| Prologue
It was her second day in New York City and already Reini Campagna was being sent on what she was told would be one of the biggest casting calls of her modeling career. As she stood in front of the enormous building she thought back to how all of this began. Less than a month ago she was just a normal teenager working at a dry cleaners in boring Melrose New Mexico. Now here she was all alone in front of the biggest building she’d ever seen in the biggest city she had ever seen. She inhaled deeply and pulled open the large glass doors of A-List Casting. Walking up to the large receptionist desk she timidly asked “Can you please point me in the direction of casting room…number…umm…” shuffling through the papers she held in her hands along with her portfolio she desperately looked for the sheet of paper that the agency had given her with all the information for her casting calls for the day. Letting out an exasperated sigh the young woman behind the desk gave her a terribly annoyed look and promptly went back to her previous task. Finally finding the single sheet of paper Reini quickly scanned over all the times and addresses until she came across the correct one. “Umm its room 365” she finally got out. Looking Reini up and down the young woman let out a slight chuckle and pointed to her left. Reini stood there slightly perplexed. She wasn’t a complete hick but surely in a building this large there had to be more direction than just simply left. “Umm that’s it its that way?” she said pointing left still looking every bit confused. “Calvin Klein audition right?” she asked not looking back up from her work “Right” “Its that way.” taking another
look at Reini she continued “trust me you cant miss it.”
********** Sitting in the crowded hallway with the rest of the campaign hopefuls Reini laughed to herself. “The bitch at the desk was right” she thought, there was no way in hell she could have missed this cattle call. Sizing up her completion Reini began to feel a little self conscious. She knew that she was a cute girl and she was pretty thin but as she sat in the hallway with the other models she couldn’t help but feel like she was in the middle of a Kate Moss convention. Checking out the guys she knew that they would have it far easier if only for the fact that the women out numbered them about 3 to 1. Taking a deep breathe she decided that the best thing she could do was just to go through her portfolio to make sure that all her pictures were in their proper order An hour and five-million portfolio checks later Reini decided that she needed to fixate on something new, seeing as how the line had only seemed to move about a foot in that time. Pulling one of her comp cards from the back pocket of the portfolio she began to look over her stats: Name: Reini Allisandra Campagna
As she continued to obsess over the cards she heard a soft slightly southern voice in her left ear. “First casting?” the soft male voice asked. “How could you tell?” she replied turning to see the face of the first person other than her agent and ‘the bitch’ who had spoken her since she got to this city. “Your fidgeting,” he stated matter of factly and nodded toward her legs. “and you damn near burned a hole through that comp card with you eyes.” Reini glanced down at her legs and wondered how long she had been rocking them back and forth. She looked back up at the young man and let out an uneasy laugh. “Nerves I guess” she said averting his glance. He had the most piercing green eyes she had ever seen. As a matter of fact he had the most piercing everything. She couldn’t tell how tall he was from his seated position, but she could tell that he had an excellent build. With his shaved head, strong jaw line and irresistibly pouty lips he was easily the most beautiful human being she had ever seen. In the midst of her thoughts Reini hadn’t notice that he had extended his hand out in front of her. “Channing” he said hand still out stretched Snapping out of her daze Reini extended her hand as well “Reini. Nice to meet you” After their brief introduction Channing picked up the comp card that Reini had been looking at. Eyeballing it oddly he asked “How in the hell do you pronounce your last name? Camp-Ag-Geena?” Normally the butchering of her last name would have annoyed Reini but this time it was quite funny. She didn’t know if she wasn’t offended because he was hot or nice, but probably both. “Its pronounced Camp-Anna its Italian.” she corrected giggling Over the next half hour while they continued to wait they spoke candidly with each other like old friends that just had a lot of catching up to do. Although there was a four year age gap between the two of them they found out that they had a lot in common, including the same birth date. Reini told him about the craziness of living with a Brazilian mother and Italian father in Melrose, and how the mix of her mothers Portuguese, her fathers Italian and both of her parents poor English as well as the Spanglish in New Mexico made for an interesting childhood to say the least. Channing told her about his childhood in the south and his experience in military school. By the time Reini was called in for her audition she felt like she had known him for years. Minutes later Reini walked out of the casting room not sure exactly what had happened. “How’d it go” Channing asked on his way into the male casting room “I’m not really sure.” Reini replied with a half smile “I think okay” “Well hey I gotta get goin in here but uh where are you staying…you know maybe I could show you around the city.” he asked looking slightly shy “The agency’s putting me up in a penthouse at the Waldorf-Astoria until I get a couple jobs so just swing by there I’m in suite 304” “Wow the Waldorf when I got here my agency had me in some piece of shit loft with like four other guys. They must see a gold mine in you.” he chuckled lightly. Just as he finished his statement the casting door opened and he was signaled in. “Well Ms. Campagna it was nice to meet you I gotta get going but what about tomorrow afternoon for that tour?” “Sounds good to me. Besides I need to hear more about how you ended up in military school.” she said with a devious grin. Walking backward he confirmed their plans for the next afternoon and disappeared inside the casting room. Standing on the other side of the door Reini began to think that maybe New York wouldn’t be so bad after all. ********** When she got back to her suite late that evening she noticed that she had messages waiting on her phone. The first was from her agent. “Hey Rei I’m sure your not back in yet but I got good news for you. You got the CK job so give me a call first thing tomorrow and I’ll let ya know all about the booking. I knew you had the look” Reini couldn’t hide the smile that spread across her face and had she not been so tired she probably would have ran around her suite screaming. After saving the message she was shocked to see that she had a second message waiting since she had already talked to her parents she couldn’t imagine who it was “Hey Reini its Channing I called the front desk and they put me through to your room. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that my agent called me about an hour ago and told me that myself and ‘some young unknown model named Reini Camp-Ag-Geena’ got the CK job. That’s all I wanted. See you tomorrow” she smiled at his deliberate mispronunciation of her last name. Oh yeah she could definitely do this New York thing. Chapter 1 He watched his sleeping roommate and thought about the day that they had met. It had been four long years ago yet it still seemed like just yesterday. He looked at her innocent face as she lay curled up with her head in his lap. Brushing a strand of her long brown hair away from her face he took in all of her features. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Sliding the back of his hand across her right cheek he gently traced every feature on her angelic face with his index finger. He ran his finger up and over her full lips which were always in a slightly pouted position even when she smiled, over her high cheek bones that always had just a hint of a blush to them, across her perfectly arched eyebrows and down the bridge of her nose that turned up just at the tip. For four years Channing Tatum had watched Reini Campagna evolve from a shy 16 year old girl into a world renowned super model. They had come up in the industry together both gaining their own fame and fortune, and through it all becoming each others best friends. Channing had always thought that Reini was the most beautiful woman on earth and probably the most kind and loving person he had ever met. To be honest with himself he had wanted her from the moment he laid eyes on her in that crowded hallway, but in the beginning the age difference was a big deal. Being that he was 20 and she was 16 when they met he felt a little like a pedophile for being even remotely attracted to her. But now no matter how much he felt like he wanted her they had such an amazing bond as friends that he wouldn’t dare jeopardize that. “What you thinking about?” her half sleep voice jolted him back into reality “How I’ve been watching movies by myself for the past four years” he lied Reini laughed lightly knowing that he was trying to be smart about her falling asleep. “Chan.” she said lightly sitting up. “You know I’m still on…” she thought about it for a second, pretended to look at her watch and continued “Euro time.” They both laughed “Was it a good movie though?” Truth be told he hadn’t really even paid much attention to the movie so he decided to go with the most convincing generic answer that he could think of “Uh the plot was alright, but I kinda dozed too”. Yep that answer would work She didn’t seem to want any details so he was safe. Getting off the couch Channing headed toward the kitchen to grab himself a beer. Knowing just what he was going after Reini called after him to bring her one as well. “Hey we should go out tonight” Reini suggested when he returned. “ You know to celebrate my return. This is the longest that I’ve been in America for like the last three months.” Channing could honestly say that he had no real interest in going out, and was pretty shocked that Reini wanted to go out. She had prided herself on not being a part of the New York celebutant scene, but hell after spending three months all over the globe he couldn’t blame her for wanting to have some good old NYC fun. “What the hell lets go” ********** Justin Timberlake wasn’t your average New Yorker well at least not in his eyes. In a city where you had to be rich just to be poor he was sitting pretty damn close to the top and he liked it that way. He was rich, powerful, young, good looking and oh yeah did we say rich. Justin was heir to the biggest multi-media and publishing empire in the states and most parts of the world. Ever since he could remember he had broken bread with the rich, famous and royal and everything from money to women was expendable in his world. He was used to getting everything that he wanted but tonight had to go off without a hinge. It was his birthday and he along with his two best friends Usher Raymond and JC Chasez along with their entire entourage were going to show this entire city just how to have a good night. Instead of renting a club out for the entire night however, Justin had bigger plans in mind. He was going to throw his powerful name