"No. I'm tellin' you right now, stop calling me!" Justin yelled as he pressing his thumb hard against the touch screen of his cell phone before stuffing it into his pocket.
 
"Who was that?" Kyle asked.
 
"Bitch is playin' games on my phone now." Justin replied as he looked through his bag for a CD he had just purchased.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
"What are we doing here again, Kerri?" Serena asked her friend as they walked through the parking lot.
 
Kerri was searching through her purse for her wallet. The last time she had seen it was back at the house when she took it out to find a business card. She prayed it was in there. She would hate to have to deal with Serena's attitude if she needed to borrow some money. "I need a new pair of headphones. Something screwy is going on with mine.”
 
Serena was too busy watching Kerri scrounging around in her purse to notice where she was walking until her shoulder came into contact with something hard. "Oh excuse me! I'm sorry." Serena apologized to the man walking past them in the parking lot.
 
"It's cool." he replied as he continued walking.
 
Serena continued to follow her friend towards the store when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and quickly turned around, watching the man walk away. Her brows furrowed as she watched him intently. Her eyes suddenly lit up as she turned, sprinting to catch up with her friend. "Kerri." she tugged on her friends arm. "That guy with the hoody on looked just like Justin Timberlake."
 
Kerri didn't turn around to see who she was talking about. She nonchalantly nodded and said, "That’s nice."
 
"How can you be so nonchalant, when the future father of my children just walked by?"
 
Kerri grinned at her friend as she went to open the door. “You’re stupid.”
 
Serena stood outside and looked over towards the two men still walking and then back over at her friend, "Ummm hello? He's been my obsession for the past 8 years!"
 
Kerri leaned her body outside the door and told her friend to go talk to him. But Serena wouldn't budge. Kerri leaned her head further outside and did her best impression of an excited fan and screamed "Justin!" across the parking lot. Serena whipped around to scold her friend, but Kerri had already disappeared inside.
 
The man turned his head around and looked back towards the woman standing in front of the store. He was looking right at her, but she couldn't move. She was frozen. Her heart started racing and she couldn't even think straight. The only thing she mustered up the courage to do was wave at him nervously. She turned to retreat inside, dying of embarrassment, when suddenly the door flung open and smacked her straight in the face. The man coming outside apologized, making sure she was okay. Serena's face turned five shades of red and she was too scared to even turn around to see if Justin noticed.
 
Serena found her friend in the back of the store browsing through the cd collection. "You are such a bitch!" she said as she pushed Kerri.
 
Kerri grinned, never looking up from the rack. "When's the wedding?" she asked.
 
Serena told Kerri what had happened after she conveniently disappeared and Kerri almost fell over laughing. Serena stood there with her hands folded across her chest as she listened to Kerri ask the store clerk about the headphones that she wanted. She stood there thinking about her encounter and wondered out loud what he was doing there.
 
"Isn't he from here?" Kerri asked.
 
"Yeah, but we aren't even in the city...His family must live close by." she said to herself.
 
"If you plan on trying to track him down, then take me back to your mom's house, cause I refuse." Kerri joked.
 
"Shut up." Serena defended. "I wouldn't do that. Plus you don't like him anyway."
 
Kerri was reading the back of a vinyl record case, when she responded and said, "I never said that. I like some of his music. But you know I don't get excited about shit like that."
 
"Exactly...You're not phased by anything. You are so blasé about everything! Vin Diesel could walk in here right now and you would just look up and shrug your shoulders at him before looking back down at a Jay-Z CD."
 
Whatever." Kerri said as she bumped her shoulder into Serena's. "Hey, let me borrow fifty dollars. I left my wallet at your mom's."
 
"Fifty dollars?!" Kerri asked loudly. "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me?!" she snapped grabbing the headphones from her friends hand and staring down at the price tag. Kerri took a deep breath, preparing herself for the chew out session that was soon to follow on the drive back.
 
~~~~
 
"What's that?" Kyle asked, looking out the door. Justin stood up shaking and fanning dirt and water away from a thin square object that he had in his hand.
 
He slid into the driver's seat and looked down, “Some Polaroid that was on the ground by the tire."
 
It was a picture of a young woman. She was looking away from the camera and was raising her hand to her face in embarrassment. From what he could see, it looked as though she wasn't wearing any clothes. She had her other hand up attempting to cover the lens as she slightly smiled. Justin grinned to himself at her expression. She was cute, he thought to himself. He stared down at the Polaroid, noting that the person who took the photo seemed to capture a million emotions in just one second. She was embarrassed, slightly annoyed, yet shy, flirtatious, and sexy at the same time.
 
He sat there with the door open still, one leg still hanging outside, debating whether or not he should put the Polaroid back down on the ground where he found it. But what if someone else came along and found it? He didn't want to just leave it there, out in the open, having her somehow exposed in some way. But it was just a photo, why did he care? It wasn't like she was somehow trapped in the picture. This wasn't an A-Ha video. But something inside, kept telling him to hold onto it.
 
"If you stare at it long enough maybe she will come to life for you, man." Kyle teased before looking down towards his phone.
 
Justin rolled his eyes and then took the picture and placed it in the car's overhead visor before Kyle noticed. "Yo, let's go knock a few balls around before we head back." Justin said before backing the car out of the space.
 
~~~~
 
"Yo, did you see a bunch of Polaroid’s sitting on the seat with my organizer?" Kerri asked Serena as they got out of the car.
 
"Yeah. I put them in the back inside your organizer, cause they fell out."
 
Kerri opened up the organizer and sorted through the photos. "You don't see one more anywhere?"
 
Serena looked under the seat. "Nope."
 
"There were five. One's missing."
 
Serena could see the look of worry on Kerri's face. "Is it important?" she asked before looking under the seat again.
 
"Not really. I just feel strange knowing it's sitting God knows where. David took them of me before..." Kerri paused and looked down.
 
"Oh...Well I would think you would be anxious to get rid of them."
 
"I am. I planned on burning them in your mom's fireplace later on. I was naked in a couple of em'."
 
"Yeah I noticed." Serena said as she gave a look of disgust. "I was trying not to go blind when I moved them out of the way." she joked trying to cheer up her friend.
 
