Noemi sat watching everyone around her. She had a towel wrapped around her waist, her long hair was being gently combed. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and talking amongst each other. If weren't for the cute little girl insisting on doing her hair she would have left half an hour ago when she finished eating.
Everyone including her cousin was laughing and joking with all of these strangers in front of her. Her own son was now sitting on a lap that didn't belong to her. It belong to Lance whom she was shocked hadn't said a single word to her. That didn't mean that she hadn't felt his eyes on her once in a while when she had been swimming. There was something about him that didn't rub her the right way and that something was the fact that he could GET to her. And she was NOT going to let him. For that reason she was trying to avoid him. The date they had all gone out on, had been a straight blow to Noemi. She had planned on going out and making this guy miserable, instead the tables were turned on her and she didn't like it one bit. He reminded her of Sean's father and that road she did not want to take. EVER again. EVER.

Sean had spent most of the day with 'the boys' is what he had said. He was the only reason she had stayed that long amount of time anyway. Sean didn't have many friends his age and it saddened her to see him playing by himself at home. So when opportunities like these, a friend fest, she couldn't deny him anything.
She had come to this place with the intention of going swimming and she did have to admit that she had wondered how celebrities lived, but now she was over it. She had gotten a tour of the place, gotten free clothes and had gotten dised by her own son. Now she had a cute little girl using her as her very own personal doll.

"I'm tired. I'm going to my mommy." Andie said with a yawn getting up from the chair she had been sitting on.

"Okay, honey." Noemi said with a smile. Even the kids around here are annoyingly sweet. she thought. She watched the cute little girl walk up to her mom, who picked her up and sat her on her lap. The woman looked up and smiled at her.

"Why are you sitting over here by yourself?"

Noemi hadn't notice Trace coming out of the house and she jumped a little when he spoke. "Andie wanted to be away from the sun."

"Well come join us I was just walking Joey and his wife and kid to the door. He's a riot."

"I could see that. You guys were laughing pretty hard." Noemi said getting up from the chair she had been sitting on. "I really think it's time to go. We've been here for hours and I promised my father I would meet him at the diner."

"I think Kayla was ready to go too. Let me go get her."

"Thanks, Juan."

"Call me Trace, Noemi."

"I'll try." she chuckled.

Trace pulled up in front of Noemi's house and shut the ignition. It was almost seven o'clock and all the passengers were exhausted from all the fun they'd had at Justin's. Sean had passed out on Lance's lap soon after he was tired of riding the power wheels. Noemi opened her door and held on tight to a sleeping Sean as she got out of the car.

"Thanks again for the invite, Ju...Trace. I'll see you around." Noemi  said in a low voice as if not to wake Sean.

"Have a good night, Noemi." Trace said with a smile before she shut the door. "I bet Andie is doing the exact same thing." Trace chuckled.

"She's so cute." Kayla commented.

"She has a lot of energy. I guess she would since her father dances around a stage for two hours and her mother walks the runway non-stop too."

"You seem to really care for them."

"I do. I love all those dorks a lot. Everyone you met today mean a lot to me. They are my family."

"I can see that." Kayla said resting her head against the window. "Do you want to come in?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Trace laughed.

"Oh.. please. I was just asking because I have two gym bags full of clothes. I need some muscle." she laughed as he got out of the car pretending he was mad.

"You're breaking my heart, Kay-Kay." Trace said as the walked the path to the pool house.

"No I'm not. I was just playing."

"Yeah sure with my emotions." Trace said as he followed her to the door.

"You can come in but just for little while, okay?" she teased. In reality she wanted him to come in. It had been so long since she'd had a male company and she NEEDED him to come in.

"You think you're cute, don't ya?"

"Yeah, actually I do." Kayla said facing him from where she stood in front of the now opened door. She cursed herself for standing there looking needy.

"Well you are right about that." Trace said setting the bags on either side of her. On his way up to face her he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her flush against his body. He smiled at her before his lips softly touched hers. She could have melted at the touch. He gave her a few soft kisses before he moved away. Kayla felt suddenly cold, being flush against his body was easily making her feel very warm. HOT actually. Her cheeks were a soft pink that made him smile at her. "I really should go now."

