A Day in the Life Of... (Day 147) Ann Arbor
"I hate radio stations." Howie grumbled, drinking coffee steadily as they walked into the studio.
"Shhh." Brian whispered. "The mics are live." They were making an appearance on a local morning show. Morning, unfortunately, being 7am, which meant they were all up at the unhappy hour of 5.
Chris grumbled into her coffee about not being a Backstreet Boy, how it wasn't fair she had to go to the interview too. It was getting scary how popular she was, there were websites dedicated to her now, she was stuck wearing baseball caps and sunglasses in public just like the guys, and she now had her own cluster of fans when the guys stopped to sign autographs. She was just starting to realize how much she didn't want this for herself, and it was at the point where she couldn't stop it.
"Welcome guys and gal," the DJ started with a corny grin, "care to introduce yourselves?"
"Hi, I'm Kevin."
"B-Rok here."
"This is Howie-D."
"Name's AJ, but you can call me Bone, baby."
Chris was laughing when the DJ looked at her. "Oh, hi, I'm Chris. I'm not a Backstreet Boy."
"I think they can guess that," Nick laughed. "I'm Nick. I am a Backstreet Boy."
"You're the youngest Backstreet Boy, right Nick?" The DJ asked.
"Yup."
"You just had a birthday though, right? How old are you now?"
"21."
"Wow, that's a big one, did you have a special lady to share the day with?"
Nick rolled his eyes. No matter where the interview was, with who, they always ended up asking the same question. "Nope, nobody special."
"Aww, I bet a lot of ladies would be glad to fill that role. Now Kevin, you're married, right?"
"Yes I am."
"Is it hard, being married and a Backstreet Boy?"
"As hard as it is being married and anything else, I suppose. Marriage isn't easy, but my wife and I love each other, and we want to make it work." He says into the microphone, looking directly at the DJ.
"And you're engaged, right Brian?"
"Yup."
"When's the wedding?"
Brian laughed. "We've set the date, but sorry, I'm not telling anyone. We hope to keep it private, if you know what I mean."
"So that's 2 down, who's next to go?"
"Probably AJ." Howie offered, laughing when AJ scowled.
"Shut up."
"Not the marrying kind, AJ?" the DJ asks.
"Not that, just, there's always another rumor popping up that I'm engaged. I'm not, ok?"
"Gotcha. I'm here with the Backstreet Boys, and we're playing The One, right after this.." the DJ wraps it up, and they leave, another pointless interview over and done with.
*************************************************
Chris waited backstage for her song to come up, thinking over the last couple of weeks. She'd settled into a routine of sorts, going back to her hotel room and staring at the ceiling for a few hours every night, eventually falling asleep. Her and Nick were being civil to each other, at least, but they weren't back to the way they'd been before, not even close. He hadn't come to her room once, at night, or even tried to really talk to her, and she hadn't gone to him either. Just didn't seem right, anymore.
"Hey." Julia shouted to be heard over the music and screams coming from the stage. "The guys are looking a little tired out there."
"We didn't get a lot of sleep last night, between the concert and the radio thing this morning." Chris explained, holding up her coffee up. "I'm still chugging the stuff down, and will be until I'm done dancing and can go to sleep."
"This was fun, once." Julia said wistfully, looking out at the stage. "I feel like I could probably dance that with them now, though."
Chris nods. "It's a job. A fun one, but it's still a job. I think we forgot that." As the lights go out, Chris hands Julia her coffee cup. "I'm on, see you back at the hotel later."
"Good luck!"
***************************************
Chris sat down on the bed in her hotel room and flicked on the TV, the familiar sounds of CNN filling the air. She gave a start when her cellphone rang, and reached over to get it. "Yup?"
"Hello!" Lisa sang into her ear. "How's Ohio?"
"We're in Michigan now, I think." Chris laughed, glad to hear her friend's voice. "How are you?"
"Ok, work's a bitch, but I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off. I was thinking about going to New York, for some reason I remember you saying you'd be there?"
"Get in Sunday night, leave Tuesday, you should definitely come!" Monday was Valentine's Day, it would be great to have her best friend there.
"You have Monday off?"
"A talk show in the morning, at 10, I think? But that's it for the day."
"Oh cool. We should do something."
"I need a haircut badly, and I need to go shopping." Chris looked at her suitcases wistfully. "My clothes are turning to mush from living in bags."
"Ok, so we'll do that. Then we'll do something fun." Lisa laughed. "What talk show, Monday?"
"Rosie O'Donnell? I love her, she's twisted...for Valentine's Day, we're performing Don't Want You Back. Dance and all."
