The time had finally come. Michelle had packed the last of her things and headed to the airport. She had just accepted an offer to become the latest staff member of the Millenium Dance Complex in Los Angeles. 

She couldn't believe she was going to be working along side of the now famous choreographer Wade Robson. He was the amazing young talent responsible for NSYNC and Britney Spears' hot dance routines. She had seen him once before at a dance seminar and instantly found herself a bit taken by him. He was young, good-looking, and such a great dancer. She never had the nerve to approach him though and regreted that day ever since. She was going to make sure the first thing she did when she got there was get to know him......professionally and maybe even personally.

When the plane landed in LA she headed to the baggage area to gather her things and look for her friend Jenna. She had known Jenna for years. The two had met when Jenna began dating Michelle's cousin. Things didn't last long between him and Jenna, but her and Michelle remained close friends. She was going to be sharing an apartment with her until she found a place of her own. Everything was perfect. Not only was she going to have a great job, but she was going to be able to spend some time with her best friend.

"Hey girl!" Jenna said. 

"Back at ya!" Michelle replied.

"So, when do you start the new job?"

"The beginning of the week, so that gives us the whole weekend to catch up."

"Great, there is so much I want to show you."

"Well, let's go!"

They headed to Jenna's apartment to drop off Michelle's bags and get changed. They had decided to grab some dinner and check out the club scene. It had been a while since Jenna had been out dancing. She was always tied up with work and when she did have some free time, she did other things. She hated to go clubbing by herself. Dancing was one of those small self pleasures that she would get to enjoy again now that Michelle was here. Michelle lived to dance and would surely drag her to every club in the area. She couldn't wait.

They arrived at Jenna's apartment and went inside. Her place was everything Michelle thought it would be. Large and full of class. Jenna had an appreciation for the finer things in life. There were amazing paintings on the walls and works of art scattered throughout the apartment. No doubt things she had come across in her career. Being a currator for an art museum was all Jenna used to talk about, and here she was living out her dream. Michelle was so proud of her. 

Jenna gave her a proper tour of the apartment and showed her to her room. Once inside, she unpacked her stuff, grabbed an outfit and headed to the shower. She couldn't wait to go out. She knew she was in for a good time. Jenna was very sophisticated but had a wild side that only few people had seen. She was sure that Jenna's wild side would make an appearance tonight.

After she got ready she headed into the living room to meet Jenna who had no doubt been ready for at least 30 mins now. She always used to tease Michelle on how long it took her to get ready. Jenna would just throw something on and it would be absolutely stunning. She just had an eye for things like that. 

"Finally!" Jenna teased.

"Hey, works of art don't happen overnight....you should know that" Michelle replied.

Jenna just laughed and grabbed Michelle's arm as they headed out the door.

After they had grabbed a small bite to eat they headed to the clubs. The first one they hit was a trendy New York style club called Mocha with all the ultra-modern touches. The club it's self was great, but it was not the fun atmosphere that they were looking for so they decided to head to a smaller club on the other side of town. 

Michelle had heard about this club from former co-workers who visited the area before. They told her that Implosions was definetely the place for dancing. 

When they arrived at the club they went inside and to their delight the crowd was bumpin and grinding all over the dance floor. Now this is what they were looking for. They headed onto the dance floor and didn't stop dancing all night. It was just like the good old days. Of course, Michelle stole the show with her dancing. She was such a natural.

When they finally made it back to the apartment it was well after 3am. The two giggled and chuckled like teenagers as they staggered in. It felt so good to just let loose. They kicked off their heels and headed to the living room. 

Michelle decided to throw something more comfortable on while Jenna checked the machine for messages. 

When Michelle came back out of her room Jenna seemed to be in a daze. 

When she asked her what was up, Jenna said she had got an offer to work at the Metropolitian Museum of Modern Art . She had applied to work there months ago and never heard from them. Now they were offering her a job. If she accepted, she would have to move. 

She was torn. She had wanted the job more than anything, but her life had just gotten to the point where things were comfortable. 

"Jen, you have wanted this your whole life. If you don't accept the offer, you will regret it forever." Michelle stated

Jenna simply replied " I know, I know."

"Well....what are you going to do?" Michelle asked, almost bothered by the fact that Jenna was even contemplating not accepting.

"There is so much to consider Michelle...my current job, the apartment, you."

"Me?!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Yes.... we were susposed to spend some time together. You just got here and I don't want to just up and leave."

"Well...I won't let you past up this opportunity for me or anything else. As for the rest, we'll figure it out....trust me"

Jenna knew Michelle would make sure she would accept the offer. Michelle was always there to give her that extra nudge when she really needed it and this was one of those times. 

Michelle told Jenna everything would work out and for now what they really needed was some sleep. Tomorrow they would figure everything out.

They said their goodnights and headed to bed. 

Jenna knew Michelle would come up with the answer to everything. She always did. Tomorrow they would figure it out. She just hoped she would make the right decision. With a sigh, she shut her eyes and fell asleep.

CHAPTER 2

Jenna laid in her bed as the mornings first light shone through her window. She knew she had a lot of decisions to make today, but couldn't seem to drag herself out of bed.

She laid there for awhile going over things in her head. She was hoping the answer to everthing would reveal it's self. Unfortunetly, there were just too many obstacles. 

First, her job. 

She had loved working there. They had been the ones who had given her a chance when nobody else would. How could she just walk in there and tell them she was leaving them to go to NY. 

Second, her apartment.

