6 >> It Just Got Weird
“I think we need to get new locks,” Justin told his cousin, Rachael, as he spread peach marmalade over his toast.
She just gave him a look that begged the question, “What are you up to now?”
“Nothin’,” he smirked. “I just wanna get the locks changed. It’s about that time, don’t you think?”
“We just had them changed in August, though. Remember?”
He had yet to tell his cousin, or anyone actually, that Talis had come by his house the previous Saturday. But he figured that telling her over breakfast at the over-crowded Jinky’s in Santa Monica wasn’t exactly the best time or place.
“I don’t care,” he continued. “You can never be too careful.”
She swallowed a forkful of potatoes before finally asking, “Is this about Talis?”
“No, this is not about Talis,” he lied. “This is about our safety.”
“Uh huh.”
“Can I not be concerned about our safety?” He sat back in his seat and gave Rachael a playfully expectant glance. She reminded him so much of his mother at times, and not just because she took care of him. She looked like her, minus the black hair and ridiculous tan, and her voice was laced with that Memphis accent he sometimes needed to hear. Having her around was such a great reminder of home.
“Only when you’re being full of shit,” she shot back. “I could see wanting a new security code, but we don’t need new locks.”
“Oh right, yes, that makes more sense. Let’s do that.”
“All right, that I can do.” She pulled her BlackBerry from her purse and began typing on it faster than he could think. “So just tell me what you want the code to be and I’ll change it. Who do you want to have it?” she asked, “Besides Lynn and Paul, of course. And Jess?”
“Definitely Jess,” he nodded. “By the way, I wanna stop by Jess’s to pick up Brennan when we leave.”
“Kay,” she nodded. “Trace too, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
She finally stopped typing and looked up to him. “Anyone else?”
He couldn’t believe that for a split second, he was actually considering Rie. He’d known her a total of about a week, and he was thinking about letting her into his life in the utmost form. “That’s it,” he quickly told her, shaking the thought away.
“You okay?” Rachael asked him with a frown.
He nodded and looked around the restaurant aimlessly. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t want Huch to have it?” she questioned, referring to his good friend, Justin Huchel. They spent a lot of time together when he was in town, so it only made sense.
“Oh yeah, him too. But that’s it,” he made sure to add.
“You’re very weird,” she laughed.
“That’s why you love me.”
“I love you because I have to, cousin.”
“Well… that’s why you like me,” he reconsidered.
“I like you because you pay me to,” she chided.
“Rach, that hurts.”
“Truth hurts,” she retorted with a grin.
As he was about to reply, they were suddenly approached by two females “ a brunette and a blonde “ that appeared to be in their early twenties. “Hi,” one of them greeted Justin, obviously nervous.
“Hello ladies,” he replied pleasantly. “How are y’all?”
“Good,” they answered simultaneously, causing Justin to laugh.
“We’re sorry to interrupt,” the brown-haired one inserted a bit more confidently than her blonde friend, “but we were wondering--.”
“It’s cool. What can I do for you?”
“Could you sign our napkins?”
“Umm, no?” he deadpanned leaving the girls rather dumfounded. His features then softened to a smile, and finally, a laugh. “I’m kidding.”
Rachael couldn’t help but chuckle when it appeared the two fans were breathing again.
“You sure you want me to sign a napkin, though?” he offered. “I do iPods, I do random magazines, I do receipts,” he suggested, rattling off the long list of items he’d autographed for fans in recent memory. “I can sign pretty much anything you got in your purse.”
“Ohmigod,” the blonde spoke up, “could you sign my iPhone?”
“Sure,” he nodded. “Rach, do you have your pen?”
Rachael went into her purse, pulling out the Sharpie that she kept specifically for this reason, and handed it to Justin.
“She’s so efficient,” he commented to them, taking the phone. He scribbled his signature over the silver backing of the expensive device and carefully handed it back. “You be careful with that,” he told her. “No do-overs.”
“I will,” she smiled widely. “Thank you.”
