On Monday, after work, I stopped by the store. I hadn’t done any major grocery shopping since returning from Connecticut and figured it was about time I did. So there I was at seven at night in the middle of Kroger, filling my cart and trying to decide if I really needed the Oreo cookies. My thoughts weren’t too much on the cookies as they were on Alex’s suggestion to live together. I had been thinking about it all weekend and well into today. Even now, as I stared down at the package of Oreo’s and debated on rather I wanted to put them in my cart or not.

Alex wanted to move into my place. He was willing to sell his beautiful house and live in a modest, beachside, four bedroom-three bathroom home. My house wasn’t a shoebox by any means, but compared to his home, it was tiny. He had a game room, a theater, a closet bigger than my bathroom. And all I had to offer was a bedroom I could turn into an office for him. And then there was the question with all his belongings. There was no way they’d fit into my place. And did he want me to go through and get rid of my things to make room for his? Or were we going to just go out and buy all new things? That could get expensive and the furniture I’d adorned my place with was relatively new anyway. Give or take the few things I’d brought with me from back home.

I seriously needed to discuss all this with him before it made my head hurt more than it already was. Things could quickly become complicated and that is the last thing I wanted our relationship to be. It was so easy and carefree and I didn’t want there to be any pressure or expectations or issues. I just wanted us to continue on like we were.

“I know who you are.”

The voice jerked me from my deep thoughts and I turned, finding a young woman leaning casually against the freezer that housed the ice cream. She wore a pair of jean shorts and a coral colored tank, her dark blonde hair pulled back in a simple twist. It was her piercing green eyes though that sent a chill down my spine. They looked so cold and there was something about them that made me uncomfortable.

“Um, excuse me?”

“Yeah,” she stood right and popped the piece of gum in her mouth, her thumbs hooked into the pockets of her shorts, “I know who you are.”

I was bewildered and apparently it showed on my face, for she spoke again.

“I’ve seen your picture.”

Oh! From my fliers from the real estate agency. Okay, things were making sense again. “Oh yeah,” I offered a smile, “from my pamphlets.”

“No. It was online.”

“Oh, then you’ve been to our website.”

One lone brow rose. “You have a website?”

I blinked, confused again. “Um, well it’s not my website, but it’s the company I work for.”

“Heh, what’s that? A porn star?”

I blinked again, this time quite taken back. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, that’s the type he dates.”

I frowned and set the Oreos back on the shelf, taking hold of my cart. Time to move on. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“Nope, you’re definitely the chick from the photos.”

I rolled my eyes and looked at her again. “And just what photos are these?”

“The ones on Just Jared.”

“Just Jared?” What the heck was Just Jared? A dating site? Yeah, she definitely had me confused with someone else.

“Uh, yeah; that celebrity gossip site.” She sounded annoyed I didn’t know what she was talking about.

I didn’t know why I was even bothering with this conversation anymore. “Yeah, okay,” I called back to her as I continued down the aisle and on my way.

“Yeah, you’re just like the women he dates; total bitches.”

I slowed to a stop then whirled back around to face her. She was the total bitch here, not me. “I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. I’m not a celebrity and I wouldn’t be on some gossip site,” I hissed at her, anger starting to boil in my veins.

“No, but you’re dating one.” She remained cool and unaffected and I wondered why she was trying to get under my skin to begin with.

My brows drew together and then I realized what was going on. She was referring to Alex. Though, how she knew we were together was beyond me, I had never seen this girl before in my life. “I don’t even know you. Who I date is none of your business.”

“Then it really is you.” Her lips curled up in a slight smirk. “You really ought to start being nicer to AJ’s fans. That’s how you get a bad rap. And his fans are the last people you want to be pissing off and you want to have hate you.” Then she cracked her gum again and strode off in the opposite direction.

I watched her go, feeling rather baffled. Okay, what had just happened here? I had no idea who that girl was or what she was even talking about. She had claimed to see pictures of me with Alex, so that automatically told her we were dating. What kind of pictures? I hadn’t put anything of us together online, so who would have? Surely, Alex wouldn’t do that. And we hadn’t hung out with anyone else for them to get any pictures and post them. What was she talking about?

