Finding a job wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I found a job at KBHNA Records. I would be working as Howie’s personal assistant. I was amazed that he would even hire me. It seemed like he was the only Backstreet Boy who would talk to me without shooting me daggers. Even my brother hated me.

Today was my first day on the job. None of the other guys knew that I was working for Howie. I think it would come as a shock to them when they came into the office this morning. Brian, Alex and Nick would be pissed. I wasn’t sure about Kevin because I hadn’t seen him yet.

I sat nervously at my desk waiting for Howie to give me my first assignment for the day.

“Good morning sweetheart. You look gorgeous.” Howie smiled at me and handed me a cup of tea.

“Hi Howie. How are you?”

“I’m well. You don’t look so happy. What’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous about the other guys finding out that I’m working here. They aren’t going to be happy about it. I hope they don’t get mad at you.” I confessed.

“Don’t be nervous. They will be pissed at first, but they’ll get over it. I believe in giving people second chances. We both know that you handled the situation wrong, but Nick could have done something about it.”

‘What do you mean by that Howie? I’m the one who left.” I was confused. I always thought of Nick as the innocent one in the situation. Nick didn’t do anything wrong, I did.  I was interested in hearing what Howie was going to say.

“Why didn’t Nick try to find you when you left? If he loved you don’t you think that he would have come looking for you and bring you back. I would do that for the woman I loved.”

I was stunned. I never thought of that. I always blamed myself for things.  Was I the only one wrong in this situation? Why didn’t he come find me? Did Nick even love me?

“Howie, I think you need to stay out it. This is between Nick and Rachel. Stop trying to defend her. She knows she’s wrong. What is she doing here anyway?” Alex glared at me as he talked to Howie. How could my own brother hate me so much?

“AJ, what’s your problem? This is your sister. She made mistakes and is ready to live up to them. Rachel’s ready to start over and you and the rest of the guys are not making it any easier. Even Nick is acting more mature than you. At least he’s just keeping quiet about the situation, instead of bad mouthing Rachel. The reason she’s here is because I hired her as my personal assistant.”

“What the hell is your problem, D? Always trying to be Sweet D. What did you do give her a condo, too? I can’t believe you can fall for her charm. You know she’ll screw this up.” AJ fumed.

“AJ, she’s your sister. How can you talk about her like that? Just get out of my office.” Alex walked out before I could say anything to him. I started to cry. Howie hugged me, I felt like no one loved me.

“I’m sorry. If you want to fire me, go ahead.”

“Why would I fire you? You are the most qualified person for the job. Did you think I would only hire you because you’re my best friend’s sister? You are a smart, beautiful woman. Having you work for me is the best thing that could happen. Your life is going to get better.”

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My day was fairly quiet. Howie was the only one to talk to me. The other guys ignored me, but Alex and Brian spent a great deal of time talking about me. Alex purposely made it so I heard their conversations about me.

I sat at my desk, typing Howie’s schedule for the next week.

“You’re still here?”

“Yes, I’m finishing your schedule for the week.” I hit the print button and got up.

“How was your day?”

“It was fine, minus Alex and Brian talking about me. I tried to ignore it, but it got hard. They were purposely doing so I could hear it. I get why they are mad, but it still makes me feel bad.”

“They are acting like jerks. They need to get over it. You are here for the right reasons. Make sure you talk to Nick and own up to your mistakes. He may not forgive you at first, but with time he will. Deep down he still loves you.”

“I hope so. I never stopped loving him, Howie. He’s, my everything. I don’t want to live without him.”

“Ashton everything will work out.” He took his schedule and started walking out of my office. “Now go home.”

I listened to my boss. I quickly grabbed my purse and headed out the door.

Howie gave me hope about my current situation. He understood when no one else wanted to be. Howie was a good friend. Hopefully my brother would come around and understand why I left. I prayed nightly that Nick would realize that I ran away for me and not because of him. Tomorrow would be a better day.