“Now this time, we’re really going to a Jive party, right? This isn’t another trick?”

        Claudia laughed. “No, it’s the real thing this time, I promise.” She linked her arm through Josh’s as they walked across the parking lot to a large party house. Jive was holding it’s annual spring formal, and Claudia couldn’t be happier that she had Josh as her date.

        “Hey guys! Fancy meeting you here!” Nicole’s voice called from behind them.

        They turned to find Jack and Nicole walking towards them. Nicole’s dirty blonde hair was curled in large ringlets framing her face and she wore a sexy, yet not too revealing red halter dress.

        “By the way,” Josh whispered in Claudia’s ear, “you look great tonight.”

        Goosebumps rose on her skin at the feel of his breath against her neck. Claudia had exchanged the black dress she’d bought for Valentine’s Day, for the pale green dress that had looked so good on her. She wore large hoop earrings and her curls were pulled back, showing off her shoulders and collar bone.

        Inside, the foursome found a table to sit at.

        “This is nice,” Nicole commented, looking around the room.

        The large ballroom was mostly lit by white Christmas lights that hung from the ceiling and walls, and by candles that were arranged on all the tables. There was a DJ, plenty of refreshments and a lot of beautiful people ready to party.

        “Are you going to ask me to dance, or what?” Nicole asked Jack.

        “She’s feisty, but that’s what I like about her,” Jack said as they stood and walked to the dance floor.

        Claudia shook her head. “Those two make me sick sometimes.”

        “Yeah,” Josh agreed. “They tend to share a little too much about their sex lives.”

        “Oh tell me about it! I work with Jack by day and live with Nicole by night. I can’t escape it!”

        Josh laughed. “I pity you.” He nodded to the dance floor. “So do you wanna dance?”

        She smiled genuinely. “It’s been so long since I’ve heard those words.”

        A slow song came on as they stepped onto the dance floor. Josh wrapped one arm around her waist and held her hand in his. She liked that he didn’t start off dancing too close…which was more than she could say for Jack and Nicole.

        “If those two get any closer, they’ll be wearing the same pair of pants,” Claudia joked as she watched her friend. “I’m happy for her though. She’s finally found a nice guy that treats her right.”

        “Were you talking about yourself or about Nicole?” Josh teased.

        She smiled. “Both.”

        Relaxing, Claudia rested her head against the slightly scratchy fabric of Josh’s suit jacket. It was amazing how perfectly she fit in his arms and how wonderful they felt around her. She breathed in the sweet smell of his cologne and closed her eyes, feeling completely safe in his arms.

        Finally, the missing piece of the puzzle was put into place. The void had been filled.

        After a few more songs, they returned to their table where they found Nicole and Jack sitting close, whispering to each other. They cleared their throats and put some space between them when Josh and Claudia sat down.

        Claudia shook her head. “So unprofessional of you, Jack,” she scolded. “What will the executives think?”

        “They’ll think I’m getting lucky with a beautiful girl tonight,” he replied, smiling at Nicole.

        Nicole blushed and giggled.

        Claudia groaned. “You two little hornballs are perfect for each other.”

        Suddenly a voice sounded over a microphone and a man in a business suit took the stage in front.

        “Hello everyone. I’d like to welcome you all to the fourteenth annual Jive spring formal. I’m Clive Davis, but I bet you all already knew that. Every year we give out a few awards to commend some of our hard working employees who we feel deserve recognition…”

        “I know who should get the award for horniest producer,” Claudia muttered, loud enough for Jack to hear.

        Jack shot her a dirty look.

        “We’ll be starting tonight with most improved employee. This award is going out to a producer who’s been with us for several years now. This person has created dozens of beautiful songs over the years and has done a lot for Jive. After suffering a little bit of writer’s block, this producer has made a sudden come back to write several new songs in just a matter of weeks. Josh…come on up here and get your award.”

        Josh smiled sheepishly as he stood and made his way to the front of the room. He took the plaque from Clive; shaking his hand and realized he was standing in front of the microphone now.

        “What, am I supposed to make an acceptance speech?”