"Oooh, can I come?" Lisa yelled into Chris' ear. "That'd be so much fun!"
"Sure, why not." Chris grabbed her bag, checked her flight information. "I don't land until 11pm Sunday night though, you just want to meet at the studios Tuesday?"
"You bet, give me the address."
Chris read the information out to her best friend and hung up the phone, feeling a thousand times better than she did before talking to her. Valentine's Day goofing around NYC with Lisa. That she could handle.
************************************************
A Day in the Life Of... (Day 150) New York City
Everyone had gotten new outfits for the dance to wear on the show, all in tight leather, the guys in black, Chris in red. Julia was laughing as she found the group complaining and trying to stretch their clothes in the green room before the show. "Not fans of leather are you?"
"This is cheap leather," AJ complained, doing a knee bend in the tight pants. "I'd rather not wear any pants at all, thanks."
"That'd go over real well, AJ." Chris laughed, trying to hold her tummy in as tight as possible. She knew how the guys felt, she felt like her legs were encased in plastic, how was she supposed to dance in these things? She had to admit, everyone did look really good in the outfits though, the loose shirts combined with the skintight pants on bottom were striking.
"We'll be ok." Brian tried to do a kick, letting out a squeal when his leg didn't go as high as he wanted. "Or not." He grabbed Leighanne in a hug, laughing. "Will you still love me when I can't dance?"
"You can dance now?" She giggled, smacking his rear in the pants. "I like leather, personally."
Chris watched the two joke around, envious. Leighanne, Amanda and Kristen had met the guys in the city last night, and things seemed back to normal for them all. She resisted the urge to throw some salt on them and turned to Julia. "There coffee here?"
"Here." Nick called to her from the coffee table. "That's regular." He pointed.
"Thanks," Chris accepted a cup, quickly looking him over. She hadn't really looked at him in weeks, he'd been losing weight again, that much was evident. Even the leather pants the rest of them had squeezed into were less than skin tight on Nick.
"You look good." He said softly, pointing to her outfit.
"You too." She replied, concentrating on the coffee in front of her. He looked awful, but she wasn't about to say that. That would lead to her asking why he looked so awful, and hugging him or something, and that would just be bad.
Chris heard a scream behind her, and turned to find Lisa barreling towards her. The two hugged tight, all thoughts of Nick and coffee forgotten. "I was starting to wonder if you'd make it, we go on in 10 minutes!"
"Traffic was awful." Lisa looked Chris over, "holy, girl, look at the pants."
"Yeah, I know, they're terrible, aren't they?"
"Fuck no, you look hot!" Lisa looked around the room, taking in the sights. "The guys look hot too, jesus, did someone warn Rosie she's going to need to cool down the audience?"
Chris laughed. "It's Valentine's Day, I guess that's the idea."
"So twisted." Lisa looked up as a producer stuck their head in and told them to get to the stage. "Looks like it's time for you guys to go."
"Yup." Chris took a final sip of coffee and followed the guys out of the room.
Chris and Julia watched from offstage as Rosie started introducing the Backstreet Boys, playing clips of their songs as the audience screamed. Finally she went one by one, describing each as a 'major hottie' and called out their names. They walked out to deafening screams and sat on the couch next to her.
Rosie did a short interview with the guys, covering mostly generic material, how the tour had gone so far, when a new album would be out. She asked each of them what their plans for Valentine's Day were, Nick and Howie both fumbling over their answers, saying they would probably end up playing Nick's Playstation 2 all night. Interview done, she sent them off to a commercial break with a promise of a live performance when they returned.
Chris joined the guys on stage, laughing when Rosie hugged her tight.
"I've seen the show since the beginning, you're so great!" Rosie gushed, leaving Chris speechless. This wasn't supposed to happen. Wow. "And you and Nicky, how heartbreaking." She said in a stage whisper.
"Thanks," Chris hugged her back, not knowing what else to say. "I love your show too, thank you so much."
"We'll talk." Rosie told her with a smile. "We're at 2 minutes, you'd better get in place."
Chris got in her spot behind Nick, and waited for the show to return from commercial. She heard Rosie scream an introduction in her earpiece, the music started, and then they were on. When it was all over, she didn't think they'd ever done the dance so perfectly. Maybe it was the fear that they couldn't move right in the leather, so they were trying harder, maybe it was knowing they were on national television...whatever it was, she knew they'd done very VERY well. For the first time, for her anyway, it wasn't a matter of remembering steps, it was just dancing. Moving to the music, feeling the passion of the song....a girl who wants a guy. But the guy knows, and the guys friends know, that the girl's no good for the guy. So they can't be together.
