Grace wrapped her bathrobe tightly around her torso and padded down the stairs. She went into the pantry and selected a bottle of red wine, deciding it was the best choice for the evening. Getting out two wine glasses she set them on the table and put the bottle in a bucket of ice. The door bell rang a few moments later and she greeted Dave at the door.

       “Hey sweetie.” Dave kissed her cheek lightly and didn’t miss the fatigue that touched her features. He set the bags of Chinese food that he was holding onto the coffee table in the living room and followed Grace into the kitchen.

 “I’ll get the wine out and grab some plates, why don’t you go get things set up?” He nodded and went back into the living room.

“Tell me what happened.” Dave and Grace sat on the floor in her living room, both picking at their food and sipping their wine.

 “I met someone…a girl…she’s Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend.” She stopped and took a bite of pork. Dave waited patiently for her to continue and when it didn’t look like she would start any time soon, he urged her to go on.

 “You met Justin’s girlfriend…what’s her name?” Grace let out a deep sigh and her weary eyes traveled up to meet his.

  “Jamie. James Rylee Tanning, her father’s name is Allen and her mother’s name was Lauren. She’s 19, and very beautiful…she looks just like her. That’s how I knew.” Dave shook his head in confusion.

“Grace, sweetie, I don’t understand.” Tears had formed in Grace’s eyes and she wiped them angrily away.

“My mother died when I was eighteen. She died a few months after we had met. The day I went to see her she said that I had been an accident, but she didn’t want me to feel as if she didn’t love me. But she didn’t Dave; I could see it in her eyes. She talked about her family and her eyes sparkled, when she talked about me they were dead with regret. I was a mistake, and the only reason she agreed to meet me was because she didn’t want to die with a guilty heart. She said she didn’t want a daughter of hers to go through life not knowing who their mother was.” She stopped to catch her breath and Dave rubbed her back soothingly.

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with Jackie, or whatever her name is.”

“Jamie was my mother’s other daughter. She was the one that my mother loved. God, Dave, she looks just like my mother. I have this old picture of when she was twenty, they could be twins…It’s scary just to look at Jamie.” Dave felt a stab of sorrow and he wished there was some way he could ease her pain.

 “What can I do? How can I help you Grace?”

“You can’t. It’s…it’s just that, I look at Jamie and get so upset. The girl has no idea who I am, and she has everything. I mean, she’s Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend for Christ’s sake. I had to scrape and claw my way up the ladder, to make it to where I am today. Jamie has had a wonderful life. She had a mother that loved and cared for her, a father that would die for her, and now she’s on the arm of the most wanted man in America.” Dave took Grace’s hand and pulled her into his arms, trying to calm her hysterics. He waited until her breathing had slowed a little before he started to talk.

“Grace, you have done everything that everyone said couldn’t be done. You laugh in the face of critics and you conquered this job. Don’t let your feelings towards a teenager take over. She should be nothing to you Grace, nothing. You can’t let this eat you alive, because it will.” She looked up at him closed her eyes before whispering.

“I can’t stand to look at her and know that I was supposed to be in her place. I was supposed to be the daughter that was loved an adored. I was supposed to be handed the world. Instead, I was handed the shit end of the stick. I was given away and forgotten until my mother’s dying moments, and then she only remembered me because she wanted to die without the guilt of giving me away to haunt her. Jamie doesn’t know who I am…and she wouldn’t care…no one cares.”

Dave felt a sudden surge of anger flood through him. He was in love with Grace, and he hated seeing her like this. She was usually so strong, and this one girl had managed to tear her down. He held her closely and vowed to himself that he would protect her, no matter what it took; he was going to protect her.

“I care Grace, I care.”

The next morning was filled with lots of tears, laughs and goodbyes. They crew, security, the guys and family and friends were all crowed in the parking lot at the JIVE studio. All the guys were trying their best to be strong, but their anxiousness about touring again and their regret of having to leave their families again was making it hard for them to stay calm.

