*~*~*Angelia*~*~* Chapter Seven: No Pressure -- Fictional Getdown

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Date Posted: 14:37:12 02/11/03 Tue
Author: Tiffany
Subject: *~*~*Angelia*~*~* Chapter Seven: No Pressure

Okay...I'm updating twice...I'm about four chapters in surplus with this story. Hopefully, I'll have another update next week.

Enjoey (heh)
Tiffers.

The morning was as vibrant as a Monet painting as Samantha walked along the rocky dirt road that would lead to her to an unknown destination. She had no intentions of wasting away in the house that had held her captive for almost a week. She wanted to get out and see her home for the next few weeks and possibly see if there was something interesting that she could get into. Maybe, there was a great library or museum of sorts that she could visit. There had to be something to do to keep her away from her camera and out of the house for a few days.

Unfortunately, the rains made the day unusually humid and the farthest that she got on foot was a diner three miles from Nichole�s house simply called �Martin�s Place�. When she walked into the small establishment, she felt oddly out of place in her floral print skirt and tank top amongst the sea of blue jeans and T-shirts. But the people were friendly enough to give her a smile of acknowledgement. A small black woman with a sharp wig on her head that was no taller than Samantha�s elbow came lingering up to her with a smile so bright it could make the sun jealous.

�Hey there sweetie. You wanna have a seat?� the woman asked in her syrupy sweet accent

�Yes ma�am. Thank you� Samantha said following the woman as she led her to one of the wood booths near the window

�Lemonade or sweet tea?�

�Um�� Samantha slid easily into the booth �Sweet tea with no sugar please�

�It ain�t sweet tea if it ain�t sweet, baby. And if it ain�t sweet, it ain�t here�

�Okay then, sweet tea with sugar it is�

�Good, I�ll be right back to take your order. I�m Leona� she said placing a one page laminated menu in front of Samantha

Samantha looked at her watch to see if it was early enough for lunch. She had spent all morning in her darkroom developing the rest of her pictures and had impulsively decided to come on this little excursion. As she walked past numerous houses along three mile long Walnut Drive, several people had bid her a pleasant morning or day as she passed their dwelling giving her a cheerful feeling of belonging. A feeling she hadn�t felt in a very long time.

Now, as she looked at her menu, desperately searching for something that wouldn�t disrupt her diet of Kosher foods, she realized that she needed help and that whatever she ordered would be a great big hassle to make. She fancied the tuna salad, but was well aware that she�d have to ask if it was stored in water or oil. Then, her eyes wandered to the double cheeseburger. She hadn�t had a cheeseburger in almost a year. Her diet was strictly Jewish and any chance of a burger was to be a veggie burger. If she gained more than a pound, Sweetness would put her on two week probation without pay in which she�d have to lose the weight she gained. In order to keep her weight down, she ate kosher food and kept her sugars low.

�Need some help?� a familiar voice came from behind her �You look like you need to be saved�

Samantha craned her head around to see Justin sitting in the booth behind her with a cap pulled over his eyes �Hey, Justin. And yeah�I do need to be saved. I need to find something on this menu that won�t cause me to gain five pounds. There�s not even salad on here�

�Well, if I do say so myself�� he said sitting next getting up from his booth and walking over to hers �The last thing you need to concern yourself with is your weight. I hope you don�t mind me saying that�

�No� Samantha replied hiding her smile behind her menu �Do you know if they cook the chicken for the chicken salad in oil, butter or water?�

�Hmm� he huffed as Leona came back to the table that he and Samantha now shared much to Leona�s surprise �How are you today, Leona?�

�Not bad Justin. How you?�

�I�m good�

��bout your mama?�

�She�s good. How�s Luke and Russell?�

�They just fine. Luke done gone and got himself a job in North Carolina and Russell just about finished his schoolin� in Oklahoma�

�That�s great. He�s going to be an engineer right?�

�Yes sir� Leona beamed proudly �He�s made me right proud of him. What are y�all gone have?�

�I�m going to have the fried chicken sandwich with extra mayonnaise and ketchup, a side of onion rings and a Coke� He said breaking eye contact with the older woman to look Samantha in the eyes with a crooked smile �And this beautiful young lady here, will have the double bacon cheeseburger. No mustard, extra pickles, a side of cheese fries and a Sprite� Samantha�s eyes widened horrifically

�Okay Justin, I�ll be back in a jiffy with that�

Once Leona was a safe distance away from her table, Samantha sent Justin a repulsed but shocked gaze. If it was one thing Samantha can�t stand, it�s a guy ordering for her like she�s some kind of invalid. Not only did Justin order for her, he ordered the most fattening item on the menu when he knew that she was watching her figure.

