Chapter 5
Brianna nearly fell out of her bunk when the bus hit a bump. She couldn’t tell if she woke up from that, or from the nightmares that had been plaguing her all night long. She rolled out of her bed to search for an extra blanket. She hadn’t expected the bus to be this cold; obviously the guys liked it to be a little nippy when they slept. She shivered as she walked into the backroom and was a little shocked to see Justin sleeping back there. His head was laying flat on the couch, one leg was propped over the side while one arm was on his stomach and his other was covering his face. She smiled tenderly and let her hand touch his cheek but pulled back when she felt how icy it was.
Walking back to her bunk, she took her blanket out and put it over him. He snuggled into it and breathed in through his nose. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw her standing over him. He groaned when he moved his stiff joints but eventually got into a sitting position. He patted the seat next to him so she sat down.
“This yours?” he asked as he held up the blanket. She nodded. He wrapped it around her when he saw her shiver. At least he thought it was a shiver. He took her chin gently and forced her to look at him. His eyes wandered over her face and he took in every detail. Her face was a little swollen and flushed, her eyes were dull, and she was biting at her lip like she was trying to hold her emotions back.
“Are you ok?” She shook her head no.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bad dream,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. He looked her over one last time before he pulled her close to him. He was surprised when she allowed him to do this and he cautiously let his hands roam up and down her back to comfort her fears. She pulled him closer as he waited for her to calm down a little. When her head finally moved from his shoulder, he could tell that she was still shaken but wasn’t scared anymore.
“Want to tell me what it was about?” She shook her head again. “Are you ok?” She nodded. He took her clammy hand in his own before he stood up to put the heat on.
“You want to stay out here with me tonight?” He saw the uncertainty in her eyes so he started to explain. “We could watch a movie or something to get your mind off of it.” She bit her lip before she nodded. He smiled and disappeared for a little bit to find some blankets. She was already spread out on the couch waiting for him when he came back. He threw a grey hoody at her and she pulled it over her head. He didn’t miss the way she inhaled deeply before she leaned back against the couch. Throwing the blankets and pillows onto the couch, he sat next to her. He stretched out and motioned for her to lie next to him. She considered it for a second before she followed his directions. He cautiously wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled deep into the warmth he provided.
Picking up the remote from off the table, he started the movie. Within minutes they were both fast asleep in each others arms.
She woke up by degrees the next morning to see that she was alone again. There were noises coming from the kitchen so she wrapped a blanket around her to see what was going on.
“Morning sunshine.” Justin was at the small stove cooking eggs and bacon. The smell alone was making her stomach growl but her attention was completely focused on him. He was wearing grey sweatpants that were tied loosely around his waist and a muscle tee. She sighed deeply when he reached up to grab a cup from high up in the cabinet and his tight abs were shown when his shirt lifted up.
He gave her a strange look. “Are you ok?”
She snapped out of her daze. “Yeah… I’m fine.” He laughed a little and set a plate down in front of her before he sat down on the other side of the table. She looked out the window to see that the sun was just barely rising. After trying to stifle a yawn, she checked her watch.
“Lourdy it’s 6 in the morning.” He smiled brightly.
“One more hour and I’m going to see my mom again.”
“What took us so long to get here?”
“There’s some kinda rule that the drivers have to sleep for a certain amount of hours and they can’t drive for a certain amount of hours without sleep or something. It doesn’t matter though, I probably would be just waking up at whatever time we get there.” She nodded slightly before she started to eat her breakfast.
“Where are the rest of the guys?”
“Sleeping.” She silently chewed on her food and fought not to stare at him.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Last night, calming me down after… after my nightmare.” She giggled a little. “You must think I’m nuts after that.”
“Why do you care so much about what people think?” Her head rose to meet his eyes before she looked down at her food again.
“You’d be amazed at how much I let go.” He looked her over carefully.
“Are you coming with me today?”
“I don’t think ya want me to intrude on your time with your family.”
“It won’t be any fun without you.” He raised his eyebrows up and down. She couldn’t help but laugh at his face. “Ok, so you don’t want to stay the whole weekend but how about just today? JC is going to come with me today.”
“What about Melinda?”
“She has some stuff to do so she said she couldn’t do anything today. Maybe tomorrow you two could shop or do something girly. But will you come with me today?”
“I guess… I mean if you are going to FORCE me to…” He smiled and reached over to hold her hand.
“Thanks. I promise that you’ll have fun.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re draggin’ me into this.”
