Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 22:03:03 EST
From: Bryan WriterMurf <writermurf@hotmail.com>
Subject: My Big Break

Disclaimer: How can I say this in a new and exciting way? I can't it's all
been said before. If your underage (whatever age that may be where you
reside), don't read this. If homosexual themes bother you, you might like
www.ImaHomophobe.com better.  And one more thing, this is fiction, it
doesn't mean to imply anything about anybody: living, dead or otherwise.

Notes:

1) This is my first published story, so please let me know what you think
of it (writermurf@hotmail.com). Good, Bad, Indifferent, let me know at
writermurf@hotmail.com! I think I'm gonna try and see how many times I can
get my address into this paragraph (writermurf@hotmail.com). :) e-mail me!
writermurf@hotmail.com

2) This story is mostly in first person. I say mostly because there are
times that it is in third person. But I assure you there is a good reason
for this (at least it makes sense to me...). When Nick (the main character)
is in the room with the storyline, he'll be narrating.  But when I want you
to know what's going on and Nick's not in the storyline, I'll use third
person (think of it as the walls talking!). If it bothers you let me know
(writermurf@hotmail.com)

Also, some stories that are worth your time (in no particular order):
Studio In The Country, Brian and Me, Search and Rescue, Lance In Shining
Armour (or Armor, in American English :) ), Escape, Choices (which is on
hiatus for a while ;( ), Forever, Kevin and Justin, Twist of Fate, and the
list goes on, but I need to get to my story now. :) If you haven't read the
above, why not? Go read theirs! They're probably a lot better than this is
going to be! :) (Well, maybe you can read mine first, I promise I won't
tell.)

Now that my intro is longer than my story... (I feel like I'm back in
school trying to lengthen a paper with this intro!) Let's get to it!

+++++++++++++

My Big Break
Part 1 -- Welcome to the Wonderful World of Fiction

+++++++++++++

     This was it, my chance at some real recognition. I was to perform live
at the American Music Awards. Somehow I still don't know how my manager had
managed to get me the gig. I was extremely surprised when he told me that,
but I was even more excited. I knew this was my chance to show off to the
world. It would be a huge help in getting my name out. And get my name out
the night would just not exactly the way I had expected.
     My name's Nick Mason. I've been singing for as long as I can remember.
I got my "Big break" a few months ago. Since then I've been in the studio
trying to get my first album out. My first single was released only a few
weeks before the AMA's, and although it was doing really well on the
charts, it still surprised me that the AMA's would agree to have,
basically, a nobody perform for them. I've been told I have "boyish good
looks," but I don't really think I'm anything special. I'm about 6 feet
tall, short, dirty-blond hair, and I'm fairly well built not like a body
builder by any means, but I'm no slouch either. Oh yeah, and I'm gay but
unfortunately, my managers were making me keep that a secret.  I wasn't
overly thrilled with that position, but I decided that if I wanted to make
it in the music business, I had to hide that piece of my life at least
while I was first starting out.
     Anyway, my dancers and I had been working on a dance routine for the
new single since well before it came out. My dancers were a great bunch of
people.  There were five of them, three women, Geena, Tina, and Mel, and
two guys, Alex and Mark, so that we had an even number on stage. Anyway,
the dance we were working on was extremely complicated, not so much because
the dance was overly difficult, in fact if you looked at only the dancing,
it was pretty simple stuff. There was one complication, however, we were
all wearing roller blades. It made for a great effect, but also made the
simple dance much more complicated. Especially when you throw in the fact
that about midway through the number there was a kiss and you had to kiss
whomever happened to be right next to you at the time. No a problem you
say? Well, keep in mind that being on roller blades makes it VERY hard to
hit your mark exactly every time, so inevitably there is some shifting of
dancer's positions going on. Well, when we first started rehearsing the
dance, we would end up so that about half the time, the we'd have at least
one set of guys kissing each other and one set of girls kissing each
other. We all though it was very amusing, and after the same sex kisses we
were usually laughing too hard to really continue.  None of us really
minded kissing the a member of the same sex and that's not to say that all
the dancers were gay it just wasn't a very involved kiss, more like a
simple peck. But we still found it funny. Anyway, after lots of practice,
we got it down so that only ever once in a while would we kiss a member of
the same sex (I was kinda bummed a little, 'cause my guy dancers were HOT!
). This made management happy, but we still got a good laugh out of it
whenever it happened, but we would at least manage to finish the song.
     I wasn't touring yet because management was still trying to hook me up
with a big name. There were a few bands that I had been told were looking
at me, but they all said that they would wait until after the AMA's to let
us know. I guess that they all wanted to see how well we did. And we were
all going to put on a show that no one would forget anytime soon of course
I had no idea how right we would be.
     So there it was, the night of the AMA's. The night that my dancers and
I had been practicing so hard for. This would be the first time that the
"Roller Dance," as we had coined it, would be performed live. Needless to
say, I was more than a bit nervous. We went to rehearsal, did our sound
checks, and got a feel for the stage. It was then that I was given another
surprise not only would I be performing, but I was also to present an
award. It turned out that one of the presenters couldn't make for some
reason, and my management had gotten them to let me do it. Boy, I was
really starting to like my management despite the "In the closet" policy.
     It was time for the AMA's to start. The lights came on, the music
started and Mariah Carey came out to sing. I was amazed not really because
of Mariah, I had met her while recording my album and we became good
friends but that I was there, and that by the time the night was over, I
would have sung on that stage, and I would have presented an award. I was
floating, blissfully unaware of my surrounding until a stage hand tapped me
on the shoulder.
     "Mr. Mason, you're needed backstage. If you'd like to follow me," he
said.
     "Uh, sure," was my response. It hit me in that moment all my
nervousness that I had somehow managed to avoid to this point came crashing
down on me. I followed the stage hand back stage, to my dressing room. My
dancers were already there.
     "Nick, you OK? You don't look so good," Mel, one of my dancers asked.
     "I'm fine..." With that I ran to the bathroom to throw up everything I
had eaten in what felt like the past two years. I came out after a few
minutes and slowly got changed.  My dancers, thankfully didn't ask me how I
was feeling again or else I would have been back in the bathroom. Stage
fright's a bitch. I found it a little difficult to get myself dressed
because my hands were shaking so badly, but I finally got everything
on. Shortly after I finished getting dressed, the stagehand came back in
and gave us our five minute warning. I sat back down and laced up my
blades. We all finished getting ready, and had a little prayer for it to go
well we all knew how much was riding on tonight. I added silently to the
end of the prayer "Please, God, let me get through the rest of tonight
without throwing up again!"
     Just after we finished our prayer, the stagehand popped his head in
and told us to please follow him to the stage, as we were on in two
minutes.
     'OK, Nick, calm down, breath, relax, breath, please remember the
words, breath, don't forget the dance steps, breath, oh, and don't forget
to breath!' Was my little pep talk to myself and we rolled to the wings of
the stage. The three of that dancers went to stage left, while the rest of
us went to stage right, but my journey wasn't going to stop there. I then
had to get hooked to a harness which would drop me in from above the stage
what the HELL was I thinking when I agreed to do this!!!! So there I was
being lifted above the stage by a couple of very thin wires 'PLEASE DON'T
BREAK! PLEASE DON'T BREAK!  PLEASE DON'T BREAK!' is what kept going through
my head as I was hoisted further up.  Not that they were going to, each of
those little wires could hold a few thousand pounds each which I wasn't
even close to weighing, but still on top of the nerves, I really didn't
need this other distraction.
     Finally, I stopped rising. There I was, dangling over the stage,
waiting for my queue. Then I heard it.
     "Ladies and gentlemen, and especially all you teeneys newcomer Nick
Mason!"  Norm McDonald said.
     The music started, and I waited for my part to begin. I started
singing right on queue, a very soft and melodic entrance. Maybe this wasn't
going to be so bad after all I was being lowered into position on the
stage. Of course, I had on a headset mike, because I was in this black robe
like thing that was about two feet too long, so that the audience couldn't
see my blades. I was still singing soft and purposefully when my feet
touched the stage. I didn't move anything but my head. Underneath the robe,
I was undoing the harness that would soon be lifted away. Shortly
thereafter, the beat changed dramatically to a dance number, the robe was
pulled up over my head by the wires and harness. Lights started flashing
like strobes, and my dancers joined me on stage. Everything was going
perfectly. To perfect, in fact. We all hit all of our marks, then we turned
for the kissing move, thankfully, we were all boy-girl partners. Then after
the kiss we pushed back from each other on one foot a beat later, we
grabbed onto the person passing us, we turned to stage front and did a
kick. That was when it all came crashing down. In that instant I felt my
foot become a few pounds lighter, and now sailing through the air towards
the front row was my roller blade.
     "Oh.... My... God..." was what I was thinking, but somehow, I still
kept singing.  Thankfully for me, we kept that pose for a few
beats. However, I watched in horror as my roller blade was headed right for
Diana Ross. To my great surprise she snagged that sucker right out of the
air and gave me a wave indicating that she was fine. THANK GOD! With that
the dancers kept on dancing, and I, while no longer dancing (you know it
would have been kinda hard with only one skate) kept singing.
     We finished up the song, then I immediately went to the edge of the
stage to apologize profusely to the great Diana Ross and to make certain
that she was indeed alright. Laughing, she handed me back my blade, and
once again assured me that she was fine, and although very unexpected, it
was pretty funny.
     I thanked her for not being mad at me and apologized again. Then
before, getting up to go backstage, I handed her my number in case she
really had hurt herself catching the blade. I made her promise that any
hospital bills would be paid by me. I then thanked her for being so cool
about this and went backstage.
     Twenty minutes later, I had to present. I changed back into my normal
clothes, all but my shoes, and sat in my dressing room to wait for the call
to go back on stage.
     "You're needed on stage, Mr. Mason," a stagehand said popping his head
in. "Please follow me."
     I followed him, still without shoes, to the stage where I met up with
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was to be my co-presenter.
     "Hi, nice to see you again Sarah," I said. (We had met during
rehearsal)
     "Hey Nick, I really liked your dance earlier," she replied laughing.
     Blushing profusely I said, "Umm, thanks... Oh, before we start with
the scripted stuff, I just want to say a few words."
     "Um, OK?" She replied a little unsure.
     "Don't worry about it, it's nothing bad I hope that they guys running
the show don't mind."
     "Alright, I'll let you lead." she said.
     "Thanks," I said.

