Mollie couldn’t believe Josh, or JC as they all called him, was in the group she just got hired to dance for.  She hadn’t thought to go home and look them up on the internet so though she had been hearing their songs in rehearsals, she didn’t know what they looked like.  The other girls had informed her that she had to have been living under a rock to not know who they were and if Mollie were honest, the last few years she had in fact been living under a rock.  She didn’t know how she felt about working with Josh.  She couldn’t help but wonder if she got hired because he had a crush on her.  She went through the motions of the rehearsal for the morning but when lunch broke, she tried to speed off to her car.  She needed a moment to breathe.  Unfortunately, Josh had other plans.

“Mollie wait!”

“What?” she said, annoyed.  “Was there something else you needed to tell me?  Like that I only got this job because you know me…because you like me?” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the name of my group and more about our career but I had a hard enough time even telling you I was in a singing group.  I didn’t want to scare you away because I do really like you.”

“Did I get this job because you picked me?” 

“No!  We had no part in picking the dancers,” he answered honestly.  “They sent us tapes but we were so busy with promotion and a music video shoot that we didn’t have time to look at them.  We told Wade to just use his judgment.”

“Honest?” 

“Honest.  If you had mentioned Wade to me I would have told you immediately.”

            Mollie could tell he was being honest.  His eyes were clear as they stared into hers and she nodded her head to show she accepted his explanation.

“So, are we good?” he asked.  “Because after last night, I really want to be good.” 

“We’re good…I think you need to give me some time to think about last night and what it means with these new revelations.  I need to process it all.”

            JC nodded in agreement and waved as she got into her car and drove away.  Two weeks later, JC was on his way to New Orleans, his head clouded with thoughts of the girl who’d avoided him for so long.

            Mollie was just landing in New York and as she got off the plane, she ran to the animal unloading area.  Boo had only flown once before and he hadn’t enjoyed it so she wanted to make sure and get him as quickly as possible so she could free him from his carrier.  Once she successfully retrieved him and her bags, and got the keys to her rental car, she freed him from his cage.  He gave her a dirty look at first but she fed him a few treats and tipped a water bottle into his mouth to appease him.  She got him into the car and headed towards her old apartment building.  Johanna had kept their apartment after Mollie decided to fly south and the directions came back to Mollie easily.  When she arrived, she pulled into the parking garage across the street, preferring to pay for the time rather than risk a ticket on the street.

            Johanna was excited to see them as she welcomed them inside and Mollie smiled at how little the place had changed.  Boo was quick to settle in and the two girls settled on the couch to chat.

“So, how have things been going?”

“Great!  I love being able to dance every day.  I’m actually looking forward to traveling and being in a new place all the time.  It will be a nice change for me,” Mollie rambled. 

“That’s nice but I was really asking about Josh-slash-JC.  What’s going on with him?”

“I don’t know we don’t really talk much.” Mollie tried to brush it off. 

“Why not?  You like him!  You kissed him!”

“I feel weird about it Jo!  I don’t want the other girls to think I got the job because of him.  I don’t want them to think that whatever we’re doing has anything to do with my place on the tour.  I don’t want them to hate me.” 

“Who gives a shit what they think about you?” 

“I do!  I don’t want word to spread to anyone in the dance world that I got a job based on a relationship not talent.”

“But you have the talent.  And who are these bitches going to tell?  You’ve already got the hottest choreographer in the game on your side.  I did some research on him, he’s in high demand right now.  I’d be worried about what he thought more than anything.  He knows the guys had nothing to do with choosing you.” 

“I don’t know what the right thing to do is.  I don’t know if I should go for it or if I should nip it in the bud before it even starts.  And if I do go for it, do I just be all open about it or do I try to hide it?  It’s so confusing.”  Mollie let her head fall back onto the sofa.

“You know what I think?” 

“No but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

“I think,” Johanna began, “that you’re talking to the wrong person about this.  I think you need to talk to him.  Tell him your feelings, tell him your fears.  It’s not fair to him to just be left hanging in limbo.”

Before Mollie could answer, her phone rang.  She opened it and answered, trying to keep her voice calm though her emotions were high.

“Hey girl it’s Justin.” 

“Hey Justin,” she replied, giving Johanna a raised eyebrow.  “What’s up?”

“I came up to New York to visit Brit before we head out and I heard you were up here to visit Johanna, so I figured I would see which flight you’re on and get on it with you.  I’ll bump you up to first class,” he bribed. 

“First-class sounds awesome and I’m going to have to hold you to that one day but I’m driving down to Louisiana.  Thought the drive would give me a few hours to think about things, clear my head.”

“Mind if I ride shotgun?  You’ll save me the baggage charges and I can take the wheel when you want to zone out and think.” 

“You want to spend an extra day on the road with me?  We’re going to be seeing each other every day for the next three months at least,” Mollie said, laughing.  She and Justin had become fast friends during rehearsals, especially since she had been avoiding JC.  They’d been paired up for a few sections of the show and it was easy to get along with Justin.

“Trust me I won’t get tired of you.  Maybe I can help you figure out why you’re avoiding JC.”

