*****
Lasting Impression
Chapter 6
Written By: Jayla

*****

"Hello?" She answered picking up the cordless black phone hung on the white wall of her apartment.

"Hello, could I talk to Miss Melia Scott?" A familiar man's voice replied on the receiving end.

"Um. Yes, this is her." She stuttered in her fake southern drawl remembering that she was supposed to be someone else.

"This is Johnny Wright, *N Sync's manager. I wanted to inform you that you are officially part of the *N Sync Crew. Congratulations."

"Thank you, but I have a confession to make." Her normal voice re-appearing after she said those words.

"Okay," he said skeptically not taking notice of her voice change.

"I turned in my portfolio under a different alias. My real name is Jayla Mackenzie."

"Okay, Miss Mackenzie, but why would you go through all that trouble?"

"A few months ago, I became friends with one of the guys so I decided that I didn't want to get this job because I knew someone but based on my hard work and dedication that I put into my photography and artistic ability."

"Alright, that makes sense. Since you knew an *N Sync member, I doubt that would have persuaded our decision in the slightest. It was quite rare to find both such a talented artist and photographer in one person. Your work is quite impressive. Both my associates and myself couldn't believe it when we first saw the quality of it. Your gift is astounding."

"Thank you very much. I love what I do and I hope that my work will meet your approval."

"I'm sure that there won't be a problem. I know that it's none of my business but do you mind me which one the guys it is?"

"It's okay. I met Lance in Irvington a couple months ago."

"Well, that explains a lot about what's going on with him. I don't know what happened in those few short hours but he hasn't been able to stop smiling since he got back. I've haven't seen him this happy in the longest time. The poor guy has been asked so many questions from the guys but he hasn't said anything to them."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. He's a real sweetheart and probably one of the greatest people I've ever met. I guess you could say that we both found a friend when we needed one." The gears in her head were working overtime. She had an idea that couldn't be ignored. Although, it may be hard to pull off she was willing to go through with it. This was going to be fun.

"Lance is a good man and I'm glad you both created a friendship with each other. Anyway, onto other matters at hand. The tour kicks off on May 9th in Biloxi, Mississippi, so you will have fly in a couple of days earlier. I'll call you later to fax you paper work and work out other details."

"That sounds good. Mr. Wright, do you think that you could do me a favor?"

****

The soft melodic ballad of Garth Brooks' "The Dance" filtered through the room. A sleeping figure was sprawled out on a blue and white checkered blanket covering a king size bed. His blond spikes were softly matted to the comfort of the white pillow that his arm that lay underneath. He stirred in his peaceful slumber as the miscellaneous sounds of his family home were coming alive.

A light knock on the door sounded as a woman poked her head into the room. She watched with happiness of having her son back home, even if it was for a short time. His Tasmanian Devil memorabilia from fans was neatly displayed on a shelf above his oak chest of drawers. The adjoining wall displayed a large bookcase with his various music awards that he had accumulated being in *N Sync, books, and stereo system. A large window with dark blue blinds was ajar letting the warm air of the late afternoon flow through.

An object inside one of Lance's bags began to make a ringing sound. Mrs. Bass tiptoed inside to retrieve what she thought was a phone and unzipped the pocket. She took the phone out and closed the door hoping that it wouldn't disturb his rest before the tour started. She debated on answering it and realized that it may be one of the guys or Johnny calling.

"Hello?" A charming southern accent answered.

"Hello. Could I talk to Lance?" Jayla replied not recognizing the voice on the other end.

"He's resting right now. I could wake him up if you like."

"No, it's alright. He needs his rest right now."

"Did you want to leave a message? I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"That would be great. I'm Jayla Mackenzie. Nice to meet you um."

"I'm Diane Bass. It's nice to meet you, Miss Mackenzie."

"Oh my gosh, where are my manners? It's a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Bass."

"It's quite alright, dear. Please, call me Diane."

"Okay, Diane. Could you tell Lance that I'll be busy for next week and I'll try to call him when I can?"

"I will tell him," she said scribbling the message onto a pad of paper.

"Thank you very much. Mrs. Bass, I mean, Diane, you've raised Lance well. He's a great guy."

"Thank you. I would like to think so. I will relay the message to my son. Have a good day."

"You too, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

She turned the knob of his door to find a groggy person sitting up on the bed. Lance yawned and rubbed his tired green eyes trying to get everything in focus after being in LaLa Land for the better half of two hours. Diane walked over to her son and sat on his bed and tried to fix his hair that manage to plaster to his forehead.

"Lance, someone called while you were sleeping," she told him giving him the cell phone and message. His eyes re-adjusted to the note she wrote down earlier and widened.

"Mom, why didn't you wake me up or something?" he said slightly agitated.

"James, don't use that tone on me." He hated it when she called him James. She only did that when he was going to get punished when he was a little kid or one of those verbal discussions that he couldn't get out of.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Well, why didn't you even tell me about her?"

"I would have if there was actually something going on between us," he replied in a dejected manner.

"Oh I see. You wouldn't overreact if she wasn't something special to you, am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess. There is just something about her that I can't forget. She has a way of invading my thoughts without anything happening."

"She sounds like a wonderful girl. Son, I think you're falling in love," she said rubbing his back.

"Love? I don't think so. I've only known her a couple of months."

"It only takes one moment to know if you are. Supper is on the table, come down when you're ready."

He nodded. "Thanks, mom."

"Your welcome, dear." She hugged him briefly before retreating out of his room. He fell on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Now, he was more confused about what he was feeling.

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