~1 Month Later~

The alarm clock on the bedside table next to her started beeping mindlessly, and Cadence groaned, reaching a hand over to slap it off. She tried to pull the blanket over head and forget that it had started going off and obnoxiously disturbed her sleep. But it was impossible to do so, not only because of her body waking up despite her protests, but because of what that clock signified. It was time to wake up and go to work, and as much as she detested it, she loved it as well.

Her eyes opened and blinked away the rest of the sleep, and Cadence sat up, wiping at her eyes. She looked around at her apartment, and she couldn't contain the smile that popped onto her face. Was it small and cramped? Did she not have a lot of money because most of what she made got funneled into bills? You betcha. But did that matter one ounce to her? Hell no. It was her own place, as small and cramped as it was, and she was out from her grandparents hold on her. Nothing was as important to her as that was. The last month was probably the toughest four weeks that she had ever gone through, struggling to pay her bills and keep a roof over her head. But she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Besides, when things got a little to hard to handle, she just thought about how much fun she had had in Canada, and honestly, it gave her some hope for the future. Oh, she knew that she was never going to hear from those guys again - getting away from her grandparents hadn't made her a complete moron. But, she was different now. Happier, ever since she had gotten back. Not so depressed. And, if nothing else, she had work to keep her occupied. And, with one look at the clock, she cursed. She'd better get up and get dressed, or she was going to be late, and the last thing she needed at this point was to lose her job as a receptionist at the nail salon down the road.

When her lunch break rolled around a couple of hours later, Cadence gratefully took it and took a seat on a bench on the other side of the building. She rarely brought any lunch with her, so she just rested her head against the back of the bench, the sun warming her uniform of khaki pants and a black collared shirt that said "Danny's" across the front, as that was the name emblazoned across the front of the building. She had her phone next to her, but mostly so that she could check the time and make sure that she wasn't late getting back into the building. But nothing could have surprised her more then when it actually [I]rang[/I], but more surprising then that, was probably the ring tone that was playing.

The first chorus of Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship belted out of her phone and caused her to sharply take in a breath, as that was the ring tone that she had assigned to Josh - or, if she remembered correctly, the song that he had assigned himself before they had dropped her off at the hotel over a month ago. He was the only one that had that ring tone, but what was equally surprising was the fact that she hadn't from them except an errant text from Mike to make sure she had gotten home alright.

She snatched her phone up and hit the green send button before she could over think it anymore. "Hello?" she asked a bit breathlessly and silently cursed herself. She just could hardly believe this was happening.

There was a slight chuckle on the other end of the phone, Josh's, and made a smile come to her face, despite her best efforts. "Well then, if you'll let me and not get offended, I'd say that it sounds like we caught you in the middle of some very…fun activities. Would you like me to call back at a more convenient time?"

Despite herself, Cadence laughed and sat back against the bench, completely relaxing. "Oh, if only" she said with a slightly breathy sigh and laughed again. "Sadly, no. I'm actually at work. And if you don't mind me saying, this was a very nice surprise. But I can't help but wonder why your calling me right now when your probably up to your ears on working on the album and everything else that goes along with it."

Back in Canada, Josh himself was wondering the same thing. It didn't make any sense for him to be taking time away from the Mortal Kombat machine and the laughter he could hear to be calling her. Thus, he had come up with justification in his own mind, and as it had sounded as good as any other excuse, and because he didn't want anymore weird looks from his band mates when it came to the subject of Cadence, he just smoothly transitioned. "Well, funny you should say that. It's true, we are really busy, coupled by the fact that if we hadn't been I would have been calling to bug you and see when you were coming back for a visit." He said this lightly, but was surprised by the ball of nerves that was in his stomach. He was [I]never[/I] nervous, so why was a fan that he hadn't even known existed a month and a half ago causing it to form inside him?

He really wasn't to keen on finding out.

"Any who, I have an invitation for you, if you aren't sick of seeing our faces. We are going to be starting the filming for the music video for Haven't Had enough in about 2 weeks, and I was wondering if you might like to come back up and shoot the video with us. We'd pay for half of your ticket, this being so sudden and all." What he failed to mention was that he was going to pay out of pocket, since no one else really knew he was doing this, but he didn't mention that part to her. No need to freak her out or anything.

Back on her end, Cadence was speechless. She had all but convinced herself that she was never going to see any of them again, and she was ok with that. She had accepted it. But then here Josh is, calling her out of the blue and inviting her back for the video. How, in the miserable reality that was her own, could something like this happen? Stuff like this wasn't supposed to happen. And she wouldn't deny, at least to herself, the kick in her heart that happened every time she heard his voice. "Well, you really know how to twist a girls arm" she finally said, wanting to break the silence, and was glad that a laugh could roll out of her easily enough. Considering.

"How can I say no to that? I'd love to come back and see you guys, for sure. And I've never been in a music video, so it'll be an experience. Though, I hope you know I suck at pretty much anything that isn't academic in any way, so just be prepared for that."

Josh was just so relieved that she had actually said yes that he didn't care about the why's. He was just happy she was coming back and he would get to see her again. "Great! When I get a chance tonight, I'll text with when you need to be here and how all long and all that jazz. Now, play time is over for me. I'll talk you later, ok?" He disconnected a second later, and Cadence wasn't afraid to admit to herself that she sat there for a full five minutes, just staring at her phone.