"But I though you were coming in." Kayla said disappointed.

"Aww, sweetheart. You thought that. I didn't say I would. Not tonight, okay?" Trace said before leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good night, Kayla. I will call you."

"Okay." she said in a whisper.

"Good night, princess."

"Good night, Trace."

"Juan sounds better, Kayla." Trace said with a wink.

She stepped forward and this time she put her arms around his neck. She kissed him softly like he had done to her before she said "Good night, Juan."

"Please go inside and lock the door." Trace said with a sexy laugh that made her hot again. "QUICK."

"Bye." she said before she walked into the pool house and closed the door behind her.

Trace didn't know what the hell was going on with him. He was taking chances with this girl. He automatically trusted her with the fact that he was associated with famous people. He had also invited her into his world without a thought. He was already starting to have feeling for her and they had barely kissed. For God Sakes!!!He was very quickly getting caught up in, Kayla Medina and he knew from personal experience that it wasn't pretty. It wouldn't happen again.
--------------------

Next Morning

Jc sat reading the paper trying to ignore the very blatant stare coming from across the table.

"Something you want to say?" he asked not bothering to look up at her.

"Funny you say that. You certainly didn't have anything to say to me when we got home yesterday. Oh and don't forget about you certainly not saying anything when being spoken to by MY client."

"Do you really want to get into this conversation, right now?"

"Why the hell not? It doesn't really matter when we talk about it because I'll still feel the same way."

"And how's that, Jennise?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Not really. No."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me."

"Are you sure about that? Because the man that has been rooming around this house isn't the man I married and I really want my husband back." Jenn said annoyed that he kept his eyes on the paper instead of her. She was really starting to get pissed off. "He's a client and I expect you to at least pretend to be nice."

"So he's your client now? I though he was Jive's." he said finally looking at her.

"Same difference. Why does that matter?"

"It matter because I say it does, Jenn. That's why." Jc said taking the glass of orange juice beside him and taking a big gulf into his mouth. "I want you to stop
working with him?"

"What?!!"

"You heard me. I want you to stop working with him."

"I know that didn't come out of your mouth twice, Josh."

"Stop calling me that!!!" he yelled. "You have until tonight to end that contact, Jenn." he said getting up so fast that the glass of orange juice fell to the marbled floor.

"Or what, C?"

"Do it, Jennise." Jc said sternly before walking out of the house.

Jenn didn't know how to feel. Jc was really freaking her out. At the moment she wanted nothing more than to strangle him for not talking to her. She just couldn't understand his reaction towards Fonsi. Was she giving Jc the impression that she was interested in Fonsi? Jenn hated when she started questioning herself that way.
She knew she wasn't doing anything wrong yet for some reason she felt guilty. Along with the thoughts that have been running through her head she now was starting to feel like she might be getting a cold. I knew getting into that pool yesterday was a bad idea.
-------

Juls finished cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast and headed to the living room where Justin sat with Andie laying her head on his lap.

"So much for getting up early and spending time with daddy." Juls said as she sat on the couch across from him.

"Yeah I know." Justin said caressing Andie's curls out of her face.

"She cursed said shit again yesterday. I forgot to tell you." Juls said as she picked up the remote control to change the channel on the television.

"Don't change that. She'll hear the difference in the channel and wake up and I really don't want to see her crying right now."

"Geez alright."

"Funny she only says it when she's not with me."

"What is that supposed to mean? She doesn't just get it from me."

"Yeah right, potty mouth." Justin said moving Andie's head slowly to the couch as he got up. "I have to go meet Jenn at Jive."

"I thought you guys were working here today?"

"We were but we need some programs that are only at Jive. Pharrell is coming today too."

"Programs for what?"

"For a song we wrote."

"Can I hear it?" Juls asked following him into the kitchen.

"No."

"No? Why not?" she asked angrily.

"Because I said so." Justin growled. She'd been getting on his last nerve lately and he was starting to get pissed off. "What's with all the questions, Juls?"

