Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 16:10:54 -0700 (PDT) From: James <midwestjames@yahoo.com> Subject: My New Life Part 17 (midwestjames) (mm slow rom) Legal Disclaimer: This story is totally fictional and is not meant to imply anything about the personalities of Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, J.C. Chasez, Joey Fatone, or Chris Kirkpatrick of the music group Nsync. If you are under the age of 18, offended by male/male material, or it is illegal to view such materials in your area, you should be leaving now. This is a story of friendship and only time will tell which direction it will take. Like anyone who writes feed back, good or bad is needed. The good feed back, strokes our ego. The bad feed back, strokes the delete key. <grin> My e-mail: midwestjames@yahoo.com This story can also be found on my web site at: http://www.geocities.com/midwestjames Authors Note: I don't know what has happened but the last chapter has gotten almost no response. It makes me wonder what's up. I'm hoping it just got lost in the avalanche of postings that night. If anyone has any ideas as to when is the best time to post new chapters please let me know. Thanks, James My New Life By James Last Time The bus pulled into the arena just before noon. Going into the secured area with the other buses and semis George parked near an entrance. Grabbing his backpack Marc went with the guys into the arena. The arena was a lot bigger than the theater. "Pete, were having problems with the video screens." said Brit the stage manager. "Well what's wrong?" asked Pete. As the group walked on to the stage, looking up at the twenty foot video screens. "We're getting some really strange shit. We've tried everything we can think of. Take a look, see what you think." "Lets see what you have." said Pete as everybody, including Marc looked up at the screens. The picture was fuzzy and you couldn't make out what it was. "Can you focus?" "Every time we try that, this is what we get." the screens went black than there were flashes of light going off all over the place. Than Marc heard a familiar drum beat and the screens came in to focus. Marc stood there in amazement watching himself perform Jubilation. Lance looked at Marc's face and was amazed at his expression. He wanted so much to go over and hold him, but he knew he couldn't. As the performance ended, applause erupted all around Marc. Every member of the Nsync staff had joined Marc on stage. With shouts of bravo, fantastic job Marc, good going kid and all right Marc! "Thank you." said Marc to everyone. "I didn't thank any of you ever heard of PBS, let alone watched it." Part 17 A Few Concerns Lance and the others backed away from Marc, letting him have his well deserved adulation. Each staff member introduced themselves and congratulated Marc on his performance and how they looked forward to working with him. "Does any one else have this feeling that we are being ignored?" asked Justin. "Yeah, but I will put up with it, if its for Marc." said Joey. The crowd slowly dispersed. And Marc made his way over to his friends. "Now that Mr. Newman has finished holding court, can we get on with the sound check?" said Pete with a grin. Marc turned red with embarrassment. Everyone just laughed at his reaction. "Come on guys, get changed so we can get this run thru over with." said Pete. Marc was sitting out front watching the sound check when his cell phone rang. "Hello." "Marc, this is Lynn. Can you come out to the bus." "Sure, be right out." Going out to the bus Marc found Lynn at the table with her lap top. "What's up Lynn." "Marc, pull out your lap top and check you e-mail." Marc took his computer from his backpack and was about to hook it to his cell. "You don't have to do that." pointing to a panel in the wall. "Hook in here. We have a high speed data link built in. You can also power up there." Marc hooked up and booted his computer. Logging on to his service he checked his e-mail. And was astonished at what he found. "I have forty-three e-mails." "Some of them are from friends but twenty nine are from symphonies and people I've never heard of." Lynn reached over to the wall and pulled out a printer cable and handed it to Marc. "Here hook up and print out your e-mails." Marc did as told and Lynn went to a cabinet behind Marc and got the print outs from a laser printer. Sitting down next to Marc the went over Marc's e-mails plus the thirty four she had received. * * * Marc was sitting alone at the table, Lynn had left a half hour ago to catch her plain back to Orlando. He had his head tilted back with his eyes close trying to sort out