The doorbell of the house rang loudly startling Melissa awake as she then fell from the bed to the floor with a satisfying thud. “Have a nice trip, see you next fall,” she mused to herself as she groped her way back to her feet.
She and her friend, Coral, had spent the better part of last night and this morning sharing sob stories, enjoying female guy bitching, and downing Bacardi mixes like water. Obviously that had been a very bad idea. Her head was swimming and the slight trace of hangover was relatively sparkling in her blood-shot eyes. Who ever came up with the idea of drowning your sorrows obviously didn’t heed to their own advice.
The doorbell continued to ring insistently and she quickened her slow pace. She hurriedly tried to pull out her emerald necklace from her hair, which had apparently knotted itself in there and made her way downstairs. “I swear to god, if this is you Chris, I’m going to have you castrated for waking me up earlier than 11:00!” Melissa grumbled loudly as she came to the front entrance. What she saw when she opened the door couldn’t have sobered her up anymore.
“Melly!”
“Jonathan?” Melissa asked shocked as she felt two small arms hug her around her middle. “Jonathan, what are you doing here, sweetie?” she questioned hugging Justin's little brother.
“Momma dropped me off on the plane. Then Miss Lynn picked me up. She said I could walk up to the door by myself, like a big boy. Where’s Justin?” he asked curiously.
Sure enough, Melissa saw Lynn wave from her car and drive off. She waved back at her helplessly. “Wouldn’t we all like to know where Justin is,” she said through gritted teeth. Maybe I’d be able to wring his neck in person.
“He isn’t here? Did he forget that I was coming? I told him twice,” Jonathan said his face visibly saddening.
Melissa dropped to his eye level and shook her head. “Of course not! He just had to step out for a while and get something. Listen, why don’t you go to the den and watch TV. It’s still 9:00 and Pokemon is on think. Then, when you’re done I’ll make you something to eat. Is that okay with you little man?”
Jonathan nodded, happy again. “I like to watch Pokemon. Me and Justin watch it together sometimes.”
Melissa tousled the blond hair on his head and smiled as he ran off into the direction of the den. When Jon was out of sight she ran to the kitchen to the phone. She paused momentarily as her hand began to shake when she reached for it. “Oh, come on, Melissa. You knew good and well that you were going to have contact him sooner or later.” She mentally cursed herself and dialed Justin’s cell phone number before she could second-guess to.
“Hello?”
“Justin Timberlake, where in the hell are you?!” Melissa yelled into the phone. Her initial nervousness faded and frankly, she was a bit pissed off.
“Hello to you too. You’re sounding more lethal than normal. Did you wake up this morning and forget your home training?” Justin asked sarcastically.
”You know what? Don’t talk. You’ve officially lost the right to. And the only reason I’m sounding ‘lethal’ this morning, is because I have a certain 6 year-old boy here, who’s about to cry because he thinks his big brother forgot about him!”
Justin sucked in his breath. “Crap, Jonathan. I forgot!”
“That’s exactly my point. And while we’re on the subject of forgetting, you inadvertently must have ‘forgotten’ to mention to me that he was coming in the first place!”
“My bad. Did I mention that Jonathan was coming for your party this week?” he asked, laughing nervously.
“Where are you?” Melissa sighed grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. It was just plain typical of Justin to pull something like this on her. Especially when she was still slightly pissed at him for doing what he did.
“I’m at the studio laying some bonus tracks for No Strings.”
“Great. I’m bringing him over in like ten minutes.”
“Well actually, can you keep him until 12:00? We’re really busy right now and Jon wouldn’t have anything do.”
She groaned. “You're not being fair at all, Just. Not at all. I have a class in an hour, but I guess I can take him with me. Next time REMEMBER your commitments before you agree to do them, okay?”
“Yes, mama,” Justin said laughing quietly. Melissa cracked a small smile too, before she took her pills.
Suddenly, there it was; that god awful kind of awkward silence. It was like they were thinking about the same thing at the same time and neither one of them wanted to bring it up.
“Listen, Melissa I want to talk about…” he began softly.
“I have to go, Justin,” Melissa interrupted hurriedly, her voice cracking.
