She sat down on a bench outside the building, listening as Nick’s voicemail picked up. “Hey babyboy… I just finished up my last midterm- no clue how it went, but I’m guessing not very well. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I love you… can’t wait to see you. Give me a call whenever you can.” She hung up and just sat for awhile, watching other students rush to their classes.
She hoped the tests had gone better than she thought, but didn’t feel that it was very likely. Maybe the papers she’d written and presentations she’d had to give would make up for the less-than-stellar tests.
She couldn’t remember a time that she’d felt more distracted or preoccupied, her mind couldn’t have been any further from her studies. She tried her best to brush it off, she was going to get to see Nick tomorrow. She’d worry about school later.
~~~~~
“What are you doing tonight?” Jourdin asked.
“Nothing. I did my homework in study hall.” Cobi answered. “Why?”
“We’re going out. I’m going to pick you up in about an hour.” Jourdin told her.
“Okay, where are we going?” Cobi asked.
“You’ll see. We’ll grab food, too, so decide where you want to go.”
“I am so confused, but… I’ll be ready. See you in a while.” Cobi said, wondering what her big sister was up to.
Jourdin hung up the phone, going to the closet, trying to find something to wear that would be comfortable later. She found a pair of velvety dance pants and pulled them on, keeping them low across her hips and put on a tiny t-shirt. She left the house, grabbing her phone on the way out the door and drove to get Cobi.
Jourdin groaned when she realized both of her parents were home. She wondered if she could get away with just honking, but figured Cobi had probably told them she was coming over. She got out of the car and walked into the house, feeling sort of bad that coming to her parent’s house had come to seem like such a chore. She’d always had a good relationship with her parents, but since moving in with Nick almost six months ago, she was content to stay away most of the time, favoring phone conversations.
She walked in the door to find Cobi waiting for her on the couch, their parents on either side of her. “Hey mom… dad…”
“Nice of you to come visit, stranger,” her dad joked.
“I know… I’m sorry… “ Jourdin mumbled. After the week she’d had, she didn’t quite feel up to an investigation from her parents. She was relieved when Cobi came to her rescue, jumping off the couch and asking Jourdin if she was ready. “Yeah… I’ll see you later.. I love you both.” Jourdin called as she let Cobi drag her out the door. When they got to the car, Jourdin thanked Cobi for getting her out of that.
“I’m curious! I didn’t want to wait anymore to find out- what’s going on?” Cobi asked.
“I’m just going to do something… a little surprise for Nick.” Jourdin said, driving part way across town.
“What kind of surprise?”
“One I’m pretty sure he’ll like.” Jourdin replied, pulling into a parking lot and stopping the car. “C’mon.”
Cobi looked out of the car window “TATTOOING?!?! WHAT???”
“No, keep reading.” Jourdin said, walking to the door.
“Tattoing- bold, fine line, flash, freehand, cover-ups…body piercing… body piercing? What are you gonna get pierced?” Cobi exclaimed loudly as they walked through the door.
Jourdin clapped her hand over Cobi’s mouth. “Quiet down!”
The heavily tattooed young man behind the counter looked up, “Can I help you?”
“I want to get my belly button pierced.” Jourdin said, walking over to the counter.
“Okay.. I need to see some ID, then you need to fill out this form and pick your jewelry.” He said, handing her a clipboard with a release form on it, and taking her driver’s license.
Jourdin read over the release as Cobi walked around the room, staring at the pictures and tattoo designs on the walls. She signed the form and handed it back to him. “Who’s going to do the piercing?”
“Me… I’m Rex.. sorry I was getting to that part.” Rex said, reaching into the glass counter and pulling out a tray of jewelry for Jourdin to pick from. “We got curved barbells- some with jewels, glow-in-the-dark and other stuff, and then captive bead rings- all different colors. We recommend 14 gauge, ‘cause anything smaller your body might try to push out.”
“Oh that’s pleasant” Jourdin remarked. “Hey Cobi, c’mere.”
Cobi walked over to where she was standing, “Yeah?”
“Which one?” Jourdin asked, pointing to the display of jewelry options.
“What about the gold one? Doesn’t Nick like gold?”
“Actually, he’s sort of moved on to platinum now- that whole thug/status thing or something.. but I do like the gold one.” She said, showing Rex the thin gold ring with a tiny gold bead.
