Jenna pushed the strands of hair that came untucked back behind her ear. She glanced over at Johnny who was on the phone ordering their new computers. She could see the unhappy look on his face as he wrote down what seemed to be a price. Jenna shook her head and went back to filing the papers that were once in unorganized piles on Johnny’s desk. When he hung up the phone, Johnny grumbled, “You better be worth this.”
Jenna put a sweet smile on her face as she blinked innocently at Johnny. “Worth what?”
“Almost $5000…I just spent $5000 on two computers!”
“Plus,” Jenna added, “$200 on the cable modems and networking.” She cringed knowing Johnny would yell at her. “The guy comes to install it tomorrow.”
“Fine, $5200 on computer crap that I didn’t need until you walked in. Why do we need to be networked anyway?”
Jenna rolled her chair towards Johnny’s desk. “We need to be networked so when…just trust me. It’s worth it in the long run.” The phone on Jenna’s desk rang. She rolled back over to her desk and answered it. “Wright Entertainment Group. Jenna Sutherland speaking.”
The voice on the other end was friendly. “Hi Jenna! This is Kelly. I’m Joey’s …girl.”
Questioningly Jenna replied, “Oh, hi.” She had heard Chris and Joey talking about Kelly the day before.
Kelly laughed. “I know you don’t know me, but Joey, Lance and I are going out to lunch in about 30 minutes and we were wondering if you would like to go with us?”
“Well,” Jenna looked over at Johnny who was searching for something on his desk. “I don’t know when I take lunch.”
“Whenever you want.” Johnny said. “Where’s the price list for Britney’s stage?”
“Right here.” Jenna handed one of the newly organizes manila file folders to Johnny. “Well, it looks like I’m free to go with you guys. Where should I meet you?”
“Oh, we’ll pick you up there, okay? See you in a few.” As Kelly hung up, Jenna could hear a baby babbling in the background.
Jenna hung up the phone and went back to filing. “So, who’s the lunch plans with?” Johnny asked.
“Kelly, Joey and Lance. It is okay for me to spend personal time with the guys, right?”
Johnny nodded. “As long as whatever type of relationship you have with any of them doesn’t affect work, I don’t care.”
Jenna smiled at the idea of a ‘relationship’ with the guys. 'Who?' she thought. 'Joey has Kelly, so no. Justin just broke up with Britney. So that leaves Chris, JC and Lance. I don’t think Chris and I could lower our sarcasm enough to try anything. Plus he reminds me of Melissa’s brother and Lane would kill me. She’s had the hots for him since the I Drive Myself Crazy video. So that leaves JC and Lance.' She let out a soft sigh. 'Lance.'
“Hey Jenna! You ready?”
Jenna was awakened from her daydream. “Lance…uh, yeah. Let me just grab my purse. Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re waiting in the car.” Lance escorted Jenna out to Joey’s black SUV then opened her door for her.
A pretty brown haired girl turned around from the passengers seat. “Hi! I’m Kelly and that mess you’re sitting next to is Brianna.”
Jenna looked down at a cute little dark haired girl in the car seat. “Hey there sweetheart.” Jenna ran her finger across Brianna’s cheek and she let out a giggle as she grabbed for the finger.
Joey chuckled. “Looks like she found a new friend. Lance, you better be careful. You might just get replaced.”
Lance put his face down at Brianna’s level. “You would never replace me, would you?” Brianna gurgled then touched Lance’s face. He ruffled her hair then kissed her on the head.
Joey drove up to an open-air café and the group sat down at a corner table. Everyone ordered their food and talked over lunch. As soon as Kelly finished eating, she pulled out a plastic container and fed Brianna. Kelly asked Jenna, “So, how are you liking Orlando so far?”
“Well,” Jenna took a sip of her iced tea, “I’ve pretty much only seen the compound and my house, so…so far so good.”
Kelly laughed. “We’re going to have to show you around then.” Jenna nodded. Kelly then got an excited look on her face. “I want to throw you a house warming party. How does Saturday sound?”
Jenna looked surprised. “What? You don’t have to do that.”
“No, I want to. We’ll keep it small. Just the guys and some of the crew. What do you say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please!” Kelly batted her eyes. “It’ll give me something to do this week.”
Jenna sighed then looked at Kelly’s excited face. “Well, alright.”
Kelly smiled. “Great. I’ll come over tomorrow to get an idea of what all I need to plan and make.”
Jenna smiled then looked at Kelly. “I don’t mean this to sound bad, but do you not work?”
