She smiled at the familiar man sheepishly as he held the back door open of a black Chevy Suburban.  She didn’t plan on embarrassing herself even more by mentioning the fact, but later, when she and Justin were alone, she was definitely going to have to say something about the familiar bodyguard.

Justin buckled Cody in his booster while the two-man security team loaded their few pieces of luggage.  Cassidy sat quietly in her seat as Justin slid in next to her.   Cody was sitting behind them, in the third row of seats.

There wasn’t much talk as they headed out of the small airport and on to the freeway.  Cassidy kept a constant watch out the darkly tinted window, wondering if the paparazzi were on to them yet.  They’d been on the road for maybe five minutes when Justin’s security guard—who’d been introduced as simply T—turned on the stereo.  Cassidy didn’t think anything of it, as she immediately recognized the catchy beat of a tune she hadn’t heard in quite a while.

It was when Justin’s head dropped, a very quiet “fuck” falling from his lips, that she realized something was up.   Her eyes darted forward to the two men in the front seats, looking completely nonchalant—and very guilty.  When the voice of the song joined the beat, she knew instantly.   She didn’t have to hear a word of it before the embarrassment set in. 

She’d been completely set up.  These two men had made a plan to purposely make her feel like an idiot.  She didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

Bowing her head, shaking it lightly back and forth, she tried to catch the gist of the song, but it was sung in a way that wasn’t exactly easy to understand—surely done on purpose considering what it was about.  What she did catch was part of the chorus, something about “turned me inside-out… that night… just shy of twenty four hours… she touched me oh-so right…” She could hardly bare to listen to it.  Her cheeks had never been so hot in her life, but she made sure to keep her head down so no one would see, although they undoubtedly knew anyway.  The song continued, mentioning the limo ride “of a lifetime” and “how she said good bye” and “vanished out of sight.”  There was so much more, but she just couldn’t absorb it.  Maybe if she’d been expecting to hear it at that very moment.  But considering she was in a car with two men she hardly knew—both who obviously knew very much about her.  Not to mention her 4 year old son in the backseat.  Thank God he had no idea!

Justin’s hand fell to her knee as he gave it a good squeeze, but the last thing she wanted was his sympathy and she shooed his touch away. 

“Alright, enough already.  Turn off the CD,” he told them.

They were laughing obviously as they did.  Cassidy buried her face in her hands.  She’d sort of forgot about the whole song issue.  She wished she’d been prepared before it had been shoved in her face—or ears, rather.

“And stop laughing,” he told them.

“We were just having a little fun,” T defended.

“Fun’s over.   Is this really the way you want to meet the mother of my son?”

Cassidy peeked upwards just in time to catch Dre looking backward.  “But we’ve already met,” he replied with a cocky smirk.

She stuck an arm in front of Justin before he could try to defend her honor any longer. She raised her head confidently.  “It’s fine,” she said firmly.  “I can take it.”

“See?” Dre remarked.

“Just remember,” she leaned forward hoping that Cody wouldn’t hear, “payback is a mother fucker.”

Both men laughed stoutly.   Dre turned back again looking at Justin and said,  “She’s cool, J.  She’s cool.”

Justin reached for her leg again.  This time she didn’t push him away.  “Sorry,” he whispered, with a goofy grin.  She just shook her head.  Cassidy was one to recover fairly quickly.  She was over it already.  But she would find a way to get them back—eventually.

They dropped Cassidy and Cody off first.  Justin walked them in and said a quick goodbye while Dre unloaded her suitcase.  She’d offered for him to come stay at her place for a few days and he’d happily accepted.

He honestly didn’t want to spend one night away from either of them.  He didn’t want to miss tucking Cody in goodnight and he didn’t want to wake up in the morning without Cassidy sleeping right next to him.  Of course he hadn’t told her that, but it was the truth.

They had so much to figure out still.  Their life was about to get crazy and he was afraid their whole world was going to change, especially Cody’s.  He wanted to shield his son from his lifestyle as much as possible, but he was afraid that just wasn’t possible.

When they finally pulled onto his street, he wasn’t surprised to find the scattered cars lining it.  It wasn’t quite as bad as it had been before he’d left, but once word spread that he was back home it would be soon.  He wasn’t too worried about it.  These people must have been crazy to think he’d take his son to his home right now. 

The thought made him sigh, somewhat disgruntled.  He didn’t want to have to hide his son.  He wanted to be able to spend time with him where ever he wanted.  The whole industry was fucking ridiculous these days.  It just kept getting worse and worse.

“Don’t worry, J.   These windows are too dark for them to get anything,” T remarked, obviously sensing Justin’s worries.

