Mysterious

Chapter 6

Five days later Arissa was walking down the Public Relations office she shared with her classmates Natalia and Valerie. The three started out as associates when they graduated from college in 2007. They loved their jobs and what they did on a daily basis. Talking, sharing, driving around the city, networking. It was all fun. Arissa's favorite part of her job, though, had to be the social media. She had just picked up the social media side of the agency about a year ago and was starting to get a good number of followers – nearly 1,000. She wasn't following very many celebrities, a handful, but those that she did; she never really paid attention to. And then, because it was her birthday and she didn't feel like working, she decided to check Bruno's tweets. She had no idea where he was, what he was doing or anything like that. She and Anna had decided not to tell anyone about that night. It was their little secret – although it was a fabulous one. She clicked on the "follow" button and it was like heaven. "Crap." she said out loud. "Why did I do that? unfollow, unfollow, unfollow!" she screamed at the computer screen. "He's going to see it! Shit!"

"Dude, the guy has 1 million followers, how is he going to see that?" Natalia leaned over her desk to see what Arissa was yelling about.

"He'll see it. Trust me."

"And what's the big deal? You had one picture snapped with him. Why weren't you following him before? I'm following him..."

Ding...an e-mail from twitter.

Bruno's assistant was suddenly following her. She got an @reply from him. "Happy Birthday @ARissHenderson!"

She took a deep breath and went on with her day. It was just a damn tweet. Get the hell over it. You're in fucking PR.

When Arissa arrived at her apartment that evening there was a package notice on her door. Well thank god they're there late on Mondays. She wandered to the office to see what it was. She signed the package slip to see a vase full of flowers and a small box.

"We wanted to open the card..." one of the girls said. "But Erica wouldn't let me. You don't have a boyfriend, though, do you, Arissa?"

"No...we broke up after New Year's..."she trailed off with the flowers in one hand and box in another. She put the box down and opened the card.

For your birthday. They smell delicious, just like you. You're amazing. –Bruno.

"What the hell? How did he get my address? This is really not okay. That's weird." She didn't have his phone number. He only had hers. She couldn't call him to yell at him for being weird.

She grabbed the box and opened it gently with a butter knife. She dumped a small bracelet on the ground. "Oh...my..." she picked it up and looked at the little flower. It looked like a James Avery bracelet, but she knew that catalog front and back, so it wasn't from there. She flipped it over and saw a small inscription "Hau'oli la Hanau."She ran to her computer to google the phrase. "Oh...that's sweet. It's Happy Birthday."

She went to bed after watching TMZ when she heard her phone buzz. It was a text message. "Ugh. My birthday was yesterday. Stop sending me texts..." she whined as she picked up the phone. She hit the on button to see a text from an 808 number. "Oh...oh...my."

If you're awake call me. I miss your pretty voice. If not I hope you had a great birthday.

She contemplated not calling him. Why would he want to talk to her? I mean, come on. Then she heard Anna's voice in her head. Go for it. Just do it.

She clicked the call button.

"Why, hello, there, birthday girl..." he said answering the phone.

"Hi. Thank you for the birthday gift it was great. How are you?"

"I'm fabulous. How was your show tonight?" she asked him remembering he was in Wisconsin.

"It was fantastic. I didn't get to sing to the girl I wanted to though..." he sighed.

"Oh...why not?" she asked him.

"Because the girl I wanted to sing to was somewhere in Texas."

She rolled her eyes at his comment and laughed.

"You're so dumb, Bruno!"

"But it's true!" he said. "Can I sing to her now?" he asked.

"I haven't ever had anyone sing to me on the phone...." she replied.

"It will be our first time." he told her.

"Aww..." she laughed at him.

"What are you going to sing?" she asked him.

"Hmm..." he wondered out loud. I know...." he started to sing The Way You Make Me Feel.

It made her heart skip several beats because she knew it was only the two of them.Oh I wish it was just the two of us...that would oh, I would....I don't know...she heard a beep on her phone. It was her ex, Robert calling her. She let it go to voicemail as Bruno finished the shortened version of the song for her. She gave him a small clap. "Thank you, Bruno Mars! You were amazing!"

"I'm always amazing." He complimented himself.

"You're so full of it, Bruno." she yawned.

"Why are you always so tired?" he asked her.

"Because I live on the The Other Side, Bruno. You just wouldn't understand." \

"Oh shit!" he laughed an infectious, caught off guard by her joke, laugh.

"I ran this morning, went to work and now it's 12:30. I'm tired. That's it."

"I forget that people have normal lives." he told her.

"Yeah, normal." she smiled to herself. "But, really. I think I need to go to sleep. You probably do too." she told him.

"You're right." he answered her question.

"Thank you for the great birthday, Bruno." she told him.

"Arissa?" he asked her before he let her get off the phone. "Come to Vegas in June."

"What?"

"Yeah, come with us. We'll be there for like 3 days. Come on!"

"I'll think about it. Good night, Bruno."

"Good morning, Arissa."