CHAPTER 3

"Tonight was completely......completely......."

"Amazing?"

"Yes," Zoe sighed. "Completely amazing."

"Yeah," Ayla said, untieing the scarf she had worn around her neck. " I can't believe we actually have a chance to see them again. Where did you and Justin take off to, by the way? When Lance and I sat down, you guys were nowhere. We thought you had hit the dance floor until you walked through the door an hour later."

"Oh, we just went for a walk. We went down to the beach and walked along the boardwalk. I think some people thought we were crazy........me in my dress and Justin in his tux. Damn, did I mention how good he looked tonight? I cannot believe I made it through that song when I saw those two walk through the door. I thought to myself, this is it, I've died and gone to heaven and I'm gonna pass out on this stage and humiliate myself."

"I know what you mean," Ayla replied, yawning. "I thought I was going to have to rape both of them. No offense hun, but they both looked good enough to eat for breakfast."

"No offense taken. I was feeling exactly the same way. Now, where are we supposed to meet them tomorrow?"

"At Transcontinental Studio 1. I guess they're recording again. It'll be fun to see how they act around the other guys."

"Yeah, I'd like to meet the others too. See what J.C., Chris, and Joey are really made of."

"Probably nothing as good as our boys," Ayla giggled.

"Well, that's probably true. See you in the morning dollface."

"Night, Zoe."

....................................................

"Oh man," Justin sighed. "That had to be one of the best nights of my life."

"I know," Lance agreed. "Ayla is so great."

"Well, I wasn't exactly talking about Ayla," Justin grinned, pulling off his jacket and whipping Lance in the back with it.

"What are you guys so happy for?"

"J.C., man, you've got to meet these girls we met," Justin exploded, going off in a torrent of detail about Zoe and Ayla. "Anyway, they're great and smart and funny and..."

"And they're coming to watch us record tomorrow," Lance added.

"Oh are they," J.C. yawned, with a grin on his face. "Well, if you guys want to sing well tomorrow and look at least half way decent for your girls, you'd better get some sleep."

"Yes, dad," Justin and Lance said in unison.

....................................................

"This place is huge," Zoe marvled.

"I've never seen a building this massive," Ayla agreed.

They had just walked through the front doors of Transcontinental Studio 1. Lance had called that morning and told Ayla they would be on the seventh floor, in studio eleven. They were rounding a corner to look for an elevator when they ran smack into an extremely hurried man.

"Oh!" Zoe and Ayla exclaimed as they fell to the floor as the man plowed into them.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," the man said. "I didn't realize anyone was coming."

"Hey, that's o.k.," Zoe replied as she reached for the purse that had fallen off her shoulder. "We probably should have been paying more......." She stopped as she looked up. The man in front of her was tall, dark-haired and wearing an outrageously large Superman pendant around his neck. "Joey?" Zoe questioned.

"How do you know me?" Joey asked suspiciously. He looked back and forth from Ayla to Zoe. "Wait, if you guys are fans you really shouldn't be in here. There are......."

"No, no, sorry. My name's Zoe and this is my friend Ayla. We're here to see..."

"Zoe and Ayla? Lance and Justin's girls? Well, it's nice to meet you. Everyone's waiting upstairs for you. I had to come down and get something from my car really quick. If you want you can just head right upstairs."

"Thanks," Ayla replied. "I guess I didn't realize we were somebody's girls already."

"Well, from the way those two have been talking about you guys, I'd say they're ready to get married," Joey laughed. "They just can't shutup about you two. Not that I blame them," he said with a wink as he headed out the door.

"We're just making impressions on everyone, aren't we," Ayla joked. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Definetly," Zoe responded as she pressed the number seven button in the elevator. "Let's hope they haven't put us on too high a pedestal. The fall might hurt."

The doors to the elevator opened and they stepped into the hallway. Platinum albums lined the walls. On closer inspection, they revealed that almost every one belonged to *NSYNC. Zoe and Ayla admired the view proudly as they searched for studio eleven.

"Here it is," Ayla cried as they found the right door ten minutes later. She reached up and knocked lightly. "I hope we aren't interrupting them in the middle of a song."

"That would not be a good first impression to make," Zoe agreed.

"Can I help you ladies?" A high-pitched voice questioned.

"Yes, could we speak to Lance and Justin?" Zoe asked politely.

"That depends. Are you friend or foe?" The dred-locked man said in dramatic mockery.

"I wouldn't know about that one," Zoe replied. "I suppose the answer to that is all in your perspective."

"Chris, are they here?" Another voice shouted from the background.

"Who are they?" Chris asked teasingly.

"Zoe and Ayla, are they......oh, I guess they are," Justin said, stepping from behind the partly closed door. "Come on in, guys."

"Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly," Chris cackled in what the girls assumed to be his best witch's impersonation as he opened the door for them to enter.

"Hey," Lance called with a wave. "Glad you could make it."

"Yeah, I suppose we should get introductions out of the way first," Justin said. "Chris, this is Zoe and this is Ayla. Ladies, I believe you've already met this knucklehead." Chris gave a deep, dramatic bow.

"And this lunatic who hasn't left the soundboard is J.C.," Lance said, approaching the girls and gesturing to the man seated behind the array of buttons and controls. "J.C. if you would be so kind as to look up, this is Zoe and this is Ayla."

