"Ok well we have a few things. After this incident we are supin' up security till the end of the tour, oh and next time be more careful and don't stop, would you please, you are making my job a lot harder, that goes for all of you and you Ms." He was being serious but smiled "Erika you'll have to wear some extra badges but we designed them to be stylin'." "Hey you never do that for us, ours are always really dorky lookin'", Nick managed to say with conviction in his voice "Didn't u know, that's cause I don't like u guys.." Randy responded smiling. "Ok my turn now.."Donna said moving closer to the center of the room. "I just got off the phone with Lou and we are postponing the behind the scenes filming till later on, I don't know when but at least until your stitches come off. That means that you only have the 5 song cover set for the radio show and you have the rest of the day off. Knowing you guys I already got the names and addresses of all the golf courses, malls, outlets, and clubs in town I'll leave it on the table. Second thing is they finished fixing the bus early so instead of next week we'll have to do all the moving tomorrow. Third thing is.. you guys got a whole bunch of packages today. The main desk will be sending them up in a while. Fourth thing, we've already made a statement about the incident so when you are asked, cause we all know you will, just tell them the truth. And last but not least, Nick your mom wants you to call her, we already told her what happened. Oh if u want to read some mail its in the bus...OK I guess that's it. We'd rather you don't go out tonight at least you have more free nights this tour so just take it easy guys. OK we'll be going. Call if u need anything".
While Donna talked Randy had left obviously to attend to something. Now Donna left and Denise was the only one left. "Alright Nicky how you feeling..." Denise stayed a few more minutes checking on Nick like any mother would. When she was convinced that he was ok she left to get the prescription filled. She must have had the front desk people do it cause within 5 minutes she was back with it filled. She gave them to Kevin. Nick had fallen asleep while Donna talked. "Kev you have the pain killers right.." Nick asked from his sitting position as he woke up when the Denise left the second time."Aaawwww poor baby is hurting..." AJ mocked him "Bite me bone." Nick said defending himself and accurately nailed AJ with a pillow. "Yeah dude right here.." Kevin tossed Nick the bottle and got him a glass of water from the bathroom. Nick swallowed the pills with the water. "So how u feelin' bro?" Aaron asked him "Better, the pain killers are kicking in and it doesn't throb as much anymore. I'm just upset we didn't get to go clubbing. I ruined everyone's night." Nick said to everyone apologetically "Don't stress Frack." AJ said "We have lots more nights to go out, plus we all need the rest and we have stuff to do." Howie added non-chalntely.
While they talked I made my way to the refrigerator for a drink. "Completely changing the subject, you guys never told me the third reason why u were staring at me in the limo." I said as I walked to the refrigerator, I had my back to them. I felt another cold chill go down my back. As I said that I heard a few gasps and chuckles from the guys. "OK what did I miss?" I said turning around thinking one of them had done something funny. When I turned I met their amused eyes. Aaron was about ready to burst into tears of laughter. "Huhmh Erika...." Nick and Brian said quite amused and pleased with themselves "What is so funny..?" "Humh Erika, go like this.."AJ said to me showing me to put my hand on my back as if I were scratching an itch on my back. I did and instead of feeling my silk shirt I felt the skin on my back. "What the heck..?" as I felt the skin I turned my head to try to look at it. Aaron came up behind me and pulled the shirt back so I could see. I had three long gashes down the back of my shirt as if a wolf had clawed my shirt. "It looks like Wolverine got to you. Probably the same person that got to me." Nick said from his comfortable position. I walked to the bathroom mirror and examined the damage. "We were gonna tell you but with the whole thing with Nick we kind of forgot till we walked out of the hospital." Brian said smirking "That's why I was walking directly behind you. I didn't think you'd appreciate strangers looking.." Kevin said smiling. From the mirror I could see that you could basically see my entire back, including my bra strap, through the gashes. "You know you guys are so helpful in telling me things.." I said turning around and throwing a mini shampoo bottle at Brian and Kevin." I was walking around exposed and you didn't tell me." By now I started laughing." I don't even want to know what the people at the hospital were thinking...." I burst out laughing recalling the strange looks I got from the nurses, doctors and patients "I was wondering why the people at the hospital were giving me nasty looks".
