Jimmy sat outside the room wondering what possibly could’ve happened to cause the girl he’d come to know, to do something so irresponsible. He came to find she had a low tolerance for things involving Angela. He never imagined it would escalate to the situation he witnessed earlier. Frank and Jimmy both were about to fall asleep when the ring of the cell phone jolted them. It was hotel security requesting their assistance in getting two of the guys upstairs and away from the crowd that had gathered since hearing NSYNC on the radio earlier in the evening.
“C’mon Frank, we’re needed downstairs.” Jimmy called.
“For what? Becca and Coretta are both up here.”
“A couple of the NSYNC guys got caught in the commotion downstairs, and they need to get out of that crowd.”
Frank groaned. “What does that have to do with us. It’s not our job to keep an eye on them too. It’s not my fault they weren’t smart enough to take this little trip without their security crew.”
“Hey man, we have an obligation to help out whenever we can. You seem to forget I used to work for those guys.”
“And you seem to forget you no longer work for those guys.” Frank countered.
“I hate to pull rank here, but I am. As the head of security, I’m telling you this is what we’re doing, and that’s that.”
“Fine, but what about Coretta? If she knows we’re not out here, she’ll be gone in a heartbeat, and there’s no telling what might happen.”
“She’s been quiet in there since Josh left, I’m sure she’s sleeping by now, what else could she be doing?”
Coretta looked at the clock and saw that it was only 9:30. It was too early to go to sleep and there was nothing on TV. She decided to give one last try to getting out of the room. To her surprise, Jimmy wasn’t in front of her door and Frank wasn’t in front of Becca’s room either. She checked up and down the hall, then listened for voices just in case. When she heard nothing, she decided to make a break for it before it was too late. Even though she knew she’d be in trouble, Coretta figured it wouldn’t be any worse than the trouble she was already in. As she approached the door, she could hear Justin’s voice. Despite his degree of anger, she decided to knock. Becca opened the door.
“You know when Jimmy and Frank find out you’re down here, they’re gonna lose it. I really don’t think you need that do deal with too.”
“Yeah, I know all that, but I just need to talk to everyone. I have to at least attempt to explain.”
Justin suddenly appeared behind Becca to see who was at the door. “Didn’t I tell you I wasn’t ready to talk to you?”
“I guess we’re both in luck, because I’m not ready to hear you yell. I was looking for Becca.” Coretta pushed passed the two of them and made her way into the room. Along with Justin and Becca, Lance and Chris were there, as well as Dani and Steve. Dani grabbed Steve and headed for the door.
“I think that’s our cue to leave. I have a lot of stuff to take care of before everyone gets to New York, and Steve, you need to help me.” She gave Coretta a sympathetic smile as she passed.
“So how about that weather we’ve been having?” Coretta pathetically attempted to break the tension.
“I just witnessed on of the most embarrassing events ever, caused by you, might I add; and you have the nerve to try and lighten the mood? Was that supposed to be funny? Do you think this is all a joke?” An irritated Justin asked.
“No, that was not a joke. If I was gonna joke, I would’ve said something like ‘a guy walked into a bar, but he was okay.”
“You really aren’t seeing how serious this is, are you? What happened downstairs was not something that should’ve happened.”
Before Justin could continue with his thoughts Chris interrupted.
“HA!!! A guy walked into a bar, but he was okay!! I get it!”
The entire room turned to stare at him.
“You know that was funny. Get it? He walked into a bar, like a pole, not an actual bar like where you hang out. Oh never mind.” He finished once he realized no one was in the mood to laugh.
“Justin, what do you want me to say? I apologize. I apologized to you, the other guys, and I’d apologize to Joe and JC if they were here. I especially apologize to you Becca. I know this makes us look bad, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I know that’s no excuse, but it’s the best I can do.”
“Yeah, this does kind of suck.” Becca agreed. “I gotta give you props though girl. I can’t believe you lasted as long as you did. I know everyone else doesn’t want to think of it like that, but it’s true.”
“How can you say that? What she did was so wrong! Do you realize the backlash we’re all gonna face from this?” Justin yelled.
