In a few days time, Becca and Coretta found themselves back in Orlando. They pulled up to the red, brick building that had seemed so strange to them the week before. This building would now become a place so familiar to them they would be able to find it with their eyes closed. They took notice of all the cars that were in the lot.
"Chris must be having a meeting or maybe Lance is."
"I just hope Dani gave him the keys, I really want to get in our new place."
"Can you believe this is where we live now?"
"I know it's incredible."
They went inside and went down the hall trying to remember where the offices were. After a few minutes, they heard voices and followed where the voices were coming from. Chris and Justin stood talking to an older woman.
"Hey Chris, sorry to interrupt, we just got back and we kind of need the keys to our place."
"Rebecca! Coretta! I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow. Oh well, now we can get started today. There's someone I want you to meet. This is the president of Diva Records, the label you are now signed to. Ladies meet...."
"Donna Wright!" Coretta said before Chris could finish. "The woman that had a hand in bringing me Jordan Knight. I thank you for that, by the way."
Donna laughed as she shook their hands. "You were a big New Kids fan I take it?"
"More so than I care to admit. It's going to be great working with you. Thanks for taking a chance on us."
"I didn't do anything, it was all the two of you. Chris here seems to have a lot of faith in you. I've got to get going. Chris, I'll be in touch."
Donna left and Justin turned to talk to the two girls. "How come you came back early? What happened to coming back tomorrow?"
"We got things settled faster than we thought, so we wanted to come back and get started."
Just then Chris returned from walking Donna out. "I'm really glad you two are here. We need to get to work. I decided I want the first single to be "You Had You're Chance" we'll talk about the some of the other songs I thought would be good later. We've already got most of the choreography done, Justin and JC will be dancing with you when you perform it. JC had to go to L.A. for a couple of days, but he'll be back in time to practice a little and perform. Steven offered to fill in until he gets back. Now let's go find Darrin, he should be in the practice room putting together the last few steps."
The girls stood in shock trying to absorb everything Chris had just said. So many questions came to mind. They both began talking at once.
"You're using our song?"
"Performance??"
"When?"
"Where?"
Chris realized he had forgotten to tell them everything about the decisions he had made in the days they were gone. "I guess I should explain."
"That would be helpful."
"We did some touch-ups on your song, and I think it's ready. We can work on the vocals today if there's time, but definitely tomorrow. Lance and I came up with a plan to present our artists to different record companies by way of a concert. Even though you've already been signed, I want you to get some exposure."
"Okay, that all makes sense, but why are Justin and JC dancing with us instead of some regular dancers?"
"We don't have the time to find other dancers, and those two know Darrin and his style."
"You keep saying Darrin. I assume you mean Darrin Henson as in "Give it to You" Darrin Henson."
"What is this thing you have with Jordan Knight? You also might have noticed another group he works with."
"Oh yeah, you guys, but Justin, I'm sayin, did you see the video? Jordan had moves that made me want to....well nevermind that now. Where's Steven, I'm ready to do some work."
"Last time I saw him he was headed to Joey's office to make some calls."
"He must still be there, I heard a voice coming from there when I was coming back from walking Donna out." Chris added.
At the same time Coretta went out one door to find Steven, Lance and Steven entered the room through a different door.
"I thought you were in Joey's office!" Chris exclaimed.
"I was, but I had to get something from my car."
"That must have been Joey I heard then. He didn't mention he was coming in today."
"I didn't see his car out there, although I thought...." Steven groaned as the realization hit him as to whose car he did see.
"What's up?"
"I didn't see Joey's car, but I did see Angela's."
"That can't be good."
*****************
Coretta walked down to get Steven and began thinking about Joey. She had only talked to him once in the time she was gone, and that was only briefly. She was still unsure of where this whole thing was headed, but she knew it was going to be interesting. As she approached the door, she wondered whether she should knock, or just walk in. She opted for the latter. Upon walking in, she found Joey and Angela looking quite comfortable.
"I guess I should have knocked, I was expecting to find Steven."
