The incident in the convenience store that rainy December afternoon was legendary on the Nsync tour. It wasn’t very often that the four older members of the group had something this substantial to pick on their golden boy about, and they were not going to let the opportunity go to waste. Any petty argument turned into a chance to bring up the mysterious foreign blonde whom Justin addressed as ‘the bitchy little princess’ and the rest called ‘the goddess who shot down Timberlake.’ Justin couldn’t get the image of her out of his head, and he sometimes had dreams about their exchange. Days and weeks and months went by, and yet this girl seemed to follow him wherever he went.
One day in late February, while sitting in an airport somewhere, Justin finally grew tired of it.
“OK guys, the bitch told me off. She didn’t get on her knees and offer to be my sex slave or mother my children. Can we STOP talking about it now?”
“Geez, Justin, bite my freaking head off! All I said is that it still pisses you off to know that you had NO chance with this girl what-so-ever,” Joey replied, holding up his hands in surrender.
Justin thought back to the day in question, and, for the first time he saw it from her perspective. “She treated me like…like a normal person. She knew who I was, and she…she didn’t care because I was wrong and being Justin Timberlake didn’t change that.”
“And that made you want to try harder, right?” Lance said, adding his spin on the situation.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“’Cause you wanted to tap that…”
“JOE!” Justin yelled. Then, with a sheepish grin, added, “Yeah, that would have been nice.” The guys heard their flight being called to board first class passengers, and gathered up their carry-on bags.
“Where are we going from here?” JC asked, not really remembering where ‘here’ was.
“Um, Norway, I think…yeah, we are in the Netherlands now, then we go to Norway and spend 3 days. I think we even get to stay with the royal family,” Lance rattled off as they followed security onto the plane.
“Well, I hope the royal family has some royally nice beds for us to sleep in,” JC said, sitting in his seat, and looked dazed out the window.
“OK, that about seals it for me. We need to get Jace here a LIFE!” Chris said, sitting behind him and ruffling his gelled hair as best he could.
“Thanks for the support Chris.”
“No problem.”
“So, Scoop…this royal family have any girls in it?”
“Damn Joey, do you ever think with the brain in the head on your shoulders?” Justin asked, swiveling around from his seat next to JC.
“Just because you couldn’t score with a Norwegian chick…” he let his voice trail off and laughter came from the other 3 guys.
“Oh, laugh it up at the 3 month old joke! I thought we were DROPPING that?!” Justin said, throwing up his hands in frustration.
“Fine Justin, we will never talk about ‘the one who got away’ ever again,” said Chris, still chuckling.
“Hey Olga, what are you making for dinner?” Lennon asked, bounding into the spacious kitchen and hopping onto the white tiled counter.
“Child, what have I told you about putting your backside on my counter? I swear, if you haven’t lost all your manners in America!”
The cook’s heavy accent and broken English was endearing to the 20 year old, who over the years had come to regard the stout, elderly woman as a second mother. Her real mother had died when she was just a little girl. “Sorry Olga, I was not thinking.” Lennon jumped down and placed a kiss on the older woman’s upturned cheek, pulling her 5’ 10” frame down to Olga’s 5’2”. She straightened herself out and pushed a strand of her white blonde hair behind her ear. “You never answered my question.”
“Tonight we have very important company come, so I make special dinner.”
Lennon rolled her eyes and sighed. “They are ALL important, at least as far as THEY are concerned. Do you want some help?”
“Help would be nice, yes, but I think it would be best if you went upstairs and got…”
Lennon knew what was coming. “Now Olga, how often have you seen me dress up for company?” She looked down at her stonewashed jeans and dark purple ssweater that fell just above her belly button, ther rest of her stomach shroud in a white turtleneck underneath. Her feet were clad in dingy white sneakers. “I think this outfit is fine.”
“Imajin, your father…” Olga started, but the girl cut her off once again.
“Daddy won’t mind…much. And how many times do I have to ask you to call me Lennon?” The cook and young lady shared a smile. “Now, let’s get cooking!”
The trip to Norway had quite literally flown by. The guys took advantage of the 3 hours of quiet and slept heavily; so much so that members of the security team had to shake all of them a few times before they would let themselves be roused.
