Chasing

“You still coming over?” Daniel asks through the phone. “Yeah I am. I’m just about pulling out from my driveway,” I say as I start my car.  “Okay, I’ll be waiting,” he says and I hang up. I’m going over to Daniel’s place because he just got back from his tour and he wanted to hang out. Along the drive, I decide to stop at Starbucks to get a drink. I park the car and walk into Starbucks to get my coffee. I order an iced coffee and wait for it to be ready. As soon as it is, I pay and walk out the shop. “Danielle?” a voice asks and I turn around. The man is dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, Vans, a coat and a face cap. Something about him seems familiar. “Yes?” “It’s me, Adrian.” He says and raises his cap a little and reveals his face. “Oh hey, I didn’t know it was you.” “It’s fine; at least I know I won’t be spotted so easily.” He chuckles. Adrian Ferguson, an actor and also my ex. The way he chuckles makes me remember our time together. He is handsome, his blue eyes inviting, his hair always falling on his face and lips that are so perfect. The lips that used to kiss me and tease me. “How have you been?” he asks with his hands in the pocket of his black coat. “I’ve been okay. You?” “I’m good; I just got back from a shooting for my new movie.” “Okay, that’s nice.” “Yeah. How about we catch up sometime?” he asks. “I don’t think so Adrian,” I shake my head slightly and smile tightly. “Danielle, its just lunch. As friends, nothing more, nothing less. I just want to catch up.” I pause to think about it for a moment. “Okay, just one lunch,” “Just one lunch,” he repeats with a boyish grin. “You can hit me up with the details later, I’m heading somewhere.” I tell him. “Okay,” he says and wraps me in a hug. And I let him. “Well bye,” I say excusing myself from the hug and start walking away. “Danielle,” he calls out. “Hmmm?” I turn around. “Don’t be a stranger. The fact that we broke up doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. We were friends before we started dating.” He smiles. “Okay,” I say with a genuine smile on my face and walk away to my car sipping on my iced coffee. The drive to Beverly Hills doesn’t take a long time even with the pockets of traffic and soon I’m finally at Daniel’s house. No, scratch that, it’s a freaking mansion. Daniel is a very tech oriented person, so his house is a smart house. I walk up to the front door and unlock it with the code. “Daniel!” I call out. “I’m here,” I say. I walk into the living room and drop my purse on the chair and leave my suitcase beside the chair and take everything in. Everything still looks the same when I think back to the last time I was here. His living room is an all white room with some black things around the place. I look to my left and find the black piano in its usual position. It’s been a while since I last played, I think to myself. I move to the piano and run my fingers along the keys and start to play. I’m so deep into the tune I’m playing that I start singing and don’t notice my twin standing a few inches beside me. “Hey Dani,” he pulls me out of playing. “Hey hey,” I stand up and walk up to him and hug him. “Didn’t know you were here already, until I heard the piano,” “I called out our name though.” “Didn’t hear. How are you?” “I’m grand. How are you, how was your tour?” I ask. “You would know how my tour went if you came along with me.” “Well I didn’t.” I smile at him. “Sometimes I think you should be the one.” “What are you talking about?” I ask as we sit on the couch. “I mean, you should be the musician, the star. When you sing, I suddenly feel like nothing. It’s obvious you are the real musician in the family.” “Shut up Daniel.” “But I’m serious though. You’re way better than me, it should be you on those stages, you’re just too stubborn to go into music full time and I don’t know why.” “Well, it’s not me so deal with it. Anyways, did you cook? I’m hungry.” “I didn’t. Maybe we could order something.” “No,” I whine. “I want your food, I like your cooking.” “How about we go out. There’s this really nice restau-,” “Nope,” I cut him off and shake my head at him. “You didn’t even let me finish.” “I know exactly what you were about to say. You want to suggest that we go out to eat in a restaurant. I don’t want to go out, what if the paparazzo finds out where we are; my life won’t be private anymore.” “I could call Ricky and Shawn,” Ricky and Shawn are his bodyguards. “I’m not going Daniel. Just cook something.” “My fridge’s empty. I just got back from tour, I haven’t stocked up.” “We could go shop,” “You don’t want to go out to eat with me, but you want to go grocery shopping with me. You’re crazy.” He laughs “Whatever. Just get me a cap.” “Okay,” he says and goes back upstairs. A few moments later, he’s coming downstairs with his coat on and a cap and another one for me. “Let’s go.” He says and we walk outside to his car. “You staying over?” “Yeah, you want me to, right?” Daniel’s house was like my own house too. I mostly stayed with him in his house whenever he got back from tour. “Of course. I haven’t seen you in a while and I just want to chill and catch up with my twin.” He grins as we enter his BMW. “Seems like everyone is interested in catching up these days,” I laugh to myself. “Who else wants to catch up?” he c***s a brow. “Adrian,” I mutter, knowing he’s going to say some stupid s**t. “Adrian? As in your ex-boyfriend? I thought you weren’t interested in getting back together.” “I’m not. I saw him at Starbucks today and he just wanted to hang out. As friends,” “That’s what he told you? I can bet it that he just wants to get you back,” he laughs. “Well, even if he wants to get back together, I don’t think I want that.” Adrian and I broke up because he wanted to make our relationship public and it kind of freaked me out, so I broke up with him. I’m not the kind of person that wants everyone all up in my business. I’m not about the fame based off someone else’s.  