At Eden, they were once again escorted to a VIP lounge - thanks to Kiki and Tami who had all the pull tonight. It didn’t take the group long to get comfortable and jump into the merriment of the club. After starting up a tab with some beginner drinks everyone spread out to take advantage of the dance floor and simply scope out the place and people. So far it was turning out to be a real good night and a change of pace for those used to the typical Hollywood club scene. Of course a lot of the people in the club recognized the famous counterparts of the group, but they were all chill about it and left them to enjoy themselves like everyone else was.
While out alone for one of her roams, Kiki ran into a recently familiar face.
“Bia. What are you doing here?” She said when she bumped into the red head.
“Oh my God, you guys came here too? And to think I almost went straight home after the show.”
“Who’d you come here with?”
Bianca pivoted to show her the group of girls she came with. “Just my sorority sisters.” She turned back so only Kiki could see her roll her eyes, making her stifle a laugh. To be discrete and heard over the music, she leaned in. “I love them, but they drive me crazy, you know. I can only take them in doses.”
“Well you wanna come and hang with us for a little while.” Kiki offered up a reprieve.
“Yeah? Your friends won’t mind? I could really use a break.”
Thinking about everyone in her party, one face stood out and a light bulb went on over her head, lighting up her whole face. “Absolutely not. As a matter of fact there’s someone here who will be very happy to see you.”
When it dawned on her who she was referring to, Bianca lit up even more than Kiki and quickly excused herself, telling her sisters that she had some friends to go visit. She’d be back…….Maybe…...Hopefully not.
After devising a little plan to hook the couple up without prying eyes watching every move they made, Kiki went back to the lounge and found almost everyone there. Thankfully Trace was one of them and he didn’t have any new lady friends hanging off of him so she hurried over to intercept any candidates waiting in the wings.
“Hey Tracey. You know I don’t think you and I have ever danced before. Wanna take me for a whirl?”
“Sure.” He got up and followed her to the step coming off the VIP plateau. As they were walking away, Justin called out.
“Put it on her T!”
Tittles went around the group until Kiki turned around and said. “Yeah cause you certainly didn’t know how.”
Those tittles turned to guffaws and jeers aimed at a pissed off Justin.
“That stung huh?” Tami mockingly asked earning her the finger.
Kiki and Trace disappeared into the crowd and the laughter died down, but Justin was still grousing. He’d let it slide for the moment, but he’d get Kiki’s smart little ass before the night was over.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the thick of the dancing crowd Kiki lead the way, soon spotting Bianca and she squeezed them through towards her.
Dancing by herself, Bianca turned around and when she saw a grinning Kiki approaching, she nodded slightly, signaling the go ahead even though she was really nervous.
Kiki suddenly stopped in her tracks, tightened her hold on the unsuspecting Trace and yanked his arm hard enough to lurch him pass her and right in front of Bianca.
“Hi Trace.” She smiled brightly at the surprised look on his face.
“He…Hey.” He stumbled over his words, ecstatic that she was here and trying hard not to grin like an idiot.
“You wanna dance?”
“Yeah.” He nodded enthusiastically.
Taking a hold of his hands, she wrapped his arms around her waist and hers around his shoulders, pulling him into her and the music.
Kiki was standing by watching with a triumphant smile when they began to dance. Before they got to into each other, she came up behind Trace and tapped him on the shoulder. “You’re welcome.” She said and he turned to see who was interrupting his little stint in heaven.
When she and Bianca started giggled he knew he had been set up, but what a way to go, he thought.
“Okay, okay. Looks like I owe you one.”
She shook her head. “No you don’t. It’s a freebee. You guys just have fun and don’t be good.”
Bianca giggled, “thanks Kiki,” and tightened her hold on Trace, making him turned his focus back in her.
Since they were now oblivious to anyone other than themselves, Kiki blended back into the crowd, happy to give them some alone time. Justin had told her about Trace’s painful split from his fiancée last year and her heart had gone out to him. So when she found out about Bianca’s honest to God crush on Trace, not just Justin Timberlake’s best friend, and how the sparks had flown between them, she decided to play matchmaker. At first she was just going to wait to see if Trace would call Bianca to butt in, but when she bumped into her here. She figured why not keep the momentum between them going. Trace was a good guy; he deserved a nice girl like Bianca in his life.
“I think I just replaced you as Tracey’s best friend.” Kiki gloated to Justin upon her quick return to the group.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that.” she pointed to the lower level and everyone’s heads strained up to see what she was referring to.
From their vantage point they could clearly see Trace in all his glory with Bianca wrapped around him.
