| Chapter 34: The Chance of a Lifetime 2 months later The boys were in the recording studio in New York City. The girls were waiting room, where they were too many people in the studio already and didn’t want to be in the way. They had settled their lawsuit and had just gotten new management, the Firm, where one of their representatives, Riley Thomas, was in the studio with them. Laura took a big sigh. “God, how long did they say?” “5 minutes, but that was an hour ago,” Bianca looked at her watch. “Well, what do you want to do?” Elizabeth asked. “What we always do,” Lauralee smiled. “Wanna?” “Sure,” Veronica got up. “Nothing else to do.” They got up and stood in a semi-circle. “Which song?” Laura cracked her knuckles. “I guess ‘Weak.’” Lauralee began to snap her fingers. “1, 2, 3.” I don’t know what it is that you’ve done to me But it’s caused me to act in such a crazy way Whatever it is that you do when you do what you’re doing It’s a feeling that I want to stay Cause my heart starts beating triple time With thoughts of loving you on my mind I can’t figure out just what to do When the cause and cure is you I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak I lose all control then something takes over me In a daze You look so amazing It’s not a phase, I need you to stay with me by my side I swallow my pride Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet Can’t explain why your loving makes me weak Time after time after time I try to fight it But your love is strong it keeps on holding on Resistance is down when you’re around, it’s fading In that condition I don’t wanna be alone Cause my heart starts beating triple time With thoughts of loving you on my mind I can’t figure out just what to do When the cause and cure is you I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak I lose all control then something takes over me In a daze You look so amazing It’s not a phase, I need you to stay with me by my side I swallow my pride Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet Can’t explain why your loving makes me weak I try hard to fight it No way can I deny it Your love’s so sweet Knocks me off my feet I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak I lose all control then something takes over me In a daze You look so amazing It’s not a phase, I need you to stay with me by my side I swallow my pride Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet Can’t explain why your loving makes me weak I get so weak Blood starts racing through my veins I get so weak, boy it’s something I can’t explain I get so weak Something about the way you do the things you do It knocks me right off of my feet Can’t explain why your loving makes me weak The girls stopped when someone started clapping. They turned around to see Riley Thomas. He walked towards them. “Amazing.” “What? Us?” Laura was shocked. “Yeah you,” Riley smiled. “You harmonies are…” “Something that we fool around with when we’re bored. Nothing else,” Lauralee finished. “Listen,” he fumbled around his suit pocket and pulled out a business card. “If you ever want to do anything with this ‘fooling around’ give me a call.” Lauralee accepted the card. “You’re their girlfriends right?” “Yeah.” “They want you in the studio. I think they have some news for ya. And please,” Riley enclosed Lauralee’s hand with the business card in it. “Don’t rip that up just yet.” He walked away. “Lau, can you believe it?” Laura’s eyes sparkled. “No,” Lauralee put the card in her pocket. “He wasn’t serious.” “How do you know?” “Come on,” Lauralee walked in the studio. “They’re waiting.” They walked in the studio. “Hey!” Alex was sitting in the chair. “Wow, I didn’t know 5 minutes could turn into an hour,” Laura folded her arms. Kevin walked over to her and kissed her forehead. “Sorry about that. We had a meeting. One that I think you’ll like.” “And that is?” “Well, Riley had asked us about our personal lives, and we all said that we were seeing people. We told him about Lou and how he wanted to keep you all a secret.” Howie leaned back in his chair. “So?” Veronica sat on his lap. “So,” Nick smiled. “He feels that we should come out with it.” Lauralee’s eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?” Alex nodded. “He says that people know that we have lives, and we should live them. He thinks we don’t have to hide it anymore.” “But we wanted to ask you guys first,” Brian put his arm around Elizabeth. “This affects you too. There’s gonna be some press around you sometimes and he wants to make sure you are comfortable with it. You might be ridiculed by some fans, some which might react badly. We just want to prepare you if you agree to this.” “But think about the rest,” Alex put his hand on Lauralee’s shoulder. “We won’t have to hide anymore. We can go out and I won’t have to say you’re my friend. We can go out wherever we want to.” “So? What do you say ladies?” Kevin smiled broadly. The girls all stood there, trying to let all of this sink in. Lauralee let the smile spread slowly across her face. “Yes.” “Yes?” “Yeah!” Lauralee quickly hugged Alex. She broke the hug and turned to the others. “What do you say guys?” Laura looked around the room. “I think I’ll speak for all of us.” She turned to Kevin. “Let’s do it!” Cheers followed with all of them sharing a celebratory kiss. “So when will this happen?” Bianca asked. “Tomorrow, when we go on the Regis and Kathie Lee show,” Howie responded. “They’ll probably ask us anyway, and we just say yes. That’s all we need to say. However, the Internet and the press will find out who you are anyway.” “Alright,” Lauralee spoke slowly. ~*~ The applause rang through the walls of thee Regis and Kathie Lee show as the boys sat down with the two hosts to do the interview. They asked the boys typical questions, about Brian’s heart surgery, and about the album coming up in a few months. Lauralee held her breath from her television set when Regis asked the next question. “So fellas, I guess the girls want to know if any girlfriends are on the burner.” Alex cleared his throat. “Um, we’re all seeing someone special.” The audience groaned as Kathie Lee smiled. “Sorry ladies, I guess they’re taken.” Lauralee smiled broadly, feeling a pride so big she almost felt her chest explode. The interview continued when the phone rang. “Yup?” “Are you smiling?” “Yeah Laura. I feel like the weight of the world is lifted off my shoulders, even though I never knew it was there.” “Me too… um Lau… do you still have that card from Riley?” “Card? Um, yeah I have it.” “Do me a favor.” “What.” “Don’t rip it up. He knows something.” “Laura, I gotta go. I’ll see ya later.” “OK… Bye.” “Bye.” Lauralee hung up the phone and looked at the card placed next to her. She picked it up and looked at it slowly. The others didn’t know, but she was staring at that thing all night. It wasn’t the announcement that prevented her from sleep, but it was that card: Don’t rip it up just yet… the words echoed in her mind over and over. Does he really know something? Nah, he’s dreaming… or is he? She needed to talk to her friends… soon. Chapter 35 Contents Chapter 33 |