Mollie’s head hurt a bit but mostly she was happy.  Memories came flooding back from the night before and she smiled.  She turned her head to find that Johanna had crashed in her bed.  Mollie hoped she had as much fun as she did last night.  She wanted their birthday celebration to be fun and she hoped hanging out with new people didn’t make her uncomfortable.

“If you keep staring, you might burn a hole in the side of my head,” Jo mumbled, coming out of her deep sleep. 

“Sorry, I was just thinking about last night.  Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” Jo replied, stretching her arms over her head.  “That club is insane.” 

“What about Josh?  Was it okay that we hung out with him?”

“It’s fine, he was cool.  His friends were really nice.”  Jo pointed to the small bag on the side table.  “What’s that?” 

“Josh gave me a present.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

            Mollie shrugged and snatched the bag off the table.  There was a card sticking out of the top.  She grabbed it and read aloud:

“Mollie, Happy Birthday!  This gift is not just a birthday present but a way to say thank you.  You’ve made adjusting to this new place easy. Thanks for helping me make this place a home.  Josh.” 

“That was deep…intense,” Jo commented.

“I think you’re over reacting,” Mollie said, pulling a small box out of the bag.  She opened the top and was surprised to see a beautiful necklace with an anchor charm.    It was beautiful and she saw 4 little diamonds going across the top. 

“He likes you.”

For once in her life Mollie had no comeback. 

The girls spent the rest of the day relaxing and finally making arrangements for Mollie to fly up to New York with Boo so Johanna could watch him while Mollie was gone.  Once Johanna had left, the next few days flew by and Mollie found herself at her first day of rehearsals. She was nervous going in but the other girls were really nice and she really enjoyed Wade.  His choreography was unique and he definitely put his own stamp on things.  By the time they broke for lunch Mollie was really feeling the burn.  She hadn’t danced to this caliber in a while but she was getting back into her groove.

The other girls invited her to join them for lunch but she declined.  Sitting against the wall of the studio, she pulled out the sandwich she had brought with her and quickly ate half.  She sucked down half a bottle of water in one shot and caught her breath as she screwed the cap on the bottle.  She allowed herself to take the time to relax a bit, finishing her lunch.  When she felt more relaxed, she got up and began running the choreography alone in the mirror.  She wanted to make sure she had everything correct.  She didn’t want to be the reason they fell behind.  They had about three weeks to learn everything before the music group joined them.  They had to be on point.

“I knew I liked you.”

            Mollie stopped and spun around.  She found Wade watching her from the doorway.

“Please tell me you did eat lunch though,” Wade said, walking towards her.  “Gotta keep your strength up.”

“I did, just making sure I have it all down.  I don’t want to be the reason we have to keep going over sections.” 

“I don’t think you’re going to be the problem.  I think these girls who are now ten minutes late coming back from lunch are going to be the problem.  You’ll fit right in with the guys though.  They goof off a lot but they know when it’s time to get serious.”

“I hope we all get along.  I’ve never been on a tour before but I can imagine being on the road with people you don’t like for months would be pretty hard.” 

“Well, we get along and I’ll be there so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

            Mollie smiled at him and was about to respond when the other girls came running through the doors.  They were spewing apologies but Wade was hearing none of it.  They quickly found out over the weeks of rehearsal that Wade was not going to let any of them slack off.  Mollie enjoyed his methods and she felt herself getting back into the shape she used to be in when she was dancing every day.

            She also found herself enjoying the costume fittings they were having.  It was mostly just measurements and the beginning stages of outfits but she loved being pampered.  She was just getting home from a long day at rehearsals when she noticed that Josh’s lights were on.  He had left on a trip right after her birthday and they hadn’t gotten to talk.  She’d texted him a few times but they didn’t talk about too much.  So she ran inside and jumped into the shower.  The warm water soothed her achy muscles and when she got out, she slipped into some sweatpants.  She brushed her hair and, still wet, pulled it up into a bun. She skipped up the stairs of his porch and knocked on his door and he answered quickly.

“Hey Mollie!” He hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around.  “I missed you.”

“How was your trip?  Fun?” 

“Busy,” he replied, following her into his den and plopping down on the couch.  “But you tell me about rehearsals, I took a chance and ordered a pizza so we have plenty of time to talk.”

            She began to ramble on and on about the past week and JC loved every minute of it.  She lit up when she talked about dancing and he was glad to see her so excited.  Not that she was at all heavy when he first met her, but these last few weeks away from her had made him notice the change in her body.  Ever since she’d been dancing on the daily her muscles were more visible. 

