If there was anything Caroline learned while working for JC, it was tons of useless information about pop music.  If he wasn't having her listen to something he produced for someone, he was making her look up pop groups on Wikipedia before they came over to meet with him in the studio. 

She'd always considered herself somewhat of a music snob - she'd been mostly removed from the trendy scene when she was a kid, so her listening tastes revolved around her dad's old classic rock records.  She had fond memories of her father teaching her how to use the record player correctly at an early age, as not to damage the fragile albums when she got a hankering to listen to some Led Zeppelin or The Who.  Every so often, Caroline remembered piling into her dad's old Camaro, squished between her brothers in the backseat, listening to 8-tracks of Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd.

She tried not to listen to the radio at all, but if she did, it was always rock or alternative stations, and Brandon was the same way.  Kiss FM was easily abhorred, and they didn't watch too much, if any, MTV, so while Caroline knew a lot about music in general, she knew next to nothing about the most popular artists of the current decade.  Which probably explained why she hadn't known who JC was.

Justin Timberlake, on the other hand, was a little more unavoidable.  After a solo career that topped JC's several times over, plus a fairly successful foray into film, his face was unmistakable.  In fact, Caroline had a hard time reconciling the fact that he and JC had gotten the same start in fame, all the way down to the Disney show.  Justin Timberlake was easily one of the most recognizable stars of the current pop culture. 

Which made it all the more startling when Caroline walked into her office one morning to find him seated at her desk.

"Morning," he greeted cheerfully, shooting a grin at her over his shoulder before turning back to her computer monitor.  "Hope you don't mind.  JC said I could check my email."

Caroline managed to unfreeze herself from the doorway and take a tentative step into the room.  "Not at all."

She set her bag down on the empty desk gingerly, glancing at Justin out of the corner of her eye.  Hadn't JC made that reference a few weeks ago about not being close with his former bandmate?  Now he was inexplicably here, at 8 in the morning at that.

Before Caroline could make another move, JC appeared in the doorway.  "Oh, you're here."

"Yep."  She leaned against the desk awkwardly, arms crossed over her waist.  JC continued into the room, jabbing a thumb at Justin.

"Caroline, Justin.  Justin, Caroline."

Justin closed whatever he'd opened on her computer and spun around in her chair.  "Sweet Caroline.  Enchanté."  He held out a hand in her direction and Caroline stepped forward to take it.  "What are you, a supermodel on the weekends?  That face, those legs!"

Caroline glanced at JC and he sighed.  "Cool it, Justin."

Justin laughed.  "Just playin'.  Nice to meet you." 

"You, too," Caroline replied, dropping her hand back to her side when he released it.  "JC, I hung your dry cleaning in the front closet."

"Great."  JC barely acknowledged her as he stared at Justin.  "Are you ready, finally?"

"Just about."  Justin leaned back in Caroline's chair, his arms folded behind his head.  "How do you like working for Chasez?"

Figuring she wasn't about to get her chair back any time soon, Caroline sat in the empty one.  "Oh, it's great.  The career I always aspired to as a little girl."

Justin cackled and JC shot her a caustic glance.  "At least you have a job," he pointed out drily.  "For now."

Caroline shrugged, not worried.  She'd learned fairly well what buttons she could push with JC.  "When you put it that way, I guess I can't complain."

"No, you can't," JC shot back.  Justin watched their exchange with a smirk. 

"Cute," he said.  "I like this little ‘we hate each other' repertoire you guys have goin' on.  Very Sam and Diane."

JC crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.  "Not so much.  Caroline has a rock star boyfriend."

Justin's eyebrows raised as Caroline rolled her eyes.  "He's not a rock star."

"Oh, that's right," JC said airily.  "He's a mechanic."

Caroline glared.  "And if he wasn't a mechanic, you and your little Mercedes out there would be shit outta luck."

She had him there, and JC knew it, so he kept his mouth shut.  Caroline knew for a fact that the resulting bill from the incident in North Hollywood had run JC into the triple digits. 

"This is good," Justin said, pointing at Caroline.  "She's good for you."

