Party at Brian’s
Having time off was refreshing and just what I needed to get recharged and not hate life so much. It felt great to be with our families for two weeks but it felt even better coming back home and knowing that I was ready to start up once again.
Leigh decided to stay at her parent’s house for an extra week and I was okay with that. I mean I didn’t want to leave them but I also didn’t want them to have to cut their time short because of me. We ended up staying at my folk’s house a little longer than we had anticipated because my brother dropped in unexpectedly. I wasn’t sure how my wife felt about that but if she was annoyed she didn’t show it.
So I kissed them and left them behind, it wasn’t the first time and it probably wouldn’t be the last either.
Coming back to this empty house though made me feel so lonely. How did I live being single for as along as I did? I mean I know I wasn’t single for very long at all, right after Samantha, Leigh came into the picture but even still. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived alone.
I placed my bags down on the couch and checked the stack of mail that was waiting for me. Bills, bills and more bills. “Nice.” I noticed my answering machine was blinking so I walked over that way.
It said I had ten messages, I shook my head. Everyone who knew my phone number also knew I’d be away so I almost deleted them all without listening, thinking they were going to be random telemarketers or something. The first few were indeed people trying to make me switch car insurance, phone companies and internet providers. It was after that it all got surreal and amusing.
“Rok…it’s Bone…look I know you’re not there but you’re not picking up your cell phone. I think we have a Nick problem, something didn’t seem right when I talked to him…call me.
Great a Nick problem, just the kind of problem I didn’t want to have.
Message two was from AJ once again, “Oh and tell our wife I said howdy!”
What a doofus!
“Brian, hey it’s Kev…have you heard from Nick? I was just wondering. Give me a call.”
Great…
“Hey Brian…It’s AJ again…I just talked to Kevin and he seems to think that Paris is pregnant.”
WHAT? I found myself banging my head against the wall.
“Hey Brian, it’s Kevin again…please call me and let me know if Nick has talked to you, okay? Something is up with him…and Paris is eating.”
Okay these are getting weirder by the minute.
“Hey Bri, AJ again…” Oh my God…do I need a restraining order? “I talked to Nick and he said that Paris isn’t pregnant so I guess you can ignore all the other messages.”
Well thank God for that one! Way to give a guy a heart attack as soon as he walks in the door. All I was missing was a call from Howie and the cycle would play out how it used to way back in the day.
I decided to give Bone a call, now that my curiosity was peaked, plus I wanted some company. Maybe he could come over and entertain me for a little bit. “Yello?”
“Hey Doofo!”
“ROK!” He said so enthusiastically, he made it sound like we haven’t spoken in ages.
I laughed, “Hey! What the heck is going on with all this Paris is pregnant talk?”
“Oh, it’s nothing…false alarm.”
“Well that’s good…”
“Tell me about it! So, are you back?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent! And how’s Leighanne?”
“Still at her mom’s”
“You didn’t bring our wife back with you? Rok what’s wrong with you!”
“She wanted more time with her family and probably away from you too!”
“Maaan, now I’m hurt.”
“You’ll live….so is your mom still here?”
“No, she left three days ago. She made me clean the whole freaking house while she was here.”
“Lordy it’s a miracle, you mean next time I come over I’ll actually have someplace to sit down?”
“Yeah.” He said drawing out the word as if he was a child being told what he had reluctantly done was a good thing. “I’m trying my best to re-clutter it up though.”
“I bet you are…I was wondering if you want to come over and hang tonight?”
“With you?”
“No, with the monkeys.”
“Huh?”
“AJ, you have been living with Nick for too long.”
“Tell me about it, I accidentally walked into the wall this morning.” I shook my head and placed my hand over my eyes, only AJ and Nick…I swear.
“Is he back yet? You can bring him along too.”
“Nope, he’s still with Paris…but Howie is in town.”
“Oh, okay bring him then.”
“As a date? The way you said it made it sound like he’s my date. He’s a little too hairy for me.”
“AJ, you’re making me regret calling you…I already have a headache.”
“Okay, sorry buddy…I’ll drag my hairy gorilla over there…what time?”
I looked over at the clock and tried to deduce the right amount of quiet time before the guys came over. “How about 7?”
“Okie dokie smokey!”
“Wow, you really have been hanging out with Nick too long.”
“Yes I have…see ya later!”
