now or never - charlie gillespie

chapter twenty nine

"You ready?" Owen asked and I nodded my head impatiently.

I watched as he pulled out a room key and hovered it over the door handle, waiting for the light to turn green. He opened the door and I walked in. I stood frozen in place. I couldn't believe it.

Standing in the room was Charlie. He was standing in front of a couch, grinning up at me. I let my eyes roam his body. My brain couldn't even register his outfit of choice right now.

"Lake..." Owen said, closing the door behind him "there's someone we'd like you to meet," placing his hand on my back pushing me a step forward.

I watched as Charlie stepped to the side and revealed a man sitting on the couch, also smiling at me.

"Kenny this is Laker Baker," Charlie said. "Baker, I'd like you to meet Kenny Ortega!" he screamed, jumping up and down.

I literally was frozen in place. My mouth was hanging open and I could not move. How the hell was this happening? They were just in Canada! How were they all here?

I let my eyes go back and forth between Owen and Charlie, trying to figure out if they were pranking me. They were both looking at me with excited looks on their faces. What else was going on here? Knowing Owen there had to be something...

"Um.. uhh.. H-how?" I managed to get out and they all chuckled. I watched as Kenny stood up and walked towards me. He held his hand out for me to shake.

"Hi, Lake. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," I stared at his hands a couple of minutes before grabbing it and shaking it aggressively. Pull yourself together, Lake. "The boys showed me a few pictures of you but boy they didn't do you any justice!"

Was I really having a conversation with Kenny Ortega right now?

Well, no, Lake. That would require you to actually say more than one word. I shook my head, ignoring the voice in my head.

"But what-" I started to say.

"Are we doing here?" Owen said and I nodded my head. "Remember that song you gave me? Well the second I got home I read it. I showed it to Charlie and he put a melody to it. We called Kenny up and told him we had something to play for him and he loved it!"

"It's true. You really are talented, Lake. I'm really impressed."

This can't be happening, I thought to myself. I pinched my arm just to make sure.

"Well Kenny obviously said he wanted to meet you and discuss a few things with you," Owen started.

"But we told him you'd already left," Charlie said. "I also mentioned that your dad was a bit of a hard ass, no offense, and that whatever he wanted to discuss would probably not work out."

I nodded my head. I was nervously biting the inside of my cheek trying to control myself. I will not have a panic attack in front of Kenny Ortega.

"Yeah and he completely ignored us, booked three plane tickets and said he had to meet you-" Charlie said.

"And that if your dad was the issue, at least he'd be there in person to talk some sense into him," Owen finished his sentence.

"And if you were the issue he was willing to spend the entire weekend convincing you that this was something you couldn't pass up."

I stood there, trying to process everything they were saying to me. It was all so much.

"This is surreal," I whispered.

"Listen, Lake, let's cut to the chase because there's a martini waiting for me poolside right as we speak. Owen has shown me what-" Kenny hesitated looking at Owen for the correct answer.