Want Your Bad Romance

He began to live at my place, more or less. When he finally awoke the day after his plane ride, still jet-lagged, he made a run to his place and picked up his necessities. My bathroom welcomed his razor, toothbrush, and body wash. He didn't go outside much - I assumed that safest, given that eyes that could be anywhere, but he didn't seem to mind staying in.

One morning, I woke to the phone ringing. I groaned and smacked Johnny in the chest, not wanting to reach over him for the receiver, but he only echoed me. An "ugh" escaped as I pulled myself up and leaned over. "Hello?" I answered, my voice hoarse with sleep.

"Hi, Jen."

"Allie, hi." I woke up a little more at hearing my sister's voice.

"Oh, I will always envy your writer's hours. You do know it's ten, right?"

I glanced at the alarm clock near the phone dock. "Uh, yeah."

"How've you been?"

I glanced down at Johnny, who was beginning to stir. "Really good," I answered from my place on his chest.

"Writing?"

"Yes, actually."

"That's good to hear."

"How are you and Brett? How's Carrie?"

"Actually, that's what I'm calling about. Carrie's got a pretty bad cold."

"Oh, poor baby." I rolled off of Johnny and pulled myself into a sitting position.

"Brett got tickets for this show he'd planned to take her to, but, well obviously she can't go. We were wondering if we could take her to your place so she could spend the night? Would you mind watching her?"

"Of course, I'd love to see her, even if she's sick. I have plenty of soup."

"Thanks Jen, you're great."

"Don't I know it. What time do you think you'll be by?"

"How about three-ish. Does that work?"

"Sure, see you then."

"Love you."

I hung up and looked to Johnny.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"My sister. She's going to drop off my sick niece around three to spend the night."

"Ah."

He didn't seem to be troubled by the information, so I smiled, kissed him quickly on the cheek, then left to make us breakfast.

~

We were watching television in the living room when the doorbell rang.

"That's them," I told him. "I'd hide in the bedroom if I were you." He ducked his head to kiss me before disappearing. I went to open the door.

"Hey Jen." Allison stepped inside, giving me a kiss to the cheek and an awkward half-hug, as she was leading Carrie by the hand.

"Hey. Hi Brett," I nodded to her husband standing on my porch.

"All right, she's got Biffie, here's her blanket. You have both of our cell numbers, right?"

I nodded, then looked down at my little niece, towing a green elephant with pink polka dots. I knelt in front of her. "Are you not feeling very good, Daisy?" She frowned and shook her head, not even smiling my use of her pet name. She wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and I stood with her on my hip. "We'll be fine," I told her parents.

They nodded and left with a final, "Thanks."

"The coast is clear!" I called toward the bedroom as I sat Carrie on the couch. I began to gather cushions, and she settled into them, her little eyes droopy. I looked up to see Johnny standing with arms full of blanket.

"I thought you might need this," he said as he offered it to me.

I smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Thanks." I took the quilt and tucked her into it.

"Did you have lunch, Daisy?" I asked the four-year-old who shook her head. "I'll make you some soup sweetie. Why don't you watch some TV with my friend?" I kissed the top of her head, patted his shoulder, then made my way to the kitchen.

When I returned, I saw Carrie had forsaken the couch pillows in exchange for my boyfriend.

"Auntie, why didn't you tell me Captain Jack was your boyfriend?" she asked in her tiny, excited voice.

A giggle slipped through my lips as I looked to him. He gave a small "what can I do?" shrug.

"I thought I'd let him introduce himself," I told her, then sat next to them. "Here, up." I pulled out a TV tray for her and set the soup on it carefully. We broke into my old Disney collection and watched a couple movies until her eyelids finally began to droop.

"We should get her into bed," I said quietly.

"I got her," he answered as he slipped his arms around her and stood. She still clung tightly to Biffie, so I grabbed her blanket and the quilt and followed him to the guest room. Hey laid her in the bed then stepped back to let me spread the quilt. After I tucked both blankets around her, I leaned in and kissed on the forehead. "Night night, Daisy."

"Night night, Auntie," she mumbled, wrapping herself around Biffie.

I turned off the light and led Johnny from the room, leaving the door open.

"You are great with kids," I told him quietly.

"Well, I do have two."

I smiled slightly. "I can't believe she recognized you, though."

"Better she knows me as Jack than Johnny, right?"

I gave a noncommittal shrug as we came back out to the living room. I grabbed the remote and slipped the television to a channel we enjoyed and bit back a loud laugh. He chucked next to me. "Too bad it's on so late," he noted as the opening music of Dead Man's Chest spread through the room.

The next morning, neither of us had the heart to wake Carrie up before she called. Instead we set to making breakfast together.

"Oh, hey, I'll get the paper," Johnny offered, as if struck by a sudden craving for the crossword.

"Thanks," I said off-handedly, flipping the omelet I was cooking.

I heard the door open, and a second later, heard him shout, "Shit!" I dropped my spatula and ran to the door.

Johnny was chasing a man down the street - a man that seemed to be clinging to a camera. "Shit," I echoed to myself and quickly started after them.

"Johnny! Johnny, stop."

He must have caught the man's heel, because the creep went down. "You fucking piece of - "

"Johnny!" I reached him and grasped his shoulder firmly. "Take it easy. It's just research."

"What?" Johnny's face was pure confusion when he turned to me.

"He didn't even get that great of a shot. It's not like he's uncovering an affair, you're just helping me with my research. This guy's small-fry, sent to spy on authors. And this is as exciting as it gets. Give the guy a break."

Johnny turned back to the cameraman. "Get out of here."

The man stumbled to his feet, nodding and muttering something that sounded like "Sorry" before running down the street.

"Fuck," Johnny cursed, running his hands through his hair.

"Hey, come on." I nudged him back toward the house. "We've gotta call our publicists."

~

"It was just research, Mike."

"That's a likely story. Do you know how hard it's going to be to convince the public? And even if we get that out there as the official story, nothing can quell the rumors."

"But I swear, that's it. He stayed the night on my couch to avoid the paparazzi. He's been answering my questions about the acting business."

"You couldn't have asked him over the phone, Jen?"

"No, I was having trouble with a certain scene, I had him proofread it. He actually helped a lot, pushed me through my block."

"Jen, this isn't - "

"I'm hurt by your lack of confidence, Mike."

"Listen, nothing happened. I'm in town for rehearsals and she called asking for help on a novel. I consider her a friend and thought it would be rude to say no. Rehearsals are going slowly and I don't exactly have anything better to do." Half of Johnny's conversation reached me while I was trying to convince my own publicist.

"It's not a lack of confidence in you, Jen, just your story."

"That's the same damn thing, Mike."

"No, my family is not here because Vanessa's got her own profession and I thought it wouldn't be the best idea to pull my children out of school and drag them halfway across the world again."

"Okay, so you're writing a novel centered around a teen actor who cracks under the stress of the industry and rebels?"

"Yes. Johnny's a good friend and I thought I could make use of a direct source."

"I spent the night on her couch to avoid those dicks. I thought I'd be safe getting her the paper, Jesus."

"You should have called sooner."

"I called as soon as I could, Mike. I was babysitting my niece, this isn't a conversation I wanted her to hear."

"Your niece?"

"Yes. Writers don't have strict working hours and my sister showed up. I couldn't say no."

"Is he still there?"

"No."

"No, I'm at my place. That's why I didn't call, I drove back to my house. Can we get this sorted out or what?"

"Can we release a statement?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Mike."

I hung up and turned to Johnny. He looked like a nervous wreck, his hair sticking up at odd angles from running his hands through it.

"We can get through this," I told him, determined, before falling into his arms.