Chapter 3: "Stubborn Duckie"
Chris pushed himself out the door of the deli and surveyed left then right before finding Annie. She was walking briskly with her hands stuffed in her pockets and her head down to protect her face from the wind whipping around her.
Chris took off down the block until he was right behind her, "Mary, are you mad at me? I'm sorry. Please, let me drive you home. Its freezing Mary, come on!"
"Chris!" She yelled, finally lifting her head up to look at him. She winced when she felt the biting wind meet her cheeks, "I'm not mad at you, ok?" She turned and resumed her walking in giant strides.
"If you're not mad at me, then why won't you let me drive you home?"
"Because I want to be alone, is that too much to ask?"
He moved forward until he was walking right by her side and matched her step for step, "Mary….why won't you let me drive you? At least you won't get sick that way. And you know I couldn't take it if you got sick just because you didn't feel like being in an enclosed space with me. What about if I just give you money for a taxi or something?"
"Chris! LET IT GO. I'm twenty-seven, you said so yourself. I think I can handle the pressures of walking a mile or so."
Chris groaned loudly and shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, if you don't want to ride with me, then I'm walking with you."
"What about your car?" She asked, knowing that was a bad excuse. When Chris got it in his mind that he was going to do something, it took nothing short of an act of God to deter him.
"I'll come back for it."
Annie reached up and pulled her knitted cap farther down on her head. She had to do something with her hands or she was going to wring his neck.
"If you walk with me, then that will completely defeat the point," she said, realizing that was his motive.
He smiled brightly and responded, "Exactly!"
"Chris!! You are so stubborn, you know that?" She yelled in exasperation. She ignored the stares she received from the people walking innocently back to their jobs after their lunch breaks.
"I did know that, actually. So you could either walk out here in this unseasonably cold weather and listen to me talk your ear off, or you can go back to the car, put the heat on, listen to some music and get home in half the time it would take to walk," Chris rationalized.
She realized then just how cold she really was, and the idea of his warm car was more than appealing. But Chris wasn't the only one who could play that game. She cocked her head up to meet his gaze and answered, "I guess we're walking then."
He smirked down at her and nodded his head, "I figured that was the option you'd go for. This is why we've stayed friends so long, Mary. We're both so damn stubborn."
They began walking next to each other. Both were silent until Annie finally said, "You know, I knew that all the way back in eighth grade. Remember? I told you I was going to be a cheerleader and be friends with Greta and Laney and all of those girls instead of hanging out with you. And you kept calling me for five hours straight until I finally listened to you." Annie smiled slightly at the memory.
Chris chuckled and shook his head ruefully, "I remember. My mom almost kicked my ass because she had been trying to call the house for three of those hours. You got me grounded for two weeks, Mary! And our phone didn't have redial, so by the end of the day, my fingers were completely numb."
"Well, that's when I discovered that you were the most bullheaded person I'd ever met. Its also when I realized that I was going to be stuck with you for awhile."
"Damn straight. A couple of air-headed pom-poms weren't gonna come between me and my Mary. You can't get rid of me, 'cause I'll just keep comin' back," he declared.
"Like a lost puppy," Annie added.
"Yeah, but you love me. I mean, come on, how could you not?" He said jokingly and motioned up and down his body.
"Oh yeah, that FUBU jersey you're wearing just SCREAMS sex," Annie remarked sarcastically.
"There's nothing manlier than a guy in a uniform. And this, my dear, is a football uniform," Chris said slowly, making sure to accentuate the word 'uniform' both times.
Annie finally laughed at his twisted logic, and Chris was so happy to see her bad mood lifting, that he had to laugh right along with her.
"You're an idiot, you know that, right?"
"It's part of my charm."
"Oh yeah, real charming there Romeo. Any girl would have been swept off her feet with that last comment."
Chris grinned when he noticed the edge was gone from her voice, "Well, I'm not saying you're swooning here, but it did make you laugh. And that's all I was really trying to do. Get rid of that cloud hanging over your head. And since it seems a bit sunnier in Mary land, I have served my purpose as your best friend.
Annie slowed her walking to a stroll and Chris evened his pace with hers. After a moment, she turned to look at him, "You know, I didn't really want to walk home alone."
