"She's what?!!?!" Coretta practically yelled into the phone. She had been talking to Justin for over an hour. They had just finished rehearsal on the actual stage. Up to that point she had been so excited by everything, she didn't notice the strange sound in his voice. He wanted to tell her right away, but in all her excitement of the tour starting the next night, he just couldn't. Somehow in the conversation, he let it slip that Synchronicity would also be on the tour. He tried to cover it up, but it was too late. He also knew Joey was going to kill him since he wanted to break the news in his own way.
"Don't get all hyped up about this. It's really not that big of a deal, you'll probably hardly even see her. You'll be way too busy, I've seen the schedule Chris and Donna put together, and that in itself is going to take up most of the time you have besides performing." Justin finished, hoping he sounded convincing enough.
"Justin, let's think about this. This is our first ever, real tour. Second, I just found out that one of the people I like least in this world will now be sharing this once exciting moment with me. Then to top it off, she happens to be the ex-girlfriend of someone I lo...like a lot. Does it get any worse?? Why not add a hurricane??? typhoon?? Plague of locusts??"
"You're taking this so much better than Joey said you would." Justin joked into the phone. "Here he thought you would possibly overreact. Boy was he wrong." He added sarcastically.
"How long has he known about this? He never told me, oh he is so dead. And you, I thought you were supposed to have my back. What about the others, have they known all along too?" Coretta demanded of Justin.
"First of all, calm your ass down. I will not talk to you when you're trippin like this. She's gonna be there, so deal with it and move on."
"Easier said than done." Coretta sighed loudly into the phone. "Whatever. I will not be friendly to her. Civil yes, but anything more would be a miracle hard for even God to pull off."
Justin laughed. "Nobody's asking for a miracle, just avoid a cage match okay?"
"Why? I could take her."
"I don't doubt that, but try for me, please?"
"I just had Justin Timberlake begging me, where's the tape recorder when I need it? I'll try, but no promises. Gotta go, we're having a meeting to get acquainted with everyone on the tour. Now knowing who else is going to be there, I can hardly wait." Coretta said dryly.
"Just be good, and I'll be sure to tell Joey how excited you are about the news."
"You do that. Later Justin."
*****************
Twenty minutes later Coretta and Becca found themselves in a large ballroom that was steadily filling with people. There were so many people moving in such a hurried way, it was hard to tell who was coming and who was going. Becca noticed that since her friend had gotten off the phone, she seemed a little on edge. There hadn't been time to find out what was bothering her, but Becca figured that once they headed to back to the venue, she would get the scoop. Just as they were about to split up to explore the room, they heard a man clear his throat behind them. They looked at each other before turning around to see Jimmy and Frank staring at them.
"Jimmy, Frank, what are you doing?" Coretta greeted them
"I've been asking myself that same question since I took this job." Jimmy replied.
"From the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you didn't come down here to mingle. Hey, where is Z? And what kind of name is that anyway? Who names their child with only one letter, and the last letter at that. Poor guy is probably traumatized and any moment could just snap. I'm not sure I want to my life in the hands of someone like that."
Becca looked at her friend "Are you finished??"
"Umm, yeah, I think that was about it."
"Good, I didn't want to have to kick your babbling butt in front of a bunch of people we hardly know."
"Anyway....Seriously guys, what are you doing down here?"
Jimmy looked at both girls eyebrows raised. "Oh man, now I see why Chris wanted me to take this job. You two are worse than he ever was. Remember that little meeting we had not too long ago?"
"Which one? The one about not playing guess where this wire came from with the driver? Or did you mean the one about not laughing at the interviewer even if he is wearing a bad toupee? Or, maybe you meant the one about not throwing peanuts at the back of your heads even though that's just too easy of a target."
Jimmy rolled his eyes. "I was talking about the meeting where you both were told how very important it is not to go anywhere by yourselves. We need to know where you both are at all times."
"Oh that meeting." Becca said slightly embarrassed. "So we came downstairs, what's the big deal?? No one even knows we're here. Even if they did, I don't think there would be a mob scene. Jimmy you act like you're still working with NSYNC."
"Look ladies, we have a job to do here. So stop arguing and let us do what we have to do." Frank said putting an end to the discussion.
"Damn Frank, maybe you need this party more than we do. Chill out a little man, we were joking. We know you're here to protect us. We just want to have some fun. We're gonna go talk to some people, and find Kara and Tasha. Are we at least allowed to do that, or do we now need written permission?"
"Because it's a big night for you, I'm willing to ignore that. Just let us know next time, okay?" Jimmy looked strictly at each girl.
*****************
Three hours later Jessica arrived with her dancers and Nick. She looked incredible as always. As soon as she spotted the girls, she excused herself and came over to talk to them. She gave them both a tight hug.
"I'm glad you're here! This tour is going to be so much fun. Things are probably a little bit overwhelming for you now."
"Nah, it's cool." Becca told her. "Everyone's been really nice. This time tomorrow it'll be a different story, we'll be so nervous."
Jessica patted Becca's arm. "I know exactly how you feel. This is my first headlining tour. We can be nervous together."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Coretta said joining in the conversation.