“I’m up, I’m up!” Justin yelled, after he heard House mutter some idle threat to his hair. “I am going, just leave the fro alone!”
They gathered their bags once again and waited in the terminal for the OK from security. They could already hear the shrieks of the anxious fans waiting just outside. They screamed in their native tongue, words that the guys didn’t understand. Some, presumably the older or overzealous learned a few phrases of adoration in heavily accented, broken English. This, the language barrier that their music seemed to shatter, was one of the most astounding things to the boys about their fame.
When given the signal that all was secure, they made their way out of the shadows and the noise level increased to almost painful decibels. It took all of their will power for each of the guys to smile in the direction of the frenzy of fans and flashes. Then, almost as suddenly as the pandemonium broke, it stopped, which was something none of the members of Nsync, or their security had ever witnessed. It was as if some cosmic force had found the teenage girl mute button, and pressed it for the relief of all the males and older women in the airport.
In the shock of the situation for the Americans, they failed to notice the group of men in dark suits that had made their way through the crowd. One was a man of a darker complexion, evident that his heritage lie somewhere in the Caribbean or Africa. He stood out among the characteristically light skinned Norwegians. Four of the other men, while varying in height and shades of blonde hair dressed identically, from the black 3 piece suit down to the shiny wing-tips on their feet. That left one man. He carried his well over six-foot frame with grace and confidence. His navy blue suit seemed to match his eyes, and his age was slightly masked by the fact that his hair was almost a white shade of blonde. His wire-rimmed glasses were placed perfectly upon his nose as he turned to face the musical group.
When at last the boys recognized the dark man, they began to approach the entourage. “Hey Johnny!” JC called out, still surprised at the silence that engulfed them. They all greeted their manager in a similar fashion, and then waited to be introduced to the other men.
“Guys,” Johnny began, “I have the honor of introducing you to His Highness, King Nokkentvend.”
The boys conducted themselves very well in the presence of royalty. The shook the kings hand and thanked him humbly for taking the time out to greet their entrance to his country.
“Well, it is not very often that we get visitors that make our girls scream and cry like the five of you do.” His grasp of the English language was impeccable, and his accent helped to soften his voice and make it more authoritative. In fact, the whole manner of this man reminded the youngest member of the group of…someone.
Lance’s curiosity got the best of him. “Your Highness, how exactly DID you get these girls to be so…well…quiet?”
The king shrugged his shoulder, and smiled a knowing smile, “I merely asked.”
“Ohhh, I like him! Can we keep him around, Johnny?” Chris asked, forgetting that the man he spoke of was royalty.
The entire group of men, which consisted of King Nokkentvend, Johnny, the 5 members of Nsync, and the whole slew of security, laughed. They all began to move toward the exit, and one they were out of the immediate vicinity, the girls began to scream again. They made their way to where 2 limousines were parked. Two of the members of Nsync’s security staff stayed behind to gather their luggage and make sure it made it to the palace.
Before the king slouched to accommodate his lanky frame to the small door of the limo, he looked up at the boys and said, “I hope you all enjoy your stay in my house and in my country. I will have my daughter show you all around Oslo after dinner.”
As soon as they were situated in the car, and the door was shut, Joey spoke at once, “His daughter? Yes!”
The other four moaned. “Your highness, did you have to mention women? Didn’t you know that Joey is the crown prince of Hormones?” Lance stated exasperated, though the king was riding with his security in the limo in front of them.
“Now, guys, and by that I mean Joey, I know I don’t have to remind you not to hit on the princess because we are a guest in her country, right?” Johnny spoke up.
Joey groaned, but nodded. “Looks like we are two for two with the Norwegian women already, huh Justin?” he added with a sly smile. When he noticed the look the young blonde shot him, one that clearly read ‘Go play in traffic Joey’ he raised his hands above his head in surrender. “Sorry, sorry, it’s dropped!” The rest of the ride consisted of the usual chatter that can be found in a group of young men. Justin though, was unusually quiet, and stared out the window, fascinated by the city whizzing past them.
