The week was slowly coming to an end. Jamie had managed to conserve her sanity, which meant for the most part, avoiding Justin. When then two were in a room together, the air was frigid. Chris did his best to break the tension, and Joey would offer his moments of flatulence to lighten the mood. Mostly the two avoided each other and on the rare occasion they did speak, it was very short and curt.
Jamie had no real problem with Justin, other than the fact that he hadn’t apologized for his comment. Weather he knew it or not, he was doing a great job at making her feel unwelcome.
Justin was battling with his own demons at the moment. He didn’t know what made him say what he did, but he figured it was the same thing that was keeping him from apologizing. There was nothing wrong with Jamie, he just didn’t like the feelings she gave him. He had felt those feelings once before, and they ended up in heartbreak. He didn’t think that now would be any different. He had called his mom on numerous occasions, to seek her guidance. She had said to let things cool off, and then talk it out with Jamie. He had to laugh at that, because at the moment, he didn’t think things could get much cooler. His mother had also said that she was coming down for a week or so, and he was glad because he just needed someone that wasn’t sided with Jamie. His band mates had proved to be useless, because none of them knew the power she possessed and Justin could hardly explain it to himself, never mind them.
The sun was starting to set as Jamie sat on the deck with Chris; A few notebooks between them and half empty cans holding down their papers.
“OK. This verse should be here…and then you put this in as the bridge…”
“But if you use this as the bridge it’ll be repetitive. It’s just like the chorus…” Their banter went on like this for several more minutes until the song was almost finished, and they both sat back with a sigh.
“Lord! This is harder than I thought.” She exclaimed, stretching her arms to get some feeling back.
“Yea, but this was actually easy.” Chris responded as he closed his eyes and let his tired mind relax.
“Where is everyone else? It’s awful quiet around here.” Jamie finished off her luke-warm soda, stopping the papers from moving with her foot.
“JC and Lance are in the studio, Joey is at his place going over some movie contracts, and Justin went to the airport to get his mother.”
“That should be interesting.” She quipped, not meaning for it to be aloud, but it was.
“Hey now…You two have done well this week…no black eyes.”
“Yet…” She managed. Although she and Justin had avoided each other, her patience with his childishness was starting to wear thin. “I swear that boy regresses in maturity everyday. I think all this Orlando sun and those old bleach jobs have finally gotten to him.” Chris laughed although Jamie spoke in all seriousness.
“Well…Hopefully with Momma Harless, things will get better.”
“Harless? That sounds really familiar. That’s not Justin’s last name is it?”
“No, Justin’s last name is Timberlake.” Chris answered for her, not sure where this was going.
“Timberlake? Now that name I know…but they couldn’t be related, because Justin’s too much of a jackass.” She mumbled to herself.
“What was that?” Chris asked, not catching her statement. “Never mind, what do you say we go grab something to eat?” She stood and piled all their papers together, sticking them inside her notebook. Chris stood and stretched out letting out a huge sigh before grabbing the empty cans and following Jamie inside. Once everything was taken care of, the subject of food was brought up again.
“What do you want to eat? Do you want to go out?” Chris bounced a ball up and down while waiting for an answer.
“Nah, I’d rather eat here. I don’t feel like going out, and I’m sure your bodyguards don’t want to either.” Her sarcastic remark was met with a slight chuckle and a nod of the head.
“You’re right. What do you say we just make some sandwiches?” He headed to the fridge without waiting for her response and started pulling out things to make a meal with. Jamie went and helped, grabbing the food that she wanted.
After everything was made and the extra put away, they settled back out on the deck and watched glowing embers of the sunset start to fade. Over head the stars started to freckle the sky and the moon glowed with a soft light that seemed to make everything fade together. The crickets played their soft melody conducted by the breeze and the trees swayed in appreciation. A magical feeling seemed to float upon the air as the leaves danced to a cadence created by Mother Nature.
“This is beautiful.” The words escaped her lips in a whisper, for fear of disturbing the peace that blanketed the outdoors.
“Yes Ma’am.” Chris agreed with a hushed tone.
They finished up their food just as the sliding door opened and Joey and Justin appeared. Jamie closed her eyes and said a quick prayer for strength. Justin was silent as he sat down at an opposite end of the deck and Joey sat next to Chris. A strange silence fell over the group until Chris realized that something was missing. “Where’s your mother, J?” He asked, noting that the strong southern accent wasn’t present, nor the sweet smile.
“She called and said there was a change of plans. My dad’s coming down too, with Jon and Steven. He and Lisa took the week off from work and they’re all coming down together so we can spend some time together.” A small smile graced his lips as he reminisced about his family. Jamie wondered what it would be like, having his whole clan here, and she wondered if she would feel like even more of an outcast when they arrived.
Jamie shivered as a cool breeze swept across the deck nipping at her bare skin. She rubber her arms and when that didn’t help, she decided to just go inside and change. She thought maybe she’d finish the book she was reading.
“Well guys…I’m going to head in for the night, I’m getting a bit chilly. I’ll be in my room if you need me. Good night all.” She waved her hand as Joey and Chris both responded with a goodnight and Justin just grunted. When she was safely inside the door Chris turned and threw Justin a dirty look.
“It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to her Justin. She hasn’t done anything but be nice to you. I suggest you get that stick out of your ass and lighten up.” He angrily got up out of his chair and slammed the door as he went inside.
“That was harsh.” Justin looked at Joey for his agreement but was met with a blank stare.
“He’s right dude, I don’t know what’s gotten into you and I don’t know why you feel the need to be a jackass, but it doesn’t look good on you man, trust me.” And then Justin was left alone with those thoughts, to brood and steam about never being backed up by his best friends anymore. Suddenly he couldn’t wait for tomorrow when his family would be there to help him out.
Brooding was all Justin seemed to do the next day. He snapped at anything and if looks could kill, everyone around him would be dead. He didn’t know why either. It wasn’t as if something had been said or done to piss him off, he was just in a bad mood. Jamie had been MIA all day, which was probably better because he wasn’t sure what he was capable of, and seeing her just might be too much. He had spent all of last night wondering about why she had such a pull on him, but he came up with nothing, and that was the beginning of his bad mood.
The rest if the group had given up in talking to Justin. They just avoided him and hoped that his mother or father might be able to help them out. They were all getting sick of his attitude, and most of them were ready to beat the crap out of him. *NSYNC would soon be *SYNC if they had anything to say about it. There was one thing that was keeping Justin from going completely insane, and that was the fact that his family would be there to see him in about an hour. He was so excited that he would get to spend time with his little brothers, and as selfish as it may sound, that Jamie would have nothing to do with that part of his life.
