Danielle's eyes carefully made their way up from Josh's feet to his bare back. He laid on his side, sound asleep. She lightly glided her fingers across his shoulder blades in a circular pattern, hoping he might "accidentally" wake up. She smiled at him adoringly; wishing the moment would never end. She peered at the alarm clock over his shoulder with curiousity, and watched the digits repeatedly flash 12:00. 'Power outages are so pleasant,' she thought to herself. Her eyes examined the floor, searching for something close by she could slip into. She slid from the bed into an oversized Seattle Mariners T-shirt and some boxer shorts; her usual bedtime attire.
Giving Josh one more look, she tiptoed from the room, and shut the door behind her. "What are you so damn happy about?" Mercedes asked full of disgust. She shut the front door behind her, and slumped down into the sofa. Danielle smiled at her best friend, as she cracked an egg over the edge of the counter. "And, why is Josh's Jeep still in our driveway?" Danielle shrugged. "I dunno," she replied innocently. Mercedes raised one eyebrow and stared at her evilly.
"Oh my God!" she screamed, jumping up from the couch. "Shh!" Danielle smacked her arm, and pointed her spatula in the direction of her bedroom door, "He's still asleep."
"But, Danielle, they have a flight to catch for LA in like, an.."
"What time is it?" Josh asked bursting into the room and sitting down on the edge of the sofa to tie his shoes. Danielle smiled at him over the top of her glass of orange juice. He looked the exact same as he had the night before, the only true difference being the already visible stubble that shadowed his jawbone.
Mercedes glanced at her watch. "Bout, 10 til 11 damn, that's early." Danielle watched Josh frantically search for all his belongings, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty for his timing problem. "Josh, I'm sorry. I guess I should have woke you." Should have, but didn't, and saying she felt bad for that was nothing but a lie.
She could have laid there beside him all day. "What time is you guy's flight?" she asked, snapping herself from her thought. "Noon!" he answered in a panic, grabbing his keys from the counter. "Well, I guess you better, um, be going then, huh?" Danielle felt painfully awkward. She didn't really know where she stood with him, and she almost feared knowing. She backed up against the cabinet, and waited for him to approach her. He glanced nervously back and forth between the two girls.
"I'll see you when we get back on Monday. We gotta meet with Lane and Alex, Monday afternoon, so we'll be around the studio," Josh said shyly. He jammed his hands in his pockets like a bashful little boy. "So, I'll see you then, okay?" Danielle nodded with satisfaction. He looked at her lips, but quickly turned his eyes from them, and placed a kiss on Danielle's cheek. Mercedes smiled a mischievous grin at him.
"Mercedes," he said with a little bow. "Joshua," she replied sweetly. With one last wave, he was out the door, andgone. Danielle sighed as she watched it shut slowly behind him. "Okay," Mercedes squealed with delight, "Spill. Now." Danielle walked over to the doorway, and picked up Josh's jacket that laid , still damp, on the floor where she dropped it. "I'm not sure where to begin...."
Josh sat impatiently at the stoplight, waiting for the red light to turn green. He tapped his thumbs along to the beat of the song playing on the radio. He glanced around his Jeep for entertainment, and spotted Danielle's lip gloss lying in the middle of his passenger's seat. He picked it up, and held it close to his nose to deeply breathe in the sweet vanilla smell of her lips. He smiled and leaned his head against his headrest. The loud, obnoxious ringing of his cellular phone quickly broke his happy thoughts. "Hello?" he answered, annoyed.
"Hey, baby!" the happy voice greeted him. His heart was suddenly in his throat. He was speechless for a moment before he finally squeezed out, "Bobbie? hey!" There was an awkward moment of silence. "You don't sound too happy to hear from me? Everything okay?"she asked nervously. "Ya, ya," he insisted, "It's just early, sorry."
"Oh, I tried calling your place last night, you didn't answer. Where were you?"
"Oh, well Lane and Grace took me to this club of a friend of theirs, and um... I didn't get in til late."
"Well, anyway, I have a surprise for you. I got off work for Monday, so I fly out Sunday night! I'll already be at Our House by the time you get there!" She sighed with delight. Josh watched his stoplight turn green, and he took off down the road. He searched for the right words. "Great," he finally spit out, "because, Bobbie," he tapped his hand nervously on the steering wheel, "I think we need to talk.�
Fifteen