Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 16:40:51 CDT
From: C H
Subject: Into The Groove pt. 19

   "Hey honey," her mom Linda said, smiling warmly at her. Britney looked
up at the two men she'd been raised by, her father Jamie and brother Bryan.
Bryan looked at her with a hesitant smile, as if unsrue of who he was
looking at. Her father divided his gaze between her and the wall full of
plaques. ' He's not looking at me...he's looking at parts of me,' Britney
realised, hating the way his gaze made her feel. 'It's just like how people
look at my chest.'
    Out loud, she said, "So what brings you all here? I'm only here for the
rest of the day." The family looked at each other and at Max Martin, who'd
quietly found a seat to observe what he could. He tried to soak in as much
of the atmosphere as possible.
    "Oh, honey, we needed to talk to you," her mom drawled in her
Louisianan accent, leaning over to hug her middle child.
     Britney hugged her back, which evolved into a 3-way hug wehn Brian
joined in. "Brian, you've gotten so big....how much can you set?"
"About....well, you two times....about 300," he said proudly.  Her dad
stood on the sidelines, clearing his throat.  He boomed, "Well, Brit-Brit,
you jetted off so fast after the party, we didn't know where you went. We
had to contact Johnny to find you."
      "If I remember correctly, you left the party before I did," Britney
snapped, remembering her emotions from that night. " Oh, I see
Daddy....Look, can we discuss this somewhere else? I have to get this
session done." Her family had forgotten Max was right there. They weren't
as keen on their surroundings as Britney was. Fame had made her that
way. Plus, her daddy's face looked like a storm was brewing.  Her mother
glanced nervously between the two of them, and Bryan looked like he was
ready to hold his father back, if need be.
    "Is Jamie Lynn here?" Britney asked, knowing how her sister feared
flying.
    "No, she's at home, staying with the Jacksons.  We didn't think it was
appropriate to bring her this time." Bryan said levelly.
     "Where are yall staying?" Britney asked, spinning around in her chair.
She wished they'd stayed at home. 'Well, at least I got my song done,' she
thought to herself. She held onto that thought as she arranged with her
family to meet them later at their hotel. They all hugged again, this time
even Jamie. He grunted as he enveloped her in his arms, squeezing her like
a lemon.
     "Oh, Daddy," Britney said, in heaven. She smiled up at him as he let
go, but he quickly turned his back and left. Her sigh turned into a weary
grin as she spotted Max in the corner, deep in thought. He snapped out, and
looked at her, away, and back again. He asked her quietly, "Does your
family know about your songwriting?"
     "More or less, yes...." she laughed. "Mostly everyone knows, but it's
the transition, the acceptance, that makes this so interesting. But you
know what, Max? IT'S INTERESTING TO EVERYONE BUT ME. Is that my phone?"
Britney went to her purse and pulled it out.
      "Oh, hi Johnny. Oh. Oh, I see....ET??? Well, I think........I know,
but.....yes, I know.....Johnny, we should just roll with it. It's no big
humongous deal! PR shouldn't be sweating bullets over this."
        Johnny Wright sat in his office in California, 6 phones ringing off
the hook, ims popping up on his screen, and faxes streaming out of his
machine. His secretary ran around like a cheerleader, trying to make sense
of all the hysteria his top solo client had caused. He was used to being in
control, in sync. He'd kept New Kid Jon Knight's homosexuality under wraps
until the end, but this wasn't Britney's end; this was her new
beginning. And Britney didn't have 4 other members to back her up.
        'TJ Espinoza doesn't count,' he thought to himself, laughing. His
dimples deepened as he chuckled to himself, but disappeared again as his
serious demeanor took control. Britney talked on and on, and he
half-listened as he read a message Jive Records had just sent in. They were
pissed indeed. They had a huge media blitz planned for Britney's new album,
and,in their opinion, it was ruined because of "their artist's
carelessness."  It all boiled down to money.Jive feared losing it's reign
as the top pop factory.  Johnny hurriedly assured them that everything
would be allright. They hoped so, they replied. He ended his discussion
with Jive and and put his whole focus back on Britney. She was so
exhausting sometimes. His eyes lit up as he relayed some media stunts his
pr department had suggested.
