“Jussin! Jussin!”
“Hey, you. What are you doing up so early?” Justin eyed Kaci’s outfit before turning his attention to Christi, “What are you two doing up and dressed so early this morning?”
Christi had already showered and dressed herself in a long-sleeved crème shirt, which was covering most of her white tank, khakis, and brown sunglasses, which held her free-flowing hair out of her face, and Kaci in a blue and white sundress and white sandals for the day ahead of them. Sliding under the covers and sandwiching Kaci between Justin and herself, Christi said, “Little me over here got a little restless this morning and pretty much woke me up the same way she did you. So I thought we’d go ahead and get dressed for the big day ahead of us.”
“Big day, huh? Says who?”
“Justin you did not drag us to New Orleans to sit and stare at a fancy hotel suite. You can, but Kaci and I are not. We want to see the French Market, Riverwalk Mall, etcetera. All of New Orleans.”
Tickling Kaci, Justin chuckled, “Ya’ll are not leaving me behind. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be ready.”
Already in the bathroom, Justin hollered back at Christi over the running water, “Did you eat yet?”
“No, we came to get you first. I thought we’d start the day off with Denny’s, IHOP, or some other diner. We can figure that all out on the way. Just hurry up," Christi replied as she snuggled deeper under Justin’s comforters.
Dressed, Justin wondered back out of the bathroom thirty minutes later only to find Christi in the same spot he left her. He smiled, thinking of her comfort level, before disappearing back into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
As deep as she was under his covers, Christi hadn’t missed his smile that practically melted her. With Justin out of the room, she formed a tiny peephole under the covers to keep her eyes on Kaci. So when she heard the bathroom door open, she couldn’t help that her reflex turned her attention to Justin for a little bit.
Christi felt herself becoming more and more attracted to Justin as time flew by and envisioning the two of them as an actual couple. Both Justin and Christi already knew where Justin stood in the entire non-relationship relationship confusion. The problem was that Christi wasn’t as sure and wasn’t as willing to risk their friendship for something more between them if there was even the slightest possibility that it would ruin what they had now. But now that she was growing more sure of the possibility of Justin and her as a couple, Christi didn't know if she had the nerve to tell him, nor how, that she wants to be more than friends who kiss occasionally.
Moving Kaci back toward her as she saw her daughter eyeing the edge of the bed, Christi spoke, “Come back here, you. Mama needs some help? What do you think?”
“Jussin! Jussin!” Kaci excitedly squealed, rocking on her hands and knees as Justin opened the door to reach for his clothes.
“Ten minutes and I’ll be ready.”
“Take your time,” Christi said as she snuggled deeper into his bed. ‘I still have some thinking to do,’ she thought.
**
After a nice hot shower, Jessi felt somewhat relaxed compared to the day she had and what was still to come. According to the clock on her side table, it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. In the total six hours which she’s been awake, Jessi had to sit through a frustrating meeting about the storyline of her first video, only to end up changing the entire concept three different times before everyone involved was satisfied. By the time the four hour meeting wrapped up, she had about twenty missed calls. Ten from her agent, seven from Christi, and three from JC. Humph, JC. His last message was the cherry on the top for her day. He had actually done it. JC officially broke up with her. Via voicemail, nonetheless. Not like Jessi didn’t see it coming. After five weeks of his nonstop moodiness and sudden disappearance to visit his parents alone, by her insistence, Jessi knew they weren’t going to last much longer. It was her not knowing what was wrong or how to fix it that bothered her the most. His voicemail only said he was “unhappy” in the relationship. By that point in the message, Jessi could only bring herself to laugh, “No shit, Sherlock. Of course, you’re ‘unhappy’ if you walk around mopping like someone stole his best friend.” And with that she threw her purse aside and headed for the bathroom. After the morning and first part of the afternoon she had, all Jessi wanted was a nice hot shower to calm her down.
But now that her shower was through, Jessi had other business to handle before she could relax for the day. Jessi settled herself into bed and reached for her cell phone.
**
Christi flipped her phone shut and frustratingly placed her sunglasses back on top of her head. Justin and she had only been in Louisiana one day and already the rest of their trip was going to have to come to a close. Although she willingly accepted Jessi’s request without a second thought, Christi wasn’t looking forward to telling Justin that they were going to have to cut their trip short. Christi looked over at Justin, with Kaci hiked up on his hip and looking at paintings, and slowly made her way in his direction.
