13 >> Claustrophobia
The year of 2008 was quickly coming to a close, and thanks to Rie, Justin was about to end his year on a good note. They had spent the entire week in New York, getting along and getting it on in the best ways possible. With just a few hours left before the New Year, Rie and Justin were headed to his uptown restaurant to have a nice, normal dinner at Justin’s famed hangout, Southern Hospitality.
“Just so you know, I’ve never been here, so you have to order all the good shit for me,” Rie was telling him as his security team escorted them to their destination.
“Gladly,” he granted, nodding his head. “And just so you know, I haven’t been on a date with someone new in a really long time. So even if I fuck this up, you have to pretend I’m still the coolest dude you know.”
“I doubt I’ll have to pretend,” she smiled.
“Aww, shucks.” He bashfully batted his eyelashes at her compliment and rested his head over the top of hers, contemplatively staring at the seat ahead of him. “How was your year?”
She inhaled audibly. “It was… all right,” she exhaled. “It started off tame, became a little turbulent, but it’s ending on a high note.”
“Same here,” he realized, half smiling and half biting his lip in a childlike manner. “I’m really glad I met you.”
“I need to be drunk when you say things like that, or I’ll start crying.”
No need to translate
‘Cause my eyes give me away
“You’re an idiot, you know.”
“Fully aware.” Closing her eyes, she got lost in his scent of Givenchy Play, enjoying their ride through the city. She still couldn’t believe that her life was quickly turning into this fairytale, where a prince charming was whisking her off for an impromptu trip to a faraway land. It just didn’t make sense to her. But she loved it. “Seriously though, I’m really glad I met you, too.”
“Chyeah you are,” he scoffed. “What was that you said last night? Best fuck of your life?”
“Justin fucking Timberlake!” she shouted, causing Eric, Justin’s bodyguard, to laugh out loud. “Eric, you did not hear that!”
“I didn’t hear nothin’,” he chuckled jovially.
“See, I knew I didn’t trust you.”
Should be so easy, but my head gets in the way
All the things that I wanna tell you
“That doesn’t change the facts, though, Rie. You still said I was the best f--.”
“Say it again and I’m pushing you out of the car,” she joked.
“Oh, you’re gonna push me out of the car when we’re right in front of the restaurant? He chided. “Really?”
They had, in fact, pulled up to the corner of Second and 76th, where Justin’s pride and joy resided. The small restaurant was already buzzing with excitement, lighting up the entire block. There were even small groups of people huddled outside, nursing beers and smoking cigarettes as if it weren’t 31 degrees outside.
As Eric motioned to open the car door, Justin innately took Rie’s gloved hand into his, gently guiding her onto the sidewalk with him. She smiled nervously at the observers, whose cell phones immediately went into picture mode as she and Justin made their way inside. She duly noted that, despite their voyeuristic tendencies, he was polite enough to greet them all with smiles and a sincere, “Happy New Year, you guys.”
You’re the most perfect yet
Most definitely that I’ve met
And I wonder if you know that’s how I feel about you
“You’re really into that Southern hospitality thing, huh?” she whispered to him once they were inside.
He smiled at her lips being so close to his face and nodded. “I do what I can.”
“Justin!” the hostess, Manda, greeted him, rather stunned. “Umm, I’m so sorry. We don’t have a table…” she sputtered. “We had no idea you were coming in tonight.”
“It’s fine,” he chuckled. “I didn’t tell anyone I was coming over. We can just wait at the bar.”
“Are you sure?” she winced. “We can get someone to clear out the back.”
“It’s fine. Let the people enjoy their food.”
“Really?”
“We’re good,” he insisted. “We’re gonna hang out at the bar, just give us the next available, all right?”
“Will do,” she nodded in compliance. “Right away, Justin.”
Rie couldn’t help but laugh at the poor girl. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to have you as a boss,” she smirked, following him to the crowded bar area. She suddenly became very aware that every eye in the room had landed on the two of them.
“I’m firm, but I’m fair,” he laughed, offering her the one empty seat left in the room. “You want a beer?”
“I’ll have whatever you have.”
The cute raven-haired bartender was standing in front of Justin the moment she noticed him. “Justin,” she smiled flirtatiously. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“I prefer it when people don’t see me coming,” he told her with a grin. “Lemme get two Buds, Kal.”
