Shiny Celebrity Skin

Markie sat down on the couch and folded her arms stubbornly. I sighed and dropped her suitcase before turning to face her with my hands on my hips.

"I'm not going," she said pointedly.

"You've already paid for your flight, and it leaves in two hours. I hate to tell you, but we've really got to go. You have to get through security, and we're running late as it is."

"But Matt's not home yet, and I still haven't weaseled my way in after he got rid of Shannon," she pouted, slumping back against the cushion. "I could be the rebound!"

"Matt's not coming to the airport, anyways," I argued. "And it's not like you'll never come back. That guy goes through girlfriends like he changes his socks. You'll have another shot."

"Yeah, yeah. But I still want to stay and say goodbye to him."

"Didn't you do that before he left this morning? Markie, we have to get going. Josh is waiting in the car downstairs."

"I could just permanently take your room. You could move in with Josh. Everybody wins."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Don't push me to do anything I'm not ready for. Get up or I'm putting your luggage on that plane, whether you're on it or not."

"Must you be such a bitch all the time?"

"You bet. Now move it or lose it."

She scowled at me. "You really want to get rid of me that badly?"

I laughed. "It's not so much about you, but the fact that I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. And I just don't do anything when you're around."

"That's not it at all. You just want some alone time with Josh."

"That's just an added bonus."

"Fine," she threw up her hands in defeat and got off of the couch. "I'll go. I'll return to the lonely streets of Edmonton and you can go back to living vicariously through your rockstar friends."

"And you can go back to living vicariously through me. Everyone wins." I shot her a mocking look as I retrieved her suitcase.

In a way, I was sad to see Markie go. We only saw each other two or three times a year, but we usually made the trips worthwhile. This time, I couldn't think of anything exceptional that we'd done. I was going to miss having her pop in while I was at work, and I was definitely going to miss having her to talk to about Shannon. Josh only put up with so much, and I had a feeling that Matt wasn't going to be up for listening to me vent about her. I could always call Markie, but it wasn't the same. I needed more girl friends, but to me she was irreplaceable. Leilani was good for most things, but she definitely didn't want to hear what I really thought about her other employees.

In another way, I was looking forward to having some time without Markie around. I was used to being able to relax and be one of the guys. When Markie was there, she was always trying to make me put effort into my appearance and go out on the town. It would be nice to have the chance to sit on my couch in my sweat pants and watch a movie with Matt.

Markie slumped down in the backseat of Josh's car and pouted. I turned around in my seat and gave her a soft smile.

"How are you holding up, champ?"

"I don't want to sit on a plane. I hate flying. You know that, Becky."

"You'll survive, Markie. You'll be home before you know it."

When we finally pulled up in front of the drop-off area of the airport, Markie was still sulking. I helped her with her bags, and she smiled at Josh.

"Thanks for the ride, and for everything else you've done while I was here. You're a good friend. Good luck with Becky. You need to close the deal with her soon."

Josh fumbled for words, clearly taken aback. "Come again?"

"You know," she nudged him with her elbow. "Pop the question. It's about time, don't you think? You already know that you can't be kept apart. Just make it official. I want to be a bridesmaid."

"I... um... see you later, Markie."

I punched her lightly on the arm. I knew not to use much force with her. "Markie, don't. Neither of us wants to be engaged right now. It's just not our time."

"Yeah, well, I'm just saying. You're not getting any younger."

I handed her the suitcase I'd been holding. "Neither are you. So go find yourself a guy who will give you a big, shiny ring. I'm fine the way things are."

She shrugged, accepting the luggage and flashing me a pearly white smile. "I'm just trying to help."

"Stop trying. Have a good flight," I hugged her quickly. "Call me when you get home so I know you made it alright."

"Yeah, I will. Talk to you later. Have fun on your date."

I watched her drag her bag up the sidewalk and through the glass doors of the airport. I let out a heavy sigh as she disappeared from sight. Josh came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist.

"You're going to see her again before you know it," he said reassuringly.

"I know. It just sucks that she lives so far away. So what's the plan for our date?" I turned to face him, hoping that he had something to brighten my mood.

"Well I'm not proposing, so there's that to look forward to."

I smiled. "Don't let Markie get to you. She's just looking for a reason to plan her next trip out here."

"I know. She really doesn't bother me when she says things like that. Now, if you were to start saying that stuff, it might concern me."

"If that's the case, you've got nothing to worry about."

The ride back to the apartment was unusually silent. Josh seemed to understand that I was lost in my own mind, and any attempt at conversation was sure to fall flat. Without Markie around, I felt like my time was endless. I no longer had to come up with any plans for after work, and I didn't have to entertain anyone. But I felt like I had very little to look forward to now. I was going to go back to my routine; there would be nothing exciting for awhile. Unless Josh sprung another surprise trip on me.

I noticed suddenly that we weren't heading to Josh's apartment. "Where are we going?"

He grinned at me. "As much as I want some time alone with you, I think there's someone else that needs you around even more than I do."

"And who might that be?"

"Matt, of course. Becky, he's your best friend. You haven't spent any time alone with him since Markie showed up. And he was the one that brought her here, remember? You owe him."

I gave him a curious look. He had always been really supportive of my friendship with Matt, and I had known that there was no jealolusy. But he didn't blow off our plans to make me hang out with Matt. I had to admit, however, that he had a point. At least I'd been able to spend my nights with Josh over the past few weeks; I hadn't had any time alone with Matt at all. When Josh pulled his car into a vacant parking stall, I leaned across the seat and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks. You're right, I needed this. We'll reschedule date night."

He shrugged it off. "It's not a big deal. Andrew won tickets to some movie premiere tonight, and there just weren't enough to go around. So I had to find some way to get rid of you without making you feel left out."

"Well," I said slowly, trying to think of an appropriate remark. "At least you care about my feelings, I guess. Call me when you get home and let me know how it went."

"Have fun, babe."

I hurried inside and up the familiar steps to my apartment. It felt a bit different today. I wasn't here just to entertain Markie, I was coming home. It was nice.

I opened the door to the apartment and slipped inside. I was immediately greeted by Matt's voice.

"Beck? Is that you?" He appeared in the wide open entrance to the living room, where I assumed he had been watching TV.

"Yeah, I'm home. Finally," I added with a bit of a laugh.

"Good. I was hoping that you would come back soon. Markie's a nice girl and all, but things were a bit weird by the end. It's nice to have you back."

I couldn't stop the grin from taking over my face. "Thanks, Matt. I'm glad that you still want me here."

He leaned against the wall beside him and folded his arms. "Yeah, well, I kind of enjoy the way that you cook for me. And Steve snagged tickets to the game tonight, but then his girlfriend's mom got sick and he has to go see her in the hospital. So he gave them to me, since he remembered how pissy you got when you had to miss the last game. They're not playing the Oilers, but I figured you would appreciate the gesture."

"Seriously? Remind me to be a hell of a lot nicer to him the next time I see him. That's really nice of him to do that."

"Go and get ready. Unless you plan on going like that. I won't judge you, I promise."

I reached a hand up to my hair and felt the way that it was falling out of the messy ponytail I'd thrown it in earlier. "I'm glad you won't judge me, but I need to do something about my hair."

"Good. I wasn't going to say anything, but you really need to fix that."

I snorted. "You're allowed to tell me stuff like that, you know."

He stood up straight and headed back into the living room. "Yeah, but you just got home. I don't want to piss you off just yet."