For the next hour they danced, met some of the dancers, hung out with Nick, and met some of Jessica's family that had flown down to see the first show of the tour. Suddenly the doors crashed open. The room turned to see Angela and the other three members of Synchronicity made their way into the ballroom.
"Oh good they made it." Jessica said waving the girls over. "That's the other opening act. They were having trouble with their bus. I want you to meet them. I don't know they very well, but they seem nice enough."
"Wonderful, a horrible ending to an otherwise great evening. Shouldn't they have her on a leash?" Coretta whispered to Becca who tried to cover her laughter.
"Did you say something?" Jessica asked.
Thinking quickly, Coretta grabbed the plate that was in Becca's hand. "I, uh, was just asking if they had more quiche. It's just so good. I think I'll go see if I can get that recipe." She turned to leave as Angela approached the group.
Becca reached out and grabbed Coretta by the arm. "Hold up there Martha Stewart. If I'm forced to deal with her, so are you. Nice try though."
Coretta glared at her friend before turning around and looking at Angela. "Oh look it's Josie and the Pussycats." She said sarcastically.
"You know the name of our group." Angela said icily.
"Oh I'm sorry, I just figured a cartoon band needed a cartoon name. Do you prefer maybe Jem and the Holograms?"
Well, Jem did have that cute boyfriend with her. What was his name? Joey?? Oh no wait, it was Rio, I must have someone else on my mind. He was helping us get out bus fixed so we could get here in time. He's so sweet."
"Yeah, sweet." Coretta said making a mental note to call Joey later.
"So I take it you all already know each other."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Alexia here hung out with Joey when we first met him. For some reason, shortly after we met, she stopped coming around quite so often." Coretta explained.
"Alexia??" Jessica asked in a confused tone. "I'm so sorry, I thought your name was Angela. I've been telling everyone that was your name."
"Angela is my name. Some people just seem to have a problem remembering it." she said glowering at Coretta
Jessica noticed her mother signaling for her, and she was somewhat thankful to be able to separate herself from the tension filled area. "Excuse me for a minute, I need to talk with my mother. Why don't you all finish getting acquainted, or reacquainted as the case may be." She then hurried off across the room hoping that moment she just escaped was not any sort of indication of how the tour was going to go."
Coretta and Angela continued to stare each other down until Angela finally spoke. "Look, you two just stay away from us, and we won't have any problems. I've got a lot riding on this tour, and I don't need the both of you messing it up."
"What?!? Girl you have about two seconds to go somewhere with that noise. You know as well as I do, this music thing is just another of your little rich girl fantasies. You're just in this to be the pop flavor of the month. Once people realize the kind of person you really are, you'll be flat on your ass once again. On the plus side, at least you got a pretty big place to land." Coretta was now extremely agitated by Angela. As much as she tried to hide it, she couldn't.
"Oh no sweetie, I'm in this for the long haul. I want everything. The number one singles, the platinum albums, stuff being sold on Ebay...I want it all. Maybe even something of yours." Angela added with an evil, knowing smile.
"I know you're not talking about Joey. You must be crazy. He's not even thinking about you. You had your chance. No pun intended."
"What makes you think I haven't already been for a ride on the 'Italian Stallion.' He did have a life before you, you know."
"Since it involved you, I choose not to think about that."
"Well think about it. Everything you've done, I've done too. Everywhere you've been, I've been too. I did it all first, and probably better."
Becca stepped in before things got any worse. She turned and looked at Angela. "Normally I'd let this go until she snatched you bald, but we need to get out of here. We have to be ready for our performance tomorrow. Consider this your one and only favor."
They rode the elevator in silence. Coretta was deep in thought about the comments Angela had made. She knew it was none of her business, but she had to know the extent of Joey's relationship with Angela. She never thought, or cared to ask about it. Now that Angela alluded to something that may or may not have happened, it completely consumed her thoughts.
"Girl, you are too quiet, what are you up to?" Jimmy asked as they reached their floor.
"What are you talking about?" Coretta snapped
"The more I watch you two, the more I can see why you get along with Chris and the others so well. You're just like them. Chris was always real quiet when they were planning to do something."
Coretta let out a slight laugh. "No reason to worry Jimmy, at least not this time. I'm just thinking about tomorrow's concert."
The elevator chimed as they reached the floor. They all stepped out of the elevator, and stood in the hallways as the doors closed. Frank escorted Tasha and Kara to their room down the hall. Jimmy looked at the two remaining girls, and could see the nerves already setting in.
"Don't worry girls, if you perform half as well tomorrow, as I've seen lately, you'll be great. Now go get some sleep."
*****************
Justin finished re-packing his bag for the third time that day. They would be off would be off on their trip overseas in a couple of days, and he didn't foresee there being much time to get the packing done before they left. He headed down the hall toward Joey's room to check his progress. He knocked twice and when no one answered. he tried the doorknob. Seeing that the door was open, he let himself into the room. He was just about to call out to his friend when he realized he was on the phone. "Yeah that's right. One dozen roses, six white, and six yellow....." He then heard Joey give an address in Tampa. He smiled to himself and shook his head. His two friends were in deep even though neither of them knew it. Everyone around them could tell. Joey seemed to notice him just as he hung up the phone.
