| Lance sat awaiting her arrival in the bar, taking a seat between JC and Joey. He'd begged them to stay away, which only made them want to be there more. "Look guys," he said, running an anxious hand through his spiky hair. "No stupid stuff, please." Although he meant both of them, his gaze was directed at Joey, who feigned a hurt look. "Why is it everyone looks at me when they say that?" He turned his empty beer bottle on it's side and proceeded to spin in in circles, getting lost in the rythemic blur. Lance shook his head and stared at his fingernails. Maybe he shouldn't get manicures anymore. It was too time consuming and he liked the look of more rugged man hands. Why he was thinking about his nails was beyond him, and he glanced toward the door. "Joey, promise me you'll behave." Joey nodded, letting out a loud burp, causing JC to laugh and Lance to groan. "I'll be good," he grinned, eyeing a pretty girl sitting on a bar stool. "I won't tell her any of your embarassing moments, like the time you were so drunk you puked on that old lady in the elevator going back to your room." "Oh, I have a good one," JC interjected, his eyes shining with merriment. "What about the time we dared him to pick up that chick in the bar and she was really a transexual! The look on his face!" Joey laughed, recalling the horrified look. Lance threw his hands over his face in disgust. Immature babies. That's what they were. His palms were sweating, and his heart was racing and all they could talk about was his past stupidity. As soon as she arrived, he was swiping her away from there, worried that Chris would make his appearance, and all hope of making a good impression would be lost on farting and throw up stories. "I hate you guys," he pouted, lifting his hand to order a beer. Drunk was going to have to be the name of the game to deal with these guys riding him. All his la las were dissipating quickly, in other words, his mood was souring. As the beer was placed in front of him, he checked the door once more. Mya entered through the revolving entrance and Lance's breath caught in him. She was gorgeous in a pale beige jacket which hung open to reveal a cream turtleneck. Her black pants were tailored to fit her body, and Lance sighed. "Sucker!" Joey hissed with a chuckle. "He's in looooove," JC added, jabbing Lance hard. "Get up and go get her. And stop drooling!" Lance forced his feet to move. All his earlier courage was failing him now, and he wondered why when he was working he had so much faith, but as plain ol Lance, he was so shy. That title had stuck with him so long, he kind of believed it. Hoping Joey hadn't done something dumb like tie his shoes together, Lance stood up and took a deep breath. Only a few feet to go, no tripping. Tripping would be bad, falling would be worse. His feet moved mechanically, and when she spotted him, she waved so enthusiatically, his heart pounded. Millions of women, never this feeling. Sick as he felt, he knew it was real. "Hey," he managed to call out, heading her way. "Hey yourself," she grinned, shrugging her coat off and tossing it over her arm. "You know there are like a bizillion girls out there, right?" Lance blinked, and tightened his hold on his beer. "Huh?" So lost, lost in those eyes that could keep his heart forever. Cheese is okay when you feel like this. "Girls, fans, whatever. There's so many." "Oh, yeah. Well, they're here to see Justin anyway." He groaned inwardly at his attempt to make a joke. Failing miserably. "Anyway, the bar is pretty quiet. There's a quiet table in the bar. I mean..." She laughed, that tinkly laugh he'd heard earlier. "I guess we're both a bit nervous," she giggled. Staring over at the lounge, she noticed the two singers staring back. "You're friends?" Lance followed her gaze and nodded, growing more comfortable with her obvious ease. "Matter of opinion," he replied breaking out his award winning smile. Placing his hand on the small of her back, he guided her over. "Seeing as they're staring pretty hard, I suppose I'll have to introduce you, but remember, friends don't make the man." Mya scrunched her nose up at the cute comments. Oh, this guy had it alright. He was cute, and funny, and charming. Charming was a great word. The hand on her back was warm and sent butterflies right to her stomach. Thank God she had that glass of wine before she left her apartment. Her roommate had flipped right out when hearing where she was going, and who she was meeting, insisting she have a drink to relax. "Pretty intimidating," were the exact words she'd used to describe interludes with celebrities. "Mya, this is Joey Fatone, and JC Chasez. Guys, this is Mya Barone." Hmf. That should impress her. He remembered her last name and everything. Lance bit back the huge grin that threatened to expose his overwhelming happiness that she was here with him. He couldn't think about what would happen when they left NY. After all, the video shoot was done, and except for another day of promotional