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Planning Festivities
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It was a beautiful day outside in New York. It was a good day to plan all sorts of things. To carefully plan everything out so everything goes according to plan. A lot of hard work goes into a good plan. At the end of it you hope your hard work pays off. As the sun shined down, the most unlikely pair were walking on the sidewalk. Harper and J.R were on their way to the Sub Station carrying a lot of decorations. J.R had two boxes tucked under each arm with one bag in each hand while Harper carried one box with both arms. Theresa had sent J.R to help Harper bring everything so she wouldn't have to make two trips.
"Does Alex know yet?" Harper asked with her usual smiling self. She no longer felt uncomfortable with J.R. After seeing him all the time in the Sub Station, she finally got used to him, but it took some time.
"No." He answered with his usual stoic face.
Her smile grew. "That's great! I want to be there to see her face when she sees what we're planning." She said very excitedly.
"How do you know she is going to like all this?" J.R asked. Harper looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I don't know. Alex doesn't seem to be the time of girl that likes this," he lifts the box a little higher then back down, "sort of thing." He said.
"I know, but I'm sure she'll make an exception since this is a special occasion." Harper replied.
They continued to walk in silence for a while.
J.R turned his head a little to side to look at her. "Harper." He called, grabbing her attention. "You really care about Alex don't you?"
"Of course, we're best friends." She said.
J.R always found it a bit strange how Alex and Harper were best friends. They were so different and yet they were very close.
"Only a close friend would bother to do all this." He said.
"And that's why I'm doing it." She said, smiling.
A few minutes later they reached the Sub Station. Theresa immediately became excited when she saw them walk in. They put the boxes on the counter.
Theresa squealed, not being able to contain herself. "Let me see it." She said. Harper gladly took out a pink dress from the box and putting on the counter. Theresa couldn't stop the smile that formed. "It's so beautiful!" She said, looking at the dress. J.R stood with an elbow at the edge of the counter, from the opposite side from where the register. He watched as they put the dress back in the box and took out the rest of the decorations.
After a few minutes he spotted Alex and Jerry walking inside. He seemed to be a little out of breath. Just like he remembered, he caught up with Alex before she maxed out his credit card. Alex came over to see what Theresa and Harper were doing. Just like he expected Alex didn't take news well about her Quinceanera.
"Oh, Harper what are you doing?" She asked.
Theresa smiled. "Planning you're Quinceanera." She answered happily.
"Oh my gosh am I sick? What's Quincemano?"
Theresa began to explain what a Quinceanera was and why her grandmother was coming. Her dad didn't like the idea about his little girl becoming a woman. Once she saw and heard about the pink dress she was completely against it. They both started to argue until her grandma showed up on the front door.
As the girls greeted Alex's grandma, J.R walked over to the decorations on the counter and started putting some of them back in the boxes and bags.
"Hey, where are Justin and Max? I learned a new wrestling move that I wanted to try out on them." Her grandma said excitedly until she saw J.R over Alex's shoulder.
"Who's that?" She asked. Alex looked behind her and smiled. "That's J.R. I'll introduce you." Alex said.
J.R saw Alex coming with her grandma on the corner of his eye and raised his head to look at them.
"J.R this is my grandma. Grandma this is J.R. He has been staying with us for some time now." Alex said didn't say the reason though, she didn't think it would go well if she did.. Her grandma looked at J.R's expressionless face. She didn't seem to be put off by it, in fact she smiled.
"Hi J.R. Do you called yourself that because your name is embarrassing? I wouldn't blame you if it was." She said. Alex grinned. "That's what I said!" Alex walked over to the edge of counter, giving them some space to talk.
Alex's grandma examined J.R's face more carefully and noticed something. "You know. You look a little bit like my son Ernesto." She said. J.R shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you know how to wrestle because you look pretty well built." She said, squeezing his arm. J.R didn't say anything. "Maybe later, you could help me teach Max and Justin a thing or two."
"Not much for words are you?…I like that." She said smiling. She patted his arm and walked to Jerry as he came out eating a piece of cake.
