Ron held the door open for her as she charged into the lobby of the office that had been her second home for so many years. Cindy wasn’t at her desk, so Stasia just walked directly down the hall and stopped outside Jess’s open office door. Her friend’s voice drifted out, “COME ON! You have to pick up sometime ANASTASIA! You can’t avoid me forever, I won’t let you. I will get on a plane and fly down to Mississippi, don’t put it past me. OK...I’m going to go...I love you.” Stasia heard Jess’s heavy sigh, and looked up at Ron who nodded his head.
“Oh SURE threaten to fly down to Mississippi! Well a hell of a lot of good that will do when I’m standing here in the hall, waiting for you to stop groveling to my voice mail.” Ron rolled his eyes at her and she said, “The lunch room is five doors down, there are magazines and coffee.”
“Then you know where to find me if you need me.” He pulled on her ponytail.
“Thanks Ron.”
She walked into Jess’s office and flopped down in one of her client chairs. “OK brat, commence apologizing.”
“ME? You are the one who hasn’t called me back!” Jess ran a hand through her long blonde hair.
“I told you I would talk to you when I calmed down. I’m calm.” Stasia picked at the cuticle on her thumb. “Jess, I’m sorry I didn’t call, I don’t really have a good excuse.”
“Other than a new job, constant travel, a new boyfriend, working and living on a bus...I’m sorry, I am just so used to you being right across the hall when I need you, now I see more of you on MTV than I do in reality...you looked cute by the way.”
“Thanks. I know, and I need to be more sensitive to you. You’re planning your wedding, I promised I would help...and I WILL.”
“You flew up here just to talk to me?” Jess blushed.
“Of course I did, you are my best friend. I hate to say this, but my schedule is about to get even crazier, so I wanted to make sure we were OK, before we went on the road.”
“Things are fine. You have to do a lot more to get rid of me. Did Lance tell you what he said to me?”
“No.” Stasia raised her eyebrows, “What did he say?”
“He told me you have a folder labeled ‘Jess’s wedding’ and you spent a day on the phone looking for a restaurant. And that you missed me and that you thought of me as family. And that you loved me.”
“He was right, I’ve quickly learned he’s always right, I’ll never admit that to him.”
“I knew that.” Jess smiled evilly.
The women laughed hysterically. Jess stood up, smoothed the front of her jacket, “Let’s go to lunch.”
“Sure, let me go get Ron, and I have to say hi to Josh for Lance and Diane.”
“Why is Ron with you? This isn’t a scheduled trip.” Jess looked concerned.
“Ron is with me twenty-four/seven now. The dinner in Washington wasn’t scheduled, but my new friend found us there, and took pictures. When the seriousness of that situation hit me, I stopped fighting Lance about Ron. Not to mention the fact that it’s nice to have a travel companion.”
“Well, I have to admit it scares the crap out of me that you need security, but I’m glad Lance is smart enough to force the issue. He’s a smart guy.”
Stasia stood up and walked into the lunchroom where Ron was quietly reading a magazine and sipping a cup of coffee. “Hey big fella, how does lunch sound?”
“Are you going to let me sit at another table?” He closed the magazine and held up the cover for her to see, “Looking good.” Her jaw dropped at the sight of the cover which had a picture of Stasia, Lance, Chris and Danielle with a caption reading ‘NSYNC IN LOVE’.
“Oh God, that’s from the Oscars.”She shrugged and then said, “Oh, to answer your question, NO you will not sit at another table, you know how I feel about that.” She gave him a sharp look.
“Can I at least bring my magazine?” He whined.
Stasia looked at Jess, “Three hundred pounds of whining pain in the butt, how did I get so lucky?”
“Watch it Feisty, your cat-like ninja moves don’t work on me.”
Jess rolled her eyes, “Oh no, she hasn’t busted out the cat-like ninja moves.” She smacked herself forehead.
“Oh YES she did.” They walked down the hall together, when Stasia saw Josh sitting at his desk, reading quietly, she whispered, “I need to talk to Josh, I’ll meet you two in Jess’s office...don’t bad mouth me.”
She knocked lightly on the open door, “What?” Josh sounded stressed, and didn’t even look up from the file he was reviewing.
“Well what kind of welcome home is that?” She leaned casually against the doorframe.
“STASIA! Child you are a sight for sore eyes!” He jumped up and ran around his desk to pull her into a tight hug. “This place just isn’t the same without you!”
“I’ve missed you Josh.” She kissed his cheek.
He led her into the office and held out a chair for her. “You have been all the talk of the office lately! I sent you down to Diane for a job, and now you are in love with my nephew! I couldn’t be happier! I’ve even started watching that, MTV stuff.”
Stasia’s warm laugh filled the office, “Now that is something I’d like to see. So you’ve heard about Lance and I...I would have liked to have talked to you about it before you saw it on TV. I’m sorry about that.”
“Well Diane called me, she explained that you kids were in the middle of a crazy situation. Jessica told me about the letters you’ve been getting. How are you holding up?” His concerned eyes met hers.
She smiled reassuringly and said, “I’m fine, Lance has a security guard with me at all times, I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone.”
“You look alone right now.” He frowned at her.
“Geeze! Ron is in Jess’s office right now. You have nothing to worry about. The FBI is looking into the whole situation. I feel safe.”
“I’m happy to hear that. Diane likes you a lot...has she told you that?”
Her cheeks flushed, “No, she hasn’t really had an opportunity to say much to me, we aren’t in the same place often. We were all at Lance’s for his Birthday last night.”
“How old is he now? Seventeen, eighteen, something like that.”
