Chapter 4

"I did it!" Alison exclaimed to Justin over the telephone that Sam evening. She’d been trying to get in touch with him ever since their dinner was over but his cell phone kept going directly to voice mail. So she’d left a message and waited patiently for an hour or so before he called her back.

"Did what?" Justin asked, and she could tell he was in a car. She could hear the music playing and the sounds of downtown D.C. through the telephone.

She couldn’t contain her excitement. "My parents! I asked them about going out with you and they said yes! Can you believe it? We can go out tomorrow!"

Alison and Sam had brought up the subject at dinner – how they’d met two nice guys at the dance club they went to last week and how they now wanted to go out on a date with each of them. Their parents asked a few questions like what they did for a living, where did they live, how old they were. Alison kept her promise not to lie about anything but Sam wasn’t bound to any such promise. She told her parents that JC and Justin were twenty and Alison couldn’t very well come out and call her a liar. She read her the riot act afterwards, though, but Sam pointed out that they wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the guys if their parents knew the truth, so Alison had to concede on that point.

"I knew you could do it," Justin’s smooth voice came out of the phone, "Never doubted it. Hey, you like basketball?"

"Basketball?" What a weird question. "Yeah. I told you before that I watch a lot of games with my dad. Why?"

Justin exclaimed, ‘Cause I just got us two courtside seats for the Wizards vs. Lakers game tomorrow night. You down for that?"

"Sure," Alison replied, so excited that she almost couldn’t stand it. She didn’t care about a basketball game; she was just excited to spend time alone with Justin without having to sneak around. "I probably would’ve watched it on TV anyway. How’d you score courtside seats? Are you some kind of baller or something?"

"Am I?" he asked, laughing. "Baby, I know people. When you roll with me, I make sure it’s first-class all the way … I’m not gonna have you sitting in nosebleed seats."

"Those are the only seats I’ve ever had at a Wizards game," she told him. "Dad couldn’t afford anything closer. He’ll probably try to weasel his way into going instead of me, knowing him. Just mention basketball and you’ll be in with him," she gave him some pointers.

He chuckled. "I don’t need any help charming parents. It’ll all go great. And we’re going to dinner afterwards, too, if you can wait that long to eat."

"No problem," she answered. "Now I need to go study and figure out what to wear."

Justin chuckled again, this time in a sexier tone. "You look good in everything you put on," he told her throatily.

Alison shivered. If he could have this effect on her over the phone – God knew how he’d make her feel if he was actually in his presence. Shy again, she said, "Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then … what time should I be ready?"

Justin checked his watch. "Probably six-thirty. I’ve gotta come all the way up there and then drive back downtown."

"Umm … okay, Justin. I’ll see you tomorrow at six-thirty. ‘Bye."

"Bye, baby."

Alison flopped back onto the couch and covered her heart with her hand. It was beating so fast it felt like it might burst through her chest. A date with Justin.

Was it all a dream? If so, she hoped it would never end.

*~*

"Well, that was painless," Justin yelled over the crowd of the screaming basketball fans. "Your parents are really nice."

After leaving the house, Justin dropped Sam and JC out at JC’s car, which was parked around the corner. They were going to a club – San had absolutely zero interest in basketball. On the way to the arena, Justin was constantly on his cell phone, which was being blown up by different people wanting to talk to him. At first Alison worried that it was girls that he was talking to but he didn’t have that voice that she was used to hearing and figured it was friends and business associates. He apologized for it when they got settled at the game and promised he’d focus more on her for the rest of the night. She wanted to tell him that he’d better, after all the trouble she went through to get here: lying, finding the right outfit, putting on makeup, worrying about them coming and talking to her parents. What a relief that it was all over – she could finally relax, unlike earlier in the day.

After school let out, Samantha and Alison had been pacing back and forth in their room, wanting the guys to hurry up and show up but scared about what might happen if they did. There was a chance their dad would see right through the lie about them being twenty but it was too late to change anything. So they tried to take their mind off of things by tweaking their makeup and finding more clothes to wear. They each changed at least three times before finding the right thing to wear. Once they were finished with that, they resumed their pacing again.

