Ryan quickly packed her stuff, pushing her clothes in any available space. Things were tight, but she didn't care anymore. Minutes before she called for a cab, it was arranged to pick her up in fifteen minutes and take her to the metro-city airport. Ten minutes passed and Ryan was out the door. In her arms and around her shoulders where three pairs of luggage. She stumbled her way down to the lobby missing steps along the way.
"Ryan!"
Ryan turned to the voice behind her. Her eyes still red and irritated.
"Ryan? Are you all right?"
Ryan forced a smile at her concerned bus mate. "I-I…I'm going home."
"But why? You still have five days before Melinda comes back!"
Ryan exhaled slowly. Without saying another word she walked out the main doors. She whispered Good-bye and headed to the green cab, parked out by the edge of the street. She opened the passenger side back door and threw her bags in and plopped herself in after. She slammed shut the shut and watched the world she hated fly by at Forty-five miles an hour.
She arrived at the airport about thirty minutes later. She grabbed her luggage, paying the driver. Ryan's attention was turned on a trash bin. She slowly approached it. She glanced at the large bin for a matter of seconds before she took her luggage off her shoulders and threw each one in the bin.
She walked into the sliding door, entering the busy airport. She bought a one way trip back to Orlando, she seriously didn't even want to return there, but her home was there for the time being.
The whole flight home Ryan wished for the plane to crash. Ryan sighed weakly as the plane landed safely on the pavement. Ryan walked straight off the plane, and out of the airport. Since she didn't have any luggage, nothing was holding her back. All she wanted was to go home and think things over.
Ryan grabbed a cab and gave him directions to her condo. Forty minutes later, it was pitch dark and the cab pulled into the lot that looked like heaven to her. She paid the driver and exited the rusty automobile.
Ryan ran up to her door and unlocked it in a hurry. Ryan didn't bother to lock the door behind her; she went straight for her couch. Ryan just stared at the wall, as she was finally free to get lost in her own thoughts.
'This is HELL! There's NO way I can come out of this without being emotionally scarred somehow. My career is over! They're gonna charge me of disloyalty of something I NEVER planned nor committed…I'll never be able to find another decent job…no one will want to hire me someone like me. I have no way out…there's no escape to this disaster…I can't stand the way things are shaping out to be. Things will never get better. I just don't want to be here anymore. There's nothing to my life that has a point or meaning…not anymore.'
Ryan was surprised when she wasn't crying. She must have cried out all of her produced tears. Ryan took the remote control next to her and turned on the radio. Ryan's chin started to tremble as she listened to some specific lyrics to "Crash and Burn."
"When you feel all alone, and the world has turned its back on you,
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold.
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore…
When you feel all alone and a loyal friend is hard to find,
You're caught in a one way street with the monsters in your head.
When hopes and dreams are far away and you feel like you can't face the day…"
Ryan buried her head in her hands and cried for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.
(Back with *N SYNC)
"Have you guys seen Ryan? I can't seem to find her anywhere."
Five exhausted faces looked up at their manager. All the faces turned to Lance. Lance's mouth fell and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Mr. Wright?"
Johnny turned his back to face the voice that was calling him. He smiled warmly when he noticed Marie, a loyal crewmember of JIVE productions.
"Yes, Marie, how can I help you?"
"It's Ryan…she um…she left."
"Left where?" Johnny wasn't quite getting the hint.
All five guys turned concerned. They didn't to drive her away from them.
"She went home…"
Johnny getting angered by the news threw his morning paper on the dinning hall flooring. "She WHAT… WHY?"
Everyone around him became silent. Only five people knew the answer to his question, but they didn't seem like they were going to spill it. Johnny, his temper taking control turned back to the five guys eating their morning breakfast. One by one, each of them lifted their eyes to his.
"You guys know…don't you?"
They all in unison put their heads down in shame.
"We got her kinda upset…"
"UPSET? It MUST have been more a KINDA, if she left so suddenly Joey!" Mr. Wright slowly took in small breaths to calm himself down before he continued. "What happened?"
