Chapter 5

~~~~ Samantha's POV ~~~~

I sat in between Anthony and Kuya Chris during dinner which we were having outside of the house. I didn't really have much of an appetite because I was too busy feeling bad, for some odd reason unbeknownst to even myself, for telling Nick off. Even though I knew that everything I said to him was true my conscience wouldn't stop bothering me about it. Everything that we said during our argument kept replaying in my mind like a broken record or something. I looked across the table where Nick sat and saw that, just like me, he didn't seem to have much of an appetite. This was not normal since Nick would usually be the first to finish his plate and would sometimes even go in for seconds.

‘I wonder what he's thinking about...' I found myself wondering.

I looked around me to everyone else to find them all quietly eating. Nobody really said anything except if they asked someone to pass them something from the table. I looked to my left side and found Anthony looking around too, confusion evident in his face.

"Mommy," he asked turning to Beatrice. "Why is everyone quiet?"

Bea looked down at him and then at me before replying to her son, "Everyone is just very hungry, sweetie."

"Nuh uh, Auntie Mantha and Uncle Nick aren't eating." Anthony replied shaking his head.

I couldn't hide the surprise in my eyes after hearing Anthony say that. I looked up at Nick only to find him looking at me as well. After about two seconds of eye contact we both looked away.

I saw Anthony pick up my fork and tapped me on my arm with his other hand.

"Eat Auntie Mantha." Anthony said putting the fork, which had a piece of steak on it, in front of my face.

I smiled at his cuteness and gave in. Those blue eyes were truly irresistible. ‘But not as irresistible as Nick's!' I found my mind saying. I chose to ignore it and took the fork from Anthony's small hand. After swallowing I smiled to Anthony and put the fork back down on my plate. He smiled back and then turned his attention to Nick.

"Uncle Nick! Why aren't you eating?" Anthony asked.

All the other four Backstreet Boys looked at Nick waiting for his response. He looked at Anthony and smiled at him then cut a piece of his steak and ate it. Anthony smiled victoriously for getting Nick and me to finally eat. He turned to his mom and tapped her lightly on her arm.

"Mommy, I did a good job, huh?" Anthony asked making everyone in the table laugh instantly lightening the mood.

"Yes you did baby." Bea replied putting an arm around her son.

I looked over at Nick and noticed that he started eating at a normal pace now. Earlier when he was just picking at his food I could tell by the dazed look in his eyes that he was in deep thought. I didn't know exactly what was on his mind but I knew for sure that it had to be something important because it seemed to be really bothering him.

'That's kind of how his face was when I first met him...' I thought to myself. I still remember that day so clearly...

*Flashback*

"Oh my god, I can't believe that in a few hours I'm actually going to meet the Backstreet Boys!" I said to my cousin Beatrice while I rummaged through my closet trying to find something nice to wear.

"I don't know why you're so excited. You've already met Brian so technically, you're just going to be meeting some of his friends." Beatrice replied as she sat on my bed with her arms crossed over her chest.

I turned to her with a sympathetic look on my face. "I know that he hurt you and I'm sorry. But I can't help but feel excited! You know how much I love their music."

"Oh, really... and here I thought that you were just excited because you're finally going to meet your favorite Backstreet Boy, Mr. Nick Carter." Beatrice replied with her eye brow raised and a smirk on her lips.

"Um, well... yeah, I'm pretty excited about that too." She didn't seem to be buying my 'calm-and-collected' act. "Pssh, oh who am I kidding. Have you seen him?! The guy's gorgeous with his long, sexy blonde hair, alluring blue eyes and especially his voice. His captivating voice that just makes me melt every time I hear him sing..." I rambled on in a daze.

"Uh, yeah, okay. I don't wanna be hearing about your fantasies with Nick so why don't we just figure out what you're going to wear, hmm? Kuya Chris is gonna be here in a few hours and you know how he hates waiting."

So, for the next couple hours before Chris arrived, Beatrice and I spent it trying to figure out what would be an appropriate outfit for my first day on the job. I didn't want to wear something that made me look too professional because that was totally not me. On the other hand, I didn't want to make it seem like I didn't care how I looked and just threw on the first thing I found in my closet. Being their new personal assistant and all, my appearance was important. It had to show that I was organized and professional but at the same time not too uptight. In the end, we decided on something casual but not too laid back.

