July 17, 2002 (WEG Compound)

"So, you'll be back on the twenty-fourth, right?"

"Yes, Robert."

"And you'll call me as soon as you get to your hotel room tonight--even if it's a little late here, right?"

"Yes, Robert."

"And you'll--"

"Kill my brother if he asks me one more question...? Yes, Robert." Cathy sarcastically interrupted, causing the younger man to slightly chuckle for a second before throwing out a small apology. "Sorry grouch."

"It's okay, brat." Cathy outwardly replied, before turning her attention back towards the passenger side window; looking on as her and Rebecca's bus driver, Leon loaded her bags onto their bus. I must be getting used to living out on the road 'cause I can't wait to just get on my bus and crash.

With that thought in mind, Cathy let out a small sigh before outwardly replying: "There going to start loading the buses in a couple of minutes, so I better go...but I'll give you a call when we reach Missouri tonight, okay?"

"All right." Robert reluctantly replied, before leaning over and giving his older sister a small hug and a kiss on the cheek and then afterwards telling her to promise him that she'd be careful while out on the tour. "I'm going to need you to be in one piece when you help me and Ryan repaint the club next month."

"Oh, can I?" Cathy sarcastically replied back, before telling Robert that she'd be careful and that she'd see him in five weeks; afterwards cementing the fact by climbing out of her brother's Ford Explorer and waving good-bye to the younger man as he backed out of the compound. You know, I think I might actually miss him and Ryan while I'm out here.

With that being her last thought, Cathy turned around to make her way towards her bus. But unfortunately, just before she could reach the vehicle, someone calling out her name caused her to stop and inwardly curse in frustration. Shit...I was almost there.

After turning around to see who was calling her name, Cathy found her irritation quickly disappearing and a hopeful look appearing across her face as she saw that it was Lance. Maybe he has some good news for me.

Waiting until after he had gotten a few feet in front of her to offer him as much of a smile as she could muster, Cathy outwardly replied: "Hey you...! You almost missed me."

Knowing just how much Cathy valued her sleep, Lance slightly smiled at the statement before saying: "I figured as much, that's why I wanted to catch you before you got on your bus so I could tell you the news....I talked to my lawyer this morning."

Seeing the way that Cathy had slightly tensed up at that comment caused Lance to quickly retort that it wasn't bad news; which made the older woman relax a little. "So, what is it...? What did he say?"

Knowing that the suspense was probably killing her, Lance--without even bothering to pause for a second--quickly replied: "He said that after going over your closing contract, he's willing to not only take your case but also defend you in court, free of charge."

Which will really help me out when I lose my job in a couple of months. Cathy inwardly noted to herself, before outwardly saying: "But..?" when it looked like Lance had more to say but wasn't really sure how to say it.

"But..." Lance continued, after a second, "as of right now, Steve's not really sure how long it's going to take before he can come up with some hard evidence--besides your testimony and medical records--that proves that you were wrongfully fired."

A statement which caused Cathy to angrily wonder why that couldn't be enough?

It's probably because just like Robert said: to prove somebody wrong in the court of law, you have to make sure that you're not only telling the truth but also have several pieces of evidences to back up your side of the story; hopefully concluding that the other person did what they did with nothing but malicious intent at heart.

With that thought in mind, Cathy bit down on her lower lip--a new habit that she had just learned to do when she was frustrated--and quickly replied: "How long does he think it's going to take before he finds out more evidence?"

While shrugging his shoulders slightly, Lance retorted: "He says it all depends on how well your boss has covered his footsteps so far and if this is his first time in a sexual harassment battle...but just to warn you, I gave Steve your number so he'll be able to contact you with any information that he finds out without having to go through me first...I hope you don't mind."

Figuring that both Lance and his lawyer knew better than she did, Cathy quickly replied: "That's fine.." before absentmindedly noticing a somewhat late Justin and Kayla hopping on there bus and continuing with: "So, did he say what I should do until I hear anything from him?"

After waiting until Rebecca, who was standing in front of the guy's bus, to stop screaming that everyone needed to get on there buses so they could leave already, Lance replied: "Yeah, he told me that you should just continue doing what you've been doing since you got here and also: try and not to think about it too much."

Knowing that was going to be easier said than done, Cathy expressed that statement out loud while making her way towards the guy's bus; figuring that she might as well join the others until they got to their first stop--seeing as though sleep was now the furthest thing from her mind.

"You know..." Lance commented, once they were both a few feet in front of the guy's bus, "whatever happens with this, we've all got your back....even those of us who don't know about it yet."

After sharing a small smile with the younger man, Cathy outwardly thanked Lance for saying that statement. "It actually makes me feel a little bit better about this whole thing."

While flashing the brunette his award-winning smile, Lance chuckled slightly to himself before jokingly replying: "Well, that's what I'm here for."

