The sun was out and shining brightly when Coretta finally forced her eyes to open. She smiled when she thought of how amazing it had felt to be performing onstage, and knowing that she would be able to do it night after for the next two months. She was confused and a little bit frightened when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the shower. She relaxed and even began to giggle when she heard Joey suddenly start belting out show tunes at the top of his lungs. She stayed there a few minutes longer thinking about how perfect the night had been. That was of course with the exception of the incident with Trevor. She made a mental note to call and apologize to him later. There was a knock at the door, so Coretta went to answer it, assuming it was Becca and paying no attention to what she was wearing. She nearly passed out when she saw Chris and Dani standing at the door.
"What are you two doing here?" Coretta asked shocked by their presence.
"The question is, what are you doing?" Chris looked at her, his eyebrows raised.
"Well up until you knocked on the door, I was sleeping. Why aren't you in New York?"
"Sleeping. Yeah, sure you were." Dani laughed
It seems two members of the group went AWOL yesterday. After hours of convincing Johnny and security we knew nothing about it, he booked us all on a flight here."
"AWOL huh? That's umm, not like them at all." Coretta said nervously
"Well, we thought since this is where the plane has a layover tonight, we would just get here early and wait. We were going to surprise you anyway, so.......Surprise!!"
Coretta kept glancing at the bathroom door, hoping Joey would not choose that moment to exit. Chris picked up on this immediately and decided to have some fun. He pushed his way passed Coretta, pulling Dani into the room with him. He stretched out making himself comfortable on the spare bed. Picking up the remote, he flashed rapidly through the channels over, and over again.
"So you've got this whole room to yourself, huh? Pretty cool. I remember when we first started out, we always had to double up in a room. It was the five of us and Johnny, I always ended up in a room with Joey." Coretta thought she heard him put emphasis on Joey's name, but she couldn't be sure.
"Have you ever shared a room with him? No of course you haven't." Chris said answering his own question. "It's just a pain, he spends so much time in the bathroom, you would hardly believe it." Again Coretta thought she heard Chris put emphasis on the word bathroom. It was almost as if he knew Joey was there.
"You know speaking of the bathroom, I think I need to use yours. It was kind of a long trip, you know. I drank a lot of coffee on the way down here."
"NO!!!" Coretta yelled while running to block Chris' entrance to the bathroom. "I mean, um, you can't because it's such a mess in there. I didn't feel like picking up in there after I got in. I was just so tired." She rushed on to explain.
"That's okay. I'll just go downstairs. I need to find Johnny and see if he's located the others yet." Chris said grabbing Dani and walking toward the door.
"I'm sure Joey and Justin will turn up around here somewhere, you know how they are."
Chris paused in the doorway. "Just a couple of things before I go."
"Yeah, what's up Chris?"
"First of all, I never said which of the guys was gone."
"I....um...well, I just guessed, yeah that's it."
Chris laughed at her uneasiness. "Right, that must be it. That does remind me of the other thing though."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"Joey's shirt looks better on him, and it's inside out." Chris winked and turned to walk down the hall toward the elevator. Dani stood for a minute looking shocked.
"Girl we will definitely be talking later."
*****************
Coretta stared at the now closed door. She could practically her Chris telling everyone about what had just happened. She had no clue how they were going to get themselves out of this one. One the plus side, there was the thought of seeing Angela's face when she saw Coretta and Joey were very much together. Oh yeah, dealing with the others was a small price to pay to see that look. She smiled at the thought.
"I don't know what Chris was talking about, that shirt looks pretty good to me."
Coretta turned around and saw Joey watching her from the edge of the bed. She rolled her eyes and moved passed him to get some clothes from her bag. As she walked toward the shower, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"What?" she asked.
"Are you sorry about what happened last night? It wasn't exactly in the plans." Joey looked at her with concern.
"There was actually planning that went into all that?"
"Well there was, but it was slightly thrown off by you sharing a dressing room with Angela, and that Trevor showing up."
"I'd say we recovered pretty well. Now can I have my hand back so I can get ready? I know they're waiting for us, and the sooner we get down there, the sooner we can get the whole twenty questions deal done and over."
"Okay, but don't think I didn't notice you avoided my question. We'll talk about that later."
*****************
"Are you sure he was there?" Lance asked. Chris had just finished telling the group what had happened upstairs.
"Unless her voice really changed, I know that was Joey singing in the shower. Plus Justin said he never came back to their room. Where else would he be?"
