“Ben! Wait, hon!” Mrs. Casey moved as quickly as she could from the kitchen to the living room where Ben was close to walking out of the door with Solana.

“What, Mom?”

Patty opened up her arms to her son and pleaded with her eyes. “Be good for Miss Romero and Nick, huh?”

Ben rolled his eyes and hugged his mom, secretly grateful for this rare sign of affection from her. “Yeah, Mom. I’m good. You be good, too, okay?”

She pulled back from the hug and took his face in her hands. “Yes, I’m good too. Give Nick a kiss for me.”

“MOM! I am not kissing that man!”

She giggled and popped him on the behind as he snuck out the door and patted Solana on the shoulder before she too disappeared outside. “Take care of my boy.”

“Of course…thanks for letting him do this.”

“It’s good for him. Good for me, too. I depend on him too much.”

“You’re doing better, Patty. Everyone is.”

“Yes…we are. Have him call when you get in, huh?”

“Yep…talk to you soon. Bye, Jack!”

Jack finally looked up from his video game and waved, glad to have the system almost to himself for a few days. Now if he could just get Liz out of the way, he’d be home free.

As the two travelers settled into Solana’s car, Ben’s leg started shaking like a leaf. “Nervous?”

“Yes…no.” Looking at her honest eyes and not being able to return anything less, Ben scratched his head. “Yes. A wreck.”

“Me too.”

“You?”

“Yup.” Solana started the car and tooted the horn as Patty and Amy waved from the front porch. “I haven’t flown for a few years and I’ve never been to New York City before.”

“I’m excited about that part. I wanna see Times Square. MTV…all that stuff.”

“Yep. Nick said he’s gonna try to get us into the studios…he’ll do what he can.”

“I know. Oh, and I have homework…which sucks.”

“Maybe you can finish it on the plane, so you won’t have to think about it, huh?”

“Yeah, good idea. It’s not too much.”

He leaned his head back and tried to calm his nerves as she drove them to the airport. They were both surprised to see that Nick had arranged first class seating for them and obviously alerted the airlines of who they were traveling with. Every whim was catered to. Every nerve was settled. Almost.

“Woah…these seats are huge.” Ben buckled in and looked out of the window, wondering how long it’d be until they backed away from the gate.

“Yeah, I’ve never flown up here before either. Lots of room.”

“Can I get either of you something to drink?” The flight attendant closed the bin over their heads and smiled brightly. How did they do that for eight hours a day?

“Yeah, Diet for me…Ben?”

“Coke is fine.” He looked back out the window, shaking his head. This was too unreal. “So, uh…how fast will this thing go before we leave the ground?”

“I’m not sure, but it pushes you back in your seat.”

Ben nodded and kept his eyes outside, jumping when the hatch slammed shut. “Shit…”

“You okay, bud? They just closed the door.”

“Yeah, yeah…dang…I’m more nervous than I thought.”

Solana slid her hand into Ben’s seat, pulling his wrist out from under his shaking thigh and holding on tight. She leaned in and said nothing, smiling when he leaned back to her…and sighed. She’d always had a soft spot for Ben. She could see the sweetness in him, even when he was giving her headache after headache after headache. She never imagined that the cocky SOB who waltzed in her office so many months ago would be the one to unleash it though. Whatever the case, she couldn’t be happier. With either of them.

When the plane started backing away from the gate, Ben tightened his grip on Solana’s hand. “You know…knowing Nick hates this isn’t helping me at all.”

“Well, see…you’re gonna love it and then you’ll have something to torment him about.”

“Like I don’t have enough already.”

“Never enough. He makes it so easy.”

Ben looked over to her and smiled…she was so pretty. So sincere. So strong. No wonder Nick was smitten. “You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do…he’s a good man.”

“Yeah…we’re both trying.”

She leaned in closer as the plane started to speed up. The faster the plane got, the bigger Ben’s eyes opened. And the tighter he clung on to her hand, finally grabbing on with both of his to her one. “Oh wow…”

“Here we go…nose up…”

“Woah…”

“Aaanndd…we’re in the air!”

