Chapter Ten
This chapter is definitely for my girl, Paula. You’ve been begging for this, you’ve been pleading, you’ve been on your knees through AIM (well, maybe it didn’t go that far but we can pretend), and I always deliver. I hope that you enjoy this, along with everyone else. This was all your inspiration, and I owe you so much, it’s not even funny. Love always, Momma Juiles
"What are you talking about?" she asked him, tapping her finger beside her plate. The gesture was beginning to get on Joey's nerves. Throughout most of the lunch, she had done that. Tap...pause...tap...pause. Every time he brought up the same subject, she tapped her finger and stared blankly away from him.
"Don't give me that, Brooke. You know what I'm talking about."
Her eyes shifted away from him and she stared at the kitchen as if it would answer her. As if it would give her the answers she so badly wanted. "Uh...no, I don't. I'm sorry, my mind isn't all there today. Could you please repeat what you said? I'm sorry," she said, finally dropping her head in her hands.
He touched her wrist briefly but pulled away quickly. "I was asking you what you're doing to do about JC, Brooke."
"You know that I don't know what I'm going to do. I appreciated the fact that you were trying to help me. I really do. I've never...never had a friend, let alone four that would do something like that for me." Her eyes finally met his and she smiled softly. "Thank you for that, but...I feel wrong. I thought I explained this to you."
Joey nodded slowly. "I understand that, but you were just getting somewhere. He was starting to notice you."
She blinked twice before speaking. "By false pretenses. He didn't know that he was being set up. That's the problem, and that makes me feel dishonest."
"So, if someone told you that you're going on a blind date, would that feel dishonest, because you didn't know that you were being set up?"
Shifting uncomfortably, Brooklyn sipped her drink slowly. "No," she began slowly. "That's different. That's not dishonesty. That's more...I don't know, but I didn't go up to some guy and shake my stuff for him to see, not that I really did that for JC, either." Her face contorted into something that Joey could only describe as confusion, like always. "I don't know. That's the whole problem, but I know that he wouldn't like something like that, especially if he found out. He's not that kind of person."
He waiting until she stopped tapping again. "How would you feel about something like that?"
"I...I don't know. I don't know much of anything right now. That's what I hate about this whole thing. I don't know much of anything right now." She turned back to look at him. "You know, I hate it when I don't know everything, and I don't know anything right now. Just imagine how this makes me feel."
"Believe me, I can imagine, but the real question is, why are you so confused?"
She smiled brightly this time. "Million dollar question, huh? The answer is, again, I don't know. Would you mind if we got out of here? We're beginning to get stares, and I'm sure that someone is going to ask for an autograph soon. I really don't want to sign any right now."
Standing up, she put her jean jacket back on and pulled the strap of her purse over her shoulder. Joey led her out of the restaurant and to the car, a smile playing on his lips. She had no clue what was about to happen, and he was going to enjoy the moment while he could. She was sure to freak out. Brooklyn had that look about her that told him she was going to freak out.
He opened the door for her and let her slide in before making his way around the car. When he got in, she smiled at him. "You know what amazes me? When I was with Tim, I missed the little gestures like opening a door for me, but you guys always do that. Remind me to meet your mom one day so that I can thank her for raising such a wonderful child."
"She already knows. I tell her every day." He grinned and started the engine, looking at his gas gauge. It was at nothing. He was driving on fumes, and he knew exactly when the car would stop. On the freeway, towards JC's, when he was really going to take her to the hotel. They made sure that they had planned this perfectly. The bonus was that she still hasn't noticed that he had no gas, and he wasn't about to tell her. "Brooke, can I ask you...a sort of...weird question?"
Her head rolled against the back of the seat as she turned to look at him. "Is it about JC?" she asked with a bit of a whine to her voice.
Joey shook his head as he put on a pair of sunglasses. "Nope, not really."
"Shoot, then. I'll answer anything but that at this point."
He laughed and turned out of the parking lot. "Well, it's just...there's something that I wonder about." She nodded to him, telling him to go ahead. "Everyone knows that you're incredibly close to JC...bear with me. You're really close with Lance, and you seem to be close with Chris and Justin, but..."
Suddenly, her hand was on his arm. "You think that I don't like you or something? Joey, believe me, I love you like I love any other friend. There's no difference to me. You're my friend. This has been bothering you for a little while, hasn't it?" She didn't wait for him to answer, because she was sure that he was going to say yes, and that was going to hurt her. "Look, I know that I call Chris and Justin a lot. I've known JC the longest, so of course I'm going to be closest with him, and I've known Lance just about as long. That doesn't mean that I don't like you. God, why didn't you just tell me this? I feel like a total bitch now," she sighed, and looked at him. "Trust me when I say that I like you. If I didn't, I wouldn't have had lunch with you and let you bug me about JC for that long."
"I knew that, Brooke. That wasn't what I was going to ask you...kind of."
"Kind of." She stopped to laugh. "Okay, that makes sense, I guess. I'm not even going to try and decode that one."
He grinned back at her, taking his eyes long enough off of the road to look at her. "It wasn't that I doubted how you felt about me, it was more the fact that every time we've been around each other, the two of us really hadn't had a chance to talk, and I thought that maybe you wanted it that way."
