And in other news...
Trace stared at the television somewhat in a trance. With a shake of his head he lazily lifted the remote from his lap and flipped the channel. Resting it on Access Hollywood, he didn't bother to acknowledge Justin who had just entered the television/ familyroom until he planted his bottom in the seat next to him heavily.
" Man, that is some crazy stuff." He suddenly said out of nowhere, his eyes dancing around the screen.
Justin shifted so he was lying slightly on his back propping his left foot upon the Cherry Oak round coffee table before him.
" What is some crazy stuff?" He questioned, stealing the small pillow that was currently behind Trace's back and placing it under his head.
His back support now gone Trace fell back into the couch, stretching his arm he gestured toward the television with the remote.
" Her. She. That girl right there." He then looked to Justin with a persistant stare " She is crazy."
Justin returned his stare with a perplexed one of his own. Then turning toward the television, he brought his thumb to his lip and began to chew on his nail as he observed the girl that his friend deemed ' Crazy ' as she spoke with a reporter at some random charity event. From what he could tell it was the Challenge For The Kids Event from two years ago.
" She's not crazy man. What are you talking about." He said lowly more so entranced by the girl on the screen that he was all too familiar with.
Trace snorted unconvicingly.
" Yeah, whatever. Your only saying that because you just got finished smoking that blunt. You're brain must not be functioning in the proper order at the moment because I know, were you to be sober you would have definately agreed with me just then."
" Dude sober? There's no getting sober when you're high. As far as I can tell I'am sober. I'm just calmer than usual." Justin rattled off.
" Wow." Trace marveled at what he found to be one of the lamest excuses that he has ever heard in his thirty one years of living. " Maybe you are right. She's not the crazy one. You are."
Ignoring his last comment, Justin lightly scratched just under his chin, resting his other arm behind his head.
" I'm so hungry man. Do we have any left over of that pizza we ordered yesterday?" Scrunching his face, Justin smoothed his hand over his stomach just as the growling noises began to kick in.
Trace found this funny and began to laugh at his expense. " No man. You finished it all last night after you smoked up about half of my stash."
Justin winced when his stomach growled a bit louder this time.
" Well, shit man. Don't we have anything to eat around here?"
Trace shrugged. " Hell should I know. I don't live here."
" But you eat here." Justin countered.
Again another shrug. " Who am I to pass up on an oppourtunity at free food." He supplied.
Justin made a disapproving noise, opting to lay on his side in hopes that the hunger pains he felt in his stomach would soon cease.
" All you do is free load man. What in the hell am I paying you for?" Justin grumbled his calm mood now messed up on his wanting to eat something.
Trace could hear the irritation in his voice. It was only to be seconds before he was fully annoyed so Trace decided to rush the process as he thought up his best witty comeback.
" Hey, being your bestfriend is not the easiest task in the world. And since I'm the one that has to clean up after your shit 24/7 I might as well get some compensation for my services."
Staring at him from the side, Justin furrowed his brow. " Trace, just shut the hell up man. You make no kind of sense."
With a goofy grin on his face, Trace slouched lower in his seat, planting his feet on the coffee table, then dropping them after Justin told him to remove his feet from his table. Trace looked at Justin's foot that was on the table in which Justin sent him a look that read ' My house. My feet. My Table.'
" Whatever dude."
The commercial on the television was over as quickly as it came and now Debbie Matenopoulos was on the screen filling in for Pat ' O' Brien who was absent. A segment about Mischa Barton had just finished as Mark McGrath sent it over to her for her report on the more recent of news.
" Man, she is so damn fine. Nick Lachey is one lucky as bastard." Trace said as he drooled over the E! correspondant.
Justin nudged Trace with his sock covered foot. " Turn it up."
Raising the remote, Trace turned up the volume to a considerable tone.
Lately, there is no doubt that a certain pop singer has been stirring up quite a commotion leaving spectators and the media at a loss for words. Yes, I'm talking about the one and the only Meghan Carter,
A small photo of Meghan then appeared on the right hand corner of the screen. It was an upclose shot of her face as she beamed brightly her hair cascading in soft waves down her shoulders, her bangs swept to the side.
