Here you go, everyone. Not sure how I missed sending this one in to the archive when I first posted it on my site, but I somehow managed to do it. So, here it is. Hope you all managed to find it on the site before now.
Disclaimer is the same as usual: None of this is meant in any way to represent the actual lives of any of the people mentioned. Any similarities (and I seriously doubt there are many) are purely coincidental. I know nothing of these people's lives, and make no claim to. As always, if you aren't old enough or just otherwise shouldn't be reading stories like this one, then please don't. If you have a problem with the homosexual theme of the story, again, please go elsewhere and don't even bother to tell me your problems, please.
Those of you who can and want to read, I hope you enjoy it. :)
PART 10
Brian was already awake when I got up. I sat up on the bed, looking around for him. He was standing in front of my bookshelves, looking through one of the books.
"What are you reading?"
He looked up with a smile and showed me the front of the book. It was my 'Complete Works of William Shakespeare' from University. A huge book with extremely thin pages. "Can't understand a word he wrote."
"Two shelves down, right-hand side," I laughed, pointing.
Brian looked and then laughed as well. Reaching out, he pulled one of my Coles Notes booklets off the shelf. "So that's how you do it."
"They're to be used as a guide only," I recited with a smirk.
"Sure they are." Brian put both books back and turned back around to me. He came over and climbed back into bed, slipping under the covers and putting his arms around me.
"Well, this is nice," I commented, giving him a kiss.
"I love waking up next to you."
"Enjoy it while you can. Someone has to go to work tomorrow."
"Don't remind me. I don't know what I'm going to do without you."
"You'll be fine. Just don't be picking up any cute fans to keep you company."
"But what if they're really cute?"
"Oh, well, if they're really cute, it's okay."
Brian laughed and put his head on my chest. "We've got a few things to talk about, you know."
"I know," I sighed. "And I think I've got it figured out. Wanna hear?"
"Sure."
"Well, first thing is to get a start on a new book, but a few things can't wait that long. Andrew is one of them, and Andrea is the other."
Brian raised his head. "What about Andrea?"
"I'm going to move back to LA."
"What?"
"Not permanently. I'm going to try splitting my time between here and there."
"Where did that come from?"
"I decided last night, after you fell asleep. Andy's getting lonely down there on her own, and I miss her too. So, I'm going to try and spend as much time down there as I can."
"Have you noticed that you move a lot?" Brian laughed. "When we first met, you were in LA with Andrea, then a year later, you were living in the other apartment here. Now you live here, and you're going to move back to LA again."
"I think I'm part gypsy," I agreed with a smile. "But I'm still going to keep this apartment. I want to be able to come up here and spend time with Erron, and Jeff, Cindy and Norry too."
"Well, at least we'll be in the same country most of the time."
"Opposite sides, though."
"That's why they make planes."
"True. So that's that taken care of. I think it'll be good for me to be around Andy, Mom and Dad for a while too, until I get my feet back under me completely."
Brian nodded. "And what about Andrew?"
"Two weeks. Give me enough time to get settled down there, and then I'll fly out to meet with you guys. Kevin said he's got a plan on how to deal with him."
"He told me that too, but he hasn't told me what it is yet."
"Is two weeks okay?" I propped myself up on my elbow, looking over at him. "I know I've made you wait already."
"Two weeks is fine. Like you said before, we rarely deal directly with him. I'm anxious to get rid of him, but you take whatever time you need to. What do you think Andy's going to say about you moving back?"
"She'll fight me on it," I said confidently. "She's going to think that I'm doing it just for her. But I really do think it'll be good for me too."
"Then she'll be fine. Just make sure that she knows that you're doing it as much for yourself as you are for her."
"Yeah, and I can always have Mom and Dad gang up on her. They hate her living alone, and they'll both want me down there with them." I smiled, thinking about the reaction that I expected from Mom and Dad.
Brian was quiet for a few minutes, then spoke quietly. "You mentioned Andy and Andrew, but what about my mom?"
I sighed. "I haven't forgotten about her, believe me. But we have to talk about that. I don't want you charging in there and blasting her out of the water."
"That's putting it mildly."
"I know it is, but I don't want you to do it, Brian. That's not going to do anything but get her even angrier."
"Well that's just too damn bad!"
"Yes, it is. Bad for us. Think about it. We can use Andrew's career against him. You guys are pretty influential in the business, and when you get mad, people will listen. I'm sure that's part of what Kevin has in mind. But what about Jackie? What do you have to use against her and keep her quiet?
"She's the one that worries me, sweetie. I mean, it was her idea before, and she got lucky with Andrew's cooperation. But if she gets it in her head to out you she'll do it, and she doesn't need Andrew."
Brian sighed and sat up. "Why is she doing this?"
"She thinks she's doing what's best for you. She's wrong, but it's going to take some convincing to get her to see that. Calm, rational convincing, not arguing."
"I don't know if I can do that."
"I still want you to try. If it can't work, then we'll have to live with that, but I'm telling you that she's willing to out you. The only way I can think of to get around her is to convince her that we should be together."
"Any ideas on how we do that?"
"She's your mother," I said, smiling and trying to ease the tension.
"Don't remind me."
"We've got to sit her down and talk to her. We'll call ahead and make sure that your dad is there when we go. He'll back us up."
"He's going to be furious about what she did."
"Good."
"So, when do we do this?"
"After Andrew. You figure out when you can take a few days to go, and we'll do it."
Brian lay back down and put his head back on my chest. "Nate?"
"What?"
"What if it doesn't work? What if she still doesn't want us together?"
"I don't know, sweetie. I honestly don't. But we'll think of something. The rest of the guys will help."
"I hate this." Brian pulled the blankets around us tighter and closed his eyes.
"Then we'll get it over with as soon as we can." I planted a kiss on the top of his head and put my arms around him, content to lay and hold him all day, if that was what he wanted.
We finally emerged from the bedroom shortly before noon and made our way into the bathroom to shower. When we got out into the living room, I saw Andy standing out on the balcony. Brian offered to go and make us something to eat while I went out to tell her about my plan to move back to LA.
"Andy?"
"I was wondering when you two were going to show yourselves." Andy turned to smile at me. "I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary last night, so I figured you might make up for it this morning."
I laughed and leaned against the railing beside her. "You really want to hear about that?"
"No, I really don't." She smacked my arm and turned to look out over the city. "So when does he leave?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, with the rest of the guys. Tour stuff, I guess. Meetings, appearances, and I think they've got some shows to do."
"You going with them?"
"Nope, I'm coming with you." I smiled and looked over at her.
"You're what?"
"I'm going to move back down to LA and be with you for a while."
"No, you're not."
"Watch me."