“All right, whatcha got for me?” he directed to the other.
She’d gone through her entire purse, dropping some of the larger items to the table, including her Mac Air and an issue of Us Weekly. “I’m so sorry” she told them, “I’m just trying to find my phone.”
Rachael looked up to her with a wide smile, obviously seeing how she could lose it in the suitcase that she called a purse. Justin, on the other hand, couldn’t avoid noticing that a picture of him was plastered on the cover of the tabloid with a bold yellow headline that bolstered, ‘He’s Moved on Already.’ His eyes scanned to the bottom, where, in smaller white print, it read, “Just a few days after being left at the altar, Justin Timberlake is back in action. Meet his new mystery girl and the secret behind how she snagged Hollywood’s hottest bachelor.”
“I can’t find it,” the girl finally gave up with a sigh. “Could you sign my computer?”
Being shook out of his fixation on the cover he looked back up to her. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”
“Thank you so much.” She threw the Us Weekly back into her purse and handed over her Mac, which Justin signed just above the fruity logo. He even added a smiley face for good measure.
“I should make a deal with Apple for a Justin Timberlake line,” he grinned, closing the top on his marker. “There you go.”
“Thank you again.”
“No problem,” he finished. “Y’all have a good day.”
“You too,” the blonde smiled again. The two girls gave each other matching looks of awe as they exited the restaurant.
“I know I say it all the time, but you are way too nice to your fans,” Rachael noted, finishing what was left of her hot chocolate.
“There’s no such thing.” He watched her roll her eyes at him and he smiled in reply. “One day, you’ll learn what it’s like to be a nice guy.”
“I’d rather leave that to you, dude.”
>>>>>>>>>>
I’m standing at my kitchen sink, downing a cup of coffee with Talis just a few feet away, when I suddenly see Justin’s unmistakably huge white Jeep pull up to my driveway. My eyes widen and I turn to his ex, who’s none the wiser. “Shit,” I say out loud.
Talis looks at me with her eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“You have to go,” I tell her illogically. She has nowhere to go in such a short amount of time, but Justin will be livid if he sees her here.
“What?” she frowns and joins me at the window, where she can see the top of Justin’s car peeking over my gate. “What’s he doing here?” she hisses.
I shrug. “He didn’t say he was coming.” I grab my phone from the pocket of my hoodie, just to doublecheck. “He hasn’t called at all,” I state with panic.
“I’m just gonna slip out of the back.”
“And go where, Talis? You have no car.”
“I’ll just wait until he leaves,” she suggests, placing her own empty mug in the sink. “I won’t make a sound.”
I’m hesitant to let her do so, but I really have no other options, so I say, “Okay.” As I watch her exit to the left, I try to placate my panic mode while Justin walks into my house with Rachael in tow. I know he probably doesn’t suspect a thing, but I’m worried that some inadvertent sign of Talis’s presence is looming someplace that I haven’t noticed.
“Yo, Jess,” he calls out. I hear his footsteps approaching where I am in the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’m in here,” I reply. I set my mug in the sink next to Talis’s and begin to put away the totally unhealthy Cinnabons that we’d been devouring.
He walks in casually, his William Rasts falling off of his nonexistent hips with just the right amount of loose. His RVCA shirt fits the same. He looks well-rested, and actually, pretty cute. “Hey,” he greets me.
“Hey,” I look up from my task. “Hey, Rach.”
“What up,” she grins back, taking a seat at my table. “Lemme get one of those before you put them away,” she requests, referring to the cinnamon rolls.
“Please, take those things away from me,” I chuckle. I slide the box over to her and then look to Justin. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” he shrugs. “Just stopping by to pick up Bren.”
“Already? She’s only been here for a day.”
“I know, I know. But we miss her; and since we were in the area…”
“Well, if I must,” I relent, pretending to be hurt.
“You must,” he laughs.
“All right, she’s out back with Tina,” I tell him. Then, it suddenly hits me that Talis is out there too, and I quickly add, “I’ll go get her.”