Just two weeks shy of the 49th Annual Grammy Awards where she delivered what some say as ' a performance of a life time' fitted in an all black costume similar to one of a Domintarix, Meghan was on fire as she slithered and sang her way across the stage, leaving the attendes of the show jaws agape and in shock of the pop tarts sudden transformation. The once too innocent, songs sweet as bubblegum pop teen idol, and little sister to Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, that we all once knew and very much still love has broken free from her ' pure virginal' days, now dominating the role as the music's industry ' Reigning Queen Of Pop' and she surely shows no sign of slowin down any time soon.
Speaking of slowing down which seems not to be Meghan's case, It's the media's attention that this pop princess seems to have gotten a strong hold of. Ever since the release of her much anticipated comeback album ' Breathe Heavy' back in November, Carter, 24, has been storming up the tabloids all across the country but, maybe not in the way that your thinking. It's her nasty split from ex- husband Justin Timberlake a year and a half ago that has everyone still buzzing. Though it is still speculated that the cause of Carter's almost career downfall was brought on by the divorce, her reps as well as Carter say otherwise stating that ' It was all a bit rough at first and extremely heartbreaking, but we all took this as a sign that a break away from the spotlight was in her best interest. The divorce may have played a major role in her sudden hiatus but it was the labels and Meghan's choice to become as secluded as she possibly could. Not because of the divorce, but because it was just that time. Years and years of being in the studio and on the road was beginning to take it's toll on her physically, mentally, and emotionally. All that she was asking for was for her privacy and we respected her wishes dutifully.'
Well, now a days it seems that Carter is more than ' well rested ' which brings us to our whole reason of reporting today. As of late it seems that Meghan has been really enjoying the single life since she has been spotted on more than numerous occasions leaving L.A.'s hottest nightclubs in the wee hours of the mornings. It's Meghan's second week of being captured by photographers as she ventures out on her ' wild night's out' seen stumbling on the sidewalks in three inch heels to almost even pulling a ' Britney peekabo' just four days ago in the ' Cabana Club' parking lot. But, it's not Meghan's partying ways that has the media running around in a circus. It's this recent picture released nation wide that has everyone buzzing.
Joined by long time gal pals, Jessica Simpson, Eva Mendes and bestfriends Shannon Peters and Janaie Brookland, the four entered through the private back door entrance of ' Zone' around 11: 15 p.m. escaping the burden of papparazzi staked out in the front. Witnesses inside the club say that Meghan and the girls set off the night with a bang, ordering round after round of drinks then spending the rest of the night ' livin it up'. It was from a club goers phone that we were able to view these pictures of Meghan on the bar in a game of 'body shots' and scratching a few records with the D.J. which turned out to be a real crowd pleaser. All may have been fun and games for the ' pop princess' but this photo of her holding up a napkin with the words ' **** him' written in ink while all four ladies generously flipped off the camera says it all. The photo is said to be aimed at none other than ex Justin Timberlake who coincidentally happened to be there that same night. We couldn't reach Timberlake's representatives for a comment but reps for Carter claim that the incident was a prank aimed at no one in particular.
Yeah, we don't believe that either.
When we caught up with Meghan just two days short of the incident, in a small interview when questioned about the incident, Carter simply laughed saying " We were just having fun. I mean, if I really wanted to confront him I wouldn't do it on a piece of napkin, I would say what I have to say to his face. But then again I wouldn't blame him if he took the hint."
Ouch!! I believe that them are fighting words.
Now, ending this on a much lighter note, while in Germany for a press conference, J. C. Chasez, former Nsyncer and close buddy to Timberlake has revealed that he and Meghan will soon be joining one another in the studio. Hmmmm? Possibly, maybe a duet in the works? No other information has been released at this time but we'll be sure to keep an update when we get more.
Whew, now that was a lot to spew! Back to you Mark.
Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spi--
Abruptly switching to another channel, Trace let out a low whistle and turned to Justin who lay emotionless on his side. His face bare no expression but his eyes seemed to be in a hypnotized state as he stared at the screen not once batting an eyelash.
" Well, I'm going to get a beer." Trace announced suddenly jumping up from the couch. " Want one?"
For a minute Justin lay still before slowly coming to. " Yeah." With the help of Trace, Justin sluggishly rose from the couch and into the kitchen with Trace.
" Here ya go man." Justin accepted the ice cold beverage choosing to sit atop the counter near the sink as Trace closed the door with his foot, leaning with his elbow on the island counter top.
Uncapping the top with the faucet, Justin took a quick gulp, letting his eyes roam the expensive kitchen appliances.
" Sooo," Trace began watching the foam dissipate in the bottle as he tilted it from side to side. " Wanna talk about it?"
" Talk about what?" Was Justin's immediate response.
Trace hung his head low with a soft chuckle. His friend was so stubborn.
" Whatever the hell it is that your thinkin about that has got you so quiet over there?"
" Who said I was thinking about something? Can't I just enjoy a few mintues of solace without you going and opening your mouth and ruining it?"
See. More stubborn than a bull.
" By all means you can go ahead and enjoy all the quiet and peace in the world you need but I know that that's not the reason why your acting like a recluse right now."
Justin stared at Trace who's bottle lingered at his lips nonchalantly. Tilitng his head to the side, Justin folded his arms across his chest.
" Is that so Trace?"
Trace simply nodded.
" Really now?"
Another nod.
Setting his beer down next to him he gave Trace his full attention.
" Okay, since you seem to know so much about me, how about I humor you and let you enlighten me about what I seem to have circulating my mind. Go ahead. Tell me about me or my ' thought's' as you seem to say." He finished with air quotations.
Trace merely sipped from his drink, sliding up a stool so that he could sit comfortably.
" I got one word for you." He spoke calmly resting against the back of the stool.
Justin, with his brows motioned for him to continue.
" Meghan."
" Man, your just saying that because you just watched her on tv not ten seconds ago." He rebutted with irritation resuming to bumping the bottom counter with the heel of his foot. " Nice try, but no dough. Guess you don't really know me like you think you do."
" You are so full of it my friend." Trace commented under his breath.
" Man, whatever."
His calm mood from his high now messed up, Justin was feeling the slow affects of a migrane soon coming on. Eyeing his beer, Justin opted not to drink anymore pouring the contents down the drain.
Trace observed his movements quietly relinquishing in his own frosty beverage. Silence fell over the two. Trace didn't want to press the issue with Justin any further but deep down he knew his best friend was hurting. Talk about one hell of a bruise to his ego. For the first time since he'd known her, Trace has never pegged Meghan to be so cruel. She used to be so kind and sweet. So...so...so not the ' media whore' that she had become. The words sounded extremely harsh in his mind but it was hard to describe her as anything else. She's just soo, Different. Not acting like her true self in the tiniest bit. Maybe, it could be that it's all an act that she's putting on for the cameras. A publicity stint to get her album sales to raise higher, get more tickets sold, or whatever but, if this is the person that she has truly turned into then another down fall doesn't seem too far ahead. In fact, at the rate she is going, it's sure to be right around the corner. Trace didn't honestly want to see her pave her own way into a class ' A' destruction but that's all that he could see as her future if she didn't save herself from her worst demon.
Herself.
It's clear that she's not to blame for her recent unexplainable behavior. It was Justin who went ahead and did what he did unbeknowst to him and the rest of the world but then again she was partially to blame also. I mean, Justin have had to have a reason of why he decided to ruin his marriage and cheat with one from his past. It could have been a fall out between the two or, something that caused the demise of what was once a healthy,beautiful marriage because there is no way that his friend would kill the one thing that meant the entire world to him. She was his light. His world. His entire reason for breathing. Well, atleast she used to be.
