Three days later

 

She pouted and walked down the empty hallway to her brother's office.  Justin wasn't there.  She should have known better than to get her hopes up.  Plus, he probably didn't go to therapy every damn day.  He probably only went every other week.  She wondered why he needed therapy.  She knew a lot of people who had nothing mentally wrong with them would go just to have someone to talk to, or at least that's what her brother had told her.  Her mom went to therapy and she was, well, never mind.  Still, she was curious.  She knocked on the door and heard a "come in", so she pushed the door open and walked into the office, tossing her keys at the man behind the desk. 

 

"There ya go, biznitch."

 

He caught them in his hands and placed them to the side on his desk.  He had a folder with a red tab at the top opened in front of him.  "Thanks Dee.  You sure you don't mind?"

 

She half sat on the edge of his desk.  "Not your fault its inspection time."

 

"Preston picking you up?"  He leaned back and smiled at her.

 

"Yeah in like ten minutes.  I think we might hang out at your place."  She hated that Preston was picking her up.  She had gone to lunch with him the other day, and they had ended up making out at his uncle's.  Thankfully the phone had rang, just as she hoped, and she had left while he was busy talking to whoever it was.  At least they were going to her brother's condo to hang out that afternoon.  Whenever his hands started to wander she could claim she didn’t know when her brother was coming home and didn’t want him busting up on them.  Hopefully, Preston would get bored and leave and she could hang out by herself.

 

"Sounds good to me."

 

"How'd you get back from the car place?"

 

"Cab.  Hey, Carlos is coming over tonight and we're thinking about making fajitas.  You game?"

 

Mmm, she loved Fajitas.  Her brother was a fabulous cook, which she never really understood.  He went twenty-five years without ever having to cook for himself, but since he moved to Los Angeles he had become his own food connoisseur.  "Ooo, hell yes!"  She paused, smiling slyly at her bother.  "I bought Fellowship of the Ring today."

 

"Oh my god, we're watching that tonight." He gasped and she smiled at the obvious excitement in her brother's eyes.  He was a pretty cool guy, but whenever Lord of the Rings, Star Wars or any Marvel comic were mentioned he became worse than she was about Justin.

 

"Mmm Aragon.  We should all dress up as elves." She giggled and he rolled his eyes at her, even though she knew deep down that he probably thought the idea was grand.  Hell, he was the one that had forced her into a trashcan when she was five to be R2-D2 while he ran around her with a fake light saber.

 

"Dork.  You're short enough to be a hobbit."

 

She narrowed her eyes and forced a sarcastic laugh, "Ha ha ha ha, funny." She hopped off the desk and turned towards the door.  "I'm gonna go on."

 

He winked at her with a smile as she held on to the side of the door.  "Maybe you'll see Timberlove in the hallway again and you can molest him."

 

She wished she had something to throw at him.  He had ragged on her that entire night, enough to the point where she got pissed off at her brother and locked herself in the guest room she had claimed as her own for the summer.  It was weird, because usually her brother didn’t piss her off too bad.  "Shut up. I've come to terms that I'm probably not going to see him again."

 

"Never know, Dee." He shrugged.

 

She turned to him with wide eyes, curiosity flooding her mind.  "What?  You mean he's here today?"

 

"No, I don’t think so."  He looked up at her from the folder he had started to look at again and passed her a serious glance.  "But please, if you do see him again, don’t bother him.  I'd rather loose my job over something more important than your lust for a boyband member."

 

She rolled her eyes and waved at him, walking out the door.  "Oh please, homo."

 

"That hurts."

 

She waved and started to pull the door shut behind her. "Bye brother."

 

"See ya."

 

She closed the door and let out a breath.  She walked down the hallway and smiled at the secretary in front of the main psychiatrist's office.  She forgot the doctor’s name but made sure to make fun of her brother for not being cool enough to have a secretary like the other dude did.  She pushed open the glass doors of the building and went outside.  She dug around in her new Coach purse.  It pissed her off, though.  Everyone else was starting to get the same damn print and she hated trendy shit.  She wished she had never got rid of her patched satchel purse from the Gap that cost twelve bucks.  Too bad she had worn a hole in it and was tired of her mother telling her she looked like a grandma with it.  Actually, she thought it was funny her mother cared so much about her damned purse.  Finally, she found her cell phone and flipped it open, seeing that it was two fifteen. 

 

"Dammit."  She muttered, glancing around the parking lot.  She didn’t see Preston's car anywhere and figured he'd be like late like always.  She should have told him to call her when he got there and she could just hang out with her brother, but she didn’t want to bother him at work, and she knew he had said he had a patient coming in around two thirty.  With a sigh, she plopped herself down on the curb and started searching through her phonebook, trying to find someone who she could talk to.  It was sad, really. She had thirty or so names and numbers, but as she scrolled none of them seemed worth her time.  Her family always bored her or pissed her off, and she didn’t really like any of her friends.  Sure there were her girls from Columbia, but she knew she'd probably just get their voice mails.  Most of them worked during the summer, or were overseas studying abroad. 

 

She ended up playing a grueling game of Snake on her cell phone, but stopped when she felt like someone was watching her.  She looked up and didn’t see anyone in the parking lot.  She glanced over her shoulder and didn’t see anyone in the doorway of the building.  She shrugged it off, she was just being paranoid. 

 

Five minutes passed, and she thought about calling Preston.  But she knew he'd probably yell at her and say, "I'm on my fucking way, geez Darce!"

 

She smiled to herself and wondered what he'd do if she called a cab and didn’t tell him.  He'd be pissed as hell saying that he had to drive all that way for nothing.  It wasn’t her fault her Uncle had a beach house and it took forever to get from there to…well anywhere else in LA.  She paused over his name and thought about deleting it.  Nah, she couldn’t do that.  If she did she'd have no one to talk to beside her brother and his friends.  All his friends worked and she never really saw them except on the weekends and the few random weeknights he'd have them over.  She almost wished she had a job somewhere.  But her mother wouldn't approve.  Sometimes she really wished her mother would get a life, instead of messing with everyone elses.