Her eyes rolled. Her hands finally left his arm and she sat back. "Uh huh. Should I kick your ass now for thinking of me like that or should I wait until later?" she asked him, smiling brightly for him to see. He laughed and turned onto the freeway, mentally crossing his fingers.
They were silent for a little while longer until they made it a far distance down, and Joey frowned. "Oh, God, you're not going to believe this one."
She started to laugh at how that sounded. "What, you ran out of gas? It's a cute ploy on a date, I guess, but not on this one. What's really wrong?"
How was he not supposed to laugh? How was he supposed to keep a straight face as he made his way over to the shoulder and parked the car, leaning back. Joey closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look at her, but it was too hard not to laugh and before long, he had to bend forward to put his head against the steering wheel as he laughed. She just shook her head, watching him. He was going to blow the whole damned thing if he wasn't careful, but he could see how someone could think of this was a funny situation. It sure as hell was funny for him and they had planned it. "You...you..." he began, but couldn't finish.
Now, she couldn't help chuckling for some reason, and soon enough, she was laughing as hard as he was. "I don't even know why I'm laughing," she said, wiping tears away from her eyes. She pushed him back and leaned forward to look at the dash and see which of many lights was telling them something about the car. One was lit brightly. Her laughter got even louder. "You did! You ran out of gas!" she giggled, falling back into her seat.
As hard as he tried to stop laughing, he couldn't. This was far too funny for him, and she was going for it, hook, line, and sinker. "I knew that I was supposed to do something, but I couldn't remember. I was going to get some gas before I picked you up, but I forgot. I guess I had other things on my mind." He didn't lie. Thank God that he didn't lie.
She was still laughing, but she quickly sobered up. "Uh...Joey? We're on the freeway, with no gas...just how are we supposed to get some so we can go where we want?" she asked, brushing her hair back from her face. It was red in some spots, and her eyes were still shining with tears, but he could see that she was beginning to become pale. Sometimes, he wondered if she knew what they were doing and was just playing along.
"Think we should try to walk?" he asked.
"It's not night, it's not an abandoned road, but why do I have the theme song to Unsolved Mysteries running through my head? I really don't want them to bring back the show just so that we can be on it," she said, hitting him. "God, are you stupid? I am not getting out of this car for anything. Just...call a tow truck or something. I'll pay you for it, if you want, but there is no way that I'm getting out, and before you say anything, you're not leaving me in here, either."
Her voice was beginning to get a little panicked. "I wouldn't leave you here alone, Brooke. Geez, and to think that I thought you trusted me," he said sarcastically. "Do you carry a cell phone with you?" he asked, taking his key out of the ignition and tossing them ontop of the dash.
Brooklyn's eyes widened slightly. "Uh...no. I hate those things. I crushed mine a long time ago. Don't tell me that you didn't bring yours."
"I brought mine, but there isn't enough battery power for me to call Information and get a number before talking to the guy. It would die out before that. Damn it," he said, running his hands through his hair. "I can call Lance and get him to call for me. He's the only one that I know will be at home."
"So, do it. It's not like I'm going to get any younger here," she said, smiling slightly. She felt a little reassured to know that she wasn't going to have to walk down the road, and that she wasn't going to be left alone. "Remind me next time I come in town that I will not be getting a ride from you."
Joey laughed and pushed her. "I didn't plan this, idiot. It just...happened." Okay, now he lied. Rolling his eyes, he took out his cell phone and turned it so that Brooklyn couldn't see that his battery was actually fully recharged before selecting Lance's cell phone number from his directory and waiting for it to ring. "Come on, this thing isn't going to last forever," he muttered. "Thank God you answered. You wouldn't believe what just happened." From beside him, Brooklyn started to laugh again. "I barely believe this one myself. I...uh...kind of ran out of gas and we're stuck on the freeway."
He turned down the volume on his phone without Brooklyn noticing and hid a smile. Damn, he was good. "You did it? Cool. We're over at the hotel room, setting everything up. Has she freaked out?"
"No, not yet, but I'm sure that it'll come later tonight." Brooklyn shot him a bad look. "I don't mean the tow truck. Calm down, Brooke." He laughed and turned back to the phone. "So, how far along are you?"
"You're talking about video games when we're stuck here? Oh, yeah, welcome to Orlando, Brooklyn. Let's make sure that you make it out of here alive!" she yelped and hit him again.
Joey was still laughing. "She's freaking out just slightly. Would you mind calling a tow truck for us? My phone isn't going to last that much longer."
It was Lance's turn to laugh. "I already did, and the guy thought that I was crazy. I paid him twice as much so that he would go down and pick you up in...forty five minutes. That should do it, and we'll be out of here by then. I also called for a taxi to meet you at the body shop to take you to the hotel. Just...tell Brooke that you need a tune up or something, and you might as well get it done all at once. You should be glad that you don't have our jobs."
"That's for sure!" Chris shouted in the background.
"We've been setting up ever since you said that you picked her up. My arms are about to fall off from holding this stupid thing up for so long. We just took a little break."
A frown covered his face. "Is everything going to be done by tonight? I mean, I'm not worried, but you promised me that you would have it done by tonight."
