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I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you

*

1998

The contract with Maybelline was Aiyana’s breakthrough to be a star. The photographer loved her and thought she was very professional. No one knew she was high as a kite and so nervous that she would have vomited right in front of them. Again, Cherry was with her and was very positive when Aiyana was not. The ads were put all over New York and were soon all over every major city in the US. Everyone wanted a piece of this new girl. Who was she? Maybelline caught onto this quickly and extended Aiyana’s contract so that she would appear in commercials and attend industry parties. The parties were like the bar on Cheers, everyone knew her name, or knew that she was the new Maybelline girl.

Cherry saw this and kicked herself. She wasn’t jealous of her best friend, she just wanted her damn band to have the same success. She started writing every chance she got, which was pretty hard. When she wasn’t rehearsing with her band or stripping at Seduction, she would venture out to the industry parties and photo shoots so she could be Aiyana’s backbone. “The coke helps but, its really you that keeps me sane”Aiyana had said. And it touched her. She had a lot of material to write about. She thought musicians were crazy but the models were just as crazy.

Then just like that, another big break came, for the both of them. Aiyana and Cherry met Tommy Hilfiger, the new and hot designer, and the hot R&B singer, Aaliyah, at a party and he wanted to feature her along with Aaliyah in a runway show during Fashion Week in New York City. Aiyana, of course, was happy but also freaked out like she usually did. She had her own hookup now and got some coke to help with her nerves. “I really need the ‘it factor’. Everyone will see me!”she confided in Cherry. She accidentally saw the seating chart and celebrities like Tyra Banks, Alexander McQueen and editors from Vogue, Vanity Fair and Victoria’s Secret were in the front rows. Cherry was practicing with her band the night before the runway show when Aiyana ran in the rehearsal space, excited and spastic as usual (when she was on coke). “I did it!”she said to them

“Yana, we are practicing”Cherry said

“I got you a gig! By accident really, I didn’t think that they would take me seriously but they listen to me! People listen to me and think my word is golden and say yes to me. Isn't that unreal!?”

“Wait slow down, you got us a gig?”the Psychotic Scrumpie’s lead guitarist said

“The DJ for Hilfiger’s show just went into the hospital for a heroin overdose. This is why I wont try heroin….and everyone is freaking out because like every hot DJ is booked for something this week and I was like…my “assistant” is in a band. She is better than Gwen Stefani…..so the music coordinator is going to come here tomorrow to check you guys out!!!!”

“Seriously!?”Cherry asked as she hugged her best friend close to her

“Don’t let me down!”Aiyana said. “They are really desperate”

And they didn’t…or the coordinator was desperate… “No one uses live bands at their fashion shows and we just have to be different from all the hundreds of shows going on. Now, your original material needs work but we love the No Doubt and Hole covers”he said. “Practice only those. The show starts at 8, sound check is at 6. Don’t disappoint me”he said as he headed for the door. “Oh and a grand each will be good for you yes?”he asked and without waiting for an answer, he left the space and got into his chauffeured car and drove off.

The show went off without a cinch. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about the “new Maybelline girl” as well as the “new No Doubt band”, which Cherry didn’t like to be called. “Hey everyone calls you something else until you truly have a breakthrough. They call me 'Maybelline' and 'the new Tyra' so much that I don’t correct them. I still have a lot to prove”

And they did. Aiyana signed a contract with Tommy Hilfiger and the Psychotic Scrumpies got a record deal.

*

2009

Aiyana’s nerves were shot. The phones were ringing off the hook as usual and since her assistant was out, she had to deal with all of them….as well as trying to avoid Christopher. She couldn’t look him in the eye or be in the same room as him after her wet dream the night before. She blamed it on the alcohol, and unfortunately Jamie Foxx’s song played several times on her Pandora playlist, as well as the fact that she has been celibate for months now. She still couldn’t be near him. He attempted to talk to her but thank goodness she was always on a phone call when he stopped by. Luckily, today, she couldn’t stay late and rushed out of her office at exactly 5 pm. She closed her office door and ran right into…Christopher.

