Justin sat on the bed of the hotel room and flipped through channels. He and James had grabbed some lunch after golf, and they were going to meet up with the girls but Megan had called and said that Ryan had gotten sick and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to hang out.
So James dropped Justin off at the hotel before heading home to take care of his son. Justin had talked to Gia a little while ago and she said she was going to help Megan get the kids home and then she would be on her way. He was looking forward to being able to hang out with Gia tonight. He knew that he had been to Manchester during his FutureSex/LoveShow last year but he never got a chance to explore. He figured they could go out and find something fun to get their mind off of things.
A noise at the door attracted his attention, and Gia stepped through a moment later.
She was tired and a little grouchy. Things had been going well, and suddenly Ryan had gotten very ill and proceeded to puke up lunch all over Auntie. Gia was now wearing one of her sister’s sweatshirts, but she still smelled like baby puke and it wasn’t helping her mood.
“Hey,” Justin got off the bed and headed in her direction but he stopped a few feet away, “Ooh, baby…you smell…gross.”
“Thanks.” She huffed before going into the bathroom and slamming the door.
Justin waited until he could hear the water running before opening the door and heading into the bathroom. He sat on the toilet and turned toward the curtain. He had to swallow hard when he realized that the curtain was just a translucent sheet and he could clearly see the outline of his naked girlfriend.
“Focus, Timberlake.” He coaxed himself to focus on anything but the wet girl next to him.
“Jut?” She stuck her head around the curtain and looked at him sitting on the toilet. “What are you doing?”
“You seemed upset; I wanted to make sure everything was OK.” Her head disappeared behind the curtain again and he let out a breath of air.
“I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just been a long day. My sister and I talked about a lot of emotional stuff and then Ryan proceeded to puke all over me after lunch.”
“So that’s what that smell was.” He chided and was glad to hear her laugh in response.
“Yeah, it was. Hey, do you mind if we just hang here tonight? I’m not feeling so hot, I’d like to just chill out here.” Her voice became muffled when she tilted her head back and rinsed her hair under the stream of water.
“Sure. I was thinking we could go to a bar or something, but if you’re tired I don’t mind staying in. Do you want me to order us some food?”
“Uhm…You can get what you want. I’m not really hungry.”
Justin replied before hurrying out of the bathroom. He was thinking he might have to jump in the shower after her and cool off. He was trying to be patient, but he was a man and it had been a long time. Add that to the images of her in the shower that were running through his head, he was just about ready to get in there with her and take her against the shower wall.
He thought that they might go out and have a couple drinks, and then he would take her back here and make passionate love to her. If she wasn’t feeling well and was tired, he figured that she would nix and sexual advances he made. Sometimes, he hated being a gentleman.
Fifteen minutes later found them seated on the bed, Justin eating a steak and cheese and Gia sipping on some ginger ale.
“Jut, I wanted to talk to you about some stuff.” Her tone was quiet and it caused him to stop eating and turn to her.
“Those words can never be good.” He joked hoping to lighten the mood a little. All this seriousness was starting to make him uncomfortable.
“I know you’re probably tired of hear about my problems, but…I wanted to tell you about Rick, and what happened.”
Justin put down his food and set the plate on the bedside table. He scooted over on the bed and took Gia into his arms.
“You don’t need to do this for me, Peaches. I know that you’ve been through a lot in the past couple of days, I don’t expect you to tell me everything right away.”
Gia shook her head before settling into his arms. “I want to do this for me. I’ve never told anyone about what happened, and the only people that know are family and my best friend, Christina. I want to tell you.”
He nodded for her to continue and she took a deep breath before starting.
“It was right after my high school graduation. Christina and I had gone to the beach and we were going to head out to a party after, but I wanted to go home and shower first. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard Rick come in.” Gia swallowed hard and closed her eyes against the tears that were forming. Justin pulled her closer to him.
“Rick and I weren’t close at all, I mean, he was nice enough but I didn’t really want anything to do with him simply because he was my mother’s husband. I had stepped out of the bathroom and was walking toward my room when he stepped in front of me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath from five feet away. I tried to go around him but he kept getting in my way. I asked him to leave me alone, but he just smiled this…this horrible grin.”