"Oh, we'll be done. Don't worry about that. We're almost done as it is, but we still have to go downstairs and make sure that everything was delivered and everything is in the right place. Are we going to lock her in there?"
A grin spread over Joey's face when he thought about that. "Yeah, why not? Just tip the guy a lot of money, and...and I'll sure that your pizza will come faster next time," he said with a wondering tone. Where the hell did that one come from, he wanted to know.
Laughter greeted him on the other line. "Yeah, I get you man. Sky blue pink with purple polka dotted women's thong underwear, while we're at it." Chris was practically killing himself laughing in the background.
"Did you just say what I think you did? Sky blue pink with purple polka dotted women's thong underwear?" he asked before pressing the end button on his phone before she could see and shaking it. "Well, that just died. I think I need to have a talk with Lance."
A hand was covering her mouth. "Sky blue pink with...oh, I get it," she said, giggling.
"Glad you do, because I don't," he said, shaking his head.
"Think about it, Joey. It might come to you on of these days," she teased him.
True to Lance's words, a tow truck appeared in forty five minutes and backed up towards the car. Brooklyn and Joey climbed out, as she wrapped her jacket around her. The wind created by the cars rushing by chilled her a little, and it had been a hell of a lot warmer in the car. A little too warm, actually, now that she thought about it.
Hooking up the car didn't take too long, and soon enough, they had climbed into the tow truck, still laughing over what happened. Brooklyn made sure that she put some distance between her and the driver, since he looked just a little scary to her. Not only that, but he reeked of oil, a smell that she just couldn't stand. Joey seemed to have no problem and talked to him like they were old friends. She tried not to wrinkle her nose and wonder if she had just gotten oil all over her jeans as they made their way to the body shop. Brooklyn looked at Joey in amazement as he asked the guy if he could get a tune up at the same time. His car really did need one, now that he thought about it.
"Uh...how are we going to get from here to where ever if we don't have a car?" she asked him as they took her luggage from the back.
He smiled and pointed to the taxi that was just pulling up. "Lance called for a taxi, too. I still need to have a talk with him. I don't understand what he said at all," he said, frowning. "I'll be right back, okay? Just get the driver to help you get all of this in there."
The theme from Mission: Impossible should have been playing, he realized, as he made his way around the building and turned on his phone again, dialing Lance's number. "Dude, we're going over to the hotel right now. Are you guys out of there?"
"We're done and I got the bell boy to lock the door after Brooke goes in. He won't unlock it until she's ready for tonight," he said with a bit of a devilish tinge to his voice.
"Okay, see you guys in about a half hour." He hung up and walked back around the building, smiling at Brooklyn. "Are we ready? I just have to make one stop before we go to JC's to drop you off."
She blew a piece of hair from her face and nodded. "Let's get out of here. That guy gives me the creeps the way he's looking at me," she said, glancing back at the tow truck driver before smiling sweetly and jumping into one side of the cab. Joey purposely took the left side and put her backpack between them, giving the driver directions to the hotel that he was leaving Brooklyn at.
During the ride, they talked about her tour, and what she had done so far on it. As she ended a hilarious story involving her, Mia, and three strippers in her hotel room, she looked up to see the front of a hotel. "Huh? Why are we here?" she asked, turning to look at him.
The reason that he had taken the left side was that it was turned towards the traffic, and there was always a lot of incoming and outgoing traffic at the hotel. They had worked out the plan to the smallest detail and even had back up plans, just in case. Now, all he had to do was remember why they had gone there. "JC forgot something in this hotel a few days ago, and he wanted to know if I could go up and get him the papers. Uh...would you mind going up? I'm a little trapped here."
She nodded. "Sure, why not. Do you have a key for me?" she asked.
"No, but they know that someone was coming. All you have to do is give your name and a bellboy will take you up, I'm sure. I owe you big time," he said, putting one arm ontop of her backpack.
"Yes, you do," she said with a bright smile to show him that she was just teasing. She opened the door and slipped out. "I'll be right now."
He waited until the door closed. "And I won't be here. Hey, as soon as she gets in the hotel, pull away, okay?" He gave the confused driver another address, laughing to himself.
They watched as Brooklyn walked up the stairs and smiled at the doorman as he swung open the door for her. Her cowboy boots clicked sharply on the tile floor as she went up to the front desk. "Hi, I was asked to get something from a room reserved in the name of Joshua Chasez," she said with a smile, remembering that when he rented a room, he used his full first name.
The woman clicked on a few buttons and smiled. "Can I have your name, please?" she asked.
"Brooklyn Turner." To prove her point, she brought out her driver's license and showed her the embarrassing photo. The woman nodded again and clicked a few more times on the keyboard before pointing to a bell hop. "He'll take you up there. Next, please."
Her eyes rolled as she made her way over to the bell hop. He smiled knowingly; he had recognized her from the photo that they had showed him, even if she wasn't wearing a black bikini (since it was the only picture they had of her full face, and they couldn't very well steal one from JC). She would have killed them if she found out about that part, but he brought her to the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Turner. I'm a big fan of yours."
