I pick up the phone and dial Brad's cell phone number. After a few rings he answers.

"Hello?"

"Hi Brad."

"Oh hi…"

"Is there someone there with you?"

"Yep."

"Oh okay. I just wondered if you were watching MTV just now?"

"MTV, no why? I'm out playing golf."

"Oh okay. Well I need to talk to you when you get back."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to explain something to you before it gets out of hand."

"Okay. I can come back now if you want."

I smile. "No, finish your game. It can wait."

"Okay, I'll see you later then."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone and look at mama as she walks back into the room.

"Well?" she asks.

"He's playing golf so he didn't see anything but I told him to come see me."

"Good. See, it will be fine."

"Now I just have to deal with Marcus. I still can't believe he said that."

She sat down next to me and patted my knee.

"Now you know that he wants to be more than just your friend."

I smile. "I know. I'm very flattered. Do you know how many girls want him?"

She laughs and nods. "Yes, millions. Trust me, I've been there."

"Oh right. I forget that daddy was the same way."

She laughs. "You make it sound like you can't believe it."

"Well it's daddy. If I hadn't seen tapes and stuff of them in concert I wouldn't have believed it."

She started to wave her hand in front of her face. "That's when I found him the sexiest…on stage, whew."

"Okay mama, too much information," I say standing up. "I'm going to go take a shower."

She laughs. "Okay."

Later that day there was a knock on my dressing room door.

"Come in," I yell.

"Hey," Brad said, peeking his head in.

"Hi, come on in."

I turn around in my makeup chair.

"Did you have a good game?"

He walks over to me and then looks down at his feet.

"Yeah, I did pretty good. I'm learning," he chuckled.

"Good. Maybe you can play with my daddy…he loves the stupid game."

"Yeah, I know he does. Wait, it's not stupid."

I laugh.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about? It must have been pretty serious for you to feel like you had to call me right away."

He takes one of my hands in his. I look at our hands.

"Well, I didn't completely tell you the truth the other day."

"Oh?"

"I told you that I had told Marcus that we couldn't hang out in public anymore…well the truth is that I haven't seen him to be able to tell him. I thought I would see him. Plus I thought that he was probably getting the same lecture I was so…"

His thumb started to rub across the top of my hand.

"Did something happen?" he asks.

I look up at him. "Kind of. He was on MTV today and the VJ asked about me and him…and he said we were friends, but he did say he would like it to be more," I say looking back down at our hands. "So I didn't want you to hear that and think that I had told you one thing and him another."

When he didn't say anything I looked back up at him.

He was smiling.

"It doesn't matter…I could have seen that and just thought…he's fooling himself," he winked at me.

"So you're not upset?"

"No. You told me what the deal was so I have no reason not to believe you."

I let out my breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Thanks."

"I saw your mom in the hallway."

"Yeah…she'll be here for a few days. I think the rest of my family will join us when we get to New York."

"So, have you found out yet what we'll be doing once this stint is over with?"

He was still holding my hand. It was distracting to say the least.

"Not yet. I think Tony will tell me something today. I can't believe it will be over in two weeks."

"But we'll be moving on to new adventures. You're only getting your feet wet here."

For some reason I got goosebumps when he kept saying we.

"It's only the beginning," I said looking up at him.

"Exactly."

When we heard the door open, he dropped my hand.

"I can come back later," mama said pointing toward the hallway.

"No, it's okay. Adriana told me what she needed to tell me. I have to go get ready."

"Bye," I said.

He smiled and waved before he left the room.

"Did it go well?" mama asked as she started to pick a few things up off of the couch.

"Yes. He's a very special guy."

Mama stops what she's doing and looks at me. "Yes he is. He was holding your hand."

"Yeah…it was distracting me," I laughed.

"I'm sure that's why he did it."

There was another knock on the door and then it opened.

"You decent?"

I laugh. "Yes Tony."

He walked into the room and pulled out his electronic calendar.

"Okay, here's what we have."

Mama walked over and stood by me as Tony sat down on the arm of the couch.

"Once this gig is over we're going to LA to shoot your next video."

"Really? Already?"

He nods as he still looks at his electronic pocket thingy.

"Yeah it's the only time we can fit it into your schedule and the director's schedule."