     Then we heard, "And now to present the next award, Sarah Michelle
Gellar and Mr.  Roller Blade himself, Nick Mason." A lot of laughing and
applause followed as we made our way to the microphone.

     I started, "Hi, everybody, I just wanted to say a couple of things
before we got to the award. First, I would like to apologize again to Miss
Diana Ross for the little incident earlier. And second, for the safety and
well-being of those in the first few rows, I have decided to go without
shoes for the rest of the evening." Everybody got a good laugh at that. I
then motioned for Sarah to start with the award stuff.
     I could tell from that moment on that I would be known as the guy who
tried to kill Diana Ross with a roller blade. But hey, I did want people to
remember me after tonight, I now had little doubt that it would
happen. Well, the rest of the night was rather uneventful (at least for
me). I had a great time at some of the after parties, and I ran into Diana
again, so I asked her to autograph the roller blade for me. Which she
happily did. When I got home late that morning, I had six messages from my
manager to call him as soon as I got in, no matter how late it was. So I
did.
     "Hey, Phil, you needed to talk to me?" I asked after I got a very
sleepy hello.
     "Wha- Who is Nick?" Phil mumbled.
     Laughing, I responded, "Yeah, Phil, it's Nick, you told me to call as
soon as I got in, so get up and tell me what's so important!"
     "Oh, Nick, what time is it?" he asked.
     "Uh, going on 5, why?" I answered.
     "You need to get packed right away!"
     "Why, where am I going?"
     "You need to be in New York by 2 for TRL."
     "What? TRL, when was that scheduled?"
     "Right after you almost beheaded Diana Ross."
     Blushing again, "OK, when's my flight?"
     "Your on the 6:00 flight, direct to NY, you should get there about
noon or 1, someone from the label will be there to pick you up and take you
to your hotel, where you'll get showered and changed. The rep, I'm not sure
who it'll be yet , will prep you for the show. One of the reason you'll be
one is to plug your tour."
     "My Tour?" I asked excitedly.
     "Yeah, we decided on 'N Sync. Although, if you have a major problem
with that, just about everybody who had their eye on picking you up for
their tour wants you, so we can change, but I'll need to know if you have a
problem right now, so we can stop the 'N Sync paperwork."
     "No, No, touring with 'N Sync sounds like fun!" I answered.
     "Alright, then get your ass in gear, I'll have a limo waiting for you
outside the hotel in ten minutes."
     "I'll be waiting! And thanks, Phil!"
     "No problem Nick, it's my job! I'll see you when you get back in a
couple of days."
     "See ya later!" I said hanging up.

     Touring with 'N Sync YES!!!! They're a bunch of hotties! I thought as
I raced around my room stuffing everything into my suitcases. I got to the
hotel lobby just as the limo was pulling up, so I ran over to the desk to
turn in my key. That done, I turned around to start for the limo, when I
saw the guys of 'N Sync walking in from what I assumed was a long night of
partying.
     "Guys, look over there, it's Nick Mason." Justin was the first to spot
me. They all started walking towards me, so I changed directions slightly
to meet them.
     "Hey, guys, nice to meet you." I said.
     "Nick, nice to meet you too." Lance said. All had similar greetings as
I went around shaking each of their hands.
     "You know I'm going to be touring with you guys." I said.
     "You are? That great! Just try not to kill any of our fans with those
blades dude!"  Chris laughed.
     Once again, I blushed.
     "Look, he blushes easily," Justin pointed out laughing.
     "Excuse me, but you'd be blushing too, if you'd almost killed Diana
Ross in the middle of a performance!" I shot back also joining in laughing.
     "Well, guys it was great to meet you, but I really gotta get going, I
have a flight to catch."
     "Alright man, see you when you get on tour." JC said.
     "Bye guys, and get some sleep!" I laughed.
     "That's right where we're headed!" Lance said.
     I waved and headed out to the limo. This tour was going to be fun!