Sure, she may be hurting but what about him. Has he not been affected by it all? Has he not suffered the lost of a companion? Has he not been a victim of constant media speculation and abuse also? Has he? All of that doesn't seem to matter to anyone. All they see is that he cheated and she seemed to be the most afflicted at the end. But what everyone doesn't know is that he had been constrained also if even not more. He may not act like it from time to time but it's there. Just buried way down deep inside away from the public's eyes.
As Trace reclined in his seat and let his mind wander, a sudden thought or question made itself weasel it's way through the crevices of his skull.
What really happened?
Sure as Justin's bestfriend for thirty one years now, he knew more than anyone else, besides Lynn, everything that went down. But to be fair, he's only heard what Justin had told him. He'd never gotten the chance to hear Meghan's side of the story. With all that he knew, Trace still couldn't help but feel that there was still more to that he didn't know of. More that was being left out. More to tell. More that he could only find out from one person.
" Can I ask you a question?" Trace sat up. " And after I do will you promise to answer me honestly? The truth and that's it?"
Justin stared down his friend with inquisition as he rested his forearms on the counter interlocking his fingers together. He hadn't even bothered to look at him but just stare into the fruit bowl ahead.
Justin flipped his bottle cap into the air with his thumb. " Depends." He caught it then flipped it again. " Does this have to do with that bowl full of whip cream and that pink feather boa you found under your bed the other day?" He eased into laughter hoping to let up on the tension he could feel rising in the air.
Trace didn't laugh. Justin took notice and cleared his throat. With a sigh, he twirled the cap with his index finger and his thumb.
" Sorry. Go ahead."
" Why did you do it?" Trace asked without the slightest bit of hestitation in his tone, staring Justin dead in the face only Justin's eyes stay glued to the vanilla patterned tile down below.
Stopping mid twirl, Justin shifted uncomfortably. He was quiet for a long moment before he spoke, his eyes still casted downward but Trace could hear the emotion in his voice.
" If I told you you wouldn't believe me." He said in almost a whisper but Trace heard clearly.
The stool screehed against the tile as Trace scooted himself closer to the island, folding his arms on the counter. " Try me."
Justin sighed again. This was going to be hard. He hadn't told anyone of his real reason. He sugar coated it all to make himself look like an asshole but he knew that Trace knew him too well. His jig was up. He couldn't lie anymore. It was time to tell his bestfriend the truth. The complete truth.
" For her," He started picking imaginary lint from his shorts. " I did it for her."
Trace's brow crinkled.
" Who? Who is her?"
" Who else do you think?" Justin questioned not giving Trace room to respond as he went on. " Meghan. I did it for her." He repeated.
Befuddled, Trace was still at a lost.
" I don't understand."
Justin straightened his slumped form and blew out a long strenuous breath preparing himself for what he knew was going to be a very long night.
" Okay." He breathed, resting the back of his head against the cabinet, looking up to the ceiling. " You remember the day that I proposed to her right?"
Trace nodded, even though he couldn't see.
" And you remember how you and everyone else were always telling me that she was too young to get married? That she wouldn't be able to handle all of the responsibilites, pressures and commitment that came along? That twenty was too young of an age to get settled down so quickly?"
" Mhmmm." Trace sounded as he somewhat had a clue of where the direction of the conversation would be leading.
"Well," He paused. " You were all wrong. It wasn't her that wasn't ready for marriage, it was me."
That threw Trace in for a loop.
" I mean, the reason why I blocked all of you out whenever you would begin to tell me that I had made a mistake was because Meghan showed me that she was ready to be a wife and she was damn good one at it too. Sometimes I can't even believe how perfect she was... still is. I don't know...it's just...it's like, I had everything that I had ever dreamed of right in the palm of my hands. She was that girl that I had been looking for all of my life. The girl that I had long since dreamed of her being my wife when I was younger. The woman that I wanted her to be the mother of my children. The woman that after Britney, Alyssa, Cameron and all the other's, I've never felt a love so strong for. A connection that was more than real. It was true. And for the first time since I've ever been in a relationship, it felt right. It felt like of all this time, she was the one that I was supposed to be with. She was the one that I was supposed to profess my vows with. She was supposed to be my to ' have and hold'. She was supposed to be my ' till death do we part'. She was all of that. I belonged to her and she belonged to me. We belonged to each other. And that scared me. I mean, it freaked the living shit out of me man."
