Later that night (11:23 p.m.)
Justin entered his office, immediately getting Stephanie's attention who sat at his desk working on another schedule. "Hey." he greeted, shutting the door behind him. "What are you doing? Busy?" he asked, taking a seat on his desk in front of her.
"Ummm..." she eyed him, knowing something was on his mind. "Is there a problem?" he shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno. You tell me." she looked away, chewing on her lip in thought. "Why did you tell my fiancé that I told my friends I was talking about the things we do in bed? You know what I said, but you went right ahead and lied about everything."
"Justin..."
"I'ma let you know something right now." he cut her off. "I hired you to hook up my schedule and answer phones call etcetera. I did not hire you to be a private investigator and...intervene in my business. Don't listen in on my conversations. Don't even say a word to me unless I'm actually talking to you. You know, giving you eye contact and everything." she lifted her head, peering in his heated eyes. "This is your second strike. One more and you're gone." he stood up, making his way towards the door.
"I'm sorry." she spoke up.
"No you're not." he retorted, slowly turning to face her. "You're sorry because you almost got yourself fired. But you're not sorry for buttin' in my business. So just do me a favor and keep doin' what you're doing. Don't talk to my family. Don't even talk to the maid. Just keep your mouth shut and do what you're hired to do." with that, he departed the room, shutting the door behind him.
The next morning (8:44 a.m.)
Giselle entered the building of Ford Models, quickly proceeding towards her dressing room. "Morning everyone. Morning Dave." she greeted with a smile. She entered her room, quickly gazing at her designer and stylist. "Ready, peeps?"
Justin took a seat at his bar next to Stephanie. "Morning." he greeted without eye contact.
"Good morning." she hesitantly gawked to the side to gaze at him. Her eyes quickly scanned his figure, realizing he only wore a pair of boxers. His hair was pointed in all different directions and his body glowed. She could only guess he was wearing some type of body lotion. "Listen, I wanna..."
"Don't bother." he interrupted, carefully taking a sip of his hot coffee. "What's on the schedule for today?" he asked, gazing in on her.
"You have to go to this private talent show with Johnny. He's meeting you at ten so you don't have long. Afterwards, you have to meet the wedding planner so you guys can go over a few things for the wedding." just saying that brought tears to her eyes. Deep down, she wanted to be the one marrying him, but she knew it wasn't possible. "And that should be it." she closed the planner.
"Cool. Well..." he stood to his feet. "I'll see you in a few. Did you call...never mind. I forgot we're driving with him." he proceeded up the stairs.
Meanwhile...
Giselle watched as the the stylist smeared a layer of lip gloss over her full lips. "You know you're posing with a naked guy today." her eyes immediately shot open.
"What?" she slowly gawked to the side to stare at her. She watched as the stylist prepared the hot flat iron for her hair. "They said he was going to be wearing..."
"I know. Slight bit change of plans. But you're not worried, right? You're a professional." she put her gaze back on herself. All of this posing nude begin to get to her for the mere fact that she had a relationship again and she was going to be getting married soon. She wasn't sure if Justin would have approved of her doing such things like that.
Her phone woke her out of her thoughts. "Damn. Um, could you..." she watched the stylist grab her cell phone from off the counter. "Thank you." she turned it on, placing it beside her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey baby." the familiar voice responded.
"Oh...Justin. Hey." it felt so good to hear his voice. "Um, what's going on? Everything okay?" the stylist begin combing out her hair with a wide tooth comb.
"Yeah. Everything's great. I'm at this talent show now. One girl just came on and you wouldn't believe what song she started singing. I drive myself crazy by Nsync. Ahaha." she broke out laughing.
"Oh my god. Girl, you wouldn't believe what my fiancé is telling me. Haha. What happened? Did she do good?"
"Hell no. It sounded like a bad...parody song or something. Sorry to say, but any way...what are you doing? How's the photo shoot going? Did you get to pose with Prince Charming yet?" he joked. Her smile slowly faded.
"No. Um, actually...there's been a change of plans. I'm posing with the guy, but...he's gonna be nude which is kinda funny, because I thought they said he was going to be wearing boxers or something like that." there was a slight pause before anybody said anything.
"Really? Well...that's cool. I mean, it's just business." she sat there in surprise. She didn't think he would have said a thing like that. "The only thing that matters...is that you're coming home with me. So..." she bit her lip interestingly.
"I have to admit something. You really changed."
