****
“Miss Jordan?”
“Isabel?” Jordan inquired at the familiar sound of her housekeeper’s voice ringing through the entryway. Leaning over the banister, she spoke again. “I’m up here.”
Glancing up, the raven haired woman smiled kindly at her employer. “Ah, Miss Jordan. How are you?”
“I’m great...yourself?”
“Good, thank you. And the boys?”
Jordan smiled as Zachary ran out of the playroom at top speed, followed closely by his younger brother. “They’re fine.”
“HI ISABEL! Wanna hear me beatbox?” Zach screamed, screeching to a stop beside his mother.
“Beat...box?” she repeated, her expression confused as she looked at Jordan for an explanation.
Covering her son’s ears, she grinned. “Trust me, you don’t want to hear it.”
Laughing as the young boy squirmed out of his mother’s grasp, Isabel smiled up at the young Timberlake. “Maybe another day Zachary.”
“Aww man...” he pouted, turning on his heel and bounding back into the massive playroom, Noah again on his heels.
“He is so energetic.” Isabel stated fondly, removing her coat and hanging it on the end of the banister.
“Yeah...he makes me crazy some days.” Jordan laughed, starting downstairs to tell Isabel what needed to be done.
After giving Isabel brief instructions on her cleaning duties for the day; vacuuming both floors, mopping the kitchen floor, and dusting, Jordan returned to the second floor to see how Zach and Noah were doing.
Twenty minutes or so passed by, the gentle hum of the vacuum providing monotonous background music that drifted throughout the second floor as the boys and Jordan played in the enormous playroom. Suddenly the sound diminished and Jordan looked up, noticing Isabel standing at the doorway holding out a small white piece of paper.
“Miss Jordan, this was on the floor. Perhaps you need it?” she inquired, waving the small paper slightly as Jordan rose to her feet.
Making her way to the doorway, Jordan spoke, “What is it?”
“Looks like receipt maybe.” Isabel shrugged as Jordan gently took the thin paper from her grasp, then quickly left the room to get back to work.
Jordan squinted at the receipt, trying to figure out what it could possibly be from, and when Justin or herself had purchased such a expensive piece of jewelry. Shifting her eyes from the enormous price tag the necklace held, she glanced at the date of purchase just as the shrill ringing of the phone pierced the air. Turning towards the small bookcase within the playroom, Jordan grabbed the cordless phone she had placed there earlier and switched it on, holding it to her ear as she spoke into the receiver. “Hello?” she mumbled distractedly as her dark eyes focused back in on the imprinted date of purchase and turned immediately to steel.
“Jordan?”
“Yes?”
“Hey...it’s JC. Uh...I was calling because...well, wow. I don’t know how to say this...” he stammered, stumbling awkwardly over his wording.
Snapping back to reality, Jordan’s heart grew cold and the tight feeling in her chest intensified. Stepping out of the room so that her sons wouldn’t hear her conversation, she spoke, her voice hard and deliberate. “JC, I don’t know what the hell is going on here. I just found a receipt for a fucking necklace that cost more than my house. Okay...so maybe not that much, but it wasn’t cheap...let’s just say that. Our housekeeper found it when she was cleaning today. It’s from a shop in New York, and was bought two days ago.” Her voice rose an octave and began sounding strangled and tight as she continued on, “JC...I don’t have this necklace. I don’t OWN a necklace this expensive.”
JC spoke, his voice soft and nearly void of emotion compared to Jordan’s barely contained rage. “I know you don’t have the necklace Jordan...because I’m holding it in my hand right now. I found it hidden in April’s suitcase.”
****
April entered the apartment, closing the door carefully behind her before heading to the living room in search of JC. Frowning when he wasn’t sitting in the living room, she decided to check the bedroom, softly calling out his name as she made her way through the short hall. “JC?” she inquired, entering when she saw him sitting on the bed, his back against the mound of pillows.
Smiling, the blonde woman perched on the edge of the mattress and gazed expectantly at JC, who was glaring at her, his normally caring blue eyes cool and distant. “Is something wrong?” she asked cautiously.
“Maybe I should be asking you that same question.” he returned.
April shrugged, “If you’re talking about why I was gone so long, I just had some extra stuff to take care of at the studios, it took a little longer than expected.”
JC’s gaze remained steadfast as he lifted his arm, his hand balled in a tight fist as he extended it slowly towards his girlfriend. April shot him a strange look and held out her palm, unsure of what he was about to do. “I’m not talking about why you took so long. I’m talking about this.” he stated calmly, opening his fist and releasing the sparkling diamond encrusted necklace into April’s open palm.
The blonde woman’s cobalt eyes turned to stone as she raised her gaze to meet JC’s. “What are you doing with this?”
“You first...same question.” he countered.
Shaking her head angrily, April rose from where she sat on the bed and spoke levelly to the dark haired man before her. “Why were you going through my things? You have no right to snoop through my personal belongings.”
“Where’d you get that April? Was it Justin? Did he buy it?”
“Yes. Justin bought it. There, are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear? What’s wrong with you?!” she shouted, tears filling her eyes.
JC rose to his feet and leaned forward, his face red with anger. “Why don’t you answer me that same question April. What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with us? Why have you purposely avoided me this week...huh? Oh wait...let me guess. You had work.” he sneered, sarcasm masking his hurt.
