Chapter 2

Brianna had a blast with everyone at the restaurant that night; she was surprised at how different they acted from the Backstreet Boys. It wasn't that they were better, but more like the Nsync guys knew how to have fun without spending too much money. She didn't think she laughed that hard in her whole life. JC pulled Melinda aside before they left to say goodbye, they were going on a little vacation for a while but she couldn't go because of the work. Brianna had no idea how she could say goodbye to someone she loved so much so easily. Melinda said she was used to the goodbyes but she'll never get used to not having him there.


The week had been long and tedious. Brianna always hated the weeks before the tour actually started; all she did was paperwork and get things settled but being the production manager was three times as hard. She would have gone nuts if it wasn't for Melinda. She wandered in and out of her office at random times during the day to take a break from the work being thrown at them. The two were beginning to become really close friends.

It was a Friday and Brianna was working late again. The shrill ring of the phone interrupted her work.

"Bri? Girl, what are you still doing there this late?"

"It's not that late."

"It's almost nine."

She checked her clock. "So it is."

"I'm ordering you to come out with me right now."

"Mel! Ya know I can't! I have way to much work to do!"

"Awww…! Come on!"

"I really can't!"

Melinda sighed. "You work too hard…"

"I'm really sorry."

"It's alright. I'll call you tomorrow." Brianna hung up the phone and began to pack up her stuff. She planned to work through the night again. She started to organize everything in her head as she walked to her car.

"Brianna?"

She jumped. "Oh, hi Tim."

"Sorry I scared you. Were you still working?"

"Yeah…"

"Looks like I got a hard worker on my hands." He smiled and got in his car. "See you Monday."

"See ya."


Monday morning came around fast. In some sense Brianna was relieved to finally start the set but was also nervous. What they had planned out was way more elaborate than anything she's ever done before and now she had more responsibilities. Every time Melinda called that weekend, Brianna had too much work to do anything. Sunday afternoon she finally gave in to her pleading and went out to lunch. She figured Melinda would be a little pissed at her but she immediately dismissed it when she met her at the stadium.

"Hey Bri! How are you doing?"

"Not so great. Have you seen Tim?"

"Yeah. He just- oh there he is!" Brianna turned to where Melinda pointed.

"Thanks. Catch ya later."

"Alright. I'll introduce you to the other guys if they ever decide to get here."

Brianna laughed and headed over to Tim.

"I have all that work done." She pulled out a mound of paperwork out of her bag and handed it to him. Tim's eyes widened.

"Oh! And this." She put a floppy disc on top of the papers.

"I have all the stadium fees along with out income for each concert. I've sent out all the paperwork to the stadiums and all the openers are set and know when to come, what songs their doing, the time they have, etc. The floppy has the updated stage designs and the measurements and equipment. If you need anything else, I'm gonna be floating around the stage for a while making sure everything's runnin' smoothly."

She took a deep breath. "Ok?"

"Yeah…" She began to walk away. "Hey Brianna?"

"Hmmm…?"

"I gave you all this work to be finished by next Monday."

"I know. I have everything done now though. That's ok right?"

"Yeah, it's great. Thanks."

"No prob." She smiled to herself and walked off to the stage, eyeing everything carefully. The crew had been working since yesterday so it was almost finished. After talking with some of the crew members on the lighting, she walked to the front. A few people were goofing around on the stage. She recognized the back of JC and Chris's heads but she didn't know who the middle one was.

"Hey!" she called. "Who's on my stage?!" The three turned around. JC laughed and an evil smile spread across Chris's lips. He ran to the edge of the stage where she was standing. "Watcha gonna do about it?"

JC hopped down off the stage. "What's up Bri?"

"Hold on one second JC." She turned back to Chris. "Hey Chris!"

"Yeah?"

She moved closer to him. "Does that extra four feet of stage make you feel big and strong? Do you feel powerful cuz you're finally taller than me?"

"No! And I AM taller than you!"

"Wanna come down here and prove it?"

"I'm not stupid Bri."

"Coulda fooled me."

"Oh ha ha."

"Ok, for real, get off the stage now. It's not safe."

He smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Watcha gonna do about it?"

It was her turn to smile. "Well, not meaning to take my new power too far, but do you enjoy the color purple?"

He gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You do know I am in control of your wardrobe onstage right?"

