A few hours later Becca and Coretta found themselves in the hotel restaurant waiting for Kathy. It had been about six months since they had last seen her. That was just before her radio show was being made national, now it was a huge success. When they first saw each other, they were like three screaming little girls, and only calmed down when they noticed the looks all the other diners were giving them. The entire meal was spent catching up on the last six months of their lives. Kathy told them about all the people in the music world she had been able to meet, and even some Hollywood stars. Becca and Coretta told her about recording, touring, and of course NSYNC.
"You have no idea how long I've been trying to get them on my show. Even before it was my show, but they are the hardest act to book. Hell, I even managed to get a phone interview with a couple of the Backstreet Boys. I guess the next time I call my contacts, I'll mention that I'm a close personal friend of Joey Fatone's girlfriend."
Coretta covered her face with her hands. "Ugh. I take it you saw TRL today. I really wish she would play her games somewhere other than national television."
"Of course I saw it, I get some of my best material from TRL. That one little comment is enough to keep my show going for days, not my usual one hour sound off. Voicemail, email and calls were already coming in when I left the station."
"Great the one time people actually listen to her. This is probably going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. With any luck, maybe people will forget she ever brought it up."
"Right." Kathy said sarcastically. "Kinda like how people forgot the JFK assassination, or man landing on the moon, or that Michael Jackson used to be black."
Becca nearly choked on her drink. "Well put Kathy. Seriously though, what do you plan to do about this? You can't deny it now. You could, but do you really want to go out like that? For real, don't you think it would be best to just come right out with it?"
Coretta put her glass down on the table. "Can we just talk about something else, anything else, please? I don't want to think about any of that now. I want to talk to Joe first, before I say anything to anyone. I know what I want to do, but it's a decision we need to make together."
Soon they were ready to go out on the town. They decided on dancing. Kathy said she knew just the place to go. Coretta didn't notice where they were headed until they were out of the car, and halfway across the parking lot.
"Oh hell no!!" She said once she saw the Zero Gravity sign looming overhead. She was immediately taken back to the time a year and a half ago when she was last at the club. She had been there with Kathy and her sister. NSYNC happened to be having an after party that same night. The girls ended up pushed against the barriers most of the night. Which was all good until Joey of all people decided to stand on the barriers causing the whole room to rush forward practically crushing the girls.
"Don't worry about it." Kathy said snapping Coretta back to reality. "This will not be like last time, I promise. First of all, we'll be with an older crowd tonight. Second of all and most importantly, NSYNC isn't here. We might even get to chill in the VIP room, who knows."
"No VIP room." Becca entered the conversation. "Let's just hang out and be normal tonight."
Kathy laughed, "Sorry, but you two have never been normal."
"Oh, and what does that say about you being our friend??" Coretta countered
"That I, um...." Kathy stammered. "Forget it, let's just go inside." She walked past the long line to the front where the security announced their arrival to someone inside. They were taken right in despite the evil stares from the many girls who were waiting in their skintight, or barely there clothing.
"Whoever's mama let them out the house like that needs to be beat down. No home training, I swear." Coretta rolled her eyes at the girls on the other side of the door.
Although Kathy had always enjoyed the club scene, lately since she was working around music constantly she was becoming a big fan of peace and quiet. While Becca and Coretta danced, she found a table and sat down to people watch. As soon as she got relaxed, it seemed word got around that she was there. People were coming by the table to get autographs or ask about things she was doing with her show. Most of the people knew that Kathy was a friend of Diversity since she promoted them even before the single was officially released. After spotting Diversity, they began asking Kathy about the TRL announcement.
"I'm sorry, but tonight we're here just to relax and hang out, not to talk about business or anyone's personal lives." Kathy repeated this time and time again. She looked out on the floor and saw her friends were also being approached quite a bit. Across the room she saw a small area being blocked off by security. "Good." she thought. "Now maybe we can get some chill time."
While she was watching the set up, she felt two hands grab her. Before she could stop them, Coretta and Becca had forced her onto the dance floor with them. The first beats of "Ice, Ice Baby" resounded though out the club.
"I don't even think so." Kathy said attempting to walk away.
"Not so fast." Becca pulled her back. "We're all supposed to be having fun."
"I am having fun. I'm having fun watching you two make asses of yourselves out here."
"That doesn't count. "Coretta yelled over the music. "Shake what your mama gave ya!" This was followed by Coretta breaking out into her own little song and dance. "Alright stop, collaborate and listen....Ice is back with a brand new...." Coretta stopped as she cabbage patched her way right into someone. She was about to apologize when she saw who it was.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"The question is why are you doing that here?"
"If you're referring to my dancing, don't hate. Just because I've got my groove, and you're standing there like an idiot."
Steven laughed. "You're out here in front of people doing a dance from fifteen years ago, and I'm the one looking like an idiot? I don't think so. Anyway, as much as we've enjoyed your little retro dance party, I've been sent to come and get you all."
Kathy looked between the two, the realization then hit her that if Steven Fatone was there, then Joey was there, and that meant more than likely Lance was there too. She wasn't about to let this chance pass her by. She pushed Coretta out of the way, and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Kathy. You must be Steven, well of course you're Steven, but you already know that."