"Nate, just because of what I told you last night--"
"What you told me last night is part of it, yes, but it's not all of it. I miss you, and I miss Mom and Dad too. And I think it will be good for me to be around you guys for a while."
Andy was frowning at me, trying to decided whether she believed me or not.
"Look, I'm not giving up this place, and I won't be in LA all the time, but I'm going to divide my time between Toronto and LA. That way, I get to be with you, and I get to be with Erron too. And I get to spend time with Norry. I'm going to do this."
She studied my face for a second, then smiled. "Okay, I'm not going to kick your ass, but only because I think you need us around you, and because it will get Mom and Dad off of my case about living alone."
"That's the only reason, eh?" I grinned.
"If you're waiting for me to say I miss you, you're going to be waiting a long time."
"Love you too, dear," I laughed, scooping her into a hug.
"Get off of me, fag-boy," she smiled, swatting my shoulders.
"You love me."
Andy rolled her eyes and turned away from me. "You have certain qualities that I appreciate."
"You know, you've really got to get over your bitterness at not being able to have me."
"Oh please!"
"Begging's not going to work, sweetie," I laughed, putting my arm around her.
"You're in a weird mood this morning." Andy started to laugh, but made no move to shake my arm off.
"Why not? Things are looking up, I would think. I woke up beside the man of my dreams, I'm going to be moving back in with one of the most incredible people on the planet, and I've got reason to believe that my career is going to be picking up again."
"You writing anything?"
"Not yet, but I can sort of feel it in the back of my head, you know? It's like there's something there, and it's just building up steam until it breaks through to where I can get to it."
"Any idea what it's going to be like?"
"Not a clue."
"But it's there."
"Somewhere. I just have to find a way to get it out."
"Hey! You moving in on my territory?" Brian asked from the doorway.
I smiled and looked back at him over my shoulder. "Yeah, she is."
"I was talking to you," Brian grinned, pulling Andy away from me and putting his own arm around her. Andy laughed and snuggled against my boyfriend.
"Oh, that's nice!" I said in pretended indignation. "Well, you might have his arm around you, but how many of these has he given you?" I asked, raising my hand up to show the ring.
"Oh, I don't know. A couple anyway," Andy smirked. "I leave them at home, though. All those flashy diamonds and everything. It's like asking to be mugged."
Brian laughed and stuck his tongue out at me.
"Well, how many of these?" I asked, pulling my shirt up to show her my chest.
"Jesus, Brian. What the hell are you? Part vacuum cleaner?"
Brian blushed, and I smiled. "Thought so. Now come here or you're spending your last night in Toronto out here on the balcony."
"You don't scare me."
"That's right, sweetie. You stand up to him." Andy pulled him tighter to her. "You can always stay in my room."
Brian quickly stepped away from her, right into my arms, making us all laugh. "Sorry Andy, but he gives me something you can't."
"I've seen what he gives you. It's nothing to write home about."
Geez, a guy could get a complex. "Penis envy isn't pretty, Andy," I grinned, putting my head on Brian's shoulder.
"Whatever. You guys hungry?"
"I made some sandwiches," Brian said. "They're on the table."
"Well, aren't you handy to have around?" Andy smiled. Taking his hand, she pulled him away from me. "Let's you and I get away from this riffraff and have lunch."
"But I like riffraff," Brian complained, grabbing my hand again and pulling me after them both.
"I don't want to go." Brian sighed and sat down on the bed beside his suitcase. "Or I want you to come with me."
"I don't want you to go either," I told him as I searched the closet for anything he had left. "But you can't stay. And even if you could, I'm only going to be here for two more days myself." We had seen Andy off at the airport that morning, with the promise that I would be a couple of days behind her, as soon as I could pack up a few things and arrange to have them shipped to LA.
"Two weeks, right?"
"Right. You call me and let me know what's going on, and I'll be there on the next plane."
"I guess I can handle two weeks."
I laughed and looked over at his puppy-dog expression. "You lasted over a year, sweetie. I think, with phone calls and email, that you can go two weeks."
"I don't know how I did it." He got up and put his arms around me, effectively stopping my search.
'I almost didn't,' I thought, but of course couldn't say it. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, Brian. You could do it again if you had to. Not that you're ever going to have to."
"I better not," he said, laughing. He let go of me and reached into the closet to snag one of his shirts, then returned to the bed and packed it away.
I stopped looking, deciding that if he forgot anything he would just have to wait or replace it. Turning around, I found that he must have come to the same conclusion, because he was snapping his suitcase closed and picking it up. He took my hand and we walked out to the living room together.
"What time are the guys coming?" I asked him as he sat down. I sat on his lap, facing him with my knees on either side of his legs.
"You're the one with the snazzy watch. Why don't you tell me?"
I laughed and looked at my wrist. "I know what time it is, sweetie, but not what time they're coming." Leaning forward, I nuzzled his neck, planting little kisses from his ear to his Adam's apple.
Brian glanced at his own watch and sat up a little straighter. "Dammit. They'll be here in fifteen minutes, Nate."
"Fifteen, eh?" I continued to kiss his neck, grinding my hips against him as I did so. "I wonder."
I could feel Brian react to me quite clearly and knew that he was interested in the experiment. "We probably shouldn't," he whispered, but the moan that followed it made it clear that his heart wasn't really into the protest.
"You're probably right," I whispered back, moving my hips again. "Think we should stop?"
"I don't think I could if I wanted to," he said, a split second before kissing me directly behind the ear. I shuddered against him, which I was sure he enjoyed, and slipped my hands up under his shirt.
"Um, just give me a second," Brian said suddenly, easing me to the side and off of him. I landed on the couch and watched as he got up and tried to adjust himself to a little more comfortable position, then disappeared into the kitchen.
I listened as the front door opened, then shut again a few seconds later. Brian was smiling brightly as he rejoined me. "There, now come here."
"What did you--" Brian cut off my question by kissing me and pulling me back to him. We rolled off of the couch together and landed on the floor, Brian on top of me.
"Nevermind," he said softly as his hands started working at my belt. "Just work with me here."
And work with him I did.
I glanced at my watch, laughed, and then double checked the time. "Sweetie, they're late."
Brian shrugged as he tucked in his shirt again and did up his belt. "Maybe."
"What do you mean 'maybe'?" I asked as he handed me my shirt and came over to help me fix my hair so it wasn't immediately obvious what we had been doing.
"I mean that it's entirely possible that they're waiting out in the hall for us right now," he smirked, dropping his hands again. "There. Beautiful." He leaned in for another quick kiss. I finished buttoning my shirt and leaned back in as he pulled away, prolonging it as much as possible.
