Chapter
Two: Synchronized
“In
recent news Camille Henderson-Timberlake has just come off of the final stretch
of her last tour and the fans are still buzzing about the show. It was
amazing.” Regis Philbin announced to the television viewing audience on his
daytime show with co-host Kelly Ripa.
“I
didn’t get the chance to go myself because tickets were impossible to find but
I did view the Showtime concert that she did from Madison Square Garden.”
Kelly nodded her head toward the audience. “Seeing it on television was
amazing but actually being there had to be breathtaking.”
“Camille
reportedly raked in about sixteen-million dollars from this tour alone. It was
monstrous.”
“To
go from doing something like that to settling down in home life must be a
humdinger though, don’t you think? I mean, this young woman IS the
entertainment industry. She’s at the top of her game right now and is
completely untouchable.”
“I’m
sure its extremely hard for her. Justin’s kind of been the one that stays at
home and holds down the fort.” Regis speculated with a sly snicker. “Camille
is the bread-winner in the marriage, not to say that JT isn’t brining in a lot
of cash, but she easily surpasses every move he’s ever made in his career.”
“That’s
very true. Who is to say what this hiatus will do for their relationship? They
didn’t split because of anything like that before. I’m just crossing my
fingers that Camille doesn’t take a page from Justin’s book and skip out on
her fans for good as he did with NSYNC.”
////
“Tonight
is a night of celebration. We are celebrating a new era in the lives and times
of the members of The Committee.” Beyonce Knowles announced while standing
before her group of friends in the living room of Jessica Simpson’s home. Her
long strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she was
dressed in neutral colors giving the effect of being cool, calm, and collected.
“Tonight is one of Camille’s first nights home and her induction back into
the world of regular folk.”
“Preach
on, sister!” Nastassia J., whom was sitting on the floor wearing a gray
paperboy hat and bangle earrings, shouted out dramatically causing Camille to
smack her with a designer throw pillow playfully.
“Tonight,
ladies, is where we commemorate how far all of us have come. We raise our
glasses into the air and take on the responsibilities of the new lives that we
have forged!” Beyonce continued and encouraged the other ladies to hold their
glasses of chardonnay up into the air as she spoke. “Nastassia J. is no longer
just Nastassia J. She is now a wife and a mother.”
“To
Nastassia,” the committee members raised their glasses.
“Jessica
is finally, and when I say finally I mean finally, pregnant!”
“To
Jessica,”
“Ms.
Ritchie has come back from the colorful world of rehab and is about to drink a
Sprite instead of chardonnay,” Beyonce cleared her throat, “Jessica, make
sure that’s what’s in her glass.”
“I’m
clean, bitches, damn!” Nicole protested and rolled her eyes as Jessica sniff
checked her glass and then nodded her head that things were clear. “Where is
the trust?”
“Our
most beloved Ellie has landed a spot on Janet Jackson’s new tour as
choreographer and, from what I hear, has also picked up a hot piece of eye
candy.”
“What?”
the young dancer with the fuchsia colored hair seemed shocked at the revelation.
“Its
Wade,” Nastassia pretended to whisper but was loud enough for the entire room
to hear her, “I’m telling you that it’s Wade.”
“It
is not!” Ellie protested. “I have no secrets with you guys. I’ve gone out
on a few dates with Joe Budden. Nastassia hooked us up.”
“To
Ellie,” the committee members rose their glasses once again.
“No,”
Ellie shook her head, “to Nastassia.”
Beyonce
smiled proudly, “Last but not least there is our little ray of sunshine,
Camille Marie Henderson-Timberlake,” she put her hand to her heart, “whom
overcame one of the most public fallouts anyone could imagine and went on to
prove that sometimes love really is enough. With the current situation, Cam, we
know that things can get stressful and you may feel like the world is against
you but we want you to know that we’re here. We’re going to help you get
through this.”
“Thank
you,” Camille smiled coyly and tucked her hair behind her ears as they all
raised their glasses to her, “but, you’ve forgotten one person.”
“Did
I?”
