Just An Ordinary Girl ~A Johnny Depp Story~

A Surprise Offer

I spent the next week lazing around casually with Lucy, who had literally not stopped talking about Johnny since the moment he'd left, and strangely, Dan. I just let her drone on, mulling over things in my head. I'd spoken to Johnny a couple of times on the phone after the cheering-up session he'd attempted to create before leaving unexpectedly, but he seemed awkward when he spoke to me, like his mind was constantly elsewhere. A few times I'd actually had to repeat myself over and over to attract his attention back to our conversation. He gave no insight into why he'd left my apartment so suddenly, and after a while I gave up on asking him and just moved onto other subjects.
Lucy, of course, practically begged me to somehow get him to visit again, but I didn't feel like asking him. He seemed to have a lot on his mind, and if I pestered him too much I'd never find out what it was. I'd decided to wait it out for him to just confess why he had gone all cold and weird on me.
This, however, was to be sooner than I thought.
"Mmm...'ello?" I mumbled into the receiver, squinting around my room in the morning daylight as the phone ceased ringing out at what seemed like a million decibels by my ear, the noise still echoing around my brain. It was pretty early, and just over a week since I had quit my job. I had had the first good night's sleep in ages, so I wasn't particularly happy to be disturbed from it. However, the voice that began talking brightly in my ear lifted my spirits immediately.
"Alice, still not up? At this hour?" Johnny's familiar velvety tones tisked at me.
"What are you, insane? It's nine a.m.! This is the time us normal human beings use for sleeping," I grinned, pulling my duvet around me in a vain attempt to stay warm. "So, if you don't mind, I'll just be going!" I said firmly, though I had no intention of hanging up.
"No, no, no! Wait up just a second!" Johnny cried hastily, putting all teasing aside.
"What?!" I asked in a mock irritated tone.
"I have a free day today, and I...I'm in the neighborhood-"
"'In the neighborhood?'" I cut him off sceptically. "Doing what exactly?"
There was a pause before he replied simply. "Seeing you," and making me giggle at his honesty.
"So...I was going to request the pleasure of your company...I want to talk to you," he concluded.
"Oh, can we not just talk over the phone?" I sighed, smiling. "Must you intrude on my apartment again?"
"I'm afraid I might just have to," he replied teasingly, and I felt a rush of relief flood through me to hear him sounding like himself again at last. "See you at eleven," he commanded, before hanging up, his voice replaced by a dull beep. I sighed and clattered the receiver down, rolling over with a moan and tugging the duvet up over my face, leaving a gap in the cozy material so that only one of my eyes peeked out. I watched the minutes tick by on my alarm clock until, with an hour to spare, I pushed myself up and quickly opened my curtains and grabbed my dressing gown, before heading into the bathroom, my feet padding gently on the carpet.
I yawned, trying to figure out why anyone would get up early by choice, and glanced at myself in the mirror, giggling at my reflection. My dark hair was rumpled up into a sort of floppy afro, my eyes coated in a thick mascara-and-eyeliner smudge due to forgetting to remove my eye make-up last night after spotting an article on Johnny in one of my numerous magazines and I had thus been distracted. I'd eagerly scanned it for opportunities for teasing comments to make to him, but had been severely disappointed by the lack of criticism for him or indeed any of his movies...yet kind of pleased too...
I slipped out of my silky nightgown quickly and hopped into the shower, my mind still on the article, unaware of the water that was streaming down all over and around me.
I suppose he is a fairly good actor, I mused, trying to recall which movies I'd seen that starred him whilst squeezing some shower gel into my hand. I swore loudly as I noticed the amount I'd poured out. I sighed, and after five minutes of aimlessly trying to pour it back into the bottle, simply tipped most of it off my hand and down the drain, using the rest.
Suddenly the doorbell rang, jolting me out of my thoughts. I glanced through the steamed up shower door at the clock on the wall and stared.
Eleven already?!
"Just a minute!" I called, slipping out of the shower, grabbing a robe and my slippers and pinning up my hair with a weird tiara-like hair clip I'd bought as a joke. I sprinted to the door and opened it somewhat breathlessly, and found myself facing a smiling Johnny who opened his mouth to speak immediately, but then shot me a frown as he gazed at my attire.
"Ah, sleeping beauty is awake, I see," he grinned, before gazing once again at my wet hair and strange outfit and blushing slightly. "And...she's not dressed yet. Awkward."
