Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks so much for reading and the feedback makes my life. Please let me know what you think! :)
I heard the ending credits of the movie and jumped up after realizing that I fell asleep… on Justin’s shoulder. Good move Veda, good move.
Justin laughed, “Are you alright Dallas?”
“Yeah, sorry. I always fall asleep in movies. I guess I should have told you that before.”
“Maybe,” he smiled, “It’s cool. I’m more worried about how fast you jumped up just now.”
I shrugged and stretched my arms over my head, “Sorry I like fell asleep on your…”
“You’re cool,” he broke in, “Do you want me to take you home?”
I nodded my head and Justin slapped my leg as he stood up. When I stood up my stomach was growling, “Wait, can I take some pizza?” I didn’t really wait for a response.
“Take the whole thing.”
“I don’t want the whole thing,” I grabbed like four pieces in a pile. They’re not big pieces, they’re small. They’re the small square kind; I’m not a huge pig. OK, maybe one more.
I could hear Justin laughing, “But you don’t want the whole thing.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed another piece and the bag of Doritos and followed him.
“How about a plate Dallas?” he asked with that smug smile on his face as he handed me a plate.
“Thank you,” I took the plate from him and followed him to the car. He opened the door for me before going over to the other side and that shocked me. Justin Timberlake does not strike me as the gentlemanly type.
“I can’t believe you fell asleep through the whole movie.”
“I know I wanted to see it. I’m just not good with movies. I always fall asleep. Is it ok to eat in your car or are you one of those OCD types that will freak out if a crumb falls?”
“Go for it.”
“I’m hungry,” I said as I took a bite of the cold pizza on my lap.
“Yeah me too, let me get one?”
Why does he want my pizza he has the whole thing at home. I must have made a face because he laughed.
“You can’t share? One piece.”
“Yeah, take it. I mean, you just have the whole thing at home.”
He took a piece and took a huge bite before answering me, “Do you want to go back and get another piece?”
“No, don’t be dumb.”
Justin nodded his head and smiled, “Then give me another piece.”
I laughed and held the plate over, “Pizza is so better cold isn’t it?”
“I agree,” he answered with his mouth full, “Are you in a rush to get home?”
“No, the opposite actually. I’m always afraid of what I might find when I get there, especially when Marty has a date. Why?”
“I got a call that the stage is ready, want to go check it out?” he got this mischievous look on his face and his eyes widened like he was ten.
“Yeah,” I admit I’m a little excited. OK, I’m very excited. I’m sure my eyes are just as wide as his. “Is anyone going to be there though? It’s almost eleven.”
“Yeah,” he turned off the highway, “He said they’d be there till eleven. We’ll make it.”
“Cutting it close no?”
“Yeah, well maybe if you didn’t fall asleep we would have made it faster.”
I laughed as he parked the car and I grabbed a piece of pizza for the trip and he grabbed one too.
“I’ll give you the rest, relax.”
“I’m not freaking out, you relax.” Now he thinks I’m obsessed with pizza and don’t know how to share.
Justin knocked on the back door and a big guy answered. “What’s up man?” They shook hands and then walked in, “This is the big guy, Tiny. This is Dallas.”
“Veda,” I corrected him.
“Veda,” Tiny answered with a smile and shook my hand, “Nice to meet you. I’m on my way out J; just make sure the door is shut when you leave. There’s venue security around so don’t go crying to your Mama if you hear something.”
I laughed. I like this guy.
Justin gave me a look, “Don’t encourage him. See you later man, thanks.”
“Do you have a nickname for everyone?”
“Nah, his name is Tiny, it’s not a nickname.”
He thinks I’m an idiot, “His name is Tiny?” Justin nodded his head, “Like when he was born his Mama named him Tiny?”
“Yeah.”
“That is such bullshit.”
“It’s true.”
“It is not. His name is not Tiny, who told you that?”
“He did.”
I laughed, he’s so gullible, “Check his birth certificate, his name is not Tiny.”
“Whatever. It’s Tiny.”
