Holiday In Spain
“Do you think I look alright?” I ask unsurely as I wait for Reid’s approval.
“You look great, don’t worry about it,” he assures me.
“It’s not that I’m concerned about how I look for him, I just want to make sure you can’t see the bruises.”
Reid comes over and places a kiss on my cheek, “You look good kid.”
“You swear?”
“Yes.”
I smile, “Thanks Reid.”
“No problem, it’s not like I hate being left all by myself.”
“Like I said, I’m sorry that Brooke and I have social lives.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
I put my hair up in a twist, “That’s because I’m not.”
“You two go and leave me.”
“It is not my fault that I have a life and Brooke found someone to sleep with.”
Reid pops the bottle cap off his beer, “I know, what the hell? She’s the clingy, insane type and I’m the making money, seemingly normal one and she gets laid. Do you not see anything wrong with this picture?”
“Hey, I’m not getting laid either.”
“By your own choice. You could break up with Scott and find someone else but you choose not to.”
“I’m almost out, I just have to hang in there a little longer. My interview is in a little more than a week.”
“Yeah, because that’s why you stay with Scott.”
I roll my eyes, “You have got to be kidding Reid. You know that’s why I stay with him.”
“You stay with him because you didn’t grow up with a guy in your life and now that you have one you won’t let go.”
“Are you my shrink now?”
He smiles, “Someone needs to figure you out Paige Jenkins.”
“I can figure myself out.”
“So you say, but I have yet to see you break up with Scott so that leaves me kind of curious why you think you don’t need me to point this stuff out to you.”
I purse my lips, “You are so not funny Reid.”
“That’s because the joke is on you.”
“Why do I still hang out with you?”
“Because you love me.”
I lick my lips, “Suddenly I don’t think that’s a good enough reason.”
Reid takes my coat from the closet and holds it out for me as I put my arms in it, “Have a good time, I’ll wait up for you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know I don’t but I will anyway.”
I hug him, “Love you baby.”
“Have a good time Paige.”
“Thanks.”
I see the lights from a car shine through the window, “I’ll call during Mr. Jones for you.”
“You’re a saint PJ.”
“I know,” I laugh, closing the door behind me. I pull my coat around my body and head out to the limo waiting for me. The elderly gentlemen stands next to the door and opens it for me, “Here you are miss.”
“Thank you,” I respond, sliding into the leather interior. I see Justin relaxing and playing with some of the buttons in the limo.
“So, you ready to dance?”
I can’t hide my smile, “I’m really excited.”
“You should be. They are amazing in concert. Have you ever seen them live?”
“Once but it was a long time ago. I went with Reid.”
“Have you guys been friends a long time?”
“Isn’t that too personal for our kind of relationship?”
“What kind of relationship do we have Paige?”
I choose to remain mum about the question because no matter what I answer, it won’t be good, “So why do you want to know?”
“Humor me. Remember I know just about everything else about you.”
The sad part is he’s right. He knows it, and I know it.
“I’ve know Reid since second grade. I decided he was marriage material.”
“In second grade?”
“We had to pair up into groups of two in school for something and I didn’t grow up with a dad so I decided that Reid would make a good husband.”
“So what happened, Scott steal you from him?”
I laugh, “No, Reid decided he couldn’t marry someone at the age of seven so we decided just to be friends.”
“Good choice.”
“We thought so.”
“Early marriages always end in divorce anyway. What about Brooke?”
“In high school I was in love with this guy and it turned out Brooke was in love with him too. We had this big fight over him in the cafeteria which included some serious verbal spats over him only to discover he was gay.”
Justin laughs out loud, “That is quite the story.”
“It was tragic but we decided to put it behind us. We decided to team up and decide which boy belonged to whom.”
“Good idea. I mean you guys could be fighting on the lawn, tugging each other’s shirt off, wrestling in the mud. I mean why would you want to do something like that?”
His smile makes me feel a little more at ease, though I’m not sure why, “I know.”
Justin looks over his shoulder as the limo enters the parking for the arena, “You ready to go?”
I nod and gently take his outstretched hand as we get out of the limo. A bodyguard and a police escort stand out in the cold, waiting for us. I lean closer to Justin, “Do you have a hit out on your head?”
“Teeny boppers, they can be vicious,” he whispers back.
I inwardly giggle and follow our escorts. We arrive to a private elevator and the man slides a card into it, allowing the doors to open and we get inside, riding it to the top. It opens after about thirty seconds and Justin and I get off.
He opens the door to the sky box and although I try to hide my expression, my amazement at how lavish and beautiful these things are is obvious, “This is such a great view.”
