This is how the proposal happened.
JC was growing his hair out and Laura hated it. She let him know this very often.
"Just cut it, baby," Laura demanded once again, sitting across from him at dinner. They were eating at her favorite restaurant in Orlando, an Italian place. It was his last night in town before he headed down to New Orleans to start working on the PopOdyssey tour. JC was excited about the whole concept of the tour. Performing outside in stadiums, previewing the new CD before it hit stores in the middle of the summer. It sounded like the ultimate adventure to him. Something that had never been done before.
"What?" JC ran a hand over his hair and gave a sheepish grin. "It's not even long."
"I despise it."
"It's just hair," JC said, easily.
"It's like you and Justin switched places," Laura pointed out. "He buzzed off that 'fro and now you have this monstrosity coming out of your scalp."
JC smiled, thinking about Justin and the group and the tour all over again. It just made him happy. He hadn't been this jazzed for a tour since Nsync started. Maybe it was because of the bit of a break they'd had after completing the CD. He was restless. He just needed to get back out there. His leg twitched under the table. His mess of hair bounced on his head. He grabbed Laura's hand over the table. She was dark haired, leggy, beautiful. Just the way JC liked his women. He met her while they were recorded "Celebrity" and had been seeing her pretty steadily since the New Year. He liked her. She was serious and he was fun. She was quiet and he was hyper. She liked the music of business and he liked the creativity. She was an A&R rep for Jive. They were opposites and that was what JC needed.
"I'll cut it before the tour." JC patted his hair with his free hand. Then he held her delicate hand between both of his. He felt a lot of affection for her, plenty of warmth.
Maybe even love.
"I'm gonna miss you, JC." Laura said.
"You know how it goes," JC said and she should. She had worked in the music business almost as long as he had. Laura was older. She had four years on JC, she was 28, established, professional. He liked that. The restaurant was small and almost all the tables were filled but it didn't seem crowded. It was dark and flickered with romantic candles and twinkling lights overhead.
"Yeah, I know how it goes," Laura said and her voice sounded bitter all of a sudden. "So is this the break up dinner, JC?"
"What?" JC looked at her, taken off-guard. "No. Unless you're breaking up with--"
"I mean, don't try to act innocent," Laura said. "I know how you guys act on the road. Anybody. Any artist on the road. You Nsync boys aren't exempt. You're not really the golden boys that you want everyone to believe you are."
JC sat back in his chair, a bit miffed.
"Maybe so..." He said carefully. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to. Baby." He leaned over and looked her in the eyes. She held his gaze with a ferocity he wasn't used to. Every date, he found out something new about her. That was the best thing about their relationship. All of the discoveries.
"I don't know if I believe you," Laura said.
"Well, that's the thing about relationships," JC said. "There's that... trust. There's trust involved. This is the trust part. It won't be forever baby. Just the summer."
"Just the summer?" Laura sneered. "You can't pull that crap on me, JC. I know the type of promotion that goes into a platinum selling record. I know the publicity. I know the schedule. I know the business. You can't pull anything on me."
"Then why are you getting so uptight?" JC asked. He was beginning to feel annoyed.
"I just need to know that we're in this," Laura said. Her dark hair fell across her forehead. He pushed her hair back and looked into her exotic green eyes. "That we're in this together, Josh."
"We are." He pulled her hand across the table and kissed it gently. "We are, Laura."
They separately briefly when the food came. He looked down at his plate and didn't feel like eating. Laura didn't pick up her fork either. But the pasta smelled wonderful and the steam rose and created a rosy blush on Laura's face.
"We are, are we?" Laura raised an eyebrow in a quirky way. "Prove it."
"Anything for you," JC promised. And as soon as the words left his lips, he meant it.
"Do you love me?" Laura challenged.
Now there wasn't a doubt in JC's mind. Here was another discovery. "Yes."
"Do you want to be together... for a long long time?" Laura asked plainly.
"Yes, I do, Laura." JC said. The words felt delicious coming out of his mouth. He felt peaceful. He felt whole, looking at Laura in that restaurant. This is what he needed to do. "I do, Laura, I do." It was like the solar system, the whole universe, was lined up in perfect harmony behind him. Everything was urging him to go for it. The very molecules in the air were whispering to her. This was right, the time was right, he loved her and he wanted her and he needed her and he never wanted to be away from her and why pretend he was going to find anyone else, why not now, now was the right time, the right moment, the right question, the right way.
Right now.
"Laura," JC said. He stood up. He pushed his chair back, heard it scraping against the elegant wooden floor. He heard her squeal with delight as he got down on one knee beside her chair. She patted his hair, gave it a tug. He put his hands on her knees and then he pulled her hand off of his hair.
"I don't have anything," He said suddenly, looking at her naked hand. "I'm unprepared."
"Do it, JC, just do it, Josh." Laura whispered. She was grinning.
"I love you, I love you. I know that I do." JC looked up into her eyes. She was so beautiful right then. The small restaurant was hushed now. Everyone was staring. He felt his voice become louder in his ears. Every part of his being was involved in this moment. He could feel his heart pulsing in his hands. He felt Laura's heart too. Their hearts beat together.
"Laura Marsden," JC said, in a calm, steady, commanding voice. "I would be honored, truly delighted, if you agreed... to give me your hand in marriage. If you agreed to become my fiance, my wife."
"Yes," the tears fell immediately. Laura grinned with a shining wet face. "Yes. Yes.Yes."
JC looked at her, then thought quickly and yanked off his Leo necklace. He looked at the simple necklace in his hand, the cloth chain, the simple pendant. He hadn't taken it off for so long it felt like he had been wearing it for his whole life. He put the necklace in her hand and closed her fingers around it.
