“So how was your little vacation?” Ali’s friend Shane asked. She was starting to get the idea that something interesting was going on, and was hoping Ali would spill the beans.

“It was pretty cool. Virginia is just as gorgeous as it was when I’d seen it last. Of course, being with Josh made it even more wonderful.” Ali had given up trying to totally hide her new man’s identity from her friends at work, so she referred to JC as Josh. She didn’t think it was any of their business. They’ll find out soon enough.

“So did you finally get some?”

“I’m not going there.”

“So you did?”

“Why should you care?” Ali was getting annoyed because now, Shane was prying too much.

Shane wasn’t buying it. She had been around the whole time that Ali was dating Casey, and knew that Ali hadn’t slept with him the whole time they were together. In her mind, she had a feeling that was one of the reasons he left her. Casey was a bit on the horny side, and seemed to pressure Ali about it a lot. “Now come on, Ali. You and I go way back. You can tell me this stuff. At least tell me if he was any good”. An evil grin spread across her face as she said that.

Ali tried to keep a straight face, but it didn’t work. She smiled ear-to-ear. “Oh yeah”. But then she regained herself. “Now hush your mouth ‘cause that’s all I’m telling you.”

Shane turned around back to her desk. “Alright then. I know you’ll tell me soon enough.”

Ali couldn’t get JC out of her head. She kept her promise and called him as soon as she and Rose got off the plane. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay on long. Johnny had a fit when the guys got back to the hotel, so they were in rehearsal all day for the next two days to set up for their next show. Occasionally he and Lance would call from their cell phones to talk to the girls in between sessions, on the rare times that Johnny let them take a break. But Ali knew they had to get the whole schedule back to normal before they could talk again.

She went home finally and found Rose plopped on the sofa, talking to Lance. “I swear, I’m going to kill Shane. She would not stop grilling me about Virginia.”

Rose just smiled. “She’ll find out soon enough.”

“That’s what I told her.” Ali couldn’t take anymore. “I’m telling you, if I don’t see JC again soon, I’m going to go CRAZY!!!!”

Rose laughed. “Somebody’s horny” she sang. “Don’t worry girlie. I’m talking to Lance and I guess you didn’t hear that the Much Music Awards are going to be televised in two weeks. The guys got permission from Johnny to fly us out so we could go with them”.

Ali’s jaw dropped. She had no idea that they had actually gotten the courage to tell Johnny exactly what was going on. Now she was jumping for joy. “Woo hoo!” She said as she started to nearly bounce out of the living room.

Rose jumped off the sofa and grabbed Ali’s shirt. “Girl, hold up a second. Your man wants to talk to you.” She went back to the phone. “Ok Lance, I’ve got her hostage. Put JC on. I love you too.”

Ali grabbed the phone straight out of her friend’s hand. “Hey babe, when were you going to tell me about this?”

“I wanted to surprise you.” JC replied. “Believe me, things went a lot more smoothly after we got the whole rehearsal and schedule crap out of the way. Johnny was all for it. He tends to be a little more laid back then Lou.” Then JC hesitated. “Actually, Johnny wasn’t happy about it at first, but once he knew that Lance and I weren’t going to back down, he was like ‘ok, if that’s what you want’.

Ali was pleased. “I can’t wait to see you.” Then she realized something. What the hell am I going to wear?

JC knew what she was thinking. “Why don’t you wear that one blue dress? I really liked that one”.

“But babe, you’ve already seen me in that.”

He laughed. “Ah, so you’re wanting to surprise me. Just don’t come in a teddy or anything like that because we may not make it to the show.”

“Oh darn. What a pity”. Ali said with a smirk. “Don’t worry, you’ll like it. Rose and I will make sure that we knock both you guys off your feet.” She looked over and Rose and they gave each other a thumbs-up.

“Alright, I’ll be right there.” JC said to the guys in the background. “Honey I need to get going. Either me, Lance, or one of the other guys will call you guys and let you know what’s up as far as when we’ll be flying you out and all.”

“Sounds good.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.” With that, they hung up.

When Ali got to work the next day, she told everyone that she had won tickets off a radio station. The trick worked, since there had been some contests on a few local stations. But Shane was curious. “You seem to be having some major luck lately. Would ‘Josh’ be of any help?”

“Oh hush. He was just as surprised as I was”.

“So when do we get to meet this mystery man?”

Ali had it all planned out. They were certain to get their picture taken, so that would be how everyone finally “meets” him. “Oh I’m sure we’ll be getting our mug done somewhere. “Just keep your eyes out”, she snickered.

She and Rose went out dress shopping later that afternoon. It took forever for both of them to find something that would totally bowl the guys over, and still be in their price range. Finally, Ali settled for another blue dress. Only this time, this one was short. It had a halter-top and went to her ankles, with a slit that went up to the bottom of her knee. “Oh girl, JC is going to pass out from a heart attack when he sees you in that”, Rose squealed.

“That’s the whole idea, isn’t it?” Ali smiled. “Now where’s yours?”

