Bailamos? | Mark Owen [Take That]

Chapter 49

When Gary had just started driving off from home towards the airport, I let slip the comment that it was a really cold night. He narrowed his eyes and without saying anything, he chuckled and turned on the car heating. So then, once I was warm, I started making some conversation about practically anything that crossed my mind. When we lived in Brooklyn, Angie always told me that I made fantastic company on our trips - it didn't matter if we were driving to the store in the corner or if we were going to Ohio.

Gary joined the freeway, taking the slow lane since it was a foggy night and the road was slippery - typical British weather I thought. We had started our little trip around twenty minutes ago and truth is that I was already lost. But to be honest, I didn't care. Because sitting beside me was one of the hottest and most talented song writers and musicians in the world. Well, except from that ugly Christmas song he wrote...

Anyways, thing is that during those minutes we had been talking, I realized that apart from being extremely yummy (god knows I am not lying), Gary was a funny guy to talk to and I was glad he had 'discretely' invited me to join him in his road trip to Heathrow.

"Yeh, Doritos all the way..." he chuckled, imitating my accent.

"What is it with you the British copying the way we speak? You're jealous or what?" I laughed.

"Nah, why would we be jealous? Would you be jealous of an American if you had my accent?"

"No, because I love your accent..."

"Oh you do...?" he raised an eyebrow and gave me a quick look as an evil smirk appeared on his lips.

"I mean, all the British accents in general... Not just yours--- yours, you know?" I blurted out and immediately wished that I wasn't was saying things I should keep for myself!

"'Tis okay luv..." he chuckled and as I kept trying to apologize, I sunk in the passenger's seat. God, me and my big mouth! What was I thinking? "I love your accent too..."

"The American accent..."

"No, yours."

Ooooookay... was that Gary flirting? Nah, he couldn't be flirting with me... I mean, why would he? It's not that I'm Nicole Kidman but I ain't Ugly Betty either... I'm just a normal woman... would Gary flirt with a normal woman? Hmmm...

"And now you're thinking about...?" his lovely voice brought me down to earth for a second.

To be honest, I was really excited about being on a date with Gary. Well, not because it was him the person I was going on a date with, but because I was actually going on a date with someone... and because it was going really well! Except for my big mouth…

Methinks that since I started dating again (after getting my divorce you know?), things with my dates just always ended fucked up somehow. And not because I did something to the guys or anything, but just because things simply didn't work! If the guy wasn't a drug dealer, he was a pimp; if he didnt have a secret marriage, he had a secret girlfriend. None - and when I say none, I mean it - of the men I went out with were good in any way.

But somehow Gary seemed to be different... or was it just my imagination?

Argh, I didn't even know if that was really a date! Cuz, let's be honest, we were heading to Heathrow to find Mark and Angie - not because we were going on a romantic mini-break to Thailand or anything... Geesh, I was already thinking Gary was my boyfriend - what was wrong with me?

"Liz...?" he called my attention once again.

"Oh, er--- I was... thinking that---"

Think quick Liz, c'mon!

"I was wondering if--- this is a date?"

There you are, you and your big mouth screwing everything up again! That's the reason for which you never have a second date with the guys you go out with!!

"Well---" Gary trailed off.

Stupid, stupid Elizabeth!

"I think it is..." Gary said and my heart skipped a beat "I mean, after all I picked you up at your place and we're going to have a coffee... although we have to find Mark and Angie while we are at the airport but--- still..."

Wooooow... OMG!! I was having a date for real! And I was wearing my old jeans and my trainers! Oh my goodness! I was wearing one of my TT t-shirts under the hoody! OMFG--- THE TT HOODY!

"I have to admit that I find it adorable..."

"Wh--- what is it that you find adorable?"

"The fact that you're wearing a TT hoody..."

I fell in an uncomfortable silence.

"You do have more merch items, don't you?"

"No, I don't. Thank you very much for asking." I said trying to sound cool but truth is I wanted to disappear - well, not really but at least I wanted to stop talking with Gary about my TT obsession. "My friend got me this hoody, I didn't know it was Take That's..."

"So what you're trying to say is that by no means you're a fan..." Gary snapped and I gasped - how dare he say I was not a fan? Wasn't I behaving as one or what? Anyways - why was that important?

"No, I ain't..."

"Really...?" he insisted, narrowing his eyes as he gave me a quick look before focusing on the road again "So you hate Take That?"

"No..."

"You like Take That then..."

"Well---"

"You got tickets for any of our concerts?"

"Err----"

"You do...!" he said cheerfully "How many concerts are you going to? Two?"

"Ummm..."

"FOUR!?"

"This friend of mine--- got us tickets for--- all the London venues..."

"HA! And then you say you never liked us!"

"I never said that!" I scowled at him "I did like the band... when I was sixteen."

"Then you liked us 'til last year..." Gaz smiled cheekily.

"Is that a line Barlow?"

"Do you want it to be a line?" he asked back.

"Are you flirting with me?"

"What do you think?"

"That you're flirting with me fer sher..." I chuckled.

"Yeh, I am..." he nodded and beamed a tender smile at me.

By that time, I had completely forgotten why we were on that car and where we were going to. We were having so much fun! Well, at least I was having a lot of fun, but methinks that Gary was enjoying my company too... how couldn't he if the only thing I kept doing was to screw everything up like--- every five minutes?

As we had radically changed subjects and started talking about desserts, Gary frowned. "Oh great!" he mumbled and slowed the car down. There was a policeman making some signs at us with a torch and apparently we had to stop.

It was almost two am and if we lost any more time, we weren't going to find neither Mark nor Angie...