I’m currently sitting in my car, still in the parking lot of the club. All I want to do is crawl into a ball and cry, or at least drop my head to the steering wheel. I can’t do that though, because Justin’s headlights are shining right into my car. He won’t leave until I leave. It’s like he wants to make sure I don’t go back in. It’s really annoying that the thinks he can control what I do with my life.

         When I pulled out of the parking lot Justin followed me, all the way to the highway where he went the opposite way home. I’m surprised he didn’t follow me all the way home. He needs to make up his mind. He can’t be an overprotective boyfriend if he doesn’t want to be my boyfriend. Then he’s just an overprotective stranger and that’s called a stalker.

         What makes it all worse is that Kelly sold me out and told him. Sure, she was trying to help but she needs to learn to mind her own business. You’d think I’ve become a hit man to earn some extra cash. There is nothing wrong with what I’m doing.

         I walked into my apartment and Kelly sat up when she heard the door open. “Hey.”

         “I hate you.”

         She let out a quick chuckle, “You hate me?”

         “No, I’m serious. I hate you.”

         “You don’t hate me Chloe.”

         “No, I do. I hate Justin a lot more but I do hate you a little,” I said as I sat down on the couch next to her and placed my legs on her lap. Obviously I don’t hate her; I’m just annoyed with her. She was trying to help, I know that, but she went about it all wrong. “He wants to have control over my life and he wants to tell me what to do but he doesn’t want to be with me. He wants to be overprotective but he doesn’t want to be a crutch. Does that even make sense? It’s like he’s totally contradicting himself.”

         “What happened?”

         “Well he showed up and like made a big scene in front of everyone, like people stopped what they were doing and looked. Then he talked me into getting coffee and I did only because he was so annoying and would not stop unless I did. He’s like completely clueless about what’s going on. He said he had no idea Brady would be so depressed. Come on, he’s not an idiot. He said that he’s here for us and he’ll talk to Brady if I want but he doesn’t want to be with me.”

         “He doesn’t want to be with you?” she asked as if I were possibly exaggerating a little. Sure, he may not have said that in so many words but he doesn’t have to.

         “Yes. He said I need to get myself straightened out, whatever the hell that means. I think he needs to get himself straightened out. Whatever, I’m over it. You shouldn’t have called him.”

         “I worry about you,” she answered honestly.

         “There’s nothing to worry about. It’s not that bad. If it was horrible, I wouldn’t do it. I’d find another way.”

         “I thought it was horrible. It used to be horrible Chloe.”

         “Well it’s not. I don’t take shit from anybody. It’s not something I’m going to do for the rest of my life, but it’s good money for now. I’m going to save up and take care of Brady and then get a real job. I’m going to do it the right way and I’m going to move on and be done with him. He’s right, I don’t need him.”

         Kelly didn’t really answer; she just nodded her head and stood up. “You’ll figure it out.  You know I’m here anytime you need me. Just be careful. I’m going to head home.”

         “Thanks for your help Kel,” I stood up to give her a hug.

         “Sure, anytime. For the record, he does care about you. A lot. I know it’s hard for you to see right now, but as someone on the outside looking in trust me, he does. I’ve got the phone logs to prove it. Get some sleep.”

         I hate when people say something like that and then just leave me alone with my thoughts. I feel like that seems to happen a lot with me. It doesn’t matter, I’m exhausted and I don’t even want to think about it anymore. The sun is almost completely out so I better jump in the shower before Brady gets up. Maybe I’ll make him some eggs for breakfast.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         The rest of the day was spent like a normal day seems to be spent for me. After I took Brady to school I went to bed and managed to sleep until the alarm went off telling me it was time to pick him up.  I wasn’t really surprised when his teacher told me he had another tough day, even after we had our talk. He’s still young, I’m sure he forgot all about it. I haven’t exactly been reminding him in the mornings like I should have been. I need to just keep talking about it I guess, although it’s hard for me to keep bringing it up.