I tucked myself in and fastened my belt, then bent down and moved the cushions from the floor, putting them back on the couch where they belonged. "Why on earth would they just be sitting out there?" Then I remembered Brian's trip to the front door. "Oh Brian, you didn't."
His smile told me everything as he took my hand and led me to the front door. Reaching out, he pulled it open and I was greeted by the smiling faces of the Backstreet Boys and one Backstreet Girl. Well, three of the Boys, anyway. One of them seemed to be joined at the mouth with Erron. Carrie had flown back to New York that morning.
"About time," AJ grinned, pushing past us both on his way into the apartment. "I have to pee." He made a beeline for the bathroom as the rest of the guys, all of them snickering, came in as well. I felt the blood rise to my face as each of them said hello.
Erron and Nick came up for air and smiled at us as they entered. I caught Erron's glance at my door and turned to see what he was looking at. As soon as I saw it, I started to laugh. "Subtle, Brian, very subtle."
Brian had used the dry-erase marker from my message board in the kitchen to write 'Erron: Unlock this door and I'll kill you! We'll be as fast as we can!' on the door itself, directly under the peephole.
"Subtle or not, it worked, didn't it?" He put his arm around my waist as he leaned over and used his other hand to wipe the message away.
I had to give him that. We started back to the living room and found that Erron and Nick had claimed the chair in the corner by the fireplace and were oblivious to everything else going on in the room.
Kevin, Kristin, and Howie had taken the couch that faced the TV and were flicking through the channels.
My mind came back to Erron as Brian and I took the chair to the left of Howie. I remembered what it was like to be away from Brian so soon after getting together with him. Granted, they had done it before, after our trip to the cabin, but this was different. Then, they had mutually agreed that it wouldn't last more than the week. Neither had been happy when the week ended, but they had stuck to it.
Now, they was an actual relationship there, as undefined as it was. That was something completely different. I briefly thought of postponing my move so that I could spend some time with him, then remembered that he would have Jeff and Cindy there to talk to, and I was only a phone call away. I also knew that he'd fight me if I tried to stay on his account.
"So what time is your flight?" I asked them, looking around.
Kevin gave me the time, flight number, gate number, ETA, and every other little detail that anyone could ever have wanted. Of course, I had really only been going for the departure time. I put up my hands to make him stop and smiled. "Okay, I got it."
He grinned. "We usually get there early, and they put us on first. Like they did for us that time we flew to Memphis."
I nodded. "Speaking of which, I think I'll be swinging by there on my way to Orlando when I come down. I want to catch up with Matt and Kathy, and JC if he's around. And I want to see that little boy of yours." Kevin's face beamed with pride at the mention of little Ashley.
"Will your book be out by then?" Howie asked. "Brian said it should be out in a couple of weeks, right?" AJ rejoined us and claimed some floor space in front of the TV.
I wondered for a second if he would look quite as comfortable if he knew what had been happening in that very spot only a few moments before, but I just smiled and nodded. "I should definitely have advance copies by the time I come to see you guys."
"And?"
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "And yours will be the second one I sign, Howie," I promised.
"Second sucks."
"So does the first," I laughed, kissing Brian and watching him blush.
"How come Howie gets the second copy?" Erron sat up on the other side of the room and looked over at me. "I'm your best friend!"
"And I'm your favourite!" Nick piped up.
I sighed and sat back against Brian. "I just can't win. I didn't say Howie's was going to be the second copy. His will be the second one I sign."
"So who gets the second copy?" Kevin sat forward in his seat.
"At this rate, the homeless guy on the corner!" I laughed.
"Leave my boyfriend alone," Brian said, defending me with a smile. He leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "But I'm definitely getting the first copy, right?"
I laughed and elbowed him in the stomach. "You guys keep this up and I'll make you buy them."
"Okay, okay," Kevin said with a smile. "We should get going anyway. I'll call from the car and let them know that we're on our way."
We decided to take two cars. Erron and Nick jumped in the back of mine while Brian and I got in the front. AJ, Howie, Kristin and Kevin took the car that Kevin had rented.
Brian and I were quiet on the ride, knowing that we weren't going to see each other for a couple of weeks and just trying to enjoy being together while we could. Erron and Nick went the other route, making out for the entire trip to the airport. I was thankful for the tinted windows.
When we got to the airport, I pulled into the parking lot and we joined the rest of the guys inside as they returned the car. We then made our way to the first class lounge, where Kevin made another phone call.
Almost immediately, we were joined by a man in a business suit. He introduced himself and offered to take them to the plane. Brian and I shared a look, but we said our goodbyes as friends. Our real goodbye had taken place in the car.
As had Nick and Erron's. They were actually trying to avoid looking at each other, and both looked a little too close to actual waterworks than was probably good for spectators. Kevin saw this and urged the man to continue. Erron and I said another quick goodbye to each of them, then watched as they disappeared through a set of double doors. Erron sighed, and I put my arm around him, leading him to a little coffee shop.
"We're pretty lucky, sweetie."
I noticed the couple at the next table look up at the two of us when I called him that, and decided to play with it a little. I don't know whether it was my bitterness at being apart from Brian showing through, or whether it was the particularly unpleasant look that they gave us.
"Yeah, we are," Erron agreed. I caught his attention and indicated the table beside us. I scowled briefly, then smirked at him.
"I love you so much, you know that?" I asked in a chipper voice. Then, leaning across the table, I gave him a kiss.
Erron looked surprised until we heard the word 'sick' drift over to us from the couple. Then he caught on and gave me a smile to let me know that he was willing to go along. "Not as much as I love you," his voice dripping with sweetness. Reaching across the table, he took both of my hands and held them, staring into my eyes. It was all I could do to keep from laughing as I watched the couple beside us squirm in my peripheral vision.
We kept it up for another few minutes until they finally got up and left. Turning to watch them go, I started to laugh. Erron quickly joined in, and we both gave them a little wave when they glanced back to scowl at us.
"I feel better," Erron announced as we both turned in our seats again.
"Me too, though that probably officially makes us bitches."
"If messing with what passes for their minds makes me a bitch, then so be it," Erron grinned. "But if you ever kiss me out of the blue like that again, I'll have my boyfriend beat you up."
"Oh please. That blond freak couldn't take me."
I knew it was coming, but couldn't think of a way to stop it. "He could take me anytime," Erron said wistfully, then started to laugh.
I laughed with him for a second as I glanced around the airport, then lost track of the conversation entirely as my eyes settled on a man standing at a bank of pay phones.
He was a very good-looking man. At least, he would have been, if he didn't look so worn-out. He was about six foot, with dark hair and eyes. He was solidly built, but his broad shoulders were slumped, giving him the look of a man who was about to collapse from exhaustion.