        The crowd laughed.

        “Um, I don’t really know what to say. I guess I should just thank my manager Johnny who’s been here for me since I signed with Jive six years ago and put up with me for all this time. I should definitely thank all of the higher ups for not firing me.”

        The crowd chuckled again.

        “You guys put up with my attitude for a long time, thanks for not getting rid of me. And one person that I should definitely thank is Claudia who is the one who helped me out of my rut…not only in the studio but also in life. Thanks.”

        Everyone clapped politely as he returned to his seat.

        “Aw, I’m touched,” Claudia teased, although she really was.

        After the awards were handed out, they ate and then headed back for the dance floor. Claudia went to take Josh’s hand but Nicole snatched him away, shaking her head.

        “Uh-uh. My turn.”

        Josh gave Claudia a confused and desperate look as Nicole dragged him to the center of the dance floor. Shrugging, Claudia went to return to the table, but Jack stopped her, taking her hand.

        “As long as the opportunity is open…”

         “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” Nicole teased, seeing Josh’s uneasy expression.

        “That’s nice to know.”

        “But if your hands go anywhere south of the border I might have to get lethal.”

        “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” Josh assured her.

        “I just wanted to take this time to personally thank you.”

        “For what?” Josh asked.

        “For getting Jacob out of the picture! It’s about time someone got through to that girl!”

        Josh laughed. “Sorry I took so long.”

        “But seriously, thanks for opening her eyes to the fact that she deserves better. You just better treat her right, ‘cause after hearing her cry about Jacob all those times, if she gets hurt one more time I just might lose it.”

        “Let me guess, you might have to get lethal?”

        She smiled. “Now you’re catching on.”

        (Meanwhile, elsewhere on the dance floor…)

        “You two set us up, didn’t you?” Claudia asked Jack as they danced.

        He shrugged. “Maybe a little bit. I needed a chance to ask you for that fifty bucks,” he said, grinning.

        “I was hoping you’d forget,” she groaned.

        He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

        “I’ve only got twenty on me, you’ll have to wait for the rest on Monday.”

        “You know, I was going to be a nice guy and let you keep the money but now I’m thinking maybe I’ll use the money to buy Nicole something nice.”

        “Great, that way everyone’s happy,” she said sarcastically with a smile.

        “Exactly. You’ll get the satisfaction of being responsible for half of that big smile Nicole will have on her face, and I’ll be happy because-”

        “Let me guess, because you’ll get some?”

        “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”

        “Oh really?”

        “No, I was just thinking it,” he teased. They were quiet for a moment, dancing in silence. “Damn, you know, I made that bet to see if you could stop yourself from befriending that guy, which I knew you wouldn’t be able to do. But I had no idea things would turn out this way.”

        “What way?” she asked curiously.

        “You brought him back to life. I thought you’d be the guy’s friend and you two fell in love.”

        Claudia just blushed slightly and giggled.

        “Josh has been absolutely glowing lately.”

        “He has?”

        Jack nodded. “He’s written about a dozen songs in the last month or so. It’s incredible.”

        “That must be why I’ve seen him smiling in the studio,” Claudia thought out loud.

        “They’re all about you, you know.”

        “What are about me?”

        “His songs. Every last one of them is about you or was inspired by you.”

        “Are you sure?”

        “Positive. You saved him, Claude. Him and his career. At this rate, he’ll have a new record in no time.”

        This brought a smile to her face. She was flattered to discover that she had such a positive influence over someone and even more flattered that that person was Josh.

        As the song ended the four returned to their table.

        “Did she hurt you?” Claudia whispered to Josh.

        “Luckily no. I think she’s saving it for Jack,” he joked.

        “Thanks for the image!”

        Nicole tapped her fork against her glass. “I’d like to make a toast…” Nicole stopped seeing the expression on Claudia’s face. “Sorry, Claude, those words must bring back bad memories for you.”

        The two girls chuckled, leaving the men in confusion.

        “I want to make a toast to Claudia and Josh. To the happy couple who took forever to get together.”

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