By now we were all laughing. Aaron pulled some safety pins from a drawer and tried to pin the back of my blouse kind of shut, but it was useless. "Alright I guess I have to go change now anyway, and may I suggest you all do the same..." I said smirking. The pain killers were obviously working cause Nick also burst into laughter. "Since you all find this so amusing I'm gonna go change...I might go do some laundry if I find the machines..." I said this as I walked out of the room.
I went to my room and put on the last clean shirt I had, it was the one Kevin had given me. Even though I had worn it before it still smelled like him I got all my stuff together and told Jeff where I would be. I was surprised at how much dirty clothes I had. I picked up my Anne McCaffrey book and cell phone and headed for the front desk. After finding out where to go I left a message to Jeff and Randy of where I would be just as they had told me to do. I remembered what the guys had asked me before I left and also told them to hold any packages for our rooms till the morning. After putting my clothes to wash I sat on top of the machine and began reading my book. I must have been deep into the book because I didn't notice Howie walking in and putting his clothes in the machine across the room. "Man it must be a really good book if u didn't hear the door creak..." He said to me smiling. I snapped out of the book and looked up at him"Oh hey, yeah its really good. I just learned a long time a go how to block out noise and concentrate on the story. It's very useful when u have a little brother." We both laughed. "So what are they up to upstairs..?" "Well the hunger pangs started kicking in so they ordered food. I think they got pizza and pasta..don't ask. And Nick is talking to his mom on the phone." "It's ok I don't think I want to know." I said smiling. "You know with al the stuff going on we haven't really had a chance to have a decent conversation..." Howie said " You know your right. With all the stuff that you guys are constantly doing we haven't had a real conversation...so tell me something about you that fans don't know?"
And so Howie and I talked until our laundry was finished. We talked about politics, ethincs, books, music, art and just stupidness. His quiet demeanor, I realized, was only a cover over a very profound and opinionated individual. As we talked the drier went off and it startled me so much that I almost fell off the drier "Hey Erika careful, I don't feel like going back to the hospital tonight...hehehe" We both laughed at my clumsiness. 'sorry about the shirt thing, we really did forget and when we remembered there wasn't much you could have done anyway. We figured it be easier just to shield you from public view.." He said to me truly apologetically "D its ok seriously, I was just messin' with you guys. I understand really I do, plus its not like I know those people so their opinion of me isn't really gonna affect my life much....I just hope I didn't expose myself to TOO many people..hehe" I responded trying to make him feel better "Ok cool, I just didn't want you to be mad at me or any of us..""Think of it as if it had never happened, I've already forgotten, plus it'll give me an excuse to go shopping again.." I said smiling and we both laughed. Since my laundry finished first I left.
When I walked by the front desk the clerk asked me if I was sure I wanted them to hold all packages till the morning and I said yes. I took the conspicuous way to my room so the fans wouldn't see me and recognize me and try to follow me, I had enough close encounters for one day. I went to my room and started organizing my freshly clean clothes. I heard the hotel people deliver the food. I didn't exactly hear them but I heard the guys start cheering and I figured that was why. AJ knocked on the joining door between the rooms "Food is here, you better come out now unless you want to go to eat.." "I'm coming, leave me at least a sliver of pizza if you haven't inhaled it yet" I yelled back. I heard the TV on and them watching the scores from a basketball game on the news and then booing when the news came back on. Suddenly the joining door flew open and AJ poked his head in with his eyes closed "It's ok AJ I'm decent.." He opened his eyes and said "You might wanna come see this, your on the news and the food is here..." He said it pretty urgently so I jogged to the door and stepped into Nick's room. The guys were all watching the TV. I walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed looking at the TV, Howie still wasn't there. "In entertainment news tonight...Those five singing sensation heart throbs... THE BACKSTREET BOYS....sent every teen and pre-teen girl intown today to heaven when they performed LIVE at the Arena earlier this afternoon. The boys gave an incredible performance as they always do to a sold out crowd of over 20,000 people with cameo apperances by one of the youngest famous singers and younger brother of Backstreet hearthrob Nick Carter, Aaron Carter. And perhaps the luckiest BSB fan in the world Erika Terrosa. Throughout the show the boys gave electrifying performances while being bombarded by pranks from Aaron and Erika. After the show the guys were still in hot demand as fans crowded to catch a glimpse of their favorite guy leave. Ms.Terrosa was also seen leaving with the guys sporting a look which can be perceived as either a Madonna look or the 'I just got mawled by a lion look." As the reporter said that the entire TV screen was an image of my completely exposed back to the camera. What I saw in the mirror was nothing compared to what the zoom on that camera showed the people watching the news. I might as well not have been wearing a shirt at all. In the back of my mind I could hear the reporter talking about Nick's injury and Donna making a statement about it on camera to the news. But in my mind all I could see was a replay of the entire county we were in getting more than a glimpse at my private apparel. Although I knew that my bathing suit revealed more than the torn blouse it didn't make me feel better.