“Take
a seat, Blondie.” Nastassia stood up with Camille as they assumed control of
the floor and Beyonce sat down next to Nicole.
“Tonight
is for all of us but it is especially for Ms. Beyonce Giselle Knowles who has
proven herself to be the backbone of this committee and the one person that all
of us could turn to if we wanted a little dose of the truth,” Camille
shrugged, “outside of hearing Stassia’s big ass mouth.”
“Hey!”
“So
tonight we celebrate Beyonce’s engagement to…drum roll please?” All of the
ladies began to pat their thighs with their free hands “Jess, take it away.”
“None
other than,” Jessica stood up with Nastassia and Camille, “Jay-Z!”
“What
the fuck?” Nicole interrupted angrily and set down her glass of Sprite before
whipping around to face Beyonce. “You’re marrying Jay-Z? After all of that
bullshit that he put you through you’re going back to him and, like, for good?
For the rest of your life?”
“I
know it might seem crazy but,” Beyonce began to explain when Nicole cut her
off again.
“You’re
the same person that was telling Camille to cut Justin loose and never let his
sorry ass return again! You’re such a fucking hypocrite!”
“Nicole,”
Ellie put up a hand to stop the insanity, “sweetie, you told her to leave
Justin too.”
“That
may be true but I didn’t say it then go out and do the exact opposite. I
haven’t spoken to Tommy in months and I intend to keep it that way.”
“Look,”
Beyonce shook her head and took her friend’s hand, “I took full
responsibility for the things that I said those few years ago but I also had to
sit back and realize that, damn, after all of that they’re still together and
they still are dangerously in love…”
“You
are my raindrops, I am the sea,” Camille began to sing part of the verse
from Dangerously In Love before her friend shot her a glare, “Sorry.”
“…So
maybe things between Jay and I could work out like that as well.”
Nicole
shook her head disdainfully, “You, my friend, are a dumb ho. When he breaks
your face again I don’t want to hear about it. Ask yourself is this about
business or is it about love? Nastassia, for heaven’s sake pour me a glass of
chardonnay.”
////
“The
whole clique that Camille socializes with is kind of in this moment of
transition if you sit and think about it.” Kelly Ripa added after sipping from
her coffee mug. “They’re having babies and getting married. Its as if
they’re all shifting into the lifestyle of being housewives or something.”
“Who
all is in their ‘clique’ as you called it?”
“Oh,
Regis, where have you been? It is so exclusive! I’m talking people like
Beyonce Knowles, Jessica Simpson, Nicole Ritchie…”
“Nicole
Ritchie is in their social club?” Regis couldn’t help but to laugh. “If
they let her in why on earth aren’t you in it?”
“Good
question,” Kelly stared into the camera with a pointed finger. “I want in,
ladies! I want in! There’s no reason that I wouldn’t fit into the exclusive
clique! I’m married with children! I could be like the senior committee
member!”
“Oh,
no,”
“I
can bring cupcakes!”
////
{Justin
& Camille}
“Baby,
should I wear the pants or the skirt with this shirt?” Camille asked while
parading around the bedroom in a cloud blue stretch lace camisole and thongs
with her hair pinned up into a messy twist.
“Why
don’t you just wear what you already have on?” Justin smirked slyly,
flipping through a copy of Sports Illustrated, while laying back in bed
with his ankles crossed over one another. His wife had been going back and forth
for about forty-five minutes on just exactly what she should wear. She never had
to think twice about what to wow the press with when she stepped out of the door
before so he wasn’t sure why this little event was anything different for her.
“That
would go over wonderfully at the Parent/Teacher Meeting now wouldn’t it, smart
ass?”
“Hey,
I’d nominate you to head the cookie sales.”
“Justin,
are you even going to get dressed or are you just going to lay there in your
naked bliss until its time to go?” Camille rolled her eyes at him and leaned
back against the vanity to observe his current state. He was laying there
without a care in the world in nothing more than a pair of boxer briefs holding
his sports magazine up in front of his face. He made her sick sometimes with how
relaxed he was all of the time.
“I’m
not naked but if that’s something that you’re interested in at the present
time then let me be the first to know.”
