Chapter 17
Kevin and Lauren sat watching a movie at his house. The
lights were low, and the mood was perfect, Kevin felt. He slipped his arm around
Lauren's shoulders and she smiled when he did so.
"I'm glad I stayed the extra
week"
"Me too. I just wish I didn't have to go on tour tomorrow. It gets so lonely
sometimes"
"Aww, poor Kevy. The glamorous life you lead finally getting to
you?"
"Glamorous?" he said, raising an eyebrow."My job is hardly glamorous. Its
hard work"
"Sure. I'll remember that next time you tell me how much you love being
a Backstreet Boy"
"Ok, you do that" he said, poking her in the side.
She giggled
and poked him back, this time in the ribs, "Don't go pokin me mister. Now settle down,
so we can finish watching the movie"
Kevin stopped, but a few minutes later he
picked up the pillow next to him, and hit her in the head. She looked a little stunned for a
moment, and then swung over and jumped on him grabbing the pillow from his hands.
She playfully smothered his face with it and laughed as he struggled to gain back
control.
"Ok ok" he yelled mercifully, "I give up! You win"
She brought the
pillow down from his face and smiled. "You know Mr. Richardson, you certainly aren't
as serious and grown up as they make you out to be"
"Really I am, its just you make
me get all crazy"
"Oh. Good thing or bad thing?"
"Good thing"
She smiled
again and tousled his dark hair. His green eyes stared up at her intently. He watched her
expressions as she in turn studied his face. She ran her finger along his strong, chiseled
jaw and softly touched his earlobes, that were both decorated with tiny diamond stud
earrings. She played with his hair again, snapping out of the trance she had been in.
"Well what should we do now?"
"I kind of liked what you were doing a minute
ago"
"You mean this" she asked and quickly brought the pillow back to his
face.
He laughed and pulled her hand down. "You're such a tease"
"A tease? Me?
Never."
"Then prove it"
"Prove it? How can I possibly do that?"
"Hmmm,
well you can start by putting that pillow down"
She put the pillow down next her.
"Ok now what?"
"Now...."
"I know" she laughed. She leaned in carefully and
planted a light kiss on his small longish lips. They were warm and soft and tasted like
cherries. He felt her kiss turn into a grin, and he pulled back. "What's so
funny?"
"Nothing. I'm just wondering why your lips didn't taste like cherries the last
time I kissed you"
Kevin smiled sheepishly and reached into his pocket. He pulled
out a small tube of chapstic and held it up for her to see. "This hot weather dried my lips
out. I had no choice I swear"
"Oh I see. But it did make that kiss all the more
enjoyable."
"Don't go home tomorrow"
"Kevin I have to. I promised my agent I
wouldn't take anymore time off for a while"
"Ok" he said, his eyes a little sad. "But
I've had so much fun with you this week."
"I know, I know and I had fun with you.
But all good things must come to an end"
"End?"
"Well not end, maybe just an
extended pause"
"When will I see you again? What if we never meet up again. Its not
like I can call you my girlfriend yet. We're more of a "Friends with privileges"
type"
"Well how should we change that?"
"Will you stay the night?"
"No, I
shouldn't do that. It wouldn't be right, and it would be harder for me to leave you
tomorrow"
"Isn't that the idea?"
"No silly. Now really, it is getting late, I should
head back to Rachel's. Should I call a cab?"
"Of course not. I'll drive you"
"Ok."
He pulled her by the hand up the stairs and into the kitchen. She let go and stopped
before they reached the door.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Come here"
He
followed her instructions and walked back over to her.
"Someday, I will spend the
night here for you Kevvy. Someday, just not tonight" she whispered in his ear, and gave
him a hug. "I'll miss you"
"I'll miss you too. Don't forget about me"
"How could
I forget a face like this?" she asked and pulled her face away from his, to take a closer
look. His green eyes looked so sad, as if the green irises were pools of tears. "Sweetie
don't be upset. We'll see eachother again soon."
"You promise?"
"I promise"
They left it at that and headed out the door, back to Rachel's.
Mary
dialed Howie's phone number for the fifth time that night. "Where is he?" she thought
curiously. When still noone answered, she gave up and hung up the phone. She had
wanted to catch him before they left for touring. Now that she was back in Pennsylvania,
it wasn't as easy to stay in contact, and this situation was a perfect example of it. She
swung her legs over her bed and walked over to her stereo. She switched on Dave
Matthew's, lit her favorite vanilla scented candle and laid back down on her bed. This
was one of her favorite things to do when she was stressed out. Dave always mellowed
her out, and she couldn't wait to listen to that cd with a guy, preferably a boyfriend. There
was something about his music that always set the mood for a nice relaxing night. Jake
never liked bands like that. He preferred ones like Pearl Jam or Nirvana, so you can
imagine the romantic nights they shared, with Kurt Cobain blasting in the background.
Just as she got deeper into her thoughts, the phone rang. She absent mindedly picked it up
and said hello.
"Hey Mary. I haven't heard your voice in a couple of
days."
"Howie?" she said, excitedly "Where have you been? I've been trying to get a
hold of you forever"
"Really? Oh wait that's right, I forgot. My cell phone is
malfunctioning, the piece of crap. So what's up?"
"I just wanted to hear your sweet
voice before you went on that long tour of yours"
"How nice. Well you got me now.
What's new?"
"Right now I'm applying for positions at some local law firms in
downtown Philadelphia."
