Chapter 14

Three months later

Four months and a week along, and tired as can be---already. Beyonce stood in a chair, hammering a nail in the wall of the future baby's room. Justin had finished painting that side of the wall, so she decided to finish it by hanging pictures up. Justin on the other hand, was busy helping Brooke clean out one of his bedroom closets. "What do you want me to do with this?" she asked, holding up a box that had the word, "Pictures" written on it in bold lettering.

"I'll take it." he accepted the item out of her hand. "Oh and..." he quickly picked up a box that had, "Videos" written on it. "I'll just...put these away." he departed the room, making his way towards the guestroom next door. When he entered the room, he knelt down in front of the television and removed the lid to the video box. His eyes immediately focused on a VHS tape with the word, "Beach" on it. He then felt this chill go down his spine. "Oh my god." he mumbled, never taking his eyes off it. "I thought I got rid of this." for some reason, he was anxious to play it. So without further thinking, he popped the tape in the VCR and turned on the TV.

There he was, laughing and smiling with a blond. His ex-Britney Spears. This tape had to be a few years old because that was basically the length they had been apart.

"You're so cute! Gimme kiss." She leaned in for a kiss. "Mmm haha." a smile slowly formed across his lips, never peeling his eyes off the flick in front of him. "You love me?" he smiled warmly.

"Yes. Very much." he positioned himself on top of her, kissing her intimately. "Ever made love on a beach?" he spoke in her ear.

"What? Haha. Are you serious?" his hand trailed up her inner thigh.

"As a heartbeat." before he allowed it go any further, he stopped the tape. "I gotta get rid of this."

Beyonce entered the bedroom moments later to find Justin sitting on the bed fiddling with a pair of shoes. "Stupid...laces." he mumbled, quickly looking up to gaze at her. "Hey." he put his focus back on his shoes.

"What's going on? I thought you were gonna help me hang up some pictures." she smiled, taking a seat beside him.

"Yeah, um..." he looked away to gaze at Brooke who was almost finished tidying up the walk-in closet. "...I was assisting Brooke. I'm trying to make some room for your stuff."

"Hmm, well..." she glanced at her watch. "It's been two hours. How long is it gonna take?"

"I dunno." he answered with a shrug. "Probably a few more minutes. Besides, she's almost finished any way. Hey, Brooke...can you accuse us for a minute?"

"Uh...sure. No problem." she quickly stopped what she was doing and made her way out the room.

"What's going on?" he asked, sitting his shoes on the marble floor. "Come here." he attached his arms around her waist, quickly pulling her on top of him. "Mmm what's goin' on? Somethin' on your brain?"

"Welllll..." she bit her lip in thought. "I dunno. I was just..." she met eyes with his. "I was putting up a picture when your face popped up in my head. So..." a smile slowly formed across his lips.

"You want some dick?" her mouth hung open in shock.

"What? N...no. I mean..." he chortled at her behavior. "You really had to put it that way?"

"Yeah." he answered simply. "I mean, it's simple. You either want it or you don't." she rolled her eyes mischievously. "Beeeee?" he song, lifting his head to meet lips with hers. "Mmm." she slowly gave in, kissing him back.

"You're such a sex addict." she teased, sliding her tongue in his mouth.

"And you're not?"

"Ahaha." she happened to look up, gazing at a picture hanging on the wall above the bed. "Uh...I don't remember that picture being there." he looked up to realize what she was referring to.

"Oh, well it was hanging by the closet that's why." she leisurely looked down to stare at him.

"You gotta be kiddin' me right?" she moved off of him, positioning herself on the bed. "You don't seriously think I can make love with that picture...out in the opening like that?"

"What?" he sat up, flashing her a clueless look. "It's just a picture." she returned a silly look.

"No. It's not just a picture. It's a picture of a woman you were in love with. A woman who's deceased." he rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why you're just now flaunting it out in the opening after we've gotten this far."

"What are you talking about?"

"I dunno. I just..." she shook her head. "I think you should take it down. Seriously." his head jerked back offensively.

"Excuse me? You want me to take the woman I fell in love with picture down?"

"Haha oh my god. Am I really hearing this? Listen to yourself. I refuse to give myself to you...in front of that picture. I won't feel right. And besides that, we're together now. And I know how much you loved her..."

"No you don't, 'cause if you did...you wouldn't be demanding such a thing." her mouth had dropped open in shock. She couldn't have been hearing clearly.

