Conflicts of Interest: A Justin Fanfiction Saga

Chapter Nine: One of Them

The next day

"I'm sorry; there is no room listing for a Justin Timberlake," the front-desk clerk said.

A haggard Madeline finally walked away, knowing he wouldn't be listed under his real name but figuring she'd try anyway. His phone was turned off; her answering machine revealed he hadn't returned her message.

Where is he? she wondered, slumping into a lobby chair and studying her nails. Figures they'd switch hotels in the middle of the week. She had no idea which room they were in, and didn't have anyone else's phone number.

Madeline hadn't slept well; her dreams had been filled with three hundred different scenarios of this moment. She hadn't anticipated his disappearance.

She absently fingered her bottom lip and exhaled. His kiss had the ability to silence her thoughts and words in an instant; everything she had in her head just vanished. Her sensibilities always returned much later, like they did last night when Chris finally banged on the trailer door and said they were leaving for the hotel. She and Justin parted ways quickly and he'd called her afterward, giddy as a schoolboy.

"Since Chicago is in the center of everything, I'll be flying through there a lot," he rattled on. "And on your breaks you can see me. Aren't there some three-day weekends? I'll fly you to Florida, you can meet Mom ..."

She couldn't say anything. She didn't want to break it to him on the phone, but hearing him say those wonderful words hurt even more.

"Justin, let's not talk about all that now. It's too early. There's something you have to know first," she said when she got a word in edgewise.

"There's something you have to know, too," he answered, drawing a deep breath and smiling into the phone. "I – I think, Madeline, I've never been like this around anybody before. This is just incredible."

She closed her eyes briefly, tears stinging them, and choked, "You have to know something about me first before you say any more. You're not going to like it."

"Of course I'm going to like it. It's you," he answered, not completely hearing her. "I want you to know I'm serious about this. But I have to get off the phone now ... J.C. is trying to sleep and I'm close to making him vomit."

"But Justin ..."

"I know, darling," he said dramatically. "We'll talk tomorrow. Unfortunately we're flying out to New York in the morning, but I'll be back by 5. I'll pick you up at your dorm at 7."

And here she was at 6, hoping to catch him. Madeline felt deflated. She wasn't able to stomach any lunch, watching the hours crawl by until she'd see him.

Before he'd kissed her, Madeline thought she would be able to let him go. She had never let herself agonize or suffer too long over the male species before. It seemed so ... pitiful to waste that much energy fawning and wallowing. She was tougher than that.

Now she knew she didn't want to lose him.

Her reverie was disrupted by the ring and opening of elevator doors. A handsome blond entered the lobby alone. He didn't notice her.

Madeline stood up, and her mouth went dry. "Lance?"

He turned around, surprised. "Hey, Madeline," he said easily. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Justin?"

"He and Joey were roped into a last-minute interview, so they took a flight an hour later. He's going right to your dorm."

Madeline's face fell as she glanced at her watch. There wasn't enough time to meet him. Everything was pent up within her, and she desperately needed to talk.