Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 21:25:29 EDT From: Papito6187@aol.com Subject: Rob-Lance16 Sorry for the delay, I know I said that I was going to post this last week, but I got swamped with schoolwork. So, here's the next installment, hope you like. On with the show! XVII "Damn, I can't believe that in 3 days I'm gonna start recording my own album!" I said. "I know! Remember what you said, you're gonna let me rap on one of the songs!" he said. "Yeah, yeah! I know, I know! Besides, you'd never let me forget it if I didn't." "Damn right!" "So, things got a little hot and heavy between you and Justin last night huh, or should I say this morning?" "Both." "What?" "Nothing major at the club, just heavy kissing where nobody could find us, but the really fun stuff didn't start till this morning around like 4:30. That was the plan, but first we wanted to actually get some stuff done before we woke you up." "Ooh, and by the way, if you ever do that again, the least thing you'll have to worry about is a pillow in the face!" "It wasn't me you hit, it was Justin." "Whoever!" Back at my apartment. "Dude, what happened to the side of your face? It's all red." JC asked. "Rob hit me with a pillow." He said rubbing the side of his face. "Damn! That hard?" Lance said. "It didn't hurt, it's just red now, it'll go away in a little while." "Why'd he hit you?" "Long story." "Oh.. I get it!" "What?" JC asked. "Nothing." "What? Tell me!" "You really wanna know?" Justin said looking at him funny. "On second thought... not really!" JC said shaking his head, "Eeww!" "So, when you gonna call Melissa?" Lance said laughing and changing the subject. "Wanna do it right now?" "Yeah, come on!" "Should we use the cell?" "Nah, let's use his phone." "Ok, but if he gets pissed, it's your fault!" "I'll take care of him if he gets pissed, don't worry." "ILL! Don't wanna know, don't wanna know!!" "Would you just dial the number and shut up!" "Alright fine!" He dialed and she picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said. "Hello, can I speak with Melissa?" "This is she." "Hi, this is Josh, one of Rob friends," he said as Justin gave him a thumbs up sign, "we are throwing a surprise party to congratulate him on getting the record deal." "Oh, good idea! When?" "Tomorrow." "Oh, I'm going out with him tomorrow." "Yeah, I know. We... I mean I have a plan." "What? Wait... You said we?" "Yeah.. his mom and I." "Good save!" Lance whispered. "Oh, well, what is it?" "Well, when you're out with him tomorrow, say that you have to leave around like 4 cause you gotta do something. Then get to his parents house, we need some people to help set up. It's gonna be you there, and do you know Jay?" "Yeah." "Well, he's going to be there to help set up." "Ok, anything else I need to know JC?" "No, not really." "I KNEW IT!! OH MY GOD, I'M SUCH A HUGE FAN! AAAAAHHHH!!!" He pulled the phone away from his ear and Justin and Lance heard her screaming. "She figured it out." He said. "Tell her to calm down." Lance said. "Ok, ok! Melissa! Calm down!" "OK, OK! I'M CALM, I'm calm!" she said breathing heavily, "AAAAAHHHH!!!" "Damn!" Joey said from the couch, "I heard that all the way from here!" "Ok, ok! I'm calm, I'm calm. I won't scream anymore! I promise!" "You promise?" JC said. "Yeah, yeah!" "Ok, now, what are you going to do tomorrow?" "I'll say that I gotta go do something and that I have to go. I'll make up something! Then I'll go to his parents house." "Ok, well then we'll see you tomorrow, and try not to die when you meet us, we are just like any other guys you've met before." "Ok, I'll be calm! I swear. Is Lance there?" "Yeah, why?" "Can I talk to him? I wanna ask him something." "Um, ok... I guess, hold on." He said putting the phone on his shoulder, "Here, she wants to talk to you." "Me?" Lance asked. "Yeah, here." He said giving him the phone. "Um.. Hello?" Lance said taking the phone. "Lance?" Melissa asked. "Yeah." "OH MY GOD!!" "If you're gonna start screaming again I'm gonna go." "Ok, ok! I'll be good!" "So, what can I do for yah?" "Do you really love Rob?" "Yeah..why?" "Because, he really needs that. Especially after what that bitch did to him!" "Well, you don't have to worry, he's in good hands." "Don't get me started on her, that ugly bitch! I felt like smacking her when I met her." "Ok, calm down, don't get all psycho on me!" "I'm ok, I'm ok! I just hate that