"Kerri, this is insane." She blinks back tears as Lindsay shakes her head. "You cannot stay with him like this. He's no good."
She licks her lips as her mind tries to process the last two years of her relationship. It hasn't always been great but what relationship is? Everyone has their ups and downs, they were no exception. They fought, they laughed, they called each other names, they praised each other and were there for one another.
The only significant difference in this relationship is that one half of it is an instantly recognizable superstar; Justin Timberlake. And Kerri, just a small town girl he met on a visit back home. It took him a long time to break down her walls but in all fairness she did have a reason to protect herself. As evident to this conversation with Lindsay.
"I don't know." Kerri sighs. "It's just....look who he is. I can't be there twenty-four hours a day to ward off other women."
"It doesn't matter who he is!" She throws her hands in the air, increasingly annoyed with the amount of crap her friend takes from him. "If he's in a relationship and committed to you, the other women shouldn't even cross his mind."
"What am I supposed to do then? I moved across the damn country for this man! I gave up my friends and my family and my job to be with him. I can't just go back home with my tail between my legs."
"You wouldn't be doing that." Lindsay tells her softly, her eyes full of sympathy. "You'd be doing what's best for you."
Lindsay watches her friend go back and forth with decisions. Her own mind feeling confused for her. Kerri and Justin had been friends of hers since shortly after they started dating and she had been there for every indiscretion Justin had.
It was the same thing every time. Justin goes out. Justin drinks. Justin cheats. Kerri takes him back.
Like a vicious cycle that she keeps putting herself though.
"I'm not saying this to upset you or telling you what you should do," Lindsay starts, "But clearly you aren't happy. You keep letting him do this to you over and over again. And until he can finally see just how much damage it does to you, he won't stop. You're the one that's going to have do stop it. I just want you to be happy."
Kerri stares off into the distance, contemplating what actually makes her happy.
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"Hey babe! I'm home!" Justin's voice bellows throughout the downstairs.
"Kitchen!" She calls back, hands wringing together as she's perched on top of the kitchen island.
He saunters into the kitchen and smiles at her. "Hey."
She returns the smile as he presses a quick kiss to her forehead before grabbing a beer out of the fridge. "How'd it go today at the studio?"
"Good." He says with a deep sigh. "Exhausting but good. Everything sounds good and we might actually finish it up tomorrow."
"Great." She watches as he takes another pull from the beer bottle before turning to wash his hands in the sink. "Are you going to be home tonight?"
He turns the water off and faces her, his body leaning against the counter. "Trace is in town and he was hoping that we'd have a boy's night out." She nods and chews on her lower lip, her eyes cast downward. Immediately he senses a change in her mood. "But I can stay here if that's what you want. I'll see him tomorrow night."
"What's tomorrow night?" She looks up at him, confusion marring her features.
He reaches for the beer. "We're going to dinner with Trace. I told you this."
"No." She shakes her head. "You never told me this."
He shrugs and starts towards the living room, patting her knee as he passes her. "Well we're going to dinner with Trace tomorrow night."
She watches him walk away and an inexplicable anger washes over her. This is so typical of him. He always makes plans without asking if she has something going on or if she even wants to go. Most of the time she doesn't care and will gladly allow him to drag her along to whatever but she's been really busy at work and was planning on working late tomorrow night. But telling him that would only cause World War III.
She sighs, grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and follows after him to the living room where she can already hear the football game.
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She watches as Justin and Trace both throw their heads back and laugh at some stupid joke that she never even heard because she's too busy being left out of the conversation. Not that she minds when Trace is in town, she loves him like a brother but if they were just going to leave her out, Justin never should have forced her to come with them.
"Excuse me." She pushes the chair back and stands.
"You ok?" Justin looks up at her.
"Yeah, restroom." She gives him a small grin and walks to the back of the restaurant.
She takes a few minutes to calm down and shake any lingering thoughts of her talk with Lindsay from the other day out of her head. She made up her mind to work this work with him because she loves him. She knows this is not the type of man he wants to be. They're just mistakes. Mistakes that he promised wouldn't happen again.
As she's walking back to the table she stops when she sees Justin standing at the bar talking to a pretty blonde.
Any woman knows when another woman is flirting and this blonde was really putting on a show. The huge smile, the giggling, the hand placed on his forearm. She knows she should look away but it's like watching a train wreck. Like everything else in the room disappeared except for them. Tunnel vision.
Part of her keeps hoping that he'll just move away from the blonde as she continues to get bolder and bolder but it's not happening.
The blonde reaches for a napkin, writes what is presumable her phone number on it and slides it over to him. He watches her walk away a second before looking down at the napkin. He fingers the edge and looks around quickly before folding it into his pocket.
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She's sitting on the couch, her purse beside her, waiting for him to come home.
Justin's been gone all week to New York on business for the label but he's due home any minute now and she's finally made up her mind that the relationship between them is no longer working.
She's spent the last few days packing up her belongings and shipping them to her parents' home in Tennessee. She's not sure what she's going to do when she gets there but she knows she needs to get away from him. That's the only thing that will assure her that taking him back won't happen. Distance.
The front door closes and she stands when she hears him drop his suitcase off by the staircase.
"Ker?" He calls, his voice filtering into the living room. He smiles when he sees her standing there. "Hey. I missed you."
She doesn't move as he crosses the room and pulls her in for a hug.
"Baby?" He pulls back. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk."
He takes a few steps back and cocks his head to the side a little. "You ok?"
Choosing to ignore that question she starts, "Look, this isn't working and I'm going back home."
"What? What'd you mean it's not working?"
"I just can't keep doing this anymore. You're not ready for this and you're not ready to be with one person."
A realization of what she's saying suddenly hits him. "You're just going to give up? It was a mistake."
She smiles sadly at him and shakes her head. "Justin, you gave up on this a long time ago. With the first girl."
He can tell by the look on her face that she's made up her mind and there's nothing he can say or do to change it. He looks around the room and for the first time notices that the picture she had on display of her family in the bookshelf is gone.
He chokes a little as tears sting his eyes. "You're really leaving."
She watches as a tear slides down his cheek and she knows that it's not an act. She knows that he's hurt and upset but she also knows that deep down, he knows it's the right thing for them.
She steps closer to him and slides her arms around his torso. "I love you so much but....." She sighs, "That's not enough."
He pulls her closer to him and buries his head in her neck where she can feel the wetness from his tears.
"I needed to you see me. I needed you to know that I was here. For you. And right now, you can't do that. But that's ok." She breathes a kiss onto his shoulder.
They stand in silence for a long time, both of them lost in a comfort that they've only ever found in each other. Both of them knowing this is the last time they'll share a moment like this.
He takes a deep breath and pulls away from her, his arms still wrapped around her. She forces a small smile to her face and he's unable to return it.
"I love you." She whispers before standing on her toes and pressing a soft but lingering kiss to his lips.
She steps away from him and turns to pick her purse up off the couch. "I'll see you."
He stands there and watches as she walks out the front door and out of his life.