She couldn't imagine trying to deal with selling it all the way from NY. Plus, if things didn't work out and she wanted to return to LA, she would have to start looking for a new place all over again. 

Third, Michelle.

She knew Michelle would not let her use her as an excuse for not going, but still she had invited her to stay with her. If she left, she would be leaving her alone in a city she knew nothing about. She just couldn't do that to her.

This was just not going to work. She knew it, but still wished things could have been different. If only they would have offered her the job before she got settled in LA. 

She threw her legs over the side of the bed and yawned. She knew this was going to be a long day. Not only would she be convincing herself that taking this job was impossible, but she would have to convince Michelle as well. 

She slowly stood up and headed to her dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She was atleast going to be comfortable if Michelle was going to be lecturing her all day.

She got dressed and headed toward the kitchen to start some coffee.

Michelle would no doubt still be sleeping. She never was a morning person. For as long as she had known her, Michelle had never been the first one up.

You can imagine her surprise when she saw Michelle was up. She was sitting on a plush armchair in the livingroom that overlooked the city. She had a tablet and pen in hand, working hard on what would soon be known as "The plan". 

Michelle had come up with the perfect solution in the middle of the night and got out of bed to write everything down. She knew convincing Jenna to take the job offer would be like an attorney presenting a case. She was going to be prepared. All Jenna would have to do was follow "The plan".

"Oh my god.....have you even been to sleep because I know you never get up before me?" Jenna laughed.

"Yes, I slept." Michelle replied. "I figured out the solution to your problems and I wanted to have it written down."

"Oh you did, did ya." Jenna said. More of a statement than a question.

"Yeah.....have a seat and listen to my plan."

Jenna took a seat in a chair identical to the one Michelle was in and listened while Michelle unvailed her plan.

After about 45 minutes of discussion, Jenna could not believe that Michelle had convinced her that this could work. 

Michelle was going to rent the apartment from her. If she ever wanted to return to LA, her place would be waiting for her. 

Her current job situation was really not an issue. It was not like she was under contract. Plus, she was sure they would have no hard feelings toward her leaving. Working at the Met was like winning gold at the olympics. Everyone in the art world felt that way. If Jenna told them of the offer they would be happy and support her all the way.

Last and definetly least as far as Michelle was concerned, was herself. She told Jenna that she would be busy more often than not and that she was a big girl. She was ready for whatever the city had to offer. Staying because of her would not be allowed.

That was it. Everything was settled. 

Jenna would call them on Monday and inform them of her acceptance. By the end of the week, she would be on her way to NY.

Jenna couldn't argue any of it. It was the perfect plan. 

Even though last night she thought it was impossible, Michelle once again proved her wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend went by faster than they had hoped. Most of the time was spent working out the details and packing up some of the belongings that Jenna would be taking with her. 

They had hoped to spend some more time together before Michelle started work, but unfortunetly that didn't happen.
 

Monday came and Michelle headed out for her first day of work while Jenna placed the call to NY to accept the job offer.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week went by the same as the weekend. Fast. Michelle worked a lot of hours during her first week. Mostly because she was trying to get accustomed to everything. 

The fact that some of the staff members were away judging a dance competition didn't help either. They needed her to help fill in on some of the beginner classes until they returned. When she finally did get home, all she wanted to do was sleep.

Jenna's weeks wasn't any better. Between finishing up loose ends at work and packing for NY, she was lucky if she had the time to eat dinner.

The two were basically swamped with everything that was going on. There just wasn't any free time. 

The only time they got to spend together was when Michelle drove Jenna to the airport for her flight to NY. 

Jenna told Michelle that she was going to leave the car with her. They were putting her up in an apartment a block from the Met. She would be able to walk to work and she really wouldn't need it. Not to mention the cost to transport the car from LA to NY. It only made sense that she leave the car with Michelle. 

The two arrived at the airport and after Jenna checked her bags the two headed to the concourse. Michelle was going to wait with her and see her off. It was going to be the last time she saw her friend for awhile and she wanted to make the most of the time they had.

For 15 minutes they sat and talked while they waited for her flight to be called.

It wasn't long before they heard Jenna's filght being called over the loud speaker "Flight158, LA to NY, now boarding at Gate 1"

The two stood up and said their goodbyes.

"Well....I guess it's time to go." Jenna sighed.

"Yep. You make sure you keep in touch. You hear me?" Michelle replied.

"You know I will. The same goes for you too."

The two hugged and Jenna headed to the gate. She stopped just short of the gate to give one last wave goodbye, then she was gone.

CHAPTER 3

Michelle arrived back at the apartment. It was going to be weird calling this place HER home. 

Michelle walked inside and plopped down on the couch. She felt like just laying there and doing nothing. 

Unfortunetly, later that evening the staff at work was going to have a small party to welcome her on board as the newest instructor at the Millennium Complex. 

The rest of the staff had returned yesterday evening from the dance competition and would be in attendance at the party. That information was the one thing that would get her off the couch and into the shower to get ready. After all, one of those staff members that had been away when she started was Wade. 

Just thinking about him made her smile. She knew she had a crush on him. It was so juvenille, yet she couldn't help it. 

She got up off the couch smiling and headed into her room to find the perfect outfit. It had to be an outfit that was sure to be an eye catcher, but at the same time be good for dancing.

She finally found the perfect outfit. A black pair of low rise knit pants, a white strapless shirt, and her favorite black boots. 

She laid her outfit out on the bed and headed into the shower.

Michelle was still a little upset that she wasn't going to spend time with Jenna as she had originally hoped, but the excitement of the party was soon taking over.