She smiled, hoping that he wasn't going to ask for an autograph. She was supposed to be on vacation for a few days before she started performing again, and she would have loved to make it through the time without anyone recognizing her. Sometimes, it was hard to forget that it wasn't hard to recognize her. "Thanks, it's nice to meet you, too," she said as they stopped on the seventh floor.
He brought her towards the suite at the end and unlocked the door for her. "I'll be waiting out here for you," he said with a smile. She grinned back and walked in, looking around. All the lights were off, and she couldn't see a pile of papers anywhere. As she walked in a little further to find the light switch, the door slammed shut behind her. "Must do that automatically."
Walking in a little further, and turning on the lights, she found some papers stacked together, and she picked them up. Turning back towards the door, Brooklyn tried the door handle and frowned. It wouldn't open, and she didn't have a key to let herself out. Instead, she knocked. "Uh...you can let me out now," she said, laughing.
There were a few clicks (with the bell hop using the wrong keys, of course), before he called back. "I'm sorry, Miss Turner, but I can't seem to open the door. I think something's wrong." She groaned and dropped her forehead against the door. This was turning out to be a horrible day, not that she could blame anyone. Everything seemed to be happening by accident. "I'll head down to the front desk and see if I can get a locksmith to come up here."
"Thank you. Oh, there's someone in a taxi waiting outside for me. Could you please tell him that I'm stuck here and that he should just go ahead and drop my stuff off at the apartment? I have the address and I'll show up there as soon as I'm out of here."
"Of course, Miss Turner," he said, even though he knew that the person had left, and she wasn't supposed to leave the room until eight o'clock at night. She still had five and a half hours to go.
Brooklyn walked back into the room and sat down on the bed, letting the papers slip through her fingers as she grabbed her head as if she was in pain. "Damn it, I shouldn't have done that. Those might have been in a certain order," she whispered to herself with her eyes closed before she opened them. She couldn't believe her eyes.
Every single one of the papers were blank! Her eyes went wider as she slipped off the bed and started to shuffle through them. She had been sent up to pick up a stack of blank paper?
Pushing all of the papers out of the way, she ran her hands through her hair for what seemed like the millionth time that day before standing up. She probably looked like hell, and her face felt grimy. All she wanted to do was wash her face and maybe lay down for a nap before the locksmith came up. She scribbled out a note to the bell hop and slid it under the door, folded in half so that he would see it before she walked towards the bathroom.
Her mouth dropped open when something cold dropped ontop of her. Her eyes went towards the door, and she groaned, trying to stop a smile from forming. The whole thing was screaming "Chris!". A bucket of milk, of all stuff, had been left atop of the door, waiting for her to open it. She jumped up and down when she felt the cold liquid soak into her clothes.
"All my stuff is in the taxi, which at this moment is going to JC's place. Damn it, maybe I can call there and leave a message to bring something over for me to wear. How would they get it in here, anyway?" she asked herself, shaking her head. She really didn't care, she just wanted to get out of those clothes. She walked over to the bed, where the phone should have been.
Brooklyn shouldn't have been surprised when she didn't see a phone, she realized. He was really pulling this prank out to the extreme. The last thing she wanted was to let the milk dry in her hair and on her body, so she walked back to the bathroom, kicking the bucket out of the way. She didn't care that her boots walked right into a puddle of it.
She slammed the door shut and stripped off her clothes, throwing them in a pile before taking one of the fresh towels and starting the shower. The usual mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner were completely used up by her, as well as the two little bars of soap. Finally, she wrapped the towel around herself and walked out. "I'm going to have to get back into those things, aren't I?" she asked herself, kicking her jeans as she walked back into the room. "Unless..." she trailed off and walked over to the closet, opening up the door.
A dry cleaner's bag stared at her, as well as a shoe box. Her eyes narrowed when she saw a piece of paper that had her name on it.
Hey, Brooke!
You don't hate me yet, I hope. There's a method behind my madness, but you won't find out about that until later. For the time being...we really didn't know what to get you to wear, so we got this instead. It may seem a little dressy, but are we supposed to know what women wear anyway?
Enjoy yourself and please don't break anything. Oh, before you begin, I should probably tell you this. There's two cabinets under the bathroom sink. If you haven't taken a shower yet (I'm sure you found my little surprise already), then take one. If you have, look under the cupboard. In there, you'll find everything that you need for the night. Make sure that you do all of that girlie stuff before you get dressed. After that, go to the room safe. The combination is 23 left, 53 right, 10 left. There's another little surprise in there for you.
Love ya!
Chris, Joey, Justin, and Lance
Her jaw tightened when she read that. "I'm going to kill each and every one of them," she said to herself, before stalking off to the bathroom to look under the cabinet. Staring back at her was every single styling product and hair accessories that she could imagine, along with every single shade of makeup under the sun, it seemed. Her eyes rolled as she took it all out. "They're dead. So freaking dead it's not even funny," she grumbled, going to work.
When she was finished, she blinked and sighed. "They owe me for this one." Funny that they were thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time.
In fact, at that same time, Justin and JC were walking towards his apartment, going to see if Brooklyn had shown up. Justin was finding it hard to keep a straight face, just like Joey had been. "Oh, damn, I forgot something in the car," he said as JC unlocked his door. "I'll be right back, all right?" he asked, heading down the hall.
