June 8, 2002 (Kansas City, Missouri)

After spending almost forty-eight hours thinking about Johnny's ultimatum and talking about it with the guys--who Cathy had practically pushed him into telling--Justin finally came to his final decision early Saturday morning.

I just hope Johnny goes for it 'cause this is all I'm offering him.

With that thought in mind, Justin looked up from the small hotel stationary he was holding, with his manager's room number on it, and began softly knocking on the door in front of him.

"Hold on!" A deep voice, which he could only place as his manager's, yelled groggily from the other side; before the door was opened, a couple of seconds later. "Justin..? Your early!"

After nonchalantly shrugging, Justin waited until Johnny--who was still in his night clothes--stepped to the side, before making his way past the older man and replying: "Yeah, I was up until around three last night and then Kay woke me up at six, so I figured after I gave her her breakfast and gave her a bath, I'd drop by to see you before heading back to sleep....I hope you don't mind."

After shaking his head, as if to say, "I don't mind", Johnny closed the door behind Justin and made his way back into his room. "Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing you just want to get this over and done with--which I don't mind--so follow me."

Knowing this would be much easier if he was sitting down, caused Justin to follow Johnny further into his room; then after a second, take a seat across from the older man at the kitchen table.

"All right! Let's get down to business."

Easier said than done.

After letting out the deep sigh, which he hadn't even known he'd been holding in, Justin threw his idea out on the table for Johnny to play with. "After thinking about what you said, and talking about it over with the rest of the guys, I've come to the conclusion that--even though Kayla and Debra are no one else's business but mine--I will do what is asked, for the sake of you and the group, and let the TV station of your choice interview me."

A part of him having figured Justin would have told him to fuck off before ever agreeing to talk about his private life with the interviewer of his choice, caused Johnny to blink twice in disbelief, before saying with a slight smile on his face: "I can honestly say that I'm surprised you came up with that decision. It's a smart move."

Not knowing what to say to that comment, caused Justin to nod his head slightly, in agreement, before saying: "Thanks..but theirs one more thing. It's sort of like a compromise."

A compromise?

While furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Johnny replied: "What is it?" And after licking his lips slightly in hesitation, Justin replied: "In return for talking about Kayla and Debra with the TV station of your choice, I want--at any given time--a one-on-one interview with the TV station of my choice...without any major or minor problems beforehand from you or any of the other guys."

Not really seeing anything wrong with that, caused Johnny to open his mouth to agree with the idea. But before he could do so, a thought struck him. "What TV station did you have in mind?"

Without bothering to pause for a second, Justin replied: "B.E.T"

A statement which caused Johnny to stare at the younger man, in disbelief for a second, before shaking his head, and saying:

"You've got yourself a deal...and a whole bunch of controversy coming your way."

(Nine thirty, AM)

"Yo-gee!"

Looking up from the book she was reading, Cathy couldn't help but smile at the excited look on Kayla's face. It was always amusing and slightly refreshing to see how happy the little girl became at the smallest things. I wonder if her father is the same way.

With that thought in mind, Cathy adverted her line of vision, from Kayla's small figure, to the digital clock beside the hotel bed. And when noticing the red lights flashing nine-thirty-two, she couldn't help but absentmindedly frown; realizing Justin had been in his manager's hotel room for the last hour and a half.

I hope everything's going okay.

As if reading her thoughts, not even two seconds later, the door to Justin's hotel room was heard being opened and a half a second later, the tall man was seen stepping through the main kitchen foyer.

"Hey! How'd it go?"

Smiling slightly, Justin waited until he had closed the distance between him and Kayla--picking up the reluctant girl afterwards--before replying: "Better than expected....I agreed to letting Johnny pick the interviewer of his choice and he reluctantly agreed to a couple of my terms as well."

His terms as well?

Even though she was curious as to what sort of terms Justin had, the sight of the man slightly yawning in front of her caused Cathy to reply: "Well, I guess I should say congratulations and then be on my way...I have to start repacking now if I want to be on the bus by three."

Shit.

Realizing he would have to do the same, caused Justin to inwardly curse at his forgetfulness, before replying: "Me too. But..hey! Thanks for watching Kay today. I know how much you value your sleep."

While slightly blushing, Cathy replied: "Don't mention it.....I'm sharing a room with Anna and I rather sit through hours of Yogi the bear with Kayla then have to hear another rendition of JC this and JC that by our very own Morticia Addams."

After chuckling at the guys--minus JC's--nickname for Anna, Justin outwardly replied, "Right on," before absentmindedly watching as the older woman made her way towards his hotel room's door.

Beauty, brains, and a sense of humor. I'm sure she'd make any guy a lucky man.

Monday, June 10, 2002 (Denver, Colorado)

"So, man you ready?"

Looking up at the guys--who had came by to support him--Justin nodded his head slightly, before saying: "As ready as I'm going to get."

I just wish they'd hurry it up already.

As if reading his thoughts, John Norris--the MTV correspondent, who Johnny had picked to do the interview--was heard over the telephone speaker saying: "Can you hear me, Justin?" And after nodding slightly and saying a quick prayer of strength, Justin replied: "Yeah, I can hear you."

"Good.....Now, first of all, before I start asking you questions, I just want to thank you for taking time out of your tour schedule to do this interview V.I.A satellite with us. Theirs no doubt in MTV's or my mind that--with what has just come up recently--surrounding your life, that millions of networks have asked for this interview. And it's a pleasure, that out of all those networks, you've chosen us to do it with."