Becca looked at Justin. “Okay first of all, you really need to find someone else to yell at, because I’m not the one. Second, what does this really have to do with you? I’m thinking nothing.”
“Are you for real?” Coretta asked Justin. “Granted, what I did wasn’t exactly the smartest thing, but damn could I get a little support?”
“We don’t support stupidity.”
“You know, before this gets any worse, I’m getting out of here. I, uh, have a phone call to make.” Lance excuse himself from the room.
“Hey Lance,” Coretta called out to him.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“She’ll only be at the station until 11. I’d try the hotline number.”
Lance laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll talk to y’all in the morning.”
JC and Joey walked into the suite the same time Lance was walking out. The room again was tense. Joey said nothing, he simply walked into his room, and closed the door. JC looked at Coretta and could only shrug.
“You should wait until the morning to talk to him. I don’t think tonight is such a good idea. How did you get out of your room anyway?”
Coretta was about to answer when her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey girl, what up?”
Coretta looked around the room, the timing for the call couldn’t have been worse. “Trevor, um, hey. This is kind of a bad time.”
“What’s wrong? I was calling because me and the guys were wondering if you two were going to be in New York for the VMAs next week.”
“It’s nothing, I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon enough. We’ll be in New York all week. We’ve got some other things scheduled.”
“Maybe we can all hook up for dinner or something.” Trevor suggested hopefully.
“Yeah, we can probably do that. I’ll have to see how the schedule looks.”
Justin was amazed Coretta could carry on a conversation, with Trevor of all people, as if nothing was going on. His best friend was off in a room too upset to talk to anyone, and she was making plans. Justin took it upon himself to take control of the situation by grabbing Coretta’s phone.
“Coretta’s busy right now, she’ll get back to you as soon as she can. Thanks for calling.” Justin hung up the phone and threw it on the counter.
“You’ve got about five seconds to explain that. I don’t know if you noticed, but I was in the middle of a call.”
“No, you were in the middle of explaining which WWF superstar suddenly possessed your body causing that little attack downstairs. You interrupted that to talk to someone who is totally unimportant right now.”
“He’s important to me.”
“Oh really? Maybe you need to get your priorities straight. Is he more important than the other member of your group you humiliated is? What about those of us who have helped and supported you, is he more important than we are? What about Joey, you do remember him still don’t you? Has hooking up with this guy suddenly become more important than him?” Justin waited impatiently for an answer.
“How dare you question my priorities. Nothing in the world means more to me than my family, which includes the people in this room. Although, I’m seriously reconsidering your place on that list.”
“I guess we both need to take a good look at the people we keep close to us. It’s funny how people can change into something you don’t like so quickly.”
“That is true, and yet they can still go out and be loved by millions, crazy isn’t it? Justin, I really don’t have time for this, so why don’t you just say whatever it is you feel like you need to say.” Coretta responded tiredly.
“All I really want to say now, is that you should stay away from Joey. It was all good before, but now the things you do make him look bad, which also makes us look bad. He doesn’t need that, and neither do the rest of us.”
“I never thought I’d hear you of all people saying that. I guess you were pretty happy with him going after Angela then, huh? That one little move showed me where he would rather be, so it looks like Justin Timberlake gets his way again. It must feel good to be you.”
“Woman, you have no idea.” Justin smiled smugly.
No one had noticed Joey open the door and come out of his room a few moments before. He watched, as two people he cared a great deal about, went at each other’s throats. He knew both of them had bad tempers, and neither meant a word they were saying. Tomorrow they probably wouldn’t remember half of what was being said. Still, he was just tired of all the yelling. He came out of the room and slammed the door. This caused everyone in the room to jump.
“Enough already!! Both of you just stop before you say any more stupid things. This is getting way out of hand, and I don’t want it to go any further.” He looked at Justin.
“Dude, I know you want to look out for me, but I’m a grown man. Hell, I’m older than you are, I can take care of myself. And you, “ He turned to Coretta.
“Just so you know, I was only with Angela so I could figure out a way to keep this somewhat on the dl. What more do I have to do to make you see where things with her and I stand?”
