Amanda wasn’t sure why at four o’clock in the afternoon she found herself wandering around the lobby just looking for things to do.  At least she wasn’t admitting to why.  Deep down she knew the reason.  She was hoping for another glimpse.  Or even better, another encounter.

And that was just plain silly.  What would a big celebrity ever want with her?  Absolutely nothing.  That’s what.   And why was she so fascinated with a man that was adored by a zillion girls and could have just about any woman in the whole entire world?  She didn’t know.  The only thing she did know was that she hadn’t stopped thinking about him once during the day.  Well, maybe a couple of times, but just for a minute or two.  

It was a fact that scared the living daylights out of her.  Amanda’s experience with men, well, you could say was just about non-existent.  You could count that one boyfriend she had her freshman year in college.  The one that was even geekier than she was and more interested in his computer than Amanda.  That whole ordeal made her upper lip curl with repulsion.  What had she ever seen in Simon Smith anyway?  And who would name their kid Simon Smith?  It sounded just a bit like Simon Says and if she remembered correctly, he had told her about numerous occasions where he had been teased ridiculously because of it.  His parents had formed him into the nerd that he was just by naming him Simon Smith.

Oh, and why was she thinking of that anyway? 

Luckily, a lobby-full of screaming girls woke her up in an instant.  She stepped up to the long, marbled-looking registration counter to see what the commotion was all about.  Even though, really, she knew.  It was one of them.   It had to be.  But would it be him?

Nope.  It was the funny one.  At least that’s what she had learned earlier in the day while surfing the web.  His name was Chris, he was the oldest and he was very goofy.  Although, he didn’t seem very goofy as he strolled through the lobby, stopping briefly to sign autographs as his gargantuan bodyguard stood closely by his side.  She could only imagine what a nuisance that would be, to have some person beside you every second of the day.  She’d hate to deal with that problem. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick did seem very kind to the adoring girls in the lobby, nevertheless.  He might not have been the silly, goofy person that the web site had made him out to be, but he definitely wasn’t rude.  Amanda would have to say he looked pretty tired, too.  Boy, if she was someone who cared about these guys, she’d be telling them to take some time off and get some rest.  They all looked awful!  Well, not really awful, just pooped.

Her elbows leaning into the cool counter top, her eyes drifted off in a daze, she didn’t even notice him.  Not even as he somehow managed his way up to the counter with his bodyguard and girls screaming his name left and right.  Even then she didn’t realize.  It wasn’t until the clank of his key dropped onto the hard surface in front of her that she was startled into the realization of him being barely inches away – and looking straight at her.

With a deep gasp, her eyes must have opened as wide as golf balls as she practically jumped right out of her skin. 

A thin smile eased across his lips as he peered at her from underneath the brim of that same blue baseball cap.  “I didn’t mean to startle you, Ms. Ballard.”  He remarked.  “But my key doesn’t seem to be working and I was told you were the person in charge around here.”

“Yes, right.  Let me fix that for you.”  Amanda sputtered as she slid the key from the counter.  She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous.  Why did he make her feel that way?  She had never been nervous like that around anyone and she was acting like a complete idiot.

With shaky hands, she grabbed a new key from a pile under the counter and pulled Mr. Chasez’s room number up on the computer – mentally noting that he was in one of the nicer suites in the hotel – before sliding the new key into the little electronic box that would program it for his room.  It was a new system they were using and it gave her trouble often.  She was thankful at least it seemed to be cooperating now, since her mind and her voice certainly weren’t. 

Casually she took in the scene in front of her as she held the key in its slot, half-listening for the beep that would tell her it was ready.  The burly body guard stood facing the opposite direction, watching the pop star’s back and continually turning away fans while Mr. Chasez leaned on the counter, waiting.

“I’m very sorry about that.”  Amanda finally regained the normality to her speech as she handed him his new key.  “Please let me know if there is anything else I – we can do for you during your stay.”   Well, she thought she had pulled herself together, until she let that little slip out.  It took every ounce of energy in her body to fight off the embarrassment she felt for that one.

But it seemed to amuse him, as he grinned for a second time and gave her the most devilish look.  A look that made her insides tumble and flip all over the place.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”  He remarked.  “Thank you.”  If Amanda would have known anything about the male species, she would have chalked that one up as flirting, but she didn’t so she figured it was just her imagination.  It had to be.