"Shut the hell up!" Kerri yelled as they started up the walkway to the house.
 
~~~~~~~ Three Days Later ~~~~~~~~
 
It was Friday afternoon when Justin found himself immersed in wall to wall traffic. He let his head fall against the steering wheel as he gazed ahead at the endless line of cars in front of him. He grabbed his phone and dialed, placing it up to his ear and waiting for it to ring. "Hey, Ma. I'm runnin' a little late. There's wall to wall traffic out here...No I'm three exits away from you...I don't have time to change. Can you just grab me a shirt and make sure Kyle call's to let them know and that he's ready to go when I get there? I'll be there soon." Justin finished up his conversation and leaned back in his chair trying to relax.
 
He put his window down slightly to throw the wrapper of his gum out and heard a familiar song blaring outside. He looked towards the cars to his right, in the direction it was coming from and pressed the button on the door to lower the passenger window a little.
 
...And don’t it make you sad about it
You told me you loved me
Wwhy did you leave me all alone
Now you tell me you need me
When you call me on the phone
 
Justin smiled as he noticed the girl in the little red Toyota next to him. She was visibly rockin' out to the song looking towards her friend who was sitting low in the passenger seat, covering her face in embarrassment. All the windows in the car were down and he could hear the volume rising as she blasted the song for the entire highway to hear. He was all too familiar with watching people as they listened to his songs...But this time was different. The female really seemed to be completely taken by the beat and lyrics...As if it personally meant something to her. Almost as if he had taken the words right from her lips. He watched and listened to her as she changed the lyrics around.

Boy I refuse
You must have me confused...with that other Biiittch!
Your bridges were burned
And now it’s your turn, To cry
Cry me a river, you fucker!
Go on and just
Cry me a river
Asshole go on and just
Cry me a river

The sounds of car horns brought Justin out of his gaze. He quickly moved up in traffic. The female looked towards his car, but could not really see him through the tinted glass. She looked familiar. Where had he seen her before? He inched his car forward in traffic trying to think. A few moments later his eyes lit up and he quickly reached up into the visor and grabbed the Polaroid he’d found earlier in the week. Could it actually be her? “It can’t be her” he said to himself.
 
He tried to get another glance to make sure, but she had already gotten into the far right lane to turn off at the exit. He shook his head and told himself he must have been seeing things. It couldn’t have possibly been her. How much of a coincidence would that have been if it were the same girl from the Polaroid?

Justin sat quietly in the back of the limo browsing through different text messages he had received the night before. He had come to Memphis to visit his family and attempt to get some much needed rest, but somehow found himself doing more promoting than relaxing. He was visibly exhausted from all the running around, all the interviews, endless surprise appearances and performances around town, but mostly all the questions unrelated to his upcoming album. He was growing sick and tired of constantly hearing about his past relationships and having to field questions about a very private part of his life. The part he had tried to keep sheltered from the outside world.

 

As he replied to a text, he yelled up front and asked Kyle, "Two more phone interviews and them I'm done right?"

 

"Yeah." Kyle yelled back. “I'm on hold for the phone interview now. By the time you're done that one, we’ll be at the radio station for your second interview and you’re clear for the rest of the afternoon till tonight.”

 

Justin leaned back in his seat, grabbing a notebook from his bag. When he flipped open the book he smiled to himself, spotting the Polaroid he had found earlier in the week taped to the inside cover. He didn't know what was making him hold onto it. Maybe it was the fact that when he looked at it, he somehow felt calmed by its simplicity. The young woman seemed so content with life. A free spirit somewhere out there in the world living a simple existence…At least compared to his, he thought to himself. She seemed at ease.  She wasn’t worrying about having to hire security just to go out. She didn’t have to be burdened with paparazzi camping outside of her house or chasing her down the street. She was probably out there somewhere having a cup of coffee at a small café, sitting outside enjoying the sun beaming down on her face. Perhaps she was quietly reading a book off in the corner of a Barnes & Nobles. She was in all likelihood walking freely down the street without having to worry about who was gawking at her or following her. He envied this woman. He looked around at all the recent chaos in his life hoping and praying he could once again experience more moments like the one she seemed to be having in that very same photo that he couldn’t seem to put down.

 

Justin loved the success and enjoyed the fame. He even relished in all the attention, but there were times where he wished for some peace, quiet, and simplicity. That’s why he had come home for the week. Time with his family always seemed to set his mind at ease. But Kyle was determined to promote, promote, promote, when all Justin wanted to do was relax and enjoy his grandma’s cooking. He wanted to sit around and have his mom spoil him in the morning with a large stack of pancakes and bacon. He wanted to hit the bar with Trace and just have drinks and a few laughs with friends.

 

“Yes, we’re all set to go. I’m handing the phone off to him now.” Kyle said before reaching his arm into the backseat and giving him the phone. Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before finally placing the phone to his ear.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Serena glanced over at Kerri, who was visibly nervous. She couldn’t keep her hands still, grabbing at the front of her suit jacket, trying to straighten it out for the tenth time. She watched Kerri take slow deep breaths as they waited for the elevator to reach the lobby. Kerri had a ritual when it came to things like this. She would always be anxious up till the very moment it was time to take care of business and then BAM, she would go straight into attack mode.

 

The ding of the elevator brought them both out of their own minds. On the way up to the 12th floor, Serena went over everything that they were going to discuss in the meeting.

 

“You got all that right, Kerri?” Serena asked quietly.  Kerri’s eyes slowly fluttered open, looking over at her friend and it was then that Serena saw just a hint of insecurity in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah.” She chuckles nervously. “I don’t know why I'm so jumpy today.”

 

“This is a big deal. I’m just as nervous as you are.” Serena smiled.

 

The elevator doors swung open and both women paused for a moment before stepping off. “Okay…It’s make it or break it time,” Kerri nods to her friend before walking down the hallway towards the receptionist sitting behind the tall counter.

 

Serena greeted her with a warm smile, “Hello. Ms. Serena Hutchins, and Ms. Kerri Roberts to see Mr. Winters, please.”

 

The receptionist pointed over to the waiting area and offered them beverages while she announced their arrival to her boss. Mr. Winter's was a an entrepreneur who controlled a number of satellite radio stations around the country. His offices were based in his home town of Memphis where he also owned a number of the clubs on Beale Street.

 

 ”Am I showing too much boob?” Kerri asked as she leaned her upper body forward.

 

Serena reached over and undid another button on Kerri's blouse, chuckling slightly, “I think you should show more boob, so we make a great first impression.”

 

Kerri reached over and smacked her friend in the arm before letting her head fall back in laughter. Serena always knew how to set her at ease at times like this.

 

“Ah, Ms. Roberts…Ms. Hutchins” The man exclaimed jovially, reaching for their hands. “Glad you could make it from LA down here to good ole’ Memphis.” His accent was thick with that southern drawl.

 

Kerri shook his hand firmly smiling up at him. “Well I'm sure you’re going to make it all worth my while, Mr. Winters.”

 

There it was. That force in her voice. It was confident and firm and showed that she was serious yet endearing. Serena could tell Mr. Winters was somewhat impressed by Kerri's spunk and made sure he told her so as he ushered the two women down the hall into his office.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Justin gave Kyle a dirty look as they entered Club 152. Looking back at him from the steps, he asked “Just an hour to show my face and we’re out, right?” still pissed about the fact that he was doing more promoting than relaxing.

 

As they followed two bouncers up to the second floor, Justin could feel the bass thumping…Making the floor vibrate under his feet. It was loud but he liked the beat. He’d been to Club 152 in the past and didn’t remember it ever being this crowded. Most of them looked like tourists, taking in the sights of Beale Street. He looked back towards his friend, Trace, who was trying to tell him something, but the music was just too loud to make out anything he was saying. Trace just shook his head and motioned that he would tell him upstairs.

 

(Bah!) Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe

(Bah!) Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe Doe

 

As they reached the top of the stairs, Justin could hear the song more clearly and smiled at its familiarity. He couldn’t help but move his body when the beat from George Kranz's "Din Daa Daa" hit hard out of the speakers of the club.

 

Bah! Bump Bump Bump Bump Bay Doe

Bah! Bump Bump Bump Bump Bay Doe

 

“Please follow me, gentlemen.”  the waitress yelled towards them. She was wearing a white bustier, tight black shorts, stockings, and sexy black pumps. Her reddish short hair gleaming underneath the lights that flashed repeatedly.

 

Justin, Trace, Kyle, and three of Justin’s other friends followed close behind the her. There was a sea of people that didn’t seem to end. Bodies bumping into bodies as people tried to move around through the large crowd. Justin bobbed his head up and down to the beat as they made their way over to the VIP section of the club which sat atop of a raised platform, giving them a better view of the entire club. The waitress took their drink orders and disappeared into the crowd of people at the bottom of the stairs.

 

Justin sat on the edge of the plush couch moving his shoulders from left to right. He looked towards his friends and smiled as they all sang out in unison clapping their hands with the song, “D'Doom D'Doom, Doom Doom”

 

Justin banged his fists across the table as if it were a drum set, “Rrratatatatatatata…Rrratatatatdadadadoom”

 

“Wooo! That’s a classic!” His friend Shawn said banging his fist in the air.  “Watch out now!  I might start break-dancin' up in here!”

 

All the men stopped and looked towards Shawn, their faces stoic, until Trace finally said, “You’ll fuck around and break a hip!”

 

The entire couch erupted in laughter and all Shawn could do was roll his eyes as he tried not to laugh.  They were pulled away from their exchange when the song started to flow straight into Michael Jackson’s “Don’t stop till you get enough.”

 

“That’s hot!” Trace yelled, bobbing his head.

 

“Come on! I wanna see your asses out of those seats!” a voice rang out through the club. “Yeah, I’m talking to you sexy people over at the bar! You can’t sit down when Mike’s on!”

 

The men looked over towards the stage where the DJ stand was usually set up and noticed a woman behind the turntables talking to the crowd. “Let’s go!” she yelled.

 

Justin couldn’t make out her face because she was so far away, but was curious to know who she was. He’d never seen her in there before and he'd never seen the place so crowded. But he also hadn’t been home in a while too. When the waitress returned he asked who the DJ was. “She’s a guest DJ! It’s a new thing that we’ve started!” She yelled into his ear so he could hear her more clearly. “Every Friday we have a few guest DJ’s come out and do a set. It keeps people coming back every week!” she smiled.

 

Justin nodded, before reaching up to take his glass of Jack Daniel’s from her hand. He took a long sip of his drink, trying his best to relax. He could see more and more people gravitating towards the VIP area and knew word was getting around he was there. He wasn’t in the mood to sign any autographs, or deal with women trying to work their way past security to sit with them. But he knew eventually it would happen. Kyle would come over sooner or later and tell him that it would be good for PR if he mingled with a few people. And his friends would end up seeing a bunch of girls they’d like to bag and go balls deep with. He knew they were all depending on him to help get them what they wanted. He didn’t really mind doing them a solid, because he knew they'd lay down in traffic for him. After all, they were his closest friends. All except Kyle that is. Speaking of which…What was he up to? Justin watched as Kyle grabbed something out of his coat pocket before heading down the steps and into the crowd.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Kerri looked around as the music blared throughout the club. It was crowded with hot bodies grinding against one another and she loved it. Her heart pounded rapidly and matched the beat of the music. She loved watching their reactions to the beats she was mixing and creating all for their enjoyment. As she leaned down to grab something out of a box that was on the floor near her feet, she could see crude eyes turn and examine her body as she bent over. She felt powerful as the gazes of lustful men turned her way. She looked over and saw Serena talking to a guy who looked out of place. He seemed over dressed. Maybe he worked for management at the club.

 

“Hey, DJ.” The guy walked up to her. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

 

Kerri had one headphone propped between her shoulder and her ear as she adjusted the dials on the board. “Sorry, I’m not doing requests tonight.” She stated, never looking his way.

 

“Not even for Justin Timberlake?” the man interjected pointing over toward the VIP area.

 

Kerri never looked towards where he was pointing. She stood up straight and looked him square in the eyes before saying, “Not for him or anyone else.”

 

She turned back around and leaned in towards the microphone yelling out to the crowd to clap their hands. Through the corner of her eye, she could see the man still standing next to her as she raised her hands over her head to clap along with the crowd. She reached down and pressed a few buttons and the song changed over once again, sending the crowd into a frenzy. She grabbed her bottle of beer that was sitting off to the side and took a sip of it, starring back at the man and giving him a look that said, ‘Why the hell are you still here?’

 

“It’s just one song, Ker.” Serena yelled into her ear.

 

“Ree, I’m not changing my set around, to play this guys single.” She took a longer sip of her beer. “He can get the next DJ to play it for him.”  Kerri glared at her friend.

 

Serena knew that there was no swaying Kerri. She looked over towards the VIP section and could see Justin sitting around with a bunch of other men, talking to a few girls who had walked by and were yelling towards them. This would have been a great opportunity to get she and Kerri some good contacts for the future. She turned and tried to do damage control with the man, but he ignored her and walked back over to Kerri who now had the headphones covering both her ears. He wasn’t used to anyone telling him no. He held the CD out in front of Kerri’s face waiting on her to take it, but she kept moving her fingers across the turntable and said, “I know you better get that fuckin’ cd out of my face.”

 

“Just one song!” he begged. He never had to beg. All he ever had to do was mention Justin’s name and his request was immediately fulfilled.

 

“Screw your one song." she mocked.  "Screw him.” She pointed her hand towards Justin’s direction. “And screw you for coming over here expecting me to do what you say because you said it. You and your client can kiss my ass. Now get the fuck outta here!”

 

Justin observed from the other side of the room, wondering what Kyle was up to. He watched him reach his hand out towards the DJ, CD in hand, and knew Kyle was trying to get her to play his single. The DJ never took the CD though. She seemed to be ignoring Kyle completely, but he couldn’t tell. He was too far away to even make out her face to get a read on what was happening. He turned back to the conversation with his friend Todd, and was jovially laughing at something he’d said when Trace exclaimed, “Oh shit! Your guy is flippin’ out over there.”

 

Justin looked towards his friend to find out what happened and Trace pointed to Kyle who was still standing over at the DJ booth. The DJ was now in his face and seemed to be yelling at him. He watched as Kyle tried to again hand her the CD, but this time she took it and swiftly tossed it. She didn’t even bother to see where it landed and simply turned back around and got back on the controls.  A mix of Chic’s “Good Times” started to pump through the speakers and the sea of club goers starts to sway their hands in the air.

 

Justin watched as Kyle angrily pushed through the crowd making his way back over to the VIP section. He secretly wanted to go over and thank the DJ for giving Kyle a taste of how he made Justin feel all week. Just wait till Kyle finds out that he's staying at a hotel for the rest of the weekend, he thought to himself. His grin grew wider.

 

“That bitch refused to play your song!” Kyle huffed as he found a seat on the couch near Justin, tossing the now broken CD down onto the table.

 

“Tough break,” Justin replied, trying not to laugh. The sound was bubbling from his throat and he couldn’t stop it no matter how hard he tried. Trace and the other men joined in on the laughter as Kyle gave them all the middle finger before calling the waitress over to order a stiff drink for himself.

 

The hour that Justin had intended on staying had easily turned into two as he found himself actually having a good time.  He was enjoying the mix of music the DJ was playing as well as the lighthearted atmosphere she had created.  He didn't mind that Kyle kept telling him, "Another twenty minutes and we'll go," even though he had said that about four times already.

 

A mix of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" was playing fast in the background and she could see Justin dancing around the VIP section with a few girls. She smiled as she noticed how much he appeared to be enjoying himself.  Others closeby noticed as well and stopped to watch him.

 

“I see you groovin' over there, Justin! Shout out to the talented Justin Timberlake who’s in the house tonight!” She announced over the music as she waved her free hand up and down to the beat in his direction.   He raised his glass towards her in recognition and went back to dancing with his group.

 

"...Sneaking out the back door, to hang out with those hoodlum friends of mine!"  he sang pointing to his friends.   Justin kept dancing, smiling towards the onlookers before shutting his eyes and getting lost in the song.  "...I wish those days could come back once more.  Why did those days ev-er have to go."

 

“….Okay, DJ Cosmic Kev's gonna take over spinning on the one’s and two’s. But before I go,” she paused and ran her hand across the dial. A mix of the Eurythmic’s “Sweet Dreams” started to play and the crowd went berserk. Kerri raised both her hands over her head and moved her body to the music. She looked over towards the VIP area and could see Justin and his group of friends still standing and dancing to the music along with the group of women who had joined them.

 

“Come on!  Sing it with me!” she exclaimed, stopping the music at just the right moment.  The entire club sang along with her. “Sweet dreams are made of this. Who am I to disagree?” 

 

There was a rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins as she listened to the crowd. It made her feel drunk. “I’m DJ Lady K! Have fun tonight and be safe!” she yelled into the mic before waving goodbye to the club-goers who were clapping for her.

 

Kerri didn’t even have a chance to relish in her moment before Serena’s was in her face berating her once more. “I can’t believe you did that, Kerri!” Serena scolded as she started to help pack up the cables, records and other gear.

 

“Me?” Kerri asked pointedly. “You know better than to let some guy come up to me and tell me what I need to be playing. I don’t care who is or who he works for!”

 

“You need to go over there and apologize to him. You broke the CD when you chucked it!”

 

“Apologize?” Kerri snapped. “You’re crazy! He should be apologizing to me!”

 

“It’s a part of business, Kerri. We can’t afford to have any bad PR right now and you know it.”

 

Kerri stood there for a moment staring over at her friend, knowing she was right. Kerri would have to go over there herself and smooth things over. She bit at her bottom lip, trying to think of what she was going to say when she got over there.  Serena stood with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at her friend.  Kerri didn't have to look up to know that her friend and business partner was silently cursing her out.  She leaned down and yanked her jacket off the stool in the booth and walked off in a huff towards the VIP section.

 

As she neared the section, she could see Justin standing near the railing, chatting with a couple girls, who were shamelessly throwing themselves at him. She looked up and called out to him, “Hey!”

 

He looked down towards the woman and smiled. She had dark brown hair that had been hapharzardly pinned up with a clip. Her red backless jumpsuit had a plunging neckline that diverted his attention to the tiny beads of sweat that were now rolling down between her breasts. She looked familiar. He spotted the headphones still hanging around her neck and realized it was the DJ. “Nice set!” He yelled leaning over the railing and looking down at her.

 

“Th-Thanks” she stuttered looking up at him, his face unreadable. She wondered just how angry he was about her breaking his CD. “Look, you can’t just walk into a place and expect the world to stop for you.  Like I told your friend over there…I don’t change my sets for anyone...I don't care who you are...I tried to be nice, but he wouldn’t listen. I’m sorry about your CD.”

 

Justin was exhausted and didn't feel like explaining that he never sent Kyle over there in the first place.  He simply grinned down at her and said, "It’s cool.”

 

Serena walked over and Kerri went to introduce her. Justin was barely listening as he watched her face.  She looked so damn familiar! Where had he seen her before? He thought about asking her, but didn’t want her to think he was trying to throw her a line. Shawn and Traced walked over to the railing to see what Justin was doing and noticed the two women talking to him. “Why don’t you come hang out with us?” Shaun yelled to them.

 

Serena was just about to sprint towards the stairs doing zero to sixty, but Kerri quickly crushed her dreams and politely declined his offer.

 

A few of the women in VIP walked over to the railing to see why the attention was suddenly no longer on them. Kerri could see the jealousy in their eyes, even though she knew there was no need for it. She introduced herself and one of the women gave her half a smile, not really interested in having a conversation with the DJ who had helped them dance their way up to that very same VIP section they were looking down at her from. They didn't even make an attempt to be cordial.  These hoes were starting to get on her nerves and Kerri knew that Serena would be upset over what she was about to say, but she didn't care, “Well you ladies have a good night. And just remember to memorize which glass is his...This way you won’t have to fight about who gets to lick it after Mr. Timberlake leaves.”

 

Serena reached over and pinched her friend hard on the arm.  Kerri yelped out in pain as she went to defend herself.

 

Justin watched the angry women walk away over towards Kyle and he couldn't help but chuckle.  "Wow...I just got done forgiving you for insulting me and my music. Why you tryna get on my bad side now?" Justin smiled.

 

"Because, I can't find your good side." she smirked.

 

She was quick witted and he liked that. Serena was embarrassed by Kerri’s remarks and went to apologize but when she saw Justin laugh, she breathed out a sigh of relief. As Serena watched her engage in conversation with Justin and his friends, she quickly realized that Kerri was doing what she did best. Doing what needed to be done.  Serena smiled knowing they'd be able to rest easy tonight and didn't need to be concerned with word getting around about the earlier incident.

 

“...You know you want to come hang with us…Don’t fight it!” Shawn teased. “You’re just scared.  Admit it!”

 

Kerri looked behind them towards the throng of women who were already up there and just laughed, “Yeah. I’m scared alright...Scared I’m gonna catch an STD from standing near your new friends too long.”

 

Justin almost chocked on his drink as he tried not to laugh. This girl was actually really cool. She didn’t seem nervous around him. She wasn’t asking him for an autograph. She was just talking to him like he were a regular guy. It was refreshing to see she wasn’t fazed by his notability. “The sexy ass DJ has jokes!” Trace laughed.

 

Kerri felt herself blush instantly at the compliment and turned her face to the side trying not to let it show. It was in that very moment that Justin realized the DJ was familiar because she was the girl from the Polaroid he had found earlier in the week. He closed his eyes trying to remember the photo in his mind…Comparing it to her face.

 

“…Well we gotta get going. My apologies again!”

 

He never heard her say goodbye. He was too busy thinking to himself that it had to be her. He opened his eyes and went to say something, but she was already making her way down the stairs to leave. "Ain't that a bitch?” he said to himself.

 

"Ain’t what a bitch?” Trace asked as they turned back around and sat down on the couch.

 

“Oh nothing…” Justin trailed off. “Yo, another twenty minutes and I’m ready to bounce. So…Do what you gotta do before then.” He said cryptically. Trace and the others knew exactly what it meant. They needed to secure whatever prospects they had now if they planned on getting laid tonight. They all immediately went back to chatting up the females they had been talking to earlier.

 

Justin leaned his head against the back of the couch and listened to the music as it blared throughout the club. The atmosphere had changed and he was ready to go home. He needed to ditch Kyle and stick him with Trace, Shawn and Todd who were obviously headed to a hotel with their new female friends.  All Justin wanted to do now was crawl under the covers of his bed and just sleep. Turn off his phone for the rest of the weekend and just be…Justin. But most of all, he wanted to get back so he could check out that photo one more time to be sure the woman who had just made him feel so at ease for the brief time they talked, was indeed the same one from the Polaroid.

A month had gone by and Justin found himself obsessing over the girl in the Polaroid. Visions of her were running through his mind day and night. If he wasn't working he would either find himself staring at her picture or dreaming about her.  Although he found her attractive, there wasn’t anything really sexual about his interest in her. He couldn’t figure out how an inanimate object could have such a strong hold on him. Something kept telling him that he had to meet her. There was this force that was building within in and the only way he felt it would be extinguished, is if he found her once and for all. He had no idea what he was going to say to her when he did actually meet her, but he had do something or it was going to eat him alive.

"Hey Kyle." He called into the other room.

"Yeah, Justin?"

"I need you to call-” Justin stopped before he finished his sentence.

"You need me to call?" Kyle asked waiting on him to finish.

This wasn’t an ordinary, everyday errand that he was used to giving Kyle. This was more complicated than going down to Starbucks and picking him up a Latte. "Ummm...You know what? Never mind. I'll take care of it myself."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Thanks anyway." he said as he made his way upstairs to his room.

Justin knew Kyle would ask too many questions, and frankly he didn’t trust him. This was something that required a certain amount of confidentiality and finesse. He sat on his bed looking down at photo trying to figure out what he should do next. An idea came to mind and he quickly walked down the hall and knocked on the door of the guest room. "Yo Trace? You up, man?" he yelled through the door.

A muffled voice rang out. "Yeah."

Justin opened the door and could see Trace sprawled across the bed still wearing the clothes he had on the night before. Justin pushed at Trace's leg, signaling him to move over as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I need you to do me a big favor, man."

"Trace lifted his head up from the pillow and tried to adjust his eyes to focus in on Justin's face. "What ya need?"

Justin slid the photo of the woman over towards him. Trace leaned down to see what it was and quickly lifted up his head and sucked in his teeth in disgust. "Damn, Justin, I thought you got rid of that thing a long time ago...You need help, bro."

"Exactly! I need your help to track her down."

"What the fuck for?" Trace said as he slowly sat up and started wiping his eyes.

"She's gotten into my head, dude."

"How? You don't even know her."

"I know, I know.  But there is something...Something I can't explain.” He got up and paced the room. “I just need to meet her and see what she is really like. I need to quell my curiosity."

"You only have a Polaroid of this girl.” Trace studied the photo, turning it around looking on the other side before tossing it down onto the bed. “There is no writing on it or any other information to even give a clue as to who this chick is. So what exactly do you need me to do?"

"I know who she is. We met her a few weeks ago."

"Where?" Trace teased. “Is she here with us now?”

"I ain't crazy.” Justin scoffs under his breath, bringing his hand to his forehead and rubbing his temple. “Remember when I was home and we went to that club and the DJ was giving Kyle a hard time?"

"Yeah? The chick with the nice breasts, who kept getting smart with you and Shawn?"

"Yeah...That's her."

Trace picked the Polaroid up off the bed and brought it closer to his face. "I can't tell shit from the photo. You just want it to be that girl, cause she didn't take any of your shit, and it’s got your dick all hard, cause you didn’t end up banging her."

"No...” Justin rolled his eyes. “When you called her sexy she made that same exact face and I could tell it was her." Justin pointed.

Trace couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Justin. Come on now, man. This is insane! You've been going around with a picture of some girl in your visor and then taking it with you on trips in your notebook for over a month! Now you want to go and find her? What exactly do you expect to get out of this? Are you that bored that you can't find anything better to do?”

Trace had a point. Was he just bored and desperate for a challenge? Trace knew his friend had been hurt pretty badly in the past and didn’t want to see him in anymore pain. Especially if it turned out that they couldn’t find this mysterious girl from the photo.

The curiosity was eating Justin from the inside out. He had this set vision in his mind of the type of person he thought she was. And it was very similar to the woman he’d briefly spoken to at the club, except a million times better. “I know that I sound crazy, but something is dragging me on this path and if I don't find out who she is, I feel I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life. I just want you to help me. And if it turns out that she isn't the girl, then I will chuck this in the trash and forget everything about it." he said as he placed the photo inside the back pocket of his jeans.

Trace paced the room briefly before turning around and asking, "What do you need me to do?"

Justin’s smile grew wider as he went on to explain his plan. He had Trace call over to the club and ask the manager for the contact information of the DJ’s who played that night. They went down the list of 5 DJ’s, most of which were men, till they finally reached the voicemail for DJ Lady K. Trace left a message requesting booking information in hopes that the woman would eventually call back and they could setup a meeting.

It wasn’t until the next day, while Trace was out dropping off his dry cleaning, that he received a call back. “…Oh you’re from LA? That’s even better. Is there somewhere we could meet and discuss fees and your availability?” Trace jogged back to the car to grab a pen and paper. “Right now would be perfect. Where are you?” he asked. “…I know exactly where that is. Give me about 20 minutes and I will meet you there.”

Trace slid his body into the car and immediately dialed Justin’s phone, but there was no answer. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was 10:30 and Justin was probably still with his trainer. Trace pulled down the visor and shook his head when he found the Polaroid photo staring back at him. He placed it down on the passenger seat with his phone and made his way up to Café Cappuccino on West Sunset, tyring to remember what Justin said about the photo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do I give it back to her?"

"No. This will be my ticket to seeing her again."

"And if she doesn't want it back?"

"Dammit, Trace!” He said, his voice jumping an octave. “Come on man. Stop trippin' and do you magic and get me a meeting."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes later Trace finally arrived at his destination. He looked across the street at the café and saw a woman sitting at a table near the window looking out as if she were waiting on someone. He reached over in the seat and grabbed the Polaroid and looked at it carefully before looking back over at the girl. 'That ain't her.' He thought to himself.

He got out of his car and made his way across the street and inside the café. "Hey, how you doing'?" he smiled.

The girl looked up from her coffee recognized Trace immediately. "Hey. Trace, right?" She smiled. “You didn’t mention that it was you when you called me earlier.”

He grabbed the chair across from her, apologizing for the accidental omission. “So you said that you were interested in hiring us for a party you had planned on throwing? Can you give me more details?” She asked as she pulled out a pen and paper to take notes.

“I apologize for that. That was just a lure to get you to meet with me.” He smiled nervously, not knowing what to expect next.

“Wow,” the woman replied, her voice amused, biting her lip to hide her smile as she shifted in her chair. “I don’t even think we spoke more than five words to each other that night.”

Oh!  N-No! Nothing like t-that” he stuttered, his cheeks turning pink. “I’ve just been wracking my brain trying to figure out who the owner of this photo was. When I saw you at the club, I knew it had to be you." He said as he handed her the Polaroid.

Leaning forward in her chair she took a good long look at the picture before laughing lightly to herself. "I'm sorry, but that's not me."

His face turned red as he looked at her and said, "Damn. When I saw you that night, I could have sworn you were the girl in this photo. I'm sorry I bothered you, Hun."

He knew Justin had completely lost it. And he was a bigger sucker for going along with his friend. As he started to walk away the woman called out after him, "You definitely saw the girl in the picture, Trace."

Trace turned around with a confused look on his face. "I thought you just told me it wasn't you?"

"It's not me." she smiled as she crossed her legs, taking a sip of her coffee. "It's my best friend, Kerri."

Trace was caught completely off guard. Not only was the girl real but this broad actually knew her. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. You must have thought I was Kerri when I called you back about the booking. I’m Serena. We work together.”

Trace nodded his head in agreement. Serena went on to explain that the trash talker he’d met that night was actually the one from the photo. Trace was so drunk that night he had no idea which was which. He just noticed a pair of perfectly round breasts staring up at him and he didn’t care to focus much on anything else. He listened as Serena explained that Kerri had a bunch of those same photos in her room tucked away in a box in the back of her closet and she’d lost some when they were out of town. “Where did you get this from?" she asked curiously.

"Justin found it in a parking lot somewhere.”

“Well that was nice of him to hold onto it. She was freaking out about where it could be. Make sure you tell him thank you.” She smiled as she reached her hand out for the photo.

Trace placed the photo down in his pocket and looked over at her smiling, “Well you see, Justin was hoping he could give it back to her himself.”

Serena laughed bitterly, feeling ridiculously jealous and defensive at the same time. Trying her best to shake those feelings away she looked towards him and said, “Well…I’m sure I can arrange something.”

Trace watched her as she got up from the table and bent down to retrieve her bag. He had noticed the disappointment in her eyes and he also noticed that her ass looked like it would fit perfectly inside the palms of his hands. Serena wrote down their phone number on the pad she still had sitting out and handed it to Trace before going to leave. "Am I able to use this same number to get in contact with you too?"

Serena blushed and nodded, “We both should be home after 7.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trace walked into the house and down the hall into the kitchen. Justin heard the alarm beep from upstairs in his room. He bolted out and down the steps to find Trace. As he entered the kitchen he noticed Trace standing at the counter with loads of lunchmeat, mustard, and bread scattered along the counters.

"I got your message after I got done my workout with Steve.” Justin anticipated that Trace would immediately tell him what happened, but instead he rummaged around in drawers, looking for a butter knife. “Well?" Justin asked.

"Well what?"

"Don't act dumb. What happened?"

"I went over there. Talked to the girl who returned the call.  Showed her the photo...It wasn't her." Trace said before stuffing the sandwich in his mouth.

Justin looked down in disappointment. "Damn, I was so sure it was her."

Trace walked past Justin towards the living room and placed a folded up piece of paper in front of him. With a mouth full of food he mumbled, "It's her friend."

Justin's eyes immediately lit up. "Stop bullshittin'!  For real?"

Trace plopped down on the couch and started flipping through channels, pretending to ignore Justin. "Trace. Come on, dude. What did she say?"

Trace took a long deliberate bite out of his sandwich and the look that his best friend was giving him almost made him choke. He swallowed hard and chuckled as Justin narrowed his eyes at him, trying to force his lips into a frown, but he couldn't seem to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upward at the thought that he had actually found the girl from the photo.

Trace went on to explain that Serena was in charge of the DJ’s bookings and they were wrong in assuming that she was actually the DJ. "If you need me to probe her for more information about her girl, Kerri, just let me know. I wouldn't mind. The chic had a nice ass."

Justin rolled his eyes and said no before thanking him again and going into the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

When 8 o' clock rolled around Justin found himself staring at the phone, debating whether or not he should make the call. He hadn’t even thought about what he was going to say to her. As the minutes slowly passed by he found he couldn't wait any longer and decided he would just wing it. He picked up the phone and dialed the number that was written on the torn piece of paper.

"Hey Trish! How you been?" Kerri yelled over to her neighbor as she started to unlock her door. "...Great. Have a good night!" She heard the ringing and took her time to put down her things before she finally answered it, "Hello?"

"Hi, may I speak to Serena please?"

"She’s not here. Can I take a message?”

"Umm...Well is Kerri available? I’m actually trying to get in touch with her."

Kerri didn’t recognize the voice on the other end and was curious as to why someone would be calling to talk to Serena about her. Maybe he was a bill collector. "And why would you need to talk to Kerri?"

"It's kind of personal. You see...My name is Justin. I met her a few weeks ago when I was at a club down in Memphis. I really wanted to talk to her about something."

Kerri couldn't help but laugh at the guy on the other end of the line. "Yeah.  Okay...Justin. Seriously.  Who is this? Ray, is that you? Did Serena put you up to this? Tell her to stop harping over it…”

Justin rolled his eyes at the girls’ mockery of the situation. "Look.  If you aren't going to help me then I will just wait until Serena gets home to talk to her."

"Well seeing that Kerri and I are one in the same person, the only way to really get in touch with me would be to talk to...Well, me." Kerri stated plainly.

"Oh. Well, you remember me from a few weeks back right?"

"I remember Justin and his friends, coming into the club and acting entitled…Yes."

"What do I have to do to prove to you that it's me?"

Kerri sat there for a moment thinking quietly to herself before finally coming up with a solution. "Meet me for lunch tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow? Why not now?"

"Well, I've been at work all day and I am beat. Plus I want to wait until it's broad daylight so I can really get a good look at you…Ray." she teased as she sat there leafing through the mail.

