"Please, call me Paula," Nicole's mom responded, "and thank you."
"You're welcome. The whole group is going out for supper at 5:30 tonight, and you are more than welcome to join us. It will give you a chance to get to know the rest of the guys involved in this process with Ashley better," Rachel added before going back downstairs to check in with Mark about how things were going with Ashley and Shelli. About 5:00, Rachel, Nicole, and Paula Angel pulled up in front of the house that the guys trying to make the group were sharing. "Well, now you can see the way your son is living," Rachel said, leading the way into the house, not bothering to stop and knock on the door.
"Hey, Rachel, glad you could make it," Erik said, as he came up to hug his girlfriend.
"Dork, why wouldn't I make it, when I'm the one who planned it?" Rachel asked, pulling away from the embrace, because she saw the camera crew coming up to the two of them.
"Mom, I want to introduce you to all the guys," Ashley said after hugging her and pulling her further into the house. "Mom, this is Mike, Bryan, Ikaika, Erik, Trevor, you know Jacob from the hospital, and the guest of honour at supper tonight, Paul. We're all going out to say good-bye to Paul cuz he decided that being in a group like this just wasn't what he wanted right now," Ash explained when his mother gave him a confused look.
"Nice meeting all of you, boys," Paula said. "Be sure to call me Paula, I really don't like being called Mrs. Angel," she added as Mark came from the sleeping area. "Now who is this young man?"
"Hi, I'm Mark, I work as part of the security team for Trans-Con, and the boys involved in the OTown project in particular," he answered.
"I'm Paula Angel, Ashley's mom," she said, completing the introduction. "It's very nice meeting you."
"Hey, everyone is ready, and on time for a change," Mark said joking. "Let's go eat. Ashley, you ride in the car with Rachel and your mom and sister. Everyone else into the van with me," Mark ordered.
The following day, Rachel took Paul to the airport while the remaining members of the OTown project went to the studios for their last day of rehearsals before they were given a long weekend for the Christmas holiday. "Guys, remember, we do have rehearsals again on the 28th, so your tickets all are set to have you back on the 27th," Rachel reminded them at a short briefing before she and Mark were going to drive them to the airport for their flights home.
"Rachel, would you like to come to my house for the holidays, since you aren't able to go home and your parents can't make it down here this year?" Erik asked.
"Thanks for the offer, Erik, but I'll be fine here by myself," Rachel answered. "I don't want to intrude on your family's holiday celebration."
"You've got my home address so if you change your mind, just call, and drive on over. You know it's not that far from here," Erik continued, "besides, you are my girlfriend, you'd be welcome for the holiday."
"Thanks, but I'll just stay here and get some work done," Rachel said before Erik's flight was called. "See you when you get back."
After everyone, including Mark was safely on their way to their holiday destinations, Rachel went to the Orlando Mall, to try and find a dress to wear to the New Year's party that Lou was throwing and everyone associated with Trans-Con was expected to attend. On Christmas Eve, Rachel phoned her parents to wish them a happy holiday, even though they weren't going to be together. Late Christmas morning, Rachel went downstairs and was surprised to find Nicole, Ashley, and Erik all sitting in her living room.
"Merry Christmas!" the trio yelled.
"Merry Christmas yourselves," Rachel said. "What are you three doing here?"
"We were talking the other day, and didn't want you to spend the holiday alone, so we decided to come back early to spend the holiday with you. We all celebrate the holiday on Christmas Eve anyway, so it wasn't a really big deal to come back early," Ashley explained.
"You've done so much for all of us, that, well, we didn't want you to be alone today," Nicole added.
"Thank you all," Rachel said, tears threatening to fall because she had never had any friends who cared that much about her.
"You're welcome," Erik said, coming over to give her a hug. "Now, I brought some of my mom's leftovers for our lunch, and since you're up, I'm gonna go and heat them up so we can eat," he added walking towards the kitchen.
The four of them spent the rest of Christmas day watching their favourite holiday movies and getting to know each other better. On the 27th, Rachel and Nicole went to the airport to meet the rest of the guys. "So, Nicole, are you going to be going to the New Year's party that Lou is hosting?" Rachel asked while she and Nicole were waiting at the airport for Jacob and Bryan to come back from California, knowing that all of the guys were gonna be going.
"I don't know, Rach. If I went, I'd want to find a really nice dress to wear, but with this cast on my wrist, I just don't think it would look right."
"Come, on, Nic. You can't stay home just cuz you got a broken wrist. After we drop the guys off at the house, let's go shopping and find dresses for both of us to wear."
