Mike Riley stood at a podium in the front of the room, the 5 Backstreet Boys and Chris sitting at a table to his left. He read a prepared statement from MTV announcing the series, and then opened the floor up to questioning. They came fast and furious. "Over there, in red" He pointed.
"How does this show compare to something like, say, ABC's Making the Band?"
Chris pulled her microphone closer to her face. "I think the comparison is clearly stated in the titles of the shows. Making the Band is doing just that. Creating something that isn't there. A Day in the Life Of is also doing just that. We're showing you what it's like when your life is your band. There's nothing to be made here, these guys ARE the Backstreet Boys, and have been for a long time now. This is the real thing."
Mike looked around and chose another reporter, pointed.
"What's it like having the cameras around all the time?" Deep voice, left of center.
"It was awful at first," Howie offered. "But Chris and Julia have been great, and really understanding about how strange it's been."
"Have you guys seen the show yet?" Faint, from the back of the room.
"That's where we're off to when we leave here." Kevin replied. "We have final approval on whatever goes on the air. That was the only condition we insisted on for this series."
"So in case you guys go nuts, you can tell MTV to go away?"
"To an extent. They can't turn the cameras off, but we can tell them they can't use the footage."
"Nick, was that in a bathing suit we saw in that promo?"
Nick frowned. "Yeah, I was swimming."
"Don't you guys think this is going to ruin your image?" From the back of the room.
"What's there to ruin?" AJ grabbed his microphone and held it close to his mouth. "This will show us as human, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We never set out to be held up as something supernatural."
"We're just normal guys." Nick muttered.
"We caught that in the promo." A female reporter in the front row stood up. "Chris, what's it like spending all this time with these 5 guys?"
"It's been great," Chris smiled. "They're a lot of fun to hang out with and be around, and it's fascinating seeing what they go through every day."
"You're a young single woman yourself, some of these guys are single, very attractive men...any fun storylines in the show's future?"
"Not involving me," Chris laughed. "I'm very much the reporter in this story."
Mike let the questions go on for another 1/2 hour or so before calling the conference to a close. "Thank you all for coming."
The security guards led Chris and the guys out of the room and into another conference room with a TV set up in the corner. Chris walked to the tv and grabbed the remote. "You guys ready?"
They all grabbed soda cans from the stack in the middle of the table and settled into chairs around the room.
"Ready as we'll ever be.." Kevin popped the top on his soda can as he spoke.
Chris hit play and took a seat in the back of the room, carefully watching the guys as the show started.
This was the first episode, so Chris and Julia had decided to focus on 2 elements. The guys meeting the cameras, and the guys as guys...personalities. Chris watched Howie as the screen filled with the image of him he'd remembered from the promo. From the tv, the song he sang with his sister played as they watched him run his fingers over a picture of his sister, and tears ran down his face. Chris saw him shudder and turn his head away from the tv, as the show moved on.
Brian's bit used a lot of voice-over and concert footage, mostly him talking about Leighanne and how nervous doing the show made him feel. Once his segment was over, he sat back in his chair, visibly relieved nothing terrible was in it.
AJ's segment had the fun Amanda footage where she cursed out the cameras, and included a 5 minute bit Julia had fought Chris to get in the show on the guys as sex symbols. She'd had her researchers pull the hottest, sexiest clips of the guys from the last few years and edit them all together into a segment that was sure to leave any woman breathless.
Chris watched the show, listening to the sounds of everyone breathing. Halfway through and nothing too bad, they seemed to be liking it so far.
Kevin smiled as his face filled the screen. Pieces of him scolding the guys, ordering them around, his talk with Chris were all cut together as it was made apparent what Kevin's role in the group was.
Nick's piece was last, and the one Chris had the hardest time watching, since she figured prominently in it. Her bedroom conversation with Nick and the concert footage was front and center. As Chris' tearstreaked face flashed on screen, Nick turned around to look at her.