"Where should we meet? Your place?"

Kerri started to laugh, "Whoa! I don't think so.  Why don't we meet at Cravings? You know where that is? It's quiet enough that no one will really notice us and busy enough that my life won't feel endangered if you are some deranged lunatic." she joked.

The next afternoon Justin woke up from his nap in a panic because he hadn’t gotten any sleep from being restless the night before. He threw on a pair of sweat pants and a hat and jumped into his car and headed towards the restaurant that was about 15 minutes away from his home.

When he got there he grabbed the picture from the overhead visor and studied it once more before getting out of the car and placing it in his pocket. He slowly walked a block up the street towards the restaurant. He could see a few people sitting outside eating and talking amongst themselves. He adjusted his hat so that it almost covered his eyes, hoping no one would recognize him. As he neared the entrance he spotted Kerri sitting away from all the others who were there eating. She was busy typing something into her phone and didn’t even notice him as he approached the table. He smiled as he noticed she wasn't dressed up. She didn't even have on any make up. Her hair was up in a ponytail and there were a few stray strands hanging out and down her face. She had on an outfit similar his. A pair of sweatpants and a top that had the phrase “Smile, it’s the second best thing you can do with your lips” written across the front. Kerri was about to take a sip of her coffee when she noticed him standing there and stopped. She placed down her drink and sat back, lifting her hand to try and shield her eyes from the sun. She took a good look at him and grinned. "Well I'll be damned.  It is you." she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Justin smiled at her and joked, "If we would have bet money on this, you’d be broke."

"I’m already broke, so you’d still lose." she giggled pointing towards the chair for him to sit down. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Justin took a deep breath as he leaned forward, twiddling with his thumbs. "This might sound extremely crazy and bizarre, so bear with me...I've been thinking about you for over a month a month now."

Kerri was confused and was about to speak when the waitress came over to take their order. Was he playing a prank? She wasn’t the nicest when they first met. Did he want her to shell out $20 for the cd that broke into pieces? Was he too drunk to curse her out that night and wanted another shot at it? That had to be it. She took a deep breath preparing herself for what was to follow…Including the end of her career if he spread the word around town.

Justin reached into his pocket and pulled out the Polaroid and slid it across the table to her. She leaned forward, gazing down at the photo and sat there stunned momentarily. "Where did you get this?"

"I found it awhile ago in a parking lot at a record store I go to back home. Something about it made me hold on to it that day." he replied as he took a sip of his water trying to study her face for some form of reaction.

"Ahh...Yes! That must have been it.” She snapped her finger remembering back. “Some of them dropped out of the car when I went to go pickup a pair of headphones."

The waitress momentarily interrupted them, placing their salads on the table and making sure they didn’t need anything else.

“That’s what I get for being a smart ass.” Kerri smiled, taking the piece of lemon and squeezing it over her grilled chicken and lettuce.

“Why do you say that?”

"I yelled your name in the parking lot. Serena is obsessed with you. You remember her right?” she asked not really caring if he responded or not. “I went back into the store afterwards and left her out there.”

“Oh! She slammed into the door?”

“Exactly!” she laughed heartily with him.

"Why didn't you stay outside with her and say hi?"

"What for?” she chewed. “I wasn’t there to chit chat. Were you? I was there to get some damn headphones.”

Justin laughed lightly, "You got a point."

"But getting back to the subject at hand." she said as she wiped her mouth with her napkin "What would make you want to hold onto my picture?"

Damn. He thought he was doing so well, avoiding that little fact. He needed to choose his words carefully. He looked down and started sliding his finger around the rim of his glass as he said, "I can't really explain what made me keep it. But once I had it, I couldn't stop looking at it.” He flitted his eyes towards her to scan her reaction. “Seeing how happy you were. How it just seemed like any other normal day...No reporters all in your face. No one hiding in bushes to take your picture. Nobody almost killing themselves just to touch you. Just a quiet moment in time. My life is far from normal right now. It's been this way for over 10 years now. With each year I lose a small piece of myself and the things I used to love to do. Going out the movies anytime I wanted to. Driving down the street in my car and not being followed by anyone. Picking up and going out to the park for a picnic, just because.  Or simply going to the grocery store or mall because I wanted to buy something. Your picture was a tool of sorts for me."

With her fork frozen in mid air and her eyebrows raised, Kerri sarcastically asked, "A tool to help you do what?"

"Get your head out of the gutter." Justin smirked.  He looked back down at the condensation slowly streaming down his glass and continued to explain. "Since I’ve had it…Whenever things got crazy for me or it seemed too much for me to handle all I had to do was look at the picture and I was there...Happy, content, living a simple life. It really has helped me keep my sanity...If that makes much sense."

Kerri sat there for a moment thinking quietly to herself about what he had just expressed to her. "I guess I could see how that might help."

Justin was expecting her to call him crazy, and was pleasantly surprised by her understanding attitude. He looked up at Kerri and then around at a group of people who had just been seated at the next table. He leaned forward so no one else could hear him. "I'm not trying to seem ungrateful for everything I have. And I knew coming into this that it would all come with a price. I just didn't expect it to be so much. I have great days where I really love being in the spotlight and having all this attention, but I also have days where I just want to be left alone and disappear into the crowd.  The only way that seems to be possible these days is in my dreams." He looked back down at his salad he barely touched and started to fiddle with his napkin.

Kerri sat up and leaned forward trying to make eye contact with him. She lightly tapped his hand to get his attention. "I have no idea what it is like to be famous or even mildly popular for that matter, so I am not going to sit here and bullshit you and say that I understand how you feel...Cause I don't. All I can say is that we all have own way of dealing with things going on in our lives...No matter how big or small." She looked over at her picture and back up at him. "And if this helps you then so be it.”

It was as if she were reading his mind, when she smiled at him and said, “I don't think you're crazy.  It's something I've never heard of before, but not as off the wall as some things that I have seen in my life so far."

Justin smiled and enjoyed their brief moment. She seemed very true to form. “So you’re a DJ out here in LA?” he asked, finally picking up his fork and beginning to eat. “Why haven’t I seen you at any of the usual hot spots. You’re really good!"

“I just do that for fun every now and again. I actually have my own radio show here in town though.” She explained.

“Do you?” he asked with his mouth full. “What station?”

“You’re presets probably don’t go below 100 in your car, but it’s 93.3WMK. We don’t really do mainstream. My show in particular focuses on signed and unsigned artists who are trying to get their music out there.  Artists who aren’t in heavy rotation…The complete opposite of you.”

He could hear the slight hint of resentment in her voice and the look she was giving him didn’t help hide it at all. “How could you have such animosity towards someone you have so much in common with?” he grinned.

“What do you mean?” she laughed, not knowing anything that they could possibly have in common.

Justin went on to explain that he had just signed a young girl he’d seen on YouTube. Kerri interjected that she already knew who he was talking about, “Yeah you went and stole her from me.” She smiled. “I’m happy for her, but still mad at you.” She joked. “We were playing her YouTube audio months before you even signed her.”

“I’m sorry.” He defended with a smile. “I’ll have to find some way to make it up to you.”

They talked quietly with one another as they finished their food. Justin grabbed her empty plate and placed it on top of his, pushing it to the side before reaching for his wallet to pay the check. Kerri fought with him over the bill trying to at least give him the money for her salad. When he refused she placed it down on the table anyway, insisting that he at least let her leave it as a tip for their waitress.  He shook his head thinking back to all the times he’d reached for his wallet to pay for meals in the past and the people he was with never even budged…Expecting him to pay. As they were walking down the block to the tiny parking lot, he handed her the picture and said, "I guess you should have this back now."

Kerri never reached for it. "You can keep it. I had only planned on burning it anyway."

"Why?"

Kerri looked away from him out towards the highway. "My ex had taken them of me. When I had lost a few of them, I was scared that they were the ones that were more...Explicit. So it's a relief to know at least one of them isn't."

"Well I wouldn't want to ruin your ritual bonfire." he joked as he handed her the picture.

"You sure you don't need it for future use?" she smirked.

"Well, what would I need the picture for now when I have the real thing right here?" he pointed out.

Kerri laughed, "Ahh...You're good. I'm sure if Serena was here, she’d have ripped off her clothes for you right on the spot."

Justin couldn't help but blush and laugh at her comment, "Nah, for real. I wasn't even trying to come onto you."

Kerri tried to act hurt. "Damn, you go from flirting with me to insulting me all in the same minute."

Justin light poked her in the side. "Come on now. I didn't mean it like that. I was trying to say that since I made a new friend here today...I was hoping I could call you when things got crazy so you could keep me out of a big white padded room."

She looked down momentarily before making a decision. "Well, I don't see any harm in that...Friend." she mocked.

They walked over to her car and she dug around in her purse for her cell phone, trying to find out what her number was. She’d recently had it changed and didn’t know by heart yet. She typed her number into his phone and handed it back to him. "Now I might call you at the craziest hours, so I don't know if you want to rethink this or not."

"Well I'm up at the craziest hours so I think it would work out perfectly."

He lifted the phone up towards her face and told her smile. Kerri grinned towards the lens of the camera on his phone and put up her middle finger. He laughed lightly before assigning the photo to her contact information in his phone.

Kerri sat and turned the key in the ignition and was about to reach for the door to shut when Justin grabbed it and lightly shut it for her, leaning down in the open window. "Hey...Thanks again." he smiled coyly.

"No...Thank you." Kerri replied waving her picture in her hand.

Justin watched her as she backed out of the space, waving goodbye and pulling off before he proceeded to his own car.

He got in and sat there for a while. He grabbed his phone and brought up her photo, smiling to himself before pressing send on the touch screen.

“Hello?”

“Just making sure you didn’t give me a fake number.”

“You’re an ass!” she laughed.

“Yeah, but you’ll eventually grow to love it.” He smirked.

"City Morgue. You stab em’. We slab em’." Kerri said as she answered her phone. She had been sitting up in bed most of the night typing away on her laptop.

"You’re sick.” The voice on the other end chuckled. “What you doin'?"

"Replying to these emails and finishing up some work so I won't have to worry about it on my big weekend off. What are you doin'?"

"Sitting here about to fling myself off the roof. All day I had to deal with flashes of light in my face and about a few hundred people yelling out my name or obscenities just to get me to look their way so they could snap another 100 pictures of me."

Kerri moved her shoulder up to steady the phone under her ear. "Ooooh...How bad that must be for you. People actually wanting to take your picture and actually wanting to hear what you have to say. What a terrible life Mr. Timberlake has." she mocked as she continued to type.

"Funny."

"No, I'm sorry. I just try to let you see it from someone else's perspective. Us commoners aren't up on your level."

Justin sucked in his teeth at her. "Kerri."

"I'm kidding! Calm down." she lightly laughed.

Justin went on to explain his day to her. "Today this man actually had the nerves to stand there and yell out to me that he had pictures of me having sex with my own mother...How sick is that?"

Kerri immediately stopped typing. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I was just walking down the street minding my business. It was just crazy." he sighed as he turned over on the bed and looked up towards the ceiling.

"Have you ever tried averting your attention to something else? Tuning into one thing entirely that you can't hear or see anything else but that one thing?"

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"You ever find yourself watching television and someone will walk up and tap you on your shoulder and say 'Did you not hear me talking to you?'"
 
"Yeah...I've done that a few times."

"That's what I'm talking about. You focus on something and tune everything else out of your head for the brief few minutes that you feel like you felt earlier today."

"I've tried everything. I doubt that will work."

Kerri leaned over and took a sip of water before replying. "Well, try it anyway. It can't hurt right?"

"True."

Ever since she agreed to meet him for lunch a couple weeks earlier, this was their normal routine with one another. Justin would call and Kerri would be there to talk him through something. Most often times she would end up not speaking at all while he just talked about anything and everything that was on his mind. It wasn't always that way. Justin found himself engulfed in what was going on in her life as well. He loved hearing about it. He would sit there and close his eyes and just imagine what it was like to be an average Joe again.

“So what are you up to this weekend?"

"Sleep, sleep, and more sleep." She responded.

Justin could hear her typing away in the background. "Well why don't you come and hang out with me this weekend. I’m bored to tears."

Kerri sat and briefly weighed the two choices in her mind before saying, "Sure. Why not? Seeing that we have never actually hung out together. Unless you classify watching movies together over the phone, hanging out."

"Cute...Are you positive? You’re not going to back out on me at the last minute are you?"

"No. I'm a woman of my word."

"Good...Then I suggest you hurry up and get your ass to the airport."

Kerri placed her free arm under her other arm and looked out the window. "Why you need a ride home or something?"

"No. I need you to catch your flight to come hang out with me."

"Say what? Where are you exactly?"

"London." he replied nonchalantly.

Kerri sat straight up in her bed, "Are you crazy!?"

"I’m well on my way to the insane asylum.” He chuckled. “I just need someone to hang with. I don't feel like being around leeches this weekend. I get tired of hearing all the bullshit."

"I can't come all the way to London!"

"Why not? I'll take care of everything. Don't worry about it."

"This is crazy, Justin. Plus it's downright expensive."

"Didn't I say don't worry about it? I asked you to hang out, so I will take care of it. When you ask me to hang out, I will expect you to do the same." he smiled.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Kerri? You there?"

"Yeah." She answered softly.

"Does that mean you are coming? Or are you not a woman of your word?"

"You're such an ass,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

Justin smiled, knowing that she would submit to his request after using her own words against her. He gave her the information that she needed and flight time.

"…That's not giving me much time to pack, Justin." Kerri complained, looking over at the clock.

"We'll get you some clothes when you get here. Just bring whatever else you might need. When you get here I'll be there, but I’m going to send my bodyguard in to pick you up. Just keep an eye out for a rather large black man…You won’t be able to miss him.” He laughed. “I’d get you myself, but I don't know how people will react to seeing me. My phone is dying so I need to hang up. I'll see you when you get here. Bye."

Kerri called after him but it was too late. She looked over at the clock and noticed it was 11:30 and rushed to grab her passport, which had never been used, and anything else she could before jolting out the door to the airport.

The flight was almost 12 hours long. Most travelers said they made pretty good time considering some took almost 17 hours to get to London. Kerri could care less…Anything over six hours was too much to deal with.

She had slept on the plane, but was awaken constantly by the woman sitting behind her who had her infant and 3 year old son with her. Every other hour she either felt tiny feet digging into the back of her chair screams of hunger from the newborn, or constant whining from the toddler.

When they arrived at Heathrow airport it was almost 5pm. After retrieving her luggage she walked aimlessly through the terminal, searching out for the man that Justin described. She finally spotted a tall and broad shouldered man fitting the description, walking through the doors and over to the rather large overhead screen that displayed the flight arrival times. She walked over to him and nervously asked, "You’re Wes, right?"

Wes looked down at her. "Kerri?”

She smiled nodding her head. ”Let me take those for you." He said reaching his arm out to grab her bag.

Kerri pushed the bags further back and held onto the straps. "Oh that's ok. I got them. They aren't heavy."

"You sure?" he asked before starting to walk out of the airport.

"Yeah. Thanks anyway."

"We're right outside." He said as he placed his hand on her back guiding her towards the sliding glass doors. The driver opened up the limo door and went to take her bags. As she slowly slid into the car she noticed Justin sitting on the far end looking out the window and talking quietly on his cell phone. He waved to her and went back to his conversation.

"We'll discuss it later. Look, I really have to get going...Bye." He was hesitant to hang up the phone and stared down at it momentarily before looking up and Kerri and finally saying hello.  He crawled over to where she was sitting and poked her in the side as he took his place next to her. "So where do you want to go first?"

"Could we possibly go to the hotel? I am so tired and I have no idea why." She felt awful that she might be ruining his plans.

"Jet lag...The one thing I forgot about. You've never traveled overseas before?"

Kerri looked away embarrassed and said, "No..."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have waited."

Kerri noticed Justin seemed a little upset about it. She smiled and said, "It's ok. I wasn't too scared. I just didn't know where to go or what to do. I felt stupid having to ask every person I came across where I needed to go."

"I'm so sorry." he apologized.

Kerri couldn't help but be moved by his sincerity. "Don't be...It was an adventure." She replied, slapping his knee gently.

"Good." he replied before yelling up front for the driver to take them back to the hotel.

Kerri's eyes completely lit up as they drove through the city. Justin smiled to himself as he studied her reaction. Her smile grew wider and wider with each sight. Her jaw would drop open, or she would gasp and point different things out to him. He had been there so many times. It didn't seem like anything special anymore. But through her eyes he could feel the excitement he had the first time he'd been there so many years ago.

When they arrived at the hotel Kerri noticed a large group of girls standing outside with large posters and teddy bears along with paparazzi waiting around and readying their camera’s for a shot of him. Wes told the driver to pull around to the side of the building so they would not be bothered. As they stepped inside the lobby, Kerri found herself standing there gazing up at the magnificent inlaid ceiling with gold leaf detail and then down at the spotless marble floors. She hadn’t been many places in her life, and this seemed like the most extravagant of all. Justin grabbed her arm and pulled her gently towards the elevators. On their way up Justin whispered to her, "The Buckingham Palace is not too far down the road if you want to check it out later."

Kerri nodded her head up and down like an excited child. When they reached the room, Kerri's jaw almost dropped at how beautiful it was. The lavish suite had a enormous sitting room with a private bedroom off to the right. She walked over to the large bay window and noticed that they offered a superb view across a garden.

She turned around and looked towards him, noticing him smiling at her vivacity.  "I'm not even going to try and front and say this is not the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life!” She walked around the entire suite taking in everything. When she reached the bedroom she noticed two queen sized beds. One bed looked like it had been slept in and had a few items of clothing lying near the edge. Near the other bed she noticed her bags and looked over at Justin and joked. "You sure you want to share your bedroom with me so soon?"

Making up lyrics to a nonexistent rap song, Justin muttered, "See, now you know I just can't resist, The way you shake those hips, I lick my lips, and say mmmm...Damn, girl." Justin paused and looked towards his left and his right before looking back at her, sliding his tongue across his lips, as he looked her up and down. In a commanding voice he said, "Strip."

Kerri stood there silently with a blank expression on her face. "I hope that what you just said was a big joke."

"No I'm serious." He said as he starred directly into her eyes. Justin noticed the look she was giving him and knew his humor was lost on her. "Look in the bag, silly."

Kerri looked down and noticed the bag he had in his hand. She opened it and looked inside and noticed a pair of red silk pajamas. She pulled them out and noticed the word ‘STRIP’ written across the entire outfit. She huffed and looked towards him with a grin on her face, "Cute. You're a real funny guy." Kerri pulled them out of the bag and held them up. "How did you know my size?"

"I've got a knack for things like that."

"Really?" she asked inquisitively.

"No, not really." Justin smirked. "I asked the woman downstairs for help. She looked about your size so it helped."

"Thank you. These are very nice." She smiled.

"You're welcome. I didn't know if you had time to pack so I was trying to think ahead."

"You were right on the money, cause all I had a chance to grab were some underwear and a pair of jeans and a shirt. I'll have to find a mall or something around here to get more clothes."

"We'll go out as soon as you get a chance to catch your breath." Justin said as he flopped down on the bed and turned on the television.

Kerri laid across the middle of her bed on her stomach and watched as Justin flipped through channel after channel trying to find something interesting to watch. He stopped on a golf game and threw the remote onto the nightstand. They talked briefly about the game and went back and forth on why Justin loved to play and why Kerri refused to go anywhere near a golf course again after being beaned in the side of the head with a ball one day. Justin couldn’t hold his laughter as she described the concussion and large bump that she subsequently had because of the incident. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to get a hold of himself. Kerri merely watched and laughed along with him, happy that his mind didn’t seem as preoccupied as it did when she first arrived.

After watching the tournament quietly for about 10 minutes, Justin looked over to ask Kerri a question, and discovered that she was fast asleep. He sat there momentarily with his hand propping his head up as he watched her. She was only in town less than an hour and all the anxiety and stress that seemed to be consuming him, was suddenly gone. He smiled to himself before getting up and pulling his blanket off his bed and covering her with it.

About an hour later Kerri opened her eyes slowly and could see the golf tournament still playing on the television. She turned her head towards the opposite bed and could see Justin lying back against the pillows with his arm behind his head. She let her eyes drift down his body and could see that his t-shirt was slightly raised above his navel. She watched his other hand as he slightly rubbed his stomach before resting it on his chest. She caught herself starring and shook away the thoughts that were running through her brain. "What time is it?" she asked.

Justin was startled by the sound of her voice and jumped slightly. "It's almost 7."

"Damn. Let me get my ass up and get situated so we can go out." Kerri said as she grabbed a small tote bag and disappeared into the bathroom.

Justin called downstairs to the concierge and requested some brochures be sent to his room so Kerri could pick out what activities and sites she would want to see while she was in town. When she returned from the bathroom, she walked into the other room and noticed a large stack of flyers and brochures on the coffee table as well as food on the dining table.

"Wow. What's all this?" she asked, drying her with a towel.

"I figured you would be hungry so I ordered something up. I went with a more American style meal though."

"You figured I was hungry? Or is that just an excuse because you're hungry?" Kerri smiled as she walked over and lifted up the lid on the first plate, "Hamburgers and French fries...Nice."

Justin gently nudged her with his elbow before grabbing a few brochures and making his way to the table.

While they were eating, they discussed what they wanted to do. Justin also tried to plan out what they had in mind for the next couple days. Kerri wanted to be spontaneous, but knew that would be impossible given the extra security measures Justin would need just to leave the hotel.  Justin could tell that Kerri was still tired from her trip and decided that the rest of the evening would be devoted to taking her shopping for some clothes.

Their first stop was Bond Street. With stores like Channel, Versace, Fenwick, Burberry, Hermes, and Christian Dior, Kerri almost thought they were back home on Rodeo Drive. As soon as they would walk into one store, Kerri would pull Justin right back out when she took a look at price tags. Kerri would argue with him over the expense, and Justin would argue for her not to worry about it. This went on for most of the evening until Justin gave in and took her over to Oxford Street to find a Gap.

Over the next couple days Justin took Kerri all over London, he got his hands on a professional camera and went through roll after roll after roll to make sure he captured the trip as best he could for her. They hopped onto a red double deck bus and went cruising to places like the Buckingham Palace, the houses of Parliament and Big Ben. At night they would go club hopping all over the city. At first Kerri enjoyed walking to the fronts of lines and being showered with attention from the staff and onlookers, but after awhile things would get a little crazy with fans constantly approaching them, and people taking snapshots left and right.

Although he had been to London many times before, Justin couldn't help but feel he was seeing it for the first time through Kerri's eyes. The last thing they did in London was take a cruise through the London Tower Bridge. They had driven on it numerous times during their trip, but Justin felt she would have a better view from the water. On the way back to the dock Kerri stood silently watching the bridge as it got further and further out of sight. She looked down over the side and watched the water as it raced up through the bottom. Justin slowly came walking up and stood beside her. He leaned his elbows back against the railing and leaned in towards her to get her attention, "Did you have a good time?"

"I had an incredible time." Kerri said as tears slowly started to run down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?"

Kerri wiped her eyes and looked out towards the city. "I used to watch TV shows about people taking trips to different far off places. And I had always wanted to come here. I never thought it would be possible. But I would daydream that I was here. Seeing all the things that we've seen in the past couple days. It's just a bit overwhelming I guess."

"And it's all because I was bored and wanted you to hang out with me." He laughed, trying to make her smile.

Kerri leaned her body towards his and grinned. Justin turned his body around and was now shoulder to shoulder with Kerri. He looked back at the bridge. "I guess that was all a part of my big dream of being a performer...Being able to do things like this at the drop of a dime." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer to him. Kerri grabbed the side of his waist and reached over to hug him. She then looked over at him and asked, "You know how when you're young, you have dreams of becoming a doctor, lawyer, fireman, or in your case a singer?"

Justin nodded in agreement. Kerri looked down over towards the approaching dock and gazed off into space before finally saying, "I never had dreams like that."

Justin could see the tears starting to fall down her face again and pulled her in closer to hug her tightly. He let his chin rest against the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. Kerri continued to look out at the water as Justin kissed the top of her head. Kerri thought quietly to herself. Why was she crying? She hardly ever cries...Especially not in front of anyone else except Serena. She was not one to show many emotions and yet here she was, on a boat, just pouring her heart out to a guy that she’d only known for a couple months. It was like he swooped in and unlocked this hidden door inside her and all she wanted to do was deadbolt it shut again. But she couldn’t. She could hear Serena’s voice in her head saying, "You gotta quit bottling things up inside or you’re going to explode…Just let yourself feel for once."

And here she was on another continent, having feelings? Serena would never believe her. Kerri chuckled at the thought. She closed her eyes and played back everything that had happened over the weekend. She wrapped her arms tighter around Justin’s waist, pulling herself into him more. It was a silent "thank you" of sorts, but at the same time she enjoyed the warmth generating off his body more than the brisk air that had been blowing past her face earlier.

A childhood wish fulfilled, and a rare opportunity to actually be free of any worries for a couple days. And it was all possible because of him...She would never forget that.

It had been almost a month since they had been to England, but they hadn’t had a chance to hang out with one another much afterwards. They’d meet up on her way to work or his way to meetings and grab a quick cup of coffee and a muffin and would soon have to dash off in opposite directions.

 

Justin had gone out of town again, working non-stop to promote his album, and Kerri was finding her work to be a bit draining. She missed the days of being able to wake up late and do whatever the hell she wanted till hitting the club and getting in that booth and just letting herself escape within the music. Nine to five just wasn’t her thing and she hated being chained to a schedule.  She loved her job, but she hated having to go that office everyday…Especially when he was around. And lately he was always around. Speaking of which, there he was. Walking by her booth at the station and waving to her through the glass. Kerri silently cursed him. She’d give that rat bastard the finger if the general manager of the station wasn't walking right next to him. Stress-free environment my ass. she thought to herself as she faked the biggest smile she could and waved.

 

Kerri sat at the table, vigorously moving the mouse, and clicking through different programs on the screen to cue up the next song. She could see the lights on the phone blinking and looked towards Serena who was straight ahead in an even smaller booth holding up a sign that said “Song Request on 1.” Kerri adjusted her headphones, moved the mic closer to her face and pressed the button on the phone. "Hey! You’re live on the air with Kerri. Who’s this?"

 

“Oh my God! Is the Kerri? I’m on the air?! Girlfriend, this is Blaine! I am such a huge fan!” the voice exclaimed.

 

Kerri raised an eyebrow to her friend who was visibly giggling on the other side of the glass. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the guy on the other end of the line wasn't into the ladies. “Thanks Blaine! What can I play for you today?” Kerri chuckled to herself as he kept panting with excitement.

 

She grabbed her bottle of water and took a sip waiting for his response.  “Oh my gosh, gurl! Can you please play that new song by Justin Timberlake? That sexy thang gives me the vapor’s.”

 

Kerri smiled looking over towards Todd, her sound tech who was in the background trying to hold in his laughter. “Oh is that right?” she asked taking another sip of water.

 

“Oh yea, girl! I have two words to describe him…Scrump-Tious!"

 

Kerri had to put her hand over her mouth, so as not to spew water out all over the audio equipment. She nor any of the rest of the crew in the room could hold in their laughter. As the snickers died down Kerri said, “I’m sorry Blaine, but we don’t really play mainstream music on our show.”

 

“Why not?” he huffed.

 

“Because this isn’t that type of show.” she said plainly.

 

“Well gurl, it needs to be. He is hot right now! Why won’t you play him for me?” he whined.

 

Now at first his banter was cute, but now it was starting to get on Kerri's nerves. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with his complaints and knew that if it went any further, she would end up saying something that she'd regret. “See Blaine, we try to give other artists a chance to have their voices and music heard. But since you did put a smile on everyone’s face this morning, how bout I play someone covering cute ole’ Mista Timberlake?”

 

“I guess that'll do.” He huffed. “You’re still the best…Even if you won’t play my song!”

 

“Good to hear, Blaine. Well folks, here’s Passion singing a medley of Justin Timberlake songs. Blaine, I hope you’re excited, cause he’s almost as good as the real thing!”

 

Kerri pressed a button on the board and the song began to play. She sat back in her chair sipping her water and put her hand up towards Serena as if to say “What the hell, man?”

 

Kerri could feel her phone buzzing in her back pocket and pulled it out. She looked down at the caller ID before finally answering, “Speak of the devil. What’s up? You gotta make it quick cause I’m working.”

 

“I just have three words to describe you, Ms. Thang! Fab-U-Lous!”

 

Kerri immediately recognized the voice from her ‘fan’ Blaine who had just called, “Oh you son of a bitch!” she exclaimed. “You were about to get me fired! I was so close to cursing you out!”

 

 Justin couldn't help but laugh hard into the phone. "My bad.”

 

"You still in Chicago?"

 

"I'm back in LA right now. I gotta do something with this house! It looks so empty right now. You should come help me decorate or something."

 

"Isn't your mom around to help you with shit like that?"

 

"No, she left a few hours ago.  She won't be back here till Friday.  Speaking of which...She dropped off a 'thank you' card you mailed me a month back. What's with the $800.00 check?"

 

"I know it’s not the full amount that I owe you, but I'll get the rest to you as soon as I can."

 

"Owe me for what?"

 

"The trip."

 

"Kerri...You didn't have to pay me back. I told you it was my treat."

 

Kerri shifted uncomfortably in her chair, "Yeah, but I just don't feel right about it. It feels like I’m mooching off you."

 

"Well, I know you aren't. I'm gonna rip it up, so you can just void out the check."

 

"No, Justin. Please. I don't feel right not giving you anything for that trip."

 

"You've given me a lot, Kerri. Don't even sweat over it, girl." he grinned thinking back to their trip.

 

She could see Serena waving towards her, signaling that she had 3 minutes before they were back on the air. She nodded towards her before returning back to her conversation. "What have I given you?"

 

Justin paused for a moment, running his fingers across his newly laid granite countertop, "…The chance to see things in a new light. Things were looking so bleak and I was starting to have this blasé attitude towards my life, all the things that I have, and all these opportunities in front of me. You've got this way about you...This light around you that makes just being in the same room with you an experience within itself."

 

Kerri was smiling from ear to ear. She could see her reflection in the glass and scrunched up her face in disgust at how goofy she looked. But the smile would not disappear.  No matter how hard she tried. "Well if you feel that way about it, maybe I should've been charging you for my services then..." she deadpanned.

 

“Very cute! Speaking of which, I heard what you said to Blaine on the radio there.” He joked. “You think I’m cute, huh?”

 

What was with all this smiling she was doing?  She had smiled more in the past two minutes talking to him, than she had all week. “Well I didn’t want to hurt your feelings with the truth, ugly.” She joked.

 

“Oh I see how it is!” he laughed. “Seriously...I really called cause I wanted to know if you'd come over and keep me company after you get outta work.”

 

"Where's your boy, Trace?"

 

"He went back to Memphis with my mom to visit his family. I won't see him for another week. Plus you’ve never been to my house! You have off for the next couple days, right? Your friend's going outta town too right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Bring some clothes and sleep here in the guest room. I want you to see my place before people start putting their two cents in on how I should decorate it. It's so beautiful right now. Just a blank canvas. I’ll even take you to that spot that you've been wanting to go to…My treat."

 

Kerri was apprehensive to say yes. Justin could sense her hesitation. "You're about the only friend I have who feels guilty about being pampered by me. Trace and them wouldn't think twice about coming up if I asked them. But it’s like pulling teeth with you!"

 

"I just don't want you to think that I'm using you, Justin."

 

"Well this check proves that you're different from anyone that I've met in a very long time. Don't keep feeling guilty. Would you feel guilty if Serena asked you to go out and she paid?"

 

"No. And I know we've been over this before, but you haven't really given me a chance to ask you to hang."

 

"Trust me. There'll be plenty of time for that. Now get back to work!"

 

Kerri hung up wondering what type of mental deficiency Justin must have been suffering from to want to hang out with her. But she was glad to know that her cynical personality hadn't driven him away...At least not yet.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Adios Mio!" Kerri exclaimed as her car reached the top of the hill in Justin’s driveway. She got out of her car and just stood in the starring at the massive house.

 

Justin was on his phone when he opened the front door to greet her. He expected her to be at the door but instead found her still standing by her car, gawking at his house with her mouth wide open in shock. He told the person on the other end that he would talk to them later and headed towards her. "Girl, you gonna come in, or do you feel like standing in the middle of my driveway for the rest of your trip?"

 

"How many families you got living with you, J?"

 

"Oh, shut the fuck up." He groaned, taking her bag and pulling her by the arm into the house.

 

Kerri looked around. Most of her attention was pointed upwards towards the tall ceilings. "This place is amazing!"

 

"I have great taste."

 

Kerri thought of his ex-girlfriend and started to laugh to herself before teasing him, "Let's not go there, sweetie."

 

"What? What you got to say? Don't get quiet on me all of sudden, smartass! Speak your mind!"

 

"Nah. I think I'll shut up. You should never insult your host."

 

Justin gave her the deluxe tour of the house. All twelve thousand plus square feet of it. With five bedrooms, each the size of her apartment and eight and a half bathrooms, the house was way bigger than she expected. With its size, it felt very cold and empty. There was hardly any furniture. Except for a few bedrooms, the screening room and gym, it hardly looked inhabited. She knew that Justin was on the road a lot and that he didn't have much time off between work, but seeing that he'd bought the house awhile ago, she thought it would at least feel like a home.

 

"So what do you think?" he asked looking towards her.

 

Hooting like an owl, Kerri listened to her own echo bellow throughout the empty house. "You definitely need my help." She joked.

 

Justin wrapped his arm around her shoulder and put her in a headlock before dragging her to the garage to see his cars.

 

During her stay, Justin took her around Beverly Hills to help him shop for furniture. She’d driven past the stores, but had never stepped foot inside one. She was always curious though. But there was this deep seeded fear that the employee’s would see right through her and treat her like Vivian's character from Pretty Woman.

 