Five seconds later he was out of sight and amidst the sea of fans that were waiting for him.  But Amanda couldn’t shake the imprint of those eyes from her head.  She would bet money that when he wasn’t so tired looking, he could just about knock a girl right off her feet with those eyes.  He just about did that to her already.

“You like that girl.”  JC heard his bodyguard’s comment as they rode alone in the elevator up to his room, but he chose to pretend that he didn’t. 

“Huh?”  He asked, shaking his head as if he had been lost in thought. 

“You heard me.”  Mike retorted.   “She is cute in a weird sort of way.”

“What?  Who?” 

“The hotel girl.  You know who.” 

Mike had been working with JC for a long time, and even though JC tried to play dumb, he knew Mike was no dummy.  But even so, he figured to fake idiocy was definitely his best bet with this one.  “The girl at the desk?”

“Uh,” Mike sighed and shook his head disbelievingly.  “The girl at the desk, the girl in the store this morning, the girl playing the piano last night – that girl.”

JC smirked and turned his attention to the elevator doors that would be opening any second.  “You’re crazy.”  He brushed off the conversation as easy as that.  Even if he did have some weird interest in that girl, it made no sense to dwell on it.  He was involved, he would be leaving soon, and he was in no position to develop new relationships with much of anyone.  Especially shy, timid girls who ran hotels for their rich father.   Although – really – he didn’t see Amanda that way, but technically that’s what she was.

Mike left JC at his hotel room door after making the announcement, or rather the reminder, that he had only one hour to relax and freshen up before leaving for the video shoot.  Excited as he was to film their new video, just the thought of that made him more tired. 

He was more than thankful that his room was completely empty.  In other words, Jessie wasn’t anywhere to be seen.   He figured she was off in the salon or shopping with one of the other girls on the trip.  Not such a big surprise.  Without bothering to take off his sneakers, he laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, knowing that he would be sorry when it was time to wake up, but also that he had to take the opportunity while he had the chance.

It didn’t feel like much time had passed when a strange commotion in JC’s suite disturbed his sleep.  He assumed it was Jessie returning with her shopping bags and buried his head defiantly underneath the pillow.  It was when he heard Mike and Justin's voices that he sprung up with newfound alertness. 

“JC.  Get up.  We’re late.”  There was no mistaking that tone, that hurry-your-ass-is-late-again tone.

“What time –“ His own thoughts interrupted him as he realized that it wasn’t only Justin and Mike in his room.  There was an older gentleman who looked to be hotel security, and – of all people – Ms. Ballard? “What’s she doing here?”  His words didn’t come out at all the way he had wanted.  He was surprised, but never meant to sound rude or mean.

He’d wished he could take that foot right back out of his mouth as her eyes dropped to the floor.  “Looks like everything’s okay here.  So, Ron and I will be leaving.”  She remarked, her eyes avoiding him completely.  Oh, he felt like a complete ass for speaking that way.  She had just caught him off guard, that’s all.

“Someone had to let us in, JC.” Justin remarked.  “Now get up, we’re late.”

He stood from the bed and stretched, watching as Amanda and the security guard exited his room.  “How late am I?”  JC asked curiously.

“We were supposed to be there 30 minutes ago.”  Mike answered. 

“Why didn’t you call me?”  JC asked, scratching the back of his head while vaguely remembering that the phone might have rang while he was sleeping, but he had ignored it or imagined it was the alarm clock or something.

“We did.”

“Oops, sorry.  I’ll be ready in a minute.”  The two other men left him alone and JC immediately went into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face and make himself more presentable.

All the while, he felt a twinge of guilt for the way he had acted.  He had hurt her feelings.  His tone had hurt her feelings.  He hadn’t meant to.  He barely knew the girl, but he never purposely tried to hurt her, or anyone for that matter.  Sometimes he had a tendency to be a little grouchy, he knew that.   Anyone that knew him knew that – but Amanda Ballard didn’t know him at all, so how would she know? 

Of course, there really was no reason, whatsoever, why he should care about her feelings or what she thought.  But for some odd reason, he did.

“Amanda, you’re shaking.”  Ron hadn’t spoken one word on their ride down in the elevator, and she wasn’t sure why he was following her to her office, but there he was and after five minutes of silence, he finally made a comment.

“Shaking?  No, I’m not.”   She argued, looking down at her hands and realizing that they were trembling a bit.  “Okay, maybe just a little.”

