I impatiently wait for Joslyn to text me back while sitting in my dressing room, waiting to start the second rehearsal of the day, my last. I was a little upset not seeing her at lunch, wanting her company and to continue our not so accurately numbered little game of twenty-one questions.

Paranoia starts to set in after twenty minutes of her not texting me back. What if I scared her off by snooping trough Chris's stuff to find her paperwork that has her number on it? Hopefully that's not the case, because I really don't want to ruin our blossoming friendship before it even starts.

My doubt slowly starts to fade when I spot Joslyn walking down the hallway briskly, with a purpose. I can only guess she's going to come in here and call me a creep, demanding to know how I got her number. My theory seems pretty solid when she looks up to meet my eyes and slightly shakes her head in disbelief, the corner of her lip tugging up slightly. I playfully smirk at her while giving her a small wave to which she rolls her eyes, smile growing wider.

Halfway through her walk to my room, she is stopped by a guy, maybe a little older than us, with dirty blonde hair and some light facial hair. He jogs up behind her and grabs her elbow to gain her attention, pulling her hazel eyes from mine.

As they talk I can see both of their side profiles. She looks confused as to why he came running after her, and as he starts talking to her, her face turns to one of uneasiness. She looks like she's contemplating whatever he asked her before subtly nodding her head.

He breaks out into a grin as he reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone, handing it to her. She reluctantly takes it and starts typing away at the screen before handing it back to him. He checks whatever she typed on his phone and then gives her a small wave, bidding her goodbye, before walking away.

"Who was that?" I can't help but ask as she steps foot into my dressing room, sitting on the opposite side of the couch as me.

"Oh, no one," she causally replies.

"I'm pretty sure his name isn't no one."

She rolls her eyes. "His name is Derek. He works on the tour setting up and taking down the stage. I actually ran into him at the grocery store. Funny enough, he's the one who spilled coffee on me the other morning."

"No way." I can't help but laugh at her irony.

"Way." She smiles back.

"What did he want just now?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Oh... um, h-he just asked for my number. Nothing really," she tries to recover coolly, despite nervously playing with her fingers.

Why would he ask for her number? Does she even know him? Does she like him?

"Oh, so you can give your number to him without question, but when I ask I get back a snarky remark," I try to tease her.

She stops playing with her fingers and snaps her head up. "Speaking of which, how did you get my number anyway?" She narrows her eyes at me and slightly tilts her head to the left.

"The Alex Walker can get anybody's number." I teasingly mock her words from her email.

"Oh, I'm sure," she dryly replies. "But how did you figure out mine?"

I lean in towards her. "A magician never reveals his secrets," I whisper, catching her roll her eyes before I get up and walk towards the hallway.

Before I make it out of the room, I run right into someone. It feels like running into a brick wall. The dark skinned man I ran into is almost six inches taller than me and he's huge. His big, broad shoulders hardly seem to fit through the doorway as he makes his way inside with Chris following behind him.

"Ah, Alex, this is Milo. Milo, Alex," Chris says, introducing us.

"Um, hi." I awkwardly stick out my hand to greet the stranger.

He just stands there with a hard expression on his bearded face and he crosses his arms, making his muscles more profound than they already are. I swear this guy probably doesn't have an ounce of fat on him.

"Milo is your new security guard for this tour," Chris informs me.

Makes sense.

"Now that you've met, let's get ready for the second rehearsal," Chris says before walking back down the hall.

I grab my first look for the show and walk into the bathroom to change. When I step out and back into my dressing room Milo is still there but Joslyn's previous spot on the couch is empty.

Just in time, I quickly walk to the hallway to see Joslyn round a corner.

"Hey!" I call out, jogging to catch up to her, Milo hot on my heels.

"Yeah?" she responds, turning around to face me when I catch up to her.

"Are you sticking around for the second rehearsal?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to grab lunch and then I'll come watch," she says, thumbing behind her towards the catering area.

