Chapter 1
"Crap!" She yelled as she felt her car stall out while she was in the middle of an intersection. Ashley reved the engine, praying it would turn over. She was on the was to dinner at her parents, who warned her not to be late, which as of now, she was. She tried the engine again, and with no luck, she rested her head on the steering wheel.
"Why now? Why me...this sucks!" She hit her head against the steering wheel again and again. She heard a car horn beep, and looked in her rear-view-mirror just in time to see a car screeching to a halt, and lightly tapping her bumper.
"Oh man!!" She whined as she got out to inspect the damage. She was relieved to see that there was only a small dent, and the other car had no damage at all.
"I'm sorry." Ashley jumped as the person behind her spoke. She stood up and turned around.
"No, it's ok, my car had stalled, piece of junk if you ask me..." she mumbled to herself. Then she looked up to see who it was that had hit her. She gasped a bit, but then regained herself. She starred dumfounded into crystal blue eyes, and then realized what she was doing.
"I'm sorry..." She started to stammer.
"No, I wasn't looking, and didn't see you until it was a bit to late....Oh, I'm Justin." The man greeted her by sticking out his hand. Ashley grabbed it, and was surprised to feel how tightly he gripped her hand.
"I'm Ashley...That's ok, not too much damage. Just the fact my parents will kill me...." She then realized why she was upset in the first place.
"Parents car?" Justin asked.
"Huh?...oh, no. It's mine, but I'm late for dinner with them, again, and I'm afraid they'll be a bit upset." She sighed. Justin looked at her. He wasn't sure if she knew who he was or not. She seemed to recognize him when she first saw him, but didn't act like it.
"Well, this will give you an excuse for being late." He said, trying to lighten the situation.
"Yea...maybe." She chuckled. "Hey, I'd love to chat, but I'm really running late...you don't think you could jump start my car do you?" She squinted as she looked at him, because the sun was right behind him, and it was hard for her to see.
"Yea sure. Do you have..." Before the question left his mouth, Ashley reached down into her car and grabbed jumper cables. Justin laughed, and shook his head.
"It's happened before....just never ended up getting hit by a member of *NSYNC..." She chuckled at the irony.
"So you noticed..." He said, scratching the stubble on his head.
"Yea...I did. but that has nothing to do with my car, so what do you say?" She threw him the cables, and he popped the hood on his car.
Ashley finally got the car started, and was about to drive off, when Justin ran up to her window.
"I think maybe I should give you my insurance company, so they can pay for the damage."
Oh, no. It's not that bad, and it can be fixed for free. My brother's a mechanic. Really, it's fine." She checked her watch again, and was upset to see she was 30 minutes late. "I have to go, maybe I'll run into you later.....no pun intended." She smiled.
"Yea sure." Justin looked dumfounded. Ashley waved then drove off. Justin was amazed, that was the first time someone had recognized him, and not freaked out. Either they threw themselves at his feet, or threw rocks. He was shocked, he even offered her his number, and she refused. It didn't disappoint him, but it was strange to be treated normal. It shook him up, and not many people were able to do that.
Ashley laughed as she drove away. It had just hit her that she had met Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC. She had their CD's, and a few posters on her wall. She had fell in love with the group a few years ago, and always dreamed of meeting them. She was proud of herself for not freaking out, but mad that she didn't take his number. But by the look on his face when she refused, she knew she had left an impression on him.
"Where were you?" She was greeted by her brother, Jake, as she drove in the drive way.
"My car stalled, and then, get this, I get rear-ended by none other that Justin Timberlake!" She laughed at the dumbstruck look on her brother's face.
"No way! you're lying!..." He looked her in the eye, and when she didn't turn away, he knew it was the truth.
"Look at my bumper..." Ashley led Jake over to her bumper, and showed him the dent Justin had left.
"Man, it's not that bad. I'll check it out later, along with the engine. But right now you should get inside and see Mom and dad, they were a bit mad you are late again." He mused.