But the thing that drew me to him so intensely was the strange way he stood out of the rest of the crowd. There were any number of other good-looking, dark haired men around us. It was an international airport, after all. But there was something about him that caught and held my eye. It was a feeling that I hadn't had in ages, and I was relishing it, trying to take in every detail that I could.
"Nate?"
The man turned sideways, giving me his profile, and I mentally sketched it into my brain, not wanting to miss anything.
"Nate?" Erron grabbed my arm and pulled me around to face him again. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, sweetie," I told him, not wanting to jinx anything. "Just daydreaming, I guess." I took a quick look back at the man and saw him hang up the phone and merge into the rest of the crowd, then looked back at Erron. "You ready to go?"
He gave me a curious look, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."
We didn't talk much on the way home. Erron was probably back to thinking about missing Nick, and I was still thinking about the man from the airport. My mind gave him the name Trevor, and from there I had started to build a character.
I dropped Erron off at the old apartment, begging off an invitation to go up for a while. By that time, I was so excited I was practically bouncing in my seat. Instead, I promised to go for dinner with him the next night, then spend the evening with Jeff and Cindy before I flew out for LA the morning after that. I got another one of his inquisitive looks before pulling back out into traffic and heading home.
The ride up in the elevator seemed to take forever, and I really was bouncing from one foot to the other by the time the doors opened and I made it to my door. I dropped my coat inside the door and headed straight for the bedroom to get my computer.
Andy called about four hours later. I was still bent over the computer when the phone began to ring, and when I sat up straight, my back popped loudly. With a groan, I stood up and went to answer the phone before the answering service did it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, you! Just calling to let you know that I got home okay. Did the guys get out?"
"Hey Andy, yeah they left this afternoon." I was trying unsuccessfully to pull my brain back away from the computer and concentrate on the conversation. "Erron and I saw them off at the airport."
"And how are the lovestruck duo?" she laughed. "Wallowing, or out looking for replacements?"
I had to laugh. "Somewhere in between, I guess." I told her about how we had cheered ourselves up by screwing with the minds of the couple at the table in the coffee shop.
"Well, at least you're keeping busy."
I looked at the computer again, sitting waiting for me on the dining room table. "You can say that again," I said softly. I hadn't really been intending to say it out loud, but Andy heard me.
"What was that?"
"I said you can say that again," I repeated, louder this time. "Something happened at the airport, Andy."
Her voice immediately took on a note of concern. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, sweetie. I said something happened. I never said it was a bad thing."
"Then what is it?"
"I met a man named Trevor. Well, I didn't actually meet him, and I doubt that his name's really Trevor, but--"
"Take a breath and try again," Andy said, laughing. "And see if you can make a little more sense this time."
I smiled and started over. "I was sitting in this little coffee place in the airport, and my eye landed on this guy using the phones. There was just something about him, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him."
"So you seduced him, gave him a fake name, and had your way with him in the bathroom?"
"Not exactly. I gave him a fake name, though. I named him Trevor, and he's going to be my new main character."
I waited as she processed that, and what it meant. I could almost hear the gears turning in her mind. "Your new main character?"
"Yep."
"Then you're--"
"Yep again," I said with a smile. "Remember what I said about feeling it building in the back of my head, and needing some way to get to it? Well, my new friend Trevor pretty much kicked his way through and let it out. As soon as I had the character in my head, the pieces started to click."
"Oh my god, that's terrific!"
"Tell me about it." I checked my watch. "I've been writing for the last four hours, and there's still a bunch more that I want to get down while it's coming together so well."
"That's great! Are you going to call Carrie?"
"Not yet. I'm going to make sure that there's something here, then I'll give her a call. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and then have it fall apart."
"Okay, well, I just wanted to let you know that I got home okay. I'll let you get back to the computer. Does Erron know about this?"
"No, and I'd rather he not quite yet."
"Don't worry, I won't say anything. I just wanted to know before I call him."
"Thanks."
"No problem, sweetie. Anyway, I'll let you go and I'll talk to you in a couple of days when you get here. And Nate? Congratulations."
"Thanks, Andy. I'll talk to you in a couple of days."
"Bye, sweetie," she said as she hung up. I stood there holding the phone for a second, then hung it up and walked back to the computer. I took a few minutes to read through the last few pages that I had written, then set in again, quickly losing myself.
The next day was a blur of writing, packing, visiting, and phone calls.
I wrote for most of the morning, rushing through it to get as many ideas on paper as I could. I knew that there would be a need for some heavy-duty editing on it, but I didn't care. As long as the thoughts were getting from my head to the screen in front of me, I was making progress.
After a brief break for lunch, I set to packing up what I was going to need to take with me. Because I had a lot of stuff already down there, it didn't take long to get what I needed. A couple of boxes of clothes, some writing materials, a few books, and some CDs were pretty much it, though I knew that I would undoubtedly forget something and have to have Erron send it after I left.
With that packed up, I headed out to the university. After talking to a couple of professors of mine and getting a couple of names, I hired a student to drive my car and most of my stuff down to LA for me. I could have done it myself, but I really didn't feel like taking the time. If I was driving, I couldn't be writing.
So, once I was sure that she was responsible and wouldn't destroy my car or sell it rather than deliver it unharmed, I hired a young woman Maria Brennan. Maria was a Master's student and had apparently taken my place as teacher's pet with my favourite English professor, and she seemed more than happy to accept the money and responsibility. The fact that I offered to put her and her boyfriend -- who would be coming with her -- up at a hotel for a few days when they got to LA, and pay for their flight home, didn't hurt either.
Once we had made the arrangements, I told her that I would have Erron drop the car and the keys off at her apartment after he took me to the airport. I was lucky that she was a townie, and that classes didn't start at UofT for another nine days.
With that settled, I returned to the apartment and began getting ready for dinner with Erron. I had talked to him on the phone earlier, and he seemed to be doing okay, though he missed Nick. From my conversation with Brian before bed the night before, I knew that the feeling was mutual.
I quickly showered and grabbed my razor. Looking at myself in the mirror, I decided that I would look kind of cool with a goatee. So, shaving more carefully than I normally did, I gave myself the beginnings of one and replaced the razor with a smile.
The smile was as much for the razor itself as it was for the facial hair. When I had returned from the hospital, I had discovered that Brian had thrown away my old-fashioned straight razor and replaced it with a Wilkinson's Sword 'Protector' instead. The kind with the wires over the blades so that you didn't cut yourself.
Turning my head back and forth in the mirror and admiring my new-found coolness, I smiled and fixed my hair, wondering if maybe it wasn't time for something different there, too. I decided to let it wait and get Andy's opinion on it.
She called just as I was about to head over to pick up my date.
