Chapter 21: Monday Morning

Before the sun was even up Isadora was busy making phone calls and trying to set things up so that she could settle this deal with Jade and get back to New York in time to get all her other work done.  She called her lawyer to see if the sale agreement had been drawn up yet, so she could have them fax it to the night club.  The sooner Jade signature was next to hers the better. 

Jade greeted Isadora the minute she got out of her car, after leaving a bad impression the day before by showing up late, Jade was working overtime to insure a better impression.  

“I had the sale agreement faxed over to you this morning if you would like we can step into your office and go over it one more time.” Isadora explained. 

“Excellent, please allow me to show you the way.” Jade explained.  Isadora stopped to grab a rather large white box from the back seat of her rental car.  She had stopped on the way to pick up a wide selection of breakfast pastries for Jade and the guys.  After all she wanted them to be well feed and knew that Jade would not be taking very good care of them once she got her deposit check.

Jade smiled and lead her inside, stopping briefly to drop the guys off their breakfast.  They didn’t say anything to the guys, Jade just set the box on the table in their room and told them to eat up but Chris did catch a glimpse of Isadora.  Right away he knew that something was up.  There were a million reasons why Jade would be meeting with her none or which boded well for him. When they left Chris just buried his face in his hands, the scent of the fresh baked goods was tempting but his every muscle in his body just tensed up. 

Back down the hall, a very happy Jade returned to her office with her new friend in tow.  Isadora smiled at her got the papers off of the fax machine, it was going to take a while to go through them and this was where it got a little boring.  They tried to mix in a little small talk but they really didn’t have much in common.  

“I have to admit I wish I had your youth and carefree life style.  To have what you have and still be able to do what you do.  I know the ‘N Sync guys are handsome so you really can enjoy your new purchases.”Jade teased.  Isadora glanced over the papers in her hands with a raised eye brow.  This conversation had just gotten very interesting. 

“Excuse me?” Isadora questioned.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.  I am not saying that you are promiscuous.  Hell if I was your age and had my own boy band I would defiantly try them all out.” Jade explained trying not to offend anyone.  Isadora didn’t want to seem clueless, so she smiled and acted as if she knew what the hell Jade was talking about. 

“You do know that Lance is gay, right?  I mean it’s not like I can change that.  So I guess 4 out of 5 are not bad.” Isadora joked.

“Well with a push of a button you would be surprised how responsive even Lance can be.” Jade replied.  Isadora just smiled even though she didn’t like the implications.  She had no intentions of forcing Lance or any of the guys into anything.

“Yes well that’s personal.   If you don’t mind I would like to get back to business.” Isadora said making a mental note that owning a boy band apparently made her a rather sleazy person.

After the papers were finally signed and a rather large deposit check we written.  Jade would get the rest of her money upon delivery.  Isadora wanted to get out of there.  It’s not that her time was being wasted there, but there was so much to do before Sunday.  She needed to get back to New York so that she could get stuff ready for the guys. But she wanted to be there when Jade told them the good news.

Lexi glanced at her phone just before walking in to work, there was a text message from Isadora saying that the sale was a done deal and they were just about to go in and tell the guys.

Jade still had the smell of wine on her breath from celebrating her deal with Isadora.  “I have good news, where the hell is the other one?” Jade snapped after a quick head count.  She could never remember the guys’ names and it drove them nuts, it’s not like their names were that hard.  JC only had two letters in his name.

            JC stepped out of the bathroom.  His insides were aching now but he knew if he didn’t come when called it would only make things worse.  So he stood in the doorway and waited for Jade to say something.  He got a little more nervous when he saw Isadora with her.  They all knew who she was from the birthday party and her being there only made what Chris said about Lexi sink in further.

Jade smiled when she saw him.  “I had a very important lunch meeting yesterday and it looks like you are going to be moving to a new home.” She grabbed Lance by the face.  Lance made a weird noise as she squeezed his cheeks and then just looked at her in fear.  “I just sold you boys to this young lady, Miss Isadora Sebastian.”

The guys just hung their heads, not sure how to take the news.   In some ways this could be a good thing but there was something scary about not knowing what was going to happen.  At least with Jade they knew what to expect.  Lexi had just gotten there and was standing in the hallway watching when Jade then turned to her, “I guess you will just have to go back to being just another cocktail waitress.” Jade said. 

