Steve walked into his brother's room hoping the plan he and Lance came up with would work. He was tired of playing matchmaker. He silently vowed not to step in anymore if this idea didn't work. He had informed Joey they were going on a double date that night with some girls he had met at the mall. He had been trying to stall Joey. He knew the plan would only work if they were late for this "date". So far he managed to waste 20 minutes by taking an extra long shower. He also put them another 10 minutes behind by putting Joey's shoes and clothes in his room.
"Steve, Lance just called and we need to stop by the studio and grab his wallet out of his office."
Steve tried to act upset. "What are you talking about? We're already late as it is. Why can't he get his own wallet?"
"He's in the middle of a date and I'm the only one he could get in touch with."
"Fine, but if this messes things up with my date, it's both your asses."
"It won't mess anything up, I promise. I'm going on this date as a favor to you, so you could at least do this for me."
"Alright, let's go."
When they got in the car, Steve noticed it was just after 7. Everyone should have been gone by then. He knew Coretta was still there practicing. Knowing she usually parked out front, he parked in the back even though the front was closer to Lance's office.
"Dude, if you were trying to save time, why did you park way back here?"
"I felt like it, now hurry up before I leave your butt here."
Steve waited until Joey was inside before he pulled the car out the parking lot and went to meet his friends and tell them the plan was in motion.
*****************
Joey unlocked the door and headed to Lance's office. "I can't believe he forgot his wallet, and while he was out on a date. He owes me big time for this." He grabbed the wallet off the desk, turned out the light and walked out. He went to the parking lot and saw Steven's car was nowhere to be found. "Maybe he's out front" he thought. He went inside and back down the hall. When he got to the front he saw Steve's car wasn't there either. "I know he didn't just leave me like that." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Steve's number.
"Steve where the hell are you?"
"I didn't want to be late, I'll be back to get you."
"That's not cool, but whatever, I'll just go back inside and wait, how long are you gonna be?"
"I'm almost there, so maybe 20 minutes."
Joey went back to his own office to look at some paperwork he to get finished. Halfway down the hall he heard music. "Someone must have left have the stereo on." He thought.
*****************
Steve pulled up to the restaurant and went to the table where everyone was sitting. He immediately looked at Lance and gave him a high five.
"Mission accomplished."
Lance just grinned, he knew if anyone could get Joey where they wanted him to be, it would be Steve.
Becca looked confused as the rest, but decided she needed to be clued in. "Would one of you two please tell me what you did. I may have to testify at Coretta's sanity trial, so I should know what led up to her killing Joey."
"It's not going to be that bad. I just drove him to studio and left him. Now he has to talk to her."
"What makes you so sure he'll even go where she is?"
"Umm, this is Joey we're talking about."
"This also is also Coretta we're talking about and as far as he's concerned it's probably not a good idea to leave them anywhere near each other and alone."
"Maybe we should go get them." Dani suggested
"No! We're all tired of them acting all moody and crazy, this, will either make it so they are together or they can't stand each other. Either way, there will be no denying whatever feelings they have."
They were all shocked at the forcefulness of Lance's statement. He was usually one to keep things to himself. After a few more minutes of debating the issues everyone decided maybe it would be better to go check up on them.
*****************
Coretta had tired of practicing their choreography, but she still needed to dance more to clear her head. She turned on the CD player and put in her favorite CD to dance to. It was a mix of all the different songs Darrin had choreographed in the last few years. She often danced to relieve stress. Even though things had been going fairly well, she couldn't get the last conversation with Joey out of her head. She knew he was right, but she hated to admit it. The CD began with Britney Spears' "Crazy", followed by the songs Darrin had done for NSYNC. When she finished dancing to "Give It to You" She heard a voice.
"You know, you might want to go home and get some sleep or something. You've been here, for what 15 hours?"
"What are you my father or something?"
"No, I think there would be a lot of explaining to do if I was. I know Chris wouldn't want you to be rundown."
"Well, Chris isn't here now is he?"
"No, but we all agreed to help him out and I think you should go home."
"You want to know what I think? I think you should mind your own business and leave me alone."
"I think you should stop acting like a spoiled girl and listen to someone else for a change."
"But Joey," Coretta said sarcastically, while batting her eyelashes, "You seem to like spoiled little girls, isn't that the reason you're with Alexandra?"
"Ahh!! Her name is Angela!! That's beside the point. I'm not with her. If you would listen to me, you would know that. I don't want to be with her."
