Raleigh sat in the backyard, sipping her third glass of wine by the pool, watching the sun’s decent into the sky. She stared at the changing colors of the sky, watched as the blues turned to yellows, oranges, and pinks without truly seeing any of its beauty. Ever since she’d gotten home she hadn’t been able to focus on anything. Josh had managed to successfully weasel his way into being forefront in her mind. She’d been so agitated with him that she’d stopped at a gas station on her way home and bought a pack of cigarettes, something she’d given up for Daniel. She’d only ever smoked when she was feeling stressed, but still she knew it was a bad habit, one she shouldn’t give into doing again. She’d at first tried just putting the end in her mouth and not lighting it like she’s seen many people who quit do, but the temptation was too great and she ended up smoking two on the way home and one more since she’d been sitting in the backyard. She’d have to remember to hide them before Dan got home, she didn’t feel like fighting with him tonight. Between her poor sleep the night before and her day dealing with Josh’s forwardness, she was exhausted.

Just as she’d had the thought, she heard a car pull into the driveway and knew Dan was home. Immediately she ran to the hose and rinsed the ash out of the ashtray and put it back on the table where it’d been for months then snatched up the pack of cigarettes and shoved them into her pocket. She’d resumed her position on the lounge just as she heard her name being called, followed by Dan coming through the back door.

Looking behind her, Raleigh smiled at her fiancée.

“There you are. What are you doing out here?” He asked, walking over to sit on the lounge beside her.

“Just relaxing, having a glass of wine. How was work?”

“It was good.” He answered after a slight hesitation she’d almost missed. Almost.

“Yeah? How’d your meeting go?”

“Good.” He’d answered a little more quickly. “You didn’t call me after yours. What happened?”

“Oh right, I’m sorry. I did a little running around today and was on the phone with different banquet halls for the reception, it completely escaped my mind to call you.” She tried evading, taking a large sip of her wine that was nearing empty now.

“Any luck?”

“Not so far. All the halls I wanted are booked until the end of next year.”

“You’ll find something, I’m sure of it.” He said, taking her glass and gulping down the rest of the bitter liquid.

“I hope so. Otherwise it’s our backyard.” She laughed easily.

Dan handed her back the wine glass and she filled it back up. “So? What was the job?”

Damn. She knew he had to ask. “It was writing a few songs for the soundtrack. Two of which needed to be duets.”

“And let me guess, promoting the movie as well? Multiple appearances and performances?”

“I think you know him just as well as I do.”

“Well I should, I’ve known him longer.” He laughed. “So what’d you tell him?”

“I told him no. That it wasn’t a good time.”

He nodded, pursing his lips, appearing as though he were deep in thought. “Who was the artist they wanted you to work with?”

“I don’t know.” She lied convincingly, being sure not to do any of her nervous habits under his scrutinizing gaze. “He didn’t offer the name and I didn’t bother to ask.” He seemed to accept that answer, nodding his head as he drank more of her wine.

“When is the deadline?”

“July fifth.”

“Ray, you have more than enough time to do this and plan the wedding. Its only April.”

“Which gives me just over two months to do the songs with whomever this artist is, that’s no problem. It’s the appearances that I’d have to make that I’m afraid will take up most of my time afterward.”

Leaning forward, Dan rested his elbows on his knees, staring at her seriously. “Raleigh, do you want to work on this project?”

Raleigh stared at Dan for a moment before sighing. “I don’t know.”

“You should do it.”

“Why are you pushing me to work on this? What aren’t you telling me?” She eyed him suspiciously, wondering why he wanted her to go back to work so badly. The way he reached up and ran his fingers through his hair told Raleigh she’d been right. There was something he was keeping from her.

“I have to go to New York for a couple of weeks.” Dread welled up in her stomach at his words.

“For what?”

“Well you know we’ve been working on a new show and that’s what the meeting was about today.  Rick wants us to meet with our partners out there and possibly collaborate. If we decide not to I’ll only be gone for a few days, but if we do, which I’m about 99% sure we will, it’ll be a few weeks. Exactly how long I’m not sure.”

“So this collaboration, was does it involve that’s going to take a few weeks? You’re not doing the show out there are you?”

“No. We’re going to write up the story and work on the music as a team. Then we want to see what talent they have and try to cast some New Yorkers that would be willing to come out here for the show.”

Unsure how she felt about having Dan on the other side of the country, where Josh was supposed to be, for so long, all she did was nod and say, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“What else is there to say? Okay.” Raleigh finished her wine off and stood, walking toward the house. “Do you want Chinese for dinner? I could really use an egg roll.” And another smoke, she thought to herself.