"I know," he replied simply, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
"Thanks for not letting me."
It was Chris who stopped now. He turned to face her and she saw the affection he had for her in his eyes.
"Come here," he commanded softly.
Annie obliged by entering into his outstretched arms. He pulled her tightly to him for a brief hug before letting her go.
"I'm not sure if it's just the JC thing or something else that's made you irritable, but I can't stand seeing you upset. And I knew you didn't want me to leave you."
With that, he quickly removed her hat and gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead before putting the cap back down over her eyes and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They began walking like that while Annie pulled her hat off, blew a loose strand of hair away from her face and readjusted it on her head.
"Let's just get the hell home. I'm freezing!"
Annie unlocked her door, thankful that her keys had been in her jacket pocket and not the purse sitting in her apartment.
"Come on in, do you want me to make some coffee or something?" She asked Chris.
"Nah, I think I'm gonna warm up a little and head back to my car. The guys and I have a meeting with Johnny about something. Probably the lawsuit."
Annie saw the light flicker out of his eyes at the mention of the court battle currently ensuing between 'N Sync and their ex-record company. She prepared herself for the onslaught of anger she always felt when that particular subject was brought up.
They had trusted Lou Pearlman, and he had deliberately lied and deceived them. Lou and all of Trans-Continental records were the reason why Chris had been so angry lately. They were trying to take away a group that he had founded. Lou was trying to.
Annie HATED Lou.
"Oh, you have to walk back all by yourself. Do you want me to come with?" She began to feel guilty about making him accompany her home.
"Now what sense would that make?" He asked, "Besides, this is New York, right? And what's the one constant all over the city?"
"You're going to pick up a prostitute?"
"No! Taxis Mary. I'm going to hail a taxi. Geez, lay down, you're obviously not all there," Chris exclaimed jokingly.
"Is it ok for you to go out there, I mean, will you get noticed?" Annie wondered.
"I walked with you all the way here just fine, didn't I? What are the chances that a forty-year-old taxi driver will know who I am, or even care? Plus, it's only," he stopped momentarily to check his watch, "1:30 in the afternoon, so 99% of our fan base is in school right now. I'll be ok."
"Alright, then I'm going to my bed," she said, her eyelids suddenly drooping.
She walked slowly into her room and threw off her jacket, other various winter accessories and finally her shoes before climbing under her deliciously warm floral comforter.
Chris walked in a few minutes later with a cup of water, her cordless telephone and some medicine he found in her bathroom cabinets amidst the clutter of beauty supplies and feminine products.
He put the telephone down on the nightstand next to her bed, and the cup emblazoned with the words 'I know more than you do' followed right after. He sat down on the edge of her bed and dug two Benadryl out of the package and handed them to Annie who had since pulled herself up to the sitting position against the bed frame.
When she took the caplets, he gave her the water off her nightstand and stood up, "Now, take those, GET SOME REST and call me in the morning."
She swallowed the first pill and mockingly saluted him with the hand not holding her cup, "Yes Doc, will do."
He walked until he was halfway out of the doorway before turning around and saying, "I was serious, Mary. Call me tomorrow morning."
She smiled and waved him away as she replaced the cup on the nightstand, "Get outta here, Dad."
He laughed and winked before turning off her light and walking out of the room. She heard him call out, "Sweet dreams" right as the front door closed.
Only when he was gone did reality return. She remembered the embarrassment she had felt when Chris found out about her attachment to JC. It was so pointless. She could never look or act like the women he dated, and to think she could was ridiculous. She remembered being torn because she had never kept anything from him before. And she remembered the adorable navy pantsuit that she would have to trash.
Damn Chris.
The next morning her radio alarm clock went off as it always did at 6:45 and the chorus of "Mambo Number Five" began blaring in her ears.
Her hand went out and swiped blindly at the radio until it finally turned off. Five more minutes.
Her last thought before she fell back asleep was that 'five more minutes' was quickly becoming a mantra for her.
She was woken up what seemed like seconds later by the sound of the phone ringing next to her.
"Hello?" She answered groggily.
"Mary! Where the hell are you chica?" She heard Chris' voice boom through the earpiece. As far as she was concerned, it was much too cheerful for that ungodly hour.
