The Gift of Love... A New Tale of the Magi By Billy Burrew
Disclaimer: As usual, I would like to comment that this story is purely fictional and that it is no reflection on the sexual orientation of any of the members of NSYNC, Backstreet Boys or their estranged manager, Lou Pearlman. Please read this and enjoy it for what I intended it to be, an entertaining story. There is not a lot of sex, tho there are some adult situations. Please be forewarned. Remember, in the words of Peter Vincent, the Vampire Slayer in Fright Night, "Forewarned is Forearmed!" -Billy B
Chapter 8: An Unpleasant Meeting and A Painful Secret
About 20 minutes later, the guys pulled into the parking area of TransCon and headed towards the office. As the three walked into the office, A man's voice rang out, "Lance, Justin? Is that you?"
The guys groaned lightly before responding, "Yes!"
"Come in. I have that form here, and I need to get it to the lawyers today!"
Justin, Lance and Patrick walked into the office and the man behind the desk looked up with cold eyes.
"Hello?", the man said looking at Patrick, "Who are you?"
"My name is Patrick Morrow. Nice to meet you, Mr....?", Patrick said confidently.
"Pearlman. Lou Pearlman.", Lou said as he looked Patrick over keenly. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting with Lance, JC, Justin and the rest of the guys.", Patrick said soberly, suddenly uncomfortable with Lou's gaze.
"This is Patrick, Lou, the Patrick that we went to his sister's wedding a month or so ago in Columbus, Ohio.", Lance said nervously.
"Oh...the weekend that security misplaced you for a day.", Lou said coldly.
"Young man", Lou continued, looking at Patrick alone, "That weekend caused more headaches for me than you'll ever know. I hope that they had a good reason to sneak off for the day."
"I think they did.", Patrick said softly. "I think that going to visit with someone who's life expectancy is less than a year, in hopes to cheer him up and prolong his life is a very good reason. These boys should be commended, not condemned."
"Really?", Lou said suspiciously, "Who's dying? You?"
Justin and Lance gasped, and for a second Lou turned pale as he realized his error.
"Yes", Patrick yelled, "I am dying of AIDS. My doctor gave me 3-4 months to live. I have lived for 5 so far. In my little world, that means I am graced with an extension on my life, and I owe it to these guys. And if their coming to my sister's wedding to do this miracle caused you some headaches then too damn bad, Lou!! There's drugs out there for that. Take some, get over it, and stop acting like such a goddamned prick!!"
A deafening silence descended over the room as Patrick and Lou stared at each other over his desk until Patrick looked over at Lance and Justin and said, very sweetly, "Now...let's sign what you needed to sign and go home."
Lou grunted and pushed two sheets of paper out towards them. Justin grabbed a pen and signed the first, then the second. Lance did the same as quickly.
The guys stood up, mumbling goodbye to Lou.
Lou and Patrick stared at each other for a second longer before Lou spoke, "Goodbye Mr. Morrow. If you are indeed as ill as you say, then I probably won't be seeing you again."
"No", Patrick said quickly as he turned and walked out of Lou's office, "I have this feeling that we will meet again. My luck could never be so good as for us not to."
As he slammed the door to Lou's office, Patrick looked up and saw Justin and Lance crying at the end of the hallway. Patrick walked down the hall and grabbed the two young men into an embrace.
"Patrick", Justin said, "I'm so sorry. He was so mean and rude to you."
Lance sniffed and nodded, "I have never seen someone stand up to him like that before. You were really mad!"
"Well....Never get me started. I can turn from nice guy to complete bitch in .3 seconds flat. You just saw a taste of it. That lard ass may think he's queen of the May with this company, but man...he just ran smack into me, the Queen of Denial.", Patrick said then chuckled.
Lance and Justin giggled and then the guys walked out of the building and got into the UT.
As they drove home, Patrick looked over at Lance, who still looked really upset.
"Scoopy", Patrick said, "We're away from him...don't let him ruin your day."
Lance sighed and then looked over at Patrick and began to cry. He slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the road.
"I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!", Lance cried as Patrick leaned over and pulled him into a hug, "For what he just did to you and what he did to me!"
"What did he do to you?", Patrick whispered to Lance.
"When the band first started, he would come around and touch me and Justin. He touched us....where he shouldn't have. We didn't want him to, but he made us promise not to tell....or he said he'd drop us. I thought he was gonna do it again today since we were the only two he asked to sign that contract. But you were there and so he just kinda blew up on you instead."
"He touched you?", Patrick said quietly, his eyes small and angry, "He MOLESTED you! You were both underage and he molested you."
"Don't tell anyone, please", Justin cried from the back seat.
"I won't tell anyone. But you two have to. If he did it to you guys, he will do it to other boys. Like Aaron Carter or LFO, or anyone. Please...guys. There is no disgrace in this for you. He did this to you. He's the monster here."
"We are gonna make it public soon.", Lance said, "JC found out that he's funneling money that belongs to the band to himself. We plan on leaving the label here in a month or two. We're just gathering evidence now and waiting for a window."
"OK", Patrick sighed, "Just don't let him get away with it. He and I are gonna meet again....I know it!"
The guys got home and Lance and Justin filled the guys in on their meeting as Mike showed Patrick where their room was. Patrick changed into a pair of shorts and a button down shirt and rejoined the guys as Mike stood horrified as he listened as Lance's retelling of the events of their meeting.
"I hope my yelling back at him won't get you guys in any deeper with him. He seems the real, unforgiving, grudge holding kinda guy.", Patrick said.
"No", Lynn said from the end of the room where she had stood quietly and heard the whole story, "They won't be because I won't stand for it. What he said to you was way out of line and he deserved the verbal stomping you gave him. He may be their manager, but he was off base this time."
Patrick smiled and JC and Chris walked over and hugged him.
"I really do have you guys to thank for being here. I don't think I would have lived this long if Mike had never written that letter.", Patrick said softly.
"Justin showed me that letter last week when he was telling me about you.", Lynn said, "I cried reading it."
"Well", Patrick laughed, "I have some photos here that you might wanna see then, Lynn."
"Ooooh", Lynn said as she sat beside Patrick, "Wedding pictures! Ahh...look! This is one of all you guys, it's perfect. Can I have this one? I am gonna get it blown up and hang it in Justin's room."
The guys spent the next half hour happily going through the pictures and picking out the ones they liked. Lance pulled Patrick off to the side and grinned as he held up a picture of the two of them standing beside each other, grinning.
"This is awesome!", Lance grinned, "I am definitely gonna get enlarged and framed."
Patrick grinned and hugged Lance.
"Here is a good one, that the press would have a field day with. It's JC and Mike slow dancing. Who lead during this dance, by the way?", Chris laughed as JC pulled the picture away from him and grinned.
"He did", both Mike and JC said in unison as they pointed to the other. This caused the guys to break out in peals of laughter.
"You guys make a cute couple.", Lynn grinned as she looked at Mike and JC.
"So we've been told.", JC grinned as he looked at Patrick, who blushed deep red.