June's point of view

As an uncomfortable light hit my eyelids, I turned around in bed, pulling the covers over my head, groaning as the headache I had was unbearable, and the sound of the birds singing outside wasn't helping me.

"Would you shut the fuck up?" I muttered angrily, as I threw a pillow at the window.

I took a look around the room and frowned at the unknown bed I was in. The night prior had been quite lively, and I didn't remember how I ended up sleeping in a bed I didn't know.

The sound of the shower running in the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom confused me, and as a fisrt instict, I looked underneath the covers, and realized I was only in my underwears. A wave a panick washed over me, as I tried hard to remember last night's events. The last thing I could remember was playing this drink game with Brooke and some of her friends; the rest of the night was a total blackout.

Rubbing the tiredness from my eyes, and hopping the hangover I had would go away as well (of course, it didn't), I sat up in bed, an scanned the large room with my eyes in order to find my dress to put back on and leave the unknown place before the person in the shower would show up.

And of course, I couldn't find it.

I wrapped the covers around my body, and began to search quietly around the room. I was panicking just thinking about the eventuality that I had slept with somebody while being drunk.

During my search of my clothes, I tripped over the cover that was wrapped around me and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Fuck, I cursed under my breath. Immediately, I looked at the bathroom's door, but no one came out of it, but the shower was no longer running.

I stood back up quielty, and finally I spotted my dress on an armchair in the corner of the room. I reached it, walking on my tip-toes, without making a noise, and put it quickly back on. I zipped the back of it, took my purse that was next to it, and finally I was able to leave the room, and the place I was in.

As on cue, the bathroom's door opened as I was opening the bedroom's door. I was afraid to turn around and meet the person I might had slept with.

"It's rude to leave without saying goodbye, missy," a feminine voice I recognized as Brooke's said behind me, and I could finally realease the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Oh man, Brooke? Thank God it's you!" I said in a sight of relief. "I thought a guy was in there."

Brooke laughed a little, "It's just me. Liam is in the other shower, so I took this one. Did I wake you?" she asked me, drying her long brown hair with a towel.

"So that's your place?" I asked, hopeful.

"Uh, yes? You were too wasted to go back to the hotel last night," she said, speaking slowly. "You don't remember shit from last night, do you?" she laughed again.

"The last thing I remember was playing this drinking game with you and your friends," I declared, rubbing my aching head.

"Really?" she asked, making her way up to me. "Nothing after the game?"

"Not a single thing," I shook my head, and caught Brooke's smirk. "What? What did I do?"

"Oh nothing huge. You really did have fun, that's all. Your newbies were - "

"Oh my God, the newbies!" I yelled, a hand over my mouth.

I took my phone out of my purse, and dialed Rebecca's number immediately.

"Relax, they're fine!" Brooke laughed a little, walking past me. "Meet me downstairs in the kitchen when you're over, breakfast's waiting," she said, and I nodded, mouthing 'Thank you', "aspirin's waiting too," she added with a smirk, closing the door behind her as she left the room.

"Helloooo?" Rebecca drawled at the other end of the phone.

"Becks hey, are the newbies alright?" I asked right away.

"Isn't that the unworhty manager?" she sarcastically said, laughing at me. "How are you doing, lightweight?"

"Man, they told you? How are they doing?"

"Yeah, they told me, and I'm so sad I couldn't witness this," she laughed at me. "Anyways, your kiddos are fine. They showed up in the lobby of the hotel an hour or so ago to have breakfast, and I think they're back in the room now."

"What did they say to you about last night?" I asked, worried about what my newbies would think of me because of the state I was in.

"Believe it or not, they love you even more now," she chuckled, and I smiled at her words. "April, she said you needed that because she saw you weren't feeling good these past few days. She told me she admired you for being strong and allow yourself some fun."

"Am I so obvious? I mean, did everybody notice something was wrong with me?"

"All of them know, and they also know it's about Michael, as you guys don't see each other or talk to each other through the phone."

