“And cut!”

The music stopped and Justin pulled away from the girl and wiped his mouth, making sure he didn’t have any spit anywhere. “And that makes four takes,” he said lightly.

The girls smiled. “You’d think two people could get a kiss right.”

He grinned and glanced at the director who nodded. “I think that one was a keeper.”

“Okay, Justin, go to makeup and then we’re on the last scene.”

He nodded at the director and went to the small makeup station where his face was powdered and hair pushed into exact place. He had been working on the music video for his latest single for the last two days and it was finally coming to an end, which was good. While it was always fun to start a new music video, it got old and tiring fast.

Once he was fixed up, he wandered back to the last set which mainly consisted of a small café where he was supposed to be waiting for the dark haired girl to come meet him.

The scene went by faster than the others and it was wrapped up in under an hour. Soon after that he was free to go and he did gladly, quickly gathering his things and going to his car before anyone could stop him to talk. He dialed Trace’s number as he drove out of the parking lot.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, man.”

“Hey. Where are you?”

“Leaving the set. Okay if I come over? Your house is closer than mine and I want something to eat.”

“Yeah, sure. How long will you be?”

“Ten minutes. Eight if this old guy in front of me could get his ass moving.”

“I’ll order a pizza.”

“Okay. See you.”

“Yeah.”

Justin flipped his cell phone shut and dropped it on the passengers seat of his recently purchased black porche. Quickly getting aggravated at the car puttering in front of him, he switched lanes and sped up, intent on getting to his friend’s house. He arrived a few minutes later and parked in the driveway. The front door was unlocked and he let himself in. Trace met him as he shut the door.

“Nice makeup, dude. Manly.”

Justin rolled his eyes and started to the bathroom. “Didn’t want to wait around to get rid of it.” He grabbed a washcloth and wet it and began to wipe off the makeup that coated his face. “Pizza?”

“It’ll be here in ten.”

“Cool.”

“Taped Moods for you.”

“Seriously? Awesome. I forgot that was on tonight.”

Trace smirked and turned to leave. “Sure you did.”

Justin grinned and dried his face off with a towel. He had remembered the show was on and was just hoping his friend would remember to tape it for him.

Leaving the bathroom, Justin went into the den where Trace and the TV sat. He plopped down on the couch beside his friend and stretched his legs out in front of him.

“Your girlfriend’s gonna be on Carson Daly next Friday.”

He looked over at Trace. “Huh?”

“Simonia Lahey.”

“Man, I only wish she was my girlfriend,” Justin said with a sigh at the thought. “Wait, next Friday?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m on Carson that Wednesday.”

“Hey, maybe she’ll see you on it and then on Friday profess her undying love for you.”

Justin was going to punch Trace’s arm but the doorbell rang and Trace jumped up. He waited until his friend returned with a large box of pizza. “Shoulda never told you I liked her,” he said, grabbing a piece of pizza.

“Didn’t have to say anything, J. Your drooling problem whenever she’s on TV says enough.”

“Asshole.”

“Arrogant prick.”

“Bitch.”

“Spoiled brat.”

Justin smirked and took a large bite of pizza. “When’re you gonna tell me something I don’t already know?”

“Are you ready?”

Simonia looked up from the magazine she was reading at the stage manager for MTV. “Yeah.”

He motioned for her to come with him and she stood. “Coming, Patrick?”

“Nah. I’ll watch from here.”

“Okay.” She followed the stage manager out of the greenroom and through the building. She had been there before, although never alone, and the routine was simple. When Carson said her name, she made her way through the people, touching the hands that were outreached to her until she reached Carson, who gave her a hug.

“How’re you doing, girl?”

She smiled. “I’m great.”

He pulled back. “Hey, it’s Simonia Lahey, everybody!” he said, causing the crowd to cheer again. She laughed and waved to everyone.

“What’s up, guys?!” she yelled out and everyone screamed again.

“You realize this is what it’s gonna be like for the next hour, right?” Carson asked over the noise.

“See usually I’m with the rest of the guys from the show and I can blame all the screaming on Terrance or Paxton.”

“It’s all you today, girl. You are hot!”

She laughed again. “Thanks, Carson. You’re too kind.”

“Okay, so last time you were on here was more than a year ago when people were just starting to get hooked on Moods. Now, it’s one of the hugest shows out there. Has it changed life for you guys?”

“You have no idea. We used to all be able to go out for lunch together and now if we ever tried that we’d get mobbed.”

“So are you five all as close off set as you are on?”

“Totally. When you see people five days a week, it’s hard not to be.”

“This has got to be a huge lifestyle change for you.”

“It is so much. I came from a small town in Indiana. I never thought this would ever happen.”

“Did you want to be an actress when you were a kid?”

“Man, I wanted to be a dentist hygienist,” she laughed.

“What does your family think about all this.”

“They love it. They’re the celebrities in town now.”

“A lot of people don’t know this about you but you have a twin brother.”

She nodded. “Ethan.”

“Is he into the whole show biz at all?”

“Nah. Hollywood’s more my thing, not his.”

“Cool.” Carson nodded. “Well, let’s get to a video. Simonia, want to tell us what number ten is?”

“Sure.” She introduced the video and once they had cut to it, Carson turned to her again.

“So how’re you really doing?”

She laughed. “Incredibly busy. I think Patrick’s out to kill me.”

