Music was pounding through her body.  Her head nodded to the beat as she took a sip of her drink.  Samantha had come out tonight to get away from the pressure of work.  She needed a break from the guys she worked with.  She should have known that after bugging her to come along, her friends would ditch her-at a party, with the guys she worked with.  As soon as she was finished this drink, she planned on leaving.  If she was going to be alone, she might as well be somewhere she actually wanted to be and right now being curled up with a good book sounded heavenly.

Oh the irony!  Why was it that at the exact moment she lamented being alone, she saw him?  Samantha watched him scan the room and focus on her.  She groaned inwardly, but tried to keep her face from showing her disdain.  He was the one person she tried to avoid at all costs, and there he was, about to make her night worse.  There was no escape.  He gave his friends a cocky nod and made his way toward her.

As he swaggered, he lay on the sexy smile that made her wonder just how long he had practiced it in front of the mirror. 

"Hey, Gorgeous!"  Was she in some sort of alternate universe?  He was never nice to her.  His eyes slowly rose from her feet to her chest and lingered a moment before he met her eyes.

"Hi, Justin," she gave him a weak smile and tried not to roll her eyes.  "Some party."

He held out his hand, "You ready to hit the floor with the best dancer in the club?" 

Yeah, right.  Like she would actually dance with the guy who made her work days miserable.   "Oh!  Does JC know that you are trying to get him dance partners?" she asked sweetly.  She was couldn't help grinning as a look of confusion settled on his features.

He coughed.  "I'm sorry, did you just ask about JC?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Well, yeah.  You just asked me if I was ready to dance with him, you know, since he's the best dancer around."

 "What?  You know what?  Forget it.  There are plenty other hotties here."  He slunk away, no doubt to complain about the bitch who had dared to insult Justin Timberlake.

As soon as he was out of earshot, she let out a sputtering laugh.  Oh, that had been too easy and too much fun!  She might stay a little longer after all.

She caught the eye of Lance who was serving behind the bar.  He poured her another drink with a lazy grin.  "Nice moves, Sam.  I can't believe you shot him down so fast."

"Give me a break, Lance.  He started it.  Like I'd want to be one of his little groupies," she waved her hand in the direction of Justin and his horde of dancing women.

"Yeah, well, when he realizes who you are, he's going to totally kick himself."

"I'm pretty sure that Justin knows who I am by now.  He certainly takes pleasure in causing me trouble every day."

"Yeah, but," Lance hesitated, "Sam, you look really different tonight."

"Whatever," she shrugged the suggestion off.  "I've just got a little makeup on."

"And a dress," he added.  "Trust me; you don't look the same as you do everyday.  Normally when we see you, you look like a typical roadie.  Tonight, you look like a girl."

Apparently the *NSYNC boys were going to be annoying her one by one tonight.  "Lance, I'm going to assume that you weren't trying to tell me that I don't normally look like a girl and I'm going to leave so I don't have to listen to you try to get your foot out of your mouth."

She picked up her drink and made her way through the crowd.  She stopped to watch the dancing on the main floor.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lance talking to JC.  Great.  JC was looking her way.  Oh man, where could she hide?

"Hey, Chicky!"  She jumped when Chris put a hand on her wrist.  "Having fun?"

"Chris!  You scared the life right out of me!"  She gave him a soft punch to the shoulder.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Sam.  I didn't mean to," he gave her a hug.

"Yeah, I know.  If you had meant to scare me, you'd pull some prank on me like pretending to fall out of your harness just as I'm about to send you flying across the stadium."

"Look, I said I was sorry about that, didn't I?  I really thought something was loose."

He looked so contrite that she relented and gave him a smile.  "Yes, you did.  But it took days before I recovered from that one."

Chris put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.  "I know.  Me too."  They laughed together, just two buds hangin' out.  Just the way it always was with Chris.  There was a reason that they were friends.  Maybe her night might still be salvaged.

