Kiki was never naïve enough to think that life with Justin would always be easy or normal, but just days into 2007, she found herself in a totally different realm. Justin’s career was in overdrive and now that their relationship was public, she was tagging along for the ride on a new level of exposure to the Hollywood spotlight.
She was there with Justin at the premieres for the two movies he was starring in. Both events were casually and laid back without too much pressure to uphold an image. As a whole the experience, especially the actual viewing of the movie, was a good one for Kiki. She was very impressed by Justin’s acting skills and furthermore by the fact that he wasn’t starring in happy go lucky romantic comedies like one might assume. He was playing in some pretty gritty and controversial film, yet he still held his own. She was very proud of him.
Awards season soon followed, starting with their attendance at the Grammy Awards. Justin was up for a few awards and performing twice so there was no way he, or she by extension, wouldn’t be a focal point during the event. Stress from the up and coming show start with preparation itself. Luckily Kiki’s past run ins with the media exempted her from a PR briefing from Sonja. Meeting Justin’s stylist wasn’t so easily dodged, but after an hour of arguing, Kiki called it quits. She and the stylist had very different opinions on what did and didn’t look good on her body. Kiki wasn’t about to go anywhere in public looking a mess just because some “expert” said it was the latest trend. Instead Kiki called upon her own stylist who never failed her and always knew what she looked good in.
“Hermanita, I don’t know what you were thinking letting someone other than me dress you. Let alone Justin’s stylist. I mean, honey your man paid someone and then actually followed with their suggestion when they told him to wear that hot ass, head to toe denim, mess.” Maya ranted as she worked on the seam of Kiki’s dress. “He may have a fly clothing line now, but damn, that was a sad, sad display.”
Kiki busted out laughing while trying not to disrupt her sister’s work. She was thankful Justin’s taste in clothing had come a very long way since then or she might have had to reconsider being with him.
The morning of the show, Kiki had a beautiful, one of a kind gown ready to wear and her confidence firmly in place, but she was still a bit nervous. She was able to keep her mind preoccupied throughout the day: teaching a couple of classes in the morning and then getting Cheyenne together to drop her off at her parents’ house before she had to start getting ready. Needing the alone time, she declined Maya’s offer to help her get ready. Instead Maya and Marissa were over at Joey and Tami’s, helping/spectating as Tami got ready to go to the same event with Joey.
A make up and hair stylist coming to the house to put a finishing professional touch was the only assistance Kiki needed. With that exception, she managed to put together a stunning red carpet look mostly all on her own. A testament that she could still dress like herself, essentially be herself, in this crazy new world she was becoming a part of. Still there was one person’s opinion she wanted before she felt ready to be seen. Feeling out of place in her self-consciousness, Kiki left the bedroom and headed to the second floor landing, calling out to Justin.
“Baby? Can you come here please?”
Downstairs in the kitchen, Justin sat waiting for his departure time with the usual suspects of his entourage. When he heard Kiki calling for him, he went to find her and was surprised to see she hadn’t come down yet. He looked up and frowned at the sight of just her head peeking out from the hallway. “What are you doing? You are dress right?”
“Of course I’m dressed. I just needed you to come here.”
Sensing her nervousness and guessing the cause considering she was hiding her outfit, he chuckled as he climbed the stairs. “Don’t tell me Ms. Kiki Giselle Lewis is actually worried about what people are going to say about what she’s wearing.”
“Shut up. I’m having a rare moment of insecure here. Be supportive.”
“I’m sorry baby, but you know I’m bias. I think you look good in everything. Preferably nothing.” At the top of the staircase he casually leaned against the banister with a suave smile.
“Haha. Be serious please. I don’t want to make you look bad tonight.” He was touch by the sentiment behind her gesture. “Be honest and tell me if I look good or not. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Lifting the hem of her dress, Kiki timidly walked out from her hiding place. She stopped in the middle of the landing, lacing her fingers in front of her chest and then fanning them out to her sides. “So…What do you think?” She did a full turn to give him a complete look.
With her hair hanging in loose waves and a pair of silver dangly earrings, Kiki stood in front of Justin in a strapless silvery white floor length gown with a small train. And he was speechless. She didn’t look over done like she was trying too hard to impress instead she exuded a simple elegance. He didn’t know what to say, beautiful, gorgeous, stunting, wasn’t enough to cover it. The only thing he could say was a reverent “baby,” his eyes shining in awe.
It was all Kiki needed to hear. She sighed in relief and grinned. “Really?” He nodded and she bounced giddily.
Justin approached her, lifting his hands to gently cup her face and smoothed his thumbs across the curve of her cheeks. Leaving a soft kiss on her lips, he leaned back, his eyes shining bright. “You are so beautiful and with you on my arm, I’ve already won.”