I looked at myself in my full length mirror to make sure every thing was alright and in place. I wore dark blue jeans with a printed brown, black and beige top that had a low V-neckline with a white lace camisole underneath so that I would be showing too much skin. The sleeves where like bells because they got wider as it traveled down my arms and ended just in between my elbows and wrist. I wanted to keep it simple so I just used a few pins to tie some of my hair on the top of my head back. After doing my make-up, which was only foundation, shimmery cream colored eye shadow, mascara and clear lip gloss, I turned to Beatrice.

"So, what do you think?" I asked as I lifted both my arms up.

"Perfect."

Just at that moment, we heard Kuya Chris's car coming up the drive-way. I grabbed my brown boots that reached just above my ankles and had an inch and a half heels then said goodbye to Beatrice.

When Kuya Chris and I got to the arena where the boys were going to be performing later that night, I felt so anxious. I kept trying to take deep breaths to calm myself down but it didn't seem to help much. We went backstage where a lot of people were busily trying to set everything up and making sure everything was working properly. I followed Kuya Chris into one of the rooms where a lot of food was set up on a couple tables. There we found AJ and Howie putting some food on the paper plates they were holding. Kuya Chris greeted them then came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder to bring me forward.

"Guys, this is Samantha. Remember, my cousin that I was talking to you about? She's going to be your new personal assistant."

Howie was the first to reply. "Oh, hey. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Howie D." he stuck out his left hand to shake mine while the other held his plate of food. Howie was such a sweetie!

"Hey cutie, what's up? I'm AJ." he moved his sunglasses down a bit so that I could see his eyes and winked at me. AJ is such a flirt... but a hot one!

"Uh, hehe... hi." I said softly trying to conceal the blush that I knew was on my cheeks. I cleared my throat and spoke louder this time. "Nice to meet you guys too, but I already know all of your names." I said with a shy smile.

"Yeah," Chris continued. "She's a fan of your music. A big fan. You should see her room; her walls are filled with posters and pictures of you guys."

Ugh, why'd he have to tell them that?! Now, I'm officially embarrassed...

"Oh really?" Howie replied with a slight chuckle. "Well, that's cool. Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy our music."

I smiled and was about to reply when Kuya Chris spoke again. "You can say that again. She has all your CDs and DVDs."

"Okay!" I shrugged his arm off my shoulder. "That's enough embarrassing me for one day."

All three of them laughed.

After talking for a bit more, I asked Kuya Chris to show me around the place some more. While he was showing me the actual concert hall where the stage was being set up, I noticed a tall guy with dark hair playing basket ball with a shorter guy with a familiar head of dirty blonde hair. When they noticed us they stopped playing and walked over to greet us. I didn't really need to be introduced to Brian since I already knew who he was, obviously. I just smiled politely and waved at him when he came over with Kevin who said hi and gave me a hug.

‘Well, 4 down, one left to go.' I thought anxiously to myself as Kuya Chris continued explaining something to me while we sat eating lunch an hour after meeting all the guys. What he was telling me exactly, I didn't really know...

"Sam? Hello? Hey, snap out of it!" Kuya Chris snapped his fingers in my face breaking me from my trance like state.

"Huh? What? What happened?"

He sighed, "Nothing, forget it. I'll explain it to you later. What's got you so spaced out?"

"Oh, uh. Nothing, I'm probably just tired from all the excitement. It's not everyday that a girl gets to meet her favorite band in the whole world, much less have the chance to work with them." Well, it wasn't a complete lie. I was starting to feel tired after walking around and meeting the Backstreet Boys... er, well, all of them except the one I've been dying to meet.

"Oh and that reminds me, I never really got to thank you for giving me this job. So, thank you." I said sincerely this time and smiled up at my older cousin who I looked up to as the older brother that I never had.

"It's no problem. I had to do something to get your big, lazy butt off the sofa." He said teasingly. I smacked him.

"I am not lazy! And for your information, I had only been unemployed for 2 weeks before you gave me this job."

Kuya Chris rolled his eyes "Mhm, whatever you say, lazy butt!"

I rolled my eyes in response and chose not to retaliate this time because I really wanted to know something. "Well, we've met all of the guys... except Nick. Where is he anyway?" I asked changing the subject.

