Justin, Joey, Chris, JC, and Lance all sat on the edge of the stage laughing at some joke one of their band members had just told. The mood seemed to be relaxed despite the three cameras that were circling the five singers, but the boys were doing their best to ignore it and enjoy the last week of the tour.
Five days remained on the schedule and everyone was anticipating going home and getting a chance to rest and relax. The MTV crew had been there for the past three and all of the guys were anxiously waiting for the taping to be over. It sucked that they had to be aware of how they acted and what they said for the last week. Usually their time would be filled with mindless pranks and disgusting stories from past weeks of the tour, but now the guys needed to stay “on” and perform for the cameras, not something they wanted to be doing the last week. Dave seemed to be gloating about something, but no one was really sure what it was and everyone was just a little worried.
Although, it seemed that it wouldn’t be long before their questions we’re answered.
Dave strutted into the arena and toward the stage followed by two rather beautiful girls. He ordered the MTV crew to stop taping and he stationed himself in front of the guys.
“Hello Boys, I’m glad I found you.” He grinned maliciously before turning and introducing the girls that had followed him in.
“Gentlemen, this is Stacy and Bridget, say ‘hello’ girls.” Both of the girls shyly stated their greetings and the guys cordially responded. “I’ve decided to bring these girls on in order to help ratings and to cover up the fact that some of you have girlfriends.”
Jaws dropped collectively and the guys shifted uncomfortably as Dave continued his little speech.
“I talked with the PR director and he thought it was a good idea to throw the fans off the scent of your real girlfriends and give you fake ones instead. This was the media will pay attention to Stacy and Bridget and you won’t have to worry about your real private lives being discovered.”
Dave grinned as if he were saving the whole of man-kind with this scheme. To any on-looker it would seem as if Dave were looking out for the best interests of the group, but for the five men sitting on the stage it was just another way for Dave to control something.
“What if we don’t want to go along with this? I mean, I’m pretty secure in the fact that media doesn’t know about my relationship and I’d like to think that I’m capable enough to keep it that way.” JC spoke up first, knowing that one of the girls would be for him. Justin was sure that the other girl would be placed on his arm and knew he would fight it with all he had.
“Well it will just be for the taping. These girls will be around and they will be allowed to do whatever you all do for the remainder of the tour, I suggest you be gentlemen and make these girls feel welcome.”
“No disrespect to you ladies, but Hell No!” Justin exclaimed, “I’m sorry, but this is not in my contract and there’s no way in hell you can make me pretend to be dating someone I’m not. I have a girlfriend and I love her very much, I refuse to disrespect her by pretending to be with someone else.”
Justin stood up from the stage and stormed off in the direction of the dressing rooms. Each of the guys sat in silence waiting for Dave to respond.
“He’ll come around, I’m sure. He’s just a little tired. Why don’t you girls go hang out in the room I showed you earlier? Someone will take you up to VIP before the show starts.”
The girls walked off in the direction Justin had just left in and the rest of the guys sat staring at Dave.
“I have a question.” Chris spoke up breaking the silence that had settled over the group.
“What?” Dave snapped, obviously annoyed.
“Well, Justin and JC aren’t the only ones that have girlfriends; in fact, both me and Joey are dating people. Why did you only bring two girls if you’re trying to keep relationships out of the public?”
Dave was silent for a moment as he searched for an answer. “Well, you and Joey aren’t as high-profile as Justin and JC, and I felt that keeping their relationships secret was more important than yours. No offense.”
“Oh, none taken, I mean, I wouldn’t want to have to put up with some fame-hungry girls just to save my relationship from being tabloid fodder. The only thing that I don’t get is why you would even want it to look like Justin and JC were taken. I mean, most of the time our PR asks us to keep our girlfriends to ourselves so the fans think we’re available, keeps their hopes alive of one day marrying us.”
“Yeah…this seems strangely like another attempt at controlling Justin, and I promise you that you’re not going to get away with it, not as long as we all have something to say about it. There is one week left of this tour, Mr. Malloy, and I suggest you stay as far away from us as possible. We’ve put up with you kicking Jamie off the tour, and we’re tolerating this MTV thing, but we REFUSE to put up with any more of your schemes. Stay out of our lives, Sir, and we’ll do our best not to make yours miserable.” It was Chris that spoke and all of the guys were surprised at his outburst, but each of them agreed completely.
They all stood from their seats on the stage and made their way back stage, leaving a pissed off Dave to steam in his own anger.
“Arrogant pricks…”
Backstage Justin was pacing the Toy Room trying to figure out what to do about this whole situation. He knew that he wasn’t going to allow the girls that Dave had brought in to become a part of his daily life, but he knew that Dave had given them the go ahead to do as they pleased and there were lots of cameras around to keep everyone in check. He couldn’t be outright rude to them, because it would just look bad on his part, but he also couldn’t allow them to act as if they had anything to do with him because then it would look as if he we’re dating them.
There was also the little issue of Jamie and whether or not he should tell her. His gut was telling him that she needed to know so there was no question, but his brain was clouding his better judgment and he, for some strange reason, felt that keeping her in the dark would protect her from whatever it is Dave was trying to pull.
