Playing With Fire
I sit down and go through my notes for the article. This is going to be harder than I originally thought. This is what comes from mixing business with pleasure. Reid yawns as he walks in, “Morning.”
“Morning.”
“I’m surprised you’re up, you got in really late last night.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” I respond, shuffling through the papers on the table.
“You worried about moving?” he asks, leaning against the counter.
I look up at him, “Yeah, that’s it.”
“Or is it a certain guy you went out with last night,” he states, putting a coffee mug in front of me.
I take it gratefully, “Thanks, and no, that’s not it.”
“Whatever you say doll.”
I stick my tongue out at him before putting my pen down, stretching my arms up over my head and yawning, “It was a nice night.”
“Well the Counting Crows are your favorite.”
“They we excellent as always.”
“And how was it going with your arch nemesis?”
I bite the end of my pen, “Not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
“So how are you going to spin the article?”
“I don’t know yet,” I groan.
“What don’t you know yet?” Brooke asks, putting the newspaper on the table as she shuffles in draped in her bathrobe.
“I’m not quite sure how to write this article,” I sigh, holding it up in the air like a sign of defeat.
She pull out the chair next to me, “I can’t believe you went out on a date with him.”
“I did not go out on a date with him.”
“You went to a concert with him, that’s called a date.”
“Not when it’s part of my work,” I argue.
Brooke opens up the paper, “Whatever you say.”
I look to Reid for help but he just pretends to be searching through the fridge, “Reid!”
“Can’t help you Paige.”
“What is wrong with the two of you? I have always gone out with celebrities when doing my job.”
“But not one you slept with before,” Brooke quips.
“Do we have to keep bringing that up? I’m trying my best not to relive it.”
Brooke looks over at Reid, “Drunk sex is never good.”
“Brooke!”
“I’m just stating the facts.”
“Do me a favor and don’t.”
Someone knocks on the door and we all look up to see Scott through the window panes. Brooke scoffs, “I’m not getting it.”
“Come on, I’m in the middle of working.”
Reid sighs, “I’ll get the asshole.”
“Reid,” I warn as he opens the door.
“Scott,” Reid says, before turning around, “I’m going to go take a shower.”
“Hey Brooke,” Scott says, kissing my neck.
She scowls, “I would say hi but you might jump me in front of Paige.”
He gives her a fake laughs and rolls his eyes, returning to annoying me, “Hey baby.”
“Hey.”
He places two plane tickets on top of my papers. I pick up the tickets and look at them, “They are for Sunday.”
“So?” he asks, annoyed that I don’t sound as enthusiastic as he would have liked me to be.
“Babe,” I say sweetly, “I haven’t even begun to finish this article and I can’t possibly turn it in by Saturday.”
“So you would stay here just so you could get a little more face time with Timberlake?”
“Don’t be an idiot, I already finished the last of my interview with him last night.”
“No more working with him?”
I shake my head, “No.”
“Well good,” he says pleasantly.
“But I still can’t go, Marie wants this article in by Thursday.”
He frowns, “What are we supposed to do then? I booked the hotels and everything, I’m still going to have pay for cancelling. Couldn’t you just work extra hard?”
“You know, out of all the people I could have thought of who would want me to put my all into this article it would be you Mr. Perfectionist.”
He sighs, “I know, I just didn’t want to have to cancel.”
“So don’t,” I respond, an idea hitting me.
“What do you mean?”
I stand up, “Why don’t you go with one of your friends? You guys could scuba dive and hang out at the resort. It would be a break for you and we’ll do something later on down the road.”
He pauses for a minute, “You’re sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“Absolutely.”
He picks the tickets back up, “Maybe I’ll ask Ron to go with me.”
“Exactly, it could be a vacation for you guys.”
“Well I’m going to go talk to him. I’ll see you later babe.”
“Bye,” I call out as he leaves.
Brooke peeks around the corner before deciding it’s safe to come out, “Is the coast clear?”
“All clear Brooke.”
“So what now?”
“Now,” I say, pushing the partially finished article to the side, “Scott is leaving me here for a week and I can finish the article and go for that job interview without him being here.”
Brooke slaps my hand, “You always could think in your feet.”
“Thank you, thank you very much.”
She laughs, “Does this mean he’s too busy to move you to your new house?”
I clink my coffee cup with hers, “I think that’s exactly what it means.”
“I need a shower and then I’ll start moving my things over to the house.”
“Okay, Reid and I will start moving some of the boxes into the car.”
I nod, “I’m off to shower, I’ll be out in about ten minutes.”
My fingers grasp the clip holding my hair up and take it out, letting my hair tumble around my shoulders. I turn the water on and step into the hot water. I always did like it hotter than Scott did. I certainly don’t miss showering in lukewarm water.
The house I’m renting is cute. It’s not too small, I couldn’t handle anything that I was going to be claustrophobic in. It is bigger than I need, it actually having an upstairs and downstairs compared to here where everything is on one floor, but I’ve gotten to the point in my paychecks that this isn’t really making a dent even if it is in New York.
After washing all the soap from my hair I step out of the shower, drying myself off and putting some clothes on. My hair goes back up in it’s clip as Italics wraps himself around my legs. I pick him up and carry him into the kitchen, putting some food down on the floor for him.
I can hear Brooke and Reid shuffling around outside with the boxes so I put on my shoes and head out to the car only to see Justin standing with the two of them.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised to see him.