When the doorbell finally rang, Sam rushed out of their room to grab the door before their dad did. Alison followed more slowly, excited about seeing Justin again but still shy at the same time. "Hi guys," Alison waved weakly from where she was leaning against the wall for support. Justin had on jeans and a regular, long-sleeved shirt with his ever-present sneakers, and he really did look twenty with that baby face of his. JC, on the other hand, still looked older than twenty to Alison but she just crossed her fingers and prayed for the best.

And it turned out fine. Their dad was generally a nice guy and he never tried to be intimidating to scare guys away from his girls. He just liked to have an idea of who they were going to be spending time with, that sort of thing. They talked about how Justin and JC worked for Justin’s dad, helping build houses and Mr. Welch was duly impressed. He loved hearing about good, hard-working people who became successful. They stayed for about fifteen minutes just chatting with both parents, and then they had to leave, as it was time for the game to start soon, Sam and Ali kissed both of their parents’ goodbyes and promised they wouldn’t come home too late.

"You were right," Alison admitted to him. "I feel bad lying about your age but that was a must if you want us to keep seeing each other."

Reaching over, he took her hand in his. His other hand held a cup of beer while she had a Coke, her favorite drink. "I hate lying too, baby, but we gotta do what we gotta do. When we’re really secure about us and our relationship, we’ll both sit down together with them and explain everything."

He made it sound so easy. "I still don’t know how they’ll take it," Alison said cautiously. But Justin erased her thoughts with a soft kiss.

"Enjoy the game, Ali. Don’t start worrying about something that hasn’t even happened yet, okay? Right now, everything’s fine except my girl is all worried about something she can’t do anything about."

His girl? That, coupled with the kiss, suited Alison just fine. She got way into the game, yelling at players and referees. She even thought for a second that Kobe Bryant glanced at her while she was cursing out the ref for a bad call on his behalf.

"Wasn’t that fun? Kobe is the man," Justin said as they walked to the car.

Alison sniffed. "If you forget that he admittedly cheated on his wife with what was probably an innocent, start-struck girl."

"Let’s not get into that," Justin advised. "Because we obviously have two different opinions here. So let’s agree to disagree, okay?"

“Okay," Alison said, rolling her eyes as he opened the door to his truck for her.

"Look at you!" Justin exclaimed as went back around and hopped into the drivers’ seat.

"What?"

"Rolling your eyes, giving me attitude. I didn’t think you ever acted that way."

"Well I do when the subject is something I feel strongly about. But like you said, we’ll agree to disagree. Now where are we going?" She didn’t want to waste another minute talking about that basketball player.

Justin smiled mysteriously. "You’ll see … I want to show you something."

Alison wasn’t the type to get very giddy and beg for explanations, so they rode in silence with him holding her hand. His phone had been turned off, thank God, she thought, so he was all hers. Except she was on pins and needles wondering what he had to show her. Finally, only after about ten minutes of driving, they arrived at a really nice apartment building where Justin drove underground into a parking garage. It was obviously his house and Alison was torn. She wanted to see it but did he think ‘seeing it’ meant sleeping together?

"Justin … I don’t know what you expect from me … sexually … but I’m nowhere near ready to--"

"Alison. Haven’t I treated you with respect? I’m just showing you something, not inviting you up to spend the night. Although we could do that, too, if you wanted." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh as they waited for the elevator.

When the car finally arrived, he used a special key that was for one of the two penthouses on the panel.

"You live in the penthouse?!" Alison asked in disbelief.

"Just wait and see," was all Justin would say.

Soon enough they arrived at the top floor and Justin opened the key to one of the most expensive, luxurious looking apartments that she’d ever seen. The whole theme was black and silver; with a soft-looking, plush black couch that felt like velvet, a huge entertainment center with the centerpiece being a wide, flat-screen television and various other black and chrome accessories like the coffee table which Alison was afraid she’d cut her leg on if she got too close. The whole thing was extremely stylish and she loved it.

"Justin! This is how you live?" she asked, thinking of the small, two-bedroom house where she lived. It was obvious that selling houses was a great job. Maybe she should look into it.

He smiled. "This is nothing." He showed her the dining room and kitchen, all done in the same color scheme. In the dining room there was a silver tray with one of those big round coverings on it – their dinner. But Justin wanted to show her the rest of his duplex apartment.