J.R decided get back to work since he knew what was going to happen in the next couple of hours. But what J.R should really know by now is that not everything goes exactly as he remembered because of his presence there. What was going to happen next was a prime example of that.
After Alex made her plan, she agreed to do a Quinceanera. Two days later, everything was ready. They sent out the invitations and rented the before-sun-down-banquet-room, which was on the second floor. The only thing that was left was decorating the banquet room. The whole family, plus J.R and Harper, decorated most of it the day before.
The following day was the day of Alex's Quincenera and everyone was busy. Justin and Max had to go to dance lessons with their grandma. Jerry was practicing what he was going to say and do. Theresa was doing the same thing with Alex. She was telling her what she was going to have to do, even though she was the one that was going to do all does things. That just left J.R and Harper. It was up to them to finish decorating the banquet room. Theresa would make time and help Harper, but it would be a lot easier for her if J.R did it. So here he was, walking with Harper on the sidewalk early in the morning, again.
Harper had a tired look. "Where not going to walk all the way there are we?" She asked in a whining tone. J.R looked at her. He hadn't really though how far it was. He was just walking without thinking. If he thought about it, five miles was too far for some like Harper or for any one normal for that matter, but he has done so many things that involve him being in top shape it didn't seem that much to him.
"We could take the bus…" He suggested. Harper nodded her head rapidly. J.R started looking for the nearest bus stop.
Once they got off the bus, they walked the rest of the way, which was not that much. They stood in front of the building, while Harper looked for the key in her purse. "I know it was here somewhere." She said. J.R crossed his arms and waited patiently.
"Her we go!" Harper pulled out the key and opened the door. Directly connected to the door there was a corridor. On the right of the corridor there was a stairway that lead to another door on the second floor and on the left a narrow hallway with a door at he end of it. They walked up the stairs and when Harper tried opening the door, it wouldn't open.
Harper huffed. "Argh! I forgot this door gets stuck." Harper said, annoyed. Yesterday, they had the same problem, they had trouble opening it, too. J.R put his arm in front of her and made her scoot back. He backed up a little and kicked it open making it slam against the wall.
Harper had a bewildered look on her face. "That's one way of opening it." Harper commented. The open door lead to a small hallway with another door at the end of it. Half way through the hall on the left wall there was an opening that lead into the banquet room. At the other side of the banquet room there was a double door that lead to the balcony. They had already brought all the chairs and tables, decorated them and covered them with pink cloths, and decorated the walls. All they had to do was decorate the lights, decorate the whole room with balloons, set up the tables and bring the food.
Harper walked to the middle of the room and looked around with a big smile, then she looked at J.R.
"Alright, we have a lot to do so let's get started." Harper looked at her watch. "It's 8:37 right now and Theresa, Alex, and the guys are going to be here at 2:30." Harper looked back at J.R. "The guest should be arriving around three." It didn't sound like that had to do much, but it was going to take a lot time.
"What do you wanna do first?" She asked. J.R stared at her for a few seconds and then looked around. "They're going to make the food downstairs, right?" Harper nodded. "But they are probably going to start an hour so." Harper replied.
"Then, we should leave that for last. We should start with the lights and the balloons and then we set up the tables." J.R exclaimed.
Harper looked at J.R with a little admiration. "You really know how to plan ahead and fast at that." She said. J.R started walking back to the door. "Everything should be downstairs. Let's go."
*************
In another part of the city, Harper and Justin weren't the only ones planning a party. Inside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's ballroom Gale watched as the hotel's staff decorated the giant room. They had just started and was going to take some time before they'd finish.
"Gale." He heard Beck call. He turned around to see him and the rest of his team walking towards him.
"Did you finish checking the place?" He asked.
"Yes, and it's going to be a little tricky, but we can set everything as planned." Beck answered. It didn't surprised him one bit. Declan picked this place for a reason. It was his plan after all. He wouldn't pick a place that would mess up his plan.
"Are you Mr. Harsen?" They turned their attention to the man that was walking towards them.
"Who you might be?" Gale asked. He didn't like giving away his identity to people that didn't need to know him.
"I'm the manager of this hotel." The man replied with a smile.
Gale gave him polite smile. "Yes, that would be me."
