Chapter Ten What a production it ended up being, but the members of NSync, their two bodyguards, plus Mel and Dee were on their way to Summerfest on the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee by early afternoon.  Besides having to clear out of their hotel rooms and get everything packed on the bus and ready to go, they had to put on disguises as best they could, at the insistence of Lonnie and Todd. "Probably a good idea," Melanie commented, "this really is a pretty popular music festival and lots of kids are there all day long." Joey and Lance wore Milwaukee Brewer baseball caps.  Lance had mirrored sunglasses and Joey had regular sunglasses.  Chris wore a cowboy hat and sunglasses, JC wore an Indiana Jones-inspired hat and a fake mustache, and Justin wore a denim bucket hat and a pair of mirrored sunglasses.  Melanie and Dee put on sunglasses just to fit in! Todd went to buy tickets as the rest of the group tried to decide what to do first. "Food!!!!!!!" Joey pleaded. "You could do without a meal once," Chris told him. "I've already done without breakfast. You want me to fade away to nothing?" "Fat chance, Fat-one!" Chris shot back.  Dee put a hand on each of their chests.  "Break it up, you two.  We're going to head to the food stands first.  I've got just the thing for all of you to remember your trip to Wisconsin." "We're gonna milk a cow?" Chris asked. "No, silly. Bratwurst." "We're going to milk bratwurst?" "Are you always this frustrating, Chris?" Dee asked. "YES!" came a big chorus from Joey, Justin, JC and Lance. Todd reappeared with their tickets and they made their way through the turnstiles.  Being early afternoon, it wasn't crowded yet and the guys seemed to be relaxed about that.  And Lonnie had already told the guys not to go wandering away without either he or Todd in tow.  "Mel, why don't we get these guys fed," Dee said.  "The Usinger booth is right next to the Miller Oasis and they've got some great local groups this afternoon." When they got to the Miller Oasis, the group staked out a couple of picnic tables and Mel and Dee went to get the food.  Lonnie soon caught up to them.  "Girls, I've had orders not to let you two pay for anything today.  This is on the boys." It took Mel, Dee and Lonnie to carry everything back to the tables.  Lonnie was smiling broadly.  "I think you guys are going to appreciate bringing these girls along.  They seem to know exactly what you five like." "It sure smells good," Joey said eying up the trays of bratwurst, curly fries, shredded onion rings and sodas.  "What is that gross stuff on top of the brats?" Chris asked. "Sauerkraut, of course! You don't eat bratwurst in Wisconsin without it!" Mel told him. Chris made a face.  "Mind if I scrape that off?" "Hey Mr. Adventure-I'll-Try-Anything-Once, where's your courage?" Justin teased. "You do realize we'll all be on a bus together tonight for eight hours don't you?" Lance reminded them all. "Glad it's you and not me!" Dee chuckled. "Just let me at one of those before I die of starvation!" Joey said grabbing at one of the brats.  Dee slapped his hand.  "Where are your manners?"  She passed out the brats and put the sides in the middle of the table.  Then she picked up one of the brats and fed it to Joey.  "Now, how is that?" "Oh God, I think I died and went to heaven.  This is fantastic."  He took the rest from Dee and downed it.  Just then, the band at the Oasis came out to a smattering of applause from those sitting on the benches in front of the stage. "Oh these guys are good, "Melanie announced.  "They play Summerfest every year.  Cold Sweat and the Brew City Horns." "Guys and GAL, " Joey said eyeing up the female lead singer stepping to the microphone. "Hey everybody……put your hands together and lemme see you DANCE!"  she invited, as the band started up with "Soul Man."  Within moments, Joey and Justin had each hopped up on one of the picnic tables and were providing everyone with a show.  "That's the idea!  Everyone get up and dance!" Barb Olsen, one of the lead singers said pointing to Justin and Joey. Lonnie just shook his head and said to Dee, "And then they're gonna wonder why someone recognizes them." Dee just laughed as she watched Joey shake his booty and she liked what she was saw. "You're drooling," Melanie whispered in her ear and nudged her. "I am not!"  Dee replied nudging Mel back. "We're going to slow things down and give those guys back there a rest," the lead singer said before the next song.  "This is one of my favorites……I Can't Make You Love Me…." With the first few notes, Lance grabbed Mel's hand and drew her into his arms and began dancing. "In front of all these people?" Melanie gasped, looking embarrassed. "Pretend they're not here," Lance told her. Joey jumped off the table and put his arm around Dee and pulled her close.  "Can I make up for not dancing with you at the club the other night?" he breathed into her ear. "I think so…….," she sighed as she put her arms around him.  He was an incredible dancer, so easy to follow and just flow with the music. And he also sang, close to her ear, " Turn down the lights, turn down the bed. Turn down these voices inside my head.  Lay down with me, tell me no lies.  