Jc sat at his desk and looked out the window that went along the east side of his office. He had spent half of the morning pacing back and forth thinking about things. Jenn was mainly occupying his main train of thought. The night before she had gotten home asking him what he would like to eat for dinner and he of course had messed up the whole relaxed mood she had been trying to set up.

Jenn had once again brush him off when he brought up the topic of the damned picture. He had told her that the PR people at Jive had called him early in the morning for a statement explaining the picture to the fans. Jc had handled it the way he had been taught since he was sixteen. He knew deep down that the picture in fact was a fluke and it had been misinterpreted but he couldn’t help but wonder. He also knew that she was upset with him but he couldn’t help but be a bit paranoid. What if the picture was telling the truth? What id the most important person in the world to him, ha betrayed him too?

He knew he was being a bit melodramatic and he needed to get off that track of thinking but he couldn’t help himself. Jenn had been acting strange lately and he had it set on his mind that she was going to leave him. He’d be left all alone and ready to kill himself.

RJ had called a few minutes before and they had talked a bit about nothing. RJ had asked Jc to have Jenn call him as soon as possible. RJ mentioned that he had tried to call her cell phone but had gotten no answer. Jc didn’t find it odd at the time of the conversation but now as he thought about sat there things stated running through his mind.

Jenn always had her phone on and always answered it. Where is she? Is she really at Jive? Who is she with?

He decided the only way to get answers to all the questions running through his mind was to call her himself. He picked up the house phone that laid on his desk and dialed her number.

“Hello?” It wasn’t Jenn’s voice that he heard on the other end. In fact it wasn’t a female’s voice at all.

“Who is this?” Jc questioned getting up from the chair he had been sitting on.

“Who is this?” the other person repeated which made his temperature rise a couple notches.

“Who are you and what are you doing with my wife?” Jc asked angrily.

“Jc?” the person asked.

“I believe Jenn only has one husband. Who is this?”

“This is Luis.” at the answer Jc cringed almost wanting to slam the phone on the wall across the room.

“What are you doing with Jenn’s phone?”

“She left it this morning.” Luis casually answered. “I’m on my way to return it. How are you? I thought I would see your name on my paperwork for recording. I can’t get privilege of working with you?”

“What do you mean she left it this morning?” Jc questioned completely ignoring the second half of his words.

“We had a meeting this morning. She left in a hurry and forgot her phone on the table. Since she invited me to listen in on the recording session with Justin she asked that I bring the phone with me.”

“Well you can drop it off at our house.”

“I’m already at Justin’s gate. Besides she knows I’m coming to bring it to her.”

“I don’t give a flying shit what she knows. You can bring it to OUR house.” Jc said sternly.

“Look, Man. I don’t know what your problem is with me but I can promise you that it’s completely uncalled for. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a phone to return.” Jc saw red when he heard the other end of the line go dead.

“Son of a bitch!!” Jc said as he retrieved his keys and headed out the door. It only took him five minutes to get up the hill to Justin’s house and saw Luis still waiting at the gate for someone to let him in.

“You have got to be kidding me!!” Luis said when he saw Jc pulled up next to his car.

“Does it look like I’m kidding? I’m going to tell you this and I’m only telling you once, so pay close attention.” Jc said before stepping out of the car and walking up to Luis who was leaning against the hood of his car. “Stay the hell away from my wife.”

“Is this about the stupid picture?”

“This is about you trying to get into my wives’ pants.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“No, honestly I don’t.” Luis said getting a little hot himself. “You need to get out of my face with all this bullshit man, because whatever it is that crawled up your paranoid ass has nothing to do with me.”

“Who the fuck said I was paranoid?”

“You just did.” Luis said reaching into his back pocket. “Here’s the phone, Jc.” he handed Jc the small device and turned to walk away.

“I meant what I said.” Jc said to his back. “Stay away from her.”

“Try telling her that. Staying away from her will be kind of hard since as of today by contract I have two more songs to record with her apart from the first two she agreed to. Whether you like it or not she WILL see me.”

