A CHANGE OF HEART
By Sarah Wartman
PART ONE
“I’m sorry, Nicki, but you know I can’t come with you. I have to work, remember?”
“But Sarah! Come on, just call that lady and tell her you’re sick or something. Carrie and I want to go to the mall.”
“Can’t you at least wait until I finish? Then I can go to the mall with you.”
“Yeah, okay, just come on over when you’re ready, okay?”
“Okay, bye.” I said and clicked the phone off. I sighed and threw my phone on my bed. The last thing I wanted to do was work today, but I had no choice, I did have a new Jeep and college to pay for. I quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail and threw on my wind pants and raced out the door.
My “stupid job”, as Nicki likes to put it, is cleaning houses. It’s not an elegant job, but it pays, and that’s what’s important. And today, I had a new client, Betty Ann Benechek.
I pulled up into her driveway and sucked in my breath. Her house was huge! Good thing I didn’t schedule any other houses to clean today.
After knocking on the front door, a woman with short brown hair and a warm smile greeted me. “Hi, you must be Sarah,” she said, offering me her hand.
“Hi,” I said, quickly, as we shook hands.
“I’m Betty Ann. Well, this is it,” she said, extended her hand out to her sides. “I’ll be gone most of the afternoon. My nephew might drop by to pick up something, but other than that, you have the house all to yourself.”
“Okay,” I whispered, still in awe of the magnificent house. She threw me a quick smile before leaving. I heard the door shut and I realized I was all alone.
“Well, I guess I better get to work,” I said to myself. It was very obvious that Ms. Benechek had a cleaning lady before me, because the house was sparkling. I started with the upstairs, dusting every piece of furniture and vacuuming every corner.
Towards the middle of the afternoon I was close to being finished, leaving the kitchen floor the very last thing. I was quickly pouring some Pine-Sol into the bucket when I heard the front door slam, followed by loud laughter. The slamming of the door spooked me, causing me to drop the bottle. As the contents quickly poured out onto the kitchen floor I let out a small cry. Just another thing to add to my horrible day. I quickly grabbed some paper towels and bent down to soak up the mess.
“Did ya see that fly lady, JC? She was so fine!”
“Yeah, Justin, whatever you say,” I heard the other one say.
Suddenly, I heard shoes on the linoleum and I looked up, and immediately I wished I had put on make-up this morning.
“Well, who’s dis?”
I looked up into the eyes of two gorgeous guys. One with bleached blonde hair and the other one with dark hair. I blew the loose strands of hair away from my face and threw him a nasty look. I quickly looked back down and finished soaking up the mess.
I strained to get back up, and quickly, the dark haired guy ran to my assistance. After standing up, I shook his arm from my elbow and threw away the towels. I turned back to see the two starring at me with their eyebrows raised and curiosity in their eyes. I rolled my eyes and quickly walked past them to my supplies. I grabbed my mop and turned around, to see the two starring at me.
“Well, hello there,” the blonde one said, moving quickly to step in front of his friend. “I’m Justin. And you are?”
“Annoyed,” I said and the other guy laughed. I threw him a sarcastic smile and walked past them both into the kitchen. Realizing that they were following me, I turned on them quickly.
“Can I help you with something? If not, I really need to get back to work,” I told them.
“Damn girl!” the blonde one said, looking back at the other guy that was with him. “Who da hell is this?”
“Who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?” I snapped.
The two looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces. The blonde turned and threw me a charming smile. “You mean, you don’t know who we are sweetheart?”
PART TWO
I laughed. “Should I?”
“Ever heard of the music group, ‘N SYNC?“ Justin challenged.
“Yeah, I guess so, why?”
“Well, we’re-“
“Big fans,” the dark haired guy cut in, throwing his friend a reprimanding look. “I’m Josh, Betty Ann’s nephew.”
“And, like I said, I’m Justin,” the tall blonde said, stepping in front of Josh, looking at me with a sexy smile. “You do have a name, don’t you beautiful?”
“I’m Sarah, okay?” I told him. “Happy now? Can I get back to work?” I asked, not hiding my annoyance at Justin’s lame attempt at being charming.
“Oh, you’re Aunt Bet’s new house cleaner?” the Josh asked. His crystal blue eyes sparkled and I couldn’t help but smile.
