Charetta walked over to Joey, with Becca following behind her, camera in hand. "Joey Fatone, you have just dumped your girlfriend, what are you going to do next?"
Joey chuckled at their goofiness, but went along with the joke. "I'm going to Disney World!!"
The group decided Disney World actually did sound like a good idea. Chris called Dani and she agreed to meet them at Justin's. Steven had other plans, so he said his good-byes and headed out the door.
"Hey Justin, is there somewhere I can shower and change? I worked up a sweat beating you and all."
"Yeah, you can use my parents room. That is a good idea, I think I'll join you." Everyone stopped talking and looked at Justin. "I meant in my own room you perverts. Get your minds out of the gutter."
Joey went over to where Coretta stood talking to JC about the new songs he was writing. He had some ideas about what kind of sound would be good for Diversity.
"Maybe Justin had the right idea about that shower thing."
"Yeah Joey, I think you could use a cold shower."
"Don't hesitate to let me know if you need some help up there."
"I've been showering for a lot of years now, I think I've pretty much got the technique down pat."
"It never hurts to learn new ways of doing things."
"Right, and if I ever need to learn a new way to lather, rinse and repeat, you'll be the first one I call." Coretta left to go get ready. JC just looked at Joey.
"What?"
"Dude, you just met the girl, aren't you laying it on a bit thick?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm acting the same way I always do."
"How many times has that worked?"
"Joey paused to think. "Well there was.....and then....Oh, I can't forget about..."
"My point exactly. Just chill, see what happens." JC gave him a pat on the back, and went to join the others and say hello to Dani who had just arrived.
"Hey Dani, what's up girl?"
"Hey JC, not much, just getting acquainted with everyone. Now where is the girl that beat Justin? That's who I really want to meet."
"Oh you mean the latest victim of Joey's charm, and I use that term loosely. She's upstairs changing."
"Oh, found another one Joey? What happened to Angela? Not that I care. I never liked her."
"We broke up earlier today, so I'm once again a free man."
"I pity single women everywhere."
A short time later, Coretta was ready to go, and headed downstairs. Chris introduced his girlfriend, "Coretta this is my girlfriend Dani. Dani, this is the other half of Diversity, Coretta. Although she'll probably be forever known as the first female to beat Justin in basketball.
"The only female." Justin said as he walked down the stairs.
"No Justin," she countered, "The first, if this music thing doesn't pan out, I'm going to start giving lectures and having seminars on how to beat you. 'I beat Justin and you can too' I'll make t-shirts and everything. I could make a fortune."
Dani laughed "I like you already. It's good to see someone give Justin a taste of his own medicine. Glad to have some more women join the ranks. It's tough being the only female around these guys."
Despite the rumors and other things they had heard, the girls could tell Dani was genuinely a nice person, and they would get along very well. They decided to take three cars. The guys grabbed their disguises and they were out the door.
Everyone arrived at the gate and waited for security to take them through a private back entrance. Once in the park, Becca and Kat began to tape the adventure, all the while including their own commentary. They all said hello to the camera acting crazy the whole time.
"Where should we start?"
"Being the gentlemen we are," Lance said, "We'll let you ladies decide that." Kat having been the only one besides Dani that had been there before, knew just where to go. She could barely keep from laughing as she leaned over and told Justin who laughed and told the other guys. Becca, Charetta, Dani and Coretta stood in confusion. Kat included the other 3 girls in the plan. Becca was cracking up. "Remember we still have to get back to the hotel, she might kill us after this."
Charetta agreed, "As if being in the "Happiest Place on Earth" isn't bad enough for her, this might drive her over the edge."
"Hello? Remember me, girl who beat Justin? Someone care to clue me in?"
"Just follow us." Kat told her, "And don't freak out when we get there."
"Fine, let's just get this over with."
Coretta heard the music before they got to the ride. "You must be joking! You know how I feel about that damn song! You honestly think I'm going to get on a ride where it's played continually? In about 12 different languages at that??"
