The early morning sunshine made the small room glow. The sun-warmed blankets stirred from the relaxed body hiding beneath. A black cat jumped on the person causing a groan to sound beneath the sheets. The covers flew back; covering the cat as the young woman rubbed her hands over her face. Her strawberry brown hair was scattered over the pillow as her green eyes registered to the bright light. The cat sauntered out from under the blankets to curl up beside the woman’s torso, but walked off when the slightest movement from the woman was made, indicating she was getting up. Dana was very tall, with a long torso and legs. Her hair was short to a little below her shoulders. She had beautiful facial features; slashed shaped eyebrows casting over dark green eyes framed by long eyelashes that seemed to pull others to look in them. A feminine nose, small and pointed. Cheeks glowed a golden complexion. Her lips were full and soft to the kiss if anyone dared to find the mysterious sparkle beneath them with their own. Born to the beauty of a dancer Dana Claise was.

She lazily walked down the short hall, stopping at a closet to grab some clothes to change into for the bright, sunny Saturday. She entered the shower, a little sweaty from the morning heat, and exited smelling of Hawaii ginger and hunny-suckle. She wore khaki slacks and a white tank top with her hair pinned in a messy bun. She wiped her face with moisturizer, brushed her teeth, and smoothed chap stick on her lips. She walked through the small, cozy living room and into the kitchen. The cat meowed and circled her ankles until Dana placed her bowl of food down on the floor. Dana grabbed a banana and a balance bar and jumped over the cat to grab her purse and keys off the wall hanger. She closed the door behind her and was greeted with the bright blue sky. She walked down the stairs, through the backyard, to the side of the house. She opened the gate and continued walking towards the front, waving a quick greeting to the lady in the window making breakfast with screaming toddlers in the kitchen.

Dana got in her car and headed towards Cassidy’s Bookstore. It was on the main street of the town she lived in called Whittier, and was only a few minutes away. Dana had started working there a few months after moving into her apartment. It was a small shop tucked between a cafe and a clothes store. They weren’t like Barns and Noble, but the hours were good for her financially and she liked the quiet and the warm comfort the atmosphere carried.

After parking the car, Dana stopped into the cafe next door. The first thing that hit her senses was the smell of fresh ground coffee. Even though she wasn’t a fan, the smell always freshened up her senses. A few people were at tables, sipping their morning drinks and reading magazines or newspapers. Dana walked towards the counter where Sherry was also reading a magazine slumped over behind the counter. She was in her early thirties, with a friendly personality and beautiful model like body and face.

"Morning Sherry." Dana said, laying her purse on the counter.

“Hey there. I knew you’d be stopping in soon. How are you?”

Dana smiled weakly. “I’m all right.”

Knowing Dana was a person of few words; Sherry kept light conversations when she came in on the random mornings that she did.

Sherry righted herself from leaning on the counter and turned to prepare the regular order of hot chocolate. “How’s your summer going, Hun?” Sherry questioned as she glanced over her shoulder, her voice avoiding the sound of the cocoa machine.

“It’s going good.” Dana looked down at the article that was of the entertainment news and the two fresh faces of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and the text of their recent relationship details.

Sherry turned and placed the to-go cup on the counter. “There ya are.”

“Thank you.” Dana said, handing the money over.

“Have a good day.”

“You too.” Dana said, then turned and walked out. She drove the car from the front public parking to the employee’s lot behind the bookstore. Grabbing her things, she stepped out and locked the doors. She walked through the back door that entered into the storeroom. It was rather large with the books in 'stock' stacked on shelves made against the walls. A small office that was used mostly for breaks, was to the left. She quickly set her purse on the desk inside and clocked in. A note on the pin-up board informed her that the boxes of ordered books stacked in the hall, needed to be entered in the computer and stocked. Dana walked out and through the storeroom to the hall that led to the store. There were six large, undoubtedly heavy, boxes stacked along the wall. Dana sighed and got to work.

Eventually the boxes were hauled into the computer office and entered into the computer with the help of Natalie, who was her coworker of the day. She was a short woman in her mysterious old age and had worked at the bookstore for a number of years that she won't even tell.

Dana walked out to the front part of the store to check if the opening things had been finished. The comfort of the place hit her every time she stepped inside. A small reconstruction of a living room was tucked into a cornered square on the left as you entered from the front. A large couch and a love seat were placed by the window and close to the corner of the walls. A small coffee table centered the area with some magazines laid out. To the right was a small counter that consisted of a cash register and a container of candies near the edge for small children when they wandered in with their mothers. Dana walked through the walkway between the rows of the bookshelves to the front where the 'living room' was. She put her nametag on and the apron that imprinted the name of the shop on it and was used as the uniform.