“Is that the Bianca girl you were talking about earlier?” Cameron asked.
“Yup that’s her.”
“You’re just like a little Cupid “ conniving and annoying as fuck. You couldn’t turn me into one of your victims so you pounced on poor Trace.” JC joked.
Kiki turned from watching Bianca putting it on Trace to snap back. “Hey he looks damn happy doesn’t he?”
“They do look kind of cute together.” Cameron commented as she and everyone else turned away from the sight, having their fill of the budding couple.
“Given that goofy ass grin on his face we probably won’t see him for the rest of the night. He’s gonna be too busy following her around like a fuckin’ puppy dog.” Justin playfully teased.
Trace did come back though with Bianca in tow. He introduced her to everyone and she joined the group for the night, fitting right in.
In the middle of all their conversing, two trays, one filled with shot glasses and a bottle of Grey Goose, and another with three Appletinis suddenly appeared on the cocktail table surrounded by the box configured sofas - courtesy of one of the owners.
“Shai!” A tipsy Maya boisterously welcomed him. Kiki and Tami soon followed suit with their own greetings.
“Hey everyone. This is compliments of me and my brother.” He said in reference to the bottle of premium vodka. “And these are for my three favorite ladies.”
Said three ladies quickly scooped up the Appletinis. “Thanks Shai.” They voiced at the same time as did the rest of the group.
“Can you sit with us for a bit?” Kiki asked with a big hopefully smile.
“I think I can spare a few minutes especially if they’re for you.” He sat next to her after Maya and Alex scooted down to make room.
Their smiles and Shai’s arm around Kiki’s shoulder had Tami, Maya and Alex trying to hold back grins, but shifting intrigued eyes between each other and the couple. Would a bathroom meeting be in order over this surprising new development?
Meanwhile Joey did the honors of cracking the bottle open and doling out the shots. Including Shai, they all did a toast to their great night out that was far from over.
Setting his shot back on the table, upside down, signaling he was out for the next round “ he was on the clock “ Shai sat back and put all his attention on Kiki. “I’m glad you came.”
“I said I would the last time we had dinner.” She responded. “And look I even brought with me some free publicity for you.” She quipped in reference to the celebs in her group.
“I see and please do spread the word. I wouldn’t mind Eden becoming an A-list hot spot.” He said with a very charismatic ire about him, one that the women around him definitely were responding to with smiles and slight blushes. The guys took their almost swooning girlfriends in stride, chalking it up to innocent flirting. He was of no threat to any of them anyway.
Any of them except for Justin who sure as hell wasn’t cool with Shai’s presence.
The minute Kiki mentioned coming to his club, he was immediately against it, but of course he was the only person opposed to that decision. And if he voiced his total disagreement with coming here, it would have raised questions that he couldn’t honestly answer without causing drama. So he sat back for the unwanted ride and prepared himself to have to keep his temper in check. The aggravation he was feeling now proved that he hadn’t done a great job of that.
The instant Shai showed up it grated his nerves and his mood began to shift from decent to shitty. That didn’t last long and unfortunately it was shot up to full on pissed when Shai sat way too close to Kiki and then put his arm around her. But the best, oh the best of it all was finding out that Kiki was dating him! He couldn’t believe that she was dating this fucker again. Why didn’t she tell him? When did she ever have time to-
“So… what did you do last night?”
“Had a great time.” She answered vaguely, but with a whimsical smile.
With this new revelation and now watching Kiki and this son of a bitch cuddling up, Justin’s lips puckered in anger and he turned away from the sight before he explored.
What the fuck?! She’s with him! How could she do this to me?!
Hurt and angry, but unable to express it, he did the only thing he could think “ he pushed his empty shot glass away, grabbed the rest of his JD and chugged it. But he needed more if he was going to numb himself enough to make it through tonight.
While he was visiting his own personal hell, the others had been giving Shai feedback on the place “ complimenting its chill ambiance, spacious dance floor, great DJ and good booze. He rolled his eyes as they all kissed his ass, a nobody who most of them hardly knew. Ignoring them all, he saw a waitress approaching and called her over.
“Can I get a double JD straight, on the rocks?” He half demanded.
“Sure. Anything else for the rest of you?” Adding to their tab, she took orders for some drinks to go with the shots and right before she was set to go place them, her boss stopped her.
“Hey James, all their drinks are on the house tonight.” Shai notified her before she left.
Gratuitous for his generosity went around the group again and then everyone proceeded to branch off into side conversations.
“So how you been?” Shai asked Kiki.
