WILDFIRE
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)
Chapter Four: Platonic
Relationship In Question
"What's going on?" David's voice asked as Camille sat on the edge of
the bathtub holding her cellular phone to her ear.
She had been staying with Justin for the past week now on the supposed path to
recovery but she wasn't feeling any better. She was eating again and her
strength was on it's way back up to where it had been but emotionally she was
still very unstable. Most of the time Justin was keeping watch over her but
restroom time was all her own. She used it to keep in contact with David and
though Justin knew about it he didn't say much.
"I miss you," she spoke softly into the phone, leaned over, staring at
her painted blue toenails contrasting with the rug.
"Yeah, I miss you too," he replied though he sounded very distant.
"You hate me, right?"
"Babe, I don't hate you okay? I'm just a little upset right now at the
situation and the realization that this can't possibly work between us."
"Why not?" Camille questioned, reaching down to adjust her silver
toe-ring.
"We're not the same people that we were a year ago." David explained
as best he could. "We want different things out of life."
"No, we don't."
"Yes, we do, honey. I want to be settled down, getting married, starting a
family right now this very instant."
"I want those things too."
"You don't want them right now and even if you do there's no way that it
could happen and work in your life currently. You're on the verge of stardom,
Camille, and I'm really proud of that because you're my heart and everything
that you want for you I want for you too. There's just no way that you can be a
rising star, a mother, and a wife at this point in your life. You're not ready
for all of that at once."
"You don't know what I'm ready for." Camille proclaimed almost
angrily.
"Well then I'm not ready for it." He clarified. "I want to live a
normal life, Camille, and I can't do that with you. You exist in the media and I
can't honestly say that I enjoy waking up to see the news and see us plastered
on the television screen."
"But you knew this would happen from the day that you met me unless you
just figured that I was going to be one of those wannabe artists that never go
anywhere. Did you think my career was going to stall before it even began,
David?"
"Don't put words in my mouth, Camille."
"Then say something so I don't have to," she spat her words viciously
like venom.
"I never doubted you, okay? I never doubted your talent or your charisma or
your star quality. I just didn't care at the time because I wasn't facing the
fact that eventually I would have to share you."
"I've been sharing you with MTV for a long time, David, that's not
fair."
"I didn't say that it was." He sounded desperate for a way out. He
talked to her everyday about their relationship and everyday things went pretty
much the same way. He would be attacking her or she would be attacking him. By
the end of the conversation one of them would be fuming and the other would be
in pain.
"So just like that it's over?" she shook her head not really needing
an answer to the her own question. "So, in all actuality, you breaking up
with me didn't have anything to do with Justin, right? You were just using him
as a scapegoat? You needed a more significant reason to walk away even though
you were never going to stay to begin with?"
"I'm not going to sit here and debate this with you anymore, okay? Why
don't you give me a call tomorrow and we'll go sit down somewhere and
talk?"
"Fine,"
"Ok…I love you."
"Whatever." Camille flipped down the top of her cellular phone and
took a deep breath before standing up and heading over to the mirror. Her eyes
were a little red and watery but at least she hadn't cried this time. That was a
sign that she was getting better.
Adjusting the two buns on the top of her head she shrugged at herself in the
mirror and headed out of the bathroom. She was on her way down the hall and to
the stairs when she paused in front of Justin's bedroom. The door was slightly
ajar and though she knew spying on him would bring about dire consequences she
couldn't contain herself. It was part of a game they played. If she didn't get
busted she'd be the victor.
He was sprawled out on his stomach in the middle of the bed in nothing more than
a pair of shorts. At first she presumed that he was sleeping but after careful
observation she realized that he was chirping into his cordless phone. Boldly
she eased the door open just enough to step inside and stalked over toward the
bed.
"Man, I told you not to be messing around with Trina." He laughed into
the phone. "There's a reason that all the other rappers out there feature
her on their singles and it isn’t because of her lyrical prowess."
Camille shook her head at the conversation that she was eavesdropping on as she
stood at the foot of the bed contemplating her attack. While she stood there she
figured there was nothing wrong with admiring the view. She didn't know that
Justin had so many freckles speckled all over his back but it definitely gave
him more character. She wondered if the large angel tattoo that he had inked
over it was a small attempt to shadow it but she wasn't interested enough to
actually pose the question. It wasn't really any of her concern.
