Howie was talking to his sister Pollyanna on his cellphone when Nick first walked into the dressing room. The two men nodded a quick hello then Howie watched the younger man grab his laptop and sit on the couch.
"Yeah, Poll, a few more then I’ll be home for the holidays."
"I can’t wait to see you. You’ve always been globetrotting. It seems like forever since the whole family has spent Christmas together. I guess we finally get to do that again."
"Not quite," Howie whispered sadly.
Pollyanna instinctively knew her younger brother was remembering Caroline, the eldest Dorough sibling. It had been a little over a year since she had passed away after battling the disease Lupus for 13 years of her life. Polly knew first hand about the pain Howie still felt. The Doroughs were a close family. There wasn’t a day that went by when she herself didn’t think of her older sister.
"Things will never be the same," Howie murmured.
"I know. I miss her too." Pollyanna comforted him. An almost reverent minute of silence followed before Howie cleared his throat uneasily.
"We’ll work on some of your new stuff while I’m home, okay?" he said referring to the material they were putting together for her demo. Howie had vowed since the beginning of his career that once he was successful in the music business, he would help his mentor make her own dreams a reality. Now he was keeping that promise.
"Sure. Howard, you do realize that you’re a workaholic?"
"I have no grounds for deniability."
Polly laughed. "That’s my younger brother. Knock ‘em off their feet. Love you and see you soon."
"You know I will. Love you, too. Bye." Howie clicked his cellphone off before tossing it gently into his bag. "Hey, Nicky." He turned to formally greet his bandmate, whose eyes were now focussed upon the computer screen.
Nick didn’t even look up but did answer. "Hi, D."
"Oh-kay, I give. Whatcha reading?"
"Huh?" Nick finally acknowledged his friend with a glance. "Oh. Um, nothing."
"It certainly looks like something if you are that involved. You know, if I were somebody else, I’d say it was porno."
"Mhm," the blonde answered. Hearing Howie chuckle brought him back to reality. "What porno? Nah. If you really MUST know, I’m reading fpmnfntn," he mumbled the last part incoherently.
"What?"
"Fan fiction, alright? I’m reading fan fiction." He stared into Howie’s eyes. "Please just don’t laugh. Some of this stuff is really good, you know. A lot of people are talented and I kind of got wrapped up into this one."
Howie held his hand up to stop Nick’s blabbering. "No need to justify yourself to me. Save it for when A.J. finds out. Honestly, I’ve read a few myself."
"Really?" Nick said shocked then watched his friend nod affirmatively.
"You seem to be the subject of quite a few."
"Guess so, although some of the storylines are a bit…"
"Disturbing?"
"Well, yeah. I mean usually I’m a pretty good guy, but sometimes I wonder what the writers are thinking, you know? I mean, damn, what is it about me and Kev? Too many people think we’d make a good couple."
"Maybe they see something that you don’t. Kevin is a cutie – or so I’ve heard," Howie teased.
Nick smirked. "Not as sexy as you, Latin Lover. Maybe I should just adopt that slogan of yours – We like girls. You know, that is so profound, D."
"You don’t see many Howie-Nick stories now do you?"
"Thank God. I think that the fans know I have better taste." Howie cuffed the back of Nick’s blonde head. "Seriously though, you have to wonder what is going on in some of the fans heads. My character can be a real asshole sometimes."
"Me, too. I hate to think of all the crap I’ve done in stories. I have to keep telling myself it is just in the writer’s imagination, but there are other times when some of the stuff comes so close the real thing, it’s frightening."
"Hell yeah."
"Let me know if you come across some good ones. I need to go read my email."
"Later, D."
* ~ * ~ *
Howie re-read the attachment for a third time. He had reserved Cherise’s message for last remembering her promise to send her story. His eyes widened as he read the prose. It was as though she had seen inside his head. As he glanced over the words again, he couldn’t help but wonder how a perfect stranger was able to enter his mind and read his thoughts.
It frightened him.
Yet, it comforted him at the same time.
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