Janet

As I shifted and turned in the bed, I opened my eyes to see Shawn staring back at me. Her smile was enough to brighten even the darkest night. She put her fingers to my lips and traced them gently.

"If I could wake up next you every single day for the rest of my life, I'd be good with that." She said.

She had a way of making me feel like I was the only thing in the world that matters. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. Her body felt so warm next to mine. "I gotta go baby." She said and try to pull away but I hugged her neck tighter. "I need to hurry up and get back in bed before daybreak." Shawn said, kissing my neck a few times. I finally let her go and she looked down at me in the moonlight and smiled. "Go back to sleep. I'll come see you before we head to the venue. I promise." I nodded, blew her a kiss and pulled the covers over myself.

There was no need for my alarm clock because the sun did the job. I headed down stairs and waited for my breakfast to arrive.

After my food was brought in, I grabbed a cup of tea and took in the beautiful view. Chicago was always an amazing place to visit. I had to admit that this was the first show I was pretty excited about. My door opened and I turned to see Shawn's smiling face walking towards me.

I sat my cup down and ran into her arms, burying my face in her neck as I took in her scent. Grabbing her hand, I motioned for her to have a seat. I fidgeted with my fingers for a moment and then took a deep breath.

"I need to say something." I said. Shawn looked at me curiously. "First I need to apologize. I've always known how you felt about me. Yes, I did like the attention but I had no right to play with your emotions."

Shawn stood up. "Boo wait, you don't have to say this."

I put my hands up. "Please, I need to get this off my chest." Shawn nodded and sat back down. "But I have always loved you. I was just afraid and I'm not perfect. I'm not saying that I want to come out to the world today or tomorrow but I need you to know that you are not just some secret to me Shawnette." I kneeled in front of her. "You're so much more to me than that. You're the woman I love and I am proud of my love for you." I stood up again and paced back and forth. "I feel like my emotions have been all over the place and I was confused as to what I wanted." I looked at her. "But I know that it's you I want Shawn." I said. "I want to be yours."

Shawn stood up and embraced me. She didn't say anything she just hugged me like she never wanted to let go again.

"I got a call from my lawyer today." I looked at her and continued. "Rene and I are officially separated and its just paperwork at this point."

"That's great news babe."

I smiled. "Yeah I'm ready. It's not gonna be easy. My lawyer says he wants money. A lot of money."

"Bullshit! That bastard is not getting a dime from you." Shawn said.

"It's not that easy. He helped me with a lot of projects. I'm gonna have to give him something, but at least I know there is a light at the end of this tunnel." I thought about my next words carefully. "We have to be careful during this time. After the divorce is final, I can be with whoever I want, as publicly as I want." I said and touched her hand. "Shawn, I want to be with you and only you. Can you be patient with me through this and still trust that my word to you is true?"

Shawn

She wasn't asking much of me. If anyone were to find out about us, other than just gossip it could hurt her case against Rene. I didn't want to make things difficult for her. So I just nodded and smiled.

"I can do that." I said. Janet smiled and hugged me. She felt so good in my arms again. "I missed us." I said and felt her smile against my shoulder. She looked at me.

"I missed us too." She smiled and sat down. "I need to hurry and eat so I can get ready. I have a last minute meet and greet before the show. The ticket was free all the way up until today. So weird. It has to be someone I know."

I nodded. "Yeah that is a little weird. Well I will let you finish your breakfast. I'm gonna go get ready to head out." I kneeled down next to her. "I love you J."

She smiled and blushed. "I love you too."

As I walked towards the door, I stopped and looked over my shoulder. I gazed at the woman I'd loved for a very long time now. Nothing felt real at this point. If it was a dream, I never wanted it to end. I turned and closed the door.

(Chicago Show)

My phone continued to buzz as I walked to our dressing room.

"Gil can you grab my phone outta my pocket." I asked. He looked at me like I was demanding the most from him. I held our bags up. "Shall we forget that my hands are full, with my bags and yours."

"Fine." He said laughing and grabbed my cell. He turned it to face me. "It's Amelia. Should I answer?"

I shook my head. "Nah I'll call her later tonight . We need to get ready."

