Chris paced the floor of his suite, his hands playing nervously with the hem of his shirt as his mind went around in circles.
But it kept coming back to the same thought.
I love her.
"That's ridiculous," He answered himself outloud. "You don't fall in love with someone in two days."
But he had ... he had fallen. Hard.
He shook his head as a knock came to the door that separated his suite from JC's. "I'm not in love ... I can't be ..." He repeated to himself as he opened the door.
"Talk to yourself much?" JC raised an eyebrow at the older man. "What's up with you? How did the talk with Johnny go?"
"It went." Chris said curtly and continued pacing.
"Okay ..." JC replied after a prolonged silence. "Chris, is something wrong?"
"No ... yeah ... I don't know!" Chris threw up his hands in frustration and sat down on the couch. "I think I'm going crazy."
"There's a newsflash," JC laughed, but was frozen by the look on Chris's face. "Sorry - you look really worried ... what's up?"
"C ... when did you know you were in love with Laurie?" Chris nervously nibbled on a hangnail and looked at JC earnestly.
"The first time I laid eyes on her," JC answered truthfully. "But what does that have to do with the fact that you think you're going crazy?"
"Cause that's how I feel about Shannon." Chris sighed. "If that's even possible."
"Sure it's possible, I just never expected it from you." JC shook his head. "What does she think about it?"
"She doesn't know - hell, I don't even know myself. It's crazy, but I feel like I've known her my whole life. She laughs at all my jokes - even the dumb ones, she showed me her designs - wow, and then the way she looks at me ..." Chris paused, a big smile on his face.
"That's love, dude." JC confirmed. "So what are you going to do about it? What's going to happen when we leave here on Monday?"
"I don't know," Chris replied and looked at his watch. "I'm gonna go for a walk - I'll be back in time to go to soundcheck."
********
Destiny couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched - true, she was at the concierge desk in the middle of a crowded lobby, but she was positive someone was watching her. Casually, she lifted her eyes and looked around the lobby. No one immediately caught her eye, so she returned to her work. She shook her head and was trying to convince herself she was imagining the feeling when a shadow fell across the desk.
"Destiny?"
She looked up again and was surprised to see Chris standing there - wearing an extremely ugly hat that could only have been borrowed from JC. "Hey Chris, nice hat."
"Yeah ... isn't it?" His smile never reached his eyes and Destiny knew instinctively something was wrong.
"Is everything okay?" A look of concern crossed her pretty features. "If you can give me two minutes we can go talk."
Ten minutes later, Destiny was on her lunch break and they were heading to a small deli around the corner from the hotel. After each ordering a sandwich and a drink, they grabbed a quiet table near the back of the deli, Lonnie doing his best to remain inconspicuous in the small room.
"So ... what's going on?" Destiny tilted her head and studied Chris carefully.
"Let me ask you a question ... how long have you known Shannon?" His brown eyes were unusually serious, his face pensive.
"We've known each other for about five years, why?" Destiny wondered.
Chris started to shred his napkin into tiny pieces. "I think I'm in love with her ... crazy as that sounds ..." He raised cautious eyes to look at Destiny, who had her hands covering her mouth. "What?"
"You love her?" Destiny's green eyes shone and she bounced up and down in her seat. "Really?"
Chris couldn't help but grin. "Yeah ... I do."
Destiny ran around the table to give him a hug, biting back a shriek of happiness. "So, why so sad? If you love her -"
"That's just it - I love her. Des, does she love me?"
Destiny's heart went out to him - it was obvious that he had been burnt - and burnt badly - in the past. "Chris, she adores you. You're all she talks about, and honestly, Shelle and I haven't seen her this happy EVER. Stop being so insecure about it and just tell her how you feel."
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