Halle awoke to taunting cries in the darkness. Her almond eyes heaved themselves open as she fought to pull herself from the blessed arms of sleep. It was her three year old son crying. "Coming, Josh," she softly called to him though she knew he could not hear her. She had given him his own room just months ago when he had officially turned three. Yeah, she had read some of those old parenting books by Dr.-what's-his name, but she had flung them down, denouncing them as rubbish. However, she had gotten far enough into the chapter on mother and child separation to know that three was a good age to begin, maybe a little late.

She slowly got out of bed, moving towards his beckoning calls. She stumbled over her cluttered bedroom floor and silently cursed herself for being too lazy to have cleaned up from last night's late-night study session. "With me, myself, and I," she admonished as she hurried to his room.

Josh's room was right beside hers. Leaning over, she flipped the switch on the old baby monitor to 'off'. Why in the world she had left it on last night, she didn't know. She looked at her own screaming son. Actually, it was more of a whimper now. It had died down as he saw her appear in the doorway of his blue-themed room. "Mommy...Mommy"

She picked him up from his crib and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead as he wrapped his small arms around her neck. He had been standing there in his crib, reaching out for her. As she rocked him, humming under her breath, she wondered. This was the first time in a long time that Josh hadn't slept through the night...the first time in a long, long while. What was up?

-*-*-*-

Her eyelids kept sinking.

"Long night?"

Halle looked up through her dark hair to the grinning face of her co-worker, Michael. He was perched at the edge of her desk with a bemused grin on his lips as he watched her trying to sort through the junk and various files on her desk. She brushed her hair back and made a silent note to pin it up.

"I'll say." The sorting just wasn't working and occasionally she would just sit back and take a break, sipping her coffee. This was one of those breaks, she deemed. She took many breaks.

"Coffee any good?" Mike was eyeing her desk. She had a bad habit of not throwing away her coffee cups and seven or eight lined her desk already.

She laughed tiredly. "Oh, you know Starbucks: the friendly coffee. I don't think I've drank much else since I was hired into this company."

"And what? Boost the competitor's ego to know the Starbucks' finest publicist drinks Barnie's?"

She smiled. "At least that stuff has some caffeine in it. You'd think this stuff was decaffeinated." She glared into her cup. "Is it?"

He laughed at her. "I don't know, what did you order?"

"What I always do: black regular. I'm not a fancy girl you know."

"Oh, I know."

She wrinkled her nose. "You think a tall narrow mocha latte would have more caffeine in it? This dang thing is having no effect whatsoever on my system."

"Halle, honey, after the amount of coffee the amount of coffee you've consumed, if you aren't wired by now, you're never going to be." He laughed. "Gotta go now, gonna call Marcy."

"Don't tell me what to do!" she called after him.

He just laughed and continued down the hall to his own office. "Ciao, Halle! That's what you always say!"

She liked Mike. He was funny, witty, and married. In fact, he had what embodied the 'perfect' American life: two kids, a house, a dog, and a wife who doted on him and stayed home like Donna Reed. Yes, Marcy doted on him, but he doted on her too. It didn't dim the fact that he was a high-paid professional: a publicist like she was.

He seemed to have so much. She had Josh, but it was more than she could ask for. Josh was truly the apple of her eye and she didn't want to miss a thing. She sighed as she remembered where she was. She was here at the office. Everyday she tried to beat the stereotype of the unwed mother. She was a successful, professional woman not on welfare and feeding off taxpayer's money. She was no leech. She wanted to show the world that she could make it on her own.

But Josh was at home, where she longed to be and she missed him. He was being attended to by her best friend Kel. Kel was a godsend when her own parents had abandoned her. It was Kel that had convinced her that New York was the place for her because Kel lived there herself. She owed much more to Kel than she cared to divulge in. Josh and Kel were her life.

There was a knock on her office door. Quickly, she looked up from her thoughts. "Yes?" she called.

The door opened and Miranda, the floor secretary, stuck her head in. "Hey Halle, you're wanted on floor six, room 603. Meeting." She jiggled her head as she said the last word.

Halle rolled her eyes at the prospect of the meeting. "I'll be right down."

