And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.

And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.

Get over your hill and see what you find there,

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

"After the Storm" Mumford & Sons 

Shelby had been around musicians her entire life.  She knew music, even if she didn’t want to make it her profession.  She’d watched brainstorming processes, production, recording, finishing…all of it.  It was safe for her to say that nothing really surprised her in the studio anymore, but now…

Now she knew she’d been wrong.

Watching Justin Timberlake work was like watching the sun rise and set, or the seasons change, or the tides turn.  He was such a natural behind those boards or in the booth, Shelby couldn’t take her eyes off of him. 

After begging him to stop at Dunkin’ Donuts for her caffeine fix, Shelby had settled herself on one of the leather couches behind the board, sinking into the corner and hoping to go unnoticed.  She could always take a nap if things got too boring, is what she’d thought.  She’d seen all of this before.  She’d even been the one mixing the tracks and helping with the recording.  This was going to be an easy day where she could sleep off her hang over while lending moral support to Justin as he worked.

Twenty minutes into her snuggle, all previous thoughts flew out the window and Shelby sat at attention.

Justin was incredible.  Watching him was an experience Shelby didn’t know existed, and it really didn’t hurt that he was damn sexy when he was singing.  She could now see why millions of girls threw themselves at him on a daily basis.  The man was sex on a platter. 

“I’m gonna get in the booth again.”  Justin’s voice broke through Shelby’s drooling, and she looked up to spot him smirking at her.  “Have I bored you to death yet, B?”

She shook her head.  She didn’t really trust herself to speak at the moment, considering she was probably going to say something really stupid.  She would never make fun of a screaming JT fan again.  (Maybe).

She watched him saunter back into the booth, a fresh track having just been created.  The producer in the room was someone new, but he had some amazing beats and melodies put together which seemed to spark some sort of creativity in Justin.  He had penned lyrics without much effort, and then he went into the booth and rattled off a verse or two, an incredible hook, and a chorus that had her singing along before he was even done.  She’d never seen anything like it, and suddenly she understood how this man could sell so many records and charm the world.  He was a genius musician.  He knew beats, he knew chords and keys, and he knew melodies.  He knew rhymes and rhythms and how to twist words to make them fit into some complicated sequence.  He layered his voice and managed to make it sound natural and not manufactured. 

Shelby was in awe.

“So, are you ready to run away screaming yet?”  Justin came over to Shelby, sitting next to her on the couch and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  He was grinning ear to ear.  He knew that she was a puddle at his feet.

“Actually, I think I could watch you make music all day.”  She blushed at her confession.  His closeness was flustering her, but she liked it.

“Well, you’ll have to come back again sometime.”  He hugged her close.  “It was pretty cool to have you with me today.”  Suddenly, he seemed shy.  “I like being around you, B.”

The blush crept higher.  “Why do you call me B?”  It hadn’t occurred to ask him until now.

“I don’t know.  Shel-by.  B.  It just seemed to fit you.”  He ran a hand over his head, ducking down for a moment before looking back into her eyes.  Shelby felt a shiver trace her spine.  “Shelby seems too tame for a girl like you.”

An eyebrow raise was all the response he got.  Truthfully, Shelby didn’t know what to say to that.  Things were starting to make a strange turn and she wasn’t sure what that meant, but she was oddly okay with it all.  Being with Justin made her feel happy.  For a while now she’d been walking in this fog, stunned by the death of her mother and unsure of how to act around her father.  But now, now she felt like herself again and Justin seemed to be the cause.  She wanted to explore that.  She wanted to see where else he could take her.

He was a very enchanting human being, and Shelby liked that.

“Should I start calling you J?  Or maybe Tin?”  Her grin stretched wider when Justin’s eyes squinted in mock annoyance. 

“See now, you’re just being mean.”  His pout was adorable and seemed to fit quite naturally on his face.  Shelby figured he had had lots of practice using it. 

“Careful, if you make that face long enough it just might stay that way.”  She reached over to pinch his cheek, grinning at the expression on his face.  “Well, JT, as much as I’ve enjoyed watching you work today, I do have some work to do for my classes.”

Justin shook his head.  “You can’t go, I’m holding you hostage.” 

“Hostage?  I hope you’re not looking to get money out of anyone for my safe return.” 

Justin managed to look disappointed.  “No?  You don’t think anyone would give me a couple thousand for you?”  He seemed to contemplate that a moment.  “All right then, I suppose you can go.”

Shelby smacked his arm.  “Now who’s being mean?” 

Their flirting was a strange thing for Shelby, but she wasn’t going to shy away.  Having his attention on her like this was making her quite warm and fuzzy inside.

“Do you need a ride or something?  I can have Greg take you home.”  The teasing seemed to be over for now, a true look of concern on Justin’s face as he tried to find a way to take care of Shelby.  If he kept this up much longer, she was going to be putty in his hands.

“No, Justin.  I’m fine.  It’s the city and there are cabs crawling around like cockroaches.  I’ll make it home.”

