The rain fell in sheets as the woman ran from the store to her car in the parking lot. She tossed the grocery bags into the backseat, hopped in, and immediately started the car, hoping for a little bit of warmth to thaw out her bones. Just as she was getting ready to put the car in drive, her phone rang.
Groaning after she saw the caller id, she rolled her eyes as she answered. “Hello?”
“I hope you got the right kind of water this time,” her boss said without preamble.
“No, JC, they didn’t have that brand at the store I was at so I got you the other kind that you like.” She put the car in drive and pulled forward out of her parking spot as she hoped he wouldn’t demand that she go from store to store until she found what he wanted.
“Well then Lisa, you are just going to have to go to another store and get the right kind, you know I have a sore throat and that is the only kind that I want to drink.” He cleared his throat in her ear.
He was getting whinier all the time, Lisa thought as she rolled her eyes. “JC it’s pouring down rain, I’m cold and wet, and – ”
“Then I suggest turning the heater up while you drive and hurry. I have a date tonight and need the water so I can take some medicine before she gets here.” With that statement, JC hung up, already onto something else.
Lisa let out a scream of frustration as she tossed the phone on the seat next to her and leaned her head on the steering wheel. Only an incessant honking had her looking up to see the stop light had turned green. Stepping on the gas had her skidding and attempting to get the car back under control. She barely missed hitting a car in the turn lane next to her. Her heart thudding now, she took a deep breath to calm herself. Why do I stay? She asked herself.
More cautious now, she merged onto the freeway to try and get to the next store before it closed. Unfortunately, it was all the way across town, which didn’t leave her much time to get the groceries home to JC.
Lisa stepped on the gas and sped around car after car until she saw flashing lights in her rearview mirror. “You have got to be kidding me.” She carefully moved to the right, turning her flashers on as she made it to the side of the road. The officer parked behind her and walked up to her window, dressed in his raingear.
“License and registration, please ma’am.” As she handed over the requested information, he continued. “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“Speeding,” Lisa remarked sheepishly.
“Yes, ma’am, I clocked you going almost 15 miles over the speed limit. What’s the rush?”
“I was just trying to get all my shopping done for my boss before the store closes.” She decided honesty was the best policy. Stupid JC and his precious water!
“Stay put, I’ll get your ticket.” The officer called in her license information as he walked back to his cruiser.
With a long sigh, Lisa threw her head back against the seat and closed her eyes as she waited for an expensive ticket. How much worse could this day get?
***
Water dripped from her clothes, there was not an inch of her that was dry. A sudden sneeze preceded the dripping of her nose from the cold, wet weather. She sniffed as she fumbled with the lock on the door, when it was suddenly thrown open to admit her.
JC stood in front of her with a scowl on his chiseled face. “Where have you been? I thought I told you to get here before my date.”
He made no move to help carry any of the heavy bags inside, instead slowing her down so that he could search for the water he had demanded. “Well, sir, after you sooo politely asked if I could go to another store and please bring you the water, that you want because you can’t drink the water from the tap or the water that I had already purchased for you, I almost hit a car, I got pulled over for speeding because you had to have the water before your date arrived. Once I got the very expensive ticket, that you will be paying for by the way, I finally made it to the store after they had closed, but luckily there happened to be a sympathetic clerk still there who after I explained my situation, as I’m standing in the pouring rain, decided to take pity on me and only charged me three times what I normally would have paid for the water that you don’t need. Now I’m tired, soaking wet, and now thanks to you have acquired my first ever speeding ticket. How’s your night going so far?” She finished sarcastically finally able to make it past him and set the bags on the counter.
He didn’t appear to have heard a word that she said as he triumphantly held up the bottle of water that had caused so many problems. “Got it, oh and by the way can you put together a plate of strawberries. And don’t forget to take the tops off this time, you didn’t last time.” With the parting instructions, he walked out of the kitchen, the bottle of water in his hand.