“JOSH! Do you honestly think I would date a seventeen year old boy? GOOD LORD! He is twenty-one...which is still to young for me, but not CRIMINAL!” Her eyes were wide.
“How on God’s green earth did he grow up so fast? And I’ll have you know my wife happens to be nine years my senior, and you think you are too old for him with a tiny little five year gap in age.”
“I’d forgotten about that...I feel much better now.” She noticed his eye grow wide and she glanced over her shoulder, “Oh, hi Ron.” Josh’s entire doorway was blocked by Ron’s huge body.
“Jess sent me to find out about lunch, she was afraid to ask you herself.”
“OK...I’ll be there in a moment. Ron, this is Josh Adams, Diane’s uncle. Josh, this is my friend Ron.”
Josh walked around his desk and offered Ron his hand, “Son, it is truly a pleasure to meet you. Anyone willing to protect our Stasia ranks very high in my book.” He put his arm around Stasia’s shoulders, “This girl is like one of my children.” He squeezed her shoulder.
“Mr. Adams, I would lay down my life for Stasia. I promise you that.”
Stasia was suddenly choked up, “It will never come to that Ron...I won’t let it.”
Josh hugged her tightly. “You be careful out there, had I thought you’d be in danger, I never would have called Diane.”
“Stop! I’m going to be fine, and I promise you, I won’t do anything stupid.” She looked into his eyes, “I promise you.”
“You know your word is all I need. Now go to lunch, or Jessica will bother me about keeping you for weeks to come.” His arms tightened around her and he whispered, “Be safe.”
“Always. Take care of yourself Josh...and no more snapping at people when they knock. If you need help with anything, you have the cell phone number.” She kissed his cheek.
“I’ll be good.” He grinned down at her.
“Me too.” She said her good byes and she and Ron met Jess in the lobby. They chose a restaurant within walking distance, and were quickly seated.
The waitress brought their drink order, and kept eyeing Stasia, Jess’s defensive nature kicked in and she snapped, “Can we help you with something?”
Stasia’s head snapped up from her menu, “JESS!”
The waitress blushed and she stuttered, “Well...I...I’m...I’m...sorry...it’s just...just that you look familiar.” She nodded to Stasia.
Stasia smiled brightly, “Well, did you go to Shrine High School?”
“Umm...no I graduated from Kimball last year.”
“Oh, then you are MUCH younger than I am...hmm. When I lived near here I used to come in here a lot, have you worked here long?”
“Three weeks.”
“OK, that’s not it.”
The girls eyes slowly grew wide with understanding she squatted down next to the table and whispered, “You are Anastasia Blake! I’ve seen you on MTV and in magazines...you are STASIA!” She turned to Ron, “And YOU are either Ron or Lonnie...I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you two apart.”
“Ron, I’m better looking.”
She laughed, “I’d heard rumors that you were from Michigan, but I didn’t know you were still here.”
Stasia smiled, “I’ve moved, I’m just visiting.”
“I have to admit, I’m a huge NSYNC fan...I have a crush on your boyfriend.” She giggled nervously.
“So do I.” Stasia whispered. “He’s the sweetest guy...and not difficult to look at.”
“Oh I know it! He’s a hottie! Is Joey as dumb as he seems?”
Stasia felt her eyes darken, and her spine tense up. “Joey Fatone, is one of the sweetest, most kind, caring and INTELLIGENT people I have ever had the honor of knowing. He is remarkably deep, and sensitive.” She was speaking at a fast pace, until Jess kicked her under the table.
“That’s what I figured, but in the magazines, they make him seem dumb.”
“Don’t believe everything you read.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The three of them had fun sitting and talking, Ron spent much of his time rolling his eyes and laughing at the two women. The conversation came to an abrupt stop when Jess rolled her eyes and mumbled, “SHIT!” under her breath.
Stasia looked at her as if she had two head, “What?” She furrowed her brow.
“Hello Anastasia.” She froze with her fork in mid air. Ron glanced at her sideways, and looked for some sense of what he should do. Stasia lowered her fork and took a deep, calming breath.
“Garret.” She turned her cold eyes in his direction.
“Lost the job already?” He grinned evilly.
“NO SHE DIDN’T LOSE HER JOB YOU IDIOT!” Jess was seeing red.
“Jess. Don’t. He’s not worth the aggravation.”
“That’s not what you used to think.” He said in the slimiest, most repulsive tone she had ever heard. He reached out to touch her cheek.
Stasia didn’t see it coming at all, the next thing she knew, Garret was on his knees, with his arm pinned uncomfortably behind his back and Ron’s knee digging into the small of his back. “DON’T EVER TOUCH HER!”
“What the HELL!” Garret looked angrier than Stasia and Jess had ever seen him.
Jess leaned back in her chair, her eyes were dancing, “Garret, I’d like to introduce you to Ron, Stasia’s bodyguard.” She was smiling so broadly Stasia thought her face was going to crack.
The waitress ran over with the manager, “Ms. Blake...are you OK?”
“Ron spoke for her, “This man reached out and tried to grab her.”
The manager looked horrified, “I’m terribly sorry! I will see to it he is promptly removed. With your assistance of course.” He looked at Ron.
“It would be my pleasure.” He pulled Garret to his feet and pushed him toward the door. When they were out of Stasia’s line of sight he leaned down to Garret’s ear and growled, “I know who you are, I know where to find you. If you even THINK of getting near her or Jess again, you will meet me again, and next time...I won’t be quite so nice.” He gave the man a quick shove which sent him tripping forward until his hands smacked down on the pavement.
