They arrived home in the early hours of the morning and continued to talk before John had to leave again for the airport. Just being around her Dad made Ashlee instantly relax and forget about her troubles with her Mother and her relentless nightmares. Although John would only be gone a short time they bid each other a tearful farewell. He was her strength, around him she felt safe and loved.
Tim rode with him to the airport, giving John an opportunity to leave instructions and to grill Tim about Lance.
"So how was her trip? She tells me it was good, but she looks tired and I know what her Mother can be like."
Tim grimaced in distaste. "Yeah Maddy was her normal cheery self. She argued with Ash the entire time over Ash living in Orlando and not in Australia with her."
Tim's disgust for his ex-wife was obvious. "I'm surprised Maddy isn't more supportive of Ash. She knows what she has been through, yet she still persists in giving her more to worry about."
John agreed with Tim to a degree. "I don't approve of Maddy's tactics but she is only trying to protect her daughter and she feels that Ash would be safer with her. But of course being Maddy, her feelings come out all wrong, and she ends up arguing with Ash about it all the time."
"I just really worry about her all the time Tim. She’s only 22 but she has been through so much. She shouldn't have to put up with her Mother aggravating the situation. She doesn't even act like a 22 year old anymore. Instead she works and lives like a person my age."
John sighed loudly. "I never thought I would be the one to say it, but I wish she could loosen up, have some fun, and find someone to love."
Tim smiled at this last comment, and John caught it. "What was that smile about?"
"Well my friend Lonnie, the guy that guards Lance, said that he likes Ashlee a lot," Tim chuckled aloud. "And I know I saw something on her part too. She likes him, but I don't think she’ll admit to it."
"No, I don't think she will either Tim. She won't rush into any emotion when it comes to her heart. But it is a good sign that she's going to the concert tonight. Are you sure everything is ok on that side Tim?" John asked finally giving into his fears.
"Yeah John, I trust Lonnie implicitly and you know that I would give my life for Ash. She will be safe 24/7 while you're gone."
"I know you would do anything for my daughter Tim, so right now my main concern is what this Lance character is like? Is he going to hurt my baby?"
"Lonnie told me everything I need to know about him. His name is James Lance Bass. He's in N'sync as you know, which means he has his own money and plenty of it. Lonnie said he is very business orientated and runs his own managing company named 'Freelance Entertainment'. He also recently started a movie production company named 'A Happy Place', which I'm told by another source are both doing very well. So if his singing career ends he will be able to support himself very well with just the earnings he has made from singing, let alone his companies."
Tim paused in thought. "It’s remarkable that he has done so well at 22. But most importantly Lonnie said that he is the nicest man he has ever guarded. He has a close loving family living in Mississippi where he grew up, he tries to get to Church every Sunday, and overall he is just a regular nice guy who Lonnie loves like a brother."
John looked at Tim in relief. "Well that's nice to know. Even if they just become friends it sounds like he could be good for Ashlee."
"Yeah, she certainly needs to start living again and from what Lonnie said it sounds like Lance could do with someone like Ash in his life as well."
Tim saw John safely off with his own protection and drove back to the house. What he found when he opened Ashlee's door brought tears of laughter to his eyes. Ashlee had clothes thrown over every piece of furniture in her bedroom, while she stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips surveying her reflection in the mirror.
She turned with a worrying frown on her face when she heard Tim's laughter. "Do you think this outfit is ok to wear tonight?"
Ashlee was wearing a fitted black 3/4-length skirt, which accentuated her slim 5'6 height, drawing attention to her newly tanned slender legs. She coupled with the skirt a soft, light pink wrap around shirt that emphasised her small waist, and the fitting gave her a gentle feminine look.
"You look gorgeous sweetheart," Tim replied with a smile, "It's perfect and you are going to knock him dead."
"I'm not trying to knock anyone dead Tim. I just want to look nice because I haven't been out for a while," Ashlee replied tartly to Tim's sly suggestion.
"Ok, whatever you tell yourself is fine with me Ashlee, but you do look beautiful."
"Thanks Tim," Ashlee felt a blush creep up her face, "I thought I might of forgotten how to glam myself up."
She looked around and surveyed the mess she called her room. "My God, now I have to clean this room up, and then I'm going to get some more sleep."
