Lois adjusted her feet again. A few moments later, she repeated the same action.
She had been fidgeting ever since stepping into the car, but couldn't quite pinpoint why she was fidgeting.
She had never been one to get nervous around men. She never felt nervous at all. Well, almost never. But still, definitely never around men. But here she was sitting in a car, and her feet were acting like she had Mexican jumping beans nailed to the bottom of her shoes.
She mentally thanked God once again for making it easy on her to get Justin out of her office. He had insisted that he be there when Brian came to pick her up for their lunch date, stating that it was part of the deal of the bet. Once Lois threatened his life in many painful and disfiguring ways, plus gave him twenty bucks to take Lauren to a movie, he finally agreed to leave. She even made Crystal watch him leave, just incase he had any ideas of sticking around.
Brian had come by her office right on time; one o'clock, with her address book in hand.
When Crystal had buzzed her office, saying that Mr. Wilson had arrived, Lois for some reason got a strange feeling in her stomach. One that she hadn't felt in years, and had rarely felt ever in her life. It took her a moment to realize what it was. Nervousness. Why? She had no fucking idea, but she was nervous never the less.
She figured it was because of the bet, and the fact that things looked as if they were going to work out well for her. She hadn't really asked Joey how he was doing with his end of the bargain, but then again she didn't really care. She had her own thing going on, and didn't need the added distraction of having to keep score or keep up with him. She could do just fine on her own without any outside influences.
When Brian walked in to her office, she couldn't help but smile at him.
He was dressed in black dress pants and a blue shirt, the color bringing out the brightness in his eyes. His brown hair was styled slightly, without being overly done like some of the men his age at her office tended to do with theirs.
But she knew that it wasn't just the way he looked that had made her smile. For some reason, this man just had an effect on her. Whenever she thought about him, or heard his name, she found herself smiling.
He just had a certain comfort about him. A certain confidence that made others around him feel comfortable. She had rarely felt that air around anyone else. Even the first time she met Joey, she got the impression he was a nervous wreck. But Brian was just comfortable with himself, and had no worries or concerns with how others viewed him. He had mentioned it the other night while they were playing pool that his philosophy was 'What you see is what you get'. She had laughed, saying that he sounded like a Britney Spears song, but he had been right. She had always had that same idea in her mind when she thought of herself and how others perceived her.
Yes, she wanted to be liked and wanted to be thought of as competent. But when it came right down to it, if they didn't like her, she wasn't about to lose any sleep over it. She was who she was, and if they didn't like it, they could kiss her ass. Figuratively speaking, of course.
"Are your shoes bothering you?" Brians voice broke Lois from her drifting thoughts, and she turned to look at him.
"What?"
Brian grinned at the distant look on her face. "Your shoes," he repeated. "You've been shuffling your feet since we left your office. Your about to rub a hole in my floor."
Lois grinned to cover her embarrassment. "Sorry," she apologized. "I just hate high heels. They drive me crazy. I honestly didn't realize I was doing it."
Brian only smiled as he turned his attention back to the road in front of him.
When she got in his car, she took a quick look around while he crossed over to the drivers side after opening the door for her. She almost laughed at how clean his car was. Her car, on the other hand, had everything you could ever imagine thrown around. She was sure she had lost a doughnut in there a few weeks ago, but couldn't find it.
They had decided to go to a small cafe about ten minutes from Lois' office. It was a simple place, but they had found out the other night that they both enjoyed it there. It was just one of those places you could go, and sit for hours. Just sipping coffee or reading a newspaper. Very laid back and mellow. Lois thought it suited Brian very well.
Pulling up in front of the cafe, Brian parked the car and quickly walked around to open the door for Lois. She had never had anyone do that for her before, and was a little giddy at his action. She always thought of herself as a modern girl, but this old fashioned chivalry was a nice change to the do-it-yourself dating she had grown accustom to.
She was even tempted to giggle when he opened the door for her. She mentally smack herself in the forehead for even entertaining the thought of giggling.
After being seated at a window side booth by a rather large, sweaty woman, they both preoccupied themselves with the small menus that were handed to them.
Brian, she was sure, was trying to decide what he wanted to order. Lois, on the other hand, was thinking of something completely different. Many things, to be honest. She was thinking of her reactions to him since they had met. She was thinking that, for the first time in a very long time, she was actually feeling a little nervous. And most of all, she was thinking about the bet.
She knew that this was just a bet. Really, nothing more. Or at least that's what she assumed it would be.
Justins question repeated itself over and over in her mind as her eyes scanned the menu.
'What if they actually like the person?'
Now that, she hadn't thought of. Yes, it had crossed her mind, but she was Lois. She wasn't the type of person to just fall for someone she barely knew. Especially under these sort of circumstances. Not that she was used to this situation. She didn't meet all men she dating because Joey bet her that he was better at picking up than her. It was just different this time, and for some reason, it seemed to be bothering her more than she thought it would.
She didn't know Brian all that well, but in the few times they had spent together, she had grown to like him. Quite a bit, actually. She figured she may like the person, but it would be all business when it got right down to it. Looking across the table at him now, while his blue eyes scanned the page in front of him, and he bit his bottom lip in thought, she actually felt bad about making him a part of this rather ridiculous scenario.