“You mean since you saw me two weeks ago.” They both laughed.
“Well knowing you, plenty can happen in that short amount of time.”
She scoffed and playfully smacked his shoulder. “I’ll have you know - I’ve been a good girl lately.”
Leaning into her, he took hold of her chin and said. “Yeah right. You’re rarely a good girl.”
Tipsy and feeling flirtatious, Kiki bit the tip of her tongue and giggled devilishly. Shai couldn’t help, but laugh at her antics as she got herself another shot of vodka. “So tonight looks to be a success. How was opening night?”
He was just about to give her all the details when Jaime came back with the drinks and informed him that there was an issue at the bar that he had to see to.
“Back to the grind.” He moved to get up, but turned to Kiki before he was fully standing. “Save a dance for me?” Biting her lower lip briefly, she nodded. “Okay. Be right back.”
After watching him leave, Kiki faced front again and picked up her drink to take a sip. Sitting back to get comfortable, she caught the curious eye of many of her friends and she rolled hers, instincts told her what was coming.
“Are you dating him again?” Alex asked, excitement for his friend bubbling over the surface. It was about time she started dating again.
“No. I mean we’ve been hanging out lately, but it’s been purely platonic.”
“It doesn’t seem like he feels that way.” Cameron piped in. “With chemistry like the two of you obviously have there’s no such thing as platonic between exes.”
Maya, Tami, and Alex glanced between each other thinking the same thing: she doesn’t seem worried or threatened so is she too clueless to realize that comment could apply to her own man and Kiki?
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in going down that road with him again. The only thing I want from Shai is friendship.”
“You might want to tell him that.” Tami advised.
“Then I’ll tell him. I’m not trying to get into any big dramatic thing.”
Her stance on the situation was obviously final so they left it at that and changed the subject. Justin was the only one still dwelling on the past moments and his head was swimming.
After slamming back more alcohol than anyone else, he still couldn’t get himself under control. If anything it felt like he was slipping deeper into his anger and disgust as he watched Kiki and Shai flirting and laughing with each other. His eyes burned into the couple taking notes of every look and worse, every touch. When Shai tipped up Kiki’s face and got too close to her mouth for comfort, he almost leapt out of his seat. Luckily he still had enough sense to stay composed. How long that would last was the rather dangerous mystery. Right now Shai was gone and hopefully he wouldn’t come back, he shouldn’t. There had to be something else he needed to do in his own damn establishment than flirting with a woman he didn’t deserve.
Watching Kiki chat with their friends, he started plotting on ways to get her alone for a little while and remind her that she was better than some corny ass club owner.
What the fuck man! Go away!
“Excuse me miss? Can I have this dance?” Shai reappeared and politely asked for Kiki’s hand.
Taking it, she smiled as he helped her to stand. “I’d love to.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and directed her to the dance floor.
Justin, like every other second of the night that included Kiki, intently watched Shai’s return and departure with her at his side. He finished his drink quickly, wincing at the burn and muttered. “Bitch ass.”
“What’d you say?” Cameron asked now that she wasn’t talking with some of the girls.
“Nothing. Um..” Spotting Kiki and Shai commandeering a place on the floor, he offered. “You wanna dance?”
Cameron beamed, finally he was acting like he was actually having a good time and wasn’t pouting. “Yeah come on.”
Not long after they left, the rest of the group dispersed to work it out too.
Justin brought Cameron through the crowd until Kiki and Shai were in his line of vision. Instinctively he started dancing to the music, barely conscious of Cameron grinding on him. He was too focused on Kiki, wishing she was the one in his arms. Wishful thoughts took the backburner to a red haze covering his mind when he saw Shai’s hands skim Kiki’s bare back and her hips rocking into his. Now all he wanted was to rip her away from this dude and that need only got stronger when worse than the physical contact, he saw Kiki aim that beautiful, bright smile up at Shai. It was like a physical blow - that was his smile.
“Are you okay?” Cameron pulled back to check him over when she felt him tense up.
Somehow Justin managed to bring himself back into focus and quickly put a convincing smile on his face. “Yeah I’m fine. I’m just not feeling this right now. You want to go over to the game room?”
“Sure.” She shrugged even though she’d rather stay and dance, but the last thing she wanted to deal with was an irritated Justin if she contested.
He was obviously in one of his moods and it was best to just let it be. His and her temper could only ruin the night and probably result in an argument if she pressed him to open up to her. Divulging his deep feelings wasn’t big with Justin or with their whole relationship. If she wanted to avoid conflict, all she could do was let it go and wait for when he and their relationship naturally reached that level of intimacy and trust.