"What's up Justin? Are you ready to go?"
"Man, I was born ready. Did I just hear you, of all people, ordering flowers, roses at that??"
Joey chuckled lightly. "Well you know, it's a special occasion. You only have one first performance like this."
"True, true. I'm surprised you're doing that." Just as Justin was about to say something else, the phone began to ring. Joey sat for a minute debating whether or not to answer it. Most people called his cell if they wanted to get in touch with him, not his room. More often than not, the room calls were from crazy fans that somehow had found out what room he was staying in.
*****************
"Why isn't he answering this damn phone?" Coretta said slightly irritated
"Hmm, maybe because he's not there?" Becca answered from her spot at the foot of the bed opposite her friend. "And once again, just for the record, I'd like to state how bad of an idea I think this is."
Coretta waved the thoughts away. "Yeah, yeah....bad idea.....will bring doom and damnation to my relationship....blah, blah, blah. I heard you before."
"Alright smartass, when this little question and answer period is over, and you don't feel any better, don't come crying to me. Ooh, there's my phone. It's probably Trevor, or one of the other guys." Becca jumped up off the bed and ran through to connecting door to her own room.
"Damn, any time now Joe." Coretta muttered.
*****************
Both Joey and Justin stared at the phone as it continually rang. Finally Justin spoke. "Unless you're trying to answer the phone using brain waves, I suggest you pick it up. Whoever it is doesn't seem to be going away. Even the most crazed fan would've hung up by now."
"I guess you're right." He reached across the table and grabbed the receiver. "What up?" he said into the phone.
"Hey" the voice said
Justin could see Joey relax, so he crept out the room closing the door behind him. He went to find Chris and see what kind of trouble the two could get into.
"Hey yourself." Joey responded. "Shouldn't you be resting up for tomorrow's concert? Why did you let the phone ring for so long instead of just hanging up and calling my cell?"
"Well if you must know, I'm not tired, and I wanted to talk to you. If you were sitting there listening to the phone ring, why didn't you answer it a long time ago?" Coretta asked laughing.
Joey joined in the laughter. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to see how long it would ring."
"After the day I've had, I was more than happy to let it ring for the rest of the night. After a few rings, it became kind of soothing."
"If you want, I can hang up, and you can call back to hear the soothing ring." he joked.
"No, that's okay, I'd much rather hear your voice."
"Well I won't keep you on long because I want you to get some sleep. Did you practice long today?"
Coretta tried to concentrate on what Joey was saying. Over and over in her head she kept hearing Angela's voice and then Becca's voice telling her not to ask. It was this crazy devil/angel thing playing back and forth in her head. Even though she knew the reasons not to ask by far outweighed the reasons to ask, she felt there was no other way than to get it all out in the open. The best way to do it, was to ease into the topic. Talking about practice would eventually lead to talk of Angela. From there she would just be straight up and ask.
"Practice? Oh yeah, most of the day. Then we went to this great party, met some really cool people. I was introduced to this great group that's also opening for Jessica."
Joey sat in confusion for a moment. He had been under the impression that only Diversity, and Synchronicity would be opening. "A great group, huh?"
"Oh yeah." She gushed. "You might have heard of them before, Barbie and the Rockers, or maybe you know them better by their stage name, Synchronicity."
Joey shifted uneasily in his chair. "Synchronicity, yeah I guess Angela did mention something about that."
"Not only did she mention it, you helped them get here! I can't believe you." Coretta practically yelled.
"All I did was make a few calls. It's not like I got in the bus, and drove them there." Joey didn't want to argue, but this was a topic that usually caused nothing but arguments.
"I know what you did. Angela couldn't help but mention how sweet it was of you to help her out. I wonder why she didn't call her daddy."
"Damn, would you stop! I just did her a favor." It was too late to avoid fighting.
"Well, she's definitely ready to return that favor." Coretta answered sarcastically.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Joey demanded
"Nothing, nothing at all. I just got some insight into how close you two really were, that's all."
"You know what, let's not talk about her. All we ever do is fight when her name comes up. I haven't seen you in a while, and you've got this big tour coming up. There are so many other things we could be talking about." Joey said trying to keep himself calm.
Coretta knew he was right, but she couldn't let it go. If she didn't ask and find out the truth, it would hold her back from him. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes before blurting out what had been on her mind since she saw Angela a few hours before. She simply asked the question and hoped for the best.
"Did you sleep with her Joe?"
Joey sat in stunned silence. He had tried to steer the conversation away from Angela, and now suddenly they were on a whole new level. He wasn't sure how to answer, or even if he wanted to. He hadn't given any thought to ever having to discuss how deep things went where Angela was concerned.
"Can I ask where this is coming from?"
"You can ask, but I really don't have an answer for you.."
"If I say yes, does that change things between us?" Joey asked
"Yes....no.....I don't know, maybe. I guess it depends, is that what you're saying? Coretta asked confused by his response.
