WILDFIRE
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Courtside

A solitary tear slid from Camille’s eye and down over her ear as she lay on her back in the middle of the bed staring up desperately to the heavens. The paperwork from her attorney had arrived in the mail the day before and she had tucked it away safe in a drawer. She wasn’t going to go through with it but then the fight between her and Justin had occurred. He had unleashed his new information upon her and now she didn’t know how to deal with it. She had requested those papers from Margaret Turner after he had gone to Orlando, Florida to stay with Trace the first time. Instead of signing them then and there she had decided to hold off. Why had she done that?

She hadn’t signed those papers then because of Nicole. There was no way in hell that she was going to take her away from Justin even if she had been upset and had requested it at the time. Nicole meant too much to him and he meant too much to her. Even after she had told her attorney that that was what she wanted to do she knew that it was a mistake. She could never be so heartless.

Justin shifted in his sleep, pulling her closer, and rest his head just below her collarbone. He didn’t usually sleep in late but the night before had overwhelmed him. Taking into consideration everything that had occurred he had called up Trace in a rage when Camille disappeared to clear her head somewhere else in the house. He accosted him on every sequence that he had played a role in and when he had asked him why he had done the things that he had he received no answer.

“You’re on some bullshit right now, J.” Trace had replied. “Why would I try to break up your marriage?”

“I don’t know. You tell me?” Justin sneered. “Why did you really bring her to my room that night? Why did you keep throwing her in my face every time I was with you and had gotten wasted?”

“Is that what really happened or is that what Camille has convinced you happened?”

Justin’s eyes fluttered open as his mind replayed scenes from the past causing him to awaken. He was relieved to discover that Camille was still there and that she hadn’t run away in the middle of the night. All he wanted was to make things right but it was a hard task to pull off with the situation.

They had had the perfect life together. They were young, they had fallen in love, and were almost guaranteed a happily ever after. Everyone in the world adored them and wanted to be them. If their relationship couldn’t persevere then how could anyone else’s?

“I never meant to hurt you.” He whispered, knowing that she was awake, but did not move. “I know that with everything going on and the way that it happened it may have seemed differently but the purpose was never to cause you any pain.”

Camille was silent as he spoke. She kept her eyes transfixed to the ceiling above them and held her breath. If she held it long enough maybe she would black out. When she woke up she could convince herself that it had all been a dream. She could still be that same girl and he was could still be that same boy.

“I take full responsibility for my actions because I made those decisions.” Justin continued and nuzzled into the palm of her hand as it moved to blindly seek out his face. “Your attorney called me in Orlando.”

She had begun to breathe again but hearing that news forced her to make another attempt at blacking out.

“She said that you came in to begin the divorce procedure but that you hadn’t been able to do it so she was sending you the paper work just in case you changed your mind. Are you going to change your mind or have I already done that for you with what happened last night?”

Camille swallowed and abandoned her attempt at holding her breath until she saw stars. She didn’t know what to say to him. Yes, she had gone to see Margaret Turner to discuss ending their relationship for good but as he already knew she had gone back on her words and changed her mind. All of the good times that they had shared together somehow overshadowed the bad.

“Love isn’t enough is it?” Justin asked then pressed his lips to her palm before starting to get out of bed.

“Wait,” Camille’s voice was barely above a whisper as she got up and out of bed before him and made her way to the walk-in closet. Justin took a deep breath and leaned back against the headboard with the sheets barely covering him from the waist down. He could hear her shuffling around but had no idea what she was looking for until she emerged from the depths and back into plain sight. The moment he saw her he was at a loss for words.

Camille stood nervously next to the door of the walk-in closet with her hand holding onto the knob. She had worked her way into a pair of skin tight pants under her thigh-length gown that she had been wearing. Most important of all, though, was what she was wearing on top of her head. She was sporting the retired Pony trucker hat that had initiated their entire relationship together.

Justin couldn’t move as she released the doorknob and approached their bed. Turning her back to him, she sat down on her side and opened the top drawer of her nightstand. Pulling out a large burnt orange envelope she held it in her hands and felt the weight of what it was. Standing up once again, she started out of the room with it and made her way into the office. Justin could hear the paper shredder going and said a silent prayer thanking God for granting him his last wish.