"I trust you. 'Cause you my baby. Haha. Oh..." he lowered his voice. "There's another act coming on. I'm gonna have to let you go. I'll call you back as soon as this one is finished to let you know what happened. Oh and I hope you do a good job. I'm gonna be expecting my copy when it hit stores." she chuckled softly.
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too. Talk to you later." she heard a click indicating he had hung up.
"Oh boy." she turned off the phone, resting it on her lap.
Justin sat beside Johnny, watching as one of the acts performed one of his favorite songs. "I'm impressed. I thought she would've...messed it up." he spoke, never taking his eyes off the woman. "What do you think?"
"She's good." Johnny responded. "It's all up to you though. This is your record we're talking about. Whenever you feel like you've seen enough, just let me know."
"All right, well she's definitely one on the list. I'll go a lil' bit longer just in case someone better shows up."
____________
3:22 p.m. (CJ'S Weddings and Things)
"Hello." Justin greeted, shaking the wedding planners hand. "Um..." he gazed around for a sign of Giselle. "My fiancé should be here any moment." he gazed at his watch. "We got until three thirty. So um...do you have a book of some of the work you've done? Maybe I can check that out while we wait." he suggested.
"Sure. Why don't you have a seat. I'll be right back with the book." he smiled, quickly looking away to realize a few women staring at him. One of them quickly looked away, holding her head down in a shy like manner. He wasn't sure why they were looking at him. It could have been because they liked him or simply because he was a celebrity.
"Hi." he watched as one of the employees approached him with a notebook and pen in her hands. "I'm so sorry to bother you. I know you're here to work on your...wedding. I can assure you, you won't regret choosing CJ's. I wanted to know if you could sign your autograph? My daughter's such a big fan and she's gonna be psyched when she finds out I met you." he smiled warmly.
"Sure." he accepted the book and pen from her. "What's your daughter's name?" he asked, scribbling a few words on the paper.
"Maria." she answered, watching as he finished it off with his signature. "Thank you so much."
"You welcome. Tell her I said hi." she held the book close to her.
"She's gonna be so excited when she sees this. Thank you so much, Justin."
"No problem." he watched as the woman headed back to her work area. His eyes then focused in on his fiancé who entered the building, looking around in questioning. He quickly stood up, approaching her. "Hey." she met eyes with his. "I'm so glad you could make it." he pecked her on the lips. "How was work?"
"All right." he led her towards a seat. "The wedding planner should be back with some of her work. You know, an example of what she can do. I heard she's one of the best. She worked on JLO's wedding. Um, Toni Braxton; Whitney Houston's; Jessica and Nick's. That's just a few."
"Here we go." the planner approached them with two books in her hands. "These are just the few I have. Some of the best." she met eyes with Giselle's. "Oh and you must be Giselle. The beautiful fiancé. How are you?" she extended her hand out to shake hers.
"I'm good. You?" she asked, shaking her hand in response.
"Great. Um, just tell me what type of wedding you had in mind, and we can get started. I can drive you around to a few sites where the wedding can be held. When do you plan on getting married?" she asked, taking her seat at the desk.
"..." Giselle had no clue.
"I'm thinking...eight weeks from now." she quickly gazed at him, flashing him a surprised look.
"So sudden?" he nodded.
"Yeah. I'm so anxious to get married. I've...never felt this way before." he spoke, peering in her eyes. She sat there, smiling to herself. "Um..." he gazed at one of the sites in the book. "Wow. This is...I like this. What do you think?" he showed Giselle.
"That is beautiful. Um, can I just say something? Is it possible to have a wedding on water? I saw on TV one day, this couple was getting married on water. They were at this beautiful lake scenery and um...I dunno how they did it. They rigged it up so they were actually walking on this...platform. It was beautiful."
"Oh yeah. It's been done plenty of times. Was that something you had in mind? Do you..." she shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. I mean, it would be nice. But...I'll have to see what my fiancé..." she gazed at him. "What he'll..."
"Everything's up to you." he assured. "If you want that then...let's do it." she smiled massively.
"Great. So you want to get married on water. I have the perfect place in mind."
Back at home (6:44 p.m.)
