Post by Charlie Pierce on Nov 10, 2015 10:56:28 GMT -5
“ No, stop.” Charlie said, moving back in front of Jake as she put her hands on his shoulders and tried to pull them back. “You’re dropping your frame,” she said, tapping her fingers gently under his chin to push it back up. She moved a few more steps away from him, picking up the remote to go ahead and start the music from the beginning. She looked down at the nude heels she was wearing for practice, pulling her sweater up over her spandex shorts…not exactly ballroom ready. The last month had been chaotic to say the least. Dani had finally quit giving her death stares when she realized that Charlie was in fact not sleeping with Jake. Their proposal seemed like it was a long time coming, though she wasn’t sure when they were going to make it public. Not to mention that it seemed like his family was getting a lot of attention lately, and honestly….Charlie hadn’t asked him about it because she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.
The thing about Jake was that he was highly competitive. So combining that with the fact that he actually could move his hips and feet pretty damn well, it wasn’t a surprise that he was making it this far in the competition. He had an athlete’s body, one that he kept in very good shape, which combined with his ability to pick up a beat, made him pretty unbeatable in this competition in Charlie’s eyes. She looked at one of the cameramen who was filming their rehearsal, he’d placed his hat over his eyes and was leaning against the wall. No shit he was tired. It was like 6 AM and they had already been at this for an hour. But between rehearsals, fittings, the actual show in the evenings, and then Charlie needing to be at Taboo with Libby to film, Jake was pretty awesome to work ridiculous hours. As though he was being sent from God, Max stepped into the practice room. Charlie immediately clapped her hands together excitedly and ran past Jake, jumping up on Max, despite the fact that he was carrying two coffees with him and a bag of what she assumed was breakfast. She tightened her arms and legs around him, giving him quick kisses on the cheek as he kept walking toward Jake.
It was nice having Max come in every now and then; because as talented as Jake was sometimes it was nice having a guy come in and explain to Jake what she needed. It would take her about thirty seconds to show Max the routine and practice it together, before he could turn to Jake and just give him advice that seemed to make it click so much quicker than when Charlie tried. Plus, she knew that when they edited the footage to put on the show, the girls always loved when Jake and Max were together. This week they would be doing a paso doble to ‘Same Old Love’, which Dani was either going to love or hate. But regardless, Jake would crush it. About an hour and a half later, she could tell that both herself and Jake were tired. And maybe he was okay with these early morning rehearsals too, because it was the holiday season after all. It sounded like some grandmas, nana’s nonna’s… something, were at his apartment. Cooking, music, family. That was Jake’s thing. She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, “I’ll see you tonight, babe,” she said, giving him a wave before she ran back over to Max to take his hand and head out.
Max had the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. Not only had he also lost one of his closest friends, but now it was like the world was looking at him to fill Joel’s place. She couldn’t even imagine the internal dilemma he felt with that. Obviously, he was already incredibly successful..and he would want to do things that increased his success. But, he had earned the right to do it by calling his own shots, to do it with his own meter of success, versus doing it in comparison to someone else. She didn’t know that she could entirely blame people for trying to fill the void that Joel had left, yet when it came in the form of weighing heavily on someone she loved so dearly, it began to piss her off. She knew that when she had off to set to film for Taboo TV, that he would spend his entire day doing rehearsals, recordings, maybe some interviews, just jam packed with nonstop activity. She was worried about him overexerting himself, becoming neurotic, sleep-deprived, just…drained. But regardless, as they got to the Taboo building, she gave himself a kiss, squeezing his hand tightly before they went their separate ways.
Charlie looked over at Libby, about ten feet away from her, as they were both being set up with their microphones and last minute hair and make-up fixes. It was so strange, really. She had spent her entire morning with reminders of Joel. Jake was really good friends with him, and was with Dani… who had dated Joel for a while. Then there was Max, a friend. And now.. perhaps the one woman who understood what it was like to watch their loved one be ran ragged to the bone. She smiled quickly before pushing her hair from her face and going to join Libby. It was really nice to see Libby back at work, moving forward with her life the best that she could. She had no idea how she would pick up the pieces in her life if something had happened to Max. And while she imagined it couldn’t have been easy, she recognized the strength in Libby that it must have taken.
Following the taping, she took off all of her microphones and wires, running downstairs to surprise Max and see if he was hungry at all. But when she looked through the window to see him, he looked stressed. She let out a small sigh, recognizing the same angst and need to perfect what he was working on. Did he feel like he had to live up to someone’s expectations? Was he trying to make sure he didn’t let Joel down or something? Cause whatever it was, it seemed like it was consuming him. She didn’t want it to take him over the way it had taken over Joel. Charlie bit the inside of her cheek, tapping her fingers against the glass quietly as she debated what she should do.
Moments later she found herself outside of Logan’s door. His assistant was talking to her, but honestly Charlie wasn’t listening to anything she was saying. Logan… He was a man who had been through hell and back. He knew what it was like to see people around him crumble. Lance. Shane. Whatever had been going on with Blake. Joel.. It seemed natural that he would take the energy he had placed in Joel and put it into someone else. He was hurting and trying to heal after all, too. But if they weren’t careful.. they were going to let what happened with Joel start to infect everything they did. “He can’t see you right no-“ the assistant had started before Charlie pushed through the door anyway. “Logan…” she said, softening the moment she had seen him. The anger and angst she had felt at the need to protect Max transformed, looking at the man behind the desk as she dropped her shoulders, quietly shutting the doors behind her. “Logan, we need to talk,” she said in a pleading tone, approaching him carefully before placing her hands on the back of the chair opposite his desk.
