“Yo, you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be!” Leah replied anxiously, but excitedly. She was back in the studio for the first time in months, recording for her new album, her first in almost two years. Being with JC and being in love gave her so much to write about. She felt so good, and couldn’t wait to sing about it.

She was two years older than when she started recording the last album, and so much had changed since then; she was happy, in love, more mature and confident, and she wanted her music to reflect that. She wanted a completely new sound, so she recruited Grant to produce a few tracks.

Being back in the mic booth again was like being back home. When she had on those headphones about to sing she felt invincible. She was in her zone, and no one could touch her when she was hot!

As Grant started the track on the other side of the glass, behind the mixing board, Leah began to sing the verse that she had written with one specific person in mind:

You tell me there’s

Nothin’ better than me,

So you draft me like I’m

Top pick of the league, then

You gave me what I need, so

Fly it was like you planted a seed,

Oh, and even when there is trouble,

You handle it before I know, so I’m

Letting you know, It’s beautiful us together

Who can ask for more?

“How was that?” Leah asked, once the music had stopped.

“Hot!” Grant exclaimed.

Leah beamed. Yes, I’m back! She thought as she took a sip of her throat coat tea, before recording the second verse.

So deep that I ain’t worried

Thinking baby you’re out there

Runnin’ the streets, no, you’re

Playin’ with me so perfectly,

That’s why you got me convinced

You were made for me

Oh, you’re everything I been

Missing, with you there’s no second

Guessing, you with me is a blessing,

That I can’t and just won’t let go of…

The track was uptempo and fiery. It was much more R&B oriented than her last two albums that had a more pop feel.

After the music stopped, Grant motioned for Leah to come out of the mic booth. She placed the headphones back on the mic, and joined him on the other side, “I have a very good feeling about this!” Grant said, rubbing his hands together. He had been just as excited about producing the song as Leah had been about writing and singing it. The track he created was blazing, and Leah’s butter smooth vocals complimented it perfectly. The song had gold and platinum written all over it. The two of them collaborating together had been magic!

“Yeah, you and me both,” Leah replied sitting down next to him in a black leather rolling chair. Usually, Leah was such a perfectionist, over analyzing everything, and constantly re-recording vocals. But today, everything had just felt so easy. The track was so breezy that she just wanted to go with the flow, and not obsess and mess with everything too much. And she loved how she and Grant just clicked musically; he was so ambitious, yet laid back. Everything just fell so perfectly into place. “I can’t wait until JC hears this,” She said, thinking of her muse.

“I can’t wait until the world hears this!” Grant said excitedly. He had a good feeling about Hold me Down; he felt like this song would propel him to where he wanted to be. It would make the difference between him being Grant O’Day, and then just being Terrence O’Day’s son. “I have a few phone calls to make.” Grant said. “How about we take a break, and come back and finish the rest?” He suggested.

“Fine by me, I could use something to eat.” Leah replied. Just as she was turning on her Blackberry, a certain someone came bursting into the studio.

“Yo, Grant, I’m crashing your sesh!”

“Damn, Autumn who let you in?” Grant huffed, feigning annoyance.

“Ivy, the receptionist.” She replied. You’ve known me long enough to know that I make friends wherever I go.”

“Yeah, well you can’t keep doing this.” Grant warned.

“Ha!” Autumn snorted. “And so you’ve said the time before that, and the time before that!”

Leah loved watching the back and forth between the two. They drove each other crazy, but it was all love.

“You’re lucky we’re on break anyway,” Grant said, scrolling through his phone.

“Oooh, I feel so threatened!” Autumn teased, and Leah burst into a fit of giggles.

“Uh-uh Leah, don’t back her on this.” Grant said.

“Oh, don’t be mad because Leah’s got my back!” Autumn replied. “As a matter of fact, I’m gonna get comfortable and sit myself down right here.” She said playfully, sitting down on Grant’s lap.

“Yo, get off my lap.” Grant said, but not sounding like he really meant it.

