Deep Within My Heart
Chapter One – Instant Attraction No. 1
“Oops! Sorry about that!” Suddenly embarrassed he bumped into someone.
“No, that’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention either. I guess we could turn this thing!” She laughed, motioning to the sunglasses carousel.
“Yeah, but that would be too easy.” He joked, joining in her laughter.
“We’ve just got to find the perfect pair of sunglasses that we don’t care who we run into to get them.” She said sarcastically, still clearly amused at their stupidity.
The man smiled. “No, no, you mock the importance of this.” He quickly grabbed a pair and put them on, admiring himself in the tiny mirror attached to the rack of sunglasses.
“Now these, well these…” He started strutting around reeking of self-importance. “Look at me! I’m a movie star! I could wear these on the red carpet…”
She giggled at the silliness of seeing this good-looking guy in these stupid large round oval white sunglasses with rhinestone stars on the sides.
Thrusting the sunglasses back on the rack and grabbing another to model, “Well, now these make me look like a queen!” She laughed seeing him wearing a pink rhinestone-studded pair meant for a young girl.
“Yeah, like maybe Elton John!” she replied, still having fits of laughter.
“Hey, good one.” he said and then continued. “And these…” he put those back and grabbed another.
“Oh, God!” she exclaimed at the ridiculousness of them.
“Yes, you’re right! They make me look like a god!” She lost it seeing him wearing these tiny oval wire framed glasses that looked like a geek or librarian would wear.
“God awful is more like it!” She spat out between fits of laughter, which suddenly turned into coughing.
“Easy there, girlfriend. Are you alright?” He said half-humorously, half-concerned, gently patting her back.
“Yes, Yes.” She waved him off. “Oh, my God, you’re too funny!” she said once she regained her composure.
“Actually, so are you.” he replied.
Suddenly, they noticed they had drawn an audience from the nearby shoppers and employees.
“Shush… you mustn’t disturb the customers…” He put a finger to his lips and feigned a stern voice. It made her giggle some more, so he motioned for them to move to a more private area and she followed.
“I’ve haven’t laughed that much in such a long time.” She said, still trying to recover from laughing so hard. “Oh, my stomach hurts.”
Once they had stopped laughing, they stood there, staring at each other, clearly attracted to one another. A silence fell between them, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. Butterflies were fluttering inside her stomach and she was feeling something for this guy she hadn’t felt… since, well, Jack. She knew she wanted him instantly and she sensed he wanted her just as bad.
“I’m Olivia,” she said and held out her hand, anxious to find out who this mysterious funny man was. Looking at him though made her realize that she had seen him somewhere before--but where? She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
The man realized he had been staring at her but he couldn’t help it. Besides being beautiful, she was fun and goofy like him. She even laughed at his jokes and had a great sense of humor herself. Not everyone got him and she seemed to. It felt like they were supposed to meet although he never believed in destiny or fate or whatever you called it before. But there had to be an explanation for how comfortable they were with each other not to mention instantly attracted to one another since he didn’t believe in love at first sight (or did he?). He definitely desired her. And she didn’t appear to recognize him at all which was actually a plus. She could possibly like him for himself and not for what he did for a living. Hearing her sweet voice awoken him out of his reverie.
“Oh, sorry--I’m Kevin. Nice to meet you, Olivia.” He was glad to grasp her outstretched hand… beautiful hands. He couldn’t stop smiling at her and thinking how he wanted to spend more time with her.
“Although I feel like I already know you. I mean, we’re both in desperate need of sunglasses, we both don’t know how to turn the stupid carousel thing and apparently, we have the same warped sense of humor since you laughed at my jokes.”
“We must be simpatico.”
It was Friday and the boys had just wrapped their second and last day of shooting the video for their first single, “Incomplete” off the Never Gone album; their comeback album since Black & Blue came out almost five years ago. The video shoot wrapped early so even though they were tired, they decided to hit the beach for fun and relaxation and of course, to check out the hot chicks in bikinis. Nick’s passion was surfing (besides music and women) and he loved the waves at Santa Monica, so they were headed for the Pier. AJ was driving them in the rented GTO Convertible (his favorite car in the world) they had used in the video shoot the past two days. They raced down the freeway with the wind blowing in their hair and the radio blasting Nirvana’s “Lithium”. AJ was smoking a cigarette as they talked (or screamed rather) loud enough to be heard over the flapping wind in their ears, laughing and joking with one another.
Looking up at the blazing sun accosting his unadorned eyes, Kevin realized he was the only one who had forgotten his sunglasses from the shoot. Damn! He liked those, too. They all looked so cool with them on. His favorite shades – a $200 pair of Calvin Klein’s were at his house in Malibu, but he didn’t want to take the time and make the guys go out of their way when there was a Walgreen’s on Wilshire Blvd., just minutes from the beach. AJ pulled into the parking lot.
“Don’t be too long. My surfboard is calling my name!” Nick yelled as Kevin exited the car. Yeah, Yeah, whatever, Kevin thought. Nick can wait.
Heading for the sunglasses carousel he spotted near the cosmetics counter, Kevin began to scan the rows of assorted eyewear, searching for a pair like the ones he had left behind.
Olivia was on vacation from her home in Portland, Oregon and she was enjoying the sunshiny weather immensely since she was used to frequent downpours and cloudy skies. There to visit her best friend, Kelli in Santa Monica and to try to get a tan on the local beaches, she was in definite vacation mode. She had arrived two days earlier and so far she and Kelli had stayed up until at least 3:00 am each night talking and catching up on old times. Last night they had watched old episodes of “Battlestar Gallactica” – Kelli and Olivia’s favorite TV show from the 70’s and 80’s with the hunky blonde-haired Starbuck (Kelli’s fave) and brown-haired Apollo (Olivia’s guy) reminiscing. It was fun watching the episodes again and reliving those girlish crushes.