"I was wondering when that question was going to come out of your mouth..." He chuckled. "Well from what I've been told, he hasn't arrived yet. I think he's still at the hotel but he is on his way. He should be here pretty soon since the guys have to start sound check in a couple of hours."

"Oh, okay..." I nodded my head in response but the disappointment was evident in my voice. ‘It's cool; I can probably meet him before the show starts.'

Later that night, about an hour or so before the show, the guys were all preparing themselves while the opening act got the crowed warmed up. I had no clue who it was because they were probably new but from what I was told, her stage name was Mandah or something like that. I didn't really pay much attention to it because I still had Nick in the back of my mind.

Since it was my first day on the job I wanted to make a good impression so I was working my butt off and trying to keep up with all the chaos backstage. Every now and then I would look around me to check if Nick was around so I could finally introduce myself but he was no where to be found. Just when I'd given up hope of talking to him before he had to go on stage, as I was walking down the corridor intently reading this list I had in my hand, I suddenly bumped into somebody causing me to stumble backwards.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't-"

"Hey, watch where you're going!" I heard a familiar voice say.

When I looked up at whom it was my suspicions were correct. I had bumped into the same guy who I had been thinking about ever since I arrived; Nick Carter.

"Oh! Nick! Hi, I'm Samantha, your new personal assistant." I stuck my hand out for a friendly handshake but he didn't take it.

Clearing my throat and pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, I apologized for bumping into him again. "I'm so sorry; I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

"Well, that much was obvious." I heard him mutter to himself but I heard every word. "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry so I'll just see you around, Amanda."

He started to briskly walk pass me but before he got too far I said "It's Samantha!" with a slight hint of annoyance in my voice. How the hell is ‘Samantha' so difficult of a name to learn?!

He didn't even turn back.

I turned around and muttered to myself sarcastically "Well, that went well..."

That night my whole image of Nick changed. I had initially pictured him to be the sweetest out of all the guys but tonight be proved me wrong. For the rest of the night before and even after the show ended, I tried my best to keep out of Nick's way because he was obviously in a bad mood. I figured that if I gave him some space then he would eventually calm down and warm up to me. I hoped that he would be cause how in the world could I do my job properly if we couldn't even have a civilized conversation?

A couple days later in another show that they had to do, I was helping out in the wardrobe department a couple of hours before show time. *** I was giving the boys their wardrobe for the first song since the other people in the wardrobe department were busy finishing off other costumes. After leaving AJ's outfit with him, I had only one left to deliver. Unfortunately, it was Nick's.

‘So much for avoiding him.' I thought wryly. I trudged my way to their dressing area underneath the stage. I'm sure that he'll find it there. I really didn't feel like arguing with my favorite Backstreet Boy again.

Just as I turned the corner that led to the guys' dressing area, I stumbled upon a tall blonde guy leaning against the wall with a blonde girl trapped in between his arms. I didn't even have to get any closer to know that it was Nick. The sight just tore at my heart. I felt as if all the air in my lungs had escaped causing me to have trouble breathing. I couldn't do anything but stare at the sight in front of me with disbelief in my eyes. Since when did Nick get a girlfriend? Sure, I was a big fan but I didn't do much researching on their personal lives much less who they were dating because I thought that it was sort of ‘stalker-ish'.

Who that girl was, was beyond me. Unable to take the sight any longer I was about to leave to give them some privacy but after taking one step I realized that I still had a job to do. Clutching the hanger in my hand tighter, I gathered up the courage to approach the couple then started walking.

They were so caught up with each other that they didn't even notice when I walked over. Feeling extremely awkward, I coughed letting them know that I was there. They finally turned away from each other and saw me standing there holding an outfit on a hanger.

"Um, I brought your wardrobe for the first song." I said with my head low, unable to look at them directly in the eyes.

Just as Nick was about take it, Amanda grabbed it from my hands and started to examine it. ‘O...kay' Having completed my task, I turned to leave but before I could make it around the corner, I heard her speak.

"What is this suppose to be?" She asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, plastered a small smile on my face then turned around.

"Um, that's Nick's outfit for the first song they're going to be performing tonight."

"You can't be serious. It looks hideous! I can't believe you people, how can you expect my Nicky to wear this?"

