“Is he a hermit?”

Ellie turned to her counterpart, who was peeking out the front window for the fifteenth time during the past hour and a half, looking about as sleuth as any six foot, statuesque, redhead could.  “I don’t keep track of him or anyone else on the street,” Ellie remarked as she carefully shook the contents in the stainless steel margarita shaker, perched across the room behind the small bar.  It was their “before going out for drinks” drink. 

“Not since your infamous night at his house.” 

“Oh, you mean the infamous wake-up-to-a-blanket-and-a-note-at-7-a.m.-when-the-locksmith-guy-is-banging-on-the-door night at his house?  Sleeping in the stiffest chair ever and dealing with a sore neck for two days because of it?  It left tons to be desired.  For sure.”  The sarcasm was oozing, but it was the strangest night she’d ever had.  She poured two stiff margaritas, on the rocks, and walked one over to her friend.  “Here.”

After taking a healthy sip of her drink, Jill shifted positions on the lounge so she’d be able to balance her drink, carry on a conversation and still keep watch out the window.  It may have sounded impossible, but not for Jill.  “What did the note say again?”

Ellie plopped down on the couch across the almost put-together room.  “I told you.  All it said was, punch pound-22 to lock the door when you leave.  It was just the weirdest thing ever.”

“I’m sure it was weird for him having some strange woman asleep in his living room.”

“I’m sure that I am done talking about it,” Ellie remarked.  And she was.  He hadn’t left the best impression on her.  He was strange.  Strange, but cute… with his chocolaty brown hair and deep blue eyes.

“In that case, finish your drink ‘cause it’s time to go.  Marco just pulled up.”

Ellie looked down at herself.  How had she let Jill talk her into going out?  She hadn’t actually been out, to a club, since she’d first moved to L.A.  After a deep breath, she downed about half of her glass.  Too much for such a strong drink, but oh well.  They’d had a good dinner.  She should be okay.

Derek, Mac, Sam and Trey pulled in the driveway just after midnight.  It was Thursday night and JC definitely needed a night off.  He planned on getting his drink on and his groove on.  He wanted to think about absolutely nothing, surround himself with beautiful women and let go.  It had been a stressful week and he needed a break.

They all piled in Mac’s SUV and headed off to one of the hottest spots in town.  “Whatever happened with that new neighbor?”  Mac asked immediately, before the car had even left the curb.

“Yeah, did she get in her house okay?”  Derek added from the passenger seat.

“I guess.  She was gone when I woke up,” JC answered.  He felt kind of weird about the whole situation, but the fact that she’d been there when he came out of the studio at 4 a.m. was surprising to say the least.  He assumed the locksmith hadn’t shown up considering she was sound asleep.  He hadn’t known what to do with her other than toss a blanket over her and leave her a note.  He’d gone to bed, locking his bedroom door, which he realized maybe was a little over cautious, but he didn’t know this girl and he knew what women were capable of.  You could never be too safe.

“Dude, you didn’t even check?” Mac asked with a smirk.  “That’s cold.”

“Where else was she gonna go?” JC replied defensively.  Okay, so he had thought about going over there the next day, but he wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to say to her.  It was just an odd thing, having a complete stranger camped out in your living room because she was locked out of her house.

“Guess you don’t plan on hittin’ that,” Trey said.  JC was sure his other two friends had been clued in on all the details of the incident already.

JC opened his mouth to respond, but Derek beat him to it.  “Like that matters,” the man responded.  “You know the game my man has.” He gave JC a firm pat on the shoulder.  “He could still get it if he wants it.”

“I don’t.  She’s my neighbor and she’s married.  End of subject.”

“Okay,” Mac replied coolly, “we can drop it, but if she’s married why didn’t she just call her husband when she locked herself out of her house?”

JC just shrugged.  He knew if he brought up the fact that Ellie and her husband were separated he’d never hear the end of it.  The girl had way too much baggage.  He wasn’t even about to get involved.