Charetta grabbed her sister's hand to drag her to the front of the line where everybody waited. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"I'm going, but I won't enjoy it."
Chris, Joey, Lance, Dani and Coretta got into one boat while Becca, Kat, Charetta, JC and Justin got in the boat behind them. Lance sat in front, followed by Coretta and Dani in the middle and Chris and Joey in the back. Coretta turned to Dani. "You don't know how much I hate this song. I can't believe she picked this ride. No wait, yes I can, but that's okay. I'll get them back."
They all ooh'd and ahh'd at the mechanical dolls as the boat made it's way though the Japanese, Chinese, French and German cultures. Coretta heard a humming coming from the front of the ride.
"Lance I know you're not humming along with this music."
"Oh sorry, I can't help it. It just sneaks up on you."
"And I thought you were the normal one."
The boat continued without incident until again Coretta heard humming, only this time it was much louder and coming from behind her. She turned around only to see Chris and Joey innocently pointing at the dolls of Poland and Switzerland. "Don't think I didn't hear you." She said, and turned back around.
When the boat neared the Hawaiian section of the ride, Chris stood up and yelled "Hula!" Joey and Lance got up and did a terrible rendition of a hula dance while singing "It's a Small World" at the top of their lungs.
Seeing that Coretta was about to hurt them, Dani jumped in, "Uh guys, I really don't think that's the best way to keep from being noticed." The guys agreed and sat down.
Once the boat got closer to the Italian dolls, Joey decided it was his turn. He leaned up in his seat and spoke to Coretta. "Did you know I'm Italian?"
"Yeah I did."
"What about you, got any Italian in you?"
"No, and I swear if you ask me if I want some in me, I will throw you overboard and drown you myself." Coretta answered without even turning to look at him.
"So then that's a definite no?" Joey sat back just out of reach from her hand. He laughed, knowing that he was getting to her.
"Don't worry." Dani said, "He's harmless, I'm not sure he would know what to do if some girl actually took him seriously."
"Maybe next time I will."
Dani's eyes widened as she looked at her new friend in shock. Her friend in turn just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Again there was the humming of the song and then silence as soon as she turned around. Soon it was soft singing of "It's a Small World." Each time she would turn around and there was silence. Then it would start again each time a little louder than before. Coretta tried to ignore it and act like she was having a good time. She did laugh at their antics when they reached the Egyptians. Not only did they sing "It's a Small World", but they threw in "Walk Like an Egyptian" including a dance for that as well. The girls could hardly stop laughing long enough to get off the boat.
"Dani, I don't know how you put up with this day in and day out."
"I don't know either. Welcome to my world."
"I just want to say for the record, I will get each and every one of you back for making me go on that stupid ride. I might never get that song out of my head."
"You know you had fun. I want to go on the Dumbo ride now." Chris was jumping around like a little kid. "I wanna go on Dumbo. Can we, can we?? huh, huh? Can we go?" Justin joined in "Yeah, I wanna go too. Can we mommy? Let us go, everyone else gets to go." The group rolled their eyes at the two acting like 5-year-olds. Kat and Dani decided to sit this one out. Kat drew the line at flying elephants.
"Someone has to tape you all acting like children, and Dani will keep me company."
As they got on the ride, Chris turned and waved at Kat and Dani, "Bye mommy, I'm going to fly now." Becca hit Chris in the head, "Just get on the ride you dork." Coretta found herself seated in front of Joey. "How is it I'm with you again?"
"Just fate I guess." he grinned.
"Fate hates me."
The guys put on a great show for the camera as well as the onlookers. Chris could be heard yelling, "Look ma, no hands!" While Justin yelled, "I'm flying, I'm really flying." The others could do nothing but laugh.
When it came time to eat, no one could make a decision on what they wanted. They decided to go their separate ways and meet up at 11 so they could all watch the fireworks. Little did Joey and Coretta know, the plan had already been set. Everyone else was going to be eating together and those two were on their own.
