"You? My lord no," Winnie lied. "Don't give your ege too much of a boost. Actually, I was thinking about the Backstreet Boys. One of them in particular actually."

Justin felt a wave of disappointment pass through him. "Uh-huh. And which one would that be?"

"Ummm..."

"You don't even know their names." Justin cried triumphantly.

"Yes I do." Winnie looked at the Backstreet Boys' review in the paper. "Their names are; A.J., Nick, Kevin, Howie and Brian. And I was thinking of Brian."

"Brian, huh? So you think you two are soulmates?"

Winnie could imagine the wide smile on Justin's face. "Yup, soulmates, true loves, the one, blah, blah, blah."

"Do you mind giving me a reason why you believe you two are meant to be?"

"No, not at all. His eyes are blue."

"His eyes are blue? That's the best reason you can come up with? In case you haven't noticed, so are mine." Winnie could hear his voice rise as he continued to talk. If only he really was jealous.

"Yeah, I've noticed. So are JC's."

Justin was trying to keep his tone neutral. "How can you tell anything just by the fact that he has blue eyes?"

"There is something about blue eyes. I can't explain it. Certain blue eyes can capture a part of me. There is one side effect to giving up the control to a portion of myself."

"And that is?"

"Blue eyes can also cause trouble for me."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Justin didn't know why he wanted to know this information, but he continued to press on.

"Justin, those stories are for another day. Listen, it's getting late and we both have full days ahead of us. I'd love to stay up and chat, but I can't."

"Okay, I understand. I'll talk to you soon."

"I don't want you spending any more of your phone bill on me. I'll see you in four days." Four long days. "It's not that I don't enjoy talking to you or appreciate your call, but save your money."

"Alright, I gotta get goin' myself. Bye Winnie. I'll be counting the hours until we meet again." Justin sang the last four words.

Winnie laughed. "Bye Justin. Oh, tell the guys hi for me."

"Will do. Adios."

"Ciao."

Justin pressed the "end" button on his cell phone and began to replay his conversation with Winnie in his mind. Where did that jealousy over Brian Littrell come from? Wait a sec... Did I just say jealousy? I am not jealous. I...AM...NOT...JEALOUS, especially over Brian. Yes you are! No I'm not! Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes, yes, yes! Okay, I'll admit it I felt jealous. She cannot know that I was jealous. One last question Justin. Why were you jealous over somebody she's never even met?

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Winnie placed the phone back on its charger. She felt giddy after talking to Justin. She pressed play on her CD player and began doing the hand jive along with the music. She began to laugh when she remembered the time JC and Lance tried to out hand jive each other. They made up some pretty funny ad libs to this song.

Her thoughts drifted from her memories of all five guys to her memories of just one, Justin. I can't believe he actually called me after the show. How did I know that was him on the phone? I swear I can sense it everytime he calls. Is that a sign? Deep down could we have a connection? I hope so.

For the rest if the night Winnie's mind was consumed with thoughts of Justin. Come to think of it, so were her dreams.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

He entered the back lounge and sat on the couch absently. He knew that he had to be up early for a recording session but needed time alone to think. I've spent so much time on this bus that it's like a home away from home. It's weird when I think about it, but what can I do.

He did not come to the bus to contemplate the oddities of his lifestyle. He went there to think about one thing. Actually, one person. Winnie.

Winnie. I could say that name over and over. Winnie. Winnie. Winnie. Winnie. I can't believe I actually talked to her today. Not being able to hear her voice was driving me mad. All I could do was look at the face and not hear the voice. I don't want to think about the torture I was going through.

He thought about how she washed his concern away when he was worried about the blood on her knee. He remembered how beautiful she looked when she was concentrating. He will never forget how she looked when he first laid eyes on her. Her. Winnie.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the door to the lounge was opened. He blinked against the brightness of the light as they were flicked on.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

"Hey Justin, what are you doing on the bus at," JC looked at the clock on the VCR, "three o'clock in the morning?"

"Nothing, just thinking of someon-thing." Justin hoped JC had not caught his slip.

JC did catch it, but acted like he did not. He knew who Justin was thinking about, but he wanted Justin to tell him. "I was worried when I turned over and your bed was empty."