He looked at both of them, and just shook his head. “I don’t want to deal with this anymore, I’m taking a walk.”
“Nice going.” Justin said to Coretta. “As if he wasn’t dealing with enough, you go off and accuse him of cheating.”
“Right after you try and run his life. Don’t blame all this on me. You’re just as much at fault as I am.”
Soon the two were back to arguing like children. Neither really listening to what the other was saying. They were both just trying to be louder than the other was. Becca and JC took this as a good time to head to their own rooms. Chris sat on the couch watching the argument ensue. He felt like he was watching a tennis match go back and forth.
“You know what? I don’t have to take this from you, I’m leaving!” He headed for a door, which he slammed loudly behind him. A few seconds later, he emerged trying not to look as embarrassed as he felt. “I just wanted to make sure there were fresh towels in the bathroom.” He headed for another door and walked out, slamming that one harder than the last.
Chris walked over to Coretta and put his arm around her shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about him, he’ll be back.”
“Joey, or Justin?” Coretta asked.
“Joey, I’m not too sure about, you’re on your own with that one. Justin, on the other hand, will be back any second now.”
“What makes you so sure?”
The door hit the wall with a bang. “This is my room, I shouldn’t have to be the one to leave.” Justin walked to his room in the suite, and slammed that door.
“See what I mean? I knew he’d come back. He’s getting really good at slamming those doors though. C’mon, I’ll walk you back to your room.”
Chris and Coretta sat outside her room and talked for another hour. She was in no hurry to get in her room since she knew she would be confined there most of the following day. Looking at her watch, she saw it was barely 11.
“Thanks Chris, I really appreciate you listening to me. Even if I did have to sit through that whole birds and bees lecture. That was a total random deal.”
“Hey, I was on a roll. I just like to be sure everyone is as well informed as I am.”
“Right. Never mind the fact that I’m twenty-four, and I’ve already been someone’s mother. I think that qualifies me as being well informed. I can’t even believe I’m having this conversation with you. As a matter of fact, we’re not having this conversation anymore. I’m going to bed.”
“My plan worked. I got you to go bed. I’ll be down here at seven, so be ready.”
“Why so damn early?”
“We don’t want any run-ins with Angela. This way you’ll be done before she even gets down there.”
“You know I hate getting up early.” Coretta whined.
“Think about that the next time you decide to go into attack mode.”
Coretta went in her room, and thought it was strange that the lights and TV were on. She didn’t remember leaving either on, but it was entirely possible that she had. Her questions were answered the moment she stepped further into her room. She walked out to the balcony, for a moment she stood looking out into the night unsure of where to start.
“I guess I should explain.” Coretta started to say. Joey turned and looked at her, his brown eyes filled with confusion, and a little disappointment. He shook his head to indicate he didn’t want to discuss it. He gave her a sad smile, and went back inside. She followed, and found him stretched out on the bed watching TV. She sat next to him cautiously at first as if she was scared he would jump up and run away. When he didn’t, she relaxed and moved a bit closer. He responded by putting his arm around her, and pulling her closer still. She made herself a little more comfortable, and rested her head on his chest. As she listened to the rhythmic pattern of his breathing and his heartbeat, she began to fall asleep. She felt Joey move the hair off her face, and gently kiss her forehead.
Coretta woke up to a headache, and an empty room. Maybe the night before had been a dream, she thought. When the pounding on the door began promptly at seven, she knew it was no dream. She had gotten into a fight with Angela, argued with Justin, and fallen asleep with Joey all in a matter of hours. Although she wasn’t too sure about the last part, there was no indication anyone but her had been in the room.
She was happy to see the others making their way downstairs as well. At least she wouldn’t have to eat alone. As early as it was, there were still quite a few fans waiting to catch even a glimpse of someone. Lead through the crowd by security, everyone smiled and waved just as they were supposed to do. Coretta and Becca sat across from Justin, who was intently staring at his cereal. Joey sat next to Justin, but said nothing and made eye contact with no one. Chris and JC each sat on either end of the table, while security stood near the blocked off section where they were eating. Coretta asked JC to pass her the salt.
“You better do it fast man, before she comes over the table at you.” Justin said snidely.