"Fine, I'm listening. If you don't want to be with her, what are you doing with her?"
"I haven't really been with her for a while now."
"So what does that mean exactly?"
"It means now I can be with the person I've been trying to be with for weeks." Joey took a few steps toward Coretta.
She took a few steps back. "Really?" she asked.
"Yes really. Nothing is going to be in the way this time." He moved closer to her as she backed away from him, until she up against the wall. He placed his hands on either side of her on the wall. As they looked at each other their eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"So this person, is she someone I know?"
"Umm, let me think...yeah I think you know her very well." He began to lean down.
"Someone I know....Becca??"
"No not Becca." Joey leaned down again
"My sister???"
"No, not your sister either." He tried again hoping for no more interruptions.
"Not Becca, not my sister, what about Kat?"
"Not Becca, not your sister, not Kat, and not any other person you are thinking of mentioning. Now would you shut up so I can kiss you?" He tried again and was happy there was no interruptions. His happiness was short lived however as she ducked out under his arms and walked to turn the stereo on.
"I feel like dancing."
"You've been dancing all day, aren't you tired of dancing?"
"Can't help it, I'm in a mood."
"The more I think I understand you, the more you show me that I don't. You stopped what I planned on being one hell of a kiss because you're in mood?"
"Yeah I did. Hey I don't remember putting our song on here." She said as she heard the opening chords of Diversity's song.
"Hon, I think that's because it's on the radio." Joey said smiling as he hugged her from behind.
"The radio?? We're on the radio!! I can't believe this!! All my life I've wanted to hear myself on the radio! I wish Becca was here with me."
The doors opened at that moment. Becca walked in first, she stopped just inside the door, causing everyone behind her to stumble over each other. "Hey, we heard yelling, so we came to...wait I don't remember this version of our song."
"This is the radio version." Chris said at first not realizing what that meant.
"As in our song is on the radio right now?" She looked at her singing partner and friend, who had now moved away from Joey, she just nodded. The two ran to each other and hugged. Everyone else began hugging and cheering. They were all silent as the DJ returned to talk about the song.
"That was the most requested song of the day by a new group called Diversity. I did some research, and this song is not only hot here, but it's blowing up all over. The song will debut at number 5 on the Billboard charts. Pretty good I'd say for the first time out. I also found out these girls are living right here in O-town, so if anyone knows any more about them, call me here at the station."
Chris picked up his phone and began to dial the station's number. While they waited for Chris, Becca turned to her friend. "Number 5! Our song is debuting at number 5!! I can't believe it. Not only is it getting played, but it's in the top 10, top 5 even."
"I know, it's incredible isn't it?"
"It really is. Not to change the subject or anything, but what happened here?"
"Nothing, why?"
"Nothing, yet Joey isn't listening to a word Justin is saying, because he's too busy watching you." They both looked at Joey who smiled and winked. "And I saw you both when I first came in here, and either you were practicing the Heimlich, or you worked things out." To Coretta's relief, Chris returned from making his call before she had to give any explanation.
"Tomorrow Diversity will be having their first radio interview. I had to call Mike and clear it with him first. Turns out he had just been trying to set up the interview, but they didn't believe he was who he said he was."
"They wouldn't believe he was the manager of a new group, but they believe it when someone calls and says he's Chris Kirkpatrick?"
"That's only because we have a special number to call in on."
They stayed and chatted for another 30 minutes before deciding to go their separate ways. Once they got outside, Chris turned and spoke. "Tomorrow will be a light day for once, we need to start talking about wardrobe, and discuss the interview. I'll see you at one."
Coretta was amazed. "You mean, for once we don't have to be here at the butt crack of dawn?? Wow Chris, you are too kind."
"Girl are you ever not a smartass??"
"Geez, why does everyone ask me that?!"
"Just enjoy sleeping in while you can, soon enough you will always be up before the sun."
"Can't wait" she mumbled. Joey came over and pulled her away from the group.
"Since you don't have to be here early, I guessing your morning is free."
"I was thinking about sleeping, unless you had a better idea."
"As a matter of fact I do. How about breakfast with me?"
"I'm not sure how that's better than sleeping in."
"I guess you'll have to come with me to find out."
"I suppose I can spare some time for one of my adoring fans." she joked
"Your number one fan." Joey said taking her hands in his. "There was one more thing, I've been trying to tell you."
"What was...." Joey was finally successful, this time there was nothing stopping him.
