Chapter 1
Summer 1992
It was a hot humid day in this southern town, when a boy and a girl sat on the curb in front of Brown’s General Store with their ice cream, waiting for their other friend to come join them.
Then out of the blue, the boy kissed the girl, granted it was just an innocent kiss, but enough to put a little smile on both their faces. It happened just in time, right before their friend came to join them.
Just as they finished their ice cream, the girl’s dad was calling her name from his hardware store down the street. She said good-bye to her 2 best friends and ran towards the store.
---
"Atkinson! Atkinson!" someone was yelling. "Annie!"

Annie was snapped out of her little flashback when one of her co-workers kicked her to get her attention, ‘I really need to go back to the maiden name, for gods sake, the divorce was final 6 months ago." She thought as she acknowledged her boss. "Yes, Richard?"

"I asked, if you were done with the plans for Mr. Vanderhorn.""They’ll be done by tonight, just got some small little details I want to work on, but that’s it."

"Can we take a look at them?""Yeah, they’re in my office, so let me go grab them," she said standing up and heading to her office.

As she grabbed the plans from her desk, she noticed a text message from one of her oldest friends, Trace, popping on her screen. "You going tonight?"

"Nope," she simply responded, tossing the phone back on her desk, and heading back to the conference room.

After the meeting ended, Annie made her way back to the office with her plans and notes in hand.

When she walked in, her text message alert was blowing up. She looked down and noticed they were from him, asking if she was coming tonight and if so tickets were being held at will call for her. She didn’t respond, and went straight to making the changes to the plans, trying to beat the deadline she set for herself.

Later that day, her boss, Richard popped into her office.

"You going to the Ryman tonight?" he asked

"Nope"

"Didn’t you and Justin Timberlake grow up in the same town?"

"Yeah…. Soooo?" Annie asked eyeing her boss"Don’t you want to see a hometown boy play at the Ryman?"

Annie sighed. "Not really. Plus, I have other plans for tonight," She said going back to her work.

"Well have fun then, and don’t stay here too late," Richard smiled before leaving for the night.

Annie was looking forward to her night in by herself. Scott, her boyfriend, was at his monthly poker night with the boys, so it was something she was looking forward to all week. She only hoped nothing was going to ruin it.

When she got down to the parking garage, she noticed a car blocking her own car. Upon closer inspection, she rolled her eyes, as she knew who it was. She walked up to the driver’s window and knocked until the window rolled down.

"Excuse me ladies, but you’re being dicks and blocking me in," Annie smiled

"Not when we’re here to kidnap you," said the woman in the passenger seat.

"Nope, not going," Annie, said, throwing her stuff into the backseat of her own car.

"Then we’re not moving," the driver said

"Lucy! I said I’m not going!"

"Oh come on! Jason is bartending the event and got us tickets!" the passenger said. "Plus, we know you two grew up together and are best friends, so we’re just thinking it would be a nice little gesture to go."

Annie sighed and leaned up against the back of her car. "Molly, I’m on deadline!"

"You’re always on deadline! Come on live a little!" said Molly, who was in the passengers seat.

"I’m not going to win this am I?"

"Nope," smiled Lucy from the driver’s seat. "So get in!"

Opening the back seat door, Annie climbed in. "You know I’m still in my work clothes right?"

Molly looked back at her and smiled, "Oh, you look fine!"

Annie pulled out her cell phone to text Scott.

Help! Molly and Lucy kidnapped me from work and I don’t wanna go *sad face emoji* cause I know we’re going to the Ryman *crying face emoji*

Then placed the phone back in her bag.

Whey they arrived at the Ryman Auditorium, they pulled up to valet parking, and Lucy handed her keys to the valet boy and turned to her friends handing them their tickets.

"Alright let’s go!" she said before heading up the stairs to the entrance.

"You guys are buying my drinks all night if you want me to stay," Annie said as the usher scanned her ticket.

"Sounds good, we get free drinks anyway," Molly smiled as they headed up to the VIP bar.

Before Annie was able to take the first step, a girl about 10 years younger than her came up to her.

"Excuse me, but are you ‘That Girl’?"

Annie looked at her and just smiled, "Sorry no."

"Oh, okay, you just look similar to her," the girl said. "Thanks anyway." She added before heading back to join her group of giggling friends.

When Annie looked to join her own friends, they had already disappeared upstairs to the bar. Sighing, she was going to need some good hard drinks to get through tonight. As she was taking the stairs up to the bar, she would hear whispers around her saying that she was the girl from Justin’s song "That Girl".