everything. He heard Justin and Lance get on the bus. "See I told you, he's in here sleeping." said Justin. "I'm not asleep. Just thinking." Feeling someone sit next to him Marc opened his eyes to find Lance. Smiling he asked. "How was sound check?" "It went ok. Why did you leave?" asked Lance. Picking up a stack of paper he handed it to Lance. "Here read." "What's that?" asked Justin from across the table. "E-mails your mom and I received. This stack." putting a hand on a stack of papers. "Are congratulations from people. The stack Lance is reading is job offers." "There are offers from most every major symphony in the United States. Plus offers from London, Paris, Rome, and Tokyo. And two offers for television specials." said Marc "What are you going to do?" asked Justin. "Nothing right now. Your mom is going to contact them all and get more information." "By the way. Where is she?" "She left about half an hour ago for the airport. She asked be to tell you good bye. And give you a kiss from her. But that you'll just have to accept as a verbal message." Grinning. "Why don't you want to deliver her message properly?" "Not with my boyfriend here." said Marc as he looked at Lance still reading the papers. "Next time we're alone you can deliver the message." Lance gave Justin a kick in the shin. "He will not be delivering that part of the message!" "Just kidding. You didn't have to kick me." said Justin. Chris popped his head into the bus door. "Hay you guys, are you going to get something to eat or what?" "We'll be right there." said Justin. Getting up to leave he noticed Lance still reading. "You can read those later." Marc nudged Lance, "Take them with you. You can read them while we eat." A makeshift cafeteria had been set up in a large meeting room back stage. They got in line with Lance behind Marc still reading papers. Marc took the papers out of Lance's hands. "Hay I wasn't done." Handing Lance a plate. "Food first, read after." said Marc. Lance smiled and took the offered plate, filling it with food he followed Marc to the table with the other guys. Sitting next to Marc, Lance asked. "Can I finish reading the papers now?" "Only if you can eat and read at the same time." Marc said as he handed the papers back to Lance. Marc watched Lance to make sure he ate as he read. Josh asked. "What's so interesting?" "Job offers. Last nights show generated a lot of interest." said Marc. "What kind?" asked Joey. "Mostly guest conductor, repeat of last night. A couple offers of resident conductor. And a couple TV specials." "Wow! You need to get into a studio and record your stuff. I think after last nights broadcast you could sell some CD's." said Chris. Grinning at Chris he thought. `This boy must be having a blond day.' "I have already recorded it. And did a music video too." Looking confused, "When did you do it?" Chris asked. "Last night. I thought you were there." said Marc. Lights finally went on in Chris's head. "Yeah, the concert. They recorded it. I forgot about that. Won't they need more than two pieces for a CD?" "Yesterday afternoon we recorded two of my jazz band pieces. They were something we had been playing for the last year. A couple run through and we had it down." "Well you should make some money off that." said Joey. "No. One third of the profits goes to PBS, the next third goes to the Madison Symphony. My cut goes to charity." "What charity?" asked Josh. "Some new foundation. The Timberlake Foundation. It's suppose to help get music and the arts back into schools. Ever hear of it?" said Marc while gazing at Justin. Grinning at Justin. Joey said. "Sounds bogus to me, I hope you checked it out first." "I have it from the highest authority it's a top rated foundation." said Marc. Justin softly said. "Thanks Marc." "Thank me after we sell some CD's. Right now I haven't donated anything." * * * Everyone had finished their meal when Pete approached. "You guys are free until six. If you leave the arena area let security know." "Ok, Pete. Thanks." said Chris. Turning to the others. "What do you want to do?" "I spotted a hoop near the bus. Anyone up for some b-ball?" asked Justin. "I'm up for it Curly, besides I owe you a ass whooping." said Chris. "I'm in." said Joey. "Me too." said Josh. Justin looked over at Marc and Lance. "How about you two?" Marc shook his head. