Authors: S. Briones Lim
Ruthie watched the men in awe, losing her breath once Cash Walker threw a wink in her direction. Celine was right. It really was the best night ever.
“I can’t believe how wonderful the concert was!” Celine said dreamily. She clutched a neon green glow stick in her hand and waved it rapidly in front of her face. She quickened her steps in an attempt to catch up with Ruthie’s long strides as she was basically sprinting down the back sidewalk towards the back of the arena.
“Of course it would be,” Ruthie replied, sounding preoccupied. She scanned the area looking for any open doors (or windows), unfortunately not seeing any. “Wow, guess security is really tight in this place,” she muttered.
“What did you expect?” Celine snorted, eyeing the security guards. Their neon vests were a bit hard to miss, as were their walkie-talkies and Taser guns.
Ignoring her, Ruthie replied, “I took the liberty of eyeing the security posts. I figured out that there are two guards on the south wing and three more towards the west. They switch posts every fifteen or so minutes.”
Celine instantly stopped walking and looked at her friend incredulously. “You did what?”
Ruthie nodded her head proudly. “There’s a loading dock on the south wing of this place that goes guardless for a thirty-second window. We just need to sneak in quickly and we won’t be caught.”
“I don’t think figuring that out is something to be proud of,” Celine said in disbelief. “I sort of think it’s scary you even went that far.” She looked down at her shirt and mumbled, “And I thought I was the crazy fan.”
Ruthie rolled her eyes. “Well, one of us had to do the work—”
“Hey! Don’t pull that crap on me. We would have met the band already if you had agreed to Jayne’s offer!” Celine argued.
Ruthie shook her head and chose not to acknowledge her. She pointed to the approaching corner of the building and said, “It should be around that corner. Stop complaining and let’s go! We don’t want to miss the tour buses!”
“Do you really think they’ll just open the doors and let us in?” Celine huffed. “For a grown woman you’re holding on to such childish fallacies.” Ruthie chose not to respond and instead quickened her pace. “Hey, wait up!” Celine cried out.
In a matter of seconds the two successfully made it to the edge of the building. Rounding the corner, they stopped dead in their tracks. A crowd of women were scattered around the opening of the loading dock, where a brightly painted tour bus sat just a few feet inside. Surrounding the crowd were five mean-looking security guards.
“Great,” Ruthie muttered, throwing her hands in the air.
“Have any more bright ideas, Champ?” Celine teased.
Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, Ruthie began to rack her brains. “Come on, Ruthie,” she mumbled to herself. “Think!”
Just then, like some God given gift, a crowd of women on the left side of the dock began rushing the entrance. All five security guards automatically turned to subdue the impending hysteria. Without hesitation, Ruthie grabbed Celine’s arm and yanked her forward. “Come on! Let’s go while the guards are distracted!” Before Celine could protest, she found herself being dragged towards the entrance. They were both far enough away from the mayhem that the guards hadn’t yet noticed them and to their luck, they had come from the right, allowing them leeway to sneak past the guard’s turned backs.
“Hey! They’re getting in!” a woman screamed in the crowd. Both women braced themselves, but fortunately the guards ignored the strange lady. Ruthie continued pushing forward, and to Celine’s surprise, they successfully made it inside the dock and quickly hid behind one of the bus’ giant wheels.
Panting nervously, Celine whispered, “Now what? Are we going to try to sneak inside the bus? I hate to tell you, but the door is on the other side! If the guards didn’t see us before, they’ll sure see us trying to get on the bus.”
Ruthie bit her lips as nerves engulfed her. They had both come this far–farther than they’d ever reached–and she wasn’t about to give up. Glancing up, she noticed a door perpendicular to them. Nudging Celine, she nodded her head towards the blue aluminum door. It had a single thin glass window towards the top and from where Ruthie was standing, she could make out an empty hallway behind it. “I think we should go through there,” she whispered.
