The set was busy with the hustle and bustle of production crew members rushing against the clock, magically creating what is to be a lavish but simple living room setting. Redecorating the entire perimeter of a rented home in the hills of Hollywood, slight fumblings and droppings of items and props occasionally rang in the background or off set grounds but in the three hours that it took to begin set up, a few last adjustments of things here and there were performed and soon filming was set to be underway.
" Justin, can you bring her into your chest a bit more? Ok, right there."
His left arm draped around the back of the sofa, Justin drew his wife closer into his body and shifted his shoulder so that his position was of more comfort to him.
Noel, the director, with his specs dangling around his neck and a megaphone tucked underneath his armpit, stationed himself behind his bulky camera as he peered through the lens at the two figures seated in the creme sofa inches from him and the cameras locked solely on the two.
He hummed his discontent with the scene and stood upright for a proper view. With his hand he motioned for her to slightly inch her form over closer to the small pillows resting on the side of the couch but not too far so that there wouldn't be a space between she and Justin.
" Ok, Meghan you're good." He assured. " Now, place your hand on his thigh."
She did so. " Like this?"
Noel nodded but spoke otherwise. " No, more further down so that your fingers can curl around his knee."
Again, she did as she was told to which Noel chanted his satisfaction.
" Perfect." He beamed, bending over to peep into the lens once more. " Belinda, how about we get some more lighting focused on them please?"
A brunette woman about around the age of thirty, thirty one or so, balanced her form steady on a steel ladder as she cast the light fixture in their general area. Justin winced momentarily as he caught a blinding glare from his peripheral vision.
"And will some one push back the drapes on the windows. It's way to dim in here folks, let's make it sunny in here. Work with me people, work with me." He communicated impatiently.
Noel went on shouting out sudden orders and directions while Justin and Meghan were occupied by hair and make-up bombarding them with final touches on their features.
A quick sneeze from Meghan due to the massive amount of excess powder in the air and a displeased grunt from Justin aimed at the person sifting their fingers through his short mohawk of curls, it was only minutes before the entire set was cleared and ready to go as so Noel could begin filming for the two minute commercial spot.
Standing before the coffee table infront of the sofa, Noel went on to discuss and remind Meghan and Justin of their lines and posture while his hands moved about wildly. Stationed behind his camera once again after briefing them well, all crew members stood by, lingering in the shadows, as Noel switched into his ' Spielberg Mode', adjusting himself comfortably in his chair with his name scrawled on the back in neat italics.
" Alright, ok. This is looking good." He beamed with a sure nod. " Justin, Meghan, big smiles now; C'mon we have to remember that we're all happy and in love and all of that greatness. If I'm not convinced then the viewers won't be too convinced either. Soooo, cheese bright for me." He used his fingers to create a wide grin.
His enthusiam was just a tad bit much.
" Noel, I can't feel my lips. Any wider and I'm positive that they're going to split right down the middle." Meghan got out through clenched teeth all the while upkeeping her tight grin.
Noel simply chuckled that overly obnoxious chuckle of his and simply brushed aside the comment sidetracked as he beckoned for the male closest to his side to remove the flower fixture placed in the middle of the coffe table.
Justin cocked a tired brow at the gesture and mumbled for her to hear. " This is a joke. In a minute I'm about to get up and walk out of here. With you or without you." He added. Meghan subtly swirled her orbs at his mini threat or lack thereof. " This was all your idea." He accused. " Remember that."
Meghan seen the man remove the flowers and replace them with a stack of magazines before scampering off set. A couple more adjustments were being made somewhere along the background behind them.
" I'm not the one who held the gun to your head and told you to agree. You could have said no." She countered planting her hand firmly on his thigh to stop him from shifting uncomfortably as he has been doing the last couple of minutes. It was beginning to add to her already building irritation.
" We should stop by Walgreen's and get you some cream as soon as we get done because that is some rash you got there."
Justin stopped fidgeting and lowered his blues on the side of her face. " Real funny. No I'm serious, hilarious." He asserted flatly repositioning his fingers around her shoulder.
Offering him a smirk, their banter was cut short as Noel's voice broke out through his megaphone announcing that he was going to begin rolling.