“Free place to live, free place to live, good money, good money,” Lisa chanted to herself as she put away the groceries and violently yanked the tops off the strawberries. Tossing the last one on the silver serving tray, she left it on the island in the kitchen and walked out the back door. It was only a short distance to JC’s guest house, where Lisa called home.
She closed and locked the door behind her, pulling her cell phone out of her coat pocket. With joy, she clicked through her phone until she came to JC’s name. Relishing the experience, she pushed the buttons on the screen until she sent his calls straight to voicemail. Now perhaps she could have a quiet and peaceful evening.
Hopefully JC’s date would keep him busy for the rest of the evening and allow Lisa to have a JC free evening for once.
***
Lisa rolled out of bed the next morning to a spinning room, the pounding on her front door just compounded the headache she had. With her feet on the floor, she placed her head in her hands trying not to throw up. She heard someone unlock the deadbolt then heavy footsteps came down the hallway to her bedroom. Maybe whoever had come in would just put her out of her misery.
“Lisa! Why aren’t you dressed and ready to go? You know I can’t be late and I need you to come with me to the taping.”
“I’m sick, JC, can’t you go by yourself just once?” Lisa croaked out through a very sore throat.
“No, what do you think I pay you for? Now throw on these clothes and let’s go.” He grabbed some clothes from her open closet and tossed them next to her on the bed. “We’re not going to have time to stop and get my cappuccino so you’re going to have to go back out and get it once you drop me off. Do you think you can handle that?”
“If I go with you, you’ll be exposed to my germs.” Lisa was trying anything just so she could lie back down and sleep until she felt better.
“Then just stay on the other side of the car and don’t breathe directly on me. Now, get dressed and let’s go!” He headed back down the hallway, “I’ll wait in the living room, you have five minutes.”
Making her aching muscles move, Lisa forced herself to get dressed. At times like these she wondered why she kept the job. Barely pausing to run a brush through her hair, she grabbed a box of tissues, a pack of cough drops, and a bottle of cold and flu medicine before stumbling into the living room.
JC was tapping his foot by the door, waiting impatiently for her. As soon as she appeared, JC was out the door and into the car parked right outside. Lisa took a moment to lock her house before she heaved herself into the backseat next to JC.
Nick the driver took one look at her and gave her a glance full of sympathy. He understood exactly how she felt, JC had made him get out of his sick bed a couple of weeks ago to drive him around.
Half dozing in the backseat, Lisa wondered why JC had started acting the way he was. When she first started working for him as his assistant, she loved her job. He had been patient and understanding and never as whiny or needed as he had become in the last six months.
Lisa and Kelly, Joey’s wife, had been long time best friends. They had met one summer at a camp and had been inseparable. After camp had ended, they had stayed in touch and Lisa had even joined Kelly when she was NSync’s tour, keeping her company and loving hanging out with the guys, they were all so grounded for being the hottest boy band out there.
Lisa had lost touch with all of the band members except Joey through Kelly. To this day, she hadn’t missed opening night of any of Joey’s performances on Broadway. Their daughters thought of Lisa as a loving and doting adopted aunt. When Kelly had mentioned that JC was in need of an assistant several years ago, Lisa had begun thinking about taking the job. She was unhappy with what she had been doing since college and had always gotten along very well with JC. She understood the pressures he was under and had Kelly get in touch with JC to see if he might be interested in hiring her. Not five minutes after Kelly had gotten off the phone, JC was calling Lisa up and offering her the job. The salary was unbelievable and the offer of the guest house so she could be close sealed the deal.
Within a week, Lisa had packed up her life and moved to LA to start her new job with JC. The job had been perfect, she ran errands, maintained his schedule, and helped in any way that she could. Some days she felt guilty taking a paycheck because her job was so easy and ideal.
All that had changed about six months ago though, when JC had broken up with his girlfriend at the time. They didn’t love each other, JC had admitted as much after the breakup. She had been using him for his status and he was getting sick of it. But that breakup changed JC’s personality, taking him from an easy going, laid back guy to a whiny, needy man. Lisa was sympathetic for a while, knowing he needed time to get over the end of the relationship, but enough was enough.
