After three weeks of daily rehearsals in L.A., the crew flew down to Orlando to finish up yet another week of rehearsals and kick off the tour. That was the original plan. However, Johnny and Mark had a few kinks to work out with venues and by the time they had booked the shows, the earliest they could start was October 17th. It wouldn’t start in Orlando either. They would be officially beginning the tour in Charlotte. Tickets had gone on sale for all cities, and sold out in record times. The managers feared that fans would be upset with a joint tour, but once they were reassured that each performer would be on stage for as long as they normally would, they were excited for the show.
With the fans already talking non-stop about the tour and the roadies practicing putting the stage together, times were getting crazy amongst all involved. Things had not settled down between Gina and Justin like everyone had hoped; in fact they showed no signs of remotely liking each other. They never let their guard down in front of each other and were always equipped with catty comments and witty comebacks. It was as if they had gone home the night before and planned out what they were going to say to each other the next day. Neither of them missed a beat; it was almost entertaining. Almost.
Rehearsals: Jive Studios, Orlando. Monday, September 18th.
Gina and her dancers pulled up to Jive and climbed out of the limo, grabbing their bags and taking a deep breath. Today was the day Wade and Darrin would teach them the choreography for Gina’s new single. She would be making a video at the end of the next week. Gina was extremely lucky that the tour was pushed back, because if it weren’t she would be pulling a double shift, bouncing from making her video to rehearsing for the tour. That would have been absolutely crazy, and she was thankful that SOMEONE was watching over her and gave her a bit more breathing room with her time frame.
“So THIS is what Jive looks like,” Holly said, tilting her head back to look up the outside of the impressive building.
“Wow. Gee Holl, looks like Arista doesn’t it? Now, shall we get inside and attempt to learn what Darrin and Wade have cooked up for us? Lord, this is going to be a BLAST. Especially since we’re learning this new dance and rehearsing all the other ones with the guys sitting watching,” Gina said in an exasperated voice.
“Why, is the infamous Gina Maria Corleone nervous about learning a dance in front of the men of *NSYNC?”
Gina rolled her eyes and stretched, a bored look playing across her stunning features. “So sad, Tony. After all the years I’ve known you, you still suck at trying to figure me out. Oh well, at least you’ve got your looks to fall back on.”
With that said, Gina smiled wide and walked toward the door of the building, leaving her dancers to make fun of an astonished yet laughing Tony. They soon followed suit and approached the building, talking about what they thought the two choreographers had planned for their bodies.
No sooner than the last of Gina’s crew entered the building did Justin and Chris park in the lot. They had talked about the tour in general on the drive over, and Chris yet again attempted to figure out what Justin’s problem with Gina really was.
“I just don’t like her. She gives me a weird vibe. Dude, I’d appreciate you just backing off of this, ‘let’s make Gina and Justin best friends’ kick. It wont help.”
“J-man, I don’t get it. She’s cool. You should give her a chance, you owe her that much.”
Justin sighed heavily and opened the door of his Beamer, getting out and grabbing his duffel bag. “I don’t owe her anything Chris.”
“You pegged her from the start, and that’s so not fair. Come on Jus, you’d be so upset of someone, a colleague, did that to you,” Chris interjected.
“True. Well, I might be able to try if she put forth the effort, too.”
Gina was waiting for the elevator to take her to the dance studio when she heard a shriek.
“Oh my goodness Gina what are you doing here?!”
Gina spun around and grabbed her sunglasses before they fell from their perch on her head. “Britney!”
“Wow girl! I didn’t expect to see you here of all places. Come gimme a hug!”
The two embraced in a friendly hug as Gina’s dancers mingled amongst themselves. Gina and Britney had finally talked on their cells to each other a few times, and Gina thought it was nice to make a connection to someone who was around her age and understanding what she was going through. They laughed and pulled apart so Gina could answer her question.
“Well, did you hear? I’m doing a joint tour with *NSYNC, some cross-label type thing. What about you?”
At that moment Chris and Justin entered the building, laughing about how Lance tripped and fell walking out of the airport in front of all the fans. Justin looked up and saw Gina and Britney in an animated conversation and the smile immediately dropped off his face. Chris noticed the situation and winced. Of course Justin had agreed to get along with Gina just minutes before seeing this. Chris knew that somehow Britney and Gina’s relationship affected Justin, but he had no idea why. He didn’t know why Justin had such animosity towards Gina, but he feared this situation would only make things worse.
“So you mean *NSYNC is lurking in the building somewhere? Cool. I haven't talked to them since…well, in awhile actually. Anyway, I’m planning my video for my next single. You know how TRL wants all that stuff ASAP,” Britney answered, her smile faltering.