She took another sip of her coffee and closed her eyes momentarily wishing to be home with Josh, not bothering to look out her wide window that would show her the rest of the underlying city. She couldn't see what she wanted to the most without closing her eyes. She was doing this for him. "It's going to be a long day," she muttered under her breath before stepping out.

-*-*-*-

She was seated by Mike as their boss droned on and on. She nudged him. " He gets more long-winded everyday," she whispered.

"Tell me about it. The only thing longer than his speeches are old man Humphrey's underwear."

She snickered thinking about the boss's assistant's huge butt. She had been sitting here for well over two hours listening to him go over their need to boost capital income. As if Starbucks wasn't already a multi-million dollar corporation already. The coffee industry was booming and they were the forerunners in their field. Now they just had to worry about keeping it there. After all, once you're at the top, there's no where to go but down.

"Any ideas?" he finally asked. That's what she was thinking about when her hand shot up. "Ms. Lin?" he inquired after seeing her hand fly to the air while everyone else's remained stationery.

Halle cleared her throat and rolled back her chair, standing up. "We are at the top of our industry and we want to keep it that way. We need to find a new way to bring in the customers. Are we all familiar with what Sears is doing?"

All heads in the room nodded. "Well good, then you all know the gross amount of profit it is raking in for them. Who are they using again?"

"The Backstreet Boys," came a reply.

"Right, the Backstreet Boys. So I suggest we use another popular boy band, another rival group..." She was at a loss for words! She didn't know a single one of their names!

"'N Sync," Mike supplied, saving her.

She looked at him and smiled, silently thanking him. "Right, 'N Sync..."

-*-*-*-

Halle was excited, so excited that she almost burst. It was a cocoon of joy that she was immersed in. The idea had not only been accepted, but also praised. It had been a spur of the moment idea, she had had nothing prepared. In short, she pulled that one out of her butt, but it had worked! Not only that, because it was her idea, she had been put in charge of the project. Maybe, if it was successful, it would mean a raise or a promotion for her. Oh my.

She hurriedly jogged down to Mike's office as fast as her heels would allow. No way she was breaking an ankle today, but she'd risk a little. She barged in. He was on the phone and signaled for her to wait until he was free. She nodded and smiled as she made her way over to his coach and sprawled down across it. He look emphatically at her as he hung up the phone. "Ms. Propriety, people with manners knock."

She just laughed knowing that he wasn't seriously angry. "Then obviously, I don't have any, but I don't care right now! I'm happy-happy-happy!" She sang along to some unknown beat.

John chuckled. "I know you are. Congrats, Hal."

She smiled at him. "People without manners do not say thank you." She pointed her nose up it the air.

"Then suit yourself, Ms. La-di-da-I'm-in-charge-of-a-project-so-now-I'm-high-society."

"Hehe! Thank you, Mike," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now hold on," he said as he picked up the phone and dialed some number. Halle heard his conversation. He was informing Marcy that he would be working late tonight and to go ahead and eat dinner without him. "Don't wait up," he said to his wife, but also in the same sentence were the words, "I love you."

Halle just melted when he said that. Right at this moment, she wanted to be home with Josh and Kel. Not much longer she thought. "You know," she spoke up as soon as he hung up. "Only overworked workhorses work late on closing time every other day."

"Now, now, Ms. Lin, that's only Tuesdays and Thursdays. Besides, I have to work late now because of you."

"Me?!" she exclaimed.

"Yea, you. Now I have to find an idea as good as yours."

She chuckled. "By the way, how'd you know about 'N Sync? That was a wonderful save, thanks."

He gave her a tortured stare. "Do you know nothing about me? I have a teen-aged daughter..."

-*-*-*-

Halle had hurried home to Josh and Kel as she did everyday. It was summer in New York City and it was downright hot, but business was still bustling. It was a time for growth in business, and she was growing with the project and all. It was still a mite hot this evening, not cooling off as it usually did later in the day, but she didn't mind. Nothing could hamper her light mood.

She skipped into her building. Her job had allowed her a bit of luxury, she lived right across from Central Park, though she lived in an apartment compared to the much more expensive house Mike lived in. He had tenure, and he'd been with the company much longer than she herself. She was young for someone in her position, and a woman nonetheless. Well, I certainly didn't get here for nothing, she thought to herself. She was right, she had worked hard for every bit of recognition it had got her and graduated at the top of her class.

