The One Nighter by BrandyRae
Part I:  Chapter 1

Cassidy Nickel was having, possibly, the worst day of her entire life. She had worked so hard to get to where she was. Now she had blown it in ten seconds flat. The network was never going to give her another shot on air. Never.

With a huff she waited for the hotel elevator to stop at her floor. Instead of drinking her sorrows away in the bar, which she’d definitely thought about, she decided to sweat them away in the gym instead.

Finally, as she heard the ding, she pushed her backpack up on her shoulder and stepped into the mirrored room, ready to run five miles if that’s what it took to rid her of her anxiety. Either that, or until she collapsed of exhaustion, whichever came first.

A suited man grinned cordially as he stood casually in the back corner. She didn’t return the gesture. She was too bitter. Instead she turned her back and waited to be transported to her destination.

From day one she’d been beat out by men. It was the complete story of her life, always being looked over and turned down because there was a man that was more suitable for the job.

Until, of course, she’d somehow managed to get her big break -– and then blow it! Unfortunately, that was no one’s fault but her own and for the first time there was no man to blame for her set back.

She wished there was. It would have made her screw up so much easier to deal with. Instead she only had herself to hold responsible, and that was making her feel like pure and utter shit.

It was also making her very bitter towards the opposite sex.

When the elevator dropped her off on the third floor, she didn’t look back at the man behind her. She stepped out and turned to the left, heading towards the exercise facility she’d used earlier in the day.

Only this time when she got there, something was different. Or, rather she say, someone was different. There hadn’t been a 300-plus pound man standing in front of the doorway last time. The look in his eye didn’t exactly sit well with her current mood.

“The gym’s closed,” his gruff voice spoke as he looked down at her with intimidating dark eyes and arms twice the size of her thighs. “Come back in an hour.”

Unfortunately, the scowl she shot back at him didn’t affect him in the slightest. “Really? That’s odd because I called the front desk ten minutes ago and was informed that the gym is always open to guests.” Both of her hands braced at her hips, as she stood up as tall as she could, stiffening her shoulders and trying her best to look intimidating.

There was no way in hell she was coming back in an hour. She would do whatever it took to get in that gym.

“Sorry. Right now it’s not.”

At that she only seemed to get even more aggravated. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed, her feet planted firmly to the ground. “I’m not leaving until you let me in that gym.”

“Look, miss, you’re not getting in there to see him so you might as well just leave and come back in an hour like I said.”

Cassidy didn’t know who the hell the “him” was that this man was referring to, but one thing she did know, no man was going to stand in her way -- again. “Excuse me? I am not coming back in an hour so some man can have the gym all to himself. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care who he is. I’m a guest at this hotel just like everyone else. Just because I’m a woman does not mean you can tell me when and where I can workout!” By the end of her words she was completely shouting, her nostrils were flaring, her eyes were bulging and her fists were clenching. This was not what she needed at the moment.

She braced herself, waiting for his comeback, when instead a quiet yet distinctly male voice sounded from behind him. “Dre, what’s going on out here?”

“Nothing, J. Go finish your workout.”

Cassidy couldn’t see his face, but she was feeling so irate, there was nothing more that she wanted then to give this “J” person a piece of her mind. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she roared. “I have every much as right to use this facility as you do. This is just ridiculous.” Then she started babbling, uncontrollably, and somewhat under her breath. “Men, I swear… They think they rule the world and their God’s freakin’ gift to Earth, which is just bullshit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.”

Dre turned his back to her then, and as he did Cassidy got a glimpse of long legs and a very fit frame. But she was too worked up and angry to feel the attraction any other average female between the ages of 15 and 40 normally would have felt. Besides, he was a man -- the enemy, plain and simple.

When the husky Dre turned back around seconds later, he was shaking his head and staring down at her with an irritated look. “Go in,” he stated simply, finally moving to the side and letting her through the door.

She thought about voicing a thank you, but decided she was too annoyed to bother and headed straight for the treadmill instead, not even taking a moment to notice the man who was curiously eyeing her in the mirror across the small room.



