Ellie Sanderson pulled up the driveway to her new home and hit the button on her remote for the garage.  It had been another stressful morning.  She was glad to finally be in her new place, but the circumstances around it were nothing short of horrendous.  Her life was a complete disaster at the moment.

With a sigh she turned off her Mercedes and climbed out of the driver’s seat, making way to the trunk to unload the priceless belongings she’d brought with her; mainly photos and photo albums, items that couldn’t be replaced if they were lost by a moving company or mishandled by one of the men who worked for one.  All material belongings could be replaced.  That was something she’d learned long ago. 

Her hands filled with boxes, she made way through the door, dropping everything as the house alarm sounded with a horrible shrill.  Dammit!  How could she forget about that?

“Shit.  Shit.  Shit,” she mumbled to herself, leaving the photo albums and miscellaneous boxes where they’d landed, scattered in and out of the doorway, as she trotted back to the car to retrieve the alarm code from her purse.  “Shit,” she cursed again.  The faster she tried to move, the more her fingers seemed to fumble.

Meanwhile the blaring device was alternating between what sounded like a police siren and a fire drill.  Finally managing to pull the card out of her wallet, she trotted back to the keypad, stepping around the mess on the floor, finally able to punch in the code.  Immediately the obtrusive noise stopped and she sighed with relief.

Kneeling down, she began gathering her things up in her arms in a hurry.

“Everything okay?”

The inherently male voice startled her, as everything she’d picked up immediately fell again, her entire body flinching in reaction.  Looking up, she swallowed and tried to gain her composure.  “Yeah…  Sorry about that.”

He took two steps closer and a flicker of concern washed over her.  Yes, he was a very attractive man and he did look strangely familiar for some reason, but in this day and age that didn’t mean a thing.  One can never be too cautious.

Automatically she stood, hoping to not look quite so vulnerable.

“I’m JC.  I live across the street.”  He pointed backward and as her eyes followed she realized it probably hadn’t been the best idea to have left the garage door open after she’d pulled in.  Living alone was going to be a major adjustment for her.

Cautiously she grinned.  “Ellie,” she told him.  “Again, sorry about the noise.”

“No problem.  Well, since you’re obviously not being attacked or robbed or anything, I’m just gonna head back.”  He pointed back to his house again.  “Welcome to the neighborhood,” he said, flashing a quick and somewhat forced grin.  She noticed then the dishelved look about him, like he’d just rolled out of bed maybe?  It was two thirty in the afternoon, though.  Who slept that late past the age of 17?

“Thanks.”

He grinned cordially once more and was on his way.  As soon as he was past, she reached for the button on the wall to close the garage door.  Maybe she was a little paranoid, but being newly alone she had to be cautious.  Her address might have been in the 90210 zip code, but she read the news.  Crazy things happened in L.A., even in the pricier part of it.

It was 8:30 p.m. by the time JC had showered and was ready to leave the house.  He'd felt somewhat like a vampire the past couple of months with all the late nights he’d been working.  Well, it wasn’t all work, there was a lot of partying too.  Regardless, he just didn’t see much daylight.  The disturbances he’d encountered thanks to his new neighbor over the past two days were about all the time he’d spent in the sun.  This just wasn’t normal.  After this week he’d make it a point to slowly return to the world of the living.

Backing out of the driveway, he was forced to slam on the brakes as he caught a flash of Gabby in his rearview mirror.  Her overconfidence was completely unattractive to him.  He shook his head discreetly at the realization that she just assumed he’d see her in time to stop and not run her over.

Opening his window, he watched out the side mirror of his Porsche as she sauntered towards him.  Granted L.A. didn’t exactly freeze, but it was December and she was wearing the skimpiest shorts and t-shirt he’d ever seen, her surgically sculptured stomach exposed much more than necessary.  More and more she just gave him the willies.  How he had ever considered sleeping with her was beyond him now, even if the thought did only last for a couple of minutes.  It grossed him out every time that he relived it, mainly because over the years he’d learned that her insides were just as plastic as her outsides. 

