Chapter 5: New Friends Laura woke up bright and early, excited about the day ahead of her, but wanting to back to sleep to dream about the night before.  She got up and looked out of the large window in her room.  The sky emanated a turquoise blue, with the sun beaming on the ocean as if it were dancing among the waves.  She was able to appreciate the scenery even more today.  Something told her it was because of the events of the past 24 hours.  Smiling at the sky, she went to get ready. Promptly at noon, Laura went to the door as she saw Alex’s car pull up.  She went outside as Alex got out of the car. “Hey!” “Hey yourself,” Alex said as he scooped her up in a hug.  “Ready to go?” Laura held up her bag.  “Yup, all set.” “Let’s catch some waves then.” The ride up to the beach was only a few minutes.  “You’re gonna like my friends.  After all, I’ve spent every waking moment with them for the past 2 years.” “Do they know I’m coming?” Laura asked. “Are you kidding?  I told them I was going to invite you before we went out,” Alex said.  “They’re excited about meeting you.” A few minutes later, they arrived at the parking lot, got out their things, and headed to the boardwalk.  Laura saw out of the corner of her eye, 4 guys standing amidst blankets, towels and umbrellas. “There they are,” Alex pointed.  “Yo fellas!” “Yo AJ!” yelled one of them.  “Where you been?” “Forgot the time,” Alex responded.  “Laura, these are the Backstreet Boys and my best friends.”  He pointed to the first one.  “This is Howie, but sometimes we call him D.” “Hey,” he said as he shook Laura’s hand.  She took a personal inventory of each of them: long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, brown eyes and a tan muscular body. “This is Nick,” Alex said. “Hello,” Nick said.  He had short blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and thin. “This is Brian,” said Alex. “Hi,” he said to Laura, a hint of Southern accent detected.  He had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and twinkling grin. And this is Kevin,” said Alex.  A chiseled face, with dark, haunting eyes was brought on by a warm, inviting smile. “What’s up?” he said. “It’s nice to meet you all,” said Laura.  They all set up blankets, and went into the water to swim.  After a lengthy splash fight, and some down-water time, they all gathered at their blankets for lunch. “Alex tells us you’re interning here,” said Kevin. “Yup,” answered Laura, nursing a garden salad.  “I’m working at Stratton Entertainment for the summer, probably being holed up in a sea of paperwork.” “So I guess you’re a communications major,” said Nick. “At St. Johns University.  I guess instead of lounging around in New York City, I decided to get some credit in.  When my professor told me about this internship, I jumped at the chance: 2 ½ months of living in Florida?  Why the hell pass that up?  I want to get a head start, make some contacts y’know?” “It’s all about networking,” agreed Howie.  “We’ve been there too.” Laura smiled.  She knew she had an instant connection to these guys, not because they were a group of singers but because she had found them to be genuine and true, like Alex was.  Their conversation continued for a while.  Laura told them about New York and life at college; they told her about what it was like being so well known in Europe.  Laura and Alex laid down for some good old tanning.  As Laura had her eyes closed, soaking in the sun, Alex lifted his head and turned to look at her.  His eyes moved down the silhouette of her body.  Laura peeked through squinted eyes.  “Can’t take the sun?” Alex had gotten startled.  “I… guess so.  Wanna head out?” “Sure, why don’t we order some take out at my place?” “Sounds good,” he said.  He turned to the guys.  “We’re gonna get going.” “So are we,” said Nick.  “I think I could fry an egg on my chest.” They gathered their blankets and things.  “I had a great time hanging out.” “We got to do this again soon,” said Kevin. “Definitely,” said Laura.  She said good-bye to the guys, Alex did too, and they headed back to the apartment. After ordering some mean dim sum and Chinese dumplings, Alex and Laura snuggled onto the couch, channel surfing.  “The president said today…” “Don’t even thinking about leav-“ “He brings it down the line…” “Jesus, don’t you settle on anything?” Alex said. “I can’t help it if I have particular tastes.” “Yeah, well your ‘particular tastes’ are hurting my eyes,” said Alex, then he grabbed the remote control from her hands.  