CHAPTER 11
Catalina snickered as Chris rushed out of the hotel, then she took the elevator back to her room. Once there, she knocked on the door to the adjoining room. Lance opened the door. He smiled, '"Enter our humble abode." "Gracias, signor." She stepped through the door. JC was at his keyboards, experimenting with melodies. Catalina sat next to him, "Hey, JC." JC smiled, "Hey Caramel." Catalina started playing the melody to 'I Drive Myself Crazy.' She smiled, "Come on, JC. Sing it with me for old times sake." He grinned at her and started to sing. The played the whole song. Justin watched amazed as this beautiful girl played the keyboards with JC. When they finished, Catalina stood up. "You still got the magic hands, JC." He smiled. Just then, Chris ran in, breathing heavily with a red face. Joey angrily stuffed 10 bucks into Justin's palm. Chris wagged his finger at Catalina, "You!" Catalina pointed to herself and mimicked, "Me!" She laughed loudly. Justin watched her laughing while thinking, "She is so pretty."
Lance looked at Justin, who was thinking he was hiding his emotions. But he wasn't anyone who looked could see the naked admiration and affection in his blue eyes. Lance shook his head sadly, and prayed Justin knew what he was doing.
The next day, Carlos and Catalina stood backstage at 'N SYNC's concert. As the concert ended and the screams of the fans grew louder, Carlos said, "We did it, Catalina." The guys dashed back stage looking tired and proud. Catalina shook her head, "No, Carlos. They did it all. We just supervised." Her gaze lingered unknowingly on Justin as she said, "Great job, gentlemen. You were great and y'all looked especially hot." Chris flung an arm around her, "I could kiss this girl." Catalina quipped, "Save that for Johanna, Chrissy-Wissy." She'd been calling Had nothing to gain, Chris that since she overheard that conversation between him and his girlfriend. Chris smirked, "On second thought, instead of kissing you, maybe I'll kill you." Catalina grinned, "You have to catch me first. Up for another run around Atlanta, Chrissy-Wissy?" Chris blushed. JC said, "Caramel, kill him later. Can we go change and go back to the hotel?" Catalina said, "Yeah, of course. I'll meet you in the limo." Justin asked, "We're riding in a limo? Isn't that dangerous?" Catalina nodded, "That's the point. Can't live without a little trouble to stir things up." On an impulse, Justin pulled her close and kissed her quickly on the lips. He held her at arm length and stared at the shocked expression on Catalina's pretty face. "I do believe you're right about that. See you later." He winked at her and walked off. Catalina stood in shock for a moment, numbly rubbing her lips. She sighed, "He kissed me." Slapping herself, she called to Carlos, "Can you handle this, Carlos? I need some air." Carlos had seen what had just transpired. "Yeah, Cat. See you in the limousine."
Catalina walked out to the well-hidden limo and stepped inside. She sighed again, "He kissed me."
CHAPTER 12
Justin pulled on a polo shirt and sighed inwardly. He muttered to himself, "I kissed her." He thought, 'How stupid am I? She made it clear what our position was. I hope I didn't make her mad.' He grinned and thought, 'But it sure was fun.'
Sliding into the limo, Justin asked, "Where's Catalina?" Carlos shrugged, "I don't know. She said she was coming out to the limo but she wasn't here when I got here. I figured she went to wait for you guys." Lance said, "No, she isn't inside." Justin shrugged, I'll see if I can find her, maybe she went for a walk." He got out of the limo.
Catalina stared into the antique shop window, words escaping her. It was just like hers… Justin said, "Hey, what are you doing here?" She looked at him and handed him her sunglasses, "Put these on unless you want to get mobbed. Putting on your hat would help too. She turned her attention back to the object in the window. He asked, "What's so interesting?" She nodded to a jade circle on a velvet cushion. "That Grecian Love Charm." Justin nodded, "The Circles of Jade. Believed to have belonged to the Love Goddess of Greek mythology. Her name escapes me. But she was believed to have about 20. Man, that sure it a rarity." Catalina nodded, "I used to have one. It was my 12th birthday present. Cost my mom 6 paychecks to afford." Justin asked curiously, "Well what happened to it?" Catalina shuddered as the voices screamed in her head, "This'll due for a while until you learn to do what I tell all my friends you do. You just a lousy tease, girl and you'll learn to satisfy men or else I'm gonna take something else."
