Straight from the good mood of the sleep-in, he landed in the discussion of the Dream Date. Abby had been okay with it, and Nick guessed it was alright, but he agreed with Kevin. Weren’t they past all this crap? For God’s sakes, he was the youngest one and he didn’t want to do it, so he figured the others didn’t either.
The day had been typical of a day on tour. Abby stayed in the hotel room. She said she wanted to write. Nick felt bad about leaving her behind, but she seemed to want to. He guessed she needed some alone time too.
And, Nick had to admit, it made it easier without her along. They did the interviews and the promos and went here and there and he didn’t have to worry about anyone but himself…getting his lines right. You would think after thirteen years, he could say, “Hi, this is Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys” without stepping on his tongue, but he never seemed to get it right the first time.
When Nick got back to the room, he thought about filling the hour before they left for the concert with sex. But something was up with Abby. He couldn’t really tell what it was, but something was bothering her. He guessed maybe it was the Dream Date thing. She kept saying that she was okay with it, but he didn’t know…
The concert had been great and when they came back to the hotel, they got around to the sex part…which also was great! Man, he was going to miss that when Abby went home. And that thought was the one that started him on his pissy mood. Because he was torn. He didn’t want her to go, but he knew it wouldn’t be fair to ask her to stay. She didn’t belong here. She knew it. He knew it. They all knew it. Everyone was being polite and welcoming, but it wasn’t a normal state and everyone would be…well, not happy, but…relieved, maybe…when she left. They hadn’t been very specific about when that would be and Nick didn’t know how to ask her without making it sound like he wanted to get rid of her.
They spent the day doing more publicity stuff, and then it was time to go on the ‘date.’ The guys teased him throughout the day, the same old crap he used to get. Be sure and wash behind your ears. Don’t forget, you’re meeting parents! Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nick had told them. He knew they were just kidding, but it didn’t help his mood. And instead of being able to pull on comfy old sweats to go to the venue, he had to get all dressed up.
“Limo’s here,” said Terence.
“Okay, thanks,” replied Nick, giving himself a mental shake. Come on Backstreet Boy, snap out of it! You’ve got a show to put on. In more ways than one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tammy thought she might throw up if he didn’t get here soon. The excitement was too much for her. She had about twenty friends over, waiting to meet Nick…and Abby. Twenty nervous teenagers produced vibrations that almost shook the foundation of the house. Tammy’s parents hoped they would all survive it. They had warned the girls to be on their best behavior or they wouldn’t even get to see him.
Nick and Terence went to the door, accompanied by the photographer who had a sheaf of release papers for the parents to sign. Tammy introduced Nick to her parents and then asked him if he would take a minute to speak to her friends. Nick grinned and said, sure, they had lots of time. Tammy thought she’d pee her pants right there. He did that little eyebrow thing and the smile…
“Where’s Abby?” she asked with all the boldness of a teenager who’d won a contest and the gratitude of all her friends for letting her light shine on them a little.
“She’s waiting in the car,” said Nick. He shifted from one foot to the other. “Um…like…she didn’t want to…intrude…you know what I mean…I’m supposed to be picking you up…you know…for our…date.”
Well, if Tammy hadn’t already been in love with him with every fiber of her being, that humble speech would have done it for her. “They want to meet her too,” she said, surprised that she could form words.
“Terence, would you go and ask Abby to join us?” Nick asked his bodyguard.
“Not before I check out that living room, Boss,” said Terence. He stepped into the living room, where twenty nervous girls sat perched on the edge of furniture or leaned against the wall.
“You all behave yourselves until I get back. And don’t touch him,” he admonished sternly. He turned and went out to the car, chuckling at the chorus of ‘yes sir’s that followed him.
Tammy tucked her arm through Nick’s and led him into the living room. She introduced him to each personal individually. Nick smiled and said, ‘Hi’, repeating the girl’s name. He signed autographs and said ‘thank you’ when they told him how much they loved the Boys, the music and him.
“Okay, Boss, here’s the missus,” said Terence, giggling. Abby glared at him. The what?
The girls all turned to the door. Tammy took her hand off Nick’s arm. Nick moved immediately to the door. He took Abby by the hand and led her to the center of the room. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet my wife, Abby.”
“Hello,” said Abby shyly, leaning into Nick. An audible sigh went through the room. The photographer stuck his head into the living room and asked Nick and Tammy to step out into the hall. He wanted to get some ‘candid’ shots. That left Abby alone with the girls.
Abby had been coached by four different Backstreet Boys on how to handle this situation. Kevin had told her to remember that whatever she said was going to be reported back…by a nervous teenager, who might not be hearing everything accurately, so just keep that in mind. He knew she’d be fine.
Brian counseled her to say nothing at all, or as little as possible. Smiling was good, though. Keep smiling, no matter what you do. Abby was surprised that he didn’t mention God.
Howie told her that everything would be fine, their fans were great and they were dying to meet the young lady who had taken Nick off the market. The pressure’s on you now, Sweet One, laughed Abby. Howie replied that seeing Nick and Abby together made him kind of think… He attributed Abby’s blush to newlywed bliss, not the guilt that it really was.
