Thunder pounded through the air as flashes of lightening brightened the dimly lit sky, reaching through the clouds in powerful surges. The rain seemed to be falling harder by the moment, making it difficult to see anything in front of the car as it pulled through the gates and approached the building before it.
Before he had a chance to lose his nerve, the driver jumped out of the vehicle, making a mad dash towards the safety of the building. It wasn't a far run, probably only twenty or thirty feet, but it was enough of a stretch to ensure that anyone stupid enough to be outside would have the marks to prove it.
Unfortunately, this person was just that stupid.
Finally reaching the door, he flung it open and raced inside. Once within the safety and warmth of the entrance, the man shook the water from his hair and proceeded down a long hallway.
He was already late, and knew he was going to get in shit for it. But what did they expect? Had they looked outside lately? He was lucky he was able to find his damn car in his own driveway, let alone having to drive here in this weather.
Upon reaching the desired door, he straightened his soaked shirt as best he could before pushing open the door and stepping inside.
The people inside looked up to the new addition to their group, and immediately their faces adorned various looks. They ranged from intrigue, to humor.
"Justin," Lance spoke up as he looked his young friend up and down in an attempt to understand why Justin looked like the Swamp Thing. "What did you do? Go for a swim before coming here?"
"Naw, he just forgot that you were supposed to take your clothes off before taking a shower," Chris taunted from the safety of the couch on the far side of the recording studio. "Aint that right, Ju?"
"I have a few words for you all, but since there are ladies in the room, I will not tell you all to kiss my ass!" Justin stated firmly as he shook more water from his hair and ventured further into the room.
NSync was beginning to record their third album, and things had been going quite nicely. They were confident in the quality of tracks they were producing, and if they continued at this pace, they figured they would be able to release the album by midsummer of the next year.
Plopping down on the couch adjacent to the one holding Chris, JC and a producer by the name of Frankie as they scanned lyrics to the song they would be recording that day, Justin sighed loudly as he leaned his head on the back of the sofa. Closing his eyes, he flopped his arms at his sides in an attempt to get comfortable.
"Hey!" a loud protest sounded beside him, causing Justin to open his eyes quickly and turn towards the noise. "Watch where those hands go, Timberlake."
Justin smirked flirtatiously at the blonde sitting to his left. "Lois, you only wish you could have these hands on your body."
"True." she agreed as she nodded thoughtfully. "And you only wish you knew how to do up your zipper." she grinned as she directed her eyes towards Justins pants.
The entire room erupted in laughter as Justin tried his best to correct his situation with the least amount of embarrassment. Of course, this was not possible with Lois Lawson in the room.
"Want some help with that, Justy?" she teased.
"No! I'm perfectly capable of handing this, thankyouverymuch!" he whined in response.
Justin grumbled a few profanities to himself before looking around studio.
He was surprised that he hadn't gotten in trouble for being late, but it appeared that not all the technicians were present yet, of which he was thankful. He was tired of being the last one to show up for things. That was usually JCs department, but Justin had seemed to be taking that over quite nicely over the last few weeks.
All the guys were there, as was Joeys best friend, Lois. Justin would constantly bug Joey, asking how in the hell he could be friends with Lois considering how annoying she could be. Joey would always remind Justin that she wasn't annoying to him, only to Justin because he had a tendency to antagonize her. A big no-no in Lois-land.
Ever since meeting Lois one night at a club, she had been one of Joeys closest friends. Going on five years, they were almost inseparable. The guys would question their relationship from time to time, but they would always dismiss any inquiries of a romantic relationship between them, stating that they were just friends.
And they were. Neither of them wanted anything more than friendship from each other, making their relationship perfect.
Justin had to admit that he loved Lois. She was a blast to hang out with, and was probably one of the few people who could actually challenge him in the smart-ass department. He was also thankful for having her in his life, because she was the reason he had met his girlfriend, Lauren.
Lauren and Lois were cousins, and Justin had been immediately attracted to her the moment they met. It didn't take long for a relationship to develop.