“Hey, you hanging in there? You have been busy all day”

“Yeah….and I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow”she said in a hurry, barely looking at him as she rushed down the hall. She felt her face get hot. She half walked, half ran to the metro and made it to her lawyer’s office right on time. She sat in her seat across from Nicholas and barely looked at him. The meeting started and everything they said went in one ear and out the other. She wished that someone would burst into the room and just give her an excuse to get out of here. She sighed as she stared at yet another contract in front of her, the words spinning in circles the longer she stared…then the door opened. She turned to the door and gasped,”What the hell?”

Christopher stood there triumphantly, his face red. “Found you. There is an emergency…and they need you at the office”

“What do you mean?”

“Something dealing with the nomination process and mailing. Carlos made me …. So I ran down the street and followed you…I'm not a stalker”he said as he looked at Nicholas and their lawyer.

“We are in the middle of a very important meeting so if you don’t mind”Nicholas said as he raised his hand and made a shooing motion. Christopher raised an eyebrow, obviously offended. He was about to open his mouth….

“That means I have to go. Its an emergency”Aiyana said, relieved that Christopher was there but she was nervous all the same. She needed something to calm her nerves…. She quickly got her things and walked out the door. Christopher following her.

“You aren’t going to thank me?”

“Oh thanks”she said not looking at him as she walked to the elevator and pressed the down button and waited

“Oh thanks?”he repeated. “That’s it? You looked like you were dying in there. I saw your face….and all I get is an ‘oh thanks’?”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it”she said calmly as the elevator reached their floor and the door opened. She walked in and she immediately pressed the lobby button.

“Why wont you look at me?”he asked her.

She glanced at him quickly. “I'm looking at you…”

“Only because I asked you to”he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

She just shrugged and drew in a big yet shaky deep breath. “So what’s the emergency exactly?”she asked as she looked up at a lit up number 3 as the elevator descended. Then she heard Christopher sigh and he stepped forward and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator stopped with a jolt and she jumped back. “What are you doing?”she asked him

“I lied. Its not an office emergency”he said to her. She looked at the floor. He lifted her chin up. “Look at me”he said to her. “I….I couldn’t stop thinking about you….”

“Are you drunk?”she asked

“Why do I have to be drunk? Why can't I just be honest and sober?”

“You just pulled me out of a very important meeting with my divorce lawyer and soon to be ex husband because you have been thinking about me? That’s it?!”she asked.“That’s not normal”

“Well you thanked me”he said to her. “And you thanked me last night…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh well are you drunk? Because I remember you calling my name, saying you needed me, that you wanted me to-“

“What are you talking about? How….? How do you…”

“I was there sweetie”he said with a laugh as he pulled her close to him. “Oh I was there, I was everywhere”he said as he kissed her neck. She felt her knees getting weak

“How…..it's….that's insane. It was a dream”

“Your pussy certainly was”he said to her as he put his hands up her skirt. “Have you ever done it in an elevator before?”

“Yes I have”she said defiantly

“Well me too”he said to her with a smirk. “I like my women experienced….and sexy….and tight”he said to her as he started to finger her

“You….should turn the elevator back on….”she said even though she felt herself getting wet instantly.

“You want me to stop? You want to go back to your meeting?”he asked her seriously as he stopped touching her.

She bit down on her lip and then kissed him hungrily. “No I want you to fuck me”she said as she started taking off his belt. He started to finger as she did so and kissed on her neck, she moaned in ecstasy…

“Aiyana?”she heard Nicholas say. She jumped out of her seat and she was back in the small conference room. Christopher wasn’t there. Goddammit! Why did this keep happening?! “Were you asleep?”

