All day Sunday Lexi had dance rehearsal with the other dancers. Monday morning was dedicated to the last half of the photo shoot at the beach, and the evening of Monday, all day Tuesday and Wednesday were reserved for the video shoot. The rest of the week, Lexi was in and out of the studio recording new songs and putting the finishing touches on old ones. By the time she would leave LA, the only song left would be her duet with JC.
The last thing that Lexi was scheduled to do in Los Angeles was a brief morning radio interview. She walked into KIIS FM at 8 AM. She walked into the studio and was greeted by Rick Dees, Ellen K, and PJ the DJ. After introductions and the usual small talk, she was handed a head set and they were live on the air.
“…And we’re back live on 102.7 KIIS FM, and live in the studio we have a lady who’s song you’ve been hearing quite a bit of over the past couple weeks…Lexi Morrow! Say hi, Lexi”
“What’s up, LA!?”
“So, Lexi I hear that JC Chasez of the infamous boyband *NSYNC was a producer on your CD. Tell us a little about that.”
“Well, we both live in Orlando, he was looking to produce more artists, and I had an album to produce. I guess things just fell together.”
“What’s it like working with a international pop star?”
“It’s pretty inspiring,” Lexi laughed. “He’s an amazing musician, and it’s just been great working with him.”
“That’s great to hear, but working so closely must mean a lot of late nights…”
Lexi laughed again. “Exactly what are you getting at, Rick?”
“C’mon, Lexi. There was nothing going on between two attractive people with all the time you spent together…” he joked.
“No, no, no,” Lexi said quickly. “We’re just friends.” She was surprised how easy it was for her to say that.
“Oh leave her alone, Rick,” Ellen K cut in. “He’s so nosy,” she said to Lexi.
“Yeah, I noticed!” Lexi answered sarcastically.
Lexi and Richard walked towards the limo, and Richard said, “That came out pretty easily.”
“What are you talking about?”
Richard quoted Lexi, “No, no, no…we’re just friends…”
“Well what else was I supposed to say? Oh yeah, he’s a great kisser? Please, Rich.”
“Hey don’t get so upset, Lex. I’m just teasing you.”
It was finally the night of Tuesday, February 12th, and Lexi was in the process of packing for her flight back home. She was just about to start packing up her toiletries in the bathroom when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Wow, you’re there!” JC joked.
“Yeah well it is 11:30 at night.”
“I know. That’s why I’m surprised that you’re in your room at not out on the town somewhere shaking that ass of yours,” he said sarcastically.”
“No, I did all that stuff last night,” she joked back. “So how was your flight back form New York?”
“The usual: crappy food, clogged up ears…”
“That definitely sounds familiar,” she said as she folded a shirt.
“Refresh my memory. What time does your flight come in tomorrow?”
“Three in the afternoon.”
“Do you want me to pick you up?”
“No, it’s ok. There’s a car taking me home.” Lexi paused and took a deep breath. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Yeah, me too. This had to be the longest two weeks of my life so far.”
“Well at least this time tomorrow I’ll be on the other side of the phone with you.”
“…and I can’t wait. So what else has been going on besides the usual video making, radio interviewing…”
Lexi laughed. “I should be asking you that question, but nothing really our of the ordinary happened.” She paused. “Well…”
“Well what?”
“There was this little tiff I’ve been having with Richard.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing I would call major. Ya know the day I left and how I went to your house to ‘pick up some sheet music’?”
“Yeah…”
“Well when I got back in the car, Rich kind of suspected that something was going on between us.”
“How’d he come to that conclusion?”
“I had lip gloss when I went inside but not when I came out.”
“Wow, that’s observative of him. We never actually talked about how we were gonna handle this when it came up. I've been putting it off, but I guess now’s the time to talk about it. So what exactly did Richard say?”
“In a nutshell he said that I shouldn’t ruin my career before it started by dating a guy from one of the most famous bands in the world.”
“That’s kinda straight forward. So, how did you react to that?” JC asked concerningly.
“I wasn’t very receptive. At first I basically told him to go to hell.”
“You actually said that to him?”
“Not in those exact words. I told him that if I’m talented…”
JC cut Lexi off. “Which you are.”
“…it shouldn’t matter who I’m dating. His whole defense was that I shouldn’t risk so much on 'something that could be over in a month or even a week'.”
JC couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Richard put these ideas in Lexi’s head and try to influence her decisions? “I can’t believe what you’re telling me, Lex. I never thought of Richard to be the ‘bastard’ type…”
“I know it sounds bad, Josh, but everything Rich says or does comes from a good place. I have to consider everything he says. Even if I don’t like it.”
“Lexi!” JC said beginning to get angry,” He practically told you to break up with me so you don’t damage your career! What kind of managing is that? I can understand him telling you to be careful or even to lie, but…”
“He never actually said to break up with you.”
“Oh that makes me feel a lot better. Lex, all the signals are there. So you’re telling me that you actually took his words into consideration?”
“Well, yeah.” She immediately regretted saying this. “But not with the intention to act on them…”
“…but to consider them?”
Lexi took a deep breath. “I’ve been with Richard for way too long to dismiss something he says without even thinking about it.” Now Lexi was beginning to get upset. “Ya know, I didn’t have to tell you what Richard said. I just don’t think there was a point keeping it from you. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
“You don’t tell your boyfriend that you’ve had thoughts about breaking up with him, Lexi.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up, but the reality is that you have very little to lose here. You’re already living your dream. You’ve got the stardom, you’ve got the music, you’ve got the fans…I have virtually nothing now, and I don’t think it’s totally unreasonable to be a little worried about that!”
“You’ve got nothing, Lexi?” He paused and exhaled. “You’ve got me.”
Lexi didn’t know what she was supposed to say in response to that. “I…I know that I have you,” she said softly, “And I’d like to keep it that way. Look, let’s just forget this whole thing happened…”
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“What? Josh, this is nothing. We can get through this…”
“It bothers me that Richard said what he said. I expect that from managers, but to hear it from you…”
“Josh, you’re not listening to me. Thinking and acting are two totally different things.”
“Look, I can’t talk about this anymore. It’s late. I’ll talk to you when you get home.”
“Josh…”
“Good night, Lexi.”