"Oh, who's directing it?" mama asks.

He finally looks up at us. "Uh, I thought you knew. Lance said he discussed this with you," he says looking at me.

"He did. It's Wade mama," I say looking over at her.

"Oh…okay."

He looks back down. "So anyway we'll take two to three days to do that and then throw in a couple of days to do an interview and photo spread for Glamour…"

"Glamour, really?"

He looks up again, smiles and nods. "Yes, Glamour. Then we're going on the road with the Summer Jam tour."

I scrunch up my eyebrows. "What's that?"

"It's a tour with other popular artists. They do amphitheaters and places like that. Most of them are outdoors."

"Anyone else I know on the bill?"

"Well there's the group KCB, Michael Cooper, Sasha, Jonah…"

"Wow, they're so diverse. Will my music really fit in?"

Mama turns to look at me. "Of course it will. Those kids turn on the radio and they hear all of those artists mentioned, right along with you."

I shrug. "Okay. If you think it will work."

"They might be a little quiet for your first song but trust me…you'll have them captivated by the last."

"Thanks," I say softly.

"It's true. Look how you win over Marcus's crowd every night."

I shrug. "Yeah I guess."

Mama smiles and rubs my back. "I think it sounds like fun."

I give a curt nod. "It will be."

After running through a few more interviews I will have to do Tony starts to leave. As he opens the door, Marcus is on the other side getting ready to knock.

"This place is like Grand Central Station," mama mumbles to me.

I try to hide my giggle.

"Come on in Marcus," I say.

"I have a phone call to make. Hello Marcus," mama says as she passes him.

"Britney…it's good to see you again. I'm sure Ana is thrilled to have you with her."

She smiles and nods before she leaves us alone. He watches as she walks down the hall and then shuts the door. I stretch out on the couch a little bit. Marcus walks over, picks up my legs and then sits down and places my legs on his lap.

"All you had to do was ask me to move them," I said trying to remove my legs from his lap but he won't let go.

"I don't mind."

"So, I didn't know you were going to New York to be on MTV today."

"You saw that huh?" he asks as he starts examining my legs.

I nod. "You like making assumptions don't you?"

He finally looks up at me.

"What?"

"Marcus, there's something I needed to talk to you about but you've been so busy that I haven't had a chance."

"Okay…"

"Well my management decided that it wasn’t good for me to be seen going places with you and Brad."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "How did Brad take it?"

"He understood…why?"

I was beginning to wonder why all of a sudden he was concerned about Brad's feelings in all of this.

"I know it would be hard for me to understand it if you decided on the other man."

If I had been drinking or eating something I would have just choked.

"Uhhh I don't think you get it. I can't be seen in public with either of you. I mean I can hang out backstage with you guys but even though nothing is going on," I emphasize, "with either of you…like that anyway, they want me to keep it a low profile."

He stared intently at me for a couple of minutes.

"Say something."

A slow smile creeps across his face. "Time will tell."

I finally jerk my legs free from his grasp and set them on the floor.

"You know, you've changed."

"How so?" he asked, cocking and eyebrow at me. He stretches his arm out on the couch so that his hand is behind my head.

"I don't know…you've gotten more cocky I guess. You know I only have two more weeks on this tour. It would have been silly to start something now, anyway," I say with a shrug and look straight ahead at the TV that is on mute.

"It's called a long distance relationship. I know they're not easy," he said before I protested. "But it's been done. Your parents did it."

"Yeah and it almost tore them apart forever."

He shook his head. "No, true love conquers all. I truly believe that. So, any ideas where you'll be headed next?"

I felt his fingers start to gently massage the back of my neck.

"Yes, I'm going on the Summer Jam concert."

"Oh, good lineup. We cross their paths in a couple of days in Atlanta. You and I should check it out."

My mouth opens and he places a finger across it before I can say anything.

"I know we can't be seen together but if we need to explain we'll say we're doing homework. Besides my good friend Michael is on that tour. I'll introduce you and you'll already know someone."

I close my mouth, his finger still on my lips and I nod. "I will have to let Tony know."

"Fine by me he shrugs. I'll see you around," he said before he kissed my cheek, stood up and walked out the door.