"Well, I took longer than I meant to in the shower!" I blushed, showing him in. "I'll be back in one second."
Johnny frowned, looking disgruntled but mildly amused. "Okay, sure...I'll just...wait here, I guess," he sighed, settling himself against the wall.
"Be a good boy while I'm gone, okay?" I grinned patronizingly, before heading into my bedroom and wringing out my dark hair quickly, before kicking off my slippers and switching my robe for my green Levi's t-shirt, some cut-off jeans and a dainty silver anklet, letting my still damp hair hang over my shoulders. I hurried back into the living room and grinned widely at Johnny, who jumped up from his position on the floor that he had slid down into and suddenly cussed loudly, rubbing the back of his head after an ominous thump.
"Oh, God, are you okay?" I frowned at him in concern.
"Mmm hmm," he winced, gazing at me with one eye. "You look...pretty," he muttered, before clearing his throat. "Um..." he frowned, gazing down hard at the floor as though he was struggling with the words to say and hoping they were forged into the carpet. He glanced up at me, his dark eyes flashing excitedly.
"I'm having a thought here!" Johnny said in his Jack Sparrow voice, making me giggle. "What say you and me take a little holiday, eh? Because it's boring for me without Vanessa, savvy? And I want to have fun because...I uh...want it," he grinned at me, not remotely embarrassed by the appallingly bad lines he'd just invented. I frowned to myself.
A holiday? A holiday did sound like fun...
In my dreams...
"Mmm...I don't know," I replied hesitantly, playing along. "Where to, Captain?" I asked.
Johnny paused for a moment, then replied, "The Caribbean, love!" He grinned, but I thought I saw a glimpse of seriousness in his eyes.
I grinned back at him, "Well, sorry Captain, but don't be stupid. We can hardly just jet off on holiday to the Caribbean! It's...ridiculous!" I laughed, still not taking him seriously.
"Why not?" Johnny asked, gazing at me, confused. I stared at him.
"You're not actually serious, are you?!" I giggled.
"Yep, one hundred percent serious," he replied simply, his brown eyes flashing. I gazed at him before shaking my head in disbelief.
"Uh, Johnny...you're forgetting something. You have money, I don't. I spent all of my money fixing up this place!" I retorted somewhat bitterly, gesturing to my surroundings.
"Ah, well, you're mistaken. I did realize...that you don't...um that I have...yeah," he said hastily, trying to be tactful and modest. He cleared his throat. "Um, but what would you say if I said it's my treat?" He asked, surprising me. I blinked at him in astonishment.
"I'd say you're crazy?" I said firmly, turning away from him so he didn't see the regretful look on my face at turning down the offer.
"Crazy, yes, but don't deny you want to go," he laughed teasingly. I glanced over my shoulder and shook my head briefly.
"I'm fine, I honestly don't want to," I mumbled flatly. Johnny gazed at me for a second before sighing sadly and getting up from the arm of my sofa he'd been sitting on.
"If you don't want to go with me, Alice, you could just say," he said wistfully, gazing at the floor.
"No! It's not that! I'd love to go with you, it's just-" I protested, but Johnny cut me off with a triumphant, "Aha! You said it yourself! You'd 'love to go'! He cried gleefully.
"Oh..." I mumbled, caught out. I fiddled with a strand of my dark hair anxiously, not wanting to admit I was intrigued by the whole idea, then sighed deeply. Even though Johnny had offered to pay for me, I knew I'd feel horribly guilty if he spent his money on me. I'd have to make an excuse.
"Johnny...it um...it wouldn't be right...I mean, you're a great guy and everything, but like I said before, I don't even know you that well!" I protested lamely. Johnny merely rolled his eyes like a teenage boy, though he was grinning despite his obvious annoyance.
"Well...I feel like...like I know you," he mumbled sweetly, before smiling once again. "And heck, I'm a spontaneous kinda guy! So..." he paused, eyeing me, grinning boyishly. "So that's why I already bought the tickets!" He said brightly, whipping two pieces of paper out of his pocket and flashing them in my stunned face. "We're going next week, okay? Saturday."
"But...but," I stuttered uselessly.
"No buts!" he laughed infuriatingly. "Bring a lot of clothes. I'll pick you up from here at eleven. It's going to be great," he said firmly, ignoring the fact my mouth was still hanging open in utter surprise. At some point I felt my head numbly nod in agreement, causing Johnny to beam at me, before bowing foolishly with a charming little smile and heading out of my apartment, leaving me staring wide-eyed after him.