Three weeks later, Salina and JC entered the Superdome for the SuperBowl hand-in-hand.
Salina had been successful in keeping Justin’s guest appearance for the halftime performance a secret. She had also gotten all five of the NSync men down to Florida to watch the SuperBowl and discuss plans for this year’s Challenge for the Children.
Salina and JC entered the box suite where Lance, Justin, Cameron and Chris were already celebrating, beers in hand.
JC let go of Salina’s hand as he ran up behind Lance and jumped on his back. Lance, startled, almost spilled his beer. He looked back at JC and smiled, “Fucker! I almost spilled my drink.”
JC smiled and hopped off his back and tosseled his hair. “You could get another,” he joked as Lance rolled his eyes and moved on to hug Salina.
Once the entire group had arrived and everyone was served drinks and food, they settled into their seats and watched the game with the normal allotment of hooting and hollering.
When it was time for the halftime show, Salina walked with Justin and his bodyguard to the bottom of the stadium. She watched from the sides as he performed with Janet and her jaw literally dropped when Justin’s last line and choreography exposed Janet’s breast.
She watched as the two were rushed off the stage. When Justin reached her she almost slapped him.
“Tell me that wasn’t part of the choreography.”
His face contorted amusedly. “Well, not exactly. Let’s go back upstairs. I need another beer.”
She sighed and followed him as her cell phone rang. “This is Salina.” She groaned as the first of what she was sure would be many press inquiries came in.
The minute Justin walked into the box he was greeted by Cameron and a host of friends trying to get information.
“Dude, what the hell was that?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t what we planned.”
“J, where’s Salina?” JC questioned.
“Handling press calls outside.” Justin sighed and sat back down realizing what a big deal this actually was. Cameron perched herself on his lap and kissed him.
“Try not to think about it, babe. Just enjoy the rest of the game.” She said.
”She’s right, J. There’s nothing you can do about it now.” Joey agreed from his spot beside Kelly.
“I know Craig, trust me when I know what happened, you’ll know.” Salina spoke in a voice JC had never heard. “A feature on what, Craig?! He’s not doing any interviews over this bullshit.”
JC’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he laughed quietly before leaning back against the wall and watching her stress herself out.
Salina closed her phone without saying goodbye, but continued typing into her Blackberry. She had yet to notice JC.
“Pretty crazy, huh?” He asked softly.
She looked up at him and nodded. “You’d think they had sex right up there on stage or something.”
“Partial nudity is a pretty big deal to the FCC.” He reached for her hand. “Come on. Come enjoy the game, babe.”
Just then Salina’s phone rang, but JC grabbed it from her and turned it off quickly.
“JC, I need to answer that.” She cried and reached for it as he held it over his head.
“Nope,” he shook his head. “Come on, you’re just gonna get more and more stressed. What’s the worst that can happen? US Weekly will print, ‘Timberlake’s rep couldn’t be reached for comment’.”
She sighed and nodded before placing her arm around his waist as he led her back inside.
“What the hell do you need this big of a suite for?” Joey asked as he sat down on the plush couch in the suite that Justin was sharing with Cameron. “It’s only you and your girl.”
“If I didn’t where would you fools meet?” Justin asked from his place on the floor.
“Ok guys, let’s get started.” Salina said as she passed out schedules and information. “Okay, now trust me this stuff will change, but I just wanted to take you through the preliminary plans for Challenge.”
Salina walked them through the events that would take place that week, stopping every so often to answer questions.
When she finished she checked her Blackberry quickly and turned to Justin. “We need to talk after this.”
He nodded and she returned to the task at hand.
“Ok, here’s the list of celebs that we’re planning to invite. If there’s any ideas tell me now and stuff you come up with later you can call and tell Jen about.”
“Who’s Jen?” Chris asked.
Salina gave him a dumbfounded look. “My assistant. Chris, you talk to her every time you call my office and you don’t know her name yet?”
Lance thwaped Chris on the back of the head with his pamphlet and the other guys laughed as Chris just shrugged.
The guys spouted off their ideas and once Salina had gotten their most updated contact information she excused them to leave.
“I’ll be there in a second.” She told JC as he walked out with Lance.
“How you holding up against the psychos?” Justin asked her referring to the journalists that had been hounding her for answers.
