The automatic doors swooshed open and a line of people came through. Houston, thought Abby, that’s the flight from Houston.
Nick had decided to stay with the Fremonts again. He was flying in for the party and then flying out the next day. The schedule was tight enough without having to worry about extra stops at hotels.
The last month had been packed with activity for both of them. Abby steadfastly refused to get excited about the engagement party. It gave her a queasy feeling, in fact, every time she thought about it. She would be on display with Nick for all of Chicago society to see…and comment on. Oh well, she told herself, at least they won’t be looking at me. He’s the good-looking one. But she knew what people would say. How did an ugly duckling like her end up with a guy like that?
Nick had been all over the country with the guys, promoting the album. It was a winner and sales were good. Plans for the tour were getting into high gear. Rehearsals were starting right after Christmas…in Florida…where it all began.
Another swoosh of the door. Another glance at the monitor. The flight from New York was in.
The party was being held at the country club in the main dining room. It was a large room with windows along two sides that jutted out like the prow of a ship and looked out over the golf course. The trees along the path to the first tee and the eighteenth green were festooned with lights. It would be beautiful at night. The dining room was decorated for Christmas, with a large tree in one corner and tasteful pine boughs and red velvet bows across the mantel of the fireplace.
Sharon had decided on a cocktail party and dance rather than a sit-down dinner. That way, Nick and Abigail could circulate and meet all their guests. The cream of Chicago society had been invited and there were very few who sent their regrets. Abby did not fool herself for one second that it was her they were coming to see. She just hoped no one would be crass enough to ask for an autograph. And she hoped that security could keep the fans at bay.
The last month had been very interesting from that standpoint. Abby had watched in amazement and horror as her life devolved on the Internet. The announcement on the Paul Richards show had set the wheels in motion. By the time she went up to bed that night, it had started. She plugged into the MFC to see if there was any reaction. There sure was. And the big question seemed to be, Who is she?
By the next morning, the picture from the newspaper announcement had been scanned and uploaded by a dozen different people. Abby laughed to see that one girl had carefully removed Abby from the picture and was now using Nick alone as her avatar on her message board.
Abby was interested to learn that she was a social worker and a teacher…and a writer. She had Nick to thank for that one. Discussion of her looks was more low-key than she thought it would be. There must be a lot of girls out there who considered themselves homely. They said that she looked like a caring person, that as long as Nick was happy that was what counted, that they were glad he had chosen a real person (apparently beautiful people aren’t real, she thought) and that it didn’t really matter who he chose, he was going to be the pretty one anyway.
Word of the engagement party leaked out and girls from the Chicago area got on the trail and passed what information they could to those in other parts of the country. When the actual invitation was scanned and uploaded, Abby knew that there was a fan/spy/shit-disturber among her mother’s acquaintances. She did not share this information with her mother. Sharon would not stop until she found out who had done it and then she would have the woman banished.
Plans were afoot for a vigil outside the country club. Maybe Nick would stop and talk to them on the way in or out of the party. And even if he doesn’t, we’ll be there to support him! Candles! Let’s bring candles. That will be pretty…Christmasy… And we could sing carols. Oh, that’s a great idea! We could serenade him with Christmas carols.
Abby had a quiet chat with her father about the situation. They agreed to say nothing to Sharon but John got his head of security to hire some off-duty police officers to patrol the gate and the perimeter of the club.
Abby didn’t see how Nick could win this one. If he drove through the gate and didn’t acknowledge the fans, they would be disappointed. And Abby knew that would disappoint him. But if he stopped to talk to them, his future mother-in-law would throw a fit.
Abby twisted the ring nervously on her finger and shifted from one foot to the other. Another glance at the monitor told her that his plane was on the ground and he would be here soon. And then the doors swooshed open and there he was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nick sat on the plane, willing it to go faster. He wanted to get on the ground. He wanted to see Abby. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and twirl her around. He wanted a hug. And then later, he wanted sex. But first, he wanted a hug.
Nick felt like his life was complete. He couldn’t be happier…well, except for the whole parent thing… He was making music, having fun with the guys, doing what he loved best. He was engaged to be married and that made people treat him like a grown up. Reporters stopped asking him stupid questions in interviews, like ‘how big are your feet?’ They asked him about the music and about wedding plans. His stock answer was ‘within the year’. He wouldn’t tell them the date even if he did know it. Fans would be camping outside the church and stalking the minister!
And he had Abby! She made him laugh every day. Her emails were hilarious and now that her sharp humor was not always directed at herself, she was even funnier. Nick had shared her stories with the guys. They agreed that she was a very talented writer.