We unpacked all of our things and got set up. Our dressing room was always chaos. Music played loudly in the back ground while some of us danced, talked, laughed and played jokes on each other.

I glanced around the room, looking at my family and smiled. Damn I loved these people. I continued to apply my makeup and finish my hair. A glanced in the mirrors reflection again and I saw Janet peeking her head into the door way.

Come here, she mouthed and motioned for me to join her outside of the room. I looked around quickly, everyone was focused and not paying attention and I managed to sneak away unnoticed.

"Came to wish me luck?" I joked as I closed everyone inside the room.

"You need to come with me." She said and took my hand. She wasn't saying anything as she lead me quickly through the stadiums back halls.

"J where are we going baby?" I asked quietly as we passed people throughout our journey. We finally stopped in front of a room where Joey was waiting by the door. "Janet what's going on?"

"I just got the names of my meet and greets." She looked at me unsure.

"Well who is it?" I asked. Joey looked at us both and shook his head.

"Joey you're not helping." She said, looked at me and opened the door.

There was Amelia in the room waiting patiently. She took the hand of the woman next to her as they stood up to greet us. I glanced quickly at Janet and then back at them again.

Amelia smiled brightly as she saw me and wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. "God I missed you so so much. I was in town visiting my parents and saw the poster for the show. My mom wanted to go. She loves Janet."

"Your mom?" I said.

"Oh god, how rude of me." She said and grabbed her mom's hand. "Shawn this is my mother Olivia, Mom, this is Shawnette Heard."

I smiled and held out my hand, her mom took it and pulled me into a hug.

"It's wonderful to meet you dear. I've heard so much about you." She said.

"It's very nice to meet you as well." I turned to Janet. She was standing quietly a few feet away from us. I laughed nervously wanting nothing more but to get rid of the awkward feeling in the room. "I know you didn't come all the way here to see me, so there is someone I want you to meet." I held out my hand to Janet. "This is my amazing Boss over here, you may have heard of her." We all started to laugh.

Olivia put her hands to her lips. "I just think you're amazing and it just absolutely wonderful to have the opportunity to meet you in person." She said. Janet smiled brightly and hugged her.

As they sat over in the corner and talked, Amelia and I talked near the door.

"It would've been nice if you would've let me know you were coming. I would've been able to prepare myself to meet the parents." I said.

She looked at me with hurt in her eyes. "You've haven't been available a lot lately. I just wanted to see you and I spent a lot of money just to do so. I don't know if you ever bought concert tickets the day of." She said and folded her arms.

"Baby, I'm sorry." She wouldn't look at me. I touched her chin and brought her eyes to mine. "I'm sorry, I was just caught off guard. I didn't picture me meeting your mom for the first time this way."

"Neither did I." She said.

"I'm sorry." I said again. I really did feel bad. The guilt made my stomach feel sick. I touched her face. "Please don't be mad." I asked.

"I'm not mad, I just miss you." She said. I pulled her into an embrace and she kissed me.

After a quick picture, Janet asked Joey to escort Amelia and her mother to their seats. The door closed and we were alone.

As we headed back to our dressing rooms, we didn't say much. I walked Janet to her room before heading for my own.

"You okay?" I asked. She glanced at me, shook her head, letting it fall into her hands. It was easy not to think about Amelia and pretend that she didn't exist while we were away. Being right in front of her tonight clearly bothered us both. But any one who worked in this business knew that the show must go on.

I managed to put everything out of my mind long enough to get through the show and have some fun. As I walked into my hotel, I knew that I needed to call Amelia. I had to talk to her. I looked at my phone. She'd sent me a picture.

Amelia:

Amelia: By far my favorite costume of the night.

I laughed to myself and started to text her back to see if she could talk.

There was a knock at my door. I opened it.

"J what are you doing, you should be resting." I said.

She walked inside and closed it. She told there in nothing but her robe. She didn't say anything as she slowly untied it, revealing nothing underneath as the plush fabric crumbled to the floor. I took a sharp breath, swallowed hard and looked at my phone again as it started to vibrate in my hand. Amelia was now calling. I glanced at Janet and then at my phone again.

"Fuck." I said and threw my phone on the couch. Janet smiled, took my hand and lead me to the bed.