Chapter 11
"When did the guys say they were coming again Lauren?" Rachel asked
impatiently
"Getting a little anxious huh? You know, its a big difference
compared to
how your reaction was when we first asked if they could come!"
"Shut up. Now
what
time?"
"8 o'clock, and its 7:55, so not to long now. Speaking of the
Backstreet Boys,
have you talked to A.J lately?"
"No, I haven't had a chance to talk to him
yet."
"And I doubt you will tonight!" Lauren said sneakily.
"What is that
supposed to mean!?"
"Well we both know there is something more than just a
friendship going on between you two. So I'm sure you'll be doing more than
"talking"
tonight"
Rachel hadn't told Lauren about the night AJ and her spent together.
It all
still seemed like a dream. Despite her efforts to keep her sister off her trail,
Lauren had
caught something between her and AJ, and was ready to run with it.
"What's
going on
between me and AJ is strictly business"
"Sure,sure" Lauren sighed knowing
sooner or
later Rachel wouldn't be able to keep her little secret.
Just then the
doorbell sounded.
"They're here!" Rachel gushed, but rembered to control her excitment, and calmly
smoothed down her dress before opening the door.
They guys were all talking
amongst themselves about Howie, a doll, and finished up their conversation when
they
noticed Rachel standing in the doorway.
"You look great!" Kevin said sweetly.
He
had been attracted to her since the first day they'd shook hands, but had been
too shy to go
anywhere with it, and all also felt it unappropriate to do so at "work".
Rachel smiled
at him, and then moved to the side so they could all come in.
"Happy
Birthday," Nick
said as he handed her her gift.
"Oh you guys didn't have to get me
anything!"
"Of
course we had to , it s your Birthday isn't it?" Brian shouted this over the
loud music and
handed her the now deflated doll."Oh and by the way, wee brought our
friend....Gary.....her with us tonight, but uh, he got in a fight with Kev on
the way over,
and lost."
Rachel laughed as she noticed the gaping hole in the dolls
arm.
"Happy Birthday Rachel" Howie said politly and handed her a card, "You
look
lovely tonght."
Rachel smiled again, and then smiled at AJ, who was the last
to walk
in. They locked eyes, but didn't say anything, just smiled
knowingly.
Everybody was
having a great time. Rachel's apartment was packed with people, half of whom she
didn't
even know. "The more the merrier" though
right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian had been mingling for about ten minutes, when he felt a tap on his
shoulder. He
turned around and almost screamed when he saw the almost too familiar face of
his ex-
girlfriend."Lexis!! What are you doing here?!"
"I was just about to ask you
the same
thing" she said smirking.
"Uhh, well Rachel works with us now so we were
invited to
her party"
"Who's Rachel?"
"Rachel, the girl who this party is
for...?"
"Oh
right, uh Raquel, yeah haven't met her yet"
"Her name's Rachel Lexis. If you
don't
even know her name, then how the hell did you get invited?" Brian's relationship
with
Lexis hadn't ended well. He wasn't even sure if Lexis even accepted the
break-up. She
constantly called his house and hasseled him when ever they bumped into
eachother.
"Well news about this big party spread fast. It looks as if the
whole city's
here" Lexis scanned the room with her piercing blue eyes and then let them rest
again on
Brian's face, making him squirmish.
"So Bri, why don't we get out of here, go
back to
my place and have our own little party?"
"Lexis, we are not together anymore,
I have
no interest in having a private party with you" Brian said,
exasperated.
"It's this
Rachel girl isn't it? Your cheating on me with her aren't you?"
"You're
crazy! Rachel
and I have hardly even said one word to eachother, we jsut work together" Brian
threw
his hands in the air, giving up on the whole conversation, and turned to walk in
the
opposite direction, but Lexis hooked onto his arm with a strong grip."You're not
going
anywhere until I get an explanation."
Katie had been observing this whole
seen
between Brian and the strange woman, and was quite amused by it. Because of the
loud
music she was unable to hear what was being said, but by the look on Brian's
face she
figured out what was going on. As she watched the woman cling to his arm, she
took pity
on him and decided to step in.
"Exuse me, I don't know who you are, but I'm
Katie
and am Brian's girlfriend. I am also Rachel's cousin, and I don't think I
recognize you or
remember inviting you."
