Chapter Two

2004

"Uh-huh." Lance said into the phone.

"Why do I have the feeling that you’re not listening to a word I’m saying?" Justin Timberlake asked.

"Sure." Lance replied.

"Lance, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Lance."

"Fine, it’s her birthday."

Justin sighed.

"Lance, it’s been four years."

"And it hasn’t gotten any easier. Can you believe it? If I wasn’t living it I wouldn’t. Four years and no phone call, no letter, no e-mail. Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Justin didn’t say anything.

"I just wish I knew where she was. If she was okay, ya know?" Lance said quietly.

***

"Good morning." Chloe said walking into the room.

"Hi Mommy." Four-year-old Emma said rubbing her eyes.

"Ready for breakfast?" Chloe asked.

Emma nodded and hopped out of bed. The pair headed into the kitchen of their tiny house.

"What’ll it be?" Chloe asked.

"Waffles." Emma said after a great deal of thought.

"Coming right up." Chloe replied.

***

Emma was just finishing up breakfast when the phone rang. Chloe’s breath caught in her throat…the same way it did every time the phone rang.

There was no way he could have found her.

"Hello?"

"Happy Birthday girl!" Jamie Brown, Chloe’s best friend said.

Chloe gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." She replied glancing up at the clock. "Hey, it’s 8:30 and it’s Saturday. What are you doing up?"

"Actually I just finished a phone interview." Jamie replied.

"Really? Details please." Chloe said as she cleaned syrup off of Emma’s sticky face.

"Well, you know I’m not happy at the agency."

"That’s an understatement."

"Hey! Who didn’t they listen to when I said that Matt Damon was going to be the next big thing?! Anyway, I’ve been exploring my options and I found out a brand new talent agency is opening up right here. So I sent in my resume and like I said I just got off the phone with the guy in charge."

"Cool. I’m happy for you." Chloe said.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, I need you to come over to dinner on Friday. He’s coming over to meet me and I think if you and Jason are there to talk me up it’ll help." Jamie said.

"Hmm…how many embarrassing stories can I think of before then?" Chloe joked.

"CHLOE!"

"Just kidding. Of course I’ll be there."

*** Lance shuffled through the papers on his desk.

"It’s got to be here somewhere." He muttered.

A pile of file folders fell to the ground.

"This day just keeps getting better…" Lance started as he bent down to pick up the folders.

On the way back up he hit his head on the desk.

"And better." He finished.

After a few moments of searching he found the document he was looking for. He began flipping through Jamie Brown’s resume. She was a high profile talent agent in the LA area.

Exactly what Lance needed.

He continued flipping through her resume when he came across her reference page.

"Chloe Anderson."

Lance ran his hand over his face.

"Get a grip. That’s not even her last name."

Chapter Three