Chapter 6
The Impression that I Get
"So how did it go? Did Lance like it?", asked JC to the person on
the other end of his cell phone conversation. After several attempts they
both managed to get through to each other.
"Oh, I'm sure he likes it. He liked it so much that he's bawling on
the bar floor right now with one of my waitresses comforting him," answered
Kelly, with subtle sarcasm, who kept on glancing out of the office to see
all that transpires. This shocked JC, he didn't expect this kind of
reaction from the normally calm and reposed Lance.
"What happened?"
"We were all watching the show like you said, and after Joey's
performance he suddenly collapsed on to the floor like he had a nervous
breakdown."
"Did he hear Joe's apology?"
"What apology?"
"The one he said right after his song."
"I'm sorry, JC, but I think we all missed that. James collapsed
right after Joey's song. I told Mel to take him home when he has calmed
down a bit and I'll check on him in the morning."
"Damn! I was hoping that Lance would hear what Joey had to say. Too
bad. I guess that I'll have to go with plan B then."
"What's that?" asked Kelly with intense curiosity.
"You'll see it when it happens. Be in the Speakeasy around 5:00 PM
tomorrow and I'll have someone pick you up", JC vaguely said to
Kelly. "Will he be at work tomorrow at that time?"
"Yes, I think so. Why?" Kelly asked as she opened a nearby cabinet
and poured herself a stiff mix of gin and tonic. She downed the drink
straight then proceeded to make another one. All the while she listened to
JC's so called "plan B".
A few hours later in the Ritz-Carlton...
"He's back to his old fetal position routine", noticed Justin as he
and Chris entered his room. Both of them settled themselves on either side
of the bed and tried to plop Joey up so they could talk to him.
"But he didn't even hear my apology", Joey said in a weak
voice. Justin and Chris felt so sorry for him and hugged him, hoping to
give him a little comfort. He smiled at their good gesture and patted their
arms to signal them to let him go. "Thanks guys! I needed that."
"Don't thank us yet, Phat One," Chris said with a slight grin on
his face. "We'll get you and Lance together if it's the last thing we do."
Suddenly Joey tensed up and moved away from the both of them.
Sensing Joey's fear, Justin tried to pacify him. "Joe, its okay. We
won't go postal on you, okay."
"Yeah, Joe", concurred Chris.
Joey loosened up a bit but stayed prepared for anything. He
remembered what they did to Lance from months before.
"Joe, we'll help you. Okay. Lance will be in your arms by tonight
and back in the group if things go well tonight. So will you lighten up? We
want Lance to come back as bad as you do. We want to feel like a family
again and work up with all the shit that we went through so we can move
on. Nsync isn't dead yet, only if we allow it. We want to fight this and we
need Lance to fight with us as a group, a family, not a member who is in
absentia. So until Lance gives his final say, we stay a family until the
time is through", stated Chris.
Joey felt relieved at the sudden acceptance of his two best
friends, at least with his situation. He still felt awkward.
The room, heavy with tension, seemed to shrink with uncertainty
until JC barged in and miraculously made the place spacious again. The air
somehow returned and all three of them began to breathe a bit easier. JC
remained oblivious to everything that just happened just drolled on with
the progress of the "plan".
"Listen guys, Kelly's in. So here's what we're going to do." JC
elaborated everything while Joey listened half-heartedly because of all the
possibilities running through his head. Then a smile crept as he thought
that Lance might come back to them, to him. He snapped back to reality as
Chris called out his name.
"I'm fine", he simply said.
The Speakeasy the next day....
"James, you are going to the Ritz-Carlton later with me to meet a
possible new performer to replace Derrick."
Both James and Mel looked at each other with confusion and
shrugged.
"What happened to Derrick?" asked James.
"I fired him a few days ago. He was hitting on most of you girls
that it was bordering sexual harassment sometimes. I heard him bothering
Jessie almost a week ago and I fired him the next day. He had that coming",
said Kelly. Mel who was sitting beside James just nodded in mute agreement
at her boss' decision. "Anyway, we may be there all night so Mel you're in
charge of the joint and you'll be the one to do the lock-up." Mel smiled
happily with being put in charge for the night. "So JimmyBoy, get ready
because our ride is coming here in an hour."
James stood up to get out of the office. Kelly called out his name
and he turned around. "Dress nicely also. We are going to attend a function
in the hotel so the host will send for us a limo. That's going to be our
ride to the hotel." With that, Kelly closed the door leaving a very
confused James in the narrow hallway.
James managed to get home and dress up in charcoal gray pants and a
dark olive green long sleeve with a tie of the same color. He arrived at
the Speakeasy just as the limo arrived. He went inside and, seeing that
Kelly hasn't come down yet, waited. (Kelly has an apartment right next
door.) She came in and literally everyone stopped and looked at her. She
was wearing a sheer lavender outfit with a small matching purse. Her hair
was set nicely and her minimal make-up made her face even more beautiful
than what she is normally. All the men were wide-eyed with fascination
while the women shot subtle looks of envy. James stood still with awe until
Kelly approached him in a slow sensual pace and with a mischievous little
grin.
