The next day Salina handled press phone calls and inquiries from her parents’ living room, but decided to take a break when Anna showed up. The two headed into the backyard to watch Vanessa run after butterflies.
“So, how’s life in Orlando been?” Salina’s best friend asked her as they watched Vanessa play.
“It’s been good. Busy, but good.” Salina answered.
“Yeah, you’ve definitely been busy.” Anna smirked at her.
Salina rolled her eyes. “If you’re referring to a certain musician, I plead the fifth.”
“How serious is it with you guys?”
“Pretty serious. I need to call him though, the ProBowl seemed to go well, but he’s pretty upset with Justin and me. I need to talk to him.”
“Why’s he mad?”
“I think he’s stressed because his album is being a little overshadowed by Justin’s ‘nipplegate’ fiasco.”
“Well, I don’t blame him,” Anna paused. “So, you love him?”
Salina took in a deep breath. “Yeah.” She said as she picked at her parents' grass.
“And you’ve known him how long?”
Salina sighed. “Anna, don’t start.”
“I’m just saying, this seems awfully familiar.”
“This is nothing like with Miguel.” Salina answered tensely.
“Are you sure?”
Salina sighed and stood up without answering. She walked over to Vanessa and brushed grass off of the little girl’s outfit. She refused to look up when she heard Anna walk up behind her.
Anna sighed. “I’m sorry. I just…I worry about you, you know?”
“I know that, but you don’t have to.”
“I just hate what you went through with Miguel”‘
“That wasn’t your fault, Anna.” Salina interrupted.
Anna had introduced Salina to her cousin, Miguel, several years before and carried the guilt of the hurt that Miguel caused her best friend to this very day.
“If I hadn’t set you guys up, he wouldn’t have put you through all that sh-crap,” Anna caught herself in front Vanessa. “I’ve never seen you in that much pain and he’s my cousin.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t all bad. If you hadn’t introduced us, I wouldn’t have Vanessa. I would go through a thousand heartbreaks to have her in my life.” Salina said as she kissed her daughter’s cheek. “But none of that matters because this is different and JC is nothing like Miguel, I promise.”
Anna nodded. “I believe you. Just be careful.'
Salina rolled her eyes and handed Vanessa to Anna as she stood up. “Yes, mom. I’ve gotta go call him, I’ll be right back.”
Salina walked into her parents house and up to her old bedroom where she could phone her boyfriend in private. She hadn’t spoken to JC in two days because she wanted to give him space to deal with the emotions he seemed to be wearing on his sleeve lately. He hadn’t been subtle about his annoyance with Justin in the past few days and even less subtle about his irritation with Salina being in LA with Justin rather than in Hawaii with him.
Salina let out a breath when she received JC’s voice mail. “Hey, babe. It’s me. Just calling to see what you’re up to out there in Hawaii. I, uh, I saw your ProBowl performance and you looked great, of course. So…just call me back when you get the message, okay? I love you, Josh. Bye.” She shut her phone quietly and sat in her room for several minutes thinking about how she was going to handle her JC situation as his publicist and his girlfriend.
By the next day JC still hadn’t returned Salina’s call and she was beginning to worry that he was more upset with her than she had originally thought. She had spent the day at Universal Studios with her family and was putting Vanessa to bed that night when her cell phone rang in her pocket. She closed the door to Vanessa’s room and pulled out her phone.
“Hello?” She answered.
“Hey.” The sound of her boyfriend’s voice filtering through caused her to release a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“Hey, baby. Are you okay? How’s Hawaii? Is Jen still there with you?”
“Salina, slow down.” He said and she couldn’t quite read the inflection in his voice. It was very still and calm, but also quite serious. “I”uh”I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry that I haven’t called. I’m not mad at you; I want you to know that. I could never be truly mad at you, I love you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I love you, too. I just didn’t know what to think when I hadn’t heard from you and I knew you were upset about Justin.” She trailed off.
“I was upset about all of that, but it wasn’t his fault and it definitely isn’t your fault. Shit just happens and I’m sorry I was such a jackass about it.”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
He paused. “How’s the kid?”
Salina smiled. “She’s good. I just put her to bed, we spent the day at Universal.”
“Aww, I wanted to take her there.”
She laughed. “Well, you missed it, hun.” She paused. “I miss you so much, Josh.”
“I miss you too. But I’ll see you tomorrow, right? I mean, I can come over after my flight gets in if you want.” He stated unsurely.
“You bet your ass you’re coming over.”
It was his turn then to let out a laugh. “Okay, then. I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.”
A few weeks had passed as JC debuted his album and Salina assisted with his promotional efforts. The album hadn’t been a stunning success, but both JC and JIVE Records seemed to be pleased with the sales and had begun arranging tour dates for him. In the meantime, Salina was busy planning the fast approaching Challenge for the Children event for the guys and securing attendees and press to be present.