“Are you talking your way out of this road trip?” 

“I just listened to him go on and on about you yesterday so I think you owe me.”

“You drive a hard bargain Timberlake,” Mollie quipped.  Johanna rolled her eyes at the mention of Justin.  Mollie suspected her friend had a crush.  “But I’m in.  Where should I come get you?  I was planning on hitting the road in the next hour or so, that way we can get there by tomorrow afternoon.  You up for driving straight through?” 

“You know it.”

Mollie got the address of where he was staying and hung up.  Johanna scowled as Mollie took the opportunity to make a few teasing remarks about her and Justin.  Then it was time to say goodbye.  She hugged Boo and made sure Johanna had everything she needed to take care of him.  Finally, she had to say goodbye to her friend once more.

“Alright,” Mollie said, pulling back from their hug.  “Please call me if you need me and please take care of my baby.”

“You call me if you need me…and please consider giving JC a chance.” 

“I can’t make any promises.  Okay I gotta go get Timberlake.  I’ll see you soon for the New York shows.  You promise you’ll be there?”

“Promise.”

            Mollie tore herself away and headed back to her rental car.  She plugged the address for the hotel where Justin was staying into the built in GPS and headed out.  Traffic wasn’t too bad so she made it there in about 15 minutes.  They ushered her into an underground parking garage when she mentioned who she was there to see.  Once she safely parked the car, a bellhop led her to a freight elevator and they rode up a few floors to a penthouse suite.  She knocked on the door, feeling very secretive.

“Hey Mollie!”  Justin opened the door wide so she could enter. 

“Is there a secret password too?  I took a back elevator and parked in a special area of the underground parking garage, a password would not surprise me at this point,” Mollie said, brushing past him.

“Get used to it girl.  That’s what life on tour with us is going to be like.  Come in for a second, I gotta throw a few last things in a bag and Brit’s going to be back any second.” 

“The famous Britney Spears…would it be weird if I asked for a photo?!”  Mollie was only half-kidding but luckily Justin took it as a joke. 

“So you know who my girlfriend is but you hadn’t heard of my band until you got hired by us?” 

“Sorry, Brit’s a classic.”

“I’m a little young to be classic,” a new voice chimed in behind Mollie.  “You must be Mollie, Justin talks about you a lot, says you and JC are a thing.” 

“Justin talks about you a lot too…but apparently what he tells you are lies so maybe I can’t trust what he says,” Mollie joked, glaring over at Justin.

“Well he also tells me you’re the best dancer they’ve got.  Maybe you should come do my next video.  Wade’s choreographing, it’ll be fun.” 

“I’d love to.  Just let me know when.”

“Well if you girls are done bonding, we’ve gotta hit the road.” 

Justin’s bags had been dragged to the door and the bellhop who had brought Mollie up was now loading them onto a cart.  Mollie turned away to give the couple privacy and waited for Justin by the door.  She said goodbye to Britney, with a reassurance that she would call her about the video and the duo headed down to the rental car.  Mollie was glad she decided to get a mid-size SUV once she saw how many bags Justin had.  The boy had way too much stuff.  They headed out of New York, fighting over the radio and talking about their few days off.  Mollie couldn’t get to Virginia before he brought up JC.

“So, why aren’t you talking to JC?  Did he do something wrong?” 

“He didn’t tell me who you guys were.  If I had known things would be different.” 

“So you don’t want to date him because of his career?”  Justin ripped open a bag of chips he insisted they stop for and offered her some, waiting for her answer.

“I don’t want people to think I got this job because I had something going on with JC.  I want to know that I got it on talent alone, I don’t know why nobody understands that.”

“I get that.  I really do.  I wouldn’t want someone to think I got something because I’m dating Brit, it wouldn’t feel as good to have it.  But I think you should know, JC had nothing to do with casting the dancers.  We’d all back you up on that if people said shit.  Besides, Chantal, though she’s a great dancer, is on this tour because she’s Wade’s sister.” 

“She is?”

“Yeah, she keeps it on the DL but everyone knows.  Everyone gets somewhere because of the connections they have.  I think you’ve made it clear to the girls that you’re the best dancer out of the group.  I dare them to try and say you got anything because of JC.” 

“I’m not sure what to do.”

“How do you feel about him?” 

“I like him a lot.  We get along great and it’s really fun with JC but I’m just afraid…”

“Afraid of what people will think or afraid of getting hurt?”

The silence filled the car and Mollie tried to focus on the road stretched out ahead of her.  Her head had been spinning for weeks in regards to JC and she knew she had to sort it out one way or the other.

“Don’t base your decisions on what other people think.  If you do Molls, you might miss out on something really great.”  Justin said, rubbing her arm.  “Now pull over woman, I want to drive!”

            They switched seats and it took Mollie a minute to get used to Justin’s crazy driving.  He liked to go fast and change lanes often.  Mollie soon felt the toll of the day and her spinning thoughts.  She felt her eyelids drooping and Justin turned the music down.

“Take a nap Moll.  I’ll drive until I’m tired then we can switch.” 

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“Stop, go to sleep.  I promise I’ll wake you up in a few hours.”