Across town, JC sat in Kevin's office, wiggling his foot against the leg of the chair.  The high-rise building was quiet on a late Saturday afternoon, and Kevin's secretary wasn't there to intercept him, so he'd gone straight in.  His manager met him inside, dressed in his version of weekend casual, a pressed pair of khaki's and a pastel golf polo. 

They spoke a little bit about the DC trip before Kevin cut to the chase. 

"So, what gives?" he asked,  his chin in his hand.  "I know you didn't call me in here on a Saturday for nothing."

JC cracked his knuckles, one at a time, his foot jiggling anxiously on the floor.  "It's Caroline.  I want her gone."

Kevin looked surprised - taken aback, even.  "What?  Did something happen?"

JC shook his head.  "No."

Still unconvinced, Kevin leaned across the desk.  "JC, is this really worth starting from scratch all over again?  You said yourself that she's one of the best assistants you've ever had.  If she's made a mistake, perhaps there's some way that we can correct her rather than just let her go completely."

JC's foot jiggled faster.  "No.  I'm going to need someone else.  Preferably by next month, if you can, I've got a lot of events coming up for the show's next season."

Kevin sat up straight.  He'd been working with JC Chasez for around five years, since just a little bit after the demise of NSYNC and he'd decided it was time to seek a new manager.  It was fair to say that Kevin knew JC pretty well.  Judging by his body language and the way he'd wiped his expression clean of all emotion, it was pretty safe to say that something had happened, and it had been something big.

However, he also knew that if JC wasn't sharing, there weren't too many ways to pry it out of him.  He was, and always had been, an intensely private person.

"Alright."  Kevin picked up a post-it and jotted down a note for himself.  "What about references?"

JC blinked.  "What about them?"

"Can I give her a good one?" Kevin asked.  "Or were you...dissatisfied with her performance?"

Kevin pretended not to notice JC's momentary flinch.  "Give her whatever kind of reference you want, I don't care.  Can you just handle it for me, please?"  He stood up, clearly on-edge.  "Have her meet you here Monday morning, I'll ship any personal effects she left in the office."

This was to be expected - not once out of JC's many assistants had he ever fired one personally.  Kevin had always had the honor of breaking the news, offering the usually-blubbering girl tissues across his desk, and assuring her that the "fit" just wasn't right.  "Fine.  Anything else?"

"What?"  JC glanced at him sharply.  "No.  No, that's it."

Kevin sighed and made another note to call the employment agency after he spoke with Caroline on Monday.  At nearly six months of peace and quiet, he was not looking forward to another round of interviews with a new batch of girls.  Maybe he should ask for a guy this time around.

"Alright, JC.  Get some rest tomorrow," Kevin suggested, watching the antsy man head for the door.  "Take the day off, okay?"

JC didn't say anything, just nodded and let the door fall shut behind him on his way out.