"That explains why the connecting door to our rooms was locked." Becca added
"I just hope they're both ready to deal with Johnny and Donna. I don't think I've seen him that mad in a long time." JC commented
"Well, ready or not, here they come." Justin motioned toward the elevator where Joey and Coretta were just stepping off.
"Hey, what's up?" Coretta said as they approached the table.
"Why don't you tell us. I think the two of you have a more interesting story than any of the rest of us do." Chris leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. "It's also good to see you found your own clothes." he added
"Chris, that wasn't what it looked like."
"It looked like you were wearing Joey's shirt. I know it was his shirt because there are only about twelve in existence. It was a FuMan style we were trying out."
Coretta laughed nervously. "Okay maybe it was what it looked like, but with good reason."
"Stop!! Don't even go there. Not one more word. I'm trying to eat, I don't want to know the reason whatever it may be. The more left unsaid, the better." Everyone at the table laughed at Becca. The laughter died down quickly when Johnny and Donna approached the table.
"Johnny, man how's it goin'? Donna, how are you? Did you do something different with your hair?"
"Honestly Joe, I've been better. Donna and I need to talk to you. NOW."
Coretta smiled and stuck her tongue out at Joey. "You should come too Coretta, this concerns you as well." Donna added. The two looked at each other, neither wanting to be the first to go. Coretta pushed Joey a few steps, then he stopped and pushed her a few more steps. They continued like this while arguing playfully all the way to the elevators. The ride was one of the longest Coretta had ever experienced. They finally reached the floor and walked to the end of the hall where Donna opened the door and held it open for the others.
"Feel free to have a seat, we might be here for a while."
"That's okay, I'll stand. It's easier to run for the door that way." Coretta attempted to joke.
"SIT!!" Donna and Johnny said in unison.
Both Joey and Coretta sat quickly as if they were animals trained on command. Apparently they were a little too close, and after a stern look from Donna, Coretta moved a few inches away from Joey. He eyed her closely, but said nothing.
"We were hoping we wouldn't have to have this conversation with the two of you, but under the circumstances, you've made it unavoidable." Johnny started
Donna looked at Coretta. "I've tried to talk to you a little about this a couple of times before, but you were always insistent that things weren't serious. After last night, you've shown things are serious enough."
Coretta started to respond, but was cut off by Johnny. "And you, " He looked at Joey. "Joe, you know I wanted the group together last night. I know it's important for you to be here, but you've got a job that comes first. You've been doing this long enough to know how things have to be. We can't keep you from dating, but remember we all have jobs to do, and they always come first."
"Johnny's right. You both know there are certain sacrifices that must be made to survive in this business. Unfortunately, with both of you being entertainers, these sacrifices double. You're both of adults, and we don't want to be like this, but you need to remember where your priorities have to be." Donna added.
"Your career is just starting out, don't go getting yourself caught up in a bunch of drama. You are part of a group I think had the potential to be one of the top female groups out there. You can't let distractions on any level keep you from that. Joey, you already know your group is very well established with a very good position in the music industry. Now that you have made it this far, people are going to be looking for any reason to knock you back down. You have to be careful, being caught in a hotel room with any female is cause enough for rumors and bad publicity. When that female is a person like Coretta, things are much worse."
Coretta couldn't listen to anymore. "With all due respect, I think both of you are way off base here. Like you said, both Joe and I are adults. It's not as if we're some young kids running around falling all over each other. I'm a twenty four-year-old woman, and I am fully capable of making the right choices when it comes to my public and private life. I appreciate all the concern, but I think it's a bit misguided."
Donna patted Coretta's hand gently. "No one is saying you're not capable. What we are saying is that you must think through every move you make regarding your relationship. You both know it's not typical by any stretch of the imagination. So, in light of that, you have to decide how you want the public to perceive it. I've seen you two and it won't be long before anyone figures it out. You all spend a lot of time together, do you really think people won't put two and two together."
Joey had remained silent the entire time, and now only spoke briefly. "I understand all of the concerns that both of you have. There are some things we do need to figure out, and we know that. All we ask is for your full support whether we decide to let everyone know, or if we at least attempt to keep things only between our friends and family." He quickly stood up, grabbed Coretta's hand and made his way toward the door. "How soon are we leaving?" He called over his shoulder.
"Since everyone is here, and we had a three hour layover here tonight anyway, not until about eight."