Josh sat in his hotel room, staring out the window watching the sunset as he listened to his favorite band blast from his ipod’s speakers. This was the first time he’d come to LA just of his own free will, and he was surprised that he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have any friends in town other Raleigh and Darryl – if he could even call them his friends.

He supposed he could go to a bar or a night club, but he didn’t feel like partying, let alone going by himself. He used to go to bars by himself all the time in New York, so frequently in fact that most of the staff at at least four in his neighborhood knew him personally now. That’s why it’d hurt so bad when Raleigh had called him an alcoholic when they’d been trapped in his parent’s house. He knew he wasn’t an alcoholic, but he also knew very well that’s what it looked like to people. In his off time he’d go to a bar nearly every night, not always getting drunk, but at least having a few beers, and he would get a random girl to go home with him. Sometimes he’d even use the same girl multiple nights. Those eventually learned not to expect anything from him other than one night of not having to care about a thing.

His newly-religious sister was very vocal in her opinions on his pastimes, but he never found it in himself to care. Now, with Raleigh thrown back into his life thanks to the storm during the wedding, he found himself caring again. He didn’t want this to be Raleigh’s permanent opinion on him now, he knew he was better than the person he’d allowed himself to become and he planned on proving that to her. If she let him.

Why had she been so furious with him earlier? He didn’t understand at all. When they’d parted ways he thought they’d at least been on good terms. They’d spent the entire day together having fun like old times. They’d laughed and played, she allowed herself to be with him again like when they were kids, as if nothing else had mattered. So what had changed? He didn’t forget what she’d said during lunch that last day though, how could he? He’d gotten his hopes up that they could at least be friends again just to have them shattered by her harsh words. No, she hadn’t said them harshly, but it still hurt knowing she didn’t want to see him again after that. Is that why she’d felt bombarded?

Sure, he supposed he could have warned her, possibly asked her over the phone. But he was the type of guy who liked doing things face-to-face, unless of course it involves breaking up with a lifetime girlfriend. He was the biggest kind of asshole back then and he knew it, and so did everyone else. Plus too, he felt as though it would make it harder for her to say no to him if she had to do it to his face, something he believed himself to be right about. Sure she’d yelled and gotten angry at him at first, but she hadn’t been expecting him to show up. Besides, what mattered was the fact that she promised to think about it. He was halfway there.

Just has the current song on his ipod changed, he heard his phone chime, telling him he had a new text message. Grabbing his phone he found himself smiling almost immediately. It was from Raleigh, asking if he could meet her. He was about to ask her where when she sent another, listing a restaurant that wasn’t far from his hotel. He sent a response, telling her he could be there in ten minutes and went into the bathroom to clean himself up.

 It wasn’t long after that Josh walked into the restaurant, searching the busy place for Raleigh’s familiar face. It only took a moment for the hostess to ask him if she could help him find someone. When he looked at her he could see the recognition in her eyes, but he could tell she was a professional and wasn’t going to make a scene, begging for his autograph, which he was glad for. He told the young woman who he was meeting and immediately she responded that she hadn’t arrived yet but she’d seat him if he liked. Taking her up on the offer, Josh followed her to a table in a semi-quiet area, ordered he and Raleigh both a drink and then just waited. The waitress had just brought the drinks to him when he noticed Raleigh walk in and search for him just as he had for her. He noticed the hostess tell her where she could find Josh and Raleigh headed over.

“Thanks for meeting me.” She said as she sat across from him.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“After the way I acted earlier, yes. And I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d hopped on the first flight back to New York. Is this for me?” She grabbed the beverage that sat in front of her and took a long drink without waiting for a reply.

“It is now.” He couldn’t help his smile. “I wouldn’t have left without getting a straight answer from you. You said you’d think about the project.”

“Yes, I did say that.” He waited and after taking a few more sips of her drink, she told him. “I was talking to Dan about it and it turns out he has to go to New York for a few weeks on business. He told me there’s really no reason why I can’t sign on for this, and if he’s off doing what he loves, I should be doing the same.”

“So…is that a yes?” He tried not getting his hopes up yet again.

“Yes. I already called Jerry on my way here and he wants us to meet him and Darryl at the office tomorrow morning to sign the paperwork.”

“Great. What time?”

“Nine. I just have one condition.” He looked at her and waited for her to tell him what that was. He honestly didn’t even care, he was just so happy to have the chance to work with her. “We use my studio. With Dan being gone I don’t see any reason as to why we should spend money on studio time when we can just use mine for free.”