   "Look, B, I have an idea. Why don't you.....go a few places with Justin.
Places where the papparzzi hangs out. You can be bi....like that Jolie
woman.Some people think it's "cool" to be bi. And Prince William is still
calling about his damn email. Why didn't you ever email him back?"
    "Johnny, are the press really on my back?"
    "Britney, listen to all this noise in here..."  Johnny held out the
phone so she could get an earful of the office sounds. He put the phone
back to his ear.  "It's just me and Sonia here.We've got to do something
about this. It won't go away. Nothing ever goes away about you, B," he
chuckled.
     She chuckled in return. "Okay, I ......I'll go a few places with
Justin."
     "Ok......you have to BE with him, though."
      "Johnny....." she sighed. "Does he know?"
      "Yes, I've already talked with him." Johnny thought of Jasmine, whom
he viewed as a problem. 'How could I get rid of her??'  he thought to
himself.
      "What do you mean BE with him?" she pressed, playing with buttons on
the control board.
      " I mean, like kisses and stuff.....you know, a little overt, but
nothing over the top. Just enough to quiet the press a little bit." Johnny
looked at the email he just received from The Advocate Magazine, asking for
an interview.
      "Johnny, do you think this will affect album sales?" Britney took it
to the point of the whole conversation. She wasn't slow.
      "Yes, I do think so. But it's possible you'll get a lot of lesbian
fans now....you already have the drag queen sector," he joked. "B, B,
B......you do know that you influence millions of teenage girls????? Their
mothers will be on you if they happen to like the girl next door a little
too much. This is a pr's dream...ok, I'll get back to you on what we'll do
next. Have a good session, and bleed Britney into those songs!!!!"
      "I will, J. Love ya."
      "Love ya too."
      They disconnected.
       Britney finished recording and returned to her hotel. She signed a
few autographs when she entered the lobby with Big Rob, who escorted her to
her suite. She was dead tired. But when she got there, she found Jasmine
exercising along with Denise Austin, punching the air angrily. Her jerky
movements alarmed Britney.
      "Babe, you okay?"
       "Yah....." she sighed. "Well, I didn't have to tell my family. We
found out together on ET. They hung up on me, Brit!  They wouldn't even let
me explain how or why I fell in love with you...."
        " Oh Jas, I'm so damn sorry!!" Britney walked over to Jasmine and
held her in her arms as Jasmine weeped, letting the emotions that she'd
bottled up loose.  "Your family will come around, I hope. I have to face
mine this evening. My dad looks mad enough to kill me. He makes me feel so
bad, so guilty. They have to realise that our decisions are our own, not
theirs. I heard about ET from Johnny. I still don't regret what happened,
but he's trying to make me make up for it, though...in a way."
         "How?" Jasmine said, sitting on the bed as Britney laid out and
crawled under teh covers.
          "He wants me to go some some places with Justin." Britney said
quietly.
          "Why?" Jasmine asked, feeling "the green monster" bite her.
          "He...he thinks that if the public thinks that i'm bi, that the
press will be nicer."
           "Oh, I see. Are you going to do it?"
           " I think I should. What do you think?"  Britney watched
Jasmine's face.
           "As long as you don't bone him, we're fine."
           "Well, he is kinda fine......" Britney said, nodding to herself.
"I'm just kidding, baby. You're cuter," she said, twirling Jasmine's hair
with her fingers. "I couldn't be into somebody I grew up with....not him,
anyway. But we did try to hook up a few times..but that was so long
ago. Ever since he got really big, he's been so damn cocky. I mean, he has
his nice moments when he's himself, but other times he's just swollen with
himself.  But....now that we're talking about swollen things, let's see
what else is swollen...."
             Jasmine licked her lips as Britney's hand opened her
sweatshirt and stroked her breasts......

TBC....