*at the same time*

Lance was shocked. The first time he had seen her in almost 5 years. He knew that a lot had changed in his life during that time, but somehow, he always expected Mackenzie to remain how she was when he left. It was as if he envisioned her as his one constant in crazy life his talent had created for him. And, now he didn’t even have that.

“Hey, Lance, who was that girl you were talking to? She was fine!” Justin had decided to take a break for all that dancing, and hang out with Lance while he caught his breath.

“Miss Mississippi.”

“Oh, did you know her back in the pre-scream days?” That’s the term the guys used for their lives before they were the biggest teen heartthrobs on the planet. “Or were you just planning on getting to know her?” Justin asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“I knew her all right. That was Mackie.” Lance responded.

Justin almost choked on his 7-UP. “No way! You finally found her? No offense Lance, but the way you talked about her, we all thought she was a bow-wow.” ‘Guess we thought wrong!’ he said to himself.

“Well, she…she’s changed a lot, I guess.” Lance never thought of Mackie as less than pretty, although now she looked like what he already knew her to be-an angel. A thought came into his head, and he chuckled to himself. “You know, it’s kind of funny. I look out into every crowd wondering if Mackenzie was sitting there watching me, everywhere we went. But, this is the last place I would have ever thought to look. She doesn’t seem shallow enough to be part of this whole thing.”

Justin recognized the look in Lance’s eye immediately. “Why don’t you invite her to dinner with us. I think Joey and Miss New Jersey hit it off, and I was probably going to ask Miss California.”

“I think I will.” Lance said to himself, as Justin had walked back to the floor and resumed dancing with the blonde he had his eye on since they had arrived. He walked out of the party and to the front desk.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me Mackenzie Deal’s room number.”

Lance could tell that the younger lady knew who he was, as she asked for no identification. She merely clicked a few keys on her computer and promptly stated, “That would be room 2333, 23rd floor.” Lance thanked her with a smile, and headed to the elevator. The trip 23 stories up took too long and not enough time all at once. He strode into the hallway as the doors slid open, walking confidently to Mackie’s room. He raised his hand to knock, and then, losing his nerve, pulled it to his side again. ‘What am I so nervous about?’ he thought. ‘This is Mackenzie, the little girl I watched Bambi with and held her while she cried.’ But deep down, he knew he could never look at her like that again. Lance drew in three deep breaths, and then knocked.