"So then if I say no, you'll be happy and everything would be fine?"
"Joey, you're not making any sense. It's a simple question, with a simple answer."
To Joey, the answer wasn't so simple. He could take the easy way out and tell her what she wanted to hear, or he could completely disregard his privacy as well as Angela's and be honest. Both answers weighed heavily on his mind as each ticking second seemed like an hour. The more he thought about it, the more he decided that never in his life was honesty more important, He just hoped he understood.
"I can't tell you that." Joey answered after much deliberation.
"Of course you can tell me. You can tell me anything." Coretta braced herself for the answer she was almost sure she would hear.
"No, I can't tell you, because it's none of your business. It's not that I don't want to tell you." He rushed on, "But that's part of my past. That's something between Angela and I. I respect her enough to keep that sort of thing to myself and I hope she does the same. If there ever comes a time when I feel like you need to know one way or the other, than I will gladly tell you. Until then, I want to keep past relationships where they belong, in the past. You are my present, and at least my near future, so let's just focus on that." Joey waited for her response.
Coretta was shocked into silence, she had definitely not expected such an answer. She couldn't believe he didn't think that was her business. She wasn't looking for the play by play, just a simple answer of yes or no. Instead the answer Joey gave bothered her even more than hearing him say yes would have. She wondered what else Joey had kept from her, or would keep from her. Before she spoke, she tried to think of herself in his position. If he had asked that of her, would she tell him? She wanted to believe she would. While she tried to figure out just what to say to Joey, Becca came back into the room.
"Just got off the phone with Eric. He says to tell you hi. They can't wait to see us perform tomorrow. Since the guys can't come see us, it'll be nice to have someone cheering us on. He also said Trevor hasn't stopped talking about you. You two were tearin' up that dance floor just non stop." she stopped as she noticed Coretta still on the phone. "I know you're not still listening to that phone ring."
"No he finally answered." Coretta said, still distracted by what Joey had said
"That means he's on the phone now, and heard everything I just said, huh?"
"Yeah it does." Joey said from the phone even though Becca couldn't hear him. "Want to tell me who Trevor is?"
Becca could see from the look in Coretta's face that she should probably be leaving. It looked like things were about to get a little heated. "I'm just gonna go in my room and call my family before I go to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She mouthed a quick 'sorry' before rushing back into her own room.
"Now that she's gone, you can start telling me who the hell this Trevor is, and what exactly you were doing with him all night."
Coretta laughed bitterly "oh the irony" she thought. "Even though it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS." she stressed the words, "Trevor is actually someone you already know. He's one of the guys from O-town. You know, that group Lou put together."
Joey cut her off. "I know who they are, but that doesn't explain what you were doing with them all night."
"For the record it wasn't all night. They had some stuff to do here in Tampa, and stopped by to see Synchronicity, but as you know they had trouble getting here. So we just hung out with them, no big deal. Not as big of a deal as other things." She said referring to their earlier discussion.
"Would you let that go, please? We're never gonna agree when it comes to her, so let's not even go there again."
"You're right, I'm tired of always arguing about her. I just can't be bothered anymore."
"What exactly does that mean? You can't be bothered with idea you have about me and Angela, or me in general?"
"I...I don't know." Coretta said quietly
"Well....." Joey paused. "I don't want you to do anything unless you want to, so why don't you just give me a call when you think you might be ready for this." He hung up the phone before she realized what happened.
After the sound of the dial tone finally registered in her head, Coretta hung up, but continued to stare at the phone as if it was going to do something special on its own.
Becca stuck her head in the through the doorway. "Everything okay with you two?"
Coretta shook her head slowly, as if to shake off the past few moments. "I'm not sure, but I think we just broke up."
The alarm in the hotel went off at six a.m. sharp. Coretta hadn't slept very well, she groaned and rolled over to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. She barely closed her eyes when the phone rang. "Hello?" she said groggily.
"Rise and shine!!" The cheery voice said.
"Chris do you have any idea what time it is??"
"Yep, sure do. It's six and time for you to get up."
"How can you be so damn awake? You sound like you've already been up a couple hours."
"Wrong." Chris laughed. "It's the sound of someone who has yet to go to sleep."
Coretta couldn't help but laugh too. "Why are you bothering me instead of sleeping?"
"A couple of reasons actually. We've got a super long flight, so the longer I'm awake, the longer I can sleep on the plane. The guys love that. Otherwise I'll be driving them crazy the entire flight."
"I probably don't want to know, but what is the other reason?"
"I had to be sure you got up. You know how you are with alarms, ignoring them and all."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Coretta admonished. "The alarm went off at six, and I got up at six. End of story."
"Sure you got to turn it off, and go back to sleep. I bet if I hadn't called, you would still be sleeping."
Coretta gasped in mock anger. "Chris it hurts that you would even think such a thing. I've turned over a new leaf. I've decided to take full advantage of every minute of the day, the earlier the better. The early bird gets the worm......early to bed, early to rise, you know the rest. That's all me." Her brilliant monologue was interrupted by the sound of the alarm going off again. She tried to shut it off before Chris could hear it. She of course wasn't so lucky, and Chris, being Chris wasn't about to let it slide.