A comment which made Cathy inwardly note to herself:

Good, because I might be needing you around me for awhile.

Later that night (Pontiac, Missouri)

"So, when did he say that this Steve guy would be calling you?"

Without even bothering to turn her gaze away from the television screen in front of her, Cathy absentmindedly replied that the younger man hadn't given her a set time. "But I'm guessing it'll be sometime soon since Lance gave him my number this morning."

"Well, just make sure you call me as soon as you get off the phone with him....I want to know everything that he's got on Keith--hopefully the sooner he finds out all that he can, the sooner this thing will be all over with."

From your lips to God's ears. Cathy inwardly thought to herself. But just before she could say that comment out loud, a knock on her door was heard.

Rebecca must've forgotten her key again.

After telling Robert to hold on for a second, Cathy quickly made her way to the other side of the room--and after opening the door in front of her, and discovering that it wasn't Rebecca, but Justin--she quickly told her brother that she'd have to call him back later.

"All right, but just remember what I said before....oh, and tell Mr. Timberlake I said that we'd love to have him over for dinner once you guys get back to Orlando, all right?"

Without even bothering to hold back her roll of the eyes, Cathy muttered a "Will do," before saying her good-byes and hanging up the phone. "Sorry about that...come on in."

After waiting until he had fully stepped inside and Cathy had closed the door behind him, Justin apologized for cutting into her conversation. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Don't worry, you weren't interrupting anything--that was just Robert...he wants you to stop by for dinner when we get back home."

After visibly shaking at the memory of Robert staring him down a few days earlier, Justin replied: "I'll keep that in mind."

I just bet you will, Cathy jokingly thought to herself, before taking a seat at the kitchen table beside the door and outwardly replying: "So, what did I do to deserve the pleasure of your company...? I thought you and Kayla were going to join everyone else downstairs at the pool."

While taking a seat at the table next to Cathy, Justin replied: "We were, but I wanted to finish this song I was working on earlier so Chris and Joey volunteered to take Kayla down there for me."

"Which would explain the reason why Lance and Rebecca went along as well."

"Exactly!" Justin replied, in a slightly amused tone, before opening the book in his hand--that Cathy hadn't noticed until now--and flipping through a couple sheets of paper until he got to the page he wanted: "And which would also explain why I'm here...I need your help on one of the songs that I'm writing."

"My help?" Cathy opened her mouth to ask, but noticing the look of confusion on her face, Justin quickly interrupted her with: "I don't really need your help on the lyrics or music. It's just like the last song I showed you. I feel like it's missing something, but I don't really know what it is. So, I was hoping you could take a look at it for me--maybe give me a second opinion."

Even though Cathy was sure that Kayla probably would've been a better choice to ask for help than she was at the moment--given the fact that she hadn't slept any on the bus ride to Missouri and was more than exhausted right now--the fact that Justin was asking her for her help caused Cathy to reluctantly take the book from his hands and start reading the first verse outloud: "You're sneaky, from the corner of my eye I saw you--"

"Not that one!"

Without even bothering to hide her confusion, Cathy raised an eyebrow at Justin's comment and then raised the other one as she noticed that the younger man was blushing.

That's a first..

After pausing for a second to move his hand towards another song that was on the page, Justin replied: "This is the one that I want you to look at. The other one is sort of....personal."

Having a feeling that there was more to the story than he was telling her--but guessing that Justin didn't want to get into it right now--caused Cathy to mockingly nod her head in understanding before reading to herself the words of the song that Justin had meant for her to view. Afterwards, she hesitantly replied: "I don't really see anything wrong with it....except for maybe one thing."

Having now calmed down somewhat, Justin gently took the book from Cathy's hands; trying to guess what she might have seen problems in. "What's that?"

As if it was obvious, Cathy nonchalantly replied: "Well, the song is called "And she said..take me now." But from the words alone, it looks like you're saying everything...maybe you could think about having a female say the words take me now, or maybe something else along those lines at the beginning or the end of the song."

"Like an intro?" Justin absentmindedly asked while writing down that thought at the top of the page.

"Yeah...." Cathy retorted while inwardly replying: What you just said.

After taking a couple of seconds to come up with something that he could maybe have as the intro, Justin let a small smile grace his face as he replied: "I think you just saved me from another hour of practically pulling my hair out."

While letting out a small yawn, Cathy half joked: "That's what I'm here for...and now that my work is done, I think I'm going to reward myself by turning in early. That is, if theirs not anything else you need my help with."

After getting up, ready to leave, Justin began to shake his head. But then after a second of thinking about it, he stopped himself: "Actually, there is one thing..."

Figuring that the faster he asked her the favor, the faster she could get to sleep, Cathy quickly asked: "What can I do for you?"

"Actually it's more of what I can do for you..."

Huh?

