*Madison Square Garden*
3:30 PM
“Are you ready?” Vivian asked in an unusual cheery voice. Her question was met with a large amount of cheers and the young woman found her mood lifted as she led the forty-five underprivileged and terminally ill children towards the stage where the guys were getting ready for their sound check.
The children shuffled along behind her, most of them gabbing loudly and excitedly about meeting their favorite band while a few others hung back nervously, the anxiousness and fear registering in their bright eyes. One of the children, a little girl, walked up alongside Vivian and grabbed her hand. She looked down at the young child who couldn’t be older than seven.
“Are we really going to meet *NSYNC?” the girl asked her light blue eyes shining with excitement. Vivian nodded and she smiled when the little girl gave an excited giggle and tightened her grip on Vivian’s hand.
Out of all the tasks Vivian had to do for her job, she enjoyed this one the most. Seeing the faces of all the fans who had dreamed of this moment for ages made all the late nights and stressful situations bearable. But not only was it the happiest part of her job, but in some cases it was also the saddest. The majority of the kids in attendance for some of the sound check parties were either terminally ill or came from tattered homes and it broke Vivian’s heart to know that some of the kids wouldn’t live past ten years old.
But Vivian was always inspired by their bravery. It seemed no matter how terrible their condition, their love for life and those around them grew stronger with each breath and smile.
“Do you have a favorite?” the little girl clinging onto her hand asked.
“No, I like them all very much,” Vivian replied as the group poured out into the arena. A chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ broke out amongst the children and the girl standing next to Vivian jumped up and down, squealing in excitement.
The chaperones who had been assigned to tend to the children spent a few moments calming the clamoring group down before Vivian began to tell the kids about some of the songs the group performed and other small facts about the show that would be interesting to any nine year-old.
“What’s that sound?” a boy with leg braces asked as they neared their pre scheduled seating arrangements. Vivian turned around and saw that he was looking everywhere around the venue, green eyes wide with curiosity.
The rest of the children grew strangely quiet as the buzzing noise became louder. Vivian shot an apologetic look towards the chaperones. Really, did the crew have no respect for some of these kids? Didn’t they know that the sound check was going to be early that day?
“I guess some of the crew members have to fix a couple of things…” Vivian began but the boy cut her off.
“Look!”
Vivian turned around just as the buzzing noise reached a cacophonous crescendo. The children cheered in delight as Justin came rushing out of the backstage area riding atop a motorized scooter looking very pleased with himself.
“Yay, Justin!” the girl standing next to Vivian cheered as Justin continued to swerve in and out of all the chairs, his curly hair poking out wildly underneath his trademark bandana. Vivian couldn’t help but smile as he pulled to a stop directly in front of her, bowing down to the childrens’ wild applause.
Without waiting for any introduction, the girl who had been holding onto Vivian’s hand leapt forward and threw her tiny arms around Justin’s legs. He looked a bit taken a back as he looked down at the girl before his head flew up and his eyes met with Vivian’s.
“Guess someone’s excited,” he stated with a small laugh as he patted the girl on the back. “I can take them to their seats Vivian, if you can move my scooter backstage before someone gets a hold of it,” he explained before his eyes wandered towards a raggedy looking boy who was eyeing Justin’s scooter with mischievous eyes. Vivian nodded and took the scooter away as Justin led the starry eyed children towards their seats.
Soon after, the rest of the guys came out onto the stage to rapturous applause from the children who were squirming in their seats at the sight of them. The little girl who had latched onto Justin was sitting up straight in her seat and looking at the group with rapt attention as the grabbed their mikes and sat at the edge of the stage, happy to answer any questions for the kids.
She watched from a distance as the group conducted their interview and posed for the cameras that the children had brought with them. It was amazing to see how good each of the guys was with children. All were so patient as some of the more shy kids stuttered questions and they were always eager to pass out hugs and autographs whenever a child wanted one.
But it was when they started to do their actual sound check when Vivian got the call.
Her phone started to ring ‘California Love’ at top volume. She rolled her eyes and quickly dug it out of her pocket. Justin must have gotten a hold of her phone and changed the ringer. He had taken it as a personal insult that she didn’t know who Tupac was and now it was all she listened to seeing as Justin had taken away her Broadway collection before they came to New York.
“Hello?”
