“Boom! Take that bitch!” Marty bellowed at Trace and accepted dap from Lonnie, Eric and Justin for the dunk he just made on Trace’s man.
At the bar pouring herself some Pepsi in a glass of ice, Kiki wondered once again why she was hanging out with this loud and uncouth bunch. She could have been with Alex, Tori and some of the other crew members on the bus tour of Minneapolis. But a shopping center was one of the stops during the trip and the last thing she needed to do was more shopping. Her suitcases were starting to get too packed as is, so to resist temptation she opted out of the outing. Besides Justin had challenged her to go one on one with him in their NBA Street tournament. Thanks to Derek she was plenty versed with the game, so she couldn’t turn that offer down. And given the sore loser's pout Justin had from getting beat by her the last round, her decision was definitely paying off. How I love to crush the delicate male ego, especially his.
She passed by Justin when she was reclaiming her spot next to him on the love seat and he stopped her with a hand on her hip.
“What’s this?” He pulled her jeans down slightly to get a better look at the tattoo he saw peeking out.
“Excuse you!” Kiki exclaimed and grabbed for the top of her pants so he couldn’t pull them down too far.
His move uncovered a set a cat paws with “PCD” scribed underneath at the base of her back. She, Tami and all the other girls in her troupe had gotten the same tattoo one night together.
“You got ink.”
“Yes.” He let her go and she plopped down on the empty cushion. “I’m surprised you’re just now noticing it.”
“You act like I gave a shit about you before.” He taunted her.
She scoffed. “Jerk.”
“I can’t believe I never saw you there.” He’d been to a few of the shows in the past and would have noticed Kiki among them. She looked good in just the half tees and low cargos she wore during practice. He could only image how she looked in those outfits the dolls slinked around the stage in.
“You missed a good show.” She grinned mischievously as she took a sip of her drink.
“What show?” Marty had taken a bathroom break, so Trace caught the tail end of their conversation.
“Nosey much.” She teased.
“One of her pussycat doll shows.”
“You were a pussycat doll?” Trace raised an intrigued eyebrow at Justin. He just grinned devilishly and nodded his head approvingly.
Kiki rolled her eyes at their reaction. It was typical whenever a guy found out she was a part of the show. You would think she told them she slid down a pole for a living the way they leered at her.
“Is that your only tattoo?” Justin asked.
“No I have my zodiac sign on my thigh and..” She lifted her right pant leg to show him the pink and black ballet slipper ribbon tied around her ankle. “The last one.”
“No boyfriends’ names tattooed in any secret places?”
“Hell no.”
Marty had returned and they went back to playing. Distracted by the game, Trace said without thinking. “Smart girl. Stupid over here wanted to tat 'Pinky' on his arm. Good thing I talked him out of that one huh?” He laughed until he turned towards Kiki and saw that she wasn't laughing at all. No one was and that’s when it dawned on him. He looked at Justin and he felt like kicking himself. His face and whole demeanor looked sullen. “Dude. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking…”
“No it’s cool. I’m over it remember?” He cleared his throat and stood up, walking swiftly to the bar. “I’m gonna go get some more ice.” He grabbed the ice bucket and quickly left the room.
The door clicked shut and Marty threw a pillow at Trace.
“Nice job man.”
“Shit. I didn’t mean it like that. He’s my boy and everything, but it’s not like she up and left him. She cheated on him. He needs to get over it, she’s not fuckin’ worth it.”
So the rumors were true, Kiki thought. No wonder he practically ran out of here.
Suddenly Lonnie’s cell started ringing. He saw it was Justin calling and quickly answered. “Hey you alright?....You know one of us has to be with you J -…..Alright, alright. I’ll be down in a minute.” He snapped his phone shut and got up quickly.
“What’s wrong?” Eric asked, ready to jump up and follow him.
“Nothing. J’s just down in the gym blowing off some steam. I’ll go down with him, but he said he wants to be alone.”
“Damn.” Trace mumbled feeling guilty for opening his mouth.
“Call me if you need me.” Eric told Lonnie as he left the room.
“Well that just blew the fuckin’ mood.” Marty tossed the game controller on the floor. “I don’t know about ya’ll, but I need some real food.” He stood up and rubbed his stomach, there was nothing filling about Cheetos and cookies. They might as well leave now anyway, Justin would probably want to be alone whenever he came back.