"Yeah but we all match, you can't give me a bad outfit."

"Oh but I can."

"Tim won't let ya… We all match…" He started to get a little antsy.

"How bout a color like flamingo pink?" She acted like she was in deep thought. "Or maybe Big Bird yellow? Purple plaid would be pretty popular with the ladies." She smiled when he hopped off the stage. He walked over and looked her up and down.

"I would be taller if you didn't have heels on." Everyone laughed.

"Ya know I'm jus messin' with ya. I'm sure you were taller than me at one point in my life… Maybe when I was 3 and you were like 10?"

Chris smiled. "I like your style. I've decided to keep you."

She blew a bubble with her gum and cracked it loudly. "I can't blame ya." He rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of the stage next to JC. Brianna walked up the steps and sat down next to them, Melinda soon following.

"So how was your vacay guys?"

"Fun. Lots of fun," JC answered.

"Lots of girls too," Chris said.

Melinda raised her eyebrows. "Girls?"

JC quickly tried to cover up Chris. "For him, not me. I swear. I didn't look at one hot girl the whole time. I swear. Every time I saw a girl I was like no, I got Melinda," he rambled. "Yeah… right…" Chris mumbled. Melinda rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, how did you girls spend the week?" JC asked.

"Working," they answered together.

"That bad?"

"Worse." JC laughed.

Melinda looked around. "Hey! Where did everyone go? I was going to introduce Bri to them."

Chris shrugged. "They're probably all scared of her," he grumbled.

"And they should be," she shot back. She jumped off the stage.

"Catch ya'll later."


Justin slowly wandered away from the group. The girl had interested him a little but he didn't feel like talking much. He had been in a little slump for a while. He hoped he would cheer up when the tour started.

"Justin! Justin, wait up!" He silently groaned when he heard the squeaky voice. He turned around with a fake smile on his face.

"Hey Delila!" She ran and jumped into his arms.

"Hey Justin! I missed you! We were just talking about you."

"Oh really?"

"You have to come talk with us!"

"Um…" He looked around. "Ok, but just for a little bit." She squealed with delight and led him over to the other girls. They all greeted him happily then formed a circle around him. He lounged back on the speaker with his hands behind his head. He blankly listened to the girls ramble on about how awesome he was and how cool it was to be back on the tour. He kept trying to leave but they would whine and pull him back into their circle.

"So Justin, anyone new on tour? We didn't get to go to that meeting again."

"I was on vacation."

"Oh. Well did you meet anyone knew yet?" Delila tried again.

"Yeah! We really wanna watch you guys do that thing with them. You know, with the spray paint!" Another ditzy blonde said.

Justin nodded boredly. "I saw a few." He scanned the stadium for help but saw none. His eyes suddenly landed on the new girl who was messing with Chris. She was leaning against the stage only a few feet away with her arms crossed over her chest. His eyes concentrated on that particular area for a while before he looked up to her face. She really was sort of pretty. She had a very amused expression on her face as she watched the situation. She winked at him and walked away. Justin let a small smile creep on his lips as he turned back to the girls. They were still babbling on about new people and spray paint.

"Hey, ummm… Your Justin right?"

Justin heaved a sigh of relief and turned around. His lips twisted up when he saw her. "I'm Brianna Dawson. Nice to meet ya." She held out her hand and he shook it. "It's a pleasure Brianna."

She noticed the evil looks the girls around them were shooting in her direction. She looked at her clipboard so they couldn't see her smiling.

"Right. I was lookin' for ya. I need you to-"

"And who are you?" Delila sneered.

Brianna smiled and crossed her arms over the clipboard she had pressed to her chest. She nodded in her direction a little. "Who do ya think?"

Delila rolled her eyes. "See, she's like trying to act all cool like she's like really important or something."

Her friend nodded. "Yeah, she's like probably one of our assistants or something." "Like, ya think?" Brianna asked. The girls rolled their eyes and Justin's smile grew wider. "Then who the hell are you?"

"The production manager." The girls gave her blank looks. She smiled and leaned in real close to Delila, licking her lips slowly. Justin followed her tongue as it made its journey over her soft, full lips. "It basically means," she said slowly and deliberately, "that next to Johnny and Tim, I am in charge so I suggest you stay… out… of… my… way." She smiled and brightly added, "Thanks!" She began to walk away but turned around. "Justin? You comin'?" He turned to catch up with her but Delila grabbed his shoulder. "Get her first." He laughed, shaking his head back and forth and tried to catch up with Brianna's quick strides.