“You and Anastasia are going to live to regret this. I promise you that.” He wiped his hands on his pants and stormed off into the parking lot.
The airport in Jackson was very quiet, which wasn’t surprising since it was 1:30 in the morning. Stasia yawned again and hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. “Ron, I don’t think you get paid enough.” She pushed her sunglasses up her nose and yawned yet again. “Why may I ask am I wearing sunglasses inside, at 1:30?”
“You’re right...I don’t get paid enough. I have no idea why EITHER ONE OF US is wearing sunglasses.” They both laughed and took their sunglasses off. Stasia pushed her up onto the top of her head.
They stopped near the door, “Lance said there would be a car waiting. I don’t suppose you see a car.”
“I’ll beat that boy senseless if he forgot.”
“He didn’t forget. He never forgets.”
“That’s right. I never forget.” He was leaning against a wall, not three feet from where they were standing. He was shocked and thrilled when she ran over and hugged him tightly. “Well welcome home Darlin’!” He kissed the top of her head.
“This has been the LONGEST day. I wish you could have come with me. Jess said hi. Your Uncle Josh said hi. Jess and I are fine. I hear you talked to her. Ron almost broke Garret’s arm. The waitress recognized me and was really sweet, she said she has a crush on you. Jess and I dragged Ron to look at flowers for the wedding...”
“Millie! Take a breath. What do you mean Ron almost broke Garret’s arm?” He looked from her excited eyes to Ron’s, then back down to Stasia’s which weren’t excited any longer, she looked almost frightened. “What happened?” He cupped her cheek.
She took a deep breath and quietly started, “Well, we were at lunch with Jess, down the street from the office, anyway...Garret walked up to the table and was being rude, so when he tried to touch me...”
“What do you mean tried to touch you?” His eyes were flashing a frightening yellow color.
“He reached out and tried to touch my cheek, so Ron flattened him, right there in the restaurant.” She was looking very carefully at her shoes, and the spot near her toe on the floor.
Lance glanced around, suddenly realizing they were still standing in the airport. “Let’s get out of here.” He slid his hand under her elbow and steered her out the door and to his waiting car. When Stasia was in the passenger seat and Lance and Ron were standing outside the car he said to the large man, “You are getting a raise, effective yesterday. Did you make him sweat?”
“I had a...discussion...with him. I thought he understood my point until the whole, ‘You and Anastasia will regret this’ comment.”
“Yeah well, we’ll see about that.” They both got in the car, and he noticed how tense she looked, he didn’t want to get into a huge discussion about Garret in the car, so he just drove, his eyes locked on the road.
When they got to Stasia’s house Lance climbed out of the car, and said to Ron, “Can you come by at 7:00 and pick us up?” Ron simply nodded and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Stasia’s hands fumbled with the keys while she was trying to get them in the lock. She had not said one word since they left the airport and Lance knew she was nervous, but he wasn’t sure why. He gently placed his hand on hers and easily slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open. Jake ran up to her and she silently knelt, picked him up, and kissed his head.
Lance reached out and scratched Jake’s ear and then reached out to gently touch her cheek. “Can we sit and talk?”
She nodded and curled up in her favorite chair with Jake in her lap.
He sat on the couch, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His slowly ran his hand over his face, when he spoke his tone was quiet and his eyes were gentle, “Millie, please tell me EXACTLY what happened today with Garret.”
She was afraid of this whole situation, she knew how Garret would have reacted, and she thought she knew how Lance was going to react, but there was that little voice in her head that was trying to tell her that every guy in the world would be angry with her for what had happened this afternoon. She took a deep breath and said, “Ron, Jess and I were at lunch. The waitress was a big NSYNC fan, more specifically, she was a Lance Bass fan. We talked to her for quite a while, after Jess was rude to her. Anyway, Garret walked up to the table and was completely rude, which is no big shock.”
“I don’t find that hard to believe at all. Go on.” He linked his fingers together, his elbows were still resting on his knees, and he was leaning attentively toward her.
She closed her eyes and continued, “The first thing he said to me was, ‘Lost your job already?’ or something like that. Jess, screamed at him that, no I had not lost my job and he was an idiot. I told her he wasn’t worth the aggravation.” She ran a hand through her hair, and slowly opened her eyes she rubbed Jake’s head, “Garret said that’s not what I used to think, then he tried to touch me, and Ron flattened him.”
Lance stood walked over a knelt in front of her, his hands went to her cheeks and made her eyes meet his. He spoke very deliberately, “He can’t hurt you ever again. I WON’T LET HIM HURT YOU EVER AGAIN!”
She was shocked, she wasn’t sure why she was shocked. All she could do was shake her head.
He looked deeply into her eyes. “You thought I was angry with you.” He took her hand and kissed her palm. “I am NOT Garret. I love you. I KNOW that he is a monster, and I know that it is hard for you to trust me with you heart. But I promise you, I am going to prove to you that I love you.” She closed her eyes when he leaned over to kiss her cheek, then the other, he kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose then he whispered, “I’m going to prove to you, that you deserve to be loved this way, the right way, by me.”
“I’m trying so hard. I want to love you the way you should be loved, I’m just not sure I know how.”
“I’m sure. I’m going to keep proving this to you. You already love me the way I deserve to be loved. I just need you to understand that, and believe me, I’m going to see to it you understand.” He stood, gently picked up Jake who grunted at him as he set him on the floor, and then held his hands down for her.
She placed her small hands in his and stood, he silently led her to the bedroom. They stood facing one another, holding hands. She raised their hands, kissing the back of his hand. “I love you. I trust you with my heart.” She pressed their hands to her heart.
