Callie stepped out of the bathroom where she had been dressing and preparing her hair and makeup. If she had to say so herself, she was looking good in a sleek, sleeveless black dress that fell to mid-thigh. She'd had a hair appointment that day and splurged on a manicure. A light dusting of powder to her face and a spritz of perfume was all she needed to finish her look.

“Okay, tell me what you think. Be honest.”

“Wow,” he said, watching her walk across his bedroom.

“Wow, good?”

“Wow, really good,” he turned her around and nodded. “You look hot. Very sexy. Come here.” He stepped close to her and gave her lips a soft touch. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

Callie smiled up at him. “You're making me soft, Producer Man. Looking pretty sexy yourself.” She growled and bit at his ear, then stepped back as he turned in his dark jeans and long sleeved black sweater.

“Thank you. You like my hair?” He pointed at his hair, freshly done and perfect except for a few flyaways. She reached up to smooth down a few hairs around his temple.

“There. You are getting gray hairs.”

“My mom says I look distinguished.”

“Honey, your mom loves you. Moms say that stuff to their kids.”

“Let’s go set something on fire with our hotness. We can go?”

“Ready if you are.”

He let Callie go down first, and followed after her. Tyler and a few friends were in the kitchen having drinks and talking. Tyler glanced up at her, and then did a double take, eyes wide, mouth open. “Where the hell have you been all my life?”

Callie brushed her cheek against his and gave his shoulder a squeeze.  

“You look great. Have fun.”

“Will do. Ready, rocker chick?”

“Ready, Producer Man. ‘Night Tyler. Night you guys.”

“Try to relax,” he said, guiding the car into a tight parking space.  “I know it’s weird.”

“I’m alright,” she said, checking her makeup in her compact, then dropping it into her bag.

“Ready? Actually, stay there, I’ll come around.” JC came around to Callie's door, helped her out and immediately took her hand. “Stay with me, you can step behind me if it gets to be too much.”

“Let’s go already.”

“I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay.”

“I'm fine. I'm not helpless. Let’s go.”

They made their way down the line, stopping every few seconds to glance or smile for a photo, answering an odd question here and there. As they approached the door, he gave his name and they were allowed inside.

Compared to the near daylight brightness the flashbulbs provided outside, the interior of the club seemed dark. Callie's eyes adjusted to find a lively, young crowd had already packed in and were spread out from the bar to the dance floor to the Mezzanine. A waitress asked if they wanted to check their coats, then directed them to a set of stairs off of the bar toward a section marked VIP.

They climbed the short flight of stairs and stepped into a classy, glassed in room. The carpet was plush, the wood furniture gleaming, the lights of the dance floor bouncing off of the brass. The sounds of the club were muffled and conversations could be had much easier.

“FATONE!” JC yelled out, startling Callie.

“FUCKER! Get over here!” A burly man bounded across the small room, his smile huge and his brown eyes sparkling. He had a handsomely shaved goatee and a t shirt that read ‘You’re Hot’. Over that he wore a black jacket and black jeans. He gave JC a giant bear hug and pounded him on the back.

“Careful, man. You don’t know your own strength!” JC coughed and laughed and Joey cackled with an evil grin. “Wait, hold up, calm down I want to introduce you to someone.”

“Calllie Phelps doesn't need an introduction. Joey Fatone.” He extended his hand for a shake but when he took her hand he brought it to his lips and kissed it.

“Pleasure to meet you, Joey. I’ve heard nothing good about you at all.” She shook her head and he reared back in laughter.

“Yeah, it’s all true, too. Come meet my wife Kelly. Kel, come here honey.” He smiled as a short curly haired woman with big brown eyes cut off her conversation and made her way over.

She wrapped her arms around his torso and said, ‘what’s going on over here? Hi, JC! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“It has been awhile. You guys know Callie Phelps, of course. Honey this is Kelly, Joey’s wife, mother of one of the cutest kids ever.” She winked at JC and gave Callie a hug, nearly bowling her over.

“We're huggy, not handshakey. Come on over you guys, we got a table. Guess who surprised us?” Kelly headed back to the table, Joey in tow.

A curly head popped up, mid conversation, and a bright smile crawled across his face. “C!”

The young man stood at well over six feet and nearly towered over JC as they exchanged a handshake that turned into a hug. He pulled back and smacked JC on the arm. “Man, where have you been, I’ve been calling. Did you get a new number?”

“Aw, you loser. I have called you from my new number. I’ll send it to you again. I want you to meet somebody.”