But she had gotten pregnant towards the end of her senior year. She'd never meant for it to happen and...neither did he. But Raul was long gone and she had put him away soon after, forgotten about him. It was like he never existed. I didn't need him, she told herself, look where I am now. But Josh had his green eyes and long dark lashes. She sighed every time she noticed them sparkle. No use in drudging up Raul now, she thought to herself.

She had kept her pregnancy a secret from her parents as long as she could, but only knowing that she would have to tell them, and sometime before she had the baby. Or maybe never, she had contemplated. But never had been just that: never. How they found out, she would never know, but she did remember the terrible words that had been exchanged over the phone. She remembered them clear as day. As her mother bawled in the background, her father had hissed, "You are no longer our daughter. Don't call again."

She flinched at just the thought, but that was now. Back then, She had broken down, cried her eyes out. It was so close to graduation and she had told no one, not even Kel. She was going to school at NYU, majoring in advertising. She had always been a smart kid and had skipped fifth grade, then later had taken extra courses in high school and graduated early. That allowed her to be one of the youngest in her class. Too bad she couldn't have been smart about this. Getting pregnant was one of the worst periods of her life, a milestone. Her life had gone almost topsy-turvy because of that.

But she fought hard to keep her life intact, the way it was after all the arguments and heartache had ceased fire. Clearly, she had put it behind her. When she finally told Kel, Kel had persuaded her to stay in New York. Halle had had no where else to go. She almost cried when Kel had asked her to stay with her. She had met Kel sophomore year of college, where she was studying film and photography. The rest was history as they got along famously.

Now she lived in her own apartment, having moved out of Kel's much smaller one. She had offered to let Kel stay with her, but Kel had declined. Both of them were independent women. But Kel still came over everyday and ate dinner with them, even slept there sometimes, so it was almost like her home away from home. She baby-sat for Josh while Kel was away at work, her own job not requiring as much time. Whoever said studying film and photography wasn't hard should have their mouth wired shut. Kel was still in school!

Everyday Halle marveled at Josh, how perfect he was. How such joy could come from such a big mistake, but he hadn't been a mistake. No, Josh was not a mistake and she made sure he would never feel that way, or at least tried to make sure. She couldn't protect him from everything.

She slid her key into the lock on to her apartment. It was on the eleventh floor, she took the elevator. It was pretty high up, but she wasn't in the least scared of heights, so it was perfectly fine. She opened the door to reveal a vision of Kel playing with her son on the couch. As soon as she heard the door, Kel turned her head and smiled. "Hal!" She turned back to Josh. "Look, it's Mommy!"

But Josh was ahead of her. He was already trying climb off the couch and called to his mother. Kel laughed and helped him off the couch and as soon as he was free, he ran into her waiting arms. "Hey, baby, who's that?" Halle asked pointing at Kel.

"Aunt Kel!" he barked. He knew her name.

Halle stood up, lifting him in her arms. "Were you a good boy today?" Halle looked at him.

"Yes, yes!" She asked him that everyday.

Halle looked over at Kel. "Was he a good boy today?"

"Perfect," she pronounced. "If all kids are like that, I can't wait for my own." She cracked up a little, but Halle knew she partially meant it. Josh was a handful, but Halle loved him, and Kel loved him.

"Guess what?" Halle asked.

"You won the lottery."

"No..."

"You met Ben Affleck."

"No..."

"You've been picked to be the first publicist in space!"

"No!" She was cracking up. Kel never answer 'guess what' with 'what'. She didn't believe in that sort of thing. She actually guessed. "I am in charge of a project!"

"Ohh!!! Juicy! What about?"

"Ha! I made a proposal today that we team up with 'N Sync! The boss wants to up our capital income and he loved the idea. I swear I pulled it out from where the sun don't shine!"

"'N Sync?" she asked.

"Yeah, hot boy band..."

"No, no, I know who they are. But what made you think of that?"

Halle shrugged. "I dunno, the Backstreet Boys and Sears I guess."

She laughed. "Backstreet is HOT. 'N Sync's not bad either. Have you ever seen them?"

"No..." Halle answered.

