CHAPTER FOURTEEN-“Keeping Time”

 

On Christmas morning, there was a knock on our door.  Lina and I were still sleeping; it was around seven o’clock when we heard it.

 

“You go get it.”  I told her when she lifted her head.

 

“No, you go.”

 

“I’m too tired.” I said trying very hard to fully open my eyes.

 

“Fine, I’ll go.”  She said getting up from her bed.

 

A couple of minutes later, Lina called me to go over there.  Unwillingly, I did.

 

“What is it?”  I asked when I saw her puzzled look.

 

“I found this outside our door, someone left it there.”

 

“Open it up,” I said taking the envelope that was attached to it and reading the card.  “To Isabelle and Angelina.  Just wanted to let you know I think you guys are cool.  And I appreciate you guys helping me wrap my present.  Thanks, Nick.”

 

“Whoa!” Lina said pushing the gift away from her as if it might contain a bomb.  “Sounds fishy.”

 

“I know.  Besides, we didn’t help him gift-wrap.  We wrapped while he played video games.” 

 

She shook it.

 

“Well just take off the wrapping,” I told her. 

 

When we took a closer look at the package, we noticed the wrapping was poorly done. We could see why he had asked us to wrap his gifts. 

 

“Should we open it?” she asked when the wrapping revealed a plain white box with a top lid.

 

“Um…I don’t know?”  I said beginning to laugh.

 

“I know, this is so silly.”  Lina said.  “I’m scared to see what’s inside.”

 

“Ok,” I told her.  “Hold it out, and I’ll take off the top.”  She did so.  “Ok, on the count of three.  One…”

 

“Two…Three.”  We said as I took the lid, and quickly we both shielded ourselves for the inevitable.  We were expecting something to pop out, or squirt out, or jump out at us or just something, but non-of that happened.

 

“What is it?”  I asked when Lina looked inside.

 

“A book.”  She said even more puzzled than before.

 

“Huh?”  I said taking the box from her and reaching for the book.  “Oh my god!” I said laughing when I saw the title.

 

“What?”  Lina said.  I held it up for her to see, she laughed too as she read the title out loud.  “Practical Jokes for Dummies, first edition.”

 

We were having breakfast in Lina’s parent’s room, when my dad asked.  “So, what’s going on for today?”

 

“Nothing,” Lina said.  “I’m basically free till Monday.”

 

“What’s Monday?”  I asked.

 

“Regis and Kathy Lee then after that rehearsal at the Continental Airlines Arena for that nights concert.”  She said and added.  “Then Tuesday is Rosie O’Donnell and depending on the night before, I either have to go back and rehearse at the venue, or I get the afternoon off, Wednesday is Good Morning America, and rehearsal at Nassau Coliseum, and Thursday TRL, and Friday that MTV New Years thing.”  She said practically all in one breath.

 

“Damn girl.”  I said.  “When do you get a chance to breathe?”

 

“Yeah Lina,” her stepmom added.  “It all sounds too hectic, I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it.”

 

“Trust me,” with an unyielding face, Lina said to her.  “I can handle it.”

 

“So when do you think I can meet with you?”  My dad asked her taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Um,” Lina said with hesitation.  “I’m not sure.  I’ve got such a busy week ahead.  Besides, I’m really doing fine, Dr. Wakeford.”  She said sarcastically.  “Everything couldn’t be more perfect.”

 

Dad looked at her with skepticism.  “Well I’m sure you are doing just fine,” he said wiping his mouth with a napkin.  “Still, I would like to meet just to…check up on things.”

 

“Fine.”  Lina sighed.  “I guess we could do it today.”

 

“Ok.  I’ll expect you in my suite around noon, before lunch.”

 

“Ok.”  Lina said, not hiding her disappointment.

 

I was in my father’s room when Lina knocked on the door for her “appointment”.  When I opened the door, she seemed all excited and fluttered.

 

“What is it, what’s up with you?”  I asked her.

 

“Look at me, what do you notice that’s different.”

 

I looked her over and found nothing out of the ordinary.  “What?  I don’t see anything.”

 

“Oh well, hmm am I on time to meet with your dad, let me check?”  She said pushing back her sleeve. 

 

“Oh my god!  Where did that come from?”  I asked admiring the diamond-studded, platinum watch that adorned her wrist.

 

“Just a little Christmas present from the boy next door.”  She said.

 

“AJ gave you that?”  I gasped taking her wrist into my hand to take a closer look.  “Oh my god!  It’s from Tiffany’s.”  I said looking at the lettering inside the watch.  “I wonder how much he paid for it.”

 

“I don’t know, but it must be worth a lot.  You should have seen the box it came in.  That could be a well enough gift for anybody.”

 

I shook my head.

 

“What’s going on?”  My dad asked coming out of the bedroom.

 

“Nothing,” I said.  “Just checking out Lina’s super expensive new watch.”

 

She held out her arm so my dad could take a look at it.

 

“Whoa, that’s a pretty extravagant looking watch.”  He said.

 

“How much do you think it cost’s daddy?”

 

“Well, it being from Tiffany’s and all, and that small rock on center of the face, plus the diamond bracelet. I’d say a little over a thousand.”

