| Joey Fatone sat silently in his hotel room. He honestly couldn't even recall what city they had pulled into, only that they were scheduled to be here for three nights. A quick glance at the clock reminded him that he should be in bed, asleep. A 7am wake up call had been arrainged for him, and he had direct orders to stay in his room, and rest up. Rest was the last thing on Joey's mind. Frustrated, he threw back the hotel drapes and peered out into the city. It looked so beautiful all lit up. He wanted to know what was out there, how the hell was he supposed to find love when he was locked up all the time. Chris had a girlfriend, and Lance had his management company. JC was always working on new lyrics and songs, and Justin, well, Justin was content with video games and a cell phone. But Joey, he needed more. Empty hotel rooms, and big lonely beds were just not condusive to his life anymore. "Shit!" he complained, drawing the drapes closed. He sat perched on the edge of the bed, staring at the God awful comforter and wondered how many people had actually had sex on it. Frowning, he wondered if it had been washed lately. He stood up quickly and tore it off the bed, discarding it on the floor with disgust. "That comforter's had more action then me," he grumbled. "Gotta get out of here!" Picking up the phone, he dialed Justin's room. "Tour hell, you may enter." Lance's voice was on the other end. Joey was mad. Weren't they under direct orders to stay in their own rooms and sleep? How did Lance get out and into Justin's room. "Dude, what's going on?" Joey asked, trying to hide his annoyance. "Are they letting us out?" "That's negative, Joe. Justin and I have adjoining rooms for some reason. I was bored so I snuck over here to annoy our little golden boy!" Joey could hear Justin cursing Lance in the background. "Look, I'm bored out of my damn mind. I need to get out. Any ideas?" Joey pulled on his sneakers with one hand, while balancing the phone with his other. "Sorry, man. Security is right outside. Unless you feel like climbing down the balcony, I'd say your ass is stuck for the night." Lance laughed at something. "So, any ideas?" "Lance, you gave me the best one!" Joey commented slyly. "Thanks, later." He hung up the phone and looked out the window to the small balcony. Grabbing his jacket, he climbed outside and peered down. It was only 4 stories, but it seemed like 100. Feeling dizzy, he backed inside, trying to regain his senses. "Dammit!" he muttered. He noticed there were balconies directly below his and tried to decide how tough it would be to descend upon them, one by one. Rubbing his face, he took a deep breath, and proceeded outside once more. Carefully stepping on the ledge, he lowered himself over. His feet barely touched the ledge below, and he hung by his fingertips. "Great Joe! Now you're stuck." he whispered to himself, feeling his heart pound inside his chest. Everything flashed in front of him, his childhood, career highlights with N Sync, his family, the headlines for the next morning. "N Sync's Joey Fatone falls to his death after being told he can't leave his hotel room" That last thought made Joey laugh out loud. "Hey! Hey! You okay?" Joey heard a female voice calling out to him from below. He felt hands around his ankles. "I'm stuck. Can you help me?" he yelled down, trying to keep his composure. The grip on his ankles tightened, and he felt the hands crawl up his legs. "I got ya," she said. "Don't let go!" "Great!" he mumbled. "Yeah, like I want to let go. Can you get me down at all? Hurry please!" Suddenly he felt something beneath his feet, and it took the pressure off his aching hands. "Now, don't let go yet!" the voice commanded. Joey hung on, desperately wishing he hadn't chosen to do something so damn stupid. His hands were sweaty and his chest was tight with nervousness. He looked up, afraid to divert his eyes anywhere else. A pair of hands grabbed him around the waist. "Okay, let go now." He did so, and felt a strong pull. Helplessly, he tumbled to the balcony, a soft body breaking his fall. "Ugh! Get off me!" the voice said. An angel's voice Joey thought. He rolled over onto his back and tried to control his breathing, which was coming in short, sporadic spurts. "Oh my...holy...how can I thank you?" he asked, clutching his heart, and slowly opening his eyes. He focused on the face lying beside him, and felt his heart get caught in his throat. She looked like an angel to him. Dressed all in white, with a virginal face, flowing blonde hair and pale blue eyes. His savior, his angel. The figure stood up, assessing the damage to her white outfit. "You