“You’ve had it tough, Nat.” Stephanie lifted her mug of coffee and touched it to Natalia’s. “Here’s to a better future.” Natalia chuckled at her friend as the mugs clinked together.
Over numerous refills they had caught up with one another, filling each other in on the years missed, the highs and the lows of each other’s lives.
“So-o-o, Nat,” Stephanie grinned, “Do you have a man in your life?”
Natalia choked on her coffee, just barely stopping the drink from spraying from her mouth in surprise. Her eyes watered as she continued to splutter.
Stephanie reached over and patted her on the back. “Well I didn’t think it would cause that kind of reaction.”
“Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Went down the wrong way.”
“Well?” Stephanie prompted.
Deep in thought, Natalia looked up dazed and confused. “Huh?”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Do…you…have…a…boyfriend,” she spoke slowly, spelling it out clearly for her.
“Oh…that.” For anyone else it would have been a simple enough yes or no. To tell or not to tell…
Up until then she hadn’t had to worry about telling anyone. Of course Shannon at the office had a vague idea of what was going on, but never had she told anyone what was really happening, nobody outside her family, anyhow.
“Well if you don’t want to tell me—“
“No,” Natalia sighed. “That’s not it. Yes I do…have a boyfriend, that is,” she confided. “It’s just complicated.”
“Aren’t all relationships?” Stephanie chuckled.
“This is a little different.”
“How so?” she asked, confused by Natalia’s grim expression.
“He’s kind of well-known.”
“Like locally?”
“Like globally,” Natalia snorted.
Stephanie laughed; assuming her friend was pulling her leg. Then, noticing her face asked sceptically, “Serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
Still looking unsure she pumped for more information. “Okay, so give me a name.”
“Give me your most absurd guess and you’re probably right.”
Stephanie looked at her impatiently, spotted a nearby magazine, and borrowed a name from one of the artists on the cover. “Nick Carter,” she shrugged.
“Close.”
“Aaron Carter,” she smirked.
Natalia flicked a screwed up paper napkin at her friend. “Shut up! I’m not some pervert,” she laughed. “Although he is younger than me—but not by that much.”
“I was kidding,” Stephanie laughed. “But I give up. Who is it?”
It would have sounded ridiculous whatever way she said it, so she decided to just spit it out. “Justin Timberlake.” She waited for the laughter…the disbelief.
“Yeah right,” she chuckled. “Enough with the guessing games, Nat.”
“I’m serious.” Who could blame Stephanie? That some pop superstar could come and sweep her off her feet was bizarre to even her own mind.
Stephanie watched her thoughtfully for a moment, not giving anything away on her face. “You are aren’t you—“ Natalia nodded. “Wow. Who would’ve thought…” Stephanie wondered aloud. “I mean, not that—“
She chuckled. “It’s okay, I get what you mean.”
“So what’s he like?” she asked, not sure what else to say.
Natalia bit her lip and grinned, suddenly feeling all girlish. “Kind…fun…smart…cute,” she giggled.
Stephanie pulled a face. “Gross. You do realise you’ve become one of those girls we used to make fun of, don’t you?”
“I am not!” Natalia objected.
“You are too,” Stephanie argued. “You’re all—“ she shuddered, “—gushy .”
“Oh please,” Natalia laughed. She may have been in the process of being teased mercifully, but aside from when she was with Justin, she was truly happy for the first time in a long time.
“So does this boyfriend of yours have any friends that I could borrow?”
Natalia arched an eyebrow. “Borrow?”
“Yeah. You know, someone I can use and abuse when I’m in town.”
Stephanie couldn’t keep a straight face for long and soon they were both laughing again.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” Natalia grinned.
“Really?” she asked. “You, my dear, have changed a hell of a lot. You’ve grown up a lot for a start.” Feeling herself wandering onto a touchy subject she quickly moved on.
“So tell me more about this job of yours. Is it really that bad?”
“Worse,” Natalia grumbled.
“So why don’t you get something new?”
“I can’t. I’m not going to get another job that pays this well, and at the moment I can’t afford to settle for less. Maybe when Alex gets out of college,” she shrugged.
