Chapter 5
“Cat, I don’t have anything to wear!” Leah whined from her bedroom.
“You have enough in you closet to cloth a small country, I’m sure you can find something.” Caitlin called from the couch. She had gone home and gotten ready an hour ago. After listening to Leah whine from her bedroom for twenty minutes she decided she should try to help out her friend.
“If I help you will you stop whining?” Caitlin asked from the doorway. She couldn’t get any closer because Leah had clothes piled up on every inch of the floor. Her closet and dresser drawers were completely empty.
“Yes, now help me.” Leah said.
“What about this?” Caitlin asked. She was holding up pale pink sleeveless sweater with a silver star in the middle and a long black skirt that had slits up the side to the mid-thigh.
“Perfect!” Leah exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“It’s a gift!” Caitlin teased.
Leah darted in the bathroom to finish getting ready while Caitlin stood in front of Leah’s full length mirror examining her ensemble. She had on khaki Capri pants with butterflies embroidered on them and a baby blue tank-top with matching butterflies around the neck and waist.
“Come on we have to meet the guys in an hour.” Caitlin called.
“All right, all right I’m coming.” Leah replied.
They got into Leah’s car and drove to the Omnit Hotel where they would be meeting the guys. They arrived with fifteen minutes to spare so the quickly touched up their makeup and wandered into the lobby to meet the guys.
“You both look great!” Lance said as he walked over to meet them.
‘”Thanks.” Caitlin replied.
“Where do you want to go to dinner?” Justin asked.
“We saw this cute little French place on the way.” Caitlin said
“Sounds good.” Lance replied.
It took them ten minutes to get to Le Bistro. It was as cute on the inside as it was on the outside, but they opted to sit on the deck instead.
Leah got her favorite food in the whole world, chicken Caesar salad, and french onion soup, Caitlin ordered the same, and both guys got some sort of fish
“It looks so good!” Justin exclaimed.
“Justin you’re drooling.” Leah teased. She wrinkled her nose in disgust of the thought of someone eating the stinky smelly fish.
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Justin replied to the adorable face she was making. “Try some it’s so good.”
He stabbed a small piece of fish and offered it to Leah. She just closed her mouth and shook her head. That’s when Justin brought out the puppy dog eyes. There is no way any girl could resist so she plugged her nose, squeezed her eyes shut really tight and opened her mouth as Justin placed the fish on her tongue. She opened her eyes but she didn’t chew she just left it on the tip of her tongue.
“You never know if you like it unless you try it.” Justin said.
She gathered up all her courage, chewed it and swallowed it. She sat pondering the taste before she spoke. “It’s kind of salty.”
Justin and Lance laughed at her.
“It’s supposed to taste that way.” Justin said.
“Oh.” Leah replied.
They made small talk through out the meal. They tried not to say anything that would take them into any in depth conversations. Since they hadn’t even known each other for forty-eight hours they didn’t want to wander into unfamiliar territory that might make any one of the uncomfortable.
“So when are you leaving New York?” Caitlin asked sounding a little depressed.
“We’re going to stay in Albany until Friday and on Saturday we’re going to the city for Total Request live.” Lance began since he is the one that knows every appearance on their schedule. “Then we’re going home to Orlando until the 30th of July, I think. Then we go on tour again.”
“When are you two moving to Orlando?” Justin asked.
“You’re moving to Orlando?” Lance questioned before Leah and Caitlin got the chance to answer Justin.
“Yeah, we’re both attending U.C.F.(The University Of Central Florida) next semester so we’ll be down their next Tuesday to Pine Hills, outside Orlando. We have an apartment waiting for us.” Leah explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lance asked Caitlin.
“Surprise?” Caitlin questioned.
“I’ll be right back. I’ve got to use the restroom.” Leah said getting up and preceding towards the ladies room.
As soon as she was out of ear range Justin immediately began talking. He had a question that her was dying to ask Caitlin all evening.
“Cat can I ask you something?” Justin asked shyly.
“Sure, what is it?” Caitlin questioned.
“Um, I was just wondering.” He paused for a second. “Why did Leah ask you to come with us tonight?”