/*/*/…////

“It all started at Challenge For The Children, you know, the basketball event that NSYNC puts together with all of their celebrity friends to raise money for children?” Trace Ayala explained nervously as he sat down with Gary to take his turn in the hot seat in front of the cameras. He had been a little apprehensive about being questioned but everyone else seemed to be doing it and had no complaints. There was no reason for him not to put his time in too. “Well, that was when things got a little sketchy in the relationship.”

“Sketchy?” Gary’s eye brow rose inquisitively.

“Well, Justin was starting to get a little suspicious of things.”

“Things like what?”

“Camille was awfully close to JC.”

The graying man nearly laughed at the suggestion. Something about this guy worried him. He didn‘t strike him as the most honest person in the world. “Chasez?”

“Who else?” Trace shook his head and began to drum his fingers on the arm of his chair. “They were always really cozy like they had something going on. I asked J about it a few times myself because it was questionable behavior.”

“Camille and JC have both said that they’re only friends. Are you saying otherwise?”

“Camille also said that she was only friends with Justin in the beginning though didn’t she? Look, I’m not saying anything. I can only tell you what I witnessed and you can make of it what you will.”

“How about you tell us what you saw, Mr. Ayala.”

“I thought you’d never ask…”

////

“Look at my baby’s chicken legs over there.” Camille gestured toward the court where her husband stood at the free-throw line making just about every shot that he released. He had been trying to convince her since forever to join him playing at CFTC but she had always declined. She was fine watching him on the sidelines but just this once she had agreed to his wishes. “He’s so pretty.”

“Y’all just never fall out of that puppy love stage, do you?” JC asked, adjusting the tongues of his shoes as he popped a squat down next to his friend.

“Nope, not ever!” She smiled, propping her arms on her knees as she watched Justin move, completely taken with the natural rhythm of his body.

“You know that you two are the envy of the whole world, right?”

“I’m not worried about the world. The only thing on my mind is making him happy and taking care of our little girl.”

JC peered back over his shoulder to see Linda and Lynn sitting together in the front row with their granddaughter sucking up all of their attention. The small child just had this magnetic energy to her even though she was still a toddler just learning her way around the big world that she had only recently entered. He could tell that she was going to be something spectacular in whatever she chose to do with her life.

“I was just sure that JT was going to have them put ‘Chamomile’ on the back of your jersey for you.” He turned back to her, running his hand over the letters on the back of her jersey as he spoke.

“I don’t need the world calling me that. I don’t too much care for it when he does it but his nickname has permanently been jackass since I met him so I can’t complain.” She joked. “Baby Girl is fine and its cute that his says Baby Boy. It’s this one and a half thing that worries me.”

“How so?”

“Because when we come together we would make three and not one. They should be halves on our jerseys!”

“You’re a special cookie, Cam.” JC laughed.

Camille turned her head to her friend and rose an eye brow. “Just now noticing that, Jace?”

“Don’t start nothing won’t be nothing, woman.”

“Are you threatening me? Are you threatening me?” She quipped.

“That’s it!” JC reached over and began his assault by tickling the young woman fiercely before getting up with her and chasing her around the basketball court.

Trace eyed the two friends suspiciously as he dribbled over toward his road dog whom was still nailing every shot that he made. “What’s up with that?”

“What’s up with what?” Justin’s question almost seemed robotic as another basketball was tossed back to him so that he could shoot once again.

“JC and your girl.”

“There is nothing up with them.”

“Right. I guess you wouldn’t be able to tell with your back turned.” Trace replied with a catty undertone that made Justin visually tense up.

Bouncing his shot off of the backboard he turned slowly to his best friend and searched out his wife and running mate with his eyes as he asked, “What are you trying to say, Trace?”

“I’m just saying that married women don’t frolic around with their husband’s best friends the way that yours is. They seem awfully cozy, don’t they?”

Justin pursed his lips together as he finally located the two. They were standing in front of the cameras being interviewed by reporters. JC was standing behind Camille with his arms wrapped around her shoulders as she replied animatedly to the questions that were being asked of her. It was nothing out of the ordinary for them. They had been like that for years now.