         After school we came home and did his homework after a quick snack and then spent a few hours at the pool. It’s not as good as Justin’s pool, which Brady reminded me a couple hundred times, but it’s still a pool so it did it’s job. It’s weird how Brady refers to Justin now. He says that he doesn’t like him and he’s mad at him but he still mentions the things he did with Justin that he loved so much. I guess that’s just proof that he really does miss him and is just pretending he hates him. If Justin were to come back I’m sure he’d be able to forgive him quickly. Well maybe not. Who knows? There I go again thinking about Justin coming back. He’s made it pretty clear he’s not going to.

         I put Brady to bed and waited for Kelly to come by. I’m really lucky to have her, but I need to figure something else out. It’s not really fair that she has to spend all her nights in my apartment instead of her own.

         “You know Justin Timberlake?” one of the girls asked me as soon as I got to the club. “Are you dating him?”

         “No.” I don’t even know who this girl is. She must be new. All I know is she needs to mind her own business.

         “No to which?”

         “Both? He just used to come here a lot and I danced for him. That’s all.” I lied as I changed into my lingerie hoping she’d get the hint and walk away.

         “Well, yeah I heard that. But he came here looking for you and you left with him, everyone saw it.” I nodded my head. “You used to date him?”

         “Who are you?”

         “Amber. Sorry if I’m like pushing or something, I’m just curious. I never, ever, thought I’d see him here. I mean, I know we get some celebrities but mostly the loser guys, not Justin freaking Timberlake. He is so hot, like fucking gorgeous. Even hotter in person. I’m going to get him next time he comes. I’m going to get that private.”

         “He’s all yours. Excuse me,” I said as I squeezed past her and headed out to the club. I’m all about working now, I don’t need to sit back there and listen to this new girl who looks like she’s seventeen gushing about Justin. He’s definitely not as perfect as she thinks he is, far from it. I almost want to burst her bubble just because I’m so pissed off.

         “Everything alright from last night?” Chad, one of the bouncers asked me as soon as I made it to the floor.  What is with everyone and the damn questions?

         “Yes, everything’s fine.”

         “Alright. You just let us know if you need help, all right? That’s what we’re here for.”

         “Of course, I know. Thanks Chad.” Now let me go and make some money. I probably should have taken the night off and let this whole thing blow over but it’s hard to skip a Friday night.

         It was a few hours later that I was told I had a private. I swear to god if it’s Justin I will throw a drink in his face, glass and all. The second I walked into the room I wished it were Justin sitting there. I literally closed my eyes and prayed that it was all my imagination and when I’d open my eyes I’d see it’s all a nightmare. When I had my issues back in the day I was told to step back for a second and think about what you think you see. When you open your eyes you’ll be faced with the reality of the situation. Yeah well fuck that, when I opened my eyes I still saw Gabe sitting there with that cocky smile that makes me want to run away really quickly.

         “Hey Chloe.”

         “What the fuck are you…?”

         “How are you? Aren’t you supposed to dance?”

         “No. Fuck no. Why are you here?”

         “You always seem to ask me that,” he kept that damn smile on his face as he spoke, “Lap dance?”

         “No! Why are you here?”

         “It’s a strip club, you’re a stripper. Aren’t you supposed to strip?”

         I took a deep breath, “Answer me! What the fuck!” I know I should walk away, or run away, but I’m so sick of all this shit. I need answers. “What is your deal?”

         “I came for a lap dance.”

         I rolled my eyes, “No, like why are you showing up randomly? I’m not scared of you.”

         He laughed, “Yet you’re shaking. I’m sure that’s the case. So… how’s the kid?”

         “I don’t talk about him here, and I’m definitely not ever going to talk about him with you.”

         “Ok… except in court right? Then we’ll talk all about him,” and the damn smile is back.

         “What is your issue? What do you want? You wanted nothing to do with him and now all of a sudden…”

         “His mother’s a stripper, not exactly the best upbringing for a kid.”

         “Your mother was a fucking preschool teacher and look how you turned out.”

         “Yeah, look how I turned out. The youngest Vice President in company history.”

         “A career does not define you.”

         “Ah, but a lack of career does.”