Gina felt for her friend. It must be hard to lose a group of friends because of one person. “New single, I’m doing the same actually. Working choreography today, filming next week, all on top of rehearsals for this new tour.” She squeezed her arm and winked. “They are nutty. I get along with most of them, and I think the tour will be fun. They should be coming in really soon actually…”
The two turned to look at the door and spotted Justin and Chris. No one could mistake the look in Justin’s eyes, and Gina felt extremely out of place. She felt his gaze upon her, and saw how his eyes moved between Britney and herself. The contempt was evident, she knew the look in his eyes. She had seen it in her own not so long ago in fact. She hadn’t noticed it out of him before, but this made Justin Timberlake much more intricate than she gave him credit for. It didn’t really change her opinion of him; she made herself believe that.
Justin began walking towards them and Chris’ eyes widened. He made sure he was close to Justin as they stopped in front of Gina and Britney.
“Hello Britney,” Justin said calmly, his eyes cool and icy.
“Justin.”
He turned his stare towards Gina, not blinking. “Gina we need to rehearse.”
“Um, you’re talking to me? I know we do, that’s why I’m here.”
“Let’s get to it, you can gossip later.”
Gina was flabbergasted to say the least. No one had talked to her like that since she was fifteen years old. “Excuse me? Do you look like my father?”
Britney looked between to two and noticed the heated exchange. She quickly dismissed herself from them and mentioned she would call Gina later. Justin continued to stare down Gina, and she didn’t back down.
“OK downstairs. Look, here’s the elevator, come on guys,” Chris said, breaking the silence and grabbing both Gina and Justin’s arms and dragging them into the elevator, glancing at Gina’s dancers for some help. Gina rolled her eyes and allowed Chris to pull at her as she delved into her own thoughts briefly. What was Justin’s deal anyway? What caused that look in his eyes? It bothered her to no end, because she knew what caused that look. It dredged up painful memories that needed to be left in the past where they belonged.
The thing that ate at her the most was that now, she could relate to him. She didn’t want to have anything in common with Justin.
The elevator dinged, signaling their stop and causing Gina to break from her trance. Chris was jumpy, and as soon as the doors opened he pulled everyone towards the dance studio, his legs moving as fast as they possibly could. He yanked open the door, dropping Gina’s arm and that’s when she made her move. She shoved Chris into the studio after the dancers and placed her hand on Justin’s chest to prevent him from going in. Chris turned to protest and she raised her eyebrow in warning.
“Give me two minutes.”
She closed the door and looked back at Justin, who was still staring down at her hand firmly planted upon his chest. She recovered and pulled her hand off quickly, almost as if he had burned her. She moved it to her hip and her stance became one of annoyance and stalked with attitude.
“First of all, how DARE you order me around like I’m some dog that answers to your beck and call? Secondly, you have the NERVE to talk down upon me like some new artist that doesn’t know what’s going on, AND you embarrass me in front of a friend and colleague. You are out of LINE Timberlake.”
His eyes were challenging and slowly narrowed into tiny slits of blue. “I’m here to do a JOB and that’s to prepare for this tour. Socialize on your own damn time and stop wasting mine.”
“I don’t know what your drama is with Britney, but leave me out of your love war-“
“There is NOTHING between me and Britney,” Justin interrupted, that same look he had before once again appearing in his eyes. Oh, there was a LOT between him and Britney; he just didn’t want to admit it.
“Keep me out of it. I don’t care. I swear to God, if you ever talk to me and treat me like that again, you won’t know what hit you. Literally.”
Justin rolled his eyes and shot her a blank, uninterested stare before answering. “Now that I’ve been threatened, can we get to work sometime before the next millennium?”
Gina tried to keep her eyes from widening, but it didn’t work. He constantly amazed her with his ability to be such a jerk, but she had too much pride to let him have the last word. “We would have been working a long time ago if that snotty attitude of yours hadn’t gotten in my way.” With that, she turned her back on him and opened the door to the studio, walking in with determination etched on her face.
Justin knew he had gotten under her skin. Why she let him and why he rose to the occasion each time was beyond him, so he convinced himself it was due to his absolute dislike of the woman. She really infuriated him, and seeing her with Britney was only fuel to the fire.
Wade and Darrin wasted no time in teaching Gina and her dancers the choreography for the single being released next week. There were a lot of intricate steps and moves involved, and once they got the chorus and first verse down, they made it appear to be easy.
