Shiny Celebrity Skin

"And what is this, exactly?" I asked as I stood in the doorway of my apartment.

Josh was standing in jeans, a white tee shirt, and a black vest. His hair was covered by a fedora, and he was holding out a single white daisy. He plastered an innocent smile on his pale lips.

"It's our date night. I didn't want to postpone it anymore. And I heard through the grapevine that you had the night off, so I decided to drop by."

"Is that so?" I grinned and accepted the flower that he held. "Well, I suppose you can come in while I get ready. I'd hate for you to get mugged in the hallway."

Josh followed me inside the apartment and leaned casually against the countertop in the kitchen. I took a tall glass from a cupboard and filled it with water before dropping the flower into it. He watched in silence while I bustled around, setting it gently on the table.

"What's your favourite flower?" He asked as I adjusted a few bent petals.

"Well I don't totally hate daisies, so you did well. But I guess I would say that I like lilies the best."

"I'll try to remember that."

I smiled. "You don't have to buy me flowers, Josh. They're nice and all, but they're not why I'm with you. Actually, I'm with you for your money. And those celebrity friends don't hurt."

Josh chuckled. "We were having such a nice moment, and you had to go and ruin it."

I walked back over to him and kissed his cheek. "You know that's not it. You didn't have any of those things when I met you. Or when we started dating again. I was just stupid enough to fall for your charm and your talent."

Josh's lips pressed lightly against the tip of my nose. "Go get dressed so I can use my charm to win you over again. Unless you want to go out in sweat pants. The option is always there."

"Yeah yeah, I'm going."

I returned a few moments later to find that all of the lights in the apartment were out. I let my fingertips graze against the wall as I walked, trying to find the light switch.

"You're faster than I thought you were going to be," Josh's voice echoed from the kitchen.

I glanced around, able to see by the crack of light that slipped through a gap in the living room curtains. "What are you doing? Where are you?"

"Come over here."

I followed his voice into the kitchen and stopped short. The countertop and table were littered with a few scattered candles. I didn't know where he managed to find them, until I remembered that Markie had left a mass amount of them as decoration in the living room. I couldn't hide my confusion as Josh continued to light them.

"What's all this?"

"Have we ever really had a candlelit dinner?"

"You made me get dressed to stay in my own apartment?"

He laughed lightly. "No, we're going to go out after. There's a movie that I really want to see. But I thought this would be nice to do first."

"Well I hate to say it, but I've found a flaw in your plan. I didn't cook anything for dinner tonight."

"You really need to stop underestimating me. Don't you think I thought of that?"

I pulled out a chair and sat down. Josh really didn't cook very often. If he had been planning on cooking tonight, I had no idea what to expect. I looked up at him and watched as he carefully held his lighter to a wick and watched the flame catch. His eyebrows were low over his eyes as he concentrated. Just as he set the last candle down in front of me, the intercom buzzed.

"I'll get it," he flashed me a grin and spun on his heel.

I heard some hushed voices as I waited for Josh to return. When he did, he was holding a large paper bag. I could smell something delicious coming from inside. I started to giggle.

"You ordered Chinese food, didn't you?"

"It's almost like I made it, isn't it?"

"Almost," I nodded, getting to my feet. "Since you cooked, I guess I should set the table. We're fresh out of fine China, but our plates are at least a step above styrofoam dishes."

I had to admit, the whole scene was one of the most romantic things we'd ever done. It was rare for either of us to actually put effort into our dates, so Josh's attempt was a nice change. We sat across from one another and wound up eating directly from the cartons.

Josh shoved the leftovers into the fridge. "Matt can eat that when he gets home."

I nodded, wondering for a brief moment where Matt had actually gone. He'd told me that he was going out with Steve, but he didn't give me any details. As Josh picked up his keys and blew out the last of the candles, I pushed the thought from my mind.

"So what movie are we going to see?"

He shrugged. "I don't even remember what's playing. We'll check the listings when we get there."

"I thought you said there was one that you were dying to see."

"Maybe I lied. So what? You can't be mad at me after I just won you over with dinner."

"I'm not mad," I laughed at the absurdity of his words. "Let's go. We'll both decide on the movie, okay?"

He held my hand as we walked into the cavernous lobby fifteen minutes later. We bought our tickets to a comedy that we both thought looked good, then moved aside and waited in the refreshments line.

"I want to see that one when it comes out, too," Josh told me as we watched a preview on a nearby flat-screen television. "It looks hilarious."

"Yeah, it should be good. We'll have to make more time for movie dates, huh?"

"Hi, what can I get for you?" The pale girl behind the counter greeted us. Her light hair was tucked up under a blue hat, and she looked bored. When Josh turned to look at her, her cheeks gained a shocking amount of colour. "Oh my God. You're Josh Ramsay."

Josh smiled awkwardly. He still wasn't used to people recognizing him outside of shows. "Yeah, I am. Hi."

"I - I'm sorry, I'm a big fan," the girl stammered. Her cheeks became even more flushed as she tripped over her words. "I guess I should do my job instead of making an idiot of myself. What can I get for you?"

"I'd like a combo number one with two Coke Zeros," I said, smiling pleasantly at the girl.

She glanced over at me as though she hadn't even noticed my presence. "Sure. Just one second."

Josh squeezed my hand. "Way to take charge, Becky."

I shrugged. "Somebody had to do it."

He leaned in close. "Take it easy. She seems nice enough."

I had to bite my tongue to hold back what I was thinking. I never felt jealous while Josh was on tour, even though I knew that he had to deal with swooning girls all the time. It was only when I was there to defend myself that I truly felt this way. It was just a little difficult for me to witness it first hand.

"Let's go get our seats," I said, taking my drink from the counter. "I don't want to have to sit in the front row."

"Are you okay? You seem a little off," Josh fretted as he kept pace with me.

"I'm fine," I smiled up at him in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. "I love you, Josh."

"I know, babe. I love you too."

I forced myself to focus on the film once we were seated together in the theatre. I was feeling a lot better by the time we left. Or, at least, I was until we passed the concession stand on our way out.

"Did you enjoy the movie, Josh?"

I whipped my head around so fast that I almost got whiplash. The pale girl was blushing again. I wondered vaguely if she had stopped at all while we were in there. My thoughts continued down their dark path as I wondered if she was still working, or if she had waited after her shift just to see Josh again.

"Yeah, it was great. Go see it on your day off," Josh told her.

"Okay," she giggled. "I will."

I continued walking, trying to lure Josh outside. My sour mood returned in an instant. As always, he picked up on it.

"Becky, what's the matter?"

"I told you already; I'm fine."

"Clearly, you're lying. What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything. I'm sorry that I'm acting this way, I truly am. But I'm still not used to the fact that you're a celebrity. I keep letting myself believe that things can be simple like they used to be, but they can't. Remember those days? God, I miss it. I miss sneaking into your parents' house, and I miss singing with you at the studio. I even miss getting drunk at high school parties and having you take me home. But I only miss those things because they were easier. There was never a crowd of girls trying to get your attention."

We were standing in the parking lot by this point. I couldn't believe that I was telling him all of my insecurities in such a public place, but I had kept them inside for far too long.

He stared at me, blinking a few times as though it would help to clear his head. "You're seriously disturbed, you know that?"

"Please, Josh, for once, don't make jokes. I'm pouring my heart out here. It actually hurts to see them fall all over you like that. There was a time when I was the only one that did that."

He reached out and ran his fingers over my cheek. "You're the only one that I fall all over, if that means anything at all. You trust me, right?"

"Of course I trust you. How could you even ask that?"

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "Then there's nothing to worry about, is there?"