Chapter Seven

The next day flew by in a whirl, as she followed the guys around. They had several promotional appearances, including a visit with Regis and Kelly. Everyone was in agreement that Rosie would be a better choice for the big announcement, so they kept mum all day. But the change in Justin was obvious to anyone who saw him. The sparkle was back in his eye, and he smiled readily and often. The rest of the NSync camp just seemed relieved, and she suddenly had four new best friends. She smiled as she watched him perform. She really was crazy about him. The only mystery was why it had taken her so long to figure it out.

That night, they went to dinner at Justin’s favorite Italian restaurant. Natalie had some trouble adjusting to being out in public with him. Between the security detail and the sideways looks, it felt odd. He didn’t stint on the affection, however, constantly touching her and making it quite apparent that they were a couple. By the time they were done with their meals, she had relaxed and was enjoying her time with him.

After dinner, Justin declared that he felt like taking a walk. "It’s not very cold out. Whaddaya say?"

She hesitated for a split second, then said, "OK. But remember, I’ve lived in Las Vegas for five years. It won’t take long for me to get cold."

She was surprised when he leaned over and said, low in her ear, "I’ll keep you warm," then planted a big smooch on her. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and she giggled. "Ah, I made you blush," he crowed.

"Did not," she retorted. "Come on, let’s get out of here."

It was a beautiful night, crisp but not really cold for December. They strolled down the Manhattan streets hand in hand, laughing and talking like schoolchildren. Colorful lights were strung from pole to pole, taking the place of the stars that weren’t visible inside this vast metropolis. Natalie took full notice of the decorations this time, as she tried to imprint this night on her memory. The overall mood was so amazing that she almost forgot that they weren’t an average couple.

That illusion was shattered when they made their way into a busier section of town. As they stood under a streetlight, waiting for a chance to cross the street, Natalie saw, out of the corner of her eye, a flashbulb go off. Reflexively, she turned her head toward the light, just in time to see it go off again. Without meaning to, she tightened her grip on Justin’s hand as Lonnie and Mike moved between them and the photographer.

After they had crossed the street and were back in the shadows, Justin stopped and pulled her closer to the wall. "Are you OK? You looked a little rattled back there."

"Yeah, I’m fine. I know it’s going to happen, but… I guess it’s good for me to get used to it by degrees."

"Good. Because by tomorrow night, there could be a lot more cameras. This is your last chance to change your mind."

"I know. It’s OK. I’ll deal with it."

Justin’s grin split his face from ear to ear, and he leaned in close so that he essentially had her pinned against the wall. "No more hiding," he breathed.

"No more hiding," she concurred, her heart pounding because of his nearness. He waited just a second longer, and then he pounced, kissing her with such passion that it made her toes curl. "Jesus, Justin," she said, breathlessly, when he finally released her. "I think somebody had too much wine with dinner."

"I don’t need wine to fuel this fire," he rumbled low in her ear. She swallowed hard, and her breathing grew shallow. Somehow, she managed to hide her arousal and give him a stern look. "What?" he asked with a mock pout, "You don’t like public displays of affection?"

"As a matter of fact, I don’t," she said, "Even when my boyfriend’s not a teen idol." That earned her a roll of his eyes, and she laughed. "Of course, that doesn’t mean I want you to stop kissing me like that." The impish look returned to his face, and he moved in for another kiss. It was even steamier than the first one, but Natalie cut it short. She was suddenly very conscious of Mike and Lonnie and who knew how many more sets of eyes. Boxing his ears lightly, she pushed him away from her, "OK, OK," she admonished him gently, "Not here. I think maybe we should go back."

Justin raised his eyebrows. "Yeah?" he asked, obviously not missing her meaning.

"Yeah," she answered, as she entwined her fingers in his once more.

She had no idea how far they’d walked, and it seemed to take forever to get back. By the time they made it to Room 2824, she ached to feel his lips on hers again. Once they were alone, he wasted no time fulfilling that wish, along with many others. Gone was the tentative boy who had shared her bed a year ago. In his place was a confident man who appreciated how far they’d come to get here and was determined to make the most of it. He moved without hesitation, and it occurred to her that she might no longer be the only woman he’d been with. She chose to ignore that possibility and just lose herself in him.

They turned out the lights and threw open the drapes, allowing the city lights to illuminate their nude bodies. Slowly, languorously, they made love, taking the time to rediscover each other. Nothing in the world had ever felt so real and so right, and Natalie understood for the first time that she was ready to give her heart and soul to this man. Together they explored what she felt certain were the outer limits of the universe. When it was all over, they crashed back to Earth and fell sound asleep in each other’s arms.