“Hang on. Let me know what you think”. Rose slipped back into the dressing room and came out with a black ankle-length dress, with a slit to the knee, just like Ali’s. The only difference between the two was that this was had a v-neck and came with a matching mini-jacket. “Oh that is so cute!!!” Ali squealed. “You look great!”

“Ya think Lance will like it?”

“Girl, I think you need to bring a bib in your little purse because I have a feeling he’s going to be drooling over you the whole night.” Then she thought about something. What will they say if they get any awards? “What do you think they’ll say if they get up after winning an award?”

Rose went into a die-hard impression of Justin. “Hey yo, I just want to thank all the little people…” but she couldn’t finish. Both her and Ali went into shrills of laughter.

**The next week**

As Ali finished getting her work clothes on, the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey gorgeous. Its me.” It was JC.

“Hey babe. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to let you guys know that we’ll be flying you out on Saturday. If you plan on staying a few days I’d bring some stuff to go sightseeing in. The guys and I might not be able to hang with you too much because we’ve got two more shows Friday and Saturday, plus we’re shooting our part on Rosie this afternoon. The awards ceremony is Monday night. But we might be able to hang with you guys after that”.

Ali had forgotten that they were going to be on The Rosie O’Donnell show in a few days. She knew that both JC and Lance would mention the girls then. But she was hoping to spend more time with JC on this trip. Ali pretended to whine. “But JC, I thought the whole point of us being flown out is so we can spend some time together.” But then she regained herself. They had their little vacation, now they had work to do. “Oh well, at least I’ll get to see you. When do you think you’ll get a break in between shows?”

“Probably around Tuesday.”

“Will you at least get to pick Rose and I up at the airport?”

“Oh yeah. A driver will take Lance and I to the airport, then we’d have to head off to rehearsal. How long did you ask for off?”

“A week”.

JC got concerned. “Ali, can you really afford to take that much time off? I mean, we just got back from Virginia and now you’re going back out of town. Aren’t your bosses a little concerned?”

Ali shook her head. “Not really. We’ve got plenty of people in the office to cover, since this is our slow season. I’ve been getting sent home early the past three days. Besides, everyone’s getting an idea of what’s going on. Once they see us on TV, it should all come together.”

She heard JC snicker. “Well, then I guess that’s not too bad. You and I are going to have a night out for us, just like last time. So bring something nice. Tell Rose to do the same. Lance told me he wanted to take her to this restaurant downtown that’s supposed to be killer.”

Ali smiled. She liked having the whole double-date scenario going on for her and Rose. It gave them something to enjoy whenever life got boring. “I’ll be sure to relay the message.” Then she saw Rose coming out of the bathroom. “Actually, if Lance is around, I can put her on the phone.”

“Nah, I have to go. We’ve got a shoot to do and then rehearsal for a show tomorrow night. But I’ll keep in touch, ok sweetie?”

“Alright you. Don’t burn yourself out.”

“Well, if I do I’ll have you to give me a recharge.” JC smiled. Ali’s face turned bright red. “Don’t give me any ideas”. She heard yelling in the background and took the hint. “I’ll let you go ok. Talk to you later. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

As she hung up the phone she heard the guys taunting him. “Oh isn’t that cute?”

The girls flew out for the awards three days later. Ali was so psyched she could hardly sit still. The last time she had seen JC all dressed up was the night she got into Virginia. Suddenly she realized that she had never really found out what Lance did for Rose that night. “Hey Rose, I just thought of something. How did Lance dress that one night we came into Virginia?”

Rose thought about it. “He was pretty dressed up. I don’t think it was a full tux or anything like that, but he had a tie on and a nice dress shirt. You know Lance doesn’t get dressed up too often.”

Ali smirked. “Of course we both know that the tie didn’t stay on for very long”. Then she started giggling. Rose smacked her but that only made Ali laugh harder.

The guys, along with Lonnie, waited for them as they got off the plane. “Hi honey, we’re home!” Ali went over and hugged JC. The girls grabbed their luggage and went straight the waiting limo. “How was your flight?” Lance asked.

“Fine. We both conked out most of the way.” Rose smiled. “There were times I couldn’t tell the difference between the plane engines and Ali’s snoring”.

“Kiss my ass, hooch.” Ali replied with a frown.

JC put his arm around her. “Don’t worry, the only reason I couldn’t hear it was because I snore louder.” The comment landed JC a playful punch in the stomach. “Careful girl, you know I bruise easy.” Ali rolled her eyes.

“So where do you have us staying?” Rose asked. “I hope it’s as nice as the last place. That thing had a hot tub and everything. We were set!”

“It’s pretty nice.” Lance replied. “We’ve stayed there a few times. Just make sure you guys get enough fun stuff in because once we get done with everything, you’re being held captive.”

Ali and Rose looked at each other and grinned. “No problem”.

They stopped off at the hotel and helped the girls with their things. “I’ll call you when we get done with the show tonight”, JC told Ali. “You got the cell phone?”

Ali patted her purse. “Right here.”

They kissed good bye and the guys headed out for rehearsal. “Can’t wait to see what you ladies are wearing Monday night”.

Rose smiled. “Well, too bad you’re going to have to sweat it out.” Then she kissed Lance good bye. “It will be worth the wait.” With that, she closed the door behind them.