Once the digital music files were transferred Mandy got up and let JC take a seat, after all he knew more about setting up the rest of it than she did. Mandy was standing behind JC watching him. She jumped when she felt some one’s hand on her back; a million things were running through her mind in the seconds that followed. The touch was gentle not offensive, but completely out of nowhere, and whose hand was it?
Justin took a seat beside JC, which meant that the hand could only belong to Chris. Mandy slowly turned to meet his eyes; there was an innocence to his expression, as his hand remained in light contact with her. It was making her nervous though, Brandi would kill her if she thought there was anything between them. He motioned to the other room with his eyes before speaking.
“Hey Mandy, can I talk to you for a second?” He asked. Mandy just swallowed hard and nodded then let Chris guide her away from the others with him hand still close to her. Once inside the other room Chris shut the door behind them sealing from off from JC and Justin. Justin watched carefully as they disappeared.
“What is up with those two, I thought Chris wanted Brandi?” Justin asked. JC looked up from the laptop though the window at Chris and Mandy. There was nothing about their body langue that indicated anything of a romantic nature. Chris did seem nervous, but that could be related to any number of things.
“You know J; two people of opposite genders can actually just have a conversation that has nothing to do with sex.” JC explained.
“Right, I know. I am just saying what could the two of them possibly have to talk about that they couldn’t talk about in front of us?” Justin asked. JC thought about it for a minute but he didn’t have an answer and he really didn’t care. He just wanted to get this song done so they could all leave.
Mandy took a seat on the stool facing Chris and waited for him to say whatever it was that he wanted to say, it made her nervous. She wasn’t sure what to expect from the guys any more. There hadn’t been any escape attempts lately and it wasn’t clear if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I wanted to ask you for a favor, but I just couldn’t in front of the guys. I am not sure how they would take it.” Chris said. Mandy nodded to him. “I would like to have dinner alone with Brandi tonight, if that is even possible.”
“Oh, like a date?” Mandy asked, not even trying to hide the smile on her face.
“Yes, like a date. I think I owe her that much. You know a chance to get to know the real me.” Chris explained. Mandy thought for a minute.
“How do I know this isn’t some kind of trap and you won’t drug Brandi or something, and then try to run off?” Mandy asked, after all Chris had tried stuff before. Chris had expected her to question his motives but he didn’t have an answer for her, other than giving her his word.
“I’ll have to run to across the others and see what they say. I want to help you and I think Brandi would enjoy it, but we’ll see.” Mandy said. She got up and headed for the door, pausing to look back at Chris, making sure that there wasn’t anything else that he wanted to ask her. His stomach was in knots and it felt like High School all over again, but he finally followed her out of the room only to be met with Justin’s concerned expression.
Chris chose to ignore Justin and got to work, helping JC match the music and the lyrics, once the guys were under way Mandy excused herself from the room. She hoped they wouldn’t get into too much trouble while she went to process Chris’s request. After all it was a sweet gesture.
She stopped to collect Katy. Katy and Lance were giggling. They stopped once they realized that Mandy was now standing over them.
“Dare I even ask what you two are up to?” Mandy questioned putting her hands on her hips as she waited for a response from them. Lance and Katy exchanged a series of glances before Lance finally spoke.
“We are just brain storming for the music video. We have some great ideas.” Lance explained. Mandy raised her eye brow at the pair, she didn’t know much about Lance but if Katy was involved then it meant trouble for someone, she secretly hoped that it just wouldn’t be her this time.
“Well I need to borrow Katy for a minute. I promise you can have her back when we are done, since well you are really the only one around here that wants her.” Mandy joked. Katy just smiled; she knew her friend wasn’t serious, everyone didn’t really hate her. They needed her, if nothing else for their entertainment. Lance pouted a little as Mandy pulled Katy away. He didn’t want to stop their creative session, but whatever Mandy wanted seemed important.
Mandy called a group meeting, it was the first that they had in awhile, and maybe it was past due as it was. The four of them gather around the dining room table. Kim sat nervously playing with the table cloth not really sure what they were there to talk about.
“We need to talk about how we are going to shoot the video, I am not sure we can trust the guys to all roam free. Also Chris asked me for a favor.” Mandy said opening up the conversation, trying to make it seem as if Chris’s request was not the only reason for the meeting.
“We will have to film the guys one at a time, with 2 or more of us present and armed. Just in case they try anything. What did Chris want?” Brandi explained. She was curious as to why Chris would approach Mandy with a request and not her. Mandy smiled at Brandi, she was a little jealous of her in that moment. She wished some ne would ask her out on a date.