"Have you ever had the feeling that you were being watched?" he asked
into the phone but loud enough to let her know that her creeping into the room
hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Damn you." Camille pouted as she climbed into the bed over him.
Lightly she rest her head on his shoulder blade and drew her knees up to her
elbows so that she almost formed a turtle's shell over his back. She found it
amusing that six months ago she had been verbally attacking him for pinning her
up against a bar at a party but now she was super gluing herself to his being in
his home. What a world.
"I swear that crazy shit goes on in this house." Justin continued his
conversation with Nelly after reaching behind himself enough to take her left
arm and bring it around under his own before intertwining their fingers
together. "One minute I'm just relaxing trying to have a wholesome
conversation with you over the phone and the next thing I know there's this girl
trying to hump my back."
"You are the most twisted individual known to man." Camille commented
hearing Nelly laugh along with Justin through the phone. "That's why the
both of you are rolling solo."
"Right," Justin agreed, deciding against bringing up that she was back
on the market herself. "My boy wants to talk to you."
Raising up slightly she accepted the phone from him and brought it to her ear
after he released her hand. She didn't say anything when he reached back again
and moved her left leg slightly so that he could trail his fingers over her
smooth skin. She was feeling a million and one things at that moment but they
were all things that vocalizing would be considered a sin.
"Hey, baby, what's up?" she greeted flirtatiously and tried not to
giggle when she noticed Justin make a face and mouth the word ‘baby’ in a
jealous way.
"Not too much, girl, how you doing?" Nelly replied with that sexy St.
Louis accent of his.
"I'm okay."
"J told me that you and old boy went y'all separate ways."
"Yeah, we did," she took in a deep breath. "It's cool though.
Things happen for a reason."
"True that." He agreed. "So, um, what're you doing later this
afternoon?"
"Going out to eat with one of my girls. Why?"
"A brother's just pondering over here, you know?" He chuckled into the
phone.
"Mm-hmm," Camille grinned. "Maybe you could come out with
us?"
"I don't know. I gotta check my schedule."
"Washing your hair tonight?"
"Nah, that's tomorrow night, shorty." Nelly laughed. "What does
your girl look like? She look like you?"
"No, she's actually cuter than I am." she answered feeling the
pressure of Justin's hand rubbing against her leg increase. "We're going to
Cosi's because we're obsessed with their sandwiches. You should definitely come
though. Want me to call before we leave?"
"Yeah, that would be straight. Is J coming?"
"He's humping my leg right now but I'm sure once he falls out from
exhaustion and gets his shit together he'll come with."
Nelly couldn't help but to laugh at her comment. "When y'all two gonna just
get together?"
"Not never. You want to talk to him again?"
"No, that's alright. Just call me when y'all ready."
"Okay. Bye, hon." Camille turned off the phone and reached over Justin
to set it down on the nightstand. "What're you doing?"
"Nothing," he replied sheepishly as he rolled over underneath her and
began smoothing both of his hands over the back of her thighs.
"You are so horny right now! When's the last time you got you some?"
"Shit, I don't remember. Why?"
"You plan on marrying me, Timberlake?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"I'm not having sex until I get married." she crossed her arms over
her chest as he moved his hands to her waist and masterfully kneaded her sides
with his eyes closed.
"Okay,"
"I'm serious so you can stop trying to change my mind."
"I heard you. You said you weren't having sex until you got married,"
he threw her words back at her, "but you didn't say that you wouldn't fool
around." His hand trailed over her stomach.
"Get your hand off of my breast!" she swatted his hand away as he fell
out laughing.
"You're too easy!"
"Stop trying to molest me!" Camille shrieked, jumping off of the bed
and dashing from the room.
"If you didn't want me to you wouldn't creep in here and put yourself in
awkward positions!" he called after her, propping one arm behind his head
on his pillow. Within seconds she was back and standing at the open doorway.
"You are Chester the Molester in the flesh."
"You like it though." He countered.
"Eat me," she flipped him the bird.
"Only if it's within your definition of fooling around because I'd hate to
screw up your chaste lifestyle." Justin commented before raising his index
finger into the air and gesturing for her to come back into his bedroom.
"You talk to David?"
Camille sighed heavily and dragged herself back onto the bed cuddling up next to
him on his side as he wrapped his free arm around her. "Why are guys such
assholes?"