Gina had thrown herself into the music letting the dancing take over her soul, taking her to another place. This song was much more happy and bubbly than her current single, but today she felt like dancing angrily. Darrin and Wade noticed her obvious irritation, and decided to switch over to practicing for the tour. They left the new single for the next day, when Gina could be her usual happy self-so they hoped.
Only Chris and Gina’s dancers knew what had happened with Britney, Gina, and Justin, but the rest of the guys had an inkling as to what was going on. Justin was sitting smugly, his eyes following Gina’s angry movements.
“What did you do to make her so mad, and why do you look so happy about it?” Lance asked as Justin. Justin’s eyes remained on Gina as he answered.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. Why would it be MY fault she’s mad?”
Just then, Wade changed the song and Gina’s hard eyes were staring Justin down. The beat was vaguely familiar to the guys; they had heard it several times in the studio and on the radio. Gina was dancing hard with pure attitude conveyed in every movement, and actually began singing the chorus along with the CD, her eyes still burning into Justin’s.
“Get over yourself-goodbye. It must be hard to be you-yeah living in your life…”
JC’s eyes widened and he glanced at Justin, watching the smirk slip off his face as he realized the implications of what she was saying. “Dude, that’s how we know its your fault-you pissed her off yet again today. Are you ever gonna get over this fake hatred?”
Justin tore his eyes from Gina’s and glared at JC. “How come you always stick up for HER when you don’t even know the story? I don’t like her, and it’s not fake.”
Gina felt triumph when Justin looked away first, and she continued to glare while singing her song aloud, old feelings coming back to her as she remembered writing this song months ago.
Justin ended the short conversation with JC and looked once again towards Gina. In all honesty, he didn’t know how well her dancers danced because every time they rehearsed, his eyes were always fastened on her. She saw she had his gaze and smiled to herself as one of her favorite parts of the song came along.
“This just cant be it I kept telling myself
And every magazine said was me was on the shelf
I was giving out giving in giving way my dreams
While you put it in put me down now I found my self esteem…”
Justin was silent as she finished the song. Darrin stopped the music and called a break. He decided that Gina would not get much done the rest of the day and told her to get to the hotel and rest so she could come back tomorrow ready to go. He blamed it on jet lag but knew her a bit better than that. She nodded and marched over to her water, sweating heavily and happy to have danced away some of her anger. Justin was still watching her like a hawk and it unnerved her a bit.
“Thanks for the lovely show,” he said in a snappy tone.
“I just sing the truth,” she called back, drinking her water.
“Yeah, and I’m sure its not your words either.”
“Who are you to talk? You know what? You don’t know me, so don’t categorize me and assume things. It makes you look like an ass, not that you need any help in THAT department.”
“I bet you haven't had a hard day in your life.” Justin knew what he was saying was awful and most likely not true, but it was too late to take it back.
She froze and looked at him, her eyes blazing with fury. “Whatever, Charlie.”
“Charlie? Who the hell is Charlie?” Justin asked confused.
Gina’s eyes widened and her mouth went dry. How could she call Justin ‘Charlie’? It had to be the song and emotions. Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to regain her composure.
“No one.” With that she flew out of the studio and ran to the parking lot, trying to prevent the tears from falling.
Holly and Diane looked at each other and closed their eyes briefly. They felt the gaze of the *NSYNC members upon them but they didn’t want to respond yet. They didn’t have to know who Charlie was, and it wasn’t their place to say.
Justin stood in the same spot, still confused. Who was Charlie? Why did she think he was Charlie? Her absolute shock when she realized she called him that bothered him. He didn’t want to know about her personal life. She seemed like a strong woman who didn’t let anything get to her-so why did the name ‘Charlie’ make her run?
Gina got back to the hotel, changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed keeping all the lights off, even though it was only 3pm. After leaving Jive, she had fallen into her memories and wanted to crawl into a hole and never wake up. She thought she was past what had happened, and hated the fact that it was eating at her now. Her phone had been ringing but she just let her voicemail get it, unwilling to talk to anyone at the moment. She stared off into space, not wanting to think about the day that changed her. She shook her head and laid down on the bed, placing her headphones over her ears as Boyz II Men eased her mind and sent her into a deep sleep.
Friday, September 29th, 8am: Making of Gina’s new video.
Things had been pretty quiet the rest of the week after the incident. No one asked about Charlie, and Gina didn’t offer any explanation so they let it be. Gina and Justin weren’t even looking at each other, much less speaking. Gina was glad for a break between the two of them; since her video was being made in Miami she was nowhere near Orlando for two days. A change of scenery was just what she needed in her opinion, and a place minus Justin Timberlake was like heaven.