"Oh man!" she sighed as she ran into the house. She flew into the kitchen and kissed her parents on the cheek.
"sorry I'm late! my car stalled, and I got rear-ended by Justin Timberlake. " She looked at her parents to see how they reacted.
"Justin? Right...." Her step dad, Jim gave her one of his, I don't like bull looks, and she turned to her mother.
"I swear! Of course, I didn't get any information from him, because the damage wasn't really anything... Just a small dent in the bumper, that Jake can fix." She tried to stay off the subject of Justin because she knew that her parents didn't believe her.
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After they ate, Ashley was outside with Jake, while he fixed her car.
"So, what was it like meeting Justin?" Jake pryed. He had know of Ashley's obsession with the group, and with Justin, and he would always tease her about it.
"You know, to be honest, it wasn't what I thought it would be. I mean, I always dreamed that when we met, it would be like "bang!" and sparks would fly. Well, it wasn't like that at all. I was a bit taken back, because i was meeting Justin, but he was normal. He wasn't rude or anything, but I think he was a bit shocked that I didn't ask for his autograph, or that I refused to take his number. I didn't want it, and I think that left an impression...." She got lost in her thoughts as she told her brother the story.
"Well, maybe you did leave an impression, but you should have gotten his number, it was a bit worse than you think. Something happened to the tail pipe, and it's now crimped shut, you're lucky you made it here." Jake said from under her car. He rolled out from under it, and gave her a look. She laughed because his face was covered with grease.
"It's not funny Ash, I'm serious...." He frowned at her, and returned to his work on her car. Ashley sighed, and sat down on the ground next to her brother. Jake was older than Ashley by 5 minutes, they we're twins, and Jake was always over protective. Just then, her mother called from inside the house.
"Ash, can you come watch Becky?" Becky was Ashley's baby sister. Her mother had another child after her parents split, and she got remarried. Ashley groaned, and walked inside. She sat down, and her mother handed her the baby.
"Jim and I are going shopping. We'll be about an hour and a half. Please put Becky to bed in about 20 minutes. She's already had her bath. " her mother kissed her on the forehead, and Jim patted her head.
"Thanks Ash." And with that, they left. Ashley carried Becky upstairs to change her, and put her to bed.
After Ashley had finished with Becky, she went outside. Jake was just finishing cleaning up his tools. Ashley thanked him, and went to look at her bumper. There was still a small dent, but it wasn't that noticeable.
"Thanks bro."
"I fixed you tail pipe, and changed tour spark plugs, that's why you stalled. You should be fine now." He told her, as he wiped his hands free of grease and dirt. Ashley checked her watch, and noticed it was getting late.
"I better be getting home. Becky's in bed, so she should be fine. Tell Mom I had to go, and I'll call her tomorrow. " She climbed into her car.
"Sure thing..." Jake said walking away.
"And Jake..." He stopped and turned to look at his sister. "Thanks a lot. I owe you." She smiled at him.
"Yea, you do. Be careful AJ, don't get hit by any other celebrities without me!" He laughed at her. Ashley smiled at the pet name he'd given her. AJ was a nickname most of her friends called used to call her. it was because when they we're younger she was always with Jake so they called the AJ for short. It stuck with Ashley, and everyone just called Jake, Jake.
Ashley drove home, contemplating the days events. She was still in shock about her meeting Justin. It was a dream of hers, and it happened, but it didn't. About 5 minutes of a meeting didn't satisfy her needs. She vowed to herself that she would meet the rest of *NSYNC and Justin, and really get to know the men behind the music.
She reached her apartment, and walked inside. There were 3 messages for her. She pressed the play button, and listened,
"Hey Ash! It's Evan! I was in town, and wanted to know if you wanted to get together. Give me a call...555-3629..love ya!"
"Hello. This is Dave. I wanted to ask you if you could come to work at 7 tomorrow. I know you had the day off, but we need you! Give me a call."
