More To Come...
JC also told Mer all about the trip that him and the guys had made to New York. It was on their plane ride home that Johnny got a call and was informed that the little girl they had visited died a few hours after meeting the guys. At least her dream was fulfilled. The guys spent the rest of their ride home just thinking about the things that they take for granted every day.
“So, do you have to go into the studio today?” Mer asked JC over the phone.
“Yeah I’m there right now. For a couple hours at least. I don’t really know what we’re working on, but whatever,” he laughed.
“I’m sure they’ll keep you busy,” she laughed back. She piled the papers she had just finished going through.
“So what are you doing today?”
“I actually just got a new case.”
“What is it?”
“It’s small stuff for what I usually do, but Mary-Ann is out of town so she asked me to take it. It’s a family dispute.”
“What kind?”
“Well, this boy is seventeen. His girlfriend just had a baby and doesn’t want him in the babies life. So, he’s fighting to have his name put on the birth certificate and all that stuff. She made a big deal out of it and doesn’t want to settle it personally. There is no jury or anything. But they each needed an attorney on their side to represent their case.”
“And which side are you on?” JC asked. He shook his head at Justin as he offered him a piece of popcorn.
“The boy’s side.”
“Good. Make sure he gets on that. I can’t imagine being deprived of that stuff.”
Mercedes smiled. “Me either. Well I really should go now. I have to get stuff gathered and all that. You gonna be around for dinner?”
“You inviting me over?” JC grinned.
She smiled again. “Yes I am.”
“Then yeah, I’ll be over around seven if that’s alright.”
“It is,” she replied.
“Great. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Bye sweetie,” she said and then hung up the phone.
“Why are you eating popcorn before we go in and record?” JC asked Justin.
“Because the Constitution Of Rights says that I can.”
Chris laughed on the other side of the room. “Yeah C, that’s what it says all right.”
“Get off of it,” JC replied.
“Oh touchy, touchy.”
“I was just kidding. Man y’all are losing it.”
“Yeah, ANYWAY,” Joey said. “What’s the new skimmy on Mer and Bobbie. Did she bash in her head yet or anything?”
JC laughed. “No. Nothing has happened since Bobbie keyed the car. Mer took it in and it wasn’t too deep so they just buffed it and it looks okay now.”
“I wouldn’t take that crap,” Justin interrupted. “If I were Mer it would totally be pay back time.”
“Well Mercedes isn’t looking for Bobbie. I’m sure if she runs into her she’ll put up claws though.”
Chris laughed. “Oh yeah she will! I know my Mer, and she will not let it just go. She may say she will, but she won’t. She’ll pull hair and bite too.”
Joey laughed loud and said, “JC is involved with a cat-toddler.”
“Cat-toddler?”
“Yeah. You know. It’s a cat fight, they always say that hair gets pulled. And toddlers bite!”
“You’re a dork Joey,” Justin laughed.
“Whatever. She’ll get you too JC, just wait till you piss her off.”
“It’s not something that I exactly intend on doing anytime soon thank you very much,” JC answered back with a stern yet joking voice.
“We’ll see,” everyone laughed.
“Wait wait. Do y’all know something I don’t know?” JC asked confused.
They all chuckled.
“Let’s go guys,” Johnny said from inside the recording room.
“No, what are y’all hiding from me?” JC pushed Lance on the way in.
“I didn’t say a word,” Lance said in a steady tone.
“Justin?”
“Not a word.”
“I’m gonna hurt each of you,” JC threatened and then shut the door behind him as he entered the room.
“I’m coming,” Mercedes yelled as she ran thru the living room and to the front door. She opened the door to find JC standing there with a vase of white and yellow carnations. “Oh my God they’re beautiful. What are they for?”
“You of course,” JC said and leaned down a little to give her a kiss.
Mer gave him half a smile. “What did you do?” she tilted her head.
“I didn’t do anything that I can remember. Did I do something?” he asked, hoping he would find out what the guys were talking about.
“No, not that I’M aware of. JC what’s going on?” she asked. “I’m not dumb. You always bring me a single flower when you’re ‘just thinking of me’. There are like fifteen flowers here.”