“Did you meet the new neighbor yet?” she asked him, a rather deceptive look across her big features.  Her long, platinum blond hair hung messily over her shoulders.  It was a look he referred to as “unkempt on purpose.”

He nodded.  “Sort of.”

“She seems a little prudish,” Gabby continued, leaning into his window in a completely forward manner.  She wasn’t wearing a bra, not that he wanted to notice, but it was hard not to.  Of course her tits were probably as hard as soccer balls with all the work she’d had done.  “Off to work?”

“Yeah.  Prudish?  What makes you say that?”

She stood back up and shrugged.  “She didn’t even invite me in.”

JC had made the mistake of inviting Gabby in.  He hadn’t been able to get rid of her since.  That didn’t sound prudish, it sounded smart!  Besides, why would a woman not inviting another woman into her home make her prudish?  Unless, and JC didn’t doubt this in the slightest, Gabby was making unwarranted advances at Ellie too.  He had a feeling the woman would take it however she could get it.  Bisexual?  More like try-sexual.  As in, she’d try anything.

“Well, I’ll let you get to work, sweetie.  Have a good session.”  She backed away two steps and waved.  JC flashed a quick smile as he popped the button to close the window.  It never ceased to amaze him how she talked to him like they were best friends.  If it weren’t for the fact she practically threw herself at him on a daily basis, they’d never talk at all.

Ellie watched the dark gray sports car back onto the street and speed off.  JC...  She was guessing he enjoyed fast cars and fast women.  Judging by their neighbor that had just seen him off, she was sure of it.  It wasn’t anything that Ellie wasn’t used to.  She’d been living in L.A. for over 5 years now.  Nothing shocked her anymore.  Cosmetically enhanced women especially didn’t shock her.  Not even ones who had breasts the size of watermelons.  She’d seen it all, but somehow still managed to distance herself from that lifestyle.  Her friends might explain it in a negative way, saying that Ellie had turned into a bit of a recluse after getting married.  Ellie thought of it more as being devoted to her husband.

A lot of good that had done, not that she felt like dwelling on it. 

Instead, she shook her head, smirking as she recalled the visit she’d received earlier from the woman who’d introduced herself as Gabby Johnson.  The leggy blond had stood on the front stoop as if she owned the whole block, flaunting her over-abundance of cleavage and her botox-enhanced face.  Ellie wasn’t against a little plastic surgery if it was necessary, but the women she encountered the majority of the time definitely abused it.  Gabby was obviously no exception.

Maybe if Ms. Johnson would have come across as nice Ellie wouldn’t have felt so judgmental, but that simply was not the case.  Right off the bat, she introduced herself as if she was reciting her resume; name of her ex-husband who happened to be some big-wig director, TV appearances, modeling jobs, and something about a lifetime invite to the Playboy mansion.  Give her a break!  Ellie did not care about any of that.  It made for a very short conversation.  It didn’t take much before Gabby was on her way.  If the woman had been looking for someone to fawn over her she’d definitely knocked on the wrong door.

Ellie was beginning to feel a little unsure about her new neighborhood, but unfortunately her options were limited.  It was part of the arrangement.  James had picked the house.  James had bought the house.

How had she ever got herself into such a predicament?  Scanning the living room, and all the boxes that filled it, she collapsed onto the chase lounge just under the living room window she’d been gazing out minutes before.  She had a lot of work in front of her, both physically and mentally.

When her cell phone rang just a few seconds later, she was more than thankful for the interruption from her thoughts. 

Fishing it out of her sweat pocket, she answered with a dull “Hello?”

“El?  How are you?  You hanging in there still?”  Bending her knees, she brought her socked feet up onto the plush piece of furniture before resting her back against the mound of pillows behind her. 

Her best friend always seemed to call at the right time.  “Oh, I’m okay.”  She needed to hear a familiar voice at the moment.  Jill must have sensed it all the way in Atlanta.  “Just trying to figure out my neighbors.”

“Really?  Well that’s better than wallowing over your separation.  Have you talked to the old asshole since you moved out?”

