Claudia sat in the control room of the recording studio, her eyes closed, listening closely to the R&B music that was being created around her. A young Puerto Rican girl sang into a microphone in the recording booth across from her, singing along to the music with perfection. Claudia tapped her foot to the rhythm and pressed buttons on the controls in front of her.

    When the chorus ended, Claudia turned off the music. She pressed the speaker button, to speak to the girl at the microphone.

    “You’re doing a great job so far Ashley. It’s really coming along,” Claudia encouraged the girl. “I think we’re done for the day.”

    “Okay great! Thanks so much for everything today, Claude.”

    “No problem, girl. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

    The girl took off her headphones and exited the recording studio. Just as she left, a tall, blonde man with wire rimmed glasses, joined Claudia in the control room. “How’d Ashley do today?” her supervisor and friend, Jack, asked her.

    Claudia could never help but notice how good-looking Jack is. Strong set shoulders, a nose slightly to large for his face that didn’t take away from his looks. He was well built, and always seemed to show it off with his slightly taut, sexy shirts. He had a smart and sophisticated look, with white pearls for teeth and gorgeous hazel eyes that shone when he smiled.

    “Very well,” Claudia responded, tucking a strand of her dark, curly hair behind her ear.

    “Everything’s going great so far. Her voice is great, the song is great…I think we’ve really got something here, Jack.”

    “That’s good news. I’m glad you feel that she has so much potential.”

    “Oh, I’m sure she’s got potential in the music business. Fans really appreciate someone who has a lot of talent and can write their own music but at the same time, be down-to-earth and have a charming personality like hers.”

    “You seem to be in a particularly good mood,” Jack commented, noticing the smile on her face and the glow in her eye.

    “How could I not be? I’ve got a job doing what I love: music, helping people create music that they can call their own. It always puts me in a good mood.”

    “I’m glad to hear that. Since you love to help people so much I’ve got a favor to ask of you,“ he began as he searched through some CDs on a shelf.

    “Sure, what is it?”

    “We’ve got a writer/producer working with Jive who’s been having a lot of difficulty lately.”

    “Difficulty? Can you be more specific?” Claudia queried.

    “Writer’s block.”

    “Oh sure,” she said sarcastically, with a playful roll of her green eyes, “you stick me with the one who’s got writer’s block, of all things.”

    “I’m asking you because I know you’re good at helping writers get their ideas onto paper. This particular guy seems to have a few good ideas, but he just can’t get them to come out right.”

    Claudia scoffed. “Well that doesn’t seem like much of a challenge; I’ll talk to him about his ideas, organize them, specify the message he’s trying to get across, play around with some beats, create some hooks…”

    “…He’s a little more complex than that,” Jack interrupted.

    “Complex?” Claudia laughed at his choice of words. “Complex how?”

    “Well, I suppose stubborn is a better word. Would you please try talking to him?”

    “I suppose so. Name the time and place.”

    “Right now, studio seven.”

    “Right now?” Claudia groaned, jokingly. “Alright.”

    “The sooner you help him, the better. He’s been having a rough time lately, I think this guy is on the verge of a nervous breakdown or something.”

    A nervous breakdown?

    But he was on his way out of the studio before she could say anything else. Claudia collected her things and made her way down the long hallway to recording studio number seven. She entered the lounge that was alongside both the control room and the recording booth, and peeked in the small window on the door of the control room. Sure enough, she found who she was looking for.

    At least, I think this is who I’m looking for, I never even asked Jack what this guy’s name is, she realized.

    Before entering the control room, she observed the man through the small window. Claudia guessed that he was in his early thirties, only a few years older than herself, but the circles under his eyes, and stress lines on his face made him appear older than he probably was.

    The man was singing and talking to himself as he played the large keyboard that sat in front of him. His fingers fumbled on the keys. He tried again, then stopped playing to scribble out something on the paper in front of him, then continued. For the next few minutes, he continued to struggle to find the notes that satisfied him. Unable to find what he was looking for, he slammed his hand down on the keys in frustration, and held his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the keys.

    As she watched this frustrated man, she couldn’t help but think that he looked familiar. Yes, he definitely looked familiar, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

    For the next moment or two, she racked her brain, searching her memory bank for his face. Suddenly, a light bulb clicked on in her head.