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm going to take a nap." Lance agreed. "A nap sounds good to me too." * * * Marc stripped down to his boxers as Lance used the bathroom. Coming out he found no sign of Marc. Pulling back the curtin to his bunk he found it occupied. Grinning at Marc. "Aren't you supposed to be in the upper bunk?" "Yeah. But when I climbed way up there, I got light headed. The air's so thin, up there I'm afraid the lack of oxygen may cause brain damage. I'm also afraid of heights. And my horoscope said to avoid changing my sleep patterns." Rolling his eyes at Marc. "Yeah, excuses, excuses. Scoot over. You could have just said, you missed me." Smiling at Lance as he climbed in. "That was excuse number ten. Now come here, I need something." "And what might that be?" asked Lance. "This James." said Marc as he pulled him to him for a very deep kiss. Coming up for air. Lance said. "If we keep doing that we will never get any rest." "Your right. We'll have to continue that at a later time." "Promise?" "Yes that's a promise. Now get comfortable." said Marc as he opened his arms for James to get into position. Pulling him close. The two relaxed and were off to sleep in no time. * * * Justin and JC beat Chris and Joey two games to one. Time had run out and they had to get ready. "Ok, who is going to go get the sleeping duo?" asked Chris. "I think the losers should have the honor." said Justin. "I don't think so. Who knows what we will catch them doing in there." said Chris. Rolling his eyes, JC headed for the bus. "Be sure to make a lot of noise when you get in there." said Chris. JC just shook his head, not believing Chris. Hearing foot steps come up beside him, he looked to see Joey. "Why you coming." asked JC. "Just curious." said Joey. "About what we'll find?" "I'm pretty sure what we'll find. They'll be sleeping. I just wondered who climbed into who's bunk." In the bunk area they found the curtains on both bunks drawn shut. Turning to Joey, "Well which one?" Joey pointed to the lower bunk. Reaching out Josh slowly pulled back the curtain, and looked in. Seeing them in the same position as this morning. Marc awoke to foot steps coming close. Keeping his eyes closed he heard the curtain being pulled back. "Is this going to become a habit? Sneaking in to wake us up?" asked Marc. "Their not graceful enough to sneak." said Lance as he started to stretch. "They need music to be graceful. Remind me to write them some sneaking around music." said Marc with a smile. "Won't we hear the music coming?" asked Lance. "Probably, but it's got to be quieter than the other way." said Marc as he opened his eyes to find both Joey and Josh armed with pillows. "Oh shit!" was all Marc got out before he and Lance were attacked. * * * While the boys were getting ready for their show Marc was running around back stage with his camera taking pictures. Candid pictures were hard to get, everybody spotted him and stopped to talk. "Lance where's Marc?" asked Justin. "Don't know. He had his cameras and the last I saw him, he was talking to some of the band. Why?" "I'd feel better if I knew where he was." Marc had walked in behind Justin as he made his last statement. Joey spotted Marc's entrance he couldn't resist ribbing Justin. "What's wrong Curly, afraid Marc's planning something?" "I'm not sure. But he's had this look most of the afternoon. Like he's planning something. Lance did he say anything to you about what he's up to?" Lance looked at Justin and saw Marc standing behind him grinning. "I don't know Just. I don't think I should say anything." "Than he IS planning something! I knew it." "Calm down! What makes you think he is out to get you?" asked Chris. "I just know he's going to do something, he's got me jumpy, not knowing when he's going to spring it." The smile had left Marc's face as he realized how Justin was feeling. He needed to stop this before it effected the performance. Marc cleared his throat. Justin turned to find Marc standing behind him. "How long have you been there?" "Justin, you got a couple minutes? I need to talk to you about something." said Marc as he turned and left the dressing room. Justin followed Marc, wondering what was up. Marc was waiting for him a little way down the hall. "What's up?" asked Justin. "I'm sorry about the other night." "What?" "I should never have pulled anything during your concert. I didn't realize how much it was affecting you." "Your not planning anything are you?" With a slight smile. "No. No pranks. How about we declare the venue a no prank zone. That way you don't have to worry about what I'm up to and you can concentrate on your show." Visibly relaxing Justin said. "That sounds like a good idea." "Besides I've got my eye on a new victim." Marc said with a sly smile. Justin grinned, relived Marc was plotting something for someone else. Everybody looked up as Marc and Justin returned. "Guys, we have just decided to make the venue a no prank