" Okay, everyone, positions ready?" He called. " Justin, Meghan, looking directly into the camera at me, just an ounce more lighting Belinda, annnnnd......we're rolling."
With a snap of his fingers he counted down from three to one silently.
" 3, 2 ,1......"
On cue, they resumed their joyous demeanors as if just seconds ago they hadn't been nit picking at one another. Justin was first to recite his lines, gaping cheerily into the lens. All eyes in the room focused on him and his every word.
" Hello America, I'm Justin Timberlake." He greeted. " And sitting next to me is my beautiful wife Meghan."
She flashed if possible, an even bigger million dollar smile, her pearly whites gleaming before picking up where he had left off.
" Aww, honey, you're so sweet." Her gave her a cheeky grin as she then aimed her attention at the camera. " Well, as I'm sure that you all know, me and my love here Justin have just recently tied the knot and we couldn't be more happier at this moment now that we are finally married." She cooed. She and Justin simultaneously turned to one another and large doe eyes dripping with affection.
Justin even went as far as to playfully tap the bridge of her nose with his finger making a cutesy face in the process.
Her hand that was placed on his thigh, he removed his arm from around her shoulder and covered her petite hand with his large one as she continued.
" In fact, Justin and I are so immensely overjoyed at this perfect time in our lives that we feel that there is no possible way that we could contain our excitement only to ourselves so being that we absolutely love and care for all our fans so dearly," Her hand went to her heart. " We have decided that we would like to share our bliss with all of you."
Justin rested his cheek on the top of her head and darted his eyes to the sky as if he were just overwhelmed with love.
" Oh what a wonderful feeling it is to be young and in love." He spoke warmly.
Meghan worked in an overdone giggle. " Oh yes honey. The words you speak are so true."
He wrinkled his nose boyishly. " Just as she was saying America, we want to invite you in by opening our doors as well as our hearts to you and let you spend time living life through our eyes and ears and in the end we can only hope that your journey will last as long as our love for you all. And I should add, that it will go on for eternities to come."
" We really hope that you'll enjoy and cherish your stay with us." She asserted with all kindess.
Coming together now, the two leaned into one another with eyes full of adoration as they gazed into their blues lovingly. Snuggling herself into his arms, Justin and Meghan both faced the camera as they recited their last lines as one.
" We're the Timberlakes and this is MTV Newlyweds Season Two."
" And Cut."
Breaking the soft silence in the air, Meghan and Justin relunctantly fell apart, rubbing their cheeks and whatnot to rid themselves of their painful smiles and cheesy actions just as Noel ambled over to the two with spirits a mile and a half high.
He gave a single clap, clamping his hands together. " I couldn't have asked for anything better you two. You both were just....amazing. I think that this could be it. That was hands down awesome. We don't.....I don't even think that we need to do a second one. We have gold here."
He ranted further unaware of the exchange of looks between the couple staring up at him. Justin sat up, swiping his palms on his jeans.
" Noel, um, hey man listen, no disrespect to you at all but I'm- we," He went back over his words to include his wife. " We aren't too sure about this. I mean this really isn't us..... " He motioned up and down to his 50's style apparel. " at all. I mean, I thought that we were clear that you wanted to capture us as a ' real ' couple but from the moment we stepped in here all that you have been capturing of us is some ' real ' fake ass people. We don't ever act like this."
Noel shook his head with whole hearted disagreement, once again expressing himself with his hands as he spoke. " No, no, no, guys, It's ok. This is perfect. There is nothing wrong here. What I'm doing is only portraying you to how your target audience would like you guys to be seen. I want to get in as many viewers as possible to watch the show. I mean that's the goal here isn't it? By moving in this route we'll be sure to have people tuning in practically every night."
It was as if everything that Justin said had went in one ear and out the other. Meghan crinkled her face, interjecting before he went on.
" No, Noel, This is all wrong. There isn't a thing normal about any of this. We're trying to shoot a reality show not a....Barbie Dream House skit. After we spin this commercial our target audience won't be anything but twelve year old little children."