"Juls? Since when do you call me that?"

"What?" Justin asked confused and frustration radiated off of him. He had a lot on his mind. First Juliana was acting like a brat about everything. And two Johnny had called him and told him that Jive was desperate for a single from him and wanted a video too. A single he hadn't even recorded yet.

"Never mind, Justin."

"Never mind nothing, Juls. Since when do you ask me three hundred questions?"

"Since when do I have to ask? Since when don't you tell me everything?"

"All this shit because I don't want you to hear a song yet?"

"No. All this shit because you flat out told me NO. You don't want me to go into the studio. You don't let Andie go down there either. You don't want us to go on
tour with you. What's next, Justin? You don't want us in your life?" she blurted.

"You must be fucking kidding me right now. You did not just seriously say that." Justin laughed to himself. It was the kind of laugh that came from restraining himself from leaping over the kitchen island and giving her a shake. "You know what? I think I'm going to now because it's obviously the wrong time of the month for you."

"Kiss my ass, Justin." she yelled as he walked away from her towards the door.

"Later." he said before going out the side door to his car. Juliana grabbed the towel she had used to clean the kitchen counter and threw it in the direction he had gone. It landed at the foot of the door.

"Did daddy leave?" Andie asked groggily from the kitchen entryway rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, baby girl. Daddy is gone." Juls said before picking the child up and heading up the stairs.
Things weren't looking good in the Timberlake home.
----------

You are so gross." Jenn said watching Justin dip his cheeseburger in a plate of apple sauce.

"I know but after four years I still like Jul.'s cravings when she was pregnant."

"You weren't the one that was pregnant, you ass."

"I was being a sympathetic husband, grump." Justin said finishing up his meal. "What's up with you today?"

"Nothing, why?" Jenn asked finishing up her tuna sandwich and clearing up the table.

"I don't know maybe because you're being a complete bore."

"I'm not a bore, Timber flake." Jenn said with a laugh that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Today you are." he said before getting up and grabbing the yellow manila envelop, Sheri, the receptionist,  had brought to him.

"I just have a lot on my plate right now, Justin. That's all."

"You want to talk about it?" Justin asked sincerely.

"Nah, I'll be okay. Thanks though."

"Okay but you know the drill. Whenever."

"Yeah. Yeah." Jenn said as they left the Jive cafeteria and headed back to the studio where Pharrell waited. "I do want to talk about what's inside that envelope. I saw it was addressed from Rollingstone magazine."

"It's probably junk. Did you like the idea Pharrell had to add Clipse to the track?"

"Yeah I like it a lot. Aren't you going to open it? Why are you changing the subject?"

"What subject?"

"Don't play dumb, Timber snake. What's in the envelope?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Yeah right. Spill it."

"It's just J's Rollingstone cover."

"Didn't she just shoot that?"

"Yeah."

"So why do you have it? She didn't tell me it was ready for print yet and we talked about it yesterday."

"You're right. It's not printed yet because I haven't said it could be."

"Huh?" Jenn asked confused.

"When you decide to spend some of that fortune I KNOW you have made these past few months, come see me. Requirements are a must when you buy into a company."

"Yeah but you aren't the editor. You just own a chunk of the magazine, along with eight hundred other people."

"It's only seven, Jenn. You're always blowing things out of proportion." Justin said entering the studio ahead of her.

"Let me see it, Justin."

"Or what? What are re you going to do?"

"I'll think of something. Let me see it." Jenn said surprising him but yanking the envelope from his hand.

"Oh... you're so lucky your husband just walked in." Justin said.

"What?" Jenn said turning to look behind her. Justin used that opportunity to snatch the envelope out of her hand and running inside the control room.

"Surprised?" Jc asked from the door.

"A little bit. What are you doing here?"

"I've been here all day." Jc said. "Did you eat?"

"Yeah I just got back  from the cafeteria with Justin. If I would have known you were going to be here I would have waited for you. But you left in such a rush this morning. I would have ditched Justin."