“No”she said as she straightened her skirt, blouse and crossed her legs and ran a couple of fingers through her hair

“Your eyes were closed and you….moaned a little, which means you were having a pretty good dream. I know you”he said

“You don’t know shit”Aiyana said defensively, she couldn’t believe that she had a wet dream about her younger co-worker in the same room as her ex husband….then she smiled. Actually, it felt kinda good. It felt great. She had to get out of here. Then her phone beeped and she looked at her Iphone. “Oh I gotta go. I have an appointment”she said as she read the alarm reminder

“Are you serious? Whats more important than this?”Nicholas said

“Moving on with my life. I'm apartment hunting. I'm selling the house”Aiyana said as she gathered her things

“Your selling the house!? Why on earth for?”he asked her

“Look on page 5, section 4”Aiyana said. “I’ll sign this and scan it to you first thing in the morning”she said to their lawyer as she walked out of the conference room. She ran to the same elevator and pressed the down button and smiled when the doors opened and she walked in. The doors closed and she sighed. “You gotta get your shit together”she said to herself.

But it felt so real….and so very good….

*

Aiyana liked what she saw and it wasn’t too expensive. However, she only had one objection. “So be honest, how safe is the neighborhood? I mean this is Georgia Ave we are talking about here”she said and winked at the woman

The woman smiled. “Its still a red zone but its safer than it was…lets say, 10 years ago. I’ve lived on Georgia Ave all my life and I have never been mugged, robbed at gunpoint, none of that. However, I have several friends who live on the “good side” of town who have endured those things. The police are regulating this area more frequently”she said as she opened her laptop and set it on the counter. “And look at this. If you go to the DC Police Department’s website, they will show you when, what crime was committed and where. It’s a crime tracker and as you can see, even though its still a red zone, the rate has improved”she said as she indicated a few markers, which were a significant distance from the apartment building they were standing in now. “Also….the metro is technically in our basement and metro police are also around the area and you would have to be stupid to commit a crime with all that around”

Aiyana nodded. “You sold me. I’ll take it”she said as she took her hand and shook it.

*

Aiyana was grateful to have her assistant return to work when she did. She had to do a lot of the grunt work alone. Alexie wasn’t happy about being pregnant and wasn’t announcing it to anyone. She got in touch with the baby’s father and she admitted that she was surprised when he “stepped up”. “Now I have to learn how to get along with him again”she said with a shrug just as Christopher walk in. “Hey Christopher”she said to him as she walked back to her desk. Aiyana sat there nervously and crossed her legs tightly. Every time she saw him she was reminded of the two wet dreams she had and just being reminded turned her on.

“Hey Alexie. How you feeling?”he asked her

“Meh. That’s life you know?”she said to him

“Yes it is”he said and looked at Aiyana. She froze. She wished the phone would ring or something but of course, no stupid customer wanted to bother her at this very moment.

“Metro Fashion Scholarships. How can I help you?”Alexie said as she picked up her line. Great.

“I bet your grateful to have your little helper back”he said as he leaned against the door frame and then walked in.

Aiyana stared at her papers. “Yea, I'm drowning in work you know”

She heard Christopher chuckle and she usually would ask what was so funny but that probably would involve her actually looking at him and if he stayed in her office any longer she may not be able to control herself and that definitely was a problem. It was a huge problem. She didn’t know anything about him. She knew that he was 9 years younger than her and that was an issue. It wouldn’t work. He was mature, but he was just as mature as any other 21 year old. He was still a baby. He was barely legal. She felt like she was robbing the cradle. They wouldn’t be able to relate to each other about random things that happened that a 30 something would remember. And introducing him to her friends? She would never hear the end of it. This was just a rebound and she wasn’t going to go any further with this. She had to make these little sex dreams stop. Maybe this meant that she was ready to date. She had to find a MAN her own age.

“Why wont you look at me?”he whispered to her and her eyes widened as her eyes moved from the paperwork on her desk to his baby blues. She almost got lost in them and she caught herself and turned to her computer screen.

“What do you mean?”she asked as innocently as she could

“You know what I mean…..did I do something wrong?”he asked her. “You haven’t been acting like yourself for a couple of days now”

“Stress. Ive been doing everything myself..”

“And….you were stressed about that last week and you would look at me…did I offend you-“

“Everything is not about you, so….get over yourself”she said. However, she snapped at him and she didn’t mean to do that. She winced. She then looked at him and saw the expression on his face. He wasn’t pleased. “Look I’m-“

She was about to apologize when Carlos walked in. He looked at Christopher and he looked at him. They exchanged a look and she didn’t know what that was about. “Louis has been looking for you”

“Oh really? About what?”Christopher asked him, kinda like it was a challenge, like he thought he was lying.

