Once Nick entered the office to talk to Angela, Kim Ann sighed loudly and said, "Thank GOD that's over!" Rather than sit with the others, though, she went back over to the bar and started cleaning up AJ's mess from earlier. She stopped occasionally to watch Howie, Brian and Sandra, who had resumed the bowling game with Sandra in Nick's place.
Howie had been enjoying the bowling until Kim Ann had entered the room. He wanted to talk to her now, but he wasn't about to cut the game short and be obvious about it. He decided to make his interest known instead, by catching her eye every now and then as he talked to Brian and Sandra.
"So," he asked, "Nick is going to be all right in there, right?" He wasn't overly concerned about Nick and Angela, but he didn't want Nick to be in an impossible situation either.
"He'll be all right," assured Sandra. "When Angela sees him she'll forget all about hacking that site. Plus, hacking is a time-consuming thing, you know."
"Does she do that a lot?" asked Brian. "Hacking?"
"No," answered Sandra. "But she and her computer buds have like hacking championships and stuff to see who can hack whose site quickest and things like that. She's the champ. Nobody's ever hacked her site, but she's hacked everybody else's."
"Wow," exclaimed Brian. "That's scary." He thought about it momentarily and asked, "Do you think she could hack our site?"
"Oh yeah," Sandra replied without hesitation. "I'm sure she could… but she wouldn't. You might not believe me at this point, but she's totally anti-hacking. Says that only people who can't fight something head-on hack a site to make their differences known."
"So, what you're really saying is that you didn't really need to send Nick in there to keep her from hacking the site, did you?" Brian looked at her accusingly.
Sandra smiled a little. "Probably not, but she was pretty serious about it when we left the room."
"What happened, exactly?" asked Howie, following the conversation, but staying focused on Kim Ann.
Sandra sighed, not wanting to give all the dirty details. "Her teacher promised her a computer and credit for redesigning the site. She rescheduled her whole finals week to do it. She did it. She got no computer. She got no credit. She… she got screwed, BAD!"
"So would YOU hack the site?" asked Brian, poking her in the ribs.
Sandra flinched and punched at him playfully. "No! I'm a law-abiding citizen."
"Just checkin,'" replied Brian. "I don't want to surround myself with the wrong kinds of people."
Howie yawned and turned to look at Kim Ann again. It was obvious that he was the odd man out and he was done playing around. Kim Ann had disappeared from the bar. He scanned the room to find her, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Hey man," he said, interrupting Brian and Sandra. "I'm gonna go track down Kymmi. You guys mind if I bail on the rest of the game?"
"Nah," said Brian. "Go get her, tiger." It wasn't like anyone was actively bowling anyway.
Howie smiled and raised his eyebrows as he got up to leave. He leaned toward Brian so as to keep his comment between them and said in a low, hushed, serious tone, "Um, don't send out a search party or anything, if you know what I mean."
Howie learned he'd failed at keeping his comment just between buddies as Sandra laughed and acknowledged that she'd heard. "Like we'd want to!" she said. "Who knows what you two will be doing?" she teased.
Howie smiled again and headed to the game room, figuring that would be the most obvious choice, since AJ and the Lexi girl were in the basement shooting pool. He smoothed his hair before entering, but surprisingly, found the room empty. He turned to leave, but a noise from somewhere in the back caught his attention. Tracing the source to the back of the room, Howie crept toward it quietly. He peeked around an opened door and found Kim Ann rummaging around a dimly-lit storage room.
"HEY!" he shouted. "What are you doing in there?"
Kim Ann whirled around with her hand on her heart. "Oh my God, Howie!" she exclaimed. "You scared the SHIT out of me!"
Howie laughed, that having been his intention. "That'll teach you to hide from me," he said, walking toward her.
"Believe me," Kim Ann smirked. "I wasn't hiding from you. I just KNEW you'd come looking for me." She smiled suggestively. "Pretty cool hideaway, dontcha think?" Kim Ann winked at Howie with his own trademark wink, which flattered him.
"Perfect," agreed Howie. "Just perfect."
The room had a few old video games that were either being stored or were waiting for repair, an old air hockey table, and a disassembled pool table propped against one of the walls.
Howie checked the lock on the door and pulled it shut behind him. Kim Ann tried to suppress a smile, but couldn't. "You know," she said, moving toward the air hockey table, "I was QUITE the air hockey player in high school." She checked it for sturdiness before sitting on it and dangling her legs over the edge of the table. "I always wondered if these tables were good for anything ELSE." She glanced at Howie and their eyes locked.
"Gee, like what?" he asked, advancing toward her slowly. He stopped when he was standing between her legs and they were nose-to-nose. Kim Ann giggled and put her arms around his neck. "So I take it you're not the CREATIVE force behind the Backstreet Boys?"
