Cora ran out of the backstage doors and Grace a big hug. "Grace! I've missed you so much!" Cora yelled.
Grace laughed. "I've missed you too! God I've missed everybody!" Cora squeezed her a bit tighter.
"Ouch, Cora, my ribs are still healing." Grace complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry Grace," Cora said pulling away. She lowered her voice. "We need to talk."
Grace nodded. "For sure, I gotta go chat with the security team now. I'll say hello to the rest of the girls later."
"Oh! But you still have to meet Solid HarmoniE and Aaron Carter!" Cora told her, grabbing Grace's hand and dragging her backstage. Grace gave a weak tug of disapproval.
"No Cora, the security meeting is in the foyer, not backstage!" Grace laughed.
"C'mon!" Cora giggled. "I want you to meet my new friend Fel, I mean Mel -"
"Well, well, What is it then?" Grace made a funny face. "Did Mel have a fell? Does she have a fell? When was Mel's last repel of a fell? Huh? Huh? Huh?" After sending Cora into a fit of ridiculous giggles, Grace pulled away and ran towards the doors to the lobby.
"No!" Cora called after her. "Well, fine then!" Cora turned and headed backstage.
"Hey! Grace is back!" Cora called to anyone who was listening.
"Grace?" Melissa asked. "You mean the gurl who was in the car accident?" She set down the outfit she had been putting together.
Cora nodded swiftly. "She just came in now."
Victoria and Alison were off in a corner singing softly. "I think it sounds best in C major," Victoria told Alison. She turned back to Cora. "Did you just say Grace is here?"
"Yeah, I tried to pull her back here, but she has a meeting with the security team right now," Cora replied. "She said she was going to see everyone later."
"She's not coming back to work quite yet, is she?" Victoria asked.
Cora shrugged. "That's the impression she gave me."
"Vic," Alison said, pulling on her friend's arm. "Why wouldn't she?"
"I - I don't know," Victoria stuttered. "It just doesn't seem like a great idea. I kinda doubt she'd be ready for it. I mean, she has a lot of running around to do, and sometimes she actually has to carry girls out. I just wonder if she's ready for that much stress . . ."
"Nah," Cora dismissed Victoria with a wave of her hand. "Grace can handle it. She'll be fine!"
"I hope so," Victoria murmured.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Eric yelled as Grace entered the foyer. The foyer erupted with applause from the security team.
"Well look at what the cat dragged in!" John cried, giving Grace a hug. "Haven't seen ya in a while! How ya doin' kiddo?"
"Who you calling kiddo, chump?" Grace laughed, punching John lightly in the stomach.
"I'm hurt!" He responded.
"It's good to have you back Grace," Cynthia told her, enveloping Grace in a hug. "We've missed ya."
Grace pulled away. "Thanks Cynthia." She raised her voice to address everyone in the room. "Thanks everybody! It really is great to be back and I've missed everyone too! Um, you like, wanna get to work now?"
There were a few grumbles, but everyone quickly got back to figuring out positioning within the building and other such things.
Grace sighed and waited to be given instructions for the evening.
"Tough flight?" Cynthia asked, noticing Grace's down mood.
"No," Grace replied. "I just feel a bit out of place. Something kinda weird happened to me this morning and I'm just kinda trying to forget about it."
"Why? What happened?" Cynthia wondered.
"Awe, nothing," Grace said with a wave of her hand. "I just want to kind of shake this feeling. I don't want to bring anyone else down. Everyone seems so happy to see me."
"Well, we are Grace," Cynthia told her. "But if you don't feel your ready to be doing this, no one's going to push you. Everything is up to you. Look, I gotta get outta here. John's going to finish up the rest of meeting without me. I'll see you later Grace."
Grace nodded to Cynthia as she left the foyer. "See you . . ."
"The inevitable question guys," A female reporter smiled, "do any of you have girlfriends?"
All the guys sat back a little in their seats. They glanced at one another. "Well," Kevin began the usual response. "All of us do date, but it's hard to meet people and have a relationship with them when you're on the road constantly. We just don't seem to have very much time right now, you know, we have other priorities." He explained. "Plus, it wouldn't really be fair to the girls . . ."
The womyn nodded. "That must be hard for you . . ."
Howie swallowed and nodded. ‘The hard thing is not telling anyone that having a girlfriend you love, isn't really that hard at all,' He thought to himself. Just as that thought went through his head, and he didn't even hear her next question, Howie had a feeling of guilt and dread run through him. "Actually!" He cried suddenly. "I do have a girlfriend . . ."
The reporter and his friends did a double take. "You do?" she asked. "Who is she? I mean - I'm sorry! That really caught me off guard! I just - can you give me a name or something?"
His friends stared at him in shock. Howie knew very well he wasn't suppose to say anything about having a relationship with anyone, ever. Howie regained his composure very quickly. "Yes, I do have a girlfriend," He smiled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't give you a name. I need to respect her privacy, but she's a great person and I don't want to keep our relationship in the dark anymore. You see, up until now, Backstreet Boys weren't very well-known and we never had any time to become involved with anyone. We had very different priorities, like Kevin said. But now that everything has settled down a bit, I've had more time to actually become involved with someone. And not only do I feel uncomfortable lying to our fans, who we also love very much, but I also don't think it's fair to her."
The reporter had also managed to compose herself. "Well, I'm very happy for you and I hope the fans respect your decision. How long have you been seeing this mystery woman?"
Howie smiled. "Over a month now."
Brian and Kevin exchanged a glance. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
Nova, Solid HarmoniE and Grace sat in a messy semi circle backstage chatting.
"Of course we heard about the streaking and your victory over the Boys!" Melissa smiled.
"I would say girl power, but you know that would simply flood us with Spice comparisons!" Mariama laughed.
Lara giggled. "How ‘bout when I made you throw up, again and again and again!" She asked Mariama, who pretended to hit her.
"Lara! I'm ashamed of you!" Grace scoffed. She raised her eyebrows. "How'd you do it? Poison her fruit cocktail? Huh?"
Lara grinned. "Just took her on Street Luge, best motion ride in the Excaliber . . ."
"Don't remind me!" Mariama sighed.
A silence settled over the group. "I feel like I've missed so much," Grace told them, tears sparkling in her eyes.
Alison turned to her in surprise. "Don't cry!" She wrapped her arms around Grace. "Oh you poor thing!"
The girls let out a collective: "Awe!" And soon every one of them was crowded around Grace in a nine girl, group hug.
"You guys are awesome," Grace told them. "I know why I missed this so much."
"Grace, I know I just met you," Elisa told her, "But I hope we can become friends, and I want you to know that all of us will always be there for you."
Melissa nodded. "Yeah, we'll be there for you sweets!"
"Speaking of which," Elisa sighed. "We've got a show in an hour or so."
"Fantastic!" Beki muttered.
"So do we," Lara nodded. "Guess we better make like bananas . . ." The girls glanced at one another. Together they added "And split!"
Grace laughed. "Would someone mind reciting the reasons why bananas are better than men?"
Cora jumped in. "No one ever tries to steal your banana and even the smallest bananas are at least eight inches!"
Melissa's mouth dropped open. "Cora!" That reminded Alison of something.
"You never mind eating a banana" She laughed.
Melissa gasped. "Alison!"
Beki began getting into the swing of things. "And no one cares if you have two bananas in bed with you at the same time! And a banana's only purpose is to satisfy you . . ."
"That's it!" Melissa cried. "I'm outta here!"
"And Mel!" Cora called after her. "Bananas are always stiff!" Upon those words, Melissa began to sprint.
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