I stifled another yawn as I trudged my exhausted body once again looking for Justin. He had managed to run away from me after that awful and most boring conference meeting was done. Where he went, I still couldn’t figure out, and I was certainly running out of ideas. I really didn’t want the extra stress and didn’t need the pop wonder to be aggravating me at this point. I really hated this crap. I was just trying to do my job, and I guess this morning with that whole one-night stand escapade he had with that girl, I could understand why he wanted to escape me. But in all seriousness, I really wasn’t in an understanding mood, nor did I want to be understanding. I just wanted to get my job, review his stupid schedule with him, and then make sure he didn’t get distracted from what he was supposed to do. I haphazardly walked into the elevator and leaned against the surface. I hit the button of the desired floor I wanted to go to. This was my last shot.

I took out my cell phone and dialed the familiar number that I was getting used to dial even more everyday, and gritted my teeth when I realized that he wouldn’t pick up his damn phone. He was probably lounging around and having fun, while I on the other hand probably looked like a mad woman, crazily looking for him. I glanced at my reflection in the elevator door. I looked really frazzled and disoriented. No thanks to him. I was about to give up hope and hang up, when I heard a muffle at the other end.

“Justin, is that you?” I asked impatiently. He didn’t seem to say anything, and I heard giggles and laughter in the background. I was not amused. Not at all. Here I was, looking all over the place for him, all the while, he was having a crazy party somewhere. I tapped my foot hard, “Well, answer me. Where are you? I’ve been looking all over for you!” I exclaimed loudly, hoping to get Justin’s attention.

“Huh?” The voice seemed confused. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t Justin…” The voice trailed off.

I rolled my eyes out of annoyance. “Well, isn’t this Justin’s phone?” Great, next thing I know, it’s probably a kidnapper keeping Justin for ransom. I was so not in a mood for this. The elevator door opened, and I stepped out.

“Well, yeah it is.”

“Well, who is this? And where is Justin?” I snapped.
            “Who is this?” The voice asked.

I sighed. This is going to take longer than I thought. I started walking in the hallway. I bit my lip and just wanted to strangle someone. “This is Dina. Can you tell…”

“Dina! Why didn’t you tell me it was you! So what’s up?”

“Who the hell is this?! And how do you know me/?” I asked, even more confused.

The voice laughed, I was displeased at this. “It’s me Trace. Didn’t you recognize my voice?”

“If I had recognized your place in the first place, we would’ve never had to go through this whole miserable ‘who is this?’ question…”

“Man, you sound pissed.” Trace said.

“I’m sorry Trace. I didn’t mean to take my frustration out on you.” I felt bad. “But Justin’s been hiding from me all day, and I really don’t need this. Where is he?” I explained.

“He’s here.” Trace simply said.

“And where exactly is here?” I impatiently demanded to know.

Trace laughed again. “Oh, he’s in my room. You know where that is right? It’s across his room.”

I nodded my head, as if he could see me doing that. “Um, yeah, I’ll be there in a bit.” I made a turn towards Trace’s hotel room. I shook my head in frustration, and then knocked the door that I was standing in front of.

A smiling face greeted me. I didn’t really want to see a smiling face at the moment. I wasn’t in a happy mood. I frowned. “Where is he, Trace?”

“Hey to you too.” Trace chuckled, as he stepped away, letting me enter his room.

I grumbled a greeting, and glanced at the room. There were a few people sprawled in the floor, and some lounging on the couches. So this was what the brat was doing all this time. I should’ve known. I sighed once again, and walked forward. I really hated being around a group of strangers. Now I wished that I had never found him.

“Come on,” Trace yanked my arm. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

“Umm…” I replied, unsure. I followed Trace.

Trace cleared his throat. “Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt you. But anyway, let me introduce you to Dina.”

I shyly stood next to Trace. “This is Dina…” Trace looked at me. “And Dina that’s Michelle, Tom, Christie, Jake, and Shannon.” He pointed at the group of people. I nodded my head, knowing that I would never remember their names.

“Hi.” I said, not sure what to say after that. They waved at me. I smiled politely. “Actually, Justin, I came here for you. I need to review your schedule because there was a change of plans on some things.”

“Oh, yeah… I know that.” He said nonchalantly.

“And how do you know that?” I asked curiously, especially since I was sure that no one reviewed it with him.

“Johnny called me, and gave me the heads up about it.” He shrugged.

“You’re telling me that Johnny called you and notified you about all this?” I repeated.

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” He said arrogantly.

I cleared my throat. I could feel my temper rising. I was really upset now. “So you’re telling me that I’ve been running around looking for you, for nothing!” I said irritated.

“I guess you did.”

I sighed. “I wish, Johnny would’ve told me this earlier before making me go on a wild goose chase looking for you.”

“Oh, why didn’t you just call me? Would’ve made things much easier for you.” He said disinterested.

“Would’ve been much more easier if you actually answered your phone.” I forced a smile.

“Oops?” He said.

“That’s all? A oops, is all I get.” I was stunned. I really didn’t want to make a scene in front of all these people, but his nonchalant behavior towards this was getting on my nerves.