around all night to get in to every hot spot in the city and dare anyone to deny him what he wanted this night. “Yo J lets go its not getting any earlier.” JC huffed looking down at his watch impatiently. Joshua Chasez a.k.a JC was one of Justin’s oldest and closest friends. His father and Justin’s father had started World Media together when they were quite young and had kept their families close together. As long as JC could remember his and Justin’s families had done everything from vacation together to eating Sunday dinners together for all general purposes they were pretty much brothers. “J c’mon Usher and everybody else is already at the club lets go.” JC called up the stairs. Moments later a 6 foot 2 inch tall slender man came walking down the stairs of the New York apartment. “Loosen your panties Chasez they’ll wait…” the young man said nonchalantly. Walking over to a mirror in the foyer of the apartment he gave himself a once over before heading toward the door. “Tonight this city is mine” ~ 1:15am club Marquee NYC ~ The night was turning out beautifully for just and his entire entourage. They had hit every hotspot in the city and were now ending their night at the infamous Marquee. It had turned out to be quite an amazing 24th birthday for Mr. Timberlake, everywhere that he had gone that night he and his crew were treated like even bigger VIP’s than usual. People were breaking their backs to try to may him happy and that was the way he liked it. Sitting in a private VIP booth at the club Justin took in his surroundings for a second. He couldn’t have asked for more. He was beyond being drunk sitting in one of the hottest clubs in the country with about 25 of his nearest and dearest surrounding him, and on either side of him were his two best friends Usher Raymond and JC Chasez. On his right JC was damn near swallowing a very petite young woman resembling a coke bottle. He was always the first one with a nice little chick on his lap. To his left was Usher. Usher was about the same height as Justin with strikingly similar features. Hell had their skin color been the same they probably could have been mistaken for brothers. Usher like JC had known Justin since what he described as their “shorty days”. Ushers parents either owned or had invested in almost every hot club from New York to Japan, and had let their son and his friends rein as the crowned princes of the worlds night club scene since they were barely teenagers. Having a friend like Usher definitely got you into all the right doors with all of the right people without so much as a question asked. “Hey J!” Usher snapped his fingers in front of Justin’s face jarring him back to reality. “Yo J.” he snapped again “What’s up?” Justin’s voice was heavy with liquor Stretching his arm out Usher pointed to the dance floor. Justin squinted to see what he was pointing at. Scooting closer to his friend he finally saw what his friend was pointing at. She was beautiful. No beautiful was an insult this girl was breathe taking. She had long dark brown hair that spilled over her shoulders and stopped just at her breast. She was wearing black gaucho pants and a silver halter top that plunged just above her belly button. The top was backless and showed off her amazing shoulders and bronze skin that seemed to sparkle in the dim lights of the club. She was exotic looking maybe Hispanic he thought. Usher looked at his friends face and smiled. Justin had ‘the look’ in his eye the ‘I must have her’ look. Usher decided to break his friends trance “That right there is the reason I know that GOD has to be a man because there is no way in hell another woman created THAT.” Usher said not taking his eyes off of his friend. Justin didn’t reply he couldn’t have said anything if he wanted to. All he could do was watch as she danced. She was dancing with some tool that he assumed was her boyfriend from the way that they were touching and smiling at each other. She was with about five people on the dance floor but he notice that she was giving the guy she was dancing with all of her attention. Justin couldn’t lie he was a handsome guy he was terribly tall maybe even taller than himself and had strong features even in the dim lighting of the club. He couldn’t stop starting at the girl. What the hell was wrong with him? He was Justin fucking Timberlake. He had slept with some of the most beautiful women all over the world, but none of the had ever mesmerized him before. Why was this girl different he hadn’t even spoken to her yet and already she had him. “I have to have her” he thought out loud. As soon as the words left his mouth he got his opportunity. The tool was walking away from her and she was heading to an empty booth on the other side of the club. Justin decided to capitalize on the opportunity before she was surrounded by people again. Quickly getting up from the booth he started to make his way over to her. What was he going to say, and why in the hell was he finding himself getting more and more nervous the closer he got to her? About five feet away from her he somehow talked himself down and began to feel more comfortable. Her back was turned to him and he was pretty sure that all her attention was on the friends she had left on the dance floor. He slid into the booth next to her and leaned in toward her ear. “Are you having a good time?” he asked. He must have startled her because the words hadn’t left his mouth good before she jerked up strait slamming the side of her head into his forehead. A surge of pain went flying through Justin’s head and through his eyes. As he sat there holding his forehead and right eye he swore that for at least 10 seconds he had gone temporarily blind. He looked over at the girl who was also holding her head but she was laughing hysterically. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what was so funny, maybe she was delusional from their collision. He didn’t get a chance to ask her if she was okay before she beat him to the punch. “Oh my God are you okay!” she managed to laugh out. “I am so sorry. You scared the shit out of me” Her voice was angel soft. She was an angel. He could tell that she wasn’t lying about the scare he had given her she still had a hand over her chest and the other holding her head where they hit. “No no it okay. I mean I’m okay. Are you alright?” now he was laughing. He didn’t find the situation funny at all but her laughter was contagious. She nodded at his question and he extended his hand. “Justin Timberlake” Accepting his hand she introduced herself “Reini Campagna.” she smiled. His headache was suddenly gone That was all it took. Within seconds they were enthralled in conversation with each other. Every time she spoke he smiled. He was hanging on her every word and he didn’t try hide it. She was absolutely captivating . ********** Channing was standing at the bar waiting for their drinks when he saw him walk over to her. He knew exactly who the slime making his way over to his friend was. The infamous Justin Timberlake. He was THE New York playboy. This guy had racked up more women in one night than most men did in a life time. Channing had heard all about Mr. Timberlake and for lack of a better description he was Paris Hilton with a dick. He watched as Reini damn near knocked the guy out with her head. It would have been funny had it not been their conversation starter. Channing watched and smiled as Justin tried to run his game on her. He laughed to himself, this guy was a piece of work, but he knew his Reini and she was too smart to fall for any bullshit lines he tried to feed her. His smile faded though when she started laughing. She was laughing and hard. What was wrong with her Channing could believe his eyes. Was she flirting? She was and hard. Channing watched as the two chatted each other up they were smiling at each other and touching as if they hadn’t just met. After grabbing their drinks from the bar Channing headed over to the booth where Reini was sitting with the New York City man whore. Sitting the drinks down on the table he waited for his friend to notice that he was there. She was so caught up in whatever it was that they were talking about that it took her a full minute to notice him. “Oh hey!” she was far too excited “Justin this is my best friend in the whole world Channing. Channing this is Justin Timberlake.” she made the introductions Justin immediately extended his hand to Channing and flashed him his million dollar grin. “Hey man what’s up?” As much as he hated to Channing took Justin’s hand in his own and gave him a brief and dejected hello. For several seconds all three sat in awkward silence with Channing and Justin sizing each other up. Justin didn’t like her so called “friend” Channing. He had known the guy for all of 30 seconds but he knew he was going to be a pain in his ass. Maybe Reini was oblivious but Justin sure as hell wasn’t, and he knew that if this Channing person had his way he would surely be more than her “friend”. Hell what strait man wouldn’t. Justin want going to take any chances of letting this douche bag ruin his night and decided to simply eliminate him from the equation for the night at least. “You know I’m being pretty rude to my friends over there,” he started and nodded over to his table where now both Usher and JC were pretending not to be spying on him “why don’t you come and join us.” She looked hesitant but before she could decline or her “friend” could interject he grabbed her hand and continued “Please don’t make me beg. C’mon I promise you’ll have a good time.” putting on his most charming face he flashed her that irresistible grin and added “besides you cant say no its my birthday.” With that he stood looking down on her waiting for her to respond. Standing next to him they exchanged flirtatious stares and in her sweetest tone she conceded. “Well if its your birthday…” That’s all she needed to say before he was leading her away and toward his table. Looking over her shoulder she gave Channing a regretful look and mouthed ‘Sorry. I’ll be home later’ Chapter 2 Reini lay in her bed reeling. Where did the month go? She could have sworn that it was just yesterday that she had met Justin. But here she was laying there just trying to catch her breathe. It had been a whirlwind of a month to say the very least. First there was meeting Justin which she was sure was the best part of the entire month of February. Then there were the jobs that she had completely forgotten she had taken on, it was this photo shoot here and that photo shoot there, fly to this country do a show in that city. She would be lying if she said she even knew what day it was. Hell she was lucky to get the month right. But the thing killing her the most was that all of a sudden it was like she and Channing didn’t even know each other any more. It happened the night that
she had met Justin. She hadn’t meant to hurt her friends feelings and she
honestly didn’t think that he would get so bent out of shape about the
whole thing, but that night had set off a terrible domino effect. Reini
could admit that when she hadn’t been working she had been spending most
of her nights with Justin club hopping with him and his friends all over
the city. She had neglected her friend, something that had never happened
in the four years that they had known each other. She knew it was a matter
of time before her and Channing got into it but she could never have predicted
the disaster that unfolded.
