The Way You Make Me Feel 

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Center Stage... I only own the original characters that I
make up in this story =)

Warning: There are a few innuendoes throughout the story. Nothing graphic though.

The Way You Make Me Feel

Cooper Neilsen's Dance Company, or CNDC, was sailing off successfully. Cooper Neilsen's choreography with
Jody Sawyer's dancing talent made them a great pair. With Jody's busy schedule, her relationship with
Charlie had fizzled after two short months. Cooper had tried his advances again but she turned him down
once more. She realized that she just didn't have the time or energy to maintain a relationship. Charlie
had been disappointed but understood what she meant.

Eight months since the launch of Cooper's company, he had a talk with Jody and came to the conclusion that
it was time to expand the company and audition for some more dancers. Jody thought that would be a great
idea and they started organizing the event. They advertised the open audition all throughout New York's
school for the arts.

Three weeks later, the day of the audition came. Cooper settled himself behind a desk and put Jody in charge
 of the dance audition pieces. The turn out was larger than they both had expected. Cooper split the
auditioning dancers into two groups. The first group followed Jody's instructions very well and there
were a few that caught Cooper's attention. He made his notes and called in the second group. The second
group wasn't as good as the first roup. Except for one girl. He motioned to Jody and she acknowledged
his message.

Cooper and Jody thanked the second group. Jody went outside to tell all the dancers that they would be
back in half an hour with the decisions for the five dancers that they would be accepting. She returned
to the studio and found Cooper sifting through headshots and portfolios. "Her," he said, holding up an
8 x 10 black and white picture. "That's the girl I definitely want in my company."

Jody looked at him skeptically. "In your company or in your bed?"

"Hey! I don't have ulterior motives!" he laughed. "She's really good... and her beauty helps too..."

"I knew it Mr. Cooper Neilsen!" Jody smiled. She didn't approve of many of his actions but she couldn't
do anything about it. "Okay, well, who else then?" For the next 20 minutes, they spent it deciding on
who the other four were going to be. After much deliberation, they both finally agreed on the final five.

Cooper went outside and asked to see the five dancers. He thanked the others for auditioning and told them
 to keep an eye out for more auditions from him in the future. He led the three girls and two guys into
the studio. "Well," he began. "Congratulations for making it this far. We hope you'll enjoy your time here."
He smiled, eyeing the cute brunette from the second group. "I'm Cooper Neilsen as you already know and I
am the founder of this dance company. This is Jody Sawyer and she is the principle dancer here."

The others introduced themselves but Cooper only really took notice of that one girl. The one who identified
herself as "Michele". Jody smiled and informed the new dancers of the upcoming party the next night. It
was going to be a large party with many people in the industry. The five were excited and thanked Cooper
and Jody as they headed home.

After they left, Jody turned to Cooper and laughed. "Oh you are so suave!"

"Hey, don't mock me... I think she may be interested..."

"Oh, not everyone's attracted to you Cooper!" teased Jody.

The next evening arrived quickly and the gala party was packed with lively people. Cooper had invited
some people from the ABA to attend as well. Everyone including Charlie.

"Hi Jody," Charlie said as he caught sight of her.

"Hi Charlie..." she said, feeling a little awkward. "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad... yourself?"

"Not bad at all. I love being the principle dancer!" she laughed.

Near the entrance to the hall, Cooper kept glancing at the door to see if he could see Michele. To
his delight, she soon stepped in and looked like she was searching for someone. 'Probably me,' Cooper
thought as he made his way to her. 

"Hi Michele," he greeted.

"Oh! Hello Cooper!" she replied cheerfully.

"You look really nice tonight," he complimented.

Michele blushed. "Thanks."

"Look, this may seem forward but how would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow?"

"Oh! Um, well..." she began. "I... I'm actually..." She was interrupted by a guy walking up to her and
putting his arm around her.

"Hey Cooper," he said, noticing him standing there.

"Hi Charlie," he said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"How do you know Cooper?" Michele asked her boyfriend. Charlie looked at Cooper and smirked. "Just a
lot of history, I guess. Nothing to worry about."

Michele smiled and gave Charlie a kiss. "I'm going to go get us some drinks."

When she was gone, Charlie immediately confronted Cooper. "What were you doing with my girlfriend
there?"

"Nothing, just talking about her new position in the company," Cooper lied smoothly.

Charlie glared at him. "Yeah, well that position better not be on her back," he warned.

