Part Three
"Here you go," JC said as he handed Marron her drink.
Marron opened her eyes and smiled up at him as she took it from him. "Thanks," she said.
"Uh-huh," he said as he put his drink down and then pulled off his T-shirt.
Marron definitely took advantage of that split second when JC's face was covered with his T-shirt to admire his perfect chest. She continued to watch him out of the corner of her eyes as he settled next to the lawn chair next to him. 'Damn, he was perfect,' she thought as she aimlessly sipped her drink. She may have a boyfriend but it definitely didn't hurt to look. "Wow, this is good, what is it?" she asked and then took a sip.
JC wasn't quite sure. "Sex on the Beach?"
Marron choked on her drink and looked at him in shock. "Excuse me?"
"Oh!" he exclaimed and let out a laugh. "No, no, that wasn't a offer," he explained as he continued to laugh. "That's the name of the drink."
"Ohh," she said as she laughed as well. "I was like um...okaaay."
He cocked a brow. "Okay? So you would agree to have sex on the beach with me?"
She felt herself turning red. "I... uh... I meant that..."
JC let out a laugh. "Relax, Marron, I'm just teasing ya."
Marron wanted to say it wasn't very funny, because a part of her wanted to say. 'Hell yeah I would! Name the place and time and I'm there!' But instead she laughed it out and took another drink.
"So how's the head?" he asked as he shifted in his lawn chair to get comfortable.
"What?" she asked. "Oh, my head." She laughed. "It's still kind of tender."
JC touched his head lightly. "Mine too, we hit pretty hard."
"I don't know about you, but that collision definitely woke me up."
"How can two people actually run into each other three times in a matter of..." He glanced at his watch. "Ten hours is beyond me."
"Well, we sure can," she said and then looked at her watch as well. "And it's only four so the night's still young."
JC chuckled at that. "Ain't that the truth."
"Hey Mar," Ashley said as she walked up to the two. "I'm heading back to the room."
Marron shielded her eyes as she looked up at her sister. "Okay. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she mumbled in annoyance and then looked at JC. "Just keep your shaved friend away from me and everything will be fine."
"Yes mam," JC said with a smile.
Ashley almost melted. Damn he had a good smile. "Wow, Mar...he's a keeper, ya know you should think about sending Cevin out on his butt and taking this..."
"GoodBYE, Ash," she said forcefully as she smiled brightly at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah bye...later cyber boy."
JC chuckled. "Bye Ash," he said and watched her leave. "You're sister is something."
"Tell me about it. Sorry if she offended you or anything."
"Not at all," he said with a shrug. "Cyber boy's kind of catchy, don't ya think?"
Marron shook her head with a laugh. "It fits you I guess."
JC laughed but stopped and turned her attention to the little girl that had been lurking around for the past minute. He smiled at her. "Hey girl." She couldn't have been more than eight.
She froze. "Um...hi," she said shyly. "You're JC right?"
He smiled. "I dunno, do I look like him?" he teased.
She giggled and nodded her head. "Then I guess I am."
"Can I get your autograph?" she asked as she pulled her hands behind her back to reveal a piece of paper and pen she had been hiding, along with a camera dangling from her small wrists.
"Sure sweetie," he smiled and then took the pen and paper. "What's your name?"
"Um...Sara," she said as she watched him in awe.
Marron admired the way he handled this situation. She could tell he was good with not only his fans but with kids as well. He smiled and handed it back and laughed and nodded his head when she eagerly asked for a picture. "Would you like me to take it?"
The girl smiled at her and then nodded her head as she handed her the camera. "Thanks Mar," JC said and winked at her before turning his attention to the girl. He called her "Mar". She loved the way it sounded coming from his lips.
"C'mere cutie," JC said as he picked up the girl and plopped her on his knee.
Sara giggled as JC propped his chin on top of her blonde head and showed off her toothy grin to the camera. "That was so cute," Marron said as she handed the camera to the girl.
"Thanks," she said as she jumped off of JC's lap. "Bye."
"Wait? Do I not get a hug?" JC asked as he poked out his bottom lip.
