WILDFIRE
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)
Chapter
Nine: Solo Stars
"I was still at Trace’s party when she called me on my cell phone about
their first kiss. I’d never heard her sound like that before."
Nastassia’s mind wandered back to that moment in time where things really
started to begin between her two friends. "It wasn’t that giddy
schoolgirl excitement that she had conveyed with her other boyfriends, you know?
It was as if she knew right then that night that she had gotten the real deal.
Her words were the same but her voice had that tell-tale undertone."
Gary watched as his guest began to fidget nervously with the zipper of her
jacket. Something more was going on beneath the surface. There was something
that she didn’t quite know how to phrase.
"I just remember thinking so selfishly that the Camille that I had grown up
with was gone. It was like this girl, my closest friend, was leaving me to
embark on this part of her life that didn’t involve me." Nastassia’s
voice shook with emotion. "We wouldn’t be able to talk about the same
things or go out like we used to because not only would she be splitting time
between me, her family, and her career but she’d also have to incorporate a
serious relationship into it. That was like a nine to five job all in
itself."
"How so?"
"Camille was a very independent person and wasn’t really accustomed to
the intensity of what its like to be the person that Justin is in love with.
He’s said himself that he could be very overwhelming."
"Do you think that made things more difficult for Camille?"
"I can’t really say for sure. She and Justin were on this completely
different level I think for both of them and she embraced it a lot more than she
rejected it. From the outside looking in a lot of people just assumed that
because she was the woman that she was always up under him but it was the exact
opposite. Justin always wanted to be around Camille. It was just the first time
in a relationship where she didn’t mind it. She loved his attention and he
loved giving it to her…"
///
"Wow," Nastassia’s voice emitted from the telephone so softly that
she could barely be heard. "C, that’s the kind of shit that only happens
in the movies."
"I know," Camille breathed, laying in the middle of her bed in a Hello
Kitty tee and black shorts recalling her kiss with Justin to her closest friend.
"I haven’t heard Kissing You by Des’ree in years now and then they just
decide to spin the record at midnight?"
"Hold up! Stick to the topic at hand, girl! How did the kiss start? Was it
slow and sensual or was it frantic and freaky?"
"Oh, God. It was really slow and really tender. My stomach was swelling up
with butterflies."
Nastassia sighed heavily into the phone, "Something told me to try out that
white chocolate when I had the chance."
Camille giggled slightly, pausing when she heard a beep signaling an incoming
call. Her eyes averted to the clock informing her that it was four AM. Who would
be calling her at that hour?
"Hold on, I got another call." she pressed the link button on her
phone, "Hello?"
"I was hoping that you hadn’t fallen asleep yet. Did I wake you?"
"No," she smiled to herself and asked him to hold on while she picked
up her original phone call. "Stassia, it’s Justin."
"Enough said, Cinderella, I’ll talk to you after the sun comes up."
Nastassia assured her friend and quickly disconnected.
"J?"
"I’m still here." he replied once she had clicked back over.
"So what’s going on?"
"I got back home and got in bed but I couldn’t get to sleep."
"Why?"
"Couldn’t stop thinking about you."
Camille could feel the butterflies in her stomach waking up again. "I’m
still thinking about you too."
Justin smiled to himself in the darkness of his bedroom, "Are you busy
tomorrow, well, later today?" he corrected himself.
"Um, I was actually planning on sleeping in all day, you know? I might take
another look at that script while I’m laying around in bed."
"Hm, okay."
Camille nibbled her index fingernail anxiously. "You busy?"
"I was just going to shoot out to Johnny’s office to talk about my album
but…"
"Oh, okay."
"Wait, wait!" Justin rushed, "What were you going to say?"
"I just thought that maybe you could come over and just, you know, lay
around with me. If you have business to take care of though…"
"I can see Johnny another day. I can come back out to your place."
"You may get bored though," Camille excused, "I don’t plan on
doing too much besides sleeping and -"
"Then I’ll just hold you while you sleep?" he offered.
"You don’t have to do that."
"I want to."
"Okay," Camille took her bottom lip into her teeth. "When do you
think you’ll come?"
"Now if it’s not too inconvenient for you."
"Do you remember where the spare key is?"