"Oh," is all I answered, as hearing Michael's name hurt me. "Okay, I guess I'll see you when I'll be back at the hotel."

"Sure thing, see you around, alky," she giggled.

I shook my head, and hung up the phone with a little smile on my face. I was glad the newbies were alright, but I was kind of mad at myself for acting like I did in front of them. Sure, Rebecca told me it made them love me more, but this is, in no istance, a behavior for a manager to have.

I huffed heavily, and pulled my hair into a high and messy ponytail before grabbing my purse and shoes and heading downstairs to eat breakfast with Brooke. As the house wasn't familiar to me, I just followed the sound of Brooke's and Liam's voice.

My friend's house was really spacious and beautifully decorated. The wooden floor was as shiny as you could practically see your reflect in it, and the large windows enlightened the entire house which gave it a charming look. The display of wooden furniture reminded me a little of Neverland, but I decided to put the thoughts aside; I didn't need to think about Michael with the headache I had. It would have made it worse.

"Here she is!" Brooke cheered, patting the chair next to her. "Come on, sit."

"Hi Liam," I waved at him, sitting across from him next to Brooke.

"Hey there, sleep well?" he asked in his strong british accent.

"Yeah, thank you," I smiled a bit.

"Here, take this. Aspirin is your friend this morning," she chuckled, giving me two pills with a glass of orange juice.

"Thank's, I really do need this," I giggled before swallowing the two pills. "Would you tell me what happened last night now?" I asked, setting the glass down.

"You eat first," she pointed at the display of food on the table.

"I'm not really angry," I declined her offer.

"Come on, eat something. You're gonna be starving."

"Seriously, I'm fine," I assured her with a little smile.

I barely ate in three days, because my stomach was all tied up ever since what happened with Michael occurred. If I dared forcing myself into eating, I would end up vomitting, and I didn't want this to happen at Brooke's.

"Whatever, but don't you end up anorexic. Too much models are nowadays," Brooke warned, and I smiled again at my friend's concern.

"Now tell me about last night."

"Well, well well," Brooke tapped her chin, certainly asking herself where she should begin. "I think I've never seen someone dancing the way you danced. I knew you were a dancer, but damn! You sure know how to move that booty of yours."

I almost chocked on my orange juice, laughing, "Tell me I wasn't the only one dancing."

"Well, you were the only once dancing on that table over there," she chuckled, pointing to the large wooden table in the dining room.

"Oh no," I hid my face in my hands. "I can't hope no one saw me, right?"

"Nope," she laughed. "You surely entertained everybody. Especially men. Didn't she, honey?" she asked Liam who was reading the newspaper.

"Yeah, every guy out there was like hypnotized," he snickered.

"Oh my God, I feel so dirty," I said, banging my head on the table, "Ow!"

"Banging your head won't help the hangover to go away," my friend laughed, gently patting my shoulder. "Come on, you had fun, it was cool to see you like this. Your newbies were pretty happy to party with you."

"Still, I'm still ashamed they got to see me like this. What happened next?"

Brooke cleared her throat and became a little bit uneasy, "Don't you remember talking to a special someone?"

"Michael?" I immediately thought of him. "Was he here? Did he call? Did -"

"No, no. None of this, sorry, girl," Brooke sweetly said, and my hopeful mood disappeared. "I'm talking about Tara."

Oh, shit.

"Tara? Why was she here? What happened?"

"You really don't remember?" she asked, quite shock.

"No Brooke, I don't remember anything at all," I repeated for clarification.

"Well, she came here because I invited her, because she's our friend, you know," Brooke began, playing with her fingers. "When she spotted you, she asked me the same question as you; 'what is she doing here?'," she explained.

"This can't be good," I winced, enticipating my friend's next words.

"Apparently, she didn't know you were seeing Prince on a regular basis, not just for the video. She thought that you were seeing him only when she was there too and she asked you if something happened between the both of them."

