Sam closed the bedroom door behind her, leaning against it as she felt the tears prick at her eyes. She wiped them away angrily as she crossed the room and grabbed her laptop off the bed where AJ had placed it. "Stop it! He's not worth it," she tried to convince herself as she set up her computer. Hoping that checking her email and organizing some notes for an article she was working on would take her mind off of him, she signed on to the Internet. A loud clap of thunder broke the silence, startling her. As she walked to the window to watch the fury taking place outside, lightning lit up the back of the estate. Sam could have sworn she saw someone standing near the garden path. When the next flash came, she looked again but saw nothing. "Just my imagination, I guess," she told herself, sighing. The storm outside had nothing on the one raging within her, she thought. She sank down on the window seat, no longer able to hold back the memories. Laying her face against the cool pane of the bay window, she closed her eyes and listened to the rain pelting against the glass.
"You're how old?" AJ asked, a grin splitting his face.
"34," she repeated stiffly beginning to become annoyed at his laughter over her age. "Is there something funny about being 34?"
"No, baby," AJ said laughing even harder. "Being 34 is definitely not funny." Sam whizzed a pillow at her lover, knocking his cowboy hat off his head. He fell back against the couch as if he had been knocked over too. "Damn!" he exclaimed. "You're one feisty old lady!"
"And don't you forget it either!" she told him, unable to hold back her laughter any longer. Sam was happier than she had been in a long time. She didn't know who had been more surprised, herself, AJ, or Dani, when what had started out as a fling turned into a full-blown relationship. Although her job didn't allow her to tour full time with the group like her friend Dani, she still managed to catch up with AJ on the road quite frequently. The tour wouldn't last much longer, though, and Sam was hoping they could actually find a few days to spend together, just the two of them.
Sam was pulled from her contemplative mood by a knock on the door. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she heard Dani call out, "Sam, it's me. Are you all right?" Sam sighed before crossing the room and opening the door. She shrugged at the concerned look on her friend's face.
"I don't know why you let him do that to you," Dani said, walking past her into the room. "He does it on purpose you know just to get a reaction, any reaction, out of you." Dani gave her a sympathetic look. "You've still got it bad for him, don't you?" she asked gently.
Samantha shook her head in denial. "No, I do not!" she declared vehemently. "Could we please not talk about him?"
Dani set her tray of food down on the dresser and sank down on the bed sitting cross legged Indian style. She grabbed one of the floral print throw pillows and hugged it to her. "The two of you really should sit down and talk it out," Dani pressed her. "Okay, okay," she said holding her hand up and cringing dramatically at Sam's warning look. "I'll drop it. For now." Sam rolled her eyes before walking over to her laptop and pretending to find something of interest on the screen. "You know," Dani mused. "We don't need to leave for Dallas until Sunday. And there's nothing I can do about the CD until we get there. We might as well go ahead and do Disney World tomorrow. At least that way," she said, "we'll still get to have a little bit of a vacation."
"Just me and you, right?" Sam clarified. Dani nodded. "Just like we planned originally," Dani assured her.
"Sounds good to me," Sam agreed. "I know you weren't bringing me a bedtime snack," she teased Dani. "You'd better hurry up before Howie gets water logged," she laughed.
"Someone else just told me the same thing," Dani laughed, picking up her tray. "Let's try and get an early start in the morning, okay?"
"Okay," Sam said. "I get the hint. I won't stay up all night writing. You just make sure you don't stay up all night fucking," she told Dani laughingly as she closed the door behind her. Sam sighed and sat down at her laptop. She checked her email and answered the few that couldn't wait. The rest she would save for tomorrow. She pulled up the file containing her notes on her interview with Carlos Santana and tried to outline them into a rough draft for her article. After losing her train of thought for the umpteenth time, she gave up, letting her mind wander to places she had no desire to go.
Sam carried her bag into the Boys dressing room. She'd had the taxi bring her straight to the venue instead of the hotel since she was running so late. The airline had overbooked the flight out of Chicago and she'd been one of the unlucky ones bumped off. She'd had to wait several hours before she could catch another flight and the whole experience had left her tired and cranky. She was actually glad the guys were already on stage when she got there. It would give her a chance to grab a bite to eat and rest before she saw Alex. The only other person in the dressing room was a young, heavily made-up brunette. Sam nodded at her as she sat her suitcase in the corner out of the way. "Mmmmmm," Sam commented, making small talk as she walked over to the buffet table and looked over the food catering had prepared. "It's a wonder the guys aren't all 200 lbs with all this delicious food around." Sam picked up a plate and began to pile it high. She hadn't eaten since early that morning and she was starving. "These chocolate covered strawberries are my favorite," she said, as the girl sauntered over to her.
"You don't know who I am do you?" the girl said abruptly. Sam glanced over at her and smiled. "No, I don't, but I figure you must be somebody if you're hanging out in the guys' dressing room. Samantha Rappaport," Sam introduced herself, holding out her hand. The girl ignored it. Sam shrugged and went back to filling her plate. "I know who you are though," the girl continued as if Sam had never spoken. "You're that reporter that's been hanging around trying to get AJ to notice you." Sam couldn't help but laugh at her statement. "Oh, I assure you, he's noticed me," she said, grinning and popping a strawberry in her mouth.
"You're a little different from his usual fling. Most of the whores he picks up aren't as old as you or. . . . . . . .you know," she said waving her hand in the air, "Oriental. You're just the latest flavor of the month, honey," she said spitefully.
