Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 22:48:33 -0000
From: Tris <mystories@btinternet.com>
Subject: Under Management Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, this is my first submission to the Nifty Archive. I hope you
enjoy reading it as much as I am writing it. I'm trying to get as much
realism as is possible in a story of this type, so the characters will need
to get to know each other before there is any sex. It's also not exactly a
'two guys fall in love, and live happily ever after' story, there are going
to be a few bumps in the road.

If you have any comments or constructive criticisms or whatever then e-mail
me: mystories@btinternet.com

Disclaimer:

This story is a work of fiction. I don't know or own any of the celebrities
mentioned in it. I also don't know anything about the personalities or
sexual orientations of any of the members of *NSYNC, and the purpose of
this story is not to imply anything about them.  Secondly, this story
contains adult themes and content as well as gay relationships. If you're
too young to, or don't want to, read what's contained within, then leave
now. Everyone else, enjoy...

Under Management by Tris


Chapter 8

"Quiet on set!" The director yelled, "We're rolling!"

I was standing in a crowd of make-up artists and hair stylists, behind the
camera, watching one of the monitors. The temporary set that MTV had
brought down with them was quite impressive. As far as I was concerned,
there was no way of telling that *NSYNC hadn't taken a trip up to MTV's New
York studios. Justin, JC and Chris were sitting on a modern looking sofa,
and Lance and Joey were on stools behind them. The interviewer, who the
guys seemed to know, was sitting in an arm chair to the right.

The interview progressed smoothly and rapidly. There were a few times when
the guy asking the questions got tongue tied, so they had to re-shoot a few
of those.  Thankfully he was polite and not too probing, although one
question caught me off guard, "Justin, rumors are rife that you may be
looking into a solo career. Care to shed any light on them?"

"I... uh..." He paused and composed himself, "Honestly, I've haven't yet
caught wind of those rumors." He glanced at me, I nodded him
encouragement. "But...  uh... me? Going solo? I can officially confirm that
I won't be leaving the group and that we won't be splitting up any time in
the near future." He gave his patented smile, showing his white teeth. I,
meanwhile, was wondering just how many PR employees could be fired in one
afternoon. The remainder of the questions were fairly run of the
mill. However, worryingly enough, it was perhaps the most common question
that caused me the most heartache.

"Now, how about the love lives... as healthy as we would expect for
millionaires and famous pop-stars?" The guy asked. The group laughed at the
question, but I now knew them well enough to tell that they were groaning
on the inside.

"I think everyone knows about me." Justin stated.

"Still going strong?" The interviewer, who had identified himself as 'John'
at some point in his conversation with *NSYNC, said.

"Stronger than ever." Justin grinned.

"And how about the rest of you? Any budding romances?" John persisted.

"I think we're all single at the moment." Chris answered for them.

"No... No... wait!" JC butted in. "Aren't you forgetting about a certain
someone?"  He nudged Lance. My breath caught in my throat.

"Lance, do you have something that you want to share?" John asked, as
though he was speaking to a child.

"Uh... me? N... Nope... No girls for me..." Lance stuttered out.

"That'd be right." JC whispered slyly to Chris, just loud enough for his
microphone to pick up. Chris, who was sitting next to him, didn't react.

"Um... Ok then..." John said hesitantly "How about we move on?" He glanced
at the director.

"We'll cut it." The director agreed, causing my heart to finally begin to
beat once more. Several questions later and John wrapped up the interview;
a few stage hands ran onto the set and directed the guys into a dressing
room. I left them to it for a while and made my way over to the director,
who was chatting with John. I talked with them for a few minutes. The
'problem question' came up in our discussion, John agreed that it should be
cut out of the final version as he thought that it made him appear
incompetent. After a few minutes I bade my farewells and made my way to
*NSYNC's dressing room.

