Chapter Thirteen: Spilled Milk and Surprises 

“I’m working on it.” A voice confidently said across the phone line, “I’m just waiting for the perfect moment.”

A feminine tone sighed into the phone, “What is taking so long? You were supposed to have something months ago…”

“Look, if you just give me a week, I’ll have every cover from here to Japan. The freaking girl was supposed to give me an easy in, but all she did was slow things down…” he chuckled lightly, “She ended up helping out in the end though.” Cole flipped through the pictures on his camera and smiled, “It’s not going to take long before these bad boys find their rightful homes…”

“It’s not what I expected, but it just might work…” she whispered, her excitement peeping through her cool exterior.

“Do you think this is going to give you all the satisfaction you want?” he asked, wondering just how big of a splash his plan would make.

“All I want to do is make Justin Timberlake’s life more miserable. I don’t care if it’s for an hour or a year, I just want him to feel a little pain.” She giggled somewhat evilly into the phone, “You’re a great brother, Cole…”

“Yeah” he muttered. When a sinking feeling shot through his stomach he shook his head as if to send it away, “I’ve got to go.” He said abruptly, “And don’t worry, everything is going to be perfect.” He said a final goodbye and stood at the payphone, glancing down at the pictures one last time before walking away. He was going to follow through with this - and no matter how many pangs he felt in his gut, he was going to make it good.  

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Ella trudged into the kitchen, a pair of sweatpants nearly falling off of her hips. She yawned and glanced at the clock, yet another day of sleeping in, yet another day of consuming entire boxes of cereal in one sitting. After only a second’s worth of contemplation, she picked her ‘flavor’ of the day and pulled out the cocoa puffs – nothing better than chocolate in the morning. She poured the contents into a mixing bowl and topped it off with a generous helping of milk. With a hearty sigh, she sat on the floor, the spot that comforted her most when she was feeling down. Maybe it was because it put her at the same level as most everything else. It was like; bonding…she glanced towards her right and shook her head…with a trash can.

Nicola sauntered into the kitchen, her pink nightgown flowing behind her. With one glance at the floor she cleared her throat, “Ellie, I usually don’t say anything, but when you’ve spent a consecutive five days dining on the floor, its time your best friend makes an intervention.” Ella grunted in response, “Ellie…snap out of it. I’m worried about you; Justin’s worried about you…”

Ella glanced up and smiled, “Nic, there is absolutely nothing wrong with me. I just happen to find the floor more comfortable these days.”

“That’s not normal, Ella…” Nicola said with frustration, “I just want you to feel better."

“You know what would make me feel better?”

“What?”

“If you would hand me the cereal box…I’m running low.” Ella glanced at the bowl and noticed that she had devoured every thing but the milk.

“Geeze, Ella…one of these days all those calories you’ve been eating are going to come back and bite you in the butt…”

Ella giggled, “I hope they do! I could use a little padding. I’m flat as a pancake.” Pancakes…they made her think of Justin; dear, dear, Justin…He had called faithfully and had even sent her flowers. How sweet was it for him to send flowers? Wildflowers. Not roses, or carnations, or something pathetic and stereotypical. He had sent her beautiful bunches of wildflowers. One of the bouquets were sitting on the table, her staring at it must have given her thought away because it was only seconds before Nicola interrupted them.

“I know you’re thinking about him.” She said confidently, “It’s written all over your face. Just admit that you miss him.”

“I do miss him; I’m not going to lie.” Justin was in Memphis for a couple of weeks. He wanted to spend time with his mom before life got crazy again. Originally he had planned to stay there for the entire length of his break, but for some unbeknownst reason, he had decided to come back to New York.

“Maybe he’ll let me and Clay borrow his apartment while he’s gone!” Nicola exclaimed, “That place is so awesome. I mean, this is a nice set up we have going here, but his place…”

Ella glanced up from her cereal and scoffed, “He’s a nice guy but he’s no Mother Theresa.”

“You do present a good point there.” Nicola lifted her shoulders, “Oh well, it was a nice thought. I’ve got to go to work, just because Justin gets a vacation doesn’t mean I do. Who knew that doing this would be so hard?”

Ella smiled, looking at Nicola who was already dressed in her ‘uniform’. Her blonde hair was down instead of in a slicked back bun and instead of the tights and slippers she wore track pants and a sweatshirt. “I’m glad that you’re happy.”

