Riley settled in to her hotel digs for the week, flopping backwards onto her bed and sighing. 

This room was way too nice. Justin had argued that since she would be there an entire week, she needed a place that felt comfortable. She was a little worried about how much she work she would be doing if her place to rest looked like this. 

It wasn’t huge, but the king bed in the center of the room felt like a cloud, and she couldn’t find the source of the slight smell of jasmine in the air. A full chest of drawers stared at her from across the foot of the bed, and to the left of it sat a Full Cedar writing desk, topped with a complete stationary set. A keurig would have been fine, but on the other end of the desk she noticed both a french press with a small bag of ground coffee and an automatic espresso machine, complete with all the condiments. 

“What the hell is this place?” she said to herself. 

Getting up to walk around, she found a sizeable mini bar and fridge combo, fully stocked. A small bakery box sat on top with a note that read “Have a Sweet Stay,” and she recognized the branding from the hours of Cupcake Wars she had watched. Peeking inside the lid, she confirmed it was a Sprinkles cupcake. 

“Hello Night 1 plans…” she smiled. 

Making her way to the bathroom, she mentally hugged Justin. A full, deep marbled tub with a massaging showerhead greeted her upon opening the door, and she peeked around the corner to notice a separate dressing area. 

Well that’s completely unnecessary, she thought to herself. 

She yawned and realized she could use a pick me up, grabbing a change of clothes to lay on the bed for after a shower. 

**

Smiling to herself as she basked in the Molton Brown scent cloud the hotel shower gel had created, Riley stepped out of the shower, drying off and grabbing the fluffy robe she had found behind the door. Wrapping it around herself, she threw her hair up in a smaller towel and made her way back to the bed to go over her itinerary. 

She took a deep breath as she saw everything on the schedule. In the week leading up to the ceremony, Justin had meetings with various contacts while he was in town, and Riley would need to balance that schedule while helping coordinate details of the star dedication and a surprise group appearance on Ellen. She would also be assisting with any unexpected issues that came up.

Riley color coded, organized, and made her own notes before she noticed her stomach rumble and decided to treat herself to some room service. This hotel ABSOLUTELY had great room service, she figured. 

As she waited, she changed into jeggings and a sweater, flipped on the tv, and walked over to the desk to explore the coffee station. 

A knock on the door interrupted her. “That was quick…” she thought as she made her way to the door. 

Opening it, she expected a pressed catering smock and a rolling cart, but was met instead by a Nike hoodie and a scruffy smile. 

“Justin? What are you doing here?”

He smiled “You wear glasses?”

Riley ripped them off her face. “Contacts...Usually…”

“Did you...Is there a meeting tonight or…” she asked confused.

Justin had a place in LA, so there was no way he was staying in the same hotel, and it was 3 o ‘ clock in the afternoon.

“No. Just...wanted to make sure you settled in.”

“I...did.” There was an awkward pause. “Do you wanna come in?”

He smiled and made his way in, scanning the room “Not bad…”

“Eh. It’ll do…” she teased. 

Justin grinned and then stuck both his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. 

“Riley uh...I thought maybe we should talk about ...earlier…”

Riley looked down, embarrassed. “Uh..Yeah..Yeah that makes sense. “ 

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, Justin following suit.

“Um so ...what was that?” she asked. 

Running one hand over the back of his head, Justin stared ahead of him “I don’t...I don’t know. It’s just really easy to talk to you, Riley… You make my life...easier.”

“That’s...Literally what I’m paid to do, Justin…” she pointed out. 

Staring at her, his eyes darkened a little “That’s not what I mean…”

“I mean. You’re easy to talk to, too, Justin. A lot easier than I thought…”

“Because you hated me?” he teased.

Riley rolled her eyes. “I didn’t HATE you ...I just...You annoyed me, ok…”

“Do I annoy you now?”

Riley laughed “Probably even more, actually…” She put her hands on his shoulders “You’re a handful sometimes, Timberlake.” 

His hand reached up to her wrist and she shifted forward as she slid into his lap. His hands ran through her hair as their lips found each other again. Wrapped in each other’s arms, Riley felt herself getting lost, and pulled back, sliding back onto the bed. 

“Justin stop…” She smoothed her hair back and stared at the floor. 

He sighed “Ok. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Riley what’s going on?”

“I really don’t know. I’m sorry. What I DO know...is you’re my boss. That’s what matters here.”

Justin ran his hands down his pant legs. “Yeah...Yeah you’re right…”

“Look um. We obviously...get along. But I think we can be adults about this, right? Professionals.”

Justin’s eyes smiled before his mouth did “Of course…”

“Maybe...try not to be so charming?” Riley teased. 

Justin chuckled “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Clearly…” Riley smirked. 

“Well try not to be so badass…” Justin countered. 

Riley smiled. “I REALLY cannot guarantee that…” 

Justin offered his hand “Fresh start?”

Riley nodded and shook his hand firmly “Fresh start. “

It was cute. Strike one.

**

Riley leaned forward into the hotel room sink as she finished her eyeliner. She examined herself in the mirror as she fussed with her hair.