     I can never sleep on a plane, and this flight was no different. No
matter how close I got to dreamland, I never got there fully. I like
flying, don't get me wrong
   it's definitely no a fear thing. In fact, I kinda like a little
turbulence every now and again it makes things interesting. Thankfully, we
were almost to New York. Unfortunately, my lack of sleep was really
starting to catch up with me. The last bit of sleep I had was now going on
thirty-six hours ago. My performance and subsequent partying had taken a
lot out of me, but I still had TRL to do before I could finally get some
rest I knew that if I even tried to get some sleep in the hour or two
between my planes arrival and the show, I'd sleep right through it. So I
would have to stay awake.
     I finally landed in New York, and made my way to the baggage claim. I
knew that someone was expecting me, but I didn't know who, so I just
assumed that they would recognize me. It's not like I was making any
attempt to hide my identity. I figured that, first I was too tired to even
try, and second, that no one would recognize me after only one performance.
     As I made my way to the baggage claim, someone, a woman, came up along
side of me.
     "Mr. Mason?" she asked hesitantly.
     "Yes?" I responded tiredly.
     "I'm Mary, I'm with your management, Phil asked me to come and pick
you up and to make sure you enjoy your stay in New York."
     "Nice to meet you Mary, but please call me Nick, my father isn't
anywhere around here."
     "Okay, well, I have a few things that we need to go over in the limo.
We'll be heading out to the hotel to get you settled and cleaned up
first. We're sharing a suite, so if you need anything, I'll be right there.
Then we'll head over to the MTV studios to get you ready for the show."
     "Sounds good."
     We got to know each other a little better as we waited for my baggage
to come 'round the carousel then we headed out to the limo. The driver
opened the door, then put my luggage in the trunk and we were off to the
hotel.
     "Okay, so what did they tell you you were going to be doing while you
were here?"  Mary asked.
     "Just the TRL appearance, why?"
     "Well, the schedules changed a little. First we do TRL today you'll be
guest hosting "
     "Guest hosting? I thought I'd only be making an appearance." I said, a
little annoyed.
     "Well, they saw you perform last night and decided that you'd do a
great job of hosting, I thought Phil told you."
     "Maybe he did, I'm a little tired, so maybe I just misunderstood him.
Sorry, I don't mean to be bitching at you," I apologized.
     "That's okay, so anyway, after you're finished hosting today, you have
the rest of the night off. If you want to do anything in particular, just
let me know and I'll arrange it.  Tomorrow, you have to be at Rosie's
Studio by 8:00 for her show, by then your dancers should be here."
     "Wait! You mean I'm going to do the Rosie O'Donnell show? Cool!" I
said a little excited. She always seemed to have so much fun on her show,
I'd always thought it be fun to be on it.
     "Yup, you should be done there by about 11-11:30 at the latest. Then
you have most of the afternoon off. At 5:00, you have a interview with a
local radio station they're one of the more fun ones so you should have a
good time."
     "Anything else?"
     "That's about it for appearances, at least for now. Things may change
by tomorrow.  Now, I need to go over the tour info with you so you know
what's going on with that for your appearances..." The rest of the ride
consisted of her giving me all the tour info I could possibly take, as well
as some things I couldn't say in the interviews because the contracts
hadn't quite been finalized yet. Mostly the standard stuff. I found out
that I was going to be joining the tour in a couple of days much sooner
than I had expected, but it was still cool. I just hoped that my dancers,
band, and I would be ready by then. Oh, well, I guess we'd find out.
     We finally got back to the hotel, I got a nice hot shower to revive
me, then changed into some jeans and a t-shirt as I'd been informed that
they had some wardrobe at the studios for me I was impressed. Before I knew
it, it was time to get going.
     The prep time went by in a flash, I was clothed, made-up, and my hair
styled in what seemed like seconds. Then it was air time.

     "Hello, and welcome to this Tuesday edition of Total request Live,
Carson's out today, and I'm your guest host, Nick Mason." Outside the fans
were screaming for the show and even held signs up for me which surprised
me.
     "Let's get right to the countdown, coming in today at number 10,
Mariah, Joe, and 98 Degrees with 'Thank God I Found You!'" And we were
off. The countdown went well, and I enjoyed myself more than I thought I
would. My fans wow that sounds weird "My fans" asked me some questions,
care of our "Man on the street" correspondent, Dave. I got my plug out that
I was to go on tour with 'N Sync in a couple of days, which the crowd went
crazy over, as you can well imagine.
     It was finally over, and I could go and crash for a while. Granted I
had planned to see if I could get out to some clubs later tonight, but the
first thing on my mind was sleep.  I woke up about 9:00 and felt better,
but not good enough to go out and still get up at seven to get to Rosie on
time. So I decided to head out to the living area of the suite and see if
Mary had any good suggestions for some food. After a little debate, we
decided to get some room service, and stay in. We vegged on the couches,
watched some TV and got to know each other a little better since I found
out that she was to be coming with me on tour as my personal assistant she
forgot to tell me that before.
     Well, about midnight, we decided that we had better go to bed, so we
cleaned up the suite a little and headed to bed. I fell asleep before my
head hit the pillow.
                    <<RING>> <<RING>> <<RING>> "...uh...hhhello?"
     "Good morning, this is your wake up call." A way too chipper voice
came through the phone.
     "Ug, Okay, thanks..." with that I hung up. And rolled back over to go
back to sleep.
     Apparently word of my sleeping habits had found their to Mary because
only moments later, she was pounding at the door yelling, "Get up Nick, I
heard your wake up call, and I've been warned about you if I don't hear
that shower going in one minute, I'm coming in there with a bucket of ice!"
     "Man, where did this bossy side of her come from?" I asked myself as I
pulled up the covers higher and buried my head under my pillow. "She
wouldn't do that, she's just bluffing," with that I found dreamland again.
     What seemed like only seconds later I felt the blankets being yanked
off of me then

