This Time

“Back”

“This Time”

By:  Lara

 

I’m giving you back.

 

After all I’ve done for you…this time, I’m not gonna stay…this time, I must get away, this time you’ve gone too far…this time, I’m not gonna stay…this time you have got to pay…this time, you’ve gone too far.

 

 

JOEY

 

You ever have one of those friends who you KNOW is walking down the primrose path to pure heartbreak and you know it’s not your place to step in?  You ever have another friend who is the one LEADING Friend One down that path, and you want to stop them, but yet again, it’s not your place?  I have a Friend One…that’s Lara. I have a Friend Two.  That’s Justin. Actually, I have more then two friends, but that’s not the point here. The point is…Justin can paint a pretty picture when he wants to. He can put on the smile or the pout (whichever the situation calls for) and make you do anything he wants…just like that.  He can make you feel like the most awesome person on the planet, and just make you happy by being with you.  Justin gets what Justin wants, no matter what it takes. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. He’s my littlest brother.  But I hated watching him lead her along.  I hated seeing all the lies and the stories and the half-truths.  But I couldn’t stop in. Not my place.

Lara’s awesome. She’s cute…not MY type, but cute.  Not Justin’s type, either, but he never said that to her face. She’s smart, considerate, sweet and caring. She has a wicked sense of humor, and can be SO sarcastic it’s hysterical. She’s creative…writes fiction the way JC writes lyrics.  She’s fun to be with, and she has this second sense about when you’re hurting.  That’s one of the things I love about her…and one of the things that I hate. I hate that when YOU’RE hurting, she’s there for you, and even though I know SHE was hurting, I couldn’t do anything about it.

But…it ends up…she took care of that all by herself. 

 

You running around with those nasty hoes…how long did ya think I could take this?  You said to me that’s the way life goes…how long did you think I could take this…

 

“It was a crazy party,” Lance admitted, trying not to smile.  “Incredible, actually. You should have been there.”

“I SHOULD have, yes,” Lara said, sighing as she tossed the magazine down.

“Why do you get Playboy, anyway?” Chris wanted to know.

“I don’t. Joey left it at the apartment.”

“I see,” Chris said, then laughed.

“I did not…” Joey announced as he walked in the room. “I didn’t leave it there. She got it as a complementary copy. They do that for the writers they publish.”

“Publish?”  Lance and Chris made a mad scramble for the magazine.  Lara glared at Joey, who gave her a sweet smile. He stood behind the sofa and massaged her shoulders.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said fondly.

“It’s nothing,” she murmured, looking at the silver and sapphire ring on her right hand.  “Did you talk to him?”

“Um…well…no. Got the voice mail on his cell. Maybe he’s out of range.”

“Maybe he has it turned off so the vibrations of his fucking don’t pick up on it.” She stomped off to Lance’s bathroom and slammed the door.  Lance and Chris froze.  JC even looked up from his writing.  They all looked at Joey.

“Don’t look at me.”

“Justin’s a dick,” JC announced, and went back to writing.

“I know that.” Joey sat down and ran a hand through his hair.

“Joey…you’re one of her best friends. Why don’t you say anything?”  Lance asked.

“Lance, I can’t step in the middle of this.  I’ve known Justin forever now…and I can’t get into his business.”

“Even if it’s breaking her heart?”

“I don’t see YOU stepping in and opening your big Southern mouth.”

“I’m not as close to her as you are,” Lance said, but he blushed.  “And it’s obvious she knows anyway.  Why doesn’t she say anything?”

“She loves him too much to lose him,” Joey said.  “She’s dumb.  She could do so much better.  He keeps doing it and she keeps forgiving him.”

“That IS dumb,” Lance agreed.  Lara opened the bathroom door and they picked up another topic of conversation.

“You wrote porn!” Chris announced.  Lara blushed and giggled.

“Not really. It’s just…”

“Porn,” Lance repeated, reading over Chris’ shoulder.

“I thought you only wrote mushy romances,” JC said, looking up again.

“That’s all I’ve had published, til now. I decided to try something new.”  Lara blushed more, then giggled again. “Is it that good?”

“How cold does your shower run, Lance?” Chris asked, and went out towards the bathroom.

 

“Hey, babygirl,” a voice murmured in her ear.  Lara stretched, her eyes fluttering open. The clock read three a.m.  She reached over and turned on the light.

“Justin, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.” He smiled his sexy smile. “I missed you.”

“Not enough to turn your cellphone on earlier.  Joey…I mean, I was calling you all afternoon!” Lara sat up, cursing the fact that Justin had a key. She also cursed Justin, slutty women, and her stupid heart.

“That’s the way life goes, baby. I was busy.  But I’m here now.”

