Rae paced around her living room, nervously drumming her fingers on the tips of each other. Her eyes darted around the room, not focusing on anything in particular.
Why did Erin have to tell her that? Why the hell did she find it necessary to point out something like that, a few mere hours before she went on a date? Couldn't she just let Rae continue on in her sheltered little bubble, not knowing a single thing going on around her?
Apparently not.
"Would you please stop?" Erin asked as she pulled her knee closer to her chest. "You're driving me crazy."
"Well, you've pissed me off." Rae stated as she continued to pace.
"Me? Why?"
"Because," Rae finally stopped pacing long enough to stand and stare at Erin. "You just had to tell me that Joey, the Joey I am going out with in less than an hour, is the Joey from NSync?"
"I thought you knew." Erin shrugged. "I mean, I knew you didn't really listen to them, but I didn't think you were that stupid. Jesus woman, don't you ever watch TV?"
Rae only rolled her eyes before resuming her pacing around the living room. "Yes, I watch TV smart ass. But why the hell would I even entertain the thought that the Joey I met the other night is the same guy as the one on TV? Com'on now, be serious. What are the damn chances?"
"Do I need to show you the picture of the group again?" Erin teased with a playful smirk.
"No, thankyouverymuch. I saw the damn picture, and yes it is the same guy." Rae babbled.
Shrugging, Erin sighed. "I would be excited." she mumbled.
"Yes, but you're not the one going. I am. And I am not excited. I am nervous as hell."
"You do realize why he didn't just come out and tell you, right?" Erin asked, her eyes questioning.
"Yes, I do realize why. I understand that it probably isn't easy for him to approach people because of his career." Rae paused for a moment to laugh. "Who would believe this time that the person really didn't know who he was?"
"Yeah," Erin agreed, her head nodding. "Who would have believed there was someone that stupid?"
Erin laughed as a pillow was hurtled towards her head.
"If you're not going to help me, then leave. You're just making me pissed off!" Rae ranted as she fell back on the couch in a huff.
She had been relaxing and lounging around the house before getting ready for her first real date with Joey, when a knock sounded at her door. She knew he wasn't supposed to pick her up for another couple of hours, so it surely couldn't be him. Opening the door, she rolled her eyes when she saw it was Erin standing there.
Erin had been overly interested in this new secret guy Rae had met, ever since she had told her about him the morning before when she went over to Erins house. Rae avoided all the questions asked to her of Joey, mostly because she didn't know the answers. She didn't know what he did for a living, other than that he was in the music business. When Erin asked what his last name was, her eyes almost fell out of her head when Rae told her.
Rae couldn't understand why Erin had just turned into a mute, her face contorted in a confused, excited, misunderstanding look. Erin stood quickly from the couch, ran to the door and sifted through her backpack, and grabbed a CD. When she placed it in Raes hand moments later, she thought she was going to pass out. There, staring back at her, was the very man she had met a few nights before. The same man she had a date with that night. The same man that was a member of NSync.
Rae had spent the next two hours sitting on the couch, staring at the CD in disbelieve. What were the chances? Maybe it was just someone who looked like him. Maybe he was just some guy who had a resemblance, then went around telling people he was Joey from NSync? If that was the case, then why wouldn't he have told Rae that when they had met? If his come on was telling women he was that guy, wouldn't he have told her that?
Then she was finally convinced it was the same Joey, she spent another hour in a frantic state. Erin had to stop her five times from calling to cancel the date. She had shoved her into the bathroom and made her get ready for the date. At least this way, with all the extra time they had, if Rae decided to freak out a little more, she would still have time to finish getting ready.
Now there were here. Rae freaking out on the couch, with Erin picking at her nails beside her.
"Maybe I should cancel?" Rae spoke up after a long silence.
"Why the hell would you do something that fart-headed?" Erin asked, giving her a look.
"Because!" Rae began, not bothering to comment on the fart-headed statement. "I don't think I want to go out with a celebrity. I like my sheltered little existence. The last thing I want is the drama that would surely occur with going out with him."
"You're just rambling because you're nervous. Stop thinking about it." Erin said as she turned her attention back to her nails.
"How am I supposed to stop thinking about it?" Rae rambled again.
"Listen," turning to face Rae, Erin sighed. "Is he a nice guy?"
Rae looked over at her friend, a look of confusion on her face. When Erin didn't continue, Rae finally responded. "Well, I only met him once, and talked to him on the phone a couple of times." Erin only gave her a look, encouraging her to answer. "Yes." Rae stated. "Yes, he seems like a nice guy."
"And did you want to go out with him before I told you who he was?"
Sighing, she nodded. "Yeah."
"Then what's the problem?" Before Rae had another chance to ramble, Erin cut her off. "Look, the only way his career is going to be an issue, is if you make it one. If you stop worry about what he does for a living, and just have fun, you would probably be surprised how normal his lifestyle is."