“Why don’t you just be quiet. Continue shoveling that cereal into your mouth like a little kid, and try not to choke.” Coretta replied irritably.
“Ooh, I must have hit a nerve. Are we cranky this morning? I can’t imagine why, seems like you should’ve gotten all that aggression out last night.”
“We are just fine, thank you. Or at least we were until someone opened his big cereal grubbing mouth.” Coretta answered sarcastically.
Chris wasn’t in the mood to start his day off listening to the arguing. “Let me remind you both we are being watched by fans. So, if you won’t watch what you say, at least watch how you say it.”
“See Justin, now you and your stupid morning moodiness got us in trouble.” Coretta said this with a smile, and a sickeningly sweet tone of voice.
Justin laughed a loud, fake laugh. “Sure, blame me. Even though you are the one that went crazy, and have become a PR person’s nightmare. I hope you give yours a raise after this little fiasco.”
“Fiasco, big word J. Did they teach you that in boy band school?” Again Coretta used the same singsong voice she used earlier.
“No, they taught me that in How to Act in Public 101, but apparently you missed that class.” Justin answered in a condescending tone as if he were speaking to a child.
“That’s it, I’m outta here. I can’t eat like this.” Becca picked up her plate and left, followed by JC and Joey.
“Boy can you two clear a room.” Chris said and continued eating.
“Shut up.” Coretta and Justin said in unison. They turned to each other and continued to talk at the same time.
“Don’t tell him to shut up.”
“Shut up.”
“No, you shut up.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “You guys are hopeless.” He got up and headed back to his room with the others.
“Nice going”
“Oh, like it was my fault.” Justin retorted.
“You’re right, who could resist that early morning charm of yours.”
“My point exactly.”
A few hours later, Coretta sat in her room bored out of her mind. She knew Becca had gone to the airport with Chris and Joey to see Dani and Steve off on their flight. As much as she hated being the one to make the first move, she had to. She headed down the hall and knocked on the door. Justin finally appeared, looking like he had been asleep. He waited impatiently for her to explain her reason for bothering him.
She held up her basketball. “Want to go play for a while?” She asked hoping to break the ice.
“No. First of all, you aren’t even supposed to be out of your room. Second of all, I’m not talking to you, therefore, I’m not playing ball with you either. Plus, there’s no court here, or anywhere close. I already checked.”
“I talked Z into letting me come down here. He felt bad since he hasn’t been here the last couple of days. I already knew there was no place to play, but I had to get you talking to me somehow. Since you kept talking to me after you already said you weren’t, it cancels out the fact that you initially said you weren’t talking to me. Just so you know.”
“Says who?”
“Those are just the rules.”
“whose rules? Forget it, but I bet you have an answer for that, don’t you?”
“You know I do.” Coretta laughed.
Justin invited her in so they could talk and get everything out in the open. Not that there was much left unsaid.
“So how about that weather?” Coretta asked looking around the room.
“Oh no, let’s not go there again. If we’re gonna talk, let’s talk and be done.”
“Okay then, I apologize for yesterday. Not this morning, because you deserved it. I know the way I dealt with Angela, was bad. I don’t have much of an excuse other than to say she just gets on my damn nerves. My temper finally just got the best of me. You have to know that I would never purposely jeopardize anything we’ve worked so hard for.”
“I know, and I understand how much you don’t like Angela. Believe me I understand, but you have to remember the type of life you live now. Everything you do is going to be scrutinized. There’s no room for childish behavior. This can’t happen again.”
“Trust me, it won’t.” They stood up to hug when Chris burst through the door with Joey following quietly behind him.
“NO!!” He yelled as he came rushing toward them. He pushed them to opposite sides of the room. “Haven’t we had enough violence? Can’t we all just get along? Good thing Z told me y’all were down here, who knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten here in time.”
Justin smacked Chris in the back of his head. “Fool, I was just going to hug her, not strangle her. Even if for a time there, I wanted to.” He laughed.
“Oh, my bad, carry on then.” Chris left them standing there.
“Now that we’re cool, there’s someone else you probably need to talk to.” Justin gestured toward Joey’s room.
