Shiny Celebrity Skin

Shannon seemed to have forgotten all mention of Marianas Trench by the next day. I was glad for the break from the subject. It wasn't until about one o'clock that the topic reared its ugly head. And she couldn't even be blamed for it.

I saw a mop of shaggy brown hair appear through the windows in the front door. I rushed around the small tables, trying to reach Matt before anyone else could notice his arrival.

"Whoa. Hey, Beck," he grinned as I skidded to a stop in front of him.

"What's up? What are you doing here?" I was slightly out of breath as I tried to rush his answers.

"I just felt bad for blowing you off last night. I wanted to know when your lunch break is. Or if you wanted to go catch a movie or a show or something later on."

I had to stop my hurried pace and smile at him. "You didn't blow me off, don't worry. My break is at two, but I'd love to do something after work, if that would be better."

He glanced at a clock hanging on the wall above my head. "Okay, I'm not sure if I'll come back for lunch or not. It won't totally fuck up your day if I leave that one open-ended, will it?"

I laughed. "No, not at all. I'm okay with eating alone."

"Well I won't let you eat alone, no matter what. Expect someone to show up. It just might not be me."

My left eyebrow arched. "What are you planning, Matt?"

He let his mouth hang open in mock offense. "Me? I'm innocent! Anyways," he allowed his face to smooth out to its usual half-smiling expression. "I'll see you in a bit. Have fun at work, Beck."

I snorted. "I wish I could be unemployed for a year at a time, slacker."

"But if I had a job, I wouldn't be able to devote so much time to you!"

"Good point. I've got to get back, though. I'll see you soon."

Matt waved and walked back out of the restaurant. In a split second, Shannon was by my side. I could feel her bouncy energy before she had even spoken.

"What did Matt have to say?"

"I think he's coming to have lunch with me. But I can't be totally sure."

"I wish we got our breaks together! I'd love to hang out and get to know them!"

I flashed her a wide smile. "Maybe some other time, Shannon."

I tried to focus on my work, but I found that I was too excited about my upsoming break. Matt never did things like this with me. Well, at least not since we had gone back to being friends. I found myself ignoring Shannon for the most part, choosing instead to daydream about what the suspense was leading up to. As usual, I was so involved in my thoughts that I lost track of time.

"Hey, is that your boyfriend?" Shannon asked suddenly, making me look up expectantly.

I grinned widely as I caught sight of him. "Yeah, that's Josh." I abandoned her by the kitchen and raced toward the door.

Josh saw me coming and rushed over to meet me. "I heard that you were in need of a lunch date."

I pressed my lips against his quickly. "I can always use a lunch date if it's someone as pretty as you."

He glanced up over my head. A small wrinkle appeared between his eyes. "Are we going to have an audience the whole time?"

I spun around, frowning at Shannon. She was peering at us with an intrigued stare. Her curiosity rubbed me the wrong way. I slipped my hand into Josh's and pulled him toward the staff table.

"No, she has work to do. What do you want to eat?"

"Make me a big-ass steak."

"I'm not making you anything. I'll just get it from the kitchen for you."

"Fine. Then fetch me a big-ass steak," he laughed.

I sat down across from him and leaned in toward him. "So how are things with Chris?"

"Chris is fine. He's got himself a pretty demanding girlfriend, but other than that he seems to be doing pretty well. So Matt has dibs on you for tonight by the sounds of it, and Ian wants to have a drum session with you soon. I'm starting to wonder when I'll get some time with you. Maybe we need to run off to Mexico more often just so we can talk to each other."

"I could handle that, you know. I wouldn't argue if you wanted to go back."

Josh's voice dropped. "Our audience is back."

I sighed heavily. "What do you need, Shannon?" I asked loudly, not bothering to look over my shoulder.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I just, um, do you need anything from the kitchen?"

"Come over here for a second." I knew that it would be easier to just introduce her to Josh than to try and ignore her.

She eagerly rushed over and stood beside me, waiting expectantly.

"Shannon, this is Josh. Josh, this is Shannon. She's the girl that Leilani hired to take my shifts when we went on vacation."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Josh smiled sweetly at her.