Biting her lip, Kiki blinded rapidly as she felt tears well in her eyes. “Stop.” She looked down. “You’re gonna make me cry.” She sniffled. Too late.
They both laughed as he blotted the tears pooling under her eyes. Pulling her lips back to his, he laid a hot lingering kiss on her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Separating himself from her, he adjusted his charcoal gray tuxedo jacket and light gray vest under it, smoothing out the material. “So how do I look?”
Leering at him up and down, she hummed enticingly. “Mmm. You look good enough to eat.”
“I know.” He replied cockily.
She playfully punched his arm and he laughed, pulling her into his side, preventing her from throwing anymore hits. He lightly wrapped his hand around her neck and with one fierce kiss, she calmed instantly.
“Come on. Let’s go make a lot of people wish they could be us.”
His arm slung over her shoulder, he led them downstairs to join the others. It wasn’t long before they piled into the limo and headed to the Staple Center.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the unloading site, Johnny, Sonja, Rachel, Lonnie and Eric climbed out of the limo first. It left Justin and Kiki with a brief moment alone. Kiki couldn’t take her eyes off the crowds of fans, celebrities, and media all over the place. The scene was ten times more intense than that of his album release and it was making her feel a bit overwhelmed until Justin grabbed her hand. She turned to him and as soon as their eyes connected a sense of relief came over her.
Justin smiled at her reassuringly and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “You ready?” She nodded and with a peck on the cheek, he climbed out pulling her behind him.
The minute he stepped out of the limo, the crowd went nuts. He took the time to wave at his fans, even going over to the barricade to shake a few of their hands, take pictures and give autographs. Kiki stood to the side with his entourage waiting for him to rejoin them and begin the procession down the carpet. Reaching the line of reporters and photographers, it was stop and go traffic; posing, mingling, and giving short interviews. Kiki stayed at Justin’s side, unassuming, yet approachable; only speaking when spoken to, posed when asked to, and stepped aside to stand with his entourage when he needed to do his solo superstar thing. The entire ordeal was rather oppressive, knowing every move she made was being watched, like being under a big microscope, but Kiki kept it together, using Justin’s presence as a source of comfort.
And somehow ever time her nerves started to get the best of her, he innately knew. He’d immediately throw a comforting smile towards her if they were separated, run a soothing hand down her back or kiss her temple when they were together. Even though her slight apprehension was very obvious to him, to everyone else she looked as cool as a cucumber. He was so proud seeing how well she was coping with this less than enjoyable side of his life.
“Thank you.” He whispered into her ear as he pulled her close.
“Mmhmm. You own me big time.” She joked.
“Of course, just as long as I get the full package of your escort services.” He volleyed back and somehow managing to get a quickly handful of her butt without anyone noticing.
“Justin!” She gasped in outrage, but also undisguised amusement and shifted to face him. He simply grinned at her devilishly and totally unapologetic. “Someone might have seen that.” She growled and batted at his chest.
“So what?” He shrugged. “They’re gonna see this too.” He warned before planting a kiss on her.
Despite the surge of flash photography aimed at them, the kiss was so strong and enduring neither paid any mind. Separating from each other, Kiki beamed up at him and he lovingly brushed his nose against hers. After so much secrecy with their relationship, a little PDA wasn’t something they had to shy away from anymore. Who cared if the world knew they loved each other? Better yet, let them watch.
Their moment in the little bubble they created around themselves was popped when they heard someone calling for Kiki.
“Kik!” They both turned to see Eva, JC, Joey and Tami approaching them.
Relief washed over her, seeing their familiar, comforting faces. “Hey!” The three girls hugged as the guys greeted each other. “I am so glad to see you.”
“Excuse me. Guys do you mind doing a quick blitz?” Sonja squeezed through the circle of friends to ask a favor in regards to the media drooling over the possible opportunity with three out of five members of the former pop band.
Justin, Joey and JC expected this so they obliged, following her over to the line of reporters and photographers. Left alone the girls started in on their takes on the evening so far.
“How are you holding up? You look amazing.” Eva complimented.
“You don’t look nervous at all.” Tami added.
“I was earlier, but I think it was just the initial shock you know? I really didn’t expect all this. I had to take pictures and actually talk.”
Eva laughed. “Well yeah that’s what happens when you not only snag Justin Timberlake, but you snag him from Cameron Diaz. Everybody wants to know your secret chica.”
“Oh that’s easy. Be a ruthless hooker.” Kiki quipped. “You two look great by the way. You guys look quite dashing as well.” She added when she noticed the guys rejoining them.
“Thank you.” Eva and Tami commented at the same time and the three women started their giggles again.
