She pushed her way
through the crowded room, the loud music blaring in her ears like thunder.
Emma had thought this was a great idea.
Surprising JC like this. Boy, was he going to be surprised.
After three long months apart, Emma
had finally given into her emotions and gone out and got a flight out to
Europe where JC was touring.
It just wasn’t the same talking to
him over the phone. Three months apart was just too long.
She had purchased the ticket on impulse, a habit she had just recently picked
up. But she had a few days off from her job as a nurse at Orlando Memorial
and she had decided right away that going to visit JC was the perfect getaway.
If only she knew where he was.
It was barely night time and already
the European club was packed. Drinks were being served at the bar by one
bartender, a man that looked just about JC’s age, but only his hair was a
little lighter, and his eyes were a dark green.
Emma looked over the heads of the many
people that were getting in her way. They weren’t making it any easier for
her to spot JC.
She knew he was here because the group’s
manager had told her so when she had been picked up in a limo by one of Chris’
bodyguards.
None of the five guys had any clue
that she was coming. If they had known, they wouldn’t have been able to keep
it a secret from JC. Particularly Joey who liked to spill the beans on a
lot of Emma’s surprises.
It didn’t take Emma long before she
spotted Justin on the dance floor, grinding with some blonde girl.
She turned in the other direction and
saw Chris and Lance sitting at one of the many tables that were in the club,
each drinking beer.
Joey, on the other hand, was dancing
with four different women.
Emma laughed to herself and walked
over to the table where Lance and Chris looked to be having a heated conversation.
“Hey guys,” she said.
Not only were they surprised that she
was there in Europe, right in front of them, but they were surprised because
they knew how much Emma hated clubs.
Chris took another sip of his beer.
He kept his hand on the handle of the beer mug, grasping it tightly. “Hey…what
are you doing here?” he asked.
Emma didn’t sit down, though Lance
offered her a spot beside him. “I came to surprise JC,” she said. “Do you
know where he is?”
Lance and Chris just looked at each
other, avoiding eye contact with Emma.
“No.” Lance got up and extended his
hand to hers, trying to distract her anyway he could. “Want to dance?”
“Why are you guys acting so strange?”
she asked, getting a little impatient. “Where is JC?”
Lance and Chris looked at each other
again.
“Would someone just tell me?” she demanded.
Chris got up quickly from his chair.
“He’s um…at the hotel.” He didn’t want to be the one to be questioned as
of why JC was back at the hotel, but he couldn’t just leave.
Emma turned her attention back to Lance,
who had just drank the rest of his beer. “Was he tired?” she asked.
“You could say that,” Chris said, with
just a hint of a smirk.
“What does that mean?” Emma asked.
“Was he tired or not?”
“Emma, it’s good to see you,” Lance
said, trying to make her forget about JC long enough that he could think
of another plan.
Emma gave Lance a look. She wanted
to know what was going on. Why her boyfriend wasn’t with his friends, and
why Lance and Chris were acting so strange. Stranger than usual.
“Okay, okay.” Lance walked over to
Emma. “Chris didn’t mean it that way. JC is in his hotel room, but not in
his.”
She got a look of confusion. “Why would
he do that?”
“He was kind of drunk. And someone
took him to their hotel room,” Lance said, refraining from telling her whether
it was a guy or a girl who JC was with.
A second later anger shot in her eyes.
“Was it a guy or a girl?”
“A girl,” Chris coughed out.
Emma didn’t know what was going on
for sure, but she didn’t like the idea of some girl being in her hotel room
with her boyfriend while his girlfriend was miles away. It scared her.
“Listen Emma, I’m sure it’s nothing.
JC got drunk and some girl took him to her hotel room, that’s all,” Lance
said.
To Emma, that didn’t sound like nothing.
JC wouldn’t just let some girl take him back to her hotel room for a stupid
reason like he was drunk. He would have gotten one of the guys to take him
back to HIS hotel room.
Emma stared at him. Did he not hear
what he just said? That didn't sound like nothing at all. “How stupid are
you? A girl took him to her hotel room and he's drunk. What does that tell
you?”
Lance put a hand on her shoulder. “JC
wasn't drunk. He was sober. He kinda left with the girl willingly.”
Chris glared at Lance across the table.
“That’s not true,” Chris protested. “JC was drunk.”
Lance didn’t reply, he wrote something
on one of the bar’s napkins and handed it to Emma, who took it and stuffed
it into her jacket pocket.
“This is her hotel room number,” he
said. “I’m sure he can explain everything. Don’t worry, nothing is going
on between them. JC loves you.”
Emma didn’t doubt that he didn’t, but
she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. JC hadn’t called her in a
few days. That alone made Emma suspicious.
She smiled a little then started to
walk away but then turned around. “Thanks guys.” She walked out of the club
and took a cab back to the hotel.
Whatever she was about to find out,
Emma had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like it.
Chris turned back to his drink, and
he found the glass empty. He grabbed Lance’s off the table.
“I’ll get us some more. We’re going
to need it.”