Hello one and all and welcome to chapter two of little earthquakes. Read on and enjoy(I hope!). I want to thank everyone who emailed me and I want to apologize for my extreme lack of return emails. This past week has been a little wrought with family stuff. But it's better now.
Disclaimer: In this day in age, homosexual relationships are common. However if you are in a part of the world that does not let you read material that is erotic in content, do not continue. Back away from the story. May I suggest Disney.com. If you are under 18, Disney.com is the place for you as well. Also as a non-psychic I do not know for fact the sexualities of any members of the Backstreet Boys. All I can tell you is that they are all male. Past that, it's all a mystery to me.
Chapter Two
"Hey Rob, there's someone here to see you." Marie poked her head into Mr. Santos' room. I turned to look at her.
"Thanks Marie. I'll be there in a few minutes." I turned my attention back to Mr. Santos.
"Robby why don't you go now. I'm more then ready to take a break." Mr. Santos was practically pleading with me to stop the torture for today.
"Okay Mr. Santos. I'll let you stop early today but that's it. No more freebies." I grinned at the old man and stood up.
"Thanks Robby."
I shut the door behind me.
"So who is he?"
I jumped slightly. Apparently Marie had laid in wait for me to leave Mr. Santos' room.
"Don't do that Marie." I said sternly. She just rolled her eyes. "So is he the new man in your life?"
"Nope. He hit my van this morning and I was running late so he offered to join me for lunch to exchange insurance information."
Marie narrowed her eyes at me as she walked next to me down the hall. "Sounds a little fishy to me. I think he wants you."
"Marie. No one wants me." I turned the corner and saw Kevin trying to appear comfortable even though he was being stared at by every nurse on the rehab floor. I guess someone had recognized him.
"Kevin. Let's roll." I threw my arm over his shoulder and dragged him down the hall. Once we had rounded the corner and were out of the range of prying eyes, I let my arm drop.
"Sorry about that. I guess one of them recognized you." I pushed the elevator button and looked at him.
"No it wasn't that. One of them asked me if I was your new boyfriend, so I think that's why they were staring at me."
I began to blush. "And I just fueled the speculations by putting my arm around you. Oh jeez I'm sorry."
Kevin smiled. "Don't worry about it. You're the one who has to work with them not me."
We stood in silence waiting for the elevator. The elevator buzzed loudly and opened. We both stepped on and I pushed the button for the basement.
"I hope hospital food is okay. I don't really get a long lunch break."
Kevin flashed another smile at me. "As long as it's edible I'm fine."
"Well if you stick with the sandwiches or the cereal you're okay. Other then that, you're taking your life into your own hands."
He laughed at my joke. I smiled, starting to feel a little more comfortable with this man.
"So you're gay?" He asked me.
"Yeah I am." Time for him to say something mean.
"That's cool. So am I."
I whipped my head around to look at him. Kevin was looking straight ahead, watching the numbers as they changed each time we passed another floor.
"Okay." I wasn't going to make a big deal about it. Frankly the fact that Kevin was famous didn't make a difference to me. I only knew who he was because Maggie was in love with all five of them.
The elevator doors opened and I motioned for Kevin to follow me. It's easy to get lost in the labyrinth-like hallways of the basement. If you take the wrong elevator you'll never get to the cafeteria. The basement doesn't connect across the whole hospital. It's strange.
"How do you find your way around here?" Kevin asked as we took another left turn and headed down another long corridor.
"A lot of practice. I've been working here since I was 22 so I've had a lot of time to learn."
"How old are you now Rob?"
"I'm 29 going on 100. How old are you?" I looked over at the handsome man next to me. He was probably just a kid. All the guys in those bands were.
"I'm 28." He said it easily. Apparently approaching the big 3-0 wasn't bothering him like it was bothering me.
"Can I ask you something Kevin?" I pushed open the door to the cafeteria. "Sure."
