The ride to Arizona was strange for Jamie. She spent most of the trip glued to the window, wanting to see as much as possible. This was all new to her, and she was going to make the best of it.
“It’ll all start looking the same soon enough.” Justin sat down behind her on the couch and pulled her back into his arms.
“For you maybe, you’ve seen this before. But to me…Justin, this is incredible.” He chuckled softly and kissed the side of her head, wrapping his arms around her torso and resting his chin on her shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re here.” She sighed and leaned back into his embrace, giving him a sideways glance. He looked thoughtful and depressed at the same time.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hmm?” He snapped out of his trance and looked at Jamie. “Nothing’s wrong James. I just have a lot on my mind.” Jamie turned in his arms to face him. She slowly traced her fingers under his eyes and over his face, down to his lips.
“You look stressed; tired…do you want to talk about it?” He smiled ruefully and kissed her softly.
“I don’t think I could explain it James.” He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand. “It’s like this feeling; this terrible feeling is taking me over. I mean, I should have nothing to worry about. The tour is amazing and I feel that were more than ready, but I just have this bad feeling and I can’t figure it out.” His eyes fluttered open slowly and Jamie saw the fatigue he was hiding so well.
“Have you been sleeping lately?” He shook his head.
“I had to pack last night, and I couldn’t sleep. Not the night before a tour.” She kissed his cheek and stood up, pulling on his hand.
“Come on then…let’s get you to bed. You need to sleep Justin…you look like shit.” He laughed heartily and allowed her to lead him to his bunk. She opened the curtain and pushed him to get in. “Sleep J…sleep.” When he had climbed inside she started to close the curtain. He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently before closing his eyes.
“Thank you James.” She closed the curtain and went back to the couch, sitting with a heavy sigh.
This was the first time she had ever seen that side of Justin. She had seen the romantic side, the fun side and even the jackass, but never before had she seen fear like that in his eyes. He was trying so hard to appear strong, but something was bothering him and Jamie had a feeling it was more than just the tour.
The buses had all stopped in a small Mississippi town to let everyone stretch their legs and grab something to eat.
Jamie waited until everyone was off the bus before she walked to the bunks to wake Justin. He had been sleeping for about three hours, and she was worried about him. He wasn’t usually like this. Granted she didn’t know what tour life was like on him, but this didn’t seem normal.
She pulled back the curtain slightly and a warm smile touched her lips as she watched his sleeping figure. He was curled into a ball, snuggling into the grey sleeping bad that wrapped around his torso. His hair was matted from the pillow and his cheeks were flushed with sleep. Jamie reached out and traced a finger over his cheek and up to run through his hair.
“Mmm, hey.” He mumbled sleepily, his eyes fluttering open slowly. “Where are we?”
“Some place in Mississippi, we’ve just stopped for food.” Justin yawned and stretched out in the bunk.
“Are you hungry?” He slipped out of the bunk and stretched more fully this time, getting out all the kinks.
“Yeah, but I thought I’d wake you up too. I don’t want you to get skinner.” She pinched his side and he squirmed away before grabbing her hand.
“Oh no you didn’t!” Jamie screamed as Justin started to chase her and grab at her sides. She squealed as his fingers tickled over her stomach and she tried her best to get away from his touch.
“OK! OK! Stop…please!” He words were dotted with laughter and Justin laughed right along with her.
“I’ll teach you to call me skinny, girl.” He pulled her to him, her body flush with his. There was an all too evil gleam in his eyes as his head lowered toward hers. Right before their lips made contact there was a loud noise and the bus door crashed open.
“AHHHH!” Chris came plowing onto the bus, breaking the moment. Jamie buried her head in Justin’s chest and groaned. “They don’t have any cheese balls!!!” He ran to the cupboards and searched for the snack food he spoke of. “Justin, the store doesn’t have any cheese balls! I’m having withdrawal…STUPID MISSISSIPPI!” He started mumbling something about evil albinos but Justin moved away from him.
“What am I getting myself into?” Justin chuckled and pulled on Jamie’s hand.
“Come on James. Let’s get some food before Joey eats it all.”
A few minutes later the buses were again in motion and Justin sat with Jamie in the front of the bus, eating the sandwiches they had purchased. Jamie watched him carefully and finally spoke the worries that had been flitting around in her mind.
“Justin…is something wrong? You seem…I don’t know…” He set his sandwich down and finished chewing before he answered.
“I’m fine James, really. I’m just tired because I didn’t sleep at all last night, and I know that I’ll be performing non-stop for the next two months.” She eyed him before letting go and accepting his answer. After all, what did she know about tour life? Or what Justin was feeling? He smiled at her, a lop-sided grin and she giggled as he raised his eyebrows up and down playfully.
“You’re such a dork.” She laughed and he joined right in.
“I know I’ve told you this, but I’m so glad you’re here. I think you’ll be good for me.” Jamie didn’t know exactly what that meant, but she didn’t care.
“I’m glad to be here.” As soon as the words were spoken Chris came charging into the room, looking around wildly.
“FOOD!” He screamed and dove for the sandwiches on the table. Justin and Jamie jumped back in surprise, not quite sure what was going on. Chris grabbed the closest pieces of food he could find and shoved them into his mouth.
“Chris? What the hell are you doing?” He stared at Justin with wild eyes and spoke with his mouth full.
“I woft a be wiff Jo ad he age aww mu foof.” He chewed the stuff in his mouth and repeated himself. “I lost a bet with Joey and he ate all my food.”
“What bet was that?” Chris grinned evilly and his eyes sparkled.
“I bet him that he couldn’t get the cashier’s phone number.”
