“Whaaat?” both children said in unison.

Sarah sighed, “Oh, Dad!”

“So, then what happened?” Noah asked, eyes wide.

“I mean, I had made a complete fool of myself,” Justin sighed.

**

A few days had gone by.  I had decided to lay low and ride out the storm.  However, JC had called me and wanted me to meet up with him at a little acoustic venue downtown where Whitney and he were listening to live music.  Of course, Trace insisted on tagging along.  We arrived and headed towards the bar where I saw JC leaning, grabbing a drink before making his way back to the booth Whitney had secured for the group. 

“So you didn’t call her?  You went from being in love with her to not even wanting to dial her up?” JC asked, scratching the top of his head. 

“I’m not in love with her, okay?  I am in love with the idea of being in love, of getting married.  This is all your fault!  It doesn’t have anything to do with Alexia,” I said.  Then I saw her, “Alexia!”

“Hey,” she said, softly, sliding out of the booth and sliding her purse over her shoulder.  “Well, I should get going.  It was nice to see you, Justin.”  She waved as she headed through the small crowd.   

“Damn,” I said, as I watched her walk away and slid into the booth.

“What?” Whitney asked.

“I’m in love with her,” I groaned. 

Trace smacked me on the back of my head.  “No!  As your sponsor, I will not allow you to relapse!  You blew it, get over it.”

“I don’t know what it is.  I just have this feeling that she is the future Mrs. Justin Timberlake.”  I eyed Whitney, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me.  “Whitney, did she say something about me?  Come on.”

She shook her head, “No, bridesmaid confidentiality.”  She held up her palm in defense.

“Spill it!”

“Fine, I asked her about you and she said, ‘Oh, Justin?  He comes off a little strong, but he’s something else.’”

“Hmm…something else…” I rested my chin in my hand.  “I’m going to say that that’s a good thing.”

“How is that a good thing?” Trace raised his eyebrow.

“Most guys are ‘something,’ I’m ‘something else.’  I’m unique,” I said, smiling.

“Well,” Whitney sighed, “You’re looking for two different things.  You’re looking for something serious and she wants something more…you know…casual.”

“Okay, she wants casual.  I can be casual.  I will be casual,” I nodded my head.

JC put his beer bottle down, “So, are you going to ask her out?”

I crossed my arms.  “No.  I can’t ask her out; that would not be casual.  I need to casually ask her out.  How do I ask her out without asking her out?”

“What are you talking about?  Are you high?” Whitney laughed.

“I got it!  I won’t ask her out.  I’ll invite her to my birthday party!”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” JC nodded with approval.

“Yes, because nothing says casual like being surrounded by hundreds of celebrities and industry bigwigs in a hotel nightclub!” Trace shook his head.  “Oh, and Whitney?” He motioned to under the table.  “Yeah, that’s my leg.”

She slammed her hands down on the table, “You waited five minutes to tell me that?”

JC chuckled, “Alright, so call her up.”

“No, can’t do that.  Calling is not casual.  Maybe you guys could invite her along?”

“Well, we’re all heading back to New York in a few days.  We’ll come back for your birthday, but Alexia will be in the city,” Whitney said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Okay, I can work with that.  I can be in New York.  Maybe we can have a second party in New York earlier in the week.  You can invite her.  What do you say, Whitney?"

“That’s great Justin, you’re the most casual stalker ever.”

Before I could respond, a server approached the table with a bottle of champagne.  JC smiled, taking the bottle from his hands.  “This is something I have to do,” he said, as he gently popped the cork and started to pour each of us a glass. 

“I am so turned on right now,” Whitney said, her cheeks reddening. 

“To my fiancé,” he said, raising his glass. 

“To the future,” she returned, raising her glass. 

“To being single and awesome,” Trace said. 

“To…keeping it casual…” I smiled, as I raised my glass. 

Everyone clinked their glasses. 