Looks passed between the three men and silently they all agreed it was time to move on before they got started. Lucky for them it was actually time to move into the venture and start taking their seats. Once inside, the three couples had to split up and were directed by production assistants to their destination. While waiting for the show to start, Justin and Kiki mingled with some of his peers who were seated around them and friends like Tim and Pharrell who came over to chat for a bit. Soon the opening act began and Kiki found herself a little mesmerized by watching the Grammy’s from the other side. All the current top artists brought their A-games that night and the show was one of the best Kiki had seen in a long time. Of course the greatest moment came with the presentation for best Pop Vocal Album, which Justin was up for. P!nk and LL Cool J stood on one of the side stages as they presented the award and the video of the nominees played.
“And the award for best Pop Vocal Album goes to..…” Both Justin and Kiki held their breath in anticipation. “FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake.”
Justin immediately turned to Kiki and felt his happiness triple as he saw her joy for him wash over her face. At the same time they reached out to pull each other into a passionate kiss. Yet again they blocked out everyone around them and took a moment to have their own personal celebration
“I love you. I’m so proud of you.” Kiki said, sniffling back her tears.
“I love you too Baby Doll. So damn much.”
One last peck and Justin made his way up the stage to receive his award. Clutching hands with LL and accepting the statute from P!nk as they kissed cheeks, he took the mic.
“Um, first and foremost, I want to thank my fans for your support. The Grammy committee for this wonderful honor. My producers: Timbaland and Danja. My manager: Johnny Wright and all of WEG.” He quickly stated wanting to get in as much as he could in the allotted time. “My parents, all of my family, for all the unconditional love and support. My friends for always having my back even when I didn’t always deserve it.” He quipped. “But most importantly, I wanna thank my girls. Kiki and Cheyenne.” He turned to face Kiki and smiled broadly. “You keep me sane and make me whole. I love you both so much.” The statue he held in his hand paled in comparison to the honor he had of being Cheyenne’s father and the man in Kiki’s life. “Thank you.” He concluded and the crowd clapped as he was escorted off stage.
After a quick pit stop back stage, Justin hurried to return to Kiki for the rest of the show until he performed in the final act. When the show came to an end, Kiki was reunited with him for a little smoozing while he received congrats from his peers. As soon as they could, they escaped to his dressing room to change out of their formal wear. More comfortable and ready to celebrate, they spent the rest of the night after-party hopping until dawn.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the awards season rolled out, but Justin’s schedule was still well booked with interviews, video and photo shoots, and preparation for the tour. Despite how busy he got, he was never too busy for his girls and he maintained his commitments to Kiki and Cheyenne.
He was there when they celebrated Cheyenne’s one year of remission back in January. They threw a huge party at their house and the whole day was full of happiness, laugh, tears of joy and relief. There was no telling what would happen in the future, but on that day, Justin and Kiki felt like they could finally take a deep breath without worrying and were able to really put their fears for their daughter’s life in the past. A few weeks later, it was time to give back to those who weren’t as fortunate as them at the St. Jude charity walk. Justin even managed to organize a romantic night for him and Kiki to spend their first Valentine’s together.
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With the tour’s kick off date steadily approaching, the time Justin got to spend with his family started dwindling. It was inevitable, but that didn’t mean anybody had to like it. While internally sulking over it at rehearsal one day, an idea suddenly occurred to him, one he really should have thought of already. He could kill two birds with one stone; spend more time with his girls and finish a project for the album and tour……
“Daddy you suck at Candyland.” Cheyenne stated almost pitifully as Justin’s run in the game came to an unfortunate end.
Kiki choked when she felt her laughter trying to push her sip of juice up her nose. Justin glared at her and she put her hands up in pardon.
“Gee, thanks baby girl.”
“You’re welcome.” She responded genuinely.
Chuckling helplessly, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head before using his hands to pull himself up in the couch. He was sitting back to watch Kiki and Cheyenne continue to battle it out, when his cell phone rang. Checking to see who called, he saw “Johnny” flash on the screen and picked up.
“Hey man, what’s up?.......No. I haven’t asked her yet.” He spoke.
By the stare she could feel directed at her, Kiki knew he was talking about her. “Ask me what?” She said without even looking up.
Might as well do it now, he figured. “Ask you to be in my video.”
“For what song?”
“Summer Love.”
“Doing what?” She fired off as she moved her gingerbread man across the board.
“We’re still working on the details but it’ll involving choreograph of course, little acting. Nothing you can’t handle.”
She stopped playing for a moment and looked at him. “Hmm, my options are either do it myself or have some other chick prance around my man? Which one do you think I’m going to choose?” She grinned devilishly and he laughed.
He had switched the speaker phone on and asked aloud. “Did you get that Johnny?”
“I got it. Thanks Kiki. It’ll definitely bring our budget down for casting Justin.”
“No it won’t. You’re paying me.” Both men chuckled at her. “You think I’m playin’. I am dead serious. You’re paying me.”