“Well the guys said you were gonna cat-toddler fight me too.”
“What?” she squeaked.
JC shook his head. Finally it hit him. The guys were just yanking his chains. “I’m gonna hurt them for real.”
“So you thought you were in trouble?”
JC held his head down. “Uh huh.”
“You should be,” she snickered. “But the flowers are beautiful, so I shall forgive you this time.”
“That’s nice. Considering I didn’t do anything.”
“Yet,” she filled in. Slowly she walked through her living room and headed to her kitchen to put the vase on the counter between the bar set.
“I guess you got me there.” JC wrapped his hands around her waist and kissed her neck.
“Mmm,” she sighed. “I’ve definitely missed you.”
“Oh have you?” he joked.
“I have indeed.” She turned around and brought her lips to his. “Mmm, yup. I have,” she smiled.
“I’ve missed you too. It’s been, what, like twenty something hours since I’ve seen you,” he laughed. “So how was your day?” he asked as he helped her put the dinner on the table.
“It was good. I got to talk to my client. He is a nice young man. We go into court on Thursday at two.”
“You think you have a chance?”
“I think we have a good chance. Which reminds me. Why didn’t you have your key?”
“I did. I just thought it would be more effective if you answered the door to see me standing with a vase full of flowers.”
Mer couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re too much.”
“I know,” he smiled. He reached over the table and touched her hand. “I love you,” he whispered.
JC had said it to her before, but right then... with the look he had on his face, the way his eyes sparkled, and the way he held his hand on hers, she knew it was real. “I love you too,” she whispered. Then the two of them had a moment of silence and then got to their super.
“That was really good Mer,” JC said as he leaned around her to put the plate he had just finished drying in the cabinet.
“Thanks,” she smiled and just looked at him.
“So how did I get so lucky as to get you?” he asked her and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.
She blushed and failed at withholding her smile back. “You were patient with me and my crazy ways.”
“You weren’t that crazy. Maybe a little though,” he smiled and made his fingers show about an inch of craziness.
Mer laughed. “You had your fair share of being an ass though.”
“Hey now. I couldn’t just let you step all over my pride.”
“I know. You could have maybe let me tip toe on it some though.”
“Maybe,” he grinned. “But no need for that now. I’ve got ya and don’t plan on letting go any time soon.” JC looked down at the dishes. “Can these wait a little while?”
“Why?”
“I want to take you somewhere.”
“Where?” Mercedes asked with surprise.
“Now if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it.”
“No I guess it wouldn’t,” she shared half of a smile with him. “I’ll just go get my sweater.”
“K, I’ll meet you out by the car.”
“Ok,” she raised an eye brow. She had no idea what he was doing, but she figured she would go along with it anyway. She ran upstairs to get her Lavender color sweater and then trotted down the stones outside to JC’s car.
“This is where I go when I am in a slump and just want to write music. There’s something about this area that just puts me at ease. This is where I was when I wrote Selfish.” JC said as he pulled his car into a grassy area over looking part of the city.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Mer said as she glanced out the window. “Really it is.”
JC shut off the car and just sat there for a minute. He was trying to absorb something, though he wasn’t really sure of what. “Yeah it is.” JC looked at her and then leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“For what?” he asked.
“For loving me.”
JC looked at her and smiled. “It’s not a hard thing to do at all. You grow on a person.”
“Oh so I’ve grown on ya like a fungus eh?” she laughed and opened the car door.
“Yeah I guess you have,” JC laughed back and opened his car door to get out. “Let’s go over here.”
“It’s so nice. It’s so dark out and yet you can see all the lights in the city and it just makes it glow.”
“Yup,” he agreed. He put his hands around her waist and just held them there for a few minutes. “So are you gonna tear Bobbie to shreds next time you see her?”
“Do you not want me to?” she asked and backed up a little bit.
“I didn’t say that. I was just curious. The guys were talking about it today and it just popped in my head.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if I saw her again. She’s done nothing to try to be nice to me from the very beginning, so I see no real reason in being nice to her either.”
“This I do agree on.”
“Glad we’re on the same page,” she laughed. Mer sat down on the grass and patted the spot next to her. “So, Mr. Chasez...,” she started.