"I couldn't sleep and the sound of Chris' beads knocking against one another as he tossed and turned in bed didn't help."

"Yeah, that can get noisey. Especially when he has dreams about when he had his heart broken by..."

Justin took a deep breath and exhaled. "I remember. That was difficult for him. It's hard for him to get a decent night's sleep anymore."

"I know. Don't forget I also sleep in the same hotel room as Chris."

There was a slight pause between them. JC looked over at the picture of Winnie on the bulletin board above the TV and decided to make his move.

"That line Winnie gave you was a classic. I can't begin to tell you how worried the rest of us were when you started talking. We all were thinking of ways to kill you if you told the truth."

Justin laughed. "Yeah, she told me about the looks on your faces. By her description I wish I could've seen them."

"That's right. You talked to her earlier."

Justin blushed. "Umm...yeah. I called her earlier. I wanted to see what she thought of the show. You know. Since I used her line and all."

"Uh-huh. Is that the only reason you called her, Justin?" JC sat on the couch across from his best friend.

"What are you talkin about?" Justin was trying unsuccessfully to cover the surprise on his young face.

"C'mon, Justin, there wasn't another reason for your call? Maybe because it's been almost a week since you saw her and just needed to hear the sound of her voice."

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" Justin paused for a moment. "I do like her..."

Yes, I think he's finally going to admit his feelings about her.

"...but not like that. She's a great friend." Great friend my foot. I do want more of a relationship with Winnie but...

Damn why is he making this so hard? Doesn't he realize how transparent he is? How am I going to get him to admit his feelings? An idea popped into JC's head and he smiled to himself.

"So, what did she think of the show?"

"Huh? Oh she liked it."

"She better have. Her line was the highlight of the show."

Justin smiled. "Yeah, it was."

"I wasn't expecting a line of that caliber. It was perfect. If I didn't know it was a line I would've belived it. She's doing a great job isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is."

"She's smart."

"Yeah."

"She's talented."

"Yeah."

"She's nice."

"Yeah."

JC liked where this conversation was going and he continued. "She's got a great sense of humor."

"Yeah, she does."

"She loves the outdoors."

"Yeah."

"She's beautiful."

"Yeah."

"And you like her a lot." Please let this work.

"Yeah." At first Justin couldn't undertand why JC had a huge smile on his face. Then it hit him. "Hey! You tricked me!"

"It was the only way I could think of for you to tell me how you really felt about Winnie. No hard feelings?"

Justin sighed. "No, no hard feelings. Just don't tell anyone. Alright?"

"Okay, I won't tell anyone. The other guys have suspicions, but I won't confirm them."

"Thanks. It's just that I'm so confused."

"Confused about what? If your wondering about her feelings for you it's obvious that she has an interest in you. And I'm talking about more than an interest in you as a friend."

"You think?"

"Man, you are so blind if you can't see it."

"But how do I know that she likes Justin Timberlake, the person, not Justin Timberlake, the star? And she's only here for a few months. What's going to happen to us when her internship is over?"

JC suddenly realized why Justin was having trouble. "You're thinking about my relationship with Shannon, aren't you?"

Justin nodded silently.

"Justin look at me." He raised his blue eyes to meet those of the older man. "These situations are totally different."

"How?"

"Well, first of all, the girls. Shannon amd Winnie are complete opposites. Winnie doesn't live her life by the social status that she gains from having something or knowing someone. I'm sure that if you were some Joe on the street she would take the same interest in you. You having a record on the charts doesn't mean anything to her. She likes you for you, not other's perceptions of you."

"And Shannon?"

"Shannon? Shannon only cared about how things looked. Now that I look back on it I'm ashamed to say that I didn't see it. When she first walked in I was so taken away with how she presented herself I blinded myself to her ulterior motives."

"Ulterior motives?"

"Yeah. She came to Orlando with the idea of getting involved with one of us. Since I fell for her right away I was her victim. Think back. She flirted with all five of us when she first met us."

"She didn't flirt with me."

"When she first walked into the office she did. She stopped when she learned that you were seventeen. Therefor making you illegal for her to get her hands on. As soon as she saw the interest in my eyes she pounced. I mean, a member of *N SYNC was interested in her, what better a social boost than being able to say you went out with a famous musician? It was a perfect way for her to start her social climbing."