“Its whatever, man.” He shrugged it off and called out for another basketball to be tossed his way. He had no reason to think that something was going on between them. They were friends. She was his wife and if she wanted to be with someone else then she wouldn’t have married him. She had known JC long enough before they tied the knot that if he was what she wanted she could have been with him.

“Call me paranoid. I’m just looking out for you, man.” Trace shrugged and dribbled off down the court knowing full well that his words had already taken effect.

Justin squared up with the basket and hesitated once, thinking about the what ifs, just before releasing the burnt orange sphere into the air. His slight hesitation caused the shot to be off and the ball bounced off of the rim. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him instantly.

“Hey, you!” Camille beamed, sliding around to the front of his body, holding onto the sides of his jersey as she looked up at him excitedly. “I wonder how I got on your team?”

The smile on her face instantly washed away all of the images flying through his head and he smiled back contentedly. “I can’t lie. I told them that if we weren’t playing together that I wouldn’t play at all. You’re my other half.”

“Quite the sweet talker, J.” She smirked at him. “Give me those lips, boy.”

“As you wish.” He leaned in to kiss her and slipped her his tongue.

“You’re bad!” Camille squealed, pressing the pad of her index finger to his chest.

“Why is that?”

“You’ve got to keep it PG out here, buddy. This is a family event.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault if their parents didn’t teach them the basics.” He made a funny face at her before kissing her again and again with small pecks.

“Take it to the locker room!” Chris shouted from the other end of the court causing the couple to separate and bust out into laughter.

“Sorry, old man! Didn’t mean to startle you!” Justin called back to him, holding Camille’s hand in his as he turned to see his friend dribbling up the court.

“Who are you calling old? I’m in fantastic shape!” Chris jerked his neck while dribbling his basketball.

“I didn’t say anything about your condition. I just said that you were old and moldy.”

“Old and moldy?! Ha!”

Camille leaned into Justin and smoothed her hand over his arm as she repeated in Spanish, “El queso es viejo y podrido!”

“What? What did she just say?”

“She just said that the cheese, being you, is old and moldy.” Justin translated with a smirk.

“Oh, you’ve got jokes Camille?”

“Adios, Chris, no quiero tus pene pequeno!” she bolted off into the direction of her mother, mother-in-law, and baby girl.

“What did she…”

“I’m not even translating that, man. What she just said was cold.”

Chris raised an eyebrow questioningly as Justin started to back away and head off into the same direction of his wife. “Don’t hold out, man! Just tell me what she said!”

Justin turned and started walking backward as he did as requested. “She said that she doesn’t want your small… you fill in the blank there, chump!”

Chris’s jaw dropped. As soon as Camille turned back toward his direction he shook his fist at her in the air. When she smiled he smiled in return and went off to continue practicing before the big game.

“Check out these distinguished looking ladies over here!” Justin shouted, drawing attention to his and Camille’s mother. “Looking lovely, mommies.”

“Has he always been this embarrassing?” Linda chuckled with Lynn as she nodded her head in confirmation.

“Thanks for the support, ma! You think I’m embarrassing?” He strolled over and hugged her before wrapping his hands in the bottom of his jersey as he watched Camille with their daughter.

“What are we going to do when daddy makes a shot?”

“We’re gonna throw up our hands…” Nicole grinned at her mother and twisted her mouth cutely. “Then we scream ‘Yay, daddy’ and clap our hands.”

“Exactly!” Camille pushed up her nose with her index finger, smiling as her daughter did the same, and snorted like a pig inciting laughter from her smaller version.

“Silly, mommy!” Nicole jumped up and down and squealed excitedly as her mother scooped her up and into her arms. “Are you going to play with daddy too?” She held her tiny hands on the sides of her mother’s face.

“You know it, Butterbean.”

“I’m going to cheer for you too!”

“Promise?”

“Promise, mommy!”

“Mm-kay, give me kiss.” Camille puckered her lips to her daughter who it turn kissed her mother and wrapped her arms around her neck. “Okay, you have to be good for Grandma Linda and Nana, okay? Daddy and I have to get ready to go and play the game now.”

