Chapter 8

A month later (Thanksgiving Day)

Justin patted both his pockets, making sure his keys were there. "Okay, that should be all." he gazed around the house a good second before proceeding out the house. He had a few things do accomplish before the night was over with. One, was meeting Beyonce at the airport. She had flew in to spend time with him for Thanksgiving. His family were coming as well, so he definitely wouldn't have been alone this year.

"Mister Timberlake!!!" Terri shouted, running towards him.

"Terri?" she held up a cell phone. "Oh...I knew I was forgetting something. Thank you." he grabbed the device, positioning it in his pocket.

"Can I come, pleaseeeee. I don't wanna be alone in this house tonight."

"But...you can't. Maids are only supposed to work in the house not..."

"I know, but it's Thanksgiving Eve. Give me a break!" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Listen, you can't go."

"And why?!" she snapped. "Because you're going to pick up that skank girlfriend of yours?" she spat out. He looked away, a little taken back on her words.

"What did we talk about a few weeks ago about this...little bitchy attitude of yours?" she shut her eyes, immediately regretting her foul behavior. "Don't question me again, please. You don't wanna piss me off today. Someone needs to be here when my parents arrive."

"I'm sorry." she pouted, slowly wrapping her arms around him. "Please forgive me."

"Oh lord." he mumbled, looking down at the five foot, young adult. "Just go inside. I should be back in a few hours." she backed away, watching him hop in his car and drive off. About an half hour later, he had made it to Los Angeles Airport, parking his car in the guest section. He entered the building, gazing around the huge area for a specific woman. "Where is she?" he mumbled, unsuspectingly feeling a pair of arms wrap around him.

"Lookin' for someone?" he smirked, slowly turning to face the individual. "Hey." she smiled massively.

"Bee?" he examined her, realizing how beautiful she looked. "You look gorgeous."

"So do you." she leaned in, stealing a kiss from him.

"Let me get those for you." he grabbed the luggage in her hand, carrying them out of the building.

"I'm so glad we're spending Thanksgiving together." she followed him out to the car. "Your family is coming over too?"

"Uh, yeah." when they made it to the car, he sat her luggage in the trunk. "I wish your family could've joined us." she frowned.

"I know." they sat in, slowly pulling out of the lot. "They had their own thing to do. But, I'll try to get them to come next year. That's if we're still...you know." he gawked to the side to stare at her.

"Well I'm hoping we're still together then." she smiled in return. "So any way..." he gazed back at the road. "How have you been? How's everything back at home?"

"Everything's fine. I've been in the studio almost everyday trying to finish off my second album." he nodded.

"That's cool." a smile slowly formed across his lips. "I got something for you." her eyes lit up animatedly. "It's in the back."

"Really?!" she looked back, gazing at a gift wrapped box. "What is it?" she reached over, grabbing the item.

"Why don't you open it and see." he made a left at the stop sign, proceeding down the road.

"I can't believe you bought me something." she spoke, tearing off the paper. When her eyes focused in on a plain white box, her heart skipped a beat. For one, she knew it was an outfit or something of that sort. "I dunno why I feel so nervous."

"I hope you like it." she removed the lid, coming face to face with a fur coat. A faint gasp escaped her lips. "So?"

"Oh...my...god." she held up the white fur coat, this stunned look on her face.

"I tore the tag off so you wouldn't know how much it was." she gazed at him, completely lost with words.

"No ones ever bought me anything like this. We...we've only been together for a little over a month and you present me with this?" he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's nothin'. If you stay with me a little bit longer, you'll look back at this and realize that this was nothing." she shook her head, still speechless.

"I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. I just thought I'd buy you something since...all I could think about lately was you." she blushed massively.

"Thank you. I...I really appreciate it."

"You welcome." he leaned in, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Moments later

They pulled up in front of a grocery store, parking the car. "You gonna help me pick out a few things for dinner?"

"Why not?" she grasped his hand, proceeding inside the building.
___________

Terri was startled by the loud doorbell. She dropped the knife she was using to cut up an onion, quickly rushing towards the front double doors. "Justin?" she yanked the door open, instantly meeting up with two older adults. "Oh..."

"Good evening. You must be Terri." she smiled instantly.

"Yes. Misses Timberlake." she extended her hand out to shake hers. "Nice to meet you. And you too Mister Timberlake." they both stood there, returning a weird look.

"Um, it's Mister and Misses Harless." she corrected.

"Oh!" she felt dumb all of a sudden. "Of coarse. Well, come in." she stepped aside, allowing the two to enter the house. "Justin will be here shortly. He had to go pick up someone from the airport."

"No problem." Lynn gazed around the place, realizing how neat and spotless it was. "I see he's keeping up with the place."

"Yes ma'am. Of coarse, with my help as well." she added in, getting a serious look from her. "Uh, I guess I should go finish up dinner."

After Justin and Beyonce finished shopping, they strolled their full basket in the check out line. "I told you, you were gonna like them." Justin referred to a bag of Lay's hot and spicy barbeque chips. They have some fire hot ones too."

"No! Those are...hot enough." he laughed at her behavior. "Give me something to drink. Don't you see I'm dying here?"

"Aight, hold your horses." he grabbed a 20oz bottle of water from out of the mini fridge located by the register and handed it to her. "You could've gotten it yourself." she removed the top, gulping down the nice cold beverage as he continued piling the belt with groceries.

"Ahhh. Much better. Ahem, so..." she sat the bottle on the moving belt. "Where that's...smart mouth maid of yours? I hope she isn't spending Thanksgiving with us."

