It was finally here. They had practiced and prepared for weeks, and tomorrow was the day they would start their tour. Excitement couldn’t even begin to describe the atmosphere surrounding the five men of NSYNC. Everyone was anxious and ready to get the ball rolling. This tour was going to be much less flashy than their last adventure, but they were still nervous about how the audience would react.
The guys were all in last minute stage rehearsal to make sure the little kinks were out, and the crew knew exactly what they were doing. They looked exhausted and rightfully so. They had been going since about six this morning, and it was closing in on 11:30 at night.
Jamie watched as they ran through a dance number again and she was amazed. They had more dedication and passion for the job that they did than anyone else she knew. It stunned her how they could spend so much time going over and over and over something, still be ready to go at it one more time, and still have the love for their profession at the end of the day. She knew that she would be sick of singing the same songs night after night, and dancing the same choreography time and time again.
These five men had a love for their job and a passion that was unparalleled. They enjoyed what they did and you would be hard pressed to find five other men that were as dedicated to each other as these five were. That’s what made this group special. Not only did they love the music, they loved each other.
She turned when someone sat beside her and she smiled at Toni, their choreographer.
“How does she look?” He asked, watching as the guys ran a number again.
“Incredible. You have done amazing work…and the dances…kick ass.” Toni’s grin spread across his face and his ego raised a few notches.
“Well…I do try. This is an incredible group to work with, I’m very glad they asked me to be apart of this.” He watched as they finished the routine and he raised the microphone he was holding to his mouth. “Great work guys. Joey, remember to pull in on that last step there. All right, I’d say that’s a wrap!” A cheer was heard from each of the guys as they started off the stage in search of water bottles.
“Wait! You’re not done yet.” They all groaned and Chris fell to the stage in a dramatic heap. Johnny laughed and grabbed the mic from Toni.
“I just want to say how proud I am of all of you, for the hard work. Good luck tomorrow. Kick ass and take names.” The crew that was around stopped and clapped a little at Johnny’s speech and the guys all jumped off the stage.
Justin grabbed his towel and water bottle and made his way over to Jamie.
“Hey James, what did you think?” He wiped the sweat from his face and neck and Jamie almost fainted when he removed his t-shirt to reveal just a wife beater.
“Um…I…whew! That was great Justin, you guys are awesome.” He grinned at her stumble and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Are you all ready for tomorrow? You’re all packed right?” They walked together over to the side of the arena and Justin put his things into his bag and put on another dry shirt.
“Yea, I think I’m all set. I have no idea what to expect, but I am all packed.” Just then Johnny walked up to them and tapped Justin on the shoulder.
“J…I need to talk to you, Jamie and the guys. We’re having a last minute meeting about tomorrow.” Justin nodded and threw his bag over his shoulder and took Jamie’s hand.
The others were seated in a group toward the back of the arena. JC’s girlfriend Stacey was seated next to him and Lance’s “friend” Melissa was next to him.
“All right, now I know you all hate this part of the deal, but we need to go over the publicity thing. Since all of the ladies are new to us this tour, we need to set some ground rules.” They all listened as their Public relations manager went over the dos and don’ts of being an NSYNC girlfriend. “You need to listen to security and what they tell you, you need to stay out of the way and respect the fact that fans may not like you. I know that you’re here to keep the guys company, but they have jobs to do. They have an obligation to their public, and as much as you and I hate this, that means trying to keep your relationships as low key as possible.”
Grace sat next to Johnny and scanned the group until her eyes found Jamie and Justin. She felt a pang of resentment at the two and turned quickly to speak to Johnny.
“They’re allowing the girlfriends to come too?” Johnny nodded and glanced at the group himself.
“Family and friends, even girlfriends are the guy’s way of staying sane. Touring gets lonely and very hectic, so it’s good for them to have someone they trust to lean onto. I really haven’t had any problem with any of the guys, and I like for them to be comfortable while they’re on the road.” He flipped through some paper and showed a few things to Grace.
“Are any of them public with their relationships? I mean, is that allowed?” Johnny chuckled and looked at Grace.
“JC has spoken of his girlfriend a few times, but never really commented. They guys all like to keep the private lives private. It’s up to them weather or not they speak of the women in their lives. We’ve all really passed the stage of worrying about losing fans because they’re not available.” Grace’s eyes traveled back to Justin and Jamie and she hated the feelings growing inside of her. She shook them off and looked back down at the papers she was going over. Now wasn’t the time to get jealous over Jamie and Justin.
