Chapter 1 Begins Now...
As the tour bus lumbered into North Carolina the guys of
N’ Sync looked forward to the stretch of three performance
and travel free days after the concert in Raleigh. Justin,
especially was looking forward to getting over to UNC at
Chapel Hill and going shopping at their bookstore, and smiled
lightly at the opportunity to spend some hard earned money
from the tour and album sales. Not that his fans didn’t
keep him equipped up to his eye teeth in UNC paraphernalia,
but he loved visiting the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and enjoyed picking out his own clothes.
Lance, sitting across from him noticed his slight smile
and shook his head, knowing full well what kinda huge shopping
ordeal awaited Justin and the rest of the guys on the UNC
campus. Time passed slowly for the band until they finally
reached their destination, The Marriott Courtyard in Raleigh.
As they got off the bus they were greeted by a horde of
screaming teenage girls, holding up signs and trying valiantly
to push their way past the security force. Justin looked
up as he hopped off the last step of the bus flashing a
huge smile and waved to the fans, inciting them to higher
and louder levels of excitement. He walked towards the entrance
of the hotel with the other guys, stopping here and there
to sign an autograph and pause for a photo. Phillip, the
tour manager, was waiting inside for them and handed each
of them their door keys.
Justin and Lance would share a suite, Joey and Chris would
also share a suite, and J.C. would have a suite to himself.
The guys made their way towards the bank of elevators and
proceeded to wait for the next open one. As they waited,
J.C., Justin and Lance began to discuss the schedule for
that evening and the morning rehearsal for the concert tomorrow
evening. As they chatted away, Justin and Lance looked up
as a curious looking fellow with dark sunglasses made his
way towards them. Wearing a UNC t-shirt and a pair of tan
shorts, pulling a rolling suitcase and a balancing a bunch
of neatly wrapped gift packages, the man half-walked, half-staggered
his way over to the team, muttering loudly to himself that
making two trips woulda been too easy and that he had to
get all butch and try to carry them all at once, which caused
the guys to chuckle loudly then quickly cover their mouths.
As the stranger approached the elevators, the doors to
the nearest one opened and a screaming fan raced out, hitting
him full force and sending all the boxes flying through
the air. Just as quickly as she came out of the elevator,
a security guard came out of the woodwork, grabbing her
and escorting her to the front door. The guys looked at
the stranger, who was still sitting on the ground, dazed,
and went over to help him up.
As the guys approached him, the stranger looked around
at the disaster left behind by the fan and said, “What
the hell was that?” He then proceeded to get up on
his own as the guys picked up his packages and put them
inside the elevator. Justin walked over to the stranger
and asked if he was OK and if he thought anything in the
packages he had was damaged, assuring the stranger that
the guys would pay him back for any damages.
“No,” the man replied, “I don’t think
there is anything fragile in the boxes, they are just presents
for a group I am gonna go see in concert tomorrow.”
The stranger got into the elevator with the guys and reached
up to his face and started to laugh.
“What is so funny?”, Lance asked inquisitively.
“Oh”, the stranger responded, “I couldn’t
understand why it was so damn dark in this building and
I just realized I had my sunglasses on the whole time!”
The guys look at each other for a second and start to laugh
with the befuddled guy.
“There we go!”, the stranger said loudly as he
removes his glasses, “That is much better. Thank you
for helping me pick up my stuff out there, that little lady
was in a real hurry!”
The guys laughed even harder at this statement and the
stranger chuckled and looks around, bewildered again, “What
did I say?”
“Nothing, Mr….?” Lance replied waiting for
the stranger to fill in his name.
“Micheals, William Michaels. Pleased to meet you!”,
the stranger replied with a smile and a handshake. “But
please call me Bill, no one but the nuns in catholic school
and my mother call me William, and only when I made them
really mad!”
This prompted more laughter from the guys.
After a few more seconds, it became apparent that they
hadn’t pushed a floor yet, and Bill leaned over and
asked J.C. to press 16.
“Oops!” JC laughed, and pressed 16 for Bill and
18 for the guys.
“So what concert are you going to, Bill?” Justin
asked pleasantly, restarting the conversation..