stupid bitch!" "Melissa!" "Alright, I'm not gonna say anything!" "Ok, I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow." "Ok, bye, it was nice talking to you both and tell everybody that I say hi." "Ok, I will. Bye!" "Bye!" He hung up the phone and said, "Damn! That girl is hyper!" "I know right!" JC said. "She says hi to everybody." "So, what else do we have to do?" Chris asked. "Well, I still gotta Lucy." JC said. "Do that now!" Joey said. "I will, when are you guys gonna go downtown?" "I think we should start getting ready now!" Justin said. "Yeah, let's get back to the hotel so we can get changed and shit." Joey said. "Yeah, wanna call the limo or hail a cab?" JC asked. "Cab, it's faster." Lance said. "Ok, it's 1:30 now, let's get dressed and then we'll head back to the hotel." "OK." The rest of them said. Back in my car. "We're here!" I said pulling up in front of his building. "Are the guys out front?" he asked. "Surprisingly, no. They're probably playin ball." "Yeah, let's get this shit over with!" he said getting out of the car. "Somebody's a little anxious to get out of here! Surprise, surprise!" "Yeah, well, let's just say I'm getting sick of these assholes!" "Yeah right, you just don't want them to find out about your little secret!" "That too!" "Yeah, anyway, let's go!" We walked into his building and into his apartment. Nobody was home, so that gave us a chance to talk without being interrupted. "So, what's going to happen when we leave?" I asked opening up his closet. "What do you mean?" He asked getting a suitcase out from under his bed. "Well, between you and Justin." "Oh, well, I don't know. Just take out all of those cloths and put them on the bed." "Ok. Well, are you going to do the long distance thing? Are you just gonna leave it for when he's in town?" I said putting his cloths on the bed. "I really don't know. We haven't talked about it yet." He said folding some of the cloths and putting them into the suitcase. "Well, I suggest you talk about that tonight!" "What do you mean?" "What? Justin didn't tell you?" "No, what?" "Oh, when we go back to go out to diner, you two are going to go out on your own." "Oh shit!" "What?" "I don't know.. what am I going to wear?" "Aaww! How cute! He has to get ready for his big date!" "Shut up! Help me pick out something!" "Here, wear these slacks, with... this shirt." "Cool! Thanks." "Now, what else are you going to bring besides all this clothing?" "Not everything, but most of it." "Then we're gonna need some help!" "Call the guys." "Which ones? My guys or the ghetto guys." "Ghetto, cause they're closer and your guys probably went out or something." "Yeah, aight, I'll go see if they're outside." "Ok, I'll keep packing." I left the room and then came back in and said, "Gimme your keys!" "Here!" He said throwing them to me. I caught them and went outside. I got outside and expected them to be on the stoop, but they weren't. I then went into one of the backyards where they usually play basketball and sure enough, they were there. "Oh shit! Rob!" Sean said dribbling the ball. "Sup!" I said. "What you doin here?" Dre asked. "Helpin Jay pack." "Where's he goin?" D asked. "He's gonna move in to my apartment while I'm on tour." "You're going on tour? For what?" Jose asked. "Remember, I got a record deal." "You were serious?" "Yeah!" "Oh shit!! I thought you were just playin!" "No! Anyway, we need you guys to help him pack, so come on!" I said walking back to Jay's house. They all followed me. I was a little ways ahead of them. They were talking about me and I could hear everything. "Yo! Ask him if we could freestyle on one of his songs!" Joe said. "Yeah, yeah!" said Sean. It didn't surprise me one bit that as soon as I would become famous, they would try and become my best friends again. I just rolled my eyes and kept walking. Once I got to the door, I waited for them to catch up. Once inside the hallway, I opened the other door to the apartment and we all went inside. "We're back!" I said as I walked into Jay's room. "Sup guys!" Jay said putting the last of his clothes into the suitcase. They all responded and then were standing there waiting for orders. "Take off your coats and put them in the living room." Jay said. They did as he said and all came back into the room. "Now what?" Joe asked. "Uh... take my CD's and put them in here." He said taking out a box. We continued to pack for