Whitney grits her teeth as she waits at the counter of a nearby cafe.  She has placed an order for all of Bianca’s requests and is hoping to get all of this done as quickly as possible.  She still has not heard a peep from JC directly.  Bianca’s unannounced presence had been a jarring revelation and Whitney is on edge.  Her phone pings.

Charles:  Is there an ETA? 

Whitney:  Working on it. 

Charles:  k.

Whitney:  I’ll update you as soon as I can.

The recording session was supposed to have started 43 minutes ago.  If there was a reasonable explanation, she is sure she could share it with the group and they would understand.  Bianca showing up on the scene and JC partying with her too late isn’t going to cut it.  She’s not even sure she wants to make any excuses for him.  She thought he was better than that.  Better than Bianca.  And definitely better than blowing off a recording session and leaving everyone hanging.  

The order is ready and Whitney grabs the bag of food and the drink tray and walks as quickly as she can back up the street to the hotel.  She makes it to the lobby and realizes Bianca still has not texted her the room number.  She texts JC’s phone with no response.  She bites her bottom lip as she checks the time.  Screw this!  She approaches the front desk and explains that this is for Bianca and asks if they can keep it back there until Bianca calls for it.  Then she heads outside and hails a cab.  She texts JC’s phone again saying the food is at the desk and she is heading to the studio. 

—

Whitney rushes into the studio to find the trio practicing harmonies.  

“Finally,” Hillary claps her hands.

“Everything alright?” Charles asks, putting a hand on Whitney’s shoulder.

“Where is JC?” Dave asks, realizing he isn’t coming behind her.

Whitney sighs, “Honestly, I do not know all the details, I just know that he is running late.  As for how late, I couldn’t say.” 

Dave shakes his head, “We only have today left in our schedules for recording.  If this doesn’t get done today, I don’t think we have time for this for…” he looks down at his phone to check his calendar.  “Maybe next month?”

Hillary nods, “Things are pretty tight.” 

Whitney scratches her head, “Okay, well what do you think we could get done in the meantime?”

Dave approaches the mixer board, “If you can handle some of the controls here, the three of us can work on recording some of the group vocals.”

Whitney nods, “Definitely, show me.”  She joins Dave at the board and he walks her through some of the basic controls while Charles and Hillary warm up their vocals in the booth.  

“Okay, let’s test that…” Dave points and Whitney turns mics on and adjusts some of the levels.  

“Can you hear me?” she asks Charles and Hillary.  They give her a thumbs up.

Dave stands up, “Alright, I’ll go in and when I cue, you’re going to click this on and run the track and we’ll go for it.”  He heads into the booth and gets into position, sliding his headphones on.  “Ready?”

Whitney nods, “Ready.”  Dave cues her and she follows his previous instructions.  The track begins to play and the trio start to sing.  

—

JC rolls over and groans.  A hangover would be an understatement for how he is feeling right now.  Everything hurts and he has a pounding headache.  He stretches out his legs and reaches for Bianca, who is sitting up in bed scrolling through her phone.  

“Morning,” he mumbles as he leans up and kisses her.  

She runs a hand through his hair.  “Good morning sleepyhead.” 

He sighs, “What time is it?”

She pauses.  “It’s still early.” 

“Wait, what time is it?” he asks again more urgently.

“Oh, it’s 10…ish…” she says.

He sits up quickly, “10!  The session was supposed to start at 9!  Fuckkk!  How did my alarm not go off?”  He jumps out of bed and runs around the room, quickly throwing his clothes from last night back on.  

Bianca sighs, “What’s the hurry?  You’re in charge, aren’t you?  Come back to bed.” 

JC frowns, “No, it’s unprofessional.  We need every minute we can in the studio and the last thing I would ever want is to be late and hold other people up.” 

She nods, “Fine.  How long will you be?”

“Probably all day, I need to finish recording everything and finishing the final cut today.  Could take me all night.”  He grabs his phone off the nightstand and sees that it’s 10:20am.  “Shit, 10:20?”  His eyes quickly scan the room one more time making sure he has everything.  

“I said 10ish…” she shrugs.  She stands up from the bed, still completely nude from the night before.  His eyes dilate as she stands in front of him, tugging on his shirt.  “Are you sure you can’t stay for just a few minutes?”

He gulps.  “No, no…I have to go.  I am already so far behind.” 

“Alright, well I will be waiting to celebrate with you tonight when you’re done.”  She gives him a little wave as he heads out of the room.  

JC rushes down the hallway to the elevator and tries calling Whitney.  She doesn’t pick up so he looks through messages and sees that she was waiting and looking for him all morning.  He shakes his head at himself and tries her phone again.  

—

“How did that take sound?” Hillary asks.

Whitney leans into the intercom, “Well, I’m not sure how much my opinion should count, but I think it sounds amazing.” 

“Your opinion absolutely counts!” Dave smiles at her.