I really didn’t know what to make of the situation. And as I pushed my cart down past the crackers and soup cans, I tried to put the conversation out of my mind and then remember to bring it up to Alex later. Maybe he’d have a better idea.

About fifteen minutes later, I was finally leaving Kroger. Luckily, I hadn’t had another run-in with that girl and the rest of my shopping experience had gone smoothly. It wasn’t until I had reached my Saturn Aura that I realized something about it didn’t seem right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was different. Leaving my cart of groceries by the trunk, I circled around to the front, looking the vehicle over. It was my second trip ‘round the car when I noticed it; the tires on the left side. They had been slashed three or four times each and were completely flat.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I was even seeing correctly. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, the sun was setting and it was growing dusk. But I knew I wasn’t making things up when I felt the deep slashes in each tire. Someone had definitely sliced them. Pulling back from my car, I glanced around and dug around in my purse for my phone. Why would someone do this? Who would do this? I was half alarmed and half irritated and it showed when I dialed the police to report the vandalism. They said they would send an officer over and then I called Alex.

He arrived five minutes after the police. Officer Shelton was still acquiring as to my whereabouts and jotting down notes in his little notepad. His partner, Officer Donnell, was inspecting the tires, reporting that, yes, they had indeed been slashed. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell the young, arrogant cop that I already knew that hence, why I had called them in the first place. My nerves were one edge; I was irritated and frustrated, worried and a bit alarmed at what had happened and of course, I would have been sent the police officers that didn’t seem to care one way or another, what was happening here.

Upon seeing Alex, I relaxed some. Just his presence calmed me and I took his hand, relaying the evening’s events once more for him and the officer’s sake.

“Have you checked the video surveillance of the parking lot?” He questioned Officer Shelton, once I had finished with my tale.

The officer, a young man who couldn’t be older than 24; with piercing blue eyes and blond hair with a tint of red, tapped his pencil against the notepad. “We don’t know if it’s that serious.”

I blinked, but before I could open my mouth, Alex was speaking.

“Not that serious? Someone slashed her tires, how is that not that serious?” A deep frown was etched on his face.

“It was probably just some kids.”

“Then I suggest you go into the store, get that video tape and figure out just what kids it was.”

“Sir,” the very inexperienced cop held up a hand, “you need to just calm down.”

“Oh, I am very calm,” the tone in his voice was enough to make a chill run down my spine and he was on my side. “But if you don’t do your job correctly, I will not only be calling your superior, but also my lawyers.”

“Now, there’s no need-” he began to explain, but Alex interrupted him.

“Last time I checked, vandalism was still a crime. Do you need to look it up in your little officer handbook again, or am I going to call somebody?”

Officer Shelton glared at Alex, but didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and strode over to Officer Donnell and the two spoke in hushed voices.

“They’re morons,” I muttered under my breath to my boyfriend.

He snorted and slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me against his side. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I frowned and glared at my car, “someone slashed my tires. Who would do something like that?”

“I don’t know, baby.” He gave a sigh and pressed a kiss to my head. “But we’ll figure it out. I bet it’s all on the tape.”

“Hopefully.” I watched the two cops, seeing as Officer Donnell took out a camera and began to take photos of the vehicle and tires. Looked like they were finally beginning to do their job correctly.

A few moments later, Officer Shelton ambled back over, reporting that he was going to go inside and speak with the manager, see if he couldn’t get a hold of the video tape and find out just who it was that had vandalized my car. He informed us it might be awhile and even if they saw the crime on the tape, it might be awhile before they could even figure out who it was. He said there wasn’t anything else we could do tonight and suggested I have someone come tow my car to a garage.

Alex got the officer’s information and case number and I called Triple A. They arrived 45 minutes later and towed my Aura to a garage not too far from my home. Then Alex took me back to my place and we put away the groceries. The cold items that had spoiled during the two plus hours we’d been outside were exchanged for fresh ones and soon everything was put away and we were lounging on the couch in the family room.

