The Faniston Diaries

Chapter 3

He stands in the large door frame and studies my face from afar before making his progression down the front steps towards the car. I remain glued in position next to the car door. I don't know what to do with myself. I stand there fidgeting with the with the hair elastic on my wrist. I do that when I'm nervous, hungry, bored...all the time now that I come to think about it. I'm stalling my brain by thinking of these pointless thoughts. Anything to make his walk towards me less intense. He stands in clunky combat boots, three feet or so away from me. He is so intimidating. I feel an arm on the back of my neck from behind. It's Jen. "Honey this is the girl I was telling you about! This is Alex." She says to Justin. She steps aside from me and crosses over to his side. She tilts her chin up towards him and they give each other a cute peck on the lips hello. Justin places his left arm around Jen and outstretches his right hand towards me along with a welcoming smile. "It's very nice to meet you Alex!" He says. I eagerly shake his hand in response. "This is absolutely incredible" I say "I'm such a big fan of yours!". His smile is so genuine. It's actually quite hilarious, I think to myself. He initially comes across as someone so serious and intense, but the second he opens his mouth, all of your inhibitions towards him are lost, and he is the sweetest, funniest of guys. He laughs humbly at my praise. "Thank you!" He says "let me take that for you" he politely takes my carryon from my side. How gentlemanly of him. "Wow, thank you!" I say alongside an appreciative smile as he takes my bag for me. "Let's get inside!" Jen says "I'm starting to get chilly!" She says as she crosses her arms and tightens her jacket around her. Justin grabs the luggage and leads the way into the glowing house, Jen and I following. I walk under a large door frame and instantly am compelled to look every which way. I am led into a stunning front parlor as I first enter. Justin drops our luggage off to the side by a large coat rack. Jen tosses her car keys on a round mahogany table with a beautiful arrangement of water lilies embellishing the center. She unwraps her scarf from her neck and drapes it on the coat rack. "You can just hang your jacket right up there if ya like" she says, gesturing for me to hang up my sweater. I take off my sweater and hang it on the rack as my eyes wander across the room. I look up at the tall ceiling and take in the beautifully colorful blown glass chandelier. I look back at Jen who is smiling at herself with amusement towards my every reaction of her house. "This place is gorgeous!" I say still in disbelief. She laughs inwardly at my dear-in-the-headlights appearance. "I'll give you the grand tour!" She says and leads me into another room. We walk around the corner and down a long hall with pictures of family and friends lining the walls. I'm silently fangirling over all of these never before seen candid photos of Jen crossing my eyes as I follow her lead down the narrow hallway. The hall opens into a large open family room with an extravagant bar directly across from the opening of the hallway. To my left, is an entire wall of glass with a sliding door displaying a perfectly crafted back yard and a pool further down. In front of the sliding glass door is a red fireplace with couches and chairs set up around it. It looks lived in, as if there were friends recently over. I look to my right and discover the rest of the large open room. Across my right shoulder lies an identical white fireplace and another hallway. "So this is our living room!"Jen says enthused "we usually hang here most of the time...oh! And outside over there is where Mandy and I like to do our yoga in the mornings!" She points giddily to the outside patio area by the pool. "Come on I'll show you the rest of the house." She takes my hand in sheer excitement. We walk around and enter the other hallway across the room. This one is much shorter and leads to a spotless kitchen. "This here is the kitchen!" She says. "Thanks, I needed that" I say is a sarcastic 'Chandlery' voice. She laughs at her own stupidity and carries on. "That right there" she points to the right at a large dining room "is our formal dining room, but we hardly ever eat in there unless there's a lot of people over or it's a holiday or something..we usually just eat over there" she points to a little eat in bar with six stools attached to the massive granite countertop. "Oooh and I almost forgot!" She claps her hands excitedly "let me show you to your room!" She says, grabbing my hand yet again and leading me towards a large glass and titanium staircase across the kitchen. We climb up the two flights of stars to the top level of the house. She takes me down the hall to a large guest room. The entire room has a very earthy and natural feel. In the center of the room is a large plush bed with crisp white bedding and what look to be the worlds softest pillows. I hop in the air with my butt landing on the foot of the bed. I sit and look at the stunning view across from me. The bed is facing yet another full length window with its own private terrace overhanging the outside. "You have your own bathroom attached over there" Jen points across the room to a door next to a closet that I can already see is bigger than my old bedroom "and if you ever need anything, Justin and I are right down the hall, alright?" I nod "So, do you like it?" Jen asks hopefully. "Are you kidding?!" I exclaim "this is fantastic!" I say, bounding up from the bed and throwing my arms around Jen. "Thank you so so much!" I say "you have absolutely no idea how much this means to me". Jen strokes her hand on my head and pulls a strand of hair out of my face. "Don't mention it sweetie!" She says "it's the least I could do". We separate from each other and I pick up my carryon by Jen's feet and toss it on the foot of the bed. "Okay, well if that's all set" Jen says "than why don't you go get yourself settled, unpack, and freshen up, and Justin and I will go fix up some dinner". "Sounds like a plan!" I say. "Great kiddo" Jen smiles and playfully taps my shoulder before exiting the down the hall and to the kitchen. I kick off my shoes, flailing them across the room with delight. I've never had my own room, let alone one as insane as this. I back up a few feet getting a running start and jumping with all of my might across the room before plopping onto the monstrous bed. I laugh at myself and roll onto my back staring at the ceiling. How the hell is this actually happening. A few days ago I was just Alex, an fifteen year old girl fangirling over Jennifer Aniston's new haircut and voting for the PCA's every waking moment of my life, but now, I'm Alex, a fifteen year old girl living in the same house as Jennifer Joanna Aniston. How!? I don't fucking know but I'm not even going to question it. I close my eyes in pure bliss and lie in the cloud like bed for a moment or two. I sit up, and stretch before hopping off and getting up. I cross the room and open the door that Jen said was the bathroom. It's pitch black in here. I feel around for a light switch, practically groping the wall before I find it and flick it on. The light in the room snaps on and I am standing in a personal spa. Across a gleaming marble floor is a huge mirror hanging above a stone countertop with a large abstract bowl serving as the sink. To my right is a gorgeous glass shower. Had I been a five year old I probably would be bouncing off the walls with excitement thinking that Willy Wonka left his magic glass elevator in my bathroom. I walk towards the shower and assess the control panel next to it. I press a button that says 'rain setting' and in a matter of seconds the entire ceiling of the shower is dribbling down a soft drizzle equivalent to a standing in a tropical storm. This thing is sick. After noticing the surplus of LivingProof products stalking the shower's shelf, I smile to myself, turn off the shower and continue exploring. Further in I find the toilet and a personal jetted bath tub. I finish looking around and wash my face in the sink, patting myself dry with a soft hand towel laid out on the counter. I look up at myself in the mirror and flash a dumb smile. Then I remember my faniston friends on twitter. I run out of the bathroom and grab my phone from my carryon before unlocking my screen and opening up my twitter to a complete frenzy of excited responses and questions about what's been going on.