Chapter 21.
The familiar smell of pizza filled Natalie’s nose before the doors even opened. She noticed an old lady headed her way with a shopping cart. Usually this made her laugh but today it just seemed to annoy her. “Ma’am the grocery store is over there.” She said pointing behind the old lady.
The old lady looked back and then smiled at Natalie. “Oh! Why thank you dear.” The old lady replied.
Natalie forced a smile and then went into work. She was a few minutes late so she went back to clock in. “Oh my heck! I have to tell you something.” Avery said running up to her. Avery tried to cut her off but Natalie opened the door. Avery followed her into the office. Josh and Paul were inside. Paul practically went pale when he saw her and Josh tried to hide his excited smile. Avery stood there waiting for the drama to unfold. Natalie stood there looking at all of them. “Well, this feels a little familiar.” She said.
She walked past Paul and Josh and punched in. She seemed completely unfazed by the awkward tension that filled the room. She threw her apron over her head and looked at the list of the day’s birthday parties. She smiled, “Little Brian is turning 7 today.” She said to Avery.
Avery laughed. Josh and Paul looked at each other not sure what they had missed. Natalie opened the door to leave the office noticing the stares she was receiving. She started to walk out the door but stopped. She looked at Paul. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Hawaii right now?” Paul opened his mouth to say something but Natalie didn’t wait around for the answer.
Avery walked back into the back room where Natalie had already started filling up balloons. “What was that all about?” Avery asked her.
“Oh my gosh,” Natalie began excitedly, “I was so afraid of Paul being here but when I saw him there was nothing. Nothing! It’s like I’m completely over it! Of coarse I want to cry every time I hear a Backstreet song now, but at least work won’t be awkward anymore!”
“I don’t want to burst your bubble, but there was no wedding.”
“What?” Natalie said her mouth dropping to the floor.
“Paul didn’t get married. That’s why he’s not in Hawaii right now.”
“What happened?”
“Josh said he called it off the day after we left for vacation. He said that after we left work that night Paul was really upset about something so they went to have a drink together. The next morning he just called it off. He and Emily broke up.”
“That’s crazy!” Natalie said trying her best to believe the story.
“It’s more than crazy!” Avery said, “He’s in love with you!”
“He is not.” Natalie said trying to convince herself more than Avery.
Natalie filled one last balloon and headed toward the party room. Avery followed her in to the party room. “It’s the only explanation!” she was saying. “Why else would he call off the wedding?”
“I don’t know.” Natalie said, “Maybe because he realized her was about to marry Emily!”
Avery frowned. “That would be a good reason, but it’s not the one and you know it.”
“Avery,” Natalie laughed, “You’re talking crazy. Paul did not dump his fiancée 2 days before his wedding because he all of the sudden realized that he was in love with me.”
“Actually, I did.”
Natalie and Avery both turned around surprised to see Paul. This time there was an awkward silence. Just then Josh’s voice came over the intercom calling Avery to the front. “Nice timing.” She thought relieved. “I’m gonna go.” She said and ran out of the room. Natalie looked at the birthday cake she had set on the table. She smiled reading the words “Happy Birthday Brian. She sat down at the table. She knew she was finally going to have to talk to Paul, but this time she felt ready.
Avery ran to the front counter. “You are my hero!” she said throwing her arms around Josh. “How did you know I needed to get out of there?”
Josh looked at her like she was crazy. “What are you talking about? There’s someone here to see you.”
“Paul just told Natalie!”
“What?” Josh asked pocking his head around the corner. “Where?”
“Purple room.”
Josh tried to see what was going on. “Who’s here to see me?” Avery asked.
Josh stopped concentration on Natalie and Paul He gave Avery a weird look. “Some guy. He says he your boyfriend?”
Avery gave him a weird look back. “That’s impossible.” She said walking around the corner to the front door. Josh followed her curiously. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Nick standing there crutches and all. He was holding a magazine in his hand. “Nothing’s impossible.” Nick said smiling.
He held out his arms. Avery ran around the counter and leaped into his arms nearly knocking him over. He dropped one of his crutches. “What are you doing here?” she asked and then planted a big fat kiss on his lips. Josh was so confused. He stared in disbelief. “I actually came to tell you something.” Nick said.
“You flew all the way here just to tell me something? Not that I mind.”
“I have a private jet remember?”
Avery laughed. “So what did you want to tell me?”
Nick got all serious. “Maybe you should sit down.” He said.
Avery gave him a weird look. She had no idea what he could possibly be talking about. “I wanted you to hear it from me before anybody else.” He began. Avery started to get really nervous. “Nick what is it?”
“I guess there’s no easy way to say this,” he began.