"Real smooth Kathy." Becca joined the conversation. "My question is why are you here? How did you know which club we were in? Are all the guys here?"
"That was actually three questions, but who's counting. I'm here for the same reason most people go to a club. We didn't know where you were, we called the cell phones, and got no answer, but it is a nice surprise. The guys are all here, that's why that little area was blocked off."
They followed Steven through the crowd to a doorway with a curtain hanging over it. There was a red neon sign over the door proclaiming the room the Cabaret Room. Once inside the girls saw the room filled with NSYNC, club security, and a couple of other people they didn't recognize. JC was the first to see that Steven had brought them back.
"If it isn't my favorite Solid Gold dancer, and friends. You know we got that on tape, and plan to use it against you in the future." He did a quick imitation of Coretta's dance moves.
Coretta lightly shoved JC and laughed. They then followed JC to a small table where Kathy was introduced. As much as she always wanted to meet JC, she searched the room for Lance, her eyes finally settled on him talking to club security, and Chris. In the next few minutes, she got the chance to meet Joey, Dani, Chris and finally Justin. She was able to witness the kind of interaction between Coretta and Justin, she had heard so much about.
"Woman, you know the point of cell phones is so that everyone can get in touch with you at all times." Justin said hugging Coretta
"I know, and the point of turning cell phones off, is so that everyone can't get in touch with me at all times." she smiled sweetly.
The DJ made the announcement that NSYNC was in the club, so the guys went out to dance and talk to some of the people that were fans.
"I'm shocked." Becca said a minute later. "You and Joey were in the same room for twenty minutes, and you didn't so much as look at each other. I won't say I missed it, but damn. I never thought I'd see the day."
Coretta looked at Becca. "What was I supposed to do? He's obviously ready to party, and I'm ready to continue doing the same. The two of us together would only mean we'd have to talk about TRL, either to each other, or people out there. Not tonight, or at least not yet, I already told you I don't want to think about that."
From time to time, the guys would stop back in the room and talk with the girls. That of course was when the girls weren't out on the floor dancing, which wasn't often. On occasion, they would dance together, but for the most part everyone did their own thing. Just for the night, they were normal people out having a good time.
*****************
Lance noticed Kathy wasn't really into dancing. He was tired of being dragged all over the floor by Coretta and Becca. He decided to join Kathy.
"Hey, not dancing tonight?" Lance startled Kathy from her thoughts, which ironically were of him.
"What? Oh, Lance hey. I kinda zoned out for a minute. I really don't feel like dancing, I'd rather watch everyone else. It's quite entertaining." She nodded her head in the direction of the dance floor where Chris, JC, Justin and Joey could be seen amusing a group of girls with their rendition of the Humpty Dance.
Lance chuckled and shook his head. "I see what you mean."
Kathy turned back from the scene, to face Lance. "So why aren't you dancing? It just doesn't seem quite right with just the four of them."
"Honestly, I'm not into the dancing either. Of course we do that every night on tour, but I don't do much when we're on a break. I just like to be in the clubs. Plus, Joey wasn't about to let any of us stay in our hotel rooms."
"True." Kathy said.
They spent the rest of the night talking and finding out more about each other. Joey and Coretta seemed to be purposely avoiding each other most of the night. Finally Steven and Becca managed to get the two together in the Cabaret Room. Seeing them come in, Lance suddenly grabbed Kathy by the hand, and headed out to the floor, ignoring her questioning look. Joey began speaking as soon as he made sure they were alone.
"I know you're pissed about what Angela did. I can't say I'm real happy either. I was hoping for some time for us to talk about how we want to handle this. I guess now the thing to figure out is how public we really want to be. I have to say it is sort of a relief not to have this big secret hanging over my head." He paused to take a breath, and to see how she was reacting.
"Is that all you have to say? It's a relief. Have you given any thought at all to what's going to happen? I hate to break it to you, but your fans aren't exactly receptive to you guys and the concept of dating."
"Who cares what the fans think?" Joey questioned.
"I don't, but you should. If it wasn't for them you'd still be doing Wolfie at Universal, although by now, maybe you'd be Beetlejuice."
"Now that was just wrong. Why are you angry with me? This effects both of us. I haven't been with you in a long time, please don't make this my fault."
He moved closer to her to close in the distance between them. "Hmm, well let's see what happens when you say my name three times, like in the movie." He was going to kiss her, but just at the last minute Coretta moved, and Joey found himself kissing the wall.
"You didn't really think that corny ass line was going to work did you?"
Joey removed his face from the wall. "Yeah, actually I did. Usually you can't resist things like that."
Coretta rolled her eyes. "Can you please think of something other than the physical aspect of all this for once??"
"I do think of other things. Why would you think otherwise? Physical isn't all there is to us, I know that. I could easily go out there and get laid without even trying, but am I?? No, I'm here with you arguing over something stupid."
"Oh, so now our relationship is stupid? Just great Joe. If it's so stupid, why the hell are you still here, by all means go out there and find someone."
"Does everything have to be such a drama with you?" Joey sighed.
"You know me, I do it well." Coretta replied.