They went to the quieter section at the back of the club that was set up like a leisure bar with some pool tables, darts and the like. It was exactly what Justin need right now, a little distraction to get his mind calm so that when he broke up the little lovefest he didn’t fly off the handle and cause a commotion rather than achieve his goal. Which was to get Kiki’s undivided attention on him and no one else.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three songs played before Kiki and Shai parted ways. He had some business mingling to do and she had her friends to get back to. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and a promise that she would come say bye before leaving.
Returning to the lounge Kiki found that Tami, Maya and Eva were the only ones still there. Alex was somewhere talking with some old friends he ran into, Bianca had taken Trace to the other side of the club to meet her sisters and to make sure it didn’t look like she had ditched them. Joey and JC were at the bar getting drinks, but they got side tracked by a game of darts with Cameron and Justin.
At the lounge, Kiki reclaimed her seat, now between Maya on the sofa with her and Tami and Eva on the other at her opposite side.
“So I just ran into Andrea Hedley and she tried to bate me into telling her about you and Justin and me and Joey.” Tami updated her on what she missed.
“Gawd, it’s been how many years and she’s still a nosey bitch.” She scoffed about their old college classmate that both girls weren’t fond of and that feeling was mutual. “Some people never change.”
Catching a peck of the ankle boots that Kiki was wearing when she crossed her legs, Eva pulled up her pant leg a bit to get a better look. “Those are cute.”
“Aren’t they? And I got them like half off. Not that I wouldn’t have still brought them if they weren’t. I can’t help it, I’m a shoe whore.”
“Me too. I would say it’s a problem, but it’s really not.” The girls collectively laughed and Tami offered.
“You should definitely come shopping with us one of these days. That’s practically all we buy.” She was having a great time getting to know Eva. She was such a cool person, definitely a good match for JC and a good addition to the circle.
“Yeah?” Eva was a little surprised at how accepting they were of her. When she first decided to come with JC tonight and meet his friends, she was a little worried she wouldn’t fit in. Plus after Tami’s warning early tonight she knew that she was being sort of “tested” by the three women. Not that she mind, she and JC had talked about both of their past relationships, so she knew of his heartaches and understood their concern for their friend.
“Well, you’re a chica now. You gotta start hanging out with us and let JC bring you to Sunday dinner so our mom can meet you.” Maya explained excitedly. “She’s been dying for Josh to bring a ‘nice wholesome girl’ around. And she’s like a huge fan of yours so she will be completely psyched to find out you two are dating.”
“So you guys like me, you really like me?” She half joked. She was so relieved that they liked her because the feeling was mutual.
“Well you have to pass one more test actually.” Kiki placed her feet back on the ground and boogied out of her seat as the music playing. “You have to come and work it with us on the dance floor. Show us what kind of moves you got.”
Before she could agree, Tami grabbed Eva’s hand, pulling her up with the others and the four hurried onto the dance floor as Bring ‘Em Out, on of their favorites played. In a circle they danced and had many a laugh as they watched the disappointed faces of the men whose advances were turned down. They were a bunch of teasing stinkers, but it was fun.
After Eva sufficiently and successfully showed off her stuff, they went on the hunt for the rest of their party and found them in the game room. The guys were playing pool now while Cameron and Bianca sat at the sideline talking and spectating. They joined in and as a whole again, the group continued to hang out there for awhile.
Once again they dispersed when they had enough of quiet and were ready to renew the more raucous fun. Justin found himself roaming alone and right when he was going to head back to the lounge, he spotted Kiki. She was at the bar and she was talking, no flirting…..with Shai again.
He was not having it, not for the second time tonight and he decided it was time to step in. But first he had a favor to ask.
“Yo T I need you to do something for me “ can you go up to the table and keep Cam busy?” When he saw Cameron at the lounge with Joey and Tami and then Trace at a table on the ground floor talking to Bianca, a plan to keep Cameron busy immediately formed and he approached his best friend, pulling him aside to talk.
“What? Why?” he was having a great time, trying to make a lasting impression with Bianca and here comes his so called best friend blockin’.
“Don’t worry about why, just do it.”
“How the fuck do you expect me to do that?”
Fuming with annoyance now “ the more Trace stalled the more leeway that motherfucker was getting with Kiki and that was unacceptable. “You’ve covered for me before. I don’t know how you did it, I don’t fuckin’ care. Just get it done!” He growled and stormed away to get what was his.
