:::...PreDestined...:::
Chapter Fifty- Four:
Alyssa waited in line nervously. She was part excited, and part scared out of her mind. The screeching of prepubescent girls was driving her nuts as she was pushed back and forth by the girls behind her, trying to get closer. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing, or how she was going to be able to do it. She was set on one thing, and one thing only: the Meet and Greet. If she got that far, she knew everything would turn out all right. Seeing Dre up ahead, Alyssa smiled, praying over and over again in her head for a miracle. Finally, clad in a tight Nsync tee shirt, and tight, holey jeans, Alyssa reached where he stood like a stone and flashed a bright smile. She stepped off to the side of the line, allowing herself to be cut by the other young girls so that she could try to bribe the guard into letting her in the Meet and Greet. She touched his hand gently, and cowered beneath him, a little scared that he would toss her up in the air. “Do you remember me?” she asked him, staring up at his stone face.
Dre studied her, and finally, like a light bulb going of fin his head, Dre’s eyes lit up as he pulled Alyssa into a thick, warm hug. “Of course I remember you, Miss Alyssa Davis!” he said, pulling her out of his arms to smile at her. “Cute shirt!” he said, sharing a laugh with her.
“Well, I thought if I didn’t wear one, I wouldn’t fit in!” Alyssa said, smiling at him. Seeing Dre, full of life, Alyssa suddenly yearned to be back in the family, in the group. She missed those smiles, and just everything about it. “I was wondering if you could, pretty, pretty please do me a huge favor..?” She asked him, batting her eye lashes.
“And what might that be, Alyssa?” Dre asked skeptically, trying to hide his smile from her. It was so nice to see her again, it had been too long. She looked good too, color in her cheeks, light shimmering in her eyes.
“Well, I was just wondering..” she pleaded, pushing her bottom lip out, “if maybe I could somehow, squeeze into the meet and greet? Pretty please...?” she asked, smiling at him with a playful pout in her eyes.
“Alyssa, I don’t know..” Dre teased, knowing it was driving her crazy. “I mean, that really isn’t fair..”
“Please, please, please!” she pleaded, squeezing his hand in hers. “PLEASE!”
They both laughed at how funny Alyssa was being, and then Dre placed his hand on her back and led her with him to the meet and greet area, setting her up with a seat in the middle of the room, amungst younger girls and their mothers. “Here you are!”
“Thank you so much!” she said to him, her eyes on the door that the guys would be coming in from.
“Will I see you after the show?”
“Um, not sure..Let’s hope so!” Alyssa said, smiling once more at him. Their eyes locked, Dre squeezed her hand once more, and left her in the room, butterflies errupting in war in her stomach. Before she knew it, the girls around her were screaming as she watched five heads walk slowly into the room. Everyone was standing up, but Alyssa remained seated, not wanting to be seen by them just yet. All she wanted to do was get in line, and get her autograph. Numerous girls gushed out insignificant questions to the guys, each one taking a turn at answering. The room seemed to be elated and on cloud nine, just with the presence of the boys. Alyssa couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm that lingered in the air. Before she knew it, she was lined up, squeezed in between young, on the verge of fainting, girls. Her hearbeat began rising as she could see Justin’s head bent down while he signed photographs and smiled at the fans. Alyssa pulled the envelope and photograph from her purse, trembling with excitement and fears.
Not looking up at the person standing in front of him, Justin took the items from the table and slid them around so that he could see them better. One was a pale blue envelope that scribbled, “Happy Birthday, Just” on it in familiar handwriting. But as familiar as it seemed, he couldn’t put his finger on it. Next to the envelope sat a photograph. Justin strained his eyes as he picked it up in his hands, noticing that it wasn’t from a photo shoot. Instead, it was of himself sitting on the couch at the compound, his face smiling at the person lying across his lap. Resting her head on his thighs was a smiling Alyssa. From the picture, it was clear that the two were in love, as they were staring into one another’s eyes, oblivious to the photographer. “How.. how did you get this?” he asked the fan, still not looking up from the picture.
Alyssa leaned down, smiling at him, “It’s from a private collection.” she whispered, grinning mischievously once their eyes met.
“Oh my God!” Justin screamed, not even realizing the volume of his voice. He saw Alyssa and he suddenly felt wonderful inside. He got up quickly, his chair falling over behind him, and ran around the side of the table, swooping Alyssa up in his arms. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?!?” he asked, swinging her around, not caring who saw them. Alyssa just wrapped her delicate hands around his neck, smiling at being reunited finally with the missing feeling of his touch.
“Happy Birthday, Baby.” she whispered to him, wiping a tear from her eye before allowing it to fall. Justin slowly set her back down on the floor, looking her over closely. It had been so long, so very long since he had seen her, smelled her perfume, touched her soft skin. It had been too long.