“But…” Justin stopped when he heard a click and then the awful silence. It was one of the many downfalls of using a cell phone. There was no dial tone.
On the other end, Melissa hung up the receiver. She felt gutless and knew that she was avoiding the situation, but she also knew that sooner or later she'd be forced to talk to him by some way or another.
The phone rang shrilly in her ear. She closed her eyes hoping it wasn’t Justin calling her back and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Melissa. Nicole. Brown. If you don't open your mouth and tell me what the hell is going on over there right now, I swear to all that is good and holy, I’ll have you shot!”
Melissa smiled. It was only Britney in her usual bitchy mood. “Oh hey B. What’s up?”
“Don’t, hey B, me girly. Tell me what the hell is going on! I know for facts that something is wrong too, so don’t even try to lie. First, I call you yesterday and you act all secretive-like you’re trying to hide something from me. Then, Justin calls me asking about if it would be weird if he were to kiss you and other weird shit and then he hangs up on me too! Then I tried to hit up JC for info and Justin stole the phone and hung up on me, again. Rudeness aside, I’m still pretty pissed! And if one of you two does not tell me what the fuck is happening, I’m going to so cross you off of my Christmas list this year.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Oh no, not the Christmas list threat. Won’t somebody please think of the children?!”
Britney grabbed her keys and jiggled them at the phone. “That’s it! I’m taking the Concord to Orlando right now. And don't that I won't too. I don't appreciate being left in the dark. Maybe then your tone won’t be so damn snarky when I’m glowering at you in person!”
“Okay! Okay! No need to get extreme here.” Melissa sighed. “Do you really want to know what happened, Brit?”
“Is Ricky Martin a closet gay? Of course I want to know what happened!” she exclaimed.
"Ricky Martin is a closet gay?! But I thought-
"Melissa..."
Melissa pouted in that her attempt to change the subject didn't work. “Well…”
“Yes?...What?! Tell me before I die!” Britney pressed urgently.
“Justin kissed me.”
“He did WHAT?!”
Melissa paced across the kitchen. “He kissed me. Twice. Three times if you want to get technical.” She then chose that moment to freak out completely. “Oh god, you have no idea about how it's been driving me crazy! I can’t get if off my mind, Britney!”
“I think I need to sit down. No, not think. I know I need to sit down.” Britney plopped on a couch, her face still shocked. “You know you’re going to have to explain everything that led up to this phenomenon in great detail, right?”
Melissa smiled weakly. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”
“Let’s see. Explain this one more time to me, Mel. So I can really get this.”
Melissa rolled her eyes, as she spread peanut butter on a slice of toasted bread. “I did the video.”
“Right. Good.”
“Justin kissed me.”
“Uh huh, Great!”
“Then I ran off crying, drove myself home, and drank myself into a drunken stupor resulting in the major hangover that I’m sporting today.”
“You see, that's the part I don't get. Not one bit. And I don’t even want to ask how you managed to get the alcohol,” Britney stated shaking her head.
“What can I say? I have my connections,” Melissa mysteriously hinted.
“Joey, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Britney laughed. “Figures.”
Jonathan then bounded into the kitchen and scrambled onto a stool. His eyes widened when he saw the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was preparing and his little hands reached out to taste.
Melissa playfully slapped them away. “You know the rules. Go wash your hands, first Jon.”
He pouted at her, something that Justin had obviously taught him. “Do I have to?”
Melissa raised an eyebrow at him sternly. “What was that Jon?”
“Figs,” Jon said clambering down to go to the bathroom.
She laughed and shook her head. She could see so much of Justin in Jonathan and sometimes in Steven from their ability to charm people, right down to that almost irresistible pout they so often shared.
“Who’s that?” Britney asked.
“Jonathan. He came down to visit for the week. For my birthday soirée as Justin puts it." She snorted. "Can you believe Justin really thinks he can pull off my birthday in six days without my help. He’s going to loose his mind.”
Britney shook her head sadly. “My dear friend, I pity you. Not only do you deal with Justin on a daily basis but now you have to baby sit the two of the Timberlake Terror’s for a week? How will ever survive?”
