Joey climbed out of his car, and practically skipped into his house whistling a happy tune.
"Joey!" Mrs. Fatone cried, running to him as soon as she heard his cheerful voice. "How did the audition go?"
"Not to good." he replied. "They told me I wasn't what they were looking for."
Mrs. Fatone's brow wrinkled. "Then why are you so happy?"
"I met someone."
Mrs. Fatone rolled her eyes. "What's new?"
Joey shrugged. "I'm going to go call her right now."
Mrs. Fatone's eyes widened. "So soon. Wow. She must really be something."
A silly grin spread across his face. "Yeah, she is."
Mrs. Fatone smiled. "Well, I can't wait to meet her."
"I can't wait for you to meet her, too. But, first things first. I've got to call her."
She chuckled. "You do that."
"Thanks." Joey ran into the kitchen, grabbed the cordless phone, then ran into his room, as he dialed the number written on his hand.
His heart began pounding in his chest, quickening it's pace with each ring.
"Hello?"
"Danielle?" Joey asked, his heart skipping a beat at the sound of her voice.
"Yes?"
"Hi, this is Joey."
"Oh, hey. . .wow, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."
"I know, but, I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I have to know when I can see you again."
"I haven't stopped thinking about you either."
"What are you doing tonight?" Joey asked.
"Nothing. Do you want to come over to my place? My father just had a new pool put in, and we haven't had much chance to have guests in it."
"I'd like that." Joey said. "When can I come over?"
"Is now good?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah."
Danielle gave Joey directions to her house.
A wide grin lit up Joey's face as he grabbed a pair of board short swimming trunks and checked his reflection in the mirror, then, calling out to his mother where he was going, darted out the front door.
After driving for twenty minutes, Joey pulled up to a long winding driveway.
"Oh my God," he gasped, when he saw how enormous her house-her mansion was.
Unable to believe it, Joey parked his car, and jogged up to the door.
"Hello, can I help you?" a man dressed in a tux asked after Joey knocked.
"Yes, Danielle is expecting me."
"Ah, yes. Right this way."
The man led Joey through the luxurious house, hot back, through the garden, and to the large hour glass shaped pool.
Danielle was standing in the middle of the diving board, in a green and blue plaid bikini, the bathing suit fashion of the time. Her hair was wet, and up in a high ponytail, with several ringlets stuck around the edges of her face.
She obviously didn't realize her was there, because she ran down the board, hopped at the end, propelling her body into the air, tucked her body into a ball and flipped, before doing a perfect dive into the water.
Joey watched her in awe. He'd never been very good at diving.
Danielle surfaced, and wiped the water from her eyes.
"Joey!" she cried happily. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to see you do a perfect dive."
Danielle smiled. "Come on in."
Joey held up his trunks. "Where can I put there on?"
Danielle pointed to the pool house behind him. "Right in there."
By the time Joey finished changing into his trunks, the sun had set, and the pool lights had come on.
Danielle was sitting by the side of the pool, letting her legs dangle into the water.
When she saw Joey, she looked up and smiled.
Joey sat down on the direct opposite side of the pool, and just looked at her.
Danielle looked around, self-consciously. "Um," she giggled. "Are you just gonna sit there and stare?"
"Nope," he replied, lowering his body into the just right water. "I'm going to go swimming."
He doggy paddled over to Danielle, and stood up in front of her. "God, your beautiful." he said softly.
"What?" she asked, wide-eyed.
"Your beautiful. I just can't get over that."
"Yeah, well. . . " she tilted her head to the side, coyly. "I try."
"Oh, and she's modest, too." Joey laughed.
Danielle rested her hands on Joey's shoulders. "You know I was just kidding. Know what?"
Joey moved closer. "What?"
"Your pretty cute yourself" she said, tapping her index finger on his nose.
"Yeah. I know."
Danielle burst out laughing. "Well, if you think I'm modest, you should get a load of yourself."
Joey put his hands on Danielle's legs. They were soft and silky smooth. He wondered if the rest of her body was so soft.
The pool lights illuminated her body, causing her hair to shine, and her face to light up. And her lips were drawing him in.
"Joey?" she asked. "Your starring again."
"I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I can't believe how lucky I am that I met you. I mean, I barely know you, but, everything about me right now is telling me to hold on to you and never let go."
Joey starred up at her for some kind of response.
She let a small smile creep across her lips, as she brought her hands up, cupping his face. She caressed his cheek softly with her thumb. "Thank you." she whispered. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. *Ever*."
She studied his eyes for a moment, making sure he was sincere, before lowering her lips so that they were inches from Joey's.
Her sweet breath against his face was driving him crazy. He didn't know why she was torturing him like this.
Finally, she moved so that her lips met his. Softly at first, then harder, and deeper. Their tongues intertwined as Danielle wrapped her legs around his waist. Joey wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her up off the pavement and she slowly lowered herself into the water, all the while, their kisses deepening.
"What's going on here?" a stern voice asked.
Danielle immediately pulled away. "Dad! What are you doing here?!"
"What am I doing here?! What the hell are you doing?! With HIM?!"
"Dad, I'm on a date."
"Well, this date is over!"
"But-!"
"No buts!" he yelled. "Get that hoodlum out of my pool and keep him out!"
"Dad, this isn't a hoodlum. This is Joey, you auditioned him today." Danielle explained.
"I don't care! Get him out! Now!" with that, Mr. Fountaine stormed inside.
"God! I hate it when he does that!"
Joey put his arm on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We can just try this another time, sweetie, ok?"
"No! I don't wanna try it another time! He always does this. I'm not allowed to have a life!"
"Look, I don't know what goes on here, but, I don't want to upset your father, so, I better go. I'll call you, and we can talk about it, ok?"
Danielle nodded, clearly upset.
Joey kissed her forehead. "Good night."
"Night."
"Hello?" Joey asked, groggily picking up the phone in his living room.
He sat up straight on the couch. He must have fallen asleep watching TV.
"Joey?" a female voice asked. She sounded as if she were crying.
"Danielle? What'd wrong?!"
"My-my father!"
"Shh," he consoled. "Don't cry. Take a deep breath. Tell me what's wrong."
He heard her take a deep breath. "My father doesn't want me to see you anymore."
Joey's hear sank. "What? Why?"
"I don't know! He's an ass hole! I hate him! I have him so much!" he could near her begin sobbing again.
"Baby, please, don't cry. We'll think of something. I promise."
"God, Joey, I hope so."
"Why would he do that?!" Destiny cried, outraged.
"I honestly don't know. I guess he just didn't this I was good enough for his daughter." Joey replied.
"Well, obviously you got around that. What happened?"
"We began seeing eachother secretly. Your mother was the best thing that ever happened to me. She encouraged me to go on more auditions, never give up, and always follow my dreams. She believed in me when nobody else did. In fact, the night my career started to turn around was all her fault."
"Her fault?"
"Yes, you see. . . "