*This chapter is dedicated to the girl with the great hair (inside joke people).
 

    When I woke up again, I was lying in a hotel room bed.  Confused, I sat up and wondered where I was.  I looked around and saw that someone had put my luggage on the floor at the end of the bed.  Before I could wonder any more, I heard a soft knock at my door.  "Come in" I croaked.  AJ stuck his head in and smiled when he saw me pull the blanket up to my chin.  "Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't seen before!"  I blushed, and he just laughed and continued.  "Listen, don't worry about it.  I came in here to tell you what's up for today...we're ordering in room service for breakfast first of all, do you want some?"

    "Yeah, I guess I'd better."

    "Alright then.  Meet us in me ‘n Howie's room in about ten minutes then, and we'll order ya somethin'.  Kev and Nick are still asleep, lazy bums.  Now where was I...oh yeah.  We've got a photo shoot this morning and a rehearsal early this afternoon, and then of course the concert tonight.  You're probably gonna have to talk to my mom about the details, but this is what she asked me to pass on to you so far...so, y'all are cool with that?"

    "Yep, I'm cool.  I'll be in your room in ten.  Thanks AJ."

    "Hey, no problem.  We're right across the hall."

    Lazily, I stretched and got up.  A long warm shower was what I needed first, so I headed on in to the bathroom.  My roses from the night before had been nicely arranged in an ice bucket, courtesy of Nick, I'm sure.  I climbed into the shower and let the steady beat of the water on my back wake me up.

    Feeling refreshed and awake, I wrapped a towel around myself and went over to my suitcase to pick out my outfit for the day.  AJ hadn't mentioned what the weather was like outside, so I just chose black dress pants and a white blouse.  I fixed my hair & makeup and then made my way over to Howie and AJ's room.

    Just as I was about to knock on the door, I felt two strong arms encircle my waist and someone plant a kiss on my cheek.

    "Well, good morning to you too, Sunshine."  I smiled at Nick and continued, "Did you have a good sleep?"

    "Mmmm, I did.  I feel much better now that I know you're in the same country as me."

    I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he started to whisper something else in my ear, when the door to Howie and AJ's room opened.  "Awww," cooed AJ, "Y'all are so cute.  You just gonna stand out there in the hall all morning and nuzzle each other, or are y'all gonna join us for some grub?"

    I stuck my tongue out at AJ and he winked at me.  Nick gave him a dirty look and AJ just laughed, then opened the door wider for us to come in.  So we stepped inside and found a place to sit.  "Oh no, you don't" Nick said as I proceeded to site between him and AJ.  He pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly.  "You're staying right here."  Who was I to argue?

    We all dug into our breakfast.  The guys had ordered a little bit of everything, so there was a wide variety.  Nick kept passing things onto my plate - "Here, try this" or "Have some of that".  By the time we were finished, I was so stuffed, I thought I would explode.  AJ made a big show of undoing his belt buckle and letting out this huge sigh.  Everyone laughed at him, and Denise said "That's my son the show off!"

    Nick leaned back and groaned.  He pulled me down with him and patted my stomach.  "Get enough to eat?" he jokingly asked me.  I turned and lightly poked his belly.  He moaned and I said "Yeah, I did....apparently you did too."  He grinned at me and gave me a kiss.

    After we'd sat around for a couple of minutes, Kevin stood up and got everyone's attention.  "As we all know, there's a new member to our team.  Sam, would you stand up please?"  Warily, I stood and Kevin placed his hand on my shoulder.  I shot Nick a questioning look, and he just smiled at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.  Kevin continued his speech, "Sam, we'd like to formally welcome you to our staff, and initiate you in the proper way."  With that, he grabbed me under the arms, Brian took my legs, and we headed for the bathroom.  There, AJ had a hair-dying kit set up on the counter, with purple hair dye.  My eyes opened wide and Kev and Brian strapped me to a chair.  "Bone, work your magic."  Nick closed the door (but not before he mouthed to AJ ‘Behave')  and AJ and I were left alone.  As he proceeded to dye my hair, I made sure it was a wash-out dye, and then decided that it would be useless to struggle, so I just sat back and waited.  An hour later, he untied me and opened the door.  I slowly walked out, and spotted Nick reading a magazine on the couch.  He looked up at me and gave me the most wicked smile.  Then his eyes turned soft and he asked in a concerned voice, "Do you like it?"