Lois' voice beside him broke Justin from his thoughts.
"J?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Lauren?" Lois asked, giving him a questioning look.
Justins eyes popped from his head, as he looked around frantically for a moment. "Oh, shit!" he whined as he stood quickly and rushed to the door.
Reaching for the handle, the door flew open towards him, and smacked Justin in the face. He clutched his nose with his hands, groaning and stumbling backwards as a tall, lovely, completely soaking wet brunette entered the room with a less-than-amused look playing across her features.
Looking towards Justin, Lauren narrowed her eyes at him. "Serves you right, you jerkass!"
Justin tried to respond, but all that came out was another whimper as he continued to grab his nose.
Giving him another look, Lauren entered the room as sat down in the space Justin had vacated on the couch beside Lois.
"What the hell happened to you?" Lois asked as she turned to her cousin, trying her best not to laugh.
"He," Lauren began as she pointed an accusing finger towards the still whining Justin. "Was in such a hurry to get inside that he jumped out of the car and left me in it! I waited for a second cause I couldn't believe he just left, before I had to come in here, IN THE POURING RAIN, by myself!"
The room erupted in laughter again and Justin cautiously approached his girlfriend.
"I am SO sorry! Honestly, I forgot you were there! I didn't mean to leave you, but you know how my hair gets when I get caught in the rain!" Justin rambled in an attempt to get that look off Laurens face.
"Yeah Lala," JC spoke up. "Lord knows we don't need that fro of his any more out of control."
Justin shot JC a stern look from the corner of his eye, before turning his attention back to Lauren who was still sitting on the couch, arms crossed over her chest, her face scrunched unhappily into a little ball.
"You suck." she stated plainly.
"I know." he replied, not bothering to argue.
Kneeling down on the floor in front of her, Justin looked up at her and proceeded to give his best puppy-dog look. He knew she rarely was able to resist his 'look', so he used it to his advantage as much as he could.
Lauren tried to avoid his eyes, but Justin only moved into her view whenever she adverted her gaze. After a few moments, Laurens featured softened and she grinned.
"Just because I'm smiling doesn't mean I don't still think you suck, Timberlake." she stated with a warning finger.
"I know." he agreed, a smile coming to his own face.
Leaning up to kiss the end of her nose, Justin pushed his butt between Lauren and Lois to find himself a spot on the couch.
"Justin!" Lois complained. "Don't point that thing at me! Lord knows where its been!"
Again, the room got a laugh at Justins expense, and he wondered yet again why he allowed Joey to be friends with this woman.
"Hey," Joey spoke up, giving Lois a look. "You owe me ten bucks!"
"Why?" Lois asked, turning to her left to give Joey a questioning look.
"Because, Justin was late. I said he would be, he was, so I win."
"You guys bet on whether or not I would be late?" Justin asked, looking between his two friends curiously.
"Of course. We've done it every day this week." Lois smiled at him before looking back to Joey. "And NO, I don't owe you money. I said he would be late. You said that maybe hell froze over that he would be here on time. And since I am the spawn of Satan, as Justin so lovingly refers to me as, I can guarantee that my dear old dad is not selling sno-cones. Therefore, my dear Joey, you owe ME ten bucks."
Joey was about to protest, when Justin interrupted. "You guys suck! Do you always have to bet on me?"
"Ego much Justin? We don't always bet on you, you know. We bet on other things to." Lois said as she smiled at Justin.
"Yeah. Just yesterday we bet on whether or not Nicki would be able to go the entire day without talking about Peja." Joey added.
"Who won?" JC asked from across the room.
"That would be me." Lois smiled proudly. "Ive known that girl too long to bother wondering that question. Of course shes gonna talk about Peja when the playoffs are goin'."
"You cheat." Joey whined.
"No, I rule. You, sir, are a moron who didn't realize that the Kings were playing last night, and of course I was gonna be watching the game with Nicki, therefore there to hear her say how much she would love to play a little two on one with Peja." Lois nodded proudly.
