“Good morning!” I walked into my office cheerfully for about the fifth consecutive day. I don’t know why, but lately, the days have just been more pleasant.
Sharry at her desk in her usual ‘I’m busy’ state, but grinned back at me as I took my seat. “I see Justin still has you all smiles.”
“Oh, please. He doesn’t affect my mood whatsoever.”
“’Oh, please’ is right. For the past two weeks “ ever since y’all went on that second date “ you’ve been skipping around here like cupid hit your ass.”
Well okay, I have been happy for the past two weeks or so. But it’s not only because Justin and I have gotten along so well. “Can’t I just be happy?”
“Nobody’s that happy unless they’re getting some.”
“Oh, see now that’s where you’re wrong,” I protested. “We’re just friends. No kissin’-touchin’-fuckin’ is going on up over here.”
She rolled her eyes, signifying that she didn’t believe me. “Okay, Dawn.”
“Sharry, I’m serious! Justin is just my homeboy. My life isn’t at a place where I need anything more than that.”
“Oh, everyone can use a fuck buddy.”
I know that’s right. “Well I don’t,” I retorted, finally removing my Yankees jacket, and preparing to head upstairs. “Has Justin been down here yet?”
Sharry glanced at her computer before replying, “Nope, not since I’ve been here.”
“Oh.” He’s usually sitting at my desk when I walk in, so maybe a little wishful thinking made me ask.
“Maybe he’s actually doing his job,” she smirked.
“Yeah, maybe so.” Dazed, I left my desk to head back for the bootleg elevators in this building and wait to be carried upstairs. I entered the Getty suite, greeting their receptionist and then Joey when I passed his office while on my way to Justin’s.
Before I could reach the end of the hall, Joey cut me off in the short corridor. “Hey, uh, Justin’s not here today.”
I eyed him carefully and then Justin’s door, wondering if he was telling me the truth. “He’s fuckin’ a girl in there, isn’t he?”
He smiled widely while shaking his head. “No, he actually called in sick about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Oh, so he’s just fuckin’ a girl at home.”
“Justin wasn’t lying when he said you were hilarious,” he laughed.
Wow, Justin actually gave me a compliment. “Well you should’ve known he wasn’t lying.” Wait a minute, Justin actually gave me a compliment?
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. But yeah, he sounded pretty sick when I talked to him.”
“Well that’s just too bad,” I replied, walking towards the exit. “I think I’ll go back downstairs and give him a call.”
“I’m sure he’d get a kick outta that.”
“Thanks, Joe.” With that, I went right back down to my office and gave Justin a ring before anything could get me off track.
Coughing and stuffy, he answered the phone. “What?”
“Say that again?” I giggled.
“Say what again?”
“Say ‘what’ again.”
“Dawn, now’s not the time to play games.”
I giggled again at his congestion. “You sound like Mickey Mouse.”
“Did you call to harass me? Or for once in your life, do you have a purpose?”
“I actually called to see how you were doing, Mr. Timberlake.”
“Well I’m just peachy, Ms. James. Me and Minnie are having a great time over here.”
“Well tell Minnie that she better bounce before I get there, ‘cause I’m coming over on my lunch break.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to, so get over it and get ready.”
“Wait, do you know where I live?”
“That’s what you’re about to tell me.” I smiled at Sharry as Justin and I spoke, knowing that she was hanging onto my every word. I think her crush on him gets bigger the more I get to know him.
Just as he began citing his address, my boss, Liz came ripping through the office. “Dawn, get off the phone. I need you.”
“Okay Justin, I gotta run. Leave your address on my voice mail.” Hanging up, I followed Liz into her office, desperately counting the seconds until lunchtime.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Clouds were gathering in the sky when I left the office for lunch. It was half past noon before Liz relieved me of officious duty, but she also gave me an extra half-hour, so I wasn’t even close to complaining. Through the bustle of Manhattan, after stopping at Rite-Aid and my favorite Chinese joint, I made my way to midtown. By the time I reached his apartment on the quiet end of 34th Street, rain had made its gloomy presence known, essentially soaking my poor white blouse.
