A soft light filled the kitchen as the door from the garage opened. JC was carrying a backpack that he dropped in the foyer. He rolled his shoulders and closed the door behind him, walking into the kitchen. He glanced at the clock.  It was only 8PM but the day had seemed to drone on forever. They had meetings and a long session in the studio. He had so many songs swirling around in his head that he almost didn’t know what to do with himself.

He shuffled to the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. He opened it and took a long sip. With a sigh, he leaned against the counter. For some reason, he was longing today. He was longing for someone to be home waiting for him, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. He was longing for someone to be there to listen to him, to tell him about her day, just to be. 

As he drank his water, he pulled out his phone. A bunch of missed calls and voicemails as always, and a whole bunch of unread texts. He was the worst at checking his phone throughout the day, especially when he was in the studio. 

Dad, Tyler, Tum… he scrolled down the list. Johnny. Justin. A soft smile played at his lips. Samantha. He clicked on the message and it popped up on his screen.

Samantha: Today’s been one of those days. Red Wine and some homemade soup. Hope your day has been less stressful than mine.

He smiled and peeked at the time stamp. It was only sent about an hour and a half hour before. Should he call her? He grinned slightly. Why are you so worried about this? He thought, looking at his phone for a few long moments before he clicked the send button. 

The phone rang a few times and he sat up on a stool at his counter. He felt a familiar little tumble of butterflies in his stomach with anticipation. 

“Hey you,” Samantha’s voice was soft but he could hear a hint of a smile in her voice. 

“I hope it’s not too late,” he replied, “hello by the way.”

She laughed softly and settled back against her pillows. “No, it’s just a little after 11. I had a really late day today and got home like an hour ago. How are you Josh?”

He made a soft little noise, one that was barely audible. “I’m okay. I had a  long day today too. “

“Yeah? You want to tell me about it?” Her voice was soft and something about it was comforting. He was digging this feeling. 

“We started the morning with a meeting with Jive. Our new record is slated to come out in January. We’ve been in talks about the promo that we are doing and the tracks that will be making the album. I went to the studio after that and got some tracks down with Jimmy. I guess I lost track of time too because the next thing I knew I had worked through lunch and dinner,” he laughed softly, “then I realized that I was starving. And exhausted.”

“Oh! Wow. So you must have had some great ideas then. Are you excited about what you’re working on?”

He couldn’t help but feel a smile playing at his lips. “Yes. Actually I am.  I have two tunes I’ve been working on. They’re going to be good ones.” 

“I’m excited for you. I can’t wait to get the album!” 

“If you’re lucky you’ll get an advanced copy to listen to. I’d love to hear how you feel about the tunes.”

She paused for a moment and JC felt his heart flutter a little bit. Did he say too much? Was she not sure about wanting to listen to the album? Why was he so worried right now?  

“I’ll try and play my cards right,” she giggled softly, “Sorry. I had a text from a photographer. I have an early shoot tomorrow with him.” 

He couldn’t hold back the sigh of relief that escaped. “Oh good. I’ll bet those cards will be played right. I don’t want to keep you too long if you need to get up early. Thanks for listening, Samantha.”

“Of course,” her voice was thoughtful and he could imagine her snuggled up on her couch, or in her bed talking to him, “I’m a great listener.”

“So uh,” he began, playing with the base of his phone, “I’m coming back to New York in two weeks. *NSYNC is performing at a private charity event at the W. Are you going to be home?”

“Two weeks? That’s what, just before Thanksgiving? Yeah I should be. I’ll be in Miami for a few days just before that but I’ll be home.” 

He felt himself smiling. “Great. If you’re interested in coming to the event let me know. I might know a guy who can let you in.”

She laughed softly. “I’d love to come. Let me know when you guys arrive. You’ll have a welcoming committee in New York.”

“Great… uh.” He stopped and smiled for a moment, glancing over at the clock on the microwave. “I guess I’ll let you go then. Hey Samantha?”

“Hey Josh?” her voice was soft and light. She loved the way he always started off saying something with her name that way. It was something she found so endearing already. 

“Hey.” He laughed, softly, knowing he probably sounded like an idiot. He really didn’t care. He felt a lightness inside of him he hadn’t felt in ages. “I uh, I guess I just wanted to say I appreciate you. I find myself missing you.” 

“Oh Josh.” she paused and he could sense she was smiling on the other end of the phone. “I miss you too. I enjoy our phone conversations. I’m glad we’re able to talk this way, I definitely look forward to it.”

“Me too Samantha, me too. I hope you have a great night. Good luck at your shoot tomorrow morning.” 

“Night Josh. Get some rest darlin’. And make sure you eat dinner okay?”

“I will. Goodnight, Samantha.”

“Night Josh.” she repeated.

