Meadow Quade sat peacefully on the couch as she watched the two men in front of her add the final touches to a song they had been working on for the past two hours. In defiance to her usual routine, her eyes couldn’t stray from the man with brown hair and blue eyes, from his concentrated face or his precise, mastered fingers as they roamed the outboard. She knew Dustin would not notice her stares because he was transfixed with the exact same image. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have guessed that Dustin had formed a crush on JC.
The thought made her smile.
“That section still doesn’t fit with the rest though,” Dustin was saying. His eyes were alert, not red-rimmed and lazy as they used to be. He hadn’t had a drop of alcohol in over two months due to JC’s request that he drop the habit while working on the album. “Why don’t you play it back and add a little more Lance to the background vocals.”
JC made the necessary adjustments that Dustin had suggested and then played it back.
“Yes!” Dustin exclaimed triumphantly. “That’s it! What do you think J?”
“Very good Dustin. I like it.”
He smiled proudly, as if he had received a gold star from his favorite teacher. “That’s one more song down. We’ve only got two more left to finish off and then the masterpiece is completed! This calls for a celebration! What do you think Meadow?”
She grinned when Dustin briefly looked her way. “It’s a little early to be celebrating, don’t you think dear? Besides, I don’t think JC wants you to pop a cork of Champaign here in the studio just yet.”
“I wasn’t talking about that kind of celebration,” Dustin said. “I was just going to run down the hall and pop a cork of the vending machine’s finest selection of Sprite, if that’s all right with you Meadow. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m parched.”
“That sounds great,” Meadow said.
“What about you?” Dustin nudged JC, who hadn’t looked up from the outboard, with his elbow. “You want a drink?”
“Huh?” JC’s head shot up momentarily and then shifted back downwards. “Yea, sure, whatever.”
Dustin laughed and shook his head, then left the room to go and get the drinks, leaving Meadow and JC alone. Before the door had a chance to click shut, Meadow was on her feet, her calculated steps leading her to the man sitting with his back to her. Her usual smile was on her face, the one that suggested something more was going on behind her eyes than one could guess.
“So,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. “How’s the song going?”
He didn’t look up. “Fine.”
“Everything’s already finished? You don’t want any help?” The secret behind Dustin and Meadow was that Dustin did all of the work and Meadow approved or disapproved, offering her opinion only as her means of producing. Meadow was not a producer, she knew nothing about the art. She only knew what she thought sounded good.
JC knew this and looked up, curious as to why she was offering something she didn’t have to give. Then he glanced down at her hand on his shoulder and then returned his attention back to the outboard. “No, it’s almost done.”
She was moving, stepping slowly around to the other side of him, her hand gliding along his back to the other shoulder. “You’re so dedicated to this album.”
“I’m dedicated to every song I create.”
“You’ve memorized every single beat and syllable in each song, haven’t you?”
“Of course.” He shook his shoulder, not uncomfortably, but annoyed. “If you don’t mind, I have to finish this.”
“Oh, yes, sorry,” she said, lifting her hand, smiling slightly. “Didn’t mean to distract you.”
He said nothing and continued with his work.
“All this work and no play must get pretty precarious. What do you like to do outside of the studio?”
“Write songs.”
“Don’t you have any social life at all? Any friends beyond the group? Isn’t there a…” she paused, “a special someone in your life?”
He didn’t look up. “No.”
Just then the door opened and Dustin walked in, carrying three cans of soda and three yellow plastic cups. When he entered Meadow jumped back, startled, an effort to hide some sort of guilt shining clearly on her face. JC remained playing with the outboard.
“You’re back,” Meadow said tensely.
“Yea.” Dustin looked suspiciously, but not at JC, only at her. She was almost surprised to see his accusing glare directed at her entirely. “What are you guys doing?”
“Nothing at all,” she replied, taking her seat on the couch, smiling pleasantly. “Dustin, pour me a drink, would you please?”
~~
Justin Timberlake laughed.
“This isn’t funny,” the woman in front of him said over the loud music of the club. She crossed her arms over her chest and attempted a look of scorn and contempt, although it was hard to hold because his smile was so disarming. “You told me your plan would work.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he replied casually, his tone labeling the matter unimportant.
“You gave me your word.”
“I gave you advice. It was your choice to take it, to execute it, and to be successful. Clearly you must have failed at one of the three.”
“I didn’t!”
