“I saw her first!” James yells, pulling me by my arm towards him.
“I don’t think so, she’s mine!” Joshua yells right back, grabbing my other arm.
“You guys! Please!” I beg, shaking them off me as Joshua falls back into my camera, knocking it to the floor. James falls into the light set-up, which slices the curtain backdrop in half. Several directors and studio managers run onto the set to see total pandemonium. By this time Joshua and James are all over each other, punching each other in the face, kicking each other in the stomach, etc.
“What’s going on?” studio manager 1 shouts through his megaphone. “What the hell are you fighting over?”
“Her!” the two guys say in unison, pointing their index fingers at me.
“You!” the second director screams, pointing yet another finger at me. “You are fired! You will never work for Rolling Stone again! Never…ever….ever…”
“I’m sorry!” I yell, sitting upright in bed.
Nick immediately wakes up, wrapping his arms around me. “Alicia, baby, what’s wrong?” he asks, removing the hair from my face.
“It was just a bad dream, I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Of course, what time is it?” I ask, climbing over him to check my alarm clock. It was 9:53.
“I can’t get over this. Your room is just…weird,” he says in amazement, his eyes darting around all the odds and ends of my room.
“Why is that?”
“Everything is either zebra striped, pink and lime green, or furry.”
“Au contraire. That,” I say, pointing to a large blow-up chair in the corner, “is blue.”
He rolls his eyes. “Add ‘or inflatable’ to that list.” I giggle and stand up. “Where do you think you are going?” he asks, grabbing my waist and pulling me back down on top of him.
“I was going to get something eat, aren’t you hungry?”
“Yeah, but what I want can’t be found in no kitchen, unless you’re there. So, why not skip the walk and stay right where we are?” he grins at me seductively.
I smirk right back at him. “Because, I’m hungry,” I pat his stomach and jump out of the bed and dash into the kitchen.
For the third day in a row, I’m woken up by the sound of a phone. Only for some reason, I’m in a way better mood this morning… I glance at the sleeping Brian next to me. God, he looks cute when he’s asleep. I roll over and grab the phone as Brian starts to wake up.
“Yeah?”
“Jady! Feelin’ brighter today?”
I laugh. “AJ, you gotta stop doin’ this.”
“I woke you again?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I guess it IS 10am.”
“It is?” I check my clock. “Great, and I have the day off too.”
“You have? Me too! Any plans?”
“Nup.”
“Let’s hit the mall,” he suggests excitedly.
“No way. We did that already this week. Besides my credit card is bashed to the limit.”
“I’ll pay.”
“Thanks but no.”
“Ok, what then?”
I sigh. “I was thinkin’ the beach.”
“Great. Shall I come by and pick you up?”
“Uh… I guess.”
“Excellent. I’ll be there in an hour.”
Brian sits up and wraps his arms around me. He kisses my neck. “Uh AJ, could we make that two?”
“Two?!” he whines, sounding like I had cancelled on him. “Oh, ok,” he hangs up.
I put the phone down and smile at Brian. “Mornin’ you.”
“Mornin’ Jade. Who was that?”
“AJ. He has the day off and wanted to do somethin’.”
“Yeah?” He raises an eyebrow.
“I said we could go to the beach.”
“Aww… I kinda wanted to spend today with you.”
“Why can’t you?”
“You’re goin’ to the beach with AJ.”
“Correction. I’m goin’ to the beach. AJ’s coming. So can you. So can anybody.”
“Ok!” he grins and pulls me down with him under the sheets. “I never spent the night holding somebody before.”
“Me neither,” I kiss him. “It was good.”
“Yeah,” he agrees and kisses me right back. “You smell so good Jady.”
I laugh and run my fingers through his hair. It is wonderful just lying in my big bed, feeling Brian’s arms around me and looking into his blue eyes as he murmurs to me. It is perfect. HE is perfect. I just wish that I am. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Brian and not Nick is the one I should be with. He’s the one who makes my heart skip a beat whenever he looks at me. Sure Nick is gorgeous and I’m getting to know him better now, but he’s not IT.
After a long while, we decide to get up and fix some breakfast. Brian heads off to the kitchen and I try the bathroom door. As I reach for the handle, it opens and Nick walks straight into me. He grabs my arms just as I’m about to fall over and smiles.
“Mornin’ Jade. Sorry ‘bout that.”
I smile back. The sight of TWO gorgeous men in one morning was almost too much for me. “Hey Nick. Still here?”
“Yup. Day off,” he explains. “You doin’ anything later? Brian still here?”
“Beach and yes,” I answer his questions in order.
“Beach… Sounds good. Mind if I tag along?”
“Nup, AJ’s already coming.”