"Hey Chris, Sammie, how's it going?"  Or not. She had forgotten about JC.

"Hey JC."  Chris nodded.  "Excuse me, Sam, I see a lady I've got to make a move on," he announced as he gave her a peck on the cheek and melted into the crowd.

"Yeah, whatever, goofball, have fun," she called after him, shaking her head at his craziness.

"So, Sammie, I hear Justin's been offering you a dance with me," JC grinned. 

"You hear from whom?" she asked.

"The trusty bartender," he shrugged toward Lance.

She nodded.  "Hmm, well, isn't that interesting?"

"So?" he looked at her expectantly.

"So what, JC?"  She wasn't about to make things easy for him.

"So, you wanna?"  He nodded his head toward the dance floor.

"Do I want to what?"  Did he think she was a mind reader?

"Dance, Sammie.  Do you want to dance?"

She looked at him like he was crazy.  "With you?"

"Uh, yeah, that was the idea," he grinned.

"Hold up, JC.  Are you asking me to dance because you actually want to dance with me or because Lance told you about the whole Justin thing or because Justin made an ass of himself or because you feel sorry for me?"

JC scratched his head.  "OK, now you've gone and confused me.  Is there a right answer?"

She laughed and shook her head, "No, probably not."

"So, are we going to stand around and talk all night, or are we going to get our groove on?"

She groaned, "JC, stop being silly and go get one of those hot chicks to dance with you."  She waved vaguely towards the large group of scantily clad girls surrounding Justin.

"Well, see, I thought I was asking a hot chick to dance with me."  He winked.           

"Oh, brother," she rolled her eyes, "Are your pickup lines always this corny?"

"Come on, Sam," he took her by the arm and pulled towards the dance floor.  "Please, dance with me?"  He gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

Sam heaved her shoulders up in a big sigh.  "I guess."

JC took her hand and led her to the dance floor.  A slow song was playing, so he drew her hand around his neck before putting his hands around her waist and bringing her closer to him.

"Geez, you're tall!"  Sam commented as she looked up at him.

"Nah, you're just short," he gave her a teasing grin and patted the top of her head which was just below his shoulder height.

"Hey buddy, you better be nice to me.  I'm the one who makes sure your harness is tight enough without being too tight.  If you're not careful, I'll make it so you're singing higher than Chris!"

JC laughed.  "Yes, mama, I'll play nice."  He looked down into her eyes.  "Sammie, you look really good tonight."

She pushed away from him a bit.  "Boy, you really did talk to Lance, didn't you?"

"What do you mean?"  It sure didn't take much to confuse JC.

She sighed.  "Your buddy Lance told me that tonight I look like a girl, not like a roadie.  When I left him, he was trying to get his foot out of his mouth."

JC shook his head with a chuckle.  "Well, Sammie, I have always thought you looked like a woman.  A very beautiful woman," he reached out and touched her cheek gently with the side of his hand.  "And no, Lance didn't tell me what to say.  I noticed how nice you look all on my own, the very first day I met you."

Sam laughed.  After all the strain she'd been going through with her job, this was finally the kind of break she needed.  She laughed until she had tears streaming down her face.  "Oh, JC, thank you so much!  You have no idea how much I needed that laugh.  Listen, thanks for the dance, but I'm going to head out now.  I'll see you tomorrow."  She turned to walk away.

"Wait!  Sam, I wasn't joking." 

"Of course, you weren't, JC."  She patronized him just a little.  "Look we'll talk tomorrow, OK?"

He reached for her wrist.  "Let me walk you out."

"No, I'm fine, JC." She shook her head.  "Stay and have fun."

"I don't think so.  If you don't let me walk you out, I'll just get Lonnie to do it."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, JC.  I'm just going upstairs to my room.  It's not like I'm going out in some dark alley or something."

"Samantha," he used his ‘serious' voice.  "I'm trying to be a gentleman here.  I would feel a lot better if you would let me walk you to your door so that I know you made it safely."

