Rehearsals that week did not go as well as the previous. Wade was getting aggravated faster, and with the tour still two months away, some of the guys were having trouble concentrating.
“Joey and Chris, if I have to stop one more time…” Wade was at it again on Friday.
“It’s not our fault we don’t know that step.” Joey said. He and Chris were having difficulty getting down a particularly hard step.
“My fault? How about when next time you don’t get something, ask me! Don’t just goof off like you don’t care!” Red blotches were forming on Wade’s face. He was breathing fire. “Take a break…”
Wade started heading towards the door, when Kristi caught up with him. “Wade!” He stopped, but didn’t turn around. Kristi grabbed his arm.
“What?” He said more angrily than he had meant to.
“Wade, what’s happened to you? Why are you being like this?” Kristi paused, wondering how much prodding she could do, then continued. “Where’s that guy who made me weak at the knees during auditions because he commanded the respect of everyone in the room?”
“What are you going on about?”
“Wade, you are an amazing choreographer. Last week, these guys were your best friends, and you just happen to work together. Now, you’re treating them like they mean nothing to you. All you do is yell.”
“You have to admit, Joey and Chris should have asked me...”
“Yes,” Kristi conceded, “They should have. But they’re scared! They don’t want you to be mad at them.” Kristi took hold of Wade’s hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Now go back there, apologize to everyone for yelling at them, and be the man who people want to work with”not the one they have to.”
Wade smiled, let go of her hand, and turned around to go apologize. Then he faced Kristi again. “I really made you weak at the knees during auditions?”
“Not gonna lie…” Kristi winked.
Wade leaned in and whispered, “Are we still on for tonight?”
“Yep…pick me up at 8?”
“I’ll be there.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, assuming no one was paying attention to them. Wade and Kristi, after all, were having a choreographer to dance captain talk.
However, JC was watching. He felt this…he couldn’t quite describe the feeling…He and Kristi were friends, and after sleeping with him, she couldn’t even tell him that she was dating one of his good friends?
At 8 o’clock, on the dot, a buzz sounded in Kristi’s apartment. She buzzed Wade up, and went back into her bedroom. Even if she was ready, he was going to have to wait a minute or two.
When Kristi answered the door, she was greeted with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss.
“You ready?” Wade asked.
“Yes.”
The two enjoyed dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant. Kristi did feel a bit out of place; she is a low maintenance girl who would be happy going to TGI Fridays. Wade knew many people there and introduced Kristi to everyone who came over to say hi. Names and faces were swirling around in her head, and eventually she gave up on trying to remember them.
After dinner, Wade took Kristi to a beach. They took their shoes off and walked hand in hand, barefooted, in the sand.
“You’re quiet.” Wade stated.
“I’m just enjoying the night. It’s beautiful out.” Kristi was looking up at the sky. Few stars were visible.
“They sky’s not the only beautiful thing here.” Kristi blushed at Wade’s compliment.
They walked in silence for another minute or so. Wade couldn’t stand the silence. He knew the wheels in her head were turning, and he needed to know what she was thinking.
“What are you thinking right now?” He asked her.
“I had a nice evening…” Kristi did not sound enthusiastic.
“I thought you would like the restaurant…”
“I did! I really did, Wade.” Kristi reassured him. “It’s just…Wade, I’m a simple girl from Illinois. I don’t need fancy restaurants and famous people to make me happy.” She sighed. “I enjoyed tonight, but I can’t deal with meeting 20 new, important, famous people every night.”
“Oh.” Was all Wade could manage. Unconsciously, Wade had thought seeing him with all of those important people would impress Kristi.
As if reading Wade’s mind, Kristi continued. “It was pretty cool to be with the man everyone wanted to talk to, but…I want a man who wants to be with me, even if he could be with anyone else in the room…and is happy with that…just me.” Wade just let her go on, talking. He was learning more about Kristi now than he had through all of dinner. “I don’t want him to ditch everyone, but our nice dinner was interrupted every 5 seconds…”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Wade finally interjected. “You say you like being with the man, but then you want someone who doesn’t talk to anyone but you on dates?” He let go of her hand. “I think it’s time for us to go back. I have an early meeting with Ron and Johnny.”
Kristi was pulling back into her building’s parking lot. She had just come back from shopping. As bad as the habit was, whenever Kristi needed something to make her feel better, she pulled out the credit card. Thankfully, it wasn’t that often. She never really let herself get involved with men; she had flings, but what was the point of a relationship if it wasn’t going to last?
Getting out of her car, she spotted a familiar looking Jeep. Sitting in the driver’s seat was JC.
“JC?” Kristi called to him.