Angela moved from her spot on Joey's lap and over toward the door. "Yes, you really should have."
"Oh Agatha, nice to see you again."
"It's Angela."
"That's right, silly me, how could I forget?" Coretta said sweetly
Joey stood watching the scene unsure of what to say or do. A few days ago the choice had been easy. In the days that Coretta had been gone, Angela had apologized. She seemed to be a different person now. Almost the way she had been when he first met her. He seemed to have developed a new attraction to her. He also thought of what had attracted him to Coretta. She didn't treat him like a star. She also didn't fall for his lines. She said whatever came to mind, and thought about the consequences later. "Angela, could you wait in the car?"
"Sure sweetie." Angela moved to leave, but not before turning to the girl she could tell was going to be a problem for her. "I had to go through a lot of crap to get him back, don't think I'm going to let you step in again."
"Sure, whatever. Bye Alicia."
"The name is Angela!" She took a step toward Coretta.
"Angela I asked you to wait outside." Angela gave one last glare before leaving.
"Please don't tell me you can explain, or that it wasn't what it looked like."
"I won't insult you like that, but I will say despite what it looked like, Angela and I are not together."
"And this means what to me? You don't owe me any explanation, I'm not your mother."
"Good thing too, otherwise that would make that dream I had pretty gross." Joey said trying to lighten the mood.
"Look, what is comes down to is this, you obviously have some feelings remaining for her, and she definitely still has it bad for you. I don't have the time, or the energy to play these kinds of games anymore. Let's just forget anything ever happened between us." She was surprised at her calm manner.
"So we're cool?" Joey had been expecting more of a display of emotions, but was really glad there wasn't any.
She plastered a smile on her face. "No worries. I have to go find Steven so we can start rehearsing."
"Well, maybe I'll see you later."
"If you're lucky."
They left the office and went their separate ways.
*****************
Chris was pacing back and forth in the practice room. He was worried about what might be happening down the hall. Just as Becca was about to tackle him to get him to stand still, Coretta walked in. "I didn't find Steven, but I guess you already know that since he's right here."
Justin walked over to her. "We know Joey was there with Angela, do you want to talk about it?"
"Can't say that I do. I'm okay really. It's not like we were dating or anything. I've only known him a couple of weeks."
"Are you sure?" Chris was concerned. He didn't want anything keeping the girls from concentrating.
"No worries. Now I have to go over and meet Darrin, that man is just too fine for his own good. Not to mention those moves of his." She made her way over to where Darrin was now going over some steps with Justin and Steven.
"Why is it I'm more worried when she says no worries?" Chris asked to no one in particular.
"Welcome to the weirdness that is Coretta. Glad to have someone along for the ride." Becca said as she went with Chris over to meet Darrin.
"Darrin, I want you to meet Becca and Coretta. Becca and Coretta, meet Darrin."
Coretta spoke first. "Nice to meet you. I'm a huge fan of your work."
"Me too." Becca added. The girls looked at each other and began singing "Give it to You" while doing the choreography almost to perfection. This impressed Darrin.
"Wow, at least I know we can skip the basics and start with the routine." He moved to the stereo and the girls heard the background music to their song for the first time. Darrin, Justin and Steven executed the moves smoothly. The girls were shocked to not only heard their song, but to see the choreography that had been put together so quickly. The worked for a few hours until Darrin felt the girls were comfortable with the dance.
"Okay, now let's run through it again, this time with the guys. I need to see what changes, if any, should be made."
Chris, Joey and Lance entered the room just as they began the routine. They were amazed at how easily the four people flowed together in their movements. For having only danced with Darrin a few hours, the girls had learned to match his style step by step.
"You guys look great." Lance said
"Definitely. You'll be on point for the concert." Chris agreed. "Why don't you take a break." he added. "We can all go out for a late lunch and talk about some of the other things I've got planned for you."
"Y'all go ahead, I'll just stay here." Then Coretta added while looking at Joey, "I suddenly don't feel like eating and I wouldn't be good company."