“Lookin’ like a real producer in that seat,” Charles grins.

JC staggers into the studio.  He looks completely disheveled and is in the same clothes he wore yesterday.  He has bags under his eyes, his face is pale and there are beads of sweat on his brow.  It would be obvious to anyone that he is extremely hungover.  

Whitney looks up at him, “Are you alright?”

He is about to respond, but takes in that she’s at the sound board and that the trio are in the studio.  “What are you doing?”

The intercom button between the studio and the booth is still on so Charles chimes in.  “She stepped in for you and helped us record vocals in your absence.” 

“Dave showed me how to operate this with the basics,” she offers.

“Oh, I…” JC doesn’t seem sure of how to react.  He is slightly irritated they worked on the song without him, but also feels guilty he is so late.  Sensing this, Whitney stands up from the chair and offers him the seat at the board.  He sits down and starts playing with the levels.  “Okay, let me play back what you have so far.” 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Hillary asks. 

JC frowns, “Umm?”

“Thank the lady for all of her help!” Hillary folds her arms.  

“Oh…” JC looks taken aback.  He turns to Whitney, “Th-thank you.”

“That’s more like it,” Hillary nods.

Whitney slips out of the room and returns with a bottled water and a tea and places them both on the side table by JC.  He nods appreciatively. 

—

Hours later, the sun has set outside and inside the song is almost complete.  JC has been working nonstop to make up for the hours he missed earlier in the day.  At lunch, he refused to eat and just kept reworking and tinkering and editing the track with his headphones on while the rest of the group took a break and ate.  

“I think…it might be done…” JC offers.  

“Let’s hear it!” Dave says.

JC plays the track back and they all listen intently. 

Everybody keeps telling me I’m such a lucky man

Lookin’ at you standin’ there, I know I am

Barefooted beauty with eyes that blue

Sunshine sure looks good on you

I swear 

Oh, I can’t believe I finally found you baby

Happy ever after, after all this time

Oh, there’s gonna be some ups and downs

But with you to wrap my arms around

I’m fine 

So baby, hold on tight

Don't let go

Hold onto the love we’re making 

‘Cause baby when the ground starts shakin’

You gotta know

When you’ve got a good thing 

Charles' raspy voice starts out the second verse.

You know you keep on bringin' out the best of me

And I need you now even more than the air I breathe 

Whitney smiles.  Even when he is driving her crazy, his voice always moves her.  Hillary comes in on the next verse.

You can make me laugh when I wanna cry

This will last forever I just know, I know 

Then they duet for the remainder of the song.

So baby, hold on tight

Don't let go

Hold onto the love we're making

'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'

You gotta know when you gottaa good thing 

We got a good thing, baby, whoa

So hold on tight

Baby, don't let go

Hold on to the love we're making 

'Cause baby when the ground starts shakin'

You gotta know, oh you gotta know

Oh you gotta know, you gotta know

When you got a good thing 

We got a good thing baby 

There is a moment of silence after the song ends and everyone pauses, eyeing each other.

“It’s AMAZING!” Hillary claps her hands.

“I felt chills during that second verse,” Dave says.

Charles claps his hands, “This should be our next single!”

Whitney smiles at all of them.  They genuinely love the song and she does, too.  She was a little nervous to connect JC with them at first, but the song is a hit.  She turns to see how JC reacts.  

He nods with reserve, “It’s good, isn’t it?”

She nods back, “Better than good.” 

“I wish we had champagne, we could celebrate,” Hillary puts a finger to her chin, trying to come up with an alternative.

Whitney leaves the room and returns with a bottle of prosecco.  

“Where did you find that so fast?” Dave asks.

“I picked it up with lunch - figured when the song was done, you’d all want to cheers,” Whitney opens the bottle and starts pouring some into the red plastic solo cups on hand.

“She’s always so prepared,” Charles laughs, giving her a wink.

The group all stand together in a huddle and raise their cups.  “To When You Got A Good Thing and collaboration,” JC offers.

“Cheers!” they all yell as they take a sip.  

They all start to pack things up.  It is 7:12PM.  Hillary calls Chris to remind him that Whitney is coming over and to let him know they will be heading out shortly.  

“Whitney, can I talk to you for a minute?” JC asks.

Whitney is about to respond when Hillary cuts her off.  “Oh no, she’s technically off the clock now.  She’s all mine!” 

Whitney is about to hush Hillary, but JC nods, “You’re right.  This can wait for tomorrow.” 

“Are you sure?” Whitney asks.  

JC nods.  “Yes, it’s fine.”

“Okay, and tomorrow the first meeting is at 11AM.  I will meet you in the hotel lobby, if that still works.”

He nods, “Yes and this time I promise to be on time.” 

Dave gives Whitney a goodbye hug and pats JC on the back.  Charles shakes hands with JC and then leans in to hug Whitney and whispers in her ear, “Let’s find time tomorrow.”

“Ready to go?” Hillary asks.  

