Chapter 13
Raven stirred in his arms, reveling in the fact that she was once again with him. She felt him move closer, his breathes evening out against her bare neck as he fell back asleep, exhausted from their recent session of lovemaking. She sighed happily, moving her body closer to his, she had to be as close as possible. Whenever she was with him, she always took hold of the fact that they might never have the chance to be together again. She hadn’t even questioned why he had been in Miami, what were the use for questions when you really didn’t care. She didn’t care for the reason he had been there, she didn’t care to know where he came from. For if she did, it would just remind her that he would be going back, and the thought alone pained her to the point of suffering. So what was to come of their brief love sessions, she thought tracing a finger softly down the structure of his arm. She knew the answer before she even asked herself, why did she think it would be any different now. What was it that kept them close to each other? What was it that held her heart and his, withstanding the distance or circumstance. What was it that allowed them to forget everything thing that made sense and plunge into a world of chance everytime they met. What was it that made her want nothing more than this feeling, this moment for the rest of her life? She didn’t think it possible to reach a higher high than the one she felt being introduced into her life. She didn’t think it possible until she felt his stare, until she felt his kiss, until she felt him inside of her. Suddenly she realized what it was, wrapped up in his arms, lying comfortably in a foreign bed miles away from reality.
She was in love with JC Chasez.
Justin didn’t even try to understand why he woke up that morning with a such a throbbing pain covering his body. He didn’t want to examine reality, take a closer look at the circumstance he found himself in. In fact, he didn’t want one thought wasted on one image or recollection of her. He wanted to forget about her, forget about her the way she hadn’t even thought about him. Hadn’t he decided that hours before he came face to face with her and her precious boyfriend. It was amazing, how even he couldn’t keep a restraint on his own emotions when it came to her. Hadn’t she left the club satisfied last night, hadn’t it been just his luck to leave with less than he showed up with. It wasn’t fair, and for the life of him Justin didn’t understand. He didn’t want to understand, it would just drive him further into a state of insanity that he had been trying his hardest not to revisit.
" Hey has anyone heard from JC?" the lucky bastard, Justin thought throwing back his last gulp of orange juice like it was truly a shot of vodka. What are the chances that they both meet up with the two girls who had a hold on their heart, but only JC would end up satisfied. At first it was great to see JC so happy, but it was just down right unfair when Justin had neither a girlfriend or a mistress. It was unfair when JC had both.
" Maybe someone should call Angela and ask?" Justin smirked rolling his eyes towards Chris who had posed the question. The black haired man looked skeptically at his friend, he had seen his many bad moods in the morning- but this one was escalated to the next level. Joey walked in, wearing his silk red robe that he somehow seemed to have all the time whether it be at home or on the road. Justin looked down, staring at his finished cup of orange juice, secretly wanting it to fill up with some sort of alcoholic substance.
" I think ex nay woke up on the wrong side of the bed ya!" Chris tried to speak in whatever fashion of morse code he thought he developed. Joey nodded and looked at his young friend. He knew what it was before Justin even spoke it.
" SO someone is mad they didn’t get off last night." Joey sighed and Justin shot him a dirty look. Justin wanted it to be as simple as that, in fact he would kill for it to be as simple as that. But it wasn’t, it never could be in this case. He was tired of just getting off, he wanted to be restless from a night spent of making passionate love to the woman he loved and adored over all else. He wanted to wake up to Maia in the morning, kiss away her sleepiness and do it all over again.
" Ding Ding Ding, tell him what he’s won Johnny." Chris smiled taking a sip of his coffee. Joey laughed and shook his head, Justin was in an obvious state of suffering.
" It’s not about that." Justin sighed standing up and trailing back up to his room, it wasn’t about that at all.
" You think he’s cute?" Jocelyn wondered out loud to Maia who joined her at the bay window to watch Raven step out of the luxurious navy blue escalade that pulled up in front of their house. Of course that huge SUV had tinted windows, so the girls anticipated only a quick glance of whatever prince charming had swept their friend off her feet and out of their eyes sight last night. Just as the passenger side door opened, Caleb walked dead into view giving them a ‘you’ve been caught look’. Maia laughed while Jocelyn shooshed him to side in an efforts to get one last chance at seeing Mr. Mystery Man.