"Are you sure?"
"No worries."
"Again with the no worries thing."
"No, seriously Chris, I'm fine. I just want to work on this dance a little more."
This time Joey stepped in to coax her into coming along. "It'll be fun, you'll have plenty of time to practice later."
"I said I was fine, now back off!" she turned on the music signaling the end of the conversation.
Becca pulled Justin away from the group. "Justin could you stay with her please?"
"She said she was fine though."
"Trust me when she says no worries, that means worry. I'm not sure what happened with Joey, but I know it bothers her more than she'll ever admit."
"Why me? She doesn't even like me. If she's mad, I don't want to be here without witnesses."
"She wouldn't hurt you. Besides, I know I'm not the only one that ever wondered what NSYNC would be like if it was just SYNC."
"Why must you play like that?"
"I'm kidding. Really though, she needs someone here and she won't buy me staying for any reason."
"Okay fine, but.." Justin grinned slyly, "What's in it for me?"
"Keep an eye on her and we can talk about that later." Becca kissed him on the cheek and went to join the others.
After a long discussion about where to eat, they were off. They said their good-byes to Coretta, including Joey who of course was ignored. She ran through the routine once. "Thank God they finally left, I thought I was personally going to have to boot each one of them out of here. Hmm, that wouldn't have been such a bad idea with Joey. I'm surprised Becca didn't try and stay here with me." She spoke to her image in the mirror.
"Do you always talk to yourself, or is this something new you're working on?"
She turned to see Justin leaning against one of the doors. "You would think I would have noticed you in the mirror, I guess my mind is elsewhere. What are you doing here anyway? Nevermind, only one guess, Becca. I swear you would think she was the older one. Since you're here, might as well make yourself useful, dance with me."
"Do you ever stop to take a breath? I guess that will be your gimmick, talk constantly and never breathe."
"Umm, yeah sure. Just come dance with me please."
"Whoa, and a please even, so you can be nice when you want to."
"I can, but only when it benefits me. Don't let that get out though, I've been working this attitude angle for a while now, it kind of works for me."
"Your secret's safe with me, now let's do this."
They danced and laughed for about an hour before Justin got restless. "I've got an idea."
"Hold up, stop the presses, call the president, Justin Timberlake has an idea."
"Are you ever not a smartass?"
"You know someone else asked me that too, I just don't know where you people come up with this idea about me."
"You could have just said No, Justin, I'm always a smartass."
"No, Justin, I'm always a smartass."
"Forget it. Now back to my idea. I say we go shoot some hoops, that always helps me clear my mind."
"Okay, but don't be looking for a rematch, I don't want to have to take you down my first day back."
"If I were looking for a rematch today, which I'm not, you definitely wouldn't win again."
"Where are we gonna play? I didn't see any parks or anything around here."
"Do you really think I could be anywhere without a court or at least a hoop close? You haven't been out back"
They walked out the door and across the lot to the fenced in court. It was smaller than a full size court, but still a fairly good size. The began shooting while they talked.
"I'm surprised you don't have a court inside. What do you do when it gets really cold? Wait, this is Orlando, you don't know anything about really cold."
"It gets cold here sometimes."
"What, like 40 degrees?"
"Yeah, sometimes even 30."
"That's nothing, try 30 or 40 below zero with ice and blowing snow, then we can talk."
"Too cold for me. Anyway, I do want to build a court inside. We don't even use the basement and it's huge. I can have my court and Joey wants to have a game room on the other side."
She missed the basket when she heard Joey's name. "Sounds cool." She missed again.
"He really gets to you."
"What are you talking about?"
"You've made every basket since we've been out here. The second I mentioned Joey, you missed and haven't made one since."
"Maybe he got to me a little, but I'll get over it."
"Wanna talk about it? I don't know exactly what happened, but obviously it wasn't good."
"Not much to talk about. I went to get Steven and there they were. He seemed a little too happy to be with someone that was supposed to be his ex."
