Anywhere But Here
By: Lara
I picked up the phone
and heard her voice, is she takin’ my time…She sounded so cute, so innocent,
you always were a sucker for the playful kind…
Cate whistled
cheerfully as she picked her bag up from the luggage carousel at the
airport. She stepped out of the airport
to take a few breaths of fresh air before heading back in to the car rental
desk. The flight from Mexico City had
been hell, and she was glad to be on the ground. Sunny Florida was just what she needed. Sunny Florida and Justin’s sunny smile.
She played catch with the keys, tossing them up in
the air and catching them again. Just a
short drive until she was in Justin’s arms. And did she need a hug. The last job in Mexico was a nightmare from
start to finish. The models were bitchy, the weather was dismal, and she had
caught a slight cold. She couldn’t wait
to see the look on Justin’s face when she showed up on his doorstep.
Cate thought for a moment as she stood outside the
small car. Maybe she should call
first. Justin might have a few of the
guys over, and he’d want to shoo them out before she got there. Cate made sure she was safely out of the
airport parking lot before picking up her cellphone. She hit the speed dial button for Justin’s number. “Hello?”
“Oh…I’m sorry…wrong number,” Cate stumbled, hanging
up at the sound of a woman’s voice.
Maybe she had hit the wrong button. This time she dialed the number
herself.
“HelLO?” The same female answered, sounding
slightly annoyed. “Hello?”
“Is Justin there?”
Cate desperately tried to control the tremble in her voice.
“Sure…he’s out by the pool. Hold on a second,” the woman said
cheerfully, and Cate could see her walking through Justin’s beautiful house,
heading for the pool. “Justin? Phone for you, baby.”
Chills ran down Cate’s spine as she heard Justin
say, “I TOLD you not to answer the phone. The machine coulda got it.” Cate’s blood ran cold. “Hello?”
“Justin.”
“Cate!”
Justin said happily. “Hey!”
“Justin…”
“Where are you?”
Cate pulled the
car over and willed the tears to go away.
“On the highway.”
“Here? In
Florida?”
“Who was that?”
“Who?
Oh…Lara…she’s a friend of Chris’.”
“What’s she doing there, Justin?”
“Cate…”
“No. Don’t tell me. I’ll call you later.”
Cate hung up her cellphone and tossed it into the backseat. She turned the car back around and headed
for the airport.
Stop before you tell me
a lie, I don’t want to hear another alibi…this is where the story will end, if
your love was real I wouldn’t need to pretend…
“Yes…Barry…I
know. I know I said I wanted a
vacation…but I changed my mind. What do
you have for me?” Cate juggled her
purse and her cellphone as she stood at the ticket desk. “Where?
Good…then what…yeah, I know it’s close together…I don’t give a shit,
Barry.” Cate smiled apologetically at
the woman in front of her for the curse word.
“Then what…oh…China? Cool…never
been there. Yeah, I’m sure. I want out
of this country…I want to be anywhere but here.”
Book me on a plane for
Paris, or on a cruise to a desert isle…anywhere but here where love
disappeared, anywhere but here…I wanna party in New York City and climb over
the China Wall…anywhere but where your love disappeared, anywhere but here…
Three days later
I saw you with her on
the corner looking in each other’s eyes…was it a mistake my heart would break
or did you ever think about who would cry…
Cate yawned as
she boarded her plane. It was a pleased
tiredness though; the job in Paris had gone just as planned. It was busy, it
was crazy, but it was productive. It
also had taken all of her waking moments, so she wasn’t able to think about
Justin.
Cate frowned as
she fastened her seatbelt. Justin had
called every day, left messages on her pager and with her answering
service. Cate ignored him. It was
obvious what had happened, and it was just as obvious when she had opened a
copy of People magazine that one of the staff had laying around the day
before. There in the first few
paparazzi pages was Justin…with a woman.
Medium build, dark hair, blue eyes, cute smile. It was the set of the new video, and the
other guys were in the background, but Justin had an arm around the woman, and
it was obvious they knew each other well.