Not really knowing what to say to that statement, caused Justin to inwardly will himself not to roll his eyes in annoyance as he politely said: "You're welcome."

"All right. Now, with that being said, let's start from the beginning." John began, a slight look of determination on his face. "Exactly two weeks ago, at eight thirty AM, an anonymous source from your camp sent us a letter claiming that you secretly had a one year old daughter. Then, not even two hours later after broadcasting the information, your manager, Mr. Johnny Wright, called our station saying that neither he--nor you--had any idea as to who had sent out the information. Then afterwards, he confirmed that until you wanted to speak up about the matter, him and the rest of your camp vowed to remain silent about the situation. Now, what we, at MTV, and the viewers at home want to know is: What's going on? I mean, do you really have a daughter? One that you just did not know about. Or is this just some celebrity rumor that is going around about you?"

After letting out the deep sigh, which he'd been holding in for a while, Justin reluctantly replied: "Fortunately and unfortunately enough, this is not just some celebrity rumor that's going around about me. I do, in fact, have a one year old daughter--one that I have known about since the time her mother was pregnant."

While absentmindedly watching the TV monitor in front of him, Justin could tell that his long time acquaintance was somewhat startled by this information.

And I bet when they broadcast this interview on TRL today, another four million viewers will become startled as well.

"Not to break away from the line of questioning, but what do you mean by fortunately and unfortunately enough?"

As if stating the obvious, Justin replied: "Even though I wouldn't give up my daughter for anything in this world, I would've preferred this new information on my life had been just some rumor that I could've shot down with a simple yes or no answer--instead of some scandal that possibly could get someone physically or mentally hurt."

While nodding his head, in understanding, John replied: "I understand. But speaking of someone being hurt....for a second, I'd like to address the events that took place two Monday nights ago, outside of your home in Orlando, Florida. Now, I'm sure what everyone--whose seen the footage--wants to know is: What are your thoughts on what happened and what actions are being made to make sure the bold cameramen can never do that again to someone else?"

Having had the last two weeks to think about this question, caused Justin to not even hesitate as he replied: "First of all: my thoughts on what happened are basically that it should never have happened. I mean, even if someone is hiding the most deadliest secret from someone else, that still does not give anyone else the right to smash into someone's car and scare a little girl just for a measly exclusive picture. I don't care what the reward is!"

"And to answer your other question--about what actions are being made--well, as of right now, the only thing I can tell you is that I personally have made a few phone calls to the bosses and networks of those six cameramen; telling them that they can expect a phone call from my lawyer--which I might add, they have gotten by now."

After a brief second's pause--where Justin noticed the other guy's giving him a thumbs up, from the corner of his eye--John replied, "I'd like to ask you a couple of questions which our viewers have wrote in wondering about. Is that okay with you?"

While licking his lower lip, slightly in hesitation, Justin replied: "Yeah, ask away."

"The first one is from Ellen, in Connecticut. She wants to know if, given the fact that you have a one year old daughter, does that mean you cheated on Britney--who we all know that you recently just had a split with after being involved for almost a year and a half."

After shaking his head No, Justin replied: "Through out my entire relationship with Britney, I was one hundred percent faithful to her...physically. But honestly, on an emotional level, I think that she was giving me one hundred and ten percent, while I was unfortunately only giving her a total of thirty percent."

"All right...question two comes from Sarah in Minnesota." John began, in his best television host voice, "She wants to know if--since the arrival of your first child--have you shared custody with the mother? And if so, now that the secret is out, will you be asking her for full custody?"

Feeling a slight wave of discomfort wash over him, Justin looked towards JC and Lance who were giving him their best encouraging smiles, before hesitantly replying: "Whereas before, my daughter lived solely with her mother...as of now, due to the unfortunate passing of my ex-girlfriend, I have full custody of my daughter...and if you don't mind, I rather not get into any question's involving her death or my relationship with her."

After staring at the slightly uncomfortable looking man in front of him, for a second, John nodded his head in agreement before saying: "With that being said, I think that wraps up this brief interview."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Justin made a move to stand up and diswire himself, but before he could even touch the microphone on his shirt, John called out: "Before I hang up, I have one more question to ask you...off-record."

Don't they always...

After taking a seat back in his chair, Justin raised a questioning eyebrow before saying: "Shoot."

"I didn't want to mention this before, but a couple of days ago, after I heard you wanted me to do this interview, I was sent a few pictures. And I was just wondering if you and your manager had sent them to me for today's taping of TRL or if it was just from a fan that was at one of your recent concerts."

Pictures?

Not knowing what pictures the older man was talking about, caused Justin to open his mouth in questioning, but before he could ask to see the pictures, the fax machine going off on the other side of his hotel room caused him to look up in confusion.

"One of the producers just faxed you a copy of one of them."

After absentmindedly nodding his head at John's words, Justin shot Lance--who had stood up to receive the fax--a questioning eyebrow; seeing as the older man looked to be in somewhat disbelief.

"What is it?"

Not bothering to answer his friend's question, Lance wordlessly closed the distance between him and Justin--before handing the younger man the picture.

The picture of an oblivious--to the cameras--Cathy heading to the girl's bus--after the guy's Houston show--holding a sleeping Kayla, in her arms.

"What the fuck!"