-- 2010 --
"Who told Oprah that a morning taping would work?" I called out.
No one answered. I turned around. Kev just smiled from his makeup chair.
"You never change do you?"
"Well I wouldn't say never," I said.
It was like old times...well for a few more hours at least. It was a chilly October morning. The five of us were back together for the first time in a couple years at least.
Oprah was a miracle-maker.
"Okay, I take it back. You have changed. You can tuck your shirt in now."
I scowled but I had secretly missed Kev's good-natured ribbing.
"Lauren makes sure I don't slip," I said. I hopped out of the chair.
Even though Lauren did keep me on the straight and narrow, she didn't have a lot to worry about. I didn't want to slip; I had never felt better. After years of greasy food, drugs, alcohol and my heart scare, I had turned it all around. I mean, I enjoyed a bottle of beer every now and then, but I was never going back to the way I was.
I didn't like that guy.
"Are we making the NKOTBSB announcement today?" Bri called out. Howie turned around in his chair.
James looked up from the cloth book he was holding.
"Not yet. We're waiting on one more thing."
Kev didn't say anything; even though he was here today, he wasn't on our page anymore. He was doing his movie thing; he was more relaxed than I had ever seen him.
"Will we be ready by the time this airs? One of the staff members wants to know so they can schedule Oprah to record a clip later on," AJ called out.
"I'll double-check. Hold on," How said. He whirled back around.
"You're all set," my stylist said. I was dressed, caked, and ready to roll. I tugged at my vest.
"I'm going to get some coffee. You want coffee?" I asked Kev. He nodded.
"Black."
Of course he did. I still had to have at least one creamer and a spoonful of sugar. I headed into the hall.
The coffee pot was surrounded by sugar donuts and muffins. I picked up an apple and tossed it into the air.
As I did so, I saw me run past. I caught the apple and held it aloft.
Okay, so it wasn't me. I knew that; I wasn't delusional. But the little kid that stopped and looked up at the counter looked just like me. He reached his arm up for a donut. There was no way the little dude was reaching the goodies. His blue eyes looked up at me pleadingly.
"You want one of these?" I asked. He nodded.
I pointed. "This one?"
He shook his head no.
"This one?"
He shook his head again.
The resemblance was freaking me out. I had no idea who the kid belonged to. I looked around, but I didn't see a parent anywhere. I pointed to a chocolate donut with sprinkles.
"This one?"
He broke into a smile.
Goddamnit it was my smile.
I put the apple down, put the donut on a napkin and squatted down next to him.
"What's your name?"
He grabbed onto the napkin. He suddenly seemed to realize that he was ridin' solo, but he struggled to act tough. He shrugged. I smiled.
"You don't have a name? My name's Nick."
"JACOB! JAKE!"
The voice sounded frantic and raspy. A pair of sneakers rounded the corner. The owner of the shoes coughed up half a lung as she tried to catch her breath. Her nose was red and raw.
"MOMMY!"
The boy held onto his donut as he ran right to her. I stood up slowly. My eyes locked onto hers.
"Hello Shay," I said slowly.
I couldn't believe my bad luck. All I had tried to do was stop by Harpo Studios to get some things so I could work from home while I battled the damn flu. Jake was always running nilly-willy around the studio, but how in the world had he managed to find the one person I never wanted to see again?
"Hello Shay," Nick said slowly.
Jake was getting chocolate frosting on my sweat pants, but I didn't care. I could barely breathe.
The antibiotics the doctor had given me hadn't kicked in yet. Nick Carter, a bazillion pounds lighter than I remembered him was staring at me.
And his son was staring at the both of us.
"I got a doooo-nut," Jake sang. He stuffed a huge hunk in his mouth, let my leg go, and plopped on my shoe.
My tongue was literally tied in my mouth. Nick looked back down and then up at me. He looked like he had been punched in the gut.
If I was feeling better, I probably would have done it for real. Or kicked him in the nuts. Either way, he deserved it.
"What are you doing here?" I rasped.
Nick tugged on his vest. "We're doing Oprah's Teen Idol episode today," he explained.
I had totally forgotten about the Teen Idols thing. I had missed all of the meetings on it; I didn't even know who was supposed to perform. Hell, I wasn't even supposed to be here.
"Mommy, are we gooooo-ing?" Jake asked. He put a couple more chocolate fingerprints on my pants. I patted down a few stray blonde hairs.
"In a minute," I said quietly.
"How old is he?"
I looked back at Nick. I felt trapped. He would have had to been totally blind not to see...
"He turned three a couple months ago," I said.
"I'm three and a lot," Jake said seriously. He took another bite of donut. A huge frosted clump with red sprinkles plopped onto his Diego shirt. He pulled at his shirt and tried to lick it off.
A sneezing fit hit me hard. I buried my face into my sweatshirt and gave into it. I made sure I wasn't dripping snot when I looked up again.
"We better get going," I said. The words were bitter, but they still came out. "You're looking great," I added. I held out my hand. Jake grabbed onto it tightly.
"Shay--" Nick said.
I didn't give him a chance to say anything. I weighed 175 pounds. I was a single mom. I had a huge hunk of phlegm stuck in my throat. My baby-sitter was on Spring Break in Florida. I had to go home and give Jake a bath and pray he didn't get sick again. I had gotten the bug from him the first time around.
The last thing I had time to worry about was Nick Carter.