"Hello. This is LifeHealth Insurance Company. We need to speak to a Miss Ashley Richardson about an accident involving Mr. Justin Timberlake. Please give us a call at 1-800-574-2286. Thank you."
Ashley rolled her eyes. She didn't want a big legal bout over a dent that no longer existed. She also didn't want to work tomorrow. Ashley had a job at a dance studio/ day care. She would teach a few classes, and then watch the kids until their parents came to get them. She loved children, but sometimes she questioned if it was worth it.
She picked up the phone, and called Dave. She was relieved to get the machine. She hung up, and thought to herself 'their loss, I called back, they we'rent there, I'm not going in!'
She then called the insurance company. It rang, and rang, until finally a female voice answered.
"Hello? LifeHealth, how may I help you?"
"Hello? This is a Miss Ashley Richardson. I received a call pertaining to an accident with Mr. Justin Timberlake..." She used her business, no nonsense voice.
"Ahh yes, Ms. Richardson. Mr. Timberlake wanted some contact information so he could send you a check to cover the damage."
"I told him not to worry about it. It's been taken care of." She tried her best to stay calm.
"Yes, but he would like it paid for, so it is taken care of. For future reference, and so on." Then Ashley realized he was worried that she'd sue him, so he wanted it taken car of so if she ever did, he could say that he had paid.
"Fine....what information do you need." The lady asked Ashley the routine questions, and after she had given what she needed, she hung up the phone. She went into her small but adequate living room, and plopped down on the couch. She flipped on the TV and flicked through the channels. She stopped on MTV. It was making of the video with Destiny's Child. A commercial came on then MTV news.
::Pop Star Justin Timberlake and girlfriend Britney Spears we're spotted in the shopping mall in Orlando. Reportedly looking for a present for Manage Johnny Wright who is getting married...." Ashley rolled her eyes as the reported continued.
"Can't they find any pressing issues to talk about...who cares if Britney is stuck up Justin's butt...that's been apparent for months now..." She sighed, and turned off the TV. She walked upstairs and then remembered that Evan called, and she wanted to call her back.
"Hello?" Evan's voice sounded on the other end.
"Hey girl! It's Ashley, what's up?"
"Ashley! Oh my gosh! How are you girl?" Evan squealed as she talked to her friend for the first time in a long time.
"I'm great....so what's up?"
"Not much. A bunch of us wanted to go out tomorrow, you know, shopping or whatever. You wanna come?" Evan asked hopefully.
"Yea sure! I'd love to.....I have the day off, and I need to get out!" The girls talked over the details and then they hung up. Ashley smiled and went upstairs to get some sleep.
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Ashley woke up early the next day. She rolled over to see her clock flashing 7:35 in bright red numbers. She hit the off button, and rolled out of bed. She slowly made her way into the bathroom ad took a long hot shower. She threw on a pair of short jean shorts, and a white halter top. She liked the look of the white cloth on her golden brown tanned skin. She grabbed her sandals and hairbrush as she went into her living room. She turned on the radio to the sounds of announcers talking, so she turned it off.
She grabbed some toast, and threw her hair into a messy bun. Lightly touched her face with makeup, and grabbed her purse and sunglasses off the table. Just as she did this, a car horn beeped outside.
"Hey Evan!" Ashley said as she jumped into the passenger side of Evan's car.
"Hey!" She reached over and hugged Ashley. "You look great! I haven't seen you in forever!" She said, putting the car into reverse, and backing out of Ashley's driveway.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Ashley asked as the Orlando scenery passed her by.
"Well, we're going to the mall..." She started, but Ashley cut her off.
"Isn't it closed?"
"Yea, but my dad own's it, so he's letting us go in. I think he said something about famous people being there without the crowds, but whatever...." She continued to tell Ashley what they we're going to be doing. Ashley chuckled to herself. She had forgotten that Evan was a very rich girl. Her parents owned most of the big stores in Orlando, and Evan didn't mind at all.
