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. Thanks to everyone for the e-mail. It would be great if it would keep coming, for starters I really like it and secondly it means that I can take any comments and criticisms and use them to improve the story.
If you have any comments, questions or criticisms 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 4
I was woken by the noise of the garbage men, it was past 11 o'clock. I slowly pulled myself out of bed and into the adjoining bathroom. I took care of my business and emerged a few minutes later to put on a t-shirt and some boxers. I decided to plough on with the paperwork while I waited for Lance to wake up. Over an hour later, he was still not awake, and my stomach was beginning to complain. I made my way to the kitchen and used the remainder of the groceries that Susie had brought over on Wednesday to make a full breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast and just about anything else you could possibly have for breakfast, apart from fries, I can't stand them in the morning, or even early afternoon as was the case here. The bacon was sizzling away nicely when Lance emerged from the guest room.
"Morning Alex; smells good." He smiled sleepily. I glanced up and couldn't help but grin at his bed hair, far removed from his usual pristine spikes.
"Hey Lance. This isn't going to be done for a while, why don't you go take a shower and... uh... maybe attempt to fix your hair." I laughed.
"Very funny, you aren't exactly the picture of beauty yourself this morning." He retorted. I simply stuck my tongue out at him and then went back to my frying pan.
"Can I... uh... get some towels or something." He asked shyly.
"Oh yeah, sorry Lance, there's towels in the cupboard in your bedroom. Everything else is in the bathroom, use whatever you need."
"Thanks Alex." He said and plodded off, back towards his room.
Ten minutes later and breakfast was almost ready, so I turned the heat down, and sat at the kitchen table, fractions of a second later I heard the chirping of a cell phone. I got up and walked over to the table by the door, but quickly realized that it wasn't mine that was ringing. I followed the noise to the couch, where I found the jacket that Lance was wearing the night before. I reached into the only visible pocket and found the phone. I pressed the answer button and held it up to my ear.
"Lance's phone, Alex Michaels speaking."
"Alex? Where's Lance?" It was JC.
"Hi JC. He's in the shower, by the time we had gotten Justin home last night it was getting late, since my place was so close, I offered him somewhere to stay." I explained.
"Oh, Ok then. The reason I'm calling is I have some errands to run today and I was hoping Lance could check on him. As you're so close, do you think maybe you could instead?" He asked. At that moment I heard a door opening and looked up to see Lance in one of my bathrobes, his hair still wet, yet miraculously spiked. 'Its JC' I mouthed at him, he nodded in response and walked past me into the kitchen.
"How about this JC..." I continued my phone conversation. "...I'll have to take Lance back to his house. We'll stop by Justin's on the way."
"Thanks Alex. I understand he needs to learn the down side of getting drunk but I'd never forgive myself if..."
"Honestly its fine. I'll call you with an update later. See ya JC." I finished our conversation.
"Bye Alex." He hung up, and I pressed the end button. I placed the cell phone back into the jacket pocket and then walked into the kitchen where I found Lance eating the breakfast that I had made and gulping down a large mug of coffee. There was an extra plate of food opposite him as well as another coffee. I sat facing him and explained that JC wanted us to check on Justin. Lance agreed that someone ought to make sure he was alright. Once we had finished breakfast we did the washing up together, and I offered him a change of clothes, he accepted gratefully and told me to take a shower, because I was 'a bit smelly'. I had laughed and taken my shower while he picked out some clothes from my wardrobe.
Soon after I had gotten dressed, we took the elevator down to the ground floor, and then jumped into my car. We chatted about lots of things, none of which were very important, but Lance still gave the impression that he was thinking something over.
On our arrival at Justin's, Lance got out and walked up to the front door, as I locked my vehicle, more out of force of habit than necessity, as the house was very secluded. I joined him on the front step just as the youngest member of *NSYNC poked his head around the door. He attempted to smile, but winced in pain when the harsh sunlight hit his face; he covered his eyes and waved us in.
I followed Lance, who was in turn following Justin into what I presumed was a sitting area. It was very modern, yet tasteful; Lance and I took seats on the couch opposite to where Justin had sat down.
"How are you feeling today Just?" Lance seemed concerned.