When Cheyenne heard Johnny distinctive deep voice, she left her game and climbed up on the sofa next to her father and tried to take the phone from him. “I wanna talk Daddy.” Justin clicked the speaker phone off before handing it over. “Hi Mr. Johnny. Guess what I did? I saw the Galaxy!” She began, chattering non stop about the soccer game Derek and Rhea took her to a few days.
Justin rolled onto the floor and slithered up to Kiki, who was putting the game away. He wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered. “Shouldn’t she been taking a nap? Go put her to bed and I’ll start paying you right now.” He bit and sucked on the exposed skin between her tank top and her low waist jeans. With their daughter less than a foot away, Kiki managed to muster up enough control to ignore him and her urges. Cheyenne had already taken a nap and she told him so, so her answer was a definite no. “You sure you wanna work with me again? Remember how that went last time?” He teased.
“Ha ha. Just keep it in your pants and we won’t have a problem this time.”
Sitting up he nuzzled and whispered into the side of her neck, “but I can’t keep it in my pants around you.”
“Then just our luck we’ll repeat history and end up with another motor mouth.” She jerked her head over to Cheyenne. She was comfortable lying back like Justin had been, talking Johnny’s ear off.
He laughed. “I probably should go and save him, huh?” He thought about it for a minute. “Nah, he owns me for that fucked up interview he had me do last week.” He grumbled.
“Aw my poor baby.” Kiki laughed and kissed his temple. “Now you know what including me in this means right?”
“You wanna co-choreograph.” Justin stated petulantly. The results were amazing, but the process of him, Marty and Kiki putting a routine together was always got a little hairy.
“Damn right.” She beamed. “You know I am not about to do anything you or Marty tells me to if it ain’t right. I’m just going to change it so you might as well bring me in on it from the start.”
He just rolled his eyes in response. She’d eventually get her way anyway so there was no point arguing it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Uh babe….Just a friendly reminder there is a cost associated with using my studio space. Just like the cost of my time during this rehearsal, all the others and the filming of the video. Comprende?” Kiki notified Justin and then confirmed before he could say anything. “Alright then. Sounds good.” Laughing, she turned back to concentrate on her stretching along the balance bar.
They were at Key West that afternoon waiting for the arrival of Marty and the rest of Justin’s dance crew for the FutureSex/LoveShow tour. During the first day choreographing for the video, Justin and Marty decided it would be smartest to come up with a routine that could be used for both the video and tour since a majority of it wouldn’t even be seen in the video. Once the routine was complete, they scheduled time for the dance crew to join them.
Smirking, Justin strolled across the room to stand directly behind her. He gripped her waist and pressed up against her. “I thought we already worked out a payment plan last night.” His breath flowed over her neck and he reached out to glide his hand up her leg that was stretched out along the bar.
Kiki swallowed thickly and her breathing deepened as he inched up her inner thigh, getting closer and closer to……..
“Thank God you are not touring with us this time. There’s no telling what kind of freaky shit you two would get into now that you’re together for good.” Marty teased and walked further into the room once the couple separated.
Growling in frustration along with Justin, Kiki dropped her leg and bent over until her forehead pressed against the bar. “You suck Marty.”
“Nah. I bet you do though.” He joked. Justin busted out laughing as he joined him by the stereo.
Kiki gapped in outrage and flipped him off. “Asshole.” She sneered and stomped over to where she left her water bottle.
The guys continued to laugh as they loaded the stereo with some warm up music and the recordings for both the live and studio version of Summer Love. It wasn’t long before the dancers started filing in. They spent some time talking and playing around “ including goofing off in the strip aerobics studio through the connecting door in the supplies closet. Then it was time to get down to business.
“Alright everyone take a seat and start taking notes. Justin and Kiki, front and center.” Marty instructed now that their post warm-up break was over. “Ok I was thinking we’d start with a run through with the studio version and then we’ll break it down with the live version. Agreed?”
Justin nodded ready to get in position, but Kiki was still salty with Marty. “Hold up.” She placed her hand on Justin’s chest, stopping him from going any further. He was so gonna wanna take part in this. “What makes you think we need a run through?”
“Excuse me?” Marty challenged with a chuckle. “Oh ya’ll think you got it like that?”
“This is Kiki and Justin sweetie. You know we got it like that.” She sassed and Justin stood behind her co-signing with a “yeah that’s right.”
Sky stood back watching the show with the rest of the group, cracking up. “I’m having some major déjà vu right about now. I can see J and Marty stroking out before this day is over.”
“Probably. Too bad I’m not part of the tour a second time huh?” Kiki teased and Sky just laughed harder to Justin and Marty’s chagrin. “Come on baby let’s show him how we do it.”
Moving to the center of the room, she stood next to Justin and he started counting down. “Five, six, seven, eight.”
