"What did you do?" Shannon looked at him suspiciously.
"Just a little payback," Chris giggled, his brown eyes sparkling.
"I don't even want to know," she closed her eyes and snuggled into her pillow. Chris bounced around on the bed until Shannon opened her eyes again to look up at him. "What?"
"So what are you doing today?"
"Um...I have to work at eleven," Shannon frowned, making a face.
"Until when?" Chris wondered, absentmindedly chewing on a hangnail.
"Seven ... why?" She grinned in anticipation.
"Well ... see ... I'm kinda part of this musical group - you might've heard of us - *N SYNC?" Chris joked as he gestered around the room. "Anyway, we're having a concert tonight, and I thought you might like to come."
"I think I could do that," Shannon nodded. "I actually have tickets for tomorrow night - me, Destiny, and Shelle."
"Really? Where are your seats?" Chris asked.
"Oh," Shannon laughed. "Nosebleed Hollow ...way in the back. I doubt we'll even be able to tell you guys apart from back there."
"I think we can get you guys a little closer than that - especially after what I witnessed between Destiny and Lance - not to mention that Justin is happily snoring away, curled up with Michelle." Chris wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"You're awful," Shannon shook her head. "And just what did you witness between Des and Lance?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out!" Chris kissed Shannon lightly on the nose. She stuck her tongue out at him and glanced at the clock.
"I'd better get up and get everyone moving, Shelle and I need to be at work in two hours and Des was gonna show Colin around the city a bit." Shannon threw back the covers and pulled a pair of boxers on under the t-shirt she had slept in.
Shannon looked herself over in her bathroom mirror, her cheeks reddening when she caught sight of how green her eyes were - a sure sign she was happy. Throwing her hair back in a ponytail, she entered the living room where Colin was sleeping soundly on the sofa bed, a peaceful look on his face. She left him alone for the moment and knocked softly on Michelle's bedroom door. She could hear muffled voices on the other side before Michelle pulled the door open, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"Good morning, Sunshine!" Shannon teased. "Did we have fun last night?"
"Shut up, Shan," Michelle said good-naturedly. "I could ask you the same thing."
"The answer to that would have to be 'yes'." Shannon answered, peering around Michelle to see the lump under the covers that was Justin. "Good morning, Justin!"
A hand waved from the bed and a muffled "Good morning," could be heard.
"Cute," Shannon grinned at Michelle. "You still have to work today, right?"
"Ugh ... yeah. I wish we had taken today off, too." Michelle said wistfully.
"I know," Shannon agreed. "At least we took the mid-shift so we can have most of tonight free. Chris invited us to the concert tonight."
Justin sat up in bed, his interest piqued. "Are you gonna go?"
"I'm going," Shannon answered and looked at Michelle. "You?"
"I'd love to," Michelle grinned.
********
Instead of working in the phone room like she usually did, Shannon had been scheduled to work at the front desk with Michelle due to the large number of arrivals that day. The day crawled by slowly, agonizingly slow for the two women, who couldn't help but watch the clock, urging the hours to move more quickly. Shannon was busy making up packets of room keys when she felt someone's eyes on her and looked up expectantly.
"Can I help you?" She raised her eyes only to see Chris and Justin standing before her, idiotic grins on their faces.
"Hmm ... can you help us?" Chris pondered with Justin giggling beside him.
"You're beyond help," Justin teased Chris.
"Chris, I'm working. What do you need?" Shannon looked around anxiously to see if her manager was nearby.
"You don't have time for me?" Chris pouted.
"Well ..." Shannon was flustered, a blush colored her cheeks.
"It's okay, I understand. I just missed you." Chris smiled sweetly, causing her heart to melt.
"Where's Shelle?" Justin bounced up and down eagerly.
"She's at the Concierge counter - over there," Shannon pointed and giggled when Justin smiled broadly and ran across the lobby. She returned her attention to Chris, who was staring at her intently. "What? Do I have something on my uniform?"
"No ... it's just amazing what you do to that ugly blouse," Chris complimented.
"Oh," Shannon melted again. "True, it's not something I would have designed, but -"
Chris looked intrigued. "You design?"
"Yeah ... I make a lot of my own stuff, sometimes I make stuff for Des and Shelle, other people I know. I used to have my own costume business back home, but I don't do that anymore." Shannon explained, not realizing her manager had come up beside her.
"Shannon ... is there a problem?" Mr. McDonald, the front desk manager, asked her stiffly.
Chris saw her freeze and answered for her. "No sir, no problem. I was just asking this young lady where I could see a movie this evening."
"I see," Mr. McDonald looked at him suspiciously and nodded at Shannon as he walked away.
"Thank you, but you'd better go." Shannon looked up at the clock. "I get off in about an hour anyway - do you want us to just show up at the Garden?"
"Oh! I almost forgot," Chris pulled four passes from his pocket. "This was why J and I came down in the first place. Colin knows where to go, Lance showed him and Destiny earlier, and Lonnie and Eric are gonna keep an eye out for you." He handed them to Shannon, who looked them over and placed them in her uniform pocket.
"Okay," she smiled. "I can't wait."
"Me either, I'll be looking for you during the show." Chris leaned over the counter and planted a quick kiss on Shannon's lips, her eyes widening in surprise, a loud cough sounding from her manager's throat, his eyes narrowed.
"You've been SO HELPFUL!" Chris said loudly, catching Mr. McDonald's eye. "Such WONDERFUL EMPLOYEES here!" Shannon tried to contain her giggles as Chris winked at her and made his way across the lobby.
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