I stared at her brazenness with disbelief. I didn't see anything wrong with the outfit.

Nick took the hanger from her and looked at it. "It isn't that bad babe," he said trying to reason with her.

"No, Nicky," Oh my God, she was relentless! "I bet Brian's or AJ's clothes look better than yours." Amanda replied taking the clothes back from Nick's hands. "The colors don't even match together or anything! I mean, how in the world does black and blue go together?"

Nick sighed. He knew that she wouldn't give in until she got her way and he really didn't want to get into another argument with her when they had just made up. "Uh, on second thought, you're right babe. Yeah, I don't really like it either."

Amanda smirked then turned to me again and rolled her eyes. "If you're supposed to be in the wardrobe department then why did you pick such an ugly outfit for my honey? Don't you have any sense of style?"

I couldn't believe she just said that! Just because I dressed more conservative than her didn't mean that I didn't have a sense of style. I wasn't even the one who chose that outfit! I could feel my blood starting to boil. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down, but it didn't help much.

"Okay, first of all, I'm their personal assistant." I said pointing a finger towards myself. "I don't work in the wardrobe department. The people there just asked me to give this to him so he wouldn't have to go all the way over there just to pick it up. Second of all, who asked for your opinion? Are you going to be the one wearing it?"

I saw her mouth open, ready to reply when I interrupted her before she could even get a syllable in. "No, you aren't. And lastly, you tell me that I don't have a sense of style?" I scoffed and continued "you wouldn't know what a sense of style was if it was in front of your face on a sign with neon lights and arrows around it." Letting that out felt good, especially when I saw the smirk on her face drop.

"Are you gonna let her talk to me like that, Nicky?!" she screeched.

Nick threw me a disapproving look and stood in between us two as he towered over me. He was, after all, a good six inches taller than me.

"Hey, you have no right to insult her like that. She was just saying what she thought of the outfit. No need for the insults."

I looked at him with annoyance evident on my face. "Oh, so you're saying that it's alright for her to insult me but I can't insult her in my defense?"

"I didn't say that, I meant-" before he could finish his sentence I interrupted him, unable to control my anger any longer. The hell with being civil!

"Look, Carter. Just because I'm your personal assistant doesn't mean that I'm going to let you or your little wannabe singer girlfriend over here take advantage and trample over me."

Before Nick could reply the door opened revealing my older cousin, Chris. He looked at the both of us and could feel the obvious tension in the room. Sighing then shaking his head, he spoke up.

"Nick, stop causing trouble and start getting ready. You still need to go to hair and make up. Amanda you need to get ready now because you're the opening act. Sam, come with me, I need you to help me with something" he said in an authoritative voice.

I shot Nick and Amanda look before walking out of the room with my cousin right behind me. It was my first day but I could already tell that the three of us, meaning Nick, Amanda and I, were not going to get along very well.

When I accepted this job I knew that it wasn't going to be easy but never did I think that it was going to be like this. That didn't matter though. Right at that moment, I made a vow to myself that that was the day I would end my obsession with Nick Carter. He may be hot. He may be a Backstreet Boy. But I had dignity and pride. I wouldn't allow him or Miss Barbie doll walk all over me.

*End Of Flashback*

Feeling someone poking me on the side of my stomach I was brought back from my reverie, flinching slightly because they found my ticklish spot. Turning to my right I saw Chris smirking at me.

"You need to stop day dreaming about boys and finish eating your food." He said pointing to my half finished plate. "It's getting cold." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and just shook my head.

But before I could even put my spoon in my mouth, I felt someone's eyes on me. For some reason, I automatically turned to Nick and found that he was the perpetrator. I couldn't read his facial expression so I just shrugged it off and continued to eat. For some reason, I had a bad feeling in my stomach that after my heated argument with Nick earlier, things between us were just going to get worse.