“It’s not that,” Justin told him.  “I mean it is, but it’s not me I’m worried about.”

Neither of the big men in the front responded.  Probably because there was nothing they could say.  They weren’t the type to fill his ears with hot air.  That was part of the reason they’d worked for him for so long.  They were part of the select few who didn’t try to blow smoke up his ass—unlike the majority of assholes in the industry.

Finally making his way inside the house—Dre and T hanging around until he was ready to leave again—Justin made way up to his office to check his answering machine.  It was a task he was dreading immensely. 

And that feeling doubled as he saw the digital read blinking 22 unheard messages.  “Jesus,” he breathed softly.  “Who the fuck has been calling that couldn’t call my cell phone?”   He shook his head and pressed the button.

At message seven he knew.   Five out of the seven had been from Macie.   The other two were hang ups—Macie.   Did she forget he had fucking Caller ID?   If there was one legitimate message in the bunch he’d be completely flabbergasted. 

“Why did you guys let me marry a fucking psychopath?” he called out rather loudly as he listened to message number nineteen.  “Justin, this is ridiculous.  Call me back.   I want to know what is going on!”   He just shook his head.  How was it any of her goddamn business?  They were divorced!

“You didn’t ask us first,” Dre remarked as he appeared in the doorway.  “What’s going on?”

“She left me like twenty-two messages.”

“Why didn’t she just call your cell phone?” Dre asked.

“Probably because she wasn’t that brave,” Justin smirked, shaking his head again.

“Are you gonna call her back?”

“Hell no.  Why should I?”

The bigger man shrugged his hefty shoulders.  “Just asking.”

“You know, a fucking month ago when I was depressed out of my mind, I couldn’t have paid her to pick up the phone and call me.  Now when I could give a shit less, she won’t stop.”  He shook his head again.  “Fucking women… I swear.”

“Well the one you’re with now doesn’t seem so bad,” Dre smirked.  Then he turned and walked a way, leaving Justin with a rather wide grin across his face.  Nope, he thought, she’s definitely not bad—at all.

Cassidy decided to go grocery shopping before Justin came back.  She called her neighbor’s daughter to watch Cody.  Grace was sixteen and she’d watched Cody many times for Cassidy.  She was schooled at home, so she was usually available, and unlike many of the teenagers in Beverly Hills, she was actually responsible.  Plus she adored Cody, which was always a plus.

Maybe it seemed rather paranoid to not want to take Cody to the grocery store, but Cassidy was afraid that he might notice Justin on the cover of one of the tabloids at the checkout and start asking questions.   That wasn’t something she was ready to deal with. 

Cassidy was ready and waiting when Grace’s high-dollar BMW pulled up outside the gate.  She quickly buzzed the girl in and grabbed her purse.  “Mommy will be back in an hour or so,” she told Cody.  “You behave for Grace, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.  Is Daddy coming back with you?” Cody asked curiously.

Cody smiled at the notion.   “No, he’ll be here in a few hours.   Okay?”

“Okay,” Cody answered.  “I think I’ll draw him another picture.”

She leaned down and kissed his head.  “I think that’s a great idea,” she smiled, just as Grace was knocking on the front door.

With a grin she let the girl inside, told her she’d be back in an hour or so and to call her on her cell if she needed anything.  Grace new the drill.  With all said and done, she was out the door and on her way.

Cassidy was just about finished with her shopping when she got a call from Justin on her cell phone.  “Where you at?” was the first thing out of his mouth.

“At the grocery store,” she answered, making one last trip down the frozen food aisle.

“Mmmm, what’s for dinner?” he asked.

With a chuckle she asked, “Are you hungry already?”

“I haven’t had lunch yet,” he said.

“Well, eat something,” she told him.

“T just went out to get some food.  Anyway, I was just calling to say hi,” he announced rather sappily.

“Hi,” she said with a giggle.

“Do you miss me?” he asked.

“Terribly,” she answered, a bit sarcastically.

“You’re just saying that,” he said. 

“Maybe.”

“Alright, well, I’m almost done here.  I should be over in an hour or two.”

“I’ll be waiting with bells on,” she teased, finally heading up to the checkout.

“I’d rather you be waiting with nothing on, but that’s just me.”

The smirk she’d started to let out turned into a groan as she noticed the array of gossip magazines staring her in the face. 

“What?” he immediately asked.

“Oh nothing.  I’m just at the checkout so I better get off here.”

“Oh,” he obviously read her mind.  “I know.   I’ve seen ‘em all.  Just ignore it.” 

It was kind of hard to ignore headlines that read Did Justin leave Macie to secretly reconcile with the mother of his illegitimate child?  “Bullshit,” she said softly as she absorbed the nasty print.