"Two on one?" Lance questioned.
"Yeah. Peja versus Nicki and her can of whipped cream." Lois grinned.
The guys laughed before they began going over the song they were to be recording that day while Lois and Lauren chatted with each other as they always did.
The two girls had been close for their entire lives. They were more than just cousins; they were as close as two people could be. They had their nicknames for each other that noone else understood, and of course their secrets that noone else knew. They were more like sisters than cousins. They had grown up just down the road from each other in a small town outside of Memphis, and now shared an apartment in Orlando.
When Lois had met Justin, she knew immediately that he would be perfect for Lauren.
She convinced Joey to get Justin to come out with them one night, while she dragged a complaining Lauren along with them.
But needless to say, once they met, there was no complaining on either end.
Lois still liked to remind them both of who set them up. She loved to play matchmaker, and did so as often as possible.
She would never allow herself to be set up, however. Lord knows her friends had tried enough times in the past, only to have Lois end up with some paste-eating dork who would try to invite himself inside her apartment after a horrific night of watching him suck soup through his front teeth.
There had been one guy that wasn't too bad, though. All was going well until Lois came downstairs one morning to find him at her kitchen table, eating the last of her grape jelly. This turned into an argument of the ages, and thus ended that relationship.
Even Justin wasn't stupid enough to try and eat the last of the grape jelly.
But Lois was happy where she was in life. She had a successful career, being one of the most popular architects in Orlando. She had a wonderful family which she loved dearly. And she had the best friends a girl could ever want.
She sometimes found it hard to believe that she was friends with the members of NSync. Especially that her best friend was Joey Fatone. But to her, they were just 'the guys'. She had met, and befriended them, before they ever became the pop icons they were today. And she was glad of that. She sometimes wondered how thing would have been different if she had met them after their popularity took off. Would Joey had ever approached her that night because Hayden told him to? Would he even have been at the club that night? Would they ever had been able to become as close as they were? Or would the pressures and insecurities of fame taint their relationship, as Joey wondered her intentions in befriending him? Luckily, those were not questions they would have to find the answers to.
"Hey" Joeys voice caused Lois to turned abruptly to face him.
"What?" she asked, annoyed that he had interrupted her watching Justin and Chris bicker over something to do with pocket lint.
"Whatcha doin' tonight?" Joey asked as he leaned back against the couch and stretched his arms over his head.
"Nothing. Probably just watching a movie with Lauren or something. Why?"
"Wanna go out? We don't have to come in here tomorrow, so Justin and I were thinking of going to a club or something."
"Hmmm, well let me see here." Lois said, looking down to her hand as she opened her palm to act as a date book. "I have a four o'clock meeting the President. A five-thirty dinner date with Kobe Bryant. And a seven o'clock session with Sir Bubblebath. But I suppose I can reschedule the session with Mr. Bath and squeeze you in there somewhere."
Joey shook his head at his retarded friend, before smiling.
Wrapping an arm over her shoulders, he laughed. "Cant you ever answer a question with a simple reply?" he asked, giving her an amused look.
"Not bloody likely!" Justin yelled from across the room.
"Suck my toe, Justin!" Lois yelled back before returning her attention to Joey. "But he is right."
Joey laughed again, before kissing the side of Lois' head. "Well, I guess Ill keep ya. Even if you are a little odd."
"Oh, well thankee. Should I count my lucky stars now, or wait till later?" she replied sarcastically.
Joey rolled his eyes. As he was about to respond, the door to the studio opened, and in walked two more producers.
The taller of the two, a middle-aged man with dark, thinning hair, spoke up. "Okay guys, sorry we're late, but the weather out there is terrible."
"I told you!" Justin exclaimed in an attempt to redeem himself.
No one bothered to acknowledge his whining.
Stepping up to the controls, the second man smiled at Justins pout before sitting in a chair and setting the controls. "Lets get started." he stated.
