“So, what do you two have planned for once I leave?” Michelle asked as she and Rachel cooked dinner. Michelle was meeting JC tonight, and Rachel hoped JC would remember to invite the guys.
“Well, see, I have this really comfortable bed and JC is a great kisser…”
Michelle held up her hand. “Stop right there missy.”
Rachel laughed and heard the doorbell ring. She answered it, her smile growing. “Hey guys!” She pecked JC on the lips before giving Joey and Justin hugs. “Come on in.”
Rachel led them all into the kitchen and introduced the guys to Michelle. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Joey flashed her a smile.
“Down boy!” JC laughed.
“When do you guys finish recording?” Michelle asked as they set the table.
“We finished the other day.” Joey said, frowning.
“That’s great! When is the album being released?” Rachel wanted to eat her friend’s words before they reached the guys’ ears, but it was too late.
“We don’t know.” Justin’s smile turned into a frown too.
“We’re being sued for contract things.”
“Oh!” Michelle looked embarrassed.
“Michelle, what do you do for work?” JC asked, trying to ease the tension as they sat down to dinner.
“I’m a sales consultant for Mary Kay. So if you guys ever need make-up, you know who to call!” They all laughed, which was Michelle’s intention.
Dinner was very enjoyable, filled with good natured joking and laughing. “We’ll do the dishes!” JC volunteered.
“We? What do you mean, we?” Justin asked.
“The girls shouldn’t have to clean up because they cooked!”
Joey mumbled something but stood up and headed over to the sink.
“Thanks baby.” Rachel kissed JC quickly before turning to Michelle. “What now?”
Before Michelle could respond, the phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey Rachel, it’s Matt.”
“Hi Matt, how are you?”
“I’m good. And yourself?”
“Pretty good…what’s up?”
“I’m afraid I have some bad news…”
Rachel’s smile faded. “What?”
“I need you to go to Syracuse this weekend.”
“Why?”
“They need a presentation about the spring break program we offer, and since you went there…”
“You want me to go.”
“Exactly.”
Rachel sighed; she knew this presentation, and her work would pay for the airfare, but she and JC had planned on spending the weekend together.
“I’m sorry that this is so sudden. We’d need you to leave tomorrow night.”
“Matt…” She couldn’t say no. “Can I bring a guest?”
“Who?” Matt asked.
“My boyfriend.” JC turned his head at the mention of this.
Matt thought for a moment; normally, he didn’t like his employees mixing business with pleasure, but he was asking Rachel to drop everything on short notice. “Sure.”
“Ok, call me with flight information.” Rachel hung up the phone and sighed. “Jayce, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
Rachel took his hand, pulled him into the sunroom, and shut the door. “That was my boss. They need me to make a presentation this weekend…”
“Oh, ok…”
“In Syracuse…”
“Oh.” JC’s smile faded. He saw his weekend with Rachel fading. “So this weekend is going to be post-poned?” JC sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll have to cancel dinner reservations and…I wish I could be there for your presentation.” JC finished. It took him a minute, but he was shocked to realize that he cared more about not being there for Rachel than having to rearrange his weekend. “I want to be there for you.”
“You can. Will you come with me?”
JC’s eyes widened at that. “You want me to come with you?”
“Yeah.” When JC didn’t respond, Rachel began to ramble. “I’d only be working for a few hours, and we can go to a football game, and it’d be lots of fun…”
JC kissed Rachel to stop her rambling. “I’d love to come with you.”
The two entered the kitchen a few minutes later. “Is everything ok?” Michelle asked.
“Yeah, I have to go away this weekend.”
“Ouch.” Justin said. From experience, he knew what a pain it was to drop everything at a moment’s notice.
“Yeah.” JC said. “But I’m going with her.”
“We’ve got a Rico Suave here!” Joey taunted.
JC threw a towel at Joey and then went back to washing dishes.
Michelle and Rachel headed into the living room to talk while the boys finished washing. “So what do you think?”
Michelle giggled. “You two are so cute together!”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Thanks. I mean seriously.”
“We’ll talk later.” Michelle said as the guys invaded the living room.
“Are we watching a movie?” Justin asked.
“We can.” Rachel answered.
“Which one?” JC asked.
“American Pie?” Joey responded.
“Rach doesn’t have that one.” Michelle answered.
“I have Disney movies…” Rachel said.
“You do?” Justin asked.
“You’re never too old for Disney movies!” JC declared.
“You girls can pick…” Joey said. “I don’t care what movie we watch.”
Michelle and Rachel had just the movie in mind. “Beauty & the Beast!”
“Bye honey.” JC said as he kissed Rachel good bye. He heard the car horn beep and saw Justin and Joey fighting about something.
“You better get back to them. Who knows what they’re doing to your car!”
JC rolled his eyes. “The sad thing is that’s true.” He kissed Rachel again quickly. “Call me with details for tomorrow.”
