Chapter 6
Friday night came and Abby and Carolena were getting ready to spend the evening out. Carolena with her boyfriend Jack and Abby with the guys, mainly JC, at the business party. Carolena was in her room, thinking while getting ready for her dinner date.
‘Why didn’t I tell Justin about Jack? He did admit that he likes me, but I already have a boyfriend. I like him too but…wait, I shouldn’t be liking Justin. I have Jack. Although he hasn’t been much of a boyfriend lately, or even a friend. What happened to the love we used to have? I feel more distant with him everyday. I can’t believe he has another business trip! Does he even care for me anymore? It doesn’t seem like it. I mean he completely ignored the fact that I have a cast on my leg. Maybe I’ll talk to him today, see what he has to say. Oh man! What am I gonna do? I don’t wanna give Justin mixed signals, but that’s exactly what I’m doing. My love life is a complete mess.’ Carolena thought to herself as she put on her usual strawberry lip gloss.
At exactly 8:00 the doorbell rang. On time as usual. Carolena looked herself once more over in the mirror then went to the door. Jack gave her a kiss. She shouted a “good bye” to Abby and they were off. The ride to the restaurant was completely silent. There seemed to be a lot of awkward silences between the two of them lately. Carolena didn’t mind this though; it gave her more time too think about her situation. She just stared out the window the whole ride.
“So how have you been?” Jack asked once they were seated and the waiter had taken their orders.
“Great. I passed all my exams with flying colors. Now I just gotta find some stuff to get into, so that I can get noticed.” Carolena replied.
“That’s great.” He replied as he laid his napkin across his lap. There’s that awkward silence again. Carolena figured that if she was going to ask him, she would have to ask him now.
“Jack, can I ask you something?”
“Anything baby.”
“Where do you see all of this going?”
“All of what?”
“Our relationship. It isn’t what it used to be when we first got together. We seem to be growing more and more apart each day. What happened?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We love each other very much, and that is what will keep us together for a very long time.” Carolena was silent and she began twiddling her thumbs at Jack’s words. She was eerily silent, and did not meet his gaze. “Carol?” She looked up at him. He took her hand in his. “I love you so much and we will always be together. Right?”
“I don’t know Jack. I don’t know.”
“Are you saying you don’t love me?”
“I really care for you, but I don’t know if it’s love yet. I just feel that…”
“What? You don’t trust me anymore?”
“NO! No, it’s just...I don’t know.”
“Is it another guy?”
“NO! Jack I would never do that to you!”
“Then what is it?” Carolena was silent as she tried to come up with a good response to his question. “Maybe I should just leave you alone until you can find out just how you feel about me.” With that, Jack left Carolena at the table. She sat and cried for a few minutes before hailing a cab home. ‘How did he switch it to make it MY fault? I wonder how Abby’s doing. She’s probably having better luck than I am. ’ This had to be the worst night of her life so far.
Abby was having one of the best nights of her life; she wasn’t completely bored at the party with the guys. She met a few of the other Jive recording artists, and danced with each of the guys. They all made sure to talk and dance with her, except for Justin who couldn’t dance because of his broken foot, but he really made an effort to talk to her and explain what was going on to make her feel more at ease with everything. She was mainly found with JC, and that was quite fine with the both of them.
“Abs, would you…” JC began, before being interrupted by a business associate
“Hello Mr. Chasez. Would you mind answering a few questions with me?
Abby nodded her head to let JC know she understood that he had business to take care of and she wouldn’t stop him. He inwardly sighed and turned to the man and smiled. “Sure.” With that, he left, leaving Abby at the dance floor. ‘Well, might as well see what fro boy’s up to.’ Abby walked over to the table to see Justin taking a sip of his drink, like he had been doing for the past hour. “You do know that just because you have a broken foot, doesn’t mean you can’t go walking around or at least TRYING to dance,” Abby said, taking a seat beside him.
“I’m perfectly fine from where I am, thank you very much. Besides, we barely even get a chance to dance because so many people want to talk to us.”
“Well why aren’t you walking about talking to people?”