“Actually this might be a good time to turn in my two weeks.  I hope that isn’t going to be a problem I just think it’s in my best interest to look for work elsewhere, with the guys gone so are my reasons to stay.” Lexi explained trying to be as nice about it as she could.  Miss Gaillard didn’t seem surprised and wished Lexi well in her new endeavor not that she really cared.  Lexi and Jade hadn’t been seeing eye to eye lately and it would save Jade the trouble of finding a reason to fire her later on down the road.

“Did we do something wrong?” Joey asked a little puzzled as to why Jade would want to get rid of them so suddenly. 

“No, Isadora is just better suited to get you guys a little further in your careers than I am.  She is young and ambitious.  I think she will be able to get more than her money’s worth out of you guys.” Jade stated, looking at Chris as she spoke. 

Chris lifted up from his bed and froze.  His breath caught in his throat.  Jade making this announcement made it real, Isadora had just purchased him, she had been so nice to him but maybe it had all been an act.  What did she really want with him and the others?  Chris turned pale and darted past JC and into the bathroom.  Jade just smiled, “Get ready for one hell of a final week boys.” She said.

“Jade if it is okay with you I would like to stay and talk with the guys’ one on one, so that I can head back to New York with a better understanding of what their needs are.” Isadora asked.  “And your handler as well.”  Jade just agreed and excused herself; she had a bottle of wine in her office that she needed to finish.  She trusted Lexi to keep an eye on the business woman, not that she really cared what Isadora did to them at this point.

Lexi entered the room and JC just stared at her, a little unsure of what to do now, he wanted to talk to Lexi but it didn’t appear that Isadora was leaving.  He wasn’t sure he could say anything in front of his soon to be master.  The truth was that he wasn’t ready to leave Lexi behind.  Lexi could tell that JC was nervous and a little afraid.  She walked over to him and quietly asked him what was wrong.  He just shook his head as if he didn’t want to walk about it. 

Isadora watched the pair closely with her arms neatly folded across her chest.  There was definitely something up with those two and Isadora kind of thought that they made a cute couple.  Based on what Jade and told her earlier about ‘enjoying’ her purchase, Isadora wasn’t stupid there was no way she could ever met the romantic needs of 5 men but they did deserve to be loved.  

“JC can I see you in the hallway.” Isadora asked.  The look on her face wasn’t one of anger.  She seemed cheerful.  He just hung his head and made his way to the door.  JC didn’t want to talk to her but he knew he had to, Jade wouldn’t like it if he messed this up for her.

“Can I get him something for his tummy first?” Lexi asked trying to stall a little, it was clear that there was something JC wanted to tell her.

“Sure, grab something and join us in the hall.” Isadora requested, after all she had a pretty good feeling about what the two of them were up to now.  There had been some doubts but judging by the way the two of them were acting there was defiantly more to the story.  They walked down the hall a little ways so that no one could hear what was about to be said and waited for Lexi.  JC looked at his feet and waited for her to ask him something.  Isadora waited for Lexi to get there hoping it would out the guys at ease to have someone they knew with them.

Isadora asked a couple of basic questions regarding JC’s health and things that would make him more comfortable in his new home.  She encouraged him to be honest with her and Lexi sure wasn’t holding back anything.  She told Isadora about his throwing up a lot lately and how fatigued all the guys were, even went as far as lifting up his shirt and showing her his ribs.  JC just stood there and watched Isadora make notes on her smart phone.

Isadora dismissed them and asked Lexi to bring one of the other guys out to see her.  JC paused as Lexi disappeared into the room.

“I know I am not in the position to barter but… Lexi is special to us and I would like to be able to keep in touch with her.  If you let me do that one thing, I won’t give you any trouble.  I’ll do whatever you ask.  But if you take her from me completely, I swear to god I will be the biggest pain in your ass.” JC offered.  Isadora was taken aback by the tone of his request.  But her smiled never faded. 

“I think we can work something out.” She replied.  He didn’t even smile as he walked off, which let Isadora know that he was dead serious. Not that it worried her, he didn’t know it yet but Lexi wasn’t going anywhere.  He would be able to talk to her as much as he wanted.

Lexi returned with each of the guys in turn.  They all seemed nervous but none more than Chris.  Both girls were trying to put themselves in his shoes; the man had to be terrified.  He had no reason to trust Isadora and every reason to fear her.  She thanked all the guys and then left.  She told Lexi to keep her updated on everything but she had to get back to New York and get stuff ready for their arrival. 

