The lead of the pencil snapped mid-scrawl. Just her luck!
She threw the pencil and her eyes followed it as it spun through the air, bounced once, before settling on the grey carpeting of the office.
With her latest distraction now across the room, her eyes searched for something else to do to occupy her.
The nervous tension was building and she couldn’t stop fidgeting. She slumped in the chair with a loud sigh.
She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them she spotted a pen. Her arm stretched across the desk, her hand reaching for the blue Bic.
“You dare!”
Her head flew up. “What?” she asked, her eyes wide with innocence.
The person across the room gave her a look of warning. “I know you’re not going to start tapping that pen on that desk."
Madeline looked down at the pen between her fingers and realised that was probably exactly what she was going to do. Sheepishly her fingers released the pen and it rolled onto the wooden desktop.
Satisfied, the woman across the room returned to her work.
With nothing else to do Maddy began to twirl strands of her dark hair around her finger, listening to the tapping of the keyboard across the room.
The tapping stopped abruptly and an exasperated sigh was heard. “How long?”
“Huh?”
A pair of eyes rolled. “You’ve been driving me crazy all morning and I assume it’s because of your interview. How long until you go in?”
“Fifteen Minutes,” Maddy groaned.
“Maddy, you have it in the bag, relax.”
“That’s okay for you to say, Jamie, you’re already going on the tour, you already have a secure job.”
“And so will you. You’re going to give yourself a coronary if you’re not careful, and at this rate you’re going to drag me right along with you!”
“I’m sorry.” She paused for a second before the umpteenth negative comment of the day passed through her lips. “I’m positive I’m going to blow it.”
A frustrated growl escaped the young woman. Patience was a virtue and Jamie Johnson was fast running out of it, no thanks to one Madeline Foster. “Maddy I’ve seen some of the applicants, I think you’re in pretty good stead.”
“Really?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes!” she reassured her. “Along with the fact that Gary knows you, and the good word that I put in for you, I think it’s all but yours. Now will you chill out?”
She nodded. “I’ll try.”
Jamie threw her hands up. “Praise the Lord!”
She waited for the sound. Click! There it was. With the door firmly shut, she finally allowed the grin to appear.
As calmly as she could, she walked down the hall towards the elevator, gaining only a few strange looks on the way.
She stepped into the empty elevator, pressed the button for the third floor, and turned to watch the doors slide shut.
As soon as she felt the downwards motion she let go. “Yes!” she cried, pumping a fist in the air.
They liked her. They were impressed. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air, before letting it all out in a ‘whoosh’.
Calm down, you don’t know for sure yet.
But it was looking good.
Tomorrow she’d find out. They had one more person to see but Gary Wilson, the tour manager, had hinted that she should pack her bags, that within the month she’d be out on the road.
After a year as an intern she was looking for a new challenge, and with school finishing she needed a job.
About a month back Jamie had told her about the job opening. She’d enjoyed working alongside Jamie and everyone else at Jive, so when the chance to continue there had come up she’d jumped at it. She’d get to travel, get paid at the same time, and the real perk – she’d get to see him on a regular basis. Who wouldn’t want a job like that?
First and foremost she was doing this for herself; she was keeping that clear in her mind. She couldn’t deny that being closer to him would be nice, but she would not revolve her life around something that, at the moment, seemed to be no more than a crush.
She shook her head. She didn’t need to be thinking about that at the moment.
The doors opened on her floor and she stepped out into the hall. She made her way back to her desk, a lot more relaxed than when she’d left it not an hour ago.
“Well?” Jamie asked, glancing up from the papers she was reading.
Maddy’s grin said it all.
“Didn’t I tell you everything would be fine? But who listens to Jamie? No one!”
“I think I did okay.” She shrugged.
“Okay? Girl your face is gonna split if that grin gets any bigger. I think you did a little better than okay.”
“We’ll see.”
“What are you two gossiping about?”
The two women turned. “We’re not gossiping, we’re working,” Jamie insisted.
“So that’s what they’re calling it these days.” JC leant down and kissed Jamie on the cheek.
“Hon, your so-called job involves you prancing around a stage, thrusting your hips at girls in training bras, don’t talk to me about work!”
He clutched his chest. “Straight to the heart.” He knew she was joking, she loved to tease him and her smirk only confirmed it.
Maddy looked wistfully at the couple. She failed to notice the person who had followed JC into the room until he planted himself on the edge of her desk.