"Guess that was the way that we were made. Something to do with the X and Y
chromosomes. We get the asshole gene and y'all don't...well some of you
do." he joked, kissing her forehead gently and closing his eyes. "Tell
me what's up. I'm all ears."
"How does he expect me to just forget about a year of being his girlfriend
and move into the role of being his friend? That's what he told me he wants
right now."
"It's a bad thing for this guy to still want to be in your life?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "He's like, ‘Camille, you're my best
friend and I don't want to lose that. Even though I'm not your guy anymore and
you're not my girl we still got something special’. That's bullshit!"
"I don't think it's bullshit. You two seemed really close and he probably
confided a lot in you, invested a lot of time to get to know you on a few
different plateaus." Justin shrugged. "It's almost the same as you and
I. We've been friends for like ten months now?"
"Six." she corrected.
"Whatever. Just assume that we started dating or something for a few years
after this initial stage and then we break up. We've spent all this time getting
to know each other and falling in love with these different facets of who we are
but the physical intimacy has ended. Does that mean that everything else has to
as well?"
"Well, shouldn't there be a period of time where I can say that I need a
moment to find a place where I'm comfortable?"
"Definitely. If you can't just be his friend right now then tell him that.
It doesn't mean that you can never be that for him but it means just not right
now."
"Thank you." Camille moved up and kissed his cheek. "You're the
best."
"You're welcome." Justin nodded as she slid away from him and headed
out of the room again.
"Oh, one more thing."
"Yeah?" he cleared his throat and opened his eyes slightly to see her.
"You've got about twenty minutes to get rid of that hard-on, get a shower,
and get dressed, so make it snappy, k? Get the job done but don't wear yourself
out."
"For a virgin you sure are interested in what's going on with my dick,
Camille. There something that you want to let me in on?"
"I wouldn't be so concerned if your dick wasn't so interested in me,
Justin." she stuck her tongue out at him before exiting the room and
closing the door behind herself.
Justin made a face before looking down and lifting the waistband of his shorts
to confront his trifling member. "You're a fucking traitor you know
that?" he questioned as if it actually had something to say in it's own
defense. He almost expected it to laugh.
////
Nastassia stared outside of the window of the gigantic building while sipping
from a coffee mug. She hadn't thought that she would be so distressed about
retelling the past but it was more difficult than she had expected it to be. She
had been adamant about not speaking to the press about lives that weren't her
own but Camille had been desperate for her to do so. Her friend was tired of the
media speculation and the nasty rumors circling her life but she was helpless in
standing up and facing it on her own. Camille had already faced so much without
defense.
"I know it's hard." Gary Smith appeared from nowhere and came to stand
at her side. "I know that you think I'm just some chump on the street that
wants to know the details of something that isn't my business and in a way
you're right."
"I never said that."
"But you think it." He took a breath. "I want the truth to be
told just as much as you do. I don't care about getting the story first or being
on top because I got the latest scoop. I care that these people are understood
and that people really realize that they're real people with real feelings that
are just trying to live their lives."
"I'm sure." Nastassia nodded, sipping from her mug once more.
"I'm human too, Nastassia. We can stop this interview at any moment that
you so choose and if you feel as if the story will not be beneficial to Justin
and Camille in any way then you tell me upfront. I'll pull the plug and nothing
will ever be aired."
She stared at him quizzically. What did he benefit from shutting down a
television program that would put him at the top of his career? Everyone in the
world was looking for advancement so there was no way that he could be an
exception. The field of journalism was cut-throat.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because ruining the lives of two people that love each other for the sake
of entertainment can never be justified." he answered. "I know they're
good people, Nastassia, and that they've always been good to you because
otherwise you wouldn't be here today helping them out."
"That's true." she couldn't quite figure out how this man had so much
insight into what was going on.
"They introduced you to your boyfriend, correct?"
"Yes."
Gary couldn't help but to smile. "They introduced me to my fiancé as well.
I'd never be a part of anything that would defame them."
////
"What are they doing?" Justin whispered into Camille's ear as he stood
behind her trying to peer out of the curtain and into the front yard of his
home.
"They're still talking," she whispered back. "You should have
told me that he had a crush on her before I invited her over."
"Would it have made a difference if you knew?"
"Not really but I would have liked to know ahead of time just to watch the
progression." she giggled.
