| 19 |

The trip back to L.A. went smoother than the first attempt. Everyone slept through the ride back and most of the next morning. They had one week to do whatever they wanted until Justin and Mya went on location in Seattle to film more scenes. What Mya dreaded the most was saying goodbye to Amy and Drew. She hated even thinking about it.

Justin woke Mya up as he rolled over beside her. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. It took her a moment to remember where she was. They had all stayed in Justin's house. Amy and Drew would probably sleep in for awhile. It was their first real bed that they had slept in, in over a month. She was glad that they no longer had to sleep in the hotel beds, at least for a week.

"Justin. Are you awake?" she shook him a bit on his shoulder.

"Hmmm..." his usual sound for no came out of his mouth.

Mya looked over him to the clock and noticed that it was still early in the morning. The sun wasn't shining like it usually did in the morning. Instead she heard rain pounding on the roof. The end of the storm must have finally caught up to them.

She got dressed quietly, not to disturb Justin's beauty sleep, and went downstairs to the huge and lavish kitchen. She met up with Justin's housekeeper standing by the island bar decorating a few bright yellow daffodiles in a crystal vase.

"Good mornin' Miss Mya!" she greeted her as she turned the vase to show off the best flowers.

"Morning Caprice."

"Would you like me to make you some coffee or tea?" she smiled at her as she turned to the cupboard.

"Actually, you can have the morning cooking off today. I'm gonna try to be Miss Susie Homemaker." she grinned slightly.

Caprice looked to the stove and back to Mya. "Do you know how to use this thing?"

"Don't worry Caprice. I think everything will be okay." she snickered.

"Okay." she said with a twinge in her voice. "I'll be cleaning the living room if you need anything and I mean anything. Like before you burn the house down honey." she shook her finger at her as she disappeared from the doorway.

Mya laughed as she started the coffee and the hot water for the tea. She decided on making eggs, bacon, pancakes and the little Jimmy Dean mini sausages she found in the freezer. She was glad that Justin always had so much food in stock so that she could make almost everything and still have some left over.

About a half hour later she had the dining table set, adorned in the middle with Caprice's morning daffodiles. They added a bright touch to the slightly darkened room that was designed with dark oak paneling on the sides. The small fireplace cracked lightly, giving the whole room a "homey" type feel.

"Wow, this looks good." Justin said from behind her, shaking her out of her trance.

"Oh, hey. Did you sleep good?" Mya said turning around and giving him a quick kiss.

Justin grinned. "Yeah, I almost forgot what a bed felt like."

"Well let's not get used to it. We only have it for a week."

"I'm never used to it. I'm always on the road for something to ever get used to it." he said as he eyed the food on the table.

"Thats true." she stopped quickly to turn back around to the table. "Are you hungry?"

"Very. Caprice always makes good food." he added as he walked around to the other end of the table.

"Caprice didn't make this hunny. I did." she smiled innocently.

"You're shittin' me?" he said as he took a bite out of a piece of bacon.

"What?" she snickered. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yeah, it's good." he joked.

"Hey guys." Amy said to them as she and Drew walked into the room.

"Hey. Did the food wake you guys up?" Mya asked as she sat down beside Justin.

"Heck yeah. Did Caprice make all this?" Drew replied as they sat down too.

"No, she did." Justin pointed to Mya.

Amy laughed. "Yeah right."

"What is up with you guys today?"

Everyone snickered to themselves and enjoyed the rest of their breakfast without any more jokes.



Mya and Amy cleaned up the table and washed the dishes while Drew still sat at the dining room table reading the paper. Justin was on the phone for awhile with a business call as Caprice retrieved the mail.

"Mya?" Justin called through the house.

"In here." she yelled as she rinsed another plate before she gave it to Amy to place in the dishwasher.

"That was a call from the Touchstone offices. There is a cover story of what happened between us and Britney in the Bahama's in one of the dirt magazines this week." he sighed as he leaned on the island bar.

"Great! That's all I need is my face plastered all over the country on one of those things!" she exclaimed.

"Well I don't need it either but you might as well get used to it. There is really nothing we can do about it."
Mya finished rinsing and gave the last plate to Amy as she turned to face Justin. "What kind of gossip did they make up to put in the article?"

"Here, you can read it yourself." Caprice announced as she came in from the foyer with the magazine in her hand.

"Why did we get that? I don't subscribe to those things." Justin's eyebrows creased with disgust.

"Obviously the mailman thought you wanted to read it." Caprice snickered as she took the bills to Justin's office.

Mya flipped to the inside page and read the article until she reached the physical altercation. "Mya and Britney pulled hair and scratched like wild cats as they rolled around in the sand as it piled up around Justin's feet." she read outloud. "What the hell is this?" she looked up with a shocked expression on her face.

"What did you expect from a dirt mag? The truth?" Justin said sarcastically.

"Britney and I didn't even touch each other. This is so twisted." she sighed as she finished the article and handed it to Amy. Drew stood behind her and read over her shoulder.

"I didn't tell you the rest of the phone call." Justin said as he walked to the fridge and grabbed a can of soda, the first thing that was available.

"There was more?"

"Britney dropped the movie. She's not doing the vocals." he said as he opened the can and took a sip.