Justin noticed that Joey and Coretta were missing, and decided it was his chance to interrupt them as always. He figured the only place they could go and not be seen was the Cabaret Room. He smiled when he neared the room, and heard their voices.
"Hey guys!!" He came in the room smiling. His smile quickly faded when he saw the death look being given to him first by Coretta, and then by Joey. He took the hint that it was not a good time.
"I, um. Hey, this isn't the bathroom. I must have gone down the wrong hall. Nevermind me." He backed quickly out the room.
****************
"Oh, so that's why she looked so irritated most of the night." Chris commented. Joey had been explaining to the guys what had transpired between he and Coretta at the club.
"Things were going okay for a minute, then she turned the drama on full scale. It was more than I really wanted to deal with at the time. So now things are just up in the air." Joey looked out into the night wondering exactly how they would get over this.
JC leaned up from the back seat of the van, and put his hand on Joey's shoulder. Not to worry dude, you two will be back to normal soon enough. Look at it from her side, this can't be very easy to deal with. You know the media is going to eat this up. They'll be anywhere and everywhere she goes, hoping to get some sort of statement. We're all used to that, but remember she's still somewhat new to the game."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll let her sleep on it, and call her in the morning."
Lance who had been quiet the entire trip back, spoke suddenly. "Hey guys, have you ever noticed how all of their friends are hot?"
Chris looked in the rearview mirror at Lance. "Man, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Where on earth did that come from?" JC asked "It sounds like something Joey would say."
"Hey, I resent that. Although now that you mention it, all their friends we've met so far do fall into the hot girl category."
"Exactly." Lance continued. "First there was Charetta and Kat in Orlando, then Melissa and Linda in L.A."
"Definitely can't forget them. Especially Linda, now that girl was cute." JC smiled as he thought of the girls, and the crazy antics he'd witnessed in the two days they were in L.A. recording with Diversity.
Joey looked at his goofy grinning friend, and shook his head. "I'll take this time to remind you yet again, she's sixteen. As in, if you do anything with those thoughts running through your head right now, you can bet on a trip to Florida's finest maximum security facility."
"Only if we get caught." JC said, only half kidding
"Hello, can we get back to my point please?" Lance demanded the attention of the others. "My point was, did you notice Kathy?"
"I was a little preoccupied, but I did notice you noticing Kathy. What's up with that?" Joey nudged Lance.
Even in the dark, they knew Lance was blushing. "Um, I was just thinking about her, that's all."
"Yeah, thinking about how you would rather be driving back to the hotel with her, instead of with us." Steven joked.
"Well that, among other things."
*****************
You know you want to call him, so do it already." Becca said to Coretta while they sat in Becca's hotel room with Dani and Kathy.
"Call him and say what?" Coretta asked
"How about, 'sorry for being such a pain in ass tonight, I know it wasn't your fault' that's a good start."
"A pain in the ass?? What makes you think I did or said anything?" Coretta was somewhat offended.
Becca gave a knowing look. "I really don't think you want me to answer that. I know you, and your flair for drama."
Coretta smiled sheepishly. "I've got to go make a phone call, I'll be right back." She rushed out the room. The three girls looked at each other for a few minutes, and then broke out in laughter.
*****************
Joey was just finishing getting dressed after his shower, when Coretta knocked on his door. He let her in and invited her to sit. He placed a kiss on top of her head before sitting across from her. They were both silent for a minute.
"You look tired, are you sure you want to do this now?" Joey asked, unsure of what else to say.
"Do I look that bad?? I thought it was a huge improvement from earlier today, trust me that was scary."
Joey laughed. "I really missed you, you know."
"Oh geez, not getting all serious or anything are you? You're supposed to be the player, the ladies man."
"True, but even the players have to settle down a bit at some point." Joey replied in all seriousness.
Coretta didn't know what to say. "Settle down, huh? I guess if you must, you must. How settled are we talking here? Not that it matters, thanks to Angela, the tabloids may have us married by week's end.
"Whoa now, not that settled. Now instead of five beautiful women, five days in a row, it's just one beautiful woman."
"Flattery will get you everywhere." Coretta joked. "Seriously though, five women in five days? Unbelievable."
"It was incredible. Tiring, but great all the same." A slow smile crept across Joey's face. "There was this one....."
"Okay, that's enough of the sharing. Let's put that little story away, and never speak of it again. Not to change the subject, well actually yes I want to completely change the subject. How are we going to handle this whole TRL deal?"
Joey was watching her lips as she talked, and could only think of how badly he wanted to kiss her. He knew his concentration should be on whatever it is she was saying, but his mind kept wandering back to the last time they were together. Everything had started out all wrong that night, but in the end it was perfect. He was torn between listening, and talking to her like he knew he needed to do, and his need to satisfy his basic physical need for his girlfriend. In effort to reiterate his earlier statement about the nature of their relationship, he grabbed her hand, and walked out the door.
"Joey, where are we going?"
"I had to get out of that room before something happened that shouldn't, so we're taking a walk."
"Do you realize it's almost three in the morning, and I'm in my pajamas? I can't walk anywhere like this." Coretta protested.