“Jess, did you get the email I sent you?” Rachael inserts with a mouth full of pastry.
I shake my head and innately glance towards my living room, where my laptop is currently set up. “I didn’t,” I say. “What was it about?”
“Just that Justin can do the benefit for MTDN. They do want you to appear at the Shriner’s tournament, though.”
I look over to Justin, who seemingly has no idea what we’re talking about, but he chimes in, “When’s your thing again?”
“Umm, it’s right before Thanksgiving, so… the twenty-fifth.”
He nods as if to say he can do it, although Rachael has already confirmed the information. “Mine is the tenth through the sixteenth.”
“I know,” I smile. “I probably can’t do the whole week, but I’ll do the celebrity Pro-Am thingy,” I tell both of them. “As long as I’m not on Justin’s team.”
“What the hell is wrong with my team?” he demands. “You’d be on the best team.”
“That right there is exactly why!”
“What, ‘cause I’m confident?”
“Because you’re an asshole about your golf,” Rachael responds.
“True story,” I nod. “And I will not be the one who gets hit by your golf club when you randomly throw it at something.”
“Jess, that was one time,” he defends.
“Once was enough.”
“Whatever,” he sucks his teeth and shakes his head. “Y’all are on that bullshit.”
“See, you’re already mad and the tournament hasn’t even started yet!” Rach laughs loudly.
He heads towards the back door and looks out of it with his hand rested on the handle. “Anyway. I’m going to get my damn dog.”
“I’ll get her, Jus.” I make a beeline for the other door on the opposite end of the kitchen, getting outside before he can even respond. Standing at the edge of my patio, I don’t see either of our dogs anywhere. “Brennan?” I yell. I look around and see Tina walking towards me, but Bren is nowhere in sight. “Where did she go?” I ask myself, kneeling in the grass to pet my own baby.
“Do you see her?” Justin inquires, joining me outside. He stoops down to Tina as well. “Hey, little lady.”
“I don’t see her,” I answer, trying not to sound frenetic.
“Brennan, come on out,” he shouts. At the sound of his voice, she comes running out from behind my pool supply shed. “There you are,” Justin grins widely. “Come to daddy.” He kneels down again and welcomes her into his embrace with an adorably happy chuckle. “What were you doing back there? Huh?”
I cautiously watch him head over to where Brennan had been, and try to persuade him back to me. “Hey Jus, I wanna show you this new food I’m trying with Tina,” I attempt.
“Lemme just make sure she wasn’t over there digging up dead bodies,” he replies with a laugh. As soon as he turns the corner, I feel my breath get caught up in my throat. He looks over to me and back to who’s presumably standing in front of him. “Talis,” he announces, confirming my fears.
She comes ambling out from behind the shed, her oversized sweatpants dragging in the damp grass. She looks about as worried as I probably do, and glances down. “I’m sorry, Jess.”
“You’re sorry to Jess? Really?” he sarcastically asks her.
“Justin, I tried to apologize to you the other night.”
“Oh, yes, the other night.” He stands back and rubs his palms over his face in, what appears to be, frustration. “Talis, if you really want me to forgive you, you should be trying to apologize every fucking day of your life.”
“Justin,” she sighs.
He gives her a long glare and then turns to do the same for me. “Has she been here the whole time since the wedding?” he questions me.
I shake my head quickly. “Just today. She just needed someone to talk to,” I attempt to defend her.
“What the fuck about?” He faces her again. “What? How I’m such an asshole for not listening to you the other night? About how I kicked you out?”
“You kicked her out?” I frown.
“Yes.”
“I deserved it, Jess,” Talis tells me.
“No, you don’t deserve to be treated like a dog that’s misbehaved,” I reply. “Justin, how could you do that?”
“Not now, Jess.”
“Then when?”
“You don’t get to be the asshole here,” he warns me. “In fact, what the fuck are you defending her for?”
“I just think that shit is dirty,” I answer, looking over to Talis. “She did her shit, yes, but you being mean to her will not undo all of this.”