“No. Joey has made it so I can just be a stay at home mom.” Kelly pinched Joey’s cheek. “He’s such a good hus…guy.”
Jenna looked questioningly at Joey and Kelly. “You know, if you two are married, it’s okay to tell me. I won’t go tell anyone. Well, my friends, but that’s all.” Joey shot a concerned look at Kelly. She just gave a weak smile then nodded. “I thought so. Congrats!” Kelly and Joey smiled back at Jenna.
“So,” Lance drawled out, “We still on for grocery shopping tonight?”
“You still want to go with me?” Jenna was fishing in her purse for a pen to pay for her part of lunch.
Lance grabbed the three tickets then handed the waiter his credit card. “Lunch is on me. Yeah, I said I needed to get some things. Plus shopping alone sucks.”
“Well, sure if you want to. Just tell me what time is good for you.”
The waiter returned with the credit card slip for Lance to sign. “How’s like six sound? We can get a quick bite to eat, then shop.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jenna said, although she was thinking it sounded more like a date. They all got back in Joey’s SUV and dropped Jenna back off at the compound.
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Kelly spent the whole week planning and preparing for Jenna’s house warming party. She sent out invitations to about 30 people, cooked snack foods, and decorated Jenna’s house. As the party was winding down and people began to leave, Kelly looked around at the mess that was going to need to be cleaned and the pile of presents on the dining room table. Jenna was sitting on the couch in between Lance and Justin talking about the last tour with them. Chris bounded in the room with a handful of presents and asked, “When are you going to open these?”
Jenna shrugged her shoulders. “Later.”
“No, now!” Chris put the pile at Jenna’s feet then went to grab the rest. When he returned, he and Joey had the rest of the presents. Kelly walked in, sat next to JC and took Brianna off Jenna’s lap so she could open everything.
“Ya’ll know you didn’t have to get me anything.” The guys all smiled. Jenna opened boxes full of stationary, knick-knacks and cookbooks, purposefully avoiding the presents from the guys.
Kelly handed Jenna another box. “This is from Britney. She was sorry she couldn’t come.”
Jenna looked down at the box surprised. “I didn’t even think she’d try to come. You invited her?”
Justin glared at the box. “Just open it.” He then mumbled, “Let’s see what crap she got Fe to buy for you.”
Jenna ignored Justin’s grumbles and opened the box to see a beautiful silver picture frame. “Wow! This is nice. I’ll have to find something special to put in it.” Jenna put it back in the box and set it with the other opened presents. “Well, it looks like everything’s open. Party’s over guys!”
Chris threw a pillow at Jenna. “Open our stuff! We didn’t even want to see that other stuff anyway.”
Jenna threw the pillow back. “Alright, old man, which one first?” Chris started to open his mouth, but Jenna interrupted him. “Let me guess. Yours?” Chris nodded. She unwrapped the box that was bigger than the others. Jenna reached in and pulled out a plunger with four rolls of toilet paper on the handle. “Thanks…I think.”
Chris crossed his arms over his chest and in a boyish voice said, “I thought you would like something practical.”
Jenna sighed as she shook her head and grabbed for the box that was from Kelly and Joey. She pulled out a beautiful Tiffany lamp. “Wow! This is amazing. Thank you so much!” Jenna hugged them both.
“Joe,” Chris said. “I thought we made a deal?”
Joey pointed over at Kelly. “She wouldn’t let me, man.” Chris let out a sigh but paid attention as Jenna grabbed for the box from Justin and JC.
Inside was an autographed picture of both guys and a package of refrigerator magnets. Jenna laughed. “Now I know what to put in the frame from Britney.”
JC laughed but Justin replied, “That’s alright. You can just put us on the fridge.”
“Thanks guys.” Jenna reached for the last box. “I can’t wait to see what useful thing you got me, Lance.” Jenna smiled as she rolled her eyes. Inside was two items. She first pulled out Lance’s signature present, a copy of Dr. Seuss’ Oh The Places You Will Go. Jenna opened the front cover and read the inscription.
Jenna-
You have come so far, but just think about all the places you will go now and the new friends you get to experience them with. Good luck!
-Lance
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
“Thank you! That’s my favorite verse.”
Lance blushed, not knowing that information. “Um, well, there’s more.” He gently pushed the box on her lap. Jenna grabbed for the small black box. When she opened it, she saw a small silver NSync charm in it. She let out a soft laugh. “I saw the charms in your jewelry box when we were unpacking and I thought you might like to wear this one everyone once in a while.”
