“Yes mom, I’ll be careful I promise,” I motioned JC to come into the room. “Yes, he’s here, he says hi.” He shrugged with a silly grin on his face. “Ok, yes, I love you, too. See you Sunday.”
“So my mom says hi,” I said sitting down on the bed next to him.
“How does she not insist on meeting me?” he asked leaning onto the bed and running his hands up and down my back.
“Well, she does, but she also knows about the rule.” I said grinning.
“The rule,” he echoed, rolling his eyes so far back into his head I thought they were going to get stuck there.
The rule consisted of neither me nor JC visiting each other at home. We were to meet on vacation or while he was on tour. I didn’t go home with him, he didn’t come home with me.
I had thought of it because in order to remain sane I needed home to be me. I didn’t want triggers of memories that would make the distance and waiting more unbearable. It was kind of pointless anyway, because I didn’t need anything to remind me of JC, I thought about him all the time.
I ran my hands through his hair messing it up and pulled him to me to kiss him. “Shut up, it keeps me sane,” I said as he chuckled deeply and accepted my kiss.
Our week in Costa Rica was like a week in heaven. We had finally decided to take a vacation alone. No bandmates joking around and being gross, no friends being starstruck. Just us. Being exclusive and in love.
We decided to visit a secluded surfer’s beach in Costa Rica, about 5 hours from San José, to make sure we would keep the possibility of JC being recognized to a minimum.
Everything about it was perfection. Especially the memory of a sun kissed JC in a wetsuit running towards me, surfboard in hand. That one I will treasure forever. The way he peeled the wetsuit off his body when he was done riding the waves. The way we just lay for hours on end on the sand, taking in the sun, the salty air. He, propped up on an elbow, my head resting on his forearm, his free hand over my belly or tickling the back of my bent knee.
Why stare into the ocean when I could have the ocean staring back at me when I looked into his eyes? And I loved getting lost in his eyes. We would lie there for what seemed forever, just lost in each other. No talking, no nothing. Just being together, enjoying each other.
I knew he had gotten into a little bit of trouble because when we came back, he’d have just over two weeks before the tour kicked off. JC didn’t seem too bothered, or he didn’t let me see it, if he was.
“I’ve been learning the choreography for a couple weeks now, we’ll do bootcamp when I’m back and it’ll be fine. I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate without my much needed Kiki time, anyway” he told me, looking serious and pushing around the remainder of his dinner on the plate sitting in front of him.
I took a swig of the fruity rum drink in my hand and smirked.
“Well, dancing was never a problem for you,” I put the drink down, slowly stood up and grabbed his hand pulling him to his feet just as a steamy salsa beat began blasting through the speakers in the small joint we were in. He flashed me a devilish smile and before I knew it his arm was around my waist, pressing me against him, his hips swaying to the rhythm. He was such a natural dancer, he picked up on a beat and just let his perfectly rhythmic body take over. We swayed, bumped, grinded, he spun me around, dipped me, twirled me, brought me back up as I pressed my body to his, I ran my hand through my hair and then down my body, he watched me closely, biting his lower lip. We were surrounded by people and still it seemed like we were the only two people there. He twirled me again as I laughed loudly. After a couple of songs we were sweating and tired, so we decided to call it a night.
We walked back to our hotel, a couple blocks from the beachfront venues. His arm around my shoulders, my arms wrapped around his waist. I inhaled deeply and took in his scent. He smelled like such a guy, cologne mixed with sweat, I loved it, I could never get enough of it.
“Stop it,” he said, planting a kiss on top of my head.
Our days had been occupied by lazy mornings, late breakfasts, hours on the beach, usually sunbathing and reading for me, surfing for him. Our evenings with drinking, dancing, and the nights filled with acrobatic love making.
We had both had other partners during our time not being exclusive, but there was something about making love with the person you actually were in love with. The act itself became more rousing, more intimate, more fulfilling, satisfying.
I watched over at the beach, standing on the balcony of our suite. I heard movement and shuffling inside, so I waited for him to come find me. I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist, a scruffy beard pressed against my cheek. I put my hands on his arms and sighed.
“What are you thinking, pretty girl?”
“I was just remembering the time when we had no money for a train ride and had to meet in the middle of nowhere in some coaling town, and now I’m looking over a beautiful beach standing in a penthouse suite.” He laughed a husky laugh that always made the hairs on my arms stand up, so contagious that it had me laughing along.
