After spending a month with Britney, I have enough material to leave the tour and go back to the Boys. We plan to meet up for a long writing weekend next month when Britney’s tour finishes. I catch a flight out to Washington and then take a car to the hotel. I’m not sure whether to book myself a single room or share with Brian again. I guess I need to find out how he feels about me. I know how I feel. I leave my stuff with the clerk and head over to the arena to find Brian. I’m half-expecting to see Farrah hanging around and AJ is the first person I see.
“Hey girl!” he greets me with a big hug. “You’re back?”
“Yup, sure am,” I grin at him. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” he smiles and wraps an arm around me as we walk along the corridor. “I hadda go shopping on my OWN,” he pouts and I laugh.
“Aw. Wouldn’t Ali go?”
“Nup. Anyway, she’s not as good as you. You ROCK shopping.”
“Why thanks,” I laugh.
“I am faithful to my shopping girl,” he tells me seriously as we walk into wardrobe where Kevin and Brian are struggling with their boots.
“Don’t tell me – ya got the sizes all muddled up again,” I say and they both turn round.
“Jade,” Brian says quietly and looks at me intensely. “You’re back now?”
“Yup. Well, uh, we kinda should talk.”
“Yeah,” he agrees.
“We missed you,” says Kevin hugging me. “You look good.”
“Thanks,” I smile. I have quite a tan, thanks to all the times I spent lounging around pools with Britney and her dancers. I never get the chance to lounge about with the Boys cos they’re always doing something. And when they have time off, there’s always something organised. It’s crazy.
“Shall we go someplace quiet?” Brian asks and I nod. I follow him into the main arena. Nobody’s there and we sit down on a row of seats. “You look good.”
“You too.”
“I thought you might be back sooner.”
“Yeah, it kinda ran over. The book’s practically done though.”
“That’s cool.”
We smile at each other politely and both crack at the same time.
“I hate this,” Brian bursts out.
“Where’s Farrah?” I say at the same time.
“Farrah?” he stares at me. “She’s never been here.”
“Oh.”
“I talked to her after what you said. You were right – I needed closure. She was always the girl who got away from me.”
“And now?”
“Now she’s just another girl who wasn’t right for me.”
“Brian,” I murmur, moving around to sit on his lap. I play with the hair at the nape of his neck, “Thank God, I was scared you’d wanna be with her.”
“Never,” he rubs my back slowly. “Only girl I wanna be with is mine. And you’re my girl Jade.”
“I love you,” I start to kiss him.
“I am so sorry I kissed her.”
“It’s old news,” I tell him.
“I love you Jady,” he kisses me deeply. His tongue dips into my mouth and I run my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to me. We’re interrupted by a cough and we separate. Kevin and Janice from wardrobe are standing in front of us. “Uh, yeah?” Brian asks.
“Sorry to interrupt,” grins Kevin.
“I need to get the boots sorted,” Janice explains. “Brian, you find the right boots yet?”
“Uh no,” Brian says before looking at me. “You wanna go wait for me at the hotel? I won’t be long.”
“Honey, I don’t have a key to the room,” I tell him.
“I didn’t leave it at reception?” he asks and I shake my head. “Oops, sorry. It’ll be in my bag. Want it now?”
“Uh, no, I need to go see Ali and then I’ll come get the key.”
“Ok, sure,” he grins.
“Good luck with the boots,” I walk out of the main arena and head into catering. Howie is there with a plateful of food. I grin and sit opposite him. “Wow, somebody’s hungry.”
“Jade, hi!” he leans across to kiss my cheek. “Yeah, I missed breakfast.”
“That’s not good,” I tell him in my best mom voice. “Most important meal of the day.”
“Yes mom,” he laughs and offers me his plate.
“Thanks,” I grab a couple of chips.
“So, you’re back?”
“Yup.”
“How was the Britney Spears tour extravaganza?” he asks dramatically and I laugh.
