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“Hello?” I mumbled, before the phone had even reached my ear.

“Amy? Amy? Are you there!?” Eddie’s voice blasted through the speakers.

“Yeah, I’m here. What is it?” I asked, untangling myself from the heap of blankets and settling back onto the mess of plush hotel pillows. I looked at the clock and resisted the urge to let out a disgruntled sigh. It was 6:30 A.M.. Was the man insane? I had only gone to bed three and a half hours ago.

“I saw your posts from last night.” Eddie said. “I have to tell you, they were nothing special. You’re supposed to be connecting the fans to the Backstreet Boys. You’re supposed to be providing them with an intimate experience. All you’ve done so far is post pictures that anyone who attended the show could have taken themselves. Where is the backstage access?”

“Create an intimate experience?” I repeated. “I only just met them myself, yesterday. I barely had time to say hello, let alone have a conversation with any of them. Jason was talking my ear off, so I couldn’t even attend the sound check party. It’s only been one day!”

“One day could make or break this whole initiative! We’ve got to maintain fan interest. Hell, we’ve got to attract fan interest!” Eddie scolded.

“I’m meeting with them this morning to go over the details.” I offered.

“Fine! I expect to see something better from you, today. Show the fans something that they can’t see with their own eyes. That’s the whole damn point of this thing!” Eddie hissed.

“What would you like me to do?” I shot back. “Post a picture of what Howie has for breakfast this morning?”

“Perfect!” Eddie cried. “The fans will love it! Anything personal that you can dig up, post it!”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I replied, rolling my eyes. Clearly, he had missed my sarcasm.

“Thanks. I know you’ll get the hang of it.” Eddie acknowledged, his voice softening a little. “Sorry I snapped at you. It’s been a little rough around here since Louis was born. I’m running on like no sleep.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said, stifling a yawn.

“Great. I’ll check in with you later today.” Eddie replied and clicked off.

“Wonderful” I mumbled, tossing my phone on the nightstand and sinking deeper into the pillows. It seemed almost tragic to leave the warm pile of plush bedding, but I had to meet the band in an hour and a half. Groaning slightly, I forced myself to get out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Maybe a shower would help to wake me up.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, I found myself standing in the hallway outside of AJ’s hotel room. I took a large calming breath and knocked gently on the door. I hadn’t even had time to return my hand to my side before the door flung open. Startled, I took a small step back.

“Come in.” A young boy, who I assumed to be Baylee, said simply. He flashed me a smile that reminded me instantly of Brian’s and began leading the way.

“Thanks.” I said, hesitating slightly before entering the room. I shut the door behind me and followed Baylee further into the suite.

“Howie isn’t here yet.” Baylee informed me, as we stepped into the living room.

The rest of the guys, with the exception of Brian, were all lounging around on the couches in the sitting area of AJ’s suite. The TV was on and Ninja Turtles was playing quietly. Baylee immediately plopped himself down in the armchair closest to the television and returned his attention to the program. He had obviously lost interest in my presence.

“Good morning.” I offered, glancing quickly around the room.

“Good morning, babe! Have a seat!” AJ called, gesturing to the empty seat beside him on the couch.

“Babe?” I questioned, raising my eyebrows at him as I settled onto the couch.

“He calls everyone that. Don’t be too excited.” A strikingly attractive girl with long dark brown hair giggled. “I’m Lauren. It’s so nice to have another woman on tour!” she added.

“You must be Nick’s fiancée. It’s great to meet you!” I gushed. “I’m Amy.”

“So we’ve been told.” A blonde woman interrupted. “I’m Leighanne. Brian’s wife.” She added, narrowing her heavily made-up eyes ever so slightly in my direction.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I said, forcing a smile onto my face.

I suddenly felt very self-conscious in the presence of these two highly attractive women. Although I didn’t consider myself to be unattractive, I had quickly become very aware of the fact that my chest was just a little too small, that my stomach was just a little too flabby, and that my thighs were just a little too big. At a size six, I felt huge in comparison to Lauren and Leighanne’s tiny frames. I also wished that I had taken the time to put on more makeup. I was wearing my standard black eye liner, mascara, and tinted lip gloss; and I felt incredibly exposed.

