It was 8pm and after much debate on what to wear I finally opted on a pair of jeans, a tunic and a blazer- simple and to the point. I was packing my clutch when my phone vibrated. It was a message from Alex letting me know he was downstairs waiting for me. I made my way downstairs and through the lobby to find a black truck parked out on front. I noticed a figure sitting in the passenger side so I took a seat in the back. "Hey Alex" I said while buckling my seatbelt "I want you to meet someone, this is Rochelle my fiancé " he said with a hint of pride. Rochelle turned around and offered me a smile "Hey,nice to meet you" I said smiling back. Rochelle was gorgeous, she resembled a porcelain doll with her milky skin and mysterious eyes and her cherry red lipstick. "So Alex, where are we going?" I asked curious to know where we were off to. "Karaoke bar, we're gonna go sing some tunes" he said looking back at me through the mirror. "we? I think you mean You're gonna sing, dude I don't sing infront of crowds, I leave that to the professionals like yourself" I exclaimed. 

We arrived at the Bar which had  a bit of a dive feel. The place was crowded with people having a good time devouring  drinks while amateur singers provided some entertainment for the crowd. I immediately spotted Brian sitting at a table by the stage with a blonde female who was cheering on the brave soul who was on stage singing a rendition of "Hit me baby one more time" by Britney Spears.  As Brian saw us walking towards up he got up, "you made it!" he exclaimed as he pulled the blonde closer "Alyssa I'd like you meet my wife Leighanne". Leighanne was gorgeous blonde with a bubbly attitude who was always smiling. She definitely complimented Brian in many ways. We all took a seat and ordered a round if shots."Where are Nick and Howie?" Rochelle asked. "I spoke to them a while ago and they said they were on their way over here" Alex replied and looked at me "And you Missy, you're gonna sing up there tonight" I shook my head no, there's no way I was going to sing especially sober." I'm gonna need some shots before I can even consider it" I giggled. Our shots came and we made a small toast, the taste of patron was pretty strong , a couple more of these bad boys and I was gonna end up singing a ton of songs. Leighanne brought over the book of songs and were looking over which songs we could possibly sing. I decided to sing "Rolling in the deep" by Adele. There were a few people ahead of me so I had plenty of time to grow some balls and actually get on stage. By then Howie joined the fun leaving Nick nowhere to be found but that was his loss. 

Drinks kept coming,  and Brian and Leighanne were up. They were singing "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, Leighanne had a pretty good voice and they played off each other on stage so adorable. We were cheering them on as Howie would let out loud whistles for them. "Alyssa I think you're up next" Rochelle informed Me teasingly knowing that I was nervous. I had a few shots by now so I wasn't too nervous but still, what if my voice cracks or I trip and bust my ass? Once they finished they came back to our table. "You guys were amazing" I exclaimed, Leighanne just grinned "Thanks, I think your up next".

I picked up another shot from the table and downed it in one gulp. Here goes nothing, I thought. I got up and I was walking away I felt someone smack my ass, I turned around surprised, "Go get 'em tiger" AJ said , which caused me and Rochelle to laugh. Walking towards the stage I felt like I was in little league and I was up to bat and  had my team mates watching. I had to knock this one out of the park. 

The music began and I could hear the boys whistling and the girls cheering my name. I got this. I closed my eyes and began the song. 

"There's a fire starting in my heart, 

Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark, 

Finally, I can see you crystal clear, 

Go ahead and sell me out and a I'll lay your ship bare, 

See how I'll leave with every piece of you, 

Don't underestimate the things that I will do, The scars of your love remind me of us, 

They keep me thinking that we almost had it all, 

The scars of your love, they leave me breathless, 

I can't help feeling, "

I got the courage and opened my eyes and saw that people were singing along, here comes re chorus aly , don't fuck it up now.

"We could have had it all, 

(You're gonna wish you never had met me), 

Rolling in the deep, 

(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep), 

You had my heart inside of your hand, 

(You're gonna wish you never had met me), 

And you played it to the beat, 

(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)"

I looked over at my table and noticed Nick finally made it. He was standing beside Howie, with a drink in his hand, smiling over at me and occasionally whispering something to AJ. As the song was going, I felt more confident, shit I even sang to a random guy standing by the stage. Once the song was over I made my way back to the table. "Hey Alyssa, you killed it out there" Nick said as he gave me a hug. AJ cut in "excuse me but what the fuck are you doing as an A&R ? You should be on stage singing". I laughed, "No thanks, I don't do singing, I prefer being behind the scenes" I replied. Nick looked at me, "you know what this means right" he said with a serious face leaving me confused "uhh no, what?" I asked "You have to sing a song with me" he replied with a grin. I groaned "oh brother, fineee" I gave in, he went and retrieved the book with all the songs. A duet with Nick Carter, this will definitely be interesting. 