“I don’t care about undoing it. I’m fucking angry about it, and if I don’t want her in my house, then I don’t have to have her in it.”
“You guys lived there together, you know.”
“Yes, she moved in, but it’s still my house and she lays no legal claim to it.”
I can only shake my head right now, because I don’t know what to say to him. “You’re an asshole.”
“So how long as this been going on?”
“How long has what been going on?”
“You hanging out with her behind my back,” he bites back.
“She’s not hanging out with me,” Talis inserts. “I really just came over to talk, and she wanted nothing more than for me to go on my way, Jus.”
He continues to peer between the two of us, so I add, “She came to me about a week ago and asked if I could help. I’m the one who told her to go talk to you, so you can just blame me for her showing up on Saturday.”
“So you weren’t even sorry on your own?” he demands from her. “You couldn’t figure out that you fucked up without Jess having to tell you?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I try to recover. “I just mean--.”
“Could you please shut up?” he barks at me.
Even Brennan appears to be put off by him at the moment, because she slinks across the yard to my side. “You need to calm down,” I say.
“Are you serious with this?”
“What’s goin’ on?” Rachael appears in the threshold of one of my back doors, gazing into the chaos that my yard has now become. “What’s she doing here?” she points to Talis.
“What’s going on is Jess betraying my ass,” Justin tells her.
“Justin, that is not fair,” I retort solemnly. “Talis has been my friend longer than you have, so let’s not even go there. This isn’t about choosing a side.”
“That’s exactly what this is about, and you better fucking pick one, because I’m not gonna have you trying to convince me to forgive her. Especially not when you had to convince her to apologize in the first goddamn place.”
“Justin, I am so sorry for what I did,” Talis assures him. “I was being selfish; I wasn’t thinking; I was--.”
“Save it,” he cuts her off, walking towards his cousin. “Rachael, let’s go.”
“Justin,” I call after him. He keeps walking, so I follow. “Justin!”
Once we make it inside the house, he finally turns to me and yells, “What!”
“Talk to her!”
“I don’t have shit to say to her.”
“You’re a fucking liar,” I tell him, matter-of-factly. “If you had nothing to say, then you wouldn’t be angry. And you’ve been going around all this time, talking about how you just wanna know why. Well, she’s here now, willing to tell you why, and you’re pushing her away. What gives?”
“I don’t care anymore,” he mumbles.
“Why not?”
“I just don’t. I’m over it.”
“Why do you say that as if I should believe you?”
“What’s she doing here, Jess?” He always avoids my questions when he knows he’s full of shit.
“I told you, she wanted to talk.”
“About what!”
“Stop yelling at me,” I reply.
“I just wanna know how and why you give a shit what she has to say after she just walked out on me.”
I sigh loudly and look him in the eye. “She was just upset to see that you’d moved on so easily to Rie,” I tell him honestly. “I was pretty surprised too, actually.”
“Well what do you want me to do, Jess? Talis didn’t die. She wasn’t stolen. She left, of her own free will. She thought it was in her best interests to move on, and so she did. Why am I blamed for doing the same?”
“You’re not being blamed, Justin.”
“No, fuck that. I am. And for the record, I haven’t moved anywhere. I don’t know why you people can’t get through your thick ass skulls that there’s nothing going on with me and Rie, but to clear it up for you, we’ve only been out twice. And both of those times, other people were with us.”
“So she didn’t come by your house Saturday night?”
“To drop off my wallet that I left at her house, yes,” he nods. “What, are you stalking me now?”
“I’m sorry,” I concede. “I just “ I think Talis maybe didn’t expect you to be so… okay without her.”
“I’m not as weak as you guys want me to be, apparently.”
“I swear, I’m not trying to offend you --.”
“Then get her out of here,” he frowns.
“It’s not that simple,” I counter. “She really is sorry, Jus.”
“Then why couldn’t she tell me that shit on her own!”
“She was scared.”