“And what about you, Ellie? Are you happy?”

Pushing the hair away from her face, Ella nodded slowly and lifted her head, “I’m going to be fine. It’ll take time, Nic…but this time, I’m going to do better…”

“No more locking things up?”

“I’m going to try my best to be completely emotional about everything.” Ella said simply.

“For some reason that scares me, Ellie…it really does."

“I’m already practicing…watch this!” Ella took her spoon out of the bowl and drizzled milk onto the floor beside her. She stared at the mess and slowly her eyes began to tear up, she sniffled and glanced down at the mess again, dramatically turning her head away and lowering her bottom lip into a fierce pout, “The milk.” She paused and let out an exaggerated gasp,”…it…spilled.” She droned, the faux tears never getting past the rims of her eyes.

Nicola laughed, “Okay, don’t you think you’re overdoing it just a tad?”

“Nope” Ella said with a smile, “From now on I’m going to be completely honest about everything.”

“Everything?” Nicola asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Almost everything.” Ella said with a grin, “If nosy best friends start asking questions about a certain person whose name will not be mentioned, but begins with a J and ends with an N and has a big ‘Usti’ in the middle…then, I, the emotional one, has every right to swallow the honesty key and seal my lips.”

Nicola rolled her eyes, “You know me too well, oh dramatic one.”

Ella plastered a goofy smile on her face and fell backwards on the floor, “I’m so full, I don’t think I’ll ever eat another box of cereal again!”

“I’ll see you later, Ellie, please don’t transform into the bubblegum girl from Willy Wonka who turned into a giant blueberry.”

Ella giggled as if the thought excited her, “It’s a good thing I don’t like blueberries…”

“Bye, love.”

Ella watched as Nicola grabbed her bag and walked out the door. She waited only a second before letting her smile fall. She closed her eyes and felt of the hardwood floor beneath her. It reminded her of home…that huge kitchen that held so many memories. Even when she was little, it was always a comfort to lie on the floor and just forget about everything. Except now, no matter how long she stayed flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling for answers; no matter how hard she tried to think about other things…she just couldn’t forget.

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As if sensing that he was awake, his mother opened the door and greeted him with a warm smile, “You have no idea how happy I am to see you every day.” She walked over to the edge of his bed and sat down, “Good morning.”

“Are you ready to face the world yet?” she asked him, running her hand through his hair, “I can’t believe you’re letting your hair grow out again.”

“Yeah, I needed a change…it ain’t gonna get to the afro stage though.” He answered with a laugh, “God bless my soul for ever trying to pull that off.”

Lynn patted him on the shoulder, “I thought we would go have lunch in town if you want. Nothing extremely busy, maybe that little Mexican restaurant you like so much?”

He nodded, “Alright, I’ll just take a quick shower if that’s okay?”

“Take all the time you need, we don’t have a set schedule or anything.” She got up and looked at him, “Did I tell you that I’m glad you’re home?” she asked.

“Yeah, for the fifty-eight time since I got off the plane.” He said jokingly, “It’s alright Mom, it feels really good to be back.”

Smiling to herself, Lynn closed the door behind her and walked down the stairs. The best way to lure that boy was with food and it was obvious that he had a story to tell her. And she was going to stuff his face with nachos until he did.

Justin stretched his limbs as he crawled out of bed. His mom was so obvious. She was using the old food trick. He hadn’t told her anything about his and Ella’s friendship yet, and he knew that she had her radar on as soon as he got off the plane. He had to give her props for not bombarding him with questions until now. What exactly was he going to tell her? The one time Lynn had met her she was as crazy as hell itself. And, how exactly did he feel about her anyway? In all reality, it bothered him that he thought about Ella so much. He had been thinking back on the first time he had ever had a run in with her, yeah, the cell phone incident? He really thought she belonged in the loony bin…but now, things were so different, and there was so much more to her…and he was just so confused. For the first time in months, he was home with his family, in his town…and the only thing on his mind was getting back to New York so he could be with her. How did that happen?

After a lengthy shower, Justin found himself roaming around the kitchen, tempted to enjoy some cereal for his ‘appetizer’. Just as he was grabbing a box from the pantry, his mom stopped to a halt in the kitchen, “I thought I heard you roaming around in here…” she trailed, “Put that up, we’re going to lunch.”