Marty pressed play and as soon as the lyrics began, Justin and Kiki were off. It quickly became clear that these two were meant to dance together. Flawlessly, they moved to the beat in a mix of simple and intricate steps. Each of their moves was fluid and completely in synch, not one mess up. And while it was clear they were on a mission to showcase a great routine, you could also tell they were having a good time doing it. Not to mention the crazy sexual chemistry emanating off of the couple as their bodies move against and around each other.
The routine was second nature to them at this point. They’d practiced it enough to be more playful with their performance. The main theme of the show, like the album, was sex so why not play it up a little bit? An ass slap here and there, or maybe even a full bend over with a pause for affect, followed by an over exaggerate thrust? It would help generate some ideas for the actual show and even the video…..Who were they kidding? Now that they had the routine downpat, this was nothing, but foreplay for them. Since the first day they met, the chemistry between Kiki and Justin when they danced was off the charts. As their relationship blossomed, that chemistry took on a whole other form, something extremely charged and potent. There was something about dancing together that turned them on like nothing else.
And by the time they were finished, Kiki with her libido in overdrive agreed whole-heartedly with Marty’s statement about her not being on this tour. She didn’t think she’d be able to walk straight again by the time this tour was over and that was not because of the actual dancing. Had they been alone right now, some serious, naked, bumping and grinding would be going on.
Peering over her shoulder at Justin, their eyes locked and the sultry look on his face said the same fantasy was playing in his head. As everyone clapped for them, they damn near ran away from each other until they were on the opposite sides of the room to cool down.
“I’m impressed.” Marty admitted. “You guys did great. Take a breather and then we’ll get start with a full rehearsal.”
“Now why is it exactly that you’re not on this tour?” Nanci asked as she and the other girls approached Kiki who was sitting on a stack of aerobic steps. “We’ve watched some of the performances from the last tour, but seeing you two live is like electric.”
Catching her breath after taking a swig of water, Kiki said. “Thank you. That electricity is both a bless and curse for us. Its…its sexual tension that’s really what is it. You felt it right?”
“Yeah we did. I can’t wait till this shit is over so I can go find my boyfriend.” Ava quipped.
Kiki laughed right along with the other girls as she explained. “That tension was constant during Justified. And what was the end result of that tour? I got pregnant! I have absolutely no up and coming plans to have another baby so I’m just gonna sit this one out. I’m totally not feeling déjà vu from that event in my life.” Her eyes shifted towards Justin who was standing with the guys by the stereo. She had to suppress a shiver trying to race through her body from his deep dark gaze. It made her mad with frustration because he was provoking an itch that couldn’t be scratched at the moment. “Stop sexually harassing me with your eyes!” She yelled at him. He just laughed deeply with a lecherous smirk and didn’t stop looking at her. “Freakin’ nympho.” She insulted lamely.
“It takes one to know one Baby Doll.” He sing songed.
When this rehearsal finally wrapped up, Kiki wasn’t sure if she was going to be ready to run into his arms or far away from him.
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A week later, Justin and Kiki arrived in Cabo San Lucas for the three day video shoot. They spent the first day, on a set filming the dance sequence. The next day they started shooting in various spots around the city. The all day shooting was exhausting for the couple, but being in the beautiful tropical atmosphere and having a break from crazy L.A., was well worth it.
As soon as they got back to their hotel suite their second night in Cabo, they were ready to shower and just fall into bed, but Kiki got a call from home.
From the bathroom, Justin could hear her talking to her mother and at first there was nothing from the bits and pieces he caught that would cause him to be alarmed, until Kiki groaned. “Oh no.” He came into the room and could see she was upset. “What’s wrong?”
Pulling the receiver away from her mouth, she broke the news. “It’s Pix. Mamí said she’s been upset all day and now she’s crying because she wants to go home.”
Nina had explained that earlier in the morning, Cheyenne started asking when she was going home. She was apparently under the impression that her stay was a one day thing. When she told her she would be staying for a couple more days, the little girl’s whole demeanor changed. She became sad and withdrawn, not wanting to play or doing anything fun anymore. She and Frederick had been trying to cheer her up throughout the afternoon and when their efforts failed, they called in reinforcements. Derek came over to play soccer with her, but her good mood ended with the game. All of the family came over for dinner, but that didn’t work either. Come bedtime she knew for sure she wasn’t going home. With her hopes dashed she started crying and asking desperately to go home. That wasn’t possible so Nina thought calling Kiki and Justin might make her feel better.
“Put her on the phone Mamí.” Kiki requested and switched the speaker phone on.
“Here honey.” She heard her mother say before Cheyenne’s little voice came over the line.
“Mommy?”
There was so much sadness in that one word, it almost broke Kiki and Justin’s heart.
“Hi babyheart. Are you okay?”
“No. I wanna go home Mommy.” She replied.
Neither of her parents had an answer that would make her happy so they dodged her statement and started asking her about her day to distract her. She answered them, but went right back to her original question.
