“Bitch, I can’t!” Matthew exclaimed as Colleen walked into his studio, running up to embrace her in a tight hug. “An Oscar party?! You are making this red carpet official!”

“I’m already nervous enough,” Colleen explained, “let’s not add on the additional social pressure.”

“Oh please, word’s out you two are dating,” Matthew said, taking Colleen’s purse and handing her a glass of wine. “As soon as those pics from your New Year’s Eve yacht cruise came out, the hounds started sniffing.”

“Yeah, and a year ago I would have done the same thing. No one’s been weird about it yet thankfully. Just a few people commenting on my post about the view we had from the hotel asking I share a pic with JC in it.”

“But you’re afraid once it’s official official, they will get crazy?”

“No, actually, it’s all the surrounding shit that comes with it. I had to have a meeting with my boss because we met due to JC originally being a client. I have to keep my social media open for work so everything I post now has to be scrutinized before I can even do it, even if it’s strictly work related.”

“Gosh, life is hard when you’re dating your dream man,” Matthew mocked her.

“Shut up,” she laughed. “I expected some of this but the level of thought that now has to go into everything I do is…it’s a lot. After the party, it’s gonna get way worse for a bit so just trying to prep myself.”

“Look, I don’t want to say “who cares what the public thinks” but live your life, girl. Show off that you got your man.”

“You know I can’t do that for a variety of reasons. First, JC would hate it. Second, the fans would hate it. There’s a huge difference between sharing a snippet of your life and bragging. I’ve been on the other end of that, critiquing exactly how happy he appeared to be with the woman next to him.”

“Plus you don’t want people trashing you just cuz you’re fucking him.”

“That too,” Colleen said, sipping her wine. “Honestly, Karly and Michael have been godsends trying to navigate all this.”

“How so?”

“Karly knows fans love seeing Nash just be fucking adorable. She used to have her account private for Chris’s sake so we talked about some of the things she’s cool with sharing and what she’s not. Michael loves social media and uses it to promote his work. He gets lots of *NSYNC questions and he’s just careful about which ones he chooses to answer.”

“Speaking of Chris, I’m dying to know how JC’s trip went. Tell me they actually got new music done.”

“They did,” Colleen beamed. “Two songs but I’m not allowed to hear them yet. Bits and pieces of some other ones too. He’s been going over to Lance’s lately to flesh out the bass parts.”

“Are we finally turning the corner on a reunion?!” Matthew clasped his hands excitedly.

“I mean, we’re making progress, that’s for sure. Justin promised to come by after his tv show is done shooting and Joey will be back in April for Common Knowledge.”

“My Joseph will be here?!” Matthew swooned. “Do I get him a present? Perhaps treat him to a candlelight dinner where I feed him bon bons?”

“Why does my brain envision him trying to catch them in his mouth as you toss them?”

“Whatever makes boo happy,” Matthew told her. “Now, let’s play dress up!” Matthew led Colleen towards the back where two racks of designer dresses were displayed.

“Jesus Christ!” Colleen exclaimed, walking over to look more closely. “These are all for me to try on?”

“Welcome to the celebrity life,” Matthew smiled. “Come on, you can’t be that shocked. You wear designer clothes all the time.”

“Yeah, for work, because I have to. Getting clothes from Neiman Marcus pales in comparison to this,” she said, running her fingers over the delicate fabrics.

“I got an assortment of things but the key is to make an impression but not overshadow JC. He’s the star and, hate to tell you but you’re the arm candy, at least for the night.”

“For one night, I can handle. Please tell me these aren’t all sample size cuz this will suck if I can’t fit in anything.”

“I’m going to not be offended by your terrible inference that as a stylist I wouldn’t know my client’s proportions,” Matthew stated offendedly. “Of course I got stuff roughly your size, we’ll put it on and go from there.”

“Sounds good. Which one do we try on first?” Matthew pulled out a huge white gown with a puffy tulle skirt. “What happened to not overshadowing JC? What’s he supposed to do, pop out from under there?”

“Now that would be an amazing first impression! By the way, where is JC? I gotta get him in for a tux fitting.”

“He had an important meeting. I’ll remind him later, promise.”

Joshua stood over Mistress Raina as she lay prone on the massage table below him. He was currently working a knot out of her shoulder that she had wanted him to attend to. “So you feel like you’re cheating, is that the problem?” she asked as his fingers worked over her muscles.

“I’m not sure how to explain it, Mistress. I’ve never had a girlfriend who makes me feel the way that Colleen does. When she’s in control, it’s the closest I’ve ever felt to when I’m with you and it’s exhilarating and scary all at the same time.”

“You know she’ll never be as good as me, right Joshua?”

“Yes Mistress, no one could ever replace you. I just want to be honest with you about how I feel.”

“As you should. Tell me, why do you find it frightening?”

“Because she knows what she’s doing, Mistress. At least, more than every other woman whom I’ve played with. It’s not solely about sex with her, it can simply be about domination and control. That’s how you are, Mistress.”

“Give me an example.”