“UGH. DO something!” She whined. As soon as she got back to New York, she was making it her mission to get a haircut.

Riley walked back into the room to check herself in the full-length mirror. Justin had jokingly told her to look nice, but he really hadn’t needed to. 

It wasn’t every day a reformed boyband fan got to meet her childhood heroes.

Chris Kirkpatrick had thought it might be a good idea for them all to get together and shoot the breeze before the Star Ceremony. Nerves would undoubtedly be high, and he thought everyone would benefit from a little guys’ night. 

Why Riley had been invited was beyond her, but she certainly was not going to pass up the opportunity.

She had decided on orange high waisted paperbag pants, a simple black clingy tank, black strappy heels, and her favorite multicolored tassel earrings. Deciding her hair would drive her insane in its current state, she grabbed an elastic and pulled it back into a low ponytail. 

Bold lip or muted? She asked herself. She silently mocked herself for caring so much, but she knew this was kind of a big deal. She thought of Emi and Katie, who would undoubtedly tell her to make sure her makeup was perfect for this. Bold, she decided and carefully applied a burnt orange color. 

She finished just in time for her phone to buzz that the car was downstairs. 

“*NSync time, Riley!...” she said to herself. 

Riley and Justin walked into the hotel and Riley looked around at the carefully selected furniture and gothic molding on the ceilings. A chandelier straight out of a countryside castle hung above them, and Riley immediately felt a little out of place, knowing full well how well-known this place was - and the crowd that usually hung out here.

“Nervous?” Justin smiled.

“A little. When does TMZ get here?” Riley joked. 

Justin laughed. “Best part of this place. Once you’re inside, total safe zone.” He winked.

“Mr. Timberlake! “ a woman greeted them. “Great to see you.” She extended her hand to Riley, clearly well trained on shmoozing. “Pleasure…”

“Riley,” she smiled as she shook yet another hand. 

“Your party is right this way…” She walked them to a darker corner, where four men sat. Riley felt her heart pick up a bit. Why was she this nervous? It had been like 18 years since they all hung on posters on her wall.

All four men stood as they approached, and Justin smiled, hugging them all in turn before turning back to Riley. 

“Guys...Riley..” he gestured to her. 

“Uh...hello..” She tried to play it cool before taking a seat. Why was she the only woman there? She knew enough from Katie and Emi that Lance and Chris were married, and the other 2 had girlfriends.  What was going on?

“Nice to meet you, Riley” Joey spoke up first “So you’re the one putting up with this joker…” he pointed at Justin.

Riley laughed a little “Only in New York…” The guys all laughed and returned to their drinks.

“Well it’s great to meet you. Appreciate you putting up with all of us this week, too…” A pair of the bluest eyes she had ever seen looked at her. “JC” he waved. 

Riley smiled “Um...yeah..” she nodded. He blushed before giving her a shy smile of acknowledgement.

“And I’m LANCE..” Chris chirped. Right on cue. Still the comedian of the group.

The night was going well so far, and Riley was surprised how easy it was to be herself around these 5. It made sense why they had been successful. They really were as genuine as they had seemed all those years ago. 

Justin looked up at something behind Riley and then at her. She tried to see what had caught his attention, but the lighting made it hard to notice anything.

“SO...Riley...You left out a very important detail on this trip…”

“I did?” her eyes went wide, and the other 4 guys laughed a little. 

“Yes. You did. It’s April 25th…”

“Okaaaay….”

Ohhh shit. Did he know? How did he know…?  She thought.

Riley sensed motion behind her and turned just as a sparkler was arriving on a gorgeous plate of dessert. She blushed, wanting the ground to swallow her.

“Justin…” she warned. 

He smiled as all 5 men stood up and surrounded her. She looked around, only now noticing they had the entire room to themselves. Small miracles. 

Joey was the first to start, with everyone else joining in on harmony

“Haaappyyy biiirthdayyy...tooo you...Happy Biiiirthday...to youuuuuu…”

Riley couldn’t stop the smile on her face as she twisted to no avail to try to hide. 

“I hate you…” she mouthed at Justin as he sang. He managed a small chuckle in the middle of his vocals.

“Haaaapppy biiiirthday to Riiiiiiiillleeeeyyyy...HAPPPY biiirrrthdaay tooo...YOOOUUUUU…”

Riley clapped as she felt tears forming in her eyes. She was mortified. 

“That was...JUSTIN..How did you know?!”

“Johnny told me...Uh..ya know..information on file, Marin…”

She shook her head and made a mental note to yell at Johnny.

“Thank you…” she smiled and looked at Justin “You know you all have to do that again so I can show Katie and Emi, right?” 

They all laughed and Riley wiped her eyes. 

“Marin are you CRYING?” Justin lost it. 

“SHUT UP. NO! “ Riley looked away.

“SUCCESS!” JC shouted like a little kid, pulling a victorious fist into himself.

“Big 3-0, Marin…”Justin shook his head “Why didn’t you tell me??”

Riley shook her head back “I am REALLY going to kill Johnny…”

Justin smiled “Nah...That part was me. It’s easy math…Happy Birthday, Riley…”

Riley smiled. It really was.