“Don't you know Lynn and Lisa give me special training for this? Plus I have my girls to back me up. Me, you, and Coral are going to party like animals this weekend,” she grinned wickedly. “Speaking of, when's your flight coming in tomorrow?”
“At 9, I think.”
She frowned. “9 o'clock? Damn Brit, you couldn’t have gone for something in the afternoon? 5 maybe? What happenend to the pity for me?”
“Nu-uh. I figure this way I can pull your chain a little, not that you don't deserve it either. That’ll teach you not to keep stuff from me, missy.”
Jonathan then chose that moment to rush back into the kitchen and attack the peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a child-like fury.
Melissa laughed a bit. “Uh, I think I'm going to have go now. I need to make sure Jonathan doesn't get peanut butter in his hair.”
Britney sighed, knowing that she would be bored soon. The excitement of not knowing what was going on with her friends, had kept her amused and angry. Now she had nothing… “Alright then, Mel. I’ll see you tomorrow. And listen, I’m sure everything between you and curly will be fine. Just stop worrying about it already! I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Bye B.” Melissa hung up the phone and turned to Jonathan. She shook her head at what she saw. “Oh Jesus...”
“What?” he asked innocently with peanut butter and jelly smeared on his face and hands.
Melissa resisted the urge to laugh. She then grabbed his shoulders and directed him to the bathroom. “Let’s go get you cleaned up, again.”
Britney hung up the phone and leaned back on her couch. Her brow furrowed as she mulled over what she had just heard from Melissa. A thought popped into her head and quickly, a scheme had formed. She smiled, picking up the phone.
“Hello?” JC asked when he answered.
“Jace? This is Britney.”
“Oh hey Brit! What’s up?” he asked, smiling into the phone.
“Things are going good down here. But things aren't doing so well down in Orlando, so I’ve heard, like things happening yesterday at your shoot. How is Justin doing?”
“He’s miserable, slightly moping. And Mel?”
“Confused, miserable. Basically a female Justin. But…I think I've might of come up with something that might change all that, if you know what I getting to," she hinted, with an evil smile.
JC raised an eyebrow. "I can practically hear the evil little wheels in your head turning. And somehow, something tells me that I think I don't want to be a part of this."
"Oh come on, Jace! My girl, your boy, they seriously want each other. They've had that freaky little 'flirty banter, yet I secretly love you' thing going on for years, and you know it. All we need to do is to nudge them together into the right direction. To each other!" Britney urged.
"I don't know...What if something goes terribly wrong and we end up screwing them up for life? They'll hate us. And plus, I'm lazy! Meddling in other people business is hard work," he whined.
"Oh shut up and little to my plan, Chasez."
If I’m not the one you want,
Take your time to figure out.
Hey yeah,
I’m staring at your picture every night,
The scent of you still lingers in my mind,
I wonder if you’re alone and feel alright.
And the sun has come out of the clouds…
The track continued to play as thoughts, not the sounds of the music and harmonies, filled his mind.
“Justin. Justin!” Jake shouted.
Justin snapped to attention and shifted his head phones. “And sometimes when I listen to our song”…The music stopped playing and Jake spoke into the mike. “Justin, that’s the third cue you’ve missed today.”
He looked at Jake and his friends apologetically. “I’m sorry you guys. I'm just a little off today.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Can we just take from the top, please?”
“Better yet you guys, why don’t you 10 minute break. Give yourselves some time to get it together,” Jake said, rewinding the tape.
Justin took off his head phones, slid off the stool, and went into the break-room across the hall. JC followed behind him.
He found his bandmate peering intently into a fridge, staring at Jive’s wide selection of off-brand soda.
JC cleared his throat to speak. “So I guess this whole Melissa thing is really messed up, isn’t it?”
Justin flinched and hit his head on the top of the fridge. “Jesus, Jace. A little warning next time you feel like giving me a heart attack, please?” he said rubbing the now red spot on his forehead.
JC shrugged and reached from behind him to get some water. “Come to think of it, you should get the same. All that soda is going to mess up your vocals one of these days.”
Justin smirked in reply and pulled out a can of coke. He opened it and took a long drink. “And you were saying?”
He rolled his eyes. “I said that this whole thing with Melissa is really messed up, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” he said slumping down in a chair. “I mean, we haven’t really talked since yesterday. And that was before she hated me.”