An hour in the VIP at Hyde and Ellie was feeling good.  It was nice when your best friend had just about every connection in Hollywood.  It pays to know people, they say, and it was the truth.  Especially in this town.  Ellie hadn’t paid for a drink yet and she’d had quite a few. 

They were situated on a long plush velvet black couch that stretched along the back wall.  It gave a great view of the people coming in and out.  Ellie was hunched forward, talking to three very attractive men—Jill right beside her, of course—trying to focus on the conversation when all she could really think about was how light-headed she felt.

Russ was directly in front of her; sandy blond hair, green eyes, and an interesting tattoo sneaking out from under the sleeve of his black shirt.  He was a record executive, or something like that.  Jay was next to him and not near as interesting.  If he’d mentioned what he did for a living, Ellie didn’t remember.  T, as he was simply called, was the definition of tall, dark and handsome, and apparently had just released a music CD.  In between eyeing Ellie’s cleavage, Russ was busy promoting his artist—T, of course.  That’s mainly what their conversation had been about—boring.

She’d just reached down to adjust the strapless—and slipping—500 dollar gold and silver sequenced shirt she was wearing when she looked up and immediately locked eyes with the last person she expected to see—JC.

Okay, so he wasn’t exactly the last person she expected to see.  That person would have been her husband, who was also someone she did not want to think about at the moment, but he did want his space—so much that he hadn’t even called since she’d moved out.

Anyway, it was strange because for a second the room stilled.  During that same second, she felt a twinge of excitement to catch him there.  Then he looked away, not giving her a second glance or even a grin, and the feeling immediately faded.  What was she thinking?

“I have to pee,” Jill was whispering in her ear.

Ellie immediately snapped out of whatever haze she’d been temporarily caught in, drunken or otherwise.  Jill locked hands with her and pulled her from the clear round table, giving the guys some silly excuse about why they were getting up.  “The only bad thing about being in such a small area of the club is that if you run into people that are annoying, you’re stuck with them.”

Without responding, Ellie looked over at her friend, feeling completely sloshed. 

“Jesus, you’re drunk.  Do we need to leave?”

Ellie shook her head no vigorously. 

“Dammit, El.  We better order some food when we get back.”

Ellie only nodded.

“Why are you so quiet?  Are you that drunk?” 

Of course when Ellie did find her words they weren’t exactly what she wanted them to be.  “Did you see my neighbor come in?”

“No I did not, but you obviously did.”

Ellie nodded again as Jill pushed open the bright red bathroom door. 

“Interesting.”

“Yeah,” was all Ellie could manage as Jill shoved her into one of the puffy red lounge chairs in the waiting area. 

“Don’t move.  I’ll be right out.”

Ellie nodded.  She could handle that.

Letting out a huge sigh, she studied her reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror across from her.  She smoothed her dark locks to the side of her forehead and swiped her fingers under both eyes just in case any of her eye make-up had started to smudge.  It didn’t look like it, but she was drunk.  Then she popped open her tiny gold clutch and reapplied her red-tinged gloss.

A few minutes later when they headed back towards the bar, the men they’d been chatting with had increased the number in their group.  Four more had joined along, taking over the table next to Russ, Jay and T.  Guess what?  JC was one of them.  He still didn’t look at her.  Not in the eyes anyway.

Did he even recognize her?

Jill almost walked right past them, but Russ was a little too pushy to let them slip by.  “I ordered both of you ladies another drink,” he spoke up loudly.

“Uh-”  Ellie could see Jill surveying the other men.  She even recognized the change in body language upon Jill’s recognition of Ellie’s neighbor.  “Thanks.”  It was Jill’s fakest smile, but Russ didn’t have a clue.

Next thing Ellie knew they were sitting right where they had been before, only this time JC happened to be just a few inches away from her.  Still not looking.  The conversations had separated.

It stayed that way for Ellie’s entire fourth or fifth margarita.  Or sixth?  Oh, and a plate of appetizers—little egg rolls and shrimp wrap thingies.  Good, but not enough substance to soak up some of the over-abundance of alcohol in her system.