“What tipped you off? The mop? The vacuum maybe?”
“Are we having a bad day?” he asked me, smiling.
“Yes, I am.”
“It shows,” the blonde guy mumbled and I turned on him quickly.
“You know what, I’ve been on my hands and knees all day, scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets, okay? My back aches and I’m extremely tired. And to add to the list, I just dropped a bottle of Pine-Sol all over the kitchen floor. I guess that would classify as a bad day, don’t you think?”
“Can we help?” Josh asked quickly. I studied him, trying to see if he was serious. His face told me he was and the thought made me laugh.
“Whatcha laughing at?” Justin asked me.
“The thought of you two mopping the floor,” I told them and turned around to finish mopping.
Justin shrugged and strutted over towards the refrigerator, throwing me a smile as he walked. Right before he reached the refrigerator, he hit a wet patch on the floor and his long legs flew into the air. He landed on his backside, hard, and he yelled out in pain.
“Owww, shit!”
I looked at Josh to see him trying to hide his laughter, causing me to laugh. Justin looked up at us and threw us nasty looks. “I’m glad you two find this funny,” Justin said to us as he stood up.
“You dumb ass, you saw that I spilt the cleaner. And I even told you about it. Maybe you’ll be a little more observant next time,” I said as I finished mopping.
"Well, laughing at me was a very barbaric thing to do,” Justin said, walking next to Josh.
I looked up quickly. “Barbaric?” I asked and started laughing.
“We got Justin one of those word calendars. You know, it has a different vocabulary word everyday,” Josh answered, rolling his eyes at Justin.
“We?” I asked, picking up the bucket and mop.
“Yeah, some friends and I,” Josh said as he followed me out front and I dumped the cleaner into the street.
“Isn’t that bad for the environment?” Justin asked me.
“It’s better here than on the grass, don’t you think?” I asked him, opening the back door to my Jeep.
“Well, the little birdies wouldn’t drink it there,” Justin countered.
I smiled and turned to face him. “It would kill the grass, brainiac. Where did you find this guy?” I asked Josh. He simply shrugged and walked inside the house.
“Now that we’re alone,” Justin said, moving up next to me the instant Josh was out of sight. I cringed and backed away from him. “Nobody is immune to the ‘Timberlake Charm’,” he told me.
“Oh, please,” I said.
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to spend a little time with the one, the only Justin Timberlake,” he told me.
“I wouldn’t want to spend a little time with Justin Timberlake.” I said in defiance.
“Damn, girl! What’s your problem?”
“My problem? My problem is that you have been hitting on me non-stop since the moment you saw me.”
“Yeah, so?” Justin asked, crossing his arms over his baby-blue North Carolina jersey.
I laughed. “I’ll just put it this way, maybe you should take lessons from you friend,” I told him as I saw Josh appear with my cleaning supplies. I walked past Justin and quickly took them the stuff from Josh.
“Thanks,” I said and quickly shoved it into my Jeep. “No problem,” he told me.
"It was nice to meet you,” I said to Josh, getting into my Jeep.
“You too,” he said, closing my door for me.
Justin walked up to my window and knocked on the glass. I sighed and rolled down the window. “Remember, no one can resist the ‘Timberlake Charm’,” he told me. I watched the two guys walk inside and it suddenly occurred to me. ‘Timberlake? Why does that name sound familiar?’
PART THREE
“Hey, slow down Sarah.”
“Sorry, mom,” I said as I quickly darted up the stairs.
“Where are you going in such a hurry, anyway?” she asked me, slowly ascending the stairs behind me.
“I gotta take a shower. I’m going to the mall with Nicki and Carrie,” I told her.
“Sarah, do you really need to go to the mall again?” my mother asked in her serious tone of voice.
I turned around. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to buy anything.”
“Fine,” she said and I closed the bathroom door.
The minute I stepped out of the shower I heard my phone ringing. I darted quickly into my room and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sarah, what are you doing?”
“Oh, hey Nicki, I just stepped out of the shower.”
“How was work?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said as I combed out my hair.
“Anything interesting?”
I laughed. “Hardly.”
“How long until you can get over here?”
“Ummm….an hour or so. Is that okay?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, just hurry up and get your ass over here.”
“Oh, alright, Nicki. Bye.”