"So, uh, what was that?"
"What was what?" She asked nonchalantly
"You've obviously forgotten that I've spent pretty much the last five years in hotels. I know the sound of alarms when I hear them. Look at that, it's 6:15. I'm guessing that was the snooze alarm. C'mon mom, just fifteen more minutes." Chris joked.
"Alright fine, so I was trying to get a little more sleep. It beats sitting around being nervous all day. We don't even go on for another..." She paused to look at the clock. "Fourteen hours, but already I feel like it's five minutes to show time."
Chris sympathized with her. "I still feel like that sometimes. Especially when we're doing something new, or when I know my family is watching. Well girl, I know you're awake, so I'm gonna let you go. I know you guys have your first big press conference today."
"I forgot all about that." Coretta replied
"Why do you think you had to be up so early?"
"So that you could continue to torture us from hundreds of miles away??" She suggested sarcastically.
"No, not this time." Chris laughed. "Thanks for the idea though. I don't know if I'll have time to call again before you go one, but I'll try. If not, you and Becca have fun tonight, I know you'll be great.
"Thanks, now that you've called, I can go back to sleep."
"What?!?" Chris exclaimed.
"Joking. Really, I'm up for the day, don't worry. Unless there's time to sneak a nap in at some point."
"Don't play like that."
"Bye Chris." Coretta hung up the phone and sat up. She thought about what to wear. She knew it had to be something FuMan, but she couldn't decide what. Chris had made sure that both she and Becca both had plenty of FuMan clothing to wear when they weren't onstage. He knew the more his clothes were seen on people the more likely others were to buy it on their own. Just as she got up to go to her suitcase, the phone rang again. "Hello?" she said into the receiver.
"Just checking." Chris said
"Oh Lordy, I told you I was joking. I'm going to take my shower now, so no need to call back." She hung up the phone and grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom. In the shower, she began to think about her conversation with Joey the night before. She didn't know why she let Angela, or the thought of Angela, get to her. Whatever there was between Joey and Angela was long over. Angela seemed to know how much of a sore spot that was with Coretta and she used it at every opportunity. What Coretta needed to do, was either get over it, or not let on that it bothered her. While this was easy in theory, in reality it seemed near impossible. She made a promise to herself, for the sake of her sanity on this tour, and for the sake of whatever it was that she and Joey were building up to, that from that point on, no matter what, Angela would not ruin things. She hopped out of the shower and had just finished getting dressed when again the phone rang. "I swear if he calls here one more time....." she said to the empty room. She snatched up the phone. "Chris!! I told you I was up. If you call again, I'll be forced to beat you severely the next time I see you." All she heard was laugher and then a dial tone.
She shook her head, and hoped the other guys would be up soon, so Chris would have some other people to harass. She decided to go over and see if Becca was ready. She had to laugh when she saw her friend dressed exactly like her, only in opposite colors.
"Signs that you're spending too much time together." Becca said laughing. "We do have great taste though."
Coretta sat on the bed and sighed heavily. Becca sat down next to her. "You want to talk about it?"
"Not much to say really." She recounted the phone call from the previous night. Becca listened intently until she was finished.
"I don't want to say I told you so, but I did. You need to stop worrying about that damn girl all the time. She's not worth it, and you're doing exactly what she wants you to do."
"What do you mean?" Coretta was unsure of what Becca was getting at.
"You and Joey hardly argue, but when you do, what is it almost always about in one way, or another?"
"Angela." They both said at the same time.
"Exactly my point." Becca continued "She knows you don't like her, but she also knows how quick Joey is to defend his friends, even the raggedy ones like her. The more she plays you two against each other, the sooner you'll break up, or whatever. Being on tour with you, just makes it easier for her, at least that's what she thinks. I'm not havin' it, and I know you're not, so don't let her get to you. You and Joey both must see something in what you two have. He's the first guy you've ever really shown any interest in since Mike, and Joey gave up being a player so that you two could get together. Don't let that little trick ruin it."
"Well, thank you Ann Landers for your advice. Hopefully he'll call before we go on tonight. I'll apologize and agree to stop trippin about the Angela thing. I still can't believe we have to spend every day for the next two months with her." Coretta's phone in her room began ringing. "That's it!! Chris and I are gonna be boxing next time I see him. I know that's him calling to mess with me again." She stormed into her room and picked up the phone. "Damn it Chris, it's 8 a.m.!! I've been up for two hours now. You can be sure I'm not going back to sleep. If you don't want me flying to New York, coming to your room ready to beat you like you stole something, I suggest you hang up and stop acting like a fool."
"I wouldn't mind you showing up in my room, but you don't have to wait until I'm in New York. We're only staying a few blocks away."
Coretta didn't get the reaction she expected, and was confused. "Wait, who is this?"
"It's Trevor, remember we met yesterday."
"I know who you are, I just didn't recognize your voice, so what's up?"
"Not too much with me, sounds like you've had an interesting day already."
"Huh?? Oh that... just weirdness, nevermind. I thought you guys were leaving last night."