Howie smiled. "We'll see," he said before kissing her.
After the long, deep kiss, Kim Ann pushed Howie away slightly so she could run her hands up his chest. "Ooooh, muscles," she murmured to him.
"You like that?" Howie whispered back.
"I very MUCH like that," Kim Ann replied as she slid her hands from his shoulders down to his fingertips. Their lips met in another hungry kiss and Kim Ann locked her legs around Howie's waist.
__________________________________
Angela strutted out of the office and walked quickly over to Brian and Sandra, making sure to leave Nick far behind. She plopped down beside them, ignoring the curious looks they gave her and said casually, "What's up?"
"Oh, not much," answered Brian. "How are YOU?"
"I'm fine," Angela answered shortly, glancing over at Nick, who had retreated to the bar.
Brian eyed Sandra, glanced at Nick, then returned his eyes to Sandra's again. Sandra shrugged, unsure of what could have possibly happened. She was tired of playing mother goose to Angela, but she decided to fish for information with the hope that she and Brian could be alone when the other two made up. The first step would be to get Nick over to her.
"Hey, Nick!" Sandra yelled out. "Why don't you make yourself useful and bring us all a round?"
"A round of WHAT?" asked Nick sharply, taking out his frustration on Sandra.
"Beee cre--a--tive," she hissed back at him, purposely elongating the words for emphasis.
Nick grabbed four Heineken's and popped the lids slowly. "I'm NOT kissing her ass," he muttered to himself. "Nick Carter does NOT kiss ass."
Sandra rolled her eyes at Nick's waiting game and looked at Brian for help. Brian thought it was funny, but intervened for her sake. "Uh, you wanna get the lead outta your butt, there Kaos?"
"I'll get there when I get there!" snapped Nick. He knew exactly what they were up to and he didn't like it. He didn't like anything about the way he was feeling lately. It was too soon to like someone again and he would fight it tooth and nail if he had to. How DARE Angela treat him like this after he'd gone in to her and comforted her like that? "All it was was a stupid web page," he muttered to himself as he gathered up the beers and headed over reluctantly. When he handed the beers to everyone, all said thank you except for Angela, and Nick smirked at her when she wasn't looking.
Sandra wanted to scream "Will you two grow the fuck up?!?" but she took a deep breath and looked at Brian again, pleading with her eyes. Brian thought for a moment, tapping his chin. "You know what?" he asked cheerfully. "I think we need to check out that karaoke machine."
Sandra smiled at him and mouthed the word "Yeah," thinking it was a great idea.
"Like I'm gonna sing in front of YOU guys," Angela remarked.
"Oh, ya big wuss!" shouted Brian, standing up. "Come on! It'll be fun." He looked at Nick and totally ignored the glare he was getting from him. "Nick'll sing, won'tcha Nick?"
"I really don't feel like singing, Bri," said Nick. "I just want to drink my beer and relax. I'll watch or something."
"Yeah, I heard that about you," remarked Sandra.
"What?" Nick demanded.
"Oh, that you can't sing unless you practice first. That's all," she replied coyly.
"Bull--shit," Nick retorted. "You think I'm gonna fall for THAT?"
Sandra looked at Brian again for help and Brian blinked at her slowly to let her know he was working on it. "Well, Nick, will you at least help me? You know more about all that electronic stuff than I do."
Nick made a pained expression at Brian, but didn't catch on to his friend's manipulations as he had Sandra's. "Yeah, I can set you up," he said, walking over to follow Brian to the karaoke area.
"You coming or not?" prodded Sandra to Angela who had made no effort to follow Nick and Brian.
She shrugged and got up. "I'll watch, but I'm not singing in front of them. That's ridiculous."
Sandra smiled that Angela had even agreed to that much and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the karaoke area.
Brian was perusing the song list for the perfect mood-lifting song. On the third page of the list, he smiled widely and pointed one out to Nick. "That one," he said, laughing.
Nick did a double take at the song. "What?!?" he asked, disbelieving that Brian was serious.
"THAT one," Brian repeated, pointing at the song again.
Nick started snickering and Brian knew he'd made the right choice. "You're serious?" Nick asked again, smiling.
"DEAD serious," replied Brian. "Hey, Sandra, honey, will you be a peach and go get me a couple of bags of chips?"
"Oh God," Nick exclaimed, laughing. "Chips, Brian?"
"Oh yeah," said Brian, taking the chip bags from Sandra. She was eyeing him curiously, but he didn't want to lose the element of surprise. He snuck back behind the speakers and waited for Nick to start the song.
"You ready?" asked Nick.
