Michelle sat on the edge of her bed in the motel room. In her hand she held an envelope from Titan. She had gotten the piece of mail the day before, and had yet to open it. If this was the job she was hoping for, she was so afraid to tell Rachel that she needed to leave her company.
The phone rang, and she threw the envelope across the room in surprise.
"I know who you are, and I know what your wearing." The male voice said to her.
"Really, you can see through my curtain?" She laughs, as she recognizes Chris' voice.
"I thought I had you fooled." He says laughing. "So, have you opened the envelope yet??"
"No. Not yet. Chris this is killing me. I am out here in Arkansas, in a town where there are maybe 200 people. I get blank stares, like they are all zombies. I am thinking about not doing this report. Who whats to know about surfers in Arkansas anyways. Rachel sure finds some strange stuff to report about." Michelle says, as she picks the letter up off the floor. "It's not her fault really."
"Open up the envelope, Michelle." Chris urges.
She opens the envelope and reads the letter. "They liked the pictures I sent. Chris, they want me to be one of their photographers. They also want me to start as soon as possible. I guess ever since that one got hurt, they have been short handed." Michelle says to Chris.
"Well, pack up, leave and don't forget to give them a call as soon as we get off the phone." Chris says to Michelle.
"What about Rachel?" Michelle asks him.
"She's used to this by now. People come and go." He responds.
"Maybe I should just wait and talk to her when I get back. I feel so guilty." Michelle says, as she puts the letter back in the envelope.
"Don't back down, CALL." He demanded, playfully.
"Ok, Ok."She laughed.
They hung up, and she pulled out the letter to retrieve the phone number. She dialed and waited nervously for someone to answer. This was the biggest decision in her life, she thought.
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" This dress is so ugly." Rachel says, as she tries on a wedding dress.
"You already have a dress, why are you trying on another one." Amy asks, as she steps from behind a curtain with her maid of honour dress on.
"I just wanted to see how ugly it was." Rachel laughs.
Christi comes from behind a curtain, and stands in front of one of the mirrors. "Always a brides maid, and never the bride." She says, and sticks her tongue out in the mirror.
"WOW, you guys look great." Rich says, as he enters the room.
"Go away Rich. You can't see the bride in a wedding dress before the wedding." Meri says, and tries to push him out. "Ohhh pretty dress Rachel."
Rachel stares at Amy and makes a face.
"RICH, leave." Meri says, and tugs at his arm.
"Meri, it's the groom that can't see the bride." Amy says laughing.
"What?" Meri asks confused.
"Nevermind." Amy says, and walks back behind the curtain.
Matt walks into the room with his eyes covered. "Cover up girls." he says and falls into a chair.
"What is this..men!" Meri throws up her hands as if giving up.
Matt takes Christi's hand and pulls her into his lap.
"Baby, I'm going to get wrinkled." She says, and hopes off his lap.
"Two more weeks." Rachel says, and holds up two fingers. "Two more weeks."
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Shawn walks into the arena from a dressing room with his sister walking behind him. He had never taken her backstage before the whole time he had been with the company. Lily, an aspiring photographer, took pictures of her brother as he walked around.
"Sean, are you going to introduce me to anyone?" She asked, and almost backed into Dwayne Johnson.
Dwayne smiled at her. "Hi" he said, as he talked on his phone.
"HI." Was all Lily was able to say, as she watched him walk down the hall. She held up her camera and clicked a picture without even looking through the view finder.
"Now you've met someone." Sean said, as he stepped outside. Lily caught up with him, and they were in time to see Adam and Jay pull up.
"Hi." Lily says, as she snaps a picture of the two men.
Adam smiles at her, and Jay walks on in the building. "Hi... you're Lily right? Sean talks about you all the time."
Lily replies by taking another picture and noding her head yes. One day she was going to make it big with her pictures, one day.
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Rachel sat at her desk, staring at the crap she had been getting from the magazines. She knew Michelle wouldn't want to go on any of these. Why was the company getting the nonsense stuff lately?? Michelle had called her earlier, needing to talk to her. She had not done the report, and who could blame her.
Michelle knocked and entered the room. She walked over to the window, and then stood in front of Rachel's desk.
"Sit, please, you're making me nervous." Rachel said, as she decided to stand.
"Rach. You know I have to do whats right for me." Michelle says, and then stops. She was unsure of what exactly to say, how to put things nicely. "This is hard." She says and sighs. "I was offered a job with the WWF as one of their photographers. I sent in some pictures that I had, and they liked them enough to ask me to join their team."
"Oh." Rachel says, and sits down across from Michelle.
