He shut the door and walked in, tossing his keys and mail down on the table. He had a few hours before he had to head to the meeting with the guys. The morning had been spent doing countless interviews and photo shoots and they had to meet in a few hours for a meeting with the record executives, something he wasn’t looking forward to. It was safe to say that Nick no longer trusted as easily as he did when he was younger, none of them did. They’d learned their lesson and they learned the hard way. If something was too good to be true, it usually was. Luckily for the most part, it was settled. Things with Jive were strained to say the least though, things were going to come to a head soon, he could feel it.
Kicking his shoes off, he headed into his kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a beer, the mail off the table and the phone, heading over to the couch, slumping down. After taking a long swig of beer, he grabbed the phone and dialed. He felt like going out tonight, he’d spent too much time alone here lately, he needed to get out. Nick wondered if Brent was home, maybe he was up to hanging out. After getting a hold of Brent and making plans to go out later that evening, he tore into his mail, groaning at the bills that’d piled up. Tossing them aside, his thoughts went to his post office box. Veronica wouldn’t have written him back yet as he just sent out the letter only a few days ago. Groaning, he realized he’d forgotten that he’d emailed her yesterday, he hadn’t had the chance to check his email yet. Standing he made his way up to his room, booting one of his laptops, before heading back down to grab his beer.
Making his way back into his room, he headed over to his dresser, grabbing his address book, flipping it open. He’d ask one of his girlfriends to come with him tonight, lord knew he needed a little companionship, it’d been too long since he’d last been with a girl. Grabbing his phone, he dialed and then headed back over to the computer, signing in, smiling when there was a click on the other end.
“Hey, it’s Nick, yeah, it has been a long time. Look I thought we’d catch up, I’m gonna hang out with Brent tonight, go to a few clubs and shit, you wanna come with me?”
Nick went to his mailbox, sifting through the bulk mail and other crap, deleting it, stopping suddenly when he saw two emails in particular:
Inbox
Sender Subject
freesialover@yahoo.com
freesialover@yahoo.com
Smiling, he clicked on the first one.
“No no, I’ll come pick you up, we’ll be going out at around nine, so I’ll be by around nine thirty, that ok? Great, see ya then,” he muttered, still looking at the screen, waiting for the page to load. Hanging up, he tossed the phone blindly on the bed and scrolled down to read, seeing that she replied yesterday.
Date: Thurs, Nov 5 2004 13:45:40 -0700 (EST)
From: freesialover@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: It’s Nick
To: chucktaylor11@aol.com
Nick,
Hey, great to hear from you! I’ll be looking for your letter and I’ll just respond through email ok?
I’m gonna add your email address to my address book as well, and yes I think it would be easier for us to just communicate through here too.
Talk to you soon!
Veronica
Nick smiled and clicked to log out. He’d read the other one when he had more time, now he had to get ready for the next meeting. He quickly got ready; made a few more calls, inviting a few more people to hang out then headed out.
Several Hours Later…
Nick made his way into the house, extremely tired, a slight buzz from the alcohol he’d consumed, but feeling good. It’d been nice to hang out with Brent and the guys, and even nicer to see Danielle again, very nice. It’d been too long for him to go without, he just hadn’t had the time to hang out with his friends let alone screw around with girls. He’d be sure to make more time in the future.
Heading into his room, he flipped the light on and stripped down, the scent of Danielle’s perfume all over his body. Grabbing his sweats, he pulled them on, rubbing at his eyes before flopping down on the bed. Shit, he was working himself up all over again just thinking about her; he should’ve asked her to come home with him. He shouldn’t have to settle for pleasing himself when she would’ve been more than willing. It was never the same either.
Too frustrated to sleep, he stood, staring at his laptop, there was that other email from Veronica he wanted to read. Reaching out, he turned it on and waited while it booted and connected instantly. Sitting, he opened his mailbox and clicked on the email, noticing that it was sent the same day and if he counted right, only about an hour or so after the other. Raising an eyebrow, he scrolled down to read.
Date: Thurs, Nov 5 2004 14:30:40 -0700 (EST)
From: freesialover@yahoo.com
Subject: Me again
To: chucktaylor11@aol.com
Nick,
It’s me again. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself; I had nothing else to do. Actually, that’s a lie, I was cleaning my apartment, but I couldn’t focus. I hope you don’t mind me emailing you back so soon when I haven’t received your letter yet.
Anyway, I was off from work yesterday, but I work the next few days. I hate working the weekends, it sucks, not that I do much, but still. I want a job where I don’t have to work any weekends. My manager can be so mean sometimes ya know? I’m always running around like a chicken with its head cut off and she’s got me doing fifty fuckin’ things at once and I’m sick of it. If it isn’t her, it’s the customers, and no, they’re NOT always right. Do you ever feel like…you’re being taken advantage of? That people never really know your full potential?
Boy did he, though he would never tell anyone that, the guys always told him he whined and that he was just a big baby, he hated it. Frowning he shook his head, he’d laugh it off, but things like that he always remembered.
I feel like that at my job you know? I’m rotting away there, I need to look for something else, but I think part of me stays because it’s comfortable and I know it…too scared to get out there and do better. I guess that makes me a wimp huh?
A wimp? He didn’t think so; he couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Didn’t she have someone to encourage her? Granted him and the guys didn’t always agree, but they generally supported whatever he did. Then again he was one to talk. He’d been put in that mold of being the cute dumb one and he never really worked to change everyone’s view either. It was his gold ticket in the group and while he could try to change it, part of him was afraid that no one would like the real him. So he’d sit back and smile, look good for the camera and keep his mouth shut like Kevin told him to do so many times.
Maybe him and Veronica weren’t that different in that aspect.
Oh well it’s my own fault I guess. If it was that bad, I’d get out right? If I want it bad enough. That’s what everyone tells me at least. I can’t complain cause I’m not doing anything about it and I suppose they’re right. It’s hard though, it really is.
God was it, he totally understood that.
Anyway, I guess that’s it. Just wanted to drop you another line. I hope to hear from you again soon.
Talk to ya soon!
Veronica
He stared at the screen, for some reason not wanting to close the email, reading it over and over. Why did it make sense to him? Why did he feel that much closer to her now? She hadn’t really reveled anything overly personal, but he felt he was that much deeper into her life. He almost wished he’d opened up a bit more to her in the last letter, he was starting to feel more comfortable with her. Still, he wasn’t sure if he could trust her totally though, it was much too early yet.
Nick looked at the clock, four in the morning. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep until
he wrote her back. Clicking on the reply button he started typing.
