AN: Feedback truly makes my day. Ya'll rock my world, nuff said. Enjoy chapter six! inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com *********************** Nightmare of a Lifetime: Chapter Six ********************* Perry was reading through the film briefs for next week's show. Unlike most of MTV's reality series, unlike most reality series period, "Tour of a Lifetime" was on a constantly updated schedule. Episodes were aired a week or two after they were taped which meant that Nicole had little to no time to edit through hours of footage. So, obviously, she couldn't watch it. That's what assistant were for. There was a literal army of interns reviewing days of footage twenty four seven so that they could present her with brief, typed summaries and a tentative outline of each episode. Perry had final say about what could go in or not, aside from confidentiality agreements reached with *NSYNC themselves, but she usually didn't see anything but a very rough cut of footage before the first airing. Perry worked best under pressure and enjoyed laughing at herself as much as the rest of the country did after she okayed a particular scene or two without really recalling what had made them so memorable before they aired before millions of viewers. That's part of the reason why Malcom had pushed for her to host. Aside from the non Britney and non teeny perks, Nicole was hardly afraid to make a fool out of herself on the camera. In that she shared the same quirky honest vulnerability that had helped make "The Osbournes" such a smashing success. That was currently making "Tour of a Lifetime" the most talked about show of the season. She tossed the summary on the best and stretched, tattooed arms stretched high over head as she resisted the urge to fall back onto the comfortable bed she was sprawled upon and sleep, truly, truly, sleep. But she wanted to shower and Bill was in the shower at the moment. Nicole sighed. MTV just couldn't make things easy on anyone. It would have made sense for her to just room on a different floor along with some of the female crew members but that put her out of direct twenty four hour contact with the boys. She had refused the idea of rotating bedrooms with them, as had *NSYNC's management, so she and Bill were stuck sharing a double room at every hotel for three months. She had fumed at the time but in the end it wasn't so bad. Nicole had certainly survived worse and Bill was happily married to a very understanding woman who worked make up for MTV's studio shows like TRL. Her cell phone rang and Perry reached for it, taking the call without checking caller id. "You've reached boy band hell, may I help you?" "Perry?" She sighed. "Hi Malcolm, what's up?" "Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing. What's going on over there?" Nicole rolled her dark eyes and laid gingerly back on the comforter, cursing her aching lower back. "Nothing much. Bill's taking a shower and I'm reviewing briefs for the next show. Nothing too exciting." The pointed silence at the other end made her shift. "And the boys?" "Going clubbing I think. They're getting into the swing of touring I guess, have some excess energy even after the show and everything." "And I'm assuming that you're going to be going with them right?" Perry's brows raised to the ceiling. "Bad assumption there Malcom considering I'm in my pajamas and have no plans to change out of them." She heard him sigh over the phone and tensed. She knew what was coming, the bastard, knew it like movie stars knew when middle age was coming. That didn't mean, like movie stars, that she had to accept it gracefully. Perry would fight him with metaphorical liposuction and tummy tucks if that's what it took. "You know Perry, I've read the briefs too and I've seen a lot of things, but I've yet to see you spend any actual quality time with the boys." Nicole snorted. "They aren't my friggin children Malcom. And what the hell do you call twelve hours a day on a freaking bus?!" "I call that boring Nicole. MTV negotiated and paid for full access. We want everything, you know that, bus, concert, and after. I want to see you at after parties, clubs, and group orgies. I want you with those boys from the moment they wake up until they pass out in their beds, even if you have to be in their beds to get the footage, okay?" She glared at the phone, barely registering Bill coming out in sweats and a shirt as he casually reached for his ever present camera and switched it on. Perry had the tendency to ignore what she didn't want to see and being filmed for every waking breath was hardly a dream come true, as much as she enjoyed her job, most of the time. "You're not serious." "I'm more serious than you can believe. I put you on this show cause you're the only person I've ever met who can and will do exactly what they're supposed to. Do your job Nicole. I don't want to have to make this call again." Her face went white as she stared at the phone and her fingers curled around it with a rage so palpable she shook with it. There was five seconds of pure silence before there was an abrupt click and a very loud dial tone. "BASTARD!" The cell phone smashed against the nearest wall with a satisfying crack and subsequent shatter as Nicole Perry was up and raging. "How dare he, that cold hearted son of a bitch! I DO my freaking job better than any of them, any of them! I work twenty hour days, I slave, I demean myself, I follow a bloody BOY BAND on a three month tour! I have no privacy and fewer friends. And he has the nerve, THE NERVE, to tell me how to work, how to run my show, MY SHOW! Well fuck him!" Bill blinked as the sudden fury of her blazing black gaze flickered to him and the camera he held. She growled savagely and jumped off the bed, stalking past him with the collected dignity of a charging rhino, flipping off the camera as she hotel room, slamming the door with a crash loud enough the molding cracked. ******************************************************************************** All five boys were standing outside in the hallway with the body guards hovering nearby, dressed to the nines and ready to party. They jumped, almost in unison, as a very irate Nicole Perry flew out of her room wearing bunny pajama bottoms so big a good six inches dragged on the floor and they rode low on her hips and a Black Sabbath tank top. Her short red hair was sticking in a thousand different directions and she would have been adorably laughable if her face didn't scream bloody murder. They jumped again as she savagely closed her room door and strode past, flipping them all off with casual ease and a vague but remarkably obscene insult from snarling lips. *NSYNC stared at her with wide eyes as she walked to the end of the hall where the elevator was and jabbed the down button, repeatedly. ******************************************************************************** Her room opened timidly as a pale faced camera man peered out, camera in shaking hand. "What the hell happened?" Chris hissed. Bill swallowed, heavily. "She had a bit of a disagreement with Malcom and MTV I think." "You think?! Is she gonna be okay?" Bill shrugged helplessly. "Hell if I know." They all glanced superstitiously down the length of the hall. "Someone should go after her," Lance finally said, deep voice soft. "She shouldn't be left alone." They stared at each other before Justin sighed, "Straws." Lance, with a curse, jogged after Perry as Bill, with a sigh of his own and a prayer for his continued safety and well being, followed doggedly, camera still in hand. ******************************************************************************** The elevator opened with a ding, blessedly empty, and Nicole sighed as she stepped in, only to curse brightly, feverently, and creatively, as Lance Bass stepped bravely in as the door shut with another ding in the face of MTV's camera man. ******************************************************************************** In the aftermath of Nicole's fury the remaining members of *NSYNC and their bodyguards stood in appreciative silence before Chris raised his hand. "So, who thinks that was a hell of a lot more fun than any club?" Justin groaned as Dan the bodyguard, who stood next to Joey, snickered.