Sunshine poured into the room through the opening in the curtains and roused Natalie from her sleep. She was somewhat surprised to find no sign of Justin, since mornings weren’t exactly his thing. She got up and closed the drapes halfway. Clicking on the television, she started warming the coffeepot in the corner of the room. After a few minutes of channel-surfing, the coffee was ready. She poured herself a cup, savoring the aroma. Leave it to The Plaza to have incredible coffee in the room, she thought.

Just then, the door burst open, and Justin bounded in, dressed in workout clothes and carrying his headphones. He was glistening with sweat, and she could feel his energy from all the way across the room. Goddamn, he looked sexy. She wanted to throw him down, but she restrained the impulse, only allowing herself a simple, "Hey. There you are."

"Mornin’, he answered with a big smile. "I just went downstairs to work out."

"So I gathered," she said, as he walked toward her.

"Smart ass," he mumbled as he bent and found her lips with his own.

"Want some coffee?" she asked once they came up for air.

"Sweet Jesus, no. That’s all I need," he responded, and she realized then that he was nervous about today’s plans.

Standing up and wrapping her arms around his waist, she looked him dead in the eye. "How ya doing? You sure you’re ready for this?"

"Yes," he answered, nodding solemnly, "I have no hesitation about doing this. I just can’t believe today’s the day. It could change everything. Or it could change absolutely nothing. I don’t know. I feel like I’m jumping out of a plane without a parachute."

"Just remember I love you, no matter what happens. And so does Ben."

"Thanks," he whispered, kissing her again.

"Welcome," she replied, "Now get in the shower. You stink."

"Thanks a lot," he said, sarcastically.

"Anytime, Wonder Boy."

"Who told you to call me that? Did Lance tell you that? He knows I hate it."

"OK, OK, don’t start whining. Lance had nothing to do with it. Will you go take a shower? We’ll be late if you don’t get moving."

"Fine," he sighed, "But don’t call me that." Natalie just laughed. He quickly stripped off his wet clothes and dropped them in a corner. She couldn’t help admiring his lean, muscular form. He caught her, though, and wiggled his bare ass at her to let her know it.

"Justin…" she warned.

"All right, I’m going," he said, as he vanished into the bathroom.

After they were both dressed, they joined the others, who had gathered in the mini-lobby near the elevators. While they waited for JC, there was a brief discussion about how they were going to give Justin the floor once they were on television. Once everyone was present, however, there was no more talking, as it became all about motion. They all had to keep moving continuously as they exited the hotel. Natalie had already decided she didn’t like this part, with all the yelling and flashbulbs going off. She just put her head down and followed Lonnie.

They made it to the studio in time, but it would be a while before it was their turn on the air. After everyone’s hair and make-up was done, there was nothing to do but wait. Justin had corralled Rosie when they first arrived and given her a heads-up on his plans. She agreed to give him an opening and told him she thought he was doing the right thing by being honest. Now he was more keyed up than ever, and he was pacing the green room relentlessly. She could tell he was annoying the other guys, and she was about to try to get him to sit down when JC spoke up.

"Hey, J," he said, "Have you warned everyone about this? You’re not going to blindside anybody, are you?"

"Nah," Justin replied, "Everybody important knows."

"Everybody?" JC hesitated, looking at the others, "Even Britney?"

That stopped Justin in his tracks, finally. He closed his eyes and said, "No. I didn’t tell her."

"Don’t you think you’d better call her? She’s going to flip if she gets this news on TV. And you know they’re going to ask her stupid questions."

"He’s right, Justin," Natalie said quietly.

"Fine," Justin sighed, "I’ll call her." Grabbing his phone, he went out into the hallway.

"Wow," Natalie said, looking around, "Is she that bad?"

All four of them chuckled. "Nah, she’s OK," JC said.

Lance added, "She just never quite got over him, so every time he talks to her, she babbles on and on."

"And she is going to wig out when she hears this one," Chris piped up.

"Great," Natalie said, "That’ll really help him relax."

JC shrugged. "I was just trying to get rid of him. He was driving me nuts."

She couldn’t help but laugh. Just then she realized she hadn’t told Kara, either, and she needed her to tape the show at home. So she picked up her own phone and headed for the hall. She spotted Justin at one end. His free hand was on his hip, his head was bowed, and he was deep in conversation. Walking the other way, she dialed Kara and filled her in. When she finished, she turned around to find Justin leaning against the wall, waiting for her.

"Well, how’d it go?" she asked.

"OK, I guess." Slipping into a perfect imitation of Britney’s high-pitched drawl, he said, "How come you didn’t tell me? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!"

Natalie laughed. "I think we’re going to be hearing that a lot in the next few weeks."