"That means yes," he said. "Yes. We're getting married."
"Oh yes, yes," Laura was grinning and almost panting with excitement. She put the necklace on. It dangled down at her collarbone. Rested against her skin like it was meant to be there. She clasped her hands around the back of JC's head and pulled him up so they were both at the same level.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," He said.
He kissed her then and the restaurant suddenly exploded into applause . Everyone was grinning. Laura stood up and took a bow.
JC stayed on the ground, smiling. And he was thinking. He was thinking very hard.
What had he just done?
* * *
"Hey, yo, Justin!"
Justin looked up from his funk, from his dark cloud of fury. He was walking outside, away from the mansion, on the dark asphalt paved path. He didn't know where he was walking. This was the present, this was the now, this was the situation at hand.
And he was walking away.
"Justin!" the voice said again. Finally, Justin spotted the voice. It was Wade, hurrying up to him quickly.
"Are you guys done?" Wade asked. They had been practicing with Wade before they were whisked away to deal with the situation.
"JC's getting married," Justin said without pausing. Wade had to walk quickly to keep up with him.
"Yeah, I know," Wade said. "I heard it on MTV news. With the rest of you."
"So." Justin was swinging his arms, walking hard, fast. He couldn't feel the heat. Not anymore.
"So," Wade let his breath out in a rush. "we can't practice? JC's getting married and we can't practice?"
This was meant to be a joke, but Justin wasn't feeling it.
"Fuck off, Wade," Justin snapped and then he took off running. Wade stood back, shocked. Sometimes he didn't understand Justin at all. Well, most of the time, actually.
Justin kept running and it felt good. He liked the heat and the sweat and the fatigue he was beginning to feel, the strain on his muscles. It felt good, it felt very good. He was running against the ocean. They were having a race. And the ocean wasn't going to win.
Laura wasn't going to win.
Nsync wasn't going to lose.
Justin would make sure of it. He would do anything to stop that wedding.
"Justin, where are you going?" One of the security guards was standing ahead. He was coming to the end of the property.
"I'm going out," Justin said.
"You'd better not. Johnny wants you guys to stick around here. He wants to talk to you. Do damage control."
"I didn't damage anything!" Justin said hotly.
"You're still running!" The security guard pointed out as Justin breezed past the security station, out of the gates, into the open city, New Orleans.
"I'm jogging!" Justin called back.
"Stop Justin," the guard said in a warning voice. "Stop. Stop!"
Justin didn't stop. And he knew the security guard wouldn't stop him. Who was going to run in this kind of oppressive heat? Nobody. And Justin knew this. Even he was dying in this heat. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. He was going somewhere and he didn't know where.
There were no sidewalks on this street. Nobody in sight. Just him, the road and the ocean. He couldn't believe he was still running, still panting, still sweating, still breathing. He stumbled down another street. It was getting even harder to breathe now. Harder to see as well. Sweat was constantly pouring into his eyes. He kept wiping at his face, over and over again, like his hand was a windshield wiper. His hair clung to his head, wet and matted, making him even hotter. Eventually he took off his wifebeater and used it as a sweat rag, still running. He was going to be in such great shape for the tour. Such great shape and they were going to have a tour and an album and a career that lasted forever and no stupid girl was going to ruin that.
All of a sudden he was down on the ground. He had tripped on something in the road. For a moment, he surrendered and lay against the burning hot asphalt, listening to the throbbing in knees. He was bleeding. He had scraped something and it hurt. He finally rolled over and sat up on his butt. He glanced down at his legs for the damage. Both knees were scraped. He stood up carefully and his right ankle protested under his weight. He coughed into his hand, not sure he could walk very hard. He needed to get back. He needed some help.
He limped forward and hopped on one leg and after about ten minutes of effort he felt like he had only gotten ten yards ahead. He groaned loudly and sat down on the curb. He laid back in the grass and covered his face with his hands.
"Why, JC, why?" Justin called into the empty street, the quiet neighborhood. Nobody was around and he had no idea where he was. It was easy to tell that he was not in the ritzy part of New Orleans. It was easy to stumble into the less desirable places of the city. Hopefully if he kept to himself nobody would bother him. Suddenly he felt conspicuous. He had nothing on him, no pockets. He didn't have his wallet or his cellphone. This had been a fabulous idea. He turned over and laid in the grass. Maybe he would just die here. At least he wouldn't have to see the wedding.
It felt like he had been laying there for a long time when he finally became conscious of the sound of running water behind him. He needed that water. Suddenly, he desired it with every molecule of his being. He got up on his knees and then yelped a little, feeling the stinging pain that came from agitating all his cut. He finally rose to his feet and limped carefully through the expanse of thickly growing grass. Maybe it was a stream and he could dunk his face inside of it. He didn't care that the water would be dirty. He needed to cool off or he would melt and die right here in the middle of nowhere. His vision was going blurry. He must have been so dehydrated. His breathing was hitched and he stumbled with every step. But in a few more feet, he would be at the stream. That glorious running water. Through the grass. Just a little bit further. He was so focused on his goal that he didn't notice the old man walking up behind him. He didn't notice until the man grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, sending an intense pain shooting up from his right ankle through his leg and his entire body.
"Freeze, white boy," the old man said.
"Ow, ow," Justin gasped.
"Just be quiet. Turn around. Don't make a sound."
Justin sucked in his breath and shivered because of the heat and the pain.
"Turn around." The man said again.
This time, Justin was able to do it. He turned around, clutching his sweat soaked wifebeater in his hand. He turned around, sidestepping and limping on his hurt ankle. He turned around, licking his chapped lips and feeling his heart pound in his chest.
He turned around and faced the barrel of a gun.
Number of reviews: 18
Print:
Chapter or Story