Nick came back and took a seat beside me. "So what song do you wanna sing?" he asked. I gave him a shy smile "I don't know, hello you're the singer!" I exclaimed causing him to smirk "Come on this is a team effort!" he sounded alot more amped for this than I was. We threw different songs around until settling on "I got you babe" by Sonny and Cher, a timeless classic that everyone knows. There were a couple of people ahead of us so we all chilled at the table. "Alyssa I'm sure Jenn told you about the cruise coming up December, you comin'?" Howie asked "What exactly is this cruise about?" I asked wondering what the hell these boys were going to do in the high seas. "You know spend some time with the fans, do some activities, a concert, deck parties. Honestly,I'm scared shitless of being in such a closed proximity with about 1200 fans but it'll be one for the books" Brian joked. "It'll be fun, should come" Rochelle said. "It will and you'll get to meet some of the other people we work with" Howie told me. I thought about it and maybe it wouldnt be so bad to have a couple if days off to just lay back and have some fun, especially that I would be working close with these people. "I guess I'm in" I said. Leighanne let out a shriek of excitement, she clearly had too many drinks tonight. Nick leaned over to me, "I'm glad your coming, it's gonna be a fucking kick ass time". I smiled "I hope so, or I'm kicking all of your asses then throwing you off the boat" we both laughed and made our way to the stage to sing our song. We were acting silly on stage, getting all dramatic with the lyrics. Nicks voice definitely sounded better than I last remember. I think the booze didn't allow me to get nervous singing next to a seasoned performer like Nick. 

Once the song was over I was walking back but I noticed Nick wasn't behind me. I heard the beginning of "Open Arms" by Journey playing. AJ rolled his eyes "I knew this fucker was gonna sing this song, he's been obsessed with Journey since forever" I laughed at him. "It's a classic, dont hate" I teased. We all stood infront of the stage, AJ swung his lighter from side to side while the rest swung our cellphones in the air. Brian started acting like a total fangirl, those two had a serious bromance. Before we could leave we all got on stage a did a rendition of "I want it that way", hey we were at a karaoke bar, it was only fitting. The people at the bar sang along. The energy was electric, I mean its not always that you see singers at a karaoke bar singing their own songs.

It was already midnight and time to go. I said my good byes to Howie , Brian and Leighanne. AJ had a bit too much to drink so Rochelle was gonna drive home. "I'll take you to the hotel if you want" Nick offered. AJ did seem a little out of it so maybe it was better that they go home instead of taking any detours. "If you don't mind" I replied. I said my goodbyes with AJ ad Rochelle and swapped numbers with her so we could keep in touch. We walked towards a  black Mercedes hard top convertible. Nick opened the door for me before hopping in and we were on our way. "So at what time is your flight tomorrow?" Nick asked quickly glancing at me while driving "At noon" I answered looking back at him. I quickly studied his profile, I had to hand it to him the guy was gorgeous. "Are you relocating over here?" he asked. That seems to be the golden question. "Thinking about getting a place out here, but I'll probably split my time between here and New York. How about you, you live out here full time?" I asked. "Yeah I do, I had a home in Tennessee which I  sold so now I'm living in Malibu." he answered "Tennessee? You definitely don't look like a country boy to me" I teased " why not? I'm a country boy at heart" he replied doing his best impersonation  of a southern accent and let out a loud "Yeehaww!" I burst into laughter causing Nick to laugh too. "you just don't seem like the type of guy who would trade in a car for  a tractor" I said, "There's alot you don't know about me young grasshopper but in due time we will have more time to get to know eachother" nick said  "I'm looking forward to that. I had alot if fun by the way, thanks for everything" I said feeling really grateful for their hospitality. "No problem, it was fun and to think that many more fun times are to come" he replied. We finally made it to the hotel and I wished we could just keep on driving but I knew that just wasn't possible; I had a flight to catch tomorrow and he probably had someone waiting for him at home. It felt good to have some company especially someone like Nick who had me cracking up the whole night. Nick brought the car to a halt bringing me out of my thoughts. "So when are you coming back?" he asked looking at me in the eyes. These past two days made me notice Nick's habit of looking at people in the eye when he spoke as if he's really trying to convey his message. I swear anyone could get caught in those baby blues, not that I would say that out loud of course. "I should be back by next week, I wanna start looking around for a place to live and I wanna start setting up over here" I responded. "Do you want me to walk you up?" Nick asked. I waved him off "No thanks it's okay really" I answered " I should get going". I grabbed my clutch and was ready to open up the door "wait!" Nick exclaimed. He got out of the car and walked to my side and opened my door, I couldn't help but giggle at his gesture. "why thank you " I said giving him a smile "Well I should get going". Nick opened his arms for a hug so I gave him a small hug. "It was nice meeting you , again " he said "Same here" I replied slowly walking towards the front doors of the hotel. I looked back and Nick waved and went back into his car while I went up to my room and let these past 48 hours finally sink in.