         I wish I could punch him, I really do. I wish there was some way of killing him and throwing his body in the ocean without getting in any sort of trouble. “Gabe you’re a horrible person and your job title doesn’t change that.”

         “OK. We will see about that in court, won’t we? You could be right. Just like family upbringing doesn’t mean anything, right? Like the fact that my mother is a preschool teacher and my father’s a CEO while you’re father’s MIA and you’re mother’s a waitress. Well a dead fucking waitress.”

         “Fuck you!” now I’m seething and moving closer to her, “Don’t you dare talk any shit about my mother. She worked hard and she was the best mother anyone could ask for.”

         “Yup, she sure raised you right. Gave you those morals to stay away from a strip club. Taught you all about dating for money.”

         “What do you want?” I shouted, “What’s your purpose?”

         “That kid’s my son, right? I don’t want him growing up to be a fucking serial killer.” Like he should be talking.

         “So you want to try and take him from me is what you’re saying?”

         “Try?” he asked with a chuckle, “Sure Chloe, I want to try.”

         I’m pretty sure my heart stopped beating. “You wanted nothing to do with him,” I spoke in a whisper because that’s all I could get out.

         “Yeah but I got bored. So how about that lap dance?”

         “How about you go fuck yourself and stay away from me and my son and get the fuck out of my life. What do you even want? You don’t want Brady Gabe; you don’t give a shit about him. This is between us and it’s not fair that you involve him.”

         “Maybe, but I hit where it hurts,” he smiled again.

         “I’m not scared of you,” I said even though I’m petrified. I need to try and act like he doesn’t bother me; he’s doing all this just to get me worked up.

         “Maybe you should be,” he waited a second before letting out a chuckle, “And maybe you should work on the shaking, it gives you away.”

         “Fuck you.”

         “Sure, shoot your mouth, you were always good at that. Now about that lap dance.”

         I’m done with him so I’m not going to stand here and take his shit. I grabbed his drink from the table and threw it in his face before leaving the room and heading straight to the bouncers so they’d escort that asshole out of the club. How does he even know where I am? I hate that I have no idea where he gets all his information. He’s really not that smart of a human being, he’s just lucky to have grown up with the golden spoon that he can get away with shit that he would never get had he not.

         I didn’t last much longer in the club. There was absolutely no way that I could dance around and look sexy when that asshole just showed up. Two fucking nights in a row, first Justin and now Gabe. I swear I’m getting really sick of all the bullshit.  Chad walked me to my car and I blasted my music to try and drown my fears. I didn’t cry, I couldn’t, I was just too scared. I shouldn’t be scared of him but I am, and I hate that more than anything.

         As I drove I noticed a car following me. It was way too dark for me to be able to tell who it was but I could take a wild guess that it’s fucking Gabe. I didn’t know what to do so I panicked and called Justin. “Pick up the phone, pick up the phone,” I spoke to no one since Justin never answered the phone. He could be screening his calls or maybe he lost his phone. Now I’m crying, I’m scared to death but the tears are coming. I know Gabe is crazy, I know for some reason he’s out to make my life miserable. Who knows what his plans are? He could follow me home and kill me for all I know. He could be after Brady. Fuck. There’s no way I’m leading him home.

         Instead, I headed to Justin’s. I don’t know why but it was the only place I could think to go. After entering the code to his gave I flew inside the yard, banging on the door like there’s no tomorrow. A minute later the front light turned on and the door opened. “Chloe? What’s going on?”

         “He’s here… he was there…. and following me, and I don’t know what to do. He’s trying to get Brady, he wants Brady.” I know that was probably unrecognizable based on the fact that I’m crying like a baby and shaking but I can’t stop.

         “Slow down. Who?”

         “Gabe!”

         “Where is he?”

         “I don’t know, he was following me. I have to go back. What if he went to my place? And Brady…”

         “Alright, come on,” Justin said as he grabbed onto my hand and rushed me to the car, “Give me the keys, you’re not driving.” I gave him the keys and jogged to get in the passenger’s side of my car. “Where were you?”

         “The club.”

         “Ugh, the fucking club Chloe?”

         “Shut up! I don’t need to fucking fight with you now. Drive faster!”