"Whatever."  JC pushed off the filing cabinet he was leaning against and headed for the door.  "Can we get started?"

"He's so bossy," Justin stage-whispered to Caroline, who nodded emphatically.

"We'll be downstairs for most of the day," JC informed Caroline.  He waved Justin through but hesitated in the doorway, and Caroline noticed him let his guard down for a moment.  "I'm waiting for a call from Jive.  It's kind of important."

He glanced at her, looking almost desperate for a split second, and Caroline frowned.   "Okay.  Do you want me to put it through downstairs?"

"Yeah, I do."  Then, almost if his insecurity had never appeared, it was gone.  "By the way.  My usual car guy told me that your boyfriend overcharged me for the Mercedes."

Caroline stood up, holding her head high.  "Oh, he did.  It was asshole tax."

JC scowled.  "Ooh, original."  With that, he disappeared, and Caroline got down to her actual work.

The call from Jive didn't come all morning, but Caroline brought the cordless extension into the kitchen with her at lunchtime just in case.  She wasn't exactly sure what the call would be about, but apparently JC was taking it seriously.  She hadn't dealt with his record label directly enough to even infer anything...all she knew was that they were located in New York City, and the rep she'd spoken with a couple times was named Simon. 

Caroline was eating her salad and flipping through an issue of Rolling Stone that had been in JC's mailbox that morning, when Justin's voice floated through the house.

"...just order in, then.  Thai?"

JC response was inaudible, and Justin flitted into the kitchen a moment later.  "Sweet Caroline, bah bah bah!  The good times never seemed so good," he sang, rounding the island to sit next to her as he pulled his phone of the pocket of his expensive looking jeans.  "I'd bet you get that a lot."

"Yeah."  Caroline glanced at JC as he entered the kitchen, looking serious.  "My dad's a big Red Sox fan."

"So you were actually named after the song?" Justin asked, and Caroline nodded. 

"He wanted to name me Fenway, but my mom said no."

Justin snickered as he scrolled through something on his phone.  "I can see why.  So, Jace, Thai sound good to you?"

JC shrugged as he paced the kitchen.  Caroline watched him as she ate - the tension seemed to come off of him in waves, but Justin appeared to either not notice or not care.  "Caroline, I know that salad's not enough for you.  You like Thai?"

"That's alright," Caroline said.  "I'm almost done in here."

Justin waved his hand as if her statement was an annoying fly.  "Oh, please.  I'll order you some extra phat si-io."

"That's really okay-"

"She's vegan, Justin," JC interjected, pausing in his pacing to glance at his watch.  Justin raised his eyebrows as he held his phone to his ear.

"Vegan?"  He made a show of looking Caroline up and down.  "Does a body good."

He winked before stepping out of the room to make his order, and JC motioned to the cordless phone.  "No call yet?"

"No," Caroline replied, finishing off the last of her salad and pulling a tangerine out of her lunch bag.  "Is everything alright, JC?"

"What?"  He glanced at her sharply and shook his head.  "Yeah, everything's fine.  It's just an important call."

Justin returned before Caroline could prod JC to elaborate.  "Lunch should be here in about fifteen."  He sat back down next to Caroline and leaned his chin on his hand.  "So, Caroline.  Tell me about yourself."

"Um."  Caroline shrugged.  "What do you want to know?"

"Where are you from?" Justin prompted.

"I live downtown, currently," she said.  "But I'm from Playa Vista originally."

"And what do your parents do?"

"My mom's a...holistic doctor, of sorts.  And my dad lives in Santa Monica.  He's a realtor, and so is my stepmom."

"Any siblings?"

"Jesus, Justin," JC sighed.  "What is this, twenty questions?"

Caroline didn't remind JC that he'd played somewhat of a similar game when she'd first started working for him.  "I have two older brothers, Seth and Cameron.  Cameron owns a motorcycle dealership in Orange County, Seth is a public defense lawyer."

Justin nodded.  "So, if I'm ever in a bind-"

"-you'll be able to afford someone much better than him," Caroline finished, and Justin laughed.