“What else did you want?” He said not bothered with all this.

“I was hoping for a pleasant apology, but what was I thinking?” I was upset, and I could fell the tension in the room.

Then Trace stepped into the conversation. “Dina, I’m sorry that you had to run around all day looking for Justin. He could be really irresponsible sometimes.” Trace gave a warning look to Justin, as Justin was about to open his big mouth. “He’s just really tired, and needed to get his mind off of things.”

I looked at Trace’s earnest face, and decided to drop the matter. “Alright. I guess, I’ll just head off back to my room.”

“Well, why don’t you join us? We were just chillin’ anyway.” He smiled.

“Oh, I don’t know about…”

“Why not? It should be fun.” He grabbed my arms and pulled me towards the group of people that I had been trying to forget that was there.

“Really, I’m tired…” I said weakly.

“Come on, you need to loosen up some, and just hang out. Just for a few minutes.” He tried to persuade me.

I looked at him. “Um, I guess as long as it’s all right with you guys…” I trailed off.

“Of course it is.” That Jake guy responded. “Sit down.”

I nodded, and sat down next to the coffee table and as far away I could from Justin. I don’t know what it is, but on some days, Justin and I can get along, and everything will go smoothly, but on other days, I just can’t stand him.

I reverted my attention back to the group of people that was around me when they started asking questions about my oh-so interesting life. I always did hate those icebreakers. I shuddered as I remembered my high school days, when I was always forced to do them on the first week of school.

~

The sound of laughter was echoing throughout the room. I grabbed my stomach due to the pain forming from too much laughing. “Oh, man are you serious? That really happened!” I choked out, still in disbelief of the whole story that Shannon had just replayed.

“You have no idea! It was so embarrassing!”

We were all sitting around, giving our most embarrassing stories. Shannon was one of my dancers for the tour. She was just recounting about her time when she tried out for a dance show. It was an embarrassing one.

“I still can’t believe you split your pants right in the middle. Oh man!” Trace howled out.

“Oh, it was even more embarrassing because the guy dancer was behind me, his face smack-faced to my butt!” She shook her head, yet laughing at the same time.

Everyone hollered once again. “Wow!”

“I just can’t believe that I did get the call-backs, even after that whole drama. I was so ecstatic.” Shannon smiled softly. “You know, it just showed that I did have some talent after all, that my hard-work paid of.”

“Are you sure your butt didn’t play a role in that.” Trace laughed again.

“Man, I’m never gonna live that one down am I? It was my first big break! At least, at the end of the day, I actually got something out of it...”

“Yeah, I guess even if it was one of your most embarrassing days of your life, it was still memorable, because it was just one step forward to your dream.” I sobered up, knowing exactly what it felt like to being able to live your dream.

“Yeah.” Shannon smiled serenely. “So, what about you?” Shannon turned herself to face the quiet figure.

“Me?” She stuttered.

“Yeah, it’s not fair that we’re sharing our life story, and you laughing at our expense. I need some good laughing too.” Shannon joked.

“Oh.” Dina bit her lip. She looked nervous.

I looked more closely at Dina. She didn’t seem to have such an interesting story to tell. I mean, I don’t want to seem mean, or anything, but… Most of the time, you only have an interesting o say, when you actually get yourself out there, and start living your life. She just didn’t seem to have a life, at least not one that she actually enjoyed. She always seems to be so restricted, quiet, and timid. Like she was afraid of everything.

Dina groaned and then scratched her neck.  I could see her face turning red. She sighed. “Oh man, this was like four years ago…” She was shaking her head.

“Well, what happened?” I asked curiously, well the other guys nodded in agreement.

            “I was on vacation in Hawaii with my younger brother… This was about four years ago. And it was time to begin the long journey home. He has had a habit of purposely annoying me, in true pesty brother fashion, for our entire lives not mention…” Dina was cut off by laughter.

           “I agree with that remark about pesty brothers.” Christy said.

          “Oh man, my brother and I are always at it, especially since we’re just a year apart. Anyway, his favorite trick is to walk with me, then cut in front of me and slow down, forcing me to slow down and step on his heels, which really drives me insane. He'd done this several times already on the trip. You have no idea how annoying that can be.” Dina said exasperated.

          “I can imagine.” Trace said, nodding his head. “I didn’t know you had any brothers.”

           “Yeah, I just have a brother. No other siblings.” Dina replied back.

           “Quit interrupting her story.” Jake demanded. “I wanna hear the embarrassing stuff.”

            Dina chuckled. “Alright, back to the story, I was hoping you guys would’ve forgotten about it…” I laughed again. “ So, we had a layover in a large airport and only had fifteen minutes to make it to the next gate to catch another flight. We'd been up for almost twenty hours and were carrying our two weeks worth of luggage in through the crowded airport and I was extremely grumpy. I was walking along, my carry-on in one hand, my heavy purse in the other, and dragging my suitcase behind me. My brother cut in front of me and slowed down. So I sighed and said,  "You'd better knock it off or you'll be sorry!" There was no reaction. I was getting pissed. I hate when people ignore me like that. He was really asking for it. So then I warned him again, "I mean it! I'm not in the mood!" Still no reaction. I don't generally make a habit of random beatings, but this meant war. I hefted my heavy purse and whacked him between the shoulder blades with it as I bellowed , "What the hell is wrong with you?!? Speed up, dammit!" At this point, my "brother" turned around. Who wouldn't? I was mortified when he turned around…” Dina shook her head, embarrassed.