**

JC sat in front of the recording equipment he had set up in a small office in Whitney’s apartment in New York.  He had turned this small space into a temporary office of his own so that he could get more work done while visiting her.  They were planning on getting a place in the city together eventually, but in the meantime Whitney’s sufficed. 

Now, ever since JC had put that ring on her finger, Whitney had been, well, extra affectionate.

“Baby, no,” he shook his head, putting the papers in his hands down.  “I have to finish writing this song.  I need the demo done for tomorrow and I have barely started.  And we have this last-minute Justin party here in a few hours.”

She smiled, “Hey, I’m just sitting here.  Wearing my ring,” she waved her hand, watching the light reflect off of the diamond.  “Makes me not want to wear my shirt anymore.  Or my underwear.”  JC’s eyes lit up as he looked over at her.  “That’s right, I’m not wearing any underwear.”

“No underwear?” he asked, taking a gulp.

“Not even slightly.”

He closed his laptop.  “I suppose this song could wait…”

**

Whitney had agreed to whip up a small NYC birthday party for me, being hosted at her apartment.  JC and her tried to ready the place and put everything together in anticipation of the guests arrivals.  Granted, she had thrown this party together in short notice, so it was questionable as to who would be able to come.  The only person the guest list I was concerned with, however, was Alexia. 

I arrived to the party right on time – unusual for me, especially as the guest of honor, but I insisted on spending every moment of the party I could trying to win her over. 

“So, Gatsby, what are you going to do when Alexia shows up?” JC asked, looking around the place. 

“Oh, I have it all planned out.  She’s going to walk through that door and I am going to be casual Justin.  I’ll be on the other side of the room surrounded by a few ladies telling them some funny story, making it like I’m the life of the party.  So Alexia will stroll over and I’ll give her one of those ‘Hey, what’s up?’  She’ll say something about how nice the party is, happy birthday wishes, that sort of thing.  I’ll tell her ‘Enjoy yourself’ and then return to my conversation with the other women.  About an hour later I’ll say ‘Oh, you’re still here’ like I don’t really care, real casual like.  And then, completely casually, I will ask her ‘Wanna see the roof?’”

“The roof!” JC nodded.

“What’s so great about the roof?” Trace asked.

Whitney sighed, “The moon, the stars, the night skyline of the city.  You can’t resist falling in love on that roof.  The roof deck is one of the reasons I have stayed at this apartment as long as I have.”

“We’ve done it up there before,” JC said, nodding.  Whitney elbowed him in the side in response.  “What?  I meant enjoying the skyline…” he said, rubbing his hand over his hip. 

“Solid plan, my little friend…” Trace says, rolling his eyes.

“Uh, last I checked, I was not the short one,” I responded. 

He ignored my comment and continued.  “…may I suggest one slight plan modification?”  He didn’t wait for my approval before continuing.  “One of those ladies that you are chatting up in your scenario?  Why don’t you take one of them up to the roof and have wild crazy sex…”

“That’s not the plan!” I said, shrugging with annoyance. 

“It should be the plan!  Look at all of these women!  Look at that one, Justin, that one over there.  She’s smoking hot!”

“But, she’s not Alexia.”

“Exactly, Justin.  Statistic:  At every New York party there is always a girl who has no idea whose party she’s at.  She knows no one you know and you never have to worry about seeing her ever again.  Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Fine, time to play the ‘Have ya met Justin’ game.”  He taps on a girls shoulder before I can stop him.  “Excuse me, have ya met Justin?” he asks her. 

She shakes her head.  “How about Whitney?  Or JC?” he motions to the couple and she continues to shake her head.  He excuses himself for a moment from her and leans into my ear to whisper, “On a silver platter, enjoy!”

“I don’t think so,” I say again, shaking my head.

“Fine.  Your loss, her gain.”  He walks away and turns back to her, “Can I show you the roof?  It’s magical up there.”

“Sure,” she says with a wide smile. 

I tug on his shirt, “Wait, Trace!  I have that roof reserved.”