Avery felt sick all of the sudden. “Avery, I’m engaged.”
Avery was shocked. Even Josh’s jaw dropped. “What?” Avery said trying her best not to scream.
She stood there waiting for Nick to explain and a devilish smile spread across his face as he lifted the magazine he was holding. Avery looked at the cover. It was a tabloid. On the cover in big letters it said, “Youngest Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter, off the market?” Avery’s mouth dropped as she stared at the picture on the cover. “Oh my heck!” she said and started laughing. “It’s a good thing you told me.”
Avery and Nick both started laughing. Josh stood there completely lost. “Does somebody want to fill me in?” he asked.
Avery handed him the magazine. “You’re a Backstreet boy?” he said.
Nick shrugged and nodded his head. Josh looked at the picture. There was Nick carter down on one knee proposing to a girl in front of a big fountain. “Look closer Josh, he’s actually handing me an earring. Not a wedding ring.
Josh looked a little closer and realized that the girl in the picture was Avery. He couldn’t believe it. He stared at the picture. Nick looked at Josh. “This is Josh?” he asked Avery, “As in fake boyfriend Josh?”
Avery smiled and nodded her head. “Nick this is my fake boyfriend Josh. Josh this is my real boyfriend Nick.”
The two shook hands giving each other weird looks. “So how long are you here?” Avery asked Nick.
“We all have to be back in the studio on Thursday. We’re going to go over final cuts of the video before it airs next week.”
“It airs next week? That’s fast.”
Just then a voice came over the loud speaker calling Natalie to the office. “Natalie’s here?” Nick asked.
“Yeah you should come say hi.”
Avery brought Nick back. He loved the place. “Arcade games and pizza!” she said excitedly. Nick and Avery walked back toward the office. On the way there they ran into Paul. Nick tried to hide his curiosity when Avery introduced him. “So this was the guy that all the fuss was about last week,” he thought.
Avery and Nick walked into the office where Natalie was on the phone. Natalie had the strangest look on her face. “You know what? She just walked in.” She said when she saw Avery. She handed her the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
Avery took the phone and Natalie hugged Nick. She and Nick walked out of the office and waited for Avery to get off the phone. “So, I met Paul.” Nick said. “Brian’s way better looking if you ask me.”
Natalie forced a smile. “How’s he doing anyway?”
“He hasn’t called you either?” Nick asked surprised.
Natalie shook her head. “I haven’t talked to him since we left.”
“I don’t think he’s talked to anyone. He took me to the hospital and then left. Said he had to go home to Kentucky for a few days. None of us have heard from him in two days. I thought for sure he would at least have called you.”
Just then Avery came out of the office. “Did that really just happen?” She said to Natalie.
Natalie nodded. “Looks like we’re going to New York next week.”
“What’s in New York?” Nick asked.
“The guy on the phone just now was someone over at Mtv. They want to fly us to New York to be guests on TRL when the video airs. They want to interview us.”
“That’s cool.” Nick said as if that kind of thing happens all the time.
“It’s crazy.” Natalie said.
The rest of the day seemed to go by slowly for the girls. Nick hung around until Avery was off work. Then she and Nick went out. Natalie went home after work. She felt like she was going crazy. It was weird to have Nick here and it was weird to see Nick without Brian. Natalie missed Brian so much. Why hadn’t he called her? Why hadn’t he called anyone? Why did he all the sudden have to go home? He was all she could think about. She pulled out her photo album and decided to read Brian’s letter. She sat down on her bed with a tissue in her hand. She opened the book to the last page. She smiled seeing the picture again. It was a really cute picture of the two of them. She looked at the writing. The first words were, “Don’t remember taking this one.” Natalie laughed to herself and then read on.
It must be fate. I don’t care how lucky you think gummy bears are, there have been too many miraculous events this week for it to be anything else. I know you don’t think it could ever work, but now that I know you’re out there I don’t think I can live without you in my life. I refuse to say goodbye.
Natalie sat on her bed and cried until her phone rang. She looked at her caller ID. It was a Florida area code. Natalie dried her eyes and answered the phone. “Hello?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Natalie? This is Steve.”
“Hi.”
“So, is it good to be back home?”
“No.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I just had a really weird day.”
“Listen, the reason I’m calling is that I have been going through all of my footage and I think I really need to get one last interview with you and Avery. Would it be all right if I came out there? See where you live? Capture your personal side a little bit?”
“Why not.”
“Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think Avery would mind? I tried to call her but she didn’t answer her phone.”
“She’s probably too busy making out with Nick.”
“Nick’s there?”
