Chapter 6: A Kiss at Midnight
Room 409. That’s where Liz and I are staying. It’s a rather large suite with two bedrooms, a large bathroom complete with Jacuzzi jets in the bathtub, a living room, kitchen, and a balcony off of each room that offers the most gorgeous views. It’s beautiful and paid fully for by the lovely Elisha and her fiancé Trace. They’re throwing a huge party to ring in the New Year in style. There are going to be loads of celebrities here tonight and just have a sinking feeling that Elisha is going to try to set me up with someone. Both Liz and my mother have tried numerous times to set me up and it always ends in disaster. There was the guy that spent the entire night admiring himself in every shiny object he could find, and the one that was just as shy as I am which led to great conversation”note my sarcasm”let me see, and the guy that was completely sweet and romantic until he dropped me off at my house and took in upon himself to shove his tongue down my throat and groped me like the pig he was.
“That’s not what you’re wearing is it?”
I inwardly roll my eyes before turning around to face my friend. Liz looks fabulous as always in a dress that is so tight it looks like it was painted on her. I look ridiculous in things like that, but for some reason it looks good on her, not slutty.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I ask, looking down at my very modest looking outfit of a dark purple skirt and matching off the shoulder shirt. I don’t think I look that bad. Sure, I could wear something like what she has on, but I want to be comfortable. I’m gonna be up all night and I don’t want to have to worry about making a wrong move and exposing myself to the world.
“This is a New Year’s Eve Party Elli!” She exclaims as if that’s all the explanation I need to here. I shrug my shoulders at her and give her a clueless look. “It’s a fun party. You don’t look fun. You could wear that to church.”
“I happen to like this outfit.”
“I like it too. Just not for this particular party.”
“Then what do you suggest I wear?” I ask in annoyance. My hands automatically perch on my hips and stocking covered foot begins tapping on the plush carpet of our suite.
“I was hoping you would say that.” She smiles giddily. That’s not what she was supposed to say. She was supposed to give up and just let me wear what I want. But that’s just not how it works for me anymore. I don’t get to make any of my own decisions about anything. I have people to tell me what to wear, what to say, what to eat, what to sing, what shows I can and cannot appear on, the list goes on.
I roll my eyes and move to plop down on my bed as Liz rushes from the room. A mere moment later she runs back in the room holding her hands behind her back. She reveals the dress in an exaggerated manor. It’s…. nice. It’s a flesh-toned sequence covered dress with low scooping neck that what looks to fall a few inches above the knee. It’s very pretty just very not me. Even though I do not want to wear this dress, will I protest? No, there’s really no use. I take the dress from her with a heavy sigh and stomp off to the bathroom to change. I can hear Liz laughing giddily as I close the door. At least someone is excited about tonight.
I begin shedding my clothes until I’m just in my undergarments and pantyhose. I catch my eyes in the mirror just as I’m reaching for the dress I don’t want to wear. I let go of the bit of fabric in my hand and step back so that I can see my entire self from head to toe. I look so different that I almost don’t recognize myself. I can see my ribs and just about every bone in my body. I’m not trying to starve myself, which I’m sure is what you all are thinking. How could I when I’m not even in control of what I eat? I’m kept on a strict diet and exercise plan so that I stay this way. I used to complain that I was too overweight, now I think I’d like to gain some. And I just don’t look happy, I guess that’s because I’m not.
“Elli,” Liz calls through the door, knocking lightly. I jump at the sound and quickly begin dressing. “Hurry up. We’re already late.”
I hate this dress and the way I look in it. This isn’t me. Or maybe this is me and I just don’t know the real me well enough to know that this is me and what I’ve always thought was me really wasn’t me at all. All I know is that I would give my right arm to go back to how my life was before I ever met Justin Timberlake.
“You look incredible!” Liz gushes excitedly and I force a smile I’ve been trained so well to flash at a moment’s notice. Before I have a chance to change my mind and run back into the bathroom to hide out for the rest of the night, Liz grabs my hand a quickly pulls be through the suite and out into the hall. I’m surprised she didn’t change my hair, jewelry, and makeup too.
As we reach the elevator she drops two matching flesh toned pumps before my feet, which I automatically step into. I can tell already that my feet will be killing me by the end of the night. The elevator dings and we step inside and Liz presses the button for the lobby.
“Hold the elevator!” A voice calls out. I instinctively reach my hand out to activate the sensors on the doors to stop them from closing. I don’t even look up from my feet when the new body enters. I hear Liz gasp and feel her move to stand closer to my side.