At the few stores that actually had price tags on their items, Kerri would be on her way to looking at the cost, before Justin slapped her hand away telling her to let him know what she thought of the items...Not their exorbitant cost.

 

They spent the evenings out at different hot spots in town. From 10pm until 3am, Justin would drag Kerri from club to club, VIP room to VIP room. She had to admit that she actually liked being able to sit around and just enjoy herself. She didn’t remember the last time that she had been to a club and wasn’t either DJ'ing or doing something for the radio station.

 

This was the first time she would meet any of his 'peoples', as he called them. She thought of them more as pariah. In Hollywood, they were better known as entourages. Watching Justin pour out a couple thousand dollars a night to pay for fifteen of his closest friends' food and drinks was hard for her to watch.

 

There were a few people who Kerri did warm up to though. There was Tommy, who was pretty much born in a tub of money at birth. His family owned a slew of businesses all over the LA area. He actually did offer to pay a few times, but Justin refused. Then there was Marty. He and Justin had met during his touring days with Nsync. Marty was a dancer and choreographer and was hired by Justin to help out with the choreography on the upcoming tour for his new album. And if you were to see Marty, you knew that Kelly, his assistant, was never too far behind. She was very friendly when Justin first introduced the two women. Kerri knew she was different from the others, just by her smile and the way she was dressed. She looked like a regular girl. She didn’t have a ton of makeup caked on her face, everything on her body looked natural and real. She didn’t dress trashy like the other women he’d introduced her to earlier. Kelly noticed the same in Kerri and the two women hit it off instantly.

 

She'd only been hanging at Justin’s for two days, but it felt longer. She couldn't fathom how he kept up the same routine every weekend. She sat quietly next to him as he continued to listen to something Tommy was saying. She’d tuned him out ages ago. She watched Justin, studying his face and smiled when she saw him laugh and lean back into her shoulder. She loved that laugh. It was that hearty laugh that came from deep down in his chest when he was genuinely enjoying himself.

 

After awhile, they decided to call it a night since Justin had to get up early in the morning for dance  auditions. As they were about to leave, Marty tipped him off that there were a gang of paparazzi waiting outside for him and other celebs to leave the club. He grabbed Kerri's hand and told her to stick close to him. His entire demeanor had changed. He was no longer smiling and his jaw was clenched tightly. She watched him take deep breaths as they neared the front door.

 

With one hand entwined with Justin's and the other with Kelly's, they headed outside. Flashes of light seemed to be coming from everywhere. All Kerri could see were bright bursts of white in her eyes. She put her head down and entrusted Justin to guide her to the car. All she could hear were constant clicks from camera's and people yelling out Justin's name. He didn't say a word. He just kept walking towards the awaiting SUV. She felt his hand squeeze hers. His grip was so tight that she immediately started to lose feeling in it, but never complained to him. He didn’t have to say anything, she already knew. He needed her and that’s all that mattered.

 

With their heads still down, they waited on Wes to shut the doors so they could leave. He cursed at a photographer to move out of the way, he got in and slammed the door, making Kerri jump. Justin finally released her hand, rubbing it between his, knowing he’d squeezed too tightly. She patted his leg gently and when they were finally out of the paparazzo's sight, she put her arm around his shoulder, pulled his neck towards her and rubbed the top of his head.

 

During the ride home, Justin was unusually quiet. "Tired?" Kerri asked.

 

"Hmm? A little." He replied, his head turning back to look at something they had just passed.

 

Kerri turned around to see what he was watching so intently. "Whose house is that?"

 

"My ex's."

Justin and Kerri had never talked about their past relationships. That is what appealed to him the most about her. She didn't seem interested in who he had dated. She wasn’t trying to dig for information or run back to the tabloids. She rarely asked him any personal questions and seemed genuinely interest in him. Nothing more. Nothing less. It was that simple.

 

"Oh," was all Kerri could come up with to say as she watched the house get further and further away. She found it odd that they lived within a few miles of one another, but assumed he had decided to buy the house when the two of them were still a couple.

 

When they got in the house Justin lingered in the driveway, telling Kelly and Marty that he would see them Monday for rehearsals. He then went to shower and change. There wasn’t a TV in the guest bedroom and Kerri didn’t want to sit downstairs, so she crawled up on his bed and caught up with the last few minutes of ‘Friends’. When Justin came out of the bathroom he could see her eyes were slightly open and she was drifting by the second.

 

"Get under the blanket, Ker." He said as he rounded the bed.

 

"No, I’m about to get up and go crash.” She sat up and stretched her arms above her head, running her hands along the white puffy down comforter. “This bed is so comfortable! Or maybe I’m just so tired.”

 

“Then crawl your stubborn ass back in it and relax. I mean it's big enough to fit 4 people, Ker." He smiled.

 

“And you would know this how?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

Justin grabbed a pillow from the top of the bed and threw it to the end. “I don’t kiss and tell.” He smirked.

 

They both snuggled up under the covers and watched TV briefly before discovering there was nothing on. He pushed the button on the remote and turned off the TV before pressing another button to turn on the stereo. Brian McKnight's song "Anytime" was playing. He turned on his side, resting his head against his palm and adjusted his pajama bottoms with his free one. He watched Kerri haphazardly put her hair up in a bun. "So what is going on in the dating life of Kerri Robert's these days?"

 

"Wow...An actual personal question." she remarked sarcastically.

 

Justin pinched her arm.

 

"Oww, fucker!” she yelled rubbing her arm. “If you must know...Not a damn thing. I'm too busy to date. Plus, with you dragging me all over the place with you, it's hard to find a guy. You’re twat blocking me, Timberlake.” She smiled.

 

Justin tossed his pillow at her. She threw it back to him and said, “Hopefully, I'm not cock blocking you too."

 

Justin lightly laughed and turned the page in the magazine he had grabbed off the nightstand. "Nah. I'm not trying to get back out there just yet."

 

She could sense that this conversation was becoming more serious and didn’t want to venture down that road, but for some reason her mouth betrayed her. "Same here. Not trying to get my heart broken all over again so soon."

 

Justin looked up at her and asked, "Who broke your heart?"

 

She took a deep breath before responding, "...This guy I work with. The same one that took the Polaroid you found."

 

"You still work with him? How long had you been dating?"

 

"Don’t have a choice. He’s my boss. And we dated almost four years."

 

She was being short with her answer’s and Justin could tell the subject of why she was still working with the guy who broke her heart was uncomfortable for her. "Four years, huh? Same here."

 

"Oh. With…?" she was afraid to even utter the name.

 

"Yeah." He answered softly looking away from her.

 

"You miss her?"

 

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't.” He finally met her gaze. “You miss him?"

 

"Hell, no! I'd chop off my arm before I'd miss someone who’s broken my heart."

 

"You're so full of shit." he teased, seeing right through the wall she was building around herself.

 

Kerri was surprised at the ease of which Justin opened up to her. She could barely talk about her ex, and here he was just as cool as a cucumber about his. As if they were talking about the weather. Why couldn’t she do that? Why was it so hard for her to say the things that were at the forefront of her mind. Why did she have to always be defensive when it came to her feelings? She listened as he continued to talk about the subject of love and relationships. "...I mean, I'm a very loving, caring person, and if I start dating you - you know, as a girl-"

 

She looked down her shirt double-checking for breasts. "Well I hope I'm a girl."

 

Justin rolled his eyes. "It may take me a long time to give myself away to you, but once I do, that's it. You can have whatever you want. But I've had my heart broken plenty of times." He pressed his lips together and fluttered a sad noise. "Three times, actually."

 

The smile disappeared from Kerri's face as he continued his story. "I was fifteen the first time. She cheated on me, and I broke up with her. That's reason enough, right? 'Oops, sorry, see ya'." he mocked. "I'd been going with her for a year. The second one I saw for a year and a half. And the third one..." Justin paused thinking of his ex "...was for three and a half years.”

 

Justin let out a sight before laying on his back and looking up at the ceiling, "It was the same with her as with the first girl who broke my heart and the second. They've all gone down the same way.  All of them. Three strikes, I'm out. I mean, she has a beautiful heart, but if I've lost my trust in someone, I don't think it's right for me to be with them. I'm not gonna to let my baggage with somebody else become my baggage with a new person. But I'll tell you, Kerri, I have little, little hope. Three strikes. Little hope."

 

It was scary that they had so much in common. Kerri’s mouth betrayed her again when she told him about the three relationships that she had been in, which all failed because the guys cheated on her with other women. It was like finding her kindred spirit. She didn't really go into much detail, but Justin didn't seem to mind. He didn't want to have to reciprocate and give many more details about his recently failed relationship.

 

"...Don't get all conceited on me, but you don't look like you need any help getting a date, Justin."

 

He smiled at her and turned his body around, placing his head in her thigh as he looked towards her and continued to talk her ear off, "Well, usually when I meet somebody, on a social level and dating wise, I'm always so skeptical, like, Why are they being so nice to me? What do they want?  I guess that's why I was so mystified by you, cause you were very ballsy with me and had no problem telling me off the night I met you at that club. But these days, as far as dating goes, I think I'm in this zone where I don't want to be attached to anyone."

 

"I feel ya." She nodded in agreement, massaging his head with her fingers.

 

Kerri noticed that when he spoke of his ex, he never called her by name. It was almost as if it were too hard for him. "When we were together it was bliss," he said, "like something from a damn fairy tale. But right now, I just don't see...it's just so hard.  I'm the type of person, if I'm not exactly sure about something, then I'll wait it out and see. I may not ever get over her. That's why I'm kinda chillin. I'm waiting to see. I do have to come to the realization that I might never."

 

"I don't think we ever truly get over it.” she chimed in.

 

"I think now, more than ever, everything is Okay. But I still love her."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"How are you going to come home and tell me about your sleepover and say 'yeah, he told me about his ex' and not tell me what he said, Kerri?" Serena whined. She followed Kerri around the apartment as she unpacked.

 

"Look, you know I'd tell you in a second, but he asked me to keep it to myself."

 

Serena was hurt, "You don't trust me?"

 

"Of course I do, but I promised him I wouldn't say anything, Serena."

 

"Fine." She huffed in defeat as she walked over to answer the ringing phone. "Hello?"

 

Kerri watched Serena roll her eyes. "...Hold on." Serena tossed the phone onto Kerri’s bed, "It's your new best friend." she mumbled, before disappearing out onto the balcony to smoke a cigarette.

 

Kerri noticed the tone in her voice and followed her with phone in hand, "Hey..." Kerri looked over at Serena, who instantly knew they were talking about her. "…She's okay. She just missed me!" Kerri smirked grabbing her friends cheek and pinching it lightly. Serena pushed her hand away. "...Yeah.  Call me later and tell me how it went. Bye."

 

Kerri leaned back against the railing and stared at her roommate. "What's your problem?"

 

"You've practically traveled the world with this guy and I have yet to have an actual conversation with him." Serena griped. Kerri couldn't believe that her friend was jealous.

 

They sat and talked about her trip, and Kerri promised her that she would introduce Justin to her when they hung out again.

 

Off on the opposite side of town, Justin was getting the same treatment from Trace. Even Justin's own mother was wondering why he was devoting so much time to this new 'stranger in his life.'

 

"...No, Ma. You'll never believe this!" Trace yelled out to the woman he thought of as his second mother. "He meets her after picking up a photo off the ground in a parking lot."

 

Justin's mother was busy in the kitchen mixing spaghetti. "Well, where does that club downtown come into all of this?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

 

Trace walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plate from the cabinet, "We go to the club and by freaky coincidence she's the damn DJ.”

 

Kyle was on his way out the door when he interjected, “To be honest, I thought she was a real bitch, Mrs. H!"

 

Justin sucked in his teeth, "You only thought that cause she cursed you out for being an asshole."

 

"She didn't!?" His mom tried her best not to smile.

 

Kyle rolled his eyes and headed out the door to run errands for Justin. "Hell yeah! And this guy," Trace lightly smacked Justin on the back of the head, "has me hunting her down for her number. He's gone crazy."

 

"Is she pretty?"

 

"She's not one of Justin's usual chicks, but she definitely ain't bad to look at." Trace snatched the newly developed pictures from Justin's grip and handed them to his mom. Lynn looked through the photos and saw a dark brown haired girl staring back at her smiling. Trace was right. She looked nothing like the blonde, light eyed girls Justin had dated in the past. This woman had dark brown eyes and a well defined jaw line. She was exotic and had the brightest smile. She didn’t have any makeup on in the photos but Lynn still found her to be stunning. "She's very pretty." Lynn smiled.

 

She walked over and showed him a photo of the two of them with their cheeks pressed together. She could tell Justin took it, because his arm was outstretched in front of them in the picture. "You look like you really enjoyed yourself. You sure the two of you are just friends?"

 

Justin's face turned a light shade of red. He grabbed the pictures from his mom's hands, "Yeah, I'm sure. It's not even like that with us. She's different."

 

Trace took out two 50's from his wallet and placed them on the counter, "I'll give it a month."

 

"A month before what?" Lynn asked, dishing him out a plate.

 

"A month before their friendship turns into something else. Once she's outta his system he'll be on to the next 'different' thing."

 

"You should at least give it a month and a half." Lynn joked.

 

Justin held up his middle finger to Trace. Thinking that it was meant for her, Justin's mom threw an orange from the fruit bowl at him, hitting him right in the shoulder. The buzzing of his cell phone on the glass table suddenly startled everyone. He quickly picked it up and answered it, "You're late! You were supposed to call me 10 minutes ago." He teased, spinning the noodles around on his fork.

 

Traced shrugged his shoulders, "You can tell it's her. Look at how his face lit up and shit when it rang."

 

Justin grabbed the orange and chucked it at Trace before returning to his conversation with Kerri. His mom and Trace went back to talking to one another about his newfound friend.

"I'm gonna be in town for like two weeks before I have to hit the road again. I want to see you...I need to talk to you about something important...Don't worry about it. I'll tell you when I see you." He smirked.

 

Serena stood at the mirror making sure that every strand of hair was in its place. She took a deep breath and slowly walked to the front door. As she pulled it open a glazed look formed over her face.

 

"Hi. Serena, right? I remember you from the club." Justin watched her standing completely still, never once blinking. "You okay?"

 

Kerri came up behind her roommate and smacked her hard on the back, "I can't take her anywhere."

 

Serena turned and rolled her eyes before looking back at Justin and saying hello. He put his hand out to shake hers and was startled when she pulled him inside to hug him tightly. Kerri just chuckled to herself and walked into the living room, leaving Justin helpless with her best friend.

 

"Your apartment's nice." He said as he looked around on his way over to the couch.

 

"Well it's not as big as Mansion de Timberlake, but it serves its purpose."

 

Justin lightly tugged her ponytail  as he rounded the corner to sit down next to her. Kerri was flipping through stations and called out to Serena to check on the chicken she had started baking earlier. Serena called over to Justin and asked, "What are you in the mood for? My breasts--I mean a breast?"

 

Kerri lightly elbowed Justin who was trying not to laugh, "Yeah. A breast would be very good right about now." He smiled.

 

Serena turned around and shook her head in embarrassment and made him a plate. The three of them spent most of the early afternoon watching a movie and competing at Playstation, before Serena had to head out to the station to catch up on work.

 

Once she was gone, Justin and Kerri made their way out to the balcony. He sat atop the hard, concrete ledge while she leaned over beside him. They talked briefly before being interrupted by her neighbor, who came out to water her plants and discovered the singer, just a few feet away.

 

"...Nah, he gets that all the time. I don't think they look anything alike. Justin's much cuter than him...Not to mention sexier." She laughed.

 

Her neighbor lingered outside, pretending to check on her plants as she tried to get a better look at him.  Seeing they no longer had privacy to talk anymore, Kerri decided it was time to go back in and motioned for Justin to follow her.

 

"Damn, I see how it is." He scoffed.

 

"See how what is?" Kerri asked as she bent down in the fridge to grab them a couple of beers.

 

"How you gonna say that this face isn't cute or this body isn't sexy." He stood in the middle of the living room pointing to himself.

 

Kerri rolled her eyes at his immodesty. She didn’t want him to harp on it all afternoon and said, “Ok. Calm down, Geronimo. I was just saying you were ugly to get her to leave us alone. She has a huge mouth and I don't want all my neighbors bugging me."

 

He gave her a cocky grin as he inched his way towards her. "And my sex appeal?"

 

Kerri handed him a beer. "Well I'm sure that a lot of girls might fall for that whole thing you do when you do that thing with your eyes and push together your bottom lip with your thumb and index finger, but I'm a woman...I need more than that."

 

"It must have some affect for you to have been observant enough to know it as well as you do." He smirked.

 

"No. You just do it all the time!" She complained.

 

She secretly thought it was cute, but wasn’t going to admit it. She, instead, retreated to her bedroom to check her email. Justin followed behind her, throwing himself onto her bed. She focused her attention on the screen and began typing and he complained about how hard her bed was before rummaging through her cd collection to compare their taste in music. Kerri was too preoccupied with emails from work to see what Justin was doing.

 

"Oh-oh, here she comes...Watch out boy she'll chew you up...Oh-oh, here she comes. She's a man-eater." He sang excitedly as he put the cd into her stereo and pressed play.

 

Kerri found herself singing along with him as he played 20 seconds of each song on the CD. He went up behind her, singing and clapping in her ear, "Private Eyes. They’re watching you!" He clapped his hands close to her ear twice. "...They see your every move"

 

"Come on, man!" She shoved him away.

 

"What are you doing?" He asked leaning over her shoulder to look at the screen.

 

His cologne smelled really nice mixed in with whatever soap he had used that morning. Kerri pushed the thought from her mind. "I have to write my boss back about an interview I did with someone. But I'm here writing what you are singing instead of what I need him to know!"

 

He laid down on the bed and patiently waited for her to finish. "You never asked me what I needed to talk to you about."

 

Kerri kept her eyes focused on the screen as she continued to type, "I figured that if it was as important as you made it seem, you'd tell me when you were ready." She finished up the last sentence and hit send before pushing in the keyboard drawer and crawling onto the floor to put back the cd's Justin had taken out.

 

"Well, here's the thing." He sat up and threw a pillow at Kerri to get her full attention. "Remember how you keep saying that you'd quit if you knew you and your crew had somewhere else to go?

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Well, I was bragging about you to people over at 104.7 and a lot of them know your show. They wanted to set up an interview if you were interested?

 

Kerri narrowed her eyes towards him, hoping that he wasn’t just joking around with her. "Are you bullshitting me?”

 

"I swear.”

 

Kerri didn't know what to say. She was completely shocked. "It sounds incredible, Justin. A little too incredible. What's the catch?"

 

"No catch. They just want to make sure you're a free agent when you come in to interview. They don’t want to have to battle another station for you."

 

"I knew there was something! I can't, Justin...I can’t just walk into the station and quit and not have something concrete lined up. I have other people besides myself to worry about. What if they don’t like me and I end up not getting the job? I’ll have majorly fucked myself and everyone else.”

 

“They'll love you! You gotta start focusing on you for a change, Kerri. Stop worrying about everyone else so much. You can’t be happy going in there every day, dealing with your ex. I’m sure that if things don’t work out with this interview…Which I know they will…Everyone will be able to find something else.”

 

Kerri sat there, elbows rested on her knees as she ran her fingers through her hair trying to absorb what she was really thinking about doing. “I have to at least talk to everyone about it first. I don’t want to just spring it up on them at the last minute.”

 

“If I’m wrong, then I'll slide you a few dollars till you find something else.”

 

"You most certainly will not!" she scolded, throwing the pillow back at him.

 

"Kerri, I know you're ready to move on to the next level. But to do that you gotta take the chance and just go for it."

 

"It's easier said than done, Justin."

 

Kerri wished she was blessed with his 'go for it' attitude. Justin's dreams had already come true and she felt his view of her situation was unrealistic. He didn't have to put himself out there anymore. He'd already done that years ago. He also had his mother and family backing him up and supporting him each step of the way. Kerri only had herself. She and Serena were barely surviving. If she were to quit her job and not have anything stable set up when she left, she'd not only be putting herself at risk, but her best friend as well.

 

"You're afraid. I get it, but fear is nothing compared to the feeling you'll have if you don't take a chance, Kerri.

 

Kerri had been wanting to move on for a while. It was a small radio station and they didn’t really have the resources to take her where she wanted to be in her career. When she and Serena had gotten the call from Mr. Winter's office down in Memphis about possibly having her show syndicated, she knew that if that were to happen, she could branch off with no worries whatsoever about herself or her crew. But her bosses were hell bent on holding onto her. It was one of their most popular shows during the day and if they lost her, they would lose listeners and money.

 

Before leaving to head home, Justin told her to really think about it before she gave him a definite answer.

 

The next afternoon at work, Kerri had gotten her crew together to discuss the situation. Everyone seemed to be in her corner, but it still didn’t make her feel any better about the decision she had to make.

 

Unable to concentrate, Kerri sat at the table most of the day, staring at the screen between commercials. Justin was right. She was afraid…Afraid of failing. She glanced around at her co-workers. She knew this wasn't where she wanted to be for the next year--continuously having to answer to her ex-boyfriend day in and day out.

 

Kerri wanted to be in charge of her own show. She wanted to be the one to negotiate her salary. She dreamed of being able to say, "take it, or leave it" to people who wanted to undercut her talents. She was tired of having to bend to other people’s wills because it was good for business. Kerri always had an ear for talent and an eye for detail and never once not given a hundred percent to her work.

 

In the short time that he knew her, Justin had hit it right on the mark. How could he know her so well, without barely knowing her at all? He’d done it again. He’d somehow swooped in a second time and unlocked another door inside of her, but this time she couldn’t shut it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BANG BANG BANG

 

"What the fuck?" Justin complained as he struggled to make his way down the stairs to answer the front door. He was half asleep and his vision was blurry. He opened the door and tried to focus in on the person in front of him. "Damn, Trace. You forget your key again?"

 

"Justin. It’s me...Kerri."

 

He wiped his eyes and squinted to see her face. He looked down at his watch, "Jesus, Kerri. Do you know it's 4am?"

 

She stood outside his front door looking down at his feet. "How serious were you about that interview. Because, I need to know if I have to go back to work tomorrow and grovel to get my job back."

 

He looked at her and could see she was scared to death. Her hands were trembling and her face was completely flushed of color. "I'm very serious." He put his arm out to her and motioned for her to come inside.

 

 

 

Kerri had quit her job a little over three months ago and found a new home for herself and her crew over at 104.7 FM. Things were going extremely well. Her show’s popularity was booming and it had expanded over onto the internet.

 

Justin had been away in Europe doing TV appearances along with impromptu performances for the fans to help boost sales, which seemed to be working, because anytime Kerri turned on the TV there was always news about how much the UK loved JT.

 

She could tell that the performances and constantly traveling from one city to the next night after night was starting to take its toll on him. He would call to talk to her and midway through their routine 'hello and how are you's' he'd dose off.  And even after the tenth  time he'd done it, Kerri would still answer the phone. She knew he'd end up dosing off in the first five minutes, but she didn't care. This was her friend. She wanted to be there for him when he reached out to her. And he did the same. No matter who he was with, or what meeting he was in the middle of, he'd stop to answer her call.

 

He hadn't been home in months and couldn't wait to get back to the states to take a couple weeks off for some much needed rest. His grandmother's birthday was approaching and wanted to go back home to Tennessee to surprise her on her special day. He asked Kerri to go with him. At first, it was an absolute no, because she didn't want to intrude on his family. But after speaking to his mother on the phone later on that week, she agreed and had Serena and the crew re-play a few of the older shows while she was out of town. She and Mrs. Harless had talked on the phone briefly here and there when Kerri would answer Justin's, and the two of them seemed to have a few laughs, but the two had yet to meet.

 

"..Why you so nervous?" he looked over at her before giving the driver his mother's address.

 

"I feel awkward being here, Justin. This is your family. It feels wrong."

 

"My mom invited you. Not everyone coming to the party's gonna be family, Kerri. Stop trippin' and just relax."

 

Kerri couldn't help but laugh at how Justin's accent was suddenly more prominent than it had been back home. Kerri looked up at the house as they got out of the car, butterflies forming in her stomach by the second.

 

His family's home was located in an estate-type subdivision twenty miles outside Memphis. It was brick, of a goodly but not ostentatious size, and had a Tudor feel to it, with a neatly manicured front yard. Justin motioned towards the house with his head, "Come on." Kerri followed closely behind him as he entered the house. "Yo, Momma!"

 

"In here!" a sweet, southern voice called out. Justin took Kerri's bag from her hand and placed it next to his by the front door and tugged her arm to follow him.

 

Inside, Lynn had done the place up with statues on tables, comfy couches and a few framed photographs of Justin, which he turned face down as they walked through the hallway. He walked into the kitchen where his mother was dicing up tomatoes to put into a salad. He went over and hugged his mother tightly before kissing her on the cheek and wrapping his arm around her shoulder motioning towards Kerri. "Mom, this is Kerri...Kerri, my momma."

 

"Hi. How are you?" Kerri smiled putting her hand out to shake Lynn's.

 

Lynn wiped her hands on a nearby towel and pushed Kerri's hand away before leaning over to hug her. Kerri was surprised by the gesture and hugged back gently. The two women were about the same height. Lynn's bushy hairdo made her just an inch taller than Kerri. She couldn't help but notice that Justin's mom didn't dress like any of her friends' mother's. She seemed more in tune with the latest trends, which was both cool and disturbing at the same time. "It's nice to actually meet the sweet voice that I hear over the phone all the time. How was your trip?"

 

"It was nice. As soon as we hit our seats, Justin fell right to sleep and snored the entire way here." She laughed.

 

Justin grabbed a piece of tomato off the salad and plopped it in his mouth before poking Kerri in the side and heading towards the fridge. In the midst of her conversation with Kerri, Lynn looked over and scolded Justin, "Don't touch anything on the third shelf! I'm making that for your Granny's party tomorrow."

 

Kerri offered her help in the kitchen as Justin made himself comfortable in the other room. About ten minutes later there was a knock at the front door. Kerri could hear Justin and an older female in the hall talking as they made their way towards the kitchen. "Hey, Lynn. I brought over most of the fruit you had on this list. They were all out of seedless watermelons though, along with the kiwi's and apricots."

 

"We'll just have to rush over to the farmer's market before they close then, Belinda. Did you meet Kerri, yet?"

 

Kerri turned around and waved at the light haired woman standing in front of her. She looked really familiar, but Kerri couldn't place her face. "This is Belinda. She's Trace's mom."

 

Kerri's face immediately lit up as she shook the woman's hand. "Oooh! Hi! You looked so familiar."

 

"Trace says you left quite an impression on him and Justin the first time you met."

 

Kerri's face turned red and she recalled that fateful night. As the four of them continued to talk, Kerri discovered that Belinda was a puppy breeder. She and Lynn had been best friends since they were fifteen. "Yeah, he and Justin have been brothers since they were embryo's. They even look alike...It's terrible."

 

Kerri and Justin momentarily left the two women in the kitchen so he could show her the rest of the house. Upstairs on a balcony was his full-size Revenge From Mars pinball machine. In the living room, two TV sets face each other, with two back-to-back easy chairs situated between them; this is where Justin and Trace, played Halo on the Xbox. This is where he felt most normal...At home with mom and childhood friends. As soon as they pulled up in the driveway earlier all the tension in his face disappeared. She’d catch it in glimpses when they were back in LA and was happy to see it again.

 

Later when they returned back downstairs, they encountered Lynn and Belinda on their way out the door. "Justin, I gotta get to the store before they close or I won't be ready for the party tomorrow. We'll be back soon."

 

Kerri grabbed her jacket and followed the women out the front door. Justin was locking up the front door when his mother looked at him strangely and asked "Where are you going?"

 

Kerri chimed in before he could answer, "I promised him I'd take him out to eat when we got into town. I owe him."

 

Lynn nodded and covertly elbowed her friend as they stood and watched the two hop into Justin's Jeep. He had on a pair of Khakis along with a button down plaid shirt and Kerri had changed into a floral spring dress that came a couple inches above her knee with a pair high-heeled espadrilles. The straps were settled close to the edge of her shoulders, accenting the small charm necklace she wore around her neck that resembled a Treble Clef music symbol.

 

Belinda sat in the car putting on her seatbelt, watching them pull out of the driveway. "He's actually letting her drive his car?"

 

"Yep." Lynn responded as she put the car in drive.

 

"Uh huh...And they're only friends?" Belinda asked with a crooked smile.

 

"Now I can see where your son gets it." Lynn chuckled lightly as they drove off down the street.

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"I love this kind of weather."

 

"Yeah. It's not too hot. Not too cold. Just in between. Perfect for being outside." She smiled, finishing up her slice of chocolate cake and ice cream.

 

The restaurant was right near the river. They had a back area outside designated for warmer nights when patron’s wanted to dine out in the moonlight. Right near the rivers’ edge stood a stage where a band played most of the evening and couples could literally dance together beneath the stars. Justin leaned back in his chair and pushed his arms out to stretch before rubbing his full gut and trying to cover up his belch with his hand. Kerri looked around to see if anyone heard and looked back glaring at him.

 

"My bad. So why did you bring me here, anyway?"

 

"Trace gave me a list of restaurants in town and crossed out all the non-friendly Timberlake establishments and there were only like two left that he knew of where people wouldn't bother you for an autograph and all that jazz."

 

He looked around. There were a few groups of people who seemed close to his mother's age, but it was generally a senior couples type of crowd. He looked back down in his plate chuckling. "I'll have to hurt him later."

 

"What'd you say?" she asked turning her attention off of the people dancing and back towards him.

 

"Nothing. It's nice." He smiled at her.

 

Kerri caught herself staring at him and shook her head, pushing the thoughts she was having out of her mind. "If you want some attention I'm sure we could stop by a mall on the way back. I could do my best impression of a fainting fan. Attract an entire crowd of people over and let them maul you until the cops show up...It can be arranged."

 

"Maybe tomorrow..." He smiled coyly, showing his pearly whites. Kerri was instantly reminded of that infamous moment in their "Bye Bye Bye" video when he is about to be chased by dogs and looks at the camera and smiles. She would remind herself later to kill Serena for forcing her to watch the video with her a million times.

 

"No, seriously. It's nice. That's why I like to come home. Everyone in the neighborhood treats me no different than they did when I was five. I need that sometimes. I guess that's why I hang out with you so much."

 

"Damn and for a minute there I thought it was because I was so damn sexy." Kerri joked.

 

The both sat quietly finishing up their wine. Both taking time to stare up at the stars instead of each other. The band had returned from their short break and started to play. Kerri hummed along with the music and Justin tapped his foot to the slow beat. A couple in their late 60's were making their way to the dance floor and spotted Kerri smiling at them. The woman stopped and pulled Justin up to his feet. "Come on and dance you two. Or are you afraid you won't be able to keep up with us ole' timers?"

 

"We'll just have to try our best." Justin smiled as he placed his hand on the small of Kerri's back to lead her out onto the dance floor. He wrapped his arm around her waist and took her hand in his own and they started to move. Justin couldn't figure out how he knew the melody to the song that seemed older than him. The band was only playing the instrumental at first until finally the woman sitting at the piano leaned in closer to the mic and began to sing:

 

Time...

I've been passing time watching trains go by,

All of my life...

Lying on the sand, watching seabirds fly

Wishing there would be

Someone waiting home for me...

 

Something's telling me it might be you

It's telling me it might be you...

All of my life...

 

Justin sang a word here and there along with Kerri to the chorus. She smiled at his recognition. The two of them intently watched the couple next to them twirl around the floor like pro's. They tried, but failed when Kerri's feet betrayed her and decided to stick with what they knew.

 

Looking back as lovers go walking past...

All of my life...

Wondering how they met and what makes it last

If I found the place

Would I recognize the face?

 

Something's telling me it might be you

It's telling me it might be you...

All of my life...

 

"Where the hell do I know this song from?" He asked himself aloud.

 

"Tootsie. It’s an old 80’s movie with Dustin Hoffman pretending to be a woman.”

 

"Oh Yeah! My mom loves that movie. She used to have me sit with her on the couch when I was little to watch it with her. It always seems to make her laugh…Even though she's seen it twenty times."

 

So many quiet walks to take

So many dreams to wake

And we've so much love to make

I think we're gonna need some time

Maybe all we need is time...

And it's telling me it might be you

All of my life...

 

 

Justin moved closer to Kerri and she found herself staring at him again. His lips parted slightly as he placed his fingers on her necklace, adjusting it so that it was straight.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him and he grinned, his hand settling on her back, but this time more firmly against her skin.

 

Kerri slightly shivered, goose bumps now forming. Justin tilted his head to the side. “You cold?” he asked, fighting his own shiver as his hand smoothed down her warm skin. They were both momentarily unable to speak. Finally, Justin interrupted the awkward silence and said, "So…Hypothetical question.”

 

Kerri looked at him to continue. He starred down at her, his eyes scanning her face and he wondered how he never noticed the softness in her eyes or the smoothness of her skin before. He’d have to make sure he didn’t have any more to drink tonight. He must have been drunk. This was his friend. She didn’t see him as anything else. "...Let's say I'm just this average guy you don't know and I'm walking past you down the street and we stop. We talk, then exchange numbers. What about me would have attracted you."

 

Kerri didn't need any time to think about her answer. "Your mouth." she confessed softly, her honesty making his cheeks turn red.

 

"My mouth?" he questioned, wanting her to elaborate.

 

His tongue snaked out to lick his lips slowly and Kerri’s eyes studied him as he did it. There were those naughty thoughts from before, creeping back up to the surface. No more wine for her tonight. “Yeah.” She replied finally.

 

"Not my boyish charms? My confidence? Or hilarious sense of humor?"

 

"No. There has to be something about you that makes me want to stop. I wouldn't know about those things until I actually talked to you. But your mouth..." Kerri looks towards his lips again. "It says a lot...Like with one smile I can sometimes see how embarrassed and flattered you are at those awkward times when people come up with the strangest comments. Or how when you lick at your bottom lip you're either very worried or very upset about something. I can see all this just be watching your mouth." she said nervously, her eyes flicking around and Justin suddenly realizing that he had been staring and not speaking.

 

He was impressed. He tried not to think of how warm her skin felt against his palm, but he was perilous to stop his mind from going to dark places where he envisioned her back rubbing up against the back seat of his jeep as he hovers over her. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, reminding himself that this was his friend. He licked his lips lightly. "What else can you see?"

 

Kerri looked at his mouth studying it and gazed deep into his eyes with a crooked grin, "I can see how badly you wanna kiss me right now."

 

"Oh shut the hell up!" he laughed, spinning her out and around and then back again. The bottom of her dress rose up just enough to make him curious to see what she had on underneath. The two laughed lightly and continued to dance.

 

I've been saving love songs and lullabies

And there’s so much more

No one's ever heard before...

 

The thought of kissing her had briefly crossed his mind. "Must you be so sarcastic all the time?"

 

Kerri's smile faded as she looked away from him towards the water, "It's a shield. I use it to keep myself from getting hurt."

 