“AJ?” he nods. “Cool.”
“Ask Ali to come along,” I head into the bathroom.
Nick wanders into the kitchen to find Brian manning the percolator and toaster in his boxers and T-shirt.
He grins. “Hey Baptist boy, get you some?”
Brian shoots him a glare and then laughs. “Shut up Nicky.”
Nick sits down at the kitchen table. “Just bumped into Jade. She invited me to the beach.”
“She did?”
“Yup. You goin’?”
Brian nods. “Of course. I’m not leaving AJ alone with her.”
Nick laughs. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds you’re goin’.”
Brian shrugs. “Not my problem.”
Nick rubs his eyes. “Man, Ali’s room gotta be seen to be believed.”
“Yeah?”
“All zebra prints and lime green,” he chuckles. “What’s Jade’s like?”
“Pretty cool. White, deep red, wooden floors and a kick-ass bed.”
“Ali’s is a water-bed. Kinda cool but I kept dreaming about needing the toilet.” Brian laughs. “I’ll have to check out Jade’s bed.”
Brian glares at him. “You fuckin’ dare.”
Nick blushes. “Oh, I meant… Y’know, alone or with Ali. Not… Unless we were both dressed…” he trails off. “I’ll shut up before you hit me, right?”
Brian nods. “Right.”
After my shower, I get dressed for the beach. I wear my black bikini and a deep red sundress over it. I grab my straw bag and fill it with tan lotion, sunglasses, towel and a book. Not that I figure I’ll need it. With AJ, Brian and Nick all going, there’ll be plenty of entertainment. I just hope Ali can come too. As far as I know, she’s free. I head into her bedroom. I figured it was safe after seeing Nick head towards the kitchen. Ali is fully dressed and packing her bag. My heart sinks – it is her film bag. She smiles at me brightly as I sit on her bed.
“Hey Jade.”
“Hi Ali. Good night?”
“Yup. Slept like a baby.”
I smile. “Ditto. Are you working today?”
She nods. “Rolling Stone called me yesterday. I’m shooting Joshua Jackson and James van Der Beek at 11am.”
“Oh,” I sigh and she throws me a look.
“You’re supposed to be happy. You know how I’ve wanted to work for that magazine!”
“Yeah, ‘course I’m happy Ali!” I give her a hug. “I just kinda hoped you’d be free to come to the beach with us.”
She rolls her eyes. “And play gooseberry to you and Brian? I don’t think so.”
“AJ and Nick are comin’ too.”
“Nick?!”
“Yeah, I bumped into him a few minutes ago and he kinda invited himself along. I told him to invite you too.”
She seethes. “He knew I had to work.”
“He did?” I raise an eyebrow. “I guess he forgot.”
“Probably.” She thinks for a while, “I can come along after my shoot. It’ll be over by 1pm at the latest.”
“Great.”
“I’ll call your cell to find you, so keep it switched on.”
“Sure,” I smile.
I’ll only have to deal with the three guys alone for two hours. How hard can that possibly be? We stand up and head towards the kitchen.
“Oh, Jade… AJ has a thing for you.”
“Huh?” I stare at Ali.
“Yup. Just figured you should know.”
“But he’s not SERIOUS?”
“Yup. Very. I’ve never known him be like this.” She puts her hand on my arm just as we’re about to walk into the kitchen, “Be nice to him Jady.”
“Yeah,” I follow her into the kitchen.
Just great. I had to spend two hours alone with a guy who fancied me, a guy I was now kinda dating, and my best friend’s boyfriend who I kinda liked… Have I stepped into a tacky soap opera or what?
“Hey Ali,” Brian smiles at her and reaches out an arm to pull me down onto his lap.
“Hey Bri,” Ali smiles back and heads over to Nick. He pulls her into his arms and kisses her neck.
Brian kisses my neck. “Mm, you smell good Jady.”
“Thanks. I decided to wash for a change.” He chuckles and moves me around so that he can kiss me. There’s a knock at the door but we carry on kissing. Ali heads towards the door, poking me in the back as she goes. “Owch, Ali!”
“AJ,” she hisses. I move away from Brian as she opens the door. “AJ! What a surprise.”
AJ grins at her and gives her a hug. “Hey cuz. Yeah, I know… I’m early but I brought croissants.” He walks into the kitchen and freezes as he takes in Nick and Brian. “Oh, hey. A regular Backstreet Boy meeting goin’ on here.”
I give him a hug and take the bag off him. “Hey AJ. Good to see you.” He doesn’t hug me back and I throw Ali a nervous look. She joins me in the corner and we slice up the croissants. “Oh boy…”
“I know,” she whispers back. “I’m sorry I can’t come right away Jade.”
“Not your problem.”