"No. I was just calling everyone in my phone book. Just the people I want to invite." Giselle spoke on the cordless phone. "Well no. Actually, we just want at least five hundred people there. Oh and let me tell you, the wedding planner took us to this...god..." she sighed dreamily. "It is just to die for. The place we're getting married. Yeah. And guess what? It's gonna be on water. Hahaha." she held up the loose pajamas she wore, keeping them attached to her body. "Nooo." she took a seat on the sofa. "I dunno." she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I can't wait. In two months. Yep." she chewed on her finger nail in boredom. "Basically. I have like...ten more people to call. I don't know who Justin's inviting. I know off top it's gonna be his parents." she laid back on the sofa. "He's out back watching Tee Tee and Kara play in the pool. Oh! Which reminds me." she sat up. "I have to call the realtor and tell him...no about the ten bedroom mansion they're building a few miles up the street. Yeah, that one. Okay, well I'll call you back when I get a chance. Yeah. Later." she turned the phone off.
"Ahhh!!" she was startled by a loud scream. She quickly looked up, watching as Oteriah ran inside with a towel around her. Kara came running behind her moments later.
"You guys finished already?"
"It's cold!" Oteriah shouted on her way up the stairs.
"You guys hop right in the tub before you even try to do something else." she instructed. "And don't be splashing water everywhere." Justin entered the house, locking the sliding door behind him. "Oh boy." she tilted her head back, automatically gazing at a body standing behind her.
"Hello." he leaned in, kissing her on the forehead. "Finished inviting whoever to the wedding?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.
"Almost. I got...probably fifty people coming. One question. Who are the other four hundred and fifty people coming? I know I have at least ten more people to call."
"Well let's see...I have my homeboys; former bodyguards; some people from the label; my peeps in Tenn; friends in Tenn. Most of the people are people I've worked with. And...that's basically all of it." he removed his shoes one by one.
"Why do you wanna get married so soon?" she broke the silence between them. "You're not the least bit nervous? I know I am." he shook his head.
"Nah. I'm not nervous, because I feel that I'm making the right choice. I know for a doubt that you're the woman I wanna marry and...spend the rest of my life with. You only get nervous when you're not sure about what you're gonna do." she shook her head.
"That's not the reason why I'm nervous. I'm nervous because...I'm not sure if being married is gonna set a lot of boundaries between us." he flashed her a puzzled look.
"What do you mean?" he slipped off his sock, quickly sniffing it. "Hmm. Smells good. Here..." he held the sock up to her.
"Justin..." she jerked back. "Stop playing." he broke out laughing. "Like I was saying, I think being married is gonna set some boundaries between us because for one, I'm a super model and super models are basically tested every day. Like today, I had to pose with a nude model. And a few months ago I was the one posing naked. I'm just saying, there are gonna be a lot of other times when I'm gonna have to do that and...I'm not sure if you're gonna approve of that since we're gonna be married."
"What did I say earlier today? It doesn't matter, because you're coming home to me. It's not like you're gonna fuck the model. I trust you." he rolled up his socks, stuffing them in his shoes. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower."
"Justin..." she reached out, grasping his hand. "You sure this is something you want to do? I already know for a fact that I wanna marry you so..."
"And so do I. Stop worrying." he assured. "As long as we both are positive that we want to be with each other then we have nothing to worry about." he helped her to her feet. "Come take a shower with me." he followed behind her, realizing she was wearing his pajamas. "What the...ahahaha!" he broke out laughing. "Those pajamas look big as hell on you and I'm not even big to begin with." he gripped her waist, following her up the stairs. "Oh and to prevent from holding them up, just...roll it like this." he rolled up the waist area. "See, much better." he slapped her on the butt.
"Stop it. That hurts when you do that."
"Hmm. Well you don't complain when I be slappin' that ass..."
"Don't even start that." she pointed with a warning look. "Just take your damn clothes off so we can take a shower." he flashed her a surprised look.
"Ooohh now look at who's being demanding. Talkin' about me. You're the expert at telling people what to do." he spoke, discarding his overalls.
____________
9:12 p.m.
Justin sat in front of the piano, playing a few notes. "No accuses, baby." he song. "Tell me what you callin' forrrrr. Ooohhh, 'Cause I can't seem to..."
"Justin?" he quickly looked over his shoulder to gaze at Giselle. "Sorry to bother you while you're writing. I..."
"Come here." he motioned her over. She approached him, taking the seat beside him. "I was just working on a song for the upcoming album. It won't be out for another two years, but Johnny suggested I put a few lyrics down now." she watched as he jotted down a few words on a pad sitting on top of the piano. "Was it something you wanted?"
"Where's Stephanie? I wanted to talk to her about this...note I found." she handed him the folded up sheet of paper.
"What is it?" he asked, unfolding it. His eyes scanned the small sentence, followed by Stephanie's name.