It was after 4:00 am when Reini walked through the door of her apartment. The night had been a blast. Reini, Justin, Usher and her friend Reagan had gone to the opening of yet another one of Usher’s families night spots, a club called The Naughty. The place had generated so much buzz that 30 minutes after it opened it was to its capacity. They must have partied for six hours strait and the drinks never stopped coming. By the time Reini got home she was drunk, tired and HUNGRY. Walking strait into the kitchen she made a b line for the fridge leaving a trail of clothes, shoes and accessories on her way. Opening the freezer door she spotted her prey…bagel bites. She tried to be as quiet as possible while she prepared her feast but that was all shot to hell when she dropped the baking sheet meant for the bagels on her foot. “FUCK” she shouted grabbing her right foot. Before she had time to look at her foot good she saw the hallway light come on and heard footsteps coming down the stairs. “Ray what the hell are you doing” Channing’s voice was groggy and irritated. “Sorry I woke you. I dropped this stupid…thing on my foot.” she said waving the baking sheet in the air. Channing gave her a disgusted
look. She was drunk, and dressed like she was about to do a Maxim photo
shoot. Looking at the oven clock Channing became furious. “Reini its after
four in the fucking morning. What the fuck are you doing?”
Ignoring her answer Channing continued “I guess that means you were out with Justin and his ‘posse’ again getting drunk all over the city” “And?” she continued to make her bagel bites. “Ray this isn’t you what’s going on? Your acting like one of them.” Reini couldn’t help but laugh “Wow Channing ‘one of them’ what exactly is being ‘one of them’” her tone was laced with sarcasm. “Just like one of the people that you used to say you hated. A goddamn socialite, a flake a fucking celebutant” Reini was shocked and had she not been talking to her friend she would have sworn she sensed a hint of disgust in his voice. Before she could reply he continued. “I mean look at you.” he gestured toward her outfit “look at how your dressed. Look at how drunk you are Ray. And this…” Walking into the living room he picked up a magazine and a newspaper off of the coffee table and shoved them in front of her. “Have you even seen yourself lately” Now she was angry. Snatching the magazines out of his hands she looked them over. The “newspaper” was the latest issue of Page 6 New York’s gossip column. The other was an US weekly from the week before. Both of the gossip blotters said pretty much the same thing. They both had pictures of Justin and Reini either kissing or snuggled up in a booth at a club in them with headlines reading something like “Media Heir and Model Canoodle All Over Town” or “Is Timberlake Getting Serious with Sexy Campagna?” Reini was furious. Yes she had seen the articles and every other one that had been printed since she began seeing Justin. But if she didn’t know better she would say that Channing was implying that she was a slut. “Look Channing if your tryin’ to say something you better say it and quickly, because my patience is wearing thin with this conversation.” Channing was screaming at her now “What I’m trying to say is that your letting this asshole cart you all over the city like some kind of fucking accessory. That’s what he does Ray. He’s gonna fuck you, flaunt you, and then throw you away just like every other chick that has had the misfortune of dating him.” “Who the hell do you think you are?” Channing tried to speak but Reini put her hand up to silence him “Look I don’t know what the hell your problem is but let me tell you one thing Channing Tatum. This is my life and I’m living it not you. And if I choose to be ‘one of them’ that is my business. And not that its any of your business but I am not FUCKING anyone. Justin and I have fun together which is more than I can say for you. All you want to do is sit around and judge other people for not being just like you and you know what Channing its pathetic!” Reini was fuming and on quite a roll. Channing couldn’t get a word in edgewise even if he could think of something to say. She was ripping him a new one. “You’ll have to excuse me if I want to enjoy my life. I’m sooo sorry that I came from shit. In a shit city with shit people and a shitty life. So forgive me that I don’t feel sorry for myself for being able to rub elbows with rich and famous people. I happen to like being a VIP and I happen to like being Justin’s arm candy. And if you don’t like it and you cant be happy for me …then…you can go fuck yourself” Before Channing got a chance to reply she was out the door. That was almost a week ago. Reini hadn’t seen or talked to Channing since that night. Now he was on a job in Japan and she knew that it would probably be another week before she saw him again. However, the time apart might do them some good she thought. Maybe that’s what they needed after almost four whole years of blissful friendship. She figured if their friendship couldn’t survive one stupid fight then maybe they should reevaluate their friendship. Unfortunately in the middle of her reevaluation her intercom buzzer rang. “Oh shit I totally forgot!” Rushing to her closet she quickly threw on a pair of light denim jeans and pulled a black wife beater over her head. As she ran to the door she managed to get her socks on and pull her hair back into a ponytail. Grabbing her shoes and her purse she ran to the door throwing it open and let out the most ear piercing scream. “What is it with you and scaring me” she laughed giving Justin a playful slap on the arm. However Justin’s expression was anything but playful as he glanced at what she was wearing and then down at his watch, “I’ve been waiting for almost 20 minutes Reini. And from the looks of things I guess I wasn’t waiting for you to get ready.” his voice was harsh, and she could tell that he did not approve of what she was wearing. Reini opened her mouth to speak but Justin put his finger up to her lips to hush her. Letting out a heaving sigh. He rolled his eyes and barked out “Well…go change, and hurry up my parents hate to wait.” Reini quickly turned and ran back up the stairs. Frantically rummaging through her closet she found a freshly dry cleaned pair of black slacks and paired them with an almost sheer channel top. Quickly changing her outfit she ripped the socks off her feet and replaced them with a black pair of Jimmy Choo’s. Looking in the full length mirror across the room she swept some lip gloss across her lips and brushed on a bronze colored blush. Running back down the stairs she pulled her hair back down and hastily ran her fingers through it. When she got back to the front door Justin looked like he was about to explode. “Its about time. You almost got left.” he said grabbing her hand and practically dragging her out of the apartment and into an awaiting limo. Lunch with Justin’s parents had been interesting to say the least. By the time they had gotten to the restaurant Justin was all but screaming at her about how she had made them late and how angry his father was going to be. And when they finally sat at the table Reini wished she had stayed at home. His father was a brute of a man and surprisingly young looking. As soon as they sat down his father took the liberty of ordering everyone a drink and appetizer without so much as asking what anyone would like. No one seemed to mind. Once that task was squared away he went strait to tearing into Justin about being late for their lunch. “Well Justin I’m glad that you could grace us with your presence. I guess lunch with your parents wasn’t a priority today?” Randy Timberlake asked sarcastically. Justin didn’t bother with an explanation. He knew his father too well and knew that nothing he said would be a good enough answer. No one at the table said anything for that matter they all just waited for Randy to continue on his tyrant. “You know son tardiness show a severe lack of character and discipline,” he paused for a second and to everyone’s relief brought his point to a close “don’t let it happen again” Justin gave his father a slight nod before picking up his menu and skimming it over. Reini was at a total loss for words. What on earth had she just witnessed. Was that seriously the man that she knew sitting there being made to look like a child. This was by far the most uncomfortable situation that she had ever been in. Not to mention that nobody had bothered to make the introductions yet, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to breathe too hard let alone talk after what she had just observed. Once the drinks and appetizers
arrived the mood seemed to lighten. Reini sipped on the belini that Justin’s
father had ordered for her and watched as the two men began to chat in
quite some depth about new business ventures. Looking across the table
she met eyes with Justin’s mother for the first time. She was a pretty
woman with the same piercing blue eyes as her son. She had a much more
gentle look about her than Mr. Timberlake, with soft expressions and a
gentle posture. She looked every bit of how a good mother should Reini
though.