She finished showering and headed into her room to put some music on while she got ready. She always danced around her room no matter what she was doing. 

After an hour, she was ready to go.

She headed into the kitchen to grab her purse and Jenna's keys. Michelle loved the fact that Jenna had left the car there with her. What better mode of transportation through LA than a Mercedes roadster convertible. 

She locked the door behind her and headed to the garage. 

As she drove to the club, she started to get butterflies in her stomach. 

When she was formally introduce to Wade, would she giggle like a little girl, would she fumble her words, or worse, would she just be left speechless.

The anticipation was unbearable. She just wanted to get it over and done with. How one man could cause such a stir of emotions without even being present was beyond her. She didn't understand it, but knew it to be fact. Wade Robson had this power over her that she could not control.

After the 20 minute drive she arrived at the club. She got out of the car and headed to the front entrance. 

Out front she saw a few of her co-workers chatting with several members of the club security. You could tell by their body language that they knew each other. Their conversation was very cordial.

As soon as she approached them, they grabbed her by the arm and told her that eveyone was waiting for her. They quickly hurried her inside to the VIP area.

The moment she stepped inside she spotted him. He was absolutely gorgeous. Even better than she remembered. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants, a black button down shirt, and of course his trademark hair was perfect.

She was so caught up in the sight of him that she hadn't even realized that her boss had approached her.

"So, do you?" her boss asked.

Startled, she replied, "Do I what?"

"Want to meet him? You haven't taken your eyes off him since you stepped in here."

Embarrassed of the fact that she had obviously been staring at him she tried to play it off.

"What's the rush. The night is young."

Unfortunetly she saw right through her.

"Girl.....you got it bad! I may have only known you for a short time but I know that look."

"What look?" Michelle replied.

Michelle's boss just chuckled at her. It was obvious that she was interested in him. Now all she had to do was introduce Michelle to him. She took her by the arm and pulled her over to the bar where Wade was standing. Michelle tried her best to gain her composure as her boss stopped her right in front of Wade. 

"Wade....this is Michelle. The newest addition to our bunch. She is going to be working with Marty in a few of his hip-hop classes."

Wade sat his glass down on the bar and turned around to shake her hand. "So your Michelle. Nice to meet you." 

"Nice to meet you too" she responded.

"I hear you are a really good dancer, maybe you could save me a dance later." 

"Sure." Michelle softly said as she was looking around for some sort of escape. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Could he tell that he was having that effect on her? 

She had hoped not. She was embarrassed enough by the fact that her boss had basically dragged her over to him. 

She needed to get away and gain some self control. 

"Well, I have a lot of people to meet tonight, so I will see you later." 

"Ok. I'll be waiting for my dance. Don't forget." Wade shouted, as she quickly walked across the room.

She couldn't believe she had agreed to dance with him. She couldn't even carry on a conversation with him. 

How did she get herself into this situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was going to be a long night. She couldn't hide out the rest of the evening. There were still 3 other staff members that she hadn't met plus she really wanted to get some dancing in. 

The best thing to do was to just get a drink and calm down. She could do it. Just breathe.

She grabbed a glass of wine from the waitress as she walked by and headed to join a few of her feamle co-workers at a small table in the back.

When she got there, the group asked, "So.....is he even better in person?"

Michelle just shook her head at them and reluctantly mumbled a, "Yes. He is.... if you must know."

If it was obvious to them, then it was obvious to Wade as well.

She just slumped down in the booth and prayed the night would end before he asked for his dance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle got introduced to the rest of the staff and even knew one of the girls from college. She knew she was going to love working here. She felt like she belonged there. Like she was family.

The party continued throughout the night.

Everybody was dancing and having a great time.

A few of the staff had to leave early so that they could open up the studio in the morning, but Michelle and a few co-workers that she now considered friends kept dancing the night away. 

They had just started to get their groove on when the DJ switched over to a slow song.

The group headed off the dance floor and walked toward their table, but before Michelle could get there, she felt someone grab her wrist.

She turned around to see Wade holding onto her.

"You don't think you are getting away that easy do you?" but before she had a chance to answer, he was pulling her back onto the dance floor.

This it is, she told herself as she took a deep breath and followed him.

CHAPTER 4

Frankie J's song "Don't want to try" played as Wade walker her onto the dance floor.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Just the feel of his touch on her wrist made her weak. 

He found a spot on the dance floor and turned around.

"Well... are you going to join me or do I have to come and get you? Wade playfully asked. "I won't bite you know." 

"I know." 

"Well, then why are you so far away?"

She could feel the heat radiating from every part of her. 

"I don't know." she laughed.

"Well...you promised me a dance and I can't dance with you all the way over there."

Wade walked over and placed an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him.

She could feel the heat from his body against her and her heart almost stopped as she took it all in. The hardness of his body, the smell of his cologne, and most of all the hold he had on her. It was overwhelming .

She took a deep breath and without even thinking, placed her arms around his neck.

"See. Isn't this better?" he asked.

"Much better." she said softly.

She couldn't believe she was in his arms. He felt so good.

The two continued to dance through the next two songs not breaking stride once. 

Anyone who didn't know them could have easily assumed that they were a couple. They just looked so comfortable with each other. 

When the songs ended, he bent down and asked, "So did you enjoy that as much as I did?"

"Yeah. Your a great dancer."

"Thanks. I had a great partner."

She knew if she stayed there a minute longer she wouldn't be able to hold it together. 

"Well, I have an early class with Marty tomorrow so I better call it a night." 

