“Are you ok? You’re sucking up all the oxygen in here.” I glared at Ben as I tried to get my breathing under control and a random guy from the show stuck a mic to the collar of my t-shirt. In. Out. In. Out. Breathe. The guys are here in the audience, you’ll be fine. You’re going shopping afterwards. “Mackenzie, I’ll be here with you.”

“That’s not making me feel much better,” I admitted. “I mean, my management sucks. They just tell me that they’re extending the show to give us time to talk about our movie, how we like each other, blabbity blabbity blah and they expect me to be fine with it. Do they like seeing me freak out?”

“They must because it’s goddamn funny,” Ben replied. “Think about it, you have this huge air of confidence around you but as soon as you clear it away there’s a normal scared girl.”

“I’m not scared. I don’t do scared.”

“Well, scared is doing you right now, then.” I rolled my eyes. His jokes weren’t funny sometimes. “Like I said, I’m here with you.” He took my hand and gave it a squeeze as I forced myself to relax and we listened to the intro.

“My next guest is half of the genius writing team that brought you Good Will Hungting which he also starred in as well as starring in Chasing Amy and Going All The Way. His new film Father and Daughter opens in February and today is he joined by his co-star and new up and coming actress. Please welcome Ben Affleck and Mackenzie Desrosiers.”

Ben gave my hand another squeeze and the next thing I knew…I was actually onstage. The lights were bright and the audience was loud and I could hear my heart beating in my chest. I smiled and waved a little at the guys who were sitting near the back. We gave Rosie hugs and sat down in her chairs. I’m sitting on stage and I still can’t believe I’m here. I mean, I could reach out and touch Rosie.

“Thank you two for coming,” Rosie said as she sat down at her desk.

“Thanks for having us,” Ben and I said in unison.

“How are you two?”

“Good.”

“So, the film, Father and Daughter, I gotta say I saw the trailer and it looks like a great family movie,” Rosie said.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

“The movie’s storyline is really good. It deals with a lot of  things that a single father and daughter could go through and I think it’s really realistic. It is a family movie but it deals with a little more of the darker side of things,” Ben explained.

“How did you two get picked for the roles?” Rosie started.

“She got her part before I had taken a look at the script,” Ben started. I listened to his explanation as I took slow deep breaths to calm myself down. Energy was bouncing around inside of me and I really just wanted to get up and dance it off. The faces in the audience were kind which made me relax a bit. I thought back to some of the other episodes I saw and relaxed a bit more when I reminded myself that she has everyday kids on her show sometimes.

“And Mackenzie, or Mack, which do you prefer?” Rosie asked, turning to me.

“Uhm, either’s fine but I got by Mack,” I replied. Whoa, was that my voice that was that squeaky?

“How did you get your part?”

“Well, my mom has been trying to get me into the acting business for a while because she said I was a drama queen as I grew up. I didn’t want to do it until recently because I always told myself that if I ever wanted to do something I’d do it no matter what it takes. Anyway, at first I auditioned for Kate Winselt’s part in Titanic but they thought I was too young so they turned me over to this new script which, at the time, was called Parents. I read the part and about…two, three weeks later I got the part. I didn’t know that they had offered the role of the dad to Ben before hand, though.”

“Would that have made a difference?” Rosie asked.

I laughed. “No. Before this I actually had a huge crush on him. So if anything that was the reason I kept it.”

“Really?” Rosie laughed as the audience tittered. “Ben, how’d the process go? I mean, you’re working with someone who…dreamt of dating you I’m assuming.” I laughed a little as did Ben.

