05.

Justin

      I walked out of the bathroom holding my towel securely at my waist with an invite at the tip of my tongue when I noticed Cameron standing in front of the mirror dressed in a cocktail dress. A dress that was doing too much for a studio session. As a matter of fact, if I was the jealous type, that dress would be too much for her to wear anywhere without my presence because it fit her RIGHT.

      “Going somewhere?” I asked as I dropped my towel and pulled on a pair of boxers.

      “I have an appointment,” Cameron answered vaguely as she sat down on the edge of the bed and put on her shoes.

      “Aight,” I answered easily and bent down for a quick kiss. “I’ll see you later then.”

      I wasn’t going to push the issues. She flew out to spend time with me and so if she was going out instead of hanging with me, it has to be for business.

Cameron

      “Thank you,” I spoke to the waiter as I took my drink.

      I’d barely taken a sip of the beverage before I noticed Jaxon making her way towards me. Eyes automatically followed her and with the deeply tinted aviators covering a good portion of her face, I doubted it was because of any sort of recognition. It could have been the height she carried proudly, if the high heels she’d adorned was any indication of that fact. Maybe it was the brightly covered jeans that were all but painted on or maybe the blazer she’d cinched with a large belt, which emphasized her small waist. Inwardly, though, I recognized the attention for what it was. She was captivating. So much so, that if I wasn’t in love with Justin, I would have flirted a little.

      “Please sit,” I ordered unnecessarily as Jaxon puled her glasses off her face and placed her large bag in the empty chair next to the one I’d motioned to.

      “So…” she spoke, trailing off with a hint for me to pick up where she left off.

      “I know you’re wondering why I asked to meet you and I am not going to beat around the bush with you. I’m intrigued by your friendship with Justin-“

      “Meaning you feel threatened by me,” she interrupted with a tired sigh.

      Checking out her long brown hair that framed her face that glowed healthily. From our brief conversation the day before I hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, but she’d put the nail on the head with that one sentence. I was beyond jealous of her…I was threatened of her. Those young groupie girls that hover around Justin were girls I could handle. They were around the night, but come morning neither Justin or myself gave them a second thought. Jaxon wasn’t a groupie, though. She was a beautiful woman that Justin enjoyed spending time with. She was a woman who had her own, unlike a lot of the women who threw themselves at Justin. She didn’t need him for fame and fortune because she had that on her own right. Justin was investing time with her and THAT, that I didn’t like.

      “Yes,” I admitted honestly.

      “Justin and I hang out,” she explained. “That’s all we do. I have never crossed that line with him and he hasn’t crossed that line with me. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

      “Be that as it may, I’m sure you can understand how I feel about Justin spending as much time with another woman the way he spends time with you. Especially with you looking the way you do.”

      “Look at where you live,” she argued as she waved her hand towards the large window I’d explicitly asked not to be seated in front of when I arrived at the restaurant. “Realistically speaking, Justin is going to have female friend and living in LA there is a good chance that a good portion of the are going to be attractive Cameron.”

      “Well, if it’s all the same to you,” I started, “I’m asking you, woman-to-woman, to stay away from my man.”

      “Hi,” the waiter spoke, choosing that moment to come back,”can I start you with a drink?” he asked Jaxon.

      “No,” she answered as she pushed her chair back. “I’m actually on my way out.”

      I watched her walk out of the restaurant along with the waiter before giving him a kind smile and asking for a Greek salad.

Justin

      “What the fuck?!” I snapped as my call, once again, went directly to voicemail.

      For the last three weeks Jaxon has been dodging my calls. At first I thought that it was just our busy schedules, but as the pattern continued, I realized that she was purposely avoiding me and I didn’t know why. Everything has been going fine between us and then she went out of town for a shoot and I hadn’t heard from her. If it wasn’t for all the media coverage she had been getting I would have been calling hospitals to see if she had been checked in without my notice.

      Initially I tried to shrug it off. I mean, I don’t have to hound anyone to spend time with me. Not to be cocky, but I’m Justin Timberlake damn it! If Jaxon wanted to act brand new than that was her right and her problem. However, as more time went on I went from being aggravated to angry and, if Tim was to be believed, it was affecting my work. After calling her number for what seemed like the hundredth time, I gave up on her and called Raphael. Hopefully he’d answer my call since Jaxon wasn’t.