Seeing the look of confusion on her face, Justin quickly continued with: "Lately I've been thinking about how much you've been there for Kay and me ever since Debra's passing. And I was kind of wondering if you'd let me take you out to dinner--as sort of a way to say: Thank you."

Surprised by this gesture, Cathy blurted out, in a surprised tone: "Just the two of us?" Causing herself to slightly blush and Justin to slightly laugh. "Yeah, just the two of us--that is, if you don't mind."

Not really knowing what to say at the moment, Cathy absentmindedly replied: "I don't mind, I just...don't think there's really a reason for you to thank me. I've just been doing my--"

"Job..? I know." Justin interrupted, "But I still would like to do it...and you don't even have to consider it as me thanking you. We can just say it's me taking you out for your birthday since I forgot about it before...what do you say?"

Even though she wanted to remind him that he really didn't forget about her birthday--since she hadn't told him about it beforehand--Cathy could tell by the look in Justin's eyes that he had no intention of dropping the subject until she agreed to go with him. So, with that thought in mind, she reluctantly replied: "What day did you have in mind?"

A question that caused Justin to slightly grin before outwardly retorting:

"How about a week from today?"

July 24, 2002 (Foxboro, Massachusetts)

After staying in Justin's room with Kayla until the guys rolled in around one-thirty that morning, Cathy was awaken two hours later by a slightly grouchy Rebecca.

"So, how long were you going to wait before you told me?"

"Told you what?" Cathy tiredly moaned, while trying to shield her eyes from the bedside light that the younger woman had just turned on.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Not having any idea as to what the other woman was talking about caused Cathy to say just that while reluctantly sitting up on her bed. "What's going on?"

"You tell me..." Rebecca angrily replied, while sliding the covers off her body and turning around so she was completely facing the other woman. "I heard about your little date with Justin tonight."

Here we go...

It had been exactly one week since Justin had asked her to go out to dinner with him and even though she hadn't spoken to anyone besides him about the event, she was just waiting for Rebecca to ask her about it.

"First of all, it's not a date--it's just a dinner between two members of the opposite sex--and second of all, who told you about it?"

"No one did.." Rebecca retorted, with a hint of disgust in her voice. "I accidentally overheard Chris and Joey talking about it before the show last night--but that's besides the point--why didn't you tell me about it?"

Even though she was going on a little bit of sleep right now, Cathy didn't miss the look of hurt that quickly shot across Rebecca's face after that last statement.

She really thinks that I went out of my way to keep this a secret from her.

With that thought in mind, Cathy let out a small sigh, before honestly replying: "I didn't tell you about my dinner with Justin because I didn't think there was anything to tell. He asked me out to dinner to thank me for everything that I've done for him and Kayla these last couple of months and I accepted--only after I told him that he had nothing to thank me for, I was just doing my job."

"And another thing..." Cathy continued, before Rebecca could interrupt her: "I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want you to jump to any sort of conclusion about the two of us--like you're doing right now."

After a second of letting Cathy's words sink in, Rebecca outwardly replied: "Even if that's true--which I'm not saying it is--you still should've told me. You couldn't believe how stupid I felt after hearing about your dinner with Justin from Chris and Joey--I thought I was kicked out of the group for a second."

After slightly joking that she didn't know that the guys and her had added Rebecca to the group yet, Cathy outwardly replied, in all honesty: "Don't worry, next time I go out to dinner with anybody else I promise to tell you about it, before I tell anyone else, got it?"

After pretending to think about it for a second, Rebecca let a small smile grace her face as she outwardly replied: "Got it!"

"Good..." Cathy commented, before jokingly continuing with: "Now that that's settled, is there anything else that we need to discuss before I go back to bed?"

After taking a second to think about it, Rebecca opened her mouth to say that she didn't think so. But just before the words could get past her lips, a thought popped into her head causing her to say:

"There is one thing..."

Seven-thirty PM

"God, I swear you're worse than one of the guys...would you hold still for a second so I don't burn you?"

After letting out a small groan and inwardly telling herself that this would be all over with in a couple of minutes, Cathy outwardly asked the younger woman, who at the moment, had a death grip on her head: "Remind me again why I agreed to let you do this?"

Without taking her eyes off the small piece of hair that she was curling at the moment, Rebecca let a sly grin cross her face as she inwardly retorted: Because you have the hots for our friend Justin and are hoping that he'll be on the menu for dessert tonight, while outwardly replying: "Because out of all the females you know on this tour, I'm the only one you know who can do their own hair and makeup without making myself look like Beetlejuices' sister."

After slightly laughing at the comment and then loudly cursing when Rebecca accidentally stung the side of her face, Cathy replied: "Atleast Beetlejuices' sister never had a third degree burn on her forehead."