“It went well, really well actually,” Ben said, scratching behind his ear.  I looked around at everything, the lights, the crew, the audience, as I listened to him. “When I first got there the director said ‘Ok, the girl we have who’s going to play your daughter is an unknown and she has this big crush on your but I don’t want it to be awkward’. And I’m like ‘Great, I have to act with someone who probably wouldn’t want to act like my daughter’.” I smiled and lightly slapped him on the arm as he continued. “Anyway we go into the reading table room and this short girl stands up and walks over to me. I thought she was fourteen, thirteen the youngest. She sticks her hand out and says ‘Hi, my name’s Mackenzie Desrosiers, Mack for short, and I just wanted to let you know that I’m a huge fan of yours and that you’re my celebrity crush but I’m going to put those feelings away to be able to focus on this part’. And I’m like ‘Ok, let’s see how this goes’ and it worked out great. Her acting didn’t feel forced, it was natural and after a while she ended up feeling like a daughter to me, someone I could look out for.”

“Ok, and what’s the general storyline behind the movie?” Rosie questioned.

“It’s about this guy name Peter Carlisle who is used to living the life of a single bachelor who parties at night a lot and runs his own business during the day,” Ben explained. “And then one day, out of the blue, his daughter whom he didn’t know he had shows up and lives with him and the two have to learn about each other and deal with each other as her mother hunts her down and tries to take her back.”

“Mack, what was it like working with a sudden well known actor?”

“It was great; I learned a lot of stuff. He was able to teach me some things that, uh, helped with my performance.”

“And we learned some other things about each other while on set,” Ben added.

“Yeah, and we taught each other a lot. Like, he taught me how to do impressions and I taught him some magic that I had learned for my part because my character, Nikki, loves magic,” I added.

“And what was your favorite scene to shoot?” Rosie asked.

“Mine was the bedroom scene,” Ben replied. The audience made some whooing noises which caused me to burst out laughing. “Hey, she’s my kid, I can’t do that to her,” he cried out, causing them to laugh again. “But, um, the scene specifically was a great turning point in their relationship. It was this one scene where it was supposed to be storming and her character is afraid of storms so she goes into his room to ask if she could sleep there and they stayed up talking and getting to know each other. Actually, the funny part is we were filming that scene really late, like it was two in the morning when that scene was shot. So the part where she ends up falling asleep, she didn’t fake it, she actually fell asleep on set.”

“Really?” Rosie laughed.

I could feel my face burn. “Yeah, I was tired, you couldn’t blame me.”

“What’d you do?”

“Finished the scene,” Ben replied.

“And then he threw me into the nearby pool,” I said, glaring at him as he smiled coyly and the audience laughed. “Anyway, my favorite scene was the car scene because he was taking my character to get her license. I was fifteen at the time we were shooting so I was practicing for my license at the same time. We had a general idea of the scene but the whole thing ended up ad-libbed because of the real mistakes I was actually making.”

“They let you drive for the movie?”

“Yeah and we needed three cars on backup because she was so bad,” Ben added.

“Hey! You’re the one who gave me bad directions,” I shot back over the laughter of the audience.

“Ok, right now we’re going to take a break. When we get back Mackenzie’s going to perform a song from the movie and we’ll ask them a few questions that were sent in,” Rosie said to the camera before some music was played.

I sighed and lumped in my seat. “There, that wasn’t so hard,” Ben said as he patted my head.

“Don’t patronize me,” I muttered. “Didn’t you hear my heart beating like crazy?”

“That was your heart? I thought it was the bass drum.”

I chuckled. “Does it bother you that they’re pushing me to promote so much stuff? I mean you’re here too but essentially they said it was mainly about me.”

“Does it bother you?”

“I’m not used to being in the spotlight.”

“It’s good practice. I’m proud of you, kid. After this your world is going to change. The only thing you can do is enjoy the ride.”

“This experience isn’t even done yet. Don’t make me cry all ready; I have to save that for the Wrap Party.” I laughed again. “We must the weirdest people ever to have the Wrap Party after the L.A. premiere.”

“What can I say, I can’t let you go and live your life without me just yet.”

“Awww.” I pinched his cheek and he lightly slapped my hand away before I was called over to where the band was to get ready to perform. I convinced them to let me play guitar so I didn’t have to stare or figure out my stage presence or anything.