“My pleasure.”
“Matter fact,” he called her back, “let’s do drinks all around.”
“For the whole place?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed enthusiastically. “Who else is workin’ tonight with you?”
“Rose is here now, Marnie comes in in like five minutes,” Kaleena revealed. “Should we wait?”
“Right around ten, ten-fifteen is good,” he nodded. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
And I hope you know that I have so much love for you
Do with it what you will
Rie, who’d been watching his exchange, was still smiling. His whole persona was rather mesmerizing at times. “You need to stop being so damn awesome,” she told him. “You’re setting a precedent that no one else in the world can ever follow.”
“That’s what I’m going for, babe.” The bartender sat their ice cold Budweisers in front of him, and he passed one to her as he continued. “If you ever leave me, you know you’re automatically returning to the real world having to settle for less.”
And I have nothing more to prove
Say to me what you will
She stared at him as she took a sip of her beer. She knew he was joking, but she wondered if he knew how ironically true that was. “So you’re pretty familiar with everyone that works here?”
“Yeah, we have a great group of guys and girls here. And I try to come by, like, once a month, at least, just to keep an eye on them.”
“I like that you’re very hands on,” she noted, resisting the urge to chuckle at her double entendre. “Is there anything you’re bad at?”
“So many things,” he rolled his eyes.
“Name one.”
“I’m completely horrible at… ummm “ I suck at parallel parking.”
“Lame!” she shouted. “Everyone is bad at that.”
“You didn’t say there were provisions,” he laughed. “Shit.”
“Something plausible, dude.” She took another swig from her drink, noticing that the group seated directly behind Justin were completely engrossed in her conversation with him. She was tempted to say something, but she didn’t want to act stupid when she was a guest of his.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her, seeing her frozen expression.
“Nothing,” she shook out of her fixation. “What was I saying?”
“I think you were gonna tell me why you insist on being so fantastic.”
“Right!” she quickly recalled. “You were gonna tell me what you were bad at.”
“All right, so I can’t think of something right on the spot,” he admitted, “but I guarantee you, I’m bad at something.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it, homie.”
“You know what he’s really good at?” the bartender had returned to their conversation.
“Besides everything?” Rie laughed. “What?”
“We have a beer pong table in the back,” she began to let her in on the secret, “and he kills everybody.”
“That’s not true,” he smiled shyly.
“It’s so true.”
“I can’t beat Trace,” he divulges. “He’s had a lot more time to practice than I have.”
Rie was already smiling widely at the thought. “Let’s play a couple of rounds.”
“You want to?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged, standing from her barstool. She straightened her turquoise top over her dark skinny jeans, and followed his lead to the beer pong table, taking her beer with her. The fact that the other patrons were crowding around watching made her more self-conscious than it should have, but she was trying to get into it, regardless.
‘Cause I have so much love for you
Do with it what you will
“I thought of one thing I’m bad at,” Justin began to announce loudly.
“What’s that?” she grinned.
“Letting people win,” he smiled back, beginning to pull the ping pong balls from beneath the table. “So you better be good.”
And I have nothing more to prove
Say to me what you will
Say, say it again
>>>>>>>>>>
After three rowdy games of beirut, where Rie gave Justin quite a run for his money, they decided to team up and play against the other customers. Four games and a new year later, Rie and Justin were considerably plastered.
Nearing the end of their last game, Justin watched Rie lean over the table resting her elbows at the edge of it, which was part of her beer pong technique. He licked his lips at the sight of her ass protruding back towards him as she took her shot, sinking her white ball into one of four red cups.
Not enough lovers in life to go around
But there’s you and there’s me if we don’t start it out
“You are so fucking hot right now,” he announced loudly as onlookers cheered for them.
“Dude, you are!” she beamed.
“Nope, you are!”
“No, you are!”
“Okay,” he relented, “I am. You’re right behind me, though.”
“Watch this,” she pointed to the couple across from them, “dude is so gonna miss this. You guys are horrible!”
The guy in the couple shot her a bird and a smile before attempting to sink his ping pong ball into any of Rie and Justin’s seven cups. He raised his arms triumphantly when it went sailing into one of the middle cups. “Succckkkk it!” he shouted.
“You suck it for eternity!” she retorted loudly, chugging half of the half-cup of beer.
