**** May 1998 ***
**** The next day (still 1996)****
**** In the loby of the Hilton Hotel at 12.50 am
(still in 1996)***
*Kevin & Elka were walking around in a local cd-store
(1996)*
« Kev? » I asked.
« Yes babe, what's up? »
« You know I'm gonna miss you ... » with that a tear
escaped from my eyes.
« oh Elka, you know I'm gonna miss you too, but this
is what I have to do » He was
gonna cry too, he knew it, but he didn't care.
« Elka, I love you » he wispered. Now we were both
crying, still holding close in each
others arms.
* Kevin and I were lying in Kevin's bunk in the bus,
the BSB tourbus was driving to the
airport where Kevin and his fellow Backstreet Boys
were gonna take the plane back
home, to the USA, where they were gonna release their
US debut album and gonna be
touring for a while*
Kevin and I met 2 years ago, back when the Backstreet
Boys weren't as famous as they
are now. It were 3 days I would never forget. I had to
help out in her fathers restaurant
because there was gonna be a birthday party with about
25 guests and Bart, one of the
waiters, called in sick.
****back in January 1996****
When the guests arrived, I noticed this tall person
with dark hair and the most mysterious
green eyes I had ever seen. He had noticed me too, I
figured, because when he was
walking in he was talking and laughing with this blue
haired funky guy. But when he saw
me, he looked at me, our eyes met and locked for what
felt forever. He looked away
quickly.
When I got in the kitchen, I asked my father
who they were and where they were
from, because I heard them talk english. My father
told me that it was an American
boy band that was staying in Belgium for a few days to
do some small performances and
promotion for their debut album. One of them was
celebrating his birthday and so they
wanted to have a birthday dinner here
. ‘A boyband ...’
I thought ‘well, guess they will be
as fake as you can imagine, they probably all have a
girl in each city they get to do their
thing.’ I decided to forget about the cute tall one,
and concentrate on doing my job.
~ ~ ~ ~
In the mean time at the table everyone was laughing
and fooling around, Kevin was very
silent, A.J. was the one who noticed it. Howie, who
was sitting next to Kevin got up and
went to talk to his family.
A.J. took his place « Yo Kev, what's up? » he asked
little concerned
« huh … nothing » Kevin lied.
« Yo man, I know when something"s wrong with ya.. you
can't tell me nothing"s goin"
on. » he said not believing Kevin.
« Just thinking about my family, to bad they couldn't
come.. » Kevin lied again.
« Oh, sory man, want me to leave you alone? » A.J.
asked
« No, It's OK" he sighed, glad to have A.J. of of his
back.
Then that girl came to ask if everything was allright
and if they needed anything. Denise
(A.J.'s mom) told her everything was alright and they
had really enjoyed the meal.
~ ~ ~ ~
Thomas and I started to clear the tables. When Thomas
was about to clear the table the
tall one was sitting at he walked over to me and
whispered
«You can do that table 5 if you want, I think that tall
one'd be happy if you did, he's been
watching you all night ».
I couldn't help but smile, was Thomas right? But then
her fathers words came back to
mind
"5 of 'em are in a boyband and they are in Belgium for
a few days, they asked to close the
restaurant for public, otherwise they'd be mobbed by
screaming fans..."
I snaped out of it, he probably has about 10
girlfriends, and I know shit about the guy,
don't even know his name.
I started to clear table 5, but I noticed the guy was
watching me. I got nervous and the
plates resting on my arm started to shake, the guy
caught them just in time for them to
fall.
"Here, let me help you" he said, I didn't protest but
didn't say anything either.
"Where can I take them?" he asked
"follow me" I said a little embaresed.
We went to the kitchen and I showed him where to put
the plates.
"I'm really sorry I almost dropped them, it's very
unprofessional of me.." I started to
apologise for being so clumsy back there
"It's ok, relax, I won’t tell your boss" he said
laughing.
"my father"
"huh?"
"My dad is the cook and manager of the restaurant, I
help him out a little when it's busy
or when one of the waiters are sick" I told him "By
the way, my name is Elka"
"Hi Elka, I'm Kevin and It's a great restaurant, tell
your dad he's a great cook."