"Hey!"
"Hey, you!" I smiled, slipping on my shoes. "I was just thinking about you."
"Nice thoughts?"
"Aren't they always?" I laughed. "I was just thinking that I was going to have to get your opinion on a new hairstyle for me."
"Shock blond!"
"I'm not going shock blond."
"Green?"
"Maybe I'll just ask Erron," I smiled. "See what he can come up with."
"You know he has no sense of style."
"Whatever, sweetie. Just think about it, okay? I want a change."
"Okay, I'll mention it to mom and see what she thinks, too."
"Good. Now was there something that you wanted, or did you just get tired of missing my sultry voice?"
"Oh please." Andy hated the word 'sultry'. "I just wanted to make sure that everything was going according to plan."
"Right on track," I confirmed. "I got my stuff packed today, and I arranged to have one of the students from Dr. Walters' Master's program drive the car down for me this week. Other than that, I'll just have my suitcase and my computer to bring down with me. The rest of it's going to be packed in the car."
"You sure you can trust someone to deliver the car?"
"Dr. Walters thinks so, and his word is good for me. He did, after all, recognise my brilliance."
"Your brilliance at sucking up!" she countered. "You were terrible. 'Oh Dr. Walters, what about this, and what about that, and oh, that's a great point, Dr. Walters, you wonderfully sexy man you.'"
"Fuck off, sweetie," I laughed. Dr. Walters was without a doubt the strangest man I had ever met. He was definitely not a wonderfully sexy man either, with his ratty old jackets and his wild white hair. But, he had been an excellent professor.
"You know you wanted him."
"Yeah yeah, I was so totally in love with him." I recited it in a monotone. "Now was there something else? I have a date with a lonely ex-boyfriend."
"How's he doing? How are you doing?"
"I'm doing pretty well. I talked to Brian last night before bed. I think Nick was going to call Erron, too. Erron's a little down, but we're going to visit with Jeff and Cindy tonight after dinner, and no one can be unhappy with Norry around."
"Tell him I miss him, would you?"
"Erron, or Norry?"
"Both, smart-ass. Now, I'm going to run over to Mom and Dad's for a little while, so I'll let you go. You still have your key for this place?"
"Yep, it's already on my key ring."
"Good. I'll talk to you tomorrow whenever I see you."
"Bye, Andy," I said, hanging up the phone and putting on my coat.
"You're late." That was Erron's only comment when I opened the apartment door and stepped inside.
"Nice to see you too, darling," I laughed. "I couldn't help it. Andy called when I was going out the door, and traffic was a bitch."
"Excuses excuses," Erron said with a smile. "And as for it being nice to see you, I just saw you yesterday afternoon. How much am I supposed to be missing you?"
"Immensely," I told him, smacking him in the head as he grabbed his jacket. "Though I'll let you off the hook this time because I imagine all of your 'missing' time is taken up at the moment."
Erron smiled. "Nick called this morning."
"I thought he would have done it last night."
"Oh, he did. But he called again this morning."
I grinned. "I'll tell you what. I'll pay for dinner, if you give me those details that you're so obviously wanting to give me." I could see Erron practically bursting with the need to talk about him and Nick. I thought that the same look had probably been on his face the day before when I had dropped him off, but I had been too preoccupied to take much notice.
"Details?" he asked coyly.
"Yes, details." I grabbed him and pushed him out into the hall. "I can see it in your eyes, my dear. You're smitten, and you're in desperate need of someone to gush to."
Erron laughed and hit the elevator button. "Maybe just a little."
"I know what it's like, you know. I have a feeling that if I just went home without letting you tell me, you'd explode right here. Make an awful mess in the hall too. Probably never get the Erron out of the carpets."
"Okay, shut up."
I smiled. "The first thing I did was rush back to the condo and tell Andy."
"Maybe I should fly down and talk to her."
"Just get in the damned elevator."
Erron grinned and did as he was told.
Dinner was a lot of fun. Erron filled me in on where he and Nick stood. They had agreed to take things slowly and see what happened. Of course, that much had been clear from the way they had been joined at the hip since New Year's Eve.
We talked for a while about the crappy part of dating them. The stolen moments, constantly looking over your shoulders for cameras and reporters and the phone calls that didn't do much to stop you from missing them. That, Erron explained, was one of the reasons that they hadn't decided to be exclusive. It left Erron free to see people rather than tie him into a secret relationship from the start.
"So are you looking forward to getting back to the sunshine of LA and out of this winter wasteland?"
I shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, it'll be nice to be around Mom and Dad and Andy again, but I'm going to miss everyone up here, too."
"Then you'll have to visit, or we'll have to visit, or both," Erron grinned.
"You can count on that. And we can always coordinate our trips to see the guys, too."
"Can we go now?"
I laughed. "I don't think so. You'd probably have some explaining to do when you didn't show up for work. But you can bet Nick won't let things go too long without sneaking you down for a few days."
"When are you heading out?"
I knew that he already had the details of my flight the next day, since he was taking me to the airport, so I knew that he was talking about my rejoining Brian and taking care of our business with Andrew. "A couple of weeks or so. I'm going to get settled in LA again, and then I'll go."
"What are you going to say to this guy?"
"I don't have a clue. Kevin's got some sort of plan that he's working on. I imagine I'll just go along with that and improvise if the need arises."
"What about Brian's mom?"
"Don't know about that either. We're going to decide that when I get to Orlando."
"Are the rest of the guys going with you to Kentucky?"
Again, I could only shrug. "I imagine that, if they're taking a few days off anyway, Kevin will probably come along. I don't honestly know about the rest. They'll probably take the time to hang out with their families. Nick might be persuaded to come up here, I guess. If he had a good enough reason, that is."
Erron smirked. "I think I could come up with one."
"I don't want to think about what you can come up with," I laughed, as the waiter brought us our dessert.
We ate for a few minutes without talking. I was thinking about what our confrontation with Jackie was going to be like, and I'm pretty sure Erron was thinking about how to convince Nick to come back to Toronto.
"So what are you going to do in LA for two weeks?" Erron finally asked. Whether that meant he had decided on a plan or not, I wasn't sure. "There's only so much sun a proper Canuck can take, you know."
I debated for a moment about whether to tell him or not, then decided to go ahead. I wasn't really far enough into the story to be certain that it would turn into something substantial, but I had a good feeling about it. "I'm going to be working on the new book that I've started," I said nonchalantly, scooping some ice cream into my mouth.
"That's good. What?" I smiled and continued to eat. "You're writing again?" he whispered, leaning across the table like it was the greatest secret of our civilization.
"Maybe," I smiled. Erron's hand shot out and rapped his spoon across my knuckles, which were minding their own business and sitting mildly on the table. "Ow!"