" No, see, you're both not focusing in on the picture here. Trust me, I know what I am doing. Let me just explain every-"
Smoothing his tounge over his teeth, Justin abruptly stood, cutting him off as he held up his hand to pause the man and beckoned for the man standing near the food table speaking with one of the show's producer.
" Johnny!"
Glancing over his shoulder after his name had been called, well more like shouted, Johnny ended his conversation with Dana and traveled onset to an upset looking Justin and somewhat confused director.
" Hey everyone." He came up near Noel's side and quickly smiled at Meghan who remained seated, then to Justin. " Great work by the way. Now, what seems to be the problem?" He inquired aware of his client's sour mood.
" Man, can you tell me what in the hell we are doing here?" Justin bursted. " I'm positive that this is not what we agreed nor signed up for."
Johnny nodded not at all fazed with Justin's sudden displeasure. He turned to Noel. " Could you excuse us for a moment?"
Annoyed as well as a quite bit offended, Noel stepped away from the group to serve out more orders around the set.
Johnny let out an amused chuckle as he turned back to Justin. Justin though, didn't find any humor with the situation.
" Okay, now let's calm down and start over. What is it exactly that is bothering you about the shoot? Is it the clothes, the hair, you guys don't like the couch or the flowers? What is it?"
Justin glared at the man. " I'm glad that this is all funny to you, Johnny."
Johnny wiped away the grin tugging at his lips as he took in Justin's outfit. Just as he was about to apologize, Justin huffed with a roll of his eyes.
" It's this whole entire gig that you've got set up here. This is exactly the opposite of what you told us that we were going to do. Have you taken a tour around this place? It's like we stepped into a damn episode of the fuckin Brady Bunch!" He exclaimed.
A few snickers emitted around the room from his sudden outburst. Johnny caught a crew member toting a painting to another room struggling to keep his laughter to himself.
" This is not going to work with us, Wright. You really need to go have a talk with Noel or something or the other because if that's the case, I'm ready to call this entire thing off. Fuck the contracts and all of the producers. You can go ahead and cancel all of the checks, I really don't care at this point. Meghan and I will just leave this all like it is and we can all go our seperate ways." He breathed.
Snatching off his tie, Justin tossed it to the side where it landed on the floor behind the couch. A member walking by noticed it and picked it up.
Crossing his arms across his broad chest, Johnny nodded. " Well...." He fixed his attention on Meghan who seemed not as upset as Justin but held an expectant expression. " All of this go for you as well?"
Meghan pursed her lips and pointed at herself. " I think that my clothes speak for themselves." She responded.
Johnny uncrossed his arms and let them fall at his side. Retrieving his phone that rang against his hip, he silenced it for the time being and shrugged.
" Ok, this isn't a problem. What is it that you want to do?" He posed the question to the both of them but was staring at Justin.
Justin rubbed the back of his head as he searched for a solution. " Shit, I don't know. Just......change this. Get rid of all of this phony crap in here and damn....just.....let us be us." He licked his lips with a sure nod. " Yeah, let us direct it. I mean, it's our show anyway. We might as well do it ourselves. Noel is great at what he does and all but, he's a cornball when it comes to this."
Johnny finally released a chuckle after that last statement and without hesitation handed them the reins. " If that's what you want then you got it. You're right, this is your guys show and whatever you feel would make you both more comfortable then by all means do what you need to do. I'll go over and talk to Noel and you two figure out how your going to rearrange, everything." He spoke calmy, more thrown with the idea of them taking over.
" Thanks Johnny." Justin appreciated.
Another simper in Meghan's direction and a pat on the shoulder to Justin, Johnny went off to locate Noel and tell them of the new plans.
" Sooo." Meghan sounded, crossing one leg over the other she felt out the material of the couch, skimming her fingers along the arm. " What are we going to-"
" This is still all of your fault. I don't neccessarily blame Noel as much but you," He paused with a disdain shake of his head, holding his hand out so to pull her up. " I'm very disappointed."
She let him aid her onto her feet, now standing before him a slight difference in their height, his 6'1 to her 5'11.
" Well that's a first. It's like we've switched positions or something because usually it's you that just so happens to end up on the couch at the end of the day."