Cate wiped away a
tear as the plane taxied down the runway.
She was on her way to Puerto Rico for another job. More work…and more things to occupy her
mind.
Two weeks later
Cate was in New York. This was almost vacation though; she had one shoot at the
Museum of Modern Art, and then she had two days to relax and have fun. She strode down the sidewalk towards her
hotel, taking a deep breath and enjoying the smell of New York in the fall.
“Cate?” Cate whirled around at the sound of her
name. She squealed.
“Lance?” She threw herself into his open arms.
“God, Cate, you
look good enough to eat.” Lance gave
her a warm hug and pulled back.
“Gorgeous, as usual.”
Cate pushed back
a lock of reddish brown hair and blushed.
“You look good, too.”
“What are you
doing here?”
“I had a job
yesterday and today…and now I’m just bumming around until I leave for China on
Monday.”
Lance raised an
eyebrow. “China? Impressive.”
“I have a shoot
at the Great Wall. Can you believe it?
I was so excited I could hardly stand it.”
“I bet. Congratulations.” Lance started walking in the direction she had been heading,
tucking her hand through his arm.
“What are YOU
doing here?”
“We have these
charity things tonight and tomorrow. A
fancy dinner tonight and like a big meet and greet tomorrow.”
“So, all the guys
are here?” Cate asked lightly. Lance
stopped walking.
“Cate, I’m sorry.
I had no clue. Joey didn’t, and either
did JC. Chris…well…I know he likes you,
and I really don’t think he would have set you up like this. I really think he
thought they were friends, and had no idea they were even spending time
together until that day at the video shoot.”
“It’s okay,
Lance,” Cate said sadly, and it was…sort of.
It was getting easier every day, though she still missed Justin. “It’s probably for the best. I mean, with my
job, I’m never around.”
“Neither are we,”
he pointed out. “And if the love is
true, it shouldn’t matter, should it?”
Cate smiled at
his romantic ideas. “No, I guess not.”
“Hey, Cate, would
you…” Lance began. “Well, no…never
mind.”
“What, Lance?”
“I was going to
ask you if you wanted to be my date tonight, but then I realized it might be
awkward for you.”
“Your date? Lance Bass doesn’t have a date?”
“Well…no…” Lance
said, fidgeting. “I don’t have a girlfriend right now, and I don’t like just
being set up with someone just to have a date somewhere. I only take dates that I like.”
“And you like
me,” Cate teased.
“Of course,”
Lance answered, as if there were any question about it. Cate looked into his beautiful green eyes,
and was pleased by the sincerity she saw there. She knew for a fact that Lance
would never be the type of man to see a woman behind his girlfriend’s
back.
“Lance, I would
love to go with you tonight.”
Lance’s eyes
widened. “You’re not just doing this to
get back at Justin, are you? I mean, he acted like a dick, but he’s still my
friend.”
“I’m doing this
because I want to. You need a date, and I don’t have plans. I’m at the Plaza. Pick me up at seven?”
“Okay,” Lance
said, smiling broadly. They started to
walk again.
Stop before you say it
again, you never kiss and tell with your girlfriend’s girlfriend…this is where
my story begins I need a new lover that’s where I’m going…as much as I wanted
you your love has left me alone…now it’s all of over…you disconnected my heart
when she picked up the phone…I gotta get myself over you…
“Damn,” Lance said as he greeted Cate in the
lobby. “You look sensational.”
“Thank you,” she said, offering her cheek for him
to kiss. “You look pretty tasty yourself.”
Lance blushed slightly, looking down at his black
suit and grey silk shirt. “Just
something I grabbed up off the floor of the hotel room.”
Cate laughed.
“Let’s do this thing.”
Lance led the way out to the waiting limo. “I
really appreciate this, Cate. I don’t mind these things, but it’s always nicer
when you have someone to be with. And I
like being with you.”
