Buzz.

Ari reaches for her cell phone which is resting on the table amidst pictures she took earlier this morning, barely glancing at the screen before opening the text message. After reading it quickly, she actually takes the phone and brings it closer to her eyes to make sure she’d read it correctly.

What do 20 year old girls like?

She sits there for a minute, re-reading the text another 3 times.

What the hell does he mean? Like…what do they like like?

Um. Well…first of all, that is totally creepy as you are looking at your 20’s in the rearview mirror. Secondly, shouldn’t you be like an expert at that? Having been in a boy band and all? Anyway…I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking…but I seem to remember liking…guys with blue eyes and longish tousled hair that licked and grinded at glass stages?

Her phone starts to ring and she smirks knowing without having to check the caller ID that it’s him.

“Hello?”

“Jesus Christ…that’s not what I meant.” She can hear him half laugh and half sigh; “I’m never going to live that down am I?”

“Nope! You did that while fully knowing that HBO cameras were following you around and it would be recorded for generations of horny teenagers to come…”

“Ari…” He groans into the phone in a warning tone and although she can’t see his eyes, she imagines them lit up with amusement. “Now really, I have this group of 20 year old girls that always seem to be in a bad mood and therefore get on each other’s nerves. I just want to…you know; get them something to cheer them up a bit.”

“Well…what are they into? Makeup? Spas? Movies?” She asks, leaning back against the chair she is sitting in, running a hand through her loose hair. “How much are you looking to spend?”

“At this point anything: it’s driving me insane. I literally turned around in the van earlier and yelled at them that if they weren’t going to get along I was going to cancel this whole thing and turn the van back.” He pauses and sighs softly, “What has my life become Ari? I used to be on magazine covers calling me a heartthrob and now I’m chastising teenage girls like I was their father...and my hair is turning grey.” His last words have turned into a whine.

Chuckling softly, she shakes her head and crosses her arms over her chest. “Just go to a spa and get some gift cards for some mani-pedis or something. Most girls like that.”

“Yeah? Okay, that sounds like a good idea. What are you up to anyway?”

“I’m just playing around. Patrick asked me if I would put on a show at their gallery in a few weeks…”

“Seriously? That’s awesome!” He cuts in.

“Yeah…I didn’t answer yet. I don’t know if I have enough material to show in a gallery you know? I don’t know. I’m just looking through some stuff seeing if I can find a common theme.”

She shrugs her shoulders and pushes her laptop away from her on the table, leaning her elbow on the edge and resting her forehead on her hand. “I’ve got a few jobs in the next weeks, a couple weddings and a commercial shoot…I guess we’ll see.”

“I’m sure you’ll get something.” She hears some commotion in the background and the muffled sound of his voice as he obviously covers the microphone of his phone, “Hey, I’m sorry to cut this short but I have to go. Are we still on for the beach this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you Saturday morning.” She smiles into the phone as they say their goodbyes and she hangs up, putting her phone back down on the table.

As she straightens up in her chair, she looks around her apartment and sighs a bit. She’d been feeling lonely lately but meeting JC had really helped. They’d been texting back and forth for the last few weeks: just random stuff about their days and what they were up to.

One time he’d sent a short video of himself in what seemed to be the studio softly banging his forehead against the keys of a piano with the caption “Frustrated.” A few days later she’d sent him a picture of one of her potted plants turned over on the floor of her balcony, its flowers scattered and the ceramic container broken with the caption “Guess my neighbors’ cat didn’t like my flowers”.

They were gradually building a friendship that was comfortable and easy. They’d seen a movie and gone out for burgers, they’d walked his dog on the beach. It was easy to admit that she had been attracted to him for years, had been a fan of his when he was JC from *NSYNC. It was even easier to admit that she is even more attracted to the real man that he is today: the guy that is completely focused and passionate about his work but is totally down to earth and friendly.

She’d heard about people in the business developing egos and personalities that were out of this world, making them the sort of people she would never want to be around…but not JC. He was kind and funny, caring and thoughtful. 

You need to be careful girl; you can’t be falling for him.

What if he’s not interested? He’s been with plenty of beautiful and famous women.

What would he want with you?

Try as she may to quiet those thoughts, they are always nagging at the back of her mind. Sure he’d made comments that were just as suggestive and downright dirty as she’d had. That was their thing though, they give as good as they get.

Did he mean them though? Was he as attracted to her as she was to him?

With a soft sigh, Ari pushes away from her work table and absently shrugs her shoulders.

Whatever is to happen will happen, let’s leave it at that.

Needing to clear her mind and think about something other than JC and the gallery show, she decides to grab her bag and go to the nearest hardware store to get some supplies. She’s been meaning to paint her small bathroom, change the dark masculine color that made her feel claustrophobic for a lighter color.

