Susan looked around the airplane as the rest of first class exited the plane. "Is everything all right, Miss?" A young flight attendant asked. Susan smiled shyly and shook her head. "Everything's fine, thank you." She replied. Susan pulled her long straight hair together at the nap of the neck, gave it a high twist and secured the messy French twist with a clip she found in her purse. She reapplied her lipstick, and gathered her laptop bag from under her seat, took in a deep breath and walked briskly out of the plane. She hadn't seen Howie in months and she missed his friendship. He was her companion when she needed a date for any office function and she was his confidant when things with his girlfriend started to go bad. Their friendship stood on solid ground but she had never actually been alone with him before; they were going to share a hotel room together and Susan wasn't sure what would happen. 'He's just a friend.' She tried to remind herself with little success.

Howie waited patiently in the airport terminal wondering if Susan missed her flight or decided not to show. 'That's crazy, Dorough. She would have called you.' He told himself as he watched from under his sunglasses and baseball cap. He noticed that coach was starting to unload and stood up to see if he she might have already stepped off the plane. He noticed a familiar shade of auburn hair but he didn't notice the woman. She was dressed down in a pair of black Dockers and a loose, smoke gray angora sweater. He was used to Susan's style of class and sophistication and had never seen her in a pair of pants before. "That has to be her." He mumbled as he watched the woman awkwardly glance around the terminal; occasionally she turned around to re-read the sign verifying that they were in New York. After she removed her sunglasses Howie smiled. It was Susan.

Susan watched as people ran about; running to catch flights, to meet family members, and to transfer from airline to airline. It was nothing new to her but she had never done anything alone. She honestly thought that Xanda would be with her but wasn't too shocked when she turned her down. Susan became tired of looking around for a familiar face and sat down in the nearest chair. She watched the good-looking pilots walk off the plane and smiled to herself. "Helloooooo..." She whispered, but quickly caught her breath when she heard a man laughing behind her. She turned around in her seat and was surprised to see a good looking man dressed to impress in a pair of loose Khaki's and a white sweater. "I swear you women are as bad as us men." He smiled. "Howie!" She squealed in a whisper as to not bring attention to them. Howie had to sneak out of the hotel without security in order to pick up Susan and he knew the trouble it would cause if fans recognized him. "Ready to go?" He smiled. "Yes! I'm exhausted." She laughed.

****

Two days had passed and Susan was planning to leave the following day. She was quite impressed with Howie and his friends. She hadn't seen a show quite like theirs in some time; It was refreshing, entertaining, and tension-filled. One of their dancers seemed to be having problems with some of the more difficult moves but Susan quickly assumed that he was Ro Ro, the dancer who had been attacked by ice cubes. Brian and AJ seemed to interact well to the untrained eye but Susan knew better and saw the lack of eye contact between the friends. Nick flirted with any girl in the audience who appeared to be older than 18.   Over the course of two days she had seen him disappear a few times a night with different girls. "He probably gets laid an average of three times a night." Susan had told Howie who sadly agreed with her.

Xanda and Howie seemed the same as ever. Thank god to Susan, Howie had made sure to get a two bedroom suite and Susan was thankful for the most part. She spent her first night in town going out to dinner and talking to Howie about life in general.  She was relieved when she realized that his feelings for her were purely platonic. It helped get over any sort of stronger feelings she had for him and helped her loosen up in his presence.

****

On her last night in town, Susan decided to give Xanda's former best friend a call to see if she would be interested in hanging out. Maybe a little time with Keely would reveal to her aspects of Xanda's past; Maybe it would just lead to a new friendship.

"Hello, Keely? This is Susan from the Orlando office. I work for...yes! How are you?" Susan laughed at the excitement in Keely's voice. "How's Xanda!?" Keely quickly asked. "She could be better." Susan replied. "Problems in paradise?" Keely joked. "I guess you could say that. Things haven't been the same ever since..." "Ever since Xanda grabbed herself a pair of balls and beat the crap out of that guy, Brian?" Keely asked, finishing Susan's sentences. Susan laughed at Keely's forwardness and child-like attitude. She couldn't imagine how she and Xanda could have been best friends. "Yeah. Ever since then. Well, it really has nothing to do with Brian. She and AJ are just having a hard time communicating that's all. Anyway, I called to see if you would be interested in going clubbing with me and the guys. I'm in town for...." "YES!" Keely shouted happily. "I've been dying to go out with another woman for a long time. Most of my friends are men and I miss Girls Night Out." Susan laughed at Keely again. "Keely, it's going to be you, me, and five other guys. That's not really Girls Night Out." Susan replied. "Eh, it's good enough." Keely said. "Okay, great! Me us at Studio 54 and we'll have your name on the VIP list. Oh, one more thing...don't let Nick sweet talk you. He's a slick one." Susan warned. "I know Nick. He tried to get me in bed a few times the last time they were in town. He knows not to mess with me; I'm pretty sure I left a *ahem* lasting impression on him." Keely stated firmly. "Kicked him where it hurts?" Susan laughed. "You know it!" Keely laughed back.

****

Susan and Howie were on their last drink of the evening and were having a good time. They danced most of the night away while AJ and Nick drank excessively. Kevin and his girlfriend had left the hour before and Brian was bored. He was tired of the club scene and mostly of the way his group mates acted when they were drunk. AJ had stayed away from alcohol for the past month making his tolerance of alcohol low. "So? When's Xanda's friend going to arrive?" Howie asked into Susan ears while trying to supress a laugh as she stood off to the side of the club glaring at some teeny boppers who had used their fake ID to get into the club to see the guys. One of them continued to drink with AJ and Nick and would drag AJ out onto the dance floor occasionally. Susan hated that young girl and was pissed at AJ even more for his drinking. The young girl was throwing herself at him and he didn't appear to be fighting her off. Howie was amused with Susan to say the least. "What!? Oh...Keely! I'm not sure if she's even coming." Susan stated.

