“I’m driving,” he said grabbing her keys from her and running to her car.

 

Her car. Her baby. The only thing that she loved more than him. So she said.

 

“Nuh uh, no way Timberlake,” she said as he put his bag and his keyboard in the backseat

 

He got in the driver’s side and slipped the key into the ignition before grinning at her and wiggling his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes walking to stand in front of her car, watching him put his seatbelt on and then place his hands on the wheel. She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him, her classic ‘I’m not gonna do it’ look on her face. He honked the horn and she jumped slightly, looking around the office parking lot with a grimace. It was only her second week working there and she didn’t want to get in trouble.

 

“We aren’t gonna get in trouble now get in the damn car,” he said as if reading her mind.

 

She let out a sigh before walking around to the passenger side door and getting in. She sat down and the seat sank. She smiled. She loved this old car. It was her first car, a 1985 Caprice Classic, and she didn’t have the heart to give it up. It was practically falling apart, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about having to go outside in her house shoes every morning to start it up because it was fucking freezing and the car had to run for at least five minutes or it would die on her. She didn’t care that she had to spend forty dollars a week, money she didn’t have, to fill up the tank. This car had gotten her out of her childhood home, away from the abuse, physical and mental, away from her home town and to the city and to her job, where she worked her ass off only to get fired for not fucking the boss. It also took her to the salvation army where she volunteered and she had met her boyfriend as he was scaling the racks of used clothing. She still didn’t know what had brought Justin Timberlake to the salvation army. He insisted it was fate, she insisted he was being cheap. They always laughed about it.

 

She smiled at him now as he attempted to start the engine. The car made a low scratching sound as it tried to start and then died. He then turned the key back and waited a moment before trying again. This happened three times before his impatience got the best of him and he turned the key to soon, the car making a high screeching sound that caused her to wince and then smack him.

 

“Don’t hurt her,” she said as he looked at her.

 

“Fuck her,” he said trying again and the car finally started. “See, I just had to show her who’s boss.”

 

He put the car into reverse and looked over his shoulder as he slowly backed out. There was a gentle shudder as the car died again and he must not have noticed it until the wheel locked into place. He looked at it, muttering something inaudible under his breath and she looked behind them.

 

“Justin break!” she exclaimed but it was too late.

 

A clinking of bumpers sounded in the near silent parking lot and he cringed. Her eyes were wide as he looked at her, giving her a sheepish smile.

 

“Oh god,” she muttered as she got out and ran to the back.

 

The car that was behind them was a large, expensive looking S.U.V. There was little space between the two vehicles and she had to crouch down to survey the damage. There was little indication that there had been any collision at all. There was a small scratch on her bumper but the other vehicle looked untouched.

 

“Any damage?” he asked and she looked up, finding him standing beside her.

 

“Nope,” she said standing up and snatching the keys from his hand. “You are not driving.”

 

He pouted as he got into the passenger seat and she smiled. She slid the key into the ignition, pressing the gas pedal down to the floor before letting up again then and starting the car. It jumped to life as she revved the engine and then it just purred. She pulled forward a little before backing up and escaping the parking lot.

 

“I could’ve done it,” he said and she smiled looking at him.

 

“You’ve just never had to drive an old car,” she replied and he nodded pressing the volume button on her stereo.

 

His voice, and the voices of his four friends became clear as the volume was turned up. She was watching him from the corner of her eye and saw a small smile come over his face.

 

“You’re still listening to this?” he asked and she nodded, not taking her eyes off the road.

 

“How’d you find my office?” she asked him.

 

“Oh I just told the cab driver where you worked and he took me there,” he said dismissively. “How’s it working out?”

 

“Good,” she said. “Hard but good.”

 

“I’m glad you were fired from your old one,” he paused “Er… no “laid off”.” He added making quotations in the air with his fingers, a disgusted look coming over his handsome features.

 

“Why?” she asked, with a small laugh, turning onto the interstate.

 

“They were bastards,” he said simply. “and you didn’t get paid enough for what you did, much less for putting up with their bullshit.”

 

She smiled. He was so protective of her. After she had gotten “laid off”, she called him crying and he was there the next day, roses in one hand, classifieds in the other. When she couldn’t pay the rent on her apartment, she called him and he came to see her, immediately offering her money, but she refused. She eventually lost the apartment and had to move out of the city but she still had her pride. When things were going bad in her volunteer work he would console her, telling her that she was an angel for what she did and not to let it stress her out.

