"Hello?" I picked up the phone in the tour bus. The boys were out at a studio, rehearsing for the show that night, and Allie was out shopping with Q. I was on the bus, cleaning up some of Nick's junk.

"Lauren? Is that you?" I recognized the voice as my boss, Sharon Wastlen. I worked for her at Jive records. That's right. I was her assistant. All I ever actually did was follow the hag around and get her coffee. God, I hated her.

"Yes Ms. Wastlen?" I asked her coldly, but politely.

"Dear, I need you to come back to work. As it turns out the intern just isn't working. I'm going to need you back in Florida on Friday," she said, her voice as cold as a freezer.

I sat down, and took a deep breath. Friday was only two days away. There was no way in hell Nick was going to go along with this. Neither, for that matter was I.

"Ms. Wastlen, please, you gave me two months to tour with Nick…" I began, but she caught me off.

"Yes, dear, I understand that you wanted to go play with your little boyfriend. But I need you back here. If you're not in by Friday, I will have no other choice than to fire you." She finished.

I took a deep breath and bit my lip. "Yes, Ms. Wastlen. I'll see you on Friday." I could almost see her, smirking through the phone.

"Good-bye, dear." She hung up before I could even bean to respond.

'Shit, Shit, Shit,' I thought to myself, straining against hurling the phone out the window. "Damn!" I said aloud, throwing the pillow I had been laying on against the floor.

"What the hell am I going to tell Nick?"

~Three Hours later, Right Before the Show~

"Nick. We need to talk," I said, gently pulling him to sit down in a chair, in his dressing room. He grinned mischievously at me, but I guess he saw the seriousness in my eyes, and his smile slowly faded.

"Laur, what's the matter?" he asked, concern shining through his blue eyes, his hand holding on to mine tightly.

"Ms. Wastlen called while you were on rehearsal. She wants me to go back to work. This Friday to be exact. " I said , getting straight to the point. I knew Nick well enough, that when you wanna tell him something, you have to tell him as quick as you can. The explosion's usually softer than. Not this time.

"What?" he shot up like a bullet. "You told her no right? I mean you can't leave the tour."

"I told her I would be there on Friday." I stated firmly.

"What?" he asked again. "You have to stay on the tour! Why don't you just quit that damn job anyway? It's not like you need to work. I've got enough money for both of us." He said, still pacing the room.

If it's one thing Nick knows about me, he knows that I don't want him to have to support me. I don't like him to buy me expensive presents, or stuff like that. I didn't fall in love with him for how much money he had, and his money didn't prove how much he loved me. Besides, I like to work. I can't stand sitting around the house, while Nick is out, living his life. I would rather be out working at McDonalds, than staying home watching four little Nick Carter JR' s run around my house.

"Nick, you know how much I love my job! I may not like who I work for, but I love working. I am going back to work on Friday, whether you want me to or not." I said, stubbornly. That's one bad thing about Nick and me. We're both stubborn and have bad tempers.

"You can't leave! I won't let you." He yelled grabbing hold of my wrists.

"I'm leaving on Friday Nick, whether you want me to or not." I shouted back, yanking back my wrist, and storming out of the room.