�Look, I�m not going to eat that� she said pushing some hair from her face

�If you don�t, Leona will tell the cook and Ralph will come out here and berate you in front of the entire restaurant and ban you from coming ever again. People are real sensitive about cooking around here�

�But, I didn�t order that. I can�t eat that�

�Why not? Are you a model?� he said with his smile still confidently on his face

�Not really� Samantha said wistfully �But I do have a job that requires that I stay in shape�

�Right�a photographer. Well, if you�re going to walk as much as you�d walked today, you�ll work off the food in no time�

�What are you talking about?� Samantha said furrowing her eyebrows �Were you following me?�

�I didn�t see you pull with a car today. So I�m assuming you walked�

�Well, you know what happens when you assume�

�Yeah�but in this case, I�m right. Right?�

�Maybe�

Ten minutes later, Leona came from the kitchen with a tray full of food that was so intoxicating that Samantha felt herself beginning to give into the sin of eating the food Justin ordered for her. As the Leona sat her burger in front of her, the scent lingered into the younger woman�s nose, filling her with hunger she�d never quite experienced. In her daily life, Samantha really never had time to remind herself that she was hungry. She usually munched on fruit and vegetables between classes to prevent herself from getting sick as most malnourished hypoglocemics did. So, she sighed as Justin watched her eye her food, he�d win this round.

As she took her first bite of her cheeseburger, she lightly moaned as the flame-broiled juiciness rolled down her throat. The taste of the perfectly seasoned meat lingered on her tongue and the abundance of cheese tingled on her taste buds. If Sweetness ever saw her eating food like this, he would surely give her sound beating.

�Can I have a thank you?� Justin asked chewing an onion ring

�No. But you can tell me why you decided to follow me here� he smiled and leaned back against the flowered cushions

�Fair enough. I was sitting on my porch��

�You don�t have a porch Justin� Samantha said sighing as she took another bite

�Damn� he cursed with a playful smile �Okay, I saw you walking and decided I�d that I�d come and join you� he decided to keep the part about him looking at her through his bedroom window a secret

�That�s acceptable. You know, you could have just come to the house and rang the doorbell�

�I like being different� Samantha nodded her head and popped a cheesy French fry in her mouth �So, where are you from?�

�You�ve never heard of it�

�Try me. I travel a lot�

�I know. But the nearest you�ve ever come to my town is Buffalo� Samantha said thinking back to 1998 when some of the girls at school went to the NSYNC concert

�New York State?� she sighed and gave up the charade �No?�

�Lancaster, New Hampshire. It�s a tiny little town that no one knows about near Canada� Justin smiled and cocked his head to the side

�You�re a long way from home, Samantha. That must be hard�

�You�d be surprised how good it feels to be over a thousand miles away� she said before she realized she said it

�Why is that?� he asked knitting his eyebrows together with curiosity

�Why do you never talk about yourself?�

�Because you haven�t asked me anything yet� Justin smiled again as if the muscles in his mouth were having a spasm �What do you want to know?�

Samantha shrugged �Why aren�t you touring?�

�I�m working on my solo album� Justin said shaking his head with amusement �Don�t you know all of this already?�

�What?� Samantha asked looking at him with her wide eyes �Are you kidding? I work and go to school full time. I don�t have the leisure to follow your every move�

�Fair enough. Where in Nashville do you work?�

�Downtown� Justin sighed

�Can you be more specific?�

�Nope� Samantha said with a coy smile �Besides, it�s really not important. I don�t have anything to do with the music or media industry. So don�t worry�

Justin scoffed �I�m not. I was just wondering. You don�t have to get defensive�

�I�m not getting defensive. I just don�t like talking about myself�

�What about school? Can you talk about Vanderbilt?� Samantha smiled and let her guards down a little more �Okay, now I don�t feel like an asshole when you smile at me like that�

�Just because I smile, doesn�t mean you�re any less of an asshole�

* * * *

Samantha sat on the passenger side of Justin�s car as he drove her back to her house. The humidity peaked at ninety-one percent giving the atmosphere the a very unpleasant feeling of drowning in hot water. Justin insisted that he drive Samantha home after the meal they shared (and he paid for) because the heat could be somewhat overwhelming when walking up and down hills. A fact he�d found out growing up.

Justin talked about his childhood and (after asking her permission) took her to certain area�s that used to be his stomping ground. He showed her his high school that he never got to really go to and took her to the basketball court he played in during lunch periods. He told her how he hadn�t had many friends because as Samantha knew all too well, teenagers can be cruel to the privileged. The fact that Justin had been on the Mickey Mouse Club and made more money as a child than most of them could working in grocery stores and delivering pizza�s, made him the target of ridicule. Then there was the phase of acne that he went through at the height of puberty. He was then dubbed Pizza Face.