When she got to the bar, she found her friends and Molly’s husband, Jason bartending; she took a seat next to them.

"Double Pendleton with diet Annie?" Jason asked, offering one of her go-to drinks.

"Make it a triple Pendleton with very little diet," Annie smiled.

"So did you let him know you were coming?" Lucy asked, just as Jason handed Annie her drink.

"Nope, since I wasn’t coming anyway," Annie replied as another girl came up to her to ask if she was, "That Girl." "And, what’s up with people asking or looking my way asking if I’m ‘That Girl?’ I’m not ‘That Girl,’ never was and never will be," Annie mumbled taking a longer drink.

"Well if it isn’t Annie ‘Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire’ Sullivan," Annie heard behind her, she started to bang her head on the bar top.

"Hi Trace," she replied not moving, as he took a seat next to her.

"I thought you weren’t coming tonight?"

"I wasn’t until Lucy and Molly blocked my car in at work," Annie said raising her head to look at him

"So you weren’t the one to pick up your tickets at will call?" Trace asked as Jason put a drink in front of him.

Annie looked at him, "Uhhhh… nope"

"Well someone picked up your tickets, cause he had me come find you once he heard from the ticket office that you picked them up."

"Well what name did he put them under?"

"Atkinson probably, since he probably still doesn’t know about the divorce," Trace said, just as Annie started laughing.

Both Molly and Lucy looked at their friend like she was crazy.

"Well you know what that means," Annie laughed.

"Uh noo," Trace replied

Annie threw her hands down on the bar. "It means Brad is here, and most likely using MY tickets to impress his flavor of the week!" Annie said talking about her ex-husband, then putting her head in her hands. "Oh God"

Trace just patted her on the back as she gulped the rest of her drink down, but then started laughing again.

"So when Justin looks in the direction of those seats, he’s going to realize it’s not me with Brad. Oh this is going to be fun!"

"So I was right, and you still haven’t told him about the divorce?" Trace asked as Jason placed another drink in front of Annie. "Wait- are you drinking your Pendleton and diet?"

"Yeah so?"

"Come on Girl! You’re from Tennessee!"

Annie rolled her eyes. "No, I haven’t told him about the divorce as I haven’t seen him in over a year, and it’s something I didn’t want to tell him via text, but I’m sure he’s already heard something about it through the grapevine." Giving the stare down to Trace.

"I haven’t told him anything, that’s your place not mine, scout’s honor!" Trace said, holding his hand up like a scout, while Annie just looked at him like he was crazy.

"I’m serious! I haven’t told him," Trace once again defended then changed the subject, "So what were you going to do tonight instead?"

"Well Scott’s at his monthly poker game, and I’m on deadline at work, so I was looking forward to just relaxing and doing some work from home tonight, but noooo it didn’t happen," Annie said. "And why do people keep whispering and looking at me like I have 2 heads?"

Trace knew the answer, but decided to ignore her, turning to Molly and Lucy.

"Hey, can I steal Annie from you two for a little bit?"

Lucy smiled, "Sure."

"You were supposed to say No!" Annie mumbled, smacking Lucy on the arm.

"Thanks ladies," Trace said grabbing Annie’s hand and dragging her away from the bar

"Trace! Let go, I know how to walk"

"I know, and I also know how fast you can run," Trace smiled.

"I also know I can still beat you up," Annie smiled back as they made their way down the stairs, only to pass Brad and whoever his date was at the moment. Luckily, Brad wasn’t paying attention and didn’t notice Annie or Trace rush by.

"Bastard," Annie mumbled under her breath.

"Did you just call me a bastard?" Trace asked as he stopped them

"No, just saw someone, but you know if the shoe fits," Annie smiled

"Let’s go dork," Trace smiled as they continued down a hallway until they approached a big burly gentleman.

Trace flashed his pass, motioning to Annie. "She’s with me," he said before heading down the hallway again.

"Hi Annie," the burly guy said.

"Hi Joe!" Annie shouted back while smiling at Trace.

"Wipe that smirk off your face. Oh and the reason why everyone is thinking that you’re ‘That Girl’ is because J said in an interview for a magazine, that you were the inspiration for the song," Trace said as he opened the door to the dressing room.

Before Annie could comprehend what Trace just said, she took a deep breath and following Trace through the door.