activities followed by one day off, they were leaving. "So, you were filming today?" she asked, leaning back into Lance's hand. JC nodded. "Our new video, actually. It was our last shoot, out at the river." Mya looked around the intimate bar area, spying an empty table. She wanted nothing more than to drag Lance over there and just chat him up for hours. Scary since she had horrible luck with men, just awful. A singer would guarentee to be worse, but his hand was so warm, and he smelled so damn sexy, and uggh! It was unlike her to feel like this, especially in her line of work. Lance caught her glancing at the table, and took the cue. "We'll catch you guys later," he said, nodding toward the corner. "We'd like to get to know each other now." He breathed a sigh of relief when she smiled up at him, confirming her thoughts. One thing he truly sucked at and that was reading people's minds, particularly women, so he felt he scored a small point in life with that one. Holding the chair out for her, he caught a whiff of her perfume and it sent a signal directly to his gut, which rolled with desire. Hold on, back up, he wasn't going to go there with her. Not her, not yet. Slowly, he sat across from her and waved the waitress over. "What would you like?" he asked politely, his words reverting to their native southern twang, the one he was commanded early on in his career to hide. She tilted her head, brushing back her shoulder length brown hair, it's curls refusing to be held in place. "White wine, please." He nodded, and ordered himself another beer, her wine, and settled back. He noticed that dark curl, falling carelessly into her face repeatedly and wanted to reach over and tuck it away for her. Of course, that was too forward, and while Joey would be a natural at that, well, he would be clumsy and awkward, so he just gazed at it. "Did I hear some south in your voice?" she questioned, smiling to show off a tiny dimple in her left cheek. Lance noticed her hands were so dainty and her nails were manicured, but no fake nails, just simple active length. Oh, he really needed to stop getting manicures if he knew what the hell active length was. He almost forgot to reply to her question. "Yeah. I'm from Mississippi. Lived there most my life. Except for when I joined the group." "So this chilly weather must kill you." He laughed. "Sometimes. I have two homes, both in warm places, so when I come here during fall and winter, it's a shock. I like it though, especially Christmas." A loud sound came from the bar, and they turned quickly to look. Joey stood there, a stunned look on his red face. "You're a fucking pig!" the pretty girl from before screamed at him, dashing from her stool and hurrying from the bar. Lance heard JC laughing, and groaned as once again, they had embarassed him. He was almost afraid to look at her. He often used a girl's friends to gauge the girl, and hopefully, oh God, hopefully, Mya didn't do that. Blushing slightly he found her gaze and chortled nervously. "Joey is ah.." She waved her hand in the air. "No need to explain. I have a friend just like him. Wild, crazy, and well, between us," she leaned in closer and motioned for him to join her. "horny." Mya was so close to him, he could smell her minty breath. He wondered if it was her toothpaste or if she'd had a mint before meeting him. Either way, he took it as a subtle sign that she may be expecting closeness, or a kiss. The waitress arrived and set the beer and wine down, breaking them apart. She sipped her wine, never straying far from those intense green eyes. "So, you're from Mississippi, you have a horny friend who just got slapped, and you sing in N Sync. What else?" She wanted to keep the topic of conversation on him, lying was not something she liked to do. There was no use telling him what she did and risk ending this lovely night early. Lance bit his bottem lip and stared down at the table. It was slightly sticky and he sighed, wishing that being on the road wouldn't always bring sticky tables, and strange beds, and fucking pubic hairs in the bathtub. Woah. Why was his mind wandering again. Snapping out of that, he pressed the beer bottle to his lips, taking a long sip. "Well, I have a ferret," he offered, so proud of the little guy. "Wow, a ferret? Does he travel with you?" "Naw, not now. He did, but the guys complained that he smelled, and our bus isn't quite big enough for his cage now." Mya nodded, running her fingers along the stem of the glass. "And you're touring?" "It's almost over. We wanted to get this next video done so we can enjoy the holidays." He hated talking about himself, it's all he ever did, every interveiw, every fan. He wanted to get to know her. "So, what do you do? I mean besides get shoved in bathrooms at cafe's?" She laughed, tossing her head back. "That was a first, Lance," she admitted. Her mind spun and she paused to take another sip of her wine. "I'm boring, really. Born and raised here in NY. That makes me a native, ya