Chapter 19
Amanda was at the nightclub waiting for Nick to show up for rehearsal. He was going on about fifteen minutes late so she wasn't too mad. While she waited for him, she talked to his band. He had a drummer named Skye, a pretty girl with blonde hair and bright magenta streaks. His keyboardist was Mike. He looked tough but was a really nice guy. The bass guitarist was Tommy, who looked a bit like AJ but had more tattoos. Nick had chosen his band himself, had held an audition for them. Amanda got along well with Skye and was joking around with her while waiting.
"I see Mister Carter is late again. We are taking bets on when he will show up, ya want in?" she laughed.
"Nick will be here soon, I am sure." Amanda said as the door opened and Nick walked in. He was walking slowly for some reason, as if he were dizzy and had large sunglases over his eyes. Skye and Tommy were laughing as Nick ambled towards the stage, putting down his guitar case.
"What is with the eyewear, Carter?" Skye asked with a grin.
"Nick, I know you think you are a rockstar but take the glasses off. You look ridiculous." Amanda said.
"They aren't bothering anyone, I am leaving them on." Nick remarked in a choppy voice. He sounded like he was or had been upset. Nick was acting strangely as he took his guitar out and began to tune it.
"Come on, take em off." Amanda insisted, reaching towards his face. As her hand neared it, Nick's hand shot up towards his eye and held onto the sunglasses. She noticed his face was a little swollen around his right eye.
"Take the glases off, Nick. What are you hiding?" she asked. Finally defeated, Nick sighed.
"Promise you won't laugh?" he whispered sheepishly.
"Did AJ shave off your eyebrows or something?" Amanda joked, but when Nick took off the glases she could only cringe.
"Holy shit!!" Mike whistled. Nick's eye was so bruised he could barely open it. He had a black eye that looked extremely painful. Nick went to put the glasses back on but Amanda took them from him.
"That looks awful." she said.
"AJ told me it wasn't that bad," Nick said, pouting.
"I can't go out like this...if someone sees me and the press finds out, they will have a field day." Nick sobbed, his head in his hands a few moments later. Amanda smiled, an idea forming in her head.
"Start rehearsing, I will be back in a few." she told him. Amanda came back a while later with some makeup.
"What is that stuff?" Nick asked. Amanda sat him down and went near his face with her hand.
"Don't touch it!" he squealed, his hand covering his face.
"I have to touch it, Nick. This is coverup for your eye, it will make the bruise go away."
"Ow!"
"I didn't do anything yet! Stop being a baby, and don't move." Amanda instructed. She dabbed the applicator into the makeup and gently applied it to Nick's face. It took her a few minutes but she was finally done and held up a mirror so he could look.
"Wow, its like it was never there! You girls are onto something!" Nick exclaimed, a grin spread across his face.
"That is the power of makeup." Amanda said.
"So what do YOU look like under there?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow as Amanda hit him playfully. She tried to ask him what happened but he wouldn't tell her, so she called AJ.
"AJ, was there a fight over there this morning?"
"Did Nick come in with a bruise? Cause I told him it didn't look too bad. It got worse didn't it?"
"Yeah, where the hell did that come from?"
"Katie is trying to get rid of Aaron. She says Nick doesn't know if he really is his brother and insists that Nick send him to an orphanage. Naturally, Nick told her to fuck off. Katie punched him so hard he was knocked out cold and I had to wake him up so he could go to rehearsal. That's why he was late," AJ told her.
"I can't believe her."
"Well, Nick told Katie that he had the DNA test done and Aaron really is his brother. You know his birthday was yesterday?"
"Really? That's great!"
"Yeah, we took him to the zoo and Sea World. Aaron was so happy. I really love that kid." AJ said.
"Nick is a good brother for sticking up for him like that." Amanda said, smiling. She felt really proud of Nick for standing up to Katie because he had a long history of letting women walk all over him. Ever since he was a child, Nick tended to be afraid of women.
"Nick just got home so I gotta run." AJ said after they had been talking awhile.
"Okay, no problem." Amanda said before hanging up. She sat in her office at the nightclub thinking, wishing she could help Nick or at least beat Katie senseless.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Back with a new chapter! Enjoy