~ ~ ~ ~
We started talking about nothing and everything. About
music, about Kevins band, about
piano (we found out we both play the piano for like
forever), about the US and about
Europe, about school and about surfing. As a joke
Kevin told me that the first time they
would give a concert in New York (we both love that
city) me and Kevin were gonna
perform a song on the piano together.
I had a great evening, we just sat in a corner of the
restaurant and talked for hours. Now
everyone was kinda leaving, the Boys were gonna head
back to the hotel, so they had to
say their goodbyes..
~ ~ ~ ~
"So, looks like I'm gonna have to leave, I had a great
evening, thanks" Kevin said
"Yeah, me too, I had a great time" I said, I was kinda
sad he had to leave but that's life…
"Are you free tomorrow?" Kevin asked, my heart missed
a beat
"yes, wanna do something?"
"Yeah what about I call you tomorrow morning, I think
we have a free afternoon, maybe
you could show me around town, or we can catch a movie
or something, I don't know... "
Kevin said.
"Yeah, sure.. that'd be great, let me write down my
phone number..."
I took a napkin and a pen, and wrote on it "call Elka
tomorrow at 05948 8865"
(NOTE: in
Belgium the phonenumbers have only 9 numbers, it's no
existing number as far as I
know)
I gave it to Kevin and smiled "I'm looking forward to
tomorrow"
"Me too, thanks" He gave me a gentel kiss on my cheek
and he left.
'He's so sweet' I thought.
'She's really cool, I like her... a lot' He thought.
CHAPTER 2
"El!! there's someone on the phone for you !!!"
Judith, my sister, yelled to my room.
It took me a while to get out of my room, when I got
down I asked Judith who was
calling me at an hour like this.
"I don't know, he speaks english and he sounds very
sexy" Judith said smiling
'Oh god, I forgot, Kevin,...' I ran to the phone
"hello" I said, trying to sound as awake as possible,
although I just got up. It was saturday
and I always sleep in in the weekends.
"Hello sleepy head, it's Kevin, remember me?" he asked
chuckling
"of course I do, how could I've forgtotten about you"
I said with this huge smile crossing
my face.
"So, what do you wanna do" Kevin asked
"You tell me, you are a guest in this country, I'll be
your guide." I said, playing safe, 'cause
I actually wanted to go do some shopping, I had to buy
my sis a birthday present, but I
wasn't sure he'd like shopping as much as I did.
"OK" Kevin said "I was thinking we could go have lunch
somewhere and then maybe go
shopping and catch a movie or something?" He asked, I
was kinda surprised, I didn't
know one guy (except for Sam, Judith's boyfriend) who
enjoyed shopping..
"Yeah, sounds great, I know this great place where we
can have lunch plus I need to get
my sister a birthday present and I really don't have a
clue yet what to by her, you can help
me out on that one." I said.
"OK, that's settled, now where do we meet, I don't
know where you live and I don't know
my way around town that well yet" he said smiling.
"Oh, yeah, uuhhmm, where are you guys staying, I can
come to the hotel if you want..."
"yeah, that'd be easy, we're staying at the Hilton
Hotel, you know how to get here?"
"yeah, no problem, when schould I be there?" I asked
"Let's see, we have an interview in 10 minutes, then
we have a meet & greet with some
fans, we'd be ready by 12.30 pm, can you get here by
let's say 1:00 pm?"
"Yep, I'll be waiting in the loby by 1:00" I said,
already thinking about what to wear
"Ok, I'll find you there, see ya.."
"bye Kevin" I said and we both hung up.
"Who was that?" Judith asked "having a boyfriend
without telling me? that's so not you.."
she teased me.
Judith and I were almost unseperable as sisters, I
was 20 and Judith was 15, almost 16.
We could talk to eachother about everything, school,
our parents, music, and especially
boys. Judith was more like the flirt type, she was 5'6
tall, long blond hair, brown eyes, she
was good looking. She was not shy at all, opposite of
me. I was 5'7 and had long brown
hair, brown eyes and I wasn't a "babe" like my kid
sis, but I thought I was OK. I wasn't
very outgoing but rather prety shy around strangers.
"No.. he's not my boyfriend, he's just SOME guy I met
last night at the restaurant, I'm
gonna show him around town later" I said with a huge
grin on my face.