He walked away and I followed him quickly, “It’s really dark in here.”
“Don’t be scared Dallas, I’ll protect you.”
I had to laugh out loud at that one, “That scares me even more.”
“It wasn’t a joke,” he looked back at me with a smile before hitting the lights and the light went on for the stage area. “Shit.”
“Wow.” I’m pretty sure my mouth dropped open. It’s huge; it’s not like a normal stage it’s in the middle of the place. And it goes like… everywhere. I looked over at Justin and he was just walking around it like a polar bear does when he’s in the zoo, walking the same path over and over again. “How do I get on it?” he didn’t answer me, or even look up, he’s more zoned out that I am. “Justin?”
“Huh?” yeah… welcome back to reality buddy.
“How do I get on the stage?”
“I don’t know, just jump up, can you jump up?”
“It’s like eight feet in the air, not really.”
He laughed and helped me up and then jumped up himself, “What do you think?”
“It’s amazing, it’s huge. It’s really cool, it’s going to be a great show.”
Justin laughed and put his head down, running his hand through his hair, “It’s going to be pretty bad ass.”
He’s using my words; “you should put that in the commercials, one bad ass how.”
“Smart ass,” he smiled before walking away, “Now all I have to do is learn the dance.”
“It’s just that one part. All you have to do is remember to put your right arm up higher and you’ll be fine.”
“It’s not just that. There’s more to it though. That whole song is kicking my ass.”
“You’re so nervous about it, you’re going to psych yourself out. Do you want to practice it?”
“I just don’t know… yeah you want to?”
I nodded my head and walked over to him. Of course this is the song where he has to grope me, who am I kidding, most of the songs he has to grope me. What a job. I pulled off my hoodie so I was wearing a tank top and he turned music on before jogging over to me.
He can do the dance fine; it’s really just that one part that he doesn’t get. “You’re fine just stop being so stressed.”
“I need to get drunk.”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “Me too.”
“Let’s get drunk.”
We were going to stop at a bar but by the time we left the venue it was already one. And Justin reminded me that he was planning on getting drunk, not just having a couple drinks so he’d rather not have to leave his car and take a cab home. So, we went back to Justin’s house and had some deep conversations with Jack.
I can’t tell you exactly what we talked about, but I will tell you at the time I felt like we discovered the secret to life. I woke up the next morning to Justin’s cell phone ringing. I was lying on my stomach on the couch and he was on the ground.
He didn’t answer the phone at first, and if I had the power to raise my head I would have screamed for him to do it. “Yeah?” he mumbled into the phone, “Yeah… alright, yeah she’s here… yeah” I heard the phone close and that was it for a few minutes.
“Are you up Dallas?” he asked I’d say at least ten minutes later.
“Mmhmm.”
“That was Marty, we’re late.”
“Mmhmm. I can’t open my eyes.”
“Me neither, I can’t move my head. What did you do to me?”
I laughed and managed to get up, “What did you do to me? It was your Jack.”
He sat up and laughed, “You were the one screaming, one more shot, just one more!”
“I was not, shut up.”
He stood up, stretched his arms over his head before grabbing onto a hoodie that was on the floor, “Come on, we’re going to get in trouble.”
I pulled my hoodie on and followed him, putting the hood over my head, “What happened to all the pizza?”
“I don’t know, did we eat it?” he asked with a laugh, “We are fucked.”
“Yeah, how are we going to dance Twinkle Toes, when I can hardly walk.”
“Once again, your fault. You and Jack seem to have quite the relationship.”
“Yeah, we go way back,” I laughed as we drove off.
He turned into the McDonalds drive thru, “What do you want?”
“You’re my savior. A bacon egg and cheese biscuit with two hashbrowns and an extra big coffee with extra cream and extra sugar.”
“So that’s pretty much coffee milk?” he asked with a smile.
“I don’t like coffee. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
We got the food and pretty much inhaled it. There really is no cure for a hangover like greasy food. Not that we’re cured. Well I know I’m not cured, and by the looks of Justin rubbing his head, I doubt he’s cured either.
