Chapter 89
Getting back into the studio was like reuniting with a long lost
friend. Perching on a stool in the small
room behind the sound-proof glass window and adjusting the microphone to the
right height, Nick felt a rush of euphoria at the prospect of being able to
sing again with his group mates. They
had already warmed up and were now preparing to start recording one of the new
songs that they hoped to put on the album.
As the music began to play, Nick’s palms began to sweat. He was first up; they had given him the
opening solo part. This was his chance,
his chance to prove himself, his chance to show them that he was back and
better than ever. He sucked in a deep
breath, sat up straight, and at his cue, began to sing.
His voice was shaky at first, the notes slightly under pitch, but
as he went on, he gained confidence, and the solo improved. The music cut off as soon as he was finished,
and their producer immediately said, “Let’s try that one again.”
But the Boys were smiling over at Nick, obviously pleased with
him. He still had it. Even if it took a few more tries to nail the
solo, he would get it. Cancer had
knocked him down both physically and emotionally. It had ravaged his body and wrecked his
spirits. But it hadn’t taken his
voice. And no matter what, he would
always have that, his best quality, his greatest talent, the thing that had
gotten him ahead in this world and united him with the four men that meant more
to him than anyone else.
Taking comfort in that thought as the intro to the song started
once again, Nick let the music pour out of him, belting the notes straight from
his very heart and soul.
***
With Nick back on his game, and the others excited and relieved to
finally be back together after their two-year hiatus, work on the album
progressed quickly. By October, the
recording was finished, and they were looking at a mid-December release for
their first single. They even had
finally thought of a title for the album… Phoenix.
The name had been Kevin’s idea.
“Hey, I thought of a title,” he said out of the blue one day at
lunch. “What if we called the album Phoenix?”
“Phoenix?” Nick repeated, wrinkling his nose. “What the hell is that, some kind of special
dedication to our Arizona fans or something?”
“No,” Kevin replied patiently, then, sounding like he’d just
swallowed an encyclopedia, explained, “a phoenix is a mythological bird that
erupts into flames when it dies and then is reborn from its own ashes. See, I was thinking… everyone’s been calling
us a ‘dead act’ because we’ve been out of the scene for so long and have had to
keep postponing the album. So much shit
has happened to us in the past few years, with J’s problems and the lawsuit
against Jive… and then Nick…” He paused
and cleared his throat, then continued, “Anyway, we’ve been knocked down again
and again, and they all think we’re not coming back. But we’re no ‘dead act’. We’ll rise up again, like a phoenix from the
ashes, and we’ll be better than ever.
Right?”
Nick stared across the table at Kevin in awe. “That’s… that’s really cool,” he said softly,
wondering where in the hell Kevin had come up with all that.
“It is!” Howie said enthusiastically. “I think we should use it – it’s perfect!”
“Me too,” nodded Brian.
“Yeah, that’s da shit!” exclaimed AJ. “That would make a cool tattoo too, ya know…
a bird rising out of a bunch of flames?
Sweet!”
They all laughed, and from then on, their upcoming CD was no
longer known as “the new album,” but Phoenix.
And now that the recording was done, Phoenix was turning
into a reality. They hoped to have the
album out sometime in February, and then they would see if Kevin was
right. They would either “rise up again,
like a phoenix from the ashes…”
Or they would crash and burn.
***
Nick returned home to Tampa in the first week of October. Much had changed there since he had left for
California at the end of August. Claire,
who he had talked to on the phone several times a week in LA, had been
discharged from the hospital in mid-September and had gone to stay at her
parents’ home in Gainesville while she regained her strength. Brent, James, Lane, and Frank had gotten a
gig with their band, Born Into Kaos, opening for another rock group, and had
embarked on a small tour. And with all
of them gone, Nick was expecting a nice, boring fall.
But, of course, life always has a way of shaking things up, and as
it turned out, Nick’s fall was not going to end up so boring after all.
It all started the day Nick got back from California. One of he first things he did after taking
his luggage upstairs was check his answering machine. As he had suspected, it was chock full of
messages. He dutifully played them, only
half-listening, since most of them were outdated anyway, but there was one in
particular toward the end of the tape that attracted his attention.
“Nick!” cried a sobbing, female voice, and
with a jolt, he first thought it was Claire.
But it wasn’t.
“It’s me, Leah. Leah
Gaylers,” sniffled the girl, and he frowned. What would Leah be calling him for? And why was she crying? “Nick, I really have to talk to you about
something, so can you please call me back as soon as you get this
message?” And she rattled off her
phone number.
There were two other messages similar to this one from Leah, and
then it seemed she had either given up on him, or the tape had run out and
stopped recording messages. When the
tape stopped playing back, he sank down into a chair, mystified and wondering
what to do. He didn’t really want to
talk to her again, but he couldn’t ignore her… something had upset her greatly,
and if it was as important as she made it out to be, he had to know what it
was.
So he played back her first message and dialed her number.
“Hello?” her voice answered on the second ring.
“Hi… Leah? This is Nick.”
There was a pause, and then she squealed, “Nick! Oh my gosh, you have no idea how glad I am to
hear from you! I thought you’d never
call!”
“Sorry, I’ve been in LA,” he replied flatly. “I just got home today and played back your
messages. So what did you have to talk
to me about?”
“Um… well, it’s kind of… hard to say… on the phone I mean. I… I think I should tell you in person. Can I come over?”
He groaned inwardly.
“Leah,” he said in exasperation, “what can’t you tell me over the
phone? Just say it!”
“Please can I come over? I
need to see you,” Leah whined.
“Fine,” he sighed heavily. “You comin’ over now then?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Yes, I do mind! his brain screamed
in anger, but he replied submissively, “Nah, it’s cool. See you in a bit.”
They hung up, and Nick sat back to wait, his stomach twisting
nervously. Something wasn’t right…
something was up. He just hadn’t the
slightest idea what it could be.
***
“Thanks so much for letting me come over, Nicky,” gushed Leah half
an hour later, when she arrived on his doorstep. As he backed up to let her in, she wrapped her
arms around him and gave him a hug, practically burying her face in his
shoulder. Perplexed and a little
frightened, Nick patted her back awkwardly and then tried to pull himself from
her grasp. She released him and smiled
coyly up at him. “Sorry,” she said,
looking him over. “You look really good,
Nicky. And have you been working
out?” Her fingers drifted to his upper
arm, running lightly over his bicep.
He couldn’t help but grin at her compliment. He had been working out, and he was
pleased that someone had noticed that he was getting back into shape. “Yeah, a little bit,” he replied modestly, as
her hand glided up to his shoulder and then across his broad chest. They started to descend downward, but he
self-consciously retracted from her touch.
“So,” he changed the subject, “um, how is everything?”
Studying her, he noticed how haggard she was looking. She was still beautiful, but there were
circles around her dark eyes, and her skin looked rather pinched and drawn,
like she had been under a great deal of stress lately.
“Not so good,” she sighed.
“Can we go sit down?”
“Sure.” He led her into the
living room and sat down on the couch, patting a space for her to sit beside
him. She did, sinking down next to him
and inching her body as close to him as possible, without making actual
contact. “So,” he said, glancing over at
her. “What is it?”
Leah bit her lip. “I… I
don’t know how to tell you this…”
“Just say it, Leah,” Nick urged, staring at her, his heart
thudding against his ribcage as he grew wary of whatever it was that was so
hard for her to tell him.
“Fine. I’m pregnant, Nick.”
***