“Pants
or skirt?” she ignored his wise-crack.
Sighing
heavily Justin peered over the top of his magazine toward the foot of the bed
where she had dropped the two items of clothing for his final say. “Go with
the skirt.” He replied and looked her over wishing that she would just stick
with what she already had on and skip the damn parent/teacher conference all
together.
“Okay,”
Camille nodded and immediately commenced shimmying into the flat-front mini
skirt. “You have to zip me up in the back, babe.”
“If
I move from this position its not going to be to help you zip up anything at
all. It will be the exact opposite.”
“Babe,
when was the last time you went to see your doctor? I think you have a serious
hormonal imbalance or something.”
“No,
I just have a very sexy wife that turns me on every time I think about her.
I’m completely normal.”
“Keep
telling yourself that.” Camille hopped over to his side of the bed and nudged
him with her hip. “Zip me up, please?”
Justin
groaned loudly and tossed his magazine onto the nightstand before reaching over
and gripping her waist with his hands. Camille giggled as he took his sweet time
zipping the thin white material like it killed him to do such a simple task. She
couldn’t stop herself from all out laughing when he pulled her back to sit on
his lap and tapped the side of her leg.
“Why
are you so worried about Nicole’s teachers?”
“I’m
not worried about her teachers,” she answered plainly and turned her neck to
face him, “I’m worried about the other parents.”
“Why
is that?”
“I’m
not sure,” Camille shrugged her shoulders.
“Are
you afraid they won’t invite you to their bouji sworays and luncheons?”
“Maybe
I am. So what?”
“You
don’t need to impress anybody. Just think about the fact that all those old
mother hens will be checking out your fine ass husband and will be too busy
ogling me to even do anything else!” He joked as Camille swatted his arm and
stood up to retrieve the single-breasted white jacket that went along with her
skirt and her crocodile pumps with the four ankle straps. For a moment Justin
thought to pursue her into the closet but held back when he heard a small knock
on the door. “Midget One or Midget Two?” he called out.
“One!”
Nicole giggled and pushed open the door once her father granted verbal approval.
“Where is mommy?”
“She’s
in the closet,” he answered, flipping through the pages of his magazine again,
“literally, not figuratively.”
“What’s
up, Butterbean?” Camille emerged from the large walk-in closet while adjusting
the straps on her crocodile heels and fastened the button on her designer white
jacket.
“Daddy
isn’t coming dressed like that is he?” the small six-year-old girl asked
under her breath causing her mother to laugh and her father to set down his
magazine.
“What’s
that supposed to mean?” he challenged. “I look good!”
Camille
shook her head and started out of the bedroom with Nicole. “Don’t worry
about it, honey, he is definitely putting on a lot more than that before we
leave the house if he knows what’s good for him.”
“Women,”
Justin rolled his eyes but smirked when he noticed Midget Two slyly making his
way pass the girls and into his parent’s bedroom. “If it isn’t my favorite
son. What’s crackin’ G-Money?”
“Hi,
daddy.” Grant scurried over and jumped onto the bed with his untamable curly
hair braided back into cornrows. He had been blessed, or either cursed, with the
same hair as his father. He looked like the spitting image of him but in a deep
caramel color. The family was already calling him a future lady killer.
“You’re
looking sharp there, player. I see mommy hooked you up earlier this morning?”
“Yeah,”
“Give
it a few more years and you’ll be wowing all the girls in kindergarten.”
Grant
smiled coyly and lifted the Sports Illustrated from his father’s lap
and began to analyze the pictures. “Allen Iverson!” He pointed out the
basketball player excitedly.
“No,
man, that’s Gary Payton.”
“Allen
Iverson, daddy.”
“Payton,
son.”
“No,
no, daddy, Allen Iverson.” Grant pointed fervently to the text and smiled when
his father clued in. “Dollar,” he held out his hand expectantly.
“Who
raised you to cheat like that? Get out of here, dusty butt!”
The
one-year old giggled excitedly and raced out of the room in his small pair of
Air Force Ones. He couldn’t even read yet but somehow he had recognized Allen
Iverson’s name on the bottom paragraph of the page. Justin was convinced that
a third party had assisted the small traitor in duping him.