Brian looked a litte stunned this stranger had called
herself
his girlfriend, but quickly realized she was trying to help, and played
along."So Lexis,
why don't you explain to Katie how you know Rachel, and I'm sure she'll be glad
to have
you stay." Brian immediatly saw the blank look on Lexis' face, knowing they both
had
caught her off guard.
"This party sucks, I'm out of here. So you around
Brian," Lexis
gave Katie a disgusted look on her face before she spun on her heal and
disapeared into
the swarm of people.
"Thank you!" Brian said gratefully,"You are a life
saver"
"No problem" Katie smiled at him. She was taken in by his angelic
smile and
good looks.
"Do you know where I could get a very strong drink? Because I'm
in
desperate need of one"
"Sure, they're across the hall over there in the
kitchen"
"Great. Wanna join me?"
"Umm, well sure why not. But I'm not a
big
drinker"
Brian just smiled, finding that comment cute for some reason and
made his
way through the crowd to the
kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're
Kevin right?" Lauren asked around Kevin's large muscular frame, to face him. He
was
standing at the keyboard sipping a beer and taking a break from
dancing.
"Yes, that's
me."
"I'm Lauren, the founder of this extravaganza" she slurred while waving
her
arms in the air. She had already had a couple shots of vodka and was getting a
little tipsy
as she tryed to focus on the handsome face in front of her."Are you having a
good
time?"
Until then Kevin hadn't even glanced up to see who he was talking to.
He had
been watching Rachel almost ever since he'd arrived. He loved the way she looked
when
she smiled and laughed and was intrigued my the way her mouth formed words as
she
spoke them. Now as he looked up, and epected to see another eager face wanting
to meet
a "Backstreet Boy" he sucked in hi breath. 'Uhhh ummm what?"
Lauren seemed to
find this funny for some odd reason and repeated her question in between her
giggles.
Kevin was at a loss for words. This woman was gorgeous, why hadn't he spotted
her
before? He looked her up and down, starting with her smooth slim legs, and ended
up
looking into her clear emerald eyes. She was beautiful, and the type of woman he
had
always dreamed of meeting, and there she was standing well trying to stand in
front of
him
"Hey Kev?"
Kevin snapped out of his daze and looked away from Lauren
to
see who was calling his name."Oh AJ. What do you want?" Kevin said this rathr
sharply,
startling AJ. Kevin had noticed he had been hanging around Rachel alot that
night. AJ
was always stealing the woman, and Kevin wanted to keep this one for
himself.
"Damn, I just wanted to say that we ran out of beer, so me and
Rachel need
to go get some more. You mind if I borrow your car?"
"you sitll sober? I know
too
well how you get when you are drunk and I don't want you near my car if you
are"
"Dude, settle down Train, I don't have a drop of alcohol in me"
Kevin
reluctantly threw AJ the keys "Be careful with her"
AJ gave him a weird look
and
raised his eyebrows "Don't worry, I got protection"
Kevn just shook his head
and
laughed "AJ, AJ, AJ. I meant be careful withthe car, not the girl>"
"Oh, I
knew that."
he shrunk back into himself, throughly emabarresed he had hinted at sex right it
front of
Rachel's older sister. But Lauren was to unaware of everything to even hear what
AJ had
said. As AJ walked away, Kevin turned back to his conversation with Lauren, but
was
surprised to longer be facing her. Suddenly he heard a moan. There was Lauren
crumpled
on the floor. She had temorarily passed out and was only just gaining
consciences
A.J quickly ran back over to Rachel who was throwingg a
light
coat on since the air had cooled down. "Are you ready to go?" she asked while
fixing her
hair and smiling a bit.
"Yeah, all set"
"Good. Oh and by the way, what
makes
you so sure you'll be using you protection tonight, Mr.McLean?"
AJ felt his
cheeks
heat up and turn red "How did you hear that?"
" You'd be suprised at how fast
things
go around AJ" Rachel decided not to prolong his embarrasment, so she simply
walked
out the door. As she did so she swayed her hips seductivly, trying to tease
him.
AJ
raised his eyebrows and smiled to himself."Just wait until we get into the car"
he
thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary sat against the outiside of
Rachel's bedroom weeping softly. "Why Jake, why?" she cried outloud. Only last
week
Jake and her had been so in love, so commited to eachother, or so she had
thought. Then
boom, he left a message on her machine saying she wasn't what he wanted anymore,
she
didn't fill his physical needs, and worst of all, he had found someone better.
