It seemed whatever chance Vivian and Justin had of salvaging what remained of their miniscule friendship was gone after their enormous argument on stage. They could hardly stand to look at the other and their silence continued until the day before tour started and it was then that the other band members decided something needed to be done.
Joey had been sitting in the audience, gazing up at the newly constructed stage and watched as his brother went over the area, making sure all his camera angels were covered. Joey always loved the comforting feeling of having family on tour and he was even more fortunate that his only brother was able to spend all this time with him and his band mates. It had always been a running joke that should Joey mess something up, the remaining members could replace him with Steve and no one would be the wiser.
He was about to join his brother onstage when he heard a distant voice grumbling behind him. Turning around, he saw Wade storm down the aisle before he threw himself into a chair next to Joey, the younger man shaking his head slowly.
“What’s up?” Joey asked and Wade let out a disgruntled sigh.
“I can’t work with him when he’s got something else in his head,” Wade muttered, “You’ve got to help me get Justin’s mind off of this Vivian thing,” he said to Joey and he was greeted with a raised eyebrow.
“And how do you suggest we do that? Don’t you think I’ve tried to get them to make up? She already tried to send in her resignation papers but Melinda won’t let her leave and that’s making her even more irritable. JC’s tried talking to her time and time again but she just isn’t letting anyone in. Justin hasn’t even attempted to apologize and he won’t even talk about it. So unless you have some great idea inside that head of yours, I don’t know what to do,” Joey countered feeling rather heated.
Truth was, everyone was thrown off balance due to the enormous rift between Vivian and Justin and Joey hated it. He always performed poorly or acted tense around people when there were others who weren’t getting along. Sure, he was closer to Justin than he was to Vivian but she had become a sort of intangible little sister to him and the rest of the group. Vivian was the kind of sister that didn’t need any sort of protecting but you wanted to make sure she was safe all the same.
Wade sat there for a moment, thinking quietly to himself. Joey didn’t even want to know what kind of ideas were going through his head. Wade was a man of open thinking and sometimes his ideas were a little too fresh and new fangled. Joey wouldn’t be surprised if his idea of making Justin and Vivian make amends was filling up a baby pool with baby oil and have them go at it. But when Wade finally spoke his piece, Joey didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it himself.
“If I was a twelve year old girl, I would squeal and kiss you,” Joey said with a grin as he got up from his seat and patted Wade on the back. The dancer merely raised his eyebrow at the older man before they began a whispered discussion about their plan that would be set into motion immediately.
“I don’t know why you want to talk to me about your clothing line right now Chris. I don’t have the time,” Vivian complained as she walked down the backstage area of the venue, Chris following at her heels. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. He had a mission and he wasn’t going to stop until he fulfilled it.
“But it’s important! If I get some information about my line out right when we start touring there’ll be tons of people wanting to buy the clothes for the tour! It’s a goldmine and I’ll give you fifteen percent of the profit,” he added quickly as she increased her speed.
“Chris,” Vivian sighed as she stopped abruptly and looked at Chris who had to stop hastily so he could avoid running into Vivian, “how long is this going to take?”
“Not long at all! Follow me and we’ll go to my dressing room,” he explained as he quickly grabbed her hand and started to drag her in the opposite direction. The clacking of her heels against the concrete was the only sound they could hear as they continued on Chris’ quest. The group opened in less than twenty-four hours and their only job for that night was to get as much rest as possible before a slew of onsite interviews, sound checks, and last minute costume fittings plauged their every thought. It was going to be an exhausting day for the group and all their employees but it would be worth it in the end.
They finally reached Chris’ room and he opened the door for her, watching as she walked quietly inside. He walked in after her, closing the door before he ambled over to the vanity that had been set up or his hair and makeup. Fumbling around, he let out a grunt of displeasure before he turned around.
“Sorry, I forgot the sketches in my car. Give me five minutes, I’ll be right back,” he said before he offered her a seat in his styling chair and rushed out of the room. He closed the door and started to run down the corridor, pulling a walkie talkie out of his back pocket.
“Captain Crazy to Sleepy, Captain Crazy to Sleepy, over.”
“Do you really have to use those damn codenames Chris?” JC’s voice came over the other end of the device. Chris merely rolled his eyes and pressed the button that would allow him to talk.
“You have to say ‘over,’” he stated simply, “But Phase One is complete. Repeat, Phase One is complete. Over.”
“I’m going to kill Joey for giving that thing to you,” JC muttered into the two-way radio, “Justin’s still in the bathroom making sure Curl 129 is in place, you better hurry before he realizes that there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Read you loud and clear! This is Captain Crazy over and out!” Chris grinned when he heard JC’s disgruntled sigh before the turned the walkie talkie off and hurried towards the bathroom, hoping he could cut his band mate off just in time.
“Chris, can’t this wait until tomorrow? I’m tired, I want to go to sleep and looking through sketches of your clothing line is not how I want to spend my last night before touring starts,” Justin whined as Chris pushed and prodded him down the hallway. All was silent save for Justin’s exasperated sighs and moans of discontent and Chris’ words of encouragement.
“I better be looking at fashion gold here,” Justin explained despondently as they neared his dressing room. So far it was all going according to plan and Chris was sure that by the end of the night, everything would right itself out.
He continued to push his disgruntled band mate down the corridor, thankful that there weren’t any distractions to keep them from their final destination. The last thing he needed was some unforeseeable obstacle to come in the way of The Plan and therefore ruin everything. It was not something he wanted to happen and he would be damned should this all be shot to hell.
“It’s platinum,” Chris stated with a grin, “Its so good it’ll make your head spin from here until Saturday.”
“Dude, Saturday is tomorrow,” Justin explained and Chris merely rolled his eyes and continued to force his younger friend down the corridor.
“You know what I mean.” Eureka! They had finally reached his dressing room and now the plan would be set into motion. Opening the door for Justin, Chris pulled out a piece of paper and slammed it down Justin’s shirt before shoving him into the room, slamming the door after him.
Laughing wildly, Chris quickly locked the door and leaned against the door frame, pulling out his walkie talkie and turning it on.
“This is Captain Crazy to Three Old Farts, Captain Crazy to Three Old Farts, over!”
“Last time I checked you were the oldest one of us all, Chris,” quipped Lance’s voice over the static of the two-way.
“How many times do I have to tell you to use ‘over,’ over!” Chris exclaimed, shaking his head.
“Never mind that, did you do it?” this time it was Joey’s voice coming from the radio and Chris shook his head even though his friends couldn’t see him.
“Yup, both our subjects are in Camp Friendship for the night. All we can do is wait until morning to see what happens, over,” Chris explained gleefully.
“Well get your ass back here, we need to go get some sleep for tomorrow. I almost feel sorry for Justin…he’s going to be so tired tomorrow night,” JC stated as Chris started to walk away from his dressing room.
“Oh shove it JC, Justin’s young, he’ll take a five minute nap and be ready to entertain the seven thousand screaming girls tomorrow night no problem. I’m just afraid of what Vivian is going to do to him tonight. Over.”
“True. We might just have to use Steve on stage tomorrow night after all,” Joey joked and Chris choked back his laughter as he made his way back to his five friends, hoping that the two people still locked in the room would be able to settle their differences before it became hopeless.