When we got to the dance studio everyone looked at us as we walked in. No one really said anything, but Marty laughed. “Glad you could join us.”
I know everyone will probably be talking soon. Now all the dancers still think Justin is something special and their boss so they’re not going to say anything. I’m sure they’ll all go back to their little dancer houses and call each other on their dancer phones and gossip their dancer gossip. It’s kind of annoying, but I’ll get over it.
Remind me to never drink like that when I have to be a rehearsal at 9 o’clock the next morning. Dallas is trouble, I’m going to blame it all on her. I know in reality it was probably more my fault but we’ll blame it on her.
Although, I will say getting drunk didn’t really help with the stress. Now I’m hung-over and stressed. The stage is up, the show starts in a week, and I still can’t do the dance. Plus, now I have to start doing interviews and press shit. You would think I’d be used to all this by now. I usually am, I just don’t like the idea of going on tour with songs no one’s ever heard before.
After rehearsal I fell on the couch and was honestly planning on never moving again. “Move over, you’re hogging the couch.”
I sat up so Dallas could sit down, “Let’s go get drunk.”
She laughed and dropped her head to the armrest, “I’m not drinking for a couple weeks.”
“Yeah right,” I laughed, “Are we done?”
“I think so.”
“I’m starving, want to go get dinner?” she nodded her head but didn’t move, “Where’s Marty?”
“Over there,” she answered quietly. I looked over and saw her eyes were close.
“Go get him,” I said with a smile.
She laughed, “You go get him.”
“I’m not moving.”
“Neither am I.”
I laughed and she never even opened her eyes, “Marty!” I called out, Dallas laughed but it worked, he came over.
“We’re hungry,” she whined.
“That’s great,” he laughed, “You’re also very scrubby and unprofessional.”
She opened her eyes and sat up, but I spoke before she could, “She made me do it.”
“That’s not even a little believable Justin,” she answered with a smile, “Can we just go eat so I can go to sleep?”
“Yeah man, save the lecture.”
Marty laughed, “You two look like hell, are you sure you want to go out somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to meet Rachael anyway.”
“Who’s Rachael?” Dallas asked.
“My cousin. Let’s go.” I said it but didn’t get up. It’s a lot easier to say I’m going to get up than to actually get up. I looked over to see she wasn’t planning on moving either so I took the first step and stood up, extending my hand out to help her.
She grabbed my hand and followed me outside, running to the back seat so she could put her legs up while I drove to pick up Rachael.
“Rachael, Dallas. Dallas, Rachael.” I introduced them as we drove to the restaurant down the street.
“My name is Veda,” she corrected me. What is so wrong with Dallas? I don’t get it.
“Hi Veda, nice to meet you.”
“What’s so wrong with Dallas?” I looked in the rearview mirror when I spoke.
“It’s not my name.”
“So?”
“Fine, then nothing is wrong with it Hollywood, we’ll play it like that.”
I took a deep breath, and I’m supposed to tour with this girl? What did I get myself into? “I’m not from Hollywood.”
“You live here, close enough.”
“Yeah, but it’s different. Hollywood has a negative connotation.”
“Well, you live here don’t you? So what does that say?”
I took a deep breath and could hear Marty and Rachael laughing. I don’t think it’s that funny.
“You have no idea how happy I am that there’s another girl now. I usually have to deal with this shit by myself,” Rachael answered. I don’t understand what shit she has to deal with.
“Yeah maybe you can deal with your own shit when you’re back in Memphis without a job.”
She laughed, “You’re so cranky.”
“He’s hung-over,” Marty explained.
“And stressed, let him go,” Dallas mimicked.
“Fuck you.”
“I like her,” Rachael smiled.
“I hate her,” I answered with a smile. She’s a cool girl for the most part but sometimes I just want her to go away. I don’t know what it is. She says what’s on her mind, that’s for damn sure. I still haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. At this moment, it is a bad thing.
Story Tags: Be the first to add a tag to this story