I hung up with AJ and thought about calling Kevin. I knew he would still be out with Kris for as long as he could be. We were due back in the studio in two days, that’s when he would be walking in. I knew this because that’s what I would have done too.
I picked up the phone and gave him a call.
“Kris have you see my pants?”
“Which pants?”
“My black pants?”
She came in with her towel wrapped around her, holding my pants in her hands, “How does one lose one’s pants anyway?”
“You know the saying? First the pants, then the mind…”
“I think you are backwards dear.” I pulled her close to me and gave her a kiss. I didn’t want to leave her, I hate when we’re apart.
“I need to get dressed honey.”
“No you don’t…”
“Yes I do…and besides the phone is ringing.”
“So, you don’t have to get dressed to answer the phone.”
“Do you want me to lose my job Kevin?”
“Depends, will it mean more quality time for the hubby?”
“Yes, with a very, very annoyed wife.” I laughed and then moved my arm so she could continue to get dressed.
The phone finally stopped it’s ringing. I just didn’t feel like talking to anyone today, anyone who wasn’t as beautiful as my wife. This was the part that always sucked the most for me. The leaving thing, I was okay once I got back to work but the leaving wasn’t pleasant. I’ve always been like that, even as a kid. Don’t tell anybody, but I actually am known to whine from time to time. Only my family knows this about me and they know to keep it a secret, but yeah…I tend to get like a whiny baby the day before I leave my wife.
“How long are you filming today?”
She came back into the room fully dressed and putting on a pair of hoop earrings. “I think for at least 6 hours, not too long babe. Then I’m yours for the rest of the night, okay?”
“You promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Stick a needle in your eye?”
“No, but I’ll stick one in yours if you’d like.”
I hugged her and kissed her cheek. “I love you…hurry back.”
“The quicker you let me go, the faster I can get back.”
“That’s a lie…but okay.” I handed her, her purse and followed it up with one more kiss for the road, “I’ll see you later.”
“What are you doing today?”
“I’ll just be sitting here missing you.”
“Or, you could go shopping for the things I asked you to buy…you can do that and miss me at the same time, that Kevin is called multitasking.” This is one of the many reasons I loved my wife.
“Okay dear.”
Now it was her, that moved close to me and gave me a huge kiss and hug, “I love you Kevin Richardson.”
“I love you too.”
I sighed when she walked out the door; I was such a huge sap.
I sighed when she walked out the door, what a huge relief. Is it bad to be so happy when someone you supposedly love leaves? This was anything but a relaxing little break and I was glad it was coming to an end. I saw things I didn’t much want to see the last two weeks, things that other people had warned me about but I refused to admit to knowing.
We fought more than anything about the dumbest things ever; it’s not like those sappy fights where couples argue about toilet paper rolls or putting toilet seats down. Ours were full out, knock down, and drag out fights. Well on her part anyway. She’s not a nice person…I’m dating someone who’s not a very nice person…what does that say about me?
Oh and did I mention that she gave me another damn black eye? I swear she’s a little firecracker. We were getting along just fine when all of the sudden she went ballistic when I mentioned me having to leave.
Some would say we were meant to be together because both of our personalities are so erratic, but I swear that compared to her, I’m a pretty calm guy. Anyway, she got really angry that I wanted to leave a few days earlier than planned. She claimed she had all this stuff that she had planned for the two of us, even though since I’ve been here, we’ve been stuck in a hotel room except when she went to film parts of her show.
She said, I didn’t appreciate her and took her for granted, that I was just using her for her celebrity status. Okay maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said…something about her being a fake celebrity for fucking her ex boyfriend…but still, I was mad.
She started hitting me with her damn purse in the head. Seriously, does Gucci put lead in their purses? Maybe that’s why they are so expensive. The worst part? At one point I thought I was picking up a pillow to shield the blows but it was her damn dog. Yeah, that didn’t help at all. Suddenly we added dog abuse to the list of all the things that were wrong with me, poor Tinkerbelle.
I think if he had the choice, he’d come with me.
So she pummeled me and then left. That’s how we said our goodbye’s…isn’t that romantic?
I’m proud of myself though, I stuck my ground and still plan on leaving today. The old me would have went crying to her, beg for her forgiveness and would have stuck around for at least another day. I’m such a man! Go me!