Just hold me close, don't patronize……"  She hoped Joey couldn't hear her heart pounding as loudly as she could.  When the song ended, Joey didn't let her go, but whispered "that was worth waiting for…thanks" and gave her a hug.  Dee noticed JC say something to Justin and smile when Joey released her.  "What?????" she asked. "Oh nothing…." JC replied. The rest of the afternoon, the group went from stage to stage to listen to the music offered.  They laughed, they told jokes, they kidded each other, and in general, just had a good time, enjoying each other's company. Melanie and Dee were both surprised that they felt so comfortable with this famous boy band, but that day they were just "normal guys" and Dee and Melanie had the best time. The group was pondering if they wanted to get something else to eat or check out the amusement rides at the other end of the Summerfest grounds, when they passed the Milwaukee Bucks demonstration area.  Basketball hoops were set up and two representatives with the Bucks were encouraging passersby to come in and try a little one-on-one competition.  "Dawg! Who wants to take me on?" Justin asked, chest puffed out like a strutting rooster. "Aw c'mon, man, who's going to play you, J?  Everyone knows you cheat!" Chris chided him. "I don't cheat! I'm just gooooood!" All the guys shook their heads and laughed. "Hey Melanie! Weren't you the star of the girls' basketball team at your high school?" Dee reminded her.  Melanie was hoping that Dee would've forgotten about that. She really wasn't into going one-on-one with a guy, let alone Justin Timberlake, and in public yet! "Uh…….yeah.  I played on the girls' team," she replied, humbly. "Then I think you should take on Mr. B-ball here!" Lance encouraged her with a hug. "Hey, I don't play against no girls!" Justin protested. "What? You chicken? You afraid she's going to beat you?" Joey said, punctuating it with chicken noises. "No, I'm not chicken! C'mon girlie, let's play! Best of five points," Justin said, taking Melanie and leading her onto the court.  "You can even start," he continued, handing her the ball. Melanie bounced the ball a few times, eyeing up the hoop, then suddenly she faked to the right, rotated to the left and drove straight up the middle and made a layup into the basket.  Justin just stood there, blinking, while his buddies whooped it up. "Way to go, Mel!" Dee called, laughing.  She could just about see the steam coming out of Justin's ears. "Okay, I went easy on her 'cause she's a girl.  Now, let's get down to business!" he said, taking the ball from Melanie. Justin went for the "power" and tried driving right straight up the middle, handily dodging Melanie, but when he went for the lay-up, she was right there and went up the same time he did and batted the ball away. "WHOO! WHOO! WHOO!" echoed across the court from the sidelines. Melanie took the ball again.  "I hate to do this to you, Timberlake….." Melanie said as she drove left, then right, then gave Justin an elbow in the solar plexus and went to the hoop and scored.  Justin doubled up mid-court.  "But I don't take kindly to comments about girls not being good enough to play basketball with you!" she finished.  "Hey! That was unfair!" he whined. "Finally getting a taste of your own medicine!" JC called out to him.  "By the way, the score is 2-zip!" Melanie took pity on Justin and didn't dog him as much on his turn and he was able to make a pretty nice layup shot.  You'd have thought Justin just single-handedly won the NBA championship game, the way he strutted back to the starting line.  He handed Melanie the ball.  "Good luck!" he said, smiling sweetly. Melanie took the ball, bounced it twice, drove to the right side, spun, jumped and let go of the ball in a high arc.  The ball swished right through the hoop for the three-pointer. "GAME IS OVER!" she turned and said, right in Justin's face, bouncing the ball to him and walking off the court and into a congratulatory hug from Lance.  All the guys crowded around and offered hugs, high fives and even a kiss here and there!  Justin loped off the court, mumbling to himself something about letting Melanie win.  The group made their way to the south end of Summerfest, to the amusement rides.  "Hey Chris! A ferris wheel……I'll give ya $100 if you ride it,"  Justin told him, grinning. "Chris is afraid of heights, he'll never go on a ferris wheel,"  Lance explained to Mel and Dee. "I'm not afraid of heights, I have a phobia about heights," Chris explained. "I'm not sure I get the distinction," Dee said. "Neither do the rest of us," JC said, laughing. "Hey Chris, "Dee said, taking hold of his arm and leading him toward the line for the ferris wheel, "I'm afraid of heights too, but I love the ferris wheel. How about if you and I go on it together?" "Oh no, nyuh-uh. I have my fill of heights every night we do a concert and we do 'Space Cowboy' I don't need any more thrills." Joey started making the chicken noises again. "Come on, there's no more line and we can get right on. Come on…….." Dee said leading him over.  Lance and Mel were right behind them. "We'll go too for moral support," Lance told him. "Oh yeah, if there's a way, you'll sabotage this thing and……." Before Chris knew it he and Dee were sitting in one of the baskets, the bar closing in front of him.  