February 13th
5:15pm
Maxine Thompson wasn’t very fond of Valentine’s Day. Not for a lack of trying to have a good day, but because it never turned out how she had hoped. Year after year, she’d get her hopes up to have someone to spend the day with and year after year, she was met with disappointment.
Not that she spent the whole day alone. Jack Daniel always made an appearance late in the night. Without fail, he was able to coax her out of her bad mood long enough to get her in a love-drunk kind of mood. He could warm her insides and get her out of her clothes and into a long flannel shirt faster than any other sweet talking man probably could.
In the end it always ended the same way: as a regretful one night stand. Jack would leave after a long night and would be gone in the morning all without giving her the courtesy of holding her hair back as she threw up all the chocolate she would undoubtedly eat to fill the hole of loneliness in her stomach.
Valentine number one was her first boyfriend. And then he up and left her for the next girl who had the bigger box of candy hearts. He and that girl got married the next time recess came around and were together for a pretty long time. Kindergartners could be so cruel.
Valentine number two was all about collecting as many girlfriends as he could. As if they were baseball cards or something. Two could play that game. Or three as it turned out. All of the girls quickly found out and spent Valentine’s together, talking about boys of course. How stupid they were, how much they wanted boyfriends. What else could pre-teens want?
Valentine number three was her first real boyfriend by anyone’s definition of the word. They held hands, walked each other from class to class, sat together at lunch, and went on group dates. Phone conversations were things romance novels were made of filled with cracking voices, “uh-huhs”, “yeps”, “uhhs”, and “umms.” Real talk. And then a girl from the UK with big boobs came and no one looked at Maxine twice. It was the accent; no one can resist an accent.
Valentine number four she just didn’t ever want to bring up again. Let’s just say she got tired of seeing the color red around this time of year. And it also made her hate hearing the words “Maxi Pad.”
From then on, Valentine’s was something she tried to avoid. If she could, she’d wipe the thought of the holiday out of existence for the rest of her and everyone else’s lives. She was doing them a favor. Seriously. There were other holidays to get lovey-dovey with someone like…Christmas. Or New Year’s. Or the 4th of July. Ok, maybe Valentine’s was really the only one that promoted celebrating love and happiness and all that.
But, to Maxine, it was just another day. But, it was her day and damn it, the day she treated herself to the best chocolates and the best beer she could find, and she was going to celebrate it right…with half off drinks at the local bar. Why pay full price for a bottle of Jack Daniel when you could pay half? You didn’t have to splurge too much when you were going out for yourself? The Valentine’s special was always a hit: half off whatever you drink if you’re by yourself, if the bartender thinks you’re hitting it off with someone, you get your drinks for free.
Good deal.
If only she could get up off the couch. It was a problem, really. Her flannel pants and oversized Giants jersey were just too comfortable. Not to mention it took time to get in the perfect lounging position and now that she was in it, her butt had the perfect placement in the couch cushion; not too far forward and not too far back. The curve of her neck was supported by the arm rest of the couch, she was in perfect view of the television, and snacks were only an arm length away. She could spend the rest of her night watching Friends and joining Camp Chandler in being “hopeless and awkward and desperate for love.”
Minus the desperate part of course.
“Alright, that’s it.”
The screen went blank faster than Maxine could blink. That did not just happen. “Hey!” She sat up in her seat before twisting to see her roommate, Laura, standing above her, hand on hip, flipping the remote in her hand in the air before catching it.
“I can’t just sit by and look at you be like this all weekend,” Laura said as she pulled the remote up over her head as Maxine reached for it.
“Then don’t look,” Maxine replied, her eyebrows shifting upwards.
“Come out for drinks with me,” Laura said with a roll of her eyes. “Live a little. Let’s go shopping for boys. Can you believe this is the first Valentine’s where I don’t have a date way in advance?”
“No,” Maxine replied with a single blink. “No, I can’t.” Seriously, I can’t.
With Laura’s wavy blonde hair and piercing brown eyes, she wasn’t surprised whenever she came home with any guy. That’s not to say that Maxine wasn’t good looking. She did have those three boyfriends at one point in time. “It’ll be fun. We can make fun of the drunks trying to dance.”
“While that does sound like a good time, I’m perfectly content getting rock hard abs by watching Friends and laughing. A lot,” Maxine said, slapping her stomach for emphasis. She then stopped taking in the tight jeans, light brown knee high boots, and off the shoulder shirt Laura was wearing. “You look nice.”
“Thank you,” Laura replied with a smile, sliding her hands down her legs as if saying “These old things?” She pointed her toe, smiling. “Come on, Max. You’ve had a long week at work; you deserve some time to unwiiind.” She sang the word as she waved her arms up and down miming a wave. “You’re wound tighter than a jammed corkscrew.”
Maxine bobbed her head back and forth to think about it. Working as one of the few cooks at Flambelle's Grill and Bar, she did have long, demanding weeks. But, she loved to cook. Scones, muffins, cookies, bread, Sheppard’s pie, pizza, anything and everything called her name to make it at least once. Hot fudge cookie sundaes and chocolate-strawberry champagne flutes were her specialty and a hit around the holiday season. All in all, no one ever had to worry about her being able to keep herself alive at the idea of living on her own.