“Yes.”
“What’s the one thing in the world you’re afraid of?”
“Other than needles?”
“Yes ya dork. Other than needles,” she said and gave him a little shove.
JC scratched his chin and then looked at her. “Being so involved in my career that I forget that I need someone. That I don’t give them the time that they deserve. That I don’t have children to watch grow up. That if I do have children, I don’t ruin their lives.”
Mercedes ran her hand thru JC’s hair. “You could never ruin anyone’s life sweetie.”
“I think I could,” he answered back.
“Well I don’t,” she smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss.
“Thanks,” he replied back after a sweet kiss. “What about you?” he asked and poked her in the nose.
“Me?” she asked and pointed at herself.
“No, that there ant crawling around in the grass.”
Mer shrieked. “Ew there’s an ant by me?!”
JC couldn’t help but crack up. “You’re such a dork.”
Mer smiled. “I’m afraid of dying the way my aunt died... and of losing another man I love.”
JC didn’t know what to say to that one.
“My Aunt just got sick one day, then a month later she died. She had cancer and it moved at a rapid rate once she found out she had it.”
“Does it run in the family. Cancer that is?” he got a bit worried.
“I don’t think it does. But even if it didn’t, she still managed to get it.”
“I’m sorry baby.”
“I just wanna live to see my children get married.”
“I’m sure you will,” JC reassured her and ran his hands over her back. JC looked deep into her eyes and they said it all.
Mer leaned back into the grass and JC’s lips covered hers with soft warm kisses. He held his body over hers and wished to the high heavens that neither of them would ever have to face their worst fears. He ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek and then went back in for a kiss. Nothing could have made that night more beautiful than it already was.
~~*~~*~~A Few Days Later~~*~~*~~
“Joey get off of it!” Chris yelled.
“Say please,” Joey said back.
“No, get off.”
“What the heck are y’all yellin about,” JC said as Justin and Lance walked in with him.
“Nothing,” Chris yipped.
“Whiner,” Joey said.
“Joey I’m gonna hurt you if you don’t give it to me now.”
“Blah blah blah.”
Chris reached his arms up and shoved Joey right off of the desk.
“Holy!” Joey yelled as he hit the floor.
The other guys hadn’t laughed so hard in their lives.
“Thank you,” Chris said and took the files off the desk. “He was sittin on my designs and wouldn’t get his lard ass off of it.”
Joey stood up and shoved Chris.
“Hey hey,” Justin said and stood between them.
“I was only messing with him,” Joey stated.
“You were only pissin me off!” Chris said back.
“What’s going on in here?” Johnny asked.
The guys all stood up and acted like nothing was going on. “Nothing,” three of them said in unison.
Johnny nodded his head and held it down. “Get in there then. We’ve gotta finish this track today.”
“Moving,” Lance said and headed for the recording room.
“All of you,” Johnny said and waited as each of them entered the room.
“Yes, that’s all we’re asking for,” Mer told the Judge.
“I herby state that Mr. Kyle Grayson be put on the birth certificate of his child Riley Michael Standford. The last name does not need to be changed, for that is the wish of the mother that he carry her name, but he will be put as the father and thereby has all rights to file for custody or partial custody or any type of visitations. Case closed.”
Kyle sighed a sigh of relief. He was so happy. “Thank you so much,” he said to Mer.
“It was my pleasure,” she said to him and then watched as he hugged his mother.
The mother of her child turned her nose and muttered the whole way out the door. She gave Mercedes a look to kill and then proceeded out of the court room.
Mer put the key in her door and then slowly pushed it open. “Here it is, still early and yet I am exhausted.” She kicked off her high heels and shuffled her feet on the floor. With both hands, she ran her fingers through her hair and yawned. “Mm, I wonder when C is gonna get off work,” she said and looked at the clock.
A few minutes later Mercedes walked into the living room and threw herself on the couch. “I am so bored,” she said to herself. She picked up the remote for the TV and flipped it on. “With my luck there isn’t going to be anything on,” she mumbled. Just as she passed the CMT channel, her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Mer, hey it’s me.”
“Hey you. What ya doing?”