Chris just stared at the screen, she didn't want to try to explain to Nick why she had been crying. Mainly because she didn't know why. She watched as the footage moved on to the 'Nicky bedroom incident,' as her crew had dubbed it. If you looked closely, maybe you couldn't tell...
The show ended with a full song from the tour. For the first episode, it only seemed appropriate to Chris to show "Larger than Life," and cut in some of the stranger fan pranks they'd caught on camera over the last week. Flashes of "hotel maids" screaming and fainting at the sight of Howie were followed by images of the masses of fans gathered outside the Staples center and the guys hotel, a fan running into Brian's hotel room holding a rose only to be quickly grabbed by his security guard, close ups on the signs held up during the concerts "Bone me!", fans banging on the empty tour bus.
As the credits ran, Chris stood up to turn the lights back on. She handed each of them a piece of paper, and a pen. "That's the release for this episode. Every week, after I screen the episode for you, I'll need you to sign the release. Then we're set for another week."
Each of the guys quietly took the offered pen and paper and signed the release. "Was good, Chris." AJ said softly.
"It's only the first episode," she said in an apologetic tone, "I hope to get a lot deeper, a lot less fluff in the future."
"Thanks." Howie hugged Chris tightly. "Kev was right, we can trust you with this."
Brian grabbed her next for a bear hug, "you're coming out with us tonight, right? Julia too?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She fought back a yawn. "I am going to argue going back to the hotel for a shower and coffee before heading out though. That ok?"
"Reservations aren't for another 2 hours, sure. We can meet there?" AJ suggested.
"Sounds good to me." **************************************
Back at the hotel, coffee in hand, Chris flicked on CNN Headline News as always, while changing into a plain black dress. You know, THE plain black sleeveless dress every single girl owns. She added a pair of silver and turquoise earrings, slipped into some black sandals, and sat down on the bed to fix her makeup, glancing at the tv. Her face was on there.
With a gasp, she grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. It was a report on the press conference today, calling the series "potentially groundbreaking," and "rule breaking television." Overall, a very optimistic report, that ended with the entire 30 second promo for the series. She grinned from ear to ear with pride, watching her work on CNN. "Thank god for the Backstreet Boys," she sighed, and grabbed her cell phone to call Julia. "Ready yet, chickie?" She asked when it connected.
"Just about, meet you in the hall."
Chris gave herself one last glance in the mirror, made sure she had her room key, and joined Julia in the hallway, where she was talking with Allen. "Hey."
"Hey you, looking good."
"Not bad yourself, sexy," Chris laughed in reply, slapping Julia's rear.
Allen whistled and waved a dollar bill in the air.
"Hey, don't you have some boys to protect?" Julia looked at Allen. "Where are they, pray tell?"
"One of the wonders of being security chief, dear Julia. I have others to send." He grinned. "Although Chris here will have her own security after tomorrow night."
"You're kidding me." The two women said in unison.
"Don't be surprised, Chris. You'll just get one agent, I'm not sure who yet, they'll shadow you. You won't even notice it."
"Like the guys don't notice it." She said sarcastically.
"You'll need it, trust me. Have fun tonight, ladies." He made his way to the elevator door and pushed the button for them.
"See you tomorrow, Allen."
***********************************************
AJ and Howie had some very tough specifications in mind when trying to find where to go tonight. They wanted a restaurant, with a bar. That served GOOD food (big selling point with Howie, 4 star menu last night in LA). That was small enough that they could get a room to themselves on a night's notice. That was large enough that they would be left alone, with all of their camera crews attached, they made quite a scene these days. They found a quiet little steak place advertising fireplaces and fur that seemed to fit all the requirements, called "A Bit of Texas", and made the reservation. When they showed up at the restaurant, they weren't disappointed.
