“I apologize for that back there. They can act like kids sometimes,” Rae lamented as she led JC down the sidewalk, away from the bar they’d just exited. JC laughed in response, shrugging away her apology.
“No need to apologize,” he replied. Rae had invited him to hang out with her and friends. It was now nearing 11 o’clock and had just been kicked out of the bar, BlueMoon. A couple of Rae’s friends had gotten into a fight with other patrons, and thus, everyone had been asked to leave.
“Well, I feel like I have to apologize. My brothers sort of ambushed you back there,” Rae laughed slightly, remembering her three brothers failing miserably to intimidate JC. JC had remained cool, calm, and collected. And after a short time, they’d offered to take care of his vehicle in the morning.
“They meant well. And well, I understand that it’s a bit unsettling to see your sister hanging out with a guy she’s just met a few hours before,” he explained, burying his hands into his jean’s pockets.
“Do you have a sister?” Rae asked, sneaking a sideways glance at him. He looked so relaxed, yet so handsome. When she’d picked him up, she’d noticed how good he looked in his dark grey jeans, white t-shirt, and a black jacket. They’d somewhat coordinated; she wearing black jeans, grey luxe tank, and black flats.
“One sister and one brother,” he replied.
“Would you like to walk around and do you want to go home?” she asked, stopping at the street’s corner. They could either take a left toward the parking deck where they’d stationed, or keep walking straight towards the Savannah historic park squares.
“I’m still stuck on West Coast time, so I’d like to walk around, if you don’t mind,” he replied, looking at her to make the decision.
“Well alright then, how much of a history buff are you?” she asked, taking a step to cross the street.
“I like history, but I’m not a fanatic,” he said with a shrug of his shoulder. The night was a comfortable crisp and cool night. It was the beginning of October, and so he didn’t expect for the weather to be too hot. And the cool brisk breeze was a nice welcome to the recent 100-degree he’d experienced back home.
“Well that’s just great, I won’t feel too bad about not sharing all the history of every cobblestone,” she laughed, mockingly wiping her brow. He joined in her laughter. “West coast, huh?”
“Los Angeles,” he nodded.
“LA and no spray tan? Well, ain’t that a shocker,” she kidded. He smirked in response, but didn’t say anything. “Well, forgive me, but now I really understand why you needed to escape. LA is a scary place.”
“Been there?” his interest peaked. She’d mentioned that she’d left Savannah for some time, but she never elaborated.
“Lived there for about a year, and that was plenty,” her answer vague and lackluster.
“You get used to it, somewhat,” he defended.
“Well, JC, that’s the scary part. When something like that because remotely normal, your every sense of what is right and wrong is out of your control,” she explained, and he remained silent. In some way she might be insulting him, including him in her LA study. But the same time, he knew exactly what she meant because this is what had driven him away from LA. He’d become fed up with the blurred reality, or lack thereof.
“But you’re not from the south and you definitely are not from California, so where are you from?”
“Maryland, but I’ve moved around a lot,” he replied.
“Ah yes, but where our foundation was poured stays the same you know,” Rae smiled as a look of understanding passed over JC’s face. She’d been there. She’d felt the overwhelming sensation that her life was not under her control. She’d felt the need to rediscover the purpose of life.
“True, yes, but your foundation isn’t the only thing that makes you. Every level poured after that defines the structure too,” JC continued the analogy that she’d set.
“Well, yes, but the design and number of levels depend on the foundation’s strength, stability, and depth,” she retorted, before laughing.
“That analogy was going to get out of hand very quickly. Windows, walls and doorways were next,” JC chuckled, shaking his head at their conversation.
“Definitely, come on, I want to show you something,” she prodded, taking his hand and pulling him through the park square. Stone-lined walkways, beautiful greenery, large oaks, rustic benches all illuminated by the light posts rushed by him as they jogged. She was telling him a story about how they, her brothers and her, would spend hours at the park squares as kids as their worked at the local bank. He listened intently as her arms flailed and gestured to one thing and to another.
Her openness and willingness to share life anecdotes was refreshing. It was definitely not something that he’d expected upon arriving. He’d planned to just spend all his time alone, regrouping and maybe getting back into making music for himself. He’d scouted so many locations but the looming fear of not being able to stay anonymous had eliminated many places. He never had much luck picking ‘secret’ locations, so he’d gone to the one person that always seemed to get away with secrets.
Justin.
And sure enough, Justin had come through. He’d given him several ideal places, and in a random hat draw, Savannah had been chosen. The house he’d rented had everything he could need, including a dock on the Intracoastal Waterway. Anonymity could be maintained as he enjoyed peace and solitude. But, now, suddenly, he wasn’t craving solitude so much. Rae didn’t seem to know who he was, and he liked that. It was as refreshing now ten years after NSYNC as it was then. It was like having a blank slate and being able to choose new colors to paint a picture with.
He could be himself, without having to respond for his past. Turning his attention back to Rae, he realized that she’d stopped talking and was standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey Space Cadet, back to earth please,” she smirked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I apologize. I was thinking about how I expected one thing arriving here and how I’ve gotten another thing since then,” he admitted, slightly embarrassed that she’d caught him daydreaming.
“It’s life. It’ll always happen. I expected to pick up a few things at the grocery store and instead I picked up a helpless guy,” she teased, causing him to laugh.
“Yep, I wasn’t expecting to be a damsel in distress so early in life,” he retorted, mockingly flipping his hair over his shoulder. Her eyes crinkled at the corner as she laughed boisterously.
“Since I’ve bored you with my painful historic tour of a National Historic town, what would you like to do?” Rae asked, looking down at her watch. The time, one a.m., glared angrily back at her.
“Would you slap me if I kissed you right now?”
Raising her eyes in surprise, she was speechless. She expected him to have a cocky look on his face, but instead, she found a serious expression. He was being completely truthful. Her eyes shifted from his lips to his eyes to his lips again. Nerves began to take over her body and she forced her now-trembling hands into her back pockets. Looking at his wide-eye expression, she knew that he was losing confidence with every passing second. And she, well she, was gaining every confidence point that he lost.
“Maybe after I kissed you back.”
And his hands were on her cheeks in the blink of an eye, grasping her gently and tilting her lips to meet his. It was soft and supple, with the right amount of pressure and intimacy. Her hands, still in her back pockets, reached from behind and grasped his biceps. He was a thin man, and she wasn’t expecting to feel the burgeoning muscle that she felt. But, they were both quickly learning that what they expected was wrong – every time.