“See anything you like?”
Justin shifted the stroller around so that he could place Kaci back in it. “Nothing for me. I’m actually thinking about getting this one for your living room. What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Christi looked around and spotted one she liked better. “That one.”
Justin notified the painter and turned his attention back to Christi. “How’s Jessi?”
Fidgeting, Christi answered, “Well, you see, she kinda needs a favor from me. No, us. Well, me but you come as part of the deal.”
“Huh? What’s the favor?”
Christi rambled on, “They had to change the video’s entire storyline and need to find someone to fit the lead role before tomorrow, when they start filming. And Jessi really, really wants me to do it. She said--”
Before Christi could plead much longer, Justin interrupted, “What do I have to do with all this?”
“I don’t know if you caught that they start filming tomorrow, but that means that we would have to be on a plane either tonight or sometime before four in the morning to be on time.”
“We? Didn’t you say that Jessi wants you, not me, in the video?”
“You don’t want to come with me? I asked Jessi if you could come with me and she said okay. I want you to come.”
" ok."
“So you’ll go?”
Christi’s eyes looked so hopeful that the Scrooge wouldn’t say no to her. “Yes., I’ll go.”
**
Justin sat down in the aisle seat as he watched Christi, with Kaci in her lap, stare out at the other planes taxiing around runways. “You okay?”
Startled, Christi jumped at the sound of Justin’s voice breaking her attention away from the outside scenery. She smiled back at Justin both to acknowledge that she heard him and to answer him. ‘I’m more than okay,’ Christi thought as she reached to take his hand in hers. At times like these, Christi often found herself thinking about their time together. Not just the past several weeks since he opened her eyes about Jordan. Nor just the past couple of months which they’ve been closer than normal. Their entire relationship. All she could think of was her chaotic year and Justin’s presence in it. He was one of the few people with enough patience to overlook the fact she was in the middle of a ugly divorce, just had a baby, and still dealing with issues from her past. Justin had stuck through it all. He was there for her in more ways than most friends would normally be, and Christi couldn’t help but think if he'd had feelings for a lot longer than he let on. Looking back, she now understood how people thought they were together. How the media misinterpreted their friendship for more than what it was at the time. But now she wasn’t so sure that was the case. Now they were actually seeing Justin’s open affection toward Christi as more than his best friend. And here she was keeping him at arm’s distance because she was scared to mess up her best friendship, except for with Jessi. ‘How stupid am I?’ Christi thought before speaking aloud, “I want more.”
“More of what? What are you talking about?”
Intertwining her fingers in Justin’s, Christi reached up and kissed Justin. Really kissed him. Tongue and all. Pulling back a little, Christi smiled, “I want ‘us’ to be more, Justin. You and Me. You make me so happy. I honestly can’t explain it. You’ve stuck around through the good times and bad. And lately there’s been more bad than good. You’ve gotten me through the divorce, petty fights, fears and issues surrounding the past accident and seeing through Jordan once again. You don’t look down on the fact that I have a kid. I don’t know how I could’ve done any of it without you.”
Christi finished talking and refused to look Justin in the eyes. Instead, she chose to stare at the way his hand fit hers.
“Christi, look at me.”
“No.”
Typical. Justin chuckled, “Why not?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“Because I don’t want to look at you.”
“Am I that ugly or something?”
“God, no! I just don’t want to look at you right now.”
Before Christi could think about it, Justin turned her face to his with his free hand. “I don’t think you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that. I want more, too. There’s no need for you to be nervous around me.”
Justin sealed his word with another kiss. One that left Christi breathless. “Feels right, doesn’t it? Us, I mean.”
“Yes, and if I didn’t have a passed out child in my lap, I’d return the favor.”
Settling for a peck, Justin lifted the chair’s arm dividing them and slid his arm around Christi, who snuggled into Justin’s side. “So how do you want to do this?”
“Do what?”
“When we land, it isn’t going to just be us. People are going to be there. Jessi, Mike, and Troy. Travelers. Paparazzi. How are we going to do this? Do you want to keep this to ourselves for a while or what?”