Not worded
exactly like that of course, but she got the picture.
She was startled when
she heard
footsteps coming up the iron staircase. She wiped her tears and stood up before
the
person reached the top. "It" turned out to be a man, and he also seemed to be
startled
when he found someone else upstairs.
"Hi, I was wondering where the washroom
was located please?"
"Why can't you use the one downstairs?"she asked icily.
Men
and all men her now enemies in her eyes.
"Well" he said calmly,"There is a
long line
in front of the one downstairs, and I uh" he cleared his throat before
conitnuing "I uh,
can't wait."
At taking a closer look at the guy's face, Mary noticed he
looked familiar.
"Do I know you?" she asked curiously.
"No I'm not sure we've ever
met"
Then it
clicked in her head "Oh your one of the guys from that boy band Rachel's working
for
right?"
"Well actually, we prefer to call ourselves a male vocal group" he
said kindly
corecting her "But yes, my name is Howie, and I am a member of the Backstreet
Boys"
"Oh sorry" she muttered"Male vocal group then" Mary didn't take much
note
of his conversation and changed the subject so she could be left alone "Did you
say you
had to use the bathroom?"
"Yeah, yeah I did" Howie now felt a little self
conscience.
Mary was very attractive he realized, and was drawn to her full red lips. But he
was
surprised at her snappy attitude. "Is there something the matter?" he asked,
hoping to
soften her up.
"Nothing you could relate to, your jsut all the rest of
them"
"You'd
be surprised"
Although Mary did need someone to talk to, and who better than
to
explain a man's actions, then another man. But she quickly dismissed these
thoughts"Look do you need to use the bathroom room or what?"
"Yeah, which
way?"
"Second door on the left"
"Thanks"
Mary turned without a word and marched down the stairs to
find
herself a personal bottle of wine she could drown herself
in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick was moving from girl to girl
dancing with each in turn, when he felt a girl brush against his leg, taking the
initiative to
dance with him first. She promptly began grinding with him. With her back to him
of
course he could not see her face, only the back of her head. She was almost as
tall as him,
about 5"11 and was wearing what looked like a red halter top and tight black
pants. He
noticed her hair smelled of rasberries as it bounced on her shoulders while she
danced.
The smell intoxicated him, and he liked the feel of her body against his. He
wrapped his
arms around her slim waist in order to get a better momentum going to the
consant beat
of the loud music. She responded by placing her hands over his and pressing her
body
harder into him. His mind went blank as they danced, and for a few moments it
felt as if
he was in a dreamy state of mind. No woman had ever danced so intimatly with him
while still keeping it innocent, as she did. As the thump of the bass died down
and a slow
song began he baack to reality. He felt the "mystery woman" slowly slide out of
his grasp,
and walk away. He wanted to reach out and grab her back to share another song
with her,
and to talk a little, but she was across the room in a blink of an eye into the
other dancing
couples. Seconds later, her shiny halter top caught his eye and he noticed she
was
dancing with another guy, smiling and leaning into him. He watched her kiss him
sofly
on the mouth, and gently lean her head on his shoulder. Realizing he was
standing alone
in the midst of all the other couples, he moved off the "makeshift dance floor"
and sat
down on the couch nearby. He watched the girl a little longer, now being able to
see her
pretty face, and her short hair that was tucked behind her ears. Little jewel
clips
sparkeled in her hair as the light caught them, and a smile spread across her
lips as the
guy she was dancing with nuzzled her neck.
"Aren't you Nick Carter?"
Nick
jerked his head to the side to see a small girl that looked about his age giving
him a
curious look.
"Yeah, I'm Nick Carter, you?"
"Korrie, Korrie
Bater"
"Hi"
"Why are you here?"
"Probably the same reason you're here.
I
came with friends"
"Well actually I came with my dad, the d.j"
"Oh cool"
Nick
said, trying not to laugh
"I know what you're thinking, and he made me come.
He
wanted me to see how hard he worked at his career, because supposedly I don't
appreciate him enough"
"Oh I see. You wanna go get a drink or
something?"
She
was excited he had asked her to join him, and answered "yes" a little too
eagerly, Nick
felt. He figured his "dancing partner" was already taken, and might aswell try
to find
someone else to keep him entertained. He got up and lead her towards the
kitchen, but
not before he glanced back to see if he could spot the girl in the red halter
top. Little did
he know, he was heading straight for her...
Chapter 12
INDEX