Then before she knew it, she heard him shout, "Oh thank the lord! Annie is alive! Annie is alive!" and before she realized it, he had her in a big bear hug.

"Hi Justin," she mumbled allowing herself to take in the hug.

That’s when it dawned on her what Trace said before they entered the dressing room, so she started hitting Justin.

"Why did you say I was the inspiration for ‘That Girl’ you jerk?" Annie mumbled as she continued to hit him.

"Why are you hitting me and what did you say with your adorable angry mumbling?" Justin asked as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from hitting him.

Then she started to kick him, "I said, why did you say in an interview that I was the girl behind ‘That Girl’?"

Justin then stood on her feet to stop the kicking, "Because it’s the truth!"

"Why couldn’t I be the inspiration for ‘Drink You Away?" Annie sneered while trying to get her feet free.

"Trace get her legs," Justin smiled.

"Trace, you come near me, and I’ll kick you so hard that you won’t be able to have any more kids," Annie warned while staring Justin down.

Before she knew it, Trace grabbed her legs, and she was being thrown on to the couch that was in the room. "I hate you guys!" Annie pouted.

"No you don’t," Trace smiled, just as Annie rolled her eyes.

"First thing, your name wasn’t brought up! I just said it was ‘loosely’ based on a childhood friend that’s all! They were the ones that found the picture."

"Wait! There’s a picture?" Annie questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, where’s Brad?" Justin asked attempting to change the subject.

She looked at Trace, who in turn gave her the ‘better tell him’ look.

"At the bar most likely," Annie smiled, as Trace just stood there shaking his head. She technically wasn’t lying; Brad was here and was most likely at the bar or at least near it.

"So why haven’t we talked in about a year?"

"We’ve talked!" Annie defended.

"Yeah all via text message, I’m talking about in person and on the phone."

"Hey where’s Jess? Does she know about the article?" Annie asked as Justin moved her feet so he could sit on the couch.

"She’s flying in 2 days, and yes she does know," said Justin.

"Great, another reason she doesn’t like me," Annie said.

Justin ignored the comment and went back to the unanswered question, "So why have you been ignoring my actual phone calls?"

"Cause I’ve been on deadline at work for what seems to be an eternity and they just keep coming," Annie said. "In fact, I’m on deadline tonight, hence why I wasn’t going to come."

"And you expect me to believe that? Come on Annie, I know you better than you think," Justin said as Annie sat up and let Trace sit on the other side.

"It’s the truth! I have a deadline at 7:30 tomorrow morning," Annie defended as she stood up.

"Well besides deadlines something else has to be going on, since it seems like you’re ignoring me lately."

"I’m not ignoring you J, but the last year has been quite shitty and maybe I don’t want to talk about it or didn’t want to talk about it!"

"Okay," Justin said looking at Trace, who just shrugged. "But I wanna know what’s going on with one of my best friends and just not in one word text responses."

"You wanna know what’s been going on? I’ll tell you. Let’s see, I got passed up for a few promotions at work. So I’m still doing the work of a partner but with 5% of the credit. Oh and while that was all going on, finding Brad in our bed with a girl from his office!" Annie spewed off. "Well technically it was Trace that found them, but still, that’s how my year has been going. So, sorry if I wasn’t in the mood to come tonight, and with that I’m going to go say goodbye to Molly and Lucy and head home. I have an early morning tomorrow." And with that Annie was out the door, but popped her head back in.

"Oh and that wasn’t me who picked up the tickets at Will Call. Brad’s here with whoever his fuck of the week is- just a heads up."

She shut the door again and headed back to the VIP area to say her goodbyes.

Meanwhile, Justin was going to go after her when Trace pulled him back down on the couch.

"Don’t. You know better." Trace said, as Justin put his head in his hands in pissed off frustration.

Annie soon made it back to the bar. "Shot of Wild Turkey now Jason."

Jason placed the shot in front of her; she took it and then looked around.

"Where’s Mol and Luce?"

"They went to their seats."

"Good, I’m heading home."

"Things went that great with Justin huh?"

Annie stood up from the bar stool, "Bye Jason." Then headed to the exit, where luck was on her side and the line of taxis were still there from dropping people off.

She got into the first one in the line. "Fifth and Union," she said.

The driver nodded and not even 5 minutes later he pulled up to the Annie’s work building.