"I thought you were gay, James. So why are you drooling like every
heterosexual male within the immediate vicinity?"
That snapped him out of his wonderment. "Just because in prefer men
doesn't mean I can't appreciate beauty when I see it." Kelly blushed
slightly at the compliment. "Ready to go?" Kelly nodded. James held out his
hand that she held and both of them left for the limo with the entire staff
of the Speakeasy looking at them like they were the only things worth
watching in a sea of mundane.
The limo ride was quiet; no one had anything to say. James stared
out the window with one arm supporting his head on the armrest. Kelly was
on the other side of car with her cell phone to her ear talking to whoever
was on the other end. She ended the conversation quickly. Both didn't
particularly wanted to talk, both knowing that if they did they would talk
about yesterday.
Out of the blue, Kelly spoke up without taking her gaze off the
window. "James, can you sing for me that obsession song for me?"
Waking out of his stupor, James acknowledged Kelly's request. "What
obsession song?"
"You know, the one about not wanting anything else to love
someone. Where the guy doesn't want anything at all. The guy singing it was
the guy who sang "Stars".
James thought for a moment, playing the word associations in his
head before coming to some conclusion. "Simply Red?"
"Yeah, that's the group. I want to hear it. The one about no sleep,
no cigarettes."
Then it clicked in his head which song she was talking about. He
then sat a little closer and allowed Kelly to lie down on his shoulder and
he began to hum a soft harmony.
If I could make a wish I think I'd pass can't think of anything I need no
cigarettes no sleep no light no sound can't think of anything I need
all I need to think of you is the air that I breathe my heart belongs to
you all I need to love you is the air that I breathe I'm just living to
love you
all I need to think of you is the air that I breathe my heart belongs to
you all I need to love you is the air that I breathe I'm just living to
love you
peace came upon me and it breathes in me don't sleep silent angel don't you
sleep
all I do is think about you girl I just can't live without you you know I
love you all I do is think about you girl I just can't live without you you
know I love you
all I need to think of you is the air that I breathe my heart belongs to
you all I need to love you is the air that I breathe I'm just living to
love you
"Thanks, James", she said before lulling into a shallow slumber.
The Ritz-Carlton...
"That's a great song you were singing will you in the shower,
Joey. What was it?" asked Chris who was sitting on Joey's bed while Joey
was picking out his clothes to wear.
Joey didn't shift his attention from the amount of clothing he was
sifting through. "It's called "The Air That I Breathe" by Simply Red. You
saw the video with me once, remember? The video was about a boy, because he
didn't have any immune system, who lived inside a plastic bubble for him to
live. I was with Lance the first time I saw that video. We were in Europe
at the time when our popularity was only rising. Every now and then, I
would catch Lance singing that song when no one is looking." He pulled up a
pair of red boxers and a pair of olive green wind pants, and put them on.
"I remember that one. It had in it a red-haired kid who kept on
pounding on the bubble because his pet goldfish was dying in the other
side. I found it kind of obsessive, but the video was a great concept,"
said Chris who propped up his legs to sit Indian style.
"Yeah, I guess it was a sort of visual metaphor. I mean, being
trapped from the rest of the world because of one reason or another. Look
at us, Chris. The boy had his bubble to protect him from the harsh
realities of the world. We, as NSYNC, have our fame, which separate us
from the rest of the world. Lance must have it the worst off among the
five of us," said Joey as he put on a thermal long sleeve then an orange
t-shirt and a green button-down.
"What do you mean?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow.
Joey sat down beside him and faced him. "Look at this
perspective. Justin and JC have been together in the MMC so they're used to
performing and all. I'm a theater-trained actor. You're a clown, no
offense, and you're used to performing. We never had the use for a bubble
because we have been, from the start, taught to have thick-skins as not to
be hurt. Lance came from a small town with little ambition to enter show
business. He came into NSYNC and then his comfortable world changed
drastically. He wasn't prepared for the fame and the fanaticism. Out of all
of us, he is the least suited for this kind of life. I guess the bad things
of being in the entertainment business affected him worst than we
thought. In a strange parallelism, he is a boy in a bubble. That's my
theory as to why he left, at least one of them."
"My theory is simpler than that. Everything snowballed and he
needed to get out of there."
"Same whoop, if you ask me," Joey said with a sad smile.
At the front desk...
"We are here to see a Mr. Alan Shaw", Kelly said to the blonde
receptionist.
She acknowledged their presence and smiled. "I'll ring him up. Can
you wait and sit for a while?"
"Thank you" Kelly walked back to the center of the lobby towards
James. "James, let's sit for a few. Our prospect just wants a few minutes
to get himself presentable."
Back at the front desk, the receptionist rang up the room of on the
private floor. "You're guests are now here...yes, sir....I'll send them up
to Mr. Fatone's room."
Chapter 7
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