One day, she had made the mistake of asking JC what was bothering him. Unfortunately, JC had blown up and screamed, yelled, and threw things for 15 minutes while Lisa tried to stay out of the line of fire. At that point, she realized their relationship had gone from friend and friend to employer and employee. She began to distance herself from him to protect her heart. She had been on the verge of falling in love with JC at one point, but had always protected her heart since he always had a woman hanging onto his arm.
Lisa didn’t want to abandon him in his time of need, but was getting tired of being the scapegoat all the time. She was startled out of her reverie when JC punched her on the arm. “Hey, go get my coffee and make sure it’s hot when you get back here.”
He exited the car and sent them on their way as he walked through the adoring fans waiting on him, gracious now.
***
“You look awful,” Justin remarked as he came into the break room to get a cup of coffee.
“Thank you, Justin, I love you too, you always know exactly what to say to make a girl feel good about herself.” He took a sip and sat down across the table from her. Lisa had her heavy head resting in the palm of her hand. Her box of tissues sat in front of her almost empty, while the pile of used tissues was growing by the minute.
“If you’re sick, what are you doing here?” Justin asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“His royal highness can’t tie his shoes without me. What are you doing here; I thought you were in New York this week.” She unwrapped a cough drop and stuck it in her mouth.
“I’m having lunch with JC, he wants to talk about a project he’s working on.”
Lisa coughed, “What do you mean you are having lunch, I’m waiting around for JC’s lunch order right now.” She blew her nose again, seeing Justin grimace.
“Go home, Lisa, I’ll run interference with JC. You need to take care of yourself before you get sicker or make everyone around you sick.”
She looked at Justin, hoping shining through the glassy fever eyes. “Really, I mean, are you sure? He’ll be really mad.”
“I can handle JC, you just get Nick to run you home. I have my car here so I can take JC home when we get done, who knows how long it’s going to take.”
“Thank you, Justin, you are the best!” Lisa didn’t waste any time in gathering up everything in front of her and heading out the door, calling Nick on her cell phone as she went so he would be waiting at the door for her when she got there. She was going straight to bed!
***
A shrill sound penetrated Lisa’s sleep. She struggled to wake up from her drug induced sleep to find the object making the annoying sound. Apparently she hadn’t set her cell phone so that JC’s house phone would also go straight to voicemail like she had his cell phone.
“Lo,” She managed to croak out.
“Lisa, who said you could leave the taping? I needed you to run a couple of errands for me. You can’t be that sick.” JC accused her right off the bat.
“JC –” A coughing fit overtook her as she fought to get out of the blankets and reach her glass of water.
“And something is wrong with your cell phone, for some reason it sends my cell straight to voicemail, but it doesn’t with the house phone. You should get that looked at. I’m gonna text you the address where you need to pick up my new wardrobe.”
“JC, I quit.” Lisa mumbled into the phone.
“What?”
She cleared her throat before she tried again. “JC, I quit!”
And hanging up the phone, she pushed the power button. Let him think on that for a while. Hopefully, when she woke again, she would have enough strength to pack a bag and go stay somewhere until she figured out what to do next.
***
Lisa dug down deep for strength when she packed all her belongings and moved out of JC’s guest house. For the time being, she would be staying in the Fatone’s guest room. JC had paid well enough that she didn’t need to have a job right away, but Lisa didn’t want to spend too much of her savings.
Her phone hadn’t rung for a couple of days after she had announced to JC that she was quitting, but that had all changed. He was now demanding that she come back to work. If she came back, then he would forgive her for leaving. So far Kelly and Joey had kept it a secret that she was staying with them so she could avoid JC a little while longer.
“Am I doing the right thing, Kelly?” The two women were alone in the large kitchen, sharing a pot of coffee. “I mean he’s turned into such a spoiled brat lately, but doesn’t that mean there could be something wrong with him?”