“You goin’ across the street?” Eric asked. There was a plaza there with some restaurants and he could use something real to eat too. Marty said he was so Eric decided to join him.
“We’ll see ya’ll later.”
That left Kiki and Trace in the suite worrying about Justin and unsure if they should leave too.
“Don’t feel bad Tracey.” The guilt was coming off of him in waves. “I get the feeling Justin doesn’t talk about the break up much?”
“He sings about it.”
“Well that obviously isn’t working given his reaction just now. Maybe if he actually talked to someone he might finally move on.” Maybe he’d talk to me.
“He needs to cause it’s not healthy to still be hanging on to that bullshit.” He got out of his seat, preparing to leave. “We should go so he can have his brooding time when he gets back.” Kiki made no move to follow him out and he smirked down at her. “You’re gonna hang back and try to talk to him, aren’t you?”
She shrugged coyly. “Can’t hurt to try.”
Trace nodded. “Alright. I’ll catch you later then. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
For the next hour, Kiki nervously sat by herself flipping through channels waiting for Justin. He eventually returned and stopped in his tracks when he saw she was the only one still there, sitting in the same spot.
“Why are you still here?”
She shrugged nervously, hoping he wouldn’t be mad. “I just-“
She didn’t have to finish that sentence he already knew why. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He interrupted.
“I think you should.”
He sighed, torn between keeping it all in and spilling the whole sorted story to her. “Let me just grab a shower real quick.” He needed to think before he said anything.
“Okay.” Kiki smiled slightly. He didn’t tell her to go away so she thought he might just talk to her.
Justin came out of his bedroom after his shower, toweling off his short hair. He looked refreshed with a clean pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt on, but that was on the surface. Looking into his eyes, Kiki could see that he was tired. It had to be tiring still carrying that kind of grief and pain around.
He released a deep breath that sagged his whole body as he looked at her. “I don’t think I want to talk about it.” During his shower he fought with himself the entire time. Should I get this off my chest or keep it inside? Seeing her face right now, he felt like he needed to keep it in. He didn’t want to seem weak and fall apart in front of her.
“It might make you feel better.”
“How would you know?” He snapped at her. She had no idea how he felt.
“Don’t snap at me.” She understood that he felt like he was going to break any minute and didn’t want to be push, so her tone was gentle yet stern. She didn’t deserve his anger when she was just trying to help. “I do know what its like to have your heart broken by a cheater.”
That, cooled him down and he saw that her concern was out of empathy, not pity. She went through the same thing as he did and she seemed to have healed from it. Perhaps she was the one to talk to. “What happened to you?”
She sighed before starting her tale. “We were together for a little over 2 years, but what I didn’t know was that I wasn’t the only one.” Justin came around the couch and took a seat next to her. “After I caught him in the act, I found out that he’d been cheating on me for almost the entire time we were together.” She hadn’t been blinded by love though, it was just that, “we went to different schools so it made it easy for him to play me.” She sneered; still a little mad at the lack of respect her ex showed her. “I was a mess for awhile. It took some time to get over it, but I did. I survived.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll never forget Devon though. You never forget your first love or your first real heartbreak. Especially when both are wrapped up in one person.” She snorted at the irony of it. “You just don’t forget when people hurt you like Devon did me and Britney did you.” Thinking about the way his relationship ended brought tears to Justin’s eyes and he turned his face away so she couldn’t see. Kiki knew he was crying though and she didn’t stop him. He needed to get it out. Instead she affirmed. “But you do move on. You make damn sure you move on because it is not worth hanging on to pain caused by people like them.” Justin wiped his tears and turned back to her staring at him. It was like she was willing him to break pain’s hold on his heart. “Especially if they’re people you almost made the mistake of giving everything to.”
“I did give everything to her.”
“No you didn’t because you’re still a good person. If you had given everything of yourself to her, you’d be a heartless asshole… Instead of just your basic asshole.” She added in and it caused a bark of laughter to come from him. She smiled in relief. He was coming out of his funk a little.
“Damn and here I thought I was a special brand.”
She laughed at his satire and grabbed one of his hands resting on the back of the sofa. “We both almost gave people we were in love with all of ourselves, but we found out the truth before we could be broken instead just getting a little reversibly damaged. And I for one am glad. My heart was able to heal and as sad as it sounds. I am happy to be a 21 years old virgin as apposed to giving it up to that son of a bitch.”
With a question in his eyes and a smirk on his lips, Justin asked. “You still are?”
