Liane opened the door to her apartment, shut it and leaned back against it. Sheesh. It had definately been one of those days: the kind where EVERYTHING goes wrong. She woke late, discovered she was out of milk after she had already poured her cereal, been "gently reprimanded" by her boss, got a speeding ticket, and had no asperin for her headache.
"Sweet day in the morning, I am just so glad to be home..." She heard a strange faint mournful mew. "Kafre? Kitty where are you?" she walked around the apartment, following the mews, which emenated from her dresser. "Oh, Kafre, I'm sorry..." she said as she opened her sock drawer freeing her pissed off looking kitty. What ELSE could go wrong this day? Deciding it would be in the best interest of herself and her apartment if she DIDN'T cook, she decided to call for Chinese food.
"Lo mein noodles, that's what this day calls for..." she dialed the number of her favorite Chinese delivery place and waited for the pickup as she eased her heavy purse from her shoulder, collapsing on the couch.
"Hello... please hold..." came a voice. Liane absently rubbed her forehead as she waited.
"Hello! We have our lucky fourteenth caller on the line! What do you have to say?" came a very bright and rather obnoxious voice.
"Um... I'd like shrimp lo mein and crab rangoon..."
"Ha haha! Our lucky winner has a sense of humor."
"Excuse me? Isn't this Noodle House?"
"No! This is rockin Q104 and YOU are our lucky lucky winner!"
"Oh.... I guess I dialed the wrong number..."
"No, miss this is the right number! You have won a private internet chat with the Backstreet Boys!!"
"What?"
"Ha ha haha... a Q104 first! Our lucky winner is a wrong number! OK, Ma'am hold the line so we can get your information... and now, 'Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely' by our lucky winner's dream chat, The Backstreet Boys!"
Liane scrunched her eyes, and held the line, sighing. Go figure. She just wanted her noodles. Apperantly she called the Q104 line number by accident... well, hell. This day was impossible. She gave the announcer her information, and was informed that the chat would be the next evening.
"Whatever..." she said, then, after hanging up, she called the right number and ordered her lo mein. After a shower she was finally able to laugh about it. Well, a chat with the Backstreet Boys... that would be... interesting. Not much of a fan, Liane decided that after she ate she'd pick up her best friend Denise and they'd go to the mall to buy a Backstreet CD. I mean, it would be rude to have to tell them she'd never heard them before. Laughing, she picked up the phone and called Denise.
Denise raced to get her key into the lock and managed to grab the phone as she hurried inside. "Hello?" she panted without even looking down at her caller ID. "Liane! How was your day?" she asked, listening to her friend's description of her day from hell. "Bad day huh?"
"Definitely," Liane sighed into the phone on the other end of the line. "And to top it off when I tried to call and order Chinese take-out I called the radio station instead and won an online chat tomorrow with some group called the Backstreet Boys," she managed to laugh.
"Wait...did you say Backstreet Boys? SOME group?? Liane...have you been under a rock or something. Oh my god..they are the hottest thing around at the moment!" Denise informed her, astounded at her friend's luck. "Please tell me you know at least ONE of their songs..." she begged.
"Not really! That's why I called you. I figured we could go to the mall so I could grab somthing of theirs. I don't want to sound like an idiot," she giggled into the phone as the tensions of the day began to slide away.
"I'll go with you on one condition...that I get to sit in on this chat. I could very well save you from total embarassment," she laughed to her friend.
"Ok ok...fine. Just be here in half an hour," she grinned as she replaced the receiver on the cradle and went to change.
Liane sighed and took another forkful of noodles. Well, she had to admit it was kind of exciting. it's not every day that someone like her, a librarian, gets to chat with celebs. Backstreet... she really didn't know their music. She was into Shawn Colvin and Tracy Chapman and Eric Clapton and Jewel. She worked in a library, she had HEARD of them. She had even answered some reference questions about them for some teenyboppers.
Settling in front of her computer, she logged on and did a search, finding their website. She looked through the site as she ate her noodles. Man they were... young. Not that at 30 she was ancient, mind you... they were pretty good looking, she had to admit, though her tastes in men generally were for older types. She listened to the song samples... hm. OK, so they weren't Ottmar Liebert or Yo-yo Ma, but they had a pretty catchy beat.
There was a knock at the door, and she stood, causing Kafre to plop to the floor. Looking in the peephole she saw Denise. She grinned.
"C'mon in to pop central." she said.
"If I didn't love you so much I'd think you were pretty bizarre, Li. Nope, I DO think you're bizarre."
"Noodles?" offered Liane, holding up the carton.
"Lo Mein? Ugh. You know I'm more of the fried rice type," Denise reminded her friend as she dropped her purse on the floor and stooped down to run Kafre who was insistently rubbing around her ankles. "Hi Kaf," she smiled as she scratched under the cat's chin. "Let's see what your mother has been up to," she talked to the feline, walking over to the computer monitor. "Good girl! Doing research already! So...which one do you think is hot?" she asked as she plopped down on the sofa.
"Denise!" Liane groaned.
"What? Come on Liane, you're a librarian, not a nun. You have to think at least ONE of them is attractive! Surely one of the them caught your eye before the others," she insisted as she watched the other girl scroll through the pictures on the site once more, reading bits and pieces of each of the guys biographical sections.
"Well...I don't know. Which one do you like?" Liane asked, knowing that without a doubt Denise would have a favorite already.
"You have to ask? Just look at them...you know me well enough that you should be able to just look at them and tell..."