"Ok, I'll see you out there." I smile, turning around to head to the stage for the second rehearsal, Milo still following closely behind me.

An hour and a half later, I'm grateful to whoever handed me a towel in the crowd surrounding me after walking off the stage. Once I'm rid of all my equipment, I run the towel over my sweaty face and hair while walking down the hallway to my dressing room. Milo is by my side as soon as I'm off of the stage, following me down the hall.

Rounding a corner I see Joslyn walking back to my dressing room at the same time and she stops to let me fall in step with her.

"Nice shadow," she leans into me to whisper in my ear, referring to Milo not leaving my side since he showed up.

I try my best not to smile and gently swat at her legs with my towel, causing her to giggle. When we get to my dressing room we both plop down onto the couch and I wrap the towel around my neck, propping my feet up on the coffee table.

"How did it go?" I nervously ask, knowing it's my last chance to perfect the show before the real deal tomorrow.

"It was great!" she states with genuine enthusiasm, making my nerves falter a bit. "Quite the showman you are."

"Well, thank you. They didn't let me in Broadway musicals for no reason," I tease.

"You were on Broadway?" Shock is evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I was quite the theater kid back in the day."

"You were pretty damn good at it too," a deep voice comments from the doorway.

"Dad?" I breathe out, not believing he's here right now.

There he is, standing in the doorway in all of his smug, polo shirt, khaki, expensive watch and loafer wearing glory. His dark hair is a little longer now and gelled up in the front.

"What? Shocked to see me? You didn't think I'd miss your first show, did you?" he asks, folding his arms over his chest.

"No, I-I just didn't think you'd be here this early. I was expecting you to come in tomorrow," I state honestly.

"Well, I'm here now," he says, spreading his arms out as to make his presence known. "Aren't you going to say hello and maybe even introduce me to your friend here?" he asks with a wicked smirk on his face, eyes peering at Joslyn.

I quickly shoot up from my seat and feel my body go into a hard stance, sliding closer to Joslyn. My father and I seem to have a stare down until Joslyn clears her throat.

She slowly stands up and hesitantly sticks her hand out to my father. "Hi, I'm Joslyn, Alex's new personal assistant." She politely tries to introduce herself despite the evident tension in the room.

"Joslyn, nice to meet you. I'm Mike, Alex's dad." He takes her hand in his and holds it longer than necessary.

"Nice to meet you too." She tries her best to still be polite while pulling her hand back.

"Have you seen mom yet?" I daringly ask my father to get his attention away from Joslyn.

"Not yet, and let's hope not ever," he tries to joke, but I know it's not a joke and I don't find it funny. "Oh come on, lighten up will ya?" he asks, clapping his hand over my shoulder and rubbing it to get me to ease up, but I refuse.

As if on cue, the universe decides to damn me at the exact moment because in comes my mother chatting with Chris. It's as if they can already sense the tension in the room as soon as they walk in because their conversation comes to an abrupt halt.

"Michael." My mother gives him a less than warm welcome when she spots him, pursing her lips and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sandra." My father greets her just as coolly.

"Mike, I thought you weren't supposed to come in until tomorrow?" Chris asks, slight panic in his eyes.

"What, I can't come spend some extra time with my boy and family?" He seemingly taunts, slinging an arm over my shoulders and flicking his gaze to my mother who lets out a scoff of disgust.

"No, I just wasn't expecting it, that's all," Chris tries to cover up, even though uneasiness is running throughout his body. "Why don't the four of us go have a chat about everything. Joslyn, you can go back to the hotel for the day."

"Ok," she squeaks out and begins to quickly gather her things, more than likely glad to escape this situation.

"Hey." I gently grab her wrist before she can leave. "I'll talk to you later?"

She quickly nods and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, giving me a tight lipped smile to which I return an apologetic one.

"Bye, Joslyn," my dad sings out just to be a dick.

She gives him a small wave and rushes out of the room.

"So, let's talk," my dad says unamused.

Great. Just what I need to calm my nerves before the first day of tour.