"Mr. Malson, told us you were going to stop by. He said you were going to do some of your own preparations." The manager said.
"Yes, I hope it doesn't bother you." Gale said.
"Oh, no! Mr. Malson has paid us so generously that we wouldn't dare to stop him from doing a few personal decorations of his own." The manager said with a big smile. If he only knew what does 'personal decorations' were.
"No one will bother you or your friends." The manager said.
"Thank you." Gale said, and turned to leave the room with his men behind him.
"You all know what sections are yours, right? They all nodded. He didn't need to look behind him to know.
"Follow everything exactly to Declan's specific instructions." Gale ordered.
Beck frowned. "Why can't we do it our on way like always?"
"Because Declan doesn't trust anyone's plans, except his own." Gale responded.
Beck snorted. "That's stupid."
Gale didn't say anything.
*************
It was around eleven when they finished putting the lights up and finally finished blowing all the balloons after a little incident they had. J.R came upstairs and found Harper passed out on the floor from blowing so many balloons, When she came to he showed her the reason why he went downstairs in the first place. He had brought a pump. Harper just gave him a sheepish smile.
Now that they had enough balloons, they could decorate the walls with them. They decided to start with the big fifteen Theresa wanted them to form with the balloons on the corner of the room. It took a little longer than they thought to fill the whole room with balloons because Harper kept getting the tapped balloons stuck on her. Next, they had to set up the tables. They had to go downstairs and back up so many times, it wasn't even funny. They had to bring cups, plates, napkins, and silver wear to each table. After that came that food that was ready. The snacks, cupcakes, drinks, the punch, and most important of all the cake that Harper almost dropped. At the end they were able to finish on time.
Harper sat down on one of the chairs with a sigh of relief, finally being able to rest. "We did it J.R," Harper looked at her watch, "and with time to spare, too. It's 2:21." She said.
"They should be on their way by now.." Harper said looking out the window. J.R looked at her.
"Where is your dress?" J.R asked getting her attention. Harper shifted her gaze from the window to him. "Oh, I brought it here yesterday." She stood up and walked to the small hallway. He took this as a sign to follow her. Instead of turning to the right, which lead to the door where they came from, they turned the left. Harper opened the door and they walked inside. It was a changing room. She went and opened the closet to show him her dress hanging. "I left it here in the changing room Alex is going to-" Harper's eyes suddenly widen. "Oh no." She said in low voice. She held her head and began to panic. "No no no no no no no no!"
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I forgot! How could I forget!? Theresa told me so many times!" Harper started pacing.
"Harper, what did you forget?" J.R asked, holding her shoulders to stop her.
Harper looked at him. " I forgot Alex's dress." J.R didn't seem to look worried. "Where's the dress?" He asked. "I left in the Sub Station while I was getting something to eat this morning before we left and they probably aren't going to find it." J.R knew why she said that. Since today was Alex's Quinceanera they were going to take the day off and they wouldn't need to go downstairs. Nobody would find it. "I was supposed to bring it with us this morning and I forgot!" Harper looked at her watch, which made her panic even more. "They're going to be here soon."
"They can just go back to the loft and get it with the car." J.R calmly said. Harper shook her head. "By the time they get here, tell them, go back, and come back it would be too late."
"Then just call them and tell them to go back and get it before they get here." He said.
Harper nodded her head with hope in her eyes, but when she checked her purse, she turned pale. "I forgot my phone."
"Maybe, they have a phone downstairs." J.R suggested.
Harper shook her head, again. "They don't."
"What kind of place doesn't have a phone." Now, he was becoming a little frustrated.
Oh well, she'll just have to change while her guest are here and be late. J.R didn't see the big deal.
"What kind of best friend am I if I forget something so important in a special day like this." Harper looked down at the floor. "I promised Alex this was going to be the greatest Quinceanera ever." She looked very sad.
J.R stared at her as she felt sorry for herself without saying anything for a while. He finally moved and started walking towards the door. Before he went through the door, he looked back at Harper.
"Harper." She stopped staring at the floor and looked at him. "Stall." And with that he left.
