The next day
"Hey, Smarty Pants," Justin's voice came over the phone the next morning.
Madeline groaned. "And the hits begin this early?"
"You watch. I'm already getting warmed up. Anyway, they canceled all shooting today because of the storm. They can't do the scenes they want until the snow stops falling a little."
"OK," Madeline said, looking around her room and trying to plan her day at the same time.
"What are you gonna do?" he asked.
"Well, my profs have canceled my two classes today, so I guess I have a day off."
"You wanna do something?"
She hesitated. "What do you mean?"
"Like an outing, an excursion, a quality-time moment."
"Ugh; are we bonding?"
"I thought we'd share our struggles," he said sweetly.
"Justin, you're making me cry," she said sarcastically.
"Come onnnnnn," Justin whined. "You don't have any plans. I don't wanna be trapped here forever."
"Where are the others?"
"Lance is watching T.V. but he wants to come out. Chris and Joey went somewhere, I think. Maybe they're building snow forts, I dunno. And I think J.C. and Emma took off."
"So it'd be me, you and Lance."
"Yeah. He's gonna ref in case we fight again."
There was a knock on Madeline's door.
"Hang on, Justin," Madeline said into the phone, making her way and turning the knob.
A curly-haired blond stood there, arm leaning against the doorway, cell phone in hand.
"Hurry up," he said with a grin. "Lance is waiting downstairs."
"You lied to me," she proclaimed. "You said Lance was watching T.V."
"He is. In your student lounge."
"Why you arrogant... " Madeline sputtered. "You assumed..."
"Shhhhh," Justin said sternly, raising a hand and putting a finger over his lips. "We called a cease-fire. Peace treaties have been signed. Be quiet."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"And finally, this is the bookstore, where we ... well, buy books," Madeline proclaimed as Lance and Justin ambled into the entrance, the aroma of coffee filling their nostrils.
"Cozy," Lance commented, looking around.
"I think they even have a whole section on you guys," Madeline joked.
"Please," Justin said. "Let's not go there." He motioned toward the music floor, and they rode the escalators up.
There were listening stations dotted about the rows, and Lance headed toward one of them. Justin headed toward another, placing headphones over his ears and listening to rap as he studied some of the titles. Madeline walked over to him and tapped her ear. He removed the phones.
"What are you listening to?"
" 'Hard Knock Life Vol. 2.' "
She rolled her eyes. "Do you ever listen to some quality music?"
"Like what?"
Madeline held up a jazz compilation CD. "Like this."
"You should talk to J.C. about that stuff," Justin said, turning back to the racks. "Not me."
"Come on, Justin," she pleaded. "It's great music. Just grab a random one and try it."
Justin sighed, followed her to the jazz section and started shuffling through names that were familiar: Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald. He turned the volume up and began to listen.
The hubbub of students surrounding him felt like a scene in a movie, with the soundtrack playing in Justin's ears. As the drummer's brushes began to swish on the cymbal, his eyes roamed around the store. His eyes fell on Madeline, chatting animatedly to a classmate she'd bumped into. Her hands were gesturing wildly and the friend was laughing at her story.
Someday she'll come along, the girl I love / Her smile will be a song, the girl I love / And when she comes my way, I'll do my best to make her stay
Justin suddenly felt out of place, in an environment he'd probably be living in if he weren't famous. This was Madeline's turf, so he settled gratefully into anonymity as she flourished in her element.
I'll look at her and smile, she'll understand / And in a little while, I'll take her hand / And though it seems absurd, I know we both won't say a word
The friend had left; now her head was bent over the soundtrack racks, eyebrows furrowed as she flipped through selections.
Maybe I will meet her Sunday, maybe Monday, maybe not / But I'm sure I'll meet her one day, maybe Tuesday will be my good-news day
Madeline's hair was loose today, missing its usual butterfly clip or rubber band. Her dark tresses fell just below her chin, settling above the collar of her shirt. Her head tipped to the side as she contemplated purchasing one, then decided against it and put the CD back. She bit the side of her bottom lip. Justin continued to let the jazz fill his brain as he watched with curiosity.
I'll build a little home just meant for two / From which we'll never roam, who would with you / And so all else above, I'm waiting for the girl I love
She looked up at that moment, and Justin quickly looked away. It had been instinct; he had no reason to hide that he'd been looking at her, but he didn't want her to think ...
Shaking his head, Justin pushed the button for another selection. I don't know what I didn't want her to think. Must be this jazz music.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I don't really want to do anything," J.C. said, sighing as he lay in his bed. "How often am I blessed with a day off? Let's just veg out."