"Why are telling me these things? I mean you barely know me."
"How about I answer that after we get our food?" Kevin reached for a tray and stepped over to the deli line. I smiled. It was a good thing he was taking my advice. Today's hot meal was stuffed cabbage. Ugghh.
I had already started eating my cereal by the time Kevin joined me. "Is the tuna safe?" He asked setting his tray down next to me.
"Yup. When I don't eat cereal I go for the tuna."
He took a bite of his sandwich tentatively. After a moment his face relaxed and he took another bite. "This isn't bad."
"Told ya." I chewed on my cereal watching him openly. He began to blush slightly under my gaze.
"Do I have food on my face or something?"
I shook my head. "I was just wondering why I feel so comfortable with you."
Kevin shrugged as he toyed with his carton of milk. "I don't know. I think it's you because most people aren't comfortable around me."
"That's too bad. They're missing the chance to talk to a really nice guy."
Okay I was flirting with him. I'll admit it. I mean come on. The guy is gorgeous. Those eyes and that smile.
"So you wanna know why I trusted you even though I don't know you?"
I nodded taking a sip of my orange juice while he looked at me this time.
"Your eyes." Kevin said simply watching my puzzled expression. "My eyes?"
"I've never seen eyes that color. They're incredible."
I began to blush. I had never thought my eyes were that special. I was actually a little embarrassed by the strange gray-blue color they were.
"And they don't hide anything. Every emotion is mirrored in your eyes. That's how I knew I could trust you. I could read it from your eyes."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I just smiled at him. I turned away for a moment before looking back at him. "I'm flattered that you would trust me because of my eyes."
"Do you remember a Kristen Davis?" Kevin asked staring into my eyes.
I thought back, trying to remember anyone named Kristen Davis. "Can you narrow down the context in which I would have known her?"
"She was a patient of yours a little less then seven months ago."
I thought back seven months, trying to forget the bad stuff that had happened around the same time. I did vaguely remember a patient named Kristen.
"Long blond hair, green eyes. Torn ligaments in her left knee?" Kevin nodded. "I remember her. She was very nice. I didn't get to finish her therapy. She was transferred to someone else."
"When you took a leave of absence."
I nodded. "How did you know about that?"
Kevin shifted in his seat and looked around. "Kristen's my fianc‚e."
Confusion was setting in quickly here. Now that he had brought the link to Kristen to my attention I was coming up with a few things that didn't add up. Kristen and I had ended up being pretty good friends and she told me all the time about her girlfriend Alexis. I had never once heard about a fianc‚ named Kevin. Besides Kevin had told me he was gay.
I guess my eyes said everything I didn't say out loud because Kevin decided to explain.
"It's a public relations thing. We've been friends for years and management decided that I needed to get married after a little incident last fall that involved me and another man. It was killed quickly thankfully, but they didn't want to take any chances."
He paused to take a sip of his milk. "That's where Kristen came in. She and her girlfriend Alexis lived with me anyway, so they suggested that I marry her."
"Are you actually going to marry her?"
Kevin shrugged. "I don't know anymore. It seemed like a good idea for a bit, but now I feel like I am trapping both of us."
I shifted in my chair. Kristen was the only patient I had told the real reason for my leaving to. I had to know if she had told Kevin about that. And how Kevin had known I was the same Rob that Kristen had talked about.
"Did Kristen tell you why I had to take a leave of absence?"
"She didn't tell me much. Only that you had a family emergency to deal with and you were leaving both your positions. Have you gone back to the private practice yet?"
I shook my head. "It's too much with the kids now. I need to work a set schedule. The hospital can offer me that."
Kevin nodded and fidgeted with the empty milk carton. "How did you know who I was?"
"Well once you told me where you worked, I put two and two together. Kristen did tell me that you now had two kids named Maggie and Ryan. So that plus your eyes made me figure out you were her Rob."