“It’s silly,” Bill replied, turning red
with embarrassment, “it’s a boy band called N’Sync.
I like a bunch of their songs and a co-worker of mine had
tickets to go see them with her kid and he came down with
chicken pox, so she gave me one instead of wasting it.”
“What is so silly about that?” J.C. replied casually,
as it dawned on him and the group that Bill had no idea
who he was riding with in the elevator.
“Well, my co-worker said I would probably be the oldest
non-married guy at the concert, and she had hoped I wouldn’t
be too uncomfortable. Her kid gave me like a ton of instructions
about this concert and the guys. He said they liked UNC
clothes and basketball and since I live in Chapel Hill and
have some friends at the athletic department that I should
get them some stuff from UNC.”
“Wow! Really?” Lance replied, looking at Justin
and trying to keep a straight face and sound sincere at
the same time. “What did you get them?”
“Well”, Bill replied, “After I chatted with
my co-workers son, who is a die-hard fan; he found out what
their hat sizes were, so I decided to get them each an awesome
limited edition fitted hat and a Carolina Blue and White
basketball that I got signed by all the guys on the UNC
basketball team. The team was really cool about doing it
when I said who it was for, it seems like they are fans
of the band as well.”
Joey reached over to Justin and slowly closed his mouth
as it had fallen completely open as he gawked at Bill. “Why
did you do that?” Justin said, looking at Bill in complete
bewilderment.
“Because, I always take gifts to concerts, I started
that when I worked at the Hard Rock Café in DC when
I was in college.
"You worked at the Hard Rock Café in DC in
college?", J.C. exclaimed, "Awesome!"
"Yeah," Bill replied, "the HRC would get
me some awesome tickets and comp me out a bunch of merchandise
to take and I would get them to the performer. It was awesome
and I got to meet some really popular people.”
“Like who?” Lance replied curiously.
“Garth Brooks when he played at the Cap Center, and
Randy Travis and Kathy Mattea when they played in VA. Kathy
Mattea actually came in the next day to thank me for getting
her some merchandise and I got to chat with her some more.
I have a sister named Kathy and when my co-worker said a
lady named Kathy was here to see me, I thought it was my
sister.
But it turned out to be Kathy Mattea. She was so nice and
friendly!” Bill replied, warmed by such a pleasant
memory.
“So you like country music, huh?” Lance replied,
his eyes twinkling.
“Yeah, I have my favorites in all types of music”
Bill replied as the elevator doors swung open on the 16th
floor. Bill began pushing his stuff out of the elevator
and into the hallway, when J.C. grabbed a box and motioned
for the others to do the same.
The guys all grabbed one when Bill looked up and smiled,
“You don’t have to miss your elevator, I am just
down the hall I think.”
“Naah” Chris grinned, “we’re only two
floors up and it’d do us some good to catch the stairs
from here.” Bill thanked them again and searched through
his pockets for his keys, finding them and looking at the
room number. He pulled his suitcase along til he reached
the room and quickly opened the door, using his suitcase
to hold open the door for the guys and letting them pass
thru and put the boxes down on one of the two double beds.
“Hey, I just realized that I talked so much and never
bothered to get any of your names. I am sorry.”
Justin stood up and began to make introductions, “No
problem, Bill, I’m Justin, this skinny blond here is
Lance, the hair disaster over there is Chris, the dark haired
fellow by the door is Joey and this grinning guy here is
J.C.”
“Good to meet you all.” Bill replied, “I
hope I am not keeping you here, I feel bad that I put you
all to work carrying my stuff and all. I think my next trick
will be to unpack some clothes and see about getting a reservation
to eat dinner out tonight. I have always wanted to try the
Warehouse, and since its walking distance tonight, that
makes it even better.”
“Really? Where is that at?” J.C. asked, “We
have to find a place to eat as well tonight.”
“Its really just about four blocks away, though I
would advise y’all going all together in a group as
this neighborhood is still in transition at night time.”
Bill chuckled as the guys all look at him with puzzled faces,
“In transition means its just about 10 drive-by’s
away from being ‘da hood!” With that the guys
all looked at Bill and broke out laughing.