"Sounds great...." She said. He mind drifted off to far away places, and before she knew it, they we're pulling into the empty parking lot of the Orlando Mall.
"The whole place to ourselves.....I could get used to this..." She sighed, and the two girls walked into the stores.
There we're a few people that Ashley assumed we're friends of Evan's parents that we're shopping. All the stores we're open.
"We have until 2pm before they open the mal to the public, so let's get started!" Evan grabbed Ashley's hand and dragged her through almost every store.
"I want to stop here..." Ashley finally got Evan to slow down. They we're infront of an Abercrombie and Fitch, Ashley's favorite store. The girls walked in, and they saw one other person in the back, searching around. Ashley went over to the shirts, and started looking. Evan had wandered to the guys section to look for a gift for her boyfriend.
After Ashley found the shirts she wanted, she went over to Evan, the man that was in the store was on the other side of the table. Ashley glanced at him, and thought he looked familiar, but let it go. All of a sudden...
"Ashley? isn't it..." A deep male voice sounded, and Ashley looked up at the man infront of her.
"Justin...?" She said dumb founded. "What are you doing here?"
"Shopping.." He laughed. "I know the owner of the mall, he said that it would be closed to the public today, so i could come shop...why are you here?" He asked, walking over to her side.
"I'm friends with the owner's daughter...Evan. We came here to beat the crowd too. Oh, I got the message from your insurance company." She said. Evan came up and stood next to Ashley.
"You going to introduce me to your friend?" She asked. Ashley threw Evan a look like she was crazy.
"Evan, this is Justin..Justin, Evan." Ashley intorduced the two, and almost puked as Justin looked Evan up and down.
"Nice to meet you..." He said in a dazed voice. Ashley rolled her eyes, and looked at the floor. "Evan...that's a different name for a girl...." He started laying it on, thick and heavy.
"My parents really wanted a boy.....no" she laughed, a sweet, infectious laugh. "My mom liked different names, and she said I looked like an Evan." Evan batted her eyes, and bit her bottom lip. Ashley was about to die at how obvious they we're being. To get off the subject, she said...
"So, where is everyone else? I thought we we're meeting a bunch of people?" It took Evan a second, but she snapped out of her little trance, and looked at Ashley as if she had 3 heads.
"What?...oh, yea...Um, they'll be here about 12." She looked back at Justin, who had stopped starring, and looked at the floor. Ashley then remembered that Justin was going out with britney, but pracitcally drooling over Evan.
"Justin...you here with anyone?" She asked carefully. She didn't want to come out and ask, becuase she thought that might bother him.
"Oh...nope, I'm a loner today. I wanted some 'me' time, So I decided to come to the mall. But I really must be going. I'll send you a check later....for your car." And with that, he was gone.
"He was a babe..." Evan said in a daze.
"I think he felt the same about you..." Ashley mumbled under her breath.
"Wait!..wasn't that Justin Timberlake from *NSYNC?" She asked now fully out of her trance.
"Yea....what of it?" Ashley was a bit fed up with how Evan was acting. Both her and Justin had a significant other, but must have had a momentary memory laps, becuase they didn't act like it.
"How the hell do you know him?" Evan was begining to act like a brat, and Ashley had to remind herself that she hadn't seen her in a while, and to let it go.
"We ah.....ran into eachother the other day, and I guess you could call us acquaintances." She wanted out of the subject fast. "Hey look, there's Tyler..." She ran over, very glad to see her friend Tyler, and a bunch of other people.
"Ashley!...Evan!" Tyler gave each girl a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "What's up?"
"Not much....I haven't seen you in like..forever!" She smiled at him, glad to have someone else to talk to.
"Yea....you look great! and so do you Evan..." Ashley sighed as Tyler turned his attention to Evan. Ashley looked at her watch, and really wanted to go home. She'd had enough of Evan flirting with everyone else.
