"Courtney c'mon! Just come to the party. You need to get out of the house!" Brit suggested.

 I turned in my chair to look at her. "It's not just about getting out of the house! I'm tired and I've got so much work to do!"

"Seriously? It's four days before Christmas, I think you can take a bit of a break." She started to grab for my laptop. "What can possib-"

"Give it back! I'm not done with that!" I said reaching for the laptop. I opened the screen and tried to find where I had left off.

"You're no fun!" Brit taunted. "I guess I'll have to dance with JC all night then..."

"JC will be there?" Brit had instantly grabbed my attention with the mere mention of his name. I had met JC a couple of years ago. The guy I had been seeing at the time was invited to a Christmas party by one of his friends that produced music. His friend introduced us to JC.  The following year, I was invited to the same party and ran into JC again. From then on, we have bumped into each other at random places.

"I knew the mere mention of his name would peak your interest. Just come for a little bit then you can get back to your all important work."

"Ugh, you suck." I laughed. "You know I can't do anything but think of him after you mention his name. Why do you do this to me?"

"'Cause it works." Brit shrugged leaning against my desk. "I've got the perfect dress you can wear." Brit left my home office (aka dining room) and headed towards her bedroom. I saved the changes I had been working on and followed her to her room. She was riffling through her over packed closet. When she re-emerged she held up what she had been looking for.

"That is so cute!" I said walking towards her. I touched the black satin dress. "Don't you wanna wear it?"

"Nope, I'm going to wear that." She pointed towards a red dress laying over the back of her vanity chair.

"Well, that should catch someone's attention!" I laughed.

"Oh shut up! It's not that scandalous!" Brittany shoved my shoulder. "Okay, let me get you ready and we'll be on our way!"

An hour later, we were putting last minute items into our clutches. Before I knew it, we were pulling the car into valet and making our way into the hustle and bustle of the party.

"Do a lap around then grab drinks?" Brit asked.

"Girl, I don't know if I can do this. I mean, I really should-"

"Shut up! Just have fun tonight and tomorrow you can go back to being boring. You're stuck with me for Christmas and I refuse to just sit here and do nothing." She smiled. "Now, put that gorgeous smile on your face and just have fun tonight!"

I couldn't help but smile at her. She was so determined to make tonight fun. We made the obligatory lap around the party, smiling at random people then stopped at the bar.  Brit placed a drink in my hand and I happily sucked it down.

Then I saw him. He walked into the room like they do in the movies.  You know where the whole movie slows down, the wind is blowing in their hair, there's a spotlight on that person and they have a special song that's played? Pull it together! I'm a total cheeseball. I need to get a life. Or get laid. Or drink more. I turned towards the bar and waved my cup at the bartender.

"He arrived solo." Brit said as I swallowed the last of my drink.

"You say that like I didn't just stare down the entrance searching for some girl." I laughed.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Smile at him then hope he comes up to me? I mean, I don't really just wanna walk up to him and be like 'hey here I am'." I snickered. I was contemplating a third drink.

"Well, let's go get in his path. Make him stop and talk to us." Brit grabbed my arm and lead me around the room.

This is what I loved about Brit. She and I have been friends for longer than I can remember. We met in a communications class in college. She was outgoing and oozed confidence and I was the quiet girl in the back. How we became friends is beyond me, but I can't imagine my life without her.

We stopped to talk to Jack-the host of the party. "Great party!" Brit told him. "I think this is the best yet!"

"I aim to please. How are you? I haven't seen you since last Christmas!" He gave each of us a hug.

"Oh ya know, this and that. Work has us pressed." Brit explained.

"And Courtney?" Jack asked looking at me.

"Oh you know, saving the world one account at a time!" I laughed.

"That must be why the world is a better place!" I heard behind me. That was cheesy! I turned to look at the owner of the voice. JC!

"Oh my gosh! Hi!" I said hugging him.

"Hey there gorgeous." He said into my ear. He pulled away a lot quicker than I wanted him to. "And Brit, looking smashing as always. How many hearts are you breaking tonight?" The group laughed.

After a few minutes, Jack went to go mingle. JC spent the majority of the evening hanging out with Brit and I. Brit would find a cute guy and wonder off for a bit to dance or grab drinks, leaving JC and I alone. Being alone with him made me more nervous than I could imagine. There was this weird awkward silence. We would look at each other then look away. Brittany couldn't come back soon enough each time. I chalked it up to him not wanting to be alone with me.