Justin Timberlake had known instantly when he’d heard the shouting in the hall that it had absolutely nothing to do with his status. If the situation had been any different, he never would have stuck his head out the door. But plainly this girl was upset for other reasons. Any fan with half a brain knew that yelling at his bodyguard wasn’t going to get them what they wanted.

Clearly her motives did not involve him in the slightest.

In fact, as he watched her discreetly in the mirror from the weight bench he sat on, he realized she hadn’t even taken a second look at him. She hopped right on the treadmill, started a quick walk, and was now staring intently at the TV, which was showing the same thing as the TV he’d been watching before she’d caused such a ruckus -- the basketball game.

With a smirk he returned to his curls, focusing more on his biceps than the strange woman across the room.

It was a barely a minute later when her voice, still plagued with annoyance, caught his attention. “HELL-LO REF… where’s the foul? Jesus.” Her eyes focused unforgivingly at the television. Her pace had now quickened to a steady jog instead of a walk and the white t-shirt that had covered the top of her just seconds earlier had been discarded to reveal one very toned woman in a pair of form-fitting exercise pants and matching sports bra, with an ass that looked tight enough to bounce a quarter off of.

Justin forced his sight away before she caught him staring. For some reason the thought of her actually noticing him eyeball her was a little frightening. As curious as he was, he wasn’t that curious. She had some obvious issues after hearing her shout in the hallway.

For a good twenty minutes Justin continued on with his workout, occasionally peeking a curious glimpse of her. Mainly he was trying to catch her looking at him, but she never did. As arrogant as it was, he honestly couldn’t remember not having a woman pay attention to him in quite some time.

It was…weird--almost foreign to him, but intriguing nevertheless.

That was the only reason he could figure out in his head for moving over to the treadmill beside her. Normally he didn’t even bother with cardio. He burnt enough calories in his line of work. He didn’t need it. But some reason, that’s where he ended up.

He set his pace at a fairly quick jog and focused his attention at the same TV as her. It was a close game – the Lakers vs. the Supersonics. Personally he was a Laker fan, but more in general he was a basketball fan. He loved the sport.

Obviously so did she.

That’s when it donned on him. She had to be gay. Why else would she have been so bitter and so undistracted by him? He sighed to himself, feeling slightly better about his newfound assumption, and continued with his jog.

This only lasted a couple of unspoken moments when she reached for her water bottle that had been in the cup holder, but dropped it before she had the chance to remove the cap.

Lesbian or not, he was still a gentleman. So before she could stop her machine, he’d paused his own and reached down between the two to grab the plastic Dasani bottle.

When he returned it to her cup holder for her, instead of receiving a thank you, he got the look of death. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to say something to her. He had to know why she was so angry.

So he grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Can I ask what happened to you to make you so bitter?” As soon as her eyes focused on him he wanted to take back his words. She had this remarkable way of making him feel about two inches tall for absolutely no reason whatsoever.



Cassidy was well aware of who the man next to her was. And to be completely honest, once she’d realized the man that had taken over the gym had been Justin Timberlake, she’d grown even more irritated. Mainly because she knew he’d been offered to do some correspondence work for the NBA when he had absolutely no sports background at all. Why? Because he’s a male superstar.

She had been working her entire life for just a little piece of that and he had been offered it for no reason at all except for the fact that he was Justin Timberlake. How was that fair?

And if he’d expected her to coo and gawk over him he’d been sadly mistaken. Nope, not happening.

“I’m not bitter.” She hit the stop button on her machine and grabbed her towel. “I’ve just had a very bad day.” Then she reached for her water and put it to her lips.

“Did your girlfriend turn straight and dump you, or what?”

She was so flabbergasted by his remark that the gulp of water she’d just poured into her mouth came spraying right back out -- all over him.

Oops.

Normally she would have felt bad, but after hearing his remark she felt absolutely no remorse whatsoever. “I’m not gay.”