Jaxon

      I was channel searching, trying to find something that would catch my interest, when there was a violent knock on my hotel room door. Thinking it was room service with my dinner order, I grabbed a $10 bill from my purse for tip before making my way to the door. Surprisingly, it was anyone from the hotel staff on the other end, but Justin. Before I could get past my surprise and ask him what he was doing in Miami instead of California, he pushed me aside and made his way into my room.

      “Well hello to you too, rude ass,” I muttered as I closed the door behind him.

      “I’m rude?” he asked in utter disbelief. “This is from the woman who has been ducking and dodging me for weeks! What the fuck is up with that?”

      I closed my eyes and rubbed my hands over my face. I really didn’t want to deal with this right now, but he deserved an explanation. What I did was fucked, even if it was to help make things right in his relationship with Cameron. I wouldn’t be able to look at him with a straight face every day if I continued to be in his space knowing that I was causing problems more than I was helping him.

      “I was trying to help.”

      “Help with what?” he asked, his tone belying his anger. “How was ignoring me supposed to help me. I thought we were friends, Jax.”

      “We were. We are, but Cameron asked me to lunch-“

      “Cameron?” he interrupted.

      “Yeah. After your show she asked me to meet her for brunch,” I explained and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “She feels threatened by me and asked me to stay away.”

      “Why didn’t you tell me she said that?” he asked, plopping down on the couch, his steam quickly evaporating.

      Jaxon shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the wall, “I didn’t want to cause anymore problems that I, apparently, already had. Cameron came to me as a woman and admitted that she felt threatened by my presence. If I continued to see you or told you and you spoke with her, she would swear that we were seeing each other romantically or, at the very least, admittedly attracted to each other. I didn’t want to cause the drama and I figured you would be busy with your album and spending time with Cameron that you wouldn’t notice my absent presence.”

      “Not notice you-” he paused and shook his head. “You don’t even realize do you?”

      “I beg your pardon?”

      “I have a lot of ‘industry friends’, but I don’t have a lot of real friends. I counted you as a real friend Jax,” he explained. “We went from talking damn near everyday to you not answering my calls. How did you figure I wouldn’t notice that you were pulling yourself away from me?”

      “I’m sorry Justin.” He didn’t answer me. He just sat back and placed his arm over his face and breathed.

      My apologies were all I could offer him. When I began separating myself from Justin, I thought I was doing the best thing for him. I enjoyed spending time with him and he was quickly becoming one of my best friends. I didn’t take that title lightly and because I counted him as a good friend, I made the decision to separate myself from his life. Not for my benefit, but for his.

      “Where do we go from here?” I asked a moment of silence.

      Luck was on his side, however, because room service finally arrived. Justin stayed on the couch as my food was brought in. I waited until we were alone before turning my attention back to Justin to find him staring at me intensely.

      “I’m mad at you right now,” he spoke calmly. “I understand that you felt that you were helping me by staying away, but you made a decision on our relationship without consulting me first. Was our friendship that easy for you to throw away?”

      “No, it wasn’t,” I argued vehemently, “but I thought I was doing the right thing.”

      He laughed ruefully before speaking, “It seems I need to talk to Cameron.” With that said, he stood from his seat on the couch and headed towards the door.

      “So that’s it?” I asked him, trying to steel myself, knowing that our friendship wouldn’t be the same. “I ask you about where our friendship stands and all you have to say if you have to talk to Cameron?”

      “Why are you so mad?” he asked in a cynical tone. “I’m just following your lead, because isn’t that what you did? Had a conversation with Cameron and made a decision that should have concerned the two of us without giving me a second thought?”

      I couldn’t argue his statement, although I wanted to. I’d had the best of intentions, but I’d gone about the situation in the wrong way. I should have talked to him about what Cameron had asked me to do…better yet, Cameron should have spoken with Justin about her insecurities instead of coming to me with all of this damn baggage.

      “I didn’t think you would have anything to say,” Justin replied before walking out of my hotel room.