Justin grabbed her chin and lightly turned her head back to face him, "You know I'd never hurt you right? You’re my friend. I can only hope that I bring you as much happiness as you bring me."

 

"Yeah, I know. But I use it so much that even when I'm not trying to be facetious, it comes out that way." Her eyes drifted down to his lips once more.

 

Justin questioned to himself wondering if she was hinting back to her earlier comment. His eyes drifted down towards her lips as they continued to dance.

 

Maybe it's you...

Maybe it's you...

I’ve been waiting for all of my life

 

 

Justin rolled out of bed and dragged himself downstairs in his shorts. Yawning and bleary-eyed, he greeted his mom and Kerri, who had been busy cleaning. He then greeted the family dogs, Bearlie and Bella, who had been busy yapping. He looked outside at the woods in the back yard and said, "Did I hear somebody say something about food?"

 

The night before he had gone out with Kerri and didn't know how to interpret their evening together. But it was the furthest thing from his mind today. He'd slept till almost 3, but this was the norm anytime he came home from promotional gigs or a tours. He just vegged on the couch in the living room for most of the hour, playing video games, expanding his stomach and letting his mom take a mom's good care of him.

 

"Here's what I want," he said at last, entering the kitchen.

 

"A Philly cheese-steak sandwich," she and Kerri said in unison, already knowing.

 

"Yeah…And a salad…And fries." Justin bent down to mess with the dogs.

 

"The doggies are so glad to have him home," Lynn said fondly to Kerri, who was wiping down the counter. "They miss him."

 

Easing himself around the couch, Justin took a seat and said that he was feeling pretty good and relaxed. "Well that's good. Maybe you can get up off your lazy butt and help us finish cleaning." Kerri commented as she handed him a drink.

 

He just huffed her off and turned on the television. TRL was on and "Cry Me A River" was playing. Kerri took the Windex and a roll of paper towels and started in on the coffee table, tapping Justin's knee so he would move out of her way.

 

Lynn brought in his salad and as if out of nowhere, he started talking about his ex and about how, early on, he felt blamed for the breakup, when it wasn't his fault at all, and before long he moodily said, "I think I still have a lot of feelings, though I don't particularly know what they are."

 

Lynn leaned down and kissed the top of his head before retreating back into the kitchen to finish up his food. Kerri sat there and smiled at how close they were. Justin's parents divorced when he was two. Two years later, his mom, now forty-one, got remarried to Paul, and together they raised what seemed like a very quiet child. "He always walked around with his head down, so you never saw anything but the top of his head," laughed Lynn.

 

She remembered her son as a "perfectionist who couldn't stand anything on his shoes or his hands." The two were, and still are, exceptionally close. Lovingly enough, Justin has a tattoo on his back of an angel holding a banner that bears his mom's initials.

 

One great thing Kerri noticed about Justin’s family was that they hadn't uprooted themselves, moved to Los Angeles, bought Bentleys, gone in for plastic surgery and fallen out with one another, lawsuits resulting...Well at least not yet. They'd all stayed put, which is why Justin had a home to go back to. He was comfortable here, resting up until he has to embark on a promo tour, which will be followed by a club-date tour, and an arena tour. Back home it would have taken him awhile to settle down and relax and finally be open with her. It was the same for her too. That's why they got along so well. But here…Here he was like an open book. So anything Kerri wanted to talk to him about, she could. He was always game.

 

Later on that night, the party was going off without a hitch. Justin's grandmother, Sadie was completely surprised to see him. A few minutes into the party Justin came out of hiding from a nearby closet and walked up behind her, covering her eyes with his hands. Sadie went through her usual set of names, guessing who was standing to her rear, but when he began to serenade her with "Happy Birthday," she was overcome with joy and hugged him tightly. It was the best present she could have received. Having all her family and friends there...Together. Trace took Kerri around and introduced her to various relatives and friends, while Justin was busy spending time with his Grams. He'd send a smile her way every few minutes to make sure she was enjoying herself. They even exchanged lipped conversation from across the room to one another about drunk uncles and whacked out fifth cousins who were there trying to borrow money from 'the family'.

 

When the party was over, Trace and his mom stayed to help clean up. Justin's stepfather, Paul, had gone up to bed early because of a pain in his lower back--or so he claimed. Lynn, Belinda, and Trace watched Kerri and Justin cleaning up the backyard, throwing things at one another and laughing hysterically. Trace rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing.

 

"Aww! You jealous?" Lynn teased.

 

"Jealous? Of them?" Trace huffed at the thought. He watched them carefully through the window. Justin was chasing Kerri around the yard, both dogs following close behind, till he finally caught up with her and grabbed her from behind lifting her up off the ground.

 

"Yeah. I'd be jealous too if some other person was intruding in on my friendship with your mom...Stealing away all her time." Lynn commented as she loaded up the dishwasher.

 

"I'm not jealous of them. We're family. There is no competition here." Trace defended.

He then reached into his back pocket and threw down two 50's onto the table. "Here."

 

"What's this for?" Lynn asked.

 

"I lost our bet."

 

Lynn thought back and recalled the night he had said Justin would have Kerri out of his system within a month. Upon hearing the story Belinda shook her head. "I can't believe you bet Trace that Justin would do something like that."

 

"I didn't!" Lynn defended. "He just assumed I was in on it."

 

Trace went to retrieve his money from the table, but Lynn scooped it up from his grasps and added, "I can always use an extra hundred bucks though."

 

Trace set down a hundred dollar bill this time and proclaimed, "I'll give it another week before they get together."

 

Late that night Lynn dragged herself downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup of tea. She was surprised to find Kerri sitting at the table staring off into space. "Kerri? You alright, Hun?"

 

"Yes, I'm ok, Mrs. Harless." Kerri looked down towards her cup, "Just couldn't sleep."

 

"Me either." Lynn replied as she filled up her cup with a tea bag and hot water.

 

She sat down at the table across from cherish and dipped the tea bag in and out of the water. The two women talked about the party and how everything ended up being perfect. Kerri made a point to express her gratitude in being able to be a part of it. "It's so amazing to see how close you all are."

 

"Ever since Justin was little we've made sure that we were never far away from the rest of the family. We even live right next door to his grandmother, so he's become very attached. I think having that support has helped mold him into the person he is today. Family is the basis of everything you do. Don't you think?"

 

Kerri looked out the window, "Umm...yeah."

 

Lynn could see that the discussion of family was an uneasy topic for Kerri. She was curious to find out more, but didn't want to pry. Lynn quickly changed subjects and the two of them talked for about an hour about Kerri's new job and Lynn's endeavors into the business world instead.

 

Lynn found it hard not to like this girl. After speaking with her she discovered that Kerri was extremely intelligent, funny, witty and very independent. She wasn’t the type of girl that Lynn was used to seeing Justin with. She was an attractive young woman, but her personality made her even more attractive. Lynn knew the two of them were only friends but she couldn't help but compare Kerri to an ex that wasn't so far in her son's past. She almost felt like she was betraying her by getting to know Kerri. It wasn't like the two of them had been married and gone through a bitter divorce. They were just two young people who had known each other for quite a long time. But when you open up your home, your family, and your heart to someone and things don't work out, everyone feels the loss.

 

Kerri and Lynn continued to talk into the wee hours of the morning before Kerri and Justin would have to hop back on a plane and head back to California.

The bass in the club was thumping loudly out of the speakers. Justin sat on the couch watching, Kerri, Serena, and Kelly dancing around the VIP section with Trace. He took a sip of his drink and let his eyes covertly glide up Kerri’s body. He loved how her jeans fit so perfectly around her ass and how her red top fit so well around her breasts, stopping just a few inches above her navel. He watched the halter straps dipped behind her neck, disappearing into her long dark brown hair. “Come here.” She mouthed to him, curling her fingers.

 

He could see the excitement in her face, because he grinned back at her and chuckled. He slyly made his way over to her and found himself sandwiched between her and Kelly.

 

Che’Nelle’s “Hurry Up” was blaring through the speakers and Kerri threw her hands up in the air and pumped her fists the beat before she felt his hands on her. She smiled up at him as he placed his hands on both sides of her hips and brought her body in closer to his as they danced together.

 

Her skin was hot beneath his fingertips and it took all the strength he had not to let his hands wander.

 

Moments later, the DJ’s voice rang out through the speakers. “Shout out to the sexy Lady K up there in the VIP section hangin out with none other than Justin Timberlake!”

 

Kerri looked towards the DJ booth and blew the DJ a kiss. Justin could see him motioning for her to come down. Kerri turned around and let her hands glide up around his neck gently before pulling him in towards her face. “Come dance with me, Justin!” she yelled to him so he could hear her over the music.

 

He briefly debated going with her, but knew it would cause chaos if he followed her downstairs through the crowd. “Nah, I’m good.” He said as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

 

Kerri reached for him and tugged on his wrist to follow her, but he never budged. She pouted at him briefly before grabbing Kelly’s hand and disappearing down the steps towards the booth.

 

Justin looked to the left and could see Trace dancing close to Serena. He laughed to himself knowing that Trace was definitely on a mission tonight. He grabbed his drink off the table and walked over to the railing, letting his arms slightly hang over as he watched Kerri make her way up into the booth. The DJ hugged her tightly lifting her body off the ground as he twirled her around in his arms and kissed her on the cheek. Justin didn’t like it and couldn’t understand why. She was his friend. There was no reason for him to be jealous.

 

Kerri hugged a few other people who were in the booth and talked to them briefly, introducing them to Kelly who she dragged down with her. She glanced up and watched him watching her, secretly wanting him to want her. She motioned for him to come down, but he just shook his head. She placed her hands together in a motion to beg and even though he laughed, he still refused to come down.

 

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned back around to talk to Kelly. The DJ walked over and whispered something in her ear before handing her a pair of headphones and disappearing into the crowd of sweaty bodies.

 

Justin could feel someone beside him and looked over to see Serena standing next him looking down towards Kerri. “She’s gonna be up there all night! She’ll never want to stop!” she laughed.

 

He chuckled in agreement before focusing back on Kerri who was concentrating hard on the turntables and screen in front of her. She and Kelly danced briefly together back to back, shimmying their chests and hips to the rhythm of the beat. Laughing boisterously with one another. Kerri propped the headphone back up onto her ear and went back to playing with different buttons and dials. In the next moment she looked straight up at him and gave him the most sinister grin she could muster. When he heard his own voice bouncing around the club, he instantly knew why.

 

You feelin me?

Cause I’m…Gonna Have you nekkid by the end of this song…

 

The crowd went bizerk when the beat hit and he could feel a million eyes on him, anticipating his next move. The only thing he could do was grin before hesitantly making his way down the stairs towards to booth. Kerri swayed her hands above her head in satisfaction and yelled to the crowd to make a path for him to come up and get on the mic.

 

When he finally reached the booth, he took the mic from her hand and leaned in towards her face, gently placing his fingertips on the back of her neck and said, “I’m gonna get your ass for this!”

 

“You promise?” she joked.

 

Justin smacked her hard on the ass before putting the mic up to his mouth to go and psyche up the crowd for a minute or two. When he was done he found a spot behind her and watched her work. He had a look of amusement dancing on his face as he gazed at the flashing lights in the club painting her bare skin green and red.

 

 Are you feelin me?

I like the way you look right now

Come over here, Baby

We can do something

 

With her arms over her head, hair flipping and bouncing she turned in circles, bobbing her head to the beat and swaying to the rhythm. She could feel his hands suddenly on her hips and his body close up against hers. She continued to play with the various faders and switches and clicked through different screens trying to mix the next song. Firefox’s cover of “Sex Shooter” started to blare throughout the speakers and Kerri yelled into the mic for the ladies to get out on the floor and shake their asses.

 

I need you to get me off

I'm your bomb getting ready to explode

I need you to get me off

Be your slave do anything I'm told

 

She took the headphones off her head and handed them back to her DJ friend who had reappeared with drinks for everyone. Kerri placed the shot glass to her lips and quickly leaned back shutting her eyes tightly at the burning sensation that was now in her throat. She giggled as she watched Justin attempt to down his like it was nothing, but she could see his eyes tearing up and the only thing they could do was laugh.

 

I'm a sex shooter

Shootin' love in your direction

I'm a sex shooter

Come on play with my affections

Come on kiss the gun

 

They stayed in the booth enjoying the music, but even more so, each other. Justin’s thumbs looped into the front belt loops of her jeans and he let his hands tap to the beat on the tops of her thighs. That last shot of alcohol had given Kerri the courage she needed. She reached her hands outward and let her them rub up the sides of his legs before she tapped them to the beat against him. She could feel his face next to hers and leaned back slightly, letting the back of her head rest against his shoulder. Why does he have to feel so damn good right now? She asked herself.

 

It took all the will power Justin had to not grind the front of his body against her. Anytime Kerri would move her hips to the beat, her ass would ever so slightly brush past his groin.

It was making his dick scream at him, begging for Justin to let him come out and play.

 

Gathering up enough courage to finally get some relief, he pressed his hands down gently on the tops of her thighs and pushed her back full into his body. Kerri instinctively rolled her hips in a circular motion, teasing him.   Moments later, she could feel something buzzing against her ass and turned around. She narrowed her eyes up at Justin and said, “Is that your phone vibrating in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

 

He gave her a crooked grin and said, “Both” before pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the text message.

 

He leaned down and whispered something into her ear and she nodded before reaching over and grabbing Kelly’s arm to leave.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"You're completely blitzed right now!” Justin laughed as he opened the front door with one hand and steadying Kerri’s body on his back with the other.

 

“I am not.” She defended. “I just didn’t feel like walking in these heels any longer.”

 

Kerri tossed her shoes across the floor and braced her hands on both sides of his shoulders as he lowered her down to the floor. Justin made a snide remark and Kerri pushed him, losing her balance and stumbling into the living room.

 

After they left the club, they all headed out to the other side of town to hang out with Marty and a few of his friends for the rest of the night. They talked about possibly working together on different projects, but to Kerri it all seemed like a lot of talk and nothing more...Especially when joints and bongs were being passed around the room from one person to the next.

 

Kerri giggled to herself thinking about their evening as she made her way into the kitchen. "How did I end up getting kicked the fuck out of my own damn apartment?”

 

“Cause my boy and your girl wanted to be alone and you kept saying 'Fuck ya’ll then,! I’m gonna go and sleep my ass off on some thousand thread count sheets and you two bastards can get busy all you want on those Kmart sheets in there!'”

 

Kerri almost fell out laughing at his impression of her. He had it down. She was pissed That Serena and Trace wanted to be alone, leaving Kerri no other choice but to come home with Justin. All she wanted to do was go upstairs and hide in the guestroom from embarrassment from her earlier drunken flirtation. Well at least hide after she had something to eat. “Damn, I'm hungry." She said rummaging from cabinet to cabinet.

 

Justin just shook his head chuckling to himself as he leaned against the counter looking down at his cell phone, pressing buttons. Kerri's search returned little results. It occurred to her that Justin went grocery shopping just as much as he was home. She made her way over to the fridge and basked in her victory, "You want a steak?" she asked as she pulled out the pack of meat.

 

With eyebrows raised, Justin looked over at her and said, "Most people with the munchies want junk food, but you...You come out wanting a three course meal."

 

"Shut up. I'm drunk, horny, high as a kite, and all sweaty from that club. I need to compensate for the things I'm lacking here, man!" Kerri pointed out.

 

Justin studied her as she stood in front of him on the other side of the island, seasoning the meat before turning around the place it in the skillet. Even though his eyes were glazed over and his eyelids were drooping slightly from the mixture of alcohol and pot, there was no mistaking the look in his eyes as he stared at Kerri. It was one of pure lust.

 

She walked over to the sink to wash her hands and wash out a glass she was planning on using. Justin crept up behind her and let his arms encircle her under her chest as his face zeroed in on her neck. The soapy glass seemed to slip right out of her hands when she felt his embrace. Her eyes shut and she swallowed hard. "Did you need something in the sink?" She asked.

 

"No..." A smile crept across his face as he leaned in closer to her neck, "How serious were you when you said you were horny?" He asked, letting his lips brush her neck.

 

"Serious enough to think that this little practical joke you're playing is the real deal." she patted his hands that were still encircled around her waiting on him to let go.

 

He tightened his grip slightly. "And if it was the real deal?"

 

"You know drunk and high don't really mix well." She joked, thinking that Justin would let up from his game soon.

 

But he never relented. He slowly moved his lips upwards to her earlobe and pulled it gently into his mouth. He sucked on it until he heard her moan just a little, then released. He let his lips slide back down her neck, and up again, with light fleeting touches on her skin, he kissed her jaw and then her cheek.

 

"Justin...We're gonna regret this in the morning...when we're sober." She said almost in a whisper.

 

Justin brought his hands around her waist, to squeeze her closer to him, pressing himself against her ass. "We'll cross that bridge tomorrow, Kerri. Right now…I just want you."

 

Kerri wriggled, pushing back towards him, her ass rubbing his cock. Justin brushed his fingertips along the sides of her breasts through her top, barely touching her. Another moan escaped her lips, and she pressed her body harder against him. With her earlobe back in Justin's mouth, he nibbled on it, softly at first then more firmly. He cupped her breasts in his hands, filling his palms. He squeezed them together and Kerri tilted her head back and groaned. Her eyes were closed, her mouth was open, and all that could be heard in the background was the slow flow of water in the sink.

 

Justin took her nipples between his fingertips, rolling them back and forth through the fabric of her top. He pinched and released, over and over, all the while licking and kissing her ear. They ground their bodies together to the rhythm of his pinches. Her breaths were quick and shallow, her moans soft, her nipples hard.

 

She paused to pull her top over her head, and turned towards Justin. With her arms in the air, her breasts were begging him to set them free from their restraints in her bra. Justin pressed his lips between them, and she pulled his head in deeper. He inhaled her; the fine aroma of her body spray so carelessly traced in her cleavage as she dressed earlier that evening, the heady scent of her flesh, tangy and slightly sweet from perspiration.

 

Her skin was soft, warm and moist. Justin licked her breasts slowly, tracing lines and circles along the edge of her bra, teasing as he forced his tongue towards a nipple. Kerri reached behind herself and unclasped the bra. As he backed away, she slowly let's it fall, revealing herself to him. Her nipples thrust towards him, and he kissed them, first one then the other and then the first again. Tiny kisses, just a quick touch of the lips and then gone, off to tease the other.

 

Justin's hands were on her ass now, rubbing and squeezing. He ran his fingers along the seam, barely between her legs. Her jeans were damp from perspiration and lust. He finally kissed her for the first time. Their lips hit hard against their teeth as their tongues met for the first time. Kerri tried to push her hand between them, searching for his cock, but he pressed his hips against hers and stopped her.

 

Justin knelt in front of her, tugging at her zipper, pulling her jeans down to her knees. Her thong was soaked, and her scent intoxicated him. He kissed her and sucked the wet fabric into his mouth. With his teeth, Justin pulled her thong down as far as he could, then helped her free herself of them once and for all.

 

He quickly cleared the middle island, and Kerri hopped on it, gingerly balancing herself. Justin pushed her knees apart, opening her thighs wide. He gasped to himself noticing she was completely shaved, her lips glistening with moisture. He leaned forward and places his lips on her belly, kissing it hard. He traced a line down her stomach with his tongue, running a quick circle around her navel before continuing. He breathed deeply, pulling her essence into him. He paused at her opening and moved to her thigh. Little kisses, little bites, little licks as he slipped down her leg, holding it in the air as he moved to her foot.

 

Justin sucked her big toe into his mouth and used his tongue to play with it, always watching her. He reached for her hand, took it and placed it between her legs. He started to rub her fingers on her clit, still sucking her toe, still watching her. Nervously, Kerri took up the motion, pressing her clit, sliding between her lips, putting on a little show for him. She could see him studying her and could tell he was turned on more and more with each touch. She had never been that bold in her life. It was exciting...almost addictive. Justin changed feet, watching her fingers getting wetter. He began to kiss up her leg towards her shining fingers and waiting center.

 

When he reaches her hand, he kissed it, kissed her fingers, licked them. He used his tongue to push her fingers into her pussy, then gently pulled with his teeth so she withdrew them. He licked them off, savoring the delicious taste. He slowly licked her folds and caused Kerri to quiver. He drank from her and licked harder. He found her clit and flicked it with his tongue.

 

Kerri pulled the folds aside and he sucked her clit into his mouth flicking it again and again. Her clit swelled inside his mouth and hardened. He traced patterns around it with his tongue and pulled it deep into his mouth. Justin then pushed two fingers inside her. His body quivered when he heard her cry out. He twisted and wiggled his digits, touching all the smooth soft parts of her inner walls until he found that perfect spot inside her. “Oh yes…Right there, J…” she called out.

 

As he licked her clit, he rubbed her spot and watched her clit get harder and harder. She began to cum, her nectar dripping down his hand.

 

He unzipped his jeans, dropped them to the floor and kicked them aside. Kerri sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him hard on the lips. He grabbed his cock and rubbed it again her lips gently. “Give it to me, Justin,” she whispered against his lips.

 

He them pulled her to the edge of the island counter by her hips and slid his cock inside her. Kerri wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him to her, guiding his thrusts with them. They kissed hard and deep, almost forgetting to breath. This was nothing but their two sweaty bodies joined in passion.

 

Kerri called out his name and it spurred him on even more. “Fuck…” He thrust faster and as hard as he could, wanting to make her cum again and again.

 

He kissed her breasts, her neck, and her mouth. They soon got louder and louder as they fucked one another. Justin was going crazy. Pounding into her faster and faster. In his pursuit to please Kerri, he'd almost forgotten about his own need to cum. “Oh Fuck, Kerri…” He soon pressed himself as hard as he could into her, digging his fingers into her ass and hip as releases himself inside her.

 

They were both panting like animals. Justin pushed Kerri back onto the counter and she made a few low whimpers. Justin could feel his knees giving out. He collapsed against her, and she hugged him tightly. The two of them stayed there quietly gathering themselves. They suddenly noticed that the air was now smoky and rushed over to grab the burning the steaks off the stove.

 

The next morning, Kerri found herself deeply entrenched underneath a large comforter. She could hear someone breathing deeply behind her and looked around to see where she was. She cringed when she realized that she was in Justin's room...His bed. She looked under the covers and noticed her clothes were gone.

 

"I thought I was dreaming." she whispered to herself, wiping her eyes. She thought back trying to remember what had happened. They'd had sex once more that night, which landed them in bed with one another. It seemed what she thought was a dream, was a startling reality. Kerri slowly climbed out of bed and wrapped the bed sheet that had somehow ended up on the floor around her naked body. In the darkness, she tiptoed towards the door and somehow got her foot tangled in a pile of clothes causing her to stumble. "Shit!"

 

Justin stirred in bed. Kerri froze in place so as not to wake him, but it was too late. As she tried to quietly open the door a voice called out from behind her, "Something wrong?"

 

 

"I was going to get a glass of water. The weed and the alcohol have me dying of thirst right now."

 

"There's bottled water in that tiny fridge over there." Justin pointed out with one eye almost half open.

 

Kerri inched her way over to the small fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She slowly walked back over to the bed taking small sips and trying to think of another excuse to retreat from the bedroom. But it was no use. She laid back down, sheet and all, and tried to fall back to sleep. His arm crept its way around her waist and when he felt the sheet, he quickly pushed it out of his way so he could touch her.

 

She could feel Justin's breath on the back of her neck as he drifted back off to sleep. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute as she replayed the events of the night before through her mind. How could they both let his happen? Not just once, but twice! They were supposed to be friends.

 

Kerri was exhausted…Exhausted from thinking and re-thinking about what she was going to do or say to him when the sun came up. She eventually decided to take Justin's advice and cross the bridge of consequences in the morning. She scooted back a few inches until her body was up against Justin’s chest. A smile glimmered across her face, when she felt his lips brush across the back of her neck and his embrace tightened around her.

 

At around 10am Kerri opened her eyes slightly and discovered her head draped across Justin's chest. She could hear the repetitive beating of his heart and could feel the warmth of his hand on her naked back. She could hear the TV and turned her head slightly to see what was on. Justin's hand lightly rubbed her back and it was then when she realized that he was awake. "Sleep well?" he asked.

 

Kerri pulled at the sheet and lifted herself off Justin's chest to cover her exposed body. "Yeah. I think I forgot where I was for a minute there."

 

Justin watched her as she looked around the room holding the sheet tight against her chest. "What are you looking for?"

 

"My clothes." She laughed nervously.

 

"They're still in the kitchen," he smiled, thinking about the night before.

 

"How many times did we..."

 

"You don't remember?"

 

"I remember being in the kitchen with you and then here in your bed, but I-"

 

"You don't remember about the balcony?"

 

Kerri shot her head back at him, "The balcony?"

 

Justin just laughed, "I'm kidding. It was only those two times." He lifted his hand up to touch the side of her neck, "I'm sorry about that."

 

Kerri didn't know what he was talking about. She lifted her hand towards her neck and could feel the slight sting of pain. She grabbed the sheet and got up from the bed, heading over to the mirror to investigate. She noticed a large circular mark on her neck. It was almost red and she could see where some of the blood vessels had burst. "I got a little carried away last night." He confessed.

 

Kerri pressed down on the area and moved her hand away when the pain resurfaced. She could see Justin getting up from the bed and heading towards her--Still naked. She could feel herself staring down, taking in every inch of him as he drew closer to her. He walked up beside her and Kerri bolted out of the way. He could tell she was uneasy. He bent down and opened his dresser drawer to grab a pair of boxers and slid them onto his body. He then leaned down again and grabbed another pair along with a t-shirt and walked over to Kerri who was now standing near the corner of the room.

 

"You can put these on." Justin placed the clothes into her outstretched arms and lifted his hands towards Kerri's neck, fixing her necklace in place. She noticed what appeared to be faint traces of teeth marks as well as long red lines, like those of fingernails, running down length of his chest. She dropped the clothes onto a nearby chair and traced her index finger over one of the lines. "I'm sorry about this."

 

Justin looked down and noticed the marks and smiled. "I guess I wasn't the only one who got carried away," he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.

 

In mid-kiss Kerri put her hand on his chest and lightly pushed him back, "We need to talk before this goes any further."

 

"Okay.” He smiled as he ran his fingers across hers, still planted on his chest. “But talk to me while I get ready. Cause I have to be downtown by 11:30." he said, making his way to the bathroom.

 

Kerri picked up the sheet, so as not to trip and fall over it and followed him. She stopped in the doorway. "Last night was...For lack of a better term...Different."

 

Justin chuckled to himself as he put the toothpaste on his toothbrush. Kerri leaned up against the door and continued to talk, "I don't know why we did what we did, but I just don't want to start something with you that neither of us is ready for..."

 

With his mouth foamy from the toothpaste he spit and looked towards her and said, "I just got out of a relationship. And I know you did too.” He walked over to her and could see her tense up as he got closer. “I'm definitely not trying to jump back into another one right now either, Kerri. You have nothing to worry about." He kissed her cheek lightly, getting a few dabbles of Colgate on her face.

 

Although the weight had been lifted from her shoulders, part of her was agitated by his nonchalant attitude towards their night together. "So what do we do about last night? You want to just start all over and pretend it never happened?" she suggested.

 

Justin finished rinsing out his mouth and lightly toweled it dry. He turned around and leaned his hands back against the counter, looking over at her as he asked, "Is that what you wanna do?"

 

Kerri could almost sense disappointment in his eyes. The steam from the running shower was making the room foggy and causing beads of water to form on their bodies. Kerri’s eyes kept following this one bead in particular that was slowing making its way down his neck and in between his pecks, darting from left to right down his abs, before disappearing into the waistband of his boxers. Justin got up and inched his way over to her and placed his hands on the sides of her hips and said, "I don't wanna pretend it didn't happen. Cause frankly, I enjoyed every inch of you."

 

Kerri turned her head away and smiled, her face beet red. "Yeah. It was pretty nice.”

 

"Just nice?" Justin's lips trailed up her neck to her ear. "You’re so full of shit right now. But that’s okay.” He let his tongue flick against her lobe. “I’ll just have to give you another taste to try and change your mind."

 

Kerri's eyes rolled into the back of her head as his tongue trailed along the outline of her ear. He hands delicately slid up the front of his chest. She hooked her arms under his and let her fingertips glide up the curves of his back. "Oh, you want to be friends with benefits, huh?"

 

"You shouldn't even have to ask." he whispered as his tongue glided down the middle of her neck.

 

She tried to debate the pros and cons in her head as he continued to tease her with his tongue. What’s the worst that could happen? They could end up having an even better time with one another? No strings. No commitments. She was young and wanted to have fun for once and Justin…Justin was this tall, strong, virile man who just made her body want to take up permanent residency underneath his. Kerri's hands disappeared inside the lining of his boxers as she grabbed onto his butt, "I just want to be clear on what we both want here, Justin."

 

His breath caught in his throat when her nails dug into the cheeks of his ass. He bit down on her neck gently as he attempted to unravel her from the bed-sheet, "Yes. That's exactly what I want right now, girl."

 

"Good." Kerri grinned mischievously. She pushed down his boxers until they were by his ankles. Justin freed her body from the sheet, letting it fall to floor as he stepped out of his shorts. He wrapped his hands around her bare waist, her skin hot beneath his fingers, and drew her closer, pressing her against him, and himself against her. A familiar scent hit him and it took him an instant to recognize it---Arousal. His eyes drifted shut when he felt her take his bottom lip into her mouth, sucking it gently. Kerri could hear a single beep from the clock in the bedroom. It was now 10:30 and she knew if they continued, Justin would be late for his appointment. She smiled against his mouth, "Maybe we should continue this later on when you get back."

 

Justin looked out into the bedroom at his clock. He took her hand and pulled her into the shower with him and grabbed the phone that was installed on the wall. Kerri didn't know who he was calling at a time like this. As it was ringing, Justin let his tongue dance with hers as the water beat against their naked bodies. "Yeah, it's Justin." He said between kisses. "I'm gonna be running a little late."

 

Kerri smirked and pushed him up against the shower wall, letting her tongue follow the streams of water that were running down his body. "...About 10 min-" Justin drew in a gasp when he felt her mouth encircle his cock. "Shit...Better make it 30 minutes." he breathed deeply, running his fingers through her wet hair.

 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Good afternoon, everyone!” Kerri gleamed.

 

She stepped into the production booth with a carrier full of Starbuck’s and started to hand them out to Serena and the rest of the crew.

 

“Good morning.  Why are we so happy today?” she asked as she handed Kerri the schedule for the show.

 

As much as she tried, Kerri just couldn’t wipe the silly grin off her face. “No reason.” She said before heading out into the other room to get ready.

 

Kerri ripped the tag off the scarf she had just bought on her way to work to cover up the mark Justin had left on her neck and adjusted it once more. She could feel Serena’s eyes on her and knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before she read right through her. Kerri tried averting her attention away from Serena to the board, adjusting the audio levels in her headset. 

 

“You look well rested. You’re glowing this morning, beautiful.” Todd smiled as he rounded the table to get to his seat.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Kerri wasn’t well rested at all. She was well fucked, though. Memories from earlier rushed through her brain like the water from the shower head had rushed over their faces as they kissed each other passionately. And there it was. That silly grin that she had tried so hard to suppress moments earlier was back rearing its ugly head again. “You didn’t!” a voice rang out through the speakers in the room.

 

Kerri looked up and could see Serena standing there with her jaw half open, gawking at her friend in disbelief. “I don’t know what you mean.” Kerri acted aloof.

 

“You know exactly what I'm talking about! Are you serious? Last night?”

 

Kerri couldn’t shake the smile off her face and just shook her head. “What do you mean?”

 

“Just wait till this show is over, Kerri Roberts!” Serena scolded, trying her best to act upset.

 

During the drive home Serena grilled Kerri about the night before. “Are you going to be satisfied with it being this way?”

 

It was an honest question. Kerri hadn’t even had much time to process everything herself. But for once in her life she felt it was okay to be irresponsible and spontaneous every now and again. She was only human. She couldn’t be perfect all the time. In the time she spent with Justin, she finally understood that she was allowed to have fun and be free and make a few harmless mistakes just like anyone else out there. He’d given her that outlet to be spontaneous and not think so much. She was tired of worrying all the time. She’d lost sight of that so long ago…Especially after David.

 

David was the ex-boyfriend who'd broken Kerri's heart.  The same David who had taken the Polaroid’s of her.  The same one who would smugly waved at her each morning when she was back working at 93.3.

 

They'd both come from completely different worlds. David's family was pretty well off and lived in Houston, Texas. He'd temporarily given up the good life to venture out on his own to discovery who he really was and if he could survive among the masses. He was a senior enrolled at UCLA and had bumped into Kerri one morning while looking at the job board. To everyone, including them, it seemed like love at first sight. Four years of bliss.

 

They carried on like a married couple; Making decisions together on what to eat, what to wear, how much to spend.  After graduation, David had gotten a job at 93.3 and had also gotten Kerri her own show, which he helped manage. It was so much responsibility and commitment for two people so young.  They even invested in property together in hopes that one day they could call it their own.

 

David's parents would constantly try and sway them from getting too serious too fast. They had their entire lives ahead of them. But for Kerri, David was her entire life, as was she for him. So what went wrong?

 

It all started after their four-year anniversary. Since they were practically with each other 24 hours a day anyway, Kerri and David talked about officially moving in together. Kerri rushed around looking at furniture to put in their new home, matching coffee cups, robes, etc.  David was busy flying back and forth from California to Texas because his uncle was very ill with Cancer. He died weeks later. It left David shattered.  They had been closer than he'd ever been with his own father. His uncle was only 45 at the time.

 

Kerri tried to be there for him as much as she could. But after discovering life was too short, David was flying back home almost every other weekend to be with his family and mend their relationship.

 

One weekend Kerri scrounged up enough money to get a plane ticket out to Houston to surprise David. The family had gone out for lunch and the maid let her in, like she had so many times in the past. Kerri headed to David's wing of the house to put down her things and wait for him to return home, but found herself surprised to hear David's voice coming from the bedroom. She walked up to the door and went to open it, but heard a female voice cooing. At quick glance she could see her boyfriend and this stranger lying in bed next to one another in a loving embrace--Fingers entwined together and sweet nothings being spewed from their lips. It permeated the air like toxic waste to Kerri.

 