Grace walked into the lot, her eyes covered by dark glasses. It had been a rough night. There wasn’t any site of Jamie and Grace was thankful because she wasn’t sure that she was ready to face her yet. After talking with Dave her feelings of sorrow had started to form into strong feelings of bitterness. Jamie had everything, and Grace had to work her ass off to get anything. It wasn’t fair.

She jumped when someone placed their hands on her shoulder and turned her around quickly.

  “Jesus Chris! You scared the shit out of me!” She hit his shoulders and watched as his eyes crinkled with laughter.

  “Oh Gracie, it’s good to see you. Are you ready for the time of your life?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as the walked further into the sea of people.

  “I sure hope so. I will be coming back to Orlando in about three weeks though.”

 “Why? You’re not staying for the whole tour?”

“Well…sort of. I’ll be going back and fourth so I can handle all the details. I can’t bring my whole office with me on tour, so I’ll be coming back here ever so often so I can do my job.” Chris nodded in understanding and turned when someone called his name.

 “Gracie, I got to go, my mom’s calling me. I’ll see you in Arizona!” She waved as he skipped off through the crowd and she turned around, bumping into Lance.

 “Hey there, are you ready?” Lance asked as he gave her a hug. This group seemed very affectionate.

 “Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is there something I should know about you all?” He laughed and draped his arm over her shoulder.

 “I’d tell you, but what’s the fun in that? Besides, you’ll figure things out soon enough.” He winked at her, and Grace felt as if she were getting into something way over her head. “I’m going to go say goodbye to a few people and then get on the bus. I’ll see you later.” She watched as he walked away and she smiled. She liked the members of NSYNC. They had all been such great people to get to know. She knew that this tour was going to be a great one, and she was excited to get going.

 “ALL RIGHT PEOPLE! Last call for loading busses, say good bye to your loved ones and let’s get moving. No Joey, you can’t take your family with you, even if they do all fit in the bathroom at once.” People chuckled as Joey huffed playfully and gave his mother one last kiss, and shook his father’s hand, only to be pulled into a hug.

One of security had shown Grace her bus and loaded her luggage for her. She glanced around the crowd and wished that she had family to see her off. When this thought entered her head, she spotted Justin, Jamie and her father all chatting by the door to another bus. A pang of jealousy ran through her as she watched Jamie kiss her father and then take Justin’s hand as he led her onto the bus. She turned and entered her own, setting herself on the couch in the back to stare out the window. Life wasn’t fair, and Grace had figured that one out the hard way.

The ride to Arizona was strange for Jamie. She spent most of the trip glued to the window, wanting to see as much as possible. This was all new to her, and she was going to make the best of it.

 “It’ll all start looking the same soon enough.” Justin sat down behind her on the couch and pulled her back into his arms.

 “For you maybe, you’ve seen this before. But to me…Justin, this is incredible.” He chuckled softly and kissed the side of her head, wrapping his arms around her torso and resting his chin on her shoulder.

 “I’m glad you’re here.” She sighed and leaned back into his embrace, giving him a sideways glance. He looked thoughtful and depressed at the same time.

 “What’s wrong?”

 “Hmm?” He snapped out of his trance and looked at Jamie. “Nothing’s wrong James. I just have a lot on my mind.” Jamie turned in his arms to face him. She slowly traced her fingers under his eyes and over his face, down to his lips.

 “You look stressed; tired…do you want to talk about it?” He smiled ruefully and kissed her softly.

“I don’t think I could explain it James.” He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand.  “It’s like this feeling; this terrible feeling is taking me over. I mean, I should have nothing to worry about. The tour is amazing and I feel that were more than ready, but I just have this bad feeling and I can’t figure it out.” His eyes fluttered open slowly and Jamie saw the fatigue he was hiding so well.

 “Have you been sleeping lately?” He shook his head.

 “I had to pack last night, and I couldn’t sleep. Not the night before a tour.” She kissed his cheek and stood up, pulling on his hand.