"Do you know what you would like?" a voice called out, causing Lois to look up from her menu.
"Pardon?" she asked, her puzzled eyes turned to the waitress staring down at her.
"Your order ma'am. Do you know what you want?" the woman repeated.
"Um," Lois shook her head to clear her jumbled thoughts and quickly scanned the menu. "Just a grilled chicken salad, honey Dijon dressing and an iced tea." Thank God she had been here enough times to know what she wanted already.
Brian ordered, and handed his menu to the woman before turning his smiling eyes at Lois.
"Thankful that you knew what you wanted?" he asked.
"What?" God, she had been saying that a lot today.
"You're thoughts were elsewhere the entire time you were looking at your menu. When the woman asked you what you wanted, I thought you were going to panic. Good thing you've been here before and knew what you wanted." he explained with a smile.
"What makes you think my thoughts were elsewhere?" she questioned.
"Because usually when someone is reading a menu, their eyes actually follow the words." he grinned. "Yours didn't move."
She felt her face growing warm, and knew she was blushing.
Damn it.
Brian laughed at her embarrassment. "Dont worry. Ive done that more times than I can count."
Lois grinned shyly as she turned to face the window.
"So," Brian spoke up before she had the chance to let her thoughts run away with her again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." she replied as she faced him again.
"Well, I don't mean to be nosy, or intrusive, but when I picked you up at your office today, I noticed a photograph on your desk."
Lois mentally starting looking over her desk, thinking about what photograph he could be meaning.
This was a slight problem, considering she had more pictures on her desk, on the walls and on the shelves in her office than she had jars of jelly in her fridge. And that was a lot.
She had a picture of her and Lala at her high school graduation. It was three days before Lauren had moved down to Orlando with Lois, and they had the time of their lives tearing up Memphis one last time.
There was a photo of her entire family at the last reunion about six years ago. Most of the people in the photo she didn't even really know, but they were family, so what the hell.
There were pictures of her with Nicki, Suzy, Val, and other friends at different times in their friendship. From parties, to work functions to graduations and so forth.
And then there were the pictures of her with the guys. Pictures of her with each of them individually, and as groups.
Everyone in her office knew of her friendship with them, so its not like she had to hide the photos in the chance someone would find out. It was common knowledge, and she really never thought about it.
"What picture do you mean?" she asked, silently hoping he wasn't meaning one of the ones he probably was meaning.
"Well, I noticed one of you with," Brian ginned nervously at the table top. "Nsync." he finished with a smile. "My little sister in really in to them, and Ive probably seen more pictures of them in her room than in all the magazines in the world. So when I noticed that picture, it kinda stuck out to me."
Lois smiled at his nervous behavior. She didn't really want to have to explain this part of her life yet, but really, what was the harm? Also, his nervous behavior was rather fun to watch. She chuckled to herself, and decided to tease him a little.
"Your little sister, huh?" she smiled, giving him a get-real look.
"Yeah!" he defended. "What? You don't believe me."
Lois raised her hands defensively. "No, no. Far be it from me to judge. Ive got pictures of them on my desk for shit sake."
Brian laughed out loud. "Why do you have pictures of them on your desk?"
"Well, don't tell anyone." she spoke softly, leaning forward over the table to lower her voice more. Brian leaned in as well. "I'm kind of obsessed with them." she smiled. She almost laughed out loud at the look on Brians face.
"You're stalking them?" he asked, before he had the chance to stop himself.
"Ugh!" she groaned. "You don't know how tired I am of hearing that word!" She shook her head in disgust at the sound of the word. "You get arrested one time for trying to take Justin Timberlakes underwear, and you get called an overzealous fan. Get arrested a second time for trying to cut a piece of JCs hair, and automatically you're a stalker."
Brian leaned back slowly, his eyes wide.
Lois couldn't stop herself, and burst out laughing. Brian could only stare at her in a mixture of fear and confusion while she cackled and snorted across from him.
"I'm just kidding, Willay!" she laughed. "Seriously, I'm kidding."
Brian relaxed slightly, but he was still unsure. "Then why do you have pictures of them on your desk?" he asked again.
When her laughter quieted, she leaned over again. Brian leaned back this time, nervous at to what she was about to tell him. "Dont be scared, Willay." she smiled. "I'm not a stalker." Leaning back, she shrugged. "They're friends of mine. I met them years ago before they were even the NSync they are today. They're just the guys to me."
Brian relaxed more, giving her a questioning look. "So, you're friends with NSync?" he asked, not sure if she was telling the truth.
"Yeah. They're really cool guys. My cousin, Lauren, actually is dating Justin. But shush, don't tell anyone. We wouldn't want that whole Justin/Britney thing to be foiled." she laughed.
Brian smiled, still unsure whether or not to trust her. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm serious." she sighed. "What? Dont believe me?"
"Well, its not really that as much as," he paused when he didn't really know what to say to finish that sentence.
"What do you want me to do to prove it to you?" Lois asked, leaning back in her chair defiantly.