"They want me to start as soon as possible. Rachel, this is a great opportunity for me. I think I should do it. I mean, I love it here. But, this is a chance for me to get somewhere with my stuff." Michelle says, hoping Rachel won't be mad at her. "Oh this is coming out wrong."
"Michelle, believe me, I understand." Rachel sighs and continues." This leaves me in a bind though. But, we here can handle anything." Rachel says, almost believing what she says.
Michelle stands and gets water from the watercooler. "I just don't want you to hate me. You've been a really good friend to me these past few months. Helped me out when I was down. I really do owe you one."
Rachel smiled at her, and remained silent.
"Um..ok. Well, I guess I better go get my things and leave." Michelle said, as she left the office.
Rachel put her head on her desk, she had a pounding headache.
"Are you ok?" Rich asked, as he walked in her office.
"No." Rachel says, as a tear falls down her cheek.
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Chris listens to this answering machine, and hears a message from Jessica. She had somehow gotten his phone number to his new apartment. She didn't leave much of a message, only saying that she missed him.
The phone rang, and he answered it on the second ring.
"Chris, this is Jess." Jess said, as she heard his voice.
"Hi." He said, suddenly wishing he had just let the phone ring.
"I was wondering if you would do be a favor. Tim died the other day, and I was just wondering....wondering if you would come to the funeral with me. Everyone misses you." She says, starting to get choked up.
Without hesitating he responded. "Yes, yes I will go. I know how much your cousin meant to you. I am so sorry. Honestly i am. When is the funeral?" He asked, as she told him all the details.
"Thanks Chris. I really couldn't do this without you. You are such the sweetheart." She says, as she blows her nose.
"I'll always be here for you Jess, you know that." Chris says, as a call beeps through. "Can you hold on, another call is coming through.
"Chris, sweety." Michelle says on the other line.
"Hey, can you hold on. I have a call on the other line." Chris says and then goes back to the other line.
"Jess??" He says to an empty phone line.
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Rachel lays in bed next to Adam feeling as if she has caught the flu. She stands up and almost falls to the floor from dizziness. She makes it to the bathroom just in time to vomit in the sink. It must be nerves, she thought, as she washed her mouth out. Maybe if she ate something, she thought.
She entered the kitchen and got out some food for breakfast. She fed the cats, and watered some plants. She did feel a little bit better after moving around some. The light on the answering machine flashed, and she listened to a message from Jeff. He was making a surpise visit to Beth. This was the first time in awhile he had been interested in a woman.
Adam walked into the kitchen in just his boxers.. and hair a mess. He looked good that way, she thought. "Hey baby.. do you want me to cook you some eggs?" he asks.
Rachel stares at him and a wave of nausiousness hits. She runs off towards the nearest bathroom.
"Was it something I said?" Adam asks the cat, as it jumps up on the bar.
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Beth sits at her computer reading one of Michelle's last emails, when she hears the doorbell ring.
"I got it." Trendi yells from the next room. "Ahhhhh."
Beth hears Trendi yell and then a big thud. She picks up the nearest big heavy object and goes to see what happened. She would be ready if attacked, she thought.
"HI Beth!!" Jeff says, with Trendi sprawled out in his arms. "She fainted."
"OH!!" She says laughing, as she clears off a spot for Trendi on the couch. "My books are everywhere. Did she hit her head?"
"No, she fell into my arms." Jeff said, as he laid Trendi down on the couch.
"This is nice seeing you here." Beth says, as Jeff gives her a hug.
" I got away for a few days. I hope you don't mind me visiting without calling. OH, yeah, before I forget, here is Adam and Rach's wedding invitation." Jeff says, and hands her the card.
"WOW, St. Paul's Cathederal in London. How did they do that?" She asks, and then looks at the date. "Two weeks, she must be excited."
"Extremely." Jeff says and then look around the apartment. "So, do you have plans with David tonight?
"He's sick tonight....no wait, he's out with his boys tonight. Sorry, brain fried." Beth says laughing.
"Well, lets go do something. No fun being cooped up in here... and studying.. " Jeff says, as he points at one of her books.
She laughs, and leaves a note for Trendi. They decide to go to the first club they run into. As soon as they enter, Jeff pulls Beth on to the dance floor. They dance close enough to where Jeff can no longer fight the urge to kiss her.
"JEFF!" She squeeles and pulls away from him. "There is no telling where David is." She says and walks to a table.
Jeff follows her back to the table. "I am so sorry Beth, believe me. I got carried away, will you forgive me?"
She looks at him and his sad eyes. "It's ok. Really. David and his goones are probably far from here." She said and pointed around the room. The first club they had entered was a gay club. And besides, she had enjoyed the kiss as brief as she had let it be.
He smiled, and enjoyed the rest of the night.