"Actually," Sam said, not in a mood to humor the girl, "I've been the flavor for the last three months."
"Well, now that I'm back, you can consider it over between you and AJ. I'm sure he'll tell you himself when he gets off stage anyway," the brunette replied. "You can go back to China or wherever it is you came from!"
"Iowa," Sam said wryly.
"What?" the girl said, obviously confused.
"I'm not from China," Sam explained patiently as if to a two year old. "I'm from Iowa."
"I don't care where you're from," the girl said, "just as long as you stay away from my fiancée!" At that moment, Dani walked into the room. "Oh, get a life Amanda," she laughed, having overheard the last bit of conversation. "You're no more engaged to AJ than Marcus is." Amanda stared hatefully at Howie's girlfriend. "We may not be engaged at the moment," she said snidely, "but we will be. AJ's just sowing his wild oats. He always comes back to me!" she exclaimed before stalking out of the room.
"So that was AJ's ex, huh?" Sam said, making a face. "What in the hell is she doing here?"
Sam tried to ignore Amanda, but the younger woman was a constant irritation. She took every opportunity to remind Sam of the difference in their ages as well as how "close" she and Alex had always been. Despite the fact that both AJ and Dani had assured her that Amanda was past history, Sam wasn't sure she could take much more. The past four days had been extremely stressful. She and AJ had even had a heated discussion that morning over his refusal to tell Amanda to leave. He insisted that, with tonight being the last show of the tour, there was no sense in creating hard feelings between himself and his former girlfriend. He saw no reason why they shouldn't continue to be friends. Sam had accused him of wanting to keep Amanda as a back up waiting in the wings. She'd immediately regretted her unfair remark but before she could apologize, AJ had retaliated by questioning her trust in him and storming away. And now she was going to have to tell him that she would be unable to attend tonight's show. Her editor had called and informed her that Kid Rock had consented to grant the magazine an exclusive interview after his concert that night. But only with Sam. She had no choice but to take the assignment.
As Sam opened the door to the suite she and AJ shared, her heart sank. AJ and Amanda sat on the couch next to each other, laughing and talking with one another. Her hand lay on his upper thigh. He had his arm on the back of the couch behind her. It was all very cozy looking. If it weren't for the fact that several of the band members were also sitting around the living room, Sam would have been completely devastated. Amanda flashed her a smug look as she leaned closer to AJ. AJ stared calculatingly at Sam. "Can I have a minute of your time" Sam asked, "if you're not too busy?" AJ shrugged and followed her into the bedroom. He closed the door behind him, folding his arms and leaning back against it. "I have an assignment for tonight," she blurted out.
"Oh, now that's childish," AJ retorted.
"It's not "childish" AJ," she said, beginning to gather the things she needed for the interview. "It's called work. Unlike some people," she said snidely, "I have a career. I can't spend every moment following you around."
"You can pick and choose your assignments," AJ said, levering himself away from the door and coming up behind her. "You didn't have to take this one tonight, so don't try and play that game with me," he told her shortly.
"It's not a game. The magazine's been angling for this interview for weeks," Sam explained. "But he'll only let me do it." She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "He who?" AJ demanded.
"Kid Rock," Sam said avoiding his eyes.
"Oh, I understand now why you can't turn down this assignment," AJ said nastily. "Kid Rock wants you, so you go running!"
"Don't do this to me, AJ. Do you think I want to miss your show tonight?" she said. "Especially with Amanda the Panda plastering herself all over you!" Sam said bitterly. As she brushed past him on her way out the door, he reached for her arm. Sam pulled away from him, glaring. "I'll be back as soon as I get the interview done. If you're even interested," she tossed at him before stalking out of the suite.
Sam nodded tiredly at the desk clerk as she made her way through the hotel lobby to the bank of elevators. It was six o'clock in the morning, she was tired, pissed, and definitely not looking forward to explaining to AJ why she'd been out all night. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep.
The concert had been everything she had expected. Everything from the driving music to the special effects to the raunchiness both on stage and in the audience. She'd thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The interview was another matter entirely. She'd had to wait over two hours after the concert before she was allowed access to Kid. And even then, publicity was the furthest thing from his mind. Sam had tried to keep everything on a professional level, but the man's constant barrage of sexual remarks and suggestions had been particularly annoying. It wasn't the first time a celebrity she'd been interviewing had hit on her, and she'd even taken what they'd offered a time or two. But Kid "Bob" Rock had been downright obnoxious and he had made it very clear that Samantha would have to put out if she wanted the interview. She'd written her editor's name and number down on a slip of paper and handed it to him. "The next time you want a blow job in exchange for an interview, this is your man," she had told him before walking out.
Sam stepped out into the hallway as the elevator opened onto the secured floor where
the Boys rooms were. She made her way wearily down the hall to AJ's room and slid her
key into the lock. She opened the door quietly when the light flashed green, closing it
behind her silently once she was inside. "Where in the hell have you been?" AJ said
curtly, startling her. He stood in the doorway between the living room and the bedroom, a
towel wrapped around his hips and his hair wet from the shower. "I've been waiting up all
night for you!" Sam started to apologize when Amanda appeared from the bedroom,
wrapped in a sheet. She slid her arms around AJ's waist and smiled smugly at Sam. "Well,
apparently," Sam said hatefully, "you had company to help you pass the time!" She
turned on her heel and stormed out the door.
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