“I was just calling to tell you that I was gonna be here for awhile. Johnny has us working on this commercial and the guys are acting like idiots so we aren’t getting much done quickly.”
“Oh, well that’s okay.”
“You mad?” he asked.
“No, I’m not mad. I’m just really tired and bored.”
“Well why don’t you take a nap then hun?”
“I dunno. Maybe I will. Are you gonna stop by here tonight?”
“If you want me to. I don’t wanna bother ya though if you’re trying to sleep tonight,” he said with a smirk. Too bad she couldn’t see it.
“Well, call me when you get done and see what I’m doing.”
“Ok, will do.”
“Go have fun. Tell those guys to behave.”
“I’ve tried that one,” he laughed. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye hun.”
“Talk to you later C. Tell the guys hi for me.”
“K, bye,” he said and then clicked his phone off.
Mercedes hung up her phone and just spread out on the couch. “Maybe just a short nap,” she told herself and then shut her eyes.
“Mer said to tell you guys hi and to grow up,” JC told the guys when he went back into the studio after their five minute break.
“I am all grown,” Chris said.
“Not compared to us tall folk,” Joey said.
Justin began to laugh hysterically. “You guys are just trying to piss each other off today. So how is Mer?” Justin then directed his question toward JC.
“She fine. She’s tired, so she’s probably taking a nap right now.”
“Must run in your girlfriend check list,” Joey jumped in.
“What do you mean?” JC asked.
“I always remember Bobbie taking naps right around this time of day too.”
“Odd things you guys remember about MY girlfriends,” JC said. “Let’s finish this stupid thing so we can go,” he changed the subject. Bobbie was not a topic of conversation he wanted to cover. It was funny that it was brought up though, because that was exactly what Bobbie was doing at that very moment.... sleeping.
“Jeeze, where did the time go?” Mer asked herself as she sat up on the couch and looked at the clock. Mercedes stretched her arms out and made a rather odd sound as she did so. Within seconds she was yelling though. “Shit!” she yelled. There was a trail of cranberry juice pouring onto the beige rug. She hit the glass when she stretched and now she has to deal with stained carpet.
Mercedes jumped up quickly and ran to the kitchen to grab a towel. She got one corner of it wet and then ran back into the living room. “This is just great,” she mumbled as she pressed the towel into the rug and then proceeded to scrub it with the wet part of the towel.
After a few minutes of soaking and scrubbing, she got up and went back to the kitchen to look for some stain remover. She opened the kitchen closet and looked on the shelves. She didn’t see it anywhere. “Ugh this is so not what I wanted to wake up to,” she groaned.
So, with much dismay, she ran both her hands through her hair and picked up her purse. Once she got to the front door, she put on JC’s flip flops that he had left there a few days ago. “This will work just fine,” she said aloud as she opened the door and headed out.
With her hands both on the wheel, she titled her head side to side listening to the song on the radio. Just ahead of her the light turned red and she slowed down her car. “Just my luck,” she said as a car full of guys pulled up next to her.
“Hey baby,” the driver yelled.
Mer just looked at them and smirked.
“What’s wrong baby?” another guy yelled out the window. “Why you all alone?”
Mer tried to ignore them. Finally the light changed and Mercedes floored it. Of course she wasn’t out of the clear yet though. It was only a few seconds later that the guys pulled up beside her again. “This is insane,” she said.
“Why you trying to ditch us?” a guy yelled out the back window of the car.
Mer just turned to them and smiled. Soon the loud music filled her car and blared out the windows. “Baby bye bye bye,” by none other than Nsync was playing.
It was an obvious that it would bother the guys. A few of them made gagging noises and then the others tried to act like they were jamming. “We’re not going anywhere sweet thang,” the driver yelled.
“That’s what you think,” Mer said and she immediately took the exit she was next to. It caused the guys to stay on the main road and therefore miss Mercedes.
Mer had made her way through a neighborhood to go the store now instead of just taking her normal exit. “Oh just what I wanted to drive by,” she hissed as she turned on Bobbie’s street. “Hmm,” she tilted her head and a grin the size of a mountain took over her face. “Payback is a bitch,” she said and then slowed down as she approached Bobbie’s house.