Just as annoyed now, Trace returned to Bianca. “I’m sorry, but I need to go back upstairs to do something for J.”
“Oh okay.” She said, obviously disappointed that their time was being cut short.
It was at least nice to know she’d miss him, Trace thought as he smiled inside. He was just about to get up to take her back to her friends, assuming that’s where she was headed, but Bianca had other plans.
“I could come with you.” She offered apprehensively. She didn’t want to smoother him, but she was having a great time with him and it sounded like he was just going back to hang with his friends, the same thing they’d been doing all night.
Trace couldn’t help but smile, happy that she still wanted to hang with him, but he felt the need to warn her. “Okay, but I’m gonna kind of be busy pl-“
“Playing interference with Cameron?” She surmised, partly from the bits and pieces she heard of his conversation with Justin. When he gave her a pointed look, she shrugged. “He’s been staring at her all night. We’ve all been talking about it. I don’t know how either of them hasn’t noticed it, especially Cameron.” Not knowing all the details about the situation, she couldn’t exactly feel sorry for her, but it was a shame she couldn’t see the writing on the walls.
“Well best friend duty calls and I wouldn’t mind having an accomplice.”
With a beaming smile, she took his extended hand and together they went back to VIP.
In the meantime, Justin had posted himself at an empty booth, still on the main floor, where he could keep an eye on Kiki and see when Trace went up to the lounge before he made his move. After what seemed like forever, he finally spotted Trace going up the short staircase with Bianca. Good the more people keeping her occupied the better. Quickly finishing his beer, he stood up and made himself presentable by smoothing out his hair and clothes. Last but not least he turned on the Timberlake charm and started towards the bar to finally make everything that was wrong with this night, right.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kiki was having another nice chat with Shai while be played bartender in place of the one who was on break. He was keeping her well entertained as they swapped stories about their crazy staff and costumers. Shai had to excuse himself to put together an order for on of the waitress at the other end of the bar and asked her to wait for him which she agreed to. Until he came back, she stayed busy dancing in her seat, people watching and sipping on her new Appletini. Out of no where, a pair of big masculine hands grabbed her waist and she was about to whip around and tell whoever it was to keep his damn hands to himself, but he spoke up before she had to chance.
“Hey.” Justin leaned into her and breathed against the side of her neck.
For a moment it threw her, but she shook it off and turned to her side when he moved to stand next to her. “Hiya. Where you been?”
“Around. You’re the one that’s been glued to this bar.”
“Only because I’ve been talking with Shai, thank you very much.”
“Yeah I know.” He replied, his distain covered up just enough for Kiki to miss it and he looked behind her down to the other end of the bar.
Shai had been throwing glances at Kiki since he left her and on this turn he caught sight of Justin talking to her. He was just about to go back to mixing until Justin looked at him and glared. It totally confused him, he barely knew this dude enough to warrant a look like that. He chalked it up to a misread or something and nodded to him out of curtsey.
Justin did the same for the same basic good mannered reason and then dismissed him to turn his attention back on the more important person right now. With his sexy half smile that always got him what he wanted, he started working his magic to win Kiki over and put Shai in his place.
“I’m not seeing Shai around here right now so why don’t you come and dance with me? We haven’t danced together in awhile you know?” Not giving her the chance to do anything more than smile at the sentiment, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the stool.
“Um okay. But wait let me just tell Shai.”
Tempering his anger, Justin responded sharply. “Why? He’s not your fuckin’ daddy. You don’t have to tell him anything. Now come on.” He tugged on her hand, signaling for her to fall in line or get dragged and for some reason Kiki obediently followed.
Something in his face made it impossible for her not to and once he brought her to a decent spot, he turned around and flashed her one of those charming smiles of his. Her apprehension ebbed away and she smiled back, easily going into his arms. They wrapped around her waist and her hands linked around his neck as their bodies pressed together and the music played through the club.
The track playing at the time came to an end and the next started, adding fuel to the fire that had already been lit back at the Roxy. This whole night had the makings of a strong sexually tense basis with the show, the alcohol free on tap and now this intimate moment between them. Without any conscious thought, Justin and Kiki went ahead and did what came naturally, letting the music carry them way.
Letting go of Justin, Kiki turned her back to him and he answered the move by melding their hips together, grinding into her. Kiki gave as good as she was getting, stretching her arm up to scratch at the nape of his head and grinding with him to the beat.
