Chapter 8: Unpleasant Meetings
& Painful Secrets
A short while later, the guys pulled into the parking area
of TransCon and headed towards the office. As the three walked
into the office, A man's voice rang out, "Lance, Justin?
Is that you?"
The guys groaned lightly before responding, "Yes!"
"Come in. I have that form here, and I need to get it
to the lawyers today!"
Justin, Lance and Patrick walked into the office and the
man behind the desk looked up with cold eyes.
"Hello?", the man said looking at Patrick, "Who
are you?"
"My name is Patrick Morrow. Nice to meet you, Mr....?",
Patrick said confidently.
"Pearlman. Lou Pearlman.", Lou said as he looked
Patrick over keenly. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting with Lance, JC, Justin and the rest of the
guys.", Patrick said soberly, suddenly uncomfortable
with Lou's gaze.
"This is Patrick, Lou, the Patrick that we went to his
sister's wedding a month or so ago in Columbus, Ohio.",
Lance said nervously.
"Oh...the weekend that security misplaced you for a
day.", Lou said coldly.
"Young man", Lou continued, looking at Patrick
alone, "That weekend caused more headaches for me than
you'll ever know. I hope that they had a good reason to sneak
off for the day."
"I think they did.", Patrick said softly. "I
think that going to visit with someone who's life expectancy
is less than a year, in hopes to cheer him up and prolong
his life is a very good reason. These boys should be commended,
not condemned."
"Really?", Lou said suspiciously, "Who's dying?
You?"
Justin and Lance gasped, and for a second Lou turned pale
as he realized his error.
"Yes", Patrick yelled, "I am dying of AIDS.
My doctor gave me 3-4 months to live. I have lived for 5 so
far. In my little world, that means I am graced with an extension
on my life, and I owe it to these guys. And if their coming
to my sister's wedding to do this miracle caused you some
headaches then too damn bad, Lou!! There's drugs out there
for that. Take some, get over it, and stop acting like such
a goddamned prick!!"
A deafening silence descended over the room as Patrick and
Lou stared at each other over his desk until Patrick looked
over at Lance and Justin and said, very sweetly, "Now...let's
sign what you needed to sign and go home."
Lou grunted and pushed two sheets of paper out towards them.
Justin grabbed a pen and signed the first, then the second.
Lance did the same as quickly.
The guys stood up, mumbling goodbye to Lou.
Lou and Patrick stared at each other for a second longer
before Lou spoke, "Goodbye Mr. Morrow. If you are indeed
as ill as you say, then I probably won't be seeing you again."
"No", Patrick said quickly as he turned and walked
out of Lou's office, "I have this feeling that we will
meet again. My luck could never be so good as for us not to."
As he slammed the door to Lou's office, Patrick looked up
and saw Justin and Lance crying at the end of the hallway.
Patrick walked down the hall and grabbed the two young men
into an embrace.
"Patrick", Justin said, "I'm so sorry. He
was so mean and rude to you."
Lance sniffed and nodded, "I have never seen someone
stand up to him like that before. You were really mad!"
"Well....Never get me started. I can turn from nice
guy to complete bitch in .3 seconds flat. You just saw a taste
of it. That lard ass may think he's queen of the May with
this company, but man...he just ran smack into me, the Queen
of Denial.", Patrick said then chuckled.
Lance and Justin giggled and then the guys walked out of
the building and got into the UT.
As they drove home, Patrick looked over at Lance, who still
looked really upset.
"Scoopy", Patrick said, "We're away from him...don't
let him ruin your day."
Lance sighed and then looked over at Patrick and began to
cry. He slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of
the road.
"I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!", Lance cried
as Patrick leaned over and pulled him into a hug, "For
what he just did to you and what he did to me!"
"What did he do to you?", Patrick whispered to
Lance.
"When the band first started, he would come around and
touch me and Justin. He touched us....where he shouldn't have.
We didn't want him to, but he made us promise not to tell....or
he said he'd drop us. I thought he was gonna do it again today
since we were the only two he asked to sign that contract.
But you were there and so he just kinda blew up on you instead."
"He touched you?", Patrick said quietly, his eyes
small and angry, "He MOLESTED you! You were both underage
and he molested you."
"Don't tell anyone, please", Justin cried from
the back seat.
"I won't tell anyone. But you two have to. If he did
it to you guys, he will do it to other boys. Like Aaron Carter
or LFO, or anyone. Please...guys. There is no disgrace in
this for you. He did this to you. He's the monster here."
"We are gonna make it public soon.", Lance said,
"JC found out that he's funneling money that belongs
to the band to himself. We plan on leaving the label here
in a month or two. We're just gathering evidence now and waiting
for a window."
"OK", Patrick sighed, "Just don't let him
get away with it. He and I are gonna meet again....I know
it!"
The guys got home and Lance and Justin filled the guys in
on their meeting as Mike showed Patrick where their room was.
Patrick changed into a pair of shorts and a button down shirt
and rejoined the guys as Mike stood horrified as he listened
as Lance's retelling of the events of their meeting.
"I hope my yelling back at him won't get you guys in
any deeper with him. He seems the real, unforgiving, grudge
holding kinda guy.", Patrick said.
"No", Lynn said from the end of the room where
she had stood quietly and heard the whole story, "They
won't be because I won't stand for it. What he said to you
was way out of line and he deserved the verbal stomping you
gave him. He may be their manager, but he was off base this
time."
Patrick smiled and JC and Chris walked over and hugged him.
"I really do have you guys to thank for being here.
I don't think I would have lived this long if Mike had never
written that letter.", Patrick said softly.
"Justin showed me that letter last week when he was
telling me about you.", Lynn said, "I cried reading
it."
"Well", Patrick laughed, "I have some photos
here that you might wanna see then, Lynn."
"Ooooh", Lynn said as she sat beside Patrick, "Wedding
pictures! Ahh...look! This is one of all you guys, it's perfect.
Can I have this one? I am gonna get it blown up and hang it
in Justin's room."
The guys spent the next half hour happily going through the
pictures and picking out the ones they liked. Lance pulled
Patrick off to the side and grinned as he held up a picture
of the two of them standing beside each other, grinning.
"This is awesome!", Lance grinned, "I am definitely
gonna get enlarged and framed."
Patrick grinned and hugged Lance.
"Here is a good one, that the press would have a field
day with. It's JC and Mike slow dancing. Who lead during this
dance, by the way?", Chris laughed as JC pulled the picture
away from him and grinned.
"He did", both Mike and JC said in unison as they
pointed to the other. This caused the guys to break out in
peals of laughter.
"You guys make a cute couple.", Lynn grinned as
she looked at Mike and JC.
"So we've been told.", JC grinned as he looked
at Patrick, who blushed deep red.
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