Chapter 1: 

Los Angeles, California- 25 Year Later, March 2016

Mina takes a deep breath and glances at her reflection in her rearview mirror. She had just gotten off a flight from New York. Sure she could have gone home and taken the morning off but there was always work to be done. Sleep could wait. She reapplies her lipstick and brushes her wavy brown hair over her shoulders. 

“You got this!” she tells herself trying to hype herself up. Everything in New York went well, even better than she and her business partner Madison could have imagined, she should be excited but she was the opposite. She grabs her coffee and handbag and gets out of the car. 

The offices of Morgan Events weren’t large but just big enough for both Mina and Madison, their shared assistant Sarah and their 5 “planner minions.” 

“Mina you’re back? We thought…” Sarah asks as Mina walks past her to her office

“Any messages?” Mina questions 

“Only one, Mrs. Williams called about her daughter’s wedding. She was so frantic I couldn’t quite make out what she was upset about” Sarah replies

“Isn’t Hannah on that account?

“Yes but she would only talk to you or Madison and you were in New York and Madison was out”

“I’ll call her back. Thanks, Sarah” Mina replies. She sets her suitcase next to her desk and tosses her handbag on top. Taking her seat at her desk, she takes a long sip of coffee. Her assistant smiles and leaves her alone in her office. Mina rubs her temples and sighs. One of her least favorite things about being an event planner- mothers of the bride. No sooner had Sarah closed the door did it burst back open, revealing her partner Madison. 

“Well, how did it go?” Madi asks, sitting across from Mina. 

“MTV was a little bummed to hear we had relocated completely to LA but we got the contract!” Mina replies excitedly. 

“Morgan Events is on its way!” Madi shouts. The two of them met at NYU after a dorm room mixup after discovering they had the same last name and had been best friends ever since. Madison was like the sister that Mina never had. 

Mina nods in agreement but her smile disappears. 

“Why so glum? This is great for us? We can finally do more upscale events and not just weddings and birthday parties”

“I know but it is MTV and…” 

“So… what’s their plan?”

“They turn 35 this year and they want to do a ton of parties to celebrate throughout the year in both New York and LA. We’ve got the LA contract. Which means we’re in charge of the TRL party and a few other celebrations they have planned” Mina explains

“I can already see it in my head- 90s and early aughts. We should get started on this soon” 

“MTV did say their people would compile the guest list, they have good contacts with all the right people and then they would send it our way and we handle the rest” 

“That’s my girl!” Madison exclaims and notices Mina’s suitcase “Did you seriously come here straight from the airport?” she adds 

“Yes, and don’t start. You know we have a lot of work to do” Mina replies. Madison just shakes her head. Her friend worked too hard. The airport was closer to her townhouse in Santa Monica than it was to their office in Studio City. 

“You need to take some time for yourself. When was the last time you even went on a date?”

“Madi. I’m almost 40, if it hasn’t happened yet, it's not happening. I’m fine. Let’s just worry about this event okay?”

“You know I think you should handle this one. You organized all the meetings with MTV and you’ll do great” Madison answers after a long pause. 

“But…” Mina stammers

“But nothing. You’re gonna plan the best event, blow everyone away and if JC Chasez happens to be there then you put your big girl panties on and deal with it!” 

“Easy for you to say, he wasn’t YOUR childhood best friend! I haven’t seen him in like 20 years!” 

“You can’t just keep avoiding things. Would he even recognize you? I’ve seen your high school photos remember, you’ve glowed up girl” Madison states

“I know, I know. It was the early 90s… everyone glowed up!” Mina finally agrees, with a hint of sarcasm. “What’s the worst that can happen, right?” she adds with a fake smile. 

“Oh you better call Mrs. Williams back before we have a repeat of last time” Madison laughs, heading towards the door

“Why do we even have planner minions if they can’t handle situations?” Mina replies to her empty office. 

Madison was right. She could do this. She’d been in LA for 2 years already and hadn’t run into Josh or JC as he was now known to the world, at all. It had been 20 years and he had surely forgotten her, she needed to let her grudges go. If she just minded her own business as always and avoided the guests she would be fine. She took another calming breath as she dials the client’s number.