“Consider the contract broken.”

“You have some serious issues, man.” Luis simply stated before he got in his car and drove away.

Jc watched the car until he couldn’t see it anymore. He was so angry that he couldn’t make up his mind about whom he was more pissed with. Jenn. Luis. Or himself.

He got into his car, pressed his code into the keypad and entered Justin’s estate. If Jenn had really signed up to do two more songs with that loser, he didn’t know what he was going to do.

He walked into the house unannounced as they were all accustomed. Justin, Trace and Jenn were in the kitchen talking.

“Hey!!” Jenn said turning when she heard his steps. “What are you doing here?”

“Where you expecting someone else?” Jc asked dangling her phone in his hand by the leather case.

“That’s not what I meant.” Jenn said walking up to him to grab her cell phone. “Where is Fonsi?”

“He had better things to do than to cater to my wife.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Time to go.” Justin said leaving the room and going downstairs to the studio.

“Ditto.” Trace said leaving out the back kitchen door.

“Why do you care about where that loser went?”

“Loser? You’re kidding me right?”

“Are you suddenly his defense attorney too?”

“What the hell did you say to him?”

“Does it matter?”

“Does it matter? Yeah it matters, Jc. He’s my client. Since when are you the uptight jealous husband? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jenn asked pushing past him to follow Justin to the studio.

“Fuck!!!” he grunted before turning to leave.

“Watch your mouth.” Juls said walking in to the kitchen. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” Jc said before turning and leaving the house.

“Ooookay.” Juls sang as she proceeded to get Andie her cup of juice.

---------------------

Trace had been in a foul mood since two nights before when he’d had his date with Kayla. It seemed that even the day that had just started was going the same way. Downhill. Everyone around him was bickering about something. Juls and Justin were being weird. Jenn and Jc were shockingly acting the same. He’d dropped Kayla off at her house and that had been it. He’d walked her to her door, given her a kiss on the cheek and had said goodnight. He’d gone back to Justin’s place to handle Brittney who was still laying on the patio furniture. He’d called a tow truck to haul her car to her apartment along with her. Luckily he knew that the tow truck company’s owner was an ex of Brittney and he hadn’t minded at all.

Kayla probably thought he was a jerk. A smile took over his features as he thought about how she would definitely let him know if he’d been a jerk. He found it highly interesting that the mention of thought of Kayla brought a smile to his face every time. He found it interesting how things could be going downhill one moment and the next he was smiling because he thought about her. He understood the infatuation Justin had with Juls in the beginning and also the infatuation they still had till that day.

He still couldn’t stop thinking about his sister’s behavior as he drove to the diner. Out of all the nights she could have shown up uninvited she had to had picked the night when he was on a date with Kayla. He made a mental note to barge in on one of her many dates. Not that he could ever keep up with her anyway.
Brittney Ayala was about one thing. One thing only. And that one thing was annoying the hell out of him. She was three years older than Trace. Trace had stopped talking and associating with Brittney when he was around the age of sixteen. They had grown up in Tennessee. They lived next door to the Timberlake’s since Trace had been 2 week old. Justin and Trace grew up together and were only months apart in age. When they were in kindergarten Brittney had been sort of their guard. Justin and Trace couldn’t go anywhere without Brittney while they were growing up. Parent’s rules.

When Justin had been accepted to The Mickey Mouse Club variety show when they were both twelve, Trace had been devastated. He’d had twelve years with his friend and he was going away. To another state. Far far away. Trace’s parents had seen their son being depressed and not talking much and had made a decision that would change all of their lives. Trace would move to Orlando to be near Justin while they made preparations to move the family to their new home. Orlando, Florida.

Trace always knew Brittney resented him for taking her away from her friends. Her home. She’d hated Orlando as soon as she had stepped off the plane and she had hated Trace three times as much. At the age of sixteen, a year after moving to Orlando, she had packed her bas and moved back to Tennessee to live with their grandmother.