“I know, but I don’t know what to say. Actually I do know what to say, I just don’t know where to start.”
“Stay away from that weather thing, it doesn’t work. How about you start by going in there. You can’t talk to him from here.”
“I’ve got an idea, how about I tell you, and then you go in and talk to him for me.” Coretta suggested.
“That’s a nice plan and all, but it has one major flaw. There are certain things that go along with a guy and a girl such as yourselves when you are done fighting. It’s a little thing called making up. Now don’t get me wrong, I love you both dearly, but that is something I want no part of.”
“Making up, now there’s something I hadn’t thought about. Out of my way boy, I’ve got things to do.”
“That’s my girl. I guess I go see what Becca’s doing.”
Coretta took a deep breath, and knocked on Joey’s door, which was already slightly open. “Do you mind if I come in?”
“I don’t care, do what you want.” Joey said absently.
“Okay, I guess that means I’m coming in then.” Coretta went to sit next to him on the bed. Joey in turn got up, and went to search for some clothes in his bag.
“You even got the room with the shower, cool. How did you get around Justin on that one?” Coretta asked trying to make conversation.
“I don’t know, just lucky I guess.” Joey walked passed her heading for the bathroom. Coretta jumped up and grabbed him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Joe?”
Joey walked a couple more steps before stopping. “What?” He sighed, visibly irritated.
“I’m sorry.” Coretta whispered.
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” He unwrapped himself from her arms, and continued toward the bathroom.
“But do you believe me?” Coretta asked.
The question stopped Joey at the door. He believed on a certain level, she was in fact sorry. Maybe only sorry that everyone had to see it, but not sorry it happened to begin with. He walked back to look directly in her eyes.
“I don’t know. I mean, with her, it’s always something. I just don’t want to keep going on like this, always wondering if there’s gonna be something else to set you off. I keep telling you I don’t want to be with her, but my word doesn’t seem to be enough. I don’t know what else I can do. You gotta help me out a little here.”
Coretta leaned up and kissed him. Joey didn’t respond.
“What was that about?” He asked.
“Well, in most cultures it’s known as kissing. Although, it usually works out best when both participants are into it.” Coretta stated simply.
“I know what a kiss is, I meant why.”
“I don’t know, it just felt right.” Coretta kissed him again. This time Joey went along with it. He was still angry and showed in the way he firmly placed his lips against hers. He backed her up against the wall pressing his body on hers. Finally, he broke away forcefully.
“Is that what you wanted?” He demanded.
“That was, uh, interesting and rather unexpected.” Coretta admitted, still breathless and surprised by his sudden rough nature.
“Well, it doesn’t change anything. If you really want to talk then we can after my shower. There’s some things I need to tell you.”
Coretta sat down, her knees still a bit shaky. “I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled to herself as Joey closed the bathroom door.
When Joey emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later, he was fully dressed. His hair was still wet and his shirt clung to his body as if he had dried himself off quickly. He noticed Coretta had fallen asleep on his bed. He couldn’t help but smile. Looking at her sleeping form, one would never know she was the same woman security had pulled off Angela hours before. He hated to wake her, but he knew there were things they needed to talk about, things that were not going to make her happy at all. Justin knocked lightly on the door.
“Hey man, I just wanted to see how things were going in here. It was too quiet.”
Joey pointed to where Coretta lay sleeping. “Now you can see why.”
“I take it that means you haven’t talked to her about what’s going to happen.”
Joey pushed Justin out of the room and closed the door behind him. “No, I haven’t had the chance to do anything. I’m not looking forward to this, she’s not gonna like it, and I’m the first one that’ll hear about it.”
“She won’t like it, but that’s not your problem to deal with. Nobody told her to do what she did. If she would’ve taken the time to think things through instead of flying off the handle, this wouldn’t even be an issue.”
“It is my problem, at least in some way. They wouldn’t hate each other if it weren’t for me.”
Justin looked at Joey. “Do you really think Coretta would be able to get along with Angela even if you weren’t in the picture. I don’t think so. She’s just needs to realize that her and that attitude need to be in check sometimes. Dealing with Angela is definitely one of the times.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“I don’t want to be around when you tell her, so I think I’ll go back down with the others. Good luck man, I have a feeling you’ll need it.”
