Well, What Ever Happened To Romance?

Chapter 7

I took a deep breath, admiring my outfit once more in the mirror. I wore a black top with black pants, with a hot pink blazer to fit the Mean Girls theme. Between the outfit, my curled hair, and sparkly earrings, I felt like I had walked right off of a Pinterest board.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning when I stepped off the subway near Rockefeller Center. Today was the day that the cast performed on the Today Show, and several of us from BBB were accompanying them. I quickly spotted my boss, who was mid-conversation with Tina Fey. You know, no big deal or anything.

I walk over to them, relieved that they were wearing hot pink as well. Despite the early hour, we were all excited for the day. "Oh, perfect timing. Tina, this is our intern, Charlotte. She's going to run through a few things with you while I go talk to the hosts," She said before quickly walking away. It took me a moment to internalize what was going on as Tina shakes my hand. On days like this, I still didn't feel like this was real life. This was my job.

Tina and I discuss all the talk show formalities, mostly what she should say about the song and the show when she introduces it. Slowly the cast begins to arrive, the atmosphere becoming more and more lively in anticipation for the performance.

It was a few minutes past 7:00 AM when Ben showed up, the morning drowsiness still obvious in his eyes. By this point I was wide awake, barely being able to keep still. I'm mid-conversation when I see him, so I excuse myself, doing an awkward 'I can't contain my excitement' skip-walk over to him. He laughs at my nerdiness, and we hug quickly, still unsure about this 'being a couple in public' thing.

"It's way too early for this," He mumbles.

"I won't even tell you how long I've been here, then," I respond before gently punching him in the arm. "Come on! Get pumped! You're performing on the Today Show!"

"Can't the Today Show wait until, like, the afternoon?" He sips his coffee.

"I cannot believe that I'm more excited than you are for this. Do I need to go get you more coffee?" I say, noticing that he had finished his.

"If you're actually offering... yes. But if that was sarcasm... also yes." I roll my eyes, laughing, before taking his cup from him and refilling it. Shortly after, the cast does a run-through on the stage, and before I even know it, it's time for the performance.

One of the best parts of my job was getting to sit back and watch the actual events unfold. After spending so much time orchestrating all of these things and working behind the scenes, it was time for me to relax and enjoy these performances that gave joy to so many people. And getting to watch Benjamin Tyler Cook, my boyfriend, do his thing? That just makes it even better.

Angie was more than thrilled when I called her several days prior to tell her that Ben had officially asked me out. I had told her every detail since I had arrived in New York, and she told me that she saw it coming the whole time (and that I really owed her one, since she's the one that encouraged me in the first place-- a typical Angie move). When she asked me how I was feeling about it all, since I had never really had a boyfriend up until now, I told her that I felt uncharacteristically at peace. As a person who was constantly striving, whether it be to prove something to my parents, my boss, or just about anybody else in my life, I always felt like I wasn't enough for people. How incredible it felt to have found a person that liked who I was, without the striving and trying to impress. I was at peace when I was with Ben. I was comfortable and I was at home.

And of course, I'm sure it looked ridiculous to anybody on the outside. A 19-year-old girl moves to New York, and over the course of not even a month and a half, she finds 'the one'? It sounds utterly insane. Of course, there was always that saying of 'when you know, you know'. I had absolutely no reason to trust my gut when it came to romance, but I suppose I didn't have any reason to doubt it, either. I wasn't sure of much nowadays, but I was sure of this: Ben makes me happy, and I like who I am when I'm with him. And hopefully, he could say the same for me.

Watching the performance is nothing short of exhilarating. The audience loved it, the cast was having the time of their lives, and I could say the same for myself. After the performance, cast members talk and takes pictures with fans in the audience, all the while I'm Instagram-ing and tweeting on the Mean Girl's social media. I also keep an eye on Ben, whose bright eyes and charming smile had managed to attract a huge crowd of teenage girls. Not that I was jealous or didn't trust him, in fact, I loved watching him talk to fans.

By noon, all of my adrenaline had completely worn off. The crowds had dissipated, and I was more than happy to head home once my boss gave me the OK. I found Ben again, who was sticking around longer than needed just to catch a ride home with me (adorable), and we got an Uber.

"That was quite the fan club you had today," I tease, making him blush.

"Yeah, that was something else... it doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Oh my gosh, not at all! As long as you always remember that I'm the president on the Ben Cook fan club," I respond, not wanting him to ever feel like I was jealous.

He smiles in response, lacing our fingers together. "You're the best. Honestly. I'm a lucky dude."

I laugh, squeezing his hand. "Are you doing anything today?" Thinking about it for a second, he shook his head. "I don't feel like going out or anything, but if you're down, I've got some movies that aren't going to watch themselves."

"There's nothing else I'd rather do," He responds.

Not long after that, we arrived at my place. My apartment definitely wasn't anything much, especially considering I didn't have a real bed and I slept on my futon, but it was cozy and had a fire escape for me to sit on, and I loved it. Ben and I decide on some old Disney movies, and waste the rest of the day away with chocolate milk and popcorn, as if we were five years old.

"People were asking me about you today," Ben said. We were in the middle of the Emperor's New Groove, and if it weren't for him talking, I might have fallen asleep.

"Really? Who?"

"A bunch of the fans that were there. Apparently, someone took pictures of you and me at the coffee shop, plus the ones we put on Snapchat and Instagram. One girl recognized you and asked about you," He continues. "I told them that you were my girlfriend, and they wanted me to tell you that 'they think you're, like, really pretty'." I laugh at the Mean Girls quote, then quickly feel my face get warm thinking about the fact that people were recognizing me.

"That's so crazy. We're coming up on the opening night of Mean Girls soon, right?" I change the subject, even though I should probably know the date by now.

He nods. "Yep, it's a week from Sunday." He says through a mouth full of popcorn. Measuring out the dates in my head, that meant the show would start when I was two months into my internship. Which left me one month with Ben, who would then be performing every night when I worked all day. I hated the thought of us barely being able to see each other, just to have me leave for Michigan a few weeks later. I dreaded thinking about the future, but at some point, we'd have to face it. Part of me considered bringing it up right now, but I couldn't quite get myself to do it.

Tomorrow can take care of itself. I'm just going to focus on right now.

A/N: Hope ya'll are enjoying things so far! As usual, feel free to vote and comment and all of that jazz. much love.