“No, really I have.   No bullshit,” he replied.

“I didn’t mean you,” she smirked.  “Sorry.”

He chuckled quietly.  “Yeah, I know.  Okay, I’ll let you go.  I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright, bye.”  

She heard his quick “bye” and hung up the phone, slipping it back into her purse.  What would the press come up with next? she thought.

When Justin finally climbed into the car—T and Dre chauffeuring as they would be on full duty for awhile until things calmed down—it was nearly four in the afternoon.  As the car stopped at the end of the drive, waiting for the electronic gate to open, their situation immediately worsened.

“Shit.”

Justin looked up from his phone—he’d just finished sending Cassidy a rather sexy text message telling her he was on his way—to see what exactly his security guard was sighing about.  It was worse than he thought.  He’d figured it was just some paparazzo asshole. 

Wrong. 

It was Macie.

Her Land Rover was just pulling up the outside of the drive.  Both cars faced each other, nearly bumper to bumper.

“Fuck,” Justin groaned.  “What does she want now?”

“I’m backing up,” T said.  “The last thing you want is for this to go down outside the gate.”

Justin’s hands fisted into what little hair he had, as a ball of frustration formed in his chest.  He wanted to scream he was so pissed off.  Or maybe punch the back of the seat.  Something!  He just wanted to get to his son and his girlfriend.  Not deal with his crazy ex-wife. 

Girlfriend.  Even in the midst of his anger he realized it was the first time he’d thought of her using that term.  Things had just happened so quickly he hadn’t had the chance.  He’d contemplated marriage with her already, but referring to her as his girlfriend?  It hadn't even happened inside his head up until that point.

But he didn’t have to time to get lost in thought.  Macie was storming out of her car at that very moment—shaggy blond hair swooshing against her cheeks with each angry step—the electric gate barely shutting behind the rear bumper of the too-big-for-her-little-ass SUV.

“I’ll handle this.”  Justin sighed loudly and hopped out of the car.  His hands went up questionably as he shot an angry glance toward her.  “What?”  He asked with a shout.  Her blue eyes were shooting daggers.  Her fists were clenched at her side.  It was a look he’d never quite seen, which was surprising considering all the shouting matches they’d been through. 

When she didn’t give him a response, he asked the question again, even louder this time.  “WHAT?”

Dre and T had got out of the car and were two steps behind her, but it didn’t seem to matter.  The movement happened so fast and so unexpectedly that he didn’t have a chance to block it. 

With a quick pop, his world darkened in a blink as a bolt of pain shot up the bridge of his nose and straight up into his head.  He fell back onto the pavement, landing square on his butt as blood trickled at first and then poured out of his nostrils and onto his white t-shirt. 

He managed a gurgled “Fuck” as he grabbed the source of the pain, his fingers bloodying instantly.  

She’d broke his fucking nose with one swift punch of her fist that he was realizing had been covered in four bulky and sharp jeweled rings.  In the haze of it all—T holding her back while Dre was rushing to his aid—he realized she’d come with only one purpose and that she’d managed to succeed.  "You can thank my trainer for that, asshole," she said with an angry shout.

Why did she have to be one of those actors that did all her own stunts? 

Forty-five minutes after Cassidy received Justin’s message, she started to wonder what was taking so long.   She was excited to see him even though she’d barely left him that morning.  Especially after the rather tempting words he’d sent to her—something about a promise of a full body rub-down, one she was looking forward to quite eagerly.  The thought of his hands all over her body got her warm in an instant. 

“Mommy?  Is daddy going to be here soon?”  Cody was working on drawing number two as he looked up from the table and asked the question.

“He should be here anytime,” she told her little boy. 

She decided to give him a call.  The phone rang about three times before there was an answer.  But the husky voice that came through definitely wasn’t Justin’s.  “Dre?  Or T?” she asked.

“Dre,” he answered.

“It’s Cassidy,” she told him.

“I know.”

“Everything okay?” she asked instinctively.  If Justin wasn’t answering his phone that must have meant something was going on.

She heard Justin’s muffled voice cursing in the background, then he was on the phone, but something was definitely not right.  “Hey,” he said.  His voice was weird.  He sounded all plugged up.

“Where are you?” she asked, concern washing over her.

He smirked, at least it came out like he’d tried to smirk. 

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine.”   But she knew instinctively that he wasn’t.  She detected a sense of pain coming through his voice, along with the fact that he sounded like he had a really bad cold.  “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.  I had to make a stop.  I’ll explain it to you when I get there.”

“Justin, you are not fine.  I can tell.”