*****************
"She's going to kill us when she finds out we all ate together."
"You're her sister, she won't kill you, the rest of us, I'm not so sure about."
"What's her problem with Joey anyway?"
"It's not him really, you just have to understand my sister."
"Actually, Joey was her favorite NSYNC member." Becca pointed out.
"Was?" Chris, Lance, Justin and JC asked.
"Damn she's right, that unison thing is annoying. I think he still is, but she wouldn't admit it, especially now that we've met you and he's taken at least some interest in her."
"Why not? Wouldn't that just make it easier for both of them?" Justin asked
Kat added her point of view. "After what happened with her son, she kind of put that behind her. She felt she shouldn't be enjoying that sort of thing."
"Wait her son? What son?" Lance spoke the words the others had been thinking. The girls looked at Charetta to tell the story. She took a deep breath and started talking.
*****************
"You know since it's just the two of us, you have no choice but to talk to me."
"I could sit here in complete silence and be perfectly fine."
"No you can't. I've watched you, and you talk more than anyone I've ever known."
"I talk when I want to, but what makes you think I want to talk to you?"
"You're here aren't you?"
"I was hungry, what's your point?"
"You could've eaten anywhere, but you chose the same place as me."
"It's a pizza place, not that big of a deal. I suppose you're going to tell me about fate again, huh?"
"I hadn't thought about it, but now that you mention, it does seem to keep throwing us together these past few days."
"Like it did last night on the dance floor?"
"I wanted to talk to you about that. I need to explain.."
She cut him off before he could go any further. "What's there to explain? We danced, we..." she paused. "You introduced me to your not so lovely girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend, now."
"Only because she pissed me off, but tell me, what if she hadn't? Where would you be right now?"
Joey didn't have an answer. Coretta shook her head. "You are exactly the kind of person I thought you were, and this only proves it." The food arrived and they ate in silence."
*****************
Charetta finished the story as everyone that didn't know what had happened sat in disbelief.
"That must have been really hard for her."
"My sister is a strong person, but I know that was more than she could handle."
"I had to beg her just to come down here for my graduation."
"She hides it pretty well." Chris said, "At the studio she was completely different."
"That's because when we sing, it takes her to another place. You of all people should understand that."
"Maybe leaving her alone with Joey wasn't such a good idea."
"They'll be fine."
*****************
The two sat in the booth laughing hysterically. Joey knew she couldn't resist talking for long. He told her a very corny joke and that was all it took.
"Joey that was bad. I can't believe I even laughed at that."
"I knew you would laugh, that's why I told you. I had to get you talking somehow."
"You got me, I'm a sucker for stupid jokes."
"Now that I've got you talking to me again, I really do want to talk about last night."
"You know what? I don't. Last night was last night, and let's leave it at that."
The subject was dropped and the two continued talking for nearly an hour. The first few notes of "Ribbon in the Sky" played at they were getting ready to leave.
"Looks like fate wants us to dance."
"You think so? I thought someone just happened to pick this song on the juke box."
"Nope, fate is saying we should dance."
"Fate talked to you?" Coretta laughed.
"Yes, and do you want to know what it said?"
"Enlighten me please."
"Fate said, Joe..fate calls me Joe...anyway it said Joe, I'm going to play that song, and I want you to dance."
"Just because fate wants you to dance, what's that got to do with me?"
"I don't think fate wants me to dance alone. Besides, I'd look pretty silly."
"You had your hair dyed the same color as Elmo, and that didn't seem to bother you."
"You've got jokes now? Just for that, you're dancing."
"Fine, let's just get this over with."
"I hope that's not your response for all physical acts."
"That's not anything you'll be finding out about, so no need for you to even worry about it."
Joey held her tightly and she could feel his heartbeat as well as her own racing heart. She breathed in the smell of his cologne. For a moment she forgot everything around her. She looked up, but already knew he was looking at down at her. Neither had to wonder what was going to happen next.
"I can't believe it, it's really you!!"
