Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 18:20:08 -0800 (PST) From: Paul Subject: Music Shatters Ice - Part 8 I can't believe its been over a whole month, I have really been falling behind. Well I guess that's what college and sports does to you. I'll try to put more together in quicker time and we'll see what happens. Anyway welcome to part eight. Some of these part have been already written, I'm just trying to get further ahead so I can post them at my convenience. Enjoy, comments are welcome. Paws naupres@yahoo.com DISCLAIMER: Remember this story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or any personal knowledge about their private lives. And if you are underage go somewhere else, this is not for you and you should wait a few years. Music Shatters Ice Music Shatters Ice - Part 8 - The Silence of Daylight I woke the next morning to find a silent house. No movement. No nothing. Sitting up I looked at the clock 9:30 then I noticed a paper on my nightstand. 'Sorry we had to leave in the middle of the night, but we were called to do some publicity at a record store in Detroit. Since we were taking our bus we had to leave immediately. When that is over, we'll be flying out to Boston for a little while. I need to go now. Call you in the morning. James.' Further off to the side in chicken scratch I saw something else was written. 'and the gang.' I know that James was not the last one out if that was written in the margin. I took the paper and put it back down on the nightstand and stretched. It must have been awful to have been awakened in the middle of the night. I must have been out of it myself if I didn't hear anything or feel the bed move during the night. Carefully I wrenched myself from the blankets of the bed and headed towards the kitchen. There I found a mess that matches only my guys after a post game meal. Bowls and plates were everywhere, as if they made their own breakfast. There was grease in the pan on the stove and spilled milk and cereal flakes on the counter. Turning to around to the fridge I could see a note taped on the microwave. 'Open me.' I smiled and opened it up. There I saw a complete breakfast waiting for me. Two fried eggs with two sausages, two pieces of bacon with one piece of toast underneath them, and a glass of orange juice off to the side. Clearly they thought of me when making breakfast. I could only wonder what time they left. I pulled out the juice and warmed up the rest of the food. It is very rare that someone can make me breakfast and I'll eat it. Mostly I just wait and grab a late lunch or an early dinner. I looked at the juice. Something that was usualy reserved for when I didn't feel like eating anything during the day. Taking my first few bites, I could actually say that I enjoyed it. All of it infact. Quickly I ate or rather devoured the rest of the food and put my and the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher. Going back to my bedroom I dug underneath the bed and pulled out my laptop and set it on the bed. Starting it up I checked my email and class webpages to see when my next exams would be, or rather when was the last days I could take them. Nothing for the next few weeks, that was good. Shutting down my computer, my phone rang from the dining room table. Casually I shut my laptop closed and went and answered it. "Hello?" I asked. "Hi Jace." "Hey James." "Sorry we left so early without telling you, but I told the guys not to wake you." "That's alright. So how was your morning?" "Busy with appearances. Management thought it would be a good idea to surprise people at a record store." "So what happened?" "Word spread, and soon every teenage girl was trying to get in. That's when we had to leave." "I see." "Is that all you have to say?" James asked. "Yes. I also saw this morning the mess in the kitchen." "Oh yeah, I need to explain about that." "I'm all ears." "We got hungry and we needed to eat." "And so you decided to go wild while I slept?" "Yeah." He said simply, but I knew he was smiling at the other end of the phone conversation. "So what are you up to now?" "We are now taking a plane trip to Boston then on to South Carolina." "Sounds heavy." "It is. And what are you up to this week?" "Ah training, practice, and then the road trip to Alaska." "Can I come?" James asked. "Well why are you asking me? Can't you decide on your own if you want to go or not?" I said trying to get in his mind. "I guess that's a yes." He said. "What about your prior plans to Boston and South Carolina?" I asked, I knew I could never blow off my own priorities with hockey to go anywhere. "Well Boston is mandatory for we have to do a couple of radio programs and each of us has to answer questions