Chapter
24: Give It Up.
Clare stood in her office packing
up her things. Today was her last day. She'd handed in her resignation
a week ago but she still hadn't heard from Lou to say whether he accepted
it or not.
"So today is the day when
you ship out and leave us high and dry?" Jamie asked with a smile walking
into her office.
Clare smiled back. She had
loved her time there and didn't really want to leave but she knew she couldn't
stay. Everyday that she saw JC she was reminded of how much she loved him.
She hated herself for being so horrible to him but it was the only way
she knew to keep him at a distance so she wouldn't get hurt again.
Jamie picked up one of the
framed photos Clare had on her desk ready to pack. It was one of them all.
'N Sync, Clare, Libby, Sara and her, "Do you remember when this was taken?"
she asked with a little laugh.
"Do I ever!" Clare responded
with a laugh of her own. "That was when Chris decided to find out if I
could swim!"
"And when he saw you drowning
he just stood there, JC was the one that had to jump into the pool and
save you!"
"Yeah and when I came round
Libby decided she wanted to take a picture!"
"And that was when Chris decided
he had to teach you to swim!"
"It took me months," Clare
laughed, "But I got there and now you wouldn't be able to tell I'd spent
the best part of 20 years being scared of pools!"
Jamie's laugh faded out and
she turned to Clare, "Why don't you stay?"
"Jamie, don't please!" she
said as she lifted the box from her desk onto the floor.
"Come on, you know you don't
want to leave!"
There was a short pause as
Clare looked around, "There are a lot of memories for me in this room,"
she paused.
"So stay!" Jamie pleaded with
sadness in her voice.
Clare shook her head. "I can't."
~~~~~*~~~~~
"I'm so bored. I get out of the
hospital to come home and lie in bed, where is the sense in that?" Libby
asked Lisa as they sat in her room.
"You're not ready to do much
yet!" Lisa retorted.
"Well don't you think I'm
the one who is the best judge of that?" Libby continued climbing out of
bed.
"Oh no lady, get back in bed!"
"Calm down! I'm only going
in to watch TV!"
"I've had strict orders from
Clare to make sure you stay in bed!"
"I'm not going to have a relapse
just by walking into the other room Lisa."
~~~~~*~~~~~
Sara and Nick sat on the beach
holding each other. She was going on the tour with 'N Sync in a couple
days and had taken some time off work so she could spend her last days
with him.
"I can't believe we're gonna
be separated again and for months this time!" Nick complained as he leaned
down and kissed her softly on the forehead.
"Well I'll be back in a month.
I'll only have to be there to make sure the guys have got the moves right
then I'll be back home." Sara explained to him.
"So you don't have to be with
them for the whole tour?"
"No. While they're out on
the road I work with other bands. I'm constantly in demand you know!" she
said with a smile as Nick leaned down to kiss her again, this time on the
lips.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"What are you doing out of bed?"
Clare asked angrily as she walked in the apartment to see Libby sat on
the couch.
"I got bored sitting in bed."
Libby responded as Clare walked in front of her.
She turned off the TV and
turned to look at Libby, "Right, back to bed, now!"
"Why?"
"Because I told you to get
back there. Now do it!"
"I'm only sat in front of
the TV, I'm doing exactly what I would be doing in there!" Libby exclaimed
pointing to her bedroom.
Clare looked at her friend;
she sighed and then turned the TV back on.
"The minute I see you up off
that couch is the minute you go back in your room!" she said as she walked
into the kitchen. "What do you want for dinner?"
Libby shrugged. She hadn't
felt much like eating since she came out of hospital. The drugs she had
to take for the pain didn't leave her with much of an appetite.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"So is everything ready for when
we leave tomorrow?" Lyn asked her son and his friends as they sat in the
sitting area of the Harless household.
Everyone nodded.
"When does the plan go into
action?" Justin asked Chris.
"Bright and early tomorrow!"
Chris said with a mischievous smile.
"Are you guys sure about this?"
Jamie asked as she stood beside Lyn.
"Trust them!" Lyn said to
her with a smile, "When they put a plan into action, it never fails!"
~~~~~*~~~~~
Libby sat in her bed trying to
figure out a new look for the 'N Sync web site. She was bored of the old
look and was determined to at least think of an idea before she went to
sleep.
"Are you still tapping away
at that damn laptop?" Clare asked in disgust as she walked past Libby's
door, into her bathroom.
"Nearly done." She called
back.
"You're supposed to be resting.
Remember, conditions that you could come home!"
"I'm fine!" Libby yelled in
frustration as Clare wandered into her room. "I wish people would stop
fussing!"
"What are you doing anyways?"
Clare asked peering at the screen, "Not Uni. work I hope!"
"It's the new 'N Sync web
site. I know I'm bored with this look, so God knows the fans must be!"
Libby chuckled.
"What ya come up with so far?"
Clare asked pulling the computer over to where she sat on the edge of the
bed. She raised her eyebrows and then frowned, "This looks exactly like
the old one!"
"That's because it is the
old one! Dumbass!" Libby laughed and smiled at her friend who was now blushing.
"So, are we going to the beach
tomorrow?" Libby asked changing the subject. She was desperate to get out
of the apartment and knew that now Clare had quit her job at the fan club
that she'd be able to get her out.
"If you promise to take it
easy!" Clare said seriously.
"Yes! Jeez, I feel like I'm
at home with mom again! I'm not about to die you know!"
"You may not be now, but you
were close enough to it not so long ago, remember?"
"Sorry!" Libby said shuffling
forward, "I'm just fed up with not being able to go straight back to my
old life!" she said softly hugging her best friend.
~~~~~ The Next Day
~~~~~
Clare was woken up by banging
on the front door. She looked at her alarm clock; it was only 7:00.
