Right on time, Gabrielle watched his limo pull in front of her apartment building. She grabbed her two large suitcases and headed down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom, Justin opened the door to help her out.

"I'll go get the rest." He said, passing her and walking through the door.

"This is it." He turned and looked at her, confused.

"This is it? You're only bringing two suitcases?"

"Justin, we're only going to be gone for two weeks, not two months." He smiled and grabbed her luggage and placed it in the trunk.

"C'mon, let's go. We can't be late."

Two hours into their flight to New York, the subject of Britney finally arose.

"Did you call her back?" She inwardly wished that he hadn't.

"Yeah, I did."

"And?"

"We're having dinner tomorrow night."

"Oh..." there wasn't much tone in her voice.

"Are you mad?"

"No. No, I'm fine. Besides, this'll be good for you guys. I'm sure you both have things you need to straighten out, ya know?"

"Yeah, I guess." He wasn't very much in the mood to discuss Britney at the moment.

"So, what's gonna happen today?" Gabrielle felt the need for a subject change and acted quickly.

"Um, as soon as we land, I have a show taping to do, and you'll come with me for that."

"And I will be doing what while you're taping?"

"Waiting backstage. There will probably be a greenroom or something where you'll be. Sometimes they have monitors in the greenroom, and if they do, you'll be able to watch from there." Gabrielle nodded in understanding. The remainder of the flight was spent in light conversation. Much of it was Justin explaining to Gabrielle about how she would play into the next two weeks.

Gabrielle was surprised to see how much his life ran exactly according to clockwork. As soon as the plane arrived, Justin and his entourage were the first off of the plane, and they immediately went to the studio in which the show would be taped. As he'd explained, there was a greenroom with a monitor, and for the hour before the taping started, the entourage had it all to themselves, including the abundant feast that accompanied the room.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him.

"Not really. Maybe a little about what they're gonna ask me, but no. I'm good."

"Justin, you're on." A man with an earpiece walked by Justin and spoke to him as if he was commanding. Justin nodded, and turned to Gabrielle

"Okay, I'll be back in awhile, then we'll go get settled in the hotel, and after that, I'll take you out to dinner. The crew has the night off so it's just me and you, kid." She smiled and let out a small giggle. She wished him luck and was amazed at how quickly the room cleared once Justin had left. She looked around and realized she was all alone, so she moved closer to the television and turned it on. She laughed as she saw Justin display a huge smile for the audience and host. He sat down across from the host and as soon as the applause died down, the questions began.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gabrielle noticed someone walk into the room, and she turned to acknowledge the person. It was a young man, probably the same age as she was. His hair was wildly groomed and bleached to the highest extreme; it was obviously professionally cared for.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" he asked her and sat down across from her to watch the show.

"Good, you?"

"I'm great, thanks." He flashed an amazingly perfect set of white teeth at her and winked. This man was gorgeous. His thick eyebrows and dark eyes captured her with all of their mystery. She'd never seen such a satisfying piece of eye candy.

"So, you're Justin's new flavor of the week, huh?" He sat back on his couch and looked directly into her eyes.

"Uh...no. I'm just a-a friend. We're not...involved." His eyes alone caused her to forget the English language and stumble over her words.

"Ah, right. Just friends. Well, it's good to know that he's not playin' you. He's really good at that, watch out."

"Oh, I don't have to worry. He's not into me."

"Yeah, that's how it starts. He tricks you into thinking serious shit, then he flips on you; does a whole one-eighty and starts changing his motives, you get me?" She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I didn't know that about him."

"He's good at catching the naive ones." She felt the need to change the subject.

"So, what are you here for?" she asked, hoping he'd get the hint.

"I'm a dancer. I'm practicing with some people in the next studio over. I thought I'd come check out the show on my break. I didn't know he was here today." He walked over to her couch and sat next to her to get a better view of the monitor. Gabrielle quickly felt hot with him being so close to her.

They both watched intently as Justin supplied a negative answer to the all-too-common girlfriend question.

"See? That man couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it."

"That is the truth."

"Mama, he is lying to you. He has a girlfriend; Britney Spears."

"No, they broke up. They're not together anymore...he is going out with her tomorrow night, though."

"He's playin' you and you don't even know it. They'll never be finished with each other. They're too obsessed with the publicity they get from being together. You gotta watch out for this one, Ma. He'll eat you alive without thinking twice. You need a sweet guy who won't hurt you." With his last line, he stared directly into her eyes. Gabrielle felt as though he was staring directly into her soul. He'd somehow inched closer to her; close enough to taste her.

"Maybe you should give me a call sometime." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a ready-made card with his name and number on it. He placed it in her hand, then turned her hand over and kissed the back before letting her go. His eyes began to burn through her again, and she forced herself to look away.

She barely heard footsteps approaching the room, but he'd obviously heard them. He stood and smiled at her before turning around to see Justin standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Justin. Good to see you again, Bro." The man walked closer to Justin and whispered in his ear, "I think your little friend likes me." He chuckled evilly and walked passed Justin out the door, making sure to shove him with his shoulder as he left. When Justin was sure the man was gone, he walked into the room, keeping an enormous distance between himself and Gabrielle.

"What did he say to you?" He was angry, she knew it. She watched as his brows and lips furrowed the way they did the night he had first told Gabrielle about Britney.

"Nothing, Justin. Calm down."

"I'm not fucking with you, Gabby. Tell me what he said to you." Gabrielle was shocked to hear him speak so angrily to her.

"He just told me some stuff about you, but I know that it's not true." She hoped that it wasn't true; she didn't know for sure.

"What did he say? I want specifics."

"He told me that you were just playing me...and he said that you lied to me about breaking up with Britney. He said that you two would never break up because of publicity or something. And he told me to watch out for you."

"That fucking asshole. I can't believe this."

"Justin, it's okay. I didn't believe him."

"No, Gabby. It's not okay. I saw you two together, and the way he was talking to you. You loved every minute of it. I saw the way you looked at him."

"Justin calm down."

"Come on, we're getting the hell out of here." He turned his back on her and expected her to follow. She waited until she couldn't see him any more, and she flipped the card over to read it. She skipped over the number and forced her eyes to the name. It plainly read Wade Robson.