“I trust you with mine.” He held their other hands to his heart. His head lowered and his lips lightly brushed hers. Her hands released his, and went around his neck. His left hand tangled in her soft hair, his right hand spread across the small of her back, pulling her closer to his body.
She moved her fingers into the short hair at the nape of his neck. Her nails raked across his shoulders. Lance urged her lips to part with his tongue. When she excitedly accepted his offer, his tongue lightly touched hers and he felt her smile against his mouth. She pushed up onto her tiptoes so she could help increase the contact between them.
His fingers pushed at the soft fabric of her cardigan sweater back off of her shoulder to reveal the soft skin. His lips quickly moved to the newly exposed flesh, he gently kissed the entire area. She inhaled sharply, he chuckled and moved his lips to her neck. He pushed the sweater completely off her shoulders and it fell to the floor. When the cool air hit her skin, she moved fully against his chest, the kiss grew wild. She leaned up on her toes again and the sudden movement knocked Lance off balance, and they both fell onto the bed. As she landed on his chest, she started to pull her head back to make sure he was ok, his hands went to the back of her head and held her lips in place on his own.
“I’m fine.” He mumbled against her lips.
She smiled, and they kept kissing. He rolled both of them over, together, so he could look down into her eyes. He pulled his head back slightly so he could look at her, she smiled, laughed, and pulled his head back down. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Nowhere.” His hands buried themselves in their hair. Her hands spread out across his back.
Stasia grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled, he pushed off of her and allowed her to pull the shirt over his head. He was leaning back and she was staring at his chest and stomach. Her hand reached out and lightly ran over the tight muscles of his stomach. “Oh MAN! You wear too many shirts.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” He lowered back down on top of her.
Her leg wrapped around his waist and they were both breathing heavily when the phone began ringing. “What the hell! It’s two thirty in the morning!” His head flopped down next to hers.
“The machine will get it.” She turned to kiss his temple.
“Mmm. I love your machine.” His head turned and their lips met.
The first thing they heard when the machine picked up was a whimper, his forehead rested against hers. “Stasia, PLEASE pick up.” There was a sob.
He rolled off of her and she crawled over to the phone next to the bed. “Morgan? What’s wrong?”
“Justin.” Morgan sobbed again.
“What’s wrong with Justin?” Stasia furrowed her brow and looked at Lance who cocked his head.
“He has turned into a gigantic ass. I can’t believe him.”
“How did he turn into a gigantic ass?” She looked at Lance again, and he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
“I told him I had a date, a date I was excited about, and he told me that I was stupid to think a guy is going out with me to get to know me. That he just wants to get me into bed.”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah! He said that I should just be concentrating on finishing the semester, because I’m going to be going on the road with you guys. I shouldn’t waist my time going on dates with this guy, because I’m going to be gone all summer.” She began sobbing uncontrollably.
“Morgan, please breathe. You need to calm down a little. Is that all he said?”
“No, then the jerk asked when I was flying in to Mississippi for the concert. So he basically said, forget about my own life, and when am I going to come sit and watch his exciting life happen.”
Stasia decided to take a very cautious approach to the situation. She looked desperately at Lance who was on the phone with Justin. “J, what did you do to Morgan? She is on the phone with Stasia right now, crying. Why does she think you have turned into an ass? I didn’t think you could ever make her think you were an ass...Why did you say that? How did you think she was going to take a stupid comment like that? Justin you are an ass.” He looked at Stasia and shook his head slowly. “Millie will do what she can, but YOU did this, she can’t clean up all of your messes.” He hung up, and walked out of the room.
“Mor, stop thinking about Justin for a minute. Tell me about this guy you’re going out with.”
“I met him in my Sociology class, he is a journalism major, he is a thinker, and he writes the most amazing stuff. His name is Scott and he has got a pair of pants with flames on them.” She laughed and sniffled.
“He sounds pretty cool.”
“Yeah, he is. I’m just not sure I have that feeling, you know that...Stasia and Lance feeling.”
“That Stasia and Lance feeling? Oh Lord Morgan. Lance and I didn’t know we had that feeling until we got to know one another well. You don’t know Scott, maybe he’s ‘the one’, maybe he’s not, but what’s the worst thing that could happen? You could wind up with a new friend, I don’t think that’s so bad. You don’t have to fall in love today.”
She looked up and noticed Lance leaning against the doorframe smiling at her. She smiled back.
“I knew I needed to talk to you.” Morgan sighed. “But what do I do about Justin?”
“I wish I had an answer for that question, but I don’t. Honestly, I don’t think he was trying to hurt you. He is excited about the tour, and he wants to share that with you, because you are his best friend. I’m not sure where the stupid comment about guys only wanting to get you in bead came from, but just remember he’s probably just trying to protect you.”
“I wish he would stop doing that.”
“Trying to protect you?”
“Yeah, it’s not his job to protect me.”
“Morgan, all of us protect the people we love, we have to accept that and live with it.”
“It sucks.”
“I know. But I promise you, it gets easier.”
“Well if it doesn’t, I’m going to hunt you down.”
“I’d like to see you try. Now GO TO BED MORGAN!”
“Thanks Stasia. I didn’t even ask, did I wake you?”
“No, I was...ah...wide awake.” She looked at Lance who laughed, and walked into the bathroom.
“Is Lance there?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Then I don’t want to know why you are still awake. Thanks Stasia. Good night.”
“Night, Mor. Call if you need to.”
The phone clicked in her ear. She closed her eyes and held the phone to her chest. “Oh Morgan. If you only knew.”
“If she only knew what?”