"Like what? It looks pretty much like you've got regular clothes on anyway, but if it makes you feel better, we can go up and grab your jacket."
"Yes, it would, and shoes would be helpful too."
After some teasing from their friends, and sneaking around the security guards they were on their way. They walked a few blocks enjoying the night. There was a slight chill to the air, indicating the end of the summer breezes, and the introduction of the cool, crisp autumn to come. Joey reached for her hand, a gesture that caught Coretta a little off guard, but she said nothing. Finally they reached a park that had picnic table, a playground, and a fountain with lights that played to the rhythm of a classical piece Coretta did not recognize. Joey led her to one of the tables where he sat on one side, and she on the other.
"I'm glad you're here." Coretta told him. "Even if it's only for tonight, after what happened earlier, I needed to be able to see your face."
Joey was still holding her hand, he brought it to his lips, and gently kissed her fingertips. "I'm here, and we're together. What Angela did wasn't right, but in a way I'm glad she did it." He held his hand up to stop the protest he knew was coming. "We've been avoiding this for long enough. We were going to have to decide what to do anyway, she just made it easier. So what if everyone knows. The other guys have had girlfriends before, and things were okay."
"Yeah right, and where are all those girls now? From what I understand, with the obvious exception of Dani, the all bounced because there was too much pressure. Pressure is not something that I need more of. I definitely have enough of that in my life already." Coretta got up and walked to the swings.
Joey slowly followed. "They felt the pressures of reporters constantly asking questions, pictures being taken all the time, and having to deal with fans. That's something you do all the time. Even if we weren't together, you would be dealing with all those kinds of people on a daily basis. It's part of your life now, it's what you do, and who you are. Being with me doesn't change that. It may intensify it for a little while, but overall it's the same thing you would be doing as singer, as opposed to being a singer, and my girlfriend."
"I know you're right, but it just pisses me off that she feels like she can take matters into her own hands, and control our lives. Who does she think she is? She is really messing with the wrong person. I can't believe she thinks she'll get away with this. She better hope I don't see her before the concert tomorrow night. Speaking of concerts, how long are you guys staying on the tour?"
"First let me remind you that Donna will be here tomorrow night, so I think it'll be in your best interest to stay away from Angela. Let me take care of Angela, you'll need all your energy to deal with Donna."
"You've got a point. Donna's going to be more than enough to handle. I know she's got her big 'I told you so" lecture planned. I'm sure Johnny will be ready with a similar lecture for you next week."
Joey shook his head. "Not likely. Johnny doesn't get involved with us on that level too much anymore. In the beginning, he was, but now that we're older, and have been around a while, not so much. He knows for the most part, we can take care of ourselves, plus he's got other acts that need his attention and polishing."
Coretta was more than a little confused. "But what about the thing in the hotel room? He seemed pretty involved there."
"Most of that was for Donna's benefit. Although he did tell me he wasn't exactly happy to find out we spent the night together. There's nothing he can do, but voice his opinion. Donna, on the other hand, I can see where she's coming from."
Coretta stopped swinging and looked at him. "What do you mean you can see where she's coming from? In that case, can you send me a map, because I'm totally lost."
"Think about it, Donna's been in this business for a long time, but Diversity is the first successful group she's had."
"Donna's worked with plenty of successful people, what are you talking about?"
"That's always been in partnership with someone else. This time it's all on her. She knows other people looking for management, will look to see how well she manages the groups she already has. Any controversy may be the difference between someone signing with her, or not."
Coretta hopped off the swing and headed toward the merry-go-round. "How is it my fault we're the first group? I'm supposed to put all my thoughts and feelings on hold until she becomes a well-established manager in her own right? Why should what she wants be of any more importance than what I want, or what Becca wants? I mean shouldn't we be able to have at least some say in our own damn lives???" Coretta continued to ramble as she walked away. Even though he could no longer hear her, Joey could tell by the way her arms were waving in wild gestures, she was nowhere near being done with her ranting.
"Four beautiful women at the table that night, and I had to pick the one that turns everything into a federal case. Ladies and gentleman thank you for flying Air Drama, please return your seats and tray tables to an upright position, it's going to be a bumpy landing." He prepared himself for the rest of her outburst. He followed her to the other side of the park where she was lying across the merry-go-round looking up at the stars.
"There's a shooting star, make a wish." He said making himself comfortable next to her.
"All my wishes have already come true. With the exception of the one where Angela turns into a little bug and crawls away. You know like in that story by Kafka, the Metamorphosis, where the guy turns into a giant roach and his family and friends eventually forget about him. That's what I want, really just the part where people forget she exists, the roach thing was just for fun."
"Um, okay." Joey said laughing. "Sometimes you frighten me more than you know. You need a new hobby and fast. I hate to think of what else you have, or will come up with where she is concerned."
"I seem to have a lot of spare time. I don't like sleeping on the bus, so I try to avoid it if at all possible. Sometimes the stress of the day gets to be too much, and I have no choice, but for the most part I stay awake plotting my imaginary, evil scenarios about Angela, or surfing the net. I can always find cool stuff there."
"And what have you found? Although. I'm a little scared to ask."