He flipped to MTV where Ananda Lewis was bringing a set of videos.  “…Let’s bring on a video that has been delighting the sight of millions of girls nationwide.  I’m talking about the Orlando-based group, the Backstreet Boys, with ‘Quit Playing Games.’” “Oh boy,” Alex said exasperated.  He was going to change the channel when Laura grabbed the remote from his hand. “Don’t you dare!” she exclaimed.  “I wanna see you in action.” Alex covered his face in his hands as Laura watched them, standing in wet opened shirts, hamming it up for the cameras.  By the end of the video, Laura was clutching her stomach in laughter.  “Ha-ha-ha!” “Go ahead, laugh it up now, get it all out.” Alex mused. “Aw, I’m sorry,” said Laura sarcastically.  “I really liked you in those Bono-type glasses.  Ha-ha-ha!” “Oh, so you think my glasses are funny?” said Alex in a mocking tone. “No, I think they add a mystery to you.”  Laura erupted in laughter again. “OK, so you wanna laugh huh?  I’ll show you laughing!”  He grabbed her, and started tickling her fiercely. “No, ha-ha-ha, I’ll throw up!” “Now who’s laughing, huh?” He tickled her even harder. “Alex…. Stop!” she stammered.  He flopped her onto the end of the couch.  “Give up?” he said. “OK… OK… I… give,” Laura said, out of breath. “I knew you were the ticklish type,” said Alex. Laura regained her breath.  “You know, you did look sexy in that video.” “Oh really…” “Mm-hmm,” Laura caressed his cheek.  “Is that your trademark?” “I have about a hundred pairs of them,” Alex said, this time resting his elbows on either side of her head. “I don’t know why you wear them, you have incredible eyes.” Laura lightly kissed his eyelids. “And I was impressed with how you wore that bikini today,” Alex said, looking straight at her, his lips inches from hers, brushing her hair from her face. “Liked it?” “Very much.” “Why don’t you show me how much you liked it?” “With pleasure,” he grunted.  He leaned down and kissed her with a fierce passion.  Laura’s fingers were intertwined with his hair, as the kisses became deeper.  He planted soft kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, not letting the kiss stop as he made his way to the nape of her neck.  Laura arched her neck with the feeling of his kisses, not wanting them to stop.  She let out a sigh of ecstasy when the phone suddenly rang.  “You better get that.” Alex said.  He got up, Laura followed suit and answered the phone.  “Hello?” “Is Jordan there?” “I’m sorry, you have the wrong number.”  Laura hung up the phone.  Alex stood up, smoothed his shirt out and said, “I think I better go.” Laura stood up.  “Why?  It was a wrong number.” Alex took a deep breath and held her hands.   “You know I like you right?” “Yeah…” “But I don’t want to take things too fast, OK?  Let’s stop before we take the night too far.” Laura nodded with agreement.  “You’re right.  That wasn’t a wrong number, something was stopping us.  Besides I have to start my internship tomorrow.” Laura walked Alex to the door.  “I’ll call ya when I get home.” “I’ll wait by the phone.”  He took her face in his hands and kissed her softly.  “Good night.” “Good Night.”  She waited by the door as Alex got into his car and drove away. Later that night… Laura lay in bed, looking at the sky through the skylight.  It was a sky of dreamers and lovers, with the clear blackness, dotted with an infinite number of stars.  She sighed, thinking about what happened before.  She did like Alex, even if it was for a couple of days that she had known him.  She hoped that some force out there knew what they were doing bringing her and him together.  Even though this was a whirlwind, she knew, by some long shot, she had found someone that had changed her life. At the same time… Alex looked from his terrace, nursing a bottle of water he had been sipping for about an hour.  He noticed the view of the beach, of the waves crashing down on the surf.  He knew that he was right in stopping the passion that had erupted in Laura’s apartment.  He didn’t want her to be a “conquest” of his, like he had in Europe.  This girl was special, he didn’t know how, or why, but the feelings that had stirred in him from the first time he saw her in his grandmother’s patio were not just of a physical nature.  He wanted to know her, and hopping into bed during the first couple of days into their relationship was not the way to go.  He looked up at the sky.  “Please let this be right… please.” Chapter 6 Contents Chapter 4