“You know she doesn’t hate you, Justin. I think she’s lost that capability too.”
“Oh really? My best friend cried because of me. She pushed me away. She told me not to touch her. I may not understand women that well, but I think I got that message, JC.”
“Well actually...I kind of think it’s the exact opposite. You two obviously have some insane attraction to each other.”
Justin stared at him with a glimmer of hope in his face. Maybe JC saw it too and maybe he could explain why he had been feeling this way for so long. But then he sighed. “I don’t like Melissa that way, JC. I’ve told you guys before.”
“Bullshit and you know it. Look me in the eye at tell me that you don’t love that girl. That if you lost her tomorrow that you would be able to live without her. That your eyes don’t sparkle when you feel her presence in a room. Go ahead and do it. I dare you to.” JC challenged.
Justin opened his mouth, ready to prove JC wrong, but he couldn’t speak. JC was right, if not describing his feelings for Melissa perfectly. God would strike him dead if he told such a lie. He shifted his eyes away and focused his attention on the framed poster of them that hung in there amongst the other Jive artists. God his hair was awful back then…
JC smiled, glad that he was making some progress. “Doesn’t it feel better to tell the truth for once?”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Whatever, man. Anything that I feel or want is definitely not going to happen. Especially after yesterday.”
“Do you want my advice, Justin?”
“Actually I don’t. I mean, not to be rude or anything but you haven’t had a date in since…God I can’t even remember the last time you had a date. Why should I take any love advice from you?” Justin said jokingly.
JC threw his bottle in the trash and stood up, pretending to be upset. “Ok then. If that’s the way you want to be then I hope you Melissa have a nice life together. That is if you two ever get together…”
Justin stopped laughing and looked slightly deadpanned. He hadn't meant to do that. “Wait, wait, I’m kidding. What’s your advice?”
JC sat back down and sighed. “Talk to her.”
Justin rolled his eyes. "That's it? No plans, no nothing? Why the hell am I talking to you for? I could have told myself that." "It's the only way." With that, JC left the room and went back into the studio.
“Talk to her? Where the hell has talking gotten me in the last 10 years? That’s ridiculous. Melissa’s too smart to fall for me anyway,” he said muttering to himself as headed back to the studio. On the other hand, it wasn’t like he had any better ideas…
“Okay, what do you want to do now Jon?” Melissa asked as she pulled out of the university parking lot. Having him at her class hadn't been any trouble at all. All Jon had to do was smile like the little sweetheart he was and by the end of the two-hour period, Jon had accumulated a bigger fan club than Justin. He had even managed to woo even her professor, to Melissa’s amazement, who had thought Jon was ‘an adorable little darling’. If Jonathan could do that he deserved three ice cream sundaes.
He scrunched up his face in thought. “Umm…I wanna see Justin! And JC, and Joey, and Lance, and Chris! Espessially Chris. He owes me a dollar.”
She smiled at the childish sound of his voice. “Don’t you want something to eat first?”
“Oh, I want that too! I want Lasagna and hamburgers and pizza and a chocolate milk shake!”
“What you want is a stomach ache. And if you were a little bit older, a strong case of heartburn. How about I get you a big kid’s meal from McDonalds instead?”
“Can I still have a milkshake?” Jonathan asked pouting his lip. “Please, Melly?”
“Oh alright,” she said giving into him. She could probably never say no to this kid no matter how hard she tried to.
“Can I turn on the radio?”
Melissa nodded and Jonathan reached from the knob. He face brightened. “It’s Bye, Bye, Bye!” Melissa cringed slightly but kept a forced grin plastered on her face. God forbid they ever performed this record in her presence. She might be forced to kill them. Slowly. “I’m going to be just like Justin when I grow up.” He danced around in his seat. “See, I can dance like him too!”
Melissa nodded at the little boy and kept her eyes on the road. Inside she was bottle of emotions, threatening to explode. Who knew that a simple relationship with a friend could turn so complicated? She sighed. With Justin everything was complicated. She had come to realize that over the years. But the question that was still echoing throughout her mind was about how she felt about him…and whether she was ready to risk a long time friendship on the way she felt?