Stephanie did the math quickly. “Wait, he’s eighteen now, right?”
“Right.”
“So you’re gonna stick at a job you hate for four more years? Damn, I don’t know if I could do that.”
She shrugged. “No choice.”
“Couldn’t Justin—“
Natalia, knowing where she was heading, raised her hand and silenced her friend. “Don’t even go there. I’m not taking charity. If I took money from Justin I’d be doing exactly what his fans will probably accuse me of once they find out we’re dating.”
“They don’t know yet?” she asked, before rolling her eyes. “Well duh, of course they don’t. I haven’t seen your face plastered across the Enquirer, yet.”
Natalia felt sick at the thought. “Don’t joke about stuff like that,” she shuddered. “No, the only people who have any idea about us are my family, his, the rest of the group, and now you. Shannon, she works with me, knows a little, as well as my boss’ son…actually he’s kinda my boss, really.”
Stephanie looked surprised. “The one you’re having trouble with?”
“Yeah. The group were at business function we attended.” She pulled a face. “I had to go as his date and Justin and him ended up having a bit of a run-in. I ended up leaving with Justin.”
“I bet he’s cute,” Stephanie grumbled.
“Why do you say that?” Natalia laughed.
“They always are. They get the looks, the money…they’ve got to miss out on something, and it’s usually the personality.”
Amazing. It was as if Stephanie knew Bryan. She’d totally hit the nail on the head with that description.
“I think guys are incapable of coming with all three,” Stephanie concluded.
Natalia smirked. “Justin did.”
“Oh that’s it!” Stephanie announced. “We’ve gotta get you out of this lovesick stupor, cause that was just gross.”
“I know,” Natalia chuckled. “Isn’t it great?”
Natalia punched out the number to Justin’s cell phone and as she waited she kicked her shoes across the room.
“Nat?” Justin answered on the first ring, having dived across the bed to snatch his phone up from the bedside cabinet.
“Yeah it’s me. You okay? You sound kind of…anxious.”
“I’m fine…just wanted to talk to you,” he admitted, feeling a little silly.
She smiled as she wandered around her room. “Well I’m all yours.”
“You’d better be,” he joked, drawing back the bedcovers so he could crawl beneath them. "Hang up."
"What?" she asked, confused for a second.
"Just hang up," he insisted.
She rolled her eyes but did as he asked. It was a ritual they went through every time, Justin insisting that as he was the reason for all the phone calls then it only made sense that he should pay for them. Seconds later the phone rang in her hand and she lifted it to her ear. "Happy now?"
"Very, I get to talk to you," he grinned.
"Now that was syrupy," she said, which reminded her of her conversation with Stephanie. "Sorry I wasn’t in when you called earlier, I was meeting a friend.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She crossed the room to the full-length mirror on the back of her door and held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she began to braid her hair.
“Wanna name names?” he asked when she added no more.
“Stephanie.”
“Who’s that? I don’t think you’ve mentioned her before.” He reached over, turning one of the two bedside lamps off, leaving only a small glow to emanate across the room, before he scooted down and pulled the covers up to his bare chest.
“An old friend.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, adding a small, black hair elastic to the end of her braid as she contemplated telling him more. “I told her about us,” she admitted, staring back at her reflection as she waited for a reaction.
“You did?” He sounded a little surprised but not angry.
“I grew up with her, I’ve practically known her since birth. It’s not as though she’s heading straight for the media as we speak.”
“Hey, you don’t need to defend yourself to me, Nat. I trust your judgement. And anyway, you could tell the world for all I care.” That made her smile. “I’m only keeping this quiet for your sake, because, let’s face it, I’m gonna get crap whatever happens.”
She began to shed her clothes as crossed the room, grabbing a pair of pyjamas from the pile of clean clothing she had yet to put away.
“I’ve missed you,” Justin announced out of the blue.
There was a crash followed by a loud, “Shit!”
“Not the reaction I was expecting,” he laughed. “What are you doing over there? Sounds like you’re trashing the place.”