“Yeah…well, what if one day I wasn’t?”

“You’ll always be here for me, babygirl. You’re my inspiration…you’re what I need to come home to.”

“Justin, no…don’t…oh God…don’t STOP…”

 

I should have known you weren’t for real…but my love for you kept on strong…you better know you gonna miss my love…now you know that I’m not still holdin’ on…

 

 

“Stupid stupid stupid…” Lara muttered, stomping around her study. “Why do I stay? Why do I care?”

“Hey, babygirl?” Justin called, trotting up the steps.  “You busy?”

“No…not really,” Lara sighed, glaring at her computer screen.

“Working on something new?” Justin gave the computer a glance.

“Yeah…I…um…got something published this week,” she said shyly. 

“You did? That’s great.  Hey…there’s a party tonight at one of the clubs downtown.  Up for it?”

“Sure,” she said weakly. “Can I show you what I wrote?”

“Um…yeah…I can read it in the limo tonight or something if it isn’t too long,” Justin said, smiling in a condescending way.  “Come help me pick out my clothes. I need to look GOOD.”  Justin took her hand and led her downstairs.  “I think I have just the thing, but I want your opinion.”  He picked up his car keys.

“What should I wear?” Lara asked him. He stopped and thought about it. 

“That cute little red thing. That’s nice.  And what I’m thinking of wearing will look good with it.” He held open his car door for her to slide into the passenger side.  “Yeah…wear that.”

“What’s the party for?”

Justin shrugged. “Just a party. The usual thing.”

“Will Joey and the guys be there?”

Justin gave her an annoyed look. “I guess so. If you like Joey so much, why don’t you just date him?”

“Joey’s my friend,” she snapped back against the accusatory tone in his voice.  “I just like having someone to talk to, since you always dump me in the corner at these things.”

“Lara, I have to keep my options open,” Justin began.

You mean keep your pants open, she thought, but said, “Are you ashamed of me, Justin?”

“No, of course not,” Justin said. “I love you.” But his eyes never left the road.

“I love you, too, and I like going places with you.” Lara hated the whine in her voice. “But you never take me along. I promise not to embarrass you.”

Justin squealed to a stop along the side of the door. “Are you looking to fight or something?”

“No, Justin,” Lara sighed.  “I hate fighting.”

“I hate fighting with you, too, baby.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then pulled back out onto the road.  “So…I’ll pick you up at seven?”

 

Lara fought tears as the phone rang at six forty-five. She knew who it was. “Hi, Joey.”

“Hi…how did you know it was me?”

“I just knew,” she said sadly.

“Justin asked me…”

“He asked you to pick me up, right?  He can’t make it, right?”

“Well, he…”

“He doesn’t want to have to drive me because then he doesn’t have the responsibility of leaving with me.  He can leave with anyone he wants.” Lara began to sniffle.  “Don’t bother, Joey. I’m not going.”

“Lara…”

“I’m not going.” She hung up and went to change her clothes.

 

That’s right all of my friends say…this time I’m not gonna stay, this time you I must go away, this time, you’ve gone too far…this time I’m not gonna stay, this time you have got to pay, this time, you’ve gone too far…

 

Someone came pounding at the door two hours later.  “What?” Lara snapped, throwing the door open. “Joey?  Josh? What are you guys doing here?”

“I missed you,” Joey said simply, pushing past her. JC followed him, his arms full of Chinese take-out boxes.

“You guys…don’t you have a party to go to right about now?”

“We could.”  Joey flopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV.  “Hey…Josh…she keeps beer in the fridge. Grab me one?”

“Fatone, what the HELL are you doing?” Lara asked as he took off his dress shoes and pulled off his outer shirt.

“Watching TV Land.  Hey…Love Boat’s on!”

JC smiled at her.  “He refused to go to the party if you wouldn’t come.  Was pretty damn stubborn about it, actually.  And then I thought about it and realized I really didn’t want to go either, so we grabbed dinner and decided to crash with you for the night.”  He looked Lara over, smiling at her Penn State alumni tshirt and raggedy sweatpants. “If you don’t have other plans.”

“No,” she whispered, feeling the tears start to fall.  “But you look so nice…you should be out having fun.”

JC shrugged. “We didn’t even make it to the club. I can save this outfit for another night.”

“There are…um…some of Justin’s clothes in my spare bedroom if you want to change.” Just the mention of his name brought the tears on harder. 

“I just may do that.  Joey? Come console your crying girl here…I need to change.”  JC headed for the guestroom as Joey hurried in from the living room.

“Honey…no. Don’t do it. He’s not worth it.”  Joey held Lara as she sobbed on his shoulder.