            After showing Isadora out Lexi headed for Jade’s office.  Her boss was most of the way through her bottle of wine, which would make asking her for this favor much easier.  Lexi waited for her to invite her in.  Jade mumble something and pointed to the chair across from her, telling her that this had better be good.

            “I have a business proposition for you.” Lexi started out with, Jade looked at her somewhat interested.  “I have been thinking about yesterday and I truly am sorry for taking advantage of your property like that.  Curiosity just got the best of me.”

            “I suppose that is understandable.  Was it worth it?” Jade questioned.  She would have been lying if she said the thought hadn’t crossed her mind a few times.  It wasn’t like the guy could turn her down.

            “Absolutely.  I know that you just sold the guys and I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t find out first had what else JC has to offer a woman.  I was hoping I could rent him for the evening tomorrow night.  He only performs once and has no parties scheduled, Tuesday’s are always slow.  And I could pay you… cash.  But I would want to be able to take him back to my place for the whole night.” Lexi explained.

            Jade seemed to instantly sober up and the mention of money.  She seemed to think it over for a minute.  She would have to check the facts but Tuesday’s were usually very slow and she didn’t think anyone would miss him for a half of a night.  Lexi also knew that Jade did some times rent guys out for event outside of the building.  She could track them on the System and if they strayed too far she would have the women arrested. 

            “I would defiantly need cash and some collateral to make sure you bring him back.”  Jade explained.  “Also this would be off the records.”  She took the time to write a number down on a piece of paper and slide it across the table toward her.  Lexi glanced at it and nodded.  That was about how much she had figured.

            “No restrictions?”  Lexi questioned.

            “No restrictions, I won’t even charge you for multiple… encounters.  You can pick him up after his performance, say around 8 p.m. and bring him back in time for work on Wednesday, say 3 p.m.” Jade explained.  “You will have to let me know if it was worth it.”

            “I am also going to need the night off Tuesday, unpaid of course.” Lexi added.  Surely the guys would be able to make it on night without her, they pretty much knew what they were doing any more and with the club not being as busy it wouldn’t be hard for them to figure stuff out on their own.  She got her check book out and wrote Jade a check, she handed it over to her with the title to her car.  It was the only thing she had that was of value.

            Jade took the items and smiled, but warned Lexi that no one could know about this, explaining very carefully what off the records meant.  If someone found out Jade would report JC as stolen.  Lexi agreed and said she would come up with something to explain JC’s absence.  With that she left her boss to her wine and money.

As luck would have it their schedule wouldn’t leave much time to dwell.  When Lexi returned to the guys’ room at the end of the night, Chris was already in bed but Lexi couldn’t help but notice that he was covered in a thin layer of sweat and he was burning up.  She walked over to him and placed her hand on his forehead, causing him to open his eyes.  He just laid there and let her do what she needed to.  He may not trust her any more but it was still nice to be taken care of.

“You don’t look like you feel so well?” Lexi asked.  He just shook his head no; it had just sort of hit him all of a sudden.  He felt so drained.  Lexi didn’t say anything she just went over to their medicine box and tried to find something to help Chris through the night.  She jumped when JC put his hand on her shoulder. 

“Is there anything that I can do to help?” He asked. 

“No, but how are you feeling?” Lexi asked. 

“I am better than others, please let me help you.” JC begged.  He ran his thumb across her lips, he wanted to kiss her but he couldn’t with some many people still in the hall way and Jade on a war path they needed to back off a little this week.  Lexi finally caved and handed him the meds for Chris before going to check on the others. 

            She made a mental note to call Isadora and tell her to take some vitamins or something if she had kissed Chris or even just being close to him, the poor guy was so sick now.  Lexi made her way over to Joey.  She had just set down next to him when JC suddenly turned white and took off for the bathroom.  Lexi quickly got up and rushed to the door, which JC tried to pull closed on her.  He didn’t want her to see him like that.  It was times like that when he wished that they still had a bathroom door.

            “I thought you said you were fine?” She questioned through the curtain, respecting his privacy. 

“I thought I was.  I must have had a little too much to drink tonight.  My insides are killing me.” JC groaned.  He had thought it was nothing but it suddenly turned on him.  Lexi sighed and went back to helping Joey.  It was going to be a long week.