| Chapter Three The first week in Orlando, Carissa and Beth spent shopping for new furniture and setting their condo to rights. Carissa had firmly put the night the Dorough's came to dinner out of her mind, but Beth agonized over it. Howie had been so sweet and understanding when she had told him everything that had happened. He had shocked her though, when he muttered something about teaching that poor excuse of a man a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. She smiled as his words played through her mind for the millionth time. She couldn't help but wonder if this move to Orlando would be the catalyst that brought back the old Carissa. The one that was fun and care free. Or at least make her more comfortable in her own skin. Beth sighed as she made her way up to bed. Tomorrow was their first day at The Firm and she didn't want to be late. ~~~****~~~ "Carissa, Beth how are you?" Jeff asked as the two young women entered his office. "We're fine thanks" Beth answered, flashing him her best professional smile. "Is the place I picked out for you okay? Did you get your daughter signed up in the on site daycare?" he asked as he reached for his coffee mug. "The condo is beautiful and yes, I got Matti signed up this morning. She seems content there" Carissa answered, hiding her earlier reluctance to leaving Matti with strangers. "Good. Now let me give you a run down of what your jobs are going to be. I've decided to let the two of you work together on one of our biggest clients. The person who used to manage them left for the west coast office and I feel like they need some new energy. "They've been in the business for a little over seven years and if I do say so, they are very talented. Your responsibilities will include coordinating their schedules while they are on the road and while they are home. You will also be responsible for running interference with the press. Do you think you're both up to it?" Jeff asked as he steepled his fingers under his chin. "I think we'll be able to handle it" Beth said confidently. "Carissa?" "Well, I'll feel better able to answer that question when I met our clients" she said honestly. Jeff laughed and brought his hands down to rest on the desk. "That's the next step on the agenda" he said as he stood up. He led them down the hall and knocked on the door before he opened it. "Hey guys! I brought your new management team" he said as he ushered Carissa and Beth into the room. "Guys I'd like to introduce you to Carissa Brandt and Beth Silverson. Ladies, met the Backstreet Boys, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Nick Carter." Carissa smiled as she shook hands with each of the guys, stoping momentarily when her hand met Howie's. "Hello Howard" she said before moving on to shake Brian's hand. Beth smiled and made small talk with each one as she was introduced. "I'll leave the seven of you to get to know each other. Guys be gentle" he said as he closed the door. "Is it just me or do you two beautiful women know our one and only Sweet D?" AJ asked as he looked over the top of his trade mark sunglasses. "Howard is our landlord as well as our client it seems" Beth answered with a bright smile. "Why don't we sit down and we'll tell you how we operate" Kevin suggested. They all took their seats and Kevin began, "I'd like to extend a welcome to both of you. It's a really bad time to be switching management. We are in the middle of recording our new album and preparing for our tour. The dates are pretty much set in stone, so that won't be a problem." He handed them each a stack of papers as he continued, "You'll notice that I just gave you the recording schedule and the tour schedule. As you can see we have a few dates towards the end of the tour to fill in if need be. These are usually used for make-up concerts and occasionally for add ons. Any questions so far?" he asked looking at them both intently. "Are we expected to travel with you?" Carissa asked. "There is some travel involved. Is that going to be a problem?" Carissa bit her lip. Jeff had never said anything about traveling. How would she manage that and taking care of Matti? "Actually I think there is something that you all should know. I have a seven month old daughter. I'm not sure how much traveling I'm going to be able to do. If the five of you think that this is going to create problems down the road, let me know now and I'll go to Jeff immediately. I'm really sorry to spring this on you here and now, but Jeff didn't tell me anything about traveling and my daughter is my first priority" she stated in a firm voice, despite the fact that she was afraid she just kissed the dream job of a lifetime good bye. Before Kevin could respond, Howie spoke up, "I don't see a problem with it. She's young enough that the traveling won't hurt her, and we can always hire someone to care for her while you work, right guys?" he asked, hoping the guys would say yes. "I agree with Howie. It shouldn't be a problem" Kevin stated. The others agreed and Carissa breathed a sigh of relief. They spent another hour going over the schedules and what the guys expected from them. "Okay now that that is out of the way, what do you expect out of us?" AJ asked, curious to know how they approached their work ethic. Beth smiled and turned to Carissa. "You want to take that one or do you want me to?" "That's okay Beth, I think I got this one" she said, afraid that Beth would ask for wild monkey sex from them. She giggled a little and Beth cracked a huge grin. She knew exactly what Carissa was laughing at. "Honestly all that we expect from you is to follow directions, don't make our lives harder than they have to be" she said looking straight at AJ. "What?" he asked with a grin. "Let's just say we've been warned about some of the stuff you guys like to do, like for instance, sneaking out to go shopping without security. I don't want to control your lives, but please don't take unneccesary risks while we're on duty- okay?" she asked. They all nodded their heads in agreement and AJ piped up with, "Oh mom- you take all my fun away!" That caused everyone to laugh and Nick asked, "What else?" "You have to give us wild" Beth began but her words were muffled when Carissa clapped her hand over her mouth. "We have to give you what?" Brian asked with a twinkle in his eye. He had gotten the gist of what Beth was about to say and wanted to hear more. "Nothing, we don't want you to give us anything" Carissa stated as a hot blush stole up her cheeks. Beth laughed behind Carissa's hand and Carissa rolled her eyes. "As for what else we expect from you, just be on time and do your jobs and we'll be there to do ours" Carissa said, hoping to bring their attention back to the matter at hand. "I think we can handle that" Nick said. "Great! Now if you'll excuse us, we have another meeting with Jeff" Carissa said as she rose from the table. She waited until they were out of the room before starting in on Beth. "Wild monkey sex?! Come on Beth we're professionals here" she shreiked. Beth laughed and said, "I was only trying to lighten things up in there." The guys had been standing in the doorway watching their management team walk away and cracked up laughing when they heard Carissa refer to what Beth had tried to say earlier. Their laughter floated down the hall and reached the girls ears and Carissa groaned. "You guys are not to repeat that" she called back just before they turned the corner and headed into Jeff's office. |