Lynn Timberlake watched her son’s girlfriend (at least she thought it was his girlfriend) staring at her from across the table. The girls face was absolutely angelic and the way she was looking at her, Lynn couldn’t even recall her own son looking at her with such adoration. It was flattering really. The look in this girls eyes was so intense but soft at the same time for a second she thought that the poor thing was going to burst into tears. For what she hadn’t the foggiest idea but something in the way that she was looking at her just screamed for love it made her wonder about the girls past. Not wanting to analyze the situation any longer Lynn extended her hand across the table to the girl. “I’m sorry sweetheart I wasn’t aware that I had raised such a…” she gave her son a sideways glance and decided no to finish the statement “I’m Justin’s mother Lynn” “Its very nice to meet you Mrs. Timberlake. I’m Reini…Campagna” she said shaking the woman hand. “Oh none of that Mrs. garbage just call me Lynn. All of Justin’s friends do. Oh and this brute over here-who I guess is as rude as his son-is my husband Randy” Randy Timberlake gave his wife a a light scoff still didn’t bother with any pleasantries. “So Campagna did you say, what is that, French?” his voice still gruff Reini took a gulp of her mid afternoon cocktail before she replied. “Umm no sir its Italian actually” she hoped it came out every bit as bitchy as she had intended it to. From the look on his and Justin’s faces it did. Justin looked angry, his father annoyed. Taking a long hard drink of the scotch that his father had ordered for him Justin replied to his girlfriend’s comment before his father got the chance to “Sweetheart. You never told me that your parents were Italian.” Justin said trying to hide the anger in his voice. She was beginning to work his nerves. First being late, then that atrocious ensemble she had on at first, being rude to his father and not to mention she hadn’t touched her appetizer yet. Before she could reply to his first comment he added in the same fake voice “is there something wrong with your dish you haven’t so much as tasted it yet.” Reini looked down at the oysters in front of her, 3 of them sitting there all slimy and raw and waiting to kill her. She wanted to slap both Timberlake men right across their smug faces ‘well sweetheart the reason why I haven’t touched my plate is the same reason that you don’t know that my FATHER not parents is Italian, because apparently neither you nor your father have the presence of mind to ask people questions about themselves. For instance had your father bothered to ask me whether I even liked oysters or not he would have found out that I am terribly allergic to them, kinda like you would have found out over a month ago that I’m half Italian. You know…if you had bothered to ask’ . That’s what she wanted to say. Instead she smiled politely and said. “Oh I guess I never told you, I’m terribly allergic to oysters.” and left it at that. The rest of the lunch was relatively uneventful. With the two men going over business plans for the remainder of the time, and the two women sharing silent smiles across the table. Reini did however get to order her own entrée! *************** Reini sat in the limo while Justin and his father had a quick farewell chat. “I’ll be in London for the next month at least closing some deals. So I will expect you to be my eyes and ears on the New York end.” Randy paused to let his son absorb the information. “got that son?” Justin simply nodded. He rarely spoke when his father was speaking. He knew better, had learned that lesson the hard way at the age of eight, and would not soon forget. Justin was every bit the model son and heir waited until his father turned to leave to get into his limo. Before he could get the door open his father turned back around. “Oh and son. That girlfriend of yours needs to be taught her proper place. That is the one you say your going to marry correct?” Again just a nod “I cant blame you there. She’s a gorgeous one. Nice posture, nice face very well spoken and great for publicity, a little ethnic for my taste almost looks Mexican…But I’ve never heard my son mention the M word so I’ll trust you on this Justin. But by the time I get back from London, if you still plan on giving her OUR last name she BETTER be taken down a peg or twenty. You’re the man Justin and you better damn well let her know it and make sure that she doesn’t forget.” With that he turned and walked toward his limo giving his son a wave and called back. “Order my son. Society. Life. A marriage. The foundation of these things is order. Without it there would be chaos…even your mother-as spirited as she is-knows this. Teach her the meaning of order.” with that last bit said he walked the last few feet to his limo and he was gone. Justin watched his father drive off in the jet black limo his words echoing in his head as he opened the door to the limo Order. Its all about order Chapter 3 Channing heard a light tapping sound at his door. Since he was half asleep he wasn’t sure if he had actually heard it or if his mind was playing tricks on him in the middle of the night. He heard it again *tap tap*. Before he could respond to the noise he saw his bedroom door creek open slowly and a thin figure blocking the light in the hallway from flooding into his room. “Channing…you still up?” her voice was soft. Almost childlike. “Yeah I’m up” he said sleepily but with concern evident in his voice “is something wrong?” Reini stood in the door way digging her right foot into the carpet and fidgeting with the small white wife beater she had on. She didn’t know how to ask the next question. “No, nothings wrong. I was just wondering if umm…I wanted to know if its ok with you…” Channing knew what she wanted by the way she kept eyeballing the bed. She had slept in his bed every night this week. At first he was slightly weirded out by the fact that she wanted to sleep in his bed all the time, but after a while he got kind of used to it and now it just sort of felt right. They had been living together for three months now but this was the first time that she had ever spent an entire week sleeping with him. He would have thought that by now she would be comfortable asking him if she could stay in his bed for the night. Hell by now she should have known that she no longer had to ask. Slowly pulling his comforter back he patted the spot next to him. Although it was dark he could see her face light up like a Christmas tree. She always looked so adorable to him. Especially tonight -it was funny how she always managed to incorporate something childlike into anything she did-skipping over to the bed in her wife beater and little boys Incredible Hulk briefs. Easing her way under the comforter she snuggled in close to him placing a light kiss on his cheek. “Thanks Channing. Really I mean it.” she paused as if not sure what to say next. He could hear the sob in her voice “I’m really glad that I met you…you’ll never know how much you really mean to me.” “Reini? What’s wrong babe? C’mon don’t cry.” Channing was absolutely confused. He knew that she didn’t like sleeping alone. He thought that maybe she was still just a little home sick or at the absolute worst a little afraid of the dark, but now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe there was a whole lot more to her not wanting to sleep alone than he first thought. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face he kissed her forehead lightly. When he moved back to look at her he noticed a long scar that ran almost the entire length of her hairline on the right side of her head. Reini could feel him staring at her scar and quickly turned her back to him. Turning her back over to face him Channing now saw a fresh trail of tears streaming down her face. Gently he traced the scar with his index finger and place a kiss on it. “I wont ask. I‘ll never ask I promise.” he spoke softly “but if you ever want to confide in me…I would never EVER betray your trust.” He didn’t say anything else and neither did she. Reini didn’t tell Channing her secrets that night, but just knowing that she could was more than enough. That was the last night that she slept in his bed. Over the next couple of weeks he would hear the light pat of her feet against the wood floor and see her shadow underneath his bedroom door. But she never knocked again not even once, never made a sound outside of his door. She would just stand there for a minute or two and then the footsteps would retreat back down the hallway. As much as it ate him up inside wanting to know what it was that she had buried so deep inside herself, he kept his promise. She never told and he never asked. “Flight 256 Tokyo to New York is now boarding…” the voice droned over the airport speakers bringing Channing back to reality. Picking up his carry-on bag Channing headed toward his terminal dreading the 14 hour flight back to the states. He had been in this business a long time, but no matter how many times he traveled he didn’t think that he would ever get used to the jet lag. ***** When Channing finally arrived home he was beyond tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next week. Deciding to wait until after he slept to unpack, he left his bags in the living room and headed strait for the bed. When he reached his bedroom door he noticed an enveloped taped to his door with just his name written on the outside of it. Knowing that it had been left for him by his roommate he tore the envelope open and read the letter that Reini had left for him Channing, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start by saying I am deeply sorry for the hurtful things that I said to you the last time we saw each other. I want you to know that I didn’t mean it and I cannot apologize enough four not only what I said, but also for the way that I have been treating you lately. I guess I just wasn’t sure of how to balance my friendship with you with my relationship with Justin. I want you to know however, that as sorry as I am for hurting you I am NOT sorry for the way I feel about Justin. But there has got to be a way a middle ground for you two. Because I refuse to give you up but I also refuse to turn my back on the love that I feel for him. You once told me that our love was a different kind of love an unbreakable kind and that’s why people didn’t understand our friendship , because most people could never give or have that kind of love . Well I think I finally understand that and now I know that you can love more than one person that way. In other words just because I love him that doesn’t mean that I have to stop loving you. So I guess that’s it. I hope that we can work it out when I get back. I am going away with Justin for a couple of weeks but when I get back I’m all yours (I took the liberty of looking at your calendar and I penciled myself in for a whole week!!! Ha ha ha). Anyway I love you and I miss you and I cant wait to see you Always Yours
Channing read the words over and over again until they sank in. He wasn’t sure what to think of her letter. He had to admit though that it put a smile on his face that she had signed the letter with the nickname that he had given her way back when. Reading her words one last time he stuffed the letter back into the envelope and set it on his dresser. Pulling off his flight clothes he slid into his bed under his…Egyptian cotton sheets? Before he had time to even think about where they came from he caught a glimpse of a card on the pillow next to him in the corner of his eye. HOPE YOU LIKE ‘EM. 900 THREAD
COUNT BABY!!!