"No doubt," he agreed. She saw a glimmer of the little boy still struggling with his newfound manhood, then, as an expression of insecurity played across his features for just a second. She opened her arms wide, and he stepped into her embrace.

"It’s going to be fine. This is the way to go," she said, trying to shore up his confidence.

"I know," he replied. Then, after a second, he shook his head. "Wait a second… When did these tables get turned? I used to be the one trying to convince you."

Natalie’s laugh rang out in the narrow hallway. "Yeah, but once I was convinced, that was it for me. I’m not the one who has to go on TV and say the words."

"Yeah, you got off easy," he teased.

"I hardly think being pregnant for nine months plus eight hours of labor – " she began.

"Whoa, whoa, don’t go there," he said, laughing and holding up his hands, "I take it back, I take it back."

"You better," she pouted. But he quickly erased the pout with a soft kiss, and she smiled radiantly up at him. "I love you, Justin Timberlake."

"And I love you, Natalie Moss."

Their reverie was interrupted by a production assistant who had come to fetch the guys. It was time. She walked with them to the wings, holding Justin’s hand tightly. As they reached the spot where she had to stop, she pulled him close. "You’ll be right over here?" he asked.

"Count on it," she replied. Kissing her forehead and letting his gaze linger, he walked out onto the stage behind the rest of his friends as the audience cheered wildly.

First, they sang, doing a revised arrangement of "The Christmas Song" that Natalie thought was a vast improvement over the old way they had done it. Then they moved to the interview chairs, making sure Justin ended up next to Rosie. Initially, she asked all the usual questions about the album, the tour, and how they would spend Christmas. After about five minutes of typically humorous chitchat, she glanced at Justin, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

Rosie took a deep breath and began, casually, "So, Justin, I heard you were sick the other day. Are you feeling better?" Natalie felt her breath catch in her throat, but Justin called on all his years in the public eye and just jumped right in.

"Well, actually, I wasn’t really physically sick."

"You weren’t? What happened?" Rosie encouraged him. Justin’s four best friends were watching him closely, and Natalie swore not one of them was breathing. They all wore supportive looks on their faces, though, and their body language urged him on. She doubted Justin was aware of any of this, however, because he was a man on a mission.

He continued, "Well, I was very upset about something. You see, there’s been all these rumors floating around about me having a child, and I haven’t addressed them because it just isn’t anyone’s business. But I got upset because I got tired of… not lying, exactly, but not telling the whole truth, either. So I wanted to set the record straight. The truth is that I am the very proud father of a seven-week-old son named Ben, and he and his mother are the best things that have ever happened to me."

There was a split second where Natalie could hear several gasps from the audience. But then they broke into a boisterous round of applause, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a grin slide across Justin’s face.

Rosie was beaming at him. "Well, good for you, Justin. Congratulations."

"Thank you," he said, still smiling broadly. But Natalie saw him swallow, and she could tell he was holding back tears of joy. JC saw it, too, and put his hands on Justin’s shoulders from behind for support.

Rosie took care of the sappiness quotient in a hurry. Looking at the other four guys, she challenged, "Anybody else got any earth-shattering news for me?" The guys made a big show of looking behind themselves and checking their pockets and generally hamming it up. When they came up empty, Rosie said, "Well, that’s probably good, ‘cause I think Justin’s news is going to fill up the front pages tomorrow," and everyone cracked up as Justin lowered his head and blushed. Smiling, Rosie sent the show to commercial, then immediately stood up and hugged Justin, saying something in his ear. The guys performed again, and afterwards, Justin ran directly over to Natalie.

Sweeping her literally off her feet with an enthusiastic hug, he cried, "We did it!"

"Well, you did, anyway," she answered, laughing. "What did Rosie say to you?"

"She said she thought I was very brave."

"She’s right, you were."

He took her face in his hands and stared at her with intensely blue eyes. "No, you’re the brave one. You’re giving up so much for this."

Natalie shook her head. "I may be giving up a few things, but I’m being repaid in triplicate. Being with you is worth all the challenges."

"I’m glad you feel that way, ‘cause you’re stuck with me now."

She sighed melodramatically, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

"You know…" Justin said, rolling his eyes and grinning. She laughed out loud and pressed her body to his, kissing him as if her life depended on it. Finally, they turned and left the wings, heading up the hallway with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. They wore matching expressions of pure delight, letting their love light up the room at last.

******************************************

"Now the Mississippi’s mighty,

But it starts in Minnesota

At a place that you can walk across

With five steps down.

And I guess that’s how you started,

Like a pinprick to my heart,

But at this point you rush right through me

And I start to drown."

                                    **Indigo Girls**

*****************************************

Completed 04/26/01

Feedback

Contents Page

Home