“That the reason Justin was acting like a total idiot is because he is jealous.”
Lance flopped down on the bed next to her. “Jealous? You think?”
“I know.” She ran her hand through his hair.
“Oh...you know do you?” He pulled on her arm until she was laying next to him, and her head was resting on his shoulder.
“Mmm hmm. He’s her lobster.” She kissed the bare shoulder she wan laying on.
“Her lobster? What the heck does that mean?”
“You’ve been on the road too long, you missed one of the best sitcom moments of all time. Lobsters mate for life...it was on “Friends”...I guess you had to see it.”
“I guess so. But I think I get your point. At some point down the road, they are going to end up together.”
“I think it’s safe to say they are going to end up together sooner, rather than later.” She settled in next to him.
“Sleepy?”
“Mmm, I’ve had a long day. I’m not a big fan of two flights in one day.”
“I hate to break it to you, but you’re going to have a lot more days like today. You need to sleep.” He sat up, keeping her cheek on his shoulder and pulling them into a sitting position, so he could pull the quilt up from the foot of the bed, up around them. He settled both of them back against the pillows, he kissed her forehead.
“I love you, Harry.”
“I love you too, Millie.”
(Next afternoon, Free Lance Entertainment)
Stasia ran her fingertips over the nameplate on the office door. Anastasia Blake Her lips curved up in a soft smile. She quietly opened the door and and walked into the space, which was now her own. She touched to cool wood of the desktop. There was a frame sitting on the corner of her desk, she walked around to sit in her chair.
She picked up the frame and smiled brightly. It was a picture of She and Lance at the Oscar after party. Lance was standing behind her, with his arms wrapped around her waist. They were both laughing, and her head was back against his shoulder. He was looking down at her, they looked incredibly happy.
She set the frame down on the desk. She leaned back in her chair and took a good look around her. There was and enormous window behind her, an empty bookshelf on one wall, a navy blue leather couch on the wall directly across from her desk. The fourth wall was basically empty, except for a door, she assumed it was a supply closet, so she walked over and to inspect it’s contents. She pulled the door open and was completely shocked to find herself standing in Lance’s office.
“Well now this is unexpected.” She smiled. She walked over to his desk, where she found the same picture she had on her desk. She quietly walked out of his office, but left the door open slightly.
She returned to her desk, and began making the long list of phone calls she needed to make. She had left Lance at rehearsals. She needed to make these calls, meet with both Meredith and Jack. She was going to meet with the interior decorator about her office. She wanted to sit down with Diane and Stacy to firm up the plans for the talent search, and when they would be flying out to meet the tour.
After all of that, she was going to meet Lance and Justin for dinner. She sighed heavily thinking about her schedule for the afternoon.
Meredith had just left her office, and Stasia was thinking she liked her a lot. It was easy to understand why Lance had chosen her as the first Free Lance artist.
She flopped down in her chair and turned to look out the window. She had completed every task on her list, and she had to get moving if she was going to make it to dinner on time. She glanced down at her watch. She knew she need to leave, but the view out her window was mesmerizing her.
She was surprised at how beautiful Mississippi was in springtime. Flowers that wouldn’t be blooming in Michigan until midsummer. Her office looked out on the park in the center of town, the park she remember as one of the first sights she had seen when she had arrived in Mississippi. She wondered where the little boy and his dog were today.
Thoughts of the first time she met Bill drifted through her mind. That day, when he had met her at the airport, and then later taken her to Myrtle’s, he had seemed so kind. She never would have guessed the events that would follow shortly after that meeting.
“Hey Stasia.” She turned at the sound of Justin’s voice in her office.
“I thought we were meeting at the restaurant.”
He flopped down in one of the chairs across the desk from her. “Yeah, well we finished early so Lance decided to stop by here to look at some paperwork you were yapping about yesterday.”
“I don’t yap.”
“Yeah well, I wanted to talk to you.”
She rested her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her hands. “About what?”
“Morgan.” He sighed and shook his head, “I don’t know what’s up with her.”
“Are you here to vent, or to hear the truth?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Truth.” He closed his eyes.
“Justin, you weren’t exactly supportive about this whole date.”
“She doesn’t know this guy at all, he’s probably a jerk.”
“Are we talking about the same guy? Scott.”
“I don’t know what his name is.” He rolled his eyes.
“Scott, the Journalism major from her Sociology class, who writes amazing stuff and has pants with flames on them?”
“Flame pants? What the hell do his pants have to do with anything?” He scrunched his nose with disgust.
“OK, truth time. You were a jerk. Morgan has supported you in everything you have ever done. She has been happy to watch you become what you have become. She deserves your support. Why wouldn’t you want her to go out with this guy? Why would you want to take away a chance for her to find someone she clicks with?”
“I ah...” He began and she quickly interrupted.
“Why would you do that Justin? You would do that because your jealous, that’s why.”
“Yeah right! Why would I be jealous?”
“You would be jealous, because you are used to having all of Morgan’s attention, if she makes a new friend, or GOD FORBID, gets a boyfriend, how is she going to focus on completely on you? Justin, she needs to have her own life, she DESERVES that.”
He was very quiet for a long moment and then he quietly said, “You were much nicer when I needed your help with her during the whole situation with Brit.”
“You hadn’t been intentionally cruel to her then. You didn’t say the things you said to her last night when I helped you with the whole Britney situation.” Her tone was surprisingly cold.
He brought his eyes up to meet hers, and they were the steely gray color he knew he should fear. “Have I blown it here? Have I lost my best friend?”
“I think that Morgan is smarter than that, but I also think it may take some time for her to understand what your motivation was.”