“Mack, you’re doing so well,” JC said happily, stepping onto the stage.

“Thanks Jace,” I said before turning to Justin and throwing my arms around him. “Juppy!  It’s about time you’re here! How’s the promo tour and everything?” I asked, letting go and hugging  Joey, Lance, and Chris.

“Well, it’s not the same without you,” Justin replied. “It’s fun but not the same. Come back on tour with us.”

“I can’t. I have CD stuff.”

“Won’t they make you do a promo tour soon? You can come on tour with us, as our opening act,” Lance suggested.

“You’d have to talk to my manager, not me. Trust me, I’d want to go on tour with you guys to but it’s all up to what my management wants me to do. If you get Johnny to talk to him maybe it’d work.”

“Ok, gimmie the phone, I’mma call Johnny,” Chris said as he wiggled his fingers.

“We still going to the mall?” Joey asked.

“Of course, I need to do something relaxing.”

“Don’t you think you should sleep? You said you didn’t get much,” JC pointed out.

“I’ll be fine. Stop worrying. Joey, Lance, we’re going after I’m done here.”

“I still don’t think you should go,” JC stated.

“JC, the last time I went without sleep was back in Europe and I ran off three hours of sleep. How did I do then?” I asked as someone from makeup ran over and touched up my face. Ugh, I hate makeup so much.

“You went crazy and snapped at us,” he replied. “I just don’t want you to crash and burn, Honeybee.”

“I’ll get to sleep between the mall and the party, ok? I promise. I know what I’m doing.”

JC sighed and went back to his seat as the camera men and produces went back to their places. I glanced down at the electric blue guitar they let me borrow before looking at Ben who gave me a thumbs up. I waited as we came back from a commercial and Rosie introduced me. I glanced at the drummer who nodded and clicked his drumsticks, signaling me in before I started playing the song I knew by heart.

Tell me where our time went

And if it was time well spent

Just don't let me fall asleep

Feeling empty again

Cuz I fear I might break

And I fear I can't take it

Tonight i'll lie awake

Feeling empty

I can feel the pressure

It's getting closer now

We're better off without you

I can feel the pressure

It's getting closer now

We're better off without you…

The song went through without a hitch. The bass player was slow at some parts and I briefly lost my place since I usually don’t play guitar on the song but otherwise it went really well and the audience seemed to love it. Rosie then took me back over to the chairs and we talked more about the movie, Ben’s thoughts and future plans, and they showed a clip of the movie as well. Rosie made me feel comfortable, more comfortable than I expected which helped me stay perfectly relaxed the rest of the interview. Until the conversation turned over to my other jobs.

“So, Mack, you’re not only an actress but you’re a musician as well, I see. How long have you been playing guitar?” Rosie asked.

“Umm, I think since I was…five. Yeah, I got my first guitar that Christmas,” I replied. “I’ve been playing it ever since.”

“That song you performed, you actually wrote it.”

“That’s right.”

“Did you write it for the movie?”

“No, I had written it through the past two years because I was going though some things and I felt…all this pressure being put on me and that’s how the song came out. Once I was playing the song for Ben between takes and the director heard it and he told my manager who convinced me to record it and now they’re going to put it on my album and on the movie’s soundtrack.”

“Your album?” Rosie repeated. I nodded. “You’re recording an album.”

“An EP, right now,” I replied. “Ben gave me the idea actually because he visited me in the studio sometimes, but half of it will be pop and the other half will be rock because me and my management can’t decide which to make my full length album so we’re just going to pay attention to the reviews and build a CD around that.”

“You fill the mold of a triple threat,” Rosie stated.

“Thank you,” I said with a small smile.

“I mean you act, you sing, and you dance. And you’ve been dancing since you were two?”

“Since I could walk, yeah,” I said nodded.