They were led into a dimly lit room with a fireplace (fake, but a good fake), and sure enough, fur rugs on the floor. One side of the room was taken up with a thick wood table surrounded by blood red velvet cushioned chairs, set for the 7 of them. The other side of the room with the fireplace had couches and big comfy looking chairs set up around low wooden coffee tables. A wooden bookcase built into one wall housed a nice looking stereo system, and 4 rows of CD's.
"Nice going, D." AJ whistled appreciatively, and made his way to the CD collection.
Howie smiled as he looked around the room. Exactly what they'd wanted. A place to kick back and have a fun night.
One by one the group started arriving and ordering drinks. Scotch and soda for AJ, beer for Howie, cosmopolitans for Christen and Julia (who had both decided on the ride over that getting tanked would be ok for one night, the show was done for the week), rum and coke for Nick (which made Chris laugh her heart out, for some reason), bourbon (straight up) for Kevin, and beer for Brian, who swore to AJ he 'might' switch to something stronger later.
The group poured over the menu, AJ making Chris squeal her disgust over the offerings of rabbit and frogs legs. "I KNOW people really eat these things, I've been to Texas, ferchrissakes," she said, exasperated. "I just don't need to hear about it, and damn AJ if you order Thumper, I'll kill you."
Nick burst into laughter as the rest of the table sat dumbfounded, not getting the reference.
Chris looked at everyone, "hopeless, all of you. Disney is an essential part of any human being's life. BAMBI you fools."
"Bambi's a deer, don't be silly Chris, everyone knows that." AJ held up the menu. "Bambi's on here too, though..."
"I think I should change the music," Chris got up, glaring at AJ.
"Fine, steak it is. Is COW alright with the lady?" He called over to her, laughing. "Gimme a T-BONE, baby."
Chris ignored him, concentrating fully on her music choices.
"What's there?" Julia bounced up next to her, looking. "Having fun yet?"
Chris grinned. "Yeah, AJ's a riot." She held up a CD. "Too early?"
"Too sober." Julia took the Aretha Franklin CD from Chris and placed it back on the pile. "Maybe later." She picked through the CD's some more, until she became aware of giggling behind her. "What?" She turned around to see the table of guys looking at her and Chris, ear to ear smiles on their faces.
Chris looked at all of them and sighed. "Men." She turned around and stuck her rear out, smacking it for them. "Yes, it's there, it's big, you can't miss it." She grabbed a U2 CD and stuck it in the player, returning to her seat.
"Aww, we're just teasing you, Chrissy, don't be mad." Nick, sitting next to her at the table, put his head on her shoulder and looked up into her eyes.
"Get off me.." she laughed, and pushed him off so he slammed into Kevin, sitting on the other side of him.
Howie shook with laughter from his spot at the head of the table. "I like it here, out of the line of fire."
Kevin set Nick back sitting up straight, and eyed his rum and coke. "And how many of those have you had so far tonight?"
"Not enough to matter yet," Nick replied, picking up the glass and finishing it in a gulp. "Where's the waitress, I want more."
"See, Kev, if you remind him he's drinking, he'll chug. If you don't remind him, he'll forget, and barely drink a thing," confided Howie in a serious tone.
Nick just frowned and studied the menu in front of him, finally shutting it with a bang. "Where's the waitress."
The crew continued joking around, mainly teasing Nick with Brian trying to defend his friend, until the waitress arrived and they ordered. A minor scene ensued when AJ tried to order Thumper (and the waitress was clueless), but all was solved quickly when Kevin assured the waitress AJ would be getting his medication soon.
The food arrived good and hot, and everyone happily ate, talking about the tour. Chris and Julia were looking forward to the opportunity to see a large portion of the United States, and the guys warned them how quickly every town would start to look the same. The drinks were continually refilled by the waitress, and nobody really paid any mind to how much they were drinking. They were out to have a fun night, and a good meal.
Meal overwith, Julia put some techno on the stereo and started dancing around, her feet getting tangled in the fur rug. "Guess they don't want us dancing," she laughed, finally falling on the floor next to a big (fake, she hoped) bear head looking thing.
