Missy's View

The plane ride down was smooth. We actually arrived a few minutes early. I made my way to the baggage claim and grabbed my suitcases. I turned around and saw a man standing there holding a sign with my name on it. I walked up to him and told him who I was. I had to show him a driver's license so he knew that it was me. The guy grabbed my luggage like it was nothing and proceed to take me out to the car. I looked around the airport and thought I saw my fiancée JC, but remembered that he was off doing a concert on the other side of the country. I guess I really missed him.

The man took me out front to a huge black stretch limo. He opened the back door and went to put my luggage in the trunk. The only think I could think of was "Damn, who was Rhonda dating?" All of a sudden, the door on the other side of the limo opened.

"Missy? Oh my god – its you!" Nick shouted as he ran around to my side of the car.
"Nick?!? How are you? It's been years!!"
"Amber told me that I was picking up one of Rhonda's friends named Missy but I never thought it would be you."
"They never said who was going to pick me up. Just that someone would be at the airport to get me."
"Well, we better get going. We don't want to be late," Nick said as he helped me into the car. I just kept looking at him noticing how much he had grown since the last time I saw him. "Wow – he looks awesome!" I kept thinking to myself. We chatted the whole way to his house. I couldn't help but flirt with him. I knew it was wrong, but he was looking so damn good I just couldn't resist.

Rhonda's View

"Tell me again why we're going to Nick's this weekend."
"Because Nick wants everyone to see his new house. Don't worry, next weekend is you're birthday and we'll do something special," Howie winked. I felt a little bad for not wanting to go to his friend's house.
AJ rolled his eyes as he put the bags in the car. "Geez Amber – how many bags do you need for one weekend? We're going to be on the beach most of the time – all you need is a bikini."
Amber shot AJ a look that could kill.
"Oh right, I forgot you had other stuff for Rhon..." Amber kissed him to shut him up.

I looked at Howie and went to take the keys from him.
"Whoa honey – I'm driving," he said.
"But I want to drive," I whined and batted my eyes hoping I would get my way.
"Do you know how to get to Nick's? It is a couple of hours away."
"Well…no…but you can tell me how to get there."
"Nope – I drive."
"Fine," I pouted, "but you know the rule about the passenger picking out the driving music right?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know your rule," he winked again and kissed me knowing I was a little upset that I wasn't driving. "Come on, get in the car."
"What about those two?" I said pointing to AJ and Amber.
"We could leave them here – they probably wouldn't even notice that we left." We both laughed as they finally came up for air.
"Sorry guys," AJ said. "I just can't help myself sometimes."

We got in Howie's car and headed towards the highway. Amber and I packed enough "traveling music" to go across the country.
"Do you guys think we're really going to listen to all of that?" AJ asked.
"Well, yeah. A couple of songs from each CD." I had to laugh at Amber because that's what we did when we left California. "Well Rhon, what do we want to listen to first? You're the passenger so you have control of the radio."
"Um...let's not torture the guys just yet...how about some Prince? I think these boys can handle him."
We threw on Prince's Purple Rain and drove for about half an hour before hitting a huge traffic jam. "Ugh!" Howie said, "I hate traffic."
I think we sat in the same spot for about twenty minutes before I lost it. "Okay Howie – get out of the car."
"What do you mean 'get out of the car'?"
"Get out – let me drive!"
"And where exactly do you think you're going to go? No one is moving."
I glanced over at him and he must have sensed my road rage cause he jumped out of the car and walked over to my door. I climbed over the seat and readjusted the mirrors. "Amber – get me my 'Get out of Traffic' CD."
"Yes ma'am!" Amber knew which CD I was talking about. "Here you go."
Howie and AJ looked terrified and decided to buckle their seat belts. Amber and I laughed at them.
"Alright – song 5 should get us out of this mess, don't you agree Amber?"
"Well it usually makes people start to moveand even if it doesn't, I'm sure that you'll feel better after singing it." We cranked Metallica's 16-minute version of Seek and Destroy, live from Mexico City, and began to sing:

We are scanning Mexico City tonight
We are looking for you to start up a fight
There is an evil feeling in our brains
But its nothing new you know it drives us insane
Running – on our way
Hiding – you will pay
Dying – one thousand deaths...