"And I told her that he kissed me," I continued, flashes from the conversation with Tara flooding my memory. "I think I remember now," I declared, searching through my memory. "We were playing, and I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around, Tara was there, and she asked me right away what the hell happened between Prince and I. I didn't want to lie to her, so I just told her 'He kissed me', and I remember the look in her eyes. Damnit, Brooke, I'm such a fuck up," I said, hiding my face in my hands.

"He what?" she asked for clarification.

"He kissed me," I slurred because of the tequila I had been drinking. "He forced me, actually," I corrected myself, raising a finger.

"I don't believe you," she shook her head at me.

"Believe what you want, babygirl, but that's what happened," I chuckled while nothing was funny; I just couldn't help it.

"Why would he kiss you while he's with me and you with Michael? That's some bullshit! He's not like this, not anymore since he's with me!"

"Well, you need to verify your sources, because I'm no longer with Michael," I pointed out, loosing my balance a bit. "That douche left me."

"So you're not with Michael anymore, and that's a valuable reason to tell me bullshit about my boyfriend? What's that game you're playing, huh?" she asked, inching closer to me.

"Oh Brooke and I are playing this drinking game called the Name Game, it's quite funny, you wanna j -"

"Look at your drunken ass," she shook her head at me, "there's no use in talking to you in that state anyways."

"I'm not drunk!" I protested, setting my empty shot of tequila on the table near me. "You don't have to worry about me seeing your boyfriend anymore, he didn't want to see me again, and I don't want to. So loosen up, and come have a drink!" I said, grabbing her forearm.

"I'm underage, and I'm not staying near your ass anylonger," she annouced, breaking free from my grasp on her forearm. "You disgust me, June. You can have all the men you want, but you had to take mine," she declared, giving me a disgusted look before walking away. "Prince is a good guy, and you know it. Stop acting like you don't know his real face," she added, turning around before continuing to walk towards the frontdoor.

As drunk as I was, I remembered those last words coming out of Tara's mouth hurt me deeply. I stood there, watching my friend walk away from me, and felt horrible for breaking her heart like I did, even though I wasn't responsible of any of this. I never wanted to kiss Prince knowing he was with my friend, and knowing that I was madly in love with Michael.

On the other hand, I was hurt that Tara thought I could actually be ready to kiss her man. I thought she had a better opinion about me.

"You had to break the ice," Brooke reassured me. "Sure, you weren't in the best state to do it, but I guess that was the best thing to do, being honest."

"Honesty led me nowhere. She wouldn't believe me, she'd rather believe Prince."

"She'll see his true side sooner or later, don't worry. Your friendship can't be over because of a guy like Prince."

"This is the problem, Brooke. I don't know what is his true side. For the two months we spent together as friends, I swear he was the sweetest guy. He made me laugh, and I felt safe with him, the same way I feel when I'm with Jer or David or Pit. He's such a beautiful person if you dig in his personality."

"And you think this is his real side? That all of the bad boy stuff is a façade?"

"I don't think so, I know so," I corrected her. "He told me himself that he had to keep this image because the public liked it. The thing is, what he did to me, maybe he wanted to show me how bad of a person he was, but the anger in his eyes... It frightened me."

"You're afraid of him?" Brooke asked me, frowning.

"Not afraid... But I think the Prince I discovered those past couple of months is the real one, but he didn't show me everything of him until that day he kicked me out of the studio. He's that sweet, funny and caring guy, but he's also that cranky and proud man I don't like."

"The guy is bipolar, I'm telling you," Brooke pointed a finger at me, and I laughed at her statement. "Like the guy is seriously mental. He can go from all sweet to cranky in what? A matter of twenty seconds?"

"I don't know. I think he just had a rough chidhood, and he's kinda clumsy when it comes to talking about his emotions"

"Michael had a rough chilhood too, but he's fine with talking about his emotions, this is no excuse."