Four sets of eyes stared intently at the large screen in the movie theater but Justin’s were completely focused on her. He knew that she was getting a little jumpy with him staring at her like that but he just couldn’t help it. She finally turned to look at him. He smiled slightly then turned back to the screen. She rolled her eyes and followed his movement. A few minutes later his eyes were back on her.
“What is your problem?” she whispered harshly.
“Shhh…” JC said from next to her. She elbowed him in the ribs softly.
“Shush yourself.” He pretended like she had hurt him but then just chuckled and left her alone. Justin smiled a little before he looked back at the screen again.
She sighed in frustration and turned around in her seat. When his eyes slid to her again she groaned and harshly pulled him to his feet before dragging him out of true theater past the questioning looks of Justin’s parents and JC. When they got into the hallway she threw his hand back to glare at him.
“What is your problem?” He shrugged and continued to smile brightly.
“Seriously, what is wrong with you? Are you a little more psychotic than I thought you were?”
“Brianna?”
“No Justin! I’m sitting there, trying to enjoy this movie and you can’t stop staring at me! Do you know how unnerving that is? Do you know how much you’re freaking me out? Do you?” she screamed.
“I-“
She cut him off. “Where do you get off thinking you could do something like that? Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to stare?”
“Brianna…”
“I’m trying to-“ She was stopped when his lips connected with hers. He held them there for only a few seconds but it was enough to make tingles go up and down her spine.
“Are we going to go back and watch the movie now?”
She stuttered a few times before nodding. He smiled, grabbed her hand, and led her back to the theater.
Her fingers moved in slow circles on her temples in hopes they would help ease the splitting pain and pressure shooting through her head. It had been a rough couple of days and she had been getting slammed with work from every side. Johnny and Tim had been on her back all week and then they called her to this meeting so early in the morning. She had a feeling it was only going to get work. Her dread was confirmed when they quietly entered the room.
“Good morning Brianna,” Tim said.
“Morning guys. What’s up?”
They exchanged looks before sitting down. “Well, we have a small problem.”
“How smalll of a problem?”
“We’re going to be gone for a few days so you’re going to have to handle the troops for a while.”
“Me? Alone?”
“Yes, but you’re not alone. We’ll only be a phone call away.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” she groaned.
“Brianna, we know you can handle this.”
“I know I can too. I’m just a little stressed right now is all. I’m glad you trust me with this.”
Johnny smiled. “We had no choice.”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “Thanks for the confidence booster.”
The two men chuckled and got up to leave. “We’ll be gone for three days but we’ll be back before the Michigan concert. Are you sure you’re ok with this?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Time winked at her. “I’ll remember this when it comes time for your bonus check.”
She smiled at them until the door closed. Her head slammed onto the table and she groaned in pain at her stupidity. She heard the door open but she didn’t bother to pick her head up. She sighed slightly when she felt his hands gently massage her shoulders. His fingers caressed her tense skin until she could feel her stress slipping away.
“Justin Timberlake, you are my god…” she mumbled. He chuckled softly before sitting next to her.
“What’s going on?”
“Johnny and Tim aren’t gonna be here for the next three days,” she said, her head in her hands.
“And…?”
“Guess who’s in charge?”
She was shocked when he smiled brightly and pulled her hands away. “That’s great!”
“No it’s not! How am I going to handle all of this by myself?”
He smiled brightly. “You have me.”
She could take that many ways but she decided to go the innocent route. “Thanks Justin. I really appreciate it. I’m gonna need your help a lot, I can feel it.” She was quiet for a second while she thought things over. “Oh my God, Chris…”
“Don’t worry about the guys. I’ll talk with them.”
“No, no. You don’t have to do that. I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”
He stood up and took her hands in his. “I gotta go to sound check. You’re coming to the concert right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He flashed his perfect smiled and dropped her hand before he left the room. She moaned after he disappeared from view and let her head drop once again.
“Chris, please don’t do this to me. Not today…” Brianna groaned.
He smiled and sauntered towards her. “I never thought I’d see the day where you would beg.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time for this. You’re wearing the outfit and that’s the end of it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “No, I’m not.”
Her eyes narrowed and she didn’t miss the way he backed up when he saw her get angry. “I know I act like your friend and I’m suddenly regretting it but I AM your boss right now, and you WILL wear what I tell you to. If I say you have to go onstage in a furry pink coat, you’ll do it.” She moved closer to him as he backed away. “It is not MY fault you ruined your onstage clothes, it is not MY fault that some STUPID intern forgot your extra’s, and it is not MY fault that this is all loaded on me because of some stupid world-wide Jive meeting!” She took a deep breath and stepped back when she realized how close she was to him. “I’m sorry your clothes are lost but you are going to wear these and you aren’t going to complain about it. You hear me?” she asked. He nodded and swallowed hard.
