“Why do you guys hate me so much?” I asked Chris after exiting Alien Encounter.
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you make me sit next to Regina?
“Cause she wanted to sit next to you.
“Why? So I can smell Joey’s cologne on her?”
“Oh stop.”
“What?”
“Next time you can sit next to Pamela okay?”
“I’d rather.”
We’d met up with Joey, Regina, JC and is girlfriend Pamela a few hours ago right after we’d decided to unload Brianna on Ruben and Greg from the NSYNC band. They said they’d be sure to bring her to us at six so she could eat with us. I wondered if Justin and Asia would mind if Joey, JC, Pam and Regina ate with us but I figured they would be more than happy to have the extra company. Whatever their reaction, I was about to find out because it was 5:50 and we were heading for Cinderella’s castle where we said we’d meet Justin and Asia. They waved to us as we got closer, Brianna was already there. “Daddy!” she screamed and ran towards us.
Daddy? She practically bowled Joey over when she hugged his legs. I could feel the blood draining from my face I turned to Chris. “She’s JOEY’S daughter?”
He bit his bottom lip. “I thought you’d figured that out.”
“…No.”
“Well she was born while you were still with us. Don’t you remember Kelly?”
I shook my head. Could I have just blocked all memory of this angel child out of my mind? It sounded like something I would do. I was too blinded by my love for Joey to even notice. All I knew was that I’d never heard of this child before and that I was one lick away from passing out. Chris grabbed my hand and led me toward the restaurant we’d be dining at. I’m pretty sure that Pamela and Asia were talking to me on the way there but I don’t remember any of it. As a matter of fact, the next thing I knew I was sitting between Asia and Chris, sipping water with lemon in it, waiting for my dinner to come.
“You okay?” Chris whispered into my ear.
I nodded. The initial shock was a little overwhelming but I was okay now. I took a deep breath and looked around the table. All of the NSYNCers were there with their girlfriends along with a few other crewmembers. Oh how quaint, Regina just happened to be sitting directly across from me with Joey to her right and Brianna to her left. The three year old was pouting with her arms folded against her chest. Every once in a while she’d take a few seconds to shoot Regina a look of pure odiousness. For some reason this brought a smile to my face, unfortunately it was only a fleeting one because when my eyes settled on Joey, I discovered that his had already settled on me. He was staring at me just like he’d been on the day we’d arrived at the hotel in NYC. For a good five minutes, I tried to shake his insistent glare but nothing seemed to work. I heard Chris clear his throat and finally Joey looked away. I glanced at Chris and smiled to thank him. I looked down at my plate, the food looked incredibly appetizing but for some reason, hunger had left me.
“You sure you’re okay” Chris asked and rubbed my thigh.
“No,” I said truthfully. Suddenly I wasn’t having such a good time.
“You wanna go for a walk?”
“Please.” Chris took my hand and we excused ourselves. I could hear a few soft whispers but at this point, I couldn’t care less.
We walked around the park in silence. The warm, crisp air seemed to blow all of my worries away. It was odd to see Cinderella’s Castle by moonlight without there being screaming children and noisy foreigners to obstruct it. The view was actually kind of romantic. “Do you want one? Chris asked again.
“What?”
“One of these,” he said and help up an ice cream bar in the shape of Mickey’s head.
I shook my head. “Not really hungry.” I informed as we took a seat on one of the green benches nearby.
“I’m sorry about Joey,” Chris said when he was about halfway done with his dessert.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize.”
“No, he was being a dork.”
“I know but I’m okay.”
Chris faced me on the bench and I did the same. He took one more bite from his ice cream then threw it into the trash bin behind him. He took both if my hands in his and began to play with the nails on my left hand. “I just want you to have a good time,” he said softly.
“I’m having a good time but Joey, I mean…It’s not like he’s spoken to me since I got here. He just stares at me and…” I shoved him playfully. “why didn’t you say that Brianna was Joey’s to begin with?”
“I thought you knew.”
“I didn’t,” I said and looked towards the silver diamonds twinkling above us. I looked back at Chris who was now rubbing his palms on his shorts, trying to remove the ice creams sticky residue. I giggled when I noticed that he had some on his cheek.
He looked at me in wonder. “What?” he said and slowed his rubbing.
I wiped the melting ice cream away with my thumb and let it linger for a moment more, allowing our eyes to lock in a dangerous bond. Before I knew it, his hand had claimed the same spot on my face. My hand dropped to serve as a buttress when I leaned forward. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Chris’s tongue was like magic with mine. He was so soft and gentle just like Christian but he had another unknown quality that Christian was simply lacking. I don’t know exactly how long we were sitting there on that bench that way but when we finally pulled apart and took a look at each other, it was in a completely different light. He petted my hair and kissed me several more time before speaking. “You can’t tell me that didn’t fill you up inside. Tell me that was horrible and I promise you I will never speak to you again. Just say the words Abigail.”
I could only answer him with a kiss of my own. My brain was screaming one thing but my heart screamed the opposite. Christian. My God, what had I done? “No,” I whispered, “I hate you. It was horrible,” I lied.
“I love you,” Chris said, able to see right through my uncaring facade.
“I hate you,” I repeated.
“You love me,” he said and kissed me again. “We should get back though, everyone is probably wondering where we are.”
Before we started walking I had to make one thing clear. “This stays between us okay?” I begged of him. “Christian is my boyfriend and no matter what you think, I love him and he loves me. Got it?”
He winked, “Sure.”
“No I’m serious. Tonight stays between us.”
“Fine, tonight stays between us,” he promised.
We walked to the restaurant in beautiful silence. Jesus, had I lost my mind?! Was I going crazy?
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