Chapter 14:
Madison was waiting for Mina in her office as Mina returned from some appointments.
“Hey” Madison smiles as Mina sets down her work bag. “I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. I uh- can’t tell you what’s been going on, I know we tell each other everything but… I’ll tell you in time- promise. But look at the bright side, I’m here now!” Madi explains as Mina laughs.
“Thank god!”
“Another JC dilemma?”
“How’d you know?”
“I can see it all over your face. What’s going on?”
Mina launches into the whole debacle. “And now he’s invited me to some movie premiere which is cool but what do I tell Alex?” she finishes
“Tell Alex what? That you’re going to a movie premiere with a friend? Alex will understand, I’m sure”
“I mean I haven’t exactly told Alex all of our history… should I? Going as friends though is fine…”
“Min- you’re the one who keeps saying you don’t have feelings for JC. Alex doesn’t know you’re history with him right? As long as you’re just friends and nothing more then its fine, seriously stop over analyzing”
“Thanks Mads. I will tell Alex eventually, just not now. You’ve always been my voice of reason!” Mina replies with a smile.
Mina’s phone rings -JOSH-
“Hey Josh”
“Hey Mina, are you still coming to the premiere?”
Mina glances over at Madison who just nods her head as if to say “Go on…”
“Of course! I can’t wait!”
“Great!” he answers. She can hear the smile in his voice.
“I called to verify and so I can give you all the details. It’s gonna be this Friday, Eric is arranging a car. I’ll meet you at your place or you can meet me at mine, whichever works best and then we can ride together” JC explains. Mina looks over at Madison grinning.
“We can meet at mine. Sounds great, I’ll see you Friday!” Mina answers, hanging up.
“See, that was painless. Now what are you gonna wear?” Madison asks with a huge grin. They both appreciated any excuse to get dressed up.
Friday comes in a flash but Mina is ready when JC rings her doorbell. Madison helped her choose an outfit. She opted to be simplish and was reusing the dress she wore earlier in the year to the MTV party. She just hoped that she wasn’t overdressed.
“Hey let me grab my clutch” she greets JC. She would give Josh this, he was always on time and he cleaned up good! He wore torn white jeans with a long sleeve blue button down, with the sleeves rolled up. JC remembers her dress from the party where he first saw her again. She looked amazing then but if it was possible she looked even more incredible tonight!
“You look great!”
“Thanks. I feel a little overdressed” Mina explains as JC holds open her car door.
“Don’t! You look fantastic!”
They make small talk as they ride to the theater.
“How’s Alec?” JC asks
“ALEX is fine. He’s in Memphis for work, some type of seminar”
“Cool…”
“Yeah. So… are you excited?”
“For the premiere?”
“Yeah”
“A little. It’s nothing major but it’s exciting” JC replies as they pull up to the theater. He helps Mina from the car and the camera flashes begin. “If you want I can walk the carpet and meet you inside? I’m sure there’s interviews I have to do and…” he adds.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind” Mina smiles and takes his hand. He leads her through the craziness. She looks over at him and he looks so happy. The rest of the cast was arriving and was posing for photos. As they reach the photo backdrop, she stands off to the side to let them take photos and do interviews and takes it all in. Mina smiles to herself. She wonders if he ever misses being in the spotlight all the time.
After a few interviews and more photos with the cast, JC returns to her side. Someone ushers them into the theater and shows them to their seats.
“This is very exciting. I’ve never been to a movie premiere before, an after party? Yes, but this is just so cool!” Mina admits, glancing around as people fill up the theater.
“Thanks for coming with me” JC replies, squeezing her hand.
“No worries. Pass up the chance to see you play yourself? No way!” she chuckles.
“They want to do a quick Q&A before the film?” Eric appears out of nowhere and whispers to JC.
“That’s fine” JC answers “You okay here?” he asks, turning to Mina
“Go do you thing” she smiles. He grins back as Eric whisks him away. One of the ladies in charge of the film festival brings the cast up on stage and introduces everyone. Mina was in awe that she was in the same room as Topher Grace. She chuckles to herself as JC stands there shy and awkward. It was like 13 year old Josh had taken over his body. She claps as he speaks about the music of the film and applauds loudly after the Q&A finishes.
“How’d I do?” JC asks as he returns to his seat.
“Great! I didn’t realize what an ensemble cast this movie has… I love Topher” she smirks
“Just wait…” JC grins back as the 5 minute warning comes and the lights dim.
The lights come up and everyone applauds.
“Well…” JC asks looking over at Mina. She wipes tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.
“That was… HILARIOUS! The NSYNC puns and Sex Me Gently?” she erupts into laughter
“Thanks” JC smiles.
“No seriously, I loved it. You did really good!” Mina explains. His face lights up. JC helps her up from her seat and takes her off to meet the rest of the cast as they mill about the room.
“Ready to head out?” he asks after half an hour
“Sure. Lead the way” she answers as he takes her head and leads her outside.
They discuss the film and JC tells her some behind the scenes stories as they ride back to her house. Madison was right, as always. They could be friends and not make this weird. It was fine. She was having a really great time. The driver pulls up to her house and she turns to JC
“Are you gonna be good getting home?”
“Yeah I’ll be fine. Why?”
She laughs. “I was just thinking about the sleepovers we used to have as kids in the treehouse”
“Are you asking me to sleepover? If your mom isn’t here to make pancakes in the morning, then no deal” JC laughs
“I think I can manage to make pancakes. C'mon it will be fun- we can stay up late eating too much junk food and watching movies!”
“I would but I don’t have a change of clothes” JC gestures to his outfit
“Good point! Maybe another night. Night Josh!” she calls, climbing out of the car. She walks to her front door and turns to see him still sitting there waiting. It was sweet of him to wait until she got inside. She turns the key in the lock and decides to tell Madison everything. She was in desperate need of a girl’s night!