Channing smiled to himself. She was a piece of work, but did she know how to apologize or what? ***** Justin and Reini had spent nearly two weeks in the Hamptons. When he had first offered to take her to the Hamptons to get away for a couple of weeks Reini was a little bit apprehensive. For one it was barely spring and no one really went to the Hamptons until summer and secondly she wasn’t really sure if she just wanted to drop out of site for that long. But in the end Justin won the battle-anyway maybe a trip together was exactly what they needed. Ever since lunch with his parents things had been a little weird between them. The trip had turned out to be a complete roller coaster ride. Some days were great, beyond the fairytale that Reini had expected, but that was just some days. Most days…well most days were another story. If they weren’t partying or all over each other they were at each others throats ready to murder one another. Reini could say without hesitation that she had seen sides of Justin that she never would have thought possible. From being out of this world romantic to being an out of this world asshole. He was a true Jekyl and Hyde. Now here they were their last weekend at his families beautiful home in East Hampton and yet again ready to kill each other. “WHAT!!” Reini yelled from
the upstairs bathroom where she was getting ready for the day.
“What to you mean WHAT?” Justin asked. Yep it was definitely going to be one of THOSE days. Reini didn’t bother to answer instead she continued to apply her creamy lilac eye shadow as if he had never even entered the room. “Oh so now you’re deaf?” Justin asked sarcastically. Then in a much more stern tone he eased next to her right ear and whispered “Ok keep playin’ with me if you want to Reini. And I’ll show you better than I can tell you that I am NOT in the mood for one of your bitchy little attitudes today.” Knowing that he was very serious and not wanting to fight for the last 48 hours of their trip Reini put on her most convincing smile and turned to face Justin. He looked like his father with that scowl on his face. It was scary, literally. At that moment she would have done anything to take that look off of his face. “I’m sorry baby. I promise I’ll be good tonight.” giving each other a light peck they both went back to getting ready for the day. The rest of the day went on relatively drama free. They had lunch with Usher who was now dating Reini’s friend Reagan at The Maidstone Arms one of the most trendy place to be seen in East Hampton. After lunch the guys went to meet up with some of their other friends to have cigars before a party that Justin would be throwing later that night, while the girls walked around the town and did some serious shopping. Which gave them time to talk candidly without worrying about their significant others over hearing. “So you and Usher huh!” Reini said raising her eyebrows at her friend. “Yup ever since The Naughty.” Reagan beamed “He’s amazing Ray. He doesn’t seem like he would be but he is just the sweetest, most charming, romantic man that I have ever met in my life. I mean…” Somewhere after charming Reini quit listening to her friend. She didn’t mean to ignore Reagan but out of nowhere she began to think of Justin and how he sort of reminded her of her father. She couldn’t put her finger on it but something about him reminded her of her dad. “…just sweep you off your feet you know? Like totally in love out of no where!” Reagan had stopped her rant and was now looking at Reini with expectation in her eyes. Oh god she wanted her to reply. Reini had no clue what the hell her friend was talking and would be lying if she said that she really even cared. “Oh of course! Justin’s just great” was that the right answer? Apparently it was since Reagan picked up right where she left off. “I know what you mean Usher just…” Normally Reini would have gladly dished about her boyfriend too, but right now she just wished that her friend would shut the hell up and quit asking her questions. But she didn’t shut up. In fact she kept going for the rest of the day. By the time they got back to Justin’s beach house all Reini heard was “blah blah blah Usher blah blah blah…” Stepping through the front door Reini did not expect the site before her when they entered. Justin’s party was in full swing. How long had they been wondering around East Hampton? What time was it? Why hadn’t he called her? Well whatever the answer was Reini knew that she had to get upstairs quickly and quietly and get changed before Justin saw her. Making a b-line for the stairs she was almost home free when she heard what might as well have been her death sentence. In a loud and clearly drunk voice JC screamed across the house “Hey J there’s your chick over there!” Stopping dead in her tracks
Reini looked up to see Justin marching her direction. He had that look
again, that Randy Timberlake look. She wished that she could just disappear
at that very moment. Not saying a word Justin roughly grabbed her by her
wrist and escorted her upstairs.
“Where the Fuck have you been?” He screamed releasing her wrist and pushing her toward the bed. “Do you even know how bad this looks Reini? Do you!?!” Did he want an answer or was that a rhetorical question. He continued to scream. Rhetorical definitely didn’t need to be answered. “You know I try to take you away from the city to relax and what do you do? Huh? You have to go and fuck it up, running around town with your dumb ass friend doing God knows what!” he paused and for a second looked like he was trying to regain his composure. “Do you know the meaning of order Reini?” he asked in a voice that was too calm to be comforting. “Is this a rhetorical question?” as soon as the words left her mouth she wanted to slap herself. She hadn’t meant to say it. It just came out like…like word vomit completely out of her control. Before she could retract her question she felt a sharp sting run across the entire left side of her face. Placing her hand over left cheek which was now on fire the realization of what had just happened finally sank in. He had just hit her, and hard. Sitting on the bed reeling she looked up at her boyfriend who showed absolutely no sign of regret on his face. “Don’t even bother coming back down, just go to bed” his voice was cold and left no question about whether he had meant to hit her or not. The look on his face and the tone of his voice said it all. He hit her and on purpose. Once Justin left the room Reini walked into the bathroom to inspect her face. Slowly raising her head she looked in the mirror. It was already starting to bruise. Reini lifted a shaky hand to the side of her face and with her index finger traced the perfect outline that Justin’s hand left across her face. A single tear escaped her right eye. In a way she felt that she deserved the slap that he had given her. In all actuality she could honestly say that she had expected it much sooner with all the fights that they had been in lately. Reini didn’t know why, but she didn’t feel any anger toward Justin at all. If anything she was angry at herself. The only thoughts that were running through her head now were ‘I should have known better’ and ‘gotta stop the swelling asap’ Grabbing a towel off the shelf she ran some cold water over it and placed it to her left cheek which was absolutely on fire. Stripping down to just her underwear, she put on one of Justin’s oversized T-shirts and crawled under the covers. She didn’t shed another tear. Instead she closed her eyes and imagined that she was sleeping in Channing’s bed just like she had years ago, and when she finally fell asleep she was there. Back in the city, back in her apartment, back with Channing Reini spent the remainder of the trip out of sight at the request of Justin. He said that he didn’t want anyone asking dumb questions about her “accident” as he referred to it. He had apologized and then went on some long ass speech about order that Reini could have given a shit less about and then went about life as though nothing had ever happened. ***** 2 days later NYC It was after midnight when Reini finally got home. Carrying her luggage into her room she quietly changed into her favorite sleep wear. Her old white wife beater and Incredible Hulk briefs. Walking out of her bedroom she made a quick pit stop in the bathroom to make sure that her bruise was carefully concealed and continued on down the hallway. Almost reaching the stairs that led to the living room Reini stopped in front of the last closed door before the descend down. Standing in front of it quietly she raised her hand to knock, but she couldn’t. She stood there right arm raised for a good five minutes before she continued down the stairs. Entering the kitchen to get a glass of water and clear her head she gave herself a little pep talk as she ran the tap. “You can sleep by yourself stupid. For god sake your almost 21. Grow up!” Pressing her palms flat against the counter top she began to take deep breathes to calm herself down a little. Why was she freaking out like this? She didn’t understand. And why in gods name had she gotten the urge to go sleep with Channing again? It had been over three years since she had pulled a ‘can I sleep with you tonight?’, but for some reason his bed was the only place she wanted to be at this moment. Turning off the kitchen light she headed back up the stairs toward her bedroom. But on the way she stopped again just outside Channing’s door. Staring at it for a moment she continued on to her own room. Entering her room she turned off her light and headed over to the bed. Laying her head down on her pillow she felt something crunch beneath the weight of her head. Flipping on her nightstand light she looked on her pillow and smiled. It was a note from Channing. Scrappy thanx for the sheets they’re
great!!