“How am I supposed to get to work tomorrow?” I was nestled against his side with my feet propped up on the coffee table.

“You can take my Cayenne.”

My brows lifted. “You trust me to drive it? What if something happened?”

He shrugged and smoothed his hand along my side. “It’s insured.”

I tilted my head and weighed my options. “Alright, but if something happens, you can’t get mad.”

“Why would I get mad?” He chuckled and shifted my body till our eyes met.

“What if someone slashes your tires, too?”

“Do you really think they will? That bitch cop was probably right; it probably was some punk kids messing around.”

I gave a little sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. And you really don’t mind me driving your Porsche?”

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Not one bit.”

I had to smile at that. He really was a dream come true. “Thank you, you’re the best.”

“I know.” A teasing smirk tugged at his lips.

I gave a little sigh and rested my head against his chest, smoothing my fingers over his shirt. Suddenly, I remembered my run-in with the chick in the grocery store. “So, before I left Kroger and found my tires slashed, I had a weird thing happen.”

He tilted his head to look down at me. “What’s that?”

I sat up some, slipping a leg over his and meeting those expressive and soul stirring eyes. “This girl recognized me from some pictures that are online, I guess. Said she was a fan of yours.”

His body stiffened a little. “What did she say?”

Not really sure if I wanted to, but thinking it was probably best, I relayed what had transpired in the cookie aisle between the girl and myself.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Alex said after I had finished. He reached and smoothed his hand along my cheek. “Sometimes, my fans can be down right mean and horrible. They’ve never really cared for my girlfriends and I’m partially to blame for that because I chose the wrong people.” His thumb brushed under my eye. “But you’re different. And they’ll come to realize that.”

I kissed his palm. “I’m not worried. I don’t care if they think I’m Mother Teresa or Bloody Mary. But who would have taken a picture of us and where at?”

“It was probably the paparazzi and anywhere we go. They’re all over LA and sometimes you don’t even know they’re getting shots.”

“That’s weird and kind of creepy.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “but I’m so used to it that it doesn’t even faze me anymore.”

“I hope it won’t bother me.”

He tightened his arms around me. “And I’m sorry your first fan experience had to be a negative one.”

I shook my head. “Don’t even apologize; it’s not your fault. I’m not worried about what your fans think of me.”

“They can get pretty vicious.”

I sent him a teasing grin. “So can I.”

He chuckled. “Seriously though, I’ve had a few of my relationships deteriorate because of my fans.”

That surprised me. “Why’s that?”

He sighed and shifted some on the couch, sinking more into the back of it. “Because, they let what the fans think affect things. They got too involved in wanting to know what was said or who thought what,” his eyes watched me, “they bridged that gap between the fans and myself.”

“Oh.” I watched him a moment. “Why would they even care?”

“Because,” his head tilted to the side, “they didn’t have the best of intentions with our relationship. A few of them thought they would get more than they did out of it.”

“Like what? Marriage? Kids?”

“Like fame.”

“Oh.”

He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “But that’s all in the past. You just have to make sure you don’t let yourself get involved in what the fans think.”

I made a little face. “That won’t be too hard for me. I have no intentions of scouring websites or looking up things online.”

“And if you do happen to have any more run-ins that aren’t pleasant, just lemme know. I appreciate that you told me about this one.”

I smiled and kissed his cheek then his lips. “Of course I’d tell you. I think it’s really important to keep the lines of communication open.”

“I do too.” He smiled and covered my hand with his, giving it a warm squeeze.

“Speaking of lines of communication.” I pulled back and sat Indian style on the couch, facing him.

“Uh oh, what?”

I chuckled low at the alarm in his voice. “Nothing, bad. I just think we need to talk about this whole…living together thing a bit more, that’s all.”

He frowned in a concerned way. “Are you changing your mind?”

“No, not at all.” I reached for his hand, taking it with both of mine and holding it in my lap. “I just think there are some things we need to talk about. Like.. if you’re really sure you want to live here at my place, or what are we going to do with all our things? You have more stuff than I have room for …and what about my own things? Are you going to want to combine stuff? Or bring your stuff in here? Get rid of mine? Are we buying new things?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” He laughed and held a finger to my mouth in that shh motion. “Calm down, baby, it’s okay. I can see your head is going a mile a minute, isn’t it?”