"Erika...shhrggg(static) earth to Erika (static) come in please ssrhghh (static)" I snapped out of my daze and looked up at Brian waving his hand in my face "Girl you ok? you zoned out there for a sec.." "I'm fine I'm just overwhelmed by the fact that the whole east coast of this state just saw things about me that they shouldn't have..." Although I was trying to be aloof about it I was mortified."I'm just glad my mom doesn't get this station.." We all laughed. AJ sat down next to me and hugged me "Don't worry, you really couldn't see much, plus you bathing suit shows more than that did..don't stress. At least they didn't bash you for bad fashion sense..hehe" We all laughed. Brian started doing an impersonation of Joan Rivers bashing my outfit, Nick joined in as Melissa Rivers. It was hilarious. Howie walked in. It took him a second to realize what was going on and then he started laughing too. "Oh man the last few days have been a lot of firsts for me, and now this is my first time exposing myself on tv..hehehe..oh well too late". We joked around about for a few more minutes.
"Ok well I don't know about you all but I'm starving so I'm gonna eat.." and saying that Nick opened up the pizza box and scarfed down a slice almost whole. I was sick of pizza so I ate some of the pasta with Howie. "Yo Frack what'd your mom say?" Howie asked him between mouthfuls "She was really...hmhmh ... worried but I e mailed her...hmhmh.... a picture of it and she calmed down. She wanted..hmhmh... to come up early but she has too much work to finish so she'll be coming..hmhmh... the time she originally planned" Nick said between mouthfulls of pizza. Aaron was scarfing down food just like the rest of them. We finished eating. "What do you guys want to do now?" AJ asked "Well, I'm stuffed but I could go for some ice cream..." Nick added in "Ooh good idea..." Brian added in, his mind already thinking of the ice cream "Man you guys are a bottom less pit.. but I think I could go for some too..." I added in smiling " Yeah I think you have the right idea... but lets go to the Baskin Robbins right under the hotel, I don't feel like walking far from the hotel..." Kevin suggested "It's settled then.... I wanna change first though.." Howie interjected "Allright we'll meet down in the lobby, I'll call Jeff and them....Lets hurry it up this time Kev...". AJ finished with a smirk.
We each went to our own rooms. I put on a baby blue sundress with little yellow pastel flowers on it. I put on sandals and put my hair up in a claw and went down stairs. I met AJ and Brian at the elevator "You look great, but then again you always do.."AJ and Brian complemented me and I blushed.AJ was wearing black pants and a tight black shirt and yellow lensed glasses while Brian wore kackis horts and a Kentucky U shirt. The three of us laughed. They escorted me with my arms through theirs down to the lobby. When we got there Kevin and Howie where already there "Lord the sky is gonna fall, Kevin isn't the last one ready.." Everyone including Kevin laughed. Kevin was wearing baggy Jeans and a plain blue t-shirt with worker boots and Howie was in tight baggy jeans and a FB shirt and black shoes. "Where's Nick?" Brian asked. "Getting dressed and putting Aaron to sleep in Donna's room." Howie responded. Just then Nick walked out of the elevator "Sorry guys putting a shirt on with these stpid things ain't easy. Plus Aaron fell asleep so I put him in Donna's room, I didn't want him to be in the room alone...". Nick was wearing long kacki pants and short sleeved green flannel over a white muscle shirt. We met the security guards in the lobby. We had though that by now all the fans would be gone since it was almost midnight but we found that at least 50 of them had camped out in front of the hotel. So we went out the back entrance and walked around to the front far from the hotel. The body guards walked around as sparingly so as not to attract attention. Thankfully the darkness hid many of the guy's famous features. We walked a block down to the ice cream shop in silence enjoying the light summer breaze and clear starry sky.