Rae gave her a get real look.
"I'm serious." Erin laughed. "He has friends that aren't involved in this business, I'm sure. He has family that just know him as the same guy he was before NSync. And I'm sure he doesn't even realize he is anyone the way you do. Don't make a deal out of something that isn't really a deal to begin with."
Rae leaned back hard on the couch, chewing on her nails.
Damn Erin all to hell, but she made sense.
She would hate to ruin something that could be a great thing even before it started, just because she was a little apprehensive about what he did as a job. If she didn't make a big deal out of it, then he wouldn't either. It probably wasn't even a big deal to him at all.
Rae noticed Erin smile out of the corner of her eye. "Don't even say it, you hooch."
"Aw, com'on, just humor me and say it." Erin teased, smiling like a fool.
"No way." Rae shook her head, turning to look away from her grinning friend.
"Please?" Erin whimpered beside her.
Sighing loudly, Rae spoke quietly. "You're right."
"What?" Erin said, leaning in towards Rae with her smile still glowing. "I didn't quite catch that"
Turning quickly, she glared at Erin. "I said you were right! Now piss off."
"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear." Erin laughed before laying out across the couch. "So, what time does he pick you up again?"
"Eight."
"What time is it now?"
Looking at her watch, Rae almost fainted. "Its ten minutes till eight! Oh my God, I might actually have to go through with this. Oh God, I don't know if I can do this."
"For shit sake, what did I just tell you? Just forget about it. Think of him as the guy you met the other night and nothing more. He isn't what he does, you know? He's just him."
Again, Erin was a bitch for being right.
"Do you want me to stay until he picks you up?" Erin asked, looking over at Rae.
"No, I think I would just be more nervous if you were here." Rae said, smiling thankfully over at her friend.
After walking Erin to the door, and thanking her for her 'words of wisdom' Rae sat back in the living room, nervously chewing her nails.
When the doorbell rang a few minutes later, she thought she was either going to throw up, or jump out of her skin.
She had been a little nervous about the date before she knew. She was always nervous when going out with someone new. But this just made it all that much worse.
As she approached the door, she let Erins words repeat in her mind. 'Hes not what he does. He's just him.'
With a calming deep breath, Rae closed her eyes as she opened the door.
Opening her eyes again, she immediately smiled.
There was Joey, standing at her doorway with a single rose in his hand. He seemed so completely comfortable, not a sense of nervousness, Rae felt her stomach relax and her shoulders lower.
He had a calming effect on her.
"Hey" he smiled, his casual stance giving her a sense of soothing.
"Hey" she managed to smile back.
The fact that he was a pop superstar had not evaded her memory, but for some reason, looking at him standing here in front of her, he didn't seem so........intimidating.
She was more scared of his image, more than him. And as long as she focused on him and not his image, she knew she would do fine.
Reaching his hand out to her to give her the rose, he sighed. "Okay, what's wrong?" he asked.
Rae felt her eyes widen at the question. "What do you mean?"
"You seem a little nervous or something. What's the matter?"
"Nothing." she said, shaking her head. "I'm fine." she grinned at herself. "To be honest I haven't really been on a date in a while."
Joey grinned. "To be honest, either have I."
Rae found that hard to believe, but if he said so, then who was she to disagree.
Extending a bent arm to her, Joey tilted his head. "Shall we go?"
Smiling down at the arm offered to her, Rae sighed. It didn't look like this was going to be so hard after all.
Rae was laughing so hard, she thought she was going to pee herself. Covering her mouth with her hand, she laughed even harder.
"What?" Joey asked, his smile widening at her laughter. "I'm serious."
"Oh come on." she giggled. "There is no way you got locked on a roof in your underwear."
Joey raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, you haven't met my best friend. She's not exactly what some people would call sweet when you've pissed her off."
"What did you do to piss her off that much?" Rae asked, not missing the tingle in her stomach when he mentioned that his best friend was a woman.
Joey dropped his head, but she didn't miss the grin on his face. "I, kinda," he paused to keep his laughter at bay. "I sort of told a guy she was seeing that I was her pimp."
Raes eyes popped out of her head, and she didn't know whether to laugh or to be mad at him for ever telling anyone that.
She decided on laughing.
"Well, if you did that to me, then I would have locked you on a roof too!" she laughed.
When her laughter settled, she turned to ask him a question. "So, tell me about your friend."
"Who?" he asked, lifting his eyes from the menu in his hands.
"The woman you pimped out." she grinned.
"Oh, Lois." he laughed. "She's," he paused as he tried to think of the appropriate word. "Well, she's different." He laughed at his own statement. "She's probably the most amazing person, or at least one of the most amazing people, Ive ever met. She's keep me grounded in a world that is easy to lose your head in. She's always been there for me, keeps me on my toes at all times, and is probably one of the only people who can ever embarrass me."