She stopped after a while to sit down and let Justin catch up. She crossed her legs and opened her water bottle she had left on the stage as Justin came by. He looked at her then back at the girls with his disbelief as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Finally he laughed softly and flopped down with an astonished look on his face.

"You… They…" He laughed. "That was fun."

She put her water down and somewhat nervously pulled her black miniskirt down some. He watched her hands on her thighs. She clapped her hands together to force his eyes to move from her legs.

"I don't want you to get the wrong impression about me," she started, "I normally don't take my authority like that. It just… fit." She blushed. Justin leaned forward and looked her over again. She wasn't too tall, just a few inches shorter than him. She had a black mini skirt on with a thin, small, sparkly belt and a black jacket. Her purple blouse matched her eyes. Her eyes?!

"Oh my God, you have purple eyes…"

Brianna laughed and Justin blushed. "Sorry…"

"No, it's ok! Really. They're contacts."

"Wow. They look really… well, real. I mean, well, you know, you look good… I mean, they look good on you! I…yeah…" He laughed uneasily.

"Thanks." She giggled.

He shook his head with embarrassment. "Ummm… so anyway," he laughed, "What did you need me for?"

"Huh? Oh right! I just thought you could really use an excuse to escape those annoying girls."

"Oh yeah!" He couldn't help but smile. She changed her attitudes so quickly. She was just confident and bitchy, then she was shy and vulnerable, and now she was acting feisty. Very interesting mix…

"So Justin, I hear ya love basketball."

"Defiantly! What about you?"

"My family was always huge on sports. I played it all through high school."

"Did you play anything else?"

"Tennis through high school and one year of college, volleyball until my junior year in high school, and softly ball since I was like five but I didn't play in actual leagues after 8th grade."

"Wow. You were pretty busy in high school."

"You have no idea. What about you?"

"I love playing basketball. I played it as long as I could but then I got into this. I still play, but just pick up games and stuff like that."

"Are you from Florida?"

"Originally, no. I was from Memphis. We moved when I got in the Mickey Mouse Club."

"The Mickey Mouse Club?! Oh my God! I watched that when I was 11 or somethin'!"

He laughed. "It was a lot of fun. Where are you from?"

"Chicago."

"Oh no way! That's where my favorite team plays!"

"Yeah, Melinda told me you were really into Michael Jordon when he played. She said you'd get a kick out of it."

"She did, huh?"

She blushed. "Yeah… I used to go to games with my dad all the time. I actually met him once."

"That's so kick ass. He's a great guy."

She laughed. "There I was, like 14 years old and I was so excited to get him to sign my jersey and now I'm sitting next to who could be the most wanted guy in the world. Man I am lucky."

He laughed. He looked at her and she looked back at the same time. They both blushed a looked down. It would have gotten really awkward but Melinda and JC soon came over to them. Melinda was dragging some poor guy behind her.

"Let's go!" she barked at him. He sighed loudly and jogged up to them. Melinda was breathing heavily and looked a little flustered. "Brianna Dawson, Lance Bass." She stood up and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said sweetly.

"And you," she replied. They all sat back down.

"So what have you two been talking about?" she asked, raising her eyebrows up and down.

Brianna glared at her and gave her a warning look. "Basketball."

"I'm sure that's not ALL you were talking about," she continued.

Justin gave her a look. "And why would that be all holy match maker Melinda?"

She opened her mouth to say something but JC covered her mouth.

"Melinda… Calm down before you say something you'll regret."

She pouted. "I don't have regrets."

Brianna smiled at the couple and checked her watch. "Oh my… I'm so sorry guys but I gotta get back to work! I don't get paid for sittin' around chattin' all day long!" She smiled and stood up. "Nice meetin' ya Lance and Justin." She ran off. Justin watched her until he couldn't see her anymore.

"She got a nice ass…" JC muttered. Melinda smacked him in the shoulder.

"Owww…! What was that for?"

Justin laughed and rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna go get some food. Catch you guys later."

They all mumbled goodbyes and he ran off to the lounge.

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