 I've been pining for him for a couple of years and he has never shown me any sign of remotely feeling the same way. Yes, he flirts, but the majority of my male friends do so. Plus, he's always come with some girl or met her here. That's probably what was going on tonight. He was waiting for his date to arrive or even a girl to go home with.

"Hey, do you wanna go for a walk? It's pretty loud in here." JC said interrupting my inner pity party.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled. He placed my hand in the crook of his arm and lead me towards the exit. I followed him in silence, not really sure of what else to do.

"Wanna go to the roof? There's quite the view from up there." He offered. I nodded.

He was right, the view from the building was gorgeous. You could see for miles. Best of all it was quiet. "How did you know how awesome it was up here?"

"I come up here every year. Don't call me old, but sometimes the party is just too much for me. I like the quiet after awhile." He explained.

So I'm just like every girl. Like Sabrina pining after David Larabee. I inwardly rolled my eyes at myself. I really needed to stop watching movies like that.  "You're not old. The noise and people can be a lot to take in."

"I'm almost old." He laughed. I joined in.

"Almost doesn't count?" I offered.

He smiled. "I don't think Brandy meant those words for this situation, but thanks for trying." We both chuckled then the awkward silence was back.

I turned back to face the city view. A slight breeze kicked up and I felt the chill run through my body. I wrapped my arms around myself wishing I had thought about a coat of some sort. Upon that thought, I felt fabric slipping around my shoulders. It smelled of him. I smiled.

I turned to thank him and was met with his lips on mine. My mind exploded. This is what I had been wanting. Just as I started to let myself get into the kiss I was instantly reminded of my initial thought. I pulled away. "I'm not some girl you can bring up here like the rest and expect me to fall for your every move." I spat. I shrugged the jacket of and shoved it at him. I quickly started heading towards the door.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. "JC, you come up here every year right? And every year you've been with some girl." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I hated the I cried when I was mad. I took a deep breath willing the tears to stay away. "I'm not just some girl you can swoon on a rooftop then take home. You should know that!" I made my way to the roof door. I yanked it as hard as I could trying to keep the anger in my actions and not in my tears. The door didn't budge.

I tried again. Nothing. "Of course." I mumbled.

I could hear his footsteps behind me. "Please don't walk away." He said quietly.

"I can't leave, the door is stuck." I continued to face the door. I didn't want him to see me upset. I put my head down and stared at my shoes. He came closer to me. He rested his arm on the door and leaned in close.

"You're not just some girl." He barely said above a whisper. He took a couple of deep breaths. "You are the girl."

My head snapped up. I looked at him. My eyes locked on his. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. You're not just another girl. You're the girl I've wanted since I laid eyes on you. You were with Michael at the time but I couldn't get you out of my head. Then you guys broke up and I'm sorry, but I was excited. I thought I would finally get my chance." The words were starting to fly out of his mouth. "Then I started running into you randomly. I swear, it was like you were being thrown at me. All I wanted to do each time I saw you was ask you to dinner or tell you how crazy I was and I am about you, but I could barely form the words to make small talk let alone ask you out." He took a deep breath. "Then tonight, it was perfect. We were left alone. All I wanted to do was take your face into my hands and kiss you, but you seemed so distracted or something. It was just awkward. So I thought that if I brought us up here we could talk. But then I kissed you and now you think...you think. I don't know what you think but you have the totally wrong impression." He put his head down in defeat.

I took a moment to soak it all in. He was finally saying the words I wanted to hear and I just screwed it up. What the heck is wrong with me. "JC?" He kept his head down. I called his name again. Same response. "Will you look at me?" His eyes met mine. "I've wanted you to ask me out for the last couple of years." It was all I could say. Nerves got the best of me.

He looked at me. His expression changed from confusion to relief. "Really?" I nodded. "Then why did you get mad when I kissed you?"

"Cause you David Larabee'd me." I smirked.

"Really? A Sabrina reference? How are you coming up with that?" He smiled.

"You said you come up here every year. I know from being here that you've had a date. So I figured you brought the girls up here to romance them and then get in their pants a la David Larabee." I explained.

"You're forgetting the champagne flutes in my pockets and the bottle of champagne." We both chuckled.

There was a brief silence. Our eyes met. "Will you kiss me again?" I asked. I shocked myself with boldness. He smiled at me and leaned his face towards mine. "I thought you'd never ask." Our lips met and I suddenly didn't care that I was trapped on the roof.