"And your boyfriend?  The rock star-slash-mechanic?"

"That pretty much sums him up," Caroline admitted. 

"Is it serious?" Justin asked, and JC rolled his eyes.

"Well, we've been together for four years, and we've lived together for the past two and a half."  She smiled in spite of herself.  "I'd say it's pretty serious."  She mimicked Justin's position, chin in her hand.  "Why, are you interested?"

Justin grinned.  "Oh, I would be, believe me."

JC cleared his throat loudly, effectively interrupting the conversation.  "Caroline, don't you have some work to do?"

Caroline nodded, starting to clean up her lunch.  Justin shook his head at JC.

"You are the worst boss ever.  Hey!"  He slapped the countertop suddenly, as if a great idea had suddenly occurred to him.  "You know what would make you a cool boss?"

"No, and I don't care," JC groaned, resting his head in his hands.  Justin ignored him.

"You should bring Caroline to the Vegas benefit," he continued.   At Caroline's curious look, he explained, "I'm heading up a benefit concert for a children's hospital in a couple weeks.  It's in Vegas, so automatic awesome.  Plus, there's a theme park opening.  With rollercoasters."  He slapped the countertop again.  "You know what?  Bring your rock star boyfriend.  It's gonna be a great time."

"I don't even know if it fits with my schedule yet or not," JC grumbled.  Caroline set her lunch bag aside and leaned against the counter. 

"Why don't you email the details and I'll check it out," she said to Justin.  "I'm sure we can move some things around if need be."

"Perfect."  Justin pulled out his phone.  "I'll do that right now."

JC just frowned.

Later, Caroline was finishing up her work day in the office, making sure everything was in order for the next day.  JC and Justin had spent a couple more hours after lunch down in the studio, but Justin had left the house around 3, stopping to poke his head in her office and say goodbye.  As far as Caroline knew, JC was still down in the studio, but she had no reason to bother him as the call from Jive never came.

She was making sure JC's schedule was updated in her Blackberry when he appeared in the doorway, hands in his pockets.

"You leaving?" he asked.  Caroline glanced up.

"I'd considered it.  Unless you need me to do something?"

"No," JC sighed, stepping into the office to sit against the edge of the empty desk.  "Did you work Justin's little concert into the schedule?"

"Yeah, and emailed Rob," Caroline replied, referring to JC's publicist.  "He's obviously stoked."

"Obviously."  JC peered over her shoulder at the schedule.  "You know that you'll have to go."

Caroline sighed, noting the pink highlighting she'd already applied to the weekend in question.  "I figured."

"Well."  JC shrugged.  "Invite your boyfriend, then.  My treat."

"JC, that's not necessary."

"Maybe not, but I'm really not that much of an asshole," he pointed out.  "It won't hurt anything if he comes, and he might enjoy it.  And if nothing else, he can enjoy making fun of it."

Caroline had to admit a weekend in Vegas with Brandon would be fun, especially if all expenses were paid.  Since she would technically be on the clock, he could afford to get a couple days off from the garage, too.  "I'll ask him."

"Great."  Sounding less than enthused, JC stood up and headed for the door.  "See you tomorrow."

Caroline watched him leave and cursed her underlying maternal nature.  "JC."

He turned back towards her, expression blank.  "Yeah."

"Are you sure everything's okay?"  Trying to seem as approachable as possible, Caroline leaned over her desk.  "I mean...I don't know.  You just seem kinda down."

JC snorted.  "Do you even care?"

For some reason, his words hurt, more than Caroline could explain.  She looked down at her desk. 

"I guess I do."

Caroline heard JC sigh heavily, and the chair across from hers creak as he lowered himself into it.  "Honestly?"

Caroline glanced at him.  JC sighed and stared down at the floor as he responded. 

"Jive is going to drop me."

Caroline frowned.  "What does that mean?"

"They're going to drop me as an artist," JC clarified.  "I will no longer be represented by a record label."

Not sure exactly what this meant for JC's career, Caroline nodded slowly.  "Oh."

