"Thank God you actually showed up," Justin told me giving me a hug as I walked into his house the next night. I smiled and nodded, scared to say anything.
"Congrats," I whispered and slipped quickly past him into the house, scanning the place for Trace. "Is Trace here yet?"
"Yeah he's in the kitchen. Hey man," he told me and I sighed as he went back to greeting all the other people that flocked in after me. I shook my head and clutched the strap of my bag that hid my camera, hoping Justin wouldn't ask someone to search it. I made my way to the kitchen and found Trace poking his nose in the fridge, looking for something. I poked his side.
"Hey shorty," I said, causing him to jump nearly five feet off the ground and bash his head on the roof of the fridge.
"Hey Skinny," he grinned, straightening himself up as soon as he realized who it was. "So I see you made it. What's in the bag?"
"The bag?" I asked, staring at him, wondering if he knew. "Nothing. Why?"
"Well, it's rather large for a dinner party," he noted and eyed the bag suspiciously. I held the black strap tighter. "You sure there isn't anything in there?"
"Yes I'm sure," I snapped, "Just my camera."
"Camera?" Trace asked raising an eyebrow at me, "I thought J said no camer-"
"I know what he said," I answered slapping his arm, "I came straight from work ok? It turns into a long day when you're waiting for someone to turn up somewhere they're supposed to be."
"Oh," Trace answered with glee. "So who were you stalking?"
"Our dear old friend..." I began and tried to rack my brain for a name but came up blank. "JC."
"JC?" Trace asked not believing me. "Really? He was worth you working late?"
"Yes," I lied and shook my head. "He was an hour late."
"So did he tell you he would turn up somewhere? Or did you just make that part up?" Trace laughed with a shake of his head.
"He did," I answered with an even look into his eye. "He called me this morning and asked if I wanted a photo op and said he'd be outside the Ivy at six but wasn't there till seven. That's why we're late."
"Late?" Trace asked and looked over my shoulder into the front room. "You do know he came at six thirty right?"
"He did?" I asked and gulped. I was caught red handed. "Well my watch must have stopped."
"Man you make up the worst lies," Trace laughed and shook his head. "So why don't you tell me the truth?"
"OK," I nodded and put my bag down on the counter slowly and took a deep breath. "I'm on assignment."
"Excuse me?" Trace asked, wondering if he heard right.
"I'm on-"
"I know what you said," Trace said and grabbed my arm so tight it hurt. "Who is the assignment? Is it J?" I kept quiet, deciding it was the best thing. He'd already figured it out already. "No."
"But-"
"No," Trace repeated and held out his hand. "You can give it to me or you can just leave and explain it all to J."
"Fine," I muttered and pulled the camera out, handing it over to Trace slowly. I was just handing the man my life.
"Don't worry," he rolled his eyes, "You'll get it back as soon as this is over ok?"
"Promise?" I asked hopefully and he nodded.
"Yeah. If you call the big guy and tell him you're not doing the assignment then yeah," Trace nodded and I looked at him a gape.
"I..." I began trying to figure out what to say.
"You nothing," Trace answered and glared at me. "Now give me the damn camera. How could you do this to J Em?"
I asked myself that the whole damn night. Thanks to Trace who kept glaring at me me from across the table. I felt like melting in my chair. I grabbed my glass of wine and took a huge gulp.
"Woah," Justin's voice came as a hand swept up and grabbed my glass from under my nose. "Slow down there."
"Sorry," I sighed and tried to get it back from him amongst hackles of laughter. "Just had a long day. I really needed a drink."
"Yeah I heard about that," Trace cut in and I turned to glare at him. He promised he wouldn't tell a soul. "I heard you and JC had quite the adventure outside the Ivy."
"We did?" JC asked, clearly shocked at this new revelation.
"Yeah we did," I said looking at JC pleadingly. He must have got it because he nodded quickly.
"Oh right," he answered and took a big ass sip of his beer. "I tried to forget about that."
"What happened?" Justin asked looking between both me and JC and I panicked. "Did she stalk you again Jayce?"
"Something along those lines," JC smiled and winked at me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my glass from Justin's hand.
"Something?" Justin laughed and looked at me with a cheeky grin. I looked a Trace who just shrugged. Yeah, he just bloody shrugged.
"It was nothing," I said and took a sip of my drink. "We just had our lines of communication crossed."
"Crossed?" Justin laughed with suggestion and looked at JC. "Ok man you gotta tell me what she's refusing to spill."
"Well that's between the two of us," JC smiled and looked at me over Justin's shoulder. "Something you don't need to know."
"Can I have my camera back now?" I asked Trace once the night was over and we were both outside.
"Did you call your boss?" He asked and I looked away. Of course I didn't call my boss. "I'll take that as a no."
"Oh come on!" I said and looked at him. "I need it you know!"
"Yeah so you can take pics of J," he snapped back and shook his head. "Remember when you started? How you promised J you wouldn't involve him in your work?"
"Well he kinda.." I began but Trace kept ranting and raving.
"Well what happened to that promise?" Trace wanted to know. "Did you throw it out the window once the big bucks were flashed in your face?"
"It was nothing like that!" I snapped and shook my head. "You weren't there okay? I tried to get out of it..."
"Tried?" Trace asked and raised his eyebrow at me, he didn't believe me. "I highly doubt that. If you tried you wouldn't be here with a camera making up lies about how you met up with JC."
When I went into work the next morning it was horrendous. Trying to explain to my boss that I'd been caught red-handed by Justin Timberlake's best friend was a headache. He had all these questions which had me making up even more lies to cover my ass.
He gave me another camera anyways, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't mine. It didn't have the same resolution and was slower. And I still had to follow Justin around without him knowing I was stalking. It was terrible.
"What are you doing here?" I looked up from the magazine rack I was hiding behind and tried to hide my camera.
"Just... buying some groceries," I lied and quickly grabbed a packet of chips from a nearby rack.
"Groceries?" Justin laughed and took the chips out of my hand before reading the packet. "You need a new grocery list. These things will kill ya."
"I know," I said and grabbed them back. "But am on my way to a job so... yeah."
"Job?" Justin raised an eyebrow. "You're not going back to the spot?"
"No," I began and looked around nervously. "Some other guys found out about it and yeah."
"Yeah? That sucks," Justin smiled and looked around him. "Look, how long do you have? You wanna go for coffee or something? I won't keep you long I swear."
"And will Tiny allow that?" I asked glancing over his shoulder at his bodyguard, who for some reason did not like me. Now I could see why.
"I'm his boss not the other way around," Justin smiled and grabbed my arm. "Let's go. Jess!"
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