“What”oh, hi!” JC looked nervous.
“Hi yourself.” Kristi smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping we could talk.” He jumped out of his car, and like he had the night of Justin’s pool party, took Kristi’s bags from her. He did not, however, take her hand.
“Sure.”
As they headed up to Kristi’s apartment, JC was interrogating her about her purchases.
“What did you buy?”
“New point shoes”my old ones are ratty”a couple of shirts, pants, other things that don’t interest you, and a lamp.”
“Things that don’t interest me?” JC asked, raising his eyebrows. Knowing he wouldn’t get a response, he continued. “That’s quite the interesting combination.”
Once inside Kristi’s apartment, they settled themselves down on the couch. JC still looked nervous, although he was smiling. Kristi played with the fraying material on the edge of a whole in her jeans.
“The other day, you know, when you told me you were kinda seeing someone?”
“Yea…” Kristi still felt guilty. And as of right now, she wasn’t sure she made the best choice.
“Well, I know who you’re seeing.”
Kristi looked up at this. She wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or totally freaked out. JC didn’t seem like the obsessive type.
“I saw you and Wade at rehearsal yesterday.”
“Oh…” It all made sense. Kristi was more relieved that her dance partner wasn’t a stalker.
“And…I just wanted to let you know that…” This seemed to be difficult for JC to say. “…that…I just want you to be happy, and if that’s with Wade, I’m ok with that.”
Kristi’s heart jumped at this. Last night had ended sourly, and JC was making up for it all, and more. She gave him an admiring look.
“JC…I’m so glad to hear that…but I think I might have had an error in judgment…”
JC couldn’t believe his ears. He didn’t want to believe his ears. What if he was hearing her wrong? “Really?”
“Well…would you take me to a fancy Italian restaurant where you could introduce me to lots of important people you know on our first date?”
He shot a puzzled look her way. “No…Italian food is so overrated.” He smiled.
Kristi groaned. But how could she believe that she and Wade were exclusive after last night?
“JC, are you free tonight?”
JC really didn’t think he was hearing her correctly. Who cares! JC thought. If she’s with you, she’s not with Wade…”Of course!”
Around 1 o’clock in the morning, Kristi woke up with the TV on and someone in the bed next to her. She shook her head and JC noticed she was awake.
“Hey! I hope the TV didn’t wake you up…I couldn’t sleep.”
“No, it didn’t…” Kristi suddenly remembered what had happened.
JC had offered to make her dinner, which was a relief because Kristi can barely cook, if you call throwing vegetables and chicken into a skillet cooking. Dinner was delicious, and Kristi found a box of brownie mix for dessert.
“Since when do I have baking things in my house?” Kristi wondered to herself.
“Who cares?” JC exclaimed. “Brownie time!”
JC let Kristi crack the egg, and finish stirring, easily the two most fun parts of making brownies. He was spraying the pan, getting ready to pour the brownie mix in. Kristi had an idea of her own…She stuck her hand in the mix, scooped some batter up, and smeared it over JC’s left cheek.
“What the…?” JC was confused for a moment, but when he turned to look at Kristi, he knew exactly what had happened. “So we’re going to waste the brownie mix then?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call this wasting it…” Kristi smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. She leaned over and licked a bit of mix off of JC’s smooth cheek.
“Yeah…that’s not really a waste.” He smiled. “But, it is a bit unfair.” He took some batter and spread it all over Kristi’s neck.
She looked down at the brown mixture dripping onto her collar bone-area, and asked, “Fair now?”
“I think so.” And with that, JC captured her lips with his, tasting brownie mix, and backed her up against the kitchen counter.
Once most of the brownie mix had been removed, they made their way to Kristi’s bedroom. She did have the frame of mind, however to turn off the oven.
“Sorry I fell asleep.” Kristi said, sheepishly.
“You looked tired”don’t worry about it. I watched the Yankees and Sox game.”
“Who won?” Kristi asked, genuinely interested.
“Red Sox. Pedro was awesome.”
“Great! That’ll make Mom and Dad happy…” Kristi cursed herself in her head…she had mentioned her parents while she was in bed with a man. Wow, she can be stupid.
“Aren’t you from Illinois?”
“Yeah?” Kristi was very surprised JC had remembered, as she probably had only mentioned it once.
“And aren’t the Red Sox in Boston?”
“Yes.” She was still confused. “Oh! My parents grew up in Boston. Their whole families, never seen a World Series title…”
“It’ll happen, eventually.” JC smiled at her.
