This Time Around

We stood against the wall backstage at the Kodak on Wednesday afternoon, the day of the finale.

His body was pressed against mine, my fingers trailing lightly up and down his chest.

"Do you think we have time?" he asked, practically devouring me with his eyes.

"Ummm," I said, glancing at the clock. "Not unless you can make it quick."

"Make it quick?" he laughed. "You forget who I am darling. I’m Simon Cowell. I can last for hours."

I feigned hilarity, bending at the sides as I wiped away fake tears.

"Hours, huh?" I asked loudly. "Funny, as many times as we’ve slept together, you’ve only…"

"Shh, shh!" he hushed me. "We don’t need everyone to know what great stamina I have."

I giggled.

"Or lack there of," I coughed.

He pressed me harder against the wall.

"Don’t make me prove it right here," he threatened.

I made a quick escape, moving quickly to the right and away from him.

"Maybe you can prove it to me later tonight instead?"

"I look forward to it," he smirked.

"Hey Simon!" we heard Ryan exclaim as passed by us, giving Simon a slap on the back. "Stop molesting Paula. No one wants to see old people having sex."

"Har har har," Simon laughed sarcastically. "At least I don’t have the figure of a twelve year old girl."

"Ouch," Ryan replied, as he walked backwards down the hall. "Guess we’ll have to take a tally of who got more girls at the end of tonight."

"Oh Seacrest, if I were you, I wouldn’t even bother. You’ll be lucky if you can find one girl who’ll even admit to considering sleeping with you."

"Wait, tonight?" I interjected. "Where are you going?"

"Depends on which party I’m in the mood for," Simon replied as he lifted his weight off the wall, standing up straight. "Probably Skybar."

"Skybar’s where I’ll be," Ryan said as he continued making his way down the hall. "Of course, by the time Simon decides to show up, the party will probably be over."

"Oh please, Seacrest, you know the party doesn’t start until I get there," Simon bantered with a smirk.

"In your dreams Cowell!" Ryan shouted over his shoulder.

Simon rubbed his eyes with a smile.

"If only the boy’s shlong was half as big as his ego…"

"So…you’re going to the Skybar after the finale?" I interrupted, disappointment laced in my voice.

"Yes, darling, why?"

"Well…I just…I don’t know, I thought…"

"You thought…what?" he asked dryly, smirking down at me.

"Well, tonight’s your last night before you go back to London…"

"Yes."

"And I thought,.." I paused for a moment, debating how lame this was going to sound once it actually came out of my mouth.

"You thought…" he echoed, encouraging me to finish my sentence.

"I thought…maybe we could spend your last night just the two of us."

His furrowed his brow as he turned to look at me.

"You mean…not go celebrate after the show ends?"

"Well, yeah…" I trailed off, suddenly slightly embarrassed that he didn’t seem excited about the idea.

"Hey, I’ll even put out," I joked. "Anything you want, I’ll do it tonight."

I smiled up at him coyly, licking my lips as seductively as I could.

A deep throated moan escaped past his lips.

"As tempting as that is…" he trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"Well, it is my last night. And you’ll be coming out to London in a few weeks."

"And?"

"And I probably won’t see the rest of these lads until I come back to the States."

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I don’t think you understood what I said," I smirked. "I’m going to put out."

He laughed.

"I heard you love."

I intertwined my fingers, looking down at them as I asked the next question.

"So…you’re going to the Skybar then. What am I supposed to do, go home and knit?"

"You could come too," he said slowly, as if he were speaking to someone who was mentally challenged.

I looked up at him with disappointment. "You know parties aren’t my thing."

"And you know parties are mine," he replied.

"Why don’t I just go to the party for a little while, and we can do something later?" he offered.

My only response was a heaved sigh of disappointment, as I puffed air quickly out of my nose.

"What’s wrong with that?" he asked, and I could tell his patience with me was wearing thin.

"Because you know it won’t work out Simon. I’ll sit around and wait for you and you’ll never show."

A few extras slowed as they made their way down the hall, obviously eavesdropping.

Simon stared at me for a moment before he grabbed my elbow and pulled me inside an empty room.

"I don’t understand why I can’t just choose both," he said, closing the door behind us as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Because…"I began, unsure what my argument was exactly.

"Because why?" he challenged me, talking a step forward in my direction.

"Because I don’t want to have to share you!" I exclaimed finally, throwing my hands in the air.

"Who said I was yours to share?" he seethed, narrowing his eyes.

I gasped out loud as if his words had literally just knocked the breath out of me.

"Forget it," I said softly, turning away before he could see the tears welling in my eyes. "Just forget it."

"Paula," he said, his tone softer and apologetic. He reached his hand out to touch my shoulder.

"Don’t touch me," I hissed, jerking my shoulder away from him violently.

"Why don’t you come with me?" he asked. "We can do both. We could go to the party together for a little while and then have some alone time later."

"No," I replied sharply. "I don’t want to ruin your plans. Forget it. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t even want to see you after the finale ends. Goodbye Simon."

With that I made a quick escape out of the room, a single tear sliding down my cheek as the door shut behind me.