****************
Becca was talking to Steve and Justin about finding a car. "I know Coretta and I stay together pretty much all the time, but I still need a car of my own. I just don't know where to go."
"I can take you to my car guy, he's really good."
"Justin, you're 19, why do you have a car guy? Besides, I really can't afford your kind of cars. I need something under $40,000."
"She has a point J." Steve added. "I know a few places. I can take you tomorrow."
"That'd be cool. Dang!!"
"What?" Steve and Justin said in unison
"Lance's plan actually worked." They turned to where Becca was looking and say Joey and Coretta together. "I'm glad, I'd hate to see what would've happened if we had to resort to Justin's plan."
"I don't know what y'all are talking about, that was a good plan."
"Sure it was Justin. Anyway, I'm tired so now I have to somehow drag her away from him. This should be fun."
JC leaned over to Lance, "They're happy now, but how long do you think it will last?"
"I think as much as we've all been through to get them together these last few weeks, this better last."
Steve joined in the conversation. "It will last no more than 8 days exactly."
"8 days? How do you figure?"
"That's how many days until the concert, and she sees that Angela is his date."
"What do you mean Angela is his date?? I don't want that girl, anywhere near any place that I'm performing. I'm pretty sure Coretta would agree with me on this."
"Well," Chris said. "We can't exactly keep her from showing up. Trust me we've tried."
"Why not? It's your show, you and Lance can do what you want."
"We do, but Angela is a special case. When FuManSkeeto was getting off the ground, I needed investors. Angela talked her father into being one of those investors. She was a big NSYNC fan, and thought this was a good way to get closer to us, more specifically to Joey."
"Let me get this straight, she got her dad to spend money to basically buy her a boyfriend?"
"Yeah, that about sums it up."
"I still don't see what that has to do with her being at the concert. Obviously she and Joey aren't together anymore."
"Her father likes to keep an eye on his investments. This way he can do that without actually having to show up."
"I can't be held responsible when Coretta finds out."
"Hopefully my brother will fix this before it gets out of hand. Odds are, in true Joey fashion, things are gonna get worse before they get better."
Joey walked Coretta to the car where Becca was waiting. "So we're on for breakfast?"
"You aren't letting her cook are you?" Becca asked laughing
"Hey now, no need to go there."
"I'm just tryin to help Joey out, and keep you from burning our new house down."
"I take it that means you can't cook."
"It's not that I can't" Coretta said while glaring at Becca who in turn stuck her tongue out.
"Please girl, you know you can't cook. You damn near burned your house down."
"One little grease fire, and they never let you forget. It wasn't that bad."
"Sure it wasn't, that's why your mom had to remodel the kitchen."
"She was already planning on doing that."
"At least now I know not to let you cook for me."
"Maybe I didn't want to cook for you anyway." Coretta joked
"I'm sure we can find something else to do." They began kissing again.
"Oh Lordy" Becca rolled her eyes. "If this is what I have to put up with, I think I liked it better when you two weren't talking at all."
The next morning Coretta woke to the sounds of cartoons blasting throughout the house. "Who in the heck is here this early? It's 10 am...Oh crap! I was supposed to meet Joey at 9." She ran into the living room in her pajamas. Which on this particular day consisted of a T-shirt with Joey's picture and a pair of sweatpants. They had gotten quite close to the guys in the last month, so it was no surprise to see one of them sitting on the couch early in the morning. Usually it was Justin, with his feet propped up on the table eating his bowl of cereal and watching TV.
"Justin, you know I wanted to be up early, I was supposed to meet..." She stopped mid sentence when she saw it was not Justin, but Joey watching cartoons. "Well, I was supposed to meet you, but you know that. When did you get here?"
"Good morning to you too."
"That remains to be seen."
"I came over with Steven and Justin, they took Becca to look for a car. I've been here long enough to hear you throw all three of your alarm clocks against the wall. I've even taken some messages for you. Those are nice pajamas by the way. If you wanted to wake up to my face, all you had to do was ask." Joey said as he eyed her shirt.
"If I was more awake, I'd probably have the sense to be embarrassed. That not being the case, it's not that big of a deal right now. Messages from who?"
"Let's see, I've talked to all kinds of women today. Kat and your sister called. They both wanted to know what I was doing here so early in the morning."
"What did you tell them?"
He grinned, "The truth of course."
"If it were anyone else I wouldn't ask, but I know better. What exactly was the truth?"
"That I never left last night."
She threw a pillow at him. "You didn't!!"
