Conflicts of Interest: A Justin Fanfiction Saga

Chapter Eight: Out of Character

But then she left. Did she mean it?

Justin flung another stone into the ice, almost angrily this time. From the moment Madeline entered the conference room exactly a week ago, she'd turned him upside-down. She infuriated him. She baffled him. She intrigued him.

And after all his efforts, even her own admission, she still wanted nothing more to do with him.

Watching her now as she paced about the bridge, looking anywhere but in his direction, Justin inhaled deeply, the mixture of icy air and dismay breathing into him. His hands were tied; she left him no choice but to walk away as well.

I can do that, he thought, letting a cloud of breath escape into the air and straightening up. She doesn't want this, fine. I tried and she won. I'm not gonna make myself into an even bigger fool by fighting it. Besides, there are plenty of fish in the ...

His shoulders sagged a little. If only he knew her thoughts. Whether she was thinking about him or how to make the quickest exit possible. If only he knew what she really wanted.

If only she knew how much he'd miss her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Let's add a kiss," Jeffrey suggested.

"What?" Madeline said, turning white. "You never said anything about a kiss."

"Just a little peck on the cheek," he assured. "So you guys are talking. You leave him, giving him a little kiss before you leave. He's pained. He watches you walk away. In the sad ending, it stops right there. In the happy ending, he finds you and puts his arms around you. This is just one more tool to drive him crazy."

Now that the truth was surfacing, there would be no more innocent moments. Every gesture and touch suddenly carried weight. Acting would never be this hard.

The shot was set up on the bridge, and Justin and Madeline were positioned in front of the camera.

"All right," Jeffrey instructed. "Remember, Madeline, you don't want to lose him, but he's got to see what life is like without you, so you're giving him that chance. There's lots of deliberation and weight in this little kiss. It's supposed to torture him."

"OK, that's just a little too much pressure," she said nervously, not looking at a stone-faced Justin across from her.

"And Justin," the director said, looking at the young man. "Be tortured."

"Yes, sir," Justin said softly.

The music began to swell, and Madeline and Justin the Actors began engaging in rehearsed video-drama dialogue, words only they would hear.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, but you'll see I'm right when you meet someone else," Justin the Actor said to a sad-faced Madeline.

She shook her head. "Not likely," Madeline the Actor responded, then drew closer to him and placed both hands on his arms and lifted her face to him. "Take care of yourself." She stood on tiptoe and brushed his cheek with her lips.

It was a touch as soft as feathers, and as he inhaled her scent and the wintery cold mixed into her hair, Justin's eyes closed instinctively before he realized he was supposed to be behaving that way. Justin the Actor came back on the scene as he opened his eyes to watch her walk away. The camera focused mid-shot on him as he leaned against the rail, an expression of sadness crossing his face. Justin the Actor was depressed.

Justin himself was worse. All at once the blood rushed to his head, and a sharp pain invaded his chest. It was becoming all too real. She would walk away like this tomorrow, and he'd never see her again.