Justin’s mother had paid him a visit at his new house that night. It had been a surprise visit and he’d cringed as he’d seen his mother shake her head as she observed the state of the place. She had been horrified to find out that his cupboards were bare and he’d been surviving on take-out. She’d left the house with orders for him to go and buy some “proper food”. So much for moving out and being independent.
That was the reason he was in a grocery store at 10 pm on a Thursday night. The cap and sunglasses he wore were most likely doing more to get him recognised than to disguise him.
He wandered the aisles wondering what his mother actually classed as “proper food”. “Probably veggies and fruit,” he muttered to himself, scrunching his nose up at the thought. What self-respecting 20-year-old guy ate that sort of thing when they moved into their first bachelor pad? They were supposed to live on a diet of greasy food and live in their own dirt for a while. It was all part of growing up and becoming a man.
After contemplating what to buy a few moments longer he decided on the basics. Cereal, milk, bread, anything that could be thrown together quickly but would pass inspection by his mother.
The store was pretty empty. Most people were at home relaxing, where he wished he were at that moment, so when he heard voices up ahead he looked up to see what was going on. A man and woman were bickering over what was going in the cart and what was going back on the shelf.
He looked at them closely, enjoying being able to just observe normal people for a change. The guy had to be only about his age. He couldn’t get a good look at the woman as she had her back turned.
He laughed as he saw the guy manage to sneak a pack of chocolate bars in unnoticed as the woman browsed the shelves.
In a way he envied them. They were able to go about their business as normal, doing what they wanted when they wanted. Somewhere along the line even grocery shopping had become an event in itself. The timing had to be just right – ridiculously early in the morning or late at night. Going around the store he figured he looked like a criminal what with wearing the “disguise” and peering around corners to check out the aisles for teenage girls.
When it came to paying for the food he’d try and pick the checkout with the little old lady who wouldn’t have a clue who he was. Meanwhile the little old lady would stare at him like he was about to pull a gun out on her because he was looking so cautious.
Justin laughed harder as he continued to watch the guy try and run away with the food.
“Alexei I don’t know where you think you’re going, I’m the one with the money to pay for it.”
That caught Justin’s attention, both the name and the voice. The name because it wasn’t one you heard every day, although he’d heard it twice this week. Secondly the voice, he’d definitely heard that before.
He turned to face the woman and smiled. She hadn’t caught sight of him yet. She was too busy reprimanding “Alexei”.
Justin slowly walked towards her and she finally saw him out of the corner of her eye. It took her a moment to recognise who it was. “Oh great,” she cried, rolling her eyes. “Just great.”
Justin continued to grin as he walked closer. “Anyone would think you weren’t happy to see me.”
“I’m not. Bye.” She tried to walk off but Justin grabbed her by the arm, preventing her from moving any further. She turned to face him. “Justin what do you want? It’s really starting to look like you’re stalking me here but I’m going to hope that’s not the case. So what the hell are you doing?”
“Me a stalker?” Justin pondered aloud. “That would be a nice change. Ya know I could get to see what’s going through those fans’ heads and all,” he joked.
Natalia remained quiet, studying his face trying to understand what he wanted from her. He had appeared in her life by chance just a few days ago. Now it seemed everywhere she turned there he was.
“Nat are you coming or what?”
“Alexei I’ll be there in a second,” she replied, sighing in frustration at being distracted from her thoughts.
Justin looked past her to the approaching man. Side-stepping Natalia he walked towards him. Taking his sunglasses off he then held out his hand. “Hi I’m Justin.”
Alexei grasped Justin’s hand, glancing towards Natalia in confusion, before giving him a firm handshake. “Alex.”
“As touching as it is to witness this male bonding session I really would like to get out of here.”
“Wait a minute...” Alexei looked between Justin and Natalia and back to Justin in amazement. “You’re that guy…from that group. Shit how the hell do you know my sister?”
“Alexei!” Natalia scolded.
“Oh don’t get all pissy with me and quit calling me Alexei,” he replied turning to look at Natalia. “How could you keep a secret like that?”
“Like WHAT?” she cried, wide-eyed.
“Oh I don’t know,” he replied sarcastically. “Only the fact that you’re hanging out with a freaking POP STAR.”
Justin bit his lip trying to hide the smile which was threatening to form.
“I’m not hanging out with him!”
“Well we did hang out the other night in the diner,” Justin cut in. He watched as she turned her attention away from her brother to give him a dirty look. He shrugged. “What? We did.”
She shook her head at the man who looked as if he was thoroughly amused with the entire situation. “Oh don’t you start.”
As she stalked off Justin couldn’t help chuckling quietly to himself. He was beginning to learn a thing or two about Natalia. 1. She could be as sarcastic as hell and loved to…well to put it simply, piss people off. 2. She hated it when the tables were turned.
Justin slipped his sunglasses back on as a young woman passed, turning away from her just to be on the safe side. When the coast was clear he returned his attention back to Alexei. “So she’s your sister huh? I thought you might have been a boyfriend when I heard her on the phone with you the other day.”