She didn't even want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd made a fool out of her, but the fury inside took over. She walked into the room slowly and stood at the foot of the bed. Neither of them noticed her presence until she cleared her throat right before David and his female companion were about to make love once more. Upon speaking to the naked female, Kerri discovered that David and Teresa-that was the bitches name-had been dating for quite a few months now. Apparently she'd also been there for him when he really needed her too.

 

Kerri didn't make a scene. She left Houston quickly and quietly. David traveled back to California trying to make amends for what had happened but the damage had already been done. It was over after that. Kerri was too heartbroken to fight over the property that had just been signed over to them after 2 years of what seemed like endless payments. She simply signed it over to David in hopes of severing all ties with him completely. But it was harder to get away from him at work. He was in fact her boss, so she had to answer to him every day. She never raised her voice or argued with him in front of people at work. Besides Serena, no one had any idea what a sleazebag he was. She was too afraid that if she did finally just let herself be human for a minute, she would explode and she and her crew members would be out of a job.

 

“When I think of everything that I’ve been through, I'd have to say yes…I’m satisfied with our agreement, Serena.”

 

Kerri shook the thoughts of the past out of her head and looked towards her friend in the passenger seat and smiled. “So tell me what happened last night with you and Trace?”

 

Serena shot her a look and asked, “Are you sure you want to hear about me, Trace, and my Kmart sheets?”

 

Kerri couldn’t help but double over with laughter as the two friends waited for the light to turn green.

 

 

Over the next couple weeks, Serena quietly observed Justin and Kerri.  The two were almost inseparable after that fateful night spent together.  Trace also couldn’t help but notice their quick attachment to one another and he and Serena both feared that it would only lead to disaster.  It’d be one thing if it was all about the sex.  But that was far from the truth.  Justin and Kerri would never admit that to their friends or to each other.  Hell, they weren’t even able to admit it to themselves. 

 

They had become so bonded to one another that it was almost as if they were the same person.  Finishing off each other’s sentences.  Picking up the phone, knowing who it was without even checking the caller ID.  Ordering food at restaurants for one another--it was almost sickening.  Serena and Kerri had been like sisters for years, and Trace and Justin were basically brothers.  Who the hell did these two think they were becoming so close so soon? 

 

“…I don’t know how you can do it, Justin.”  Kerri fell onto the couch, feeling spent from their trip.

 

Justin dropped their bags on the floor and fell back on top of Kerri, who was sprawled out on the couch.  “It’s just something I gotta do to get where I wanna be.”

 

Kerri wrapped her denim clad legs around his chest and gently kissed the top of his head, which was resting in between her breasts.  Justin rubbed her legs as she continued to speak.  “Take this week for example.  We were in New York for two days, and then we flew all the way across the globe to Europe for four days in which we stayed at three different hotels around the continent.  Then…We turn right back around and come all the way back to New York for half a day, only to leave on a plane that night and shooting back here to LA.”

 

“Yeah.  It gets pretty crazy.”  He agreed shuffling his body around so they were face to face.  “But don’t act like you weren’t enjoying being able to go off and interview people for your radio show.”  He trailed his fingers across her lips and kissed her tenderly.  He could taste the strawberry lip-gloss she’d put on earlier in the car.  “You taste good.”

 

“Yeah.  You tell me that all the time.”  She smiled running her fingers through what little hair he had left after his recent shave.  “But your head is usually down a bit further.” She smiled, lightly pushing down on the top of his head.

 

A devilish smile crept across his face as he trailed kisses down the front of her shirt to the zipper of her pants, “Like thi-“

 

“Get a room.” An annoyed voice called out from behind them. 

 

 Trace walked past them into the kitchen carrying a large pizza and three bags of food.  Serena trailed behind him with two bags of soda.  Kerri laid there frustrated at the interruption.  Justin had almost forgotten that the two of them had picked him and Kerri up at LAX earlier.  “Motherfucka, this is my house.  I don’t need to get a room.” Justin stated plainly.  He placed one last kiss against her navel and reluctantly got up and headed into the kitchen.

 

Trace sighed.  “Well, do that shit somewhere else.  You got guests.”

 

“Bitch, you stopped being a guest when were two.”  Justin laughed as he grabbed a plate and dished out the food. 

 

He picked out all the onions from the corner piece of cheese steak that was on the plate and threw them in the trash before taking the plate over to Kerri.  Serena lightly elbowed Trace to look at them, before putting her finger down her throat to simulate a gag.  

 

Justin was always sweet like that.  He’d come over to their apartment to hang out and help wash the dishes anytime Kerri or Serena would cook.  He’d cook for her when she was over his house. Opened doors for her like a gentleman should. Held onto her as they walked through a borage of fans and photographers to make sure she was safe. Shielded her face from the flashing lights of camera’s all around them. Fixed her plate and picked out things that she didn’t like in her food.  It was the little things that equaled up in the end. To everyone around them, they acted like a couple without the official title.

 

The next night, while Kerri and Kelly were off picking up food for everyone, Justin, Serena, and Trace sat around the table trying to iron out some final details for something they had been trying to plan for almost a month.  “…Well what did you have in mind for her birthday?”  Serena asked rolling her eyes at the fact that no one liked her idea.

 

“Don’t roll your eyes, Rena.”  Justin said, patting her hand gently.  “I want it to be the best one she’s ever had and I can’t do that without you.  You know her better than anyone.”

 

Serena was thinking the complete opposite lately.  She hadn’t spent a moment alone with her roommate for months.  And when she did, Kerri was either too tired or too busy working to talk.  She could see the sincerity in his eyes as he kept speaking.  “I want to fulfill one of her childhood fantasies.  What has she always wanted to do?”

 

Serena thought quietly for a minute before finally telling him about a dream Kerri constantly talked about a few years back.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“...Well what do you want me to do, Serena?  Just get up and walk out the damn door?  I’m in the middle of recording a show!” 

 

Kerri and Serena had been arguing on the phone about when she was coming home from the office.  Kerri was finishing up some work on a show that she was pre-recording so that she could have them pull it out if she ended up traveling out of town unexpectedly. She'd been so scared that she was going to get fired for taking so much time off and not doing certain shows live.  But lately when she would return from overseas with interviews and impromptu performances from different artists, the heads of the station saw her ratings soar and were pretty lenient with her after that.  She still didn’t want to take any chances though.

 

It was her birthday and she was stuck working again.  It was like any other year.  She actually couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t work on her birthday.  This year it sucked because it was actually her weekend off, but she had been putting work off for so long that she had no choice but to make her way over to the station at noon to finish it up.

 

Kerri hated arguing with Serena.  She was usually the one Kerri depended on to turn her birthday into a day worth celebrating.  “Fine.  Just try and hurry up please.”  Serena pleaded before hanging up.

 

Kerri went back to work, feverishly splicing different audio tracks together on the computer.  The secretary from the front desk came into the room with a large bouquet of yellow roses.  Kerri read the card, “Happy Birthday, Tasty Cake!”  She instantly knew they were from Justin and smiled.

 

He had told her that he was going to be out of town on her Birthday but would try to make it up to her as soon as he got back.  She would have rather spent time with him as opposed to getting flowers, but she already knew it was something she would have to live with.  She went to reach for her phone to call him, but stopped short of dialing his number.  She realized she'd never get out of there on time if she started talking to him.  She shoved the phone down into her purse, ridding herself of the temptation, before finally turning her focus on to the tasks ahead of her. 

 

For the next four hours while Kerri was working, she ended up receiving another few dozen yellow roses with witty cards.  When she was finally finished, she grabbed up all the flowers she could and headed home.  She struggled to get into the apartment with the bundles of flowers under her arm which were hanging halfway out of a large brown paper bag she’d found at work.  She almost made it inside until her arm slipped and the flowers went sliding down onto the floor.  When she looked up to call Serena for help she was surprised to find the hallway of the apartment decorated with streamers, confetti, and balloons.  She grabbed up the flowers and headed down the hall into the living room and saw a large handmade sign that said “Happy Birthday, Kerri!” hanging from the wall.

 

She called out to her friend and her heart bolted out of her chest when Serena, Justin, Trace, and a whole slew of her friends popped out and screamed, “Surprise!” in unison.

 

Kerri covered her mouth in shock at all the decorations and effort that had gone into making her birthday so special.  She glared at her roommate as she walked over to hug her. “You tricked me!” she hugged her tightly.

 

“I had to make you feel bad, so you’d be home on time.”  Serena smiled placing a plastic tiara gently on her head and grabbing the bag of flowers from her hand to put them in water.

 

Kerri looked around and spotted ballerina figurines intricately placed all around the apartment.  Ever since she was a little girl she’d always wanted a birthday with a ballerina theme, but it was never possible.  Trace came out of the back bedroom with something hidden behind his back and a huge grin on his face.  Kerri was shocked when he whipped out a pink ruffled tutu. "Oh my God! I can't believe you guys!" she exclaimed, covering her face in slight embarrassment as Trace draped it around her waist.

 

When she brought her hands down from her face, Justin was standing there smiling at her.  “I see you got my flowers.”  He took her hand and twirled her around before embracing her tightly and wishing her happy birthday. They exchanged a light and friendly hug so as not to arouse suspicion.

 

The party was going well.  Justin had ordered what seemed like a truckload catered foods.  Serena had spent most of the day in the kitchen baking a cake and cookies in the shape of ballerinas.  You could tell Trace had helped put on the icing by the variety of large breasts and sexual gadgets in some of their hands.

 

While Kerri was helping Trace change the CD's in the stereo, she heard someone knocking loudly on the door and rushed down the hallway to answer it.  She crossed her fingers, praying it wasn't one of her neighbors complaining about the noise.  She opened the door fully expecting to have to give a million apologies, but found herself stunned and in a state of pure disbelief as she starred at her ex-boyfriend standing on her doorstep.  "David?"

 

"Happy Birthday, Kerri." he said softly, outstretching a rectangular box that appeared to be perfectly wrapped.

 

Kerri stood there stunned not knowing what to do next.  Should she just tell him to fuck off and slam the door in his face?  But why do that now after all this time?  She’d always been cordial to him when they used to work together.  Why suddenly break character now?  She reluctantly took it and thanked him.  "You didn't have to do this."

 

"I unconsciously bought it.  I was out shopping, like I do every other Saturday and picked it up thinking it would be the perfect present.  When I got home, I remembered that you weren't there...I do that sometimes."  his voice trailed off.  "Look, I didn't mean to barge in.  You're usually working.  I was just going to drop this off with Serena."

 

His sentiment seemed genuine.  She hated that he could always spin things around and make himself look good.  She fell for it almost every time.  He would do something wrong and in the end it was always her chasing him down to apologize--Even though she wasn’t the one who needed forgiveness. 

 

As he turned to leave Kerri called to him, "How are you?"

 

The two of them talked briefly at the door.  He didn't ask to come in, and Kerri never extended the invitation.  Justin walked down the hallway of the apartment searching for the birthday girl.  He walked up to Kerri to talk to her and saw a taller man standing there smiling at her.  "Everyone's ready for cake."  he interrupted.

 

Kerri was a bit startled by his unexpected presence behind her.  She cleared her throat and introduced them.  Kerri could see the surprise in David’s eyes as the two men shook hands a little too firmly.  She relished in the idea that David was probably standing there with a million questions barreling through his mind about why this musician was standing in her apartment with his hand resting on the small of her back.   After a moment of awkward silence between the three of them, Justin said, "I'm gonna go and have Serena set everything up.  It was nice meeting you, David." 

 

He reluctantly disappeared back down the hallway and Kerri took that as her opportunity to say goodbye as well. 

 

"I hope you enjoy the gift."

 

"Thanks again," Kerri apprehensively reached out and gently hugging him before saying goodbye and slowly shutting the door.  She looked through the peep hole and watched as he stood there for a moment with his hands dug down is his pocket.  He scratched his head a few times and looked like he was about to knock again, but finally turned and walked away towards the stairs.  Kerri let her head fall back against the door and took a deep breath.  She was more than a little overwhelmed to see David at her doorstep again.  She took another deep breath before heading back down the hallway.  She prayed that Justin wouldn’t pull her to the side and ask her any questions about David.  This was her birthday after all, and she didn’t want it ruined by having to discuss her past.  She looked down at the perfectly wrapped box, still in her hand, and opened up the closet door, placing it gingerly on the top shelf before heading back to her party.

 

Everyone seemed to be having a great time.  Justin was sitting on the other side of the room with a few of Kerri's friends from college, while she sat in the dining area playing a quick game of spades with Carlos and two other guys.  She and Justin's body language was speaking novels as they looked at one another with bedroom eyes.

 

Montell Jordan's "Time To Say Goodbye" was playing softly throughout the apartment.  Kerri couldn't help but chuckle to herself when she heard the lyrics.  Justin grinned in recognition, knowing both of them felt just like the couple in the song.

 

It's getting late

And I don't want them to stay

They don't have to go home

But they gotta get up, get out, and get on

 

Now I don't mind entertaining
But your body language is telling me
Along with your bedroom eyes
Feels like its time for them to leave

At around six, Trace and Serena started to clean up.  Little by little guests began to leave.  Kerri was in the hallway closet fetching more coats when a figure came up behind her, pushing her inside the tiny room full of shoes and jackets.  She smelled his cologne and smiled widely. "If you're gonna try and take me by surprise, you should wear a different cologne." she teased.

 

"Shhhh..." is all he said as he shoved his body up against hers and began to kiss her. 

 

His lips were soft and warm, his tongue excited her as it darted in and out, fencing with hers. As the kiss lingered and their tongues tangled, Justin's hand traveled down to Kerri's ass.  He grasped it, squeezing it and sending tremors through her body.  Her breathing quickened, "Is this suppose to be my birthday gift?"

 

Kerri could feel the smile forming on his lips as they continued to kiss, "No.  You've been giving me those 'fuck me' eyes all night.  I just couldn't wait any longer."

 

Kerri began to laugh until Justin covered her mouth so that no one would know where they were.  She trembled with excitement, remembering back to a night where he did that same thing to her when they were in her bed together--Covering her mouth with his hand so as not to awaken a sleeping Serena across the hall as he methodically slid in and out of her body, making her cry out. She couldn’t wait till everyone left so they could do that again.   She whimpered slightly when she felt his hand move away from her lips.  He began kissing her neck and nibbling at her ear as his other hand explored her breasts.  Kerri took her hands and slipped them underneath his shirt and glided them up the front of Justin's chest.  It was on fire.  She slowly began to slide her hands down and began to undo his belt.

 

KNOCK KNOCK

 

Justin and Kerri immediately froze.  "Will one of you please toss the rest of the coats out here so everyone can leave?"  Serena whispered through the door.

 

The two of them looked towards one another and giggled lightly before opening the door a crack and tossing the remaining jackets at her.  Serena rolled her eyes as she gathered up the coats and headed back into the living room.

 

Kerri searched for Justin's face in the dark and tried to start up where they'd left off, but Justin stopped her, pecking her on the lips.  "This will have to wait till later."

 

Kerri reluctantly left Justin in the closet by himself to allow his erection to subside and went to say goodbye to all her guests.  As the last couple of friends were leaving, Kerri noticed Trace was piling up luggage by the door.  "What are you doing?"

 

"We have a plane to catch in 30 minutes."

 

She followed Trace into the living room where she found Justin with his jacket already on, tying up the trash in the kitchen. "Huh?  Where are you guys going?" 

 

"It's all of us."  Serena smiled. 

 

Kerri was completely confused about what was going on.  Serena dragged Kerri’s suitcase out into the living room and she noticed that it was already packed.  She looked to Justin for some sort of clue, but he never said a word.  He just smiled, kissing her forehead and said, “Come on, birthday girl. We’re gonna be late!” 

 

It took about twenty minutes for them to reach a tiny airport located near LAX where a private jet was waiting for their arrival.  Kerri stepped onto the plane and took a seat near the window up front.  Serena followed behind her, stopping midway on the plane to take in all the plush off-white leather seating, wood grain separators, and LCD monitors.  Trace nudged her bringing her out of her gaze and they both found seats near the back of the plane.  Justin was last to board, stopping to talk to one of the pilots in private.  He made his way over to Kerri who was anxiously looking out of the window.  He leaned is body down in front of her and pushed down the window partition and told her she wasn’t allowed to peek.   As he went to get back up he pecked her softly on the lips.  Kerri took her hand and placed it gently on his cheek and pulled his face back in closer to hers.  She wanted to say something, but the words just weren’t there.  It was like they were caught in her throat.  Justin simply smiled and leaned in towards her ear and whispered, “Your welcome.”

 

He kissed her a little harder, sending her head back into the head-rest, as he let his tongue explore her mouth. His mind raced when she gently sucked his tongue.  Breaking the kiss he shook his hiead and said, “Mmmm, mmmm.  Don’t start nothin’ you can’t finish, girl!” 

 

“Now we both know damn well that I can fin-“ Kerri’s words trailed off when she noticed one of the pilots appear from the front with an open bottle of champagne and a tray full of champagne flutes.  Justin thanked him and began pouring the glasses and handing them out to everyone.  He took his seat, opposite of Kerri, on the other side of the aisle.  He turned his gaze behind him to Serena, then Trace and finally to Kerri and lifted his glass and said, “To new adventures…”

 

“To new adventures!” they repeated in unison before clinking their glasses together.

 

"You ready?"  Justin asked as he watched her sip her champagne.

 

Kerri was giddy with excitement when she asked, "Where are we going?"

 

 

 

"Why do you always have to know everything?" Justin asked.

 

"Because I hate surprises and your smart ass plays too many games. We'll get there and then you'll throw a small concert, talking about that was my present...Hearing you sing."

 

He sucked in his teeth “Who told you? Trace?”

 

Kerri was about to take another sip, but halted the glass at her lips. “Are you serious?”

 

The three of them couldn’t help but laugh when they saw the bewildered expression on her face. “No, stupid!” He said as he reached across the aisle and pushed her gently. “But why do you act like hearing me sing is a bad thing. You mean to tell me you wouldn’t want me to serenade you with a little 'your eyes have a story that they wish to tell…And I have my whole life and I listen well…Hey…Look I'll be your confidant, tell me anything. But please start it off with how you tuck your wings.”'

 

Kerri could hear Serena in the back singing along with Justin and chuckled to herself. She was about to respond until Serena chimed in and said, “Well if she doesn’t, you can always bring your ass back here and serenade me instead! Cause I have never known Kerri to get off on that sort of thing.”

 

“Oh, you'd be surprised at what our friend gets off on, Rena.” He smiled coyly.

 

“Justin!” Kerri yelled trying to punch him in his arm.

 

Serena scrunched up her face. “Ewwww…”

 

When the jet landed an hour later, they hopped off and jumped straight into an awaiting limo. Kerri had been blindfolded before they got off the plane and couldn’t look out the windows for any clues as to where they were but she could hear Serena’s "Oohs" and "Ahs" from the other side of the limo.

 

Serena helped Kerri out of the car while Justin and Trace told her they would meet up in twenty minutes then disappeared. When they walked into the building, Kerri could hear muffled voices and instrumental music echoing around her. "Where are we?" she asked.

 

Serena pulled her along in through a set of doors. The familiar sound of running water and toilets flushing made Kerri feel a bit awkward. "I hope this bathroom is all it's cracked up to be." she laughed.

 

"Will you just shut up and go with the flow?” Serena begged.

 

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry. Go ahead."

 

With that Kerri felt her roommate tugging at her shirt. "Serena, I love you and all, but I think we should make it clear right now that I haven't experimented with another woman since high school."

 

Serena huffed and took the blindfold off of Kerri so that she could dress herself. She handed Kerri the garment bag and said, "You have to stop doing that."

 

“Doing what?” Kerri asked as she looked down and noticed the name Marc Bouwer engraved on the bag laying across the ladies room couch.

 

“Anytime someone tries to do anything nice for you or show you that they care, you always put on this aloof act or have something sarcastic to say.”

 

“I do not.” Kerri defended.

 

“Justin went through a lot of trouble to make all this happen, Kerri. He’s been trying to plan it with me in between radio and tv appearances, rehearsals, and everything else he has going on right now. Anytime he’s tried to say something nice to you, or compliment you, you’ve clowned him…Not just tonight either.”

 

“That’s what we do, Serena. It’s our thing.” Kerri stated softly, wondering if it was indeed their thing or just her thing.

 

Kerri figured Justin would say something to her about it if it bothered him. Right? But whether it bothered him or not, she knew deep down inside that Serena was right. Kerri didn’t purposely set out to hurt his feelings or make him feel jilted when he would go out of his way to do something nice for her. It was just that God forsaken defense mechanism of hers kicking into overdrive all the damn time! It had a mind of its own when it came to people getting close to her.

 

“Justin's a great guy. I like him.  When I’m with him, I laugh more than I've ever laughed in my life. I feel safe with him. I’m not so on edge all the time. It’s like all that falls away the moment he steps into a room and smiles at me.”

 

Serena put her arm around Kerri. “You can’t keep playing it safe with people, Ker. You have to let your guard down every once in awhile and let them in.”

 

Kerri nodded as she reached down and undid the zipper of the garment bag and her mouth fell open. "This is beautiful!"

 

“We figured you’d like it.”

 

Kerri pulled out the red strapless Marc Bouwer dress and held it up to her body as she looked in the mirror. It was pure silk with an uneven hemline like those of a ballerina’s outfit. She felt around looking for the price tag.

 

“Give it up. He made them pull the tags off at the store.” Serena chuckled.

 

“How much was it Serena?”

 

Serena grabbed her dress which had been laying behind Kerri’s in the bag and rushed into a stall to change. “Double the price of mine.” She blurted out before closing the stall door and locking it.

 

“Come on, Serena!”

 

“Nope. I’m not tellin!" Serena yelled through the door. “Quit torturing yourself! It’s a beautiful dress. He bought the dress. You like the dress. So go and put on the dress, dammit!”

 

Serena slid a pair of brand new black peek toe Christian Louboutin heels with the signature red sole underneath the stall door and yelled at her again to go and get dressed.

 

When she was finished getting changed, Kerri stood in front of the body length mirror adjusting the front of her dress, while Serena fixed her hair. She had Kerri sit on the velvet red coach on the other side of the ladies room while she applied her makeup. For some reason, Kerri felt more self conscious than before. She wanted to look perfect and for the life of her couldn't figure out why. It’s not as if she were going out on a date. It was only Justin.

 

Kerri wanted to try and do what Serena suggested and go with the flow. If she was going to be wearing a designer dress tonight, she wanted to look like she actually belonged in the dress. Kerri hardly ever wore makeup or got dolled up. She worked at a radio station and no one could see her anyway. The only time that she even tried to look semi-cute was if she had to go out and do something for the station or when she was DJ’ing for extra cash. Other than that, she was pretty laid back when it came to her appearance. She didn’t look like a bum, but she wasn’t walking out the door looking perfect everyday like a lot of the women she saw on the streets of LA.

 

When they were done, Serena delicately covered her eyes with the blindfold once more and guided her back out the door.

 

"So where are we going, Serena? Dinner? You can tell me. I'll act surprised."

 

"Sure you will." A masculine voice chuckled, taking her arm in his own and leading her. She recognized Trace’s voice and wondered where Justin could be. As they continued to walk, voices began to echo once more and Kerri knew they were back in a hallway.

 

When Justin rounded the corner he was too busy fixing his suit jacket to notice everyone standing further down the hallway waiting for him. He looked up and saw Trace leaning against the wall talking to Serena. He moved to walk towards them, but suddenly halted when she came into view. The sight of her had stopped him dead in his tracks. He was more than twenty feet away, and she had managed to steal his breath away.

 

Trace looked towards Justin’s direction and could see the he looked like a deer caught in headlights. Trace shook his head laughing to himself.   Justin stood there admiring her as she walked carefully with Trace, her high heels clicking against the ground. He let his eyes wander up her shapely calves and thighs. Her body was well proportioned--like a "symphony in motion" Marty had once said while watching her one night at a club.

 

Trace unhooked her arm from his and steadied her in place in front of Justin. He took Justin’s bag and followed Serena towards a side door. Kerri reached her hands out at her sides to feel for a wall so she wouldn’t fall, but there was only empty space. She moved her hands towards her front and moved forward slightly, coming into direct contact with a warm and firm surface. ”Trace?” she asked running her hands across the body standing in front of her. “I feel like I'm about to fall over.”

 

“I'd never let you fall.” A voice spoke softly.

 

Justin smiled as he watched the corners of her mouth turn up slightly when she recognized his voice. “I should have known…You change your cologne?”

 

“I took your advice for once.” He grinned.

 

He stretched his arms out and turned her slightly, hooking her arm under his and walking slowly down the hallway towards a set of swinging double doors. Kerri kept begging him to let her take off her blindfold, but he never relented--No matter how much the sound of her pleas were turning him on.

 

As they walked through the set of doors the room suddenly got louder. Kerri could hear the constant beeping, buzzing, and dings of machines off in the distance, and the instrumental music that she had been hearing early was louder as well. Justin could see the confusion on her face and held back his laughter. “Are we at an arcade?” she asked.

 

“Ahh, Mr. Timberlake.” A voice called from a distance. “Are you ready?”

 

“I’m waiting for the rest of my party, but we should be ready in the next couple minutes.” Justin replied. He turned back towards Kerri who was anxiously biting at her bottom lip.

“Come here, girl.” He said softly, pulling her towards him.

 

Kerri could feel his hands gently undoing the blindfold. He let it fall from her face slowly, and watched as her eyes adjusted and looked around. The large sign above his head read “Zumanity” and Kerri finally realized that what she thought were arcade games were slot machines. They were in Vegas.

 

Kerri was a Cirque du Soleil freak! She had yet to see any of their shows live, but anytime PBS would show one on TV she was right on the couch with the DVR set and ready to go. She’d seen previews for Zumanity and kept telling Serena that come hell or high water they were going to eventually see that show before they died. She almost wanted to cry but knew it would seem cheesy. Justin stood there eagerly awaiting her reaction. She turned to him and leaned up, hugging him tightly, "Thank you so much!"

 

"You're welcome." he smiled hugging her back just as tight.

 

Kerri could see she had ruffled up his jacket accidentally when she hugged him. She smoothed her hands against his shoulders and chest making sure she hadn’t missed anything. She was so excited about where they were that she didn’t even notice how good he looked. She let her eyes trail over his face, noticing the diamond studs he had in his ears. The top button of his shirt was undone and his black silk tie was slightly loosened, but it looked like he put a lot of effort into making it look that way.

 

She looked up at him and was about to make a witty remark about how long it must have taken him to purposely look like he had been partying all night. He was smiling down, his soft face drinking her in. She found herself speechless. She had completely forgotten what she was going to say. His eyes seemed to burn through her, like he was reading her most intimate thoughts.

 

“You look amazing tonight, Kerri.” He said almost in a whisper, but she heard every syllable loud and clear.

 

She wanted to pull herself away from his gaze and focus on anything other than his eyes, but couldn’t. They were like tractor beams pulling her in slowly.

 

She was standing there silent and Justin didn’t know what she was thinking and was scared he offended her in some way. “…I mean, not like you don’t look good any other time. I’m just sayin’…I’ve never seen you like this…You know all dressed up.” He was stammering over his words.

 

Just as she was about to be her usual self and say something like ‘you don’t look too bad yourself’ she was hit with Serena’s words; “You have to let your guard down every once in awhile.”

 

Kerri used all her strength to meet his gaze and said, “You’re gorgeous.”

 

“Uh huh.” He rolled his eyes. “Compared to that drunk guy over at that slot machine with torn shirt and mullet right? Come on. Hit me with your best shot.”

 

“No…You look very handsome, Justin.” She smiled softly. “Gorgeous.”

 

He could feel his cheeks getting warm from blushing and didn’t even have time to appreciate their moment before Trace and Serena made their way out of the private employee area over to them. Kerri hugged her best friend tightly and was squealing like a kid in a candy store.

 

As the four of them were talking, a group of women walked by and recognized Justin immediately and begged him for a photo. He had tried to keep everything low-key by coming into the building at a different entrance but knew there would at least be a few people who spotted him.

 

It was Kerri’s birthday and he wanted that night to be about her, not him. He reluctantly agreed to the photo when Kerri and Serena volunteered to snap the pictures for them. The group of women lingered at the entrance talking to him, and took as many pictures as they could, which led to a small crowd gathering around the entrance to catch a glimpse of him.

 

Kerri could see the frustration behind his eyes as he politely smiled and continued to sign autographs. She blamed herself for not going along with him earlier when he said they needed to go.

 

One of the staff members came over to take them inside to be seated ahead of time and Justin was relieved for the interruption.  As they made their way inside the theater, Kerri’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. The stage looked like the circus had met the Moulin Rouge. The seats surrounded a thrust stage that jutted out into the space, creating a great sense of intimacy. Up in the front row there were red, plush couches surrounding the stage and behind those were your standard theater seats. On both sides of stage were spiraling stair cases that led almost all the way up to the ceiling. It was massive.

 

The staff member asked Justin where he wanted to be seated and he looked to Kerri to tell him her choice. She chose the couches that were slightly to the right of the stage in front making sure that they had a great view, but also making sure that Justin didn’t feel uncomfortable.

 

After they’d taken their seats, Kerri looked over at him and noticed he was staring off into space. “I’m sorry.” She said, nudging him with her elbow to get his attention.

 

“For what?” he nudged back. “I should be sorry. Tonight's your night.”

 

“I should have listened to you.”

 

Justin raised his eyebrow at her before putting the back of his hand up to her forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re giving me compliments? Now you're telling me you should have listened to me? Has hell frozen over?”

 

“Hush” she smiled letting the side of her head rest against his.

 

He turned his head slightly towards her. He licked his lips and her eyes were immediately drawn to them, reflexively licking her own. He leaned in slowly to kiss her, but was interrupted by a photographer for the show who had been sent to ask him if he would be willing to take a photo with the cast.

 

Kerri sat and watched him as he shook hands with cast members and talked to them briefly before standing in the middle of the group and smiling for the cameras. When he returned to his seat, other ticket holders started piling into the theater. Trace and Serena had gone to grab drinks and made their way through the crowd finally sitting on the couch that was next to theirs. The four of them talked and laughed together before the show started. Justin had only briefly read about the show on a website that Serena had pulled up when they were planning Kerri’s birthday and he wasn’t thrilled about having to see naked guys dancing around together, but he and Trace coaxed each other into toughing it out for one night.

 

Zumanity ended up being more theater than circus and had a cabaret style to it. It bared all of the traditional trademarks of a Cirque show, but it looked at love, sensuality, and eroticism, in all its forms. It was a very tasteful, artistic and colorful show with lots of sexuality to go around. Although everyone was prancing around topless and half naked for most of the show, you almost forgot that they are not wearing clothes because you were so focused on the incredible things that they were doing with their bodies. A highlight for Justin was the two girls in the waterbowl who were doing this very intense routine in the water together. He kept whispering to Kerri that she needed to take notes for later on when they were finally alone. Serena loved the Fabio looking guy who did this strip tease and got completely naked, but was surrounded by women so she couldn’t see his package.

 

After the show, a concierge for the hotel met them at the doors and escorted them with security to a private elevator. Justin had rented the penthouse suite upstairs in the New York, New York Hotel. He pulled the concierge off to the side and all Kerri could see was the man nodding his head and agreeing with whatever Justin was saying before getting on the phone.

 

Trace and Serena still wanted to party, and asked if Kerri wanted to go out and explore the town. Part of her wanted to see Vegas since she'd never been there, but she knew that it would entail Justin having to hire a security detail. She also knew he wouldn’t be able to fully relax and have a good time because of the lack of privacy his fame brought. She declined saying she was tired and told them to go have fun. Justin brought over a special card key and handed it to Trace before they went their separate ways.

 

Justin and Kerri were joking around in the elevator about the show and Kerri had to bite her tongue each time she wanted to deadpan him with her usual witty remarks. Justin was still caught off guard by all her kind words and compliments.

 

When they opened the door to the penthouse it was dim, only illuminated by a variety of candles placed around the suite. Kerri walked in first, taking notice of the white rose petals scattered along the floor leading into one of the bedrooms and onto the bed.

 

Justin smiled with satisfaction as he listened to her words of adoration. There were candles everywhere and more petals leading into the bathroom. She gasped when she stepped inside. The bathroom was almost the same size as her apartment. There were more candles and petals leading up the two stairs to a large tub fit for 3 or more bodies. She could tell by the steam it had recently been filled with water along with even more rose petals floating on the top of the water. The tall windows looked out onto the illuminated city and Kerri remained speechless as she took everything in.  Never in her life had she felt so special.

 

She could feel Justin behind her, his hands on the sides of her arms rubbing gently. He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck and began to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. His sultry voice serenaded her while he wrapped his arms around her waist and gazed out of the window with her. When he was done he rubbed her arms once more and let his hands drift to her back. He pushed her hair to one side and kissed her exposed shoulder and slowly unzipped her dress.

 

Instead of standing there analyzing every little detail and trying to figure out what she should do or say, she closed her eyes and let herself feel what she was feeling. A fiendish plan popped into her head. She reached back and ran her hands up the back of Justin’s legs and felt her way up his ass and slyly went into his back pocket and took out the blindfold he had used on her earlier. She slowly turned around and kissed him gently before placing the blindfold over his eyes. She began to unbutton his shirt. All Justin could say was, “It’s your birthday…Not mine.”

 

“Well this is my way of saying thank you.” She whispered.

 

Once he was completely undressed, Kerri led him into the tub and proceeded to finish undressing herself. Justin spread his arms along the rim of the tub, feeling as though he were sitting in a cauldron of boiling water.

 

The impulse to lift his blindfold up a few inches and take a peek at her was eating away at him. He’d planned to undress her himself and watch as every inch of clothing disappeared from her body. His mind conjured up what he couldn’t see for himself. He could hear the water splashing slightly and knew she was now close by. Justin could feel himself stirring, his cock hardening just at the thought of her wet, naked body. He felt her hands on his chest and reached his arms out for her body. His mouth and hands were now his eyes, learning the shape of her body, gauging her candid and passionate response to him. They complimented each other perfectly…Sexually and mentally. But neither of them was willing to admit it to the other.

 

Both were drowning in an ocean of erotic desire. He fought the impulse to crush her into his arms. He could feel her lips on his neck, then on his check, until finally she kissed him gently on the mouth. She gingerly bit his bottom lip and grinned when she saw a smile form on his face. Not being able to look into his eyes was killing her. She loved the way he starred at her when they were together. She continued to kiss him while removing the blindfold from his eyes and tossing it to the side. “Thank you” he panted between their kisses. “That was torture not being able to look at you.”

 