"I don't know, Rach, I don't really have a lot of extra money to get something as special as I'd like to get for that night," Nicole said, thinking about how she wanted guys to react to seeing her on that night. "The money I do have I need to use to pay my share of the bills at your house," Nicole continued.
"Nikki...forget about that...you can pay me when you get paid. You need to go and have a ball and celebrate the new millenium," Rachel said.
"But no one has asked me to go," Nicole added. "I'll go shopping with you to help you find an awesome dress for you...but I can't go since I wasn't invited."
"Nicole...all Trans-Con employees are invited," Rachel protested.
"But, I'm not an employee, just the sibling of a future Trans-Con artist," Nicole argued.
"You mean you aren't gonna be my personal assistant?" Rachel asked.
"Huh? I didn't know you wanted me to do that," Nicole said confused.
"You didn't? I thought I had talked to you about it," Rachel replied. "I guess I just thought I had. But will you, please? I really need someone to help me take care of the details for O-town. If Ashley doesn't make the group, I'll understand if you want to leave right away...but say you'll do it until then at least," Rachel pleaded.
"I'd love to, Rach, but I don't have any experience at anything like this," Nicole answered.
"Nic, I don't have any experience as a manager either...but Lou is taking a chance with me...and I'm willing to take a chance with you," Rachel answered. "Actually, I think you're first pay check is waiting on the desk in my office," she added.
"What??? I haven't done anything to earn it."
"Sure you did...you've been a big help to me since you came down here," Rachel said as all members of Otown except for Ikaika came up to greet the two girls. "Well, I guess we should get going. We're all heading to the mall after we get your stuff dropped off at the house," Rachel said when she noticed the guys standing behind Nicole.
"Why are we going to the mall?" Trevor whined.
"Because boys, we need to get you all outfitted in tuxes to wear to the New Year's bash this weekend," Rachel answered as they carried their luggage out to the van which was waiting for them.
The short week passed by quickly and between Rachel, Jacob, and Ashley, Nicole was convinced to attend the New Year's party as well. Erik was again disappointed, because Rachel insisted that they not attend the party together, just to keep office talk to a minimum, especially since Rachel had been informed on Dec. 29th that the decision had been made, and as soon as the contract details were finalized they would be announced. Ikaika had made it back for the rehearsals finally, but it was a day later than what was originally scheduled, and Rachel heard the numerous discussions among the others in the group about how Ikaika 'didn't want it,' and quite frankly she agreed with them about that. He had left again on the 29th to take finals for his college courses this semester, and wouldn't be returning until the 2nd of January. Rachel was just looking forward to the surprise she had for the Angel twins. They had been given an exam just before they left for Christmas; the two of them just didn't realize how important that test was to their futures.
Finally, New Year's Eve came, and it was time for everyone to leave for the party. Rachel and Mark both arrived at the OTown house to remind them of what was expected that night. "Guys, I know this sounds rediculous, but there are gonna be alot of people there...and alot of them are from the media. Don't do anything stupid to draw attention to yourselves," Rachel instructed. "You are going, because you are part of the Trans-Con family, but stay low, see how the other talent acts. We don't want any bad publicity, are we understood?"
"Yeah," the OTown hopefuls all said before going out to get into the limo that Lou had hired to take them all to the party. The party was swining, and Nicole was enjoying herself, glad she had found a dress that looked spectacular on her while hiding the cast she was still wearing as a result of the accident earlier that month. As midnight neared, Rachel walked up to the stage so she could make an announcement. "Excuse me, I know most of you don't really know the people that this announcement pertains too, but I think this will help them to enjoy themselves a little bit more at this party. Ashley and Nicole Angel, can you come up here please?" Rachel asked, and while she was waiting for them to come up to the stage, she tried to figure out the best way to make the announcement she had planned. "Thanks for coming up here, you two. I just wanted to congratulate the two newest high school graduates."
Nicole and Ashley both stood there in shock, "What? We still have another semester left," Ashley finally said.
"Actually, you took the Florida state required graduation test before Christmas, and after it was scored, the results were sent to your high school in Redding and they agreed that you had completed the requirements, so you have graduated. No more early morning classes for you two," Rachel explained while Jacob and Rich both came up to congratulate Nicole as the other members of OTown came up to congratulate Ashley as well. As the clock struck midnight, Rachel and Erik exchanged a very heated kiss to celebrate the new year while Jacob quickly kissed Nicole before everyone started singing Auld Lang Syne. As soon as the song was finished, several members of Otown started stage diving to celebrate the new year. As soon as Rachel and Mark noticed this, they escorted the 6 boys and Nicole home where there would be a long discussion about how they didn't succeed in maintaining a low profile as they had been told to do earlier in the evening.