“Of what? Me?” He’s still shouting. “I’ve been with her five years. Through everything! Through her losing her job, her parents’ divorce, I was the one that took care of her that whole time after the accident. That was half a year away from my music, my career, because I wanted to take care of her. What do I have to do to show that I wouldn’t leave her for shit in the world? What could she possibly be fucking scared of?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“You talk to her about that shit, then.”
“Listen, I know you think I’ve chosen a side, but I haven’t,” I assure him softly. “I love you both, and I want nothing more than for you both to be happy. Together.”
“It’s not gonna happen.”
“Yes, you were there for her through a lot of bad shit, but so was I. And she’s been there for you too, you know. After the Super Bowl and you wanting to quit your music. There would be no ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’ without Talis, right?” He doesn’t answer me, so I repeat, “Right?”
“Yeah,” he admits obstinately.
“Then why are you so unwilling to be there for her through this?”
“Because, for whatever reason, she chose to shut me out. We do things together, we work as a team. On the very day that we’re supposed to commit our lives to that very concept, she walks out on me?” He shakes his head and turns around. “I just haven’t found it in me to stop being angry about that yet.”
“What happened to needing closure?”
It’s his turn to shrug now. “I stopped caring.”
“I don’t think you did.”
“You know what, though,” he reconsiders. “I could forgive her walking out on the wedding. I understand getting scared; that’s fine. But I mean, not to call, not an email, nothing to explain herself and then she just shows up in my kitchen? You know that’s bullshit.”
“It is,” I agree, looking down. “But she has her reasons.”
“I don’t care.”
“Stop saying that!”
“I don’t,” he reiterates, looking down at me sincerely. “I can’t.”
>>>>>>>>>>
“So what are you doing tonight?” Rie asked Justin when he finally answered his phone.
“Nothin’,” he revealed vaguely.
“You wanna go out? I have tickets to Wicked that I need to use before Halloween.”
“That’s okay,” he told her. “Thanks to Jess, I’ve seen it like four times already.”
“Okay yeah, she’s awesome. It’s official,” she giggled. “Well have you eaten yet? I wanna take you to that place I was telling you about over by your house. They have the best organic veggie pizza.”
“I dunno,” he sighed.
“I thought you were like this big health nut. I’m certain you’ll love it, man.”
“It’s not that,” he smiled to himself. “I’m just… I’m tired.”
“Oh, well okay.” She was audibly disappointed, but she didn’t want to seem clingy or anything. “Well, kudos for keeping your promise.”
“What promise?”
“Remember you said you’d turn me down the next time I asked you out?”
Smiling again, he replied, “Yes, well. I do keep the promises I make.” Unlike my better half, he thought.
“That’s disappointing and reassuring at the same time,” she smirked.
“Another one of those oxymorons you love so much.”
She giggled again “ something she found herself doing a lot of around Justin “ and retorted, “I love that you remember all the bullshit I spout on any given day.”
“Well, it’s only fair since you do the same for me.”
“How true,” she grinned into her phone. “But hey, I don’t wanna keep you from your night of doing nothin’, so I’m gonna let you go.”
“Leaving so soon?”
“Well since you shot me down, I have to go find myself a date, man.”
“It’s Monday night,” he frowned. “Do you really have to go out every night?”
“Yeah, if I can swing it. I take it you’re a homebody?”
“The ultimate,” he verified. “Not completely by choice, but yeah. I’d pick a bad night in over a good night out any day.”
“What?” she shrieked. “Why!”
“Trust me, if you were stalked by paparazzi the moment you pulled out of your driveway, you’d stay in the house, too.”
“Oh yeah, that’s pretty shitty,” she agreed.
“You should cherish your anonymity.”
“Question,” she prompted. “What would you want to do as a random guy that you can’t do as Justin Timberlake?”
“I like it when you say my whole name like that,” he offered with a chuckle. “Umm. I dunno really, it’s not that I can’t execute daily tasks or anything. But it’s just… everything I do is a public event. I can’t have a bad day or a breakup or make a new friend without it making front page news,” he sighed. “And I don’t wanna complain. You don’t complain. But I just “ I wonder what it’s like to go the gas station and not make someone’s day, you know?”
