Chapter 8
Howie turned the knob on the door and flipped the lights on. Tossing his card on the dresser, he walked over to the bed and sat, setting his bags down. He'd been out for most of the evening, sightseeing and taking everything in. It was nice to finally get the chance to do it. After the trip that morning, he decided to go out now that he was rested and look around. He picked up a few things for his family and the guys. Once he got going, it was usually hard for him to stop. He grinned, and everyone thought AJ was the shopper.
He undressed and slipped under the covers, reaching over, he picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello?"
"Hi."
"Hey D! S'up man?!"
"Not much, just got in, went out and did a little sightseeing. Utah is amazing."
"Amazing how? Like, you mean the women?"
"AJ, will you get past the whole women thing please."
"You holdin' out on me ain't ya?! Who is she?"
AJ was far too good at things when it came to women. Howie sighed, not like he could keep it a secret, and he knew once he told AJ, it wouldn't be any longer. "Her name is Jordan Fairview and she's the Public Relations person for this whole thing." Howie explained reluctantly.
"Ahh, that's just like you man, going for the business-y woman, she hot?"
Howie groaned in frustration. "See, that's why no one wants to tell you anything."
"Touchy touchy. Sorry man, damn!"
Howie sighed. "Sorry J, I'm tired and stuff."
"S'ok man, I'm used to it. So, what are ya doing there? Like, are you learning the proper way to hold the torch thingy n' shit?"
"No they don't teach...it was only the first day. We just went through some history junk, that's all. Look I'm gonna let you go man, I need sleep. I gotta get up early tomorrow."
"Aight cool, so call me later and let me know how it goes ok?"
"Yeah ok, tell the guys I said hi. Oh wait, I hear Kevin's gonna be doing this too right?"
"Yeah, but he won't be coming up for a while, hell, I don't even know if he's doing what you're doing by visiting there or whatever."
"Ok, whatever. Later AJ."
"Wait, D?"
"Yeah?"
"She's hot right?"
Howie rolled his eyes, he couldn't lie. "Yeah AJ, she's real hot."
"I knew it!" He chuckled.
"Bye D!"
"Bye AJ." Howie hung up the phone. It had been an interesting first day. Jordan he realized, was a lot like him. It could be pure coincidence that they had the same sibling numbers and combination, that they both liked coffee and croissants. Lots of people liked coffee and croissants, he was grasping at straws. What he should be doing is focusing on why he was here and learning as much as he could before the week was up. Maybe he should start taking notes. He toyed with the idea for a bit before deciding against it, he'd look stupid carrying a notebook around with him. But maybe...
He should call his mom, but sleep was calling him and he had no choice but to answer. He slipped under the covers and drifted off. Long day ahead tomorrow.
****
She grabbed the steaming mug and walked back into the living room, sitting cross legged on the couch, carefully setting the mug on the table next to her. She sifted through the papers and notes for tomorrow. Today had gone well, got everything she wanted to get done accomplished. She hoped tomorrow went as smooth.
Jordan started looking through the profiles of the people. She wanted to learn a little more about each of them, maybe figure out why they were chosen. She sipped at her tea, some of the stories were really sad, and yet some were so poignant and inspiring it brought tears to her eyes.
She picked up another profile, not bothering to look at the name and started reading. Twenty eight year old male from Florida. Long way to come for this. She went on. Four brothers and sisters, one of which passed away a few years ago from Lupus. She frowned, how terrible, she could only imagine what it'd be like to be without one of her sisters.
An accomplished singer and dancer, he co-owned a nightclub called Tabu with a friend and also had a few condos. She whistled softly, very nice. So then, why was he here? She kept reading to learn that he'd made a foundation in his sister's name to further the progress on fighting Lupus. She smiled, it warmed her heart. Her eyes scanned the name of the foundation. The Caroline Dorough Lupus Foundation. She stopped, backing up and reading that name again. Dorough, where had she heard that before? She looked up at the name on top.
Howard Dwaine Dorough.
She should've known from the four brothers and sisters. She scanned over more of the basics. Brown hair and eyes, a member of the Backstreet Boys. He was a Backstreet Boy? She remembered one of her sisters mentioning that her daughter liked them. Ok so he was anything but basic. She studied his profile a little longer, they were a like in a lot of ways, both extremely close to their families, business oriented.
A short time later she put the paper down, staring at it. She was intrigued by him for some reason. It didn't matter, he'd be gone in a week and she'd never see him again.