Two girls that looked to be about 13 broke the intensity of the moment. Both girls grinned eagerly at the thought of a member of NSYNC in their midst. Even in what he considered a disguise, Joey was still easily noticed.
Coretta smiled, "Looks like fate has a twisted sense of humor."
"Definitely, but don't think I'm letting go that easy." Joey turned to the girls and started what he hoped would be a short conversation.
Coretta went and sat back down in the booth. She watched Joey interact with the two girls, as well as a few more that seemed to come out of nowhere. "He really is a good guy." She thought. “Maybe fate is trying to tell me something. Maybe it's time to let go and move on. But with Joey??" A hand on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts, she jumped.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Joey apologized.
"No it's okay, I just got caught up in my thoughts."
"What were you thinking about?" Joey asked as they left the restaurant and went to meet the others.
"About fate and what would've happened had those girls not shown up, or maybe if you weren't Joey Fatone."
"You mean if I wasn't Joey Fatone, a member of NSYNC." It was more of a statement rather than a question.
"Exactly."
"Does it matter? Would it change things?"
"I don't know. I'm sure it would in some ways, but not in others. Then again, I would never know you and..."
"And you're rambling."
"Yeah, I guess I am. Forget I said anything."
Joey reached down and grabbed Coretta's hand. She looked at their hands, and then back to him and smiled. They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable peace.
"We're late, and I bet they got tired of waiting for us. That's okay though, we have to leave the back way like we came in, so we'll catch up with them later."
"I don't want to miss the fireworks display, I've never seen it."
"You've never seen fireworks?"
"I meant the ones here Joey. I've never been here before."
"How could you never have been to Disney World?"
"I don't know, call me deprived."
"Deprived."
"Shut up." She hit him in the chest.
"You better watch out, I can have security over here in a second."
"I probably shouldn't do this either than." She hit him in the arm.
"No, they frown on that kind of pop star abuse." Joey joked
"I guess they would be really pissed if I did this..." she went to hit him lightly on the cheek, but Joey grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. "I told you I wasn't letting go that easy." A loud bang was heard and the fireworks started. Coretta moved away.
"Come on I don't want to miss this." She grabbed his hand, Joey groaned loudly at another missed opportunity. As they moved through the crowd, they spotted their friends, but were unable to get to them. Instead the two sat above everyone on a hilltop under a tree. The fireworks took Coretta’s breath. It was almost like seeing them for the first time.
Without looking at Joey she said, "Amazing isn't it?"
"Amazing" he answered quietly.
"You aren't looking at the fireworks are you?" she asked nervously
"Nope."
"This must be where fate comes in again. If I look at you, you're probably going to kiss me, huh?"
"Probably"
She turned, and her lips softly met his. "I meant what I said about not letting go easily."
"You just did." She whispered.
"I guess I'll have to fix that." He leaned in again.
Their lips met as before, this time the kiss was more intense. There were fireworks, although they were both unsure whether they were within the kiss, or in the sky. They remained this way for the rest of the display. When they finally broke apart, Coretta leaned her head against Joey's shoulder and sighed.
"Wow."
"The display, or that kiss?"
"Either or, both really."
Joey moved to get up, and pulled Coretta to her feet. "Not that I wouldn't love to stay here a little while longer, but we should probably find the others before they send out a search party."
"They probably think I killed you."
"You wouldn't do that."
"Now? No. Yesterday? Maybe."
They laughed and talked all the way back to the security office. Their friends were waiting when they arrived. "Sorry we didn't meet you guys, I ran into some fans while we were eating. By the time we got down there, it was too crowded where you were sitting."
"We know where you were." Lance said as he smiled and walked out the door.
"Joey, next time find a tree that's not completely lit up every time the fireworks go off." Chris joked and followed Lance out the door.
"That's a nice shade of lipstick though Joey. Coretta, don't you have one just like it?" Becca asked as she and the others filed out the door.
"Think that means they saw us?"
"I'm pretty sure that's what that means."