"What do you mean?" She asked. She wondered briefly if they had made breakfast plans the day before.
"What do you mean 'what do I mean', Ms. Punctuality? It's almost 10:00 am." Chris chirped.
"What!" Annie's body shot out of bed, "It can't….owww…." Her hand flew to her head and she fell back on her pillows as she felt the world spin and dizziness overcome her. It was then that the coughing fit began, loud, hacking coughs that wracked her whole body.
When they finally subsided, she took a moment to get her breath back before continuing what she was saying, "Sorry Chris. I overslept, I'll be there in 15 minutes."
"Yeah right. You're not going anywhere today. Did you manage to cough up a lung in that fit?" He asked.
Annie ignored his sarcasm and said, "I have to go in today Chris, I didn't get any work done yesterday."
"You know I'm not one to gloat or say I told you so Mary, but…I told you so. You should have accepted that ride with me yesterday. But does anyone listen to Chris? Nooo…he's just the crazy one. Pay no attention to him," Chris complained.
Annie attempted to roll her eyes and that even took a lot out of her, "Whatever. You poor superstar you. I've GOT to get to work or I'm gonna miss like 70 faxes and deadlines."
"Yeah, I'll tell you what Mary. You get out of bed and then you can come to work."
She grunted a response and shifted herself slowly back to the sitting position. She then swung her legs over the bed and stayed like that for several seconds before falling back on the bed in a heap.
"I didn't think so. Now, seeing as I am also not too keen on the idea of my whole company going under, I'll compromise. You stay home and I'll go to your office and pick up whatever you need to do to bring to you. It's not really too big of a deal since I'm sitting in your office right now and I wanted to tell you something anyway," Chris answered.
"You're sitting in my office?" Annie asked.
"Yeah, I was looking for you," Chris told her.
"Ok. Oh, and Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"Get your feet off of my desk."
"How did you…"
"Just get them off, you know I hate when you do that."
She heard that sound of shoes clomping on the carpeting of her office floor.
"Alright, what time are you coming by?" Annie questioned.
"I'll be there in a half an hour."
"Don't you have anything to do today?"
"Nope! I'm free as a bird the whole day," was his response.
"Well, I don't think I'll be fully functional in half an hour. What about coming by at 11:00?"
"No need to get up for me. I have the spare key to your apartment on my key ring, I'll let myself in," he said.
"Yeah, fine, I don't care. Just don't expect me to be 100% coherent," she said.
"Are you ever?" He asked.
"Oh good. That's nice. Ridicule the sick. You musicians are all the same, the whole lot of you," she joked.
He laughed heartily at that then asked, "What do you need from here?"
"Go in the top drawer on the right and there should be a huge folder full of paper. I need my laptop too, since I left it there yesterday."
"Ok…" she heard him shuffling around in her drawer, "Whoa, what is this? A piece of paper with 'I love JC' scribbled all over it."
"Are you serious? What paper is it on?" Annie asked in alarm.
"None! I was kidding. My God, Mary, you actually do that?" Chris asked incredulously.
"No," Annie answered defensively. To be honest, she didn't know what she doodled when she was bored at work.
"Yeah sure. I'll be over there in a little while. Bye."
"Bye Chris," Annie responded and hung up the phone.
Annie was woken up for the third time that day by a hand placed firmly on her forehead. When her eyes focused, she found she was staring at the concerned form of her best friend.
"You're burning up Mary," Chris said.
"I'm freezing," Annie answered.
He picked up a bag that was at his feet and began searching through it. "I bought a thermometer just in case you didn't have one. And some cough drops and that cinnamon tea you like. Some throat lozenges, Tylenol…"
"Did you inherit a drug store?" She asked, looking on in awe as he pulled item after item out of the bag.
"It's a manifestation of my guilt, I think. I feel like I should have thrown you over my shoulder and made you get in that car."
She smiled slightly, "You know I would've kicked your ass."
"Yeah, but at least you wouldn't be sick right now," he reasoned.
"I might not have been sick, but I wouldn't have been speaking to you either."
