Alesha walked in the door and threw her purse and her work folder on the chair. Grabbing the phone that was screaming off the hook, she plopped down on the couch. "Hello?"
She glanced over at her answering machine and blinked in surprise. The light was flashing a 5 telling her she had that many new messages. She shook her head and sighed.
"Alesha?" a vaguely familiar voice asked.
"Ummm…yeah?"
"LESHA!!!!!!!"
"Aaron?"
"Yeah, wasn't sure if Nick had given me the right number or not," he laughed.
"What are you doing?" she asked a smile creeping on her face.
"Mom wants to talk to you."
"Your mom? Why?" Alesha had only met the Carter family once, at the concert in St. Petersburg. That was before she and Nick had gotten back together. Nick swears that they adored her, but she wasn't so sure.
"She needs to ask you a big favor. Here she is," he said handing the phone off.
"Alesha?"
"Yes."
"This is Jane. I have a really, REALLY big favor to ask of you."
"Okay," Alesha said, confused.
"You know how Nickolas is having a house built for us in LA so that we can work on the kids' music? Well, we need someone to stay at the house here in Tampa until Nickolas gets back. His dogs are here and we need someone to take care of them for us. I know this is kind of presumptuous of me, but I thought you might be interested. You can stay there however long you like. Kinda giving you the house in a way."
"Oh my god Jane. I don't know what to say. I…I'm completely…this is so cool."
Jane laughed. "I take that as a yes? You wouldn't have to worry about the rent or bills or anything. It'll be all paid for and being that you'd be doing Nickolas a favor by watching those silly puppies of his, it's the least we can do."
"Wow. I don't know. Jane. I'd have to quit my job and stuff. Can I like get back with you on that?"
"Sure sweetie. I understand it's a big step for you. We aren't leaving for a couple more days. You have plenty of time. Just give me a call."
Alesha hung up the phone. Sighing, she pushed the play button on the answering machine, hoping that one of the messages was Nick.
"Hey Lesh. It's Howie. Just checking up on ya. Been a couple of days since we last talked. The guys got here fine. Although Brian and I were kind of worried that they weren't going to make it. Anywho…I suppose that I'll let you go. Call me when you get a chance. Love ya babe." >beep<
"Hey babygirl. Aren't you ever home? Just teasing sweetie. I know you have to work. Although I wish you'd take me up on my offer and quit that dumb job. Call me when you get home baby. I miss you sooo much. I love you darling. Kisses and stuff." >beep<
"Alesha, this is Becca. I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonite. I just got back into town and thought I'd call. Talk to ya later hon." >beep<
"Helllloooooo. It's me again, sweetie. Had to listen to your message again. I miss your voice. I know silly isn't it? I love you so much. I can't wait until Dallas. That's…wow…2 days from now. Coolieos. Anyway, the guys are complaining that I'm on the phone again. Call me later sweetie. I love you." >beep<
"Alesha? This is Denise McLean, AJ's mother. I hear that you are a whiz at making WebPages. If you could, give me a call back. I've got something I need to discuss with you. Hope to talk to you soon. **********." >beep<
"What the hell?" Alesha though jotting down the number. "Denise? What would she want with me?" Picking up the phone and dialing the number, she sat down on the couch.
"Who are ya and whaddya want?" a raspy voice answered the phone.
"May I speak to Denise, please. This is Alesha returning her call," she answered meekly.
There was a roar of laughter as the phone made a "thud" sound, hitting whatever surface it was dropped to. Clearing their throat and trying to contain their laughter, the person on the other end said, "Hey Leshers. It's Bone."
"Do you ALWAYS answer your mother's phone that way?" Alesha asked, slightly annoyed with AJ's antics.
AJ paused for a moment. "Pretty much, yeah," he said. "Mom's not here right now. Want that I tell her you called?"
"Sure hon," she sighed. "I have to go though. I'll talk to you later okay?"
"Okay sweetie. Bye," he said hanging up.
"Oh my god," Alesha said staring at the telephone in her hand. "I've just been asked to move into Nicky's house. How cool is that?" she asked dialing Lori's number. All she got was a busy signal. "Get off the damn computer," Alesha mumbled, running to the other room. Logging onto the computer, she quickly clicked on her Yahoo!Messanger.
kyntal: hey lori…guess what?
Alesha grabbed the phone beside her. "Hello?"
"Alesha?" a soft voice asked.
"Ummm, yes."
"Hi this is Denise," she said softly. "AJ leave me alone. I have to talk to her about business," she said muffled.
Alesha smiled. "I got your message, I called earlier, but AJ said you weren't in."