"Ok, first off, you are smiling just a bit to hard for
him to be SOME guy you met, I know
you better than that, so either you tell me the whole
storry or I'm gonna blast "WE'VE
GOT IT GOIN' ON" through my cd player all day long.
"Don't you dare doing that .. but I'm gonna play save,
yours or mine?" I said, referring to
who's bedroom we were gonna spent the next half our
gossiping about Kevin.
"yours, defintely".
~ ~ ~ ~
"..., so that's how we met, and I'm gonna take him
around town this afternoon. I'm looking
forward to this so much, I mean, I really like him,
but I don't think that's a good thing,
you know, he's in a boyband, and he's probably gonna
be touring around a lot, he'll have
loads of girls chasing him everywhere.." I was
begining to have second thoughts about
everything.
"Hey El, if you like him, you should just go and have
a great time, I mean, what's there to
lose... by the way, what's the band called? maybe I've
heard of them.." Judith asked
"oh, jude, now you're asking me something, I don't
know, I mean, we've talked about it,
but I can't remember him saying a bandname, I'll ask
him, ok?"
"yeah, hey no biggy, so have you figured out already
what you're gonna do, are you
showing the guy around or what?!"
"Yeah, I'm gonna show him around, I mean, I think I'm
not as shy around him as I usually
get around strangers, now that I've come to think of
it, I wasn't shy at all last night,
neither nervous, huh, whada ya say 'bout that??" I
said, starting to feel prety comfortable
about this whole Kevin thing.
"that's just great,now, let's see what you're gonna
wear!" Judith said enthusiastic.
~ ~ ~ ~
*In the mean time in Kevin's hotel room*
"Let's see, we have an interview in 10 minutes, then
we have a meet & greet with some
fans, we'd be ready by 12:30 am, can you get here by
let's say 1:00 pm?"
"Yep, I'll be waiting in the loby by 1:00"
"Ok, I'll find you there, see ya.."
"bye Kevin" Elka said and they both hung up.
Brian had entered the room without knocking, he heard
the last words of a conversation
between Kevin and someone on the phone.
"Hey 'cuz, what's up? was that Donna?" Brian asked,
flipping on the TV and surfing the
channels.
"Don't you know how to knock, and no that was not
Donna, that was Elka" Kevin said
looking at his watch.
"Who's Elka?" Brian asked watching MTV, Boyz II Men
was on.
"That's the girl I met last night at the restaurant,
I'm meeting her this afternoon" He was
putting a clean shirt on, a grey Tommy Hilfiger shirt.
By now, Brian had turned off the
TV.
"Oh, was she that cute waitress?"
"Yep, that's the one, she's really nice, I think I
like her"
"wowo kev, you know how Donna feels about us seeing
girls right, I mean..."
"Yo Bri, chil, she's just gonna show me around town,
we're gonna have lunch and do
some shopping, what's wrong with that?" Kevin asked
with his hands on his thigh looking
Brian right in the eye
"nothing's wrong with that girl showing you around
town, but I saw you looking at her
last night and a minute ago you sounded very happy
talking to her, I just don't think you
should really get involved with someone, not now, I
mean, this could be the big thing,
and I don't want you to throw it all away for some
girl" Brian said giving his opinion, but
pissing kevin off
"Bri listen to me, she's not some girl, so don't you
give me this shit, I know what I'm
doing and I also know it's non of your or Donna's damn
buisinesses, I'm just gonna have a
great afternoon with Elka and I'm not stupid, I'm not
gonna give anything up yet. Believe
me, I've dreamt about this for years." Kevin said that
little more calm than he started
"beside we have to go now,we have that interview, I
don't want to keep them waiting"
Kevin said, walking out of the room, Brian following
him
"ok, just don't say I didn't warn you"
"Sure Bri.. look, would you please not tell the guys
yet, this is something I wanna be
careful with, just keep it for yourself for a sec ok?"
Kevin asked, being a little worried
about what the others would think about it
"OK man, if you need someone to talk to, you know I'm
here for ya"
"thanks cuz, I owe you one"
They walked to the elevator to meet up with Howie,
Nick and A.J in the loby, they left
for the interview fooling around, as always
CHAPTER 3
'Jeez, I hate it, why can't I just be relaxed.. this
is no big deal, what would he think if he
sees me sitting here so nervous… would he like my
perfume? Oh god, I can't stand
myself...'