“Funny how the world turns,” he said when he was done laughing. “And still,” he continued, turning me around to face him, “The only thing that matters is still here with me.” His lips grazed mine, ever so sweetly. My arms flew around his neck as I buried my face in the space between his neck and shoulder.
“I don’t wanna leave,” I whispered, dreading the next day when we’d have to part ways at San Jose's airport and go back to reality.
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June, however, came sooner than any of us expected. The tour kept the boys plenty busy and I started my clinical rotations. This came along with shifts, patient care, no sleep, and a whole lot of studying. Being a med student I still got part of the summer off. Once I got my degree and into a residency, though, free time would be scarce and precious. Kind of like it was for JC. We still hadn’t had the talk about what I would do when it came time to apply for residency programs. I had done some research, but it was a big decision and I wasn’t sure whether it was one I should be making with JC, or on my own.
The PopOdyssey tour was insane. It was huge. It was crazy. It was fun. But the guys were exhausted. Gone was the relaxed JC I had left back in Costa Rica. Touring JC was focused, serious, a total perfectionist. But he was exhausted. He lived for the stage, he fed off the energy of the crowd but it was the traveling and the promotional stuff that really drained him.
This tour was not as relaxed for me, either. I had projects due back home, clinical cases, journal readings, papers, so I had brought a lot of work to do while I followed NSYNC around for almost three weeks.
Sometimes while I did some work JC would go over every single detail of the show from that night. Point mistakes out politely for the other guys the next day and really punish himself when he’d make one. Sometimes he overdid it. But I knew that it was his attention to detail, his overthinking of everything that made their shows so flawless.
“Ok babe, that is just about it for Congestive heart failure, it is not getting through anymore,” I said pushing away the book I had been hunched over for the last hour. I stretched my hands over my head and grunted. JC was sitting up on the bed, staring at a notebook, his hand on his chin, a frown on his face. He had not heard a word I’d said. I stood up and walked over to him, climbing on the bed kneeling behind him, I grabbed his shoulders and started kneading them. He groaned loudly and put the notebook down. He looked up at me and puckered up.
I smiled and brought my lips to his. He chuckled. He reached back and put his hands on my thighs, squeezing them.
“Sorry, honey, I tend to get caught up,” he told me. “It’s usually ok when I’m alone.” “That’s ok, you can make it up to me right now.” I said leaning over him, pressing my body against his back. I could feel the vibration when he softly said “Hmmmm,” it made me quiver.
“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” I whispered in his ear, immediately biting it. “Good thing you’re here to help me blow off some steam.” He somehow grabbed me and flipped me over so I was now sitting on his lap, giggling loudly.
I stopped to look at him. Really look at him. The long lashes, the crystal blue eyes, the long nose that fit so well with the rest of his face, the square jaw. I wanted to memorize his face, every square inch of him. I put my hand on his cheek, he leaned into it closing his eyes, a small sigh escaping from his lips, he turned a little and kissed the palm of my hand. My other hand went into his hair, beautiful small curls starting to form in the base of his head. I ran my hand down his neck, over his toned shoulders that drove me crazy, down his arm. He opened his eyes and stared hard at me, making me nervous. Still made me so nervous.
“I love you,” I whispered. “So much.” A smile crept up on his handsome face.
“You know I love you, too. So very much.” He pressed his forehead to mine. I breathed in deeply and out. I couldn’t take it anymore and hungrily pressed my lips to his, pulling myself up by grabbing onto his neck. He gladly accepted and parted my lips with his tongue making me shiver as he put me down on the bed and climbed on top of me.
“Oh God, you make me crazy,” he said in a breathy whisper between kisses, making me crazy. His hands started to find their way under my shirt, swiftly unclasping my bra. I couldn’t control the way my body reacted to his every touch and he knew it. I could tell by the way he smirked with every shiver of my body when his fingertips grazed over my skin.
I smirked as well when I could feel him start to lose control, when his breath became labored and his hands became more rowdy. Every time with JC felt like the first time and still it was comfortable and familiar. And exhilarating.
We laid in bed, sweaty and satisfied. A sleepy smile across JC’s face, half closed eyes. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” I said, putting my head on his chest.
“Hmmm, didn’t seem like it a little while ago,” he chuckled.