“Because I don’t feel like getting up.” Abby stared at him. “What? It’s not like they don’t come and talk to me anyway.”
“Heh. It seems to me that Mr. Perfect has excuses for not dancing. Aww… The baby doesn’t want to be embarrassed because he can’t show off his famous dance moves.”
“Hmph.”
“Poor baby.”
“Hey look! There’s Joey and Saige over there. Oh! There’s Chris over there by that table. Even better! There’s Lance. How ‘bout you go bother them,” Justin said, pointing at each person.
“Alright I can see when I’m not wanted here,” Abby replied, laughing and walking over to the dance floor once again.
“May I have this dance m’lady?” a deep voice whispered in her ear from behind.
Abby turned around to see Lance with his hand extended out. “I’d love to,” Abby said putting her hand into his. Lance slowly spun her around and soon Abby had her arms around his neck, while Lance had his around her waist as they continued to dance. “Why doesn’t a great dancer like you have a date tonight?”
“I haven’t met anyone yet. My last girlfriend didn’t like all those times I couldn’t be with her. I got the usual, ‘we should stay friends’, and that’s the last I’ve heard from her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s ok. I’ll find someone sooner or later.”
“I know you will.”
“Nice to know that someone has confidence in me,” he replied. They continued to dance until Abby finally had to ask the one question that was on her mind all night. “Hey Lance?”
“Hmmm?”
“I think I’ve waited long enough, what’s with the nickname Poofu?”
“You’re never gonna leave me alone until I tell you huh?”
“Nope,” Abby said nodding. She smiled as she looked back up at him.
“It’s not really that big a deal. It was just some job I had before I came to the group.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, you know who Barney is right?”
“Yeah?”
“Instead of me being a dinosaur, I was in a Dalmatian costume.” Abby just looked at him, trying to hold in her laughter. “Go ahead. Let it ALL out.” Lance said smiling. Soon both of them were laughing. When they finally calmed down, Lance decided to ask Abby something when he noticed she was staring at JC, even though he already knew the answer. “You like him don’t you?”
“Who? JC?” Lance nodded his head. “Is it that obvious?” Abby asked with a smile.
“He’s a really great guy. Ever since he met you, I don’t think he’s taken his eyes off you yet. Example right there.” Lance moved his head to the left. Just as he said, Abby noticed every once in a while, JC would nod to the older man and soon turn to look at her. Their eyes met and both of them turned red and looked away.
“See what I mean?”
“Yeah. Ok I admit it, I like him.”
“We can all tell,” Lance said, noticing Abby turning an even brighter shade of red. He lifted her chin up with his finger. “Before you Abs, all JC did was concentrate on his music. He needs someone like you to help him see that life isn’t all about music.”
“I just don’t know if I’m ready yet. I just got out of a harsh breakup. And how can I have such an effect on him? I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks.”
“I’ve known JC for a while, and even I don’t know why you have such an effect on him. Just give him a chance. I know he’ll make you happy. Both of you would be perfect for each other. And you’d really make a cute couple.”
“Aww thanks Lance,” Abby said, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“No need to thank me. Maybe, it’s just…destiny.” Lance saw JC heading over to them and smiled.
“May I cut in?”
“No problem Jayce, she’s all yours.” Lance winked at Abby, and left them alone, walking over to where Chris was and chatted with him. Soon they headed over to their table and were talking with Justin.
“So, are you bored yet?”
“Nope, I’m having a great time JC.”
“That’s good.”
“Oh my God. I love this song.”
“Then may I have this dance?”
“Sure.” She put her arms around JC and he did the same as a slow song began. Abby closed her eyes and breathed in JC’s cologne as they started dancing to the song. ‘I hope Lance is right.’
Now tell me
how you feel if I told
You that I have feelings for you
And would it be so wrong to say
What's on my mind
I'm sorry I have to
We were friends but with time
What I feel inside for you has changed
But I'd give up on love, if I thought
That it was untrue for you
Now, Abby had listened to this song thousands of times before, but never had she realized that one day it would reflect her true feelings. Now she could really relate to the song. The words fit her situation right now. What the words were saying is what she was feeling. Abby now had a new respect for the song. Secretly, if not publicly sometime in the future, this song would always be for her and JC. She sighed contently and rested her head in the nook on JC’s shoulder.
