"Hello?" she said sleepily. Glancing over, she saw 4:00 am in green digital numbers.
"Good morning Miss. Reid," Said a bubbly female voice on the other end. Karla had no clue who it was, nor did she care at that moment, sleep was her only priority.
"This is your wake up call--"
"At four in the morning! what is this a mitshubitshi commercial?" exclaimed Karla, coming half way to her senses.
"That's what we have you down for ma'am"
"Some one's getting fired for this...." Karla grunted listlessly into the phone.
Through the distant ringing in her ears, she could hear the woman sigh, before continuing her morning speech "have a nice day and enjoy your stay at the Clearwater Hotel"
Before Karla could wake herself up to say anything, she heard a dial tone. She reached over the nightstand and clumsily hung up the phone.
She lay there for a moment, mentally planning her day,It was her first day on tour, but there were things to do before the show too. she had a magazine interview with Bop, or one of those teeny bopper mag--she wasn't sure which one-- in the morning, a meeting with her manager over lunch, sound check, and then the show.
Her thoughts where interrupted by the unmistakable screech of the phone being off the hook. She slowly rolled over to her side to set the phone back on the receiver, and finally mustered up enough strength to force herself out of bed.
It seemed like it took an eternity to drag herself into the bathroom to prepare for the day. Karla could feel a sense of foreboding in her gut that made her very weary of what lay ahead. She shrugged it off as just being nerves… but it was more than that. This was what her life for the last 19 years had been coming to. This one performance could make it or brake it, and her fate rest in the hands of 6,000 fans… She shuddered at the thought as she pulled her toothbrush away from her mouth, and spit over the basin. "I can do this" she thought determinedly as she drowsily made her way out of the bathroom and into the small area reserved as a kitchenette.
"Now" she mumbled out loud as she rubbed her hands together "Coffee". With the combination of being up at 4 in the morning and the tasks ahead of her to day, she wished she had something stronger than coffee. A lot stronger.
"Wake up sleepyheads!" JC yelled to his band mates. He was already fully dressed in khaki pants and a black top. Lance was the first to respond.
"What?!" he said groggily.
"You heard me! C'mon, get up!"
"Why are you yelling at me? Go and bother him" Lance said slightly annoyed, as he sat up on his bed and looked over at Justin, peacefully sleeping in the bed next to his.
"Good point" Said JC clapping his hands together. He walked over to Justin and bent down low, so that his mouth was right in front of Justin's ear. Lance got up in spite of himself and walked around to the other side of the bed to get a better view. On his short trip over to Justin's bed, Lance wondered the odds that Jc was going to wake him up with out sustaining an injury. This was going to be interesting.
"JUSTIN RANDALL TIMBERLAKE, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP.... NOW!"Jc added when justin's sleeping figure didn't budge.
Justin woke with a start. "Dude..what the hell..." he began fuzzily.
Before he could respond, JC took his hand, led him to the bathroom door and shoved him inside. "Hey!" He protested.
JC sighed and rolled his eyes at Lance before shutting the door in front of Justin's pouting face.
"What about my Applejacks?!" his angry voice rang out, from behind the door. JC chose to ignore him.
"So, where are Joey and Chris?" Lance asked while pulling out an outfit from his luggage.
"I think they are getting ready." He sighed heavily. "God! Am I the only one around here who actually uses an alarm clock?!"
"Probably" Lance muttered without looking up from his bag.
JC mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Why me?" before slamming the door behind him. Justin ran out of the bathroom, with his shirt halfway over his head.
"Is he gone yet?!" He asked, though slightly muffled because of the shirt. "Yup. All clear." Lance said, looking up. He had to snigger at the sight Justin made right now. His hair was sticking up in every imaginable direction from under his backwards shirt, which he was still attempting to get over his head. unfortuantly, he couldn't see what lance could, which happened to be a wall looming ahead.
"Justin! WATCH OUT FOR THAT--"He cringed.
Too late. While Justin had been wrestling with his shirt, he managed to run headlong into the wall. Now from his position on the floor, Justin continued to fight with his shirt.Justin snarled at Lance's laughter. "Just wait till I get this shirt over my head..." He mumbled "I'm gonna..."
"what? teach him how to run into walls?" laughed Chris who had walked in just as Justin made contact with the wall. When he did finally get the shirt over his head, Their laughter doubled. JC and Joey hearing all the commotion walked in the room too. They looked at one another, attempting to hold back their laughter, but failed.
"What's so funny now?" Justin asked irritably "Dude-- you look like an overgrown Chia pet…" Joey chuckled. "by the way-good luck trying to button up that collar…"
"Collar? What collar?" he said looking down at the front of his shirt. "Try the back of your shirt" Lance chortled. Justin's hand found the back of his shirt where they stumbled upon his unbuttoned collar
"and you wonder why I don't where polo shirts" he grumbled "Well I'm glad you all found that so funny" Justin said huffily while getting to his feet and rubbing his backside.
Joey stopped laughing and gave his friend the most serious look he could give at the moment.
"At least your Afro broke your fall, I mean, we'd have no lead singer with out you--" An indignant grunt was issued from JC "-and how would that look in the papers? 'Nsyncer Justin Timberlake hospitalized due to severe head on collision with wall' and who'd be the cute blond?" at this Lance pouted crossly at his statement "Key word there is CUTE" Joey continued.
"Well if you'll excuse me I've got to--"
"Not so fast afro-ass. You've got 15 minutes to be down in the dining hall for a group er…discussion." The group, with the exception of JC groaned in unison. JC's idea of 'group discussion was him talking their ear off. Jc shot look at Chris, who was still beside himself with amusement. "See ya there. And if you aren't I'll straighten every curl in your nappy little head."