Just as Justin was about to answer Johnny's question someone's cell phone rang, interrupting him. Each one of them pulled out their cell phone and analyzed them to see which one of them it was. Lance got up from his chair and walked away, his cell phone in hand.
(Back in Orlando)
Ryan woke groggy and she felt like a trunk hit her. She grabbed her head and tried to stop the pounding headache she was receiving. She jumped when she realized that she wasn't where she was supposed to be. It hit her when she remembered what happened the day before. She sniffed and got up from her couch. As she walked by the stereo, she turned it off and walked into the kitchen.
Ryan opened the refrigerator and found that she wasn't hungry. Her feet moved one by one and before she knew it she was in her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed as she saw all the pictures of the guys around her room. She was now openly sobbing.
"I'm such a wreck!"
She slowly lifted her head up, her tears stopped. She sniffed a few times before she stood up and walked over to her dresser. She knew exactly what to do know. She knew how to make things better…for her. She took out a large stack of papers and started to write on them.
Twenty minutes passed and Ryan folded up the letter and stuck it in a cream colored envelop labeled, "I'm Sorry."
Ryan smiled for the first time in days. She walked over to her night stand and put her hands in, searching for something she needed. She finally found the object on the bottom of the drawer. She held it in her hands and stared at it for minutes. She knew this wasn't the best way out of her problems, but she analyzed her life, there was nothing left.
Ryan stood proud by the edge of her bed. She took in one deep breath and exhaled slowly as she lifted the object to her head. Her hand shook as she pulled it against her temple. "Please…forgive me…"
(Back with *N SYNC)
"Hello?" Lance asked pulled the cell phone to his ear.
"Hey buddy boy! What is up?"
Lance rolled his crystal green eyes with annoyance; "Nothing is up…what about you?"
"How's Ryan?"
Lance started to boil at the call of her name. "I wouldn't know Anne! Apparently she left yesterday and we don't know where she is."
As Lance waited for a response he faintly heard Anne hiss, "Yes!"
"You know…she'll probably be fired and you'll get your job back Anne."
"Yes, I know Lance! I couldn't be happier! My plan succeeded and I never -"
"Wait, Plan?" Lance's heart began to pick up speed as he waited for Anne to answer him.
Anne chuckled, "Yeah, you didn't really think that I didn't have a plan to get rid of her do you? What do you think that we've been doing this whole time? Everything that we did was an act! From the first time that you met her to when I told you the stuff that I did."
"That was a PLAN? So it WASN'T true Anne?" The line was silent for a while; it was broken as Lance groaned with annoyance.
"Lance…I thought that you knew none of this was true…it was supposed to get her fired, and it happened!"
"I can't believe you Anne…. Don't, and I mean DON"T ever talk to me or let me see you again!"
With that Lance pressed "End" and the line was disconnected. Lance turned around and headed back to where he was. He had to tell everyone that it wasn't true.
"Justin!" Lance called running up beside him. Lance tried to catch his breath as he made eye contact with Johnny.
"Lance, what is it?"
"Did you tell him?" Was all Lance could managed to belt out with the amount of breath he had left.
"NO, I was ABOUT to before I was rudely interrupted!"
"Good! Don't, it's not true! I know everything…"
(Twenty Four Minutes later)
"Are you serious? Anne was telling you lies from the beginning?"
Lance nodded and pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.
"Who are you calling at this hour in the morning?" JC stated standing up from his seat.
Lance looked up at JC as he pulled the phone to his ear.
"A friend that needs an apology." Lance waited patiently as the phone rang.
He tapped his foot gently on the floor. Lance groaned as he heard Ryan's answering machine come on.
"Hi, you've reached me…Ryan! You know the drill, just please don't hang up. I hate those!"
Lance heard the annoying beep and prepared to leave her a message.
"Ryan! Its Lance! Please, don't hang up the phone! We owe you an apology. I found out the truth! I'm so sorry that we didn't believe you. I don't know what to say, just please call me back. You have my number. If you don't call me back, your going to get annoyed with all the messages I'm going to leave. Thanks, Bye."
Lance closed his phone and put it away in its case. Little did he know that Ryan would never receive his calls.