“Then why do I care?”

“There’s a lot about Justin Timberlake to love, honey.  He’s fun and charming and talented and just…Justin.  But you’re better then this.”

“You really didn’t make it to the club?”

“I swear.”

“Good…because otherwise I’d be asking you what he was wearing and how he was doing.”

Joey’s cellphone interrupted them.  “Hello?  Yeah…we didn’t feel like it.  Nah…we’re…yeah…that’s where we are.”  Joey looked at Lara.  “Is he there? Fuck. What a prick.” The angry look on Joey’s face was all Lara needed to see.  “Lance…no.  We’re gonna crash here tonight. If I saw him, I’d have to punch him…what makes this different?  I’ve never been with her when he screwed her over before.”  Joey hung up and looked at the miserable girl in front of her.  “End this.  You need out.  You’re too wonderful for him to play you like this.”

“He’s right,” JC said softly, returning to the hallway.  “We should have said something before.”

“You’ve known him a LOT longer then you’ve known me.  Your loyalties are there,” Lara pointed out.  She drew a ragged breath. “I just…I love him…I love being around him.”

“But which happens more?  Being around the Justin you love, or feeling like this,” Joey said quietly. She sniffled.

“True.”

“Lara…you are able to get past this. You don’t need him.  You can make your own money, be your own woman, and you can find someone better.”

Lara sniffled again. “I wonder if Nick Carter is single?”

“If you do that, I’ll kill you,” Joey and JC said together, making her giggle.  Her blue eyes were big as she looked at Joey.

“If I break up with Justin, I’ll never see you.”

“Girl, you’ll never get rid of me!”  Joey promised.  His stomach growled.  “I’m starving.  Let’s grub.”  He gave her another hug and went back into the living room.  JC put a hand on Lara’s arm.

“Justin’s my best friend. I’m sorry he’s a jerk, and I’m sorry he’s lying to you and playing you like this.” His blue eyes were serious.  “Make him pay.”

 

Three weeks later

 

You’ve played the game, but you played yourself…oh boy take a look at who’s sorry now…you’re not the same, how you have changed…so now look at you, it’s a damn shame…

 

 

“Lara. Lara?”  Justin yelled, pounding on the front door of her apartment.  He continued to pound.  “What’s going on?” He demanded when she opened the door.

“Nothing…why?”  Lara leaned in the doorway, giving him a pleasant smile. 

“I’ve been pounding and…why did you change the locks?”

Lara shrugged. “I didn’t want just anyone to be able to walk into my apartment. It’s not safe,” she said.  “What’s up?”

“I’ve been calling you all day.”

“I’ve been writing. Playboy commissioned two more short stories, and I’m gonna go into negotiations with Penthouse tomorrow.”

“Playboy?  Penthouse?”

“You know…that stuff I told you I got printed?  Soft porn. Ask Chris and Lance. They’ve practically torn the stuff to bits,” she said with a grin.  “I have the most current issue here. Wanna read it?”

“Um, sure,” Justin said, looking like he’d rather eat glass, but he came in and sat down. “You changed the place.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged again. “You haven’t been around much lately.”

“I’ve been busy…and you haven’t called me,” he said accusingly. 

“I’ve been busy, too.  Maybe we could do something this week.”

“Yeah,” he said, watching her as she moved around the room. “Listen…I have to run. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” she said cheerfully. “Take this with you. I have a bunch.” She handed him the magazine.  “I know you guys have a meeting today.”

“How’d you know that?”

“Josh told me on the phone last night.”

“Josh? JC?”

“Yeah. We were on the phone for like an HOUR, I swear. He wanted my opinion on lyrics.”

“YOUR opinion?”

“I’m a writer, Justin,” she said patiently.  “I know things like lyrics.”

“You never helped ME,” he pouted.

“You never asked,” she said, determined not to blow up at him like she wanted to.  She walked him to the door. “And tell Joey that he damn well better not be late getting out of that meeting, or I’ll kick his Brooklyn butt. We’re supposed to go to a movie tonight.”

“Wait a minute…you’re MY girlfriend.” 

Lara watched him and counted to ten, ordering herself to stay calm.  “Yes…I thought I was, Justin, but, you see, you should only have ONE girlfriend. Not a girlfriend plus a bunch of skanks to keep your bed warm.”

“Lara, I didn’t…” Justin began to protest.

“And what I do with Joey is really none of your business. If you’d like, we can go out sometime this week. But it will be just you and me, no parties, no other girls, nothing.”

“I’ll call you,” he promised, kissing her cheek. He gave her one more amazed look, then left.  Lara smiled as he went down her walk.

“And maybe I’ll answer the phone,” she said softly.