“Yes. I am a proud virgin.”
He nodded. “You should be, that’s admirable, but um…There must be something wrong with the dudes in Santa Monica.” He looked her up and down and shook his head.
She laughed. “They're not perfect but then again Mr. Perfect doesn’t exist.” She smirked, taking a jab at him and he nudged her. “Being in love isn’t a requirement seeing as I know that the one you're in love with can be the worse candidate. I’m just waiting for someone that I care about, trust and feel connected to so that I’ll always be able to look back on it as a special moment that I don’t regret.” She explained the best way she could. “I don’t know it’s hard to explain.”
“No I get it. I wasn’t in love with the first girl I slept with, but I cared about her. I still do to this day and I still consider her a good friend. We shared something special and I’ll never regret it.”
“If it can’t be with the guy I’m going to spend the rest of my life with then that’s what I want. And I’m just going to patiently wait until I find it.”
They sat in silence for awhile, taking stock of what they just shared with each other. Justin was a little amazed at how well she read him. He hadn’t said much, a lot less than he thought he would when he finally let it out to someone. Still she managed to figure out exactly how he felt and cleaned up so many of the mixed emotions he’d been feeling. But there was still one thing he wondered about.
“How did you not end up jaded?”
Breathing deeply, Kiki thought back on how she moved from her “I hate all men” frame of mind to being able to date again and pursued the last relationship she had. “Despite the fact that the whole relationship was a lie. What I felt was real, I was truly in love. It was just with the wrong person.” She let out a hollow laugh, but then a big smile came over her face. “It felt good though. Didn’t it feel great to be in love?” He couldn’t deny that is was a good feeling. “I want to feel that way again. I want to be in love like my parents. Where you’re happily married for 20 plus years, you have a home and babies together. I want all that mushy, sappy stuff.”
“You’re a romantic.”
“So are you or you wouldn’t be so bent over this.” She pinned him dead on. “You’ll get over the ‘jaded, afraid of relationships’ phase too. It just takes time like it’ll take time for you to heal. You’ll be fine.”
“So it’s a waiting game?”
“Yup, but in the mean time be happy you survived and enjoy the things you do have in your life. Your friends, family.”
“Friends.” He repeated and smiling, he looked at her. “Can you believe we’re friends?”
Kiki giggled. “Tell me about it. I’m glad that we are though.” She gave him a bright smile and he returned the same. “So all this smiling and laughing “ does it mean you’re feeling better?”
“Getting there.” He felt like those wounds had closed up a little bit more. “Thank you Kiki.”
She looked in his eyes and could see how serious he was and it made her happy that she truly had made things a little better for him. “You’re welcome.”
They were still holding hands as they continued to just watch each other. Justin’s grip on her hand tightened and he pulled her over to him, embracing her.
They held each other for a moment until Justin whispered. “Do you like to cuddle?”
Before she could answer, he laid back on the sofa taking her down with him. They both giggled a little and did some rearranging before they settled comfortably. Kiki was lying at Justin’s side with her head on his chest and both his arms were wrapped around her.
“Now this was how the night was supposed to end in Seattle.”
Her head popped up and she looked at him with wide eyes. “What?”
A cocky smile came over his face and he gloated. “So I’m cute when I’m drunk.”
Her mouth gapped. “You little shit. You were awake the whole time.”
“I didn’t wake up till you tried to leave me.” He pouted. “You won’t leave me this time will you?” She giggled as he started to whimper like a lost puppy.
“Oh I guess I can stay.” She dramatically relented and rested her head back on his chest. “A good cuddle with a cute and this time, conscious guy is always nice.” She teased.
“Very true, but it’s even better when you can reach the remote.” Kiki leaned up to see the device on the coffee table more than an arms length away. Justin wiggled his body around so that he was leaning half away off the sofa to reach for it. Once it was in his grasp she grabbed his shirt and pulled him back before he fell over and probably took her down with him.
“Ok now we’re good.” He got back into his previous position and clicked the TV on.
After debating on what to watch they agreed on an episode of Blind Date. Some good laughs after a highly emotional afternoon was due. It wasn’t long before sleep overtook them both and they were out for the night.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Sunlight streamed through the windows, bathing the living room and waking Kiki. She yawned and was stretching when out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone making coffee at the bar.
“Uh, hello?”