She sighed.  "Fine, JC.  But just so you know, I can defend myself."

He laughed, "Yeah, I know you can.  I had bruises for a week that time you threw me."

"Hey, I am not apologizing for that again.  You should know better than to come up behind a woman and grab her shoulder."

"Me??  I called your name like six times and you didn't hear me!" he defended.

"Like that was my fault?  You know I have to wear ear protection during the concerts.  Plus I had my radio on waiting for my cues."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped on.  "Don't worry, I learned my lesson.  I always make sure you see me now, don't I?"

"Yeah, I trained you well," she smirked.

"I'm just waiting for the day when one of the other guys messes up and gets tossed across the arena."  JC giggled.

Sam laughed, "You are such a baby!  I did not throw you across the arena.  I merely flipped you over and protected myself."

"Baby, you had your foot over my throat!"

She nudged him in the side.  "That's right; it was over your throat, not on it.   Just be thankful it wasn't on your nuts!"

JC grimaced and pretended to cover his package to protect it.  "I'm thankful, mama, believe me, I am thankful!"

He reached over and grabbed Samantha's hand.  He was looking serious again.  "Sammie, what's been going on lately?  You don't seem happy.  Is the tour getting to you?  Is something wrong?"

The elevator doors opened and Sam was safe from answering his probing questions.

They walked down the hall side-by-side and paused in front of the door to her room.  She looked up at him and suddenly felt like she was a teenager on the tail end of a date.

JC dropped her hand and took her face in both his hands.  "Sammie, whatever is bothering you, just know that there are people here who care about you.  When you are ready to talk, you know where to find me."  Sam saw something in his eyes right then, but before she could recognize it, his lips were on hers, kissing her softly.  It was as if he was trying to ease her pain, lighten her burden. 

JC pulled away, took the key out of her hand and opened her door for her.  He held the door open and ushered her in.  Samantha was too stunned to do anything other than let him.  He stopped her long enough to put her key back in her hand and place a kiss on her forehead. 

"G'night," he whispered.

"Yeah."   She replied as the door closed.

Samantha hadn't slept well.  Who would after being kissed by JC Chasez?  She still wasn't quite sure what had happened, but she had to work.  She was dressed in her usual "uniform" that Lance had referred to the night before.  Long sleeved T shirt under an open plaid button down shirt, well worn jeans, and steel toed boots.  Her long hair was tied back in a pony tail at the nape of her neck and her ball cap was on backwards.  She looked in the mirror and couldn't help but agree with Lance somewhat.  She didn't look like a girl when she worked.  She dressed for comfort and safety, not to be pretty.  Maybe she'd start thinking about making more of an effort, but not today.  This was her and they could take her or leave her.  She was passed caring.

She skipped breakfast, stopping by the communal coffee pot to fill up her travel mug.  Six sugars would make it almost impossible to drink, but she needed the sugar high to help her get through the morning reversals.

Samantha was going through the checklist on her clipboard when the guys came into the arena. 

Joey came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her.  "Hey beautiful!  You didn't save me a dance last night!"

Justin muttered something and Samantha spun toward him.  "Problem Timberlake?"

"Nah, man, no problem.  Let's get this over with."  She let the comment go, knowing as he intended her to that his use of the word ‘man' was intentional.  He was always making snide comments, suggesting that she was ugly or manly.

Samantha avoided eye contact with JC as she worked to get the five men into the new harnesses she wanted to try out.  He squeezed her elbow as she walked by him and gave her a grin.  Sam nodded but did not otherwise acknowledge the touch.

As usual, Justin gave her the most trouble.  Despite the fact that everyone else was able to get the harnesses on, he could not.  While Sam was untangling his gear which he had no doubt tangled himself, the guys went over the last evening's exploits.

"Hey Justin, what was this story I heard about some girl blowing you off?"  Joey called over.