"Hey Ev..." She tried to get the girls attention. "Evan!" She whispered firicely into her friends ear.
"Yea?" Evan bit back, she didn't like being interupted.
"I'm not feeling well, can you take me home please?" Ashley pleaded, but none of her friends looked like they wanted to leave.
"Can you wait a bit...please, like an hour?" Evan didn't wait for a reply, she turned back to Tyler. Ashley sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today, and turned away from the group of friends, and started to wander the mall.
She went into the jewlery store, and started looking around. She bumped into someone and looked up to apologize, and noticed who it was.
"So, we run into each other again." Justin said with a smile. Ashley looked at his hands, and noticed he had a neclace.
"Yea, you could say that. That's really pretty." She pointed to the neclace.
"Thanks, it's for my mother, her birthday's coming up soon. Do you think she'll like it?" He held it up, and Ashley noticed it had a simple silver cross on the end, with a small diamond in the center.
"Wow! That looks just like a neclace my grandmother gave me once, before she died. I don't know your mother, but if you want my personal oppinion, I like it." She remebered the cross her grandmother had once given her. She had lost it about a year after she had recieved it, and always wanted another one, but could never afford it.
"You there?" Justin waved his hand infront of her face.
"Oh yea. Sorry, just day dreaming. So, you going to buy it?"
"Yea, I think so. I mean, if you like it, it must be good..." He teased her, but she wasn't buying it.
"How do you know? You've met me, what, twice?" She didn't mean to, but she sounded hostile.
"Well...sorry." He was taken aback.
"Sorry...I didn't mean that. I'm just in a bad mood. I want to go home, but my friend wont take me...she's too busy hanging all over my guy friends." Ashley looked over at the group of friends that had congregated outside the ice-cream place.
"I'll take you home..." Justin offered.
---
"I couldn't...really. It's no big deal, I can wait." Her heart had jumped at the offer, and she prayed that he couldn't hear it racing in her chest.
"No, really. You live on Dove right? I go right by there...and I need to leave now anyway...it's no problem." They walked away from the counter where Justin had just paid for the neclace.
"How do you know where I live?" She questioned.
"From my insurance company. I had to send a check to you, for the damage." He offered her a very reasonable answer, but Ashley still thought it strange he knew so much about her. She looked back at her friends, and saw Evan on Tyler's lap, that did it. She decided that she would take Justin up on his offer.
"You know what? I think I will catch a ride with you...I need to get out of here."
"Ok great." He said, grabbing his other bags.
"I'll be right back..." She ran over to her friends, and tapped Evan, hard on the shoulder. "I'm leaving, I found a ride. See ya." She didn't offer any explination, or even stay to see if Evan heard her. She just left, and caught up to Justin, who was heading toward the exit.
"Thanks. I really appreciate this.." She started.
"Really, it's no big deal, and I feel I owe it to you, after running into your car. I saw that tail pipe..." He looked over to her.
"Yea yea, I've heard all about it from my brother." Justin walked up to a dark red Mercedes ML320. He unlocked the door, and opened it for Ashley. She climbed in, and he shut it for her.
"So, what do you do? here in Orlando?" Justin started a conversation with Ashley as he drove down the road.
"Um...I work at a dance studio/daycare type place. I love kids, and I love to dance, so I thought it was a good start."
"Start? What else would you do?" He glanced over at Ashley. He noticed she was very relaxed, and it didn't seem to bother her that she was with a 'pop-star' which most girls in her place would've peed their pants by now.
"I love performing. I want to go to broadway. I started acting in 6th grade, and I fell in love with it. I love musicals, and have always wanted to persue a career in acting and singing." She answered. The words just flowed off her toung, she had almost forgotten she was with Justin...almost.
"Wow, sounds cool. What plays have you done?" He seemed interested, but Ashley didn't notice.