can start by paying to replace this!" she cried, glaring at him. "Of all the dumb ass, stupid, insane things to do." Joey stared up at her, not expecting such a pretty sight to be screaming quite so loud. He scrambled to his feet. "I'm so sorry," he stammered, not knowing what else to say. "Of course I'll pay for it. I...." "Just leave!" she said, turning her back on him. He stepped inside her hotel suite and noticed various outfits hanging around the place, leather, lace, whips, handcuffs, oils. He didn't mean to stare, he was just, well, shocked. First impressions and all. She noticed him staring at her things and felt her cheeks grow hot. "Get the fuck out I said." She pushed him to the door impatiently. Joey felt guilt creep up on him. He shouldn't have been so obvious about looking around, but he wondered what she used all this stuff for. "Again, I'm so sorry," he smiled, trying to make peace. This was the first girl he'd seen in a long time that truly got his juices flowing. His curiosity was piqued, and he didn't want to scare her off, well anymore than he already had. "I'm Joey, I'm staying one floor up," he offered, standing in the doorway. She made a face. "Well, Joey, don't come shimmying down my balcony again or I'll call the cops!" With that, she slammed the door shut, leaving an open mouthed pop star standing in shock. "Call the cops?" he said, raising his eyebrows. Could it be that this girl didn't know who he was. It amused him greatly, and if he hadn't just been within inches of his life, he would have knocked again, insisting he buy her a drink, or something. Instead, he strolled to the elevators, and tried to decide if he should just thank fate for letting him live to see another day, or try to press his luck. Choosing his first option, he ascended up to his floor, and went to his room, ignoring the angry comments from his bodyguards, who were completely taken back that he had been out. He entered his room, and climbed out to the balcony, staring down at the one below, and wondering just what that angel was really all about. It was hours before he crept back inside and laid down, finally letting sleep overtake his body. He dreamed of whips, and leather, and a certain blonde hair, blue eyed woman ravaging his body. Needless to say, Joey was not happy when morning came and he was still alone. His wake up call annoyed him, and he got out of bed, tired, and grumpy. JC was pounding on his door and his cell phone was ringing. He flung open the door, letting a way too cheery JC inside, and ignored the ringing phone. He got in the shower and tried to clear his mind. Over the years, he'd met many women, some better than others, but this girl, she really got under his skin. Maybe it was all the lonely nights, or the fact he hadn't had sex in months. Whatever it was, he had exactly three days to wow her with some Fatone charm, or he'd never know exactly what she did with those props. JC was yelling something into the bathroom, which Joey ignored, still deep in thought. When he came out of the steam filled room, Lance was there as well. "Did you hear? There was someone climbing balconies last night!" Joey feigned surprise, tossing off his towel, and pulling on some jeans. "You don't say!" He bit back a laugh, knowing while he could tell Lance what happened, JC would rip him a new asshole, and tell everyone. Then he'd be under lock and key for sure. He strolled out into the hall and looked around. "Where's the guards?" he snorted. "Don't tell me our curfew is over." Lance nodded, picking up one of Joey's comics from the table and flipping through it. "Yeah, we're free." Joey made a face. "We're never free, don't you get that?" He tried to contain his frustration. After all, it wasn't Lance's fault. He noticed the offended look on his friend and tried to smile. "Sorry, man, you didn't deserve that. So what's on the schedule for today?" He ushered his two group mates out of his room, anxious to scour the hotel for his angel, and locked the door. Lance rolled his head back, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to work out a kink. He glanced over at JC. "Uh, radio show right?" JC nodded, stifiling a yawn. "Anyone get Justin and Chris up?" he asked. Not getting a response, he pounded on their doors. "Up guys! Now!" He looked at Joey and Lance. "Why don't you two go down and wait for us. This could get ugly." Lance laughed, and followed Joey to the elevators. "So, you think it was a fan?" he asked. "Climbing the balcony I mean." Joey opened his mouth, eager to share his memory with his friend, when the elevator stopped the doors opened. Joey froze as he came face