“Sienna, it’s Hallie. Just got your messages, so call me when you get this,” Sienna heard as she dialed her voicemail on her cell phone. She hadn’t heard from Hallie since they’d gotten home from Vegas earlier in the week. Normally she wouldn’t find that odd since Hallie was known to disappear for days on end—she could literally sleep for days. But she’d assumed that someone would have mentioned something to her about all of this. Apparently not.

She grabbed an apple and a water bottle from the fridge, tossing both into the brown paper bag that she’d set on the kitchen counter.

“Good morning,” Justin greeted suddenly, coming around the corner from the hallway and into the kitchen.

“Oh geeze you scared me,” Sienna gasped, her hand over her chest. “I’m used to being the only one here.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just heard some movement out here, so I thought I’d say have a good day at work,” he told her kindly.

A small smile graced Sienna’s tanned face, “Well that was nice; thank you. I stocked the fridge yesterday, so help yourself. I wasn’t sure what you liked to eat, so I bought a bit of everything.”

“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” he flashed her a charming smile.

It was at that moment that it registered to Sienna that he was shirtless, his chiseled chest fully exposed. She must’ve been staring for more than a mere moment, because he joked, “Like what you see wifey?”

Her mouth opened slightly as she scoffed, “I wasn’t looki—ugh, I have to go.” Her cheeks were red with embarrassment as she grabbed the brown paper bag, stuffing it into her black Balenciaga tote bag. “If you need me, my office number is on the fridge,” she said quickly, her heels clicking on the hardwood floors as she moved to exit the apartment.

“What?” he called after her with a smirk, “No kiss??”

“Jesus Sienna!!” Hallie exclaimed as she burst into Sienna’s office later that morning. “You married him?!”

“Well, well, well,” Sienna smirked from behind the mahogany desk, “took you long enough.”

Hallie shook her head at her best friend, “I can’t believe you married Justin freaking Timberlake.”

“What can I say?” she laughed, tossing her long, dark hair back over her shoulder as she leaned back into her office chair.

“Is he in town?”

“At my apartment currently; which I suppose is our apartment now, huh?” she asked thoughtfully.

“This is crazy,” Hallie said, shaking her head. “This would only happen to you! Why can’t I get drunk and marry some insanely hot, rich celebrity?! It’s not fair.”

“Oh, cool it Hal, this is hardly a good thing. His girlfriend broke up with him over this. He cheated—with me. This is a bad thing.”

“Eh,” Hallie waved off her comment, bringing her hand up to her face to examine her cuticles, “you’re way hotter than Jessica Biel anyways.”

Sienna snorted, “And what planet are you living on crazy?”

“Give yourself some credit girl; you’re a knockout and you should own that. Devin was an idiot for cheating on you. He is a jackass and apparently has a thing for short, stumpy, oompa loompas. You’re better than him; always have been and always will be.”

Sienna’s lips pursed, “I won’t disagree with that.”

Hallie smiled deviously, “So tell me, have you seen him naked?”

“Hallie,” she warned.

“Fine, that’s a no. Shirtless maybe?”

No response.

“That’s a definite yes. Tell me girl, is he as hot as my dirty little mind is imagining?”

“I definitely want to hear this answer,” Justin teased as he entered her office.

“Justin,” Sienna shot straight up, embarrassed again. He seemed to be having that effect on her. “What are you doing here?”

He walked over to her, leaning over the desk to kiss her cheek, “I decided to come see if I could take my beautiful wife out for some lunch.”

Sienna sucked in her breath as his lips connected with her cheek, very close to the corner of her mouth. She watched as he turned to Hallie, and having never met her before, introduced himself as her husband. Sienna came out from behind her desk, shutting her office door fully. “Justin, this is Hallie, my best friend. Hallie was there in Vegas with me, so she’s aware of the circumstances. I, uh, I’ve filled her in.”

He nodded in understanding.

Hallie stood up from her chair, giving Sienna a quick hug, “Well, I wish I could stay and chat, but I’m late for my own job, so I’ve got to run. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon Justin. S, I’ll call you later, okay?” Just as she reached the door way, with her hand on the knob she turned back towards them with a smile, “Oh, and congrats you crazy kids.”