Justin smirked.  That was his first mistake.  "She was an ugly bitch," he replied.  "She did me a favour".  That was his second mistake.  His third mistake was reaching out to grab Samantha's shoulder as she turned to walk away from him.  She had turned away for his own good, she didn't want to slug her employer, but when he grabbed her shoulder, Sam's self defense training kicked in and she flipped Justin over her shoulder.  He landed flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him. 

He struggled to catch his breath, and Samantha used the opportunity to lean down and whisper in his ear.  "Don't worry about firing me.  I tendered my resignation this morning.  I planned on giving notice, but I'm leaving now.  You can explain to your friends why I'm leaving.  I'm sure they'd like to know."

She turned on her heel and walked out without looking back.

It was too bad she hadn't looked back.  She would have seen JC torn between laughing that one of the other guys had experienced being thrown and considering throwing a punch or two of his own for the way Justin had spoken about Sam.

Lance shook his head as he reached down to help Justin.  "You ass.  The girl that turned you down last night?  That was Sam.  You really wonder why she didn't want to dance with you?"

Justin shook his head.  "No way.  Sam's a total butch.  That girl was hot!"

"I thought you said she was an ugly bitch," Joey chimed in.

"Shut up, Joey!"  Justin stood frozen to the spot, trying to process what he had just learned.

Chris was kept busy trying to keep JC from showing Justin just how angry he was.  He was saved from trying when Johnny came in and slapped some papers down on the stage at their feet.

"Congratulations, Justin.  Not only have you alienated one of the most talented techs that we had, you've also been accused of creating a hostile work environment and Samantha is not the only one to complain."

Justin may have been stunned, but his remaining band mates were more so.  "A hostile work environment?  What the fuck, Johnny?"  Joey was the first to speak.

Johnny shook his head, "Don't ask me.  Ask Mr. Timberlake here why I have a number of complaints from women on staff.  Why, Justin, are there multiple mentions of whispered inappropriate comments?"

The look on Justin's face confirmed that what Johnny was saying was not untrue.  He looked ashamed.

"I don't understand," Lance spoke up.  "I knew that Sam was mad at you, but I thought you were joking around with her.  What the fuck, Justin?"

Justin shrugged. 

"Don't even try to say anything to make this better," Chris frowned at him.  "Whatever your punishment is, you take it like a man.   You had better get your shit together, because this isn't going to fly."

Johnny lead Justin away from the stage while the other four stood looking at each other, trying to figure out where things went wrong.

Samantha watched the kids she'd been teaching over the last few months run around backstage.  There were so many last minute checks to be done.  She took a deep breath to focus on this moment.  They'd made it.  She'd made it.  She wanted to call Chris and share this moment with him, after all, he'd been her cheerleader ever since she quit her job.  His friendship had gotten her to where she was, even though they'd only really been in contact via text messaging. 

He sent her a message before she'd even gotten her gear out of the hotel.  All it said was, "u ok?"  She'd kept in touch with him, letting him know that she was fine.  She'd left him the occasional phone message when she knew he'd be on stage and unable to answer his phone, just to say that she was still alive.  He sent her the odd joke and let her know what was going on in the world of *NSYNC.  She didn't ask about Justin and he didn't offer any information.  He'd certainly known that Justin had been required to attend mandatory classes on top of having to write a letter of apology to each of the women who had filed complaints against him.  Justin had tried to explain to him where his head was at the time, but it was something that Chris just couldn't get his brain around. 

Samantha shook her head, sending a mental hug to Chris and trying to focus in on what was happening around her.  She called her crew together and gave them a last minute pep talk while the cast was having their own pep talk on the other side of the stage.  She was proud of "her" kids and she let them know it.  They'd gone from a group of under achievers facing expulsion from school to a backstage team.  They'd learned how to work together to create magic on stage while they stayed in the background.  She'd heard from many of their parents and teachers about changes at home and school.  When JC had mentioned her unhappiness, he hadn't known that she was drifting in her professional life.  Her work had a purpose now, besides just entertaining masses of girls and working for spoiled pop stars.  She was teaching these kids a skill and they were gaining work experience.  They were staying in school and considering college.  And on top of it all, it was a relief to have a more permanent address.