"Square dancing, maybe." Brian laughed, and looked at the CD collection. "Or maybe not."
"It's a strange mix, I'll give you." Kevin was flipping through the choices, techno just not being his thing at the moment.
Chris grabbed her cosmo and walked over to one of the big chairs, sitting down with her legs over the side. "This was a great place, Howie and AJ, good find." She raised her glass to them and drank.
Nick, rum and coke in hand, stumbled over to a chair across from Chris and flopped down, looking at her intently.
"Yes?" She looked back at him, laughing. Nick drunk was fun, she was discovering.
"Kevsaidyougotta" big gulp of his drink, "stayplaytion," pause for a breath, "2."
"I got 2 what?"
Kevin gave up on the CD choices and joined them by the fireplace. "I told him about the Playstation 2."
"Oh!" Chris finished off her drink and set the empty glass down on the table. Maybe she didn't need another one, her face felt all hot, and Nick was just looking so cute... "The Playstation 2."
"Yeah. What games didja get?" his words only slightly slurred now. Maybe breathing helped, huh.
"Only 3 or 4, I'm not sure which offhand." She shrugged. "I'm sure you'll love them, they look cool to me, anyway."
"Racing game? Fighting game?"
"Yeah, and a baseball game, I think?"
"Awesome." Nick sat back and contemplated the Playstation 2. "Can I borrow it at night? When you're not on the bus?"
"No." She'd known this was coming. "I'm using it to bribe you to come to confessions with me."
AJ sat down in a couch near them, his scotch and soda having turned to straight scotch long ago, "She knows the way to get Nicky alone is through his games."
Nick flushed bright red and slumped back down in the seat. "What's wrong with my games."
"Nothing, Nicky." Chris reached over and patted his head.
Nick growled and grabbed her hand, pulling her over towards him. When she tried to pull her arm back, he kissed the back of it before he letting her go. "Thank you for the Playstation 2, Chrissy."
She looked away, embarrassed by how much that simple gesture excited her. Can't think that way, Chris, she thought to herself, looking wistfully at her empty glass. "Where'd that waitress go?"
Howie, still sitting over by the table, stood up. "I'll make a bar run, no reason to make her come back here yet again. Who wants what?" He gathered orders and headed off.
Julia made her way to the couch and sat down, half-falling on Kevin in the process. "Sorry, Amazon Man." She gasped when she realized what she'd said and covered her mouth, eyes wide, staring at Chris for support.
Chris was laughing hysterically, tears pouring out of her eyes as Kevin looked at the two of them, not appreciative of the nickname.
AJ had to love it, of course, "Amazon baby, yeah!"
"Amazon, huh." Brian was still drinking his beer, but nowhere near the quantities consumed by the other members of the party. "Weren't they tall and blond? More like our Nicky here..."
Nick shook his head no. "Definitely Kevin, definitely."
Howie returned with the drinks and passed them out. A toast was raised, to the show, the success of the series, and the health of all involved. They were just settling back with their drinks when a scream interrupted them.
They all looked over to see 3 teenage girls standing in the doorway, staring at the guys, mouths hanging open. "Aren't you guys," "Oh my god," "It's Nick!," "Brian, oh my god," they jabbered, until Howie walked over to solve the problem.
"Yes, hi. You guys want an autograph?"
The girls readily produced a pen, and napkins from the restaurant. They'd spotted Howie on his way back from the bar and followed him. 3 autographs per boy later, the girls headed off, their night an absolute success.
The group joked around for another hour before heading back to the hotel, it was late, and they all had an early flight in the morning.
Chris stumbled into her hotel room, falling onto her bed in a mess of giggles, Julia close behind her. "That was fun."
"We have to do that again." Julia raised herself on her elbow, facing Chris.
"Definitely." Chris lay on her back, feeling the bed spin. "I drank too much."