"Actually that's why I was calling. We decided to stay so we could see the concert. I was thinking maybe we could hang out or something afterwards."
Coretta thought for a moment before answering. What harm could it do? It's not as if it was only going to be the two of them. "Yeah, I guess that would be okay."
"Great, we'll see you two backstage after your set is done." Trevor then hung up the phone.
"Becca!!" Coretta yelled into the other room. "I just made plans for us after the concert."
*****************
"Everybody just went down for breakfast, we better hurry if we want to make it on time. The flight leaves in a couple hours."
"I'm ready, but not so sure this is such a good idea anymore. We didn't exactly end on a good note last night." Joey said as he threw one last thing in his bag before closing it.
"So, I'm guessing we're on a downhill on this relationship roller coaster the two of you insist on taking the rest of us on?"
"Yeah you could say that. She was really in drama queen mode last night."
"Y'all spend almost half your time arguing, it's a wonder you stayed together at all."
"Maybe that's how you see it, but the way I see it, that means over half the time we get to spend making up."
"Now there's a visual I didn't need. Let's go, remember we have to go out the back."
"Justin, I know the routine, we've only been doing this forever. I can't even remember the last time I went out the front entrance of a hotel with you."
"Can I help it that so many girls want to take a dip in the lake??"
"The lake?"
"Yeah, Timberlake."
"Dude, that was so corny. No wonder you don't have a girl."
*****************
"I'm way too nervous to eat anything." Coretta said to the others in the elevator with her. The first day of the tour was officially underway. Following breakfast, they would be doing a photo shoot, and a small press conference. Then it was on to the venue for sound check and dinner.
"You gotta eat sometime, can't be passing out the first day. Not the impression I want to make." Becca said as she exited the elevator. They waved to Jessica who was enjoying breakfast with Nick and her family, before they went to join Donna at her table. Donna was finishing up a call, she waved them to sit down.
"So what's up Donna? Getting started kinda early aren't you?" Coretta asked
"Well, you two are keeping me pretty busy already. I've had two conference calls with Chris and the record distributor. Looks like the CD will have to be pushed back a couple of weeks. That’s okay though, this just means more people will have a chance to see you before it comes out. I also had to do a little work in the damage control area." She said looking at Coretta.
"What did I do?"
Donna patted Coretta's hand. "Nothing, at least not purposely. As with all the other artists I've worked with, I've got someone that keeps an eye out for rumors and such about you two on the Internet and in the media. It seems you and Joey Fatone are quite the hot topic. I didn't pay much attention to it before, but now that he's said he is seeing someone, speculation about who it is has been everywhere. It seems your name has been mentioned more often than not. This is the sort of thing I talked to you about earlier. At this point in the game, we don't need any negative press. It would be different if you were already an established group. Being new, you really can't afford to have people not liking you simply because they think you might be dating their future husband."
"Donna, we all know how ridiculous that is. My relationship with Joey, whatever the extent, shouldn't matter. At this point, I'm not even sure where we stand, so all these other people, sure the hell don't know." Donna started talking, but Coretta was distracted by the arrival of Synchronicity. The four girls talked loudly as they entered the dining area. Angela rolled her eyes as she passed Diversity. The other three girls gave them looks of pity as if they knew something Becca and Coretta didn't.
"So like I was saying," Angela continued loudly, "I talked to him for hours last night. I'm still not sure what happened, but she had him pretty upset. I keep telling him not to waste his time on her. She's so not worth it. Even if I can't be with him, I'd be a lot happier if they weren't together, and I think he would be too. I just have to get him to see that. It's my duty as his friend."
Becca ran interference the last time, and figured she'd just let things happen this time. She watched her friend as she decided whether to ignore Angela or tell her off. Her anger got the best of her. She slid back her chair and stormed over to the table behind her.
"Are you finished?? I'm sure you think you know what's best, but he's a grown man, and can make his own decisions. I think he's been doing okay up to this point without your help."
"Yeah right, he's dating you." Angela said sarcastically
"And he got rid of you. I'd say he's two for two in the dating category. I'd appreciate it if from now on, you left us out of your little gossip sessions. I realize you don't have much of a life of your own, but see if you can't latch on to someone else's. I can only imagine all the other interesting people your daddy is forcing to like you."
Photographers, and reporters had began filling the room earlier, and were now taking notice of the heated exchange going on in their midst. A few made notes, or spoke into mini recorders, some pictures were even taken. Donna quickly took charge of the situation.
"Ladies, I'm sure this can wait until there aren't quite so many people around. Actually, I know it can. Now would be a great time to resemble the stars you are trying to become." She turned and left the room with Becca and Coretta close behind. They rode the elevator in silence to the bottom floor. There the two girls were taken to get their hair and makeup done for the photo shoot. Coretta was done first and took that opportunity to walk around and take it all in. She had been walking for a while when she ran directly in to Donna, whom she'd been trying to avoid.
"Donna, um, hey. Didn't see you there."