They had finished learning the choreography early in the week and had been practicing feverishly, wanting to nail the routine right off the bat so they could get back to tour rehearsals. At least, that was Mark’s plan. Gina liked Miami and wouldn’t mind a little vacation at the moment. That of course, was out of the question because work needed to be done and she didn’t get the luxury of weekends off like many other people.
Gina was able to call her cousin, Rachel, to come to the video set. She had grown up with Rachel, and they had both danced and sang at family parties and little shows in the town. They were inseparable; even when Gina’s career was taking off, Rachel was there with her. Gina considered her as a second sister and was excited to see her after a few years of having conflicting schedules.
Rachel was there bright and early, and looked like she fit right in. She had continued dancing, but was now teaching classes at a dance school in Miami. She was tiny and in shape, standing 5’6” with had a pair of stunning green eyes. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with several wisps framing her face, while her bangs danced across her forehead when she moved. She was obviously in shape and could easily keep up with any dancer around, even Gina.
Rachel couldn’t quite make it in the music business, though. Her dancing was indeed strong, but her vocals were weak and she did not want to settle for dancing back up the rest of her life, so she strayed away from the business. Gina had overshadowed her in every aspect, and when Gina asked her to dance with her, she couldn’t do it. She wanted to make a name for herself, and that’s what she did; she was well known in the Miami area.
The director showed up with the storyboards and explained how he envisioned the concept Gina had given him. Then it was off to hair and makeup for her and the dancers, then to wardrobe. It was more of a club type scene and her attire would be revealing, but still tasteful.
Gina was back to the set in low riding black fitted pants that laced up the front and flared from her knee with jewels studded down the sides, and a tiny hot pink tank that ended a few inches above her belly button and laced up on both side with jewels studded across the front in spirals near the neckline. Anyone could see that she was excited to film the video, and after having a rough week, this song put her in a better mood and that was exactly what she needed.
“Ok Gina, what we’re gonna do is a close-up of you doing the intro. I need you to be playful and sexy.”
Gina took a deep breath and smiled. This was going to be a blast. The music started up and the camera moved in on her face as the director instructed her to look left and right with her eyes before singing.
“All my girls at the party
Look at that body
Shakin’ that thing
Like I never did see
Gotta nice package, alright
Guess I’m gonna have to ride it tonight…”
The director seemed satisfied and they moved to the next set up, which was the dance sequence/first chorus. Darrin and Wade were both on the set, running through the steps one last time with her dancers before Gina had made it over. The setup looked like the inside of a club, and there were extras surrounding the area where Gina and her dancers would actually be dancing. They were supposed to turn and watch, cheering the five on as they danced. There were strobe lights, disco lights, and a bit of smoke from the smoke machine that completed the setting.
The music started once again as the five broke out into the feverish dance choreography, arms and legs moving perfectly in synch with each other. They had to run through it a few times, the director moved some of the extras around until he got the shot he really liked before they could move on. Gina hoped he figured it out soon, because packing everyone onto that little makeshift dance floor was creating a really warm environment and the make up artists were coming over at every break to touch up her make up.
This was the worst part of making videos. The constant starting and stopping just to move a person here or there. In the end it all looked great, and that was all that really mattered. They finally got past the dance sequence and it was time for a costume change. The next set up would be just Gina, the girls, and the guy that she was “interested” in. She would be sitting at a table in the bar/club with Holly and Diane, smiling and trying to look at him inconspicuously as she sang.
“I see you staring out the corner of my eye
You seem uneasy want to approach
Throw me a line
But then something inside you grabs you says who am I…”
Someone would hand a napkin over to her for her to sign, and she would do it while still singing to the guy who was a few tables away, briefly looking up at the person she signed the napkin for and smiling.
“I know exactly cuz it happens with all the guys…”
Gina would then completely look over at the guy, raising an eyebrow and motioning with one finger for him to come over and sit with her.
“So you do what you wanna do
Come on and talk to me
Promise you wont even have an attitude
I’ll let you sit right next to me
Don’t join the list of other fools
That ain’t the way to be
Yes, it’s cool
Yes, I’m in the mood
Intimidations got that mind…”
She then would sing the chorus, looking around the club and smiling. As she started the next verse, she would shake her head and leave the table, with Diane and Holly in tow, singing the chorus as they walked out of the club with the crowd parting for them, leaving the guy looking around the dance floor for her.