Grant
and his father had an ongoing bet about naming basketball players and Justin had
been gypping him out of chocolate chip cookies for weeks now. Every time the
small child would sit down at the table for cookies and milk as a snack he would
issue a challenge and since Grant was so much like him he would accept the
challenges. Justin always seemed to walk away the victor leaving behind two and
a half cookies out of pity.
“Chamomile!”
Justin called from the bed, too lazy to get up and find his wife, hearing his
own voice echo throughout the house. In response he heard the pitter patter of
two little feet tapping down the hallway and saw Nicole’s smiling face
standing in the doorway. “You?”
“Mommy
told me to ask you, in these exact words, ‘What do you want, punk?’.”
“No,
she didn’t.”
“Yes
she did!” Nicole giggled as her father sprung into action and flew pass her
out of the room. Eagerly she chased after him as he started down the stairs and
poked his head into every room in search of his wife.
“Where
is she?”
“In
Erykah’s room!”
“Well,
why didn’t you say that before, silly?”
“You
didn’t ask!” Nicole laughed and plopped down on the couch in the den with
her three-year-old brother whom was engrossed in an episode of Tom &
Jerry on Cartoon Network.
Justin
shook his head at his daughter and started out of the room, into the hall, and
back up the stairs. The whole world was against him. His own children were
working for some higher power instead of for him and he was sure that he knew
just exactly who that higher power was.
“Why
do I have to be a punk?” he strolled into the first room on the left to view
his wife securing a fresh diaper on their youngest daughter’s bottom.
“I
call it like I see it.” Camille joked and held up their one year old baby girl
whom was dressed to perfection in a white lace dress accented with a powder pink
ribbon, glossy white shoes, and a powder pink bow on the side of her head. Her
milk and caramel colored cheeks were kissed with blush and her dark brown eyes
glittered as she stared at her mother with a wide smile. “Hey, sweetie! Hi!
Are we happy now that we’re all fresh and clean?”
Erykah
nodded her head to answer the question and then smiled wider once her eyes
discovered that her father was in the room. One of her tiny balled up fists came
to her mouth and her long eyelashes fluttered as he came to stand behind her
mother. As his arms snaked around Camille’s waist and his chin came to rest in
the nook near her neck their youngest reached out and clamped her open hands on
the sides of his face.
“Somebody’s
a daddy’s girl.” Camille smiled softly as her husband and baby girl stared
into each other’s eyes both completely in awe of the other.
“It’s
only fair,” Justin replied. “Grant and Nikki are definitely their mother’s
children.”
“Did
you know that when we were away finishing up my tour and your mother couldn’t
seem to get Erykah to stop crying she would end up just showing her a picture of
you and she would settle down?”
“Really?
Mom never told me that.”
Camille
nodded and checked her wristwatch, “Baby, we have to leave for the PTA Meeting
in about fifteen minutes. You want to go and get dressed now?”
“Yeah,”
Justin stood up straight and kissed the side of her head before smoothing the
side of his index finger over Erykah’s full cheeks. “I’ll be ready to go
in ten. Do you mind getting the kids in the car?”
“No,
we’ll meet you out there.”
***
{Nelly
& Nastassia}
“I’ll
be there in ten, dirty, no problem.” Nelly ended his phone conversation
carelessly and opened the refrigerator to scan the racks for something to snack
on during the drive. He seemed to always be on the move nowadays with promoting
his new album. Someone at Columbia Records had leaked one of the singles and
sent the public into a frenzy. Expectations were high when the project still was
yet to be completed.
“I
did cook, you know?” Nastassia watched him from the kitchen table trying as
hard as she could not to let on to the fact that she was beyond stressed out.
“Yeah,
I know, boo. I’ll eat when I get home, aight?” he pulled out a Hot Pocket
from the freezer and set about throwing it into the microwave.
“When
will that be?”
“I’m
not for sure. I have a lot to discuss with the label about where this album is
going. I’m not feeling this watered down shit they want me to rap.”