“But, Mom, is it normal to have Mexican for breakfast? Don’t you think that’ll give me a stomach ache or something?”

“Honey,” Lynn said with a knowing smile, “I’m sure you have done a lot worse for breakfast.”

He looked at her and shook his head, “I don’t think I have.”

“Would you like me to use examples?” She asked, knowing fully well that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Nope.” He said, imaginarily zipping his lips.

“Mhm, that’s what I thought.” She grabbed her car keys and motioned for him to follow her, “Let’s go baby, “I’m starved…”

Justin gave her an evil look, “Yeah you’re starved…” he mumbled quietly to himself, “Starved for gossip.” He chuckled slightly when she cast him a look, “What?” he asked innocently.

“I can always tell when you’re talking about me under your breath. It’s one of those special powers that mothers get when mischievous sons are born.”

“Ah, should I begin calling you Supermom or something?”

She shook her head, “No need. No need.”

It only took a few minutes to get to the restaurant. It was locally owned and on of those ‘hole in the wall’ places, but the food was amazing. Justin was relieved to see that the majority of the lunch crowd was gone. Still, out of habit, he tugged his baseball cap down over his eyes and attempted to tuck a few curls into the hat, “Do I look like me?”

Lynn replied, “Do you want my honest answer?”

He looked in the mirror and sighed. The blue eyes were obvious, as were the cherry red lips. What guy has freaking red lips anyway? “Why do I even bother with the hat?”

“Come on, they wont let anyone hassle you in here. And neither will I. After all, I am-“

Justin shook his head, “No, Mom, don’t say it. You didn’t want to be called Supermom, remember?”

“My mouth always gets me into so much trouble” She said with a smile, looping her arm through Justin’s as they happily made their way to a booth in the back of the restaurant.

After ordering daiquiris, Lynn only had to look at Justin for a matter of seconds before he put his head down on the table and sighed, “What do you want to know?”

Lynn laughed, “Am I that obvious?"

“Yes.”

“It’s Ella. I’m confused. Help.” Was all Justin said, his head still bent over.

“You mean that strange girl from the ballet?” Lynn questioned, obviously surprised, “But she’s not, she’s not you at all.”

Justin nodded, “Yeah, that’s the problem…I don’t know how or when, but it is what it is and I don’t know what to do.”

“You know…” Lynn said, as if something had suddenly dawned on her, “Whenever Maddie came back from visiting you; she said that you had fallen for someone else. I just assumed she was being dramatic, but…after seeing that miserable look on your face for the past couple of days, I’m not at all shocked.”

“I haven’t had a miserable look on my face.”

“Like hell you haven’t…”

Justin rolled his eyes, “I just, it’s like…one minute she’s the friend, then she’s a sister, then she’s the soul mate…I’m at a loss. I’ve never been on such a roller coaster, you know?”

Lynn smiled and tugged at his hat, “Baby, you’re on this roller coaster every time you fall in love.”

He put his hands out, “Whoa, I did I say love? I’m talking about maybe a like here, and that’s overshooting it.”

“The more you deny it, the deeper you feel. That’s how you work.”

Justin looked up; damn her for being so right about everything. “But, what if I don’t want to feel the way I feel? I only want her to be the friend, the girl I go to for a couple of laughs. I don’t want to have a relationship with her…”

“You can’t control these things Justin, there’s a reason she came into your life. Why are you hesitating?”

“I’m just so sick of jumping into things and being disappointed…and what if there aren’t any sparks there? What if I’m just deprived of women and”

Lynn gave him a look, causing him to stop talking, “Justin. You’ve been in relationships for a long time and you know how you feel. If you didn’t like her, you wouldn’t be so stressed out about it. Just accept it and do what you have to do…”

“Do you like her?”

“Well, I don’t really know her. But if she has won over your heart, then I’m absolutely positive that I will love her.”

Justin smiled, “I love you, mom.”

Lynn held onto his hand, “I love you too, baby. Just follow your heart…don’t be scared of falling in love”.

He sighed and popped another chip into his mouth, “I’m just tired of thinking about it.” Lynn nodded and began another conversation while Justin stared out into space, not at all concerned with what his mother was saying. All he could think about was her, and it was really starting to bug him.