“And with your dancing you’ve made a name for yourself and even choreographed for the Backstreet Boys,” As soon as Rosie said their name peals of screams reached my ear. I laughed at that and at the picture she had brought up.

“Yes I did, well, co-choreograph. I helped their choreographer Fatima Robinson,” I corrected.

“How’d you land the job?”

“Well, I first got my choreography gig because I was choreographing a group that my best friend is in. They’re called *Nsync. They’ve started their promo tour here if you’ve heard of them.”

“I have actually, are they here?”

“Yeah, they’re up there,” I said as I pointed to the back row and the cameras were turned to them. I laughed and waved as they waved back. “Anyway, they curly haired one, Justin, he’s my best friend and he got me the job as their choreographer. It started out with choreographing their demo which got them signed to Transcon. Then I did videos and then a tour and each one were successful in their own right. Their manager, Johnny Wright, is also the Backstreet Boys manager and he suggested I choreograph something for them so I co-choreographed their song Everybody, which is coming out as a single next month.”

“What do you think of the Backstreet Boys?”

“They’re…they’re a great group of guys,” I replied. “They wanted me to feel comfortable right off the bat so they kept trying to make me laugh, which is easy because I find the stupidest things funny, but they knew when to be serious to and they were really easy to work with.”

“Uh huh,” Rosie said with a big smile.

“What?” I asked laughing a little.

“Oh come on, you’re a teenage girl, you must think one of them’s cute,” she nudged.

Oh God, I should’ve seen this coming. I laughed, “No, I don’t. Not really.”

“One of them? Brian? Nick?” She suggested. I could only shake my head I was laughing so hard. “Come on, you’re a girl, it’s only natural. You can just tell me. I won’t tell anyone, forget them.”

“I don’t, really I don’t,” I said as I finally got my breath back.

“Yeah yeah, we’ll get your confession soon, mark my words,” Rosie said with a sly smile.

“Anyway, I did that and it was a lot of fun so now I’m just waiting to hear from others if they want my help while promoting and working on my own CD.”

“Wow, sixteen years old and you’re all ready a juggling act,” Rosie commented. “Ben, how do you feel about everything that she’s doing?”

“As long as she has a good head on her shoulders I think she can do whatever she puts her mind to,” Ben replied. “As I said I think of her like, as a daughter now after spending so much time with her and I’m always going to be a fan of what she does and if she thinks that one day she wants to…become a trained sky diver I’ll support her in that as well.”

The audience cheered as I gave him a hug and thanked him for his kind words. Rosie then closed the show by allowing some fans to come up and get Ben’s autograph and giving details of when the movie comes out. What surprised me is that they wanted mine as well. I quickly scribbled my name and went back to get the mic taken off of me.

“Hey lady, I gotta head on out now,” Ben said to me. “I’ll see you again next month at the premiere!” I laughed at his excitement and hugged him. “It was a fun ride. Don’t forget you can call me if you just want to talk or anything, ok munchkin?”

“Ok, bye Ben!” I called, waving. He waved back and left the studio as the guys came rushing over to me. “Ok, was my face as red as I thought it was?”

“From the laughing, yeah. You looked like you got sunburned,” Justin replied.

“God!” I groaned covering my face. “Well, at least it won’t be aired until…a few weeks, crap,” I muttered. “Ok, so mall? You guys want to come?” I turned to JC, Chris, and Justin.

“Frankly I’m surprise you want to go,” Justin replied.

“My manager says I need dresses for my premiere and since it’s only a month away I need them now and Joey and Lance offered to take me,” I replied. “Do you want to go or not? Yes or no? You don’t even have to shop, you can just hang out with me and what’s more fun than that?”

“A root canal,” Justin replied with a teasing grin. I flipped him off. His grin got bigger and as he pulled me into a tight hug. “Ok, I’ll go to the mall with you. If and only if you buy me those new sneakers that I wanted.”

“That’s blackmail,” I protested.