“Alright. Now before I do this, you gotta get the instructions. Clean it twice a day with anti-bacterial soap that isn’t scented and put solution like Bactine and some saline on it so you can get the crusties off four or five times a day and sea salt soaks twice a day… all that for at least six weeks. Don’t play with it. It’ll take about a year to completely heal, so don’t even think about changing the jewelry for at least six months. Okay?”
Jourdin nodded, thinking it sounded reasonable except for maybe the “don’t play with it” part. She figured Nick would probably think of it as a new toy for him.
“Then that’s $50.” Rex said.
Jourdin paid him, then followed him back into a brightly lit room that smelled like antiseptic, motioning for Cobi to come, too.
Rex told Jourdin to lie down on the table, tuck her shirt up under her bra and roll the waist of her pants down a few inches while he got a new needle and sterilized the jewelry.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this!” Cobi whispered, holding her hand out when Jourdin reached for her.
Rex turned back to Jourdin, holding a marker to make the dot on her stomach where the jewelry would go. He made the marks and then told Jourdin to stand up and look in the mirror to make sure she liked the placement.
Jourdin glanced in the mirror, saying it looked fine- it was centered she thought, but she was unable to really imagine a gold ring in place of the blue dot. She lay back down and grabbed Cobi’s hand again, reminding herself that Nick thought navel rings were sexy and he’d be very pleasantly surprised by this.
“Okay, I need you to take a deep breath and relax as much as possible.” Rex told her, grabbing the needle and positioning it.
Cobi gasped when she saw the needle and looked away, squeezing Jourdin’s hand.
Jourdin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a pinch as the needle pierced her skin and slid through.
Rex slipped the ring through in place of the needle and tightened the bead, closing the ring. He squirted Bactine and saline over the barely bleeding area and gently wiped up the excess liquid. “You’re done. Take a look.”
“Wow! How cool!” Cobi said, examining her sister’s new adornment.
Jourdin opened her eyes and slowly got up off the table and went to look in the mirror. She smiled at the reflection, it was pretty sexy. “I like it.”
“Awesome. It may bleed a little tonight, so don’t drink any alcohol, that’ll make it worse. Take some ibuprofen if you need to. Try not to sleep on your stomach for about a month. Turn it a little, but don’t play with it. Keep it clean and don’t put any antibiotic salve on it. If you have any questions give me a call.” Rex said.
Jourdin nodded, “Yeah, thanks.” She tipped him and walked out of the shop, with Cobi right behind her. “You really like it?
Cobi nodded. “Yeah! Nick will, too!” she giggled.
“That’s what I was going for” she said, unlocking the car doors. “Where do you want to go eat?”
Cobi shrugged, “I don’t care. I’m just glad I’m not at home to eat- it’s dad’s night to cook.”
Jourdin laughed and carefully eased into the car, expecting to feel pain, but didn’t. “I know mom needs a break every now and then, but damn, just order-in or something, don’t let dad cook!”
“I hope all guys aren’t as bad at cooking as he is.” Cobi said.
“Nick’s not… too bad.” Jourdin said, pulling out of the parking lot and heading to Cobi’s favorite pizza place. “We cook together a lot. It doesn’t always turn out like it’s supposed to- but we have fun with it.”
“That’s so cool” Cobi sighed. “When are you going to get to see him again?”
“I’m supposed to fly out to meet him tomorrow or the next day to go on the road with him for the last few days of the tour, since I’ve got fall break… but I’m still waiting on him to call me back with the information.” Jourdin replied.
Cobi laughed, “He’ll probably call an hour before your plane is supposed to leave.”
“Yeah, probably!”
~~~~
Jourdin read through the instructions on how to do a sea salt soak, mixing two teaspoons of the sea salt into a quart of water and then sticking it in the microwave. She went to the cabinet to grab a shot glass and waited for the timer to go off.
She took the mix out of the microwave and poured part of it into the shot glass and went into the bedroom to lie down to put the soak on. She'd just put the shot glass over her belly button and lay down, trapping the solution over the piercing when the phone rang. She tried to carefully wiggle over to reach the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Boo"
"Babyboy!" she squealed, glad to finally hear from him.
"You sound happier now..." he said. He'd felt bad when he'd heard her message earlier, wishing he could hug her and make her feel better.
"Yeah, now I'm just anxious to see you."
