Part Ten
Mercedes slipped through her door and stood behind it as she waited for Chris to leave. “Mer I got what I needed. I’ll see you in two hours!” he yelled up the stairs.
“Okay, bye Chris,” she yelled back down at him. “Man,” she sighed. “I guess that’s what I get for snooping around. Well,” she breathed in heavily, “I need to go fix the mess I made in there. She left her room and went up the last flight of stairs at the end of the hallway. She ran her hand along the wall as she made her way down to JC’s room. Mercedes put her hand on the door knob and almost stopped breathing as she did so. “Oh my God, don’t do this!” she yelled. She giggled the door knob again. “Shit,” she said and kicked the door. “Please,” she said and yanked the handle again.
Mercedes leaned up against the door. When she slammed the door shut behind her on the way out, she must have accidentally triggered the lock on the inside of his door. “What the hell do I now!?” she said out loud to herself. She took a deep breath and then ran down the steps, two at a time, all the way to the bottom floor. She stood there for a moment and then ran into the kitchen. “Where is...” she started. “Ha, this should work,” she said and then headed back up the stairs to JC’s room.
Once she got there, she got down on her knees and looked at the door knob. “Thank God,” she said as she studied it. It was just like the door knob that she had on her door when she was in high school. There is a little bitty hole right in the center of the handle, therefore, making it able for her to jimmy the lock. She took the safety pins and pulled out the needle so that they were straight instead of curved inward. With both of the pins inside the small hole, she twisted and turned them until she could feel the latch on the inside of the handle. “Good,” she sighed. “Okay, come on Mer, you can do this.” She stopped. “No, you HAVE to do this,” she took a deep breath again and then put one hand on the door knob. Slowly she twisted the handle as she turned the pins at the same time. She could feel the lock starting to turn. “Come on,” she said. Just as she said that, the lock snapped and the door opened. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” she exclaimed.
She got up off the floor and went back into his room. She went straight to the drawer that she had left open and carefully she put everything back in. She stopped right before she put in the picture of JC practically naked. “Lucky bitch,” she said in reference to Bobbie. “No way in hell that you deserve this,” she said and then put the picture back in the drawer underneath a few other photos. “Alright Mer, you have learned your lesson.” Mercedes got up and stuck the little paperclip in the drawer lock so that she could lock it back up. There was no way that she was going to hunt around the rest of his room looking for the key to lock up that drawer. If she managed to unlock that, AND the door to his room, she could lock the stupid drawer back up.
A few minutes later, after locking the drawer and making sure that everything was in order, she slowly shut the door to his room as she made her way out. She leaned up against the wall and shook her head. Mercedes couldn’t believe that she had just done what she did. “Oh well,” she laughed and got over it. She glanced at her watch and realized that she had an hour and a half before Chris would be there to pick her up. She hustled to the staircase and then back to her room so that she could get ready. There was no way that she was going to go out looking the way that she did right then.
“So how is your house coming along?” Mercedes asked Chris. The two of them were in Chris’s car and they were on their way to get something to eat.
“I am pretty sure that I can get back in there within the next few days. I sure hope so. It’s one thing to be on tour with Joey. I don’t have to ride on his tour bus. I can’t take living with him for much longer. He’s driving me insane,” he laughed.
“Oh you know that you love it,” she giggled back at him.
“If you say so,” he smiled. Chris chewed on his lip as he looked out the window. “So how do you like JC’s place?” he asked.
“It’s really nice. I still don’t really know where things are though. I have to open all the cabinets twice before I find what I am looking for.”
“I have to do that at my own house,” Chris interrupted.
“You’re also a lot stranger than I am,” she giggled.
“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment, thank you very much.”
“Ha, anytime. But yeah, I like it. I can’t wait to get into my own place though. JC is going to have a fit when he finds out that I stayed in his house while he was away.”
“Eh, I’ll take all the crap for it. He’ll get over it.”
“Do you think he’ll really get mad?” she asked as Chris took the exit ramp just to his right.
“Not really, no. Well maybe a little, yeah.”
“I’ll be out of there soon anyways so I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
“Very true.”
