Sophie was frantically running around her apartment, trying to think of anything she may have forgotten.  Deana had shown up early and though that wasn’t surprising, it still seemed to be throwing Sophie off a little.  Maybe it was her nerves.

The tour started tonight.  All of the hours she had put into dancing until her muscles ached and singing until her throat was raw came down to this.  She would be performing in front of thousands of people tonight.  Hopefully, the crowds were accepting.  She definitely felt ready so her nerves were more in anticipation than fright.

“Sophie, we have to go.  I’ll brief you on the bus,” Deana stated softly, her eyes never leaving her palm pilot.

“Ok, ok,” she replied, taking a quick scan of the room before grabbing her purse and moving towards the door with a sigh.

Donny and Deana helped Sophie load all of her luggage into the back of the SUV waiting in the drive.  After everyone had climbed in, Sophie pushed her earbuds into her ears and blissed out to the sound of Cartel while they made their way to meet the buses and the rest of the tour.  Today would be filled with a nice long drive up the coast for the first show in San Francisco and Sophie had every intention of catching up on the sleep she had failed to get the night before.

A little while later, the SUV slinked into the parking lot that was bustling with activity.  Three buses, several semis and a dozen SUVs waited patiently in the parking lot for the crowd to roll out.  Sophie stood there and took it all in, her stomach fluttering with excitement.

“Sophie!  Right on time!” Sophie turned to her manager, Mike, and greeted him.

“Good morning.”

“Follow me, Sophie.  Your bus is right over here.  Your luggage is being transported.  Is there anything else from your car you need to have with you for the ride?  You’ll need to get it now,” Sophie followed quietly behind him, trying to absorb everything he was saying while weaving through the crowd of people bustling about and yelling across the lot.

“Ok, so here’s your bus.  I put a folder of information that you need to read during the ride on the table inside.  Make sure you read it, Sophie, so you know everything that’s going to happen during the course of the tour.  There’s been a few changes to your sideline commitments during the course of the tour and all of that is in that packet, too.  Just let me know if you have any questions.  I’ll meet up with tour to check in at the beginning of next week.  Just try to relax, take care of yourself and have fun!  You’ll wow ‘em, I know you will,” he finally finished with a bright smile.  Sophie exhaled and managed to nod and smile in response.

“Thank you.  I will see you later then,” she stated and started to climb on the bus.  Her cell phone chirped loudly from her bag, indicating she had a text.  Climbing aboard the rest of the way, she plopped down on the couch inside, watching Donny and Deana begin to get settled while pulling out her phone.

It was from Justin. U ready?  She smiled as she started her reply.  All aboard and ready to go! U?

Looking towards the table, Sophie saw the information Mike had left for her and grimaced at the thought of sifting through all the jargon, dates and figures.  She couldn’t do that just yet.  Her phone beeped in her hand and she flipped it open.  Just got here.  You want company for the drive?

The thought of a few hours with Justin while they traveled was so appealing but Sophie knew Deana was waiting to talk to her about the upcoming days and all of her commitments.  She would only be distracted if Justin were around. I’d love it, but Deana still has to brief me.

“Sophie?  You ready?” Deana questioned, as if she knew she was the topic of textual discussion.

“Give me 5?”

“Sure.”

Tough, I’m almost to your bus. =)  Sophie smiled and shook her head lightly.  Justin wasn’t one to be pushed aside, she’d learned that much.  Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too distracting during Deana’s brief.

She felt the bus move and Justin’s smiling face appear a few moments after that.  She motioned him over and he plopped down onto the couch next to her, his arm coming to rest against the back.  Sophie leaned a little closer into his side and he turned to kiss the top of her head.  She sighed, feeling content and relaxed for the first time that day.

“Sophie?  The brief?” Deana prompted and Sophie nodded, indicating she should begin.  Deana handed her a few sheets of paper stapled together.  Looking over the pages quickly, Sophie saw that these were all the extra commitments booked for during the course of the tour.  Looks like spending time with Justin and sleeping would have to be crossed off of the daily agenda for the next few months.  Sophie’s spirits dropped a little looking at the packed schedule.

The next thirty minutes were spent listening to Deana “briefly” explain the schedule and the commitments.  Sophie listened with half an ear.  She was more focused on Justin who was idly playing with her hair.  When Deana was finally done, she slinked off towards the front of the bus to sit with Donny.

“When do I sleep?” Sophie asked as she looked at all the interviews, photo shoots and appearances on her schedule.

