“How am I ever going to thank you for what you’ve done for me, Justin?” Gabby
asked as they stood outside of her apartment.
“You would have done it yourself if I hadn’t. Trust me. You just needed a
jump start.” he said.
“We’ve been through quite a lot, now haven’t we?” she asked, looking up
as the sun shined through the leaves of a palm tree.
“Oh, but we have. I lost track of time. It went by so fast.” Justin agreed.
Gabby peered down at her watch, “Man, already? Look, sorry to kick you
out, Justin, but work’s calling my name, and I’ve got to catch my bus.”
“Valu Mart again? Man... you just left there.” he exclaimed.
Laughing softly, she stated, “That was yesterday, Justin.”
Nodding, he said, “Yea. I....uhhh... knew that.”
Laughing, she disagreed, “No, somehow I don’t think that you did.”
“Awww...that’s enough. I mean it. Do you want a ride there? It’ll get you
a little more time,” Justin offered. Before she could answer, however, he cut in,
“No. It will not be too much trouble Gabby.”
Her eyes got wide, “How’d you...oh that’s just a little scary. But no thanks,
Justin. Need a little time to clear my head, without that stuff you call music
playing.”
Justin’s eyes not moving from hers, he changed the subject, “I’m proud of
you, Gabby. How much you’ve opened up in the past day. It’s like your a
completely different person from when I met you.”
“Probably because I’m turning into a different person. I have to admit,
even I’m surprised in the change... yet another thing I have to thank you for.”
Gabby stated.
Then, Justin furthered their bond. He wrapped his arms around her and
hugged her. “You don’t have to thank me for anything. You deserve what you
get, Gab.” Her heart fluttered as he hugged her. It had been a long time since
anyone had hugged her. She had to admit that it felt great. After they pulled
apart, he asked, “Can you give me your number? I’ll give you a call later... like...
two o’clock tomorrow.”
Ripping a piece of paper from an envelope in her bag, she penned her
number, and smiled, “Talk to ya later, Justin.”
As he started to walk away, he spun around on his heels, and said softly,
“Oh, and Gabby...”
Her eyebrows raised, “Yea Justin?”
“Just...do yourself a favor and quit. Sleep the night. You don’t need the
job.” Justin stated seriously.
Shaking her head, she said, “Bills, bill, bills, Justin.”
“You, girl, are part of the Wright Family now. J-Dawg takes care of his
family. You have nothing to worry about. The contract is signed and going
through the legal process.” Justin debated.
Smiling slightly at his persistence, Gabby said, “I’ll talk to you later
Justin.”
Grinning from ear to ear, he stated, “Count on it, girl.”
“Hello Mr. Peters. Where can I work tonight?” Gabby asked her boss, a
perky tone in her voice.
Frowning as usual, he answered, “Magazines. You, of course, did not
finish your job last evening.”
Nodding, Gabrielle replied, “Yes sir. I’ll go do that right now.”
Sitting on the floor in front of the teenybopper magazines, Gabby gazed at
the cover of “BOP.” Justin’s face was plastered on the cover, staring up at her.
“Timberland, my goodness. What you haven’t done for me in the past 24
hours...”
“Just...do yourself a favor and quit. Sleep the night. You don’t need
the job.” .......
“You, girl, are part of the Wright Family now. J-Dawg takes care of
his family. You have nothing to worry about.”
Then suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when something smacked
her in the head, this time she didn’t turn around she just spoke, “Justin, do you
ever go home, boy?”
A fit of laughter was followed by her comments, and Justin tried to speak
through his fit of hysterics, “You...hah! You...oh dude that was good!”
Picking up the familiar rubber ball, Gabby pitched it back at Justin and
she stated, “You know, some day you’re going to kill me with that rubber ball if
you keep it up.”
Justin laughed and said, “Wha? This lil’ super ball? I don’t think so.” He
then looked at her pensively, “You’re still here. Thought you said that you were
going to quit.”
Gabby argued, “No, you said that I was going to quit.”
“But you agreed with me,” he persisted.
Then her devil of a manager came over and asked sharply, “Young man,
are you getting the help that you need?”
His eyes sparking, Justin answered, “No. No I’m not. I think that you
should fire this girl. She’s worthless.”
Her eyes became wide and she said, “Sir, please excuse him. This is my
friend, Justin.”
Then Justin pleaded, “Sir, I’m Justin Timberlake. Nice to make your
acquaintance. You see, Gabrielle was just signed to a management deal with
Johnny Wright. You may have heard of him. He manages my band, *N SYNC. I
feel that Gabby- I mean Gabrielle will not be able to give her all to her career if
she is employed here with such demanding hours.”
Rolling her eyes, Gabby groaned, “Justin you are not doing this...”
Then, her “evil” manager’s eyes lit up. “My daughter is a large *N SYNC
fan, Mr. Timberlake. Of course I’ve heard of Johnny Wright. He manages
Britney Spears, also. Does he not?”
“He does sir. And now, he and I both feel that she has enough talent to
overshadow all of the current pop female singers out there. Now, she’s too
afraid to admit it, but she needs to leave this job. It’s no good for her. So, if you
are able to fire her, it would be much appreciated.”
“Go home, Justin!” she shot him a piercing stare, then turned back to ‘Mr.
Evil Boss Man’, “Sir, please ignore everything that he is saying. He’s putting his
nose where it doesn’t belong.”
The manager then patted Justin on the back and said, “You should listen
to him, Gabrielle, he knows what he’s talking about. You are dismissed.”
Gabby’s legs moved faster then she thought possible as she walked
alongside the road, propelled by anger. A Mercedes M class rode alongside
her, “Come on, Gabby. Please, please get in the car? Come on, let me take
you home. We can talk about it there.”
“No! You got me fired for no reason!”
“It’s dark outside, you shouldn’t be walking outside.”
“Oh! YOU THINK? Maybe I wouldn’t be walking outside if you hadn’t got
me FIRED.”
Justin, finally fed up with the entire battle, then swerved the car in front of
Gabby, leaned over and pushed the door open. “In. Right now Gabby.” Gruffly,
she jumped into the seat, then looking at Justin.
About halfway home, they both started to clam down and the spoke at the
same time, “Gab...” “Justin” “You go first.”
Then at the same time, they both said, “I’m sorry.”