Justin retrieved the beer-covered ball from their cup and held it up for everyone to see. “All right, a hundred bucks to whoever licks my ball.”
“I’ve been doing that all week and I didn’t get a hundred dollars,” Rie realized, placing a hand on her hip. “What’s that about?”
“That’s because everything you do is priceless,” he grinned goofily.
Not hard to let go enough to let me in
If it’s meant to be, it can only be good
“You’re such a charmer.”
“You make it easy, you know.”
You’re the most perfect fit
Most definitely that I’ve met
And I just hope you feel the same way too
They finished off their game with five cups left and finally retired for the night, getting to sit at an actual table for the first time since they came in. They were sat in the back section of the restaurant, and although there were several people around them, they finally felt like they had gotten a moment to themselves.
By the time they were done, the kitchen had closed and they had to have a couple of the waitresses bring over pizza from the pizzeria across the street, just so they could eat. Even so, their night was immensely fun “ especially for Justin, who got to spend quality time with, not only Rie, but several of his fans. They enjoyed themselves so much that they kept the restaurant open an extra hour. Yes, it was 5:00 a.m. when they were finally leaving Southern Hospitality.
“You ready?” Rie asked, imitating the voice in SexyBack as she pulled her scarf into place.
“Yeah, Eric is outside,” he nodded. He came over to her side of the table, offering his arm for her to grab onto. “Shall we?”
With Justin’s trilby perched atop her head, she wrapped her fingers around his arm and they moved towards the front of the restaurant. Before they made it outside, she could see the flashes of light hitting the sidewalk and she innately gripped him tighter. “What the fuck is that?” she pointed outside.
“Just ignore it,” he assured her. “We’ll be at the car in just a minute.”
When they stepped outside, she was instantly blinded by it all and her first instinct was to hide behind Justin. He protectively locked his arm around her neck and covered her face with his hand, guiding her to the car while the paparazzi catcalled out to the two of them. Most of them shouted their horrible things, as usual, and Justin, in his inebriated state, wanted nothing more than to tell them to go die in a fire, but he kept his cool.
“Happy New Year, guys,” he proclaimed once again, just as they entered the back of the car.
And with Rie by his side, it was certainly shaping up to be one.
‘Cause I have so much love for you
Do with it what you will
>>>>>>>>>>
“My friend just told me she heard about our night out the other night,” Rie announced, looking up from her white MacBook. “I didn’t even tell anyone I was going to New York!”
Justin, who was reading his own emails on his own black MacBook Pro, looked up to her with a blank expression. “Okay?”
“Dude, is that not weird to you?”
He shrugged and gazed towards the extra large window of their suite. “I guess I’ve become immune to it,” he chuckled. “My friends usually know where I am before I do.”
“Jesus.”
“I know, right? It’s a little weird, I know, but it’s the world we live in.”
“It’s the world you live in,” she corrected him. She glanced over to his side of the couch, watching him get lost in his computer, once again. He looked so at ease, his long legs perched atop the coffee table, slouched in his corner of the sofa with one of her blankets covering him, laughing at whatever he was reading. She was in an identical position, but so much less relaxed. “I don’t know how you do it,” she marveled.
He looked at her again, confusion plastered over his face. “Do what?”
“Your life! I mean, I know you told me about it before, but I mean, how do you not feel self-conscious when people are always gaping at you, always talking about you, always a cell phone raised, trying to take your picture.” She shook her head as she leaned forward to take a sip from her coffee mug. “You’re fucking amazing.”
“Trust me, I’m not,” he smiled bashfully. “Like I said, I’m just immune to it.”
“Trust me, to be immune to that kind of life is amazing.”
“I digress,” he sighed. “What do you wanna do today?”
“Well, since we didn’t leave our room at all yesterday, I was thinking maybe we could go to MoMA and take in some culture.”
He made a face and closed his Mac. “Really?”
“Yes, really!”
“Is it even open today?”
“Well, last time I checked, the second day in January isn’t a holiday,” she laughed. “And I know they have this whole exhibit on musicians that I think you’d really dig.”
And that automatically got Justin’s attention. Where music was concerned, he was all for it. “All right, we can do that,” he decided. “We can get dressed, go over there, and then stop somewhere for lunch?”
She nodded, already hopping up from the couch. “Your phone’s vibrating.”