"Oh man! You must be the only woman alive under 25 that doesn't know who they are. Don't you listen to the radio, girl?"

"Yeah, but it's not like I ever pay any attention!"

She smirked at her. "Well anyway, what's this proposal entail?"

Halle smiled as they now talked about a subject she was more accustomed to. She walked to the kitchen with Josh to go to the fridge and order take-out. She didn't have the heart to cook today; she was too tired. "Chinese alright?" she asked Kel.

"Yea, we always have Chinese."

Halle laughed. "So? Don't like those rich, gooey, oily sauces that make you gain 10 pounds per serving?"

"Nuh uh! If you get any thinner I'll have to check you into a clinic! All you drink is coffee nowadays! What are you so worried about?"

"Nothing Kel," she sighed. She squinted at the fridge, trying to find the best and fastest delivery service. She was hungry right now, no doubt about it. "Anyway. Back to the project. I proposed that we team up with 'N Sync and sponsor some of their concerts. In return, they do a few ads for us, you know, let Starbucks use their faces on a billboard, or on flyers or something. Maybe we'll have a giveaway or something. Like, you know, buy a frappuccino, get a chance to win free backstage passes. That sort of thing."

Kel tugged on her hair in thought for a moment. "Yeah, that'll work, but you gotta know who 'N Sync is."

"Why?" Halle asked, perplexed.

"What, you want them saying that lady boss knows nothing? I thought you prided yourself in knowing all about your projects."

She swelled. "I do, Kel! But now I will pride myself in my Chinese take out. Move away from the phone before I move you and take Josh while you're at it. I'm hungry!"

-*-*-*-

The photoshoot was going well, she mused as she watched the five guys pose with different types of Starbucks coffee. With luck, they had agreed so Starbucks was now an official sponsor of the American leg of their tour. She had to admit, Kel had been right. They weren't a bad-looking bunch of boys. But of course she knew this, she had researched them. She found out the tidbits she didn't need to know, and the tidbits she did. Who cared to know that Christopher Kirkpatrick was the eldest 'N Sync boy? Or what about the fact that the groups youngest and most adored, Justin, lost on Star Search, yet today was a hugely successful pop star? Halle guessed that losing was a good thing because he wouldn't be where he was today if he hadn't.

But there was something about him, JC, the middle member of the group. He seemed so, what was the word? Charismatic. Although she had never met him, he exuded confidence, a sense of humor, and a strange eagerness. Not to mention that he was...well, sort of cute in his own rugged way. She felt like a teenybopper staring at his angular face, tracing his smile. She felt tickled.

Coffee in hand, she watched from afar, sipping the hot brown liquid, careful not to burn her tongue. She had been introduced to everyone of them this morning. That was when she had taken a instant liking to JC, to all of them really, but JC the most. She had kept her distance though, become the coolly professional Ms. Lin. Suddenly, she almost spewed her coffee all over the place as JC hopped on Joey's back like the energizer bunny in an attempt to make a good picture. He was just so...hyper as he focused a cheesy smile at the camera. They had already taken a million and one pictures today. When would they have enough? It was up to her to calculate that.

She gulped down her coffee and purposely strode away from the photo shoot and the five boys. She sighed. It was no use getting close to these people when she doubted she would ever see them again, save the handfuls of time she would again hold another photoshoot or a recording session. She looked at her watch, almost one 'o clock. The boys had been here since eleven am. Halle, who had come in even earlier, nine thirty am, had been drifting in and out of the photo session to make sure all went as planned. She was supervisor of course. Now all she wanted to do was go home. She desperately wanted to go home.

Today she had promised to take Josh to the park, and she planned to do just that. As the camera snapped one last picture, all five with the whipped cream of their capuccinos splattered on their noses and their eyes wide, she called out, "Ok, that's enough! Lunchtime! Thank you everyone!"

It seemed as though half of the room sighed in relief. She chuckled as she pictured them calling her the 'overlord'. It wasn't so far-fetched as she had heard someone mumble something like that in the bathroom. These poor people, she hadn't let them have a break at all! Well, now she actually was more giving herself one. She needed to see Josh anyway. Before she had left she had told him about the park. He called out to her before she left. "Pwomise?" he asked. Within five minutes of leaving she had wanted to go back and take him to the park right then.