"Do you mind if I walk you to your car?" Wade asked.

"No. I just have to grab my purse. Thanks."

Michelle walked back to the table where her co-workers were sitting. It was obvious that they were watching her the whole time.

"What!?!" she asked, as her co-workers sat smiling like a bunch of chesshire cats.

"So...where ya headed?" they chuckled.

"Home. I have an early class."

"Is Wade going with you?" they mischieviously asked. 

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"Because he is standing at the door obviously waiting for you."

Her face must have turned bright red, because all of a sudden they started laughing.

"Don't worry girl....we won't tell!"

"He's walking me to my car. That's it"

She grabbed her purse and shook her head at them as she walked toward the door.

When she got to the door, Wade was standing there with his jacket and keys. He was obviously leaving too. 

She thought about waving goodbye to her friends but decided against it. The last thing she wanted to do was peak their interest in her personal life. Instead she walked up to him and told him she was ready to go. 

He opened the door for her and she walked out. 

When they finally got to the car, Wade took her keys and opened the door for her.

She thanked him and slid into the drivers seat. 

"Well...I guess I will see you tomorrow at the studio." Wade said, as he handed her the keys.

"Ok. Thanks again for the dance. I really enjoyed it." 

"Me too. Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"I would love to." she said, as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"I'll catch up with you at work tomorrow. If your not busy, maybe we can hook up after my shift."

"Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow." she said, trying to control the enthusiasum in her voice.

"Drive safe." Wade said, as he shut her door and walked to his car.

She couldn't believe how the night had turned out. It was hard to imagine that just this morning she was depressed about Jenna leaving town. Now she was happier than ever. 

She let out a sigh and started the car.

With Wade on her mind, she knew this was going to be a long night. 

CHAPTER 5

Michelle arrived at work extremely tired. 

She knew that she wouldn't get much sleep after last night. All she could think about was Wade. She couldn't wait to see him again.

She headed down the hall into the classroom where Marty was teaching his hip-hop class today. She was excited to be working with Marty. 

You couldn't attend one of Marty's classes and not have fun. She learned that on her first day when she sat in on one them.

"Hey Marty." 

"Hey Michelle. So how was the party last night?" Marty asked.

"Great. I met so many nice people."

"Yeah, I heard." Marty snickered.

"What's that susposed to mean?"

"Sorry to be the one to inform you, but you and Wade are the topic of the day around here."

"Excuse me?" she asked, unsure if she had heard him right. 

"Yeah...from what I hear, you two were quite an item on the dance floor last night." 

"I just met him!" she gasped. This place was like gossip central. It hadn't even been 10hrs since they shared that dance. 

"Well...that may be the case, but your reaction tells me we'll get more to gossip about soon." He said, as he let out a chuckle.

She gave him a evil little look and walked away. 

What could they have possible seen that would have them talking about it the next day. All they did was dance. Wait...that's it. Her friends must have blabbed. They were they only ones who knew she had a crush on him. 

Well....she had only been at the party for 5 minutes when her boss obviously picked up on something. She was the one who dragged her over to Wade.

She thought about it for a minute before she came to the conclusion that it could have been anybody stirring things up.

Fustrated she opened her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. She had a few minutes before the first class started, so she decided to take a quick stroll down to another classroom where Stephanie, one of her nosey friends, was scheduled to teach a class.

When she got to the classroom she walked in. Stephanie was done getting everything ready for her class so she knew she would have a few minutes to chat.

Stephanie heard footsteps and turned around. "There she is.....the one and only Michelle. I've heard so much about you." she giggled.

"Yeah me too. Any idea who is responsible?" Michelle asked, partly trying to lay blame on Stephanie. 

She had been told that Steph had a big mouth by more than one person. Michelle's first thought was, that it had to be her who let the cat out of the bag.

"I know what you heard about me, and I can honestly tell you I did not say a word." Steph said. "Don't worry. It will be old news soon enough and they will gossiping about someone else.

"That's just great to know. Our co-workers LIVE for gossip."

"It's sad, but true." Stephanie said, hanging her head laughing. "You should have seen this place when we heard about Wade's affair with Britney. The shit you heard here was worse that the tabloids!"

"I can only imagine. Well, I better head back. Marty is probablly wondering where I went." 

"Ok. I'll catch you later."

With that, she walked out the door and headed back to class.

This is what she would have to look forward to if anything developed between her and Wade. The looks, the gossip, and total lack of privacy for once's personal life. All these things would have to be taken into consideration.

"Stop it!" she told herself. "Your getting ahead of yourself. You are only going out to grab a bite to eat. It's not a date."

She made it back to the classroom just as students were starting to arrive.

They were so excited. 

Marty's classes were one of the most popular. Hip-hop was all the rage now so his classes were full. The fact that he had worked with Justin Timberlake probablly played a part in it too though. 

The one class she sat in on, girls were hounding Marty the whole time for Justin's number.

Michelle thought it was funny, but you could tell that Marty was less than thrilled.

He told her that atleast a third of the girls were here hoping to get to meet Justin. He just didn't understand it. 

She could understand their immeadiate attraction to Justin. 

He was very good looking and had an amazing voice. Not too mention the fact that the boy could dance.

She had never met him before, but assumed that he was one of those people who probablly envisioned himself as a god.

He could have just about any girl on the planet, and knew it. 

Knowing that probablly made him the cockiest person in the world.

If you asked Marty though, he would tell you that Justin is the nicest, most down to earth guy you would ever meet.

Her thoughts were disrupted as she heard Marty announce to the class that he would not be giving Justin's number to anyone and that class was going to begin.

