Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 11:25:41 EDT
From: SinginJunkie8484@aol.com
Subject: Zany Romance Chapter 2

Zany Romance-Part 2

Disclaimer:  Same as before.  I don't know which gender the members of *NSYNC
prefer.  If you don't like homosexual situations,then don't read further.
This story is COMPLETELY fiction.

Dedication:  I would like to thank everyone for reading the story that did.
I would also like to thank the three people that emailed me: Amanda, Lee, and
Evan, here is the second chapter.  Again to all of my friends that read and
loved the story, I do it for the love of writing and to give you guys
something to read.

NOTE:  I was going to write this in the third person, but when I started
writing it, I looked and I ended up writing in the first person.  I don't
know which you guys like reading better, so you'll have to give me your input
on that.  There is actually a Zany Brainy in Orlando, so I'm happy about
that.  The name Zany Brainy is copyrighted, so I have to say that so I won't
get into trouble. The Saturn car label is also copyrighted.  Enjoy Chapter 2!

*************************************************

After Joey left the store, I kept staring at the credit card slip as if it
was burning my hand.  I was so shocked that he would actually give me his
phone number.  Me,a person that he just met, that works in a kid's store.  It
really seemed odd to me, and at first I thought it was a joke.  When
customers started coming up asking to be rung up, I had to do something quick
with the paper, so I just shoved it in my apron. I'd deal with it later, when
I wasn't so busy.

"Hello, sir.  Did you find everything you were looking for today?" I asked
trying to look happy, which in fact I was ecstatic.

"Yes, thank you," he said while handing me a box of legos for his child.
Half way through ringing him up, Annette came back up, and started asking
me questions.

"What happened?  Why was he here?  What did you get him to buy? Did you get
him to sign anything?" she kept rambling on with her questions, but I wasn't
paying attention one bit. I gave the man his receipt, and he walked out of
the store.  I started to straighten up a few things, and a huge smile
appeared on my face.  I was so happy, ecstatic, lucky, thrilled, and confused
all at the same time.  I had never felt all of these feelings at once, and I
didn't know if I would be able to control myself.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked looking at me like I was a
maniac.  "Did something happen that you are not telling me?  What happened,
Bryan?"

I just looked at her, kept smiling, grabbed a blank piece of paper, wrote
down Joey's phone number, scribbled out the one on the credit card receipt,
and put it into the drawer.

"What did you just write down and scribble out?" she kept pushing me.  That
was one of the reasons I hated her so much.

"Its nothing, Annette," I said placing the piece of paper in my pocket.
"All he did was go back, pick out a stuffed animal, purchase it with a
credit card, and leave.  It's not a big deal, so stop treating it like one."
 I was starting to get slightly annoyed by the way she kept staring at me,
and how she kept asking me questions.

"Listen, Mr. Brookshire," she said coming up to stand very close to me.  "I
don't know who you think you are, but you better tell me what that
international pop star gave you before I have to get physical." By this time
she started poking me with a finger.

I shoved the finger away from me, and started backing her up towards the end
of the counter.  "I don't know who you think you are, but you will not tell
me what to do.  If I wanted to tell you, I would have by now.  It's something
private, just leave it at that."  I said and walked back to my cash register.

"What's all the commotion about up here?" I turned to see one of my
manager's, Lisa, walking past Annette, and past me to get into her office.

"Oh, nothing much,"I said stopping Annette from opening her big mouth.
"Annette was just having a panic attack because she thought she saw a
major celebrity, but she was wrong. Isn't that right, Annette?"  I stared at
her, with this glare that said `If you tell her anything, I will personally
make sure you are fired.' She caught my message loud and clear.

"Yeah that's right,"Annette said a little uneasily.  "This guy walked in,
and Bryan went to help him out. When he came back, I thought he looked
familiar, but when I looked at him closer, it turned out to be just another
person."

"I hate to break this to you, Annette, but celebrities, too, are just
people," Lisa said.  I was silently applauding Lisa for her comment.  She was
right after all.

"Did I hear something about celebrities?" I cringed when I heard that voice.
 It was that voice which I appalled.  It sounded like the devil himself.
Well I should say herself, since the owner of that voice was a girl.  Her
name was Michelle, and she was a complete bitch.

"Yeah, Michelle.  Annette thought she saw a celebrity walk into the store,"
Lisa said filing her nails.  Being a manager in that store wasn't a hard job.
 You would either find Lisa in books or in her office not really doing much.
Michelle looked from Lisa to me after Lisa made her comment.  I hated the way
she looked at me.  She smiled a little bit when she saw me.