“I can’t believe you remembered.” he said softly.
“Just, I wasn’t going to let you get away with your twenty- first birthday without at least sending you a card.” she said, smiling as her hand found its way to his. “I think it was just fate that brought you to my neck of the woods. I know it’s a little early, but you guys are all over the place.”
“It’s never too early.” Justin said quietly, finally calming down. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he said quietly, placing her back down on the floor. Quickly, the guards ordered the line to skip over Justin, seeing that there was no way he would get away from Alyssa, he was too happy.
“I really do believe it’s destiny..that you’re here. I have a gift for you at the apartment, but I wasn’t going to bring it here. Are you going to be in town for very long?”
“Oh?” Justin said, a hint of curiosity in his voice. “Um, I think we leave late tomorrow night. I know we have the day after tomorrow off. So..tell me about this gift?” Justin said, raising his eyebrows forcing Alyssa to laugh at him.
“Uh uh, no way. No hints. I wasn’t even sure I’d get to see you.. I have the worst seats.” Alyssa said, fidgeting with her hands over the pointless conversasion.
“Nonsense. We’ll put you up in VIP with Kel. That’s settled.”
“Just, no..” Alyssa protestested, her eyes growing desperate.
“Of course. How did you get in here anyway? This is usually the hardest part.”
“Dre.” Alyssa said with a bright smile. “Of course, he loves me.” Aly proclaimed triumphantly.
“We all love you, Lyssa.” Justin said quietly causing Alyssa’s smile to fade. An awkward silence soon found the two as Justin store down at his feet while Alyssa fiddled with her fingers.
“Um, yeah..” Alyssa said, nerves overcoming her suddenly. “You should, uh, probably get back to signing things..”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Justin said, finally taking his gaze off of his shoes to look in her big brown eyes. “Did you want me to sign that photo for you?” he asked, smiling.
“Uh, nah. No offense, but I have plenty of your signatures around.” Alyssa said with a grin. “I thought maybe you could keep that.. you know for the road, and.. I don’t know, think about me.” Alyssa said quietly, afraid of what his reaction would be.
“Oh, Lyss, I don’t need a photograph to think of you. I think of you all the time.” he said earnestly. “Besides,” he added, noticing Alyssa wasn’t completely smiling, “I have tons of pictures of you in my bunk and all around the bus and everything. And I keep a photo album with me.” He smiled, touching her hand softly, rubbing her thumb gently with his. Trying not to seem obvious, Justin looked down at Alyssa’s left hand, searching for signs of Chad. She smiled when she saw what he was doing.
“I didn’t marry Chad, if that’s what you’re looking for, Just.” she said with a smile.
“Oh, I wasn’t looking for any rings or anything, just checking out your fingernails. You know, it’s a good color nail polish, that’s all.” he said awkwardly, embarassed at being caught.
“Just,” Alyssa said giggling, “I’m not wearing any nail polish.”
“Oh. Right.” he said, locking eyes with hers, happy to see them sparkling so brightly. “I had to look, Lyss.” he said quietly.
“I know.” she said smiling weakly at how adorable he was being at that moment. “I don’t know what happened, really. We got here, and everything was going perfectly. But, you know, something was missing, I guess.”
“Someone?” Justin asked hopeful.
“Maybe.” Alyssa said, staring at him whole heartedly. “I don’t know. But we started arguing all the time, and we just decided that it wasn’t the best idea any more. I’m only nineteen, I can’t really be thinking about marriage.”
“You’re right.”
“So, he let me keep the house, but I moved into a smaller apartment a couple weeks ago, and the firm set him up with a nice apartment, closer to the offices.”
“Sounds nice.”
“Yup, so it’s just me and Boots now, and..” she trailed off, not wanting to give away the surprise to Justin.
“And who?” he asked, anxiously.
“Oh, me, Boots, and the neighbors.”
“Right.” Justin answered skeptically.
A man in a suit with headphones on walked briskly up to Justin. “You’ve got to get going, get ready.” he said. Justin turned and looked at him strange, then looked around the room to see that all the fans had left. Neither he or Alyssa had noticed the room had emptied, they were completely enfatuated with one another in their own, quiet world.
“All right,” Justin answered, a little stunned by how captivated he had been by Alyssa. But it had always been that way. “I’ve got to get going, I guess.” he said, looking at Alyssa, not really wanting to leave her, their fingers still interlocked.
“Okay.” she said, not wanting to let go of him.
“Well, you know, come with me, and we’ll get you set up in the VIP booth. Okay?” Justin asked, relieved to have found a loophole to having to leave her.
“Oh, I don’t know, Just..” Alyssa said hesitating.
“No, I won’t let you argue with me.”
