Despite all their pleading and badgering, Vivian and Justin wouldn’t reveal to JC, Joey, Lance, and Chris exactly how they made amends. Of course she and Justin were far from being best friends and would sometimes fall back into small spats that would make everyone within a ten mile radius cringe for fear that the tiny PR Coordinator would tear the budding pop star limb from limb.
To say that Vivian had changed during her time with *NSYNC was an understatement. She was practically blossoming under their constant guidance and occasional bad influence and by the time July rolled around she was a completely different person. Granted she still worked herself into the ground and took her job very seriously, but it was now considered a staple to hear her laughter ringing throughout whatever venue they had pulled up in for the night.
But Vivian’s real challenge was approaching sooner than she had anticipated. The next day they would be leaving their peaceful life of bus travel and opt for the jet set life as *NSYNC and their entire camp moved to New York City for a week of never ending press conferences and performances. It was a time for business and play for the guys, but a week of never ending hell for her. And the worst part of all was Melinda wasn’t going to be there to run it all.
Her boss had been called home due to a family emergency “ her sister’s husband had been killed in a car crash and there was nothing Melinda could do except fly back to Florida and help her younger sister cope with such a terrible loss. That meant Vivian was all alone in making sure the guys got to all of their meetings on time and that none of the reporters or other celebrities they would encounter would be placed in hostile situations with band mates and fans.
It was no wonder Vivian was a nervous wreck the night before they would embark on their Big Apple Adventure and everyone could sense the tension in the young woman.
“It won’t be that bad. You’ll sail through this week without a problem,” JC reassured her from his seat. He and Vivian were passing time on one of the tour buses before he and the other guys took to the stage in New Jersey. They would be driving into New York the next day and Vivian could hardly contain the wave of nausea that was rolling around in her stomach.
“I hope you’re right,” she muttered as she looked down at the folder in her lap. Inside was her entire inventory for the next six days and to her it was her Bible. She had memorized everything inside the binder from front to back and there was no way she would allow herself to forget anything inside of it. She hadn’t even been working in the real world for six months and she was already heading an account that was making more than ten million dollars a year! The thought alone was daunting and Vivian couldn’t stand it any longer.
“I can’t take it anymore,” she stated as she stood up, “I need Babs.” JC groaned loudly and smacked a hand to his forehead in a dramatic gesture but Vivian completely ignored him and walked over to her small suitcase that was resting on the kitchenette counter. Pulling out her CD player, she jammed on her headphones and pressed play, letting the blaring of trumpets overtake her.
She looked over towards JC who had a look of horror on her face as she continued to sashay and dance around the bus singing at the top of her lungs. Vivian spun around quickly and picked up a pillow off of the small built in couch and promptly threw it at JC who laughed loudly but the sound in the CD player drowned out his sound.
Vivian slowed down her movements as the music slowed down to the bridge of the song. Spreading her arms out, she allowed all the stress to leave her body as she sang at the top of her lungs,
“Get ready for me love ‘cause I’m a comer! I simply gotta march my heart’s a drummer. No, nobody, no nobody is gonna rain on my parade!” and with that jubilant line out of her mouth, she jumped up onto the couch and spread her arms wide, holding the very last word, a huge smile plastered on her face.
“God Vivian, don’t quit your day job,” a voice cringed from the entrance of the bus and Vivian turned to notice that she had a small audience. Justin, Joey, Lance, Chris, Johnny, a few stagehands, and a handful of their bodyguards were standing at the entrance watching her intently. JC was too busy laughing hysterically to know they had visitors and she felt her face heat up as she sheepishly climbed off the couch and sat down, pulling the headphones off her ears.
“I think you’re the only twenty year old who listens to Barbara Streisand,” Justin joked as he sat down next to her and she rolled her eyes at him. She noticed everyone was still standing by the entrance of the bus, still watching her with interest.
“What, you want some Yentl?” she shot out and the majority of the men groaned in protest before they disbanded, the rest of the guys stumbling onto the bus and finding someplace to sit.
“Now I know why you don’t join the sing-a-longs on the long bus rides,” Chris remarked as he opened one of the cabinets and grabbed some cereal. Justin made a noise of longing and held his arms out towards Chris. The older man rolled his eyes and threw his friend a box of Captain Crunch before grabbing himself some Apple Jacks.
“I don’t know any of those songs you sing,” she stated simply, “Outkast, M and Ms, Two Pack…”
“Did you just say Two Pack?” Justin asked horrified as he looked over at Vivian, his mouth hanging open.
“Yeah, Two Pack. That rapper who was killed in Vegas or some other west coast city…” her voice was drowned out by a clamoring of laughter and groans from the five men around her.
