* Chapter 14 *

I woke up the next morning to the phone ringing loudly in my ear. I reached over and picked it up slowly.

"Hello," I said sleepily.

"Can I talk to," was all I heard him say before I slammed the phone down.

The last thing that I wanted to do at this moment was talk to him. My head was pounding with every breath that I took, so I swung my feet from under the covers and made my way to the sink. I took two Tylenol and was getting ready to get in the shower when the phone rang again.

"Hello," I said again after picking up the phone by the couch.

"Hi," Court said.

"What’s up?" I asked, trying to keep myself under control.

"Oh, not much. I was just wondering if you were up yet," she replied. "So, how was last night?"

"AJ was really great," I said, not wanting to mention anything else that had happened the night before. "How was yours?"

"It was fun," she said in response. "Nick’s a great guy and all, but he’s not my type," she said after a few seconds of silence.

"Oh," was all I could get out.

"Yeah, well," she started. "It’s all good."

We talked for a few more minutes. I asked her to talk to the MTV people and explain about my change of plans. I would be staying a few extra days and she was going to tell them that I would book my own flight and get a different room. She said she would. We soon ran out of things to talk about, so we said good-bye and hung up.

I took a long hot shower and tried to relax, but found that it only worked for a few minutes. My mind kept thinking about what I was going to do today. I wanted to do this interview so bad before last night, but I wasn’t so sure about that now. ‘Why do things like this always happen to me?’ I asked myself as I pulled on a long ankle length black skirt that had slits up to the knees on each side of my legs. I grabbed a navy blue sweater shirt that had one section of green, black, white, and purple stripes across the chest and arms and pulled it over my head. I sat on the bed, put on my socks, and then slid on my new Doc Martin’s. It wasn’t the best outfit that I had to wear, but I wasn’t exactly trying to impress anyone either. I pulled half of my hair back and put it into a silver barrette so that my hair wouldn’t be in my face all day. After I was done getting dressed and ready to leave, I quickly gathered my things and put them on the unmade bed. I put everything in my bags and put them by the door so I could grab them when I got back. I wanted to be out of this room as soon as I got back from the interview. I told Court that I would meet her in the lobby and we’d go get some breakfast at the bagel shop down the street. I went down to the lobby and saw her already sitting on the couch waiting for me.

"Hey Court," I said walking up behind her. "Let’s go."

"Ok," she said getting up from the couch and walking towards where I was standing.

We went out the big door that the doorman held open for us. I sensed that someone was watching us as we left, but didn’t let it bother me. As we strolled down the sidewalk, I noticed that Court was dressed in a pair of carpenter pants and a baby blue button up shirt. She looked like she had just walked out of a photo shoot for a catalog.

"I’ll have a plain bagel toasted with plain cream cheese on the side please," I told the girl behind the counter.

"And I’ll have a plain with butter and honey," Court added.

When our orders were ready, I paid and took our bagels to the little table in the corner that Court was sitting at. We ate and chatted for about 15 minutes before I noticed what time it was.

"We better hurry back to the lobby so we can meet Bo there," I said.

"Ok," Court said while getting up to through away the garbage. "By the way, I talked to the MTV people and they said it was fine if you were staying. They just said to make sure that you are out of the room as soon as we get back."

"That won’t be a problem," I replied, walking towards the door with Court following.

We started to walk back to the hotel. I could feel my stomach tightening up and starting to feel like I was going to be sick. I knew that I wasn’t sick, I just didn’t know what I would do when I had to look at Nick’s face during an entire interview.

"There you are," Bo exclaimed when we walked into the lobby. "Smile for the camera."

I could see that he pushed record, so I put on my best fake smile and waited for Court to follow me in.

"Hi everyone," I said with a small wave to the camera and then walked behind Bo so I wouldn’t be recorded anymore.

"Well then," Bo said after he stopped recording. "Let’s be on our way."

Court and I headed out the doors, followed by Bo, who was recording us again. We got into the limo and were on our way. I wondered where the interview was being held, but decided that I’d rather not think about that right now. We drove for about 15 minutes and came to a stop in front of a large Victorian style building. I could see a woman walking towards us as we got out of the limo.

"Hi. My name’s Valerie," she said as she led us into the building. "Right this way."

The building was virtually silent except for the sound of our footsteps against the marble tiled floor. We turned a corner and Valerie led us to some French glass doors. She opened one of the doors and motioned for us to go out. I stepped through the door and waited for Court to follow me. I turned around and saw a beautiful green lawn with flowers along the edges. I walked a few steps along the sidewalk and admired the perfectly trimmed grass. Valerie moved ahead of both Court and I and led us to a large shade tree. I followed her, but I was still looking at the grass and the beautiful flowers. When I turned my head back to where I was standing, I saw that we were standing in front of the guys. They were already sitting on their chairs and had long since made themselves comfortable. All eyes were on me because I was the last to walk up to the group. I could feel all five pairs of eyes looking me up and down. ‘I must look as bad as I feel’ I thought. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable as Valerie pointed to the chair where I would be sitting.