“Oh wow! Wow! Wow! This is…” Letting go and looking out the window, Ben almost jumped clean out of his seat belt. “…amazing! Look at this!”

Solana leaned over, getting a peek at the approaching clouds and disappearing houses. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Oh yeah. How can Nick hate this?”

“No idea…I’ve always liked to fly.”

“He’s nuts. This is beautiful.” Ben sat back and took Miss Romero’s hand again, winking as she offered a questioning look. “Can’t be too careful though…might hit turbulence.”

“Ah, of course…turbulence.”

“Ooh…look. He’s got a dude with a sign.” Ben pulled on Solana’s arm, dragging her outside of the gating area to a gentleman holding a sign that read, “Ben and Solana.”

“Good afternoon…I’ll take your luggage.”

Without another word, the uniformed gentleman took Solana’s rolling bag and led them out to a huge, white limousine.

“Holy shi-…goodness. He’s rolling out the red carpet, isn’t he?” Ben let Solana duck in first and threw his bag in, sitting across from her, staring in amazement at the leather, the gold, the TV…everything. “This is too cool.”

“No kidding.” As the chauffeur closed the door, they couldn’t help but look at each other and just giggle like school kids. “I don’t believe this…he lives like this all the time.”

“Yeah, but you’d never know it. He’s not full of shit.” Ben ran his hands over the smooth leather and snooped into the liquor cabinet. “Aw…empty.”

“We’ll have to talk to him about that.”

As they traveled into the city, Solana and Ben took on full tourist mode, gazing up at the tall buildings, pointing out famous landmarks to each other. They had only been seeing the outside, not paying much attention to their surrounds, or the sound of their surroundings. Until…

Solana stopped short and kicked Ben across the seats. “Listen…is that Nick???”

Ben stopped gazing outside and focused into the music playing in the limo. “Oh god…yeah…” He slid around to get closer to the back of the driver and tapped him on the shoulder. “Is this radio or a CD?”

“Radio, sir.”

“Holy shit! Miss Romero! It’s him! On the radio!!!”

But she was already gone, totally sucked in to the words and music coming out of the speakers, amazed at the work he’d done before they met and in his jaunts around the country after their time together had started. He’d really done it. On his own. And the words…

Help me
Figure out the difference
Between right and wrong
Weak and strong
Day and night, where I belong.

Help me
Make the right decisions
Know which way to turn
Lessons to learn
And just what my purpose is here.

“Yeah…it’s him alright…he sounds amazing.” They shared one more glance before separating into their own private listening mode, finding meaning in the words, feeling more pride than either thought they could. “Wonder if he wrote that one.”

“I dunno, but it’s good…either way. I like it.”

“Yeah, me too.”

You love me
Who I am?
No angel…just an ordinary man.

Just as the song ended, the car slowed to a stop and the driver came around and helped his passengers out. “I’ll send your luggage up with the concierge, Miss Romero.”

“Oh, okay, thanks…” She clamored in her purse for a tip and he stopped her.

“No, no…our treat, ma’am. Have a good stay.”

Before either could ask any questions, they were being escorted up to the top floor of the luxury hotel and Nick was greeting them at the door.

“Hey! You made it on time! Come on in.”

Ben and Solana ducked in under his arm, Ben barely escaping Nick’s attempts at pulling his do-rag off of his head. And then they stopped. Luxury was an understatement. This was a completely furnished apartment under the guise of a hotel room. Brass, marble, solid cherry furniture and thick, lush tapestries decorated every corner.

“Good God, Nick…” Solana couldn’t believe it. She’d only seen this kind of thing in the movies. And Ben…well, he was totally speechless. And thrilled. He’d found the Play Station hooked up and ready to go.

“What?”

“This…and uh, they said I’m in this room too? I’m not sure…”

“Come here…there’s two bedrooms here.”

“Oh. Two bedrooms…” She followed him through another door and found almost a mirror image of the room she’d entered.

“This is your room. We share living space though…is that okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I think it’ll be fine. Tony has a place?”

