Exposed In Lights

“Julia, are you ready for the football?” My mum shouted up the stairs.

I adjusted my woman’s L.A Galaxy shirt and tugged my low cut jeans around my hips. I winced as it touched my tattoo. It had only been a day so it was still sore. I laced up my black and yellow Nick Dunks and checked my watch, I had around 30 seconds to get downstairs before I’d be dragged.

I pushed my ring up finger and shoved my Blackberry and iPhone into my pocket. My dad had a friendly against Vancouver today and of course I had to go and watch. I think Joe was coming too but I wasn’t sure, I’d told him he could come in the private box with us.

I ran down the stairs and out the open door my mum was holding, I gathered the kids into the car and buckled them in making sure to leave the seat near the door for my mum. She climbed in and the driver took off at full speed trying to make up for our late get away.

As my little brothers and mum sang annoying children’s songs I decided a text to Joe would be a good idea;

Are you coming to the match? xo

I got a reply a few seconds later;

Yeah, I am. I’ll see you there xx

I smiled and helped unbuckle the kids as we pulled up at the back of the stadium where press were being kept behind barriers and police were keeping the barriers sturdy. We walked past and I smiled to the cameras as Cruz hid in my neck. I followed the familiar route to our VIP box where I took my seat at the front.

I looked out into the stadium which was completely filled and smiled, I did love football. The joy of the game was less active in the US than the UK, I preferred a rowdy atmosphere. I watched the giant screen as the ‘Hug Cam’ swept around the stadium. I smiled as an old couple shared a kiss and a hug. One day I hoped I would be that old with someone I loved.

“Hello little lady.” Joe’s voice bellowed. I grinned and stood up as he jumped down the last step. He engulfed me in a hug then leaned against the edge of the box, “Wow, this looks awesome.”

I leaned against it next to him, “I know.” I decided it was time to show off, “I got a tattoo.” I bit my lip to try and restrain my smile when his mouth dropped and he started looking for it. I lifted up my right fore finger and tapped my lip.

“That’s so amazing,” he laughed at it, “that’s so funny.” He chuckled.

I took his hand, “I can’t show you my other one here, it’s on my back.”

I dragged him into the disabled toilets and went to pull off my shirt, “Whoa…” He said pulling my shirt down.

I rolled my eyes, “You’ve seen my in my bra before, man up.” I teased and ripped it off. I felt his eyes on my back and I blushed, “You like it?”

His fingers traced over it causing me to shiver under his gentle and light touch. They followed the outline of the whole tattoo up to my shoulder. I smiled when his warm hands touched my cold neck and gently massaged it. Joe’s fingers pressed against my skin and moved in circles relaxing my body.

“Relaxed?” Joe’s hoarse voice whispered into my ear. I simply nodded, in complete bliss while his fingers continued to press into my muscles. I felt his presence closer behind my back the felt his body pressed against mine. A set of large hands slid down my arms and around my waist where he pushed his hands into my skin and moved the tips of his fingers in circles again. His head dropped onto my shoulder and his face pressed against my neck.

It was hard to admit that Joe was not attractive because he obviously was. He had a completely different look to Nick, straight hair, thick eye brows and more structures cheek bones. Of course he was more of a man also, he had stubble above his lip and a broader shoulders. But he had nothing on my Nick.

I stiffened up and my eyes shot open. “Oh, wow that’s really inappropriate.”

I stepped away from him and pulled my shirt back on. “Sorry.” He mumbled.

I gave him a small smile. He’s a man, of course he’s going to get carried away with things. I didn’t help getting relaxed and letting him carry on with it. “It’s fine, don’t worry.”

The blush never left his face as we walked back to the box. I hoped no one mistook it for him being flushed… that would not be good. Joe and I leaned against the edge of the box again.

“So, what’s Nick been up to?” I asked casually.

Joe chuckled, “Catching up on school work, I haven’t seen him not doing work for the past two days. He’s got a lot of catching up to do.”

I pulled my Blackberry from my pocket and opened a new email from Mike, the subject was ‘Comic Relief’.

Julia, Comic Relief would like you to perform at this year’s Red Nose Day event. I think it would be a good idea to dip into the charity pot and donate however much you want to. Your Dad is filming a skit with the England team so you could easily go over with him. They were also wondering if you would film a documentary, which will be cut down, in Africa with a bunch of school children. You’d leave in three days to do that, I’m sorry this is short notice. Also, on the night once you’ve performed you can take calls in the BT tower if you please.

Let me know, asap.

