Chapter 13
"You look different in person." Was the first thing that Justin
said to me once we had both been de-miked and left alone.
"How so?" I asked.
"You're taller then I thought you'd be for one thing!"
"Thanks, I think."
"I guess it's just those high heels that Britney's wearing in the
video!"
I laughed. "I guess, but its not like you're short or anything
yourself."
"I was just saying man. That's all." He said, giving me one of
those smiles for which he was so famous. He moved up to me and put
out his hand for me to shake.
"Justin Randall Timberlake."
I took his hand and shook it firmly. "Fiachra Conor O'Neill,
glad that we could finally meet."
"I know that we were introduced in the studio, but everything
seems so fake there, doesn't it?" He said.
I laughed. "I know what you mean, with those lights shining
down and everything..."
"You'll get used to the lights. Probably even to having an
audience and people screaming your name, but I don't think I'll ever get
used to how *fake* it can seem sometimes."
I was surprised by the vindication behind his words. But I was
also getting quite uncomfortable about how close he was standing. We'd
shook hands, but he hadn't moved back since then. I turned away to grab
a towel, those light really had me sweating and it was starting to show
on my face, despite the make-up.
"Yeah, they really make you sweat, don't they?" He said.
"I think I'll need to take a shower and all I did was stand
there!" I exclaimed.
"They take getting used to." He said again. I looked at him and
he didn't seem to have been affected by them, but then, he'd been out
there for less time then I'd been. "I'm sure there's a shower in your
dressing room, I'll wait for you here. Are you getting a flight straight
back home?"
"I don't know, I think I've got a couple of hours, but I've got
school tomorrow so I don't know."
"That's right!" He said. "I keep forgetting that you're only
seventeen."
"How come everyone says that?" I asked, grinning. My older
looks had helped me out on more then one occasion, getting into pubs
and clubs for example.
"I think you know why!"
"True. Anyway, I'm going to have that shower and then I'll see
you out here, ok?" I said.
"Ok." He confirmed.
I went off to have a shower. Just before stepping in I
remembered something. I didn't have any spare clothes! And I really
didn't want to wear the other ones again until they'd been washed. I
wrapped a towel around myself and went in search of Justin, hoping that
he'd have spare clothes. I opened the door and went out into the main
room.
"I think you're going to have to wear more then that if you
want to go out on the streets!" He said from behind me.
I turned around to him. "Funny, but I need a favour. Did you
bring any spare clothes that I could use? I don't want to wear the other
things again yet!" I asked. I could see him eyeing me up and trying to be
subtle about it. I guess the time in PE that year hadn't been wasted, but it
still made me feel uncomfortable.
He looked back up at my face and grinned. "Oh I don't know...
you could always go down to the costume department and see if they've
got anything there."
"I *don't* think so. Seriously, do you have anything that I
could wear?" I asked.
"Sure thing, I brought spare. I'll go get them." He turned on his
heel and walked off to another dressing room to get them. When he got
back he tossed them to me and after thanking him I went back to have
my shower.
-------------------------------
"So, do you want to get something to eat?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm starving." I said. "Any suggestions?"
"Mc D's?"
"Sounds like an idea!" I said. "It's strange though..."
"What?"
"You don't really think of celebs like you eating in Mc
Donald's, do you?" I said. I mean, it's true, you put them above you and
then you think that they only eat it places where only they can afford.
"What do you mean, celebs like me? You're going to be eating
there to!" He laughed. "And besides, we're well known for eating as
much of the stuff as we can get!"
"How was I to know that? And besides, I don't really think of
myself as a celebrity, it's kind of weird."
"You'll get used to it." He said, patting me on the back. "Can
we go?"
"I don't see why not." We left the studios and walked a little of
the way around Time Square before a thought struck me. "Justin?"
"Yeah?"
"What if you're." I corrected myself. "We're recognised?"
"Relax! We're not gonna be. No one in New York City looks at
anyone else, and besides, what's the worst that can happen? You'll have
to autograph something? Crisis."
"If you're sure..."
"I am. Now come on, I'm starving." We went into Mc Donald's
and ordered, sitting down somewhere towards the back in one of the
more secluded booths."
"Lesson Number One." He said. "On the streets people aren't
going to look at you, but when you're sitting down somewhere or in a
shop, that's when you'll get spotted, so always go as far to the back as
you can and don't shout or talk too loud, nothing that's going to draw
attention to you."
"I'll keep it in mind." I said dryly. But he missed the humour in
my voice.