AJ gave her the most practical advice. He told her, “Aw crap, Abby, you’re going to screw up somehow. So just forget about it. Don’t stress. Say what you want and do what you want and let the idiot that thought this scheme up deal with it.”
Nick didn’t say anything, other than to ask her fifty more times if she was okay with it. That had been after last night’s concert, while they lay together in the hotel bed after making love, over breakfast and while they were getting ready to come here.
“Congratulations,” whispered one girl into the silence.
“Thank you,” said Abby, wondering how long it would be before Nick reappeared. She felt like she was on Meet the Press.
“You’re so lucky,” blurted another.
“I know,” said Abby with a smile and another look at the doorway. “I know.”
“Tell us about the wedding,” said a third.
“I don’t know if I should,” said Abby. “Isn’t Tammy supposed to get the big scoop on that?”
They all laughed and relaxed. Yeah, they agreed.
“So, do you and Tammy go to the same school?” Abby asked the group at large. Then she spent five minutes asking questions and listening to answers until Terence came to get her.
“Awww, do you have to go so soon, Abby?”
“Not until we get a group shot of you guys and Nick, if that’s okay with you.”
That was perfectly okay with them. Cameras appeared in every hand. They had been warned not to bring them out until permission was given. Nick came back into the room and posed in the middle of the group, Tammy at his side. Abby and Tammy’s mom ran the cameras. Okay, just one more. Say ‘Backstreet’. Click. Click. Click.
“It’s time to go,” said Terence.
“Okay, line up for hugs,” said Abby, surprising everyone. “He gives really good hugs,” she added. The girls fell into line like they were at military school. Nick dutifully hugged each one. Abby stood in the doorway with Tammy, who didn’t look all that pleased at the hugs being handed out to her friends. “Of course, you’re going to get to kiss him,” whispered Nick’s wife.
“Ohhhh,” said Tammy, raising her fingers to her lips. “Are you sure you won’t mind?”
Abby raised one eyebrow in an imitation of Nick that went straight over Tammy’s head, but that made the photographer from Teen People almost fall to the ground in laughter. “Exactly what kind of kiss are you planning on?”
Tony LaRosa had been taking pictures and filing reports for Teen People for four years. And this was the most bizarre assignment he’d ever had. Where the hell was he supposed to fit the wife in? Fans were clambering for details of the wedding and marriage. But Tony knew that those would be published in the issue preceding this one. He had to walk a fine line. He didn’t want to focus too much on the wife, but he didn’t want to ignore her. And who the hell knew, with celebrities, anything was possible. They might not even still be married by the time the article went to print. And if that were true…Tony’s brain turned another corner…maybe he should try and get some shots of the ‘unhappy couple’ so he could say he’d seen it coming.
His conversation with Abby at the hotel changed his mind about that. There’d been hustling and bustling, the kind of stuff that went on in these situations, but the two of them had somehow been left alone on a sofa in the lobby. Some publicist had fucked up, that was for sure, thought Tony.
“Pretty bizarre, huh?” asked Abby quietly.
“Yeah, a little,” said Tony. He wasn’t even going to pretend he didn’t understand what she was saying. He didn’t think talking down to this woman would be a good idea. This was not your average starlet.
“How off the record is ‘off the record’?” she asked, staring straight ahead. She had been warned by Kevin that nothing was off the record.
“I’m a man of my word,” said Tony and he meant it unless she confessed to an adulterous relationship, a history of drug abuse or a sexual attraction to a different Backstreet Boy. “So, off the record…?”
Abby wasn’t sure how to begin. She wasn’t sure if she should begin. This was a reporter, after all. Could she trust him? She chose her words very carefully. “This is about the girl and Nick. Right?”
Tony nodded.
“If I weren’t here…if I were Kristin or Leighanne…you know what I mean…?”
Tony nodded.
“Well, then it wouldn’t even be an issue, right?”
“No, it wouldn’t. It would just be Dream Date with a Backstreet Boy,” Tony conceded.
“So do you think it’s possible that that’s what it could be? I mean, I don’t want to interfere in Nick’s professional life. I don’t want to take away from this girl’s…adventure.”
“Mrs. Carter, do you make it a habit of making yourself invisible?” asked Tony.
“As much as I can,” whispered Abby, hoping beyond hope that she could trust this man’s integrity.
“This is what I’m seeing,” said Tony. “I’m seeing Nick, making some girl’s dream come true. I’m seeing them getting in the limo, going to the concert, the after party… I’m seeing a mention in the article that the wife understood and that the girl actually understood too and invited the wife along.”
“But you’re not seeing any pictures of me?”
Tony thought about it. Abby reminded him of his sister, a girl who wasn’t bad looking but wasn’t beautiful either. Tony thought about how Teresa fought him every time he brought a camera near her. He had more pictures of his sister with her hand up in front of her face than he did of her face. “No, I’m not seeing that,” Tony said.
“Good,” said Abby. “Thanks.”