Luv ya 2 much
Reini read the last line of the note that Channing had left her over and over again. For some reason it warmed her heart to know that he knew her so well. God she missed him and now she wasn’t going to waste anymore time pretending like she didn’t. Throwing her covers back she jumped out of bed and headed strait for Channing’s room. Approaching the door she tapped on it twice lightly and then slowly pushed it open. Entering the room slowly she looked up at her friend who was already staring back at her with the biggest smile on his face. Reini couldn’t help but to smile back. Neither of them saying a word Channing pulled back his covers and patted the spot next to him on the bed. Half walking and half running Reini jumped into her friends bed and quickly made herself comfortable. Pulling the covers over both of them Channing scooted his roommate closer and wrapped his arms around her. “You know what I was thinking about in the almost month that we haven’t seen each other?” Channing asked quietly “How big of a bitch I am?” they both laughed. “That too” laughing Reini gave Channing the best punch she could from the angle she was laying “no but seriously I was thinking that I’ve known you for four years but I don’t really know you” Channing stopped like he was thinking for a moment “You know what I mean?” “No I really don’t. I thought we knew each other pretty well actually” Reini wasn’t sure where this was going but she had a pretty good guess. Hearing that her voice was already getting defensive Channing decided to drop it. “Never mind. I guess I was just over analyzing shit.” They laid there quietly for a good hour - both pretending to be asleep - listening to one another breathe. Reini knew what Channing was talking about before and she wanted to tell him, really she did. But where was she supposed to begin and was she ready to open that can of worms yet? If she was ever going to tell anyone who better than Channing. She trusted him more than anyone in the world. Taking in a deep breathe she broke the silence. “When I was little…” she could feel the tears burning her eyes already “my brother used to hold me in his arms every night until I fell asleep.” she paused but Channing knew that it wasn’t his turn to talk yet and didn’t want to run the chance of her clamming back up. “I was always scared and he made me feel so safe.” she stopped again and Channing decided to speak. “What were you scared of?” he asked, his voice shaking with concern. “My father” as soon as the words came out Reini began to sob. Pulling her into his arms Channing held her as tight as he could while she continued sobbing into his chest. After a couple of minutes of hysterical crying Reini wiped her eyes and gazed up at Channing , now wanting to tell him everything. “My father hated me.” seeing the look of disbelief in his face Reini decided to explain further. “When he found out that my mother was pregnant he wanted her to get an abortion, but being that my mother was catholic…well you get it. Anyway since she wouldn’t abort he beat her while she was pregnant with me. One night he beat her so bad that she went into labor. I was 3 months premature.” Channing couldn’t believe
what he was hearing. What kind of man would do that to a woman. He knew
that his face must have been priceless at that moment and he did his best
to try to hide it . He wanted to hear the rest of her story.
She had been outside with her older brothers Carmine and Joey. When her father called her in to tell her to go to the grocery store with her mother. She had asked him why she couldn’t stay and play football with the boys, and that was all it took. The next thing she knew her father was telling her to hold on to the bathroom sink and that if her mother heard her she would get it worse. Clenching the sink she closed her eyes as tight as she could and awaited what was next. Then she felt it…the horrible pain of her fathers thick black belt against her back. Holding tighter to the sink she gritted her teeth in preparation for the next blow. And it came, with more force than the first. And then another and another and another, the crack of his belt on her back echoing through the entire house. Reini turned her head toward Channing and opened her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she saw. Channing had tears streaming down his face. She hadn’t realized until that moment that she had relived the moment out loud. But she couldn’t stop. Now that she was telling him she had to get it all out. “He left me there in the bathroom curled up on the floor like a scared little animal. I couldn’t even walk. All I could think about was the pain. The next thing I can remember is laying in Carmine’s bed with an ice cold towel on my back, and him brushing my hair back with his fingers telling me that it was gonna be ok.”. Reaching up to Channing’s face she brushed a tear from his cheek. “from that night on Carmine was always taking up for me, getting me out of trouble at home and everywhere else. I slept in his bed every night…until he went away.” Channing didn’t know how to process the information that his friend had just given him. He knew that Reini had had a hard life but he had no idea that it was that bad. Channing didn’t think that there was anything wrong with spanking but what she had just described to him wasn’t even child abuse it was assault. “Wow Ray. I just…I mean…I really don’t even know what to say.” The air was thick in the room now. Oh god. Now he thought that she was crazy or something. Reini couldn’t breathe. She knew that it was a bad idea to tell him, but just as she was about to get out of the bed he squeezed her tighter and placed a light kiss between her eyebrows. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t have to. Reini didn’t say another word either. Nothing else about her childhood or anything about what had happened with Justin in the Hamptons. She just let her friend hold her and protect her, and even if it was just for that brief moment in time...that was enough. Chapter 4 Randy Timberlake stared at his son completely perplexed. He wasn’t disgusted by what his son had just revealed to him, but more in shock that Justin had actually put his little “girlfriend” in her place. Actually he was pretty proud of his son for “stepping up” and showing her that he was the man. The one thing that he didn’t like, however, was that Justin seemed to be a little remorseful for what he had done. “Look Justin, you did the right thing. Anyway its too late to gripe over it now…its in the past.” Randy Timberlake said pouring himself a generous glass of scotch. “Besides son, if you apologize now you’ll be apologizing for every decision you make as long as your with this girl.” Justin let his father’s words sink in. He knew that in his father’s mind everything that he was saying made perfect sense. Some of it even made sense to him, but at the same time Justin couldn’t shake the feeling that his father’s advice wasn’t necessarily the right course of action for him. “Yeah I get what you’re saying dad but if what I did was right then how come she wont even see me? Huh? If its so right, then why do I feel like shit about it?” Justin asked taking a gulp of the scotch that his father placed in front of him. Randy Timberlake took a deep breath. “She’s still talking to you right?” Silence “Right?” “Yeah but-” before Justin could finish his father interrupted “No buts Justin. I promise you that if you want to mold this girl into who YOU want her to be, a woman worthy of the last name Timberlake, you will listen to my advice.” Justin sat in silence sipping his scotch. He knew what he had to do. All of his life all he wanted was to make his father proud and now he had a way. Had a way to show his father that he himself was worthy of being a Timberlake…worthy of his father’s respect. “So what do I do?” he asked looking into the now empty glass. “You keep her in her place.” Randy stated mater-of-factly, refilling his sons empty glass. “Sure shes having a little ‘moment’ right now but she will realize what’s good for her. And when that time comes that’s when you truly show her who is running things” “How?” “You’ll know when the time
comes J. That I cant tell you.” Randy contemplated what to say next before
continuing on” I will tell you this though. Whatever it is that you say
or do, do it with conviction. Sure you can make it up to her later, I mean
we’re not monsters, but never ever be sorry for disciplining her. Trust
me.”