If I told you that
I wanted to see you
And if I told you that I’d beg to please you
If I told you that
I’ll always keep you
What would you say?
If I told you that
JC held onto Abby as they danced to the song. When she placed her head on his shoulder, he tightened his grip on her. He gently leaned his head on hers and inhaled the smell of her shampoo. ‘Mmm. She smells so good.’ He thought. JC was at complete ease with her and he was very happy. He too, was also listening to the words of the song and couldn’t help but notice how it fit his situation perfectly. They would definitely have to dance to this song again.
I know that we’re just friends
But what if I decide to bring something up
I hope it won’t offend the trust we have
Cause I don’t want this to end
If you think that we’ll lose what we have
Then I’d just rather stay (rather stay) the same
(I’d rather stay the same)
‘Cause I don’t want to choose
Between two of the most precious things to me
If I told you that
I wanted to see you
And if I told you that I’d beg to please you
If I told you that
I’ll always keep you
What would you say
If I told you that
If we take this chance
And extend to each other romance
I hope it would be
The right thing for you and me
If I told you that
I wanted to see you
And if I told you that I’d beg to please you
If I told you that
I’ll always keep you
What would you say
If I told you that
Would you be there for me
Could you dare to hold me
Will my feelings leave me
Lonely if I told you
*The Song “If I Told You That” by Whitney Houston*
The two danced to the rest of the song, holding each other and never wanting to let go. As that song ended and another began, the two continued to dance, neither one of them noticing that there were others around. They were lost in their own world where only the two existed.
“They make a cute couple,” Saige said, as both she and Joey sat at the table with the rest of the group. Everyone, except Justin who rolled his eyes, nodded. She was, of course, referring to JC and Abby. They had been dancing in the same position for the last 15 minutes, and it looked like neither of them were going to stop anytime soon.
“What’s up with you, man? You’ve been extra grumpy all night,” Chris said, taking a sip of his drink.
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Justin replied with a shrug.
“You’re mad cuz’ Carolena couldn’t come, aren’t you?” Joey asked.
“And what if I am?”
“There’s nothing you can do about it J. There are going to be other times where you can do something with her,” Lance answered.
“I know that, but…I think she’s avoiding me.”
“Why do you think that?” Joey asked.
“Didn’t you see how Carolena was last week with me?” Everyone stared having no clue what he was talking about. “I mean...she was so…distant with me. Every time I tried to get a little closer to Carolena, she would move away. When I asked her a question or tried to talk with her, she gave me one word answers.”
“Maybe she was just nervous,” Lance said.
“Well she sure wasn’t nervous when Jayce and I went to visit her. She was the exact opposite.”
“Well, maybe there’s something Carolena’s not telling you,” Chris answered.
“Also, when I was on the phone with her a couple days ago, right after I told her I liked her, she said had to go, and she didn’t even respond to what I told her.”
“Maybe you’re trying too hard. She might wanna take it slow. You ever thought of that?” Saige finally spoke up again.
“I dunno...either that, or like Chris said, there’s something going on that I don’t know about.”
The group sat there in silence, watching Abby and JC dance when they heard a familiar high-pitched voice. “Hi guys. How ya doing? Saige, you’re looking fabulous,” said Ariella Jones. She was NSYNC’s journalist and JC’s assistant. Like Abby, she too had a crush on JC, but she wasn’t having much luck. JC was not interested what so ever in her, but she still tried. In her mind, it’s “He’s mine and no one can take him from me.” Her shoulder length dirty-blonde hair and aqua colored eyes shined brightly in the light as she walked to the table, as well as her light blue dress she had on.
“Hey Ariella. You’re looking as beautiful as always,” Joey said, as he and the rest of the guys stood up and hugged her.
“Thanks Joey. How’s your foot Justin?”
“Doing well. Hopefully I’ll be getting this cast off soon.”
“That’s good.”
“Uh, I don’t mean to be rude but…why are you here?” Chris asked.