The thing about Jake was that he was highly competitive. So combining that with the fact that he actually could move his hips and feet pretty damn well, it wasn’t a surprise that he was making it this far in the competition. He had an athlete’s body, one that he kept in very good shape, which combined with his ability to pick up a beat, made him pretty unbeatable in this competition in Charlie’s eyes. She looked at one of the cameramen who was filming their rehearsal, he’d placed his hat over his eyes and was leaning against the wall. No shit he was tired. It was like 6 AM and they had already been at this for an hour. But between rehearsals, fittings, the actual show in the evenings, and then Charlie needing to be at Taboo with Libby to film, Jake was pretty awesome to work ridiculous hours. As though he was being sent from God, Max stepped into the practice room. Charlie immediately clapped her hands together excitedly and ran past Jake, jumping up on Max, despite the fact that he was carrying two coffees with him and a bag of what she assumed was breakfast. She tightened her arms and legs around him, giving him quick kisses on the cheek as he kept walking toward Jake.
It was nice having Max come in every now and then; because as talented as Jake was sometimes it was nice having a guy come in and explain to Jake what she needed. It would take her about thirty seconds to show Max the routine and practice it together, before he could turn to Jake and just give him advice that seemed to make it click so much quicker than when Charlie tried. Plus, she knew that when they edited the footage to put on the show, the girls always loved when Jake and Max were together. This week they would be doing a paso doble to ‘Same Old Love’, which Dani was either going to love or hate. But regardless, Jake would crush it. About an hour and a half later, she could tell that both herself and Jake were tired. And maybe he was okay with these early morning rehearsals too, because it was the holiday season after all. It sounded like some grandmas, nana’s nonna’s… something, were at his apartment. Cooking, music, family. That was Jake’s thing. She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, “I’ll see you tonight, babe,” she said, giving him a wave before she ran back over to Max to take his hand and head out.
Max had the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. Not only had he also lost one of his closest friends, but now it was like the world was looking at him to fill Joel’s place. She couldn’t even imagine the internal dilemma he felt with that. Obviously, he was already incredibly successful..and he would want to do things that increased his success. But, he had earned the right to do it by calling his own shots, to do it with his own meter of success, versus doing it in comparison to someone else. She didn’t know that she could entirely blame people for trying to fill the void that Joel had left, yet when it came in the form of weighing heavily on someone she loved so dearly, it began to piss her off. She knew that when she had off to set to film for Taboo TV, that he would spend his entire day doing rehearsals, recordings, maybe some interviews, just jam packed with nonstop activity. She was worried about him overexerting himself, becoming neurotic, sleep-deprived, just…drained. But regardless, as they got to the Taboo building, she gave himself a kiss, squeezing his hand tightly before they went their separate ways.
Charlie looked over at Libby, about ten feet away from her, as they were both being set up with their microphones and last minute hair and make-up fixes. It was so strange, really. She had spent her entire morning with reminders of Joel. Jake was really good friends with him, and was with Dani… who had dated Joel for a while. Then there was Max, a friend. And now.. perhaps the one woman who understood what it was like to watch their loved one be ran ragged to the bone. She smiled quickly before pushing her hair from her face and going to join Libby. It was really nice to see Libby back at work, moving forward with her life the best that she could. She had no idea how she would pick up the pieces in her life if something had happened to Max. And while she imagined it couldn’t have been easy, she recognized the strength in Libby that it must have taken.
Following the taping, she took off all of her microphones and wires, running downstairs to surprise Max and see if he was hungry at all. But when she looked through the window to see him, he looked stressed. She let out a small sigh, recognizing the same angst and need to perfect what he was working on. Did he feel like he had to live up to someone’s expectations? Was he trying to make sure he didn’t let Joel down or something? Cause whatever it was, it seemed like it was consuming him. She didn’t want it to take him over the way it had taken over Joel. Charlie bit the inside of her cheek, tapping her fingers against the glass quietly as she debated what she should do.
Moments later she found herself outside of Logan’s door. His assistant was talking to her, but honestly Charlie wasn’t listening to anything she was saying. Logan… He was a man who had been through hell and back. He knew what it was like to see people around him crumble. Lance. Shane. Whatever had been going on with Blake. Joel.. It seemed natural that he would take the energy he had placed in Joel and put it into someone else. He was hurting and trying to heal after all, too. But if they weren’t careful.. they were going to let what happened with Joel start to infect everything they did. “He can’t see you right no-“ the assistant had started before Charlie pushed through the door anyway. “Logan…” she said, softening the moment she had seen him. The anger and angst she had felt at the need to protect Max transformed, looking at the man behind the desk as she dropped her shoulders, quietly shutting the doors behind her. “Logan, we need to talk,” she said in a pleading tone, approaching him carefully before placing her hands on the back of the chair opposite his desk.