Sara giggled again and then nodded her head as she wrapped her small arms around him. JC smiled and squeezed her playfully before she said good bye and trotted happily back to her parents. JC then winked at Marron and laid back down on the lawn chair like nothing ever happened.
Marron sighed as she laid back as well. She had a feeling that she was going to have to repeatedly remind herself that she had a boyfriend back home or she was in trouble.
Ashley opened the refrigerator and peered in. She smiled softly when she saw the 12 pack of Diet Coke. "Just like Mar to remember," she said aloud as she fished out a can. She was still dressed in her swimsuit and her towel was still wrapped around her waist. Her flip-flops smacked against her heels as she plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV.
She started flipping through the channels not really paying attention. The vision of Justin's smug face was still fresh in her mind and his harsh words made her more angry. ‘How you can be Marron' sister is beyond me,’ he had said. She hated to admit it, but that stung her. Her whole life she was compared to her older sweet sister Marron and she hated it. Marron never gloated about it, she hated it just as much. "Don't listen to them," she would always say after a uncle, aunt, or any other family member compared her. "You are your own person, don't forget that."
Ashley sighed as she watched Carson Daily on TV. She was about to turn it off, but Carson said something that caught her attention. "We have the new video by NSYNC today," he said and the crowd in the studio cheered.
"Great," Ash mumbled as she rolled her eyes, but kept on watching.
"The guys couldn't be here unfortunately, because they are on a well deserved vacation," Carson continued. "But we were lucky enough to get Justin on the line.
Ashley's eyes widened as the studio cheered.
"Justin? You there?" Carson said as he pushed his earpiece firmly in his ear.
"Oh my God!!! Carson!!!"
Carson just stood there and gave the camera a stupid smile as he shook his head. “How you doin man?" Carson finally said after they shared a laugh.
Ashley couldn't help but smile.
"I'm good, enjoying a nice long vacation," he said as he made a long sigh.
"Any of the other guys with you?"
"Yeah, JC's here. He's out by the pool ridiculously flirting with some chic."
Carson busted out laughing and Ashley couldn't help but laugh knowing that the "chic" was her older sister.
"Oh, man you just broke millions of girl's hearts by sharing that," Carson said with a laugh. "So you're in warm climate I take it?"
"Yeah, I'll just say we're at the beach."
"Now, every girl near a beach is freaking out right now," Carson teased as he walked closer to the camera. "So tell us about the new video?"
"Well, the song is called 'Gone', but ya'll already knew that."
"And it was directed by Wayne, right?" Carson asked.
"NO PAIN, NO WAYNE!" Justin yelled into the phone and everyone laughed.
"Okay, let's check out the new video...Justin can you hang around a bit?"
"Yeah sure, I'm just chillin."
"Okay, let's check out the world premiere of NSYNC's new video...Gone."
Ashley shiftged in her seat as she was getting ready to finally hear them sing. As soon as she heard Justin's voice, a chill ran through her. She rubbed her hands up and down her arm as she tried to convince herself she was just cold. "Dammit," she finally said as she turned off the TV. "Why couldn't they just suck it would be so much easier."
She sighed and decided to get some fresh air and picked up her diet coke and walked to the balcony. She opened the door and slid out and walked to the railing.
"Well, well, it just keeps getting better and better."
Ashley gasped and spun around at the familiar voice she had just heard moments ago on national television. He was lounging in a chair with his feet propped up on the railing and a cell phone up to his ear. She didn't say anything, just scowled at him while he just gave her a cocky grin.
"Yeah...yeah, Carson I'm here," he finally said never leaving her eyes.
"Great video man," he said into the phone. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of it."
Justin smiled. "Well good."
"You take it easy man, thanks for taking the time to talk to us."
"No problem, Carson. Bye," he said and then hung up the phone. "Sorry I was talking to Carson on national TV."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know...I saw," she mumbled as she looked straight ahead.
"You did huh? See the video?"
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, parts of it."
"And?"
She shrugged. "It was okay."