“When you’re a celebrity they tend to give you better seats than the average person.”
“Ironic that they are the only people who can pay for it.”
“Should I refuse them based on the ethics?” he muses casually while looking out over the crowd.
“You’re mocking me,” I state rather flatly.
He turns around to face me and smiles, “I just think it’s ironic. You spend your career tearing us down and now you are complaining about what we get for being us. Is there anything you like about celebrities or do you hate us all?”
“I don’t hate you, I just happen to think a lot of people in the industry get a lot more than they deserve for doing nothing. Look at Paris Hilton, she’s famous for nothing but being rich and making a sex tape. That kind of thing disgusts me.”
“But some of us actually work for our stardom. Should we be punished for doing what we love because we make a lot of money and actually get the things we want?” he asks, getting closer to me.
I lick my lips, “No, I just think they need someone by them constantly to ground them. This isn’t a game, its life.”
The phrase doesn’t sit well with him so I move to the refreshment table and pick at the cheese and crackers. When I turn back around he’s sitting down in one of the seats. I go over and sit next to him casually, “I wasn’t trying to insult you.”
“I know. It’s just funny, we are practically enemies when it comes to our work but had we actually met each other on the street, we probably would have been good friends.”
“I don’t know, you’re a little cocky for your own good.”
He smirks, “I try my best.”
Screams fill the arena as the Counting Crows come onto the stage. I look out onto the monitors hooked up for those in the nose bleed seats and then to our own personal monitor. I try not to look too excited, “That must be so cool.”
“What?”
“To be on stage, everyone screaming for you. Knowing that you made something that everyone is this place can appreciate.”
“It is. It’s kind of like an out of body experience when you’re up there. You never really understand until you stand up there for the first time and look out into those faces, just waiting for you to sing.”
I look at his face as he watches the band play and realize that maybe he’s not quite the guy I thought he was. A familiar tune starts to play and I close my eyes, “Mmm.”
“You like the song?”
“It’s my favorite song of theirs.”
I feel him touch my hand and I open my eyes as he pulls me to the open space away from the chairs, “Want to dance?”
Got no place to go
But there's a girl waiting for me down in Mexico
She got a bottle of tequila, a bottle of gin
And if I bring a little music I could fit right in
We got airplane rides
We got California drowning out the window side
We've got big black cars
And we got stories how we slept with all the
Movie stars
I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drink my worries down the drain
And fly away to somewhere new
“You know you can be downright charming when you want to be.”
He twirls me around, “That’s my secret, don’t tell anybody.”
“I won’t, I swear.”
“Good. We wouldn’t want the word getting out that I can actually feel emotions and that shit.”
“Are you trying to make me smile Timberlake?”
“That all depends on if it’s working.”
“Then I guess you are.”
Hop on my choo-choo
I'll be your engine driver in a bunny suit
If you dress me up in pink and white
We may be just a little fuzzy 'bout it later tonight
She's my angel
She's a little better than the one that used to be with me
Cause she liked to scream at me
Man, it's a miracle that she's not living up in a tree
I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drive this little girl insane
And fly away to someone new
He leans in closer to my ear, “You know I think this is how we got started.”
“What?” I ask, not really listening to him and trying to pull my focus away from the music and back towards him.
He dips me, “You and me at that club.”
I blush, “You know that was my first one night stand.”
Don’t ask me why I told him. I guess I’ve just told him so much that he’s actually become kind of like my own living diary. That only works though when the person isn’t really interested in your life. Kind of like no matter what you say it really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t register. Maybe that’s becoming our problem.
“I was you’re first?” he asks, pleasantly surprised.
“What is it with guys wanting to be a woman’s first?”
“We don’t like to be compared,” he jokes.
“So what are we going to do?”
My fingers lock in his as I spin, “About what?”
“About this friendship we seem to be forming.”
“I’ll tell you what, when I’m snapping your picture on the street, I’ll tell you to say cheese.”
“I guess that’s all you can do.”
But we both know he’s lying. Everybody lies.
Everybody's gone
They left the television screaming that the radio's on
Someone stole my shoes
But there's a couple of bananas
And a bottle of booze
Oh well, happy new year's baby!
We could probably fix it if we clean it up all day
Or we could simply pack our bags
And catch a plane to Barcelona 'cause this city's a drag
I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Flush my worries down the drain
And fly away to somewhere new
Take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drive this little girl insane
Fly away to someone new
Fly away to someone new
Fly away to someone new
Counting Crows- Holiday In Spain
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