Hi everyone,
This is Chapter 17 of my continuing story. I don't think there's much introducing needed--except my once again desperate plea for e-mails. Please, please feel free to drop me a note with any comments (good or bad) you have about my story--I love getting new e-mail! The address is sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com--and tell me what you think. Thank you to all of the people who have e-mailed me over the past few days. Your comments mean a lot to me!
And of course, no new installment would be complete without a few more words of thanks. Justin, Damon, Clarke and now, Cele. Thank you all so much for writing me--the story wouldn't be the same without your e-mails! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Words cannot say enough of how much I appreciate you...and now the almighty disclaimer...
DISCLAIMER: This story involves a m/m relationship. This story doesn't imply the sexuality of any member of `N Sync, or Lance Bass. You must be 18/21 (depending on the area) to read this, blah blah blah...and now....
My Surprise Romance
Chapter 17
As the next three days of concerts and cities passed my mind in a whirlwind blur, I realized something: I could never do what Lance and the rest of the guys were doing. It was exhausting, moving from city to city, with nary a trace to catch your breath. I was drop-dead tired, and I could barely stay awake. Sleep was my new best friend. The past two nights, Lance and I had fallen into bed with just a kiss good night and nothing else.When I looked into the mirror Tuesday morning, I looked as though I was run over by a truck. My hair was dull and flat, there were dark bags under my eyes, and my skin looked sallow and sickly. How the hell could Lance do this almost every day? I asked myself as I turned on the water and began to brush my teeth.
But despite my inner grumbling, I had never been happier in my entire life. I think I had finally reached an inner level of peace that I had never reached before. My thoughts of low self-esteem had practically been banished from my mind. When I woke up every morning, I couldn't help but smile. And of course, waking up with Lance's arms around my body helped. It was thanks to him, that I was a changed person.
I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror for a few more seconds and as I did this, another seed of worry began to grow in the back of my mind. I began to wonder how one person could change my life in such a short period of time. As I grabbed for the hotel brand of shaving cream that sat on the sink's counter, I realized that the idea of one person changing my entire life scared me. And then I began to shave and think at the same time. What would happen if Lance and I broke up? What would happen to me then? There would go my newfound feelings of exhilaration and love and uplifted self-esteem...God, why the hell was I thinking this? I stared at myself in the mirror, half of my face still covered in shaving foam. Was I mentally trying to ruin my first relationship?
As I finished shaving, I heard footsteps approach the bathroom door and a few seconds later, I saw Lance's head appear around the edge of the door in the reflection of the mirror. His blond hair was sticking out in various directions, making him look even more handsome (if that was possible), but in a goofy way. A smile lit up his sleepy face when he saw me standing at the sink.
"Hey," he said softly, walking into the bathroom. He placed his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. Lance looked at our reflection in the mirror as I wiped my face clean with a towel. I turned to him, preferring to see the real person face to face rather than just as an image.
"Hey yourself," I shot back, giving him a good morning kiss. "I didn't want to wake you up this morning." He ran a strong hand up and down my chest, causing me to shiver. Lance placed his lips next to my earlobe and placed a small kiss on it.
"That was sweet, but I wouldn't mind if you had waken me up," he whispered, his perfect brown eyebrows raising upwards suggestively. I groaned at his expression, trying to ignore the feelings that were running rampant inside of me and grinned instead.
"That's my boy--always thinking about the naughty stuff," I quipped as I ruffled his hair, causing him to stick his lower lip out at me.
"Hey, I fixed my hair this morning," he said in mock protest. "And you go messing it up."
"That's what I'm here for," I grinned, walking out of the bathroom, Lance's arms still around my waist. I walked over to the bed, pulled my luggage from under it and began to rummage through my rumpled clothes, looking for something decent to wear.
"So what's on the agenda today?" I asked Lance as he unwrapped his arms from my waist and took a seat on the bed next to my suitcase. "I definitely know we have a day off today," I said, grinning at the thought.
"Yeah, finally," Lance agreed. "And I kinda have something special in mind for us to do," he said, returning my grin exuberantly.