to face with the angel from the night before. "You!" she said, surprised. "Glad to see you're still alive." The sarcasm dripped from her voice, and she stepped into the small car. Joey noticed she was dressed more conservatively this morning, jeans and a tee shirt, but she still exuded beauty "Morning to you too," he said, not liking the fact she was still being rude to him. He could feel Lance staring at him, wondering what the hell was going on, but he knew there would be time to tell him later. Right now, he only had seconds to impress her, get another chance to see her. He pulled himself into Joey mode and tilted his head, gazing at her. She turned to look. "What?" she demanded, taking him in, before glancing at his friend, who, she noticed with annoyance, was also staring. "Hello? Do I have something in my teeth? What?" Lance blushed, and looked away quickly, but Joey refused to break his stare. "Will you be around later?" he asked smoothly. Lance rolled his eyes, very used to seeing such a line from Joey. "I have a radio show to do now, and sound check later," he bragged. "Jesus, Joey!" Lance muttered, hating when he got like that. Ignoring Lance, Joey continued. It never failed, anytime he mentioned that he was a famous singer, women fell at his feet. "So, wanna hang out, maybe go for a swim or something." The doors opened, depositing them at lobby level. The woman looked at Joey smugly. "No thanks. I'm meeting someone." She stepped out into the lobby, and a well dressed gentleman envolped her in a hug. She didn't even look back, just walked away with her, date? boyfriend? Joey stood there stunned. There was just no way Lance could contain his laughter. He broke out into a fit, and clutched at his stomach. "That was priceless!" he gasped, savoring the look on his friend's face. Joey glared at him, and stormed off the elevator, heading for the buffet. That never happened to him, and he was upset. Lance laughing like a hyenia didn't help either. Usually, Lance was more compassionate. Joey stayed relatively quiet for the rest of the day, occassionally glaring a warning look at Lance whenever he retold the elevator story. He made it through the radio show, the soundcheck, and now the meet n greet. As he entered the room, his eyes bulged. She was there. He didn't know how, or why, but there she was. Confidence surged through him. She had been playing with his mind. He began to approach her when he spotted the man from earlier drape his arm around her. Joey stepped back. His heart was pounding, and his palm grew sweaty. Whatever hold she had on him was stronger than he imagined. He slid behind the meet and greet table next to Chris and brooded. Chris nudged him. "Shot down buddy?" He had followed Joey's gaze to see the woman he was looking at. Joey shook his head and forced a smiled, taking a CD from a fan and signing it. He stole occassional glances at his angel, and noticed with disgust she hadn't even looked at him, not once. It pissed him off. Later that night, in the hotel, Joey snuck down to her floor. He watched secretly from the end of the hall, curious to see several men come and go from her room. He'd been there almost an hour and seen three already. Finally, he spotted her. She was at the door, dressed in, Joey gulped, a leather teddy. She stood on tiptoes and kissed the guy's cheek. Joey gasped when he saw the man hand her money. "A hooker? I'm obsessing over a fucking call girl?" His cheeks blazed with anger. "I just don't believe it!" He hurried from his hiding spot and ran up the stairs to his room. Throwing himself on the bed, he felt his spirits fall. "It just figures!" he screamed, mad at himself for getting this carried away over a girl, mad that she got paid for sex, just mad. Reaching for his wallet, he formed a plan. After all, he was still a man, still lonely, and still very horny. "Screw this," he mumbled, squirting Binaca into his mouth and rushing back out of his room, down to her floor. He watched as another woman left her room, and gulped hard. His anger boiled back up, and he couldn't understand why she was getting to him like this. Waiting until the other woman was out of site, he banged on her door. She opened it cautiously, not expecting anyone else. Her face scrunched up in distaste when she saw him standing there. "What the hell do you want MR. N SYNC?" He tossed a hundred dollar bill in her face. "What will this buy me?" Her initial look of confusion turned to one of rage. She glanced nervously down the hall before pulling Joey inside. "How dare you?" she hissed, cheeks blazing. "Do you want to get me killed? Or you?" Joey's brown eyes