"Speaking of ditching." Jc said leaning up against the wall next to the door he'd entered.

"Don't start with me right now, Jc." she warned.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Jenn."

"You aren't being reasonable, Jc."

"I'm actually being really reasonable. You have already worked with him. That's enough time."

"You can't really ask me to stop working with him."

"I wasn't asking, actually." Jc said angrily but his voice stayed below radar of the others in the room across from them.

"You can't make me, Jc. God!! I feel like I'm twelve and my dad is telling me to clean my room but I don't want to."

"So you are saying that you don't want to stop working with him?"

"No. Because I don't have a legitimate reason not to. He's really goo...."

"Don't you even dare praise him to me."

"No one is praising anyone, Jc. What is your problem?"

"Nothing, Jenn. You know what?! Obviously the word and opinion of your HUSBAND isn't a good enough reason for you so I'm done with it. Do what you want,
Jenn." he said before turning to go. "I'll see you at home."

"God!! I hate when you do that!!!" she growled.
------------------

Justin walked into the foyer to find the house in complete darkness. It was quiet and he'd expected that because it was almost midnight. He knew Juliana would probably be awake waiting for him even though he knew she had a photo shoot early in the morning. He knew she was probably watching him as he walked into the kitchen turning on the lights. The sudden brightness never failed to blind him momentarily. He rubbed his eyes and when his eyes adjusted he walked over to the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice. The yellow manila envelope still in his hand.

"Don't you dare drink out of that carton, Timberlake." came from the speaker box on the far end of the kitchen. The sudden sound coming from out of nowhere didn't phase him. He knew that she had been watching him from the moment he had driven up to their gate at the bottom of the hill.

He couldn't see her because he knew she was in bed but he could picture her sitting in bed watching TV. He purposely and slowly put the envelope on the kitchen island and carefully and purposely put his mouth on the carton while still keeping his eyes on the camera that was feeding his image to the monitors throughout the house.

"No, you did NOT just do that." came from the speaker box again.

"No, I didn't? I should be saying that, Juliana." Justin put down the carton of orange juice and grabbed the content of the envelope and held it up so the camera could see. He knew she would be zooming in. Then he spoke again. "No you didn't pose naked on the cover of a magazine I own part of." he said throwing the magazine on the kitchen island so hard that it slid and landed on the floor behind it.

"I'm not naked." this time the voice came from the kitchen doorway a few seconds later.

"You might as well be." Justin said looking at her before he purposely drank out of the carton again, making her cringe with disgust. "Oh and I do have to congratulate you in taking it upon yourself to tell Rollingstone I was okay with the shot. Nice."

"Whatever Justin. I think it's a good shot. Don't you like it?"

"Sure I like to see it. I actually LOVE to see it in MY BEDROOM, JULS!!! Not while I'm out at the grocery store."

"Get over it, Justin. It's done."

"Ohh... I'll get over it alright. You just watch me." Justin said storming out of the kitchen. "You can see your fucking tattoo, for Christ Sake!!"

"So what?" she yelled back.

"So what? So what is that no ONE but ME needs to see that, Juliana. That's what." he said before storming up the stairs.

"Lower you voice up there. You'll wake, Andie."

"That's alright because I'm done talking." she heard him say as he went into one of the guest bedroom on the second floor. She heard the shower going shortly after. She was going to go in there on her way up to the master suite and apologize for going over his head with Rollingstone but decided against it. She kept going up the stairs to where Andie hopefully still slept.

Things were slowly but surely getting worse at the Timberlake home. She had a feeling it would get a lot worse before it got better. She had learned that six years ago.

----------------

Jc didn't know exactly what he was doing there but he continued towards the elevators and pressed the button that indicated the fourteenth floor. He'd been in that same elevator twice that month and he cursed himself for being there for the third time.

He stepped off the elevator and walked towards the door clearly marked 'Penthouse two' with beautiful gold plated lettering. He rang the doorbell and waited for a response.

The door opened seconds later.

"Well, this is a surprise." she said. "AGAIN."

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"You know you're always welcomed here, Josh."