“Talk soon.” He hit the end call button and stared at his phone for a few long moments. It was insane how they had just met once in person but he had become so familiar with talking to her on the phone nearly every day. How just hearing from her made his day even better, he was definitely digging the feeling of comfort.

Her reminder to eat dinner echoed in his head, and he trudged over to the refrigerator. His fridge was pretty bare but leftover sushi from the night before would do the trick. Grabbing the soy sauce from the fridge and the sushi tray, he placed it on the counter. He cracked open a cold Heineken and settled at the island again. He grinned softly to himself as he brought the first piece of sushi to his lips. A thought crossed his mind and he reached over to grab his laptop. Chewing on his sushi, he made his way to the internet.

“Mmmm. Let’s see,” he mumbled, “Women like flowers. I’ll send flowers. But. I can’t order her roses. That’ll scare her away. I don’t want her to think I’m coming on too strong.” He took a sip of his beer and reached for another piece of sushi roll. “Ah. Peonies. She had some on her counter when I was over. I bet she’ll like those.”

He clicked his way through Google to find out the meaning of sending peonies and smirked slightly when he found an ancient Greek story that the god of love would send peonies to Aphrodite as a sign of his flirtation. “Perfect,” he smirked as he ate his sushi, finding himself a New York City florist online. A few clicks later, he had placed 60 pink peonies in his cart. A gift message. He made a face. Oh great. As he took a long sip of his beer, he stared at the screen. What the hell? Why was he so nervous? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve sent flowers to a woman, JC, he thought to himself. 

He chewed on his lip and made a face as he began to type. Samantha ~ Just wanted to let you know how special I think you are… His face contorted into a grimace. No, no, no. He hit backspace. Samantha ~ Just because you’re on my mind. Xo, Josh.  He grinned. Short and sweet. There we go. He took out his credit card and checked out, paying for delivery the following afternoon. Done. He finished off his beer, staring into space. 

***

Samantha pulled the belt of her peacoat a little bit tighter around her waist. It was cold for an early November evening but that was one of the things she loved about late fall in the city. You really never knew what to expect. Keying in the code for her building, she slipped inside and looked up at the doorman and smiled. “Hey John,” she said.

“Ms. Bentley! Good to see you. I hope you’re having a great day. Hey. Before you head upstairs, there was a delivery for you this afternoon.” John grinned, walking to the desk. “Someone must really like you.” He pulled out a large glass vase filled with a huge bouquet of pink peonies, easily multiple dozens.

“Oh my gosh!” she covered her mouth with her hand and smiled. “They’re beautiful. Wow… okay…” she continued as she walked over to the desk and took the vase, “thanks John. Appreciated.”

John offered her a grin as he walked her to the elevator and pushed the button to head up. “You didn’t tell me you had a new boyfriend. He seems like a catch.”

She laughed softly. “I don’t John. You’d be the first to know. Promise.” She gave him a cute grin as the elevator door closed. Rising up to her loft, she closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the peonies. They were fragrant and sweet. She let out a soft sigh as the elevator opened to her foyer and she walked inside, placing the vase down on the kitchen island. Peeking around the vase, she tried to eyeball the number of flowers. There had to have been at least 4, if not 5 dozen flowers. She had never received so many flowers at once before. With a soft giggle, she leaned up to pull the card from the bouquet to examine it. It had to be a designer or her studio. They were the most likely to send her flowers to help win her over.

Samantha ~ just because you’re on my mind. Xo, Josh

She smiled and brought the card close to her chest, embracing it slightly. Josh. She could imagine him picking the flowers out, and the thought made her giggle again. He was probably sitting at his computer screen, or on the phone rubbing the back of his neck. He always rubbed the back of his neck when they Skyped and he was finishing up a story.

With a light sigh, she put the card down on the island and slipped her coat off. As she made her way to her hall closet, she was thinking about calling him to thank him. The lightest little tumble began in her tummy and she rested a hand on top of it after hanging her coat up. 

“Oh Samantha,” she laughed, shaking her head. “It’s just a thank you.” 

She plopped down on the couch and sucked in a breath. She scrolled through her phone and found the Js. Josh Chasez. His name made her bite her lip, and she stared down at it in her phone. 

“Just a thank you,” she repeated on a mumble and clicked the call button. 

The phone rang, and rang again. She glanced at the clock. It was only 1PM in LA, he was probably busy. It rang again, and again, and again. She drew her bottom lip in again and bit a little harder. If he didn’t pick up, it would be an easy out for her… but did she really NOT want him to pick up? The phone rang once more and then made the half ring before his voice took over.

“You’ve reached 310-555-3946. You know what to do.” 

The loud voicemail beep took over and she sucked in a sharp breath. He wasn’t one to not answer her phone calls… though the more she thought about it, he was usually the one to initiate the calls. Of course. Before she could overthink things one more moment, something kicked in and she began.

