Somebody Else

Chapter 4

I'm not nervous.

But then I am.

Why am I nervous?

I shake my head at my reflection, telling myself I have no reason to be anxious.

But then I do.

"What's this teenager shit?" I mutter to myself.

"What?" Debanie pops in beside me and leans forward to check her face in the mirror. She's beautiful, tall, olive skinned and wearing extremely high heels so that she's slightly towering over me.

"Nothing," I reply as I turn to look for Paul. He's with the shy blonde, talking into her ear about some nonsense, I assume.

"You know, I think what you're doing is romantic," Debanie smiles at me.

"Any advice?" I ask just when the elevator arrives.

She shrugs and steps inside before me. "It's kind of complicated. Be nice and courteous towards me but make sure she sees it. Don't overdo it. I think that's usually what makes it obvious."

I nod my thanks and step back into the cart to make room for Paul and his date. The cart ascends up to her floor and I lean my head back. It's amazing how after all these years and the distance, she still gets my heart going crazy.

"You okay?" Paul looks back at me with a grin.

"Yeah, I'm great."

"Relax," Debanie tells me as she turns and slips her hand around my arm. "If you want, let me do the flirting thing and you just do casual talk."

"And if you really want to make sure she's jealous," the blonde speaks over Paul's shoulder, "Get her alone and she'll tell you without you having to ask."

I chuckle and raise my eyebrows up, "This is pretty weird. And awkward."

We all laugh together when the doors to the elevator open and we're met with a hallway that opens up to the living room area. Paul steps aside to let Debanie and I walk in first. My eyes roam everywhere for her in between the small crowds of people lingering randomly.

"I can't see her," I whisper to Debanie.

"Jamie!"

I turn to my right and there she is, bounding towards me with the biggest smile ever. I immediately imitate her and smile back until she reaches us. She has her hair down, bangs gone, and the minimal amount of makeup except for bright red lipstick. God, I love her lips. She's wearing a long sleeved black dress and it's then that I notice that she has two unopened bottles of beer in each of her hands.

"Like I promised," she hands me one of the bottles. "Oh, hi." Her eyes break contact with mine as she sees Debanie standing next to me. They drop down to her arm snaked around mine and I can see her smile slowly disappear.

"Uh, Dakota.. This is Debanie Williams. Debanie, this is Dakota Jo-"

"Johnson! Yes! Of course. Oh my God, I love all of your work and your family's too," Debanie starts off.

Dakota smiles and nods. "Thank you. And I'm sorry," she motions to the beer in her hand, "I didn't know Jamie had brought someone. You can have mine of course! I can just go get myself another one."

"It really is like Jamie to forget things. It's fine, really. I'm not a big fan of beer. Would you have wine by any chance?"

"Yeah, we do. I can show you?" Dakota makes to turn and guide her.

"I think I can see the bottles from here," Debanie laughs. "I'll just go fetch myself a glass. I'll be right back." She eyes me with a grin and squeezes my arm before she walks off. I smile after her before lifting the bottle up to my lips and taking a small swig.