Cher, Jamie, and Janine took in the sights of the studio. They passed by the wardrobe room and the green room, surprisingly not being stopped by anyone.
Something caught Jamie's eye. "Hey girls! Look at what I found." Jamie pointed to a wooden door with the name Colin Mochrie printed on it.
"Cool," Cher said.
"Wanna, you know, check it out? I know you do, Jamie!"
Cher nudged her friend playfully.
"I think we should," Jamie replied, slowly turning the
knob.
The three entered the room. It was really nice. There was a huge,
black, leather sofa, a large television, and a wide assortment
of Hawaiian shirts hung neatly in a walk-in closet.
"Oh, this is incredible!" Jamie gasped, breathing in
all the surroundings.
"Yeah," Cher said, crashing onto the sofa. "But,
I'd rather see Ryan's."
Janine looked at her, "We'll go there next." Cher nodded and picked up a magazine from a nearby coffee table.
"So how much time do we have till the next show starts?"
"Plenty of time," Jamie said, admiring some of Colin's things.
Janine sighed. "C'mon, Cher...there's gotta be more to see than Colin's dressing room."
"Yeah, like Ryan's?"
Cher had stood up and headed to the door.
"Okay, Ryan's." Janine cracked a small smile, and placed
her hand on the doorknob. "It's...it's moving." Someone
was turning the doorknob from the other side.
"Uh Oh! Scatter!" Cher whispered, but before she could get the words out, Jamie and Janine had already found their hiding spaces. "Oh man!" Cher ducked behind the couch.
"Ouch!" Janine squealed, quickly slapping her hand in front of her mouth.
"So anyway...hey! I thought I turned this off when I left the room." Colin's voice boomed loudly. A wave of excitement pulsed through the girls' bodies.
"Maybe one of the crew members came in and forgot to turn it off.." Ryan's voice now filled the quiet room.
Cher started to tremble. "It's him," she mouthed to Janine and Jamie. Jamie brought a finger to her mouth, just as the two men plopped down onto the couch. Cher and Janine almost blew their cover by gasping in pain.
"Well, how are things with
you and Allison?" Colin asked Ryan.
"Over," Ryan said. "Allison was just too...I don't
know...clingy."
"Yeah, at least you have or had someone." Colin looked suddenly uncomfortable and leaned back. He and Ryan jumped up, as they heard a loud cry of pain coming from behind them.
"Who's there?" Colin demanded. Janine was the first to stand, then Cher, and lastly, Jamie.
"How did you ladies get in here?" Colin relaxed, easing into a friendlier tone.
"Um, well, security didn't stop us, right?" Cher said nervously. Ryan's gaze met Cher's for the first time, and the two froze.
After a moment, Cher realized they hadn't actually met. "Hi, I'm Cher." She stuck out her right hand.
"Hello, I'm Ryan." He took the offered hand. "But, uh, I guess you already knew that." He blushed. Cher just nodded. That was all she could do.
Jamie walked over to Colin.
"Hi, I'm Jamie. Probably one of your biggest fans."
"Yeah, I've met a lot," Colin said, adding a short pause
between words.
Jamie almost looked scared, but she was in love. A few weeks before, she had had a horrible break-up, but she wasn't yet ready to give her heart away, even to the man she had desperately wanted for years.
"Here, have a seat," Colin sputtered.
"Okay." Jamie lowered herself slowly onto the couch. The leather stuck lightly to her skin. Cher and Ryan are really hitting it off, she noticed.
"So, you're a fan of mine?"
Ryan tried to strike up a conversation.
Cher nodded. "I have been for a while."
"Well, I love meeting the fans." Ryan smiled. Cher seemed to be hanging off his every word.
Janine let out a low groan. She could take this no longer. "I'll be back."
"Oh, okay. Do you want me to come with you?" Jamie tore herself away from Colin to talk to her friend.
"No, no, no. You seem to be having fun," Janine said, opening the door.
"Hey, just don't get caught," Colin warned.
"Yeah," Janine said softly, closing the door lightly behind her. She leaned up against the door and sighed, "Everyone always finds their match but me."
She started to wander the halls aimlessly, not paying attention to where she was going or what she was doing. She could almost feel the tears well up in her eyes.
"I give up!" she muttered, almost too loud. Then, with a thud, she smacked into something and hit the ground hard.
"Oh my goodness," a sweet English voice said. "Are you alright?"
Janine almost went into shock
when she saw who she had accidentally run into.
He knelt down closer to her. "Are you okay, miss?"
She nodded slowly. "I'm
just a little dizzy though." Janine tried to focus on the
deep chestnut brown eyes of the man next to her. I'm dreaming,
this can't be real, she thought, and fell over on her back.
