Everyone piled into their respective vehicles for the ride out to the compound. Elaine and Diane Bass rode in the back seat and Jim rode with Lance up front as Lance drove.
"Lance told us how nice your graduation was and how friendly everyone was. How does it feel to be through with school?" Diane asked.
"It's kind of strange right now, but I'm sure when September gets here and school starts back up, I'll really feel it then. Lance has been encouraging me to take correspondence courses through the University of Central Florida to help me with Business Management and this will help me with my new responsibilities. I want to do my best for the guys."
"Elaine, I've always known you to be a very conscientious young woman. I am sure that you have their best interests at heart and I have no doubt that you will work wonders in your Mom's absence. Speaking of your Mom, how is she doing?"
Diane and Elaine chatted about anything and everything on the rest of the trip to the compound. As he drove along, Lance tried to listen to Elaine's conversation with his Mom. He was impressed with how she warmed to his Mom better than anyone he had known. Mama Bass was still very concerned about her son, even after all these years, and Lance valued his parents opinion about people and things.
Jim Bass sat and watched his son as they talked and he noticed when he stopped to listen to Elaine and Diane talk, there was a look that came over Lance's face when he listened to Elaine talk or if she spoke to him, he lit up like a Christmas tree. Mr. Bass made a mental note to talk to Mrs. Bass later and to observe more at the party.
This party this night had an extra special meaning because it denoted 10 years that the guys had been together. It was an anniversary for them. When they got to the party, there were tons of pictures around the walls of the hall. There were pictures of them when they first met, pictures of them singing together for the first time, pictures from all the awards they had won and pictures from their movies.
It was comical to see how they had grown over 10 years, some more than others. The hair styles, clothes everything was hilarious. As she looked further, she saw pictures she had no idea had been taken. Steve Fatone was notorious for snapping pictures of unsuspecting folks. There were funny shots and a few embarrassing shots of folks on the wall.
As Elaine continued along the line of photos, she relived events and laughed, cried and sometimes just shook her head. She came to one section of just incidental pictures. One caught her eye immediately. She had not known that the picture existed. It was a picture of her and Lance working on a project and he was putting tape on her nose and they were laughing. She tried to remember when it could have been taken. She kept looking and found other pictures she didn't know existed or she had forgotten about them. There was one of everyone on a beach in California and you could see her and Lance looking through the telescope in the background. Elaine thought to herself, "I've got to find Steve and get copies of these pictures."
Just then, Rickii and Lynne came up and she showed them the pictures. They looked around some more and Lynne suddenly stopped. She moved close to a picture on the wall. There was a picture of Lance sitting on a floor against a wall and Elaine sitting between his stretched out legs leaning back against him and they were asleep. "Elaine, what is the deal here?" she inquired pointing at the picture.
Elaine came over and looked at the picture and gasped. She never knew that the picture had been taken, but it was when they had to seek shelter during a storm. They had been sent to the shelter and the place was packed so they put their stuff against the wall and leaned against it and slept when they could. Elaine looked closely at the picture and you could see Lance's arms wrapped around her keeping her safe. They had all been scared because it was such a freaky storm.
She explained the picture and they moved into where the real party was. There was live music and food and all kinds of things. "What can I get everyone to drink?" asked Lance.
"Dr. Pepper for me," replied Elaine and everyone else gave their order. Everyone ate and danced and partied all night. It seemed that every time Lance would get up the nerve to ask Elaine to dance, someone else would.
Around 10:00 PM, Johnny got up to make a speech about the 10 years the guys had been together and all they had gone through to get where they were today.
He announced that the buses would be pulling out at 7:00 AM and that he would suggest everyone get a good nights sleep. He said the band would play a few more songs and then they would call it a night.
Elaine thought she needed to find Lance and dance with him the rest of the time. She spotted him over talking to his Mom and Dad and she walked over. As she crossed the dance floor, she saw Lynne and Justin deep into some romantic dancing. They had no clue that anyone was around. Rickii and JC were at the table talking and they had spent most of the evening talking, only dancing when it was a slow song.
She approached the table and everyone looked up. "May I borrow Lance for a little bit?" she asked his folks.
"Sure. Go ahead and have some fun son. You don't need to stay with us all night," Jim stated.
Lance looked at Elaine and her eyes seemed to capture his very being. She smiled at him and it melted his heart. He couldn't wait to feel his arms around her. They walked out onto the dance floor and she moved into his body and put her arms around his neck. Lance moved into her and put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He was overwhelmed by her fragrance again and he was lost in her embrace. She felt so good in his arms and her fingers were playing in the hair at his neck. And, he was getting tingly all over. He decided he could stay like this forever.
Elaine was experiencing some of the same emotions as Lance. His after shave made her feel giddy and it felt so good to be in his arms. She closed her eyes and listened to him hum along with the music. It felt so good to have him in her arms.