I threw my phone on my bed and ran to my closet. I threw my khaki shorts and a small black shirt on my bed when my phone rang. I sighed and picked it up.
“What Nicki?”
“Who’s Nicki?”
I stopped in my tracks. “Who’s this?”
“Guess,” was all I heard, but I recognized that familiar cocky voice.
“Justin, how did you get my phone number?”
“Kind of hard when you leave your phone number on Betty Ann’s kitchen counter,” he told me.
“Fine. Why are you calling me?” I asked as I quickly got dressed.
“Why not?” he asked. I could just tell he had a huge, smug grin across his face.
“Do you not know how to take a hint?” I asked him.
“What hint?”
I sighed deeply. “As much fun as this conversation is, I need to go and to get ready,” I said and instantly regretted it.
“Get ready? For what? You going out with someone behind my back?” he asked sarcastically.
“Behind your back? Geez, if you must know, I’m going out with some friends tonight.”
“Oh, cool, I’m going out with Josh and some friends too. Maybe we’ll bump into each other,” he told me.
“Oh goodie,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing. I need to go now,” I said, pulling out my blow dryer.
“Wait, where are you guys going to be?”
“We aren’t sure yet,” I lied.
“Well, don’t worry, we’ll find you.”
“I’m not worried. Good-bye Justin.”
“Good-bye Sarah.”
I laid my phone on the bathroom counter and sighed in annoyance. That guy sure has got some nerve. Well, maybe he has some cute friends, I thought. I quickly shook those thoughts from my mind and started blow drying my hair.
PART FOUR
“Where in the hell have you been?” Nicki asked me the second I stepped foot into her bedroom.
“Sorry, I got over here as fast as I could. I had an unexpected phone call while I was getting ready,” I explained.
“Oh really, from who?” she asked, sitting down next to me on her bed.
“Some guy I met today.”
“Did you say you met a guy today?” Carrie asked, peeking her head into the room.
“Nice to see you too Carrie,” I said, grinning at her.
“Sorry, but I just heard you say you met a guy today.”
“Two, actually,” I said, which immediately lit Carrie’s face up and I laughed.
“Why does this shock you, Sarah?” Nicki asked me. “That’s all my cousin thinks about, 24/7.”
“That’s true,” I agreed and we all laughed.
“Well, tell us about them,” Carrie begged.
“Fine. Their names were Justin and Josh. Josh is the nephew of the woman’s house I cleaned today,” I explained.
“And?” Nicki demanded.
“Justin is an obnoxious jerk. He was hitting on me from the second he saw me, and you know how I hate that. He just thinks he’s God’s gift to women and it made me sick to my stomach.”
“And Josh?” Nicki asked.
“He was a lot nicer. Not really my type though. Actually, he’s more your type, Nicki.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. But are we going to the mall or not?”
“Geez, Sarah, you’re no fun,” Carrie declared, practically whining.
I threw her a smile. “I know, that’s why you two love me so much.”
”Well? Come out and show us!” Nicki demanded.
I stepped out of the changing room slowly. Being the best friend that Nicki is, she could read the expression on my face and know exactly what I was thinking.
“What’s wrong with that?” Nicki asked, pointing at the short blue skirt I had tried on.
“I don’t know.…” I mumbled and Nicki shook her head.
“You’re hopeless,” she told me.
I turned around and looked in the mirror. I smoothed out the front of the skirt with my hands and studied myself in the mirror. “It makes me look fat!” I exclaimed, turning back around to face Nicki and Carrie.
“It does not!” Carrie shrieked. “It looks really good!”
I looked at Nicki to see her nodding in agreement. I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling.
“Well, if you don’t like it, go try something else on,” Nicki told me.
“It doesn’t matter,” I told them, turning back towards the dressing rooms. “I can’t buy anything anyway.”
After changing, I walked back into the room, only to find Nicki and Carrie sitting in the exact same place.
“Aren’t you two going to try something on?”
“Nope, I’m absolutely broke,” Nicki explained.
“Yeah, well, that’s because you don’t have a job,” I told her, smiling at her.
“Okay, Miss Thing, let’s rub that in my face. At least I don’t scrub stranger’s toilets,” she explained, throwing me an evil grin.
“That’s right, because it falls into the category of work, Nickers.”
