Jamie threw a pillow over her head and groaned. There was an obnoxious banging on her hotel room door, and she just wanted it to stop. She roll over, running into something rather hard and warm, and she opened her eyes just enough to see Justin sleeping heavily.
“Justin…” She whined, pushing his shoulder. “Justin!” The banging became more incessant and she really wanted to go back to sleep. The room was still dark and that meant that it was still too early for her to be up, and coherent.
“I know you’re in there boy! Get that scrawny ass out of bed now!” Jamie recognized Andy’s voice outside the door and she sighed.
“Justin!” Another sharp shove to the shoulder proved to be useless, so she rolled on top of him and covered his lips with her own. When she felt him start to respond she pulled away and watched as his eyed fluttered open.
“Good morning sunshine.” He smiled at her and she rolled away.
“Boy, don’t make me get hotel security!” Justin glanced at the door and let out a primal grunt.
“Oh…what’s got his panties in a bunch?”
“I don’t know…but he’s yours…go shut him up.” Jamie threw the pillow back over her head and tried to block out the rest of the world as best she could.
“Gee, thank for your love and support sweetie.”
“Any time, sugar cakes.” Justin rolled his eyes and walked to the door, opening it to find a steaming Andy, breathing fire.
“Whoa! What’s your problem?”
“My problem? My problem is a skinny ass white boy that should have been in a van to the venue a HALF HOUR AGO!” Justin’s eyes widened and he looked at the clock. It read 7:30 and at that moment he started to pray.
“Oh shit!” He threw the door shut in Andy’s face and ran frantically around the room, collecting his things.
“You better be out here in five minutes…you got that Justin? Five minutes or every curl on your head becomes straight….and I ain’t talkin’ hair products.”
Jamie sat up in bed and watched Justin jump back and fourth. He looked rather comical, his hair standing up in different directions, his sweatpants twisted sideways. She covered her smile when he looked at her.
“What’s so funny? I’m about to get turned into pop-star pure and all you can do is laugh?” Jamie crawled out of bed and over to a steaming Justin.
“Calm down…I’ll pack your clothes, go get dressed.” She kissed him and swatted his butt when he walked by.
Two minutes later Justin went flying out of the bathroom; he grabbed his bags and flew out the door, past Andy and to the elevator as fast as possible. Jamie stood in the doorway and smiled at Andy.
“Good morning Andy, I’m sorry he wasn’t up.”
“It’s not your fault sweetheart, Justin hasn’t quite got the concept of alarm clocks…he’d rather go the brutal route. The van is coming to pick you up in half an hour. It’ll take you to the venue where you can meet up with the guys. We’re leaving for California after that, so make sure you have everything…and get all Justin’s stuff too…the boy is very forgetful.” Jamie laughed and patted Andy’s arm.
“Sure thing….go easy on him, will you? I think he put himself through enough torture this morning.”
“Oh, don’t worry about Justin…he’ll be just fine.” He laughed, a deep rumble, and then continued toward the elevator where Justin was still waiting, impatiently.
“Andy…hey buddy! How’s life treating you?”
“Terrible…I got stuck with you.” Jamie laughed and closed the hotel room door behind her. She looked around the room at the mess Justin had created in his haste to get ready.
“That boy is a slob.”
There was a knock at the door and Jamie knew exactly who it was.
“I just saw your boyfriend get carried away down the hallway by some guy with a really big tattoo.” Jamie walked into the room, closely followed by Luke.
“I know, I got sick of him and had Andy take him away.” Luke’s eyes widened and then he started to laugh.
“I’m glad you’re not my girlfriend.” Jamie threw him a dirty look.
“Speaking of girlfriend, what’s your current situation? Anyone special in Luke’s love life?” Luke sighed and plopped down on the unmade bed and threw Jamie a sidelong glance before answering her question.
“The love life is loveless…I need a man James! JC wouldn’t happen to be gay, would he? Please don’t break my heart Jamie!” She laughed at him and started throwing her clothes into her suitcase.
“I’m sorry Luke, that I don’t know. Honestly, I’ve never asked.” He humphed and threw himself back, covering his face with the pillow. Jamie finished putting away her clothes and she moved into the bathroom.