“Mommy can you come get me now?” Kiki’s heart ached and she knew that they had to give her an answer.
“I’m sorry baby, but we can’t come and get you until we’re done here. It’s only one more day.”
The line went silent until she started whimpering followed by a full out sob. Everyone immediately started trying to comfort her as she sobbed in earnest. Kiki and Justin were almost in tear listening as they huddled close on the bed. The last straw was when she wailed to Nina.
“I want my Mommy and Daddy!”
Kiki’s tears started falling and Justin was through. He grabbed the phone. “Baby Girl? It’s Daddy. It’s gonna be okay. Aright? Give the phone to Gigi for me.” He heard rustling as Cheyenne handed over the phone and then Nina was on the line.
“Hey. Are you guys okay?” She knew how painful it was when your child was upset and you couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was hurting her now watching her granddaughter run crying across the room into Freddy’s arms.
“Not really, but we will be.” He looked at Kiki and threaded his fingers through her hair in comfort as she tried to get her tears under control. “Listen can you take Cheyenne to the airport tomorrow?” Kiki’s head swung in his direction and he smiled, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. “I’m gonna send Lonnie back to LA to pick her and bring her down here with us.” Damn the fact that they’d only be gone for one more day or that Cheyenne needed to learn how to be okay without them for a few days. His baby was hurting and he had the means to make it stop regardless of anything else. “I have to make a few calls to find out the exact time the pilot can get back to LA, but I’ll have the flight information within the next hour and I’ll text it to you.”
“Ok I can do that.” Nina said with relief. She would love to spend another day with her granddaughter, but she’s rather send her to be with her parents then see her so upset any longer.
“I’m sorry she won’t stay with you.” Kiki apologized.
“Oh that’s okay honey. Kids are like that at this age. You did the same thing once so I’m not surprised.”
“Can you put her back on the phone so we can tell her?”
“Sure thing….Nieta, Mommy wants to talk to you some more.”
Kiki filled Cheyenne in on what she and Justin had decided and her mood immediately brightened. She told her that she needed to go to bed early now so she could get up for the plane in morning. Cheyenne stubbornly wouldn’t let them go until Justin made a compromise with her. Soon after she was dressed in her pjs and tucked in bed, she fell asleep, the phone drooping in her hand, as Justin sang to her. Nina got back on the phone and after confirming that the flight information would be sent to her soon, they said their goodbyes.
“Thank you.” Kiki told Justin, wiping the lingering moisture from her face.
“Don’t thank me. That nearly killed me. We should have brought her with us in the first place.” He started scrolling through his contact on his phone. “I gotta go talk to Lonnie and then call the pilot.”
Nodding, Kiki took a deep cleansing breath now that she knew her baby was on her way to them. While Justin left the room on his phone, she went into the bathroom to take a relaxing shower.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning after shooting part of the beach scene where Kiki and Justin were playing in the ocean and kissing, they climbed out of the water to the trailers set up in a blocked off portion of the beach’s parking lot. Outside their trailer, they were toweling off when the director called them over to look at the footage they just shot.
“I’ll be there in a sec.” Kiki mumbled over the butterfly clip in her mouth while she pulled her wet hair up. She was walking towards the monitors where Justin and the director were in a huddle, when she heard. “Mommy! Mommy!”
With a big smile, she spun around to see Lonnie walking toward the set with Cheyenne holding his hand. When she started tugging away from him, he let her go and she wasted no time taking off toward her mother, her little legs churning with all their might.
“Baby!” Kiki exclaimed quickly moving towards her daughter. When they reached each other, Kiki knelt down and Cheyenne flung herself into her mother’s chest, tightly wrapping her arms around her neck. “Mmm.” Kiki held her close and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. “I missed you.”
“I missed you Mommy.”
“Let me look at you.” She pulled pack to see her baby’s bright beautiful face with not a trace of the sadness she heard in her voice last night. “There’s my favorite little face in the whole entire world.” Kiki squeezed her smiling cheeks and Cheyenne giggled happily as she twirled a piece of her mother’s hair in her fingers. It was then that Lonnie made it over to the reunited pair and he handed off Cheyenne’s little book bag. “Thank you so much Lonnie, for everything.” She said as she took the bag from him. “Did you thank Lonnie for coming to get you sweetie?”
“Thank you Lonnie.” She grinned up at him and he couldn’t help, but give her a big smile in return. The little girl could make the devil himself smile.
“No problem kid.”
“If you’re hungry, lunch was just delivered.” She pointed to the pavilion where a pseudo break room had been set up.
“Cool.” He nodded and made his way over.
Turning all her attend back to her daughter, Kiki suggested. “So how about we go put on your bathing suit and then you can get into the water after you eat?”
“Yay!” She loved the water. Playing in her pool was one of her favorite things to do at home.