“Whatever you say, Timberlake!” Alyssa said happy just to be near him again. Justin held Alyssa’s hand the whole way to the VIP booth. When they got up there, Alyssa was relieved to see that Kelly was not there, at least not yet. Alyssa was elated at seeing Justin again, but she knew the others, especially Kelly, would not be so forgiving. “Thank you, Just.. really.”
Justin leaned down and kissed Alyssa gingerly on the cheek, falling back into his old ways. He smiled at her, knowing he had caught her off guard. “I’m going to come up here and get you after the show.” he said, grinning brightly at his own idea. “So don’t even think of trying to get out of here.”
“Just..” Alyssa protested.
“Nope. I have to get going. Enjoy the show!” with that, he winked at her, and hurried out of the booth to get ready for the show. Alyssa wasn’t even interested in seeing the show, she had seen it a million times, watched the guys rehearse a trillion times, but she desperately wanted to see Justin again. Alyssa’s heart began pounding when she heard the door open, not truly wanting to, Alyssa watched closely who walked through the door. She wasn’t surprised at all to see Kelly, clad in leather pants and a warm, cream colored sweater.
“Hi..” Alyssa addressed awkwardly. She could tell Justin hadn’t mentioned her presence to anyone by the look on Kelly’s face. And clearly the others didn’t say anything. “Uh, Justin brought me up here. I have tickets, if you want me to leave, I can do that.. no problem.”
“Uh, no, no that’s all right.” Kelly said, just as nervous. “I didn’t know you were here..” she said sitting down next to Alyssa in the plush seats.
“Well, I heard about the concert through some ad, and I don’t know, it’s so close to Just’s birthday, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”
“Oh..”
“Yeah, and then I saw Dre, and he was totally sweet about things, and got me in the Meet and Greet, and then I saw Justin. And well, here I am.”
“Oh.” Kelly said shaking her head, unsure of whether she liked Alyssa again or not.
“How have things been?”
“Good, fine. The guys have been working really hard for the tour. Justin’s sort of been a zombie..” Kelly looked at Alyssa’s hurt face and instantly regretted her harsh words. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.”
“Yes.. yes, it is, and I deserved that.”
“So..” Kelly said, sighing, “how’s married life?”
“Oh, I’m not married. Chad and I, well, we ran into some complications, and.. it just didn’t work out.”
“I’m not surprised.” Kelly said under her breath. She looked at Alyssa hoping she didn’t catch her comment, but the expression on Alyssa’s face only told her she did. “I, uh, I just meant that I didn’t think he was the best idea for you.”
“Right.” Alyssa saw that the conversasion was not going very well and sat back in her chair, wishing that the opening acts would finally open the show. Soon the lights dimmed, and the screaming fans went crazy. Alyssa tried her hardest to enjoy the show, keeping her eyes solely on Justin, but she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable being so close, yet so far away from Kelly at the moment. Not soon enough, the concert was over, and Justin was winking at Alyssa to stay put.
“I’m going to go meet Josh. I guess I’ll see you around.” Kelly said unhappily, getting up from her seat. Before she left the room, she stopped herself. “Al?” Alyssa looked up at Kelly, locking eyes with her. “Don’t hurt him again, all right?!” she asked softly. Alyssa smiled weakly and shook her head in agreement. Alyssa sat quietly alone in the booth, twidling her fingers, as she waited for Justin. Before she knew it, he bombarded into the room, sweat running off of his face, staining his bandanna and smiled brightly at her.
“I’m sorry it took so long to get up here.” he said, a little out of breath from all the running around he had been doing that night. “I’m taking you to the party with me. With us.” he held out his hand for her and nodded his head, urging her on. “Let’s go, you’re coming on the bus and everything.” Alyssa started to object, but he shut her up with his tender finger on her lips. “No words, just move!” He smiled when she finally placed her hand in his, like the old times, and reluctantly followed him down the back corridor to the bus.
Alyssa was trembling in her jeans as she slowly made her way up the stairs of the bus. As always, they were the last ones on the bus, and that meant that all eyes would be on Alyssa as she got in. Justin sensed her uncomfort, and pulled her closer to him, pausing on the second step to look back at her and kiss her hand gently, giving her strength. Alyssa’s face lit up when she saw Don at the wheel. He was just as excited, and he pulled Alyssa’s hand from Justin’s to pull her to himself for a hug. “Alyssa Davis! My goodness, girl! It has been far too long! Look at you,” he said backing away from her in his seat to gawk, “you are a vision of beauty.” Justin stood off to the side watching the two and happy that she was being received well. Finally, not liking her attention on anyone other than him, Justin pulled Alyssa away from Don.
