Part 1
Brianne walked outside and let the warm sun hit her face. "Thank God this day is over," she said out loud to the empty parking lot. 'I'm so glad I have the next few days off,' she thought to herself. She put her key in the car door when she heard someone call her name. She turned around to her manager, Daniel, jogging after her. "Hey Dan. Whatcha need?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Well, you know how I told you that you could have the next few days off?" he began.
"Come on Dan! I have been working my ass off this whole past week. I've been her like twelve hour every day."
"I know and I'm sorry but the execs decided that you're going to be doing a duet. They gave me the sheet music to give to you so you can go over them and get a feel for the song. Come in tomorrow around 10:00 and we'll get to work, ok?"
"Fine!" Bri snatched the papers from his hand and got in her car.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I can't believe I have to be here," Brianne said as she pulled in the parking lot of the studio. She hastily walked inside and down the long hall to Dan's office. "I'm here now. Can we get this over with?"
Dan looked up from his desk and smiled at her. "It's good to se you're in a pleasant mood this morning."
She rolled her eyes. "So, who's this guy I'm singing with?"
He motioned to the young gentlemen sitting on the couch. Bri turned to see Justin, drawing in a sharp breath as she saw him. He jumped up as his eyes fell upon her. "Dan, we need to talk!" they said simultaneously.
A confused Dan looked back and forth between the two of them. "Is something wrong?"
Bri spoke first. "I can not and WILL NOT work with him."
"Oh, and I'm just thrilled to be working with you," Justin stated sarcastically.
Dan sat back in his chair, "Ok, what's the problem?"
"She's the problem," Justin said glaring at her.
"What?!? If anybody's the problem here, it's YOU!"
Dan stood up and walked around to the from of this desk. Leaning against it, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Would ONE of you care to explain what's going on? Start at how you know each other."
Brianne took a deep breath and began to speak. "See, Justin and I used to date. A LONG TIME AGO. And then he turned into a total asshole and we broke up."
"I turned into an asshole?" Justin said shocked. "You pulled a total 180 and would flip out for no reason."
The went back and forth for awhile until Dan interjected. "Ok, so you went out a long time ago, had a bad break up and now you've both moved on. Bri, I know you're seeing Brandon. And Justin, you were just telling me about Amanda. So you guys shouldn't have a problem working together right?"
"Whatever!" They both said.
"Good, then let's get to work."
With one last evil glare at Justin, Bri followed Dan out of the room.
PART 2
"Dan, are you ABSOLUTELY sure there's no way I can get out of this? "Bri asked after pulling Dan off the to the side.
"Get over it Bri, you're stuck working with him…besides it's just one song, ok?" he said.
"Fine."
**
"Hey Dan, can I talk to you for a sec, "Justin asked.
"Sure, what' up?"
Justin hesitated then spoke. "Is there any chance I could get away with not doing this?" Dan rolled his eyes as Justin continued. "If it was anybody else, I wouldn't have a problem, but me and Brianne have a really long history with a not so happy ending and I just don't think---"
"Get over it Justin," Dan interrupted, repeating what he had told Bri. "You're stuck working with her…besides, it's just one song."
Justin let out a deep breath. "It's gonna be a long day…"
**
Justin stepped up to the mic and began to sing the first verse of the song.
<< You ask who's laying in my bed.
Is it really love we're making.
Well, my heart's hanging by a thread
She's the only reason it ain't breaking.
Do you ever cross my mind?
Darling, fact is you still do.
That's the reason she is here.
Keeping your old memory clear>>
She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he began the chorus.
< He continuously stole glances at Brianne as she sang her portion of the song. <But in your heart I know you wonder 'Was he just looking at me? No, I'm imagining things, he couldn't have been.." Bri had these thoughts as she continued to sing. They finally caught each other's eye as they sang the final lyrics together in perfect harmony, their gaze never letting go. << I did the best I could do The music faded and their eyes held each other's until Dan's voice coming over the speaker ripped them from their thoughts.
"Ok you guys. We're going to change some things around the track and then we'll run through it again. You can take a short break." Brianne set her headphones on the stand and walked quickly out the room, leaving Justin standing there looking at the closed door she had went through. He slowly pulled his headphones off. Setting them down, he ran a hand through his hair, letting out a loud sigh. ** She rested against the door after she pulled it closed behind her. She didn't understand why she was feeling the way she was. This was Justin, the person she was supposed to despise, the man who she wasn't allowed to have a nice thought about anymore, but the second she looked into his eyes as they sang together, something clicked in both of their souls. Both felt it, neither were sure what it was or what exactly it mean. But none the less, it happened…
Part 3
"Is that you?" Amanda called from the kitchen.