“What if it’s locked?” Celine whispered back. A drop of sweat rolled down her neck, pooling at the collar of her graphic tee. She was terrified and had no idea how Ruthie could be so calm. Celine was never one to seek out trouble. In fact, she hadn’t felt this anxious since her last speeding ticket.
Ruthie shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out. Come on! The bus will block the guards from seeing us.”
“What if there are more guards inside?” Celine whined.
“There aren’t,” Ruthie answered, though she wasn’t too entirely sure. It didn’t matter to her either way. She’d hate herself if she didn’t at least try to sneak in. Convincing herself that the worst that could happen was getting kicked out, she trudged on.
The two women tip-toed hurriedly to the door. Ruthie reached out and grabbed the metal door knob. Holding her breath, she slowly turned it, and to her pleasant surprise, the door opened with little effort. Giving Celine a smile, she stepped inside the brightly lit hallway and looked around. Realizing that Celine was still standing on the other side of the door, Ruthie quickly reached out and yanked her inside. “Stop stalling!” she hissed.
“Ruthie, I’m not too sure about this. Isn’t this considered trespassing? This is a misdemeanor!” Celine yanked at the bottom of her T-shirt, gripping it nervously. In just a matter of seconds, Cash’s face was a wrinkled mess.
“Okay, CSI,” Ruthie snapped, straightening her shoulders determinedly. “Stop being so anxious! We aren’t going to get in trouble. Take a look at this place, it’s empty!” She gestured towards the narrow hallway. The cement floor, though ominous in theory, was like a red carpet in her mind. It was a path to the promised land; they were almost there!
“But you’re obviously looking for a place that’s not empty,” Celine reminded her. “I can almost guarantee that any room with Intensity in it will be guarded heavily.”
“They’re not the President or anything,” Ruthie argued, staring down the hallway.
“Close enough! Either way, we came this far, can’t we just turn around now.”
“No! Like you said, we’ve already come this far. I’m not about to waste all our efforts because my best friend is acting like a chicken shit.”
Ruthie took a step forward, listening for any signs of life. Each footstep seemed to echo loudly down the hall and it wasn’t long until Ruthie’s mind began playing tricks on her. Having always hated horror movies, the situation reminded her of an old slasher film. She didn’t want to admit it to Celine, but even she was starting to feel a bit uneasy. Shaking off the disturbing feeling, she continued on and was relieved when she finally heard Celine’s footsteps running towards her. Her best friend caught up to her and the two slowly made their way towards the end of the hallway where yet another door stood.
“I guess this is the way to the inside of the arena,” Celine breathed, frowning at the door.
“Ready?” Ruthie asked, an anxious smile on her face.
“Not really,” Celine admitted.
Taking a deep breath, Ruthie opened the door and to her relief (and dismay) she heard people talking inside. Pausing for a moment, she turned to Celine. “It’s now or never.”
“I choose never,” Celine muttered, though she stepped inside without a fight. Her stomach was in knots and she reminded herself to make Ruthie pay for it later.
That’s when they heard it; a voice that sounded like a million angels. It was both masculine and musical at the same time. The voice began to laugh as it grew closer to them. Both women stopped dead in their tracks and gasped when they spotted Cash walking closer to them. Like a Greek god, all his movements seemed graceful and ethereal. When he was about twenty feet away from them, he looked up and caught Ruthie’s eyes, momentarily frowning. Suddenly an amused expression washed over his face. It wasn’t long before he flashed them his A-List smile.
Ruthie opened her mouth, but couldn’t get a single word out. After all those years planning on what she’d say during their first meeting, she completely bombed it when the opportunity presented itself. At least she was faring better than Celine, who was busy making weird whimpering sounds behind her. As if the moment couldn’t get any better (or more horrifying), the rest of Intensity walked up behind Cash. They looked at the women questioningly, but luckily none of them seemed upset.
“Hey!” a deep voice yelled from behind the women. They both turned their heads and to their horror spotted a security guard running towards them. As the heavy pounding drew nearer, the two friends glanced at one another, unsure of what to do next. They were really caught in a bind. They could either start running towards Intensity, however that didn’t seem plausible due to the fact the band apparently rendered them catatonic; or they could get carted away by the six foot four, heavy set man. He looked as if he could carry both women with little to no effort!