"You've been walking around with your head in the clouds, so I'm not at all surprised. I hope that earlier display wasn't something I should expect for the remainder of the tour. Any more outbursts like that could really destroy the following you're building up. I can't stress enough, the importance of keeping things like that out of the public eye. No matter how difficult it gets, you have to do everything you can to keep your emotions in check. You're heading into celebrity status, you always have to be on. This is all day, every day."
"I know, and I'm trying, but she knows what buttons to push. I really want this tour to be a success, but I'm not sure how it can be when I have to deal with her every single day. This was supposed to be our big moment, our shining time, but having her here has reduced this to a high school talent show. Even without bringing Joey into the picture, the thought of her being here sickens me. Everyone else on this tour, busted ass to get here, she had her daddy make some calls, and here she is. I can't respect that, and I can't respect her."
If nothing else, Donna had to admire her need to be heard. In this business new groups especially had to establish a strong voice in their situations, never letting people push them around. She could tell this would not be a problem for the girls of Diversity. Donna was then called away to discuss the final plans for the rest of the day. Becca had just gotten off the phone and walked over to Coretta.
"I just talked to Lance, and he says hi. They're all upset they can't be here, but since they're leaving tomorrow, Johnny wanted them to hang in New York."
"He didn't happen to mention Joey did he?" Coretta asked
"No he didn't, sorry. I wouldn't worry about it. You know you two can't go more than two days without talking to each other."
"I know, but I just figured since it's such a big night for us, he would've at least called for a second."
"I'll let you in on a little secret......That phone of yours, also dials out. You might want to try that."
Coretta looked at Becca dumbfounded. "What??" Becca asked. "There's no rule that says you can be the only smartass around here."
Coretta laughed, "Well there should be, it's a lot less confusing for me. Besides, I haven't really had time to stop and make a call."
"Right. But....you'd have time to take a call if say....oh I don't know....Joey were to call. Sounds like you're contradicting yourself to me."
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
"Always yours, except in cases like these where you've done something incredibly stupid to begin with. Girl, if I were Joey, I wouldn't be calling your ass any time soon either. I suggest you pick up that phone and fix this. I know you, and when you're miserable, the rest of us around you are destined to be miserable too. Not this time though, call him and work things out before it gets to that point.
"Fine, I guess you're right. I'll call him now." She dialed the number, only to be told the cellular user had the phone turned off. "That's odd," She told Becca. "His phone is off, he almost never has his phone off."
*****************
"Do you think this is a such a good idea?" Joey asked Justin while trying to get comfortable in his seat.
"It's their first show, they're totally not expecting us. Of course it's a good idea. One that will hopefully have some serious rewards." He joked.
"Actually I meant leaving without security. I know the guys will cover for us. I told Chris to tell everyone we went to visit some of my family for the day. I've got a bad feeling about this though, maybe we should've brought Lonnie or Dre."
"Dude, stop worrying, we got this. Just relax, and think of the look in Coretta's face when she sees you."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We do have some making out...I mean making up to do."
"Sick man, just sick." Justin said before closing his eyes and turning his CD player on.
*****************
After posing for hours, Diversity was ushered to a table at the front of the room. The press conference was about to begin. Both girls were nervous, not knowing what to expect. They'd done one on one interviewing before, but had never been in a room with a dozen reporters shouting questions at them all at once. Donna walked to the front of the table to get things started.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming today. Due to the extra time spent at the photo shoot, we may have to cut this short, but the girls will try and answer all questions. So without further ado, I give you Diversity." More cameras flashed as the girls took their seats and smiled just as they had been taught to do.
A young man looking to be in his mid to late twenties, stood and asked the first question. "Hello ladies, you're both looking great today. My question is a basic one, just for clarification how did you two come together?"
Becca answered. "Thank you for the compliment. We met over the Internet a few years ago, and discovered our shared love of music. After talking about it for a long time, we decided to make a go of it, and here we are."
Another reporter, a woman this time, stood and asked the next question. "Now that you're on what's looking to be a sold out tour, and as of yesterday, have a number one single, what are your feelings going into the first night of the tour?"
This was the first either girl had heard about the single. They turned to each other in shock. Coretta looked at Donna, who nodded her head in confirmation. This was something they of course had always wanted, but never thought would happen with the very first single. Coretta finally found her voice to speak.
"As far as the sold out tour, we're very glad Jessica asked us to join her. She's an incredible performer, and touring with her allows so many more people the chance to see what we're all about. Having a number one single right now is the most amazing feeling. This is actually the first we've heard about it, so you are literally seeing the first reactions right now. We're trying to keep ourselves together, but I'm sure later we'll be screaming and crying."
"Shh, don't tell them all that." Becca said laughing. "I know for me and probably Coretta too this is definitely changes my feelings about tonight, as well as the rest of the tour. We already were feeling as if we had something to prove. Some people didn't believe in our talents, because of our association with some other people in this industry. Now with our single, we're definitely going out there to show why we're number one."
The final reporter stood. "You mentioned your association with other people in the industry, is that a reference to any or all the members of NSYNC? The Internet seems to be abuzz with rumors and pictures of all of you. Is there any truth to what's out there?"