 

Darcy looked up and let out a long sigh, "Oh me..."  She didn’t know when the hell Preston would get there and it was staring to piss her off.

 

"Y-you alright?"

 

She stared straight ahead of her.  That voice was familiar. 

 

Slowly her eyes turned to the right, and then she moved her head to look at the figure who magically had appeared beside her.  He was standing five feet away in dark gray cargo pants, a tight gray shirt with the word "army" pulled against his chest in camouflage.  He had a gray ranger cap tilted on his head that matched the color of his pants and a white smile on his lips.  Her mouth dropped at his appearance.  She didn’t know how he got there, but there he was, and she sure as hell wasn’t complaining.  She hadn't heard him approach and didn’t know where he came from.  She hadn’t heard the door to the offices open and hadn’t seen anyone come from any car.  But it didn’t matter.  He was there.  And he was looking so damn good.

 

He was back.  She was getting another chance.  She gulped.

 

"You ok?"

 

She shook her head and pushed herself off the curb, feeling a little dizzy as she did so.  "Yeah, fine. Just waiting on my ride." She felt her face go hot.  Shit, why was she blushing?  Why was he looking so damn hot?  Why the hell had she just worn a ratty pair of torn jeans and a plain light pink shirt?  Her hair was pulled back sloppily and she hadn’t put on any makeup that morning.  What a way to make a second impression.

 

He smiled again.  He licked his lips nervously, but it faded as he got an excited look in his eyes that were shining under the short bill of the hat.  "You're Darcy, right?"

 

He knows my name.

 

She stared at him wide eyed.  God, she almost wished she could go back to three days ago when she was rambling.  Now she couldn’t think of anything to say.  All she could do was stare at him.  It was Justin Timberlake, in front of her...again! 

 

"Uh...yeah..."

 

“Cool.”  He looked to the paved sidewalk for a moment like he was searching for what to say to her.  She just stared at him, letting her eyes run the length of him.  He was wearing black flip-flops, and while she normally didn’t have a thing for feet, his toes peaking out of the bottoms of his baggy pants were cute.  His pants rode low on his hips, but fit well and the tee shirt he wore molded to almost every curve and muscle of his upper body.  His eyes hit hers and she felt like an axe had been hurled at her and smacked into her stomach.  But this axe didn’t hurt, it just made her uneasy.  His eyes were so blue, so intense, staring at her like he was trying to figure her out.  He was staring at her like he knew her. 

 

They weren’t the eyes of a stranger.  He blinked and a smile spread on his face.  “I’m Justin.”  He stuck his hand out in between them. 

 

She rolled her eyes with a smile and said, “Yeah, I know.”  Fuck, she thought when she realized she sounded like a bitch.  What was wrong with her?  She was supposed to be flirty and seductive and get in his pants.  Hello!  This was Justin Timberlake!  She took a deep breath and saw he was still leaning forward a bit with his arm outstretched to her.  She moved her arm towards his and felt his hand grasp hers.

 

It wasn’t a shock, but some feeling came over her.  She figured it was probably just her being star struck.  But she couldn’t get over how warm and soft and smooth and big his hands were.  They were perfect.  He lightly shook her hand twice and then lingered there.  She didn’t want him to pull away but she didn’t want to stay there, grasping his hand like some obsessed fan.

 

She loved Nsync’s music and adored going to concerts.  But she didn’t have posters on her wall and she didn’t check the web every day for new gossip or buy teeny magazines.  Her problem was that she was a television junkie and would stare at MTV and E! for hours, especially now that she was out in LA and didn’t have anything else really to do but lay around her brother’s place, watch TV, and wait for Preston to call.  She could go shopping, but she got so bored with it after awhile.  She liked to go on a big shopping spree once a season, spending all day trying on clothes and going from shop to shop to shop.  And she had already done that for summer the first week she had flown out to the west coast.

 

They were both standing there awkwardly, him looking down and shuffling his feet while she stood there wide eyed and unmoving.  He cleared his throat and didn’t look up at her.   “So uh…”

 

She realized she was making an ass out of herself.  This was her second chance with him, not that she had a chance, but it was her time to not make a fool out of herself and maybe strike up a conversation.  She knew he’d probably be leaving soon, and Preston would probably show up and bust up on her fun, so she figured she needed to make the most of it.  She forced a smile and sighed, “Sorry I sounded like a retard the other day.  I just, I guess I’m a pretty big fan and I was kinda shocked to see ya.”

 

He smiled shyly and said in a voice just above a whisper, “I was kinda shocked to see you too.”

 

Her eyebrows furrowed.  “Why?”

 

His eyes widened and he looked frightened for a moment. .  She hated that she was freaking the boy out so much.  Did she look that bad?  Did she have toothpaste stains on her shirt?  She got up at 11:30 after she had decided to start watching Almost Famous a little after midnight and had been a little out of it that morning.  She looked down at herself.  Nope, no toothpaste.  She looked back up.  He was rubbing the back of his neck and she had to try to calm herself down as she saw his bicep bulge underneath the tight short sleeve. 

 

He stuttered while he said, “I mean...well…ya know, seeing a fan while I’m, ya know...in…in a doctor’s office.”

 

She looked at him sincerely and without thinking asked, “Are you ok?”  She realized she had just pried into his private life.  Even if she knew him as a friend she shouldn’t have asked about his damn doctor’s appointments.  She gasped and covered her mouth.  “Oh my god, I shouldn’t have asked that.”  She put her hand up in front of her in a stop motion and shook her head, stepping back away from him.  “Look, sorry! I’ll stop bothering you.”

 

“I approached you,” he half laughed.

 

“Why did you?”  With a clench of her fist and a grinding of her teeth she said “Doh!” to herself.  She was sounding so bitchy and she really didn’t mean to.  Her period. She must have been a couple days from ragging.  That was the only explanation.

 

“Because you looked frustrated.”

 

She sighed and looked down at the watch on her hand.  Preston was supposed to have been there fifteen minutes ago.  “I am.”

 

“Your ride late?”  He asked in a chipper voice.