about another hour before we took a break. We had some lunch, then got back to packing. By the time we were finished, it was already about 4:30. Back at the hotel. "Ok, so that's all the people you want there?" JC said on the phone. "Yes, I'm sure, that's it. That's enough, if we're gonna feed all these people." My mom said. "Ok, so anything else you need for us to pick up?" "No, just remind Jay and Melissa that they have to be here no later than 4 if we wanna get this thing all set up." "Ok, so what's the plan once we get there?" "Well, those who already know, I've told them to be here between 5 and 5:30. You guys keep him busy and get here by 6." "Ok, you're sure you don't need anything for us to pick up?" "Positive, just bring my son here in one piece." "You got it!" "Well, I'd better start calling around if we wanna make this thing work!" "Ok, well, if there's anything you need, you have my cell phone number. Don't hesitate to use it." "Ok, well see you tomorrow." "Ok, bye!" "Bye!" He hung up the phone just as Lance was knocking on the door to his room. "Come in!" He said lying back on the bed. "Hey, is everything set?" Lance asked. "Yup! All we gotta do is get him there." "Ok, you ready to go then?" "Yeah, let me just call Joey and see if him and Justin found the store." "Ok, I'll wait with you." "Cool." He dialed Joey's cell phone and Joey picked up. "Joe, it's Josh." "What's up?" he asked. "Did you find the store?" "Not yet, we just now started to look for it." "Any trouble with fans?" "Not really, we're camouflaged pretty good, oh..wait! There it is! We found it." "Ok, look around and try and pick out something you think he might like." "Ok, we'll do our best." "We're on our way to the mall now. Call me when you're done." "Aight, laters!" "Bye!" JC said hanging up the phone, "Let's go!" "Ok, let me get Chris, meet us by the elevator." "Ok." Lance ran over to Chris' room, knocked on the door and Chris came out. "Y'all ready?" Chris asked. "Yup, let's go!" They waited for the elevator and went into the lobby. The van that they had ordered for the rest of the day had arrived, JC signed for it, took the keys and they went off to the 34th St. mall. They all knew it was a risk to go to such a public place, but they disguised themselves up pretty good and really didn't mind if they were to be stopped by fans. After about half an hour, they got to the mall, after about another 20 min they found a parking space close to the mall just in case they had to make a quick exit. They got out and went inside. They looked around in various stores. JC bought Justin a baby blue golfer vest and a North Carolina jersey. Chris bought Joey a Superman figurine. Lance bought Joey a couple of CD's from some Musicals. After about another hour of looking around, JC said, "They ain't got shit here!" "I know!" Lance said, "Let's go to Bloomingdale's." "Yeah!" "Fine with me!" Chris said. "Can we get something to eat first?" Lance suggested. "Yeah, I'm hungry!" "Ok, we'll get some food and then we'll go to Bloomie's" JC said. They went up to the food court, all ordered various meals and scarfed it down within a matter of 15 minutes. Once finished, they got up and made their way back to the van. On their way down one of the escalators, they heard a girl scream out really loud, "OH MY GOD! IT'S N SYNC!" The guys had feared this, so they ran down the escalator. Luckily for them they were on the second floor and didn't have much farther to go. They made there way through as much people as they could and just as they were right in front of the door, about to make their escape, they were cut off by a group of fans. The group consisted of about 5 girls and 2 guys. They signed some quick autographs, and got out of the mall before the rest of the mobs could catch up to them. They got to the car as fast as they could and sped off. They were on Madison Ave and 44th St when JC's phone rang. "Hello?" he said picking it up. "Josh, it's Joey. We picked out a pretty cool sword. It's a replica of the one from Zorro. I cost like around $350. We got it and got it wrapped up. They're gonna deliver it to the hotel around 4:30." "What time is it now?" "A quarter to 3." Lance said. "You want us to be there to pick it up?" "Yeah, if you don't mind." Joey said. "I don't know, we might still be shopping." "Well, they said they'd leave it at the front desk anyway, so whoever gets there first, picks