“What? I can’t come and see my favorite group of guys, which I haven’t seen in two whole weeks, to say hi?”
“Yeah, but, I thought JC gave you some vacation time off to see your family?” Chris asked.
“Yes silly, he did. I went and saw my family last week. Now I’m back here.”
“Well, it’s good seeing you again Ari. When J gets his cast off, it’ll be back to normal,” Lance said finishing up his drink.
“Speaking of normal, where’s my favorite honeybunch of the group?”
“You mean JC?” Justin asked.
Ariella nodded excitedly with a big smile on her face.
“Over there. Dancing with Abby,” Justin replied, pointing at the two of them still on the dance floor.
The smile on Ariella’s face disappeared. ‘Who is that girl? She better just be a business associate, or a really good friend. No one can have JC except me! I better go and fix this.’ She sighed. ‘JC, when will you learn that I’m the only girl for you?’ her thoughts were soon interrupted.
“Yoo-hoo! Earth to Ariella!” Joey said, waving his hand in front of her face.
“Huh? Oh I’m sorry. I’ll just go and introduce myself to Abby.” With that, she left the table, leaving everyone with a confused face.
“Ok, that was weird,” Lance said.
Everyone nodded, their eyes following Ariella heading towards JC and Abby.
“Abby?” JC asked, while they were still dancing.
“Hmm?” Abby opened up her eyes and looked up at him. Before JC had a chance to answer, he heard Ariella’s voice.
“Hello JC. How are you? I missed you,” Ariella said, turning him around and gave him a hug and a kiss. She was aiming for his mouth but JC moved his head to let her kiss his cheek. ‘I thought she was supposed to be out of town on vacation.’
“Hey Ariella. I would like for you to meet Abby. Abby, this is Ariella. Ariella, Abby.” JC said turning to each of them.
Ariella put on a fake smile and extended her arm out. “Hello Abby. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
“Likewise,” Abby replied, shaking her hand.
“Since I don’t want to seem rude, I’ll give you a hug too,” Ariella said, pulling Abby into a hug. She lowered her voice and whispered into Abby’s ear. “JC’s mine and nobody is gonna take him away from me.” She smiled at JC once more, waved to the table, and walked out of the building.
JC noticed a strange look on Abby’s face. “Hey, whats wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Ok. Ariella is our journalist and my assistant. Since Justin hurt his foot, I gave her some vacation time off. I have no clue why she’s back already.” He shrugged.
“So there’s nothing going on between you two?”
“Nope. Just a friend and business partner. Nothing more.”
“Oh ok.”
“Back to what I was trying to ask you earlier…” Abby didn’t hear what JC said after that. Her attention was drawn to the man who just entered the room. He had a girl on his arm and was being overly friendly towards her. ‘That’s not Jack is it? No. It can’t be! Jack’s on a date with Carol. Wait a minute…that is Jack! The bastard! How could he do this to Carol? I’ll have to tell her as soon as I get home.’ Abby couldn’t believe her eyes. She always thought he was a bastard, but now she had proof that he really was. Carolena would be heartbroken.
“Hello. Earth to Abby.” JC said trying to get her attention once again. Abby snapped back to reality.
“Sorry. I just thought that I saw someone I knew.”
“I was just asking if…maybe you’d wanna do something tomorrow. Just the two of us.”
“You mean on a date?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to ask that,” she said, forgetting about Jack for the moment.
“Good. Well, the party’s basically over and its getting pretty late. Let’s go round up everyone and take you home.
“Alright.”
The two of them walked to the table. Soon, the full group walked outside and got into the limo. As they passed the table where Jack was seated, Abby noticed Jack kissing on the girl’s neck. ‘Wait til I see the bastard again! I’ll tear him to pieces!’
They arrived at Abby’s apartment and everyone said their goodbyes. JC was about to walk Abby up to her room when she stopped him.
“No, no. It’s ok. I can make it in by myself. You go get some rest.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind walking you up.”
“Positive. You need you sleep. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh ok. Once again, I had a great time with you.”