But all this changed the day Josh called him about forming a vocal group, Justin told Samantha. When he left Millington, he was serious about his career and knew that if he didn�t fulfill his dream, he�d be stuck here forever with no life and no future because he didn�t know anything else but music. His grades always stunk because he could never concentrate on his math or science. His behavior was quiet but volatile when provoked and he was dubbed as anti-social. The only person outside of his family that ever believed in him was his best friend Sonali.

He told Samantha all about Sonali and their relationship without getting too personal. Justin told her about their arguments, his dislike of her boyfriend and when they�d met. He didn�t however mention a thing about what really made their friendship as concrete as it was. It was one of the only topics he was very sensitive of, the only hardship of life that he couldn�t protect his best friend from. The date rape scenario.

Samantha could feel his apprehension as he talked about his best friend. There was a lot of pain in his voice as he spoke of her. It was clear to her that he felt very strongly about her�and not as if she were his little sister. It was as if Sonali was an extension of his own being and whatever happened to her would happen also to him. This warmed Samantha�s heart to her very core. She could say the very same thing about Nichole only to a lesser degree. Sure, Nichole had been there with her through all of her tribulations and had whole-heartedly helped her make the transition from teenager to adult. But�in a way, she and Nichole would never be as close as he and Sonali. Neither of them had that kind of strength.

By the time Justin finally got back to his house, he could tell that Samantha wasn�t quite ready to go back to her house but he had work waiting for him in his studio. As much as he avoided it, his time was going to run short and his procrastination would end up costing him thousands of dollars. Money he was unwilling to give up because he didn�t feel like working. So he decided to cut the day short.

�I know you have a lot of work to do� Samantha said opening the car door �I do too. But I have this awful habit of procrastinating when I�m tired�

�Me too. And I do have a butt load of work to do. But thank you for hanging out with me today. I had a good time�

�Yeah� Samantha smiled as she looked at him �I had a good time too. Thanks for the ride and for�treating me like a normal human being�

�Well, I�m sorry then� he said with a sigh �Because you�re a beautiful human being� Samantha turned her face towards her open door hoping to conceal a deep flush in her face �Hopefully, I�ll get to prove that to you some time� his voice suddenly became soft �I�d like to take you out�

�Justin�I don�t really think that�s a good idea�

�Boyfriend?�

�No. I just�I haven�t been out with a man on a personal level in a very long time�besides�you don�t know me�

�I know that I like you enough to want to get to know you better. I�m not asking for you to commit to anything Samantha, I just want to take you out for dinner. Maybe a movie. No pressure�

Samantha sighed and pushed a lock of hair from her face and sighed. She didn�t want to lead him on. A relationship between the two of them would never work and in the end, one of them would end up getting hurt. If the press were to find out that Justin Timberlake was dating a stripper�God, he�d be slaughtered and she would be a whore in the media�s persona.

That could more than damaging for her career as well as his. There was still speculation about his personal life even after his break up with Britney. No matter how much she claimed not to care about his relationship with the reigning Pop Princess, it was inescapable. Every time she watched the news or had time enough to catch a few glimpses of MTV between class and work, there was always a news brief about what each was doing. Samantha didn�t want to be in headlines that way. She didn�t want to live her life being Justin Timberlake�s whore.

Then again, she wanted to date again. And she knew that he was already willing to try something with her. As far as who he knows and what his social position in life goes, Samantha was less than interested as long as she wasn�t hurt by it. But who would know the going�s on of two people in a tiny town in the south? Who could ever find out about them? The only thing that could hurt her relationship with Justin would be him finding out that she left out a big chunk of her life right now because in all honesty, she didn�t intend to tell him about her being a stripper. But he wouldn�t find out about it. There was no way.

�No pressure?� Samantha asked apprehensively

�None� Justin said in a reassuring tone that told her that he knew that he�d won this round also �Just two people having a good time�

�Okay then. Sure, we can go out some time�

�How about tomorrow night?�

�Where?�

�Why don�t we go to the movies and then�um�have dinner�

�Okay. That sounds good. Pick me up at eight� Samantha said getting out of the car and closing the door

Justin watched her as she walked the block and a half across the drying grass back to her friends house. He felt something that he hadn�t felt in a long time about a woman. He felt nervous. There would be no cheesy pick up lines or his usual fashion of wooing. He�d really have to be original and take his time with her because her apprehension towards him was strong. He could feel it.