" But four years though. You two were together for four years. Blissful years might I add. How and why is it now that all of that suddenly started to sink in?"
Trace questioned. Hopping of the counter, Justin decided to pull up his own seat opposite of his friend. Propping his elbow up, Trace leaned his cheek against his hand anxiously waiting for him to carry on.
Justin was aware of the eagerness in his eyes and had to inwardly laugh to himself. He always knew that his personal life was interesting but not that interesting.
" Honestly, I can't even answer that question myself. I've tried and just...." He shook his head blankly. " All I know is just one day everything just hit me like a ton of bricks. I vaguely remember waking up that morning and looking to my left and there she was. Sleeping like an angel." A warm smile spread across his face as he traced imaginary circles into the marble with his finger in a far off daze. " She looked so peaceful. And the first thing that popped into my head was, ' What am I doing?'. ' How could I do this to her?'--"
" Do what? What did you do? You hadn't cheated on her already had you?" Trace sprightly interrupted.
Justin tilted his head to the side with annoyance. For someone who wanted to find out the truth he sure had a lot to say.
" Are you going to keep interrupting me or can I finish telling the story?"
Trace sat back, resting his feet on the bar underneath his chair. " Sorry. Go on."
" But yeah, I realized that," He paused to stare across at his friend"... this made sound weird to you, but to me it makes all the sense in the world. I realized that I had never given her the chance to love. I took that away from her."
Justin put his hand up when he noticed the signs of Trace coming on with another interruption. Trace clamped his mouth closed again and listened.
" I've had my fair share of love and I've had my fair share of heartbreak but Meghan, she's never experienced any of that before. Well, up until now. But what I'm trying to say is, she was only eighteen when we first started dating. She was still just a kid. I mean, at eighteen you don't know what love is. Love has no meaning just yet. All's that's there is just a relationship. A relationship based on honesty and trust, but not love. Not saying that there wasn't any love in our relationship because there was more than just that...is this making any sense to you or am I sounding like I'm close to the edge and about to fall?"
Trace snickered at the desperate look on his face. It did make sense to him. Just... very little.
" You're cool man."
Justin slumped into his seat heavily as he struggled to explain just exactly what he wanted to say. " Right. Like I was saying, before she and I met she had like what...one or two boyfriends previous?"
Trace made a face as if to say ' how should I know.' even though the question wasn't meant to be directed towards him. Justin was mainly thinking out loud.
Trace stopped him. He figured the more Justin went on the more lost he was going to keep sounding.
" Ok wait. So what you're trying to say is that because of you, Meghan really never got to experience the whole ' dating world'. If that's how you want to put it. Your telling me that by you marrying her, you unintentionally deprived her of the chance to go out and seek love with someone else before coming to the realization that spending the rest of her life with you was something that she wanted to do?"
" Am I telling the story here or are you? Cause I could have sworn that I thought I was."
Chuckling, Trace took a swig of his no longer ice cold beer. " Hey man, I'm just trying to get a better understanding here." He spoke holding up his bottle.
Scoohing his chair back, Justin mumbled incoherently, rounding the island on his way to the fridge. " Well you basically have got it down to the wire." He remarked, moving aside one of the many beer bottles opting for a can of Minute Maid lemonande instead.
" But? Okayy..." He drawled at a loss of words watching Justin pop the top but not moving to take a sip.
" But, what does all of this have to do with you cheating with Cameron? Did she drive you to it?"
Justin sighed, firmly denting his index fingers onto his temples in a circular motion.
" Don't you see it yet Trace? Have you not figured it out yet? When I told you that I did it for Meghan what I was hoping that you got by now after all of that was, the only reason I cheated with Cameron was for Meghan."