"Wow, princess...was that a compliment?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't let it get to your shaved head, pretty boy," she stated.
"I would never take a compliment from you for granted, princess," he teased with a smile.
She just gave him a fake smile and turned around to leave.
"Where ya going?"
"Inside...away from you."
"See ya around then," he said and then winked at her.
"Considering you're living next door, looks like I can't avoid it."
Justin smiled when she walked inside. He was going to have a hell of a good time tormenting her, he thought as he leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes.
"Would you like another drink?" JC asked as he leaned up in his chair.
Marron thought about it for a second and then shrugged. "Sure, why not," she said. "But lemme get this round."
"No, it's okay," he insisted.
"No, really I don't want you to...."
"Really, it's okay Mar," he said as he took the cup from her. "I got it."
She sighed in defeat knowing she wasn't going to win. "Okay, thanks."
"Be back," he said and then walked off.
Marron watched him walk off to the bar, quickly dodging kids that ran by him and smiling at the women he passed. ‘How the hell did this happen?’ she thought. One minute she's drooling over a picture of him in some magazine and the next he's buying her drinks by the pool?! It just doesn't make sense. When did things like this happen to her? “Apparently now," she mumbled when she saw him walking back towards her.
"There you go," he said with a smile as he handed it to her.
"Thanks," she said and smiled back as she took it from him. "Looks like you picked some fans up on the way."
JC looked at her weird but then she nodded her head towards the direction of the bar and he looked to see the two girls that were waving and winking at them. "Yeah," he mumbled as he laid back down. "One of the girls pinched my ass."
Marron busted out laughing and almost choked on her drink. "Must have enjoyed that, huh?"
"Not particularly," he said and then grinned at her. "I prefer brunettes."
Marron blushed when he winked at her and laughed softly as she turned her head away. 'If he winks at me one more time I'm gonna jump him', she thought as she sucked more of her drink.
"So is Cevin the boyfriend?" JC asked after a moment of silence.
"Huh?" she said suddenly as she looked at him.
"Cevin....the guy that Ashley mentioned?" he reminded her.
"Ohh," she said and then cleared her through. "That Cevin...um yeah he's the boyfriend."
"Cool," he said as he tried to push aside the jealously. "What does he do?"
"He's a lawyer."
"That's cool," he said as he shut his eyes and enjoyed the feel of the sun coming down on his skin. "What kind?"
"Defensive," she mumbled.
JC noticed the sad tone in her voice and studied her. "And you don't like that."
Marron noticed that wasn't a question but a statement. He knew how to read people well. She lifted a shoulder. "I just don't agree with it sometimes. I know it's his job and everything, but sometimes I don't approve of the people he defends. I mean sometimes he defends the innocent, but most of the time they're guilty and....I don't know it just seems wrong, ya know?"
JC nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, touched that she would care. "But like you said, it's his job."
She put on a smile. "Yeah," she said and set her drink aside because she felt a buzz coming on.
"Man, it's hot out here," JC said after a moment of silence. "Want to join me in the pool?"
Dammit, she was just getting the use to seeing him half naked, now she was gonna have to endure the torture of seeing him not only half naked but half naked AND wet. "Love to," she managed to say and he smiled as he jumped up to his feet.
They walked to the side of the pool and Marron dipped in her painted toes to check the temperature. "Whew, it's cold," she said.
"It's easier to just jump in and get it over with," he said and then dove head first into the water. He came up and stood waist deep as he pushed his wet hair out of his face. "Come on...jump in."
Marron almost groaned at the sight of him. Why did she have to be so attracted to him? "It's too cold."
"Wimp," he teased and then splashed her.
"HEY!" she exclaimed as she flinched and then stuck her foot in and splashed him back.
"Like that does a lot of good, Mar, I'm already in," he teased and then walked up tot he side. "Come on...just jump in...it's not bad, promise."
"I'll do it my way," she said finally as she sat down at the edge of the pool and stuck her legs in before hopping in. "Woah that's cold," she said as she kept her arms out.
JC rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you that's not the way to do it."
"Quiet," she said as she stood still. "Trying to think of something other than the cold."