“But isn’t making it up to her sort of like saying sorry?” Justin asked with question in his eyes. Letting out a slight chuckle Randy took another drink of the dark liquor before continuing on. “Okay son let me put it like this. Whenever you find yourself having to…chastise her. Do not take any pity on her for what your doing. Women need to be put in their place and sometimes they need us to show them where that place is, and at times it may take a certain amount of…malevolence on your part. Do you understand what I’m telling you Justin?” “Yeah. Okay I get that part but before you said something about ‘making it up’ to her? How do I do that without jeopardizing what I’ve already done? Ya know.” Randy smiled at his son. He was rather enjoying their conversation and was quite happy that his son seemed to be heeding his advice already. “Well son this is where it gets confusing, because as much as you need to show her who’s who in the relationship, you also need to love her endlessly. So here is what I would say, no matter what you do to show your love for her make sure that its in her head not to mistake your kindness for weakness, and that no matter how badly you have punished her that it was for her own good. After all you wouldn’t tell your dog ‘thank you’ for shitting on the rug, but your still gonna love it not matter what, right?” “Right” Justin said loving the fact that for the first time in his whole life he and his father were actually connecting. “okay dad just one more question.” “I’m all ears…” Randy said tossing back the rest of his scotch and pouring himself another drink. “How did mom become…you know, so well behaved.” Justin knew that with the advise that his father had just given him surely he was speaking from experience. His mother was an excellent mother and wife as far as he could remember so whatever it was that his father had done to her must have worked. Right? “Your mother was a lot like that girlfriend of yours. I was always having to put her in her place. She had a little too much spunk about her,” and with a look that Justin had never seen before, almost a look of pure satisfaction his father stated simply “I put the fear of God in her.” Saying nothing more on the subject Randy Timberlake refilled his glass and for the first time Justin could remember gave him the most loving smile he had ever received from his father. Setting his glass down on the small table next to him Randy gave his sons hand a reassuring pat “I’m glad we had this talk son.” Smiling wider than he ever had in his life all Justin could say was “Me too” ~*~
Sitting on the plush red couch in the living room of their apartment Reini thought about Justin. She missed him. Sure they talked every day but she wanted to see him. She thought to herself a week was long enough, she had given herself sufficient time to get over their little spat and for him to regret what he had done. Surely a week was long enough Right? As Channing emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of tequila, limes salt and chips and salsa in his hands Reini tried to shake the thoughts of Justin from her head. She had done good all week not mentioning Justin once, and even managed to keep her small shiner from Channing. “Alright Ray dawg whats it gonna be?” Channing asked holding up two dvds “Empire Records or Boogie Nights?” Reini scanned the dvds with her eyes pretending to really be contemplating her decision “Hmmm…Mark Wahlberg with a 12 inch penis or Renee Zelwegger pre Bridget Jones. Ahhh decisions decisions.” she said tapping her index finger on her chin “As much as I’d love to see a 12 inch penis I’m gonna have to go with Empire.” “Good Call” While Channing put the dvd in Reini went about pouring each of them a shot. As the opening credits appeared on the screen they toasted to their friendship and dug into their late night snack. By the time the movie was over they had about ¼ a bottle of tequila left and about half a bag of tortilla chips to much on. Pouring herself another shot Reini sat up strait and lifted her glass in a drunken salute to Channing. “Man o man I love me some Ta-Kill-Ya.” she said throwing back her umpteenth shot of the night. Pulling what was left of the bottle away from his roommate Channing gave her a soft smile “Okay drunk girl noa that you’ve had more than your fair share of tequila maybe we should call it a night.” Letting out an intoxicated laugh Reini brushed her hand over the top of Channings head lazily. “Chan? Did you know that I never…EVER,” she emphasized with a nod of the head “had sex with Justin. Never!” she announced helping herself to a handful of ships. Channing was sure that the look on his face was somewhere between shocked and amused at her revelation. “Wow no Ray, didn’t know that.” he stated sarcastically trying not to laugh. “Hell I’ve never had sex with anyone before!” she laughed lightly but there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. Before Channing could even respond Reini began speaking again. “How come you never tried to fuck me?” Taken slightly aback by her question Channing didn’t even know what to say. He had entertained the idea once or twice when they first met but being that she was a minor there was really no point in pursuing it, and after so long he just loved her too much to let their relationship go down that road. But the idea was still something that plagued him even today. “I wanted you to, but now its too late. You should have taken the opportunity Chan. I would have, it makes me sad to think that I wont lose my virginity to you.” What the FUCK!!! Was she for real? How in the hell could she just say something like that, and so nonchalantly. What the hell kind of twilight zone had he just stepped into. Her he was standing in front of a girl that he had all but pined over for nearly four years and shes telling him this. Channing opened his mouth to respond and sighed when her heard the light rhythmic sound of her breathing. She was asleep. Cradling her in his arms Channing carried Reini up the stairs to her bedroom to put her in bed. Once he reached the bed he gently placed her down on it and began to stand up strait again, when he felt the light pressure of feminine hands on his shoulders. Before he could wrap his head around what was happening his roommates mouth came crashing down onto his. Her lips were as soft and warm as he had imagined they would have been and her kiss was full of hunger, want, need and at the same time innocence. As the realization of what was happening began to hit him, he felt those soft full lips slowly pull away from his as she rested her forehead against his. Sliding her head down to rest in the crook of his neck he could feel her labored breathing as she softly whispered “Why Channing? I waited for just one sign…I was yours. You could have had me.” Letting out a heavy sigh she slowly lowered herself back down to the mattress and pulled the covers over her shoulders. Channing sat there in the silence of her room listening to her breathe while she slept. He knew what she had just done. She hadn’t invited him to sleep with her tonight but more or less she was saying goodbye. Without even saying the words. They knew each other all too well, and in that one kiss she had told him more than any words could have ever said. Quietly leaving her in the darkness of her room Channing walked back down to the living room and stared at the blank television, quietly declaring to himself that he would move on from any feelings that he had ever had for his roommate. In nearly four years not a thing and then this, tonight, to have it end before either of them knew it could begin…that’s what hurt. The only question that still hung in the balance of the silence of their apartment was where their friendship would go. However drunk he knew Reini was Channing also knew that she had just unofficially changed everything between them and she had done it on purpose. Nothing would ever be the same again. Chapter 5 Reini awoke the next day with nothing more than a slight headache. Laying in her bed she reached over to open her nightstand drawer where she kept an emergency bottle of aspirin just for mornings like this. Popping two of the small white pills in her mouth she swallowed them without water and threw her comforter back over her head. Honestly she didn't really want to stay cooped up in her bedroom, but the thought of having to face Channing was more than enough to keep her in bed for at least another hour. As soon as she closed her eyes there was a knock on the door. She didn't bother to ask who it was was. “Come in.” she grumbled “Hey champ! Thought you could use some coffee.” Channing said walking into the room holding two piping hot cups of coffee in his hands. Reini accepted the warm cup gratefully. “Mmmm” she moaned as the warm liquid slid down her throat. “Thanks Chan”. Both friends smiled at each other and continued drinking their coffee in silence. A good five minutes going by before either of them spoke a single word. “Look Channing about last night…” “We watched a movie, had some drinks, and went to bed. What else is there to say about last night” he said in one breath. “Right” was all she could say. Dropping the subject completely Reini went back to focusing all of her attention on her coffee. Another couple of minutes went by before Channing got up and began to walk toward the door. Giving her a silent glance before walking out without another word. After Reini heard the front door close she felt a single warm tear roll down her cheek. ‘How did it come to this' she thought. Their once solid friendship was now sinking faster and just as unexpectedly as the Titanic! Reini sat and finished her cup of coffee before finally getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. There was no sense in sitting around harping on the train wreck that she called her friendship. Once Reini emerged from the shower she headed back to her bedroom to finish getting ready for the day. While setting her clothes out on the bed her cell phone began to ring. Quickly she rushed over to her dresser to retrieve it. Looking down at the phone she saw that it was Justin and flipped it open quickly. “Hey you!” “Hey girl” he said. He could hear the smile in her voice. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Justin thought that he may have heard her open her mouth to speak but stop a couple of times. Deciding that he needed to get the wheels of his plan into motion, and she was obviously at a loss, for words he began to speak softly. “You know Ray I really think that this has gone on for long enough.” he started. “Well Justin I'm still really…lost over what happened.” she stated blankly. “Look Reini I said I was sorry. What else do you want me to do…beg?” he was already beginning to get irritated with this conversation. “I don't know. I'm just really confused right now.” “Well Reini I'm not confused, and I'm not gonna beg. Look I'm not gonna keep playing this game of phone tag either. Your being ridiculous.” Letting out a heavy sigh she walked over to her bed where her clothes still sat out and began to get dressed. “What do you want me to say Justin?” she asked pulling her pants on. “Say you'll have dinner with me tonight.” Reini let out a soft sigh. When she didn't respond right away Justin knew that he had her. Letting out a heavier sigh this time Reini finally answered. “Well…where do you want me to meet you?” A slow smile crept across
Justin's face. Tonight was gonna be THE night. He could feel it in his
bones.