 

“Yeah.  I think I’m just gonna call a cab.” Her purse slide off her shoulder and she held it in front of her.  It wasn’t that big of a bag and yet she still had the worst time trying to find her cell phone. 

 

“Why don’t I take ya?”

 

“What?!”

 

A moment passed.

 

 She gulped and stared at him, completely shocked that he had asked her that, and mortified that she had yelled “what” instead of “sure”.

 

He put his hands up in defense and smiled at her playfully. “I’m not a stalker or a kidnapper.  It would ruin my pop star image.”

 

“It’s ok.  You don’t-” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She was thinking entirely too much about this.  When she opened her eyes and he was still there, staring at her, licking his lips, she decided to say fuck it to Preston and fuck it to why on earth Justin Timberlake was talking her.  She bit her lip at first and shrugged nervously, scrunching up her nose a little bit.  “I mean, if you don’t mind that’d be great.”

 

He winked at her and waved her over to him with his hand.  He dug down in his pocket and pulled out his keys, starting to walk towards the parked cars.  She quickly ran up beside him and smiled at him.  He looked down at her with a half smile and she realized how close they were. 

 

“So where are you headed?”  He asked.

 

“Home.”  Her hand accidentally hit his as they walked and she sucked in a silent breath.  She had touched him twice, not including the collision a couple days prior, and now he was taking her home.  Justin was taking her home.  It was almost too much to handle. 

 

“Where’s that?”  She watched as he pressed a button on his keyless entry device and saw the lights flash to a Silver Mercedes Benz convertible hardtop.  It was an SL.  Her older sister had wanted one for a while.  Darcy liked the convertibles better than a hardtop like the one Justin had, but whatever.  That was just her preference. 

 

“’Bout fifteen minutes away. Near where 405 and 101 cross. Roscomare Rd.” She walked over to the passenger side as he rounded to the driver’s.  He was smiling a cheesy smile, almost as if he had just won something.  She wondered what it was about her.  Was she really looking hot?  Were her nipples showing?  She looked down. No, no nipples.  Perhaps, he as just a really nice guy.  That had to be it.  Or maybe he was a psycho killer.

 

He gave her an interesting look and nodded slowly.  “Oh wow, that’s not too far from my place.”

 

Psycho killer?  Nah.

 

They plopped in his car, pulled over their seat belts and she smiled.  She loved black leather in cars.  He cranked the engine and she looked around the car.  She liked it.  She kind of wished her sister had gotten one, now.  The air condition started full blast and he immediately moved his hand to the console to turn it down.  The radio came through and she stopped her inspection of the car as he pulled out of the parking space. 

 

Her eyes darted from the radio to his face. He had his body twisted around to look behind him.  Her nose turned up, “You like Classical?”

 

He turned around and moved the gear to drive in between their bucket seats.  He shrugged, “Yeah…”  He paused and then added.  “Sometimes.”

 

She wouldn’t have ever imagined him to like classical.  She hated it.  “Ugh, turn it off.”

 

“You don’t like it?”  He looked upset and shocked and she hoped she hadn’t just hurt his feelings.

 

She shook her head, memories of her childhood flooding back to her.  The dreaded lessons with Madame Delacroix, her mother yelling at her whenever she would rather watch TV than play piano, the recitals she was forced to participate in.  She hated the piano and she hated classical music, especially Rachmaninov.   “Not this shit.  Rachmaninov.  God, I hate it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

She looked over at him as he pulled out onto the road.  He looked a little sullen and disappointed.  Was he hoping she was a classical freak?  Maybe he was just upset that they didn’t have that in common. And, and maybe she was being a little too harsh with her comments.  She took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  She was getting anxious. She was in his car, he was taking her home, it was her only time with him.  She needed to make a lasting impression and not one that had the word bitch in it. 

 

“Sorry,” she started.  “I just, well I played piano for a while but hated it.  And my mom loves Rachmaninov so she would force me to learn all his pieces.  I mean, I like some stuff.  Like Beethoven is a genius and Handel and Bach are pretty cool.  But its not something I have in my cd player.”

 

“Oh ok.  Well, I got other stuff.”

 

“May I?”  She reached to his stereo, she could tell it was a multi-disk changer.

 

“Uh,” He narrowed his eyes at her and then slowly nodded.  “Go ahead…”

 

She flipped to the next cd bracing herself for Brian McKnight or Eminem or something.  She was a little shocked when she heard the soft guitar sounds of Coldplay’s cd.  Her head cocked to the side, she thought about it, and decided she didn’t want to relax into mush like that cd tended to make her do.  She changed to the next one.

 

The cd started and she sat back in her seat a little mesmerized.  She recognized this cd as “Ok Computer.”  She was introduced to Radiohead her first week of freshman year when her roommate forced her to listen to everyone of their cds.  Usually she didn’t like people forcing things on her, but this she liked.  It was so different from what she was use to.  She immediately fell in love.

 

He really was throwing her for a loop with his musical selection. “You like Radiohead?!”  He nodded and smiled, not moving his eyes off the road.  “I thought you were only an R&B dude.  Classical, Radiohead, Coldplay? Wwhat happened to the Justin Timberlake I used to know?”

 

“I’ve changed,” he said smoothly, chuckling afterwards.

 

She shrugged sheepishly as he pulled onto 405, revving the engine as he changed gears and immediately veered to the left most lane. “I guess I don’t really know you, though.  It’s weird.  I mean, I know you from what I see on TV, but I don’t know you know you.”

 

“Ok…”  He let out slowly and uncomfortably. 

 

She muttered, “Sorry.”  It hit her how horribly awkward this really was.  What the hell did they have to talk about?  Just then her stomach let out a rumbling noise.  It was embarrassing and she sunk down against the leather and felt her cheeks flush.

 

“Hungry?”  He laughed.

 

She crossed her arms over her tummy and stared out the tinted window, not daring to look at him.  “Yeah, I haven’t had lunch yet.”

 

“Wanna go get something?” She looked at him and he glanced at her, moved the gear lower when the traffic got tighter and relaxed completely into his seat, something she noticed he hadn’t done until now. 

 

“No, I don’t wanna trouble you.”