I was in the loby waiting for Kevin, I was a little
early and was sitting in a chair from
where I had a view over the whole downstairs floor.
"Hey, are you Elka?" there was a guy standing next to
me, he was cute and he looked
familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him
before.
"ehm, yes that's me…" I said not sure what to say to
the guy.
"hi then, I'm Brian, I'm Kev's cousin, I was also
there at the birthday dinner in the
restaurant last night." he said figuring I didn't
recognised him immediately
"oh yeah, hi Brian, nice to meet you, isn't Kevin
coming?" I was already starting to feel
unsure about this, maybe he'd got cold feet, maybe he
didn't like me afterall...
"oh, yes, he'll be here in a few minutes, he had to
meet up with our manager and he does
have to change you know.." he said smiling "he wanted
me to tell you he'd be here as
soon as possible... so… in the mean time... do you
mind me keeping you company?"
Brian asked sheepishly.
"No, not at all, have a seat" I said, inviting Brian
to sit in the chair opposite mine.
"So, you live here in Belgium? It's a nice country
from what I've seen" Brian said to break
the ice.
"yep, I live here, it's not that nice you know, I'm
planning on moving to Canada or the
states after I graduate from college, I'm bored, I
wanna see new people, new countries,
countries with better weather" I smiled
Brian laughed. "well, if this whole thing works, we'd
be seeing a lot of new countries
soon, but you're right, the weather does suck here"
Brian said, looking out of the window,
rain was pooring down, and it was about 30°
We started talking about Europe, Brian was asking a
lot of questions, I didn't know the
answer to all of them, but I tried to be as exact as
possible.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Hi guys, can I interrupt?" Kevin said, he was
watching the two of them talking, and he
got a little upset seeing them getting along prety
good. It wouldn't be the first time that
Brian would get a girl that Kevin liked to date him.
He does know that Kevin likes Elka,
so he wouldn't do anything to make a move, but
still...
"Yeah, hi Kev, just keeping her company, what’s the
deal with Donna?" Brian asked
getting up, ready to leave.
"Oh, she asked me to look out after Nick and you, she
has had complains from the Hotel
staff about you guys running trough the hallways and
making too much noise..." Kevin said
with a slight grin on his face
"Well, dad… ain't muchya can do about it I'm afraid,
we're having a free afternoon, and
we're gonna tear the place down" Brian said in a funny
voice and ran to the elevator
screaming like a kid.
"Man, I really can't believe you guys are related..."
I said, getting up from the chair
"huh, oh, well.. I'm not 100% sure of it either, you
know, I think they swiched him with
some other kid by birth, we can't be of the same
genetic kind." Kevin said still shaking
his head at Brian.
"Well then... shall we go, the car is awaiting, my
lady" Kevin said in a funny brittish
accent, holding his arm out for me to hold on to. It
cracked me up and we walked out of
the hotel laughing
"That's our ride" Kevin said pointing at a little
rental car.
"Ok… I actually expected something a little more
classy for someone who is about to
conquer the world with his boyband." I said in joking
way.
Kevin was a little hurt thinking I was making fun
about the fact him being in a boyband,
but he just cracked me a smile and said
"well yeah, Donna asked me if we were gonna need a
limo, but I thought you wouldn't
like that, maybe you'd think I was trying to impress
you with a fancy car."
"Well, I probably would've thought that but it's every
girl's dream to ride in a limo with a
cutie like you" I said, but immediately thought 'oh my
god, what did I just say, that's so not
me, well he is cute though, but I shoudn't have said
it.'
Kevin was a litle surprised, he never thought I'd say
something like that, but it was a nice
compliment, and he felt his cheeks going red.
"Oh, if that's what you want, I'll keep that in mind
next time."
~ ~ ~ ~
We got in the car and I gave Kevin the directions.
When we arrived we got out of the car.
"So you said you know a place where we can have lunch,
I'm really hungry, wanna go
have lunch and then we can go do some shopping?" Kevin
asked rubbing his stomach.
"Yeah sure, it's around the corner, let's go."