Happy Valentine's Day, America, from the Backstreet Boys.
********************************************
Nick and Howie returned to the hotel immediately after the show, setting up the console on the main television in the suite.
"You guys really going to do that all day?" Brian came out of his room, dressed in a suit and tie.
"Yup." Nick flipped on the system and settled back. "Playstation and room service."
"We're in New York, you guys should get out, do something fun."
"Don't want to be recognized." Nick shrugged. "It's easier to stay here."
"Don't be silly, Nicky, it's New York. People don't care who you are." Brian urged his friends to relax, have fun. They were both starting to look like shells of their former selves, pale and drawn.
"Maybe later." Howie said to appease Brian, picking up a controller. "What are we gonna play?"
Brian shook his head. "Leighanne's waiting for me, I'll see you guys later."
"Cya Frick." Nick waved a goodbye, turning to the television. "Tekken Tag."
And the battles were on.
***********************************************
Chris and Lisa got haircuts and manicures at Elizabeth Arden, shopped up a storm on Madison Avenue, took in a showing of Casablanca, and ended up at a bar downtown, drinking creamy frozen toasted almonds, getting tipsy.
"I love that movie." Chris sighed, images of Bogey dancing through her mind.
"Yeah, I know." Lisa clicked her drink to Chris', taking a long sip. "Not a happy ending, though, he leaves her."
"That's because he knows he has to let her go." Chris lit a cigarette. "He loves her enough to leave her, it's very romantic."
"Romance is overrated." Lisa sniffs. "Speaking of romance, where's Julia?"
Chris shook her head. "Not sure, I saw her this morning at the studio quickly, but then she left. She may be back at the office, handing in tonight's show."
"And what's tonight's episode about?"
"How lonely all the guys got last week, how tired everyone was. Something with being in the Midwest, snow as far as the eye could see, it was very depressing. Next week we'll run the stuff we tape today, go from sad to happy."
"Julia still sleeping with Kevin? Or is he not lonely anymore?"
"I don't know." Chris confided in her friend. "Brian suspects something, I can tell that much. And Julia's been acting kind of strange too, but there are so many reasons she could be acting weird that don't involve Kevin. Last week's episode being one."
"That was kinda harsh, yeah." Lisa had seen the episode, and knew that it wasn't telling the whole story. "How is Nick?"
"I have no idea." She sighed, the fact that she really didn't know hurt more than she could have imagined. She used to know everything that was going on with him, used to be there to make it better. He'd totally shut her out. "We barely talk now."
"Who do you talk to, then?"
Chris shook her head. "Nobody, really. Brian, a little, Julia, a little. And Fatima tries, but she's so firmly in Nick's corner it's frustrating at times. He isn't perfect, you know? He's fallible, just like the rest of us, and she refuses to see it."
"What's Fatima think you should do?"
"Go running to Nick, tell him I love him."
"Do you still?"
"That doesn't just go away, of course I do." Chris stubbed out her cigarette and finished off her drink. "We'll always have the Caribbean," she said dramatically.
"You're not Ingrid Bergman, Chris, and the Caribbean sure as hell ain't Paris."
"But Nicky is my Bogey." Chris ran a hand through her new haircut, feeling it fluff around her face. "I know what we had was special, that one of a kind sort of thing. Like them. Just not meant to be."
"You're such a romantic." Lisa grumbled. "Get your head out of the clouds, would you?
Meet someone new, have some fun."
"I'm not in one place long enough to meet anyone." "Chris, stop thinking every kiss has to last forever. You can enjoy a guy for a night, you know. It'd be good for you to just get out and get laid."
"I'm alright, I don't need to."
"It's been, what, almost two months, right?"
"Barely one, Lisa." Chris could still feel Nick's body pressed against hers, still remember every detail of their weekend together. How could she be with anyone else, after that?
"Still, time to get laid. It had been way too long before Nick, you're probably thinking it was so good because you hadn't had it in so long." Lisa said matter-of-factly. "So you need to get out and get some before you forget what it's like again. And don't tell me you're not horny, I saw you dancing today, darling."
"I guess."
****************************************
"What's this one?" Nick held up another bottle. He had been digging through the box of liquor MTV had given him for his birthday, along with Howie, tasting every bottle. And they were both smashed.
"Looks like it says whiskey?" Howie reached over to grab the bottle and fell to the floor, laughing hysterically. "Give me."
Nick dropped the bottle onto Howie's chest, laughing when the man groaned. "Sorry D."
"It's a good thing I can't feel pain now." Howie opened the bottle and sniffed, making a face. "This smells as bad as that last one." He really didn't like hard liquor, but taste testing them all like this was fun.