for several newspapers. South Carolina we are just going to have a meeting, that management has said is optional, but should consider attending." "So why aren't you going to South Carolina?" "Because I don't really feel like going, and I want to have the ability to spread good public relations elsewhere." "And that elsewhere would be?" I asked inquisitively. "Well it is a rarity that we go up North." "Are you saying that you want to do your public relations campaign up North?" "Yes." There was a long pause. "Jace can you hold on for a minute." "Sure." I said, but soon on the other end I could hear shuffling around, yelling, and then talking, which lasted about a minute. "Ok I'm back." "What happened?" "I told the rest of the guys what I wanted to do and they had mixed reactions." "As..." I started to say. "As Justin wanted to come, Chris wants to come but is unsure, while Joey and JC don't want to come, but want us to go to the South Carolina meeting instead." "I see. Well the only advice I can offer is by saying do what you want to. Its not like I am there to bend your arm into doing something you don't want to do." "That's true, but I really want to go and so does Justin." "Talk to Justin and see what he says then." "I'll talk to him in a little while. So you never said if you enjoyed your breakfast or not." "Actually I loved it. It has been quite a while since I've had breakfast. I'm surprised that you thought of me though." "Oh come on, you think we would really leave you just like that without anything?" "I guess not." "Listen Jace, I really have to go. I have an unexpected meeting to attend, and several unwelcomed people have arrived." I took that as someone had entered into their area that doesn't know about me, and James didn't want me to know about that person. "Alright call me later." "I will. I promise. Bye." "Bye." I said simply and hung up the phone. As eager as I was to continue the conversation I knew that there were times when important matters came up. Dialing another number, I waited for the receiver to pick up. The line was busy. Figures, Zelda is probably talking to one of her girlfriends. Hanging up I headed back towards the kitchen to find what was left of food in my fridge. Opening the door and looking at all the food, I wondered what should I make for dinner. My decision was quickly cut short for the phone rang, again. I literally ran and jumped on the sofa to answer it. "Hello." I called out. "Hello Jace." The voice said that I immediately recognized as Coach Roberts. "Oh Coach, I wasn't expecting your call." "I have something to discuss with you." "Sure, what is it?" I queried. "I am putting you in charge for the next three weeks as well as game times." "I don't understand." "I will be leaving the country for a while. I've had an family emergency happen in Europe and will be leaving today. I will try to make it back as soon as possible, but I have a feeling that I will stay the entire three weeks." "I see. So you want me to fill in as acting head coach while you are gone." "Yes. I trust everything will be fine." "Yes I will make sure of it." "And I will be checking up on you every now and again." "I understand." "And Jace." "Yes Coach?" "Keep the team in the winning column." "I'll try." "That's the only thing I can hope for. Now I have to finish packing myself and my wife. Oh and the guys do not know so you will have to fill them in. Good Luck." "Thanks Coach." "Bye." "Bye." I said and slowly hung up. Silence filled the house, I could no longer hear the birds outside or anything else for that matter. This was the chance that I needed to prove myself to the rest of the NCAA windbags. One thing that I promised myself when I first began coaching was that when I would actually get my chance at the role of head coach, I would run the show as a dictatorship and run things very strict. For my belief was that only through hard work could a team rise to success. But for now this was a time for celebration. I just had to call someone. A few seconds later. "Hey Devon." I said. "Hey Coach whatcha need?" He said obviously engrossed in something else. "Get Terry on the line." "Sure thing." The next thing I heard was shuffling around and then yelling, soon the receiver picked back up. "Hello." "Hello Terry. I have some news to report for both hockey and something else." I emphasized 'something else'. "What is it?" "First we may have some company joining us for the trip up to Alaska-Anchorage. James and Justin have pretty much confirmed, but Chris is a little worried that his attendance at the game in the background would affect your mindset." "Tell him not to worry my mindset will be fine. What's the other news?" "I will be your coach