The Dating Rules of a Record Label

"Yumi?" I walk into the hotel room. It's quiet and the radio is on low volume. Soft reggae is playing.

"Yumi?!" I bang on the bathroom door. I know she's in there. I can hear her humming "Barracuda" to herself.
"It's an emergency!"

And no, not a respond to nature emergency. That was last night. Right now, it's a clothing emergency.

"Like a pee emergency?" She asks.

"No!"

"Then sit down and wait! I'm coloring my hair!"

"Yumi!" I'm not sure if I'm excited or nervous, "Dougie asked me out on a date for tonight! Well...he said it was a non-date but is that still considered a date?!" I lean on the bathroom door.

Yumi unexpectedly opens the door, "He asked you out for tonight!?"

I fell on the floor since I was leaning back. I look at Yumi upside down, "Yeah he said it was non-date!"

"Where to?"

"A pub! He said he would've taken me to a gig but we would both get recognized there!" I panic.

"Oh crap it's a non-date!" Yumi's eyes get big.

"I know! What do I wear?!" I scream nervously.

"He actually asked you out! And no cover up excuses!"

"Is it a date?" I ask. I'm still looking at her upside down.

"Kaya, sit up! It's a date!" She tries getting me up.

"Oh no! I'm not sure if I should be excited or nervous."

I let Yumi lead me to her suitcase. Good thing we're the same size.

"I'm not sure if I should be nervous for you or Dougie. You- you're not good at dating. Dougie- I'm surprised he asked you out. Kaya I know he likes you but I heard from Oliver that Dougie's romantic life is in the middle of technical difficulties." She rummages through clothes and finds a tank top. She throws it at me.

"Technical difficulties?" I ask.

"Yeah I have no clue either. Hurry and throw that on. What time is he picking you up?"

"8:30."

"Dude its 7:45! And your hair is a huge knot!"

*****
It's a date! I can't believe it's a date! But Dougie said it was a non-date. So it's a non-date then.

Does that mean he doesn't like me that much?

I should say something right? After all, it's a bit quiet. AH! NERVOUS NERVOUS NERVOUS!

"So how's Oliver? I heard he almost got in a row with some magazine interviewer." I say to Dougie as we walked to the pub. The place wasn't that far. It was about a five minute walk.

Dougie stuffs his hands in his pockets, "Yeah," He laughs.

Oh gosh how I love his laugh...

"The interviewer stole the tour dates and Oliver went ballistic. He was a grouchy old man the rest of the day. He tried putting me in time-out." He smiles.

I laugh, "Why?"

"Because I locked him in a closet. He was too depressing so I decided to hide him so I wouldn't get all depressed."

"That's actually a good idea. I once locked my mom's agent in a room when I ten." I look at couples around us walking hand in hand together. It made me feel alone even though I shared my company with Dougie Poynter. Mr. McScrumptious.

"And why did you do such an evil deed?" Dougie smiles at me. I try not melting.

"He always made my mom busy so I couldn't hang with her. This was before I started doing some serious partying so I was bored as hell."

"Well since you get bored, I hope I don't bore you with the place we're going to."

"You won't." I say automatically, thinking that anything having to do with Dougie isn't boring.

"Really?"

"Yeah..." I think of something to say that won't give away my secret desire to kiss him, "I just know."

"Psychic?" He asks me. He looks into my eyes. I feel like he could tell what I was thinking.

"Very." I smile.

"Well what am I thinking then?" We stop walking in the middle of the side walk. I look into his soft blue eyes.

"You, Dougie, are thinking that I'm not psychic." Even though I do want to know what he's thinking. If he was thinking that I should kiss him I'd get a panic attack, recover, and then faint.

"Wow Kaya that's amazing." Dougie smiles and we continue our walk.

"I actually got it right?" I ask amazed.

"...no. But you probably wouldn't want to know." He laughs.

"But what if I do?" I ask.

"I don't think you'll want to know. It's dirty. With two R's."

I laugh; "Wonderful." and I lightly punch his arm.

****

The pub is crowded and loud. There are about five TV screens with football (soccer) playing. A foosball table and pool table is there as well. I smell beer, steak and lime. And everybody is laughing, talking, dancing, and having a good time.

"C'mon little lady," an older man bothers, "dance with me."

"No thanks." I deny his offer and wait for Dougie to come back with our drinks.

"Just one dance, missy."

"No dance mister." I look away. I feel uncomfortable being alone.

"Just-"

"No."

"Not even-"

"Nope not a chance." I put my guard up and fold my arms.

"Please?"

Oh honestly! Can't he see I'm clearly 15 years younger than him?

"I believe the lady said no. Besides, she's with me." Dougie says lightly and slips an arm around my waist.

My knight in shining armor!

I snuggle around his arm and smile.

"Eh whatever." The man stubbornly walks away.

"I found a better table." Dougie says to me over the music.

"Okay."

"Dougie takes me to the other side of the pub.

Remember his arm is still around my waist and I love it like that. The touch of his hand on my skin is just heart bursting! It tingles too.

But sadly, he lets me go once we reach the table. His hand slides across my back and off my waist. Even though it's not there anymore, I still feel his touch. We're in a more secluded area. It's still loud, but we're not completely out in the open. It's like a booth table so I'm sitting next to him.

Lucky me.

"Thanks for saving me back there." I sip my drink. It's a margarita. Yummy.

"You're welcome. Anything for Kaya Sambora." Dougie smiles at me.

I lightly laugh and play with my umbrella straw. I smile and look at Dougie. He looks back at me. We're quiet but its fun. Not awkward. He looks into my eyes and I remind myself not to drool.

Good think Roxy makes good tank tops. Well actually mine is sort of like a wife beater but the point is- it's hot in here even though there's AC.

"So when do you leave?" Dougie asks me.