" Move!" Maia laughed sitting on her knees, looking at Caleb who pretended not to comprehend.
" Haul ass out the way!" Jocelyn yelled, though her playful manner seeped through her words. Just then Raven approached him placing a hand on his shoulder and winking at her friends. Even without hearing the words she spoke, Maia saw her lips read " Nosy Bitches."
" I’m gonna kill the neighbor." Jocelyn smiled smacking Maia’s ass before she walked into the kitchen. Maia exchanged knowing glances with Raven just before warmly greeting Caleb who embraced her easily. He smelt like a Calvin Klein Add and looked even better. He was dressed casually in dark denim shorts and a orange tee, overshadowing her simple white tank and grey housepants.
" So you take all that money you earned and walk around like that." he teased referring to the story she had told him on their date about her recent success. After they left the club, he had convinced her to stop by a secluded diner with him. She had still been shaken up by seeing Justin, but slowly Caleb had eased her mind off of him. Although her mind had not completely erased his image, Caleb had came and took up a good amount of space. Even now she tried to stay focused on the sparkle of his eye, versus the moistness of Justin’s lips. One quick thought of the girl she saw him kissing and her mind was at ease.
" Shut up, I’m not dressed."
" Really, so you consider this naked?" Caleb teased making her laugh lightly. Maia hit his shoulder playfully, he had a way of making her laugh with ease.
" No silly, I consider this decent."
" Oh well, decent, plain...same thing." he laughed and Maia rolled her eyes leading him to the couch. Suddenly Maia noticed Jocelyn starring from the breakfast nook towards them while eating her bowl of cereal. Caleb followed her eyes towards Jocelyn and threw her a remote.
" It doesn’t get interesting until the third date." he assured and squeezed Maia’s shoulders. Shaking her head, she looked at him, her eyes filled with laughter.
" Are you always this funny."
" Stay with me and find out." he said softly brushing back a strand of her hair and then leaning down to kiss her softly. Maia let herself fall into the kiss, glad that she had this chance to focus on their kiss- having missed the wonders of it at the club due to Justin. Caleb’s lips were soft and sweet, his kiss one made of perfection. She sighed when he pulled back and leaned in once more to kiss him lightly. She agreed that she liked his kiss.
" OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh, PG 13." Jocelyn teased smiling innocently.
" Did I do a good job?" Caleb questioned , Maia looking to Jocelyn to wink her approval.
" Swept me off my feet." Jocelyn smiled and they all laughed.
" So, where do you want to go today?!" Caleb asked, rubbing her thigh lightly while Maia thought of what she wanted to do. She wondered if he wouldn’t mind showing her the sights of the city, seeing that she hadn’t had the chance to get out and explore Miami. She had planned to do that with Raven and Jocelyn, but from the looks of it the girls were both tired from last night. Maia was sure she heard Jocelyn come in around 7:15 a.m. It had just barely turned 12:00 p.m.
" Everywhere, let me go get dressed then we can leave." Maia gushed and jumped off the couch.
He felt guilty, he felt guilty and ashamed that he had been so envious of his friend’s apparent happiness. Justin knew why JC had agreed to stay with him in Miami, he had known all along that JC was no longer content with the comfort that Angela had provided him. He saw it in the way he looked whenever he saw Raven, that Angela wasn’t the one that made him happy. Angela never could. Only Raven.
" What happened?" Justin asked wanting to apologize to his friend for his discomforting thoughts. It wasn’t JC’s fault that he hadn’t the same fate. Maybe there was someone else out there for him, maybe Maia wasn’t meant for him.
" The usual." JC sighed sadly, watching the road in front of him. He hated the way things were between him and Raven, even now.
" Oh, It’s crazy huh?"