“Nice greeting PJ, I bet that’s how you greet all celebrities.”
“Not all, just you.”
He smirks and Brooke’s drooling as we speak. I just pick up a box and move it into my trunk, “Can I help you with something?”
“I just wanted to make sure you had a good time last night and got the last of the quotes you needed.”
I nod, “I got everything I needed.”
He looks around at the boxes, “So you’re moving huh?”
“You know what I think?”
“No but I’m sure you are going to tell me anyway,” he says, a little too charmingly as he lifts a box into the car.
“I think you just like being around us. It’s like a touch of normalcy for you.”
He touches his nose with his finger and then does the same to mine, “That’s it PJ, you hit the nail on the head.”
Reid comes up behind Justin and closes the trunk, “That’s all the boxes.”
“Great,” I say, pushing my hair to the side, “then we just have to unpack them over at the house.”
I hear Brooke groan, “Oh joy.”
“If you guys want help, I can do some of the unpacking,” Justin offers.
“You know, it’s okay. I’m sure you can find something other to do with your time than unload some boxes.”
Brooke starts to happy dance on the driveway, “But like you said, he likes it here,” she says, moving her body in the space between Justin and I so she has some direct eye contact, “you are welcome to stay if you want.”
“I actually don’t have anything planned today so I wouldn’t mind hanging around.”
I really don’t know what to say as he starts to hum hangin’ around from the Counting Crows and gets in the car as Reid starts it up. I glance over at Brooke who has already gone inside and gotten Italics, handing him to me, “Justin’s great isn’t he? He’s really nice to you despite the whole magazine thing.”
“Thank you,” I say slowly as I take the cat and get in the back seat with him.
Brooke gets in the other side, putting her head down on my shoulder. I love her, I really do, I just feel as though I’m becoming to close to a guy that tomorrow I’ll have to be snapping pictures of again.
________________________________________________________________________
Reid collapses on what is going to be the living room, “I’m exhausted.”
I lay down next to him, putting my head on his chest, “Me too.”
He puts his arm around me as I get comfortable, “Justin seems nice.”
“When he wants to be he can.”
“What are you going to do about the article?”
I groan into his chest, looking up at him, “I have no idea. This is why I don’t like him coming around because the more I get to know him, the more I like him and the harder it becomes to write the article.”
“Maybe it’s better to see what a person is really like by getting to know them rather than writing about someone you really don’t know.”
“Trust me, it’s not.”
He looks down at me, “Is that because what they want you to write and what you feel you should write are two different things?”
I sit up, folding my legs up under me, “I’m good at my job and this whole thing has turned it all upside down. I can’t even pick up my pen and jot down notes.”
Reid reaches for my hand blindly, “Do what you think is right. After all, you do have that job interview coming up.”
I smile, leaning back on my hands, “You always were the smart one.”
“Then how did I end up in the job I’m in?”
Brooke and Justin come back in the house, sitting down next to us. Brooke hands me the keys to my car, “All done.”
I look at the watch wrapped around my wrist, “I anyone hungry?”
Reid’s hand goes up and Brooke lays down on him, “I am.”
I reluctantly turn to Justin, “How about you?”
“I could eat something.”
“How about that leftover lasagna you made last night Paige?” Reid asks, putting his hand behind his head, shifting Brooke until she’s in a comfortable position.
“I left it at your house.”
“But I brought it and stuck it in the fridge because I figured we would be hungry.”
I pick myself off the floor and go to the fridge, pulling out the pasta, “I’ll just warm it up and then we can eat.”
“Hey can I play with the stereo?” Brooke asks, surveying the piece of equipment.
The oven starts to heat up as I turn it to the desired temperature and stick the food in, “Sure, go ahead and try to see if there’s anything on.”
She starts surfing the channels until she finds the classic Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. I tap my foot as I get out four plates. I feel two hands behind me spin me around as Reid takes the plates from me, setting them down to the beat of the song.
Brooke slides into the kitchen in her socks and grabs a wooden spoon, dancing around and mouthing the words into the kitchen utensil like a microphone. Justin walks into the kitchen slowly and we all stop what we are doing, realizing that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to do with someone else who isn’t in our circle.
He kind of stares at us for a minute before turning his back to us, moon walking through the kitchen. Brooke starts to laugh and hands him the spoon, pulling on his hand as he dances with her.
Reid comes over to me and hops up on the counter next to where I’m standing, whispering in my ear, “They’re actual human Paige.”
I know what he’s talking about. I remember saying something to the affect of that celebrities weren’t real people, they deserved to have their private lives exposed to the world. Now what am I going to do?
Justin grins as Brooke sits down and he turns to me, holding out his hand, “Dare to try and top the moon walk?”
I don’t say anything, hoping off the counter, “I could top that blindfolded.”
“No way.”
“Did I mention I used to take gymnastics?”
He smiles and moves out of the way as I do a back flip on the hardwood, bare of furniture. He slips behind me and lets me lean back in his arms before turning me back, “Still not as good as me.”
“Judges?” I ask, turning to Reid and Brooke.
They each grab a napkin I put out for lunch and take the pen off of the fridge, scribbling down their thoughts on the paper. They hold them up the numbers for each of us as I count them, I realize we tied, “How original.”
Justin smiles, “Rematch?”
“You’re on.”
15