"This is the part where I start shaking in my boots, right?" Justin said in a sarcastic tone. JC shook his head and pushed Joey and Chris out the room, shutting the door behind him. Justin looked around the room "Now where are my apple Jacks?"
After a cup of coffee and a shower, Karla's nerves relaxed. Or at least to the point she wouldn't cringe at the thought of words like 'Concert' 'Career' and 'Nsync' As she sat on her bed trying to re-group herself, she felt her stomach flutter involuntarily at the thought of the group she was opening for tonight. Nsync and their manager had hand picked her for their 'No Strings Attached World Tour' their biggest tour yet. Which meant more media and exposure for her. She was just new to the whole fame thing and she felt as if it where a giant leap, But she was ready to embark on the new adventure. It seemed as though yesterday she had been singing in malls and on street corners for cash… and now she was living the lavish life; the rich and the famous. And yet, for that split second she wished herself back on a street corner somewhere.
But it was stupid, she told herself. People go Forward, not Backward. I'll never reach my dream if I keep thinking like this. Tonight is my night to shine.
Karla got up off her bed and glided over to the full-length mirror on the wall. She stared at her reflection, but not really seeing it all. She had to wonder sometimes why she had so many fans. She never really thought of her self as beautiful or something to look at. But average. But perhaps that was just her modesty coming into play here. She had an exotic, unique look about her that set her apart from all the golden girl goddesses before her.
Her shoulder length strawberry blond hair fell just below the nape of her neck in a pattern of soft waves. Her pale skin was blemish free and only needed a touch of make up to make her natural beauty shine through. Her eyes traveled the length of her shapely reflection. She stepped closer to the mirror to admire her eyes. They were the only features that she had ever really liked about herself. They were a steely gray color that could go from cold and harsh to warm and inviting in a snap.
While she appeared soft and shy from the outside, she had a fighting spirit and a determined will that shone through. Her reflection was the same Karla Reid that had always been, but the girl, the spirit... had changed. Over the last few months, her life had been like a whirlwind. Phone calls, auditions, performances. It had been hectic, but she enjoyed every moment of it. She had lived a hard life, and had learned how to be independent at an early age. She was still headstrong as ever, but a softer side was surfacing. She examined her self once more. The person she was becoming was the person she had dreamed of since she was a child. She'd gone from barely surviving, to touring with the nations hottest Boyband.
They're where times when she didn't even believe it. But she made herself believe it. It had been what she had worked at for most of her teen hood. It was hers. All hers, she had achieved this on her own. But after all that work she had no one to share her success with.
After all that climbing, she found she was just as lonely at the top as she was at the bottom.
The four guys rolled their eyes, as well as some of the crew who ate in the private hall. Once he saw that he'd gotten everybody's attention, he started gabbing away as usual. Joey leaned back in his chair and whispered to Chris.
"why does he have to be such a morning person?" he muttered, shooting a glance at Jc who was now pacing back and forth in front of his coffee and bagel.
"Maybe we could bound and gag him one night!" Chris said with an elfish smile creeping on his face. Joey suppressed a chuckle, but played it off as a cough, before pretending to listen to JC drone on.
He did a better job of putting people to sleep than actually waking them up, Joey thought as he pretended to drift off to sleep. Chris saw this out the corner of his eye and snorted softly, but not soft enough.
JC stopped from his morning speech and eyed him strangely. 'What's so funny?" he asked nettled.
"Nothing" Chris and Joey chorus while exchanging a look. JC returned to his speech, or as The other four members now called it 'The morning Monologue"
"Okay! We've got a busy day today! We have a meet N greet at Noon, followed by Sound check and the show. In between, though, we should work on that new choreography!" Everyone groaned.
"Oh joy!" Joey muttered sarcastically under his breath. "I can't wait!"
" Oh yeah, and we gotta meet up with one of our new opening acts, Karla Re…Re.." He paused trying to remember her last name.
"Reid" Said Lance thickly, due to the amount of French toast in his mouth.
"Read what?" Asked Justin from his applejacks.
"Books. wait I forgot--you don't know how to..."chris said adding his two cents.
Joey cracked up. "Shut up joey" Justin said crossly. "You can't talk I don't think you know how to either!"
Joey rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what about reading?" justin asked turning his attention back to JC.
"KARLA Reid! Jeez Justin TRY to stay in the conversation" Said JC in an exasperated tone. "Anyway" he said continuing his pacing "She's the only one we haven't met up with since the audition… so perhaps we should welcome her to the tour, make her feel at home, yadda yadda yadda" Everyone mumbled in agreement.
"So it's set then! We'll do it after sound check if she's not busy." After seeing the others nod, JC resumed with his breakfast, and the meal continued with an occasional burst of conversation and the clatters of silverware.
After Breakfast was finished, They sat and talk a bit more about the day ahead. Lance excused himself, so he could go back to the room and review some papers for his management company. Right about now, He'd be more than happy to be up to his ears in work if it meant quiet time. He loved the guys with all his heart, but everyone needs some quiet time.
The tour schedule was hectic, he was tired and he was less cheerful than usual. He just wanted some solitude. Besides, he told himself, this management company was never going to get off the ground unless he found time to work on it.
After breaking herself away from her thoughts, Karla finally realized just how hungry she was. It was now 6:00 and her coffee was long gone. She had a choice of going into the reserved dining hall or finding something in the kitchen. She opted for scouring the tiny kitchen. She was still a bundle of nerves and need all the R&R she could get.
After eating a breakfast comprised of toast and a second cup of coffee, she decide to explore the hotel a bit, as she reasoned that sitting around worrying about that evening wouldn't make it stop coming. Gathering up her dishes and laying them on the counter, she set off for down stairs.
