Stop Spreading the News

"Gemma, you need to back off," Carmella warned. This came after she'd heard the gloating tone in the redhead's voice and her plans for ****.

Several years of former dance squadmates stood grouped together roughly twenty-five feet away from the spur-of-the-moment procession of people flocking over to express their sympathy and support for Bridget. For the most part, the ex-Sugarbees felt empathy for the path their once rival seemed headed toward. Although they did express mild surprise at the number of people who rushed over to support the blonde doctor. Of course, one of them found the show of love irritating.

"Back off? When have you ever known me to do that?"

"I'm serious. This is not the time nor place for your petty high school ****," Carmella continued, missing the irony of her statement. Gemma didn't.

"So says the person with a family feud lasting generations," Gemma scoffed. "Besides, I'm just evening the score. The bitch gloated when my marriage fell apart."

"Fell apart? Quite the rewriting of history, Gem," Valentina commented.

"And I remember Bridget as more concerned over Hayden and, in particular, Harley," Naomi recalled.

"You couldn't know that."

"Actually, Maura heard that from Shayla, who heard--"

"Oh, are you going to cheerleader reunions now, too?" Gemma asked sarcastically of her former dancemate. "Gawd! How can none of you remember what a slut she was in high school? I bet Leo caught her banging a doctor at the hospital. Or, as I said earlier, something is going on between Bedsheets and Harvey. Why else the dumb cover story for their cabin tryst?"

"People can change, Gemma. We aren't the same person now that we were in high school. Well, maybe not you." Cordelia's remark caused Didi to move in front of Gemma. "As I mentioned before, Harvey seemed to be on a dry spell. His latest girlfriend moved, and he had that twitchy look in his eye--the one we all know--that he gets when he's horny. So, he didn't use Cassie's deathiversary as a cover for screwing Bridget."

"You can't know they didn't fuck after you saw him," Gemma hissed.

"Yeah, I think we all can. The next day was when Whitney almost died," Cordelia pointed out. She might have mentioned her personal experience for the knowledge about Harvey's dry spell, but this wasn't high school, and she didn't trust her squad with secrets like she used to.

"And don't even think of saying they fucked in the hospital while their kids were patients. You need to let the past go," Carmella remarked.

"Seriously? Are you and Rachel burying the hatchet? Cause your kids didn't look like it," Gemma responded. Then, her eyes caught sight of a missing Sugarbee from her squad. "Are you fucking shitting me?!"

The other older women turned to see a sobbing Felicity hugging Bridget.

"Oh, settle down, Gem. You know Fliss has a heart of gold," Naomi remarked.

"And her daughter, even more so," Valentina remarked as Yumi watched tearfully with Aurora and several other classmates.

"That's it! After all the shit I've done over the years, I'm done with you ungrateful bitches," Gemma declared dramatically.

With the redhead storming off, Didi rushed after to smooth things over. It's how these moments historically went down. Gemma announced they were through as friends, Didi or Carmella talked some sense into her, and the former captain would return, pretending as if nothing had happened.

"See? Nothing changes with her," Cordelia said, garnering shrugs.

"This has gotten out of hand," Bridget remarked.

"You think?" Gabby replied, shaking her head after Bridget's retiring alderman walked away.

"I think it shows you could run for office," Shelly commented. But then, the older blonde lawyer had another idea. "Or if people like you this easily, I could put in a word over at The Bridge. I bet they would love you as an occasional medical analyst. It would be a good way to stick it to Leo as well."

"Ooh, I love it! Bridget and television are a match made in heaven," Gabby gushed. She proceeded to list a string of speculative ideas, culminating with Bridget serving as chief medical correspondent of a major network.

Rachel shook her head at her best friend, taking a simple suggestion about WBRD in Blackbridge and turning Bridget into a media star.

"Let's save any career change talk for post-divorce," Rachel said before turning to Bridget. "Do you want us to stop them from coming over?"

"I appreciate everyone's concerns, but it's getting to be overwhelming," Bridget admitted, appearing weary. "And I'm worried the news is spreading so fast that the kids won't hear it from me first."

"I don't see Sean over on the dance floor any longer, but I can ask around. The last I heard, Peyton was out in the lobby. How about we go find her first?" Rachel queried.

"Too late," Lauren announced, nodding toward the arriving coed.

Bridget immediately spotted her daughter's concerned expression. She felt guilty, as it seemed her eldest child already knew about the latest development.