"Lamp post." he answered while sitting up and getting out of bed.
"Try to stay up, though, okay?"
Camille yawned tiredly into the phone. "I’ll try."
A bit disconnected from himself Justin pulled his Mercedes truck into the
circular drive and put it in park an hour later. After cutting the engine he
stepped out of the vehicle in pajama pants, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and Nike
flip flop sandals. He had considered putting on some clothes before heading back
to Camille’s house but then figured that there would be no point. She had told
him that all she had planned to do was lounge about and cat nap so there was no
reason to get dressed up.
On his way up the cobblestone walkway he made a pit stop at the Victorian
lamppost lighting his way. Glancing over the surrounding area to see if anyone
was snapping a photo or documenting his movements he put his hands into the
pocket of his sweatshirt and took a deep breath. His paranoia of paparazzi could
sometimes be seen as insane but what was truly dysfunctional was the fact that
his paranoia had come from real life experience. Shrugging, he reached up toward
the glass lamp, feeling around the base with his fingertips, and pulled out the
spare key to the front door before continuing on his way. A moment later he was
inside of the house, careful not to slam the door, and jogging up the stairs
toward her bedroom.
Camille slept soundly in the middle of the bed with the covers pulled up over
her head leaving only a small air hole for breathing. He had seen her like this
before. He wasn’t sure if it was a fear of the dark or something else entirely
but he found that she always did this before she fell into the Land of Nod.
Smirking slightly he moved into the room and to the side of the bed to pull of
his sweatshirt and step out of his flip flops. She stirred slightly, sensing the
presence of another body in her room, and then proceeded to play possum.
"It’s me." Justin said gently so that she would realize that her
life was not about to come to a screeching halt at the hands of a mass murderer.
"I thought you were going to wait up for me."
"I tried." she wined from inside of her snug pocket of blanket and
sheets.
"Mm-hmm," he reached over and peeled back her shield to join her.
Camille shivered at the sudden rush of cold air that swept over her as Justin
moved the blankets and then slid in under them beside her. She really had tried
to stay up but she could only fight her body for so long. Her eyes were about to
give in to the darkness again even as he smoothed her hair behind her ear and
caressed the side of her neck.
"I’m sorry," she cupped her hand over her mouth as she yawned and
looked up at him hazily.
"For what?"
"Going to sleep on you." she yawned once again inspiring a laugh from
her boyfriend. "What?"
"Nothing, come here." Justin eased her closer to him, allowing her to
roll over and put her back to his chest, heating his whole body with the warmth
that she had been harboring under the blankets without him. Before he knew it
his own eyes were closing on him. "Go to sleep, baby."
"Mm-hmm," Camille nodded slowly, already more than halfway there.
////
"Did you get the full story from Nastassia J on Justin Timberlake and
Camille Henderson?" Gary Smith’s superior, Evan Hauser, questioned as the
crew scrambled to set up for the next shot."
"We talked on camera for as long as we could before she had to leave for a
recording session with Dr. Dre." Gary explained, "But she will be in
again later this week, sir."
"Is the footage decent so far?"
"Definitely. Right now we’re just setting up for Justin’s mother, Lynn
Harless, to show up."
Evan nodded his head in approval, "You’re definitely the man to have on
this assignment, Gary. I can see you really going places here at VH1. A
promotion could be on the horizon for you."
"Really, sir?"
"You’re the only person in journalism right now that has been able to get
this inside peek into America’s number one couple’s relationship, Gary.
Before long you’ll have my job, son." the old man pat the slightly
younger one on the back. "Keep on trucking."
About twenty minutes later the set designers had completed the construction of
the next interviewing platform and ten minutes afterward the woman of the hour
made her appearance. Lynn Harless entered the studio exuding the same charisma
as she always did that had luckily infiltrated its way into her son’s persona.
Cordially she greeted everyone in the room and took her seat before the camera.
Her interview with Gary began almost immediately.
"The very night that Justin and Camille met he called me up on the phone
and told me that he had just met the woman that he was going to marry."
Lynn Harless explained to Gary Smith as she sat down for her portion of the
story that was rocking both the nation and the world as a whole.