"That was interesting." Coretta said once they reached the elevator.
"Yeah you could say that." Joey wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "They did have a good point though. We haven't really talked about being out in the open with this. Have you thought about it at all? There's been so much going on, we haven't even talked about TRL. You haven't mentioned it or anything. How do you feel about it? What are you thinking?"
Coretta was just going to answer when a door opened a few feet away. Angela and one of the other members of her group came giggling down the hall to the elevator. She eyed Coretta with her usual look of contempt, but nearly passed out at the sight of Joey. She quickly recovered, and went into full flirting mode.
"Oh Joey!! It's so good to see you!" She threw herself into his arms for a hug. "I just want to thank you for the flowers. I really appreciate that. It is so good to know that you think enough of our friendship to go out of your way to send flowers. I know how you are about things like that, you don't do it for just anyone." She gave Coretta a triumphant look. Coretta responded with a bored yawn.
"Well, I um...it's the least I could do." Joey said uncomfortably. He felt bad knowing Angela was enjoying something that he only did because he felt sorry for her. He knew Coretta know this too. He didn't have to wonder for long about what she planned to do with that little bit of information.
"Flowers, that is nice. Of course soon enough they'll be dead and won't mean a thing. You can imagine my surprise when I got back to my room last night and found Joey waiting for me. What a night we had. I'll remember it a lot longer than some old, dead, dried up flowers."
"In your room, huh? How did Trevor handle that? We all saw him leave with you last night." Angela hoped this would make Joey upset.
"He did leave with me. In fact he came to the hotel and my room. He saw Joey, but for some reason he had this incredibly stupid idea that Joey was still with you. When I asked him where he had gotten that idea, he said you. That of course explains the incredibly stupid part. Joey explained to him where things really stood between you two, he left and then....well, I won't bore you with details, but you can draw your own conclusion."
Angela was so mad, she stomped back to her room and slammed the door. Joey could only laugh.
"You are just evil."
"Some call it a gift, I call it a way of life."
"A gift I never hope to receive."
"Keep things the way they were last night, and we should have no problem at all."
*****************
It was time for the guys to leave, and the girls to head off to Jacksonville. Somehow, word had gotten out that NSYNC was at the hotel, so there were about fifty girls in the lobby when they made their way down. This was in addition to the many that were already there waiting, hoping to catch a glimpse of Nick and Jessica.
"Are you sure you don't hire these girls to follow you around?" Becca asked looking at the crowd. "I swear I saw these same girls at the airport in Orlando."
Coretta laughed. "I think we did see some of them. That's some real dedication."
They all began signing autographs and taking pictures as usual. Coretta looked up from an autograph she was signing, and caught Joey's eye. An unspoken conversation was held between them as they separated themselves from the crowd.
"Well, I guess this is really it." Joey said.
"Yep, a few more minutes and we go our own way."
"Geez, you make it seem so final. It's only a couple of weeks."
Just when the two were going to kiss. Justin came walking over.
"Oh there you two are."
"What??" They asked in unison.
Justin stood with a huge satisfied grin. "Nothin', I just wanted to be sure I interrupted you guys this trip. Becca wouldn't let me call last night, and from what I heard, that would have been perfect."
"Hey Justin" Coretta called as he was walking away.
"Yeah?"
"I completely forgot, I have to give this to you." She reached in her pocket, pulled her hand out and gave him the finger, as she had often done to her sister. Justin stared for few seconds before laughing and walking away. Joey and Coretta again got ready to kiss each other. Just as Joey was going to kiss her, he spotted Johnny and Donna watching them. Coretta was beyond surprised when instead Joey grabbed her hand and shook it. She opened her eyes in confusion.
"Thank you for sharing your room with me. I hope we can do it again sometime." He said.
"Joey what the hell are you doing?"
"It looks to me like I'm shaking your hand."
"Um yeah, I know that, but why?"
"I really want to kiss you more than anything right now, but Johnny and Donna have their eyes on us. I could kiss you anyway, but the flight is a long one, and the airplane is not all that big. There's only so many place I can go to avoid a lecture. The same goes for you and that tour bus."
"I see your point. Hopefully this won't freak them out too much." She said while hugging him.
"No, this should be okay." He agreed. They were all escorted out by security and went off on their way.