"Honey, I'm sorry that I didn't--"

"Mom, what the hell is going on with Whitney's chaperones? No one is watching her."

"Ah, um, what?' Bridget questioned, as this wasn't what she expected.

"I'm saying that the plan failed. Whitney nearly fainted twice within a few minutes. She's clearly overdone it," Peyton explained. She did give a cursory glance at the large group of her mom's friends that stood around her.

"Oh, no!" Rachel gasped.

"Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon!" Peyton ordered, already heading back to the lobby.

"Uh...oh! Right, right, I'm coming," Bridget announced, dashing over to catch up to her daughter with Rachel two steps behind. "Now, tell me exactly what happened."

Peyton did so. However, a nagging feeling caused her to inquire about the gathering in the ballroom. Peyton knew something had happened when Rachel breathed in sharply from behind the Tarver women.

"Ah, I'd hope to do this in a more private setting," Bridget started, shifting to a slower-paced walk. "There is no easy way to say this, honey. Your father and I have agreed to a divorce."

Peyton's reaction came in a slight jerk of her body. Then, almost immediately, she nodded in understanding.

"Dad not showing up was the final straw, huh? I mean, I assume that you asked for the divorce."

"Well, yes, I...why do you say that?" Bridget questioned, suddenly worried about how her daughter viewed her.

"Just because Dad doesn't usually like family confrontations, especially over the phone. He'd rather make critical comments, pull someone aside for a 'chat', or make plans and assume we all go along with them. Kinda like how he's mapped out Sean's life," Peyton listed. "So, it had to be you who **** the issue tonight. Not that I blame you. How did Sean take the news?"

Bridget gawked at how Peyton hit the nail on the head with everything.

"He doesn't know yet. Or we don't think so," Rachel supplied. "Are you alright?"

"I thought this might happen after Sean went off to college, but I hoped you two might fix things once it was just the two of you. It's okay, Mom. I understand. Sean's the one that I'm worried about. He might have more issues with Dad than I do, but he's also the romantic in the family."

"I had the same thought. Sean could react either way. I'll have...What in the world?" Bridget questioned after catching a strange sight in the lobby.

A commotion was underway as Frida issued orders to several men while hotel employees sought to stop her.

"This young lady needs to rest. I've already attempted to send her upstairs to her suite, but she refuses. So that sofa is going into the ballroom, whether you like it or not," Frida proclaimed.

"Ma'am, this is hotel property. We can not allow you to move it to the--"

"Do you know who I am? Do you know who she is? That's Whitney Diamond. I can guarantee you fully that your boss--the man who sees her as his niece and future successor as CEO--is more than fine with this action." Frida let the mid-level manager get in three words before she interrupted. "I do not care. Go find Dalton or his nephew. You have no say over--Bridget!"

Upon seeing the beautiful doctor, Frida rushed over. The emotional chef practically clung to Bridget as she pulled her over to Whitney while explaining what had happened.

"I keep telling them I'm fine," Whitney informed Bridget as she attempted to kneel down in her tight dress.

A brief and frustratingly multi-sided conversation ensued, with more than half a dozen individuals chiming in with what they witnessed and thought. Bridget cared mainly about the observations of Lacey, Peyton, and Jamie-Lynn. The latter two had some medical knowledge, while the former had a knack for noticing when her friends seemed off.

Another Stratton also had a similar knack regarding her friends' moods.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lana inquired, picking up on her BFF's different mood.

"Lana, don't pry," Rachel responded, saying the worst thing she could.

"Why not? What happened? Did someone do something to you?' Lana questioned Peyton, looking around to find the culprit. "Who was it?"

"Lana," her mother hissed.

"It's okay," the younger blonde said to her friend's mother. Then, turning toward the closest thing she had to a sister, Peyton told Lana the news.

"Whoa! For real? Damn, your dad is an asshole."

Lana's reaction set off a chain of comments. The girls' college friends and housemates hurriedly moved to console Peyton. A few of them had parents or other close relatives who had gone through divorces, so they understood the potential feelings brewing inside Peyton. Whitney attempted to stand up to hug Bridget, but Lacey reached her surrogate aunt first, knocking Whitney back onto the sofa.

"Lacey!" Rachel admonished. When the younger Stratton turned with a curious expression, her mother gestured toward the exhausted girl that everyone had been concerned about seconds ago.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Lacey squealed between her tears.