I stared at him in confusion for a second before letting a smirk cross my face. "Oh God--don't you think we've done enough?" I said. "I don't think there's anything more special for us to do."
Lance laughed at my statement, and pulled himself into a kneeling position, meeting my eyes. "Now who's thinking the naughty thoughts?" He asked teasingly, leaning over and biting my bottom lip, pulling me in for a passionate kiss. His hands rested on my back and for a brief second, I actually thought we were going to start something. But Lance quickly brought the kiss to an end, once he noticed that both of our breathing patterns had changed.
"I was actually thinking something else in mind," Lance murmured against my lips. "Although I do like your train of thought." He pulled his face away from mine and looked into my eyes deeply. "I was thinking that we could go out on our first date."
"First date?" I repeated in surprise. "Didn't we have our first date at the sculpture park?"
Lance shook his head, a bemused smile on his lips. "Nope, that doesn't count. I didn't know if you liked me as a friend or something else," he remembered, his voice growing soft with the memory. "And once I did, well...we never got to go out or anything." He briefly looked away for a second, and then looked back at me, a mischievous grin replacing the shy one he had worn seconds ago.
"Besides, I feel bad...using you for sex..." Lance said huskily, trying not to laugh. "You should be getting more out of the deal--at least dinner and a movie." My eyes grew wide at the bawdy way he had put his thoughts, causing a grin to form on my lips.
"What if I like being used for only sex?" I shot back, grabbing him around his waist and catching him off guard. "You never think of what I like."
"Yes, I do," Lance protested, steadying himself by placing his hands on my shoulders for support. "All of the time--when I wake up, when I first see you in the morning--" I cut him off, placing my hand on his mouth to shut him up.
"Okay, okay.. I get it. You're obsessed with me." I leaned over, removed my hand and kissed him on the lips. "And I like it." Our mouths met once more, and we became so involved in our early morning groping, that we didn't notice that the door had opened.
"Oh my God!" Lance and I broke apart abruptly, to see his road manager standing in our doorway. A thoroughly shocked expression appeared on Marshall's normally stern face, as the stack of newspapers in his arms slid to the floor. I stumbled to the opposite side of the room, paralyzed with fear. Why the hell didn't people knock? I thought with disgust. Were they raised in barns?
However, my thoughts were the least of everyone's problems. Marshall just stood there, the horrified look still on his face as he had discovered Lance and I in an intimate embrace. No words left his mouth. I don't think the man could have spoken if you paid him.
"Oh crap," Lance managed to say, looking ashen. "Marsh, I can explain...Stephen and I..." We had been doing more explaining these past few weeks than we had ever done in our entire lives, I thought, panic starting to overtake my mind. Marshall was as uptight as one guy could be and now that he found out about Lance and I as a couple...Jesus, I thought, shaking my head, I could kiss touring with `N Sync good-bye.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Marsh squeaked out, holding his chest as though he was about to have a heart attack. "I mean...Lance...I don't know what to say." He looked at me, standing there and then back again at Lance. The poor man was dumbfounded and I'm sure it didn't help matters that Lance and I were clad only in our boxer shorts.
"I don't know--I thought you were going to kick me out of the group," Lance muttered. "You said it the other night--you want straight, single guys in this group, And I'm neither, so..." he trailed off, not sure of what to say next. To our surprise, Marshall didn't start screaming at us, or even told me to get out. He just took a few deep breaths, leaning down to retrieve the newspapers that he had dropped. When he stood back up, a calm look had appeared on his face,
"Do the rest of the guys know about you two?" Marshall managed to say in a cool, collected voice. But his eyes continued to stare at us in obvious disbelief, as though he had walked in on a bad dream of sorts. Lance and I both nodded in unison and then looked at each other, worried expressions still on out faces. Marshall just shook his head. "At least I know now why the rest of the guys wanted you to join the group." He looked at me suspiciously. "So is that girl, Cynthia, really your cousin? Or is she dating someone in this group too?"