“Oh, Sarah, cut her a little slack,” Carrie told me. “The girl hasn’t worked a day in her life,” she said and we both laughed.
“Funny,” Nicki mumbled. I looked back at her, but something else caught my eye.
“What is it, Sarah?” Nicki asked me, turning around to see what had caught my attention.
I didn’t say anything, just starred right out of the store window.
“Sarah, are you okay?” Carrie asked me. She saw the expression on my face and turned to see what I was looking at.
“Oh my God….” I whispered.
PART FIVE
“What is it?” Nicki asked me frantically.
“That guy,” I whispered, nodding my head towards the store’s window. “The cute one looking in the window.”
“What about him?” Carrie asked unenthusiastically.
“God, he’s gorgeous!” I exclaimed.
“How can you tell?” Carrie asked me. “You can barely see his face with that hat in the way.
“Oh, I can tell,” I told her.
“Well,” Nicki said, standing up. “Let’s go talk to him.”
“Oh, no, Nicki, I don’t think-“
Before I could finish, Nicki grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the store, Carrie trailing behind us.
“Excuse me,” Nicki exclaimed.
The guy turned around and I got a better look at him. He was wearing jeans and a green shirt. His navy baseball cap was pulled so far down his face you could barely see it. He looked up at us and I couldn’t help but turn red. He looked at each of us, but his eyes caught mine and I thought I saw a small smile form on his lips.
“Yeah?” the guy asked.
“Yeah, hi, I’m Nicki and this is my friend, Sarah. We saw you from inside the store and were wondering what that cute guy was doing in a mall all by himself.”
If I could have shriveled up and died at that moment, I would have. I’m sure my face turned several shades of red, but Nicki didn’t seem to mind. I think she found pleasure in embarrassing me.
“Oh, I’m just waiting for my friends. Two are with their girlfriends somewhere, and my other two friends are buying some clothes next door,” he told us.
As if on cue, two familiar faces turned out of the store and my heart skipped a beat. It was Josh and Justin. Justin was obviously in the middle of a story, his hands flying to exaggerate his point. They looked up and saw us and Justin smiled.
“Sarah! Baby!” he exclaimed, coming over to us.
“You know these guys?” Nicki whispered in my ear.
“Unfortunately,” I muttered.
“Hey, girl. Looks like you’ve met Joey. See, I told you I’d find ya tonight, and I did. Ha!” Justin exclaimed, putting his arm around my shoulder.
I looked down at his arm and back up at him. “You’re touching me.”
“Damn,” he muttered and removed it. Joey and Josh started laughing.
“That’s Justin for you,” Joey said, more to me than the others.
Nicki elbowed me in the side and I looked at her, to see her gaze had fallen on Josh. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” she asked.
“Oh, sorry. Guys, this is my friend Nicki and her cousin Carrie.”
“Hi,” Josh said, extending his hand towards Nicki’s.
“Nice to meet you,” Nicki stuttered out.
“Why, hello there,” Justin said, his glance falling on Carrie.
She looked at me and rolled her eyes.
“I don’t get it,” I heard Justin whisper and I laughed.
Josh and Nicki started talking and Justin was still trying to hit on Carrie. I was just thankful he had left me alone. Joey saw me off to the side and walked over to me.
“You said your name’s Sarah, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“That’s a beautiful name.”
I looked up at him sharply. “Don’t tell me you’re just like Justin, please. I don’t think I could take it.”
He laughed. “Sorry, I’ll try to control myself.”
His eyes locked with mine and I felt my hard persona slowly melt away. “That’s okay.”
“So, you’re the famous Sarah I’ve been hearing about all day.”
I looked up at him. “Excuse me?”
“Well, Justin wouldn’t shut up about this “fly girl” he met,” Joey explained.
I looked over at Justin to see him flirting with Carrie, but it didn’t look like she’d opened up to him any. Justin saw me watching them and waved at me.
“For some reason I have a feeling he talks about many “fly girls” often,” I said as I waved back at him.
“Well, I think he lets the fact he’s wanted by millions of twelve year olds get to his head.”
His statement struck me as odd and funny at the same time. I turned to him with quizzical eyes.
“Wanted by millions of girls?” I asked him.
“Yeah, that’s right, he-” he stopped and studied my face for a minute and a smile formed on his face. “You don’t know who we are, do you?”
TO BE CONTINUED