“Dude, Alexia’s not coming,” he says with an eye roll. 

**

“Hey, that was fast, what happened?” I asked Trace, watching him return quickly. 

 “Well, she was a total crazy.  As soon as we came back she was practically planning the second date.  We aren’t even on the first!  Then I thought of the quickest way to get rid of a girl you just met so I said ‘I think I’m in love with you.’  Thanks, bro.”  He put his hand up for a high-five, which I ignored. 

“Glad I could help.”  I looked around and then saw that Whitney and JC were heading towards the roof.  “What?  Oh, come on!”

“Sorry, Justin,” JC said, shrugging. 

“Great, what will I do once Alexia shows up?”

“She’s not going to show up!” Trace groaned.

**

“The party is almost over,” JC said, looking at me.  “Isn’t it?”

“Well, I mean…we need to keep it going.  She could come.  She could come at any minute.”

JC sighed.  “Can you believe this guy?  I have a song to finish writing.”  He looked at Whitney, who looked back at him coyly, tugging on his arm.  “Okay, fine.  But it’s got to be super quick and no cuddling after.”

“I’m the luckiest girl alive,” she said with sarcasm as she headed into the bedroom.  JC followed her, slipping his shirt off.  “Are we the worst party hosts ever?”

”He laughed, “Well, I’m enjoying our party.”

**

“Alright, okay.  We threw the party.  It’s been going on for hours.  Everyone had fun.  Now, I’ve got to get to work,” JC said.  “And I am not to be disturbed.  Repeat after me.  I will not have sex with JC.”

Whitney and Trace both said, in unison, “I will not have sex with JC.”

Just then, my phone rang.  “Hello?”

“Hey, Justin.  It’s Alexia.  I’m so sorry – it’s so late, and I got caught up with a few things.  I’m sorry  I missed the party.”

“Missed?  No, no.  The party is still going strong,” I said, eyeing the room.  The reality was that many of the guests had left and there were just a few people still milling around. 

“Oh, okay.  Maybe I’ll come by for a little bit, then,” she said. 

“Yeah, sure.  I mean, whatever, that’d be cool, I guess,” I said.  What was wrong with me?  I was desperately trying to sound casual on the phone to mask my excitement.  I hung up. 

“Oh, this is getting lame…” Trace said.

“Is this lame?  Or is it casual?” I asked with a grin. 

“Lame!” 

Meanwhile, Whitney knocked on the office door.  “Hey, recording equipment, are you ready for a little fifteen minute break?”

“Sorry, baby, I have to work.  I need all my blood up in here,” he said, motioning to his head.  He peered out of the room, down the hall.  “Have you seen my lyrics anywhere?  I can’t remember where I put them and I was so distracted working on the melody…” he started frantically wandering around the apartment.

Whitney had done her best to clean up the party as it progressed, constantly circling to pick up empty cups and glassware.  At some point, however, she had lost control and the apartment still look pretty trashed with all the traffic flow it had experienced all night.  She was circling the apartment with a tray, grabbing any napkins or cups she could, all the while looking for JC’s papers. 

His temper, though rarely revealing itself, was reaching the breaking point.  “Hey, where the hell is my…oh, okay!  My song lyrics are not a coaster!  Justin!  I am jeopardizing my career as a producer and songwriter so you can throw a second birthday party for yourself for some girl that you just met who might not even show up!  I mean, where is she Justin?  Huh?  Where’s Alexia?"

JC turned around to see Alexia at that exact moment. 

“Oh, hi.  Hi, Alexia.”

JC grabbed his song lyrics and grabbed Whitney’s hand into the bedroom.

“So, you had them throw this party for you?  So you could see me?”

“What?  No.  I, um, okay, yeah, you got me.  Well, one of the reasons I threw the party was so that I could introduce you to this guy,” I said, looking around. 

Trace pushed one of our friends over.

“Chris.”  Yes, that’s right; Uncle Chris was there that night. 

