Chapter 8: I Need You

            Lexi looked down at her phone; she couldn’t believe that this was happening.  He boss had been texting her instructions all day, no one knew where she was or why she couldn’t just pick up the phone and call Lexi. 

            “You know your cell phone number was probably listed in your job application.” JC pointed out after the fifth or sixth time her phone had gone off since she arrived there.  Lexi had stopped and got all of them some fast food on her way in to work, sure it wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world to feed them but at least it was filling. 

            “Yeah, that is probably not the smartest thing that I have done.  This doesn’t make any sense; she wants Chris to perform tonight.  He is nowhere near ready for that yet.” Lexi snapped, she set her phone aside and worked on finishing her own dinner.

            “I can do it.” Chris sighed.  He didn’t want Jade to think that he was weak or incapable.  There were some doubts in the back of his mind but he just ignored them.  Lexi rolled her eyes, Chris would do anything you told him to without question, but this seemed a bit early to her.  Since there was no telling when Jade would be back Lexi felt obligated to do as she was told, but warned Chris to take it easy out there tonight, there was no need to try too hard.

            The night was just like any other night, it was Saturday so of course the place was packed and apparently Jade had promoted Chris’s performance because everyone was asking about it.   Lexi had a really bad feeling about this but as requested she got Chris up on stage and he did the best that he could but you could see that it was taking a toll on him.  When he got off the stage he was breathing heavy and covered in sweat.

            “This is stupid; I am canceling your second performance.” Lexi snapped.  He grabbed her arm to stop her from darting off.  Between breathes he was able to beg her not to.  Chris had seen Jade walk in while he had been on stage.  If Lexi canceled the performance Jade would get angry, most likely at him since there wasn’t anything that she could do to Lexi.

            “You were right; Miss Gaillard didn’t come back alone.” Chris stated and pointed Lexi toward the back wall where Jade was standing.  Joey had his arms folded across his broad chest, his eyes locked with Lance’s, as Jade stood between them.  It was clear that neither one of them wanted to be there.  “If I can’t get through this tonight, I am so screwed.” Chris added.

            It was official the group was back together.  Chris could only imagine that it would mean performing as both a group and as solo artists.  The dance moves that ‘N Sync had been famous for were going to come back to haunt them.  This night couldn’t get any worse.

            Lexi patted Chris on the back; she could see the worry on his face, even though his breathing was starting to return to normal.  “I guess you should get ready your date.  I’ll come get you when it’s time to take the stage again, in the mean time it looks like I have something else to take care of.” Lexi said and then headed for Jade.

            “Lexi, this is Joey and Lance.  I think you know what to do.” Jade stated shoving both guys toward her.  Lexi flashed them both a sympathetic look and then gently took them each by the hand.  “Oh and start working with them tomorrow, I want ‘N Sync to take the stage in one week.” Jade ordered as they started to walk off.

            Lexi paused in disbelief; she turned to her boss but couldn’t even form the words.  That was impossible.  Jade didn’t wait for her to say anything she just stormed off leaving Lexi there in a state of shock.  Lexi finally locked eyes with Lance; clearly he was thinking the same thing.  She forced a fake smiled and led them away.  There was no point trying to talk to them over the loud music.  Once in the back, safe in their room, she took the time to formally introduce herself. 

            “Was she serious?”  Joey asked softly.  He walked around the small room touching a few things but not really making eye contact with anyone.

            “I think so, I am sorry.” Lexi said, really what else could she say.  If Lexi didn’t help them get ready Jade would just make someone else do it.  Either way this was happening.  “I’ll go get some more beds out of the storage room, but you’ll have to set them up yourselves.  I have to help the others.  Please just make yourselves at home, as much as you can that is.”  Lexi left, she had a million things to do tonight and this wasn’t one she had counted on.

            As she was on her way back to the floor, she jumped a little when someone grabbed her arm and brought her to a sudden stop.  She put her hand on her chest and tried to calm herself, JC didn’t mean to scare her but she was walking so fast and she hadn’t heard him over the music.

            “Is it true?” JC asked.  Lexi just nodded and hung her head.  JC closed his eyes and let out a sigh, “This isn’t going to be good is it?”  Lexi shook her head.  There was no telling how much JC knew but there wasn’t anything she could say to make him feel better.  They were all screwed.

            “I would love to talk to you about it but I have to get back to work, maybe we can talk later?” Lexi asked.  JC just nodded and released her arm.  This wasn’t what he wanted to happen.  For the first time ever the last people JC wanted to be around were his friends.  But there wasn’t any time to dwell on that, he was due on stage in 10 minutes.  Lexi groaned loudly, knowing that no one would hear her over the music and then stormed off to find Chris.  He was going on after JC.

            This was the last performance of the night, Lexi watched as Chris struggled through it.  This wasn’t right, the guys were already falling apart there was no way they could keep this up.  Lexi had expressed her concerns to Jade before Chris took the stage but she may have well have been talking to the wall.  The show went on any way.