"Well..." he hesitated. "She is." her mouth dropped open. "What? She IS my maid, if you forgotten? She's gonna serve the food. And cook it of coarse."

"Oh my god. Are you seriously out of your mind? It's bad enough she's gonna spend Thanksgiving with us and it's even worse YOU'RE gonna have her cook dinner. She don't know how to cook soul food! You can not leave it up to her to do the job." she spoke, a little angry.

"I didn't know it was that serious. And, I think I'm missing the part WHY you don't like her." she grabbed a magazine from off the stand, flipping through the pages -- literally ignoring his comment. "Bee?" she chewed on her inner lip.

"What?" she answered, never taking her eyes off the magazine.

"Why don't you like her?"

"Haha, who said I didn't like her?" she played dumb.

"No one. Just by your reactions towards her. It's completely obvious." she shook her head, tossing the magazine on the belt.

"Here's..." she handed him a ten dollar bill. "...ten dollars for my water and that magazine. I think I'm gonna wait outside." his eyes bounced off the money to her.

"I got it." he assured, moving closer to her. "Hey." he reached out, attaching his arm to her waist. "Don't act like this. Look, I know Terri can be a pain in the neck..."

"You do? Well why is she still around? I refuse to keep someone like that as a maid. You can't trust her. She's gonna mess things up for you."

"Things like what?" she looked away, inhaling sharply. "What do you think is gonna happen? You think she's gonna ruin things between us? Is that it?" she finally met eyes with his. "You know I don't have feelings for her."

"And how do I know that? You don't even have to have feelings for her. Her attitude will run everyone that comes around you away. Because she wants you for herself. She's a crazy...she's like one of those obsessive fans who write you letters every day and say how much she loves you when she doesn't even KNOW you. That's what she is and you know it. But for some reason, you like keeping her around." she shook her head. "Sorry to say it, but you're gonna have to learn the hard way. When she pushes someone you really care about away..." she shook her head. "I dunno. You might as well get with her." she turned, ambling towards the exit. He remained where she left him with a hurt look on his face.

Hurt because he knew she was right.

On the drive home, they didn't say a word to one another. And when they made it home, they met up with his parents sitting in the living room. "Mom?" he dropped the bags in his hands, quickly embracing her in a hug. "I missed you." Beyonce stood there with her arms over her chest.

"Look at you." she smiled massively. "You are looking so handsome. Paul." she motioned him over. "Come say hi to your son."

"Hey, dad." he embraced him in a hug as well. "Nice seeing you again. I'm glad you guys could make it. Um..." he followed their eyes on Beyonce who remained by the front door. "I want you guys to meet someone. Bee?" he grasped her hand, pulling her forward. "Mom, dad...meet Beyonce, my girlfriend."

"Hello." Lynn extended her hand out to shake hers.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." she shook Paul's hand with a smile on her face. "Hello."

"She's gorgeous, honey." Lynn blurted out. "You look even prettier in person." she blushed slyly.

"I hear that a lot. Justin can't deny you. You both look alike. Haha."

"Yeah well you should see his father."

"We just finished grabbing a few things for dinner. Where's Terri?" he asked, on his way to the kitchen.

"Have a seat. Let's talk." Lynn suggested.

Justin entered the kitchen, meeting up with his maid. "Hey." he greeted, sitting the bags on the counter.

"Hello." she responded, never looking back. "Had fun?"

"Um..." he hesitated, taking a few steps towards her. "While I was out, I was doing some thinking." she froze, leisurely turning to face him. "I think..." he looked away, a little nervous to continue. And he didn't know why. Last time he checked, he was in charge. "Your behavior is starting to affect things around here. And, I hate to do it but if you get out of hand one more time...you're gone. For good this time. I need you to respect me more. Which means, no questioning me unless I give you permission to. For instance, don't ask me right after I went somewhere if I had fun. That's none of your business whether I had fun or not. Again, you're here to cook and clean. Sometimes you just need to roll with the punches if you wanna keep something. Like your job for an example." she held her head down, lost with words. "I hope we don't have to talk about this again."

"What did she tell you? Did she tell you I got smart with her?" he rolled his eyes.

"Does it matter? She don't have to tell me anything. I know because of the way you treat me. You have problems. And I don't know if it's to do with your personal life..."

"What personal life? I don't have a personal life. My life revolves around you and your...stupid rules." she spoke with tears in her eyes.

"Okay, now I think you should just calm down."

"And why should I calm down? You're standing here telling me to change? You can't make someone change their ways. That's just how I am. I'm a bitch! I'm a friggin' bitch and I know it. And you knew it too before you hired me. You just didn't care. The only thing that mattered, was that I cooked and cleaned. I was only around because you were afraid to live alone."

"Hey..." he flashed her a warning look.

"You wanna fire me? Well go right ahead. I don't fucking care anymore. It was gonna eventually happen any way, since you finally took that stick out of your ass and moved on!"

"Hey!" he slammed his fist on the counter, startling her. "I said enough." she turned, facing her back to him as the tears slowly took over her. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew he had to get rid of her before things got out of hand. "I'm sorry, Terri but...I'm gonna have to let you go." she sobbed faintly. "I'm sorry." he looked away, holding back his tears. For some odd reason, this actually killed him. And he wasn't for sure if it was because he knew her for a while or because he actually cared about her. "Please have your things out before the night is over with." he then took a step back, taking one good look at her before departing the room.