“Or what?” Autumn challenged. “You’re going to give me some spiel about how I’m all up in your atmosphere, and how I’m going to mess up your creative flow or some shit like that?” She said, putting air quotes around her statement.

Leah sat back in her chair, watching the two, thoroughly entertained.

“Autumn, I don’t have time for your business today; I’ve got business to take care of.” Grant said impatiently.

“See that’s why nobody likes your serious ass!” Autumn said getting back up.

“Yeah, you weren’t saying that last night!” Grant quipped, finally having leverage in their war of words.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Leah chanted. At first she thought it was a great comeback, but then when she saw Autumn turn beet red, and silenced, she knew the truth. “Oh.” Leah said flatly at the sudden realization.

“Yeah, well fuck you Grant.” Was all Autumn could say.

Huh. He had finally silenced her.

“Yeah, I already did last night remember.” He snapped back. “Twice!”

“Enough of you Mister,” Autumn said, ending their verbal sparring and turning her attention to Leah. “Anyway, I came to pick up Leah for our date. You ready?” She asked.

“Yup,” Leah said, anxious to get out of the studio as quick as possible to get the details of last night. She slid on her light pink Havaianas, because she always liked to record barefoot (it was just her really weird artistic thing), grabbed her caramel oversized purse, and slipped her Chanel shield sunglasses on top of her head. “Well Grant, I’ll be back in about half an hour,” she said standing up to leave, and grabbing her car keys (because yes, she was now a licensed driver!), and she hooked her arm in Autumn’s as they were about to head out the door.

“Yo, Leigh, does ‘C know you’re creeping out on him?” Grant teased.

**************** 

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him!” Leah called back, before she and Autumn headed out of the studio.

“Wow, you and Grant. I never would have guessed!” Leah exclaimed, taking a sip of her iced tea. The two were sitting outside at Ambience, a nearby café. As the hot California sun beat down on her skin, Leah was glad that she had gone simple in a white tank, and a dark denim Baby Phat miniskirt. Man, Tony! Toni! Tone! was not lying when they said that it didn’t rain in southern California!

“Me and Grant? No! It’s only a sometimes thing.” Autumn said, nipping it in the bud. She did not want Leah to get the wrong impression.

“Oh, so it’s one of those deals,” Leah nodded.

“Yeah, he gets lonely sometimes, so I’ll stroke his ego, and he gives me physical satisfaction. It’s a win-win.” She explained. “I could never be with Grant, the guy drives me crazy. I’d have to kill him!”

“I see.” Leah said, before taking a bite of her salad.

“So, enough about me, onto you!” Autumn said, changing the subject.

“What about me?” Leah asked drily.

“A little birdie told me that you have a birthday coming up!” Autumn said.

“And I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that the little birdie was JC?” Leah replied.

“Mmhm,” Autumn said, before sipping on her iced latte.

“Are you also gonna tell me what that birdie got me?” Leah asked, getting a little excited. But only a little bit.

“Oh no. That’s a secret you’re not getting out of me until the 23rd of May.”

“What’s the point in having a side piece if it comes with no benefits?” Leah joked, pouting.

Autumn laughed lightly, and playfully kicked Leah underneath the table. “You know what you need?”

“What?” Leah asked.

“A party.”

Leah quickly shook her head turning down the suggestion.

“Why not?” Autumn asked. Who didn’t want a birthday party?

“I don’t need a party, Autumn. Just a couple of friends out to dinner is fine by me.”

“C’mon Leigh, you’re gonna be twenty-five! That’s like the last monumental birthday. There’s sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one, and then twenty-five.” Autumn explained.

“What about thirty and fifty? Aren’t those monumental too?” Leah asked.

“Trust me, you’re not gonna want to be hitting up any clubs at fifty!” Autumn quipped. “You’re having a party!” She declared.

“I guess I really don’t have a say in the matter then, do I?” Leah asked.

“Nope,” Autumn replied, sitting back in her chair, and sipping on her drink.

*************** 

“So, I’m guessing you know about my party?” Leah asked JC. They were out back on the patio, drinking wine after dinner (Leah cooked, while JC boiled water).