J.R ran out of the room, but instead of heading for the door he made right turn into the banquet room. He ran towards the double doors. The doors opened by themselves, no doubt by J.R's doing, and he went into the balcony. Without hesitating he got in top of the handrail and jumped into the air. He landed on the next building and kept on going. He didn't bother putting on his cloak because it was still daylight and he would just stick out.
He ran and jumped so many buildings, it was faster then running on the ground. This way he didn't have to take turns, he just had to switch direction of what building he was suppose to go next. If he didn't stop and stayed in the roofs, he could definitely make it. It would be close, but he could make it. After running a number of buildings he had to a sudden stop. J.R ran out of buildings to jump. The direction the loft was in was the way across a wide street. The road had six lanes. Not even with magic he could jump that.
J.R was on top of a three story building. How was he going to get down without getting noticed? J.R looked around and found a way. He ran to the edge of the building and jumped off into a narrow alley. His hands began to glow as he descended into the alley. He wasn't just dropping straight down, he was still going forward. Finally being in the alley his hand and foot touched the right wall of the alley. He then pushed himself to the wall on the left, which wasn't that much since it was so narrow, and touched it with his other hand and foot. He then pushed himself back to the right wall and kept going back and forward as he came down with each jump while still going forward.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he started to run. It was a long alley because after all that jumping you would think he would already be out of the alley. At the end of the alley J.R saw a dumpster blocking his way into the street. J.R hopped over it into the street. He scared a man who was walking by as he landed. J.R didn't have time to waste and started running again.
*************
The Russos were halfway there with Theresa looking very excited. They were all dressed, except for Alex. The kids and their grandma were on the back quiet, not much really to talk about.
"Do you think everything is ready?" Theresa asked nervously at Jerry.
He smiled. "I'm sure Harper and J.R finished." Jerry reassured her.
"Yeah mom, you can count on Harper. She's more excited about this than I am. I'm sure she wouldn't want anything to go wrong." Alex said.
"You're probably right." Theresa said. She looked at her watch. "Jerry we better hurry. It's 2:37 and Alex still needs to get ready."
Max was looking out the window when he suddenly saw a guy hopping over a dumpster from an alley, making a man who was walking by jump back from the fright. The guy started running towards the opposite way they were going.
"Was that J.R?" Max thought. After a few seconds Max shook his head. 'Naw.'
*************
Harper was pacing on the banquet room and every couple of minutes she looked out the window. She didn't know what J.R meant by 'stall'. There was no way he could make it there and back by foot and definitely not by bus since it stopped in every bus stop. There was no way!…But by the way he said that one word it made her feel hope. She couldn't explain it, but there was something about him that made her feel like she could rely and trust him.
She looked out the window again and then her watch. It was 2:38. Still, she couldn't help, but worry.
"I should probably go and change." Harper thought. Hopefully, while she changed she could figure out how the heck she was going to stall!
*************
J.R was relived when he finally reached Waverly Place. He ran all the way down the street until he reached the Sub Station. He didn't have the keys so he ha to go through the back so no one would see him. He stopped right in front of the back door and breathed heavily as he scanned the area to make sure no one was watching. J.R closed his eyes and walked right through the door without opening the door. He walked out of the kitchen into the dining room. J.R looked around until his eyes found what he was looking for. He walked over to the counter. A black dress cover with a hanger inside rested in top of the counter. He put his hands at the edge of the counter trying to control his breathing. After a few minutes of resting he looked at the clock on the wall.
It was 2:41.
He took one more deep breath and grabbed the hook of the hanger. All this to J.R wasn't new. He learned long ago that keeping someone happy was hard. And he was off, again.
*************
Gale was looking around the ball room as the people decorated. It was going to be a great party, what a shame it was going to a waste. He stopped watching when he saw Lester coming.
"Is everything done?" Gale asked.
"No, there's to many eyes to rush this." Lester responded.
Gale nodded. "Alright. If you need me I'm going out for a smoke." Lester nodded and they both went their different directions.
This couldn't really be happening to her right now. It was not bad enough that Alex had no dress waiting for her here, nooooo. Some of the guests arrived early. Harper was seriously panicking now. To add to the fire some of the kids seemed to like loud music. This was doing nothing to calm her nerves what so ever. She could barely hear herself think.
