling is, I just moved to LA and I remember you telling me you lived here, so I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner or something and catch up since we had such a great time together. Alright well I have to go, but call me back and let me know. Oh and it’s Joanna by the way. Bye”

Sabrina gasped in shock. She replayed the message again to be sure she heard correctly. Sadness and anger came over her. Who is this Joanna person and why did she have Mark’s number. No wait-the important question is why is she calling him?

The bathroom door opened and Sabrina stood and up and stared at Mark with a stern look on her face.

“Bri, what’s wrong? Who was on the phone?”

“Who’s Joanna, Mark?”

Mark stared at her with a confused look. “What, Who?”

Sabrina shook her head. “Don’t who me Mark! I went to listen to your mom’s voicemail and found that you had a new voicemail from some girl you meet in North Carolina when you were training with Kristi. She said you guys hung out and had a good time. but what I am confused about is why you were being so friendly with her

and how she even got your number.”

Mark walked over and grabbed the phone from her hands. He replayed the message, while Sabrina stood with her arms crossed. After the message ended, Mark turned off the phone and went and sat on the couch avoiding Sabrina’s eyes. The room was quiet for a few until Mark lifted up his head and said “I am sorry.”

Sabrina released her arms and stared at Mark in disbelief. “Sorry? for what? For hanging out with another girl while I was away, or for something else?”

All Mark could do was cry. He remembered what had happened that night between him and Joanna and when he told Sabrina he knew it would break her heart. He stood up and walked over to Sabrina. He took a deep breath and told her the exact story of how they met. Once Mark was done, Sabrina started gasping for air and pushed Mark away.

“You and her-I can’t , no its not. NO! Why Mark! Why? I thought you loved me and you promised me! I just cant..” Sabrina placed her head in her hands sobbing. Mark grabbed her hands to hug her but Sabrina pushed him away.

“No Mark don’t touch me! I cant even look at you right now! I need to get out of here.”

As Sabrina gathered up her stuff, Mark tried to stop her. “Mark just shut up. There is no way I can forgive you for this. You tell me how much you were going to miss me and that you loved me and then you go and get drunk and UGH! You are such a jerk.

 Goodbye Mark”

****

The flight attendant came over the intercom alerting the passengers to fasten their seat belts that the plane was getting ready to land. Sabrina shook her head and realized she had fallen asleep. She rolled her eyes and sighed. ( So much for my happy ending. )

Sabrina grabbed her bags from the luggage area and made her way to the waiting car. As she got inside, she just happened to miss Mark who was leaving the airport arm in arm with Joanna.