"I think she's planning on stealing some money." he lifted his eyes, peering in hers. "Why would she have the combination to your safe written down?"
"I don't understand how she got it in the first place." he then thought about the night he hired her. It was a rainy night and he offered her a room. Afterwards, he went to his office to change the combination and he remembered writing it down on a piece of paper. "Shit. Damnit. I think I left the combination on my desk. Stupid me." he crumbled up the paper. "I'll handle this." he stood to his feet. "She's probably packing up to go home." he headed towards the stair case.
When he made it to his office, he entered the room, immediately focusing on Stephanie who was packing a few things in her medium sized purse. She quickly looked up, flashing him a nervous look. "Justin? Uhhh..." he watched as she zipped up her purse. "I was just packing up for the night." she grabbed her things and ambled towards him. "See you in the morning."
"Not just yet." he grasped her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She gulped down, hesitantly turning to face him. "What was that white envelope you just put in your purse?"
"White envelope? What white envelope? You must've saw..." he rolled his eyes.
"You wanna play this game? Fine." he pushed her up against the wall, slowly wrapping his arm around her waist. He tugged on her purse, removing it from her shoulder. "Come have a seat." he led her towards the desk. "We're both gonna check your purse, because I have a feeling you're keeping something from me. Sit down." he stood on the other side of the desk and placed the the purse on top of it.
"You have no right to go through my belongings."
"Ha! Well we'll just see about that." she watched as he unzipped her purse, quickly pouring all of the contents out. "Hmm. We have lipstick; a mirror; comb and a brush." he slid the specific items aside. "Wow." he held up a condom. "Is this for you? Who do you plan on fucking?"
"Give me back my purse now." she demanded.
"When I'm finished I will." he held up the envelope. "I thought you said you didn't have a while envelope." he pulled back the seal, instantly gazing at something that definitely wasn't money. "Wh..." he slipped out a pair of tickets. "Tickets? To the basketball game?" she stood to her feet.
"You are such a jerk. Give me my damn purse." she snatched the item from him.
"I..." he had no idea what to say. "I'm sorry. I thought..." his eyes slowly focused on a small compartment located on the front of her purse. "I thought..." he squinted his eyes to get a better look at it. "Wait a minute. Open that front compartment."
"Excuse me?" she spoke with attitude.
"I said..." he grabbed the purse from her. "Fuck it. I'll do it myself." her heart begin to beat erratically as she watched him unzip the pocket. His eyes immediately landed on a stack of money. He slowly looked up, meeting eyes with hers. "What is this?" he held the money, quickly flipping through it. There were tens; hundreds; twenties. All of the numbers he could think of. "Where did you get all of this money from?" she held her head down, feeling nervous as can be. She had no idea what to say, because she knew she was in major trouble. "Answer me!" she was startled by his loud voice.
"Um..." she gulped down, hesitantly looking up to gaze at him. "I..." her eyes slowly watered up with tears. "I was gonna give it back. I swear." her voice cracked from the tears taking over her.
"Baby..." he looked pass her to gaze at Giselle standing in the door way.
"Um, right now is not a good time." he assured. "I'll talk to you in the room."
"All right." she shut the door. His eyes focused in on Stephanie who stood there with tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm gonna have to let you go." she bit her lip, forcing the sobs in. "I don't understand why you would do something like this. Out of all the money I pay you. You make twelve hundred a month just to...keep up with my schedule and take calls. You mean to tell me that wasn't good enough?"
"I was gonna give it back. It was just temporarily. I had..."
"Well why didn't you just ask to borrow it or something? All you had to do was ask, but instead...you'd rather steal it. What the fuck were you thinking?" he spoke angrily. "You thought you could take the money and put it back without me noticing? I check this safe every day." he pointed. "Every day." he repeated. "Just...go before I decide to call the cops." he took his seat at the desk.
"I'm sorry." she spoke in a hoarse whisper.
"Go! Get the fuck outta here!" he shouted. She collected her things and departed the room. "Ugh!" he bashed his fist on the desk in fury. He hated his life for the mere fact that it was hard to trust anybody. Everyone always ended up taking from him. And all because he was being a kind hearted person.
It was hard to trust anybody because he would have a hard time figuring out who were being his friend because of his fame or simply because they actually liked him as a person. He had no idea the celebrity life was like this being that he came in the business when he was very young. But if he had a choice to get rid of all of it, he wouldn't because he loved doing it. Being on TV and entertaining people made him feel good. And he wouldn't stop for the world. Only for his family.
Story Tags: assistant