"Ok, what time do you want me to wake you up Ash?"
"Umm give me an hour to get ready, so say 4.30pm."
"Ok, now try and get some sleep," Tim said with concern.
"So who's the girl we're meeting for dinner Lance?" Joey slyly asked his friend and band member.
Lance closed his eyes in frustration. "I told you Joe. I met her on the plane, we talked, she's a fan, I liked her and she looked like she could do with a night out."
"Yeah but who is she?" Chris asked deliberately trying to further frustrate his friend.
Lance groaned out loud and looked around at his four closest friends and band members, Joey, Chris, JC, and Justin. "You guys aren't going to give up are you?"
They all smiled at him and slowly shook their heads 'No'.
"Fine, her name is Ashlee Regent, her Dad is 'rich' by her definition, and she is sweet, so I thought she might like to come tonight."
"Hang on that name sounds familiar,” JC paused scanning his head for the relevant information and clicked his fingers with recognition “Her Dad isn’t just 'rich' Lance, he's like the 3rd or 4th richest man in America, he has his hands in everything. I think he may even have some clout with Jive."
"Hey,” Justin said uncharacteristically loud, surprising the group. "Doesn't that mean that she's loaded too?"
Lance glared at his friend. "Jeez Justin, that's real mature. I didn't ask her out for her money, and anyway lets not start talking about money or shall we all compare bank balances."
Justin chuckled at this fact. "Yeah I keep forgetting that we are loaded too."
"Yeah well my point was that I didn't ask her out for her money."
JC looked at his friend's agitated state. "Yeah we know you didn't Lance, that wasn't what J was getting at."
"Well what was his point?"
"He was pointing out in his weird way, that you wanted to meet someone you knew wasn't with you for your money or fame."
"Yeah so what are you saying C?"
"Nothing Lance, just pointing out that the girl's got her own money, so that's one step in the right direction."
Lance groaned. "Come off it Jace. I only asked her to come to the concert, not to date me."
JC just laughed at his friends comment but he could tell that what he said was being processed by Lance. Lance hadn't stopped smiling ever since he had told them about the mysterious Ashlee from the plane. The fact that Lance had invited her to the concert and to dinner with them meant that Lance really liked this girl. Which was a good thing in JC's books because Lance hadn't dated seriously since he broke up with Amber, and they were beginning to worry about him.
Joey interrupted both Lance's and JC's thoughts when he said in typical Joey fashion. "Well all I want to know is, is she hot?"
Lance had to laugh at this comment and a soft smile formed on his lips when he replied. "She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen Joe, but no scaring her off ok? I just met her."
All four guys looked at Lance in surprise, then at each other with smiles. It seemed that their friend was falling for this girl and they were all happy for him. Joey, Chris and Justin were giving each other sly smiles and JC knew they were up to something. He didn't want them damaging this relationship before it started so he dragged them outside.
"You guys aren't thinking about doing anything mean to Lance while Ashlee is here are you?" JC said while giving them a stern look.
Joey, Chris and Justin gave JC an innocent look. "Why would you think that Jace? We wouldn't do something like that to Lance," Justin said while pouting.
"Guys come on give him a break, he hasn't dated since Amber and that was nearly 2 years ago. I think he really likes this girl, so leave him be."
The three pranksters nodded their heads in understanding. "Yeah ok, we won't do anything to him, we’ll be missing a good opportunity but I know what you mean about Lance. I guess Amber did more damage than we thought," Chris said while shaking his head.
"God I hate that girl," Joey said in disgust.
"Yeah I know Joe. None of us liked her, so I hope that this Ashlee girl is cool because I don't want to see Lance get hurt again. Every time he does, he closes his heart off just a little bit more and soon he won't be able to feel anything," Justin said with grim insight.
JC sighed at this observation. "Yeah I know J, we just have to support him if it doesn't work. But we haven't even met this girl yet so let’s keep an open mind, ok?"
They shook hands in agreement then knocked on Lance's door. "Time to go and meet a beautiful girl for dinner Lance! Come on don't want to leave her waiting," Joey yelled out cheekily. They all burst out laughing when Lance practically raced out of the room and down towards the catering tent.