With a frustrated grunt he threw himself down on a couch and covered his eyes with his arm. At that moment the rest of the guys filed into the room.
“Don’t worry about it too much Justin, we’re not going to let him get away with this.” Lance sat next to his fuming friend and placed a comforting hand on Justin’s shoulder.
“I just have this horrible feeling that this is going to make one huge mess. It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the cameras that are following us around watching our every move. I just know that Dave is going to have them spin this into something it’s not. And I don’t know if I should tell James…I don’t want to hurt her.”
There was a small gap in the conversation before anyone spoke up. Joey was the first to break the silence, and it was a slight shock that he seemed to be the voice of reason.
“Justin, you almost lost her once because she thought you were cheating. I know that situation was different, but don’t you think it would be better for her to hear that Dave is throwing girls on us? Then, when she sees the show she’ll know that it’s all a scheme.”
Justin mulled that information over for a moment, knowing that it made sense but just not being able to accept it completely.
“Yeah, but then there’s the chance that she’ll not believe me when I tell her Dave set this up and she’ll think I’m covering for something else…” He trailed off with a huff.
“Justin, you’re always telling us that honesty is something you cherish. Don’t be stupid, OK? If you don’t say anything it will only backfire on you. Tell James the truth and do it soon.” Lance’s tone was demanding, but for a good reason.
Jamie had called him the day before and she told Lance that she was planning on surprising Justin for the last few days of the tour. Originally she was going to just wait for him, but being in Orlando without him was getting to be too much, so she called Lance to have him help her with the surprise.
If Justin decided to be an idiot and not tell her, Lance knew that Jamie would walk into a situation she wasn’t ready for. Lance knew that the girls Dave picked would probably do anything to get with one of the guys, and Justin was going to be the prime target. If Jamie came for a visit and saw one of these girls hanging on Justin, it would most likely be the end of anything they had, and Lance was not going to let that happen.
Justin let out a long sigh before standing and stretching. “All right, I suppose I should tell her. What if she gets mad at me though? What if she doesn’t believe me?” He was whining, but he didn’t really care.
“Justin, she loves you. It’s so damn obvious that that girl is head over heels for you that I would be completely surprised if she didn’t believe you. Tell her, and if she’s still unsure she can talk to anyone of us and we’ll make sure she knows the truth.”
Justin nodded a few times before grabbing his phone out of his pocket and finding a quite corner to make his call from.
~*~
Jamie started as the phone rang, catching her off guard and causing her to drop the basket of laundry she was carrying. She grabbed the vibrating device from her back pocket and flipped it open to reveal Justin’s number flashing across the screen. With a wide grin she pressed the talk button.
“Hey stud muffin.” She giggled into the phone.
“He baby girl, what are you up to?” His soft voice floated over the line and Jamie stopped for a second at the tone he used. Something was wrong, she could feel it.
“Finishing up some laundry, is everything ok? You sound upset.” She sat down on the stairs she had previously been ascending and ignored the pile of clothing that scattered over the landing.
“Well, no, everything’s not OK.” Justin cleared his throat. He was hoping to avoid this conversation for a little bit longer, but James had to get right to the point.
“What happened? Is anyone hurt?”
“No, no, everyone is in good health and nothing is broken.” He cut her rambling off before she could get too worked up. “No, Dave is just attempting another one of his controlling schemes and I wanted to warn you before you heard from the wrong place.”
“What’s the bastard up to this time?” Jamie had never hated anyone before in her life, but Dave was slowly becoming the first.
“Well, he…he, ah…he brought some girls on the tour to make it look like JC and I were dating them. He says its to throw the media off of our real relationships, but we all know that’s a crock of shit.”
“You and JC? What about Joey and Chris, they’re dating people too. Why do you and JC have to have fake girls? Won’t that just cause more media attention?” Her voice was filled with confusion and laced with upset and it was all Justin could do to not break down.
“I don’t know baby. I just know that I’m going to do everything in my power to keep this girl away from me. I just…I worry about the cameras, because I know it’s going to be made to look like we’re together, and that means that these girls are going to be filmed a lot with us.”
Jamie took a deep breath and prayed for strength. It was going to take all she had to put up with this and not to go after Dave. It was one thing being made to leave, it was a whole other issue when Dave started to mess with her boyfriend.
“I trust you Justin, and I love you. I’m sorry that this asshole is being allowed to do this, but I promise you it’ll be over soon.”
Justin visibly relaxed at her statement, and while he still didn’t like the whole idea, he felt better knowing that Jamie believed him.
“You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. I was really worried that you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Justin, I know that we’ve had our problems in the past, but I trust you more than anyone else I know, and I know that you would never intentionally try to hurt me. Plus, I know Dave and this has him written all over it.”
“I do love you James, more than anything. I can’t wait until this is all over and I get to wrap you in my arms again. I’m going to hold onto you and never let go.”
Jamie smiled at his statement and gripped the phone tighter. “Soon, Justin. I’ll see you soon.”