"The night of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s big bash?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Justin’s always been a very romantic
person, wearing his heart on his sleeve, but he had never called me and said
anything like that before. When he introduced me to Camille she was in a
relationship with another man and I talked about that with him but I could see
something serious evolving between the two of them over the course of time. They
just looked like they were meant to be together."
"So then it was no surprise to you when she and your son started seeing
each other?"
"Not at all. I had just wanted to know what had taken them so long to get
to that point. By then she had broken up with her previous boyfriend and had
dated someone else in between getting together with Justin. I just always felt
they were meant to be together."
////
"Yo, mom? What do you have to eat?" Justin called after barging into
his mother and stepfather’s home and heading directly for the kitchen.
Camille strolled along after him, greeting Paul Harless whom sat in the living
room with a newspaper in hand, and shook her head in disapproval. If she looked
up spoiled rotten in the dictionary she’d discover her boyfriend’s mug shot.
He was definitely the biggest mama’s boy known to man but that also meant that
it was a rarity that he didn’t get his own way. Camille was admittedly a
little on the spoiled side herself but Justin took the cake.
"I set you aside a plate from lunch, dear. It’s in the microwave."
His mother replied as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and continued on
toward the heating device.
"Camille’s here," he informed her as he popped open the microwave
door to see if the contents within were hot and closed it back, plugging in
numbers to reheat his meal. A few seconds later the woman in his life stepped
into the room looking as cute as a button in a pair of low-riders, flip-flops,
and a dark gray baby tee with her hair pulled back into a fluffy ponytail. He
had always found her to be her sexiest when she was low-key and without makeup.
"Don’t tell me that he got you to cook him something! He just ate twenty
minutes ago!" Camille smiled brightly and embraced the stunning Lynn
Harless excitedly. This woman was like a second mother to her in so many
different ways. She took care of her and helped assist Johnny Wright manage her
career much like she did with her own son. Without a second thought she had
accepted Camille into the family and treated her as a daughter.
"I know I’ve raised the bottomless pit," the older woman chuckled.
"How have you been, honey?"
"Extremely busy. I’m going to have to learn how to sleep standing
up!"
Lynn laughed, rubbing the palm of her hand over Camille’s back as they both
leaned against the kitchen’s island, watching Justin steal his now heated
plate from the microwave and nab a fork from the top left drawer near the sink.
"So Justin tells me that the two of you finally decided to start seeing
each other?"
"Mom?" Justin’s fork paused in midair, macaroni tumbling off and
back down toward his plate. "What are you doing?"
"Talking to Camille! Mind your own business!"
"He thinks I am his business now." The younger woman commented.
"You are," he stuck his tongue out at her and continued shoveling food
into his mouth.
"So he took you to his restaurant?" Lynn ignored her son. "How
was the show?"
"Oh, it was amazing!" Camille beamed.
"She says that she wishes she were Asian." Justin chimed in with
commentary.
"Thank you for sharing, Goliath."
"No problem, Sugar Bear."
His mother observed the silent conversation that followed his words before
posing her next question. "Have the two of you kissed?"
"Mom!"
"From what I’ve heard my son is quite the kisser."
"Oh, my…come on!"
Camille giggled playfully, "He’s pretty good."
"You cannot have this conversation with my mother!" he waved his fork
around in protest.
"It was hot."
"Camille!"
"Did you feel all tingly inside?" Lynn continued to instigate unable
to resist making her son uncomfortable in front of his girlfriend. A few weeks
ago he wouldn’t have minded.
"Mama, no!" Justin set down his plate and fork and then rushed over to
his girlfriend. "We have to go."
"But, baby, I want to talk to your mother." Camille pouted as he
backed her out of the room and into the hallway.
"Ma, we’ll see you later! We’ve got a meeting with Johnny!" he
called back over his shoulder.
"Yeah, in an hour!" Camille shouted as Justin’s hands gripped her
hips and he leaned her back up against the wall.
"We don’t want to be late!" he added, quickly capturing her lips
with his own. Camille snickered into his mouth and ensnared her fingers in the
bottom hem of his shirt.
"I can hear you kissing!" Lynn alerted from the kitchen, clearing off
her son’s plate and placing it into the sink for washing.
"That’s not us!" he laughed.
"Of course not." Paul appeared in the hallway, folding his newspaper.