When we reached the ice cream shoppe we were glad to find only the guy behind the counter in the store. We walked into the store. On the walls there were pictures of all the celeberites that had been in the store. I looked around and saw autographed pictures of Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, Jamiroquai, and Will Smith. We all ordered double waffle cones. The cashier obviously recognized the guys and Kevin gave him a 'please don't say anything look, the cashier must have understood "Don't worry I won't tell anyone where you guys are ... but would you let me take your picture for the wall...?". The guys quickly agreed and so did the bodyguards. The guys signed the frame he would put the picture in. We finished our ice cream and went back to the hotel the same way we left. We stopped at the bus and the guys picked up a bag of fan mail and I picked up some of my art stuff and my lap top. Donna had left notes on our doors to meet in the parking lot at 9 AM to move the things into the bus. We all said goodnight, hugged and went to our rooms to do work.
I called my mom and talked to her for a while, never mentioning the incident. I talked to everyone in my house including my brother, he wanted to know if I had seen any hot girls and given them his number. I finally hung up. I then called my best friend Megan who I did tell about the incident...she couldn't stop laughing. "Ok Megan I get the point, you are as bad as the guys..hehe". We talked for an hour. I then called up my other best friend Nicole, we spent just as much time on the phone. When I finally got off I poped on my lap top and went online. I couldn't believe I had 345 messages in my mailbox. I deleted all the ones that were about fighting or seemed boring. Then there were only 45 left. I finally went to sleep since none of my sistas were on. I woke up at 6 AM, the sun wasn't out yet, and headed to the gym bringing along a bag with my bathing suit in it. When I was done I headed for the pool. I met AJ and Kevin as I was walking out " Hey mornin'.. you guys are up early.." "Yeah, I woke up when Train made a racket as he was getting dressed so I decided to come down too.." "Sorry bone but I couldn't find my stuff and the suitcase fell..". "Ok well I'll be having breakfast by the pool if you guys want to join me later..". We said goodbye and went our ways. After I changed into my bathing suit I stopped at the front desk to leave Jeff and the rest of the guys a message of where I would be.
"Ms. We also have the packages you told us to hold for you.. would you like us to deliver them to your room while you are at the pool?" "Oh that's right. 'Them' as in plural? Oh well. Yeah sure, just go ahead and leave them by the closet". I figured that the guy probably screwed up and meant to say 'package'. I wondered what could my mom have possibly sent me.
I left and went to the pool and ordered a fruit platter and peach juice at the pool bar. I sat there enjoying the peace of the warm morning sun and the clear water. A waiter brought my food and I sipped my juice. The fruit was really good and cold. The water looked really nice and fresh so I moved my food to the side of the pool and sat on the pool deck with my feet in the water with my eyes closed. Keeping my eyes closed I picked up the fork and stabbed a piece of food and ate it. Half an hour must have gone by. I was aware of people coming and going near me but payed no attention to it so I was startled when I heard Nick's voice next to me. "What are you thinking about?" My eyes flashed open and I saw him scrouched next to me,"Nothing, I'm just sitting and absorbing the energy of the sun and the water....", There was a peaceful silence "It's been a long time since I've done that, I don't think I know how to do it anymore...".I turned and looked into his eyes, they seemed very tired but very alive "Just put your feet in the water, face the sun and close your eyes" he did. "Now clear your mind.... don't think of anything". We both turned toward the sun and closed our eyes. We sat in silence. Within minutes I was no longer aware that he was sitting next to me and that we probably looked really stupid to anyone walking by. I sat there, absorbing the warmth of the sun's rays, concentrating on my breathing. Although I don't know how much time went by I could feel the sun getting hotter and figured we'd spent a significant amount of time there. Neither of us moved.