 

He smiled as “Paranoid Android” came on and looked in his blind spot as he switched lanes.  “It’s no trouble.  I’m kinda hungry myself.  All I had for lunch was a crappy grilled cheese.”

 

“Ok…”  She smiled.  It was comforting to know that while he could have had some gourmet dinner all he had was a grilled cheese.  That was the kind of man she wanted, someone who was humble enough to have a crappy sandwich for lunch, not someone who needed filtered water in a crystal glass and more than six pairs of silverware on the table.

 

It was quiet for a few minutes, both of them just listening to the music when finally he said, “So where do you wanna go?”

 

“Don’t matter.” She shrugged and giggled inwardly at a gentleman’s club billboard that said “Nuttin’ butt fun”.  She bit her lip, she was in the car with Justin Timberlake, going to get lunch and had just passed a strip club billboard.  For some reason nothing made sense to her, but she didn’t care.  She was happy.

 

“I know a good pizza place.”

 

She looked over at him and turned down the volume just a little bit, asking, “Ok, do they have other things besides pizza?”

 

“Yeah.”  He asked cautiously, “Do you not like pizza?”

 

“No, I love pizza, just not California style.”

 

“Wha?” He laughed.

 

“It’s too crazy.  Give me New York baby.”

 

“It’s just pizza!”

 

She put her hands up and said in a smart-ass tone.  “Look, barbequed chicken does not go on a pizza.”

 

He continued to laugh and she smiled.  He really had a great laugh.  It was full and he didn’t hold back.  It made her feel good inside even though he was kind of laughing at her at this point.  She really didn’t care.  He looked good, he was happy and laughing, and she was there with him.  What a great day. 

 

He sucked in a huge breath to sober himself up and said, “Ok, ok.  They got sandwiches and salads too.”

 

“That’s all I need.”

 

The song changed to a much softer, calmer one and Justin resituated himself in his seat.  He moved his car to the right lane so he could exit and asked, “So…Where ya from?  I’m thinking New York since you’re a pizza discriminator.” He chuckled.

 

She wanted to swat at him, but was afraid of what might happen if she touched him again.  “I was born in Connecticut, but I’ve spent a lot of time in New York. I go to Columbia.”

 

“Oh, yeah, that’s a nice area.”  He nodded his head.

 

“Yeah I love it.” She sighed.  LA was nice but she missed her home.  She missed her apartment and the coffee shop a block away.  She missed the crazy Rastafarian dude that always walked by her on her way to campus Monday and Wednseday mornings and said “You are the sunshine in this rusted city.”  She couldn’t wait to go back.  But California was nice getting away from her family or at least the crazy people in her family.

 

“What are you studying there?”  He asked, braking as the car in front of them pulled into a BP.

 

“History.  My parents were begging for me to do pre-Med or Law or hell, even Business.  But well, I like to annoy them.”

 

He glanced at her and smiled, “What are you gonna do with that?”

 

She shrugged.  “Hell if I know?  Teach, I guess.”

 

“Don’t you find it boring?”

 

“History?  Yeah, sometimes.”  She paused and watched him shift gears as they had to stop at a stop light.  His hands were beautiful.  She liked this version of Justin.  Sometimes on TV she’d see him with diamond studs in his ears, rings on his fingers and a blingin’ watch.  He was free of jewelry that day except a black and white stoned necklace that was peeking from behind the back neck of his shirt.  He was sexy, and dressed well, but he looked more relaxed and more comfortable than he did on TV.  He looked rather normal, different from his I’m a rich pop star image. 

 

She realized she was staring a little too hard and tried to get back on topic.  “It really depends on your teacher and the material.  If the stuff is written well, its fun.  History is sometimes more melodramatic than TV.  But I’ve had a few professors with monotone voices who cared more about how many cattle a certain village in Britain had than the fact that the king was screwing his half sister.”

 

“Ewww…”  He laughed, turning up his nose and flaring his nostrils a little. 

 

“So what about you?  How’s vacation?”

 

He started to ask her how she knew, “How-“  But then stopped, shaking his head and saying in a flat tone, “Oh yeah, sorry.  I keep forgetting you’re a fan.”

 

He seemed disappointed.  What did he expect?  Did he want her to not like his music?  To never have heard of him before?  Why was he expecting so much with her?  He approached her.  He invited her into his car.  It was quiet and got really awkward really fast.  She breathed out quietly, “Sorry.  I don’t mean to make it awkward.”

 

“It-it’s not.” He stuttered.  He took a deep breath and she looked over to see him tapping his hand nervously against the steering wheel, his eyes darting all around in front of them.  Damn, he seemed almost as nervous as she was.  What happened to the cool, smooth Justin from a couple minutes ago?  He sighed and brought the conversation back, “Vacation is ok.  Its weird being on my own now, like really by myself.”

 

“Sorry…” She muttered, feeling bad for the poor guy.  She knew how it felt to be alone and she still had, unfortunately, her boyfriend.

 

“Why? I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”

 

“I just assumed because of…”

 

“Britney?” He finished for her when she trailed off and felt bad that she had even brought this up.  “Well, yeah.  I mean.  I don’t know.  It’s hard, but it’s not just her.  Being away from the guys, I mean this is the first time I’ve been away from them for more than three weeks since we got together.”

 

“Wow.”  She hadn’t realized it had been that long.

 

He spoke as he turned into a old cracked parking lot with a small brick building stuck in the middle.  There was a big weathered sign outside that said “Kell’s Pizza Oven” and dying palm tries underneath it.  “Tell me about it.  And it’s gonna be even longer.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Can you keep a secret?”  He smiled and pulled into a parking spot right by the doorway.

 

“Yeah.”

 

He put the car in park and turned to grin at her.  “I’m doing a solo album.”

 

She blinked and a slow smile spread on her face at his sparkling eyes underneath his hat.  She licked her lips and took a deep breath.  Finally she exclaimed, “Really?!”

 

“Yeah…” He laughed a little and nodded in a slightly arrogant manner, “Cool, eh?”

 

“Oh my god, yes.” She smiled and bit her lip.  A Justin album would be awesome.  She couldn’t believe it.  She couldn’t believe any of it.  That day, it was just…it was a dream.  She prayed she wouldn’t wake up.