"Oh, let's not," Emma said, opening his curtains and letting the white sky pierce through. "The snow should subside today," she observed. "You'll be able to finish the video by Friday."
J.C. threw a pillow at her. "Why are you Miss Sunshine today? You're usually the one that needs to be woken up."
She turned from the window and glanced down at him. "Because I worked all night on my last story, and I sent it in early this morning, and I'm still awake."
He looked up at her with a lopsided smile. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," she murmured, sitting on the edge of his bed. "So how do you want to spend this free day?"
"I told you. I don't want to do anything. Don't you need to sleep?"
"J.C., please," Emma pleaded, shaking his shoulder. "It's snowing outside. I need to celebrate. I need to spend time with you. We won't do anything strenuous, I promise. No snowball fights or anything like that. Let's just walk outside and enjoy it."
He finally relented, and soon they started off, hand in hand, down a wintery path around Lake Michigan. Bundled up in a bulky coat, he put his arm around her to shield her from the chilly wind. She melted into his embrace.
It seemed so simple sometimes, when they were like this, just the two of them, she thought. Just like any regular couple. Spending time, being in love, without anyone bothering them. I can't wait until it's like this all the time, she thought.
"Emma?" J.C. said softly.
"Mmmm?"
His arm retreated to his side. "There are some people ..."
Emma followed his gaze. She saw a group of teenagers sledding down the hill ahead of them. They hadn't spotted J.C. yet. Still, she knew the drill. She drifted a few feet apart from him and continued walking.
J.C. bent his head lower into his collar, but one perceptive young lass managed to poke her head out and recognize him, and soon he was surrounded by a small mob of flashing light bulbs and outstretched hands.
Emma disappeared behind a tree, walking down a separate path. Resting herself on a park bench, she sighed and waited.
As exhaustion from lack of sleep began to set in, Emma felt her eyes water. I just wanted one little walk, she thought. In peace. With my boyfriend. I realize I have to share him with half of the teen population, but does it have to be all the time?
She leaned her head against the back of the bench as tears began to spill over. You're just tired and cranky, she told herself. There's not much you or he can do about it, so deal.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Where did he go -- Mexico?" Madeline wondered as she and Justin stood on the snow-blanketed cement of the pavilion.
Justin bit into his hot dog. "Lance is an ambler. He takes his time, even to go get lunch. Likes to talk to every single person. He's not cold like me -- just walking straight ahead, not talking to anybody."
"Yeah, but you're still mobbed the most."
Justin shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't pay much attention."
Madeline chewed on her soft pretzel thoughtfully. "Doesn't it go to your head? Isn't it pretty hard to stay grounded?"
Justin looked at her. "Not with people like you around," he said with a chuckle.
She paused in mid-swallow, not knowing what to say.
"Don't worry, it's cool," Justin told her. "It's one of your stellar qualities, this drive to cut down male egos. At first it was annoying as heck, but now it's rather endearing."
Madeline broke off another piece of pretzel as they walked around the pavilion. "And yet you persisted in your efforts to get along. That was admirable."
"Well," Justin said, heaving a sigh. "At first it was for the sake of the video that I had to. Then it was because I was ticked off at this girl who walked around thinking she had me pegged correctly. Usually I'd say 'who cares' and blow you off, but under the circumstances ... I don't know; it became my mission to prove you wrong."
"So this was all about winning," Madeline said wryly.
"Absolutely." He gave her a toothy grin, and she couldn't help but smile in return. "But aren't you glad I won? Now I can give a terrific video performance because I'm so relaxed."
"Ha," Madeline guffawed. "It was more than the video. You were just bothered that there was one girl out there who didn't think you were so cute."
There it was -- the bluntness again. This time, however, Justin took it well. He rather liked it, actually.
"See?" he said dramatically. "This is how I stay grounded. Just to know that there's one girl out there who thinks I look like an ogre."
"I didn't say that," Madeline said quickly. She balled up her napkin and threw it in a trash can. "You're just ..." She stopped and looked up at him. "Excuse me, are we arguing again?"
He smiled through his last bite of hot dog. "You bring it out in me."
She rolled her eyes as they set foot in the grassy area. "There's Lance," she said, seeing a blond figure approach them. "He must've finished his lunch inside."
"Figures he'd abandon us," Justin said, squinting at him. "Hey man, where you been --"
"Bull's-eye!" Lance yelled as he hit Justin squarely in the face with a wad of snow.