“So
you’d prefer to pretend to be a thug which you obviously are not?”
“Damn,
why the hell are you on me so hard today, Stassia? Shit like this makes me not
want to even come home, man.”
“Forget
it,” she shook her head and turned away from him to see her son staring at
them both from his highchair with his tiny face propped up on his small fists.
“Cory, you better start eating.”
“Yeah,
do what your mother tells you, son.” Nelly retrieved his Hot Pocket from the
microwave and strolled over to plant a peck on the side of his wife’s head on
his way to the door. “I’ll call you when I get there, aight?”
“Yeah,”
“Later,
shorty.”
Cory
waved goodbye to his father and waited for the familiar sound of the door to
close before returning back to his previous activity of staring and not eating
his meal. He was growing accustomed to the role of being out of control. He
halfway pretended to act accordingly when his father was around but when it was
just him and his mother he showed his natural born ass every time he got the
chance.
“You,
sir, are going to eat what’s on that plate. I don’t care about the faces or
the whining but I do care about those peas and potatoes.” Nastassia demanded
as she sat across the table from her two-year-old son whom was staring her down
silently as she did the same to him. “You’re going to open your mouth, put
it in, and chew.”
“No!”
“Excuse
me?”
“No!”
the small child repeated himself and knew that he had won the battle when his
mother stood from the table and walked out of the room. “No, no, no, no!” He
chanted as she stood in the hallway feeling her frustration grow and pulled her
cellular phone out of her pocket. Wearily she pressed the number on speed-dial
and listened to the constant ringing before the line was picked up.
“Camille,
I’m going to kill this kid. I’m going to fucking ride him out on Route 66
and drop his ass off in the middle of nowhere!” She shrieked into the phone.
“He’s driving me out of my mind!”
“You
don’t say?” her best friend chuckled while strapping her youngest child into
her car seat and supervising the other two buckling their own safety belts.
“Are we talking about Cory or Nelly here?”
“I
guess they are one in the same nowadays.” Nastassia sighed heavily. “C, I
can’t get him to eat his food. He just looks at me like I have a fucking
mental problem and starts pounding his fists on the table shouting out
‘no’.”
“Lay
down the law,”
“How
am I supposed to do that?”
“You
have to let Cory know who’s running the show or else he’s going to be doing
that for the rest of his life. Nicole never did anything like that but Grant
showed his ass a couple of times.”
“So
what did you do?” the perturbed young rapper questioned completely ready to
learn the tricks of the trade.
“Not
a damn thing. I let Justin handle it.” Camille replied. “With little boys
they really need that father figure because for some reason they don’t test
their dad’s the way that they will test their mother. Its all in the voice and
delivery.”
“Well,
Nelly isn’t here so what am I supposed to do right now?”
“If
he doesn’t want to eat his food then he can go to bed. Its as simple as that.
Grow a backbone. You’re the one that was supposed to rule with an iron
fist.”
“Yeah
but if you spank a kid nowadays they’ll lock you up for life.”
“Spank?
What the hell is that? I used to get my ass kicked and you see how far that
brought me?”
“Of
course I see it. You and I are both off mentally because of it.”
“Isn’t
it the truth,” Camille laughed. “We’re about to go to Nikki’s PTA
Meeting but if you have anymore problems with Cory then call and let me know.
I’ll have Justin drop me off after the meeting or we’ll all just stop by to
help you out.”
“Alright
then, thanks.” Nastassia ended the call and sighed heavily. In the distance
she could still hear her son banging his fists on the table like a lunatic and
reciting the no song nonstop. “Cornell Haynes Jr., if you don’t stop with
all that noise and eat your food like I told you to then there will be hell to
pay and, trust me, you are not going to like me when I get upset!”
The
banging came to an abrupt end.
“Thank
you, Jesus.”
***
{Nick
& Jessica}
“Baby,
do you think I’m getting fat?” Jessica Simpson whined out her question while
standing in front of the mirror checking out the side view of her body. She was
wearing a pair of black stretch maternity pants and a maternity peasant shirt as
she analyzed her figure critically. She hadn’t really filled out anywhere but
at her stomach which was the size of a watermelon.