"Word has it that you had an audition with DreamWorks, Camille, how did
that go?"
"Yes, I do remember Justin mentioning something about that." Lynn
joined the group, drying her hands off on a towel after finishing off the
dishes.
"Oh, well I think it went pretty well." Camille shrugged coyly as
Justin directed her around in front of him and wrapped his arms around her
waist, kissing her on the cheek. "I met with the casting director and the
executive producers, they had me read a few scenes from the script, and then for
the remainder of my slot of time we all just talked about the character and what
I could bring to her."
"You didn’t tell them who the executive producer was." Justin
whispered into her ear.
"Oh, yeah! George Clooney is heading the project as well as staring in
it."
"If she gets this part she’ll be his love interest." he added,
rocking their bodies back and forth as they stood before his parents. "I
sat down with her and went over some of her lines for Sophia Montgomery and she
is so convincing."
"Wow," Paul nodded. "Sounds like we’ve got another star in the
family!"
"Could be," Lynn grinned mischievously, "as soon as Justin pops
the question then it will be official!"
"That’s strike three, mom!" Justin rolled his eyes, stepping away
from Camille and coming to kiss his mother goodbye. "We’ll see you later.
We really do need to go get to that meeting with Johnny."
"I’m sure you do." she hugged him and sent him out on his way after
hugging who she hoped to be her daughter-in-law-to-be goodbye as well.
Camille sat in the passenger’s seat of Justin’s car laughing as he sped down
the road in route to the WEG offices for their meeting with Johnny. Due to the
fact that he had skipped out of his original appointment to spend the day with
her a few weeks previous Johnny had simply called for them to come in together
during Camille’s meeting. He figured that he could kill two birds with one
stone.
"What are you laughing about?" Justin questioned, leaning back in his
seat and steering the car with one hand lazily.
"Your mother is so awesome! You should have seen your face when she was
saying those things."
"Well, I’m glad that you got a chuckle out of it."
"Aw, don’t be upset." Camille leaned over and pressed her lips to
the side of his face. "She was just teasing you."
"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes. "You seemed awfully giddy about
the prospect of marriage."
"Right. Sure I did."
"What? You wouldn’t want to marry me?"
"I didn’t say that."
"You didn’t say otherwise either." Justin pointed out, smirking to
himself.
"I just started dating you, J, so how would that sound a month into the
relationship?"
"I don’t know," he shrugged, "tell me that you want to marry me
now and I’ll tell you how it sounds."
"You’re about to miss your turn." Camille gestured out of the window
and he made a sharp turn to pull into the parking lot. Once he had parked and
cut the engine she jumped out of the car and skipped to the front door of Wright
Entertainment Group greeting the few individuals that were exiting at the time.
"Hyper much?" Justin inquired as he strolled up the walkway and opened
the door for her to go inside. They both made crazy faces at each other before
stepping into the lobby and to the elevators. Once inside the closed metal doors
they proceeded to childishly wrestle each other until they arrived on Johnny’s
floor where they sobered up and walked calmly to their manager’s office.
"Hi, Donna." Camille greeted the receptionist who waved at she and
Justin before telling them to go right inside.
"Well, well, well." Johnny began as the couple entered his office and
closed the doors behind themselves. "If it isn’t my dream team."
"Hey, Johnny." Justin sat down in front of the man’s desk with his
girlfriend sitting at his side. "How have things been with you?"
"Great," Johnny swung from side to side in his expensive leather
chair. "I’m still hitting you up for babysitting."
"No problem."
"How’d the audition go, Cam?"
"I think it went pretty well. I’m not supposed to hear back from them
until next week or so but even if I don’t get the part I think it could open
some doors." she explained, adjusting the nameplate on his desk that had
been sitting crooked.
Johnny nodded his approval and cleared his throat signaling that they were about
to get down to business. "Alright, you guys there are a few things that we
need to discuss here today. First off, Justin, we need to talk about which
tracks are going to be mastered onto your album, the concept for the album
cover, and what you think that the first single should be. You made a great call
with Like I Love you on Justified and we pulled that all off without a hitch.
Soon we’re going to be kicking off your European promo tour and we’re a bit
behind on all of this but we want to get everything executed by the end of next
month. That means the photo shoot, single release, and at least start preparing
to release the video."