“The other night, she had me give her a foot massage while she watched one of her Housewives shows, Mistress. I don’t know which one, I wasn’t paying attention, I was solely focused on her and she…she just watched her show and would occasionally run her fingers through my hair so I’d know I was doing a good job.”

“And how did that make you feel?”

“Incredible, Mistress. So…needed. Close to how I feel right now.”

“Which is?”

“That all I want to do is everything I can to make you feel good, Mistress.”

Mistress Raina pondered over everything Joshua was saying. She felt pride in knowing he and Colleen would be a perfect match but didn’t imagine her to be quite so formidable in exuding her own control over Joshua. Getting him to work with his band mates in such a short period of knowing him was a major feat Mistress Raina had to admit to herself she was thoroughly impressed by. She didn’t want to mess up anything with their relationship however she might have to remind Colleen of her place soon enough. Or….

“Are you enjoying when you get to control her, Joshua?”

“Yes Mistress, very much so. Mistress Piper has been very helpful.”

“I’m sure she has. Perhaps I will need to send you over to properly thank her later.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

“What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned thus far, Joshua?”

“That it’s not about what I make her do but about how I make her do it, Mistress.”

“Is that so? Elaborate.”

“So far it’s just small stuff, Mistress but nevertheless it turns me on. Last week I made her go to the beach with me. I’m sure she would have if I had just asked but I wanted to make her go.”

“How did you do that?”

“I started talking about watching the tide go in and out and how relaxing it was, Mistress. How good it feels to have the wind blow through your hair and smell the saltiness of the ocean. The sounds and stress of the city just fade away when you’re out there…”

Mistress Raina sighed. “Don’t get too good at that, Joshua.”

“Sorry Mistress,” Joshua blushed.

“Why does that turn you on?”

“What I’m saying or doing doesn’t, Mistress but watching her slowly relax and give in incredibly does. Knowing I can do that to her and she enjoys it is very...powerful.”

“I just don’t understand all the preamble. Can’t you just swing a pocket watch in front of her face and get the same results?”

“That’s possible, Mistress. I honestly don’t know the answer,” Joshua thought out loud.

Mistress Raina sat up on the table suddenly, her naked body on full display. “Would you like that, Joshua? Would you want to be controlled like that?”

“I don’t know, Mistress. I don’t think so but admittedly I’d be interested in understanding what all the fuss is about.”

“Would you like Colleen to control you like that?”

Joshua thought about it. “No Mistress. I like that our desires are similar in nature but very different in practice.”

“What if I did?” Mistress Raina suggested heatedly, raising her hand to brush over Joshua’s temple in the same fashion she knew was used for Colleen.

Joshua gulped and stared at the beautiful woman in front of him. “You already control me, Mistress. However you wanted to do so, I would readily comply.”

“That you would,” Mistress Raina grinned. “I think it’s time I remind the both of you who is ultimately in charge here.”

“I think this is the one!” Matthew exclaimed as Colleen emerged from the dressing room.

“It certainly does fit pretty well,” she remarked as she looked in the mirror. The muted pink gown showed only a hint of cleavage due to the square, slit neck top and the skirt had just enough give due to the pleats to not make it feel too restrictive.

“This color is gorgeous on you,” Matthew continued. “It won’t need too much altering. I’d want to shorten the sleeves as it looks a little matronly and give you a touch more cleavage.”

“As in lower the neck line or make me wear chicken cutlets?”

“Honey, I’m always telling you to show those puppies off but I actually just think the dress would look better with a lower cut. I can find some shoes to match or we’ll just get ones dyed, that’ll be easy enough. How short can I persuade you to cut your hair?”

“If it involves the word shaving, I’m out.”

“Good, I’m thinking around chin length, maybe some honey highlights to soften the whole thing up. Then we can just do a sharp earring, maybe a bracelet, we’ll see. I might add a black belt for some color blocking and to tie in with JC.”

“It’s really fun to see you so in your element,” Colleen smiled at her friend.

“I’m not just a pretty face and a tight ass, Colleen. I went to Parsons…on a tour,” he smiled back.

“So, not to be rude, but what is all this going to run me?” Colleen asked, starting to add up all the little things Matthew was mentioning into one giant bill.

“For you, I waived my consulting fee but if you start becoming the it couple and attending movie premieres and, I don’t know, opening nights of much anticipated reunion tours, I’ll have to charge you,” Matthew winked. “This designer is just getting into gowns so if you plug he’s the creator a couple times, I can probably finagle it for free. Shoes, hair, makeup, nails…that’s all on you, girl, but I can hook you up with the right people. Jewelry we can borrow. It’s not gonna be Harry Winston but I can figure something out.”

“I owe you so many Pornstar Martinis for this,” Colleen told him, looking herself over in the mirror once more, imagining herself holding JC’s hand as they walked the red carpet. She’d been trying to get tickets to the Elton John Oscar viewing party for at least the past ten years in hopes of meeting JC there and now she was actually going with him. 

“Bitch, you know what you owe me,” Matthew said matter of factly.

“You realize asking for a picture of Joey’s penis is going to arouse a number of suspicions, right?”

“Getting me a picture of Joey’s penis will arouse something way more important for me,” he grinned.