Surprised, Justin swatted his face with his gloved hands, brushing all the snow off before he began running after his friend, trying to scoop a ball at the same time. The snow, however, was a foot deep, so neither boy could move very fast.
"You are dead, Lansten," he called after him. As he hobbled past Madeline, however, she calmly grabbed the hood of his jacket and threw snow in his collar.
The jerk backward clotheslined Justin and caused him to slip and fall over, landing on his rear end in the snow.
Madeline and Lance began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh, so you're laughing now, are ya?" Justin cried, covered in white.
"Awwww, yeah! You are drenched, Curly," Lance said, pointing at him and doing a little dance.
"I swear you guys have a death wish," Justin said, slowly getting up. "I already warned you." And without another word he sprang up in the air and, arms flailing, tackled Lance to the ground, throwing fake punches until Lance was immersed in the snow.
"It's cooooooold!" Lance yelped from under him. "Get off me man, you don't have to hurt me to impress Madeline."
Justin rose quickly. Lance scrambled to his feet and grinned. "I knew that'd get you off me."
"That's not why," Justin replied, not looking at her. "I just remembered she threw snow down my collar, too."
Madeline took a step back as Justin moved toward her. "I'm sorry," she apologized as his eyes began to gleam. "Did I do that? I didn't mean -- "
"Geronimo!" Justin yelled, taking a few large steps and throwing himself onto the ground, linking an arm around her waist at the same time so she'd fall with him. She shrieked when the cold snow hit her jeans.
"Let me go!" she cried, laughing, but he held her down while he threw snow on her. She thrashed back and forth, but his grip was too tight.
"How's it feeling now?" Justin said, enjoying the torture he'd inflicted on both of them. He proceeded to roll her back and forth until she was as drenched as he and Lance.
"If you make me catch cold," Madeline warned when she was finally able to sit up. "I will have your head, I swear it."
Justin suddenly looked concerned. "Oh my gosh, you're right," he said. "Let's get warmed up."
She looked at him, surprised. "Thank you for your concern," she said.
"Oh, not for you," he replied. "For me and Lance. If we're sick then we can't sing."
He burst into laughter at her flabbergasted expression.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Emma?"
Her eyes opened slowly. The cold air hit her in the face as she grew conscious, and she saw nothing but white bleakness. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.
J.C. was hovering over her, concerned. "I looked all over for you," he said. "Have you been here the whole time?"
She yawned and sat up. She'd somehow managed to lie across the bench and doze off.
He studied her. Dark circles lined her eyes, and they were slightly puffy and tinged with red.
"Are you all right?" he asked. "You look like you've been crying."
It suddenly flooded back to Emma how she got to the bench. She hurriedly rubbed her eyes, covering them from his view. "I'm all right, I think," she said. "Just tired, that's all."
"Come on," he said, gently helping her get up from the bench. "We'll go back to the warm hotel room and have some warm hot chocolate, with whipped cream, and some privacy -- just the way you like it."
"OK," she mumbled, still disoriented.
He looked at her and kissed her forehead gently. "I love you, you know."
She nodded. "I know you do." She gave him a weak smile.
But J.C.'s blue eyes were cloudy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Lance, come here," Chris demanded when he, Justin and Madeline walked into the hotel suite.
"Why?" Lance asked, bewildered.
"I said, come here."
"We're about to go get warmed up and have some tea."
"Lansten."
"OK, OK," Lance said, turning to Justin and Madeline. "I guess I'll catch up with you guys later."
Justin motioned Madeline over to the couch in front of the fire, which could be turned on with a switch. Lance followed Chris out into the hall.
"What is it?" Lance asked him.
"Nothing. Just wanted to keep you away from them," Chris said with a grin. "We're watching movies in our suite anyway. They can be alone."
"But Chris," Lance protested. "I was supposed to be there as a buffer in case they start fighting again."
Chris shook his head. "Sorry, dude," he said, looking toward the closed door. "Frankly, I don't think you're needed anymore."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"This is certainly not your average gather-wood-and-Duraflame fireplace," Madeline laughed as her hands were warmed by the fire and the tea they'd ordered from room service. She reached for a cookie. "But I could definitely get used to it."
Justin was shaking out his jacket. "I think there's still snow in here," he commented. "You guys got me good."
"Yeah, and then you had to bury our faces in it -- literally," Madeline said back. "I thought I was gonna get snowburn, rolling around in there."