Rae smiled. This woman sounded very special to him, and she couldn't help but ask the obvious. "Was it ever more?"
"Ever more than what?"
"Friendship?" she asked, unconsciously hitting herself in the head for asking such a personal question.
Joey smiled. "No, no. Not with Lois. She's my best friend, and will always be one of my best friends."
Rae felt her nerves settle a little at the answer.
It wasn't like Joey was hers, but she felt a little twinge of nerves when he spoke of Lois. She hadn't met the woman yet, but she obviously held a special place in his heart.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked, wanting to get things out in the open.
"Of course"
Sighing, Rae looked down at her hands as she spoke. "I, um," she tried to think of the best way to tell him. "I know who you are."
Joey could only stare at her, as if he didn't understand what she had said. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I know what you do. About your career, I mean."
"You mean, you know about the whole NSync thing." he smiled.
"Yeah." she grinned nervously.
"Okay." he shrugged.
Rae looked up, and didn't quite know how to take his reaction. "Okay?"
"Yeah. Okay." he smiled. "What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know." she shrugged again, suddenly feeling a little foolish. Of course he wasn't going to think it was a big deal, because to him it wasn't. It was just his job, so what if she knew.
Joey noticed her become uncomfortable and set her mind at ease. "Listen, to be honest, I kind of knew you didn't know who I was the other night when we met."
"You did?"
"Yeah," he laughed. "You didn't have that look on your face."
"What look?" she had to ask.
"Just this look that women sometimes get when they meet one of us. This 'Oh My God, its you' sort of look. You didn't have it, so I kinda figured you didn't know."
Rae only grinned.
"Are you okay with that?" he asked, looking at her.
"With that? Your career?"
Joey only nodded.
"Yeah. I mean, its not like I have a right not to be. Its not who you are, its what you do, right?" Suddenly, Rae thought of Erin saying those same things. And for the first time, she actually believed them completely.
Joey grinned. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being the first person in a long time to not make a big deal out of it. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find someone who isn't all into the fame thing." he sighed.
She smiled, and any touch of nervousness or anxiety she felt was gone.
"So," he sighed again, looking up to her with a grin. "You wanna hear some of the stuff we've done to Justin?"
She laughed. "Is it better than the pimp/underwear story?"
"Definitely." he smiled.
"Lets hear it." she grinned as she leaned her elbows on the table.
"You still love me, don't you?" she asked, looking longingly into his eyes.
"Of course I do." he replied, taking her in his arms. "I could never stop loving you."
"Of course you can, you jackass!" Lois screamed at the television. "She slept with your brother! You should kick her skanky ass out of the house!"
Groaning loudly as the couple on the TV embraced into a kiss, she fought the urge to throw the remote and decided to change the channel instead.
Lauren was out with Justin for the night, and Lois knew better than to wait up for them. It was kind of nice to have a night to herself, even if she had spent the majority of it sulking. And even if she wouldnt admit that she had been sulking.
Flicking through the endless number of options, she finally settled on The Osbournes.
Wiggling further into the couch, she smiled happily as Ozzy shuffled through the yard after the cat. "Stupid fucking cat. I'm going to bash the fucking thing over the head with my walking stick." he mumbled, each swear word bleeped out in an annoying sequence.
Lois never did understand why they bleeped out the swear words in this show. Everyone knew what they were saying, and all it did was give every viewer a headache as every few seconds another bleep rang out.
Dipping her spoon into the carton of Cherry Garcia ice cream, she sighed.
Joey is on his date right now, she thought as she let the ice cream melt in her mouth. "And here I am watching Ozzy and eating. That's a good balance." she said aloud.
She didn't miss the fact that her stomach dipped a little when Joey mentioned that he had a date with Rae that night. What she couldn't understand, however, was why she had reacted that way.
She had seen him go on countless dates. Hundreds. But never once did she worry. Not that she had a right to, but even as a friend, you feel the need to watch out for each other.
She knew most of the other girls were just passing amusements. But for some reason, something about Rae stuck with Lois.
She knew why, even if she didn't want to admit it. It was because Rae was quite a bit like her. The same no-bullshit attitude. The same air of confidence. The same things that Joey always said he adored about Lois, was now in another person that he was out with at that moment.
Lois couldn't help but feel a little weird at that thought. Why should she worry? Joey was her best friend. They had been friends for years. And its not like he was going to marry this girl. She was just part of a bet. IF anything, they may end up friends. But its not like she was going to take him away from Lois. That wouldn't happen.
Even so, Lois sat on her couch, quietly watching Ozzy swear at the dog for shitting on the floor, as her thoughts kept going back to the same thing.
Joey was out with someone else. And for the first time ever, Lois felt alone.