She laughed as she sat her water bottle down and joined Marty at the head of the class.

"Class, this is Michelle. She is going to be helping me for awhile."

"Hello." the class shouted in unison.

"Hello everyone. I am so excited to be here." Michelle replied.

"Can YOU give us Justin's number?" one girl asked.

Michelle just laughed and shook her head no as Marty told the class to line up for warm-ups

CHAPTER 6

Classes with Marty were finishing up.

All the students whined and moaned when Marty told them that he would see them tomorrow. They hated leaving.

Finally, when the last of the students left, Marty walked up and asked her how she liked the first class. 

She told him she had a blast and couldn't wait till tomorrow.

"Ok. Well I hate to just run out but I am giving some private lesson to my friends son. I'll catch you tomorrow."

"No problem. I'll see you then."

She walked over to her bag and started to pack everything back inside. 

Wade's shift was scheduled to start soon and she wanted to catch him before he started. 

She picked up her bag and headed to find Wade. It didn't take long for her to find him though. He was standing outside the door waiting for her.

"Hey. I was just coming to look for you."

"Well look no further. Here I am." 

"Wait...why aren't you dressed for class?" 

"I had someone fill in for me so we could get an earlier start this evening."

"Oh." she said, shocked that he had seemed more eager than her to get together.

"So how long will it take you to get ready?" Wade asked.

"Well, I have to go home and shower so I guess at least an hour. Is that ok?" she asked.

"No problem. I have a few errands to run before we head out anyway. Give me directions to your place and I will pick you up in an hour."

Michelle pulled her purse out of her bag and grabbed a pen and paper. She wrote down directions to her place and handed them to Wade.

"Ok. I'll see you shortly." Wade said, as he headed down the hall and out the door.

A few minutes later, Michelle followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had just finished getting ready when there was a knock at her door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's Wade."

She opened the door and let out a soft moan when she saw him. God he was gorgeous. He was dressed in a pair of black pants with a pale yellow shirt. He looked like someone straight off the cover of GQ.

"I'm sorry. Please come in." she said, not realizing she had left him standing there in the apartment hallway while she checked him out.

"Thanks. You ready to go?"

"Yeah. Could you do me a small favor?"

"Sure."

"I got my necklace chain stuck in my zipper and I can't get the necklace off or the zipper up. Could you try and untangle it for me?"

"No problem. Turn around."

Wade walked behind her as she pulled her hair over her shoulder. 

The sheer presence of Wade so close behind her made her heart race. She would be lying if she said she didn't want him right then and there. She took a deep breath as Wade's fingers lightly grazed the back of her neck trying to free the necklace.

"I think I can get it, but I need to pull the zipper down some. It's wrapped around a few teeth. Is that ok?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

The back of Wade's fingers slid down her back as he slowly pulled the zipper away from the tangled necklace. It only took a few moments before he finally freed it.

"Do you want the necklace on or off?" he asked.

"Off is fine. It has caused enough trouble already."

Wade unlatched the necklace and she turned around. 

There she was face to face with him and wanting him more than ever. 

She looked down as he brought his hand up with the necklace dangling from his fingers.

"Thank you." she said, as she took the necklace from him.

Wade stepped closer and looked down at her with his deep brown eyes.

"God your beautiful." he said, as he reached up to softly stroke her cheek.

Michelle stood there biting her lip unsure of what was happening.

He slowly slid his hand under her jaw and proceeded to trace her bottom lip with his thumb.

"Wade....." she started, but it was too late.

Wade leaned in and gave her the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced. The kind that made your knees weak and leave you gasping for air. She couldn't believe this was happening, but was enjoying every moment of it.

Suddenly Wade stopped and stepped back. "God, I am so sorry. I can't believe I just did that."

She was breathing heavy from the rush the kiss gave her and was struggling just to get a few words out. 

"Don't be sorry. I'm not." she finally managed to say.

Wade plopped himself down of the couch . He was bent over and resting his head in his hands. He was obviously upset about what he had just done.

She sat down beside him and told him that it was fine. If he wouldn't have done it, she probablly would have. "Trust me, it's ok."

"I promise I'll never do anything like that again." Wade said.

She looked over at him with the biggest pouty lip you could imagine. 

"Never?' she asked, jokingly.

"Ok. Maybe not never, but definetly not like that."

"Deal." 

"Well, now that I have totally violated you, would you like to have dinner? There is something I want to ask you." 

"Yeah. I'm starving."

"Good. I could definetly use some fresh air right about now."

Michelle grabbed her purse and Wade escorted her down to his 4x4.

CHAPTER 7

Michelle and Wade enjoyed their dinner and some casual conversation at the restuarant. The events that occurred earlier were never brought up. Instead Wade had something else he wanted to discuss.

"Remember I told you that I had something I wanted to talk to you about?" Wade asked.

"Yeah." she replied.

"Well, one of the errands I needed to run was to go and see Justin Timberlake about his upcoming Justified Tour. He wanted me to be in charge of choreographing it."

"You must be thrilled. That is susposed to be the biggest concert tour of the summer!"

"Yeah. Well I was thinking you could assist me in coming up with the routines."

"Me?!" she said, half choking on her wine.

"Yeah. He wants something different and I know your dance style has what he is looking for."

"I'm honored you thought of me, but I've never done anything like that before."

"Well...I'll be there and I'll guide you through it every step of the way. What do you say?"

"What the hell. Opportunities don't come around like this everyday."

"Great. We'll start working on it as soon as possible."