"Yeah," Justin followed her voice. "What are you doing here?"
She walked to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, she placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I used my copy of your key to let myself in, figured I'd make you dinner."
"Oh," he said without much emotion. "that was sweet of you."
Amanda could tell something was wrong by his tone. He sat down at the table. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Bad day at the studio?" But she knew inside it was more than that. His normally bright blue eyes appeared dark and distraught, the way they looked only when someone mentioned…
"I'm fine. It was just a long day," he lied. He wasn't fine. Something happened to him today, a realization of sorts, and he didn't know what to do. He liked Amanda, a lot, but she just….just…she….well, she wasn't Brianne. She didn't feel like him to him the way Bri did.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Amanda asked, sitting on his lap. "You seem distant?"
He forced his brightest smile. "I'm fine. Really. Just a little tired, that's all. Now, where's that delicious meal you slaved all day to make?"
*
Brianne walked in her dark apartment, throwing her purse on the coffee table. She stopped in the kitchen, making herself a mug of hot tea. Noticing the blinking light next to her, she pressed the 'PLAY' button on the answering machine.
'HEY BABY. IT'S ME, BRANDON. GIVE ME A CALL WHEN YOU GET HOME. I MISS YOU. BYE.'
She sighed. Brandon was a great guy. He was sensitive and romantic and honest and giving; everything she's ever wanted in a man. So why couldn't she get her mind off of Justin? Why was she so drawn to him?
"Stop it!" Brianne scolded herself. "You have Brandon. He's a great guy. GET OVER IT" but she knew in her heart that she wouldn't be able to.
She traveled down the hall to her bedroom. She searched through her closet until she found the shoe box she was looking for. She sat Indian-style on her bed and removed the lid from the box, revealing various groups of photographs. She lifted each picture out of the small box, thinking about all the memories that came with each. One she came across was of her and Justin together, arms wrapped around each other, faces, close, cheek to cheek. Both wore smiles from ear to ear, looking truly happy. She sighed, picking up another photo, letting her mind drift back to that day.
Flashback "Come on Justin!!!! Let me take your picture now," Bri said. "You've taken like a thousand of me. It's your turn now."
He held a throw pillow in front of his face. "No," he mumbled from behind it. She giggled. "Since when are you shy, Timberlake?"
"Please," he held up his hand and tried to surpress his laughter. "No pictures."
"Come on! Just one!" She laughed from behind the camera.
Justin held the pillow in front of his face as he moved across the room toward her. "Give me the camera."
She laughed still. "No." She stepped away from his blind grasp. "You're not getting it until you let me take a picture of you."
"How 'bout we take one together?" he compromised.
"How are we going to do that?' We're the only ones here. Who'll take it?"
"I'll hold the camera dork." He dropped the pillow as he grabbed the camera from her hand.
"You're lucky you're so damn cute, I'll let you slide on calling me a dork."
"Ok geek." She glared at him. "Kidding! I'm only kidding. Now come here so we can take a picture together." Brianne stood directly in front of him, leaning back against his chest. He positioned her face next to hers with his long arms extending out in front of them. "Smile."
As Justin blinked from the blinding flash, Brianne grabbed the camera. "Now was that so hard?" she walked nonchalantly into the other room.
She came back a few minutes later. "Justin?" He looked up from the magazine he had begun to read. "Yeah?"
She snapped the camera. "Gotcha!" end flashback
Brianne placed the photo back in the box and reached for the ringing cordless phone that sat on the table. "Hello? Oh hey Brandon. What am I doing? Nothing," she looked down at the pictures and an incredible flood of guilt washed over her, "just looking at some old pictures that's all. Yeah," she closed her eyes and sighed. "I missed you too...."
MORE COMING SOON
'Cause all the pain that we've been through
Still weighs so heavy on my mind
Getting past the love we lost
That's a lonely bridge to cross
Oh I did what I had to do
I had to find somebody new
Who's helping me get over you>>
I'm not much good at playing games
I'm just trying to keep from going under
There's no forever in his eyes
It's not the love that we once knew
Oh and it might be a sin, but tonight I've got a friend
Helping me get over you>>
'Cause all the pain we've been through
Still weighs so heavy on my mind
Getting past the love we lost
That's a lonely bridge to cross
So I did what I had to do
I had to find somebody new
Who's helping me get over you>>
I had to find somebody new
To help me get over you.>>
Lyrics --- Helping Me Get Over You by Lari White 
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