“Well, if you’re talking about the party that’s been in preparation for a while now, then yes, I know all about it.” JC winked.

“Well damn, what if I turned the down the whole idea?” Leah laughed.

“Autumn wouldn’t have let you.” JC replied.

“True.” Leah said, staring off into the distance. It was so beautiful out. It was just getting dark, so that stars had started to come out. While it was still warm out, it had cooled off a lot since earlier, so the temperature was perfect. The honeysuckles were in bloom, so the air was sweet and they were only accompanied by the sound of crickets far off into the distance. It was the perfect night.

“So, about the strippers…” JC said in reference to the party.

“Wait, what?!” Leah gasped.

“Ha!” JC chuckled. “Chill Babe, I’m totally fucking with you.”

“Well if Autumn’s involved in the planning process, then you never know…”

“That is quite true.” JC mused.

“So, how did things go on set today?” Leah asked, changing the subject.

“Great, actually.” JC replied. Since the group was on hiatus, everyone had decided to try their hand at different things.  JC had been doing guess spots on television shows, and had just finished filming a guess role on a new WB show, called Greetings from Tucson. “Dallas has been trying to get me to cut an album though,” He said.

“Really, you gonna do it?” Leah asked, piping up.

“I don’t know,” JC said hesitantly.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Leah asked. She thought that’d be an automatic yes, being that music was his passion, but she could since that something seemed to be a bit off about him.

“I mean, I don’t even know if I have it in me,” JC stammered.

“What do you mean?” Leah asked incredulously. “Jace, you’re the most talented person I know. I think you owe it to yourself to make an album.” Leah said. While he was great with the guys, it’d be a shame if he’d never try to do anything on his own.

“You really think I should?” JC asked skeptically. Being in Nsync was his comfort zone. He worked well with the guys and had done it for years. It wasn’t like he’d never flirted with the idea of doing a solo album, but there was a lot at risk. He’d be completely on his own with no one to fall back on. What if the fans didn’t like it? As confident as JC appeared to be, he sometimes too had his moment of self doubt. He’d been loved and admired in Nsync for so many years, that he’d hate to feel the backlash if he fell flat on his face. It was the fear of the unknown that he couldn’t get past.

“I don’t see why not, Justin’s doing it,” Leah said.

“Yeah, but Justin’s, Justin.” JC replied.

Leah crinkled her eyebrows in confusion. Since when had JC become so unconfident in himself and his abilities? “Yeah, and you’re JC fucking Chasez!” Leah said. “What in the hell makes you think you’re not good enough to record your own album?” She asked, and started back up again before he could answer. “Have you heard yourself sing, I mean c’mon dude, I hear you singing and I see you writing, and you’re constantly coming up with the most amazing melodies. I’m sure you have enough material for two albums.” Leah saw firsthand just what JC was capable of, and the passion that he had for what he did, so it made no sense for it to just stop at Nsync.

JC had been taken aback by Leah’s strong opinion on the topic. He opened his mouth to speak, but she proceeded to talk.

“You’re the best fucking musician since Prince.”

“Well, that’s a pretty bold statement,” JC said, finally getting a word in.

“It’s a pretty true statement,” Leah replied. “It’s just that I see how passionate you are about what you do, and I don’t want you to lose yourself, just because the group may be up in the air right now.” Leah said, honestly.

Although the group had gone on hiatus before, this time it felt different. It really had felt as if everything were up in the air, as Leah had put it. They were all growing in different directions, and Justin, well, Justin was preparing to propel his solo career to new heights. Everyone saw it coming. For the first time, no one knew what the future held for the group. So maybe, just maybe, JC did need to take that next step. “So, I guess I’m doing an album,” JC finally said, looking back at Leah.

Leah smiled back at him proudly, and reached over to grab his hand, interlocking her fingers with his. She could tell he was scared, but she knew it would be worth it, because she knew that nothing made him happier. “Hey,” she smiled. “I’ve got your back,” she said reassuringly. And she would be right there for him, the way he’d been there for her time and time again. No matter what happened, she’d be there.