            Tom chuckled. “I’m guessing the person in front of you wasn’t your brother.”

           She sighed. “Exactly, I was so horrified to discover that it wasn't my brother at all, but a man who looked similar from behind.”

          “Oh man, that guy must have thought you were a psycho!” Michelle squealed. Everyone started laughing.

           “That wasn’t that bad though, compared to Shannon’s story.” Trace remarked.

           “Oh, but that wasn’t the worst part of the story though.” Dina groaned at herself.

           “Why, what happened?” I asked.

          “Guess, what reason he had for walking so slowly.” Dina told him.“

           What was the reason?” Trace asked carefully.

           “He had a club foot.” Dina said seriously.

           “Are you serious!” I exclaimed, laughing loudly. “Not only did you beat the crap out of stranger, but it was disabled stranger.” I laughed. The room started shaking, erupting with laughter. Trace, next to me crouched over, trying to stop his laughter.

            “It’s not funny.” Dina pouted. “If you think you've ever embarrassed yourself, try explaining to a handicapped stranger why you've just not only beaten him with your purse, but cursed at him. My brother was behind me the whole time and after he made sure the man was okay, he could barely contain himself. The little brat still remembers, and doesn’t let me hear the end of it yet.”           

           “Oh man, Dina that’s really hilarious. I still can’t believe you beat the crap out of poor helpless man…” I said out of awe.

            “I just can’t believe none of the security guys came over, asking me why I was trying to kill the poor man.” Dina said out of disbelief. “I mean if I were them, I would’ve arrested me, or at least placed me in a loony bin.” Dina joked.

            There was still a trail of laughter dragging alongside the comfortable silence that seemed to consume everyone at the moment.

            Tom decided to break the ice. “So, Dina, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here in the tour, meaning it in a non-offensive way…” He trailed off.

            “Oh, I’m Johnny’s assistant…” Dina answered not sure how to answer the question.

            “No I meant that everyone here has dreams of doing something in the entertainment industry, whether it be backstage or up front.” Tom, himself, was a tour techie. He loved what he did and he loved everything about the gadgets that he worked with.

            “Nah. I’m just here for the experience. Wanted to try something different.” Dina simply said.

            “Oh…” Tom trailed off.

            “So what do you want to do, then. I mean I’m sure that you don’t want to be an assistant for the rest of your life then.” Trace asked inquisitively. I perched my ears out as well, curious to know what she wanted to do with her life. All we got was a shrug.

            “I don’t know. I can honestly say that I’m not sure where my life is heading to at this point in time.”

 “Yeah, but you must want to do something, be something, I don’t know, you must have always dreamt of being something and all that good stuff, at least when you were younger.” I pushed.

“Sure I had my own dreams once upon a time… Who doesn’t, and who ever didn’t?” She sighed. She seems to sigh a lot. “But that’s all they are, just dreams… and sometimes they just… fade into a distance. I don’t know. They get sidetracked, and sometimes circumstances just alter them or make you want to not want to reach for it as much. They just become blurry, and then you can’t even remember why you ever thought that dream was going to make you happy to begin with. Dreams change sometimes.” She smiled sadly.

“So what was your dream anyway?” Trace asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it anymore.” Dina said quietly. She seemed so lonely and melancholy then. I really wanted to know what she was hiding, or what she was escaping from. But, I really couldn’t push her since I didn’t know her very much.

“Anyway, it’s getting late, and I should head off. I’m extremely tired.  It was really fun hanging out and chillin’ for once.” She smiled.

“Yeah, it was fun.” Trace said as Dina stood up.

She looked at me. “Justin, you have an early day tomorrow, so don’t stay up too late.”

I rolled my eyes. “What time do I have to be up tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there at around 5 o’clock.” She grabbed the doorknob.

“Bye guys. It was nice meeting you all.” She smiled at them pleasantly.

“Yeah it was fun, I’ll see around, maybe we can do it more often.” Shannon said, well the others agreed.

“Oh, and Justin…” Dina stopped, thinking of something.

“What?”

“Try not have any more morning surprises for me tomorrow?” She smiled evilly, as she glanced at Trace.

“Morning surprises?” Trace asked. He looked at Dina, then back at me.

“It’s nothing man.” I could feel my face flush out of embarrassment.

“Dina…” Trace trailed.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell, it’s just between you and me…” I relaxed. But before she left, she added something else, “Besides what good is a blackmail, if I tell everyone about it…” She said innocently, and with that she left.

“Well?” Trace asked. “Aren’t you gonna tell me.”

“No way man!” I said.

I have to find a way to get back at Dina for this, I thought, frustrated at my situation at hand.