“Welcome to the Big Apple,” Justin announced two weeks later.

Brenna stared out of the window of the taxicab. “It’s beautiful.”

He laughed. “Most people don’t say that about the highway. They usually wait until they’re in Times Square.”

She ignored him and continued to look out the window. They were in New York for two days and she was so excited about it. It would be a busy two days, with all the tings Justin had scheduled and she knew she wouldn’t have a really good chance to sight see in the city, but just being there was good enough.

The taxi drove them through the city and Justin began to point out buildings and places as they passed. She was on a bit of a sensory overload by time the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel they were staying at.

“This hotel’s so nice,” she said as they got out.

“Trump International’s awesome.”

Mike, one of Justin’s bodyguards, who had come with them, slid out of the front seat of the cab and got their luggage from the trunk. Brenna was prepared to grab her bag but a bellhop was there before she could. When they went into the main lobby, she was surprised that the manager came to greet them and show them up to their room. Justin hardly seemed fazed and she saw his business side come out as he talked to the manager

The room was absolutely gorgeous and she was still staring in awe as the manager left.

“It’s okay that I only go tone room for us, right?” Justin asked, sitting down on the couch and flipping on the TV.

“Yeah,” she said, distracted as she wandered through the rooms of their suite. There was the living room area, a kitchen, and through a doorway, the bedroom where two large beds sat. Through another doorway was a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. The suite was like a miniature house. She wandered out onto the balcony and her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the view from their floor.

She stayed out there for a while before going back into the suite. She found Justin in the same spot on the couch.

“How can you just sit here watching Jerry Springer when you’re in a hotel room like this? Have you seen the view from the balcony?”

“I’ve stayed in this same room like a hundred times. It gets kind of old after a while.”

She went to look out one of the large windows. “It’s so cool. I don’t know how you could ever get bored of it.”

“You eventually will too. What time do I have to be at the TV studio?”

“Ten o’clock.”

“Let’s get some room service before we leave. I’m starving.”

She went over to the couch and leaned against the back of it so she could see the menu he was holding. They both ordered breakfast and then were out of the suite by quarter past nine. Justin was filming a television commercial for Diesel jeans who he was a spokesperson for and as soon as they were in the building, he was pulled away to go get clothes and be styled.

Brenna stood off to the side of the set and watched as Justin talked to the director of the commercial. She had been there for about five minutes when a voice spoke from beside her.

“This commercial’s going to take a while.”

She looked over and saw a lady standing there. “It is?”

“The way the director’s setting it up, it is. I’m Jenna. The stylist.”

“Hi. I’m Brenna Michaels.”

“Justin’s…girlfriend?”

“No, I’m his PA.”

“Ahh, I see. Hey, did you want to try on some clothes? You’ve got lots of time.”

“Um…” Brenna glanced at Justin and then back at Jenna. “Sure, I guess.”

“Don’t worry. If they need you, we’ll be close by.”

“Okay.” Brenna took one last look at the set and then followed Jenna to wardrobe.

Close to eleven that night, Brenna was laying in her bed at the hotel, watching television when Justin came out of the bathroom in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. He came over to her bed and flopped down on it, laying on his back beside her.

“What time do we have to be up tomorrow?”

“We have to be there at six.”

“Can you wake me up at five?”

“Yeah.”

“You got hooked up at Diesel today.”

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t’ think they would give me all those clothes for free.”

“They used to give Trace a lot too. And I get a shitload. It pays to be a spokesperson.”

“No kidding.”

Justin stretched his arms above his head and groaned. “I’m gonna be so tired tomorrow morning. I can’t believe I gotta be singing at eight in the morning.”

“I’ve never heard you sing for people before. Not live at least.”

“Well tomorrow you get a front row seat. Do we have any breaks at all tomorrow?”

“Not really. After the Today Show you’re doing a taping for Jay Leno, then you have two radio interviews back to back. You have a meeting with that lawyer Mick Watson, and then tomorrow night you have that Versace party.”

He groaned again and rubbed his eyes. “And our flight leaves when?”

“The next morning at ten.”

“Damn. That’s a lot. Hopefully the party won’t go too late.”

“What are you going to wear to it?”

He laughed. “Something Versace?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I got that. But what Versace?”

“I got an outfit with me.”

She rolled onto her side and pulled the blankets over top of her, up to her chin. “This bed is so comfortable.”

“I know. These suites are great. Did you look at the minibar?”

“No.”

“It’s always stocked up. Last time me and Trace were here we drank so much from it. The bill was like hundred of dollars.”

She closed her eyes. “That’s a lot.”

“Yeah, you kind of forget about it when you’re getting drunk.”

“Mmm hmm.”

The sounds coming from the TV stopped and she opened her eyes to see Justin sitting up, the remote in his hand.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, closing her eyes again.

“Yep. I’m gonna go to bed too. You’ll wake me up in the morning?”