“Right now.  Let’s take a nap,” he stated.  Pulling her up, he slung an arm over her shoulders and guided her to the bedroom in the back of the bus.  He flopped down and snuggled up to the top, sliding under the covers and motioning for Sophie to join him.  Narrowing her eyes playfully at him, she climbed onto her new bed and snuggled up next to Justin.

“I have a feeling I’m going to be very tired these next couple months,” Sophie commented around a yawn.  Wrapping his arms around her, Justin pulled her closer to him and threw a leg over hers.

“What am I, a human body pillow?” she giggled.

“Yep.  A very comfy one, might I add.  Now shush and go to sleep,” Justin replied.  Sophie laughed shortly before sighing and settling in for a nap.

“Sophie, can you sign these before the show?” Deana pushed some singles at her and Sophie looked up from her magazine and nodded.

“How long until hair and makeup?” Sophie questioned as she started to scribble her signature on the CD sleeves.

“Another hour,” Deana stated.  “You might want to eat something now.”

“Yeah,” she responded absently.  Reaching to the fruit tray on the counter behind her, Sophie picked up a grape and popped it into her mouth.

A few minutes passed, the only sound in the room being the scratch of the pen over the CD sleeves and the clicking of the keys on Deana’s laptop.  Sophie couldn’t take the silence.  Popping another grape into her mouth, she sighed heavily.

“What’s wrong, Sophie?” Deana questioned, not looking up from her laptop.  Sophie briefly wondered what the heck she was always working on.

“I think I’m nervous, D.”

Deana stopped her clicking and looked up at Sophie.  She must have seen the panic on her face that Sophie felt clawing at her stomach.  Setting the computer on the couch cushion, Deana leaned forward to give Sophie her full attention.

“You’ve never been nervous about performing.  What’s going on?” Deana questioned.

“I don’t know, D.  I just feel like I’m going to throw up.  Maybe it’s the bigger venues and the audience who’s not really sure who I am, but I just—“

“Sophie, calm down,” Deana interrupted her.

“Deana, what if they don’t like me?” Sophie asked as her cell phone chirped from its resting place on the table.  Reaching for it, she flipped it open and found a text from Justin.  Almost time!  Sophie’s palms started to sweat at that comment.  Don’t remind me.

“Deana, what if they don’t like me?” she repeated.

“Sophie, I don’t understand why you’re so nervous.  The larger venues shouldn’t bother you.  You’ll only be able to see the first dozen rows or so because of the lights.”

Sophie could see that Deana would be no source of encouragement and understanding.  Sitting back with a heavy sigh, she decided to stew in silence.  Deana picked up her laptop once more and began to type.  Sophie picked up her pen and a couple more CD sleeves to sign.  No sooner had she scratched her name onto one of them, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” she called.  Justin’s head popped into view through the partially open door. “Hi, Justin.”

“Hey, Sophie…Deana,” he greeted as he closed the door behind him and moved to sit next to her on the couch.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked playfully, dragging out the word ‘so’.  Sophie half smiled before her nerves wouldn’t allow it anymore.

“Deana, will you excuse us?” Sophie asked.  Looking up, Deana glanced at the pair before nodding her head.  Picking up her things, she hurried out of the dressing room.

“So, what’s up?” he asked, throwing an arm around the back of the couch.

“It’s nothing, really.  I’m just being stupid.  But I’m nervous.”

“You’re right.  You are being stupid,” he agreed.  Sophie’s jaw dropped at his blunt response and she swatted at his chest.

“Thanks a lot!”

“I’m only saying that because I know you’re going to nail it, Sophie.  I have no doubt that you’re going to go out there and rock the audience,” he encouraged.

“But what if I forget the routine or the words?”

“Have you ever done that before?”

“Well, no, but—“

“But nothing.  You’re be ridiculous, Sophie.  Relax.  You know your routines and you know your words.  Your vocals are on and your routines are flawless.  I’ve seen them, Sophie.  You’re going to be great.  Repeat after me:  I’m Sophie Parks and I’m the baddest pop diva in town,” Justin stated, raising his voice in an awful imitation of a woman.  Sophie laughed out loud.

“No,” she responded, shaking her head and laughing at him.

“C’mon, Sophie, say it.  It’ll make you feel better,” he encouraged.  She sighed heavily before opening her mouth to speak.

“I’m Sophie Parks and I’m the baddest pop diva in town,” she stated quietly, feeling ridiculous.

“Lame,” Justin hollered. “Say it like you mean it, girl!”