Dee took his hand and held it tightly. "Now, I'm going to talk you through this. Just don't look down and you'll be fine." "Just don't let go!" Chris pleaded. He really was scared. Dee could see the sweat beads on his forehead and he'd turned at least a few shades whiter.  As the ferris wheel lurched forward and started to move, the grip on Dee's hand became so tight she thought her fingers were going to break. "Now what should we talk about?"  Dee asked. "How about you and Joey?" "Me and Joey?  Short conversation, don't you think?" Dee replied, laughing. "I don't know.  He sure talked about you an awful lot the other day. Was all worried our band meeting was going to run too long, kept checking his watch, stuff Joey doesn't normally do. Heck, you're not at all like Joey's normal conquests, er, I mean girlfriends." "In case you're wondering.  Nothing happened between us when Lance and Joey stayed at my house last night." "Yeah, right. We're talking Joey Fatone here!" "And nothing happened," Dee said emphatically.  "Are you shocked?" "Shocked? Maybe shocked isn't the right word. How about incredulous, flabbergasted, amazed?  There might be hope for Joey yet.  Maybe he just needed to meet the right girl." "But it's all going to end in a couple hours……." Dee started. Just then, there was a big jolt and the ferris wheel stopped, with Chris and Dee perched at the very top.  Dee looked at Chris who was speechless, so far, and bug-eyed. "You guys alright up there?" Lance called from the basket below them. "NO! WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!!!!" Chris screamed.  Dee could hear JC, Justin and Joey laughing from down below. "You're not going to die, Chris," Dee told him, "just breathe deeply!" "You breathe deeply girlie, I need to get off this thing," he said, shifting his weight forward. "Stay where you are!" she told him, getting a bit nervous herself.  Just before Dee thought she was going to have to physically restrain Chris, the ferris wheel jolted back into motion. "GET ME OFF!" Chris screamed as they made one more revolution.  Dee could see JC and Justin talking to the ride operator, who slowed and stopped the ferris wheel. "Are you okay?" Dee asked as they came to a stop. "I am now!" Chris replied, stepping off and going down the ramp.  He then turned and hugged Dee. "Thanks for trying to cure me, but I’m incurable!" "Don't we  know that!" JC said, laughing. Joey had gone and gotten everyone a BBQ pork sandwich from Saz's, so they sat at a table and teased Chris while they ate.  And as was so typical of Milwaukee, once the sun started setting, a breeze came off Lake Michigan and the temperature dropped dramatically. "Is it always so cold in Milwaukee?" JC asked, getting up and jumping around to keep warm. Dee and Mel laughed.  "No, sometimes it's a balmy 20 below zero in winter." "Man, I don't know how you stand it," Lance said, wrapping his arms around Mel in an attempt to keep both of them warm. "This works," Mel said, turning her face towards his and smiling. "Aahhhh! Todd to the rescue!, "Justin said, motioning to the bodyguard who was carrying a stack of sweatshirts their way. "One for each of you," he offered, handing out the sweatshirts with the Summerfest smile and logo "Cooler by the lake" on them. "Where's yours and Lonnie's?" Mel asked, pulling her sweatshirt over her head. "They don't make them in extra-humongous," Chris chided, moving out of Lonnie's reach. "How about Comedy Sportz next?" Dee suggested, checking the schedule of events.  "The next show starts in 20 minutes." "What's Comedy Sportz?" Joey asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder. "They're an improvisational group.  They have teams playing against each other. You know, like "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" "I love that, let's go!" JC said, "Lead the way!" Lance threw his arm around Mel's shoulder as they walked.  Joey took Dee's hand and squeezed it and smiled at her.  His eyes almost looked sad though, and Dee wondered if he was thinking the same thing that she was.  It was nearly 9pm.  In another hour, NSync would be on the bus.  She tried not to think about it.  When they got to the Comedy Sportz tent, Lonnie suggested they sit on the risers at the back rather than the tables up front. "Less conspicuous," he explained. A guy sporting a football referee's uniform came out on the stage.  "Welcome everyone to Comedy Sportz.  We're going to start tonight with a warm-up and some help from the audience.  We'll ask for suggestions for subject, time and place and we'll take it from there.  But beware! We may even ask one of you to help us out onstage!" Another member of the troupe came out.  "Okay, do we have a suggestion for a subject or topic?" "Boy bands!" JC shouted out.  Lonnie covered his eyes with his massive hand and sighed.  Justin slapped JC on the back and Joey groaned. "Okay! Time? Place?" Someone from a front table hollered, "Saying farewell to the family before climbing Mt. Everest!" "Great! This should be interesting. Hey, Indiana Jones, we need you to come up here and join us!" "Uh oh," Joey muttered. "Makin' my job tough," Lonnie growled at JC, who was hanging back, pulling his hat further down on his head. "C'mon buddy! You suggested it, you get to do it!" JC slowly made his way to the stage and ambled up the stairs.  