Chapter 19
Jordan sat in his office and congratulated himself on getting the couple of the century apart from eachother for atleast 3 months. He was about to make a phone call and thank Paul when her heard someone walk by. The voice sounded really familiar.
"...OK, so if we get the Dance hall open at the end of July, I wont really be able to do much dancing, becuase well...you know. But we can get the kids in, and get people lined up to come in and help, and hopefully by September we can start dancing."
Jordan listened intently when he realized it was Ashley and Wade. He had seen them together a lot in the past couple days, and he thought it a great way to stir up more trouble.
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The next week seemed to drag by slowly and Ashley hoped that the rest of the 4 months wasn't going to be like this. She had spent a lot of time with Wade either at Jive or at the Dance Hall talking about different ideas, and Ashley was really excited about getting this going. She had written up a letter, and gotten together all the adresses of her students and sent them a letter telling about the re-opening of the Hall. She was happy to have something to occupy her time, but more and more she found herself day-dreaming about Justin. She would imagine she heard his laugh, but then realize it was someone else. She swore he was that guy walking down the street, or that he was sound asleep beside her at night. But it was all in illusion. He was in California, and she was here in Orlando.
He called her everyday at least once. He had appologized for all this happening, and sent her many gifts. Ashley loved them all, but the one gift she really wanted, she couldn't have...Him.
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Justin closed his eyes to ward off the on-coming headache as the director said do it again. He had been working on the same scene for about 20 minutes now, and he was getting really frustrated. The problem was, so was the director.
"Justin, I don't know what's bothering you, but we need you to focus. This shouldn't take that long. I'll give you a 5 minute break to get yourself together, when we start again, Please, get it right." Justin nodded in agreement and walked off the set. He grabbed a water bottle and picked up his cell phone.
"Hello?" The voice was like heaven to him.
"Hey Jules." He sighed, feeling better just listening to her breath.
"Hey Romeo, how's everything going?" He could close his eyes and picture her face, her body, but it wasn't enough.
"Rough. I can't seem to get this one scene down, and I miss you so much Jules. This whole thing is killing me."
"Calm down Justin. I miss you too, but it has to be this way. Hey, I know a great way for you to get your scenes right...."
"What?"
"Just think. The faster you get done shooting, the faster you can come home to me." He smiled and his headache melted away at the sound of her laughter.
"Thanks Jules, thanks a lot. So how's my boy doing? Is he getting big?" Justin grinned as he thought about his baby...no, their baby.
"Eh, it's not to bad. I'm starting to get a stomach though, I deffinitly look pregnant." She laughed.
"Hey, I'm having the press conference tomorrow. I just want you to be careful, and make sure you stay with Dre or Toni or Wade, just someone OK? The press is going to be vicious once I confirm their assumptions. I'd rather you not stay alone, is there someone that could stay with you?" Ashley smiled at his worried tone.
"Actually yes. My old friend Jess is coming down to stay for the months you're gone. You remember Jess right? You met her when we went up to my father's grave."
"How could I forget...she was something else alright." He laughed. "Well, I'm glad you're doing OK Jules. I have to go now...I love you."
"I love you too J...Break a leg." Justin closed his eyes and finally hung up the phone when the dial tone got annoying. He felt better having talked to her, and knowing she wasn't alone. He also felt more in character and ready to get this scene done.
~*~
Justin finally finished the scene, and the director was happy, which was a very good thing. Justin returned to his trailer to get his things so he could return to the house. On his way there, one of the assistants handed him some mail.
"What's this?" He asked.
"I don't know. It was sent here, and it has your name on it, so I'm giving it to you." The man walked off in the other direction and Justin stared at the envelope with e perplexed look.
"You know, if you make that face long enough, it just might stay that way." Chris came up behind him and hit him lightly on the shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, hey Chris."
"What you got there?" Chris asked as he followed Justin to his trailer.
"I don't know, it's a package, and it's for me, but we had all the important mail forwared to the house right?" He looked at his older friend for an answer.
"Yea, but it might hav been put with other mail or something." He reasoned. "What is it?"
"I havent opened it yet, but it says 'Pictures, Do Not Bend.' So i'm thinking it's pictures." He opened the door to his trailer and the two stepped inside.
"Well, open it." Chris went to grab the package but Justin turned away and Chris stumbled to the couch. "That wasn't very nice."