Justin pulled her to her feet and said the line again, one hip popped to the side and a hand snapping through the air.  Sophie giggled. Though her nerves hadn’t completely disappeared, she did feel a bit better with Justin’s words of encouragement and joking attitude.

“I’m Sophie Parks and I’m the baddest pop diva in town,” she stated again, this time imitating him with the hip popped and the snaps.

“That’s my girl!” he exclaimed, laughing with her.  He smiled down at her before cupping her face in his hands. “You’re going to be great, Sophie.”

“Thank you, Justin,” she replied softly, a small smile gracing her lips.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling at her as he pulled her back down to the couch.

Two weeks later, the tour was in full swing and Sophie felt like she had finally gotten into the groove of the day.  Wake up early, usually, run here and there to various interviews, appearances and photo shoots, sound check, a couple hours to relax and sign merchandise, the show and then perhaps out to a club with various members of the tour’s entourage before crashing late, er, early in the morning.

The shows had been fantastic.  Sophie was nailing the routines and the vocals and the crowds had been receptive.  She had actually been surprised that the crowds, who had come to see Justin, had enjoyed her so much since they were there to see a male performer.  Nonetheless, she was happy with the acceptance.  She also enjoyed watching the album sell the way it was.  Mike had been giving her phone updates on its sales and so far it was exceeding expectations.  Sophie couldn’t be happier.

The only thing pulling her down at this point was exhaustion.  She was so tired all the time.  Sophie honestly didn’t know how people managed to do this all the time.  She realized that Mike just wanted to promote her and the album, but if she lived past this tour, she was going to demand that her schedule never look like this again. 

Justin had recently become worried, and that annoyed her.  Two nights ago he had even refused to let her come to the club with them after the show, all but ordering her to get some sleep.  Every time she had a couple minutes and Justin was anywhere near her, he was forcing her to close her eyes and sleep.  She couldn’t sleep during the day and he just didn’t understand that.  Like now, for instance, Sophie somehow had two hours before she had to be at the venue for sound check and Justin had invited himself to her room to try and make her take a nap.  She wasn’t 5 for goodness sakes!

She was relieved should could stop pretending to sleep when her phone rang.  Glancing at the LCD display, she saw it was her mother and grinned.  She hadn’t spoken to her mother since the beginning of the tour.

“Salut, maman.  Comment allez-vous?” Sophie questioned and saw Justin’s eyes widen in surprise at her use of the French.  She snuck a look at him and smiled.

“Le prochain concert est à Toronto… Non, Justin été vraiment gentil.  J'ai un grand temps.”

Justin’s look of surprise turned to one of curiosity as he heard his name.  What exactly was she saying about him?  And to whom?  And how the hell was he unaware of her fluency in French?  Sophie Parks was certainly a woman full of surprises.  He thought it was hot.

Sophie laughed silently at his expression.  After a few moments of answering some of her mother’s questions and listening to the new stories of her mother’s life, she said her goodbye’s and turned to face Justin who, undoubtedly, had some questions.  He just looked at her.

“Well?” he merely asked, as if that was all the prompting she should need.  It was.

“My mother is French,” she started.

“Were you born in France?” he interrupted.

“No,” she laughed. “My mother was born and lived there.  She met my father when he was in the country on business.  They dated for a while and then moved to the states after they got married.  I was born here.”

“Have you ever gone?  To France, I mean?”

“Oh yeah.  I have dual citizenship.  I visit my mother’s family there for a couple weeks almost every summer.  It’s been a while since my last visit.  I’ve been pretty busy as of late,” she replied and Justin nodded his head, indicating his agreement.  Sophie felt comforted that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

“I wish I could speak a foreign language,” Justin revealed and Sophie smiled.  She felt blessed to have the skill herself.  “Speaking in a different language is sexy.”

Sophie laughed outright at that.  Of course he would want the knowledge of a foreign language to make himself more appealing.

“Vous pensez qu'il me fera vous veut? Je fais déjà,” Sophie spoke softly, moving closer to him.

“I have no idea what you just said.  But that was hot,” Justin stated and Sophie smiled as she crawled onto his lap, reveling in the feeling of his hands guiding her and then resting on her sides.  His hands helped nestle her against his lap and Sophie could feel his budding desire for her.  She giggled as she cupped his face in her hands, bringing his mouth to hers for a steamy kiss.  When she heard him moan, she knew he’d forgotten about making her sleep.  She grinned against his mouth.