Liane turned back to the screen, thinking of what Denise always drooled over when they were out and about. Ah yes....hair. Glancing over the pictures again her eyes settled on the one with the ponytail and the deep chocolate brown eyes. "The ponytailed one?" she hazarded a guess.
"Howie...yes, the ponytailed one. God, we've got to make sure you at least know their names before tomorrow night. Now put the noodles down and lets hit the music shop. A stop by the newstand might not be such a bad idea either," she added as she pulled her pal towards the door. "We'll be back Kaf," she grinned down to the cat. "Now, what time are we doing this thing tomorrow?" she laughed as they made their way to the car.
"8:00. What should I wear?"
"WEAR? This is an online chat you know, no need to worry about appearances." laughed Denise.
"Oh... yeah." said Liane, blushing. "I guess that's right." she looked down at the picture she had made from the internet. "They're very young."
"Well, I think Kevin is 28 or so," said Denise, turning in to the mall. "That's only 2 years younger than you. besides, we 'older women' have a mystique."
"Mystique? Puhleeeze. That guy looks scary," she said pointing to AJ. Denise laughed.
"AJ McLean, the resident bad boy. Very nice... just what you need. A little color in your life."
"Color?" said Liane, irked. My life has plenty of color."
"Jaysus, girl, look at yourself."
Liane looked down. She was wearing a monochromatic grey outfit. Looking in the mirror she saw her long brown hair lying straight down the sides of her face, no makeup. "What?"
"You're about as colorful as a sparrow. First stop: hair salon. We are getting you fixed up. The we WILL buy you some new clothes. This is an occasion... besides, I could bring my digital camera..."
Liane smiled and shook her head, letting her friend lead her into the mall. Denise had been looking for an excuse to give Liane a makeover: this time Liane would let her.
Denise pulled Liane into the mall and the two headed straight for the music store and the "B" bin of the popular music section. Flipping through, Liane was amazed at the selection by the boys. "My god! I didn't realize they had so much stuff," she murmured as she flipped through the interview cds, import cd singles, etc. "Get these two," Denise simplified things for her, pulling out Backstreet's Back and Millennium. "Anything else you want to hear, you can borrow mine," she smiled as they headed towards the register. The two spent the next couple of hours scouring through clothing and shoe stores. As usual, the two friends headed towards totally opposite racks of clothes, and Denise had to pull her friend into the more colorful selections. "Don't go to another section without asking me first, or you're going to end up with all grey, black and muted colors again. We're trying to pick and perk you up....remember??" she said with exasperation. "You never know..with any luck maybe I can borrow the web cam from work tomorrow. Then if they have one, we'll be able to see each other while we're chatting! Wouldn't that be amazing?" she said, getting a starry-eyed look.
"I don't know...." Liane answered hesitantly as she looked at the bright, funky clothes Denise was pulling off the racks. "I'm not sure about any of this! I'm not as flashy as you Denise," she groaned.
"I'm not asking you to be this bright all the time dear, just for tomorrow night. Trust me? Would I steer you wrong? Now go try these on...we've only got another half an hour before the mall closes," she hurried her friend.
Liane took the bundle of dresses and went to the dressing room. Generally she didn't wear anything that went to far past her ankles, and none of the dresses Denise had picked went past her knees. She picked up the one black dress in the bunch: a classic little black dress, clingy with spaghetti straps. No way, Jose... thought Liane, but she squirmed into it.
"Well?" yelled Denise impatiently.
"Hang on... almost done..."
She tugged on the hem which was mid-thigh and cautiously stepped out.
"Holy, shit woman you have great legs! You know, I don't think I've ever seen your legs before."
"Ha ha."
"Seriously! Damn, if I had legs that good I'd wear nothing but minis."
"Well, that's where we are different. This dress..."
"Fabulous, but of course trust you to try on the black one first."
"Well..."
"It's great. Now, try on the red one."
"I'm not ready for red."
"Well! Sheesh. OK, try on the floral."
Liane stepped back in the dressingroom and looked in the mirror... she couldn't believe it was her... she looked... hot? She laughed at herself and tried on the floral, a japanese-style dress with a high collar and tight! It was a poppy print. She stepped out.
"Yes! Damn, I'd take you clubbing in that. Let's buy 'em. I found these, try 'em on real quick." Denise handed her a chunky black pair of heels. Liane slipped them on. Pretty comfortable. They bought the dresses and shoes. "OK," said Denise. "Off the the salon."
"Dee..."
"NOW, woman!"
They got to the salon and Denise and the hairdesser stood considering Liane heavy long brown hair. "OK, radical change." said Denise.
"Hmmm..." said Andre, the stylist. "She has a Meg Ryan face. Chop and blonde?"
"Go for it." said Denise.
"Yikes." said Liane.
An hour later, she could have been Meg Ryan's stand in. "Wow." said Denise, impressed. "Very nice."
Liane looked at herself in the mirror, fingering the feathery short chopped hairstyle. "I... like it!"
"Don't sound so surprised! You came to the master! Thanks, Andre..." whispered Denise slipping him her credit card.
"Dee, I'll pay for it..."
"Nope, my treat. You look beautiful. like a caterpillar turned into a butterfly."
Liane smiled shyly, a tear coming to her eye "Thanks, Denise."
"I knew there was a butterfly in you, kiddo. Let's go to my place and pick up some stuff, then I'll sleep over at your place and we can do a crash course in Backstreet history rumor and lore. I even have a few videos."
Linking arms, the two friends walked out into the night. Liane kept fingering her hair... the air ruffling through it felt really strange... and
good. She felt a lightening of her heart. Something new was happening...
and it all came from a wrong number.
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