“Just go and ask him yourself”Carlos asked with a shrug and laughed it off. He looked at Aiyana. “Aiyana, I see that Alexie is back. You must be grateful”he said as he handed her the mail

“Very”she said with a smile as she looked at the various envelopes. She looked back up at Carlos,”Thanks”she said and then glanced at the door where Christopher stood. But he was gone.

*

Shit, Christopher thought as he walked back to the mailroom. He must have freaked her out with the whole “You saved my life once” bullshit. Why didn’t he just tell her? Now she probably thinks that he was some psycho stalker. She probably wouldn’t remember even if he told her. What did he expect? Her to jump into bed with him when he told her the truth? Just because it happened in a dream didn’t mean it would really happen in reality. And even if that did happen, they would be doomed from the start right? She was going through a divorce. He would be considered a rebound. And she was just so out of his league that it was totally insane. He had to find someone on his own level and he said so himself, he had to stay away from models. “Hey, what did you need help with?”he asked Louis as he walked in the mailroom.

“Huh?”Louis asked as he separated some mail

“Carlos said….”then he stopped and laughed. He should have known.

“You were talking to Aiyana weren’t you?”Louis asked.“You got some competition and Carlos is pissed”

“What? That I ask her how her day is?”

“No, he heard that you two left together the other night….very late. You two stayed late in her office and left together in a cab or something”

“Where did he hear that from?”

“One of the cleaning chicks? Lets say he's got friends in ‘high places’. He’s on to you”

“Well, he has nothing to worry about”Christopher said sadly. He had to let it go anyway. He fucked it up before it could even start.

*

“So….Christopher comes in here a lot. You got a crush on him or something?”Carlos joked after he told her some office gossip.

Aiyana froze. “Um what?”

“Kidding. He has a crush on you. I'm sure. You are all he talks about. I swear its sad”he said with a laugh

“Really?”Aiyana asked, hoping Carlos didn’t catch on to the fact that may be good news to her

“Yeah, his first day here, he spent the whole day trying to convince us that he grew up with you. But you said you were from New York right?”

“No”she said with a laugh. “A lot of people think that though”she said. “But if I grew up with him…I would remember”she said as she contemplated

“Right? So he's obviously a little coo coo”Carlos said with a laugh. “See you later”he said and walked out. Aiyana waved to him and then sat there and thought about it. They grew up together? Was that the reason why she had that familiar feeling whenever he would come around? And why couldn’t she remember?

*

“I have to admit it's nice, but…Georgia Ave?”Dee Dee asked as she and Aiyana walked out of her soon to be future apartment. “Why didn’t you just come to me? I could have asked Rob or someone to get you a hook up”

“I'm getting a hook up here. That’s why. You cant talk me out of it, I already paid the security deposit and I have a couple of good offers for the house. Everything is moving quickly and smoothly”Aiyana said proudly as she locked the door behind her. “Apartment 10H is gonna be mine next month”

“You better plan a banging apartmentwarming”Dee Dee said with a smile

“Well, well, well……hello neighbor?”a familiar voice said to her. Dee Dee raised her pierced eyebrow as she looked at someone. Aiyana turned around and gasped.

There was Christopher carrying a couple of trash bags and only wearing some sweatpants and some Adidas flip flops….no shirt. He had a nice chest and when you say nice chest, that meant that he had abs. 6 of them. “Guess I’ll be seeing you more often. Welcome to the neighborhood”he said as he walked to the elevator.

“How do you know him? He looks like a college student”Dee Dee said

Aiyana couldn’t answer her. And she couldn’t answer how she was going to handle having Christopher living next door.

*

Don't you know
That you're blowing my mind
What you do to me
I can't describe
Baby I can't hold back anymore
I just can't conceal it
You're the one I really adore
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you

*






Chapter End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "I've Been Thinking About You" by Mariah Carey




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