Justin threw his bag into the backseat of his car and leaned on the top of it to peer at Jamie.
“James, do you mind driving? I’m so tired.” She looked up and smiled warmly.
“No, not at all.” He tossed her the keys and made his way over to the passenger side door, stopping to grab her waist and kiss her before she passed. “Am I driving to my house…your house…Johnny’s house?” She waited as he pondered her question and rubbed his temples.
“Your house, I can drive home from there, it’s not very far.” Jamie nodded and shifted the car into gear and headed for home.
Grace watched as the drove away and that same angry feeling rose in her again. After doing a little research on the picture in her bedroom, she found her assumptions to be true, and that bothered her. It bothered her a lot.
The shrill sound of her cell phone caused to her break from her thoughts.
“Hello?”
“Hey Grace, its Dave.” She smiled as she heard the voice of her long time assistant and close friend, it was good to hear a familiar person.
“Hey Davie, what’s going on?”
“Well, I’m back in town, and I thought maybe we could get together for dinner. You know, catch up on all that’s happening, how the Pop Princes really are.” He chuckled at his own joke and Grace smiled.
“That sounds great Dave.” Her voice was flat, and that wasn’t a good sign.
“Grace, sweetie, what’s wrong?” concern flooded his voice and Grace suddenly longed to be in his presence.
“Nothing, I’ll tell you about it tonight. Why don’t you grab some Chinese food or something, and come over to my place. I’ll get the wine.”
“That sounds great. I’ll see you in about half an hour.”
“OK, thanks Dave.” She clutched the phone, not really wanting to let go of his comforting voice.
“No problem sweet stuff. Bye bye.” She mumbled a faint good bye and hung up her phone.
Dave had been by Grace’s side for about four years now. They had met each other in college and had a pretty good friendship, but time and busy lives pulled them apart until recently. They met up again at the office where they worked now. Dave wasn’t really a boyfriend, or a lover for that matter, what they had was purely plutonic. He was Grace’s rock, and best friend. He knew what she was thinking, and he always had the right things to say.
Grace knew that Dave might possibly want more out of their relationship, but she wasn’t ready and she didn’t have the time. She was too busy building on her career to mess with romance right now.
Sighing she stepped into her car. Waving one last time at one of the crew members she started her vehicle and drove home, looking forward to a night of comfort and maybe a few laughs too.
Grace wrapped her bathrobe tightly around her torso and padded down the stairs. She went into the pantry and selected a bottle of red wine, deciding it was the best choice for the evening. Getting out two wine glasses she set them on the table and put the bottle in a bucket of ice. The door bell rang a few moments later and she greeted Dave at the door.
“Hey sweetie.” Dave kissed her cheek lightly and didn’t miss the fatigue that touched her features. He set the bags of Chinese food that he was holding onto the coffee table in the living room and followed Grace into the kitchen.
“I’ll get the wine out and grab some plates, why don’t you go get things set up?” He nodded and went back into the living room.
“Tell me what happened.” Dave and Grace sat on the floor in her living room, both picking at their food and sipping their wine.
“I met someone…and girl…she’s Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend.” She stopped and took a bite of pork. Dave waited patiently for her to continue and when it didn’t look like she would start any time soon, he urged her to go on.
“You met Justin’s girlfriend…what’s her name?” Grace let out a deep sigh and her weary eyes traveled up to meet his.
“Jamie. James Rylee Tanning, her father’s name is Allen and her mother’s name was Lauren. She’s 19, and very beautiful…she looks just like her. That’s how I knew.” Dave shook his head in confusion.
“Grace, sweetie, I don’t understand.” Tears had formed in Grace’s eyes and she wiped them angrily away.
“My mother died when I was eighteen. She died a few months after we had met. The day I went to see her she said that I had been an accident, but she didn’t want me to feel as if she didn’t love me. But she didn’t Dave; I could see it in her eyes. She talked about her family and her eyes sparkled, when she talked about me they were dead with regret. I was a mistake, and the only reason she agreed to meet me was because she didn’t want to die with a guilty heart. She said she didn’t want a daughter of hers to go through life not knowing who their mother was.” She stopped to catch her breath and Dave rubbed her back soothingly.
“I still don’t understand what this has to do with Jackie, or whatever her name is.”