For a while he didn’t hear from her personally. And he honestly hadn’t cared. When Justin had gotten a record deal with Nsync overseas he’d begged to be able to go with the guys. His parents didn’t go for the idea that time around. Once gain Trace had found himself without a best friend. Justin always remained in contact with Trace the whole year he was away and their friendship got even stronger.

During the time Justin had been away and Trace was finishing up high school, Brittney had shown up miraculously. Until the present day, Trace still said she had come back to Orlando to rub the fact that Trace was not with Justin in. Little did she know was that Trace was finishing up high school through a private professor, compliments to Justin, and that as soon as he had graduated he would be on his way. On tour with Nsync.

She had been furious and jealous ever since. She had even gone to the extreme, and tried getting Justin’s attention. Justin hadn’t been interested because at the time he had another Britney in mind and besides Brittney was like an unwanted sister.

When Brittney had gotten a hold of the fact that Justin was indeed dating Britney Spears, she had been the ‘source’ to many tabloids. Trace had hated her even more for exposing his friends the way that she had. He felt betrayed and grew to be very guarded. He grew to be even more guarded that the guys themselves and they were really guarded. He trusted no one outside the circle and he remained that way for many years. He became the guy everyone saw behind the scenes. The person everyone saw but no one could talk to.

Years pasta and his friendship with Justin and the rest of the guys for that matter, grew tighter than ever. One day while Justin and Trace had been working out Justin had brought something up to Trace.

Flashback

“Why don’t you start making clothes for our tour?”

End of flashback

Trace had been designing a lot on paper while he was on the tour bus on a plane. Justin kept insisting with the idea for months. Trace started making articles of clothing her and there for the guys but mainly for himself. Unknown to Trace, Justin had gotten management to write Trace a check. A very large check so that he could start making the costumes for the tour.

One thing led to another and Trace was now known. He was Justin’s best friend who traveled with him all the time and he was also known as Nsync’s stylist. He never did like that title but he guessed it came with the territory. He’d learned to deal with it.

When Brittney had gotten a whiff about her brother making money, she had suddenly come back into his life. Trace thought that maybe it was time to grow up and maybe give her a chance.

Trace decided on actually spending time with his family and stayed off the road for a long while. Although he never once lost contact with Justin. By that time Justin was spending a lot of time with Britney, which was understandable. Trace was doing what he never thought he would do. He was spending time with his sister. Spending time with his sister also meant spending time with her friend, Jenny.

Jenny had been Trace’s first true girlfriend. First love. First everything. His first heartache was one of the many firsts. Jenny had been nothing more than a con. She had gotten him to the point of no return in love with her that he had been blind to many things that were going on. Jenny had been feeding information of the guys to Brittney. Brittney would then sell the stories and pictures, if any to the press. Mainly tabloids.

The two of them had made close to a million in the three years Trace had been with jenny. He had been devastated. He grew to be even more guarded than he’d been in the past. He hated every reporter or any potential back stabber he met, which to him was everyone. Trace had convinced the guys to sue one of the tabloids that was using ‘their source’ to bash or tell lies about them. The tabloid in turn sued ‘the source’ and Trace had been content with that.

It had been till recently that his sister had come scrounging back into his life once again. He hated every fiber in her body and he asked God to forgive him because he couldn’t change that. Trace’s grandmother had past away a few months prior and once again Brittney had been on a rampage. At his grandmother’s will reading Trace found out that she had left her house to Trace. Coincidently, the only thing Brittney had wanted. Trace hadn’t wanted the house at first but noticing how badly Brittney had wanted it he had the house fixed up and he’d sold it to his cousin. Cheap. He had sold the house for one dollar to his cousin, Glenda, whom despised Brittney for supposedly sleeping with her fiancé.

Trace couldn’t fathom the thought about ever having a normal relationship with his sister and he probably never would.

Remembering all the things Brittney had done to him tended to get him in a bad mood and that’s what Kayla noticed as he entered the diner.