But the girl could chow down on pizza like nobody’s business.

“So what exactly is your job?  I know you said you’re in the music business and I know you were talking about promotion during your trip but…you’ve never said what you actually do.”

“Well…time to let the cat out of the bag,” he said, nervous.  “I’m a singer…in a pop group.”  Mollie’s eyes widened and JC was afraid to continue.  “If I’m being honest, I didn’t tell you because I thought you would have recognized me.” 

“Yeah well, I don’t really watch too much music television so clearly I’m not sure who you are.”  Mollie immediately cringed at how rude that might sound.  “I’m sorry, not that you’re not a great singer, I’m sure you are…I’m just going to stop now.”

JC put his hand over his stomach as he laughed.  He looked over at Mollie whose red face had dropped into the knees she had raised to her chest.  Every day he grew to like her more.

“You can stop laughing now!  I feel bad enough as it is!”

“I’m not mad.  It’s stuff like that that just makes me love you.”  Mollie’s heart skipped a beat at his statement but she didn’t speak.  “I love that you don’t know or care who I am in my career.  There are plenty of people who care way too much.  It’s nice to have someone who just likes me for me.” 

“Josh, about my birthday and your gift…”

“I’m not taking it back,” he cut her off. 

“I’m not giving it back,” she replied, making him smile.  “I just wanted to thank you for it.  It’s a very special gift and I loved it.”

“I’m glad.” 

“But I kind of wanted to ask you about something,” she said.  She was getting shy now and he put his hand on her knee in an act of reassurance.  “Well I kind of wanted to talk about…when you…”

“Kissed you?” JC asked.  He was slightly amused at her shyness.  She nodded in reply and he continued.  “I kissed you because I like you and I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment you came running into my kitchen in a bikini.”  Mollie laughed.  “I guess I got caught up in the moment.  I mean you were pressing that hot bod up against me and all…”

They both laughed and Mollie stood up and threw her hands up in the air.  She started to walk towards the door.

“Well now that we’ve settled that, I guess I’ll go take my hot bod elsewhere.  I’ve got a long day tomorrow,” she laughed as she reached for the doorknob.  She began to open the door but a hand reached beside her head and shut it.  She spun around to find JC very close to her. 

“So…you never told me if you liked it,” he stated.

Mollie grinned and looked into his eyes.  She leaned up on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his.  He grabbed her waist and pulled her flush to him and she cupped his chin with her right hand.  She pulled away and smiled to herself as he took a moment to open his eyes.

“How’s that for an answer?” she quipped.

“I might need you to expand on that a bit.” 

“We can discuss this further tomorrow…but tonight, I have to get to sleep,” she said.  She kissed him quickly and slipped out the door.

JC was left with his head spinning and his body hot.  That girl didn’t realize how cute she was.  He was hopeful that she might want to be with him.  She took the news of his career relatively well but she didn’t really know the full extent of it.  He hoped it wouldn’t scare her away.  He was going to have to tell her soon, he was leaving for tour rehearsals in about two weeks and he would have to explain where he was going.

            The next day JC woke, confused as to how to proceed with Mollie.  He was on cloud nine last night after she kissed him goodnight but in the harsh morning light he realized he might be letting her get too close without knowing his whole story.  It wouldn’t be fair to her to start a relationship without her eyes wide open to the situation.  He wasn’t always going to be around.  She could understand that, he rationed, she just got booked on a tour.  He just knew that he had to tell her the whole truth…but he didn’t want the thing they had going to sour. 

            He blocked it out on his way to dance rehearsals.  They would be finishing up the last few numbers they needed to learn before heading to New Orleans for the rehearsals on the big stage.  As he pulled into the parking lot, he spotted Justin heading in to the building and jogged to catch up to his friend.  They chatted as they headed into the rehearsal space and when they walked in the room they saw the dancers already hard at work.  JC had no part in choosing them.  They offered for the guys to watch the tapes of the audition but they all declined.  They trusted their choreographer enough to handle it.

“Welcome boys!  The last two to join us,” Wade called out.

            The dancers stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the latest arrivals.  Mollie was shocked to see JC standing there.

“Seriously?” She asked aloud, not meaning to.

“Something wrong Mollie?”  Wade asked. 

“No, sorry,” she replied, turning back towards the mirror.

JC sighed, he could tell something was wrong.  This was going to be a long day.