"Well, Tess, I do believe that you’re the one who has always told us that we always have to look like models, not just on the runway." I said and gave her a huge hug.
"Oh darlings, I’ve missed you all so much!" She said and threw her arms around all of us. "So, tell me, did you enjoy Spain or what? It was fabulous, wasn’t it?"
The four of us gushed about the 2-½ week trip we had just taken when she interrupted us. "Well, ladies, I have some fantastic news for you! You have tonight off! I understand that flying for so long can be tiring, but I need you fresh and awake for tomorrow so that we can start finding you some cute clothes to wear this coming winter season. Besides, we need to find you clothes for all kinds of weather. Aren't you excited girls?"
We all nodded and silently thanked her for giving us the night off. We got our luggage and went to the awaiting limo. As soon as we reached the loft where the girls and I would be staying, we flung our bags to the ground and went to claim bedrooms.
I got the Aqua room. Everything was about fish and ocean colors, the irony huh? Fish Bones. God, was there nothing on this Earth that could prevent me from thinking about him for just a few hours? Probably not. Anyways, Savannah got the butterfly room. Ames got the room right next to mine; it was as yellow as possible. Everything screamed yellow.
When I walked into her room, I gave her a funny look. "What? I’ll always have a happy place!" She smiled and flopped onto her bead. I flopped next to her and we both stared up at the ceiling. "What the hell are we doing Jade? Are we really ready for this?"
"I think so. I’m ready to be a positive influence on these girls and I’m also ready to start earning that $13 million bucks!" I said and laughed. I closed my eyes and suddenly saw a picture of a young Amethyst and me.
"Hey Ames, do you remember when we decided to become models?" I said and opened my eyes to see her smiling. "We were what? 11 years old?"
"I think so. We were sitting on the swings behind your house and you got up and did a mock model walk and we both decided that we wanted to become models." She said and began to laugh. Savannah and Bianca joined us on her bed.
"Dang Ames, this room almost blinded me." Bianca commented. She had chosen the music room. It had music notes painted all over the place on a deep red background. It totally fit Bianca’s demeanor and personality.
The four of us lay together in a circle for about 10 minutes before Savannah broke the silence. "Has it hit you guys yet that we’re making millions of dollars?"
"No, and I don’t think that it will until I’ve actually used some of that money on something or someone." Ames said. We sighed happily and sat on the bed for a few more minutes before Bianca said, "So Jade, tell us about this guy that you’ve been glowing over for the past few days."
I opened my mouth to speak, but then I started to giggle.
"Well, his name is Nick and he’s in a band called Fish Bones, B, I think you’re familiar with that name. I met him in Spain a few days ago." I continued to divulge the story of how Nick and I had met and about Kirsten and everything.
Nick’s POV
"No friggin’ way. Dude, Nick, look. It’s that chick Jade. It looks like she’s living here too." AJ said and pointed to her as she and the other three girls got out of the limo that we had been following. "Dang, she’s gorgeous. Have you seen her friend Bianca? She’s a hottie too! She’s small, but she’s got a huge personality. I’m totally digging her!"
"Yeah, yeah. Great J. Man, I cannot believe that she is here. Is this like, fate, or what?" I said. Damn, the girl always looked great.
"Well, what are you gonna do about Kirsten?" AJ questioned.
"Dude, I seriously have no idea. Like, I love her and all, but there’s something about this girl that drives me crazy. Most of the time she’s not even nice to me, but I still find myself thinking about her all the time." I said, not taking my eyes off of her for one second.
"Come on man, can you honestly say that you love Kirsten after all of the shit she puts you through? She’s basically turned you into her lap dog, man. You really need to do something about her. I know, hook her up with Justin Timberlake. He could handle her. Oh wait, he’s got Cameron. Let’s see, who can we set her up with?" AJ asked me, completely serious.
"AJ, I am not pawning off my girlfriend. I don’t know if I truly love her, but I’m not going to just find someone new for her. But I can say that there’s something missing with us. I mean, she’s not a challenge anymore. Jade, now she’s a mystery. She and I are friends one minute, enemies the next. She always has me thinking, and besides, I lose all sense of anything when she’s around. Man, J, I’m glad you finally agreed to share this apartment with me." I said as I pushed the 25 button on the elevator. AJ and I heard the 24 preceding beeps to acknowledge each floor and when the elevator doors opened into the penthouse the two of us were sharing, I ran for the couch.