“Good morning sweetie.” Lynn’s frame came into view at the end of the couch. She had arrived this morning from Tennessee and was more than a little surprised to find these two sleeping together. It was a good surprise though. Her son and Kiki were obviously getting closer.
Lynn stood there smiling and shifting her eyes between her and Justin still asleep behind her. Kiki could only image what she was thinking about the position they were in. She had totally forgotten Justin said his mother was coming to visit this week. “Uh hi, Ms. Lynn.” She grinned nervously and elbowed Justin’s stomach. “Justin, get up.”
“Mmm.” He groaned and pulled her closer to his body, making Kiki’s departure that more difficult. Here we go again. What am I his teddy bear?
“Honey.” His mother’s unmistakable southern drawl had the desired effect and Justin’s eyes popped open.
His head lifted off the pillow and he saw her standing there smiling away. “Ma? How’d you get in here?”
Kiki went to untangle herself again, but Justin keep a casual grip on her like it was an everyday occurrence for his mother to find them spooning together.
Lynn tilted her head at him and replied. “You know me better than that honey. But I would have just gone to my room instead if I knew you had company.”
“It’s okay.” Was all Justin said, but Kiki thought much more needed to be said. Did he not catch the way she said company?
When Justin stretched out, Kiki used the opening to practically leap off the couch. She nervously straightened out her shirt and reset her hair into a ponytail.
Justin looked up at her as she put herself together and he smiled. “We fell asleep.”
“Yeah…Yes! Yes, we did.” She stated firmly looking at Lynn out the corner of her eye to make sure she got the point.
It was clear Kiki was embarrassed about his mother finding them asleep together, but it was totally innocent it wasn’t like they had been caught having sex. Mmmm. “Oh Kiki.” Justin sing songed, teasing her as he shook his head. He stood up, looked straight at her, but said to Lynn. “Ma, me and Kiki didn’t have sex last night.”
Total shock washed over Kiki’s face “ her mouth fell open and her bulging eyes darted towards Lynn. “I..I..I.” She sputtered looking between amused mother and son.
“You..You..You.” Justin mocked. “What? We didn’t have sex, right? Unless something happened last night that I need to know about. Did you take advantage of me Kiki?” He smiled devilishly as she stood there completely flustered, her face tinted red.
He was teasing her, messing with her head. Ass! “Ooh.” She growled and pointed a manicured finger at him. “You make me sick.” He was cheesing at her and she was trying her damnedest not to smile as they stared each other down.
They were interrupted however by Lynn’s laughter. “You two are quite the entertaining pair.” Not to mention a cute pair…couple some day soon?
“Your son is quite the pain in my ass.”
“A very cute ass by the way.” He grinned and she smacked him in the arm.
Their banter was disturbed by Kiki’s cell phone going off. She answered it and was greeted with Kevin and Jade on speaker phone.
“What happened?.... Seriously?......I knew it! I knew she was going to pull that shit. That’s why I had started interviewing for her replacement……Yes most of them did look good, but there was this one guy that I really liked….Yes in the second drawer…..Okay let me call you guys back and we’ll pick someone…..Okay. Bye.”
“Is everything okay at your club?” Lynn knew of the problems and frustrations that came with running your own business.
“Actually it’s really good. Remember that massage therapist I was telling you about?” She asked Justin.
“The crazy chick, right?”
“Yeah. She quit. Now I can hire someone who’s sane.”
“Well that’s good, but its means you gotta go huh?”
“Yeah. We have to decide who’s going to replace her.”
“Damn, I was hoping to take you two ladies out to breakfast this morning.”
Both Justin and Lynn were disappointed, but for different reason. Justin wanted to spend some more time with her while Lynn wanted to get a better look at the two of them together to figure out what exactly was going on. Her spy had been quiet recently on the Justin and Kiki front. But there was definitely something happening between them that she needed to know about. What could she say, her son got his nosey-ness naturally.
“Aww, raincheck?”
“Absolutely.” He winked at her. “I guess it’s just you and me then Ma.”
“That’s too bad I was hoping to find out if Kiki deflated that ego of yours anymore.”
Justin frowned at her. “That’s wrong Ma. You’re supposed to be on my side.” Lynn just rolled her eyes at him.
Kiki bit her lip to stifle her giggles as she watched the exchange between the two. It was a very special relationship that they shared. They were best friends as well as mother and son and the way they joked around with each other was so cute. Lynn was very loving and supportive of her son and Justin adored his mother.