“Well, hello there!”

A familiar presence caused Justin to look up and he cursed silently before plastering a smile on his face, “Hey, Maddie…”

“Don’t act so disappointed, Justin.” She said with a polite smile, “Hello, Lynn. It’s so nice to see the two of you together again.”

Lynn gave Maddie a pat on the hand, “How have you been, dear?”

Maddie smiled, “Oh, I’ve been great. I’m busy with school, but you know how that is.” She smoothed an imaginary wrinkle in her skirt and focused her gaze on Justin, “How have you been?”

Lynn sensed the inquisitive tone in Maddie’s voice and excused herself for a trip to the restroom. Justin wanted to strangle her, “I’ve been good…”

Inviting herself to a chair, Maddie looked at him with wide eyes, “You don’t have to act so excited to see me you know.”

“Since when did you become so sarcastic?” he asked, amused at her for trying to be confident.

“I’ve changed Justin. I know you probably thought that I came home and cried myself to sleep every night…” she paused, “Well, I did, but only for awhile…I’m stronger now."

He glanced at her and for the first time noticed the sharpness in her eyes. Her appearance had stayed the same, still sporting her argyle sweater and khaki accents, “I can tell.”

“How’s Ella?"

“You’re a lot more straightforward too” he smirked, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Yeah, well…” she waited and shaking her head, finally decided to say what was on her mind, “It’s not going to work, Justin.”

“Excuse me?”

“She doesn’t know you…like I know you. She’s just, a phase that you’re going through. You want someone different, someone special. But, I’m reliable Justin. She’s just…”

“Maddie, if this is what you came over here to tell me, then you can leave.”

“Just let me finish, Justin. I wasn’t as stupid as you thought I was. I heard her voice in the background too many times to count. I saw the way you looked at her when I came to visit…but you’re just curious, Justin. You just don’t know what you want. I bowed out because I knew that you had to get it out of your system…but I’m ready for you, Justin. Think about the good times we had…are you going to throw that away for some crazy girl who catches your interest for a few seconds?”

“I think it’s about time you left, Maddie. I don’t want to say things that I don’t mean.”

“I don’t want you to either, Justin, and I’m going to leave. I just want you to think about it, okay? I’ve missed you.” She stood up and gave him one last glance, “I’m waiting for you.”

Justin watched her walk away and when she was out of sight he let his head fall limp onto the table, “Why?” he asked repeatedly, “Can’t my life just be simple?”

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Bent over at her waist, Ella dipped her head down and peered underneath a desk, using the tip of her paintbrush to write her initials into the wood. She stepped back and smiled. It was beautiful. The entire day had been spent working on that darned thing; she had longed to refurbish it ever since it was dropped off at Goldie’s shop, but she had just now found the time to do so.

Goldie walked in and smiled at Ella who was obviously admiring her work, “It looks great.”

“Thanks…it’s taken me all day to finish it…I think I’m finally happy.”

“Do you want me to display it in the window?” Goldie asked.

Ella shook her head, “No…I think I’m going to take this baby home with me. It would look great in our living room.”

“You really are talented little girl…”

Ella looked at Goldie who was appropriately dressed in a velvet coat that reached all the way down to the floor. It was freezing outside and the thought of walking home was already making her long for a mug of hot cocoa, “Thanks…I think I’m going to start on that lamp over there too. My creative juices are just dying to flow.”

“Have at it; I’m going back to the front. Who knows, we might get a few customers today.” Goldie said with a laugh, you have all the fun you want back here.”

Nodding, Ella watched Goldie disappear and smiled to herself. She stood up and grabbed the lamp that was in the corner of the room. There was a whole area full of furniture that she was eventually going to remake. She sat back down and looked at the lamp in front of her. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself walking through an old Victorian home, full of velvets and antique furniture. It was only a couple of seconds before she decided on a look for her next ‘work of art’. Grabbing a tube of stain, she put her hair back up into a ponytail and went to work. Time always flew whenever she was working. It was the one area of her life where she had control of everything. It felt nice to be the decider of what went where and what the finished product would be.