Salty splashes of liquid streamed out of her eyes and down her cheeks as she stared at the man before her. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, a voice screamed inside her head as her heart ripped in two. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard to do the right thing. To do the best thing for everyone involved. Her emotions clawing at her soul, her vision glazed with tears, April stared at JC as she released the words that had been inside of her for some time. “It’s over JC.” she sobbed through his angry shouts of accusation. “I can’t do this anymore...I can’t. It’s not worth it...it hurts too much...I never get to see you. Do you even know how hard it is to take second place to someone‘s spectacular career? It’s at the point where the bad outweighs the good, and it’s not fair anymore...to me, or to you. It’s over. ” she repeated, her voice wavering.
JC reeled back as if he’d been slapped, “Whatever.” he finally spat out, not buying her excuses. “There’s no need to soften the blow April...we both know why it’s not working out.”
“What?” she returned, flabbergasted by his response.
“I’m not the only man you’re with right now.” he fired back, his gaze cool and steady.
April laughed slightly. “Yeah, JC, you got me there.” Shaking her head, she continued. “Do you see another man here? How the HELL do you think I have time for another man in my life when all I do is work?”
“Exactly.” JC replied simply.
A look of shock gracing her face, April dropped the necklace onto the bed then turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. The anger bubbling up inside of her to mask the hurt, she exited the apartment, slamming the door roughly in her wake.
****
“Mo...thank you for letting the boys come over and play for a little while. I appreciate it.” Jordan said, giving the dark haired young woman a tight hug.
Mo eyed Jordan sharply as her friend pulled out of the embrace. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong? You look upset.”
“I’m sure...I just need to run some errands alone.” she insisted, avoiding her friend’s chocolate eyes. “Thanks again for watching the boys.”
“Ah, it’s no problem. Besides, it’s not my house!” Mo laughed.
“Well tell Chris I said thank you for opening up his youth hostel for a few hours despite the fact that you’re only in town for a few more days.” Jordan corrected with a smile.
“Will do...but you better go before he comes in here and says he changed his mind.” the raven haired woman stated with a wink.
Jordan nodded and turned towards the SUV parked in the driveway, waving over her shoulder as she walked to the car and slid into the driver’s seat. Starting the vehicle, she quickly backed down onto the street before shifting the car into drive and heading out of the gated community towards the studios.
****
Entering the unlocked building, Jordan bit her lip out of nervous habit and strode towards Justin’s slightly ajar office door. Pushing open the heavy oak slab, she stepped inside as Justin glanced up from his paperwork, surprise gracing his strong features. “What are you doing here?” he questioned his wife.
Jordan moved towards the desk and slapped a small white piece of paper upon it’s surface. “What the hell is this Justin?” she demanded, sliding the receipt towards him.
Frowning, he picked up the paper and looked at it for a moment before raising his baby blues to meet his wife’s cool stare. “Where did you find this?” he asked.
Her anger burning like a short fuse, Jordan braced her hands on the desk and leaned forward. “It doesn’t matter where I found that damn receipt. I think the important thing here is that I also happened to stumble across the necklace...” she paused, as if in thought. “I take that back, I didn’t exactly, but JC did...in April’s bag. Now...why don’t you explain why that is Justin?”
Justin’s heart raced as he stared at his wife in disbelief. He wanted to shake himself awake from this horrible dream. His thoughts swirled madly as his heart wrenched inside his chest, tears threatening his system as his blue eyes filled with pain. This wasn’t a nightmare...it was real. How did this all happen? When had they spun so wildly out of control? Closing his eyes, Justin took a deep breath, replacing the sadness with the slow, steady purposefulness of anger. “What are you trying to say Jordan?”
Jordan spoke with vehemence, her eyes sparkling with tears. “I’m trying to say that I know you’ve been having an affair with April.” she began, continuing as the reality of what she was saying hit her like a slap in the face and her tears spilled upon her cheeks. “You’re fucking my best friend...Justin...why? Why are you doing this to us? How could you do this to your sons? To me?” she asked, pleading with him for a reason. Any reason.
Justin’s face drained of color as he processed what had just passed through his wife’s lips. Anger and incredulity dominated his system as he sat back hard against the chair he rested in. “Do you know what you’re saying?” he demanded. “Do you realize what you just accused me of? Don’t you trust me?”
Her eyes narrowing slightly, Jordan spoke again, her voice much steadier and controlled, yet at the same time filled with sadness. “Aren’t you even going to deny it?” she inquired softly, hoping in her heart that Justin would tell her she was wrong. That this was a horrible mistake, and that he loved her too much to ever hurt her like that. Her heart slowly broke as she watched his expressionless face, the silence coating the room like a thick fog.
Finally, he spoke, his blue eyes growing tired as he directed his gaze back down to his work as he spoke in a steady tone. “Jordan, I told you I don’t want to talk to you when you’re like this. Get out.”
“Excuse me?” she snapped in reply.
“Leave.” he stated simply, not looking back up from his work.
“Oh that’s right, I forgot...these aren’t even my studios anymore. They belong to you...and April.” she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her tone. As she turned to leave, the framed family photo that Justin kept on his desk caught her eye from it’s position, face down upon the wooden surface. Sadness lapped at her soul as she exited the room, slamming the door behind her.