 

“I haven’t laid down any tracks yet.  I mean I’ve been fiddling around and nothing is set in stone but…well. Yeah.”

 

“That’s really awesome, Justin.” She said genuinely.

 

“Yeah I’m excited about it.”  He sighed and took a look around before turning and saying to her,   “What would you like?”

 

She passed him a strange look and giggled awkwardly.  “Uh, I kinda wanna see the menu first.”

 

With a sheepish grin he took off his seat belt, turned  a little more to her in his seat and started to talk with his hands.  “If you don’t mind I’m gonna get it to go.  I’ll just go in.  What do you want?  I know their menu by heart.”

 

“Afraid to be seen with me,  Mr. Timberlake?” She said in a flirty voice and winked.  She started to turn pink when she realized what she had just done.

 

“No, actually I’m not.  But they have a habit of finding me here, and unless you want your picture on the cover of US magazine next week, it’ll probably be better if I just go in and get it.”

 

“Oh, ok.” She thought really quickly about what most places offered and even though she didn’t really want it she blurted it out anyway.  She would be getting fajitas later on so it really didn’t matter.  “ Just get me a Chicken Salad Sandwich.”

 

He tightened his cheeks and stuck out his tongue, making his mouth look like a frogs.  “Oh you don’t want it here.  Too Mayonnaisey.”

 

She giggled at his face and he bowed his head, looking a little shy.  She didn’t know what it was but she was starting to feel more and more comfortable with him.  He was treating her like he had known her for forever and that made her feel at ease. “Maybe I like it mayonnaisey.”

 

“Trust me.  What about a Philly cheese steak?  They’re really good here.”

 

“I thought this was a pizza joint!  And I thought we were in LA!”

 

“We are. What about a Los Angeles cheese steak?” He laughed.

 

“What are you gonna get?”

 

He shrugged, “I don’t know yet.” With a pause he winked at her and said, “I’m gonna look at the menu.”

 

“Oh my god! I hate you.”  She pushed at him and he grabbed her wrists before she did too much damage.  She immediately stopped her scowl and stared at him.  He was holding her arms.  His hands were around her.  She took a deep breath.  Why was she acting this way?  Yes he looked good, more than good, but she was feeling like she hadn’t gotten laid in four years.

 

“Oh please.  How could you hate me?  I’m giving you a ride home.”

 

The sun was shining bright outside when she looked away and she bit her lip so she wouldn’t say or do anything or look stupid.  “Just get me a cheesesteak,” she said quietly.

 

“Onions and peppers?”  It wasn’t until then did he let her arms go and she heard the car door open and the ding, ding, ding alarm because of it. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ok, I’ll be back in minute.  Don’t disappear on me.”

 

She turned back to look at him and he was staring at her intently, with big blue eyes and his mouth opened slightly.  She shook her head and tilted it to the side a little bit asking, “Where would I go?”

 

He smiled and started to get out of the car, but turned back around before he took the keys out of the ignition and said, “Want me to leave the radio on?”

 

“Nah…”  He smiled and she was left alone.  She watched him shut the door and walk straight ahead into the tinted glass doors.  The shadowy outline of his figure disappeared in the building.  As soon as he vanished in her sight, she picked up her purse by her feet, found her cell phone, flipped it open, pressed send once, checked to make sure Alden’s cell phone was first on her list, and then pressed send again. 

 

She got his voice mail and took a deep breath before letting out,  “Omigod!  OH! MY! GOD!”

 

She took another deep breath and screeched using one hand to hold the phone and the other to wave about, “Alden!  Oh my fucking God!  You will never believe whose car I’m in.”  She paused and then screamed “JUSTIN TIMBERLAKES!  I don’t know how it happened!  All I know is that I was waiting outside on the curb and now I’m in his car waiting for him to get us some lunch at this place called ‘Kell’s Pizza Oven.’  What the hell?  Oh my God!  And Alden, he’s looking soooo damn good.  Like, oh my God!  He just like LEFT me in his car.  He trusts me.  I’m a fan and he’s letting me sit in his car-”

 

She was interrupted and rolled her eyes. “You’re message is too long.  Please hang up and try again.”

 

She hung up and redialed.  She got the same message and took another deep breath, talking rapidly but not as insane as she was before.  “Dammit!  Your stupid phone.  Ok! Ok.  I’m Ok.  OH MY GOD!  I’m sorry I just had to get out my teeny-ness because I don’t wanna scream in his face.  Alden!  He’s taking me home.  He like…he like WINKED at me.  Oh my god, I gotta go.  I just gotta go!  If I’m not home tonight when you get there that means I’ve run off with Justin and having his children.  I love you! BYE!”

 

She hung up and sighed happily.  But soon her phone started to ring in her hand she flipped it open and groaned at the name.  A thought came through her mind that she should just turn her phone off, but the part of her that wanted to gloat took over.  She pressed a button and pulled the phone to her ear.

 

She took a moment and finally said calmly, waiting for the explosion, “Hey…”

 

“Where the fuck are you?” A strong male voice bit through to her.

 

She scoffed and snapped back.  “Where the fuck were you, Preston?”

 

“I got stuck in traffic.”  His voice rose.

 

“Well then you should have planned your time better.  You know what traffic is like around here.”

 

A bitter laugh came through the phone, “You’re a bitch Darcy. Where the hell are you at?”

 

“Getting a ride,” she said in a bitchy tone.  He had already told her she was one, so she was going to go for it.

 

“From who?”

 

She saw Justin bust through the door of the place and smiled a cheesy smile at her. “None of your fuckin’ business.  You were supposed to pick me up almost thirty minutes ago so don’t bitch at me for not wanting to wait around for you!”

 

“Fine.” She heard him say as soon as Justin handed her the take out bag and sat down in his car.

 

“Fine!” She yelled back, flipped the phone off and threw it in her purse.

 

The door shut and it was quiet.  Her eyes moved to his face and he was looking at her hard, “You ok?”

