“Can I please drive you home? I don’t feel right leaving you here to fend
for yourself,” he asked.
Shrugging, she answered, “I don’t want to be any trouble to you...”
Leaning over, Justin pushed open the door, “C’mon. You’re no trouble.
Maybe I could just wait out the storm at your place.”
As Justin drove, he tapped out the song blaring through his speakers on
the steering wheel, seemingly trying to hum along. “You’s a big fine woman,
won’t you back that thang up.”
The music, to say the least, was irritating Gabrielle. Noticing this, Justin
turned radio stations. A song that Gabby actually loved dearly came on. “I can
feel you breathe, it’s washing over me, and suddenly, I’m melting in to you,
there’s nothin’ left to prove, baby all we need is just to beeeee....”
Justin noted the small smile that appeared on her face, and he made a
request, “See...you wouldn’t turn red so much, girl if you just let yourself
breathe.”
She turned to look out the window, as water droplets streamed down it.
The feeling of cool glass on her warm face was refreshing. Other than the
occasional, “Is this the way,” the remainder of the ride was uneventful.
Tinkerbell rushed towards the door as soon as Gabby opened it. Gently
picking the tiny kitten up, she cooed softly, “I’m home, baby. Shhhh. You’re all
right.”
Stepping aside, she requested, “Ummmm...please come in....”
As he walked in the door, Justin’s hand extended to stroke the tiny kitten’s
fur. “What his name?”
Bowing her head to kiss the kitten, she said, “Her name is Tinkerbell.”
Before Justin could pry further into her life, the telephone rang. Placing
the phone on speakerphone, Gabby said, “Hello?”
“Gab? Are you okay girl? I was worried about you.” Brent (the producer)
asked.
“I’m fine Brent. How about you?”
“Just siting here in the studio. Listening to your finished product.”
She exclaimed, “My what? You’ve got to be kidding me. You mean, I’m
actually done it?”
Chuckling, he answered, “Yes. Your song is done. All put together. And,
Gabrielle.... it sounds good. You’ll be hitting Britney one more time some day,
and putting Christina back in her bottle!”
“Let’s not exaggerate. It’s just a demo. That means nothing. That means
that you let me get my hopes up, and they become crushed when nothing
happens.”
With a change in his tone, he questioned, “Gab, who is sitting here in the
studio?”
She answered meekly, “You?”
“Uh huh. That’s right. I’m the one who’s hearing what you wrote blaring
through the speakers. I’m the one that watched you sing something over and
over again because you wanted it to sound perfect. I’m the one that has and
envelope address to Johnny Wright directly in front of me.”
“What!?” Gabrielle gasped.
“You heard me. And it’s going out into he mailbox out front of here as
soon as this rain stops. Wouldn’t want the mailbox to blow away. I don’t trust it.”
Her eyebrows furrowed and she claimed, “My demo isn’t done! It’s not
ready yet.”
With that, a click sounded throughout the room, as the phone went dead.
Gabrielle peered shyly up at her guest, who was playing with Tinkerbell on an
overstuffed armchair. “Sorry about that, “ she muttered, trying not to meet his
gaze.
Smiling a pearly white grin, he replied, “Hey, no problem. But you do
know who my manager is, don’tcha.”
Shrugging she shook her head, “I know nothing about you.”
Grinning, he announced, “J-Dawg Wright.”
“Wow. That’s great,” she smiled meekly and turned her gaze to
Tinkerbell. Something struck Gabby at that moment, and she felt very very
alone in the world. Here in front of her stood this handsome, caring young man
that was so very full of life. The world bowed at his fingertips. Then there was
she. The sun just never seemed to cascade down on her. Dark clouds had
been overhead for too long now. Every night she went to work, leaving an empty
house, and came back to an empty house. Loneliness was the worst feeling in
the world. Gabrielle often found herself wishing for just a simple smile from
someone, or a warm and friendly “hello”.
Justin caught a glimpse of her as she brushed a tear away from her face.
Setting the little kitten aside, he questioned, “Are you okay Gabby?”
Looking behind him, she tried not to meet his eyes, “Yea. I’m....I’m fine,"
her voice quivered when she spoke, another tear falling down her cheek.
Catching her first hand this time, Justin gently brushed the tear off her
cheek and requested, “No. Gabrielle... Please don’t cry. I’ll leave if you want
me to!”
Shaking her head, her voice came out in a whimper, “No, no it’s okay. It’s
not you. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Would you like to talk to me about it?”
“No, thank you...Justin,” his name was foreign to her lips.
A thoughtful look crossed his face, and he announced, “I have a cell
phone! Maybe you could call and talk to one of your friends about it. Talking to
a friend always helps.”
Gabby shook her head, “I have no one to call.”
“Come on girl. No little chick friend to give the dish to?”
Suddenly, being overwhelmed by his prying, she stated softly, “Look,
Justin. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. I’m alone. That’s the bottom
line.”
“Why don’t you tell me about yourself? I like you already.” he grinned,
trying to cheer her up. Gently scooping Tinkerbell up in his arms, he put the
little kitten’s face next to his own, “Tinkerbell thinks you should too.” The cat
meowed loudly in Justin’s ear in response. That simply added fuel to Justin’s
fire. “See, your kitten likes me.”
Gabby mumbled, “I never said that I didn’t like you. I just said that I don’t
know you. Think about it. There are probably millions of teenagers out there
that could recite your life story to me. But, I just don’t know you. That’s all.”
Thinking, he then asked, “Let’s make a deal. How about I do a little, “All
About Justin” then you do a little, “All About Gabrielle?”
“There’s nothing that you want to know about me. Trust me. There’s
nothing to know,” she stated, bowing her head. She nervously stared at his feet.
Justin cleared his throat, and Justin questioned, “How are you gonna do
that girl?”
“Do what?” she muttered
“How you gonna become a famous singer if you won’t let anybody ask
you questions? If you won’t let anybody in?”
Boldly she peered up at him and her voice came out as a squeak, “And
you? What do you suppose I should do?”
“I suppose that you should let me ask you some questions. Let’s make it
a little more interesting. Tonight, you’re the star and I’m the reporter.”
Becoming more and more brazen by the moment, she replied, “That’s
crazy. You, not be a star? You’ve got ten year olds bowing down to kiss your
feet.”
“Hmm...well, I do declare Gabrielle, that certainly did set a little spark in
you. I’ll have to remember to annoy you more often.”
Turning away from him then, she walked over to the window. The sky had
started to light up with random bolts of lightning, and the rain beat down in
torrents. It was then that Gabrielle spotted the car pulling into the apartment
complex. “Who would that be?” she thought to herself.
Seconds later, after Gabby had stepped away from the window, a knock
sounded on the door. “I’ll get it. It’s starting to pick up out there. You know that
those door-to-door salesmen don’t stop for anything.” Justin announced,
chuckling softly at his own joke.
Gabby muttered under her breath, “Oh, that was a real knee-slapper.”
“Yes, may I be of assistance to you?” Justin asked the visitor politely.
“Look, man, I know that its late, but I’ve come all the way from California
for this. Is Gabrielle Reynolds here?"