“Luke, I’d go for someone a little less high profile, I mean, JC Chasez of *NSYNC? Isn’t that a little ambitious?” He cleared his throat and removed the pillow from his face.
“Um…James? Who the hell are you dating? Some guy that happens to look EXACTLY like Justin, sings just like him, and even travels with the band? And you’re calling me ambitious.”
“OK, that came out wrong.” She came out of the bathroom, throwing the armful of things she had into a bag and zipping it up. “Even if JC was gay, he hasn’t come out so it would be a little hard for you two. It’s not as strange for Justin and me to be seen together. Is this making any sense?” He grumbled and got up off the bed.
“Yes, it does. I just don’t want to think about it like that. I mean, why can’t the world be more accepting?”
“I don’t know Luke…I don’t know. Come on; grab your stuff we need to meet the van. We’re heading out to California today.”
“James…if you mention this conversation to ANYONE, I swear to God I’ll tell Justin about that time you-” Jamie covered his mouth with her hand and stepped hard on his foot.
“If you even THINK about bringing that up, I’ll get REALLY creative with a spoon,” She glanced down at his pants before looking into his eyes, “If you know what I mean.” He swallowed hard and shook his head.
“I…ah…I get your drift.” He continued to follow her down the hallway and he was very glad that he was Jamie’s best friend and very rarely on her bad side.
A few hours found everyone hanging around the venue before the show. The guys had an hour to relax, eat a quick dinner and then it was off for a sound check, wardrobe and make-up. Andy stopped Justin on his way to dinner.
“You have one hour, you hear me? If your white ass isn’t at sound check in exactly 60 minutes, you will be writing your Momma from the hospital…understand?” Jamie stepped up beside the two and placed her hand on Andy’s arm.
“I’ll keep tabs on his Andy…no worries.” She winked at him and pulled Justin along beside her.
“The day I stop worrying about Stick Boy is the day New Kids On the Block have a reunion.” Everyone around laughed and Justin rolled his eyes.
“James, I could have handled that situation myself.”
“Uh huh, sure honey, just keep telling yourself that.” She threw him a playful look and he was about to say something, but Lance interrupted.
“Meeting in the dining room in five, everyone has to be there.” He whisked passed them putting his cell phone back up to his ear.
“Does the boy ever stop?” Luke spoke for the first time.
“No, if it were possible, he’d attach the phone to his ear surgically.”
“That would look pretty funny.”
The group made their way into the meeting hall. There were people from every group there, and Grace was up front talking with some of the tour managers. Jamie, Justin and Luke all sat towards the door so they could make a quick escape as soon as the meeting was over. Both Justin and Jamie were exhausted and they wanted to make the most of their hour off.
“Hello everyone. Thank you for coming on such short notice, I promise that I’ll keep this short.” Grace looked around the group of people on front of her and continued her speech. “First off, I would like to say congratulations to everyone for making the first two shows incredible.” A light applause went around the room and Grace waited for them to quiet down.
“I called you all in here today…”
Luke watched as Grace spoke, and he couldn’t get over how familiar she looked. He couldn’t quite place her, and he knew that he had never met her before, but she looked exactly like someone he knew.
“Jamie, who is she? Do we know her at all?” He leaned over and whispered into his friend’s ear.
“I don’t think so Luke…I’ve never met her before anyway, but she is from Tennessee.” Luke stared at Grace for the rest of the meeting. This was bothering him.
The meeting was soon over and everyone rushed up to their rooms. Luke stayed behind for a bit, he wanted to talk to Grace, but she seemed busy.
Chris strolled over to Luke and put his arm around the man’s shoulder.
“What’s up Luke?”
“Chris…you know Grace right?”
“Yea, why? Got the hots for her?” He grinned evilly and Luke laughed.
“If you only knew.” Luke Laughed. “No, that’s not it. Who does she look like? I mean, she looks so familiar…” He trailed off, trying to rack his brain. Chris shot a strange glance in Luke’s direction and headed for the elevator.
“I don’t know man; she looks like Grace to me…” The doors closed in front of him and Luke stood there, still thinking.
A man walked around the corned and bumped into Luke, almost sending him to the ground.
“Whoa! Sorry man…” Luke grabbed the man’s arm to steady himself, and when he looked up, he got the chills.
“Sorry about that, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” He didn’t know what it was about this guy, but he gave Luke the creeps.