He lifted the drink he was carrying to his mouth. “I’m sure he’ll be back.”
“You don’t understand!” she exclaimed desperately. “The things he said, the way he looked…he isn’t going to be coming back Justin. Not this time, not after what I’ve done. You have to help me! You have to fix this! He means everything to me!”
“And that, my dear, is exactly your problem. You have him on a level of perfection that he can’t possibly reach and that you can’t possibly live up to. If what he wants is to have some time to himself right now, let him have it, live your life, and go on without him. Allow him to be free and don’t keep breathing down his back every five minutes, begging for a relationship. It’s only going to push him farther from your reach. I mean, that’s what I’d do if I were in your position.”
“Bravo,” a voice behind them said.
Justin whirled around and his breath caught in his throat. He blinked, wondering if he had had to many drinks that evening. “Karen!”
She stood tall, wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, her legs spread slightly apart, clapping. Her smile was neither wicked nor innocent, just Karen. “Excellent speech there slick.”
“I…I…I mean…what…”
“Really Justin, don’t be so obvious,” she scolded, her blue eyes glittering with the knowledge of the triumph she had won over him by his intense reaction to her. “You’re slipping slick.”
He collected himself quickly and then turned slowly to the other girl behind him. “Well have to finish this discussion another time,” he said. She was about to protest, but then noticed the look in his eyes, silently telling her that it was not up for debating. She nodded and then walked away. Justin faced Karen. “What are you doing back?”
“I was only on vacation. I had to come home sometime.”
“You were on a two year vacation?”
She grinned. “I had a lot of frequent flyer miles that I wanted to use.”
“Get off it Karen. Why’d you really leave? Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”
“We had broken up.”
“We always break up.”
“I didn’t think you’d care.”
“Well, I do.” They were both quiet for a minute, and the he said, “Let’s get out of here.”
“No thanks,” she said, moving past him.
“What? Why?”
“I have a date,” she replied casually.
He chuckled. “You’re not funny.”
She stopped a couple of feet away from him. “Justin, didn’t I just hear you give some advice to that female friend of yours? I want my space slick, and according to yourself, you’re going to respect that decision, right?”
“Karen,” he said through clenched teeth.
“What? You thought that after two years I’d come back and just want to jump right into a relationship with you? Ha! Now who’s being funny?”
Justin watched her walk away with his mouth hanging open, his body seething with anger, and, somehow, wanting her even more than he had ever wanted her before.
~~
Sita Perne stood still on the sidewalk with a suitcase on each side of her, a look of wonderment flourishing on her features. The air around her felt like it was hugging her, welcoming her return, showing her that the atmosphere had missed her, that the entire city had missed her just as she had missed it. She could smell the familiarity, she could see it, she could feel it. Sita had come home, a changed woman, but glad to see that the city had not changed, that it was a constant, that at least there was one constant in the world that she could depend on.
It was appropriate then that her first stop was there, on that sidewalk, in front of the aqua apartments.
The sky was dark and filled with stars. It reminded her of the last night she had been there and of all the other nights she had spent dreaming, visualizing her return to the apartments as if it were the mythical kingdom of Camelot and she had spent her entire life looking for the city. She picked up her bags and started heading inside, through the castle gates.
There were a number of thoughts scrambling through her brain. Would he be glad to see her? Was she welcomed anymore? Would he be angry with her? Would he understand her choices, the decisions she had to make in order to just have this one night for them? But all of the worries and contemplation were overshadowed by one single, ultimate goal: to see him.
She found herself outside of his door and her hand reached up to knock lightly with her knuckles. He had to be there, he had to understand. She did not think about tomorrow, about her future, only of this night. It was all that mattered, to just have the present for them, to have him for this short time and face the rest of it when the sun rose tomorrow.
The door opened. JC stood still, gripping onto the doorknob, looking at her with a stunned expression that was completely unreadable of any other kind of emotion except his shock.
“Hi,” she quietly said, unsure of what to do or say next.
And then, before she could grasp it in her mind, she felt him grab her arm, pull her inside, and lay his mouth on hers. She held onto his shoulders tightly as she gave and received the hungry kisses that were intended to make up for the absence of each others presence for the past two years. There were no questions asked, just a quiet submission that they both gave into, that they both knew they had earned. The girl that had never known any true feeling and the boy who everyone presumed incapable of feeling anything were, for the moment, ignoring the outside world and taking control of the night for themselves.