it up. I just hope Rob hasn't gotten there yet." "Me too. Well, anyway, we're not too far from the hotel anyway, so we should be there in time." "Ok, well we're gonna go walk around some more. I'll check in with you later." "Ok, later!" "Bye!" "What happened?" Chris asked as JC hung up the phone. "He got the sword." "Cool, what kind?" Lance asked. "It's a replica of the sword from Zorro." "Cool!" "They're gonna deliver it around 4:30." "Ok, well, hopefully, we should be done by then." "Yeah." "We almost there?" Chris asked from the back seat. "Yeah, we're on 48th and Madison now." "Ok. What should I get Justin?" "I don't know. I was thinking about getting him a watch." Lance said. "Cool, what kind?" "I don't know, but it's gonna be a dressy one." They sat in the traffic for another ten minutes before they found a spot and went into the store. It was pretty crowded, especially since it was a Saturday. "Look, there are the watches." Lance said. "I'll go with you, come on." JC said. "I'm gonna go look around, are we gonna meet anywhere?" Chris asked. "Um.. how bout, let's meet in the restaurant at 4:30, then we'll get out of here." "Ok, fine with me." "Aight, see you later." "Come on, let's go." Lance said. "I'm coming, hold on!" They went over to where the watches were and looked around. Lance saw a couple of watches that he thought Justin might like, but he couldn't decide which one to pick out. "Yo, Scoop!" JC said. "What?" "Check out that girl over there behind the counter!" "Not now! I'm trying to pick out which watch I'm gonna buy." "Yo, she is HOT!" "Who?" "Look." "Mmm, nice ass too!" "Shh! She's coming over here!" JC said as they both quickly looked down. "Is that for Rob, or for one of the guys?" a female voice said. "Huh?" Lance said as he and JC looked up. "Is that for Rob, or for one of the other guys." She said again. "How'd." JC began. "It's me, Melissa." "Oh shit!" Lance said, "I didn't know you worked here!" "Yup, so, who's it for?" "Oh, it's for Justin." "Oh yeah, isn't his birthday in a couple of weeks?" "Yeah, and so is Joey's that's why we're here, we finally have time to shop and we need to get them stuff." "The hassle of being in show business." JC said. "I'd take that life over this one in a second!" Melissa said. "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give it up for anything!" "I know." she said gazing into his eyes. "Hmm.. I think I'm gonna take this one!" Lance said. "Huh? Oh. um. ok! Let me ring it up for you!" she said snapping out of her trance. JC blushed a little when this happened but tried to cover it up. She came back with the watch and asked how he was going to pay. Lance gave her his credit card and she went back to the register. "Damn she's fly!" JC whispered. "Then go for it!" Lance said. "Yeah, right, and we only got like what, 3 days left?" "So, you'll see her again. I mean, after all, she's Rob's best friend, so, we're bound to run into her time and time again." "I don't know. Cause then if something happens, then it'll be all awkward." "Well, I still think you should go for it!" "Shh! Here she comes!" "Ok, here's your watch, and here's you credit card." She said handing them to Lance. "When do you get off?" Lance asked. "I have a break around 4:30, and I get off at about 6. Why?" "Oh, I wanted to introduce you to Chris." "He's here too?" "Yeah." JC said. "What about the other guys? Where's Rob?" "They went to get him something, a present from all of us. And Rob went with Jay to help him pack." Lance said. "Oh yeah, that's right. He told me he was going to go do that today." "So, we're gonna go look around some more. Meet us at the restaurant when you go on break." "Ok, I'll see you later." "Bye!" JC said. "Bye." She said flirtatiously They went and looked around some more. JC bought some cologne for Justin and was going to get some CD's for Joey at some music store. They walked around and talked about what happened with Melissa. "She was so flirting with you!" Lance said. "No she wasn't, shut up!" JC said punching him in the shoulder. "YES SHE WAS!!" he said punching him back, "Damn! Are you that blind?" "Shut up!" "Hey, I'm gonna get this for Joey!" he said holding up a silk Superman robe. "Oh shit! He would so love that!" "I know! I'ma get it!" "Go head!" "Ok, then we'll go and meet Chris and Melissa." "Ok, come on!" They went over and paid for the robe. After they were done with that, they