Chapter 10:
Getting to Know You
The dark green Ford Excursion pulled over
to stop and Kevin saw the other guys inside motioning for him to get in the
front seat. He yanked the door open and jumped in, fumbling for a moment with
the seatbelt.
"Nice SUV, Xavier," he
commented, noticing that this was not their usual mode of transportation.
"Yours?"
Xavier nodded in reply and swung out onto
the street, heading for the highway. Kevin craned his neck around to see the
other guys settled into the back seats. "Where are the other guards and
the Suburban?"
Xavier answered for him. "I sent the
others ahead to scout the radio station. Figured I’d chauffeur and get to know
you guys a little better."
AJ, sitting next to Nick, was curious on
Xavier’s ability to give orders to the other experienced bodyguards since he
was the newbie, but said nothing. Nick was fiddling around with the various
gadgets on the SUV and AJ slapped his hand in annoyance. "Stop," he
mouthed to Nick, slightly uneasy about Nick screwing around with the
bodyguard’s Excursion. Nick shrugged, and leaned over to look at Brian laying
prone in the very back seat, his hands covering his face.
"You okay, Bri?"
"Yeah," came the muffled reply.
"Just waiting for the Advil to kick in." He had woken up with a
splitting headache and knew a migraine would appear if he didn’t take something
soon. "How long till we get to the station?" he asked.
"Half hour, give or take
traffic," came Xavier’s answer.
"Okay," said Brian, nodding off.
"Just wake me when we’re there…" Brian tried to smack the hand away
that was jabbing into him. "Stop!"
"Bri, were here."
"Huh?" He struggled to sit up.
"I just fell asleep," he protested, unable to believe they had
arrived.
Howie laughed. "You’ve been sawing
logs for almost an hour; traffic was a bitch!"
Xavier swung his Excursion neatly into a
handicapped parking place near the back entrance and smiled convincingly at
Howie’s disapproving frown. "I’ll move it in just a second."
He shut off the engine and motioned for
the guys to stay put while he hopped out to survey the area. "What’s he
doing?" complained Nick, impatient, noticing that there was not a soul on
the lot. "There’s no fans around."
Kevin shrugged. "He’s a bodyguard.
Gotta check. Humor him, Nick."
They waited and a few moments later Xavier
came into view, opened the door and motioned them to quickly follow him. As they
poured out, AJ saw a Suburban with the other bodyguards circling the area.
Xavier gave a hand signal and the Suburban rounded the corner of the building
and left.
A young man, dressed all in black, was
waving them over to the now opened back entrance. They followed his direction
and walked inside, Xavier bringing up the rear. Enjoying the dark coolness of
the interior, the group trailed the radio assistant through another door and
into a secluded lounge area. The assistant motioned them to make themselves
comfortable, showed the assorted conveniences at their disposal, and then
turned to leave.
"Uh, you guys wouldn’t happen to know
Metallica, would ya?" he asked hopefully.
"Sorry, dude," replied AJ.
"Fucking boy bands," mumbled the
teenage assistant. "We never get anyone good." He closed the door
with a none-too-subtle slam and the guys looked at each other in amazement.
"Well," AJ said, clearing his
throat. "At least we know where he stands."
Howie laughed, reached down for an apple
on the table, then collapsed onto the couch.
"Damn. And I was hoping I coulda autographed something for him."
Brian smiled, glad that his headache was
gone. He sat down next to Howie and looked over to Xavier who was patiently
standing near the door, arms crossed in front of him. "Hey, Xavier. Relax.
I don’t think anyone is going to be busting down those doors, okay?"
Xavier smiled warmly at him. "Thanks,
but you can never too careful. See you guys in a minute; got something to
do." He left the room and AJ shook his head as Xavier disappeared down the
hallway.
"Man, is he intense. I’m not too sure
about him."
"Just doing his job, Bone," said
Brian, watching Nick trying to toss a piece of popcorn into his mouth and catch
it.
"AJ’s right," agreed Nick, as he
missed and went searching for the lost kernel. "You should have heard all
the questions he was asking about you while you were asleep."
Brian looked confused. "So? He’s my
bodyguard, right?"
Nick tried to clarify. "What I mean
is the way he was asking."
AJ explained. "He wanted to know all
about your likes, dislikes."
Brian dismissed this with a wave.
"Big deal. My life is an open book already. I’m sure he could read it all
in Teen Beat."
"But not about you being gay,"
Nick warned and AJ covered his mouth with his hand, trying to keep a straight
face.
Brian opened his eyes wide, aghast.
"Oh come on, you guys didn’t tell him I was gay, did you?"
AJ played into the game.
"Maybe."
"AJ!" hollered Brian.
Kevin tried not to smile. "How much
is it worth to you?" he challenged his cousin.
"You guys...," protested Brian.
Seeing the distress on his friend’s face,
Nick burst out laughing, unable to contain the practical joke. "God, Rok,
you are such a sucker."
Realizing the prank played on him, Brian
objected indignantly.
"Yeah, well I remember what happened
the last time you jerks did that to me. Took me ages to convince that girl I
wasn’t gay!"
Howie laughed, trying to pinch Brian on
the cheek. "I understand Brian, my brother is gay too," he mimicked
in the girl’s high voice. Brian slapped his hand away, remembering the
incident.
"Very funny. You’re never gonna let
me forget that, are you?"
Howie leaned over and reached for a drink
on the table. "Nope."
AJ sat across from Brian, wanting to get
back to the topic. "Seriously Bri, he asked some pretty personal
questions."
"You didn’t tell him anything, did
you?"
The guys shook their heads. "Of
course not." AJ looked at Brian with a solemn expression. "I dunno...
he kinda gives me the creeps."
Brian looked questioningly at Kevin, Nick
and Howie. "Seems okay to me," decided Kevin. Nick and Howie looked
at each other, shrugging.
Brian sighed. "Okay. Don’t worry, AJ.
He’s just a bodyguard, right?"
***