    I let him squirm for a few seconds as I mustered up some fake tears, but then I couldn't contain myself any longer.  I burst out laughing and told him, "That was the craziest thing I've ever done in my life!"  He looked relieved and came over to me.  He held me close and said, "Crazier than coming with me halfway across the world?"  I thought about that and replied, "That wasn't so crazy, because I knew how that would turn out."  He gave me another kiss, just as Kevin and Denise came in the room.  They both smiled and complimented AJ on a job well done, and then Denise suggested that we'd better get to the photo shoot.

    Fifteen minutes later, we were all piled in a private van headed to the photo shoot.  It was a bit crowded, but somehow we all found somewhere to sit.  Nick, Brian, Howie and I were discussing what we were going to do with our little bit of free time that afternoon.

    "I think we should have a Nintendo tournament" stated Nick.  Everyone laughed and he grinned.  Howie piped up next, "I think we should ask the hotel staff if it's possible to close off the pool for a bit, so we can have a private swim.  I'm just itching to see how well Sam does in a chicken fight!"  I grinned at him and he smiled back.  It was one of the first times Howie and I had been in a conversation together.  Usually, we were both too busy being shy to say anything.

    "I like that pool idea D., I think that's what we should do."  Brian looked over at Nick, who nodded back at him.  So it was decided.

    We finally got to the photo shoot, and piled out of the van.  Miraculously, the fans hadn't found out about the shoot, so there was no problem getting inside the building.  The guys immediately went into the back, where they changed into their selected outfits, and for the next 1 ½ hours, Denise and I went through some paperwork while the guys posed under hot lights.  I found out that Denise shared the same sense of humour that her son had, so working with her was a lot of fun.  Only the first day, and already I loved my job.
 

    ***Later That Day***
 

    "This is so refreshing...Great idea Howie."  Nick turned and proceeded to float on his back in the pool.  We'd managed to convince the hotel to close off the pool for 2 hours ‘Due to Maintenance' so that we could relax and unwind before the concert that night.  It was the first group activity, other than work, that we'd done since we'd arrived in Europe.

    Just for the day, we also had 2 other girls visiting with us.  Howie's girlfriend, Kayla, and Brian's new girlfriend, Lindy, had come along with us.  Since Kayla and Lindy didn't live in Orlando, Tampa, or anywhere close (Kayla was from Denver, Colorado, and Lindy was from Grand Forks, North Dakota), they hadn't gotten a chance to see Howie and Brian when we'd been back in Florida.  So the two guys had decided to fly their girlfriends out for a day-long visit, before the tour had a chance to get crazy.  The girls were a lot of fun, and Lindy and I seemed to hit it off as soon as we met.

    "Chicken fight!" called Howie.  Nick grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me up onto his shoulders.  Howie did the same with Kayla, and Brian looked over at Lindy, who shook her head ‘no', but Brian went over and grabbed her anyways, holding onto her tightly.  Nick and I decided to fight Brian and Lindy first, before Lindy lost her nerve.  As it turned out, Lindy was more sure of herself than she let on, so her and Brian won the first fight.  I came up out of the water in time to see Brian tilt his head up to Lindy, who was still on his shoulders.  Lindy leaned down and they shared a long kiss, and then proceeded to knock Kayla off of Howie's shoulders.  This game went on for a while, until finally Lindy and Brian won again.

    "We're an unbeatable team" Brian said to Lindy as he gave her another kiss.  She smiled and let him lift her out of the water.  Kevin looked at his watch and announced that it was time for us to "move on out", so we gathered up all of our stuff and headed back to our rooms.  It was time to get ready for the concert.

 Chapter Seventeen
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