"Drink a lot of water and take some aspirin before going to bed tonight, eat a banana in the morning, you'll be fine." With a groan, Julia pushed herself off the bed, grabbing the keys from the truck she'd come to get from Chris. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Nite" Chris called as the door closed behind Julia. A knock a split second later had her walking to the door, laughing. "What'd you forget? I saw you take the keys..." She opened the door to find Nick on the other side. "Hey."
"I'm too drunk to sleep." He slurred his words slightly, one arm on the doorframe to steady himself. "Wanna just watch tv?"
Chris shrugged, "Yeah, the room's spinning too much for me to sleep now too." She made her way back to the bed, leaving Nick to close the door behind her.
Nick laid down on his back on the bed next to her, grabbing the TV remote from her nightstand. "I have no idea if anything's on tv."
"Whatever's fine." Chris was thinking that she'd definitely had too much to drink. She couldn't concentrate on much of anything, she was just experiencing things right now. Feeling the room spinning. Feeling the cool hotel room comforter against her cheek. How good her feet felt without those damn sandals on, her toes slightly cold. How comforting Nick's musky body odor was when she turned her head. Familiar.
"You got the spins, huh?"
Chris nodded, rolling onto her side.
"Come here," he pulled her to her, settling her until her face was resting on his chest, their legs touching. "I'll keep you from spinning." His arms tightened around her, keeping her where she was.
Chris snuggled into his embrace, thankful that at least it did stop the spinning. And it felt really nice. She put her arm around his chest and hugged him back. "Thanks, Nicky." There was nothing wrong with some platonic snuggling, right? She thought she felt his lips graze the top of her head. Or maybe it was just a draft..
"Anytime, Chrissy." He went back to concentrating on the television, finally settling on an old South Park rerun.
Chris tried to pay attention, but fell asleep in no time, soothed by the rising and falling of Nick's chest. Nick followed soon after, the two intertwined on her bed, Cartman screaming in the background.
A Day in the Life Of... Day Seven (LA to Vancouver)
Chris woke up with a start, confused by the hand on her back, and the other one in her hair. Looking up, she saw Nick, and the night before came back to her in a flash. She lay her head on his chest, watching him sleep for a moment, before pulling away and trying to disentangle herself from his embrace without waking him up. Their legs had gotten wrapped around each other in their sleep, and she was half underneath his body as well.
Carefully separating herself, she grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. A shower later, she felt like a human being again, and emerged to find Nick flicking through channels on the remote.
"I gotta go pack," he stood up, explaining. "I just wanted to say bye, and thanks for last night...sometimes you just don't want to sleep alone, ya know?"
Chris hoped her face didn't convey exactly how well she understood what he meant. She also knew full well that the amazing sleep she'd had the night before was in no way due to the liquor she'd consumed, and entirely Nick's doing. "Same here, Nicky." She hugged him, kissed his cheek, and sent him off.
**********************************************
"And a good morning to you," Julia chirped as Chris slid into the seat next to her for the flight to Seattle.
"You too," Chris held up her cup of coffee in greeting. "Sleep well?"
"Nothing special. You?" Julia emphasized the word enough to let Chris know she was well aware of how she'd slept.
"Slept better than I've slept in months, thank you very much." She replied calmly.
"And this was because..."
"Cosmopolitans. Do it every time." Chris stated clearly.
"Bullshit, baby, I have the tape, remember."
"Oh so what's that prove," She drank some of her coffee, considering her answer carefully. "Remember the Mad About You when Paul learns that people sleep better with ANYTHING beside them? Pillows, person, whatever?"
"Yeah, my boyfriend at the time had been using me as a sleep aid. He threw me out in favor of a teddy bear." Julia shook her head. "But you're not getting off that easy, I saw the way the two of you were sleeping. That was not a platonic entanglement, Christina darling. Your hips were...woohoo" Julia did her best AJ pelvic thrust in her seat.