            In the middle of the last song Chris just collapsed on stage.  Lexi ran to him as quickly as she could.  She thought he had died.  Once she got to him she was relieved to see that he was still breathing.  Miss Gaillard joined her on stage; she reached down and smacked him, yelling at him to get up.  He whimpered but his body remained limp.  It was clear to Lexi that even if he had come to, he wouldn’t have been able to get up.

            Miss Gaillard ordered Lexi to take him to the back room and to get her as soon as he woke up.  Jade was furious and that didn’t bode well for Chris.  Lexi put one of his arms over her shoulder and drug him off stage where one of the other waitresses was there to help the rest of the way.   They set him on his cot and turned up the AC a little.  The other waitress left quickly, no one really wanted to be there when Jade got a hold of him, but Lexi stayed.

            “Is he okay?” Lance asked, he was more than a little concerned.  This was a really bad sign.  Lexi didn’t say anything at first.  Honestly she didn’t know if he was okay or not and if he was, he wouldn’t be when Jade got done with him.

            “Lance… Joey.  I am not going to lie to you guys.  Things will probably get pretty ugly in here after Chris comes too.  Jade isn’t happy and she may make you watch.  It wasn’t his fault.  Chris has been through a lot and it was just too much for him tonight.” Lexi explained.  She got up and got a cup of water, she had a pretty good feeling that Chris was just dehydrated.  “I hope you guys are prepared for the worst.” Lexi added as a tear rolled down her cheek.

            Both guys just looked at each other, not really sure how to respond to that.  They had kind of mentally prepared for the worst but this was so much harder than they thought it would be.  Seeing Chris like that didn’t give them a lot of hope.  The night was pretty much over so Lexi stayed there with Chris, about 10 minutes passed before his eyes slowly opened and he looked up at her.  Lexi ran her fingers though his dark hair and handed him the water, which he quickly drank.

            “I am in trouble, aren’t I?” Chris asked in a low tone.  Lexi just nodded to him and looked over her shoulder at the other two guys.  They were just watching them; after all there wasn’t much else for them to do. 

            Chris looked away and played with a stay string, then asked her if she was going to go get Miss Gaillard now.  Lexi said no, she wanted him to rest for a minute before she went to get her boss.   She wasn’t sure what Jade was going to do to him but it couldn’t be good.  Lexi waited as long as she felt that she could without being obvious and then left to find Jade.

            When Jade returned alone, Chris wasn’t surprised.  He didn’t blame Lexi for not wanting to be around for this part.  Miss Gaillard laid into him with a full on verbal assault before ordering him to stand up.  He did as he was told, he moved away from the beds because he knew what came next.  The last thing he needed was to get injured when he dropped to the ground in pain.

            Lexi was waiting in the hall, leaning up against the wall and trying not to think about what was going on.  She could faintly hear what was being said and in some cases screamed.  There was no way that this job was worth this.

            “It’s not your fault.  You know that right?” JC asked.  He had been watching her for awhile and he had seen what happened to Chris.  He knew enough to know what was going on.  But he didn’t like to see Lexi in so much pain, there wasn’t anything she could have done to stop it.  JC knew that Lexi was against Chris performing and that she had tried to talk Jade out of it, but Jade wouldn’t listen.  Lexi was almost as powerless as they were.

            “This isn’t what I signed on for.  This wasn’t in the job description.  I got roped into this because Jade had heard that I had been a fan and I knew most of the songs and dance routines.  This isn’t what I want to be doing with my life.” Lexi explained.  Her eyes fixed in the opposite direction of the man that she was talking to.

            “It’s not exactly what I want my life to be like either.” JC stated.  He got closer to her and forced her to look at him.  “This sucks, but we need you.  I need you.”  Without thinking about it he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.  It had just felt like the right thing to do at the time.  She stood there shocked and confused, letting the wall support her weight.  JC just smiled and walked off, back into the club to find Justin.  He would wait until Jade was done with Chris before heading into their room, so that he could avoid being drug into the middle of it.

            After a few minutes her boss emerged from the room.  She snapped at Lexi to get in there and get the new guys ready for bed.  It was annoying because they had names, none of which were that complicated or hard to remember.  Lexi gritted her teeth and stormed into the room, she didn’t want to say something that she might regret.  JC was right, this wasn’t a great jig but the guys did need her.  If nothing else this would get her mind off of what had just happened.

            Chris was laying on the floor sobbing; Lexi sat down beside him and tried to comfort him while the other two just looked on.  It broke her heart to see the tears in their eyes, on the brink of escaping.  She couldn’t make out what Chris was saying between sobs so she just sat there rubbing his back, trying to sooth him as best she could.  This couldn’t be easy for any of them.

            “I guess you need to drink more water or something so that this doesn’t happen again.” Lexi offered, though she wasn’t sure it would help, the problem was he was just exhausted. 

            “There wasn’t any water, just beer and booze.” Chris explained, after all he had looked for something, he knew that he was thirsty and had been in this business long enough to know that it was important to stay hydrated. 

            “Sorry, I’ll make sure there is something waiting for you next time.” Lexi said.  Chris just smiled at her; somehow he knew that she would look out for him.  She just couldn’t protect him.