January 8, 2000
It had been a restless night for Audrey, and by the time she finally did get to sleep, her eyes had barely closed when the ringing of the phone woke her.
"What?" she grumbled.
"Rise and shine, cranky!" a cheerfully farmiliar voice came over the line.
"Timberlake?" she asked, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face.
"The one and only," he affirmed. "Now get your butt out of bed, because we have to leave in an hour and I want to see you before I go."
"Alright," she agreed, taking a glance at the clock. It was only 8am. "Meet you in the restaurant for tea in half an hour?"
"Sounds good."
"See you then." Hanging up the phone, Audrey ran a hand through her hair and threw off the covers, making her way into the bathroom. She showered quickly and brushed her teeth. She dressed in cords and a t-shirt, then pulled her wet hair into a ponytail and applied her trademark eyeliner. Grabbing a handful of change and her room key, she headed down to the restaurant for much needed tea and much needed company.
"Good morning!" Justin greeted her, barely pausing from his breakfast as she sat down across from him.
"How can you be so perky?" she asked crossly. "I'll have a large peppermint tea," she told the waitress who approached.
"Ooh, looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he commented, poking her lightly. "I'm just excited about going home."
Excited about leaving me, she thought crossly, then sighed. Okay, Aud, you've become truly irrational, she realized ruefully. It's perfectly natural that the boy wants to get home. You're being over-sensitive.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Justin asked, setting down his spoon and looking at her with concern.
"Nothing," she lied. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
Justin looked like he was going to press her, but at that moment the waitress arrived with her tea. Audrey accepted it quickly, grateful for the diversion.
"So, you're all packed?" she asked, nudging the bags piled next to his seat with her toe.
"Yep! Now we've got some time to kill before we have to get to the airport for our flight."
"I'm definitely not jealous of that 10-hour flight you've got ahead of you," she murmured, wrinkling her nose. "I don't know how you can do it, constantly travel like that."
"You get used to it," he replied. "Oh, before I forget, here are my numbers and address and things like that," he said, handing her a slip of paper.
"Thanks. If you have something I can write on, I'll give you mine."
He produced a pen and a piece of paper and she quickly jotted down the information, then returned the materials to him.
There was a quiet moment as they sat there, Audrey sipping her tea and Justin finishing off his breakfast. When she heard him clear his throat, she looked up from her cup to find him watching her intently.
"Audrey, I --"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off as JC poked his head into the dining room and called out, "There you are! We have to get going now!"