I should stay just until my bruise heals because I really am not anxious for the guys to see it. They already aren’t too fond of her and I’m sure this will only make it worse. As for me, I’m rolling around in a ball of confusion right now. Last night I toyed with the idea of breaking it off with her, just saying ‘you know what? It’s been fun but we just aren’t meant to be’ and possibly adding the word psycho in there. I was mad last night; she left me and went to hang out with some guy she met at a bar. I know she did that to make me mad, she probably didn’t even hang out with him at all, she probably ended up in Nicole’s room but still…she loves playing the little mind games. It pissed her off that I didn’t act like it bothered me at all. It did though; I went into the bathroom and punched the wall.
Ah well, at least we’re done for now. Maybe this time apart will do us some good and when she comes back home in a few weeks, we’ll have that spark again.
“Hello?” I answered the phone the second it began to ring, hoping it was her so I could apologize for being such a dick.
“Nick.” And I groaned when I heard Kevin’s voice.
“Hey Kev.”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
I sat down on the bed and looked at my eye in the mirror, “No, I was just packing to come home.”
“Oh, I thought you’d be waiting until the last minute.”
“Nah, Paris is really busy so I figured I’d take a day to veg at home before we started up again.”
He paused, just like I knew he would. “How are things going with the two of you anyway?”
“Good I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yeah…hey Kevin, I hate to cut this short but I should really get going otherwise I’m going to miss my flight.”
“Okay…well, I guess I’ll see ya in a few days then little man.”
“See you then bro!” I felt bad ushering him off the phone but, I just couldn’t deal with a Kevin grilling today. Besides, I bet he’s the one that started all the Paris is pregnant nonsense.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror once more and placed my fingers on my puffy eye. Maybe makeup would work. I bet AJ has cover up at home that I could use. It’s sad he has a make up bag isn’t it? What’s even sadder is that fact that I’ll be rummaging through it later.
“I really need a manicure; I mean my nails look horrible. I’ll have to make an appointment with Nancy before we head back to the studio.”
“AJ, do you ever listen to yourself?”
I looked over at Howie as I blew on my nails. I had just painted them black and was trying to dry them out. “Why?”
“Because you just sounded like my Aunt Marge.”
“Dude, you don’t even have an Aunt Marge.”
“Well, if I did she would sound a lot like you, don’t you find that disturbing? I know I do.”
“Howie, it’s totally fine to be in touch with your feminine side every once in awhile.”
“Every once in a while maybe but dang…”
“Oh this comes from a man who has more body lotion and hair cream then all of the Backstreet women put together”
“Touché…. And I have to say, this place really is pretty clean Jay, I’m impressed.”
“You heard my mother nagging.”
“Yeah, but I thought for sure it would look like a pigsty again by now.”
“Did Leigh get off okay?”
Howie nodded at me and sat down, “Yup, it was nice having her out here. She’s going to try to make it out at the end of the month for a week or so.”
“That’s good.”
“I’m also trying to get my mom to come for a visit.”
“Don’t let her come here; I don’t need momma D on my back for a messy place either.”
He laughed but I was serious, Howie’s mother acted as my sub mom. She was awesome and the best part about her, she didn’t ever hit back handed. “That will be nice seeing your mom out here.”
“Yeah I agree…so what time are we heading to Brian’s?”
“In a few minutes…my nails have to dry first.” He gave me a look and a shake of the head but I’m sorry, a guy can’t afford to mess up his nails just to be on time.
The door swung open and I swear I almost had a gabillion heart attacks at once. Nick walked in carrying a ton of bags and then kicked the door closed with his foot.
“Now that was quite an entrance Nicky.” Howie said as the blonde removed a bag from his mouth. “Hey guys, if I had known you were here; I would have had you come pick me up at the airport.”
“Oh yes, too bad because I would have loved to drive around LAX all night again because you couldn’t remember what airline you flew in on.” He smirked at me, then walked over and gave me a hug. It was nice seeing my little buddy again. “Watch the nails…” I warned because I didn’t want to get polish all over his white shirt. What? I didn’t...okay stop looking at me like that!
“It’s nice seeing you again man…you too D.” He walked over and grabbed Howie in a hug but of course also added a wet, sloppy kiss, anything to make Howard cringe.
“Nicky, what happened to your eye?” D asked quickly pulling away and placing his fingers gingerly on Nick’s black eye…Nick has another friggin black eye!
“Oh this, It’s nothing.”
I walked closer to look at the ‘nothing’ we were referring to. It had to be bad if Howie noticed it. I am convinced one of our heads could be missing and D wouldn’t be aware of it until someone mentioned it to him.