“Is that how you answer your phone calls now?” a voice snapped and Vivian felt all of her vital organs immediately fail.
“Mother, is that you?”
“Yes of course, who else would it be? Really now Vivian I can’t believe you answer your phone like that, would you do it the proper way please?” Vivian let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.
“Hello this is, Vivian L. Aldridge speaking how can I help you?” Vivian asked her voice stoic and flat.
“Much better! Oh Vivian imagine my surprise when I turn on the television and find that you’re in town this week! Why have you not phoned? The last time your father and I saw you was…oh ages ago!” her mother stated and it took all of Vivian’s self control to not scream into the phone and throw it across the room. She hadn’t seen her parents in over six months and she wanted to keep it that way, but apparently it wasn’t going to happen.
“Well mother it’s just been me making sure that the guys…”
“You mean your clients…” her mother interjected and Vivian could feel her temper wearing thin.
“Yes, my clients. Anyway, my boss had a family emergency and so it’s just been me making sure my clients get to all their interviews and press junkets so I’ve been a little busy.”
“Making excuses doesn’t cut it with me Vivian,” her mother said coldly into the phone and Vivian sighed heavily, “You just don’t want to talk to your family, I understand but you clearly have forgotten Rule Number Four.”
Oh those damn rules! It had been ages since Vivian had looked at them seeing as her original list had been destroyed by the young man who was now singing a song to the adoring children, the sound check now in full swing. Vivian had completely forgotten about them and now, talking to her mother, she realized what she had done and now felt the familiar pangs of guilt eating at her stomach.
“I’m sorry mother, I have forgotten and I’m sorry I haven’t called you.”
“Quite alright,” her mother replied and Vivian could feel anger replacing the guilt in her stomach. She hated it when her mother sent her on wild guilt trips and now was no different, “So when are you coming to visit?”
“Why don’t you come here and see the show? I can get you and father free tickets,” Vivian stated. There was no way in hell she wanted to set foot into her old apartment again.
“No, no, no! I’ve heard of this band that you’re representing and the demographics for their concerts consist mostly of hormonal teenaged girls whose parents don’t keep a tight leash on them. Your father and I wouldn’t want to mix with that. When do you have a free day?”
Shit. There’s not getting around this woman! Vivian thought to herself as she used her free hand to rub a hand over her tense face. Now she could add a visit to her parents’ home onto her colossal to do list. Just perfect.
“I’m free on Thursday,” Vivian said heavily and she heard her mother’s excited outburst of joy.
“Oh wonderful, Thursday is perfect! Your father and I are in that day. Now, are your clients free that day too? I’d love to meet the group that has taken up so much of my daughter’s time,” Vivian’s mother said with a hint of acid edging on her voice.
Vivian leaned against the wall and watched as the band waved goodbye to the kids as Mike and Lonnie started to escort them back to their waiting buses. She watched as they made their way over towards her, laughing and joking about something Chris had said to one of the kids during the sound check.
Last thing I need is for them to see me flipping out about my mother calling me, Vivian thought to herself.
“They are free but I’m sure they have better things to do…”
“Nonsense! I’m sure they aren’t paying you enough so the least you could do is to have them come meet us! They should want to meet the parents who gave them such a gifted agent!”
“I’ll ask them but I can’t make any promises,” Vivian stated and she quickly shielded her face from the guys as they approached her, all of them looking at her with strange looks on their faces. She must have looked like someone had just run over her dog.
“Pish posh, they’d love to come and I’m not taking no for an answer. I expect the six of you to be at our front door by eleven sharp. Please be prompt, Vivian, you know how I don’t tolerate tardiness.”
“Alright mother,” Vivian mumbled and she quickly said her goodbyes before she slammed her phone shut and jammed it into her pocket.
“What was that all about?” JC inquired and Vivian glared at him before she realized she was taking her anger and frustration out on him when he had just asked her a question.
“Congratulations!” Vivian said as she threw her arms up in the air, “You’ve just been invited to meet my parents on your day off!”
“Jigga what?” Chris said looking as if a truck had hit him. Vivian knew it must have been a shock to all of them seeing as she had never mentioned her family before this moment.
