- Text Size +

Amelia, being terribly hungover and very emotional, didn’t take the news of Christina and Nick’s marriage very well at all. As a matter of fact, by the time the meeting rolled around, she seemed to be mad at pretty much everyone. She burst into the conference room five minutes late and shot dirty looks at Nick, Chrissy, AJ, and.....Kevin? Then she pulled a chair out from under the table, rolled it up against the wall so that she was as far away from everyone else as possible, and fell into it with a snarl.


 


“Okay, then.” Johnny stood up from his chair and leaned his hands on the table, commanding our attention. “Now that Miss Roberts over there has decided to grace us with her presence, let’s get started.” He straightened up and started pacing with his arms crossed stiffly across his chest. Finally, after about fifty paces back and forth, he started out with, “You people are killing me!” That was probably a pretty appropriate opener, actually. “You want to know why I decided to rejoin the tour to check up on you in Vegas?” We all looked around at each other. “Because I can’t trust you not to do anything stupid. That’s why! Although, I’ve got to admit, I imagined myself maybe having to bail out McLean, not pay off the minister at an all-night wedding chapel to keep quiet! I guess by now we all know about Mr. and Mrs. Carter over there?” He shot a glance over to his left where Nick and Chrissy sat solemnly with their hands entertwined on top of the table.


 


Everyone gave their nods and “yeah”s and he went on. “As if Emily and Fatone’s relationship wasn’t enough for me to be dealing with, teenage dream over there decides to get hitched-- as in off the market, as in crushing the hopes and dreams of little girls everywhere.”


 


“Johnny....” Kevin cut in. “Don’t you think you’re being a little melodramatic?” I stifled a laugh at the man who I really believed may have hurt Nick had I not stepped in only a couple hours earlier.


 


Johnny held a hand up in Kevin’s direction. “Richardson, when I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. So anyway, Emily and Joey, I had decided wasn’t all that big of a deal. It could possibly even be a good thing. Joey’s not one of the more popular N’Sync members, so the fact that he’s off the market isn’t going to crush too many of the fans’ dreams. In fact, some of them, despite the hate mail Emily’s getting, are saying they’re happy for him. As long as it’s not Justin or JC, they seem to think it’s great. As for you, Emily,” he looked at me directly. “Dating a member of N’Sync has actually boosted your popularity, which is good for Forever, and in turn, good for me. I say, go ahead and get your picture taken with Joey. Look like you’re in love. As popular as N’Sync is starting to get, you might just become one half of one of Young Hollywood’s power couples.” I nodded silently and pretended to ignore the eye rolls coming from each of the Backstreet Boys, fueled by Johnny’s talk about N’Sync’s popularity. It felt really awkward that I had now become a marketing ploy.


 


“Joey Fatone’s relationship doesn’t really seem to have affected his group all that negatively. Mr. Carter, however, may have just committed career suicide. He’s the most popular one of you-- the young, cute, blonde one. If word gets out that he’s gone off and gotten married, the fan-girls are going to hate it because they’ve all lost their chance, no matter how slim it was to begin with, and the mothers are going to hate it because he’s setting a bad example for their impressionable daughters by getting married so young. You are on top of the pop music world,” he said, eyeing each of the guys individually. “If this gets out, you could very well topple back down to the bottom.” He turned his attention to Christina. “As for you, it’s very much the same. They find out you’re married to Nick Carter, and not only your career, but the careers of your bandmates are ruined before they really even get started.”


 


“So, here’s what we’re going to do.” He sat down and brought his hands together. “We tell no one. If any of you get questioned about Nick or Christina’s relationships, you know nothing. If something eventually gets leaked, we tell them that they’re dating, but before you go running your mouths to any reporters, you first report to me. As for you two...” He turned to Nick and Chrissy. “You are not to be seen together romantically in public. You will be allowed to share a hotel room, but no one, I repeat no one, is to see you arriving or leaving together. Those rings....” He pointed to their fingers. “Are to be worn in private only. Let’s do this for as long as we can, and if we need to change our stories, we cross that bridge when we get there. Got it?”


 


“Yes sir.” Nick nodded affirmatively and Chrissy looked down at her lap.


 


“This is ridiculous,” Brian muttered under his breath.


 


“What’s that, Mr. Littrell?”


 


“I’m not lying for them, Johnny,” Brian answered.


 


“Well, then you better do your damndest to avoid a situation where you’d have to.” Johnny stood back up and started pacing again. “Now for the rest of you. What you do in the privacy of your hotel rooms is none of my business, but as soon as it comes into the public eye, it is my business. Let’s talk about those pictures they showed on TRL.”


 


“Mr. Wright, some of those pictures were intended to be private,” Melissa piped up.


 


Johnny sighed. “I know. We had a mole on tour with us, and she’s already been fired. All I’m saying is that if there are cameras around and you are anywhere in the vicinity of someone of the opposite sex, you are to look strictly platonic. Now for the hard part. I need to know who else I might have to be running interference for. McLean? You and Amelia still hot and heavy?”


 


“Ha!” Amelia scoffed. “I don’t think you need to worry about that anymore.”


 


Johnny eyed AJ suspiciously. “I take it you’re not monogamous?”


 


AJ wouldn’t look him in the eye, but instead stared at Amelia. “I didn’t know I was supposed to be,” he uttered.


 


“Okay then. Howie? You and Melissa?”


 


“Are just having fun,” Howie said matter-of-factly.


 


“And are very discreet,” Mel chimed in.


 


“Littrell? Is Miss Wallace still insisting on joining us on tour?”


 


“Oh yeah.” There was a little bit of edge in Brian’s voice as he replied.


 


“Just try not to look too serious on camera, okay?”


 


“You know how I feel about that, Johnny.” Brian growled.


 


“Okay. Running interference there.” Johnny turned and looked at Cassie .


 


“Don’t look at me.” She held up her hands in defense. “It looks like I’m the only one not getting any action at all.”


 


“Maybe you should hook up with Kevvy-Kev since he broke up with Kristin,” AJ snickered.


 


I whirled around and looked at Kevin from several chairs away. “You broke up with Kristin?”


 


“A while ago, actually,” he said without missing a beat. “But we’ve been talking again lately, so....I dunno.”


 


“Well, you’ve always kept your private life private, anyway,” Johnny told him. “Can I expect more of the same?”


 


“For now.” Kevin sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring down at his watch.


 


“Alright.” Johnny slammed his hands back down on the table. “Is anyone besides Miss Rose here doing anything with any member of N’Sync?”


 


“Well, AJ and Chris got into it at the studio a few months ago,” Brian taunted. AJ kicked him under the table. “Ouch! It was about a girl, though,” he clarified. All eyes, including Johnny’s, fell on Melissa.


“What?” She held her hands up in mock confusion. “Okay, fine. Apparently I’m the boyband whore,” she joked.


“Who?” Johnny demanded.


“JC.”


“And?”


“Lance,” she said meekly as she shrank into the back of her chair. Even though he’d insisted that they were “just having fun” only a few moments earlier, I could see the hurt in Howie’s eyes as he scooted away from her ever so slightly.


Johnny eyed her. “Do you promise to keep your adventures behind closed doors?”


“Absolutely.”


“Okay, then.” He glanced down at his watch. “I need all of you on the buses in twenty minutes. Let’s see if we can keep the prying eyes away from the Carter family hotel room.”