“So you don’t like making people’s days?”
“No, I love it,” he answered sincerely. “I just wonder what it’s like…”
“Oh wait, are you one of those people that says, ‘It’s when they stop recognizing me that I’ll start to worry?’”
“Don’t you hate those people?” he laughed. “No, I will never be disappointed that someone doesn’t recognize me.”
She nodded slowly as her lips formed a smile. “See, that’s why I like you, man.”
“And don’t get me wrong, I adore my fans. I brag about them to other artists I talk to, like they’re my grandchildren or something,” he grinned. “I mean, I dunno “ I can’t even explain it.”
“You’re so cute,” she giggled again. “Everyone talks about how nice you are to your fans.”
“I try,” he nodded. “Like, I don’t care if someone wants me to wear a funny hat and take a picture or have a short conversation after dinner. It’s the least I can do,” he answered earnestly. “They’ve literally given me the floor I walk on in my house. …It’s the least I can do.”
“Damn, I wish I’d liked you sooner.”
“As long as you like me now, that’s all that matters.”
“We’re getting there,” she reasoned, laying out across her couch. “I like it when you open up to me.”
“Don’t get used to it. I already warned you--.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re guarded and you don’t like touching people. It doesn’t change the fact that you trust me, homie.”
“I do not,” he scoffed.
“Yeah, you do.”
“Oh, what, because I told you a few things about me? Pshh.”
“Don’t ‘Pshh’ me! You trust me, man.”
“I do not,” he maintained. “I just don’t completely distrust you. Yet.”
“Dude, you fell asleep on my couch,” she laughed. “And. And! You left your wallet at my place. If you were as cautious as you want me to think you are, you wouldn’t have even…”
He thought about what she said for a moment, and the ugly truth was that she was right. If he didn’t trust her, he wouldn’t have let her in as far as he had in such a short amount of time. Why was he fighting it?
“Okay,” he surrendered. “I do trust you somewhat. A little. Kind of. Although you made me kinda wary after you lied about your name.”
“Dude, how many times do I have to apologize for that!”
“For the rest of your life,” he joked.
“Hey, if that means you’ll be around for the rest of my life, I’ll do it.”
He began to laugh, but paused when he realized he’d just inadvertently pledged to spend a lifetime with her. “Hey, listen,” he quickly sobered up.
“Listening.”
“I’m gonna head off to bed, but I’ll give you a call later this week sometime?”
“It’s not even eight yet.”
“I know, but I’m tired.” To make his story true, he headed for his room and crawled into his cozy California king. He gazed out to his breathtaking view of the Hills at night and basked in the silence.
“Stop fucking being so weird,” she finally commanded with a heavy sigh. “I’m not gonna bite your ass. I’m not gonna fall in love. Hell, I won’t even touch you, if it freaks you out that much. But really, you have to stop acting like I have cooties.”
“I’m sorry,” he sighed as well. “I am not usually this weird.”
“I know, you’re fucked up,” she chuckled. “And my role in your fucked-upness is to always be honest with you when you start acting like a bitch.”
“Always? Really?”
“Well, not always. You get in your moods pretty often, it seems.”
“I do tend to be a catalyst for bitchassness when I’m fucked up,” he laughed.
“No shit.”
“All right, all right. You have full permission to go apeshit on me if I go bitchass on you. Agreed?”
“You’re stupid,” she laughed impishly. “But agreed.”
“Hey, guess who I saw today,” he inserted into the conversation rather excitedly, albeit off topic.
“Jeremy Irons?”
“That is about the most random name you could’ve come up with,” he frowned playfully.
“Well, Hollywood is random!”
“True,” he agreed, “but no.”
“Nancy Grace?” she guessed again.
“No, dumbass. I saw Talis.”
“Oh.” Rie sounded disappointed again. “Did you talk to her?”