"Why hello, Bryan.  How are you today?" she asked me in that annoying little
tone she only uses for me.  She knows the only way to bug me, which is
another reason why I hate her.

"Why hello there,Satan..I mean Michelle," I said smiling at her the whole
time.

"Bryan," Lisa said staring at me.  I knew she knew that Michelle and I hated
each other, but she wasn't about to stand by and watch us fight.

"Sorry, Lisa," I said, looking back at Michelle.  She was smiling one of her
triumphant smiles. The war wasn't over yet.  She had just won a battle.
"I'm going back to clean some parts of the stock room.  If anyone needs
me I'll be back there."

I walked to the back of the store, and opened the stock room using my key
code.  I wanted to get away from everyone for a little while and sort things
out.  I was still very confused as to why Joey had given me his phone number.


`Did he think I was flirting with him? I thought.  `And if he thought I was,
why did he give me his phone number?  He's not gay..is he?'

I couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, and it was kind of giving me
a headache.  I heard a knock on the door, and an even bigger, walking,
talking headache walked in.

"Well if it isn't the queen of all Bitches, herself," I said staring at
Michelle.  "Shouldn't you be off making someone's life miserable?"

"What do you think I'm trying to do right now, my dear boy?" she said with a
fake smile.  "It's not like I enjoy talking to you."

"The same goes for me," I said taking a toy out of a box, and placing it
onto a shelf.  "What do you want?"

"I just had a little chat with Annette," she said grinning. "It seems her
little celebrity story wasn't false after all."

"What does it matter to you, Michelle?" I asked with an annoyed tone.  She
was starting to get to me. "It is no one's business what he and I discussed.
 If you want to know what happened, go ask him, because I am not about to
tell you."

I brushed past her and out of the stock room.  I had to get out of there, and
the only way I could think of doing that was taking my break early.  I needed
to clear my head, and think a lot about what I was going to do with the
number in my pocket.

**********************************************

After work that night, I was glad to be in my car, and on my way to my
apartment.  For those of you who care, I own a dark green Saturn SL2.  It's
loaded with all the features possible.  Now you are probably wondering how I
could afford something like that.  Well it was used when I bought it, so I
got it for a very good deal.  Anyway, back to the story.  I live in a very
high-class apartment complex just outside of Waterford.  If it weren't for my
roommate, then I would probably be living in a shanty somewhere in the bad
section of the city.  Now I should take the opportunity to explain to you who
my roommate was.  Her name is Danielle Stokes, and we had been living
together for about 4 years.  She was basically the best roommate any
homosexual male could ask for.  She was kind, warm, compassionate, funny,
smart, and sometimes one MAJOR bitch.  If there was one thing a person didn't
want to do, it was to get on her bad side. She was 5'7, weighed around 105
lbs., depending on the day and her mood, had dark blue eyes, and golden
blonde hair that went down to her shoulder blades.  She worked out two or
three times a week, and that was a girl who could hold her own. When we would
go out to clubs, and men would try to harass her, she would let them know
that no one messes with her.

When I pulled intomy parking space just below my apartment, I could see that
the lights were still on, meaning Dani was still up, which is good because I
needed advice, and I knew Dani would help me with anything. We treated each
other as brother and sister, and tried to help each other where we could.
Our apartment was situated right near the pool, and over looked the garden
that the apartment association had created.  I got out of my car, locked it,
walked up the steps, walked over to the door, put the key in the lock, and
opened the door.  Once I stepped inside I could smell something burning,
which meant only one thing, Dani had tried to cook.

The apartment is a modest living space.  The living room is the first room
right near the front door, then the dining room and kitchen after that.  The
hall, right before the kitchen on the left, leads to two bedrooms; mine being
the farthest away, and a bathroom.  Dani and I had been best friends in high
school, and when she went off to college, she soon found out that she would
have to find a place off campus to live.  I suggested that we get a place
together, and when we saw this apartment, she immediately fell in love with
it, and we had been living there since.

I placed my keys on the coffee table in the living room, walked over to the
stove, and turned it off.  Whatever she was cooking, it smelled really nasty.
 She appeared from the hallway shortly after that, and looked at me.

"Where have you been?" she asked placing her hands on her hips.  "You know
that I don't like to cook.  I tried making dinner, but as you can see it
didn't exactly work.  What happened?"

I sat down at the dining room table, and sighed heavily. I knew she would get
the point that I was having trouble with something.  She softened up after my
sigh, pulled out a beer for her and a Dr. Pepper for me out of the fridge,
and sat down next to me.  She handed me my drink, I opened it, and downed
half of the can.

"Long day?" she asked placing a hand on my arm.