“Yeah, he showed up this afternoon. Right before Mtv called and asked us to come to New York next week and right after Paul told me that he called off his wedding because he was in love with me.”
“Wow.” Steve said, “You have had an exciting day.”
“I need a vacation.” Natalie said with a sigh.
Steve laughed and then Natalie laughed too. She was glad that Steve had called. He was actually making her feel better. By the end of the conversation, Steve had made plans to come out to Michigan over the weekend and then he wanted to go to New York with the girls and catch that experience on film as well. “Do you really think people are going to want to hear our story?” Natalie asked as Steve was about to hand up.
“Are you kidding? It’s like a real life fairy tale. People love that stuff. Plus you haven’t seen any of the footage yet. This baby’s going to Sundance for sure!”
Natalie laughed. She thought the whole thing sounded crazy, but she didn’t mind. She liked Steve. She hung up the phone and was feeling a lot better. She was actually really excited for Steve to come. Minutes after she hung up, the phone rang again. “Hello?”
“Hey Natalie What’s up what’s up? This is Kev.”
“Hey.” She said thinking how strange it was that he called at the same time as Steve.
“How’s Michigan? Good to be home?”
Natalie laughed and just said yes this time to avoid having to explain herself again. “What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Brian at all today.”
“You know Nick asked me the same thing.”
“You’ve talked to Nick?”
“Yeah well he showed up here today.”
“He’s in Michigan? That explains why he wasn’t home today. Is Brian there too?”
“Nope. I haven’t talked to Brian since we left the hotel.”
“Really? He hasn’t even called you?”
“Nick said he went home to Kentucky after he took him to the hospital the other day.”
“Yeah, that’s where he said he was going but I called my uncle and he’s not there. He won’t answer his phone either.”
“That’s strange. Should we be worried?”
“I’m sure he’s OK. He probably just needed some time to clear his head. But it’s not like him to not tell anyone where he’s going. Would you mind calling him? Maybe he’ll pick up if it’s you. I just want to know he’s alright.”
“Sure.” Natalie said.
She hung up with Kevin and then flipped through the numbers until she came across Brian’s name. She nervously hit the call button. She held her breath as the phone rang. She wasn’t sure why it was so hard to call him. The phone stopped ringing. The voice mail picked up. “What’s up this is B-rok. I’ll call you back.” Natalie smiled listening to the sound of his voice. She stumbled to get words out. “Hey. It’s Natalie. Everyone’s kind of worried about you. You should call me.” She hesitated a moment and then said, “I miss you,” and hung up the phone. She called Kevin back.
While she was on the phone with Kevin Avery and Nick burst through her bedroom door. “I hope you’re dressed.” Avery said.
“I hope you’re not.” Nick echoed.
They both laughed. Natalie hung up the phone with Kevin and went out with nick and Avery for the rest of the night. She had left her cell phone at home and when came back there were 2 messages waiting for her. The first was from Paul. Natalie hadn’t really had the chance to talk to him at work. She didn’t know how to explain that she was over him when only two weeks ago it was so clear that she wasn’t. She didn’t want to hurt him. She knew she needed to talk to him but she didn’t feel like doing it now. She listened to the second message. “Hey it’s me, I know it’s late but I was hoping to say goodnight. I’m sorry I haven’t called. I’ve been really busy. I know that’s not an excuse but I was really happy to hear from you. Tell the guys I’m fine and that I’ll see them on Thursday. I miss you too. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Natalie was so relieved. He sounded fine. She played the message over again. She called Kevin even though it was so late and told him that Brian had called. She knew he would sleep better knowing he was OK.”
Nick stayed until Wednesday night. Avery hated having to say goodbye. She was so depressed at work on Thursday and Natalie wasn’t there to make her feel better. She had switched shifts with her so that she didn’t have to work with Paul. Natalie had been avoiding him all week. But at least they were both working together on Friday. She sat in the back of the kitchen grating cheese. Paul walked into the kitchen. She smiled awkwardly. He came and sat down next to her. Avery knew that Natalie hadn’t talked to him yet and there was no way she was having this conversation for her. “She hates me doesn’t she?” Paul asked.
“She doesn’t hate you.”
“Why is she avoiding me?”
“You should ask her that.”
“I would if she’d talk to me.”
“She’s working tomorrow afternoon. Just come in and make her talk to you.”
Paul could tell that Avery was annoyed and since he was a little scared of her, as most people were, he just smiled and then left the kitchen.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey everyone! Thanks for the feedback! Here's the rest of the story. I'm curious to hear what you think about the end. My friend and I were never 100% satisfied with it but, like I said before,it's become somewhat nastalgic for us so I just couldn't change it. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy the end of the story!