"Of course it was platonic, we were asleep. And I hate being called Christina..."
"Subconscious, maybe, but your bodies wanted to be together. Definitely NOT platonic. Was he hard when you woke up?" Julia wasn't going to let Chris change the subject..
"Shaddup." Chris turned to look out the window.
"Come on Chris..."
"All guys are hard when they wake up, Jules, that's nothing."
"But how hard was he, oh come on Chris, let me live vicariously through you. How big is little Nicky?"
"There's nothing to live vicariously through Julia. I'm single now, as I've been for the last, what, year?" She sighed and pulled out the discman she'd borrowed for the flight to LA. "Mind if I hang on to this? I'm feeling a need for some Sarah McLachlan."
"Go for it," Julia shrugged. "I'll just harass you later. And you'd better ask Nick about last night in the confession."
"I'm sure you will. And don't worry, I will."
***********************************
- Confessional footage, Nick Carter, Day Seven.
Chris' voice, off camera. "So Nick, you just sit there on the couch, and talk to me."
"Where's the camera?" he asks.
"Around me, somewhere. That way as long as you look at me, all's cool."
"So what do we do?" he shifts on the couch, clearly nervous.
"Just talk to me."
"About?"
"How about your family, for starters? Just the basics, who they are, where you grew up..."
Nick runs through the familiar territory, giving generic answers on his childhood, his relationship with Aaron.
"Do you miss your family when you're on the road?".
Nick stares at his hands for a second. "Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I miss them when I'm, like, in LA and don't see them," he looks at the camera, eyes bright.
"Your family lives in LA."
"Yeah. But for some fucking reason they were too goddamn busy to see me. Aaron's recording, BJ has a photoshoot something or another, Leslie has an interview...I didn't even get to TALK to them."
"They didn't have time?"
"Nope. 'Yeah Nick, we'd love to see you, just in nine months when it's more convenient.'"
"It didn't have anything to do with the cameras you'd be towing?"
"With MY family?" Nick snorts, his hands go flying as he gets worked up. "Fuck, they'd love the cameras. If there's anything I've brought to that family, the cameras have been a welcome addition. Pisses me off. But they're my FAMILY. No matter what happens, I'll always need them. Nine months on tour..." his voice trails off.
"Long time to be alone."
"Yeah."
"What happened last night, Nick?"
"What do you mean?" He looks at her, not understanding the question.
"Why'd you come to my room?"
"Oh." He shrugs, thinks about the question for a second. "I dunno, I just didn't want to be alone. Wanted to feel another person." He stops, then starts again, "and I liked your company of course, Chris, I didn't mean like I was using you or anything..."
Chris laughs and stops his jabbering. "I know what you mean. Not to mention, I liked feeling you too." Off camera, her eyes grow wide as the implications of what she'd said hit her. "I mean..."
"I know what you mean." He was smiling.
"How long has it been since you've been with another woman?"
Nick raises his eyebrows, thinking. "Been with, like had actual intercourse with the girl?"
"Yeah, we all saw what happened the other day."
Nick grins at Chris and winks. "Aww, yeah."
"I'll ask you about that another time. How long has it been?"
He thinks some more. "Probably a month or so."
"When was the last time?"
"Just some girl I picked up at a club in Orlando. Didn't matter."
"Didn't matter?"
"Was meaningless. Ya know, not important."
"When does sex matter?"
"When the girl matters," Sure of his answer, he continues. "When she's someone worth saying more than 2 words to, someone worth explaining who I am to. Someone who wants to take the time to explain who she is to me too."
"When was the last time the girl mattered?"
"I don't know if the girl's ever really mattered." He looks up, eyes wide and sad. "It's hard, meeting girls out on the road."
"You had a serious girlfriend for a while there though, didn't you?"
"I don't want to talk about Mandy." His voice gets slightly gruff as he says her name.
"OK. Actually, wait...hour's up...confessional's over."
-- End confessional footage.
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