I knocked twice and walked in, five pairs of eyes looked towards
me. Lance's were red from unshed tears; JC's were cold, daring me to do
something. I ignored the others and stepped up to him. "JC can we talk?" I
asked, but it was more of statement than a question. He did not respond. I
frowned, and not taking my eyes from JC's, said, "Guys could you give us
some privacy?" They filed slowly out of the door.

When I was sure that they had all left, I stood to my full height and noted
that I was a few inches taller than JC. "Sit!" I barked, pointing to
bench. He did as he was told. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He hung
his head. "I thought the whole reason that you were opposed to Lance was
because he was endangering the group!" I yelled. "You'd better count
yourself damn lucky that they are cutting that section!"

"Stop shouting at me!" JC screamed back, standing from the bench. "It's his
fault!  He's asking for it!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Maybe if I scare the shit out of him, he might see that life ain't as
simple as 'I'm gay' and living happily ever after!" He bellowed.

"Uh... JC..." I began, my voice returning to its normal volume, "...you
can't scare someone into being straight. It doesn't work that way."

"He deserves it." He snickered.

"JC this may seem like a bit of an overreaction but if that fiasco ever
gets aired it may irrevocably damage the group's reputation. I'm going to
issue you with a verbal warning. You put the band at risk, and in
accordance with your contract I'm fining you a month's wages." I warned.

"You can't do that... you need Johnny's permission." He laughed, but I
could tell he was worried, "He'll want to know the reason for you doing
this - do want to be the one to tell him that one of his pop stars is a
queer?"

"Lance will tell him. If it stops you from terrorizing him then he'll do
anything." I informed him.

"No. Lance isn't strong enough." JC laughed. I was disgusted with his
attitude, and didn't think that I could keep my cool for much longer. I
turned on my heel and exited the room.

I stomped down the hallway pushing past the aides and assistants. I bumped
shoulders with one young girl, who couldn't have been much more than 16,
"Hey!  Watch it mister!" she shouted as we collided, I flipped her the bird
and continued on my way through the maze of corridors that made up the Jive
compound.

Once I had cooled down sufficiently and my brain began to work rationally
once more, I thought about trying to find the rest of the guys. I needed to
talk to them, not about this incident; I was hoping we could put this
behind us as soon as possible, but I was still their manager and I needed
to talk business with them. I went to the cafeteria to get myself some
coffee, after all that shouting with JC my throat was as dry as a bone.

The Jive cafeteria was very similar to one that you might see in any high
school.  There was along stainless steel counter where a line of people
were queuing up with trays. The place always seemed to be full of people,
although strangely enough I had never seen any celebrities in here. Perhaps
they all went out to lunch or maybe there was another place where they
could eat, that was a possibility since I knew there was an executive
dining room, why shouldn't there be a celebrity one?

Of course, today was to be the day that would prove me wrong. After I had
gotten my coffee I wondered towards the edge of the room, in search of an
empty table.  Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a blonde girl;
I noticed that she was sitting on someone's lap and thought nothing more of
it. That was of course until a little voice inside my head said, 'That was
Britney Spears stupid!' I glanced back over my shoulder towards her and saw
that she was giggling happily. She swayed backwards to reveal the face of
Justin, whose lap she was still sitting on.

I stood and walked over to them, taking my coffee with me. When I was
closer I saw that the other guys were sitting with them, talking quietly
and that Justin was wearing a goofy grin. "Hey guys." I said as I neared
them.

"Do I know you?" Britney asked quizzically, as I was greeted warmly by the
four members of the band. Justin whispered something in her ear, which
caused her eyes to brighten. "Hi! Justin tells me you're their new
manager. It's nice to put a face to the name." She offered her hand, and I
shook it enthusiastically. I took a seat next to Chris and placed my
Styrofoam cup on the table.

"I need to talk to you guys about some things." I began. Justin glanced
worriedly at Lance and then back at Britney.

"Brit could you give us some space for a few minutes?" He asked her
politely. But before she could respond I butted in.