“Thanks.”
He had been watching her for about 20 minutes, when she suddenly woke up.
“How long have I been asleep?” Coretta asked tiredly.
“I don’t know, you were asleep when I got out of the shower about 45 minutes ago.”
“Well, why didn’t you wake me?
Joey shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I thought you needed your rest.”
“I’m awake now, so what is it you wanted to talk to me about? Not that I really need to ask.”
“No, I guess you don’t. Where should I start?”
“Start with telling me what you plan was to get Angela to keep quiet about all this.”
“It wasn’t so much a plan, as it was a hope to appeal to her good natured side. No comments.” Joey added quickly when he knew Coretta was gearing up for sarcasm.
“You know me too well.” Coretta replied dryly.
“Anyway, I was hoping if I talked to her on your behalf, she would make some sort of deal.”
“Thank you Monty Hall. So what happened?”
“First, she questioned how I could be with such a crazed lunatic.” Joey waited for her response.
“And, what did you say to that?”
“I told her I liked living dangerously.” Joey answered, and then ducked away from the pillow that was hurled at his head.
“Watch it Fatone. What happened next?”
“After a lot of discussion about what was said last night, and what’s been going on pretty much since the day you met, we came up with a plan.”
“This so called plan, is it good, or bad?”
“It depends on how you look at it. In some ways it’s good, but on the other hand, you might not think it’s quite so good. Then again, considering the alternative, it’s very good.”
“Now I’m curious. Explain.”
“Really, it’s just a small thing, actually two small things. Overall, she could’ve asked for a lot more. Honestly, I can’t believe this is all she wants.”
“You’re stalling. If it has anything to do with you and her in any way, it’s not happening. I don’t care who she tells, but that will not be an option.”
“Now that you mention it, she didn’t even bring that up. I wonder why? I’m a good-looking guy, at least that’s what I hear from all those girls that scream when they see me. Okay, really it’s the mothers that say that while the daughters scream for Justin, but it’s all the same.”
Coretta looked at him strangely. “Okay then. Can we get back to me now? Using you would be too easy to get to me. As stupid as she is, Angela is smart enough not to go there. That makes me worry about what she did come up with.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Why don’t you tell me what it is, and I’ll decide.”
“First, promise me that you’ll stay calm.”
Coretta rolled her eyes. “Given the situation I’m already in, I don’t see where that matters anymore.”
“It’s really not that big of a deal.” Joey repeated.
“You said that already.” Coretta interrupted.
“Okay, here it is. Synchronicity wants Diversity’s spot in the show. Tonight.”
Coretta let out a relieved breath. “Is that all? So they want to go on right before Jessica for one night, we can handle that. Of course I have to talk to Becca first.”
“Since Chris is part of your management team, he agreed, and we already talked it over with Becca.” Joey waited for Coretta’s reaction.
“So let me get this straight, the decision has already been made?”
“Right.” Joey nodded.
“Becca knows, and she agrees?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you even talking to me about all this, if it’s already been decided?” Coretta asked irritably.
“Chris thought you might react a little better if you thought you had some choice in the matter.” Joey explained.
“So what if I would’ve said no? Then what?”
“I don’t know, we didn’t think that far ahead. We all just assumed you would say yes.”
“Wouldn’t that plan have worked better if you hadn’t told me the part about Becca and Chris already knowing?”
“Yes, but I just remembered I wasn’t supposed to tell you that part.”
“Fine. She gets the second spot tonight. That’s easy enough. Who says the art of compromise is dead?”
“There’s one small little detail I forgot to mention.” Joey said walking over to the window.
“Why do I get the feeling this small detail is really only small in the same way that iceberg was only a small detail to the people on the Titanic?”
“Again with the drama.” Joey said.
“Again with avoiding the subject.” Coretta replied.
Joey took a deep breath. “Basically, when I said Angela and Synchronicity wanted Diversity’s spot tonight, I kinda meant tonight, and every night for the rest of the tour.”