" A true comedian, you are. Just got me tickling on the inside." Came his dry retort.
Helping her remove the barrettes that kept her 50's updo in place, she held her palm open for them as she tussled with her hair to relieve the itch that inevitably formed due to the enourmous amount of hair spray that had been poured all over her head earlier in the day.
" You're dumb." She mumbled when she felt the magic of his fingers digging into her scalp. She dropped her hands all together and just let him massage her scalp.
She almost wanted to frown when he stopped after a moment. Shaking her hair out, she breathed a loud one and brightened.
" Here's an idea; I say you and I ditch the duds, fire Noel, head back to the trailers and if there's still time, get a quick one in there while we brainstorm on how we're going to make this work. Sound good to you? Sounds perfect to me."
Her sudden eager tone brought him along to chuckle. " I knew that I did the right thing when I asked you to marry me." He spoke while she undid the buttons on his wool coat, revealing his navy cashmere sweater underneath.
" Oh yeah?" She perked. " And tell me, why is that?"
" Come on." She let him take hold of her hand, moving in step behind him, keeping out of the paths of the men and women passing to and fro in and off set. " You'll see."
His words lingered in the air as he led the both of them to the direction of where the trailers were camped outside.
" The couple of the evening." Johnny proclaimed as his clients returned on set in complete tranformation.
Appearing in clothes more comfortable of what they were accustomed to wearing, the only change in hairstyle was Meghan having arranged her locks in deep waves cascading down her shoulders and around her face, while Justin mainly did very little but run his fingers through his mini mohawk.
" So are we all decided?" He inquired.
The two took up space on the sofa once again just as Justin shrugged.
" Nope." He breathed.
This time it was Noel that stepped in curious as to what they were going to do as far as direction. " What about a script? Tell me, you atleast have some sort of lines prepared."
" Nah," Justin briefly glanced at Meghan and dropped a heavy hand onto her leg. " We're just going to go ahead and wing it."
That was all the information that he gave as Noel turned to Johnny with a questioning gaze to which Johnny gave the go ahead to begin production once more.
" I hope you two know what you're doing." He warned mildy before making his way off set.
" Don't worry, we don't." Meghan joked at his back.
Again, Noel was perched behind the camera, gaping through the lens just as before. With no other choice but to go along with the new set of plans, again, he silently counted down with his fingers.
" In 3, 2 ,1......"
*~**~**~*
" We're rolling!"
As the lens zoomed out then in on the both of them speaking in low volumes with one another, Noel's voice in the background brought their attention back to the camera ahead.
" Huh? Oh!" Meghan perked. Observing from across the room, an arm folded across his chest, Johnny's other hand slid down his face as his shoulders shook with a chuckle. " Hey, um, can we do that again? We weren't ready." She questioned, staring overhead at Noel.
Beside her, Justin smoothed his hands over his thighs and sighed gruffly, clearing his throat loudly in the process while the signs of boredom on his part began to seep in through his expressions.
A quick displeased glance in his direction ensued another round of chatter between he and his wife as she scolded him along with his slumped position. Noel's voice broke in once again.
" Ok, doing it over one more time, let's get it right. Newlyweds, Justin and Meghan, annnnd, we're on."
" No, I'm comfortable. I'll sit which ever way I want. I might even lay down on this carpet. You know I'll do it. Watch me......"
( Take 2 )
" Hey everyone out there, what's up, I'm Meghan Carter and-"
" No, no, no, wait," Her smile faltered as she meet his gaze.
Sitting up, he wrinkled his face at her in question. " Why do you get to go first?"
She made a face. " Because." She supplied as her answer. " You were just sitting there so I-"
He interjected. " I'm the man. I should be the one doing all the talking here." He spoke defiantly, speaking into the camera. " Cut. I don't like it. I want a do over."
Meghan cocked a brow at him. " You must be kidding me." The longing stare she bestowed on him was followed by a pillow to his face along with a roll of her eyes.
" See, now everyone will know where all of my bruises come from." He remarked, throwing the camera a well known glance. " You guys see that?
( Take 3 )
Lazily lolling his head from side to side, Justin cut his eyes at her and yawned tiredly.