“Jessi’s going to know something off the bat. And Mike is on a need to know basis. As for everyone else, if they ask, we’ll just answer.”
“My mom and your parents may need to be added to that ‘need to know’ list.”
“My brother and Adriana.”
“Trace, Joey, Lance, JC, Chris.”
“Brian, Ana, and her father.”
Justin laughed, “And everybody else.”
**
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Christi threw Justin an “I told you so” look and dropped his hand as Jessi pulled her into as tight of a hug as possible with Kaci still sprawled out over Christi. Justin received a kiss on the cheek from Jessi once she pulled from the hug. After the brief exchange, Justin excused himself to fill Mike and Max, Jessi’s new bodyguard, in on what’s going on.
Elbowing Christi, Jessi said, “When did all this happen?”
Sidestepping Jessi, Christi adjusted Kaci’s head on her shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Something’s different between you and Justin.”
Still not looking at Jessi, Christi said, “We’re officially together. End of discussion.”
“Oh, no it’s not.” Remembering back to how Christi pushed for information when Jessi and JC started their relationship, Jessi pushed back, “You forced every ounce of information out of me about JC, and now I’m going to do the same to you about Justin.”
Jessi wasn’t planning on dropping the subject anytime soon, and Christi knew it. She looked up and let Jessi in on what she was really thinking about the changes between her and Justin, “I don’t know how to explain it. Everything just feels, I don’t know, weird.”
“What do you mean ‘weird’?”
“I just don’t understand how we’re just suppose to go from being friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. I know people, including you, honestly believed we were more. But we weren’t. Not to me, at least. I saw Justin as a really good guy friend. Yeah, we kissed every now and then unlike people who are just friends. But in my mind, that’s all we were. Just friends. So the transition has me feeling a little weird. Sometimes, awkward.”
“It’ll get better. Trust me. When JC and I came to the point that we wanted to give things a try, we didn’t know what we were suppose to do. We didn’t know if the other was thinking so we fumbled over everything. Every kiss, hug, and even holding hands. You’ll grow into it.”
“I hope so. Now, let’s go make a video.”
Jessi chose to drop the subject now that she coaxed Christi into telling her what was going on. Jessi looped her arm in Christi and smiled her first genuine smile all weekend as she saw Justin out of the corner of her eye affectionately wink at Christi. ‘Oh, Christi will grow into it alright. That she was sure of, if nothing else,’ Jessi thought.
**
Christi sighed, “So how does all this work? What am I suppose to do?”
“Beats me. I’m just as new to all this as you are. But from what I’m told, some people are suppose to come in here and make us all ‘pretty,’ and then, voila! I have my video.”
Christi laughed as she saw the stylist standing behind her and playing with her hair. “If that’s all you got out of all those meetings you’ve had this weekends, why were there so many and so long?”
Straightening up in the chair next to Christi which she occupied not long after Christi sat in hers, Jessi said, “Actually, they’re going to tape you getting dirty while playing baseball and basketball. Then, do a couple of shots of you in a pool. Later, you’ll do a few scenes where you get all dolled up for the party you were invited to at the beginning of the video as well as you attending the party and meeting your Prince Charming at the end of the video.”
“I’d hate to break it to you, Jessi, but how do you expect me to do all of that on a hurt leg? Better yet, get in a pool of all things with a cast on?”
“It’s Hollywood! They can do anything. You being in a cast is just a minor detail. They’ll probably do a bunch of headshots throughout and put your top half in a tank or something for the pool scene. But if that doesn’t work out, they have a plan B. They’ll put you in one of those special pools that hospitals use for therapy since you now have one of those casts you can take off.”
“Okay, but what about you? This is your video you know? Do you plan on being in it?”
“I know, but you’re the main storyline. All I have to do is a bunch of singing in various styles depending on your scenes. Therefore, all my parts don’t come until tomorrow. Today’s all you,” Jessi said, smiling at Christi through the mirror.
Christi rolled her eyes, “Lazy ass.”
Not too long after Christi’s comment, Justin walked in with Kaci in her stroller.
“All set?”
“The bags are at my place if that’s what you’re getting at. Nothing’s unpacked. Thought you’d want to do that yourself.”