Ellie smirked, mainly because James was quite a bit older than her, 15 years to be exact.  “No.  He did put the house in my name, though.”

“Well, considering he’s worth billions that’s the least he could do.  Did you talk to that attorney yet that I referred you to?”

“Not exactly.”

“Why, El?”  Her voice came out more as a whine than anything.  “You’re not still hanging onto the idea that you can spend some time apart and then get back together and everything will be fine, are you?”

“Well, yeah… sort of.”

Over-exaggeratedly her friend huffed.  “That is not how it works.  Not in this world.”

“When are you coming home?” Ellie asked instead, changing the subject.

“Not till Wednesday.  You better have called before then.  Stephen Blake is one of the best divorce attorney’s in L.A.  Talk to someone before you’re caught off guard, El.  Please.  I know what I’m talking about here.”

“I’ll call on Monday.  I promise.”

“Thank you,” she breathed.  “Now, give me the scoop on your new neighbors.”

“I’ve only met two so far,” Ellie explained, “which, considering this is Los Angeles, is pretty good.”  She chuckled at what she’d just said.  Normally everyone in plastic-ville was so unfriendly.  Although she wouldn’t exactly say that Gabby or JC had exactly been friendly to her either.  “Gabby and JC both live across the street, although not together.  They live next door to each other.  She is very plastic, I guess you could say.  She came to the door wearing this itsy bitsy outfit with huge boobs and a ridiculous fake tan... which would have been fine except for she wasn’t very nice.  He was cute, but a little off.  I don’t know.  I accidentally set off the house alarm and he came over to see what was going on.  Everything was fine so he introduced himself and split, pretty much.”

“Cute, huh?  Like old man cute or young hot stud cute?”

“Very funny.  James was only 40 when I met him.”

“Like I said, old!  And you didn’t answer.  I’m waiting.”

“Well, he was definitely an attractive younger guy.  I don’t know, late 20s early 30s.”

“Your age?  Awesome!”

“Shut up, Jill.  Besides, I think he’s dating the bimbo next door.  Oops, I mean Gabby.”

“Ellie, sweetie, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk so down about anyone.  Are you a little jealous of bimbo and young hot guy?”

“No.  It’s just a little neighborhood drama.  The cable guy won’t be out till the end of the week.  I’ve gotta watch something…”

Two hours after JC left the house he was back.  He’d met some friends for dinner and then decided to do some collaborating at his in-home studio.  He had some people meeting him shortly.  The street was quiet as usual, but as he pulled up his drive, he noticed something a little odd across the street.

Ellie, his new neighbor, was standing barefoot in her front yard just staring at the front of her house.  Something was not right.  He felt it in his bones.  So instead of pulling all the way into his garage, he stopped mid-driveway and hopped out.

“Hey?  Everything okay?” he called from across the street, realizing it was the second time he’d asked her that.

She turned sharply, wrapping both arms over her chest.  Her chin-length auburn hair swooshed across her cheeks as she shook her head no.  “I locked myself out,” she explained, tucking her straight locks behind one ear.

His face scrunched into a look of peculiarity as he slammed his car door and started towards her.  She’d moved onto the sidewalk, still hugging onto herself.  The wind had picked up and she looked freezing. 

When he got close enough that he didn’t have to yell, he asked, “How’d you manage that?”

“Apparently you can step out the door with the bottom lock locked and not realize that it’s locked and then be locked out.”

“Don’t you have a code to get back in?”

Her brow furrowed with confusion.  “If I do I don’t know what it is.”

Glancing at her left hand, he noticed the wedding ring on her finger.  “Can you call your husband?”

Quickly she smoothed her palm over her opposite hand, covering the huge rock on her finger.  “We’re separated.”

“Oh.  Well, how ‘bout a locksmith?”

“I guess that’s my only option.”

“Well, you can use my phone.  You look like you’re freezing.  You can wait in my living room.”