    Oh there’s no way… could it really be…? She studied his features more closely. Yes, it was him. He looked just as Claudia remembered him from years before, only older, and jaded.

    His dark hair combed gently away from his face, the strong jaw line, the deep sea-blue eyes…it was him alright.

    She knocked softly on the door. When he didn’t appear to notice, she pushed down on the door handle and opened it just enough for her slender figure to fit through it and closed it gently behind her, barely making a sound.

    He didn’t hear her come in. He kept his head down, looking at the keyboard that he was playing once again, humming to himself.

    “JC?” she called meekly, wishing she didn’t have to interrupt him.

    He was clearly preoccupied, and Claudia was not one to interrupt a musician at work. But she was intrigued, and couldn’t stop herself.

    She was curious about his current career, and what he had been doing for the last few years. She was dying to talk the man that she had been a fan of for so long.

    When he didn’t look up from the keyboard she called out again, slightly louder this time. But still he didn’t look up. She cleared her throat and spoke more loudly again. “JC!”

    Finally, he stopped playing and looked up at the young women beside him, just sort of staring at her wordlessly, as if he was trying to figure out who she was, or what she was doing there.

    “Having trouble finding the tune you hear in your head?” she asked, nodding towards the keyboard.

    “Excuse me?”

    She didn’t miss the sharpness of his tone. Nervously, she cleared her throat and tried to straighten out the wrinkles forming in her black pants. “I’m Claudia Jenkins. I apologize for interrupting you, I can see that you’re busy.”

    He didn’t speak for a moment and continued to stare at her. “Yes, I am quite busy, I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said in a flat tone as he turned back to the keyboard to press a few buttons. “And by the way, my name is Josh. I don’t go by JC anymore,” he told her rather bitterly.

    “Oh,” she said, surprised by his harsh tone. “Um, I’m sorry, Josh,” she corrected herself, uneasily.

    “Can I help you with something? I really need to get back to work.” His voice was tired, and agitated by her disturbance.

    “Well, actually I was wondering if I could help you.”

    Josh turned in his swivel chair to look at her blankly. “What is that supposed to mean?” he demanded as calmly as he could.

    “You see, my supervisor, Jack, told me that you’ve been having some trouble lately getting your ideas out onto paper. One of my strengths is helping people organize their ideas. So, we thought that maybe---”

    “He said that I had been having some trouble, huh?” he interrupted.

    Claudia stared at him, not knowing what he meant by that.

    He raised his voice at her. “So you think that you can just walk in here and expect me to stop what I’m doing, to let some young, inexperienced, know-it-all, who thinks she knows exactly what I want and what I feel, come in here so she can just fix all of my writing problems with the blink of an eye?”

    Claudia blinked a few times in shock and was taken aback by his angry comments. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but she had no idea what to say.

    “That’s what I thought,” he retorted and turned back to the keyboard. “Thank you for nothing, and have a nice day.”

    Claudia stood at the door, not sure exactly what to do. Jack had said this guy would be stubborn, but this guy was JC, and he wasn’t being stubborn he was just being downright rude!

    Noticing that she hadn’t left, he spoke up again. “Obviously, you don’t take hints very well, so let me be blunt here.” He stood up from his chair to approach her. “I don’t appreciate you wasting my valuable time, so please leave. Goodbye.” He ushered her out the door and closed it forcefully behind her.

    Claudia was still speechless. Never had anyone been so cold and rude to her. She huffed and turned quickly on her heel to find Jack. She searched the entire floor with no sign of him. And realizing it was time to go home, she assumed Jack had already left. She went to her office to gather her things and angrily drove home.

    Claudia shivered as she closed the door to her two-story apartment behind her, shutting out the bitter cold wind.

    “Nicole, you home?” Claudia called into the apartment as she shrugged off her coat.

    Nicole came out of her bedroom and down the stairs. “Yeah I’m here. What’s up with you?”

    “What do you mean what’s up with me?” Claudia asked, hanging up her coat and walking into the kitchen.

    “You look…disturbed.”

    “I don’t know, I guess I’m just upset about this guy I met at work today,” she replied, opening the refrigerator to pull out a V8.