"No. It's Ok, it's nothing that serious. I just wanted to tell you
something that I've already told Lance." I explained. Lance, who wasn't
particularly paying attention, suddenly began to. I smiled and realized
that he thought I was going to come out to the guys and Britney. I subtly
shook my head at him, and then continued, "So anyway, in six weeks time
you're going on tour, a world tour to be precise. But it's only a short
one, sort of a revenue generator in between albums, as well as a PR
exercise."

"Isn't that kinda short notice?" Chris asked.

"You're telling me," was my answer, "but that's what the execs want, so
that's what the execs'll get."

"What about support acts?" Justin asked, grinning at Britney.

"There are no Jive high-publicity artists available, that's the problem
with the lack of preparation time. So you'll be going it alone." I
replied. Justin's smile sank.

"As you're so knowledgeable on this subject are you going to be our tour
manager?" asked Chris, causing me to laugh.

"You've got to be kidding! Your regular manager and your tour manager? Are
you insane?" I snorted. "You'll have a tour manager who'll go with you and
sort out the day to day problems, Johnny is conducting interviews for the
position next week."

"You're not coming with us?" Lance questioned, with a hint of sadness in
his voice.

"No, I'm not." I smiled warmly, "Now, more urgent issues, we're going to
announce this tour with a press conference on Monday. But, I only want
three of you to be there."

"Only three? Why only three?" Britney joined the conversation.

"JC has already told me that he is... otherwise disposed." I lied, but I
think the guys caught on, "I don't want it to seem as though he's been
excluded for any particular reason, it'll look better if another of you is
missing - sort of spread the intrigue." I explained, yet I was still
confronted with five puzzled faces.

"Actually, that might work quite well..." Joey started "...I was hoping I
could have next week off, I want to go visit my family."

"Um... well before I agree, I should probably warn you that you need at
least three songs written before you go back into the studio." I advised.

"That shouldn't be a problem... JC's got one finished and Wade and I are
about halfway through one, so that leaves one more... we could get together
one day in the week and work something out." Justin suggested.

"I've got a song." Lance blurted.

"You wrote a song?" Justin was shocked, but quickly composed himself, "Good
for you Lance... but... uh... it is sing-able... not too low or anything is
it?" This caused us all too laugh, and Britney to playfully hit Justin in
the chest.

"Ok then, since that's settled... you can have your week off Joe." I smiled
at him.

"Thanks Alex!" He screamed happily. We continued to chat for a few minutes,
I got to know Britney a little better and I think all of the guys were
trying to cheer Lance up, who still seemed a little down.

***

"C'mon Alex! Dance with us!" Chris shouted over the loud thumping of the
music.  I looked around the dance floor for Lance, and saw him grinding
into a brunette girl. I grinned at Chris, if Lance could do it, why
couldn't I? Standing from my bar stool as a signal that I would dance,
Chris began to pull me into the middle of the club. Lance smiled at me when
he saw us nearing him and then went back to his dance partner. Chris then
tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at a pair of girls who were dancing
together. They were kind of good looking, you know, for females. I followed
my friend over to the pair; we cut in between them and paired off.

I let myself get lost in the music, but tried to pay enough attention to
the girl I was dancing with so that she wouldn't get pissed. Justin was
spending the night at JC's place, trying to make him see sense. Joey was in
New York, visiting his family. Lance, Chris and I were here, in this club,
dancing to the music. Lance was still not back to being himself - the MTV
incident had made him realize just how much he was hated by JC. I think it
might have scared him back into the closet, if that's possible. I was
hoping that this night out would cheer him up and maybe make him feel good
about himself once more.

My thoughts were interrupted by a warm, wet set of lips being pressed
against mine. The girl was kissing me! I pushed her off me, coughing and
spluttering. I pushed through the crowds of people, wiping my mouth on my
sleeve. I broke free of the dance floor and could see the table that one of
the waitresses had kindly kept free for us. Grabbing another drink from the
bar, I went to sit at the table, where I now found Lance, who was gulping
down another vodka.