J.R was pretty sure now that roof tops were a much faster way of traveling by foot. There were no people or cars on roofs. J.R saw another reason why roof tops were better. He was running along some big building he didn't know the name of, which he would've known if he had the time to think, and ahead of him were luggage carts. Every second counted, so he had no time to waste. He tighten his grip on the hook over his shoulder.
"Watch out!"
*************
Gale was standing outside in front of the main entrance smoking a cigar. There were two cars parked in front of the entrance. He was looking at the street as cars passed by, when he saw three luggage carts come out. Two carts were placed right next to each other to the car parked on his left and the third went to the car in front of the other car. He was about to leave when he heard someone shout.
"Watch out!" This made the bellhop, who was unloading the luggage, jump away from the cart.
Gale watched as a guy carrying some kind of wardrobe jumped towards the two luggage carts that were half full and used his free hand to grab the hanger bar inside the cart, swing himself between both carts. The guy didn't stop for a second, once his feet touch the ground he kept going. He headed for the third luggage carts that was in his way. The difference was that that cart was completely full. Gale didn't take his eyes off the guy. When the guy got near the last cart, he jumped really high, but not high enough to go over it. He started to do a front flip, but it still didn't look like he would make it. The guy quickly used his free hand to grab the top of the cart and launched himself forward, completing his flip. The guy kept on running going like nothing out of ordinary just happened.
Gale had a blank a expression and just blinked. He just followed the guy with his eyes until he couldn't see him anymore.
"That was…strange."
*************
Harper needed a break from the screaming kids and loud music. She walked to the open door to go downstairs where it was peaceful. Earlier, she left the door open so she wouldn't have trouble opening it. She was about to walk through the open door when suddenly…
"Harper, J.R were here!" Theresa said from downstairs as they walked in. She slammed the door shut.
Harper was at the point of a nervous breakdown. She wished J.R was here already. She didn't hear anyone coming up for a couple of minutes. She held her breath when she heard footsteps.
"Okay Harper, you can do this." Harper thought to herself. She would've been more convinced if she had a clue in how she was going to stall.
She heard as they had trouble opening the door that kept getting stuck. She really really really wished J.R were here.
*************
J.R was having small doubts about making it as he made a turn on the corner of a street. It was going to take a miracle that didn't involve magic for him to make it in time. He was really getting tired and was pretty sure he couldn't feel his arm that carried the dress. J.R crossed a big street not paying attention when he heard a horn. He had almost no time to react, but lucky for him his body moved on instinct. He jumped and ran up the hood and windshield of the car, landing roughly on the back. When sat up he noticed he was on the back of a pick up truck and still in motion.
The driver opened the small window. "Are you alright!?" He asked, not taking his eyes of the road. J.R saw he was about to stop. "Don't stop!" J.R said over the rushing wind.
The driver turned his head to look at him. He thought the guy was crazy. He just hit him with his truck…sort of. "Are you cra…zy?" The guy's eyes widen when he looked at J.R.
"You!" He yelled. It seems he knew him.
J.R also knew him, but couldn't remember from where.
"You're the guy with the coat from that night!" He said. Now J.R remembered. He was the drunken guy from the first time he fought the guardians.
"Do you have any idea how many times I thought if what I saw really happened or if I was just crazy!?" The guy said.
J.R had no time for this, but there was a bright side to this. "Make a left at the light!"
"What!?" The guy asked.
"Do it!" J.R yelled.
"Alright, there's no need to shout." The guy said as he did what he was told.
*************
"Wow, Harper everything looks great." Alex said as she looked around the room.
Theresa and Jerry were greeting their guests while Justin, Max, and grandma were downstairs.
Harper smiled nervously. "I guess you and J.R started the party without us." Alex said referring to the music.
"Yeah." Harper didn't trust her voice at the moment.
"Where is J.R?" Alex asked looking around for him.
"Oh, you know J.R. His always doing something…somewhere…somehow." Harper said laughing nervously.
"So, is my dress in the changing room?" Alex mentioned as she started walking to the room.