Suddenly, his expression changed and he left her side to walk around to the foot of her bed and Annie followed him with her eyes. He looked like he was thinking something over. She watched him walk to the window and squinted at the assault of direct sunlight to her already throbbing head.
He noticed and closed the blinds.
"Thanks," she managed weakly.
He nodded, his attention focused on the closed shades. Following several seconds of silence, he turned back to her and said, "Mary, I was thinking, and I decided that I want to help you get JC."
"If this is another…guilt manifestation…Chris, you don't have to worry about it," she told him.
"No, no. This isn't a manifestation of anything. I just think that if you want something, then why should I try to stop you from getting it? And if I can help, then all the better, right? And JC's a good guy, so I want to help you out."
"Thank you Chris...really...but can we talk about this later?" she asked pitifully.
"Yeah! Sure, I'm sorry. Here, just put this thermometer in your mouth." She placed the thermometer under her tongue and waited. When she finally removed it, she discovered she had a 101.2 fever.
"You go back to sleep, Mary, and I'll just watch TV in your living room. Do you mind?" He asked, though he knew she didn't.
"No, you can stay here if you want to," Annie answered. She watched as he approached her and tucked the blankets in around her.
"I could get used to this babying stuff," Annie said before yawning loudly.
"I wouldn't if I were you, because come Monday, I'm back to being Chris the Boss, and you're gonna work like you never worked before baby," Chris called as he closed her bedroom door.
"Mary, are you awake?"
Annie pulled her head up to look at Chris standing in her doorway. "Ughhhh…I am now. Thanks so much."
"Sorry about that, but I just wanted to call you and tell you that I made you dinner."
She pushed herself up and yawned loudly. Even though she still had plenty of aches and pains, the rest she had cured her headache and most of her lightheadedness. She thought about what Chris had told her and realized just how hungry she was.
"Alright."
"Do you want me to bring it in here or can you come out into the kitchen?" He asked.
"I'll come out in the kitchen. I feel a lot better and I think I need to get out of this bed." Annie readily accepted his hand and stepped out of the warmth of the bed. She walked over to her closet and threw her white, satin robe on before stretching to remove all the kinks from her body.
They walked the short distance to the kitchen and Annie immediately sunk into one of the four chairs around the table.
Chris moved around her and picked up a bowl from the kitchen counter. He walked back to Annie and placed the steaming food on the table in front of her.
She stared down at the bowl a moment before raising an amused eyebrow in Chris' direction. "Ramen noodles?"
He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and responded, "Chicken flavored Ramen noodles actually. It was the only thing in your cabinets I could cook. And plus, I figured...Chicken flavored Ramen…chicken noodle soup…it's almost the same thing."
She shook her while spooning the hot noodles into her mouth. After a while of her eating and him watching her, she decided it was a good time to bring up the subject she had been thinking about when she was drifting in and out of sleep.
"Chris?" She asked cautiously.
"Hmmm?"
"About this…JC scheme…well, when are we going to get time to pull it off? I mean, with you guys going down to Orlando tomorrow and everything."
She saw him grin when she mentioned that and he smacked himself on the forehead so hard that Annie jumped in her seat a little.
"That's what I was going to tell you this morning when I went to your office to see you! You know that meeting we had with Johnny yesterday?"
When he saw Annie nod her head, he continued.
"Well, it turns out that this whole lawsuit thing has gotten some of the producers of the album with their panties in a bunch. They don't want to finish it off unless they know they're getting paid, basically. So we're not going to do the finishing touches until this whole thing's resolved. Instead, we're going to stay here in New York for a while. We're renting a studio and Darren's coming up to show us some of the choreography he's mapped out from the initial versions of the songs we sent him. We're also going to do the talk show circuit…TRL, Rosie, Letterman to promote No Strings Attached," Chris explained before taking in a huge gulp of air.
Annie knew how much finishing their sophomore album meant to him, to the whole group really. But she couldn't help feeling a little giddy knowing that 'N Sync would be in the same state as she was for more than a weekend.
"So…how long are we talking?" Annie asked.
"Anywhere from a week to six months, I really don't know," he answered her.
"I'm sorry that your plans were ruined, but that means that…JC's going to be here for months! Hell yes!" Annie exclaimed as she pumped her fist dramatically in the air.