“Piece of advice.” She rubbed her thigh, looking for any damage caused by the desk. “Don’t try and get dressed for bed using only one hand—it hurts.”
“Aww man, don’t tell me stuff like that! I’ll get all excited before I go to bed,” he teased, nestling his head into a fluffed-up white pillow.
“Believe me, this big old bruise that’s gonna form is not going to be any turn-on, that’s for sure.”
“But I still miss you,” he repeated, “Bruises and all.”
She finally pushed the last button of the pyjama top through its hole and perched on the end of the bed. “That’s nice, hun. I would say the same but I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly noticed you’re gone,” she lied, intending to carry on with their playful conversation. But as soon as he spoke she knew he hadn’t seen it that way.
“Thanks.” The hurt was evident in his voice and she realised he wasn’t fishing for compliments this time, he really needed reassurance. She was used to Justin being more outspoken with his emotions, but she had always been less so.
“Justin, of course I’ve missed you.” She picked up a battered teddy bear and held it to her chest as she scooted to the head of the bed. “So much it scares me, sometimes” she admitted quietly.
Justin closed his eyes tightly and breathed deeply. On the one hand it made his heart soar to finally hear her share her feelings. But it only made him want to be there with her even more. He wanted to utter those three all-important words again but he didn’t want to push it. He’d resolved to give her as much time as she needed on that issue.
“Same here, babe. Same here.”
Two weeks later.
When an appearance was rescheduled and the group were given an unexpected weekend off, they were all ecstatic and all but Chris headed back to Florida. Nobody was more surprised than Natalia, though.
As she stepped outside of the office building after work and searched through her purse for her car keys, two arms wrapped around her waist, followed promptly by a set of warm lips pressing against her neck. She was torn between screaming blue murder, and sinking back into the warm body of the person who held her captive. Luckily, a few whispered words into her ear prevented the first from happening.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to come out.”
She gasped and spun around in an instant. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“I got let out on good behaviour,” he grinned. “Do I get a prize for being such a good boy?”
“You…good? Never.” She touched his cheek tenderly and touched her lips to his, lingering as long as she could before she remembered where she was. Getting it on with her boyfriend in front of her workplace was not the most professional thing to do, not to mention they were in plain view, increasing the chances of Justin being recognised.
“Have your got your car?”
“Down the street.” He pointed in the general direction before following her to her own car, explaining the real reason for his appearance. When she reached the drivers side she opened the door, throwing her purse onto the passenger seat, then turned to wrap her arms around Justin’s waist.
“I missed you,” she murmured, nestling close to his chest.
Justin, surprised, but welcoming her affection, held her to him. “Ditto.” He brushed the top of her head with his cheek, noticing the lingering scent of her shampoo. “Joey and Lance have lined up a night on the town tonight, do you want to come?”
Her plans of a hot bath and a relaxing night in front of the television flew straight out of the window as soon as she looked at Justin’s hopeful face. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. “I’d love to.”
“Great. I’m gonna go check in with my mom now so is nine okay with you?”
“Nine’s fine. And what you really mean is you’re going to your mom’s to be pampered and get a home cooked meal.”
“Busted,” he grinned. “I’ll pick you up at nine, then,” he said, squeezing her once more before stepping back. “Oh, hey, why don’t you bring your friend?”
“Stephanie?”
“Yeah…you think she’d wanna tag along? I wanna meet her.”
“With four fifths of Florida’s second—or is that third—hottest boyband?” she asked with a smirk.
“Not funny,” he grumbled.
“Go see mommy,” she laughed. “I’ll see you later.”
Natalia rushed through the door and headed straight for the phone.
“Natalia, is that you?” Eva called from the kitchen.
“Yeah, mom. Just a sec, I’ve just gotta make a call.”
She hoped Stephanie wasn’t in rehearsals as she listened to ring after ring. She was just about to hang up when a breathless Stephanie answered. “Speak!” she laughed into the phone.
Natalia chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“Hey, Nat! Nothing, just heading home for the night. Why?”
Natalia flopped back onto her bed. “How do you feel about an evening with America’s finest pin-ups?”
Chapter 28
Chapter Index
Stories Page
Main Page