He didn’t seem to like that answer much.  “Are you sure?  It’s not a big deal; Greg doesn’t have anything else to do, anyway.”  Shelby shook he head and waved off his offer again.  He shrugged and conceded.  “Okay.  Well, at least call me later?  If you don’t, I’m going to assume you’ve been mugged by some desperate, crazy person and you’ve been left in a ditch someplace.  That worry can’t be good for my heart.”  He pressed a hand against his chest to emphasize his point, the pout back on his face.

Shelby laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek lightly.  “I’ll text you when I make it home and I’ll call you once I get through some work.  How does that sound?”

“Good.  If you don’t, I’m going to call you incessantly until you answer, and then I’m going to insist on coming over to make sure you’re all right.”  Even with the light tone to his voice, Shelby could tell he was serious.  Things were certainly getting interesting.

“Got it.”  She stood, offering a wave to the others in the room before giving Justin another kiss on the cheek.  He hugged her tightly.  “I’ll talk to you later, JT.”  When the door to the studio closed behind her, she took a long breath and let it out slowly. 

What was going on here?

She wasn’t really in a place to be having fuzzy feelings for Justin Timberlake.  She was in the middle of getting her masters in psychology, which meant she had to be completely focused on her studies right now.  Also, she’d just lost her mother and her father was absent and distant.  What was she thinking?  Really, she should be smarter than this.  And any of her psych friends would tell her she’s using Justin as a distraction and that means he’ll become a crutch and whatever foundation they might build will just crumble because she’s not ready for a relationship right now.

But hot damn, if he didn’t get her all hot and bothered. 

Maybe it was just attraction.  Maybe this thing that was brewing was all physical and they’d end up enjoying each other’s company without any strings attached or any expectations.  He was busy with his own endeavors and his time in New York was probably a lot shorter than she would like, which meant anything serious couldn’t really happen. 

Shelby stopped and shook her head.  She was completely over complicating things at the moment.

Just because there was a little sexual tension on her part didn’t mean she needed to start analyzing every little move the man made.  Plus, he was probably just being a gentleman when he asked for her to call him when she got home.  He seemed like the type of guy to care about those things.

Shelby forced her brain to leave Justin Timberlake alone and focus on hailing a cab.  It was getting rainy and she didn’t want to have to walk home if the weather turned.  That, and she needed to shift her brain to thinking about her school work and her classes.  This was an important semester for her; her last.  Graduation was months away and she didn’t want to let off now.  Tonight she had to put together her notes and study for the test she had coming up.  It was a pretty difficult class and there was a lot riding on this exam.  Shelby had the feeling that it was going to be a long night.

And she would have to do her damnedest to not think about the man she just left behind.

Home was a cozy apartment on the outskirts of Soho.  She’d found it a few years ago, and it was love at first sight.  Her father, of course, hadn’t approved of it, but she decided to buy it anyway.  He thought she needed something larger, more expensive, and more his style.  She didn’t want his charity.  That was just one more black mark on her record in his eyes.  She’d given up trying to please him a long time ago.  It wasn’t worth the heartache.

Her relationship with her father hadn’t always been so rocky.  When she was a little girl, they were inseparable.  Her Daddy was wrapped around her little finger, and she adored him unconditionally.  Together they would go on adventures; hikes, theme parks, movie dates, studio time, everything.  He wanted to give her the world and she wanted to experience it.  Somehow, though, as she grew older, they started to drift apart.  She wanted to discover things on her own, and he couldn’t seem to let her go.  Her decisions weren’t the right ones, or they weren’t good enough.  He was too controlling and demanding.  They started to bicker constantly, their conversations filled with sarcastic barbs and nasty undertones.  Her mother tried her best to play referee, but it wasn’t futile.  The damage had been done when Shelby decided to move to New York and not pursue music. 

Things had only gotten worse.

Shelby didn’t like the turn things had taken with her father.  She missed him, especially now that her mother was gone.  But she didn’t know how to fix it.  She wasn’t going to give up her passions and her dreams because he didn’t think it was the best thing for her. 

It was easier to be in New York.  Here, she was able to forget everything else and let the city take her over. 

And now that Justin was here, things were looking much brighter.

With a sigh, she stepped into her apartment and dropped her bag to the floor.  It was a relief to be home.  She was tired and still slightly hung over from last night.  She decided to take a hot shower and the pour herself a glass of wine.  A little hair of the dog that bit her might help relieve her headache and help her relax.  Plus, wine always made studying more bearable. 

She grabbed her phone, texting Justin as she had promised.  His response was instant.

Took you long enough, B. 

She smirked.  Liar.  It took me twenty minutes.  You probably didn’t even notice I was gone.

It was a minute or two before her phone buzzed again. 

I can’t stop thinking about you.

Shelby stared at her phone, not sure how to take that last message.  She had no expectations for anything happening, but she couldn’t deny the butterflies.  With a text like that, she was suddenly wondering if she could hope for something more.

Getting any studying done tonight was going to be a bitch.