"Annie, Guys & Dolls, Harvey, and a few other plays, that aren't very popular."
"Guys & Dolls? Joey was in that. What part did you have?"
"Mis Adelaid." She answered in a thick New York accent, one she had used for the play.
"Wow! That's pretty good." He was amazed at how she carried herself. Very confident, and sure about where she wanted to go, and how she wanted to get there.
"Thanks." She blushed a bit. She felt bad, becuase the conversation was one sided. He was asking all the questions. She didn't know what to ask him.
"So, how's your car...?" He asked. This had become a private joke between the two, becuase as of now, it was the only memorie the shared, therfore the only one they could talk about.
"It's fine. Well, the dent, and tail pipe. I don't know if it will start. I have a tempermental car..." They laughed. Ashley cleared her throat, she hadn't thought about it, but she was getting hungry, and really thirsty.
"Wanna stop and get a drink? I'm parched." Justin said, as if reading her mind.
"Yea, I was just thinking the same thing." She smiled to herself. He wasn't all that bad. At first she was skeptical, becuase she had heard many different stories about snotty he was, or how kind, but she was glad she got the chance to decide for herself.
They walked up to a small ice cream place on the side of one of Orlando's back country roads. The girl at the window recognized Justin at once, despite sunglasses and a hat, and he ended up writing about 5 autographs. He bought them both lemonade, and they went and sat at a pick-nic table under a large weeping willow.
"Does that ever bother you?" Ashley asked.
"What?" Justin was confused.
"Getting recognized everywhere you go...Always having screaming fans chase you."
"To be completely honest, sometimes it does. I mean, I'm a normal person, I like to go shopping or to the movies, but it's not possible. It sometimes bothers me that I have no privacy. I mean, I can shave my head and it's the next big thing, or I'm being cited by the 'fashion police' becuase it was something that America didn't like." He rubbed his head as he was speaking. "And other times it can be helpful. I mean, If I want to do something for my foundation, it helps to have publicity. But most of the time, I wish they would treat me like a human..." He sighed a deep sigh, like he had been wanting to get that out for a long time.
"I'm sorry..." She started to talk, but he stopped her.
"Don't be sorry. This was my choice. I knew this would happen, I used to dream about it. I mean, I wouldn't change what I have for the world, don't get me wrong. It's just that it can sometimes get out of controll. But it's times like these that make me realize that I love my life." He smiled at her, and she wanted to melt.
"Ti..."She cleared her throat," times like what?"
"Being here, getting to talk to someone new. Getting to act normal, and relax for a bit." He sat back, and closed his eyes, soaking up the warm Orlando sun. Ashley smiled, he was just a normal person, and she'd found that he was a great person to talk to. Justin glanced at his watch.
"Oh! I gotta get going. I have a meeting at 3." The two threw away their cups, and got back into Justin's car. The rest of the ride was in silence, but it wasn't awkward for Justin or Ashley. They were just enjoying eachother's company, and Ashley liked that. Soon they pulled onto Ashley street, and Justin slowed down.
"Where is it?" He asked looking around.
"Oh, not until the end of the street, very last house, so keep going."
"Does this connect with Hunter Ave?" He asked.
"Yea, it does....why?" Ashley was puzzled by his question.
"Well, don't go call the press or anything, but that's where Chris' house is. Right near here." He was coming toward the end of the street, so he slowed.
"Right there," Ashley pointed to an apartment at the corner of the two roads.
"Hey, that's why this place looked familiar. That's Chris house, down that driveway." He pointed down a driveway shady with trees that was across from Ashley's.
"I guess he's never home then, I mean, I never hear a peep from that house, I was begining to think no one lived there." Ashley felt awkward as the acended her front steps.
"Ash..." He said looking into her eyes.
"Yea..." She was held in his gaze.
"Can I ask you something?" His crystal blue eyes pierced right through to her soul.
"Sure..." She whispered.
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Chapter 2
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