Chapter 9 - Spinach, Apples and Carrots

“Do you actually eat that stuff?” Justin questioned when he saw Piper reaching for a head of fresh spinach.

“Yeah, it’s good for you. And don’t look at me like I’m crazy, you put it in salad,” Piper explained, rolling her eyes.

“I thought only Popeye ate that crap,” Justin mumbled.

“Man, you must have been a very sheltered child growing up to believe that for so long,” she teased, putting the spinach back when he began to run away with the cart.

“Was not,” the older man protested, pouting as he came back over.

“Puppy dog eyes and a fat lip aren’t exactly going to win you any points with me buddy,” Piper stated, “Now how about carrots?”

“I can do carrots, they’re good for your eyes,” he proudly stated.

“Well duh, everybody knows that,” she responded after throwing two bags of the aforementioned vegetable in the pop star’s cart.

“Geeze, are you trying to undermine my intelligence?” Justin demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Nope, just staying two steps ahead of you at all times,” she shot back, grinning at his surprised face.

“Well damn, you sure give Chris a run for his money, that’s for sure,” Justin stated, “You two could be twins.”

“Except for the fact that he’s like fifteen years older than me and has an IQ level about half of mine,” she expertly shot back, grinning.

“Touché. But you better not let Chris hear you, he’d have a heart attack,” Justin replied, amazed at her quick wit.

“Just make sure he takes his old fart medicine and there shouldn’t be a problem,” Piper nonchalantly commented, shrugging her shoulders.

Justin laughed as Piper walked away and headed for the fruit, passing an expert eye over the selection. For someone he had just met, she sure was confident and able to keep up with him step for step. That’s really what he like the most about her (of what he had seen so far); that she wasn’t the least bit fazed by his fame and fortune and didn’t go off the deep-end trying to please him. He had enough of giggling, idiotic girls tripping all over themselves to last him a lifetime.

Piper’s spunk and sarcastic humor was refreshing, and he hoped that once she went back home, they could continue to be friends. In fact, he hoped that she got that scholarship she was working towards as it meant she would move to New York City. He had an apartment in NYC, and it wouldn’t be too much trouble to hop a plane, visit Joey for a bit, and then spend some time with Piper.

But what was he thinking? He was really getting ahead of himself here, already thinking about the future when he had just met Piper earlier that morning. He quickly shook the thoughts away as he joined Piper in her quest for the perfect couple of apples for him.

“You like red or green apples better?” Piper questioned.

“What’s the difference?” he questioned, looking puzzled. Piper stared at him in shock. “What? Do I look like I actually know how to go shopping on my own?”

“Good lord, you’ve traveled the entire world and yet you can’t manage to shop on your own. Talk about spoiled,” she teased, shaking her head.

“Hey, I’m not spoiled,” he protested.

“Yeah, you only made your first million when you were fourteen, barely old enough to go to the bathroom by yourself,” she sarcastically commented. Justin stuck out his tongue out at her. “There, you just proved my point.”

“Hey, at least I can go to the bathroom by myself now. You girls can’t ever go alone, it’s always two at a time, just like Noah’s ark,” Justin said.

“It’s not like we hold hands or anything. We pretty much go to gossip about stuff not fit for male ears,” she explained, still looking through the apples.

“So that’s what you girls do in there,” Justin said in wonderment. Piper erupted into a fit of giggles at his serious expression.

“Oh, that was priceless. It’s not rocket science ya know,” she teased.

“Shut up and pick me out some apples woman,” Justin commanded, pretending to be offended. Piper just rolled her eyes again.

“Fine. Green are normally sourer, red more sweet. My favorite kind is Gala, but we’re going with what you want. So what’ll it be?” she explained, grabbing a plastic bag to deposit the fruit in.

“You said Gala is good? I guess we can get some of those since you already know how they taste. I trust your judgment,” he responded, “Now how many should I get?”

“Well, if you’ve got three people to feed and however many random guests you’ll have while you’re home, I’d say at least a dozen,” Piper estimated.

“A dozen it is then,” Justin agreed.

The two of them began to browse through the apples, picking out one or two as they went. All of a sudden, Piper’s cell phone began to go off and she frantically started to dig through her purse in search of it. She quickly answered it before it went to her voicemail.

“Hello?” she questioned, “Oh hey Virginia.”

“Where the hell are you at?” Virginia demanded, pacing the carpet in her room, “You said you’d only be gone for a few hours, and it’s almost three in the afternoon. That’s over four hours. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine V. Justin and I just decided to go shopping, that’s all, and I forgot to call you,” Piper explained, “I should be home after that though.”

“You’re shopping with THE Justin Timberlake?” Virginia screeched, “And you didn’t stop by to pick me up?”

“No because you’re a freak. Justin’s just a regular guy who does regular things and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be bombarded with your teeny ways,” Piper retorted, laughing.

“Aren’t you forgetting the little fact that he’s worth millions?” Virginia stated, “Seriously, he’s like a walking bank.”