As she painted, her mind automatically wandered to Justin, who had been gone for thirteen long days. Not that she had been counting. It seemed like forever. She ached to see him. Nicola was so busy with her job and plans for the wedding, that she and Ella had only crossed paths a couple of times and talking to Justin on the phone wasn’t as exciting as seeing him face to face. She had spent the majority of her time alone and her imagination was beginning to eat at her. What was he doing? She was embarrassed to admit that he had been on her mind so much.

Ella paused and looked at her hand. It had stopped moving. She muttered a ‘geeze’ quietly into the room and forced herself to keep painting. Focusing on different thoughts, like chocolate bars and cotton candy, she found it pretty easy to keep Justin off of her mind. Within seconds she had envisioned herself skipping around in circles at the fair, munching on her sweets and dancing around with her parents; oh how her family loved to dance. So deep in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed the slight creak of the door opening behind her or the quiet shuffle of two feet working their way towards where she was sitting.

It was perfect. She was completely oblivious to his presence. Her back was to him and it was nice to know that she hadn’t lost any of her personality while he had been gone. An oversized shirt hung loosely on her and a pair of polka dotted leggings hugged her chicken legs to the point of almost giving her curves. He smiled at her, she was humming the Candy Man song from Willy Wonka and her paintbrush danced around the lamp with no particular purpose. Staying quiet, he neared her and with one sweeping motion, tackled her to the ground with his arms.

Ella let out a yelp and closed her eyes when she felt her body slam to the ground. Familiar laughter sounded in her ears and she opened her eyes one at a time to see heaven itself above her.

“Are you telling me that if someone was going to tackle you, all you would do is close your eyes and scream?”

She gasped and wrapped her arms around him, “JUSTIN!” she held on tightly to him and inhaled the smell of his cologne before letting go, “What are you doing here?”

Ella looked up at him, “You’re squishing my kidneys.”

“That was my point.” He said, getting up from where he had been hovering over her.

“Oops.”

“What?”

“Your shirt…”

Justin sighed, “I don’t want to know. Just tell me, does it come out?”

“I thought you didn’t want to know.”

“Nevermind, I’ll buy another one…” he said, noticing the streak of brown paint on his shirt, “All for the sake of a good surprise, right?”

“It was a good surprise.” Ella exclaimed, noting that he hadn’t changed a bit. Sure, it hadn’t even been two weeks, but it had felt like two years. She couldn’t hide the smile on her face. They just looked at one another for a long time, and a blush slowly began to show itself on her cheeks.

Justin studied her, the rosy cheeks complimented her fair complexion and her dark hair fell in loose strands around her face. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. A million thoughts rushed through his mind; he thought about her crazy ways, he thought about what his mom had said, what Maddie had said. Even with all the questions, nothing could keep his focus off of Ella. She was so breathtaking, and for once in her life, she was completely still and silent, as if waiting for him to tell her all of his secrets. He inhaled softly and pushed his forehead close to hers. Their eyes stayed locked and everything in him screamed to touch her, to kiss her. She blinked and he felt her nervous breath hit his mouth, tempting him all on its own. He didn’t want to ruin anything; he didn’t want to push too hard, so all he did was stay. When he felt her relax, he moved his arms and closed them tenderly around her waist. She looked up at him curiously and he smiled softly, nuzzling his face closer to hers, “I like this…” he whispered.

Ella could feel her heart beating, pounding against her chest and she was surprised he didn’t comment on it. It felt loud in her ears and she couldn’t find the words to say back to him. She only smiled. All she could do was smile.

Gathering what she could of her composure, Ella tightened the grip on his fingers and nodded, “I’m glad.” Her voice cracked and she giggled, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay” he whispered, still not able to break the gaze he had on her.

“You’re looking at me…”

“Is that okay?” he asked, noticing that her cheeks had reddened again, “I never knew you blushed so much.”

She laughed, “It’s one of my weaker points I must admit.”

“I think it’s cute.” Justin watched her feet shuffle back and forth, “You okay?”

Ella nodded and bit her lip, “Yeah.”

“You sure?”

Her eyes squinted uncomfortably and she began to jiggle her knee, “Um…can you excuse me?” she asked.

“Why?”

“I really have to pee.” She squirmed, detached her fingers from his and sprinted towards the bathroom door.

Justin laughed heartily, “I’m glad to know I have that affect on you!”