“I will.”
Rachel watched JC walk to his car and scold Justin and Joey for whatever they were doing. She stood in the doorway until his car had turned the corner and she could no longer see it.
“So what do I think?” Michelle asked as Rachel joined her on the couch.
“Yes, what do you think?”
Michelle paused to collect her thoughts. “I think you are exactly what he needs, and he’s exactly what you need.” She smiled. “JC is definitely a good guy; you can’t do much better than that.” What Michelle really wanted to say was that she knew Rachel was falling hard and fast, and that she needed to tackle the one issue that was bothering her before it tore them a part.
“I think I’m in love with him.” Rachel whispered.
Michelle took her friend’s hand. “You have to be sure, honey. You can’t toss those words around.”
Rachel nodded. “Do you know what he said when I told him about this weekend?” Michelle shook her head. “He said he wished he could be there for the presentation”that he wanted to be there for me.”
Michelle smiled. “He’s special.”
“JC is…amazing. He told me he likes the inside me more than the outside me…I know it sounds cheesy…but he’s just so cute, and…” Rachel sighed. “Sweet. I just have this connection with him…you know?” Michelle knew Rachel well enough to let her keep talking. “It’s just…I can’t even describe it. He treats me like I’m the most important person in the world, and he’s really interested in me.”
“I’d say he feels the same way you do.”
Rachel smiled. “I think he does too.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
Rachel sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe this weekend…we can go to the kissing bench!”
Michelle giggled. Maybe this weekend won’t be so bad after all Rachel thought.
“JC, wipe that happy ass grin off your face!” Joey commanded.
“Or at least tell us why you’re so happy!” Justin said. “Wait, those few minutes you were gone…you didn’t get any, did you?”
JC laughed. “No, she asked me to go on her business trip this weekend…and if I did”which I didn’t”I wouldn’t be telling you about it!”
“I like that girl more and more.” Justin declared.
“I’m glad.” JC responded.
“Michelle is hot!” Joey said. JC rolled his eyes, a move that Joey saw in the rearview mirror. “What? Everyone expects me to say that, so I’m giving the people why they want!”
JC listened to Justin and Joey banter back and forth while he sorted out his thoughts. Rachel was amazing; she was so giving, and really wanted to make a difference. That is what made her different from every other girl JC had been involved with: she had her own thing going on. Yes, Rachel still supported him, but she was independent. And JC was determined to show her that he could do the same. Rachel was special, and had become the one person JC didn’t want to live without very quickly.
“Jayce?” Justin asked. He had been way too quiet for too long.
“I’m in love with her.” JC blurted out.
“That’s obvious.” Joey pointed out.
JC smiled. “Man, I’ve got to pack tonight! Do you guys own anything orange?”
Rachel sat down on the bed in the hotel room, brushing her hair. Smiling, she thought about the day. They had talked non-stop on the plan ride and had enjoyed a quiet evening at the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow would be very fun; Rachel had managed to get tickets to the football game, and she wanted to show JC the campus.
JC exited the bathroom and slid into bed. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”
Rachel placed her brush on the table and climbed back onto bed. “Yeah.” She kissed JC lightly. “I can’t wait for you to experience SU.”
“So that wraps up the presentation. If you have any questions, you all have my e-mail address. Thanks for coming, and enjoy the game!”
JC stood at the door, watching Rachel talk to a few interested students. “Oh my god, you’re JC!” He turned his attention away from his girlfriend and noticed two girls standing next to him. He nodded. “Can we have your autograph?”
JC smiled. “Only if you promise to keep it quiet that I’m on campus.”
The two girls nodded vigorously then scampered off once they had his autograph. “Working the Chasez magic?” Rachel called from across the room while cleaning up her presentation materials.
JC walked across the room. “Yep.”
“Is there any left for me?”
“There’s always enough Chasez magic for you. Don’t worry, there’s enough to go around!”
Rachel laughed. “You are evil.”
“Why thank you.” JC grabbed Rachel around the waist and pulled her close by her belt loops.
“Jayce, I need to finish up so we can get out of here and go to the game!”
“What if I don’t want to let you go?”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I’d say I do.” JC began to pick Rachel up, but she was too quick. She screeched as she ran around the other side of the table. She streaked through rows of chairs, but eventually JC caught her around the waist.
“Jayce, be reasonable.” Rachel pleaded. “I need to get this finished up so we can get on with the day I planned for us!”
JC thought for a moment. “Ok.”
Hey, hey you! You know what to do! You’ve got to run with the orange and roll with the blue!
The cheers SU fans sung were catchy, but they did nothing to help the football team. JC knew to keep this thought to himself, because obviously Rachel loved anything that had to do with Syracuse.
“Are you having fun?” Rachel asked as she reached into JC’s back pocket to grab his keys.
“Yes, and what are you doing?”