“Whatever V, money’s not everything. Anyway, I’ve got to let you go,” Piper practically snapped; Virginia’s obsession with money was getting on her nerves, “I’ll call you guys and let you know if my plans change.”

“Look Pip, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off like that,” Virginia quickly stated, “I’m just overly excited that my best friend in the whole wide world, who is completely gorgeous and doesn’t know it, is hanging out with Justin Timberlake.”

“You’re weird, you know that V?” Piper questioned, rolling her eyes, “Justin just needs a friend because he’s a loser.”

“What? No I’m not!” Justin cried. He could hear laughing from the other end.

“Man Piper, what’d you do to that poor guy? You’re already picking on him like you do me and Rae,” Virginia said between laughs.

“I know, it’s crazy. I don’t know what’s come over me to be honest with you. But anyway, I’ll talk to you more later. I’ve got to go before Justin completely destroys the whole store,” Piper concluded, grinning at Justin as he pouted.

“Alright, bye Pip,” Virginia stated, “Oh shit, I almost forgot. Andrew called and said he wanted to talk to you. I told him that you didn’t want to talk to him and hung up the phone.”

“What? What on earth does Andrew want with me? We’re not together anymore, so I don’t understand why he’s trying so hard to get a hold of me,” Piper raged.

“I dunno. You’re best bet would be to call him and ask, but that’s a bad idea to begin with,” Virginia commented.

“Damn him. Well, I’m not going to worry about it right now,” Piper concluded, “I’ll call you and let you know if my plans change, but if not, I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

“Sure thing girly, talk to you later,” Virginia agreed. The two girls hung up moments later and Piper quickly turned back to Justin, who was making faces at her.

“You have a hard time standing still, don’t you?” she questioned as they began to wheel the cart down another isle.

“It’s called ADD,” Justin supplied.

“No, I think it’s called Justin-is-a-two-year-old-at-heart syndrome,” Piper insisted.

“Whatever you say, oh wise one,” Justin replied.

The two of them continued to shop, filling up Justin’s cart as they went. There was more “healthy stuff” in there than the pop star would have liked, but Piper really seemed to know her stuff where nutrition was concerned, so he went along with her decisions. Not that he didn’t throw in a bag of chips or box of cookies here and there.

“So who’s Andrew?” Justin questioned out of the blue as they threw the last of the items in the cart and headed towards the cash registers at the front of the store. Piper frowned at the inquiry.

“My cheating asshole of an ex-boyfriend who just happens to be my best friend’s twin brother,” she ground out between clenched teeth. Justin’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know,” Justin began, “I didn’t mean to be nosy or anything.” Piper sighed.

“No, it’s okay. You’re not being nosy,” she responded, “It’s just kind of painful because the break up was only a couple of months ago.”

Piper then proceeded to go into detail about her entire relationship with Andrew, starting from the very beginning when they were seniors in high school and their relationship was new. Justin’s frown got deeper and deeper as she continued the story.

“Man, what a bastard he turned out to be,” the pop star commented once Piper had finished her tale, “He had no right to treat you like that.”

“Yeah, well shit happens,” Piper concluded, ending the conversation.

They stood in silence as the cashier rang all of Justin’s items up; a little awkward because of their last topic of conversation. Justin sighed as he glanced over and studied Piper’s profile.

She really was quite beautiful. The long redish-brown hair, though pencil straight, was thick and shone with a healthy glow. Pair that with her sparkling green eyes, freckled button nose, full rosy lips, and heart-shaped face and Justin thought he was looking at a Greek goddess. The best part, in his opinion, though, was the fact that Piper was blissfully unaware of how beautiful she actually was.

“Stop staring at me, it’s not polite,” Piper suddenly teased, catching Justin’s gaze. He blushed a fierce shade of red.

“I was just noticing how pretty you are,” he complimented in a boyish voice; Piper felt her knees weaken.

“Thanks,” she whispered, ducking her head.

“Is that all for today?” the cashier suddenly interrupted, saving Piper from embarrassing herself any further.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Justin confirmed as he stepped forward and pulled out his wallet to pay for the groceries.

About ten minutes later, the two of them were loading the bags of groceries into the back of Justin’s SUV, and were soon on their way. Justin pulled out and turned in the direction of his house.

“Hey, you okay?” Justin finally questioned, halfway through their drive. Piper had been silent thus far.

“Yeah, fine,” Piper offhandedly replied, gazing out the window, lost in thought.

“You sure?” he prodded, uneasy.

“I’ve been better,” she stated, sighing.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“You’re actually willing to listen?” she questioned, surprised.

“Yep.”

“Um, okay. I’ve just been thinking about your compliment. I don’t exactly know how to start this, but it all goes back to my stupid ex, Andrew, once again. We got along well enough, but I guess you could say we weren’t exactly a couple. I mean, I always called him my boyfriend, and to him, I was his girlfriend, but I dunno, I guess the effort was never there,” she began, running a hand absently through her hair, “It’s more like we were business associates than a loving, happy couple.”

“Sounds all too familiar to me,” Justin commented, rolling his eyes as he thought of Cameron for the briefest of seconds.