"Wait, Alex!" Harper ran to catch up to her.
"Have you seen the kitchen downstairs? It's very…clean." Harper said.
"Well, I-"
"Of course not. Let's go see it!" Harper grabbed Alex's arm and began to drag her.
"But I-" Alex began to protest.
"No buts!" Harper said dragging her down the stairs.
*************
J.R could finally see the building the Quinceanera was taking place. Just a little closer.
"My name is Chris by the way." The guy said. J.R was so focused, Chris didn't know if he even heard him. After the shock had passed Chris began to want to know who he was.
J.R saw he was close enough.
"So, are you going to tell what happened that ni-"
"Thanks for the ride Chris." J.R said right before he jumped off.
"What?" Chris turned around, but J.R was already gone. He turned back to look at the road and his widened. He was to close to the red light to stop as a cars passed by. Chris closed his eyes ready for impact.
After a few seconds he opened his eyes noticing he wasn't in a car wreck. He looked back and then forward. He sighed in relief.
*************
"Harper, I really need to change." Alex said as she walked up the stairs. Harper followed closely behind her while biting her nails. Harper quickly pulled Alex into the banquet room before she could head for the changing room.
"But before you change you have to look at the food." Harper said.
"Harper I really-" Harper didn't let her finish. "Look at the cake they made you, doesn't look good." She pulled Alex by her arm around the table. "Harper-"
"Oh, look! There's more food over there." Harper said, pulling Alex.
*************
J.R rushed in through the door and quickly headed for the stairs. He finally made it. When he tried to open the door, it won't budge. This was really not the time for the door to be stuck. He knocked on the door because he could hear people at other side, but no body could hear him because of the loud music.
J.R growled. He took a few steps back and was about to kick the door open when he suddenly stopped. What if he hit someone? There were kids playing in there. He had to find another way in, but that was the only way to get to banquet room from the inside…
That gave him idea. He quickly ran outside after coming down and rushed to the side of the building. He scanned the wall when he stopped and spotted the rain gutter on the wall. J.R put the hook of the hanger on his mouth and started to climb. Once he reached the top he grabbed the edge of the roof with both hands. He couldn't go on top of the roof because it was one of those pyramid shaped roofs that left no room to stand on. J.R was pretty much jus hanging there. He had to make it to the balcony, which was at the other side. The only way to get there was to sidle to the left with his hands and make his way there while hanging from the edge.
*************
"Okay, Harper I seen the entire first floor, the banquet room, the food, the balloons, everything! Now, I'm going to go change. Where is my dress?" Alex asked.
Harper didn't know what else to do, she couldn't think of anything else. She'll just have to tell Alex the truth and face the consequences of being the worst best friend ever. Harper opened her mouth to tell her when she looked at the window. Harper had her mouth hanging open.
"Harper?" Alex snapped her fingers in front of her face. Alex followed her gaze when suddenly Harper grabbed her.
"Have you practiced how you're going to dance with your dad in the father-daughter dance?" Harper quickly asked.
She didn't give Alex a chance to reply. "No? Then let's hurry!" Harper began to dance with Alex.
Harper looked at the window, again and saw J.R. 'What are you doing!?' Mouthed Harper to J.R. He just kept going. Alex was about to look behind her when Harper started making them go in circles. J.R was almost half way there, he just had to pass two more widows and turn on the corner of the building and the balcony would be right there. As J.R was passing the next window, Alex made them stop going in circles. She was about to look at the window J.R was on.
"Time to spin!" Harper began to spin Alex fast. "Harper, I don't think I'm supposed to spin!"
J.R was now on the last window. Theresa saw Harper spinning and decided to see what was going on. When Harper saw Theresa coming she stooped spinning Alex, who was dizzy.
"Alex you need to change! All your guest are almost here!" Theresa urgently said.
"I know. Harper, where's my dress?" Alex asked being completely serious. Harper squirmed under their gaze. "I…I" She took a quick glace at the window. "And why do you keep looking at the windows?" Alex asked looking at the windows and so did Theresa. "Wait! Don't-" There was no one there anymore.
