I had every Tuesday off work, and it was a
good thing too. Tuesday morning Nick called me and said that their
tour bus was fixed and they'd be leaving in a few hours. "You can
come over to the hotel for a bit if you want, it'll give us a chance to
say good-bye."
I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me nod,
so I choked back the tears that I knew were surely coming and told him
"I'll be there in half an hour."
I don't think I've ever driven so fast in my life,
and it's surprising I didn't get a speeding ticket. I was such a
mess. I cried all the way to the hotel, and then had to quickly pull
myself together as I walked into the building. The security guard
nodded me in, and I took the elevator up to the 3rd floor. As the
elevator doors opened, I sucked in a deep breath and forced myself to move
forward. I knocked on the door to #303, Nick and Brian's room.
I waited patiently for someone to answer. After a few seconds, the
door swung open and Brian greeted me.
"Hey Sam, you alright?" He looked at me worriedly.
"Yeah, I'll be ok." I replied, knowing full well
this wasn't going to be easy. I saw Nick rush into the room.
He took one look at me and suggested to Brian, "Why don't you go help AJ
clear out whatever's left in the mini-bar and figure out the bill?"
Brian got the message and gave us both a sympathetic smile and left the
room.
I couldn't hold it any longer. I started sobbing
uncontrollably.
"Oh Sam, it's ok." Nick wrapped me in his
arms and held me tight against him. I buried my face in his chest
and stuttered "I'm going to m-m-miss you so m-m-much!"
"I know, and I'm going to miss you too. But
I'm promising you that I'll call you every day, and I'll do whatever I
can to see you often. Ok?"
I looked up at him and noticed he had tears glistening
in his eyes too. I nodded and we moved over to sit on the bed.
He sat me down in his lap and wrapped his arms around me again, smoothing
my hair and rubbing my back. "It's going to be ok" he kept whispering,
as much to reassure himself as me. Then we heard the door to the
room open. Kevin stood in the doorway with an I'm-so-sorry- to-have-to-do-this-to-you
look on his face and said "Nick, it's time to go."
I sniffled and got up. "Thanks Kev" Nick acknowledged,
and Kevin left the room. We both sighed and looked at each other.
"Man, I hate good-byes" he said. I managed a little laugh.
He bent his head down and closed the gap between our lips. After
a minute or so, we pulled apart and hugged. "Remember what I promised
you Sam. And you have my cell number if you ever wanna call me, no
questions asked."
I smiled and kissed him again. He wiped the
tears off my cheeks and gazed into my eyes. "Don't cry anymore, ok?
You're going to see me a lot more than you think, and remember that when
we're not together, I'll be missing you just as much as you're missing
me, if not more." He gave me one more small kiss just as the door
opened. Brian walked in and came over to me as Nick headed to the
closet to get his bags. "Everything ok?" he asked. I nodded
and he gave me a small hug. "I know it's not easy right now, but
it will get better, trust me." He walked over to Nick and picked
up his bags. "You wanna walk out with us Sam? Our security
guard Benson will walk you back to your car after we get on the bus" Brian
suggested.
"Absolutely" I replied.
The three of us walked out into the hallway after
checking the room to make sure the guys hadn't left anything behind.
We met AJ, Howie, Kevin, Benson and Denise (AJ's mom) by the elevator and
Denise said, "Ok everybody, let's go." We walked into the elevator
and got off on the ground floor, then headed out the back doors to where
the bus was waiting. Everyone handed their bags to the driver, and
he loaded them into the baggage compartment. Then one by one, Howie,
Kevin, AJ, and Brian hugged me and told me how much they'd enjoyed meeting
me. Denise gave me a hug and told me not to worry, that she'd take
good care of Nick. I smiled at her as she stepped onto the bus with
the other guys. Finally Nick turned to me and said, "I'll be thinking
of you every second of the day." He leaned down to give me one last
kiss and a hug, and then sadly he climbed onto the bus. The doors
closed and Benson started walking with me to my car. I suppressed
my tears until we got there, and as I unlocked the door, Benson turned
to me and held out his fist. "Mr. Carter asked me to give this to
you" he said formally. I opened my hand and he placed a small box
in it. "Thank you" I said, and he smiled and walked back to the bus.
I opened the box to find a gold locket inside, with a tiny diamond on it.
I opened it and inside in microscopic letters it I could barely make out
what it said: "To Samantha, Love Nick." I glanced back at the tour
bus, which was now pulling away from the curb. I waved, and in the
window I could make out Nick waving back to me. Then the bus was
gone.
I clasped the fragile necklace in place around my
neck and got into the car. And as I started driving home, I suddenly
knew that everything was going to be alright.