Dee watched Lonnie scanning the crowd to see if anyone recognized him. So far, so good. "And what is your name?" the referee asked. "Uh…..Josh." "Not to sure about that, huh Josh?" Everyone laughed. "Okay, you heard the scenario.  You're a member of a boy band and you're saying good-bye to your family before climbing Mt. Everest!………It's all yours." Joey was now giggling.  Lance could only shake his head.  Chris was about to holler something out, but Todd caught him and slapped a hand over his mouth. JC was thinking………when suddenly he started some familiar dance moves and sang,  "I'm doing this tonight, I'm probably gonna start my flight……..and it aint so high, baby, bye-bye-bye!" Everyone was in stitches…..particularly when JC's fake mustache came loose and was hanging down the side of his face.  "Uh, I think you're losing something there…….," the referee said  just as a table full of girls in the front obviously recognized JC and started pointing and giggling and one stood up and screamed, "JC from NSync!" "We're outta here guys, let's move!" Todd said, grabbing Justin and Chris, while Todd went up to the stage and said, "Thanks for the show, we've gotta go!" and took JC by the arm and hustled him out of the side of the tent.  Joey, Lance, Mel and Dee followed Todd as he was really hoofing them out and weaving them in and out amongst the vendors and other stages, trying to lose anybody that might think to follow. "Cool move, JC,"  Lonnie admonished, "but it was pretty damned funny!" "We might as well get back to the hotel and the bus now that we've been spotted," Todd said. Justin and Chris were joking and teasing JC all the way back to the cars, but Lance and  Mel and Joey and Dee were noticeably quiet.  The ride back to the hotel was pretty quiet, Joey sneaking a look at Dee every once in awhile and smiling.  Incredibly, Chris didn't have some smartass comment to make, even though he was aware of what was going on. Joey pulled in and parked Dee's Durango across the street from the hotel. The bus was on the street in front of the hotel entrance waiting.  He sighed, took Dee's hand and gave it a squeeze and then opened the door to get out.  Chris, Justin and Lonnie all gave Dee a hug and thanked her for spending the day with them.  "Hey, it was great meeting all you guys. Have a great rest of the tour!" she said, trying to maintain her composure. Joey took her hand, "C'mon and walk me to the bus." When they got to the bus, Joey turned her toward him and shoved his hands in the back pockets of her jeans and pulled her close.  Dee put her hands on Joey's arms and looked into his eyes.  For a moment he said nothing, but his eyes said everything.  Then, he whispered, "What next, Deeds?" Dee didn't know how to respond.  She ran a finger down the edge of his face, tracing his beard.  "I guess you get on the bus and continue your tour and remember Milwaukee as a great place on a Great Lake where you helped someone get back to living and enjoying life again." "I don't want this to be the end, "he almost whispered. Just then, the bus horn honked twice and Chris' distinctive voice came from inside, "Quit grabbin' her ass, kiss her goodbye and let's get on the road!" Joey and Dee both laughed.  Dee loved the way Joey's eyes crinkled when he smiled.  In an instant, his arms were around her and he was kissing her.  He tasted wonderful and he felt wonderful too.  Solid and comforting.  His kiss was soft, but not gentle. He kissed passionately, intensely.  Dee melted in response. Joey knew this was a defining moment. He didn't need a woman who fit the image of what the press or the fans or even the other guys in the band thought he should have.  He'd already been there.  More times than he could count.  This time he needed a woman who fit him.  Something about the way Dee settled into his body said she did, and it went beyond the physical.  He knew what physical attraction was, but there was more to Dee than just physical appeal.  She was classy and reserved, yet fun and open and she seemed to feel the spark between them as strongly as he did. The whooping and hollering from inside the bus broke both of their thoughts and their embrace. "I've gotta go……," Joey whispered in her ear.  He squeezed her hands and turned and climbed the stairs of the bus.  The doors closed and the bus started to move immediately.  Mel was standing next to her car on the other side of the street.  She waved to Dee as she slid into the driver's seat. She didn't want Dee to see her crying. Dee watched until the bus was out of sight, wiped the single tear that rolled down her cheek and walked to her car.  She sighed as she got inside.  As she pulled away from the curb, she turned the radio on.  Billy Joel was singing, "Who knows how much further we'll go on.  Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone.  I'll take my chances, I forgot how nice romance is.  I haven't been there for the longest time."  "Thanks Joey," she murmured. Just then, Dee's cell phone started singing.  Pulling it out of her purse, she checked the Caller I.D. and smiled. ************************ Epilogue Home