"Any luck yet?"
"No not yet. But hopefully I'll be
receiving some calls soon"
"I'm sure you will. I miss talking to you" he said,
changing the subject.
"Me too"
"Is there anyway you can get away from Philly
and come down here?"
"Howard, did you forget that you won't be home for several
months?"
"Oh, right. Touring."
"Well why don't you come over to Europe for a
couple weeks?"
"Yeah right. I don't have the money to fly myself over"
"I'll pay
for it don't worry."
"No way Howie, I won't let you do that."
"So how are you
gonna some see your best friend?"
"I'll find a way Howie, I'll find a way."
"You
better. Well, I gotta get going, I'm taking my parents out to dinner tonight"
"I wish I
could be there with you"
"I know, me too"
"Hey, have fun touring"
"I always
do. But don't forget to call me soon and tell me when you're going to make your way over
to Europe"
"Ok sweetie"
They hung up the phone and Mary was left smiling.
Howie was such a nice guy. Why couldn't she find someone like him to fall in love with.
She fell asleep on her bed thinking that exact thought.
Nick reached
into his back pocket for his wallet and handed Korrie some money.
"Thanks" she
said sweetly and climbed out of the car. All day they had been driving around, Korrie
buying odds and ends like tooth paste, shampoo, sun tan lotion etc. etc. When she
returned to the car, she again had a bag full of toiletries, magazines and candy.
"What
do you need all this stuff for Korrie?"
"Well going over to Europe means I need to
get alot of stuff. 3 months is a long time for a girl to survive on one bottle of
shampoo"
"Europe?" Nick asked, fear striking his voice.
"Of course honey. No
more lonely nights on the road for you."
"But Korrie...there won't be any room on the
bus. I mean there are only 6 bunks and with the 5 of us, and then if AJ wants Rachel to be
with him, there won't be any room"
"Well I know you'll make sure that doesn't
happen. Right?"
Nick didn't know what to say. Only days ago had Korrie called
apologizing that she had been so ridiculous about going to the mall, and they had made
up. Now he wasn't sure if that had been the best thing. He hadn't minded so much
spending time with her lately, but now that she was forcing this idea on him, did he have
a choice?
"Nick, what do you think?"
"I'll see what I can do"
"Thank
you"
They sat in silence on the way back to her house and when she kissed him to
say good-bye, he did not return it, but kept his lips straight and tight. She frowned and
climbed out of the car. "Call me about the tour tonight please. Since we should be
leaving tomorrow"
Nick watched her walk away and when she went inside, he pulled
out into the quiet street. "What the hell does she think she's doing?" he thought angrily to
himself. "I can't believe she just assumes she's coming on tour". He sat and thought to
himself for a couple miles. As he was about to pull onto the highway to go home, he
turned onto the next exit and drove in another direction, to a place where he knew he
would find guidance.
Brian's house was set back from the street, and Nick almost
missed it in the darkness of the night. He punched in the code for the gates, and pulled up
the drive way. He saw a light shining from the kitchen, and was glad that his best friend
was home. Probably packing he figured. He let himself into the large house and followed
Brian's voice into the living room. It was dark, but he could see the glow from the "on"
button of the phone.
"Holy Shit!' Brian yelled and jumped straight out off his chair,
as he saw the outline of a tall dark figure in the doorway.
"Yo B-Rok, it's just me"
Nick said, and flicked on the light.
Brian shielded his eyes from the new light and sat
back down in his chair with a sigh. "Thank the Lord, I thought you were a robber or
something"
"Sorry. I guess I got you back from when you scared me last
week"
"Well now that we're even, what do you need? I'm on the phone" Brian said
rather rudely, as he covered the mouth piece of the telephone.
"I can see
that"
"Soo..?"
"I need to talk about something"
Brian rolled his eyes, and
began talking on the phone again. "Katie? Look, sorry Nick is here, and he needs to talk
about something. Can I call you back? Before 12? Ok great. Bye" Brian clicked off the
portable phone and threw it onto the couch next to him. "This better be good Frack, that
was Katie, and its the first time I've got a hold of her since she left."
"You guys are
talking now?"
"Yeah, a little"
" Well what I came about was Korrie. She wants to
come touring with us"
"Ahhhhh.....noooooo!!!"
"Come on B-Rok, she's my
girlfriend."
"Yeah but you hate her"
"No I don't"
"Do you love her?"
"I
don't think so"
"Well then do you want to spend 3 months with a girl you don't
love?"
"Maybe I need those three months so I can figure out whether or not I do love
her"
"Maybe. Nicky, look, I see how miserable you are. You're my best friend buddy.
I hate seeing you like this. But, if you think that spending 3 months will make it better,
then that's what you should do"
"Well 3 months does sound a little long. Maybe I
should tell there will only be room for the first 3 weeks instead"
"Right, and then if
you find you're enjoying yourself, tell her to stay longer"
"Thanks Bri"
"Anytime.
So did you pack yet?"
"No, not yet"
"Well get her ass home and pack! And call
Nina to tell her that Korrie is coming with us"
"Yeah I will. Bye Bri" Nick called
from the front of the house.
"Bye!"
He could hear Brian already dialing Katie's
number. He sure was grumpy when he didn't get to talk to her. Nick got back into his car,
feeling ten times better about the whole situation. He was also looking a little forward to
having Korrie with him on tour. He pulled out on the street and headed home for the
second time that night.
Chapter 18
INDEX