Chapter 28: Nothing's Ever A Secret
"I'm seeing someone right now, but
she's not with the New York Times," Nick replied, his leg
shaking as he nervously stared at the fan.
"Thanks," she replied as she sat down.
~SIX THAT NIGHT~
"Well I didn't lie, you're suspended!" He yelled when I
took him aside from the crowd that surrounded the guys after the
conference.
"Yeah but Nick you made it sound like I don't work there and
what happens when I go back there and someone sees us?" I
questioned.
"One step at a time Kate," he reassured me. "Now
I've got to get ready for a concert, I'll see you tonight,"
he replied as he kissed my nose and rushed off.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
"A.J. wait!" Felicia yelled as she caught up to A.J.
"What's up, I'm kinda in a hurry," he nervously
replied.
"You never answered me this morning, where was Brian?"
"Didn't you ask him?"
Felicia just looked at A.J.
"That's a no, go ask him, I dunno where he was at,"
A.J. replied before running off.
Felicia sighed as she threw her arms in the air in frustration.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
"What took you so long!? Can't you read?!" Kaylee
yelled at Mandy as she stood at the door.
"I'm sorry, I ran into some problems and then there was
traffic," Mandy whined as she stood small and thin to
Kaylee.
"You were suppose to be here by noon! It's six at night, do
you know what I have to pull for this deadline!?" Kaylee
screamed.
"I'm sorry," Mandy simply replied as she let herself
into Kaylee's apartment. "Nice pad," Mandy satisfyingly
said as she looked around and twirled her long hair around her
fore finger.
"Here's the money, give me the article," Kaylee hissed
as she slapped the money harshly into Mandy's hand.
"One, two, three, four, five hundred, that's it?"
Mandy's whined again.
"Take it or leave it you little snot."
"Fine, fine, ciao," Mandy replied as she walked out.
"Stupid arrogant little bitch," Kaylee snorted as she
slammed the door. She looked down at the hand written article.
"Well at least she can write decently."
~FIVE MINUTES TO SHOW TIME~
I finally sat down. It had been the first time since we got into
Ottawa.
"Hey Kate," Felicia cheerfully replied as she sat down
next to me backstage.
I nervously looked up at her. Felicia, oh gosh, I hadn't even
thought about her, my mind was spinning so much from what
happened with Brian the night before. She was so sweet to me. I
felt horrible. Did she know? I didn't think so.
"Hey, ready for the show?" I asked.
"Yup. But I haven't really had a chance to see Brian. I came
to see him this morning, but he was gone. Do you know where he
was?"
"Uh, we all went to breakfast."
"That early? A.J. wasn't even out of bed yet, how did you
ever manage to get Nick up that early? Besides Brian usually
grabs something on the plane," her eyes stared into mine.
She didn't know, but why did I feel like she did?
"Um, well we heard that the food was real good, so we went.
Anyway, how was your night?"
"Oh it was good, I -"
Nick and Brian approached us. I shot a look of fear at Brian.
"Hey Felicia, I missed you last night," he said as he
leaned down and kissed her.
"How ‘bout a kiss for good luck?" Nick sweetly
asked as I kissed him. Brian looked around uncomfortably.
"You look nervous Bri, you're usually never nervous, what's
wrong?" Felicia asked.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
"Good get it to the press with the rest," Kaylee
instructed Mark.
"Yeah, yeah I'm on it, what's the big deal anyway?"
Mark annoyingly replied.
"Don't ask questions, just do what you're told!" She
yelled.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
"Oh, I just don't feel too well, but I'll be okay. I gotta
run. You two enjoy the show," he said as he kissed her
quickly and pulled Nick along with him to the entrance.
~THAT NIGHT~
We all decided that we needed to get away from the hotel and
arena, so at nearly midnight all the boys and Felicia and I went
incognito to the local Denny's. (*Note: I dunno if there's
Denny's in Canada, but there is now!)
The seven of us sat around the table talking about little things
for a while.