People wandered in and out throughout the day. Most of the time the people who came in were not with children because of the lack of children's books they had in stalk. A few people, who came in frequently, made Dana feel easier around them considering she knew them. Most out-of-towners went for the big Barns and Noble store but Cassidy’s Bookstore was the bookstore everyone in town went to. Interaction with people wasn't something Dana was good at but she held her own when questions were asked and books needed to be found or requested to order.

It was around three o'clock when it started getting busy. That was usually when everyone was coming out and going in the little shops around the town. Her fingers were cramping from the cash register work and the typing on the computer searching for books in stock that people requested.

Dana smiled a goodbye as she handed a bag of five books to a woman walking away from the counter.

"Excuse me?" A woman in her late fifties held up a finger.

"Mmhmm?" Dana acknowledged as she rounded the counter.

"I'm just looking aimlessly, but do you have anything that's kind of a romance yet adventurous book? I can't choose there's so many I know of or the plot is too cliché. Do you know anything that's different that most you think of?"

Dana showed an attention giving expression as she listened and looked up towards the ceiling as she thought of authors names and book titles that filtered through her mind. Catherine Culture ...Patricia Gaffney... Richard Paul Evans....Nora Roberts...Ah! Dana smiled. "This way." She led her over a few isles and stopped in the romance section. Dana searched along the authors and titles and her finger stopped and plucked a dark blue paperback book off the shelf. She held it out for the woman. "It's called The Villa by Nora Roberts. It's thrilling with adventure and romance and has two young women in it that fight for what they're made to be for their life."

A sudden bump of a hard shoulder jerked her to the side against the bookshelves and a fear so intense ripped through her body. The flashback of strong hands shoving her face first into a wall came and went quickly. Her stomach pitched and her skin heated from head to toe. Her hands grasped the side of the bookshelf and she gulped a deep breath.

"Excuse me." A man that looked to be in his forties walked by and Dana saw through clouded eyes, the man walk out of the store.

'Stupid. It was just an accident. Probably didn't see where he was going.' She thought, straightening her shoulders, she smiled weakly.

"You okay?" The woman asked.

"Fine. I can ring you up in the front."

~Florida, Lakeland Center~

"Hmmph pah, hmmph pah, five, six, seven, eight." Wade counted as he set his water bottle on the edge of the stage. He watched as the five guys articulate the choreography to the counts and beats. They changed formations and each guy did a different choreographed part than what was supposed to be in that section.

"Okay, stop!" Justin waved his hands in the air.

Wade pointed to stage left. "Joey you need to be here, by the eight count. If there's confusion the guys are going to look to the diagonal front and that's you."

"Okay." He sighed and walked in a circle over towards the left.

"Now that part is the arm and knee together and they move to the left, then hop step."

He watched as Justin did the movement being told and Wade nodded. "Yes, but on the third count you hold....and then four and five, six, seven, eight." Wade showed the choreography as he spoke. "Do it again." He cued the band, knowing from the repetitive amount of time, to start eight counts early.

Wade watched the movements yet again and as they went into a formation, he nodded as they continued the correct movements. "That was good. Now make those steps higher and really step into it. Bmmmph pah, bmmmph pah." Wade demonstrated yet again, walking to the left as he articulated the movements perfectly to his vocal beats. Sweat ran down his back and he rubbed his shirt against his back to soak it. The moisture rolled down his forehead and neck and Wade ran a towel over himself to soak the annoyance as well as the wetness.

The lights were turned down to darken the stage and the green laser lights shifted and jerked across the stage. The dark shading added to the feeling of exhaustion and fatigue that all six guys on stage were feeling. It was going to be a long night and the tour started the next morning. Wade had given them as much as he could. If they didn't know it by now, they wouldn't at all.

Wade's exhaustion seemed to never end. They were finished at eleven that morning, and Wade got to the airport and caught a flight back to Los Angeles at eleven-thirty. Being in Florida for three weeks instructing the choreographed songs was enough for him. Maybe he’d buy a new Celica. Wade grinned at the thought. It had been hot and coming back to LA it would be winter compared to there.

His first dance class he was going to be teaching was at Millennium Dance Complex at eight o'clock. He just got the okay a week before for this new 'every Friday night master class' and in between set-ups for the rehearsals for NSYNC's tour, he choreographed a small piece to teach.

It was something he'd come up with to do in between plans for a music album and tours. It would give him something to do. He was always dancing anyway. Even on breaks for rehearsal of whatever he was doing, he was still analyzing movements and thinking of new choreography to use. It's always been there. Since he was three he was moving around like the greatest dancers out there. Now he was one of them. It was a dream fulfilled and talent he loved.