"Let's try this again. You're writing again?"
"Yes, yes, I am, okay?" I laughed, rubbing my hand. "Though now that you broke my knuckles that's bound to come to a screeching halt."
"You're such a pansy. What are you writing?"
"You know--"
"You won't tell me. Yeah, yeah. But how long have you been working on it?"
"Since yesterday afternoon when I got back from the airport. There was a guy there at the bank of payphones, and he sparked an idea. By the time I got home, that spark was catching all over the place."
"I knew that expression on your face when you were driving home was familiar! You were already sitting in front of the computer in your head, weren't you?"
"Pretty much. I wrote for about six hours last night, and then for most of the morning today. It's not certain yet, but it feels like this could be something big."
"Brian know yet?"
"No, I haven't said anything to anyone but you and Andy. She called last night while I was writing."
"You going to tell him?"
That was a good question. I had already broken my own rules by telling Erron. Andy always knew when I started a new project. That much was tradition, and I was superstitious enough to not want to break that. But would I tell Brian? "I don't know yet," I said aloud, making the decision. "I'll wait and see what's going on when I get to Orlando. If it's all looking good, I'll tell him and the guys then."
"Then you're going to be signing those contracts Carrie mentioned?"
"I hope so. I talked to Celia and convinced her not to kill me for being a complete idiot. She's sort of taking me on again on a conditional basis."
"Jordan probably convinced her," Erron laughed. Jordan was Celia's son. The son that I was convinced had a crush on me.
"None of them know what happened," I smiled. "Celia didn't even tall Garf about it."
"Who the hell is Garf?"
"Mr. Celia," I laughed. "Garfield. Really nice guy, though he doesn't say much. Anyway, Celia agreed to be my agent for this book, if there is a book. After that, we're back to square one, and she'll decide if we stick together or if I need to go looking for a new agent."
"She'll stick with you," Erron said confidently. "Didn't you say that Carrie told you that the new offer from your publishers was a doozy?"
"Apparently so, yeah. Carrie seemed impressed with the figure, anyway."
"And doesn't Celia get ten percent of that?"
"That she does."
"Then she'll stick with you," he repeated, making me smile again. There was another brief silence before he spoke, leaning across the table again. "What's it about?"
He saw what I was going to do a split second too late to stop me. My hand shot out, and I smacked him with my spoon just as he had done to me. I grinned as he snapped his hand back across the table with a rueful smile. "I'm not telling. That much is still the same." Though I was already wondering about that.
"And all it took was seeing a hot guy in the airport?"
"Well, it had to be the right hot guy. He just caught my eye, and he became the main character instantly. Once I had that, the floodgates in my head opened."
"Well, I'm glad. It's about time you started making yourself useful again."
"Gee, thanks," I laughed, turning back to my dessert.
As promised, I paid for dinner, then we headed for Jeff and Cindy's so that I could say goodbye before I left in the morning. We were barely in the door before Norry was wanting me to pick him up. I didn't take too much convincing.
"Where's Uncle Brian?"
I sat down on the couch and saw Jeff and Cindy both look at us. "Well," I told him, setting him down on my lap, "Uncle Brian had to go home."
"Why?"
"Because he had to go to work."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Norry, quit it," Jeff laughed.
"Brian will come back and see you soon," I told him.
"AJ too?"
It didn't take much to see who Norry's favourite Backstreet Boy was. "Yes, AJ too. And I'm supposed to tell you that Aunt Andy says hi and that she misses you."
That seemed to content Norry for the moment, and he climbed off of my knee and went back to the colouring he had been doing before we arrived.
"So you're shipping out again, eh?" Cindy asked, dropping down beside me and putting her hand on my knee.
"Looks that way."
"You just can't stay in one place too long, can you?" Jeff laughed.
"Seems to be the way I'm made," I agreed. "I'm off to LA tomorrow, then I'll be in Orlando in a couple of weeks, with a quick trip through Memphis, then shortly after that I'm off with Brian to Kentucky. And then maybe I'll pop back up here to see you guys again before heading back to LA."
"At least you stay within the continent," Erron pointed out helpfully.
"Until the guys go on tour in Europe or something," Cindy said. "Then you'll be moving all over the place."
"Nah, I was thinking I might just tie Brian in the basement and let them go without him."
"I didn't know Brian was into that sort of thing," Erron grinned. "I'll have to see what Nick's feelings on bondage are."
We all laughed at that -- Jeff and Cindy clearly uncomfortable -- and the conversation turned to Erron's newfound romance. For the next half hour, Erron gushed. And gushed. And gushed. The only thing that kept it from being sickening was the obvious happiness on his face and in his manner. Erron was quite comfortably seated on cloud nine, and he didn't look like he would be coming down any time soon.
I knew that Cindy was gushing right along with him. She and Erron had always been close, and she had confided in me more than once that she was worried that Erron would never find what he was looking for. I supposed that whether or not Nick could provide it wasn't a sure thing yet, but it looked promising.
Jeff didn't take part in the discussion much, but that wasn't surprising. I knew that he was happy for Erron, but there was still an unspoken animosity between them that made me nervous. They were close enough that there wasn't much danger of a fight breaking out, but I didn't like my friends to not get along.
It left me feeling vaguely stretched between them, and I knew that Cindy felt the same way. She had told me several times that she wished Jeff and Erron would get along better. They tried, because they both loved Cindy, but it was plain that they'd never really be friends.
Cindy let me put Norry to bed when he started to yawn. He did put up the token protest, but his eyes were drooping as he did it.
"Come on, little man," I grinned, lifting him off of the floor.
"Tell me a story?"
I grinned and thought that Brian would kill me for forgetting my tape recorder. "Sure. You want a new one, or an old one?"
"New one."
"Well then you'd best give everyone kisses," I said, putting him back down. He ran around the room saying goodnight, then jumped back up into my arms and gave me a kiss as well. I carried him into his bedroom and set him down, then turned down his sheets and tucked him in.
He was out like a light almost before I got past 'once upon a time'. I kept talking for a few more minutes, making sure that he was out. Rather than come up with something new, I just mixed different aspects from various fairy tales. The result was entertaining, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense. By the time I got to the part where Cinderella realised her feelings for Snow White, Norry was snoring softly.
I got up quietly, bent down, and kissed him on the forehead, then brought his blankets up under his chin. "Sleep well, little one," I whispered before turning off the lights and rejoining everyone in the living room.
"That was quick," Cindy said, taking in the smile on my face.
"He was tired."
"And Nate's boring as all hell," Erron laughed.
"And Erron's a bitch," I mocked, sitting down beside Cindy.
