Chapter 7

"I look like a dominatrix, Alex. Forget it," Maria said as she modeled a tight, black dress with silver beads hanging off of it. The top part of the dress was a spider web of lacy material, with a criss-crossed, see-through design and a black bra underneath.

"You look amazing, Maria," Alex said.

"Mike said that this awards show is casual. This dress is not casual, it’s slutty," Maria said with a distasteful look on her face.

"You have to take risks with fashion once in a while. It’s fun to dress up," Alex said. Maria shook her head.

"Not for a casual awards show. Now, how the hell do I get out of this thing?" she asked. Alex laughed and helped Maria out of the dress.

After three hours of looking and trying on countless amounts of clothing, Maria and Alex finally found appropriate outfits for the show. Alex had bought a long, camouflage-print skirt with a short, midriff-baring, matching halter-top. She also bought black leather knee-high boots to complete the outfit. Maria had found a long, light blue, fitted, jean dress with a slit up the side that reached the middle of her thigh. The top of the dress was of a fitted, corset-like design laced up the middle. White, see-through lace connected the top from the bottom, making Maria’s midsection visible through the lace. Maria had to buy shoes as well, so she looked around until she found a funky pair of brown, high heel ankle boots that she liked. Alex had found a silver, studded choker that would go well with Maria’s ensemble, so she had bought that, too.

"Okay, now that we’ve spent a fortune, why don’t we head back to the limo?" Maria asked. Alex frowned and reluctantly followed Maria. On their way out, a huge poster of O-Town caught their attention. It was an ad for the shows that they would be doing. Some young girls were giggling and laughing as they looked at the picture.

"Why are their fans so young?" Alex asked with a smile.

"They’re a boy band, Alex. Good-looking guys attract young, adolescent girls," Maria answered.

"And not older, mature women, like us?" Alex asked her.

"Well, yeah, I guess, but…"

"But nothing. You can’t tell me that you aren’t attracted to at least one of them," Alex said, knowing which one Maria had her eye on.

"I have a job to do and…"

"No excuses, Maria. Admit it. You think that they’re cute."

"Yeah, they’re cute, Alex. Are you happy now?" Maria asked as she resumed walking to the exit.

"Which one do you like the best?" Alex asked.

"I’m not doing this," Maria said as they walked to where the limo was parked, taking up three parking spaces. She noticed some people staring at them. ‘They probably think that we’re celebrities or something,’ Maria thought. She sighed when her cell phone rang the minute that she sat down inside the limo.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Maria. It’s Kathleen. I’ve been trying to reach you for, like, forever," she said.

"Sorry. I was out of touch for a few hours. Shopping, if you can believe it. We’re going to an awards show taping next week and Alex and I had nothing to wear."

"That sounds like fun. Actually, I wanted to call to ask you something. Your cousin, Emily, showed up here earlier this morning and I was wondering if it would be okay for her to stay in the loft," Kathleen said.

"Is she okay? What’s going on?" Maria asked.

"Well, apparently, Sarah told her to come here. Geoff has moved out. All of his stuff is gone and I called Kevin, who told me that Geoff was staying with him, so there’s no one here but Heathcliff." Maria was kind of saddened by this news. She wanted Geoff out of her loft, but it still hurt to know that he was really gone from her place.

"Yeah, then it’s okay if Emily stays there. She could watch the place for me until I get home. Tell her if she needs anything to call me. We’re in Seattle right now, so note the time difference," Maria said. Kathleen laughed.

"Okay. Well, have fun at the awards. Are they going to be on TV?"

"The show is taping next week and should be shown sometime in the next few weeks,"

Maria replied. "I’m not sure exactly."

"That would be cool to see you on television. I’ll be sure to watch," Kathleen said.

"Bye, Kathleen." Maria shook her head as she hung up.

"I have to finish Jacob’s interview. Then I’ll only have the group interview, Jacob’s individual photos and the group photos to do. Oh, and a few more of Erik’s pictures," Maria said, talking mostly to herself. She’d have to look at the schedule to see if there was any free time for her to finish Jacob’s interview.

