A/N: Obviously, I did not write, nor do I own any of the songs in this chapter. They are all Beatles songs.
Chapter Fourteen
Justin opened his eyes wearily and looked over at his alarm clock. “8:30 am,” it read. He closed his eyes again, realizing that he still had half an hour before he had to get up. That’s when he realized what had woken him up in the first place. Directly below him he could hear the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” blaring and Rachael singing along at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, there was a loud crash and he heard her yell, “Whoops!” Though she sounded more amused than concerned.
“What the hell is she doing?” he wondered out loud. He tried to ignore it, but his curiosity got the better of him. He got up, threw on a pair of pants and headed downstairs.
He found Rachael in the kitchen already dressed in sweatpants, a sports bra and running shoes. She was dancing around with the broom, still singing loudly and sweeping up what appeared to be the remains of a broken plate.
“Good morning,” he said groggily.
She jumped slightly, and then turned around to face him. “Hey, Justin. You scared me!” she exclaimed brightly as she turned the music down.
“You’re unusually chipper this morning.”
“Yes I am,” she replied with a grin.
He nodded. “And, what exactly are you doing?”
“Well,” Rachael began as though she were about to tell him a very and complicated story. “I woke up at about 6:00 this morning and I couldn’t fall back asleep. So I decided to go for a jog. I jogged around aimlessly for about half an hour and then I stopped by 7-11 just for kicks and guess what they had?!?!”
“What?”
“Guess!”
“I have no idea.”
She sighed, obviously disappointed at his current lack of ability to read her mind. “You remember those little strawberry shortcakes we used to get way back in the day?”
“You mean the ones your dad used to buy us when we were little?”
“Yes! I totally freaked out. I bought like five of ‘em and ate every single one. Then I came back here and started cleaning stuff. I’m surprised you didn’t wake up before now. I’ve been vacuuming and dusting and whatnot. I just started on the dishes, but I broke a plate, which kind of sucks.”
“Wow,” Justin replied, not sure of what else to say.
“Yes, but I am actually really tired, so you,” she said, poking his bare chest. “And I.” She pointed to herself. “Are going to go to Starbucks. So go…put on a shirt or something,” she added, waving her hand dismissively.
He looked at her skeptically. “You don’t look very tired.”
“Yes I do. Now go on.”
“What if I don’t want to put a shirt on?” he asked, folding his arms defiantly.
She snorted. “Well if you want to go prancing around naked, that’s fine with me, but don’t whine about it when you get rushed by those creepy fans of yours.” She faked a shudder.
He laughed. “Okay fine, just give me a minute.”
Justin headed upstairs to get ready and Rachael continued working on the dishes. It was more than half an hour before he finally came back down and Rachael was working on cleaning out his freezer.
“Why are you so bent on cleaning my house?” he asked her as he walked into the kitchen.
She sighed. “I just can’t handle it. It’s revolting. Don’t you have someone to come clean for you?”
“Yeah, but she’s on vacation.”
“For how long, a year?”
He shrugged.
“Are you aware that you had five month old frozen pizzas in here?”
“They’re good and crunchy that way,” he said, with a grin.
“Ew,” she replied plainly. “So are you finally ready to go?”
“Yep.”
“What took you so long? You’d think we were going to visit Buckingham Palace or something.”
“I was looking for my hat.” He pulled the dark blue baseball cap onto his head and put on a pair of glasses.
“Ooh, going in cognito, eh?”
“Yes. Exciting isn’t it?” Justin said as they got into his car.
“In the loosest sense of the word.” Rachael took out the Eminem CD that was in Justin’s player and replaced it with the Beatles. To her surprise, he didn’t object, but turned it up louder.
Rachael bopped her head to the music and clapped along with the claps on the CD, then began to sing along. “Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something. I think you’ll understand. When I’ll say that something. I want to hold your hand.”
Justin grinned at her, singing along too. “Oh please, say to me. You’ll let me be you man. And please say to me. You’ll let me hold your hand.”
“I wanna hold your hand. I want to hold your hand!” they sang in unison. “Justin keep your eyes on the road,” Rachael added to the tune of the song.
He laughed and they both continued to sing, with Rachael practically dancing in her seat all the way to Starbucks.
When they arrived at the coffee shop, they were both still singing as they got out of the car. Justin grabbed her hand and spun her towards him as she sang, “And when I touch you I feel happy inside.”
“It’s such a feeling that my love, I can’t hide,” he joined in as they entered the shop.
“Wait!” Rachael exclaimed, stopping dramatically as they walked through the door. Several of the customers in the store turned to look, as did Justin, who was on the verge of bursting into laughter. Rachael stepped closer to him, her face merely inches from his. “We are trying to be in congnito,” she whispered, purposely over-articulating the last few words.
“Oh, right, right,” he replied, pulling his cap down and glancing around shiftily.
“That,” Rachael stated, a look of utter seriousness on her face. “Was hilarious.”
“Thanks, I try.”
They got in line as people around them watched and whispered to each other. Justin held his head down a bit to try and hide his face.