“Jamie was my mother’s other daughter. She was the one that my mother loved. God, Dave, she looks just like my mother. I have this old picture of when she was twenty, they could be twins…It’s scary just to look at Jamie.” Dave felt a stab of sorrow and he wished there was some way he could ease her pain.
“What can I do? How can I help you Grace?”
“You can’t. It’s…it’s just that, I look at Jamie and get so upset. The girl has no idea who I am, and she has everything. I mean, she’s Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend for Christ’s sake. I had to scrape and claw my way up the ladder, to make it to where I am today. Jamie has had a wonderful life. She had a mother that loved and cared for her, a father that would die for her, and now she’s on the arm of the most wanted man in America.” Dave took Grace’s hand and pulled her into his arms, trying to calm her hysterics. He waited until her breathing had slowed a little before he started to talk.
“Grace, you have done everything that everyone said couldn’t be done. You laugh in the face of critics and you conquered this job. Don’t let your feelings towards a teenager take over. She should be nothing to you Grace, nothing. You can’t let this eat you alive, because it will.” She looked up at him closed her eyes before whispering.
“I can’t stand to look at her and know that I was supposed to be in her place. I was supposed to be the daughter that was loved an adored. I was supposed to be handed the world. Instead, I was handed the shit end of the stick. I was given away and forgotten until my mother’s dying moments, and only she only remembered me because she wanted to die without the guilt of giving me away to haunt her. Jamie doesn’t know who I am…and she wouldn’t care…no one cares.”
Dave felt a sudden surge of anger flood through him. He was in love with Grace, and he hated seeing her like this. She was usually so strong, and this one girl had managed to tear her down. He held her closely and vowed to himself that he would protect her, no matter what it took; he was going to protect her.
“I care Grace, I care.”
The next morning was filled with lots of tears, laughs and goodbyes. They crew, security, the guys and family and friends were all crowed in the parking lot at the JIVE studio. All the guys were trying their best to be strong, but their anxiousness about touring again and their regret of having to leave their families again was making it hard for them to stay calm.
Grace walked into the lot, her eyes covered by dark glasses. It had been a rough night. There wasn’t any site of Jamie and Grace was thankful because she wasn’t sure that she was ready to face her yet. After talking with Dave her feelings of sorrow had started to form into strong feelings of bitterness. Jamie had everything, and Grace had to work her ass off to get anything. It wasn’t fair.
She jumped when someone placed their hands on her shoulder and turned her around quickly.
“Jesus Chris! You scared the shit out of me!” She hit his shoulders and watched as his eyes crinkled with laughter.
“Oh Gracie, it’s good to see you. Are you ready for the time of your life?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as the walked further into the sea of people.
“I sure hope so. I will be coming back to Orlando in about three weeks though.”
“Why? You’re not staying for the whole tour?”
“Well…sort of. I’ll be going back and fourth so I can handle all the details. I can’t bring my whole office with me on tour, so I’ll be coming back here ever so often so I can do my job.” Chris nodded in understanding and turned when someone called his name.
“Gracie, I gotta go, My mom’s calling me. I’ll see you in Arizona!” She waved as he skipped off through the crowd and she turned around, bumping into Lance.
“Hey there, are ready?” Lance asked as he gave her a hug. This group seemed very affectionate.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is there something I should know about you all?” He laughed and draped his arm over her shoulder.
“I’d tell you, but what’s the fun in that? Besides, you’ll figure things out soon enough.” He winked at her, and Grace felt as if she were getting into something way over her head. “I’m going to go say goodbye to a few people and then get on the bus. I’ll see you later.” She watched as he walked away and she smiled. She liked the members of NSYNC. They had all been such great people to get to know. She knew that this tour was going to be a great one, and she was excited to get going.
“ALL RIGHT PEOPLE! Last call for loading busses, say good bye to your loved ones and let’s get moving. No Joey, you can’t take your family with you, even if they do all fit in the bathroom at once.” People chuckled as Joey huffed playfully and gave his mother one last kiss, and shook his father’s hand, only to be pulled into a hug.
One of security had shown Grace her bus and loaded her luggage for her. She glanced around the crowd and wished that she had family to see her off. When this thought entered her head, she spotted Justin, Jamie and her father all chatting by the door to another bus. A pang of jealousy ran through her as she watched Jamie kiss her father and then take Justin’s hand as he led her onto the bus. She turned and entered her own, setting herself on the couch in the back to stare out the window. Life wasn’t fair, and Grace had figured that one out the hard way.