"Chris just left with his girl." He told me, as I sat down. Then he sighed,
and brought his glass to his lips, taking another sip. I placed my hand on
top of his on the table in a gesture of support, but quickly removed it
when I realized the action's connotations. He smiled at me, "Wanna dance?"
he grinned. I inwardly groaned thinking that he was coming on to me.

"Sure." I answered, despite myself. Taking my beer bottle with me, I stood
and followed Lance into the center of the dance floor. We began to dance, I
kept my distance from him, but he insisted on moving closer to me. He
bumped and ground against me, and I subtly continued to avoid him, but it
was no use. The general public seemed to think that Lance had difficulty
dancing, I had never had the opportunity of comparing his skill against the
others, but he was damn good at shaking his body tonight. He was attracting
quite a lot of attention, and just a few songs later we had a large crowd
of people surrounding us. At least he was enjoying himself, I thought,
while trying to imitate him.

When were both slick with sweat he took my hand and pulled me back to our
table. "Want another drink?" he asked, still not letting go of my hand. I
pulled it free.

"Would you mind if we called it a night?" I asked, stifling a fake yawn, "I
worked all day and wasn't planning on staying up all night."

"Sure, why didn't you say something earlier?" He became concerned, and
pushed me towards the exit. After Lance had said a few goodbyes to the
barman and bouncers, he directed me to follow him out onto the street. The
cool night air hit me as we left the humid club, and I felt myself shiver
as we walked along the sidewalk.

Lance must have noticed it as well, "Are you cold?" He asked, his forehead
creased with concern, "Do you want my jacket?"

"Such a gentleman," I grinned "But I'll be fine." He nodded and went to
take my hand, but quickly stopped himself. I think he hoped that I didn't
notice, I did but chose not to make a big deal out of it. I put it down to
the alcohol. We walked in silence, looking for a cab, eventually one drove
past us. I hailed it, shouting "Taxi!" It pulled onto the curb, allowing us
to get in.

We rode in silence. I stared out of the window, watching the city go by. At
times during the journey I turned to see Lance looking at me, I smiled at
him, but he offered no response. I watched the cityscape fade into the
Florida countryside as we neared Lance's house. At that point I wondered
why I was even sharing a cab with him, as it probably would've been quicker
for me to get my own. No sense worrying about it now, I thought to myself.

We passed under a streetlamp; I caught Lance's reflection in the window, he
was looking at the back of my head again, with a sort of wistful expression
on his face.  The cab slowed to a stop as we pulled up outside Lance's
gates.

I turned to look at him; his eyes were bright yet filled with lust. It's
the alcohol, it's the alcohol, I kept telling myself. "I'll... uh... walk
you to your door." I said. No!  Stupid Alex! Why did I say that? I stood
from the cab and told the driver to wait for me. Lance got out and entered
the security code at his gates. We then walked up the drive together, in
silence. But his cursory glances were not missed by me.

We reached his doorstep and stood facing each other. "Alex..." Lance began,
leaning in close to me, "Thanks for coming out tonight... it really
helped." I could feel his warm breath on my face, and smell the vodka on
it. He licked his lips slowly, sensuously; his eyes locked onto mine.

I felt I should respond, before I did something I would later regret, "It
was a pleasure Lance...I enjoyed..." I stopped when I felt his arms snake
around my waist. I reacted quickly, in an attempt to prevent the
inevitable. "Uh... Goodnight Lance." I blurted, before turning and jogging
down the driveway towards the waiting taxi. I didn't stop to look back.

***

"Oh hi, sweetheart, come on in." My Mom stepped back from the door and
allowed me access.

"Hi Mom... Long time no see." I greeted her, kissing her on the cheek.