He didn’t look up at her. Instead he wiped his face and tore his sweaty, and now wet, t-shirt over his head. She had to admit, he definitely wasn’t hard on the eyes. He was a little thinner than the men she was normally attracted to, but he definitely had nice muscle definition.

With his soiled shirt dangling in one hand and the towel around the back of his neck, he stared at her with darkened gray eyes that were clouded with a mix of both annoyance and confusion.

Good. She was glad that she wasn’t the only one that was annoyed. His confusion brought on some satisfaction as well, mainly because she knew she’d put it there.

“So if you’re not gay, then why do you hate men so much?”

She didn’t hate men. The fact was she loved men. She just hated that in her field she had to work ten times harder than any guy to get one tenth as far. And after the day she’d had, the feeling was quite intensified. “I don’t hate men,” she found herself explaining. “I work in a very male-dominated field where this afternoon I blew my one big shot. Men are not my favorite people right now.”

“So it was a man’s fault that you blew your one big shot?”

Automatically her eyes rolled. He would ask that. “Unfortunately no, that was all me…” She turned away, focusing her attention on the game. The score was close, the Lakers only had a two-point lead and there was just over a minute left of the game. She tried to stay neutral, but she’d never been much of a Laker fan. She was rooting for Seattle.

Her hope for the underdog was squashed quickly when Shaq hit a two-pointer and got the foul. He was going to the line. Things looked bleak for Seattle.

Audibly she groaned.

“Sonics fan?” Obviously he didn’t share her pain.

Her head tilted just enough to the side to catch a glimpse of his cocky stance, his arms crossed over his chest as his hip rested against the hand-bar on the front of the treadmill. His track pants were hanging a little low on his waist and she could clearly see the band of his white, name brand briefs.

Cassidy brought her sight up quickly before he noticed she’d looked. He was obviously arrogant enough as it was. She had no intentions of bolstering his self-absorbance.

He smirked as Shaq sunk the free throw. “You can’t fight it, you know, they’re the best team in the NBA right now.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” she spouted off, not daring to look his direction this time.

He chuckled quietly, obviously amused by her. She was beginning to wonder if he would ever leave her alone. “So what is this male dominated field that you’re in?”

She gave in and turned his direction, not able to watch the game anymore anyway since it obviously wasn’t going to end in her favor. “Sports media.”

His head nodded up and then down very slowly just one time. “So what’d ya do to screw up so badly?”

She wanted to ask him why he was so curious, but instead she found herself answering him. “I had my first shot on air today and I completely choked.”

“The camera can be pretty intimidating, especially your first time in front of it.” She’d expected him to laugh or make some condescending remark. She’d never thought he’d actually try to make her feel better. “Don’t worry. You’ll get another shot. You seem pretty determined.” It was at that moment he uncrossed his arms and stuck out his hand. “Justin Timberlake,” he introduced himself.

She accepted the gesture, still slightly taken aback by his words of encouragement. “Cassidy Nickel.”

He grinned and as his hand slipped away from hers both sets of eyes focused on the TV as the final seconds ticked away and the game ended – Lakers 89, Sonics 83.

“Well,” she reached down and grabbed her backpack. “I’m done jogging myself to death.” Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she grabbed her water and her towel and stepped off the machine.

“Yeah, I think I’m about done too. Nice meeting you.”

Now a few steps away, she turned back and for the first time let him see her smile. “You too.” She’d made it almost to the door when she stopped and turned back. He was bent over by his own bag, half way into a clean t-shirt. “Hey, uh, Justin?”

His head popped through the neck of his shirt and craned her direction as his arms appeared out of the sleeves.

“I just wanted to say thanks… for, uh, saying what you said. It helped.”

With a smile he nodded his head. “No problem. Not all men are the scum of the Earth.” She realized he was teasing and for the first time felt somewhat smitten by him. He really was charming when he wanted to be.

“Yeah, well, thanks.” She waved quickly and headed out the door as fast as she could.

© BrandyRae 2004