January 6, 2000
The phone rang, shocking Audrey out of her warm, comfortable sleep. She mumbled a few choice obscenities under her breath, then rolled over and grabbed the phone, lifting it to her ear. “What?”
“Ms. Whittingham?” a timid voice inquired. “This is the wakeup call you requested.
“What? Oh. Yes. Thank you,” she managed to mumble, hanging up the phone. She desperately wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep in her soft, unfarmiliar hotel bed, but unfortunately she had to work. Sighing heavily, she dragged herself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, knowing a scalding shower would help wake her up.
Once she was done, she made her way back into the main room, digging through the bags that contained her purchases from the previous day. She pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt, taking the tags off and smiling as she thought of her excursion with Justin the day before. After they had left the café, they had caught a cab back to the hotel since they were both too tired to walk back. They’d taken the elevator up together, after discovering their rooms were on the same floor, then thanked each other for the enjoyable day, murmured something vague about doing it again sometime, and parted ways. Audrey had retired to her own room where she changed in to her pajamas and was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
She opened her suitcase and rifled through it until she found clean underwear and socks. She dressed quickly, ran a brush through her hair, lined her eyes with a shimmery purple eyeliner, and slipped her glasses on, then set about gathering her equipment for the day. She didn’t have to worry about studio lights, since it was pretty sunny out, but she did toss a flash into her bag just in case. She gently placed her favourite Pentax in her backpack, followed by a few dozen rolls of film, multiple assorted filters, cords, batteries and a lens cloth. She pulled her backpack on, slung her tripod bag over her shoulder, then grabbed her raspberry lipgloss and hotel card key off the nightstand, shoving them in to her pocket. She paused at the door, making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything, then pulled the door shut behind her and made her way to the elevator. She glanced at the childish pink Hello Kitty watch adorning her wrist, noting that she had fifteen minutes to get some breakfast, since they stopped serving it at nine. She impatiently pushed the button for the ground floor, and leaned back against the wall of the elevator, mentally running over the plan for the day. They were basically just going to run all over London, getting as many different shots as they could. Luckily Audrey had spent a lot of time in London, so she had a lot of places in mind that would make for interesting photographs. She was definetly going to go back to Trafalgar, so she could get pictures of them on the big lion statues that Justin had seemed so enamoured with.
She was jerked from her thoughts when the elevator doors opened, and she stepped out and made her way to the dining room. She definetly wasn’t looking forward to the traditional English breakfast of extremely undercooked eggs and rubbery bacon- especially since she didn’t eat red meat. But she knew she had to eat something, or she’d be cranky and miserable all morning. She entered the dining room and immediately spotted the members of N Sync. It was hard not to, they were definitely attracting a lot of attention with their loud joking and roughhousing. She scowled at them slightly, begrudging them their ability to be so cheerful in the morning.
JC spotted her first, and waved her over. “Morning!” he greeted.
“Morning,” she mumbled, slipping her bags off her shoulder and taking the only available seat, which was between Joey and Justin.
“Hey, I just wanted to apologize for giving you such a hard time yesterday,” JC continued. “I was just really cranky, but that was no excuse to take it out on you.”
“It’s no problem,” Audrey said. She signaled the waitress and ordered scrambed eggs and some toast. She didn’t particularly like scrambled eggs, but it was the only way you could make sure that they would be fully cooked. She picked up the teapot off the table and poured herself a cup, adding lots of milk and sugar, then holding it in her hands for a few moments to absorb the warmth, before taking a small sip. “Mmmmmmm,” she sighed. “I love English tea. That’s one of the few things they can’t screw up over here.”
This then launched a discussion of what was better over in England, and ultimately what was worse.
The waitress brought Audrey’s order, and the table was silent for a few minutes while everyone ate their food, occaisionally making a face at the taste or texture of the unhealthy breakfast.
“This is what I hate about London hotels,” Audrey commented. “The food is always really disgusting. Once you get into the smaller towns, or the little bed & breakfasts, you can get some really delicious stuff, but London food is notoriously bad.”
“Are we going to be getting out of London?” JC asked, looking over at Lance.
“Not this time,” he replied. “After we finish these shoots, it’s back home for more promotions, tv appearances, radio interviews, you know the deal.” This elicited a round of groans from the rest of the guys.
“Aren’t we ever going to get a break?” JC sighed.
“You had one yesterday,” Audrey reminded.
“I mean a proper break,” JC emphasized. “One that lasts at least a week.”
“Take advantage of this while you can!” Audrey advised. “Soon enough you’ll be too old to appeal to the teenies, and you’ll become unprofitable and unpopular. Think of all the free time you’ll have then!” Audrey regretted her choice of words instantly, when she received the evil eye from all five guys.
“Are we all done here?” she asked, sensing the need for a change of subject. “If so, let’s get going! I want to make the best of this gorgeous day.” She stood up and picked up her bags, slinging them over her shoulders once again.
“Here, let me help you with that,” Justin offered, attempting to take the tripod bag from her.
“No, that’s alright, I’ve got it,” Audrey argued, retaining her hold on the bag.
“Just give me the bag!” Justin said, yanking obstinately.
“Fine!” she exclaimed exasperatedly, releasing it. “Just don’t damage it, or I’ll kick your ass.” She headed towards the door, but as an afterthought turned back. “Oh, and Justin?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks,” she smiled, a bit shyly.
“You’re welcome,” he replied with a grin, slinging a casual arm around her shoulders as they followed the others out of the restaurant.