Disclaimer: Don't know they at all. Just remember that its all fiction, baby.
Author's Notes: As most of the world knows, tragedy struck New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania during those hours when people were going to work on Tuesday. I would like to ask those people who are crass, arrogant, and insensitive enough to stop and please consider the pain that most of these people are going through. I have 2 New Yorker friends and I'm really mad at them right now for being so heartless about this whole situation. Just because you weren't there doesn't mean that your friends, family, and acquaintances could have been there. All I'm asking is that you be sensitive and support those who are affected by all this. Remember that it could be you there.
Pray for the souls of the victims and help their families and friends who are in need of comfort.
Dane
Love, Words, and Intentions Chapter 5: JC Chasez
Joshua Scott Chasez is having a very bad day.
Last night, he had another argument with Lance, his fiancee, and ended up sleeping on the couch. When he woke up the next day, Lance was gone and didn't leave a note or anything. As he walked to the studio where he was doing some producing for some upcoming artist, he was nearly run over by some crazy taxi driver. JC then halted the recording session because, for some reason, the new talent wasn't getting the song right. During lunch at the Soup Kitchen, one of the employees there slipped and threw an entire large kettle of bean soup at his face. He left the place mad and threatening to sue. Even after a quick shower and change of clothes, he could still smell the beans on his body. The day progressed and, still, more misfortunes plagued the young singer.
"When will this day ever end!" thought JC exasperatedly as he entered his favorite restaurant, The Green Earth. He was going to meet the rest of the guys, and maybe some other people that he forgotten, who knows. He scanned around the room and saw that he was the first one here. "Great! First one here. Guess I'll have to wait for everybody." As soon as he said that to himself, a waitress, a rather petite and young Chinese teenager, recognized him and led him to NSYNC's usual table.
The Green Earth was famous for three things, basically. One, it was hailed by food critics as one of the best fusion restaurants in the city of New York. Two, its famous clientele have their pictures taken and hung on the wall, dubbed the Constellation Wall, which the tourists love to see. And three, a famous group of singers, NSYNC namely, helped in marketing this place as they would always go here whenever they were in town for the pass 6 years. After all, they were the first customers on the week it first opened. Its owner, Mrs. Ming-Na Tsui bought this place when it was still a hole-in-the-wall with the money that her husband left for her when he died almost a decade ago. Her middle child, Eric, and his wife, Sonya, help in running this avant-garde establishment. Since that first day of business, Ming and her family always had those "boys who are like angels" in their daily prayers.
JC looked around at the Constellation wall and found the favorite picture of Ming, it was a picture of JC and the guys with Ming's family on that very first day they met. He recalled that day and laughed in spite of himself. That was the day they recorded the last song of their first album and they all wanted to celebrate. It was lunchtime, and they couldn't decide where to eat until Chris suggested this place just down the block from the studio. He found it while he was lost and tried to find the studio. Being the first customers and all, they only paid half the price and the rest was history.
"JOSHUA!" shouted someone, with a thick Chinese accent, from the direction of the kitchen, and everyone looked there. They all saw a very petite, old woman with a big smile on her face. She rushed towards the singer and gave him a welcoming hug. Her sensitive nose crinkled and held the man at arms length. "Joshua, why do you smell like beans?"
The few patrons who heard her laughed. JC blushed and placed a kiss on her forehead. "It's nice to see you too, Ming. As for the smell of beans, well, I was involved in an accident this afternoon. Are Eric and Sonya here? What about the twins?"
Ming shooed him to sit down and shouted to one of her waiters some orders in Cantonese. She turned to JC. "Both of them are in Queens attending a Bar Mitzvah of one of Sonya's nephews. They brought Karen and Kelsey along with them."
JC, not wanting to focus on himself and his worries, he decided to steer some of the conversation on to Ming. "I bet both of them are having a tough time in school. Having a Chinese father and a Jewish Italian Mother is bad enough. Can you imagine your lineage to the world? Just how do Karen and Kelsey handle that in preschool?" JC asked with curiosity.
"Aiyah! It's hard. Kelsey has no problem because he has friends of different races, so he doesn't feel left out. But Karen has a hard time because, in her own words, "I'm not blue-eyed and blonde". Aiyah! The things that girls go through nowadays."
JC had to chuckle. It felt good to know about Kelsey and Karen. After all, he is Kelsey and Karen's godfather. In the pass 5 years, he had managed to find his way into the hearts of the Tsui family and they adopted him as one of their own, mostly because they see him more than any of the other guys.
