Chapter 9
“Bills,
junk, Dad’s stupid Sports Illustrated, oooh! Nick! He
actually wrote! How cool!”
Ciara plopped her parent’s mail on the
kitchen table and took her letter to her room. She had spoken to him only once
since that day at the park. Christmas time. He came home regularly, but was so
busy doing family things, they never were able to meet. And it was fine. Ciara’s personal life had turned on its ear, and
unfortunately, her health followed suit, as it typically did. Quickly rising
and falling blood sugar levels had messed with her vision and seeing double had
become something she was dealing with almost daily now. To top it off, she was
getting unexplained weakness in her hands and arms. That one she had kept to
herself; Mom and Dad didn’t even know.
But
now, she was going to leave it all for a few moments and read. She missed the
little twerp. His light hearted attitude would have been useful when she and
Pat, her long-time sweetheart, had split. Even more-so when, after a few weeks
back at a reunion attempt, he announced that his rebound was pregnant. She had
felt so lost and alone. Even at 18, she really felt Pat was the one. And now?
Now he was planning a shotgun wedding with a woman he’d known for a month.
“Shit,
Ci…stop moaning and read.”
Cici,
I
promised months ago I would write, and never did it. I hate broken promises,
so…here I am. I could call you with what’s on my mind, but I can’t sleep. It’s
about
Let’s
see, what is going on here? Well, we have 2 new guys already. The others didn’t
work out. Kevin and Brian are from
And
here’s why I’m writing. We are doing our first show next week. It’s at Sea
World! I want you to come, and bring Pat if you want. Then, Lou said we could
hang around the park for awhile. I miss doing things like that with you. With
anyone, really. Anyway, Mom will probably call and work out the details if you
can come.
Hope
to see you there!
Nick
“Ah,
yeah…bring Pat. Shit.” Ciara read the letter over again,
giggling at the smudge over Nick’s name. He’d obviously debated on writing
“love” or not as a salutation. Such a cutie. And damn, he was a full-fledged
teenager now, wasn’t he? She didn’t even talk to him for his birthday and it
was a big one. This new career was sure going to take some getting used to.
~~~~~~******~~~~~~******
“Come
on, Lindsey. I don’t want to be late.”
“Why
are you so excited about this? I can’t imagine it’s gonna be any good.”
“Why
did I invite you again? You could bring down Christmas morning, I swear.”
“You
invited me because all of your other friends gave up on you when you were
dating Pat, the Ass. I’m your left-over.”
Ciara grabbed Lindsey’s arm and pulled her
to the back stage area. “Well, then you’re getting stale and moldy. Quit
griping and let’s go.”
Lindsey
groaned and stumbled along side her friend, stopping short as the backstage
curtain swung closed behind them. “Oh wow.”
“Holy
shit. Who is THAT!?” Tall, dark, handsome and shirtless. “There is a God and He
is good.”
“CIARA!!!!!!
You made it!” Nick jogged over to his friend, wrapping his arms around her in a
huge hug. “Mom didn’t tell me you were coming for sure.” He let go and pulled
back, suddenly embarrassed at his display to a girl in front of the guys. “Uh, yeah…I
want you to meet everyone.”
Nick
took Ciara’s hand and pulled her away from Lindsey.
“Where’s Pat?”
“We’ll
talk later.” Bringing Lindsey into the conversation, she introduced Nick to her
childhood friend. “Nick, this is Lindsey. Linds, Nick Carter. You’ll see his
name in lights some day.”
“Oh
yeah?” She visibly doubted. How old was this kid anyway? 10? Today’s gonna
suck.
Noting
the attitude, Nick quickly turned his attention back to his friend and walked
her over to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. “Kevin,” he tapped the older man’s
shoulder impatiently, “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Kevin
finally stopped giving someone orders on the microphones and turned to the boy.
“What, Nick? Shouldn’t you be dressed by….well, hello there!” Kevin quickly
changed from the boss to the charming man. Too charming. Made Ciara sick. He reached out his hand to Ciara,
“I’m Kevin. Who are you?”
