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I flipped through the latest issue of People magazine for the third time and sighed. Josh stood behind me with a ping pong paddle and a ball and smacked that ball up in the air. He had been at it for over a half hour now and it was, quite frankly making me nuts! I had the urge to turn and yank the paddle out of his hand and whack him upside the head with it. We had been sitting, waiting in that small store room in the back of the Virgin Record store for 45 minutes while a large crowd, mostly comprised of squirming, squealing young girls gathered in the store spending their babysitting money on Josh’s CDs.
“Josh!” I snapped after another minute of “tak,tak,tak,tak,tak,tak.” He hit the ball hard and it shot up to the ceiling, bounced onto the table in front of me and popped me right in the nose. “Will you knock it off?” I said rubbing my injured face. He sighed heavily and flopped into the chair across from me. He was chewing gum and blew a large bubble. It popped and he sucked the remains back into his mouth. “Do you even care that you hit me in the nose with that obnoxious ping pong ball?” He glanced up at me, eyes open wide.
“Did I?” I nodded. “Oh, then I’m sorry.” It wasn’t the most sincere apology I’d ever had but it would do. He started chomping his gum again.
“Are you okay?” I asked. He leaned back in the chair and tipped it back slightly.
“Yeah, I’m just anxious is all.” I searched his face.
“Anxious as in nervous or anxious as in can’t wait to get it over with?” He pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes as if in thought and then burst into a laugh. I batted his arm. “You goof.”
“Yeah, I’m just want to get it started. I hate this whole waiting thing.”
“Any minute now, you just watch.”
“Got a deck of cards?” I pretended to search my pockets.
“No, sorry, I left them in the car.” He sneered and pointed to the door.
“Go git ‘em!” He barked. Just then the door opened and the store manager poked his head in. Josh stood quickly.
“Time?” He asked.
“Time.” The manager said. Josh headed for the door and I followed. There was a loud vibrating hum of voices as we made our way down the hall towards the sales floor that turned into piercing screams and cheers. I had been to personal appearances before but this was way different. I glanced into the crowd and watched the adoration these fans had for their star. I felt a jolt of electricity zip down my spine. Josh smiled handsomely and waved. “Thank you! Thank you!” He said loudly, hoping to be heard. I pulled a chair out from behind a table and he made his way over to it where he was to autograph CD cases.
It had only been about an hour but my ass was numb as though I had been sitting for three or four without moving. I could only imagine how Josh felt, after sitting and smiling for most of an hour I knew he would need some sort of therapy. I snuck away to make a phone call. When he was finally finished I whisked him away in my Lexus leaving a trail of boisterous girls behind. He snapped his seatbelt into place and then pulled his knees in and propped his feet up onto the front of my dashboard. Normally I would have slapped his legs down but he was tired and I didn’t have the heart.
“Where we going now?” He asked. I smiled slyly.
“It’s a surprise.” I said. He glanced over at me and seeing my crooked smile opened his mouth in shock.
“What are you planning?” He asked teasing. I turned on the radio to distract myself from his coy glances. I felt myself flush from my ankles to my forehead and hoped it wasn’t as evident as it felt like it was.
“You will see. Sit back and close your eyes.” He did as he was told. I had turned on a classical music CD that was calm and relaxing. I heard him let out a deep breath and sink into the comfort of the leather seat. When the car stopped and the engine died he sat upright. He frowned as he looked around.
“Umm … Teddy?” I unsnapped my seatbelt and opened the car door.
“Yeah?” He followed.
“Where are you taking me?” He looked up and down the block searching for something familiar. I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the Zanito Salon. “You’re going to get my hair cut?” He hissed as we entered. The pretty model at the front desk smiled, her white teeth standing out strangely against her tanned face.
“Theodora Hayes.” I told her. She stood and indicated that we should follow her. We headed down a plushly padded, carpeted hallway and into a warm, freshly painted room. She went to a closet and pulled out a navy, velvet robe and two towels. She set them down on a chaise. Turning to Josh she instructed him to remove all of his clothing, wrap the towel around his waist and put on the robe and then she turned and left the room. It was interesting to watch the blush spread from his neck up through his cheeks. He planted his hands on his hips.
“What is going on Teddy?” I picked up a towel and pressed it to his chest.
“You, Mr. Groban, are going to have a massage so I suggest you get naked.” Not wanting to see the look on his face I turned and left the room closing the door tightly behind me.