“It’s probably Trace,” he commented, watching Rie disappear into the bedroom. He retrieved his BlackBerry from the end table and began scrolling through his messages, finding two from Jessica. “Shit,” he whispered.
Rie strolled back into the room with her hair in a sloppy ponytail, face wash plastered across her face, and her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. “What’s shit?”
“Jess is in town; she’s stopping by.”
“Why is that shit?”
“It’s not a bad ‘shit,’” he laughs, “but more of an unexpected ‘shit.’”
“What’s she doing in New York, anyway? I thought she was going home or something?”
“She’s probably coming to do some campaigning for Talis or some shit,” he shook his head. “We’ll still go to the museum, though, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I’m not,” Rie grinned. “Besides, it’ll be good to see Jess again.”
>>>>>>>>>>
I walk into Justin’s Le Parker Meridien suite and see that Rie is sitting at the dining room table with his computer and pen and paper beside it. She smiles brightly when she sees me. “Hey, you!” She quickly gets up to give me a hug.
“Hey,” I send back, returning the hug. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she nods. “Happy New Year!”
Justin follows into the room behind me and takes a seat. “Jess, when did you get in?”
“This morning,” I answer, taking a seat. I drop my purse to the table and take off my coat as I say, “I just thought, since Ryan is with the kids, that this was a good opportunity to square things away between us.”
Justin gazes at Rie as she goes back to whatever she was doing. “Why do things need squaring with us?” he questions obliviously.
“Well, we got into that fight a few days before Christmas…”
Frowning, he glances at me. “Are we still mad about that?”
“Well… no. But like, since we didn’t talk on Christmas or New Year’s, I thought maybe…”
“Oh,” he scoffs. “No, I’ve just been a little busy.”
“I see.”
“Rie, did you find that song?” he switches subjects suddenly.
“Don’t rush me,” she retorts with a grin. “iTunes is being ridiculous right now.”
“What are you looking for,” I inquire.
“This song called, ‘Slow Songs Get Me Laid’,” she replies. “Justin said he’s never heard it before and I swore to him that he needs to.”
“What? There’s a song that exists that he’s never heard of?” I didn’t know that was possible.
“I know, right?”
“There are millions of songs I’ve never heard of,” he inserts, balling up a random piece of paper. “So shut up.”
“Yeah, but not any that normal people have never heard,” I chide.
“Rie is normal and there’s tons of shit she comes up with that I’ve never heard.”
“’Scuse you,” Rie corrects him. “I am far from normal, homie. And your internet connection is kinda whack today.”
“Did you just say, ‘whack?’” he smiles.
“I did,” she giggles in reply. “And I’ll say it again if you’re not careful.”
As she goes back to searching Justin’s computer, I watch him throw his wad of paper straight to Rie, hitting her in the face. “Bam! Straight in the fo’head,” he announces loudly, his arms raised in triumph.
She pauses and looks up to him with a dropped jaw. “You know that’s your ass, right?”
“I’m just getting you back for that one this morning. That shit hit my nose.”
“Well… You know that thing isn’t hard to miss,” she jokes.
I let out a quick chuckle. “Is this, like, an ongoing thing?”
“Yeah, we’re twelve,” Rie confirms.
“All we did on our flight out here was have paper fights,” Justin adds.
“Fun,” I smirk.
“Hey, how was your Christmas?” he remembers to ask me, retiring from his paper fight. “You went home, right?”
“We went back to Colorado,” I nod.
Rie lets a snort escape her nose and we both look at her curiously. “I’m sorry,” she laughs. “I’m so sorry. I just started singing this song in my head when you said that, and it was just so lame.”
“Were you thinking the same thing I was thinking?” Justin asks, grinning. “I’m going going, back back--.”
“To Coli, Coli,” they sing simultaneously, bursting into laughter.
“I don’t get it,” I laugh uneasily.
“You wouldn’t get it,” Justin tells me. “It’s just an old ass Biggie song.”
“I know Biggie songs,” I counter defensively.
“Well, apparently not that one,” he laughs again, which is starting to annoy me.
“I’m sorry, Jess, I didn’t mean to interrupt with my lameness,” Rie sobers up. “Go ahead.”