The two got comfortable, talked for a bit, and then they drifted off to sleep. JC was happy; he had spent an amazing evening with an amazing woman, and he felt things were heading in the right direction. He still wasn’t sure if he was ready for another relationship, but he knew he’d have to start eventually, so why not now? Kristi, on the other hand, was worried; she had no idea what was going on with her and Wade. She wasn’t being fair to either guy, and she knew it.
Kristi woke up to JC moving around the room, getting dressed.
“What’s going on?” Kristi asked.
JC smiled weakly. “Johnny just called my cell…I have to go in today.” She started to get out of bed too. “No, it’s just us guys”we have to edit the music specifically for the tour.”
“Oh.” Kristi wasn’t sure how to react. She had wanted to talk with JC, but she wasn’t sure what she would have said.
JC snapped her away from her thoughts. “I gotta run.” He pecked her lips. “See you tomorrow!”
An hour later, Kristi still hadn’t made it out of bed. She had put her pajamas on, but was currently watching a documentary on the Alaskan Oil Pipeline. Deciding she had to talk to someone, even if that person wasn’t JC or Wade, she picked up her phone.
“What do you want?” Michelle answered her phone.
“How do you know I’m not someone important calling?” Kristi asked.
“Two reasons: 1, I have caller ID. And two, who else would call me this early?”
“It’s only 8”“
“”on a Sunday!” Michelle took a deep breath. She knew Kristi needed to talk. “So what’s up?”
“I messed up.” Kristi had gotten herself into some sticky situations before, but nothing like this. “Big time mess up…” She pulled her knees up, hugging them with her free arm. There was no reason to delay any longer. “I slept with JC last night.” Whatever Michelle was expecting, that wasn’t it. “Miche, you there?”
“Yeah…you slept with JC? But I thought you and Wade were exclusive?”
“I know…” Kristi hid her face in her hands and she told Michelle everything that had happened starting Friday night.
“Woah.” Michelle was shocked. “You’re living a soap opera girl!”
“I feel so bad. I’m stringing along two great guys, and every time I think I make up my mind, I go and do something stupid.”
“Well, who’s it going to be?” Michelle asked.
“I have to talk to Wade.” Kristi said more to herself than Michelle. “We decided to date before I ever met JC, and he should get first dibs, right?”
Michelle didn’t say anything. She personally liked JC better, but she wasn’t the one sleeping with them both. “If you want that.”
Kristi forced herself to make up her mind. If she didn’t do that now, she wouldn’t ever.
“I have to call Wade.”
Still in bed, Kristi was on the phone with Wade. She had told him everything that had happened since he dropped her off after their date Friday night, sparing him the details.
“YOU WHAT?” Wade was beyond mad. He was furious.
“I’m sorry!” Kristi said in a small voice. “OK? I don’t know what else to say!” Wade was silent.
“Well,” Wade began to calm down, “I can’t tell you not to see him anymore, because you work together…” Duh, Kristi thought. “Kristi, I want this to work, but you’ve put me in a bad position.”
“I know.”
“Just…” Wade paused, catching his breath. “How about we start over?”
“Ok…I’d like that.”
“But we should take things slow…”
“Sounds good…”
Next, Kristi had to call JC. She knew he would pick up his cell phone if he heard it, so she had to rummage through the papers Wade had given them all after auditions to find his home phone number. She would leave a message, which would give her time to think about what to say.
JC got home from a long day at work. It was 8 o’clock, and he had to be back there in 12 hours. He threw his keys down on the counter, and noticed the message button on his answering machine was blinking. He pressed ‘play’ and opened the fridge, looking for some food. He stopped when he heard Kristi’s voice.
“Hey JC. I hope everything went well today. Um…could you”er”give me a call back? It’s important”not an emergency”just…I need to talk to you.”
This doesn’t sound good, JC thought as he whipped out his cell phone to get Kristi’s number. He dialed and waited for her to pick up.
“Kristi? It’s JC.” She was silent. “What’s up?”
She took a deep breath. “You’re going to hate me…” With that, he knew what was coming. She even knew that he knew what was coming. “I’m sorry, but I gave my word to Wade, and…”
JC felt his face getting hot. It had been a long day, and this was not the way he wanted to end it. He felt like breathing fire. “I should have figured this…’burn me once, shame on you; burn me twice, shame on me.’ Isn’t that the saying?”
Kristi expected this; she knew he would be upset.
“Do you ever think about anyone but yourself? You told me you were done with Wade”ok, so you didn’t say that, but you batted your eyes and said you’d made the wrong choice. You know what?” JC couldn’t put himself through this anymore. He would rather be numb, like he’d been over the past year than be on this sudden emotional roller coaster. “I’ll make things easy for you, so you’re not tempted to cheat on Wade again. Don’t talk to me unless it’s work, don’t touch me unless we’re dancing, and don’t come near unless you have to.”