She laughed and started making hissing noises, showing us her claws. "Down, girls."
"So you're leaving us again," Jeff commented when we were done laughing.
"I'm not leaving you," I corrected. "I'm just going to spend some time in LA. I'll be back all the time."
"You say that now." Erron didn't look at all happy about my going. I again promised myself that I would be coming back more often than I had the last time I had moved to LA. I had more than learned my lesson about how much my friends meant to me, and I wasn't about to do anything to let them slip away.
"Listen," I said. "I'm going back down to LA for a while. I don't know how long, or if I'll move back here permanently at some point. But I know that this is good for me right now." I turned to look at Cindy and Jeff. "I'll be back pretty often to see you guys, and to see that little boy in there. I'm not about to just take off and forget you."
"What about your therapy?" Jeff asked, revealing his real concerns. He was always the practical one. He knew I wouldn't leave them behind, and his mind was elsewhere. "I thought that you were supposed to keep up sessions with Dr. Whatsisname."
"Dr. Lauler, and I am. Well, I was. Obviously, that's out the window now. But he gave me the name and number of a psychiatrist in LA. He's supposed to be very good."
"But won't that set you back?" Now it was Cindy's turn to be worried.
"Not really. I suppose there's going to be some time just getting used to each other, but he's going to have my files, and he'll be in contact with Dr. Lauler. I don't think it will be too much of a problem."
"Well, as long as you're going."
"Don't worry about that. The doctor's going to make damn sure that he never has to see me again," I laughed.
Cindy went and got us coffee, and we talked about pretty much nothing for a while. Just catching up and talking about old times. It occurred to me that there was really only about three or four years between the present and 'old times', and I smiled.
The coffee was long gone when Erron and I finally decided to go. Knowing that it was the last time that I would be seeing Jeff, Cindy or Norry for a while made it hard to go. I excused myself for a moment and went back into Norry's room.
He had managed to kick the covers down a bit, and I replaced them, gently brushing his light brown hair away from his forehead. I smiled as he rolled over a little and snored softly.
"He missed you a lot, you know." Cindy was standing leaning against the doorway.
"I know exactly how he felt."
"You missed you too?"
I started to laugh, but it died in my throat as I realised that she was right. I had, of course, meant that I had missed Norry as well, but now that she mentioned it, I had indeed missed myself. And I was still working on bringing me back to full.
"He's going to want to know where you went."
"Teach him how to dial my number," I smiled, bending over and kissing his forehead again.
"I just might do that."
"Good. I wasn't kidding." I put my hand on her waist and sort of pushed her back into the other room as she laughed. "You ready, sweetie?"
"Yep." Erron jumped up, and Cindy walked us to the door.
"You know," she said, looking at us. "You guys made such a good couple. Too bad it didn't work out." Seeing my smile, she quickly added that she thought Brian and I were great together as well. I assured her it was okay, and slipped on my coat and shoes.
"You call us," Jeff said, shaking my hand.
"Will do. And you guys can return the favour. I have my cell with me just about every second, so there's no excuse for not calling. And Cin? I really wasn't kidding about Norry. If he wants to call, teach him. I'm going to miss the little bugger."
"I'm sure you'll be hearing from him," she assured me. "Us, too. Now you get out of here, and have fun in the sun. And tell Andy to call."
"Okay, that'll be the first thing I tell her." I gave her a smile and a very quick hug, then shook Jeff's hand again and stepped into the hall.
Erron said his goodbyes as well, and made plans to get together with Cindy for lunch soon. Jeff wasn't invited, and none of us expected him to be. We also knew that, on the off chance that it had been offered, he would have declined. I shared a look with Cindy, then made her smile by winking at her.
"I'll call soon," I promised again as Erron and I stepped into the elevator.
We were pretty quiet on the way home. I was sad to see the night come to an end, since it was the last I'd be spending in Toronto -- or Canada, for that matter -- for a while. But at the same time, the prospect of being back in the apartment brought the new story to the forefront of my mind, and I was itching to sit down at the computer again.
I don't know whether Erron sensed any of this, or whether he was lost in thoughts of his own, but he didn't make any attempt to pull me into conversation until we had pulled around to the front of my building. He would drop me off, then take my car in the morning to take me to the airport.
"So I guess I'll see you in the morning?"
I nodded. "Yeah, unless you wanted to come up for a while. We could order a movie or something."
"No, that's okay. Something tells me that you've got a movie of your own playing in your head, and you'd rather get it out of there than hang out."
I knew he was kidding, but it was important to me that I argue. "Erron, I can write for the entire plane ride tomorrow, and I've got two whole weeks to fill before I see Brian. I think I can spare a bit of time for my best friend to sit and watch a movie."
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. I'm fine, and I'll see you in the morning. You go on."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I want to get home before I miss Nick's phone call anyway."
"You've got your cell with you."
"Just get out of the damn car."
I laughed and opened the door. "Okay, okay. I guess it will be nice to get a bit of writing done, then catch a nice hot bath and wait for Brian to call."
Erron grinned. "That sounds like an excellent idea. Maybe I'll do the same thing. Well, I won't be writing, and I'll be waiting for Nick to call instead of Brian, but it's the same thing."
I nodded sagely. "Oh yeah, exactly the same, only different."
"Get out!" he said with a smile as he pushed my shoulder toward the sidewalk. "I'll call in the morning before I start over here. Try not to be late like you were tonight, okay? I doubt that the airlines are as forgiving as I am."
"I tell you, it was Andy's fault," I laughed, then patted him on the leg and climbed out.
"G'night, sweetie," he called out as I closed the door.
"Goodnight, and don't--" My voice cut off as Erron squealed the tires and peeled out of the parking space. He did it every time he got in my car, just to annoy me. "--squeal the tires." Muttering and smiling to myself, I opened the door to the lobby and let myself into the building.
With each floor that the elevator climbed, I found myself getting more and more antsy. I unlocked the apartment door as quickly as possible, and went straight to the computer to turn it on.
My next stop was the phone, to check for messages in case Brian had called the apartment while I was out. I was reasonably sure that if he didn't get an answer, he would simply call my cell phone, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I was greeted by a steady, even dial tone, so I knew that I hadn't missed him.
I walked into the kitchen to grab myself a bottle of water from my very bare-looking fridge, then sat down at the dining room table just in time to enter my password. Perfect timing.
Opening the file that I had been working on, I read through the last few pages of what I had written, letting my mind drop back into the flow of the story. Once I had a handle on it, I started a new page and almost immediately lost myself again.
I was brought back by a ringing in my pants. Fishing out the phone, I flipped it open and put it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, sexy."
"Hey!" I checked my watch and discovered that I had been writing for over an hour and a half. "What's up?"
