"Cross My Heart!"

Chapter 5

I had originally planned to use Josh's point of view at some point, but I don't know if I should. Opinions?

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I heard whistling just as I was clocking out, and I instantly knew who it belonged to. My heart began palpitating, but I kept my head down, focusing on the task at hand.

Josh had promised he'd pick me up, sure, but I didn't believe it - especially after failing to receive a confirmation text. Disappointment was inevitable, but I couldn't be surprised - it was Josh Ramsay, after all, and he was on tour and probably had a million other things to do than pick up a charity case for lunch again. He was busy, and I respected that, but it was still difficult to pretend that it didn't affect me even just a little bit. So when I heard whistling and caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of my eye, I was surprised, honored, and over the moon. Josh Ramsay had followed through! He'd followed through! Had he not been standing right there, I probably would have done a happy dance. Lunch is typically nothing special, but it is when it's Josh Ramsay taking you out.

"Ruby!" he yelled from behind me, poking my sides simultaneously. I jumped about ten feet into the air. He collapsed to the ground laughing as I recovered. "Hey, careful of those displays. I worked really really hard on them today." The rolling came to a slow stop, and I smiled at my little victory. He sat up and looked at me, his eyes still sparkling. "Ready?"

"Yup! Let me go say goodbye to Layla quickly." He pouted, prompting a smile from my lips. "I'll be fast." I ran to the back room, calling out "bye Layla!" I heard a muffled "see you tomorrow!" but she was in the back closet closet and couldn't hear me. Realizing that I was alone, I looked to make sure no one was around, and did my happy dance before returning to Josh. "I'm officially ready now."

Fortunately for Josh, I had taken public transit, just in case he did keep to his promise and took me out at the last minute. He pulled my car door open, waiting until I was completely in before closing the door. "How are you?" I asked as he got in himself. He ran his fingers through his hair, and I found myself wanting to do the same. "Tired as hell. I'm supposed to be doing press right now, so thanks for getting me out of it." He gave me a crooked grin as my face paled. "What?! Josh! No! Go do press! Shit, your management is going to hate me," I explained, burying my face in my hands in embarrassment. He laughed. "Fuck no! We're doing interviews with radio stations where the girls try and initiate eye sex. I already cleared it with management and the guys. To be honest, I'm pretty sure they'll be happy that attention will be directed toward the rest of Marianas Trench, for once." I slowly removed my hands from my face, looking over at him and tilting my head to the side. "I guess that makes sense... but you promise your management doesn't hate me? And especially the rest of the guys?" Josh laughed again, pulling out of the driveway. "They're fine with it. Now relax," he said, turning on the radio. This Kiss by Carly Rae Jepsen was playing, and Josh and I both started singing along. How relevant.

We ended up getting Mexican food to go. I had expected us to sit down and talk, but Josh had other plans. "Come on come on come on, Rubes! I have somewhere else we need to go or we're gonna be late!"

"Alright, alright!" I laughed, quickly placing my order and receiving my number. I had refused to let Josh pay for me this time. After about 10 minutes we got back into his car, tacos in hand. I made sure to be careful - the last thing I wanted to do was spill food in his car, which was ridiculously spotless. I don't know why I had expected it to be a bit messier, but I did. We jerked out of the parking lot - "sorry, but I'm excited!" Josh yelled - and soon were on a familiar stretch of road. Josh obviously noticed the puzzled look on my face. "Look familiar? Just wait five minutes." In less than that, I recognized something huge. "No way," I whispered to myself. His grin was huge. "Way." He parked the car in a garage, but I was unable to get out at first.

I was about to enter the fucking studio where Fix Me was recorded. Granted, not all the songs were recorded in this exact one, but a good chunk. Holy shitfuck.

I must have been staring for longer than I thought, because soon my own door was being opened and Josh was looking at me, a bemused smirk on his face. "Do you want to look at it, or look through it?" he asked. I tore my eyes away from the building, blushing from my lack of self restraint. I left my bag in the car, grabbing my phone, and stepped out of the door, Josh closing it behind me. Up close, the building was even more run-down. Paint was peeling, leaving the already-grey building looking even more lifeless; newspapers and mail were piled up at the door; and there were no windows whatsoever on the side of the parking garage. I knew, however, that the reason for this was so no bystander expected anything. I mean, if I were a famous recording artist, I wouldn't want anybody to know where I was, even if I didn't tell them. People see flashy, people want to know what the flashy is for. Nondescript was the way to go with recording artists. "You ready?" Josh asked, quickly squeezing my hand in excitement and sending electric shocks down my spine. "Never been more ready in my life."

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I know it's a short chapter, but i wanted to get SOMETHING to the few of you who read this. I promise I'll have more up soon! In the meantime, comment, vote, etc. And let me know about the Josh voice!