“I was incredibly happy the first few months we started dating, as most people are when they start a new relationship. But things got old fast. We constantly argued, most of the time about insignificant little things that wore us down,” she continued, sighing, “I don’t know why I held on so long; maybe it was the hope that one day he would change. One day he would actually see me, actually hear me, actually tell me that I was beautiful and that I meant something to him.”

“He never told you that?” Justin asked, frowning in disapproval.

“Never. Not the entire time we were dating. I never managed to squeeze one compliment out of him. So when I found out that he was cheating on me with some girl that could pass of as a model, needless to say, my self-esteem took a nose dive,” she stated, biting her lip, “I began to think that maybe I wasn’t attractive enough to keep a guy’s attention. I think that’s why your compliment took me by such surprise.”

Justin wanted to throttle Andrew at that moment. He was incredibly stupid not to see the treasure that Piper was, beneath all her layers of shyness and lack of confidence; he was a complete asshole to treat her the way he did. Anybody could see Piper’s beauty, and paired with her unique character and personal quirks, she was an original work of human art. And he had just met her this morning!

“You want my serious opinion?” he finally voiced.

“Yeah,” she replied, nervous at his reaction.

“I think that this Andrew dude is a complete ass and can’t see anything past his own nose. Piper Saunders, you are one of the most interesting, beautiful, humorous and unique people I’ve met in a long time,” he stated, grabbing her hand and squeezing it for emphasis, “You better not let anybody tell you otherwise, ever.”

Piper felt the tears immediately well up in her eyes and she sniffled, willing them away as she smiled. Justin looked at her, worried that he had something wrong, but was relieved when she began to laugh.

“Thank you so much. nobody has ever said anything so wonderful to me,” she commented, wiping a stray tear, “You truly are a work of art yourself there Mr. Timberlake.”

“What can I say, I practice every day,” he drawled, winking at her.

“In front of the mirror?” she teased, grinning, the last trace of her tears gone.

“Meany,” he whined as he pulled the car into his driveway and parked.

“Hey, it’s my job to bring that ego of yours down a couple notches, pop star,” she shot at him. He laughed.

“You want help with the groceries?” she questioned as they piled out of the car a few moments later.

“If you don’t mind,” he replied.

The two of them began to take the bags of groceries into the house, chattering away as they went, seeming like the best of friends to an outsider. Justin playfully shoved Piper as they grabbed the last of the bags, and laughing, she bumped him back with her butt.

“Alright, that’s the last of them,” Justin commented as he set the last bag on the kitchen counter, “You gonna take off?”

“Yeah, I promised my friends I’d be back so we can go shopping and sight-seeing,” Piper replied, rolling my eyes, “My friends are here to sight-see some tan surfer guys.” Justin laughed.

“Tell them to aim more for the lifeguards, they usually have a higher IQ,” Justin joked, grinning. Piper giggled.

“I’ll be sure and pass along that oh so important bit of information,” she replied, “So, uh, not to be forward or anything, but you want my number?” Justin felt his heart melt at her sincere request.

“Well duh, girly. Who else is going to keep me entertained for the next week?” he teased.

“Okay,” she happily agreed, “Here’s my cell and the address I’m staying at. Stop in anytime you want, I should be there most of the time. And, oh god, I hope I’m not sounding too forward about any of this. I didn’t exactly come here looking to make friends with a celebrity so I hope you don’t think…”

“Piper!” Justin interrupted, grinning.

“What?”

“Shut-up,” he replied, laughing.

“Okay,” she meekly agreed.

“You make it sound as if you’re forcing me to take your number,” he stated as he picked up the piece of paper she had just finished writing on, “See, this is me taking out my cell phone and putting your number in right away. And oh, watch this, I’m sticking your address in the top drawer with the rest that I have.”

“Jerk,” she spat, rolling her eyes.

“But you wuv me, right?” Justin pouted with hopeful eyes. She playfully shoved him, surprised that all 6’1, sinewy muscle of him didn’t move an inch.

“Of course I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gone shopping with you,” she supplied, “I only go shopping with my most favoritest people.”

“Am I one of your most favoritest people?”

“You can bet your ass you are,” she confirmed, grinning, “But I gotta get out of here before my friends skin my hide for making them wait any longer.”

“Okay,” he agreed, then awkwardly pulled her in for a hug.

“Thanks for listening,” she softly whispered into his ear, trying to ignore how good it felt to be held by him. And damn that sexy manly scent!

“It’s what friends do,” he replied, equally as quiet.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around,” she concluded, making her way out the back door.

“Damn straight you will,” he called before she disappeared down the beach in the direction of her house.

Justin whistled to himself as he reentered his house and began to put the groceries away. While doing so, he stumbled upon a note from JC and Genevieve that told him they wouldn’t be back until later. But that didn’t stop his good mood.

He quickly glanced towards the table and was surprised to see Piper’s portfolio, with all her beautiful pictures, lying forgotten there. He grinned to himself. Now he had an excuse to see her tomorrow.