“Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love
Is all I ever asked
'Cause what you don't understand is
I'd catch a grenade for you
Throw my hand on a blade for you
I'd jump in front of a train for you
You know I'd do anything for you
I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for you, baby
But you won't do the same…”
24 year old River Chambers closed her eyes, letting the music completely wash over her as she danced around the small conference room that had been temporarily turned into a studio of sorts.
She loved this, dancing. Dancing just for herself, with no audience, no one to try and please, no exact steps to follow. She was so lost in the music that she didn't hear the door open and close behind her, didn't notice anyone else was in the room until her the song on her iPod changed and she heard the deep laugh from behind her.
Her eyes shot open and she stumbled forward, quickly pressing pause and turning around sheepishly.
“Backstreet Boys, really?” he asked, one eyebrow raised as he leant against the wall, his feet crossed at his ankles and his arms crossed over his chest. “And I thought you were gonna be an NSync girl…” he tutted, shaking his head.
“I, uh, I am… I'm just, sort of a closet Backstreet fan, too…” she waved a hand dismissively, avoiding his gaze. “Sorry…” she trailed off in a whisper.
“It's cool,” he grinned. “I'm guessing you're my new dancer, right? It's nice to meet you, I'm Justin.”
“I know,” River raised an eyebrow as he stuck his hand out towards her. “I'm River Chambers.” She reached out and shook it quickly, before dropping it back to her side and wiping her palm on the bottom of her t-shirt.
“I don't have cooties, y'know,” Justin smiled playfully and she blushed.
“Sorry, I'm just… I'm nervous, I've never worked on a tour like this before,” she admitted, her eyes widening as she realised that probably made her sound inexperienced. “I mean, I've done a couple shows in England and Ireland for other bands, but not like, world tours or anything… Not that I'm- I mean, I can dance, I'm just a little-”
“Are you scaring the new girl already, Timberlake?”
“Hey, man,” Justin shook his head and held his hands up, stepping away from River. “She just started rambling, I didn't do a damn thing, I swear.”
“Yeah, right. Ignore him, River, he likes to try and psych people out. Don't let him get to you, he's a softie really.”
“Hey, Marty,” River smiled in relief, happy to see the familiar face of Marty Kudelka, the reason she'd gotten the job. “It's nice to see you again.”
“Again? You guys know each other already? Ahh, a guy on the inside, huh?” Justin raised an eyebrow.
“Shut up, J,” Marty laughed. “Yeah, we've worked together a couple times, and when Christa twisted her knee River was the first person I thought of to bring on the tour. She's good. No, actually, she's better than good. She's one of the best dancers I've worked with. You wanna show him what you got?” he asked with a smirk. River opened her mouth to reply, but Justin interrupted her.
“She doesn't need to, I was peeking before when she was warming up, she is good.” Justin agreed.
“O… Kay…” Marty shot him a look, and River glanced between them in confusion. “Hey, Riv, why don’t you head on back to your room or whatever, you have the next few hours to yourself, I need to talk to Justin here about Christa’s replacement.”
“I thought she was Christa’s replacement!” Justin pointed a finger in River’s direction and she glanced over at him as she picked up her bag.
“No… Jenni’s going to be Christa’s replacement, she already knows most of the moves. River will replace Jenni as one of the backing dancers and- why are you shaking your head at me?” Marty asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I want her,” Justin told him, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding towards River, who was standing by the door ready to leave.
“But I-“
“Marty. I want River, she’s a better dancer. You can teach her the moves and she’ll pick them up in no time.”
“I…” Marty sighed as he looked between Justin’s smug smirk and River’s nervous smile. “Okay, fine, River can be your new dancer. I gotta go talk to Jenni, we’ll take a break and I’ll meet you guys back here in an hour to run through the routines with both of you, sound okay?”
“Perfect,” Justin grinned at him as River nodded and pulled the door open.
“This won’t- I mean- will Jenni be pissed at me over this?” she asked, nervously biting her bottom lip. Marty smiled softly and shook his head as River breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, cool. So, I’ll see you in an hour then.”
“Hey, wait, I can show you around if you want, introduce you to the others?” Justin suggested, raising an eyebrow.
“Uhm… Yeah, okay. I’ll just- I told my sister I’d call her, gimme ten minutes?” she asked, holding up her phone. Justin nodded and went to follow her out of the room, but Marty grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Hey,” he hissed. “Don’t do this shit, Justin. She’s good, she’s really good and this could be an amazing break for her. I’m not gonna let you ruin it and I refuse to lose another dancer off this tour because of your inability to keep it in your pants.”
“Dude, that’s not even-”
“Yes it is,” Marty snapped. “The only reason you want her as your dancer is because the other girls were here for the shit you pulled with Christa and they won’t go near you. But I- Look, River’s… She’s a friend, okay? She’s an amazing dancer and she’s a good person. I’m begging you, just don’t… Don’t mess with her, alright? The last thing she needs is you making her life even more fucking complicated than it already is.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t touch her, chill out,” Justin raised his hands in defeat and rolled his eyes.
“…Okay,” Marty looked at him suspiciously. “Well, I guess that’s fine then. I’ll see you both back here in an hour.”