Ellie hesitated.  She did not know this guy.  What if he was some mass murderer or serial rapist?  Although, she did still have the feeling that she knew him from somewhere.  And frankly she was freezing.  She’d walked outside to turn off the hose in her bare feet, just a thin tank top and sweats.  Of course that immediately brought to her attention what a mess she was at the moment.  From now on the flowers could suffer until she figured out how to set the timer on the sprinklers.

Well, she had to do something and there was no way she was going to call James.  He’d never let her hear the end of it.  She needed to start doing things on her own.  This was a start.

“Okay, thanks,” she finally told him.

Following him across the street she found herself taking in all of her surroundings.  What about Gabby?  Was she going to pop up any second?  As much as a negative vibe she got from the woman, she didn’t want to start trouble with new neighbors either.  They’d just barely stepped into his spotless garage when she found herself opening her mouth.  “Is Gabby your girlfriend?”

The quickness in which his head turned should have told her enough, but the sour expression on his face told her much more.  “No.”

“I noticed her hanging in your window earlier when you were leaving.”  Of course as soon as she realized she’d confessed that she wished she wouldn’t have.  Now she sounded like a stalker.

He didn’t turn around this time, instead he opened the inside garage door and again repeated the stern, “no.”

She felt like explaining why she’d been watching them out the window earlier, but she realized quickly that she had no explanation so that would just be pointless. 

He guided her into a dark but formal living room and handed her a cordless phone.  Then he switched on a light and told her, “Make yourself comfortable.  I’ve gotta pull my car in.”

She didn’t answer, just nodded.  Then she stared at the phone realizing she had no idea who she was supposed to call.  “Do you have a phonebook?” she called out.

“Just call information,” he yelled from another room.

With a huff she sat down in a very stiff upright black chair.  At first touch she wondered if anyone had ever sat in it before her.  Looking around she realized the room she was in never got any use.  That much was obvious.  She also realized that his house didn’t feel much warmer than outside, minus the wind, of course.

“This has been the strangest day of my life,” she mumbled to herself as she dialed 411.

JC pulled the car in thankful that Gabby hadn’t intercepted him this time.  He swore that woman staked out his house constantly.  He didn’t exactly feel excited when Ellie had mentioned watching him out her window.  For some reason it didn’t creep him out like the other women on the street though.  He got a different vibe from her.  Naiveté maybe?  He wasn’t sure.  One thing he did know for sure, she hadn’t been wearing a wedding ring when he’d found her picking up stuff in her garage earlier in the day.  How weird was that?

Although, he’d never himself been married, let alone separated, so obviously he had absolutely no idea what she was going through.  He had been through some tough break-ups, but honestly it had been years since he’d tried out a “real” relationship.  Heartache was just a faint memory with all he’d been through since.

When he came back inside the house she looked rather frazzled as she held the phone to her ear, not making a peep.  “I’m on hold,” she told him.  “They transferred me 3 times.”

“Take your time,” he told her.  “You can wait here as long as you need to.”

He meant that, but he also had to be careful.  He didn’t want to be overfriendly.  He’d learned that lesson the hard way.

Ellie was cute, though.  Cute in a mid-western, girl-next-door kind of way.  Her hair was kind of short, chin length in the front and even shorter in the back.  She was a small girl, except for one part—her chest.  They didn’t look plastic though.  If she’d had them done, she must have had a damn good surgeon.  Not a hard find in Beverly Hills, of course.  He was guessing they were real because she seemed just a bit self conscious over the fact that he’d obviously caught her without a bra on.  She’d been trying to cover them up with her arms, but he was a man, he knew how to look.  Besides her face and her breasts, the only other part of her he’d been able to get a good look at were her feet, odd as it sounds.  But it was obvious she hadn’t expected to be outside for more than a few seconds since her feet were bare—well manicured with deep burgundy polish on the toes.

Okay, so she was definitely attractive, but so many women in L.A. are.  It doesn’t mean a hell of a lot.

The fact that she seemed to have no clue about his celebrity status was also quite intriguing.  Now that did not happen very often.  Of course, most of the women he encountered had sought him out specifically because of it. 

