Friend

By, Monique Normand


Nick sat at the bar with a somber look on his face. His mind had drifted back nine years ago before he was famous, before Backstreet. He thought about his life and how it had changed.

Nick had just learned that a childhood friend of his had past away. She had not just been a childhood friend though, she had been his best friend. She had been his biggest fan and they had been so close when they were younger. They had been inseparable right up to the point Nick joined the BSB. They would talk on the phone and try to stay in touch through letters. But with all the traveling Nick had to do with the band they soon lost touch, and their lives had become separate from one another.

Nick thought of his mother's words he heard on the phone, Rachel died last night Nick, she lost the fight, his mother had told him this morning. Even though he hadn't seen Rachel in almost nine years, it still hurt to hear those words his mother spoke.

Nick gazed up at the clock on the wall, it was now 2:30. He wandered where the guys were. They were supposed to be meeting him there to leave for California. He sat sipping his drink at the small little bar inside the airport, looking around. He looked over his shoulder at the short fat guy to the left of him reading a newspaper and puffing on a cigar. He thought about the deaths section in the paper. He wanted to read Rachel's obituary and maybe see a picture of her. He had not seen her since she was 15. He wanted to know how she looked, or had looked before she died. He thought about her curly blond hair, that's what he remembered about her the most. She had really long curly hair that almost reached her butt. As Nick sat remembering he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Is that seat taken?" A small voice asked.

"Hu?" Nick turned around and asked.
"I asked you if that seat was taken, the one next to you." A tall slim young woman asked with straight blond hair, pointing to the seat to the right of Nick. She looked to be around his age or younger
"Oh no. You can sit there." He said with a smile on his face.
"Oh thanks, for a moment there I thought I was going to have to sit next to smoky over there." She said nodding toward the pudgy man that sat next to Nick, with a smile on her face.

Nick flashed her a quick smile then went back to his drink. He thought the woman looked familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen her before.

"Excuse me." She said trying to get the bartender's attention.
"I'll have a long island iced tea please."
"You can put that on my tab." Nick said looking up at the bar tender.
"Oh you didn't have to do that, really." The young lady said looking a little shy.
"Oh course I did. A gentleman always pays for a lady's drink. Besides it's just polite."
"Humm, gentlemen. Sometimes I forget what those guys look like." She said with a smirk on her face. "So why is a gentlemen like you sitting all alone over here by himself?" She asked staring straight at Nick.
"Oh I'm just waiting for some friends, were suppose to be meeting each other here. Although I can't remember what time they said our flight was suppose to leave. I think I got the times mixed up or something." He said gazing up at the clock again.
"So where you off to?" She asked sliding her drink over from where the bartender had placed it.
"On my way to California."
"California, really. You going on vacation?"
"Naw, more of a business trip. But I guess it will be nice to get away from all of this rain. So what about you, where you headed?"
"I'm going up north."
"North, you have some family there?"
"Yeah, actually I do. I haven't seen them for a long time. It's really nice to finally be going home."
"That sounds cool. I understand, I don't get to see my family much either. My mom lives right here in Florida and I didn't even get a chance to see her. I was only here for a day though and I talked to her on the phone for a little bit so she's okay. My job can just be hectic sometimes. That's good your going for a visit."
"Actually, I'm going to stay. I'm moving there."
"Oh, that's cool." Nick said taking a gulp of his drink.
"Your job, it sounds really crazy. So do you like it?" She asked taking a sip of the drink in her hand.
"It can be really crazy sometimes. But yeah, it's okay. I don't think there is anything else I would really want to be doing with my life. I mean I couldn't see myself working at a desk or wearing a tie everyday. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be doing something different or to be working behind the scenes instead of out in front, but I guess I'll never know. I am glad to be where I am though, it's cool. So enough about me, what do you do?" Nick asked quickly realizing that the woman didn't recognize him from the Backstreet Boys.
"Me, well I use to sing for a short while but then I started dancing. I've done a lot of shows here and there, but now I'm going into early retirement."
"Really, your going to stop dancing, why?"
"I'm just not into the fast life anymore, I couldn't keep up with it. So you said your mother lives here, does that mean you grew up here?"
"Yeah, pretty much I traveled a little but this is home."
"That is so cool, I grew up here too." She said with a huge smile on her face.
"You did? Here in Orlando?" Nick questioned.
"Yap, right here."
"Well that must be why you look so familiar to me. Maybe we met each other before or something." Nick said try to remember her face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour had passed since Nick started talking to the tall tan skinned woman with strawberry blond hair. They had talked about her life and his, and also the weather, and neither one of them had noticed the time.