 

“Oh my.”  Lina said sitting down.

 

I laughed at her expression of shock.  Not that I wasn’t shocked as well, but then again I wasn’t the one with a thousand dollars sitting on my wrist.  “Lina, it’s really beautiful.”

 

“I know, thank you.”  She said.  “But I can’t take it.” She whispered.  “I feel so…so…self-seeking taking this from him.”

 

I shrugged.

 

“You ready?”  My dad asked Lina.  “I’d like to get started.  Isabelle.”

 

“I know, I know.  I’ll be in our suite if anyone needs anything.”  I said leaving the room so my father could begin the therapy session.    Though this was not the first time my father had had one of these professional conferences with Lina, for some reason it felt weird.  As if it were for the first time.  I mean if you ask me, Lina was doing just fine.

 

When I got to my suite, I went directly to the bedroom, and did what I always did when I had nothing better to do.  Write in my journal.  I opened up to the last page, and saw the word ANGELINA jump out at me.  I had forgotten about her poem.  Well this was a good time to start working on it.  For about thirty minutes I though of what to write, but still I couldn’t even come up with a first line.  This was frustrating; writing had never been such a dilemma for me.  Finally a though came to me and as I was beginning to write it down, someone knocked on my door. 

 

“Hi.”  I said opening the door wide enough for him to come in.

 

“Hi.”  He said walking in.  He picked up the book Nick had given us, and chuckled.  “He’s such a big kid.”  Brian said.

 

I laughed.

 

“What’s that?”  He asked pointing to the notebook I held in my hand. 

 

“Oh, um…” I had forgotten I still held it in my hand.  “It’s my um, journal.”

 

“You keep a journal, that’s really creative.”  He said approvingly.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Do you write for pretension, or for appraisal?”  He asked.

 

“Neither,” I said wondering why he had decided to come by.  He obviously was trying to make small talk.  “I write for self indulgence.”

 

He nodded, as he made his way over to the couch.  I followed him.

 

“Then there’s probably no chance of me ever seeing anything that’s within those pages, is there?”

 

“Maybe…someday.”  I said.

 

He smiled.  “You know I love to write too. I find myself doing it a lot, now that we are back on the road again.”  When I didn’t say anything, he asked.  “Where you working on something, before I came?  Did I interrupt you?”

 

“No, its ok.” I said when I saw he got up to leave.  “Really, actually I was having trouble getting anything done.”

 

“Can I ask what you were working on?”  He asked coming to sit by me.

 

I hesitated for a moment.  “I was just working on something for Angelina.”

 

“A song?”  He asked, surprised.

 

“No, no.”  I said laughing at the thought.  “A poem, for her birthday.  I want to write her a poem.”

 

“I’d love to hear it.”

 

I laughed.  “So would I.  Actually, I haven’t really begun it.”

 

“Maybe I can help.”  He said. 

 

I smiled.  “For some reason every time I put the pen to the paper, I come out blank.”

 

He was silent for a moment, making it uncomfortable.

 

“How’s this, I’ll help you with your poem, if you…” he took my hand into his and softly said.  “If you be my date for the New Years Bash at MTV.”

 

I let go of the breath I had been holding since he grabbed my hand.  A million thoughts went through my head, making it hard to think clearly, but one thing was certain.  “Brian, I can’t.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Brian you’re engaged.”  I said, looking the other way.

 

“Belle,” he said.  “I’m not asking you to marry me, just come to a little party with me.”  His charm taking me over as he smiled.

 

I looked at him and began to say,  “Brian, I’m not sure…” When he softly pressed his lips to mine, giving me a quick kiss.  I closed my eyes.

 

“Just think about it.”  He whispered in my ear.

 

I still had my eyes shut when I heard the door close as he left the suite.  I did want to go with him I sighed to myself, but I knew I couldn’t, or at least shouldn’t.  The answer would most definitely be no, my head kept saying as it debated with my heart, who was telling me yes.

 

The week went by quickly, as it often does when there isn’t much to do, though Angelina certainly did keep busy.  Even though I wanted to go, there were only enough tickets for her family, but I still caught the Rosie show on TV.  Lina did all her interviews as she had rehearsed them with Yvonne.  Favorite color: purple, Car: yes, College: sometime after my first record release and my very own tour, Boyfriend: Definitely NO.  Not because Angelina Mayfield was not allowed to “date” by  her public, but because her boyfriend AJ McLean most definitely was not. Every question had been anticipated, well except for one.  On Thursday’s shooting, of TRL, Carson, the host, asked her a question we were just not ready for.  I was sitting in the audience along side her sisters and Kristin who had decided to come along with us, when he asked.  “That’s an amazingly beautiful watch.  Was it maybe a Christmas present from a current boyfriend?”

 

Yvonne’s jaw dropped.  She had not yet seen the watch, or known whom it was from, but of course it was an easy guess.

 

And Lina, being the professional that she is, smiled naturally and said, “I wish.  It was a present from my parents; I’m currently single, and looking.”  She joked looking into the camera as coincidently MTV cut into today’s number one video, Larger Than Life.

 

 

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