zone. My prank the other night was starting to effect Justin too much. And you guys weren't helping matters any tonight." "Curly is always hyper before a show." said Chris. "I know he gets hyper, but he was heading toward paranoia. He would have spent so much time looking for my next prank, his work might have suffered and that I won't let happen." The opening act could be faintly heard in the dressing room. "Looks like your going to miss the opening act." observed Joey. Marc said, "I'm only interested in the main act." "You are going to be in your seat when we start? Right?" quizzed Justin. Laughing at Justin, "No, I will not be in my seat. I'm going to watch from the wings. My ears are still ringing from the other night. I don't intend to ever go out front without ear protection." Everyone seemed to understand what Marc meant. "I'll let you all get ready for you show, talk to you all later." said Marc as he turned to leave. Lance followed him out the door. "Marc, what did you say to Justin that changed his mood so fast?" "I just told him I had my eye on a new victim. I think he was relieved to be off the hook." "Who is your new victim?" "No one. I just told him that so he would relax." "Good idea." "You do know you didn't have to leave this early. You can stick around until we go on stage." "Yes, I know. I need to talk to Pete about some ideas. And anyway, you all need your quiet time to prepare for the show. That's your time, I understand. And I wont intrude." "Ok. See you after the show." said Lance. Marc looked around to see if anyone was around. Pulling Lance into a hug. "James have fun. See you after the show." * * * Marc found Pete in the cafeteria. "Hi Pete, do you have a few minutes?" "Sure Marc, have a seat. What can I do for you." "I was wondering, is this a typical concert day?" "Yeah, most of them are like today. Why?" "I'm just concern about the way the guys are eating. We had breakfast this morning, than lunch didn't come until almost three. And to my knowledge no one has had anything to eat since." "I see what your getting at. They can't keep missing meals and keep their energy up." "Their going to be starving when they get off. Would it be ok if I order in a pizza party. I'll have it delivered to the bus, so we can eat on our drive to Chicago." Smiling "I like the idea, tell me what to order and I'll have it waiting." "We'll need a large cheese with extra cheese, a large veggie, one large garbage with anchovies and one with out." "Is that all?" "Your right, that will only feed the six of us. Better order two more." "What kind?" "What ever you and the George like." "Ok, what other ideas have you come up with?" "The food setup here was really lame. A constant diet of it could make someone sick. I was wondering if we could get a couple B. B. Q. grills and do cookouts for the staff. It would be a change for everybody. We could do it once a week." "I think everyone would enjoy that. I'll see what we can do." "Good. Earlier I was talking with the band." "I know. Brian came and talked to me about you working with them." "I don't want to add any extra expense, I thought I could fill in for any of the band members when they need time off." "You can fill in for any of them?" "Yes, give me a couple rehearsals to come up to speed and I should be able to fill in for any one." "Well you should save me a lot of time trying to find replacement musicians. This could work out great. What other areas are you interested in?" "Well. Joel asked me if I would be interested in working with the backup dancers. Again it would only be to fill in." Laughing. "Marc is there any other jobs you'd like to try?" "No, I think that will be enough for now. But if I could be of any help to you, just let me know." "I'm going to keep my eye on you, I think you might be after my job." "No, your job is too tame. I like a little excitement." "Ok, is there anything else?" "Yeah, don't tell the guys about the pizza. Just push them after the concert to get changed and on the bus." "I think I could do that." * * * Marc watched the show from the wings, Justin kept checking to make sure he hadn't moved. During the first costume change Marc made his way back closer to the band. He wanted to observe the band and concentrate more on the music, blocking out what was going on at the front of the stage. Lance noticed Marc had moved back by the band and from the look on his face he had found something very interesting. The lights went out and Nsync once again took their places on stage. In the gloom Marc could make out Justin and Chris. The drummer gave a four count to begin the next set. To Marc's amusement the two