“Don’t let that guy bother you, Amanda.  You know how those big celebrities are.  He was just mad because someone woke him up from his nap.  It’s not our fault he overslept and wouldn’t answer the phone.”  Amanda only half listened as Ron rambled on.  Yes, he was right.   It wasn’t her fault that JC had been sleeping and was a little upset when his friends woke him up.  And it was his friends that woke him up.  She had only let them inside the room.  Sure, she followed them in and that probably wasn’t necessary, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her.  His friends were a little worried, so there could have been a need for her to be there.  What if some strange accident had happened and he needed medical attention?  She did run this hotel, after all, and whatever happened inside of it was her business.  There was no need for her to try and justify her reasoning for stepping inside his suite.

But here she was trying to make sense of it all. 

The memory alone of him sprawled out on top of the bed, sleeping so deeply with his arms tucked underneath him and his head buried into the pillow – it replayed in her mind over and over again like a video tape stuck on loop.   And that wasn’t normal.  It wasn’t sensible.  It wasn’t practical.  It wasn’t a zillion different things, which was exactly why she had doubted her motives.   Deep down in that scattered brain of hers, she was extremely curious as to what she would find on the other side of that door and that is why she followed his two friends inside.  She had only used her job title as an excuse. 

Her father would kill her for such irresponsible actions – or feelings.

Speaking of, she had little over an hour before their dinner reservations.  She was looking forward to that about as much as she wanted a hole in the head – as in, not at all.  

She realized, as she unlocked her office door, that Ron was still standing and waiting for her to make it safely inside.  “I think I can make it from here.”  She told him quietly.

“Oh, of course.”  He took a step back and looked at her softly with his caring brown eyes.  “You know how to get me if you need me.”

“Thank you, but I doubt that’ll be necessary.”

He grinned and flashed a salute as if she were a high-ranking military officer before turning on his heels and going back the direction they had come.  

Amanda stepped inside the serenity of her neatly kept office, locked the door and fell against the wall behind her.  This silly fascination with Mr. JC Chasez had to stop and it had to stop at that very moment.  She took in a deep breath and headed to her desk to finish out her work for the day. 

Of course, as she sat, she could not concentrate on a single thing.  This was ridiculous.  It was absurd.   It was crazy!  Sheer torture also came to mind because that’s what she was doing to herself.  What was her fascination with this man?  “God Amanda, you do need to get a life.”  She sighed inwardly to herself as she slumped over the top of her desk.  “Maybe then you wouldn’t fixate on everyone else’s.”

The hour that spanned before dinner sped by incredibly too fast.  After Amanda drug herself from her office and up to her condo on the eighteenth floor, she made minimal efforts to dress-up for the not so enjoyable occasion she would soon be forced to suffer through.  Dinner with Dad would be all business talk and nothing else.  He would want figures and numbers, the run-down on every different area of the hotel and whether or not any big events were coming soon.  All of this information would come along with her, carried in a leather briefcase.  It was way too much for her to recite off the top of her head, especially after the day she was having.

Pausing for a moment, she gave her reflection the once-over for the last time as she brushed by a tall mirror in her living room.  Her hair had turned into a frazzled mess.  She had tried to comb it back and secure it neatly into a ponytail, but even then there were strays poking out where they didn’t belong.  She had made the effort to apply a little make-up, hoping to liven up the color of her pale skin, and it had helped, but just barely.  Really, at this point, she didn’t care too much.  She only wanted to get the so-called dinner over with and return to the comfort of her condo where she could sleep her troubles away.  That sounded like just what she needed.

Amanda had finished half of her business spiel and barely taken the first bite of her baked chicken when her father received a “very important phone call” and had to excuse himself from the table.  She watched as he strutted away down the dimly lit aisle and breathed an excessive sigh once his tall figure was completely out of sight. 

It was then she realized that seated only a table or two over was the pretty blond girl who had accompanied her newfound person of interest earlier in the day.  It was his girlfriend.  She sat stiffly at a table with two other women, wearing a pair of black slacks and a not-so-dressy white tailored shirt.  She was definitely a pretty girl.  Her full blond hair hung in various layers touching past her shoulders and seemed very well kept.   Obviously, this girl had hair that actually knew how to behave.  If there was anything Amanda was envious about, that was it.  Oh, and maybe that she with him.  Not that she would admit that to anyone but herself.

Amanda wondered why she wasn’t wherever he was.  It seemed kind of strange that she would be at the hotel, but not be with him.  But who knew?  Maybe he was at some private meeting that was business only?  Maybe they had gotten into a fight?  Maybe she wasn’t his girlfriend at all? 

