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Nick stood looking in the mirror as he shaved.  The smile on his face never seemed to disappear.  He had been spending a vast majority of his free time with Veronica and he still managed to find time to call and hang out with Lindsey. 

Lindsey had become a confidant and he enjoyed her company.  His initial worry that she was a fan was gone completely now.  At first, he set up a second twitter account and followed her, he felt sneaky about it but he wanted to make sure that she wasn’t saying anything about their time together. After so long he stopped even monitoring, she hadn’t said anything and probably never would.

“Take that gypsy woman,” Nick said to his own reflection.  He hadn’t been plagued by a dream of her haunting face since he and Veronica had really started to hang out.  He broke whatever spell she had over him.

Other than the massive amount of information floating around the internet about Veronica from various sources, their relationship had been going strong.  Veronica didn’t mind the positive or negative attention that she gained from dating Nick Carter, Backstreet Boy.   She laughed about the few times she was recognized at her job and didn’t mind. The girls who had recognized her had made expensive purchases from her.

Despite being with Lindsey in public and seeing her frequently, there did not seem to be anything floating around about her.  Nick was thankful for that; Veronica still did not know that he had a friend who happened to be a girl and if she happened to find out from the media that would not be good.  Nick knew he needed to tell her but he didn’t want her to blow up over a friendship. The best thing he could think of was to plan a double date.  Lindsey said she’d been seeing a guy for the last few weeks now and what better way to introduce the women and let Veronica know there was nothing else between them?

He told Veronica that morning that he had made plans for them to go to dinner with a friend of his and she seemed incredibly excited.  She told him she had been waiting to meet his friends, now she knew he was thinking about her seriously. 

He pulled a clean shirt over his head and looked at himself in the mirror again.  “Nick, things are finally going your way.”  He formed his fingers into the shape of guns and winked at himself in the mirror. Laughing at himself he grabbed his keys and his wallet and left to pick up Veronica.

“So who are we meeting?” Veronica asked as she got into Nick’s car for the evening.   “B...” she started before she stopped herself and looked at him waiting for his response.

“What were you going to say?” He asked her curious as to who she thought they were meeting.

“I was starting to say Brian, but then I remembered lived in another state and it was unlikely.” She shrugged at him.

Nick nodded and tried to recall when he had mentioned Brian to her, but then again, they talked so much and with his recent trip he was sure to have told her all about him.

“No, we aren’t meeting up with him and his wife. We are meeting my friend….” He paused and took a deep breath, better that she find out before meeting them that his friend is female.  “My friend Lindsey.” He said sheepishly as he looked slightly in her direction.

Her face showed no emotion one way or the other, she still had the same look plastered on her face as when she got in the car.  “Lindsey?” She asked.

“Yes, her and her date David.” He nodded again, making sure to mention that she was brining her own date, that she was dating someone else.

“Okay,” She answered cautiously and turned to look out the window.  They were quiet the rest of the drive to the restaurant. 

When they arrived, Nick hurried out and opened Veronica’s door for her before tossing his spare key to the valet.  He hooked her arm through his as they walked into the restaurant.  Lindsey and an awkward looking man were waiting inside.  Lindsey’s face lit up when she saw the couple enter the room.

“Nick, they wouldn’t seat us until you got here.  Thought we were trying to steal your reservation or something.” She laughed and hugged him.  He patted her back quickly and pulled her away so he could introduce the two women in his life.

“Lindsey, this is Veronica.” He said and watched as Lindsey stuck out her hand to greet Veronica.

“Nice to meet you, Nick has told me so much about you.” She smiled genuinely at Veronica and waited for a response with her hand out.

Nick nudged Veronica slightly and she got the hint.  “Yes, I’ve only just learned about you tonight.” Her smiled was strained but she took the other woman’s hand and shook it. 

Lindsey didn’t seem fazed by it; instead she turned to her date. “Nick, Veronica, this is David,” she said as she pulled the other man closer so they could say their greetings. David stuck out his hand to greet the other two.  Veronica made it obvious his hand was a bit sweaty by wiping her hand on her coat.   Nick could see the look the two women gave each other over this small gesture.

“Shall we sit?” He asked hoping that they could sit and talk and the girls would find out just how much they shared in common and become great friends.  Nick would like them to get along so he could invite Lindsey out to do more with them.

The group took a seat at the table the hostess directed them to. Nick sat between Lindsey and Veronica so he could talk to both, David was across from him.  His eyes constantly darted from side to side, seemingly unsure of what he was doing.

“Hey bro, you okay?” Nick asked him after David chugged his glass of water and had it refilled before the server left. 

David nodded but didn’t say anything.  Nick turned his attention back to Veronica. “Veronica, Lindsey works in the retirement industry.”

“Oh, does she help senior citizens use the restroom?” She asked with a sweet smile on her face directed at Lindsey.

Lindsey laughed at the comment and shook her head.  “Nothing so rewarding as that.” She laughed again before she explained that she worked at a retirement company where 401k plans were administered.  She made sure to mention she had nothing to do with any of the investing. 

“So what do you do David?” Nick asked the man who was sitting mute across the table.

“I, well,” he started.

“David works at the Starbucks near my job.” Lindsey interrupted and smiled.  “It’s how we met, I get coffee every day and he’s there.” 

“However did he talk to you? He doesn’t seem to be able to talk now.” Veronica noted.

An awkward silence fell on the table after Veronica’s comment.  Lindsey was the one to finally break it. “So Nick, how is the recording coming?  I’ve told David you were recording an album.”

Nick sighed in relief and easily fell into a conversation about his album and what he was currently recording.  He hoped to have his album released in the early fall. He talked about how he was going to release out of the country first, and then release it to the United States. 

“I love my fans everywhere,” Nick’s eyes darted towards Lindsey briefly, his hand rested gently on hers, before continuing. “But I don’t seem to get the air time in the states.” He shrugged and took a drink of his water.

“Nick,” Veronica started.  “Lindsey, I apologize, but I am suddenly not feeling too good.” She was holding her hand towards her mouth, the other hand on her stomach.  “I felt ill earlier and thought I could push through to meet someone important to Nick, but I am sorry, I just don’t think I can sit through an entire meal.”  Veronica stood and grabbed her purse off the back of her chair.

“It was nice to meet you Lindsey, David.” She nodded at them and turned to leave.  “Nick?” She asked turning back realizing Nick had not moved.

He moved his hand off of Lindsey’s quickly and stood to join Veronica.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll call you later Lindsey, we can reschedule?” He moved quickly through the tables to catch up with Veronica who had already started to leave the restaurant.   

Chapter End Notes:

I hope you are all still enjoying .. this is turning into my longest "romance" so I'm not sure if it is dragging along or not.