"Uh huh," JC said dryly, closing the door behind him. Justin looped back and grabbed a two by four that was left from construction that was going on further down the hall. With a grin, he pushed it underneath the doorknob and walked away, whistling under his breath.
JC, in the meantime, looked in his living room and saw that Brooklyn's luggage was stacked neatly beside the couch. He smiled to himself, thinking that she had gone ahead and found the guest room before going for a nap. He opened the door, but she wasn't laying on the bed. In fact, the sheets weren't even moved. "Okay...I guess she could be there," he said under his breath as he opened up his door to his room.
Instead of seeing Brooklyn laying there, the same thing that happened to her happened to him. A bucket of ice cold milk dumped on his head. He looked up, knowing that it was Joey, since he was the one that had picked up Brooklyn in the first place. "He's dead," he said to himself, walking in a little further. He knew that he was going to have to take a shower, but he was also going to have to change. He went towards his closet and looked inside. There was absolutely nothing there. "Oh, God," he said to himself, walking over to the chest of drawers that he usually kept a few things in. Nothing again.
He knew that he had left a pair of jeans and a tee shirt in the bathroom, knowing that they needed to be washed, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and he wasn't about to pull something out of Brooklyn's suitcase and put it on. Although, he may have looked flattering in one of her sundresses, he thought to himself as he walked into the bathroom.
A suit bag was hanging from the shower, with a note telling him to open it when he was done with his shower. He moved it and draped it over the bathroom sink carefully before grabbing a fresh towel and stripping off the clothes that he had been wearing. His shower didn't take long, and when it was done, he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked over to the suit bag. He took the folded paper off and unfolded it. He could barely believe his eyes.
Hey JC!
Well, by now, you've been doused with a bucket of cold milk, and you've taken your shower. As you may have noticed, we took all your clothes out of your apartment, and you're left with this and this alone. Don't worry, it's not a clown suit or anything. Have a little faith, would you, man? Besides, you'll love us for this afterwards.
By now, Justin has already locked you in the apartment, and before you think about it, no, you can't get out the windows, either. We took care of that, too. Don't worry, Brooklyn isn't going to show up there until much later tonight, and at that point, you'll be with her. For now, though, what's in this bag will have to do. Don't bother trying to call anyone to get out, either, because we took all your phones, and Justin even lifted your cell phone. He's multi-talented.
Do your hair (that should take you hours), and get dressed. Someone will be by for you later on.
Have fun!
Joey, Chris, Justin, and Lance
"They are so dead," he whispered before opening the bag.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn had unzipped the dry cleaner's bag and felt her breath catch in her throat. "Oh my God, this is beautiful," she said, pulling out the dress. It was a midnight blue, covered with sparkles from head to toe. There was no doubt that it was one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes turned back to the bag, and she couldn't help laughing when she saw one of her own strapless bras hanging inside. Obviously, Austin had contributed to this little plan of theirs, whatever it was, she thought.
It didn't take long for her to slip into the dress, and zip it up. The full skirt landed at her bare toes, just brushing the ground. It was tight around the waist, and the strapless collar was adorned with diamonds going around to the back. She giggled as she looked in the mirror. "I feel like Cinderella when she went off to the ball or something," she said, turning so that she could see the back. She turned back to the bag and found a pair of sheer nylons balled in the bottom. "You could have informed me of that beforehand," she said, rolling her eyes.
She sat down on the bed, hoping that she hadn't crumpled the back of the dress and pulled on the nylons, standing up to make sure that they were in place underneath her skirt. If that was what they had left for her, she was more than willing to follow their plans and put on everything. Her hands pulled the show box out, where a pair of midnight blue silk strappy sandals with medium height heels waited for her.
Even though she was in the room, she put the heels on, and stood up again. The dress didn't touch the ground anymore, something that she was thankful for. "I'm still going to kill each and every one of them, but I'll do it fast now, so that it doesn't hurt," she said, before remembering what the note said.
Brooklyn walked over to the small corner safe and bent down, looking at the note before she turned the dial and then pulled on the handle. A velvet box was waiting at the bottom, the only thing in there. Sitting down now, she opened the box on her lap and gasped. She took out the folded piece of paper and opened it. Don't worry, Brooke. We didn't buy this. I rented all of it, and unfortunately it has to go back tomorrow, but if you're going to dress like a princess, you should do it in style. Love you, Justin.
Her eyes looked over the stunning diamond necklace and matching bracelet before taking them out. "I have a feeling that I'm going to cry and I don't want to mess up my makeup," she whispered, looking at the pieces. "Maybe I won't kill them after all."
JC still wasn't feeling the same way as he opened up the suit bag. He wasn't surprised to see that there was a black suit waiting for him, along with a silk midnight blue dress shirt and matching tie. He had a feeling that there was a pair of his black shining dress shoes in the shoe compartment.
He knew that he didn't have anything else to wear, so he had no choice but to put on the suit. He had a feeling that this had something to do with Brooklyn, but he couldn't figure out what it was just yet. He looked towards his watch beside the bag, wondering why he would do that. He had no clue when the person, whoever it was, was coming to pick him up.