"Who the hell is that at this
hour?" she asked herself as she got out of bed and put on her housecoat.
She opened the door to see all four members of 'N Sync stood in front of
her, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Nice! We come to take you
on tour with us and this is the welcome we get!" Chris replied as they
all walked inside the apartment.
"Oh no!" Clare exclaimed as
she took in the information he'd just given her, "I am not being cooped
up on a bus with the five of you! For two years I worked for you, you drove
me crazy and that was with a whole building to escape to! Thanks! But no
thanks! Besides, I start a new job next week so I can't!"
"Libby in bed?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, where any normal sane
person would be! Where I should be!" Clare complained shooting a look Chris'
way.
"I'll go wake her!"
"Oh no you don't! She's supposed
to be resting, you're not going anywhere!" Clare stated standing in front
of Libby's bedroom.
Justin banged on Libby's bedroom
door keeping Clare occupied while Lance and JC went into her room to pack
for her.
Libby opened her door running
her hand down her face, "What is all the noise about?"
"We are taking you on tour!"
Justin replied as he walked past her into the room.
"What time is it?"
"Ten past seven. So come on
get dressed or we'll miss our flight!"
"Thanks hun, but no thanks,
if you know what I mean?" Libby said walking over to her bed and lying
on it face down.
"Come on Libby. Rise and shine!"
he said pulling the blind.
"Go away! It's too early!"
she said turning to face away from the light.
"I'm not going away!"
"So don't, just shut up. You're
far too cheerful for 7:00 and I need more sleep!"
"No more sleep. We're going
on tour." Justin said sitting on the bed next to where Libby lay.
"You go. I'll get a later
flight."
"You can sleep on the plane."
He said standing on the bed. He began to bounce on the bed as he sang,
"You gotta get up. You gotta get up. You gotta get up in the mornin'!"
"Okay! Okay! I'm up, if it's
just to shut you up, I'm up!"
"Good morning!" Chris said
as he walked past the bedroom door to find her sitting up.
"What's good about it?" Libby
spat back.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Okay. What's going on in here?"
Clare asked as she walked into her bedroom to find Lance and JC going through
her closet packing her clothes into a suitcase.
"Packing!" Lance answered
simply.
"And why is that?"
"I think we already went over
this." JC replied. "You're coming on tour with us!"
"And I do believe I turned
down the privilege!" Clare said removing her clothes from the case and
placed them on the bed.
"And I believe we don't accept
'no' for an answer!" Lance said picking up the clothes she'd removed and
placed them back into the case.
"Well, I'm not going so I
don't really care what you accept or don't accept! I am not, you hear me,
NOT! Going anywhere with you! Especially with him!" she said pointing
at JC, "So put my clothes down and get out of my room."
Clare pushed Lance and JC
from her room and closed the door before leaning up against it to stop
their return.
"Chris!" Lance called, "Giddy
is being difficult!"
Chris barged in through Clare's
bedroom door sending her flying across the room, "I hear you're not being
a good girl!"
"I don't work for you anymore
so what are you going to do about it?" Clare asked folding her arms across
her chest.
"Are you gonna get dressed
and come quietly? Or do I gotta dress you and then drag you out to the
car?"
"I am not going anywhere but
back to bed so that is a stupid question!"
"There are no stupid questions,
just stupid people!" Chris said walking over to her. "Okay, this isn't
gonna be pleasant for either of us but if you won't do it yourself…" he
said stripping her of her housecoat.
"Chris! What are you doin'?"
Clare exclaimed.
"Getting you dressed!" he
said starting to lift her football shirt.
"Christopher!" she
shouted holding her top down.
"What?"
"You can't do that!"
Chris shrugged before beginning
to lift her top again. "Someone's gotta!"
Clare stopped him a second
time, "Okay! I'll get dressed but I'm not going on any tour!"
"We'll see!" he said leaving
the room so she could get dressed.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Clare watched him leave before
she slipped on a pair of jeans and a white belly top covered with white
lace. She picked up her brush and looked at her reflection in the mirror,
she looked like death, she'd had a bad night's sleep. Her face was pale
and she had grey rings beneath her eyes.
"If you're not out of there
in 5 minutes, I'm coming in!" she heard Chris call to her through the door.
Clare sighed and rolled her
eyes as she put the brush through her hair.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Come on Libby wake up. We'll
be going soon." Justin said as he crouched down next to the couch that
she had collapsed onto.
"Leave me alone, I'm tired."
Libby said wearily.
Justin smiled at her as she
curled up into a ball.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Chris shouted as he walked in through Clare's bedroom door. He looked around
but couldn't see her anywhere. "Clare! I know you're in here. Come out,
come out wherever you are!"
He searched around the room
but there was still no sign.
"JC, get your ass in here
and help me find Giddy!" he shouted.
"Come out Clare. We're not
going without you!" Chris called as he looked under the bed and JC checked
in the closet.
JC smiled as he moved the
clothes to see Clare stood behind them, "Out!" he ordered her.
"Has it still not sunk in?
I said 'no'." Clare asked flippantly as JC dragged her from the small dark
space.
"Well we don't understand
the meaning of that word." Chris said as he picked up her suitcase.
"That doesn't surprise me
'cos you don't know the meaning of most words!" Clare said pulling a face
as she pulled her arm free of JC's grasp. "And you can put that down 'cos
I'm not going anywhere!"
Chris smiled, he passed the
suitcase to JC and walked over to Clare bending down and putting her over
his shoulder.
He walked out to the main
room, "Next stop England!"
Justin smiled and scooped
Libby up in his arms.
"Chris put me down!" Clare
screamed as they all made their way out of the apartment.
To
Be Continued...