I met Lance's eyes, and a silent understanding passed between us. "She's my cousin, sir," I said, avoiding to mention her new relationship with Josh. That was their business, not mine. I wasn't sure if they were ready to go official, and I was not the one who was about to announce it. "I promised that I would spend the summer with her, and the rest of the guys wanted her along with them," I said honestly.
Marsh lifted a hand to his forehead and began to rub his temples. "Look, you two, to be perfectly honest, I don't care what you guys do behind closed doors. It's your business and trust me, I didn't want to see you...um," he searched his mind for the right word.
"Involved?" Lance volunteered. Marshall nodded.
"Right, I don't have a problem with it...I've dealt with other bands that have gay members, so I'm used to hiding stuff--" Marshall explained.
"Oooh--which bands?" I asked eagerly, cutting him off.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked in an annoying way, that made me want to slap him across the face. "But, I'm telling you two the same things I tell those other guys. Be good--no public groping, no public displays of affection--as far as the world knows, Lance Bass is straight. Once they find out you're with a guy--" He kissed his fingertips, "say bye, bye, bye to your career." He laughed bitterly, obviously amused by his witty, little joke. Just then, Marshall pulled his arm from behind his back to reveal the stack of newspapers which turned out to be the daily tabloids. "And as far as I'm concerned, no one's gonna doubt your sexuality once these babies hit the presses." He threw the stack of newspapers at Lance, who managed to catch them with the grace of a professional baseball player. I walked over to Lance and together, we looked at the paper that sat on top of the pile and gasped.
"N SYNCER CAUGHT IN PASSIONATE LOVE AFFAIR!!!'" The blaring headline read in two inch, bold letters. Upon seeing those words, I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. For a split second, I expected to see a grainy photograph of Lance and I together. So imagine my relief when I saw a color photo of Lance and Cynthia locked in a passionate embrace. It was from the night we had tricked the overzealous fan that had been hitting on Lance and I laughed at the photo, thinking oh, if only the reporters knew why they were kissing...'
However, Lance didn't find it as funny at all, as he skimmed the cover with an angry, confused look on his face. "What the..." Lance trailed off as he flipped through the paper, until he reached the article.
"Listen to this," Lance announced, clearing his throat dramatically, as though he was about to read a speech. "`Lance Bass is no longer single, girls--as evident by the passionate embrace he was caught in backstage at a Dallas concert.'" He looked up at me, waiting to see my reaction.
I calmly folded my arms across my chest. "Go on," I prodded, as Lance continued to read the false article in a fake broadcaster's voice.
"`The lucky girl is reported to be 19 year old University of Wisconsin student, Cynthia Marie Peterson, who is currently sleeping, er, working her way through the summer as the bands personal assistant.'" By the time Lance stopped reading, his face was bright red. He placed the newspaper on top of the rest and then looked at Marshall and I, waiting to see what we would say.
"Nice," Marshall said, smiling "Well, at least the reporters think you're straight," he casually remarked and then gave us one more look. "And to keep it that way, I suggest that you and Miss Peterson, not Mister--" he snapped, looking at me pointedly, "--spend a little more time together--you wouldn't want the press to think you're gay," Marshall said sarcastically and then left the room.
Lance and I stood there in complete silence, not sure what to say to each other. I think our first instinct was to laugh--the idea of Lance and Cynthia together was kind of funny. But then I kept hearing Marshall's snide comments repeating themselves in my head. My eyes kept drifting over to those tabloids, with their false proclamation of Lance's sexuality to the world. I looked at my boyfriend, who was staring at me with a nervous expression. And then he crossed over to me, and wrapped me in his arms. But this time, it wasn't for passion--it was for comfort. We held each other for a few seconds, before Lance finally spoke.
"I don't want to be Cynthia's boyfriend," Lance whispered, looking forlorn. "I want to be your boyfriend." There was something in his eyes that broke my heart. He looked so...so...sad. And there was nothing I could do about it.
"You are my boyfriend," I said, reassuringly. "I know that, you know that, the guys know that...don't worry," I said, taking him back into my arms. "I'm the worrier in this relationship, not you."