They laughed and went to catch up with the others. They had decided to call it a night, so the girls got in the car to return to the hotel. Everyone else returned to Justin's to get their cars and head to their own homes
The ride back to the hotel was silent until Becca could take it no more. "Okay, spill it!!"
"Spill what? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play innocent with me girly, I've known you way too long for that. Care to explain how you and Mr. Fatone suddenly became so cozy?"
"I would, but I don't kiss and tell."
"I'm not talking about that. We all saw you kissing and that told us everything. I want the details up to that point."
"There's nothing to tell, we just went out and had a good time."
"If that was a good time, I don't want to be around you two when you're having a great time." Kat teased from the seat next to her. Joey and his brother got home at the same time. "Hey Joey, how was your night?"
"Great man, just great." Joey smiled as he recalled the events of the night.
"I know that look, something happened and a girl was involved."
"Not just any girl, a girl that seems different from the others."
"Let me guess, Coretta is the girl? She's cool people. The way she told Angela off was classic. I like her, don't mess this one up."
"I don't even know if there is anything to mess up. I mean I know I felt something, but I just broke up with Angela and everything. What if this is just a rebound thing, I don't want it to be like that."
"So don't let it be. Take some time if you need to. Be careful though, girls like that don't wait around forever."
*****************
"We aren't trying to be all up in your business. We just want to know how you can go from being ready to kill him, to practically jumping him."
"I did not practically jump him!!"
"You don't know what we saw."
"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. I need to call Mike in the morning to find out what our plans are since we're supposed to be leaving the day after tomorrow." Just then the phone rang.
"What is with people calling us all late at night? Better not be Mike, we were quiet this time. Hello?"
"I just wanted to make sure you got back okay."
"Well there was that police chase thing, but other than that we got back just fine."
"Can you ever not be a smartass?"
"Um let me think....no, I don't think so."
"Okay well, I guess this is goodnight."
"Yeah, I guess it is. Oh, Joey?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks"
"For what?"
"For not being who I thought you were."
"Your welcome I guess."
"Night Joey."
"Goodnight."
Coretta hung up the phone with a content smile. She turned to go to her room only to find Charetta, Kat, and Becca watching her. "Good Lord!! You scared the crap out of me." They just stood there smirking.
"What??"
Kat dramatically grabbed Becca's hand "Oh Becca, thanks for not being what I thought you were."
"Oh Kat, you're so welcome, I'm glad you made it home okay."
Coretta shook her head, "I've got to get me some new friends."
"We're the cheapest friends you can get."
"Ha, Ha you're cheap alright." Coretta ran in her room to avoid the barrage of things being thrown in her direction.
*****************
The next morning Coretta found herself up early. She got up showered, dressed and took the rest of the time she had alone to think. She wasn't sure about what had happened the night before. Were things moving to fast? Joey had just broken up with his girlfriend. What if last night was just an emotional reaction to that? He was sweet, funny, a great dancer and easy to talk to. All things she would have wanted if she were looking at that point. Not to mention he was good looking.
"And so JC and I have planned to take over the world. We're putting penguins in office. Possibly a panda bear as president. You know maybe a koala as vice president, how could anybody be mad at a country with bears running it?" Coretta noticed her best friend in the room.
"Becca what the hell are you talking about?"
"I have no idea, but it's the first thing you've heard me say in the ten minutes I've been talking to you."
"Sorry" Coretta said sheepishly, "I've got things on my mind."
Becca sat in the chair across from her friend, "Let me guess, he's about 6 feet, nice smile, dark hair, brown eyes?"
"How did you know?"
"First of all, I know you better than just about anyone. Second, after last night, you might as well have his name stamped on your forehead."
"Do you think this is right?"
"The question is do you? Hell, I say go for it, it's right for the moment."
"You're right. It's about time I start living again. Even though part of me died with Cameron, all of me doesn't have to. I'll just go with the flow."
"That's all I'm sayin girl." There was a knock at the door and Becca went to answer it.