“No problem.” The elevator doors opened again and Luke bolted inside.
This had turned out to be one strange trip, and it was only the first full day. Between the freaky body guards that were always following Jamie, to Grace looking exactly like someone he couldn’t figure out, to this strange man that gave Luke the chills. If this was what the *NSYNC tour was going to be like, Luke thought that he wanted to head back to Tennessee.
The rest of the night Jamie heard all about the performance, and how incredible it was, both from Luke and the guys. Justin thought it was amazing that Luke was so into the whole stage show, and the two had a long, involved conversation about the special effects and all the fun that went with them.
She sat on the sofa at the back of the bus and stared out the window. Several times she had tried to turn on the TV, only to be shushed into silence a few moments later. So far she had counted five 7 Elevens, three kids with skateboards, ten beetles, and about a dozen cattle farms. This ride was getting very boring.
Jamie sighed and glanced at her watch. It was late, she was tired and she was really bored. So she got up and walked to the door of the lounge, only to be stopped by Justin’s words.
“Where are you going?” She turned and gave him a hard look.
“A place where I’m wanted….my bed.” Justin and Luke exchanged strange glances and resumed their conversation like nothing had happened. Jamie huffed and closed the door behind her.
“Men.”
Dave sat in his office and skimmed the news paper with his eyes. He sipped his coffee and let out a satisfied sigh. Although he had been shipped back to Orlando for a week or two, he was still happy about the fear he was now holding over Jamie. He had cornered her a few more times since their initial meeting and made it very clear that he was watching her. It gave him a sense of power to think that he could control her, and he felt that he owed it to Grace to give the younger girl hell. Besides, Grace was the one that deserved the attention, not Jamie. The little brat hadn’t worked half as hard as Grace had, and Dave was going to make sure that Jamie was kept firmly in her place.
A swift knock sounded on the door and his secretary stuck her head in.
“Mr. Malloy…it’s the mail you wanted.” She stepped into the room carrying a big 5 pound bag stuffed with letters.
“It’s all the mail that’s going out to the tour?” The woman nodded her head and he smiled. “Thank you very much, that’ll be all.” She bowed out of the room and Dave sat down, opening the bag.
“Let’s see…fan mail, fan mail…”He skimmed through the letter, disgusted at all the mail that the guys had received. He spent about twenty minutes flipping through dozens of letters until he came across something interesting.
“Hmmm…Miss James Tanning…wonder what this is about?” He smiled gleefully. He knew exactly what the letter was for, and he was going to make sure that Jamie didn’t receive it. Sticking the letter in his desk he leaned over and shoved all the letters back into the bag. “Mary, you can come pick up the letters now, I’ve checked them all.” A half a second later his secretary came back in and grabbed the bag.
“Tough luck you got there, Mr. Malloy. I mean, I think you’re much too important to have to scan all the mail for the tour. Aren’t there other people to do that for you?”
“Oh it’s not bother Mary, really. I don’t mind helping out the guys and Johnny and way I can.” Giving her a slimy grin he waved her out of his office and picked up the letter and opened it without a second thought.
His eyes skimmed the words carefully…
Miss Tanning,
I am a doctor at the Ft. Lauderdale Hospital and I have written to tell you that your father, Allan Tanning, has been admitted. He has been having heart complications and has asked us to get in touch with you. His condition is serious, but I’d rather not discuss this with you through a letter. If you could please call this phone number, 845-2210, we can go over your father’s health and steps you may want to take.
Dr. Samuel Mason.
Dave smiled maliciously and threw the letter in the trash.
“Oops…”
Jamie was going to know what it felt like to suffer, he would make sure of that.
A week later it was just Jamie and the guys again. Luke had gone back to Tennessee and although Jamie missed him, she was glad for a small break from his constant antics. Luke was a very outgoing, rowdy person, and at times he was worse than all five of the guys together.
She sat in one of the dressing rooms enjoying a moment of relaxation and quiet. The guys were doing sound check, and she took this time to glance over a magazine and take some time out from the constant screaming that seemed to follow NSYNC.
A knock on the door pulled her from her trance and Andy poked his head in.
“Hey, is J’s cell phone in here?” Jamie looked around and saw the small silver phone sticking out from his bag.