“Chris wanted to know if he and you could have dinner alone tonight. He seemed sincere. I think he really likes you.” Mandy explained. Brandi blushed a little, but secretly she too questioned his motives. “I was thinking I could prepare the food and serve you guys, and then we could head upstairs. As long as Chris can’t poison the food and you are armed. I don’t see a problem with it.” Mandy added.
“That could work, but why does he want to have dinner alone with me?” Brandi asked.
“Awe, it’s a date.” Katy sighed, which caused Brandi to shoot her a dirty look. Calling it a date just seemed wrong to Brandi, it was just an odd situation. “He said something about you getting to know the real him, or something like that. I think it’s sweet.” Mandy answered. She realized that she was repeating herself a little, but it really was sweet to her.
“I don’t know guys it sounds really shady to me.” Kim interjected but Brandi was thinking the same thing. Katy looked at Kim and studied her for a minute. Kim’s eyes were fixed on Mandy so she didn’t see it when Katy smiled, that evil grin of hers. There was a twinkle in her eye and Mandy didn’t think it had anything to do with Brandi’s date. But Mandy didn’t say anything about it as she turned back to Kim and her question.
“I think we can make it work, that is if Brandi even wants to do it. I mean we won’t make you do anything that you are not comfortable with.” Mandy offered. Brandi thought so a second. She could feel her heart skip a beat at the mere mention of his name, but did she really want to go on this date with him? Was she setting herself up for failure once again? It wasn’t like she could keep him once this was all over. Brandi dropped her head to the table and cursed herself on the inside.
The others sat there and gave Brandi a minute to get it together again. After all they didn’t want to force the subject. Mandy was taking the time to try to figure out what Katy was up to.
“So you and Lance were working on video ideas?” Mandy asked. Katy smiled and nodded, glancing at Kim from time to time.
“Oh my gosh, Lance is a genius. So we were thinking about just filming random scene of the guys individually, like maybe by the fire, or in the woods, I think there is a beach nearby, romantic stuff like that. But we think there should be one main love scene with one of the guys and a girl.” Katy rambled off.
“A love scene huh? Well you and Justin would be the obvious choice.” Brandi responded. The group wasn’t sure if Justin would go for it but they knew Katy would be on board. But Katy just shook her head.
“I thought you guys wanted to make this video different from the others, Justin always gets the love scenes. Not that I wouldn’t do it mind you, hell I might just do that away for my personal enjoyment.” Katy said getting a little side track from the point that she was trying to make. She quivered slightly at the thought of Justin’s soft lips.
“So did you have something else in mind then?” Kim asked.
“Of course I do. I was thinking Chris and Brandi or I could try to tackle JC. I think we could make that work.” Katy suggested. Brandi imminently began to shake her head. There was no way she was going to make out with Chris just so they could film it. “Fine, I will make out with Chris too.” Katy joked gesturing with her hands as she spoke. Brandi just rolled her eyes; the scary part of all this was Katy was being serious. Katy had no shame which made her the perfect girl for the music video. But it was pretty clear that all the guys were afraid of her.
Kim fell quite for awhile which was very unlike her. Mandy made note of Kim’s sudden change in mood. Was the thought of Katy kissing JC really bothering her that much? Katy was all smiles now, it wasn’t clear to Mandy if it was the thought of having a make out session with a really hot guy or Kim’s reaction to her suggestions.
“Yeah well, you can give JC the good news. I am sure he will be thrilled.” Kim finally snapped. She proceeded to pout as the girls moved on with their meeting. Of course Katy was going to tell JC and she hoped his reaction would be more entertaining for her than Kim’s was.
“So Brandi, are you going to turn Chris down or what?” Katy asked. Brandi still wasn’t sure, but it might crush Chris if she turned him down, at least it she went on the date he would still be upbeat and they could get a lot more done without him moping around.
“Sure, what time is this date?” Brandi responded. Mandy grinned but she and Chris had not discussed a time. If they did it late, then the girls could just go to bed and they could have to whole first floor to themselves. Mandy shook a bad thought from her head before answering, after all Brandi was an adult and could make her own choices. But the girls would give them their space.
“How about 8pm? Then you can lock up when your date is over.” Mandy offered. Brandi just nodded; her insides were killing her now. These were feelings that she wasn’t used to and it scared her more than anything.