I just wanted a private life. Finally, Daniel pulls into the parking lot for the grocery store and we get out of the car. He pushes his cap down to make sure he isn’t noticed. Daniel loves his fans and he doesn’t mind getting stopped by them to take pictures and sign autographs but I think because I don’t want to be spotted, he’s trying his best to hide himself. “So, what are you making?” “We could make a Penne,” “And then what would we have for dessert?” “There’s no dessert,” he says flatly. “Come on Daniel,” I beg. “I’m not your personal chef Dani,” he says as we walk into the store. “You’re so mean,” I punch his arm. “I don’t really care.” We get penne, chicken breasts, crushed tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, and cheese for our dinner. And then Daniel picks out different things to fill up his fridge with. We get home after a while and I’m still whining about how he doesn’t want to make dessert. “You’ll get over it,” he says and I scoff. My phone rings out in the back of my pocket and I pull it out, seeing a call from Jeremy. “Hey, Dani. You home?” “Nope,” “Where are you then? Reese and I were going to come over to your place.” “I’m at Daniel’s.” “Daniel’s back?” “Yep, he got back yesterday. Wanna come over?” “Yeah sure. We’ll be there in a bit. See ya.” He says and I hang up as I walk into the kitchen. “Jeremy and Reese are coming over. You don’t mind, right?” “Jeremy and Reese are my friends too, Dani.” “Okay then.” Daniel and I cook in silence. Well, he’s doing most of the cooking, I’m just helping out. “I have a confession, Dani, but don’t freak out.” “What did you do?” “I was going to tell you about it, but I just wanted to be sure about it,” “Just go straight to the point Daniel,” “Well, I’ve been seeing this girl for a while,” “You’ve been seeing a girl?” I question in disbelief. “Yeah,” “Is it just s*x or more?” “If it was s*x I won’t be telling you about it.” “You don’t do relationships Daniel,” “I know, but she’s just really different. There’s this pull I have towards her. We aren’t exactly exclusive.” “How long have you been seeing her?” I ask and he pauses and scratches the back of his head. “Four months.” “What? You didn’t tell me about her. I thought we told each other everything.” I pout. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I needed to be sure that it was real with her.” “I’m not angry at the fact that you are in a ‘relationship’, I’m just kinda sad that you didn’t even tell me about it.” “I’m sorry.” “Anyways, is she someone I know?” “Well, she’s an actress.” “You gotta give me more than that. What’s her name?” “Becky.” He says plainly. “Becky, as in, Becky Sommers,” “I believe I just said that.” “She’s really pretty; I definitely haven’t met her though, so I don’t know what her personality is like.” “She has a really good heart; she’s also very funny and straight forward. At first, you’ll think she’s mean, but she isn’t, a lot of people pick her out to be standoffish, but she’s really nice and just different,” he says with a huge smile on his face. “Awn, look at you. You are so in love with her,” “I don’t know.” He says still smiling. “You are though,” I tell him. “I’m gonna be an aunty soon,” I laugh. “We aren’t even dating yet,” “Then make it happen Danny,” I push his arm. “We’re here,” a voice calls out, and instantly, I know Reese and Jeremy are here. “In the kitchen,” I call out and seconds later they appear in the kitchen. “Hey guys,” I walk up to them and give them a hug. Reese and Jeremy are the only ones that know that Daniel and I are siblings, apart from some of Daniel’s trusted friends. I trust Reese and Jeremy a lot, so I know my secret’s safe with them. “What are we having, Chef Danny?” Reese asks. “Penne,” “Daniel said he isn’t making dessert,” I whine to them. “You’re being a child right now, Dani.” Daniel says. “And you’re being mean,” I retort. “I love seeing you two like this,” Jeremy smiles. “How was your tour Daniel?” Reese asks. “It was okay. Canada seemed pretty excited to have me.” Jeremy and Daniel talk about their stuff, while I tell Reese about meeting Adrian today. “He says he wants to catch up with me at lunch.” “What did you tell him?” “I told him to text me. But before you say anything, I’m not getting back together with him; I don’t have that intention at all.” “I wasn’t going to say that Dani,” she laughs. When the food’s finally ready and Daniel and I plate everyone’s food and we eat in the kitchen, talking about different things. “I’ve got to go guys,” Jeremy says. “What do you have planned?” Daniel c***s an eyebrow. “I need to meet up with a friend,” Jeremy replies with a smile. “Hmmm, a friend.” I muse out loud. “You all should keep your thoughts to yourself,” he warns jokingly and we all laugh. “Looks like Jeremy’s about to get laid,” Reese sings out. “Shut up. I really got to go though. I’ll see you later,” he says and hugs us. “I think I also have to go to, since I came with Jeremy. I don’t want to take a cab.” She says and Daniel and I hug them goodbye again and they leave. After Daniel and I clear up the kitchen, we move to the living room and settle there. “Want to watch Netflix?” “Sure,” Daniel and I chill out on the sofa and watch Netflix like old times. We also talk about random things.