 “Come on then…let’s get you to bed. You need to sleep Justin…you look like shit.” He laughed heartily and allowed her to lead him to his bunk. She opened the curtain and pushed him to get in. “Sleep J…sleep.” When he had climbed inside she started to close the curtain. He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently before closing his eyes.

 “Thank you James.” She closed the curtain and went back to the couch, sitting with a heavy sigh.

This was the first time she had ever seen that side of Justin. She had seen the romantic side, the fun side and even the jackass, but never before had she seen fear like that in his eyes. He was trying so hard to appear strong, but something was bothering him and Jamie had a feeling it was more than just the tour.

The buses had all stopped in a small Mississippi town to let everyone stretch their legs and grab something to eat.

Jamie waited until everyone was off the bus before she walked to the bunks to wake Justin. He had been sleeping for about three hours, and she was worried about him. He wasn’t usually like this. Granted she didn’t know what tour life was like on him, but this didn’t seem normal.

She pulled back the curtain slightly and a warm smile touched her lips as she watched his sleeping figure. He was curled into a ball, snuggling into the grey sleeping bag that wrapped around his torso. His hair was matted from the pillow and his cheeks were flushed with sleep. Jamie reached out and traced a finger over his cheek and up to run through his hair.

 “Mmm, hey.” He mumbled sleepily, his eyes fluttering open slowly. “Where are we?”

“Some place in Mississippi, we’ve just stopped for food.” Justin yawned and stretched out in the bunk.

 “Are you hungry?” He slipped out of the bunk and stretched more fully this time, getting out all the kinks.

  “Yeah, but I thought I’d wake you up too. I don’t want you to get skinner.” She pinched his side and he squirmed away before grabbing her hand.

“Oh no you didn’t!” Jamie screamed as Justin started to chase her and grab at her sides. She squealed as his fingers tickled over her stomach and she tried her best to get away from his touch.

 “OK! OK! Stop…please!” He words were dotted with laughter and Justin laughed right along with her.            

  “I’ll teach you to call me skinny, girl.” He pulled her to him, her body flush with his. There was an all too evil gleam in his eyes as his head lowered toward hers. Right before their lips made contact there was a loud noise and the bus door crashed open.

“AHHHH!” Chris came plowing onto the bus, breaking the moment. Jamie buried her head in Justin’s chest and groaned. “They don’t have any cheese balls!!!” He ran to the cupboards and searched for the snack food he spoke of. “Justin, the store doesn’t have any cheese balls! I’m having withdrawal…STUPID MISSISSIPPI!” He started mumbling something about evil albinos but Justin moved away from him.

“What am I getting myself into?” Justin chuckled and pulled on Jamie’s hand.

“Come on James. Let’s get some food before Joey eats it all.”

A few minutes later the buses were again in motion and Justin sat with Jamie in the front of the bus, eating the sandwiches they had purchased. Jamie watched him carefully and finally spoke the worries that had been flitting around in her mind.

“Justin…is something wrong? You seem…I don’t know…” He set his sandwich down and finished chewing before he answered.

“I’m fine James, really. I’m just tired because I didn’t sleep at all last night, and I know that I’ll be performing non-stop for the next two months.” She eyed him before letting go and accepting his answer. After all, what did she know about tour life? Or what Justin was feeling?  He smiled at her, a lop-sided grin and she giggled as he raised his eyebrows up and down playfully.

“You’re such a dork.” She laughed and he joined right in.

“I know I’ve told you this, but I’m so glad you’re here. I think you’ll be good for me.” Jamie didn’t know exactly what that meant, but she didn’t care.

 “I’m glad to be here.” As soon as the words were spoken Chris came charging into the room, looking around wildly.

 “FOOD!” He screamed and dove for the sandwiches on the table. Justin and Jamie jumped back in surprise, not quite sure what was going on. Chris grabbed the closest pieces of food he could find and shoved them into his mouth.

 “Chris? What the hell are you doing?” He stared at Justin with wild eyes and spoke with his mouth full.