“How can she understand, when I don’t?”
“I’m not sure. You need to do some serious thinking, figure out your motivation, then help her understand. You have to start in your own head.”
“Do you always have to be so flatly honest?”
“I asked you flat out if you wanted honesty.”
“Yes you did.” He sighed.
Lance stuck his head through the door from his office. “Hi Millie. How was your afternoon?”
She jumped out of her chair and met him halfway across the room, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. “Busy. How were rehearsals?” His arms went tightly around her waist, lifted her off of the floor, and carried her over to the sofa where he sat and settled her on his lap.
“Rehearsals were good. We finished early, which is always good. Wade has decided he would like you to give me a good talking to before every show.” They smiled into one another’s eyes.
Justin stood up, stretched, pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Anyone else hungry?”
Stasia wiggled off of Lance’s lap, “STARVED! Let’s go boys.” She picked her bag up off of the chair next to the one Justin had been sitting in. “Lance you missed your Momma and Stacy.”
“I know, I talked to Stacy on the way over here.” He took her bag, threw it over her shoulder and then took her hand.
When they got to the desk where Jamie was still answering the phones. “Free Lance Entertainment...No I’m sorry, we have no comment about the relationship between Mr. Bass and Ms. Blake.” She hung up and smiled happily, “Hi guys!”
“Hi Jamie. Why don’t you get the heck out of here? It’s late, and you don’t need to sit here all night saying that you have no comment about the two of us.” Lance smiled at Stasia.
“Thanks Lance, I think I will get going.” She jumped up, gathered her things and dashed out the door.
Stasia laughed, “Yeah, so I guess we’ll lock up.” After they did just that, they waved to Lonnie, Ron and Jay, who were all standing in the parking lot talking.
“Ron, why wouldn’t you come inside with me?” She asked as they approached the three large men.
“I didn’t want to get in your way.”
“You know you are never in the way, I thought the thought of you just standing outside, it’s silly, from now on, you come in with me, or I’ll have to start working out in the parking lot.”
Lance laughed and said, “You know what is scary? I don’t doubt you’d do it.”
She looked at him matter of factly, “Well of course I would.” Her free arm slipped through Ron’s.
Jay teased Justin, “Why don’t we hold hands anymore?”
“OH SHUT UP! Just shut up...you are sick man...SICK!” Everyone was laughing hard, with the exception of Justin, who was glaring at Jay.
They were all startled when a photographer ran around the side of the building and started snapping pictures. Lance let go of her hand and his arm went protectively around her shoulders, his other hand shielding her face. Ron stepped in front of Stasia, Lonnie moved in front of Lance, and Jay shielded Justin from the camera. “Oh come on guys! Just a few shots. Smile for the camera.”
Lonnie and Ron took a few, slow, deliberate step toward the man. He put his hands up and said, “OK, OK...I’m going.” Lance, Stasia and Justin all walked quickly over to Lance’s car. Stasia tossed her keys to Ron and the three guards got into her car and followed them out of the lot and to the restaurant.
“Where the heck did he come from? He had to be in the alley, behind the building.” Stasia let her head fall back on the headrest.
“He had to walk up the street from the opposite direction, otherwise the guys would have seen him. That also means there is a very good chance that one of us was followed, although it wouldn’t completely surprise me if they were staking out the office.” Lance rested his hand on her knee.
“You two are making it easy on me for once.” Justin offered.
“Window tint you goof ball.” Stasia grinned at him. “And as for exposing Joe and Angela, I don’t think so.” She yawned. “What are our plans after dinner?” Her head flopped over so she could look at Lance.
“We have no plans. We ALL need to get some rest tonight, we are leaving fairly early in the morning to drive down to Biloxi. I think the most activity I’ll have this evening is maybe a swim in the lake before bed. Care to join me?”
“NO WAY!” She stared at him in amazement.
“Why not?”
“Because at night down by your lake, the GIGANTIC boa pythons come out to play.”
“It wasn’t a python, we don’t have python down here. It was a harmless king snake, it could not have hurt you.”
“SURE IT COULDN’T! Need I remind you of the size of that beast? It could have swallowed me whole.”
“Do you think that might be a slight exaggeration?”
“Justin, you should have seen this thing...it was longer than I am tall.” She looked at Justin in the rearview mirror.
“Well that isn’t all that long.” He should have ducked, because when she quickly spun around and punched his shoulder he winced in pain.
“It was maybe three feet long.” Lance laughed.
Stasia shot a look at Justin who held up both hands, “I have no further comment on the snake issue. She says it was more than five feet long, I have no choice but to side with her.”
“Thanks for the back up J.” Lance punched his shoulder.
“Would you two STOP! I need my arms to move for the show tomorrow night.” He rubbed the spot where both punches had landed.
Dinner was uneventful, with the exception of Lonnie and Ron telling the story of Stasia and the snake in great detail for Justin and Jay, who were both laughing hysterically by the time Ron got to the part of the story where Stasia stormed back to the house.
Justin was pushing tears out of his eyes. “We have finally found her weak spot. Snakes! I love it. Screamed huh?”
“So loud it brought the two of us out of the house.” Lonnie nodded.
“Can we DROP IT? It spooked me, I wasn’t expecting it, there was nothing more to it.”
Justin picked up the check, and the group made their way back to Lance’s. Stasia was sad to hear Chris and Dani had already gone back to her house for the night, so she was going to get to chat with Dani. Joey was on-line ordering flowers for Angela, and Stasia kissed the top of his head. “Good boy!”
“You like the dark red or these funny peach roses?” He looked up at her.