“Cant be afraid or keep me waiting too long
Before you know it
I’ll be outta here I’ll be gone…”
Gina snapped her fingers and the director cut the scene. He wrapped for the day because they had been working long hours and had only one more set change to do, which would be where they ended the video. It was already 3am and everyone was extremely tired. Gina hugged him and quickly went back to wardrobe to change into her street clothes. Rachel agreed to come back the next day, she didn’t have any classes to teach and since they didn’t have much time to talk today, they were banking on chatting tomorrow. Then her and her dancers piled into the limo and made the short trip back to the hotel, where they said their good nights and crashed for the night.
Saturday, September 30th, 10am.
Gina made it to the set and spotted Rachel, engaged in a conversation with Wade. She shook her head; her cousin hadn’t changed ONE bit.
“Rach! Leave poor Wade alone. He wouldn’t last five minutes with you.”
Rachel looked up and rolled her eyes, saying her good-bye’s to a stunned Wade and then walking over towards Gina.
“Hey, he sure is cute. Anyway, today is the last day right? Then back to Orlando?”
“Oh yeah, joy. What did you think of the dance sequence yesterday?” Gina knew Rachel would tell her the truth, she was just like that.
“Awesome. You guys looked good doing it, it fit the song, and I need to talk to Wade some more to sponge off of some of his ideas…”
“Easy on him, he’s like, 18 dude. OK, I have to run to makeup and wardrobe, so I will see you on the set OK?”
Rachel nodded and Gina proceeded to get all of her stuff together so she could get back to the set. They had one more “scene” to do and then they would be done. She had yet another costume on, this time it was more of a ‘street’ vibe instead of club clothes. She didn’t know how long it was going to take, but she hoped it would be relatively quick.
The last scene would be Gina, Holly, Diane, Tony, and Chad outside in a Times Square like set up, where they would dance in the street. The guy Gina was singing to would run out of the club to see her dancing, and at the end of the song he would walk up to her, put his arm around her and walk away. The playback began and Gina raised her hand to snap her fingers, to take her from the last scene into this one.
“Don’t try to be all clevercute, or even sly
Don’t have to work that hard
Just be yourself and let that be your guide
So you do what you gonna do
Come on and talk to me
Promise you wont even have an attitude
I’ll even let you sit right next to me
Don’t join the list with all the other fools
That ain’t the way to be, no
Yes, its cool
Yes, I’m in the mood
Intimidations no surprise..."
They danced the chorus choreography and the guy walked over to Gina and put his arm around her shoulder. They walked away from the camera and Gina looked over her shoulder, winking at it. The director yelled ‘cut’ and wrapped the video. It was fairly easy and Gina smiled in triumph. Another video under her belt. With a sigh, she hugged everyone and quickly went to wardrobe to change back into her regular clothes, along with her dancers.
Gina motioned for Rachel to follow her, and they caught up on each other’s current situations over a late lunch, courtesy of the set. Gina filled Rachel in on what was going on with her and *NSYNC, and Rachel told Gina about how a choreographer had come to one of her sessions at the dance school and asked to use some steps.
“Now that the vid is over, you’re back to O-town for some lovely rehearsals? When are y’all comin’ to Miami girl?”
Gina leaned back and thought for a moment, crinkling her eyebrows. “I don’t think we are playing Miami…Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale yes.”
Rachel shook her head and then glanced at her watch. “Figures…oh! I have to run, I have class to teach tonight. It was great seeing you, keep in touch ok?”
The two raised from their seats and hugged tightly. Gina smiled and pulled away first. “OK, not a problem. I hope you can come out and see a show, you know I’ll hook you up.”
“Oh yeah, I haven't seen NSYNC perform before and I bet they can MOVE.”
Gina’s eyes widened and she smacked Rachel. “Ok, thanks for the support. Get on outta here now, I have to head back to the airport anyway, we have a flight to catch.”
With that, the girls parted ways and Gina gathered her things. She managed to find her crew and they all scrambled into the cars to grab their things from the hotel and fly back to Orlando. Gina had a ton of fun on the shoot, and hoped that a certain boyband member wouldn’t bring her down from her happy mood when she saw him.
How come Justin Timberlake invaded her thoughts even when she didn’t see him? Did she not like him THAT much? He was the type of guy she wanted nothing to do with, but he was in her life and would be constantly, for at least a few months. Once again her mind drifted to the scene that occurred a few days back. She couldn’t believe she had called him Charlie. He didn’t look like him, he didn’t talk like him, and he sure didn’t act like him. He had, however, infuriated her like Charlie did and it surprised her. She had known Justin only a short time and he could make her blood boil more than her family did.
She banished the thoughts from her mind once again and boarded the plane that was to take them back to Orlando. Back to rehearsals and back to Justin Timberlake, whether she liked it or not.