“So, it’s not gonna take like two hours to get where we’re going, is it? Cause I am starving,” she laughed and rubbed her hand over her small stomach.
“Quit complaining. We’re almost there,” he answered back with attitude in his voice.
“Yes sir!” she said loudly and saluted him as would a soldier to his boss.
“So you are coming out in two days right?” JC asked Bobbie.
“Yup. I have a couple things I need to get done in Jersey. I leave for there in,” she looked at JC’s wrist, “two hours.”
“I don’t leave out of here till five,” he said back with a pout.
“I’m sorry.” Bobbie rolled over on the bed and then rolled back toward JC. “Look,” she said and held up a pair of earrings.
JC shook his head. “Those are nice.” He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.
“I’m glad you like them,” she said back. “After all, you bought them.”
JC looked at them again. He knew he didn’t buy her those. “I did?”
“Yeah, you did when I was in town the other day. Today is our anniversary baby. This is what you got me, since you obviously forgot.”
He gave himself a mental slap. “Wow,” he sighed. “I am so lost on my time. I’m sorry Bobbie.”
“I knew you weren’t going to remember, so I just told the store to put it on your account. You don’t mind do you?” she asked and gave him a puppy dog look.
He actually wished that she hadn’t done that, but what was he gonna say? “No sweetie. It’s alright. It was the least I could do. For forgetting and all.”
“Thanks!” she exclaimed and kissed him quickly.
“Sure,” he said quietly and then rolled out of the bed. “I’m gonna go take a shower. I’ll be downstairs in a minute okay?”
“Okay,” she smiled at him from the bed. She looked right from him back to her newest ‘gift’ - A pair of ruby earrings that were trimmed in diamonds. What a wonderful gift he bought her. Actually, what a wonderful gift she bought for herself, with his money.
“Chris this place is so cute,” Mercedes tried to tell him, but he was too occupied looking at everything around them.
“I know right. I had a feeling that you would like this place. I still can’t believe that you’ve never been in one before.”
“Nope,” she smiled and looked at a monkey hanging from the rafters.
Mercedes and Chris stood in line at the Rainforest Cafe and waited patiently as the people in front of them took forever to figure out how many people were in their party. When the hostess finally got to them Mercedes was all too happy. Her stomach was growling and she wanted to see the rest of the place.
“Right this way please,” a lady said. She held two menu’s and wore a green waist apron with pockets in it.
“Wow Chris. I am way too easily amused,” Mercedes giggled.
“I know,” he chuckled back.
The walked between the bar and a set of booths, and all above them were lots and lots of leaves. A little to their left was a huge tube that was filled with water and little bitty fish. There were lights flashing in little streams along the sides of the wall, and the room was filled with the sound of a tiger roaring. As the lady took them to their table, they passes a cheetah that was hiding behind the brush, and an enormous elephant that stood in the far corner.
“It’s amazing how real these thing look Chris,” she said in awe.
“That’s why they got paid the big bucks to make them,” he laughed.
“Yeah yeah. I really appreciate you bringing me here Chris. I love it. Hopefully the food is as good as the surroundings are.”
“Oh it is. Promise!”
“Oh my word, I’m stuffed,” Mercedes managed to moan. She held her hand over her bare mid-drift and leaned against the back of the chair.
“I feel ya on that one,” Chris agreed without hesitation.
“What now?”
“I don’t know. You wanna do anything?”
“Whatever man. This is like your day. You told ME to be ready.”
Chris smirked. “Hmm, I guess you’re right. Well in that case...” he said and pulled out his credit card and set it inside of the booklet for the bill. “I say we head out to the studio for a little while. Justin said that you have an amazing recording voice. I find it hardly fair that he knows that, and I don’t. We’re like best friends.”
“Chris I don’t really like to sing though.”
“And I’m afraid of heights. Have you seen the shit they’ve done to me?” he exclaimed.
“Good point, I guess,” she said back with a blank look on her face. “I’ll think about it,” she said.
“Think about it on the way,” he demanded.
“Chris...” she whined. “Dude your pocket is vibrating,” she giggled.
“You think I can’t feel that,” he said back sarcastically. “Hello?”