"Sorry, but I told you not to move." Rebecca commented before looking up as the person, whose room they were in right now, came out of the bathroom. "Lance, would you be a doll and unplug the curling iron for me?"

"And while you're at it.." Cathy chimed in, "would you be a doll and call nine one-one for me? I think your friend here just set my face on fire."

While chuckling slightly at the comment, Lance made his way over to where the curling iron was plugged into the wall socket--taking it out. Then afterwards he raised both eyebrows slightly as he got a good look at Cathy.

"I don't know about calling an ambulance for you. But I might have to call one for J when he sees you...you look gorgeous."

After blushing slightly at the compliment and giving Lance an embarrassed Thank you, Cathy turned towards the mirror that was behind her and had to do a double take as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. That doesn't even look like me.

Rebecca had taken Cathy's usually bone straight hair and placed it into a loose bun; afterwards, instead of just letting them hang loosely, she had curled all the falling pieces so they framed her face--causing her to look as Lance had just called her: gorgeous.

"So, what do you think?" Rebecca asked, after a second; snapping Cathy out of her thoughts.

Without even bothering to move her eyes from the mirror, Cathy hesitantly replied: "I like it...you did good."

"Thanks." Rebecca replied somewhat teasingly; even though more than part of her was relieved that Cathy approved. "Now, you're all set for your date with Mr. Timberlake."

Here we go again.

Turning her attention towards Lance, Cathy outwardly asked him to please tell his friend that it wasn't a date that she was going on but just a birthday dinner between two friends.

Turning towards Rebecca, Lance jokingly replied: "Friend, it is just a birthday dinner between two friends--not at all a date--so drop it."

Without even bothering to hide her roll of the eyes, Cathy opened her mouth to tell the two laughing hyenas in front of her that she was serious. But unfortunately before she could do so, a knock was heard at the door.

"I'll get it...that's probably Romeo now."

After rolling her eyes once again, Cathy turned her attention back towards the mirror one last time--making sure she hadn't missed anything--before turning her attention towards the front of the room just as Justin was entering the door with Kayla in his arms.

Wow...

Justin had told Cathy the night before that the place they were going to was not fancy but you still had to dress up to go to it. And judging by the two piece black suit he had on with a silk blue shirt underneath it--that matched his eyes--she could tell he understood the meaning of the words dressed up.

If I was a teenage female or a middle aged woman going through my mid-life crisis, I'd defiantly have to pick my jaw up from the floor right now.

"You know, in a minute we're going to have swim through your drool just to get out of here, right?" Lance commented causing Cathy to blush in embarrassment.

"Not you too!"

"Hey, just making an observation!" Lance chuckled, causing Justin to turn towards them--for the first time since he had stepped into the room--and widen his eyes at seeing Cathy's new look.

"Wow...! You look...amazing!"

Embarrassed by that statement and by the fact that Rebecca was giving her a huge smile from behind Justin's back caused Cathy to nervously reply: "Well, if you think I look like that now, you should've seen me thirty minutes ago when I had Rebecca in a headlock; threatening to kill her if she ever came near me again with a tube of mascara. I was stunning."

"Breathtaking, even." Lance chimed in, causing Justin to chuckle and Rebecca to slightly roll her eyes.

"Well, now that we have all concluded that Cathy looks good enough to eat, how about we let the two of them go so Justin can hurry up and go do that."

Seeing the blush that took over both Justin and Cathy's face after that comment caused Lance to shake his head in amusement. Something tells me that I better go and remove all the pillows from Cathy's room before Rebecca goes to sleep tonight.

"Our reservations are at eight, so we better get going."

Fortunately before Rebecca could add to that comment, Lance quickly replied "I agree," before taking Kayla from Justin's arms and motioning Cathy and Justin towards the door. "You two have a good time tonight--"

"And don't let Juliet stay out too long." Rebecca quickly chimed in, before Lance got a chance to shut the door behind them--separating the two couples from one another and causing Justin to shoot Cathy a confused look. "Do I even want to know...?"

After slightly rolling her eyes in response, Cathy retorted: "No, but since you asked....for some reason or another, they--Rebecca more than Lance--seem to have this idea that we're on a date."

Before Cathy could add that she knew the idea was ridiculous, Justin said: "That's because we are," causing Cathy to look up at him startled and Justin to chuckle slightly at the deer caught in head lights look that she was wearing.

"Don't worry, I'm not about to propose my undying love to you or anything. I just realized that I haven't been on a real date in a long time and you've basically crossed out your entire social calendar to come on tour with Kay and me, so, I guess we could in someways consider this to be a date...that is, if that's okay with you."

After staring at the man in front of her for a second--wondering what the appropriate response to something like that would be--Cathy strangely enough found herself saying: "That's fine by me."

Causing Justin to let out a small chuckle while jokingly replying:

"I figured you'd see things my way."