We got our coats from the car, it was freezing and
Kevin was shivering like hell. We
walked to this little place called "Datonio's" it was
a small italian restaurant, I knew the
staff here, they were friends of my fathers.
When we entered I started talking french to one of the
waiters and gave him 2 kisses. He
lead us to a little table in the back of the
restaurant. When he left someone yelled
something at him from the kitchen he yelled back in
french
"Roberto, c'est Elka, la fille de Marco Russo"
(translation: Roberto, it's Elka, Marco Russo's
daugter ).
"Is that your boyfriend?" Kevin asked wondering why I
gave him 2 kisses.
"Karim? ... no he's a friend, I’ve known him since he
moved here about 6 years ago" I
said "I don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
"No I don't have a boyfriend, no girlfriend either"
Kevin laughed relieved about me being
still single.
~ ~ ~ ~
We started talking and he asked about my sister for
whom I had to buy a birthday present.
"So, do you have any idea for present?" I asked Kevin.
"Oh, I don't know, how old is she?"
"Turning 16 in 3 days."I told him.
"What about a cd?" Kevin suggested
"Oh yeah, there's this song she's been playing
nonstop, maybe that band has a full cd..."
"Do you know the title of the song?"
"yeah, I think it's ‘got it going on’ ... something
like that" I said trying to remember the
title.
Kevin choked on his piece of pizza, and looked at me.
"You ok Kevin?"
"Yeah yeah, that song, could it be 'We've got it going
on'?"
"Yes, that's it, you know it?"
"Ehm, yeah kinda, do you like it?" he asked me
"well, at first I thought it was a prety cool song,
but I've heard it like a million times the
past week and I'm getting a little bored of it, but
hey, those guys can sing!" I said with
some enthusiasm in my voice.
'Oh god, she thinks we can sing … that's good … should
I tell her or not … I don't know,
maybe I should be honnest from the beginning … I think
she'd appreciate that' Kevin
thought while I interrupted him in his thinking.
"What're you thinking about, you've been quiet a
while.. have I said something wrong?" I
asked looking kevin in the eyes.
"No, it's just that … that song your sister likes,
well... ehm... how do I tell you this..."
"What about that song, you can tell me, I'm not gonna
laugh at you if you like it..."
"No, it's not that ... well ... it's just ... you know
... that's our song ... me and the guys are
the Backstreet Boys, we sing that song." Kevin said,
looking at his piza.
"Really? ... well, I've been wondering if you were a
good singer ... guess now I know ...
you're great." I said putting my hand on his.
"Hey … you really are Kevin" I said looking into his
eyes, they looked realy happy, he
smiled at me and whispered
"you don't know what that means to me, you know … I
really like you and I was a little
nervous about maybe you not liking our music at all
... 'cause you have to know that
music means everything for me ..." he said smiling.
"Well.. I'm glad it means a lot to you, 'cause I think
I really like you too." I said, still
holding Kevin's hand.
"You do? I mean, I saw you with Brian and I wasn't
sure you liked me, I thought maybe
you'd like him, he's had much more girls falling for
him, they all say he's so sweet and
something about his smile..." Kevin said
"I like Brian, but not the way I like you, I think
he's cool, and he's cute, but you have
something special, something mysterious and that
attracs me in guys, and about that
smile, I think that runs in the family.." I said.
Kevin's cheek got red, and he smiled "you're too nice"
"oh, that's so sweet, you're blushing"
We finished our meal talking about everything you can
possibly think of.
CHAPTER 4
I was looking around for some new cd 's when I bumbed
into the BSB album.
Kevin was listening to a Boyz II Men cd, I walked over
to him with the cd and tapped
Kevin on his shoulder and said "you look cute on a cd
cover" he jumped up
"god, you scared me, I was focusing so hard on this
song… I didn't saw you comming"
Kevin said when he took of his headphones.
"What song?" I asked
"uhm ... End Of The Road by Boyz II Men" Kevin said
"Oh, I love that song, Boyz II Men are so great ..." I
said.
"Yeah … I see you found our cd?" He looked at it
"Yes, I might buy it for Judith, we still have to find
her a present, you know…" I added
"We?" Kevin asked, a little surprised I used that
word, it sounded weard but cool.
"Yeah, you told me you'd help me find her a present, I
can't do this without you.." I said
with a puppy-dog-face.