nearest the band missed their queue and came in late. `Oh well, that little flub will mean a extra rehearsal." thought Marc. As the guys were starting their first encore Marc snuck away to check on the pizza delivery. Approaching the bus he noticed it was ready for travel. Going to the open door he spotted George on the phone. Seeing Marc he waved him in. "Hi George, I was just checking to see if the pizza had been delivered?" asked Marc. "The delivery man was just cleared thru security, your pizzas should be here in ten minutes." "Great, they should be off stage by than. Now if we can get them, to get moving and out here before the pizza gets cold." * * * Marc met up with the guys as they were entering the dressing room. "Hay Marc, where did you disappear to?" asked Chris. "Just taking care of business." answered Marc. "What kind of business?" asked Joey. "Just something for Pete. I had to check to see if the bus is ready to roll." "Why were you doing that?" quizzed JC. "Because it's part of his new job description." said Pete as he walked into the dressing room. "And I need you all changed and on the bus in ten minutes." "Why? What's going on?" asked Lance. "We got a heads up from security, they want us on the road as soon as possible." Everyone accepted the explanation and quickly went to change. `Pete knows what buttons to push to get them going. I need to ask Lance about security problems, it looks like this has come up before.' thought Marc. * * * Marc was waiting at the bus as the guys approached. Playing a new part of security Marc held up his hand indicating for them to stop. Which they did just outside the door. Scanning the area for bad guys Marc than said something into what looked like a walkie talkie than indicated for them to run for it. They made a dash for the bus not stopping until everyone was in. "Wait a minute! I smell pizza." said Chris. "So do I, what's going on?" asked Justin. From the back of the group Marc spoke up. "It's your supper. Since no one bothered to eat before the show I asked Pete if we could get some pizza delivered." "Good thinking Marc, I'm starved." said Justin. Everyone dug into the pizza. Joey went to get a soda out of the refrigerator. "Whoa, what have we got here." he said. "What's up?" asked Chris. "Someone put real food in here." said Joey. "There's fruit, vegetable sticks, cheese, fruit juices, and soda." Opening the cabinets he found them also stocked. "Pete what's going on?" "Well Marc came to me with some valid concerns. One of them being how erratic your eating habits are and how it could affect your performance." "What do you mean, our performance?" asked Chris. Marc looked over at Chris. "You had only two meals before your show tonight. Than you played basketball all afternoon. You didn't eat before your show. Than you and Justin missed your queue on one song. Someone, I wont mention who." looking at Joey. "Sang off key in one of your numbers. And all of you were dragging your tails tonight. Your energy level had dropped." "If it weren't for Marc pointing out the problem, I would have written them off as screw ups and scheduled another rehearsal. But that wouldn't have taken care of the problem. That's why Marc is going to be taking on some more duties." "What kind of duties?" asked Marc, clearly unaware of what was coming. "Marc, I want you to become their keeper. Make sure they eat right, get enough sleep, and stay healthy." "Oh, great we get a warden." said Chris. "Chris, Marc has a unique perspective as to what is going on with you guys. That's why I value his input ." "Pete, I will not, become your spy." said Marc firmly. "I don't want a spy. I want you to do what you did today." said Pete. "That I can do. By the way how much does this job pay?" asked Marc grinning. * * * The pizza boxes were cleaned up and the bus headed for Chicago. All the guys went back to the lounge for a game of Nintendo. Justin and Chris were battling it out as Marc came in and sat on the floor at Lance's feet. Lance looked over Marc's shoulder to see what he was drinking. "What you got?" "Juice." said Marc as he handed the bottle to Lance. Lance took a sip, "Mmm, apple." Lance said than he took a big gulp before handing it back to Marc. Holding the bottle up to the light he saw that Lance had left about a quarter of the apple juice. Looking back at Lance who was grinning at him, Marc said. "I need to remember to order large drinks when we share." as he tipped the bottle up and finished off the juice. "Does anyone know where we're going this week?" asked Joey. "Just Chicago for the next two days. After that I don't know." said Lance. Marc looked up at