 

Justin was early to the meeting, and only JC and Lance were in the conference room. They were having a friendly argument about something, and stopped only to say hi to Justin. He fell into a chair and sulked, flipping through the magazine.  He found Lara’s story and began to read.  His eyes widened, and he began to pace. Lance and JC looked at Justin, looked at the magazine, and grinned at each other.

“Hey, J…I’m gonna go get some coffee. Want anything?” Lance asked.

“Hmm? No…no thanks.”  Justin continued to read and pace.  Lance and JC left the room, almost colliding with Joey and Chris.

“You don’t wanna go in there,” JC said, fighting what suspiciously looked like a fit of the giggles.

“Why?” Chris demanded.

“Justin’s in there…reading Playboy,” Lance said.

“Euww…you’re right. Justin and a porn mag is NOT a sight for me,” Chris agreed.

“No. THE issue.  The one with the story in it,” JC said, almost jumping up and down. Joey beamed his wide grin.

“He’s gonna flip.”

“Damn skippy he is,” JC said, rubbing his hands together with glee.

 

I don’t care if I never ever see your face again…you broke my heart one too many times…You think that I’m just not that strong…my bags are packed watch me walk right through that door…

 

“Are we done?” Justin demanded two hours later.  One of the men from the management company looked at him in surprise.

“Uh, yes, I believe so.”

Justin turned to Joey.  “Oh…I stopped at Lara’s on the way here. She can’t make your movie tonight and you’re supposed to call her tomorrow.”  Justin flounced out the door before anyone could stop him.

“Are you guys dating?” Chris asked Joey.

“Hell, no. We’re just friends. We were gonna go see a movie tonight…but it looks like she has a prior engagement. I think she’ll be busy dumping her boyfriend,” Joey replied with a big smile.

 

“Open open open open open,” Justin muttered as he knocked on her door.

“God, Joey, I…” Lara’s eyes widened.  “Justin?”

“We need to talk.”  Justin barged past her and entered the living room.

“Um…okay. Where’s Joey?”

“I told him you were canceling.  We need to talk.”  Justin began to pace.  He pulled the magazine from his back pocket and unrolled it. “What the HELL is this about?”

“Um, it’s Playboy, so I’d say it’s about naked women and sex,” she said helpfully.

“Don’t gimme that shit.  This…thing…you wrote.  About a girl with a boyfriend with four very close friends. Four very close friends that she fucks behind his back.  What the hell is this?”

“Fiction, Justin,” she said innocently.

“Fiction, my ass!” He began to read.  “She started with the youngest, a pretty Southern boy with blond hair and blue eyes.  It wasn’t hard for her to move on to the next, a New Yorker with a contagious grin and a teddy bear personality.  The skinny one was next, a more difficult conquest, but not as hard as the oldest, a goofy man with a crazy personality that drove her wild in bed.”  Justin glared at her.  “This is too…too…”

“Lance doesn’t have blue eyes,” she pointed out.

“That’s not the point!”  Justin almost screamed.  “If anyone I know reads this…they’ll KNOW you were…were…”

“What?  Sleeping around on you behind your back?  Yeah, that would be awful, wouldn’t it…you thinking you were my only guy while I was fucking around on you?” There was no smile on Lara’s face, though her eyes were amused.  “It’s a story, Justin.”

“Fine. It damn well better be,” he stormed.

“Or maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s true.  Maybe I started with Lance the night of Britney’s birthday party. He DID leave the party early, didn’t he? And then I moved on to Joey, the night that you had to jet out of town for something.  And then JC…well…that night of the party you never picked me up for.  Joey conked out early, leaving Josh and I alone. And Chris…hmmm…so many opportunities.”

“Stop it…stop it!”  Justin yelled.  “I’m sorry, okay? I was a dick…just don’t tell me anymore.  They’re my best friends…how could you?”

“And how could you so quickly believe I’d do it?” Lara snapped. “It was a story, Justin, that’s all. A story written so you would see how it feels…except you CAN’T know. You can’t know what it’s like to love someone SO much, and then watch them lie and cheat.  I love you Justin, but not enough. I’m not letting you walk all over me again.  This is done.”

“What?”

“Please get out of my house, Justin.  Joey is on his way over…I told him to come over regardless of anything that happened today.  If you’re not out of here in five seconds, he’ll remove you.”

“What’s with you and Joey?” Justin asked weakly.

“Nothing. We’re friends. Something you don’t understand…treating a woman like she’s worth more then just adoration or sex.  Leave now.”  Lara opened the door and held it open.  “Please?”

“You’ll regret this,” Justin muttered, brushing past her.  She smiled.

“I don’t think so.”

 

You’re dismissed…

The End

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