Kristi was shocked. Even if she didn’t want to date JC, she still wanted to be friends; although she knew deep down that it probably wasn’t a good idea.
“See you tomorrow…” JC said angrily and hung up the phone. He felt sick. Maybe he wasn’t ready for another relationship.
Closing the fridge, he forgot about the hungry feeling in his stomach and went down into his recording studio to fiddle with his piano. As mad as he was, he should at least get something out of this; he’d take a song.
The next morning at work, everyone knew something was up, but they weren’t sure. Even Michelle didn’t know exactly what was going on, because Kristi hadn’t called her after she had talked to JC.
“Woah, JC just gave Kristi the cold shoulder.” Justin whispered to Michelle as they stood in formation for “I Want You Back”, waiting for Wade to turn on the music.
“Yeah, well, things happen.”
Work was miserable for Kristi for the next month. Yes, JC held his grudge for a month, and he had every right to. Kristi had played him, even though she hadn’t meant to. And another thing, one Kristi didn’t know, was that JC had been played before. He didn’t tell her this, though; he just continued to ignore her. Kristi put on a good act; she smiled a lot, and generally had a good time with everyone else. But it hurt that her dance partner shuddered every time she went near him. The tour was looming closer, though. Everyone avoided JC, as he was mad at the world. Nerves were become unhinged and everyone was getting more stressed out. Wade was at the top of the stress list; he was scheduled to start choreographing another tour for Britney Spears, but they decided to start rehearsing earlier than he had planned. So, not only was he worrying about the *NSYNC tour, he was worried about losing his next job.
JC, however, was starting to lose his cold demeanor; it took too much energy to be mad at Kristi. He started making small talk with her, even cracking a few jokes during breaks from dancing. That didn’t make Wade happy; he found every excuse to separate the two of them, even if they were just talking.
“Kristi!” Wade yelled across the room. Rehearsal was brutal that morning. They ran through half the show, but were having some memory issues on songs they had sung on previous tours. “Get over here!”
By now, news had spread about Wade and Kristi. She had a feeling JC had let it ‘slip’. She didn’t care; she’d rather have it in the open. Wade, however, had been furious.
“I need to go talk with Ron about this next number. Can you have them run through it a couple of times? I should be back in a few minutes.” With that, he turned and walked out of the door.
“Ok guys!” Kristi called them together. “We’re gonna go over ‘No Strings Attached’ several times. I’m going to watch you all, because if it’s not perfect when Wade gets back, then…it won’t be pretty.” Also, the less Kristi and JC danced together, the better. He still was uncomfortable around her, but as the tour was so close and he was stressed, his harsh demeanor began to fall. Almost everyone, except Kristi that is, could see JC still very much liked Kristi. He didn’t want to”but he did.
The music started. Kristi never had a problem with this song, but it was making her think of her relationship with Wade. JC knew what that glazed look on Kristi’s face meant. He knew she wasn’t happy. He really liked her, and wanted to let go of everything that had happened. He wanted to”but he didn’t know if he could. He had been burned before…but everyone says that when you find that feeling”the one that makes you think nothing can touch you, like you’re on top of the world”then you should do whatever you can to hold onto it. JC admitted it to himself: despite all of the crap they had been through, he still wanted Kristi.
We fight so much, Kristi thought. We’ve been on like, what, 3 dates? I don’t know why we even call this a relationship. She sighed. But there’s nothing I can do. I made my choice, and for right now, that’s what’s going to stay. I don’t want to piss people off even more, especially with the tour right around the corner.
After running through the song twice, Kristi said, “There’s a very good chance Wade will walk in during the middle of this run-through. So unless you want to be here all night, I recommend you nail it.” Although Kristi always had a tough exterior, up close she looked tired. Besides knowing her dance parts, she had to know everyone else’s, and the stress Wade was adding did not help.
JC was allowed to ‘work the crowd’ while he was singing during the first part. He had an idea. Throwing caution to the wind and going against his better judgment, he started to sing.
I see the things he does to you
All the pain that he puts you through
And I see what's really going on
Staying out at night while you're by the phone
Kristi’s breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t seeing right. JC could not possibly be singing to her. Not after all of those things he said, the month he spent ignoring her. And yet…his eyes were not leaving hers. He barely blinked. Staring at one spot was not normal for these guys; they get too excited to keep still. Her heart was pounding, and she wondered if others could hear it.
Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
See I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of
It wasn’t a secret her and Wade weren’t exactly happy. She had thought that the last person that would care was JC, but she was wrong. He still wanted her. And the last time they had really spoken, now that Kristi thought about it, he said he’d make sure that she wouldn’t screw up again, he never said anything about his feelings for her.
Baby you're not the only one
You don't have to be afraid to fall in love
And I know that you've hurt in the past
But if you want it, here's my heart
No strings attached
JC was still looking directly at her. She knew what he was saying: his heart is there if she wanted it. Kristi was impressed that he could put himself out there like that. She vowed that no matter what happened, she would not hurt him again.
No one noticed, but Wade had walked in at the beginning of the song. He thought he knew exactly what was going on; in fact, he kind of expected it. His girlfriend was very attractive, and he couldn’t blame any of the guys for looking at her.
The words of the song still echoed in Kristi’s head.
He doesn't give you the kind of attention
That a girl like you needs (that a girl like you needs)
Cause he always looks around
His eyes wander 'round
He doesn't see you like I see
JC glanced at Justin, who was also staring at Kristi as he sang. Although many people considered Justin immature, which he was, he caught on to some things very quickly. JC made a mental note to thank him afterwards.
Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
Baby I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of yeah
Baby you're not the only one (baby you're not the only one)
You don't have to be afraid to fall in love (to fall in love)
And I know that you've hurt in the past (hurt in the past)
But if you want it, here's my heart (here's my heart)
No strings attached
Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
See I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of
So if you want to take a chance with me (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)
Even if Kristi had wanted to, she couldn’t take her eyes off of JC. She was still getting over the shock that he still wanted her.
If you (baby) take a chance with me
I'll be everything you need (everything you need)
Because it's our destiny
Something inside Kristi burst at these lines. She had never really paid attention to it before, and the immensity of the words made her breathing quicken.
Baby you're not the only one (baby you're not the only one)
You don't have to be afraid to fall in love (you don't have to be afraid)
And I know that you've hurt in the past (know that you're hurting)
But if you want it, here's my heart (if you want here's my heart)
No strings attached
Kristi looked as she might fall over, she had to steady herself. Wade turned off the music and was the first to speak.
“Looks good, guys. Take a break.” He looked over to Kristi, who avoided his gaze. He couldn’t be mad at her for another man lusting after her. He turned to finish talking with Ron.
Still shocked, Kristi headed over towards Michelle and Beth, sat down, and looked at the two, her eyes wide. She asked in a whisper, “Did that really just happen?” Both girls nodded, and Kristi just stared into space. She couldn’t believe it. After everything that had happened, after disowning her for a month, he was ready to let it all go.
JC and Justin came over and sat down with them. JC turned to Kristi, knowing the break would be short. “I…I just wanted to tell you”“
“I know.” Kristi said. She smiled. “Thank you…” she hesitated. Would JC settle for that right now? “Friends?”
“Friends.” They shook on it.
After lunch, rehearsals became almost unbearable. Wade was yelling at everyone, even if they were dancing correctly. “Michelle, why don’t you help Justin get that move down while I’m working with someone else? It’s really selfish of you!”
Michelle started to retort, but Justin elbowed her in the stomach and mumbled, “Just ignore it. He gets like this close to opening.”
As stressed as everyone else was, and as confused as she was, Kristi was happy. She and JC were lucky not to be yelled at constantly, so they spent the time joking around and laughing. Wade was too busy leaving a path of destruction to notice.
After another grueling four hours, Wade let them go, but not without a warning. “If you guys don’t get your act together…you don’t even want to know. You think I’m mad now…” And with that, he stormed out of the room. No one moved.
Lance spoke up. “I don’t know about you, but I want to get everything down…now. Next week we’ll have to deal with dress rehearsals, costumes, press, and…” He looked worried. “Kristi, just teach me to dance!”
Everyone laughed, and Lance smiled shyly.
“I would love to, Lance!” Kristi said. She made her way over to the stereo. “Whoever else would like to stay is more than welcome to.”
It was 10 o’clock before Kristi arrived at home. She went straight to her bedroom and fell onto her bed, not bothering to change. She was sore and tired, but couldn’t help but smile.
It was a good day, she thought. JC finally started talking to her again. The three extra hours after Wade left that they all had spent dancing really helped. Everything was much sharper; they were almost ready.
Her thoughts wandered back to JC…JC…she needed to stop thinking about him”stop thinking in general”so she could sleep. But what he had done made her smile unlike anything that had happened to her in a while. She knew the song wasn’t written for her or anything like that, but she couldn’t help but feel that today, and maybe only for today, they were all meant specifically for her.
Number of reviews: 0
Print:
Chapter or Story