* Chapter 28 *

"Arti? Arti Visana?!?" I called out to a woman that was about to check in at the front desk.

She turned slightly to see who was calling her name. A smile slowly crept across her face as she set down her bags and ran over to give me a hug.

"Oh my gosh! I haven’t talked to you for sooooo long!" I exclaimed as we hugged each other.

"I know," she replied.

"What are you doing here this early in the morning?" I asked confused.

"Oh, I’m getting a room cause I’m going to the awards show tonight. I won tickets and I needed a place to crash," she said in her cute English accent.

"Sweet! You can share a room with me if you want...there’s an extra bed," I suggested.

"That would be great!"

"Coolios!" I said before I walked with her to the front desk.

"Ms. Visani won’t need a room. She’ll be staying with me," I said to the clerk.

"Ok Ms. Holder. Would you like an extra key?" the clerk asked politely.

"Yes please."

After the clerk gave us the key, I walked with her up to the elevator and to my...I mean our room. I let myself in and helped Arti put her bags on the bed that was still made.

"Sshh!" I said while pointing to the open door to the room where Mel and Cynth were still sleeping. "Those are two of my best friends...Mel (short for Melanie) is the blond and Cynth (short for Cynthia) is the brunette. They are my ‘dates’ to the awards show tonight," I said with a little giggle. "I was just on my way out...I didn’t want to wake them up cause it’s so dang early."

"I don’t blame you," Arti whispered with a smile as she watched the two sleeping peacefully in the other room. "Where were you headed?"

"Well, I was going to go see some of the town and then get my hair and nails done for tonight and stuff," I explained.

"Sounds like fun," Arti replied.

"Not really," I said while heading for the door. "You wanna come?"

"Naw. I think I’m going to stay here and get some sleep if it’s ok with you."

"That’s fine with me. I’ll be gone all day though, so just tell them that you’re a friend of mine," I said while motioning to the room next door. "Tell them to call me on my cell if they need anything. I guess I’ll see you at the show then!"

"Yep! I’ll see you there!" she said before I walked out the door.

I headed down to the lobby and walked towards the front door. My heart almost stopped when I heard the elevator ding again and I heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere behind me. ‘Crap!’ I thought to myself as I quickened my pace and walked out the door.

"What in the heck would they be doing at 6 in the morning?" I asked myself out loud as I waited for a cab at the curb.

I had a hat, jacket, and sunglasses on so I doubt anyone knew who I was even if they did know me. My hair was pulled up into the hat and the black sunglasses covered my eyes.

"Naw man...that isn’t her," I heard AJ say as the two of them walked out the door behind me.

‘Her who? Are they talking about me?’ I asked myself before a pretty blond quickly crossed the street in front of us. ‘No...They must be talking about her’ I concluded as a cab pulled up to the curb.

"That was a little too close..." I warned myself as the cab sped off to the nearest park.

When we arrived at a quaint little park about six blocks from the hotel, I paid the driver before getting out and walking through the archway entrance. I walked around the park for about an hour before sitting down on a park bench that looked out over a small mirror like pond with swans swimming in it. I sat there for a while and thought about everything that would and could happen later on that night. ‘I could run into them...I hope I don’t...I hope we sound fantastic up there...what am I talking about? We will sound fantastic up there...I wonder if they will want to talk to me after I blew them off...I blew them off?!? I didn’t blow them off...They were the ones that blew ME off...’ I thought to myself. When I finally looked down at my watch, it read 9:38 a.m. I didn’t have to be anywhere until 11 to get my nails done, so I stood back up and walked toward the archway entrance once again. I walked down the street and went inside a little bagel shop to order some breakfast. When I had my bagel and bottled water in hand, I found a seat at one of the small tables on the far wall and sat down. I pulled the hat off my head and let my long blond hair cascade down my back while I ate my breakfast in peace. When I heard Meg’s and my solo come over the speakers in the little shop as I finished off my water, I smiled to myself and sat back to have a listen. I was brought out of my little listening session when my watch alarm started going off. ‘Crap! It’s 10:30...I have to get to that shop...where is it again?’ I thought to myself as I scrambled to throw away my trash and head out the door while putting the hat back on my head. I didn’t bother to put my hair up into again as I hurried down the street, looking for the more upscale salon that would be doing my nails.

"I’m here for a nail appointment with Paula," I told the woman at the desk in the front of the shop.

"Oh yes. Come with me," the woman said as she stood up and walked towards the back of the shop. "Here you are."

I sat down at the small table covered with nail polishes, files, and other salon type products lined up neatly on the tabletop.

"Hi. I’m Paula," a woman said as she took the seat opposite of me.

"I’m Liz," I replied with a smile. "Sorry I’m a few minutes late."

"Oh don’t worry about it hun," she said as she pulled out a container of tips.

I explained to her that I only wanted short nails with French Manicure tips. She started off by giving me a manicure that felt wonderful. Then she set off on doing my nails.

"These look great! Thank you so much," I said as I studied the finished product.

"You’re welcome," she replied with a warm smile.

After I paid at the front desk, I walked out onto the sidewalk that was slowly filling with people that were off to work. I hurried off to find the hair salon that was recommended to do my hair. I found it after walking around for about a half-hour and went in. Someone came and started helping me right away. The man who was going to be styling my hair was very nice. He talked about his family, how long he’d been cutting hair, what school he went to, and other stuff along those lines.

"What do you think?" he asked as he spun me around in the chair to face the mirror.

"Oh, it’s gorgeous," I said with a smile. "I wish I could get my hair to look this good every day!"

"I really didn’t have to do much because you have really wonderful hair," he replied happily. "Everyone should have hair like yours."

"Well thank you very much!"

"You’re welcome," he said with a smile as I got out of the chair.

I paid the man before leaving the salon to go for some lunch. As I was walking down the street, I saw a nice little deli so I decided to go in and see what their selection was.

"Dang!" I said angrily to myself when I saw a familiar couple sitting at one of the far tables. "Why does this always happen to me?"

I quickly went up to the counter and ordered a turkey sandwich with no tomatoes or mayo. While waiting for my food I drummed my fingers on the counter as if it would hurry my order along. I glanced over at the couple and saw Meg looking in my direction with a worried look on her face.

"Don’t worry...I’m leaving soon," I mouthed to her before I turned back to the counter.

I turned around to see that my order was sitting in front of me in a white paper bag.

"Thanks," I said to the teenage girl standing behind the counter before hastily heading towards the door.

I didn’t look back once I got out to the sidewalk. Instead I quickly headed for the hotel, hoping that I wouldn’t run into any more of the Backstreet Boys or anyone that was involved with them. When I reached the elevator, I angrily pushed the button with the up arrow and impatiently waited for the elevator to get there. I looked up and noticed that the little 10 above the elevator was lit up.

"Crap!" I said to myself hurriedly moving to the door that led to the stairs.

I quickly ran up the stairs before anyone saw me. When I reached the ninth floor, I calmly opened the door and walked to my room as if nothing were wrong. I unlocked the door with my key quietly in case Arti were still sleeping and pushed it open slowly before poking my head in. Arti wasn’t there so I pushed the door open and walked over to a note that sat on the table by my bed.

‘Hey Liz. We are taking Arti out to lunch. In case we don’t see you before the show, you’ll do great!