“Wow, Elli you look…..beautiful.” That voice sends shivers down my spine and causes goosebumps to form over my body. Of all the people to get on the elevator with us it just had to be him didn’t it? I can tell from the tone in his voice that he’s not only surprised to see me, but also surprised at what I’m wearing. His pause before he said beautiful wasn’t because he just couldn’t come up with the correct word to describe me, but because I must look awkward to him dressed in something this provocative.
“Thank you Justin.” I answer back civilly as I gain the courage to look up at him. He looks good in a casual pair of black pants and with matching blazer and red dress shirt underneath. “You look nice too.”
“Thanks.” He half grins. “You look beautiful as well Liz.”
“Your sweet talking isn’t going to work on me Timberflake.” Liz spits rudely.
“That was real original.” Justin mumbles, referring to the nickname Liz used. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”
“I assumed you were.” I answer back, jamming my heel into Liz’s toes when she starts back with another smart comment. I don’t want this night to be any worse then I’m anticipating. Liz needs to learn to keep her thoughts to herself. Unless Justin says something mean or stupid she needs to keep quiet.
“So….uh you have date?” He asks, pushing his hands deep into him pockets”a nervous habit of his. This elevator is taking forever.
“You’re looking at her.” I smirk, motioning towards Liz.
He chuckles from deep in his throat. “I meant someone to kiss at midnight.”
“Then, no, I don’t have a date.” I answer back proudly with my head held high. I don’t need nor do I want a date. “You?”
“I’m going solo.” He nods just as we reach the lobby floor.
“I’m sure you’ll find someone to hook up with at the party,” Liz says condescendingly. “Then maybe she’ll go back to your room with you and jack you off for the New Year.”
I grab Liz’s hand and fiercely yank her out of the elevator before Justin can respond. I know he was about to say something not so nice back to her by the way his fists balled and all of his facial features hardened. We walk swiftly away from Justin and into the large ballroom area that is lavishly decorated in festive decorations. It really looks great in here.
“I can’t believe you were so nice to him.”
“I can’t believe you were such a bitch to him.” I seethe.
“He cheated on you Elli!” She spits back venomously with an incredulous tone. I stop walking and yank her to a halt.
“Do you think I’ve forgotten?” Her eyes drop from my face and she doesn’t respond.
“Oh good you’re here,” Elisha greets just in the nick of time before one of us said something that we would regret later. “You both look stunning.”
“Thanks.” I answer back quietly as Trace moves up behind Elisha and wraps his arms around her middle. She leans back against him and presses a few kisses to the side of her neck. They look beyond happy.
“I have someone I want you to meet.” She says excitedly pulling me away from both Trace and Liz.
“Elisha I don’t want to be set up.” I whisper heatedly in all seriousness.
“I’m not setting you up,” She answers back very unconvincingly. “I invited him before I even knew that you were coming.”
That’s a lie if I ever heard one. I shake my head disapprovingly at her and allow her to lead me by the hand across the room. I nearly have a heart attack when I see who’s casually sitting at the table she’s led me to sipping on beer. I gasp audibly jarring the stunning man from his thoughts. He looks up at us and smiles widely and I find myself mirroring his features. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and twirl my hair nervously.
“Heath Ledger,” Elisha introduces giddily, “I would like to introduce you to my good friend Elli Montgomery.”
He stands and takes a step towards me taking my hand that was dangling at my side and raising it to his lips where he presses the sweetest kiss. I look away shyly as a blush takes over my cheeks. I can’t believe I’m acting like such a twit in front of him. I can’t help it though, he’s gorgeous.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Montgomery,” He drawls smoothly, the words rolling deliciously from his lips. I am so beyond in love with his accent.
“You too.” I voice weakly.
“I’m gonna go check on Trace,” Elisha says as she backs away from us. “You two enjoy yourselves.”
“I hate to tell you this,” Heath whispers as Elisha slaughters away, “but I think we’ve been set up.”
“Yeah,” I laugh as I sit down next to him. “that Elisha is real subtle isn’t she? I apologize on her behalf for this.”
“That’s not necessary,” He grins. “this is already turning out better then I could have anticipated.”
I chuckle lightly at his sweet remark and look down at my lap as I blush yet again. I’ve had a crush on Heath Ledger every since I saw him in a Knight’s Tale. This is beyond amazing to meet him. He is so much cuter in person.
“You’re sweet, thank you….” I trail off, not really know what else to say.
“Dance with me?” He asks sweetly extending his hand to me and offering an oh-so-sexy grin that makes me go weak in the knees. If I weren’t already sitting I’m sure I would have fallen over. I nod and take his hand. He pulls me to the dance floor just as a slow song starts to play”thank goodness.