"You have no idea,"I said downing the rest of the can, and getting up to
throw it away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she was always the one to get right to the
point, and start helping people right away.

All I did was place the phone number on the table, and go to look out the bay
window overlooking the garden.  It was so peaceful down there, and whenever I
would look into it, my worries just seemed to melt away.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said standing up holding the phone
number.  "This is a joke right?  Tell me this is a joke."  She walked over
to me.

I crossed my arms, and turned to star at her  "It's no joke."

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked holding the phone number in front
of me.  "Call him."

I brushed past her, and sat on the couch in the living room. "I can't just
call him and say `Hey it's me, Bryan, from Zany Brainy.  Ya know the one
that said he was gay, and was flirting with ya?'"

"You told him you were gay, and you flirted with him?" she asked sitting
down next to me.  If there was one thing that you couldn't keep from Dani, it
was details.  She would want every single detail you could possibly tell her.

"Well I told him I was gay for some unknown reason, and I may have been
flirting with him a little bit.  I don't know," I said throwing myhands up
in exasperation.  "What I can't seem to figure out is if I was flirting with
him, why would he give me his phone number, and be so nice to me while I was
ringing him up?"

"Well, was he flirting back?"

"I don't really know.  It seemed like he was, but I could have just been
reading too much into it. He brushed his hand against mine when I handed him
a pen."

"Did you feel anything from that touch?"

"Dani, you should know me by now.  I don't know what I feel when I feel it
when it has to do with something this complicated.  I don't do well with
knowing about feeling sexual emotions."

"Well, the boy gave you his phone number, if you want my advice, which I'm
guessing you do, I say call him.  You'll feel better when you do, and you'll
get all your questions answered.  Right now, since my dinner didn't go
exactly as planned, I am going to take some crackers and beer, and go to my
room to watch a movie.  If you need me or you want to join me, you'll know
where to find me."

"Thanks, Dani.  I may just take your advice."

We hugged, and she got up.  "No problem, hun.  Get to bed soon, you looked
tired."  I laughed at her last comment.  She always tried to play my mother.

She walked into the kitchen, took a six-pack of beer out of the refrigerator,
a bag of crackers out of a cabinet, and walked down the hall to her room.  I
looked at the number in my hand.  I just couldn't decide what to do, so I got
up and walked back into the kitchen.  I placed the number on the counter, and
got another Dr. Pepper out of the fridge.  In the middle of drinking it, I
looked over, and stared at the piece of paper.  I slammed the can on the
counter, took the phone number, picked up the phone, and dialed the number.

`The sooner I do this ,the sooner it gets over with,' I thought as I dialed
the number.

It started ringing, but no one was picking up.  After the fifth ring, the
answering machine kicked in. He actually had a nice message on there.  It
beeped, and I just blurted out, "Hey, it's Bryan from Zany Brainy.  I just
called since you gave me your number.  If you want to talk sometime, call me
at 904-476-3317.  I guess I'll talk to you later then, bye." I hung up the
phone, and placed it on the couch.

I had never been more nervous in my life, then when I had made that phone
call.  `What if I spoke too fast?  What if he starts laughing when he hears
my voice because this IS all a big joke, and I fell for it?' I kept thinking
those questions over and over again as I walked down the hall, and into my
room.  I took out a pair of boxer briefs and pajama pants from my dresser
drawer, and walked into the bathroom.  I took off my work clothes, and placed
them in the hamper.  I started the shower, and when it was at the right
temperature, I stepped in, and tried to wash all my worries away.

When I got out, I put on my clothes, and walked out into the kitchen.  I took
my Dr. Pepper, and sat down on the couch again.  I picked up the remote, and
started flipping through the channels.  There was never anything on at night,
and I have no idea why I kept flipping through the channels over and over
again.  I guess it kept me from thinking about Joey, and the phone number.
However, when the phone started to ring, I stopped flipping, and stared at
the phone. All of the sudden I didn't know what to do.  I guessed I would
have to pick it up, since I knew Dani had probably passed out from being so
drunk by now.

I dropped the remote on the couch, picked up the phone, and said, "Hello..."

TO BE CONTINUED


Sorry that it took me so long to write this one, but I just couldn't get
myself to sit down and write.  I hope you liked this chapter.  I know that
it's kinda mean to leave you guys hanging, but that's what I like to do.  I
like to create suspense in my stories.  This keeps ya thinking, and wanting
more.  I will try to get the next chapter out by next week before I go on
vacation.  I'm going on a cruise for nine days with my family, so I won't be
able to write in that time.  I should get the third chapter out before then,
though. So again, tell me what you think, you can write to me at
singinjunkie8484@aol.com.  Thanks for reading!