Dammit.

Her brain was telling her to stop drinking—as was her friend without being obvious—but still she kept on sipping after the waitress brought another round.  Her haze was getting hazier, so much so that she barely noticed when Russ, T and Jay left the table.  Chances were they’d be right back.

“He’s an asshole and a player, just so you know.”  It wasn’t the fact that he was finally acknowledging her that surprised her.  He’d only been sitting next to her for god knows how long—she certainly didn’t.  But oddly enough, or maybe not, it was the way his nose had barely brushed against her ear when he’d leaned in to whisper that really caught her off guard.  Well, more so it was the way it made her feel that caught her off guard more than anything.

Damn her drunkenness.  It was making her want her neighbor and that was just not like her!

When she turned her head to answer he was right there, this wildly devilish look in his eye.  Or maybe that was the alcohol?  His or hers?  She didn’t know.  “I’m sort of married.”

“You keep telling me that, but does Russ know?  Because I think he thinks otherwise.”  He was leaning in incredibly close—too incredibly close—and his head was tilted in this completely cute and inviting way.  His skin was nice, even in the crappy lighting, and his nose was a little disproportioned compared to the rest of his face, but still he seemed cuter and cuter by the second.  Or maybe her intoxication just kept getting stronger and stronger.  Who knew?

JC didn’t know what he was doing.  Yes, he was attracted to her.  He’d admitted that to himself as soon as he’d walked in the door and spotted her all sexed up and half-drunk.  At the same time he sensed this huge aura of trouble around her.  Mainly because of the so-called “husband”.  At least that’s where he was guessing the feeling came from.

Past all that, he felt this weird sense of protectiveness over her.  She’d been half drunk when he walked in—it didn’t take a genius to realize that—but now she was completely drunk and the jerk of the century was obviously working towards taking her home.  She may have not been falling for it, yet, but JC knew how the guy operated.  He’d been that guy before.  Things could change in half a minute.

“Well, he thinks wrong,” she finally said. 

“I can get rid of him if you want.”  What the hell was he suggesting?  Shit, he didn’t even know what he was saying. 

“How?” she asked somewhat stubbornly, as if she didn’t believe him, her glossy hazel eyes wide with curiosity.

Russ was just across at the bar, staring right at them, and before JC could second guess himself, he’d grabbed the outside of Ellie’s thigh, pulled her up against him, knee to knee, and planted one on her—wet, soft and right on the lips.  Nice lips, at that.  She tasted kind of nice, too, considering all the alcohol she’d consumed—kind of like candy cane or something.  It only took a millisecond for him to know that he already enjoyed kissing her.

Still, in the back of his mind he’d expected her to freak out and pull away.  She didn’t.  In fact, she seemed to like it too.  Next thing he knew his tongue was practically down her throat and her fingers were tightening against the top of his knee. 

She was a damn good kisser and he didn’t want to stop.

Shit.

The whole thing ended abruptly.  It took a few seconds for it to register that it had been her friend who’d been the commanding factor.  “El, sweetie, you’re tossed.  I think we better go.”  The look the girl gave JC was threatening to say the least.  Well, he thought it was anyway.

Damn, that had not played out the way he’d intended.  Now he looked like the asshole trying to get into her pants and Russ was probably sitting across the bar wanting to kick his ass.  Just fucking great.  How the hell was he going to fix this?

He watched as the tall and somewhat overbearing redhead pulled Ellie up from the seat.  Ellie just looked back at him and shrugged, then she half smiled and was gone.

“What the fuck just happened?”  JC was startled back into reality at the sound of Mac’s deep voice. 

“We were just sitting here, having a conversation, next thing we know you’re practically on top of the poor girl,” Derek added.

“I was not,” JC defended sheepishly.  Had it been that obscene of a kiss?  He hadn’t meant it to be.  What the hell had been thinking?

“A little different style for you Chasez.  You changing things up on us?” Mac continued.