I decided immediately that a million would suffice for the comic relief fund to help children in Africa and the UK. Charity was always important to me. I knew a lot of rich, famous people and right there and then I made it my business to get them to cough up some serious cash.

I wrote an email and sent it to every single rich person on my phonebook. When I was sending them I felt the back of Joe’s hand hit my arm, I looked up at his smiling face as he pointed to the giant screen that showed the ‘Hug Cam’.

I smiled widely as I saw Joe and me on the screen, suddenly the volume in the arena got much higher as people gasped at the sight of two famous faces. I turned to Joe and jumped on him, wrapping my legs around his waist and giving me a large hug. The stadium cheered and I laughed as he collapsed and we fell to the floor with a bang.

“Ooof.” I groaned as the breath was knocked out of me.

I jumped off Joe to find my self back on the camera, I smiled and waved then turned around and walked back until I was off the camera. I grabbed a coke and then settled into watching the game.

It was pretty intense, both teams were playing their hardest and the ball was being passed so quickly it was hard to keep up. The Galaxy missed a couple of easy shots but the other team missed more. I really wished my dad played for a British team, it would be more active. The atmosphere in the stadium was dull.

The ended up being a 0-0 draw so instead of going onto the pitch with my brothers like I was supposed to I ditched early and got Joe to take me home. The giant Mercedes was parked up outside and Joe swiftly got me through the press and opened my door for me. I jumped in and smiled at the press who were a few metres away from the bonnet of the car.

I put my seat belt on as Joe climbed in then watched him as he put his on and carefully drove past the press and onto the main roads which were blocked with after match rush. “Joe, you should come to mine. We can watch films and stuff.” I smiled at him.

He pursed his lips and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, “Why not.” He smiled at me then looked back to the road.

“Why isn’t there any music playing?” I asked curiously, looking at the black box in the dashboard.

“I have to focus.” He paused and glanced at me out the corner of his eye. His mouth curved up slightly at the edges, “Precious cargo.”

I chuckled at his flattery and watched him take a left. His large hands spun the wheel around expertly and made a soft thumping sound when they connected with the leather wheel. Joe spun it back around and carried on straight down a familiar road, I watched him as the orange street lights hit off his face at different periods and admired how he flicked his hair from his eyes.

I snapped out of my gaze as he pulled up outside the house, I told him the security code for the gates and he punched them in. The gates swung open majestically and he drove forward and parked next to my BMW.

He was out the car and to my door before I could finish picking my bag up from the floor. I jumped out and he closed the door for me, “So, what do you want to watch?” I asked him as we walked to the house.

I stuck my hand in the pocket inside my bag and pulled out my house keys, I opened the door and held it for him. I pushed it and let it slam behind him then I kicked off my shoes and took off my jacket.

“I don’t know… something scary.” I grinned, I loved scary films.

Joe followed me into the kitchen and grabbed drinks while I carried a packet of ready made toffee popcorn. We took seats next to each other on the second row and played the movie ‘The Omen’. I jumped and screamed at the scary parts and so did Joe. Hearing him scream was the funniest thing ever and made me laugh.

Near the end of the film Joe tapped me on the shoulder, “Can you pause it, my phone’s ringing.” I paused the film and eavesdropped into his conversation. “Hey Nick, what’s up?”

“Where are you?” I heard Nick ask faintly.

“I’m over Julia’s.”

Nick paused for a moment, “Why?” He snapped.

“We left the match and decided to watch a movie.” Joe explained.

“Mom wants you home.”

Nick cut off the line so Joe shoved his phone in his pocket. “I have to go.” He told me. I nodded and gave him a small smile, “We can finish it tomorrow in Houston.”

I grinned, “I’d like that. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

When we got to the front door I stepped out in my sock and gave Joe a hug, “I’ll see you in Houston.” He smiled and waved to me as he ran off to his car.

I watched him drive away and waved when he honked his horn. Now all I had to do was pack some clothes for the stage and for travelling tomorrow morning.

Time Lapse

My interview with Oprah went smoothly. She had clips of people from my old school talking about me and clips of Jay talking about what it was like to work with me. We talked about everything from anorexia to cancer to my new tattoo, I got to show it off as well which was very funny. She did mention the boys and my relationship with Nick to which I coolly stole their answer of ‘he’s a great guy and anyone would be lucky to be dating him’ which seemed to work.

But now I stood in my dressing room at the rodeo, the buzz of my family talking with Denise, Paul and Frankie around me. I was eagerly waiting for Nick to finish his press talks so that I could finally see him. My bare foot tapped against the grey carpet while is stared at the door from my seat.