know." Her dark eyes twinkled. "Got a brother, two years younger, and he's actually a muscian. Well, not professional." "Really?" Lance asked, interested. "What's he play?" "Bass guitar. He's been in bands ever since I can remember. He loves it. It's in his blood." She sipped her drink again, this time more quickly, and hoped they could stay on the topic of music for a while, a long while. "Anyway, he lives in California now and has two bands going." "That's cool. Are they any good?" Lance's mind moved quickly, and if her brother was any good, maybe he could audition them for Free Lance. That would be a way to get to know her better. His sister would be proud of him, coming up with a natural way to hook into her life. Mya pressed her lips together, as if she really had to think about it. "Yes, they are. I don't know why they're not signed yet." Security approached quickly, whispering something to Joey, who had returned to JC's table with yet another girl. They stood up abruptly, and followed to Lance's table. "We have to go," one bodyguard said firmly, eyeing the woman across form the singer. "Now." Lance looked up, confused. "Why? What's going on?" JC shoved his hands in his pockets, and nodded. "Death threat. We have to get in the bus." Mya jumped up at the words. "Death threat?" she gasped, knocking her wine over. "My God." The bodyguard grabbed Lance's shirt and tugged him up. "Lance, now." "Shit, Mya. I'm sorry. I..." He was so pissed off. "No, no," she said, grabbing her coat. "You go. Stay safe. I'm getting the hell out of here." Lance was being dragged backwards, not ready to let the night end with her. If anything, this would surely scare her off. "Let go!" he shouted at the man pulling him. "Please." The hand didn't let go, only yanked harder. "I don't have time for this, Bass. We gotta move now. Justin and Chris are out there already. Let's go!" His heart sank as Mya stared helplessly after him. He stumbled over a chair leg and used the opportunity to pull free. Rushing back in her direction, he took her hand. "Come to the bus with me." Sensing her hesitation, and the impending wrath of his bodyguard who was cursing loudly behind him, he grinned. "You'll be okay." Mya stood frozen. She wasn't sure climbing aboard a tour bus with a group of strangers was a great idea. Harmless as they seemed, death threat wasn't sitting well with her turbulent stomach. But his eyes, they were begging sweetly, and his hand was so big and comforting holding hers. Finally she sighed. "What the hell? Okay." Lance grinned, and pulled her over toward the stairwell where they made their escape through the parking garage. He heard the screaming of sirens heading that way, and picked up his pace, squeezing her hand. He knew it was difficult to understand all this when you didn't deal with it daily, so he turned to look at her. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He guided her to the bus steps and held her around the waist as she climbed on, trailing right behind her. If this wasn't love, he didn't know what was. Never had he felt like this, and now he knew that look. He prayed it would all hang on and last for a bit longer. Mya's heart thudded erratically inside her as she boarded the bus. Lance eased her down the long aisle way toward the back and onto a couch. The bus lurched forward, sending her tettering to the side. "Where are we going?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice normal. Lance shrugged. "Wait here," he said, heading up toward security to get the scoop. Mya nodded and glanced over at the figure opposite her, who was glaring back at her. "Who the hell are you?" Justin snapped, his unruly hair sticking up every which way. He was tired, having been awakened by news of this damn death threat, the third one in just a month. He didn't want to have to make nice to a fan. "Mya. And you are?" Justin's eyes widened and he sat up a bit. "You're kidding right?" he asked, letting out a bitter laugh. "No," she replied steadily. "I'm sorry. I don't know you're name. I met JC and Joey earlier but Lance didn't mention..." "Justin," he snorted, not liking the idea of being played. How could she not know who he was? His face was everywhere, his name popped up more than Santa Claus lately. Not that he minded, well, not too much. He studied her hard, trying to read her. "So you're with Lance huh?" "Um, we had a date, and then the death threat came and.." and she wondered why she was explaining this to a guy who was not only rude, but cocky. "...and what?" Justin asked, grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch and covering himself with it. "Nothing," she sighed, standing up. She hoped that the bus wasn't going too far, she had a shift starting in a few hours and couldn't afford to be late again. Biting her thumb she stared down the bus aisle at the back of Lance, talking with their bodyguards. He was dangerous, and she could really get lost in him. No, it couldn't happen. Not with him. Not with him! |