Lance has always known the value of an early exit. Zoom in, zoom out, leave 'em wanting more, and your success, however small, will be magnified. Never stick around too long, never let your power weaken, and above all, make sure to go out on top. It's true for singing, it's true for business. It's true for love.

Sometimes when he's in LA, he'll look up JC or Chris. In New York or Orlando, Joey. But he never lingers.

He made his mistake, once. He stuck with Justin, beyond their expiration date. And he watched the relationship turn sour.

He's wiser now.

He cruises down the streets in his rented Benz, or Caddy, or Lexus, or limousine. He watches the normal people, in their normal lives, trudging about to groceries stores or movie theaters or office buildings, bemoaning that they aren't him. They don't know the secret.

He parks, sometimes, on a hill or a cliff, where the teen-agers liked to make out. He doesn't watch them, so much as laugh. The ones who will make it, who are survivors -- they're never there. These are the people who give it all for love, who don't know when to get out, when to quit. Who stick around too long, and get bitten in the process. Some of them will be ruined for life. But not him.

Johnny backed Justin, of course. Pulled out of partnerships with FreeLance. It was a wise business decision, considering Justin's starpower. But Lance didn't need someone to watch his back. He knew what Johnny had forgotten -- if you wait to get stabbed, they can slide right past you without your even noticing. If you're busy looking behind you, you don't see what's in front of your face. And Justin doesn't stick with a coward.

People breeze in and out of Lance's life, as he does theirs. He sees Brianna, sometimes, always growing up, and Joey growing older. JC and Chris, too. He's sure he's grown himself. When he sees them, they hug him, and ask what he's been doing, and tell him to keep in touch. But there's no point, Lance has found. They can't bring him anything beyond news of Justin, and that he can get just as well from the media. He smiles, of course, and says he'll try -- it never hurts to be gracious -- but the truth is, when he says goodbye, he means it. Maybe there'll be a hello some day, and maybe there won't. That's life, or death, or business. That's Lance.

He says he'll call, or e-mail, or visit, but he never means it. He never knows if he'll see them again.

He tells himself he doesn't care.