Misty smiled. "Must have been quite the great--" She paused as she had turned to look Laura's way and saw that she wasn't alone. "--date. Uh, hi, Kevin. How's it goin'?" Misty asked, unable to hide her surprise as she stared at them.
"Uhh, Misty, don't you have some work to do?" Laura asked, hinting that she should give them a moment of privacy.
"Umm, yeah, sure, Laura..." Misty winked as she walked away, and Laura turned to Kevin.
"So, thanks for the ride to work," Laura said, rubbing her hand up Kevin's arm. "See you tonight, then?"
"Six o'clock," Kevin said, leaning in to kiss her as he put his arms around her. He hugged her tightly before letting go. "See you later," he said, giving her hand a squeeze before turning to leave.
"Later," Laura echoed. She watched out the door of the studio as Kevin rounded the corner of the hallway. Smiling, she closed the door and came over to where Misty was setting up makeup for the day's first shoot.
"So, um, what was that about?" Misty asked, eager to hear details. "You didn't tell me this was a breakfast date, unless the date first ended now... you slut!" Misty joked.
"Misty, nothing happened. Yes, he spent the night, but that doesn't mean anything happened. I mean, we had some clothing still on when we fell asleep," Laura said, smiling coyly.
Misty rolled her eyes. "Some clothing?! Laura, you can't just say something like that and not give any details!"
"Sure I can, mainly because it appears our clients have arrived, so we have work to do," Laura said, looking over to the door. "C'mon, let's get going," she said, urging Misty to come with her to greet their clients.
"So why won't you tell me what happened? I thought we were friends," Misty said, still having not let up over almost the entire day. "I tell you everything that happens between AJ and me."
"Yeah, and sometimes it's more then I care to know," Laura said, laughing. "You can certainly be the queen of too much info sometimes. I--" Laura stopped speaking.
"What, Laura?" Misty asked. She followed Laura's gaze. Laura walked to the door and Misty smiled as she watched.
Kevin was standing in the doorway, with a long white box in his arm. He smiled as Laura walked up to him. "I hope I'm not too early. I know it's almost six, so I thought I'd keep you company as you finished up."
"That's, um, fine," Laura said, at a loss for words. Kevin leaned forward to kiss her, and they smiled at each other as they broke away.
"Oh! These are for you," Kevin said, opening the box in his arm, revealing a dozen red roses. "Just a little something to say 'thank you' for last night."
"Oh, Kevin, they're beautiful. I--I think I'll leave them here so everyone can enjoy them." Laura turned to Misty and said, "Misty, I'll be right back." She then turned back to Kevin. "Come with me, Kevin," she said, as Kevin followed her out of the room. Misty's eyes followed them as they walked out of sight.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" Laura asked as she and Kevin walked into the employee lounge. Laura took a vase out of the cabinet and filled it with water, putting the flowers in it.
"I thought we'd head out to the new club, The Oasis, that opened up downtown. I guess Misty and AJ are going too, and Howie and Cherie, and a bunch of other people... some of the 'NSync guys... should be fun."
"Yeah, we could do that. It's Friday so I don't have to get up early tomorrow. I need to go home and change first, though."
Kevin smiled. "I personally think you look fine, but if you insist." He put his arms around Laura's waist as she set the roses on the window sill. "I'm pretty much ready to go, so we'll go to your place, and you can get ready. We'll get dinner around eight o'clock and by the time we've finished up, everyone else will be meeting up at The Oasis."
Laura turned to face Kevin, still in his arms. "Sounds great to me," she said, standing on her toes to give Kevin a kiss. "So, shall we go?" Laura smiled at Kevin as she grabbed her purse. They walked back down to the studio and saw Misty walking out. "What's left to do, Misty?"
"Nothing... it's all taken care of," Misty said, smiling. "T.G.I.F! So, are you guys coming to Oasis tonight?"
"Yeah, Kevin talked me into it," Laura said, winking at Kevin.
"Cool, well I guess I'll see you guys tonight! Later!"
"Bye Misty!" Laura and Kevin said as Misty flew out the building. Laura smiled. "That girl sure doesn't waste any time on a Friday evening, that's for sure!"
"Can't say as though I blame her," Kevin said agreeing. "Speaking of which, why don't we follow suit??"
"Alright, let's go!"
Kevin and Laura walked into The Oasis just a few minutes before ten o'clock. Looking around for familiar faces, Laura spotted Cherie and Howie at a small table. She grabbed Kevin's arm and they walked over to where they were sitting. "Hey y'all! I see we're the first ones here!"
Cherie smiled as Kevin and Laura sat down with her and Howie. "No, actually, Misty and AJ are up at the bar with JC and his girlfriend Julie. I think Joey and Heather are around somewhere too."
"Nothing like being fashionably late," Laura chuckled.
"I'm officially impressed by this place," Kevin said, looking around. "Awesome atmosphere... good vibe." Just then the DJ started playing some music. "Ahhh, here we go... care to dance?" Kevin asked Laura as he pointed to the others that had wasted no time getting out to the dance floor.
"You don't have to ask me twice!" Laura said, getting to her feet. "Let's show 'em how it's done!" With that, Laura and Kevin were on the dance floor. Howie and Cherie decided to sit the first couple out, and watched them as they sipped their drinks. They were soon interrupted when someone else sat down at their table.
"Is this seat taken?"
"Nick... hey," Howie said, surprised to see him. "I thought you weren't feeling well."
"I wasn't... I'm not. But I thought I'd come check it out anyway, at least for a little while. Where is everyone else?" Nick asked, looking around. "Who else is around?"
"Well," Howie started, "Misty and AJ were just at the bar with JC and Julie... I think they're mingling now. And um, I think Heather and Joey are here too..." Howie hesitated to go on.
"Anyone else?" Nick asked, picking up on Howie's reluctance to speak. Howie sighed as he looked to the dance floor. Nick followed his gaze as he saw Kevin and Laura dancing rather closely... too closely for his taste. Nick's eyes fixed on them, and a jealous fire grew in the pit of his stomach. "I--I need to go... before I make a scene," he said, standing up to leave.
"Nick," Howie said, grabbing his arm. Nick pulled away and started walking toward the door. He turned to look at Kevin and Laura again before leaving, just as Laura turned her gaze his way. She froze where she was, and pulled away from Kevin. She started walking to where Nick was standing, when he turned to walk out the door.
