“That’s all we have time for today, but tune in again next Friday for our special guest. You don’t want to miss that show,” I announced, ending another show and another week.

“Thanks for listening. And remember to keep the Backstreet pride alive,” Brian added before we faded into another song set.

Brian and I quickly gathered our things before heading out of the building for our lunch date.

“The guys are coming into town next week, and Alex wants to meet you,” Brian announced out of nowhere.

“You told him?” I gasped.

“He’s my best friend. I trust him with my life,” Brian tried to soothe my nerves. “You can trust him. He won’t tell anyone.”

“He must think I’m a slut,” I whispered.

“NO! No way. I promise he doesn’t think that,” Brian exclaimed.

“When does he get in?” I asked, shocked I was actually even considering it.

“He comes in Wednesday and leaves Sunday,” he told me.

“I’ll meet with him on Thursday,” I agreed, after a long pause.

For the rest of the trip, we both sat in contemplation, one thing on both of our minds. I tried to concentrate on my driving, but my mind kept wandering. Today was the day Leighanne returned to Atlanta. We knew we would not be able to see each other nearly as much as we were used to. We also knew that we had to be extra careful that no one saw us together outside of work.

When we reached the restaurant, we exited the car and entered the restaurant, still in silence. It was only once we were seated and had already placed our drink orders that we finally acknowledged one another.

“We can’t avoid the subject forever, Brian,” I said.

“I know. I was just hoping that we could have one more day to ourselves,” he sighed.

“She’s going to be landing in a couple hours,” I whispered, resentment entering my voice. I hated how she got to fall asleep with him every night and wake up with him every morning when I was the one he said he loved.

“Then let’s not waste that time talking about her,” he reasoned, grabbing my hand across the table and kissing the back of it.

He stared into my eyes before leaning in and giving me a short kiss. Our kiss was short-lived, however, because the next sound we heard was our worst fear come true.

“What the hell is going on here?” we heard someone screech behind us.

“Leighanne!” Brian exclaimed, jumping up and rushing over to her. “What are you doing back so early?”

“I wanted to come and surprise you, but I guess I was the one who got the surprise,” she screamed.

“Leighanne, wait, I can explain,” he begged.

I watched as Brian begged for her forgiveness, wondering what was happening. It was like my worst nightmare was coming true, and I was losing the only man I had ever loved for the second time in my life. And stupidly, I just sat there and watched it all happen.

“Brian, I don’t want to hear your tired excuses. I can’t believe you would cheat on me with THAT,” she said, pointing a finger at me as if I was some disgusting pile of dirty clothes that had been waiting to be washed for a year.

“Leighanne, please don’t leave,” Brian begged. “It’s not what you think.”

With every word, my heart broke even more. I watched Brian with tears streaming from my eyes as he turned and looked at me before turning back to Leighanne. I could see that he was facing an inner conflict. Here he was faced with the woman he married and the woman he had left behind so many years ago. If he was having that much trouble choosing, I decided to make it easy on him. I picked up my purse, gathered my jacket and left without a word to anyone. With tears still running down my cheeks, I turned back one last time, whispering a sad, “Goodbye, Brian,” before getting in my car and driving away.

Thursday afternoon, I was surprised by a knock on my front door and an unfamiliar voice calling my name. I walked over to my door, keeping the chain in place and opening it part-way. When I saw the face of the stranger banging on my door, I nearly broke into tears again.

“What do you want?” I growled, wanting nothing more than to close the door in his face and not even give him a second thought.

“We had a lunch date, and you never showed up, so I decided to bring lunch to you,” he charmingly smiled. The man standing before me was none other than AJ McLean, Brian’s band mate.

“Brian’s back with HER. Haven’t you heard? I’m no longer in the picture,” I bitterly replied, this time attempting to shut the door.

He placed his foot in between the door and the wall, not letting me shut him out. “I’m not here for Brian. I’m here because I wanted to get to know YOU,” he argued.

“Why?” I questioned, completely bewildered.

“Because you seem like an amazing person, and I want to talk to you and get to know more about you,” he pressured.

I sighed, staring at the floor, contemplating the decision. “Fine,” I conceded defeat, closing the door and undoing the chain.

He walked into my home, carrying a box of pizza and a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper. He followed me into the living room, setting the box and drink down on my coffee table.

“I like your house. It’s beautifully decorated,” he complimented, looking around at my walls, which were decorated with movie posters, concert posters, and CD promotion banners.

“Yeah, I’m a pop culture maniac,” I admitted, blushing slightly.

“I don’t think I properly introduced myself. I’m Alex McLean,” he greeted.

“Melanie Davis,” I reciprocated.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Melanie Davis,” he responded, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it in that flirtatious way he was famous for. “How are you doing?” he turned serious.

“I’ve been better,” I confessed, staring at my nails in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

“If it’s anything like what Brian has been going through, I’m sure it’s terrible,” he told me softly.

“Yeah, well, I have no sympathy for him. He made his choice. Now he has to live with it,” I bitterly spat.

“He feels terrible, Mel. He knows he hurt you, again, and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do,” AJ tried defending him.

“Well fuck him. I’m sick of his bullshit. And I really don’t want to talk about Brian, so if you don’t mind, could we drop this subject?” I exploded. All this talk of Brian was making my heart hurt again, and I was tired of crying over a man who did nothing but hurt me and disappoint me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel worse. I just wanted to let you know what he’s been feeling. So anyway… I heard you used to sing in high school. What made you choose communications as a major from being a music fanatic?” he changed the subject. The rest of lunch was spent in a similar fashion. Alex asked me about my past, about my future goals, about my current passions. He was careful to avoid the subject of Brian, and by the time I was showing him out, he knew my whole life story, and we were close friends. We even agreed to meet up for lunch again on Saturday before he flew out Sunday. I was still heartbroken, but at least I knew I had a friend in all of this.

Brian tried to contact me, but I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. I still did the show with him every Friday, but everyone could tell that something had happened between us. Our relationship was strained and it was obvious over the radio. A couple months later, I started getting sick and had to call in sick from my show for a week before Roger finally ordered me to go to the doctor. Two days later, I got news that would change the rest of my life. I was pregnant… with Brian’s child.