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<h1 align="center">Chapter Forty-One</h1>

<br><br>
Jessica pulled into the driveway at Nick’s house.
She told him last night that she would be over there by 9:30
to go with him to the rehearsal studio. The house looked
quiet to her and she used her housekeys to enter into the
door off the garage. Once inside, Jess could hear Nick’s
radio and alarm blaring from the bedroom. Putting her purse
on the counter, she knew that she would have to wake Nick up
so that he could get ready quickly.<br><br>

Walking into the bedroom, she found Nick sprawled
out ontop of the waterbed, face down, arms spread out to the
side. She walked over to the alarm and turned it off.
“Nick, time to get up, you’re running late again.” Jess
said as she went to open the drapes. She looked over at
Nick after she opened the drapes up and saw that he had not
moved or attempted to move. She leaned over and pushed his
back. “Come on, get up! Brian is gonna kill you!” Jess
spoke a little louder to try and stimulate Nick into waking
up.<br><br>


There was still no response from Nick. Jess was
starting to panic. She pushed on Nick’s body harder and
rolled him over in the bed. He laid there with his mouth
open. Jess had no other choice but to slap Nick’s face.
“Nick! Wake up!” Nick still did not wake up for her, his
only response was a loud snore. <br><br>

“Think, Jess, think, what can I do here?” Jess was
searching her mind to think of ways to stimulate Nick into
waking up for her. He was so tall and big and she was so
slight, it was hard to do anything for him. She went into
the bathroom and got a glass of ice cold water and walked
into the bedroom towards the bed. She poured the water onto
Nick’s face. <br><br>
Nick coughed and sputtered when the cold water hit
his face. Blinking, he started to grasp his surroundings
and then realizing that someone had poured icewater onto his
face, he instantly became angry.<br><br>

“What the hell did you do that for?” Nick angrily
asked Jessica.<br><br>

“I did that because I couldn’t wake you up for
some damn reason, you tell me what the hell else I was
supposed to do for you. It’s 9:45 and you are supposed to
be walking into rehearsal in 15 minutes.” Jess defended her
actions to Nick.<br><br>

Upon hearing that it was already 9:45, Nick swore
and got out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a tee
shirt and hurriedly got dressed. He quickly brushed his
teeth and raked a comb through his blond hair. He didn’t
have time to shave or grab a bite to eat.<br><br>

“Come on, lets go, I’ll call Brian on the way in
and let him know that we are on our way.” Nick said as he
ran past Jess grabbing his wallet and ballcap and car keys.<br><br>

Jess followed Nick out the garage door and got
into the durango and was barely buckled in when he roared
out of the driveway.<br><br>

“Hey, slow it down, you are already late, it’s
not gonna make any difference, and besides you are more
valuable to them alive than dead.” Jess snapped at Nick.
“By the way, why did I have such a hard time getting you
awake this morning?” Jess asked hoping Nick would answer
her question.<br><br>

“I dunno, I was really beat last night, I guess
I was out of it this morning for some reason.” Nick lied to
Jess. He was not about to admit to her that he had taken
some sleeping pills last night to help himself relax. He
made a mental note to be a little more cautious the next
time he took them. “Do me a favor, call Brian and let him
know we will be there in about 10 minutes.” Nick
concentraited on his driving, he was trying to avoid anymore
questions from Jess.<br><br>

“Okay.” Jess answered as she picked up the cell
phone and started to dail Brian’s number.<br><br>

After she talked to Brian, Jess settled back into
the seat and looked out the window. She did not want to
make eye contact with Nick, as he seemed to be a little edgy
this morning. She did not want a repeat of what had
happened yesterday at the rehearsal.<br><br>

As Nick pulled into the parking lot, Jess noticed
that he was definately late. He parked the vehicle and
jumped out grabbing his duffle bag. Jess was barely out of
the vehicle when Nick hit the door lock and the auto alarm
buttons. <br><br>
“Hey, could you at least wait for me to get out
before you lock it up?” Jess sounded a little annoyed when
she snapped at Nick.<br><br>

“Geeze, sorry!” Nick replied as he did a half
walk/run towards the door. He knew he was late and didn’t
want to listen to Brian’s comments when he walked in.<br><br>

Jess walked slowly behind Nick, she didn’t think
it was necessary for her to hurry into the building.<br><br>

Nick threw his gear down and walked onto the stage
where the rest of the guys had already gathered and were
getting ready to start rehearsing.<br><br>

“Way to go, Nick.” AJ called out sarcastically.<br><br>
Nick threw an angry glance over towards AJ. He hated the
way he was always riding on him for one thing or another.<br><br>

“Hey, I’m sorry, I overslept, I called Brian,
geeze.” Nick was starting to feel his face get hot from his
blood pressure rising. He was getting angry and he knew he
had to try and keep his emotions in check.<br><br>

“Come on, lets quit the bickering and get
started.” Kevin suggested quietly. He was always anxious
to get down to business.<br><br>

“Okay, could you just wait for one more minute, I
need to get a drink of water before we start.” Nick said as
he sprinted towards the barrel that was filled with water
bottles on ice. As Nick grabbed a waterbottle, he slipped
his hand into his front pocket and pulled the vial that
contained the vallium and pulled two out of the pile that
fell into his hand. Nick decided to take a third one,
figuring that it would further enhance his performance. He
quickly put the pills in his mouth and swallowed them before
Jessica could see him do anything.<br><br>

“There,” Nick thought to himself, “once these kick
in, I will be fine.” Nick walked back to the stage and took
his place in the line. AJ was glaring at his every move.
He seemed very annoyed with Nick for some reason this
morning. <br><br>
Nick returned a nasty look towards AJ. “What the
heck is your problem today?”<br><br>

“Nothing.” AJ looked away. He was not prepared
to confront Nick, at least just yet anyway. AJ was starting
to suspect something wasn’t quite right with Nick, but he
was actually sure of what it was.<br><br>

“Come on, can we please just start the
rehearsals?” Kevin begged.<br><br>

Without saying a word, Nick bowed forward and got
into the position for the beginning of the song there were
to practice. Soon, the rest of them followed Nick’s lead.<br><br>

Jess ran down to the seats so she could get the
point of view that the fans would during a performance. The
music was cued up and the guys started dancing. <br><br>

Nick felt as if he was floating on air, his moves
seemed effortless. “Man, this is the best I’ve felt in a
long time.” Nick thought to himself.<BR><BR>

Jess noticed that Nick was dancing better than
ever. His moves were so smooth, he made dancing look as
easy as walking. <BR><BR>

When it came time for a spin, Nick, became dizzy
and fell off balance.<br><br>

“Nick, quit shitting around, I am getting tired of
stopping for you.” AJ sputtered.<br><br>
Nick shot back angrily, “Geesh, I’m sorry, god AJ,
quit riding me, okay? Just back off.”<br><br>

AJ threw his hands up in the air and walked
offstage. The rest of them decided it was a good time to
break.<br><br>

As they sat down to rest, their promotional
manager approached them with a clip board.<br><br>

“Okay, guys, few items we need to clear up here.
You need to be here tomorrow night no later than 6:00 p.m.
for the concert. We need to take care of people with the
backstage passes before the show, we are trying something
new here. Nick, you need to give me confirmation on your
new management situation here. Any questions about
tomorrow?”<br><br>

All the guys shook their heads no.

“Do you think you are ready for this Nick?” The
manager asked.<br><br>
“Of course I am.” Nick stated defensively.<br><br>

“Okay, I was just checking. Okay, if any of you
guys need wardrobe alterations, please check with Missy and
she will take care of it. See you all tomorrow night at 6
then.”<br><br>
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