“Yes, let’s do it,” Whitney smiles, grabbing her overnight bag and the two head out.

—

“This is so cozy,” Whitney smiles, looking around Hillary’s living room.  They are both in their pajamas already and Chris has made hot cocoa.  

“Thanks for making the cocoa, sweetie,” Hillary grins at Chris.

“Happy to help.  Now if you don’t need anything else, I’m going to retreat to my man cave and let you have your girl time,” he smiles and grabs a beer out of the fridge.

Hillary gives him a quick peck on the cheek, “Yes, we’re all set.  Have fun watching the game.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble,” he laughs at them both before heading to the basement.

“Alright, here are our options for this evening.  I dug deep into my old DVD collection for these,” Hillary laughs as she pulls out a stack.  “We’ve got You’ve Got Mail.”

“Ooh, a classic!” Whitney claps.

Hillary laughs, “Yes, very rewatchable.  We’ve got that, When Harry Met Sally or…”

“Or…?” Whitney asks.

Hillary giggles as she pulls out the DVD from the bottom of the pile.  “*NSYNC Live from Madison Square Garden.” 

Whitney laughs uncontrollably, “Oh my god, Hills - you had this lying around?  It’s so old, who even has a DVD player anymore.” 

“I do! Just in case the internet is out, I still want to be able to watch movies.  Can we watch it?  Pleeeease?”

“Okay, okay, fine.  I am sure I saw this…back when it was airing live.”

“You know I have crushed on Justin forever,” Hillary smiles.  I have rewatched this DVD quite a few times, but it’s been a while.” 

“I’m surprised you haven’t run into him at an event or something yet.”

“We did do a photo op once, but it was really quick, didn’t get much of a chance to talk to him and build a connection,” Hillary sighs.  “But someday.”  She puts the DVD in and hits play and then settles back on the couch next to Whitney.  

The show starts and *NSYNC starts performing No Strings Attached.  “You know, I’ve always been a Justin girl, but it’s kind of crazy you’re working for JC.  Look at him, he had moves!”

Whitney laughs, “He can sing, too.” 

Hillary nods, “Definitely has a hell of a voice.  What’s he like?  I mean, he struck me as kind of uptight before this morning’s total disaster of a performance.” 

Whitney thinks for a moment, “Well, I think he’s sort of a serious person, kind of quiet, actually.  But he’s also warm and kind.”

“What happened this morning?”

Whitney sighed, “His…sort of girlfriend? She showed up and I think she might have actually turned off his alarm.  She’s unhinged.” 

Hillary’s eyes widen, “What? That’s insane, she wanted him to be late?”

Whitney sighs, “No, I don’t think she wants to sabotage him, she’s just out of touch with reality.  She doesn’t understand concepts like being respectful of other people’s time.  She’s really self-absorbed and kind of awful.”

“What is he doing with a girl like that?” Hillary frowns.

“It’s mostly for publicity,” Whitney sighs.  

“Wait, seriously?”  Hillary looks at the screen as I Want You Back is being sung.  “What does that man need a fake press relationship for?” 

Whitney watches the screen, JC dancing and singing lead, and has the same question.  “It’s complicated, his manager set this up.” 

“So, they’re not really dating?  So she came on this trip just for press?”

Whitney purses her lips, “Well, I’m not totally sure.  I didn’t know she was coming, that was a surprise to me, at least.  She definitely really likes him and they spent the night together so I’m not sure…”

“Well, he shouldn’t be messing around with a girl like that,” Hillary shakes her head.  “He should be with a girl…like you.”

Whitney turns her head to look at her, “What?”

“Oh come on, you like each other, at least a little bit.  I could tell yesterday.” Hillary takes a sip of cocoa.

“But, Charlie…” Whitney trails off.

“Charlie, what?” Hillary’s eyes widen.

“Oh, he didn’t say anything to you?  I wasn’t sure if he told you and Dave yet.”

“Told us WHAT?” Hillary is leaning in now.

“That we’re together,” Whitney says, trying to read Hillary’s expression.

Hillary looks puzzled.  “Together?” 

“Yes, he came to me and told me he and Cassie were separating and he wanted to be with me and we’ve been taking it slow, but it’s going really well,” Whitney smiles.

Hillary looks taken aback.  “Separation?”

“Charles didn’t tell you and Dave about that part?” Whitney is surprised by that.

Hillary takes a beat.  “Whitney, Charles hasn’t always been the most forthcoming with us about his personal life and that’s his business, so I could be in the dark.  But, I think you should just make sure you’re having honest conversations with him about everything so you’re on the same page.”

Whitney nods, “Right.  We are.”  She is surprised that he hasn’t mentioned anything about it to Hillary.  

Hillary turns back, “Wow, I have to say I really lived for Justin’s curly hair days with the bandanas.  What a look!”

Whitney laughs as she sees JC running around the stage again, smiling as he sings for the crowd.