He smiled, "That's what I was calling about. Your flight leaves at one tomorrow, that cool?"
"That's fine... I just wish it was sooner.. I wanna be with you." she said, looking at the clock, trying to figure out how much longer she had to keep the shot glass over her belly button.
"Well, there's more. I won't be able to see you 'til probably after the show- tomorrow's going to be crazy."
"Oh... aight. Will you just leave me a key at the front desk?" she asked, an idea quickly forming her mind.
"Um, okay.. you don't want to come to the show?"
"I'll see it all next week... I'll just hang in the room, get cleaned up and get pretty for you.... maybe catch something on Spectravision..." she giggled.
Nick groaned, "Not even here yet and you're teasin' me."
"Just wait 'til I get there..." she said, making a mental list of thngs to buy when she got off the phone, she figured the shop would still be open.
"I've been waitin'. Every night seems longer than the one before it." Nick said quietly.
"Oh I see how it is.. just missing me at night because you're not getting any."
"No, I'm not even talking about sex. I miss being able to hold you and talk to you and just.. having you with me. I love you. I just want you to be close to me." he said.
Jourdin's whole body ached to feel him beside her, "Only a few more hours."
"I know, Boo.. then we won't have to be apart anymore."
~~~~
Jourdin walked into the hotel lobby, amazed at the number of little girls milling around, hoping to catch a glimpse of their Boys, who she knew weren't even in the building.
She walked to the front desk, smiling at the clerk who looked a little frazzled. "Hi, I'm Jourdin Spencer, I should have a key waiting for me."
The clerk gave her a blank look. "A key?"
"Yeah, a room key... You should have my name added to a reservation..." Jourdin said. Surely Nick hadn't forgotten...
"What room?"
"I don't know what the room number is."
"Who's in the room?" the clerk asked.
Jourdin lowered her voice, "Nick Carter."
"Uh-huh. I'll be back." The clerk turned and disappeared into the back room.
Jourdin folded her arms on the counter, sighing. Somehow she'd expected that reaction.
An older man came out of the room with the clerk, "Miss Spencer?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. Mr. Carter had made the arrangements with me, and I hadn't informed the front desk staff. Here's your key, you're in room 1326. Please let me know if I can help you in anyway or get you anything."
"Thank you." Jourdin took the key and hoisted her luggage up, heading to the elevators.
She stepped off the elevator, relieved to find the hall clear, and dragged her suitcase down the hall to their room. She opened the door, the sweet scent of roses wafting out to greet her. She walked into the room, looking at the huge bouquet of red roses on the table and the beautifully wrapped present on the bed. She dropped her things and went to the bed, reading the note on the gift. "Boo, I'm so glad you're here and you get to be with me for a few days to see what my crazy life is like and why I miss you so much. Wherever I am right now, I promise I'm thinking of you, impatiently waiting to hold you and kiss you. I love you! All my heart, babyboy."
Jourdin smiled and put the note aside, carefully unwrapping the package. She pulled out a pair of deep emerald green satin pajamas- a button top and shorts. She giggled when she saw another note at the bottom of the box "I want to see you in these later." She knew he'd want to take his time unbuttoning the top, slide his hands all over the sensual fabric... and she'd let him do just that, but it would be later. She had other things in mind for now.
~~~~
Nick practically ran down the hall to the room- he couldn't wait to fling the door open and find Jourdin in the pajamas he'd left. He'd slip his hands all over her and kiss her, then unbutton the top with his teeth... he'd been thinking about nothing else all day. He could feel his body beginning to respond to his thoughts as he neared the room, he could barely get the key in the door he was so anxious.
He finally got the door open and slammed it shut, and darted into the room, immediately going to the bed, expecting to find Jourdin waiting there for him. Only she wasn't.
"Hey Tiger."
Nick spun around at the seductive sound of Jourdin's voice, his jaw dropping at the sight of her. His eyes traveled up and down her body, making sure he memorized every detail of the way she looked. Thigh high black vinyl stiletto boots and.... nothing else. Her long hair hung down skimming over her breasts and the gold of the belly chain she was wearing glinted against her skin in the faint light of the room and the... his eyes widened as he saw the belly chain had been slipped through her navel ring... that was new... and fuck was it sexy. "My god..." he breathed, quickly stepping to her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her body close to his, kissing her fiercely.