Justin led Jamie down to his dressing room and sat with her on the couch.
“Are you all right, sweetie?” Jamie nodded and looked up at him.
“J…Dave’s up to something. He collected everyone’s cell phones…I don’t know what he’s going to do with them, or what he’s trying to prove, but he’s done it just the same.”
“What?! Are you telling me that that creep has my cell phone? Hell no!!” Justin threw the door open wide and stormed down the hallway. Jamie sat and waited in the dressing room. She could hear his yells and she knew that this wasn’t going to be pretty.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dave looked up at the raging pop star with an amused look.
“Why…whatever do you mean?” Justin wasn’t buying the innocent act for one second, and he wanted his cell phone back.
“You know damn well what I mean. Why did you collect the cell phones? You’re not going to prove anything with this little stunt.”
“Oh contraire…my little friend. I have proved the exact point I was setting out to prove.”
“And what point would that be? That you’re desperate to cause some sort of chaos?”
“No…what I wanted to do was show you all that I am capable of taking things from you. I have the power on this tour…What I say, goes….you can take your phone now. But remember, I took something from you once…and I can very easily do it again.” Justin didn’t need a cue to shudder, and suddenly the room had grown very cold.
He grabbed his phone and walked slowly back to the dressing room. What exactly did Dave mean? By the time he reached the door he was even angrier than when he went down. Not only did Dave feel that he ran the show around here…he actually had the balls to do something like this…and that worried Justin.
The rest of the night went mostly uneventful. The show went off with only a few minor slip ups, but nothing that the audience would have noticed. Dave stayed in the shadows, and while that made Justin happy, it also put him on edge. The man was creepy, and it made Justin very uneasy knowing that he was around, and watching.
Jamie had been by his side all night. Justin knew that she wasn’t comfortable with Dave either, and being on tour wasn’t easy. She was pushing aside a lot of her needs just for him, and he hated that she had to feel so nervous because Dave was sick and twisted.
That’s the part that baffled him the most. What was it that Dave wanted? He had never seen the man before in his life, and when Grace joined the tour…suddenly he was this grand presence, and in charge. Justin wanted to know why this mad man had decided that Jamie was going to be his first victim…and what exactly he was planning to do to prove that.
He looked over at Jamie and smiled. She was curled up on the couch in the back of the bus. Her hair was slightly messy, and her hands were tucked under her chin. This tour had started to catch up with her, and he felt bad. He felt bad because he was too selfish to tell her to go home and get rest, and he felt bad because she was on this tour just for him.
He tucked a blanket around her and kissed her softly on the forehead. She stirred and snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blanket, her breathing taking on the slow rhythm of sleep.
Justin headed to the front of the bus and sat down next to JC who was working on a song.
“What’s up Jace?”
“Not much man…just trying to figure this hook out.” He had a portable keyboard out on the table and he was messing with some notes here and there, and then he would write them down. Justin peered over his shoulder and shrugged.
“Anything I can do to help?” JC looked up from his work and glanced at Justin before pushing the paper in his direction.
“Tell me what you think of those…” Justin grabbed the paper and the two of them started to work out some rhythms and melodies.
A half an hour later they had worked out a rough melody and Justin stood up and stretched.
“OK man…I should get some sleep.” He was about to walk to the back and get in his bunk when his cell phone rang. Justin picked it up and looked at the number. <[> “It’s an Orlando number, but I’ve never seen it before…” He flipped open the phone and answered. “Hello?”
“Hi…is this a Mr. Justin Timberlake?” a male voice sounded on the other end.
“Yes…who is this?”
“This is Dr. Jacob Bethune…I’m looking for a Miss Jamie Tanning.”
“She’s asleep right now…can I help you with something?”
“Oh…I’m terribly sorry…I hate to wake her, but this is urgent.” Justin glanced at JC with a confused look.
“I’m her boyfriend…what is it that you need?”
“Are you sure you can’t wake her? Or maybe just tell her that she should come back to Orlando…I’d hate to do this over the phone.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Justin heard the man let out a long, slow breath.
“I really shouldn’t do this over the phone. Is there any way that Miss Tanning can come home?”
“Not really…we’re in Washington State right now…what is it that you need Jamie for?”
“Well…I sent a letter to her earlier, but I’m thinking that she didn’t get it…I..I really need to talk to her.”
“Listen…just tell me what’s wrong…”
“Her father passed away last night. He died of a heart attack.” Justin’s face went pale and he almost dropped the phone. JC looked at him and stood up.
“J? What happened? Who is that?” Justin waved JC away and he cleared the lump in his throat.
“Umm…Thank…thank you for the call. I’ll call you back…” Justin clicked the phone off and turned to JC. “What am I going to tell her JC?”
“What? What happened? Justin…talk to me…” JC watched as Justin sat down, his eyes were glazed over and the color still hadn’t returned to his cheeks.
“Jace…Jamie’s dad died last night…he had a heart attack. She never said anything about her father being sick…I don’t think she knew.” JC felt his own heart drop.
“She never said anything to you?”
“No…The doctor said that he sent her a letter…but she never said anything…I’m sure she would have told me, so she could go be with him. Right?”
“Oh I’m sure…she wouldn’t keep something like that from you.” Justin stood and looked down the hallway in the direction of Jamie.
“I don’t know what to do. Should I wake her? Or should I wait until the morning?” His mind was racing and he felt sick to his stomach.
“I don’t know man…maybe you should tell her now.”
“Yeah…that’ll go over big. ‘Hey baby…wake up, your Dad’s dead.’ ” He shook his head and sat back down again, running his hands through his hair. “How do you tell the person that you love, that the only family she has left is dead?” JC sat in silence, not knowing the answer.
Justin stood and headed down to the back room, quietly opening the door. Jamie was still curled up on the couch. She looked so peaceful and comfortable, but he knew that he couldn’t wait. It would eat him alive, and Jamie would never forgive him if he kept something like this quiet.
He walked over to the couch and sat next to her, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. He watched her for a while, hating to break the peaceful sleep that she was in. This poor girl had been through so much, and now this was added to her plate.
Justin knew that Jamie was going to have to leave, and the part that killed him the most was the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to go with her for very long. They were in the middle of a huge tour right now, and he couldn’t stop everything just because he wanted to be with his girlfriend.
This sucked.
He sighed and debated again weather or not he should wake her. He didn’t want to hear the cries that would come, because it would break his heart even more to see her in such pain. The man that had raised her from a baby, and was her only family was now gone. She wasn’t even there when he died. Instead, she was all the way across the country with Justin. Jamie was going to be devastated, and he didn’t know if he was capable of picking up the pieces.
How was he supposed to offer comfort when he was the reason that she wasn’t with her father? What was he supposed to tell her when she asked him what to do? This just wasn’t fair, and Jamie didn’t need a stress like this in her life. He only wished there was some way he could turn back time and fix this. That there was some way he could give her more time with her father.
Jamie stirred and her eyes fluttered open.
“Hey…what are you doing still awake?” She sat up and stretched, yawning widely. She noticed Justin’s silence and became worried. “What’s wrong?”
Justin looked up at her and couldn’t help the tears that started to flow. “Justin?” Jamie shifted and moved closer to him, grabbing his hand. “What happened?”
“I…I just got a phone call…” The words seemed to stick in his throat, and he didn’t know if he was going to be able to get this out.
“Who was it? Talk to me, J.” Justin took a deep breath and avoided eye contact, it was too painful.
“James…a Dr. Bethune just called me, looking for you. He…he said that…He told me that your dad had a….a heart attack last night.” He heard the sharp intake of breath and instantly regretted the next few words that came out of his mouth. “He didn’t make it.”