It was the Fourth of July and Pacey had just finished working the Club's annual party, which consisted of a lavish buffet dinner, drinks, dancing and an elaborate fireworks display. As with the rest of the summer, only Pacey and Joey were in town. Pacey had been avoiding her as much as possible, even asking Mrs. Valentine, who was now his biggest fan, to make sure they weren't scheduled together. He still valued Joey's friendship, but he couldn't be "just friends" with her until he got his renewed attraction to her under control. So, since Pacey was scheduled to work tonight, Joey had the night off. Pacey had assumed she'd spend it with her family, but the sneaky little minx switched shifts with one of the other waitresses. As a result, he saw her off and on all night long as he monitored the buffet and she kept up with beverages and clean-up. During the fireworks when the staff followed the guests out to the deck to watch them, Joey ended up next to him and stood very close, closer than friend or ex-guidelines suggested. In just those few minutes, his nerve endings sizzled at her proximity. He wanted to be more than friends even though he logically knew it wouldn't work. He just had to make it to fall, then she would be back in Boston. The distance would make squelching his feelings easier.
Just before he was ready to leave, he stopped by the storeroom to put away the extra buffet supplies only to end up right where Joey was. "Hi," he said tentatively as he came through the doorway.
"Hey, Pace," she smiled. "Need help?"
"Naw, I've got it," he said confidently as he maneuvered all the supplies from the hallway into the room. Unfortunately, when he was moving the second batch, his hip accidentally bumped the door and it slammed shut behind him.
"No!" Joey shouted as she ran toward the door. She then worriedly looked between it and him. "Please tell me there is someone else out there."
"Only the security guard, but he's on rounds. Everything is locked up. I thought I was the last person here. Why?"
"Because the door won't open from the inside. The lock sticks."
"So, we're stuck in here?" He asked.
"Looks like it."
"That's why you propped open the door, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. I learned my lesson last time. I wasn't about to get stuck in here alone."
"Last time?"
"This was the room Drue purposely stuck us in last year when you went with Gretchen."
"Crap." Pacey walked turned back toward the door and juggled the handlebar hoping it would open, but no such luck. "Ugh!"
"Guess we're stuck until morning."
He turned back around. "You don't seem all that upset."
"I'm not. Now you can't avoid me," she said as she walked back to where she'd been when he came in and resumed putting away the supplies she'd brought inside, smiling triumphantly.