“It was a lot of fun,” I grin. “They’re a great bunch of people. Her dancers are CRAZY though,” I add with a giggle.
“Not like ours then,” he says wryly. There are five female dancers on the Black & Blue tour – Aisha, Michelle, Sandy, Julie and Paula – but they aren’t exactly the friendliest of people. In fact, I think they hate me and Ali. It’s just a hunch but they do tend to leave rooms whenever we walk in. The Boys have noticed this and now just have a purely working relationship with them. The five girls most definitely keep to themselves.
“Nup,” I laugh. “You seen Ali?”
“Nup, why?”
“I need to get her to take some pictures for me.”
“MORE pictures?” he groans and I laugh.
“Not of YOU.”
“Thank God for that!”
“Has Sarah left the tour now?” I change the topic.
“Yeah, she’s gonna join us later I think.”
“What’d you think of her?”
“I liked her a lot,” Howie says. “You?”
“I liked her too.”
“I bet it’s weird for you – seein’ AJ with another girl,” he suddenly says.
“Why?”
“Well, he always had the hugest crush on you.”
“I know, but no, I’m real happy he’s found somebody he deserves,” I smile. “I mean, him liking me was flattering but it could never be anything else.”
“Yeah, it’s good he has Sarah now,” Howie agrees. “Y’know, she gave up drinking with him?”
“Yeah, she said.”
“That is so amazing,” Howie mutters. “She is exactly who AJ needed at that time in his life.”
“Uh huh,” I agree. “Well, I better go find Ali,” I stand up. “Catch you later.”
“Sure, bye Jade,” he waves and carries on eating.
“Still looking for Ali honey?” Brian comes out of wardrobe just as I’m heading past.
“Yup. Have you seen her at all?”
“Nup,” he shakes his head and pulls me close for a kiss. “Won’t I do instead?”
“Usually, yes. But I need to go over some stuff for the book.”
“Aww, well I need to go find Howie anyway.” He kisses me again and then lets go, heading off towards the canteen, “Maybe try the games room. Nick’ll probably be in there.”
“Ok,” I head down the corridor and into the room.
Nick is shaking a pinball machine while Ali sits on the floor giggling.
“Even if you beat it up, you ain’t gonna beat my score!” she cackles.
“That was a FLUKE!” Nick yells at her, before shaking the machine even harder. “I want my balls back you fucker!!”
“Ok…” I say slowly as I walk over to Ali.
“I didn’t even TOUCH the damn thing before my balls disappeared,” Nick tells me, red-faced from all the shaking.
“Man, I’m glad I heard stuff BEFORE the balls comment,” I tell Ali who laughs even harder.
“Oh, FINE!” Nick kicks the machine and turns round to face us. “Where’s Frick?”
“Last seen in the direction of the canteen,” I tell him, sitting next to Ali.
“Ok. I need sugar,” Nick stomps out of the room.
“He’s pissed cos I beat him at pinball,” giggles Ali.
“FLUKE!” we hear Nick yell as he disappears down the corridor.
“Sore loser,” I grin.
“Yeah,” Ali laughs. “So, you’re finally back from Bitchney world?”
“Hey, leave her alone!” I laugh. “Yeah, I’m back.”
“And things are ok with Brian?”
“Yeah. Things are great,” I smile.
“So, what’s up?”
“Just wanted to catch up with ya. And maybe you could come take pictures of security while I talk to ‘em.”
“Sure. Now? Or shall we go get a drink?”
“Drink sounds good.” We stand up and get a couple of Pepsis out of the machine before heading outside and sitting on a low wall. We drink in silence for a while. “Damn, I missed you girl.”
“Ditto,” Ali smiles and wraps an arm around me. “I love bein’ on tour like this… With Nick, but I miss you. We never get to see each other alone.”
“I know,” I agree.
“And lately you always seem to be hangin’ with Bitch… Uh, I mean BRITney.”