Once they were finished with dinner, they headed back to Wade's 4x4 so he could take her home.

When they arrived at Michelle's apartment, he walked around and opened her door for her.

He followed her up to her apartment to make sure she got in alright.

"Well...I had a great time so I'm not going to spoil it by making an ass out of myself again." Wade said.

He leaned forward as gently placed a kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight Michelle. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Wade." she replied softly.

She opened the door and walked inside. She couldn't believe that she was going to be working with Justin Timberlake. Most dancers would die for an opportunity to work with him and here she was helping to choreograph his tour. She only hoped Marty was right about him. If he came off cocky there was no way she could work with him.

She decided to put everything she heard about him on a shelf and make her own decision when she met him.

She placed her purse down on the table and walked into her room to change. She was tossing the idea back and forth on whether she was going to head out to a club or call it a night and watch some TV. After all, it was still early.

Just as she was about ready to throw her sweats on, the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey..it's Wade."

"Hey. What's up?"

"You know I was thinking, the night is still young, if your not doing anything we could head to the studio for awhile and start working on the tour."

"Why didn't you ask me before? You only left 10 minutes ago!" she laughed.

"Well ten minutes ago I wasn't thinking about that."

"I don't know about you." she teased him. "Ok. Give me a few minutes to change into something. I'll meet you downstairs."

"Ok. I'll see you in a bit." 

He was a handful, that was for sure, but he made her laugh anyway.

She headed back into her room and grabbed her bag and emptied the contents on her bed. She threw on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt and stuffed her jacket and a fresh water bottle in her bag and headed out the door.

She was just walking out the apartment building door when he pulled up. 

She jumped in and they headed to the studio.

When they got there, the place was dark and locked up.

"What the hell?" Wade asked, shocked that the place was closed. "Oh shit. I forgot it's only Thursday."

"Now what?" she asked him.

"Well it's up to you, but I have a studio at my house in Tarzana if you don't mind practicing there."

"Hmmmm. Your house alone at night. Can I trust you?" she jokingly asked.

"Hey. I'll do my best."

"Your place is fine." she laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wade finally pulled into his driveway.33

"Nice house." she said.

"Thanks."

They got out and headed toward his front door. 

Once they got inside he took her by her hand and led her to the studio.

"Gees. When you said studio, you meant LARGE studio."

"Other than the teaching classes once in a while, most of my instructing and choreography is done here." Wade responded.

"Interesting. Will we be working here for the tour?" she asked.

"I prefer here. That way we don't have any interuptions when the creative juices are flowing. Is that ok with you?"

"Yeah. That's fine. Now when do we get started!" 

"My my. A little anxious aren't we."

"Ya think!" she teased.

"Hold on, I'll go grab his CD."

When he returned with the CD, she was looking at all the photos on the wall of him and people he had worked with.

She was so fasinated that she didn't even hear him walk back into the room. 

He walked up behind her and shouted, "I'm ready!"

She nearly fell over in fear.

"You scared the shit out of me you ass!"

He just looked at her and gave her the same pouty look she had given him earlier. 

Shaking her head at him she told him he was hopeless.

The two laughed for a good five minutes before they finally placed Justin's Cd in and started to work.

CHAPTER 8

Over the next month, the two of them made the most of their free time from MC to work on the tour choreography. 

Everything was great. The two had come up with some amazing routines so far. 

Wade was right. Her style and his experience in putting a routine together was paying off.

Not only was he sure that Justin would love the choreography, but working with Michelle on the tour had given him an excuse to spend time with her. The two had become the best of friends. Even when they weren't working they were hanging out together. 

They only had two songs left and were a month ahead of Justin's schedule.

"What do you say we take a week off and hit the clubs? We might even get inspired." Wade asked.

"Sounds good to me. I could use a distraction." she replied.

"Alright then it's settled. We start tonight. I'll pick you up at around 9 o'clock."

"Ok. I'm going to head home home and relax for awhile then. I'll see you later."

She grabbed her keys and headed home. HOME. She almost forgot she had one. Between classes at MC and working with Wade at his studio, she was hardly ever there. 

She arrived at the apartment and immeadiately headed upstairs to get in the shower. 

Every muscle in her body ached. She stepped inside and let the hot water run over her.

She knew what she really needed was some sleep, but the freedom of club dancing instead of doing choreographed routines would be a breath of fresh air.

She finished showering and headed into her bedroom to throw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt. 

She had a good three hours before Wade was going to pick her up so she decided to call Jenna.

The two talked for a good hour and a half before Michelle realized what time it was.

"Shit. It's 7:30 Jen...I have to get ready."

"Where are you headed?" Jenna asked.

"Out to a club with Wade."

"Oh, ok. Well I'll let you go get ready. Call me when you have some free time."

"You know I will." Michelle told her as they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Michelle headed into the bathroom to put her make-up on. She would have to rush now. She hadn't even picked out anything to wear.

She finished putting her make-up on and had enough time to throw some curls in her long brown hair. 

It was the first time in a while that she had actually got ready to go somewhere. Most of the time she would throw a little make-up on and head to work. It felt good to get dressed up again.

She walked into her room and began rumaging through her closet for something to wear. She tried on three different outfits before she finally decided on one.

She threw the outfit on and stared at herself in the mirror.

She almost didn't recognize herself. 

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Knowing it was Wade, she grabbed her purse and keys and headed for the door.

When she opened the door, Wade stepped back in shock.

"Damn girl!" Wade shouted, as her got a look at her.