The two weeks went by fairly quickly. Although the guys were back, it was still a little while before the girls saw them. Donna had been sure to keep them busy, so as to avoid any more confrontations with Synchronicity, or more specifically, Angela. In almost every city, Diversity was doing promo, photoshoots, or helping out with radio contests. Every few days or so, they would hear that someone had spotted at least a couple of members of NSYNC at one of the shows. The guys always tried to leave something backstage, or on the bus to let the girls know they had been there.
"I still don't know how these girls manage to see NSYNC, yet we never do." Coretta had been checking out different clubs, and message boards on the Internet. They were on the bus headed to Chicago, just coming from a concert in Memphis the night before. "Apparently Justin and his family were at the concert last night. I can't believe he didn't tell us he was going to be there, or even come backstage to say hi."
"I think it's better not knowing, I still get nervous as it is. Knowing they were out there watching would make it worse. You know as well as I do, that they're analyzing the hell out of every show, and we're gonna hear about it the very next time we see them." Becca pointed out.
"Too true. I can hear it already. Oh Lordy, the torture. At least we've got a couple days off before the nest concert. Damn! I forgot to call Kathy and tell her we were coming into town early. I still can't believe those damn girls got on TRL before we did. They don't even have a video. How much sense does that make?? Just answer me that one little question."
"Umm, let's see, their video premier was yesterday, and we're going on next week because of the VMAs and to celebrate the retirement of the NSYNC video. Is that reason enough for you? I don't intend to hear about that girl and/or her group for the next few days, for it? Just relax, we're going to see Kathy, help her out with a little interview, and then we're free."
Coretta searched the back lounge for her phone the minute she heard it ring. It had been three days since she had talked to Joey last, and she was eager to hear his voice. She tried hide her disappointment when see saw it wasn't him.
"Oh hey Justin. What's up?"
"Obviously not your enthusiasm, but I'll ignore that. Where are you?"
"Sorry, I thought you might be Joe. We're headed to Chicago, where else are we supposed to be?"
"I know that, I meant where are you in the bus. Are you by the TV?"
"No, but I can be, what's going on?" Coretta asked a bit confused
Justin didn't want to worry her, but continued. "I just think you might want to catch the rest of TRL. I'm hoping what I think is going to happen doesn't happen, but in the event that it does, I want you to be prepared."
Coretta pulled the phone from her ear, and looked at it as if it could explain what Justin had just told her. "I'm definitely confused now, but whatever. I'll call you after it's over."
*****************
"What's up, I'm Carson Daly, and that was your number three video on today's countdown. Now before we get to the break, we'll do the world premier video from today's guests, Synchronicity. Why don't one of you ladies tell us a little bit about the concept behind this song, and this new video."
Coretta rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at the screen when Angela began to talk.
"Well, first, I want to point out this isn't actually the video for our current single. It will, however be on our CD when it comes out in December. I wrote the song, and the record company loved it, so we decided to put it out there right away."
"Um, okay, whatever that means. What the hell do I know? I just host the show. So back to the song, any particular reason you wrote it? Anyone you had in mind?" Carson asked even though he had a feeling exactly who it was meant for.
Angela just laughed. "That's a secret I'll never tell. The song is called "In His Dreams" It's about a girl whom a guy has dumped, but she knows deep down, the guy still wants to be with her. So, she's telling the new girlfriend that she may have him physically, but she's the one the guy sees in his dreams. That's where the title comes from."
"Interesting. Here it is, the world premier of "In His Dreams" check it out. As I promised, after the commercial the girls of Synchronicity agree to share some dirt from the road. Also, your number two and one videos coming up."
Coretta and Becca sat in silence watching the video, and listening to the lyrics. Neither knew how Synchronicity had the time to record the song, much less do the video.
"Think she's trying to get to you?" Becca asked
"Is a duck's butt waterproof??"
"A simple yes would've been fine. Oh well, let's hear this wonderful dirt she's got from the road. Did you notice she's the only one ever allowed to talk?"
"She probably had their tongues cut out so she could dominate all conversation."
"If I were them, I would've asked for them to take my ears instead, so at least I wouldn't have to hear her." Becca joked.
"With no tongue or ears, I'd hope to still have my feet just to randomly kick her in the ass when it felt right."
Becca picked up the pillow that had been thrown earlier, and threw it back at Coretta. "Girl, you are a fool."
"This is true, but I'm still fun."
