Chapter Two.

“Spousal Abandonment? Is that even a real claim?” Lance Bass said as he reviewed the document for a third time.

Out of all of his band mates, Lance was always the one he could turn to for advice. He was business savvy as well as compassionate. He always knew how to make a seemingly impossible situation seem hopeful. Back when Nsync first started, it was Lance who always tried to look at things for the better rather than the worst.

He knew the other guys would always be behind him no matter what, and he would do the same for them as well. But he and Lance had a very similar mindset and in stressful situation you find yourself second guessing a lot of things. Lance helped him clear out his thoughts and get down to what was important since he himself knew what JC was thinking, mainly because he would react the same way if it had happened to him. Hell, Lance was the first person he told about his plan to ask Jessica to marry him and the first one of his four brothers he called when she served him the divorce papers.

“That’s what I said! Apparently it is and apparently in the state of California that can fall under the same category as a “crime of passion”. “ JC stated heatedly. Abandon! Abandon! How DARE she. HE was the one who always made time for them, HE was the one who put his career on hold, and HE was the one who stepped away from a solo opportunity of a life time just to be with her. If anyone was going to claim spousal abandonment, HE would.

“ Wow. This is a ridiculous claim. C, she’s got nothing. You put your heart and soul into that marriage. She’s the one who threw it away. Don’t worry, you’ll come out on top in this one.” Lance said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks man. And thanks for rushing over so fast, I needed someone to vent to.” Lance nodded and pushed the papers all together into one pile.

“So you up for a drink? There’s a new bar that just opened up down the street, I’ve been dying to check it out.” JC shook his head and sighed.

“ Rain check bro. I have a few things I need to work out with the lawyers tonight.” JC said.

“Alright man. If you need anything just call okay?” JC nodded and walked lance to the door.

Looking across the room at the small white rounded clock on the wall JC sighed as he realized he needed to get ready. Time had flow by and he had a little over an hour to shower and get dressed before heading out to meet with the lawyers.

He only prayed James would be able to pull through.

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“ I can’t help you.” Serenity said as she twirled the phone cord between her hands. She had been on the phone for over an hour with this woman filling a complaint about her neighbors cat eating her roses. As much as Serenity prided herself in making sure every case she’s given is dealt with the right way, sometimes you just have to say no.

She heard a knock at her door and saw her assistant Stacey poke her head into the door. She waved her in a smiled thankfully at the girl when she placed the large Styrofoam cup filled with coffee onto her desk.

“ Yes Mrs. Wallace I understand it’s a nuisance to you and a drain on your flowers, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to work this out with your neighbor….Okay……Yes, please call and let me know how it works out….okay….have a good day…..bye.” Serenity hung up the phone and reached for the coffee.

“ Sorry about that, I asked Jenna to cover my desk when I went out for lunch and she’s not up to speed on which calls to forward to voicemail yet. “ Stacey said giving Serenity an apologetic look.

“ Don’t worry about it. It’s better I talk to her anyway otherwise she’ll just keep calling .Remember when she wanted us to sue Panasonic when the batteries in her TV remote died?” Stacey laughed and nodded her head.

“ Oh, I had left a message for you before I left while you where at the meeting. A guy names James called. Said he needed to call in his favor?” Stacey said raising an eyebrow

“James? Wow didn‘t think I‘d hear from him so soon. Okay, thanks Stacey.” She moved to turn her chair towards her computer when she felt herself moving backwards.

“ Okay, Thanks Stacey? Honestly, you know me better than that. Who is this James guy? Is this a sexual favor your ’calling in’?” Serenity laughed and moved her chair a few inches away from Stacey.

“ No it’s not a sexual favor you perv. He helped me out when I was applying here and honestly got me this job. I used to be in his study group back in college. We weren’t really close but he’s a cool guy. I just saw him a few weeks ago at Montage and thanked him for all his help and told him I owed him one. Apparently he needs some help” She explained. Stacey stood upright fixing her pinstripe jacket and turned towards the door.

“ Well that’s boring. Buzz me if you need anything” She said before leaving.

“Thanks stace!” Serenity called as the door to her office closed. She eye’d the phone a minuet before slowly reaching for the receiver.

What could he want? Was he in legal trouble? Money trouble? Girl problems? She highly doubted he would be calling her for girl problems but she would soon find out. Flipping through the rolodex on her desk she pulled out his card and punched in the numbers. After a few rings a breathless James picked up.

“ Hello?”

“Hello James.” Serenity said

“Ren? Is that you?” He asked still breathless

“The one and only. Did I catch you at a bad time?“

“ No, no. Not at all. I was outside talking to my neighbor and I had to run through the entire house to get to the phone.“ He said. She nodded even though he couldn’t see her and decided to cut right to the chase.

“So what can I do for you James?” Serenity asked. She hadn’t even realized she had been chewing on her finger nails until she cut too close to the skin. It was a bad habit when she found her self doing when she got anxious.

“ I’m having a little trouble with a divorce case and I was hoping you could help me out. Nothing major, just take a look at a suit filed. The clients name is Chasez and case number is 423156-”

“Wait, hold up. Why do you need help on a Divorce case?” Serenity was a little puzzled. Divorce cases where nothing major unless they involved children and even then, James wasn’t one who got stumped easily.

“ It’s not a regular case. The guy is well, he’s a big shot celebrity and even with a pre-nup she’s trying to take all his money.” he explained.

Serenity’s eyes widened as she tried to process all the info. This all seems familiar.

“Why not just stick to that. Prenuptials hold in a Cali court you know that” She said.

“ Duh Ren. But there’s more. She’s claiming Spousal Abandonment.” Serenity sucked in a breath.

Oh no. That sounds a little too familiar.

“What did you say the name was?” Serenity asked.

“Chasez. JC Chasez.” Serenity groaned and opened up the top folder on her desk. She was almost positive of what she was looking for but wanted to make sure. Her eye’s skimmed down the paper and she finally landed upon those two words that would prevent her from helping a friend.

Client name: Jessica Chasez.