JC just shook his head.  He was confused.  He didn’t know what the fuck to say.

“He’s a really good kisser.”  Ellie was giggling as she said it, slouched in the back of Jill’s chauffeured BMW. 

“You’re so drunk you’ll never remember it,” Jill remarked.  “How the hell did that happen?  I was talking to the people on the other side of us and all the sudden I look over and the two of you are all over each other!  Please explain.”

“You’re not mad are you?  James will never know.”

“Who cares if he does!” the girl practically yelled.  “That is not the point, El.  The point is you’re really drunk and I know tomorrow you are going to be totally embarrassed over this.” 

“He’s a really good kisser.”  For some reason, she couldn’t stress that enough.

“You’re not allowed to drink anymore, ever again.”

“I forgot what it feels like to kiss someone who can actually kiss,” Ellie continued, finally getting a smirk out of her friend.

“Now that’s just sad.”  Jill grabbed a bottle of water from the cup holder in the back.  “Here.  Drink this.”  She forced it on Ellie.  “Then give up the details so I can relay them to you tomorrow when you ask.”

She was damn near giddy as she explained.  The whole ordeal had lasted maybe a minute, but it sure felt nice to recall it.   Why did she feel so smitten?  Like a teenager and her first kiss.  The whole thing had been so completely unexpected.  Not to mention, so totally out of character.  Ellie just didn’t let things like that happen.  Not even when she was drunk.  She was always on her best behavior.  She never let go.  Ever

Maybe her subconscious was finally telling her she’d had enough.  Maybe all the crap James had put her through had finally taken its toll.  Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t want her marriage to work out after all.

It was just after three a.m. when the guys dropped JC off at his house.  He walked all the way up to his front door, unlocked it, watched them drive away, and then stared at Ellie’s house across the street.

The lights were on.  Was she still up?

He’d stopped drinking shortly after his surprising advance.  He really couldn’t believe he’d done that.  He didn’t even know her!  Now he was totally sober and feeling really badly over the whole thing.  He wanted to go apologize.

At least he thought that’s why he was walking over there.  Something cosmic seemed to be guiding his feet and that was the best explanation he could come up with.

He knocked softly, just in case she was asleep he didn’t want to wake her.  He smiled as the door came open.  Unfortunately it wasn’t Ellie that was behind it.

“She’s asleep,” the tall redhead announced.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name earlier.”  He stuck out a hand, not sure why he felt the need to formalize an introduction at such a wee hour in the morning.  “I’m JC.”

Quickly she shook his hand.  “Jill,” she revealed, folding both arms over her chest.  She didn’t look exactly pleased with the whole situation as JC could just barely make out Ellie’s figure covered in a blanket and passed out on the couch in the living room.  “Look, El was really drunk tonight.  She’s going through a lot right now and I know tomorrow she is going to be really embarrassed about what happened so just be prepared.”

He didn’t say much to that, just kind of looked at her funny. 

“That type of behavior is very out of character for her.”

He figured so.  He wasn’t sure why, but he did.  “Well, I saw the light on and I was just coming over to apologize.”

Jill’s long bare arms tightened across her chest.  “I’ll let her know.”

“I’m not really a creep.  I didn’t mean for that to happen… just so you know.”

“I’ll let her know that too.”

“Do I know you from somewhere?” He was beginning to realize that Jill looked strangely familiar.

“You’ve probably seen me around,” was all she said.

“Oh, okay.  I didn’t mean that as a line or anything.  Hope you don’t think that.”  God, he was coming across as really cheesy.  He hated it when he did that.

“If that were the case you would be a creep, huh?  After laying one hot and heavy kiss on my best friend earlier.”

He just nodded.  “Well, I need to get home.”

For the first time a crooked grin smoothed across her face.  “It was nice to finally meet you JC.”

“You too,” he finished and turned to walk away.

“By the way, Ellie couldn’t stop talking about what a great kisser you are.”

He was half way down the front walkway.  “Tell her I said thanks.”  He didn’t turn around when he said it, because he was smiling too big and didn’t exactly want it to be known.

