After the incident yesterday, she avoided Justin in any way she could. It seemed he liked the fact that he had made some kind of impression on her, and he was not backing down from teasing her. He took that as an initiative to ask her questions whatever chance he got.  He now talked to her more, and held her gaze more. It seemed like he was not even afraid and was totally comfortable whenever she looked up and caught him staring at her.  One time he had even bent very close to her and taken off her headsets to listen to a recording. Even though he was smiling at whoever was in the booth and acting like he was enjoying the music, julie found it pleasingly uncomfortable. She did not want to look like the weak one and stand up and leave. She sat their while he stood very close to her. When he was through with his charade, he carefully put the headsets back over her head, his hands steady. How could he be so calm while her insides felt like jelly.  She had a chance of getting a closer look at his tattoos. There was one of a butterfly, a cross, a rose and the letter ‘J’ all four on different areas on his arm. She thought it was a ‘J’ for his name - Justin. When he finally moved away from her she realized that she had been holding her breath all the while he had been standing close to her. She acted like it was nothing, to avoid attention and to show him that he did not have any effect on her.
All the time they worked on the playlist, not a day passed that they did not have some sort of little encounter. He was always finding a way to sit or stand near her in the studio. She always caught him staring and sometimes he completely ignored her.
She still spoke to Tim, but anytime he asked to meet, she would say she was too busy with work, saying the tour preparations were getting more serious as the tour dates approached. So they limited their conversations to phone calls while she sorted her thoughts and feelings. She went home earlier than before to spend time with jennie. Seeing justin for almost a month now and still hiding Jennie’s existence from him crippled her with guilt. She felt sorry that it had to be that way but there was nothing she could do about it.
She had come earlier than others and was in the studio listening to justin’s solo track ‘ love me more’ - the one her sister had suggested she listened to. When her sister said it might be about her, she had avoided listening to it. But now that it was on the track list, she knew she could not avoid it.
It was an RNB, soul song. It was definitely a love and heartbreak song fused together. In the beginning he sang about how happy him and his lover whom he referenced as ‘baby’ were in the beginning and then they grew apart. With her eyes closed and headsets on, she was listening very attentively. It was a beautiful song, she liked it not to talk of the fact that she was hearing his voice again so close. It felt like he was speaking to her soul. She was not the only person he had ever been with, so there really was no guarantee that it was about her. And then she heard the last verse
 
‘ lemme tell you what I want, don’t just assume you know what’s best for me. Said you love me and then you cut me off. you did not even say a proper good bye, girl you left me hanging. Loved you just the way you were, but you doubted me and you doubted yourself.’
 
She did cut him off, but she could not possibly be the one he was referring to. Maybe one of his other girlfriends had cut him off. She was still battling with her herself when the studio door opened and when she turned to see who it was, she got a shocker. She hoped he had not seen the surprise or shock on her face. And she hoped he could not hear the sound of her heart beating violently in her chest.
He looked round the studio, as if he was checking that there was no one else there except julie. He slowly came in closing the door behind him. Julie slowly took of her headsets as he approached her slowly and casually.
‘ where are the others?’ she asked
‘ they went to get coffee’
‘ you did not want coffee?’
‘ I don’t really like coffee’.
Julie regretted asking him that, she remembered then that he was not really a coffee person.
She stood up, to face him
‘ I was listening to your song’ she said, hands in the pocket of her jeans.
‘ which one?’ he asked
‘ love me more?’
‘so?’
‘ it’s a nice song’
‘ I know’ he replied indifferently. Julie got the cue and she put on a face that said I don’t care, as he asked him the next questions. This was her job and she was going to keep it professional.
‘ you’re performing it for the tour’
‘ I know’ he said again indifferently.
‘ do you want to make any changes to it for the tour?’ she asked indifferently.
‘ maybe when we have a live rehearsal’
‘ok’
They both waited for one of them to say something. They had things to say but it seemed like a battle of who would give in first. The air around them felt,  hot and tension. Being that close to each other set their passion ablaze. They both felt like they might lose their sanity being in that close proximity but not making any contact. They went from looking from eyes to lips to moving closer to each other inch by inch. Just before they could close the gap between them, the door of the studio opened and the leader of MID came in to the room. Julie quickly broke in to a wide smile
‘ hey, good morning’ and she quickly started moving away from justin. He bowed as he returned her greeting, before looking from her to justin inquisitively. He was smiling at her too, while giving justin the side eyes. Just then the other members started coming in. She waited to say hi and welcome them all.
Feeling awkward after almost getting caught, she needed an excuse to exit the room.
‘ you guys just settle in and give me a minute, I need to grab something from my office really quick’ and she left without looking back.
 She went in to her office, and made her way to her desk. She sat down, leaned back looking up to the ceiling as if she expected an answer to fall from the white ceiling. She had just been two minutes, when her door opened and justin came in to her office. She sat upright, and looked at him. There was no denying the hunger and need in both their eyes. Julie felt like she might pass out the next second if she was not in his arms in the next second. He stood resting on the door with his back as he looked directly in her eye. The eye, the face , the body, he looked irresistible. And so she gave in. She took the window blind remote controller and pressed the button that closes the blinds. As the blinds were closing she stood up and started walking towards him in slow calculated strides. He quickly turned the key in the lock. And the next second they were in each other’s arms. The kiss was passionate and left a feeling of longing. They were careful not to push anything down. He backed her up against the door, as the kissing intensified. His hands were running through her body as were hers. Still kissing her ,he slid his hands in to her pants, and with his index finger he pleasured her, moving in and out sending her in to ecstasy. Julie was intrigued,surprised but secretly proud. Where and when did he learn that? They had been each other’s firsts, but now it seemed like he had been doing this for a long time. At that moment, she really did not care, she was enjoying the moment and did not want it to end.