"What?" I asked, yawning (hey, can you blame me? It's four in the morning!) "You don't like plane rides?"
"I like them, just not when they're fourteen hours long." Without so much as a break, we flew to Los Angeles directly after the last concert of our tour in Paris, France.
"True," Joanne said. The five of us, plus our "crew" (band, dancers, etc.) claimed our luggage, and got into the limo's. We got to the hotel within an hour. When we got there, Maribeth and I shared a room while Joanne, Jamie, and Rachel shared one. We said goodnight and went to our rooms. After changing into our pajamas and turning off the light, Maribeth spoke up.
"What do you think is going to happen?" she asked.
"When?" I asked her.
"Tomorrow, when you see you-know-who." I stiffened at the memories.
"I don't know," I said. "I really don't, but we'll see soon enough."
"Okay, well, I'm always here for you if you need me to hit him or something," she offered and I could see an outline of her rubbing her hands together.
"Thanks," I laughed. "G'night."
"Night," Maribeth said. I turned on my side and fell asleep.
We woke up that morning by the sound of someone banging at our door.
"Whoever it is," I groaned sleepily, "shoot 'em." I rolled over and faced the wall as Maribeth opened the door. There was a loud yell and someone jumped on my bed. "What the-" I said, turning to face the thing that had just pounced. "Justin, I love you, but if you don't let me sleep, I'll kill you."
"But it's eleven o'clock," he whined.
"And I only went to bed seven hours ago," I said mimicking his whiny tone. Just then, the lights turned on. "Aah! Light! Turn it off!" I yelled, burying my head under the covers.
"Not in your lifetime," JC said, pulling the covers off Maribeth, who had crawled back into bed. After about fifteen minutes of whining and complaining, the two of us finally got up. Throwing on a pair of baby-blue nylon running pants, a black T-shirt, and a dark grey sweatshirt that said Red-Eye Dock Bar on it (and doing all the necessary toiletries), I met the other three in the hallway. We took the elevator downstairs to the lobby, where we were met by Joanne, Rachel, Jamie, Joey, Chris, and Lance. After exchanging hugs and hello's, we took a walk (with our bodyguards) to a nearby coffee shop we had found last time we were on tour.
"So," Lance said after we had been seated and gotten our drinks, "who are your dates for the awards show tonight?" The four girls looked at me, the same question in each of their faces. I just smiled slightly and nodded.
"I'm going with AJ," Maribeth said, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I'm going with Kevin," Joanne said.
"I'm going with Nick," Rachel said.
"I'm going with Howie," Jamie said. After a short pause, it was the guys turn to look at me.
"I don't have a date," I said, shrugging my shoulders and taking a sip of my French vanilla cappachino.
"Yes, you do," Chris said. "You have us."
"Don't you guys already have dates?" I asked. They all shook their heads.
"We decided to go stag this time," JC said in a "manly" voice.
"Couldn't get any, huh?" Maribeth said. JC hung his head.
"Anyways," Joey said, taking a bite of his croissant, "you have all of us on you arm, so you definitely won't feel lonely."
"Can I have her leg?" Justin asked. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Chris backed away from him, slowly.
The rest of the day was fun and, sort of, relaxing. We took a walk around the city, running into a lot of fans. They only asked for autographs, so it wasn't too bad. Then we went back to the hotel and hung out, updating each other on the events of the past few months. I had called Justin the night I had walked in on Brian, telling him everything, but swearing him to secrecy (I did, however, allow him to tell Chris). The two of them asked me a few times what I was going to do about tonight, but I just changed the subject, not wanting to talk about it. At five o'clock, we left the guys hotel room (they were staying at the same hotel as us) and Maribeth and I went back to our room to get changed. After a quick shower, I blow-dried my hair and went to my suitcase. I pulled out my outfit. It was a royal blue, satin gown with a scoop-neck and a very low back. I slipped it on and went over to the mirror. I added a little it of blue eye shadow and a bronze colored lipstick.
"What should I do with my hair?" I asked Maribeth. She came over and played with my hair for a few minutes (notice I always have to have people help me with my hair. I'm pathetic!)
"Beats the crap out of me," she said. "It looks good no matter what."
"Ha, ha, very funny. You're a real help," I said sarcastically. I looked at her dress. It was dark green, with a high neck and a row of rhinestones down the center of the back. "AJ's gonna go head over heels," I told her. She smiled and started rummaging through her suitcase. I threw on matching heels and went back to the mirror. I minute later, someone knocked on our door. I opened it to reveal Justin in a grey suit and blue shirt and JC in a white suite and black shirt. Justin pulled out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You are too good to me," I said, stepping back to let them into the room.
"Wait," Maribeth said. She dragged me over the mirror and took the bouquet from my hand. She took out a few bluebells and put two strands of my hair bask on a clip, fastening the bluebells in so they stayed. "Perfect." I looked in the mirror and agreed. Thanking Justin again, the four of us walked out of the room and knocked on Joanne, Rachel, and Jamie's door. Jamie, wearing a black, Chinese print gown with a high neck, answered, letting us come in. Joanne had on a navy blue, velvet gown with a halter neck and small slit and Rachel had on a purple, silk gown with a v-neck and a beaded back. Joey had on a black suit and white shirt, Chris had on a light grey suit and black shirt, and Lance had on a black suite and gold shirt. When everyone was ready, we went downstairs to the lobby. As we waited for our limo, someone else's showed up. Kevin, AJ, Howie, and Nick hopped out, running up to their girlfriends and giving them the "proper" greeting. Before they left, each of the guys came up and hugged me. The girls hugged me in a group and said they'd meet me there. I waved good-bye as they drove off.
"You ready?" Joey asked me as our limo drove up. I nodded and we got in. The six of us talked the entire way to the awards show. When we got there, there was a red carpet, roped off with paparazzi and fans on either side.
"You sure you wanna do this?" Justin asked, obviously talking about something other than the crowd. I took a deep breath and nodded. We waited until the other four had gotten out, until Justin got out and offered me his hand. I took it and stepped out of the limo. With Chris on one side, Justin on the other, and Joey, JC, and Lance ahead of us, we walked down the carpet, practically ignoring the questions of the reporters, but denying any questions on whether I was dating either of them. When we were almost in the door when one question made me stop.
"Are you aware of the fact that Brian Littrell is going to be here tonight?" Someone asked. I turned to the reporter, who was female and probably in her early thirties.
"Yes, I am fully aware of that fact," I answered calmly.
"Are you also aware of the fact your other group members arrived here earlier with him?"
"My other group members," I said, growing defensive, "arrived here with their boyfriends. It was merely a fact that Brian had to be with them."
"Were you informed that he was bringing his girlfriend along?" someone else asked. I froze in place. Justin patted my hand soothingly and I quickly regained my composure, turning the reporter, who was a langy-looking man in his early forties.
"No, I wasn't informed," I said, coolly, "but I don't see what that has to do with me."
"I just figured that you would want to know something about your ex-fiancée," the reporter said.
"His personal life is his personal life . . .and occasionally yours," I said, forcing a laugh. "It no longer has anything to do with me." Before anyone could ask anymore questions, the three of us walked into the building.
"You did good," Chris said, patting my hand. I smiled slightly shook my head.
"I just hope I can keep it up," I said. We showed the usher our invitations and he let us in.