"God, I hope this helps..." I said, holding my breath as Mary Beth clicked on the TV.
I sat with Mary Beth, JC, Eric, Lance, Joey, Chris, and Brian in JC's hotel room, awaiting Justin's press conference, which was about to start. Joey sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around me tightly.
"We're behind you guys, you know that, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks," I tried to smile, but couldn't.
"This WILL help. Johnny knows what he's doing. And so does Justin. You have to trust them," Joey said, trying to reassure me.
I sat silently, staring at the empty seats, and a dozen cameramen, which were on the TV screen. Everyone's conversations floated in and out of my mind as I waited. Mary Beth and Brian were talking quietly in the corner, but I could still hear the concern in Mary Beth's voice. She had the same fears and doubts that I had. Brian was probably telling her the same things that Joey had told me. JC was pacing, which didn't help set my mind at ease.
Lights from cameras began to flash, and Justin and Johnny walked out and sat in the empty seats behind a long table. Everyone around me focused their attention on the screen. Mary Beth rushed to my side, and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. Johnny began to talk. His words drifted around me,
"Violation of privacy... Unlawful... Any information... the felon..."
Then, the camera moved to Justin. His eyes stared at me, still red from tears. I could see their centers radiate blue, and they glued to my eyes, as if he was only looking at me, and not the entire world.
"I would first like to apologize," Justin began, "...to everyone and anyone who may be greatly affected by the pictures taken last night." Justin swallowed hard, but kept his eyes hooked on the camera. "I would like to apologize to anyone out there who feels that they can no longer respect me, Shelly, or even *N SYNC because of these pictures. I would like to also apologize to Chris, JC, Lance, Joey, Eric, Johnny, and anyone else involved in our careers, for any difficulties that these pictures cause in their careers or otherwise." Mary Beth's hand gripped mine tighter. Justin cleared his throat, and looked back at the camera. "Finally I want to personally apologize on behalf of the person who decided that they had the right to invade my personal life and private property, and expose an extremely intimate part of myself for their benefit. For the record, these pictures were taken without my consent, and I would never knowingly jeopardize my or Shelly's career." The press in the room began to shout questions at Justin. "Again, for whoever invaded my blatantly private life, and felt it necessary to expose it to the world," Justin said, as the commotion died down, "I am sorry. I do not apologize, however, for any of my actions last night. As a 22 year old, responsible adult, I am in a mature, committed, loving relationship, and I should not, nor do I apologize for that. I wish the public could have found this out under better circumstances, because I can honestly say, I have never been happier in my life. I believe that the issue here is, not whether or not what I did last night was moral or right, but whether or not the individual's decision to exploit my relationship was moral or right. I cannot change anything that has happened within the last 24 hours, but I hope that I have helped some people realize that Shelly and I are not the people who need to be judged in this issue. Thank you," Justin finished, and rose from his seat.
Flashes of light went off, and reporters yelled more questions, but Justin and Johnny were quietly led out of the room by security guards.
The hotel room was silent, and someone clicked off the TV. Mary Beth let go of my hand, and I felt all eyes on me. I finally let out a sigh.
"Wow..." I whispered.
"Yeah," I heard both JC and Lance's voice say.
"So what now?" Eric asked from his seat on the floor.
"We just see what happens, I guess... There's nothing more we can do," I said, gazing blankly into dead air.
"We perform... go on doing what we've been doing," Chris said from the desk chair.
"Yeah, I guess we'll see what the verdict is once we're on stage tonight," JC said, folding his legs under him on the bed, behind me. The phone rang, and JC picked it up. "Hello? Yeah, man... Hold on," JC said, and handed the phone to me, "It's him," JC told me.
"Hey baby..." I said into the phone, standing up and walking away from everybody. I heard Justin sigh heavily.
"I love you..." Justin finally said.
"I know, sweety," I said, softly.
"I'm on my way back," he said, tiredly.
"Ok, just come to JC's room. We're all here," I said.
"Could you do me a favor and tell everyone thanks, but I don't really feel like being with a bunch of people right now... I just want to be with you, if that's ok... until we have to leave for the venue," he said.
"Sure, baby I'll be in our room," I promised him.
"Ok, thanks... Be there soon..." Justin hung up.
I sighed and put the phone down on the receiver.
