Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.  The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.  No copyright infringement is intended.

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Grace gave an exhausted sigh as she dashed through one of Miami’s frequent torrential rainstorms. Lowering her umbrella and ducking under the hotel awning, she hustled towards the kitchen door  to replace a friend who’d called in sick at the last minute, leaving a nice romantic dinner and a pissed boyfriend back at her apartment  across town.

            As she opened the door, a cacophony of sounds and smells hit her as she stared at the complete chaos in the kitchen. A frazzled, pinched looking woman with an earpiece appeared in front of her screaming, ‘Oh my God, please tell me you’re one of the catering girls,’ then turning to the rest of the kitchen she yelled, ‘We have less than an hour, people! Get it together!!

            ‘Oh. Um, yeah. Noreen sent me to replace –‘

            ‘Thank God! You took long enough to get here. I’m Maggie, the event coordinator and as you can tell, I’m in deep shit right now. We just ran out of chicken, Beyonce cancelled last minute, and now, half the waiters decide to get sick and they send me the slowest replacement in history.’

            ‘Excuse me? Look – ‘

            “Honey, I got an event to run. If you really wanna help me, could you take that tray to the performer in the back. He’s been screaming for warm Evian and green tea for the last half hour.’

            Grace froze. Warm Evian and green tea? No… it couldn’t be.

            ‘Is something wrong? Why are you standing there? Move!’

            Grace set down her thing, took the tray, and headed towards the backstage suite where they kept the performers. Raising her hand to knock on the door, she paused at the sight of her hand shaking. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and shut down her emotions, something she’d learned growing up a foster care system where it was dangerous to show emotion or get attached.

Opening her eyes, she put on her professional smile and rapped on the door.

            ‘Room Service’

            A man almost wider than the door answered and tipped his head towards the table overflowing with everything from hot wings to a bowl with only blue M&Ms. Grace paused at the entrance, noting that the suite itself was in the same type of chaos as the kitchen. While his other two bodyguards threw a Nerf football and made raucous comments about each others catching, his stylist was making last minute alterations in the corner and a woman Grace assumed was his personal assistant was yelling into a phone about seating arrangements. At the eye of the storm were Justin and Trace, screaming at each other while playing Madden on an Xbox 360.

            ‘WHAT NOW, BITCH!!’ screamed Trace as he threw down his controller and broke into an impromptu running man.

            Grace jumped at the outburst then hurried towards the table, hoping to avoid a confrontation.

            ‘J, your shit is here.’ called the bodyguard from the door as Grace set the items on the table and began to walk back to the door.

            ‘Jesus Christ, it took long enough! What the hell was the hold up?’

            Grace was tempted to keep walking like she hadn’t heard him, but she stopped, knowing she needed this for closure. Taking a deep breath, she turned.

             ‘We’re very sorry for the inconvenience, sir. We’re unexpectedly short staffed tonight, but please feel free to call back to the kitchen if you need anything else.’

            The room fell silent.

            ‘Holy shit. Bunny?’ whispered Will, using their old nickname for her.

            ‘Hey, Big Poppa, what’s shakin?’

            Letting out a huge laugh, Will walked over, picked up Grace and tossed her in the air.

            ‘You know I like when you call me Big Poppa. Hot damn girl, I thought you were dead. And look here, you got even smaller.’

            Grace smiled at the familiar repartee.

            ‘No, it’s just that you got bigger! Look at you! How’d you even fit in here?’

            ‘It’s all muscle, B. All muscle.’

            Trace shook his head and walked over, smiling.

            ‘He’s lying. He’s on those Big Macs like it’s his job.’

            Grace froze at Trace hugged her tight and sighed, ‘Thank God, you’re okay’

            Will gave a booming laugh again.

            ‘You know Trace has always full of shit. Like when -  ‘

            ‘EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!!!’

            The mini-reunion paused as everyone turned to look at a furious Justin. After exchanging a guilty look with Will, Trace spoke up first..

            ‘Justin, I don’t think – ‘

            ‘You fucking JUDAS! How dare you! GET OUT!’

            A beer bottle then shattered on the wall next to their heads. Will moved in front of Grace, shielding her in case Justin felt the urge to throw something again.

            ‘Are kidding me? You protect HER?! I pay your fucking salary!! Move!!!’

            Will silently stood his ground, not moving until Grace softly touched his shoulder.

            ‘It’s okay, Will.’

            Will turned to face her. ‘You sure?’

            Grace nodded.

            ‘Alright then. Come on yall, lets give them some privacy.’ said Will, leading the parade of people out the door and softly closing it behind them.

            Inside, Grace and Justin stood across from each other like a pair of gunslingers at the OK Corral. After what seemed like an endless silence, Grace took a deep breath.

            ‘Hello, Justin.’

            Justin gave a bitter laugh and slowly shook his head in disbelief.

            ‘You disappear for five years, FIVE years, and all I get is a ‘Hello, Justin’? Unbe-fuckin-lievable.’

           ‘Seeing as how ‘hello’ is a common phase used to greet someone, I don’t know what else you want me to say. Hi? What’s up? Salutations? Take your pick, Justin, they all mean the same thing.’

            ‘Don’t be a smartass, Grace. You know exactly what the fuck I mean.’

            Grace raised an eyebrow and took a step forward, annoyed with his attitude.

            ‘One, don’t curse at me, that’s disrespectful. Two, I am just as surprised to see you here. And you’re right, it has been a long time, so there’s no need for that hostility. Look, after tonight, we can go our separate ways again, so let’s just end it here on good terms.’

            ‘Well, it’s nice to see you haven’t changed. Still running away from everything. That’s fine, I don’t care. But you’re not leaving this room until I get a damn explanation for what you did. You had no reason, I gave you everything. I gave you an expensive-ass apartment, a new Mercedes, and showered you with MY money so you could buy clothes, jewelry, and god knows what else. And what do I get in return? Betrayal. You just left with no call, no note, nothing. Well, guess what sweetheart, no one plays me for a fool. You owe me a fuckin answer. ’

            Grace took a shaky breath in an attempt to control her fury before replying with a soft voice dripping in disdain.

‘Justin Randall Timberlake, don’t you DARE treat me like one of those gold digging bitches you like to keep around. First off, I never asked you for a dime, NEVER! And I paid you back every penny I spent. I gave you back EVERY DAMN THING you ever bought me and even gave you interest. So don’t act like I owe you anything. As for an explanation, you are NOT my Daddy, so I don’t have to explain jack shit.’

            Justin gave a harsh laugh.

            ‘Hell, I could be. You never know with a mama like yours. How is she by the way? Still fucking for crack in the subway?’

            Grace recoiled as if slapped. Pain passed across her face before she could hide it.

            ‘Goodbye, Justin. I wish you all the best.’

            With that she turned and flung open the door to Trace and Will, listening on the other side of the door. Wiping a lone tear from the corner of her eye, she stormed past them and left.