"But now everyone thinks I'm with your cousin," Lance said. "And now in every interview I'm going to have to talk about Cynthia. I don't want to talk about her--" he looked up and smiled at me. "I want to talk about you, Stephen. I want to tell them that you're an artist and you do wonderful paintings and that you're sweet and that--" He stopped short, and then looked down at the floor.
I looked at Lance carefully. "What?" I asked, tipping his chin up, so I could look into his beautiful eyes.
He hesitated for a second, before speaking. "That I love you."
I love you. The three words that no one had ever said to me before. I felt a chill run up and down my spine as Lance's eyes never left mine, waiting for some sort of response. I could still hear his voice...I love you...
"Stephen?" Lance asked gently. "Hello, Stephen," he said, softly. "Are you still there, or did I just make a fool out of myself?"
I laughed at his little remark. "No, it's just that...no one's ever said that to me before," I said, still amazed. "You love me?"
He rolled his eyes and gave me a little, light slap on the cheek. "Yes...of course I do. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. I'm a man of my word," he whispered, tracing my lips with his fingertip.
I, however, was still in shock. And when I'm in shock, I babble. "Are you sure? I mean, you can change your mind, before you lock into anything too certain," I told my boyfriend, who shook his head firmly, his eyes sparkling. I stared at Lance for a few seconds, my eyes taking in everything feature about this man that I held in my arms. He was so wonderful..it was as though some higher power had singled me out to find him...like we had been waiting for each other all of out lives...
"I love you," I whispered to him, our eyes still locked together. And the words didn't come out just because Lance had said them first. They came out of my mouth because I wanted to say them. They came from my heart.
Lance's face lit up then when he heard his words returned and our lips met in a soft, perfect kiss. It wasn't passionate or a lustful...it was real...because we were in love and we loved each other.
Lance and I arrived at breakfast together, hand in hand. The rest of the guys (minus Justin) looked at us, their eyes briefly dropping down at the sight of our hands clasped together.
"Morning, you two," Chris said, looking a bit bleary-eyed from his and Justin's adventure to another local nightclub the night before. "Have some food--I know I won't be eating any."
"Hangover?" Josh asked, leaning over the table and spearing another slice of French toast with his fork.
"You said it," Justin announced, entering the room, wearing a tight t-shit and baggy jeans. "I'm so sick, I think I'm gonna die." He fell into a seat next to Joey at the table and placed his forehead on it. Lance took a plate and began filling it with food.
"Then you shouldn't drink so much," Josh said sensibly, as though he had never been drunk or hungover in his life. He cut a piece of the toast off and popped it in his mouth.
"Someone's in a good mood," I observed, as I sat down next to Lance. I looked around the table to see that my cousin was mysteriously absent. "Where's Cynth?" I asked. We all knew that Josh and Cynthia had gone out somewhere the night before, but they refused to tell us where their exact destination had been to.
All eyes at the table turned to Josh, who was still stuffing his face with food. He looked up at us, with an innocent expression on his face, "What?" he managed to mumble around the food in his mouth.
"Where's Cynthia?" Joey asked him, a grin appearing on his face. "I bet you know Josh..it wouldn't happen to be in your room, would it?"
"No, it wouldn't." My cousin appeared in the doorway, a smile on her pretty face, her blonde hair pulled into two low pigtails that tumbled past her narrow shoulders. She was wearing one of her infamous, `I Hate Boy Bands' shirts as well as a pair of men's boxer shorts. In her hand was a newspaper, that she rolled up into a tube and promptly smacked Joey in the head with.
"Hey, what did I do to deserve that?" he exclaimed, looking at her in surprise. He rubbed the back of his head, where the paper had smacked him.
"That's for having your mind in the gutter. If you must know, I spent the night in my room. Alone," she remarked, a grin on her face. Cynthia then walked over to me and dropped the newspaper in my lap. "And that's for you, Stevie. I always told you I'd be a star."
I closed my eyes as I saw another picture of Lance and Cynthia plastered on the front page of the newspaper. Only this time, the headline was much smaller and read, "`N Sync Member Breaks Teenie Hearts With Buxom Girlfriend." It was a choice picture of Lance, who had his face buried in my cousin's chest. But let me tell you one thing--it's not nice seeing your cousin looking like a slut on the front cover of a national publication.