I pressed the buzzer, appropriately titled, Timberlake, and waited to be let in. Through the elegant lobby, I went, taking the elevator up to his third floor apartment “ 3C. I knocked on the door and waited another few minutes to gain access to the final door between Justin and me.
He swung the door open, and he stood before me with his eyes about 3/4 closed, mouth hung open, and his short curls in adorable disarray. Somehow, in spite of his sickness, he looks sexily dressed down in his white Boston shirt and gray sweatpants.
I had to resist the urge not to giggle at his misery. “How are you feeling?” I asked, walking into his huge apartment behind him.
“Like shit,” he answered hoarsely.
“You look it,” I lied, gawking at his place. His apartment was a Pottery Barn dream. High ceilings, wood floors, spiral steps, accentuated by dark brown furniture to match the wood. I dropped my bag of food at the kitchen counter to my right and watched him hobble up the staircase to where I assumed his bedroom was. “Am I supposed to just wait here?”
He peeked over the balcony upstairs to look at me where I stood in his living room. “Whatever.”
From my past experiences with Justin, I decided that ‘whatever’ means that I should wait for him to say something more, so I headed back over to the kitchen area and pulled out my chicken lo mein.
Before I could even get the first forkful to my lips, he yelled back over the balcony, “Get up here, DJ!”
I quickly left my noodles to get cold and ran upstairs, where the only room that existed was his very gray bedroom. “Nice place you got here.”
“You come to critique my apartment or keep me company?”
“Well, a little of neither, but plans change.”
“What’d you bring me to eat?”
“Some cough drops,” I said, plopping onto the foot of his queen-sized bed, realizing that my shirt was uncomfortably damp. “Yo, you got a t-shirt I can borrow?”
“What’s wrong with your shirt?”
“It’s wet.”
He eyed me and the length of my torso. “It doesn’t look wet to me.”
“So you think I just want one of your shirts for the hell of it?”
“Maybe.”
“Justin, gimme a damn shirt.” He slowly picked himself up from his comforter to search his dresser drawers before eventually throwing a large gray and burgundy sweatshirt in my direction. “Damn, do you have anything that doesn’t say ‘Boston’ on it?”
With a stuffy “Nope,” he climbed right back into his bed, flipping on his plasma television. “Remind me why you’re here again?”
I stood up to pull the sweatshirt on and strategically pull off the wet shirt underneath without revealing too much of anything. “Have you taken anything yet?”
“What?”
“Have you taken any medicine?”
“Yeah, mom.”
“Ha. Ha. What have you taken?”
“I dunno. DayQuil or something.”
“Or something,” I chuckled. “You could be on vicodin and you wouldn’t even know.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not it.”
“Well I brought you a few surefire remedies.”
“Like what?” he sneezed.
“Bless you,” I answered, handing him his box of tissues. “Like some Vick’s.”
“Who is that?”
“Take off your shirt,” I laughed, heading back downstairs.
“For what?” he yelled.
“Because I said so!”
“I’m really not in the mood to fuck right now.”
Bouncing back upstairs with my Rite-Aid bag, I rolled my eyes at his boorishness. “I’m not either. I just want you to be nice and naked when I tie you to your bed.”
“Cute.”
“You have to take your shirt off for Vick.”
“Who is that?”
I removed the small, navy blue jar of medicine from the plastic bag and inched towards Justin’s spot on the bed. “Take off the shirt or I’m gonna take it off for you.”
“You always struck me as the type that liked it rough.”
“Justin, take off the damn shirt.”
“Why?”
“Why are you so fuckin’ difficult. Take it off!”
Slowly and hesitantly, he removed his oversized white t-shirt to reveal the most beautiful, chiseled pack of abs that I’ve ever seen in person. I thought shit like this only existed in movies starring Brad Pitt. Damn.
“Stop looking at me like you’re about to bite into me,” he said, sniffling.
Well it’s official “ he can read my mind. “How bout you shut up and open this for me.”
“Vick’s Vapor Rub,” he read off of the label. “What is this?”
“It’s what’s gonna make you feel better. It opens up your nasal passages and helps you breathe and all that shit.”
Removing the lid, he took a whiff of the light green substance. “Dawn, this smells like shit. What are you gonna do with it?”