"In short, she used you?"

"Exactly. She only cared about herself. She never cared about my feelings. The only thing she wanted from me was my name. Do you want to know what else?"

"What?" Justin stiffled a yawn. He was getting tired, but he knew JC needed this.

"I hear that she started her own web site dedicated to our relationship. It does have stuff on you guys too, but most of it is on how she handled going out with a member of a boy-band." JC's mind wandered through memories of his relationship with Shannon. After a few minutes he looked up and saw Justin yawning. "Sorry I'm keeping you up with all my babble about Shannon."

"Don't worry about it, JC." Justin stood up and put a reassuring hand on JC's shoulder. "I'm just glad that you are starting to get over her."

"Why would you say that? Because I'm talking about what really happened?"

"Well there's that and the fact that you..."

"The fact that I what?"

"The fact that you said her name."

A smirk appeared on JC's face. "Yeah, that was the first time I've been able to say her name in a long time. Shannon. There, I said it again."

"So you did. Now lets go in before people really start to worry about us."

"Good idea. Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, man. Hey that goes both ways. Thanks."

"Nothing to it." JC got up and they hugged.

"Now is there any way to get Chris to open up to us?"

"I don't know. Right now I'm thinking how nice a bed would be right now."

Justin and JC laughed. They left the bus and headed to their hotel room. They both went to sleep wondering when Justin was going to talk to Winnie about his feelings.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

"Winnie, can you come in here for a moment?"

"Sure. Coming Stephanie." Winnie got up from her chair and walked into Stephanie's office. "What's up?"

"Well, first of all, I have a meeting this afternoon. Can you close up?" Stephanie looked up from her desk to talk to the younger woman.

"Yeah, no problem."

"And secondly, what are you doing tonight?"

"I have nothing planned. I usually go out with the guys on Friday nights, but since they're out of town I hadn't planned on doing anything. Why?"

"I promised my friend I'd watch her partake in an equestrian event at the county fair and I was wondering if you wanted to see what the fair was all about."

"Alright. What time."

"I'll pick you up around...6:45?"

"That sounds good. What time do you have to leave for your meeting?"

"Oh, at 12:30. Do you mind cutting your lunch short?"

"No, not at all."

"Thanks."

Winnie looked at her watch as she walked back to her desk. It read noon. "I'm going to the park to eat. See you when I get back."

"Okay."

Winnie walked into the park and sat on her normal bench. She removed her water bottle from her bag and took a drink. She saw a figure walk towards her as she opened her sandwich.

"Hey Winnie."

"Hi Alex. How are you doing?"

"Good. Better now that I see you're not wearing your skates."

"I didn't have them on yesterday, but you wouldn't know that. Who was that guy who came? Your bodyguard? He was so large."

"Bodyguard." Alex began to laugh. "No, my friend is a personal trainer and he's one of his clients. I am sorry about yesterday. I couldn't get away from work."

"Don't worry. All's forgiven. Just as long as it doesn't happen again." Winnie tried to keep a serious look upon her face, but it didn't last long. They both smiled.

"I can't promise it will never happen again, but I'll try."

"If that's the best you have to offer, then I guess that's what I'll have to take."

"Thank you, my lady."

"No problem." Winnie took a bite out of her sandwich. "Before I forget. I can only stay until 12:25. My boss has a meeting today and someone needs to be in the office."

"So here I am feeling guilty about yesterday, and you can't even stay for 25 minutes?"

"At least I showed up. I think that puts me one up on you."

"Touche."

Over the next twenty minutes Winnie and Alex combined conversation with eating. More talking than eating got done, but neither of them seemed to care.

"Look at the time. I'd better be going. I enjoyed having lunch with you. We should do it again."

"How about Monday?"

"I guess I could squeeze you in." A playful smile appeared on Winnie's lips.

"I feel so loved knowing that you'd take time out of your busy schedule to eat lunch with me." Alex hesitated for a moment. "Would you mind if I walked you back to your office?"

"No, not at all."

Alex collected their trash and threw it away in the garbage cans. "Got everything?"

"Yup." Winnie glanced worriedly at her watch. "We really have to hurry. I hope you're in as great shape as you look."

"Why?"