His head bobbed back against the headrest on the plane and his eyes rolled as they closed. He stretched out his aching legs. The pain was something to accept with dance. It was the result hard work and it was part of dancing itself. He was too used to it to care as his body relaxed and the muscles thawed from being tensed and moved throughout the last three weeks. The turbulence rocked him as he relaxed and he slowly fell into sleep.

The plane trip was a good seven hours long and Wade was sore from sleeping after all that work in Florida as he walked through the terminal. Wade spotted his friend Shawn as he went down the escalator to the main floor.

"Hey man. How was it?" Shawn asked as he slapped him on the back and started towards the exit.

"It worked." He said, adjusting the strap higher on his shoulder. "They've got it down, it's just the formations that they don't know where to go from. Other than that, it was hot as hell there."

"Yeah, well it's been around the seventies here so that'll be a change."

"A nice change."

They packed everything in the car and turned on to the highway. "Hey get off at Lankershim. I've got to stop by Millennium for a bit." Wade said as he placed his small pack on the backseat floor.

"Cool." Shawn acknowledged.

Wade leaned forward and turned up the radio when he heard the drums and electric guitar tearing out the speakers.

About an hour later, Shawn pulled the back lot of Millennium and unlocked the doors.

"Hey, you need me to come back?" He asked, turning the radio down, and yelling towards the back were Wade was getting his luggage.

"No, I'll get a ride I'm sure. Thanks man. I'll call ya." Wade held a hand up as he walked towards the back door and heard the skid of tires as Shawn drove off. He opened the back door and dragged the rolling suitcase across the large dome studio. He ducked through the curtained doorway and through the short hallway to the office, where there were a few people wandering around. He moved down the hall farther, smiled a greeting to the secretary. He turned right through a door that greeted the small kitchen/break room. He stacked his things against the small area against the wall next to the fridge and dropped his shoulder bag on the table in the center. He yanked open the fridge door to grab a can of cherry coke and took a swig of it as he walked back out to the front desk. Wade grinned as he leaned his arms on the counter, remembering the way Lacy had always been flustered around him.

"Hey Lacy. Have you seen Jin around?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. He's up at the VIP lounge." She responded with a glance under her lashes, and a stutter.

"Thanks."

Wade pushed up from the counter and turned to walk back through the dome and up the stairs at the back wall and into the lounge.

Jin Lee looked up from his papers laid out over the table and smiled. "Hey. How was Florida?"

Wade sat down on the couch adjacent to where Jin sat and looked down at all the papers. "It was hot and productive." He said, looking up at Jin. He had a paper in hand and glasses perched on his nose as he glanced up at Wade, acknowledging his response with a nod. "Good. You just get in town?"

"Yeah, about an hour so ago."

"Boy, go home!" Jin chuckled.

Wade returned his comment with a smile before taking more soda into his system. "What's all this?" Wade asked, gesturing to the documents and files lying over the table.

"Oh, just going over the new schedules and finances. Starting tonight we'll be bring in a lot more mullah for another couple years with your master class."

Wade nodded and took another chug of soda. Jin looked up and smiled. "You ready for tonight?"

"Sure. I have a plan for it all."

"Good. By the way, they'll be a camera crew every other time you do the class. So, tonight be prepared for it."

"Cool. That works for me." Wade stood up with his soda and moved towards the door. "I'm gonna go. I'll sleep off this jet lag for a bit and then I'll be back around seven to get everything set up."

"Alright. See you then. I'll be watching." Jin went back to his papers.

"Yes, sir."

Dana smiled to the last customer as they left and breathed out a sigh. She stood up and took the keys out of her pocket to lock up. She went to the cash register and printed out the full sales of the day. She stuffed them in the ‘kitty’ along with the bills and change and locked it in the safe in the backroom. She moved the empty boxes that were once full of books and smashed them flat. After everything else was finished to her satisfaction, she took the boxes and threw them in the dumpster outside in the back lot.

Dana checked her watch as she got in her car and quickly drove off. She went through Del Taco and got a veggie burrito on the go to Millennium Studios. She’d been taking classes there for almost a year and knew it was the place for her. They taught choreography that forced a person to focus and that’s what she liked. She liked to be able to take her mind out of her world and focus on the strength, the emotions, and the adrenaline that went through her while she danced. The music was the same feeling. Feeling the beats and melody flow through her body as she moved. The echo of the music against the walls to make your chest pulse was pure pleasure. She loved it and had a talent. She had gone straight into the advanced hip-hop class and was surprised she could catch on so quickly. It was a challenge, but one that she loved. Hopefully, she wouldn't miss the class. It was half an hour away from Whittier if the traffic wasn't bad and the class she was taking started at a perfect enough time for when she was able to leave town after work and get there in time. She ate while she drove and arrived five minutes before it started. Just enough time to change from her work clothes to her dance. Dana walked inside and returned a smile to Lacy.

