Chapter 19: A New Player In The Game
Soon after I sat in the chair, the top of
my computer was slammed down onto my fingers.
"You're not paying for your airfare," he sternly
replied. I looked up at Brian and studied the crystals that were
in his eyes. They were gentle, but firm.
"Well then how will I get there if I'm not paying for
it?"
"You're coming with me," he simply stated.
"And me," Felicia replied as she approached us both.
~THE NEXT MORNING~
"Brian he's going to hate me even more when he sees me
sitting on that jet," I nervously replied as we approached
the stairs on the runway that led to the jet.
"I don't care, you're my friend too. He's just being
stubborn and he's hurt, so that's a bad combo," Brian
replied as he lifted my carry-on over his shoulder. I sighed.
~FIVE MINUTES LATER~
His glare burned into me deeply as I walked over to the seats and
sat down next to Felicia and Brian. I'd never seen his blue eyes
so cold. He wore a North Carolina hat backwards on his head and
sported Nike sweatpants and a sweatshirt. His headphones
were rested on his ears and his color Gameboy in hand.
His eyes followed my body as I sat down right across from him.
The other band members looked around at me and for a minute were
silent. "Kate, hey! We're glad to have you aboard,"
Howie replied as he sat back down next to his girlfriend.
Brian leaned over as the look of confusion plastered on my face
was growing more and more.
"I already talked to them and told them what happened. They
believe you. It's just..." he replied as he looked over at
Nick. He was staring down at his video games. It was obvious that
he wasn't playing it, just staring to make it look like he was.
I leaned over to Felicia and replied: "it's gonna be a long
flight to California."
~LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT~
Security was all around us as we got off the plane. Luckily it
was only the middle of the day on the west coast and not too many
fans knew we were coming, so the boys had minimal autographs to
sign.
Against my will A.J. and Brian set me up with a nice hotel room
next to theirs. The Boys were due at four at the site to start
working on their new video. The drive down to Long Beach wouldn't
be too long, but they insisted on staying in Los Angeles because
"it's more fun" according to A.J.
I watched them all leave and Nick slam his hotel room door. I
decided I wouldn't go out to the site today because I wasn't
quite sure what I was going to do yet. I'd made it here, but
there was a lot left to decide. Instead I went out sightseeing
and hoped to catch Brian and Felicia for dinner.
~IN LONG BEACH~
The boys and their crew stood along the beach. The sky was clear
and it was quite warm for winter. There were only a few people
around these beaches at this time of year compared to the beaches
in Malibu and Santa Monica and much less populated than some
beaches in Florida so they would be able to film it quicker and
less painlessly. They also had to shoot a scene at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. "Okay, let's send
you out to wardrobe. I know you decided on three different
outfits, but I'm not sure which ones you prefer for the beach
scenes, so we'll meet up in about 15. Go," the director
yelled. He was a new director that they'd never worked with
before. He'd done videos for other famous pop acts, so they
decided to give him a shot.
"So why'd you do it," Nick casually asked Brian as they
walked towards the bus.
"What?" Brian asked dumbly.
"Why'd you bring Kate out here Bri? It's over between us,
why doesn't she just go back to New York?" he replied a bit
angry.
"Because she didn't say those things Nick. I mean gosh,
can't you give the woman a chance to at least talk? She flew all
the way out here to just talk to you. If that doesn't show you
that she truly cares about you, I don't know what does.
Especially since she may not have a job when she gets back,"
he replied, his small curls blowing in the breeze.
"If it'll make her go away," he mumbled.
~THAT NIGHT~
Brian, Felicia, Howie, his girlfriend Claudia, A.J. and I all sat
around the dinner table. They were eating at Ed Debevics, a 50s
diner in Beverly Hills. Everyone talked amongst themselves as I
pushed her french fries around my plate.
"Kate, come on. You're my date tonight and all my dates have
fun," A.J. teasingly flattered me.
I cracked a small smile.
"Kate I talked to Nick," Brian chimed in.
"Yeah and, he still hates me, right?" I mumbled,
watching the ketchup on my plate like it was going somewhere.
"He said he'll talk to you," he replied, shoving a
french fry in his mouth.
"What?" I replied, looking up shocked. "How'd you
get him to do that?" I asked curiously.
"Well I told him that if you didn't care you wouldn't have
come this far. I guess he bought it," Brian replied,
shrugging as he ate another two or three fries.
~THAT NIGHT~
It was after ten when we returned to the hotel. I sat on the edge
of my bed - still no plan on what I was going to do - and picked
up the receiver.
I dialed the front desk and asked for Nick's alias.
The phone rang in his room. After three rings I was going to hang
up when someone answered. It was a woman.
"Hello?" I heard the soft voice say.
"Oh I'm sorry, I must have the wrong room," I replied
kindly and hung up.
I dialed Brian's extension quickly.
"Hello?" Felicia answered.
"Hey Leash, can you ask Brian for Nick's number?"
"Yeah hold on," she replied as the phone went silent. I
waited impatiently.
"852," she replied. I thanked her and hung up. That's
what I'd dialed. Maybe I dialed wrong. I tried again.
"Hello?" The woman answered again.
"Whose this?" I asked angrily.
"Who is this?" she shot back.
"Is Nick around?" I asked casually.
"No, he's in the shower, is this Brian's girlfriend, what's
your name?" she asked sarcastically.
I slammed the receiver down quickly.
I stormed out of the room and over to Brian's.
I pounded on the door quickly. He came to it.
"Kate, what's wrong?" he asked as I stormed in.
"He's got a fucking girl in his room, that's what's
wrong," I quipped, throwing myself onto their bed.
"Sorry, hope I'm not interrupting. God, I mean I don't blame
him and I guess we're not together and...he has every right
to...but, Jesus Brian what am I doing here? He obviously doesn't
want to be with me. I came out here expecting to get through to
him and maybe, possibly get him back. Where the hell does this
woman come into play? Who is she and why is she now making things
so much harder on me?" I held back my tears and sat up
firmly.
"A girl...in his room?" Brian asked stupidly.
"Duh Brian, that's what she said," Felicia shot at him
as she sat down next to me and put her arm around me. I didn't
want sympathy, I just wanted to know what the hell was going on.
"I'm going down there," I replied, my face turning red
with anger. Before they could stop me I was out of the room and
walking quickly down the hall.