     "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! What the hell are you doing!?" I yelled.
     "Hey, I warned you I even gave you two extra minutes." she shot back.
     "I didn't think you were serious about the ice!"
     "I don't joke around when my jobs on the line."
     "What?"
     "Well, if your late for this interview I'm not going on tour with you
   they'll get someone else to go."
     "Hey, that sucks, alright, alright, as long as you promise not to use
the ice again, I'll try and get up when you ask me to deal?"
     "Deal but can I use cold water?"
     "NO. Now git! I need to get in the shower and warm up a bit, it seems
some of the winter wonderland outside has somehow made it into my bed!" I
said laughing.
     "Alright, what do you want for breakfast, I'll order it while you're
in the shower."
     "Whatever, nothing big though it might come right back up before the
show anyway."
     "That's nasty! WAY too much info for me!" She laughed.
     "Hey, it's called stage fright, and I happen to be a victim of it. Now
git!"
     About twenty minutes later I emerged from my room again fairly
casually dressed, because again, there was wardrobe waiting for me at the
studios.
     "What'd ya get me?" I asked.
     "A fruit plate I figured if your gonna throw it up anyway, might as
well look pretty on the way out!"
     "Okay can we say 'Nasty?'" I joked, "And please stop talking about
throwing up," I added seriously.
     After having some breakfast we were out the door on our way to Rosie's
studio for the show. While I was in makeup Rosie came in to say hi to me
and told me to have a good show. I was the first guest she was to have on
and she just kind of asked questions off the top of her head, so she just
told me to be ready for whatever.
     Well, now back to the waiting game, I was in the green room waiting
for the rest of my crew to show up. About five minutes before we were to go
on, they finally came strolling on in.
     "Yo, guys! What the hell took you so long I thought I might have to do
this by myself! And considering the dance was designed with a partner in
mind that'd look pretty stupid!" I said in mock anger.
     "Geena had to get all purdied up!" Mark said then got a hand to the
back of his head.
     I added as seriously as possible, "Oh, well I can see how that would
take a while."
     Everybody just looked at me like 'Oh Shit! I can't believe you said
that!' And I couldn't hold it in any longer I just fell to the floor
laughing along with everyone else except Geena.
     "I'ma gonna git yer sorry ass!" she said in her best impersonation of
a hick.
     "I look forward to it!" I said.
     Right then, breaking up the laugher was a stagehand, "Everybody, Nick
Mason, and dancers need to get to the stage now."
     "Yo! That's us. Let's make this killer guys!" I yelled.
     Geena seizing the opportunity asked, "After that whole Diana Ross
thing, are you sure that's such a good idea?" We all laughed at my
embarrassment, my face felt like it was on fire.
     "You suck! Let's get going." I said still trying to control my
laughter.


     "And now, please welcome my next guest singing his first single off
his new album, Nick Mason!" Rosie yelled. We were ready in our first
pose. We were doing the "Roller Dance" again, only this time I really hoped
that I could keep mine on.
     We did really well, we didn't quite hit every mark like at the AMA's,
but no one noticed. And I managed to keep my roller blades on throughout
the song, which made me happy.
     "That was great! We'll be right back to chat with Nick here Don't go
away!" Rosie said as we cut to commercial.
     I turned around to the dancers and band, "Great job guys!" Then bladed
off stage to get into some normal shoes before we came back from
commercials.
     "Welcome back, we have Nick Mason here with us. How you doin' Nick?"
Rosie asked.
     "Great! I've been having a ball ever since the AMA's."
     "Ahh, yes, the AMA's, I gotta ask ya, what happened?" she asked.
     Then I felt it, my face reddening again, "Well, I'm not really sure,
one minute I was dancing my heart out, then next minute my foot is a few
pounds lighter and my blade is sailing through the air towards the
audience. I just froze, I was so mortified, I couldn't believe that my
first big TV appearance... Oh God... It was just so embarrassing. It's a
good thing that we had to hold the kick like that, because I wouldn't have
moved even if I had had to! I'm still amazed that I kept singing!"
     "Did you think about stopping?" she asked.
     "Of course I did, especially when I saw that my blade was headed right
for Diana Ross! But somehow she caught that thing better than any NFL wide
receiver could've done -- Then she waved at me telling me that she was fine
-- that's why I really kept going.
     "After my song was over, I just ran to the edge of the stage to
apologize, and she was laughing, she thought it was pretty funny. And I
guess looking back at it, it was. I'm just so glad that she was okay I'm
not sure what I'd of done if she wasn't."
     "Have you seen the tape of it?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
     "No I haven't... Why? Please tell me you don't have it!" I said
laughing.
     "Well, no, we don't," I breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait a minute, I
forgot, yes we do!" she said laughing.
     "Oh God, here we go."
     "Roll it!" she yelled.
     I watched as we were hitting the dance, the kiss done perfectly,
pushed back, turned, kick, the look on my face well, if that isn't what a
deer caught in headlights looks like, I don't know what is! The audience
was laughing, Rosie was laughing, hell, I was laughing, it was damn funny,
but I was also beet red from embarrassment. Of course Rosie had to point
out this fact as soon as the clip was over.
     "Look, he's blushing You're such a cutie-putootie when you blush!"
     Of course this only made me blush more.
     "Okay, Okay!" I said laughing, "Enough of embarrassing Nick!"
     "Okay, so I hear you brought me something?" she said changing the
subject.
     "Yes, well, I brought something for you to auction off on E-bay." I
said reaching around behind my seat to pick up the item.
     "This here is the roller blade that left my foot at the AMA's. I ran
into Diana Ross at an after party and got her to sign it, and I've signed
it as well."
     "That's great! That's really a piece of history there We'll put that
up on E-bay, that should bring in a lot for charity. Thank you so
much. Catch Nick here touring with 'N Sync starting in just a couple of
days! And don't forget to go out and buy the CD! We'll be right back with
our next guest stay tuned!"
     I thanked Rosie for the good time and headed off backstage where
everyone was waiting for me.
     "We're going to lunch, come on," Mary said.
     "Okay, I'm starving!"
     "What, didn't your two pieces of fruit fill you up this morning?" Mary
asked sarcastically.
     ""Alright, Miss Thang, one more comment like that and our little deal
is off!" I said laughing.
     "Hey, fine by me, there's been an ice machine in every hotel I've ever
stayed in."  she said mischievously.
     "Okay, Okay," I said giving up, "Let's get going."

     So Mary, my dancers, Geena, Mel, Tina, Mark, Alex, and I all headed to
lunch and for a fun afternoon discussing the tour and how it was all going
to go down.

     My radio interview was nothing special, the DJ was pretty cool, but it
was more 'So what's it like to try and take Diana Ross' head off?' kind of
stuff. After the interview and laying down some promos for the station, I
headed back to the hotel to meet up with Mary et al., so we could catch
some dinner and go hit the NYC club scene.

     We were flying out to join the 'N Sync tour late tomorrow, so we
pretty much had until then off. So since we were in NYC with a little time
on your hands, we decided to make the most of it and tried to do as much in
the way of partying as NYC had to offer we'd catch some sleep when we got
the chance!

+++++++++++++

     Another plane, another sleepless night due to partying what the hell
was I thinking when I agreed to that? Oh well, we did manage to have a lot
of fun.  And we would be able to sleep in tomorrow morning, before our
first performance in the evening.

     The plane was going to be landing in a little while in, umm... wow,
this is bad, the first tour date and I've already lost track of where I am,
oh well, that's what Mary's here for.
     "Yo, Mar!" I said.
     "Don't call me that. What do you want?  Why aren't you sleeping?" She
apparantly had been dozing oops, my bad.
     "Where are we going?"
     "Phoenix, now leave me alone."
     "Whoa, someone woke up on the wrong side of the aisle this morning!"
     "Wmwnmff..."
     "'Night..." I chuckled.

     So there you have it Phoenix, I should probably remember that so years
from now I can tell everybody, "My first ever concert was in Phoenix..." Oh
well, it's not that important.
     The landing and ride to the hotel was uneventful, however it did make
my day when I got to wake Mary up on the plane and again after she dozed
off in the limo. We got to our rooms in the hotel about 3:00am, and we all
crashed. We had wake up calls set for 10:30, 'cause we figured it'd be
enough sleep for a good concert, but it'd still give us enough time for all
the pre-concert crap.