"Thank you," I said as politely as possible before I sat down and crossed my legs to get comfortable.

"Your welcome," she answered. "You can stand over here with Bo," she said to Court.

I watched Court as she moved over to where Val told her to stand. I really didn’t want to do this. It was too awkward.

"Ok," Bo said, ready to start recording. "Go ahead."

I didn’t know what to do, so I looked down at the clipboard that Valerie had given me when we first got there. I could tell that there was tension among everyone so I looked up and made eye contact with Kev. He gave me a warm smile that made me feel a whole lot better. I gave him a smile back and decided that it was now or never.

"How are you all doing today?" I asked in a cheerful tone.

I heard ‘fines’ and ‘greats’ from them all so I figured that they were all in pretty good moods.

"That’s good to hear," I said in return with a smile. "So, what are you all going to do during your two month break this summer?"

"I’m spending it with family and friends," Kev replied.

"I’ll be working on writing songs and making sure my business is running," Howie said.

"I’ll be at home with my family, probably just relaxing," Nick said.

"I’m going to be playing tons of basketball," Bri said.

"I will most likely be at my house recording in my own studio and hanging out with my mom," AJ said with a smile.

"Sounds like everyone is going to have a fun summer," I said.

I asked them a few more questions while trying to avoid eye contact with Nick. For the most part I succeeded in trying to avoid him, but every once in a while, I could feel him staring at me.

"Do you guys ever see the Backstreet Boys breaking up?" I asked. I already knew the answer to that question, but I couldn’t think of any other unique ones to ask.

"I guess that eventually over time we will stop recording or whatever, but we will always be the Backstreet Boys," Kev explained.

I couldn’t take the staring anymore from Nick. It was making me too uncomfortable. I felt like I was going to go insane. When I looked up and met his blue eyes with mine, I couldn’t handle it anymore. All of the pain came rushing back to me in an instant. My eyes started filling with tears as I stood up in panic.

"I can’t take this anymore," I said as I moved away from the chair quickly. "I...I have...I have to go," yelled after I turned and ran across the lawn.

When I reached the sidewalk in front of the house, I realized that I didn’t have a ride to get anywhere so I kept running for a few blocks until I came to one of the main streets. I hailed a cab and told the driver to take me to the hotel as quickly as possible. We arrived at the hotel about 5 minutes later, so I gave the cabbie some money and practically ran up to my room. I knew that at least one of the guys, if not all of them would come looking for me to see what was wrong. After opening the door, I grabbed my bags and went back to where the elevator was. Instead of taking the elevator, I took the stairs just in case they were here already. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I cautiously made sure that none of them were hanging out in the lobby. No one was in the lobby but the clerk at the front desk, so I went up to the desk and checked out. I left a note with the clerk for Court telling her that I had to leave and that she could get reach me on my cell phone. After I was all checked out and ready to go, I made my way to the curb to hail a cab. Just as I got into the cab to tell the driver where I wanted to go, I turned and saw AJ, Kev, and Court running down the stairs. I noticed that AJ was looking at me as he ran towards the cab, so I sadly waved goodbye as the cabbie pulled away from the curb. I felt so bad about leaving him like that, but I couldn’t handle the pain that Nick had caused. It hurt too much to be around. I almost felt like leaving Florida at that moment, but being recorded on a CD was too big of an opportunity to pass up.

The cab pulled up at the hotel that I was going to be staying at, so I paid the driver and hopped out with my bags. After checking in at the desk, I went to my room to put my bags down and get settled in. Before I unpacked any of my clothes, I pulled out my cell phone and called the radio station that I worked at so they knew that I wouldn’t be home for a few more days. I was supposed to be on vacation for the next week anyway, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. I just wanted them to know that I wouldn’t be home if they needed me. The next person that I called was Meg. She seemed really happy to hear from me.

"Hey, let’s go out to dinner," she suggested.

"Ok," I replied. "I’m just getting ready to put my stuff away."

"Alright. I’ll pick you up around 7 then," she said.

I told her where I was staying and what room number I was in before we said our good-byes and hung up. I took my clothes out and hung them up in the closet when I heard a knock on the door. I hesitated whether to open it, but rested on the conclusion that no one could possibly have found me this soon. I walked over and opened the door to see the female manager standing there.