Jessi got up to get Kaci. She needed air and she planned on using Kaci as her excuse. “Hey, Christi, you don’t mind if I take Kaci out while you’re on set. She’s going to get restless. What do you say?”
Christi watched Jessi through the mirror as Jessi bounced Kaci in her arms and Kaci giggled. “Where do you plan on going?”
“Just for a walk, nowhere far. I’ll take Max with me just in case anything happens,” Jessi said, thinking Christi would be worried about her daughter being in the middle of a mob crowd. Little did she know Max was going to be needed and put to use.
“You sure you don’t want to be around for YOUR video?”
Jessi smiled back at Christi, “I’m sure. I think you’re going to be okay. I hear Justin’s suppose to be working with you.”
Christi head turned to Justin, “What? How come you never told me?”
“I wasn’t supposed to be in the video at all. But, this one,” Justin pointed to Jessi, “and the director conspired against me.”
“What do you mean?”
Jessi butted in, “What he means is, the director approached him not too long after he saw the two of you acting all lovey dovey and propositioned Justin. The director mentioned the kissing scene and how his assistant was the one lined up to play your counterpart. Instead the director offered Justin the role if he wanted it. And let’s just say Justin jumped at the part the second it was offered to him so that the assistant's lips come no where near your's.”
Justin rolled his eyes as he watched Jessi’s eyes light up while talking about his jealousy. “You mean to tell me that JC wouldn’t do the same for you. If he had the chance.”
Both Christi and Justin watched the spark in Jessi’s eyes go out with Justin’s statement and were confused.
“Well, lucky for me we're not together anymore,” Jessi said as she placed Kaci in her stroller and left.
Shocked, Christi and Justin’s eyes met in the mirror.
“What am I going to do with her?”
“What am I going to do with him?” Justin said, already pulling out his cell to dial JC’s number.
**
Not far from the studio, Jessi and Kaci stumbled onto an almost empty park. There they found an abandoned and open section of the park with a sandlot that encased a set of swings and a jungle gym for Kaci to play on. The place was perfect for what she searched for. Not only did she find a place for Kaci to take away her restlessness from being cooped up on set all morning, but also a place she felt she could breathe, away from everything. Away from the responsibility of her video and frustrating meetings. Away from Christi and Justin. Away from seeing their newfound relationship and happiness. Away from the looks of pity over her fallen relationship with JC. Away from everywhere she felt uncomfortable because she definitely did not feel like a “Cinderella” at the moment.
Here, she was free. Free to do what ever she wanted and with someone that she knew would not bring her back to reality, where everything she wanted to get away from was. Kaci was too young to understand the pressure and stress Jessi felt, and Jessi was thankful for that. The two could play and not have to worry about the world. And that’s all Jessi wanted and needed at the moment.
Jessi situated Kaci in her lap as they prepared to go down the slide together. The short ride ended and Jessi's heart melted as Kaci giggled and chanted, “Again, again!” Just for that, Jessi indulged Kaci again and again on the slide. After several times down the slide, Jessi tired and introduced Kaci to the game of Captain, which consisted of Kaci amusing herself by spinning the steering wheel. Jessi rested beside her before a brilliant idea struck Kaci and she wondered off on her hands and knees. Jessi chased after her as the little girl giggled, trying to make a get away. Kaci squirmed as Jessi blew rasberries on her tummy. The two grew tired from the short chase, and Jessi hopped the two of them off the jungle gym and placed Kaci in the kiddie swing. Jessi pushed Kaci on the swing, and the little girl gasped excitedly as she went higher and higher. Kaci squealing went a whole pitch higher as she watched a minivan door open out the corner of her eye.
The driver of the minivan got out the car with a box of puppies in her arms. Her dog had given birth to another set of puppies not long after her first set. At the rate that her dog was making babies, her husband and her would be out of house and home trying feed and take care of the destruction to the house if they kept all of the puppies. So instead of raising the new puppies themselves or giving them to the pound, they figured they would give the puppies away to people who wanted them. And they decided the park would be the perfect place to find people to give the puppies to those that wanted them.