"I'm alright. I'm trying to avoid any swift movements or loud noises." He spoke softly. "You know you don't have to come to check up on me every time I get slightly drunk."
"Slightly drunk?" I raised my voice, causing Justin to grimace. "Sorry, but you were more than slightly drunk."
"Besides, JC sent us over, and you know how he gets." Lance said.
"Ok then." Justin was content with that explanation. "Say... why are you two sharing that old car, where's yours Lance?" Lance glared at him, but I laughed it off.
"Hey! That's my beat up old car you're talking about!" I said taking mock-offence "Everyone says that about my car, but it goes, and that's all I've ever wanted it to do." I shrugged. Justin cocked his head to the side.
"When I can go out into the sun, without getting a mind-bendingly painful headache, I'm taking you out in my Merc. Then you can see what you're missing." He grinned. "You still haven't answered my other question, why have you only got one car?"
"Once we'd finished dealing with you last night it was really late, and since Alex only lives a few minutes away he offered me a place to sleep." Lance answered.
"So you stayed with him, huh?" Justin waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"He sure did." I laughed at his expression, while Lance blushed.
"Look I'm fine." Justin waved his arms over his body. "It's nice of you to check on me, but I can manage on my own."
"If I didn't know any better I'd say he was trying to get rid of us." I smiled at Justin and then stood, pulling Lance up with me. "Let's go Lance" I said to him. He obediently followed me out the door, not saying a word. He had really taken Justin's comment to heart, which surprised me, as despite him being fairly quiet I thought he could take a joke well.
As I unlocked my waiting sedan and lowered myself into the driver's seat my cell phone rang. I answered and found that it was Johnny Wright on the line; he wanted me at the Jive compound as soon as possible. I explained the situation to Lance, "That was Johnny; he needs to talk to me urgently. He didn't say what about but it must be important for him to want to see me on a Saturday. Would you mind if we stopped at the compound?"
"I don't mind." He said concisely. We made the journey in silence; something was definitely on his mind. I had studied for years to be able to sort out someone's problems, and it took all my willpower not to ask him about it. I managed not to talk about it, deciding it was up to him if he wanted to discuss it or not.
I pulled into the compound, stopping at the gate to show my ID. There were very few cars around, so I was lucky enough to find a space right outside the office block. I switched the engine off and asked Lance if wanted to come with me up to my office. "I guess so, I've never been up to the executive floor before" he replied.
"Never? In all the time you've been working here you've never been up to the third floor?" I was shocked.
"I only know Johnny up there. All the other managers we've had, have had their offices on the lower levels. Come to think of it, why do you get an executive office?" he asked.
"Oh, well they gave it to me when I first came here as a shrink. I wanted space for a couch." I grinned. "One of the conditions I gave when I switched to management was that I kept the big office. So you ready to scale the heights of Jive HQ?" I stood from the vehicle and moved towards the automatic doors on the front of the building with Lance in tow. We entered and I flashed my ID at the receptionist, Helen, who replied with a polite 'Good afternoon', we ascended the stairs to the third floor where I pointed down a corridor and said, "Mine, is the fourth door on the right, I shouldn't be long." He nodded and walked in the direction I was pointing. I turned and walked towards Johnny's office. I knocked and walked in.
"Ah, Alex. Glad to see you could make it on such short notice. There's two things I need to talk to you about actually. The first is a minor concern of mine. You see, I only found out about the studio problem this morning. I would appreciate it if you kept me better informed." My boss chastised.
"That's strange. I left a message with your PA as soon as I found out about *NSYNC not having a studio to work in. That would've been... uh... Tuesday evening. I discussed it with the guys Wednesday." I elucidated.
"Very well, but if you'd have contacted me then I would've been able to arrange studio time." He argued.
"That's true, and I realized that at the time, but I didn't think it would be fair on the groups who would have been messed around."
"I don't care about other groups, *NSYNC are out the studio for two weeks because of your poor organization skills, and I'm not best pleased about it." He raised his voice.
"Excuse me? For your information I approached the guys and asked them how much time they needed in the studio. Their answer was 'a few days, because we've recorded nearly everything we've written', so in actual fact I saved you money by not booking the studio. Oh, and believe me, if I wanted a studio I would've been able to get one myself, without making life miserable for a minor band." I retorted.