     <<BANG>> <<BANG>> <<BANG>>

     "Huh?..." I groaned.

     <<BANG>> <<BANG>> <<BANG>>

     "I'M COMING! JUST A MINUTE!" I yelled. I then looked over at the clock
  7:16 who the hell was banging on my door at 7:16! I stumbled to the door
in my boxers and a wife beater and opened it.
     <<SPLASH!!>> "WELCOME TO THE TOUR! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

     "That was not funny." I said seriously as I was dripping from the five
buckets of water that had been thrown at me. "I'm going back to bed now."
and with that I shut the door, and walked back the my bed, stripping along
the way. I fell back on the bed, naked and still dripping, then pulled up
the covers and went back to sleep.

++++++++++++++
     <<RING>> <<RING>> <<RI... "Hello?... Thanks." It was my wake up
call. I lazily got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom rubbing the
sleep out of my eyes.  Twenty minutes later I emerged fully awake and ready
to face my day. That's when I noticed my still-wet boxers and shirt laying
on the floor. I had to chuckle to myself they probably weren't expecting me
to just go right back to bed. I pulled on some clothes and called over to
Mary's room.
     "Hello?" she answered.
     "Mary? You up?"
     "Yep, I just ordered some breakfast for everybody, so come on ever
whenever your ready."
     "Okay, I'll be there shortly."

     I went back into the bathroom to fix my hair then headed over to
Mary's room. I found the door ajar so I opened it as I knocked.
     "Hey guys! Wuzzup?"
     That got a bunch of "Hey Nick," "Not Much," etc. replies.
     "So did any of you get a visit this morning from 'N Sync?" I asked.
     I got a round of yeses.
     "Okay, I was just wondering if they gave everybody the early morning
shower or not."
     "Since then everybody's started coming over here, what took you so
long getting here?" Mel asked.
     "Oh, I just went right back to bed I think I put a downer on their
little welcome celebration."
     "You went back to bed?"
     "Yeah, didn't you guys?"
     "How could we, we were all soaking wet." Tina replied.
     "So? I just chucked the clothes, fell back in bed, and went to sleep.
If I had been more awake I'd a thought the situation was pretty funny, but
I was too out of it to notice."
     "Wait a minute did you get the same treatment we all got?" Mark asked.
     "I guess so, they all were pounding on your door, when you opened it
you got five buckets of water in the face, right?"
     "And you went back to sleep like nothing happened..." Mark added.
     "Sure, I said 'That was not funny,' then 'I'm going back to bed now,'
I closed the door and went back to sleep."
     "Wait a minute, they woke you up, splashed you with water, and all you
said was 'that's not funny, I'm going back to bed now?'" Tina said.
     "Sure, why didn't you guys?"
     "Well, because we started a water fight with 'em!" Mel laughed.
     "Did you win?"
     "I'll call it a tie."
     "I'm sorry."
     "Why?"
     "'Cause you didn't win we'll get 'em next time, team!"
     "Sure thing Coach!" they all said laughing.
     "Not to be a downer, but what time do we have to be at the arena?"
     "12:30" Mary answered.
     "Okay." With that we finished eating breakfast and continued joking
around until we piled into the limo to go to the arena.

     The limo pulled around the back of the arena and we piled out. A
stagehand was there to meet us and show us around a little. He called it
the "nickel tour."

     "Damn," I said once we were alone in our dressing room, "Does anyone
else feel like we paid too much for that tour?"
     "That's a little harsh, doncha think Nick?" Geena asked laughing.
     "Not really, does anyone wanna go invest-a-gatin' with me?"
     "Sure, I'll go with you, maybe get a little payback for this morning
if we can find 'N Sync's dressing room." Alex said with a mischievous glint
in his eye.
     "Wait a minute! You guys are looking for some payback? I'm in!" Mark
said.
     "Ladies, any takers?" I asked.
     They looked at each other for a second, then Geena spoke for the four
of them, "We're in!"
     My dancers and I had now been together for about two months, and we
already felt like a family, but still, I found myself liking this crew more
and more by the minute.
     "Let's go get some revenge!" I said as I opened the door.

     We walked out into the hallway and started walking towards the stage,
until we came to an intersection in the hallway. Taking charge, I said,
"Mary, you have your cell right?"
     "Yeah."
     "Ok, T & A (our nickname for Tina and Alex), and Mary, go that way,
call my cell if you find their dressing room. Geena, M & M (for Mark and
Mel), and I will go this way and do the same. Ready?" I said extending my
hand to the middle of the group.  They all put their hands on top of mine
and together we all yelled "Break!" then began laughing at ourselves.


     So Genna, M & M, and I started walking (well more like crouching -- I
know it was completely useless, but we were having fun with the whole
"Mission Impossible" thing we had going on) down the hallway, just looking
for anything that might clue us in as to where the 'N Sync dressing room
was. We just about got to the next intersection when Mel just stood
straight up. We all followed her lead and looked at her to ask what was up.
     "Why are we crouching around like this?" she asked half laughing at
our stupidity.
     "I dunno, it makes it seem sneakier or something," Mark said.
     "Oh. Okay." With that she began to crouch down and walk forward again.
Again we followed her lead. Then she turned around slightly and whispered,
"This way guys."
     "How do you know?" Geena whispered back.
     She just pointed to a sign that read "'N Sync Dressing Room" with an
arrow under it. We all started laughing.
     I pulled out my cell phone and called Mary, "Mary, we think we've
found out how to find 'N Sync's dressing room."
     "How?" she asked.
     "Follow the big yellow signs that are posted in the hallways." I said
laughing.
     "We're headed your way, we haven't seen any signs yet, unless we're
really that unobservant -- which I wouldn't put past this crew!" She said
laughing.
     "We'll wait here, we're still in the same hallway, just a bit down."

     A couple of minutes later, T & A and Mary came strolling down the
hall.  We started following the signs and we soon standing outside the door
to 'N Sync's dressing room. I pressed my ear to the door.
     "I don't hear anyone in there." I said pulling away, then I
knocked. No answer.  Then I knocked one more time. Again no
answer. "Alright guys, let's go on in!"
     I opened the door and looked around, there was no one there so we all
piled in and closed the door. "Alright guys, we don't know when they'll get
back so we have to hurry." I said.
     "What are we gonna do?"
     "Anybody see any shaving cream or anything like that around?" I asked.
We all searched for something that could be fun to spray around when Mark
stopped and said,
     "Wait a minute, do you see their shoes around anywhere?"
     "Here's a pair," Geena said from one side of the room.
     "There are a couple of pairs over here," Mary said.
     "One here."
     "Found another."
     "There's the last pair," Mark said pointing, "Grab them all and bring
them into the bathroom."
     We all did as he asked, a little confused as to why. Geena brought a
pair in first and we heard her laughing from the bathroom, then she came
back out and put the shoes where she found them still laughing. They didn't
look any different from when they when in, I thought. Then Mary, Alex, and
I went in with our pairs. We all started laughing when we saw what Mark had
planned. He took the shoes, placed them under the liquid soap dispenser and
put a good helping of soap in each shoe. We all took them back and put them
where we found them. After all the shoes were soaped up, we slipped out of
their dressing room and headed to the stage, figuring that our twenty
minutes was up. When we got there, we were still in a fit of laughter,
drawing everyone's attention.
     "About time you guys showed up, get up on stage and feel it out. Nick,
your mikes up there, so lets do the sound check. Oh, and Mary, Dave wants
to see you about some schedule changes or something, he's back in the
office."
     "See ya Mar! Have fun." I said from the stage.
     "I said don't call me that Dick -- I mean, um, Nick!" she said
laughing as she made her way back to the office.