“Yay.” Kiki cheered along with her and slung the bag over her shoulder. “Come on let’s go change.”
On their way to the trailer she saw Justin with his back to them, still talking to the director. She decided to surprise him with Cheyenne’s arrival after she got dressed. Minutes later, Kiki came out of the trailer with a beach readied Cheyenne. She had on her pink bathing suit and kangoo style beach hat to cover her from the hot sun.
“Oh I was just coming to get you.” Missy, the director’s PA, said as they were coming out.
“Why is break over already?”
“No. Justin wanted you to come and see the footage “ So this is Cheyenne?” She had heard so much about the little girl and Justin had shown her countless of pictures of her on his phone. “Hi sweetie.”
“Pixie this is Missy. She works for the director.” Kiki sat down on the director’s chair and put Cheyenne on her lap so she could put her flip flop sandals on.
“Hi.” She gave the woman her infamous smile and like everyone else Missy was smitten. “What’s a director?” She asked her mother.
Done fastening her sandals, she pointed to him. “That’s the director talking to Daddy. He’s the guy who tells everyone what to do so they can make the video.”
“Oh.” She nodded and then it dawned on her. “Does that mean you’re a director cause you tell me and Daddy what to do at home?”
Missy snorted in an attempt to hold off her laughter, but let it out when Kiki giggled openly.
“That’s right baby, but we won’t tell Daddy that.” She put a finger to her lips and Cheyenne copied her signal of secrecy giggling all the while. Not that Justin didn’t already know that both his girls had him wrapped around their fingers. “Okay Pix, lotion time.” She set Cheyenne on the ground and started applying sun screen to her skin.
“I’ll go tell Justin you’re on your way.” Missy told her preparing to leave.
“No, no. We’re gonna surprise him, right?” She asked Cheyenne with enthusiasm.
“Mmhmm.” She mumbled as Kiki ran her hands over her face applying the lotion.
“Alright, all set.” She capped the bottle, grabbed her sunglasses off the arm of her chair and the two walked hand and hand towards the filming area. When she got close enough, Kiki picked Cheyenne up who started giggling, knowing what was coming. “Justin! Heads up!”
Justin turned around and when he saw Kiki in position with Cheyenne in her hands, he held out his own. Kiki tossed her and like always he caught her effortlessly. It had become a ritual over time for them to pass Cheyenne off that way; she was so small and light enough and it was like a ride for her.
“Hey baby girl.” He blew raspberries on her cheeks and she giggled madly. He held her up in the air to get a good look at her before bring her close for a hearty hug. “I missed you. Were you a good girl on the plane?”
“Uh huh. The lady gave me juice and prezzels. And the airplane man put wings on my shirt.”
“Oh that sounds cool. You’re gonna have to show them to me later.” She nodded vigorously.
Like a proud papa, Justin took the time to introduce her to the director and some other crew members that they crossed paths with on their way to the lunch tables. While he and Cheyenne were eating, Kiki had stayed back to look at the footage. When she finished, she rejoined them, taking the empty seat next to Cheyenne.
“We look good on camera.”
“Don’t I know it.” He winked knowingly.
“Shut up.” She kicked his leg under the table. “You were supposed to get rid of that tape.”
“Pssh. Yeah ok.” He planned on keeping that forever. “Here I grabbed your food.” He slid the fajitas and black beans over to her.
“Thanks.” Before she could dig in, Cheyenne was asking for a taste. Since she could chew, Kiki rarely had a meal to herself. “So when do we have to get back to filming?”
He glanced at his cell, “a little over an hour.”
“Oh good so we can go take a dip in the water first.” She told Cheyenne as she wiped salsa from the corner of her mouth. She nodded absent mindedly too engross in her tacos.
“Can I have some?” Justin asked about her beans and she slid the bowl over to him. “Nuh uh.” He shook his head and leaned over with his mouth open like his daughter had. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes, that Kiki rolled her eyes at and stuck a forkful into his mouth. “Mmm.” He over exaggerated.
“You are such a loser.”
“Yeah but I’m your loser.” He goofily exclaiming and she laughed, shaking her head sadly.
After lunch the trio headed into the water to splash around for a little while. Justin had brought his surf board along for the trip and he had Cheyenne on the board with him showing her the basics of surfing while Kiki sun bathed.
Back on land they built a sand castle and when Cheyenne scooped some sand down the back of Justin’s shorts per her mother’s instruction, it started a nice little family play fight. They all ended up with sand in their suits and hair. A quick rinse off and Justin and Kiki settled on a couple of towels to watching Cheyenne build mounds of her own sand creations.
“Damn. What am I gonna do when the tour starts?” Unable to hold it in any longer, Justin’s voice broke through the peaceful silence. “I’m gonna miss the hell out of you two.” He sighed heavily.
