Beep. Beep. Beep. She groaned as she reached her hand out, hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock. As she settled back down, he adjusted his grip around her waist.
“You set your alarm on Sundays?” he whispered, keeping his eyes closed.
She chuckled, “I didn’t want to spend all day in bed, Charlie.”
“Ah, but that was before you knew you’d be havin’ company,” he fluttered his eyes open, sleepily smiling at her.
She sat up, yawning. “True, but I don’t want to spend all of my day off in bed.” She turned her Blackberry on and noted the text message alert.
Hope you got home safe. - JC
She smiled to herself, but her mind wandered to how his night had been alone with Bianca.
Charlie reached his arm further across her stomach, tickling her side as he pulled her closer to him. She placed her phone back down on her nightstand. “Stay in bed with me for just a lil’ while longer.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, “Maybe just a little while longer.”
His eyes lit up. “How about we go on our real first date today?”
“What did you have in mind?”
He brought a finger to his chin thoughtfully, “How about a lazy Sunday brunch?”
“Can we do that? I mean, you were wearing your ring last night at the party…”
He cleared his throat, “I’ve been wearin’ it out in public. It’s just easier than answerin’ questions ‘bout it until the separation is finalized. But, I would very much like to take you out.”
Whitney hesitated, but he pecked her on the forehead for reassurance. She smiled, “Brunch it is then.”
**
The two were seated at an outside table at a small restaurant with sunglasses for both blocking the bright sun and shielding their identities. Charlie adjusted his baseball hat nervously as the server took their order.
“Are you sure about this? We could just get take-out. Really, I don’t mind…” she said, following his nervous glances around at the other tables.
“It’s fine, really,” he said, shaking his head.
She fidgeted slightly in her chair, “So this is nice, right?”
He nodded, “It’s a beautiful day out.” He smiled as their entrees were delivered to the table. “I’m having a delicious brunch with my lady. Things are definitely better than nice.”
“Definitely.”
The snap of a camera turned both of their attentions to the sidewalk, where the paparazzi had seemingly discovered them. Charlie slid further down in his seat and Whitney looked away, moving her hair in front of her face.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath.
“We can go. We should go,” she whispered.
“No, I promised you brunch and we’re going to have brunch.”
“Okay,” she half-smiled, trying not to show her discomfort.
**
She checked her phone, noting that the red alert light was on and it looked like she had been slammed with about eighty-seven e-mails during her twenty-minute commute. She knocked timidly on the door, waiting for JC to open it.
“You know, you don’t have to knock…I know to expect you,” he smiled, shyly.
She nodded, “I know, but it’s your home. It’s not some office I swipe a card to get into.” She moved inside and he closed the door behind her. She opened her e-mail and noticed that a blitz of entertainment articles had been forwarded to her, assuming it was press surrounding JC and Bianca.
“So, how was the rest of your weekend?” he asked.
“Oh,” she looked up, “Just a lazy Sunday. How was the party in Malibu?”
He shifted, “It was…exhaustive. I forgot what parties like that are like.”
“Sorry you didn’t have a better time.”
He leaned against the kitchen counter, “It’s alright. The price I pay, I suppose. So, about you and Charlie…” She looked up at him, holding her breath. “How closely did you work with him?”
“I…I was his assistant,” she stammered, “Then I became the band’s tour manager for this past summer.”
“That’s really impressive,” he sighed. “Being my assistant seems like a far cry from excitement.”
“I was looking for a change of pace. Besides, it’s not all bad,” she grinned as she poured a glass of water.
He chuckled, “I appreciate that. Well, anyway, I was talking to Charlie…” She stopped mid-sip. “…about producing and whatnot. It was just a casual conversation, but I do think it would be a solid move for me.”
She looked at him, “Oh.”
“Yeah, but I was wondering if maybe you could put in a good word for me.”
“Um,” she saw that his eyes were pleading with her. “Sure, yeah, I can talk to him about it.”
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” he said, gently squeezing her shoulder. They heard the noise of a car pulling into the driveway and spotted Eric heading towards the front door.
“So, what brings Eric here?”
JC shrugged, “I think he wants to review how the party went.”
Eric came in, applauding the two of them. “There they are, my little publicity gurus.” The three headed into the living room.
JC grabbed a throw pillow to prop against his back as he sat down on the sofa, “The press went that well?”
Eric nodded, “Phone, e-mail, tweets – everything is flooded with talk about you and Bianca. US Weekly wants to do a photo shoot.”
JC shook his head, “Please don’t torture me like that.”
Eric laughed, “Of course, I told them no. We need to surround this with some mystery to keep everyone’s attention. They are still going to have a line-item about the two of you at the party, but that’s not the only attention we’re getting.” He turned his attention to Whitney, who sat idly on the couch.
“Wait, what?” she raised her eyebrow.
Eric leaned back with a look of smug satisfaction, “Everyone’s talking about how JC Chasez’s assistant is in a new celebrity relationship of her own.”
She sucked in a breath. The idea that her affair with Charlie had been exposed already was terrifying her. How did they get a hold of that brunch picture so quickly? And how did they identify her?
JC cleared his throat, “What are you talking about, Eric?”
Eric raised a copy of Star Magazine, with satisfaction. The cover was a picture of JC helping Bianca out of the limo at the party from Saturday night. Embedded in the corner of the photo was a smaller photo of Whitney dancing with Mark. “Mark Ryans sets his sights on Chasez’s assistant.”
“Oh, that is…embarrassing,” she said, bringing a hand to her cheek. She was relieved that it had nothing to do with Charlie, but it was still far more exposure than she would ever want for herself. The picture was of the two of them dancing with Mark holding her hand. It was funny how misleading that one photograph of the two of them was. She took the magazine from Eric’s hand and flipped to the article. There was mostly garbage gossip about JC and Bianca’s relationship, silly rumors that “close friends” and “exclusive sources” were sharing. The side article about her and Mark was brief and focused on her as the mystery girl that was serving as personal assistant to JC Chasez. At least they didn’t publish her name. There was a close-up photo of Mark whispering in her ear. Seriously, someone must have had their camera phone out ready to pounce at that party. The second photo, on the other hand, caused her to suck in her breath again. It showed Mark behind the bar serving drinks while she stood in between Jake and Charlie. Even though the article was making it sound like her and Mark were seeing each other, it was the picture that included her and Charlie that she found most alarming.
“This is HUGE! It’s the kind of publicity jackpot a manager dreams about!” Eric grinned from ear to ear. “This is also really going to improve Mark’s lothario image.”
JC put his hand out, silently asking to see the article. Whitney handed it over to him and watched as his facial expression moved from curiosity to irritation. “She didn’t sign up for any of this publicity, Eric. No more of that.” Whitney sat silently on the sofa with discomfort.
Eric stood up, “I understand, but you can’t control what the press is led to believe. The juicier the better, you know. I am off to a meeting, but I’ll be in touch with you both. I did hear back from Universal Music Group. That’s pretty promising, JC.”
“Really?” he responded in a softened tone. He had moved from annoyance to awe in a matter of seconds at the mere mention of a possibility of a break for him.
**