for the next three weeks." "Well I hate to disappoint you, but we already know that you're a coach." "No, I mean I will be your head coach." "Um, why?" "Coach Roberts is leaving for Europe for a personal reason and he just called me to put me in charge." "So that means your the boss?" "Yep. I will be in charge for the Anchorage, Harvard, and Minnesota-Duluth series. Which reminds me, on tommorrow at one, on the ice we will have a team meeting to discuss this." "I'll pass the news around. Is that all?" "Yes." "Alright I'll see you tommorrow then. Bye Jace." "Bye." * * * Later that night at the Nsync hotel suite...... "I don't care, I'm going. I want to have fun and its in an isolated place, Alaska!" Justin said. Justin had become more and more obsessed with the game of hockey ever since being at the Saturday game. "You are going aren't you?" Justin asked Lance as Lance came in from the kitchen area. "Yes I will be joining Jace." He responded. "And I'm going too." Chris said not taking his eyes off the television. "So are you two the only ones not coming?" Justin asked JC and Joey from the couch. "I don't feel its necessary for us to go. It would be just a waste of our time." JC quickly blurted out. Joey immeidatly looked at him. JC caught Joey's look, "What?" He then looked around the room and towards Lance and Chris in particular. Lance looked like he was just hit in the stomach with a baseball bat, Chris' mouth was agape at the quickness of JC's comment, JC then turned to Justin. Justin had no facial expression, but beneath his blood was starting to boil. "Wait a minute. Why would this waste our time? We have finished this leg of our tour. If we want to go I say we go. I mean..." Justin began. "You mean to leave all our obligations behind? We still have work to do, which means you cannot go anywhere." JC said. Lance said nothing but got up and left to head back in his room. Chris and the others just watched. Soon after, Justin got up and started heading to his own room. "And where exactly are you going?" JC demanded. "I'm going to go have fun!" Justin shot back without turning around. "Well I'm just going to make a few phone calls." Joey said as he crept out of the room. JC was quickly up and began pounding on Justin's door. "Let me in!" There was no words from inside, but JC could definately hear shuffling about. "I know you Justin, get out here!" * * * In Lance's room... Looking out over the city lines of Boston, it was lit up as if it were daylight. Lance just continued to stare at the small lights. 'It's not as fun as it used to be.' Lance thought, 'It was alot better before JC started to change into his new look and go on this new powertrip.' Lance looked around at his room, went over to his dresser and zipped up his suitcase. Outside of his room he could still hear JC banging on Justin's door. Picking up his suitcase he put it near the door. Now he had to think of a way of how to get rid of security, so he'd have a free way down to ground level. Coming out of his room, Lance decided to try out his acting abilities. He slowly went into the hall. "Could you do something to shut those two up? I'm trying to get ready to sleep." So it was a little early for most people to sleep, but Lance usually went to sleep early to wake up early. The guard thought nothing of it and immediately went into the suite. Lance used as much of time as he could and grabbed his suitcase and headed out towards the elevator. Lance could hear more yelling from JC and the continuing of pounding of the door. He smiled as the elevator doors closed and it started its descent. The ride was quiet all the way down. * * * In the suite... The security guard had started moving for the door while JC had given up on Justin's door and headed over to Joey's room. "Joey let me in." He called. The door immediately opened and JC went in. On the other side of the suite a door cautiously opened and through the doorslit an eye surveyed the commons room. Seeing the coast was clear, Justin made a run for the door with suitcase in tow and towards the elevator. Now Justin wasn't the brightest of the bunch for like Lance could have easily used the door of the bedroom that led to the main hallway. Meanwhile downstairs... Lance had finally reached the lobby with Justin in tow a minute behind. Lance unholstered his cell phone and called an old friend who he'd know that would help him. The phone was on its fifth ring when Lance was about to hang up, but luckily on the other end a voice finally resounded. "This better be important. I just got out of the shower and I'm not in a good mood." The feminine yet strong voice said. "It is important." Lance said basically shrieking into the phone. "Ok, what is