"Hey you," Howie said sitting down next to Rebecca.
"Hi," she smiled over at him.
He looked at her and then over into the corner where Alesha was talking to someone on her cell phone. Glancing back at Rebecca he noticed how sad she looked. "Are you okay?"
"Sure. I'm fine," she forced a smile onto her face.
"I am NOT convinced," he said looking at her closely. He moved until his nose was touching hers and looked at her cross-eyed. She started laughing at how ridiculous he looked. "There. THAT is a real smile. Wanna go somewhere to talk?"
She shrugged. "I guess," she glanced over at Alesha who seemed to be very upset. She was staring in their direction, talking quietly yet animatedly on her phone."Does Alesha mind?"
"Alesha? Why would she care?" Howie asked standing up and holding out his hand to Rebecca.
She shrugged and took his hand. "So, where're we going?" she asked following him outside.
"There's a small café down the way here. Very quiet. Kinda cool," he said smiling over at her. They walked the short distance to the café and went inside. He led her to a booth in the back. "What would you like?"
"An French Vanilla cappuccino," she answered quickly.
"A favorite?" he asked, his dark eyes twinkling.
She smiled. "Kind of."
"I'll be right back," he said winking and walking to the counter.
Rebecca studied him closely. The way he leaned one elbow on the bar, resting his weight on it, and one foot on the rungs of the stool in front of him. The way the soft lights of the room made his hair even darker and glossier. The way his smile lit up his whole face. The small movements his body made when he spoke. "I love this man," she thought. "This can't be happening. We're going to be leaving tomorrow and I'll never see him again. All I have is the memories of the last couple of days. While Alesha…Alesha gets the rest," she sighed and dropped her head in her hands.
"Here ya go sweetie," he said setting the cappuccino in front of her. Sliding into the seat across from her, he looked at her closely.
"Thanks," she said looking up. Taking sip from the cup, she smiled. "Perfect."
He winked. "Always for you," he said softly. Rebecca looked at him. He wasn't sure what it was that her face was expressing. "Becca," he said looking down at the table. "We…we need to talk." He looked back up at her to find her blue eyes studying him.
"What do we need to talk about, Howie?" she asked quietly. "It's not as if we're dating. We're probably never going to see each other again after tomorrow anyway. And you don't have to worry about me obsessively stalking you or anything. I'm not the type. I actually have a semi-normal life. Besides spending way too much time on the computer," she smiled lightly. Realizing he wasn't amused, she sighed. "Howie, I never in a million years dreamed I'd even be talking to you much less sharing a hotel room with you. The short amount of time I have been able to spend with you is way more than I have ever expected out of life. I thank you so much for it."
"Is that what you want?" he asked looking down at his cup. He looked up at her, and the sadness she seen in his eyes surprised her. "Do you want to leave it as a memory that will fade with time, eventually becoming an image in your mind that you can barely remember when or who it happened with? Do you want to one day wake up and think 'Man…what would've happened if I had gotten just one more day…one more hour to spend?'" he shook his head and looked away. "Rebecca, there is something…I'm not sure what it is…but there is something that makes me believe there is more for us than just these few moments that we have shared." He looked back at her suddenly. "I knew from the moment I looked into your eyes that there was something special between us. I would say it was from the first moment I saw you, but I was honestly too busy trying to get ya'll upstairs without being noticed," he chuckled.
"So what do we do Howie?" Rebecca asked, her eyes full of tears.
"I don't want you to go. We haven't had but two days. And there is so much more for us," he said taking her hand in his.
"What? What am I suppose to do? Go on tour with you? You can't very well come home with me, the other guys would have my head," she said laughing.
He looked at her, no trace of a smile on his face. "That's it exactly."
Realizing he was serious, she stopped laughing and stared at him. "You're not kidding, are you?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I want you with me. If you leave tomorrow whatever has started between us will never be finished."
She looked at him. "But, Howie, you don't…know me."
"I know enough to know that I want to know more. And how am I ever going to know more if you're thousands of miles away?" he asked. "Please Bec? Come with me? It's not all fun and games and glory and wonderfulness. But it's my life and it's only a few weeks. I just…I feel if I let you leave tomorrow, it will be for forever. Even if we do live in the same city."
"Can I think about it? Please?" she asked. Her heart was screaming for her to say yes. But her head was telling her to consider all the things that she had to give up to go with him.
"Sure. You can tell me in the morning," he smiled. "Ready to go?" He asked.
She nodded and stood up. "Can I ask you something?" she asked as they were walking out of the café.
He nodded and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Anything you want darlin."
"What about Alesha?"
"Alesha? Why do you keep asking me about her?"
"Well, because it seems like…that you two…well. Are you two closer than it seems you are?" she asked quietly.
Howie laughed. "Oh my god. Alesha? No. I'll admit, when I first met her and she was hanging out with us and stuff, yeah, I kinda hoped it would happen. But darlin, she's with Nicky and she loves him more than he deserves to be loved sometimes. I could never mess with that. Hell, I couldn't even begin to TOUCH that. I care for her. I love her. But she's just my friend. Probably my bestest friend in the world."
She smiled at him, touched by the depth of love and respect he had for Alesha. "I'm sorry. It's just been bothering me, I guess."
"Jealous were you?" he teased.
"No," she said defensively. "I just didn't think it was fair that she had captured two of ya'll and I didn't even have one." She looked at him as he was about to fall over from laughing. "Okay so I was a little jealous." He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Okay so it was a lot jealous," she grinned. "Better?"
