Whitney sat in her small office and reviewed the papers that had been sitting on her desk for the past few weeks. She hadn't had the time to go over them before now because she had been busy with preparing for the tour, which was coming up farely soon. "There is just too much to do," she mumbled to herself before placing a paper on the left side of her desk.
Taking a small break, she glanced up at the clock and sighed. She still had two more hours to go before she could go home. She hadn't even started packing yet, and she knew that was going to be very time consuming. It wasn't that she hadn't tried, but Justin had constantly been at her side, begging her to do something with him because she was leaving soon. There was no way to resist some of the looks that he produced, so she usually gave in. Now she was paying the price as the date came closer.
Ashley and her were becoming good friends, and she could tell that he was feeling some of the stress that she was because this was both of their first tour. Justin had became extremely jealous of their breakfast and lunch "dates", but she shrugged it off as friends getting together, and that's all that it was.
Finally, it was time for her to go home, and to her, the time had passed by slow. It didn't take her long to reach home, and as she unlocked the door, she noticed that the house was too quiet for Justin to be there. She didn't think much of it, just thinking that he had went to hang out with one of the guys. She walked into the kitchen and stopped when she saw that the room was dark, except for two candles that had been lite. "Justin Timberlake,"she called out, waiting for him to appear.
She saw a shadow flicker against the wall a few seconds before he came into view, wearing a pair of khakis and a black button up shirt. She walked to him and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you so much," she said, as she looked into his eyes.
He smiled brightly. "I thought you might like this..." he said, leading her over to the table and pulling out her chair. She sat down, and waited for him to be seated before starting to eat on the food before her. "This is good, baby," she said.
His smile increased. "I cooked it..ok mom came over and helped me some but I didn't know what I was doing all alone in there. There are just too many spices and crap for my liking."
She reached over and touched his hand gently. "Justin, I really appreciate this. I had a hetic day and this just helps me calm down some. I don't know how you do it...there's too much stress involved in any part of the music industry if you ask me."
He chuckled. "You'll get use to it...what do you say that we take a vacation...."
She shook her head. "As lovely as that sounds, you know I can't do that. Don't get me wrong, I would love spending some alone time with you but I don't have the time right now."
His face dropped some before he shrugged. "Can't blame me for trying."
He started pushing the food around on his plate. She set her fork down and stood up, walking to where she could sit on his lap. She sat down gently and gently touched his chin, causing his eyes to look up at her. "Justin, you know that if I had the time, I'd pack up my stuff and go anywhere you asked. But this is one time that I have to put work before pleasure, and I don't want you to think that I'm doing it just because I'm trying to push you away," she said, before bending down and touching his lips gently with her own. She pulled back and smiled. "I worked so hard to bring you close to me so don't you dare think I'd try and push you away...that will never happen."
"You promise?" he asked, his blue eyes sparkling with love.
She nodded her head and kissed him again. "You have my word."
"Is this a battle we've won?" he asked, winking at her.
She chuckled before sliding off his lap and returning to her seat. "You're on crack." The two of them carried on soft conversation throughout their meal, which they finished quickly. Whitney went to start clearing away the dishes, but was immediately stopped by Justin. "Those can wait..come on I have another surprise for you.." he said, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.
He stopped infront of their bedroom door and smiled at her. "Close your eyes?" he whispered into her ear.
She tingled at the way his breath tickled her ear. "What's in there?" she asked, reluctantly closing her eyes.
He chuckled. "You know there's no way in hell I'm going to tell you. Now shut up and let me show you my surprise."
He opened the door and pulled her in. The two of the came to a stop in the middle of the room, where Justin let go of her hand and walked away. She could hear light shuffling in the background as her curiosity began to build. "Justin," she whispered.
"Just a few more minutes and then you can open your eyes," his voice replied. She stood there and after what seemed like an eternity his hands removed hers that were covering her eyes. "Open them," he whispered.
She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight before her. "Justin..." she said as he kissed her neck. "Do you like it?"