Lance. "You know your slipping. I thought you were always up on this." "I haven't had time to talk with Pete. My mind has been on something else." Lance said smiling at Marc. "Lame excuse, but I'll let it slip this time." said Marc. "Ok, mister know it all, what is our schedule?" asked Joey. "Well." looking at his watch, Marc said. "Today you all have a interview with the local rock station, at 10 to 11. Than your scheduled for a meet and greet from 2 to 4 at Bergners Department Store. Than a photo shoot and interview at the Tribune for their entertainment section. That's 4:30 to 6 I believe. Tuesday you have another radio interview at 10. Sound check at 1. With the concert at 7. Than back on the bus for a drive to Indianapolis, with a show on Wednesday, than back on the road to Lansing, for Thursdays show. Detroit for two shows Friday and Saturday, We travel on Sunday to Toronto for Mondays show. After that I don't know. That was all that was on that page of Pete's planner." "I take it Pete didn't know you were reading his planner?" asked JC. "No, we were sitting across from each other as we talked. So the planner was upside down, and his hand writing is really bad." said Marc with a slight grin. "It's going to be a busy week." said Chris. "Yeah, and I have to have the first draft of the web site ready to upload by Friday." said Marc. "The whole web site by Friday?" asked Lance realizing there may not be much time left for the two of them. "No, just the home page and samples of link pages. They want to see what it's going to look like." said Marc. "How much do you have finished?" asked Justin. "The web site is all set up, that doesn't take long, it's the custom graphics that takes the time. The home page has six large animated graphics alone." said Marc. Pete shouted back to the lounge. "Were at the hotel, everyone knows the drill." Everyone but Marc and Lance made their way forward to get ready. Marc turned to Lance motioning for him to come closer. He whispered to Lance. " What's the drill? Will you fill me in?" Lance replied in a whisper. "When we arrive at a hotel the bus parks near a side or back entrance. Pete will go in and pick up our room packet. It has a listing of who's where and the keys. Security arrived before us, they have already checked out the floor we will be on, and all the rooms. When it's all clear, we leave the bus and go directly to the elevator that will take us to our floor. Luggage will follow us up in about twenty minutes." "Oh." Marc said thinking. "I guess I should have read the employee hand book." "Don't worry, I'm an old hand at this. If anything comes up, just ask." "Gee Mr. Bass, it's mighty nice of you to help out this pathetic untrained employee." Rolling his eyes Lance said. "Come on, Pete just got back." They got up and made their way to the front as Pete was handing out room keys. "Joey, your in 1216. Lance!" "Here." "Your in 1217." Pete said as he handed Lance his key. "Marc, your in 1219" said Pete handing him is key. "Room 1218 has been set up as a dinning room, lounge. Everybody's key will open that room." "Ok are we ready?" Marc picked up his backpack and followed the others. On the elevator Lance and Marc just looked at each other, neither one happy about the room assignments. Getting off the elevator each one found their room. Lance and Marc's rooms were at the end of the hall. Stopping at 1217 Lance said. "Well, here's my room." "Yeah, I'm next door. I guess we should get settled in." Marc said with a sad face. As he started to his room he added. "This really sucks." At the door to his room Marc inserted the key card into the lock and heard the pop of the lock. Looking over at Lance one last time he entered his room. Marc turned on the light and found a very large room with a king size bed, two very comfortable looking arm chairs next to a small table. There was also a good size desk with it's own chair. `Must be a businessman's room. At least I can set up the laptop and check my e-mail.' thought Marc. Walking over to the bath room he found it to be spacious with a large multi head shower and a very large whirlpool tub. `Very nice. I wonder if James has the same setup?' Marc went to the desk and placed his backpack down. Surveying the rest of the room he noticed another door. `I wonder.' Going over to it, he unlocked the door and opened it to find James on the other side grinning at him. "It took you long enough to open the door." "I wasn't expecting adjoining rooms, I just noticed the door." "Still think this sucks?" "Not any more." said Marc as pulled James into an embrace * * * TBC Comming up Next: Chapter 18 Getting to Know You.