AJ was laughing in the back seat, "I can't believe Howie's girlfriend listens to Metallica."
I turned around and shot him a look. "And what is wrong with fuckin' Metallica?!?"
"Oh nothing. It's just that...well...you're Howie's girlfriend. That just doesn't seem to fit right."
Howie and AJ sat in amazement as the traffic suddenly began to move and we were on our way. "How…how did you do that?" Howie asked.
Amber and I just laughed cause there was no explanation for it – it just always seemed to work. We all agreed that I would drive the rest of the way to Nick's house and that Amber was in charge of the musical selection. We arrived at Nick's house in no time.

We went around to the backside of Nick's house. There were balloons, people, food, everything you need for a surprise birthday party. I couldn't believe it!
"And to think you didn't want to come here," Howie whispered and laughed into my ear.
I spotted Missy sitting on a chair next to Nick. I ran over to her and hugged her. It's been awhile since I've seen her. We stayed in touch when I moved around, but I was afraid to go see her too often, just in case Cal found out. I always loved Missy and her son like they were part of my family. "What are you doing here? How did you know? Oh my god is it good to see you!!" I hugged her again.

"Amber called me and said your boyfriend was throwing you a party and you know I don't miss parties," she answered. "She never mentioned that your boyfriend is friends with my ex-boyfriend."
"Huh?"
"Remember that guy Kevin I dated for awhile? That's Kevin," she pointed Kevin out to me as he stood by the chips.
"No way! That's your old Kevin? I didn't even think about it! Is it weird for you to see him now that you and JC are together?"
"No – Kevin and I are cool. We said we'd stay friends. I guess with our busy schedules we didn't really keep up on that. But we're cool. We're both engaged now to other people."
"What you and JC got engaged?? You didn't tell me that!! Where's the ring??" Missy flashed me the rock on her finger. I thought I would be jealous – but I wasn't. I met JC a couple of times. He was an okay guy, nothing I would have picked out. When I saw Howie sitting back smiling at the thought of pulling off the surprise party, I knew I had no reason to be jealous of her ring. I may not have had a ring, but I had Howie. I noticed Nick sitting down just watching Missy and I having our conversation.

"Nick, thanks for having the party here. That was really sweet of you," I said. Nick and I managed to get along but there was always something I found quirky about him. I just chalked it up to him being five years younger than me.
"No problem," he said, "Howie asked if he could use my place, I said yes."
I left Missy and Nick to walk around and say hi to everyone that was there. It was mostly the guys and their "significant others", a few people from work and some people Amber knew. I guess I spent most of my time with Howie since I moved down there and haven't had a chance to make that many friends yet.

Amber's View

"Would you care to dance?" I looked up to see Howie standing in front of me. "I love this song and Rhonda's kinda busy talking with Missy.
"I would love to," I said as I got up and took Howie's hand as he led me onto the dance floor.
"So how are you liking Florida so far?"
"I like it a lot," I looked over to AJ with a soft look "especially certain parts of it."
Howie shot me a look that gave me the impression that he could look into my soul. "You really like him a lot don't you?"
I smiled, "Yeah I guess I do." Suddenly I realized that I was falling in love with AJ.
"I know what you mean," Howie said as he watched Rhonda walking up to us.

Rhonda's View

I eventually found Howie on the dance floor with Amber.
"Thanks for watching my man for me," I winked at Amber.
"No problem – he was very well behaved. It's a nice change from AJ," she yelled as she went to find AJ. From the look on his face he heard her. From his actions he was determined to prove her right.
"I can't believe you did this for me," I said to Howie as a slow song came on and we began to dance.
"I had to do something special for you, didn't I?"
"You always do special things for me."
"That's because you are special." Howie and I kissed and we heard gagging noises next to us.
"Sorry," AJ said, "but that was just nauseating."
"No kidding!" Nick yelled from the other side of us. He was dancing pretty close with Missy, which caused a few eyebrows to raise.

Missy view

I enjoyed catching up with Rhonda and Amber and enjoyed flirting with Nick. I was having so much fun, probably because I was drinking more than I should. But it was a party and I was there to have fun. Nick and I were on the dance floor and of course I was doing my bad girl dancing when there was a tap on my shoulder.