Callie had moved behind JC, suddenly very shy. A man that she once cursed and teased and called a famewhore and Father of Pop Drivel was standing in front of her and she didn’t know what to say to him. Despite her previous negative opinion he was still entirely more famous than she was, and a good friend of JC, which necessitated that she be nice to him. She felt small in comparison and almost didn't know how to react to meeting him.

JC grabbed her hand and brought her around. “Come on around here. Since when are you shy? He doesn’t bite. J, this is Callie. We worked together last year on her album. Callie, this guy-- I have known him for like, 20 yrs. He was what, 11 or so when I met him, this short little dude, and look him now.”

JC grinned and Justin blushed at the introduction and took her hand, shaking it vigorously. “I’m a huge fan of your music, your dad's too. We should do something together some time. I'd love to do a little rock, soul, jazz thing, what do you think?”

Callie was overwhelmed-- the famewhore knew her music? And not only knew who her dad was, but was a fan?

“That would be great, if we could. That would sound awesome. It has to go through my producer, you know,” she nodded her head toward JC. Justin led the group to the tables they had commandeered.

“Anybody heard from Lance, lately?” Justin asked, folding and unfolding a napkin.

“We saw him what… 3 weeks ago?” JC looked at Callie and she nodded, recalling meeting him outside of some club that JC insisted they go to. “Joey, you’ve talked to him since, right?”

“Yeah we talk all the time, why?”

“No reason,” Justin answered, nonchalant. “I haven’t seen him in awhile How is he?”

“Really good. You could uh... you could call him. He'll pick up,” Joey said. Justin shrugged and dropped the subject. Joey's glare lingered too long on Justin before he looked away.

Callie realized she was staring, trying to figure out what the tension represented, and averted her eyes. Justin reached across the table and tapped her hand. “Hey,” he said, his voice soft, she could hardly hear him. “How are you?”

“Great, thanks,” she said, giving him a polite smile.

“So, you met JC when he worked on your album? How was that?”

“Well, we had a bit of a rocky start,” Callie said, smirking at JC. “But he won me over. I had a good time, and the album turned out really well. I'm very proud of it, it's probably my best, so far.”

“As it should be, I think. I heard it did pretty well. I had Let's Start Over on repeat in the car for a few weeks. Are you pushing him to do something for himself? You know he should, have you ever heard him sing?”

“We're uh... working on it,. She’s been pushing it hard,” JC answered, laying his arm on the back of her chair. Callie nodded and turned to look at him and since his lips were right there, kissed him.

“Whoa, are you guys, like, together?” yelled Joey from the end of the table.

“What gave it away, Joe?” JC laughed and made room in front of him for the plate of hot, steaming appetizers.

“I heard you ate at Southern Hospitality. Did you like it?” Justin was asking.

“Like it? I gained 5 pounds. I think I ate everything on the menu. And then went back to the hotel and took a nap. Are you opening anymore? Like in Chicago?” She grinned at him and raised a hopeful eyebrow.

He pointed at her, with a long finger. “Good idea. Gotta look into it. It’s a good little venture though. Learned a lot about running a business. Like, I’m tired all the time. It’s not as easy as people make it look.”

“I bet, especially not on that scale. New York is a great spot, anyway. I really like it there.”

“How do you feel about LA? I mean, JC lives here, that’s a benefit.”

Callie shrugged. “It is, I guess. I'm not really a huge fan of LA but I find myself out here a lot. JC and I were just talking about maybe needing to find me a place, here.”

“I'm sure you'll find something nice. If you need some help, let me know. I've got friends.” Callie slowly smiled as she looked into his friendly eyes. He tipped his glass at her and took a sip.

 “…so I look up and I’m like, by myself,” Justin was saying, through hysterical laughter. “Hanging from the rafters. And I look back and everyone else is back at the stage. And I’m like, 'well fuck. I’m gonna be up here the rest of my life. I’m stuck here. I’m gonna grow old and die here, above this crowd, in this Arena’.” Justin shook his head.

“I mean, they got it fixed and everything but it was like every tour, something happened to one of us. We almost had to double our insurance after Pop Odyssey, remember, with my leg?” Joey started to lift his leg up on the table but Kelly pushed it down.

“Everyone remembers your leg. No one wants to see that right now, Joey. That was scary though. I mean a few inches and he would have lost his leg.”

“Wait, wait. I’m not familiar with this story,” Callie said, “but apparently I have to hear it. Pop stars almost losing legs? What happened? Dance too hard?”

Joey told the horrifying story about how he got his leg caught in a trap door and had to have stitches. This kept him from being in parts of the video for the first single off of their final album.