Holding a single finger up, Meghan pressed her cellphone to her ear as she attempted to rush the person on the other line, but instead released a few small giggles.
Justin cut his eyes at her once more and groaned. " Oh my- woman if you don't get off of that phone."
A quick goodbye, snapping her cell shut and stuffing it behind the pillows, she turned to Justin then to the crew with an apologetic grin.
" Sorry." She pardoned innocently, pointing towards the camera. " Are we still filming?"
Justin stared at the camera dead on and shook his head sadly.
Meghan puckered her lips and shrugged in response to his gesture. " What?"
( Take 4 )
" I'm Justin Timberlake and that's all you need to know, now watch the show."
Among the silence in the background erupted a round of sniggers.
" Oh, and this is my wife, Meghan."
Slinging his arm around her shoulder, full fledged laughter blew up when Meghan eventually nodded her head along with his introduction.
" I like it."
( Final Take )
" Hey, what's up everyone, I'm Meghan Carter."
" And, I'm admirably handsome. But you can call me Justin Timberlake."
His charming smile was followed by her short laughter.
" We're just here to remind you all that for your viewing pleasure at nine o clock p.m. on MTV, the ' World Premiere '" She teased. " Of our show, Newlyweds Season Two will be showing on your television screens for the very first time. And trust me when I say that we couldn't be any more excited about letting America, which means, you all, see how it is that I live and deal with this man." She pointed her thumb in his direction, pretending not to notice his narrowed eyes.
He hugged her body against his side none the less. " Yeah, what she said. Now, this ain't going to be no Nick Lachey, Dave and Carmen, that Blink 182 dude and his lady, kind of..." He paused to search for an seemingly appropriate way to end that sentence. " Theatrics. Unh, unh, you will not find any of that here. We're all real in this house. So real that, sex won't even be an issue. Guaranteed that there will be plently of that going on with or without that cameras."
That earned him a round of hushed laughter.
Meghan shyly averted her eyes away from the lens and bit down on her lip to prevent the smile tugging at her lips.
" Ok, what he said." She asserted, repeating his line from seconds ago. She let a chuckle escape. " Um......yeah..... I think that we'll just leave it like that. Uh, again, tonight at nine o clock, Newlyweds Season Two. Watch and learn."
Ending the last line, she swiveled her head to get a good look at Justin who gave her a suggestive wink before facing the camera with a sly grin and a head nod. The notion caused her to fall out beside him in hysterics.
A round of applause and a series of whistles erupted as filming ended for the day and congrats we're given to the couple. Praises from Noel and Johnny on an excellent job well done and another round of applause their way, Meghan and Justin ran through the changes of clothes in their trailers and we're soon in his car with him behind the wheel on the road back to their Spanish Style Villa.
" Tell me again why we've decided to have a reality show, which I'm still very much against just so you know?"
Meghan posted her feet up on the dashboard, her hair blowing against the wind in a sloppy pony as she observed what she could of the sights while Justin continued to press the speed limit of 60 mph.
" Because you love me and because it could very well be a perfect opportunity for us to grow as a couple." She supplied, reaching over to turn down the radio some.
She smirked in his direction, awaiting his response that he seemed to be mulling over at the moment.
Removing his eyes off the road for a quick second, he offered her a smile back, and moved his hand towards the back of her neck where he gently massaged.
" I thought it was because you promised me endless amounts of sex, but your answer works well too."
He applied a small amount of pressure on her neck when he felt her stiffen and cast him a dirty glare.
" You're impossible."
Premiere Season 2 Newlyweds; Justin Timberlake and Meghan Carter, tonight at 9:00 on MTV.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I know, here I go starting something else. Lol. I originally had this story posted on the old N.F. but when it went down, unfortunately the story did as well. I had it backed on a disc but, yeah, that got lost somewhere that I don't even know. So, I decided that I wanted to give it another go and see how it works out. Hope it works out good. So with that enjoy:) Oh, and updates on my other stories, um.....soon? Idk, we'll see once my lazy brain gets to workin again.
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: All work is mine, characters, photos, and other things like that. :) Yeah, you get the picture.
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