"Well, I found out all of you have been at a lot more of the shows than you said you were. From the pictures I saw, and encounters I read, it seems like you were at every show."
"We were." Joey stated simply
"What do you mean? How could you be there, and not say anything ever. We knew you guys were there sometimes, but every freakin show??"
"We didn't want to bug you out, and besides that, Chris wouldn't let me. He thought I'd be too much of a distraction."
"A very good distraction." Coretta kissed him on the cheek. "So since you saw all the shows, what did you think?"
Joey thought for a minute. "Now that you mention it, we kinda came up with a list of things. Not a long list, but just some areas that could use some work."
"Some work, huh? Did I mention when I asked you what you thought, I wasn't asking the multi-platinum musician Joey, but asking boyfriend who adores his girlfriend Joey."
Joey got up, a smile on his face, as an idea came to his head. He walked to the fountain with Coretta close behind. He put his arms around her, and rested his chin on top of her head.
"So you don't want the opinion of multi-platinum musician Joey??"
"Nope." Coretta shook her head
"But you want the opinion of boyfriend Joey?"
"Correction, boyfriend who adores his girlfriend, Joey."
"Right." Joey chuckled. "I stand corrected, literally. Well, in that case, I think you've made a splash in the music industry." Without warning, he tightened his grip on her, and tossed her into the fountain before collapsing on the ground laughing.
"Get it?? Splash?!?! Woo boy, I crack myself up sometimes."
Coretta sputtered and coughed up water while she fought to regain her balance. "That was wrong on so many levels. You are completely evil."
"I guess you could say I learned from the best. C'mon, admit it, that was pretty funny."
Finally regaining her balance, she glared at him. "I hardly see me standing here soaked, and probably looking like a drowned rat, as humorous. When you're done laughing, you think you could help me out here?"
"Wait, stand right there for just a second, don't move." Joey looked at her intently.
"What on earth are you looking at? I'm freezing, the sun is coming up, and I want to get back before anyone realizes we're still gone."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I just wanted to see if Justin was right about something. Turns out he was, I will definitely thank him when we get back."
Coretta shook her head. "Something is telling me not to ask, yet and still I have to know. Why would Justin be talking about anything concerning me? More importantly, what could he have been right about??"
A wide grin spread across Joey's face. "Those pajamas are see through when they're wet."
"You know we're in trouble, right?" Coretta asked as she and Joey made their way through the streets of Chicago, and back to the hotel. Both were still very wet from their fountain adventure, still neither was able to remove the smiles from their faces.
"Oh please, I bet no one even realizes we're gone. They were probably up so late, they aren't even thinking about getting up any time soon." The hotel then came into view, and Joey noticed a large, black man standing by the doors. "Um, I guess we can scratch that no one noticing thing. Someone definitely found out we were gone, and he doesn't look happy about it. Jimmy's part of your security, and I don't envy you right now."
"What happened to the oh so supportive Joey?"
"He's still here, but it's gonna be support far from the oh so angry black man."
They tried to casually walk around Jimmy, but he seemed to move every way they did. "It's a little early for dancing, don't you think Jimmy?" Coretta asked testing the waters to see how angry Jimmy was.
"It's early for a lot of things. Unless of course, you've been out all night, then I'd say it's not so early after all."
Coretta forced herself to laugh. "Jimmy. Jimmy, Jimmy.....you thought we were out all night? No, see we couldn't sleep, so we decided to take an early morning walk together."
Jimmy looked down at her. "Let me guess, in order to save time, you both decided to shower with your clothes on, so you could get the most of these few moments."
Coretta giggled nervously. "Um, that depends. Are you really believing that at all??"
Jimmy looked her straight in the eye. "Not in the least."
Joey cleared his throat. "Would you believe....."
"Don't even try it."
"How about...." Joey tried again.
"Nope."
"What if I told you...."
"Look, all I know is that the two of you put yourselves in a very dangerous situation. There's no telling what could've happened out there."
"I'm sorry we worried you, but I know for a fact that any girls after Joey, aren't usually up to their full potential at four in the morning."
"Well now it's seven, and you'll find the teenage girls are inside, and waiting. They've been there for hours. I don't know how you didn't run into them when you left. Since neither of you is worried about your safety, why should I? Nevermind the fact that it's part of my job." He looked at Joey. "I put in a lot of time with you, so excuse me for going right back into the old habits. I'll just let you handle the mob all on your own. Good luck sneaking around them."
Jimmy went back inside and pushed his way through the crowd to a spot around the corner. He would be there if things got really out of hand, but he wanted them to remember how important his job was.
Coretta peeked into the lobby, and tried to convince herself it really wasn't as bad as it looked. Honestly, she was a little scared, it had been a long time since she had been around NSYNC fans. Joey sensed her uneasiness.
"We'll be okay. There's so many, of them maybe we can get by before they notice. Damn, where's Justin when we really need him?"
"Justin, good idea!!" Coretta pulled out her cell phone, which miraculously still worked, and called Justin's room. It rang a few times before Justin could be heard fumbling with the phone.
"This better be good." Justin said barely conscious.
"Justin, I need you wake up because I need a huge favor." Coretta said sweetly.