"Hi, there," J.C. said with a little boy grin as he turned his attention back to the soundboard.

"And we think we might have lost Joey," Justin sighed. "We're not sure where he is."

"Well, we ran into him downstairs, literally," Ayla said, rubbing the back of her neck in mock pain.

"Can you guys tell us what it is you're doing in here or is it top secret info that fans aren't supposed to hear?" Zoe whispered conspiritorialy.

"You guys are fans?" J.C. asked, looking up from the soundboard.

"Of course we are. Why? Does that suprise you?" Ayla asked curiously.

"No, I just thought one of you was a model and one of you was a singer, that's all," J.C. countered lamely.

"Oh, I see, we can't be both. I always thought people could do lots of things. Being a fan doesn't consume our lives, if that's what you mean," Zoe said.

"Which one of you is the model?" Chris asked.

"This beautiful creature standing next to me," Zoe said as she gave Ayla a hug.

"Oh, don't even start," Ayla sighed.

"And you sing?" J.C. asked, looking at Zoe.

"If that's what you want to call the screeching that comes from my throat, yeah," Zoe replied with sarcasm.

"Oh, don't even say that," Justin warned. "You'll get yourself tickled to death for statements like that."

"I'm shaking with fear," Zoe mocked, quivering from head to foot.

"Sing something for us," J.C. asked.

"What would I possibly sing?"

"Do something from last night," Ayla and Lance cried in unison. They looked at each other and collapsed into a fit of laughter.

"No, sing the song you sang for me, on the boardwalk," Justin said quietly.

"Are you sure? I'm not very good at that one," Zoe blushed.

"It sounded fine to me. Do that one."

"What song did you sing?" J.C. wondered aloud. "Wait, don't tell me. Just sing it."

"Hey guys, I'm back," Joey called, slamming the door open with a loud bang.

"Joey, chill for a minute. Zoe's gonna show us her skills," Chris said with a grin.

"O.k. but don't say I didn't warn you. You all should have ear plugs," Zoe reprieved the group sarcastically.

Zoe's voice slowly faded through the last few notes.

"Wow," Joey breathed quietly. The five men stared at her for a moment, not saying anything.

"But she's singing about a girl!" Chris cried, breaking the silence in a shrill voice. The room erupted with nervous laughter.

"I don't think that's the point of the song, man," Justin chuckled, slapping Chris playfully on the back. Now that the eerie silence was over, Lance turned to Ayla.

"Are you going to show us how you move on the catwalk now?" He questioned with a wicked grin.

"Only if you come to one of my shows," Ayla countered.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to do that," Lance replied.

"Guys, I hate to break up what is sure to be a very touching afternoon, but we do have an album to record," J.C. repremanded quietly. A collective groan went up among the other four men as they trotted into the recording area.

"Justin and Chris, sing your harmony on "Someone's Waiting," J.C. commanded through the microphone. He turned to the girls. "You guys can sit over on the couch and watch how a group of retards records music," he said with another little boy grin.

"Um, J.C.," Justin interrupted. "There's only a slight problem with us recording right now."

"And what would that be?"

"The fact that Tim isn't here to actually record us, maybe."

"Well, you guys could at least....."

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. What's all the arguing in here for?" A tall, lanky man asked as he walked through the door. He wore tight, faded blue jeans and had an extremely blond gotee that did not match the rest of his light auburn hair. The man turned, looking at Ayla and Zoe. "Who are these young ladies?"

"Oh, Tim, this is Ayla and this is Zoe. They're friends of ours. Ladies, this is our director, Tim." J.C. said quickly, getting the introductions out of the way.

"Nice to meet you," Tim replied, smiling warmly. He turned back to J.C. "Get your singing butt in there so we can finish this song." J.C. strode into the recording booth. Into the mic Tim said, "Guys, we're gonna do this from the top, one last time. We've got a lot of other songs we need to finish so please, try and take this seriously," his last comment pointedly made in Chris's direction. "Hit it!"

J.C.'s voice purely opened the first verse. Zoe and Ayla took a quick breath as the others came in on the chorus.

Oh my God, Ayla thought to herself. I don't know if I can take much more of this. This is absolutely too good to be true.

Zoe and Ayla spent the rest of the afternoon watching the group record three songs. Most of the time, at least one of them was doing something completely ridiculous to make the girls laugh. Tim wasn't very appreciative of this, but he sighed and went about his business, attempting to direct the five young men into getting the album completed. As they were taking a dinner break, Zoe and Ayla decided it was time to leave.

"Do you really have to go?" Lance asked, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Yeah, we do," Ayla answered, looking away. Those eyes are going to kill me.

"Alright then," Lance sighed. She looks so beautiful. "Can I call you later?"

"Of course," Ayla said with a smile as she gave him a hug.

"I guess this means you're gonna go out now, huh?" Justin asked Zoe as she was saying goodbye.

"No, I think I'll stay in tonight. I know Ayla's going out with some of her modeling friends, but after watching you guys today, I'm feeling slightly inspired."

"Well, I'm glad we could help," Justin grinned, giving her a hug before she and Ayla turned and walked out the door.

"Nice girls," Tim said quietly after they had left.

"Yeah, she's great," Justin responded aloud. He had meant to keep the comment to himself.

"Oh, there's a particular she you're interested in?" Tim questioned teasingly.

"Yup," Justin said confidently. "There is."

Coming Around Full Circle