Upstairs, he showed her the master bedroom. It was all black, with satin sheets and a soft, down comforter on the king-size bed, and another flat-screen television with a huge entertainment system. Alison wanted to flop down on the bed and see if it was as soft as it looked, but Justin was still tugging at her hand.

"C’mon, I want you to see the other room." He dragged her down the hall to the only other room on the floor.

"You ready?" he inquired, dragging out the moment as long as he could. Alison had a feeling that this surprise was for her and she asked him. "Is this surprise for me?"

"Hmm," Justin said. "Maybe. Let’s look and see." And with that, he opened the door majestically to show Alison her fantasy room. There was a queen-size black canopy bed with silk streamers twisted around the canopy and hanging down. The streamers were fuchsia, muted pink, yellow, orange, and a rainbow of colors that she couldn’t quite make out, they were so woven together.

"You like it?" Justin looked like a kid at Christmas. "I got furniture to match in case you ever need it, plus I sort of created something for you. I hope you like it."

"Like it?" Alison asked incredulously? I love it already!" She hugged Justin, a full-body hug that made him get excited right away. Man, this girl was driving him crazy but he knew he wasn’t getting any anytime soon.

So he settled for the hug, smelling the perfume of her hair.

When he decided the hug was getting to be too much, he broke the embrace and took her over to the side of the bed, where a bay window sat. "I kinda jacked this from that show "Cribs" on MTV," he explained as he showed her the curtains of silk fabric that cascaded down the ceiling to create an "I Dream of Jeannie" sort of look. All the colors worked together to create a curtain for whoever was inside. On the floor inside there were plush, brightly colored pillows for her to relax on.

"I made it so you’d have a private place to write, ‘cause you said you didn’t have one before," he told her. "There’s a desk and a computer right over there, too," he pointed in that direction, "but I thought this might inspire you. Or at least give you a place to take a nap," he joked, still not certain if she really liked this new thing. "I got the idea from when they did Beyonce’s crib – she had something just like this. So I basically jacked her whole style," he laughed and was unprepared for the way she leapt up onto him, ankles crossed behind his waist, arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"I can’t believe you did this for me! This is like … I can’t even explain … I saw that "Cribs" episode, too, and I was, like, wow, I wish I had something like that. Even though I don’t live here, this is the most special thing anyone has ever done for me! Thank you so much, Justin!" And she then proceeded to kiss him all over his face – everywhere but his lips. They locked eyes and Justin had to clear his throat, trying to get rid of the dirty thoughts he was thinking about her.

"I’m so glad you like it, baby. But that’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about." He carried her over to the bed and gently sat her down on it. Then from out of nowhere he produced a key. "This is for you," he told her. "So you can come crash here whenever you want, any time of day or night. My only request is that you don’t bring Sam here." Justin knew Sam was way more street savvy than Alison and she might put two and two together about the drugs. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t give a damn, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Hardly anyone comes here --- JC occasionally, his brother or another one of my friends sometimes – but mostly it’s just me. And now, I hope it’ll be you and me. I know you can’t sneak around your parents a lot but I thought, instead of going to the library or something to use the computer, you could call me and I’ll pick you up and get you back in a decent amount of time."

Alison was overwhelmed. Clutching the key tightly in her hand, she asked him, "Do you really want to share all of this with me? Justin, you barely know me. And don’t you have to work? You don’t have time to be my chauffeur … although I guess, like, on the weekends I could just say we’re hanging out and come here … this is just a lot to get a grasp on …"

"I know," Justin said, wrapping his hands around hers. "So why don’t you take a few days to think about it and we’ll talk."

"But Justin …"

"Yeah?"

"Why me? Why did you do all this for me, and how did you do it all so fast?"

He shrugged. "I know an interior designed who works quickly … I’ve worked with her before and told her what I wanted and she came and did it all. Probably just finished before we came in," he laughed to himself. "And there’s dinner too, don’t forget about that. As for why you? I honestly don’t know," he knelt down in front of her. "I just knew when I saw you at H20 that I needed to meet you. And then when I did, you were one of the sweetest, most beautiful, innocent and honest person I’d ever met. I fell in … like, I guess, is the word for it. And I just want to make you happy Ali. That’s all. I just want to make you happy."