Hmm, they say if you want to know how he’ll treat you look at the way he treats his mother. She smiled to herself at the thought.
“Well I better get going.” She moved towards the door and Justin scurried across the space between them.
“Wait I’ll walk you out.” He smiled brightly at her.
Shaking herself from the daze his smile had her under, Kiki waved to Lynn. “Bye Ms. Lynn.”
“Bye sweetie.”
Lynn couldn’t hear what they were saying as she watched Justin walked Kiki to the door and see her off, but their body language spoke volumes. They stood very close, holding hands, smiling and not taking their eyes off of each other. She smiled at the match thinking this sassy, grounded young woman would be perfect for her son.
“Hey.” Justin stopped Kiki in the hall before she could get too far away from the door. Leaning against the frame, he looked at her in a way she’d never seen. Dreamy like. “You’re pretty cute when you’re asleep.”
He was watching me sleep?…..That’s kind of sweet. She sighed at the thought and smiled shyly at him. She felt so dumb, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and biting on her bottom lip like a school girl with a crush, but it couldn’t be helped. He was making her feel all warm and giddy.
“I’ll see you on stage tonight.”
He watched her turn and walk down the hallway until she disappeared around the corner.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The door closed and before Justin could turn around and see her watching, Lynn pretended as if she was searching through her purse.
“Hey Ma.” He came over and finally gave her a “hello” hug. “How was your flight?”
“Good.”
“Good.” He repeated. “I’m going to go take a shower and change. Then I’ll take you out to breakfast.”
“Perfect.” A catered interrogation.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Kiki went down to the breakfast bar and grabbed herself a muffin and juice. She sat at one of the tables in the hotel lounge and decided with Kevin and Jade to hire Dave Jacobs as Key West’s new massage therapist. She went back to her room and was relieved when she found that Tori was already gone. She really didn’t want to explain why she didn’t come back to the room last night. Not only was it no one’s business, but she wasn’t even sure what happened last night or this morning. Things were changing between her and Justin and she didn’t know where they were headed and if it was in a good or bad direction.
She decided a nice run might help her clear her mind. She changed into some shorts and a tank and headed down to the gym. She got there and found Alex running on one of the treadmills. She was tempted to turn around and leave. Tori no doubt told him about her absence from their room at breakfast and she didn’t want to talk about it with him either. But it wasn’t like she had anything to hide, nothing happened right?
Choosing to just not comment if he asked, Kiki hopped on the treadmill next to him. “Hey.”
Alex noted her presence and put his music on pause. “There you are. Where were you this morning?....And last night?”
She shrugged like it was no big deal. “I fell asleep on Justin’s couch last night.”
Alex’s eyebrows arched and he smirked at her. “Mmhmm.” His tone was suspicious.
She followed up with a nonchalant, “mmhmm,” and slipped her ear buds in as she started up the treadmill.
Alex watched her ignore him for awhile before he went back to his workout with a grin on his face. He had a phone call to make later today.
Activate the grapevine…..
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
“And I’ll take those eggs scrambled.” Justin finished his order and handed his menu back to the waitress.
She left to go put in their orders and Lynn didn’t hesitate to start her questioning. “So you had a sleepover last night?” She asked very casually.
Justin just blinked at her. He knew what she was getting at and he wasn’t surprised that she was questioning him. The way she found him and Kiki this morning probably looked very suspicious, but for him, it felt really good to wake up with her there. After last night, finding comfort in her arms was very soothing. It was no big deal though. Right?
“We fell asleep after talking most of the night.”
“Oh.” She’s not done. “What about?”
He could have lied, but for some reason he felt comfortable with telling her the truth. “Britney.”
Lynn’s eyes trained on him then. “And?” Was he finally opening up to someone about the break up? Other than some songs on the album and the one talk he had with her, he seemed to have put a wall around himself. She had been worried that he wasn’t really dealing with his heartache and keeping it all in was only hurting himself. If he had opened up to Kiki she was surprised since they hadn’t known each other long. But never the less, she was glad he had found someone to lean on.
“She gave me a new perspective on things and I actually feel better about everything.” He smiled genuinely. His happy face made a smile pop on hers as well.
It was a relief to know that he was happy again and was moving on. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m glad she was there for you.”
“So am I.” He smiled and repeated to his self. “So am I.”
The waitress came with their orders then, but Justin was still thinking about last night with Kiki. It was crazy how she just came into his life and was already making it brighter.