“That was my mother on the phone. She told me to come home on Thursday and to bring all of you. She isn’t taking no for an answer and if you don’t want to go I completely understand; I’ll just call her back and say it’ll just be me. I don’t want to ruin your day off…”
“Okay stop right there,” Lance said and Vivian let out the breath she had just been holding in, “You work so hard for us Viv and I think I speak for the rest of the guys when I say that the least we can do is go visit your parents for a couple of hours.” Vivian could feel the color drain from her face as the rest of the guys vocalized their agreements. The last thing she wanted was for any of them to meet her dysfunctional family.
“Great,” she managed to squeak out before they continued on their way backstage, their conversation now shifted to what they were going to wear and how they were going to act over at Vivian’s. Only Justin stayed behind.
“Vivian,” he said behind her and she turned around to look at him, concern etched over his entire face, “Are you okay with this? I mean are you alright?”
“W-why do you say that?” Vivian stammered knowing she was visibly shaken up.
“Because you’re really pale, you’ve got circles under your eyes…how much sleep did you get last night?”
“Enough,” Vivian replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. He didn’t need to know that she only got three hours of sleep last night and even less the night before. Thank God the city had a Starbucks on every single street corner.
“Take care of yourself, we all worry you know.”
“I appreciate your concern but I’m fine.”
Ask me after Thursday, though
*Madison Square Garden*
11:30 PM
“It’s only for a couple of hours Vivian, I’ll be back before one, I promise!” Justin exclaimed as he wiped his face with the towel that hung around his neck. Vivian merely stared at him and shook her head from side to side. “Why are you so against me going?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Vivian stated sarcastically, “Maybe its because tomorrow night you’re going to be performing for millions of people except for mere thousands! Maybe its because you need your sleep instead of going out to every damn club in New York City in less than a week. Maybe its because…”
“I’ve hardly had the chance to see Britney at all and I’m not going to be able to after this week…” Justin said his voice rising and Vivian could tell they were heading towards one of those arguments where doors would be slammed and nasty words would be exchanged. And right now she really didn’t care what was said.
She had just spent the last two hours sitting in the V.I.P. box watching the show with Britney and watching her own IQ drop a few points. The girl talked about nothing but her relationship with Justin and her own career for two hours not even taking the time to get to know her companion. Vivian couldn’t get a word in edgewise and she was on the fast track to a small breakdown. But that was before Justin told her he was going to a club with Britney after the show so they could ‘spend more time together.’
‘Hardly had the chance to see her? Every time you’ve been together you’ve been sucking each other’s faces!” Vivian shrieked.
“Ooh, ouch!” Chris muttered behind Vivian and she turned around to look at him.
“Not helping,” she growled at him and she watched as Joey grabbed Chris’ arm and dragged him out of the Toy Room, JC and Lance following suit.
“I’m going to ignore that comment,” Justin responded his eyes staring into hers, “I’m going out with Britney and you can’t stop me.”
“What are you, sixteen? What the hell is with the whole teenaged rebellion? You should want to get a good night’s sleep so you can give it your all tomorrow night. I think you fail to understand that not only will you be performing for a live audience but you’ll be doing the show for a television audience as well!”
“We did that for the Disneyland Concert when we first started out,” Justin countered and Vivian threw up her hands in exasperation.
“Yeah but that was only a couple of thousand, we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people! Some people subscribed to HBO specifically for this night and you want to go out to a club with your girlfriend the night before?”
“You don’t understand! I hardly have anytime to see Britney and when I do it’s either you or Johnny or Melinda pulling us apart! You don’t know how hard it is!” Justin whispered softly, looking at her with his big, pathetic blue eyes and Vivian felt her defenses drop. Sighing loudly she walked towards the door and threw it open.
“Fine! Go and have a good time. I swear to God if you aren’t back in your bed by one in the morning there’s going to be hell to pay,” Vivian murmured as she looked down at the ground. Why could he change her mind with a single look? She hated it when someone had that kind of power over her.
She felt a hand land on her shoulder and she looked up to see Justin standing in front of her, a bright smile lighting up his face, “Thanks Vivian, I’ll be back by one.”
“You better be,” Vivian said to his retreating back, “I really don’t want to explain to HBO why I murdered one-fifth of *NSYNC.” She smiled softly when he laughed at her comment and she quietly grabbed her things so she could get back to the hotel and work on more paperwork.