"Brooke," I sighed. "If Michael was fine with talking about his feelings, then I wouldn't be here waiting for him to call me, desperatly waiting for answers to my questions," I pointed out, and my friend twisted her mouth.
"She has a point," Liam chimed in, not looking away from his newspaper. "Sorry."

"You're right," Brooke huffed heavily. "This is so weird for him to act this way."

"Talking about people's true face, maybe that's Michael's true face."

"No, it can't be. We've been friends since we were little, and never did he act like this. I know he has his temper tantrums at times, but everone has. He's gonna call, I can assure you this," Brooke smiled at me in a reassuring manner.

"Whatever," I muttered, only wanting to change topic. "I should probably get going now, I have kids to look after," I said, referring to the newbies. "They're probably waiting for me like lions in cage."

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Shopping. Some of them need a new wardrobe - what am I saying? They all need one," I corrected myself.

Brooke chuckled, "They're not that bad, come on."

"I know, but I feel like pleasing people, and spending a lot of money. Shopping is the best cure for heartbroken people."

"I have to agree on that," my friend smiled. "Come on, I'm taking you back to the hotel."

"Oh, that's okay, I'll take a taxi, I don't want to bother you," I refused, standing up from the chair, loosing my balance a bit.

My head was still spinning, but I knew it would quickly get better thanks to the aspirins Brooke provided me.

"This wasn't a question this was an order. You're not going anywhere in that state."

I smiled a bit at my friend's concern, "Thanks, girl."

At least, I still had friends.

***

As I was now clean with fresh clothes on, I finally made my way to the large suite the newbies were sharing. My hangover was still present, but it seemed like it was fading away little by little. The smallest noise would irritate me though, and the light wasn't my best friend at this particular moment; thanksfully, my shades helped me fighting my number one enemy of the day.

When I arrived in front of the hotel suite's door, I knocked a few times, and quickly, April opened the door, the brightest smile on her face.

"Guys, June's here!" she yelled across the room.

"Please, do not yell like this," I warned in a deep tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Come on in, boss," she shyly said, whispering at that point.

"June! Hey!" the three other girls came in the room, happily greeting me.

"Shhhhhh! Don't yell like this," April hissed at the girls, and they looked at her like she was crazy.

I laughed at the young girl, "It's okay, you can speak normally. But avoid any yelling, please," I told the four girls in front of me, patting April's shoulder gently.

"Someone has an hangover over here," Stephanie smirked at me.

"It been quite a long time I didn't have one like this," I admitted. "I barely remember the night."

The last time was back at Karl's party in Paris, where I called Michael while I was drunk.

He was visibly the only reason that pushed me to get drunk the way I did.

"That was the best party E.V.E.R," Stephanie said, a huge grin on her face, and the girls all agreed.

"We thought you were going to kick Tara's ass," Sheila said, giggling. "I swear, you were hilarious."

"Wait, your heard the conversation?" I asked, my eyes widenning.

"Uh, we were playing the Name Game with you," Crystal said, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, we won't say anything to anyone," April reassured with a smile, and the four girls nodded. "But you don't remember like... Anything?"

"Everybody seems to ask me this question, and the answer is no. I don't remember shit about last night, just some flashes here and there," I explained, and took a look aroud the room. "Hey, where's Caleb by the way?"

"I'm over here," he said waving awkwardly, and the girls stepped aside so I could see Caleb on the couch behind them.

"Hey, come over here!"

Caleb shyly walked up to us, and I found odd that he wouldn't look at me in the eyes.

"What's up? Did you have fun last night?"

"Uh, y-yeah. It was c-cool," he sttutered from nervousness. "Really, c-cool. Would you excuse me, I um, I'm just um gonna have breakfast downstairs," he said, walking past me to the door.

He was gone in a heartbeat.

"What's the matter with him? And I thought you guys already ate."

"He's being shy, as always," Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Shy? Why? I mean, we've been working together for what now? Three months?"