Trace blinked. " Ok, I'm lost again."
Frustrated, Justin looked off to the side then at him again. " Do I have to spell it out for you Trace? Look, I cheated on her with Cameron so--"
" That she would divorce you when really you were supplying her with a way out. You were giving her another chance to live her life the way she should have before you trapped her into this marriage. Well, not trapped but you know what I mean."
Trace divulged all in one breath. It took him a second to glue all of the pieces together but still. At times he may have his moments but Trace Ayala was as smart as they come.
" But don't you think that was a little unfair? Shouldn't it have been Meghan's right to decide if she wanted to venture out in search of something or someone else? You can't choose that for her. You can't make that decision for her You have no right. It's not even in your place to do that."
" It may not have been in my place but I still felt compelled in where--"
" It's not like you two were unhappy with each other. From what I could tell there was absolutely nothing wrong with the way things were."
Justin was silent.
" Why couldn't you have just spoken with her about it, instead of in your eyes ' fixing ' the problem by being unfaithful? You automatically predicted that you doing what you did would be best for her but, how do you know that that was what she wanted?"
" I don't know man. I don't know." Justin spoke with exceeding frustration, cradling his face inbetween his hands. " At the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I just.... I didn't think that everything was going to end up the way it did. Sure, I knew she'd hate me for awhile and I thought that I was going to be prepared for all of the backlash that was soon to come but...."
As Justin trailed off, Trace could see that he was still evidently hurting still. It was in his eyes. The hurt and regret he was feeling over his, how could he put this... ' stupid ' actions. His intentions may have been good but either way he was wrong in the way he went about it. He could just have easily discussed with her about it. Why didn't he choose to do that instead? Or just gone and asked for a divorce? Things could have been that simple. But no. Not Justin. He always tended to make things that much harder. That much more difficult instead of opting to take the easy way out.
No. Trace wasn't seeing it the way Justin wanted him to see it at all. So this is what was the truth. This is what Justin has been keeping inside. This is what he didn't want Trace to know from the beginning. Come to think of it, he was now wishing that he hadn't even asked at it all. He should have just ran with the first story. For the first time since he's ever known Justin, he was sure, no positive that his bestfriend had just made one of the biggest mistakes in his life.
He may have played it off for others but Trace knew at that very moment that it was eating him up inside. There hasn't probably been a day gone by or a lonely sleepless night that he hadn't wept or felt remorse for himself. And by the pained expression that just flashed in his eyes, Trace was probably right.
Glancing at the timer above the oven, they had been speaking for a little over two hours and Trace felt that it was getting late. Just as he was about to call it a night, he had one more question to ask.
" Why Cameron though? Of all of the women in the world, why did it have to be your ex?" Justin tiredly fixed his head to stare at him. The last two hours have been really draining him.
Before he could supply an answer, his phone rattled atop the island next to the fruit bowl where he had set it earlier. Reaching for it, he flipped it open. When the caller id read ' Cam ' he snapped it shut and gently laid it back down, switching it to silencer.
Trace awaiting his answer grabbed his bottle and was ready to trash it. Justin remained staring at his phone before looking to Trace with a shrug and a sorrowful shake of his head. His lips drew in a thin line.
Trace nodded. " Another night?"
" Yeah man." Justin spoke quietly removing himself from the stool, leaving behind his untouched lemonade. Trace dumped his drink in the trash and followed Justin back into the living room.
" Any suggestions?" He asked switching the channels with the remote tucking a pillow behind his back.
Justin slunk into the cushions, propping his elbow on the arm rest as he pressed his palm into his cheek. " Nah man. Just whatever." He said holding a pillow against his chest, nibbling on the corner of the fabric.
Flipping through random stations, Trace passed Deal or No Deal catching it right when it finished and Showbiz Tonight began.
I'm Sibila Vargas bringing you tonight's Top stories. Kicking off our first story of the night, Pop singer Meghan Carter is at it again....
Author's Chapter Notes:
:)
Story Tags: cheaterj soloj marriedj
