A girl or 20 years walked down a white walled hallway. She looked at gold records as she past them. The large man in front of her already told her twice to keep moving. It really wasn’t her fault that she had never been in a recording studio. Where all of the number one hits is made. It was here where they all got started.
The large man stopped abruptly causing her to knock into him. She apologized. He looked down at her and opened a door. Music flooded the hallway. A female voice came from inside that room. She recognized it immediately.
She leaned on one of the mirrors watching her sister dance with 5 other guys. Her brown hair tied in a high ponytail. The dark blue shirt she was wearing was tied in a knot at the front showing her tanned stomach. One of the guys collapsed on the hardwood floor. The song stopped and the choreographer looked down at the guy on the floor.
The others sat down where they were breathing heavily. A bodyguard threw them each a water bottle.
“Can’t we have a break? Please, just a short one?” the guy begged.
“Justin, we just had a break about 10 minutes ago. I don’t think we need one now. Not yet.”
“I don’t want to dance,” another complained.
“Suck it up, Chris. Lets go you guys, up.” She turned to look at them through the mirror. She placed her hands on her hips and gave them one of those ‘you-better-get-up-before-it-gets-ugly’ looks. “Move your skinny Asses. Lets go we don’t have all day. Get up.”
A couple groans came from their mouths as they got up, except Justin.
He tried whining. “Please, Hallie, just 2 more minutes. Please we are so tired. 2 more minutes is all we are asking. Just 2.”
Hallie stopped mid-step. She turned to look at him.
“Oh boy, he is going to get it now.” The young girl said to the bodyguard beside her. He looked at her strangely. “She hates whiners”
“Oh, you just did not whine. Tell me you just did not whine to me.”
Justin’s head fell to look at his hands. He looked up with his bottom lip sticking out. “Please, Hallie.”
“No, Justin. Don’t pout. If you pout I’m going to have to rip that lip right out of your face. Then I’m going to stick it up your ass. Don’t pout, Justin.” Hallie warned him.
Justin put his lip back in but pretended he was crying. He lay down on his stomach and hugged her legs. “Please, Hallie?”
Hallie looked away from the top of his shaved head. It was then that she noticed the young girl with her back against the mirror. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her shoulder length dark brown hair was in a small burette.
“What did you do to him?” she asked referring to the guy at her feet. Justin looked up to see whom she was talking to. His eyes sparkled.
The girl just shrugged. “I told him to look at the girl in front of him and he just started to cry.”
Hallie shook Justin from her feet and walked over to the woman. She met her half way. They embraced warmly.
“So glad you could make it, Monique. Welcome to Orlando.”
“Thanks.” She pulled her an arm’s length away and inspected her.
“You haven’t changed since that last time I saw you. I thought success and power would have changed you. No dress or anything to greet your own sister?”
The guys looked at each other. “Sister?” they mouthed.
“I dressed down for the occasion.”
Monique laughed loudly. “Glad to see you, Hallie.”
“You too.” They hugged once again. This time a cough made them look and break away.
“Oh,” Hallie stepped toward the guys who were at the other end of the dance studio. “Guys, this is Monique, my little sister.”
They smiled and said hi. Chris was the first one to speak. “Hallie, you never told us you had a little sister. You didn’t even tell us you had a sister, period.” He took a swig of his bottled water.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Pretty nice surprise. Hi, I’m Joey,” he said holding out his hand for Monique to shake it. She took it with a smile.
The rest of the guys introduced themselves. Justin was the last one to shake her hand.
“I should’ve warned you. Hallie doesn’t like whiners.”
Justin smiled and grabbed Hallie’s head in a headlock. “Oh, but she loves me. Don’t you, Hallie?”
Hallie managed to slip her head out of his arm. In an instant Justin was on the floor breathing heavily.
“Wow, great kick Hallie. Knocked him right off of his feet. Man, even took the wind right out of him,” Chris told her laughing at his own joke.
“Ok, guys I think that is good for one day. Come on, Monique, you have got to tell me about mom and dad and the whole crew, I haven’t seen them in like ages.”
Monique looked down at the Justin on the floor. “Oh yeah one more thing. She took a defense class before she came here.” She walked to the door.
Justin managed to get on his feet. “Thanks for the warning.”
Monique waved behind her shoulder not looking back. “No problem.”
Justin watched her until she disappeared from the room. He defiantly wanted to know more about the ‘little sister’.
copyright © 2001 AngelH