"Of course you don't remember as well," Sheila said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Remember what? What happened? Please, tell me we didn't... You know?"

"Oh, no, no!" April exclaimed, and I grimaced at the high tone of her voice, "Sorry," she whispered.

"You danced with Caleb, like really really close and... Apparently he wasn't indifferent to the closeness between you both."

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"You slow danced with him, and then well... You like um... You..." Sheila stammered.

"I what, for God's sake?" I raised my voice, becoming nervous.

"You danced like a hot salsa with him, and you were really, really close," Stephanie explained, and my eyes widened. "Since he has a cr -" the newbie began, but Crystal nudged her, making her stop mid-sentence.

"Since he what, Steph?" I pressed, narrowing my eyes at her. "Tell me."

"No, I'm sorry. I can't tell you," she said, looking down.

"I'm your boss, tell me."

"I can't, he's gonna kill me if I tell you this."

"Come on! Cut the bullshit and tell her. What is it, elementary school?" Sheila chimed in. "Ever since he's laid eyes on you, the poor guy has a huge crush on you, that's why he wasn't indifferent last night when you guys danced together. I think you might have made the guy fall in love with you."

"Come on, he's not," I chuckled at my newbies. "You're imagining things. He's twenty-two, he's young, he doesn't want an old lady like me. But I'm sure he might fall in love with one of you beautiful girls," I pointed at them, smiling.

"We're serious, June. He speaks about you all the time, he would do anything for you, I promise," Steph seriously said.

"Let's admit he is, then what? Leave him be; as long as he's not attempting any kind of approach with me, I'm good," I admitted.

It didn't really bother me to know that, on the contrary, I kind of was happy to see that young men could be attracted to me. Caleb is one young attractive man, but I don't need him. I need a man that wants to settle down, get married and have children. I'm almost thirty years old, and stability is what I need in my personal life, now that I found it in my professional life.

"Yeah, you're right," Sheila admitted, nodding her head like her friends. "So! What are the plans for this afternoon?"

"Shopping, and we're leaving right away. Got get Caleb."

***

As we enterred one of my favorite stores, Dior, I took off my sunglasses and turned to the young group that followed behind me.

"Okay guys, Dior is one of my favorite brand, and models need to dress with the lastest fashion items to get recognized, but I'm sure I don't teach you anything new here."

They all shook their heads no, looking around the large store.

"Here are some tips: as you're new in the field, you need to avoid wearing simple things in public. By simple clothes, I mean jeans, sweatpants, and maybe even short, in the beginning. When you're at the beginning of being known by the media, you need to dress up classy. Dresses, gowns, and skirts need to occupy the biggest part in your closet. As you're just getting into being in the press, don't go out dressed up like you don't care, or the press will say that you're neglecting yourself, and fashion icons don't like this."

"It's cool, but... I don't have the money to buy anything in that store," April pointed out, and I smiled at her innocence.

"I know," I smiled. "That's why the five of you can take whatever item of your choice from this store, and that'll be on me," I annouced, and the look on their face was priceless.

"You're kidding right?" Sheila asked.

"Not at all. Now go find what you want, I'll be back in a few. I have something to do," I declared, and the four girls squealed in excitement, running around the store. "Caleb, can I have a word with you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he nervously said.

"What you need to find in that shop are tight jeans: wheteher black or blue, whatever. You have slender legs, and you need to show them. And you need buttom-up shirts. You wear them perfectly, so you should wear them more often."

He nodded his head, "Okay, thank you," he simply said, walking away.

"Hey, I'm not done," I chuckled, grabbing his arm. "What happened last night was just a friendly dance, right?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I know," he forced a smile. "I'm sorry if I did something I shouldn't. But since you're not with Michael any -"

"You're fine," I reassured him before he could say something he'd regret. "I was wasted, and I wanted to have fun, that's all. Thank you for entertaining me."

"You're welcome. It was all my pleasure."