She watched as Brian zig zagged his way through the crowd over to the VIP section of the club. "Hey guys, I'm heading out. I'll see you tomorrow. And if I don't see you tomorrow because you're leaving, then I'll say it now; it was nice meeting you." Brian smiled at Susan. She couldn't help but smile back and agree with him. Brian had been nothing but courteous with her and he went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. She couldn't understand how he and Xanda could hate each other, then again Xanda was easily agitated. "Thanks, Brian. I'll see you sometime around. After all, you live next door to Xanda." Susan smirked at the uncomfortable look on Brian's face. "I know, I know. You two don't get along but I won't hold it against you." She grinned. Brian's face softened into another heart melting smile. Without thinking, he quickly leaned over and hugged Susan good-bye and left the club, leaving Susan in shock. "Sometimes we don't understand him either." Howie yelled out over the music.

Susan watched the VIP room while she danced her last dance of the evening with Howie when she recognized a woman who appeared to be talking with Brian at the door. Brian didn't seem to be enjoying his conversation with her and quickly left with security. Susan laughed and excused herself from Howie as she walked over to greet the woman. "Keely!" Susan shouted, causing the woman to look up as she looked over a VIP list with the bouncers. "She's okay to come in here!" Susan shouted at them as they unlatched a small door to let her into the VIP area of the club. "You must be Susan!" Keely greeted Susan with a hug. "Yes I am, and you're really late. It's almost 2am." Susan smiled as she pointed to her watch. "Sorry! Late night business meeting and then a phone conversation with Xanda." Keely explained. "Not to mention the traffic and the teeny boppers outside who are dying to get in." She added with an airy laugh. "Well, I'll introduce you to whoever's left but Kevin left over an hour ago and it appears you met Mr. Littrell." Susan joked as she and Keely made their way through the thinning crowd. "Oh yes, I met him! I told him what I thought of him, too." Keely stated. "He's not so bad. I actually like him. It's Xanda who hates him." Susan laughed as they approached Howie who was sitting at a small table talking to one of the band members.

"Hey Howie! This is Xanda's best friend from the New York office, Keely. Keely, this is Howie; AJ's best friend." Susan grinned as she introduced each other. After a few minutes of small talk, and the realization that she and Howie had absolutely nothing common, Keely looked up at Susan. "Okay, I'd introduce you to the rest of the guys but they are drunk off their asses so I'll just point them out. That guy over there at the bar with the tattoos, piercing, and green spiked hair is AJ, Xanda's boyfriend." "THAT's AJ!? Oh my god, Xanda has changed her taste in men." Keely laughed. Susan giggled slightly, the affects of the alcohol obvious. "Well, his bark is worse than his bite. He's actually the nicest and most intelligent man when he wants to be. Tonight he's decided to be the drunken fool." Susan remarked; she was slightly pissed off at AJ for his change in attitude recently but knew he was having just as hard a time without Xanda as she was without him. "And that...wait, where is he?" Susan asked herself as she looked around for Nick. "Hey, baby! How ya doin'?" Nick asked, trying to imitate Joey from the TV show, Friends. "Listen, dick! If you even try..." Keely tried to shout as she turned around to give Nick a piece of her mind. "Oh my god! Don't kick me!" Nick shouted, his voice slightly breaking in fear as he held a hand over his most sensitive and prized area. Howie's eyes bulged before he and Susan broke out into laughter. "Man, I'm impressed!" Howie stated as he continued to laugh. "Well, okay. Nick, this is Keely; Xanda's best friend. Keely, this is Nick...as you already know." Susan introduced, mumbling the last portion of her sentence. "YOU'RE Xanda Bears best friend? Holy shit!" Nick asked, almost mesmerized. He could tell that Keely had been Xanda's protector while she lived in New York and he was impressed. The girl he tried to sleep with every time he came to New York turned out to be Xanda's best friend.

****

Keely and Nick made small talk for a while and Keely was impressed to learn that under all that egotistical, horniness was an almost normal guy. The talked for almost an hour and it never occurred to Nick that he could be taking a gorgeous girl back to his room. He actually liked and wanted to talk to Keely for a bit longer but security was starting to nag him. "Keely? Nick? Howie and I are going to get going. We'll talk to you later. And I have your phone number Keely, so we'll be in touch." Susan stated as she went over to the couple as they sat around a table, talking. "Nick, security wants you out of here, too. We have a long day tomorrow, anyway, so it's not such a bad idea." Howie suggested. Nick shrugged and looked over at Keely. "Nuh-uh! Don't get any ideas, Carter. I'm just gonna hang out for another hour, dance, drink, do whatever then I'm gonna head home." Keely told her new little group of friends. "Well, it was nice meeting you. We'll have to do this again when we have more time." Susan stated as she hugged Keely good-bye. Howie gave Keely a hug as well and whispered that he would keep an eye on Xanda for her. She smiled in gratitude before turning her attention to Nick. He smiled softly and gave her a slight hug before reaching down to pinch her ass. "I'll let that one slide, Carter. But next time..." "Oh, there's gonna be a next time?" Nick asked with a half-grin. Keely's knees went weak but she stood her ground. "Maybe." She stated as Nick laughed to himself before he turned on his heel to walk out of the club with Howie and Susan.