 

“Yup.” She looked straight ahead.  She was on an adrenaline rush from the little tiff she just got in with Preston and needed to calm down.  She really did despise him at times and thought about breaking up with him.  She didn’t want to be alone, though.  She had been alone a lot in her life, alone with plenty of people around. 

 

It was horrible.

 

“Mmmhmm…” Justin dragged out, cranking the car.

 

She sighed and laid her head back against the headrest of her seat.  She watched again as he turned around to back out.  “It’s just that the guy I’m-”

 

His foot damped on the brake and she was pulled forward a little.  His eyes bored into her and he whispered, “You’re boyfriend?”

 

She groaned, “Please don’t call him that.  I don’t really like him.”

 

“Then why are you with him.” He put the car in drive and began to go forward. 

 

“Hell if I know,” she groaned.

 

“Man, you girls are devilish.”

 

“Hey, he’s the one that’s an asshole to me!”

 

He pulled out onto the main road and said to her in what sounded like a defensive voice, “Then break up with him.”  She wondered why he was getting so worked up over this.  She eyed him carefully. 

 

Yes, she needed to lighten the mood.  She giggled and said, “But then who would buy me dinner?”

 

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, “Oh lord.  Just, please if you think about cheating on the poor bastard, go ahead and break up with him first.”

 

She looked at his profile.  She stared hard.  His jaw locked.  He was gritting his teeth.  Britney.  “Is…is that what happened?”

 

He took a deep breath, his chest expanding underneath the seatbelt.  He nodded slowly, once.  “Yeah…”

 

“That whore.” She covered her mouth and coughed, surprised she let that slip out.  Softly, she continued, “I never liked her.”

 

“Oh ok.”  It got quiet and she cussed at herself for ruining their fun.  Of course, she had to bring up boyfriends and girlfriends and now he was sad because of Britney.  She cussed at herself as the beginning of the song “Let Down” came on.  He turned up the radio and they listened as he continued their trek back to her house.

 

Shortly after he turned the volume down a little and asked, “Well, where are we going now, Roscomore Dr?”

 

“Yeah.  It’s off of there.  A little street called Wade Rd.”

 

He groaned, “You’re kidding.”

 

She knew that wasn’t a good groan and asked cautiously, “No, why?”

 

“Nothing.”  He rolled his eyes at her and she felt hurt.  She had to figure out what was behind this sudden depression on their conversation.  She wasn’t ready to give up just yet. 

 

“No, what it is?”

 

“Well,” he sighed. “Guess who she cheated on me with?”

 

Her eyebrows furrowed and she was curious as to who he was talking about.  She rewound the conversation in her head.  They were talking about where her brother lived.  Wade Rd.  Wade…Road…  She gasped and smacked her hands down on her thighs.  “NO!”

 

“Yes.”  He said with a uncomfortable smile but playful eyes.

 

“I would have kicked some serious ass.”

 

He said quietly with a chuckle, “Yeah…”

 

Dammit, stop it Darcy.  You’re ruining this.  She didn’t know what the hell was her problem, but any chance she had before was rapidly going down the drain.  They were making progress, getting to know one another.  She wouldn’t say they were friends, but they were talking.  And now, it was silent.

 

She realized it was her fault, it was her big rambling, fanatical mouth.  “I’m sorry, I’ll be quiet.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I don’t know.”  He swirled his hand in the air in a motion for her to elaborate.  “I just,” she sighed. “I feel like I’ve forced you to open up about all this stuff. I mean, hell.  I’m just a little fan.  You’re being nice enough to take me home.  Thanks by the way.”

 

“Hey.  You’re not just a little fan.”  He stopped at a stop light to turn on to Roscomore.  He turned and looked at her with a smile.  “You’re my friend now.”  He added, “Darcy.”

 

“I-I am?”  She looked at him shocked.

 

He shrugged.  The light turned green and he steered the car to the right.  “Sure, why not?”

 

Her eyes widened and she bit her lip to stop the smile that was forming on her lips.  They were friends?  How did he go from the guy whose cd she always had close to her stereo and the girl who was bored in LA, to buddies?  How did they go from a weird literal run in the hallway of a doctor’s office to pals?  How did they go from an awkward silence in his car, to friends?  She didn’t know how it happened, but she knew she needed to stop asking herself questions.

 

But still, she was a little shocked. “I just, didn’t think you’d trust me.  I mean, if I were you, I’d be suspicious.  For all you know I could like kidnap you as my little sex slave.”

 

“Oh really?”  He glanced at her and winked.

 

“I mean, ya know.  Like I could do something bad like sell shit to the enquirer.”

 

“But you’re not like that Darcy.  I can tell.”

 

She felt it.  His hand had reached over and grabbed hers.  Normally, her asshole radar would be up.  She would have pegged him as a guy who just wanted to get laid.  But why her?  She had this problem of over questioning things, but she couldn’t help it right then.  It was weird.  What the hell was he doing with her?  They met in the most random way and now they were “friends” and he “trusted” her.  What was this? 

 

 She started to feel a little uncomfortable, so she pulled her hand away and used it to point at her brother’s street.  “Turn here…”

 

Justin turned and rode slowly through the entrance of the of the apartment complex.  It was more like a really nice condominium.  “He ..he lives here?”  Justin asked. 

 

There was a lever gate in front of them.  It was open, but a police guard came out and Justin stopped for him.  “Yeah.  Roll down your window.”  Justin did as told and leaned back as Darcy leaned towards him.  The middle aged black man hunched down and looked in the car.  “Hey Officer Gordon, how are you doin’?”

 

“Just fine, Darcy.  You two have a good day.”  The officer said and stepped away.  Justin eased forward slowly. 

 

“Park over there.”  She pointed over to the empty spaces in front of her brother’s building.  Justin quietly parked the car and turned the engine off.  She grabbed the food and her purse and placed her hand on the door handle and opened it.  But Justin didn’t move. 

 

“What?” She turned to him and asked.

 

“Nothing.”  He shook his head.  “These are just…nice.”

 

She just shrugged, “Well, he’s a doctor. You wanna come in?”  She felt estatic when he nodded.