“Sounds like a plan then. When do we start?”

“Dan’s flight leaves Saturday morning so later that day, I guess. I don’t want to get in his way when he only has two days to pack. Besides, I’m sure I’ll need to help him. He’s not that great when it comes to folding clothes.”

“Kind of like you. And you always wait until the last possible second and you’re freaking out trying to make sure you got everything.” He teased, sipping on his captain and coke.

“Hey, I don’t do that anymore! I was done packing the day before we left to fly to Tennessee for the wedding, thank you very much.” Raleigh found herself laughing at the teasing conversation, wondering why she’d gotten so mad at him earlier. As if reading her mind, Josh sobered and asked her.

“So, why did you get so mad earlier when you saw me?” Immediately, Raleigh’s laughter ebbed and she stared into her empty glass, wondering where their waitress was.

“I don’t really know.” She answered honestly. “I just saw you walk in and something inside me snapped. I felt angry that you had blind-sighted me and went behind my back to my manager about a job. You could have just called me, you should have.”

“I know that, but I felt like I had a better chance of you saying yes if I were here in person. And I didn’t know if you’d even hear me out if you did answer my call what with the way things ended last time we saw each other.” He was still confused about that as well, but he wasn’t going to push her. He’d been on the receiving end of Raleigh’s fury enough for one day.

Finally their waitress came over to them and asked if they were ready to order. They both requested a refill on their drinks and ordered something light to eat. Raleigh hadn’t eaten much of her Chinese food, so she was feeling hungry.

“I guess I see your point. But a little warning would have been nice. Did you tell Darryl we knew each other?” Josh knew what she was really asking, was there any chance it was going to get out that they had a complicated, shared past.

“No, he thinks I just respected your work. Well, at least he did until you acted the way you did. But then again, maybe he just thinks you’re an egotistical diva.”

“You’re hilarious.” She rolled her eyes at him but cracking a smile despite herself.

The rest of the time they spent together at the restaurant went like that. Teasing one another, laughing, talking about nothing and yet talking about everything. It was just like the last day they’d spent together back home, Raleigh was truly enjoying herself. She found herself not wanting to say goodbye yet she knew she had to. They’d be driving each other crazy soon enough, she told herself. Working with someone wasn’t usually an easy task. So they hugged goodbye outside of the restaurant and parted ways.

Upon entering her house, Raleigh was sure she was going to get bombarded by questions of where she’d been, but the house was dark and silent. Creeping upstairs and into the bedroom, Raleigh saw Dan’s sleeping form on the bed and she backed out, closing the door quietly. She wasn’t ready for bed so she went down the hallway to her studio to continue working on the song from earlier, hoping she’d finally be able to finish at least the music.

The next few days were a blur of packing for Dan. He was in meetings constantly with his seniors and was beginning to freak out about not having time to pack everything he needed. This left Raleigh with a lot of free time to think as packing was a job that pretty much only occupied the hands, so she tried to find different things to occupy her mind and to keep her from thinking. She’d spoken with her brother, Bobbie, Carly, Justin, and Autumn. She tried blasting music on the stereo, she tried listening to movies. None of it helped for long and before she knew it she was taking another smoke break in the backyard. She was shocked Dan never smelled it on her, but she was pretty good about changing before he got home. He’d suddenly gotten into the habit of calling when he was about to leave the office to ask Raleigh what she wanted to do for dinner so she was able to freshen up before he got home. She didn’t like being so deceitful but she knew how he felt about her smoking. She also knew it wasn’t good for her, but sometimes she just needed the stress relief it brought her.

Before she knew it, Saturday was upon them and she was driving Dan to the airport. She could tell he was nervous about the big meeting in New York but she also knew he would do amazingly well. She’d never seen anyone able to work a group of uptight businessmen the way he could. She knew he’d have no trouble at all getting their partners to collaborate on the show with them. Knowing this, Raleigh was unsure how she felt about him being gone for weeks without knowing for sure exactly how long he’d be gone although she couldn’t put her finger on exactly why it unnerved her so.

You know why… the thought floated around her mind but she pushed it away, refusing to think anymore on the subject.

She’d been barely registering what Daniel was talking about with her – she was vaguely aware that he was prattling on nervously about the upcoming meeting – when suddenly he’d asked what she’d been dreading.

“Hey, I just realized you never told me who the artist is you’re working with.” She felt her heart thud in her chest and it suddenly felt as though her stomach were in her throat.