made there way over to the restaurant. Melissa was already there, but there was no sign of Chris. "Hey!" JC said. "Hey!" she said back. "Any sign of Chris?" Lance asked. "Nope, I just got here so.." "Oh, well, he should turn up pretty soon." JC said. "Speaking of which, there he is." Lance said. "DAMN! What did he do? Buy out the whole store??" JC said. "Whoa! That's a lot of bags!" Melissa said. "A. little.. Help. here!" Chris said struggling. "Come on!" Lance said grabbing some of his bags. "Something tells me this isn't all just for Joey and Justin." Melissa said. "I got stuff for Rob too, who's she?" Chris said. "This is Melissa, Rob's friend." Lance said. "Oh, it's nice to meet you!" he said sticking out his hand and dropping some bags. "Dumb ass!" JC said. "Shut up!" "I think we should get goin, especially if we gotta get all this shit into the car and be back in time to pick up the thing." Lance said. "Yeah, I should get back too, the more I work the faster I get out of here!" she said. "Oh, ok... I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." JC said. "Well, I was hoping for sooner, but that'll do." "I told you!" Lance said in his ear, "Come on man! Now's your chance! Go for it!" "I'll meet you guys back at the car, I'm gonna walk her back to her post." JC said. "Ok, we'll be in the car then. We'll see you tomorrow Melissa!" Lance said grabbing some of Chris' bags. "It was nice meeting you! I'll see you tomorrow!" Chris said picking up his bags. "Bye!" she said. "I'll be right there!" JC said as they walked towards the exit. "Bout time he got the balls to say something!" Lance said as he and Chris walked out of the building, "You should've seen how obviously she was flirting with him!" "For real?" Chris asked. "Yeah! Then he said that she wasn't flirting with him! I swear!" "Where's the car again?" "Over there!" "Well let's get the hell in there! It's freezing!" They ran over to the car, threw their bags in the back of the van and got in. They waited there for about 15 minutes than JC got in the car. "So." Lance said. "Tonight, 7:00, I'm taking her to diner!" JC said with a huge smile on his face. "That's my man!!" Chris said. Lance started the car and they drove off to the hotel. It was about 4:30, there was slight traffic going cross-town, but nothing major. There were in between Madison Ave and 5 Ave when Lance's cell phone rang. "Hello?" Lance answered. "Hey! It's me!" I said. "Rob!" He said surprised to hear my voice, "Hey baby!" "Hey! Listen, we just finished up here, we're on our way back to my house. What are you up to?" "Nothing, just me JC, and Chris, we just finished shopping." "Oh, really? Where'd you go?" "First we went to the 34th St mall, then we went to Bloomie's." "Oh, Melissa works there!" "I know, we ran into her!" "You did?" "Yup!" "Cool!" "What?" Jay said in the background. "Nothing, they ran into Melissa at her job." "Oh!" "So, anyway." I said back to Lance, "What time are we all gonna meet up?" "I don't know!" "How bout we meet at the hotel." "Yeah, that's good. We'll call around and see what's gonna happen." "Ok, I'll check back in later!" "OK, bye! Love you!" "You too! Bye!" "Hey!" "What?" "You didn't say it back!!" "I know, I'm sorry, but you know where I am." I said very lowly. "Oh. yeah, I forgot! Sorry!" "There's no need! I should be." "No, I understand, don't worry." "Wait, hold on for a sec." "Uhh.. ok." "I love you!" "Where are you?" "In the other room, don't worry, they're in Jay's room." "You sure?" "Yeah, don't worry about it!" "Ok, well anyway, I'll see you later, call me ok?" "Ok, bye, love you!" "Love you too baby! Bye!" We both hung up the phone. I went back to Jay's room where everybody else was. "Aight, so, we're gonna go now!" I said. "Yeah, thanks for helping guys!" Jay said. "Aight dogs! Anytime!" Dre said. "Yeah, kid, you know we always got your back!" Joe said. "So yo, when are you gonna come back?" D asked. "Who, me or him?" I asked. "Both of you!" Jose said. "I'm gonna come back whenever I get a chance to." Jay said. "As for me, I don't know. It's whenever I'm back in NY and have time." "Well, we gonna miss you kid!" Sean said. "Don't worry, it's not like you're never gonna see me again!" "Well, whenever we do see you again, just know that we'll miss you!" Dre said. "Thanks! Now come on, let's get all this shit into my car!" We made 3 trips to and from my car. Once we got