Today, after sleeping in until almost 11 o’clock, Kelli drove them to the beach where they proceeded to lie out in California sunshine. Olivia was in heaven since she loved the beach and didn’t get to go very often. After lounging and napping in the hot sun for a few hours, Olivia thought she would be fine without the sunglasses she had forgotten to pack (after all, you can close your eyes when you’re lying down), but when Kelli wanted to take a walk along the beach, she realized she couldn’t even look up without squinting. Since they were planning more beach outings in the remaining six days of Olivia’s visit, they left in search of some solid eyewear for Olivia.
“I guess this is the best pick-up spot in Santa Monica – Walgreen’s!” Kevin teased Olivia, still taking in the sight of the lovely green-eyed, blonde-haired young woman (looked to be in her mid 20’s) standing before him. Her hair was long and shiny and curling in lovely waves around her angelic face and she had a killer body. Olivia was wearing a flattering red tank top and jean shorts showing off her obvious voluptuous curves underneath. He wanted her bad, he realized.
Olivia giggled and smiled up at the handsome, shortly cropped shiny, black-haired gentleman with a mustache, goatee and sparkling green eyes. Sporting a white short-sleeved button-down shirt and khaki shorts, he obviously was fit and took care of himself. God, he is cute and he makes me laugh – a winning combination, she thought to herself, still very much affected by his presence. And why do I know that face and voice? It was nagging at the back of her mind. Was he an actor? A singer? A friend of Jack’s maybe? No, that can’t be it. She would have remembered him. She would have definitely remembered him.
“Yeah, I know you scope this place out all the time! I bet you meet women here daily. You really are a player, aren’t you?” she was teasing, but somehow she noticed she had struck a wrong chord because his face suddenly changed.
“Well, actually, I used to be…” He answered honestly.
“Used to be?” she queried.
“Yes, until…” he wanted to say ‘until now’, but that would sound a little too presumptuous, wouldn’t it since he had just met her? “Well, let’s just say, I’ve recently changed…”
Olivia noticed he looked uncomfortable so she was anxious to change the subject and get things back on a lighter note, but she was curious as to the sudden seriousness of his tone.
“You men are all alike. You think we can all be romanced by jokes and sunglasses and we’ll all fall at your feet. Well, not this girl!” She joked.
Kevin was impressed at her perceptiveness at his change of mood and he sensed her concern so she changed the subject. He was liking this girl more and more…
“Yeah, right, I know you wanted me when I put those movie star sunglasses on!” His eyes twinkled at her and she was feeling more and more attracted to this guy by the minute. They really clicked.
“Yeah, right. Movie star! I bet you’re from some small town in the country… visiting from Podunk, Arkansas!”
Kevin laughed at her naiveté. “I’m no country bumpkin! I live in Malibu, baby!” He chuckled to himself thinking she really had NO clue who he was…
“Touché!”
Kevin was 34 and on the prowl so to speak. Tired of the same women fawning over him at every concert and going on countless dates and sleeping with countless women, he was ready to settle down. The problem was with whom? Most of the women he met were either not looking for marriage or not the type he would want to marry. He usually met the “let’s go fuck” type which had been great the past almost 13 years he had been with the Backstreet Boys, (except for two of those he had attempted a serious relationship with Monica, but let’s not go there, he thought) but now that they finished their last album (at least for awhile) and just had to tour, he felt it was time to take the plunge. Staring at Olivia now he realized he may have just met the old clichéd, “The One” and he was ecstatic.
Olivia had grown up in a small town in Southern California and had been to L.A. many times so she was familiar with Malibu. Beautiful area and expensive, she thought and realized she probably just met the man of her dreams – gorgeous and rich. But she didn’t care about the rich part. I mean, it’s nice to have money, but what she wanted was substance in a man, something real, not a fat wallet. Even looks weren’t the most important thing, but it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes. Looking at Kevin dreamily and imagining the possibility of having kids with him brought her crashing back to reality. What the hell was she thinking?! She couldn’t get involved with any man right now so soon after Jack. Her heart wasn’t ready for it – or was it? Looking at Kevin she realized that she could be ready…
“So, what do you for a living, Kevin?” Olivia, asked, trying to get some more info on this man she still felt was very familiar to her…
The question snapped Kevin back to reality. “I, um…” he started, not knowing how to explain since she clearly didn’t know and then realizing why he was here. “That reminds me, my friends have been waiting for me in the car. They are going to kill me for taking so long!” And as he said it, he looked up to see Nick strolling towards them exuding pure sex and charm.
Nick was the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys at 25 and also one of the hottest. He had an amazing affect on most women. But why wouldn’t he? Not only was he singer in a well-known pop rock band, as well as a solo artist (when the band was on sabbatical), and was widely recognized all over the world, he was gorgeous! A surfer-dude type with short somewhat spiky streaked blonde (and at the moment wind-blowned) hair, tall at 6’0 and had a hunky body – not too fat or too thin, looking fabulous in jeans and a hint of a possibility of greatness in the nether region – his jeans accentuating his package just right. More than one woman had dared to look, too. Of course, he loved the attention (most of the time) from the fairer sex. He loved women of all kinds. It didn’t hurt that he was a fuckin’ god in some girls’ eyes, especially on stage. His tattooed arms (and other parts of his body) portrayed him as a bad boy which he admittedly was some of the time, but the truth was he just liked having them, he wasn’t try to look cool or be “bad”. Most people who really knew him thought he was a great guy; a little rough around the edges and of course, not perfect, but generally a good person. Nick realized that some people probably had the wrong impression of him and that came with the biz. What he didn’t realize was that right now Olivia was getting the distinct impression she was about to faint.