“Amy, you don’t understand how happy I am to see you!” Lauren cried, completely oblivious to Leighanne’s heated stare. “I have been dying to get my nails done and do some shopping. The boys are always so busy and it’s hard for them to go out without being accosted in the street. Leighanne always says that she’s too busy with Wylee business to have any fun.” She added, shooting a pointed glance in Leighanne’s direction.

“I would kill for a pedicure.” I agreed, flashing Lauren a grateful smile.

“Ladies, while I’m so glad that you’re going to be besties, we kinda need to focus here.” Kevin interjected, a small smile playing on his lips as he attempted to hide his amusement.

“Howie’s not even here yet.” Brian pointed out, coming around the corner. “Coffee?” he asked, offering me a mug. “I added some milk and a bit of sugar.”

“Thanks.” I said, accepting the steaming beverage. I took a sip and relished both the taste and the immediate sense of wakefulness.

As Brian settled back on the couch across from me, Leighanne shot me another quick glance under her eyelids. “You know that too much caffeine isn’t good for you.” She admonished her husband as he took a sip of his own coffee.

“Too much of anything isn’t good for you.” He quipped, purposefully taking another long sip.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, dear.” Leighanne replied, patting his thigh. She allowed her hand to rest on the inside of his upper leg, but Brian pretended not to notice.

Just as I was thinking that things were about to get a bit awkward, the door clicked open and Howie charged into the room. His dark hair was still wet from the shower, and he smelled like linen and soap as he flopped down into the empty armchair next to the couch that AJ and I were sitting on.

“Sorry I’m late.” He apologized. “Leigh and I Skyped last night and we lost track of time.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you two have a nice chat?” Nick teased, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“Nick!” Lauren cried, smacking him in the chest with the back of her hand. “Leave the man alone!”

“Good God.” Kevin sighed. “I sincerely hope that these comments will not be repeated in your blog posts.”

I stifled a laugh at the thought of writing about Howie’s online relations with his wife and almost choked on my coffee. “I won’t talk about anything that you guys don’t want me to talk about.” I replied seriously. “That’s why we’re having this meeting. To outline some ground rules.”

“Well, I think that anything related to our, uhhhh, private activities should be omitted.” Howie stated, shooting a warning glance at Nick.

“Really? I think the fans would love to know that you’re willing to experiment with unconventional ways of keeping in touch with your wife.” Nick shot back. His comment resulted in another slap from Lauren, and he gave her a playful smile as he absently rubbed at his chest.

“I agree that all, errrr, bedroom activities are off limits during any kind of discussion.” Brian added. He shot a quick look at Baylee who was, thankfully, still fully engrossed by the television.

“I would never post anything like that anyways.” I assured them. I could feel a blush slowly creeping up my cheeks, so I took another gulp of coffee to hide my face. “Those ... activities are something that we definitely never need to discuss.”

“I dunno. Rochelle and I are pretty open to discussing our freaky side.” AJ laughed.

I could feel my eyes widen involuntarily in shock at AJ’s statement. Since I was mid-swallow, I also made an attractive half-snorting, half-choking noise as I attempted to stutter out a response.

“Relax, babe. I won’t share.” AJ reassured me, as Nick unsuccessfully attempted to hide his laughter at my less-than-graceful reaction. “Unless you decide that you really want to know, after you’ve gotten to know me and the wifey a little better.” AJ winked and patted my knee.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re all in agreement that we trust your judgement when it comes to the tweets and the blog posts.” Kevin said, coming to my rescue. “As for the pictures, just make sure that we’re fully clothed.” He laughed. “We all agreed to let Ground(ctrl) use us as a catalyst for this initiative, so we’re all prepared to have our privacy invaded a little bit more than usual. We all trust that if you do happen to catch any of us in an ‘awkward’ position that you will not make the situation public.”

“Absolutely.” I nodded in agreement. “I’m here to promote the tour, not to destroy it.”