He shook his head, despite knowing that Rie couldn’t see him. “No. I just got mad again.”
“Damn, boy. You must have some kind of temper.”
“She was at Jess’s house when I stopped by this morning. Hiding in the bushes and shit.” He glared at the spot on his bed next to him “ the spot where she used to sleep “ and then closed his eyes. “Sometimes, I wonder if I’ll ever get over this.”
“Well, it hasn’t been that long has it?”
“Not at all,” he granted, “but I dunno. I love her, and that’s supposed to make it easy to forgive her, isn’t it?”
“I dunno, I’ve never been in love,” she laughed awkwardly. “Seems logical, though, I guess?”
“Love has absolutely nothing to do with logic. I know that much.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Nope. I firmly believe there’s a reason that your heart and your brain are so far apart,” he stated factually. “That’s why you can’t ‘think’ that you love someone. You either do or you don’t.”
“And you’re sure that you still love her.”
“Totally,” he answered definitively. “No question about that.”
She chuckled again. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that sure of anything in my life.”
“How old are you again?”
“I’ll be twenty-seven in May.”
He nodded, turning on his side and resting his phone against his cheek. “You’re very interesting, Rie.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” She sounded offended.
“It means what it says. You’re an interesting individual.”
“Are you being condescending?’ she demanded.
“A little bit,” he chuckled. “But really, you are.”
She was silent for a long moment before asking, “How come you won’t come out with me tonight?”
“Because I want to stay home,” he answered evenly.
“You’re lying,” she figured. “Did I do something?”
“No.”
“Is it because of the Talis thing?”
Internally, everything in him was saying No, but his mouth managed to say, “Yeah.”
She let out a long sigh, staring up to the ceiling fan above her den. “All right, then I won’t push it. But I don’t know how you expect me to save you if you’re gonna start running every time I get near you.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be much of a hero if you didn’t have shit to overcome.”
“I guess,” Rie granted, flipping on her television. She paused when she saw a feature about Jessica on TMZ. “Whoa, Jess is dating Ryan Phillippe?” she interjected.
“What?”
“Jessica. She’s going out with Reese Witherspoon’s ex?”
“Oh,” he yawned. “Yeah, she’s been out with him a couple of times.”
“That is super cute,” she grinned, half-listening to the story. “Have you ever watched this show?”
“What are you watching?” he asked apathetically.
“That TMZ show. It’s funny,” she chuckled, “but in a horrible way.”
“Or is it horrible in a funny way?” He lazily pulled his remote from one of his nightstands and turned on his own flat screen. “What channel?”
“Eleven.”
The two of them watched in silence as the show ran through their awkward sketches, discussing Jessica and Ryan, followed closely by John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston. Rie was laughing at one of John’s infamous smartass comments, and even Justin had managed a chortle, until his own name came up in the discussion.
“So Justin Timberlake was where, doing what?” Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ, demanded of his staff.
A blond guy with long hair announced, “He was in Beverly Hills with a new girlfriend on October twenty-third. He wouldn’t speak, of course, but he was in a good mood.”
“Shocking.”
“Yeah, and like, I was wondering if this was legit, but I’ve got pictures of them again on Saturday, leaving a gas station in Hollywood. He paid, but it was her car.”
Rie, who had been picking at the nail polish on her toes, redirected her focus to the story, knowing they couldn’t possibly have been talking about what she thought they were talking about. Justin, on the other hand, saw it coming a mile away, but like an oncoming train wreck, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
“Do we have a name?” Harvey returned.
“Yeah, umm,” the blond staff member glanced over several sheets of paper and looked back up, “Rie Torrey.”
“Excellent. Run it.”
For the first time since they’d met, both Justin and Rie were speechless.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay, I'm going out of town for a hot minute, so I thought I'd post the next chapter while I have the time. Again, thank you for reading! And I'll be getting back to replying to you guys a little later tonight. -Ash
Story Tags: interracial unrequited boyfriendj love fiancej vulnerablej