She watched as Chris' face fell. "And me! Remember me? Your best friend?"
"Of course! Of course I'm happy that you're going to be here too, Chris. Don't pout, its not a good look for you. I'm just saying, now that he's going to be around, I can really get to know him. I can get him to see me as more than 'Annie, Chris' best friend.' And you get to help me!"
Chris had to smile at her optimism. It was like her excitement was infectious, he felt himself looking forward to helping his friend. "If you're feeling better, tomorrow we'll go to the mall to get you the new look. And on Sunday you can come to the studio with us and give it a test run."
"Oh, don't worry little man. I'll be feeling better."
Once Annie had finished her dinner, the two of them ventured into the small living room to watch some television.
They both sat down comfortably next to one another on Annie's beige couch. Chris picked up the remote and started to idly flip through the channels when Annie yelled at him to stop.
"What is this?" He asked, dimly recognizing the scene on the screen.
"Only the greatest movie ever made!" Annie exclaimed in excitement.
"A name Mary, I was hoping for a name," he retorted to her elusive claim.
"This is Pretty in Pink. God, I used to want to BE Molly Ringwald when all these movies came out. You know, Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, this one. I was…about 13 I think."
"Why is it whenever I'm over at your house I get suckered into watching some cheesy 80's movie? It was 'Footloose' last time. I could have easily gone the rest of my life without seeing Kevin Bacon run around to that Kenny Loggins song," Chris whined.
"Shut up and watch the movie Chris," she demanded.
"Fine, but next time I get to pick the movie. We're talkin' Stallone, Van Damme, Bruce Lee. Action, blood, gore…at least one car chase…" he was cut off by Annie slapping him on the back of the head.
"Shut up, Chris."
They watched the movie in silence until a particular scene where the main character's best friend, Duckie, breaks into song and dance in the middle of a record store.
"You know, I always kind of thought of you as my own personal Duckie," Annie admitted.
He looked at her a moment then pointed at the screen, "That guy?"
"Yeah, well, you were always going against the norm. You're incredibly loyal. And you have been known to break into song in a public place. On more than one occasion, actually."
"You think I'm in love with you?" Chris asked, referring to Duckie's unhealthy obsession with his best friend.
"Well, everything except that part," Annie admitted.
"Sooo…if I'm Duckie, then does that make you Molly Ringwald's character and JC is Andrew McCarthy?"
"God I hope so," Annie responded.
She lifted her hands up and stretched her arms over head. The Benadryl Chris had practically forced down her throat was starting to take effect and a long, drawn out yawn escaped her lips. As soon as that was through, another in a long list of coughing fits erupted and she was left with tears in her eyes at the excursion it caused on her body.
Chris reached his hand out and began rubbing her back soothingly before gently nudging her down so her head rested on his legs. She then maneuvered her legs up on the couch and kicked off her slippers.
As they watched the movie, Chris toyed with her shoulder length strands of hair, sometimes running his hands through it and sometimes just playing lazily with a few strands.
"Mmmm…that feels really nice. You're going to put me to sleep if you keep that up," she murmured drowsily.
He chuckled lightly and replied, "So you've caught on to my master plan. I guess I'll have to change tactics then."
He let go of her hair; slightly limp from going unwashed all that day. As soon as she felt his fingers untangle themselves, she groaned and slapped his leg in protest.
He chuckled again and made a show of rolling his eyes, even though he knew she couldn't see, before finally returning his hands to combing through her tresses.
The T-shirt and shorts that she wore were doing very little to keep her warm, so she curled her legs up and shifted slightly to accommodate the change. When she felt Chris' hands stop their sweet exploration of her scalp, she almost whimpered.
Until he gently draped the afghan that had been sitting beside him on the couch over her small frame, and the warmth of the blanket cloaked her.
He didn't wait for a thank you, his fingers just immediately resumed their course in her hair and Annie couldn't stop the sigh of complete and utter contentment that escaped her lips.
"If you were JC, this would be perfect," she said, her voice thick with fatigue. The last thing she remembered before drifting off into the most peaceful sleep she had managed for the last twenty-four hours, was Chris tugging playfully on her hair after her final comment.