She turned around and buried her head in the crook of his neck. "Its perfect."
"I thought you would..." he said, pulling on her hand and leading her over to the sliding glass door that opened to the balcony. The two of the walked outside, and down the wood steps which led out into the massive backyard. Her eyes were lite with joy as they came closer. "I can't believe you did this, Justin. Its so beautiful," she said, as she came to stop in front of the gazebo that he had put in when they had first moved in together.
The gazebo was now decorated in a ray of light and flowers, but not just any flower, her favorite kind, a carnation. "You even got my favorite flower, baby," she said, reaching up to kiss him.
He wrapped his arms around her waist before pulling away to smile at her. "I just felt like doing something for you. I've been really bad about you going on tour and I want to say I'm sorry. I should be supporting you, but I'm being selfish and wanting you here to me..I just want to say I'm sorry."
"I understand that you're a typical male, Justin. You may be a famous one, and besides why would I get mad for you actually wanting to spend time with me?" she asked him, climbing up the two steps that lead into the gazebo. He followed closely behind her and sat down beside her, wrapping his strong arms around her small frame.
The two of them sat there and stared silently at the stars. Hours later, Justin looked down and smiled tenderly when he saw her asleep. Picking her up in his arms, he walked back into the house as their love prepared to make the ultimate step of her leaving him, being with five other guys. He was going to make sure she knew that she held his heart, and he hoped that he held hers.
Ashley looked around at all the people who had came to say goodbye, and smiled as he saw the emotional family and friends that had supported the guys from the beginning. He couldn't stop his eyes from searching around for her, but stopped when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see Dan standing there, looking at him through tired eyes. "Who you looking for?"
"What makes you think I'm looking for someone?" he asked, placing his hat on backwards.
"You two have been spending a lot of time together, and you can't stand here and tell me that you don't feel anything for her beyond friendship because you, Ashley, can't lie to yourself and you know it."
He sighed and held up his hands in an attempt to have the attack that was being put on him, to back away. "So what, yes I do like her. I'm a male, she's a female and I can't stop myself from liking her!"
The rest of the guys had no clue about Justin and Whitney's relationship, so it didn't surprise Ashley when Dan asked the next question. "Why don't you tell her how you feel?"
Ashley's eyes spotted her and he pointed in her direction. Standing beside her was Justin, who's hand was firmly connected with hers. "That's the problem."
Dan snickered. "Justin Timberlake? She's dating Justin?"
Ashley turned his eyes away and nodded his head. "Yes she is. And from what I've heard her say about him, they have a really strong relationship. If I can't have her the way I want her, I'll settle for friendship..but that's the end of this discussion. I'm going to go say bye to everyone and catch some more sleep," he said, before turning and walking away.
Meanwhile, Whitney found out her bus assignment, and put everything where it needed to be, all the while Justin hung on to her hand, acting like he never wanted to let go. Right now, his arms were wrapped firmly around her waist, as the two of them stood around and watched the action. "It feels like I should be the one leaving," he said.
She chuckled softly. "That is true..you're the one usually in the middle of this hetic crap and I'm usually the one standing on the outside praying that you won't forget me while you're gone."
He nuzzled her neck. "I would never forget you, just like you better not forget me," he said, before placing two small kisses on her neck column.
"Well atleast you're getting to experience some of the stuff that I go through watching you leave, knowing you're going to be far away from me," she said, slidding around so that she could face him. Once she was around, she rested her head on his chest.
"Don't go..." he begged, knowing that it would do no good.
"Justin, we've been over this what now..a thousand times? You get to go through what I do watching you leave."
He sighed. "Ok..." he said as she turned back around to where she was facing the busses. Her eyes settled on Ashley who was talking to Jacob and she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Who are you looking at?" Justin asked, as he inhaled the scent of her hair.
"I just saw some of the guys and I was seeing what was up."