 

They both got out and shut their doors.  He beeped his car locked and walked around to where she was standing.  He took the food from her hand and motioned for her to lead the way.  She smiled genuinely.

 

Five minutes later, she had got them each a canned diet coke and they were perch behind the bar on stools, looking towards the kitchen in her brother’s nice and spacious home.  Justin seemed a little shocked and curious at his surroundings.  He kept looking around at the plush carpeting, plasma screen TV in the den, the exotic paintings, the leather couch, the glass dining table, and the balcony and view through the sheer curtains.  She knew her brother’s place was really nice, but she didn’t know why Justin was so shocked by it.  Surely, he had seen nicer places.

 

She looked over as he opened his take out box and he shied away from her with a laugh.  “What you got in there?”

 

“A slice of pizza.”

 

“What kind?” She asked, unwrapping her sandwich.

 

“Barbeque chicken.”

 

She rolled her eyes at him, “Oh God…” then chomped down into her sandwich, onions and peppers gushing out of the side.  He was right, it was good.  She placed the sandwich down, licked her fingers and reached to pop open her coke.  He was staring at her.  She gulped and stared back.  She had totally just pigged out in front of him.  She had a habit of doing that but dammit, she was not doing well with the whole second chance thing.

 

He just shook his head with a smile and took a bite of his pizza.  After a minute of them eating in silence he looked around and said,  “This is a really nice place.”

 

“Yeah, it’s awesome.  I like it.”

 

“Psychology must pay a lot.” He chuckled, taking another bite.

 

“I guess.  I really don’t know.”

 

A silent lull fell over them again.  She ate quietly but tried to sneak glances at him as he ate.  His mouth was sexy and she’d find herself staring, but then he would look at her and it would be awkward.  Then she would catch him looking at her while she was eating.  It was like they were in middle school and had a crush on one another.  But she knew better than that.  He was Justin.  She was Darcy.  A crush was impossible.  But still, he was in her brother’s house, eating lunch with her.  What the hell? 

 

“So uh…”  He started and then blurted out, “What’s your middle name?”

 

“Excuse me?”  She took a sip of her drink and stared at him a little more.  That was weird.

 

“Middle name.  It’s just something I always wonder about people.”

 

“Oh, ok.”  She wiped her hands off on some of the paper napkins she had brought out for them.  “Well, I have two.  My full name is Darcella Marie Vandura Height.”

 

“Wow.”  He looked at her and smiled sincerely, “That’s…that’s really beautiful.”

 

She felt gushy inside by the way he was looking at her but tried to push the feeling away and stop reading into what he had said.  “That’s nothing.  My brother has five names.”

 

“FIVE? Why?”

 

She shrugged with a sigh, “Ask my parents.  It’s George Jackson Alden Vander Height.  He would have been Jackson Alden Height the third, but, well, my mom wanted family names or something.  It’s the same nonsense with my sister.”

 

“You have a sister?”

 

“Yup, she’s twenty eight and her name is Emiline Elizabeth Vandura.  We call her Emily and she is gonna be getting married at the end of the year and apparently it’s the biggest thing since Jesus.”

 

Justin eyed her carefully like he was trying to detect something in her.  She felt his eyes travel over her, much like he had earlier.  It felt weird, it felt flattering, hell she didn’t know what to feel.  He licked his lips and nodded, “Very interesting.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“What about me? I’m an only child, my middle name is Randall.”

 

She stuck her tongue out at him and watched him chomp down into his crust.  “You’re no fun.  Why don’t you tell me abut yourself?”

 

He swallowed, took a sip and said, “Don’t you already know?”

 

“Not really.  Just pretend I don’t know anything about Nsync or pop music or hip thrusts or tearing up hearts or if strings are attached.”

 

“Darcy,” he interrupted her giggle-filled list. She sobered up and watched him 

 

He was quiet and looked down at his empty box.  He closed it, put it in the plastic take out bag and stared down at the bar.  Her eyes were glued on him for what seemed like the longest time and she thought maybe something was wrong.  Maybe he was going to tell her she was stupid and that he had to go and that she was ugly or weird or something.   But whatever it was she felt it was going be something bad.  Maybe he didn’t like her little joke about strings being attached.  She couldn’t take it and was about to say something in response when he blurted out quickly, “I’d like to call you sometime.”

 

“What?”  She must have been hearing things.  It sounded like he said he wanted to call her. 

 

His eyes cut into hers.  “Ya know, like.  If you wanted to hang out again or something.”

 

Oh shit! That was what he had said.  She gulped and then whispered,  “You want my number?”

 

He stared at her blankly, “Yeah…”  He began to smile at her.  “I do.”

 

She couldn’t move.  She felt her body was numb.  He had just asked for her number.  It had been so long since a guy had asked for her number.  Usually they just knew it miraculously. Well, miraculously meaning through her mother.  Here was Justin Timberlake asking for her number.  She knew he probably would forget her as soon as he left, whenever that was, and she knew he would probably never call her.  But still, it had to count for something.  She frantically reached for a pen in the mug by the telephone that was sitting where the bar met the wall.  She took the pad of post-it notes beside the phone, scribbled her number and name and gave it to him.  “Ok…”

 

“Thanks.” He stuck the note to his finger, folded it, and then shoved it into his pocket.  Her smile faded a little, she could already see it being washed in the washing machine and forgotten. 

 

She sighed and looked down at her half eaten cheese steak, gushing everywhere with cheese and meat and whatever else.  Her stomach started to turn and she wasn’t that hungry anymore.  She didn’t know why she was down, now.  She should be happy.  Justin was there.  God, she must have been pmsing because she was being emotionally challenged that day.  One minute she was bitchy, then happy or crazy and now sad. 

 

“Do you know how to play golf?”

 

She was shocked and turned to him a little startled, “Golf?”  He nodded.  “Yes, but I’m really, really bad at it.  And I’m not too fond of playing it.  I like to watch though and I can drive the cart like no body’s business.  Of all the ‘prep’ sports, I guess I’m a tennis girl.”

 

“Ooo, do you wear a short little skirt.”  He wiggled his eyebrows.