"I did, but for some reason they didn't believe me. Anyway, you or Becca is supposed to call them as well as Missa, Linda, Sara and there was one more....Oh yeah Kathy."
Coretta started laughing. "Kathy talked to you without ripping your head off?"
"Of course she did, although she mentioned something about bruised ribs and a squished spleen. Not too sure what that was about, but if your friends are like you I won't even ask. They all said they had heard Diversity's song on the radio, and they loved it."
"Good, I was hoping they would like how it turned out."
"You actually cared about someone else's opinion?? Never saw that one coming. How come you didn't ask what I thought of the song?"
"Simple" she said as she sat next to him on the couch, "I didn't care."
"Oh I see how you are. Anyway, since we've pretty much missed breakfast, what do you want to do? How about we try for lunch?"
"Sounds good to me, but I should change first."
"As much as I like seeing your devotion to me displayed across your chest, changing would be a good idea. By the way, where did you get that shirt? I've never seen anything like it before."
"My sister gave the shirt to me for Christmas. The picture is from one of the NSYNC after parties we went to. That's where Kathy got that bruised ribs and squished spleen thing from. Never again will I go to an after party where you are in the area."
"Interesting, sounds like there's more to that story."
"There is, and whenever Kathy comes to visit, we'll be sure to tell you all about it."
"Go change so we can get out of here." Joey's phone began to ring, he went out the backdoor and onto the deck. "What up"
"Hello Joey"
"Who is this?"
"How soon your girlfriend is forgotten."
"Angela, what do you want? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."
"Since I haven't heard from you, I wanted to call and remind you of our date next week, and apparently I need to remind you of our relationship in general."
"What relationship? I told you it was over."
Angela just laughed. "I know you wouldn't want me to tell daddy and ruin what progress Chris has made."
Joey knew that he would regret agreeing to go out with Angela. He thought back to his meeting of her. It was back when Chris was just laying the foundation for FuManSkeeto, and he was looking for investors. They met at a meet n greet where she had shown an obvious liking for Joey. After a few conversations, she hinted that she could get her father to invest in Chris' project, if Joey played his cards right. Things went okay for a while, but then she became the person they all came to know. The person Joey suspected she had always been. He closed his eyes and silently counted to ten before responding. "Fine what do you want?"
"I hear those Diversity girls are going to be performing at the show. Since we're going to be there together, I think it would be a good time to tell your little friend, as well as the rest of your fans about us."
"That was never part of our little arrangement."
"Well it is now." Angela hung up before Joey could respond.
He walked inside and sat down. While he waited, he tried to figure out what to do. He knew there was no way he could explain to the others that he was still supposed to be going with Angela to the concert. He thought about talking to Steven, since he could always see things in a better perspective when Joey was confused. He decided he should leave and try to figure things out on his own. He hated breaking their date, but until things were settled with Angela, he knew even trying to be with anyone was not going to work. Coretta returned just as he finished making his mind up to leave.
"Sorry it took so long, I remembered our interview today, so I wanted to be sure I looked okay, even if it is a radio interview." Joey seemed distracted, "Is everything okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, everything is fine. Well, not really, but I don't have time to explain. Can we do this another time?"
"This is pretty much the only free time I have until after the show Saturday."
"I'll figure something out, but right now I really need to go. I'll try and call you later." He kissed her and was out the door before she could fully comprehend what had happened.
*****************
A few hours later Coretta met up with Becca, Mike, Chris and Justin at the studio. They needed to go over some rules with the girls before they had their interview. Since it was their first real interview, there were some basic rules the guys wanted to make sure they knew and understood. Chris started first, "When they ask you questions, don't give super long answers. Even though the DJ might ask, he really doesn't want a long story behind every question."
"But," Mike added, "Don't give short quick answers either, that makes for a boring interview."
"Last but not least, " Justin chimed in, "Do not mention us if at all possible. I know this guy and he'll try to get you to answer personal questions about us. I've seen him do it to our friends, our neighbors, even my mailman."
Becca couldn't believe what she was hearing. There they were preparing for their first time on the radio, and the only advice Justin could come up with was what not to say about him. She also noticed her friend had been extremely quiet since her arrival. That of course was highly unusual, especially after spending time with Joey. Becca didn't press the issue, she had come to learn not to ask questions. The do's and don'ts of interviews went on for what seemed like forever. Finally the four left the building and headed to the station. As they approached, they noticed all the girls waiting.