"Yeah. It's also a crime to open other people's mail." Justin smirked. But he couldn't resist opening the package any longer, so her carufully undid the seal. He pulled out the few picture inside and the color drained from his face.
"What is it?"
"Pictures of Ashley and Wade." He stated.
"What kind of pictures." Chris swallowed hard, not sure if he wanted the answer.
"Out together...shopping, ar sitting on our porch..." He flipped through them, and a note fell out from between two pictures. Chris picked it up and read it allowed.
"Justin...are you sure it was a good idea to send Ashley home?" Chris read it a few times to himself. "Who wrote this?"
"I have no idea, there's no return address."
"Don't worry man, I'm sure it's nothing." Chris patted Justin on the back, hoping to consol his friend that looked like he'd swallowed a knife.
"It's not the pictures that bother me. I mean, I know that Ashley's been with Wade, I asked him to keep an eye on her, no, that's not what's bothering me." He said, eerily calm.
"What is bothering you then?" Chris asked.
"That someone has been following them around taking pictures..."
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Ashley came down the stairs to see Jess in the kitchen raiding the fridge.
"You haven't changed a bit." Ashley laughed. Jess swore when she smacked her head on the top of the fridge.
"Ow.." She rubbed the sore spot on her head and Ashley continued to laugh. "OK, you can stop making fun of me now...Jeeze, what has Justin done to you, you're so mean now!" Jess joked.
"He hasn't done a thing." Ashley walked over to the table and lowered herself into the chair, resting her hands on her slightly rounded stomach.
"I can think of one thing he's done..." Jess said, indicating Ashley's stomach. They both laughed.
"Thanks for coming to stay with me Jess, it means a lot."
"It's not problem. I mean, who could say no to an offer like this. I'm staying in Justin Timberlake's house!"
Ashley chuckled and shook her head. She then got up and fixed herself something to eat. "Do you want to go baby shopping with me today? I want to get some things at the mall."
"We're going to the mall? Count me in..." Jess said through a mouthful of cold Chinese food.
"Like I said before, you really haven't changed."
~*~
Jess and Ashley had been laughing for what seemed like the whole shopping trip. They had so many jokes between them, it seemed that as soon as they stoped laughing about one, they remembered another. It was good for Ashley to have that. She felt normal again, like the teenager she once was, before she was so crudely thrown into reality. She remembered the night everything went to Hell for her. The night she was no longer the innocent 16 year old.
Jess had been there for her, but Ashley had to leave. He mother didn't want to deal with the rumors about her daughter, and she wanted the whole deal to be swept under the rug. besides her family, Jess and Justin were the only ones that knew the whole story. The rape, the murder, everything. Ashley was thankful to have a friend like Jess, because she never brought it up, yet she didn't act like it never happened. Everyone else had been so cautious around her, but Jess had said she was sorry, and told Ashley to snap out of it. That was what had helped the most.
"Yo...you still with me over there?" Jess snapped her fingers in front of Ashley's eyes.
"Yea, sorry. I was daydreaming." She smiled sheepishly.
"I figured as much. Hey this is cute..." She held up a pair of corduroy overalls in a pale blue.
"Aww, that's so..." Ashley's sentence stopped when she ran into someone behind her. "Oof, I'm so sorry." She turned to apologize to the person she collided with.
"Ashley?"
"Jordan?" Ashley looked over the man in front of her and she couldn't believe she was meeting him in a baby store. "It's so good to see you, how have you been?" She hugged him.
"I've been good. I haven't seen you in so long, how have you been?" He moved closer and put his arm around Ashley's shoulder. Ashley didn't really seem to notice, but Jess did.
Jess saw how the guy named Jordan kept touching Ashley and moving in closer. She hadn't liked the guy from the moment she saw him, and she didn't know why but the way he was acting wasn't helping her opinion. She got the strangest feeling about him, and she knew she had heard about him before, but she couldn't place the name or face, so she let it slide. But she wouldn't let his touchiness slide, she had to stop that.
"Hey Ash, I think we should go now, I'm suddenly not feeling so good." Not a complete lie, and the concerned look on Ashley's face told Jess it was believable.
"Alright. It was nice seeing you Jordan. I'll talk to you later." Jordan smiled as he watched the two girls walk away, then he turned to the man that had just walked up next to him.
"Did you get any good pictures?"
"I think you'll be very happy..."
"Good."
Chapter 20
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