“I don’t!” I giggle. “She’s a real good friend but she’s not YOU. You just always seem to wanna be with Nick these days.”
“And you with Brian,” she adds.
“I know. We should start setting time aside to do girl things.”
“Definitely!” she laughs. “Though AJ would probably want to get in on that.”
“I can imagine,” I roll my eyes. “So, it is good with Nick now?”
“It’s perfect,” she smiles. “I feel a lot lighter cos he knows everything about me now. I’ve never dated a guy like this before. I guess we’re just about as perfect as you and Brian are!”
“We’re not perfect!” I protest. “Perfect is…boring.”
Ali laughs, “You love him right? And he loves you. See, perfect.”
“Ugh,” I wrinkle up my nose with a giggle. “I don’t wanna be perfect.”
“Naw, perfect in relationship-world is good,” Ali smiles. “Really.”
“Ok, I guess I’ll believe you,” I laugh. “So, when shall we have our first girl thing?”
“Oh!” Ali claps her hands excitedly. “Next week! I have to fly back to Tampa for a couple of days to do this magazine shoot – come with me!”
“And watch you takin’ pictures?” I say unenthusiastically.
“Yeah, but pictures of 8 hot movie stars… I’m talkin’ Josh Hartnett, Heath Ledger, Ryan Phillippe, Mark Wahlberg…”
“Stop already before I drool!” I laugh.
“So, interested?” she raises an eyebrow, already knowing my answer.
“Yes, yes and YES!” I yell, causing her to cover her ears up with a laugh.
“So that’s a yes then?!” she laughs as my cell rings.
“Sorry,” I apologise and answer. “Hello.”
“Jade, hi! It’s me, Justin.”
“Justin! Hey. How you doin’?”
“I’m good. You?”
“Yeah, I’m great.”
“Cool. Look Jade, I only have five minutes here cos the guys are sound-checking.”
“Ok…” I say curiously and he sighs.
“Straight out with it… It’s over between me and Brit.”
“It is?!” I gasp. “But she hasn’t called me…”
“Uh, she doesn’t exactly know yet,” he admits sheepishly. “It’s just not working out Jade. I barely see her these days! And when I do, it’s not amazing like it used to be…”
“Hey Justin,” I interrupt. “Why are you trying to convince me?”
“How do I tell her? Do I say all that stuff or what? I need help Jade!”
“Why ask me?!”
“You’re her friend and you’re MY friend too.”
“I know,” I tell him. Ever since that meeting in LA, we have talked over the phone about two times a week. He can always make me laugh and vice versa.
“You’re the only person I can talk to about this,” he confesses. “I mean, I got the other guys but…they’re GUYS y’know?”
“I know,” I laugh. “All I can tell you is, be honest with her. Don’t lie because she will find out and it will hurt a lot more.”
“Should I call her or…?”
“Depends how brave you are.”
“Not very,” he mutters.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yeah. I’ve been laying awake nights over it. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Then it will turn out ok,” I tell him. “Eventually,” I add and he chuckles weakly.
“Yeah, eventually maybe. JC is heading towards me, I better get off this topic,” he mutters. “So Jade, when are you gonna be back in Florida?”
“Next week actually. My friend Ali has a job photographing some actors down there and I’m gonna keep her company.”
“Cool. Maybe we can meet up? I’m around then,” he suggests.
“Sure, just call me whenever.”
“Ok. I better go. JC wants me to run through This I Promise You.”
“Ok, well bye Justin. And good luck.”
“Thanks,” he hangs up and I put my phone away slowly, my head spinning with the news he has given me. I can’t believe he wants to dump Britney. They had seemed so close last time I saw them together. But actually, thinking about it, I had never seen them kiss or hold hands that night. I sigh and look at Ali who is doing her best to appear totally non-curious.
“Was that NSync Justin?” she asks casually.
“Yeah,” I nod.
“What’d he want?”