“You haven’t been out in a while, all you do is sit at home,” Laura said as she set the remote down onto the table before pushing the bowl of chips aside to sit down. “That’s not healthy.” She paused, reaching for the bowl of chips before grabbing a handful, stuffing them in her mouth. “Neither are these, but they’re good.”
“Mmhmmm,” Maxine said with a smile.
Laura licked her fingers before swallowing thickly before picking up where she left off in their conversation, “It’ll be fun and the first round will be on me.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe you’ll meet someone.”
“I doubt that,” Maxine replied with a single, loud punctuating laugh.
“No one said you have to merry the guy,” Laura said, reaching out her hands to brush Maxine’s dirty blond hair out of her brown eyes, tucking the strands behind her ears. “Just get your hair out of your eyes, put on some mascara, maybe a little eyeliner—you don’t need a lot—some cheek tint, and you’re good to go.” She patted Maxine’s cheeks before giving her a bright smile. “My beautiful best friend will have the attention of every guy wherever we go. Have fun, no strings, no commitments, no expectations, nothing.”
“No expectations?” Maxine repeated, her eyebrows shooting up. Ha! And double ha! If not nightclubs, bars were the easiest place to go with hook ups in mind. “At a bar?”
She already worked in a grill and bar. She had seen the many types of couples that walked in. The first date nervous type, the first date one was way more into it then the other, married couple, old married couple, couples where one was having an affair, you’d be surprised at what could easily spill out of people’s mouths after a couple of shots. The things you learn in a restaurant. It was some good stuff. Seriously, if someone wrote a tell-all book about it, it’d be snatched up like hot cakes. Pun definitely intended
Laura paused for a moment. “Like I said, it’s not like you have to marry the guy,” she said before clapping her hands together. “Now, let’s get you changed. I think I have a skirt that’ll make your legs look great. Ooh, and some heels, too. Come on, Goldilocks, we’ve got some bears to hunt for.”
Shaking her head, Maxine got to her feet and followed Laura to her room and over to her closet. She pulled the doors open with a flourish and held her arms out wide at her side. “Take whatever you want, best friend,” she declared, “because tonight it’s not about the lovin’ you can get from a guy, but to show how much you love yourself. And to show yourself how much you love yourself, you’re going to treat yourself to some eye candy of the handsome variety.” She bumped her hip against Maxine’s.
That’s not a contradiction if I heard one. “Oh, God,” Maxine said, reaching her hand up to run her fingers through her hair. Just get it over with. It’s only for a few hours and then you don’t have to listen to her go on and on about not going later on. “Alright, alright, I’m in.”
“Yes!” Laura cheered, punching the air with her fists, kicking a leg up in the air. “Whoo! We’re going to have so fun.”
The last time those words came out of her mouth, Maxine had found out that she was allergic to grapes. It really came in handy that Laura was a med student in that point of time, of course she had to talk through their hysterical laughter to get any sort of aid to her friend. It was a painful, and itchy, few hours and they hadn’t ever gone to squash grapes (or even drink lots of wine for that matter) since that day but there was never a dull moment between the two of them.
Their first day in a math class at UCLA, all Laura had to do was turn around in her seat, give a bright smile and say, “I’d like to be comforted with the idea that I’m not going to drown alone?”
So did Maxine; they had been inseparable ever since.
“Try this on.”
Maxine’s world went dark—much like she knew it would later on that night—as a shirt was thrown at her head. She removed it from her face and peered down at the orange top before turning it around, holding it up to her chest. She let out a low whistle. “I don’t have the boobs for this neckline,” she said with a small laugh, handing it back to her friend. “Or for the lack of this neckline.”
Laura merely shrugged her shoulders before tossing it into the back of her closet. The plastic hangers clacked against each other as they were pushed from side to side. “I know I have something in here for yoooou,” she said. “Ah ha!” Maxine ducked as she violently pulled the hanger off of the bar holding up the other garments before pressing the light pink top to her chest.
“Cute,” Maxine said, her eyebrows shooting up as she looked over the pink strapless top. “This would look good with those new skinny jeans and jean jacket I bought.” Maybe it won’t be so bad.
“Now you’re talking,” Laura said with a bright smile, snapping her fingers. “The boys aren’t going to know what hit them. Oh, but we should come up with some sort of code or symbol so we know when someone wants to leave.”
“Like what?” Maxine asked with a laugh. “Leggo my eggo?” She clapped her hands together. “Ooh, I know. I could fake a heart attack and you can drag me out. Only, wait…” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “I might not be joking.”
Laura stopped what she was doing and turned to face her friend, a frown crossing her face. Her eyebrows knitted together just slightly as Maxine’s laughter faded. “You’re really nervous about this, aren’t you?” she asked quietly. “The dating thing.”