“The red. They match her personality better, the peach ones are too...prissy.” She leaned over his shoulder.
“Good call. I don’t want prissy flowers. Thanks Stay-A.” He clicked on the box to order the red roses.
“Anytime! I’m happy to help. I’m going to go read. Good night Joe.” She ruffed his hair.
“Night Stay.” He bounced out of the chair and hugged her. “I still like having you around.”
“Well thank you. I like being around.”
She wandered around the house looking for Lance, she found him in his office on the phone with a friend from high school. She walked over kissed his cheek and whispered, “I’m going to go upstairs and read.”
He nodded, placed his hand over the receiver and whispered, “I’m going to hit the lake and be up in a little while.” He kissed her softly on the lips.
She went to the kitchen, made herself a cup of tea, and went up to Lance’s room. She pulled a clean pair of pajamas out of his drawer, changed into the top, and left the pants laying neatly on the end of the bed. She brushed through her hair, and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was standing there brushing her teeth when Justin came through the adjoining door. “OH GOD! SORRY!” He tripped over his own feet trying to get out of the bathroom. He fell to the floor with a loud thud, and tried to crawl out of the room.
Stasia rinsed her mouth, leaned back against the counter, crossed her arms and watched him trying to crawl like a child. “Um...Justin...what are ya doin’?”
“Trying like HELL to get out of here.” He sat on the floor and covered his eyes.
“I may be modest, but I’m not that bad. You’ve seen me in less. Calm down, learn to knock, and I’m going to bed. Night Justin.” She turned and walked into Lance’s room, closing the door behind her.
She climbed into the bed, pulled the covers up around herself, slipped on her reading glasses and burrowed back into the pillows. She yawned and opened her book.
Lance jogged up the hill to the house, running a large towel over his hair. The night air hit his wet skin and gave him chills. He ran up the stairs to the second floor balcony, and entered his room through the french doors across from the bed. Stasia glanced up from her book and smiled at him as he came through the door. “Good swim?” She rested her book against her chest.
“Cold, I think it’s still a little early, the water was cold, I’m going to take a hot shower.” He smiled when he noticed the pajama bottoms waiting for him on the end of the bed. “Thanks.” He leaned over and kissed her.
“You are covered with goose bumps! Go take that shower.” She rubbed her hands over his arms to try to warm them a bit.
“Yes Mam.” He grabbed the pants, dug around in one of his drawers and went into the bathroom.
She heard the water start, and turned back to her book.
Lance emerged from the steamy bathroom twenty-five minutes later. He looked at his bed, and it was as if his bed had swallowed her. The blankets were pulled up around her shoulders, her head had fallen over onto his pillow, her hand was laying softly on her book. She still wore her reading glasses and her hair was laying around her in beautiful, silky waves.
He slowly walked over to one of the chairs near the fireplace. He sat down and watched her sleep. His elbow was sitting on the arm of the chair, and he rested his cheek on his fist. “Anastasia Elizabeth Blake. That’s one hell of a name, it fits you perfectly. You are perfect.” He whispered. She seemed to hear him in her sleep, a slight smile touched her lips and she snuggled deeper into the pillows.
“How did I get this lucky? What did I do to deserve you walking into my life?” He closed his eyes and said a little prayer of thanks.
“Lance...Hey Lance.” Joey’s voice was hushed on the balcony behind him.
“Yeah Joe?” He got up and walked out onto the balcony.
“I’m sorry, I was walking by and heard you talking. Counting your blessings huh?” Joey glanced over at his friend.
Lance stared out at the long lawn, leading down to the lake. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been doing that a lot lately too. It’s funny how a successful album, a sold out tour and an amazing woman can make you really thankful.”
Lance looked over at him and smiled, “Yeah, funny how that happens. Do you ever wonder what you did to deserve this?”
“Every day buddy. Every day.” Joey smacked him on the back, “I don’t know what any of us did to deserve any of this, but I think we need to thank God, and keep our heads on straight. I’ll make a deal with you, if you see me getting all ‘pop star’ in the head, remind me of tonight. If I see you flipping out, I’ll do the same thing. The five of us are in this together, and I want to make sure that in the end, we’re still as close as we are right now.”
Lance turned to face Joey more fully. “People don’t give you enough credit. You have yourself a deal Joey.”
Joey was looking out at the view Lance was staring at earlier, “Some people give me enough credit. Angela, my family...Stasia.”
“I’m glad you have her to talk to, you seem to talk to her differently than you talk to the rest of us.”
“I think she looks at me differently than everyone else does. The world looks at me like the dumb, loveable teddy bear. Remind me to send Lou a thank you note about that.” He looked angry, “But Stasia talked to me, right away, she TALKED to me, she didn’t assume that I was an idiot.”
“Joe, you aren’t an idiot. NONE of us think that you are an idiot.”
“I know...now I know that.”
“Stasia explained that to you didn’t she? You honestly thought we thought you were an idiot didn’t you? God Joe. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s OK. I understand now. Thank Stasia for that.”
“You know you are one of my best friends right? You know that don’t you?” Joey smiled at the sincerity of Lance’s tone.
“Yes, I know that. Now go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Lance walked back into the bedroom, and over to the bed. He gently took her glasses off and set them on the nightstand along with her book. His fingers went to the picture she had given him. He felt warm, but this warm feeling was coming from the inside out. His heart felt complete, he looked down at the sleeping form next to him, watching the cover rise and fall with each deep breath she took.