“Hey bro que pasa?”
“No speaka no spanish or no ingles nada,” he joked.
“Then how the hell did you manage to get a little bit of jacked up English and Spanish in that there sentence?”
Chris laughed. “What do you need Joe?”
“Nothing. I’m bored.”
“So.”
“So? You don’t care about your friends anymore? How the heck did your mother raise you in that manner?”
“What do you need Joe?” he asked again.
“What are you and Mer doing?”
“We’re about to go out to the studio.”
“What for?” he asked.
“Just to mess around. Why?”
“Can I come along?” he begged like a baby. “Pweeeaaassse???”
“Oh my God,” he covered the phone, “Mer do you mind if Joe comes out there?”
“Why would I?”
“Because I am still gonna make you sing,” he informed her.
“Chris...” she pouted.
“Well?”
“I’m just chilling over here waiting,” Joey talked to Chris, or to himself, or to Chris.
“I don’t care Chris,” she finally gave in.
“Meet us there in thirty minutes.”
“Okay,” Joey laughed. “Later.”
“Peace,” Chris said and then shut off his phone. “Come on lady,” he said and grabbed her hand. “Off to the studio we go.”
“Don’t remind me,” she whined again, but followed in step behind Chris.
JC leaned his head against the window of the airplane. He looked out but only saw the blue of the sky. With a soft sigh, he shut his eyes. Within seconds, he was in a dreamland. He was standing in his room, but he had on a blind fold. JC could feel the presence of someone else with him. He licked his lips and whispered, “Why do I.......” his words trailed off as he felt the tips of someone’s fingers glaze over his arm.
“Shuuu,” she whispered back to him.
JC licked his lips again and didn’t say a word. He just stood there as her fingers went up his arm and over his shoulders. JC breathed in deeply as his body shook. Her hands slid down his back and rested just at the top of his jeans. She slowly leaned in and lightly blew on his neck. That movement alone sent chills up JC’s spine.
“What are.....” he started.
“Shuuu,” she whispered again.
Once again JC did as he was told. A soft moan escaped his mouth as he felt her gentle touch against his bare skin. Her fingers traced the top of his jeans and stopped right in the front. The rim of his shirt was slightly raised as she slid her hand up the bottom of his shirt. She opened her hands so that her palms were flat against his stomach. She wanted to feel each crevice of his body, every muscle that was beneath her hands.
JC took deep breaths as she let her soft touch make him quiver. He raised his hands and found his way to the sides of her face. He ran his fingers over every curve. They slid down her nose and slowly brushed against her soft pouty lips. He ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip and she gently kissed it. She looked up at him and wished that she could look into his eyes and not have to turn away. JC cupped her face with both of his hands and slowly brought his head closer to hers. Her eyes batted quickly as he got closer and closer to her. She could soon feel his breath on her lips. JC, too, could feel her soft breath hitting the outer parts of his lips. He wanted more than anything to kiss her; to feel her against him.
JC leaned in a little further and their lips met. It was a soft kiss. Their lips barely brushed against each other. Then ever so slowly, he opened his mouth and let his tongue glaze over the top of her lips. She accepted the invitation, and in return opened her mouth. The softness of their tongues together made JC’s knees go weak. His hands were wrapped around the back of her hair and he ran his thumbs on the nape of her neck.
She backed away from him and reached her hands to the back of his head. She wrapped her fingers around the tie on the blind fold and began to untie it. It started to fall from his eyes and JC slowly batted his eyes open, ready to look into the eyes of the girl that was making his knees fall apart.....
“We will be running into some air-pockets in a few minutes. No need to be alarmed, but please fasten your seatbelts,” the voice said over the intercom.
JC shook his head quickly as he came back into reality. “Shit. What the hell was that about?” he asked himself. He licked his lips and went to wipe his forehead. He grinned and then looked at the sweat on his fingers. “Man that was a wicked dream,” he said and then buckled his seatbelt and reached for the headset on the back of the seat in front of him. “Get it together C,” he said and then hit the ‘play’ button, and attempted to close his eyes again.
“Thanks for going to the studio with us today Mer,” Chris told Mercedes. He drove into JC’s driveway and parked right behind Mer’s car.