Now she hurried home to do just what she promised.

-*-*-*-

The soft blades of grass cushioned her landing as she laughed an pretended to fall. Josh had attempted to 'push' her down. Josh squealed as clapped his hands. "That wasn't very nice kiddo." She smiled and pulled him down to her, hugging her. She cherished these moments together with him, though they didn't come as often as she would have liked. She held him to her heart as he placed a sloppy kiss of her cheek. "Aww, thankee Josh," she said, kissing him back.

"Welc, Ma," he smiled.

She turned her back to him and look at the picnic basket she had brought along. It filled with snacks for Josh, as well as bottles, toys, and clothing as well as other various things. She laughed as she sorted through the messy basket, trying to find a banana for herself. She hadn't eaten much today, mostly she had drank coffee. "Josh..." She turned back to him. "What do you wa..."

She blinked her eyes again. "Josh?" she called out hesitantly. Where was he? He wasn't where she had left him anymore. "Josh!" she called out a little louder, panic not yet setting in.

She scanned the crowd for a dark haired, green eyes little boy. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw him running. The boy had a fixation with running. He hadn't been like most toddlers, he had learned to run before he walked. He liked to run everywhere, even if it meant away from her. That was the worst combination, running and curiosity. If curiosity killed the cat, she hoped he wasn't the cat. Everything Josh saw he wanted to feel and taste. She shook her head. She'd have to curb his habit a bit so she wouldn't be jumping out of her skin every five minutes. She was surprised her nerves weren't permanently frayed, but she knew that he didn't mean to run away from her per se. Au contraire, Josh loved his mother and Halle loved him. She couldn't imagine her life without him and she didn't want to try.

She got up quickly and followed him. "Josh!" she called to him, trying to get him to come back to her. "Josh!" He didn't seem to hear her though and continued along his little path. "Josh!" she called, even louder this time.

She was surprised when a dark figure crossed the path in front of her. She looked up to the stranger, taken aback. "Huh?" escaped her mouth as she herself stopped.

"You called me?" asked the unmoving figure.

She looked at the tall, well-dressed stranger. "I didn't call you." She felt like she was talking to the dark gray sunglasses that adorned his face. "I was calling my son." Halle tried to look past him. "Oh, Jesus. Now he's gone!" She was frantic, those nerves again. Josh was going to be the death of her.

Instantly the stranger showed worry. "Ok, calm down."

"Calm down? This is my son we're talking about! Not some dog!"

"Alright, alright. I didn't mean to make him sound like a dog. I'm sorry. But the important thing now is that we find him."

"I know that, stupid! And 'we'? Whose 'we'?"

"You and me. I'm gonna help find him. I made you lose sight of him first. I'm sorry."

Right then, Halle wanted to retort, 'Dang straight', but she had to keep her wits about her. Blaming him wasn't going to help find Josh any faster. "Alright," she said. "Let's split up. He's a three year old boy, dark hair, green eyes. He knows his name, so just call Josh. You can check over by the sandbox, he likes that. I'm going to try the benches near the pigeons. He likes that too."

Halle walked off in a hurry. As soon as she got within ten feet of the benches, she regretted telling him anything about her son. Curses! How could I have trusted a stranger, she reprimanded herself. This is Josh! She was now more worried that she had ever been in her life, especially because of mystery man. She sprinted to the benches. Her heart dropped a thousand feet when she discovered he wasn't there. He had always liked the pigeons.

Quickly, she turned around and ran to the sandbox where she had told the stranger to check. Her mind became more frenzied with every step. How could I have let that stranger anywhere near Josh. What if he kidnapped him? She was mentally smacking herself for having been so out of her mind as to allow him that. Oh, Josh, Josh, Josh, her mind cried as her eyebrows knitted together in worry.

"Ms. Lin!" A lazy voice called her over. "Ms. Lin!" Who could be calling her? Did someone she knew stumble over her at the park? Had they seen Josh? She turned her head to the sound. It was the stranger's voice, she recognized it now. She almost cried as she glimpse Josh and the tall stranger sitting side by side in the sand box. Josh was scooping up the sand and messily tucking it away into a bucket. The stranger was watching Josh intently, a smile on his face. She watched as he handed the stranger a shiny blue shovel as well. He said something that was too low for her to her, but she imagined he was commanding the stranger to 'dig'. She laughed. She and Kel had taught Josh to 'dig' a few weeks ago.