“Same here.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” JC gave Abby a hug and kissed her on the forehead. “Bye Abs.”
“Bye.”
He watched her walk inside of the lobby and soon Abby disappeared in the elevator. JC got back inside the limo, where the other guys were waiting, to finally get home for the night.
Abby was quietly humming to herself as she got out of the elevator and came to the door of her and Carolena’s apartment. ‘I wonder what happened between Carol and Jack?’ She thought to herself. Abby opened up the door to see the living room completely dark. ‘Hmm, she has to be here. Where is she?’ She heard a noise inside Carolena’s room, and knew that that was where her friend was. Abby walked to her own room, changed, and headed towards Carolena’s room. Slowly, she opened the door to see her friend crying on her bed. “Carol? Carol what’s wrong?” Abby asked running to hug her friend.
“My life is ruined.”
“Aww, honey, tell me what happened.” Carolena told Abby every detail of what happened on her date with Jack. By the time she finished, more tears were streaming down her face. “So basically he flipped the problem onto you?” Abby asked, trying to keep cool. She couldn’t believe that after that the bastard had run to someone else. Then that would mean that he has had another girl all along.
Slowly, Carolena nodded her head. “I just don’t understand. What’s happening between us?”
“Well, being the jerk he is…”
“Abs, please, I don’t wanna talk about him anymore tonight.” Abby was about to tell her about what she had seen, but didn’t have the heart after seeing her friend’s distressed face. She would have to tell her another time, but in the mean time, her friend needed some major cheering up, and she was just the person to do it.
“Well, I guess I better cancel my plans with JC tomorrow.”
“No Abby, don’t go ruining your plans just for me.”
“Carolena, tomorrow, you and I are gonna have a guy free day. Just the two of us.”
“Abby…”
“No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
“I really appreciate this, but you don’t have to do this for me Abs.”
“I know I don’t have to. But I want to. That’s what best friends are for.” Abby gave Carolena another hug. “You get some rest, because tomorrow, you and I both will have the time of our lives.
“Thank you Abby. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Carol.”
Abby closed Carolena’s door and got into her own bed. She started thinking how much of a great time she had with JC, as well as the other guys earlier that night. Abby sighed. She wanted to help Carolena, but she did want to go with JC tomorrow as well. ‘I guess tomorrow when he calls, I’ll tell him. There’s always Sunday. I know I’m not doing anything, but is he?’ Abby decided to get these thoughts out of her mind and worry about that in the morning. Soon she was fast asleep.
Abby woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee being made. ‘Ten a’ clock. Usually Carol sleeps until twelve. Wonder what’s up.’ Abby made her way out of her room to find Carolena still in her robe, with tears streaming down her face.
“What happened Carol?” Abby asked, sitting next to her.
“I’m just thinking about what’s gonna happen between me and Jack. I ruined everything Abby! It’s all my…”
“Stop it! In what way is it your fault?”
“I don’t know but…” Abby put her hand up to stop from what Carolena was saying.
“Listen. If you as much as even THINK about him, I’m gonna smack you silly.”
“I don’t know how to thank you, Abs, for being always being there for me. You cancelled your plans just for me.”
“JC can wait another day. Besides, what are friends for?” Carol smiled at that.
“Have you told him yet?”
Before Abby could answer, the phone rang. “He’ll know now.” She got up and walked across their living room to a small table where the phone was. “Hello?”
“Hey Abby. It’s JC.”
“Hi. How are you?”
“In a few minutes, I’m gonna be great.”
“Listen JC?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really sorry, but Carolena’s not feeling so good today. She really needs me right now.”
“She has a cold or something?”
“No, Carol’s a little depressed, so we’re kinda having a girl’s day out. I’m sorry again. I was looking forward to seeing you.”
“Well how about tomorrow?”
“Oh good. I was just about to ask you.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at twelve.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Ooh. I like those.”
“Well, I better let you go. Tell Carolena I say hi and to feel better.”
“Ok I will.”
“Bye Abs.”
“See ya later.”