“There’s not much else,” I shrug. “We went back to ‘Coli’ and I got to see a bunch of friends that I grew up with, so that was really nifty. And then we did a lot of snowboarding, skiing, did some ice skating,” I ramble. “Oh, and Justin, I don’t know if you remember Jenn?”
“I remember her. She’s the radio DJ, right?”
“Yeah,” I confirm. “She remembered that you wanted to go white water rafting, so she invited us to come out in May.”
“Oh, cool,” he nods, finally looking me in the eye. “I’m down.”
“Super.”
“Rie, you wanna come?” he directs to her.
She looks up from the computer with a deer-in-headlights look. “I’m sorry?”
“We’re going white water rafting this spring. Shall I sign you up?”
“Oohh, no thank you,” she quickly declines. “Black people don’t white water raft.”
He laughs heartily and shakes his head. “You told me black people didn’t skydive either.”
“Well, you tricked me into that one. But I will not be fucking up my hair for you anymore, thank you.”
“You’re gonna do it,” he decides for her, looking back to me. “She’s gonna do it.”
“I am not! Fuck you very much.” She begins to ball up a piece of paper, but before she can launch it, Justin hits her with one of his own paper bombs, right between her eyes.
“Oh shit!” he cackles. “Two in a row!”
“You… are stupid,” she states, feigning seriousness. “And when is your funky ass gonna take a shower?”
“Are you guys going out?”
“We’re going to the Museum of Modern Art,” he replies, putting on one of his many British accents. “Would you like to join us, love?”
“I’m good,” I decline. “I’m meeting some friends for lunch.”
“Are you sure?” he presses, going into his signature sing-song voice. “It’s gonna be lots of funnn.”
“Is there something going on there, or…?”
“Just a music exhibit,” Rie answers for him. “Nothing big.”
“Who are you going out with?” he asks me. “Anyone I know?”
“Nope,” I grin. “They’re friends of Ryan’s really, but I wanted to meet up with them, so…”
“Awww. You’re really trying to make this one work, huh?”
“Well… yeah,” I frown offhandedly. “There’s nothing holding me back.”
“I’m just surprised because you’ve never put this much effort into any other guy. It’s cute,” he laughs condescendingly. “I’m proud of you.”
“Why don’t you shut up and go take a shower.”
“Damn, no need to get all irate.”
“Jus, seriously,” Rie interjects. “You need to get ready; it’s almost noon.”
“All right, all right,” he relents, rising from the table. “Did you find the song yet?”
“I told you the internet was down. Be gone!”
“I’m leavin’. Damn.” He hurries into the bedroom of the suite, shutting the door behind him. Very soon thereafter, the sound of a shower thankfully fills the awkward quiet of the room.
I look over to Rie, who’s still engaged in Justin’s Mac. I wait about a minute before asking her, “So, are you enjoying your trip?”
She looks over to me and smiles a wide smile. “Yeah, it’s been fantastic.”
“What have you guys been up to?”
“Umm… Not a lot,” she shrugs. “We got here Christmas morning, we spent most of the day just enjoying the city, and then a quiet little dinner here in the room. We did some shopping the next day “ mostly shoe-shopping,” she chuckles.
“I bet he brought you a lot of stuff, huh.”
“Well no, I bought my shit, he bought his,” she retorts, “but it was, like, a ridiculous amount of shoes.”
“Neat.”
“Anyway, besides that, we’ve just done a couple of Broadway shows, a couple of movies, a shit ton of amazing restaurants. Oh! And we went to Southern Hospitality the other night and played beer pong with a bunch of people there, which was stupid fun,” she describes animatedly.
“Oh yeah, that was New Year’s Eve, right? I saw that.”
“Oh, right. Yeah,” she looks down. “I forgot everything he does makes headlines.”
“It’s a little annoying, I know. But it’s not his fault.”
“No, I know,” she shakes her head, closing the laptop. “Of all the shit we go through in life, a few pictures are nothing, right?”
“Well yeah, in theory, I guess. But a lot of people take their anonymity for granted. To walk down the street and not be… recognized is just “ it doesn’t happen to people like Justin. Or anyone he’s associated with.”
Her eyes shift from me back down to the floor between us. “I know it’s not easy, Jess. You don’t have to try and scare me.”
“I’m not,” I immediately refute. “I have no reason to scare you.”
“Listen, I know that Justin Timberlake comes with baggage; I’d be an idiot to think otherwise. But we’ve talked about it, and we both know that anytime I start to feel claustrophobic, I can go on my way.”