everything loaded, Jay and I got in the car and headed back to my apartment. "That was nice!" Jay said. "What? That fake ass good-bye?" "Yeah." "Please! They only did it cause they're hoping that if and when I come back here they can get some money out of me." "Yup!" "Whatever!" We drove back and talked some more, about Justin, about Lance, about school, about the tour. We had a good long needed talk. We got back to my place and I called Lance. Once I was off the phone with him, we got to work. We managed to get a good amount of work done. By the time we were satisfied with what we had done, it was already 6:30. Meanwhile, back at the hotel. "Did it come?" Chris asked. "Yup." Lance said. "Let's see!" JC said. "Wait till we get upstairs." "Ok" they both said. They piled into the elevator as best as they could with all of the bags that they had. They got upstairs, went and put all their stuff away, and then went into JC's room. "Open it!" Chris said. "Hold on!" Lance said. "Yeah, calm down man!" JC said. They opened it up and Lance took it out. "Whoa!" they all said. "Look, I'm Zorro!" Lance said making a Z in the air with the sword. "Watch it man! That shit is sharp!" JC said. "Let me see!" Chris said taking it from Lance. "Be careful!" "I will, I will." He played around with the sword until Lance took it away and said, "Ok, let's put this away, before one of us gets cut or before I have to take it for myself." "Yeah." JC said. "Can I leave it in here? Just in case Rob stays over?" "Yeah, gimme, I'll put it in the closet." He put the sword away and Lance's phone rang. "Hello Pizza-Hut?" he said picking up the phone. "Yeah, I'd like a large pie with. Hey! It's me." I said. "Hey!" he said laughing. "We're here. Where are you guys?" "In JC's room." "Oh, so you finished shopping?" "Yeah, I told you that before!" "Oh yeah! Who's there? Just you three?" "Yeah." "Where's Justin? Still with Joey?" "Yeah, why?" "Cause Jay wanted to know." "Keeping tabs on his man?" "Yeah, something like that. Nah, they're gonna go out tonight." "Oh, cool, then it's just gonna be you, me, Chris and Joey at diner tonight." "Why, where's JC going?" "Um.. He's gotta date." "Word? With who?" "With." he began as JC waved no in the air with his hands, "with some girl, I dunno." "Oh, ok. I'll see you later then." "Around what time?" "Um. I don't know, I'll call you back when we're done." "Ok, if we're not here, we'll meet somewhere then." "Ok, I'll talk to you later." "Ok, bye!" "Bye, I love you! See, there I said it!" "I love you too!" he said laughing. He hung up the phone and was still laughing. "What?" JC asked. "Nothin, private joke." "Oh, anyway, I'm gonna call Joey." "Ok, ask them when they're coming back." "I was." He picked up the phone, sat on the bed and called Joey. "Hello?" Joey said. "Hey Joe, it's JC." "Sup?" "Nothin, when are you coming back?" "Uh.. we should be back by 5:30." "Ok, tell Justin that Jay was asking for him." "Jay's there?" "Nah, he's with Rob. They're still doing the moving thing." "Did the package come?" "Yeah, good choice!" "Thanks, did you get everything you wanted?" "Yeah, most of it. Oh, we met Melissa!" "For real? Where?" "She works at Bloomingdale's." "Yeah, and he's got a date with her tonight!" Chris yelled. "Shut up!" JC said throwing a pillow at him. "Oh, for real? Go Josh! Does Rob know?" "Nah, not yet. I wanna be the one to tell him, or if she wants to. So, don't mention anything to him!" "Ok, my lips are sealed!" "Thanks!" "No prob! Well, I'll see you later! I'll check in before we come back" "Ok, call me on the cell, just in case we're not in here." "Ok, later!" "Bye!" "So, what happened?" Lance asked. "They should be back around 5:30, he said." "Ok, well, what do y'all wanna do?" "I don't know!" Chris said. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take a shower and change." Lance said getting up from the chair he was sitting in. "Yeah, that sounds good. I gotta pick this girl up at 7 and I gotta pick out what I'm gonna wear." JC said. "Ok, well I'm gonna wrap some of the presents, you want me to wrap the sword?" Chris said. "Only if you promise not to play with it!" Lance said. "I won't, I won't!" "Ok, go get it, it's on the top shelf in the closet." JC said. He got the sword, and he and Lance left and went into their rooms. TBC... You know the drill, questions, comments, suggestions, ALL WELCOME!! Email Papito6187@aol.com