After such an adventurous day, I thought we both needed some time to unwind. Later that night, Brit and I called up a couple of our friends and we all went out clubbing. We were there for about an hour and all we’d done was girl talk, gossip and a little man bashing. Every once and a while a fan or a photographer would flash a picture, but for the most part we kept to ourselves and weren't bothered.

There was a sudden commotion at the door. We all looked around trying to see what the big deal was, but Britney headed to the dance floor. I know it may seem strange to think so, but Britney can be kind of shy. Everyone at the table could remember at least one instance in which one of us had to convince her to do something as small as getting on stage.

Liz smirked as she caught some movement out the corner of her eye. She immediately put us out of our curiosity.

“He’s here.”

There was a chorus of “no way”s as we all tried to discreetly look over our shoulders or twist in our seats.

Nancy Lee turned in her seat and confirmed it. “It’s him. I wouldn’t miss that smile from ten miles away.”

He stopped at the bar and picked up two drinks. He walked over to Brit and handed her one. We watched as they chatted a little longer, but they then moved to the corner of the room.

“Dang, y’all.” Josie sipped her drink. “I can’t see them.”

“Three minutes and they haven’t slapped each other yet,” I acknowledged.

Liz nodded in agreeance. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it ends.”

Unfortunately, we didn’t have to wait too long. Once again there was a commotion at the front entrance. Britney came back to our booth and grabbed her purse.

“Come on y’all. I’m ready to go.” Her voice was quiet and shaky.

We nearly had to run to catch up with her as she went to the limo. As soon as she entered, she broke down.

“Aww, don’t worry about him,” Josie comforted her. “He’s a fool if he doesn’t want to be with you.”

Liz lit a cigarette and took a drag. “Here, forget about him.”

Brit looked at the cigarette reluctantly, but she took it anyway. After a few puffs, she was at ease and joking about how much men sucked.

I joined in on the conversation, but my heart wasn’t in it. All I could think of was Justin and what he was doing to ease the pain.

After an hour or so I was able to sneak out (You’d think I was grounded!) to Justin’s. I’ll never understand rich people. He could afford this private residence and yet he insisted on staying in hotels.

Either way, I could hear the music as I took the short trip upstairs to Justin’s huge loft-styled apartment. I knocked on the door twice, skeptical as to rather anyone could hear over all the noise. When the door finally lurched open I was greeted by smoke, half nude girls and Chad Hugo. You know: the other half of the Neptunes.

“Hey, you’re umm…you’re Becca right?”

I nodded, a little shocked that he remembered me. We had met twice: once in the studio while Brit was recording “Boys” and another time at the video shoot. I may be a personal assistant but I still get star treatment now and then. I shook myself out of it and remembered my real cause for being there.

I walked through the living room and saw Pharrel passing a joint to some skank. Pusha T (from the Clipse) was getting a lap dance - and probably a lot more before the night was over, but that didn’t stop him from trying to hit on me.

I waved him off and continued to walk down the hallway and passed the other party goers. I reached Justin’s bedroom and knocked. I’m sure you’ll find it no surprise that there was no answer. After another minute I twisted the doorknob and pushed gently. The door was partially opened, but something was keeping it from opening completely. I looked down and found a familiar t-shirt blocking my entry.

I think that’s when I first heard the moaning. Then again, I think I’d heard before, but had decided to ignore it. Justin looked at me from his spot on the bed. He looked absolutely adorable; he was shirtless and completely red with surprise and embarrassment. His eyes shown like sapphires and with the look on his face, I could have kissed him. Only one problem with that: some bimbo was already doing so!

Oh, yeah, that’s right. I forgot to mention that things were getting hot and heavy until he locked eyes with me and nearly threw her to the other side of the bed.

She looked at Justin, then back towards me. Stripperella opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her with a raise of my hand.

“Don’t start with me, ‘cause I’m not in the mood. Just get your things and leave.”

Barbie just stood there with her boobs hanging out, lacing her panties up to their original…umm, splendor? Anyway, she was getting on my nerves, so I thought I’d help her find her way out.

“Just use the door and retrace your steps. You can go the way you came.”

“The way I came in? Like, with my legs wrapped around him? That might be hard.”

The conceited little smile she wore at that point was just too much. I grabbed her arm with all the anger I was trying to restrain and pushed her out of the room. Once we’d made it to the living room she pulled away from me and flung herself onto a couch.

A few people looked up at the disorder, but most were too engrossed in the music and substance induced euphoria to notice. It took me a few tries, but I eventually shut off the stereo and got their attention. It wasn’t until they all turned to look at me that I realized I had no clue what I was doing.

I felt like I was back in the fourth grade play and all eyes were on me. Only this time, my mom wasn’t there and everybody was either drunk or hopped up on something. Definitely not the scenario I had hoped for.

I suddenly saw a face I remembered. I’d never been so glad in my life to see Trace. He knew by the look of desperation that I needed his help. He left the small group of four or five girls he’d been dancing with prior to my presence. Everyone else continued to grumble and generally ignore us.

“Hey sweetheart, what’s up with you?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly ecstatic at this situation, so don’t try it. Just get all of these people out of here- pronto.”

Trace shuffled a few empty beer bottles around the coffee table before standing on it and shouting at the top of his lungs: “Party’s over.”

There was more grumbling, but he ignored it. “Y’all ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the hell up out of here before we call in 5-0.”

The room was immediately cleared except for Trace’s groupies. He looked at me for an answer and I sighed.

“You might as well.”

They whisked him out the door, leaving me alone to fend for myself. Walking back to the bedroom I thought about what I was going to say and how I was going to approach the subject. I had thought most of it out when I opened the door and found Justin sitting on the edge of the bed smoking a joint.

I ripped the rank object from his mouth. He let out a mouthful of smoke before looking at me. He was rather pissed at me, but I didn’t really care at that point.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying not to let you ruin another release tonight.”

“Funny,” I sneered, trying to collect my thoughts. “Where are Lonnie and Mike?”

“I suppose they’re at home.”

“So you had over a hundred people you don’t even know surrounding you and you didn’t even have security?”

Though his face was buried in his hands, I could still hear his muffled voice respond yes.

“God, J, what is going on with you? What happened to the guy I used to know. He was easy to talk to and carefree. He was always laid back; his idea of a good time was hanging out with his family and friends. He didn’t get high or drunk. He didn’t use women to have a good time. Where did he go?”

There were a few seconds of silence, and then the heartbreaking answer I’ll never forget. “I don’t know.”

For the first time that night I stopped thinking about Justin Timberlake: the record deal. I put my wounded pride aside and placed his feelings before mine. I stopped accusing him and just listened to him. I concentrated on Justin: the man that had lost himself trying to be perfect.

I reached out and his hand eventually found mine. He pulled me to stand in front of him, nestled between his legs, his head resting on my stomach. I was a little tense at the way his hands rested so low on my back, but I made myself relax.

He moved to lie down, but when he still didn’t let go, I followed him and lay next to him. Once again, I was more than a little worried about this new position. Okay, that sounded wrong, but you know what I mean. It was a little weird being this close to him. Besides that, J’s head rested on a precarious spot on my chest.

“I’m over her already. I mean, we were over before I wanted to admit it, so breaking up was simply something that had to be done. It’s just that-” He struggled for the words. “I guess I was just afraid to be alone, as pathetic as that sounds.”

“That’s not pathetic, Justin. That’s human nature.”

I continued to lecture him on human error, but after 5 minutes he’d stopped responding. I smiled as I realized he was asleep.