Harper knew in what direction J.R was heading. When they turned back to look at Harper, she was no longer there. They saw her run outside into the balcony.
"Harper!" Alex called as they both followed after her.
J.R quickly pulled Harper to the side where the people inside couldn't see them.
"J.R, are you crazy!? You could've killed yourself!" Harper said. She noticed the state J.R was in. He was sweating and was breathing heavily. She couldn't believe it. He had actually ran all the way to the Sub Station and back to get the dress and made it back.
She was stunned.
He handed her the dress. "Here." Harper didn't know what to say except. "You're amazing."
"Harper!" They both heard Alex call. J.R quickly pushed himself against the wall and hid. He didn't think he could explain why he was the way he was. Harper quickly stepped into view so Theresa and Alex wouldn't come out.
"Here you go Alex." Harper handed her the dress, smiling. Alex looked at it and then at Harper confused. "What was it doing outside?"
"Alex there no time. You need to go change." Harper said.
"She's right. Let's go." Theresa said pulling Alex. Harper had never felt so relieved. There's one thing Harper learned today. Making someone happy was really…really…really hard.
J.R slowly slid down the wall onto the ground. He could finally rest.
"Why is there ice cream on the cover?" He heard Alex ask in the distance.
J.R raise his eyebrows. It seemed he didn't evade that ice cream man as well as he thought he did.
From there on it was smooth sailing. J.R hid there the rest of the evening. He kept glancing inside every now and then when no one was looking his way. He watched as 'Alex' came out and greeted everyone. She looked beautiful in her dress. You could tell Jerry had been rehearsing what he was going to say. It was strange watching himself dance with Alex, even though it wasn't really them. He watched as 'Justin' brought 'Alex' back down to the ground. He couldn't help, but think if Alex's dress was white it would almost look like a wedding. It was funny how he just noticed that now.
J.R look at the sun. It was almost dark. They should be changing back by now. He looked inside again. He saw as Justin and Max distracted their grandma to let Alex change back. And finally the father-daughter dance. J.R looked away as they had their moment. To him it was a reminder of what he'd lost. He walked over tot the stone handrail and stared at the dark sky.
After dancing with her dad, Alex was about to look for Harper when she noticed someone outside on the balcony. She walked outside bare foot and saw it was J.R.
"J.R! There you are!" Alex said standing next to him. J.R stayed silent. "J.R, are-" Alex noticed he wasn't even there. It was like his mind was someplace else. Alex didn't say anything for a while until she heard music from inside the room. She looked back at J.R.
"Where have you been? I didn't see you at all." She mentioned.
"I didn't have the right clothes." J.R said still looking at the sky.
Alex looked him over and noticed he was right. "Didn't you and my dad go out to buy a tux?" She asked.
"We did, but I didn't have time to change." He said finally looking at her. She was gorgeous. "You look great." Alex felt her cheeks heat up a little and looked away. "Thanks." She murmured.
J.R's eyes went back to the sky. While Alex looked at the city she realized something. If he has been here the whole time and Harper came running here earlier…
"Thank you." J.R looked at her. His face didn't show it, but she could tell he was confused.
Alex didn't say anything, she just gazed at the few stars the could be seen. She didn't know what or how, but she knew he did something, somehow and she felt very grateful for it. For whatever it was.
*************
Gale was in the main lobby with almost his entire team. They were waiting for the last two.
"What's taking them so long?" One of the men said.
"Maybe Beck doesn't remember what wire does what." Another one said humorously.
"I heard that!" Beck said coming from a hall with another man.
"And for your information we had the hardest area alright!"
Gale just ignored Beck's outburst. "Is it done?" He asked.
Beck nodded.
As they walked outside Gale took out his phone and dialed.
"What is it?" Declan answered.
"Everything is set." Gale said. He didn't need to be where Declan was to know he had a smile plastered on his face.
"Good." Was all he said and hanged up.
Declan sat in his office and looked at the city. Everything was falling into place just as planned. There was just one thing left to do, or more precisely one person to call.
I have no idea why this chapters turn out long. I start writing and somwhow they become long, sheesh! I guess that's a good thing...I think.