Nick and Abby continued their once-a-day, sometimes twice, correspondence via email. They rarely talked on the phone. Nick wasn’t good on the phone and neither was Abby. They stammered and stuttered and there were either long silences or they talked over each other. And it was hard to end the conversation. The usual endearments that engaged people would say to each other weren’t allowed here and there was always a gap. Gotta go. Okay, talk to you later. Gap. Bye. Bye. Nick hated the gap and so did Abby. So by tacit agreement, he didn’t call her much and she didn’t call him at all.
The guys wondered about this relationship. Especially AJ. Nick had told them all that they were welcome to attend the party but that it was okay if they didn’t want to. Kevin asked him if he really wanted that zoo and Nick admitted that he didn’t. So then, we won’t go, but thanks for the invitation, said Howie. AJ was disappointed. He would have liked to have gone. He suggested that maybe Nick would want one of them there, at least, for support. Nick said, thanks but no, and felt bad because he could sense that AJ wanted to go, but Nick knew that he was the last person Sharon Fremont wanted walking through the door.
Abby had told Nick that she was turning her mother into a fan. She played selected songs for her and told her about the boys. Sharon was happy to discover that two of them were already married and that Howie was known for being the sweetest person on the planet. She liked that they had charitable foundations, that they were giving back. She approved of Brian’s dedication to God, but didn’t think he needed to speak of it all the time. That made her uncomfortable. She thought Kevin was very handsome, although she didn’t approve of some of the hairstyles Abby showed her. A Mohawk, for heaven’s sakes! On a grown man!
But she didn’t want to hear about AJ. He was the one who had strayed from the path, the fallen angel. Abby couldn’t figure out which her mother disapproved of more, the fact that AJ had fallen into alcoholism and drug addiction or the fact that he had done it publicly. Many families had issues like those to deal with, Sharon had remarked frostily one day, and they didn’t do it on national television.
Nick did not share any of this information with the guys. Other than Abby’s stories, he rarely shared anything about her. And that was because he rarely thought about her after she put a smile on his face with her morning email. Abby was not part of his real world at the moment, his world of singing, personal appearances and publicity…the world that he loved. She snuck in on the edges whenever a reporter mentioned his engagement. Nick always looked surprised, AJ thought. Like he’d forgotten she was there.
That was very close to the truth. And it was the same in Chicago. At least, it would have been, if Sharon hadn’t brought up the plans for the engagement party fifty times a day. Abby escaped whenever she could…to the school and the hospital and the computer. But she was expected to show up at mealtimes and then she was held hostage. It didn’t matter what direction she tried to turn the conversation in, her mother always managed to bring it back to the party…who was coming, who wanted to come but hadn’t been invited, problems with the caterer…stuff Abby didn’t care about. Then somehow, her mother would say something to trigger her anxiety and Abby would be off to check the Internet, to make sure that there were no surprises waiting for her in Nick World.
Abby wrote every night before she went to bed. She had a vituperative little piece in the freezer that she knew would never see the light of day…even for Nick. It was called Princess Penelope’s Mother Fucks Up Her Life Completely with an Engagement Party. Abby made revisions daily.
When she went to bed, she thought about Nick. She second-guessed herself constantly on her decision to become engaged to him, but she always went to sleep fairly sure that she had made the right decision. Nick was right. This was perfect for both of them. She loved her life in Chicago now and wouldn’t want to give it up. She didn’t want to live in Los Angeles or Florida. She certainly didn’t want to go ‘on the road’. And how wonderful it would be, once she got all this engagement crap out of the way, to have her own apartment, live her own life, be her own person…with the occasional visit and fringe benefits from the very talented, very personable, very pretty Nick Carter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The doors swooshed open and there he was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The doors swooshed open and there she was.
This time, Nick only had one bag. He dropped it on the ground and stopped, unmindful of the people swirling out around him. “Abby.” He mouthed the word. She couldn’t hear it for the noise of the people. He made a fist and touched his thumb gently to his chin twice.
She smiled at him and ran her curved fingers across her eyebrows. Nick. Then he scooped her into his arms and twirled her around. They hugged each other and breathed each other in. Finally, he set her on the ground. They looked into each other’s eyes. Nick ran his thumb down the side of her face and grinned. Abby laughed and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. Here we go again, she said.
Yep, he answered, picking up his bag. Where’d you park?
This way. She motioned with her head and started up the concourse. Nick fell into step behind her. It was crowded and walking side by side was difficult. Nick didn’t mind. He enjoyed watching Abby’s hips sway in her jeans. He was looking forward to later that night when he could put his skin next to hers.
But first…oh yeah, there was a really big ‘first’.