Josh looked over at the paper and snatched it out of my lap. His face drained of all its color as his eyes read the headline and then skimmed over the accompanying picture.
"What the hell is this garbage?" he yelled out, opening the paper to the article about Lance and Cynthia."You're not with Lance--you're with me."
Cynthia laughed nervously at his outburst, giving the rest of us a worried glance. She gently placed an hand on his arm. "Josh, relax--I know that. Lance would never be interested in me--would you, Lance?"
My boyfriend shook his head, with a disgusted look on his face. "Quit hitting on me, girl. Or my boyfriend will beat you up," he said, laying his head on my shoulder, looking up at me. Immediately, I pushed his head off, causing him to look at me in surprise.
"Hey, you want to mess with Cynth--go ahead," I said, sliding my chair away from Lance. "She's tough. She's a girl," I joked. By this time, the rest of the guys were laughing hysterically at our bantering, with the exception of Josh, who eyes were glued to the picture.
"This is ridiculous," Josh declared. "We'll just clear it up in an interview or something. Tell those reporters that Cynthia is seeing me and not Lance," he said confidently, flipping through the tabloid rag.
"Um..." Lance began, looking down at his plate of food. "You guys, Marshall found out about us--me and Stephen--and then he showed us that this morning," Lance explained, pointing to the paper in Josh's hands. "But it was a different one." He paused uncomfortably. "And then he said that Cynthia and I should act like we're together, so that the press doesn't find out that, um, I'm gay." Everyone stared at Lance in amazement, except for Josh, who began flipping through the paper furiously in search of the article.
"Marsh can't make you do that," Joey said, after taking a bite of his eggs. "He can't--it's not right."
"It's not right, but...for the sake of the band," Lance sighed, pushing his plate away from him. He looked as though he was sick to his stomach."I guess I'll do it."
"Wait a minute--what about me?" Cynthia spoke up. "You guys are planning my life for me and I don't like it. First of all, I don't appreciate looking like this," she said angrily, pointing to the picture of herself. "Second, I don't want to be Lance's girlfriend." She looked over at Josh who had found the article and was now speed reading it. Once he finished, he slammed the paper down on the table, pushed his chair back and stormed out of the room. Everyone looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces (except for Justin, whose head was still on the table, looking as though he was about to die).
"What the hell was that?" Joey asked, swallowing the food he had in his mouth.
"He's really pissed off ," Chris noted, opening a bottle of aspirin he pulled from his pocket. He took two and washed it down with a glass of orange juice. "I mean, Josh can't really believe it, can he? He knows Scoop is gay. And I say fuck what Marshall says. You cannot live a lie like that--I mean by saying Cynthia is your girlfriend," he added quickly.
"Because you wouldn't want the press to find out that I had a boyfriend," Lance said, sarcastically. "God forbid, our sales would go down and no one would like us anymore."
Chris looked taken aback. "Hey, I didn't say that," he said nervously. "But you gotta admit, it would kill our careers." Justin looked up just then, staring at Chris with a strange look on his face for a few seconds and then he put his head back down on the table.
Suddenly Cynthia leaped up from her chair. "Josh had to know that it's not true!" she screamed hysterically. "For God's sake, Lance is gay! Big deal about your careers--just let the boy be happy already! " Cynthia then jumped up from the table and ran out of the room. "Josh!!!" we heard her yell as she ran down the hall to his room. Dead silence filled the breakfast room and Chris was the first to speak up.
"Hey, Lance man," he began. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that."
Lance shook his head. "I know you didn't, Chris. And you're right--it would kill all of our careers if I came out." I noticed that Lance avoided looking at me, just then and pulled his plate back in front of him immersing himself in the actions of eating his food.
The next few minutes were silent, filled only with the sounds of metal utensils hitting the china plates. And then Justin suddenly stood up.
"Hey, you guys, I'm gonna go out for awhile," he said uncomfortably. "I'll be back later tonight, okay?" Justin didn't bother waiting for an answer, or even tell us where he was going. He just turned on his heel and walked out of the room. The remaining four of us, looked at each other, clearly bewildered by Justin's strange exit.
