04.

Cameron

      I flipped through People Magazine, catching another photo of Justin and this Jaxon woman he swore he was just friends with. In the past month Justin and this woman have been seen out eating, shopping, going to and leaving the recording studio together and, to be honest, I wasn’t comfortable with their relationship at all. She had came out of no where and all of the sudden they are close enough to be damn near inseparable? Come on now. I’m not some young twenty-something that would allow herself to be played for a fool just because of who her man was.

      I’ve seen the games guys played in relationships, hell I’ve played a few of my own, and I wasn’t going to let Justin make a fool out of me. I know I told him that I just wanted something drama free and casual in the beginning, but that was then and this is now. We’ve been together for two years and I don’t know anybody who can be with someone that long romantically and not fall in love with their partner. I’ve fallen for him and I know Justin feels the same…I can tell by the way he looks at me and how he holds me. I don’t need the words because he shows me everyday, but I also knew the score.

      Love in Hollywood wasn’t a long term situation. There were just too many variables to deal with and relationships were hard enough to keep together without the input of millions throwing their two cents in the mix. There were women out there who would do damn near anything to get Justin to acknowledge them and while I had my fair share of men after me, men were different. Men admired, but kept their distance…women, well some women (and I use the term loosely) didn’t have respect for anything let alone someone else’s relationship. I didn’t know Jaxon well enough to say where she stood yet, but I knew enough to know that the girl was beautiful. I’m not insecure, but I know enough to know nothing good could come of this friendship.

      I didn’t want to be that woman though. I didn’t want to nag or make Justin feel as if I didn’t trust him, ‘cause I did. I just don’t know Jaxon well enough and so I didn’t trust her. People couldn’t even begin to comprehend the amount of bullshit I had to go through to break through the shell he’d built after Britney cheated on him. How I had to open him up to get him to allow himself to become vulnerable enough to actually fall in love with someone. I’ve invested years with Justin and I wasn’t just going to stand on the side lines while some new girl comes in and takes the boy I carefully groomed into a man. Come hell or high water, Justin and I would survive this.

Raphael

      Jaxon lowered her head, using her hair to somewhat mask her features, as we left the airport. Jaxon had always enjoyed a semblance of anonymity that came with her lifestyle, but her little friendship with Justin was obliterating that nicely. Damn near overnight, Jaxon had been transformed from a pretty girl who barely got more than a second look from pedestrians on the street to having her face plastered in damn near every tabloid mag on the stands. Everyone wanted a piece of her because of Justin and the fact that there was so little information about her added to her mystique.

      She was a model, not a video ho like the earlier tabloids claimed her to be, and a rather successful one at that. She had no bad habits, as far as they knew, she wasn’t a big party girl, or a serial dater. It didn’t help matters that Jaxon didn’t do interviews and Justin down right refused to answer any questions about her period.

      “Jaxon! Jaxon! Are you and Justin dating?” One photographer screamed for a reaction while another reporter screamed, “How did Cameron react when she found out that you and Justin were an item?”

      I pulled Jaxon closer to me and forced our way out of the airport to the awaiting car outside. The ride to the hotel was a quiet one. She hated the attention as well as the fact that people were labeling her as a home wrecker and while I told her to ignore it, she was still young and hated the judgement.

      “Are you okay Jax?”

      “I’m fine,” she answered softly as she leaned her head against the car window and watched the scenery pass.

Justin

      “What are you doing man?” Timothy asked me causing me to to look up from the notebook I’d been using to pen down lyrics to the song we’d been working on.

      “What are you talking about?” I asked.

      “I’m talking about you and Jaxon,” he spoke as he glanced away from the soundboard and faced me.

      “Nothing. We’re just friends,” I answered defensively.

      “This is me you’re talking to J,” Timothy started. “I’ve watched the two of you together and while it seems innocent enough, there’s chemistry there. Should you be messing with fire like that?”