"Nothing. I'm just missing you. What's up with you? You sound distracted."
I stuck to my decision to let the story come along a little further before announcing it. "Oh, nothing really. I just didn't get a chance to get my other boyfriend out of the apartment before you called. You know how awkward that can be."
"Not really. Mine's catching some sleep on the bed, so I thought I'd eat up some time by talking to you. You know, give him some rest for later."
I laughed. "I'm sure he appreciates it, love. Actually, I was just about to get ready for bed. But first I think I'll take a nice long bath." I got up and headed down the hall, being sure to save my work first.
"Ooh, walk me through it."
"You've never had a bath before?"
Brian chuckled and told me to shut up. "I meant walk me through the whole getting undressed part."
"Brian, I don't know how to tell you this." I grabbed a towel and started back to the bathroom.
"Tell me what?"
"I'm already naked," I lied, unbuttoning my shirt.
"Well, that's no fun!"
"You seemed to like it before." I threw my shirt on the floor in front of the vanity and reached down to pull off my socks, wedging the phone between my ear and my shoulder.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. I just meant that it might be fun for you to describe the process to me. You've got such a way with words, and I have a great imagination."
I laughed as I undid my pants and pushed both them and my boxers down and stepped out of them. I turned on the water, put in the plug, then walked back out into the hall. "I don't think I'm really much for phone sex, sweetie."
"You're not really naked, are you?"
"I am now. I got undressed while you were talking about me getting undressed." I smiled as I stepped into the bedroom and sat down on the window seat. The advantage of being on the second floor from the top was that I could look down at everything, but there wasn't much chance of anyone seeing me sitting naked in the window. Besides, with the lights out, no one would have been able to see in anyway. "I told you I wasn't much for phone sex. If I can't have the real thing, then I'll fantasize about it until I can get it. Besides, I don't think I'd be all that good at talking dirty."
"If you put your mind to it, you would be."
"I'd feel icky."
"Don't you feel that way anyway when we're done?"
"Shut up," I laughed, rolling my eyes at my reflection. I was going to miss this apartment. I hadn't even really begun to enjoy it yet, and here I was leaving. The condo was nice, but it didn't have anything to compare to a window seat overlooking the city. But it did have Andrea, and that made up for a lot.
"So how was your dinner with Erron, and your visit with Jeff and Cindy?"
I was about to ask him how he knew about that -- I hadn't mentioned it the night before -- when I remembered that he had an informer now. "It was really good. Erron and I had a lot of fun at dinner. He was dying to talk to someone about Nick."
"I know the feeling," Brian laughed. "Nick's been doing the same thing. Erron this and Erron that."
"Exactly like that. We sort of hit a down time at dinner when we were talking about all the crap involved in being involved with you closet-cases, but we pulled out of that by the time dessert was done."
"I'm sorry it's so hard," Brian said softly. "I wish--"
"I know, Brian. I wasn't complaining, really. It sucks, but it's more than worth it if I get to be with you. I just thought that someone should prepare Erron for it, just in case. He got a bit of a taste of it before, when he was my decoy, but it's nothing compared to what would happen if someone tried to link him with Nick."
"I guess you're right," he sighed. "But I still wish it wasn't necessary."
"It won't be forever. But let's not talk about that right now. What did you do today?"
"We were in the studio screwing around for most of the day, actually. Didn't really get anything much accomplished, but it was pretty fun. What did you do?"
"A bit of messing around of my own. I made arrangements to get my stuff to LA." I talked for a minute about hiring Maria and her boyfriend to drive my car down with most of my stuff.
"So you're all set then?"
"Pretty much." I got up and headed back to the bathroom to check the tub. "Everything's packed up, and Erron's going to drive me to the airport in the morning, then drop off the car at Maria's house. I've got a maid service coming in to clean the apartment in a couple of days. So basically, I'm ready to hit the beach." The tub was full, so I stepped in gingerly, letting my feet get used to the hot water.
"And there's nothing I can say to get you to get on a plane to Orlando instead?"
"Not unless I'm missing a couple weeks," I laughed. I hoped he wouldn't push me on it, since I didn't feel like admitting quite yet that I was going to use those two weeks to write.
He sighed and let it drop. "I guess I'll just have to keep missing you."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Not possible."
I smiled and lowered myself the rest of the way into the tub slowly. I hissed as the water covered over the more sensitive areas of my anatomy.
"You okay?"
"Yep, just slowly boiling alive," I laughed. "Don't mind me."
"What are you wearing?" he asked seductively.
"A few gallons of really hot water, at the moment. I told you I wasn't going to do this."
"Are there bubbles?"
"No, no bubbles."
"Bubbles are sexier."
"Well, too damned bad. There aren't any bubbles."
"Is your skin turning all pink?"
I looked down at myself. I was indeed turning pink. "Why, yes, it is."
"I wish there were bubbles."
I laughed and slid down further into the tub, enjoying the heat. "Would you stop it with the bubbles?"
"But they'd be really sexy, and you'd look so cute surrounded by all those little shiny bubbles, certain parts of you sticking up out of them." His voice had dropped low. It was the voice that he used when we...
I shook my head to clear it. And I was the one that was supposed to have a way with words? He was doing a fine job himself. "Fine, fine," I said. "There are bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles. Hordes of bubbles."
"Wish I was there," he continued. "I'd climb in there with you, and hold you in my arms. I'd gently kiss your neck and run my hands--"
I leaned further back, moaning as the water came up to cover my shoulders. Brian started laughing. "I thought you weren't into this?"
"No offense, sweetie, but that had nothing to do with you. Just relaxing a bit more. I'm still not going to take part in this."
"That's okay," he laughed. "It's a slow process, but I'll bring you around."
"Don't count on it."
Brian started to say something else, but I heard a voice in the background, and he stopped to listen, then came back on the line. "Sweetie, AJ and the guys want me to go out to a club with them--"
"Go. I'll call you tomorrow night, if not during the day. Have fun, but don't you be bringing home any cute guys. We both know that Nick would tell Erron, and Erron would have to tell me."
"Don't worry, sweetie. Why pay for milk when you've got a cow at home?"
"Such flattery, sir," I laughed. "You better go while you've still got a cow to come home to."
"Okay, they're pretty much ready to go anyway. I love you."
"Love you too, sweetie. Have fun."
"Without you? Fat chance."
Brian and I said goodbye a few more times before either one of us got up the nerve to actually hang up. I flipped the phone closed and set it on the floor beside the tub, content to soak a little longer. Almost as soon as my hand released it, it started ringing again. I debated just letting it ring, then grabbed it and opened it again. "Hello?"
"Next time have bubbles."
To Be Continued...