"Nice shot" I said sarcastically as Brian's shot rang off the backboard and hit the pavement.
"Well we can't all be as perfect as you, as long as I am slam dunkin in the bedroom it's all good little man" Brian shot back with a grin.
"Frack your cell is singing the mexican hat dance again" Brian said in referrance to the ring pattern that I had chosen for my phone.
I lunged for my phone and tried to catch my breath "Hello"
"Mr Carter?"
"This is Nick, who is this?" I asked, knowing that Avery was the voice on the other end of the phone.
"It's Avery, Avery Sims, I am returning your call."
"Oh Avery, how are you?" I stretched out on the basketball court and stared up an amused Brian who was standing above me. "I called because after much consideration I decided that my house needed a pick me up, a new colour scheme and look. Of course I immediatly thought of you"
"That's wonderful,I am so excited about getting a chance to work on that beautiful house, when would you like to schedule an appointment to meet with me about your plans for the house?"
"How about tonight?" I blurted out and then silently cursed myself for being overanxious and losing the professional persona I had been carrying on with.
"I usually don't do business in the evening but because I owe you for being so horrible the other day I will make an exception. How about 7?" Avery couldn't believe how bad she was shaking as she talked to the handsome blonde man on the phone.
"7 it is, I will see you then Miss Sims, if you forget how to get here or something comes up you have my cell number." I hung up and looked at Brian. "That was easier then I expected."
Avery glanced at her assistant across the desk from her, who was was staring at her expectantly. "We are meeting tonight, at 7, at his house"
"That a girl Ave" Jenn grinned "So what are you going to wear?"
~~**~~
I smoothed down my hair that always seemed to look messy no matter how hard I tried to tame it. I checked on the vanilla that was simmering on the stove. Howie had taught me one of his tricks of the trade. Always simmer vanilla on the stove when you are expecting a female visitor, it makes her more at ease and it makes your house feel more homey, and it turn they tend to open up more and be more comfortable with you.
I listen to Howie when it comes to women. While everyone else is settling down Howie is enjoying his single status, hell he gets more action then any of us. It's a well documented fact that he loves women, as the night in the hot tub with 5 women will attest to. Howie is making a name for himself outside of the Backstreet Boys, hell the women who formed an internet family called Howie's Hootchies don't call him the King of SHWING for nothing. I heard the doorbell announce Avery's arrival and I started out of the room and downstairs to the front door.
I ran my hands through my hair and then opened the door "Hello Avery" "God she is beautiful" I thought to myself. She had obviously come straight from work as her light linen dress and jacket attested to. "Come on in" I caught a good glimpse of her legs when she walked ahead of me and believe me when I tell you her calves looked incredible in heels. "I thought we could sit and talk about what I wanted to do with the house and then I would take you on a tour. Is that okay, I mean you are the expert, I am just the one with the hideous ex who forced me to live with her hideous choice of decorating"
Avery broke into a huge smile and self conciously pulled on her dress's hem
"Nick this house is incredible, the light is fabulous, there is alot to work with"
~~**~~
"I hope I am not being too blunt but what was she thinking? How could she ever have painted this room such a shocking colour?" Avery asked, as I showed her my pepto bismol bathroom.
"She always said I gave her heartburn, I guess she wanted to be reminded of her best friend, Pepto" I grimaced, I was trying way to hard to get a laugh. "I was thinking that maybe a blue colour would work well here. I love the ocean"
"Hence the shark tattoo huh?"
I looked at her, how did she know about my tattoo?
"I saw it the other day, when you were out on your boat." Avery explained. "Nick you have given me alot of ideas to work with. I will take a look at my notes and come up with some mock ups and bring them to you to look at, if you like what I am offering then we can take it from there" Avery stood up and reached for her briefcase. "I will get back to you within the week"
Damn, she is leaving, stall her Carter..."Umm would you care for a drink before you leave?" I asked.
Avery studied my face, I am not quite sure what she was searching for but whatever it was she must have found it. "That would be nice, do you have herbal tea?"
"I do, let me put the kettle on" I walked into the kitchen and filled the kettle with water and set it on the burner.