Justin groaned. Of all the times for his cell phone to ring.
Lauren giggled at the look of disappointment on his face. "Why didn't you just turn the stupid phone off?" she asked.
"Because I'm not that smart. Haven't you been listening to Lois? Apparently, its a known fact." he replied as he searched the floor of his car for the phone.
After leaving Lois' office, he had stopped off to surprise Lauren on campus just as she was finishing up her meeting with her professor. Neither of them had felt like seeing a movie, so they opted for the next best thing.
They drove up to a high hilltop overlooking the city, and decided to park.
Needless to say, Justin was not happy with his cell phone right now. And was even less happy with whatever moron was on the other end of the line.
Finally locating the phone beneath the back seat under him, he picked up the tiny object and flipped it open. As he sat back, he bumped his head on the roof of the car, causing Lauren to burst into laughter.
"Hello?" he asked, his voice obviously annoyed.
"Hey, Juju." Lois' happy voice rang through. Justin inwardly groaned.
"Lois, for Christ sake woman, you have the worst timing in the world!" he whined.
"What, you and Lauren making out or something?" Lois joked. When Justin didn't answer, she gasped. "Oh my God, you were! You guys were making out!" A moment of silence occurred before she groaned. "Eeeewwww."
"Shut up!" Justin yelled. "Ill have you know I'm very good at what I'm doing!"
"Eeewwww!" Lois repeated. "Justin, shut up, okay. Please. The last thing I need is to hear how you are corrupting my favorite cousin."
Lauren laughed as she heard Lois complaining on the other end of the line, and laughed harder at the look of frustration on Justins face.
"Is there anything in particular you need, or are you just trying to ruin the mood?" Justin asked, leaning his elbow on the back seat.
"Well, actually there is a reason for my call." Lois said. "I need you to tell Brian who you are."
"What?" Justin asked, his face scrunching in confusion.
"I need you to tell him who you are." she repeated. "I told him about you guys, and he doesn't quite believe me. So I asked what I could do to make him believe me, and he said for me to call one of you and have you tell him for sure."
"And of all five of us, you had to pick me to help you with this little project?" Justin inquired.
"Well, you are my favorite person to annoy, so yes." she affirmed.
Justin groaned. "Fine. Put him on."
There was a momentary scuffled as the phone changed hands, and a deep voice called through the line.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Brian." Justin smiled.
Laurens eyes widened at Justins words, her interested peaked.
"Hey. Justin, right?"
"Yeah, its me." he smiled. "I know, Lois is a bit of a fruitcake, but we love her. Well, sort of. Actually, not so much right now, but yes she does know us. And unfortunately, we know her."
Brian laughed. "Okay. Sorry about this. I didn't actually think she would call."
"One thing you should know about our little Lois, Bri. Never assume anything." Justin stated.
Brian laughed. "Ill keep that in mind. Sorry again for the intrusion."
"No problem." Justin assured. "Talk to you later."
"Bye."
Hanging up the phone, Justin laughed.
"What?" Lauren asked, giving him a curious look.
"Just Lois." Justin said, shaking his head. Dropping the phone back on the floor, he looked back to Lauren with a purely evil look on his face. "Now, where was I?"
"There, believe me now?" Lois asked, her smiled broad.
"Yeah, yeah. I believe you." Brian assured. "But I think Justin is a little pissed off at you right about now."
"Oh he'll get over it." she shrugged. "Believe me, that's not the worst thing Ive ever done to that boy. He is a pain in my ass, and I am equally as much of a boyle on his."
Brian raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. "You have quite the friendship with them, don't you?"
"What makes you say that?" she inquired.
Brian shrugged. "Just a hunch."
Lois smiled. "Yeah. I guess I do." Smiling at the waitress as their food arrived, she sighed. "Maybe, if you're lucky, Ill let you meet them one day."
"Oh, only if I'm lucky, huh?" he smiled.
"Yeah. Only if you're lucky." she teased.
Lois skipped into the house, kicking her shoes off at the door.
Dropping her coat and purse with her shoes, she wandered into the foyer further.
"Joey?" she yelled, looking around the silent house.
"Upstairs." a faint voice called back to her.
Bounding up the stairs, she reached his bedroom door and barged right on in.
"Ugh, Lois." Joey groaned as he turned to face her. "Dont you ever knock? What if I had been naked?"
"Then I would be screaming, right?" she asked with a shrug as she jumped on his bed. Crossing her legs beneath her, she leaned back against the headboard.
"So, how was your lunch date?" Joey asked, as he disappeared into his bathroom.
"Good." she replied. "How did you know about that?"
"Justin." Joey yelled back. "He mentioned it earlier on the phone. I also heard about the rather inopportune phone call, too." A faint laugh came from the bathroom. "Good one." he congratulated.
"Thank you, thank you." Lois bowed to an imaginary audience.
Returning to the bedroom, Joey adjusted the tie at his neck.
For the first time, Lois realized he was dressed up. "Where are you going?" she asked.
"Didn't I tell you?" he asked as he picked his wallet up from the dresser and placed it in his pocket. "I have a date with Rae tonight."