“Shhhh…” is all she said as she covered his mouth with her own.

 

Kerri didn’t want to talk. She thought she could express the way she felt through her actions instead. This whole letting her guard down business was dangerous for her and she was terrified she would end up saying something she'd regret in the morning.

 

Justin placed his hands on the sides of her face and pulled back from their kiss so he could look at her. For a moment they simply starred at each other. He slowly drew Kerri gently towards him, her breasts pressing up against his chest. His lips found hers again and they kissed. But this kiss felt different from before and neither could pinpoint why.

 

Their touches grew slowly and easily into a passionate embrace. Their lips probed and tasted each other. Their kiss long, slow, and exquisite. Neither of them wanted it to end. The pressure between their lips throbbed with intensity, one moment light as a gently caress, the next hard with unfulfilled passion and longing. Their tongues began a desperate search, and when they met the shock was palpable, running through them simultaneously and causing them to tighten their embrace.

 

Justin’s was rock hard, pressed tightly against the softness of her heat. His hands slid down her back and gripped her ass, pulling Kerri even closer against him. His mouth slid from hers down her neck, the sweet smell of her flesh filling his lungs.

 

His lips traced their way down across her soft shoulders, and then downward burying themselves in the fullness of her breasts. They traced the strong but gentle curve, seeking until they found the hardness of her nipples. The soft moans coming from her lips were driving him crazy. He cupped her breasts in his hands and licked and flicked his tongue against her nipples, causing her to moan even louder. His mouth moved to one nipple and then the next, gently licking and sucking. Kerri tilted her head back and thrust her hips even tighter against him, slowly rubbing her pussy against his cock.

 

She reached her hands out and pulled his face from her breasts, kissing him hard and urgently. Justin’s hands began to move around her waist while hers encircled his neck.

“I need you.” She whispered between kisses.

 

A chill ran down his spine. He moved her hips positioning her over the head of his cock. He ran it up and down the groove of her lips, massaging her clit ever chance he could. He slowly slid inside her, causing her to call out slowly, “Justin.”

 

Inch by inch, he buried himself inside her. Before he was completely inside, he drew back until only the head of his cock remained in, and then again, he slowly thrust up, this time deeper.

 

“Ooooh…Shit…” She breathed.

 

Again he stopped and drew back, but quickly thrust up again, burying himself deeply and totally inside Kerri. He pussy felt as if it were molded to fit him. The heat from the water was nothing compared to the heat they shared together. His cock tingled and pulsed from the warmth of her passion. “You feel so fuckin good right now…” he sighed resting his head against her breasts, trying to catch his breath.

 

He began to thrust and Kerri met him with her hips, drawing him deeper inside. They stared deep into each other’s eyes. At first their movements remained slow and easy. But soon Justin closed his eyes and sighed, moaning deeply and setting Kerri on fire. She began to grind into him harder and faster. Their motions quickened instinctively yet they remained as one, moving perfectly in time together as she grinded down to meet his cock as it surged deeply into her. All that could be heard in the room were their moans and the water vigorously slapping around hitting the walls of the tub and the floor.

 

Justin recognized the cries coming from deep within her throat and knew she was almost over the edge. He held onto her waist with one hand and gently grabbed her face with his other hand pulling her in to kiss her deep on the lips. That’s all it took. Her moans rose in intensity and she cried out trembling. The sight and feeling of her cumming made him explode.

 

His eyes fluttered to the back of his head and his ears started buzzing as a rush of electricity surged throughout his body. Kerri collapsed onto him. Justin held onto her as they both tried to catch their breath. Each seemed frozen, starring at opposite walls.

 

Afterwards they laid in bed together. Kerri was nestled inside Justin’s arms and they  were both facing the window looking out at the city. Neither knew the other was wide awake. That night was different…Different from any other time they’d had sex in the past. And neither one could figure out why.

 

 

 

"I need to go to The Forum at Caesar’s Palace first!” Justin called out from the back of the limo to the driver.

 

Cringing at all the noise, Trace threw his bottle of water at Justin so he'd shut up. Apparently, he and Serena had way too much fun the night before and were dealing with the repercussions.

 

“You just can’t stay away from the Southern Comfort can you?” Justin teased his friend.

 

Serena slowly slid into the car wearing baby blue velour pants a stained white t-shirt and some green flip flops. Her hair was disheveled and haphazardly placed up in what vaguely resembled a ponytail. Her face was very pale and her eyes were bloodshot.

 

“You look a hot mess!” Kerri exclaimed, doubling over with laughter.

 

Serena was in so much pain that it was a struggle to even lift her middle finger in response to their jokes.

 

The day had started off late for the four of them. They'd planned to go and do a little shopping before they left town at five, but the plan was tossed when they were all still in bed at noon. Trace and Serena were passed out in their room on the other side of the penthouse and Justin and Kerri were too busy watching “Training Day” to care.

 

At three o’clock they’d finally left the confines of the hotel to hit a store or two. From there they were going straight to the airport to head back to LA so that Justin could make an appearance at the House of Blues at ten.

 

When the limo pulled up to Caesar’s Palace, Justin and Kerri were the only ones to get out and go inside. Fearing that they would both be sick, Serena and Trace had decided to stay in the car.

 

“What about this one?” he asked, looking to Kerri for her opinion. She merely scrunched up her face and shook her head at the extravagant bobble.

 

Justin continued to talk to the clerk about the item he wanted while Kerri walked around looking down at various jewelry encased in their glass prisons. She stopped when she spotted a charm bracelet. There were a variety of charms to choose from ranging in astrological signs to zoo animals. But one charm in particular caught her eye. It was a small diamond encrusted charm in the shape of a Treble Clef. Next to it were other musical notes and even a turntable. The lighting in the store must have been perfect, because it seemed to sparkle forever.

 

Justin walked over to Kerri while the jeweler was writing down his order. He saw her gazing at the bracelet and asked if she wanted to see it.

 

“No. That’s okay.”

 

“Are you sure? It would look absolutely exquisite on a wrist as enchanting as yours.” The jeweler interrupted.

 

Kerri blushed slightly and nodded her head. The man took out his fairly large ring of keys and opened the case taking out the bracelet and charms for her to try on.

 

“It’s gorgeous!” Kerri exclaimed, lifting her wrist up to watch the lights dance off the diamonds.

 

“It matches your necklace.” Justin stated as he adjusted it in place on her neck.

 

“It’s got round, brilliant diamonds, a carat total weight of 1.74, color grade G, clarity VS, and pavé-set in platinum.”

 

Kerri giggled as she put her arm up for Justin to help her unclasp it, “Yeah…See when you get to talking about clarity VS, and poofy-set’s, that’s when I have to let you put that right back in the case.”

 

Justin looked towards the jeweler. “How much is it?”

 

“The bracelet is $1500. The charms are about $300 each.”

 

Kerri almost dropped the bracelet when she heard the price. She carefully handed it back to the man and backed away from the case. Justin looked down at the charms that were lying on the blue velvet fabric and picked out three charms and handed them to the jeweler. “Just add it all in with my watch” Justin stated, pulling out his wallet.

 

Kerri immediately went over shaking her head and hands, “No, no, no…That’s ok.” She said looking towards the clerk and pulling on Justin’s arm.

 

“It’s your birthday. Live a little.” Justin demanded pulling out his credit card.

 

Kerri pulled Justin to the side and tried to whisper as low as possible, “That is like two month’s rent for both me and Serena! Please, you don’t have to do that, Justin.”

 

“I know I don’t. I want to.”

 

“Just like that? You just pull out your credit card and make a $2,000 purchase at the drop of a dime?”

 

“It’s actually a lot more than that if you add in what I bought myself.” He smirked walking back over, handing the clerk his card. “Can you wrap that bracelet up real nice for me please?”

 

Kerri walked over and stood next to him as he was gathering up his receipts. He kept looking over his shoulder out the glass windows into the forum. He always did that anywhere they went. He was always leery about who was watching him or if they was a paparazzi anxiously waiting to snap a photo. He’d done it so often that it became second nature to him. Kerri quietly observed him as he pulled his black hooded sweatshirt up over his hat. When they reached the door, he looked around and then help it open for her to walk out ahead of him towards the exit. Kerri noticed people glancing towards him and stopping to take a second look as if they recognized him, but thankfully no one stopped him. Justin held the door open for her and a few other people as they made their way outside. He handed her the tiny burgundy bag with white handles.

 

“It must be good to be you.” She smiled shaking her head at his nonchalant attitude toward the rather exorbitant purchase he’d made in less than 10 minutes.

 

He reached down into her bag and grabbed the box that was holding her bracelet. “Right now at this very moment…With you? I'd have to agree that it’s very good to be me. I haven’t been able to say that truthfully in a long time.”

 

Usually this would be the time when Kerri would make a comment to lighten up the mood. But she couldn’t. Something in the way he said it let her know that he was being completely sincere. She looked down and lifted the top off the squared box and noticed a treble clef, turntable, and ballerina charm attached to the bracelet. She’d never expected him to pick out the extra two charms that she had secretly been eyeing. Kerri turned around and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She then leaned up and hugged him tightly and said, “I can see why it’s so hard for a person not to love you, Justin.”

 

That one word caught Justin in the gut. What did she mean? She couldn’t possibly love me, he thought to himself. We’re just supposed to be friends. After his recent breakup he thought the odds of him finding a love again were improbable. She couldn't possibly love him.  He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kerri yelled out to him to get in the car before they were late.

 

The hour long flight back to LA was quiet. Serena and Trace were in the back trying to sleep off their hangovers and Kerri was busy writing down notes for work the next day. Justin gazed out his window and stared out at the clouds. He thought back to what Kerri said outside the car and wondered if she actually thought she loved him. He even wondered if he might possibly love her, and when his mind didn’t return an immediate 'no' to the question, he knew he had to do something before everything spiraled completely out of control.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Wednesday night. Lights, camera, action! Sony Computer Entertainment America threw a mega-Hollywood bash to celebrate the launch of a slew of top gaming media. Those who were invited got to "rock and roll all night" with various top-level Sony Executives, models, celebrities and other VIP wannabes at the Pacific Designs Center in LA. Also at the festivities were every major game publisher and developer including Activision, Lucas Arts, Infogrames, and Konami.

 

After walking down the "blue carpet"--it was blue instead of red because the PS2 logo is blue--and being bombarded by paparazzi, Kerri, Justin, Trace, Kelly, Kyle, Marty and Serena along with other guests were escorted to the parking garage. Parking garage? You read right. Much like Sony's previous parties at E3, this party was held in a parking garage. After being carted up via golf carts to the 3rd level, you couldn't help but feel the pulsating rhythms of trance music. Once again, Sony managed to transform a typical parking garage into something truly unique. With a massive center bar surrounded by huge demo stations of key upcoming titles played on massive projection screens, invited guests got to nibble on beef satay, nouveau sushi and cheese quesadillas.

 

On the outer rim of the parking lots were virtual living rooms set up with TVs, carpet, sofas and lamps, showing off the new HD playback features. After an hour of cocktails, the party was moved outside to the upper most level. Kelly, Serena, and Kerri sat around gossiping as they watched people playing different games.

 

Justin, Trace, and Marty were off drinking and trying out different demo games. Kyle was somewhere dropping Justin’s name every chance he could. Kerri sat silently watching Justin schmoozing with other celebrities. For the past couple of weeks he seemed distant. It was as though everything that had happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, because he never mentioned anything about it again. She wondered if she'd done or said something wrong. Kelly brushed it off as fatigue due to his gruesome promotional events similar to the one they were attending that night. “He’s so focused on the tour that’s coming up and all this other promotional stuff that his mind is preoccupied. I’m sure he isn’t purposely avoiding you, Ker.”

 

The three women sat around drinking and laughing amongst themselves. They chatted it up with a few celebrities like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tyra Banks, and Tyrese. Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys was cutting and scratching for the pumped up crowd and all Kerri wanted to do was go over and watch him DJ all night. Around the main stage and dance floor were four satellite platforms, complete with pairs of go-go girls. Spread throughout the level were flat panel plasma screens connected to PlayStation hardware showing off more new upcoming titles. The vibe was pure Hollywood and it was definitely the hottest ticket in town.

 

Kerri felt a bit out of her element. The drinks had loosened her up, but she still felt awkward being amongst people she had only seen via her TV screen. Their fame wasn't the thing bothering her either. It was the judgmental looks that were nipping away at her insides. In conversation, people would ask, “What would I have seen you in?”

 

Kerri would simply smile and say she wasn’t in anything. She was just a friend of a guest. She hated name-dropping and never mentioned that the guest was Justin. Most people would look at each other in an all too familiar way and excuse themselves to find others worth talking to.

 

Not everyone did that, but it became rather annoying after awhile. She felt more at ease when she met Tommy Lee. He had surrounded himself with beautiful females who were probably Playboy models for all she knew. He was very outgoing, very talkative, and actually seemed interested in their conversation. They actually even talked about getting together for lunch one day to discuss a band that he had recently heard and wanted to help them some exposure.

 

On her way to the bar, Kerri spotted Justin standing over at one of the consoles playing. There was a woman standing next to him that looked like Alyssa Milano. At closer glance, Kerri discovered that it was indeed the ‘Charmed’ star. It wasn’t like it was the first time that Kerri had seen her. They'd met a while ago at a few other promotional parties.

 

When Kerri returned from the bar, she noticed that Ms. Milano was still planted in the same spot, holding Justin’s beer as well as her own, laughing and joking as he played. There was a twinge of jealously and insecurity in the air, but Kerri refused to acknowledge it. If he wanted to talk to someone, who was she to feel this way about it? It was just two people talking. It wasn’t like he had his tongue down the girl’s throat. On her way back to the her seat she kept telling herself "We're just friends...We have an understanding."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Serena knocked on the open door and asked, “You want anything while I’m out, Ker?”

 

Kerri looked up from her laptop, pulling the headphones from her ears. "No. I'm good."

 

She glanced down at her phone, checking to see if she'd missed any calls. She and Justin had a routine where he'd call at least twice a week. Justin had called on Monday, but the two of them only spoke briefly before he had to hang up. It was now Sunday and Justin hadn’t called her back. She'd left a message for him on Wednesday. She’d text messaged him on Thursday to see if he was going to be in town so they could hang out, but he still hadn’t gotten back to her.

 

“He’ll call.” Serena said, hugging the doorframe.

 

Kerri acted oblivious. “Who? Justin?” she asked as she threw her phone back down on the bed.  “I know. I’m not worried about it. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t even had time to sleep these days, let alone talk to him.”

 

Kerri was lying and her best friend knew it. Kerri sighed and told her that she'd be back later. Kerri continued to type with one hand as she waved her off with the other, never meeting her friend’s gaze. When she heard the front door shut, her typing slowed to a halt. She sat there staring down at the screen. Her phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts. “Hello?” she answered anxiously.

 

“Hey. How’s it goin’?” a female voice asked.

 

Disappointedly, she replied, “Hey, Kelly. It’s going. Busy as usual. You?”

 

“You okay? You sound all down in the dumps.”

 

“No, I’m cool. Just really tired.”

 

“Well take a break. I’m over here having brunch with Tom’s trying to convince him to come out with us this weekend, but he is being a major queen right now. You need to talk to him...”

 

Kelly and Kerri talked briefly before Kelly’s phone cut out. Kerri gently closed the lid of her computer and set it aside before curling up into a ball under her throw blanket and starring out the blinds of her window.  

 

The vibration of bed and the ringtone from her phone forced Kerri's eyes to open slightly, discovering that the sunlight that had been streaming throughout her room was now replaced by moonlight. She squinted her eyes and looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 2am. “Hello?” She asked groggily.

 

“Oh, I thought you were out...I was gonna leave you a message.” Justin shouted.

 

Kerri could hear the clinking of glasses and people talking and laughing in the background. “Where are you?” She asked, sitting up to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

 

“On my way home. I just wanted to say hey, since I haven’t been able to talk to you all week. It’s been hectic lately.”

 

Kerri tried to talk to Justin but he could hardly hear what she was saying with all the noise. “Look! Get some sleep! I’ll call you tomorrow.”

 

“Okay, but I-“ It was too late. He had already hung up.

 

“Now why did you do that?” Trace asked as her and Justin walked out of the bar.

 

“Do what?” Justin asked, digging down into his pocket to find his keys.

 

Trace jshook his head as they walked along the sidewalk. He didn’t say a word. From all their years spent together, he didn’t need to. Justin automatically knew what he was thinking. He told him about what she Kerri had said in Vegas. Trace was about to respond but they were briefly interrupted by a group of paparazzi chasing behind them taking pictures. Once they reached the parking garage, three attendants immediately let them pass through while keeping the photographers at bay.

 

Justin drove down the ramp to the exit and pulled the ticket out of his window to pay. He generously tipped the three attendants and thanked them before pulling out of the garage. He stopped once more and beeped his horn at the photographers who were now blocking him in. He stuck up his middle finger and yelled a few expletives out the window, until the attendants showed up and helped him once more.

 

As they drove back to Justin's, he patiently waited on Trace to give him his usual advice of getting out of the situation while he still had time. But Justin was shocked when Trace asked, “Well she never said I'm in love with you right? She's a bigger smart ass than you, Justin. I just don’t see her coming up and spilling her heart out to you…Or to anyone for that matter.”

 

“I don’t know. It just made me feel uneasy.”

 

“You’re spending way too much time with her. You’re single. You need to start acting like it. Go out on dates. Flirt a little!”

 

Now this was the best friend he knew and loved. Trace pulled down the visor and whipped out a CD and slid it into the stereo before looking towards his friend. “The two of you see so much of each other that I think you’re losing sight of the fact that you are only friends…Friends who fuck half the time, but just friends none the less.”

 

Justin’s phone calls became nonexistent over the next two weeks. Everyone around her would assure Kerri that he was just really busy rehearsing. But Kerri knew something was up. For Justin to not even text her? Well, something just wasn’t right.  He’d gone out of town to do some interviews over at MTV and had recently confirmed his upcoming tour and the press was going crazy. When he came back into town later on that week, he called Kerri and asked her to meet him at his house.

 

Kerri was too quick to grab her keys and run out the door at eleven o’clock at night to see him. But she had to talk to him. She had to know what was going on with him. That’s at least what she kept telling herself as she sped to his house to meet him.  They spent the night together, but neither of them slept a wink. Kerri barely got in a "Hello" before he dropped his bags and took her into his arms.  She had wanted to talk, but when he pinned her up against the back of the front door and urgently pressed his lips to hers, she could barely remember her own name, let alone what she wanted to talk about.

 

“Did I sound needy when I called?” Justin yelled out from the bathroom.

 

“Just a tad.” Kerri laughed as she put on his robe. “I was just as needy though. You didn’t notice that I got here before you?”

 

As she rose off the bed to find her clothes, she felt a twinge in her gut. It almost resembled pain and regret. Over the past two weeks, Justin couldn't even spare her five minutes of his time. But now he suddenly had all the time in the world to talk to her about what he was going to do to Kerri when he saw her. As the reality of it all set in, that sinking feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, eating away at her. She did her best to ignore it as she picked their clothes up off the floor.

 

“I’m at least good for something.” His voice whispered in her ear.

 

Kerri was startled by his presence behind her and shuddered when his breath hit her lobe. He wrapped his arms around her waist and undid the robe, letting his hands roam up and down her breasts as he lightly kissed her neck. “I can go another nine rounds if you can.”

 

“I’m hungrier than I am horny right now, Tyson.” She smiled rubbing his hands over her belly. “Maybe a little later after my stomach stops growling.”

 

Kerri wasn’t hungry at all. Her stomach was in knots. She retreated way from his embrace and into the kitchen to cook them something to eat. Kerri kept playing things over in her head and couldn’t figure out if she was right for feeling the way she did, or if she was merely blowing things out of proportion. Justin soon joined her and grabbed a plate, sitting on the couch to watch 'The Osbourne's' as he ate. Kerri sat next to him, barely touching her food as she quietly observed him laughing at something Sharon had said to Kelly about her vagina.

 

Okay this is normal, she thought to herself. This is what they usually did when they spent time together. Eat, hang out on the couch and watch TV. It must have all been in her head.  She watched as Justin continued to scarf down his food. He hardly stopped to chew. When he was finished he took his plate into the kitchen and came back rushing to put on his sneakers. “I gotta go to the gym and meet my trainer for a couple hours. Then I have to go and talk to Marty about choreography. So you can let yourself out when you get ready and I’ll call you later on.” He rushed, kissing her cheek.

 

“Whoa, whoa!" Kerri shook her head trying to let her brain catch up with what he’d just said. "Hold the hell up!”

 

“What?” He asked digging into his jacket pockets to get his keys.

 

“Can you slow down for just a second?” She asked patting the couch.

 

He walked back over to the couch in a huff and flopped down next to her. Kerri fiddled with her charm bracelet before looking back at him and asking, “Is there something wrong? Are things between us cool?”

 

“Of course they are. What would make you think that?”

 

“Well, let’s see…Could it be the fact that I just spent half the night with your dick buried inside me and this morning you're rushing outta here trying to get as far away from me as you can?”

 

“No. It’s nothing like that at all." he replied nervously.  "I’ve been so busy trying to juggle a million things at once that when I do get a chance to breathe, I still run around like I’m working. I’m sorry. With Trace, it’s understood. I sometimes forget you aren’t used to all this.”

 

“You’re not sticking your dick in Trace! So I think it's ridiculous to make a comparison between us...Unless there is something you want to tell me about the two of you.” Kerri tried to joke to lighten the tension in the room. “I just get this feeling that you're avoiding me for some reason. And to be brutally honest with you, Justin, last night wasn't all I'd hoped it'd be...It was like you weren't even there.”

 

That was the first time that anyone had something unfavorable to say about his skills in the bedroom. Rather than get into an argument about it he said, "No. I’m just really stressed right now.”

 

“Yeah. That’s what everyone keeps telling me. From Serena all the way up to Trace.  But then you call me from this club and that bar or people will mention they saw you here and hung out with you there…It seems you have time for everyone else but me lately.” Kerri turned her body to face Justin and looked deep into his eyes. “And that’s fine. But I’d rather you be straight with me instead of handing me down some lame ass excuses. I’m always straight up with you, whether you want me to be or not. That’s all I want in return.”

 

Justin got up and ran his hands across his head. “I think we’re spending too much time together..."

 

Kerri sat and listened to him explain how awkward  he felt talking to other women because she was around. He was like a recording, repeating  everything that Trace had said weeks earlier. Kerri's heart began to ache after discovering Justin felt the way he did about their friendship.  She asked how long he had been feeling that way and he confessed it was ever since their trip to Vegas for her birthday.

 

“Oh that’s what this is about?" Kerri started to laugh. "The one time I attempt to be more open with you and tell you how much I appreciated you as a friend, it backfires.”

 

She could see the feeling of relief wash over his face. Guys are too funny, she thought to herself. Justin apologized for not bringing it up right when it happened. With everything out in the open and settled, Kerri headed towards the kitchen to clean up their plates. Her back was turned to him as she washed the dishes. “I met someone recently.” He muttered.

 

That feeling in the put of her stomach was back again. She stopped in mid-wipe, “Oh yeah?”

 

“Yeah. I was thinking of asking her out to dinner, but I wanted you to know…Keep everything out in the open." He said as he zipped up his hoodie. He tucked his hands inside the pockets and looked at her. "I hated not being able to talk you lately.”

 

“You didn't have to, but I appreciate it.” She smiled. “Anyone I know?”

 

“Yeah. You’ve met her before. Alyssa Milano.”

 

 

 

“Who’s The Boss, Alyssa Milano?”

 

“Yeah.” Kerri said, dipping her spoon into the carton of Cookies and Cream ice cream. "I can't compete with that."

 

But was she supposed to be competing with anyone at all? Kerri and Justin were only friends. What was there to compete over? Things were becoming complicated and the line between their friendship and everything else was becoming blurred.

 

"I hate to point out the obvious, but you're out of your league, Ker." Serena stated, grabbing the carton from her friend to dip in her spoon. "Most of those famous people stick together. They may slum it for a while to get a different taste in their mouth but in the end they stay with their own kind. People like her have personal trainers, plastic surgeons on speed dial, and a crew of people to wipe her ass just so she won't have to do it herself…All of which you don't have and probably never will."

 

"Oh, thanks Serena." Kerri snatched the carton from her friend’s grip and got up to put the ice cream back in the freezer. "I mean it doesn't matter anyway."

 

"This is me you're talking to. It does matter. You're falling for him."

 

"Would you stop? I am not." Kerri responded defensively, slamming the freezer door shut.

 

Serena's head fell back against the couch as she laughed, "Oh puuullllease! You two steps away from tattooing his name on your ass!"

 

Serena could see that Kerri had grown rather attached to Justin. She was terrified that Kerri was getting in over her head. You just can't mix friendship with sex. It's like trying to mix oil with water. It rarely works out and friendships are torn apart because of it. "...All I'm saying is that when you start spending so much time with one person, you tend to wonder what it would be like if you were to kiss. And then you wonder how they are in bed, and it leads to exactly where you are now. You guys need time apart. And now that he is about to ask that Milano broad out on a date, you definitely need someone else to occupy your time, Ker."

 

Kerri tossed and turned all night thinking about what Serena had said. She hated admitting when her friend was right. Maybe the only reason they slept together was because of the fact that they were around each other so much. They were both lonely. Maybe it was only a matter of convenience. She couldn’t be falling for him. They hardly knew each other. She needed to clear her head and focus her attention onto something else besides Justin…Something...Anything other than sitting in the house and wondering what he was doing.

 

The following weekend, she found herself volunteering alongside Serena and a slew of her co-workers at a charity event to raise funds for underprivileged children. Most of the radio stations and various other organizations had set-up booths for various activities for the kids.

 

"Okay, sweetie. One more dabble of blue here..." Kerri lightly dipped her brush into the paint and brought it up to the little girl’s cheek. "Tada!  Blue's Clues, Blue’s Clues!" She sang, admiring her work.

 

She took the small mirror brought it up to the tiny girl's face. "Oh wow!" the bright-eyed child exclaimed as she looked at her cheek. Her mother leaned down and thanked Kerri once more before taking her daughter's hand and leading her away.

 

Kerri cleaned off her brushes and started to setup for the next child who would come along. As she was leaning over to the side wiping the brushes clean, she heard someone sit down in the chair. "And what would you like painted on your face today?" she asked.

 

"Hmmm…I don't know. What do you suggest?" the voice was rather deep for it to be that of a child.

 

Kerri looked over and noticed that it was David. It’s like when one person walks out, another slips right in the open door as its shutting. She looked down and wiped her brush again and said, "Hey."

 

"How you been?" he asked looking out at the droves of kids running towards the other side of the field to participate in the water games.

 

"I've been good!  Yourself?" she asked looking in the opposite direction for some sign of Serena.

 

"Seen better days..."

 

Kerri secretly reveled in the fact that things weren't going well for David. As far as she was concerned, he deserved every bit of bad luck that came his way. "Sorry to hear that. Hopefully things turn around for you soon." She said half-heartedly.

 

"They already have...I bumped into you." He smiled.

 

Kerri rolled her eyes as she replaced the murky paint filled water with a fresh cup. "I didn't get a chance to thank you for the gift. It was very nice."

 

"I'm glad you liked it. I stood in line for about 2 hours waiting to have it personally autographed by him."

 

David had gotten Brad Pitt to autograph a copy of "The Fight Club" for Kerri, when he was in town doing an interview at the station. Kerri felt uncomfortable being alone with David again. She kept looking around trying to figure out where the heck Serena had disappeared to.

 

They continued to talk for a few more minutes until a young boy and his dad walked over wanting his face painted like Spiderman.

 

"I'll bump into you later." David smiled before getting up and walking away.

 

Kerri took a deep breath before focusing her attention back to the little boy. "Okay let's see...Spiderman is green right?"

 

The little boy laughed. "No! That’s the hulk, silly."

 

"Ah, that's right." She smiled dipping her brush into the red paint.

 

She and David bumped into each other another five times that day. The more they talked, the easier it became for her to breath around him. It was still hard to look him in the eyes. She did her best to look down or look away. Anytime her eyes met his, visions from the past raced through her mind. Even after all this time, she still wasn’t quite over it. Why did it hurt so bad? She couldn't still have feelings for him...Or could she?

 

Justin was busy off wining and dining Alyssa. They'd been seeing each other on and off for about a month and things seemed to be going well. He'd barely talked to Kerri during that time. Their schedules seemed to clash. Anytime he would call, her voicemail would kick in or Serena would be on the other end of the line telling him she wasn't home. He was rather curious as to what was keeping his buddy so busy.

 

Early Sunday morning, after he had said goodbye to Alyssa and left her house to head home, he called Kerri. A tiny voice whispered, "Hello?"

 

"It's about damn time you answered your phone! Why haven't you returned any of my messages, mofo?"

 

"Hey. I’m sorry. I've been really busy."

 

Justin thought it was a dig to pay him back for the month before. "Uh huh…I got you. So what's up?"

 

The two of them talked briefly about work. Kerri asked about Alyssa and Justin went on to tell her about things that had happened over the past three weeks between the two of them. "…We ended up going back to her place for a drink and-"

 

"Okay...I don't need to know every single detail, J."

 

"Sorry." He smiled.

 

It was hard for Kerri to hear about the wonderful time he was having with Alyssa. She was jealous and hated it. Kerri was supposed to be the one he called to tell about his day, not this new chick. She was the one he was supposed to call when he needed advice. Kerri didn’t really even care about all the other stuff…That’s at least what she kept telling herself. But she had to pull the phone away from her ear when he started talking about kissing Alyssa.

 

Even though the two of them hadn't talked in almost a month, it didn't mean that they weren't on each other's minds. Justin was working up the courage to tell her when he noticed that Kerri was whispering a lot. He was just about to ask when he heard a deep voice mumble something in the background. "Who's that?" He asked, curiously pressing his finger to his other ear so that he could hear more clearly.

 

"Don't worry about it." She smiled.

 

Justin sat there trying to figure out who the hell was sitting in her apartment. Why hadn’t she said anything earlier about this guy. He tried his best play it cool. "Uh uh...How you gonna sit there all quietly listening to me go on and on about my dates and not tell me about your friend over there?"

 

"Cause it ain't none of your business. It's not my fault that you like to over share with me!"

 

"That's what friends do...They share things with each other." He coaxed.

 

"Well I think I've shared enough with you lately. Don't you think?” she laughed.

 

"That's fucked up." He complained.

 

There was more mumbling and he faintly heard Kerri begging the person to stop. Justin tried not to imagine what they could possibly be doing over there. But his mind was racing a mile a minute thinking about her lying naked under the sheets with this guy in bed behind her, kissing her, and caressing her like Justin had so many nights before. And probably on those brand new Egyptian sheets he had bought her. He was pulled away from his thoughts when Kerri uncovered her hand from the phone and told him that she had to go before she was late.

 

"Where are you going? We aren't through with this discussion, Ker."

 

"Bye, friend!" She chuckled shaking her head as she hit end on the call.

 

"Kerri? Hello!?"

 

Over the next several days, Justin was texting Kerri non-stop.  He needed to find out more about this guy. But Kerri was always vague in her responses. He stopped by her apartment a couple times to see her, but she was never home and Serena wouldn’t even give him any information. He’d invite her out with him, Alyssa and his gang of “friends” but she'd always politely decline, stating that she'd made other plans. Since when did she make other plans that didn’t include him? Since when was she the one who was too busy to talk or hang out? He didn’t like the distance growing between them.

 

"...I mean that's up to you, Justin. If you enjoy being with her then talk to her about it."

 

Kerri could hear him sighing on the other end. "I just don't see where talking about it would do anything. We have fun together, but we just aren't clicking on many other levels. I can’t really have a conversation with her.  We just don't get that deep."

 

Kerri propped the phone up on her shoulder as she laced up her sneakers, "Well you said you were only looking to have fun right now? What more did you want?"

 

"I don't know. I just...I want to be able to talk about more than just what my favorite position is or who did what on The Real World last night. We've basically run out of things to talk about."

 

Justin missed being able to sit there for hours and actually talk to someone. Someone who would actually listen to what he had to say and would honestly respond with something other than, “That’s nice" or "Good for you.” He missed his friend.

 

On his way home from a meeting the next afternoon, he decided to stop by and try to surprise Kerri. Only it was him who ended up being surprised when David opened the door to greet him.

 

"Kerri ran out to pick up Serena from the auto shop. They should be back soon." David said as he walked into the living room and sat back down on the recliner to watch basketball.

 

Justin watched him for a moment, seething at the fact that this guy was sitting in his favorite chair and watching basketball like he belonged there. He slowly inched his way over and found a seat on the couch to the left of David and tried to spark up a conversation by asking who was playing.

 

He hadn't realized that the guy Kerri had been seeing was her ex-boyfriend. She'd never told Justin who the guy was and he now realized why. The more he thought about it the angrier he became. She had eventually opened up and told him about her past relationship with David, but he thought Kerri would die first before she'd ever give him a second chance. "So you and Kerri are back together?" Justin asked.

 

"I'm working on it." David answered turning up the volume a little so he could hear.

 

The two men sat and watched the game until the commercials started to run. Justin couldn't hold his tongue any longer and looked across at David and said, "You really broke her heart, man. I hope you don't plan on doing it all over again."

 

David shot him a glare. "What business is it of yours?"

 

"She's my friend. I'm only trying to look out for her."

 

"You don't even know her.” David rolled his eyes. ‘You think you can just walk in here and talk to me like you're Mr. Know It All? Do you know anything about her past? Where she grew up? Who her parents were? Why she's so uptight and wary of everyone she meets?"

 

Justin merely nodded his head, not knowing what to say. It was true. Kerri hadn't talked about her childhood, or her parents.

 

"Yeah, I didn't think so. You don't know shit about her or me, so don't act like you do.”

 

Justin was furious. Mostly pissed off by the fact that this guy was right, than anything else. “Well, David, I do know that part of the reason she doesn’t trust people definitely has something to do with you” he spat.

 

With his voice raised, he said, “No matter what she may tell you, she still loves me. And I will get her back."

 

“The fuck you will! That'll never happen!” Justin yelled.

 

"What the hell’s going on?" Kerri called out from the hallway, placing her keys and bag down on the table by the closet.

 

"Nothing. Just us guys enjoying the game!" Justin smiled, slyly glaring over at David for compliance.

 

"Yeah. Guy talk."

 

Kerri walked over to Justin, who had stood up from the couch to greet her. She leaned up and hugged him lightly. It felt awkward being in his arms. She didn't know if it had anything to do with the fact that David was there or the fact that they hadn't seen each other in awhile. But the hug didn't feel the same way it had so many times in the past. Justin apologized for coming at a bad time and told her that he would see her later.

 