And I just can't think (Of anything else I'd rather do)
Than to hear you sing (Sing my name the way you do)
Oh when we do our thing (When we do the things we do)
Baby girl you make me say (Oh oh oh) (Oh)
Sexy love
Girl the things you do (Oh baby baby)
Keep me sprung
Keep me runnin' back to you (Oh baby I)
Oh I love making love to you
Baby girl you know you're my
Sexy love
Lost in the moment, Kiki rolled and rocked her ass into Justin, totally oblivious to what she was doing to him.
Completely turned on by this tempting woman swaying in his arms, Justin tightened his hold on her, spanning his hands across her stomach and he buried his head into the crux of her neck. Needing more contact with her, he pulled all her hair to on side of her neck and pressed his lips to the now bare side, humming into her smooth skin. It sent chills through Kiki and she couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped her mouth. She was in such a haze, her mind filled with nothing but the lush sensations running through her from being touched by Justin and having her body pressed up against his hard and warm one. Again lust zinged through her and with her hand that had been holding his arm around her waist, she grabbed his lower back, grinding her hips into him harder until he moaned out loud.
I'm so addicted to her
She's the sweetest drug
Just enough is still too much
Say that I'm simpin’ and I'm sprung, all of the above
I can't help she makes me say (Oh oh oh) (Hey)
“Shit. You feel so fuckin’ good Kik. How could I forget how good you feel?” He babbled and groaned deeply into her neck, laying a sucking kiss there. He wrapped his body around hers more tightly and moaned again. “God I missed you Baby Doll.”
Kiki froze, it was like everything came to a screeching halt and cold water was doused on her. She hadn’t heard that name in a long time and hearing it now was like a slap in the face, a stinging reminder that it definitely did not apply to her anymore. Realizing what she was doing, she abruptly and forcefully yanked his arms from around her and pulled herself away from him. Turning the face him and in a voice loud enough for him to hear her, she stressed.
“I am not your Baby Doll anymore.”
Once again she turned her back on him, this time to walk away and he grabbed at her to stop her, but she shrunk out of his reach.
“Kiki. Kiki come on.” He implored, following her. He knew using his old pet name was a surprise to her, but it was no reason to run scared.
Knowing he’d keep on following her until he caught her, Kiki squeezed through the crowd to lose him which she succeeded in. Physically at least. She could still hear him in her head. Baby Doll.
She worked so hard to forget that name now it was back and she was afraid this time it wouldn’t be so easy to erase it from her mind. Alcohol “ always a good mind eraser. She needed some alcohol and to re-immerse herself with her friends to drown it out at least for the rest of the night.
Sighing in defeat when he realized Kiki had managed to slip right through his fingers, Justin stood in the middle of the dance floor alone. Frustrated that she ran from him, he scrubbed his hands up and down his face, then over the top of his head. Looking towards VIP, He spotted her scurrying up the steps. Watching her for those few seconds, that frustration faded and a nostalgic smile came over his face. So what if he called her Baby Doll, she was still his Baby Doll. “You’ll always be my Baby Doll Kiki Lewis.”
With a smirk on his face, he made his own way through the crowd to return to their group and enjoy what was left of the night.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
With Cheyenne enjoying the scenery around her while riding in her stroller, Alex was pushing, Kiki, Maya, Tami and Marissa surrounded him as they walked down Robertson Blvd towards Lisa Kline. Kiki missed when they decided to stop at the boutique and was stuttered a little when they entered the establishment. After last night which she was trying and failing to forget all day, her last memory of being here hit her and hit hard.
***************************************************************************************************************
“Here try this on.” Justin’s voice carried over from the opposite side of the dressing room door accompanied by a scrap of clothing called a shirt.
Kiki took a good look at it as it hung over the top edge of the door and scoffed. “Oh I don’t think so. Maybe your girlfriend would like that, but not me.” She offered while finishing redressing and collecting what she was going to purchase.
Bringing the shirt back onto his side, Justin twirled it around the hanger and frowned. “Nawh. She’d never wear anything this slutty.”
Just as he hoped a second barely went by before Kiki was bursting out of the room, a scowl marring her face.
“Oh, but I wouldn’t hesitate to get all hooker-ed up?” She stood there, hands on her hips, rolling her neck and it only made him smile rather than deter him from continuing his teasing.
He shrugged. “You’ve never had an issue with showing a little skin. If I remember correctly you said the less clothing the better…And that was said while you stripped and then jumped all over our bed naked.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth gapped slightly in offense. “You promised not to bring that up ever again! I was completely trash! And I didn’t hear you complaining.” She pushed him out of the way and marched back over to the shelves of jeans to put a pair she decided not to get, back.