“Ciara, and this is Lindsey.” She ripped her hand out of
Kevin’s hand and pushed her friend forward. Her friend who suddenly had lost
the capacity to speak.
“Hello,
Lindsey. Are you a friend of Nick’s?”
“No,
Ciara is, I’m just, uh…just…”
Jesus. ”She’s my
guest to the show today.”
“Ah,
well, hope you enjoy it. Nick, you really do need to get changed, man.”
“Okay,
okay. Let me take her around to everyone else.”
“Why
don’t I do that? You get dressed.”
Nick
looked at Ciara apologetically. Yep, Kev was the
boss. Ugh. “It’s okay. I think I can handle this one. Go get dressed and
uh…break a leg!”
“Thanks.
We’ll just meet here afterwards, okay?”
“GET
DRESSED, NICK!”
Without
a word, Nick took off to another partitioned area of the backstage. “Sorry,
‘bout that ladies. He needs a good kick in the ass now and again.”
Ciara said nothing, hoping her silence
would show enough disapproval. What an idiot.
“Ooooh, Kevin. Who have we here? Pretty ladies. Where’d ya’
find ‘em?”
God,
are all of these guys assholes? “Hi. I’m Ciara.
A friend of Nick’s. You are?” Kinda goofy lookin’ guy. And how can he sing with
such a raspy voice?
“AJ.
A friend of Nick’s? I’m gonna have to pump that kid for more information, man.
Didn’t know he hung out with such beautiful women.”
“AJ,
are you ready?”
Looking
down at his street clothes, he shrugged. “Nope. Guess it’s that time, huh?”
“Yes.
Out. Now. Where’s Brian and Howie?”
“They
were over there getting some food last I saw. I’m off ladies. Bye!”
Okay,
so he was kinda cute, actually. In a dorky sort of way. Ciara
and Lindsey exchanged worried glances. Worry for Nick. Worry for the way the
day might go from here. Might be interesting. Might not be. At this point, all Ciara wanted to do was see Shamu.
Kevin
led the girls to yet another area, talking little. His nerves were beginning to
build up and the cocky man they had originally met was giving way to a scared
one. It was endearing. “Ah, here they are.”
“Brian,
Howie, I want you to meet Ciara and Lindsey. Friends
of Nick.”
Brian
looked up from the relish tray and grinned. Big. Friendly. Dancing eyes. Too
sweet. “Ciara? You DO exist! I thought you were a
figment of Nick’s imagination!”
Ciara had to chuckle. He must have really
missed her. Good. It was mutual. “Yep. I’m here. Flesh and blood. You are?”
“Oh
sorry…” he wiped his hands on his pants and reached out to shake hers. “…Brian.
Brian Littrell. Pleasure.”
My
goodness. One with manners. “Nice to meet you.” They shook hands and locked
eyes. So blue. So deep. As she introduced Lindsey, Howie approached and the
introductions continued. Two with manners. Okay, this was better.
“Well,
ladies. It’s almost show time. I need to make sure Nick can tie his shoes. I
think Jane can take you to a seat. She was talking about visitors and it looks
like you’re it.” His eyes started to nervously dart around, obviously making
mental checks assuring everything he could control was, well…controlled.
Ciara had to smile inwardly at the guy.
Cocky, frightened, using his fear to overpower the “underlings”. She’d kill
him, but Nick would probably respond well to it…if only he didn’t talk so nasty
to him. “Thanks, Kev, and uh, can I make one suggestion before you go public
here?”
“Yeah,
sure.”
“Remember
that Nick is not an idiot. Young, yes. But he’s not an idiot.”
She
walked away leaving Kevin in shocked silence and grabbed a still drooling
Lindsey along the way. Fortunately, Jane was right around the corner.
As
the girls took their seats, Lindsey finally spoke. “What the hell was that?”
“What?
“That” was the Backstreet Boys. A bunch of whiney, spoiled little boys it looks
like. We’ll some of them anyway. Why?”
“What
you said to Kevin…my god, Ci, you don’t even know
him.”
“And
he doesn’t know Nick, either. He’s been in the group what? A few weeks and he’s
already treating Nick like he’s a moron. Pisses me off.”
“Why
are you so protective of him?”