“I’m glad I went. Even though you made me sing,” she blushed.
“You have a great voice girl. Even Joey liked it, and he’s picky.”
Mercedes laughed and made a face. “Thanks I think.”
Chris just smiled back at her. “So do you have any plans for tomorrow?”
“I think I am gonna go out and go shopping. I want some new outfits for work.”
“You have so much junk already,” he laughed. There was no way he’d forget all the junk that he and Joey helped her bring into JC’s when she got there a few days before.
“A girl can never have too many clothes though. Promise!” she exclaimed.
“Well I’m gonna go home and do some paperwork for the company. We’re launching something new soon, so I need to fill out all the boring paperwork for it.”
“Fun fun,” she said sarcastically. “I need to go over some of my files on the case I am working on. Then maybe I can convince Justin to take me out for ice cream tonight,” she let out a soft giggle.
“I don’t think that will need to much convincing,” he laughed.
“It’s ice cream! Why would someone need to be convinced of that? What the heck was I thinking?” she opened the passenger side door. She leaned on the window and looked in the car. “I’ll call you later okay?”
“Yup. Have fun tonight. Are you gonna go shopping with Jessica?”
“I was gonna call her up and see if she wanted to meet me there, yeah. You don’t know if she already has plans, do you?”
“Nah, I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Lance in a couple days."
“Oh. Well, I’ll call her later. Go have fun with your paperwork. I’ll see ya later,” she blew him a kiss and then backed away from the car.
“Bye,” he yelled out the window and then put his car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway.
Two hours had gone by and Mercedes was getting tired of looking at paperwork. “I need a break,” she said to herself. “Hmmm,” she looked through the folder that was on the table in front of her. She flipped through the pages and then stopped when she found Jessica’s phone number. She grabbed JC’s portable off of the hook and then dialed the number.
“Joey I said I would. Stop calling!” Jessica answered the phone.
Mercedes couldn’t hold back her laugh. “I take it that Joey is bothering you huh?”
“Mer?”
“Yeah,” she laughed.
“Wow sorry,” she also laughed. She sat on the couch in her living room and put her feet up on the table. “Yeah, he’s driving me insane.”
“I just spent the afternoon with him and Chris.”
“Oh so he moves from driving you crazy, to driving me crazy!”
“At least he is splitting the amount between both of us,” she joked.
“Yeah,” she laughed back. “So what’s up girl?"
“Well I was gonna head out to the mall tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. Meet me there or whatever.”
“That sounds great. I gotta do something for Lance around noon, but I can meet you at one or so if you want.”
“That’s good with me. Say... uh... food court, one thirty just to be safe.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay, take care. Tell Lance hi for me.”
“Will do. Bye.”
“Bye,” she said and then clicked off the phone. As soon as she hung up the phone with Jessica, she dialed Justin’s number.
“Hey this is my phone. You know who I am, so leave me a message if you know what you want. Peace!” his voice rang out over his voice mail.
“Hey Justin, it’s Mercedes. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for ice cream or something. Give me a call back when you get this. Bye,” she said and then started to gather up her paperwork and put it in her brief case. She got it all together and then brought it up to her room. Just as she was going back downstairs, the phone rang. She quickened her pace and jogged to the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey Mer, it’s me,” Justin answered.
“Hey,” she smiled as if he could see her.
“I’d love to go out for some ice cream. Could use it actually. I’ll come over in a few minutes okay?”
“Actually, can I meet you there? I gotta stop by the store and pick up some new highlighters.”
“Sure. I’ll meet you at the one on Jasper Lane.... in twenty minutes?”
“Sounds good to me. See you soon,” she said and hung up the phone again. She ran back upstairs and fixed herself just a little and then was out and on her way.
Mercedes sat at a small table in the back of the ice cream parlor and waited for Justin to get there. It was about five minutes later when he walked through the door. She waved her hand in the air so that he would know where she was. He nodded his head to let her know that he saw her. Justin stopped at the desk on the way back and told the lady that he and his friend were ready to order.
“Hey there you,” Mercedes smiled as Justin pulled out the chair next to her.