Instead, he put on the suit and tied his tie easily, without looking in the mirror. Smoothing down the jacket, he had to admit that he didn't mind wearing this for the moment. It had been a little while since he had actually wanted to wear something like that, and if Brooklyn was going to see him like that, it was all the better to him.
He was right when he had thought about the shoes. He pulled on the socks first and then tied the shoes, turning back to the mirror to finish getting ready. "I still say they're dead," he muttered, wiping away the steam on the mirror with his hand before reaching for the hair gel.
Brooklyn was sitting on the bed, looking in the mirror. She couldn't help looking at the reflection of herself, especially the diamonds. She never liked to wear anything flashy, but she didn't mind. The guys had put a lot of planning into this, she realized, and it caused a smile to come to her face as she lifted her hand to touch the bracelet before the necklace. Slowly, her fingers trailed down to the necklace that JC had given her, touching the letters of her nickname.
It made her heart speed up a little when she thought that JC was going to see her the way that she was dressed. The thought alone caused her face to flush and she sighed, before standing up. "There has to be some perfume around here somewhere. They wouldn't have forgotten perfume, and I need some," she muttered to herself.
He had just finished putting on his cologne when a knock sounded at his door. JC hurried to answer it, seeing a dressed up chauffeur staring at him. "Mr. Chasez?" he asked, pronouncing his name properly. At least the guy got something right, he thought sarcastically.
"That's me," he said, reaching for his wallet and tucking it in his back pocket. Hopefully, he had enough money for whatever was going to happen, even though he was sure that the guys had paid for everything. He was going to give them hell when he saw them again.
"The limo is waiting downstairs to take you to your date," he said with a smile, bowing as he stepped back.
JC followed him out, glancing at the two by four that had held him captive. He held back from kicking it, since he didn't want to scuff his shoes. Instead, they rode down in the elevator together before stepping outside. The sun had already begun to set and the sky was a delicious pink color as the chauffeur opened the door and allowed JC to slip in. The door shut behind him, and the limo pulled away soon enough. His eyes watching the scenery rush by as he tried to figure out where they were supposed to be.
They stopped in front of the hotel that Brooklyn was in (not that he knew that), and the door opened again. "Mr. Chasez, I've been asked to tell you that your date is waiting for you on the roof. Take the elevator to the top floor, and there's a small flight of stairs that will lead you to the roof on your right. I'll be here for you when you're done."
He reached to pull a bill out of his pocket, but the chauffeur stopped him, telling him that he had already been paid and tipped by a Mr. Kirkpatrick. "Thank you," JC said, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. He followed the directions, taking the elevator to the fifteenth floor, and walked up the small flight of stairs to the roof.
Just as he got there, he heard a pair of heels crunching on the gravel, as well as another pair of shoes. He turned to look as Brooklyn walked up to him, smiling. "I suppose that you got the same sort of thing that I did," she said with a chuckle. She thanked the bell hop, who told them that he would be back in a moment. "The bucket of milk, the clothes...everything."
He grinned back. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. The dress alone looked like it had been made from the night sky, covered with stars. "Yeah, I got the same thing, and I guess you're my date for the night, unless that bell boy has taken my place." Her head shook slowly as she turned to look around. "Oh," she breathed, bringing a slender hand to her throat as her eyes widened. He turned to look as well, and at that moment, thanked his friends for everything that they had done.
The roof had been covered with a wooden floor so that they could walk easily, and a small table covered with a white cloth was in the center, two chairs across from each other. Tiny white Christmas lights had been strung around, and was the only source of light besides the setting sun and two candles that were flickering on the table. Pearly white balloons, filled with helium, bobbed in the very slight wind, being tied in bunches with matching white ribbon. "They really outdid themselves," he found himself saying.
"It's absolutely gorgeous out here," she said quietly, blinking away her tears. She had asked them to stop what they were doing, but she didn't mind anymore. This was too special to ruin thinking about what she had asked them not to do, but she wasn't going to stop herself from saying something the next time that she saw Chris.
He turned and smiled at her. "Believe me, this place has nothing on you, Brooklyn. You look...I can't even find the words to tell you what you look like. Incredible doesn't even begin to touch on it."
Blushing at what he said and just the way he said her real name, she nodded towards the table. "Thank you. You look fantastic yourself, JC. I...uh...think they want us to sit," she said with a laugh, walking over with him. His hand rested on her lower back as they walked, and even though there was material between her and his hand, the touch made her tingle from head to toe.
He pulled out her chair and brought her back close to the table, like any gentleman would do, before rounding the table and sitting in his own chair. Immediately, the bell hop was back, dressed in a tuxedo now, with their dinner. He bowed and walked away to turn on a stereo that neither had noticed in the corner, music drifting out to them before he left again.
"I can't believe that they did this," she whispered, looking around.
Brooklyn's hand had been resting on the table, and JC reached to pick it up. Her eyes instantly turned to him and locked on his. They didn't move for a moment, until he finally cleared his throat and spoke. "I can, and I think we should enjoy it. They don't do things like this...ever." They both laughed, which broke the spell. She withdrew her hand and looked down at her plate.
"We should probably eat before it gets cold, I guess."