"Not that I'm saying the way he did this was right, but you have to understand Joey. Even when he lets a girl go, if she comes back later with a different attitude, he can easily get back with her."
"So basically what you're saying is, as long as that girl acts the way she knows Joey wants her to act, he's going to be all about her. This helps me how?"
"Even though you and I started off on the wrong foot, I like you. We all do. That's one of the things you have that Angela will never, EVER have. We don't get involved in each other's relationships unless we really need to. I think this might be one of those times."
"No, I don't want him to get with me because his friends told him to. I want it to be because he wants to. If it doesn't happen, no worries."
"I can see why Becca worries when you say that. We should go back inside. The others are probably back by now."
They grabbed their stuff and walked back. Halfway there, Coretta put her hand on Justin's arm to stop him. He looked at her strangely. "Sorry, I just wanted to say thank you. We fight a lot, but it was really nice being able to just chill and talk to you." She reached up and hugged him. Shocked by the gesture, Justin stood for a few seconds before returning the hug.
"Anytime, that's what friends are for, right?"
*****************
The others had returned and were looking for Justin and Coretta. "Her car and his car are both still here." Becca said returning from the front lot. Chris and Lance came back from checking Justin's office. "They aren't in his office either."
"Darrin and I looked in the other practice rooms and the recording studios, no one is there." Steve said.
"Basketball!!" Joey said excitedly
"Joey, my friend and one of your friends is missing, how can you think of a game right now? Especially one you're not good at."
"I meant the court out back. That's the only place we haven't checked yet."
"Dang, on top of all this, you have a basketball court too?"
"At Justin's insistence. I'll go look for them there." Joey went out the door, but stopped when he looked out to see Justin and Coretta standing in the parking lot hugging. "Well, she didn't waste any time." He turned and walked back inside. He sat down without a word to anyone. Chris decided to let the girls go early. He gave the keys and directions to their new house. "I know you have a lot to do at home, but Mike will be here tomorrow and we want to get started early."
"How early are we talking Chris?"
"I was thinking 8 or so."
"Can we lean closer to the or so?"
"No we have a lot to do, see you at 8."
Everyone headed out to his or her cars. As the girls got ready to go, Justin ran over to the driver's side of the car. Coretta rolled down the window. "Boy don't you know how dangerous it is to be near my car when I'm behind the wheel."
"I just wanted to make sure you have my number in case you need something."
"Thanks again Justin." she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
"And you..." Justin leaned in the window to talk to Becca, "Still owe me, but we'll talk about that later."
"What was that about?" Coretta asked as they pulled out onto the street.
"I should be asking you that question."
"What are you talking about?"
"Last week you were fighting with Justin, and now you kiss him and play all nice??"
"Nothing. I just had a good time with him."
"So does that mean someone is replacing Joey?"
"No one is replacing Joey. Not that I'm even thinking about him like that anymore."
"Sure you're not." They pulled up to their new house and were amazed at how big it was.
"Wow, this is definitely big enough for two people."
"Are you kidding me?? We could house a small village in this place."
*****************
Justin turned from the girls’ cars to go back to his own. He found Joey leaning up against it waiting for him. "What's up Joey, no date with Angela?"
"No, I think I've seen enough of her. I was kind of wondering what's up with you and Coretta. Is there something going on?"
"Why should it matter, you basically told her you didn't want to be with her. But, for what it's worth, I wouldn't even think about doing that. Even though you two weren't exactly together, you were together enough to make her off limits to the rest of us."
"You two were awfully close over there, and I saw you hugging earlier."
"She thanked me for listening and talking through some things with her. I have to tell you I think you're making a big mistake with Angels."
"I know"
"If you know, what the hell are you doing with her?"
"I didn't realize until after we left the office. She's just not the one. I broke it off completely with her this afternoon. That's why I came back, I wanted to talk to Coretta."
"I don't think it's going to be that easy man."
"I know, but I've got to try."
*****************
The girls finished unpacking the car and began to rearrange the house. Dani had left most of the furniture since she and Chris had no need for it. Exhausted they sat down to see what was on television. They settled for MTV and TRL.