*Ritz Carlton Hotel*
2:00 AM
“He is so dead,” Vivian muttered to herself as she continued her beaten path around the lobby. She had been walking around one of the couches in the front lobby of the hotel for the past hour and a half waiting for Justin to get back from his clubbing ventures. She had called his cell phone far too many times to count but found that it only went straight to voicemail. Yes, Vivian was so mad she was seeing red but she was also worried sick. She had no idea where he was and she had no clue if he was in trouble or hurt or just running late. “He better be in one piece so I can kill him myself,” Vivian said to herself before she sat down on the couch and watched the front doors of the hotel.
For some reason, Justin had convinced his bodyguard, Mike, to stay at the hotel, insuring that he was perfectly safe with Britney’s security. Why he thought one man was going to be able to protect two of the most famous people in the music industry was beyond Vivian’s recollection and she was positive he would get a serious chewing out from not only her but also Johnny and the rest of the guys.
But when Justin stumbled into the hotel fifteen minutes later, Vivian forgot all thoughts of killing him. To say he looked like shit was an understatement. The boy looked like he had been through hell and Vivian could feel the anger inside of her evaporate quickly, the stabbing pains of worry quickly weaving its way through her body.
“Justin, are you okay?” she asked before she grabbed him by his shoulders and hoisted him up into a standing position. He looked over at her and laughed and Vivian almost plugged her nose due to pungent smell of alcohol on his breath. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs.”
“Vivian you look funny!” Justin giggled loudly as she began to drag him towards the elevators, “You’re eyes are all puffy and your eyes are big…like a deer caught in the front lights or the back lights…or whatever those lights are called…” he slurred.
“Yes, yes, I look like a regular Bozo the Clown,” Vivian said quickly as she managed to pull him into the elevator. She punched the floor number quickly and watched as Justin slumped over to the side and began to slide down onto the ground of the lift. Rushing over, she pulled him back up again and he laughed loudly before he pinched her nose.
“I’ve got your nose!”
“Wonderful,” she stated hollowly, “Where’s your room key?” she asked as they continued their ascent. Vivian let out an exasperated sigh as he giggled and shrugged his shoulders, watching her with glazed over eyes and a goofy smile on his face.
“You’ll have to find it!” Vivian groaned and threw up her hands. The last thing she wanted to do was search through his pockets for his room key but seeing as how she didn’t want a drunken pop star in her own room she had no choice. Steeling herself, she jammed her hand in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet trying her best to ignore the repulsive somersaults her stomach was performing in her stomach.
Thankfully, his key was in his wallet and she managed to get him into his room without any difficulty. He stumbled into the room and fell on the bed, giggling madly and mumbling incoherent things that Vivian couldn’t really understand. She quickly got to work and grabbed some water out of the small refrigerator that was stationed in his room and she shifted through his suitcase and pulled out what she hoped were appropriate sleep clothes.
“Take these,” Vivian stated as she handed Justin the wife beater and pajama pants, “and go change. Bathroom.” He looked up at her and giggled again before he started towards the bathroom. He slammed the door a bit too hard and Vivian sat down on the edge of his bed watching the bathroom door. She could hear him moving around clumsily inside and she had to stifle her laughter as he started to swear loudly at various toiletries that were probably littered on his counter. He quieted down soon after and she continued waiting patiently for him to exit. But when five minutes passed, Vivian started to grow worried.
Getting off of the bed, she made her way towards the bathroom and knocked soundly on the door. “Justin? Are you okay in there?”
Silence.
She rapped her knuckles on the door and said his name again only to find silence on the other side of the door. She said his name louder and she heard a small groan of pain come from the depths of the room. “Open the door!” she said her voice rising in pitch. The last thing she wanted was for him to hurt himself, “Justin!”
Vivian pushed her small frame against the locked door and rattled the doorknob hard. She yelled his name again and nearly screamed in relief when she heard the locking mechanism click open. She threw the door open and saw him leaning against the toilet, the seat up and his face positioned over the bowl. She saw his body convulse and she looked away when the sounds of toxins leaving his body reached her ears. She hated it when people threw up.
She turned back towards him and saw him wipe his mouth on his sleeve, an arm draped on the toilet seat. He looked up at her, eyes glassed over, face, pale and hair matted to his head with sweat. Vivian walked into the room a bit further and leaned against the counter, watching him carefully as he slumped back against the wall. He started to cough and Vivian jumped away from the counter before she walked back into the bedroom and grabbed the water bottle on the bed.