"Just a mi-nute!" Brian called out in a trilled female voice. Nick laughed harder and started adjusting the settings. He picked up the mic and said "Two, two, two…" to test it.
"Gary doesn't want you messing with the buttons, Nick," Angela jabbed at him.
Nick looked up at her momentarily and said, "I know," as he adjusted the settings further. Angela glared at him, but he ignored her, almost enjoying it. "Dude, you ready?" he asked Brian again.
"READY!” yelled Brian. Nick started the song.
Angela and Sandra knew within the first two seconds of the song that it was Britney Spears' "…Baby One More Time" and they started laughing before Brian even got to the stage area. When he jumped out from behind the speakers singing "Oh baby, baby" and thrusting his pelvis, they lost it totally. Nick, even though he'd known what Brian was going to do, fell to the floor and laid there, his body shaking as he joined in the laughter.
Brian's shirt was tied in a knot at his waist, showing his belly button, and the chip bags were his makeshift "Britney boobs." He was strutting and singing and waving his hands while trying to also read the words, since he didn't know them all. Noticing that AJ had arrived from his pool playing, Brian hammed it up even more.
AJ ran past everyone and waved a dollar bill at Brian. Brian pranced over to AJ and seductively caressed one of his chip bag boobs as AJ tucked the bill into Bri's pants. "Oh, you BAD boy," Brian exclaimed in his Britney voice, evoking another round of hysterical laughter from his audience. AJ grinned and bowed before sitting beside Angela and Sandra. Nick was still on the floor, crying from laughing so hard.
When the song finally ended, Brian curtsied a few times before pulling out the chip bags and tossing one at AJ. "One for YOU," he said before tossing the other one at Nick. "And one for YOU, blondie." He strutted off the stage and said, "Next?" expectantly, to Nick.
Nick had forgotten his earlier unwillingness to sing and was ready to join in the fun. "That's a pretty tough act to follow, Brian," he said as he headed to look at the song list.
"Why don't you do something serious, then?" asked Brian, hopefully.
"Oh, just SING something," blurted out Angela before she could stop herself. She really did want to hear Nick sing, even more so than she wanted him to know she was mad at him.
Nick looked over at her, shocked by her insistence, and smiled slightly as he looked for a serious song. Brian nosed up beside him and flipped the page. "That one," he said, pointing to his recommendation. "I'll even harmonize at the end." He knew that it would melt Angela for sure.
"You think?" questioned Nick. "That's got a couple of tough notes in it, Bri."
"You can do it," Brian assured him.
Nick was still hesitant, so Brian repeated his assurance. "You can do it, Nick."
Nick considered it awhile longer and finally agreed. He thought Angela would like it, too, and if he was going to sing in front of her, he wanted to make a great impression. He set the system for the song and was surprised as he felt a rush of butterflies in his stomach when the first few chords of the piano filled the room. He glanced at Brian nervously and Brian nodded at him to calm him.
Nick closed his eyes to sing the first few words.
“When you're weary, feelin' small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all
I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down"
Angela had caught her breath when Nick started singing. She hadn't remotely expected such a mellow and beautiful song - much less, one that reflected what had happened earlier in the office. Try as she might, she could feel her throat tighten involuntarily and tears formed ever so slightly in her eyes. Brian smiled victoriously at Sandra from the stage, unnoticed by Angela.
"When you're down and out; when you're on the street
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you
I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down"
During the break in the lyrics, Brian moved quietly onto the stage beside Nick, smiling at him to let him know he was doing great. Nick pulled the mic back so they could share it and smiled back at Brian. Their warm harmonies filled the room like a summer breeze and Sandra too could feel herself being moved by the song and the performance. She took Angela's hand and squeezed it.
"Sail on silver girl; sail on by
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way
See how they shine, oh, if you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind"
Brian had stepped back toward the end and let Nick position himself for the final notes of the song. He smiled approvingly as Nick hit every note flawlessly. Brian started clapping before the song had even ended.
Everyone joined in the applause and Nick grinned shyly. "Uh, thank you," he said goofily into the mic. "AJ?" he asked, holding it out to him.
Surprisingly, AJ refused. "No, man, I've smoked and drank too much
tonight," he lied. "The cords are fried." As he had watched Nick sing
his heart out to Angela, he realized that ending on that warm note was
the best thing that could have happened. He didn't want to detract from
Nick's soul-searching performance, and he could tell by looking at him
that it meant the world to his little brother. The realization of
Nick's genuine connection to Angela made AJ feel hollow and nervous, as
the guilt he had hoped to avoid made itself known again in the pit of
his stomach.
Links to other sites on the Web
© 1997 crunkgrl62382@yahoo.com
Get your own Free Home Page