“He’s your assistant, right?”

“Yeah.” Simonia heard her name being yelled and pulled herself away from Carson so she could go to her fans. She signed autographs until the video was ending and then went back to Carson as the cameras went back on them.

“Hey everyone. I’m Carson Dal, and today we’re joined by the lovely Simonia Lahey who just recently won an Emmy for best female in a sitcom.”

She smiled. “I did.”

“What was that like?”

“It was…crazy. I couldn’t believe I was even nominated in the first place. I was not prepared for my name to be called. When I got on stage my mind went completely blank which is why my speech sucked so much. I was so nervous.”

“Couldn’t tell. You’re a natural.”

“I still think they made a mistake. Especially considering all the wonderful people I was up against.”

“You’re just being modest. Moods is huge.”

She smiled. “Maybe.”

“So the question on everyone’s minds who’s ever watched the show is…When are Hillary and Danny gonna hook up?!”

She laughed. “I knew you were gonna ask me that. You know I can’t tell you, Carson. You’re just gonna have to keep watching to find out.”

“Not even a little hint?”

“Well you know Terrance Saley and my character have been going hot and cold for a couple seasons now. I’m sure the writers wouldn’t let the public down by letting nothing happen, right? But you’ll have to keep watching to find out for sure.”

“You’re such a tease, Simonia.”

She laughed. “Only for you, Carson.”

He laughed and shook his head. “It only that were true…”

She smiled as he threw to another video and then obligated the requests of her fans and went to sign more autographs. It was still a little unnerving how many people were her fans. It seemed crazy how badly people wanted her autograph or a picture of her. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to it. Even having a bodyguard felt strange.

A few videos played in a row and she was able to talk to some of her fans before Carson called her back over. He introduced her again and then clapped his hands together.

“Okay, now we got the tough questions.”

She laughed. “Oh no.”

He grinned. “Now, Simonia, you’ve got a huge fan base, many of who are males. What does it feel like to have all those people out there wanting to marry you?”

She smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Are there people like that out there?”

“Girl, everyone wants you. And not just your fans either.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Definitely. In fact, on Wednesday we had Justin Timberlake on the show and when we asked him who he liked, your name was out of his mouth so fast…”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. Seems like he has a major crush on you.”

She shook her head. “That’s really, really flattering.”

“So what do you think about him?”

“I’ve never met him.”

“And…” he prodded.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never met him but to me he just seems like he has potential to be the cockiest guy in the world. Having all that fame and money and fans.”

“You’re just gonna crush his heart.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’ll recover.”

“So, no Justin Timberlake…who do you have your eye on.”

“At the moment, no one.”

“Now, you and Paxton Pratt, who plays Guy Carlisle on the show, dated for a while, didn’t you?”

“Only for a couple months. We’re must better friends than anything else.”

“Any tension between you guys because of it?”

“None at all.”

“So are you interested in a boyfriend?”

“Once I find the right guy, sure.” She smiled slyly at Carson. “And there’s lots of cuties around here too.”

He laughed. “Well, I gotta hang around here for a bit but afterwards…”

“Oh baby, I’m yours.”

“Simonia, you’ve made my dreams come true.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, making the crowd go ‘oooo’.

He threw his hand around her shoulders. “Guys, let’s give my new girlfriend, Simonia Lahey, a huge hand for coming out today!”

Everyone cheered and clapped and she waved to them.

“Promise you’ll come back?”

“How could I resist, Carson?” She waved and another music video came on. She hugged Carson goodbye and then made her away back towards her dressing room, signing autographs on the way. Patrick met her outside the dressing room, along with Rob, her bodyguard, with her things and handing her cell phone to her. “Car’s waiting and Ethan’s on the phone.”

She smiled as she took the phone from him. “Ethan?”

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“Busy,” she said as she began to follow Patrick and Rob out of MTV studios. “You?”

“Same old. Hey, is it okay if I come out there next week?”

“Are you kidding? That’d be awesome. What day?”

“Saturday.”

“Saturday…” she said, trying to remember what she had on that day. “Oh, that’s perfect. I have that day off. What time?”

“I think the flight’s around twelve.”

“Cool. How long can you stay?”

“Probably until Wednesday. Taking a few days off.”

Simonia went outside and slipped into the car behind Patrick. “Awesome. Can’t wait.”

“Okay. I gotta go thought and get back to work.”

“Alright. Call me later, okay?”

“I will.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

She hung up the phone and smiled at Patrick. “Ethan’s coming to visit me!”

“So I gathered. Next Saturday?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s right after the club opening. Better make sure you don’t get too drunk that night or hook up with too many guys.”

She rolled her eyes. “Damn, Patrick. How am I ever gonna resist? I’m not sure I can make it through a night without doing that.”

“I guess you’ll have to suppress your slutty ways for a night.”

She settled back into her seat and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “Guess so.”

It was silent for a minute before he spoke up. “So Justin Timberlake, huh?”

She smirked. “Shut the hell up, Patrick.”

“You too could be a hot couple. Stir up the rumor mill.”

“Shut up.”

“Maybe make out in a few public spots…”

“Patrick…”

“Go for a rendezvous to Hawaii…”

“Seriously, Patrick, I’m warning you.”

“Oh! Will you guys name your love child after me?”

Without another word, she launched herself across the set at her assistant and tacked him into a headlock.