Sitting back against his chest, Kiki soothingly rubbed his legs. “You’ll be okay. We all will.”
“No I won’t.” He pouted. She turned to sit sideways and placed a comforting kiss on his cheek.. “I was thinking you two could come out to travel with me for like a week each month.”
“That sounds perfect. I can work on the road again and Cheyenne not in school yet.” They were free to follow him around the country, at least until September. “And maybe we can schedule some alone visits as well.”
“Definitely.” His arms surrounded her and he pulled her tighter into his chest, nibbling on her ear.
“Can I be perfectly honest?”
“Always.” He said, dotting a kiss behind her ear.
“I think you being on tour is actually going to be less stressful than the last few months.” She admitted.
“I’m so happy you said that because I feel the same way.” They both laughed. “My schedule’s crazy and the timings all off with everything that’s been going on with us.” So much of his workload was scheduled, and couldn’t be rescheduled, before he finally took an active role in raising his child or had to be attentive to a girlfriend who’s life wasn’t as chaotic as his.
“I know. We haven’t had enough time to figure out how to navigate us and our careers and raising Cheyenne.” He nodded. “But we’ll get it straightened out right?”
“Yeah we will.” He assured and tangled his fingers in her hair to pull her in for a kiss.
He had already mapped out a plan for how he was going to have his successful career and family. Luckily he was at a point in his career where he could basically write his own ticket, but even if he couldn’t, he had learned that work came second. Nothing was more important than his girls and nothing was worth it without them. He would do whatever necessary to see that his family never had to in light of or compete with his career.
Soon it was time to get back to work and while Lonnie watched Cheyenne, they finished the last scene for a video. The director called a wrap for the shoot and the trio went back to the hotel to get ready to go back to the States the next morning.
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This is the best description I could give of what the Summer Love video would have been like. I inserted some of the lyrics so you could get an idea of when certain scenes happened. If you listen to the song while reading this is might give you a better picture of what I was aiming for:
The opening scene is of Justin and Kiki driving and pulling up side by side at a stop light. Justin notices her first and turning down his stereo, which is playing the beginning melody of the song. He starts calling to her.
“Hey. Hey excuse me Baby Doll.”
Kiki’s head slowly turns and she nonchalantly glances at him over the top of her shades. Completely uninterested, she turns back to face forward. The light changes, she took off and he follows her as he starts singing.
Ridin’ in the drop top with the top down
Saw you switchin’ lanes girl
Pull up to the red light lookin’ right
Come on let me get your name girl
Tell me where you’re from, what you do, what you like
Let me pick your brain girl
And tell me how they that got that pretty little face
On that pretty little frame girl
He almost loses her in traffic, but finds her car parked on the street and pulls up behind her. Seeing her through the cafe front window, he jumps out the car and strolls in. He starts a commotion in the café cutting in line to stand behind her, he taps on her shoulder and she turns around. Recognizing him, she rolls her eyes and turns back to face the counter. Justin continues singing to her and she continues ignoring him while giving and picking up her order. Stopping her from walking out, his charm and crooning soon breaks her down, earning him a smile and she agrees to go with him. In a hurry to get out of there, he knocks into someone at the condiments table causing a big mess. Fed up with them causing trouble a barista tells them to leave. Holding hands and laughing Justin and Kiki scurry out of the café to his car.
When the chorus starts, the scene switches to a graphically enhanced black backdrop with interchanging strobes of tropical colors as Justin, in a black wife beater and black pants, dances with Kiki in an all white hoodie and shorts set.
The second verse switches between shots of them driving along the coast, laughing and flirting; fantasies of them going out dressed up and dressed down, laying back in their respecting beds talking on the phone. They end up at a carnival on the boardwalk. Justin’s standing behind Kiki as she tries to play skee ball, singing up against her ear and distracting her with his hands trailing all over her body.
Well I'mma freak you right, each and every night
I know how to do it insane girl
When his hands stray too far, she whirls around and hold him off with a hand on his chest. He leans in and sings the next line inches from her mouth.
'Cause I can make it hot, make it stop
Make you wanna say my name girl
Moving in as if she was about to kiss him, Kiki sikes him out, pushing him away and runs out the carnival laughing. Justin takes chase.
The scene switches to them dancing when the chorus starts up again.
The bridge and last verse begins with Justin chasing Kiki out onto the beach. They playfully run around in the sand. Night falls and they cuddle around a bon fire. They’re still on the beach the next morning having fallen asleep in a cabana and go for a dip. They’re splashing around, kissing. Wrapped in each other’s arms, the camera focuses in on their faces and with her lips inches away from his, Kiki mouths the “Ho!” exclamation in the song. A deep passionate kiss follows as the song continues to play. The video ends with Kiki holding Justin around the waist as his arm hangs over her and they walk away in the tides down the beach.