**

Chris and Alexia had been talking for a  while and he brought her a drink.  When Whitney returned to the room, she saw what was happening and pulled me aside.

“Alright, Justin.  Time for the talk.  Alexia is great, she’s one of my best friends.  But, let’s look at the facts here.  You want to get married – now right now there are a million women who are looking to get married, married to Justin Timberlake perhaps.  But, Alexia ain’t one of them.”

“She’s not just one of them.  She is ‘The One.’”

Trace cut in, “Yeah, well, The One is heading up to that roof without you!”

I watched as I saw Chris and Alexia head off to the roof and weighed my options.

“Going to keep it casual?” Whitney asked.

“Yeah, casual?  Uh…no…” I said, changing my mind and following them upstairs.

**

“Hey, Justin,” she said, surprised to see me.

“Hey, Chris, could you give us a minute?” I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder.

“Of course, J.  No sweat,” he said, heading back down to the party.  Alexia gave him a little wave as he headed off.

“Look, Alexia, I didn’t have Whitney throw this party to set you up with Chris.  I had her do this because I wanted to see you,” I said, cringing as I waited for a response. 

“Well, here I am,” she said, shyly. 

“I may be crazy, but I think that there’s something here between us,” I said.

“I don’t know, Justin.  I mean, you seem like a great guy.  But we barely know each other and you are looking at me with that look on your face…”

“What look?”

She sighed, “It’s the let’s fall in love and get married and have children and drive them to soccer practice look.  That’s the look you’re giving me.”

“Well,” I pursed my lips, “I’m not going to force sports on them unless they are sincerely interested.”  I waited for her to chuckle at my joke.  And waited.

“Look, it’s a great look, Justin.  Don’t get me wrong.  But you’re looking at the wrong girl.  I don’t want to get married, definitely not now and maybe not ever.  And if we had a relationship it would either end in marriage or me breaking your heart.  I just can’t really do either of those things.”

“So,” I said, looking at the ground, “What do we do now?”

“We could be friends,” she said.  I sighed in response.  “I know that sometimes that’s just something people say.  But, we really could.  But if you don’t want to, I understand.”

“Maybe in a few months when everything isn’t so fresh, we could all get a beer.  Seeing as our two best friends are getting married and all.”

She smiled, “That sounds good.  I’ll see ya, Justin.”  As she started to walk away, I stopped her. 

“Or, you know, now?  We could all have that drink together now.”

“I’d like that,” she said.   

**

Trace shook his head, looking at a couple making out against the wall.  “Unbelievable.  What does that guy have that I don’t have?”

Alexia grinned, “A date tonight.”

“Ohh, stop the tape, rewind, play it again,” Whitney chuckled, clapping her hands.

Alexia made a tape rewinding noise and then repeated herself.  “A date tonight.”

Trace pouted and turned to me, “I’m not sure I like her.”

I turned to JC, remembering our conversation from earlier.  “Hey, don’t you have a song to finish writing?”

“Dude, you’re talking to a professional.”

“Oh, I know,” I said, scratching my head.

“You know what I’m going to do?  I’m gonna knock back this beer and I might even knock back one more.  I’m gonna go into the little office back there and write that entire song.  I’m gonna cut a demo tomorrow and it’s going to be a smash hit.  My name is Rufus and that’s the trufus!” he took a sip, smiling with satisfaction.

“At least let me grab your drink for you.  I’ll grab everyone another round,” I said, getting up from the table.

“I’ll help carry,” Alexia said, following me.  Once we were out of earshot, she leaned into me.  “I want you to know something, Justin.”

“What?” I asked, feeling my pulse quicken. 

“You’re a catch.  Some day you’re going to make some girl very happy and I’m going to help you find her.”

“Well,” I shrugged, “Good luck.  I mean, where would you even begin?”

Alexia swiftly turned to the girl next to us and tapped her on the shoulder.  “Hey, have you met Justin?”

**