Oh, now she knew she was reaching.  Why would he buy such an expensive dress for the girl if she wasn’t his girlfriend? 

Frustrated with herself for letting her mind wander once again, she stared down at her plate and tried focusing in on her food.  Unfortunately, thanks to the circumstances, she didn’t find herself all that hungry.  What she did find, is that she could just barely hear the conversation of the three woman that sat two tables over. Or maybe it was just that key word that struck her, “JC.”

Her eyes still focused on her plate and her fork hanging loosely in one hand, she tried hard to listen in, but the elderly woman in the booth behind her fell into a coughing fit and made it completely impossible to hear a word.  Amanda knew she shouldn’t have been trying to eavesdrop anyway, but it was way too tempting.  Everything about him was way too tempting.  That’s what scared her.

Even after she had overstepped her grounds earlier and barged into his hotel room – which he had obviously not been happy with – he still tempted her in the most confusing ways.  The fact of the matter was, she did not know the man at all and probably never would.  So, why was she dwelling on him?  For the twentieth time that evening, she told herself that this silly nonsense had to stop – now.

His eyes barely open, JC sat in the back of the SUV thankful that they were finished shooting for the day – or rather, night – and he would finally be able to get some of that much needed sleep.  “Please, tell me one more time, we have nothing scheduled until tomorrow night, right?”  He asked.

“That’s tonight, actually.”  Lance answered from the seat in front of him.

“Whatever, tonight.”  JC corrected.  “It’s not the next day until you actually get to sleep, I don’t care what the clock says.  I won’t think of it as tomorrow until I wake up.”

As they made way through the lobby of the hotel, there were only a few fans that had waited up at such a late hour.  It would be daylight soon and JC was desperate to get to sleep before the sun came up, but he stopped to sign a few autographs anyhow.  He was truly grateful for his fans.  A fact that would never change no matter how tired he was.

After ten minutes or so, they moved onto the elevators where JC, Mike, Joey and one other bodyguard, Rick, boarded.  “So, I wonder if you missed your girl playing the piano tonight?”   Joey asked with a playful grin.

JC looked at his friend beside him with a bit of confusion stamped across his face.  “She’s not my girl.  And how do you know about that?”

But when he glanced over at Mike, he knew.  His bodyguard had spilled, it was written all over his face.

“You know we all know everything.  Besides, I don’t know what the big deal is anyway.  So you’ve got some crush on the hotel manager, big deal.”

“She’s not the manager.  Her dad owns it.”

“Oh, really?”  Joey asked in a high-pitched tone.  “So you’ve been doing your homework?”

“Oh, give it up.  I’m with Jessie.”  JC snapped with a roll of his heavy eyes.

“Right, just like you were with Jessie when you had that little thing with that Spanish girl last spring.” 

JC huffed and stood defensively as he turned to glare at his friend.  “I thought we buried that whole issue.”  But he could see that Joey was enjoying this way too much.  How come HE didn’t look so tired?  How come after such an exhausting day, the man could still have a sense of humor?  Joey was always in a good mood – always.  JC was grumpy and tired and mad because his friend had brought up the one time he had cheated on his girl, but still he couldn’t stay mad.

“We did.”  Joey smirked.  “Sorry.   Won’t happen again.”

He had known back then, when he had had his little fling with Sophia, that his relationship with Jessie was over.  But still he kept her around.  She even knew about Sophia and she still stayed.  In fact, deep down there was a big part of him that hoped it would give her a reason to leave, but she forgave him and said they would work it out.  Well, if this is what you called working it out, they were in big trouble.

Effortlessly he unlocked his room door and stepped into his suite.   What he didn’t expect was for the lights to be on and Jessie’s bags to be packed.  “Um, Jess?  You going some where?”  He called out for her and she appeared from the bathroom dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

“Yeah, it’s silly for me to be here.  You’re so busy.  I’ll see you when you get home.”  She told him as she zipped up her last suitcase and moved to lift it from the rack.

“I’ll get that.”  JC insisted and picked it up for her. 

“Really, I can do this myself.  I know you’re tired.”  She told him. 

“It’s okay.  I don’t mind.”  He assured her.   “When are you leaving?”

“In about a half hour.  You don’t mind, do you?”

“No.  You’re right, I am busy and I don’t really have any time for us right now.  It’s probably best if you go. I’ll see you soon.”

Inhaling deeply, she stared down at the floor.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.  You get your sleep and I’ll be really quiet with the rest of my stuff.  I’m just about ready.”

©2001 BrandyRae