“About a year and a half,” Mark said simply as the turned the corner that led to the end of the hall where Brian’s room was.
“Oh, okay,” she tried to think of something else to say, but before anything came to her mind, they were at the end of the hall and Mark was slipping his card key into the slot. Smiling again, she mumbled a quick ‘thank you’ and stepped inside the dimly lit suite. She stopped right inside the doorway and listened. There was soft music playing—most likely Brian McKnight or Boyz II Men—and she could hear Brian softly singing along with the lyrics. As quietly as possible, Julie tiptoed to the end of the hall and leaned her head against the doorframe, smiling at what she saw.
Brian stood over the table in the dining area of the suite arranging a vase of flowers. There were candles strategically placed all around the room and here and there she could see more flowers that were left out of the arrangement. The table had been set and Brian kept checking his watch, expecting her to be back any second. Standing up a little straighter, Julie walked into the dinning room and grinned.
“Well, hello,” Brian broke into a wide grin and pulled a chair out from the table motioning for her to have a seat. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d gotten lost.”
Julie looked up at Brian and found herself lost in him for a second. The candlelight was flickering brightly and she found herself gazing at him in a way she never had before. Shaking her head slightly, Julie forced her thoughts out of her mind and smiled up at him. “Everything looks great.”
“I hope it is as good as it looks,” Brian said with a wink. “Here you are madam.”
She watched as he placed a bowl of homemade potato soup down on the table in front of her then went on to pour her a glass of wine. “Wow, Brian, you’ve really outdone yourself.”
“Wait till after dinner and if we’re both still living, then you can praise me,” he joked playfully.
Bianca looked down at her half empty coffee cup and ran her finger slowly around the rim. She glanced across the table at AJ to find him staring back at her, his head cocked to the side and his arms folded atop the table. “What?” she asked feeling a little insecure.
“Nothing,” he shrugged.
“Thank you for breakfast,” Bianca mumbled for lack of anything else to say. She felt like she should be trying to keep the conversation going, but she was having a hard time thinking of things that weren’t uncomfortable to talk about with AJ.
“You don’t need to thank me,” he said before lifting his coffee cup to his lips.
After a few minutes, Bianca looked back at AJ who was now staring down into his plate pushing the half eaten food around with his fork. She opened her mouth to say something, but immediately stopped herself.
“What’s on your mind?” Though he was no longer looking directly at her, AJ was paying very close attention to Bianca.
“I…um…” she took a breath and tried to force the question out. “Do you wish it had turned out differently?”
He didn’t need to ask what she meant; he knew she was talking about them. He could have made the situation hard for Bianca, but he didn’t. The answer to that question was as evident as the blood flowing through his veins. “Yes.”
Lowering her head, she tried to discreetly reach up and wipe her eyes. She felt so stupid crying about something that was entirely her fault and could have been different. If it wasn’t for me, it WOULD be different. She was startled suddenly when AJ slid into the booth beside her and tipped her face toward his.
“Did you know that I think about you every day?” his expression was serious yet his eyes were tender. His fingers were still under her chin and his thumb was gently gliding across her cheek catching the tears that were still falling from her pained blue eyes.
At his question, Bianca closed her eyes and leaned into his soft hand, gently nuzzling against his warm palm. She couldn’t find the right words to say to answer that question. But before she could say anything, he followed his question with another.
“Marry me?”
Her eyes flew open and found a completely sincere look in AJ’s soulful brown eyes. She searched his face for any sign of playfulness, but knew instantly he was completely serious. A million thoughts suddenly filled her mind as she tried to find the right answer to give him. Let him down easy? Laugh as if though was a joke? However, before she could form a complete answer in her mind, she heard herself say, “Yes,” and watched as a slow smile crossed AJ’s face and he slowly brought his lips to hers.
Nick sighed to himself and threw himself over then arm of an overstuffed chair in the sitting area of his room. He picked up the remote control and started channel surfing for lack of anything better to do. Here he was, supposedly having a relaxing weekend away from the guys, and he was alone in his room bored out of his mind. He’d hung out with Howie for the better part of the afternoon and while they were at lunch, he’d had the pleasure—well, scratch that, he wouldn’t really call it a pleasure—of meeting Howie’s current girlfriend Mia Dennison.