Mer put her car in park and stared out the window at Bobbie’s place. She had only driven by it a few other times when her and Jessica were out and about. She knew for sure that it was her house though because her car was nicely parked in the driveway. “I’m so surprised she doesn’t have gates and guards trying to protect her,” she laughed and opened the car door. “She just might need them.”
Very quietly Mercedes snuck up to the door. She tried to peek through the peep hole but she couldn’t see much at all. Without being obvious, she turned to make sure that no one was watching her from the house across the street, then she lightly knocked on the door. What the heck was she gonna do if Bobbie answered the door? Mer had actually heard JC ranting over how girls are always taking naps, so she was just hoping that this was another one of those times.
After knocking softly three times no one answered. Mer held her breath and grabbed the doorknob. “Oh my goodness how dumb are you?” she said quietly, and the knob turned and the door opened. “What famous person leaves their house unlocked? Eh, well I never did think all her screws were in place,” she laughed. Mer peeked her head in the door and whispered, “Hello?” Still no answer. “She’s got to be here,” she said to herself and then slowly opened the door the rest of the way.
Mer walked in and immediately stopped. She looked at her feet and then took the flip flops off right by the door. Mercedes could always hear JC walking through the house in those things because they flapped all over the place as he walked. She didn’t want Bobbie to hear her. “This is so breaking and entering,” she giggled. “Well she did it to me so I really don’t give a damn!”
The house smelled of fresh flowers. And was extremely clean. “I wish she’d have passed this clean habit off to JC when they were together,” she said to herself as she ran her finger on the desk and it didn’t even leave a dust mark. She sighed and went through what seemed to be the entertainment room. Mer almost fell as she tried to stop too fast when she saw Bobbie laying on the couch in front of her. She grabbed her mouth and tried not to make any noises.
“What the hell am I doing in here?” she thought as she shook her head back and forth. With her eye sharp, she looked around the room. “Wonder if she is a deep sleeper?” she wondered. “She sure does snore.” With a little too much bravery, Mercedes took a book off of the shelf and dropped it to see if Bobbie would move. As the book fell, Mer hid behind the couch in case Bobbie awoke. Mission accomplished. Bobbie didn’t even flinch. If she wasn’t snoring so loud Mer might have thought she was dead by her lack of response to the sudden noise.
“Oh this is wonderful.” Mercedes really wanted to do something to Bobbie or to the house, but she knew she had to do it so that there was no way Bobbie could think it was her, or anyone else for that matter. It had to be something that would be like it was her own fault. Bobbie left something out that was the perfect setup.
It seemed that Bobbie was painting her toenails before she took her nice nap. The thing that was inviting to Mercedes was the fact that Bobbie left the nail polish open and on the arm of the couch. “Not much brains up there I take it. You like your nice clean house? Well I liked my car before it was keyed and I like knowing that you won’t bother JC and I again.”
That was said and done and Mercedes decided to get mean. She took the bright red nail polish and tipped it over. It splattered on the couch and then hit the ground where it continued to leak in a nice puddle on the white rug. Mer had to cover her mouth as she so desperately wanted to giggle.
“Looks like she’s gonna be one mad person when she awakes,” Mer let out a soft giggle and watched the nail polish set into the rug. As Mercedes figured she had caused enough havoc, she decided it was time for her to get to the store and continue what she had planned in the first place. She carefully crept back to the front door, put on her shoes and left. Without even looking back, she got in her car and proceeded out of the driveway.
It was probably an hour later that Bobbie started to toss on the couch. She yawned and stretched, then sat up. She looked at her toes and smiled at how well they looked now that the paint wasn’t all chipped and fading. Then finally it hit her. “Where is that nail polish?” she asked herself as she was about to do her nails too. She looked down and curse words came out of her mouth like they never had before. “Oh my God!” she yelled. She picked up the bottle, which was almost empty by the time it had all drained onto the rug. Bobbie slapped herself in the forehead and got up as quick as she could. She knew she didn’t have any stain remover, so she put on her shoes and bolted out the door to go to the store. Lucky for both her and Mercedes that it had been an hour since Mercedes went to the store, so the wouldn’t have to face each other.