Caitlin sat in silence contemplating what she was going to tell Justin. “She had it really rough with an ex-boyfriend. It was almost two years ago and ever since I’ve doubled with her on her first date.” She got quiet again. “The rest you’ll have to get from Leah. She’ll tell you when she’s sure you truly like her.”
“I like Leah a lot.” He said with total sincerity. “Why else would I ask her out after knowing her only one day?”
“I really wish I could tell you the rest, but I can’t. She’ll tell you when she’s ready.” Caitlin said.
As they finished there conversation Leah returned from the restroom.
“So, what are we talking about?” She asked as she sat down.
“Nothing really.” Caitlin said immediately.
“Oh no, that usually means you were talking about me.” Leah joked. “Nothing bad I hope?”
“No it’s all good.” Justin replied.
The waiter brought the check and handed it to Justin. He grabbed his wallet out of his jacket and began thumbing through it. Both Caitlin and Leah threw a twenty on the table. Justin handed it back.
“Take your money back.” Justin said.
“I’d feel better if I paid for mine.” Leah replied.
“Leah, I’m from Memphis, I’ve got old fashion values. Let me pay for the meal.” Justin insisted in his strong Tennessee accent.
“If it’ll make you happy.” Leah surrendered
“It’ll make me even happier if you’ll come for a walk on the beach with me.” He said hopefully.
Leah thought about it for a minute. She glanced at Caitlin and she nodded. She knew she should give him a fair chance, not all guys are like Marc.
“All right.” Leah said reluctantly.
They all got up and Lance threw a tip on the table. They walked out to the lake that the restaurant is sitting on. The beach took up only a small part of the perimeter of the lake but a fairly wide path had been warn the rest of the day. Justin and Leah went to the left, Lance and Caitlin went to the right.
“You look really nice tonight.” Justin said when they were alone.
“Thank-you, so do you.” Leah replied.
“You know these past two days have been really great. You are so much fun to be with.” He said.
Leah smiled for a minute, looking back on the past few days with ‘N SYNC. “These past few days have been so much fun. I know I’ll never forget McDonalds.”
Justin reached out his hand. He found Leah’s and slid his fingers between hers. She couldn’t help but think about how she didn’t want to start anything, not after Marc. She knew she was falling in love with Justin, that scared her a lot. What will happen to them once he starts touring again? Maybe it wont get that serious.
At 9:00 both couples met on the path. They walked back to the car together in silence. Not a bad silence though since they were all happy. They dropped the guys off at there hotel and headed home. As the girls left the parking lot they couldn’t keep quiet any more. They both had to find out about the others walk.
“Cat can I ask you something?” Leah asked sounding a little worried.
“When have you not?” Caitlin replied.
“What did you guys talk about when I was in the bathroom?” She questioned.
Caitlin got quiet for the second time that night. She hated to have to dredge up old feelings that would upset her friend. “I’m going to tell you the truth. Justin wanted to know why you wanted to bring Lance and I on your date.”
“What did you tell him?” Leah asked on the verge of tears.
“I couldn’t lie to him. I told him you had it rough with an old boyfriend and that he would have to get the rest from you.” She told her friend.
“Thanks for not telling him.” Leah said now crying. She tried to feel better by changing the subject. “How was your walk with Lance.”
Caitlin started to blush. “We found this little cove. We were playing in the water and we...talked. How was your walk with Justin?”
“We talked.” She paused for a minute. “Cat I really like him.”
“I know you like him, and he likes you, a lot.” Caitlin replied.
“I’m scared. I’m not mature enough to be in a relationship right now.” Leah said. “Not to mention emotionally stable.”
“I know Marc hurt you but you might have something special with Justin. You can’t let it pass you by.”
Leah started crying again. “I can’t talk about Marc. I can’t even think about him or what he did to me.”
“Lets change the subject then. Where should we take the guys tomorrow?” Caitlin asked.
“Who says the guys are going to want to go spend any more of their free time with us?” Leah said jokingly.
“Have you seen the way Justin looks at you? Trust me he’ll want to spend as much time with you as he can.” Caitlin said. “What if we rent some movies and just chill at your house?”
“Sounds good to me.” Leah replied.
Tuesday was spent just hanging out. The group spent Wednesday and Thursday at Lake George’s Million Dollar Beach. Friday brought their good-byes.