I felt the blush creep over my cheeks. “Well, it’s a lot to think about.”

“Yeah, it can be.”

“Yeah, I nodded, “so we need to talk about it.”

Alex laughed low and sat up straight. “Alright, let’s talk about it.”

“Okay,” I gathered my thoughts, “do you really want to sell your house?”

“Would you rather move in there with me?”

My eyes roamed around my place; I hadn’t even been there two years, I didn’t have any particular attachments to it. Except for the amazing view of the ocean out my bedroom window, and the balcony attached. Finally, meeting his gaze again, I gave a little sigh. “I don’t know.”

“Morgan,” he cupped my cheek with his hand, “do you want us to live together?”

“It’s just…it’s a lot of decisions. And someone is gonna have to move, and then what about all our stuff? We can’t keep it all; someone is going to have to get rid of quite a lot.”

He watched me, smoothing his thumb on my soft skin. “I’m sure we would get it figured out.”

“And then what happens if we do all that? I sell my place, or you sell yours … we get rid of half our stuff … we buy new things together, and then…then something happens and we break up.”

“Why would we break up?”

I gave a sigh and rubbed my forehead. “I don’t know. Maybe…maybe I’m just not ready for that step yet.” I lowered my hand and met his eyes, realizing my hesitations came from not being to that point with him yet. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s no problem.” He shook his head some and pulled me against his chest. “It’s a big step and you’re still working on being in a relationship after Hugh. I should have waited a bit longer before bringing it up. I’m the one that should be apologizing.”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Neither did you.” He kissed the top of my head.

I peered up to him. “You’re not upset with me?”

“No, Morgan,” he touched my shoulder, “we’ll get there. And when we do, all those worries you had won’t even matter. When it’s right and when it’s time, you’ll know.”

I smiled and kissed his chin then his cheeks and finally his mouth. “You’re so wonderful.”

“Oh, I know, but I’m glad you notice it.”

That made me giggle and I snuggled close. I was about to ask if he wanted to stay the night here or at his place, when my phone gave a shrill ring. I sat up and grabbed it from the end table, listening as Officer Shelton proceeded to inform me that the grocery store only had one working video camera and it just so happened that I had not parked on that side of the lot. So they had nothing. Of course, he did say they had questioned some of the Kroger employees and spoke with the manager, but so far, there were no leads. He did tell me that they weren’t going to close the file quite yet, and if anything else came up, or I remembered something, to let him know right away. Then after wishing me a good night, he hung up.

I replaced the receiver with a frown.

“Well, that didn’t sound like it went well.”

I looked toward my boyfriend and shook my head. “No, the store only had one working video camera and it was on the opposite side of where I parked.”

“Damn, I’m sorry, baby.” He frowned and smoothed his hand over my back.

“Yeah, and no one saw anything, so the cops have no leads.”

He pulled me back into his embrace and hugged me close. “Well, maybe someone will remember something or the perp will strike again and this time, they’ll catch him.”

“Yeah right. I’m just gonna have to chalk this up to one very expensive lesson learned. Those new tires are probably going to cost me about 600 dollars.”

“Your insurance should cover it though, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not really worth adding it to my record when my deductible is 500 bucks.”

“Ouch.”

“Tell me about it.”

He sighed and smoothed his hand over my head, brushing some hair from my face. “How ‘bout you and Daisy come stay at my place tonight. And tomorrow, you can take my Cayenne to work. In fact, you can drive it as long as you need to.”

“What are you going to drive?”

“I have my Cayman.”

“Oh right.”

“But c’mon,” he patted my thigh, “do you need to pack a bag? You still have some stuff at my place.”

“Yeah, I suppose I should.” I disentangled myself from him and rose from the couch, tugging my shirt down around my midriff. “Will you get some of Daisy’s food into some containers and gather her toys? I think they’re in the kitchen.”

He stood as well. “Anything for you, babe.” Then he kissed my forehead and strolled from the room.