AJ went and claimed his room while I lied down on the fluffy white couch. "I wonder what floor the girls are on." I said out loud.
"Do you want to go find out? Chris will take care of our luggage for us. I mean, they’ve got to be easy to find right? They’re girls, they’ll make noise." AJ said and ran for the elevator. He pushed the down button and waited for it to arrive.
As soon as the door dinged open, AJ and I stepped inside. We knew that they had to be on one of the top five floors because those were the penthouses. We pressed number 24 first. The doors opened to a grand hallway and paintings of flowers on the wall. We came to a set of French doors and saw a doorbell. AJ pushed it and we waited for a few seconds.
Jade’s POV
"Oh, yay! Our first visitors!" Ames exclaimed. She ran up and went to the door. She flipped her hair over her shoulders and combed through it with her fingers. She adjusted her shirt and then walked to the door. The girls and I laughed as we watched her prepare for the grand opening.
She opened the door and said, "Hi, can I help you?"
"Um, yeah, is Bianca available please?" we heard a very smooth, sexy voice say.
Bianca looked at us and whispered excitedly, "AJ?!" She got up and Amethyst let him in. I looked up to get a better look at him and in walked Fish Bones.
"What the hell are you doing here? Are you like, stalking me or something, because if you are, I will have a restraining order placed against you."" I almost screamed at him when I had recovered from the shock.
"Jade, please. No, he’s not stalking you. We live here too." AJ supplied. "We live on the 25th floor and we decided to go around and meet our neighbors. We seriously had no idea that you were here too."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say AJ. You know that you were looking for me!" Bianca flirted and traced her finger down his chin. He grabbed it and kissed her palm.
"So, do you guys want to come in and sit with us?" Ames ushered them in. Nick took a seat next to me on the couch and AJ and Bianca retreated to the kitchen.
"So, Jade, how are you?" Nick asked nervously. I looked at him and scowled. "What?"
"I just cannot believe that now I’m stuck with you, again." I said and kept my eyes on the television.
"Stuck with me? We happen to be neighbors. OK? It’s not like I went looking for you, or followed you from the airport. As AJ already explained to you, we are living on the floor above you and we were coming around to meet our neighbors. God, you act like being nice is a crime." He retorted.
"It is when the person you’re being nice to doesn’t want the affection. Nick, listen, you have a girlfriend and I don’t want you to think that I can just be some girl that you can randomly hook up with just because you and she got into a fight." I practically yelled back at him. By this time, but Ames and Vannah had disappeared to the kitchen, allowing Nick and myself to duke it out privately.
"Jade that was one night! I was drunk and we got into a stupid fight about me not being able to speak Spanish. I was pissed off because all I thought about after she had said that was you, and when she asked what I was thinking about, I said you name. There, are you happy?" He demanded.
"Why the fuck would you fight about me? You don’t even know my last name! You didn’t even know what I did until just a few hours ago! You don’t know anything about me Nick! And I don’t know anything about you except that you are in a band called Fish Bones. Fish Bones for Christ’s sake!" I got up from the couch because I could feel myself becoming flustered. I couldn’t be near him any longer without doing something that I would probably regret later.
"That’s not true! I know that your name is Jade, and you’re drop dead gorgeous, you have the clearest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. I know that when the sun hits you in a certain light, your eyes flash gold, and your blonde highlights look lighter than usual. I know that you’re intimidating as hell and that I can’t look at you for more that 2 seconds without falling apart. You challenge my brain, you challenge my ego. Neither of those things has happened for a while. I can’t keep my mind off of you and I have to deal with a girlfriend." He took a deep breath and waited for my reaction. I walked over to the couch and sat back down, fixing my blank stare on the T.V.
"Are you serious? I thought I was the only one thinking those things. I enjoy your company Nick. Not just because you’re hot, but because you’re funny, and you don’t even try to be, you just are. Right now, all we can be is friends, and you know that. I’ve told you at least twice that I’m not going to be the girl on the side. Nick, when you’re ready to make a 100% commitment to me, let me know. But I’m not going to sit around here waiting for you." I said and got up from the couch and joined everyone else in the kitchen, leaving Nick staring after me with his mouth open.