“Hey” she simply said to him as he took a seat at the counter in front of her.

“How are you doing, Beautiful?” Trace asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m doing good. How about yourself?”

“I’m…”

“Wait, don’t answer that. I can tell.”

“You can tell, what? You don’t know me, Kayla.”

“You know that’s not the first time you say that to me. But excuse me, my fault.” she said with an attitude before starting to walk away.

“No, Kayla wait. I’m sorry. Really, I’m just in a bad mood.”

“Dare I say. I could tell?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“Is this still about your sister?”

“Lately if I’m in a foul mood one out of five times it’s about my fucking sister.” Trace said loudly and looked around to see if anyone had heard him.

“I’m guessing you don’t like her much.”

“I wish she would disappear.”

“It can’t be that bad, Juan.”

“It is. So what does a man have to do to get a meal nowadays?” Trace said with a smile on his face.

“Try going four inches, then you’ll be considered a man.” Noemi said walking up to the counter to stand next to Kayla.

“Ahh. The comedian.” Trace said sarcastically.

“Nice to see you, Juan. I thought you had finally given up on Kayla and where staying away.”

“I’ve been busy but I’m not staying away from Kayla, so get used to it.”

“What if I don’t want you around. It’s been two days, you know.”

“Too bad. You’re stuck with me.”

“I know I’d like to stick something, somewhere.” Noemi said walking to through the kitchen doors. “My foot would be an option.” she said before disappearing through the doors. Kayla and Trace followed her line of vision to the door of the diner. Lance was walking in with a pretty blond.

“So he gave up?” Kayla whispered to Justin as they watched Lance wave at them and have a seat on the far end of the diner.

“I don’t think so. That’s just his assistant, who is very much married.”

“Oh.” Kayla said looking at the two. “I better go help them.”

“Let your cousin get that.” Trace said stopping Kayla from walking away.

“Yeah right. That will be a bad idea. She hates him.”

“Contrary to what Noemi wants us to believe. I think she only hates the fact that she likes him. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t fall for his charm, although he hasn’t shown any lately. My count still stay at zero.”

“I must be blind because I don’t see it.”

“I do.” Trace said turning to glance at Lance and Bleechet again. “I also saw the evil green monster in your cousin’s eyes before she went back there.”

“You’re crazy. Noemi isn’t the jealous type at all.”

“She has changed since the Bass came along. And I told you that I am a lot of things, Kay Kay.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll tell you another thing I am.”

“What’s that?”

“Hungry.”

“Alright alright. What can I get you?”

“I’ll get you. Dinner with me tonight. I’ll pick you up at eight.” Trace said quickly before kissing her forehead and leaving in a rush.
____________________________________________________________________________

“What can I get you?” she asked the couple.

“I’ll just have coffee. Thank you.” the blond said with a smile.

“And you?”

“Same.” Lance answered looking up at her.

“I’ll be right back with your coffee.” Noemi said before starting to walk away.

“Noemi.” Lance called her name.

“Yeah?” Noemi surprisingly said without disgust in her voice.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“About what?” Noemi said glancing at the blond who seemed to be oblivious to her surroundings as she looked at a stack of papers in front of her.

“This is my assistant, Bleechet.” Lance said getting his assistants attention. “We are just here for coffee.”

“I think I got that. Nice to meet you.” she said to the blond with a fake smile. “Is that all?”

“Nice to meet you too.” Bleechet said shaking Noemi’s hand. As soon as that was done she turned back to her papers.

“Noemi?”

“Yes?” Noemi said turning around to face Lance, by this point she was annoyed.

“Nice to see you again.”

“Yeah.” Noemi said before walking away. Lance saw her say something to one of the other waitresses and also saw her give Kayla a dirty look before disappearing behind the kitchen doors. She didn’t come out to bring the coffee instead a waitress he’d see there before brought the coffee to them. He didn’t see her or Kayla for that matter for the rest of the time he’d been there.