"Oh, hey Dana, your class has been canceled. A new master class is being taught every other Friday and I've been informed to tell the people who normally take this class that this new one is going to be the same for the monthly tuition."

"Oh."

"You can try it out and see what you think."

Dana frowned and looked down at the changed calendar of scheduled classes taped to the counter.

“Oh well. Yeah, I’ll try it. Who’s teaching it?”

“Wade Robson.” Lacy pointed to the poster on the wall across from her.

Dana turned and looked at the picture she’d glanced at a few times before, along with the other well known choreographers’ pictures posted.

“He’s so cute.” Lacy stated, waving a hand at her face.

Dana looked back and shrugged. “Thanks” She said, dismissing herself and walking down towards the restrooms. Lacy was someone nice. She was someone Dana admired for being out going and confident. She knew her from the times she’d come in for dance classes and she was a person you could be easy around.

“Damn.” Dana’s curse came out from under her breath as she quickly tugged her tank top over her head, grabbed her bag, and jogged back out to the front desk.

“What studio is it in?” Dana quickly asked Lacy.

She pointed to the hall across the desk that led into the dome.

“Go ahead through here. Normally people wait outside but go ahead.” Lacy smiled.

“Okay.” Dana said, unsure. She walked through the small hallway and into the dome studio. It was pretty big with barres all along the walls and ‘Millennium Dance Complex’ imprinted on the far left wall. The mirror stretched all across the right wall and an exit door was on the far right wall leading to the back parking lot. A few people wandered along the stairs leading to the lounge and she noticed a camera crew over in the right corner setting up and messing with the stereo. A young girl around her age approached her and smiled politely. “Nobody’s allowed in yet. There’s a line started outside if you head through that hall right there.” She pointed out, her voice becoming sticky sweet the more she spoke.

“Lacy said it would be alright if I just came in. I’ll just be stretching, I don’t think I’ll get in the way.” Dana said, returning an unsure smile.

“Oh, that’s fine then.” She said, smiling and walking away to the other side of the studio.

Dana walked over to the back wall and brought her right leg up to the barre and began her stretches. A couple minutes later, Dana saw a few people with studio shirts on, walk over through the hall and she heard people start to file in. Music began blaring and the girl she spoke with earlier went to the platform in the center against the mirror. People took their places at the front of the studio and began following the stretch movements. Dana took a place in the middle back and looked around, watching out of the corner of her eyes what the stretches turned into.

After the warm-up stretch, Wade walked up to the front platform and explained how the class would work and to add a few other comments. Dana watched as Wade demonstrated the twelve, eight-count choreographed routine, watching the technique and the style he was articulating.

As the class progressed, Wade noticed a young woman, maybe his age, watching his movements and moving her body in the same technique he choreographed with. She was amazing, but he agreed that word was an understatement. His voice yelled over the students spread out through the room and over the sound of pounding feet on the wooden dance floor. His eyes scanned over the crowd of faces but continued to stop at the young woman’s face.

Dana concentrated more intensely when she felt Wade’s eyes glance at her through the mirror.

“Move left, five, six, knee up, step, down.” His eyes met hers through the mirror as he spoke and his eyebrows lifted with the tone of the instructed choreography towards her. Dana frowned at the direct look and would try to manage not to look at his face through the mirror for the rest of the class.

When it came time for Wade’s advanced plan to pick two people for the center dance off, he wandered around the room, looking from person to person from the two groups separated on each side of the room. He pointed out a young guy around his age, who had talent and enthusiasm, someone who would make people not be able to take their eyes off of. Wade’s eyes searched out the young woman who had caught his eye earlier, expecting to choose her but failed to see her. But his eyes landed on her, facing the back, using the barre to stretch out her muscles.

He hesitated, then directed his gaze over the group and he pointed out another person. ‘Was she avoiding to show her talent? Insecure maybe?’ He turned and walked towards the front to cue the music.

As the class ended, everyone crowded over towards where he was, standing on the side of the studio where the exit door was. He looked around at all the faces and smiled ‘thank yous’ and gave an occasional hug. His gaze lifted to see her, the only one walking the opposite way across the dark studio to the hall that leads outside.