Ella yelled from behind the door, “Shut up!”

He shook his head and smiled when she reappeared, “Feel better?” She nodded her head and walked towards him, he instinctively pulled her hand back in his, “Are you done here?”

“I can be…what’s the plan?”

“Well, I don’t really feel like going out on the town, so how about we go back to my place for movies and veggies.”

“I know, I know. There’s this great restaurant and they have awesome chocolate cake. I’ll pick some up for you, how’s that?”

“Sounds great…I just need to clean a few things up.” She looked around at the mess she had made, “This is going to take awhile.”

“I’ll let you clean up, and I’ll order us a meal.” Justin offered, letting go of her hand long enough to scroll through his cell phone, “Do you trust me to order for you?”

“Of course.” Ella couldn’t keep a smile off of her face no matter how hard she tried. She knew that Justin could tell because he kept raising his eyebrows at her as if daring her to stop. She couldn’t.

As she cleaned up her mess, she listened to unfamiliar words roll off of Justin’s tongue and questioned his choices of food. The excitement she felt sped up her cleaning and it took no time. Justin walked towards her and pulled her up from the floor, he took a long look at a piece of furniture that she had finished, “I really like that.”

“Oh yeah?” She looked at the little table and back at his admiring face, “Thanks…it’s not really finished yet…”

“It looks great. I never knew you were into all this, I mean, I knew…but I’ve never seen it all…”

“Well, thanks…it’s always been something that I love to do. I tried designing clothes, but unfortunately, I’m not good with thread and a needle.”

“Somehow, I don’t doubt that…”

They walked together, their closeness a little more noticeable than at other times. Goldie shook her head and smiled at Justin, giving him a wink. He noticed and shrugged his shoulders. Ella had been distracted by a new rack of clothes and Justin walked towards Goldie, a sheepish grin on his face.

“You better be good to that girl over there.” She wagged her finger at Justin, “I’ve got my eye on you.”

He didn’t know whether or not to take her seriously, so he just nodded his head seriously, “I’ll be good to her.”

Ella neared Justin, “It was all too big…such a shame.”

Justin glanced at the strange clothes on the rack, “I don’t know, I think I’m kind of grateful for that.”

She nudged him in the side, “You’re so mean.” Grabbing her coat from behind the counter, Ella gave Goldie a kiss on the cheek, “Looks like my day was cut short.”

“There will be other days” Goldie said.

Ella nodded and slipped her coat on, “Bye darling.”

Justin opened the door for her and led her onto the sidewalk, “Pretty chilly out, huh?”

Her teeth were already chattering, “Tell me about it.”

“I called for a car.” He smiled and nodded his head towards a parked car, “All for you, Sunshine…”

Ella smiled, “Are you serious?”

“There are benefits.” He said simply, following her into the back of the car.

“This is so nice, Justin…” she clicked her tongue, “You’re so spoiled.”

“And you’re not?” Justin exclaimed, “I’ve seen you’re apartment! Most girls your age do not live in places like that, so I don’t want to hear it little miss.”

“Yeah, yeah…” she shrugged, “We’re just two spoiled brats then…”

He glanced at her, “I can live with that.”

Ella quieted herself and leaned back. This was so…weird. She was utterly and completely charmed. And usually, she wouldn’t let herself even go there…but, she was just enjoying it. It had been so long since someone had treated her with care, and to have it coming from Justin? Mr. Smooth himself…it was all so escalated. He was twirling a strand of her hair through his fingers and it was all she could not to lean over on his shoulder and just pass out.

Justin watched her closely, studying her every reaction to his touch. She relaxed when he took her hair in his fingers, and her eyelids slowly began to close as he continued. He reflected on the conversation with his mom. He had been so full of questions, but every apprehension just flew out the window the very moment he saw her. Even though everything was so perfect, he couldn’t help but think of Maddie’s opinion. What if this was just a phase? The last thing he wanted to do was break Ella’s heart. She wasn’t just some girl from a club, she wasn’t just a passing woman who had caught his attention…she had become his best friend, and the last thing in the world he wanted to do was hurt her. As he pulled her head closer to his shoulder, he sighed and planted a kiss on her temple. He was so determined not to screw things up; but unfortunately, he had no idea how hard it was going to be to hold her heart in his hands.