She tightened her grip on his bicep, "No stay. I haven't seen you in awhile. Who knows the next chance I'll get to sit and talk with you?"

 

He glanced over towards David’s direction. "No. I didn't mean to intrude."

 

"It's okay.” David interrupted. “I need to go and take care of something anyway." He told Kerri he would see her later and then headed out the door.

 

Serena stood around in the kitchen watching them, pretending that she was looking for something to eat. Kerri and Justin looked towards her in silence. She wanted to hang around and be nosy but judging by the looks on their faces, she thought it would be best if she eavesdropped from her bedroom. When they were finally alone, Justin pinched Kerri’s arm, "Why didn't you tell me about your ex?"

 

"Because I already knew what you would say."

 

"You deserve better."

 

“Well I live in the real world. It may not get any better than this.” She stated kicking her shoes off. “He cares about me. People can change, right?”

 

“Kerri, you can’t be serious!” He huffed running his hands over his face.

 

"Calm down!  It's not like I'm marrying him.” She made her way over to the table to look through the mail and avoid his judgmental stares. “We’re just hanging out.”

 

“What the fuck you mean hanging out?” he glared.

 

Kerri could feel his eyes burning holes through the back of her head and she briefly luxuriated in the idea that he might possibly be jealous. “Not like you and I used to hang out, Justin. We’re just talking.” She responded, never turning around to meet his gaze.

 

Justin took a deep breath and walked away from the entire conversation to get some air out on the balcony. Kerri followed him, finding a spot next to him on the railing. They looked out at the city as the sun began to set behind the hills. He stood there quiet, intently listening to her recount her recent reunion with her ex.

 

Kerri and David had attempted to go out a few times together, but she never really felt comfortable being with him again. Things just seemed so different now. She still cared about him but didn’t believe she could ever trust him again. David had come over that afternoon unexpectedly, trying to persuade her to have dinner with him later on that night. She was in the middle of giving him another excuse, when Serena called her needing a ride home because her car broke down.

 

David was slowly wearing Kerri down and she knew that if given the chance he'd eventually reel her back in. He already knew her, her past, and her quirks. He wasn’t complicated. She didn't have worry about photographers following them everywhere, or how a simply touch of the hand or hug would be perceived by hundreds of fans. He was a normal and predictable--for the most part.

 

Kerri was growing tired of spending her nights alone, thoughts consumed by the feelings going on deep inside her. She just wanted to disappear inside someone else for awhile, in hopes that it would quiet all the voices inside her brain that were telling her to look over at this specimen of a man standing next to her with the captivating blue eyes. This man who would, at the drop of a dime, fly her across the country, just because he wanted to see her face. With sex comes consequences, and that was exactly what she hoped she was dealing with.

 

Tired of talking about David, Kerri changed the subject. She made her way back into the apartment and over to the fridge and asked, “So how are things with the Holiwell sister?"

 

"Over..." he said, plopping down on his favorite recliner.

 

"What? When?"

 

“It wasn’t going anywhere. We're still friends though.”

 

Kerri handed him a coke, and curled her legs beneath her on the couch, “Was it supposed to go somewhere? What happened to all that talk about I’m single, I just wanna flirt a little, go out and date.” She mocked affectionately.

 

“You’re right. I just…I just thought I'd be able to get more than just a good time out of it.”

 

What he really wanted to tell her was that he hadn’t been able to find anyone else that was more stimulating than her…Both mentally and physically. "The entire time that I was with her, I thought about you. We'd be out somewhere and I'd be wondering what you were up to. That’s why I'm always texting you." He turned his head to look Kerri in the eyes. "I'm out with this beautiful, sexy woman who I've had a crush on ever since I can remember and all I could think about was how much fun I could be having laying around on the couch with you instead of having to dodge double the paparazzi. Don’t you find that strange?"

 

Justin was fishing…Fishing for her to tell him that she felt the same way. Some sign that he wasn’t the only one struggling with his feelings.

 

"No. It’s not strange at all.” She smiled taking a sip of her drink. “I have that effect on a lot of men."

 

Justin got up from the recliner and proceeded to smack Kerri in the head with a throw pillow. He leaned his weight into her, causing her to apologize profusely so he would allow her to breath. He shifted his weight over and allowed her to sit up. He gently moved a piece of hair out of her face, "I'm being serious, Ker. Can you stop being a smart ass for two seconds please?"

 

"I'm sorry." Kerri smiled lightly patting Justin’s chest, trying to cleverly put some distance between their faces.

 

Just as Kerri was about to speak she was startled by the sound of a Serena opening her bedroom door. She'd overheard Justin and didn't want her presence to hinder Kerri from admitting to the man that she felt the same way. She made up an excuse and told them she'd be back in a couple hours.

 

Kerri looked back at Justin who was now staring at her mouth. She could see the wheels turning in his brain as he let his tongue snake out to wet his bottom lip and knew that being alone together in the apartment was the worse possible scenario. “You wanna go and get something to eat?” she asked.

 

It was all she could think of at the last minute. She needed to be out in public with him…Somewhere things couldn’t escalate into more than just conversation.

 

“Ummm…Sure.”

 

Kerri grabbed her keys and told him she'd drive. She made up an excuse about paparazzi knowing his car, but really just didn’t want him in control of where they ended up at the end of the night. If he had it his way they would surely end up back at his house.

 

Once they were downtown, Kerri and Justin spotted a quaint little restaurant and decided it would be the perfect spot to grab something to eat. As they walked up to the entrance Kerri noticed that there were tables outside in a fenced area for guests to eat. It was a nice night to sit outside. "Why don't we sit out here?"

 

"I don't think that would be a good idea." He replied.

 

"Why not?"

 

"You already know why." He stated, cautiously looking across the street to see if there were any photographers in sight.

 

"Nobody's gonna bother us out here.”

 

“I’m really not in the mood tonight, Kerri. Let’s just go inside.”

 

“Stop being paranoid. Come on.” she urged him.

 

Just as Justin was about to walk over to grab them a table a small group of college girls came rushing across the street. "I told you it was him! Can we please get your autograph, Justin?"

 

Kerri stood to the side and watched as he wrote his signature on some napkins and the back of a menu. He glanced her way and gave her that all too familiar "I told you so" look before flashing a smile and continuing to sign.

 

The small group of girls brought attention from people who were outside eating as well as those just walking by. Curiosity caused many to leave their seats to find out why the small crowd was gathered. Justin did his best to make his way through the drones of people who were now vying for his attention, but it was almost impossible. Kerri went inside and asked one of the managers for his assistance.

 

A couple of busboys came outside and led him through the crowd. Once they were safely inside the building Justin suggested  it would be a good idea if they left before the paparazzi got wind of where they were. The manager suggested that they leave through the private employee parking lot to avoid the crowd gathered outside peering through the windows to catch of glimpse of the singer. Kerri could hear people talking about Justin and whispering to one another about her as she walked out front to get the car. "…Who's that girl with him? I hope he isn't out on a date with her...I mean look at her…Her ass is huge…He could do so much better…"

 

They were both silent when Justin got into the car. She could tell he was off in his own little world and decided to just drive around for awhile so he could clear his head. About a half hour later, they ended up in a part of town that Justin didn’t recognize. The streets no longer looked as clean as they did on Santa Monica Blvd. The houses weren’t as nice and there were a few more bums than usual. As she continued to drive he started to notice a pattern. Bars. Lots and lots of bars covering front doors, windows, and steering wheels. He also noticed that there weren’t that many people walking around even though it was barely eight o’clock at night on a weekend.

 

“Where are we?” he asked, making sure the doors were locked.

 

“Somewhere we won’t be bothered.”

 

“Yeah but are we gonna get back alive is my question.” He chuckled.

 

“Stop being so boushy.”

 

After a few blocks, they pulled up in front of a strip of buildings that looked like they could use a team of demolition experts. Justin looked out his window and could see people walking in and out of the liquor store on the corner as well as the bustle of people going into the Chinese takeout place next door. His eyes finally gazed upon the neon sign in the window in front of him. The word ‘Mama’s’ kept flashing back at him.

 

Justin reluctantly got out of the car and followed her inside. He could hear Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home” playing softly throughout the tiny restaurant. Although the outside seemed unsightly, the inside was a different story. As they made their way over to a booth near the window, he noticed hundreds of photos adorning the walls as well as different music memorabilia. The place was cozy and had a very homey atmosphere to it and it didn’t take him long to stop looking outside to check on the car. He waited as Kerri scooted into the booth and instead of sitting across from her, he sat beside her.

 

“The food here is incredible.” Kerri said as she handed him a menu. “And it’s ten times cheaper than that stuff that you are used to eating on the other side of town.” She nudged him with her elbow and he finally cracked a smile.

 

When their waitress arrived at the table, Justin noticed she didn’t have on a uniform. Just some jeans, a t-shirt, an apron, and a name tag. She didn’t even have a pad or pen in her hand to take their order. She gave them the friendliest smile and asked, “What are you two in the mood the drink tonight?”

 

Kerri ordered them a pitcher of beer and told her that they wanted Mama’s Specialty Platter.

 

As the two of them sat there and talked he noticed that he hadn’t been bothered by anyone asking for an autograph or wondering why he looked familiar. Everyone there was caught up in their own conversations and didn’t give him a second glance. Out of habit, he looked out the window to see if there were any photographers snapping photos and he was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t see anyone.

 

When the food arrived, Justin instantly felt like he was back home sitting at the dinner table at his mom’s house. He gazed down at the large plate of Barbeque chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens staring back up at him. When he took a bite out of his food, Kerri could hear a loud moan escape his lips. She looked over at him and noticed his eyes fluttering as he chewed. She giggled lightly, before digging her fork in to eat.

 

When he was done eating he looked over at her and asked, “Do you bring all the guys here to get them addicted to you and this food?” Justin asked as he stretched his arms out, letting one fall behind her on the edge of the booth.

 

“You know it…Gotta keep you coming back for something other than my incredible beauty.” She joked.

 

He smiled patting his now distended abdomen with his free hand. “Yeah I can see why David won’t leave you alone now.”

 

Kerri suddenly grew quiet. Justin cursed himself for ruining the moment with thoughts of her ex. She gazed up at him and stared into his eyes for a minute. He could see her struggling with something. He curled his fingers around her arm, rubbing it gently, waiting patiently for her to talk when she was ready. “…You’re the only person I've brought here. Serena doesn’t even know about this place.”

 

Justin was now the one who found himself quiet and at a loss for words. Just as he was about to speak, an older heavy-set woman came up to them and jovially said, “I thought I saw you out here, Care Bear!”

 

Kerri’s eyes lit up when she looked up and saw the woman. She set her knees up onto the bench of the booth and leaned across Justin to give the woman a big hug. “Hey, Ms. Mable! How are you?”

 

“Care Bear?” Justin asked looking up at Kerri.

 

“That’s what I call little Ms. Kerri here. She’s my Care Bear.” The large woman replied, finding a seat across from them in the booth.

 

Kerri introduced Justin to Ms. Mable and explained to him that she owned the restaurant and had cooked the extraordinary food they had just eaten. “Kerri's been in here buggin me since she was a teenager…Always sitting over there in the corner on that chair, reading a book and drinking a banana milkshake.” She pointed out. “This is the first time she hasn’t come by herself. I wanted to come out and embarrass her.” Justin squirmed in his seat when he saw the woman’s eyes on him, looking him up and down. “He’s cute, Kerri.” She grinned.

 

Kerri’s face started to turn red. “He’s just a friend, Ms. Mable.”

 

“Mmm Hmm…”

 

Ms. Mable looked up and motioned behind Justin, “Over here, Sandy.”

 

He turned around and noticed a woman bringing over a white cardboard box and setting it on the table along with two plates of pie.

 

“Well, Baby, I gotta get back in the kitchen, but wanted to say hello.” Kerri leaned over and gave the woman another hug. “I’ll talk to you soon, Care Bear. It was nice meeting you, Justin. Don’t be a stranger!”

 

Justin gently hugged the woman and waved at her as she walked away.  He sat back down and looked down at the plate in front of him. “Is this peach cobbler?”

 

“Yep.” Kerri smiled as she slid her fork into the pie and brought it up to his lips. Justin was almost afraid to open his mouth and taste it. “Don’t worry. I’m sure your grandma’s is still the best.”

 

Justin parted his lips and Kerri slowly slid the fork into his mouth. She could see his body slump down into the seat and couldn’t help but laugh at his face. “Oh…my…God, Kerri.” He mumbled between bites. “This is definitely close.”

 

These moments with her were exactly what he needed. He had stopped thinking about the extra media attention he had been receiving lately because of his involvement with Alyssa. He had temporarily forgotten about the craziness he called his life. It was like she knew exactly what he needed without him having to say a word. He watched her intently as she finished her pie. Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo” was playing in the background. Justin wrapped his shoulder around Kerri’s neck and pulled her in closer to him as he sang softly in her ear.

 

You give me, keep giving me the sweetest taboo

Too good for me

You've got the biggest heart

Sometimes I think you're just too good for me

 

Kerri voice caught in her throat when she tried her best to make a sarcastic gesture about being too good for him. He poked her in her side and finished the last bit of her pie.  She smiled as she watched him enjoying himself.  She could see a smudge of barbeque sauce on his cheek. She took her thumb and wet it with her tongue to wipe it off.

 

Justin wiped his face in disgust as if he were ten years old again, "Did you just pull a mom move on me, Kerri?"

 

"Oh don’t act like you haven’t had more than my spit on your face a time or two, Timberlake." she whispered in his ear.

 

And with that one statement, she'd accidentally opened the floodgates.  She could feel his breath hitting her neck. "Were you thinking about that too?  Cause I was just about to make a suggestion that we-"

 

Thank goodness the waitress came back over with the check or Kerri was sure she would have definitely been a goner had he been allowed to finish his thought. Kerri shoved Justin’s wallet away and proceeded to pay the bill for their food. “Mable said the pie’s on the house, babe.” The woman said as she patted her hand against the white cardboard box she had brought over earlier.

 

“Oh, tell her I said thank you!” Kerri smiled.

 

Justin got up and helped her out of the booth. Kerri grabbed the pie and went out ahead of him to the car. She didn’t notice Justin take and set a hundred dollar bill on the table as a tip. When he got to the car, she was setting the pie down in the backseat. As she closed the door and turned, Justin was standing right in front of her, dangerously close to her face yet again.

 

"You never responded to what I said earlier."

 

"Which was?" She smiled coyly.

 

"The whole bit about you constantly being on my mind." he whispered softly in her ear.

 

Kerri's eyes floated up towards the sky, "What did you want me to say, Justin?"

 

She could feel him teasing her. Letting his lips get close to her skin, but never touching her.

 

"Just be straight with me..." he whispered in her other ear, letting his fingertip skim up and down her neck.

 

She hesitated. Trying to figure out what to say. His teeth were now grazing her jaw line and it wasn't helping her concentrate at all. "I'm afraid,” she whispered back.

 

 

 

Justin pushed her hair back over her shoulders and stroked the back of her neck as he kissed her temple, "You don't have to be afraid with me, Kerri."
 
She looked up into his eyes. They were pleading with her for a response. She wanted to tell him that she was a wreck without him. That she had played back his saved voicemails a million times just so she could hear his voice. That she couldn't close her eyes without staring at the picture of the two of them in London that she had on her nightstand. She wanted to tell him all of those things and so much more, but instead said, "Wow! Have your eyes always been this blue?"
 
Justin sucked in his teeth at her. "Girl, stop trying to change the subject." He moved closer, forcing Kerri to step backwards against the car.  He wrapped his arm around her lower back, smoothing his hands against her shirt. He rested his forehead against hers and said, "I think about you constantly…Even when I don't want to."
 
Kerri furrowed her brows at him. "When you don't want to?"
 
"Kerri…Come on." he looked up, sighing heavily.
 
"You said it. I'm just trying to understand."
 
"Times when I should be focused on work, I'm sitting there wondering what you're doing...Wanting to have you around. I just wanna know I'm not alone with these thoughts."
 
Kerri looked down at his shirt, running her hands up his forearms slowly before finally saying, "No. You're not alone, Justin."
 
Justin could hear a group of men down on the corner at the liquor store arguing back and forth. He let his lips lightly graze her nose before asking, "Why don't we go back to my place and finish this discussion?" He lifted his head slightly and kissed her forehead once more. "Maybe watch a movie?"
 
Kerri chuckled lightly, looking up to meet his gaze. "A movie huh? What about your car?"
 
"I'll get it tomorrow." he smiled, placing a light kiss on her cheek.
 
"Oh, are you planning on having me spend the night?"
 
"Only if you want to." he whispered softly in her ear, causing her to shudder slightly.
 
This was dangerous. He was flirting and she was flirting right back. He was touching and she was touching and Kerri knew it was only a matter of time before they ended up right back where they started. "Come on, J. We should start heading back so you can get your car." She tried to free herself from his embrace but he was too strong.
 
Justin nibbled at her neck, "You don't wanna watch a movie with me?"
 
Hell no, she didn't want to watch a movie with him! She wanted him to take her back to his place and bend her over the couch and dive into her so hard that she would feel it the following week! She wanted him to smack her ass and ask her "You like that?" just so she could tease him by not responding, forcing him to smack her ass even harder, leaving his palm print for her to see in the morning. Kerri shook the thoughts from her head and tried again to push his body away from hers. "Justin…Please."
 
"Please, what?" he whispered as he kissed her neck.
 
"Mira! Kerri!" a voice yelled out. "This puto botherin' you?"
 
They both turned they heads and saw two large and burley Hispanic men covered in tattoos stalking towards them.   Justin backed away slightly from Kerri when he spotted the one man cracking his knuckles as they made their way closer. "No, Papo." She smiled as she skipped over and gave both men a hug. "He's cool."
 
Kerri introduced to the men and they talked briefly before Papo said, "You should stop by da crib. Carlos and Nina are there. Some of da old crew are over. I was just grabbin' another case of beers. I know they'd love to see you, Mija!"
 
"Well we were about to head home." She said, not sure on whether or not Justin would be comfortable going back to Papo's. "It's been a long day."
 
"Alright. But if you change your mind..." Papo smiled pointing back to the case of beer his friend was holding up, taunting them with it as he walked backwards towards his car.
 
Kerri laughed and yelled that she would catch him later. As she was starting up the car to leave, Justin looked over at her and asked, "You don't wanna go?"
 
"No, we can head home." she shrugged, her response tipping him off to the fact that her decision was more to appease him than anything else.
 
"Come on. Let's go." he patted her leg. "I'm always dragging you out with my friends."
 
Kerri sat there for a moment thinking. She wanted to go, but wasn't sure that it would be his type of scene. Papo may only have a few friends over hanging out or it could end up being a house full of people and inevitable drama. But...he did only have one case of beer, she thought to herself. So it might be okay. "You sure?"
 
"Yeah." he smiled. "Let's go."
 
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, hesitating slightly as she removed her lips from his skin. Justin turned his face in towards hers, wanting to kiss her, but she backed away. "We'll just stay an hour and then we can go." she assured him, adjusting her seatbelt.
 
"Whenever, Kerri. It doesn't matter. I want to meet your friends."
 
The two of them drove down the block and around the corner to a small light blue ranch styled house nestled at the end of the street. They could hear music blaring from the backyard. Kerri turned off the car, leaving the windows rolled down slightly. Justin was weary about the windows being open but Kerri assured him that no one would mess with her car while it was parked in front of Papo's. Justin looked around and noticed three old rickety chairs sitting on the front stoup near the front door. There was barely any grass on the lawn. It was mostly dirt with a few patches of green here and there.
 
As they made their way around to the back of the house he observed the rusted black iron bars on the windows. They entered through the back gate and could hear Dr. Dre's "Ain't Nuthin' But A G Thing" booming through the speakers which were propped up in the window.  Justin could see a group of guys sitting around the patio table playing cards and drinking beer. There were a few girls off to the side sitting on a porch swing chatting it up. One of the guys sitting at the table turned his head and spotted Kerri and Justin walking towards them and yelled, "Oh shit! My favorite DJ's in da house!" He got up from his chair and walked over and gave Kerri a big hug. "You lookin good, Mami!"
 
"You lookin skinny, Carlos!" she pointed out as she gently jabbed him in the ribs.
 
Carlos smacked her hand away and looked over at Justin. "Who's your friend? Walkin up in here trying to look like Justin Timberlake and shit." he laughed.
 
Kerri chuckled lightly, "Carlos, this is Justin. Justin…Carlos."
 
"Get da fuck outta here!" he looked at Kerri in disbelief before returning his gaze back to Justin.
 
"Nice to meet you." Justin smiled outreaching his hand to shake Carlos'.
 
"Get da fuck outta here!" Carlos said again as his grin widened, realizing that the singer was indeed standing two feet in front of him.
 
"Stop drooling, Carlos." Kerri joked. "He likes pussy."
 
Carlos shot her a look and jokingly gestured like he was going to back hand her.
 
"Kerri!" a girl called out to her from the swing.
 
"Nina!" she yelled running over to hug her, leaving Justin to deal with Carlos on his own.
 
After getting over the initial shock of meeting him, Carlos walked Justin over to where the girls were sitting on the swing. Kerri had her ear pressed to Nina's pregnant belly and was too busy talking to her stomach to introduce him, so Carlos did the honors instead.
 
Everyone seemed very nice and welcoming, which made Justin feel a little more at ease. Carlos invited him to play a game of spades with them, stating they needed a fourth to make it a real game. Justin didn't know anything about the game but they quickly went over the basics with him before Papo started shuffling and dealing. Kerri eventually found her way over to the table, handing Justin a beer and watching as he tried his best to play. He was about to put a card down when she grabbed his shoulder, "No. Put that other one down."
 
"You sure?" he questioned.
 
Kerri smiled and nodded as she brought the bottle up to her lips. Justin set down the card and Papo cursed under his breath before finally throwing a card out. "That's what I'm talking about, partner!" Carlos yelled to Justin, high fiving him before grabbing up the cards.
 
"Kerri, if you're gonna be helping him, then sit your ass down. We don't need you walking around the table cheating and shit." Papo complained.
 
"Oh shut the fuck up! I don't cheat." Kerri looked around the backyard for a seat but didn't see any empty chairs. "I'm just better at this game than you. I always have been!"
 
It was Justin's turn again and he was unsure about which card he should put out next and wanted Kerri's help. He grabbed the back of her jeans by the belt loop and pulled her in towards his lap. Papo's watched quietly as she sat down on his knee. She could feel Papo's eyes on her and she quickly leaned her body away from Justin's towards the table. Judging by the look in his eyes, she could feel the questions were coming. Especially after Papo had seen them earlier outside of Mama's Restaurant. She saw him open his mouth to speak and prepared herself for his interrogation. "So you two dating or what?" he asked.
 
"Nah. We're just friends." she quickly replied, bringing the bottle back towards her lips to take another sip of beer. Papo gave her another look. She craned her neck and asked, "What?"

"Eso es mentira!  Quiere vete a la mierda!" he nodded towards Justin.

Papo was right.  It was a lie.  And at the time when he saw them at the restaurant earlier, Justin may have wanted to fuck her.  But right now?  Right now they were just two friends hanging out.  "Don't be crude, Papo. He's just a friend."

Justin felt uncomfortable with the two were having a conversation about him while he was sitting right there. Kerri seemed to be handling things just fine and he didn't want to screw it up by interrupting and saying the wrong thing. They continued to play cards, Kerri helping him along the way. Papo and his partner had already lost three hands to Justin and Carlos and he was tired of losing. "Alright, Kerri. He's got the hang of it. Go over there with Nina so us men can get back to playing!"
 
The buzz from the beer and the sensation from Justin's free hand gently rubbing the side of her thigh were not helping her effort to try and leave the table. It took all the strength Kerri had to keep her legs from sliding apart, giving her an opportunity to rub herself up against his thigh to get some much needed friction. "I'm only getting up cause I wanna go talk to Nina. Don't think I'm doing it just cause you said so!" she pointed out as she started walking past Papo towards the swing.
 
"Get your ass outta here!" he said as he smacked her hard on her butt as she walked away.
 
The temperature outside seemed to drop more and more as it got later and everyone decided to retreat into the house. The girls sat at the table in the kitchen talking while the guys sat in the living room watching football highlights. "She still got that scar on her thigh?" Papo asked, never turning his gaze from the television.
 
Justin had barely heard the question but knew exactly what scar Papo was referring to. It was high on the back of her thigh and shaped almost like a half moon. He had asked Kerri about the scar months ago when they had started sleeping together. She had told him that she accidentally fell into a glass table and cut herself, but judging by the way Papo brought it up, Justin figured it wasn't the complete truth. He feigned any knowledge of it.
 
"She take you by her old house on the way here?"
 
Justin shook his head. "I'm not sure. She never mentioned it."
 
Papo sipped his beer. "You should ask her. Only reason I say this..." He started, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Kerri wasn't within earshot. "...And don't tell her I said this. But she doesn't bring outsiders around here. So you must really be close for her to have brought you out here."
 
Justin turned his head and looked back at Kerri. She had her head on her friends shoulder swaying back and forth with her as they sang a song he didn't recognize. He turned his attention back to Papo who was eyeing him carefully, "Kerri's stubborn when it comes to letting people in. We all are. We grew up the same way. Just be patient with her, man. I've known her for twenty years. I don't think I've ever seen her this carefree. I don't know if that has anything to do with you, but if it does, then you're good in my book. But if you hurt her." he turned his body to face Justin and looked him square in the eyes. "I'll hunt you down and kill you."

Justin was immediately gripped by fear, the beer bottle frozen centimeters from his lips. He could see Papo's facial expression turn as he began to  laugh. "I'm just fuckin with you, Bro!" He grabbed Justin's shoulder and shook him. Justin exhaled, not realizing that he had actually stopped breathing for a moment.
 
Papo's laughter was interrupted when "Bye Bye Bye" started playing. He scrunched up his face and looked back at Kerri leaning over the stereo. "What the fuck, Kerri? Turn that shit off!" He looked back towards Justin. "No offense, Bro."
 
"None taken." he grinned.
 
"Wait. I want Carlos to do the thing…" Kerri motioned before bouncing her way over to the couch, finding a seat between Papo and Justin.

Carlos turned his head and rolled his eyes at her. "No I ain't doing it!"
 
"Come on Carlos! I want Justin to see it." she smiled.
 
"See what?" Justin asked.

"Just wait. Please, Carlos?" she whined.

Carlos eventually got up from the couch and made his way out to the patio.  He made Nina restart the song and as soon as the beat dropped Carlos bounced hard on his feet and began to do the routine for the song. Everyone had gravitated outside to watch him and the entire backyard was howling.  "Oh shit!"  Justin laughed, jogging over next to him to join.

Carlos continued to dance, adding his own flavor to the routine and Justin found himself not being able to keep up. He walked over and stood next to Kerri who was cheering him on. "He's good, right?" she asked, entangling her arm with him to get warm.

Justin rubbed her arm gently, "He's great!"

The party began to die down around midnight. Justin took Carlos' number and told him that he'd have his choreographer set up an audition to see about getting him a job on tour.  Being too buzzed to drive, Kerri had Justin drive them back home.   He sat at the red light, pondering to himself whether or not he should turn left towards Kerri's place or turn right towards his own. She was fast asleep in the passenger seat and all he wanted to do was take her home with him, crawl up beside her and just be close to her.  To hear that he was only one of a few that had met her oldest friends was shocking to him. This was the first time in a long time that she had let down her guard and allowed him to get to know her better.  He didn't want to spoil the night by making Kerri feel uncomfortable so he reluctantly turned left. 

"I had a great time tonight, Kerri." He smiled as he walked her to her door.

"Yeah? My friends weren't too much for you?  I know Papo can be a bit scary at first." she turned around grinning as she walked up the stairs.

"Naw.  They were cool.  Your friend Carlos is hilarious!" 

As Kerri lifted her arm to put the key in the door, Justin grabbed her hand. He slowly closed to distance between them, placing his forehead against hers, staring down at their hands. "I don't usually have a good time like that unless I'm home…You gave me a little bit of home tonight.  So thank you."

"You're welcome." she blushed.

Kerri could feel the intensity of his gaze in every cell of her body and didn't know how much longer she could fend him off. He rubbed the top of her thumb with his own and asked, "You sure you don't want to reconsider about that movie?"

"I'm sure." she slowly nodded. "Nothing would top off this night better than going back to your place and watching that movie all…night…long, but-"

"No. I get it." he whispered in her ear before placing the softest kiss on her cheek. 

Kerri's eyes began to drift shut and her body began to betray her. She began to move her free hand up to caress his face, but he moved back too quickly. All Kerri could do instead was ball up her first and pretend she was planting an imaginary punch to his jaw. 

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall as she started to unlock the front door.

"Cleaning.  Why?"

"Come Christmas shopping with me.  I need to get some last minute gifts and I need a woman's input on what I should get my mom and granny."

"okay." she nodded.

"Great!  I'll pick you up at 9?  Gotta get an early start."  Justin leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips.  He pulled his head back slightly, crookedly smiling down at her mouth before leaning back in and giving her several more pecks. Kerri pushed him away while laughing, "Go home, Geek!"

She stepped inside and watched him as he disappeared down the steps, smiling at her the entire time. She closed and locked the door, lingering there, wanting to go after him. She rested her back against the door looking up, smiling to herself as she ran the night over and over in her mind.

"What is with all the smiling? Serena asked as Kerri made her way into the living room. "I thought you said you guys weren't gonna to have sex anymore."

"We didn't…" Kerri sighed as she fell down onto the couch next to her friend. "God, Serena!  I had so much fun with him tonight!  And we didn't even do anything special!  He was just…And the night was just…just perfect."

The next morning Justin showed up bright and early to pick Kerri up. He had invited Serena but she declined the invitation to be their third wheel. With Wes' help, Justin and Kerri were able, for the most part, to maneuver in and out of the stores without too much chaos. One of the boutiques even shut down to allow Justin to shop, giving him an opportunity to actually talk to Kerri without any interruptions.

"…So you have a second interview with this Winter's guy in Memphis? You excited?"

"Nervous mostly." she said, looking through a rack of clothes and showing Justin a top. "You think she would like this?"

"It's not low cut enough." he chuckled.

Kerri shook her head and continued to look.  "If I get the syndication, I want to renegotiate my contract with 104.7. I want to be able to travel and go and meet more of these artists, interview them, get them live on our video stream…It'd be a great opportunity to bring exposure to more indy artists. There's this guy in Germany that I would love to go and check out in person."

She showed him another top and he nodded. "And what about DJ'ing? You seem to love that just as much, if not more."

"I love it, but this town is saturated with DJ's and I have yet to stick out enough to make it a fulltime gig. Plus I like my show, I just hate having to punch a clock. Pre-tell why I plan on renegotiating my contract if this meeting with Mr. Winter's goes well. I should drag you with me to my interview and use you." she joked.

"I wouldn't mind." he smiled, showing her a dress for her opinion.

"That's cute. And I was joking about the using you bit."

"Okay. You see anything in here you'd like to get your mom?"

Kerri stopped looking through racks and starred off into space for a moment. "Ummm…No. We can go."

He paid for his purchases and they continued on to the next store. Justin found it odd that Kerri hadn't done much shopping at all. She had gotten Serena and some of her crew a few things, but he'd never heard her mention getting gifts for anyone in her family. "You done all your Christmas shopping or something?"

"No. Coming out here with you is the first time I've been able to shop. Why?"

"You've got like four bags compared to my ten." he joked. "What's up? Your family doesn't celebrate Christmas or something."

"No….I just…" Kerri tried to change the subject by pointing to the golf shop they were passing and asking him, "Didn't you say you wanted to get your stepdad a new set of clubs?"

He stopped in the doorway. "What's up? Why are you avoiding talking about your family? It's Christmas. I'd think-"  

"Yes! It's Christmas!" she cut him off looking towards the gawkers standing around taking pictures of them. She quickly lowered her voice. "And I'd rather not talk about my family right now, Justin."

Justin had assumed the two of them had made some progress since she had been so open with him the night before. He didn't expect her to push him away so quickly after letting him in. "Then when?" he huffed, lifting his arms in the air.

Wes approached them in an effort to control the growing crowd of people forming close by. Justin couldn't hear himself think over people shouting out his name to get his attention. He grabbed Kerri's arm and pulled her into the store and down an aisle away from the windows. "You know me. You know my family. Shit! You've met my family, Kerri!  I'm on the outside trying to look in and every time I start to get through that wall you keep building around yourself, you push me away!"

"I'm not pushing you away." she whispered loudly, trying not to cause a scene. "I just don't want to discuss it right now. Later…but not right now, okay?"
 
Based off of his past experience with her, Justin knew 'later' would never come. "This friendship is one sided! I'm the only one sharing here while you stay locked up tight like Fort Knox. I'm sick of you always telling me 'later' or 'just drop it.' You know the best Christmas present you could give me this year? Opening your damn mouth and fucking speaking for once about something other than the superficial bullshit we talk about."

Kerri could hear the hurt in his voice. Tears had begun to well up in her eyes and as much as Justin wanted to stop and apologize and tell her that he'd drop it, he couldn't. He had to get it off his chest.

"Please, just leave it alone." she begged, turning her face away from him so she could wipe away a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye.

Justin balled up his fists, restraining himself from punching something--anything within arm's length. "Fine!”  he said through a clenched jaw, "Just fuckin fine!"

He stormed out of the aisle and over to a store attendant to ask about the set of golf clubs he was looking for. When they reached the car Kerri sat silent, waiting for Justin, who was outside taking photos and signing autographs for a few fans. He took one last picture and climbed into the SUV. His diaphragm sank as he exhaled and tried to relax. Wes was doing his best to pay the valet while keeping the paparazzi at bay so they could leave without any snags. The silence in the car was almost deafening. Kerri refused to even look in Justin's direction, focusing her attention on a woman pushing her bichon frise down the sidewalk in a stroller. After a few moments Justin turned to her and said, "I wish you would trust me enough to talk to me."

Kerri scowled, "So because I don't want to discuss the subject of my family with you when and where you want me to, all of sudden I don't trust you?"

Frustrated by Kerri's attempt to spin his words around against him he slapped his hands against the seat. "Goddammit, Kerri!" It came out louder than he intended, startling her. He gently touched her arm, trying to get her to look at him. "If you trusted me you wouldn't be afraid to open up to me, to tell me how you feel. You don't trust me to care about you regardless of what you tell me. It hurts that you don't trust me as much as you say you do."

Kerri turned her body towards him, her back pressed hard against the door for support. She crossed her arms underneath her breasts and  inhaled deeply, "Fine! You want to know why I didn't get parents anything for Christmas? She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know who the fuck they are, Justin! Is that open enough for you? Did that satisfy your curiosity?"

Silence. He stared at her, the expression in his eyes shocked by her admission. Just as he was about to speak, Kerri turned around, leaning her body over the backseat into the trunk and gathered up her bags. "Wes!" she yelled out the window. "I'm getting out!"

Kerri opened her door to leave but Justin grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Home!" she ripped herself free from his grip and stared coldly into his eyes. He could see the tears beginning to form and all he wanted to do was reach out and hold her, sooth her, and tell her he was an idiot. "Merry fuckin Christmas, Justin!" she said harshly before exiting the car and slamming the door shut behind her. He went to get out of the car to chase after her but the SUV was now surrounded, leaving him no choice but to sit there helplessly watching her as she walked away down the street , disappearing around the corner.