     The dancers and I got a feel for the stage, and my sound check was
over about an hour later. We were told to hang out in our dressing room for
a little while, until they were ready for a run through.

     When we got back to our dressing room, Mary was already there waiting.
She gave us the schedule changes, then we just played around until we were
called.

     It was about an hour later when the stagehand popped his head telling
us they were ready for us. So we got up and headed to the stage, wondering
if 'N Sync had found our little gifts yet.
     When we got to the stage, "Alright Nick and dancers, get up there,
we're gonna do a short run through to see if everything's right, after you
guys are finished 'N Sync will do their run through, then you all have off
until show time." So we got up on stage and did our run through. About half
way through it, we saw 'N Sync coming out in front of the stage to wait for
us to finish. They didn't look pissed or anything, so either they hadn't
found their shoes yet, or they were very good at acting.
     We finished, then it was 'N Sync's turn. We all stayed to watch their
run through, when it was over, we walked up to the stage and asked if they
wanted to go and get something to eat somewhere. They looked at each other,
then JC answered in the affirmative for them.
     "Let us just go get changed, and we'll meet you guys out back in like
15." He added.
     "Cool." I said barely able to hold my laughter in. They made there was
out and all of us just started rolling, knowing now that they had not found
the shoes yet, but they were about to.
     We made our way out back and about 20 minutes later the guys of 'N
Sync showed up.
     "What took you guys so long?" I asked innocently and glanced down at
their feet to see what they were wearing.
     "Someone filled our shoes with soap!" Joey said. That was all we
needed, we all fell to the ground laughing.
     "I liked those shoes!" Chris said. We just laughed harder.
     "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" Alex asked.
     "Alright, alright, you got us, can we call a truce at least for
dinner?" Lance said.
     "Fine with us, we only did it because of the rude awakening we
received this morning."  I said.
     "What do you mean 'rude awakening,' you went right back to sleep!?"
Justin said.
     "Well, technically that's true, but I wouldn't have gotten up at all
until my wake up call if it hadn't been for you guys!" I said.
     "Yeah, whatever, lets go!" he said.

     We decided, in the spirit of getting to know each other, to split the
groups up. I ended up in the same limo with Justin, JC, Lance, T & A, while
the other limo had Joey, Chris, Geena, Mary, and M & M.

     Conversation in my limo, while I won't say tense, I will say strained.
We didn't want to break into our normal group of friends, and none of us
could really think of anything really earth-shattering to say (besides the
typical "Where ya from," "How you get your start" crap), so most of the
ride was in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

     We practically sprinted out of the limo when we got to the restaurant
(maybe "slightly uncomfortable" didn't adequately describe the silence in
the limo).  We were seated right away in a semi-private dining area the
restaurant had off to the side. We could see who came in and a few of the
tables, but that was about it. We all sat and were handed our menus. To my
immediate left sat JC, my right, Lance. 'This is going to be a long night'
I thought, remembering the ride here.
     The waiter came and took our drink orders, then left us to look over
the menu. Not much was said as we looked over the menu. After I decided
what I was getting, I turned and noticed that JC looked like he knew what
he was going to get as well, so, in an attempt to start conversation,
     "What are you getting?" I asked.
     "I'm not sure, either the grilled tuna or the burger and fries," he
responded.
     "Tough choice in one hand good taste with a little cloggage of your
arteries, or not so good taste, without the cloggage." I chuckled.
     "Don't you like fish?"
     "No, not really, but I do like those crab cakes that Mrs. Paul makes
and her fish sticks too, but I don't think that either of them have
anything that actually comes from the sea in them."
     "You're probably right about that," he laughed. "What are you
gettin'?"
     "Club sandwich."
     "That sounds kinda good."
     "It's my fall back when in doubt, go with a club!" I laughed.
     "That's my philosophy, too," Lance added, joining in the conversation.
     "Is that what you getting?" I asked Lance.
     "No I'm " Lance started.
     "He's getting the chicken caesar salad" JC interrupted.
     I looked at Lance, and he nodded in confirmation.

     "How did you know that, JC?" I asked amused.
     "It's on the menu whenever it's on the menu, that's what he gets. He
gets a club when it's not." JC said.
     The waiter then came back and took all of our orders I kinda felt
sorry for him, I would've gotten writers cramp from all he had to write
down on that little pad of his. After getting all the orders taken, he
asked us if we needed any refills, then, satisfied that we didn't, headed
of to put the order in.
     "So you nervous about tonight?" Lance asked me.
     "Not yet, but gimmie a few minutes," I laughed.
     "This is gonna be your first tour, right?" JC asked.
     "Yep, actually I still really can't believe that I'm here. I mean, I
can't believe how quick this is all going." I said.
     "What do you mean?" Lance asked.
     "Well, the AMA's was first real 'big' performance. I've never done
anything close to that big before, I've only performed in smaller venues
like big clubs."
     "And why does it surprise you that your on tour with us." JC asked.
     "Well, look what happened on the AMA's!" I said blushing.
     "I think that the AMA's proved what a performer you truly are I mean,
a lot of people put in that situation wouldn't have continued " JC said
     " I almost didn't I only did because she waved at me telling me she
was alright " I interrupted.
     " But you did still finish the song granted you didn't dance, but it
would have been near impossible for that anyway." Lance finished.
     "Plus, no one will ever forget you now!" JC added laughing.
     "You know, its funny, actually. After that performance, everyone who
my manager were trying to get me on tour with called and said that they
would love to have me my managers had their pick as to what tour they
wanted me to go on." I said.
     "You didn't get any input?" JC asked.
     "Well, I had input on what tours to try to get on, but I was too busy
partying that night to care what tour took me!" I said.
     Just then the waiter came back with our orders and we dug in. Of
course, as with most meals, the conversation came to a crashing halt as we
all started eating. After about two bites of my sandwich I had had enough
the nerves were beginning to kick in, and I wasn't really in the mood to
taste the sandwich twice (down and up), so I stopped. Alex, who sat across
from me, was the first to notice I wasn't eating.
     "Nick, is your sandwich okay?" he asked.
     "Yea, it good, I'm just not that hungry anymore." I said hoping he'd
drop it at that, we really didn't need to discuss my "pre-show bathroom
ritual" at the dinner table. I wasn't in luck tonight.
     "Afraid it'll come back up?" Mary asked with an evil smirk.
     "Eww. Thanks for that image." Justin laughed, putting his fork down.
     "Can we drop it?" I asked seriously. With that they commenced eating
again.