“Oh, yeah well I didn’t really want to bother you with my work when you’ve been so busy getting ready for this meeting in New York.” She felt his eyes on her for a moment and she knew he saw right through her façade. She fought the urge to glance at him out of the corner of her eye or swallow nervously.

“You’re evading, that’s never a good thing.”

Sighing, Raleigh asked, “Does it matter?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.” From the corner of her eye she saw him watching her with concern, a worry line marking his forehead. She didn’t want to lie to him but she didn’t want to deal with the fight that was sure to come either. He needed to think about the partners he was going to meet with. The last thing she wanted him worrying about was whether or not she was being faithful to him while working with Josh, something she never thought he’d question so fiercely.

“It’s Josh.” She admitted quietly. She waited for the outburst from Dan, but it was silent for a few moments before he asked calmly, “Excuse me?”

Sighing, she finally allowed her eyes to meet his piercing gaze. “I’m working with Josh on the soundtrack.”

“And you didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”

“Honestly? Not really, no.”

“Raleigh,” he started. She hated the way he spoke her name when he was angry. It made her feel so guilty when she knew she had nothing to feel guilty about.

“Please just don’t, Dan. There’s nothing for you to be so angry or worried about. We’re working on a few tracks for a CD and that’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it.” She told him defiantly.

“Then why did you feel the need to keep it from me?” Her words caught in her throat from her anger. Why did he always do this?

“I didn’t keep this from you! And even if I did is it any wonder why? You make such a big deal out of anything that concerns him and it’s ridiculous!” Neither of them said another word until Raleigh pulled the car up to the entrance of the airport. Without a word, Dan got out of the car and retrieved his bags from the trunk, not noticing Raleigh following him.

“Dan, come on. Don’t get on that plane angry. I don’t want to leave it like this.”

“I’m not leaving it like anything.” He told her, not meeting her gaze as he pulled the strap of his carryon over his shoulder. “I hope you have fun working with him again.” He then turned around and headed towards the revolving door.

“Dan!”

“Goodbye, Raleigh.” He waved her off as he entered the airport, leaving her standing there tearing up like an idiot.

Refusing to cry over Dan being a complete jerk, Raleigh took a deep breath and got back into the car to head home. Josh would be over soon and she had to make sure her mind was on their work and not on her fiancé.

As soon as she pulled past the gate and up the driveway, Raleigh burst out into tears. She didn’t understand. When had Dan stopped trusting her? Did he truly think that she would lose control around Josh? She’d hung out with hours on end when they were back home and nothing had happened, and she was determined that nothing would ever happen. She had distanced herself from him for Dan, didn’t he see that? What had he done to make Dan hate him so badly? Was he just jealous because they had history together?

Raleigh’s sobs had subsided by the time she got out of her car, but silent tears continued running down her cheeks as she walked toward the front door.

“Wow, you look like hell.” Startled, Raleigh’s head whipped up to see who had spoken to her. “Hey, are you ok?” Josh’s teasing tone had turned serious when he noticed how badly she’d been crying. It was a sight he’d known all too well. He stood up front the front steps and went to her.

“I’m fine.” She mumbled, wiping away tears that continued to stain her cheeks. “How did you get past the gate?”

“You gave me the code, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” Lord, she felt stupid at that moment. Walking past Josh, Raleigh made her way up the stairs and unlocked the front door, not waiting for Josh to follow, she knew he would. She threw her purse down on the table in the hallway and went straight for the kitchen. “Would you like a drink or anything before we start working?” She called over her shoulder.

“Just a water, thanks.” He told her distractedly as his eyes wandered the foyer. He’d thought his condo was extravagant, but apparently he’d had no idea what that truly meant until now. He was curious to see the rest of the house so being the devious bastard that he was, he took a few steps to the right and opened the sliding door. Peering his head inside, his mouth gaped open at the huge study that held a magnificent grand piano. His fingers itched to play those shiny keys. Sliding the door closed again, Josh turned and poked his head into the room across from the study. He allowed his eyes to wander over every feature of the large living room. When he saw the door in the far corner he was curious as to what that room could be. Before he could walk towards it, Raleigh’s voice caught his attention.

“What are you doing?”

“Being caught red-handed.” He smiled easily at her, coming out of the living room.

“If you wanted to see the house, all you had to do was ask. No need to snoop around.” She told him, handing him a bottle of water.

“Sorry.” He continued smiling, taking the water from her.

“The studio is upstairs.” She turned and went to the stairs, Josh obediently at her heels.