Justin nodded his head that he understood. He was good under pressure so all of
this didn’t bring too much of a rise out of him. Camille on the other hand was
shaken just by hearing all that had to be done in such a short period of time.
She couldn’t fathom it being done.
"Now, Camille, your schedule isn’t as jam packed as Justin’s is right
now but still there are a few things that need to be done." Johnny turned
to her. "We’re on the last single from your album right now which means
that we need to shoot the video and if you don’t get this part with DreamWorks
there have been negotiations that you open for Beyonce Knowles on her current
tour. If you do get the role then all that we’re asking is that you do a few
performances in the meantime before filming so that no one forgets your name in
the music industry. Now, I’ve been told that you’ve already started writing
for your next album and have a few producers lined up?"
"Yeah," she nodded her head. "I’ve got about fifty songs
written right now and I’ve been talking creatively with Timbaland, Dr. Dre,
SoulShock & Karlin, just to name a few. We’re trying to come up with
something a little bit rougher around the edges than Disillusioned was."
"Sounds good. Let’s talk about your video then. Can’t Be Your Friend is
already number one on the charts and the demand for the video is insane right
now so we have to get it out quick. I’ve already discussed with you the
concept that you were going for and we’ve got pretty much everything lined up.
Hype Williams is slated to direct and the location is already paid for so we
need you to be ready to go sometime next week. The only set back that we have is
who we’re going to cast as the guy in your video."
Justin’s eyebrow raised at the mentioning of a man being in Camille’s new
video but he didn’t say anything as she and Johnny began to discuss the
options. He didn’t like any of the names being tossed back and forth across
the desk. Frankie J? No. Benicio Del Toro? Hell no. Morris Chestnut? Were they
trying to kill him? Will Smith? If that happened both Justin and Jada would be
looking for love in different places.
"Are there any no names that could do the part?" he interrupted,
scratching the side of his neck.
"Of course there are but this is a power play that we’re thinking of,
Justin." Johnny explained his motives. "If Camille has someone like
Will Smith in her video as her love object people will really be talking. The
video will be guaranteed heavy rotation on MTV, BET, and VH1."
"This sounds kind of like a stunt." Camille tried to see where Justin
was coming from in his silence. "Maybe he’s right and we should go with
someone that doesn’t have a lot of notoriety just yet."
Johnny shook his head, disagreeing. "This video has to be memorable for
many different reasons. It has to tie all of her fans down until her new
material comes out especially if she can’t do this tour with Beyonce. She’ll
be out of the spotlight for a while if she’s doing this movie."
"He’s right." Justin sighed. "So you think go with an A-list
star like Benicio del Toro?"
"That or…"
"Or what?" Camille asked.
"What’s wrong with Justin doing the part? You two are already really
close friends, he still has a little bit of time left in his schedule, and you
look good together." Johnny announced. "If I could make the two of you
start dating each other I’d do it."
"You’re about a month late on that, Johnny." Justin informed the
older man. "We’re seeing each other now."
"So then it’s perfect! Star couple teaming up for a music video. In all
honesty maybe you should open for Justin instead of Beyonce! You two dating each
other is enough promotion in itself!"
"That could be a good thing, me doing the video and you touring with
me." Justin turned to Camille. "It would give us a lot more time
together."
"I should start setting this up." Johnny turned to his computer screen
and began typing.
"I don’t know, you guys. Can’t I at least think about this?"
"What is there to think about?" Johnny peered at her from around his
computer monitor.
"Yeah, what is there to think about?" Justin asked.
"Well, I mean," Camille swallowed. "It would be nice to be able
to be with you and get paid for it but at the same time I don’t think I really
want that type of publicity."
"Oh," Johnny pursed his lips together and sat back in his chair.
"What do you mean by not wanting that type of publicity? You don’t want
people knowing that we’re together?"
"I didn’t say that!"
"Then what are you saying?" Justin pushed, folding his arms over his
chest expectantly.
"I’m just saying that I don’t want to do this as a career move,
okay?"
Justin nodded, turning back to Johnny, "Yeah, whatever."