 

“I love getting away with you,” he said suddenly and she looked at him smiling.

 

“Me too,” she replied.

 

She glanced at him as she turned off the interstate and saw him sigh before turning his head to look out the window, gas stations and fast food restaurants whizzing by in a blur. She turned off onto an old country road and the buildings soon turned into corn fields dotted with farm houses.

 

He was humming now. She had to strain to hear him but she could make out the soft sound. It didn’t match the music that was coming from the speakers and the finger that was tapping his knee didn’t match the rhythm of the song that was playing. She smiled. He was writing a song

 

“There’s a pen and napkins in the glove box if you need them,” she offered and he looked at her.

 

“Thanks,” he said softly, taking out the items and using his knee as a table, he began to write.

 

She turned down the stereo so he could think better and from the corner of her eye, watched his head bob to the beat in his mind. She couldn’t help but smile at the peaceful look on his face. Writing music was something she rarely got to see him do, and when she did it reminded her of why he loved what he did. He was always bitching about this interview or that photo shoot and sometimes it was hard to see why he put up with all the bullshit that came along with his job. But it was moments like this that she understood how much making music meant to him.

 

They pulled into her drive way and when she turned off the ignition he was still sitting there. She smiled as she got out of the car and he looked up, a dazed expression on his face.

 

“We’re here?” he asked as she walked up to the front off the house, smiling at him as she unlocked the door and then disappeared inside.

 

He got out, the music still playing in his head as he grabbed his things from the back seat. He walked inside the house and was slightly surprised at how nice it was. It was spacious, with a small fireplace and the cabinets over the island that separated the kitchen from the living room had roses frosted into the glass..

 

“The bedroom is in there,” she said pointing a door next to the fire place. “Guestrooms and a bathroom are down there,” she said pointing into another large open room and he saw three other doors leading into different rooms.

 

“Not that we’ll be needing those guestrooms,” he said giving her a mischievous smile and she grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer and bringing their lips together.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++

She slowly drifted into consciousness and reaching across her bed, she realized he wasn’t there. She sat up, slightly disoriented, as she looked around, straining to see in the darkness.

 

Then she heard it. The soft tone of the keyboard with the sweetness of his voice. She smiled softly, falling back against the pillows, before pulling herself off of the bed. She grabbed his shirt off the floor, slipping it over her head before walking out into the living room.

 

He was sitting by the window, the curtain pushed aside to let moon light fall onto the key board and the pages that laid on top of it. He was naked from the waist up, the moonlight causing his milky skin to glow, giving him an iridescent aura.

 

He looked up, sensing a presence in the room and found her standing in the doorway, watching him. He continued to play, glancing up at her briefly and nodding his head at her, inviting her to sit beside him.

 

She pulled up a chair and sat beside him, watching his long slender fingers slide delicately over the keys.

 

“Miss me?” he asked smiling at her and she smiled back nudging him with her shoulder. “You wanna know something.”

 

“Sure,” she whispered, her eyes moving to his face, giving him her full attention.

 

“I’m going to do a solo record,” he said his fingers dancing down the keyboard before sliding back again.

 

She didn’t know what to say. She was slightly shocked. The tone of his voice was simple, no malice behind the words, no sadness, no joy. Just words.

 

“Ok,” she said not knowing how to respond.

 

“Are you happy for me?” he asked looking at her.

 

“Do you want me to be?” she replied and he smiled softly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Ok then I’m happy for you,” she said and his smile widened.

 

“And you wanna know something else?” he said looking at her his blue eyes dancing joyously.

 

“What?” she asked, her face breaking into a smile.

 

“I just wrote my first song for that record,” he said looking down at the keyboard again.

 

She looked at the scattered papers on top of the instrument and the foreign language that was written on them, the dots and lines known to him as notes.

 

“You wanna hear it?” he whispered and she looked at him her smile becoming even wider.

 

“Yeah,” she said, her heart thudding with anticipation.

 

He nodded as he cleared his throat and placed his hands on the keys, reading his language of notes from the papers in front of him. Then his voice, that beautiful, soulful, angelic voice filled the silence…

 

  Hop in the car go with me   You don’t have to pack anything…