"You make me happy, without all of this stuff," she answered, placing her forehead against his.

He swept his arm around the room. "So you want me to make all of this disappear? ‘Cause I can do that, too, if you want," he joked.

"No!" She exclaimed quickly, making them both laugh. "I love it, don’t get crazy on me now.

"Okay, then … crawl over there and see what it feels like to be a genie." She obediently hopped off the bed and got down on all fours to crawl into the space while Justin watched her every move. This celibacy thing just wasn’t working for him, not when he saw an ass like that, ripe for the picking. But he’d decided that he would take it at her speed and not push. He didn’t want her scared of him; he wanted her to trust him. When that happened, he knew he would get what he wanted and he had a feeling that it would be the best sex he ever had. So for now, he waited.

Alison was lying on her back on the plush pillows, gazing at the ceiling. "Come in here," she beckoned and he crawled his way over and inside, propping himself up next to her on and elbow.

"You make me feel like a princess," she said softly, running a hand down his face.

"My job is done, then."

"I wonder how God brought you to me. There must’ve been something going on up there to make this happen."

Justin sighed and now touched her face. "I don’t know if I believe in fate, but I hardly ever go out to those clubs anymore. All you meet are girls trying to see if you have money and what they can get out of you. So when you walked in it was like the answer to why I was there. I guess there is such a thing as fate, because how else would you have been brought to me?"

Alison shook her head. "Wow. All I can say is wow."

They gazed into each other’s eyes for a minute, and then Justin asked, "Can I have my kiss now?"

She nodded her head and his lips descended on hers slowly, soft, closed-mouth kisses at first that quickly picked up speed until they were, as kids say, making out. He made sure not to let his hands wander too much, and somehow she ended up on top of him. She could feel his arousal pressing into her and got a little scared so she stopped.

"I … I think that might be enough for today," she told him as she sat up and away from him and he nodded his head, wiping the beads of sweat off of his forehead. "Are you okay?" she asked, never having gone this far with a boy before and not knowing what to do.

"I just need a couple of seconds to … calm down," he smiled at her, looking so sweet and innocent with the light streaming through the streamers.

"Can I help?"

Boy, if you only knew how much you could help, Justin thought to himself but shook his head no. "I’ll be fine.

Just gimme a few minutes."

He calmed down and they went into his dining room to have linguini with shrimp and asparagus, all perfectly made by someone Justin knew. "You sure know a lot of people," Alison commented and Justin shook his head again. If she only knew.

"Let’s get you home," he told her and she looked disappointed. "Honey, if I don’t get you home soon your parents might not want me to see you tomorrow night, and her face brightened.

"You want to go out tomorrow night, too?" She asked, like he wasn’t obviously sprung over her. He’d just re-made an entire room for her, for crying out loud.

He nodded. "I thought it was understood that I want to spend as much time with you as possible … and weekends give me that option."

She blushed. "Okay. Just tell me what time and I’ll be ready for you," she told him.

Ready for him? He only wished. But that time would come.

"I’ll call you in the morning and we’ll figure out a good time, that way you can run it by your parents," he figured, and Alison nodded.

They made their way to the car and this time Alison sat snuggled up as close to Justin as she possibly could. They didn’t talk much, just held hands and listened to the slow jams he had programmed into his XM radio. When they finally got home, Justin insisted on walking her to her door.

"It’s the polite thing to do," he told her, and she nodded. At the door, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug, followed by one, soft kiss that left her floating above the clouds.

"Talk to you tomorrow," he said as he made his way back to his truck.

"Okay," Alison called after him, and then went inside. Thankfully her parents were asleep – she tapped on their door to let them know she was home and her dad grumbled something in his sleep -- and Sam wasn’t home yet, so she could crawl into bed after washing her face and brushing her teeth to go over the night’s events in her head.

God had sent Justin to her, she was sure of that. Never had she met a man so perfect for her. Maybe that was the difference – he was a man, not a boy. Whatever the reason, she was falling, hard and fast.

And she had her cushioned hideaway to break her fall if she needed it to.