"I've been working on a solo record for...awhile now," he continued, still staring at the floor.  "It hasn't been sounding right to me, and I'm not going to put out something that I think sounds like crap.  I'm just not."

Of course not, Caroline thought.  JC was a perfectionist in the most ultimate sense of the word.  "Why don't you just start over from scratch?"

JC sighed and leaned back in his chair, shifting his forlorn gaze from the floor to the ceiling.  "I have, several times.  Jive is getting pissed, and they've been threatening to drop me for some time now.  If the record isn't completed by the end of this month, they're pulling out.  Completely."

"Is it even close?" Caroline asked, already knowing the answer.  JC shook his head.

"No."  He paused, scratching the half-growth of beard on his face that he never seemed to shave off in time anymore.  "That's why Justin was here today, working on some songs with me.  Or at least trying."

"I thought you two weren't close anymore?"

"We aren't.  Believe me, I never would have asked for his help.  He wanted to get involved.  Turns out, even a name like his isn't enough to stop this shitstorm."

The bitterness in his tone was almost stifling.  Caroline picked at a stray thread on her shirt.

"Well.  You don't really need a record label to keep writing and producing, right?" she pointed out.  "I'm sure everything will work out...fine."

JC leveled her a cold gaze.  "Wow, thanks.  That makes me feel so much better."

Caroline shifted in her seat with a soft sigh.  "Why do you hate Justin so much?  He seems like a nice enough guy."

JC didn't reply for a few seconds.  "I don't hate him."

"You're just bitter about his success?" Caroline offered, and the look JC sent her way was hard enough to kill.

"No."  He paused for a long time.  "He's more marketable than I am.  More commercial."

"More personable?" Caroline couldn't help but smile when JC glared at her again.  "I'm sorry, JC, but it's true.  You act like an asshole all the time, even though you're secretly a nice guy.  I really just don't get it."

"I wouldn't expect you to," JC replied haughtily.  "Justin's everything, he's the whole package.  He sings, he dances, he acts, he makes you laugh.  And I'm just..." He trailed off, throwing his hands in the air and letting them fall unimpressively at his sides. 

"Just really talented?" Caroline supplied.  "You have just as much to offer as Justin does, if not more."

JC turned in his chair to rest his elbows on the desktop, his fists under his chin.  "How would you know?"

"I've heard some stuff," Caroline admitted.  "And I know you have a great work ethic.  I guess it seems to me that you fit better in a behind the scenes role."

JC didn't look at her.  "You know he's the reason we broke up, right?"

Caroline wasn't sure what he was referring to at first, but then she put two and two together.  "Oh.  NSYNC?"

"We could have gone for at least two more albums, but no."  JC shook his head.  "Justin wanted to go solo."

"Well," Caroline began slowly, "it probably would have fizzled out eventually, anyway.  I mean, boy bands aren't really the thing anymore."

JC stood up suddenly, letting the chair he'd occupied roll back until it hit the wall.  "Has anyone ever told you that you suck at being empathetic?"  He crossed the room towards the door, but turned back to her.  "I know this all probably sounds ridiculous to you, but this is my life.  Like it or not, I made these choices and this is what I ended up with.  At the end of the day, I'm either happy, or I'm not."

Caroline watched him carefully.  "So...are you?"

JC stared at her for a long, silent moment.  "I'm not even sure how to figure that out anymore."  He turned towards the door, throwing a quick, "Goodnight" over his shoulder before he was gone.

Caroline drove home feeling inexplicably like shit.  She knew JC's bank statements firsthand, and she could safely say, with what she knew about financial stability, that he was set for life.  Technically, he could retreat into the life of a hermit and live comfortably well into his old age.  She didn't feel sorry for him because his career was falling apart, because for all practical purposes, it was doing just fine.  She felt sorry for him because, somehow, his life had started to rip at the seams, slowly but surely.

Brandon was making dinner when she got home, about fifteen minutes later than usual.

"Hey," he greeted, glancing at the clock.  "Everything okay?"

The last thing Caroline wanted to tell him was that she was late because she'd been listening to JC semi-pour his heart out.  "Yeah, everything's fine.  What's this?" 