"Woman, you better be in jail or seriously near death to be calling me this early. I haven't even looked at the clock, but I know it's early. How do I know it's early you ask? I'm not up, and that in itself means it's early. Now since you didn't stop me to say you're in jail, and you don't sound dead, I'm hanging up this phone, and hoping for your sake this is all part of a dream." The phone clicked off and there was dead air.
"I know he didn't just hang up on me. He's got some nerve. I'll try Becca, she's always up early." She quickly dialed the number and Becca answered on the first ring.
"Becca, I need your help real quick."
"Girl, if you needed something, why didn't you just come over? You're all of twenty feet from me."
"You're so right, if I was next door, I would most definitely have come over, but since I'm not, I'm calling you instead."
"What do you mean you're not next door? Are you down in Joey's room? Oh my Lordy, you spent the night with him?? You better be gettin' your butt back here. Oh, I think we just lost Chris on that spending the night together moment."
"No, I'm not in Joey's room, and we did not spend the night together. Well, we did, it was outside, and..."
"What?!? You did it outside?? Girl, are you out your damn mind???? Oh Lord, someone get JC a paper bag, I think he's going to hyperventilate."
Coretta had to speak up over the commotion that was going on in Becca's room, and the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour on the streets of Chicago. "Becca? Becca?? No one did anything. Joey and I just..." She was abruptly cut off by Chris.
"Obviously both of you lost your minds. Outside in a place you don't know? Even if it was a place you knew, what's that about? I'm all for you two being together, but if this is how it's gonna be, as your manager, I'm putting my foot down." Coretta heard a slight thump. "Hear that? That was me putting my foot down. I'll do it a few more times, just so there isn't any confusion about it later."
Coretta had tried to interrupt his tirade a couple of times, but to no avail. Finally she gave up and did the one thing she knew would get his attention. "CHRIS!!" She yelled into the phone. "Shut up for five seconds!! I did not sleep with Joey! I did not sleep with Joey in his room! I did not sleep with Joey in my room! I did not sleep with Joey outside! I did not sleep with Joey anywhere!! Got it??"
As onlookers began to stare, Joey leaned in. "A little louder Hon, I don't think that priest and the Catholic school kids across the street heard you, although they'd be the only ones."
Coretta rolled her eyes at Joey and waited for Chris' response.
"Well that was no Green Eggs and Ham. Dr. Suess you ain't, hell that didn't even rhyme."
"Chris, can you focus for just one minute, please?"
"I was focused until you decided to go on and on about you sex life, or apparently the lack thereof." Chris laughed.
"You are without a doubt the most exasperating person I know."
"It's all part of the charm." Chris explained.
"Anyway, we're out in front of the hotel and we need you guys to come down to the lobby and distract the fans so we can get upstairs."
"Yeah sure, upstairs, and to whose room??" Chris joked
"My room. His room. Your room. I don't care, I just want to be upstairs and away from that crowd in there."
"Is that all you wanted? This conversation could've been over a long time ago. We were headed down there anyway."
"You couldn't just say that before? You are an evil little man Chris."
"Hey now, no name calling. Geez, no wonder you didn't get any."
"Chris, " Coretta said in a warning tone, but it was too late, he had already hung up.
The two stayed hidden from the fans by ducking behind some large bushes that were just outside the door of the lobby. Coretta had to laugh as she thought about how the situation would look if someone found them.
"Why do I feel like the theme from Mission Impossible should be playing right now?" Joey asked while peeking around the corner to see if their friends had made their way downstairs yet.
Coretta laughed in amusement. "Actually, this kinda reminds me of the times back in the day when my friends and I used to be on the lookout for you and the other guys. Of course this time I don't have the camouflage, walkie talkies, night vision goggles, or the stun gun, but um yeah...." She trailed off when she saw Joey looking at her as if she had suddenly grown an ear out of her forehead or something.
"That's it, from now on I'm doing a full background check on any girls I date. Maybe I'll start making them fill out questionnaires, and go through a series of tests."
"Oh calm down Joey, I was only kidding. At least about the stun gun anyway." She looked back toward the lobby to see what was going on inside.
Joey was still confused. "I hate that there are times where I never know if you're serious or if you're joking. I think this time, it's better not to know any more than I do, you might pull out some blueprint for kidnapping plans or something."
"No, we burned those when we finally met you guys back in Orlando." Coretta answered without even turning around to acknowledge Joey.
"One of these days, I'll learn." Joey shook his head.
The next twenty minutes were spent trying to look into the lobby without being noticed. Finally screams could be heard from inside. Coretta knew this was their only chance if they ever wanted to get upstairs unnoticed. They quickly made their way to the elevators. Just to be sure no one was following them, both Coretta and Joey leaned out the elevator and looked down the hall. About five girls saw them and began running down the hall toward them. Joey pushed the button to close the doors. The doors closed just as the girls got to the elevator. Coretta began pushing the buttons to all the floors.
"Why did you do that?" Joey questioned.
"I was one of those girls at one time, remember? Right now they're down there waiting to see which floor this elevator stops on, that way they can find you later. This way with us stopping at every floor, they'll have no more of an idea then they did before. I can't believe you guys haven't figured that out yet."