“Ok, no, wait, so who was you? You guys danced, right?”

“Our choreographer stepped in. We kinda faked him up to look like Joey. It almost worked.” Justin laughed.

“When we get home, I’ll show you,” JC told her, patting her shoulder. “It’s comical how much Wade does not look like Joey.”

Conversations regarding tours and accidents and stand ins broke off and Callie found herself talking to Justin again.

“So, what are you doing, right now? You stay pretty busy.”

“I am getting ready to take a long break,” he said, suddenly sounding very tired. “Like, sit in my house and do nothing. For a long time. And then go sit in my backyard and do nothing. For a long time. Reconnect with my family and my friends. And I have some artists that I’m… mentoring … and putting them on my label.”

“You have a label?” Callie's head whipped around to JC. “He has a label, J?”

“Yeah I have a label,” he nodded. “It’s small. Nothing like... gigantic, just a home for some small time artists to cut their teeth and a way for me to help someone else. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a place you know is good and not helping anyone else sit there with you. Right, C?”

“Exactly.”

Justin pulled his wallet out of his jacket pocket, pulled out a bill and set it on the table. “I don’t know whose tab all this stuff is on, so I’m leaving this. I have to get going, guys. It was fun, nice to see everyone. Callie,” he said, a hand on her shoulder. “It was great to meet you, finally. I mean it, let’s do some stuff together. I like your sound. C, send me your number again. We’ll hang out, I’m about to become a major bum.”

JC picked up the cash and handed it back to him. “Dude, I got you covered. Take this-- your money is worthless here.” JC stood and walked over to the entrance of the room with Justin. They talked for a few minutes, hugged, and Justin walked out.

“JC have you seen Chris on his new show?”

“Chris has a new show? No one tells me anything. What is it?”

“Don't know, him and Rich Cronin, from LFO, remember them?” Joey pointed at Callie. She shook her head, clueless. “Also on TransCon records, but Lou stole all of their money. Anyway, yeah after that other show he did, he and Rich got some reality show. It’s just them acting stupid. For a hundred grand, you could pay me to be stupid for 8 weeks.”

“Joey, you’re stupid for free all the time.”

“That’s what I’m saying, though! They’re just paying him to be Chris.”

JC turned to Callie, noting her tired, bloodshot eyes. “You okay? Ready soon?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Hey, we're heading out, too,” he announced, handing a few bills to Joey. “Good seeing you guys.” JC made the rounds with his goodbyes, and they left the club, headed toward the car. They picked their way across the street and to the parking lot, no sounds but the fading noise of the club, the passing traffic, and their shoes clicking against the pavement.

“So Justin has a label.”

She heard him blow out a short breath and winced. “Don't even think about it, honey. It's so not me and I don't need his help. I don’t mean that in mean way. Just… I can’t hide behind him. Trust me on this, okay?”

“Okay. Dropping it.” She stepped into the car as he held her door open.

“Mmmmm,” Callie hummed, enjoying the feeling of being relaxed and happy. ”It was nice meeting everyone. I had fun. And I totally expected Justin to be different.”

“They loved you.” He reached for her hand and held it as they crept through the busy traffic.

She leaned her head back against the head rest. “J.”

“What?”

“You should sing to me, more. You don't sing to me enough.”

“You want me to sing to you? What do you want me to sing?”

“Hmmm,” she mused. “I think…’Sailing’.”

“Sailing?” He glanced at her, then back to the road, then back to her. “Of all the songs I could sing to you, you want Sailing.”

“It's one of my favorite songs, ever.”

“Did your dad ever sing it to you?”

“No. I just like the song. Stop stalling!”

He sighed. “Sailing, for my rocker chick.” A sweet, melodious voice filled the interior of the car and Callie smiled, feeling as if she was attending the most private of concerts.

'It's not far down to paradise
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find tranquility
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me

It's not far to never never land
No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy
Of innocence again
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me

Sailing
Takes me away
To where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

Fantasy
It gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie
Every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me

It's not far back to sanity
At least it's not for me
And when the wind is right you can sail away
And find serenity
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me'

'Just a dream and a wind to carry me/Soon I will be free,' she sang. “That's my favorite part. I used to dream about that part. Wish on a star and hope it would come true.”

“Yeah, that's a nice line right there. And look, it’s coming true.”

“I cannot wait until your voice has a home and everyone can hear it, again.”

“Me either, honey. It means a lot to me to hear you say that. Thanks for believing in me.” Soft lips lingered on the back of her hand as the gentle movement of the car and the cool night air put Callie to sleep.