*Note from the Author: This story is purely fiction, and this chapter involves a severe case of obsessive fan. I’m sure there have never been fan encounters this bad, but at the same time, I wouldn’t know. Don’t think I’m bashing fans when you read this. I’m just pointing out that anything could happen. M.H.
Rose and Ali spent the morning checking out the rest of the town. The guys had a show coming up that night and Johnny had given them backstage access so they could hang with them afterwards. Then they could have their “vacation”. Ali was psyched. She hadn’t had any encounters so far with people who may have seen her on the awards the other night. But she wasn’t holding her breath.
The girls went to a nearby Italian place for lunch. As they entered the restaurant, a hush suddenly came over the place. Ali looked around and saw a group of young girls sitting in the far corner, glaring at her and Rose.
“Table for two”, she told the hostess, not even acknowledging them. As they went past the girls’ table, she could hear them. “Those are the bitches that JC and Lance brought onstage with them at the awards.”
Rose was about to turn around and say something, but Ali grabbed her shirt sleeve and pulled her back to the table. “Doesn’t that annoy you at all, Ali?”
“Yeah, but like we said before. It’s going to come with the territory.”
“Wait, you were allowed to confront the girl at the store the other night but now I have to keep quiet?” Rose said.
“That was different. The girl practically cornered me. If I was to run off she would’ve run after me. I wasn’t going to lie. They got a problem with me, oh well.”
Rose nodded. Ali had a point. She went back to looking at the menu when one of the girls came up behind her. “You the bitch dating Lance from N Sync?” she asked mockingly.
Rose looked at the girl, who was somewhere around fifteen, and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to let these girls get to her. “First off, don’t call me a bitch because you don’t even know me. And secondly, that’s my business and his business.” She went back to the menu.
The girl then went and grabbed Rose by the hair. “Don’t get stank with me, ho. I’ll kick your ass faster than you can blink”.
Ali got up and tried to separate them, but instead she got shoved right back into her seat. “Same for you. You ain’t shit and we all know you’re just with them for their money”.
Rose regained herself and with all her force, grabbed the girl’s arm and twisted it away from her. Pain shot from the girl’s arm and she finally let go and moved back. “Well, if Lance thought I wasn’t all that he wouldn’t be with me. And it ain’t about the money. If it was, we’d be gone by now, don’t you think?”
“Oh whatever”, one of the other girls replied. “We all know you treat them like shit. They deserve better”.
Ali felt her blood boil. “Oh let me guess…you?”
The girls rolled their eyes and started to walk away. “Just remember that you got millions of their fans keeping an eye on you and if you do anything to hurt them…we hurt you”. With that they walked out of the restaurant.
Rose rubbed the back of her head. “That bitch nearly pulled a chunk out of my head.” She looked over at Ali. “You ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Let’s just eat and get out of here”.
“You gonna tell JC about this?”
“Hell no…he’d go nuts”.
“But if we don’t tell them the tabloids will.” Rose replied.
Ali knew she was right. There were plenty of witnesses. The tabloids would have a field day with this. It would be better to tell JC the whole truth so he’ll know what really happened before the tabloids decide to state otherwise. “You’re right. I want to wait until after the show tonight, though. He doesn’t need any more added stress.”
The girls finished their food and left to head back to the hotel. When they got there, JC and the rest of the guys were there waiting for them. Lance noticed the strange look on Rose’s face. Her head still hurt from when the girl pulled her hair. “Hon, you ok?”
Rose and Ali looked at each other and kept calm. “It’s nothing really.” They went over and sat down.
Lance could tell Rose was hiding something. “Rose, out with it. You look like you just got mugged or something. What happened?”
Rose let out a sigh. “We might as well tell them”, she said to Ali.
“Tell us what?” Chris asked.
“Well…something happened when we went out for lunch”.
JC went up and put his hands on Ali’s shoulders. She was still trembling. He’s going to have a fit, she thought to herself. “Ali, what happened?”
“Some of your ‘fans’ decided to come and start with us while we were trying to get something to eat downtown”. She looked over at Rose, who was still rubbing the back of her head. “These girls came over to our table and started talkin’ smack and when Rose tried to intervene, one of the girls went and grabbed her. I think they took a nice chunk of hair out of her head.”
“What?!” Lance and JC said in unison.
The girls led them over to the sofa and told them the whole story. JC’s brows went lower and lower. “Damn it, why this?”
“Because we’re famous, man. That’s the only reason why,” Justin replied.
JC didn’t buy it. “Oh save it, Justin. Our fans know we don’t stand for this. Why…” he couldn’t say any more.