"I can't believe you were one of those NSYNC stalker girls. I sure know how to pick 'em. You should hold a seminar for the security, so they know what to look for."
"For the record, I was not a stalker. I prefer the term creative follower, thank you very much. Besides, my motives were totally different. I just wanted to get Chris to hear our music. If I happened to meet any of you in the process, that was great too." Coretta explained.
"Sure. You know you just wanted to get up close and personal with me." Joey wiggled his eyebrows playfully.
"Where have you guys been?" Justin asked as he was heading back to his room after knocking on the doors of the others, and getting no answers.
"Most recently, we were downstairs playing 'hide from the fans' but before that we were out walking around." Coretta stopped a few doors down from Justin, at her own door.
"Ah yes, one of my favorite games. So where did you go walking?"
Joey went on to explain the events of the morning, while Coretta went into her room to change and rest for a little while. She was heading to the bathroom when she heard Joey telling Justin the story of the fans.
"Dude as many times as we've stayed at this hotel, I can't believe you forgot about the back entrance." Joey slapped his forehead and groaned.
"I completely forgot."
Coretta stuck her head out into the hall. "Excuse me, I know I did not just hear you say there was a back entrance. Meaning, we could've been up here a long time ago?? And you," she looked at Joey. "How could you forget there was another door? I had to stand out there in the bushes when you knew there was another door?? I've had it with both of you." She threw her shoe at them, it hit the wall with a soggy thud.
Justin looked from Joey, to the shoe, to the wall where the shoe hit barely missing Justin's head, to Coretta. Although he tried to look angry, his eyes were filled with humor, as he bent down to pick up the shoe. "Woman, are you crazy? You could've killed me with that thing. Especially with that smell, has the thought of Odor Eaters ever crossed your mind?" He tried not to laugh.
Coretta was now walking down the hall to retrieve her shoe. "My shoes do not stink, they smell like flowers. Maybe I was aiming for your head, to either kill you, or knock some sense into you. At any rate, I missed, so both missions failed."
"Mind telling my why your shoe is all wet? Now that I take a good look at both of you, what's really goin' on? Or do I not want to know? I'm starting to learn with you two it's sometimes best not to ask anything at all."
Coretta glared at Joey, then turned back to Justin and grabbed her shoe from him. "Funny you should ask. It seems that Joey thought it would be really amusing to throw me into this fountain. It was funny to him until he fell in, and that I found funny."
"Fell?? I believe I was pulled in." Joey corrected.
Coretta dismissed his statement with a quick wave of her hand. "Pulled in, fell in, whatever. The end result was all the same. Anyway, that is where you come in Justin."
"Woman, are you fantasizing about me again? I told you it would never work out between us. Especially since you're with Joey. The guys and I sort of have a rule about that kind of thing.
"First of all you need to get over yourself. Second of all, well actually, I think saying that you need to get over yourself pretty much covers it. I do want to mention that next time you come up with one of your theories, the sick, perverted ones specifically, please keep them to yourself."
Justin looked at her strangely. "As usual, I have no idea what you are talking about. You should travel with a translator."
"How's this for translation....Stop telling my boyfriend your thoughts about clothing, and what happens when certain people's clothing gets wet."
Justin looked confused for a minute, then looked again at what Coretta was wearing. He fell on the floor laughing, and it was a good few minutes before he could get himself back under control. "I knew it!! I can't believe Joey actually created the opportunity to find out. Besides when I said that I was talking about Becca's pajamas. Is it my fault y’all are constantly dressed alike?"
"Oh, so what you're saying is that you've been thinking about my girl and how she would look in wet clothing??"
"Yes!! I'm mean, no!! Well I was, but this is about Joey throwing you in the water, not me, remember??
Joey started to laugh, but stopped as soon as Coretta turned to face him. "Anyway, that is perfectly fine Justin. I have a few theories of my own I'd like to try out. One in particular that comes to mind involves those cute little curls on your head. You want to know what it is?"
Justin looked around uncomfortably. "I'm not so sure I do."
"Of course you do. I always wanted to know exactly how long it would take all those 'I love Justin' teenyboppers to yank all that hair from your little popstar scalp. I think I saw the perfect candidates downstairs. I'll be sure to run down there and see if they're available. I'll have to check when we get back from the station. I'm sure they'll still be here." She turned and headed back down the hall to her room.
The two guys looked at each other, and laughed. They knew as much as Coretta acted like it, she couldn't stay mad at either of them. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out. Jimmy knocked on the door of Becca's room shortly before seven to let them know the vans had arrived to take them to the radio station.
"Okay, let's go. Ladies, I think you should definitely go on the first van. You know if we send those guys out there first, we'll never get you out of here on time, and you can't be late."
A short time later, Diversity found themselves in yet another radio station studio, preparing for yet another interview. This time they felt much more at ease than they had with any other interview. That was of course because the interview was with Kathy for her show. They sat down in front of a Mic, while Kathy sat across from them setting up for the show.
"So um, where are the guys?" Kathy asked trying to sound somewhat casual. This did not go unnoticed by Becca and Coretta who shared a look and started laughing.