She was wearing her black mini skirt, her low cut pink camisole and her black boots.

"You like?" she asked, as she did a turn to give Wade the full view.

"Hell yeah!"

"Well, let's not waste any time then. I'm ready to hit the dance floor." she said, as she scooted past him and headed down the stairs.

He couldn't help but stare at her. She was gorgeous. 

He had wanted her since they first met, but after he came on so strong the first time they went out, he decided to pull back and let things run their course.

Now he was having second thoughts. 

He knew he would have a hard time controling himself around her looking like that.

He had never felt this way about anyone before. He felt such an overpowering urge to persue her. It was almost animalistic.

He shook off the thoughts that were running through his mind and followed after her.

When he got downstairs, she was already inside his truck tapping her fingers on the side of the door as if to say, "I'm waiting."

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just zoned out for a minute." he replied. 

He wanted to tell her that she drove him insane and that he wanted to take things to another level with her, but decided now was not the time.

He started his truck and drove to the club. 

If he played his cards right, he would know tonight whether she wanted more or not. He just needed to wait for the right moment. 

CHAPTER 9

Once inside the club, they headed to the bar to grab a drink.

"The place sure is packed for a Thursday." she said, trying to yell over the music.

"I know. Do you wanna head somewhere else?" he asked.

"No. I like it here. Plus, we know everyone who works here. Meaning free drinks." she laughed.

Just then, a group of guys walked up to her.

"Hey. You wanna join us on the dance floor?" one guy asked.

"Do you think you can keep up with me?" she joked.

"I can handle anything you dish out baby." the guy said, as he put his arm around her.

As she walked away, she turned around and gave Wade a wink. 

Wade would never admit it, but it killed him to see another man touch her. He had no right to be jealous. It's not like she was his girlfriend, even though he wanted her to be.

He glanced onto the dance floor and saw the three guys hovering around her while she danced to Mya's 'My love is like Whoa'.

It was becoming more than he could bear to watch. He grabbed another drink from the bar and headed to the back of the club where she was out of sight.

He found himself leaning against the wall grimacing, as he stroked his chin. 

It was taking everything he had to keep from walking up there and telling the guys to back the fuck off of her.

All he could think about was her dancing with them and it was driving him nuts. He needed an excuse to break up the action.

As soon as he thought it, the song ended and the DJ switched on some slow songs.

"There is a god!" he shouted, as he headed back to the dance floor to find her.

When he got there, she was dancing with the one guy who had put his arm around her. 

He had her pulled close to him and was rubbing his hands up and down her back. 

Wade couldn't take it anymore. 

He sat his drink down on the bar and walked over to them. 

"Michelle. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Wade asked, totally ignoring the guy standing there with her.

"Dude.....can't you see she's busy." the guy said, as he pulled her even closer.

"Man, was I fuckin' talking to you?" Wade asked, quite pissed off.

"Wade! What's wrong with you?" 

"Look...I need to talk to you for a minute. Can we go somewhere?" he said.

By the look on his face, she knew it had to be important.

"I'll catch you later." she told the guy, as she backed away from him and headed towards the bar.

"Don't count on it." Wade told him, as he turned around to follow her.

"Well...what is so important that you needed to talk to me right now?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.

"There is something I want to talk to you about but I don't want to do it here. Can we head back to my place?"

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No. I just want to be alone, that's all."

"But we just got here." she whined.

Wade was about to lose it. He wanted to get her out of there NOW. He needed to tell her how he felt. 

"Look....I wouldn't ask you to leave if it wasn't important." Wade said, as he rubbed his forehead.

"Alright. Let me grab my purse." she said, as she walked away. 

This wasn't the way Wade wanted to tell her , but he couldn't watch one more guy get near her like that. 

"Ok. I'm ready to go." she pouted.

"Come on." he said, as he took her hand and walked back to his truck.

He opened the door and she got in. 

It was the longest ride ever. Neither of them spoke a word the whole way. 

They pulled up to Wade's house and walked inside.

"Ok. We're alone now. Tell me what is going on." she pleaded.

He walked out on the balcony that overlooked the city and tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say.

"Wade, your freakin' me out here. Talk!" she demanded as she walked to join him on the balcony.

Wade turned around and stared deep into her eyes. "I don't know where to begin." he said, as he took a step closer to her.

Instantly she knew what it was. She could tell by the look in his eyes. It was the same look he had when he had kissed her the first time they went out.

She couldn't believe that the moment she had been waiting for was finally here. 

"I know exactly where to begin." she said, as she leaned into him and began kissing his neck.

He let out a soft moan unable to control himself. 

It took every ounce of strength he had to pull away from her.

"Wait. I need to tell you something first. I don't want this to be a one night fling. I want it to be the real thing between me and you. As in, boyfriend and girlfriend. If that is not what you want, then we can't do this."

"Wade. I have waited so long to hear you say that." she said, as she walked towards him.

"So.....your telling me that you want to start a relationship too?" 

Softly she replied, "More than anything." 

Wade paused a moment, trying to take in everything that had just happened. 

It's definetly not the way that he planned, but it ended up better than he could have hoped. 

He bent down and gently kissed her while he pulled her closer. 

She felt so good. It was almost intoxicating. He had wanted this for so long.

He momentarily stopped kissing her so that he could walk her back inside the house. The last thing he wanted was his nosey neighbors watching the events unfold.

Once they were back inside the house , he walked around and stood behind her. He slid his hand up her back and slowly moved the soft curls of her hair to the side.

Her body instantly responded to him and she tilted her head down.