“I am,” he assured with little conviction.  “I promise.   I’ll see you soon.”  He didn’t wait for her goodbye.  He hung up.

Twenty minutes turned into forty before his car finally pulled up her drive.  Immediately she rushed out of the house, Cody right on her heels.  “Daddy!  Daddy!”   He was chanting, holding both of the pictures he’d drawn in his hands.

When Justin finally appeared out of the backseat her eyes widened with shock.

“Daddy!  You got beat up?” Cody asked before Cassidy even had a chance to think it.  His nose was taped and gauze was stuffed up both his nostrils. Underneath the bandages he was all black and blue and most definitely scratched up.  How in the hell? She thought.  He’d been at home.  God, he hadn’t gotten into it with the paparazzi, had he?

She rushed to him, concern stamped across her face.  “What the hell happened?  Please tell me you didn’t get into it with one of the photographers outside your house.”

Dre was chuckling behind them as he slung a large duffle bag over his shoulder.

“I wish,” Justin remarked quietly.  Obviously it was painful to speak.  “That would be a little easier on my ego.”  Reaching for Cody’s head, he ruffled the boys hair affectionately before accepting the two drawings that were being held out to him.  “Daddy’s okay, bud.  Don’t worry.”  Then he looked back up at Cassidy.  “Come on.   Let’s go inside.”

Cassidy assumed Dre and T would be dropping his stuff and leaving, but obviously that wasn’t the case as they followed them inside and shut and locked the door.  She must have looked at them kind of funny, because T was suddenly explaining.  “We have some things to go over then we’ll be out of your hair,” he said.

She nodded and led them to the casual living room.  “Do you need ice or something?” she asked Justin.

Justin shook his head no and then cringed noticeably at the pain the movement caused. 

“The doc gave him some pain meds,” Dre answered as Justin, Cassidy and Cody all sat down rather closely on the sofa.  It seemed both Cassidy and her son needed to be attached to his side at the moment. 

“Is someone going to tell me what happened?” She was trying not to get upset.  Trying to hold back the overwhelming urge to take care of the man she was falling in love with, because at that very moment two very burly men were making themselves comfortable in her living room and hanging on her every movement.  She’d wait to dote over him until their moment of privacy.

“It was Macie,” Justin finally revealed.

“Who’s Macie, Daddy?” Cody asked curiously.

“Cody, sweetheart, Mommy and Daddy need to talk for a few minutes.  Why don’t you go up to your room and play for a little bit?  Okay?  I’ll come get you when we’re done.”

With disappointment he nodded.  “After that we can watch Tarzan together.  Okay, buddy?” Justin managed, patting the boys knee affectionately.  He’d placed the two drawings on the coffee table when he’d sat down.

“Okay,” Cody said rather glumly before scurrying off towards the stairs.

“He’s been waiting to see you all day,” Cassidy told.  Then she looked over at the two men that served as Justin’s security.  “Please explain,” she told them, placing a hand to Justin’s thigh.  “Don’t talk,” she said to him.  “Just listening to you talk makes me in pain.”

Thankfully he didn’t argue.

“We were just leaving when she pulled up.  Justin got out to talk to her and T and I were right behind her when she just pulled back and punched him square in the face without one word.  She was wearing a fistful of fucking hefty-ass rings, too.  Obviously she had a plan when she got there.”

“Does she need to be on medication, or what?” Cassidy asked, flabbergasted by the whole thing and still trying her best to stay calm when really all she could think about was hunting the girl down and smacking the bitch. 

“Tell her about the phone calls,” Justin muttered as he sank into the sofa and tilted his head back.  He brought both hands to his temples and rubbed.  Cassidy gave his thigh another good squeeze for support.

“She left about twenty some messages on his answering machine while you guys were in Tennessee,” Dre continued.

Cassidy just shook her head, she had no idea what to think about it all.  But she certainly dreaded the time when they’d all meet face to face.  Cassidy knew firsthand that fighting wasn’t the answer, but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been part of a scuffle or two.  Of course that had been a very long time ago and not circumstances that she had any desire to repeat.  Still, the urge to defend her man was stronger than she’d ever experienced.  “This is fucking ridiculous.  I’m in shock.  I cannot believe—” She stopped herself mid-sentence.  “Did you press charges?”

Justin shook his head no as he kept it back, still staring up towards the ceiling.

“It would have only made things worse,” T said.  “Then the whole thing would have been public record.”

“Is it wrong that I want to kill her right now?” Cassidy said stoutly. 

Justin managed a smirk this time.  “Now you know how it feels,” he said.  There was no need for him to say anything more.  She knew exactly what he was referring to and now she knew exactly how he’d felt.

© BrandyRae 2005