"What?" Kathy asked looking confused.
"Where are the guys? Don't you really mean where is Lance?" Coretta asked
"Well...." Kathy blushed a little. "Now that you mention him, uh was he planning on coming here? I know there was some talk, but I don't remember hearing anyone finally decide one way or the other."
"As far as I know, they'll be here. Even Lance." Becca laughed
After doing some promotional spots for the show, and doing a quick run though of what to expect in the interview, it was almost time. Kathy agreed to try and keep all calls pertaining to their personal relationships off the air.
"Girl please, I'm not the one you need to worry about. Miss thang over there is the one with the secret thing goin' on."
"Becca get real, you act like everyone doesn't see you and Justin getting your little flirt on. We aren't blind. I know you don't spend that much time talking to your family on the phone. It's also pretty funny how just about every time I call Justin's phone when you are on the phone, his line seems to be busy. Wanna explain that one??"
"Umm, no comment, isn't it time for us to get started?" Becca asked hopefully.
The intro music to the show started, and it was time for Kathy to do her thing. "What's up y’all? Tonight's show as I promised, is a very special one. Not only are these two ladies blowin' up the charts, and making crowds go wild, when they're onstage, they are also two of my closest friends. Some of you in the Chicago area may have seen us out and about last night, with a few other interesting people, but we'll get to that later. Anyway, let's get on with the show, it's my pleasure to introduce my girls, better known as Diversity."
"What up, Kathy?" Becca said into her mic.
"Waassuuuup" Chris yelled after sneaking up behind Coretta. None of the girls had even seen the guys enter the studio. He quickly jumped back after catching an elbow to his ribs.
Kathy tried to control herself. but laughed anyway. "The studio is just crazy tonight. Our guests brought some guests with them, one of whom is having trouble staying quiet until he is needed."
"Sorry about that." Coretta said. "We didn't want to leave them at the hotel alone. Too much time by themselves, and they get out of control."
"That's okay, glad to have them here. Anyway, I understand the next week will be pretty busy for you. You've got the CD coming out, which I suggest everyone go out and buy the first week. Tell everyone else what you have planned."
The girls thought for a minute trying to remember all that Donna had told them about.
"Like you mentioned, we've got the CD coming out, so I think we've got an in store signing on Tuesday. Wednesday we hit TRL, Thursday we're going to the VMAs, and finally Friday we're performing at Madison Square Garden. We've also our show here tomorrow, one in Milwaukee Saturday, and Detroit Sunday."
"Let's talk a little about the VMAs. I just heard today, you've been added to the list of presenters
as well as performers, are you nervous at all?"
Coretta who was taking a drink nearly choked. "Honestly, we aren't nervous at all. Of course that could have something to do with the fact that we didn't know anything about it until just now. It seems like we're always the last to know about the major things in our careers." She turned to look at Chris, who mouthed "oops" and then acted as if was no big deal.
"Well, I guess now you know."
The remainder of that segment of the interview went fairly quickly with the girls answering questions phoned in by the listeners. Little did the listeners know, the guys of NSYNC were the ones answering the phones, and putting the calls through. Kathy then took some time to play some commercials, and a few requests. The guys then came out to join the girls in the studio. Joey winked at Coretta as he pulled up a chair beside her. He watched Lance standing near the door watching Kathy set up for the next few calls.
"You seem to really love your job." He commented
"Yeah I do." Kathy responded. "I put in a lot of time here, and I love the feedback I get from all my hard work. I'm sure you know the feeling."
"I can't believe your man let's you work so much." Out the corner of his eye, he could see the shocked expression on Lance's face, but he didn't care. He knew it would take Lance forever to get around to asking.
"Actually, right now I don't have one, but if I did, he would be fine with my work schedule. He would have to be, this is my life and it comes first."
"Interesting." Joey commented. "That's a lot like us. You know, now that we're on the subject, I think I know the perfect person for you."
Coretta put her hand over his mouth. "Not now Joe, just let it happen on it's own if it's gonna happen."
Justin emerged from the small connecting room where he and Chris were still taking calls. He headed over to where Coretta and Joey were sitting. As he passed by Becca, he casually pushed her, catching her off guard and causing her to fall out her chair. She practically landed on a surprised JC, who had been sitting on the floor not paying attention.
"Well hello to you too Becca." He chuckled
"Sorry about that JC. Someone around here has no manners." She glared at Justin, who just laughed.
"J, why do you do these things to her? I swear you two are like some little grade school kids."
"I do it because I can. Besides it's all about the chase. That is pretty much the most exciting time in a relationship. After that, it's all a routine, you just exist, you know?"
"I know that's right." Joey quickly agreed without thinking.
"Oh really?" Coretta turned to him waiting to see how he would talk his way out of that one.
His usual quick thinking was not happening this time. "Can I just have that one back?"
Coretta rolled her eyes. "Justin did you come over here for any other reason than to throw my girl over there on the floor?"
"Well, that was just an added bonus, I came over here to tell you that we've gotten a lot of calls about you and Joey and we think tonight is a good night to talk about it."
"I guess tonight is as good a time as any." Joey agreed