All the while, the relationship between Salina and JC flourished as the two spent every free moment they had together with Vanessa. JC had actually began thinking of what it might be like to have the two women live with him and was trying to scrounge up enough courage to ask her. JC knew Salina enjoyed her independence and did not want to become too reliant on JC. Convincing her to move in with him after only having dated her for six months was going to be a feat, he knew, but if their relationship continued at its current pace, he knew that he’d be asking her soon enough.
There was no way he could have known that their relationship was about to take a dip.
Salina had been working in her office during a warm day in the middle of May when an unexpected visitor popped in.
“Hey, boss?” Jen’s voice called over the intercom.
“I’ve asked you repeatedly not to call me that.” Salina responded with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Mr. JT is here to see you.” She answered and Salina heard Justin laugh in the background.
“Really? Send him in please.” She couldn’t think of any reason why Justin would be in Orlando and visiting her.
“Hey there, girlie.” Justin smiled as he walked in and handed her a cup of Starbucks coffee.
“Hey,” She responded unsurely as she looked at the cup then back at him. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“Oh, nothing. I was in town and just thought I’d stop by and say ‘hi’ to everyone.”
Her eyebrows narrowed and sat back in her chair, thinking. “Just stopped in to say ‘hi’? Coffee? A catch. You want something.”
Justin sighed and sat in the chair across from her. “I need your opinion on something. Your honest opinion.”
“Okay.”
“And it has to be as my publicist, not JC’s girlfriend.”
Salina tensed noticeably as she didn’t want to be put in the middle of another “JC vs. Justin” issue ever again. “What’s going on, Justin?”
“Do you think that doing another NSync album would hurt my career?”
She sucked in a breath, she hadn’t been expecting a question like that at all. “What do you mean? Where is this coming from?”
“Well, we’ve all kind of decided that we’re going to make the decision about whether or not we’re going to do another group album when we all meet up at Challenge. So, we’re all supposed to go over the pros and cons on our own before then. Didn’t JC tell you?”
Salina felt a little embarrassed. “No, but he doesn’t really discuss his musical life with me unless it’s related to my job.”
Justin was quiet for a moment. “Oh, well, what do you think…about, you know, about what I asked?”
“Um…well, I think there can be pros and cons.” Salina stated diplomatically. “Obviously, you guys have a huge fan base, but you have a pretty good following of your own and you’ve developed a lot of respect from others in the music industry that I don’t think you had before.”
“So, you think I shouldn’t do it?”
“I didn’t say that.” She shook her head emphatically. “I thought you guys were contracted for another two albums with JIVE, anyway.”
Justin waved his hand dismissively. “I can get out of that. But I am worried about the other guys, I know that at least most of them want to do this and if I say ‘no’ it kinda leaves them in a big pile of shit. I mean, I still may want to go back later, but I don’t think I want to right now...They’re gonna be so hurt.”
“Well, that’s true, but I don’t think there’s any way to get around that. They’re going to be upset if you say ‘no,’ obviously because they need you to keep this group going. They don’t have thriving careers in the same way you do, Justin. I mean, you haven’t even done anything in 6 months and you’ve still grown more famous.”
“I don’t want it to be about fame.” He argued.
“People don’t by albums of faceless artists.” She pointed out. “Anyway, that’s not the point. If you’re not going to do another album with them you need to definitively say that at Challenge. First, you’ve been dragging your NSync fans around long enough, they need an answer once and for all. Second, the other guys have been turning down other career opportunities thinking that by the end of this year, you’re all going to be back in the studio and they needed to make time for that.”
“They have? But JC’s album…?”
“I didn’t mean JC. I meant Joey, Lance and Chris, they’re ready. If you really don’t want to make another album, you need to tell them.”
“They’re gonna hate me.” Justin looked down at his shoes.
“Maybe, but I doubt it. They're your friends and they love you. At the end of the day, Justin, you have to do what you think is best for you. I will say that I’ve never heard a harmony sound so sweet as when the five of you are singing together, but if you want to find a new sound that works better for you, then you should do that.”
“Thanks, Salina.” He smiled and stood up. “I should go get Johnny’s opinion and then think on this for a couple of weeks.” He started to walk towards the door.
“Uh…Justin?” Salina called.
He turned back with a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t mention this conversation to JC.”
“Thanks.” She sighed as he walked out of the door. “Because he’s going to go crazy when he finds out.”
Salina finished up her day’s work and then collected Jen so they could walk to their cars together as they did every day.
“Bye, Chelsea.” Salina called to the receptionist and Jen waved to the girl.
“Bye, Jen.” Chelsea replied, completely snubbing Salina.
The two older women exchanged looks as they walked outside together. “Boy, does that girl hate you.” Jen laughed.
“I don’t get it. What did I do?” Salina asked.
“You’re dating the man that poor girl’s in love with.”
“JC? Really?”
“Oh, please, you’ve never seen the way she drools all over herself when he’s nearby?”
Salina shrugged as they reached her car. “I guess I’ve never paid much attention. Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Jen.”
Story Tags: boyfriendjc jc justin hospital tabloids joey chris lance solojc