"Did I tell you that? Well, I'm a man of my word ...
forget about the cd, I think I've got
something much better, come on" Kevin said with a
crazy look on his face I didn't trust,
he took my hand and led me out of the store.
"Where are we going?" I asked when Kevin called a cab
"Back to the hotel, I need to talk to a few people."
"About what??" I asked, not being very at ease.
"I'll tell you as soon as I know it's gonna be ok with
everybody, I just don't wanna set your
hopes up, I think I have a great plan for your sisters
birthdaypresent."
~ ~ ~ ~
I was sitting in a chair in Kevin's hotel room, Kevin
was in the room next door, I knew
Brian was in there together with a guy I recognised
from the birthday dinner last night. I
had no idea what they were talking about. Suddenly the
door opened, Kevin stepped in
with 4 guys (including Brian and the guy I recognised)
and one older woman folowing
him.
"Elka, let me introcude you to the Boys, you know
Brian already" Kevin said
"Hi Elka, nice to see ya again"
"hey Brian" I said, now standing next to Kevin
"this is A.J." he said, referring to the guy she
recognised from last night
"Hey Elka, nice to meet ya" A.J. said and he shook my
hand
"Hello A.J., like your hair" (his hair was dyed blue
at the moment)
"This is Howie" Kevin said
"Hi Elka, how are you?" Howie asked, giving me a hand
kiss
"I'm fine thanks, Howie"
"And the little one is Nicky, he was the birthday boy
last night, he just turned 16" Kevin
said teasing Nick.
"Hi Elka, my name is NICK, nice to meet ya" Nick said,
shooting a look at Kevin.
"Hey Nick, happy birthday, can I give you
birthday kisses?" I asked Nick, he looked at
Kevin who had a don't -you-dare-kiss-her-she's-mine
look in his eyes.
"Why sure you can" and I gave Nick 3 kisses.
"Ok, enough kissing. Elka, this is our manager Donna
... Donna, this is Elka" Kevin said
interupting Nick and me.
"Hello, pleased to meet you Elka, Kevin told us you
were looking for a birthday present
for your sister?" Donna told me
"Well.. yeah, kinda, I was thinking about a cd from
those guys, but Kevin wouldn't let me
buy one, could some one please explain me why I'm
here?" I asked, looking at Kevin,
who walked towards me
"Well, the thing is, I had this great idea, you told
me Judith liked our song so I figured …
why not give her a little private concert by the
Backstreet Boys, starring us of course, but
also you.." Kevin said smiling at me
"Me? Why me?" I asked unsecure
"Well, you remember our little conversation? I do, you
told me you played the piano, so I
figured, why don't you play a song on the piano and we
sing it" Kevin said enthousiastic.
"Oh, I don't know, I'm not that good, but I like the
idea … are you guys sure you wanna
do that, I mean, I guess you are pretty busy and
stuff" I asked towards the guys but
looking at Donna.
"Wel, Kevin kinda bribed us into doing it" Donna joked
"no, seriously, they'd love to do
it, and I don't mind, we can fit it in our schedule"
Donna told me.
"Ok, that's fine by me, Jude's gonna be so happy,
this'll be the best birthday she'll ever
have, you guys are great" I said looking at Kevin
who's eyes were shining.
"Ok, that's setteled, Howie and A.J., Denise wants to
talk to the two of you, Nick and
Brian, you boys come with me … Kevin, you take care of
the performance. I'll see you
tonight?" Donna said, trying to give me and Kevin a
moment on our own
"sure Donna, thanks again" Kevin nodded. Everybody
left the room saying bye to Kevin
and me, Nick and Brian were very quiet, they knew they
were gonna be in trouble.
When everyone left I turned around to see Kevin
standing there smiling at me.
I walked towards him and said "You are the sweetest
guy I have ever met.." Kevin
slipped his arms around my waist and whispered
"thank you, would you mind me kissing you?"
"of course not, I'd love you to"
"Ok"
I closed my eyes and softly our lips met, very gentel
at first, then more passionate, we
started laughing in between the kisses. And Kevin said
with this huge grin on his face
"You know I'm gonna have to see you again now" I
smiled
"You bet you are gonna see me again".