Becca just shook her head, and turned the volume back up on the television. The dirt that was shared mainly involved people like 98 Degrees, or O-town, that popped in occasionally to catch the show. Also, she revealed some of the jokes and pranks that had been pulled over the last month of touring. Most of these didn't involve Synchronicity, but Angela somehow felt them share worthy at any rate. The thing that did make the girls sit up and listen, was the mention of NSYNC. Carson had Angela stop for a minute, and used that to segue into the number two video, which was NSYNC. He reminded everyone that NSYNC would be there the following week to retire the video, and talk a little about the VMAs.
"What could she possibly have to say about NSYNC? They all pretty much avoid her when she's around. There's no way she could have seen them if we haven't seen them, could she?" Coretta wondered out loud.
"Nevermind that, NSYNC is number two, what's up with that? I don't want to jinx it or anything, but did you notice they didn't show ours?"
"Meaning....??" Coretta looked at Becca confused
"Meaning, maybe we're number one, it's a possibility you know."
"Sure, it's a possibility, but they probably already showed it. Or, maybe, just maybe we aren't even on the countdown."
Becca rolled her eyes. "Girl, you know as well as I do, you don't believe that for a minute. We're about to have our first number one on TRL!!" The girls hugged as Coretta's phone rang again.
"Well, well, well.....you ladies actually put us at number two. You're first time at number one, congratulations."
"Justin, that would sound so much better if you left the actually part out. Oh wait, be quiet, the video is over. I want to know what type of dirt on you guys she's gotten from the tour. She probably made something up, or got something off the Internet."
Both ends of the phone were silent once Carson came into view. "That was NSYNC dropping back to number two, interestingly enough, by a group whose video they also happen to be in. Before we get to that, I understand you ladies have been seeing quite a bit of NSYNC."
Angela giggled into the mic. "Yes, we see them pretty often. They come out to the concerts to see Diversity perform a lot. Especially Joey, but of course he's there for other reasons besides the performance."
Coretta could barely breath. "Justin please tell me this isn't happening. Tell me she's not about to say the one thing that could quite possibly ruin everything."
Justin wanted to reassure his friend, but couldn't, he wanted to believe Angela wouldn't do something like this to Coretta since it would effect Joey too.
Carson knew where this was heading, yet he could do nothing to stop it. As much as he didn't want to go there, he had to stay true to his job. "Why else would he be there?"
"He's very supportive of his girlfriend Coretta. They're always on the phone, or he sends her things when he can't be there. I hope they don't mind my telling everyone like this. I just think it is so cute."
Carson cut her off before she could say any more. He announced Diversity's video, and then quickly ended the show. Justin was speechless. He hadn't for one minute believed Angela would do something to hurt Coretta, which would do as much damage to Joey in the process. Now that he saw he was wrong, he know there was going to be a major confrontation, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to try and stop it. He spoke into the phone, but Coretta had already dropped it, and was not pacing the small hallway on the bus. Becca picked up her phone. "J?"
"Yeah. Is she gonna be okay? I can still hear her freaking out. She needs to calm down. We'll figure out some way around this. That's what we have PR people for."
"Sure you guys have PR people, but what about us....well, her??"
"You don't really think Joey would cover his own ass, and leave her hanging do you? I should get on the phone and let Joey know before someone else does. I'll call you later to check and see how things are going on your end."
"Alright. I'm going to go try and calm her down. I'm just hoping that damn girl doesn't get here too soon."
"I'll see what I can do about that too."
Becca turned off Coretta's phone and went to settle her rampaging friend. When she moved from the back of the bus, she was surprised to see her friend calmly sitting in the booth looking at pictures.
"You okay?" she asked
"Sure why wouldn't I be? Just because now at least a million people know Joey and I are together? Oh yeah sure, I'm okay." She pushed the album toward Becca. "Look at all these pictures, see how normal and happy everything was? We'll never have that again. You know some of those were even taken by fans that thought we were just goofball friends hanging out and being fools."
"Y'all definitely have that fool thing working for you." Becca said, trying to lighten the mood as she casually flipped through the pages of the album.
"I think I need to sleep. Wake me up when we get to Chicago." Coretta got up and went to the back to the bunks. Her phone started to ring, but if she heard it, she made no indication. Becca shrugged and answered it for her.
"Hello?"
"Not quite the person I was looking for, but maybe it's better I talk to you first anyway."