“Hey Josh. It’s me. Me as in Samantha,” she laughed softly and made a face at herself, “it’s like 4:25PM on Friday. So 1:25 for you. I just came home to a beautiful surprise. It was so thoughtful of you to send me the flowers. I appreciate it. A lot. Thank you. Uh, that’s all… I hope your day is going well. Talk to you soon.” 

She clicked the end call button and put her phone down. Why was that so difficult? She had talked to him so many times before. She reached on the coffee table and pulled her laptop up onto the couch. Her head went back against the pillows while she waited for the laptop to start up.

She pulled the laptop a little bit closer on her lap and looked down, opening up her email. She scrolled through mindlessly, clicking on a notification from MySpace, making her way to her home screen. She accepted several new friend requests and scrolled through messages until one popped up that made her eyebrow raise. 

To: Samantha Bentley

From: Karleigh Klouse 

10 November 2005 2:35PM EST

Subject: So sorry

Hey Sam - know you left the party with this player in NYC. Just looking out for you. Click the link. Call if you need me. 

Sam’s brows furrowed as she clicked the link in the message from Karleigh which opened up an article from a LiveJournal community called Oh No They Didn’t. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The same community had called her a hog the month before and critiqued a shoot she had done with a bridal company. What did they know? 

NSYNC’s JC Chasez Hot on the Town!

*NSYNC co-frontman JC Chasez was spotted hot on the town at the Nucci Nightclub in Beverly Hills on Friday night! He came in with a posse of both beautiful women and hot men and spent the night with a little bump and grind with this mystery woman before leaving the party hand in hand with her. Sources tell us the couple was hot and heavy that night. Click the link to expand the post to see all the photos!

Sam, of course, could not help herself. She quickly clicked on the link to open the rest of the post, and a series of photos of JC in a popped collar pink polo shirt and jeans, hands up in the air while dancing with a super skinny brunette with her hands all over his chest. She sucked in a breath. Why did this hurt?

“What in the ever loving fuck, Samantha!” she said out loud, rolling her eyes. “You’re on my mind my ass,” she grumbled, glancing back at the five dozen peonies on the island. She was 26 years old, too old to be played with by some player. 

She scrolled to the next message which was from Joey. She laughed softly. He had sent her nearly a message every single day for 6 months. 

To: Samantha Bentley 

From: Joey Fatone Official

10 November 2005 3:45PM

Subject: video girl 

Don’t forget that we want you for our video! I talked with Wayne Isham for the next treatment and he’s going to reach out to your people. You’re going to be the perfect video girl. We will be back in NYC in 2 weeks. Hope to see you then! 

Sam smirked. Joey was persistent. But didn’t he know she was with JC? She made a face. Wait. She wasn’t “with” JC. There was no title for what they were except for friends. Friends who talked on the phone and on Skype. If Joey didn’t even know that, maybe they weren’t even friends. 

She closed up her laptop and went into the kitchen to start cooking dinner. She turned some music on and began to sway around the room as she stir fried up some veggies and chicken. By the time her chicken stir fry was finished and she poured a glass of red wine, she was feeling much better.

She took a long sip and heard her phone buzz. She walked over to the living room and brought it back to the kitchen island, taking another sip of her wine. 

JC: so sorry I missed your call. Do you have a minute to video chat? 

She made a face. Why did he keep playing with her heart that way? 

Samantha: I guess so if you need to. 

JC: meet you on Skype in five? 

Sam began and type and then erased. She sighed softly and walked to get her laptop and sign onto Skype. 

JoshuaScott99 is connecting… her screen read while it made the Skype ringing sound. She took a deep breath and clicked accept. 

“Hey,” she said softly. JC was all smiles on the other end. It looked like he was sitting at a piano in a room she hadn’t really seen before. 

JC tilted his head. She had sounded so excited to receive the flowers on the phone and now she looked so guarded. It had only been an hour since the phone call. 

“Hey pretty,” he smiled. “I wanted to see the flowers.”

She adjusted the laptop screen to reveal the large pink bouquet. JC felt himself smile really big. She was beautiful with the flowers as the backdrop. 

“They are beautiful,” she said, peeking back at them with a small smile, “Thank you again. I called to thank you but you were busy.”

“Yeah about that,” he laughed all low, “I had some home studio time today. It’s been a basement day since I woke up at 10:30 this morning.” 

“Oh you've been busy haven’t you…” Sam replied, then bit her lip. She realized that she had no reason to be sassy with him. They were friends. What he did 3,000 miles away from her was his business. 

“Yeah, busy being up buying flowers for a blondie until after midnight. Then up worrying about whether or not she was going to like them. Then that led to a song.” 

“You what? A song?”

He smiled, almost shyly as he looked down at the keys. “Yeah. A song.” 

She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him through the computer screen. She wanted to be mad at him in the worst way but this shy guy thing was getting the best of her. 