"Your husband is a fool," the current blonde cheer captain told her the older version while reaching for her hand. Squeezing it, the daughter of divorced parents shared an empathic look with Bridget. "I'm very fortunate Sean took after you, not his dad."

"Sean! Where is he? How is he?" Lacey rattled off her concerned questions while Rachel consoled her.

"I don't think he knows yet," Bridget admitted. "Do any of you know his whereabouts?"

Shaking heads responded.

"We need to find him!" Lacey exclaimed between sobs, sounding almost hysterical. "I'll go find him."

"No, I'll go," Kaitlin said, throwing up a hand to stop the crying redhead. "You stay here, Lace. I'm sure that Kizzy is with him or knows. The Babybees are taking their job seriously with Sean."

"Thank you, Kaitlin," Rachel responded. Bridget repeated her thanks.

"Sure, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll have him back in a flash."

With a more somber mood settling in, Bridget continued her checkup of Whitney. Lana didn't like the atmosphere. So, as per her personality, she decided to change it.

"Alright, nobody died here, so let's cut out the crying. I have a bigger concern," the redhead began before turning to face Peyton. "You better not act out. I'm too old to find a new role in this friendship. So no turning slut to get back at mommy and daddy, you hear?"

Despite their group standing in a large, noisy lobby, it felt as if a pin could've been heard by the silence that followed Lana's warning. Lacey stared at her sister with her mouth moving, but words could not come out. Standing next to her, Rachel shook her head slowly. On the other side of the couch, Priscilla and Merritt shared a grimace.

Suddenly, laughter sounded. Everyone turned their attention to the partially kneeling Bridget as her body nearly fell over from such hearty laughter. Peyton and Rachel began to worry about her state of mind. However, when Bridget stood up, she wiped tears from laughing so hard.

Even more surprising, Bridget moved to wrap Lana in a firm hug.

"Thank you, sweetie. Thank you for putting such a ridiculous picture in my head."

Peyton threw up a hand. With it, she gestured toward her mom and BFF while turning to face her other friends.

"See? You see what I've dealt with my whole life?" the leggy blonde remarked.

"Mrs. Tarver, do you want me to get Pey a job at the strip club?" Kiki inquired.

"The hell, Kiki!" Jamie-Lynn exclaimed.

"I think she needs an amateur night tryout first," Lana commented, sending Bridget into a burst of howling laughter.

"Great. Make yourself feel better at my expense," Peyton grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm sorry, honey. It's just that I gave up long ago wondering if you'd go through a wild phase," Bridget apologized, moving from Lana to Peyton.

"We should at least throw a fashion party once we go back," Kiki suggested. "We haven't done that in forever. Peyton can be our guest of honor model."

"It's been a solid year. We had it at the end of finals last December. It's about time. Zaylie needs to defend her crown," Priscilla added.

"And everyone is performing this time," Merritt stressed, looking Jamie-Lynn's way.

"Hell, yeah! We'll have to clean the basement up or get one of the guys with the bigger houses to let us use it. Wait, where is Zaylie?" Lana questioned, realizing she hadn't seen their one friend in like forever.

"Oh, I need to witness this. We are definitely going up for it," Whitney proclaimed, sending Lacey an eager look.

"Is this like a fashion competition?" Bridget queried. "We had a few exciting shows in our day," she hinted, glancing over at Rachel, who frowned at the memories.

Suddenly, Frida screamed, "Harvey!"

Whitney perked up from her spot on the sofa as her father hurried over. Before he could even ask, Frida launched into an explanation about his daughter and what happened. At one point, Harvey attempted to walk past his old family friend and toward Whitney, but Frida blocked his path as she continued.

Finally, Harvey held up both hands to calm Frida down. Next, he turned toward the men Frida attempted to coax into acting as furniture movers and the hotel employees.

"Thank you, but we won't need your help." Frida sputtered a protest. "Of course, Dalton would be fine with moving the couch for Whitney. However, that won't be necessary. My daughter's New Year's Eve excitement has ended."

"What?! No way! I'm not going up to our suite until after midnight. It's like barely 10:30," Whitney argued.

"You're not going up to the suite. Besides to get your things," Harvey said before announcing, "We're leaving."

"Leaving? What are you talking about, Dad? The night's not over," Whitney pointed out as her friends' murmurs sounded around the sofa.

"I need...We need to leave," Harvey said, glancing over his shoulder toward the hallway leading to the hotel's offices.

"Leave..." Whitney began to argue again before her voice trailed off at a new thought. "Dad, what did you do now?"