 

She groaned, “Why must boys always think about sex?”

 

“Who said anything about sex?”

 

She stared ahead of her and wished she had never brought it up.  That was a bad subject to be talking about with him.  Uh oh!  “You, uh, implied it with the short skirt comment.”

 

“I was just wonderin’ because of air ventilation.”  He smiled a bright smile and she couldn’t help but giggle. “I know it gets hot sometimes out there on the court and the more area you have for the breeze to hit ya, the better. At least that’s my theory!”

 

“Asshole…”  She nudged him a little and he reached towards her to tickle her.  She felt his hands on her sides and gasped, not because she was being tickled but because his hands were on her.  But then a voice called out into the condo and he retreated back to his stool.

 

“Dee!  Where you at? Are you here?”

 

She tried to ignore the fact that Justin had just had his hands on her.  “Here.  I brought you a present.”  She winked at Justin.

 

Her brother came into view shortly, throwing her keys onto the kitchen island and frowning a bit when he saw Justin.  She glared, something was up.  “Oh, hi Justin.”  He paused and darted his eyes to Darcy.  “I got your message.”

 

She forced a smile saying, “That’s great.” Then changed the subject quickly.  “So how’s it goin’ bro?  Aren’t you off early.”

 

He leaned against the island and seemed to ease up a little.  She didn’t know what his problem was.  Maybe he was afraid he would get fired since Justin was there.  But she didn’t see what the big deal was.  It wasn’t like they were dating.  Omigod, what if we were dating.  Omigod.

 

“Yes.  But I need you to go with me to get my car and I thought we could go get the stuff for tonight and I need to go pick up Carlos.”

 

“When?” She hated the answer she knew was coming.

 

“I was hoping now…”

 

She scoffed and started to whine.  She wasn’t ready to let Justin go off into the sunset just yet.  She wanted more time! “But...”

 

She sensed Justin moving and looked to see him slide off the barstool and smile awkwardly, “I probably should get going.”

 

“No!”  She shouted and immediately turned pink.  “I mean, do you wanna come with us?  Were just gonna cook at home and watch a movie tonight. You’re welcome to hang out.”

 

He smiled and licked his lips at her, making her feel like mush.  “Nah, I need to get going, actually.  I’ve got to meet some friends for dinner in a little bit and I need to get back to my place and get ready.” 

 

She looked down at the floor.  Her chance was gone.  It had been fun, but now it was over.  He spoke again and she raised her eyes to his.  “But, it was fun.  And I’ll call ya sometime.”

 

She smiled, “Great!  And thanks for the ride, and oh, I need to pay you for lunch.”  She reached for her purse that was tipped over on the bar.

 

He rolled his eyes and started to walk to the door, her following him. “Please, girl.  That was on me.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Nice seeing you again man.”  Justin reached out to shake her brother’s hand and he did so kindly.  She was thankful.  She didn’t need the protective brother to come out just yet. Though, she knew it would be on as soon as the door shut.

 

“You too.” Alden said.

 

Darcy walked him through the kitchen, by the living room, to the foyer and opened the door for him.  He shrugged and waved a little, “Bye Darcy.”

 

She giggled in a completely girly move, “Bye!”

 

She watched him walk away.  He turned and waved a little and she just smiled at him until he disappeared down the steps.  She closed the door, leaned against it and sighed.  Oh, she could be a puddle of mush right then if she felt like it.  She closed her eyes and remembered how good he looked and how he smelled, oh she could still smell him.  Not too strong, but still there.  It was so nice.  He was nice. 

 

“Darcella…” 

 

Her eyes popped open at the disapproving voice.  She hated when he started to act like he was their father.  She pushed away from the door and walked through the kitchen back to her sandwich.  “What?” she said, acting like nothing happened.

 

Her brother was staring at her as she took a bite through her sandwich.  She stared at him back as she chewed and finally he said, “Just be careful ok?”

 

“What are you talking about?” she said with her mouth full.  She new what he was talking about but didn’t want to dive into her past relationships.  She didn’t need a lecture about how she got into relationships too quick, got her heart broken too fast, how her hopes skyrocketed only to be crushed. She didn’t need the “take it slow” speech again.

 

“Just, promise me you’ll be careful.  Don’t get your hopes up, ok?  It’s different world out here.  The people aren’t like who you are use to.”

 

“It was just a ride home, Alden.” She glared at him.  Yeah, it had just been a ride home.  But really, it had been a dream.

 

“Darcy…” She rolled her eyes, wrapped her sandwich up a bit, picked up her drink and walked away from her brother.  She heard him call out to her again.   “Darcy!”

 

But she was tired of it.  She slammed the door to her bedroom and plopped down in her velvet covered extra large bean bag chair and put her food in her lap.  For the first time she had met a guy on her own, talked to him on her own, and really connected with him.  So maybe most of what she was feeling for him at the moment was because of who he was.  Yeah she had been a little star struck.  But he as really sweet and nice and he looked really, really good.  Maybe they didn’t talk about the most amazing things, but it was a more interesting conversation than what her and Preston would have talked about that afternoon.  All Preston cared about was the stock market, skiing in the Alps and the damned Yankees.  She didn’t even like baseball.

 

Maybe he was right.  Maybe she was getting her hopes up.  But it wasn’t fair that her brother was able to come in and squash on her fun and bring her back to reality.  She had dreams too and maybe they were stupid and girly and silly but she still had them. 

 

She looked down at her half eaten sandwich that Justin had bought her.  Her appetite was completely gone.  Alls he wanted to do was sleep.  She put the food on her desk with her white apple laptop and her picture of her and her girlfriends dressed up for her 21^st birthday party, then flopped down into her unmade bed.  She knew he wouldn’t call.  She knew that day had just been a special occasion.  But still, why couldn’t she have fun?  It was the one thing she hated about her family.  They were all too serious too much to the time.  They all got to live the way they wanted.  They got to live their dreams. Why did she have to do what they wanted of her?  Why did she have to do what was expected? Why did they always pull her head out of the clouds?

 

Why couldn’t she live in her little fantasy fun world once in a while?  Why didn’t she get to dream?

 

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