“Julia, you’re needed for an interview with Katie and Karleigh.” Mike said popping his head around the door. I shot him a sad look, “I know, it’s short notice and everything but they said it’s been arranged.”

I stood up and pulled down my over sized faded union jack t shirt and adjusted my wet look leggings. I put my black heels back on and put on some more lip gloss. I followed Mike to the VIP green room where they sat on the sofa with a camera on a tripod in front of them.

“Hiya guys.” I smiled and they stood up to give me a hug.

Katie smiled, “You look so pretty, I love your shirt.”

“Aw, thank you. Where do you want me?” I asked looking at the sofa. She patted the space between them and I sat down. “Let’s get this started.”

Karleigh turned to the camera, “We’re Katie and Karleigh and we’re here with the one and only Julia Beckham. Are you ready?”

“I think so.” I grinned and tugged my ear twice whilst looking at Mike. He disappeared out the door.

Katie looked at me, “What was that?” She asked motioning towards my ear.

“Oh, we have signals for things. When I tug my ear twice it means I want some sort of drink so he’s gone to get me one. It’s just a way of doing it without seeming too rude but you’re very observant.” I chuckled and blushed.

“Okay, so your album has done amazingly well. It’s been at the top of the chart 17 times and all your singles have hit number one on the billboard charts. How are you handling it?”

“Well, I have nothing to handle. I’ve got no more money than I did before hand so the only thing that is different is the fact people expect me to be off in the clouds boasting about my self.” I shrugged. “I don’t see how celebrities can’t be grounded. It’s stupid if you walk around and be like... yeah, that’s me.”

They laughed, “We all know you’re very close with the Jonas Brothers, tell us about that.”

“I met the boys last September at a benefit concert, I’d only been in L.A for two days and I was trying to fit in, and I went backstage to talk to Demi and they came in and we talked and that’s pretty much it. They were so nice to me and… yeah. I love them.” I smiled bashfully, my cheeks glowing red.

“Who’s your favourite?” Katie grinned knowingly. “Out of the band.”

That meant I couldn’t say Frankie, bugger. “That’s like asking me to choose my favourite flavour of ice cream, too hard. I love them all.”

“Ah, fine we won’t push our look.” I smiled at her thankfully, “So, show us this tattoo you supposedly got.”

I lifted my right index finger to my lips so they could see the effect of the ‘Shhhh…’ on the inside of it. “And then I have this one on my back.” I turned around and lifted my shirt up.

“That must have hurt.” Katie said running her finger over it. I let my top fall back down.

“Yeah, the finger one hurt more though.” I chuckled and ran my fingers through my fringe, pushing it against my head.

Suddenly, the door clicked open and through it the boys head’s poked around. “Hello, are we interrupting?” Kevin asked in his happy voice.

“No come on in.” Karleigh grinned, obviously in awe of her heroes. It never failed to make me smile when I saw them with their fans. The two girls stood up and gave the three of them a hug. I tried to catch Nick’s eye but he wouldn’t look at me properly and I didn’t understand why.

I listened to them chat and then continued with my interview once they left, still angry that Nick had blanked me completely. Once it was finished I thanked the girls and scurried back to my dressing room. I kicked off my shoes and skipped to the boy’s dressing room, I knocked on the door and walked in after a second of no complaints.

Joe was stood kicking a hacky sack up and down, Nick was on the sofa playing with his Blackberry and Kevin was eating a burger whilst talking on the phone. I walked over to Nick and sat down on his lap.

But he pushed me off of him. In his ignorant state he went straight back to doing whatever he was doing on his phone. I peered at what was so important and scoffed. Brick breaker.

“Are you kidding me?” I laughed without humour, “Nick.” I said trying to get his attention again.

“Yeah?” He put no effort into talking to me. He didn’t even look up at me.

I stood up, “When you’re not going to treat me like a piece of shit, come find me. I’ll be the one in the spot light on the stage.”

I stormed away from him and headed to the stage barefoot. I grabbed an acoustic guitar from a stand of many at the side of the stage and sat down in the middle of the stage. I stole a guitar pick from Kevin’s stand and lay on my back. I played a new song I had written after coming up with the lyrics, but I didn’t sing I just played to relax my self.

Garbo hovered over me. I smiled at him, “Hello.” I waved at him then went back to strumming.

“Nick wants to talk to you.” Garbo smirked, knowing my answer.

“Nick can fuck off.” I chuckled and sat up. I crossed my legs and continued to play randomly.

Garbo sighed and sat down next to me, he took the guitar from my and pushed my shoulder, “Go on.”

I sighed and stood up, “Sure, sure.” I smirked and tossed the pick at him then headed to go and talk to Nick.