"Weird," Joey breathed, before taking another bite of his food, while Lance watched him.
"Man, don't you ever stop eating? Doesn't anything ever stop you?" he asked, shaking his head. Soon Justin's strange behavior was long forgotten as Lance and Joey began a mock duel with their forks. I laughed as Lance finally managed to knock Joey's fork out of his hand, after a long fought battle.
"Win!" Lance shouted, throwing his hands up into the air in victory. The rest of us who were still at the table, laughed at what had just happened, the mornings' past troubles hidden in the backs of our minds. If only we could all stay so happy...
Lance and I walked back to our room after breakfast, our hands entwined with each others. As we approached the room that Josh and Justin shared, Lance and I stopped in front of it, listening for any kind conversation coming from inside.
"Nothing," Lance whispered to me, looking at me with worried eyes. "That kind of scares me."
Before I could respond, I heard Cynthia's voice suddenly ring out in the quiet hallway. "It better scare you, you little eavesdroppers!!!" Lance and I looked up to see her and Josh together, his arms hooked lazily around her waist.
"Whoops--busted," Lance said, sounding defeated. He made a lame attempt at trying to look embarrassed, but ruined it by breaking out in laughter. "You two okay?" he called out as they walked towards us.
"We're fine," Josh said, speaking for him and Cynthia. His blue eyes were glowing happily as he pulled my cousin closer to him. "We burned all the papers," he joked. Cynthia looked up at him, pouting.
"My big newspaper debut and it's gone," Cynthia said, sighing. "Oh well, I'm sure someone back home will clip it out for me." She shook her head ruefully. "And I'm gonna be the laughing stock back at school," she bemoaned. "How did I go from selling shirts with messages against you to going out with one of you? I am going to die of humiliation when I get back," she said melodramatically, turning back to Josh.
"I think you'll live," he said, giving my cousin a quick kiss on the lips. I looked at Lance and we raised our eyebrows at each other, clearly amused by their public display of affection.
"Now who needs a hosing down?" I teased the new couple. Cynthia turned towards me and placed a finger to her lips.
"Oh cram it, Stevie. We had to put up with you and Lance going at it all the time, now it's our turn," she said happily as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Josh once more. Lance and I watched them, with horrified looks on our faces.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Lance whined, sticking a finger down his throat as he made gagging noises. "Come on, Stephen," he said pulling me into the bedroom. "I need some normalcy back into my life!" And with that, he yanked my body into the room, almost causing me to fall over my own two feet. Cynthia peered into the room, as Lance grabbed the doorknob and closed the door.
"I know what you two are gonna do in there!" Cynthia called out girlishly, as the door slammed in her face. Lance and I looked at each other and laughed.
"She's a perceptive girl," Lance commented, giving me a provocative smile. He leaned over and gave me a kiss, which I eagerly responded to.
"After all that tension this morning, I think we definitely needed that," I lamented, after our lips parted.
"I second that," Lance agreed, backing up my statement with another kiss. When we parted, Lance stood there and stared into my eyes for a few seconds. "So, are we on for tonight?" he finally said.
"Tonight?" I repeated blankly, unsure of what he was talking about. "What are we doing tonight?"
Lance groaned in frustration. "I can't believe I have a boyfriend with such a short-term memory," he said, shaking his head as he touched the tip of my nose with his index finger. "Our date, remember?" he said, as though I should have remembered.
"Oh yeah, our date," I said airily, my face lighting up at the thought of going out with Lance. "I guess we could go...but I have to make sure I have room in my very busy schedule," I said in my most businesslike voice. Lance feigned being outraged by my comment and neatly popped me in the stomach
"You're gonna make room in your schedule for me," Lance said in a threatening voice, pressing himself closer to me.
"And if I don't?" I said challengenly, enjoying the intimate rapport that Lance and I were sharing.
"Then your in trouble, mister," Lance said, moving his lips to my chin. "Big trouble."