Two days passed before JC even saw a hint of Ellie.  He was finally finished in the studio—at least for now, anyway—and he was beginning to live in the daylight hours again.  He was hoping for an opportunity to talk to her, although he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say. 

He’d just finished up a lunch meeting with his manager.  It was shortly after two o’clock and the sun was shining.  It was a beautiful December day, almost 70 degrees, white wispy clouds spread throughout the blue sky.  JC noticed her car in the driveway as he pulled into his own.  He got out of his sports car, looked across the street and for a second just stared.  Her garage door was open, the windows of her silver Mercedes were down, but he couldn’t tell if she was in the car.  Did she forget about it?

Next thing he knew he was walking across the street to check.

When he got close to her car, he realized she was slouched down in the driver seat holding a manila envelope over her face.  His expression had to be one of confusion because it was definitely an odd sight.  “You okay?” 

She visibly flinched, bringing her arms down and exposing the paperwork attached to the front of the envelope as she stared up at him with exhausted eyes.  It didn’t take a judge to figure out what she was holding—divorce papers.

“You must think I’m the biggest freak,” she sighed, exasperated.  “Every time I see you I’ve either set off my alarm or locked myself out or,” she paused and looked away from him, “had way too much to drink.  Now here you are again, as I’m just sitting in my car for absolutely no reason.”

Instead of touching on any of those things, he asked, “Did you want to get out?”

Letting out a forced huff of air, she grimaced and shrugged one shoulder.  “I was on my way to a Pilates class.  It started 20 minutes ago.  No point in going now.”

JC wasn’t looking at her anymore, he was succumbing to his curiosity and skimming over the papers she was holding in clear view.  It took a second, but that’s about it.  One look at her husband’s name, and her full name, and he realized instantly who he was getting involved with.  “Eloise Sanderson?  That’s you?”

Her eyes dropped to the paperwork, but she didn’t cover it up.  Then her sight slid towards him from the corner of her lids.  “Do I need to answer?  You already read my divorce papers.”  Her eyes were full on him now.  He couldn’t tell if she was mad or just stating the obvious.  She popped her door and he took a step back so she could get out.  “Please, don’t ever call me Eloise.  I hate it,” she remarked simply as she marched past him, up the drive.

He didn’t know if it was okay, but he found himself following her anyway.  She didn’t invite him in, but he was in nevertheless, walking straight into her very open, very stainless steel kitchen.  The papers she’d been carrying were tossed down on the counter carelessly.

Moving straight towards the fridge, she pulled out a Diet Pepsi.  “Want one?”

He shook his head no.

She popped the top and threw back an extended drink.  “I feel so stupid.”  From the look of her, he thought she might be about to lose it.  Her body language was all over the place, her limbs a tangle of confusion and her eyes scrambling, unable to focus on anything in particular.  Definitely not focusing on JC.  “To think I was naïve enough to think that he wanted to work things out? I don’t understand.”  All of her movements stopped then and she focused directly on him.  “Why didn’t he say divorce if he wanted a divorce?  Why tell me this is just a trial separation if he was planning all along on filing for  divorce?”  Her pitch was creeping higher by the second.

Of course JC had no idea what to say.  He realized that he should have never followed her inside the house.  Big mistake.

She collapsed into a gray rod iron and rattan bar stool, letting her head fall into her arms on top of the dark granite topped center island.  “I.  Am.  So.  Stupid,” she repeated again, the sound escaping muffled through her arms.

Next thing he knew he’d sat down in the bar stool next to her.  “You’re not stupid.  These things just happen sometimes.”

“The funny thing is?  I don’t even think I like him anymore.”  She was still speaking into the counter top.  “I mean, he’s so boring… and… such an old man.  Forty-five’s not that old, I know, but he acts so old.  Older than—”  She stopped suddenly and looked up, right at him.  “Why am I telling you all this?”  It was more rhetorical than anything.

JC simply shrugged.