"We'll all have to hang out soon," she gushed. "I'd love to get to know you. Becky's told me so much about you!"

Josh shot a glance my way that was so fast it was almost invisible. I merely shook my head to tell him that she was lying. I was very careful about the people I chose to confide in. For the most part, Leilani and I talked to one another more than anyone else. We were both in the same boat, so it was safe. When Leilani was busy, I talked to Markie. She was long over the thrill of knowing celebrities, and she even went so far as to remind me that they weren't really celebrities at all. They had a small, dedicated fan base. The rest of the world didn't give a shit. And I was totally okay with that.

Shannon appeared to resent her customers when I reminded her that she needed to get back to work. She scowled and stalked away, tucking a thick stack of menus under her arm as she went. Josh looked at me with amusement in his eyes.

"She seems nice," he said conversationally.

"She is. It kind of sucks. She's one of those people that I wish I could hate, but I just can't. This place would be boring if she left now. When she's not swooning over you guys, she's quite entertaining."

"You're pretty much incapable of hating people. You always seem to find the good in everyone. Why else would your best friend be Matt Webb?" Josh joked.

"You're right. I mean, I'm dating you, aren't I?"

Josh pretended to wince. "Ouch. Anyways, where's my steak? I'm famished!"

I rolled my eyes and got up. "I'll be back in a minute."

I didn't know why we'd never done this before. It was nice to have someone to talk to during my lunch break. Normally I just took my food into Leilani's office. It was a wonder how she got any work done when I was here.

"So you don't happen to know what Matt has planned for tonight, do you?" I asked, sipping my water after we'd finished eating.

"All I know is that he broke up with his girlfriend. But I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that. He's taking you to some concert that he was planning on bringing her to. He's pretty excited."

"He broke up with Tanya? Why?"

Josh shrugged. "I don't know. I think he said something about her getting too clingy."

A nearby door opened and Leilani came out of her office. She smiled when she saw us. "Hey, Josh. How are things?"

"I'm great, how are you?"

"As good as ever. I think Mike and I need a night out. Are you guys interested?"

Josh shook his head. "Not tonight. Becky has a date with Matt. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure. We can talk about the progress on the new album. I want to know how things are going, but so far Mike's kept pretty tight-lipped," she smiled again, then headed out into the dining room.

I stared at Josh in accusation, not saying a word. My eyes narrowed and my lips were set in a thin, firm line.

"Becky," Josh began, letting out a heavy breath. "It's not a big deal. We're just getting ready to start writing again, that's all. You knew there was going to be a new album someday."

"But you just got home," I argued. "And why didn't you tell me until now?"

"It's just the writing stage. It's not like we're even considering recording yet. Believe me, you'll be the first to know when we do."

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry."

He chuckled. "Don't be sorry. I should have told you before. Am I forgiven?"

I pretended to think it over for a long moment. "It's a possibility. I think after a few days of grovelling at my feet we should be able to patch things up."

Josh frowned. "That might be difficult when everone else is monopolizing your time."

"Right. I guess I'll have to forgive you anyways. As long as you write me a happy song. It doesn't even have to make the album. It just needs to exist."

"You're so greedy! Maybe someday I'll write you a new one. But I'm not just a machine put here to write you songs, you know."

I got to my feet and began clearing our dishes. "I'll wait as long as it takes. Anways, I need to get back to work. I'll call you later, okay?"

He nodded and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Talk to you later. Have fun with Matt tonight. Feel free to come over after if you want."

I watched him walk away, and I felt suddenly sick. I hadn't noticed how quickly time was flying now that the boys were on a long break. I didn't want them to leave anytime soon to go on tour, or even to record a new album. The last one had been stressful enough. But we'd all proven to be stronger than any of us had expected, and I'd known what I was signing up for when I got back together with Josh.

I just hadn't known that I would feel like I was standing still while everyone else was moving at an alarming rate around me.

Shannon appeared suddenly beside me. "Man, I can't evn imagine how many girls are jealous of you right now. It seems like you have it all."

I didn't smile. "Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"

"Those boys are going to be absolutely huge."

"I know." I failed to add that the thought was starting to scare me more than I wanted to admit.