"Nick, my assistant just called, one of my crews need my approval for some changes, I am sorry but I have to leave" Avery peeked her head into the kitchen "I am so sorry, why don't I call you later on in the week and we can have our meeting over lunch, my treat for running out on you tonight"
"Sure, call me and let me know" I walked her to the door "drive safetly" and I closed the door. Another night of bonding with my remote, while all my friends were cuddling with their wives, fiancees and girlfriends I was playing let's find something without love and passion in it with my television and remote. There had to be something better then this. 20 years old and the closest thing I had to romance was all those dumb ass chessy chick flicks that Mandah used to make me watch to get tips from. I threw down the remote and covered my face with a pillow.
I threw the sheet music to the floor and stormed out of the recording booth. I was in what AJ would call "Nicky's Pissy Mood" and I couldn't explain why. The recording for the new album was going incredible and we would be leaving for Sweden in 2 days to record some more tracks. I needed out of Florida and I needed out now. I was drowning.
~~**~~
Avery stepped off the plane and instantly recognized the almost white blonde hair of her best friend, who was waiting in the terminal for her. For the past 2 weeks she had been in Paris, an emergency had come up on an art gallery she was working on and she had ended up working day and night to fix it. The steel workers had decided to strike and without them the gallery would not have been ready in time for the gala opening, for which ministers, dignataries and the CLintons were flying in to attend. The strike had ended and progress on the gallery was moving along back on schedule.
Avery's best friend Sabine had moved to Sweden 10 years ago to do modelling and acting and she was now one of the most popular television stars in Europe. She had met a fellow american who was employed with a Swedish bank and they were getting married 6 days from now. Avery had flown in early to help her best friend finish up the last minute arrangements and also to take a much needed vacation.
Avery settled her carry on luggage's strap onto her shoulder and ran to hug her best friend.
~~**~~
"I am sorry Mr. Carter but Miss Sims will be out of the country for the next couple of weeks, was there a problem with her quote, is there something I can help you with" her assistant asked.
I hung up the phone. I had waited paitently by the phone for the past two weeks waiting for her to call me, there was something about her that made her linger on my mind. It wasn't a romantic interest, more like an aura that drew me to her. I couldn't explain it. I turned my attention to the task I hated more then cleaning the bathroom sink of toothpaste spit, I started to pack for our recording trip to Sweden.
~~**~~
"God Ave you look incredible, the short hair makes you look even more beautiful then you already were" Sabine and Avery walked towards the stretch limo that would take them to Sabine's flat.
"Look at you, Miss I am Diva baby, if I didn't know any better I would think you were in love" Avery teased as she settled into the plush leather seats.
"I can't wait for you to meet him, he is my dream come true" Sabine's voice waivered and from the far off, dreamy expression on her face Avery knew her best friend was thinking of the man who stole her heart. "So what about you, any stallions to report?"
"Stallions? Sweet jesus Sabine...no there are none"
"Well we will soon change that, Holden has lots of handsome and RICH friends" Sabine teased "We will get you a date for my wedding"
"Lord girl, give me some time to rest, I came to see you, not some man I hardly know. I came to relax"
"And relax you will, swedish men are incredible with their hands" Sabine winked and the women burst into laughter.
"Tell me again how I got stuck shopping with you?" I asked as AJ dragged me into another store. We had no sooner settled into our hotel rooms when he was knocking on my door telling me to get ready and that we were going shopping.
"Howie and Brian are already gone to the studio to talk to Max and Kevin and Kristin are so far up each other's asses they will have to spread each other's cheeks to see daylight" AJ explained "Shit look at this shirt, this would look great on you" he handed me the shirt "Go try it on"
~~**~~
"Bone this is really not for me" I muttered from the dressing room, AJ really was not too inept at picking out clothes for me, I am an ordinary no frills kind of guy, even at the Grammys when we performed with Elton I wore a shirt and tie but my shirt was not tucked in, something the press had a field day with. I rolled my eyes as he handed me another shirt.