“I’m gonna rub it on your chest.” If I don’t have a damn orgasm first.
“I swear to God, if this makes me feel worse, I’m making you eat this.”
“Trust me, all right? I use it all the time on my “ I use it all the time.”
“I’m just warning you.”
“Sit back and shut up,” I retorted, pushing him onto his pillows. I carefully took a dollop of the gel and placed it at the crevice of his neck, slowly circling my fingers around his collarbone. I watched in content as he closed his eyes at my touch and finally began to breathe again. “See how fast it works?” I said, softly.
“Yeah, just hurry up.”
I added more to his chest with one hand while trying to fan myself with the other. I tried to tell myself that this was all very innocent and I was only trying to help him, but the more I think about it, the warmer it gets in here. And this damned sweatshirt isn’t helping. His breathing is getting better while mine quickens with every touch.
Be wise, be smart
Behave my heart
Don’t upset your cart when he’s so close
“How long do you have to do this for?”
Okay, so rubbing this shit onto his chest put me into a trance. “Well, I guess I’m done.”
“About damn time,” he sniffled. Before he could say another word, a huge sneeze came flying out “ onto me.
Mortified, I moved away from him, taking a couple of tissues with me to wipe his… sneeze off of my face. “Please get me a washcloth.”
“That’s what you get for bein’ all up in my face,” he smiled, walking to his neighboring bathroom as he pulled his t-shirt back on. A few seconds later, he returned, handing me a lukewarm wet towel to wash my face with.
“Well Justin, as gross as that was, I think I’m gonna bounce. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Leaving so soon?”
“Yeah, I can’t afford to catch your cold. The last thing I need is to get my little boy sick. And then I’ll be missing work and sh”“
“Wait, a minute,” he sneezed. “Your little boy?”
“My little boy?”
“You have a little boy?”
Damn, did I really just say that? “Oh, yeah, my little boy. You know how they have those big brother/sister programs at the Boys and Girls Club?”
“Sure. I guess.”
“Yeah. Well yeah, I have a little brother with them. You should meet him sometime.”
“Yeah.” He sniffled and headed down the steps, leaving me to follow him. “You bought this for me?” he yelled upstairs.
“Bought what?”
“The Chinese.”
No, motherfucker. It’s my lunch break. I walked downstairs to find him chomping away at my food. “You’re lucky I don’t beat on sick people.”
“So you didn’t bring it for me?” he asked, purposely coughing over the entire container of lo mein.
I pulled on my jacket and shook my head at him. “I should’ve just let you be sick.”
“But then you’d suffer at work everyday without me coming to visit you.”
“I can live without you harassing me for a few days.”
“Which is why you rushed over here to make me better, right?”
I rolled my eyes playfully and headed towards the door. “I’m taking your umbrella.”
“No you’re not.”
“I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”
“Hey.”
I turned around to him after opening the door. “What?”
“Take my keys.”
“Why?”
“So I don’t have to let you back in tomorrow.”
“What if you have to leave?”
“Then I have another set. Take them and get the fuck out.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lunch the next day had approached, and while I usually wait for Sharry to return before I leave, it was almost 2PM and I wanted to get back to Justin’s place to check on him before the day was over. That, and I wanted to return his keys, umbrella and sweatshirt before he cursed me out for having them too long.
I happily strutted down 34th Street in the sunny day, anticipating seeing that man’s gorgeous little face again. No, I don’t like him, and yes, he’s still just my friend, but that doesn’t change the fact that the man is fine. I went the same route as yesterday, stopping for Chinese “ for both of us, going past Rite-Aid and finally reaching his building, glad to not have to awkwardly stand in the rain waiting for him to answer.
Unfortunate for me, however, I seemed to have picked an inopportune time for Justin. I opened the door to find Sharry standing jaw-dropped in front of me. I frowned at the sight of her and looked up to Justin’s balcony in disgust. “Fancy meeting you here.”
She chuckled nervously and grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter. “Dawn. This isn’t what it looks like.”
“Looks like you got a little dessert with your lunch today.”
She gave me a fake grin “ one of those grins where you don’t even show teeth “ and pulled on her powder blue peacoat. “I’m sorry.”