“It’s third down!” Rachel said it like it was the most obvious thing. JC just smiled and nodded, pretending to know what she was talking about.
“So you’re a sports fan?”
Rachel sighed and sat down. “Kinda, I like SU sports, but I’m not, like, watching every game on TV.”
JC smiled. He was learning something new about Rachel all of the time.
“Rachel?”
Rachel and JC turned around. “Becca! Ron!” Rachel jumped up and hugged the two people sitting behind them.
“I thought that was you! What are you doing here?”
“I gave a presentation for Habitat for Humanity, and now I’m watching the game.” Rachel noticed Becca glance towards JC. “Oh! Wow, I’m so rude. Becca and Ron, this is JC, my boyfriend. Jayce, this is Ron and Becca.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Becca arched her eyebrows at Rachel.
“So how’s married life?” Rachel asked.
“As good as married life can be.” Ron responded. After receiving an elbow in the stomach from his wife, he added, “It’s great!”
“Rachel, don’t you have to go to the bathroom?”
It took Rachel a minute to realize what Becca was saying: let’s girl talk! “Yeah, I’ll be right back.”
As the two women left, Ron climbed over the bench and sat down next to JC. “So, you’re the new guy?”
JC laughed. “How many new guys have you met?”
Ron paused. “Two…so tell me, how did you meet Rachel?”
“Well…she actually passed out in a store on Yom Kippur, and I was there.”
“Ah, are you her Knight in Shining Armor?”
“I hope so.”
Ron smiled. “Are you Jewish?”
JC hesitated for a minute. “No, but I’m not really religious.”
Ron laughed. “It’s not a test, just curious.”
JC nodded. “I know about Ted, so I totally get it.”
“On the ball!” Ron looked towards the game for a minute. “I can’t believe they’re still this bad after all of these years.”
“You mean since two years ago?”
“That too.”
“I can’t imagine doing this every weekend…I think I’d get an ulcer.”
“I didn’t come every weekend.”
“So you went here?”
“Yep! That’s how I met Becca and Rachel.”
“That’s cool…woah! Did Syracuse actually just complete a pass?”
“Haha…now you’re catching to how we do things here.”
“Cheer when we’re good, and not care when we’re bad?”
“Exactly.”
“So, you have a boyfriend?” Becca asked as she washed her hands.
“Yes.” A slow smile crept across Rachel’s face.
“Do tell!”
Rachel took a deep breath. “I was in the store on Yom Kippur, and kind of fell down, cuz I was dizzy…and JC was there.”
Becca laughed. “You know you’re not supposed to not go places on Yom Kippur!”
“I know…but you know me.”
“So do I get anymore details?”
“I love him.” Rachel said simply.
“What?” Becca asked. She’d barely heard anything about JC, and now she was in love? “How long have you two been dating?”
“About 2 months…”
“Rach…”
“I know! But…do you know what he said when I first told him about this trip?” Becca shook her head. “He said he wished he could be there for the presentation, and that he wanted to support me.”
“And?”
“Then I asked him to come with me.”
“There’s more.”
“He’s just…amazing. He does the sweetest things.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks Bex.”
“He’s not Jewish, though, right?”
Rachel shook her head. “No, but that doesn’t matter to me.”
“What about your parents?” Becca knew how much influence Rachel’s parents had over her. “Stop giving me that look.”
Rachel sighed. “I love him.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Rachel, can’t we go back to the hotel? I’m exhausted!” JC complained as Rachel tugged on his hand. After the football game, Rachel had showed him around the entire campus”and Syracuse is a pretty big school. They had then gone over to Ron and Becca’s for a late dinner. And now, all JC wanted to do was curl up in bed with his girlfriend.
“There’s one more place I have to show you.”
“Where didn’t we go this afternoon?” JC was skeptical; they had gone everywhere.
“We didn’t go here.” Rachel steered JC around a building and into a little grove of trees surrounding one bench. They stopped at the bench. “Sit down.”
JC did as he was told and took a deep breath; he had no idea what Rachel was thinking.
Rachel scooted closer to JC and rested her hand on his shoulder. She leaned forward and lightly brushed her lips against JC’s. She looked into JC’s eyes and kissed him again, fuller this time.
JC went to say something, but Rachel interrupted him. “Do you know what this is?”
“A bench?” JC asked, confused.
Rachel laughed. “Not just any bench…this is the kissing bench.” Rachel took JC’s hands and continued. “There’s a myth…if you kiss someone on this bench, you marry them.”
She looked at JC as the words sank in. JC smiled and did the only thing he could think of”kiss Rachel.
Minutes later, they broke apart, breathless. JC rested his forehead against Rachel’s and whispered, “I love you.”
Rachel smiled. “I love you too.”
JC again kissed Rachel, wanting to show the depth of his emotions. His hands were tangled in her hair and Rachel nibbled on JC’s lip.
“Let’s go back to the hotel.”
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