“I have an idea, Bill,” Lance said, still chuckling,
“Why don’t we all head over there and grab some
dinner, that way we will make a bigger target…err I
mean a safer group.”
Everyone laughed at Lance’s joke as Bill went over
to the phone and called the front desk. “Can I get
the number for the Warehouse restaurant?” Bill asked
politely into the receiver. “Thanks!” he replied,
and covers the mouthpiece, “They’re connecting
me directly.”, Bill said with a raise of his eyebrows,
“This IS a nice hotel!” The guys begin to laugh
again but muffled it as Bill made reservations for the dinner.
Justin leaned over to Lance, “Should we tell him who
we are, Lance?”
“Yeah”, Lance replied, nodding to the other guys
to come over and sit on the bed by him.
Bill thanked the hostess and hung up the phone. “OK….we
have a table for 6 at 7pm, which is an hour and a half away
so that should give us plenty of time to get cleaned up
and dressed for dinner”, Bill turns around and sees
all the guys sitting together on the bed smiling and looking
at him. “What?” he asked nervously.
Justin giggles and replies, “Nothing man ,we were
just wondering if you would give us our presents a day early.”
Bill looks bewildered then Justin opened his mouth and sang,
“You’re all I ever wanted. You’re all I ever
needed. So tell me what to do now….cause I want you
back.”
“Oh Jeeez! Y’all!” Bill blushed scarlet,
smiled and shook his head, putting his hand over his eyes
as the guys start to break up laughing, “I am definitely
now in the lead for “Blond of the Year”, I just
left my opponents WAY behind!” The guys roared with
laughter and came over and pat him on the back.
J.C. chuckled, “I almost didn’t believe that
you didn’t know who we were, but I think that you just
proved it. No faker can blush like that!”
“Thanks guys, lemme see whose is whose here and I
will give you your presents. “God, I am thick, I even
labeled these with your names and I never guessed who you
were!” Bill laughed as he handed each guy their present.
“Make sure the hats fit, lets see how accurate those
teen magazines really are!” The guys pulled out the
hats and tried them all on for size, and each one fit perfectly,
then they all looked at their autographed basketballs and
thanked Bill again. “No problem guys, I hope they remind
you of the Triangle here. “Well, I don’t wanna
kick you out, but I am smelling kinda ripe…oh no…that’s
you Chris, not me” Bill laughed as Chris launched a
pillow at him, “I have gotta shower and change and
we have to get to dinner in less than an hour now, so we
had better get going!”
“You heard him guys, lets get a move on, and not be
late”, J.C. replied in his best father like voice,
“And take your boxes with you. Don’t clutter up
Bill’s room here, you slobs!” J.C, Chris and Joey
grabbed their stuff and made their way to the door, with
Lance behind them. Justin was still sitting on the one bed
looking down at his new ballcap and basketball.
“Is everything OK, Justin?” Bill asked walking
over to the bedside.
“Yeah, man” Justin replied looking up, tears
on his cheeks, “It’s just fine!”
“Then why the tears, Justin?” Bill replied smiling
and sitting down next to him.
“I am just happy that we ran into you down there.”
Justin replied, rubbing his face with the back of his hands,
“We never get to meet cool guys like you, we only see
the screaming fans that want to rip our clothes off and
moon over us. You just seem so different, so normal.”
“Just wait….you’ve never seen me eat!”
Bill laughed as he got up off the bed, which made Justin
look up and laugh too.
“You’d better go get dressed quick so we can meet
up for dinner." Bill said as he offered his hand to
help Justin up off the bed. Justin took his hand and got
up off the bed then just pulled Bill into a big hug.
“Thank you” Justin said quietly.
“For the gifts? Don’t sweat it, it’s just
my way.” Bill replied with a shy smile.
“No,” Justin sighed, “No...for just being
normal and down to earth and nice.” The younger boy
leans up to Bill and brushes his lips against Bill’s
own in a soft kiss.
As they kiss, they are interrupted by a sharp intake of
breath, and both Justin and Bill look over to see Lance,
crying as he looks at them from the doorway, take off towards
the elevator at a dead run.
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