" yeah it hurts J, I mean I think........" Justin watched his friend closely. JC’s jaw tensed and he blinked more than he had to. His eyes looked to be boring into the windshield, transfixed on his own thoughts. Justin knew what he was trying to say, he knew that JC had fallen in love with the girl. Justin sighed leaning back into his seat. Swallowing back, Justin didn’t want to recognize the feeling. If it meant being tormented like JC and having to live with it- like he was doing now- he didn’t want to recognize it at all. Love hurt too much.
" This is the best pizza joint for the rich and famous around these parts." Caleb announced spreading his hands over the crowded restaurant that smelled of cheese and garlic sauce. Sure enough Maia recognized the faces of many stars sitting amongst the crowd at Mama Rodello’s Pizza Shop. She tried not too look so star truck as Caleb led her to a table that passed Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Afterall, she did belong there. She was a star herself. She took a seat, pulling up her fringed top low rise jeans that fit slimly down her leg and scrunched around her nude sandle clad feet.
" By the way you look beautiful." Caleb whispered in her ear, before taking a seat beside her. Maia smiled, although she had gone through great efforts to put together an outfit that looked effortlessly good. Atop the jeans and sandals, she wore a thin white long sleeve, stretch poplin shirt. It tucked under her breast and a silver chain accented her bare middrift. She left her hair down in a waved chaotic state and applied a layer of peach lip gloss, She felt every bit of the beautiful Caleb spoke of. She smiled and winked at him.
" Better than decent?" Caleb kissed her lips softly in response.
Love suddenly became a bitch, Justin thought walking into Mama Rodello’s Pizza Shop and coming face to face with another one of Maia and Caleb’s public make out sessions. What was fate doing to him, he thought angrily. JC moved from Usher Raymond’s table to place a hand on his friends shoulder.
" Come on man we can go somewhere else." Justin was about to agree when he noticed the surprised expression on her beautiful face after her eyes met with his. Caleb had moved to the seat facing her, his back to the door where Justin stood alongside JC.
" Nah its cool." Justin smirked, his eyes reading hers. Damn her if she thought he would be the only one tormented. He knew he could deal with the pain better when it was shared. He nodded to her and then followed JC to a table. Taking a seat Justin ran a hand over his head, she looked damn good. There was no escaping that, she would always look that beautiful to him. He felt his pulse raise with just the thought of her and knew that there was no denying what was happening to him.
" She’s beautiful." JC sighed apologetically knowing that he probably wasn’t helping the situation much. In fact he was probably making it worse, he thought amusingly to himself. Maybe he was wrong about Justin. Maybe Justin was about to find out what love really did to a person.
" Yeah." Justin replied absently his eyes looking over to her. She was in the middle of a conversation with Caleb, her eyes glittered with happiness. Caleb was one lucky guy, even if he probably didn’t deserve to be. Justin imagined how it would be to sit across from her and make her laugh, make her smile at him. He wanted her eyes to gaze into his and her lips to graze over his. It was ridiculous how he still hadn’t found a way to let him go, after all this time you’d think he’d be over it. But he wasn’t, he was nowhere near over her. In fact, the more he tried to deny it the more he realized, there would be no getting over her.
" Go talk to her." JC said on impulse, he waited the boy to do something. If Justin wanted to pretend not to recognize the fact that he had fallen in love with Maia, he could do that. However, JC wouldn’t let it go.
" Yeah go bust it up with her and MR. Dick -that-pleases- everybody." Justin sighed looking down at his cup. JC nodded, the kid had a very good point. Suddenly hit with an idea, JC waved the waitress over.
" I’ll have 2 cheese slices and a pepperoni." Justin said his eyes going back to Maia, this time her own had been waiting for his. He recognized the look as being apologetic and he almost choked with pity. Now she felt sorry for him, just as well Justin thought shaking his head. JC furiously scribbled something on a napkin and then turned to the waitress. Justin tuned in as JC just finished up by saying.
"...the beautiful girl over there with the white shirt on. Compliments of this sexy icon here." he was pointing at Justin while the waitress blushed prettily at Justin. Before he could stop her, Justin watched the waitress prance over towards Maia’s table.