"AJ, stop it. I swear you act like you're 12 instead of 22," she said. "I'm sorry, Alesha. AJ is being…well, AJ. Yes, I had to go run some errands for the boys," she laughed.
"Yeah, he's pretty good at annoying people," Alesha grinned.
"Anyway, sweetie, don't want to take up a lot of your time. I'm sure you're a busy girl. I was talking with Nick the other day about the Boys' official web site. I've been looking for someone who was really good at doing web pages and had asked the guys if they knew anyone. He mentioned to me that you were really good at it and that you were taking a class for it. He gave me the address to your Howie sight, which I must say that I was most overly impressed with."
"Thanks," Alesha said, her heart beating faster as Denise continued.
"Well, I was wondering, would you be interested in joining the Backstreet Team. I need someone with you computer skills to oversee and work the page," Denise asked.
"Ummm…I don't know, Denise."
"It's a full time job. The pay is awesome. You get to travel some, see the guys more. Which I'm sure that Nick will be thrilled about. It's a wonderful opportunity for you. And a big help and asset to us."
"Wow. This is like a dream opportunity. I…I don't know what to say."
Denise laughed softly. "I'll give you a couple of days to think about it. But I would love for you to accept the position. As are the rest of the guys. You've got them all completely enthralled. They've told me so much about you."
Alesha blushed. "Thank you for asking me. I'll give you a call in a couple of days, okay?"
"Okay honey. Bye," she said hanging up the phone.
k: this is too weird…
Logging off the computer, she dialed the Carter's number. A little girl with a very shy voice answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Ummm…hi. Is Jane in?"
"Who's this?" the little girl asked.
"This is Alesha."
"Alesha?" she asked quietly. "Angel give me the phone. It's Nick's girlfriend," Alesha heard muffled in the background. "I want to talk to her," the little girl said softly.
"Angel?" Alesha asked.
"Yeah?"
"Wow. Nick's talked about you so much. Must be hard growing up with Aaron and Nick."
She giggled. "Yeah. A little. Here's mom," she said.
"Alesha? Aaron would you go on. I'm trying to talk." "But I want to talk to her." "In a minute."
Alesha laughed. "I just wanted to say that I would love to take you up on the offer of the house."
Jane clapped her hands. "Wonderful. That was a quick decision."
Alesha smiled. "I just got offered a job by Denise working on the Boys' web page…so I don't' have to worry about looking for a place to work."
Jane smiled. "That's wonderful sweetie. When do you want to move in?"
Alesha laughed. "When's convenient for you?"
"How about next week? We should have most of our stuff out of here by then."
"Okay," Alesha said smiling softly.
"I guess that I'll let you go sweetie so you can pack," Jane laughed.
"Okay. Thank you again." Alesha said as they hung up the phone. "One more call to make," Alesha mumbled as she dialed Denise's number.
"Whazzup?!!?"
"AJ really. You should learn some manners. Your poor mother," Alesha said.
"Hey Leshers. What'cha doing calling my mom again?"
"Business nosey butt."
"Hmph. Here she is."
"Hello?"
"Denise? I'd love to take the job."
"Really? That's great sweetie. Let me get back to you with the information. I'm in the middle of an online conference right now."
"Okay. Call me later," Alesha said saying goodbye and hanging up. "Isn't this nifty difty," Alesha mumbled. "A new job, and new house…all in one day. Wonder what other great surprises there are for me."
mishakal: what?
k: you'll NEVER guess who i just talked to?
m: who?
k: jane
m: who's jane
k: jane carter
m: nick's mom?
k: yuppers
m: wow…why?
k: why? She wants me to move into the big house where they live. they're going to be moving to LA and need someone to take care of the house and nick's dogs and stuff...how cool is that?
m: wow…too cool…so what did you say?
k: i told her i had to think about it. it's a big step…i'd have to quit my job here and find a new one up there…even though she said all the bills are paid…i'd still need a job…
m: yeah…wow…too weird…
k: so i'm gonna call her back in a few days…need to think…dammit…hold on…telephone…
m: what?
k: guess who i just talked to…
m: who?
k: denise mclean
m: denise as in aj's mom denise?
k: nods
m: aren't you just the popular one today…what did she want?
k: she wants me to go to work for her
m: blinks…doing what?
k: the boys' official web page
m: you're kidding?
k: shakes her head…
m: oh my god lesh…there's your job…you CAN move into nicky's house
k: grins…yuppers…
m: i'm so happy for you
k: me too…lol…i hafta run…gotta go call jane and denise back…ttyl hon.