"Hey welcome back to TRL. I'm Carson Daly and now we have John Norris with the news, what's up John?"
"Hi Carson, well today's news is filled with wedding news, new groups and new tours as well as some other interesting this. First up, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson have announced their engagement. While no date has been set, they have said it will be sometime after Jessica's current tour and the world tour of 98 Degrees set to kick off in December and run through February. Also Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass of NSYNC have invited tons of people from the music industry as well as the media to catch a sneak peak at some of the artists they have been working with. Chris with FuManSkeeto Productions, and Lance with Free Lance Entertainment."
"So it's just gonna be one big concert party?"
"Yeah something like that. Word is that Chris will be debuting his latest group. It’s a female duo that goes by the name Diversity. Not much else is know about them other than they are working with Chris and have inked a deal with Diva Records, which is owned by Donna Wright the woman that had a hand in developing NKOTB and the Backstreet Boys."
"Sounds interesting. I know I'll be there, and MTV will bring you all the behind the scenes news on that. Thanks John. John Norris everyone."
"Thanks Carson."
"Now back to the countdown. Coming in at #5 for the second day....."
Becca turned off the TV. Both girls sat in silence not believing what they had just heard. MTV was going to be at the show. All kinds of other music industry people would also be there. Before the news could completely sink in, the phone rang. Becca reached over to answer it.
"Hello?"
"It's Chris, I just remembered some things I forgot to tell you about the show."
"No need to tell us, Carson Daly and John Norris just filled us in."
"You saw that? I meant to tell you, but it just slipped my mind. It's not going to be that big of a deal really."
"MTV will be there. Not only that, but they are airing some of the show."
"It's just MTV, so what?"
"You say that because you've been on MTV before. I've never been on there. Unless you count the time they were in Houston with Jordan Knight and I fell on my ass outside while it was raining. There was a camera filming that, but they probably just take that out to laugh at every so often."
"Again with the Jordan Knight. What's with you two?? Hold up, you busted your ass in front of Jordan?" Chris couldn't stop laughing.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. My butt hurt for days."
"I'll let you go now. I just wanted to tell you about the concert. I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow."
"Bye Chris."
Rebecca hung up the phone and the girls went to their rooms to get some sleep. The next day they would officially began as recording artists.
*****************
The next morning came before either of them was ready. They moved in a daze preparing for the day, which neither knew what to expect. They were too nervous to eat or even speak. Both had the same questions running through their minds. What if they weren't good enough? Were they ready to give up the old comfortable life for a new one? They rode in silence until once again they found themselves in front of the red brick building.
Coretta took a deep breath, "This is it. Once we get out of this car, we leave our old lives, and start new totally different ones."
"It's what we wanted, so let's go."
They gave each other a quick hug and went inside where they were met by Joey. "Hey, you both are looking lovely."
"And you must be looking for a butt kissing award."
Ignoring her comment Joey complimented Coretta. "You smell nice, what do you have on?"
"That would be my deodorant, shower fresh scent I believe, with a hint of Colgate extra whitening." she rolled her eyes at his attempt to converse.
"Everyone is waiting in the studio."
They walked down the hall to the studio to find Joey wasn't kidding. Chris, Mike, Justin, and Lance were all waiting.
"Mike!! We missed you!" They ran to give him a hug.
"I suppose I missed you both too, can't say the same for my ulcer."
"I don't care what you say Mike, we did not cause your ulcer."
"I don't have actual medical proof, but the doctor did say it was stress related. You two are the only stress I have."
Chris pulled the girls aside while Mike and Justin got everything set up. "I don't want you to be nervous, just go in and sing like you normally would. This song should go fairly quick since it is your song and all and you'll be used to hearing it. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't come out the way you want it to the first few times."
"Chris relax, we've done this before, remember? You don't know how many times we recorded this song before we sent it to you."
"Let's get to work then."