“It’s Tupac, Vivian,” Justin groaned, “I can’t believe you don’t know who he is.”
“Well sorry if I don’t completely follow the rap scene. You do realize that there’s perfectly good music by Chopin or Beethoven,” she argued and was again, met with moans of complaint, “Gershwin? Sondheim?” she tried again but they kept laughing, “I’m going to put Babs back on again!”
“NO!” they chorused and soon the bus erupted into peals of laughter. It was strange to think that she could get along with these guys so easily when, at the beginning of her time with them, she could hardly stand them. It was strange what four months and a bit of opening up could do to a person.
She could honestly say that she had a special relationship with each of the men sitting around her. Lance was her business partner, forever helping her with her own paperwork in exchange for her guidance and in running production companies and deciding what scripts to pick up for his upcoming venture into motion pictures.
She and Joey enjoyed the same love of Italian food and show tunes. It wasn’t hard to find them talking about some new show in New York or what Italian restaurant to order from while they were holed up in a hotel room for most of the night while on tour. Joey was more like a brother to her than anything else and it was exciting that she could find someone with similar tastes within such a tight knit family.
JC on the other hand offered her the most guidance out of everyone in the group. It was strange to think of him as a father figure when she had one of her own, but in all retrospect he was like a portable father. He was always checking up on her, making sure she was getting enough rest and taking time away from work for some play. It was strange to think that she had the closest bond with him when they had so little in common but it was always a fun and intellectual conversation when she and JC decided to overanalyze the actions and comments of the majority of people on tour.
Which led her to Chris. Yes there was a nine-year age difference but the two were closer to age in the way they acted together than anything else. While he did get on her nerves sometimes, Chris was always able to put a smile on her face with a joke, action, or look. The two always had their inside jokes and sometimes, if the mood struck her, she would join him on his prank escapades. Vivian had never been one for pulling pranks on people in the past but Chris made it exhilarating and hilarious all at the same time.
And then there was Justin. Out of all five he had the most interesting relationship with her. She didn’t consider them best friends or exceptionally close even though they were only a year apart in age. They had an understanding of each other and it was a connection that many thought to be extremely peculiar. In a way, she was almost like his surrogate mother and sister on tour, making sure he was taking care of himself and not wanting to party every single night with the completion of a successful show. It got on his nerves of course seeing as he had been self sufficient for such a long time and now she was there telling him what to do, but she could tell he appreciated it all the same. But in return he taught her how to behave like how a young adult living in the twentieth century should act and for that she was eternally grateful.
“Right well I just wanted to say,” Vivian started before Joey cut her off.
“Don’t start talking about this week, can’t we just live in the now?” Vivian rolled her eyes and opened her folder ignoring the protest from the guys. Really, when did they turn into a bunch of complainers?
“You’ll thank me later for this,” Vivian stated simply before she conducted the meeting she had promised Melinda she would give the guys before they set foot into the city. She could only hope they would listen to her.
“We’re in the center of the universe!” Chris exclaimed as he pressed his forehead against the window of the black SUV. They were in the middle of Times Square sitting in the midday rush. They had just driven into the city and were on their way to check into the hotel. Vivian was triple checking to make sure she had their reservations for the hotel and she frequently went over her notes for the next day.
“So, you have the Video Music Award Press Conference tomorrow at 8 AM before you reveal your new dolls at FAO Schwartz…”
“They look nothing like us,” Justin quipped from the back of the car and the rest of the guys chorused their approval.
“Did you see Lance’s stomach?” JC questioned, “its ripped and it definitely doesn’t look like that in real life.”
“How would you know JC?” Chris asked as he wiggled his eyebrows in JC’s direction. A refrain of ‘ooohs’ escalated in the car and JC rolled his eyes before letting loose a string of curse words before laughing with the rest of his friends.
“Right, joking of homosexuality aside,” Vivian said as she readjusted her glasses and looked back down at her itinerary, “You have your sound check at 5:30 before your first performance at the Garden at 7:30,” she concluded, “Any questions?”
“Yeah when do we get a break?” Joey piped up looking up from his cell phone.
“You have the day off on Thursday and then a day off on Sunday but that’s a travel day as you’re due to perform in Massachusetts a week from today.” Someone in the car gave a low whistle and Vivian nodded in agreement. “You’re going to be really busy the next week so I suggest you all take it easy.”
“No,” JC stated simply as they pulled up to their hotel, “We’re going to be really busy.”
*Note: The song that Vivian sings is "Don't Rain On My Parade" from the film/musical Funny Girl