"Kate, how long will you be doin' PR for us?" Howie
sweetly asked.
"Around 2 weeks D, why?"
"Cause I think you did an awesome job tonight, no one could
have put it together better than you," he complimented.
"Aww, thanks," I was all mushy.
"Yeah, he's right, how about a hand for Kate," A.J.
started applauding.
"Thanks guys, but you have a good team with you on
board."
"Oh, dinner call," Brian said as the waitress set our
food on the table.
"Argh, I hate these little bush things," Nick
complained as he picked up the parsley and waved it around.
"Nick, it's decoration," I commented as I picked up my
sandwich and began to bite it.
"But it's funny-lookin'," he teased as he waved it in
my face. It tickled the end of my nose.
"Stop!" I yelled as I laughed and smacked the bundle of
parsley. It went flying and hit Kevin right in the nose as he bit
into his sandwich.
"Yo man, don't start, can't you see I'm hungry," he
replied as he threw it back at Nick. It missed Nick and skidded
into Brian's chest.
"Cuz, why you throwin' bush at me man?" Brian teased.
"I didn't! Well I did, but Nick threw it first," Kevin
commented, trying to eat.
"Haha, it's almost alive, look at it!" Brian teased as
he pulled some pieces off to make it dance across the table.
"Backstreet's Back - ALRIGHT!" He yelled as he made the
parsley dance on top of the salt shaker.
"Uh, are you guys doin' alright here?" the waitress
asked looking at Brian curiously. He quickly hid it in his lap.
"Fine thanks," Kevin answered.
She walked away.
We all busted out into laughter.
~THE NEXT MORNING~
It was around eight when I ran into Felicia in the hall.
"Where's Brian?" I asked.
"Sleeping, how about Nick?"
"Same, they should of been brothers," I teased.
We went downstairs to get some coffee from the hotel's dining
area.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
*RING RING*
"Hello?" Brian mumbled into the phone.
The sound of the operator rang through his ears.
"Damned wake up calls," He cursed as he slammed the
phone on the hook.
He got up, showered and dressed before he packed his things for
their next stop.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
I came into the room as Nick was combing his hair.
"Ready?" I asked picking up my luggage.
"Yup," he replied as he grabbed his and we exited the
room.
We ran into Brian in the hall.
"Where's Felicia?" he questioned.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
Felicia walked into the small gift shop in the hotel. There she
found papers from New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
"definitely New York," she replied as she picked up the
paper and paid for it.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
"Right there," I replied as we saw Felicia coming out
of the gift shop downstairs and slip the New York Times in her
bag. I was curious to who was covering my beat while I was gone,
but I didn't dare pick it up. I wasn't gonna open that paper
while I was away from them.
~THAT NIGHT~
We'd landed in Alberta, Canada that afternoon and the boys did
some more rehearsing before their concert that night.
The concert was almost finished when Felicia excused herself to
go to the hotel room.
"I'm really not feeling well. I'm gonna back to the hotel
and to the room and read. Tell Brian I'm there and that I'll wait
up for him, okay?" She told me over the music.
~TEN MINUTES LATER~
Felicia plopped down on her bed and dug through her bag. Where
was her romance novel?
"Gosh, I hope I didn't leave it in Ottawa. Oh well,"
she replied as she pulled out the New York Times and began to
shuffle through it. She read through many of the sections when
she saw something that caught her eye. It was Brian's name. And
Kate's. In the column to the editor. But why? She looked at it
closely and read the lines. She gasped loudly.
~AFTER THE SHOW~
"Hey Bri?" I called as he walked passed me.
"Yeah?" He asked, wiping his face with a towel.
"Felicia said she'll meet you back at the hotel, she wasn't
feeling well. She's gonna wait up for you," I informed him.
"Okay, thanks," he smiled at me and walked away.
Nick came up to me and wrapped his arms around me. I kissed his
cheek sweetly as we walked off together.
~AT THE SAME TIME~
Brian went back to the hotel. When he got to the room he tried
opening the door, but it was locked.
He knocked gently.