"Well while you're thinking, lemme do this," he said and then suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrists.
"JC! Stop," she shrieked as she tried to struggle against him, knowing she had no chance of wining this battle.
"You'll thank me, I promise," he laughed and then hooked one of his legs behind hers and tripped her into the water. He smiled when she came up and gasped as she pushed the water out of her face. "See?? Isn't that better?"
"You suck."
"You're cute when you're angry and wet."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," she said even though his comment made her stomach dance.
He shrugged. "It was worth a try," he said and then started to swim towards the deep end. "Come over here."
"Where you going?" she asked as she followed him to the deep end.
JC swam to the side of the pool and sat on a step that was a few feet under the water in the deep end. "Here," he said as he grabbed her hand and guided her to the step. "This way we can sit and still be cool."
She smiled and sat in the small grove carved into the side of the pool. "You still suck you know."
"I know, I'm so mean," he teased and then playfully nudged her with his arm and smiled when she laughed. "So, you doing anything tonight?"
"Nah, I have an early day tomorrow so I'm crashing early," she told him. "But I'm sure Ash will want to do something."
"Oh," he said. 'Well, so much for asking her to come out with him and Justin,' he thought as he looked the other way.
"What about you?"
He looked at her. "I dunno, me and J might go clubbing or something."
"That'll be fun," she said silently wanting to ask if she could tag along. "I think there was a....." She froze and gasped. "Oh my god."
"What?" he asked worriedly.
"What time is it?" she asked even though she looked at her watch.
"Almost 5:30, why?"
"Shit," she said as she stood up on the steps. "I gotta go...I was suppose to call Cevin an hour ago."
"Oh," he said as he watched her quickly get out. "Um...I'll see you around then."
"Yeah sure," she said and gave him a quick smile. "Bye JC."
"Bye Marron," he said and then watched her run off. "Dammit," he cursed. The girl he runs into, many of times, turns out to be smart, sweet, beautiful... and taken. "Life sucks," he said and the scooted off the seat and went under the water.
“Cev, for the last time, I'm sorry," she said into the phone as she began to pace around the den.
Ashley rolled her eyes as she flipped through her magazine. She looked up at her sister to see her frantic as she began to circle the glass coffee table. Ashley quickly lifted up her legs that were resting on the table when she walked by her. "Jerk," Ashley mumbled under her breath and then continued to flip.
"I just forgot," she continued as she continued to circle the table. "I was out by the pool and...um...Well, I fell asleep," she lied.
"I was worried sick!" Cevin exclaimed. "You should have set your watch or something."
"It didn't occur to me to do that," she sighed and then bumped into Ashley's leg. She looked down at them and then at Ashley.
"I ain't budgin,” she said while she never looked up from her magazine.
Marron rolled her eyes and went the other way. "Of course it didn't occur to you," Cevin continued. "I am obviously not important enough for you to remember."
"Cevin, that's not true," she sighed. "I fell asleep. Simple as that. Look, I'm sorry okay? It won't happen again."
Cevin sighed. "I don't mean to snap, baby, but I just worry about you."
Marron fought the urge to moan in frustration. Cevin always wanted to think of her as his sweet innocent girlfriend and she was some delicate flower. He even hated the fact that she worked as much as she did. "Cevin, I'm FINE. I'm a big girl you know."
"I know. I just like to protect you," he said softly. "I know swimming with the dolphins makes you happy and that's all well and good, but further down the road I don't want you to have to work."
"What? Cev, why would I not want to work?"
"With my salary you wouldn't have to," he told her. "Further down the road when we get married you could stay home and..."
"It's not about the damn money, Cevin," she snapped. "I love doing what I do and I'll continued to do it until I say so."
He sighed. "All right dear," he said quietly. "We'll talk about it when you get back. I have to go though. I'm meeting the Duke brothers at the club."
"Yeah, okay have fun," she mumbled.
"I love you."
"I love you, too," she said quietly and the hung up the phone.
"He wasn't making obnoxious kissing noises this time, was he?" Ashley asked as she tossed the magazine on the table.