"Oh please, it's been two weeks!" She laughed. "And don't call me that, you
know I hate it!"

"But Mum..." I whined, in my English accent "...all the kids at school make
fun of me." I pouted childishly.

"Be quiet, you big drama queen!" She grinned, "Now lunch will be ready in
about half an hour..."

"Where's Jesse?" I interrupted her.

"Upstairs... but you can't go up there... he's doing school work!" She
shouted after me, as I bounded up the staircase.

"Just call when it's done Mum!" I yelled, as I reached the door to my
brother's bedroom.  I knocked and went in, not waiting for an answer. I saw
him sitting at his desk, scrawling something a piece of paper. He was
wearing headphones, and his head was bopping along to the music. I pulled
the headphone from his right ear, "Hey, lil' bro!" I shouted, causing him
to clutch his ear and pull the things from his head. "You're tellin' me you
can listen to that racket at that volume, but me saying 'Hi', hurts?"

"You didn't say it, you shouted it." He huffed.

"And Mum calls me the drama queen." I laughed. He spun on his chair, and
gave me a look that told me he wasn't best pleased with my remark.

"Do you know anything about Biology?" He asked.

"I'll give it a go," I leaned over his shoulder and studied his notes, and
then added a few scribbles to the some of the diagrams.

"Oh!" He exclaimed "Thanks."

"Uh... Can I talk to you a minute? Its something which I've been meaning to
mention for a few months... but I never got round to it." I asked
seriously.

"Um... Ok..." He answered apprehensively.

"Ok, so it's about you're... allergy." I began.

"Oh God, why don't I like the sound of this? Did Mum put you up to this?"
He blushed.

"No. I kinda thought that this was a Dad thing, but well since ours... you
know." I tried to explain.

"Yeah... so is this gonna be what I think it is. Cos I already know all
about the birds and the bees." He grinned.

"I guessed that." I laughed. "So, short and sweet." I pulled the box of
condoms from my pocket and threw them at him. He caught them.

"But you know I can't..."

"Non-Latex. Polyurethane or something. I figured buying condoms was
embarrassing enough at your age, let alone having to ask for
hypo-allergenic ones."

"Uh... Thanks." He managed to croak out, he was bright red. It was really
funny, but I managed to stop from laughing, so as to save him from more
discomfort.  "Mind if I change the subject?" he asked.

"Go ahead."

"You and Lance... are you an item yet?" He grinned, and quickly returned to
his regular skin color.

"You really don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"Nope"

"The answer is no, we're not together." I said. He stared intensely at me
for a few moments and then broke out into a smile.

"You've kissed him though... I can see it."

"You're such a freak." I sniggered.

"But I'm right." He laughed.

"We're just friends."

"Friends who've kissed... and whatever else you've done." He pushed.

"We've just kissed... Listen, Jesse, we work together, it wouldn't work." I
tried to make the situation clear to him.

"Alex, it's the only way it could work... you're both so busy... at least
you would be together. With anyone else you might only see them a few hours
a week... or less." He attempted to convince me.

Refusing to admit that he could be correct, I ended our conversation, "I'm
going downstairs to help Mum with lunch, I'll shout when we're done." He
nodded and grinned, knowing that he had gotten through to me.

***

End of Chapter 8

***

Yes, I know it was another short one, but I think I'm getting kind of
impatient waiting for the two of them to get together. As a few of you are,
judging by the e- mail. Talking of e-mail, it was severely lacking after
the previous chapter, I need to know what you think of the story so that it
continues to go in the right direction.  So send feedback to:

mystories@btinternet.com

One other thing that seems to have been slightly controversial, is my
decision to use JC as the bad guy. Firstly, it had to be someone, and it's
never him so I chose to be different, and secondly, I have a plan, and this
is the best way that I can think of carrying it out. I know I'm not giving
much away, but I wouldn't want to spoil the plot. Anyway, thanks for
reading, Tris.