“Yeah. Five o’clock.” She felt the bed move as he got up.

“Great. Night, Bren.”

She burrowed deeper in the bed. “Night.”

The next night Brenna sat alone on the balcony of the hotel suite. Justin was at the Versace party and she was relieved to have an end to the busy day. It was probably one of the most hectic days she had experienced and she needed to de-stress herself. It had seemed like everything they had had to do had run late and she hadn’t even realized she hadn’t eaten anything until they had gotten back to the hotel and she had started to feel faint. Justin had ordered her some room service and then gotten ready to leave again in a few minutes.

Now at ten o’clock, she was alone and it was refreshing. Noises from the street drifted up to her but she had gotten so used to background noise over the past few weeks that she was starting to find it a little comforting.

The day had been so long and tiring that as she fell asleep it was so gradual that she didn’t even think to move from the balcony. Justin woke her a few hours later.

“Planning on staying out here all night?” he asked when she opened her eyes.

She breathed in deeply and uncurled her legs from where they had been up against her body. “No.” She yawned. “How was the party?”

He shrugged. “It was alright. Coming inside?”

She stretched out her legs and the slowly stood up. “Yeah.” She pulled her sweater closer around her. “When did it get so cold out here?”

He shrugged again and opened the balcony door. She followed him inside and went to the bedroom. She changed into her pajamas quickly and then crawled into bed. Justin disappeared into the bathroom and when he came back into the room, he shut off the lights and Brenna heard him get into his bed.

“What did you do tonight?” he asked.

“Nothing really. Talked to Drew on the phone for a while.”

Justin was silent for a minute. “You guys have been going out for about a month, huh?”

“A month and a half.”

“That’s cool. Everything’s going good?”

“Yeah. Everything’s good.”

“I never thought you’d be going out with someone right away after moving here.”

She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling in the dark. “Me neither.”

“But you’re happy.”

“Yeah, I am. Everything’s so much better in LA than in Shelby Forest.”

“You know, whenever you want to go to Shelby Forest to visit, just say so and I’ll get plane tickets and we can both go.”

“I don’t think I’m really ready to go back yet.”

“Okay. Or if you want your mom to come up here and visit I’ll get her a plane ticket.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Justin. Mom mentioned coming to LA when I talked to her on Monday. She’d get the ticket herself though.”

“I can buy it. It’s really no problem.”

“I’m sure she’d rather buy it herself. But thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He coughed once and she heard him shift in his bed. “Being here was a lot of fun, huh?”

“Yeah. I like New York. Once I get tired of you I’ll move here.”

He laughed. “It was cool for it just to be me and you again. We haven’t been able to just hang out for a while. There’s always someone else there. I’ve missed it.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said softly.

“Even thought I felt like shit most of the time while I was in Shelby Forest in May, being there was a lot of fun.”

“Yeah.”

“When we get back to LA let’s do more things together. Like we did in Shelby Forest.”

She smiled in the dark. “Sounds like a good plan.”

Two days later, Brenna was awakened by her bed bouncing. She moaned and opened her eyes to see Justin standing at the foot of her bed, moving it up and down with his hands.

“What?!” she groaned.

“Let’s go for a run.”

She rolled onto her side and pulled her pillow over her head. “What time is it?”

“Eight. Early enough to get some nice exercise.”

“Justin…”

The pillow was pulled form her head. “We’re spending time together, remember? Hence, running together.”

“This wasn’t what I had in mind for spending time together,” she yawned. “How about you go and run and I’ll sleep and then we can have a late breakfast.”

“Or….we’ll go running. It’ll wake you up and get you going.”

“Or I could sleep and-”

“Get up, Bren,” he whined, interrupting her. “I’m all ready to go.”

She pushed back the covers with her feet. “You’re actually serious.”

“Dead serious.”

She frowned and sat up. “Going for a run isn’t my favorite thing to do at eight in the morning.”

“When will you be ready?”

“Give me ten minutes,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Twenty minutes later, she was jogging beside Justin, trying to keep her breathing steady. Justin seemed to have no problem with carrying on a conversation but she was content to just listen. How he could talk and run and keep his breath at the same time was beyond her.

After reaching the top of a hill, she slowed to a stop. “I-I can’t breathe,” she managed to get out as she put her hands on her knees and leaned forward. “Man, I’m so out of shape.”

“You should start working out with me and my trainer, Ryan. That would be fun.”

“You call that fun?!” she gasped out, sucking in a gulp of air.

“You’re just not used to it. Once you start doing it regularly it’s not so bad.”

“You’re way too enthusiastic about this.”

“I’m going to tell Ryan about you tomorrow when I see him. I’ll set up an appointment for you to meet him. We can work out together.”

She straightened and shook her head. “When I agreed that we should do things together I was thinking of something that involved way less physical activity.”

“You’re just lazy. Ready to go again?”

She groaned and reluctantly nodded. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”