“Hey,” he smiled back. “Did you get what you needed?”
“Yup I did. So how are ya?”
“I’m good. I did some stuff with Lance today. What about you?”
“I hung out with Chris and Joey.”
“Fun,” he smirked.
“Yeah,” she said back sarcastically. “Nah, we really did have fun.”
“Well that’s good.”
“Are you two ready?” a lady in a red and white stripped outfit asked the two people.
“Yeah,” Mer said quickly. “I want a Strawberry Sunday. Uhm... a little bit of nuts, some hot chocolate syrup, and some whipped cream.”
“And you sir,” she nodded as she took down Mer’s order.
“I want a banana split. Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate ice cream. Nuts and sauce, three cherries and whipped cream.”
Mercedes laughed at how he knew exactly what it was that he wanted. “sounds good J,” she giggled.
“It is!” he smiled back at her.
“I’ll be right back with those,” the lady said and then headed back to the front of the place.
“So are things still nice and cozy at JC’s?”
“Yeah. I am almost going to hate leaving there.”
“Yeah. I am sure that your place will rock though.”
“Yeah. You’ll have to come over and throw me a house warming party,” she joked.
“Well we’ll see,” he smiled at her. He loved being with her. There was just something about the way that she totally made him feel like he was not trying to impress anyone. He could be himself and didn’t have to worry about her running to tell the press that he wasn’t exactly how he was cracked up to be in the magazines.
Mercedes just looked at him and smiled. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just going to ask you the same thing actually. You’re all smiles today.”
“I’ve just had a good day is all. I love it here and I have you guys to thank for it.”
“Well, we don’t wanna scare you back to Germany or anything,” he laughed.
“Ha, no way. You're stuck with me now.”
“I'm glad,” he smiled and placed his hand on top of hers.
“Man it’s good to be home,” JC said as he walked through his front door. He sighed and threw his bag by the door. JC rubbed his stomach and said, “Food.” He walked through the living room and went into the kitchen. He leaned on the counter and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard. He moved across the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Wow,” he said surprised. “Chris stocked me up with some food,” he said. Didn’t even cross his mind as to why Chris might fill his house up with more food. “What the?” he said when he saw the sliced cucumbers. “I hate these things.” JC shook his head and then grabbed a soda out and some ham and cheese. “Sandwich it is.”
JC made himself a sandwich and then brought it into the living room. He set his stuff on the table in there and then walked over to his bag by the door. He threw it over his shoulder and then headed up the stairs to his room. He figured that he might as well put it up before he got too lazy to do it later. He plopped himself on his bed for a minute and then glanced around his room. Something looked different but he couldn’t place what it was.
He grabbed the phone off of the hook by the side of his bed and then started to dial a number. As the phone rang, JC got up and headed back downstairs to where he had left his food and soda. He got to the couch and no one had answered the phone yet. Finally the voice mail clicked on.
“Hey this is TJ, leave me a message and I’ll think about getting back to you.”
“Ty, it’s C. I got back in town early. Give me a call and we’ll hook up and go out or something. Later,” he said and then threw the phone on the other end of the couch.
JC reached over for the remote and then clicked on the TV. “Lifetime? Chris what the hell are you watching in my house dude?” he said out loud. He shook his head again and flipped through the channels until he found something worthy of watching. About fifteen minutes later, he got tired of the TV and decided to go take a shower. “I feel like grub,” he said to himself as he picked up his mess. He took it to the trash and then headed back upstairs to jump in the shower.
“Thanks for meeting me tonight Justin,” Mercedes said through her window.
Justin stood with his hands on the hood of Mercedes’s car and peered through the window. “Thanks for inviting me. Call me later this week and we’ll go out again. This time I’ll take you out though.”
Mercedes smiled. “I will. Take care. Night Justin,” she said and started her car.
“Bye,” he waved and backed away from the car. Mercedes waved back and then pulled out of the parking spot. Justin sighed and then headed for his car.