"I like the sound of that," I said, feeling a little winded as Lance kissed me. "Trouble sounds pretty good to me--I guess I'll have to go out with you then."
Lance looked up at me and grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way," he said, kissing me once more time.
I headed out to the local mall that afternoon, dragging Cynthia with me. I had somehow managed to get her out of Josh's arms and into the car that I had rented for the afternoon.
"What do you need me for?" Cynthia complained, as I drove down a busy street, en route to the mall. "I mean, really--aren't you sick of me yet?"
"Never," I said, smiling. "I love my cousin, even if she is on the cover of many tabloid magazines with my boyfriend."
"Oh God," she said, burying her face in her hands. "I can't believe that happened. That's the last time I'll ever help you out with a joke, Stevie," she grumbled as she opened the sunroof over our heads. "So what are you and Lance doing tonight? As if I don't know already," she said, sardonically.
I ignored her little jest there and followed the signs that led me to the mall. "Lance and I are going out on our first date. That's why I need new clothes and that's I dragged you with me. I need female fashion advice," I told Cynthia, which caused her to snicker.
"If I'm not mistaken, you usually go out on a date first, and then have hot, passionate sex--not the other way around," Cynthia deadpanned, looking out the window.
"Shut up--it sound so...dirty when you say it like that," I laughed. "So are things okay between you and Josh?"
Cynthia nodded as I turned into the parking lot of the spacious mall. "Great," she said. "After I ran out of the breakfast room this morning, I found Josh and told him that there was no way I was going along with this whole Lance charade. It's not fair to any of us--you, me, Josh, Lance..." she trailed off.
Something in her words struck me funny in my heart. "I understand," I nodded. "I wasn't too hot on the idea of you and Lance together either, but I figured that if it would help the band out, I'd go along with it," I remarked as I parked the car in an empty space that was at least fifty miles away from the nearest mall entrance.
"No it's not that.." Cynthia said, deep in thought. "Josh and I were talking and we both disliked the fact that we couldn't talk about each other. I would always have to make up lies about Lance and Josh would have to pretend he didn't have a girlfriend. And, Stevie, if I have a boyfriend, I want to be able to talk about him...even if he is a member of a boy-band," she added, as we made our way to the mall. I nodded at her words--she always managed to make perfect sense of everything.
Once inside, Cynthia and I began to scour shops for clothing that I could wear that night. I've never been very into fashion, or appearances, but I definitely wanted to look good for Lance that evening. Cynthia and I went into what seemed to be a hundred different stores and finally settled on a short sleeved, beige colored shirt and a pair of tailored army green pants from Banana Republic. I really had my eye on a nice shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch, but Cynthia refused to let me go into that store.
"It's bad enough that I'm dating a boy-band member--let me have some dignity by not setting a foot in that place," she said adamantly, walking me past the store like a child. I shook my head at my cousin's bizarre guidelines that she stuck to. As we left the mall a thought from early that morning suddenly popped into my mind.
"Hey, Cynth--you know who's acting weird?" I said, as I searched the parking lot for the rental car. "Justin."
"You don't say," she remarked casually, looking at me with interest. "How's he acting weird?" "Well, this morning, he was really hungover from last night and then he just got up and said that he was leaving." I shrugged my shoulders. "He didn't tell us where he was going or anything." As I talked, I noticed that Cynthia was strangely looking off to the right of her, as we waked down an aisle filled with cars.
"Cynth--hello, Cynthia," I said, snapping my fingers in front of her face. "Come in Cynthia," I teased her. Despite my goofing around, a distraught look appeared on her face, as she stopped dead in her tracks.
"You wanna know why Justin's been acting strange?" she asked in a choked voice. "Just look over there." She lifted her arm and pointed her finger at an expensive looking Lexus, whose finish was so polished, it damn near blinded me. I squinted at the car in the bright sunlight, only for my mouth to drop open as I saw Justin Timberlake, in that car, locked in a very passionate embrace with another man.
That's it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the cliffhanger (?) ending. Once again, I would like to hear your thoughts about my story--is is getting too sappy? Too dumb? E-mail me at sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading--Gabriella.