"Uh yeah, thanks. As always, nice to talk to you too Joe." Becca retorted
"Sorry I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just got off the phone with Justin. Please tell me he was joking. Like the time he told me he had Anna Nicole Smith's phone number and it turned out to be a forty five-year old woman who's name happened to be named Anna Nicole Smith."
"What?!?!" Becca nearly fell off her seat she was laughing so hard. "Oh he has got to tell me that whole story the next time I see him."
"Believe me, it's not that great of a story. Worst two weeks of my life."
"Hold up. For two whole weeks you thought you were talking her. Joe, I had such faith in you. You should really be more careful of the friends you trust. In answer to your question, no he was not joking. Today on TRL, your friend Angela told the world you and Coretta were dating. She couldn't mention it during a little radio interview, or a magazine where things are taken out of context all the time. Noooo, she had to bring it to the place your audience is tuned to constantly. If I were you, I'd be putting Angela on warning for when she gets back. We've only got a month left to tour with them, but I can't guarantee she'll make it that long."
"It was that bad??"
"First she dropped the phone, then she stomped around cussing and saying things I can't even tell you the definition of. I can't believe she kisses you, let alone her mother with that mouth. Now she's in this weird mellow mood."
"Maybe she actually calmed down?" Joey suggested
"Not unless you mean the calm before the storm."
"Can I talk to her?" Joey asked quietly
"She said she was going to get some sleep. I don't think she wants to talk to anyone yet. I know when she's ready she'll call."
"Are you sure she won't talk, not even to me?" Joey practically pleaded
"Especially not to you Joey, not yet."
"Becca give me a break. I'm just as upset about this as she is. Do you really think this is how I wanted people to find out? The only way we can get through this is if you let me talk to her."
"Look Joey, my phone is going crazy, I gotta go."
Becca spent the remainder of the trip to Chicago doing damage control. It seemed like as soon as she got off one phone, the other would start ringing. Finally she gave up, and turned them both off. Just when she got settled in her bunk, Dave, their bus driver, announced they were in Chicago. Becca groaned, and climbed down from the bunk. She struggled not to laugh when she heard Coretta hit her head. A minute later Coretta came staggering into the front of the bus.
"What time is it?"
"Time for you to go take a good look in that mirror before we get off this bus. Damn girl. You look like you slept under the bus instead of on it."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Remind me again, why is it we're friends?"
"You love my honesty." Becca laughed
"Right, and you're just bubbling over with it today. Anyway, I didn't sleep very well. Also nearly fracturing my skull a second ago didn't help matters much either."
"I doubt it was fractured, you are the most hard headed person I know."
"There you with that honesty thing again, please stop." Coretta rubbed her head.
"As many times as you've done that, I think we need to just put your pillow on the ceiling. It would be more useful up there."
"Becca, do me a favor, and don't help." Coretta closed the door to the small bathroom. She looked in the mirror to find Becca was right, she looked like hell. She splashed some water on her face, put her hair up, and hoped no one would notice her. Lucky for her, the security had already gotten them checked in.
"I've got good news, and bad news. The good news is that there's no one inside. The bad news is that Donna has left about five messages already. None of them sound good. On the bright side of that, some things came up, so she can't get here until just before show time. That leaves you a little time before the in person lecture. Oh, and looks like our CD is being released next Tuesday, not sure why we were the last to know, but it's all good. Wednesday, we're on TRL, Thursday is the VMAs, and Friday is the concert at Madison Square Garden, so we'll be in New York for a week." Becca explained.
A week in New York?" Coretta repeated as they rode up in the elevator. "A week in New York with NSYNC. A week in New York, with Joey." she said warming up to the idea.
"A week in New York with Joey's family." Becca added.
"Right. Joey's family that doesn't know me, yet still doesn't like me. Maybe there won't be any time to meet them. Plus, Joey just saw them all a few weeks ago, he won't want to see them again so soon, right?" Coretta looked to Becca for reassurance.
"You're kidding aren't you? You've heard all the stories like I have. They love coming to hang with Joey's family. It's like one big party the entire time they're there. I don't plan to miss out on any of that, and I'm pretty sure you are expected to be there."
"Whatever. I'll worry about that next week. I'm going to take a nice hot bubble bath. Let me know when you and Kathy decide what we're doing tonight. Maybe call Tasha and Kara too, I know they must be excited to be here in their hometown for a few days. Hell, they were out the door to catch their flight the second we were off the stage." Coretta laughed at the memory of the two girls rushing to go home for the first time in two months.