“Uh huh,” he said weakly.
“Fine. I’ll keep up the search for the clothes but if I can’t find them, you WILL wear that.”
A small smile crept across his lips. “Oh I like your spunk girl.” She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help her smile. “It’s the only thing keepin’ me sane right now.” She yawned, checked her watch and started to walk out of the room.
“Thanks Chris.”
“No problem Bri.”
She sighed deeply as she walked down the hallway and almost fell over when a hard figure ran into her. Two strong arms reached out to steady her and pull her to his chest. She looked up to see Justin’s smiling face.
“How’s things going boss?”
“Great. Just super.” He laughed at her tense form and slowly released his grip on her arms.
“When will they be back?”
“Tomorrow thank God…”
“You’re doing great!”
“Ha! It looks like I’m doing great! I’m overloaded with work, I haven’t slept since they left, these little interns running around here are pissing me off, and Chris is driving me up the wall.”
“Chris?” She looked up to see his angered face.
“Don’t worry about him… He’s being his usual self it’s just that I have to deal with him now.”
“It doesn’t matter. He should be treating you with more respect.”
“Whoa! Chill out there! I can handle myself. I’ll just be glad when this is over.”
“Let me know if he starts messing with you again ok?”
“Sure Justin. Whatever makes you feel like the man around here.” His eyebrows raised at her sarcasm.
“Well, maybe you don’t need my help Ms. Know-it-all.”
She pushed against his chest lightly. “Don’t mess with me JuJu… I’m not in the mood.”
“JuJu?”
“Yeah… That’s my new nickname for you. JuJu.”
He smiled brightly. “I would hate that coming from anybody else’s mouth.”
“But because it’s me…?”
“I like anything coming out of your mouth.”
She stuttered a little. “Yeah… Uh… ok…”
“Do you have a minute?”
She checked her watch. “Uh huh. What’s up?”
He took her hand and led her through the halls and into his dressing room. “I just wanted to talk to you. Alone.”
“Um… Ok.”
“Are you getting any time off after Johnny and Tim get back?”
“Oh my God! That reminds me! I’ll be right back.” She ran from the room. Justin stared at the door for a while after she left. He shook his head before he stood up and was almost out the door when she ran back in. “So sorry. I needed to call my sister for a second.”
“No problem.” He sounded a little upset.
“Justin, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just wondering, do you have any time off soon?”
“Actually I do. Johnny and Tim decided I deserved some time away after they get back because of the hell they put me through.” She raised her eyebrows up and down. “And I believe you guys have a few days off heading your way too.”
“We do?” he asked in surprise.
“Shhh… It’s secret.”
He grinned and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, a little confused by his action. She groaned when she felt his hands move down her back.
“Justin…” she warned. He laughed and pulled away.
“Promise me one thing.”
“Uh… Ok.”
“Leave the first night you and I both have off completely free.”
“Are you asking me out on a date Mr. Timberlake?”
He smiled slightly. “Yeah, I am.”
Justin whistled as he walked out of the stadium door. A small yellow ball flew past his head and he stopped dead. When it returned and just nearly missed him again, he jumped out of the way.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled to Brianna.
She ignored his scream and continued to pound the ball against the wall.
“Brianna? What are you doing?”
“There’s just too much.”
“Too much of what?”
“Stress Justin. Stress.”
“So why are you out here?”
“Trying to calm myself down.”
He watched her slam the ball with her racket again. “By beating up an old stadium wall?”
She held her left hand out and caught the ball, her eyes never leaving his. “Listen Mr. Popstar. I know you think I can handle everything, I know I show everyone around me that I am always perfect and always in control, but everyone needs something. You have your music. I…” She held up the ball. “Have my sports.”
She turned away from him and started playing again. Justin watched her for a while, his smile growing more every second.
She sighed in frustration and caught the ball again to glare at him. “Now what?” she screamed.
He chuckled. “You look so cute with your face all red and angry like that.”
“Justin, this is not a good time to make jokes.”
“Who said I’m joking?” She stared at him for a long while before she finally smiled.
“You are a strange man…” she mumbled as she walked back inside.
“I’m strange? You’re the one out here, by yourself, beating up a little yellow ball.”
She rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you a cocky one?”
He grinned and held the door open for her. “You have no idea…”
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