Tossing her arms up, she was shaking her head, obviously annoyed with herself.  “Now you probably really think I’m a freak!”

“I don’t think that.”  Although, he said it so softly his words probably didn’t sound all that convincing.  He really didn’t think that she was a freak, exactly, but her openness did catch him off guard.  He was struggling with the fact of who she was more than anything.  She just looked so different.  He’d seen her before.  Everyone had.  She was married to one of the biggest media moguls in the country, someone who probably held a tight spot in Forbes top 10 for the past decade.  She’d been blond before—a honey blond, with hair that had fallen way past her shoulders.  In the tabloids she always looked perfectly put together.  Not so much now.  Not that she looked bad, far from it. She just didn’t look like Mrs. James Sanderson.

She smirked, more nervously than anything.  “Right…  I’m sorry.  You just have really odd timing.  I mean, you just appear at the worst times in my life.  I’m usually very normal.  Honest.”

What exactly was normal for a woman like her?  Probably things he was also accustomed to.  Her normal probably wasn’t much different than his normal.  Or was it?  She was probably used to having everything handed to her.  No wonder such trivial things had knocked her off kilter.  No doubt, in her former life, she never had to lift a finger for herself.  Not with who she was married to.

JC had never been that privileged.  He tried his best to stay somewhat grounded.  And sure, he could live comfortably off the interest, alone, thanks to the money he made from ‘NSYNC.  Still, he was no where near as wealthy as Ellie’s soon to be ex-husband, that was for sure.

“Honestly, I’m still just trying to grip the fact that you look completely different than—”  He stopped then, because mentioning that he knew who she was and how she looked before made him feel like a stalker or something. 

“It’s amazing what a little hair color and a good cut can do,” she smirked.  “Have we met at a function before?”

“Not exactly.  I don’t think.”

She just nodded and took another gulp of her soft drink.  Her eyes focused towards the window across the kitchen.  “I’m sorry for venting to you.  Again, you caught me at a vulnerable moment.”

“It’s okay.  Actually, that’s really why I came over.  I wanted to apologize for what I did the other night at the club.”

“To be honest with you, if it wasn’t for Jill filling me in, I’m not sure I’d even remember.  So don’t worry about it.”  That was about the farthest from the truth.  Ellie remembered vividly.  Too vividly.  In fact, if she let herself stare at his lips for more than half a second, she was instantly taken back to how good they had felt against her.  That’s how much she remembered.

It was such a strange mix of emotions she was going through at the moment, between the anger she felt towards her estranged husband and the attraction she felt towards JC.

“I just hope that you know I’m really a harmless guy.  You can feel safe around me.  That’s all.”

Grinning, she let herself succumb to the desire, and focused her sight on his face.  “I know,” was all she said.

“Okay, good.”  Scooting out of the barstool, he stood, obviously ready to leave.  “If you ever need anything,” he stressed the last word, “feel free to come by.  Seriously.  Anything.  I can be handy at times.  You know, if you’re sink gets backed up or something, I’m just a short trek across the street.  Do you want my number, too?  Just in case?”

For some reason, the generosity he was extending made him even cuter than before.  It was sweet.  Sweet was something she definitely wasn’t used to.  “Sure, why not.”

Grabbing the notepad and pen she kept by the phone, he jotted down his number.  “Call anytime.  If you hear a noise or something in the middle of the night—  Anything.”

Now she was chuckling.  “JC, I appreciate your offering, but I’m not completely helpless.  I know I said I’ve lived in a bubble the past 5 years, and that’s true, but I have been on my own before.”  Then she grabbed the pen and wrote her number down for him as well.

If she wasn’t mistaken, she was sure she saw a slight blush spread across his cheeks.  “You’re right.  Sorry, again.  Alright, I’ll get out of your hair and let you take care of your business.”

She barely had a chance to say “bye” and “thanks” before he was out the front door. She shut and locked it behind him, secretly peering out the window afterward, just in time to watch him be intercepted by Gabby.

© BrandyRae 2008