Alexei burst out laughing, shaking his head at the thought. “I’m sorry that’s just too funny. Gross but funny. I give any guy who can put up with her credit though. At times she can be a first class bitch.”
Justin eyes widened. He was slightly shocked about the way he was describing his sister. “I have noticed she can be slightly…uh…” he searched for the right words.
“Hostile, evasive, downright rude?” Alexei offered.
Yes, yes and yes. “Well she does seem to be kind of secretive,” Justin replied instead.
Alexei shrugged. “That’s Nat for you. I wouldn’t take it personally. She likes to keep things to herself. You’ve just got to learn to give her as you good as you get.”
Justin noted that for future reference. “Well she does make a nice change from the females I usually come across.”
He looked at Justin, totally unconvinced. “I know I have no idea what your life is like but I somehow doubt she is a nice change. A change - yeah. A nice change?” He shook his head. “I’m just not seeing it.”
Justin shrugged. “She treats me different.”
He eyed him carefully. “She treats you like a piece of shit.”
Justin smiled sheepishly. He agreed somewhat with what he was saying. The fact that it was coming from her brother was surprising but he could tell by the smile that adorned Alexei’s face that the comments weren’t meant in a bad way. The siblings had some extreme version of lovable teasing going on between them.
“Alexei come on,” she demanded impatiently.
“Okay,” he called back, rolling his eyes. “I hate it when she calls me that. Only her and my mom call me that now.”
“So you prefer Alex then. Got it.” Justin nodded. “Don’t take this the wrong way but your first names are…how do I put this? They’re kind of different to your last name.”
Alex laughed. “And I suppose my sister didn’t explain that to you either. Our mom is Russian and Thomas…well that’s from our father.”
“Well thank you Alex.” Justin grinned at his latest source of information. Well if it wasn’t coming from the horse’s mouth where else was he supposed to find things out. “It was nice to meet you but I think you better get going. Your sister looks like she is about to commit murder by the looks she’s giving me.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow Nat,” Justin called cheerfully.
Natalia turned her back to him causing the men to laugh. “You’re driving my sister crazy already by the looks of it. I like it, keep up the good work.”
The men shared a conspiring grin before Alex joined his none too pleased sister.
“Oh I will Alex,” he muttered to himself. “You can count on that. She’s not getting away that easily.”
Natalia sat down at the kitchen table with her mom, bleary eyed and struggling to function properly. She had 10 minutes to grab a bite to eat before she had to head to work.
The previous night she had spent a considerable amount of time going over all the possible reasons Justin had for pursuing her. She had no idea what his intentions were and she didn’t like that one bit. That was one of the reasons she had been so rude. She liked to be in control of her life, knowing what was happening at all times. It was safer that way. People were less likely to walk all over you if you remained in control.
Justin’s constant appearances were becoming unnerving. What he wanted from her was a mystery to her. She had nothing to give him and any romantic intentions had been laughed away almost immediately. One of the more plausible conclusions had been that she was part of some sick bet.
“Your brother said you had a run in with a young man last night.” The statement was spoken almost cautiously, not knowing how the receiver would take it.
Her eyes snapped up and met her mother’s curious ones. “Alexei should mind his own business,” she grumbled. She would be having a word with him later on that was for sure.
“He’s only looking out for you. Why must you be so hard on everyone? Would it be so bad to be nice to him? What’s his name…I forget?”
Natalia sighed in frustration, pushing away the toast she had been in the process of buttering. Suddenly she had lost her appetite. “His name is Justin and I’m not being hard on him. The guy won’t quit bothering me okay?”
Eva Thomas studied her daughter for a moment. She had noticed the barriers she had been putting up more and more lately. Her life seemed to be divided between two things – work and the dance studio. Any spare time was spent in her room or helping her out in the house.
She longed for her to spend time with others her own age. In a way she blamed herself for this. Circumstances had changed all their lives but Natalia had taken a lot upon herself.
“Perhaps he likes you,” she suggested gingerly.
Natalia almost choked on the coffee she had been drinking when she heard her mother’s comment. Clearing her throat she laughed quietly. “Trust me mom, he doesn’t.”
“If you say so. You’re a pretty girl Natalia, I don’t know why the idea is so absurd to you.”
Natalia was becoming increasingly frustrated with her mother’s choice of conversation. She hadn’t figured out Justin’s reasoning herself yet and she didn’t want her mother getting ridiculous ideas of her own. She would end up putting the thoughts in Natalia’s head and that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted a clear head so she could be alert at all times. “There is a lot you don’t know about Justin mom. If you knew then you’d know why he would never be interested in me okay?”
Eva regarded her daughter in silence for a moment before finally speaking the words. “And there’s a lot Justin doesn’t know about you…about us,” she said sadly. “Am I right Natalia?”
Natalia pushed her chair back forcefully and stood, angrily gazing down at her mother’s almost accusatory stare. She shook her head in disbelief before storming out of the room.
“Natalia, your…” she heard the front door slam and sighed, “breakfast."
Chapter 4
Chapter Index
Main Page