"You think too much about work. You need to play more," Alex told her. The thing was, work was play for Maria. She loved doing what she did. In fact, she’d much rather work on her article than go to the awards show next week. Maybe she could find a way to back out. "I know what you’re thinking and there’s no way you’re going to get out of going to the awards. You just bought an awesome new dress. You’re going if I have to drag you there myself," Alex said. Maria smiled. Oh well, it looked like she would be going after all.

Orlando

Geoff finished a project for his class and put it aside. He looked around Kevin’s small apartment and sighed. He wanted Maria. He missed Maria and not being in the loft anymore was making it worse. The door opened and Kevin strolled in with a pizza and some beer. Geoff had been friends with Kevin for a while now. They had been roommates when Geoff had first moved to Orlando from Pennsylvania. They were close, almost like brothers. Kevin was a lot like Geoff, only more responsible. Kevin was 22, played soccer for the college that the two of them attended and had curly, longish, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was muscular and fit and very popular with the girls on campus. Kevin and, what was now Geoff’s, apartment was off-campus, not far from the college.

"I got us some dinner," Kevin said as he put the pizza down on the small table in the kitchen.

"I’m not hungry," Geoff mumbled.

"Dude, you haven’t been hungry since you cheated on Maria. You gotta let it go for now. When she gets back, you can talk to her," Kevin said, as he popped open a can of soda, passing on the beer that he had bought. Geoff took a beer and opened it, taking a healthy swig from the can.

"She’ll never forgive me, Kev. I screwed up. And on top of it, I go and threaten her best friend. What the hell was I thinking?" he asked. Kevin shrugged as he opened the box of pizza, taking a slice and biting into it.

"Maybe you can talk to Kathleen. Get her to see my side," Geoff suggested.

"Your side? She knows your side. You screwed some blonde chick and she caught

you. Then you threatened her. How can you put a good spin on that exactly?" Kevin asked.

"Man, I don’t know. I do know that I love Maria and I’m going to get her back. If anything, I’m gonna get her back," Geoff stated. "I just don’t know how I’m going to go about doing that yet."

"Good luck, dude," Kevin told him. "You’re gonna need it."

"This is a great place," Emily said, looking around the loft. Kathleen nodded.

"It’s even better now that Geoff isn’t here anymore," she said. Emily looked at her.

"Was it a bad breakup?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. I caught Geoff with some blonde slut. Maria wasn’t too happy when I told her about it," Kathleen replied.

"That’s too bad. I haven’t seen Maria in a long time. I don’t know much about her. These pictures…did she paint them?" Emily asked, indicating the pictures that covered most of the walls.

"Yes. She draws, writes, plays the piano and is a photographer. She’s very talented," Kathleen said, sitting down on the piano bench. A large, black, shiny, baby grand piano was in the corner of the spacious sitting room near the doors that led out onto an open patio. Maria’s father had bought the piano for her for her 18^th birthday.

"I play the guitar. I can’t wait to talk to Maria about the musicians that she’s met and just music in general. I hear that she’s on tour with O-Town."

"Yes, but she wasn’t too excited about that assignment when she first heard about it. Boy bands aren’t really her thing," Kathleen explained. Emily smiled.

"That’s what Sarah told me. It’s been a while, so maybe she’s changed her mind," she said. Kathleen smiled back.

"Let’s hope so," she said. "But, I doubt it."

Seattle

That night, during the performance, Jacob had to hang back and not do the choreography to ‘Take Me Under’ and ‘Liquid Dreams.’ It killed him to see the other guys dancing without him, but he sang his parts and moved the best that he could. He was in a bad mood afterwards, so the guys kept their distance and gave him his space.

Maria watched Jacob moving around the dressing room, packing up his things. He looked tired and worn out…and in pain. Maria wanted to ask if he could use another massage, but then thought twice about it. Knowing that he was a little attracted to her had changed things somewhat. She didn’t take him too seriously, but she knew that when he had told her that she was "…not that hard on the eyes," he was being totally serious. It was weird because Jacob was so different from Geoff in so many ways, yet Maria was attracted to him. Where Geoff was very clean-cut and semi-preppy, Jacob was the total opposite with his dreads and his goatee, his painted nails and his tattoo.