“I told you that if you even tried to sneak in here again, I’d have you arrested!” the man yelled out angrily. His heavy breaths became louder as he approached them.
“What are you talking about?” Celine gasped. Her lips began trembling automatically. Once again her fight or flight reaction kicked in heavily to flight. She threw Ruthie a desperate look.
Finally finding her voice, Ruthie said as sternly as she could, “We never sneaked in before! This is our first time!”
“So you admit you did sneak in!” the man replied angrily.
“Wait, what?” Ruthie’s mouth dropped open.
“I recognize you two! You have no idea how many times I’ve seen that shirt sneaking down here!” He pointed to Celine’s shirt and for the first time all night she regretted having worn it.
Anger started to settle into her core and Celine snapped, “There are about a hundred other women wearing this exact shirt! You have no right to accuse us of anything based on my choice of wardrobe!”
“I don’t have to accuse you of anything!” Grabbing both their arms, the man added, “I caught you here red handed, didn’t I? No passes, no lanyards! You both are getting booked for trespassing.”
“WHAT?” both girls screeched as they were literally dragged away.
Ruthie braved a glance at Cash. She was so close, but once again so far away. She noticed him begin to speak, but unfortunately the security guard grabbed his walkie-talkie, interrupting him. “Gary,” his baritone voice called out. “I’ve caught the perpetrators. Are the cops still here?”
“Cops?” Celine yelped fearfully.
A grainy voice answered back. “Yeah, they’re down in the back taking care of the crowd. Take the girls back to the loading dock. The squad car should be out there.”
Despite their protests and Ruthie’s threats of suing for unlawful detainment, the girls were no match for the security guard. As if they weighed nothing, he pulled them towards the hallway, ignoring their protests. Ruthie looked up desperately and spotted a few members of Intensity merely shrug and walk towards an adjacent room. Cash stood frozen, watching the incident go down.
“Celine? Ruthie?” Their heads snapped up and they spotted a familiar man running towards Cash.
Ruthie’s voice trailed off. “Is that…?”
“Brian?” Celine called out incredulously. An older looking Brian rushed towards Cash and the two began speaking to one another quietly. Celine watched in confusion as the two figures grew smaller and smaller as she was dragged back into the loading dock. Soon the sound of women’s screams filled their ears again.
“Is that them? Is that Intensity?!” a woman shouted.
“No! It’s those two girls who snuck in!” another yelled back.
“About time they got caught! If we couldn’t get in, they shouldn’t either.”
The other women gloated as Ruthie and Celine were turned over to police custody. Luckily, the two were not handcuffed, but they were still placed in the back of the cop car. It was very humiliating, to say the least. Ruthie groaned and banged the back of her head against the leather seat.
“I told you this would happen,” Celine said angrily from beside her.
“Well, we basically met them, right?” Ruthie replied, not sure of how else to respond. Celine threw her an angry glare and pursed her lips. Ruthie knew she’d never live that moment down.
The women sat in the cold cell with only a wooly blanket to keep them warm. Celine hugged herself, shivering. She couldn’t imagine why the cops insisted on keeping the place so cold. Did they really think coldness was a punishment for crimes? Celine pushed herself further into the corner of the cell, trying to get as comfortable as possible. Her tailbone hurt from sitting on the hard bench and all her muscles were sore from shivering. Any plans she had of doing yoga the next morning was completely thrown out the window.
“Celine? Are you still mad at me?” Ruthie asked in a small voice. She was seated on the opposite end of the bench and looked worriedly at her best friend. They’d been in the cell for only fifteen minutes (though it seemed much longer) and Celine tried her best to avoid any contact with her. As expected, Celine remained silent. Ruthie sighed. “I don’t see why you can’t just call Noah to bail us out.”
“I am not calling my fiancé!” Celine shot back. Despite her angry tone, Ruthie was relieved that Celine was finally speaking to her again. “I’m not going to get him tangled up in this mess that we got ourselves into. Or should I say, you got us into.”