It wasn’t that she was a stuck up bitch, she was as nice as she could be. He would never tell Howie, but there was just something about her that Nick didn’t really like. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. He’d had a hard time keeping conversation going at lunch so he finally decided that he’d stick strictly to eating. And he had to admit that he was thankful when she’d declined Howie’s offer to come with them after lunch, opting instead to just meet up with Howie later for dinner.
Now, here he was alone with nothing to do but watch television. Brian had a friend visiting so Nick knew that he wouldn’t feel like hanging out, he’d already been hanging out with Howie, and Kevin wasn’t even in town. Glancing around the messy suite, Nick frowned to himself. When had his life gotten so boring?
“Hell, I think I’d even go to Vegas and get married just to have something to do,” he mumbled to himself as he resumed his task.
“Okay, I think it’s safe to say that you really have outdone yourself tonight, Duckie,” Julie leaned back in her chair and placed a hand on her full belly. “That was great. Not as good as my Mom’s,” she paused to wink, “but you have great potential young Padawan.”
Brian burst out laughing at Julie’s Star Wars reference and bowed his head slightly. “Why thank you Master Yoda…”
She only grinned. “So, Duckster, what do you have planned for the rest of the night?”
“I dunno,” he shrugged. It was still early, but he hadn’t really planned past dinner. He had been hoping that dinner would be romantic, and while the setting had been romantic, the dinner itself hadn’t really been. Not because he hadn’t tried, but when it came down to it, he was clueless about how to be romantic with Julie. He racked his brain trying to think of something they could do. Go swimming? No, he didn’t really feel like going down to the pool only to be recognized by younger fans that were bound to be there. Leave the hotel and go shopping? No, again, he would be faced with being recognized and that wasn’t something he felt like dealing with at the present moment.
“Hey, what do you think about going down to see the fountains out front? I only saw them for a minute before I came up,” she suggested with a smile. “I know it’s not the same as the Bellagio, but we could always pretend.”
Brian laughed and nodded. That did sound like a good idea; it definitely had the potential to be romantic. “Great idea, Jules.”
A few minutes later they were standing together in front of the fountains. She was right, it was nothing like the Bellagio, but there was something about it nonetheless. Glancing to his right, he looked at Julie taking in her soft features. She reached up and tucked a strand of her sandy blonde hair behind her ear and glanced back at Brian, suddenly looking rather insecure.
“What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?” she asked quickly.
Brian laughed and looked down at his feet, shaking his head no. When he looked back up, Julie was still casting a wary glance at him. Finally, she turned her attention back to the fountains, but after a minute he saw her reach up and lightly brush her hand across her cheek. Leaning forward on the rail, Brian felt a few drops of rain splash onto his cheeks. “Hey, Jules, it’s starting to rain. You think—” he stopped to look at her again and he saw she was leaning her head back, a wide grin on her face.
“God, I love the rain,” she grinned at him when the drops started to come down harder. She suddenly took his hand and pulled him away from the rail. “Don’t you? It can’t get any better than this.”
Brian let her drag him away from the fountains and they stood getting drenched in the unexpected downpour. He couldn’t think of anything to say as he looked at her. Something inside him clicked and after a moment, he tenderly took her face in his hands and placed his lips on hers. It took a moment, but Brian finally felt Julie respond to the kiss.
It's love this time
It just seems to fit, I think I'm in love
This love is mine
I can see you with me when I'm older
All my lonely nights are finally over
You took the weight of the world off my
shoulders (the world just goes away)
Oh, when you kiss me
I know you miss me
and when you're with me
The world just goes away
The way you hold me
The way you show me that you
adore me--oh, when you kiss me
Oh, yeah*
Lost completely in the moment, everything around them seemed to fade away. Brian’s kisses were feather soft on Julie’s lips and his hands became entangled in her wet locks of hair. Brian wanted nothing more than to have the moment go on and on, but he knew eventually it would have to end. And when it finally did, he still held her face in his hands and stared into her eyes as the rain continued to fall down on them.
*“When You Kiss Me” by Shania Twain