“Does this happen every time you go somewhere?” Rachael whispered to him.
“Pretty much.”
She sighed. “That’s so sad. You’d think they’d never seen an ugly person before.”
“Hey!” he exclaimed.
She laughed. “I’m kidding, you’re hot.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“Nope. Whatever gave you that idea?” She grinned mischievously at him.
“I can read your mind.”
“Oh, really? What am I thinking right now?”
“That I’m hot.”
“Wrong. I was thinking that the world is shaped like a cylinder.”
“Lies. All lies.”
“What can I get for you?” asked the girl behind the counter, then she stopped suddenly. “Oh my god! You’re Justin Timberlake!”
“Actually he’s not, but he plays him on TV,” Rachael replied.
“Who are you?” the girl asked.
“I’m his bodyguard, who do I look like?”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Justin, can I have your autograph?”
“Sure-“
“Great!” she cut him off, grabbing a napkin and a pen. “Can you make it out to Angie?”
“Yeah, of course.” He signed the napkin and handed it to her with a smile.
“Oh my gosh, thank you so much.” She stared at the napkin as though it was the most beautiful thing she’d every seen.
“Um…are you gonna take our orders?” Justin asked.
Angie slapped her forehead. “Oh, right, sorry. What can I get for you?”
Justin ordered their drinks and they went to sit down while they waited for them.
“I thought we were supposed to be in cognito,” Rachael said to him as they sat down at a table in the corner of the room.
“Sorry, I tried.”
“And failed miserably.”
He laughed. “As usual.”
“Darn straight.”
A little girl walked up to them, holding out a piece of paper and a crayon. “Can I have your autograph?” she asked.
Rachael smiled. “Aw, J, you have to,” she said, not even giving him a chance to answer.
Justin laughed, and took the piece of paper from the little girl. “Of course you can, sweetie. What’s your name?”
“Maria.”
“What a beautiful name. How old are you?”
She grinned and held up five fingers.
“Wow! You’re a big girl.”
Maria nodded, still grinning.
Justin signed her piece of paper and handed it back to her. She leaned closer to him, pointed to Rachael and whispered, “Is that your girlfriend?”
He laughed. “Nope, that’s my bodyguard.”
“Oh. Well, I think she’s pretty.”
“Wanna know a secret?” he whispered to her.
She nodded.
“So do I.”
She grinned at him and then at Rachael who smiled and gave her a little wave. Maria’s mother, who had been hanging back watching, walked over to Justin.
“Thank you so much for doing this. She’s just in love with you,” she said.
“Oh, no problem.”
“We won’t hold you up any longer. Say good-bye, Maria.”
Maria just waved, still grinning widely.
“Bye, sweetie,” Justin replied.
“Bye,” Rachael added with a wave.
“Thanks again,” Maria’s mom added as they walked away.
Rachael sighed. “What a Kodak moment,” she said, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye.
Justin laughed.
“And you think I’m pretty. I’m so touched,” she joked.
He shrugged. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”
“You would lie to an innocent five year old? For shame, Justin, for shame.”
He was about to respond when their drinks were called out. They went up to the counter to get them, then headed out the door. Justin stopped to sign some autographs and they hurried out the door to avoid being ambushed by any more fans.
“That took way too long,” Rachael commented as they stood outside in the parking lot. Just then, they heard the click of a camera and saw a flash go off. This startled Rachael so much that she jumped and spilled her Caramel Cider all over Justin.
“Hey! Who’s taking pictures?” she yelled, looking around, but there was no one to be seen. “Punks,” she muttered under her breath.
Justin was simply standing and staring down at his shirt, which was covered in Rachael’s cider.
Rachael took one look and him and burst into laughter. “You look so depressed!” she exclaimed. “Wanna go back to house and get cleaned up?”
He looked at her, then back down at his shirt, looking extremely forlorn. Then he set his drink on top of the car and pulled his shirt over his head. “Looks like I’m gonna have to go prancing around naked after all.”
“Woohoo!” she exclaimed.
“I knew you’d like it,” he joked, winking at her as they got in the car and started heading back to his house.
“Actually, I find it quite disturbing. I think I’m scarred for life.”
“You mean blessed for life.”
“Gah, you’re trying to seduce me again!” she exclaimed, covering her eyes. “Hear no evil, see no evil.”
He laughed. “You suck.”
“No I don’t. I rock and you know it.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Rachael turned the CD back on and turned it to “Let It Be.”
“This song always reminds me of my dad. He used to sing it to me.”
“I didn’t know your dad could sing.”
She laughed. “He couldn’t.”
Justin smiled at her. He noticed, as he had earlier when he’d mentioned her father, that she didn’t have the usual look of sadness that she did when she talked about him. Instead she just looked like someone who was reliving the best moments of her life. He didn’t know what had caused this change, but he was glad to see her happy again. It had a been a long while since she’d acted like herself, and this morning it was like everything that had happened to her had just washed away. He knew she’d still have hard spots “ her first birthday without him, her first Christmas without him - but he also knew that finally had his Rachael back.
And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Number of reviews: 9
Print:
Chapter or Story