“Did anybody see it?” Joey asked.
“Oh, about half the restaurant”, Ali replied with a groan.
“Oh shit. The press has probably already got it set for front-page news. ‘N Sync Girls Square Off With Angry Fans in Busy Restaurant.”
“I love our fans, but these girls sound to me like just a bunch of attention-starved teenyboppers who were just looking for a fight”, Lance replied, checking on Rose. “Were you able to defend yourself?”
Ali smiled. “Oh yeah. Once the shell shock was over, Rose grabbed the one girl and twisted her arm until she let go.”
“No one messes with me.” Rose said with a smile.
Ali looked over and saw JC pacing. “Hon, please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t want to tell you until after the show because I didn’t want you stressing out, but…”
JC turned around and held her close. He wasn’t angry at her, he was angry at how everything had turned out. He had always heard when he brought himself into chat rooms and such how everyone thought the guys should be honest about whomever they were dating. What he didn’t know was how they threatened them after he left. The whole thing made him sick. “I’m not mad at you. I can’t be because you didn’t do anything.”
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the phone. “JC, its Johnny.”
“Shit, he better be wanting us down there for rehearsal. I have a sick feeling that he’s heard about the restaurant incident already”. He went to the phone. “Johnny…?”
“You better have a damn good explanation for me getting a call from the Daily Globe telling me that your women started a fight with some girls at a local restaurant.”
JC cringed, but nodded. “They’re here with us, and they didn’t start the fight. There were some girls there who had recognized them from last night and came over and started with them. Ali and Rose told me everything.”
“I warned you guys…” Johnny replied sternly. See what happens when you don’t listen, he thought to himself.
“Whatever. We’ll be fine. I know what happened so I don’t care what the tabloids have to say…”
“Well, I do, because I’m going to have to hear it from everyone else. As for the show tonight, I think it would be best that the girls sit out the backstage access. I don’t need any more craziness tonight. You guys will still get your little break, but I want to get this show out of the way before things get out of hand, got it?”
“Yes”
“Good. Rehearsal starts in an hour. I’ll see you guys there”. With that, Johnny hung up.
JC looked back at the group, who was curious as to what Johnny had to say. “He thinks it would be best if you guys didn’t come back stage tonight. He didn’t want things getting any crazier than they already were.”
Everyone nodded. “I had a feeling that would happen,” Ali replied. “Anything else?”
“Turns out the guys from the Daily Globe called him and told them that you and Rose were the ones that started everything.” He shook his head. “Man, I tell ya…they’ll do anything for news.”
Ali went over and put her arms around him. “Babe, it’ll be alright.”
JC rubbed her back in return. “I know. But anyway, we have rehearsal in an hour, so we need to get going. You guys still interested in going to the show?”
“Well”, Ali thought of what would work. “I wouldn’t want Rose and I to cause any more tension. I think it would be best if we stayed here, because Johnny would probably get all frazzled if we showed up.”
Lance nodded. “You have a good point there. We get to go home right after the show, so we can just meet you guys back here so we can catch some Z’s. Sound good?”
Rose and Ali both nodded. They kissed both their men goodbye and closed the door behind them. Ali turned around and slumped in her seat. “Man, this is really going to take some getting used to”.
“You said it”, Rose said as she crawled into bed.
“How’s your head?”
“I think that hooch gave me a bald spot,” she replied, laughing.
The girls turned out most of the lights and decided to sleep until the guys finished up and returned home.
**After The Show**
Ali stirred as she saw a light being turned on nearby. JC stood over her and kissed her. “Hey beautiful, did I wake you?”
“No not really”, she replied, half-asleep. “What time is it?”
“About 11:30…we just got back from the show”.
“I figured that much. Man, I totally crashed.” She looked around and noticed that Rose wasn’t in the room. “Where’s Rose?”
“She and Lance decided to have a late evening date. She told me to tell you that she’s going to stay at our hotel for the night so I could stay here with you”.
Ali laughed as she lifted herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Are you going to make sure they are no monsters under the bed?”
JC didn’t answer. He simply smiled as he slowly pushed Ali’s hair away and passionately kissed her neck. He pulled her up from the bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Ali moaned with pleasure.
“No monsters…” JC whispered. “But there is a tiger roaming around here”.
“Oh really?” Ali replied, nibbling on his ear. “Well then I guess I’ll have to tame it, won’t I?”
JC moved the covers and placed himself on top of her. “You’re the leader”. He and Ali laughed and JC reached over and turned off the light.