CHAPTER 8

The couple entered the spacious room, hand-in-hand. Joanna sat down on the couch while Justin was searching for something in his bag. When he found what he was looking for, he sat beside her.

"Do you remember this?" the boy asked, referring to the letter she had given him back in May. She took the paper from his hands and examined it for a few seconds.
"How could I forget?!" she said, staring at his eyes for the first time.
"Maybe the same way you forgot about me." he responded bitterly.
"Wh...what? How dare you?" she asked with moist eyes. She looked down at the piece of paper, searching for the strength to continue. "You haven't the slightest idea of what I've been through. It wasn't easy for me to be separated from the one person I loved more than life itself. You don't know what I did to get over you. And the irony of it all is that I failed; I'm not over you and I think I will never be. So don't you start with this 'forget about me' crap." the girl said.
"I'm sorry, little one. It's just that I don't know how to deal with this situation. I have this overwhelming feeling inside and I can't hold it anymore. I miss you. I miss 'us'." he said, taking her hand in his.
"Don't do this, Justin. You know why we can't be together, not now. That's why we broke up in the first place." she answered.
"But I'm willing to try. We can make it work, I know we can. If two people love each other, they should be together. And if you love me as much as I love you, you'll give it a shot." He sighed and continued. "Do you love me?"
"More than I thought I could ever love someone." she said.
"So why can't we just be together?" he asked once again.
"Because you have your career and I have my dream. We're living in two different worlds right now. But someday we'll be together, I promise you. Someday." she replied while a small smile formed on her lips.
"What if I tell you to make a choice at this very moment?" the boy questioned.
"What do you mean?" she asked apprehensively.
"Or you love me enough for us to be together now, or we go on our separate ways and never look back." She immediately let go of his hand and shook her head.
"I don't believe you, Justin. How can you do this?" she asked with tears rolling down her face. She looked at him directly in the eyes. They were the color of the sky, she loved his eyes. "I love you enough to let you go." she said, standing up. "I'll see you around, Justin Timberlake." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room, leaving the boy speechless.

After Joanna was gone, Chris entered the room.

"What happened, Bounce? Joanna was pretty upset when she left with Julie." the older man said.
"I know, I know....I messed up, ok?!" the younger man answered, placing his head on his hands.
"What did you do?" Chris asked.
"I said I loved her, she said she loved me back. So I told her to choose, and that's what made her mad." Justin replied.
"Choose what?"
"Basically I said that I wouldn't wait for her. I told her that we could be together now or just forget about it." the boy said.
"What are you? Crazy?" Chris questioned.
"No. That's more of your department." Justin replied.
"Very funny, just hilarious.... how could you do that, man? Do you realize that you probably lost her? The best thing that ever happened to you?" Chris asked with an angry tone in his voice.
"Don't you think I know that? Because believe me, I know, and it's killing me inside. I love her so much, Chris." the boy answered with tears in his eyes.
"You sure have a strange way of expressing it." the other man said sarcastically.
"I just didn't know what to do. It was like she was slipping between my fingers and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I wanna be with her, but she says that we can't, not right now."
"She loves you that much, huh? She's willing to sacrifice your love for your career, for our careers. Do you know how much strength it takes? " Chris said, looking at his friend. "Do you even realize how lucky you are? You found true love, the one person in the world that completes you, your soul mate. And the most important part is that she loves you back. Did you ever stop to think about how many people would trade places with you to have that? Damn it, I know I would. I mean, to be loved like that, unconditionally..." he concluded.
"So, what do I do now?" his young friend asked, looking up for the first time.
"Just give it some time. But first you need to apologize and pray that she has a heart big enough to accept it." Chris said.
"Since when did you become so smart?" Justin asked with a small smile.
"I've always been." the older man said and stood up.
"Thanks, man." Justin replied, giving his friend a hug.
"No problem, brother."

Then, Chris left. And Justin was alone with his thoughts.

"The only problem is to find a way for her to forgive me..." he said to himself.

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