Ciara shrugged. She really didn’t know.
“He’s like my little brother, I guess. I know how hard he’s worked for this and
I also know what many refuse to see.”
“And
that is?”
“Let
me quote someone, okay? I went to a school show of his when he was in 6th
grade. We’d just met him a few months before and I was talking to his choir
director after the program asking stuff about his dream and his talent…if they
actually could match up. She said that Nick had the voice of an angel and the
mind of a poet. I’ve never forgotten it. And I’ve always believed it. People
see him zone out and think he’s day dreaming. And he is. Dreams that you nor I
could ever imagine.”
“He’s
13 years old, Ciara.”
“Yeah?
So?”
“So,
you act like you’re in love with him.”
“No,
please. I do love him, though. I just decided then and there to see him for who
he was and not what he appeared to be on the outside. If he makes it in the
business, he’ll never be what he appears. He’ll always be hiding, always be
pretending. I’m gonna be one of the few people in his life that knows that
truth and never forgets it. I’ll be his refuge if he should need it. And Linds,
he’s going to make it, and he’s going to need a refuge.”
“Well,
okay then. Whatever. Let’s see what these pretty boys can do.”
Ciara just looked blankly at her friend.
“You didn’t even listen to me, did you?”
No
more words were exchanged because the boys finally made their entrance. Okay,
so they weren’t polished. So, they weren’t the Osmond’s or the Jackson Five,
or, thank God, New Kids…but, yeah. They were pretty good. And they were
entertaining and the girls…who forgot the ear plugs?
~~~~~~******~~~~~~******
By
the end of their small show, Ciara was grouchy. Big
time. She wasn’t sure why. Lindsey’s insensitivity was really getting to her,
and frankly, so was the incessant screaming. And most of it had been for Nick.
He had been adorable, that’s for sure. As the crowd dispersed, she
grabbed Lindsey’s hand again to meet Nick backstage. Maybe she’d calm down once
they got out of the crowd and started walking around again.
Ciara plowed through the horde not sure why
she was in such a hurry. She just felt uptight, antsy, out of control a bit.
Lindsey was yelping for her to slow down which only caused her to become more
impatient. Finally, she was stopped from her frenzy when she bumped right
into…nice. Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.
“Oh
shit! Could you possibly look where you’re going? There ARE people below
your eye level here.”
“Hey,
Ciara. God, I’m sorry. You lookin’ for Nick?”
“Well,
I sure as shit wasn’t looking for YOU.”
Kevin
pulled back, shocked at this girl’s attitude. What the hell? He looked to
Lindsey who frankly had the same confused expression on her face.
“No,
I suppose you weren’t. Why don’t you wait here? He’s still changing. I’ll tell
him you’re here.”
“Tell
him I’m thirsty and to hurry the hell up.”
Lindsey
offered an apologetic glance, but it went unnoticed. Kevin had already walked
the other way with no intention of being Nick’s secretary to such a complete
bitch.
“Come
on, Ci…let’s go over here and wait.”
“Fine.
What’s taking him so long anyway? I need to get out of here.”
“I
don’t know, Ci…just…here he is!” It’s about damned
time.
“Hey,
sorry I took so long. Lou had to give me a time to be back here and stuff. You
ready?”
Ciara shot the overly happy little boy a
glare. “Yes, I’m ready. Been ready for awhile now. I’m thirsty.”
Nick,
too pulled back, never seeing Ciara act this way
before. She had an odd look in her eye; one he definitely did not like. And her
cheeks…they were so red. What was wrong with her?
“Okay,
well, let’s get something to drink and we’ll head over to the walrus show,
okay?”
“Whatever.
Just get me out of here. My GOD could those girls have screamed any louder?”
Finally,
realization hit Lindsey. She’d seen this before at school. And it was never
fun. “Ciara….”
She
was already storming off on her own leaving Nick and Lindsey behind.
“Ciara! Wait up!” Turning to Lindsey, “What’s going on?”
“It’s
not you, kiddo. Let me get her.” Running to catch up with her friend, she
finally pulled her to a stop and forced her to make eye contact. “Stop now, Ci…check your sugar.”
***