The owner placed the box of puppies in the shade where she could keep watch of them and set up the sign she made. While figuring out where the sign looked best she hadn’t been pay much attention to the little one, Simba. Simba was very much like his Disney character namesake, going off on little adventures and getting himself into trouble. And being in a place such as a wide open park where he can roam, Simba felt like he was in his element. He was loving this place already. He scrambled his way out the box and ran behind a tree. His small eyes scanned his surroundings. Quickly spotting a target, the young chow wandered off in the lone toddler’s direction. All the while the owner remained clueless to her pet’s escape.
For a brief moment, Jessi took her eyes off of Kaci as she reached under the stroller for the little girl’s diaper bag, not paying much attention to her surroundings or the escaped puppy coming their way. The little chow stopped in front of Kaci with its small brown eyes staring back at her. Kaci crawled toward the dog and started petting its brown furry head. The puppy's insistence on licking Kaci’s petting hand and face started another round of giggles from Kaci. It tickled.
Jessi looked up from under the stroller once she heard Kaci giggling. She wondered what had caught the little girl's0 attention but didn’t wonder much longer once she realized Kaci had found herself a furry little friend. Jessi wanted to leave Kaci be, but she knew Christi would kill her if she found out Kaci was playing with a stray animal. Jessi just about panicked until she saw a person who looked to be the owner coming their way.
The owner scooped the puppy into her arms and began apologizing, “I’m so sorry. I turned my back for a second and this little one got away from me. I couldn’t find her at first, but then I heard this little cutie you got here.”
“She’s a cutie alright, but I can’t take credit for her,” Jessi rambled, “But her mother would kill me if she knew that Kaci was playing some stray dog. Has it had its shots?”
“My husband took them to the vet once they were born to get them checked out. We have two little boys at home, and we didn’t want them picking up anything. I understand where your concern comes from. I probably would panic if I found Chase or Daniel playing around with a stray.”
Jessi sighed with relief and a comfortable silence ended the conversation for a short while. That is until the puppy squirmed in its owner’s arms as Kaci tried to reach for the dog. Jessi attempted to take Kaci into her own hands but the little girl was not having any of it. She wanted the dog, and no one was going to stop her. Kaci did what all kids do when they wanted their way, dropped to the floor, kicking and screaming. And Jessi fell for it, nothing new there.
“How much do you want for this little guy? It is a boy, right?” Jessi questioned, trying to look underneath for her answer.
“Simba’s a boy alright,” the owner said, lifting the puppy for Jessi to see what she was looking for. “Are you sure? Her mother‘s not going to be upset?”
Jessi looked down at a Kaci, covered in sand from her tantrum, and responded, “I honestly don’t know. Her mother used to have a dog when she was little, but I really don’t know. An impromptu purchase of a puppy may throw her for a loop.”
The owner set the puppy down to play with Kaci. “Let me get you his shot record, and I’ll be on my way. I’ve still got the others to look after.”
Watching Kaci play with Simba, Jessi sighed, “You’re mom’s going to freak. I know that much.”
The owner came back with papers for the puppy and other information she thought Jessi might need to take care of the puppy. The little fella was going to need food, water, and other little things that Jessi was going to have to pick up from a pet store. Thinking she would soften the blow to Christi, Jessi placed the abandoned diaper bag back under the stroller and strapped Kaci along with Simba into the seat. And they were on their way.
**
“Where to Mr. Timberlake? You owe me a date.” Christi smiled up at Justin.
The two had just finished the final scene and they were done. Free to do what they please. Jessi had called. She said she would keep Kaci for the night so the couple could have some time to themselves that did not involve making her video. The way Jessi worded her offer on the phone was enough to make Christi wary of it but she did not question her best friend. Hey, if she wanted to watch Kaci for the night, how stupid would she be to not take her up on the offer. So here Christi was with her arms around Justin’’s neck and Justin’s around her waist. They were standing in the same spot where they did the huge kiss scene. And everyone moving around the two didn’t seem to catch their attention.
“Depends. Where do you want to go?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just no stuffy restaurants.”
Justin laughed at Christi’s scrunched up nose, “I figured you weren’t the type for stuffy restaurants. So how ‘bout a late night movie, and then we’ll figure out the rest from there.”
“But we always watch movies. I want to go out,” Christi pouted.