But they had no appetite whatsoever. Brooklyn ate a total of seven bites before she gave her. She was too nervous to be in such a romantic setting with JC to pay attention to anything else, and it seemed that he was feeling the same way. He kept looking up at her and smiling. The sun had finished setting, and the sky had started to turn more and more dark, until it matched the color of her dress and of his shirt and tie. He hadn't noticed before that they were dressed in the same colors.
The bell hop returned once more to take their plates and leave them with desert. Brooklyn's eyes lit up. "Remind me to thank them first thing tomorrow morning. I can't believe that they gave me chocolate," she sighed, picking up the fork that was on the side of the desert plate.
He laughed, looking down at the decedent piece of chocolate cake. It looked incredibly, and it seemed to be the only thing that he wouldn't mind eating. It was too rich, however, and both of them left more than half on their plates. JC felt his foot brush against something, and he bent over to look at what it was. "I guess this is for us," he said, picking up the bottle of chilled white wine. "Would you like some?" he asked.
"It'll go great with the cake. Yes, please," she said with a smile, watching as he uncorked it, and poured some into each glass properly, twisting the bottle towards the end to make sure that he didn't spill any down the sides. "Where did you learn that trick?" she asked him, taking a sip when the bottle had been returned to the ice bucket.
Smiling, JC waited until she had put her glass back down. "My dad taught me that years ago when I was a kid. I always asked to pour the wine or champagne at New Years, and one year, he finally let me play bartender. He taught me how to do it with a bottle of Kool-Aid before everyone came over in the afternoon, though."
She couldn't help grinning back. The story was too cute for her not to. "So, little Joshua always wanted to play bartender?"
"Would you be surprised if I told you that I actually have a bartender's license? I mean, I haven't renewed it for a few years, but I was thinking of going to get it renewed. It helps when I throw a party."
Brooklyn couldn't help letting her mouth drop open. "No way! I never knew that. Is there anything else that I don't know that I might be interested in?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so. That's the only thing that I never told you, I think. We've basically told each other everything."
"Not everything, JC. After all, a girl has to have a few secrets," she said, smiling to him as she cocked her head to hear the music a little better. During dinner, different romance songs played, both pop and country. Another smile overtook her face when one of her favorite songs, Amazed by Lonestar, started to play. "Would you dance with me? I love this song," she said, as the opening strains of the song floated on the wind.
JC came around and helped her out of the chair before leading her away from the table where they could dance without hitting anything. He immediately took one of her hands in his, lacing his fingers through hers, before his other hand resting on her hip. She brought her other hand up on his shoulder and smiled as they started to move around. "It's kind of nice to spend some time alone with you, knowing that we're not going to be interrupted," she said, looking up at him. His blue eyes sparkled back at her. She noticed that the shirt he was wearing made them seem even more blue, and took her breath away even more. "We rarely get a chance like this," she added softly.
He nodded before bringing her even closer to him. It was better than having to look her back in the eyes, a vibrant shade of green at the moment. His hand moved from her hip to her lower back, as she resting her head against his shoulder, sighing slightly. The sigh made him stop for a moment before he spoke. "I know. Even when we went on that mini camping trip, we weren't really alone." He fell quiet, looking down at the top of her honey brown hair. "It's a little weird. I feel so selfish whenever you're around, because I want you to be with me and me alone," he added, closing his eyes before he lowered his head to touch hers.
She smiled at the contact. What else could she do, but smile. "It's not that I don't mind having the guys around, because I really do consider them to be my friends, but sometimes, I want to be alone with you, too, like we were in the beginning."
"Unfortunately, a lot of things have changed since then," he added with a soft tone, kissing the top of her head. It stopped him from kissing anything else on her. Why did he ever say that he would dance with her. It was getting harder and harder to remember his promise. Maybe that was a good thing, like Chris had wanted. Maybe it's what he was supposed to do from the very beginning. Just the fact that he was in contact with her, holding her in his arms, it was making him forget everything in his life, even his own name. Wasn't that what love was supposed to feel like.
But it couldn't be love, he reminded himself. There's no way that it could be love, because he wouldn't let it be love. Lust, maybe. A crush, most definitely, but not love. His mother would have slapped him upside the head if he had mentioned love along with Brooklyn's name whenever he called her, even though she had the same feelings as everyone else. Since then, she had become a big Brooklyn Turner fan.
It wasn't love, but for the moment, couldn't he allow himself to think that it was? That Brooklyn was feeling the same things he was, and that they were together, like everyone wanted. Sometimes, he cursed his good imagination.
"A lot of things have changed since the beginning," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts and his dreaming, "but you can't say that everything that's happened is bad." She knew what she was referring to. It wasn't so bad for her to be feeling like this towards him, and it was about damned time that she admitted it to herself.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with having a crush on her best friend. There was absolutely nothing wrong with being in "lust" with him. Nothing at all. But it wasn't love.
It wasn't love, but for the moment, couldn't she allow herself to think that it was? That JC was feeling the same things she was, and that they were together, like everyone wanted. Like she wanted.
"No, it's not all bad. Definitely not." He was thinking about his feelings towards her, as well. "You know what I just thought? Wouldn't it be wild if we were thinking the same thing at the exact same time?" But they were. They just didn't know it. They had been thinking the exact same things ever since they had set eyes on each other on the rooftop. They knew it, in a way, but didn't want to say anything. That would be wrong. It could open up too many things, like opening Pandora's Box. That was the last thing that they wanted. To have all of their feelings out in the open, because neither of them wanted to hear the absolute worst: that the other didn't feel the same way.