“Lance!” She was shocked to find him there let alone sitting so close.
“Hey,” he grinned.
She tried not to lose it then and there. That smile, those eyes, it was enough to turn her into a pathetic ball of mush. She took a calming breath. “What’s up?” She pushed her hair behind her ears but nearly died on the spot when she pulled her hand away and found her hair attached to her ring. She tugged, trying to release it. Way to go Maddy, that’s sure to impress him, show him what a klutz you are!
Lance chuckled. “Here, let me.” He reached out, taking her hand in one of his and with the other he gently untangled the hair. Seconds later he brought her hand down and placed it on her lap. “There, all done.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled, her cheeks flushed.
“No problem.” He suddenly remembered his reason for being there. “Joey’s having a party tonight, wanna come?”
Of course she had nothing planned as usual. Her life was pathetically boring and most nights you could find her curled up on the sofa watching game shows. She had a realisation: that’s what her grandmother did. She truly was pathetic.
Now she had two options. She could go the ‘playing hard to get’ route and pretend she had previous plans. Option number two, well, she could agree to go and look like she had no life, what with it being Friday night and all.
“Sounds like fun, what time?” Well she wasn’t stupid! Lance was a busy man and who knew when or if he’d ask her again.
“It’s kicking off around eight I think, I’ll pick you up around about then.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Lance swivelled. “Hey loverboy, we’ve gotta meet Johnny in ten!”
JC waved Lance away, not even turning from his girlfriend. “I’ll meet you there.”
Lance rolled his eyes at Maddy. “If he hasn’t left in five minutes can you kick him out?”
She laughed. “Sure.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you tonight.”
She nodded. “Tonight,” she confirmed.
She watched him go and then turned back to the happy couple. They were oblivious to her presence.
Jamie and JC. JC and Jamie. Whatever way you said it, the names belonged together.
They’d somehow managed to survive this fame thing. It wasn’t too hard to tell how when you saw them together. They were the epitome of the perfect couple.
They were enough to make you sick at times, but what they had was what everyone around them wanted, nobody would deny them of the happiness they’d found with each other.
From what Maddy gathered, they had met during *NSYNC’s first US tour. Years later it appeared they were still going strong.
Maddy wanted what they had. In her mind her Mr Perfect was none other than Lance Bass. From the moment he had knocked on her office door to welcome ‘the new girl’, as she’d been dubbed at the time, she had had a weak spot for him. Months after, she had finally had a breakthrough, or so she’d thought at the time. Lance had invited her along on a night out with the guys, some of their girlfriends, and friends.
Their current record – six dates in as many months. It was hardly what you could call a relationship. He had even invited her along to a cousin’s wedding but nothing had come of it, he would always go back to treating her as he did every other woman around him – friendly, with respect but not at all affectionate.
Maddy and Lance. Lance and Maddy. Or should that be Madeline and Lance… Lance and Madeline. Damn, maybe it should be James and Madeline. “Ugh!” she cried. “I’m going mad!”
She blushed when she saw the two confused but slightly amused faces. “Don’t say a word,” she mumbled. “JC you better get going before you get your butt kicked.”
He sighed. “You’re right.” He kissed Jamie quickly on the lips. “I’ll see you later. Bye Maddy!”
“See ya, JC.”
Jamie swatted him on the butt as he walked out of the room. “Hey! Keep your hands off my butt!” He lowered his voice slightly. “At least while we’re in the office.” He winked at her before he disappeared.
Jamie’s mouth gaped in shock before a giggle escaped.
“You two are too much,” Maddy sighed.
“So what did Lance want?”
Maddy squirmed in her seat a little. “To see if I wanted to go to Joey’s tonight.”
“That’s a good thing isn’t it?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
Jamie was all too familiar with Maddy’s and Lance’s dating status. She sympathised with her situation and thanked her lucky stars that her and JC were at a point where they knew what they both wanted. They were sure of each other’s feelings and that was a comfort in itself. “Maddy, he obviously likes you, he wouldn’t keep asking you out if he didn’t.”
She wanted to believe her, and there must have been some truth in her statement, but the fact remained that Lance didn’t seem to want to make this ‘thing’ they had anything more than it was. There it was again – ‘thing’. How else was she supposed to define what they had? At best it was a casual relationship. But she wanted more. She knew, if she got this job, that this tour would be make or break between them.
Chapter 2
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