We all got back to the hotel fairly late which worried me. That and I was still pretty pissed off at Johnny's threats.
Lanning's initial email had informed me about the trip to Paris, but more specifically it told me that I had to make sure Joshua went to bed early. I was going to take this job seriously from now on, even if I thought the request was pretty ridiculous in the first place.
What was I? His mother?
Apparently our little star had the tendency to party late at night. Big shocker there.
That's why my eagle eye was trained on Joshua at the exact moment that he began to make his way to the hotel door.
"Ah-ha! I don't think so" I yelled trailing behind him.
The rest of the people from our group, who were previously talking, immediately hushed down after hearing me. They were all probably enjoying how my little show of power would play out. I was just as curious as they were, in all honesty.
Joshua arched a brow.
"You don't think what?" A cynical smirk showed up on his face after he asked his question.
"I don't think that you're going anywhere tonight. That's what I'm thinking" My mouth was a hard line as I slipped in front of him, blocking the exit.
A couple of the onlookers, now including some of the hotel guests, snickered.
"Well...what are you going to do about it?" At that Joshua began to move and jump left to right, looking for an opening. The asshole was clearly having fun with this. I couldn't deny it, after the shoot, I was even more nervous around him. I didn't like being impressed by him at all.
And, I, the idiot, moved side to side to block him. Too bad that he found an opening. Taking a swift step, Joshua had made it into one of the compartments of the revolving door. But I wasn't going to lose this one.
I tried to follow him even when he had already started to spin the door.
Sadly,I didn't make it into his compartment, my initial goal.
Instead, I made into the next one, smacking my forehead on the glass that separated us.
I could hear loud laughter after that.
Embarrassment and rage took over and I started to scream. I was not going to be some toy he could play with!
"Joshua Lachowski you better stop this right now! Before I -" I stopped talking when I realized that he had the audacity to stick his tongue out at me.
"Real mature! What are you five?" I yelled all of this through the glass, spinning around the revolving doors as the minutes ticked by.
A large crowd of people were now fully enjoying Joshua's little act of rebellion from the inside of the hotel. I could hear several people laughing and sending him messages of encouragement.
You know my favorite part about life?
How it's just so fair.
"Twenty-two!" I could hear faintly from the other side of the glass.
"Well, act like it you childish jerk!" I yelled back.
He feigned a hurt look before jumping out of the outside opening. It took me another full spin before I got to walk out of the damn rollercoaster the doors had become. To say I was dizzy was an understatement.
I tripped out into the cold night air, walking crookedly towards where Joshua was now standing. The smile on his face and the casual cross of his arms was enough to make me regain some of my composure.
"You're walking just like yesterday on the jet," he yelled over the noise that the cars whizzing by made.
"So the question is...what song will you be singing today?" He taunted once more.
My cheeks got especially hot when he began to sing the first verse of 'rock your body' in a loud girly voice.
That. Was it.
My hand snaked up towards his ear, while the tip of my index finger and thumb made contact. With one forceful pull, I had Joshua once again spinning through the revolving doors.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" He continued to complain until we found ourselves in the front lobby.
By then the crowd had dispersed, realizing that I had won this round.
With complete determination, I continued to pull Joshua behind me. Casting a look at Johnny's amused smile and Amanda gaping mouth, I triumphantly began my way towards the elevators.
I punched the elevator button forcefully in agitation. After waiting for the doors to open, I finally released Joshua when we got inside.
"What's your room number? And don't you dare tell me the wrong one, because I'll do worse than pinch your ear." I narrowed my eyes, trying to look intimidating.
I waited several minutes for him to reply. He clearly wasn't finished for the night, because he innocently said "I'm not really sure..."
Of course he wasn't fucking sure.
I would have gone back into the lobby and asked questions, but I don't want to risk Joshua getting out of my grasp. We had made it this far and I was not losing progress.
"You are the biggest pain in the ass and I want you to know that. Where the hell are you going to sleep then?" I inquired.
Joshua looked at me seductively before speaking, "We could always go to your room..."
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I really had no other choice.
I needed to show Joshua that I was in charge, even if it meant sharing a room with him.
I had always loved hotels. Even when I was little, I would look forward to getting to sleep at a hotel more than the actual place we would be vacationing in. Tonight would be the exception. I slipped my card roughly into the door and pulled open the handle with Joshua following behind me. Turning on the lights I walked over to the center of the room.
What now?
I felt really awkward, yet annoyed about the turn of events.
My back pocket began to vibrate at the exact moment Joshua was about to speak. He clamped his mouth shut and waited for me to answer.
Touching the answer button with my index finger I said, "Hello?"
I didn't get the chance to say anything else, because my mother was on the other side of the line.
"Hi, honey! How is it all going? Everything good? What are you doing? Nothing?" My mother's continuous string of answers and questions continued on for the next couple of minutes.
That was my mom for you. An overly excessive woman who loved to talk. Thankfully, my dad was a man of few words.
Sighing, I began to mumble yes and no to every question she would shoot at me. Too bad that I made the mistake of answering the 'no no' question without noticing.
What is the 'no no' question may you be wondering?
"Anyone special in your life?" my mother questioned hopefully.
"Mhmm" I mumbled distractively while I began to pull pillows and covers from the queen sized bed. Joshua sat on one of the desk chairs to the left of the room, fiddling with a nearby lamp.
"Oh, Honeybun! Who? What's his name?" Gushing she continued, "...Or her name? At this point I'm just glad that you've met somebody, really. You know I want you to settle down already, even if I did want grandchildren..."
My eyes popped out of their sockets when I realized my own mother was accusing me of being gay. Not that I had anything against gay people, I just wasn't one of them. Actually, I did have a thing against one very gay stylist, but Johnny was a whole other subject.
"Mom! I'm not a lesbian, Good God! Also, I'm twenty not thirty!" I didn't like the look that crossed Joshua's face when he heard that I was talking to my mother.
"I know, but you've just never had a boyfriend before and I always wondered..." She trailed off.
The problem was that I had a tiny little secret going on. My parents weren't exactly aware of my new job. I had decided not to tell them because I knew that I wouldn't hear the end of it if I told. Plus, I was kind of embarrassed to be working for a modeling company. The irony would be hilarious to my entire family. So, they were happily oblivious under the assumption that I had a business job that had me traveling around the world. I didn't even remember what kind of job I told them I was doing.
I freaked out when Joshua started to creep closer to me. He had that playful look in his eye that I was starting to know so well. It was not a good sign.
When he was about a foot away, and my mother still blabbered about open judgments and minds, I picked up a pillow. From the same hand that I was using to hold it, I held a finger to my lips.
Sure, my pillow was no pair of chopsticks, but I was prepared to use it.
He took another step, which I took as my cue to throw. The pillow hit him square in the face. He didn't even flinch, having a plan in his mind.
When I realized that all of the silent shooing I was doing wasn't working, I began to freak and talked rapidly into the phone, almost as fast as my mom was, "Mom, I got to go. I have a business meeting in the morning that I can't be late to-"
"Oh, alright! My little girl is so grown up going to her business meetings! Well, I'll just leave you now-"
We were both interrupted by Joshua's loud masculine voice filling up the room and traveling through the phone speaker.
"Hey, babe, Ready for bed?" He hollered from where he stood.
My mother paused before she spoke.
"Lilly..... Who was that?" she questioned from the other side of the line.
I was going to kill him.