~~**~~
"We are going to find the perfect maid of honour dress for you if it is the last thing we do" Sabine said as she and Avery searched the racks in Armani. "Look at this one"
"Sabbie that should be illegal, your mother will have a heartattack if I walk down the aisle in that" Avery giggled and held up a simple, long and fitted wine coloured dress. "How about this"
Sabbie crunched up her nose "You'll put everyone to sleep in that, it's so plain"
"But I am a plain person"
"Not for my wedding you aren't. Try this on"
~~**~~
"Well we got the dress, we got your shoes and I ordered the flowers months ago. I think we deserve a latte" Sabbie linked her arm through Avery's and they walked towards the coffee shop.
~~**~~
"I am beat, let's stop and get a smoothie" AJ suggested, "My treat"
"Are you sure your credit card can handle 4 more dollars?" I teased "You are a one man shopping machine Bone, I have never seen anyone whip out a credit card as fast as you, except for maybe" My thoughts turned to my ex, she was constantly shopping and running my credit cards up to dangerously high levels.
"I know buddy, I know" AJ patted my shoulder and steered me towards the coffee shop. We took our place behind a tall, short haired brunette and a short and very well built blonde with a great ass. Bone and I examined both women and made gestrues as we waited to place our order. The brunette paid for her latte and turned to walk away from me, I instantly recognized her big blue eyes "Avery?"
"Nick? Oh my god what are you doing here?" I was surprised by Avery's happiness and excitement to see me.
"I am here for a couple of weeks working on some songs? What brings you here?" I asked "Real smooth Carter, what brings you here" I thought to myself.
"My best friend is getting married, I am so sorry I didn't call you, I was in Paris for an emergency, Jenn couriered the contract and thumbnails to you though, right?"
"Yes, they are great and I can't wait to get started on them." I heard AJ fidgeting behind me "Avery this is AJ, AJ this is Avery Sims, she will be redecorating my house when I get back to Florida"
"We already met, remember Nick, the first time you and Avery met" AJ pointed out.
"How could I forget" we both answered at the same time. We looked at each other and started to laugh. "Nick this is Sabine" I shook the beautiful blonde's hand and smiled "Pleased to meet you." "I see you bought out the store" I pointed towards the bags at their feet.
"I had to find a dress for Avery and we had last minute running around to do" Sabine explained as her phone rang, "excuse me for a moment"
AJ got the hint quick and made a lame excuse about going to check in with his sick aunt in America, leaving Avery and I alone. "So how long have you been here?"
"A couple of days and I am seriously thinking of pulling up my tent pegs and relocating here. No wonder Sabine never comes back to the states, it is incredible here"
I laughed "It was beautiful, the first 4 times I was here" I cursed myself again "I hope that didn't come out as conceited as it sounded, all I meant was when you travel as much as I do, all the cities seem to merge into one another, creating a muddled landscape."
I saw Sabine motioning towards me out of the corner of my eye "UM Nick, do you have plans for tonight?" Avery asked me.
"No, not really, it is our first night here, aside from meetings I think my calendar is free"
"Sabine is having a pre wedding party and I thought since I will know nobody there and will end up sitting like a bump on the log, that I might atleast have someone I know keep me company." Avery fiddled with the ring on her finger while she waited for my answer.
"That would be great, I may be late though so why don't you give me the adress and I can meet you there"
~~**~~
"So you asked him, I am impressed." Sabine teased her friend "With a cutie like that on your arm we need to diva-fy you girl, time to hit the next store" Sabine dragged her protesting friend off towards Donna Karan.
~~**~~
"Well let me be the first to congratulate you on snaring that hottie" Bone slapped my shoulder "Nick she is beautiful, a little more meatier then I like but beautiful nonetheless."
"Bone it isn't like that, I think she is cool and she makes me laugh but she isn't my type"
"Yeah okay, now I remember, your type is the ice princess who
only likes you
as long as your bank account is fat and dumps your ass when
you get fat.
That's right, you don't like women who send you an incredibly
personal
apology gift that you raved about for weeks" AJ hit his hand
to his forehead
"How dumb can I be" he said sarcastically. "Come on Romeo in
denial we need
to find you a suit to wear tonight"
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