He broke the kiss once to look into her eyes. “This is what I’ve waited for…for two years…” And then he kissed her again and neither said another word.
When Sita opened her eyes, she found that it was morning and that she was in a bare room which contained nothing more than a bed, a chest of drawers, and a stereo. Sun poured through the solitary window of the room, a dim, white light that seemed to whisper a promise of something great that was waiting for her in the outside world. She smiled and stretched on the bed, yawning quietly. Her body felt as light as air. Then she realized that it was the body lying next to her that was the source of her comfort.
JC lay on his stomach, his head turned in her direction, his face relaxed as his mind drifted in a peaceful slumber that, she felt certain, most men would never have the chance to experience. His left arm draped possessively over her stomach. She felt more warmth from the arm than the blanket that covered their legs. She lay still, allowing the warmth to spread through her, to nest into every muscle in her body. She stared openly at him, the confirmation official in her mind that she was home just by the mere sight of him.
She was debating on whether or not to wake him up just yet or to let him sleep, when his eyes suddenly opened and one more splash of color was added to the now dull room. He smiled when he saw her and the arm around her grew tighter and was pulling her closer to him.
“You slept well?” she asked, bringing her hand to his neck.
“I haven’t slept that well since you left,” he stated. He propped his himself up on an elbow to look down at her. “I like seeing you when I wake up. You look very lovely in the morning light.”
She smiled, but her eyes held a strange apprehension to them, as if she was reaching a moment she had hoped to put off for as long as possible, an now realized that it was unavoidable, like a speeding truck coming closer and closer to her. Her hand moved to his cheek and she lay it flat there, absorbing more of his heat. “JC…”
It was then that his eyes finally left her and focused on the hand on his face. He removed it to examine the cool object that he had felt and saw the gold band with the huge diamond latched onto the soft, silk ring finger. She watched his face but it remained the same, although now the hand holding her own had suddenly grown stiffer.
When he sat up, she followed, her eyes never leaving his face, waiting to capture his own eyes, to make him listen to her and understand everything she had to say. She wanted him to see the help she was offering him, the strength that he needed in order to survive what he was beginning to figure out.
He would not look at her.
Instead, he threw his feet over the edge of the bed and sat with his back to her, waiting for a verdict for a crime he wasn’t aware he had committed.
“A couple of days ago,” she began with a voice that was entirely monotone and empty, “I was engaged to J.J. Richards.” She glanced at him, but he had not moved. “That’s why I came home, to announce the…good news. The wedding is going to be in two weeks.”
He stood up and walked across the room and then leaned against the wall, finally allowing himself to look at her. “This is your decision?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
“You understand?”
“I understand that this is your way of dealing with it.”
“This probably means nothing to you now, but…” she sighed, “I love you JC.”
He nodded gravely. “I know.”
When she left his apartment, he had remained standing there, watching her, saying nothing, but his eyes giving her all the good-bye she would ever need or want to hear.
~~
When Sita stepped inside her home, she received more of a homecoming than she had expected. She had not announced to anyone, had not given any calls prior, explaining that she would finally be coming home. It never occurred to her to do so. Her thoughts had been on the night before, as her thoughts were still on that night, even as her mother reached to hug her for the fifth time that day and her father took her hand affectionately, the twinkle in his eyes that had been absent for two years finally returning.
Kalika looked on from the side, not saying a word.
“Whatever made you decide to come home?” her mother asked.
Sita smiled, the same strained smile she had been using the entire day, and then lifted her hand. The engagement ring glittered in the sun that shown in from the stained-glass skylight up above. It gave the diamond the effect of having a dozen mini-rainbows trapped inside it. “I’m to be married mother.”
Her mother shrieked gaily. “Oh! To whom?”
“J.J. Richards.”
Her mother shrieked again, although the joy was now missing. “Oh…oh…”
Rama looked at her incredulously, his complexion suddenly growing pale. “Sita…J.J.? You’re going to marry him?”
“Yes father,” she replied calmly, as if she were discussing a matter of business. “He proposed to me in New Orleans a couple of months ago. I had to give it time to think-like you always told me, think every major interaction and deal through-and I decided that it would be for the best if we were to become engaged.”
“Sita!” her mother exclaimed, “You aren’t seriously considering this, are you dear? This isn’t some contract signing, or a merger of business.”
