Mondays, never seem to be a good day for me. Today would be no different.

Nicole walks into my office and slams down a stack of photos onto my desk. "Care to explain these". I look up at her thinking; I don't have to explain anything to you. I flip through them quickly. Shit. They were pictures of Justin and me from the last week. Dinner. Movies. Shopping. Shit. There were so many pictures. Hundreds. This wasn't a good sign, considering I was going to Memphis with Justin this weekend, it would only add fuel to the fire.

"Is there something I can help you with, Nicole?" I asked as I continue working on some emails.

"Yea, sure... you can explain to me why you are dating my client's boyfriend."

I look up at her, "Your client's ex-boyfriend... and the friendship Justin and I have is none of your business. He is after all my client. Let me worry about his issues."

"You are dating a client..." She throws her arms up in the air. "Don't you see what is wrong with this picture."

"Nicole, I never said I was dating a client. If I was it would still be none of your business."

"Whatever, when Kevin gets this information he is not going to be happy. You might want to have your resignation ready."

"Take the information you have to Kevin, I don't give a fuck. If you want to keep running your mouth, I believe extortion is a felony."

"What happened to the professional that used to be here, the one that never missed a day? The one that would never even think about dating a client let alone the biggest client on the roster of this company."

"Nicole, I'm serious this is none of your business. If I wanted to make it public knowledge I would have..."

"We will see about this." She walked out of my office, slamming the door behind her.

Tracey immediately walks into my office and asks if everything was ok. I told her to call Mr. Daniels office and inform them I was on my way to see him.

I walk the long hallway to his office thinking, if I have to... if I have to I will sign a resignation. Julie, Kevin's assistant tells me I can enter his office now. Breathe. I was the best PR agent here, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in if I wasn't the best. Kevin Daniels has been in this business nearly his entire life. He has been running Shinetime for ten years. He knew what he is doing in this business.

"Ms. Clarkson. This has to be important because you never come to see me. What can I do for you today?"

I shut the door behind me and take a seat in front of his desk. "Well Mr. Daniels..."

"Kevin." He corrected as he continues to stare at the computer screen.

"Kevin, I just had one of my agents try and black mail me with some photos."

I have his attention now. "What were they involving?"

"Myself... and a client."

"Were they incriminating?"
"I wouldn't say that. Not from the ones I had seen."

"Ok, start from the beginning." He slouches down in his chair.

"You don't have the time..." I laugh to myself. "I have been seeing Justin Timberlake. Not as a client, as my boyfriend."

He has no facial response.

"I never anticipated on this happening, however when I met him I didn't know he was my client, I knew him as John Doe. I'm not making excuses for myself. Coming to the decision of dating him was a long and drawn-out process for me. But at the end of the day he made me happy and if that means I have to leave this company, I will." I was confident and strong.

He interrupts me in a low tone, "You were the one at the hospital with him after the accident."

Whoa, he knew I was there? "How did you know someone was there?" I asked.

"I found out afterwards. One of the nurses told me the sweetest story about a stranger that would make him feel like someone in the world cared no matter who he was..."

"He needed someone to be there. He was in pieces..."

"Emily, you have nothing to worry about. There's a reason you are the Vice-President of this company and Nicole is not. She wasn't happy with the idea that I hired someone from outside to replace Sam but it was my decision to make. I believe I made the right choice. She thought she deserved that position. However actions like this make me question if she should even be in this agency."

"I will address all my agents about of my relationship with Justin. But you should know now that I don't comment on my personal life here at work. I have always been a private person and it will remain that way."

"I would put money on the fact that it's who you are dating and not that you are dating a client."

"What do you mean?" I was very confused now. What did Justin have to do with it?

"Nicole has had this thing for Justin for a very long time. She has done some crazy things in the five years she has been here to make sure she was at his table at functions... she would stay after hours when she knew he would be in the building... she wanted Sam's job because he was one of his clients..."

"Wow... I didn't know that. It makes more sense now."

"Emily, if he makes you happy that's all that matters. When or if this becomes an issue, you can address it publicly but Justin has always been a stickler for not commenting on his private life. Don't listen to anyone else. Now do I need to have a conversation with Nicole?"

"No, I will handle it. I will call a meeting this afternoon."

            I left that office thinking, holy shit. I almost gave up everything for him. Sitting in my office, I really let everything that happened run through my head. I send Justin a text message.

            I almost turned in a resignation today for you. You owe me!

            Thirty seconds later I get a response

What??????

            I will explain later, but someone tried to blackmail me today with photos.

            Dinner @ 7 U can explain then.

            I wanted so badly to walk into her office and throw a termination letter onto her desk or make a snide comment about him in some way but I wanted to be the bigger person. I knew I was the one that would be going home with him at the end of the night so what would it matter to stoop to her level. Instead I go into my office and decide what I'm going to say to everyone without giving to many decisions away.

            "I called this meeting this afternoon because it has come to my attention that an employee seems to think that who I date outside of this building is any of their business. First of all, it's not. Secondly I went to Kevin Daniels today and he agrees that there is no issue."