~~~~ End POV ~~~~

~~~~ Nick's POV ~~~~

After dinner, I sat outside on one of the chairs that were set up around the pool. The cool breeze, the soft sounds of the water and the quiet of the night just helped me relax and think. I had just finished talking to Amanda on the phone and she didn't seem quite too happy with the fact that we had to stay in the same house as our personal assistant. I couldn't really blame her though because it was understandable. Right from the moment Amanda met Samantha I could just feel the tension between those two. Why? I have no idea. At first, not to sound cocky or anything but, I thought it was because Samantha was jealous of Amanda since she was my girlfriend and a lot of girls tend to hate Amanda because of that. That theory was thrown out the window, however, when she started being all sassy with me. I don't know what it is about Samantha that just gets on my nerves. I guess it's her personality that just gets to me. When I see her talking to one of the other guys she's all friendly and nice to them, like they're more like friends rather than the people she's working as an assistant for. However, when it comes to me, if she's not acting all cold and uncaring towards me, she's feisty and seems to always have an attitude problem. What did I ever do to her... oh, right.

I knew I should've tried to keep away from people that night. The only reason why I was such a jerk to her when we first met was because I had just come back from talking on the phone with Amanda and we had gotten into an argument so I was pretty upset. It had been our first serious argument and I guess I just let it affect me way too seriously. I wasn't really thinking clearly that night and didn't realize the consequences of my actions until the next day. I regretted how I acted because all she did was introduce herself to me and I acted like a complete jerk. A couple days later, when I finally had the courage to apologize and after all the guys kept telling me that I should, I tried to make amends. Unfortunately, all she did was brush it off even though I was sincere. I'm guessing it was a little too late for apologies.

"You alright man?" I heard Brian ask, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?"

"Well, I noticed during dinner you didn't eat as much as you usually do. You're not going on one of those diets are you, now? If you get any skinnier the tabloids are going to start rumors about you being anorexic." He joked.

I leaned back on the chair and chuckled, "Pssh, as if Brian. You know I love my food."

"So what's bothering you?"

I stayed silent for a few moments debating whether I should tell Brian what really was on my mind or keep it to myself. But before I could even open my mouth he asked, "is it about that argument you and Sam had earlier?"

"How'd...?"

"Lucky guess." He smirked. He walked over to the other chair beside me and sat down with his arms resting on his knees. "So...?"

I sighed and turned to face him. "Okay, well I'm sure you heard what we were arguing about earlier..."

"I'm pretty sure everyone heard it except Anthony and Beatrice's friend." Brian cut in with a short laugh.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay... well, it just started out as innocent teasing but then she had to take it too seriously and all. Whatever animosity she has towards me should just be directed at me, not Amanda. I mean, she didn't need to call her names and make up stuff like that."

Brian looked to the ground in thought. 'If only you knew how true her words really were...'

"Okay, well let me get this straight. You think that Sam made all that stuff up just to insult Amanda and that bothers you, right?" I nodded as I listened to him continue. "So, right now you can't stop thinking of what she said, right?"

I nodded again.

"Well, let me ask you this. Do you trust Amanda?"

What kind of a question was that? Of course I trusted her. She was my girlfriend after all.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"So, you doubt that she would ever do the things that Sam says she does behind your back, right?"

"Mhm..."

"But if you do trust her, why is it bothering you so much if you believe it isn't true?"

"Well, I..."

I fell silent. Why didn't I have an answer for that?

After a few moments of silence where nothing could be heard except the crickets and gentle lapping of the water in the pool, Brian's cell phone started ringing. Judging by the ring tone, I could instantly tell it was Leighanne calling.

"Oh, sorry, Nick. I gotta answer this." He stood up as he held his phone in his hand.

"Oh, no it's alright man."

"Think about what I said." And with that, he left me with my thoughts again. Not really sure if he helped me with my problem or not but he did make me think about things through more and in a new perspective.

Did I really trust Amanda? No, why am I thinking that. Of course I trust her. But then why am I questioning myself? It's probably just because of what Samantha said earlier. All she's doing is messing with my mind and it's really getting on my nerves. That brings to mind what Brian just told me...

If I really do believe that it's all a lie, then why is it affecting me so much? I do sometimes leave Amanda alone while she was on tour with us. Could she...? No! I shouldn't think of that. She wouldn't do that to me. What am I thinking?

...

But then again...argh! This is getting so frustrating and it's all because Miss "know-it-all" Samantha had to go and make things up. How can she get into my head so easily? Well one thing's for sure, now that we're all going to be living with Chris, Bea and Samantha for a while I'm getting the feeling that things between me and Samantha are just going to get worse if they aren't bad enough already.