it?" "I need a ride." "You call and get me out of the shower because you want a ride? Thanks for wasting my time." "No I need a ride, because no one is supposed to know that I'm gone." "Oh really." The woman said with an evil sound in her voice. "Yeah, for I think I finally found someone." "Oh wow! I'm on my way. The Pinemont, right?" "Yeah." "Ok then I'll meet you in the back. Then we are going to have a long chat of who this person is, and if he is good enough to keep." "Trust me he is." "We'll see." * * * Twenty minutes later a black porshe pulls up. The window rolls down and through the night a voice resounds before the face is seen. "I thought I was only picking up one." She said. "Well I didn't expect Justin to tag along on my little adventure." Lance said. By now Justin had finally figured out who the driver was. "Pink? You're having Pink drive us to the airport?" "And what exactly is wrong with my driving?" Pink asked. "Nothing," Lance said. "get in the car Justin." Justin hopped in without any further words and Lance followed close behind. After driving a few miles away from the hotel... "So what is going on with you Lance?" Pink asked. "Who is he?" "His name is Jace Taylor and he's the Assistant Coach of the Central Michigan Steeds." "Really what sport?" "Ice Hockey." Justin interrupted. "Yeah he's great and so are the rest of the guys. I really like Davis. He seems cool." "So you are headed to the campus of Central Michigan University?" "Yes for a few days before travelling again." "Where to?" "Alaska." "Oh wow. I am definately coming with you." "Don't you have stuff to do here?" "Nope I'm on vacation remember." "That's right you have this thing for Boston. What, I will never know." "Well anyway it looks like your duo has just turned into a trio." Pink said smiling at both of them while speeding into the night. * * * I was laying in bed, just daydreaming about my new position. Acting head coach was such an honor for me, and what a way to start it. Up against one of the Alaskan teams. "Surely that could be an impressive way to get noticed. Two wins." I felt the need to call Zelda since her phone had been busy all day. But to my surprise the phone rang and I quickly answered it. "Hello." "Hiya Jace." "Oh hey James, I forgot that you were going to call." "How could you forget about me?" "Easy, because I was just made acting head coach while Roberts will be out for three weeks." "Wow that's great news." "So what are you up to?" "Currently I am getting a plane with two of my friends." "Where are you headed now?" "Oh I'm headed back to Michigan." "What for?" "I forgot something." "Really, maybe I can find it for you and have it ready for you to pick up so you can get back to your work." "Actually I forgot you." "You know I can't leave." "Yeah that's why I'm coming to you. I'm going to be staying with you for a while and there's no point in saying no." "Aw, oh, ok." "And I'm bringing guests." Immediately my mind raced back to the mess in the kitchen. "These wouldn't happen to be the same guests that you brought earlier?" He replied hard, "Well one is the other one isn't." "So who's the new guy?" Jace had to take the phone away from his ear as he could hear some screams. "Guy? Who are you calling a guy?" A female voice said. "Whoops. Sorry about that!" "Jace, I can hear both of you screaming. Could you two tone it down a bit." "Yeah sure." "So who is it?" "I'll tell you later." "Ok, so how long are you going to be staying? Can you tell me that?" "Yeah, for a while." "You do know that we are going out of town?" I said reminding him. "Yep, and we are going to have alot of fun." "If you insist." "I do." James said. "Do you have any idea what time you will be getting in?" "Hold on a second." James said shuffling through some stuff. "I know we are going to stop off in Detroit for a while so we should end up at your place between 8 and 10 am." "Sounds fine. Ah James I really have to call other people about this change of power in place of Coach Roberts." "I'll see you tomorrow anyway. Night sweetie." "Night." I said and hung up. 'Sweetie?' I thought. 'Sweetie?' I spent several more hours on the phone calling family members, friends, and coworkers telling them about the news. I had gone through most of my phone list and as I reached the bottom I knew I had to stop, my voice was really starting to get raspy. "Uh listen I really need to get some sleep. I'll talk to you next time something comes up." I said into the phone and hung up. I crooked my neck to where it was still laying on the phone, but I managed to struggle and put the phone back on the receiver. Sliding over just a bit I sqeezed the pillow and fell asleep. >>>>>>>>>>> Any comments? Send them along.