“Jess,
you’re supposed to pick up weight when you’re pregnant. It’s a fact of
life.” Nick Lachey replied while searching through his tool box for one tool
or another. A moment never went by when he wasn’t up to something. He was
always tinkering or adjusting something in the house or trying to play hero
against the backdrop of the wildlife outside of their California home.
“I
know that but do you think I’m getting fat?” His wife stressed
causing her voice to hit annoying tones that sounded like nails on a chalkboard
in his ears.
“Jess,
Jesus! No, sweetheart, you’re perfect.”
“Are
you sure?”
“I’m
positive, baby, don’t worry about it.”
“You’re
not just saying that?”
“Jessica,
I have a lot of work to do right now and Drew is downstairs waiting on me so
we’ll talk more about it later on, alright?” Nick shut his toolbox after
pulling out a ratchet and stood to his feet ready to get his mission underway.
“I
just don’t understand why you’re always fixing things. There’s nothing
wrong with our house.”
“I
like to keep busy is all it is and right now I have good reason to be doing it.
We’re working on the nursery for the baby.”
“Nick!
I told you that I wanted to go over designs with Melinda for the nursery!”
Jessica protested angrily and stared him down with contempt in her eyes. This
wasn’t the first time that he had ignored her wishes and carried on with his
own plans.
“I
know what you said, Jess, but…”
“Why
don’t you ever trust me to do anything?”
“Jessica,
please, not right now?”
Pouting
she folded her arms over her chest and stuck out her lips. “Baby, my feet are
sore.”
“Then
why don’t you just lay down and relax for a little while?”
“Can
you rub them for me?”
***
{Jay-Z
& Beyonce}
“Since
the S. Carter line was so successful we’ve decided that we wanted to
branch out and try our hand at another line which seems to be very appropriate
timing with our engagement.” Jay-Z explained to his business colleagues as
they all sat around a large ebony table in a conference room at Rocafella
Records which was stationed as the home base as their enterprise. “There is no
time better than now for us to embark on Lady B. My fiancé’s style is
something that many women in today’s social circles wish to be able to
replicate so why not give them that luxury? She doesn’t need us to start this
line but why not join forces and make this a family business?”
“I’ve
already been in negotiations with a few marketing firms and my mother would be
the head of design but after talking things through with Jay I figured that it
would be so much easier if we did this together. We are like brands onto
ourselves so why not double the income?” Beyonce began to explain their case
coolly. “We are selling our names, ourselves, to the public at large. We can
do great and bring in high numbers alone but together? That could be
monumental.”
“What
kind of percentages are we talking discussing here?” One of the board members
asked and Jay-Z’s right hand man assumed control of the meeting to explain all
of the details.
All
at once Nicole’s words were ringing in Beyonce’s ears. Was it about business
or was it about love? Turning to her side she watched Jay-Z as he interacted
with all of the other business tycoons as if he were born to do it. They still
loved each other right? They hadn’t decided to marry one another out of
convenience had they?
“What
do you think about it, B?” Jay-Z asked.
***
“Ah,
Mr. & Mrs. Timberlake, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” A
twenty-something year old woman with curves out of this world and long brown
hair done in large Shirley Temple curls secured with a barrette greeted
jovially. Camille tried her best not to recoil and give the young woman the once
over. She was a little too happy and a little too cute for her tastes. “My
name is Christine Barker and I’m Nicole’s teacher.”
“Oh,
so you’re Ms. Barker? We’ve heard a lot about you from Nikki. She adores
you.” Justin smiled broadly and shook the young woman’s hand a little but
too eagerly.
“Likewise,”
Christine reciprocated his smile and the two shared a few lingering stares
before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them. “Camille,
is it?”
“Yes,”
Camille nodded and rolled her eyes at Justin whom quickly got himself into check
and ducked out of harms way by playing with his children.
“Its
wonderful to finally meet the parents of this wonderful little girl. Aside from
seeing you on television I’ve never really gotten the chance to sit down with
you one on one.”
“That
is true,”