    “Ooohhh, you met a guy? What’s his name? Is he good-looking?” Nicole questioned, moving her eyebrows up and down playfully.

    “No, I don’t mean I met a guy. I’ve got Jacob, remember? Why would I need to meet other guys?”

    “I won’t answer that question,” she muttered. “Anyway continue with your story.” Nicole grabbed a yogurt out the fridge and boosted herself up onto the counter.

    “You’ll never guess who this guy is,” Claudia began after sipping her V8.

    “Okay I give up, who is he?”

    “JC Chasez.”

    Nicole stared at her blankly for a moment. “Is this the part that is supposed to intrigue me? I’m lost.”

    “You know that boy band, NSYNC, that disappeared a few years ago?” Claudia asked, leaning against the counter opposite Nicole.

    “Ah, the boy bands. Who could forget ‘em?”

    “JC was one of the lead singers. That’s who I met today.”

    “Oh great, so you met the boy band hunk you were dreaming about when you were 15, big deal.”

    “No, he was just… so different than I expected him to be.”

    “Let me guess, it turns out that he’s charming and romantic, even after the breakup of his band. So you guys fell in love at first sight and now you’re planning to run away with the dreamy teen idol that you’ve always secretly loved. A teeny-bopper’s dream come true. You best not let The National Enquirer get a hold of this information or you might have a few overgrown teeny-boppin’ stalkers on your hands,” Nicole warned, brandishing a spoon at her.

    Claudia rolled her eyes at her friend’s sarcastic dramatization. “Actually, it was quite the opposite. I expected him to be nice and friendly like he used to be, but he was a complete jerk.”

    “Typical,” Nicole scoffed, shaking her head. “An ego-crushed musician, kicked out and rejected by the music business, abandoned by his boy band buddies, and left struggling to create successful solo albums.”

    “The second I walked in there, he was bitter and jumped down my throat, just for trying to help him. And then he kicked me out! I mean, Jack warned me that he would be stubborn, but he forgot to mention that someone had beaten him with a bastard stick as well.”

    “Ooh! Those are harsh words coming from a sweet little girl like yourself.”

    “I have never met anyone who could be so rude and… and such a jerk to a perfectly innocent woman who is just trying to help!”

    Nicole jumped down from the counter. “Well, I hate to break it to ya sweetie, but not everyone’s Miss Manners, like you.”

    “But the audacity he has to treat someone like that…”

    “So maybe he was in a bad mood. Try talking to him tomorrow, and don’t be forceful about it. Be his friend first, and then once he trusts you, offer your assistance.”

    Claudia let out a short sigh. “I suppose you’re right. Not everyone is going to jump at the first sign of a helping hand. Some people are just more independent than that.”

    “You got it.” Nicole left the kitchen and sprawled out on the sofa in the living room and turned on the TV. “So when is lover-boy coming back from Chicago?” she asked.

    Claudia joined her in the living room and sat on the loveseat. “I don’t know, he never said. Has he called?”

    “Nope.”

    “Didn’t think so.” They were both quiet for a moment. “He never even wished me a happy anniversary,” she realized. “He left in such a hurry, I didn’t get a chance to say it either.”

    “Well it wasn’t very ‘happy’ anyway, I mean, you were here with me all night, picking mushrooms off your pizza, and getting woozy off the smell of nail polish…not much of an anniversary if you ask me.”

    “No, I suppose not,” Claudia agreed quietly, picking at the seam on the pillow in her lap.

    Nicole turned her eyes from the T.V to watch her friend curiously. “Don’t you get sick of it?”

    “Sick of what?“ Claudia asked, even though she knew exactly where this conversation was going.

    “He works late hours then brings work home with him, he always has to leave town and cancels plans at the last minute … it’s always something different; a meeting, a business dinner…I don’t know if I would trust a guy who did that to me all the time. I mean, who knows what his doing on those so called business trips of his, he doesn’t even call.”

    Claudia looked up at her friend sharply. “Jacob would never cheat on me, I know him better than that.”

    “Alright, I’m sorry I said it,” she acquiesced. Under her breath she muttered: “But he sure does make me suspicious.”

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