You should be. “Don’t be.”
“Well, um, I’ll leave you two alone. Justin, I’ll see you later,” she yelled up to him.
“Later,” he replied, not even finding his way to the overlook to say goodbye.
“I’ll see you back at work, Dawn.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t bother to turn and watch her leave. I was too pissed off to move. I merely waited to hear the elevators take her away before informing Justin of my presence. “Yo, I’m leaving your shit here on the counter,” I yelled.
“Dawn?” He leaned over his balcony to make sure he heard right. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Yeah, just walked in.”
Making his way downstairs, pulling on a dark blue sweatshirt, he greeted me happily. “Hey.”
“I thought you were sick.”
“I still am. Kind of.”
“Oh, so I guess Sharry was part of your remedy.”
“You could say that.” He smirked at me rolling my eyes as he moved closer to me and grabbed my waist. “You know, you could be the other part of that remedy.”
Damn, I like the sound of that. “Is that so?”
“Well you’ve already seen me half naked. Why not finish the job?”
I smiled “ mostly at the feeling of his fingers on the bare skin of my sides. “I’d love to finish the job.”
Be soft, be sweet
But be discreet
“In that case”“
“But, I don’t wanna catch a cold,” I finished, elbowing him off of me.
Don’t go off your feet when he’s so close for comfort
“You’re a wicked moron.”
“Yeah well.” I smiled and pulled out the Chinese food cartons. “I bought us some more lunch.”
“More lo mein?” he whined.
“No, you big baby, I bought us some General Tso’s and Sesame Chicken.”
“And rice?”
“Some chicken fried rice and then I think they added a carton of white.”
“Damn, girl, you know what I like.”
“I aim to please.”
Cheerfully, we pulled out the food and piled it onto our respective paper plates, sitting at the kitchen counter. Conversation was even going relatively well until the phone rang. “Justin Timberlake,” he answered professionally. I had no clue who he was talking to, but by the end of the conversation, I concluded that it was another one of his whores. “I’ll see you tonight,” he finished.
“Going out?” I asked once he returned to our meal.
“Oh. Yeah.”
“You’re such a bastard,” I chuckled, shaking my head.
“What the fuck did I do now?”
“You just had Sharry in here like 20 minutes ago, and now you’re making a ‘date’ with a new bitch.”
“Damn. Jealous much?”
“I’m not jealous. I just don’t understand you.”
“It’s not your place to understand me, Dawn. It’s not like I’m committed to anyone.”
“I’m not saying that you are. I’m saying that the way you treat women is just “ it’s deplorable.”
“What the fuck have I done to them? Sharry came over here on her own free will. Rachel just called me because she wanted to. I’m not twisting any arms here.”
“Whatever.” I took a bite of my chicken and stared at the view behind him.
“Just because you don’t take an interest in me doesn’t mean that no one else will.”
“Don’t take an interest? What the fuck am I sitting here for?” I yelled.
“You tell me, Dawn. What do you want from me!”
“What the fuck are you yelling at me for!”
“You started yelling first!”
“Well. Whatever!”
He narrowed his eyes at me and gave me a frown of bewilderment. “You’re not making any sense!”
“You want some sense? Stop being a motherfuckin’ whore!”
“I’m not attached to anyone “ especially not you, who won’t even give me a goddamn kiss, so I can do whatever the fuck I want!”
“Is that what this is about, Justin? You’re still mad because I didn’t kiss you two fucking weeks ago?”
“No, Dawn, that’s not what this is about! This is about the fact that you can’t tell me shit, because I don’t owe you shit, because you and me aren’t shit!”
“What?”
“Like I said, I can do whatever I want. You’re not my mother. You’re not my girlfriend. Contrary to what you think, I don’t have to fuckin’ answer to you.”
I nodded, licking my lips “ probably because I know he’s right. But at the same time, he’s so wrong. “Well you can do whatever you want… without me.” In that same breath, I grabbed my jacket from the couch and stormed through the door.
Too close for comfort, please not again
Too close to know just when to say ‘When’
He’s much too close for comfort now
Lyrics: “Too Close For Comfort” “ La Toya London (American Idol, Season 3)
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