Reini finally arrived at the restaurant 15 minutes late. After getting off the phone with Justin she had spent the rest of the day on a rampage through her closet to find something to wear. She finally decided on a dark forest green Marc Jacobs slouch dress and a pair of black BCBG stilettos. When she walked into the restaurant Justin's eyes locked on her immediately. She looked absolutely breath taking. The dark green dress she wore had a plunging scoop neck that hung just off of her left shoulder and the dress fit her body to a T. It looked almost like an oversized t-shirt, fitting a little loosely on top but hugging every inch of her body from her hips all the way down the few inches of her thighs that it covered. And her legs…good god the girl had legs for days. Justin swore that every time he saw her she got even sexier! As she approached the table Justin rose from his seat to great her with a hug and pull her chair out. “Wow! You look amazing Ray” he exclaimed as they both took their seats. “Thanks” she said with a smile. “Your not looking so bad yourself Timberlake” They both sat in silence. It wasn't that they had nothing to say to each other they just had to take each other in. Reini stared at Justin and admired how striking and sharp his features were. From his sharp jaw line, to the arch of his brow, to the distinction of his nose, and the curve of his lips. His face was absolute perfection. He in turn was taking his own mental inventory of her face as well. Her hair which was a black curtain that always seemed to frame her face just right, those amazing green eyes, her perfect lips that always glistened from whatever gloss it was that she wore, and her neck. She had by far the most sexy neck that Justin had ever seen, It was long and slender and feminine. Justin hadn't realized how sexy a woman's neck could truly be until he had really paid attention to hers. They were both drawn back to reality when an unfamiliar voice interrupted their thoughts. “What?” Justin asked looking up with a dreamy smile on his face. “I asked if I could take your drink order?” the young lady repeated herself, presenting Justin with the restaurants wine menu. Taking the menu from the young girl Justin scanned it over quickly before folding it back in half and handing it back to her. “I'll take a bottle of your '78 Cabernet Sauvignon” “I'll be right back with your wine Mr. Timberlake. Your waiter should be with you in just a moment” After a giving the hostess a quick nod Justin went back to staring at Reini. Only now for the first time during their evening they made eye contact. She had the biggest smile one her face, which in turn made Justin smile. “What” “Nothing…Mr. Timberlake” she mocked with a small giggle. “Ha ha. You think your so cute don't you?” “I know I'm cute” she said with an arrogant smile and began to play with the edges of the napkin that sat to her left. Justin smiled back and placed his hand on top of hers. Looking up from the table she locked eyes with him again. Without ever breaking eye contact Justin turned Reini's hand over so that her palm was exposed, brought it to his lips, and placed a kiss on the inside of her left hand. Keeping hold of her hand he set it back down on the table. It wasn't long before the
hostess came back with their bottle of wine. Showing Justin the label she
poured him a small serving and waited until he nodded his head in approval
before pouring a more suitable serving into each of their glasses.
“Whatcha thinkin about?” she asked staring deeply into his eyes. “I'm thinking that I cant believe that I am so in love with you” Justin said smiling softly at her. “I'm thinking that I cant believe at 24 I found the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with!” Reini didn't respond, she
didn't need to, the look in her eyes said enough. It said that what happened
in the Hamptons was a distant memory, it said that she had forgiven him,
but most importantly it said that she felt the same way.
“Do you mind if I order for you?” Justin asked half jokingly and half sarcastic remembering the lunch incident with his father “its just kinda how I was raised.” “Order away” she smiled “To start I'll have Lobster Bisque and the Tomato Salad” Justin said continuing to scan the menu for what to order for Reini. “And for your beautiful companion?” The waiter asked Justin but stared at Reini the entire time. At those words Justin stopped looking at the menu and rose his head to a very unpleasant scene. The asshole waiter was blatantly flirting with his girlfriend, and what was even worse was that she didn't seem to mind one bit. From the blush that crept across her face Justin could even go as far to say that she seemed to be enjoying it. Clearing his throat he gave the waiter a look that told him to do his damn job and stop eyeballing his damn girlfriend and continued. “She'll have the French Onion Soup and the Endive Salad” he said bitterly, snapping his menu shut and shoving it back at the waiter. Taking the menu the waiter went to retrieve the first part of their appetizers. Reini had a look of disbelief on her face. She couldn't believe how rude he had just been to their waiter. When she looked up at him the look on his face was almost frightening. Just a few moments ago he had looked at her like she was the only person left on earth, how could he go from that to looking like he wanted to throw her across the restaurant in a matter of seconds? Before she could say anything to him their waiter returned with two bowls of soup. Setting the first in front of Justin and then carefully placing the other in front of Reini. “Can I get you folks anything else at this moment?” he asked. “We're fine.” Justin said through gritted teeth. Looking over at Reini the waiter asked “Ma'am?” “I said we were fine!” Justin said a little bit louder and a lot more angrily Once the waiter left Justin's appetite had gone completely. Sitting back in his chair he pushed his soup away from him and tossed the napkin that was on his lap onto the table. Reini's appetite seemed to be fine as he watched her sip her soup slowly like nothing had just happened. Justin began sucking on his teeth until she finally looked up at him. “What?” she asked softly “Oh nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to follow your little boyfriend back to the kitchen?” He said sarcastically. Rolling her eyes Reini let go of the spoon that she held in her left hand and reached across the table to grab Justin's. “Baby please! We're having a nice night okay. Please don't start.” she asked her eyes pleading with him. “I was just being polite.” Leaning forward onto the table slightly Justin began to squeeze Reini's hand. She winced in pain and tried to pull her hand away from his, but he just tightened his grip pulling her in closer. “So that's what you call blatantly flirting with someone right in front of me? Being ‘polite'?” he asked in a stern voice but low enough so that only she could hear. “Justin your hurting me” she whined. Squeezing her hand even tighter he jerked her arm a little more so that she was now leaned over the table. Leaning in closer to her face he continued squeezing her hand until he finally saw a look of sheer pain take over her face. Leaning in a little more he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and slowly began to let go of her hand. Once her hand was completely free she pulled it into her lap and began massaging it with her other hand. What was wrong with him? One minute he was the sweetest guy on earth and the next he was inflicting pain on her for what really seemed like nothing at all. Reini didn't understand. What had she done to make him so angry? “I'm not hungry anymore. Lets go to the bar.” Justin said interrupting her thoughts. Reini didn't bother protesting. In all actuality she was still hungry, but with the mood that he had seemed to acquire out of nowhere, she decided that it would be best to just pacify him and go to the bar. As they walked toward the bar area of the restaurant Reini spotted their waiter walking toward them. “Leaving so soon?” he asked giving Reini a flirtatious smile. She didn't respond, just smiled back and continued to walk behind Justin. Reini thought that she had done the right thing by not speaking to the waiter again, but apparently the smile was enough. As soon as they were far enough out of sight so that neither the people in the dining area nor the bar could see them Justin grabbed Reini by the arm and hastily drug her into the coat check area. “Just-” Before she could even get his name completely out of her mouth, he quickly whipped her around so that she was now facing him and slammed her against the coat check wall. Reini let out a small whimper at the impact of her back hitting the hard concrete wall. “You like flirting with the fucking waiter, huh?” Justin asked holding her firmly against the cold hard surface “You like to make me mad?” “What are you talking about?” Reini asked as her eyes began to fill with tears. “Oh please Ray don't play stupid. You were a heartbeat away from pulling down your panties and fucking the guy right on the table” Pushing him away slightly Reini tried to push herself away from the wall. “Justin what the hell are you talking about? Your acting crazy!” she said now crying. Pulling her completely away from the wall he looked in her eyes and slammed her back again. This time with twice the force causing her head to connect with the cold wall making a loud thud. “Well maybe if you wouldn't act like such a fucking slut I wouldn't have to act crazy!!” he said in an eerily calm voice. Just then one of the hostesses came back to retrieve a coat for another guest. Quickly adjusting himself Justin grabbed Reini's hand and exited the coat area. Walking briskly through the restaurant he headed strait for the exit with Reini in tow. Once outside Justin handed the valet his ticket and waited while they got his car, still holding Reini's hand. “Justin. My hand really hurts.” Reini said trying to ease her hand away from his. Squeezing it even harder than he had at the table, which until this point she didn't even think was possible, he bent his head to her ear so that only she could hear him. “Sweetheart, at this point your lucky I don't break your fucking hand. So I suggest you shut up.” As they stood there waiting for the car Justin seemed to be getting more and more angry, and showing no signs of releasing the death grip that he had on her hand. When the car finally pulled up Reini was so relieved that he had finally freed her hand that she hadn't noticed the waiter running out of the restaurant waving her purse at them. It wasn't until she heard Justin's voice that she even realized what was going on. “Oh so you're the purse police now too!?” Justin asked sarcastically walking toward the guy. Putting his hands up defensively the waiter held out Reini's purse. “Look she left her purse at the table okay. I was just trying to catch you guys before you left, I didn't want your girl to forget her purse is all” Taking a step closer Justin snatched the purse out of his hands. “Yeah I noticed you've been real ‘concerned' with MY girl all fucking night long”. “Justin please…” Reini pleaded grabbing his arm in an attempt to end the confrontation. Looking down at his girlfriend's hand on his arm Justin's face softened a bit and he smiled at the guy. Slowly backing toward his car he handed Reini her purse. As they both began to get into the car Justin heard him call out “There's no need to be jealous. I'm sure you'll be the first to know when your girl wants a real man.” Before the words fully left his mouth Justin had thrown the car door back open and was now charging toward the waiter. In what seemed like only seconds the waiter was laying on the ground holding his nose and a handful of blood, and Justin was sitting back in the drivers seat of his bmw. As he started the car Reini opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced. “It would probably be in your best interest not to speak right now.” he said before skirting out of the parking lot. Reini sat back in her seat and watched the streetlights fly by much faster than they probably should have been. She had a feeling that this night was no where near over. And that thought made her want to cry all over again. |