Returning to the bathroom, she quickly closed the toilet seat and flushed its contents in a fluid motion before she sat down on it handed him the water. He reached out with a flailing arm, his hand about three feet away from Vivian’s own. She sighed heavily and grabbed his arm with her other hand, guiding it over to the water bottle. He took it, and stupidly unscrewed the top almost dumping the water in his lap. His sense of sight and perception was horribly skewed due to the amount of alcohol he consumed.
“Here,” Vivian said and she got off of her seat, kneeling down in front of him. She gingerly took the water from him and brought the bottle to his lips. He began to drink greedily and a very strange feeling suddenly kicked Vivian in her stomach. It was strange to her, taking care of someone else like this. When it came to close physical contact, she stayed far away from it, but she couldn’t leave Justin to fend for himself - he was helpless.
“Is that better? Do you feel okay?” Vivian asked once he had drained the bottle of its contents. He rested his head against the wall as he took a few deep breaths before he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.
“You know,” he started, his speech much more comprehensive yet still slurred. Vivian watched as he reached a hand out towards her. She grabbed it and brought it back to his side. Vivian tried to let it go, but his hold was iron fisted. Once she relaxed, however, she felt his hand do the same, but this time she didn’t let go, “We’re not that different, you and I.”
“And how is that?” Vivian questioned, wondering if Justin was one of those ‘truthful drunks.’
“We’re both trying to be normal in a world that wants us to be perfect.” Vivian looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. Out of all the responses in the world she wasn’t expecting that, especially when Justin was borderline plastered.
“You don’t have to be perfect,” Vivian stated softly, “People love you and accept you for who you are,” she was pretty pleased with her response but apparently Justin had another reasoning because the grip on her hand tightened and he shook his head.
“But those people don’t know me. This industry has their standards and if you don’t meet them you slowly disappear from the charts. We have to be on guard all the time. Millions of people have a preconceived notion about us and if we don’t live up to the expectations, we let people down. Did you know that just about everyone is slating me as the front man of the group? Always putting me in the front of choreography, the center of photo shoots and album covers, always asking me about my relationship before they ask the other guys… The pressure is unbelievable and I don’t know how much longer I can take it,” he sighed heavily and Vivian could feel her heart go out to him. While she had been so preoccupied with her own worries of being faultless she had failed to see the pressure Justin and the rest of the guys had to go through every day.
“Maybe if you tell them to back off, or talk to the guys or Johnny about it they can back the focus off of you,” she explained and Justin nodded before he looked up at the ceiling, coughing half heartedly.
“I thought Britney was coming back with you,” Vivian said after a few moments of silence. She saw his eyes harden and he looked down at their entwined hands, a nervous feeling kicked Vivian in the stomach and she let her hand fall out of his.
“She’s not exactly sober tonight and I threw up in the parking lot, she doesn’t do well with throw up and taking care of people,” he admitted and Vivian nodded her head slightly, “She doesn’t take care of me like you do.” Vivian looked at Justin as he sighed softly before he tried to get to his feet.
Vivian stood up quickly and grabbed his arms, hoisting up to a standing position. He leaned against her and she tried her best to guide his six foot frame out of the bathroom. She noticed his eyes were heavy and she knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before he passed out completely.
She finally managed to get him into his bed and she had pulled the covers up to his chin as he settled into his bed. Vivian turned towards the door to leave but Justin quickly grabbed her arm, forbidding her to leave.
“Stay,” he whispered, “At least until I fall asleep.” Vivian nodded quietly and sat down on his bed, watching as his eyes grew heavier and heavier. It amazed her to think of how much Justin was still like a child even though he sometimes gave the overly cocky confidence that he was so well known for. She waited patiently until he finally fell asleep, his light snoring causing Vivian to smile just a little bit.
Getting off of the bed, she walked towards the door, glancing at her watch. It was almost four in the morning and she had calls to make to confirm the HBO deal in three hours. Deciding it was better to at least get some sleep, she headed off towards her room, hoping that she would be beyond prepared to meet her parents and make sure everything else in the guys’ lives would run smoothly.
Just let me make it through today
Right so I know the ending sucked but like I said, I was having trouble with the ending of this chapter. Chapter Ten we meet Vivian’s parents and chaos will ensue. Hopefully I’ll be able to spit that chapter out lickety split. Thank you all for being patient!!