     "How's your ste " I began asking Mark, then I paused seeing a familiar
face coming into the restaurant, " um, yeah, would you excuse me, I have to
use the restroom." Alex caught my look, and turned to see who I looked
at. He recognized him immediately and knew what I was about to do.
     "Shit..." he muttered under his breath, when that got the attention of
Tina, who was sitting next to him, he motioned to the door and quietly
added, "Jim."  then louder added, "I need to go as well."
     I was already walking around the table toward the doorway when he
caught me, spun me around, and said, "It's this way, Nick." then proceeded
to pull me to the bathroom.

++++++++++

     At the table, everyone noticed something was up, but only Tina knew
exactly what.  Only because Tina was next to Alex, everyone's gaze drifted
to her to see if she knew what was up. She said quietly "Jim."
     That was enough for my dancers, they knew the story, they dealt with
Jim when he and I were together, and then after we broke up. Mary and the
guys of 'N Sync had no idea what 'Jim' meant, but knew it wasn't good.

+++++++++

     Anyway, once in the bathroom, Alex looked under each of the stalls to
make sure that we were alone, then once clear said, "Don't even think it."
     "What?" I asked innocently.
     "I saw Jim, don't do anything you'll regret."
     "I won't." With that I started again to the door only to be pulled
back by Alex.
          "Leave him be, I know he hurt you, but that was a couple of
months ago, let it be."
     "I wasn't going to do anything but say 'Hi.'"
     "Yeah right, since when did greeting an old friend involve a fist to
the jaw?" he asked sarcastically. I was a bit taken back by how well he
knew me.
     "Who said he was an old friend?" I retorted.
     "Look you don't need to mess up what you have by wasting your time on
that asshole, just forget you saw him and move on."
     "Alright fine, I won't do anything." I conceded.
     "Promise?"
     "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
     "Then let's go back and finish our dinners."
     We then left the bathroom and headed back. By the looks I was getting
I knew that 'N Sync and Mary hadn't been briefed on the situation, for
which I was thankful - I didn't feel like explaining my sexuality to them
just yet. But my dancers knew what was going on. I sat down then everyone
looked at me. I tried to ignore their stares, but 11 pairs of staring eyes
are hard to ignore.
     "What?" I asked annoyed. That diverted about half of the pairs of
eyes.
     "Are you okay?" Geena asked with sympathy.
     "Why wouldn't I be? I just had to use the restroom." I asked, again,
my annoyance apparent. With that everyone went back to eating, not speaking
another word.
     I starred off into space for I don't know how long, but the next thing
I knew, someone was tapping me on my shoulder.
     Turning around in my seat I asked, "Yes?" Then I saw who it was.
     "Long time, no see," he said.
     "Yeah." I sat there looking at him.
     "Listen, umm, can we talk?" he asked looking around at all the sets of
eyes looking at him, half with death stares, then added, "-Privately?"
     "Sure," I said with a grin on my face as I glanced at Alex. He was
shaking his head in a gesture which meant 'Don't do it.'
     I got up once again, and followed him to the lobby of the restaurant,
out of everyone's view.
     A few minutes later, I walked out of the lobby with a big grin on my
face. Stopped at Jim's table, where another man sat and said to the
stranger, "He's all yours." then proceeded to walk back to my table.
     "Everything go okay?" Alex asked.
     "Couldn't have gone better!" I said.
     Then the waiter then came by to see if we needed anything else.
     "Can I get a glass of ice water, please," I asked. No one else wanted
anything, so he went to get my water.
     "What happened?" Tina asked concerned.
     "Nothing, just caught up for a few minutes, that's all."
     "Then why didn't he come back in with you?" Alex asked impatiently.
     "Oh, he said something about a headache or something," then added
under my breath, "or at least he will when he wakes up."
     "What?" Alex said from across the table.
     "Nothing."
     "And what did you say to his friend?"
     "Not much."
     "Not much as in what?"
     "No much as in 'None of your damn business, Alex!'" I said as the
waiter returned with my water. He knew something was going on so he made a
quick exit without a word.  I took a sip of my water then slyly brought the
glass down beneath the table and grabbed a handfull of ice cubes out of
it. I put the glass back on the table, then wrapped the ice cubes in my
napkin and held it to my knuckles damn that punch hurt but it was worth it.
     The 'N Sync guys knew it was none of their business and tried to look
disinterested in the conversation, but they weren't doing a very good
job. Soon enough the waiter came back hesitantly with our check. Mary paid
for it with a company credit card and soon enough we were out the door.
     "Hey, guys, I think that if it's not too much trouble the groups
should ride back separately," Alex said. That pissed me off, but I knew we
had to get this little thing out of our systems before the concert.
     "Okay." JC said, "Not a problem." Then 'N Sync got in the first limo,
and we got in the second.
     Mary was the first to speak.
     "Okay, who the hell was that Jim guy?"
     "My ex." I said.
     "Not a good breakup?" she asked, although from the dinner
conversation, and the looks on my dancers faces, she already knew the
answer to her question.
     "You could say that," I said, "You could also say that he's a
bitch-motherfucking- slut who slept with more people while we were going
out that Wilt Chamberlin did in his entire basketball career!"
     "What did you do to him?" Mark asked.
     "I hit him, what the hell did you think I did to him?"
     "That's what I thought, but I was still hoping that he really had a
headache." Mark said.
     "Oh, he will, believe me. When he wakes up, he'll have one."
     "You really shouldn't have done that especially not now."
     "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Alex?" I practically yelled.
     "We're starting out on a tour our first we don't need the bad press,
or worse if he decides to press charges for assault."
     "He wouldn't do that and you know it."
     "Why wouldn't he?"
     "Because he'd have just as much to lose if he did, remember I know all
his dirty little secrets."
     "Well, I still think you shouldn't have hit him."
     "And that, right there, is why I don't pay you to think!" I blurted
out. Everyone looked at me in shock, and my shoulders immediately slumped
as I realized what I had said. With one thoughtless remark, I had belittled
our friendship to nothing more than an employer/employee relationship. I
looked at Tina, who was sitting next to Alex and asked her to switch seats
with me silently with my eyes. She started to move, so I took that as a
yes. I switched with her so I was beside Alex.
     "Alex..." I said. He turned away from me. "Please, I am so, so sorry,
that just came out. I didn't mean it. I wasn't thinking. I haven't been
doing that since I saw Jim.
     "Look," I sighed, "You were probably right, I shouldn't have hit him.
But when he walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and gave me this
smug little smile of his, I couldn't help it. I knew that I had to put him
in his place. Tell me that, in the same situation, you wouldn't have done
the same thing.
     "You know that I consider you one of my best friends, and I have since
we met. You were there for me through all the shit that asshole put me
through. And I hope that you can forgive me for what I said."
     He turned back to me, his features softening. "I guess that, yes, if I
were faced with a similar situation, I would've done the same thing. And I
know you didn't mean that remark you were angry and not thinking, I was
angry and not thinking. I sorry for getting pissed about you hitting him
hell I'll even admit that I wanted to a little, but you really gotta
control you temper a little better, especially now when we're getting big."
     "I know. Forgive me?" I asked.
     "Yes, come here you doofus!" He said.
     "Whatever, jerkoff!" I laughed. We hugged and all was good between us.