She leaned over the skillet he was standing at, peering at the sauce-like contents.  Brandon wasn't known for his master culinary skills, outside of sandwiches anyway.  To top it all off, whatever he was cooking didn't look like something they'd ever eaten before, which was also incredibly unusual.

"I was watching a cooking show," he admitted sheepishly.  "And uh, this looked good.  So I thought I'd try it."

Caroline raised her eyebrows but didn't make a big deal of it.  "Well, it smells great."

Brandon beamed and accepted her kiss.  "How was work?"

"Fine."  Caroline set her bag down and shrugged out of her jacket.  "I met Justin Timberlake."

"Really?"  Brandon added a little salt to his mixture and stirred idly.  "Is he as much of a douchebag as he seems on TV?"

"Um, not quite as much, no," Caroline replied, sitting down at the kitchen table with a yawn.  "I mean, he's definitely kind of a tool, but he seemed like a nice guy overall.  Nicer than JC, anyway."

Brandon chuckled, turning the heat down on his sauce before opening the lid of another pot to check on something else.  "Well, that's exciting."

"Yeah."  Caroline picked at her fingernails as she watched Brandon flit around the kitchen.  "Actually, I guess he's having some sort of benefit concert in Vegas in a couple of weekends.  JC's going, so that means I have to go."

"Oh."  Brandon stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.  "For a whole weekend?"

"Yes.  But," she added with a smile, "you're invited!  And I'll be getting paid, so you can take a couple days off, maybe.  JC suggested it."

She clasped her hands together, hoping for a positive reception.  Brandon shuffled some things around on the kitchen counter with a tight smile.

"Wow.  That's...generous of him."

"I think he feels like he owes you because of the car thing."  Caroline shrugged.  "So, what do you say?  We haven't had a weekend away in forever, and...I don't know, it may actually be fun."

Brandon scratched his head as he scooped some pasta out of a pot into a serving bowl.  "When did you say it was?"

"The second weekend in April."

Brandon set the bowl down and crossed the kitchen to the fridge to flip a page on the calendar.  "We're playing in Irvine that Saturday."

"What?"  Caroline stood up to join him at the calendar.  There it was, written in red: Show @ Steelhead Brew, 6pm.  "Damn it."

"Too bad."  Brandon wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she pouted.  "Hey, it's okay.  I probably would have had a horrible time anyway."

Caroline shrugged him off.  "Oh, that makes me feel better."

He laughed, reaching out for her once more.  "I'm sorry, babe, I am.  You're right, it might have been fun."

She relaxed into his hold this time with a sigh.  "I guess we'll never know."

"You could still have fun," he pointed out, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, in an alternate universe where I actually enjoy these kinds of mindless social events.  It was only going to be fun if you were there to share in my misery."

"Oh."  Brandon kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back soothingly before he let her go.  "I'll be there in spirit.  Ready for dinner?"

Caroline sat back down as Brandon brought the food to the table, along with a couple of plates.  She waited until he sat across from her to address the nagging issue at the back of her mind.

"So, not that I have a choice or anything, but...you're okay with me going away for a weekend with JC?" she asked, trying to gauge Brandon's facial expression as he served her a plate full of pasta, topped with his special sauce.  "I mean...it doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"

Brandon shook his head.  "No, I'm okay with it." He paused, spoon hovering over his own plate.  "As long as you have separate rooms."

"Ugh, please."  Caroline waved away his remark as she picked up her fork.  "Besides, I'm not really JC's type.  As far as I can tell, he only sleeps with women who are incredibly tan and weigh eighty pounds."

"Well, he doesn't know what he's missing."  Brandon motioned for her to eat.  "Come on, take a bite."

Caroline raised the fork to her mouth cautiously.  The sauce was tangy, a little bit gritty, and way too salty, but she smiled anyway.

"Mmm.  It's really good."

"Yeah?"  Brandon took a heaping spoonful of his own dinner.  "Hey, not bad!  Maybe I'm onto something here."

"Maybe you are."  Caroline took another bite, and it was safe to say the sauce was terrible.  But she loved the cook too much to care.