"Hey, hey..." Cooper said defensively holding up his hands. "I get it. She's your's."

Michele returned with the drinks and that had ended the conversation. For the time being at least.
Cooper excused himself and walked off in another direction.

Charlie held his drink in one hand and his girlfriend's hand in the other. He held out his arm and
slowly spun Michele around.

"What?" Michele asked with a smile.

"You're looking really nice tonight... That dress looks amazing on you," he replied with a coy smile.

"You're looking pretty hot yourself there sweetie," she told him. "So seriously, how do you know Cooper?"

Charlie smiled, "It's a really long story... I'll tell you later okay? I promise."

"Okay," replied Michele. "Oh! There's Jody! C'mon, I wanna introduce you to her!" Before Charlie could
protest, Michele had pulled him through the crowd. "Hi Jody," Michele said.

Jody was momentarily stunned seeing Charlie hold Michele's hand but she quickly recovered. "Hi Michele,"
she smiled sweetly.

"Jody, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Charlie." Jody looked at Charlie with a questioning look.
Charlie looked uncomfortable and held out his hand. "Hi Jody."

"Nice to meet you Charlie," she replied, following his lead. She figured there must be a reason why
Michele didn't know about the two of them. Jody excused herself and went to say hello to Jonathan Reeves
who had just arrived.

Michele turned to Charlie, "So? What do you think? I could fit in with this group right?"

"Of course! You're a wonderful dancer. That's what I noticed about you first and that's what they noticed
about you," assured Charlie. He didn't want to disclose that he had also noticed her looks and he was
almost one hundred percent sure that Michele's looks were what Cooper had seen as well.

As Jody walked off to find Jonathan, she couldn't help but smile. Cooper Neilsen doesn't get the girl
again. She could foresee that Michele was going to have quite an interesting time now at the company
now that she was dancing with them. She grinned as she approached Jonathan and shook his hand. He commended
her for her success and commented on how wonderful the company was. Jody thanked him but said it was
mostly all Cooper's doing.

"What's all my doing?" Cooper asked as he joined the conversation. He slipped his arm around Jody's waist
and she subtly glared at him. She thought he would know better.

Cooper then told Jonathan about the new dancers and proceeded to introduce them to him. Jonathan followed
Cooper and they found Michele and Charlie standing near the dance floor.

"Jonathan," Cooper began. "I would like to introduce you to one of our most promising dancers, Michele."
Despite Charlie's death stare, Cooper pretended not to see it as hep ut his arm around her shoulders.
Cooper then left to show Jonathan the other dancers, but not before he winked at Michele. A wink that
was seen by both Michele and Charlie. Michele looked uncomfortably at Charlie, awaiting his reaction.

Swing music suddenly filled the room and Charlie softened his expression as he asked Michele to dance.
Their exceptional swing dancing had attracted a crowd and when it was over, the people around them applauded.
Cooper stepped out from the crowd and approached them. "Mind if I step in?" and before Charlie could
respond, Cooper had moved in. Salsa music was played next and it was obvious to everyone that he was
trying to out do Charlie. While dancing that close with Cooper, Michele couldn't help but notice the
charming qualities that she had heard so much about. She didn't think she liked him but she now saw why
so many girls did.

Charlie was not usually a jealous kind of person, but cooper was pushing his limits. First it was Jody,
now Michele. Enough was enough. In mid-song, he stepped forward and reclaimed his girlfriend. Michele
gratefully returned to Charlie and she danced with him for the rest of the song. Cooper was embarrassed
and quickly walked back through the crowd. Jody watched form the side and laughed. That was definitely
not the Charlie she knew.

When the song was over, Charlie leaned over and whispered to Michele, "C'mon, let's go."

Michele knew very well why but she didn't question him further and she complied. She thanked Jody for a
lovely party and told her they were leaving early because they were tired. Jody knew that wasn't true,
but she kept quiet.

"Well, thank you for coming," Jody told Michele and Charlie.

Once outside, Michele inquired about their abrupt departure. He stopped walking and held Michele's hand
leading her to the bench on the side. He looked deeply into her eyes and kissed her passionately, releasing
all the built up tension he had been containing while at the party.

"Wow... what was that for?" Michele asked softly, a little out of breath.

"I don't want to lose you. I just want you to know how much I love you," he replied sincerely.

Michele smiled and kissed him again. They then got up and Michele held his hand. "C'mon, let's go home."



... to be continued?