A waiter soon appeared and laid out two teacups and a pot full of Jasmine tea. Ming poured the hot tea gingerly into the cups and placed down the pot. She motioned JC to try the tea. He sipped and made a face of approval. Ming drank and set down the cup with a delicate care, and then she faced him and looked at him straight to his blue eyes. A short, but noticeable pause happened as she examined JC's face.
"So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind? Joshua?"
JC felt some surprise but not too much. In the entire time that JC has known Ming, she has always been able to get him to talk, especially when he was feeling a bit negative, like today. He smiled and took a long sip of the fragrant tea. After refilling it, he let out a long sigh and unloaded himself.
"I'm just having a bad day, that's all. Actually, its more of having a few bad days that accumulated into one really bad day."
"Talk to me, Joshua. You know you can tell me anything."
Sighing and sipping his tea again before speaking, JC elaborated the pass few weeks. "Well, about three weeks ago, AJ decided to go to rehab for his depression and alcohol problem. It shocked all of us because none of us saw this coming, even his own band mates. Then came the death of Drew's wife, which devastated Drew. I found out recently that Christina has been seeing a bunch of doctors about some unknown ailments that's been plaguing her for several months now. And then our group has its own kettle of fish."
"What's been happening to you boys lately?" Ming sagely asked and sipped some more tea.
"Well, Joey's been on paternal leave until he starts on a new play. Chris and Howie are still going strong, being that they're still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship. And Justin, well, I've haven't been paying attention to him lately, so he's mad at me for neglecting him as his best friend. I would tell Lance about this, and he would just get up, get mad, and then leave. I don't understand him."
Ming thought quietly for a moment, and then she had a revelation of sorts. "Joshua," she starts. "When does Lance usually get mad at you?"
JC thought for a moment. The lights in his head suddenly sparked and he groaned at the possibility. "He usually gets mad whenever I would talk about Justin. He can't still be mad about Justin being my ex, can he?"
"I don't know. You should just sit him down and talk about it. You never do talk about it, don't you?" Ming snapped her fingers on one of her waiters and ordered some assorted Chinese cold cuts in her native Cantonese. The suddenness of her actions made JC jump, shocking him out of his depressing shell and making him sit up straight.
"No, we don't," he said nervously. "There never seems to be a right time for us to talk as a couple. Other than group and personal problems, our families are shoving themselves in everything we are intending for the wedding, if only to get their way."
"So that's why you look so tired." JC nodded
"Both me and Lance are having pre-marital problems, so we have been at each other's throats for the pass week or so. We fight about everything, mostly about the wedding. Our parents can't agree on anything and we're divided because of them. Both our moms want a big wedding for us, but disagree on the venue. Lance's mom wants it in a church. My mom wants it in our ancestral home in Bowie. My dad wants a New England style wedding. Lance's dad wants to keep it traditional. Any one of our ideas have been nixed by one or another of the parents. The stress of planning a wedding is unbelievable. I have half a mind to call the whole thing off if I didn't love Lance."
"Aiyah! Sounds like Sonya's parents and myself when we were planning Eric's wedding. We couldn't agree on anything. I wanted a traditional Chinese wedding at a Buddhist Temple. They wanted it in a church. We fought over it until my son and daughter-in-law put their foot down. We compromised the whole thing. Both of them wanted a white wedding, then a Chinese reception to follow. I was unhappy about it at first but in the end it was all well and good. People go through these things all the time when they get married, Joshua. If a person couldn't take what you're going through now, then he's not fit to get married. This is a commitment. You got issues. Lance got issues. So forget about the others for the time being and isolate yourselves for a time to work this out."
JC sighed and smiled. "You always gave good advice, Ming. It's no wonder that you became the head of the Psychology Department in New York State University for a while. Not to get out of topic or anything, but why did you quit?"
"I was tired of giving too much advice to people."
They both laughed at that. Soon everyone arrived, all of they being at least an hour late, and dinner became a grand reunion of sorts with the boys and Ming. Lance, being the last to arrive, sat reluctantly beside JC, the only place that was free on the table. In the middle of the dinner, JC leaned in to Lance's ear and whispered, "We need to talk when we get to the hotel." Lance just nodded and smiled meekly.
As the boys of NSYNC and their friends filed out of the Green Earth and into the awaiting limo, JC was the last to exit the restaurant. He hugged JC and gave him a bag of fortune cookies. "I know you eat a bundle of these whenever you are in town. Now go and enjoy yourself. Try not to worry so much and talk to that man of yours. I would hate to see a young couple's love go to waste." She smiled very motherly at JC and gave him a hug before he closed the door of the limo.