"This Sunday. You?" I ask.

"This Monday. So I guess it's our last Friday night out of vacation." Dougie sighs.

"And you decided to spend it with me! I feel so special." I tease.

"Yes you should feel special." Dougie laughs.

And for one awesome hour, we talked about McFLY’s previous tour and my adventures of visiting my dad on tour.

Then around eleven PM, a very awesome song came on.

"I love rock n roll!" I say, "I love that song!"

"Great choice for Karaoke and dancing." Dougie smiles.

"Then let’s dance!" I say excitedly. What? It's 'I love rock n roll.' I'm not going to sit here and listen to the song. I want to dance to it!

"Nah you go dance. I'll watch you." Dougie says shyly.

"Dougie, I'm flattered that you're willing to watch me," I scoot next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looks at me. I caress his shoulder with my thumb, flirting way too much, "But I'm not making a fool out of myself alone! And look, everyone else is dancing!" I plead and smile. I'm excited like some child.

"Fine." Dougie grins.

"Yes!" I say excitedly and grab Dougie's hand and pull him through the crowd. Even though I'm uber excited to be dancing, I still feel self-conscious of how my hand is in his.

"And don't worry! There are no paparazzi! No one has a camera in yours or my face!" I laugh and enter the dance floor.

The beat of the music could be felt through my feet and the rest of my body.

We begin to dance. Dougie's body is close to mine. His hands are on my lower waist and mine on his shoulders and arms.

We were surrounded by loads of people having a good time, dancing. Drunk and sober alike. I laugh as Dougie spins me around and whisper in my ear the lyrics.

I danced to the beat and let myself loose with Dougie's arms around me, sharing the beat. It felt like a lifetime with his hands exploring my back, waist and arms.

I completely forgot that I was hiding my desire for him and squeezed his hand a couple times or made my body touch his, getting intimate.

I loved every moment of it.

******

I let the salty breeze hit me, smelling whiffs of ocean spray. Dougie and I decided to take the long way back to my hotel. I didn't want to end this night too soon.

"What time is it?" Dougie asks after a long silence. We left the pub around midnight. I was still dancing as we walked out.

"I think its 12:30." I guess. We've been walking for a while now. I was enjoying Dougie's presence in such a peaceful and secluded part of the area.

"I guess I should get you back to Yumi." He stuffs his hands in his pockets. I want to hold his hand so much.

"Why?" I ask without thinking.

"Because wouldn't she be worried? After all, you're out with a very irresponsible guy." He smiles.

"Well I like making her worried. It's funny." I shrug my shoulders.

"Then what should we do?" He asks me.

Snog.

I stop walking and look at him, "Docks?"

He looks at me and I can't tell what he's thinking, "Docks."

The noises of the wooden boards creak as we walk to the end of the board walk. The ocean water softly slaps against wood and rock.

And I have this unbelievable urge to kiss Dougie. My heart was pounding. My legs felt weak.

Dougie didn't have to do anything to make me go crazy.

"Are you cold?" He asks me. We're leaning forward on the railings.

"Me?" I ask and shiver, "No. Why?" I ask.

"You're shivering." He laughs.

"I am?" I look down at myself. Oh gosh wow I feel nervous for nothing.

"Here" Dougie takes off his jacket and begins to put it on me.

"Oh no you don't have to do that." I say but snuggle into the jacket anyway.

I am one confusing person. I don't need the jacket yet I put it on anyway. Oh wow it smells good...

"But I want to." Dougie says and looks at me in the eyes. We're quite close to each other. My hands are clenched around the zippers of the jacket and my hair is tucked under the hood.

Dougie softly and silently lifts it out from the hood and my hair naturally lies over my shoulders. His touch lingers a bit longer on my cheek.

It was now or never.

Kiss him now!

I should kiss him.

But what if he doesn't want to. But I want him to kiss me.

Just as I'm thinking I should make the first move and begin to feel Dougie's face get closer to mine, he stops.

Damnit.

"We should get back. It's late." He whispers.

"Uh yeah. Yeah let’s do that." I feel a bit disappointed.

...okay very disappointed. I really like him and look at us! We're both stubborn to make the first move.

We walk back off the docks and now our silence is awkward.

We're not stupid. We both know what almost happened.

I'm being realistic here.

And I can't help but play "Kiss the girl" from the Little Mermaid in my head.

Maybe he isn't really interested. Maybe this is just a fling. It's not going to last I bet. After all, I hear he's a heart-throb in England.

Just as I'm about to give up on any of hope of dating Dougie, the unexpected happens.

"Kaya." Dougie stops me just as we're about to touch sandy grounds. He hand finds mine.

"Yeah?" I ask and turn around. But when I turn around, Dougie is extremely close to me. Closer than before. Our bodies were even touching and I could count his eyelashes (okay that's weird).

"Oops sorry, I almost stepped on your foot." I say casually looking down. And when I look up our lips almost touch.

Dougie doesn't reply. I search his eyes, hoping for a sign or hint of what this means.

I feel his breath on my neck.

"Kaya- that thing you do; stop it." He says quietly.

I'm confused, "What thing?"

"That thing you do. It makes me want to-"

And then he kisses me.

Dougie Poynter is kissing me…

Oh my fucking goodness gracious he's kissing me! His lips are soft on mine and I don't know what to do.

Well of course I immediately close my eyes. But then I regain life within me and I kiss him back, putting my hands on his chest. I feel his hands on my waist and he pulls me close to him. I'm finally kissing the lips I've wanted to kiss for the longest time. I was shivering and now I'm warm. Yet when Dougie pulls of this little maneuver of biting my lower lip, I lose it all over again and I get the tingles.

As I so boldly deepen our first kiss, there's a blast of fireworks erupting in my head, my stomach... and my heart.