I drape one arm around his shoulder, resting my hand at the base of his neck and hold his hand with my other. I shiver at the sensation of his hand cupping the side of my waist. He intertwines his fingers with mine and pulls our hands in close to his body as we begin to move to the music. Wow, I can’t believe how comfortable I feel with already. Maybe I’ve just been boyfriend deprived for too long, but I can’t even begin to describe to how wonderful it feels to be wrapped up in this man’s arms.
“You look amazing tonight.” He whispers against my ear. I can’t seem to get my mouth to work to respond to him so I just burry my face in his neck and hope he doesn’t notice my burning face. “I’m a big fan of yours you know.”
I pull back when he says that and look at him strangely. “Really?”
“You have an incredible voice.”
“Thank you. I’m a pretty big fan of your too.”
“Well it’s good to know we both appreciate one another’s work.” He smirks. I chuckle lightly at his flirting and again hide my face over his shoulder.
It’s then that I catch sight of him. He’s dancing with Cameron Diaz and looking directly at me. My smile disappears almost instantly and I nearly forget to keep moving my feet. I tare my eyes from Justin’s and try to get the image of his wrapped up in another woman out of my mind and focus on the gorgeous man I’m dancing with. That shouldn’t be too hard…..right?
~*~*~*~*~
Can you believe Elisha set up Elli with Heath Ledger? Heath. What kind of an f**ked up name is that? Who in their right mind would name their child Heath? And I don’t get what’s so great about him. What’s he got that I don’t? Nothing! An Australian accent maybe, but that’s not that special. You know he just did a movie where he makes-out with another guy? I heard he does even more then just make-out. Shudder.
You should see the two of them. They’ve been inseparable all night long”dancing, flirting, touching, sitting all close”it’s sickening really. I hate how happy she looks with that fag. I really can’t remember if she ever looked at me like that.
I shake these thoughts from my head and follow the trail Elli left on her way outside to the balcony.
“Why aren’t you with Heath?” She jumps a little and turns just her upper body to look back at me as I slowly approach her figure. She rolls her eyes and takes another drag of her cigarette before turning away from me again.
“Why aren’t you with Cameron?” She answers back in much of the same tone that I just spoke in.
“Careful Elli, you’re starting to sound a little jealous.” I smirk, leaning against the balcony wall with my hip.
“I’m not the one that’s been following you around all night, am I?” She answers back almost flirtatiously. She takes another long drag on her cigarette as I try to come up with a way to defend myself. The sad thing is that I really was watching her all night and not even the gorgeous Cameron Diaz could keep my attention.
“So what are you doing out here?” I change the subject. “It’s almost midnight and I wouldn’t think you’d want to be too far from Heath.”
“I needed some fresh air.”
“So you thought you’d have a cigarette?” I answer back playfully.
“Don’t start with me Justin.” She scolds in all seriousness, finally turning towards me with her arms crossed over her chest letting that fowl cigarette of hers dangle from her fingers. “You’re damn lucky I’m even talking to you right now.”
“I know,” I back down, holding my hands up in surrender. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to set you off.”
“What do you want? Why did you follow me out here?” Elli asks with a sigh as she drops her cigarette to the ground and extinguishes it with the toe of her shoe.
“I just wanted to get some fresh air.”
“Justin,” She warns.
“There’s enough fresh air out here for the both of us isn’t there?”
She turns away from me and takes a few discrete steps to her left to put some extra space between us. We both grow silent as we gaze out over the balcony. I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she unconsciously skims her fingers over the railing she’s leaning against. She looks beautiful tonight, but not like herself. I can see the real her under the layers of makeup and fancy clothes though. I wonder if she can. Her eyes connect with mine when she catches me watching her. I expect her to quickly turn away, but she doesn’t. I hold her gaze and take the remaining steps between us that just put between us. The sounds of the partygoers beginning to countdown the seconds to the New Year echoes in the background as I reach out for her waist to bring her closer to me. I suck in a sharp breath as I wait for her push me way and maybe just right over the edge of the balcony, but she doesn’t budge even an inch.
Her gaze leaves mine and focuses on my lips. I can’t help but eye her ample cleavage for a few seconds before flicking my eyes to her lips just as she moistens them with a quick swipe of her tongue. Just as our lips begin to touch Elli pulls back and forcefully pushes me away. She runs her hand over her face and starts backing back towards the doors leading to the party.
“I have to go find Heath.” She voices shakily. “I promised him I would kiss him at midnight.”
TBC.....(Again, I'm so sorry that I have yet to respond to your reviews, but I'm going to do my best to work on that tomorrow. I did read all the reviews and they are greatly appreciated. Reviews really modivate me to update faster. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.)
Number of reviews: 100
Print:
Chapter or Story