“The couch.” Nick giggled and took her hand as they walked back to the living area and sat down as Ben dove into the video games. “I’ve missed you guys so much.”

“We’ve missed you too…” But she really wasn’t listening. She was still taken by the opulence, the glamour, the world he was so comfortable in and she felt like she’d never be able to get accustomed to.

“Hey…” He waved a hand in front of her roving eye, giggling at her trance-like state. “You in there?”

“Yeah, yeah…but, uh…”

“What?”

“Just an ordinary man you say? I don’t think so.”

“So, Ben…how was flying?” Nick dumped a helping of pasta salad on his plate and licked his lips. Nothing like New York deli food and Solana had picked tons of things for them to try. It was a virtual private buffet.

“You’re a wuss, man. It’s great! Hey…leave some for me!” Ben yanked the bucket from Nick and stuck out his tongue.

“God, boys…I swear…are you two always like this after a break?”

“No. Only when we’re hungry.”

“A wuss, huh? Oh fine…you gonna be a pilot now?”

“Uh, no. I just don’t know what you’re afraid of.”

“Crashing. I kinda like being on the ground. Doesn’t hurt so bad if you fall.”

“But you’ll put your heart out for the public to see and not worry about it? See, now to me, that’s scary.” Solana dangled a pickled anchovy in front of Nick and slid it into her mouth, laughing as he made barfing sounds off the side of the table. “Wuss is right. You just don’t know what’s good.”

“I guess we all have our hang ups…so you heard the song, huh?”

“Yeah, in the limo. Nick, it’s great! Did you write it?” Ben smacked his sandwich together and took a huge bite, looking down shyly when he got the scolding look from the adults at the table for his piggish manners. “Sorry.”

Nick shook his head and slathered his bun with mustard, shivering as Solana ate another anchovy. Maybe eating alone wasn’t so bad after all. “Nah, I didn’t write that one. I really liked it though. Liked the lyrics.”

“Yes…they’re good. They sound like you.”

“Well, just because I didn’t write ‘em doesn’t mean I don’t believe ‘em.”

“Quite true. So, when are we going to get to hear the rest of this thing?”

“How’s tomorrow sound?”

Ben looked up, surprise and mustard all over his face. “You serious!? We get to hear it first?”

“Well…not first, but yeah. It’s not the final cut, but close. We’ll go to the studio tomorrow, okay? You can play around on the drums and stuff there too if you want. You been practicing?”

“I’ve been messing around. I wouldn’t call it practice. I suck. Pissed the maid off the other day.”

“Eh, breathing pisses her off sometimes. You’ll be good for her. She’s too tight.”

Solana nodded and poked Nick with her fork. “Sounds like she might be good for you, too…you need a tight woman.”

Nick choked on his sandwich, as did Solana…shocked at her slip and frustrated his mind went right where it was not supposed to go. Ben, fortunately, missed it. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing…nothing at all…” Clearing his throat and avoiding looking at Solana, he found his voice. “Yeah, a tight woman is just what I need. Keeps me outta trouble.”

Solana busied herself at stabbing the rest of her pasta salad, mumbling something in Spanish, red faced and flustered. Men did not typically do this to her…why did he have such power over her? No ordinary man…that was obvious bullshit, but the no angel part? Oh hell yes.

Ben didn’t get the odd tension that had entered the room and he surely did not like it. So, with a burp and a screech of his chair on the tile floor, he excused himself and went back to the video games.

Whispering, Solana leaned over to him, hoping her words would come out better this time. “Nick…”

“Just…shh. Forget it. We’ll get through this.” The last thing he wanted was to discuss the tension. It’d never go away then. And, it needed to. His desire for her grew every time he saw her…and it was driving him mad.

“Mmm…I’m not so sure. Maybe I should just get another room.”

“Nope. You’re staying here with the guys. I want you here.”

“And you always get what you want?” She stuffed a forkful of pasta in her mouth and chewed slowly, wanting him to hear what she was truly asking.

He heard. Completely.

“Eventually…yes, I do.”