++++++++++ Meanwhile in the 'N Sync limo....

     "What the hell was that?" Justin said as they pulled away from the
restaurant.
     "I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to find out." Chris said.
     "Well, who was that guy?" Joey asked.
     "My guess would be Jim, whoever that is." Lance said.
     "Maybe an old friend?" JC asked.
     "Maybe, but certainly not anymore." Lance said.
     "I thought Nick was gonna go after Alex for a second there." Joey
said.
     "Yeah, it did kinda look that way, didn't it?" Justin added.
     "I'm glad I'm not in that limo." Chris laughed.
     "JC, did you hear what Nick said when Alex asked where Jim was?" Lance
asked
     "He said Jim had a headache or something."
     "No after that, under his breath." Lance said.
                                        "No, I didn't hear anything."
     "He said something like 'At least he will when he wakes up,' I think
he knocked him out!" Lance said.
     "That would explain the ice water," Justin said.
     "What about the ice water?" Chris asked.
     "Didn't you guys see what he did with it?"
     "He drank some of it." JC said.
     "He took one sip I was watching him then he put the glass under the
table, after a little while the glass came up without much ice left in it."
Justin said.
     "That would explain the napkin." JC said.
     "What napkin?" Joey asked.
     "Nick wrapped his napkin around his hand probably because it hurt from
punching Jim and it was probably filled with the ice from the water." JC
said.
     "Ok, so he hit Jim. And obviously his camp knows who Jim is " Lance
said.
     "Except Mary, she seemed as clueless as we were." Justin added.
     "Right, I noticed that too. But that still doesn't tell us much about
Jim. And I'm not sure that we should ask either." After saying this, Lance
looked around to the guys so they knew he meant that as an order, not a
suggestion. "Let's just forget we ever heard of a Jim, unless Nick wants to
bring it up to us."

     With that the 'N Syncers went on to lighter topics.

++++++++++

     We finally got back to the arena after we lightened up and started to
joke around.  By the time the doors were opened we were all fighting to get
out and be the first one inside the arena. As we were laughing, and
tackling each other, the 'N Sync guys looked on in amusement and shock as
we were a totally different bunch than the one that got into the limo.

     "I WON!" Mark yelled as he was about to go inside, a little
prematurely, I might add, because as he said it Tina tackled him to the
ground and ran inside. We all laughed as the 'N Sync guys were still trying
to figure out what was going on. We all calmly got up from where we were
and started walking towards the door. 'N Sync just stood there looking at
us, not sure if it was over.
     "You guys comin'?" Alex asked them as he was about to enter the
building. They all came back to reality and started for the building.
     "What the hell has gotten into you guys?" Chris asked as he walked
inside.
     "Just having a little fun before the show," Tina answered.
     "You people are even weirder than I am!" He chuckled.
     "No, I still think you hold the Weirdo Trophy, Chris!" Justin said,
coming up behind Chris. "Remember the time you ran down the street in-"
     "No, I don't remember that at all, and neither do you!" He said as he
began blushing.
     "I tell you guys later," Justin softly whispered as he walked by us.
     "Oh no you won't, Justin. Or I'll just have to recall the time when we
walked into your and JC's room on the first tour and -"
     "Sorry guys, I can't remember what I was going to say" Justin
interrupted, laughing and blushing. I knew we would have to exchange
embarrassing stories later, it sounded like they had some good ones about
each other.
     "You guys are finally back! Where the hell have you been? Never mind,
I don't want to hear it, Nick and crew, get dressed then to hair and
makeup. You need to be ready to go on in 45 minutes." Doug, one of the
stage managers, said as he came running up to us.  "'N Sync, you guys are
on in about an hour and a half, so start getting ready, and don't wander
off."
     "Well, guys, have a great show, get 'em pumped up for us!" Joey said
as we headed off to start getting ready.

     After our performance, we headed back to the dressing room to get
showered and changed. Then we headed out to the bus that we were to share
with 'N Sync, which was to be our home for the next God knows how many
hours.
     In the back of the bus, we talked for a while about nothing in
particular, just waiting for 'N sync to finish up so we could hit the road,
when I decided I had enough of the conversation and needed to unwind.
     "Guys, its time for me to zone for a while," I said getting up and
looking for my CD player.
     "What's the selection tonight?" Mel asked, "Bach, perhaps a little
Star Wars?"
     "I think we'll go with Titanic tonight."
     "Good choice, we'll talk to ya in a hour or so, if we're still up,"
Mel said.
     "'Night, if you don't make it," I said as I walked to the front of the
bus.

     Everyone left me alone as I dawned my headphones and listened to some
classical music. That was how I always unwound after a show, and my crew
just got used to leaving me alone to do my thing.

++++++++++++

     A couple of hours after we left the stage, 'N Sync made their way to
the bus. I was still listening to my music with my eyes closed and
conducting along when they got on the bus. They all kind of looked at me,
but I didn't even know they were there.
     "Okay, Chris, maybe the Weirdo Trophy isn't yours anymore," Justin
chuckled.  Lance was leaning over about to put a hand on my shoulder, when
Tina appeared from the back of the bus.
     "Wait, Lance, don't bother him," she said.
     "Okay, why not?"
     "It's just his little post-performance ritual. To wind down he listens
to some classical music and hates to be bothered. Well, it is when he's
single at least, when he's got someone, his post-performance ritual is a
little... Well, lets just say he doesn't listen to classical music, but he
still hates to be bothered trust me I know first hand. He just listens and
zones out, he's probably not even on this planet right now."
     "That, or he's in the middle of the North Atlantic freezing to death."
Mark said coming up behind Tina.
     "What?" JC chuckled.
     "He's listening to Titanic tonight." Mark answered matter-of-factly.
     "Oh, well what are you guys doing?" JC asked.
     "We're just catching a movie in the back. Well, Tina, Alex and I are.
Mel and Geena went to bed already. And Mary isn't riding with us on this
little trip management needed to discuss some things with her."
     "What movie?" Justin asked.
     "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." Tina answered.
     "Cool, I'm there." Justin said walking to the back of the bus.
     "Anyone else care to join us?" She asked as she, too, turned to the
back of the bus.  JC, Mark, Joey, and Chris followed, but Lance said he was
gonna getting something to eat then head to bed.
     Lance opened to mini-fridge, got a bottle of water, then sat down at
the kitchen table, if that's what you could call it. He was just staring at
me as I continued to conduct my imaginary orchestra. A smile came to his
lips.

++++++++++++++++++

To be continued...

Well, that's it for now, I hope to have the next part out soon, let me know
what you think of my story. My e-mail is writermurf@hotmail.com. I'm sorry
that 'N Sync hasn't shown up too much in it yet, but the next section will
be the bus ride ten people trapped on a bus for hours on end an adventure I
don't want to miss. Plus, Nick will get friendly <<WINK>> <<WINK>> with
some of the 'N Syncers!