I smiled slightly. "I wouldn't say I was her Rob. My cousin Kari kind of has dibs on me being her Rob."
"Kristen was the person I called after you pulled away. I told her that I literally ran into her old physical therapist. She was overjoyed and told me to go for it."
I began to laugh. "Wait a second. You're the Kevin she wanted to fix me up with then aren't you."
Kevin nodded. "How come you never let her fix you up with me?" He stared into my eyes again. I shivered slightly under his gaze. And he said that my eyes were incredible. His peered into my soul and made me melt like butter.
"I don't do blind dates. Besides I don't have time to date." At least I didn't now. I did when I had been working with Kristen, but that had changed quickly.
"Do you have time to bring Maggie and Ryan over for dinner sometime?" His smile was soft, the corners of his mouth only turning up slightly.
"No." The smile disappeared. "But I do have time for you to come over for dinner."
Kevin laughed slightly out of relief. "I thought you were blowing me off."
"Nah. I may look a little dumb sometimes, but I'm not stupid enough to turn down an offer of friendship. Especially from someone whose conversational abilities do not revolve around Winnie-the-Pooh and Disney."
Kevin grinned. "We might be in trouble. I was Aladdin you know."
I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Maggie's favorite movie." Kevin laughed. "Well if I'm her favorite Backstreet Boy too, we'll get along just fine."
"Damn you two are going to hate each other. She's going to marry Nick. At least that's what Maggie and Shannon told me last week. Though I haven't quite figured out how they both are going to marry him."
"Aw shucks. I guess I'm just going to have to work on her uncle then."
I began to blush fiercely at that. I took a look at my watch so I didn't have to make eye contact with him. That unnerved me a lot.
"I have to go back to work." I stood up and picked up my tray. "So when do you want to do dinner Rob?"
Kevin picked up his tray and followed behind me. I didn't answer him for the moment. I tried to get my composure back.
"Rob? Are you going to answer me?" Kevin asked me softly. I turned around and looked at him, taking in the sight before me. I couldn't believe that this man was standing in front of me, flirting for all he was worth.
"What about tonight?" I blurted out without thinking. I just wanted to see him again.
A smile broke across Kevin's handsome face. "Tonight it is. Call me when you get home."
"I don't have your number." I said stupidly.
"How about we make a deal then? You show me out of this labyrinth and I'll give you the phone number."
I shook my head. "I'd rather watch you get lost. Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson lost in hospital basement. Never seen again."
Kevin pouted. Oh God. That pout was going to kill me. It was worse then Maggie's. Hell it was worse then mine. I melted.
"I'll show you out Kevin. I would hate to deprive the world of that pout."
"Not to mention this ass." Kevin spun around in the hallway, laughing. Since he mentioned it, I took the time to look at it.
"Hmm...I've seen better." I said pushing the elevator button.
"Really? Where?"
"What's the name of that blond guy from 'Nsync? You know. The one with the curly hair. He's got a great ass."
Kevin laughed at me and swatted my arm lightly. "Justin Timberlake does not have a better ass then me."
"Ok fine. Justin Timberlake does not have a better ass then you." I said in a mocking voice.
Kevin smiled at me again. "Should I bring anything tonight?"
"Why don't I get home and see what I have for dinner first? I'll let you know when I call you."
He nodded and reached into his pocket. "Here." Kevin handed me a card. I read it quickly. It had his name and a phone number on it.
"So I call this and the police end up at my house for stalking Kevin Richardson right?"
"Nope. You call that and you actually get the line in my house. Any other number goes directly to the police." He grinned, letting me know that the joking was okay.
"Hey Kev. I'll see you later okay."
"Bye Robby."
I watched Kevin walk down the hall towards the exit, staring at his back. Taking another look at his ass, I have to admit that it was better then any ass I'd looked at lately.
And that's when I realized we still hadn't exchanged insurance information. I chuckled, shaking my head as I walked back to the rehab floor.