After she’d left, Sienna apologized, “Sorry about Hallie, she was just kidding. Sometimes I wish I could sew her lips shut.”

“No worries, she was fine,” he said, taking a look around her office. “Is this your mom?”

“Yeah,” she answered quietly, joining him over near her desk where he looked at a picture of her and her mom.

“You look a lot like her; you’re both gorgeous,” he complimented, taking the moment to look directly into her eyes.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, distracted by the intensity of his stare.

Breaking his gaze he continued, “How did my new mother-in-law take the news?”

“Well, as of right now she’s not exactly talking to me. But give her a few days; I’m sure that will change.”

Justin winced, hating himself for causing a rift between her and her mother, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be, it’s fine,” she said, cutting him off. “Now how about that lunch? I’m starving. I hope the hospital cafeteria will do for you, because I’ve got a conference call in 45.”

“Sounds good to me,” he held out his hand for her, and the two set off on their first public outing as man and wife.

The two drew more than a few stares in the short walk from her office on one end of the second floor to the other, where the hospital cafeteria was located.

“Sienna!” a voice called out as they entered the main seating area of the cafeteria.

Sienna turned towards her name, and visibly groaned when she saw Eva and Chad Mooney walking towards them.

“You okay?” Justin inquired, his eyes traveling in between the incoming couple and his wife.

“Yeah, fine. Just do not want to deal with these two.”

“Hey Sienna,” Eva said in overly bubbly tone, annoying her to no end. To top it off, she reached out and hugged her tightly.

“Hello, Eva, Chad,” Sienna nodded politely. “This is my husband Justin.”

Eva seemed giddy as she said this, “I knew it! I knew it was true!! Devin insisted it was some misunderstanding.” Nudging Chad in the rib she exclaimed, “Told you!!”

“Okay…” Sienna looked at her like she was nuts, and Chad seemed embarrassed.

“It’s nice to meet you both, but we wanted to grab some lunch before she has to head back to work. We’ll see you around?”

“Oh yes!! Definitely!! So nice to meet you Justin!” she called after them even after that started to walk away.

Once they were away from the two of them, Justin raised his eyebrows, “That girl was crazy.”

Sienna laughed, “Crazy is an understatement.”

As the two stood and ordered their lunch, Justin found himself wrapping an arm around her shoulder and placing a kiss on her temple as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Having decided to take their lunch back to her office, as they sat at her desk enjoying their lunch, Justin had to ask, “So, who’s Devin?”

“Devin is my ex- fiancé,” she told him, not even looking up.

He nodded, taking the information in, “How long ago did you two break it off?”

“May.”

He nodded again, “What happened?”

She took a moment before answering, her eyes glued to her salad, “He cheated, fell in love with her, and had no need for me.”

“I’m sure that’s not entirely true,” he was quick to say, not believing that entire story for a second, “You’re like perfect.”

Sienna laughed, shaking her head, “That’s exactly what he told me—that I was too perfect. I always said the right thing, did the right thing. I was too nice—he wanted someone to challenge him. I was too pretty—it made him feel insecure. I was too smart—he said no man wanted an intelligent woman; it was too threatening. I always made the right decisions—morally, financially, whatever. He said I set impossible standards—that nobody wanted a saint; that no man ever would.”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Her words were so bitter, and she sounded so hurt. Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, she cut him off.

“How’s this for perfect? I got married and I can’t even remember it. I caused a man to cheat on his girlfriend. Always make the right decisions? Bullshit.”

He shut his mouth, opting not to respond verbally, but moved around the desk and came to kneel in between her knees, making her look at him. He took her hand, running his fingers over her wedding rings. He pulled her head down, kissing her forehead gently, and then kissing away the lone tear that slid down her soft cheek. “Hey, hey, no crying. This is all going to be okay Sienna,” he told her softly. “We’ll get through this. Even though we made some mistakes, I meant what I said when I called into that radio station. We are in this together. I have your back from now on. You’re my wife—doesn’t matter how you became it—none of it matters. I will be there for you, that much I promise. Got it?”

His hands were warm on her face, and she nodded as his soft words comforted her.

“You are perfect in the most amazing way. That man was an asshole, trying to justify what he did to you, making excuses to why he couldn’t measure up, when in the end, all that needed to be said, was that you deserved better than him. And from now on, you’re going to get it.”