He pulled back the covers, laughed when he saw Jake rolled up next to her, slipped his legs into the bed, and settled back against the pillows, trying hard not to disturb her sleep. When he had finally gotten comfortable, she instinctively curled against his side, his arm went around her to hold her safely in place, and she softly whispered in her sleep, “Love Lance.” Her mouth curled up in a smile.
He lightly kissed her lips and smiled, “Love Stasia.” Jake wiggled next to her and licked Lance’s hand before settling down to sleep again. “I’ll take good care of her buddy.”
A warm breeze blew the curtains gently into the peaceful room. Birds were chirping in the trees, and the large house was still quiet. Stasia was slowly surfacing from the wonderful dream she had been having, she didn’t want to wake up, because she didn’t want the dream to end. The curtains stirred again and blew her hair across her face, tickling her nose. She sleepily swiped a hand across her face, but the hair was till there. Slowly, a feeling of de javu took over her senses.
Lance was still breathing deeply on her right side, Jake was snoring away on her left. She rolled completely onto her side, throwing a leg over Lance’s legs and burying her face in his shoulder. The tickling moved to her cheek. She could tell Lance was surfacing from his deep sleep as well, because he had just swatted at his own nose. His arms tightened around her. She felt him twitch slightly, and they both reached out at exactly the same time, without opening their eyes.
Stasia’s fingers closed tightly around the wrist hovering above her face. Lance was hanging on to a wrist of his own. He kissed her forehead, “Morning Millie.”
She kissed his cheek, “Morning Harry.” The wrist was trying to get away, so she yanked sharply. “Did you sleep well?”
“Very. You?”
“Very, is your’s trying to get away?”
“Yeah. Who did you catch?” He knew her eyes were still closed.
“I’ve got Chris, I’d know his annoying little wrist anywhere. Who is his partner in crime this morning?”
“As sad as I am to say this, we’ve caught Dani as well.” Lance’s wrist squeaked, and swatted Stasia’s who answered with a grunt.
Stasia rolled onto her back, partially landing on Jake who yelped. “Sorry buddy.” But before she could reach down to comfort him, two small bodies hopped up onto the bed to comfort their friend.
Lance and Stasia both opened their eyes to find Chris and Dani trying their best to look casual. “Morning guys.” Stasia yawned. “You do realize, we are going to have to get you back for this...right?”
“You wish you could get us back.” Chris finally pulled his arm back from her grip.
“We can, and we will.” Lance said as he released Dani’s hand and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Stasia sat up beside him and they all laughed as the three dogs wrestled around on the covers.
Chris decided to make himself at home, and crawled across the bed to sit next to Stasia, he patted the covers and Dani sat next to him, it was at that point the bathroom door slowly opened and Justin’s head came around the corner shielding his eyes. “Did I hear Chris in here?”
“Yes you did.” Chris answered.
He peered through his fingers at the four of them all sitting up in bed with three dogs rolling around at their feet. “Should I bother asking or leave it alone?” He flopped down on the foot of the bed, and began trying to pull the wriggling dogs apart.
“Chris and Dani, pulled the famous string on the face stunt again.” Lance answered.
Justin rolled his eyes, “Guys, that one is getting old.”
They all turned toward the knock on the door. “Come in.” Lance laughed, “Wouldn’t want anyone to be left out.”
Joey and JC walked in together, Joey took a flying leap and landed right in the middle of the bed, laying across everyone’s legs. JC pulled a chair over and propped his feet up on the foot of the bed. Joey flopped onto his back and giggles as the dogs started climbing over him like a mountain. “What would our fans say if they saw this mess?”
“Stasia and I would have prices on our heads.” Dani laughed, “Five pop stars, two bare chests, have you been working out Joey...two wife beaters and a t-shirt. All in bed together. Stasia, maybe we could auction off our spots in this mess for millions.”
Joey flexed his arm, “I have been working out Dan, thanks for noticing.”
Lance hugged Stasia tightly to his side, “Her spot in this bed is not up for sale.” Everyone except Stasia groaned.
Chris scratched his chin, “Could we split the money Babe?”
Justin leaned up on his elbow, “You’re an idiot dude, you have...”
Lance interrupted, “Guys, can I ask a favor?” They all turned to face him, “Can we stop calling each other idiot and stupid and stuff...I know we all do it jokingly, but sometimes it goes to far, we need to support one another now more than ever...we’re about to hit the road, and you know how the rumors heat up while we’re traveling. I don’t want a stupid comment to make anyone feel like they can’t talk to any of us.”
JC spoke first, “I think that it’s a good idea, you’re right, the rumors are going to start flying soon. I’m sure Stasia and Dani are both going to be pregnant with triplets, all five of us are going to get married, divorced, cheat on our women, and go solo. We need to watch one another’s backs. I think we should have a new strategy about questions about the rumors. If we know it’s not true, even if it’s not about you, try to put an end to it and that includes you two, Stasia and Dani, if people are talking trash about you guys, we’ll put an end to it.” Both girls smiled.
“Sounds good to me.” Justin sighed, “Just so you know ahead of time guys, Brit is having my alien baby.” He got hammered with pillows from every direction.
Stasia gave Lance a sideways glance and noticed that he and Joey were smiling at each other. She kissed his cheek, and when he looked down at her with shocked eyes, she simply said, “I love you.”
Chris looked around at the faces in the room, “So we have a deal right? No bad mouthing one another, we stand up for each other...Jive is going to hate that...and we enjoy the ride.”
Everyone agreed. This was the first day of tour, this was the first day of all the real excitement. They were all excited, anxious, happy, a little frightened, nervous and they were ready for anything that came their way. Huddled in Lance’s bedroom, they had had the reality check they needed, and now, they were ready to face the world, together.