“Advice,” I say and then sigh. This is way too shocking for me to keep to myself. “Ali, if I tell you this, you gotta PROMISE not to tell anyone else.”
“I promise.”
“I MEAN it!”
“Cross my heart,” she crosses her heart and rolls her eyes at the same time. “So tell me!”
“Ok. Uh, Justin is gonna dump Britney.”
“No way?!” she exclaims and I nod.
“My reaction exactly!”
“But they always seem so close!”
“I know. I think it’s gonna come as a shock to Britney too.”
“Why? Did he say?”
“Just fallen out of love with her basically,” I shrug.
“Wow, I thought I’d never say this but I actually feel bad for the girl,” she admits.
“Did you find Ali?” Brian asks as I sit next to him and he wraps his arms around me.
“Yup. We did a little catchin’ up and then went and annoyed security for a while.”
“Sounds good,” Brian laughs and starts playing with my hair.
“Did you find Howie?”
“Yup. And Nick found us so we all went and…”
“Played basketball,” we say together and he laughs.
“I’m that predictable huh?”
“When you get with Nick, you are,” I grin at him. “It’s cute. Oh, Ali and me are goin’ back to Tampa for a couple of days next week.”
“You are? Why?”
“Ali has a photo shoot and she invited me along for company.”
“Why do you have to go?” Brian whines, pulling me closer to him.
“Cos I want to. Plus, I’ve missed Ali lately.”
“But I’ll miss you,” he starts pouting. “And you’ve only just got back!”
“Stop pouting. You know I’m a sucker for pouts.”
“I know. Major pouting…” he sticks his bottom lip out even further and I laugh.
“No fair!”
“Jady, don’t leave me.”
“It’s only for two days.”
“You’ve already decided right?”
“Tickets are booked,” I tell him with a grin and he stops pouting.
“Oh, ok then. I’ll resign myself to missin’ you like hell.”
“Oh gee, TWO days Bri…” He sticks his tongue out at me and I groan. “Don’t EVER stick your tongue out at me like that…” I manage to say between kisses.
His hands run up into my hair and his warm tongue flicks the corners of my mouth. I nibble slightly on the bottom of his lip, making him moan softly into my mouth. We disentangle ourselves at the same time, both aware that he needs to be in an interview in five minutes and a hard-on would NOT look good. He sits back and touches my hair gently.
“So, when do you leave?”
“Monday night. And we’ll be in Tampa until Thursday morning.”
“Yeah? I think we have next Tuesday and Wednesday off! I could join!” he says excitedly and I shake my head.
“Sorry sweetie, but that’d kinda ruin the whole bonding-with-Ali thing.”
“Aww, but those are my days off! I don’t get them very often and I wanted to spend ‘em with you…” He starts pouting again.
“Hey, I’ve already told ya ‘bout the poutin’…”
“Don’t care,” he says as childishly as he can.
“Aw baby…” I say in a baby-talk voice. “You can bond with Nick.”
“I don’t wanna bond with Nick!” He lowers his voice and runs a hand along my thigh, “I wanna bond with YOU…”
“I thought we already did that?” I giggle and he laughs. “Can I tell you something in secret?”
“Anything,” he gets serious and I face him.
“Ok, I got a call from Justin Timberlake today and he’s basically gonna split up with Britney.”
“Serious?” his eyes widen and I nod. “Wow, but I always thought they were in love.”
“Not anymore,” I say. “I feel AWFUL. I mean, Britney doesn’t have a CLUE.”
“All you can do is be there for her when it happens,” he tells me, wrapping his arms around me.
“I guess. Brian, if you ever start to fall out of love with me…”
“Never happen,” he cuts me off.
“But if it DID…”
“It won’t. Even after I die, I’ll still love you,” he murmurs in my ear. “It’s kinda like breathing.”
“You don’t breathe when you’re dead,” I tell him with a giggle.
“I was bein’ ROMANTIC!” he exclaims and I laugh.
“Sorry.”