“Most girls want a man with the mean green,” she sang as she drove down the road. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and bopped her head to the beat. Slowly she turned the wheel as she turned onto JC’s street. She stopped when she got in the driveway and then hopped out of the car. “Shit,” she spit out quietly and then ran back to the car. She unlocked the door and grabbed her bag and the locked the car back up. With her hair bouncing behind her, she skipped up the pathway and then opened the front door. Her keys hit the small table with a loud thud and she took off her shoes.
Mercedes looked at her watch and then flipped on the TV. “Gotta be something on,” she said as she plopped onto the couch. “Ugh, I need a drink,” she groaned. Her feet hit the carpet with a thud and she dragged them as she made her way to the kitchen. Mercedes grabbed a fuzzy navel out of the fridge and then hopped up onto the counter top. Her long neck bent back as she poured the drink into her mouth and down her warm throat. “Whew,” she sighed. While she was day dreaming and off in her own little world, the phone rang. Mercedes looked into the living room and debated getting off the counter to go get the phone. “Ha, not my house. Not my phone,” she said and tried to ignore the ringing of the phone.
“Damn,” JC cursed as he hopped out of the shower. He could hear the phone ringing, but he did see it on the cradle by his bed. “Man,” he said when he remembered that it was downstairs. “I need more phones in this house,” he said and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist. He was trying to tuck in the sides as he jolted down the stairs.
“Jesus,” Mercedes said when she realized that the phone hadn’t stopped ringing. She jumped off of the counter and headed towards the living room. “I’m coming. I’m coming,” she said as she walked a little bit faster.
“Don’t hang up,” JC said as he finally made it to the bottom floor. “I’m coming,” he said when he got to the living room.
Mercedes got to the couch and was leaning over to pick up the phone when she stopped to think. “Why is his phone down here?” She stood back up with the phone in her hand and was stunned when she saw him standing right in front of her.
“What...what are you...” JC tried to spit out.
“I’m... you’re...” she stuttered back.
The phone continued to ring and JC reached over and took it from her. “Hello?” he said, still staring at Mercedes.
“Jace?” TJ said.
“Yeah Ty, can I call you back?”
“Uhm, yeah. Everything okay?” he asked.
“Fine. I’ll call you back in a minute,” he said and then hung up.
Mercedes didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t supposed to be there, but there he was. JC was standing there in nothing but a towel. It rested just under his hip line and his hair stuck to his head. Small water beads dripped down his neck and falled over his chest muscles. “I’m...” she still didn’t know what to say.
“What are you doing here?” he finally just came out and asked.
“You’re back early,” she stated.
“You’re in my house.”
“I got into town a little early and my place wasn’t ready.”
“So you just crash at mine,” he said harshly.
“Chris told me I could. I didn’t want to. This was the last place I wanted to be. We figured I would be gone before you got back from Cali.”
“Well you’re still here. Why didn’t you stay with Chris?”
“Chris is staying with Joey. Joey jacked up Chris’s place.” She was having a hard time concentrating with him standing there half naked. All she could think of were the pictures that she had found that morning.
“I wish someone would have told me,” he shook his head.
“I’m sorry JC. I’ll get outta here now if you want me to.”
JC sighed. He looked at her and then shook his head. “When is your house gonna be done?”
“It should be totally done in two days. I didn’t think you’d be back for like four or five.”
“Don’t get in my way and I won’t get in yours okay?” he just said out of no where.
“Fine,” she said and nodded. Her hands were on her hips and her mid-drift was showing.
“Bobbie is gonna be here in two days. I want you gone by one o’clock that day. The last thing I need is to hear shit from her because you’re here.”
“Deal,” she said.
JC didn’t know what else to say. All he knew is that he really didn’t want her there. “You said Chris is at Joey’s right?”
“Yeah,” she said coyly. She wasn’t sure if him asking her that was good or bad. She didn’t want him to get mad at Chris. “Don’t go spastic on Chris alright. I could have stayed in a hotel."
JC looked at her and just stood there for a minute. “Thanks for stocking up the fridge,” he said and then turned and headed for the stairs.
Mercedes didn’t know what to think. Well, other than that he looked amazingly hot in a towel. “Yeah,” she finally responded with and watched as he went back upstairs, where she guessed he would remain for the rest of the evening.