“We are…to a real movie theatre, the whole shebang. We’ll get a huge tub of popcorn, maybe nachos, and icees.”
“Isn’t that a little risky? Going to the movies? In LA? Papparazzi paradise? We don’t even do that in Houston. What makes you think we can do that here?”
“I can’t guarantee you complete privacy, but I’m pretty sure I can get us away from most situations as normal people. I lived out here long enough to know I need to buy tickets online, choose late times, and arrive toward the end of the previews when it’s dark and most people are seated.”
With her nose still scrunched, Christi spoke, “I don’t know about this, Justin.”
Justin kissed her nose, and it relaxed a little. “Just trust me, okay? It’ll be fun. Think of it as an experience.”
“Are you sure you want this?”
“I wouldn’t be suggesting it if I wasn’t okay with. The question is whether or not you’re going to be okay with it?”
“Well, it’s not like it's going to last long is it? We’ll be inside most of the time, right?”
“Right. But it may seem like a forever when the photographers are in our faces.”
“You really want this?’
Justin knew what Christi was really asking and he wasn’t going to fall for it. “I’ve realized its just a part of my life that won’t be going away any time soon and learned to deal with it. I’m not going to be caged up inside because they’re on the other side of the door. The real question is if YOU really want this.”
Silence settled over the two as Justin awaited Christi’s answer, and Christi flashbacked to the vicious paparazzi outside the hospital and her fall. ‘If that how they were Houston, imagine how they are in a territory that they’re familiar with,’ Christi thought, ‘But then again Justin’s right, we can’t live our lives around them. We should be able to do what we want, where we want, and when we want just like everyone else.’
Watching the wheels turning in Christi’s head, Justin would have sworn Christi was going to opt for something out of the way of the paparazzi. But then, she surprised him when he saw her smile and put her mouth near his ear. “I want it almost as much as I want us to be together.”
**
Just like Justin said, he ordered the tickets on-line, and they waited until the last minute to enter the theatre. No one even noticed them. They blended in with everyone else. Christi wore a black tank top under her cropped blue jean jacket, which matched her capris, and black flip flops. Justin wore his casual shirt, jeans, and sneakers combo. Nothing to fancy. Nothing anyone would wear to a stuffy restaurant or better yet a celebrity would be caught dead in. However, getting their popcorn and icees almost blew their cover. Seems that a fan had seen Justin wear his shirt before and decided to call out his name. She wanted to make sure it was him before she made a fool out of herself and asked the wrong person for an autograph. Christi felt Justin stiffen when he heard someone call his name and could see him regretting not taking Mike along with them. Christi told Justin to follow her lead. Knowing that the fan had to be watching them, Christi mouthed Justin’s name to her as if she was shocked that ‘Justin’ would be there and started looking around for this so-called ‘Justin.’ Justin rolled his eyes like the typical boyfriend and saw the girl’s excitement literally deflate out the corner of his eye. As much as he felt bad for what Christi and he did, Justin did not want to blow their cover. Especially tonight, on their first date. He had everything planned out, including the surprise afterwards.
The movie finished, and Christi and Justin blended in with the crowd as they left. But once they made it outside, they ran all the way to the car, not wanting to test their luck of not getting caught so far. Christi noticed they weren’t headed back toward Justin’s house and questioned Justin.
“You’ll see.” Was all Justin said.
“See what?”
“You’ll see.”
“I’ll see what?”
“’You’ll see’ as in it’s a surprise so you can stop asking because I’m not going to tell you.”
Christi didn’t have to turn her head to know that Justin was amused. She heard it in the way he spoke his stupid ‘you’ll see’ comments. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think that this was Justin’s payback for all the secrecy surrounding Silver Leaf and the whole kidnapping initiation that had happened almost a year ago. Figuring that this was his area, like Silver Leaf was her's, Christi went along with him. Silently wondering what Justin was up to.
Christi pulled her phone out of her purse and noticed two missed calls. She looked back at Justin, realizing she wasn‘t going to let any “drama” ruin their date. She owed it to Justin to have one night off. Away from everything. But little did she know that one call was Serena calling to inform Christi that Jordan put Courtney in the hospital and the other from a hysterical Jessi.