"That all depends on what you've seen, or whatever. I'm sure there's pictures of us together, or maybe people have seen us at clubs or having dinner. Yeah, they were in our video, but really that all means nothing."
"It's funny you would say that." The reporter continued. "You seem to show up the most in pictures with NSYNC, Joey Fatone specifically. In light of his recent admission to having a significant other, is there anything you want to let us in on?"
"Geez, you guys don't miss a thing, do you? I'm sure most of you have dealt with the guys of NSYNC at one time or another and know how much they believe in keeping their private lives private. I think that would include people close to them discussing them too."
The press conference ended with Donna saying the girls needed to leave for the venue to do sound check, and get ready. They followed Donna out of the room and into a lower parking garage where a big white van was waiting. Donna explained there was no reason to go in the bus since they would not be leaving until the next day.
*****************
Joey and Justin arrived at the hotel in a taxi. Not wanting to attract attention to themselves, they entered the lobby with their hats pulled down nearly covering their eyes. Luckily the lobby was empty except for an elderly couple making their way to the dining room. They registered at the front desk, and proceeded to the elevator. Once inside, they removed their hats. Just before they reached their floor, the elevator stopped, and two teenage girls got on. They had been laughing and joking around until they realized who was in the elevator with them. They were stunned silent. The elevator dinged to announce the arrival at the next floor. Both Joey and Justin stepped out, but not before giving the girls a winning smile. "Bye ladies." They said before the doors closed. They made their way toward the end of the hall, when they saw a figure that made them smile.
"You should really keep a closer eye on that elevator." Justin said
"Now that's one of five voices, I hoped to never hear again."
"No, he's right, anyone could get up here." Joey added
"That would be the second of the five, do I need to wait for the other three?" Jimmy asked turning around and giving each guy a hug.
"Lucky for you, it's just us. The others are back in New York for another day, then it's off on another fun filled promo tour." Joey explained.
"I won't ask how you guys got away from security. Although by now I'm sure you're pretty good at it. Especially after taking lessons from Chris."
"Hey we came up with this all on our own. Thank you very much." Justin said slightly offended.
"I'm sure Johnny and the security guys will be very happy to know that before they put your butts on lockdown once you get caught. So anyway, what room are you staying in? Are you on this floor, or are you just here to drive me crazy until you see the girls?"
"I don't need a room, I got plans. If you know what I mean." Joey answered winking and nudging Jimmy.
Jimmy stood up, and looked down at the two, which wasn't hard considering he stood six or seven inches taller than both of them did. "I know exactly what you mean, which is why I'm giving you the chance answer that question again. Keep in mind that the girl you are talking about is now someone I'm in charge of keeping safe at all times."
Joey laughed nervously. "Did I say plans, what I meant was room 728, oh and look it's right over there. See you later Jimmy."
"You two do anything you shouldn't where those girls are concerned and you'll be seeing me a whole lot sooner than you think." Jimmy shook his head and sat back down waiting for the call that the girls were safely out of the building.
*****************
Nerves were setting in as the girls left the parking garage and headed toward the venue. It was still about six hours to show time. They had to do sound check, eat and then get ready for the show. The girls also hoped there would be a little time to go out and talk to some of the fans. Halfway there, Coretta's phone rang.
"What up?"
"First of all, you've been talking to Joey too much. Second, I just called to tell you both the to have a great show tonight."
"Becca!!" Coretta yelled to the front of the van. "JC says to have a great show tonight."
"Huh?" Becca said distracted. "Oh yeah, great show." She turned back to the heated game of rock, paper, scissors she had been playing with the other two bodyguards. "What?!? How the hell did I lose again? I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd think y'all were cheating." She grumbled.
Coretta could hardly keep from laughing. "She says thanks. Now we've heard from everyone except Joey and Justin, where are they?"
"I'm not sure, I think Chris mentioned something about visiting some of Joey's family today. We would've gone, but Chris is spending the day with Dani, and Lance is doing some stuff for FreeLance."
"Why didn't you go?"
"I love Joey's family, don't get me wrong, but every time we go to visit, his aunt tries to marry me off to someone from the neighborhood."
"Aww. that's sweet. She's obviously given up on Joey, so she's moving on to his friends."
"Yeah well, I don't do too bad on my own. With a huge exception of that last girl. Remind me next time to check for a history of mental illness."
"I'm on it. Looks like we're at the venue, I guess the next time we talk it'll be an international call. I hope you have a safe flight, and tell Chris I will get him back for this morning."
"Will do. Later girl."
Even though they had spent most of the previous day at the venue, walking in and looking at the stage was still very exciting to them. They both stood looking up at all the empty seats that would soon be filled with people. They were headed to the dressing rooms to chill for a bit, when Donna suddenly spoke up.
"Now before we get to the dressing rooms, we need to talk. There seems to have been a little miscommunication with the arena management, and tour management. Apparently there was some confusion about how much space was actually needed.
"And that means what to us??"
"I wasn't going to tell you at all, but Chris said that was a very bad idea. After seeing what happened at breakfast, I see his point.
"Donna now you're scaring me, what is the problem??'
"The problem is, you'll be sharing a dressing room with Synchronicity."