She paid the driver and made her way to her car in the buildings parking garage, only to notice that it was only 8:30 at night. She decided at that moment, that instead of coming in super early the next morning, she could get what she needed to get done now, and just sleep on the couch in her office. This wouldn’t be the first time, and Annie knew it wouldn’t be the last time she would sleep on the couch when she was on a deadline. She grabbed her stuff from her car, and headed up to her office.

On the elevator ride, she sent a quick text to Scott:

Hope you’re having fun and Jamie hasn’t taken all your money! Escaped the Ryman, and heading back to work to get everything done before my 7:30 meeting, so I’ll see you tomorrow *kiss emoji*

She then stuck the phone into her back pocket. By the time, Annie got to her office; she was just plain exhausted as this defiantly wasn’t the relaxed night she had originally planned.

Annie plopped down on the couch; she needed to regain her energy and her thoughts before getting into her work.

Her text message alert went off bringing her back to the real world. Scott had texted her back:

I’m glad you escaped! And no, your brother hasn’t taken my money, but that doesn’t mean I’ve not taken all of his *big grin emoji* Have a good night sweets and I’ll see you tomorrow *kiss emoji*

Annie smiled at the messaged, and then tossed her phone on to the coffee table in front of her.

As she was working on the additional changes Mr. Vanderhorn wanted done to his home plans, Annie’s mind was going back and forth regarding the interview Justin did and trying to figure out what photo the magazine found of the two of them.

Shaking the ‘tennis match’ out of her head, she went back to work.

It was just after midnight, when Annie finished up with all the details Mr. Vanderhorn had requested, she sighed when she saw the clock. Rubbing her face, she laid down on the couch in attempt to get at least a couple hours of sleep.

She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and decided to try and shut her brain off by searching for this article that was mentioned earlier that night. Ignoring multiple text messages she has received through the night, she opened the Internet browser app and with a quick Google search of his name and ‘That Girl,’ it was an easy find. Annie clicked on the link, and scrolled down until she found the picture. She recognized it from Justin’s Instagram, and of course taking a look at the credit of the photo would verify that for her. It was a photo taken a few years ago, in which he posted to say Happy Birthday to her. It wasn’t a bad picture that’s for sure, in fact it was one of her favorites of the two of them.

Her mind was still going a million miles an hour as she closed the browser app. Closing her eyes she hoped that it would slow down, because if not, she’s going to be in a shitty mood tomorrow.

"Hey Annie… Annie…," she heard someone whisper. At first she though it was part of her dream, until she heard it again, ‘Annie… time to wake up. I got you coffee just in time for your meeting…"

Annie opened her eyes and noticed a blurry Scott sitting on the coffee table holding a Starbucks and a breakfast sandwich in his hand. "Well good morning sunshine."

"Hi- what time is it?"

"6:30," said Scott as he handed her the coffee. "I figured you had a rough night, so I thought I would bring you breakfast."

"Thank you," Annie smiled taking in the aroma of the Skinny White Mocha in her hands.

"You’re welcome," Scott smiled taking a seat next to Annie on the couch. "How was last night?"

"Well I got all the changes Vanderhorn had requested done."

"That’s good. How was the Ryman?"

"I don’t want to talk about it," Annie said, resting her head on Scott’s shoulder.

"That good huh?" Scott laughed as Annie rolled her eyes.

"If that’s what you wanna call it. I guess in an interview he did, he said I was the inspiration behind ‘That Girl’ and the magazine has a photo of us also!"

Scott looked down at his girlfriend, "Well, you two have been best friends since, what, kindergarten. Was it a bad article?"

"I don’t know I didn’t read it, I just scrolled until I saw the photo"

"Was it a bad photo?"

"No, it's one of my favorites of us," Annie sighed. "But, he said before that he wrote the song after watching ‘Guess Whose Coming to Dinner,’ so, I don’t know, oh and that he didn’t mention my name just said it was a based on a friend from childhood or something like that."

"Well I wouldn’t worry about it," Scott smiled and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Thanks," Annie smiled as Scott stood up.

"You’re going to do great at your meeting, but I have to get to work, we have a teacher’s meeting this morning."

"Fine, go," Annie smiled taking a sip of her coffee.

Kissing her again, Scott started walking out of her office, but then remembered something. "Dinner at Trace’s tonight?"

"Yeah."

"I’ll see you after work at your place"

"Sounds good. Love you!"

"Love you too," Scott smiled, shutting the office door behind him.

The meeting with Mr. Vanderhorn went without a hitch, and no more changes needed to be done, so it was out of Annie’s hands for now, which was a big weight off her shoulders.