"So why were you looking so sad when I came up to you?" She asked him pushing her empty glass aside.
"Well, actually I was remembering a friend. I found out she died this morning."
"Oh how terrible. I'm sure she knew how much you cared for her though." The woman said wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"See, that's just it. I don't think she did. I hadn't talked to her or seen her in about eight or nine years. I was into my singing career and she was trying to get noticed, and as time went on we just lost touch."
"Well, things like that happen Nick." She said looking into his eyes.
"You know my name?" Nick said looking down into his glass.
"Yeah silly, you have to live under a rock to not know who Nick Carter is." She said flashing another bright smile and giggling.
"Well, why didn't' you say anything?" He asked a little confused.
"Well at first I wasn't sure, it's not every day you just happen to sit next to a backstreet boy in a bar. But then it didn't matter because we were having such a nice conversation. I didn't think I needed to bring it up."
"Your pretty cool, I almost feel like I've known you forever. Give me your number and maybe we can talk sometime." Nick said handing her a clean napkin.

She looked inside her purse for a pen then scribbled something down on to the napkin. She then folded it up and gave it to him. He set the folded piece of paper in front of him.

"Well it's getting late I have to go, my flight is about to take off." She said as she looked up at the clock. "It was really nice chatting with you Nick. And believe me, if you and your friend were close then I'm sure she knew how much you cared about her and she knows how much you miss her now. She probably misses you just as much." The young woman said flashing Nick another one of her gorgeous smiles.

"Your smile… she had a smile just like yours." Nick said looking up at the woman as she stood up.
"Goodbye Nick. Hope to see you again, the Backstreet Boys are one of my favorite groups." She said leaning slightly to give him a hug. Then the woman disappeared off into the crowd.

Nick looked up at the clock again, this time a little irritated. Maybe he had mixed the times up he was supposed to meet the guys here, but they should have been there by now. They were defiantly late. He looked over to the left of him noticing that the man with the newspaper had left, but he had left his paper on the counter. He Picked the paper up, turning through it looking for the obituaries. When he came to the section he scanned it looking for Rachel Hampton. When he found her name he read a little of the passage then looked to the right of it where it showed a picture of Rachel's face. Nick's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked a few times as his heart started to beat faster. The picture he saw looked exactly like the woman he had just talked to at the bar. He folded the paper quickly and put it back onto the counter.

"It can't be." He said aloud. He then unfolded the napkin he had asked her to put her number on. There was no number but instead a message.

I just remembered that there is no number for where I'm going, sorry. But I just wanted to say it was so nice just sitting her talking to you. It was one of the things I've always wanted to do, to have a conversation with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. And it was as amazing as I thought it would be. You are just as I remember you being and you still have a huge heart. Don't ever lose yourself Nick, love yea --Rachel

Nick's heat started to pond even faster, could it have really been her? Was she really just there sitting with him having a drink? Nick stared at the napkin in amazement. He thought of the things they had talked about and the things she had said to him. Then he remembered the hug she had given him.

"Nick! Sorry man, It took me a while to get ready. Then I lost my lucky shades and I couldn't leave the room until I found them. For a moment I thought the maid had thrown them away." A.J. said running up to Nick in the small cramped bar as the other guys stood outside in the lobby waiting.

"Come on dude our flight is about to board." A.J. said as Nick downed the rest of his drink. "So what did you do for all that time? Just sit here in the bar and wait?" A.J. asked as Nick got up to leave.
"Actually I saw an old friend of mine and we talked and caught up on some stuff." Nick said as they both entered the lobby.


The end

Dedicated to Joseph & Vanessa


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