“Of course I wasn’t complaining. Hell I’m not complaining now.” He followed her still laughing and scanned her body as the very, very nice memory continued to play in his head.
Kiki was too busy looking through a rack of jackets to noticed, but she did put in her own memories of that night. “Well I’m glad you had such a great time then cause if I remember correctly I didn’t end up have such an enjoyable night....Actually, in the end it wasn't that hot for you either.” She laughed. No surprise he looked perplexed and she clarified. “Cut to you hanging over the side of the tub puking your guts out and crying ‘God please make it stop’.” Roles reversed “ his smile slid off his face and she laughed with a taunting one now on hers. “After all your racket woke me up I stood in the doorway and had a pretty good laugh at your expense.” She continued to giggling for a moment and then groused again when she finished up her story. “But then I had to clean up your puke-y, smelly ass.”
Justin grinned triumphantly. “That’s right. In the end you still took care of your man. Just like you’re supposed to, woman.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. What else was I gonna do? You’re helpless without me.” Done shopping, she turned away from him and headed to the register.
Playfully Justin ran up behind her and hemmed her up in a bear hug. She squirmed and giggled as he began to tickle her.
“Stop!” She squealed and slapped at his hands. “Let me go.”
With a laugh, he loosened his hold, but didn’t release her completely until after he gave her a loud kiss on the cheek. Kiki mushed his face away, but grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her to the front counter.
She brought her outfit and with her arm around his waist and his draped over her shoulder, they left the boutique.
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Now standing in front of the table of logo tank tops, Kiki couldn’t stop the smile that came over her face. That day had been fun. After lunch, they went to pick up Cheyenne from a playdate with Robbie and the three of them spent the rest of the night at her place. It wasn’t the first or the last time, she and Justin spent time together, just the two of them. But thinking about those afternoons hanging out and dinner dates now, especially after last night, she started to feel a little concerned. An old yet unexpected tone was setting in for her relationship with Justin and it was somewhat frightening. It felt a lot like it did three years ago in a place Kiki would not, could not revisit.
Her attachment to Justin had to stay platonic, one based strictly on parenthood and friendship. They did shared a past and a beautiful child as a result so there was really nothing wrong with the two of them going to lunch, dinner, seeing a movie, just as friends. A real friendship is good, maybe even healthy for us considering the situation.
“You’re just being paranoid Kik.” She muttered to herself.
“What’d you say?” Maya asked when she came over to scope out the tops, startling her out of her musing.
“Nothing.” She quickly answered as if her sister could read her mind, but reality set in and she calmed. “Nothing at all.”
A close friendship between me and Justin is perfectly fine, it indicates nothing. And last night was a fluke: we both had been drinking a lot and the sexual energy was flying for us all. It was just a natural, innocent reaction. Nothing more, nothing less.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Not far from the boutique, Justin’s mind was also stuck on last night and the implication it made in regard to his relationship with Kiki. Last night something snapped back in place inside of him and despite the fact that he was a little drunk, he knew exactly what he was doing. Watching Kiki bounce around the club “ having a good time, laughing and smiling “ he realized he wanted to be a part of that. Not just a part of the group she was in, but the one with her. The person who got to claim her as his and bask in her smile and the light she had in her eyes when she was happy. And it wasn’t just his lust addled brain after that performance at the Roxy that had him feeling possessive and read to slam his fist into that pretty boy, Shai’s, face. It was more, it was a warm content feeling that he always felt with Kiki when they were a couple and now he realized he’d been feeling that way about her again with each passing day…..
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Sitting in front of his soundboard, Justin was configuring some vocal arrangements for one of his tracks. The album was coming along great, he was really proud of what he’d accomplished and couldn’t wait till it was ready for release. Actually he couldn’t wait until it was done so Kiki could hear it. He smiled at the thought of how anxious and excited she was about it, about his music, a part of him. It was too cute when she’d try to be slick and trick him into giving her information on the album. He never fell for it, but it was fun watching her try and her excitement was contagious. He couldn’t wait to share his work with her.
Just then there was a knock on his door and when he looked at the monitor that showed who was outside, he smiled brightly. “Speak of the devil.” He said as he pressed the access button to let her in. Knowing her, he had his work saved on the hard drive and closed before she walked into the room.
“Ooh the mad scientist is letting me into his lab.” She rubbed her hands together and glanced around the room as if she was looking for her best bet at getting the goods.
“Mad, but genius.” He gloated. “And get that look off your face. The top secret stuff’s already hidden.” She mockingly pouted and sat down on the empty executive chair next to him. “So how was the movie?”