"Now I'm going out on a limb here, and guess these girls are not waiting for us. They obviously found out we have a connection to NSYNC and they want to see if one or all of you would show up." Coretta said while looking at the ever-growing horde of girls.
"I still don't know how they always manage to find us whether we're on tour or not."
Mike turned from his place in the driver's seat. "I think it's probably a good idea if maybe you two stay in the car or something. We don't have any security and once people found out you really were in the building, it could only get worse."
Chris agreed, "Just drive around back, there's another entrance from a side street. You three go in, we can still listen from the car."
Chris and Justin ducked down in their seats as the car passed the huge crowd of girls. The others looked at the crowd not believing what they were seeing. Mike drove into an alley that led to an underground garage. He pulled to a space and turned the car off. The girls suddenly became nervous, they got out the car and just stood there.
"I don't think I'm ready to do this." Coretta said shaking her head.
"I'm not either, can't we do this another time?" Becca asked
Justin took both of their hands and led them to the elevator. He thought back to the first interview he did as a member of NSYNC. It has been so long ago. He could still recall the nervousness of it all, but he knew that once they got upstairs the girls would be okay. "Y'all will be fine. I know you can do this. Mike and Chris must think so too, otherwise you wouldn't be here." He gave them both a hug and went back to the car. Chris gave them quick hugs and waited until the doors on the elevator completely closed before joining Justin back at the car.
The door opened to a small office that didn't hold much more than the receptionist's desk and a few chairs. Mike approached the desk and spoke softly to the woman behind it. She smiled and made a call. As she hung up the phone, she told Mike someone would be with them shortly. Mike then joined the others in chairs placed in the corner of the room. A few minutes later, a short, bald man led them into the studio. The DJ had just finished his announcement of special in studio guests after the current song was done. He walked over to talk to the girls and help get them set up. The song ended and the interview began.
DJ: Hey Orlando, as I promised I've got Diversity in with me tonight. Say hello to Orlando ladies
Becca&Coretta: What's up Orlando.
DJ: Thanks for stopping by. I know you're really busy right now.
Becca: No problem. Thanks for having us, we're a little nervous right now.
DJ: Don't be. So we've all heard the new song, and it seems to be doing well on the charts. What does that feel like?
Coretta: It's amazing. You like the song?
DJ: Most definitely. I dig the sound. I hear that's one you two wrote, does it come from personal experience?
B: We wrote most of it, the original version was a little different. After we got signed, we worked with some people and did some rewriting to smooth it out. But, yeah I think there's some personal experience behind it.
C: Totally. I know there are people, and not just females, but guys too, that have the one person they are attracted to, but that person only comes around when something goes wrong in other relationships. This song is about letting that person go. Telling them too bad, now you want me but it's too late. You had your chance. You know what I'm sayin?
DJ: You mentioned working with some people to rewrite parts of the song. I understand you are working with a pretty well known group of guys. Kind of a favorite around town actually. I was sort of hoping you would bring them with you today.
B: Well, they were a little busy and couldn't get away, but I'm sure they're listening. Hey guys! We've been very blessed to have such talented people take an interest in our music and us.
DJ: For those of you that don't know, Diversity is signed to FuManSkeeto Productions, headed by none other than Chris Kirkpatrick. I understand his involvement, but how do the others fit in?
C: Honestly I think we're like their guinea pig project. They're doing all of the producing and also some writing. They might even show up on a track or two.
DJ: So if the rest of the album doesn't do well, we can blame them, right?
B&C: Yep.
DJ: So what's next for you? When can we expect another single? Will there be a video for You Had Your Chance?
B: Everything is still kind of in the beginning stages. We haven't even discussed ideas for a video, so we're open to suggestions.
C: We've recorded 6 or 7 songs for the album so far. We'll be back at it tomorrow, so hopefully soon we'll have a better idea of when everything will be finished, and if and when we'll be shooting our video.
DJ: Be sure to keep us up on what's happening. Until then, every one can still catch you ladies next week, right?
B: That's right next Saturday, we'll be performing at the House of Blues with the other artist's Chris works with, as well as the artists Lance manages through Free Lance Entertainment.
C: It'll be off the hook. I know there are limited tickets for the public, so be sure to get yours.
DJ: Well thank you and say hi to the guys for me. Now here they are, Diversity with You Had Your Chance.
As the song played, the DJ asked the girls a few more questions, mostly about NSYNC. Then he had them record a few promos for the station. He walked them out and thanked them for coming. Once the elevators closed, they all let out the breath they had been holding in.