“And he did? What’s the big deal about that?” Jamie started to slowly move the plates away from Chris, trying to save as much of her lunch as she could.
“He got the phone number…and the guys name was Pat.” He chuckled devilishly and Justin looked at him confused.
“Huh? Guy?” Chris’ cackled subsided long enough for him to respond.
“Pat REALLY liked Joey, and he was more than willing to give away HIS phone number. Pat was very pretty too…”
“Oh God…he was a transvestite…did Joey know this?” Jamie asked with a look of pure horror on her face.
“He did once Pat responded to his pick up line.” Tears formed in his eyes as he thought about what had happened and he rolled on the floor with laughter.
“Uh…let’s get out of here James…I think Chris has lost his mind.” He tugged on her hand and pulled her with him into the back room of the bus, shutting the door on Chris’ laughter.
“Justin…you know how I said I was glad to be here…I uh, I think I spoke too soon.” She looked at him with wide eyes and he laughed, pulling her into his embrace.
“Oh James…this is nothing.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Jamie walked around the venue with jaw dropped and eyes wide. She had never seen so much go into a production and she was blown away. Crew workers moved around, setting up lights, stage and anything else that needed to be put together. Techies tested sound, lighting and all the other special effects. Pyrotechnics were set off and cameramen scurried around getting their best ideas for the filming.
“Sweetie, you’re going to catch flies.” Justin tapped her jaw shut and laughed at the _expression on her face.
“I just…this is amazing!” She looked around again, trying to take it all in.
After a brief tour of the arena, all the guys, the head crew members and security were called in for a meeting with Grace.
They sat in the back half of the arena, chatting lightly with each other until Grace cleared her throat and started to speak.
“OK everyone, my name is Grace and as most of you know I’m going to be trying my best to fill Johnny’s shoes. The rules are all pretty much the same, and if you have any concerns or questions, you can come to me or my assistant.” She stopped and shuffled a few papers before continuing. “This brings me to my next order of business. This is Dave Malloy, and he is my trusty side kick. He will probably be the easiest one to reach, and he will then forward your comments to me. Any questions?” She scanned the crowed and was satisfied when no one spoke out.
The rest of the meeting went rather smoothly, with the exception of Chris attempting to tell Grace that he was the actual manager of the tour, and everyone was ordered to wear their underwear on their heads. When the meeting was over, the guys were sent off to sound check, and everyone else went off to finish their jobs.
Jamie sat in the third row as the guys took the stage. She sat back and bopped her head to the music as the guys fooled around and warmed up. She turned when someone sat beside her and she was surprised to see Grace.
“Hello James.” Her tone was cool and it gave Jamie shivers. Grace gave off a weird vibe every time she was around, and Jamie felt very awkward.
“Please…it’s Jamie. How are you doing?” Grace threw Jamie a look of contempt and spoke with measured words.
“Enough with the crap. I want to get a few things straight, OK?” Jamie looked at her with shock but said nothing as Grace continued. “You are a guest on this tour, and I can take that right away any time I want to, so don’t piss me off. If you do anything to compromise Justin’s image or NSYNC’s for that matter…and you’re gone.” She didn’t look at Jamie as she rose out of her seat and started to leave. She thought better of is and turned back, her eyes blazing. “Oh, and don’t bother telling Justin about or little conversation, he won’t believe you anyway.” Jamie watched as she walked away, her head held high with the new found power she had.
“What the hell was that all about?” Jamie almost wanted to pinch herself because not ten minutes before Grace had been polite and respectful. Suddenly she had turned into Head Bitch, and it seemed that her first victim was going to be Jamie.
The rest of the evening had been uneventful for the most part. They guys had all been upset that Johnny couldn’t be there for the opening show, but they knew that he was just too busy. Grace’s words had been eating at Jamie all night, and she knew that she needed to tell Justin, but she was almost starting to believe Grace…maybe Justin wouldn’t believe her. She paced the floor of the bus, waiting for the guys to load. They were on their way back to the venue for the show, but something had held them up. The doors opened and someone stepped on, Jamie turned and started talking, assuming it was Justin.
“J I really need to talk to you about Gr…” She stopped when she noticed that it wasn’t Justin standing there. In fact, it was Dave, and if looks could kill, Jamie would be dead.
“Hello Miss Tanning, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” He offered her hand and Jamie took in reluctantly.
“Hi…” She pulled back as fast as she could; not liking the way Dave was sizing her up.
“So…how are you? I hope that you’re enjoying your stay on the tour.” He walked over and sat down at the table and eyed Jamie carefully.
“If you’re going to threaten me again, you can skip it. Grace already told me that I need to watch my step, and if that’s all you wanted to say, you can leave.” Dave threw back his head and laughed, giving Jamie the chills.
“Oh naive little child. I’m not here to threaten you…but I would like to ask you a favor.” He waited until he knew he had her full attention before he rose to his feet and got right in her face. “Grace has worked VERY hard to get to the position she’s in, and I don’t appreciate stupid little children messing up that opportunity. So, it would be in your best interest to stay out of our way, because you never know when something might come up and you suddenly have to leave the tour.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Malloy?” Jamie’s eyes flashed with anger. It wasn’t even the first full day and she had already been threatened twice.
“No…it’s a guarantee.” He sneered at her and stormed off the bus, knocking into JC and Lance on his way out.
“What was that all about, Jamie?” Lance noted the look of fire in her eyes and suddenly grew very suspicious.
“Nothing. Just a few hot heads that think they own the world.” Her eyes searched for Justin and as soon as he walked on the bus she ran to him and grabbed his hand, bringing him to the back of the bus.
“Hey James.” He said smoothly, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Justin, we need to talk.”