"Okay, so what are you saying? Are you choosing a picture over me? Is that it?" she asked while crossing her arms over her chest in attitude. "'Cause if you are, you can just forget about everything." she threatened.

"Forget about what?"

"ME!! Forget about me!!" she shouted. "You think I wanna be competing with a deceased person? IT shouldn't even be that way."

"Bee..." he reached out for her. "Listen to me..." she backed away, treating him as if he was some kind of disease. "I don't..." he paused, trying to come up with a good excuse. "I just can't take it down...not yet." she rolled her eyes.

"Okay well...until then, I'll just make myself comfortable in one of the guest rooms. Oh and don't bother trying to sneak in and gettin' somethin', 'cause you don't have the time of day. You'll just be wasting your precious time." she turned, quickly departing the room and slamming the door behind her.

"Damnit." he quickly shot up, making his way out of the room. "Bee?" he held the door open with his foot. "Wait." she backed away as he stepped further in the room. "You know how much she meant to me, right?" she rolled her eyes. "You don't understand. It's been up there for months and you expect for me to just take it down...like that?"

"Yes! Because for one, you're trying to move on...with me. Last time I checked. And I just don't wanna feel like I have to compete with a dead girl." she held her head down, regretting the way she said it. "I didn't mean it that way."

"No, no. It doesn't matter. After all, that's exactly what she is. A dead girl." he turned, proceeding out of the room. "I'm gonna step out for a few. I still need that rocking chair for the baby." why did she feel bad all of a sudden? It wasn't like she was in the wrong...right?

"Justin..." he ignored her, making his way down the hall. "Ugh!!" she entered the room, slamming the door behind her. "Stupid."

Meanwhile...

"Do you have a display of this one?" Justin spoke to an associate at the retail store he was at. "I just wanna have some sort of clue to how big or little it is."

"Yeah. But the one that we have on display is a different color than this one." he pointed out a rocking chair already set up. "This one is black instead."

"Cool." he stuffed his hands in his pockets, never peeling his eyes off the item. "It's perfect size. This one is the same price?"

"Yes sir."

"Aight um...I'll take it." he grabbed one of the boxes sitting on the shelf. "Thank you."

"No problem." he proceeded towards the check out line.
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"I mean, damn! Sometimes I wonder. When we're making love, is it me you're seeing or her?" Beyonce spoke over the phone. "I don't wanna sound selfish. I just don't wanna be competing with a former girlfriend. I shouldn't have to feel this way. He told me he wants to move on so then do it! Take all the pictures down and anything else that belonged to her. If you see it this way, what if I was flaunting Jay-Z's picture while we're trying to have sex...ahaha. Exactly. He wouldn't like it and I know it. I know how he is. He'll be cussing like a dog."

"Will I?" she quickly looked up from her seat to stare at Justin who was standing over her.

"Shit um...I gotta go." she turned off the phone, having no idea what to say. She knew she was caught and she knew it was going to be hard to get herself out of this one. "Excuse me." she stood up, attempting to walk pass him but he had blocked her path.

"Who was that on the phone?"

"Oh come on." she whined.

"Don't..." he flashed her a warning look. "Who was that?" she finally met eyes with his, realizing how serious he looked.

"It's none of your business." his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"It's...what the hell do you mean it's none of my business? I have a right to know who you were telling ALLL of my business to." he had a point. "Now who was on the phone?"

"My sister. That's who was on the phone, now move. I wanna go inside." he slowly stepped aside, allowing her to enter the room. He then slid the glass door to the balcony shut, never taking his eyes off her.

"Why are you telling your sister about my personal business? Would you like it if I told all of my friends everything that happens around here?"

"I could care less. I'm sure they would agree with me any way. You don't make love with your ex-girlfriend's picture up. Looks to me like you haven't gotten over her yet. You're probably using me for your pleasure while you fantasize about her."

"How could you...you know what? Believe what you wanna believe. I know the truth."

"And so do I. And I also know that if you don't take that picture down, you're gonna lose the most important thing in your life right now. 'Cause if you haven't realized, Aaliyah is gone. She's not coming back. So you can either accept it or don't. Simple as that." he reframed himself from saying something he would regret.

"I'm gonna...step out for a few. Don't wait up for me." she watched him leave the room, never looking back. She then knew that he was really upset and she on the other hand felt bad once again. She had this habit of speaking her mind and sometimes she felt good about and then there were sometimes she felt horrible. Like now.