“Isn’t it?”
“But child!” Rama said, “Is this what you really want?”
“Does that really matter?”
“Sita!” This time, the cry came from a ways away, from the girl who had remained silent the entire time.
Sita smiled. “Hello Kal.”
Kalika opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it, holding back, understanding more than anyone in the room what was going through her sister’s mind, yet as confused as the rest. The look, however, vanished, and she nodded to herself and quietly said, “Hello Sita.”
“What’s going on?”
The heads turned to the marble entrance of the room, and Sita’s indifferent expression finally fell as she saw the young girl enter the room. The girl was a picture of purity and innocence, but her eyes held a wisdom and understanding that even surpassed Kalika. Her hair was resting in black, soft curls on her shoulders, and a straight line of bangs hung over her eyes, shielding them with a mysterious shadow of playfulness and mischief. The large green eyes landed on the newest face in the room and she inquired, “Who…?”
Sita cautiously stepped forward and then kneeled before her. “Do you remember me Lalita?”
She inspected the face carefully, and a second later a smile spread on her face. “Of course I do! Where’ve you been Sita?”
It was the first smile on Sita’s face that was genuine. “On…vacation. You’re all grown up now, aren’t you?”
Lalita giggled. “I’m four.”
“Still painting?” Sita asked earnestly, a strange purity of sadness entering her eyes, contrasting the smile. “I hope you haven’t given it up.”
“Yes! You wanna see?”
“I’d love to.”
Kalika watched Lalita take the older girl’s hand and lead her anxiously to the staircase. The jealousy swelling in her chest, she knew, was not concerning the fear of JC, but directed towards Lalita. But she wouldn’t allow herself the joy of accepting her sister’s return, and instead returned her attention towards her parents.
“I don’t understand,” Radha was saying, “Why has Sita agreed to marry him? What’s happened to her?” The woman looked towards her daughter that, she still believed, knew Sita better than anyone. “Kal, do you know why in the world she’s engaged to J.J.?”
“No,” she replied with her eyes glued to the floor, “I don’t.”
~~
“You should have seen him,” Karen said gleefully, “It was the greatest moment in the history of great moments. He was so shocked and so angry, I wish I had taken a picture of his face! It was classic, completely classic. I’ve got him right where I want him.”
The sun shone brightly above, but the three girls sat comfortably in the shade of a large tree, on a grassy knoll near the playground of the park.
“I had no idea about you and JC,” Hazel said quietly, her eyes downcast as she played with a dried leaf she had found earlier. “I would have never told him where you were if I had known.”
“Don’t worry,” Sita said. “It’s not your fault. I should have told you Haze.”
“Hello?” Karen exclaimed. “Are you listening to me here?”
The other two looked up and said in unison, “No.”
Karen rolled her eyes then looked at Hazel. “So you’re shacking up with Lance huh?”
“Yea, how’d that happen?” Sita asked, sitting up.
Hazel blushed timidly and shrugged her shoulders. “Long story.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard, you are professionally employed as a storyteller, so I wouldn’t mind hearing the one that explained how you made it from New Orleans to Florida with the help of a famous boyband member,” Karen said.
“I tell stories to five year olds.” Hazel paused and looked at her. “Maybe I should tell you the story then Karen.”
Sita laughed. “Ouch.”
“What-ever.” Karen leaned back on her hands. “Maybe you could tell Sita the story about the princess who married the evil prince, and don’t forget about the unhappily ever after ending.”
“You aren’t really going to marry him, are you?” Hazel asked.
Sita’s grin faded. A mental picture of J.J. flashed in her mind and she shuddered. Another of J.C. leaning against a wall, watching her with those intent blue eyes, knowing every move she made and why she made it, came to her and she choked down a thick, cold feeling which could only be described as despair. And then a flash of a girl taller than herself with a quiet smile came to her, and she remembered her reasons and her strength and forced herself to return to the numbness that enclosed her. She felt the heat in the air and the grass beneath her fingertips. That was all.
“You wouldn’t believe how excited Mrs. Richards was when she found out,” Karen was telling Hazel. “I thought the woman was going to have a seizure or something. She won’t stop talking about that horrible party she’s planning.”
“Oh God,” Sita mumbled, burrying her face in her hands. “Please Karen, I’m trying to block that out right now.”
“Wait,” Hazel said, entirely confused. “What party?”