"Oh.." he said, not making anything of it. The two of them stood there for the next twenty minutes, until Lou Pearlman announced that it was time for the guys and personel to load up. Justin groaned and pulled her to him. His lips covered hers and for the next few minutes, all the chaos that was surrounding them went away. When she pulled back, she had tears streaming down her face, and she could see that Justin's eyes were becoming watery. He reached up and wiped them away. "Don't cry baby," he said, kissing the tip of her nose.
She shook her head, knowing that if she spoke, her voice w ould break. He chuckled softly before giving her another deep kiss. "I'll call you tonight..and I'll come visit you as soon as I figure out our schedule," he said, as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "I love you girl," he said, before looking into her eyes.
"I love you too,Justin," she said, wiping away the last tears that had managed to fall. She gave him a brief smile before turning and heading to the bus that she had been assigned. Justin sighed as her figure disappeared into the bus, and he felt pain over take him as he watched them pull out. Once he could no longer see the buses, he got in his car and left, heading back to a lonely house.
The guys had reached their first stop, which happened to be in Atlanta Georgia, and were now checking into the hotel. Whitney grabbed the clothes that she would need for tomorrow and laid them out on the spare bed that was in her room. She had been lucky enough to get a room to herself, and she took the opportunity to call Justin and see how he was. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?" his voice replied.
She laid back on the bed and smiled as she heard him breathing. "Hey baby."
"Umm..who is this?" he joked with her. "Nah, I'm kidding...how are things?"
"This is extremely odd, Justin. I don't enjoy being on a bus, but I'm sure things will get better."
"Whit, if you don't want to do this, just tell Lou that you don't want the job. You don't need a job...you know I'll pay for anything you need."
"Justin, that sounds wonderful but you know that I need to make some money for myself..besides...there is that SMALL chance that things might not work out between us and then where would I be left at?"
"That's bullshit. You know that I don't plan on letting you go and I'm hoping that you intentions are the same."
"You know it...so what are you doing right now?"
"Right now...hmm I'm setting here watching the tv...bored out of my mind."
"Why don't you call up one of the guys and see if they're busy?" she told him, as she got up to grab a magazine that was laying on her suitcase.
"Cause I don't want male company..I want a certain brunette with deep chocolate eyes, a cute smile, and killer lips to be here with me right now," he said as his voice became husky.
She rubbed her arms trying to remove the chill bumps that had come up. "Well..I wouldn't mind having a blond curly-haired blue eyed babe with strong arms and a cute smile here with me but we don't all get what we want."
He chuckled softly. "I think that we could get what we want. Run away with me...we'll go to Hawaii and change our names to Fred and Ruth. No one will miss us."
She started laughing. "Fred and Ruth? If I go anywhere with you, you're going to be picking better names. Those are just horrible, Justin..come on I thought you had better taste than that."
He laughed along with her. "Those were the only two names I could think of really fast. My offer still stands though..any time you want to get away pick up the phone and call me. I'll have us on a plane to somewhere in no time."
"Listen, Stud, I have to go. I'm really tired and I have to be up early in the morning."
"Well listen, Sweetie Pie..call me if you need anything. I love you baby," he said, making a kissing noise into the phone.
She chuckled softly. "I love you too, Justin, sweet dreams," she said, before hanging the phone up. She stretched out on the bed and was almost asleep when there was a soft knock at the door. She walked slowly to the door and opened it to reveal Ashley standing there in a pair of boxers and a tee shirt. "I just came to see if you were settled in ok," he said, leaning up against the door frame.
She smiled. "Yeah I'm fine. Its weird being by myself but I'll adjust. I guess I better enjoy the time to myself," she said, winking at him.
He could tell that she was tired, so he decided to end all conversation. "Well, I'll leave you alone. I'm suppose to remind you to be up at 8:00 and ready to go...that's from Jacob."
"Thank you..I'll be sure to be up," she said, smiling before shutting the door. She walked back to the bed and curled up under the covers, while Ashley stood outside and leaned his head against the door. "What am I going to do?" he whispered softly before turning and heading back to the room he was sharing with Jacob.