“So you just up and leave if he gets too close for comfort?”
“No, it’s not about him,” she looks back up to me, frowning. “I lo”I like Justin a lot, so I’m casting my fears aside to do this with him. But at the same time, I’m still learning not to feel claustrophobic inside myself, so this… relationship, or whatever, is new for me, and I’m doing my best with that. But I’m simply not equipped to have a relationship with his adoring public, as well. So yes, if I become overwhelmed, I just ‘up and leave.’ That’s what we agreed to.”
“I can’t imagine Justin is really okay with that,” I scoff.
“It is unreal to me how much you baby him,” she shoots back. “He doesn’t need another mother, you know.”
“Well he needs someone that can take care of him.”
“No, he doesn’t! He’s quite capable of doing that himself.”
“Well, he certainly doesn’t need someone else to engage in paper fights with,” I reply coldly. “What is your purpose anyway?”
Se stares at me a little while longer, and even though her eyes could melt ice right about now, I answer her with a matching stare. Finally she says, “Listen, Jess. You’re the one who invited me into your life. You cannot be mad that I accepted the invitation.”
“I’m not mad,” I sigh heavily. “Jus has a million friends, and I’m glad that I’m even one of them, so I’m not trying to keep you away from him or anything. I just…”
“You just wanted him with Talis, right?”
“No,” I grimace. Even though that may be slightly true.
“Oh come on, that’s who he was supposed to end up with, right? The skinny, pretty one, yes?”
“Rie, stop it,” I say softly. “That’s not fair.”
“You never ever imagined that when you introduced me to him, that he’d actually give me a second glance, right? Plain little production assistant, Rie “ what the fuck, right?”
“Come on, Rie, you’re anything but plain,” I proclaim sincerely. “You’re fucking gorgeous and you know it.”
“You come on, Jessica.” The water coming from Justin’s shower is no longer running, so Rie lowers her voice. “You have to admit that you’re surprised I’m actually a threat to picture perfect Talis.”
“You’re gorgeous,” I repeat, “and you’re a great person. So no, I’m not surprised. Especially since I’m the plain one,” I reoffer somberly. “The eternal friend; the one he never pays attention to...”
Rie’s chestnut eyes relay a hint of shock when they land back on me.
I immediately notice her expression and stop talking. “What?”
“Okay, I’m really sorry if this is out of line to even imply, but… Jess, are you in love with him?”
“What?” I exclaim. “Are you crazy?”
“Jess, come on.”
“No,” I deny emphatically. “He’s my friend, and that’s all he ever has been or will be.”
“I swear I won’t say anything to Justin, but… come on,” she says again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Avoiding her accusatory gaze, I hop up and make my way over to the couch. “So do you know when you guys are heading back to LA?”
“Dude.”
“Rie, I’d really appreciate it if you’d drop it.”
“Are you gonna admit to it?” she demands, frowning back at me.
“No,” I laugh shakily. “He’s my best friend and I love him like a brother, but I’m not in love with him. He’s been dating one of my other best friends for ages.”
“And it’s over now…”
“And I am still friends with them,” I add. “Jesus, you sound like those people on O.M.G.D. or whatever.”
“Well those people on O.N.T.D. seem to get it right more often than not!”
“Trust me, all rumors.”
“A rumor that doesn’t die usually isn’t a rumor,” she retorts.
“Well, this is one,” I answer sternly. “Now please, just drop it.”
She holds her hands up in surrender, giving me a small smirk. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Justin your dirty little secret,” she promises. “But just because you deny it doesn’t make it any less”.” Her sentence trails into silence as Justin enters the room, fully dressed in jeans, sweater, and scarf.
“It is hot as hell in there,” he comments, completely oblivious to our conversation. Once he notices our uncomfortable expressions, he begins to caustically glance back and forth between us. “What’s wrong?”
Rie peers at me before smiling back at Justin. “Nothing. Just a little disagreement.”
“Why does Jess look like she wants to kick your ass?” he chuckles.
“She probably does,” Rie admits. “But only ‘cause she knows that I’m right.”
Lyrics: “Say It Again” “ Natasha Bedingfield (N.B.)
Story Tags: interracial unrequited boyfriendj love fiancej vulnerablej