Now it was Ruthie’s turn to become angry. “Don’t go blaming this on me! It was your idea to meet them!”
“But it was your idea to sneak backstage!” Celine shot back furiously.
“You went along with it! You could have stopped at any time,” Ruthie replied firmly.
“Like I’d let you do this alone,” Celine muttered. She sighed and banged her head against a cement block. “Look at us. We’re being held in jail like two hardened criminals. We were booked and finger printed—fingerprinted, Ruthie! The government now has access to my fingerprints!”
“I’m sure they even had access to your urine from your gynecologist visits,” Ruthie snorted under her breath.
Celine continued, “Now we’re stuck here in a cold cell until morning! God only knows who’s been in this cell and what bodily liquids are in here!” She quickly lifted her head from the wall, grimacing. “Now we have this on our records and we’re going to have to pay a fine or get an attorney—”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Ruthie interrupted.
Celine’s mouth dropped open. “You really need to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. We were stupid. I told you we shouldn’t have snuck in!
“Looks like it’s your lucky night, ladies,” a deep voice interrupted.
The women broke eye contact and watched a tall police officer walk up to the cell. His uniform was a bit wrinkled and his sandy brown hair was a mess. Ruthie couldn’t help but wonder what horrors he faced that night.
The cop reached out and unlocked the latch, opening the cell. “You’re free to go. The charges have been dropped.”
Celine looked up in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“Yup,” the cop said with disinterest.
“Why the sudden change?” Ruthie wondered out loud, pushing herself off the bench.
The cop scratched his head, yawning. “Apparently, it was a big misunderstanding. Your friends are in the front. You can thank them for clearing everything up,” he explained dispassionately.
Ruthie and Celine glanced at each other in confusion. “Friends?”
“Well, hurry up unless you want to stay in there all night.” He impatiently gestured for them to step out of the cell, stepping away from the open gate.
The women didn’t have to be told twice. They quickly obliged and followed him back out to the front. The cop’s nasally voice piped back up. “You’re going to have to sign some paperwork, but you’ll be free to leave afterwards. If I were you, I’d treat your friends to dinner or something. It’s not like guys like them to come up here to personally escort detainees out.”
Ruthie and Celine nodded, still feeling confused. They glanced at each other, speaking volumes with their eyes. What the hell was going on?
Once they reached the front of the building, they looked up and gasped. “Good evening, ladies.” Cash Walker lifted his hand in greeting. He grinned at the two women, who looked as if they’d seen a ghost. Cash thrust his hands into his pockets, having changed from his performance suit to just a plain shirt and jeans. He looked newly showered, his once styled blond hair now messily flopped along his forehead. He nodded his head toward the cop. “I think he wants you to follow him.”
With dropped jaws, the women nodded and quickly followed the cop to his desk. The paperwork they were presented with seemed never-ending and the two couldn’t get through it fast enough. It was only a matter of time before their signatures seemed like preschool scribbles and loops. Grabbing their returned possessions, the two practically fell over each other in an attempt to get back to the front of the building. When they arrived, they were surprised that Cash was not alone.
“Long time no see, old friends,” Brian said, standing up from his chair. Celine wondered how long he’d been there because she hadn’t noticed him earlier. Then again, Cash’s mere presence was enough to cause momentary disorientation.
Ruthie spoke up first. “Brian? What are you doing here?” She glanced at Cash and couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze. He was even more beautiful up close and sent an insurmountable wave of nervousness rushing through her veins.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He laughed. He glanced over at Celine and reached out for her. Taking her in a big bear hug, he squeezed her tightly. “I haven’t seen you in years! Can I just say age is treating you nicely!”
“We’re not that old,” Celine finally managed to say. She awkwardly hugged him back and glanced at Cash shyly. “Were you the ones who bailed us out?”
“Bailed you out? No,” Cash grinned. “Told the cops everything was a misunderstanding? Yes.”