“Yeah, its right there…do you need it?” Andy stepped fully into the room and grabbed the phone from the bag.
“Yeah, I don’t know why though. I was told that all the guys’ cell phones need to be in one room tonight. That’s going to be one hell of a task if you ask me.” He grumbled and moved toward the door. “Do you have a phone James?”
“No, I just use Justin’s…who asked for all the phones anyway? I mean, people actually need those.” Andy shook his head and shrugged.
“Don’t ask me. All I know is that this Dave Malloy guy said that all cells need to be with him tonight, some security check or something. I think it’s an invasion of privacy.”
“Justin’s going to have a cow. All the guys are. Those phones are their lifelines.”
“I know that…so, ah…do me a favor and don’t tell him I was the one that took it. The moment he knows it’s gone he’s not going to listen to reason and he’ll come right after me.” Jamie chuckled and nodded, watching Andy walk out the door.
Dave was up to something though. She knew that. What she didn’t know was why he wanted all the cell phones. She didn’t have one, so it’s not like he could look into her personal information or anything, and he knew better than to go into Justin’s or any of the other guys. It worried her, that he was doing this. First of all, it was ludicrous, and second of all…what was he trying to prove? He was the new guy on the tour, and he was acting like he owned the place. And to top it all off, he had decided that he was against Jamie and was going to do whatever it took to make her stay a miserable one.
Shaking her head she threw the magazine down and stood up. Justin should be getting done with the sound check soon, and she wanted to tell him about the cell phone gathering. He was going to be pissed, and hopefully, if enough people complained, their phones would be returned and Dave wouldn’t be able to do whatever it was he was going to do.
She walked down the hallway and listened to the laughter coming from the arena. It sounded like the sound check was over for the most part, and now they were all just playing. Turning the corner she bumped into someone and was about to apologize but stopped.
“Excuse me, Miss Tanning.” Jamie shuddered as Dave’s eyes roamed over her and she wanted to gag.
“I’d like to get to the stage, if that’s not too much to ask.” She tried to walk past him but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close.
“I’d like a word with you, Jamie…” He started to pull her away from the stage but Justin’s voice stopped his movements.
“You’re not going anywhere with her.” His eyes traveled down to Dave’s hand on Jamie’s arm and he looked ready to shoot fire out of his eyes. Dave noticed this too and he dropped her arm and backed away.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job, pop star, and I won’t tell you how to do yours.”
“Jamie has absolutely nothing to do with your job, and if I ever see you put a hand on her again…you’re going to be doing your job from a hospital bed.” Dave’s eyes narrowed and he muttered under his breath.
“Just wait until your boyfriend isn’t around.” He stalked away and Jamie hurried into Justin’s arms.
“That man gives me the creeps.” Justin hugged her tightly to him and kissed the side of her head.
“Me too James…Me too…”
Justin led Jamie down to his dressing room and sat with her on the couch.
“Are you all right, Baby?” Jamie nodded and looked up at him.
“J…Dave’s up to something. He collected everyone’s cell phones…I don’t know what he’s going to do with them, or what he’s trying to prove, but he’s done it just the same.”
“What?! Are you telling me that that creep has my cell phone? Hell no!!” Justin threw the door open wide and stormed down the hallway. Jamie sat and waited in the dressing room. She could hear his yells and she knew that this wasn’t going to be pretty.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dave looked up at the raging pop star with an amused look.
“Why…whatever do you mean?” Justin wasn’t buying the innocent act for one second, and he wanted his cell phone back.
“You know damn well what I mean. Why did you collect the cell phones? You’re not going to prove anything with this little stunt.”
“Oh contraire…my little friend. I have proved the exact point I was setting out to prove.”
“And what point would that be? That you’re desperate to cause some sort of chaos?”
“No…what I wanted to do was show you all that I am capable of taking things from you. I have the power on this tour…What I say, goes….you can take your phone now. But remember, I took something from you once…and I can very easily do it again.” Justin didn’t need a cue to shudder, and suddenly the room had grown very cold.
He grabbed his phone and walked slowly back to the dressing room. What exactly did Dave mean? By the time he reached the door he was even angrier than when he went down. Not only did Dave feel that he ran the show around here…he actually had the balls to do something like this…and that worried Justin.