Jenna smiled and put the charm on the silver chain she was wearing. She had forgotten to put a charm on it that morning. Lance helped her put the necklace back on. Chris cleared his throat. “Well, I saw that you used toilet paper, so I thought you would like that.”
Jenna hugged Lance tightly. “Thank you so much. This is so nice.” She reached for the necklace. “Thank you all. This was such a nice party.”
Kelly grinned at Joey. “We just wanted you to feel welcome here. I know how hard it is to move away from everything to be with these guys. We just wanted you to feel like apart of the family.”
Jenna stood up and hugged Kelly again. “I do. Thank you so much!” Brianna pulled at the two girls pants legs and Jenna reached down to pick her up. “And thank you too sweetie. It’s not a party without the pretty girl to steal the show.” Brianna giggled then grabbed for the charm around Jenna’s neck.
Joey reached around Kelly’s waist and squeezed her, letting her know she’d done a good job. She smiled up at him then said, “Let’s get this place cleaned up for Jenna, guys.” Everyone grumbled. “Now!” Each guy found a room and began to straighten it up.
Jenna and Lance grabbed the presents and took them back to the dinning room where she could decide where to put everything later. When Lance put his armful of presents down, Jenna grabbed his wrist. ”Thank you! This was more than expected.” She was messing with her necklace.
Lance blushed as Jenna gave him a sweet smile. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re welcome!” Without meaning to, Jenna breathed in Lance’s scent. He smelled like a mixture of Giorgio Armani Emporium, baby powder from holding Brianna, and man. She had to force her eyes open when the innocent kiss ended. A moment of silence passed as they just stood there, not knowing what to do next. “Um, well, I guess we should get the rest of your gifts in here.”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah.” Lance reciprocated the nod. “Yeah.” He then got a goofy smile on his face, turned Jenna around and began pushing her towards the living room, trying to step on her heels the whole way.
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Jenna walked into her house after a long day at work and dinner at Kelly’s with everyone. She went into her bedroom and grabbed her pajamas out of her bottom dresser drawer. After she changed clothes she went into the bathroom and grabbed for her hairbrush so she could pull her hair up. Then Jenna heard her phone ring. She set the hairbrush down and grabbed for the cordless on her nightstand. “Hello?”
“Hey honey!”
Jenna got a huge smile on her face and laid down on her bed. “Hi mom! How are you? How’s Dad?”
“We’re good. He’s on the phone too.”
“Hi Jenna!”
Jenna giggled at the sound of her parent’s voices. It seemed so long since she had heard them. “Well,” Jenna’s mom asked, “How’s your first month up there been? We get your emails, but haven’t gotten to really talk to you in a while.”
“It’s been good. I think I finally have Johnny all organized. Took long enough. I don’t know how one man in charge of so much important stuff can be so unorganized.”
“Where have you been tonight? We tried to call earlier.” Jenna’s dad asked.
“I just got in from Kelly’s.”
“That’s Joey’s wife, right?”
Jenna nodded, even though her parents couldn’t see her. “Yeah. She’s become like my best friend down here. She’s basically the only girl I know. Her and Johnny’s wife. But I was over there tonight having dinner with them and Lance and the rest of the guys.”
“Lance?” Jenna’s dad raised his eyebrows.
“How are things going with you and Lance?” Jenna’s mom asked.
“Well,” Jenna sighed, “I like him and I think he might like me, but I don’t know. I don’t want to do something and him think I’m an idiot.” Jenna grabbed for the book Lance had given her at her housewarming party that set next to her bed and ran her finger over his signature. “It sucks sometimes, you know.”
“Guys are strange creatures, dear. Sometimes you have to smack some sense into them.”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to screw things up. He’s a great guy and a good friend. I’ll just let him make the first move.”
“Well, honey, the girls came by yesterday and said they can’t wait to come see you.”
“Mom, I’m so ready to have them here. I’ve got so much to tell them and show them. I don’t know if a week’s going to be long enough to get it all in.”
Jenna’s mom laughed. “Just think, only two more weeks then the four musketeers will be back together.”
Jenna talked to her parents for about another fifteen minutes then let a yawn escape. “Honey, why don’t you get to bed? We’ll talk to you soon, okay. I love you!”
“I love you both. Night.”
“Goodnight sweetheart.” Jenna hung up the phone then finished getting ready for bed.
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