The music began and Becca came in to sing the first verse. Coretta looked into the other room to watch the reactions. As she scanned the faces, her eyes stopped on Joey, who at that moment looked up at her. His eyes held her gaze a few moments before she turned away. "He's looking good today" she thought. She turned back to him, this time he just smiled. "Who am I kidding, he looks really good today. Wait, what am I saying? He dumped me to get back with his ex. Although since we weren't exactly together, he didn't really dump me. That makes the whole situation even worse." Suddenly she noticed the music had stopped.
"What happened? Why did you stop the music?"
Becca leaned over, "You missed your cue. Stop checking out Joey and pay attention, we've got work to do. You can look at him later, it's not like he's not going anywhere."
"I was not checking him out, but now that you mention it, he is fine. Red really works for him."
"Excuse me." Chris said from the other room. "First may I remind you we need to get this song ready, and second, Coretta we can hear everything in here."
"Okay, shutting up now."
After a few more takes, Chris called a break. "Why don't you go chill in the lounge for a little while then we'll come back and work on the second half of the song. If it goes as well as the first, we'll have the single done and ready for shipping early next week." Coretta went to lie down while Becca stayed to see what Mike, Chris and Justin were going to do next. Justin decided to help his two friends out.
"Look man, now would be a good time to make up, or apologize, or whatever you plan to do."
"What if she doesn't want to talk to me?"
"When has that stopped you before?"
"True" Joey went into the lounge. He leaned up again the door as he closed it behind him.
"Becca is that you?" Coretta called out from the couch where she was sprawled out with a blanket over her head.
"No, not exactly."
She froze when she realized whose voice she was hearing. "It's you, what do you want?"
"To talk to you."
"So talk, but I'm not obligated to listen."
"Why do you have to be like that? I'm trying to apologize here."
"Be like what? Listening to you spout off an empty apology is not what I feel like doing right now. Save that for your girlfriend. What's her name? Andrea? Alexis?"
"You know her name is Angela and I told you before, she's not my girlfriend anymore."
"If I remember correctly, you two were very close yesterday, and who know what was going on while I was gone."
"Well, if I remember correctly, you and I weren't a definite thing when you left."
"Oh so now I'm back up girl or something? Whatever. I'm done talking about this now."
"There you go, now the conversation is over just because you say it is? It's not always the world according to Coretta you know."
"It is as far as I'm concerned."
"Maybe you should come out of your little bubble. Stop waiting for everyone to feel sorry for you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I know your story. Your son is gone and I'm truly sorry about that, but look around you. Look at what you're doing. This is something that people dream about. Isn't it time you got rid of that chip on your shoulder? I think we've talked enough for a while." Joey turned and walked out the door.
Coretta looked around the room "How the hell did we get to this point?" she thought. The next couple of weeks were filled with either practicing or recording. Just as Chris promised, the single was ready and shipped out to radio stations within a week. By the end of the second week, the had also recorded three more songs and were preparing two others. Due to the hectic schedule, Coretta saw little of Joey and had even less time to think about him. Justin and the others tried constantly to get the two to talk. They tried everything short of locking them in a room together.
"I got it!!" Justin said as he sat around the table with Becca, JC, Lance, Chris and Dani. They were at yet another dinner where getting Joey and Coretta to talk had failed. It always seemed that one or the other managed to back out. This particular night, the both managed to avoid dinner with their friends.
"We can just sit them down and make them talk." The table erupted with laughter. Justin looked crushed that no one found his idea as brilliant as he thought it was. Becca was the first to stop laughing.
"Let me ask you something Justin. You've been around Coretta a lot, right?"
Justin found the question pointless and stupid. "Of course. Pretty much everyday since you've been here. What's your point?"
"In all that time, when have you seen her do something you know she totally does not want to do?"
"Never, but this is different. We all know she wants to talk to him as much as he wants to talk to her. They just need a little push."
"Well...." said Lance grinning, "While you guys have come up with plan after plan that didn't work, I came up with a plan of my own. It should be going into effect right about now."