He gave her one last glance as she began explaining her situation into the phone.  Then he left, heading for the kitchen.  This night seemed to warrant a beer.  He didn’t usually like to drink before going into the studio, but he didn’t plan on using his vocal chords tonight so it was all good.

“Dammit, Chasez.  You should at least be cordial,” he spoke quietly to himself and pulled out a second Corona, popping the tops on both. 

When he made it back into the living room she was groaning loudly, not a clue he was standing there.  “Are you serious?  At least two hours?  Why?”  Her groan turned into a whine and for some reason he found himself grinning.  “Fine.  Thanks.”

She turned off the phone and looked up.  “You look like you could use one of these,” he said, stepping close enough to extend her a drink.

Instead of taking it she looked at him kind of funny.

“Do you not drink?” he asked, pulling his arm back in.

“No, I do.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want it.  I wanted one and I didn’t want to be rude and not offer.”

She held out her arm and he handed her the open bottle.  “Thanks.”

He flashed a thin smile.  This girl was sort of weird.  Or maybe he just wasn’t used to women not hitting on him anymore.  Was that a bad thing?

Bringing the beer to her lips, she took the smallest sip.  “So are you on TV?” she asked him.

He shrugged, his head tilting to the side.  “I have been.”

“I’m trying to figure out why you look so familiar.  You didn’t spout off your resume like your next door neighbor did to me.”

That was funny.  He chuckled before throwing back another sip of his beer.  “Did she really?”

Ellie nodded.  “Strangest thing I’ve ever encountered.”

“Did you just move here?”

“To L.A.?”

“Yeah.”

She shook her head no.  “It’s been five years, but I guess you could say I’ve kind of lived in a bubble.”

He wasn’t quite sure what that meant but he found himself looking at her rather oddly.  Who the hell was her husband?  Some big-wig Hollywood weirdo?  He’d thought he’d seen it all living in this town, but clearly that wasn’t the case.

“Well,” he remarked emphatically, “there are no bubbles on this street.  Welcome to stereotypical Los Angeles.”

Bringing the bottle to her lips again, the drink she took was more of a chug than a sip.  “You never told my why you’re so familiar,” she said once she was done.

“*NSYNC,” he stated simply.  “I was part of the group *NSYNC.”

Automatically her palm slapped to her forward.  “Duh!” she said rather buoyantly.  “I knew that.”

“I’ve released some solo stuff too, but nothing that’s got quite as much attention as my good friend Justin Timberlake.”  He meant that in the truest of sense.  They were good friends.  In fact, they’d just finished working on a couple tracks for JC’s new album.

“Right…” She was nodding her head, still feeling silly for not realizing who he was in the first place.  “I met him once at a charity event with my husband.  Him and his girlfriend, Callie Durant.  I love her.  She’s hilarious.”

JC was looking at her kind of funny, maybe because she hadn’t given that much excitement over his celebrity?  Or probably he just wanted to ask who her husband was, or is, whatever, but giving the odd circumstances he was more than likely afraid to.  She didn’t blame him.  Here she was busted with her wedding ring on when she’d had it off for nearly two weeks.  She’d been having a sentimental moment before stepping outside to turn off the water. 

She was convinced the damn ring had brought on the bad luck of her mishap.  She’d never put the thing on again.  Not while separated anyway.  In fact, if she had a safe place to put it other than the loose back pocket in her sweats, she’d take it off right at that very minute.

“Well,” he said “it looks like my friends just pulled up.  I’m gonna be in the studio, but you just help yourself and wait here as long as you want.  There’s a TV in that cabinet over there.”  He pointed to a built-in wall unit across the room.  “There’s more drinks in the fridge.  Help yourself.”

JC headed back towards the garage to let his friends in.  For some reason he didn’t want to have to answer questions about why there was a strange woman in his living room, although he’d no doubt be sharing the information with the guys anyway.  He realized he was being very guarded with Ellie, but she was a little too open for his taste.  Didn’t she know sharing so much about herself in this town to total strangers was not a good idea?