"Huh..." he huffed. "I'm sorry for jumping down your throat, but the execs are pressuring me. The sales of 'Celebrity' are falling and we aren't going to release any more singles from it. They want something new, let me rephrase that. They want money, and they want it ASAP." Johnny apologized.
"That's Ok, I'm nearly up on all the paperwork. Once I am, I'll work out some marketing strategies and make them their money. Now, what was the other thing?"
"Oh... I've been receiving loads of calls, most of which you should be getting. I suggest you do some digging and get your contact details out to the masses. Also, leaving a note at reception couldn't hurt." He seemed happy that the second problem was less, should I say, provocative.
"I'll do that; I'll also try to keep you informed. Bye." I departed, closing his office door behind me. I walked down the corridor towards my own office. When I arrived there I found Lance sitting at my desk, staring intently at my computer screen. He looked up when he heard the door click shut behind me.
"I hope you don't mind me using your computer, I just wanted to check my e- mail." He said.
"Go ahead." I gestured for him to continued, and then I saw my in-tray, which had tripled in size since the last time I had seen it. "Damn, more work. Just when I thought I was nearly up to date." I picked up the pile and quickly flicked through it. "Why is it that all the junk mail makes its way to my desk and yet I have to chase up all the important stuff?" I asked rhetorically. Lance simply shrugged his shoulders without looking at me. "Ah ha!" I called out, "Finally something worth reading." I placed the magazine on the desk and put the rest of the pile back into the tray.
"Psychiatry Review Monthly," he read the title, and then giggled, obviously amused at my choice of reading material. "I'm sure it's very... educational."
"Sure is," I agreed "Besides it pays to keep up to date with developments, I want to go back to it some day."
"You're going to quit management?" He was shocked and worried.
"Not for a good few years. But I don't want to have all this stress and be touring the world when I'm in my fifties. As a shrink I could have a nice air conditioned office downtown, I could get up late every morning and just work the afternoons, and when I got home I could forget everything I'd done during the past few hours and relax." I explained.
"Oh, well I see your point in that case." He was relieved, and went back to the computer screen, while I sat down on the couch and began to read my magazine. A few minutes later Lance cleared his throat causing my attention to turn to him, I noticed that my computer was now switched off. "Alex," he began "would you mind if I spoke to you seriously for a minute?" I smiled my consent, causing him to continue. "What you said last night, about me not fitting in. I do fit in, I'm part of this group and the way I act should in no way imply that I don't want to be in *NSYNC."
"I didn't say that Lance, I was just giving my observations..." I defended myself.
"I know that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you Alex." He paused. "Um... when I talk to you... about private stuff... and you're acting like a shrink, there's like a doctor-patient confidentiality thing right?" He asked nervously.
"Usually there would be, but in this instance there isn't technically, since I'm not practicing and you aren't my patient..." I had to be honest, lying to him to get information would be wrong.
"Oh..." he was disappointed.
"But..." I interrupted "... as a friend, Lance, you can talk to me and it'll be between us. That's a promise." And then I smiled "Why don't you just think of my psychiatric past as an added bonus?"
"Um... well..." he was apprehensive,
"I hate to keep doing the shrink thing, but, do you want to take the couch?" I directed him to sit next to me. He giggled anxiously, and sat down cross-legged at the other end of the sofa.
"I... uh... you see, the thing is..." he stuttered out.
"Don't be nervous Lance," I smiled sincerely "Just tell me what's on your mind."
"No... it doesn't matter..." he began to stand up.
"Just say it Lance."
"Say what?"
"You tell me, I'm not going to say it for you." I said stubbornly.
"Alex... I'm gay." He stated simply.
"Ok." I replied; silence ensued.
"That's it? Only Ok?" He was surprised at my reaction to his news.
"Yep, I'm fine with it Lance. I'm happy that you trusted me enough to tell me." I answered.
"Wow, I never imagined it would be so easy."
"What about that girlfriend you had a few weeks ago?"
"That was just a cover story." He giggled and conceded "Actually, it was a crazy woman who claimed she'd had sex with me, and instead of knocking the rumour on its head, I allowed it to continue, it stopped a few whispers."
