Chapter 5

                “You have the money?” Lorena Velez asked leaning against her white Mustang GT.

                Let’s backtrack a moment, Paige called Lorena as soon as she walked out of Dominic Katz’ office, mostly because she wanted to keep this opportunity and her only way to do it was to call this woman and set up a meeting place.

                The next day was their meeting and Paige was terrified of meeting this woman and what she was going to find out. It was quite possible that she was going to learn things that the media hadn’t even dreamed of. She had a feeling that she’d never be the same after she read the papers.

                “Yes…” Paige unintentionally squeaked and handed a plain white envelope to Lorena.

                Lorena, the 5 foot 3, brunette police officer opened the envelope and quickly counted her money. A smirk crossed her face as she finished counting the 5 thousand dollars. This was all too easy of an opportunity for her. Make 5 grand for exposing some crazed celebrity… how much easier could life be?

                “So… in all honesty… is this Timberlake dude really worth all this trouble? This case is over a year old…I think the public has lost interest.” Lorena stated with a shrug; Paige merely rolled her eyes.

                “I think all the teeny bopper girls who love him so much will be dying to read this. It’s a tell all featuring Justin himself…so I guess people might buy it to see what he has to say.”

                “Nice… I do feel bad for the kid though. Everyone’s capitalizing off his demise. Sucks for him.”

                “I agree… I wouldn’t be writing for this story if it wasn’t for the absolute need for the fame it will give me… not mention the ability to write whatever the hell I want later on.” Paige theorized forcing the warm thoughts of Justin from her mind.

She was not about to embarrass herself by declaring some stupid feelings for the fallen pop idol.  All of what she felt was the remnants of her teeny bopper days. She was not feeling anything for some rapist; and besides, she was engaged.

“I guess me and you have a lot in common…we both cash in on other peoples misery.” Lorena laughed and finally handed the file to Paige. “But we both do it for good reasons… I need the money to pay my boyfriends gambling debts.”

There was a silent understanding between the two girls. They both knew that they lived life for themselves and their families, not for what was morally right or wrong. No one gave a crap about them, so in the end it was up to them to be in charge of their destinies. The only person you can trust in this life is yourself.

“So um… can you find like… people? Birth certificates… any sort of record of existence?” Paige asked while Lorena rolled her eyes.

“Of course… but for a price.”

“No shit.” Paige answered. “… I need you to find me anything you can about Tommy or Thomas Ryan… according to Justin he disappeared but he could be a potential witness and aid in this case and book. It could help the both of us…”

“You’re trying to tell me that helping you could get me a raise?” Lorena Velez raised her eyebrow at the speculation from the girl before her. She could very well be right, if she worked with this Paige Harper she could gain a hell of a lot of money and respect. She could even get her boyfriend the help he needed.

Lorena loved her boyfriend dearly, but he just seemed to get himself in trouble a lot. He owed various debts to the mafia as well as loan sharks. Almost every cent of Lorena’s pay went to paying these debts off, but it seemed like it wasn’t enough; Jason spent all of his salary before he even earned it. Lorena knew she was being an enabler to Jason’s addiction, but in the end she had no idea of how to help him.

Maybe with more money she could send him to rehabilitation facility… maybe then they could finally marry and start the life they dreamed of. Maybe.

“It could… but I’m going to need more than just case files from you… I’m going to need anything and everything you can find on all the *N Sync members… and Justin’s family. I want the dirt on everyone.” Paige declared, leaning back against her own car with a smile.

This was making Paige sick; she was selling out Justin, the way that he had told her that so many other girls had done. If he only knew why… if he only understood what was at stake for her. Her life wasn’t easy like his; Paige was born rich but she was the overlooked youngest child. She never had a family… she never had real friends, and most importantly she never had real love. In the end she was probably as fucked up as he.

“I’m in… but like I said… for a price.”

“We’re in business… it’s time expose everyone and everything.” Paige grinned and got back in her car. “Get to work on Tommy Ryan… I’ll be in touch.”

Paige had never felt so badass in her life. It was like she was living some crazy dream where everything she thought she could ever want was happening. But did she really want to expose Justin in every aspect of his life? He could hate her for all of this…and that thought alone made her want to break down and cry.

But in the end… he didn’t care about her… in the end she only could trust herself.

**

                Pacing around the kitchen with her cordless phone in hand, Paige waited for the phone to be picked up by the party she was calling. The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity when in reality it was about 5 seconds. This was probably going to be one of the biggest interviews of the story and Paige knew that she couldn’t fuck up; that was probably what the most frightening part was. This interview and the information she was going to acquire could free or damage Justin.

                “Larry Rudolph.”

                “Mr. Rudolph, hello. I’m Paige Harper… I’m writing an official biography on Justin Timberlake and I was hoping I could arrange an interview with Britney.” Paige declared all in one breath. These interviews always made her nervous… that was probably a sign that she was not meant for this reporting lifestyle.

                She’d live her dream someday….

                “And how am I to be sure that you are not from the Inquirer or one of those tacky celebrity gossip blogs. The media has done enough harm to Miss Spears…”

                “I understand that you must get a lot of requests for interviews but I assure you that this is in fact legitimate.” Paige sighed, trying to quickly come up with a way to vouch her story. “Um… you could call Lynn Harless, Justin’s mother… she is the one who requested this book to be created.”

                “Well, Miss Harper, I’m sure you’ve heard but Britney is in a rehabilitation facility and this interview could be detrimental to her recovery.”  Larry responded; sounding like a typical lawyer. “I don’t think that would be fair to invade my client’s privacy during this very difficult time”

                “I understand that… but I won’t be asking about her current condition… only about her relationship with Justin and her opinion on his downfall.”