      I groaned and rubbed my palms over my face in irritation. Jaxon. Everyone had been on my case about this girl My mother, Trace, and now Tim? Hell, even Cameron had began calling with her own questions since the media and blogs were going crazy and over exaggerating my relationship with Jax. Maybe I was spending a lot of time with Jaxon, but she was a friend and I enjoyed her company. She was a bit on the quiet side especially with people she just met, but she was a fun person to be around and she came with no drama or expectations. I’ll admit that she was beautiful, but I couldn’t knock her for that. Besides, I ran into beautiful women everyday; that wasn’t anything new. What was, however, was being around a woman who I could chill with that didn’t have any nefarious plans in her head revolving around a relationship between the two of us. Jaxon gave me the same thing that Trace did, albeit in a different package; she gave me normalcy and I wasn’t ready to let that go.

      “It’s not even like that with us Tim,” I told him.

      “I’ve seen the two of you together J,” he argued easily. “I’m not saying you’re cheating on Cameron physically because I know you wouldn’t do that. Not with your history, but I think you’re on the borderline emotionally.”

      “Not you too,” I complained.

      “I’m not going to hold any punches with you cause you’re my boy, but I think you need to be honest with yourself and figure out what you want. Do you realize that in the last two months, you’ve seen Jaxon more than Cameron? And before you argue that it’s because Cameron is on set, let me remind you that you’ve flown out to see Jaxon on an occasion or two. Times when you could have been making a trip to see your woman.”

      “I like her Tim,” I finally admitted, “but we haven’t crossed that line at all. She’s a sweetheart and I just have fun with her. We go out to dinner, sneak into movies, and just chill. I love Cameron, don’t get me wrong, but there’s just something about Jax that I can’t shake.”

      “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” Timothy spouted the cliche.

      “She’s just a friend Tim,” I spoke with finality, “She’s a beautiful woman, inside and out, and I’ll admit that if I was single I would definitely be after her, but at the end of the day I’m not single and I love Cameron. I’d break up with Cameron before I would cheat on her. Not for nothing, I owe her that much.”

Jaxon

      I bobbed my head along to the beat of the song Justin was playing. It was such a catchy song that I couldn’t help, but sing along to the chorus. I stopped self consciously, however, when I noticed him staring at me with a peculiar look on his face.

      “What? I didn’t sound that bad did I?” I asked jokingly over Skype.

      “You have a nice voice. Why have you never sung for me before?” he asked.

      “Are you high?” I asked. He laughed, but I was dead serious. So yeah, I can hold a note, but I was no Beyonce.

      “Not today,” he joked before getting serious,”so what do you think of the song?”

      “I like it. It’s definitely different than what I’ve been hearing on the radio lately,” I added with a yawn before reaching down and pulling off my nude pumps with my left hand and unbuttoning the top two buttons of my silk men’s shirt.

      “Speaking of different things,” Justin started, “I need a favor.”

      “What do you need?” I asked curiously, slightly dreading what I believed I knew he was going to ask me. With all the media coverage over our relationship I was sure his girlfriend was having problems with it and what better way to assure her than have me talk to her? I’d do it because I had nothing to hide, but it would be uncomfortable as hell.

      “I want you to walk for me.”

      “Walk for you?” I asked shocked. That wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

      “Remember a couple of months ago when I mentioned Trace and I had started a little clothing line?” he asked.

      “Yes, you said you were doing a jean line, correct?”

      “Well, we’re having our first show and you know how hard it is to get some of the more known models because of how busy fashion week is and I was hoping you’d do me this favor-“

      “-and I suppose it doesn’t hurt that our names have been plastered on every magazine and mentioned during several TV and radio interviews.”

      “That actually didn’t cross my mind. It’s just that you’re great at what you do, would look great in my clothes-“

      “-and talk like that will get you into big trouble Mr. Timberlake,” I teased.

      “Stop interrupting!” he laughed. “You’ll get paid.”

      “I would have done it for free,” I brought to his attention.

      “So you’re in?” he asked anxiously.

      “I’m in.”