"I just wanted to come and say welcome," she said in a friendly voice. "We have a continental breakfast every morning from 7 to 10 and the pool is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m."

"Ok," I replied with a smile. "Thanks."

"Your welcome," she said before walking down the hallway.

Just after I shut the door, my cell phone rang.

"Speak to me," I said into the phone after I pushed the send button.

"Hello?" the voice said on the other end.

"Heeelllllloooo," I said slowly with extra emphasis.

"Where in the heck are you?" the voice at the other end of the line said.

"Who is this?" I asked as the line started breaking up really bad.

"You...know...is?" was all I could make out through the static from the other line before it went dead.

"Ok," I said out loud. "That was weird."

I decided to turn my phone off so that I didn’t get any more weird phone calls. When I rode up to this hotel in the cab, I saw that there was a clothing store next door. I wanted to see if they had any cute swimsuits so I grabbed my planner where I kept my money, my cell (even though it was turned off) and the key to the door and headed out.

"May I help you," said a brunette behind the counter.

"No thanks," I replied with a smile. "I’m just looking," I said as I continued to walk to the back where the swimwear was.

I usually walk right past the two piece suits, but this time I stopped and admired the new summer fashions. After looking at those for a few minutes, I continued on to the one-piece suits. I finally found a dark forest green one that I liked in my size and went to the dressing room to try it on. I liked it, so I went back out and looked at the robes. I thought that a robe would be nice to wear around the pool to keep warm until I was ready to go in. I found a soft pale pink terry cloth robe that was long enough to go to my mid-shin that I totally fell in love with. I took the suit and robe to the counter and paid for them while making small talk with the girl at the register.

I went back to my room and changed into the new suit and robe and then headed down to the pool. I walked off the elevator and down the hall about five steps to the open pool door. There were windows in the wall by the door so you could see people come and go every once in a while. It was only about 4 in the afternoon, so there wasn’t anyone else at the pool when I arrived. That was perfectly fine with me. I needed some time alone to think.

I took my robe off and set it on one of the lounge chairs that was on the other side of the pool so it faced the windows. I stood near the lounge chair and noticed that if I were sitting there, I would have the perfect view of the front desk. After standing there for a few seconds, I slowly made my over to the large hot tub that was steaming. It looked very relaxing so I stepped in and sat down to let the warmth of the water and the jets massage my back. I closed my eyes and sat there wondering what kind of songs Meg was going to have on her CD. She had a soulful jazzy voice that was full and rich, but she would also sound awesome singing any kind of poppy song. After a few minutes of thinking, my eyes jerked open at the sound of a frantic commotion going on at the front desk. I got up out of the hot tub and went back over to the chair where my robe was and sat down. I looked out the window and saw two guys and a girl standing at the desk. They seemed somewhat familiar. I thought of whom it could be when it dawned on me. It was Kevin, AJ and Courtney. ‘Oh crap!’ I thought to myself. I jumped up and dove into the cold swimming pool before anyone saw me. I swam to the far end of the pool and sat in the corner closest to the window with only the top of my head sticking out of the water. I prayed that none of them had seen me. I sat in the corner of the pool like that for what seemed like 20 minutes until they were gone. I didn’t know exactly where they went, but they weren’t at the desk anymore. How did they find out that I was here? They couldn’t have followed me here...unless they tracked the cab. How could I be so stupid!?! I swam to the ladder, got out of the pool and went over to the chair to put my robe on. I could hear talking coming from down the hall so I practically ran to the sauna and went inside. I was sure that they would have seen me, but I left the door open a crack and watched them walk past the pool without stopping. ‘Thank goodness!’ I thought to myself as I opened the door and walked out to the hallway. I made my way to my room, being sure that none of them saw me. I sure hoped that the clerk didn’t tell them what room I was in. I smelled like chlorine and it was starting to make me sick so I jumped into the shower.

When I was ready I walked down the hall of the hotel and went down to the main floor on the elevator. I was supposed to be picked up by Meg in about 5 minutes so I decided to head out early. As I was walking out of the elevator, I saw Meg coming in the doors to the lobby. I waved to her and made my way over to where she was standing. As I got closer to where she was standing, she turned and walked with me to the door.

"There she is," I heard Kev say somewhere off in the lobby.

I panicked as I grabbed Meg’s arm and ran out the door. We were too fast for him because by the time he got outside, we were driving off in Meg’s silver metal-flake VW bug.

"What’s the rush?" Meg asked, obviously confused.

"Well," I started. "It’s a really long story. I’d rather not let it ruin our evening."

"Ok," she replied. "So, where do you want to eat?"

"Ya know? I really don’t care where we eat," I answered happily. My mind was thinking about other things at the moment.