"Look," Camille stood up to her feet not wanting to be chastised by
the two men sitting in the room trying to alter her destiny. "I have worked
way too hard to get to this point where my music is out there and people are
just starting to know my name! I don’t want to do something like this and then
suddenly I don’t have an identity anymore!"
"How would you not have an identity anymore, Camille?"
"Because I wouldn’t just be Camille anymore. I’d be your latest love
interest, another girl on the list…"
"Would you sit down? You’re not another girl on the list! How could you
even say something like that?"
"What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want my next album to come out
and hear people saying that’s Justin’s girlfriend’s new material. You know
that will happen. I’ll just be this extension of you and no longer this
individual with a little bit of talent."
Justin swallowed down the lump in his throat and tried his best to understand
her. There had only been a few times in his life where the woman was still seen
as just herself. Majority of the time, as Camille was pointing out, they simply
became known as the girl that he was dating at the moment. He didn’t want to
throw a monkey wrench into her blossoming career like that.
"I don’t care who you guys cast in the video as long as it’s not Will
Smith." he mumbled under his breath, pouting.
Camille rolled her eyes and adjusted in her seat so that she didn’t have to
face him. Johnny watched them both carefully before coming upon another option.
It would strain things but it could work for the time being.
"If the two of you last longer together than a minute then the whole world
is going to find out about you regardless." He began to speak. "I
understand not wanting your career to be overshadowed by your love life and even
though Justin’s in a funk right now about it he understands as well."
Johnny turned to the young man that nodded his agreement reluctantly. "We
can call up all of these guys’ agents and see if we can get them here in a
week to do this video or we can let your boyfriend do it under the pretense that
you’re only friends. What that means though is that you’re going to have to
do a little separation which shouldn’t be hard since your schedules will be
pulling you apart in distance anyway."
"I don’t want to lie about seeing him. I’m not ashamed of that."
Camille stated not only for her benefit but for Justin’s as well.
"You don’t have to lie but you don’t have to say it either. Just let
people think what they want to think."
////
"After the meeting that the kids had with Johnny things were a little weird
for a few days. Justin was a little sore at Camille and she was a little
depressed about hurting him. I don’t think they even saw each other for about
four days. They talked on the phone though, briefly, just so that there was no
doubt that the relationship wasn’t over." Lynn explained to the cameras,
spinning her thumbs around each other. "Justin spent a lot of time at our
house and Camille was hanging out with Nastassia. They just really needed to
sort things out before things got hectic."
"Personally I can see why Camille didn’t want to go that route so early
in her career. She was still a new artist on the scene." Gary added to the
discussion.
"Oh, Justin understood her completely. He thought it was a good thing that
she didn’t want to bring in fans by using his name. It just took him a while
to realize it."
////
"Maybe you should go and see her." Lynn suggested as Justin sat on the
patio scribbling words into a notebook. "She’s going to think that you
don’t want to be with her anymore."
"She knows that I still want to be with her. I tell her everyday on the
phone." he replied, not moving his eyes from the lined paper as his pen
moved furiously across it.
"And she believes that?"
"Why wouldn’t she?"
Lynn sighed heavily, taking a sip from her coffee mug, "Because she
hasn’t laid eyes on you in days and I haven’t been eavesdropping but from
how you sound when you’re talking to her on the phone it doesn’t seem like
you care all that much anymore."
Justin’s pen wavered for a few moments before he set it down and closed his
eyes. "I just needed a second, you know? I understand what she meant but it
came off so much differently."
"You wouldn’t want your career overshadowed by hers would you?"
"I think the relationship is far more important than the career."
"She’s only been dating you for a month, Justin! You want her to sign
away her dreams for you?"
"No!"
"Then why are you making such a big deal about this? She and Johnny already
decided that you should be in the video with her so why are you still
upset?" Lynn shouted back at him, one hand planted firmly on her hip.
"I’m not upset anymore!"
"Then get out of my house and go see your girlfriend before she’s not
your girlfriend anymore."
Justin took a deep breath and started to stand up from his seat when his
cellular phone began to ring in his pocket. He glanced over at his mother before
turning away from her and answering his phone. "Hello?"
"I know you’re still mad at me but I wanted you to know that I got the
part." Camille said, her voice a mix of excitement and worry. "Can you
come over so we can talk?"
Will
he come?