“She has to come sit down with me now, Don. Thanks.” Justin said with a smile as he dragged Alyssa further up the aisle. She looked down at the seats and smiled when she saw Johnny and Melinda busily working. The two looked up at her briefly, smiled and waved, and then returned to their work.
‘Okay, that’s not so bad...’ Alyssa thought to herself as they continued down the aisle. In all her mind, she couldn’t remember the bus being so long, or it taking so long to get to the back. Finally, Justin pulled back the curtain to the back of the bus and smiled when all six faces looked up at him and Alyssa. “Hi... everyone.” she said, half hiding behind Justin’s tall shoulders.
“Aly!” Lance hooted, getting up from the couch to hug her. “My gosh...I mean, it was a surprise to see you at the Meet and Greet, but now on the bus! It’s like old times!” He smiled at her, and Alyssa wanted to burst into tears, overwhelmed by it all. Just like it had been the first day she started working for them, each guy got up from his seat to hug her and say something nice, while Justin stood by her side the whole time, giving her strength as their shoulders brushed up next to one another. Kelly remained seated, watching the whole spectacle. When it was all finished, Alyssa remained standing before them, smiling and studying how each looked. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw something very large sparkling on Kelly’s left ring finger. She looked at Justin, her eyes as wide as an owl’s. “Josh! That isn’t an engagement ring I see on Kelly’s finger is it?!!?” Alyssa screamed, tugging on Justin’s arm.
“Yeah it is... I finally took the plunge!” he beamed, squeezing Kelly’s hand in his. “I figured Kel had told you up in VIP..?” he said quietly, confusion all over his face.
“Um... no, we didn’t get around to that.” Alyssa said quietly, looking to Justin for support.
“Me and Lyssa are gonna go hang out in the bunk, okay?!” Justin said, knowing she wasn’t doing so great. With that, Justin led her out of the back and helped her sit in his bunk with him. It wasn’t exactly sitting really, Alyssa was lying on her stomach next to Justin, who was on his back, and the two were smiling brightly at eachother as they talked. When they reached the club for the afterparty, neither one wanted to go in.
“Just, I really don’t feel like going to any parties. I think I’m just going to take a cab back to the apartment.” Alyssa said quietly, remaining in his bunk after everone else had left the bus.
“No. Now, I am beat tired, but I have to go to these things. And you can’t just show up out of the blue, and then leave me. My mind’s gonna be on you all night, Lyss. You have to come.” his bright blue eyes were pleading with her as he begged her silently. Biting her lip for about the tenth time that day, Alyssa reluctantly agreed and slid out of the bunk.
“Just give me a minute to freshen up in the bathroom.” she said, grabbing her purse as she made her way towards the back. Looking at her tired eyes in the mirror, she knew it was going to be a long night. Alyssa took one deep breath, a gulp of water from the sink, and tossed two pills in her mouth for strength. She emerged from the bathroom smiling, not feeling so great on the inside, and placed her hand in Justin’s waiting hand.
The night went by rather quick, Alyssa and Justin dancing to every song, gazing into one another’s eyes during the slow songs. They were back in their own world again, not even really hearing the beat of the music as they swayed into one another. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep in the bus on the way to the guys’s hotel. “Justin, I don’t know that this is the best idea.” Johnny warned when he watched Justin gingerly pick Alyssa up in his arms to carry her into the hotel.
“Shh,” he hissed, glaring at Johnny, “keep your voice down, man. She’s fine. I have two beds in my room, there’s no reason to wake her up and send her home. I don’t even know how far away her home is from here.”
“But Justin..”
“It’s not right, it makes no sense. I’m going to set her up in the other bed in my room. We have tomorrow off, right?”
“Well, we are heading out tomorrow night.”
“But then, we have Friday off, right?”
“Well, yes, Justin, but...”
“Well, then there’s no rush. I’ll bring her home tomorrow when she wakes up.”
“Justin...”
“Johnny, please...please just allow me this one thing.” Justin pleaded. Johnny only had to look in his eyes briefly before knowing that this was the happiest Justin had been in nearly a year.
“Don’t make me regret this, Justin.” Johnny said, his voice stern as he watched Justin slowly carry Alyssa into the hotel. Kelly watched the whole thing from the back of the bus while she waited for JC to get his duffle bag packed. She wasn’t sure what to think. She knew that Alyssa’s presence was driving Justin insane with happiness, but the last thing she wanted, the last thing she would allow, would be for him to have his heart broken by her again.
“Not a chance in Hell, Al...” Kelly mumbled under her breath once the two were out of the bus.
“What was that, sweetie?” JC asked, placing a hand on the small of Kelly’s back as he allowed her to lead the way out of the bus.
“Oh? Um, nothing, Josh. Don’t worry about it.”
Chapter Fifty-Five..