“Lisa, you can’t work in a job that you’re miserable in. What’s the point in that? You know that’s why you left your last job to come out here and I’m so glad that you did. But I can’t help but feel guilty for even mentioning the job to you. It’s all my fault that you took that job.” Kelly paused and looked Lisa over critically. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?”
“Had – had feelings for him? Were they that obvious?” Her face turned a slight pink, Lisa thought she had hidden her emotions so well, but this was Kelly, her best friend, who knew everything about her.
“Just to me, I had hoped that by you taking that job that you guys would get together and become a couple. I’m so sorry, but that was the reason I told you about the job. You are perfect for JC.”
Lisa scoffed, “I may have been at one time, but that’s over.” She paused to take a sip. “Has Joey had any luck getting to the bottom of why JC is acting this way?”
“None whatsoever. Has he stopped calling yet?”
“No, I’m at the point where I just need to stop ignoring him, answer the phone, and talk to him.”
“Maybe, do you know what you’ll say to him?”
Lisa’s phone vibrated against the table and she looked down to see JC’s number displayed. “Speak of the devil.”
She took a deep breath before she clicked the phone on. “Hello?” She spoke hesitantly, not sure what JC’s mood would be.
“This is Dr. Bailey from Memorial Hospital, with whom am I speaking?”
“I’m sorry, how did you get the phone you’re calling from?”
“The owner of the phone was in a car accident and this number is listed as the emergency contact. What is your relationship to Joshua Chasez?”
Lisa wasn’t sure what was going on and she sent a confused look at Kelly. “I’m Lisa, I was JC’s assistant. Is JC hurt?”
“Yes, he did sustain some injuries in the accident, can you come down and fill out some paperwork for him, and I’ll be happy to explain everything then.”
Lisa stood and dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink, “Yeah, I’m leaving right now, do I just ask for you when I get there?”
“Yes, ma’am, just come in through the ER and tell the nurse on duty that you need to speak with me.”
“Okay, thank you for the call.” She hung up and grabbed her purse from the closet. “Apparently JC’s been in an accident and they need me to sign some forms.”
Kelly stood and followed her to the door, putting a hand out to stop her for a second. “Wait a second and I’ll come with you.”
“No, that’s alright, I’m sure it’s nothing and JC just needs his hand held for a shot or something. I’ll call you when I know more.”
***
The doors to the ER slid open silently as Lisa walked into the busy hospital. She gave a quick glance around the waiting room, at least the media hadn’t been alerted yet to the fact that JC had been in an accident.
She carefully stepped through the many people and stopped in front of the desk, waiting until a couple with a sick baby had checked in before she stepped up and asked for Dr. Bailey.
“Just a moment, please,” the nurse conferred in a whisper with another nurse. Both of them cast side-glances at her before both heading her way.
“Who are you here for?” One of them asked.
Lisa looked both ways and leaned forward slightly, not wanting anyone to hear her. “JC Chasez.”
“Come with me then, I’ll take you to his room.”
Lisa was buzzed through the doors and followed behind the nurse that introduced herself as Addy. They made their way past the rooms in the ER to an elevator. “I thought he was in the ER, he’s been taken to a room?”
“Yes, he’s been admitted. I’ll take you to him; Dr. Bailey should answer her page and meet us in his room.”
“How badly is he hurt, can you tell me?” They arrived at their floor and stepped out of the elevator.
“You’ll have to wait and talk to the doctor.” Addy stopped outside a door to run her keycard through to allow them access. Lisa looked at the overhead sign as she realized this was a whole lot more serious than she had first thought. They hadn’t brought her down here to hold JC’s hand for a shot if he was in the Critical Care Unit.
Making their way down the hall to the last room, Lisa looked around trying to get a feeling as to how badly he was hurt.
“You need to prepare yourself, he’s not going to look the same. The doctor will be right with you.” With that statement, Addy left Lisa alone in the hallway outside a closed door.
With a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped in. Tears instantly came to her eyes as she brought both hands up to her mouth to cover her horrified gasp. There was no way the man in the bed was JC.