Nicole's face is un-expressional. She was not expecting me to put everything out on the table. Who knows maybe it was her plan all along? "For any of you that care to know, I have been dating a client for a little while. Our relationship has no impact nor will have an impact on our working relationship. If there is anyone that seems to have a problem with this they should come see me personally because after all this is a private matter. The only person that makes public statements or comments about my clients, is me. Going to the press with photos or information that could hurt a clients reputation is liable to be fired.  Any questions?"

            The entire room just stares at me. I don't know if they are scared to ask questions or if they just don't care. "One more thing, then you all can go... I will be on vacation this weekend. I leave the office Wednesday and at that point, Tracey is responsible for all my clients. She is more than capable of handling any situation that comes up." Tracey looks shocked. "Tracey if there is anything you need help with, don't hesitate to call me or I'm sure Nicole will be more than willing to help you out."

            My apartment has never looked so clean in my entire life. I took advice from Justin and hired someone to come in and clean it from top to bottom. I feel like it's a home again. I don't spend every night here anymore but it's nice to come home to a clean apartment when I do make it here.

            My bedroom and closet area is a whole other story. I have to pack for the weekend. With Justin. In Memphis. What a wise choice I made. I really didn't want to meet his entire family just yet. This was a huge step that I didn't even know if I was ready for, but I did almost give up my career for him. That has to mean something.

            I hear a female voice coming from the living room, "Emily... where are you?"

"In the closet..."

            Lexie walks into the room and sits down on the bed, just watching what I am doing. She looks like she has something to say but just continues to sit there watching me pack the clothes.

"Is there something wrong Lex?"

"No."

"You're lying to me." I sit on the bed next to her. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I can't believe you are going to be in Memphis this weekend. Do you realize this is the first birthday we will spend apart in over twenty years?"

"Lex, I asked you if this was ok... I would have never agreed to go if you didn't want me to go."

"I don't want you to go but I know that you should."

"I can stay here... Justin will understand."

"No, Em I want you to go spend the weekend with your amazing boyfriend. I just don't like the change that's all. Really I want you to go and have an amazing time. Rob will be here. It's not like we can go clubbing. I can't even drink"

I get up and grab a couple more shirts. "I didn't even think about that. So our plans would have changed this year anyways. I can't even believe I made this choice to go. Don't you think we are moving at warp speed?"

"I think that things have happened fast with the both of you however your situation was different. You really got to know each other without the outside world involved. I think that it's a rarity and it's something you can't ignore. Love doesn't have boundaries or time lines, it does what it wants."

"I have a question for you Lex." I step out of the closet and look at her. "Did you tell Chad where I lived?"

Her face drops, "Yes. Did he come see you?"

"Yes he did... Lex there is a lot you don't know about that relationship. There was a lot that I hid from you because he was your brother's best friend. There were things that I was ashamed of that you didn't know, but I would be happy if I never saw him again in my life."

"Emily, what happened, tell me." She almost demanded me to tell her.

"When he came here he said that I needed to get over my mother's death... "

She interrupted me. "No, what happened that you didn't tell me about."

"He is not the person he appears to be on the outside. He was an abusive person. Never once did I do anything right. I was grieving my mother's death and he wanted to talk about why I didn't want to have sex with him."

"Abusive? He hit you?"

I drop my head in shame. "Yes. That's when I left. He had threatened me so many times but the one and only time he hit me I was gone. You think the reason I moved to L.A so fast was because I wanted to get away and you were right but for the wrong reasons."

"Oh my god Em, I didn't know. I would have been more supportive. I really thought you just wanted to run from anyone that was close to you."

"The last thing I wanted was to be alone...but I wasn't going to be with him and put up with his issues."  I contain my feelings back and change the subject. "That's the past. We are both looking forward to the future."

"I'm really sorry Em... really I am."

"It's fine... now have you thought about what you are going to do for your birthday?"

"For the first time it's going to be my birthday and not ours, I guess I should make it special"

"That is going to be something new for us."

            As I pack clothes for my weekend trip I get more nervous just thinking about meeting his entire family. Should I pack just casual clothes? Formal Clothes? Jeans? Do I pack heels or just flip flops? This trip seems to be more stress than I need it to be. Some vacation.

My phone buzzes on the side table, Lexie picks it up.

"It's a message from Justin."

"Read it."

She clears for voice and deepens her voice as she pretends to imitate him. "I can see you right now stressing over what you should bring. First calm down. Second, everything is pretty casual there. Maybe bring a dress for dinner one night, dot dot dot remember to breathe."

"How does he know things like that? It kind of creeps me out."

"He knows you... he knows you are worrying about this whole trip."

"I just hope I can enjoy it."

"Just relax about it. After all they could be your in-laws someday." She says in a snide way as she walks out of the apartment... "I gotta go, dinner plans with Rob."

"Lexie-don't say something like that and walk away from me."

            I needed to relax, I needed to breathe... I just couldn't. I was nervous about this entire trip. I was glad that Justin was normally safe with going to Memphis and the paparazzi not follow him. He goes there for most holidays and pictures rarely surface of him actually in town, at the airport maybe but not with his family.