“UGH JUST..WHY..HOW? How does he look like that??” Katie exclaimed between sips of her margarita. 

On her tv, Justin had just ridden into the desert on a motorcycle and taken a shower under a conveniently placed faucet in the middle of nowhere. Seriously??

“Any chance he still has that jacket, Ry? Could you find out?”

Riley groaned. “No. No, I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“I mean, but you couullld.” 

It was gonna be a LONG night.

Katie and Emi had dutifully taken her through Justified, Justin’s first album, including selections from Katie’s Live from London DVD, and all promotional appearances.  

She remembered more than she realized. She was 13 when it came out, and remembered going with Katie and her mom to buy it the day it came out. Katie had been beside herself, loyal to a fault with anything having to do with *NSync. 

Riley had been upset that Justin had gone solo, and had all but abandoned the CD after the first few listens. It hurt too much. 

They had progressed to 2006, FutureSexLoveSounds, when Emi mentioned him working with Rihanna. Riley was unfamiliar, and they had insisted on a detour.

“This isn’t even his song, guys...I thought we were doing real research here…”

“He’s in the video, Riley, and he wrote the song… He doesn’t just write for himself. That’s important to know.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “Fine, fair point.”  She didn’t want to admit it, but he looked good in this video. Too good. That was her boss. Inappropriate.

A decision was made to skip any movies he had done, since Katie and Emi were split on how good an actor he was, but all 3 of them had thoroughly enjoyed a sidebar of his SNL appearances. He was funny. Riley would give him that.

“Ok Ry, here is where we peak. 20/20”

Riley laughed “You are nuts. It’s not that serious.”

Katie and Emi shot her a look. 

Riley made a face. “Geez. Sorry. Ok. Enthrall me.”

Katie pressed play on her laptop and the swell of a violin started up. 

Oh wow. She hadn’t expected that. The song quickly progressed to a chorus she had heard Katie and Emi sing along to. Oh yeah, this song. Not bad. Not bad at all, actually.

Katie and Emi had given in to full fangirl and were hopping around singing, complete with adlibs and voice inflections that went over her head. “THAT PUSHER LOVE...THAT’S WHAT I CALL IT…” 

Riley laughed. She hadn’t exactly been looking forward to spending her entire night listening to Justin Timberlake, but she loved these girls. Thank God for them.

A few songs later, a synthesizer blared, and she knew what it was. She actually used to love this song. It was gorgeous, and the lyrics had sent her into a trance the first time she heard it. Love was an amazing filter for songs like this. 

Her mind shot back to a random weekend road trip.

 It was a rare sunny late winter’s day, and Derek had suggested they go upstate for the day. They had both had crazy weeks at work, and a change of scenery was just that they needed.

Riley had won control of the radio, like she usually did, and when a voice came through the speakers, Derek had reached for the dial “Uh oh..” She had reached out to stop him.

“Eh. This song is actually really pretty…” Derek had smiled “Well, well, well..”

“Shut up,” she had laughed “I’m not heartless. Good music is good music.”

“CUZ I DON’T WANNA LOSE YOU NOOWWWW…” Derek had a horrible voice. 

“Stop it..stop it now..” she giggled.

“I’M LOOKIN RIGHT AT THE OTHER HALF OF ME…”

“You can go ahead and stop.” she teased, her smile betraying her.

“THE BIGGEST THING THAT SET IN MY HEART…”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s saying…” She let herself give in to full laughter. “Oh my God…”

She shook her head, and tried to focus on the present. 

“Um...We can skip this one. I know it. I like it, actually.” Her face said otherwise.

A lovey ballad. Katie and Emi gave each other a knowing look.

“Uh yeah sure. Yay! One you like…” Emi managed.

“This would actually be a great time to do the Netflix special..” Katie suggested

“OOOOH Yeah, Ya gotta see that, Ry...SO GOOD.” Emi agreed.

This was honestly just turning into Katie and Emi trying to make her a fan. It wasn’t working, but she was getting a new perspective, which was probably a good thing. 

Riley watched as Justin commanded the stage. 

He does kinda clean up nice, actually, she thought.

A few years had obviously passed, and this looked a little more like the Justin she had to deal with daily. Only he was more playful. Happier. Was he a better actor than she gave him credit for, or was the stage his happy place? Hmm.

As she got lost watching, she was interrupted by two sets of eyes staring at her, grinning.

“Oh my God you love this…” Emi teased.

“WHAT...No! I’m studying. I’ve never seen him like this. Ya know...not when I’m working.”

“Uh huh...You mean charming? Hott?” Katie offered. 

Riley threw a couch pillow at her.

“No, ass..”

Katie laughed. “Come on, Ry…”

“It’s a good show! Well done, ok…” Riley admitted “I never said he wasn’t talented…that’s not my issue, and you know it.”

“Oh Riley ...You’re gonna have to ease up a bit, I mean...He’s paying you. You wanna be miserable every day?” Emi pointed out.

Riley sighed. Maybe they were right. She hated it, but she was going to have to swallow her pride and accept her situation.

**

Riley made her way to the set , carefully balancing two lattes on a drink holder. It turned out they would be there all day, so she had heeded Justin’s advice and dressed a little more for comfort. 