Guess today is the day!


*****


“Pretty sure that’s not the right f-word I sing in that song…”

Ari yelps as she turns around clutching at her chest, her paintbrush held up in the air as if she’s going to defend herself with it.

“For God’s sake JC!” She pants, lowering the paintbrush and leaning against the counter still clutching at her chest, “You scared the hell out of me!”

She reaches over and turns down the volume of her Ipod dock. She had been dancing around and singing along to the shuffled songs on her Ipod.

Of course he had to walk in as See Right Through You was playing and she was making a fool out of herself singing at the top of her lungs, making a very natural adjustment to the lyric “Does he freak you the way that I do?”

“Come on, you can’t expect us to not change that word when you used to do that little shimmy as you sang it. We all know you were thinking it.” She smirks at him and turns the tap on to rinse her hands.

He chuckles softly, winks at her conspiratorially and leans against the doorframe. “Anyway…the door was unlocked, I knocked and called your name of few times…I could hear the music blaring so I decided to investigate.”

She wipes her hand on a nearby towel. “It’s okay. My hands were full earlier; I must have forgotten to lock it after I got in. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Just finished a meeting and figured I’d stop by. Hungry?” He asks, lifting his arm and showing her the two paper bags he is clutching in his hand which she had not noticed before.

“Starving actually…I wanted to finish this before I made anything. Pretty much done now.” She smiles proudly as she rests her hands on her hips and looks around the newly painted bathroom.

“The bathroom or you? I think there’s more paint on you than the walls…” He grins and quickly moves out of the way of her incoming swat.

Both laughing they make their way to the kitchen where they take a seat at the island and eagerly dig into the fish taco’s he’s brought by.

“These are incredible!” She mumbles between bites, wiping her lips with a napkin.

“They’re my favorite. They’re from this little food truck that comes around a few times a week not far from here. Always get them when I can.”

She watches him lean back and push away the left over wrappers of his tacos. He doesn’t say anything for a few moments and then swipe at his nose with the edge of his finger.

“What is it?” She asks as she raises an eyebrow and looks at him questioningly.“You always do that when you’re nervous.”

He seems surprised at her observation and his cheeks redden slightly.

“I…I guess I’ve sort of been wanting to ask you about something.” He pauses and looks up. He seems to mull something over in his head before he asks softly, “You’re not dating anyone are you? I mean, we haven’t really discussed this before and I never really asked about Kenny…”

“Oh my gosh.” She shakes her head quickly. “No. There’s nothing with Kenny and has never been. When I moved in he helped with a few boxes, you know being neighborly. I bought him a case of beer as a thank you and he asked if I would want him to show me around a few places near here as he’s been here a few years. We went out twice, I never considered those dates but I guess he did. After the second one he started coming on strong and I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m…I’m not the type of girl to get taken out on a few dates and then sleep with a man. As corny and old fashioned it may sound I need something more...a connection you know? Anyway, maybe he’s not used to being turned down or something so he got frustrated, yelled at me that if I didn’t loosen up I’d never find any guy from around here to date. You know, just crap to make me insecure and want even less to do with him.”

She watches him nod and grabs the discarded remnants of their dinner, bunching them up and walking them to the trash.

“Um…so can I ask about you? Are you seeing anyone right now?”

“I’m not. It’s actually been a few months since I’ve even been on a date. It’s just hard to find someone who is…normal I guess.” He shrugs, looking up at her.“I have a habit of getting into things one hundred percent when it comes to work and I’ve been working really hard at making sure the other sides of my life don’t suffer because of it. I just haven’t found a girl that would be willing to work with me on that yet, you know give me a chance to get better at it.”

He looks down at his hands for a moment as his voice drops, “I’m a little scared to get into something right now…everything I’ve gotten excited about lately has sort of blown up in my face.”

They’d never really spoken too much about his latest projects; his music, the cancelled Jesus Christ Superstar tour, Girl Radical. She never wanted to pry and he seemed okay with just talking about other things. She liked that he was opening up to her now and felt humbled that he would make himself so vulnerable to her. She takes a seat next to him again and scoots forward slightly, setting a hand on his arm.

“JC.” She says softly, his eyes lift to meet hers, “What I’m getting here is…maybe you…like me?” He nods slowly. “Well…I like you too…so with that in mind let’s just…take this as it comes? Let’s not define this as anything or give labels." She bites her lip and then sighs. "I'm a little hesitant as well...my last relationship ended...roughly. So um, how 'bout we just be two people that are getting to know each other and like each other’s company? And if something eventually happens, it does and we’ll deal with it then. What do you think?”

He stays quiet for a moment and reaches out to push a strand of hair away from her face, she smiles at him and it seems to give him the courage to answer quietly.“Yeah, I think it’s a deal.”