"Make sure you do." He paused. "Have you been told about
any of this yet?"
"Any of what?" I said, picking up a packet of salt to put on my
fries.
"Y'know, all the stuff on how to look after yourself and how to
treat people who come up to you. Stuff like that."
"Nope." I said.
"You should have been." He said. I picked up on the concern in
his voice and started paying full attention to him.
"I haven't needed it so far." I said. He was about to continue
when a young girl, she couldn't have been more then 12, came up to the
table shyly. I looked at her. She was blonde and blue eyed, like me, but
she was wearing a pink dress with embroidered flowers on it. She was
carrying a piece of paper that looked like it had just been torn from a
notepad and behind her at a table close by I could see two proud parent
looking on.
"Excuse me." She said in a timid voice.
"Yes?" I said gently, trying not to make her even more nervous
then she already was.
"Emm, I want to say that I really love your song and that I think
you're a really good singer and that I hope that you and Britney are
really happy together." She said, rushing it out for fear that if she paused
she wouldn't be able to say anymore.
"Thank you! But I'm not going out with Britney." I said. "He
is." I pointed over at Justin.
She looked over at him and I could see the realisation dawn
across her face. "Justin?"
Justin treated her to one of his smiles. "Hi."
She looked back at me. "Can I have your autograph?" She said.
Pronouncing autograph oddly, like she'd just been told the word by her
parents whom I could still see looking on. She thrust the piece of paper
at me.
"Do you have a pen?" I asked, knowing that my own pockets
were empty.
She looked crestfallen. "No. And Mummy and Daddy didn't
have one."
"Lesson Number two." Said Justin, handing me a pen. "Always
carry a pen with you."
I grinned as I look it from him. "What's your name?" I asked
the little girl.
She smiled broadly. "Cailin." She said.
I wrote down a short greeting and then signed it. "Do you want
Justin to sign it too?"
She flushed a bright red. "Yes please!"
Justin took the bit of paper and signed it too. The girl thanked
both of us before going back to her parents to show them what she'd
gotten.
"You handled that *very* well Fiachra."
It was my turn to blush. "Thanks."
"I mean it! You've really got a way with people. It's something
to be proud of."
"So have you."
"Well, I guess you've got to, to make it in this business, that or
you've got to have some psychological problems." He said. "Speaking
of which, how are you mentally?"
"What?!" I said. What sort of a question was that?!
"Sorry, that came out really wrong, what I really meant to ask
was - how are you coping with everything that's happened. With,
y'know, everything that you've learnt about people since you met BSB."
I got the distinct feeling that he was talking about something
specific. "If you're talking about what Britney said about you. I don't
care, I already said that to you."
"Yeah I know. But." He looked around him uncomfortably.
"Well, the thing is, Britney also told me what you told her. About...
y'know."
I leant forward. "She told you that I was gay?" I was outraged
but I managed to keep my voice down.
"You've no idea how upset she was when she came back to the
States." He said, pleading her case. "She needed a shoulder to cry on so
she told me what had happened. She'd really fallen for you, you know.
And then she was really upset because she'd told both of us secrets that
she shouldn't have told us."
"It explains why she hasn't rung me yet." I said, trying to
absorb all that Justin had just said.
"Yeah. She hasn't forgiven herself for spilling the beans yet, I
mean, she knows that I don't care that you know, but she thinks that
you'll be really upset."
"Well... I guess I'll keep your secret if you'll keep mine." I
said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Deal." He said, grinning. And then we shook on it. (Just as
joke.)
"You gonna start on that food of yours anytime soon?" I asked,
looking down at the tray of untouched food that Justin had in front of
him. I was already finished my fries and only had my burger and
milkshake to go. (It's the way I eat it. Don't question it!)
Justin looked down at it, almost surprised to see it there. "Yeah,
I guess I should." He picked up his BigMac and took a bite out of it.
"So, can I tell Britney that everything's cool?"
"Yeah, I just wish that she's told me herself what had
happened, that's all." I said.
"Ugh, it's cold." Said Justin, making a face at the burger.
I laughed. "It's your own fault for leaving it so long."
"I know." He said. "Doesn't make it any better though."
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes while he ate the food
that was rapidly cooling.
When he finished he asked. "What do you want to do now?"
"I don't know... I don't really have enough time to do anything.
I've got to get back to the studios in the next hour."
"My hotel's pretty near. We could go there for a while." He
said suggestively while brushing his leg against mine. "It would be
*really* private."
Chapter 14
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