"Sit."
Chris sat obediently in a chair and waited for the news.
"Well ... Shannon is currently in Mr. McDonald's office being read the riot act, and it doesn't look good, Chris. Mr. Adair explained that she could and probably will be fired for what happened this afternoon."
Chris groaned and flopped back in the chair. "Great, just perfect." Chris looked at Johnny with a hopeful statement which the older gentleman was quick to read.
"Oh no you don't ... Chris -" Johnny said warningly.
"Come on, Johns, it would be the perfect solution!" Chris begged.
"For you it would be the perfect solution," Johnny shook his head. "I can't just hire everyone you meet, Chris. I don't even have any positions open right now, and even if I did ..."
"What about if she took over for Denise? Steve said she would be taking her leave soon anyway ..."
"That's not a permanent thing, Chris. As soon as Denise has the baby she plans to come back." Johnny pointed out.
"But until then ..." Chris cajoled.
Johnny sighed. "No, we won't have a wardrobe mistress."
Chris could tell that Johnny was caving. "She's amazing with clothing, Johnny, you should see some of her designs! I think she'd really be able to do some cool stuff for the tour."
Johnny looked at Chris with a wry statement. "She can fill in for Denise while she's out on maternity leave. Once Denise comes back, Shannon has two weeks to pull together a portfolio, and then she can test it with the other guys. If they like what they see, she can stay - deal?"
Chris' face broke into a wide grin. "Deal."
********
"I'm not going to cry ... I'm not going to cry ... I'm not going to - dammit, I'm going to cry!" Shannon felt the sting of tears pricking her eyelids. She had known she would be in trouble when Mr. McDonald had caught her, she had even expected a written warning... but fired?
She punched the elevator button with frustration. All she wanted at this point was to find Chris and have him tell her that everything was going to be fine.
"God, what is wrong with this thing?" Shannon hit the elevator button a few more times, even though she knew that wasn't going to make it come any faster. The doors dinged open and she rushed inside, colliding with the other occupant.
"Whoa, are you okay?" JC held out his arms to steady her, his eyes full of concern. Shannon shook her head, but when he noticed there were tears in her eyes, JC knew something was up. Abandoning his idea of checking out the lobby, JC hit the button for his floor. "Okay, so what's going on?"
"I got fired," Shannon sobbed.
JC did the only thing he could think of and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry. He looked up as the doors opened on their floor and he saw that Chris was waiting. "Here," he motioned to Shannon. "Maybe you should take over."
"Shan? Babe, what's wrong?" Chris asked as Shannon wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.
"She was fired - what did you do?" JC asked him, a stern look on his face.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Chris explained. JC shook his head and shrugged as he headed back down the hall towards his own room. "Hey ..." Chris said softly, lifting Shannon's chin to look into her eyes.
"Hey," she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I got fired."
Chris chuckled softly as he opened the door to his room and ushered her inside. "So I heard - do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head as she sank into the nearest chair. "No ... it was awful. I mean, I knew that I was going to be in trouble, and yes, I knew that I would get yelled at ... but fired?" Shannon ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "Now I have no job, no income ... how am I going to pay my rent next month?"
"I think I can help," Chris couldn't hold his smile back any longer. "I got you a job."
Shannon cocked an eyebrow at him. "Very funny -can you try to be serious, please?"
"I am being serious!" He insisted. "I talked to Johnny and he's going to hire you - today. He's just drawing up the papers and contract now."
Shannon's eyes grew wide. "What?" Her heart began to beat wildly. "Are you kidding?"
"Nope. You're going to be our new wardrobe mistress." Chris held out his hand to her. "Welcome to the tour."
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