                Silence was what Paige was met with, and she suddenly felt infuriated. Had this bastard hung up on her?! “That unprofessional son of a bitch,” Paige thought, “It’s probably his fault that she’s in rehab anyway! He definitely overworked the poor girl.”

                “Hello? Mr. Rudolph?”

                “… Yes… I’ll run the idea by Britney and her family. I’ll be in touch.”

                It was crazy, there was something wrong with everyone on that damn Mickey Mouse Club. Justin and Britney’s problems were obvious, and Christina Aguilera was now a self proclaimed sex addict currently seeking treatment. Joshua Chasez had possibly set up his friend because of envy. The four former mouseketeers who were the most successful were also the most screwed up.

                They all had one thing in common. They were all exploited as children. “GOD! Aren’t there child labor laws for a reason?!” Paige mentally screamed.

                She was probably becoming too emotionally attached in this case. She was actually feeling for people that she didn’t even know. It was either that or she was hormonal because it was close to that time of the month.

                “Thank you, Mr. Rudolph…my number is…”

                Paige heard a click noise and looked down at her phone. This time the bastard actually had hung up on her! She was going to make a memo of that and make sure to add it in the book somewhere.

                “LARRY RUDOLPH IS A RUDE SON OF A BITCH.” Paige scribbled in big letters on her notes. A smile crossed her face; it gave her some sort of satisfaction, like he could see what she was writing about him.

                “Sweet pea?”

                A startled Paige looked up to see her fiancée walking through the door. She was surprised to see him, normally he came home at precisely 6:00; seeing that he was about two hours early shocked her. Ryan was not someone who tampered with routine.

                “Ryan… you’re home early…”

                “Yeah, I was promoted to Assistant Vice President today!” Ryan smiled and ran over to Paige, scooping her in his arms.

                All Paige could think of was one thing… this wasn’t like him. Ryan was not the type of man to show any type of emotion. In fact, he wasn’t at all the type to be romantic. Could Ryan actually be somewhat human?

                “Baby… I’m so happy for you…”

                “I’m one step closer to President of that Company…soon enough you won’t even have to work at all.”

                Hearing that phrase leave her fiancée’s lips scared Paige more than she ever thought possible. Paige never wanted to be a stay home mom or house wife, that wasn’t the type of person she was. She wanted to work, she wanted to be different from the women in her family; she wanted to have the best of both worlds. Paige vowed that she would never allow herself to become any man’s trophy wife, and now knowing that the man she was betrothed to intended that to be, made her want to run for the nearest exit.

                “Darling, our life is going to be perfect… you wait and see… we’re going to live the American dream.”

                “The American Dream certainly isn’t my dream…” Paige thought to herself, while still managing to smile on the outside. Never letting her true feelings show was something that she had managed to perfect. That was what Ryan wanted after all, a trophy wife to stay quiet and look pretty. 

                “Go get ready… we’re going out to eat. I already made reservations.” Ryan smiled and headed for the shower.

                Not knowing what else to say or how to fix the situation, Paige sat back and took orders. She walked into the bedroom to ready herself for dinner.

**

                “I have a feeling you’re going to like this restaurant.” Ryan smiled and pulled his car up to the valet. “It kind of fits the theme of your work.”

                Theme of her work? Could Ryan have actually taken her to somewhere, dare she think, that had nothing to do with HIS career or showing off? Did Ryan actually start listening to what Paige had to say?

                Blue-green eyes cast their gaze up toward the name of the restaurant. Chi. How familiar it sounded to her. She had heard of that restaurant. Something was tugging on Paige’s heart, this was Justin’s restaurant. This was where Justin had dumped the bodies of his two victims. Oh God.

                “Justin Timberlake’s restaurant.”

                “Yep… I thought it’d be cool… we could celebrate and you could take notes or whatever.” Ryan assisted Paige out of the passenger’s seat of the car and pulled her toward the entrance.

                Paige wasn’t sure if her nervousness was attributed to her being at Justin’s restaurant or if simply because Ryan was acting like a human being. The Cuban girl kept quiet as her fiancée dragged her through the Asian restaurant.

                The décor of the place screamed Justin; from the paint on the walls to the style of furniture, Justin was present in every fiber of that restaurant. Paige knew all this without even knowing the man that well, it was just so plainly him. He loved the finer things in life and that was evident; the rich colored wood and the red tones gave the establishment a refined yet gloomy look.

                That’s what Justin was… refined (somewhat) and also so unbelievably gloomy. His emotions seemed to over run him at points.

                “So are you happy?” Ryan asked as the two sat down at a table situated in the back of the restaurant.

                 “Happy?”

                “Yeah… with the place I picked. I know you have been going crazy with this story so I thought that this could be the right amount of inspiration for you.”

                It was sweet of him, that was for certain, but Paige still couldn’t get her mind off of Justin. The way he spoke to her and looked right through her, Justin was just so confident, it was something that she admired and strived to have for her own. To Paige, Justin had certain personally traits that she wanted and she felt insanely attracted to him.

                She down right wanted him, but she would never admit it.

                “That’s really nice of you Ry… thank you. I know my work has been stressful on the both of us but when it’s done it’ll be worth it.” Paige smiled, reaching her hand over and caressing her boyfriends. “I just can’t wait for the day that I’m at the top of the best sellers list.”

                “Yeah … great… but I bet it’ll feel even better when you don’t have to work.”

                “No… no no no! Say something. Open your mouth Writing is your fucking life… don’t screw it up!. YOU WANT TO WORK!” Her head screamed at her, but her mouth couldn’t let the words out. A forced smile was what Ryan was replied with.

                She was hating this… she was hating herself for not allowing herself to speak her mind.