“Why?” Ruthie asked. Celine flashed her a look of warning. There was no way she wanted to find herself back in that dingy cell. Noticing her look, Ruthie sheepishly added, “I mean, thank you for doing that. We really appreciate it! You have no idea how grateful we both are. I’m just wondering why you took time out of your busy schedules to help us out.”
“Well, besides the fact that I recognized you from the first row and I couldn’t bear to think of such a beautiful woman stuck in here with handcuffs…” his voice trailed off and he winked flirtatiously at Ruthie. “Well, actually maybe I could.”
Both Celine’s and Brian’s mouths dropped open. Brian shook his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. He cleared his throat and explained, “I told Cash that you were two of my closest friends from high school and that I was coming down here to spring you guys. For some odd reason he insisted on coming.” He shot another bewildered look at Cash, but soon glanced down at Celine and smiled. “After all these years, you guys are still such big Intensifiers, aren’t you?” he joked, fingering the bottom of her shirt. “I’d love to hear exactly what was going through your minds when you decided to sneak inside the arena!”
Celine blushed. “Why are you even surprised?” She laughed. “Trust me, this is one long story that I would love to forget about.”
“But we have time to hear it, don’t we, Brian?” Cash asked.
Brian blinked quickly. He turned his attention back to Celine and smiled apologetically “Um, actually no, you don’t. The guys have an event tomorrow. They have to be at the venue pretty early. Unfortunately, I have to be there, too.”
“Unfortunately,” Celine murmured. Snapping back to her senses, Celine smiled back. “Ah, well, that’s a shame.”
Ruthie, who was practically undressing Cash with her eyes, asked, “Oh, what event is it? I thought you guys only had one show in San Diego.”
Cash eyed Ruthie hungrily. Brian noticed his ‘signature seduction’ look and immediately stepped in between the two. Celine and Ruthie were too star-struck to have noticed. He answered, “They’re doing an acoustic performance at the House of Rocks. It’s a surprise for a bunch of radio winners.”
“Lucky girls,” Ruthie muttered enviously.
“Of course you guys can come,” Cash offered with a shrug.
“Really?” Ruthie looked up hopefully.
With a sheepish look, Cash replied, “Only if you agree to have a late dinner with us tonight.”
“Late dinner?” Celine wondered, glancing at the clock hung high on the wall. It was nearing one in the morning.
“Early breakfast,” Cash corrected. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Ruthie shot Celine a pleading look (as if Celine needed any prodding to have a meal with Cash). Celine nodded, “Yeah that sounds good.”
Ruthie grinned in appreciation as the men escorted the two out of the precinct. As the group walked outside, Cash threw a teasing look at Celine and remarked, “Nice shirt.”
Celine grinned back and glanced at Ruthie mouthing, “Told you.” She could have laughed at Ruthie’s answering eye roll. Celine bit her lip and eyed Brian, who was walking a few steps in front of her. Though she was greatly relieved that she didn’t need to spend the night in jail, she couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about the whole situation. Sure it was a dream come true to be spending any amount of time with Cash Walker, but the fact Brian was joining them…
When the two men weren’t paying attention, Celine whispered to Ruthie, “I don’t feel too good about this. I feel a bit guilty about eating dinner with Brian.” She glanced at their tall, muscular friend. Age had definitely treated him nicely as well, filling in his boyish figure to one of a full-formed man. Having always thought he was good looking, Celine was surprised to find that he had grown into his nose and ears, making him appear more handsome than ever before.
“Why? He’s an old friend! It’s not like you have feelings for him anymore, right?” Ruthie whispered back.
Celine nodded her head, but couldn’t help but feel the familiar school girl flutters again. She quickly pushed them away and forced a smile. “No, I don’t.”
Ruthie lifted an eyebrow. “Good.” She leaned forward and added, “This is what we’ve always wanted! Let’s enjoy this.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Celine whispered back. She frowned and continued following the men. Ruthie was right. It was what they had always wanted. Nothing wrong with joining an old friend and a worldwide heartthrob for breakfast…right?