Nicole nodded and allowed her mother to sit her back down on the chair between her two grandmothers. She smiled as her father winked at her and tipped up her chin with the side of his index finger. She was his little princess and she knew it.

“You want ice cream after the game, sweetheart?” He asked as he popped half a stick of gum into his mouth, handing the other half to his daughter, and began to chew it. Nicole nodded excitedly. “Alright. After mommy and I mop the floor with Uncle Chris and Uncle Joey we’ll get you whatever flavor you want.”

“Babe, you gotta help me warm up. Come on.” Camille smacked him on the ass before jogging back out onto the court.

“Be back in a little while, sugar.” Justin kissed his daughter on the forehead and waved goodbye to her before jogging out to join her mother whom was dribbling a ball waiting for his arrival. “What you got, woman?”

“Oh, you know what I got ‘cause if you didn’t you would have had your people put me on the Daze instead of the Knights with you.”

“Oh, you think so?”

“I know so. It’s all about winning the game. It’s your passion.” Camille cocked her head to the side as she dribbled the ball between her legs. “You wouldn’t have been asking me to play all of this time if you thought I’d bring you down.”

“You sure?” Justin reached out quickly to steal the ball from her but she was quicker and took a step back, shaking her head at him. “You know I can’t let you punk me in front of all of these people?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll pretend that my game skills are inferior to yours so you can save face.”

“Ah, you really jacking out here?” Justin laughed before stripping her of the ball before she could make another move. “Ah ha! Holla at cha boy, baby!”

////

“So what you’re saying is that that was a sign that Camille was cheating on Justin with JC Chasez?” Gary sat back in his seat unable to believe the words falling out of the mouth of the person, besides Camille and his mother, that was closest to Justin.

“Like I’ve stated before, I can only tell you what I saw and how I interpreted it.” Trace leaned to the side and scratched the underside of his chin. “I can’t make someone believe something that’s not already in their head, you know? It was never my intention to add fuel to the fire.”

////

“Baby, get open! Trace, set up a screen for her!” Justin shouted as he pushed the ball down the court towards his team’s basket.

Camille struggled to shake That 70s Show’s Topher Grace and actress Gabrielle Union. The Daze had been packing the heat onto her since the third quarter had began. In the beginning of the game they saw her as just the eye candy of the their opponent’s team but when she came with actual skills they decided to shut down her opportunities on assists and rebounds.

“Trace, where are you at, man?” Justin called as his friend took his time making his way down court. JC immediately picked up the slack and allowed Camille the opening that she needed. As soon as she was clear she was sprinting to her husband’s aid. The moment he saw that she was open he passed her the ball and watched her hit a three-pointer with no problem at all. “That’s what I’m talking about, baby! That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Good looking out, JC!” Camille threw him a hi-five before jogging over to Justin to accept his kiss and become wrapped up in his arms. He spun her around excitedly before placing her back onto her feet to continue the game.

////

“He had to have known that they were going to slam her. He had to have known that.” Trace shook his head reliving the game inside of his head. “They were like Jordan, Pippin, and Kucko… Timberlake, Henderson, and Chasez.”

“Slam her?”

“It was down to those last few points of the game. It could have gone either way but the Knights had control of the ball. Camille is really light on her feet and she’s really tiny so when she takes off there is no way that you’re going to catch her. She’s fast. The Daze were catching onto that and a lot of them were getting heated because they didn’t want to lose that game. They tried to take her out, man. It was like a freight train…”

////

When Camille’s body hit the floor Justin felt something inside of him snap. She skid across the glossy wood flooring like it was ice and literally spun at least once on her ass. He felt a rage building in him like nothing he had ever felt before and if his boys hadn’t been right at his side when it happened there would have been bloodshed.

The referee blew loudly on his whistle and bounded over to the scene. The two large basketball players that had barreled into her shared a joke between one another while waiting for the call to be made. Camille stood to her feet and tried to shake off what had happened but it was obvious that they had knocked the wind out of her and that something was going on with her ankle.

“Oh, my God! They better call a fucking foul on that shit! That’s a mother-fucking foul!” Justin shouted as Lance and Joey struggled to keep him in place.