Justin tapped her and she jolted, "It's gone. Let's leave it at that. But it was very special to me. I wish I still had mine, I loved it so much." "So, buy that one." She laughed humorlessly. "You see the price on that? It'd take me forever to get enough money. It'd take 3 whole paychecks and I have to give part of my check to Jenny for rent." She sighed and looked at him, "Are we ready to go?" Justin nodded. "Then let's." She walked past him and back to the waiting limo. At the hotel room, the guys and Catalina were gathered in the sitting area, talking about nothing in particular when JC said, "Hey, Caramel, you got a birthday coming up, don't you. Catalina yawned and curled up on the couch. She shrugged, "if you consider 2 months soon. Why?" JC shrugged, "Just curious. I thought it was sooner than that. She shook her head, "Nope, its not. You remember on my 16th birthday, we had a party on the roof of my apartment building. That was the best, I'd love to do that again." She shut her eyes. JC said, "So, maybe we should do that on your birthday." But Catalina was asleep.
CHAPTER 13
Justin slipped back into the hotel room at 8 AM and smiled at Catalina, who was still asleep on the couch. He tried to creep around her but she stirred and said, "You were out since 2 AM, Justin. Got a girlfriend we don't know about?" He said mysteriously, "Maybe." She grinned and said groggily, "Pity. I was so hopeful." She fell asleep again, leaving Justin with his mouth agape.
Chris grinned at Catalina, who was sound asleep. He motioned for Joey to follow him. Chris emptied the contents of the shaving cream bottle into her open palm. He took the feather from Joey and tickled her nose with it. Her arm jerked and Chris leaned forward to savor the moment when she pushed the cream into her face. Instead she reached up and stuck her hand in his shocked face. She laughed giddily and jumped up, slapping Joey a high five. She said, "Don't mess with the best, Dreads." She laughed as Chris attempted to wipe his face clean. She started dancing and singing, "I rule, I rule, I rule and if I rule, that means that you suck!" She perfectly executed one of her trademark back flips ecstatically.
Catalina gazed at her watch, "Y'all have a photo shoot in 15 minutes. Chris, I suggest cleaning up." Snickering, she went to her own room to change her clothes.
At the photo shoot, Catalina said to the photographer, "Nancy, you've got the angle wrong, darling." The photographer said through clenched teeth, "Then why don't you do it?" Catalina snapped back, "Fine, I will." She snatched the camera away from the snotty photographer, "By the way, sweetie, you're fired." Nancy made an obscene gesture and fled. Catalina sighed and adjusted the camera to the proper angle for the shot and began taking pictures. As she gave the film to a gofer to get developed, she said, "I have to find a new photographer now." Justin asked, "Who took the pictures in your apartment, the ones of you and Carlos and the ones of you and your friends? They looked professional."
"The ones in the living room? Jenny took them; she isn't a professional." But Catalina was thinking. "Well, maybe she'd like to do it. At least then we could give up the apartment and I could stop paying rent." Catalina smiled. "Maybe I'll call and ask her. Hey, I'm the boss. I can do what I want." She flipped her cell phone and dialed Jenny's number. "Jenny?" She asked. Jenny exclaimed, "Catalina! Hi, how are you?" "Oh, I'm fine. You?" "Fine, and the Justin situation?" "Fair to middling. Listen, I called with a business proposition for you?" Jenny sounded shocked, "What? You're kidding. What kind of proposition?" "Well, how'd you like to give up the apartment and become 'N SYNC's official photographer?" Catalina had expected a whirlwind of questions, but Jenny asked only one, "When do I start?"
* * * * *