“Wow that’s quite a shiner man.”
He looked embarrassed; did he not think we would see that? He must have been the type of kid that would hide in plain sight while playing hide and seek and not understand why he was always found. On second thought never mind, I already know he was that type of kid because that’s how he used to try to hide on us when he was younger.
“Did Paris do that to you?” Is Howie sounding mad? Wow!
“It’s not a big deal, we got into a small fight and she accidentally hit me.”
“Accidentally, just like the last time?”
“D, it’s no big deal…she apologized. She felt really bad about it. Let’s not blow it out of proportion, okay?”
Howie looked over at me like I was supposed to say something. Why did he always do that? What exactly am I supposed to say? “How can someone who weighs five pounds manage to constantly beat the crap out of you?” See? No good can come out of me when put on the spot to say something.
“Whatever, it’s not a big deal!” Yeah it was, I could tell by the slight shift of his body language and the subtle way he tried to exit.
“I’m going to go crash for a bit, I’m exhausted.”
“We are going over Rok’s you should come.”
He turned towards me and thought about it for a few minutes, “Bri is back?”
I nodded at him, “And alone. Leigh is still with her family.” I figured that would entice him to follow us.
“Nah, I think I’ll pass. I don’t feel like getting into why I got this…” He pointed to his eye.
“I get ya dude…okay, well I’ll be back later then. If you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
He nodded and then walked into his room and shut the door.
“I can’t believe she hit him again! Why the hell is he still with her? I mean how stupid does the guy have to be?” AJ looked at me like I had ten heads but I didn’t care, she really got me mad, not that it took much where Paris was concerned but still.
“Howie…”
“No, AJ…there’s no defending what she did.” He put his hands up defensively. I didn’t mean to yell at him... It’s just that I take abusive behavior seriously. My oldest sister Angie was once in an abusive relationship, she would come home with black eyes and bruises and always said it was no big deal, he just got a little mad.
He broke her arm once and that was that. When he came to the hospital to see her, I walked over to the guy…keep in mind I was maybe all of 10 at the time, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I kicked him in the nuts and told him never to touch my sister again. He raised a hand to hit me but my family was all over him like white on rice. That was the end of him.
“He always gets himself into these relationships, I don’t get it.”
“He’s a really bad decision maker, if you haven’t figured that out by now D.”
“I know, but still…did you see his eye? And every time she talks to him…she treats her dog better than that.”
“I know dude, it’s messed up but it’s not like we can do anything about it. He’s not a little kid anymore Howie. Even though he still acts like one and even still freaking plays with toys…he’s not a child.”
“I know, but AJ…this can’t go on.”
“What do you have in mind?” That was a great question, what did I have in mind? I mean that didn’t involve her in a bag at the bottom of the ocean. I’m not too fond of Paris.
“I don’t know…maybe Kevin should talk to him.”
“Oh yeah, because we all know how well that always goes.”
“What about Brian, he listens to Brian.”
“Not anymore…D, Nick is complex if any of us tell him what to do he’s not going to listen.”
“He’d listen to Tommy Lee.” I said as sarcastically as possible, but deep down inside I was actually considering it. Yeah, okay Howie…maybe not.
“Wait, don’t you mean Tommy freakin Lee?” Despite how horribly angry I was, that made me laugh. “Maybe they’ll just fade away, I mean he did come home early, I take that as a good sign, don’t you?” He continued, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“She probably kicked him out.”
“Probably…”
I couldn’t believe how worked up I was, this kid was the same one who constantly did anything in his power to annoy the crap out of me, yet I was so protective of his ass. Ugh!
“I’ve never seen you like this before Howie. I mean I have, but never about anything like this. It’s cute.”
“Shut up AJ, you really are a girl aren’t you?”
“Damn!”
“What?”
“I just broke my nail!”
I shook my head at him as we turned into Brian’s driveway, “I’m sure you can borrow one of Leighanne’s nail files.”
“Everything will work out Howie…I’ll talk to him tonight when I get home, okay?”
I nodded at AJ, I know he was as worried as I was, but he was refraining from showing it to me.
“Oh my God, is Brian wearing an apron?” I looked up and sure enough, he was.
“What in the world is happening to us?” I asked as we walked up the front steps and greeted out host, who was also wearing a lobster claw oven mit.
Yay I updated lol :O)