“Actually that’s a bargain, do we have one?”

“I’ll get you the shoes if you get me tampons.”

Justin flinched visibly and slapped a hand across my mouth as the guys laughed. “Don’t even say that word around me.”

I pushed his hand away from me and poked at his stomach. He flinched and knocked my hand away as I kept trying. “Why? Are you afraid of the word or something? It’s natural, a part of life, you’re going to have to deal with it when you get married,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but I don’t want to deal with it now.”

“Tampons!” I said, laughing as I continued to jab at his stomach. ‘Tampons! Pads! Bras! Periods!”

“Stop it!” Justin yelled as he covered his ears and ran out of the studio.

I laughed and triumphantly put my hands on my hips as the others laughed in amusemant. “And that’s how you get Justin to change his mind.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Ugh. Why are we still here? She’s too damn, picky, we’re not going to find anything,” Justin groaned from his chair in front of the dressing room. We had been in this particular dress store for the past twenty minutes. I wouldn’t say I was picky but I didn’t want to wear a dress that would look bad. Actually, I didn’t want to wear a dress in the first place but since I have to I wanted to get one that meet Joey’s and Lance’s stamp of approval and so far we haven’t found it. I bet the sales ladies were getting tired of us as well, especially since Justin was sighing in frustration every two minutes. JC had disappeared long ago with Bobbie so we didn’t question where he went or what he was doing for fear of bad mental images.

“Hey, if anyone’s pick it’s Lucky over here,” I said, slapping Chris’s knee.

He looked up from where he was balancing a pen on the top of his lips. “Me!?” he cried out, frowning when the pen dropped to the floor. “How’m I picky?”

“You took twenty minutes to pick a flavor of chocolate ice cream, re-mem-ber?” I asked.

“You can’t put a time limit on chocolate,” Chris said in defense.

“There was no fucking difference between them.”

“Yes there was, one was Chocolate the other was Chocolatey! There’s a huge difference.” He then snapped in my face and did a small head roll. “Oh yeah, I went there.” I laughed and pushed his finger out of my face.

“Can we at least go to the Food Court while we’re waiting? I haven’t eaten all morning.”

That explains his bitter attitude. I dug money out of my pocket and held it out to him. “Here, go nuts.”

“Thanks babe,” Justin said, suddenly cheerful. He lightly pecked my lips before running off.

“Geeze, he was starting to get on my nerves,” I muttered.

“What did you just say?” Lance questioned.

I turned to look at him. “I said he was starting to get on my nerves, why?”

Joey let out a loud comedic gasp as Chris jumped to his feet and shouted, “Everyone to the doorways. The world’s about the end!”

I put my hands on my hips. “So I think J’s annoying, so what?”

“Mack, you’ve never said anything bad about Justin since I’ve met you,” Lance said slowly.

“What’s your point?”

“My point is…it’s a relief, actually. I mean, Justin’s been, like…the dominant one in your friendship and, I don’t know, it’s good that you’re finally speaking up.”

I clicked my tongue. “Justin’s not dominant in our friendship.”

“Yes he is,” they chorused.

“He walks all over you like a doormat,” Chris added. “He makes you do the simplest things he could do himself.”

“He makes your plans take the backseat to his,” Lance added.

“And he’s been a jerk to you lately,” Joey finished.

I shook my head and laughed incredulously. “And you’re supposed to be his best friends.”

“We are,” JC said, appearing out of nowhere. I lifted an eyebrow when I noticed he had a dress bag hooked over his shoulder. His other hand was grasping Bobbie’s tightly. “And as his friends and your friend we’re entitled to telling you when your best friend is treating you like shit and you can’t see it.”

I shook my head again. “You guys…you just don’t understand. You haven’t known Justin as long as I have. You don’t know the real him, I do.”

“Yeah, but Mack–”

I held up my hand and stopped all of them from speaking. “Case closed,” I said firmly.