“Thank you,” Cate said, touched. She and Lance had
always gotten along very well, and she had always thought he was handsome. Not
cute like Justin, or GQ handsome like JC, but very good looking. And those
eyes, the light green orbs seemed to miss nothing.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Lance said
softly. She nodded. “I’m still sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Lance. He made his
decision…he chose her. And now I have
my life to move on with.”
For all her brave words, Cate’s palm was sweaty as
they entered the ballroom where the dinner was being held. She refused to hold Lance’s hand because of
her sweaty fingers, so he instead put a protective hand on her back.
“Cate.”
Cate shivered as she heard that familiar voice. She slowly turned around. “Hi, Lance.”
“Justin.”
“Hello, Justin,” Cate said, struggling to keep a
civil tone.
“What are you doing here?” Justin looked very sexy in his grey suit.
“I came with Lance. I’m his date.”
“You’re his…oh…how interesting.” Justin’s eyes darted over to Lance.
“Lance, will you excuse us?” Cate said, her eyes never leaving Justin’s
face.
“Sure.
Would you like a drink?”
“Yes, please.”
Lance kissed her cheek and went to the bar. Cate strode out of the ballroom and into the corridor, Justin hot
on her heels. “I don’t know what you’re
thinking, but you’re wrong.”
“We’re broken up for less than a month, and you’re
already after Lance?”
Cate’s hand flashed out and connected with Justin’s
cheek. “We’re not BROKEN up, Justin.
You never gave me that courtesy. You just fucked some girl behind my back.”
“Cate, honey, it wasn’t like that. She…”
“Justin?”
Cate’s gaze flew over to the woman walking up to Justin. She was
apparently older, but it didn’t look like much older. She wore a silver and
blue dress, and her long dark hair was piled up on her head. “Hi, I’m Lara.” She held out a hand to Cate,
who forced herself to take it.
“Cate.”
“Cate…that sounds familiar…oh.” Recognition entered
Lara’s blue eyes, soon followed by regret.
“I see…I…I’ll be inside, Justin.” Lara let her hand trail across
Justin’s arm, then she went into the ballroom.
“So she knew about me?”
“KNOWS about you…now…she didn’t back then,” Justin
admitted.
“You’re a prick, Justin,” Cate said calmly. “A rat bastard prick. I should hate you, but I don’t.”
“Cate, she was just a lay, okay? Just someone to have sex with. And the sex
wasn’t very good…”
“Don’t tell me this.” Cate held up a hand. “Don’t
kiss and tell. I don’t believe she’s just some groupie to you. I’ve seen
pictures of you two together. I’ve seen how you look at each other. There’s
more there.”
“Cate…I care about you.”
“That’s nice, Justin.” Cate took a deep breath.
“Nothing is going on between Lance and I.
We are friends. Maybe someday it
might turn into more. I don’t know. But you’d better not start anything with
him, understand me? This is between you and I.”
“Cate…”
“No more, Justin. I’m going back in to my escort.” Cate returned to the ballroom. Lance was standing by the bar. He held out a glass of wine.
“You okay?”
“Yes, actually.”
Cate took a large swallow, trying to calm her nerves. “I got to tell him off…that was cool.”
Lance couldn’t hide his smile. “Good.” He took a gulp of his beer. “I was afraid he
might talk you into going back with him.”
“No. No way.
His chapter in my life is done.”
Lance looked at her for a long moment. “Cate…after you’re back from China…we’ll be
in Florida writing and recording. Would
you like to come down and stay for a weekend or something?”
Cate blushed slightly. “With you?”
“I have a lot of room…you’d have your own bedroom
and everything,” Lance said nervously.
“Yes…Lance…I’d like that.”
“Good.”
Lance’s smile graced his whole face.
Book me on a plane for
Paris…or on a cruise to a desert isle…anywhere but here where love
disappeared…anywhere but here…I wanna party in New York City…climb over the
China Wall…anywhere but where your love disappeared…anywhere but here…
The
End
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Lara
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