“Good. Maya and Derek say hi.” He nodded and leaned over the board to add an element to one of the melodies he was working on for a possible future project. Knowing he was in one of his zones for the moment, she entertained herself by taking a spin in the chair. It brought her around to face the back of the room where a little living room set lay and she saw their little munchkin curled up asleep.
“Aww you got your mini assistant with you down here.” She cooed and got up to gently perch on the edge of the couch as not to wake her and kissed her cheek.
Done with his latest stroke of inspiration, Justin came back to and turned to glance at them. “Yeah that was short lived. She conked out on me. Not before she kicked my ass in Lucky Ducks though.”
Returned to the chair, she laughed at his disgruntled tone. “Its sad that a barely two year old can make both her parents look like complete dumbasses. Sad, but I’m still proud.” She quipped and deciding to try out his soundboard while he was looking as some sheet music, she pressed a button.
A drum kit beat came out of the speakers and Justin freaked, startling her. “Whoa, whoa!” He quickly reached over to turn it off. “This is expensive ass equipment Kik. You can go pushing any ol’ thing.”
Balking at his little freak out, she defended herself. “I didn’t just push any ol’ thing. It was just an instrument mix. It’s not like I messed with the routing or the amplitudes.” She said while casually pointing out each piece.
That stuttered and intrigued him. “How do you know that?”
She gave him a duh look in response. “I went to an art school and I minored in music. You really think I don’t at least have the basic knowledge of a soundboard?” She rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, far away from his precious soundboard.
Impressed by this new discovery about her and wanting to sooth her ruffled feathers, he closed all his open projected and started up a brand new one. “Alright hot stuff. Let’s go.” He challenged and with a grin, she pulled up to the board accepting it.
Time flew by and they barely noticed. They were having so much fun playing around, making up a bunch of mixed beats and melodies with the soundboard. Justin even managed to get Kiki to give him some vocals for a few random silly lyric that they came up with. To his happy surprise she wasn’t nervous about singing in front of him like she used to be. It felt good knowing she was still comfortable enough with him to expose her vulnerabilities like that.
By the end of their project they had their own like mock track to remember this fun moment together. The time spent arranging it was reminiscent of their days on tour when they’d have their one on one rehearsals and would sometimes come up with new additions or alteration to the routine. Comparably, this was all for shits and giggled, but it was still something that both had a passion for and they created it together.
Their shared love for music still remained…..
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Was the love for music/dance and their daughter the only ones that still existed between them?
God what’s happening to me?
For years he’d made it a point to forget these feelings and force himself to get over Kiki. But honestly was he really over her? If he was she probably wouldn’t still be his first and last thought of each day. He probably wouldn’t have kept or better yet, found himself watching some of his personal footage of their time together on tour - on and off the stage, in and outside the venues - whenever he was missing her.
Am I over her? (am I over her?)
Am I over her?
Am I over her?
Tell me am I really over my my love (am I over her?)
I can't think straight
Cause I'm too busy thinking of her
Am I really over my love?
“J….J….Justin! Man snap out of it.” Tim grumbled next to him in the studio. “What do you think about this?” He played the beat again and at least part of Justin’s mind went back to the work he and Tim were doing in Edge Studios.
The other part of his brain stayed on Kiki. It was funny in some ways she, Cheyenne too for that matter, was like music for him. No matter where he branched out in his career he always came back home, to his life’s passion, to his music. He may have fucked up in the past and he may be in a relationship with someone else, but his heart never really left Kiki. And now it was time for it to go home.
It's water under the bridge
But I can't seem to forget
All the plans we made, all the time we spent
Makes me reminisce
I still see your face
All this love I can't replace
Am I over (am I over)
Am I over her? (her now)
He chuckled to himself. Who have you been trying to kid all this time man? You can’t get over a woman that you still want and especially not one you’re still in love with.
Damnit. What are you going to do now?
As relieving as this omission was, it brought with it a lot of complications rather than solutions. Something told him that Kiki felt their connection coming back to life again and that she still harbored deep feelings for him too. She wouldn’t have responded to him on the dance floor or reacted to being called Baby Doll that way if she felt nothing for him. No, there was still something between them that went beyond being friends or parents together or any other minor attachments and he was going to bring it back into play.
Not exactly rejection, like he worried about initially, but more like resistance would no doubt greet him when he pursued this, but being a stubborn person who always got what he wanted in the end, Justin smiled at the guaranteed success he saw in his future. With determination and some of his infamous charm, he was confident he and Kiki would find themselves back where they belonged…..Together.