A check of her watch had her sending them out to their positions for opening night.   It was really a final dress rehearsal with a small audience of benefactors, people who had donated to the stage company after the local high schools found their arts funding cut.    A small group of employees taught the teens and mentored them through an afterschool program.  The plan was to have them learn different jobs for each production.  Samantha was in charge of the backstage crew and had enjoyed teaching her crew the basics of production. 

She and the other instructors held their breath as the curtain went up on cue and things got under way.  The production was a blur.  Sam was busy working with her team and before she knew it, the play was over and the cast and crew were taking their bows.

Backstage was pure chaos as Samantha tried to herd her team back into work mode to get the set prepared for the next night's show.  Parents, friends and family members crowded the area and were eventually ushered out to the lobby where a small reception was planned. 

Sam and a couple of her students were finishing up when another student poked her head backstage.  "Miss Sam?  There are some people here to see you."

Sam thanked her helpers and shooed them off to the celebration.  She glanced back to be sure everything was taken care of, brushed the dust off her hands and walked out to the theatre. 

Samantha was straightening her clothing as she walked out the door, so she didn't immediately notice her five visitors.  When she looked up, she froze in shock.  Chris didn't let her stay that way though.  He ran up to her and gave her a big hug. 

"Sam, it was amazing!  I'm so proud of you!"

Chris put her down and she found her voice.  "What are you doing here?  I was going to send you some tickets for next week!"

Chris smiled, "We're some of your corporate donors, silly girl!  Do you think we would let an opportunity to support the arts like this pass us by?"

Samantha hugged Chris again, and then made way for Joey and Lance.  Justin and JC hung back until the first three had gone ahead to the reception.

Justin presented Samantha with a bouquet while looking sheepishly at his feet.  "I know I'm the last person you wanted to see, Samantha, but I wanted to let you know that you did a great job and to thank you for letting us be involved.  And I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Samantha lifted the flowers to smell them.  "Thank you, Justin.  I'm glad you came.  I had no idea that you guys were some of our sponsors."

"We were happy to be involved and to keep it quiet," he smiled.  "I know you have to go schmooze for a bit, but I was hoping maybe we could talk later, if that's all right."

She smiled, "Yes, Justin.  That would be fine."  She was willing to give Justin the benefit of the doubt and while they might never be the best of friends, she thought friendship with him just might be a possibility after all.

Justin disappeared and she was left with JC.  Her stomach flip-flopped, but she busied herself with her flowers and tried to pretend that she wasn't nervous.

"You never returned my calls," he said softly.

She nodded.  "I know.  I'm sorry."

He wasn't going to let it go quite that easily.  "Why not Sammie?"

She couldn't help but look up when he used his preferred nickname for her.  "I was scared," she whispered.  "I had convinced myself that there was no way that you liked me and then you went and kissed me and I realized that you had meant what you said when you told me I was pretty and I wasn't ready to believe it."

"You have to remember, JC, that I was going through a lot with my job and Justin and I wasn't in a good place as far as my self esteem went.  How could you like me when I hardly liked myself?"

He gently picked up her hand.  "You're pretty easy to like," he smiled.  "After all, how many guys can say that their girlfriend can pick them up and throw them across the room?"

She laughed and poked him with her elbow, "Have you always been such a brat?"

"Yeah," he giggled.  "You just never noticed before."

"I have to go and talk with my students and some of the other donors," she told him.

"I know, but before you do-"  he leaned over and kissed her.  "That's to help you remember that you are a special, pretty woman."

Sam blushed, "Thank you."  She kissed him back.  "Would you like to meet my students?"

"I'd love to.  Can I take you out for dinner after?"

She smiled, "Only if it's a date."