He couldn’t figure it out because one second she seemed completely closed off and the next she was telling him things he had not asked about.  She was definitely a different type of girl.  Different than he was used to running into lately, that’s for sure.  The word real came to mind, and that was rare, almost obsolete.  He couldn’t think about it for too long, because the chance that hunch was true was slim to none.

Derek and Mac strutted up the driveway towards him, probably wondering why they were entering his home via the garage.  “My new neighbor locked herself out of her house and is waiting for the locksmith in my living room,” he found himself explaining immediately.  Go figure.

“She hot?” Mac asked.  Mac was typical GQ.  Tall, dark and handsome— Or so everyone and their sister seemed to tell him.  He always scored the ladies.  Thankfully Ellie was definitely not his type.  To straight for him.  At least, JC was guessing, anyway.

He kind of shook his head no.  “She’s kind of weird.  Besides, she’s married.”

Derek smirked.  “Like that’s ever stopped us.”

JC rolled his eyes.  He wasn’t exactly proud of all his escapades.  He stayed away from married women as much as possible.  Sometimes they just forgot to mention they were married until it was too late.

Ellie heard JC and his friends moving around on the opposite side of the house.  She could distinguish the different male voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.  A few seconds later a door slammed and the house was completely silent. 

Letting out a deep breath, she got up to open the cabinet he’d pointed to for the TV.  Of course it looked way too high-tech for her.  There was no handle.  “Uh, that figures,” she whispered to herself.  Smoothing a hand down the smooth dark finish, she tried pushing it open.  “Dammit.”  She tried looking for a button of some sort.  No luck there either.  “Well, shit,” she cursed softly.  “Now what the hell am I supposed to do for the next two to three hours?”

She was going to have ask.  She could not imagine sitting there in the quiet for God knows how long.

Walking back towards the chair she’d sat in before, she grabbed her beer and finished it off.  A rather obnoxious burp immediately following.  Then she started towards where JC had disappeared, backtracking the trail they’d taken from the garage.

Of course she found the garage all right, but that gave her no hint on where he’d disappeared to.  “JC?” she called out, hoping he’d appear behind one of the closed doors.  “Guess I’ll just have to find him myself,” she spoke to herself, opening the first door she came across.  Too bad it turned out to be a closet.  She realized this was wrong, but she didn’t know what else to do.  That’s when she heard loud music coming from down the hall.  Thank God!  She’d just follow the sound.

When she got there she knocked, but figured they couldn’t hear her.  So she opened the door and peeked in.  The looks on the three men’s faces were nothing short of peculiar.  They were shocked.  Immediately she felt foolish for disturbing them.

JC touched some switches on the big panel of knobs and dials in front of him and the house was quiet again.  “Sorry,” she found herself speaking very softly.  “I can’t, uh, figure out the TV.”

His brow furrowed between his eyes, his nose scrunching upwards.  He didn’t say anything.  He just stood up.

Without saying a word he moved right past her, back towards the living room.  “Sorry,” she was saying again, “I couldn’t figure out how to open the cabinet.” 

“It’s easy.  I’ll show you,” was all he said.

Why did she feel about two feet tall all the sudden?  Had it really been that big of a deal?Picking up the remote control off of the contemporary styled table next to the stiff chair she’d been sitting in, he pressed a button and—ta da!—the front of the cabinet slid open to reveal a medium sized flat panel TV.  God, she was an idiot.

He handed the silver controller to her and grinned tight-lipped.  “That changes the channels too.”  She thought maybe he was being sarcastic?  But she didn’t have a chance to confirm her hunch because he immediately disappeared.

She’d flipped through a total of ten channels when the cordless phone she’d used earlier, rang.  Out of habit Ellie grabbed it and waited for the number to show on the caller ID.  “Shit,” she instantly sighed, recognizing the number.  It was the locksmith.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Sanderson?  I’m sorry, but we’ve had an emergency with our on-call technician.  We won’t be able to send anyone out until first thing tomorrow morning.”

© BrandyRae 2008