Salina took in a breath. “Justin, the FCC is getting involved now. They’re going to fine you, Janet, CBS, the NFL…everyone involved.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know yet…a lot. They’re conducting a full-on investigation.” She cringed at his angered expression. “This is serious, Justin. They may not let you go to the Grammy’s.”
His head snapped up. “They can’t do that!”
“Yes, they can. It’s the same network.”
He stood up and went to the mini-bar and poured himself a drink despite it being only 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
“Fucking CBS! I actually have a chance at winning this time, Sal. Do anything you can please! I need to be there. I won’t take Cameron, I’ll take my mom.” He said quickly.
Salina chuckled and realized that she hadn’t been as subtle about her distaste for Cameron Diaz as she had thought. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m not making any promises and at the very least it’s going to require you to make a public apology. I need you to be 100% honest with me when I ask you this next question, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Was it really a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ or was it planned that way?”
“No! It was never supposed to expose her.” He stated emphatically.
She nodded and began to collect her belongings. “You know, you might wanna call her. See how she’s holding up.”
He shook his head. “Nah, don’t wanna bother her.”
She stared at him before responding. “Okay, well I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Alright, thanks.” He said from his place on the couch as she let herself out.
When Salina returned to her room, she was actually relieved to find JC not there.
She climbed onto the bed and realized that she hadn’t had a moment to herself since the new year had started.
With the work for Challenge, Justin’s SuperBowl incident and JC’s album getting ready to be released, she’d been swamped with work. She was thankful that she’d had Jenn watch Vanessa for the weekend so she and JC could spend some time together.
Sometime during her mentally writing her statement for Justin’s website she fell asleep and woke up an hour later to JC climbing in beside her.
“Hey,” she yawned.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. Where’d you go?”
“Joey, Chris and I went to check out the pool.” He said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind
“Checking out hot chicks?” She smiled.
“Already have a hot chick right here, babe.” She laughed and he kissed her cheek.
“Thank you. What time does our flight leave?”
“Not till nine. You can rest for a bit longer.”
She rolled over to face him and kissed him. “Yay!” She whispered. “Was it good to see all the guys together again?”
“Yeah, as much as I do love having the freedom to make my music the way that I want; there’s nothing like the five of us being together. I forgot what it was like.”
“Do you guys ever fight?”
He frowned. “Like fist fight?”
“No, just argue?” She rested her forehead against his chest as they spoke.
He shook his head. “Not since we first started out. That was only because we were around each other so much. Once we got bigger and didn’t have to share rooms or all pack into one bus we never fought.”
“Wow.”
“Mm-hmm”
”Who’s moodiest?”
He drew in a breath and scratched his brow. “Uh…Justin, I guess.”
She let out a grunt. “That really doesn’t surprise me.”
“He…I don’t know, he’s much more in the spotlight than the rest of us.” JC argued for his friend. “Even when we were just beginning, the media drew him out more. His relationships, decisions “ everything is in the public domain. Though I guess it’s made him the most successful, it’s also hardest for him.”
“Did it ever cause tension among the five of you?”
“A little, I guess, more than we’d like to admit. But it was more just an annoyance that we’re asked about him when we’re trying to do our own thing. More than anything we’re proud of the kid.” She stared at the admiration in his eyes.
“I love you.”
He smiled. “Well, I love you too, Sal. And I feel bad that you’ve done nothing, but work so how about we order up some food and have a romantic 3 hours before we have to leave?”
“Oh my God, that sounds like perfection. I’m gonna go change into my sweats, you order the food, okay?” She kissed him quickly and ran into the bathroom to change.
Later that evening after eating dinner they laid in bed together watching Forrest Gump and feeding each other strawberries.
“Is this a true story?” Salina asked as Tom Hanks made the Watergate call on the TV screen.
JC laughed. “No! You think one man witnessed Watergate, met like 3 Presidents, and played ping-pong in China?”
“Well, I don’t know. He’s telling it all like it’s a true story. Like who thinks of these things? Star Wars! Another one that makes no sense.”
JC sat up quickly causing Salina, who was lying on his chest to sit up as well. “Don’t hate on Star Wars.” He warned.
“You’re a Star Wars nerd?!”
He scoffed. “I think the word ‘nerd’ is a little harsh.”
