*~The Dream Of A Lifetime~*

Valondra sat at her table alone and watched everyone dance. She looked at the bouquets on the table and sighed. Her and Nickolas could be planning their wedding right now and enjoying a dance together too. They weren’t though, because things went to hell the past month. Perhaps it was her fault and she was trying to figure out a way to make things better. She looked up and made eye contact with Nickolas; who was standing a few feet away. She stood up just as Justin approached her.

“Would you like to dance?” Justin asked.

“Um…” Valondra began, as she looked at Nickolas just as a girl approached him. She looked back at

Justin and said, “Sure. I’d love to.” She took his hand and they walked to the dance floor.

“They are so stubborn,” Charisma stated.

“Who?” Alexander asked.

“Loni and Nick. It’s so obvious they want to dance with each other, but they won’t ask. So Loni will dance with Justin and Nick will dance with whoever that twit is.”

“It’s Brian and Kevin’s cousin, Vanna. They were dancing earlier.”

“Oh.”

“Enough about them. What about us? Do you see a wedding in our future?”

“Hey guys,” Lillie interrupted, as her and Howard approached.

“Hello,” Alexander and Charisma said together.

“Would you like to dance, Alex?” Lillie asked.

“Sure,” Alexander replied leading her to the dance floor.

“So,” Charisma said. “Having fun?”

“Yeah,” Howard answered. “You?”

“Definitely.” They looked at each other and at the same time said, “About the other night…”

“That was weird,” Howard said. “You go first.”

“Thanks. I just wanted to apologize for anything I said or did that might have offended you.”

“That’s alright. That’s what I wanted to apologize for.”

“I wasn’t offended. Don’t worry. Do you want to dance?”

“Sure.” He took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

Valondra danced with Justin to Eric Carmen’s “Hungry Eyes”, but couldn’t keep her eyes off Nickolas, as he danced with Vanna. Justin talked to her to keep her mind from wandering, but it didn’t work. She looked at Nickolas and thought about how he tried to seduce her when he was putting the garter on.

She also thought about how she was going to tell him that she kissed Trace.

She didn’t hear the song change and didn’t hear anything until Justin said, “You didn’t tell him, did you?” Valondra looked at him. “So you’re thinking of how he’s going to take it.”

“No I didn’t,” Valondra said. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“Of course not. You’re just looking out for the one you love.”

“So why’d you ask me to dance?” She’d do anything to change the subject.

“I didn’t like seeing a beautiful girl sitting alone with sadness in her eyes. So I decided to try and cheer you up.”

“Thanks.” She hugged him, as they danced. “You’re a wonderful friend.”

“But I know someone who is even better.” Valondra just looked at him and the song changed from Journey’s ‘Faithfully’ to Boyz II Men’s ‘I’ll Make Love To You’.

“Who?”

“This one is going out to Valondra and Nickolas from the greatest friends you could ever want,” the DJ said, as Nickolas approached them.

Valondra just looked at him, as Nickolas asked, “May I cut in?”

“She’s all yours,” Justin replied and then said to Valondra, “Him.” He walked away.

Valondra just looked at Nickolas then slowly put her right hand in his and her left arm went around the back of his neck. Nickolas put his arm around Valondra’s waist and pulled her real close to him.

They looked at each other a second then began dancing.

After a moment, Valondra said, “I wasn’t sure if you’d ever dance with me tonight.”

“I was waiting for the perfect song,” Nickolas replied. “And this one was it.” Valondra just smiled at him. “’I’ll Make Love To You’ is our official song. I wasn’t going to let anyone else dance with ya; it’ll ruin everything we have.”

“Will not.”

“It sounded good.” He smiled, but she didn’t. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

“What do ya mean?”

“You have a troubled confused look. Don’t lie either.”

“You know I can’t lie to ya.”

“So what is it?”

“I don’t want you to get really mad at me, Nick. I already gave myself a lecture.” Nickolas looked at her. “The other day, me and Trace went to NYPD’s for lunch. We were sitting there talking and then out of the blue…we kissed.” She looked at him.

“Loni.”

“I know what you’re going to say so save your breath.”

“I’m not mad at you.” She looked at him surprised. “A little hurt and upset, but not mad.”

“You’re not?”

“No. Actually Kevin and Alyssa brought it to my attention the other day. They had their suspicions.” “Everyone’s involved in our business. Ya tell one person and the whole world knows. It should’ve just stayed between us.”

“Well, they care about us.”

“Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“After they told me about you kissing Trace, I went home and thought about it.”

“And what?”

“You’re very impatient.”

“You know me.” They both smiled. “Can’t wait to find something out.”

“Shall I tell you?”

“Yes.”

“Alright; this is what I came up with…if you did kiss Trace it was to get back at me for thinking I kissed…”

“That whore.”

“Yeah; that whore.”

“Nicky, did you just call a girl a whore?”

“I believe so and it’s because she is one.”

“You’re so evil.” They laughed and then on a serious note Valondra asked, “But you’re not mad that I kissed Trace, knowing you never kissed someone else?”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t even care if you kissed Brian. It only happened once.” Valondra nodded and hugged him. Nickolas hugged her in return. “I’m not trying to be pushy, Princess, but does this mean you want to try again?”

Valondra stayed silent, as the song ended and they stopped dancing. They continued hugging, as Valondra said, “Nick, I’m not sure what I want right now.” They stopped hugging, but held each other. “But I do know that I want a future with you in it. Let’s just be friends for now and take it slow. See where it goes.”

“But ya see I’m not sure I can do that, because I want to be more than friends with you.” She looked at him, ready to say something, but he put a finger on her lips. “But I’ll try to do it for you, because I love you.”

“Thank you.” They started dancing again.

“You were very beautiful walking down that aisle.”

She just smiled. “But you never do it to impress anybody.”

“Except this time I was trying to impress someone.”

“Who?”

“You.”

“You don’t need to impress me, because I was impressed the moment I saw you.”

“I might believe that.”

“Would you believe it if I said I was in complete heartache this past month?”

“Yes, because I was too. I’m so sorry for throwing that box at you.”

“It didn’t hit me so don’t worry about it.”

“I’m still sorry though. I was just mad at you.”

“But you’re not anymore?”

Valondra smiled at him. “No I’m not.”

“That’s good to hear.” The music stopped again then started playing Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Loved Me’.

“Another love song.” She left Nickolas go.

“It is a wedding.” He left her go also and she nodded. “I’m glad we got to dance.”

“Same here.” They both smiled and Nickolas began to walk away. Valondra stood there watching him then grabbed his hand before he was out of reach.

He looked at her. “What?”

She took a deep breath. “Don’t go yet. Dance with me some more…please.”

“Definitely.” He smiled and took her in his arms.