Just like that Lance came out to me, and I was honestly happy for him, he seemed to be a totally different person from what he was ten minutes before. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted and he could finally stand tall and be himself with me. His giggling and chatter continued even I after suggested we should get him home. He simply didn't stop; he talked about his feelings what he wanted to with his life... all simple things, which he had never mentioned to me before.
I dropped him off at his house, which was a massive two storey affair just outside Orlando, and walked him to his door. "I'll see you soon Lance." I said.
"You sure will" he grinned.
"Say, what do you think of me going over to visit Chris? You know, to try to smooth things over with him, see if we can at least try to get along." I asked.
"I don't see why not... I don't think it would do any harm if that's what you're asking." He responded.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll stop by his place on the way home." I agreed.
"Thanks for the place to stay Alex, and... um... for listening." He smiled and pulled me into a totally unexpected hug. I stiffened at first, unsure of how to respond but I quickly realized it was a friendly gesture and hugged him in return. When we separated I walked back towards my car, while he waved me off from the front step.
I drove back towards the city. When I pulled up to a set of lights, I reached onto the beak seat and groped around for my ever present briefcase. I found it, and pulled it into the front, right as the lights turned green. My focus alternated between the road ahead of me and my briefcase until I found what I was looking for - Chris's profile. His address was printed on the cover sheet. I arrived at his apartment at just gone three o'clock.
I stood at the door for a few seconds before taking the plunge and knocking. There was no answer, so I rang the bell, I waited for a while. I was about to turn and leave thinking he was out when the door slowly opened. Chris stepped from behind the door, he was dressed in only a towel and his hair was wet. 'Good start' I thought to myself 'get him out of the shower'.
"Ugh" He grunted, his nose slightly upturned, when he saw that it was me standing at his door. "You got great timing, kid!" I was offended but said nothing, I simply stood, waiting to be invited in. "I suppose, I should invite you in, unless you want to stand there all day, 'cos it sure wouldn't worry me." He stepped back from the door, allowing me access. I followed him in and closed the door behind me. He pointed to a room down the hall "Wait in there. I'm getting dressed."
I walked down the hall and into the room that he directed me to. It was a spacious sitting room, classically decorated, with a bar in the corner. I took a seat and waited for my antagonist to return. In a short time, he entered the room from another door, now dressed in baggy pants and a basketball vest, with a bandana covering his hair.
"What do you want Alex? I assume this isn't a social call." He asked icily.
"I was wondering why you act like that towards me. All the stuff the company gave me on you said you were alright, it said you were 'one of the guys' and it said that..." I was cut off by him.
"Did it say that I take care of my friends? Did it say that I don't like some kid coming into the group and corrupting them?" He asked.
"Corrupting them?" I was confused, did he know Lance was gay? Did he blame me? "When did I corrupt them?"
"They've become totally submissive - they do what you tell them to do, without question. They let a kid order them around, an under qualified one at that, and so far, I don't see that kid achieving anything other making four famous friends." He ranted.
"That's what its about? I'm totally qualified! I'm old enough to know what I'm doing and in the past five days I've done a month's worth of work!" I shouted back.
"I don't see the evidence, I don't see improving record sales, I don't see more appearances, and I don't even see a studio to work in." He yelled.
"You've been doing this long enough to know that record sales drop after it's been on sale for six months. You know you don't do appearances when you're recording... and I explained about the studio... you decided as a group that you needed time to write anyway." I argued.
"This isn't some thing you can apply a little logic to and it'll all work out... this is our livelihoods... we're *NSYNC, if you cock this up, we'll still be *NSYNC just not selling any records. We won't be able to do anything after this... we'll just be 'that guy from that group that split up'."
"Oh..." I giggled inappropriately "...you're insecure 'cos you're the oldest!"
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" He lunged at me, pinning me to the chair I was sitting on. "I am not too old!" he screamed and then he punched me on the nose. I reached up to my top lip as I yelped in pain; I saw blood on my finger. I was stunned but still managed to summon enough strength to push him away.
I saw tears streaming down his face. He leaped on me again, taking another swing at me. He hit me squarely on the temple, my vision became blurry, I blinked to try to clear it but it was no good... Chris and his sitting room faded to nothing.
End Chapter 4