"Now go, I'll be back soon."

I left the shop, and went across the street to a disguises costume store. As Halloween was just around the corner, I needed to find a costume to go Trick and Treating with Timmy. I promised him I'd be there to do it with him, and I kept my promises.

Well, half of it.

Michael was supposed to be coming as well, but I guess plans changed.

I put my sunglasses back over my eyes, and enterred the store, looking for the perfect costume. I had some ideas in mind, like a female version of a Superman or Batman costumes or even a Catwoman one.

"May I help you, ma'am?" a man asked me with a smile.

"Um, actually, yes, I'm looking for superheroes costumes. Do you have any?"

"Oh, I don't know. Those things sell like hot cakes," he laughed a bit behind his thick mustache. "What do we have here?" he asked himself, rummaging through the shelves. "Do you have any superhero in mind?"

"Um, maybe a femal version of Superman, or Batman or -"

"Batman! I got one left!" he happily said. "And for nineteen dollars more, you got the male version of it. Maybe for you husband, or fiancé?"

Ouch.

"I haven't any of that," I politely smile. "I'll just take the female one."

This is how to bring down a broken heart in one lesson.

***

After a long exhausting afternoon of shopping, the newbies were back on the plane to California, and I was finally able to go see my mother and Damon. Rebecca didn't plan anything for me for the following days, and I couldn't be more happy to have spare time to spend with them. I didn't know if Dave was going to be here, considering he was paying visit to one of his cousin, but my mom and Damon was fine. I missed them both really much, and I couldn't wait any longer to see them, and get my mind off of things. Of course, I talked to my mom about what happened with Michael (and even with Prince), and she couldn't understand either why Michael did such a thing to me. She was kind of pissed at him, but was mostly sad about the entire situation. She was so delighted when we told her that we were going out public two months ago, that the shock was huge for her when she learned about Michael refusing my proposal.

When you look at it, the situation went from perfect to a real nightmare in a matter of two months, and this is kind of crazy.

As I knocked on the door, holding the bouquet of peonies I had in my other hand, I found myself smiling from ear to ear, thing I didn't do in days. A few seconds later, Damon opened the door, and I automatically hugged him, telling him how much I missed him.

"I missed you too, beautiful," he said, breaking our embrace. "Come on in!"

When I came in, the scenery before my eyes filled me with pure joy and happiness. They were all here: Timmy, Josh, Dave, my mother, and even Jer.

"Jer, what the hell are you doing here boy? Don't you have lives to save?" I asked, a hand over my mouth.

"I came to help you save yours, butthead," he said, tightly embracing me. "I asked for a vacation, and as I'm June Wellington's friend, they gave me a one-week break," he winked at me, and I giggled. "Welcome home, Blondie."

"Thanks," I sincerely smiled.

"Can we have a hug now?" Timmy asked his father, and I laughed at him.

"Come here, buddy," I said, kneeling down with open arms.

Tim smiled, and literally ran into my arms, making me almost fall on my butt.

"Oh, auntie, I missed you so much!" he said in my ear, which caused yet another grin to spread on my face.

"I missed you too, buddy. But see, I kept my promise. I'm here to spend Halloween with you."

"You're the best godmother in the world," he said, breaking the hug. "And you're the most beautiful too."

"And you're the cutest godson," I smiled back.

I stood up from the floor, and finally I was able to hug my mother. I could tell by the look she was giving me that she was worried about me and my well-being, but she didn't need to be. At that particular moment, all my worries seemed far away already, because I was surrounded by the people I loved the most.

Well, that's what I thought.

A knock on the door interrupted my greeting, and when Damon called my name to tell me to join him, I knew this couldn't be good.

"Hey girl," Janet Jackson waved at me with a bright smile on her angelic-like-her-brother's face.

And this is how to bring someone back to reality in one lesson.

__________

Another update, yay!
This chapter was a filler, as you may have noticed, but I promise next one will be... Lively. ;-)