But he also felt that she was hiding something from him. His sensors were in full gear and he knew that what she was holding from him was damaging more to her than to him. He wouldn�t worry about her secret though. Whatever she was keeping, Justin was sure it was for a good reason. After all, he knew all about the importance of discretion.

The important thing however was, that he had a real date for the first time in months. And the fact that she was beautiful, sophisticated and more classically educated than he, excited him. Finally, there was a good looking woman that he could talk to about something other than his career and where he was going with it. Yeah, Justin thought, she�s a keeper.

* * * *

Walking into the cool house, Samantha was beaming. She felt so womanly, so alive. But she also felt kind of foolish for feeling this way. It�s only a date, she told herself over and over again as she made her way to living room. However, she knew that it was going to be more than a date. Justin, a naturally intense person, she observed was exactly her type. His kind and patient nature was very appealing to Samantha. But above it all, his eyes had her.

Over the course of their afternoon rendezvous, Justin and Samantha shared a lot of personal contact. Not physical as far as their bodies were concerned, but there was a lot of eye contact. Samantha had let Justin do most of the talking so that she could observe him. His attraction towards her had been evident since the day she met him. But when they were in the car together, sharing the same space, she could feel him. She could feel his pain and his longing. His fears and his disappointments as he recalled his days growing up in town. This made her nervous because Samantha feared emotional connection. When she dated in Florida, she usually kept a safe distance even when she and the man were intimate. With Justin, she knew that there would be no holding back from him. He seemed to be completely willing to share himself with her.

Snapping herself back into reality, Samantha found herself standing in the threshold of the living room, staring at Nichole�s face on the large screen television while Nichole sat on the sofa a few feet away, staring intently at it, analyzing herself. On screen, Nichole�s hair was a radiant blond, pulled back elegantly into a bun. She was standing elevated above the stage on a platform dressed in a gray suit, singing �Don�t Cry For Me Argentina� to a crowd of extra�s on stage. She had manipulated her beautiful alto voice to an insecure soprano tone, to personify the apprehension Eva Peron felt during the particular scene. Her presence was both commanding and inviting as she sang to her people.

Every body movement seemed to be perfectly choreographed yet natural as if Nichole were going strictly on instinct. During the strongest part of the song, when the crowd starts to sing as Nichole grew silent, a few tears started to stream down the actresses face. Her performance in this scene, to Samantha, was certainly Tony Award worthy in every way. When it was Nichole�s time to sing again, her voice cracked intentionally to pull the audience into her psyche and but she continued the song with strength and dignity, her hands outstretched towards the crowd triumphantly, perfectly dramatic yet natural. When the scene ended and the curtains fell, the audience roared with applause as the intermission began.

�Well that sucked� Nichole said shaking her head

�Are you kidding me? That was great!� Samantha said startling Nichole �I don�t think Faye Dunawaye or Madonna could have given a better performance�

�Well, it doesn�t matter. That was the closing night performance. My opening night was the best. I nailed every bar. Still, it was just Memphis Theatre�

�Broadway will come knocking one day� Samantha said jokingly �Just you wait�

Nichole giggled as she turned off the tape �Where have you been?�

�Out� Samantha said smiling with a glow coming into her eyes �With your next door neighbor� Nichole�s eyes widened with shock as she took off her glasses

�You were out with Justin Timberlake?�

�Yes, I was� Samantha sat on the sofa next to Nichole �I�m going out with him tomorrow night too�

�Oh shit! Are you kidding me?�

�No, I�m not. I�m very serious. He showed me around the town and told me about when he grew up here. We had a good time. It was all very casual�

�The luck you have, I�ll never understand how you have all the luck!� Nichole said laughing heartily �So, where�s he taking you tomorrow?�

�I don�t know. I know that we�re going to the movies and dinner. But I don�t know where� Samantha sighed and put her head back on the couch cushions �I�m in over my head here, Nikki�

�No� Nichole sat up �You�re not in over your head. It�s just a date Sammy. Don�t read into this more than necessary�

�But..�

�None of that Samantha. Just go on the date, have a good time and leave it at that. Stop acting like you�re interviewing him for a job. You�re twenty-two years old. Stop acting like a mom�

�I guess I am overanalyzing this�

�As usual� Nichole said pulling her hair from its ponytail �Just go with your gut and have a good time, then come home and tell me all about it, okay?�

�Sure thing mom�

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Replies:

You know I love this!! More SOON! -- Ali, 04:23:33 02/12/03 Wed
Lookin good, girlie! Post more soon! (NT) -- Z, 21:34:45 02/14/03 Fri