So, they both closed their eyes, and continued to dance. There was nothing but ballads on the tape, and whoever had made it had made sure that they all faded into another, without a break, so that they never stopped dancing, just waited to find the change in the beat before continuing. One sweet song into another.
Brooklyn opened her eyes and listened closely to the next song. It was too easy to relate to the lyrics of Keith Urban's 'Your Everything'. She was almost shivering when she heard the words, "I want to be your everything" because it was true. She wanted to be his everything.
And he wanted to be her everything. Why couldn't he just open his mouth and let the words come out. It was so easy to say everything that he wanted, yet so hard. He never should have danced with her to begin with, he noticed his mistake. It wasn't helping him all that much, and it wasn't helping her all that much. They were in the same boat, but unsure of how to go about what they were really feeling and finally allowing themselves to accept.
Acceptance might be all that they needed. Maybe voicing their feelings was the next step. Neither of them were sure.
JC began to sing the song under his breath, and she closed her eyes again when she heard his smooth voice accompanying the tape. Everything was so perfect that night, and she didn't want it to change. She didn't want it to be ruined. When they had been talking about 'moments' when they had gone camping, that was nothing compared to this. Brooklyn realized at that moment that she had been the stupidest person in the world, because she had never really had a 'moment' until now. This was the moment. This was the ULTIMATE moment.
When she raised her head and looked up at him, it seemed that everything froze. The only thing that continued was the song. The words died on his lips as he looked back at her. For some reason, the wind seemed to stop blowing, and the stars above their heads stopped their twinkling and held it as everything melted away except for the two of them and the song. "New York," he whispered before swallowing thickly. No, that wasn't right. "Brooklyn." That was better. Her name applied in this moment. It applied more than ever in his life.
"Yes?" she whispered back. Did he have to wear that cologne? It was making her feel weak. There was no way to describe what it actually did to her. It was more JC than anything that she had experienced so far. She would never forget that scent as long as she lived.
His head shook as he looked at her, but neither of them could look away. Their eyes were stuck, not that they minded. His finally moved so that he could look at her face, like he was trying to memorize every single detail about it. Where every single freckle was, how the gloss on her lips had sparkles in it and one of them had traveled to the point where it was on her jaw. How her nose came down in a slender slope before turning up slightly, and the way her bangs just brushed the top of her eyebrows. "Please say that you'll forgive me for what I'm about to do."
She was about to say that she would forgive him for anything, but she didn't have the chance. She didn't have the chance to say anything, because the moment that she was about to, his lips, which had been hovering above hers for the longest time, had finally moved down and rested against hers lightly. They didn't press, no, not yet, but it was more than enough for her.
Her arms came up and both wrapped around his neck, like she was desperate to get closer to him. That was all he needed, he realized. All he wanted to know was that she wasn't going to push him away. He immediately increased the pressure and finally pressed against her lips, letting the taste of her lip gloss flood his mouth. He was never going to forget the strawberry taste as long as he lived.
Her lips were everything that he remember, and everything that he wanted them to be. Soft, supple, and more than willing to be against his. One of his hands traveled from her back to brush against her face before moving her hair, as he titled his head eve more, increasing the pressure even more than before. By now, his hand was running through her short hair, and he loved the feeling of the satiny strands against his fingers almost as much as he was enjoying the feeling of her lips against his.
This was what dreams were made of, she realized. This was what she had been waiting her whole life for. Nothing mattered to her at the moment. She couldn't remember where she lived, what her name was, where she was...all she knew was that she was where she always wanted to be. In JC's arms, kissing him.
The kiss wasn't incredibly passionate, and it wasn't incredibly sexual. It was a kiss of wonderment, a kiss of discovery. That's what they needed, they both realized. They were still making their way through their feelings, and they didn't want to take anything too far.
Nothing else mattered in the world. She was practically crushed against him, and she didn't care. She couldn't get close enough to him. At that moment, she wanted more of him, even if she couldn't get it. She wanted to be as close to him as possible, both body and soul.
He pulled away, afraid that it was a mistake. That is was another kiss like the one in the airport. One that they had both been involved in, but never spoke of again, just in case. In case of what, he wondered, but didn't ask. He was afraid to open his eyes, but he forced himself to. He forced himself to look down at Brooklyn's peaceful face and her still closed eyes, her eyelashes brushing her tanned skin delicately. To look down at her swollen, pink, still parted lips...God, that was a mistake.
Nothing moved. Everything was still frozen until she opened her eyes and looked at him with all the seriousness in the world. It was the most serious she had ever looked in her life. "I can't forgive you for that," she said. Finally, her eyes regained some of their sparkle, and a smile curved her lips carefully. She looked like something out of a painting, something that should have been documented for all of life so that everyone could look at her, but no one could ever have her. "I could never forgive you for following what your heart tells you, and it's about time that I did the same thing," she whispered, her breath brushing against his lips.
And it was then that she reached for him and brought her lips back to him.
I want to be your everything...
Chapter Eleven
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