"It wasn't fair," Justin said, sitting down beside her and propping his feet up on the room-service tray. "Running in that snow ... man, that was a workout. But you just stood there, watching Lance and me run around in circles, and when I finally slow down, then you attack me. Brutal, just brutal."
"Why waste the energy?" Madeline said, grinning impishly. "I'm just a good hunter, I guess. I know when to pounce. I wait till you're worn out. You slowed down right in front of me; I couldn't resist. I thought about tripping you, but I thought you might get upset."
"You're a crazy, mad woman," Justin said, shaking his head. "That's what I'm calling you from now on. Madeline. Madwoman. You see how they sound alike?"
She laughed and drew her feet up on the couch, tucking them under. Her cheeks were pink from the cold-to-warm temperature contrast, and her snow-dampened hair was beginning to dry into a slight frizz.
He rubbed his jeans, quickly drying from the flames. "You do all the running around next time. Then I'll put the snow in your collar."
"I think seeing me run would make you laugh so hard you couldn't even pick up the snow," Madeline said. "I don't run."
He looked at her incredulously. "You don't run, you don't dance. Are you afraid of physical exertion?" He stood up and began to hum and rock back and forth in a solo waltz. He gestured to her. "Come on, try it."
She shook her head, rooted where she sat. "I didn't say I couldn't dance. I said I don't like to dance. You can go right ahead, though."
"Party pooper," he accused, arms dropping. "What's the fun in watching?"
She shrugged. "Maybe I just like watching you move."
Her own eyes widened at her comment. Justin froze where he stood momentarily, looking at her. She looked away, face beginning to flush more.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Justin sat back down and picked up his tea again without a word.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
While Madeline was in the restroom, Justin ventured into the hotel suite where Chris and Lance were engrossed in a cable viewing of "Payback" and Joey was on the phone in his room. J.C. sat on Chris' bed nearby, and Emma lay sound asleep with her head in his lap.
Justin walked over to him and sat down, careful not to disturb her. "What'd you do today?" he asked quietly.
"Not much," J.C. whispered. "We walked around a bit, then came back and had some cocoa. She conked out not too long ago; she'd been up all night."
Justin looked at the sleeping figure. "She looks very peaceful. She must've been pretty tired," he commented.
J.C. nodded and stroked her hair, then looked at his friend. "Has she seemed different to you lately?" he asked. "Especially since she got back from her last trip."
"What do you mean, different?"
"Not as cheerful. More secretive. I don't know. Do you think she's happy?"
Justin stared at J.C.'s concerned expression. "Of course she's happy," he whispered. "Maybe she's just been stressed. You've both been pretty busy, ever since she took that second job."
"I know," J.C. said glumly. "And I told her she didn't need to, that she shouldn't have to worry about money. But she's dead-set on paying her own rent."
"That's how she is," Justin replied. "You know that. Just keep being your perfect self, Daddy. Mama loves you a lot."
J.C. looked at Justin as if he wasn't sure about that last comment. "So," he said in a low voice. "How about you? You look like you had a fun day."
Justin nodded with a small smile.
J.C. eyed him. "You guys aren't still fighting, are you?"
"Not like we were before," Justin answered. "She's actually pretty fun. We sort of had it out last night in the Jeep, and I don't know ... I guess we're getting along now." He shrugged. "Whod've thunk, huh?"
"Ahh," J.C. said with a grin. "Another conquest, huh? She fell privy to your charms at last."
Justin shook his head and got up from the bed to leave. "I think she only really likes my hair. And I had to dye it for that to happen."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * *
"Thanks for making me come out," she told him a few hours later on the "L" platform. "I had fun."
"Me too," Justin said with a little smile. The day had gone fast, and he'd walked her out in hopes of prolonging it just a little bit.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow," she answered as her train arrived. She gave a little wave and stepped inside.
He waved back, feeling a little triumphant at the events of the day. Madeline wasn't half bad when she let herself relax a little. He'd enjoyed her barbs, much more light-hearted than scathing now, and her indignant reactions to his teasing. She was good company. Justin now looked forward to the rest of the shoot with his new friend.
Plopping down on the seat, Madeline suddenly felt tired. She stretched her legs onto the seat in front of her and sighed. Reaching into her purse for a stick of gum, she felt something bulky and pulled it out.
Her writing pad. She'd planned to take notes that day.
With a sinking feeling, Madeline crammed the notepad back into the purse and looked out the window. He was still standing there, watching the subway pull out of the station.
©1999 by Twinkiegurl