She giggled. “Aww. I never knew.” She leaned in to kiss him. “Do you wear glasses?”
“Yeah,” he groaned as he laid down and pulled her back on top of him. “But I just recently got them. Old age is catching up with me.”
She giggled. “What’s your favorite food?”
“Vodka.” He stated in all seriousness.
She rolled her eyes. “I said food.”
He rubbed his hand over his face while keeping his other arm securely wrapped around her. “Uh…I don’t know. Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Because I wanna know you. We never just sit and talk its either business or watching Vanessa. Never just us, like this. I like us.”
He stared at her and placed a kiss on her head. “I like us too.” He took in a breath. “So what else do you wanna know?”
She smiled and although she was tired before she and JC spent the rest of the night packing and talking.
Salina smiled to herself as she and her boyfriend rode the elevator up to her floor together. JC noticed and shifted her bag on his shoulder.
“Excited to see your baby?” he asked.
“Yeah, I don’t ever leave her, but it was nice to relax.” She responded as the elevator doors opened and she led him to her apartment.
Just as she was about to unlock the door, he pulled her to a halt. He kissed her gently before hugging her tightly against him. “I love you, Sal.”
“I love you too, Josh. I had a really good time this weekend.” She said not realizing that she sounded like a 15-year-old coming home from her first date.
JC laughed. “Yeah, we should do it again sometime.”
Salina hit his arm playfully. “I’m trying to be cute here.”
“I know.” He said, kissing her one more time before she unlocked her front door.
“There she is.” She heard Jenn say as she turned towards the living room.
She grinned as Vanessa came running towards her. She bent down to scoop up her daughter and swore the toddler had grown six inches since she’d last seen her.
“Hola, mi hija. Mommy missed you.” Vanessa giggled in response as Salina covered her daughter’s face in kisses
“Geez, you’d think you’d left for years.” Jenn cracked from her spot leaning against the couch.
“The mommy missed her baby.” JC remarked as he kissed the top of Vanessa’s head and excused himself to go to the bathroom.
“So, how was she?”
“She missed you a lot. But she was an angel, as always,” Jenn said as she put all of her stuff back into her duffel bag.
Salina smiled and hugged her daughter closer. “You were a good girl for mommy?”
Vanessa nodded. “I good.”
Jenn looked at Salina hesitantly before uttering her next words. “Umm…so Tyler stopped by a couple times while you guys were gone.”
Salina frowned. “Tyler? Why?”
Jenn shrugged and sat next to Salina on the couch. “He said he was checking up on Vanessa.”
“Well, that’s sweet, I guess.” Salina noticed Jenn’s troubled face. “What’s up?”
“Is he…seeing anyone?”
“Tyler? No, I don’t think so. Why? Are you interested?”
“I don’t know.” Jenn sighed. “I mean we seem to have a lot in common and I was getting the flirty vibe from him. We’re supposed to hang out this weekend.”
“Well, it sounds like fun. He’s a really sweet guy. Give him a chance.”
“Give who a chance?” JC asked as he re-entered the room.
“This guy Jenn is semi-dating.” Salina answered vaguely.
JC nodded and leaned over to kiss Salina goodbye. He then scooped up Vanessa and gave her a big, wet kiss. “Bye, munchkin.”
“C, bye-bye?” Vanessa asked him with her hands on his cheeks.
“Yeah, I gotta go home. But I’ll see ya tomorrow. I’m making you and mommy dinner.”
Jenn scoffed. “You’re cooking?!”
“He lost a bet.” Salina answered as she took her daughter back. He kissed her one more time before bidding Jenn goodbye and letting himself out.
“So, what are you gonna wear on your date?”
Jenn sighed again. “I don’t even know if I’m going for sure.” Salina remained silent. “Thanks for not saying anything to JC.”
“No problem. He & Tyler are pretty close though. He’s gonna tell JC.”
“That’s okay.” Jenn stood and hauled her bag to the door. “I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
Salina watched Jenn walk out of the door before turning to her daughter. “Did you miss me, mi hija?” She asked kissing her daughters cheek one more time. “Mommy missed you so much.” Salina sat Vanessa down next to her doll house and mother and daughter played together for hours.
Story Tags: boyfriendjc jc justin hospital tabloids joey chris lance solojc
