Again
SS by Taylor
He looked at his long fingers. Scanning each finger until he lands on the littlest one. Naked. Nothing in there. Unlike before when looking at it both some sort of peace because the ring that sat there gave him an internal connection with the woman he loved. Now it was naked. It’s gone. She’s gone.
The past few months have still been a blur to him, arguing every minute about the littlest thing. It just wasn’t working out anymore. Not that he loved him less or she loved him less but because there was too much pressure on everything, the media was out to get them… and needless to say, they buckled beneath the pressure. They both needed comfort and they can’t get it from each other because they were always miles apart.
And she got it from him.
Wade J. Robson. A dear friend who he looked to as a younger brother… in the Celebrity album, the process was amazing because he was working with someone he had so much in common with. Wade and him shared the same kind of drive… they would sit there and brainstorm and a musical brainchild will come out. Good times. Little did he know they shared one more thing in common… the love for the same woman.
It was getting too busy for him. Concerts after concerts and then some interview to do and the media hounding him about his new album… headlines came in unstoppable force – Britney, the New Yoko One… *N Sync Now Out of Sync – it was too much for him, for her. And they decided to take a breather.
So he let her go that time, knowing he loved her and thinking that eventually, they would be back in each other’s arms. They both just needed time. He would want to call her from time to time but he just pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Britney needed time; he was giving her that… well for about a week.
But one night, he was sleeping in the tour bus… well, he was trying to sleep but his mind was on her. What was she doing? Is she okay? Where is she now exactly? Is she at the hotel? Or is she eating? Or drinking? Or taking a shower? All sorts of questions… questions that kept ringing in his brain until he can’t stand it no longer… he didn’t need a breather, he needed her.
He called Johnny up the next day, he said he’d be missing a few rehearsals but it’s cool because he’s got it down. He said he needed to be somewhere. Johnny wasn’t too lenient but eventually, he agreed. So he packed his bags for a three-day vacation in Europe—but it only lasted one day.
Because when he knocked on the door of his girlfriend for three and a half years, somebody else opened the door. He could remember it… the bitterness, the anger… the tears. He could never forget.
Flashback…
He
looked at the piece of paper in his hand that listed the room number that Larry
had given him. Room 713, he looked up and smiled as he saw the numbers engraved
in the hotel room door. He knocked on the door and he could hear shuffling
inside. He could hear a guy’s voice. “I’ll get that, it’s the room
service you’ve called for earlier…” he recognized the voice as Wade’s.
Wade is in with her? he thought and he just shrugged. He didn’t know Wade was in Europe with her… but maybe he was just talking some things about her regarding the next leg of her tour. But then it happened.
Wade opened the door… he was wearing the hotel robes. The fear he automatically saw in Wade’s eyes confirmed what he was thinking. At first he laughed, and then tears started stinging his eyes. “Wade, old pal,” he laughed. “Fancy meeting you here huh? At my girl’s room.”
“Justin…” Wade started but Justin had already pushed him. And Justin forced their way into the room and kicked the door close. He turned around, pinning Wade to the wall. “Justin let me explain…”
“Explain… explain what? You’re my friend Wade, I don’t want to hear—“
“What’s going on here?” Britney asked as she opened the bedroom door, she was wearing an oversized t-shirt. It wasn’t his. Obviously, the owner is the guy he’s pinning to the wall at the moment. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Justin. “Justin, what are you doing here?”
Justin laughed and he let go of the fabric of Wade’s robe and turned around. He looked Britney straight in the eye. He felt drunk, like he wasn’t thinking straight or seeing things straight… he wished this wasn’t real. His worst nightmare was unfolding in front of him.
“Well, if it isn’t my girlfriend. My faithful, loving, trustworthy girlfriend… hello Brit,” he said as he walked towards her direction. “Surprise!” he said, his voice cracking. Tears started to fall from his eyes and he snorted and snickered. He gave a laugh laced with thick sarcasm, “Aren’t you even a little bit surprised? Happy?” He shook his head. “Guess not, I must have interrupted you or something… wow…” he said, shoving his hands to his pockets and shaking his head, looking down. “How long Brit?”
“Justin…” she said, her hand reaching for his arm but he jerks away.
“God, stay away from me Brit!” he yelled and Britney took a step back. He turned around, his eyes meeting with Wade’s scared ones. Wade had never been scared of Justin, and the fear in his eyes is not because he was scared of Justin per se, but primarily because he was scared of what this would do to Britney. “You? Robson? How long have you had the hots for my girlfriend? Have you planned this the entire time we took you under our fold and left our dances, routines and everything under your care? For the whole time we trusted you… have you been planning this Wade? Have you?” his voice was on a maximized volume but nobody can argue he had the right to be in that mode.
“Justin I never meant for…” Wade started but Justin laughed and scoffed.
“Oh, don’t give me that crap Wade!” Justin yelled as he pushed the guy in front of him and sneered. “What? Did you accidentally get naked and did you just accidentally fell in that bed with her and did you just accidentally had sex with her?” Justin laughed and shook his head. “I guess not, huh?”
“Justin, we should talk…” Britney said and Justin just shook his head and laughed inwardly, with a tear flowing down his cheek.
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said Britney, I don’t even have the right to be here… we’re on a break remember?” he said and shook his head as he started for the door.
“Justin…” she called and Justin stopped momentarily but he didn’t turn around.
“Like I said Britney, I seem to have interrupted you,” he said as his hand reached for the knob and turned it around, opening it. “Why don’t you just pick up where you left off?” he said as he stepped out of the room and closed the door silently behind him.
That will always be the most painful day of his life. When he realized that he was totally out of Britney’s life, that he was not the man making her happy anymore… when he realized that all the dreams they have built together were just lies. She was his meant to be, or so he believed and now, as he looks at his naked pinky finger, he just closes his eyes and relives the last four years… the years he will always treasure the most.
Time after time, he had wondered what it is that made Britney choose Wade. What did Wade have that he didn’t have? It was a question that plagued him. Why is it that after almost 10 years of knowing, and loving, each other… it was Wade who got her in the end?