“Brian? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I asked, shocked.

He swallowed and opened his eyes. “I’m okay. So...tell me about yourself. Do you go to school here?” he asked. He must have seen the concern in my face because he smiled at me. That made me feel a little better.

“Yeah, I’m a junior. I’m majoring in Education.” “That’s pretty cool. What grade are you going to teach?”

“Well, I’m aiming at about 4th grade or so. My goal is to reach them right about the age where they are forming their own opinions, yet are still impressionable. I want to be able to help mold them, in a sense. I want to teach them morals, values, respect, understanding, appreciation...They need to have an oppurtunity to learn all those things so they will hopefully choose to make it apart of their lives.” I stopped. Here I was, going off on my little speel, probably boring him to death. But no, he was gazing intently at me. He was genuinely interested in what I had to say.

“Ellie, that is really awesome. I bet you will make a great teacher.” he said sincerely.

I shook my head in awe.

“What?” he asked, perplexed.

“I just can’t believe I’m sitting here talking to you. Not to mention telling you my goals in life. And to top it all off, you actually seem interested in what I have to say.”

Brian frowned. “I’m just a regular guy.”

“I know you are. It’s just that I have admired you for a long time and now here I am sitting in my favorite little coffee shop, talking to you. I mean, what are the chances?”

Brian’s eyes grew serious. “Nothing is chance, Ellie. Everything happens for a reason. We met today for a reason.”

“I know. I agree with you. It’s just that this is so...unexpected I guess.” I said thoughtfully.

“So, you admire me? How come?” He smiled boyishly.

“Well, you’re special.” I blurted. Then I blushed. “What I mean is that you have accomplished so much. Like the way you pulled through your heart problem. You didn’t let that control your life or stop you from doing what you love. And for keeping your faith.” I explained.

“Hey, thanks. That means a lot to me.” He said, touched.

“I hope that didn’t come out sounding like I’m a teenager with a mad crush on you or something.” I said.

Brian laughed. “I didn’t think that at all. Speaking of being in love, by the way, I noticed a that ring on your finger. It’s pretty. Are you engaged?”

I beamed. “Well, technically, no, but I am promised. You know how I called you “Jack” when I was trying to keep your cover safe?”

He nodded.

“Well, that is my boyfriend’s name. We’ve been together for almost 4 years. We’re getting married after we graduate.” I was grinning ear to ear.

“Congratulations! That is awesome.” Brian smiled at me.

“You are with someone too, right?” I asked him.

He just sort of lit up when I brought it up. It was really cute. “Yeah, her name is Leighanne. We’ve been together for...” he paused to think. “Like forever it seems like. I think we are going to get married someday. Hopefully soon. Right now she is off in Europe on a photo shoot. I kind of wish she were here right now, but she’ll be home in a few weeks.”

I couldn’t help, but smile. “You sound like you really love her a lot.”

“Oh I do! She is the world to me.” He agreed. “Ya know, you two would really get along well together. You sort of remind me of her.”

Then a thought occurred to me. “Do you think she would be upset about you and me talking here?”

He shook his head, sipping his coffee. “No, she’s not like that at all. We have complete trust in each other.”

“Would your boyfriend mind that you are here talking to me?” he asked back.

“Nope. We have total trust for each other. He knows I would never cheat on him. Even with you.” I added. As soon as the words left my lips I was mortifed. I’m sure I was turning an interesting shade of crimson.

Brian just laughed, though. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“So, what are you doing here anyway?” I asked him, changing the subject.

He laughed. “Drinking coffee, silly.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Well, duh. I mean in this little nothing of a town. And at this coffee shop this early in the morning. Anyone in their right mind should be asleep now.”

He grinned agian. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind being asleep right now, but I don’t think I could if I tried. I’m here cause...uh...I have a meeting tomorrow a few miles from here.” His gaze shifted away from me and he stared off in the distance. There was definitely something on his mind, but I didn’t want to pry any more than I already had. I changed the subject again.

“Are the rest of the guys here too?”

“Yeah, we’re staying in a hotel about 15 minutes from here. They are probably still there asleep. I left them a note before I left.” he said.

We stopped talking for a minute and looked around the little shop and I noticed that it was starting to get a little busy. I was surprised that Brian hadn’t been spotted yet, but then he had turned his back to the door. I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone sat near us and noticed him.

He must have been reading my mind because he leaned toward me and whispered, “It’s getting kind of busy in here. I think maybe I should go.”

I nodded and was about to ask him how he was going to get past all the people that were walking in without being seen.

Again, we seemed to be on the same level because he leaned forward again and whispered, “Do you mind walking out with me and maybe acting like you are with me and we are deep in conversation so people won’t take as much notice?”

My heart kind of flip-flopped. “Yeah, sure.”

We stood up and pushed our stools in. Brian pulled his hat lower and put on a pair of dark sunglasses. I had to suppress a giggle because he was almost making himself look more conspicuous. He held out his elbow for me to take his arm. I slipped my arm through his and we started for the door. He leaned down close to me and looked like he was going to say something as we walked fast. By some sort of miracle we made it to our cars without causing any attention.

We stood between our cars, smiling at our cleverness. He thanked me for my help in keeping him anonymous. Now came the sad part.

“Well, it was great talking to you. Good luck with everything and...” My voice trailed off. I didn’t really want to part.

Brian looked at me thoughtfully. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Do you have any plans today?”

I was surprised at the question. “Uh, no. I guess I was just going to clean my apartment and maybe do a little grocery shopping. Nothing too interesting.”

“Well, I don’t have any plans today either. My, um, meeting isn’t until tomorrow so I am free for the day. Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to hang out with me for awhile. You could show me around town and maybe later we could meet up with the rest of the guys. I mean if you want to.” He looked at me shyly. His shyness surprised me even more.

“What? Why would you want to spend the day with me?” I exclaimed.

“I dunno. I’ve just enjoyed talking to you.” He replied.

“Yeah, sure! That’d be great!” I said, flattered. I couldn’t believe it! I was spending the day with a Backstreet Boy. I was thrilled and I also had no idea what the rest of that day held in store for us.