Maxine shrugged her shoulders. “Trust me; everybody is no matter how old you get.” Laura brushed her hair back from her face and planted her hand on her hip. “Those butterflies never really go away, especially when you find a guy that’s worth it.” She reached out a hand and tapped Maxine under the chin. “And it might just be the two of us spending Valentine’s Day together and nothing’s wrong with that. I’ve been known to throw some awesome parties; we can have a girl’s night and be each other’s dates. No one knows what we like better than ourselves. Besides, I haven’t had a lot of time to spend with my friend because of classes.”
“True,” Maxine replied, a thoughtful look on her face. It suddenly hit her. Boy, am I dumb. “That’s why you want to go out tonight.”
“I can’t find an excuse to spend some time with my best friend?” Laura asked, lifting her eyebrows.
“You shouldn’t have to, that’s the point,” Maxine said with a roll of her eyes.
“Well then you should consider yourself popular, Goldilocks,” Laura replied with a grin. “Now let’s get changed and have a good time. On the bright side, if things don’t work out, we have Ross, Chandler, and Joey to come home too.”
After settling on a pair of dark wash, straight legged jeans, a white jean jacket, and black boots, Maxine threw on a light amount of makeup and quickly put a few curls in her hair with a small flat iron, she and Laura were ready for a night out on the town.
As they stepped through the threshold of the bar, loud music pounded her ears and rocked her body. The place wasn’t packed but it was filled with patrons on the dance floor and those scattered around tables trying to shout over the music to hear each other. Maxine’s scalp itched and prickled with sweat as the body heat from the bar patrons swept her up in the center of its’ cyclone.
“There are some seats empty at the bar,” Laura shouted, pressing her lips to her friend’s ear as she looped her arm through her friend’s. “Let’s hurry before they get taken.”
God forbid.
JC Chasez set down his shot glass with a slight tap before swallowing the burning drink, letting out a breath of air, his face screwing up just slightly as the liquid burned a hot trail down his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut and smacked his lips together just slightly before giving a brief shake of his head. As he let out a throaty, “Ahhh” he put his weight on his forearms.
So much for free drinks.
Not that he didn’t have any possible suitors—he had plenty of women coming up to him with a wink and a flirty lilt to their tone—but none that he would give his whole attention to. It just wasn’t much of a thrill after being in European bars and having screaming fans chant his name every night at a big show. There were days where he liked the attention, and days where he wondered if women wanted to get to know him, or wanted to get to know the his band.
He was proud of his work and what he had accomplished with his friends, but being in a band made it hard to have a real relationship with anybody. When he found someone to have that relationship with him, it was hard to work around his schedule to have things be normal for not just him, but for her. She deserved to have a full time boyfriend, not just one that she had to work tirelessly to schedule to see.
Most importantly, they had to like Chris, Joey, Justin, and Lance, too. Not just as his fellow band mates but at his brothers. His often times tactless, funny, stupid, loyal, and fun brothers. They were his family and it was important for his family to like whomever he thought he could bring into his life for the long haul. Just like he did for Justin, Joey, and Chris, and he knew they were grateful for the gesture.
All in all, he was happy for the night off. While Justin, Joey, and Chris went out with their girlfriends, Lance decided to spend the night in calling home to his family, and he decided to spend the night out on the town. That ended up being a mistake. Working and performing day in and day out in city after city, in country after country for months allowed him to forget what day of the year it was let alone where he was.
He had completely forgotten it was Valentine’s Day.
“Half off drinks for the night, buddy,” the bartender said as he had sat down at the bar earlier that evening. “Find yourself a girl, hit it off, and drinks are on the house.” He glanced around the room before he threw a wink in JC’s direction as if silently hinting that he would have no problem finding someone.
JC had let out a short laugh and had ordered himself a shot. For a moment, he wondered if the man really knew who he was or was just trying to butter him up to buy more alcohol. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t blame the man at all if the latter was true. Despite that, he ordered himself a second shot. And then a third.
As he set down his fourth, and decidedly, last, he grasped his coat, and got to his feet. He reached into his coat pocket for his wallet and removed it before tossing a folded bill onto the table. “You’re heading out?” the bartender asked, taking his empty shot class, setting it down on his side of the wooden table top. He lifted a damp rag into his hand and started to clean off a beer glass. “So soon?”
He either wasn’t going to find someone that night or he would and would have to leave them sooner rather than later. Bette to duck out now. “Yeah, man,” JC replied with a sigh and a nod of his head. “Just not feeling it tonight.”
“You sure none of these ladies can change your mind?” the bartender asked, lifting his eyebrows. “Huh?” JC laughed good naturedly.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said, tucking his arm under his chest. “Not today.”
“There are a few more coming in now,” the bartender said in a sing-song voice. JC used his teeth to pull a small chunk of skin off of his bottom lip, nose wrinkling just slightly as he shook his head. “Oh, well. Have a good Valentine’s Day, regardless. Everyone deserves that at least.”
JC laughed. Can’t argue with that. “Thank you.”
As he turned to leave, he walked straight into the girl standing behind him. The first thing he noticed about her were her radiant looks. Her dark eyeliner and long eyelashes really made her eyes pop against her cashew color tanned skin. The lights seemed reflected the warm glow as they widened in surprise.
That wasn’t fair.