She almost ran over there, so happy to see Josh. "Josh!" she called.

Now he looked up. "Ma!" he exclaimed and smiled his wonderful baby smile. He held up his shovel and then bent to scoop up some more sand. "You dig." he said to the stranger. The stranger laughed and complied.

She stood right beside Josh and watched him 'dig' for a few minutes. She then turned to the stranger, knowing that she owed him her thanks. "Thank you very much, sir. I was getting so worried."

"No problem. Mrs. Lin."

She was perplexed and a bit hesitant. "How...how did you know my name?" She had taken Josh's arm protectively into her hands, ready to run with him at any minute, but he continued to shovel sand with his free arm.

The stranger laughed. "Mrs. Lin, you don't recognize me, do you? Must be the shades." He whipped them off, revealing the bluest eyes she had ever seen. "Don't you remember me? I'm JC, of 'N Sync. You're the publicist, right?"

That jolted her. Ulp. She lost her breath for a moment, but she recovered just in time, clearing her throat and giving a short laugh, followed by a smile. "Oh, yes, from this morning! I'm sorry, you're right. I didn't recognize you with the sunglasses and all."

He smiled again. "That's why I thought you were calling me."

"Why did you think I was calling you?"

"To tell me something about the shoot tomorrow we have with you guys."

"And if I wanted to say something, why would I call you? Don't you have managers? Why not them?"

"Well, of course, we do, but I am, the 'papa' of the group." He laughed. "Or so they all say." He shrugged. He was still shoveling in sand with Josh, only now, Josh was trying to dump the bucket over because it was overflowing. "Whoa! Let me help ya, little man." With ease, JC took the bucket in one hand and dumped it in a dusty pile behind him. Josh watched his every move; he had always been an unusually alert child. The bucket captured his attention. JC set it back down in front of Josh. "There you go, Josh."

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully at him.

"No problem. I do like that name if I do say so myself."

Halle chuckled. "Oh, yes, your name is Josh too."

He nodded. "Joshua Scott Chasez. But I don't know why I thought you were calling me. You wouldn't know my name anyway."

She blushed a bit. "Actually, I do."

He looked up at me more closely. "Really? Are you a fan?"

She shook my head quickly. "Not at all! Don't flatter yourself. I just make it a point to research my projects, and since you guys are my project, I researched you. I'm sure you have many fans my age, but I'm not one of them."

"And how old are you? You seem pretty young to be a publicist for Starbucks, big company like that."

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it was rude to ask a woman her age?" Halle countered.

He looked apologetic. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you, Mrs. Lin."

She laughed. "It's alright. I'm not one of 'those' women anyway. I'm all of twenty-two years old."

"Really? That's young, Mrs. Lin, if you don't mind me saying."

"Don't I know it and I don't mind at all. I worked for every break I got. And please, call me Halle. You make me sound like an adult next to you. You can't be that much younger than me."

He laughed. "Actually, I'm not. I'm the same age as you, twenty-two. But I'll be twenty-three in a few days."

"Well, happy birthday to you."

"Thanks, but don't say it now. You can tell me tomorrow."

"Your birthday is tomorrow?"

"To be sure. August eighth, the big day."

"Well, then. I guess I'll just have to wish you happy birthday tomorrow, won't I, Josh?" Halle grinned widely at him as we still sat there. Josh had tired of shoveling and was planning to demolish all his sand dunes with the sturdy yellow Tonka truck he had found.

"Boom!" he yelled every time it hit. Halle looked at her Josh then at Josh the stranger. But she couldn't call him a stranger anymore, he wasn't, so he was no longer Josh the stranger. He was just Josh. Halle never asked if she could call him Josh, but he looked like a Josh to her. He seemed to be a little surprised she had called him Josh. He smiled at her for a second, but this time it was different. His lips spread and his mouth opened a bit, but it wasn't the smile she had been seeing all day. This one looked at her as though he'd seen her for the first time that day.

-*-*-*-