“Oh,” she said softly after a few moments. 

“I wanted to video call you not only to see the flowers but also to play you a little bit of the song. Do you want to hear it?”

Her hand immediately went to her glass of wine and brought it up to her lips. “As long as you don’t mind me eating dinner while you play.”

He laughed softly. “Not a problem. Sip and eat away. What are you drinking by the way?”

She held up her glass to the screen. “1999 Malbec. It’s one of my favorites of all time. Mmm.” 

“Just making a mental note,” he said with a grin, “so I know what to order us.”

Her head jerked up to look at the screen rather quickly when he said that. He just sat at the piano grinning at her through the screen. He was so cute it was infuriating! 

“Anyways, here’s the song Ms. Bentley. It’s not done yet. I’m going to play you the parts that are done though.”

She nodded and took a long sip, reaching for the bottle to top her glass off. 

JC’s fingers played at the piano as the light melody came out. 

So here we go, go again

It’s like I’m caught under your spell

You’re wearing black, black magic

Baby don’t wear nothing else

When I open up this door, Don’t you play

Ain’t no other man gonna make you feel the same

Wanna make, wanna make love 

Girl I can’t lie

I’m just a sucker for a cold hearted lover 

You make me suffer, you make me suffer 

Don’t keep me waiting, you should come over 

Don’t make me suffer, don’t make me suffer 

He played another few chords and looked up at the camera expectantly. He hadn’t written a song for someone in a while and played it so early in its creation. He cared so much about what she thought about the song. 

She couldn’t help but smile. “Cold hearted lover eh?”

He laughed and his eyes crinkled with his smile. “Well, you know..”

Her voice got soft but she was smiling. “It’s definitely something Josh. I like it.” 

“It’s not that I think you’re a cold hearted lover… at all. But the parts… you’ve got me caught under your spell? Yeah.” He smiled, looking up at her. “The other parts well,” he blushed slightly, “They happened.” 

She laughed a little bit at the cute little face he made. “Hey Josh?” 

“Hey Samantha?” It made him smile at the way she said his name the way he always nervously asked her a question. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Anything. Shoot.”

“Someone sent me an article from Oh No They Didn’t. You were the headliner with some brunette. She was gorgeous. It was from Friday. “ Her voice seemed to rush out. 

He felt his heart sink down into his stomach. “Oh God. Samantha,” he sighed. “I did go with friends out to the club this weekend. There was a woman.” He made a face when he saw Samantha visibly wince. “I hope you don’t hate me.”

“Josh,” her voice was very quiet, it seemed guarded but it was still that familiar voice he craved. “I’m not your girlfriend. If that’s what you want, or who you want, please. I’m not there to stop you. You know what… I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’re busy in your studio.”

“Wait. Samantha.” He grunted and looked up at the screen again. “Look at me.” 

Samantha looked back at him and sighed softly. “I’m looking.”

“One thing led to another and I left with her. But…” he sighed, “When I went back to her place and everything went down, I couldn’t get you out of my head. Everything I had always done with women before you and never thought twice about... I just couldn’t do it without you being at the front of my mind. I understand if you hate me right now. I just needed to get it all out.”

She blinked a few times as she searched his eyes through the computer screen. They looked earnest, lost and even a little bit vulnerable. “Josh…” 

He sighed again, knowing she could read him. How she was able to do it, he had absolutely no idea. “Samantha…”

“God you make it so hard to be mad at you!” she laughed at herself and shook her head. “I told you, I’m not your girlfriend. You didn’t do anything to wrong me. I promise.”

“I know you’re not my girlfriend. But I know that you and I have been talking and I respect that.” He stopped and smiled at himself slightly. He hadn’t pegged himself to be the guy to be having this conversation on the phone with a woman. "And I really meant it. You made me realize that acting this way isn’t fulfilling. So thanks for the kick in the ass.” He laughed.

“How about we go back to the first part of the phone call?” she asked, smiling. “Thanks for the flowers and the phone serenade. I really do appreciate it Josh.”

“You’re very welcome.” he smiled with a sigh and let himself appreciatively look at her through the computer screen. “Two weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing you, Samantha.”

“It’ll be amazing, darlin. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” She smiled softly.

He breathed a little sigh of relief. “Same time, same place. Have a good night, pretty.”

“Goodnight Josh.” 

He clicked the hang up button on Skype and closed his computer. His sigh of relief escaped again. That was a close one,he thought to himself. But this was it. He was done messing around. If Samantha Bentley was the woman he thought she was, he wanted her. And he wasn’t going to stop until she was sure he was the man for her... and his head was just as sure.

He walked to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of Jack Daniels. He brought his glass out onto the patio and stared out at the late afternoon sun, sipping his drink and letting his mind get lost in thoughts of her. It was on in New York City. It was on.