Once inside the studio, Josh let out a long whistle. “Wow, this is nice.” He immediately went over to the control panels and played around with them.

“Thanks. This used to be a bedroom but I convinced Dan we didn’t need seven of them.” Josh noticed how her voice had caught on the fiancé’s name and again found himself wondering why she’d been crying. Was it simply because he’d left for New York? Somehow, he didn’t think that was it.

“Nobody needs that many bedrooms, except for your family of course.” Josh noticed the corner of her mouth twitch almost into a smile, but fell short. He knew he’d get her out of this funk she was in before he left for the night.

“So, where do you want to start?” She asked, sitting on the stool in front of the control panels.

“Well I was playing around with a few different melodies. Do you want to give them a listen and go from there?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

So they got started, Josh played the melodies he’d written for Raleigh and she responded, either humming along or offering her input. They worked together on the same melody for hours, unable to let themselves stop for even a bathroom break. Eventually, their hunger won the battle of whether they should stop to eat dinner or continue working so they decided to go to a small café just outside of town.

They continued to talk passionately about the project throughout dinner, both incredibly excited that they had decided to sign on for it. Raleigh may have been sick of touring and needed a break, but she’d missed it. She forgot how great it felt to work with Josh; she forgot how talented he truly was. Both were so lost in the music of their conversation, neither of them noticed the photographer across the street, quickly snapping as many pictures of the old friends as possible.

Once they were done eating they got into Raleigh’s car and headed back to the house. When she was walking to the front door she noticed Josh hesitating behind her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just wondering if we should call it a night and start fresh in the morning.”

“Oh.” She said, feeling her excitement over the song begin to fade. Suddenly, an idea that would benefit them both popped into her head, she just wondered if it was the smartest thing she could do. She knew it wasn’t, and she also knew if Dan got wind of this arrangement it would piss him off more, but she didn’t care. “Why don’t you just stay here?”

“What?” It wasn’t the most brilliant thing he’d ever said, especially considering she’d just asked him to stay in her house, but he wasn’t sure he’d truly heard her correctly.

“You’re going to be here for a few weeks so there’s no sense in making you pay for a hotel the entire time when I have five extra bedrooms. Besides, this house kind of creeps me out when I’m here alone so you’d really be doing me a favor.” She tried to play it off logically, but even as she spoke the words she felt her heart speed up and her stomach do a slight flip-flop in her abdomen. What was she getting herself into?

“Well, I wouldn’t want to make you stay in a creepy house all by yourself. What kind of man would that make me?” She didn’t miss the way his lips spread into smirk and the way he sort of sauntered over to her.

“I just have one rule.” She held her palm out towards him, stopping his movements. “No scaring me like you did back home!” At her serious tone Josh couldn’t help but to let out a guttural laugh. She’d been so mad at him for making her think he’d been attack during the blackout back in Tennessee when they were supposed to be at Justin and Carly’s wedding reception. The morning after her assault on him, he’d been shocked to see how pronounced the bruises were she’d left on his skin.

“Don’t worry, I don’t feel like having you take a baseball bat to my knees anytime soon.”

“I should have done that in the first place! I probably would have hurt you more than hitting you with just my fists. Which you deserved completely by the way!” She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to pout at him, but he saw through her façade. She wasn’t really mad at him for scaring her. He was sure she probably laughed about the whole thing when telling people about it.

“Okay, okay I admit I was a jerk for doing that. But it was funny.” He pulled the rental keys out of his pocket and turned to head to the car he’d be using for the duration of his stay in LA.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my stuff and check out of the hotel. Or are you retracting your offer of a spare bedroom?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, feeling silly.

“Do you want to come with me?” He watched as she bit her lip, indecision clearly playing out in her mind. “Maybe we could stop for ice cream on our way back? If there are any good places out here, anyway. I’m sure everyone is much too worried about their porn-star figures to bother having an ice cream parlor in LA.”

At that Raleigh did laugh and walked down the stairs back to where he stood. “Please, I know the best little place to get ice cream. Let’s go. But you’re buying!”

“Fine. You buy breakfast.” He smiled at her back, watching as she walked to his car.

He couldn’t possibly describe his happiness at that moment. He was ecstatic she’d decided to sign on for the project and even more-so that she’d asked him to stay with her. He knew she truly had asked only because the house freaked her out, but it still gave him a much better opportunity to get close to her again, something he craved more than his chocolate-vanilla twist ice cream cone.

As far as he was concerned, Daniel Cooper was out of the picture and they were going to have on hell of a time.