Lynn Harless was a little surprised to receive a phone call from Lou Pearlman asking to meet her at his office. She usually only went there with Justin and the other boys so they had a witness of sorts to make sure they weren’t going to do something stupid or get themselves into trouble.

That’s how they got into this legal mess in the first place.

Lynn cancelled her meetings and appointments for the next three hours and started on her way to Lou’s office. Her *NSYNC CD was playing in the stereo and she smiled whenever she heard Justin’s voice come over the speakers.

To say she was proud was an understatement. There were no words that could describe how she felt about her son and his friends’ success. She knew from day on e that he was destined for greatness, but she didn’t know how great he was going to be.

She continued humming the song that was playing even when the car shut off and she walked up to the door of the Perlamn Estate. Lynn always thought it was odd that he worked from his home but many people do that so she let it drop.

If only she paid more attention to her instincts.

“May I help you?” A voice came out of nowhere so suddenly that it scared Lynn.

She gave a little jump and placed her hand over her heart. Looking around she spied a white intercom on the wall by the door. She leaned forward, clearing her throat, and pushed the small button. A light turned red. “Um, yes, this is Lynn Harless. I’m here to speak to Mr. Pearlman.” She let go of the button and leaned back.

She waited a few minutes, looking around at the spacious driveway she had parked in. Suddenly the bored voice returned. “Mr. Pearlman will see you now.” A buzzing was heard as well as a click. Lynn twisted the doorknob and pushed the handle. The door sung open easily. She stepped into the high arched foyer. When the door closed behind her the sound echoed.

“Welcome, welcome,” Mr. Pearlman said as he walked over to Lynn. She gave a polite smile and hiked her bag over her shoulder. She couldn’t forget that he was trying to take money from her son, no matter how polite he was. “How was your drive?”

“It was fine,” Lynn replied. “I believe you had something you wished to talk to me about?”

“Yes, yes. Please, come.” Lou lead her through the maze of a home until she reached his office. She looked around at the many pictures, plaques, and magazine clippings of, not only *NSYNC, but the Backstreet Boys as well. It was understandable considering he was their manager but something about it felt odd to her. A little creepy, even.

She cleared her throat and sat down in a chair across from his desk. Lou huffed and puffed a little bit before sinking into his chair and pulling himself up to his desk. “Candy?” He offered, pushing a bowl forward. “Altoid?”

“No, but thank you kindly,” Lynn replied, brushing her golden curly hair off of her shoulders. “I believe you wanted to discuss something about my son.” She didn’t mean for her voice to come out steely but she was beginning to set into Momma Bear mode and it was hard to turn that off.

Lou sighed and clasped his hands together. “I’m going to cut to the chase here, Mrs. Harless,” he said, looking her in the eye. “This whole…lawsuit is silly.” Lynn’s eyebrows crinkled together. “I can fight. You can fight. It will be nothing more than a lot of back and forth, pushing and pulling, and we’ll get nowhere. And we all want this to be finished, correct?”

“Yes…” Lynn said slowly.

“So, here’s what I’m willing to do. I’ll pay you…thirty million dollars to get Justin and the others to drop the lawsuit against me,” Lou replied. “It’s bad for business, you know. I’m already working with the backstreet Boys on a deal so you’ll be smart to take me up on this offer and we can all move on from this…fiasco.”

Lynn’s eyebrows rose. “Mr. Pearlman, I believe that’s bribery.”

Lou smiled. “I believe that it’s getting what we both want. You want money, I want this to all end. It’s simple. Do we have a deal?”

Lynn picked up her bag with a huff. “No, we don’t have a deal, Mr. Pearlman. We won’t drop the lawsuit and I would appreciate it if you don’t come calling me again.” She turned on her heel and stormed out of the office. She swung the door shut with so much power that it ricocheted off of the frame and bounced back open.

“You’re going to regret that decision, Mrs. Harless, just you wait,” Lou sighed.