“Yeah well, you can’t be over here looking like that and expect me to concentrate,” I said and kissed his chest. “I wanted to talk to you about breaking the rule and coming to Orlando for my elective rotation.”
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The elective rotation wasn’t for another year but slots usually filled up quickly everywhere. You usually applied to 20 places and went wherever they accepted you, but I wanted Orlando Health Regional Medical Center, I had my heart set on their Internal Medicine program, but would settle for anything, even surgery which I absolutely hated, as long as it would get me in Orlando, for about 3 months.
Plus a successful elective rotation in a big medical center would make it easier to get into a Residency program in the States.
So I gathered all my paperwork and filled out applications all over the place, at home, at a couple of other hospitals in the US, Mexico. Hoping and praying I would get picked where I wanted to go.
Before we knew it a couple more months went by again and I found myself in August.
It was pretty much the same routine every week. Lots of work, talking to JC on the phone every other day, going out with friends on the weekends. And Time flew by, thankfully.
One afternoon though, as I came home from a 36 hour shift, I was surprised by a little box sitting in my kitchen. Patty my roommate was out so there was no way of knowing who delivered it. A medium sized black box with a golden bow on it, sitting pretty on my kitchen counter. I put my bag down and watched it like it had a bomb in it. I almost pressed my ear to it to try and listen to something ticking. Pinned to the pretty golden ribbon was a little note. I immediately recognized JC’s messy handwriting: “Hello, please open me!”
I undid the ribbon and opened the box. There were 3 white envelopes, each of them with a number from 1 to 3. I grabbed the first one and opened it.
“My pretty girl,It had been a while since I sat down to write you a letter. We have been so caught up in technology, but I felt like this needed to be written down for dramatic effect. Pause for laughter.
This has been one of the best years of my life, both professionally and personally. Professionally you’ve seen it. It has been mind blowing. This is as good as it gets, I’m sure. There is no way we are topping this. We are also so drained I don’t think we want to top this.
And in my personal life, babe, it’s been you. It’s been you that’s lit up everyone of my days. You’ve kept me grounded and happy ever since we’ve been together.
I’m not gonna lie, it’s been hard being far away from each other, but it has also been totally worth it, wouldn’t you say so?
I look forward everyday to the time we’ll get to spend together and I cherish every memory we’ve made. I have fallen so ridiculously in love with you I can’t even put it into words. And the thing is, I feel so loved by you, too. I feel like it’s too much for only one man to have. You’ve given me so much, I’ve been racking my brain trying to find a way to show you how much you mean to me and it occurred to me that I will never be able to. However, your birthday is in one month exactly and I want to spend it with you, because it’s something we have never been able to do. (And I don’t care that mine is only 7 days from today).
So, in envelope 2 you will find 3 tickets and backstage passes for the last show of the PopOdissey tour in Mexico city and in envelope 3 you will find 3 round tickets for the weekend of September 1st, one for you, one for your mom and one for Patty. Schedules have already been checked, reservations have already been made. No arguments, I will see you August 31 at 2pm at the Mexico city Hilton. Wear something sexy.
I love you always,
JC.”
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After a lovely dinner of tacos and tequila we headed back to the hotel. JC’s surprise had been everything I had ever wanted for a birthday present. He had planned every second of the weekend and I loved it.
The best part was that my mom finally had the chance to meet JC and she obviously loved him. He was such a gentleman, so caring, so attentive, such a kiss-ass. She ate it up.
I laid in bed and pulled the covers up to my neck and sighed.
“How’s your birthday weekend so far?” JC asked getting in bed next to me. “Amazing,” I replied scooching closer to him.
“Good,” he planted a kiss on my head as he opened his arm to pull me closer. “Are you sure it’s ok with your mom that you’re sleeping in my room?” He said with a concerned look on his face.
“Honey, we’ve been having illicit rendezvous all over the world for the last 5 years. She is more than aware that you will be ravishing her daughter in a matter of minutes,” I told him as his face changed into a mortified look and I giggled loudly. “Well,” he relaxed a little, “If she’s in on it, might as well get on with the show.”
I giggled even louder as he turned himself onto me and his mouth claimed mine. And the show was magnificent, both in room 2108 in the Mexico City Hilton that night and in the Estadio Azteca the next. And I had front row tickets to both.