Justin grinned in the darkness of the living room and propped his head on her
shoulder so that he could get a better view of what was going down. Fifteen
minutes ago they had all been sitting in the den eating a stuffed crust pizza
from Pizza Hut in front of the television. He and Nelly had been talking
animatedly as the two girls, Camille and Nastassia, lay on their stomachs side
by side with their legs in the air completely engulfed in an episode of Sex
& The City. The next thing that he knew was that Nastassia had disappeared
off to the bathroom and Nelly had said something about going outside to get some
air.
"Does she like him?" he asked as they both witnessed Nastassia shove
Nelly playfully after he had said something and fallen out laughing.
"She's definitely flirting with him." Camille reported. "I think
she forgot about the kid thing."
"What kid thing? She doesn't like them or something?"
"She's not into playing mommy to other women's children."
"Ah, I see." Justin nodded. "Are you staying over here
tonight?"
"No way in hell, chump." Camille stole another glance out of the
window before following Justin out of the living room and into the kitchen.
"You and I need some quality time apart."
"Since when, sugar bear?" he lifted the pizza box from the kitchen
counter and dropped it into the trash can.
"Since you just called me Sugar Bear."
"Oh, that pains me. You can't keep denying what we feel, precious."
"You need a hobby." Camille struggled to ignore his jokes because at
times she took his banter a little too seriously and ended up wondering if he
were trying to be cute or if he was speaking from his heart.
"Yes, dear." Justin opened the refrigerator door in search of
something else to snack on.
"You can't possibly still be hungry. You just ate."
"Man, you and your little friend ate like sixty percent of the pizza. I was
scared to ask for another slice." He closed the door and stared her down.
"Don't even go there. I had a total of two and a half slices and that half
comes in because you practically snatched the rest of it out of my mouth."
"If you're going to be technical about it."
"Eh," she shrugged. "I'm kind of sad that we didn't get to go to
Cosi's today."
"I'll take you tomorrow." Justin replied while reaching up on top of
the refrigerator to retrieve a banana. In a matter of seconds he was peeling
away its flesh and biting into it.
"You're not going to see me tomorrow, thank you very much."
"Why is that?"
"What part of we need to spend time apart are you not grasping?"
"The apart section," he smirked with a cheek full of banana. Camille
rolled her eyes struggling not to laugh at him. "You breaking up with
me?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am." she played along with his little
game.
"This isn't about this possessive shit is it, Camille? I have every right
to want to know where my woman is at all times."
“See, I ain't trying to hear all that."
"Wait, hold up." Justin swallowed his banana. "I know you're not
trying to start something over here. It goes against my ethics to battle a woman
with meatballs on the top of her head."
"What?" Camille took on a karate pose issuing a challenge. "You
don't want any of this"
"Bet?"
"Bring it! I ain't scared of you!"
"Ok then." Justin nodded his head and started to walk passed her when
he suddenly flipped her over and atop his shoulder. "Stop your screaming,
woman."
"Who's screaming? Nice ass." Camille observed as Justin walked out of
the kitchen and into the hallway on his way to the front door. It was pretty
much all she could focus on with her current position. He looked good in clean
khaki slacks. "Yo!" Justin called out as he opened to door to spy
Nastassia and Nelly still chatting it up in the front yard. "What the hell
are the two of you doing?"
"We're just talking, man, what's up?" Nelly answered. "Why you
got old girl folded like that?"
"Don't worry about her. She's enjoying the view."
"Yeah," Camille added. "As long as you don't break wind, J, I'm
perfect."
"How long have you been carrying her around like that? She's going to get
used to it and demand it every time she sees you." Nastassia instigated
since Camille was in no position to attack her.
"Don't worry about this here." Justin reached up and smacked
Camille on the ass. "Let's talk about how the two of you ended up out here
together for the last half hour."
"Nothing is going on, Justin." Nastassia shook her head unable to
fathom why she was answering to him in the first place. He was not her father.
"What y'all need to do is just go on and hook up and stop beating around
the bush. Say, `Nastassia, I think you're fly. Let's kick it.' and Nastassia
say, `You fly too, Nelly. I'll kick it with you'."
"Justin, I feel a little lightheaded. You should put me down." Camille
interrupted.
"Maybe you should take your own advice, J." Nelly countered with a sly
grin on his face. "There's other people around here just beating around the
bush."
Like
who?