Tears were falling freely down her face and Justin reached over to wipe them with the pads of his thumbs.
“You don’t need to do this, Georgia.”
“Yes I do.” She said sternly. “He said that he had been waiting for this for a long time, that my mother was just a cover…that he’d really wanted me all along. I backed up trying to move away but he grabbed me by the arms and forced me against the wall. I could feel his breath on my neck and his hands on my legs. I only had a towel on from my shower and he started to pull it off. I screamed and struggled but he was so much stronger than I was…I couldn’t make him stop.”
She took in a ragged breath and paused to calm herself down.
“He raped me against the hallway wall. I can still hear him grunting above me and feel his hands gripping my wrists together above my head. I can still feel the pain of him forcing himself into me, and I can feel the blood on my legs. I blacked out before he was finished, and when I woke up he was gone. I managed to crawl to my phone that was on the bathroom counter, but I couldn’t bring myself to move anywhere else. I called Christina and she rushed over to get me, she found me bloody and naked on the bathroom floor.
“She helped me get dressed and then she rushed me to the hospital. We called the cops too, and they met us there to get a statement and the rape kit from the doctors. I had to have stitches because he was so rough. The police put out an APB for his car and he had a warrant out for his arrest. I called my mom and I figured that she would be sympathetic because her daughter had just been violated, but when I told her what happened she blamed me for it all. She said that I had always been jealous of her and Rick and that I had made him come after me to ruin their marriage.”
She stopped and Justin placed a few quick kisses on her temple. After a minute or two she continued to speak.
“I left for LA shortly after they had arrested Rick. He pleaded guilty to the charges of rape and filed for divorce from my mother. She never forgave me for that, obviously. Rick is still in jail.”
A silence filled the room and Justin struggled to think of something to say. What do you tell someone that had just relayed such a horrible story? He was still trying to think when Gia started speaking again.
“I’m sorry to put all of this on you, Justin. I’m sure you never expected to get involved with someone that has so much baggage.”
“Hey, you stop that right now.” She was surprised by his stern tone. “Georgia, I don’t care if you’re father was the head of the Mafia and you’re the heir to the throne. You’re past is only important to me because it made you who you are today. I love who you are today.”
She started to interrupt but he stopped her.
“I’m so sorry for ever leaving you, Gia. I know my reasons and I know that everything turned out OK in the end, but I shouldn’t have ever left you to fight this on your own. I should have stayed with you and been there to help you get past all of this. I never imagined that you kept all of these skeletons in your closet, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t stay to help you.”
“You did the right thing, Justin. You were right when you said that I needed to heal on my own.”
“I know, but I should have been there anyway.”
“Stop beating yourself up over it all…that’s what caused problems with us in the first place. I kept feeling guilty for everything that happened and it came between us.”
“I love you, Georgia Lynn Mason.” He smiled softly at her before leaning in to kiss her. “I promise you that I will be here for whatever else you go through, good or bad. Being without sucked.”
She smiled before giving him another kiss.
“I’m not completely better yet, Jut, I still have a lot to work out with Emma and with myself. It’s not always going to be perfect.” She sat back to watch his reaction. He took a deep breath and scratched the back of his neck before speaking.
“I know it’s not going to be perfect. I just…I don’t want things to go back to how they were before. I can’t watch you fall apart and not know how to help you. You need to stay honest and open with me, Peaches.”
“I’m trying, but you have to be patient too. I’m fighting this, Justin, especially now that things are better with us. I can’t promise that I won’t have bad days, but I’ll do my best to let you know what’s going on in my head…just…don’t leave me again, OK?”
He gave her a small smile before sliding down under the blankets on the bed and bringing her with him.
“I’m not going anywhere, Georgia. You’re stuck with me.” She groaned playfully and tried to roll away from him but he caught her. He pulled her in for a deep kiss and let out a grunt when she pulled back.
“I’m sorry, Jut. I’m just not up for that tonight, I’m tired and I don’t feel all that well.” She gave him an apologetic look and he sighed.
“Ok, ok…Night Georgia, sweet dreams.” Justin decided right then that he was going to have to wait for Gia to come to him because forcing her wasn’t going to work. Letting out another sigh he focused on going to sleep.