"Excuse me – do you think we could talk?" I turned around to see my fiancée JC standing there.
"Honey. How are you?" I asked coming off of the buzz from all of the drinks. JC took my hand and we walked over to a quiet corner. I knew by the look on his face that he was really mad. I saw Nick looking like he was ready to attack if I needed him. I smiled and winked at Nick.
"Do you mind telling me what is going on here?" JC asked in a frightening tone.
"Um, this is called a birthday party. I'm sure you have heard of them. This is also me having fun. You do know what fun is don't you?" "No this is you acting like a tramp, not like a girl who is engaged," he said loudly.
"Don't you dare come in here and act like this. Aren't you suppose to be on tour somewhere?"
"I wanted to surprise you at the airport but I see you, my fiancée, hugging some other guy and getting into a limo with him. Then I followed you here to see you grinding with him on the dance floor. What else am I suppose to think?"

"Is there a problem here?" AJ asked as he put his arm around my shoulder.
"No – I can handle it AJ."
"Well, I think that someone," AJ said pointing to JC, "wasn't invited to this private party. I think he needs to be shown to the door."
"AJ leave us alone. This is between me and my fiancée, not you," JC said.
"No this does deal with me. See you show up at my friend's house to a party that you weren't invited to, and now you're messing with one of our girls here. I think you need to get the fuck out!"
"Oh so the truth comes out! Missy, I never would have thought this was your type," JC said pointing to AJ.
"JC stop it! Why are you here? I'm here having a good time and I think you should leave. AJ, do what you have to do to get rid of him. He's ruining my fun."
"Yeah JC – why don't you just leave?" AJ said as he motioned for the security to come and escort him out.

"What was that all about?" Rhonda asked as her and Howie wandered over to me.
"Nothing. Just JC was just being JC. Thank god AJ came to my rescue," I said to Rhonda feeling a bit upset at the fight JC and I had just had.
"Yeah AJ is a good guy. Nick sent him over here to make sure you were alright. Besides, AJ and JC have had a long history together."
I didn't know what Rhonda was talking about but it didn't matter. All I wanted to do now was have some fun and enjoy the party. "Well at least he's gone. It's your party birthday girl – let's live it up!" I said doing a jello shot and returning to the party. I wanted to have fun and not think about what just happened. I wasn't in the mood for JC. I started dancing again -it's a good thing I can let things go quickly.

"Hey my dancing partner has returned. Shall we continue?" Nick asked standing behind me. I could feel his breath on my neck and I almost melted.
"You know I'm a little tired. Let me rest for a minute and then we'll dance."
"How about we go outside and talk. We can sit on the beach and look at the stars," Nick said. I followed him outside and felt the warm Florida air on my face. "What happened in there? Are you ok?" Nick asked sitting down behind me.
"Yeah, JC was just being his typical jackass self," I said as I leaned back on Nick. The feeling of him behind me made me want him even more but I knew that I would only be doing it to get back at JC.
"Missy," Nick whispered, "I've had a crush on you since you were with Kevin, but seeing you now makes me want you even more. I really want to kiss you."
"Nick, as much as I want to...you know I can't do that."
"But we would be so good together. You know we would. You know I would give you everything I can."
I turned to face him and leaned in to kiss him. His soft lips gently touched my lips. I felt the heat rise throughout my body and then I laid down on top of him.
"Are you sure about his?" he asked me.
"Nick, I need you right now - all of you. Yes, I'm sure about this." I was beginning to take off his shirt, when I stopped and looked into his eyes. I couldn't think of anything else other than making love to him right there on the beach.

Rhonda's View

Most of the party had made their way inside of Nick's house. Some people were playing pool, some were playing video games and others were in the hot tub. Howie took my hand and said, "Come with me for a few minutes." I took his hand and he led me outside to the beach.

"I wanted to give you your birthday present," Howie said as he handed me a small box.
"Howie – you've done enough already. You shouldn't have gotten me anything."
"Okay – then I'll take it back," he said playfully.
"Oh no you don't!!" We sat down in the sand and I opened my gift. It was a beautiful diamond heart necklace. "Howie – this is too much! I love it!" Howie put the necklace on me and kissed my lips. He had the softest, most kissable lips I had ever seen.
"I am so in love with you Sweet D."
"I love you too."

Howie and I made ourselves comfortable in the sand and hoped no one would notice that we were gone. After awhile we shook off the sand and headed back towards Nick's house. Along the way we noticed another couple "getting comfortable".
"Gee, there must be something in the air tonight," Howie said. We laughed until we realized that one of them was Nick.