It was mostly his attitude that had Maria attracted to Jacob. His passion for his music and the way that he performed…he put everything he had into his work, much like Maria did. And he didn’t take any shit from anyone. He stood up for himself and was honest. Maria had an idea for when she did part two of his interview, hoping that he’d be honest with her. She looked over at him. Jacob was still wearing his jeans and his white tank top that he had performed in. Suddenly, he pulled the tank top over his head and shoved it into his bag. Maria continued to stare.

"Don’t drool, it’s not ladylike," Alex said, smirking when she saw Maria looking at Jacob. Maria quickly shifted her gaze from Jacob to Alex.

"Be quiet. I’m not drooling, I’m thinking. I want to ask him if we can finish his interview tonight, but he’s not in a good mood and I don’t want to make it worse or get my head bitten off," she said.

"Hey, Jacob. Maria wants to know if you want to finish the interview tonight, but she’s too chicken to ask you," Alex said loudly. Jacob turned, having just pulled a clean tee shirt over his head. He gave Alex a small smile.

"Tell Maria that I’d be happy to finish the interview," he said, even though Maria was standing right there. "What time?" he asked. Alex looked at Maria, who decided to play their game.

"Tell him right after we get to the hotel. He could meet me in my room," she said, as she left the dressing room. Alex smiled at Jacob.

"I assume you heard that?" she asked. He nodded.

"Oh, Alex, Erik wanted to ask you something, I think," Jacob said with a wink. He picked up his bag and left the room. Alex watched as Erik and Ashley came out of the bathroom. She looked at Erik, who was joking around with Ashley.

"Dude, you do hold the microphone too high. Those dedicated, Ashley-love-struck fans can’t see your gorgeous face," Erik was saying.

"Shut up, dude," Ashley said, hitting Erik with a towel.

"Erik? Jacob said that you wanted to ask me something," Alex said, getting his attention. Ashley made a quick exit, leaving the two of them alone. Dan and Trevor had already headed to the limo that was waiting for the group.

‘I’m gonna kill Jacob,’ Erik thought. He looked at Alex, who was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. "Um…yeah, actually, I did want to ask you something."

"Erik, Alex, let’s go," Mike M. said, as he suddenly popped his head in the door.

"We’re coming," Erik said, grabbing his bag and moving aside so that Alex could go out first. "I’ll ask you at the hotel," he said softly to her as she passed him.

"Okay," she said. They made their way out to the limo and climbed in with the others. Erik shot Jacob a glare, but Jacob just smiled.

Back at the hotel, Maria changed into jean shorts and a black Nike tee shirt. She sat on the floor, the drawing that was in progress, on the floor in front of her. She had bought paints for it and was just starting to paint Ashley’s shirt when there was a knock at the door. Alex had gone elsewhere, so Maria was alone. She knew who was at the door and quickly grabbed her notebook from her bag on the dresser before answering the door.

Jacob stood there in black warm-ups and a blue tee shirt. There was nothing on his feet and he had a blue bandanna tied over his head. "Am I late?" he asked as Maria moved aside to let him in.

"No. You’re early, actually," she said. Jacob smiled. For some reason, he had hurried to change and get to her room. She had noticed. He saw the picture on the floor and walked around it so that he could get a better look at it.

"This is that drawing that you started at the cottage, isn’t it?" he asked. Maria nodded.

"Yeah. I wanted some color in it, so I bought paints while I was at the mall today," she said, putting the top back on the paint that she was going to use and sitting down on her bed. Jacob sat on Alex’s bed and leaned back. It hurt to sit up straight. "Where were we?" Maria asked, flipping through her notebook. She knew where they had ended their conversation, but she wasn’t going to go there again.

"I think we were talking about my honesty and bad attitude," Jacob said. Maria nodded and smiled.

"Right. I actually wanted to show you something before we started," she said. Jacob watched as she brought over a binder and sat down beside him on the bed. He sat up a little and Maria put the binder on his lap.

"What’s this?" he asked. Maria didn’t want to tell him that she was testing his honesty. She loved criticism and the more creative it was, the better. She was always able to better herself after receiving any kind of criticism, which usually came from Kyle, but she wanted to know what someone with an ‘unpracticed eye’ thought.

"They’re some of my pictures of Dan, Ashley, Trevor and Erik. I want to know what you think," Maria said. Jacob looked at her, a frown on his face.

"I don’t really know a whole lot about photography," he said.

part3