"I think I'm going to stick with this one." Nick had found the bottle of Amaretto, and was drinking it like it was soda.
"I want....water." Howie lay on his back on the floor, licking his lips. "Got any water up there, Nick?"
"Nope." Nick drank some more, laughing when the room suddenly spun under him. "Shit."
"What?"
"Nothing." Nick stood up to go to the bathroom and promptly sat back down, head in his hands. "I gotta piss."
"So go, Nicky." Howie smacked Nick's leg from his spot on the ground. "Just get up and go. And get water while you're up."
"Room spinning quickly." Nick muttered, grabbing the wall for support as he stood up. He slowly made his way into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Howie looked up as someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" He called, no way was he going to try to get up.
"Hey," Chris was standing on the other side, holding a big box of candy. "The fans downstairs asked me to give this to you guys." Chris looked closely at Howie on the floor. "You ok?"
"Fine," Howie reached out for the box. "Gimme." He accepted the red heart and tore into it, looking for the candy inside. "What are you doing here?"
"Stopped by looking for Julia, Lisa wanted to say hi." She pointed to her friend. "You remember Lisa, right?"
"Sure." Howie waved. "I haven't seen Julia, but you two want to come in? We're sampling the liquors of the world." He laughed. "Although I think I'm alone at the moment, my drinking partner seems to have fallen in the toilet."
"I heard that," Nick stumbled out of the bathroom, and quickly crossed the room, lying face down on the couch. "I'm here."
"You don't happen to have any water, do you?" Howie asked.
"I do," Lisa held up her bottle, handing it to Howie.
"I love you." Howie accepted the bottle with a huge smile.
Lisa laughed, watching Howie drink as if he was dying of thirst. "Damn, the things liquor can do."
"So what'd you do today?" Nick asked, rolling over onto his side on the couch.
"Haircut, shopping, movie, drinking." Chris smiled. "Lots of nothing. You?"
"Playstation. And drinking." Nick looked at Howie. "Anything else?"
"We did a show this morning. And it's Valentine's Day." Howie pushed himself off the floor and handed the empty bottle back to Lisa. "Thanks, I owe you one."
"You guys eat anything today?" Chris asked. "Or did you just drink your dinner?"
"I think we ordered dinner at one point." Howie said thoughtfully. "Not sure where it went, though."
"I distinctly remember eating." Nick grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels. "Nothing's on tv except sappy movies."
"Any good sappy movies?" Chris looked at the tv.
Nick rolled his eyes. "There's no such thing." He changed the channel some more, stopped on a movie. "Howie, back me here, sappy movies are just bad, right?"
"Naw, they serve some purposes." Howie winked. "Nothing like a movie to get a girly in that touchy feely mood."
Lisa laughed. "Aah, yes, the 'crying on his shoulder during the sad movie' routine."
"Hey, it works."
"We were really good on Rosie today, weren't we." Nick said to Howie, watching a clip of the performance run on tv.
"Yeah." Howie nods. "Fatima called before, said we were great. You too, Chris."
Chris watched the clip, not recognizing herself rubbing up against Nick, being pushed around by Brian. The months on tour had changed her, the longer hair, the leaner body, the harsh makeup people loved to put on her, she actually looked like she belonged on stage with the guys. Not like the frazzled, frumpy MTV News reporter in a baggy dress who had started on tour with them 5 months ago. "Thanks."
"Alright, I gotta admit, you guys know how to work it." Lisa admitted grudgingly. While not exactly a fan, she had enjoyed the concert and the performance earlier that day.
"Why do I get the feeling that you hate to admit you like us?" Howie waved the whiskey bottle around for emphasis.
Lisa blushed and looked away. "Just not a fan, that's all."
"Why not?" Nick had picked up on Lisa's discomfort and was finding it as much fun as Howie. "Something wrong with liking us?"
"No..." Lisa squirmed, and looked to her best friend for support.
Chris just grinned, this was fun. "I love the Backstreet Boys, what about you Li?"
"I think I'm going to kill you," Lisa narrowed her eyes. "I guess I've just never really heard your music before, except the songs that are overplayed on the radio."
"Overplayed?" Howie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Seriously overplayed. The radio can kill the best of songs, when you've just heard it so many times you can't stand hearing it anymore."
"She's got a point there, I've gone from loving to hating songs just because I've heard them too often." Chris agreed.
"Our songs?" Nick sat up on the couch, looking at Chris.
"Sure. Happens to a lot of songs." She shrugged, looking away from him. Damn those eyes...
"Chris..." Nick said softly, putting the liquor bottle down on the table. "Can we talk?"
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