"What?" she paused. "What are we gonna do now? Everyone probably hates me. I'm the reason she left." Mya huffed as she ran her hands through her hair, almost wanting to pull it out.

"No one hates you. It's gonna be fine. They already found someone else." he smiled lightly as he put his hand on her arm.

Amy and Drew stopped their reading and directed their attention to Justin. "Who did they get?" Amy asked curiously.

"Let me guess. Christina Aguilera?" Mya snickered. Justin looked at her with a glare and turned away without saying anything. "Justin. I was kidding."

"You're right though." he said as he walked into the foyer. Everyone followed.

"You're serious? It's Christina?" her eyes glistened.

"They thought the one song from her new album was perfect for the movie so they asked her to do the vocals."

"Wow. That's a big difference from Britney to her." she added as they continued to follow him into the living room.

"She's an amazing singer. I love her music." Amy boasted from behind them.

"Well, get used to it Mya. You have Christina's voice. Hopefully you will get to meet her soon." he finished as he sat down on the couch. Mya's smile ment more than words. It gleamed from ear to ear.



During the week Mya did get to meet Christina in L.A. while she stayed there for an interview. Mya only met her for a couple minutes but she was glad that she could finally see her in person. The first time she heard "Cruz" she was instantly in love with it and was glad that Christina was now on board with the team.

"I'm going home." Amy said to Mya softly as she gathered a last few things together as she and Drew's last day there was winding down.

"I know. I don't like it but I know." Mya replied as she looked at Amy's sad eyes.

"Well," she sighed. "I better get going before it gets too late."

"Drew hasn't said much today." Mya continued with a conversation as she helped her bring the rest of her things downstairs.

"He's a guy ya know. He's sad to be leaving too but he won't show it." Amy looked back at her as she cracked a small smile.

"Justin's driving the truck. Everything is ready." Drew said to them as he met them in the foyer.

"Have a safe trip you guys." Caprice announced as she came from the kitchen.

"We will. Thanks for everything, Caprice." Amy smiled and leaned in for a quick hug with her hands full with luggage.

"We'll be back in a little while." Mya said to her as they walked around the front of the house to the four car garage. Amy loaded up her things and they headed on their way.



The trip to the airport was a silent one. The sadness loomed over them like a black cloud that was raining on just their heads. The sunset beamed from behind them, casting orange and pink hues over the small private airport road. The control building was as big as a small one floor house. The jet sat motionless on the runway; its glossy white shell glowing from the last of the sun's rays.

Justin parked the car just as Jack entered the jet to get everything started. Rex met them halfway towards the jet.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Rex. Thanks for taking them back home." Justin said as everyone caught up with him.

"It's no problem. This will be a better trip than the last one. I promise." He smiled at Amy and Drew who wore frowns on their faces. "Let me take that stuff and load it up for you." he added consolingly.

"Yeah, I'll help, too." Justin said after him and they both took all the luggage and walked to the plane.

"This sucks." Amy sighed as she turned to Mya.

"Yeah, but, you can come visit me in two months when we get back to L.A." she smiled lightly.

"Two months is a long time when I'm used to being around you night and day for that long." she said, becoming teary eyed.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go help them. I'm not good with goodbyes. Too emotional for me." Drew snickered a bit making everyone smile.

"Okay then." Mya said as she grabbed him in for a hug. "Take care of yourself. I hope to see you soon."

"You will before you know it." he smiled and turned away. "Cya."

Mya waved to him and turned back to Amy. "I didn't tell you that I'm staying in L.A. permanently with Justin. I'm gonna get my mom to send all my stuff out here."

"You're never coming back home?" she asked surprised.

"Well, of course I'm coming back to visit but I'm not going to live in Florida anymore."

"I guess it would be more convenient living out here where you can find more work after the movie." she agreed.

"Why don't you and Drew move out here?" Mya asked as she looked over to the boys who were now talking to Jack and Rex.

"No. I don't think so. Florida is our home. I think Drew and I are gonna go back home and look for a place for us both to move into." she smiled lightly.

"Now don't go spending that money all in one place." Mya snickered.

Amy sniffed while holding back tears. "Don't worry I wont."

"Well, you better get going before they leave without you." she added as she took hold of Amy's hands.

"Yeah, I guess I should. I'm gonna miss you." she grabbed Mya for a hug.

Tears started to form in Mya's eyes as she broke away from her hug. "I'm gonna miss you, too. You are like my sister. I wanna see you soon before I get depressed."

"I promise you will. I'll call you on your cell when we get home so that you know we are okay, so, keep your phone on."

"It's on in the truck. I'll be sure to keep it with me." she replied as a tear graced her cheek.

Justin walked back up to them while Drew boarded the plane. "Take care of yourself Amy. Hope to see you soon."

Amy gave Justin a quick hug. "Take care of her, okay?"

Justin looked to Mya's sullen smile. "I will, I promise."

"Good luck with the movie, guys. Have fun." she turned to walk away.

"We will." Justin finished.

"Goodbye Mya!" she waved as she boarded the plane with a bittersweet smile.

"Bye Amy!" Mya waved back as Justin hugged her tighter.

Mya said goodbye to her friends and her past. It was now time to say hello to Justin and her future.

~ Chapter 20 ~