It had been almost six years since the fight... since the group had broken up. Angel was too young to remember any of the aftermath. She was only a baby at the time. JC Chasez couldn't imagine how anyone could forget the yells or the angry looks, but she had. He only wished that he could be so lucky.
He pulled the little girl up onto his lap and struggled to get a sock over her wiggling toes. "Stay still, sweetheart," he told her and she somewhat complied.
How could they be so insensitive? JC had been going through hell at the time and they didn't even seem to care. He had just lost his girlfriend, was raising a baby all by himself and they still had no sympathy? What cold hearts the four of them must have had to shut him out like that. Sure, he hadn't been the best of friend either... but he thought that he'd shown them that he'd changed! Why couldn't they see that?
"Angel," he said when she hopped off his lap and ran to the door. "Honey, you need shoes, your lunch box, and you can't forget your backpack on your first day of school!"
"Daddy!" she squealed as she looked out the porch windows. "The bus is coming! I see it!"
JC picked her up, sat her in the chair next to the door and slipped her shoes onto her feet. He lifted her back down, handed her her lunch and backpack and then grabbed his camera off the table. "Smile, princess!" he said as he snapped the picture. Before he knew it, Angel was out the door.
"Bye, Daddy!" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Bye, Angel! Don't forget your lunch when you get off the bus! And if you need me, I'll be at the store!"
She waved and then disappeared up into the big bus. JC sighed as he watched the bus roll down the street. It seemed like only yesterday when she was in diapers. Where had the time gone?
Music business was the only business that Justin Timberlake knew. For the past six years since Nsync had broken up, he'd woven his way back into the spotlight, this time as a single act. Respect was hard to come by when you were an ex-boyband member back in the year 2000, but Justin had been determined, and finally, people started to take him seriously.
He thought about the guys all the time... especially JC. The man who he'd once called his best friend had completely disappeared from everything. Justin hadn't heard from him in years... and despite everything that had happened, he worried.
Now older, Justin realized that he'd overreacted all those years ago. Yes, the things that JC did were wrong, but Justin was just as wrong for not forgiving him.
"Ready?" the man behind the camera asked him.
He nodded.
"Five, four, three..." he held up his fingers for the last two numbers and then Justin saw a little red light on the camera, signaling that he was on.
JC pushed up his glasses and looked carefully at the sheet music that rested on one of the pianos. No matter how many times he said he never wanted to be in the music business again, he just couldn't get away from it all together. He loved music, it was just the business part that he could do without. So, when he and Angel had moved into the little house on Dowling Avenue, he'd built a music shop on Main Street with the money he'd stored away, and named it Chords. Retail wasn't anything like being in Nsync and he was satisfied.
His hands flew gracefully over the keys until he heard the bell on the front door, signaling that a customer had entered.
"Don't stop on my account," a woman's voice echoed through the spacious store, and he turned to see who was there. "You play beautifully," she continued.
"Thanks." JC stood up from the piano bench and took a few steps toward where she stood. "Can I help you with anything?"
She looked around, seeming enthralled by everything in the store. "No thanks. I drive by this place everyday on my way to work and I couldn't help but stop in and check it out."
He smiled and stepped behind the counter to turn the stereo back to pianist, Phil Coulter. "Well, I'm glad you did. Let me know if you need anything."
The bell rang again, and Andrew, JC's seventeen-year-old employee, rushed in. "I'm sorry I'm late, Josh. Traffic was so bad coming down Herts Street and-"
"Don't worry about it. My daughter doesn't get home for..." he glanced down at his watch. "Oh, no... I've gotta go." But instead of getting to the door, he bumped right into the woman and knocked her purse right out of her hands. It hit the floor and he bent over to pick it up. "Oh, God, I am SO sorry. I didn't see you there... my daughter is getting home in five minutes. It's her first day of kindergarten and I can't not be there when she-"
"It's okay," the woman interrupted him when an assurance and a smile. "Just go home and get to your daughter."
He held her purse out to her. "Thanks... um, I don't believe I caught your name."
"That's because I didn't throw it. It's Laura, by the way."
JC grinned. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Laura. I'm Josh."
She took the purse and he foolishly tried to shake that same hand. After a little awkward juggling of items, their hands finally met in a firm hold. "Nice to meet you, too," she told him. "Now get home before your daughter gets there."
"I will, thanks." He gave her one more smile and then headed out the door.
"Josh!" Andrew called. "I don't have a..." the door slammed. "A key," he finished.
Chapter 2
Not A Day Goes By
JC {Fiction}
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I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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