"Hey Chris, what are you doing here?"
"Becca you're up, oh and Coretta too. Not even singing for me yet, and two days in a row you've managed to put money in my pocket. This is a good sign."
"What are you talking about?"
"I had a breakfast meeting with Mike and I told him I was coming up here to say hello. He bet me ten bucks that you guys wouldn't be up yet. Twenty bucks that Coretta specifically wouldn't be up."
"Remind me to thank him for his faith in me."
"I wanted to bring you the copies of the contracts, I want to get them signed and filed by tomorrow if possible. We also need to discuss moving arrangements. I'd like to have you both relocate here as soon as possible. I want to begin studio work the end of next week."
"Whoa, you're moving right along with this."
"Yeah, I'm hoping to have the first single ready to drop in early August, and quite possibly sooner depending on how things go in the studio."
"Are you serious? Chris, this is June, that's not too far off."
"I know that's why we need to move things along quickly. I gotta go, I'm supposed to meet Dani soon. She really likes you guys. I think she's glad to have some permanent girls around as opposed to the revolving door of girls she usually sees."
"She's sweet Chris. I'm glad you two are happy together."
"Me too. Speaking of happy together, is there another couple in the making in our ever growing family?"
"Are you talking about Kat and Justin? I don't know, you have to ask them."
"No, I meant you and Joey. You two looked pretty close last night."
"Geez, was everybody taking notes or something?"
"Like I said last night, you should have found a tree that wasn't lit up every time the fireworks went off."
"Whatever. We had a good time, and I'll leave it at that."
"Fine, if you won't talk, Joey will. Guys, gossip too you know. I'll give you a call later so we can talk about finding you a place once you get things settled back home."
"Alright, see ya Chris." Coretta closed the door and sat next to Becca. She put her head on her friend's shoulder. "You'd tell me if you thought this Joey thing was a bad idea, right?"
"Yes, now stop asking!! Keep messing around, I might take him for myself, he was looking mighty fine last night."
"Don't even play like that it."
*****************
Becca and Coretta went next door Mike's. They had to go over and sign contracts, which they decided to do while Charetta, and Kat got ready to go. They had decided to spend their last afternoon in Orlando shopping. When they returned from shopping, again the phone was ringing. "Anyone else notice our phone only seems to ring when we come back from somewhere?" Kat asked as she went to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's JC, I was calling to see what you ladies had planned for the night."
"Hey JC, it's Kat. I'm not sure what we're doing. Probably staying in since we're leaving early tomorrow."
"We thought maybe we could all hang out on your last night."
"Okay, y'all can come over here."
"That's cool, see you in a few hours."
"Bye"
Kat told her friends the plans for the evening. They dashed around the suite making sure everything was clean. They also packed since they knew they would all be too tired in the morning to deal with it.
"I can't believe this week is over already. We went to great clubs, we met and hung with NSYNC. This was definitely the best graduation present, thanks guys."
"You're welcome, even though most of this was fate. Oh Lordy, now I sound like Joey."
"Whatever it was, I'm glad I got to spend time with my girls."
"Kat don't be gettin all emotional on us."
"Shut up, I was trying to have a moment, but forget you now."
A short time later, the whole crew of NSYNC plus Dani and Mike arrived. 11 people managed to seat themselves in various areas of the main room.
"Your room is nicer than mine." Mike said as he looked around. "I need to check these rooms out before I book them."
The group laughed as Mike told stories about the different things the girls put him through.
"So let me get this straight," Justin had to stop and catch his breath he had been laughing so hard. "They got you kicked out of the hotel during a rainstorm, and the bus had already gone to the next city?" Mike had been telling them about the State Fair tour Diversity had recently been on.
"Yes, and we had to walk two miles in the rain and spend the night in the airport."
Coretta interrupted, "Mike, we apologized and that was so not our fault anyway. How were we to know how many candles it takes to set off the fire sprinklers?"