The limo ride was tense for JC and Lance, not that the rest had noticed. Joey was talking with Kelly and Brianna on his cell phone, while Chris and Justin wrestled as to prove who was "King of the Hill". Steve (Joey's brother) and Tyler (JC's brother) talked about nothing in particular. Britney and Christina compared notes on their supporting acts on their respective tours. All of them, oblivious to what's happening to the engaged couple, went on like this until they arrived at the hotel.
Soon, everyone left again for the clubs, leaving JC and Lance to spend time together as a couple, but not before Joey leering a comment about using lubrication.
JC laid himself down on the bed and waited as Lance took his shower. Dressed down to his silk boxers, he fidgeted on the bed trying to get comfortable, hoping that tonight won't end up like last night. Soon, JC noticed the door of the bathroom opening with steam escaping, Lance came out toweling himself, without certain modesty. JC watched as Lance placed the towel on beside his suitcase and started to plow through his stuff for some shorts to wear. With his butt facing JC, he didn't notice him until after he slipped on some boxer-briefs and turned around. Seeing JC on the bed startled him.
"Can we talk now?" JC questioned.
Lance nodded and sat down beside his fiancee. He faced him and asked, "So, what do you want to talk about?"
JC looked him straight in the eyes. "Do you still want to get married?"
Total Shock. "Whaaat?"
"You heard me, Lance. Do you want to still get married?"
Without hesitation, Lance said, "Of course, I do. I love you very much but why are you asking me this? Do you want to break up? Is there someone else?" Lance began to get increasingly agitated. JC held him close and, with soothing circular movements on his back, he managed to calm him down.
"I'm not breaking up with you, if that's what you're worried about. I'm only asking because all we seem to do lately is fight and I'm starting to wonder if the next step is really worth it later. I don't want to marry you, and then suddenly divorce you because we have too many problems to fix. We hardly talk anymore, only fight, bicker, and argue. I don't want to marry you because we promised each other we will. I want to get married because I love you, with questions or doubt in my mind."
Lance digested what JC just told him. "So, basically, we need to talk things over." He sighed and held on to JC's hands. "I guess you're right. We haven't been talking lately. So what do you suggest we do about it?"
"We talk."
The elevator door opened and out walked Justin and Britney hand-in-hand, with Joey and Chris in tow. Passing JC and Lance's room, they heard shouting and cursing. Justin looked at watch and noted the late time.
"Damn, have they been fighting that long? It's almost 3 in the morning. They'll be hoarse when both of them wake up in the morning."
Chris smirked. "Don't worry about it guys. Before you know it, both of them will be walking funny from all the make-up sex that they'll be having."
The rest of them just shook their heads and headed for their respective rooms. After all of them closed their doors, the shouting from JC and Lance's room ceased. Justin and Britney, being that their room is beside the Engaged couple's room, noticed this after starting to get ready for bed.
"Funny," thought Britney as both of them got into the shower together. Both of them were tucked under the sheets, in a comforting embrace when they heard it.
"Oh James! Yeah! Do it to me!"
Britney and Justin both giggled and placed the pillows on their heads, hoping to drown out the vocal moaning of their beat friends next door.
The next day at breakfast, everyone noticed the glow of the couple as they walked into Joey's room for breakfast. Justin whispered something to Lance and he blushed like no tomorrow. The rest of them laughed, so JC came in the defense of his fiancee.
"You're just jealous, Curly."
"Not really, because I know what you got down there."
"Why you!!!" said JC as he jumped Justin and ensued a dog piling on him. Justin screamed "UNCLE" and proceeded to chase his best friend around the room, despite JC's sore muscles.
Today, the group decided to go shopping and, basically, hang out in the tourist places of New York. As all of they were about to leave, Lance whispered to Justin's ear, "I'm so sorry Justin."
"For what?"
"For being jealous of you." Then Lance walked back to his room. JC opened the door for him and saw Justin look at them strangely. He smiled at him and Justin smiled back. He knew they were going to spend some time together eventually as best friends.
For the first time in a long while, JC felt like things will just get better and better. He talked to Lance, now both of them have to talk to their parents and lay down the plans for their beach wedding in Hawaii.
TBC...
Email me your comments and tell me what you think out this. Other story of mine are "Mad Season" and "Eventually".