searched her pale blue ones in surprise. He immediately regretted what he'd done, but hadn't expected the reaction he'd gotten. He watched as she stormed over to the dresser, and grabbed an oversized tee shirt, tossing it over her scantily clad body. Joey noticed with interest that her hands shook slightly. He lowered his head, feeling like some kind of psychopath. "I don't know what to say," he whispered, tucking his money back in his pocket. Watching him through narrowed eyes, she tried to figure him out. She had known from the start who he was, and also knew if her "boyfriend" caught Mr. N Sync in her room, he'd kill her, or worse yet, kill him. He was just that crazy. She sighed, knowing Joey had some kind of crush on her. Probably had to do with all that saving his life shit. Now she almost wished she'd let his ass hang there. Joey stared hard at her. He wanted to ask her a million questions. He didn't know why he cared, but he did. Seeing her standing there in that tee shirt, she appeared almost childlike. "I should go," he sighed, heading for the door. I really am sorry." The knock, no more like pound, at the door startled them both. Panic flashed in her eyes as she dove toward the singer. "Shh!" she warned him, ushering him quickly to the balcony. Joey tried to protest, but the fear in her eyes was real, and he felt his stomach roll, sensing danger. He crouched down behind a lounge chair and held his breath as she tossed her shirt at him and hurried back inside. Joey strained to hear what was happening. "All done?" a deep voice asked. "Yeah, yeah. Done." Pause. "Here's the money." Deep voice laughed. "That's good, real good. You have two appointments tomorrow evening after we go to that damn N Sync concert." "Are you bringing your daughter too?" "Of course! Don't be stupid. You think I like these industry obligations? For Christ's sakes, the only thing that's saving me from this is how much my kid loves these little shits. Now come here and tell me all about the nasty things you did while I was gone. And don't leave anything out. I wouldn't want to have to hurt you more than necessary." Joey cringed as the loud sound of less than gentle love making floated out to the balcony. All he wanted to do was find a way back to his room. No matter how he felt about this beautiful stranger, it was obvious that he was in way over his head. Words like "kill" didn't sit well with him, not even when JC was using them in jest. And Joey didn't think that's what she meant when she said "Do you want to get me killed or you?" He played with his Superman charm and sat nervously. His legs were falling asleep, and he tried to stretch them quietly. The lounge chair shifted, squeeking slightly against the tile on the balcony floor. Joey's heart stopped, and he cursed under his breath. "What the hell was that?" "Nothing, I heard nothing. Come on back to bed." "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?" "No, baby, now come on back here." Joey shut his eyes tightly praying that her pleas worked. Thankfully, they did and after what seemed like an eternity, she came for him. "Come on," she said, wearily. Joey noticed a fresh, red mark across her face, and scratch marks running deeply across her shoulders. "It's clear, he's done. You can go." Tears filled her eyes as she walked him to the door, wincing in pain. "You're hurt," Joey cried. His mind was screaming for him to run, get the hell out of there, and never look back. But his heart filled with compassion for this woman, and overtook his senses. Gone were any thought to his career, or what she was. She rubbed her hands over her face. "Joey, just go. You don't want to know me. It's too dangerous. Go now." He voice was monotone and her eyes were red. Unexplainebly, Joey went to her and hugged her tightly, not wanting to hurt her further. She tried to resist, but he was too strong. She collapsed into him, sobbing, and eventually, telling him everything. She told him how she'd met this record executive and he came to force her into turning tricks, not so much for the money, more for the sick pleasure he got out of hearing the stories. Joey listened attentively, planning to get her out of this, one way or another. Weeks later, Joey had convinced her to accompany him on tour. He hid her from her boyfriend, who was nothing more than a glorified pimp. No one knew the whole truth about his mystery woman, and that was fine with them. Fortunately, "deep voice" hadn't caught on to where his plaything had gone. Joey had almost laughed in his face when he'd seen him the next night at the meet n greet with his snot nosed daughter in tow. He had to do