She opted for inconspicuous, and had chosen a simple black hoodie, her favorite pair of jeggings, and all white Nike hi-tops. She figured a carefully arranged top knot wasn’t TOO unprofessional in this case, and he HAD told her not to dress up. She got to the location and after showing her credentials to the woman with the clipboard who had stopped her, propped her sunglasses on top of her head, seeing if she could spot him. He had texted her saying he was there already. 

“GREAT. There you are.  Not too off schedule but you’ll need to get to makeup right away.” a man in a headset approached her. 

“Oh um...Ok...with Justin..?” 

He looked down at a paper he was holding “Uhh..Yeah he might still be there actually..”

Riley looked at him confused. “Uh...which way?” He directed her to a tent in the distance and she made her way over. What was all that about?

She found her way in and Justin called out to her.

“Marin!...Yessss... Caffeine...Thank you.” She handed him his request and stepped back, not wanting to be in the way. He was just finishing up with wardrobe and makeup. 

Justin looked her up and down, his mouth twisting into an expression she couldn’t quite read. 

“Nice kicks...:”

Riley looked down and remembered their first meeting. Right..sneakerhead. 

“Thanks...What…?” she responded to the way he was looking at her.

“Uh...Nothing..More comfortable today. You take direction well” He winked.

“They’re ready for us,” a voice from behind her spoke. 

She turned around and saw a woman in a black cropped tank and black open zip-up hoodie. Dark hair, brown eyes. 

“Eliza...Riley...Riley...Eliza..” Justin gestured between the two of them. 

“Oh hi! Great to meet you,” the woman smiled and shook Riley’s hand. “You with this one? “ she motioned to Justin.

“Guess you could say that. Busy guy. Needs coffee, ya know?” she smiled. 

What the hell, girl? She really needed to work on her small talk. It used to be so much better.

Justin gave Riley a look.

“Well, I’ll let you guys get to it. Good luck today! Looking forward to watching.”

“Thanks,” Eliza smiled. “Looks like its gonna be a fun shoot.”

Eliza started walking ahead of Justin and he turned back around to whisper near Riley’s ear “Black hoodie...dark hair. Do you always have to match the occasion?” He grinned as he followed Eliza. 

What the hell did that mean?? She followed behind him, a safe enough distance should he need anything.

She watched as Justin confronted a group of people in all white with white painted faces. How did this match the song at all? 

Oh well, who was she to question the creative process? Eliza moved forward to stage a punch.

Nice! Badass female lead. I like it, she thought. 

“Ok GREAT THAT WAS GREAT GUYS. CUT! GOT THAT. Let’s do that sequence one more time…”

She heard Justin and Eliza talking between takes.

“Damn girl...hell of a hook…” he grinned at Eliza.

She laughed “Yeah when its fake. Don’t put me in a ring…” 

Justin smiled “Nah. You could handle your own.” he playfully nudged her arm. 

Eww. It had taken him 2.5 seconds to flirt? Maybe her initial assessment of him was right , after all.

Riley watched as Justin and Eliza shot take after take, frame by frame. 

This was taking a lot longer than she realized. She would never watch a music video the same way again. 

...

Day turned to night, and Riley walked back with food for Justin to eat on a break. 

“THANK You. Starving” he took the food from Riley. He had been busy with a wardrobe change and blocking. The next shots would take place in a car, some sort of chase scene as Justin had described it to her. She wrapped her arms around her hoodie. It was cold. Probably why Justin had changed into a jacket. 

He looked at her.

“Marin. Here.” He tossed the jacket at her. “I don’t need this yet.”

She caught it, surprised. “Oh that’s ok. I’m fine.”

“You’re shivering, Marin. Just wear it,” he said with a mouthful of food.

Eliza walked by, a new outfit in a body hugging long sleeved shirt and metallic choker.

“Look at you!” Justin remarked. His eyes were fully appreciative and his grin was back.

Did he know how to control himself? Geez.

Eliza laughed and made a “ta-da” motion, eyes lowered at Justin. 

Did they need some privacy?

She laughed. “See you at the car, Justin” She continued walking and Riley tried to hide her disgust.

Another headset walked by and confronted Riley “Oh shit...You didn’t change yet?”

“I’m sorry..?” Riley stared back at him.

“We just...We start back up in a few minutes so we need you ready to go..”

What the hell is going on? Riley thought. 

Justin watched, a laugh threatening to escape…

“Uhhh…” He waved at the headset and pointed over to where Eliza was standing, drinking a cup of coffee, and chatting with some extras.

The guy in the headset stared back at Riley with wide eyes and quickly looked at Justin, embarrassed. 

“Oh...Um. My bad. Sorry, ma’am” he looked at Riley before hurrying off.

Justin laughed as Riley looked at him confused.

“You REALLY don’t see it,” he could barely get out between laughs.

“See what?”

“Riley...black hoodie...dark hair...latina…?”

How had hefigured out she was latina? She never told him that. Her last name wasn’t even obvious. 

“Ok…?”

Justin rolled his eyes. “You look alike, Marin...Out here confusing these poor PAs, he laughed a little harder.

Riley’s raised her eyebrows. “Uh...No we don’t.”

“Ok..” he shook his head, finishing his food and walking back to set. “Thanks for dinner, Marin. See you in a few.”

Justin jogged over to Eliza, and Riley watched him say something that made her erupt with laughter and blush.

He had NO shame. And what the hell was he talking about. They looked nothing alike...Did they?