"Fifteen." Becca added before Lance could get the question out of his mouth. A little while later Chris and the girls began talking about the move. Chris offered to help them find a place when they got back, they figured it wouldn't take more than a couple of days to tie up loose ends and be back in Orlando.
"I think I know the perfect place." Dani said. Chris looked at her in shock, but she only nodded slightly and continued. "The place I have is definitely big enough for two people. I moved out here with a friend of mine, but she didn't like it and went back to California. I didn't want to move to another place, so I just stayed. You two are more than welcome to stay there."
"That's nice of you, but if it's only big enough for two, won't three of us make it a little crowded?"
Dani eyed Chris, "I think I've got somewhere to go, so the place is all yours." It took a minute for the news to sink in, but soon everyone was congratulating Chris and Dani on the new step in their relationship. A few moments later, a pager sounded. Everyone checked to see who's it was.
"It's me." Joey said. "I don't recognize the number, so I think I'll use the hotel phone instead of my cell, could be a fan or something." As it turned out, it definitely was not a fan.
"Yeah, somebody paged me from this number." There was a pause as Joey listened to whoever was on the other end. Joey was in no mood to play games, he was enjoying his time with his friends and he was still hoping for a chance to be alone with Coretta. The others in the room tried not to listen, but couldn't help but overhear.
"Angela, what do you want? Pause. "None of your business where I am." Pause. "No, I don't think we can get together, I have plans, even if I didn't we couldn't get together." Pause. Joey's voice softened, "Don't cry Ang, I know you're sorry, I'm sorry too."
Not wanting to hear anymore Coretta went to her room. The four girls got up to go after her, but the guys stopped them. "He screwed up, let him fix it." Justin said while glaring at Joey. Joey came back to see everyone staring at him expectantly.
"What did I do?"
"That's what we're waiting for you to tell us."
"Wait, where's Coretta?"
"I'm going to guess she didn't want to hear you making up with your girlfriend."
"Making up?? You've got to be kidding. She must have heard me tell Angela I was sorry too and she got the wrong idea. I told Angela there was no way we were getting back together, ever. Now how am I going to fix this?"
Charetta patted his hand, "Just go talk to her, she's mad now, but I'm sure she'll calm down once you explain everything to her. That or she'll throw you out the window. It could go either way really."
"I guess there's only one way to find out." Joey walked down the hallway and knocked on the door. When he got no response, he looked back at his friends who waved him on. He stuck his head through the door.
"Hey can I come in?" No answer. "Well, I need to talk to you. You don't have to say anything, just hear me out." He stepped into the room and closed the door. Coretta was on the bed staring at the ceiling. Joey sat down next to her.
"Funny, I don't remember inviting you to sit, or even to come in for that matter."
"That's the great thing about me, I can tell what you really want without you having to tell me."
"In that case why aren't you playing in traffic?"
Joey took her responses as a good sign, at least she was speaking to him. He took a chance and moved to lie down next to her. When she didn't move or protest, he put his head next to hers on the pillow. "I know that's not what you really want now is it?"
"The image of a huge Grey Hound bus is really appealing now."
"Okay, so you want to send me away, I can deal."
"I don't want you on it, I want you under it."
Joey turned on his side and placed his arm across her waist. "I know you think I just got back together with Angela, but I didn't."
"Really?" As much as she tried, she couldn't keep the hopefulness out of her voice. Then remembering she was still mad she added, "That's nice."
"Nice try, I know you aren't mad at me anymore."
"What makes you so sure?"
"If you were, I couldn't do this," he kissed the corner of her mouth. "Still mad?" She nodded silently. He kissed her temple. "What about now?" He kissed her forehead. "Now?"
"Furious" she said trying to keep a straight face.
"Well there's only one more thing I can do about that." He slowly drew his mouth to hers.
*****************
"They've been in there a long time."
"Maybe she killed him for real this time."
"Don't you think we would have heard him scream or something?"
"Not if she really did throw him out the window."
"Remind me never to piss her off."