“Finally. Peace and quiet,” Justin said to himself, lying down on his couch. The guys decided to stay a little longer than they had planned at his house because they had nothing else better to do. They just left last night, after the party. “Now I can finally get some normal sleep and…” he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. ‘Man, what does JC want?’ “Hello?”
“Hey J.”
“You do know that I was about to take a nap, right?”
“Sorry. I just called Abby to see if she could go somewhere with me and…”
“That’s great C. Have fun and I’ll talk to ya later.”
“I can’t.”
“Uh, why?”
“She said Carolena’s really depressed about something. So her and Carol are going to be together all day for some girl’s day out or whatever. I just wanted to know if you knew what was up.”
“I don’t know. I wonder what’s wrong.”
“Well, I was gonna ask but I didn’t was to seem rude.”
“Do you think they would mind if I called?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Ok. What’s the phone number?” Justin got the number from JC and hung up. He started thinking to himself. ‘I hope she’s ok. Will she think I’m being too nosy?’ Justin dialed the number, patiently waiting. Nobody picked up. Just as he was about to hang up, the answering machine came on.
“…so leave your name and number and we’ll get right back to ya.” BEEP.
“Hey, it’s Justin. Carol? JC told me that me that you weren’t doing that great today. I don’t want to seem rude or nosy, but is there something I can do to help you? I’ve been down depression lane myself. I know you couldn’t go to the party last night, but when you feel better, would you…I dunno…like to go somewhere with me? Just the two of us. Or maybe you can come over to my house or something so we don’t have to walk or anything. We can be lazy together. Ok. I’ve talked WAY too long. Please call me back. Oh yeah! Hi Abs! Bye to both of you.” Justin hung up the phone and took a deep breath. “Dang. I didn’t know I was gonna talk that much and that answering machine actually took it…Heh…” Justin yawned and soon he was fast asleep, still on his couch.
“Carol? Sweetie? Please. Let’s talk.” Jack was knocking on the girls’ door. ‘Hmm…wonder where they are.’ He bent down and picked up the spare key under the mat in front of the door. Jack slowly walked inside. He looked around to find the apartment empty. ‘What’s this?’ Jack found the light going off for incoming messages on their machine. ‘Maybe this will explain why she was acting so strange last night. Hopefully she hasn’t found out. If it does answer my question, I’m staying with my other girlfriend…permanently.’
“Message one. Hello Abby dear. It’s Mom. Just wanted to see how you are. Maybe later on, you can come down and visit. Call me back Darling. Bye.”
“Ok. Nothing so far.”
“Message two. Hey it’s Justin. Carol?...”
Jack listened to the whole message. “Ok. Who the hell is he? I don’t know anyone of Carol’s friends named Justin. I’ll have to take care of this and fast.”
“How ya feeing, Carol?”
“Great! That movie was awesome Abby!”
“And what about that carnival that came to town?”
“I don’t think I can thank you enough.”
“Well I think you can stop, because you haven’t stopped saying it all day.”
The girls had just ridden the elevator up to the floor where their apartment was. They had arrived at the door when Jack came out fuming. “I’ll deal with you later. Here I am trying to talk it out and you go behind my back. I’m disgusted with you Carolena.”
“Um, excuse me? Weren’t you supposed to be on some business trip?” Abby asked, getting furious.
“For your information, it got switched to tomorrow.” With that, Jack stormed off leaving the two girls speechless.
“Uh…how did he get in?” Abby asked, turning to Carolena. She was thoroughly pissed of. ‘How dare he come over here and yell at us like that then leave! What is wrong with him?’
“I um…kinda told him where the spare key was.”
“Ok. Whatever. Let’s see what got Jack all pissed off.”
“You mean even more.” Carolena was crying again. ‘Great! He was the last thing Carol needed. And she was doing so well too.’ The girls walked in, noticing the answering machine lit up. Abby pressed the button.
“Message one. Hello Abby dear. It’s Mom…”
“Uh, we’ll listen to that later,” Abby said, pressing the button again.
“Message two. Hey it’s Justin. Carol?...”
When the message finished, Abby and Carolena just stood there. Carolina finally spoke. “I guess we have a problem. Oh Abby. What am I gonna do?”