“Let me have a look at that, honey.” The referee bent down onto one knee and asked her to move her right ankle for him. She did as told and bit back the pain that shot throughout her leg from the injury. “Do you think you can stand on it?”

“Yeah. That’s no problem.” She nodded her head and the older man sighed inwardly. He immediately stood up and made the call for the foul giving her the opportunity to make two shots that could seal the deal for her team.

“This is bullshit!” One of the players that had fouled her barked as Camille limped over to the free-throw line where everyone on the court was filing into two lines on the sides.

“You’ve got this, Camelot. No sweat.” JC cheered her on.

Justin nodded his head in agreement, leaning over and resting his hands on his knees anticipating her two shots. “It’s the money shot, baby. Break ‘em. Make it the game point.”

“Y’all have to do the song for me.”

“Do a little dance!” Her teammates began to sing under their breaths. “Make a little love! Get down tonight!”

Camille smiled broadly as she loosened up and let the ball go. They all watched as it soared through the air. Nothing but net…

/*/*/

“I can’t believe you have me out here doing this.” Camille crossed her arms over her chest as she stood barefoot out on the basketball court that Justin had had constructed. She was still wearing nothing more than her short silk gown, a pair of jeans, and his retched old trucker hat. She felt like a bum.

“What? We haven’t played one-on-one in a long time. Besides, playing ball clears my head.”

“I guess it would, wouldn’t it?”

“Money shot!” Justin announced, jumping into the air as he released the basketball.

“Brick!” Camille called out just as the ball collided with the backboard and flew off into another direction. Even if his game was off at least he still looked good shirtless in a pair of oversized shorts. Checking out all of the tattoos that he had acquired over the course of time could preoccupy her for hours anyway. It was only a few months earlier that he had swindled her into getting one where the sun didn’t shine. He had basically branded her.

“Damn, I guess you’re just going to jinx my game, huh?”

“I’m not jinxing anything. I’m just calling it as I see it. You knew that wasn’t going to make it when you released it.”

“Alright then,” Justin retrieved the ball and tossed it over to her lightly, “you do better.”

“Justin?”

“Come on. It’s no sweat, right?”

“Fine,” Camille lined up with the basket as her father had taught her to do when she was a child and released the ball, holding her right arm up with her hand curved, watching it swish through the net.

“Lucky shot.”

“Clearly.” She smirked.

“So…” Justin collected the ball again and slowly dribbled over to her.

“So?”

“Do you love me?” he asked in a singsong voice.

Camille made a face at him, squinting from the sunlight. “Why ask me something you already know the answer to?”

“Because I need to hear you say it.”

“I love you, Justin.”

His smile seemed to outshine the light of the sun at that moment. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“How much?”

“This much.” She stretched her arms out at her sides playfully.

“You wanna know how much I love you?” He asked.

“How much, J?”

“This much.” He grabbed her waist and lifted her up into the air so that she would wrap her legs around his midsection and her arms around his shoulders. As he secured his own arms around her body he stared into her eyes as she giggled. “Let’s not fight ever again, okay? No more breaking up. No more separation. Just this feeling that we have right now all of the time and into forever.”

“Forever is a long time.”

“Not if I’m spending it with you.”

“Mm.” Her fingers danced down the slope of his neck.

“Forever isn’t nearly long enough.”

“What about when I get old and gray?”

“I’ll love every wrinkle on your face.”

“Who said anything about wrinkles?” she smirked before kissing the end of his nose. “Babe, I almost did something really stupid.”

“Does this have to do with the paperwork from your lawyer?”

Camille nodded nervously.

“Forget about it.” Justin looked deep into her eyes. “Mrs. Turner told me about the custody thing. I know that you thought that was the best thing to do at the time and I’m not saying that if the tables were turned I wouldn’t have done the same thing. I understand the motive, not wanting to be connected to me, but that’s all over now. Let’s begin with a new slate.”

“What about my freebie?”

“What freebie?”

“You said that I had a make-out pass with anyone that I chose.” She reminded him of his own words.

“I didn’t say that. No, that was somebody else.” He denied avidly.

“Justin!”

He clicked his tongue scathingly. “Who the hell do you want to make-out with to get back at me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Camille shrugged her shoulders. “It’s you.”

It's Always Been You...