some fancy talking to the other members of the group, dodging questions, and keeping mostly to himself. None of them particularly liked this latest Joey obsession. This afternoon, JC, Lance, Chris and Justin had called a secret meeting, duping Joey into coming solo. Joey sat on the floor, playing with the new Backstreet Boys Burger King figurines, making them fight one another. JC crossed them room, swiping the toys away, and promptly tossing them out the tenth story window, causing Lance and Justin to cheer. Joey sighed, and leaned his head against the wall. "So what's up guys?" He knew they weren't happy with his choice of a girlfriend, and honestly, it was putting a lot of distance between them all. He watched at JC sat down and began. "Look, Joe, we know you're crazy about her, but we've been noticing weird things." "Things that aren't good for the group," Chris added. "It's not that we don't want you to be happy," Justin continued. Joey held up his hand, a small flash of frustration and hurt in his eyes. "What weird things?" JC looked at Lance. "You saw it, you tell him," he demanded. Lance shot JC a look, his green eyes filled with panic. He hadn't even wanted to do this to Joey, corner him like this. The only reason he'd gone along was because JC assured him he wouldn't need to gang up on him. Now JC was forcing him into spilling what he knew. He fiddled with the cross around his neck and shrugged. "I just, well, I'm not sure what I saw, actually." He could feel Joey's angry stare burning a hole into him. "Lance," JC warned, "You have to tell him." "Yeah, Lance, tell me!" Joey seethed. Lance squirmed uncomfortably on the bed. "Well, remember the other day when I held up the bus because I had to run back to my room and get my wallet?" He stared at his fingernails, trying desperetely not to look at his friend. "I kinda saw a couple guys go into your room, and lots of laughing and weird noises, sex noises." Joey's heart dropped. No one knew what she had been when he met her, but he was guessing they had an idea now. He glared at his friends before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. "Dammit JC! Thanks a lot!" Lance jumped off the bed, punching the wall on the way out. In the hall, he noticed Joey pounding on the door to the room he shared with her. "Shit!" he groaned, entering his own room. She opened the door, toothbrush in hand. "Hey you," she grinned happily. Joey grabbed her arms. "Have you had men in our room?" he asked sharply. Although he was pissed off at his friends, he knew Lance would never lie to him. "Tell me!" he yelled. She pulled away, shame filling her eyes. Reaching for her suitcase, she started to fill it. The tears ran down her cheeks, and Joey had his answer. "Shit Joey, I told you not to get involved with me. Once a whore, always a whore," she sniffled. She had only done it a few times because she needed the money. She was a lot of things, but moocher wasn't one of them. Snapping her suitcase shut, she stared at her lover. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I wish things could have been different." She knew in her heart that he was too good for her, and she didn't want to ruin his career. Joey glared at her. He'd actually cared for her, believed that she'd changed for him. He realized that she had no respect for him. He'd literally put his life and career of the line for her, to protect her. His eyes met hers. "You make me ill, ya know that? Sick to my stomach. If I thought seeing you with him was bad, well knowing you were in our bed with strangers repulses me even more! Get out!" She recoiled at his harsh words. Silently, she grabbed her suitcase and tore out of the room. Joey stared at the bed, still disheveled from their earlier romp. Disgusted, he ripped the sheets off and felt the tears sting his eyes. "Never again!" he muttered. "Not worth it." He'd wanted love so badly, he'd ended up burning himself. Later that evening, he went down to the bar with Lance, planning on telling him everything. He was shocked to see her chatting up a potential client. Lance tried to steer him away. Their eyes met briefly, and she looked away, whispering into the strangers ear, and walking away with him to the elevators. Lance snorted in disgust, not believing she had the gall to stay in the same hotel after what had happened. He looked at Joey, and sighed. "Sorry man, I know it must still hurt." Joey nodded, finding it hard to swallow. "It makes me ill, that's all!" He turned and ordered a beer, resolving to forget about her, and the nightmare she caused him. |
| ...makes me ill, to see you give, love and attention at his will.. |