 “I woft a be wiff Jo ad he age aww mu foof.” He chewed the stuff in his mouth and repeated himself. “I lost a bet with Joey and he ate all my food.”

            “What bet was that?” Chris grinned evilly and his eyes sparkled.

 “I bet him that he couldn’t get the cashier’s phone number.”

 “And he did? What’s the big deal about that?” Jamie started to slowly move the plates away from Chris, trying to save as much of her lunch as she could.

  “He got the phone number…and the guys name was Pat.” He chuckled devilishly and Justin looked at him confused.

“Huh? Guy?” Chris’ cackled subsided long enough for him to respond.

“Pat REALLY liked Joey, and he was more than willing to give away HIS phone number. Pat was very pretty too…”

“Oh God…he was a transvestite…did Joey know this?” Jamie asked with a look of pure horror on her face.

 “He did once Pat responded to his pick up line.” Tears formed in his eyes as he thought about what had happened and he rolled on the floor with laughter.

  “Uh…let’s get out of here James…I think Chris has lost his mind.” He tugged on her hand and pulled her with him into the back room of the bus, shutting the door on Chris’ laughter.

 “Justin…you know how I said I was glad to be here…I uh, I think I spoke too soon.” She looked at him with wide eyes and he laughed, pulling her into his embrace.

“Oh James…this is nothing.”

 “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Jamie walked around the venue with jaw dropped and eyes wide. She had never seen so much go into a production and she was blown away. Crew workers moved around, setting up lights, stage and anything else that needed to be put together. Techies tested sound, lighting and all the other special effects. Pyrotechnics were set off and cameramen scurried around getting their best ideas for the filming.

 “Sweetie, you’re going to catch flies.” Justin tapped her jaw shut and laughed at the expression on her face.

 “I just…this is amazing!” She looked around again, trying to take it all in.

After a brief tour of the arena, all the guys, the head crew members and security were called in for a meeting with Grace.

They sat in the back half of the arena, chatting lightly with each other until Grace cleared her throat and started to speak.

 “OK everyone, my name is Grace and as most of you know I’m going to be trying my best to fill Johnny’s shoes. The rules are all pretty much the same, and if you have any concerns or questions you can come to me or my assistant.” She stopped and shuffled a few papers before continuing. “This brings me to my next order of business. This is Dave Malloy, and he is my trusty side kick. He will probably be the easiest one to reach, and he will then forward your comments to me. Any questions?” She scanned the crowed and was satisfied when no one spoke out.

The rest of the meeting went rather smoothly, with the exception of Chris attempting to tell Grace that he was the actual manager of the tour, and everyone was ordered to wear their underwear on their heads. When the meeting was over, the guys were sent off to sound check, and everyone else went off to finish their jobs.

Jamie sat in the third row as the guys took the stage. She sat back and bopped her head to the music as the guys fooled around and warmed up. She turned when someone sat beside her and she was surprised to see Grace.

 “Hello James.” Her tone was cool and it gave Jamie shivers. Grace gave off a weird vibe every time she was around, and Jamie felt very awkward.

 “Please…it’s Jamie. How are you doing?” Grace threw Jamie a look of contempt and spoke with measured words.

  “Enough with the crap. I want to get a few things straight, OK?” Jamie looked at her with shock but said nothing as Grace continued. “You are a guest on this tour, and I can take that right away any time I want to, so don’t piss me off. If you do anything to compromise Justin’s image or NSYNC’s for that matter…and you’re gone.” She didn’t look at Jamie as she rose out of her seat and started to leave. She thought better of is and turned back, her eyes blazing.       

 “Oh, and don’t bother telling Justin about our little conversation, he won’t believe you anyway.” Jamie watched as she walked away, her head held high with the new found power she had.

 “What the hell was that all about?” Jamie almost wanted to pinch herself because not ten minutes before Grace had been polite and respectful. Suddenly she had turned into Head Bitch, and it seemed that her first victim was going to be Jamie.