"Shut up, Ash," she said as she collapsed on the couch.
"Just asking. You know I can't stand the guy."
"And he can't stand you, yeah... I know the deal."
Ashley shifted in her seat and turned slightly towards her. "Mar," she said with concern look in her eyes. "He's not the one for you."
Marron stared at her sister. She hadn't looked at her like that in a long time. She smiled softly. "I appreciate that you care, but he's what I need now."
"Ugh...no he's not," she said forcefully. "Cevin's the kind of guy that wants to pamper his girl and you are SO not like that. You're one of the most independent people I know, Mar. You need someone that will let you breath once and awhile, ya know?"
"Cevin does that," she said even though she didn't even believe it.
"Yeah whatever," she sighed as she got up. "Just be careful, okay? I don't want what happened to me with Cody, happen to you."
Marron's eyes softened as she looked up at her baby sister. "Ash..."
"I'm going to go take a nap," she said quickly as she walked past her and disappeared down the hall.
"She's opening up," she said out loud as she rested her head against the back of the couch. "Must be something in the Bahamas."
"How'd the interview with Carson go today?" JC asked as he fished out a Corona bottle out of the refrigerator. He wasn't really a "beer" person, let alone a "Corona" person, but there was something about drinking a cold bottle of Corona with a squeeze of lime at the beach. Especially if it was a foreign beach.
Justin chuckled. "It went fine," he said as he sat up on the counter and tore open a bag of Lays. "Told Carson and the rest of the world you were ridiculously flirting with some chic."
JC paused in the middle of slicing his lime and stared at Justin's sly grin. "You didn't."
"I fore fid," he said with a mouthful of chips.
JC shook his head as he squeezed the lime over the bottle and watched the lime juice trickle down inside before, plopping in the lime itself. "You probably just made millions of girls cry by saying that."
"Yeah, too bad, huh?" Justin teased after he swallowed his food and then stuffed in another handful. "But yeah, it went good....they premiered Gone and everything."
"How does it look? I haven't seen the finished product yet," he asked as he took his first sip while he leaned against the counter.
Justin shrugged. "I was out in the balcony, but ask Ashley she'll know."
JC gave him a weird look. "Huh? Ashley?"
"Yeah," he said grimly. "The Kennedy sisters are right next door to us."
JC choked on his beer. "You're kidding."
"Nope, the girl walked right out of the balcony next to ours. She said she watched a little of our video."
"Did she make fun of it?" he asked with a smile.
"No, actually she said it was okay," he said and then shrugged.
"Wow...well, looks like avoiding the sexy bitch is out of the question eh?"
"Yeah, and I'm gonna make the best of it by annoying the crap out of her," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"You're awful," JC laughed. "Hey...did you ever find baby blue chic?"
Justin rolled his eyes. "Hello, earth to JC. Did you not recognize Ashley's swimsuit?"
"What? No of course not, I was too distracted by her sister."
Justin grinned. "Yeah, I noticed."
"Shut up. So Ashley is not only sexy bitch, but also the baby blue chic. What other nicknames do you have for her?"
"Princess," he said. "That's it... as of now, you never know what I'll come up with." Justin hopped down the counter and put the bag of chips away and went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, those are mine," JC informed him.
"You didn't get me any?"
"You didn't ask... all you said was cereal....put it back, besides your only twenty."
"Twenty and a half thank you," he said and then sighed and put it back and settled for a Dr. Pepper. "So what are you going to do about Marron?"
"What do you mean?" he asked and then nursed his beer.
"Are you gonna go for her?"
"She has a boyfriend, J," he reminded her.
"So, maybe he's not right for her," he told him. "I've never seen you look at a woman the way you look at her."
"I barely know her."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"J," he sighed. "Marron's a great person and I hope I can spend more time with her. But as long as she's happy with her boyfriend I'm not going to interfere. No matter how bad I want to."
"But..."
"Forget it, I don't want to talk about it anymore," he said and then dumped his empty bottle in the trash. "Let's go get ready if we're still going out."