The group that consisted of Joey, JC, Chris and Jamie all sat in a private room in the back of the steak house. Two men stood beside the door, and another at the back exit. The guys all sat and chatted as if nothing were out of the ordinary about being held captive in this room. They thought nothing of the fact that simply stepping out to go to the bathroom could be fatal. The thought of freedom didn’t enter their minds that night as they pretended that they were normal, and that just their name could cause a frenzy.
Jamie sat and pondered this thought as she sipped on some lemonade. Her blond hair was pulled back out of her face, her pony tail slightly curled. She wore a plain pair of blue jeans and a fitted white t-shirt with a red sweater covering her chilled arms. She felt underdressed, looking at the other customers through the slight gap in the door, but a glimpse at the men beside her eased those fears. They were all comfortable in jeans, Chris in khakis. Either a t-shirt or a button down adorned their torsos, and Joey wore a worn baseball cap, advertising the New York Yankees.
A slight commotion at the door caused her to break her trance and look up. The door had opened wider, and one of the guards stood there, giving a young man a hard time. Jamie’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes traveled the length of this man. He wore jeans that set on his lean hips lightly, looking as if they would slip off if he made any sudden movement, but a belt made of tan suede was there to keep that from happening. A green long sleeved T-shirt was tucked into his jeans, and the sleeves were pushed up to his elbows. Although the shirt wasn’t fitted, Jamie could tell that the body that lay hidden underneath was lean and muscular. His chest rose and fell in a fit of laughter and she could almost feel the definition of his body.
Her eyes continued upward over his muscular jaw, a jaw that was clearly defined, with the slightest bit of scruff growing on his chin. His lips were curved into a slight smile and Jamie felt her heart rate rise as he licked those lips. When she could finally pull her eyes away from his mouth she found his eyes and her palms suddenly started to sweat. They were a blue that she had never seen before, specked with slivers of silver and outlined with a darker sapphire. They were clear and almost mystical as they turned to land on her. She jumped slightly, and looked away quickly, embarrassed that she was caught staring. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, Jamie couldn’t help but look back at this man that had appeared in the doorway. She glanced and was relieved to see that he had turned away, and was again in a conversation with the guard at the door. She paused to wonder who this man was, and if he belonged to the group *NSYNC, but her question was soon answered as Lance suddenly walked up behind him and addressed him as Justin.
Jamie turned away from them, and glanced down into her glass. She watched the ice swirl as she moved the straw around, desperate to ignore the feelings festering inside of her. She wondered what would happen when they finally met, what they would say, but she needn’t have wondered too long because Chris soon called her over.
“Jamie, I want you to meet Justin. Justin, this is Jamie Tanning, that new artist I was telling you about.” Justin shook her hand quickly and offered a cool hello. He then turned away and began a conversation with the other members of the group. If Chris noticed his sudden rudeness, he didn’t say anything as he joined in their laughter. Jamie was shocked that Justin could be so cold, when everything else about him was so warm and inviting. She shrugged the feelings off, addressing them as sudden attraction and nothing more, and then returned to her lemonade.
Everyone else took their seats around the table, and the waiter took their orders. Soon there was a noisy and laughter filled conversation and Jamie was left to her thoughts. She knew nothing of what they were talking about, and she began to question weather or not she belonged here. Not necessarily with the group of men that surrounded her, but here, in their world. Worlds were music was your first passion, and most of the time you pushed everything aside for that, even privacy. She wasn’t left much time to ponder when Lance engaged her in a topic about her home life, and her favorite hobbies, and the two talked through the rest of their dinner.
Jamie awoke the next morning and it took her a few minutes to remember where she was. The light filtered across the room, and the clock advertised that it was eight in the morning. She stretched her tired muscles and sat for a second, letting her mind wake up. She then stood and glanced around the room. The bathroom door lay open and she decided to take a shower and get dressed before she went downstairs. Finding some towels in the closet she turned on the water and rinsed herself off. After her shower she threw on a pair of jean cut-offs and a pale yellow tank-top. She found her sandals and headed down stairs.
Joey and Chris sat at the table, bowls of cereal set out in front of them and steaming cups of coffee rested in their hands.
“Good morning James.” She heard Chris’ voice and she smiled at the pair.
“Hey boys.” She made her way over to them and sat herself down in a chair. “What’s on the agenda for today?” She asked, bringing the cereal box over to read its label.
“Well, I have some songs that I found for you, so I was thinking that we could play around in the studio for a while, JC was going to come.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She smiled and set the box down. She then stood and went to the fridge to raid its contents. After finding some grape fruit she grabbed a spoon and sat down again. Chris grimaced at what she was eating and swallowed his spoon full of cereal before questioning.
“You’re eating that for breakfast?” He pointed his spoon down at the grape fruit and stared.
“As opposed to your sugar coated balls of artificial flavoring? Gladly.” She pulled a piece of the juicy fruit out and swallowed it gratefully.
“Hey! I’ll have you know that these sugar coated balls of artificial flavoring have gotten me through many a press conferences and photo shoots.” Chris argued. Jamie let out a small chuckle and glanced up at Chris.
“Now I know why you’re so high strung.” She mumbled. Jamie had no idea why she was being so sassy, because she was usually very shy, but for some reason, these people made her feel the need to be a smart ass.