She could feel his breath hot and moist as he slowly kissed a path along the back of her neck. His breathing becoming heavier as his hands worked to free the straps that held her top in place. He was getting close to the point of no return, but before things could go any further she had to tell him something. 

She slowly turned around to face him.

"Wade."

"Shhhh." he said, as he placed a finger to her lips and pulled her close again.

"Wait." 

"Don't worry. I have protection." he whispered, as he slid his hand up her skirt. 

Knowing that she had to tell him, she pulled away and looked up at him with the most innocent expression on her face.

"What's wrong? Did you change your mind?" he struggled to say, barely able to catch his breath.

"No. I definetly want to. It's just that.........I...I've never done it before." she said, as she hung her head.

Wade stood there for a second before he realized what she had just said.

He placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. "Your a virgin?" he asked, as his breathing started to slow down.

"Yeah."

"Ok........Do you want to stop, because if you do I'll understand."

"No. I don't..... I'm just scared."

He bent down and place a kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry. I'll be gentle, I promise."

Wade took her hand in his and walked toward the steps. 

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my room. I want to do this right."

CHAPTER 10

She held Wade's hand as he guided her upstairs to his bed.

Every emotion possible, rushing through her body like a storm. It was hard to distinguish which one would take over.

Nervousness. Excitement. Fear.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, but the closer they got to his room, the harder her heart pounded.

Finally, after what seemed liked an eternity, they were standing at his bedroom doorway.

He stopped and turned around to see her slightly shaking.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as he pulled her into his arms. 

She didn't know what to say. She hadn't even been aware that she was shaking.

He could feel her heart racing against his chest and was starting to question whether she was as ready for this as she would have him believe. 

"Maybe this isn't a good idea right now." 

"I don't understand. I thought you wanted this too." she said, as she gazed up into his eyes.

"It's not that I don't want to...trust me, I do. It's just that I'm not sure your ready." 

He knew if she was this tense now, he would have a hard time getting her to relax enough to let him enter her comfortably. He wanted to do this as painless as possible for her, but that wouldn't happen in the state she was in.

She was determined not to let the fear of the unknown stop her, so she pushed herself out of his hold and walked into the bedroom. 

He watched her as she walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. 

Wade placed his hands on the door framed and leaned inside.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly, 

"I think you know what I am doing." 

Wade let out a huff as he started to walk towards her. He knew at that point, that she was determined to go through with it.

"Look.....If you are sure you want to do this, then you need to let me set the pace. I don't want to rush through things and end up hurting you. We have to go slow. Ok?"

She bit her bottom lip and nodded a 'yes'. 

"Come here." Wade said, as he held out a hand for hers. 

She placed her hand in his and stood up.

"I just want to tell you now, if at any time your uncomfortable or want to stop.....just tell me." 

"I will." she said.

He untucked his shirt from his pants and started unbuttoning it. 

"Here, let me." she said, as she moved Wade's hands letting his arms fall to his side. 

She placed her hands where Wade had stopped, and proceeded to undo the remaining four buttons. When the last one was done, she slid her hands up to his shoulders and guided the shirt down his arms till it fell to the floor.

He was gorgeous. She had seen him without a shirt before, but somehow it was different now. 

She just stared at him with amazement until she heard him speak. 

"Turn around." Wade whispered. 

She did as she was told, and instantly felt him run his hands from the small of her back up to her neck to finish what he had started earlier. 

He slid her top off and let it fall to the floor. 

He moved around to her side and passionately kissed her before he took her in his arms and carried her to the bed. 

Gently, he laid her down and sat beside her.

Just looking at her laying there was enough to send him over the edge.

He knew he needed to gain some control.

He took in a deep breath as he ran his hands up her legs. 

When he reached her waist, he took a hold of her skirt and slowly slid it down over her hips and past her ankles, leaving only her thong behind. 

He took a step away from the bed and removed the rest of his clothes, fighting every urge to keep from passionately making love to her.

That would come later, he reminded himself. 

This time needed to be slow and gentle.

He laid down beside her and kissed a path along her neck and down to her breasts, before continuing to her stomach.

She softly began to whimper as he placed his fingers inside the thin straps of her thong and slid it off.

Her mind was a whirlwind as she took in every sensation that was flooding through her body. 

"Wade." she managed to get out, as her breathing was becoming more rapid.

"Relax." Wade whispered, as he crawled on top of her. 

He gazed down into her eyes and saw a look of panic spread across her face.

He knew he needed to calm her down. In a matter of minutes, she would no longer be a virgin.

"It's ok. Just relax." he said, as he entwined his fingers with hers above her head.

She could feel him waiting to enter her and knew that the time had come.

"Take a deep breath" he instructed, as he tightly held her hands.

Then, in one fluid motion, he was inside her.

Almost instantaniously, she cried out in pain and a few tears fell down her cheeks.

"Are you ok? he asked, frozen in place so that she could catch her breath.

"Yea." 

He removed his grip from her hands and slowly wiped away the tears that were remaining on her cheeks.

"Do you want to continue?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"I'll be gentle." he told her, as slowly started to set a pace. 

He continued to make love to her until his body couldn't hold on any longer and he released inside her.

Exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed on pulled her into his arms.

"How do you feel?" he asked, as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sore." 

"I'm sorry." he said, as he held her tight.

Her body was weak and she struggled to keep her eyes open.

He knew that she needed to sleep,so he grabbed the sheet at his feet and pulled it up over them.

"Sleep well." he whispered.

Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and drifted off to sleep.

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