Tara drove into the parking lot,
parked her car, and jumped out, grabbing her purse as she hurriedly walked
towards her office. She was running late, which was no surprise, although today
was later than usual. She'd been up all night staring at the phone, praying
Nick would call. She'd tried to call him a few times, but had only gotten his
voice mail, and had been wide awake until nearly 5am wondering what in the world was
going on.
Tara pulled out her id badge and waved
it in front of the electronic lock, yanking on the door a moment later. She
groaned when it didn't open and waved her badge again, her eyes widening when
the light on the lock flashed red, instead of turning green. "What
the…" she tried one more time, kicking the door in frustration when it
refused to unlock. "Goddamn badge stopped working, fuck" she cursed.
"HEY!" Tara banged on the door and waved,
getting the attention of the security guard sitting at the desk inside. She
held up her badge and made a face, pointing to the lock. "Thank you,"
she smiled when the guard unlocked the door, and headed in. "My badge
stopped working," she explained as she walked past him towards the
elevators.
"No problem, make
sure you get a replacement," he called after her.
Tara was still grumbling about the
stupidity of electronic locks when she sat down at her desk, and discovered her
badge wasn't the only thing not working. "Ok, this isn't funny," she
whispered, typing her password into the computer again. But it wasn't letting
her log on to the system…
"Tara?" Leo, her boss, stuck his
head into her cubicle, a solemn expression on his face. "Mind coming with
me for a moment?"
"Sure," Tara stood up and followed him into
the conference room, telling him how her password and badge didn't work.
"That was what I
wanted to talk to you about," he closed the door and waved her to a seat,
sitting down across from her.
Tara's heart sunk into her stomach, as
she stared at Leo. "Ok…"
Leo crossed his legs and
clasped his hands, looking at her sadly. "Tara, as I'm sure you're well aware,
we work with a great deal of confidential information here, and there are
certain standards that must be upheld."
"Uh huh," she
nodded slowly.
"It has come to our
attention that you have been passing along company confidential information to
a third party, and, well, I'm sorry Tara, but this cannot be tolerated," Leo sighed.
"The reason your badge and your password didn't work…"
"You're firing
me?" Tara interrupted, her eyes wide with
shock.
"Yes. I'm sorry. But
you knew full well when you started here that you could not talk to anyone about
your work here."
"Someone would have
DIED if I hadn't talked about what I'd seen here, Leo, doesn't that
matter?" Tara said angrily. "Not to
mention, I didn't tell them about it until I'd tried to get someone here to
listen to me about how serious the situation was."
"There are protocols
that must be followed in these matters, Tara, you broke them."
"I saved someone's
life!"
"I am sorry."
Leo sighed, and checked his watch. "Security will be by your desk in five
minutes to show you out, I suggest you head back to your cubicle and pack up
while you have the time. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but you know…"
"Yeah. Protocol for
firing employees," Tara said dryly. She stood up and walked to the door before
stopping, turning around to look at Leo. "Who told you?"
"What?"
"Who told you I'd
been talking to the Backstreet Boys?"
Leo smiled lightly at
her, and shook his head, "Tara, it doesn't matter, we're working with the FBI now, and they
will solve this on their own. Your involvement isn't needed anymore."
Tara's eyes narrowed, "the FBI,
huh?"
"Yes, we've been
working with an Agent there."
"The bitch is
DEAD," Tara hissed, throwing open the door
and walking quickly to her desk. She grabbed a box and began throwing the
contents of her desk in to it, rolling her eyes when Tommy came over to
investigate. "Please, don't start with me," she sighed, wincing when
she heard a mug break as it clattered to the bottom of the box.
"What's going on, Tara?" Tommy asked, his eyes wide
with confusion.
"That fucking FBI
agent sold me out," she snapped, yanking a drawer out of her desk and
dumping it into the box. "No, don't worry, nobody will ever know. Well,
fuck me, bitch, first she moves in on Nick, now this, jesus. I'm going to kill
her," she muttered, slamming the empty drawer down angrily.
"You know you're
probably packing a ton of my stuff there," Tommy said weakly, backing away
from her. "But I'll get it from you later, ok?"
"Yes, you
will," Tara glared at the security guard
walking into her cubicle. "I'm almost done," she told him quickly.
"Tara, I'm so sorry," Tommy
hesitantly stepped towards her, and when she didn't seem like she was going to
bite his head off, pulled her in for a hug. "I know you were just trying
to do the right thing."
"Thanks," she said
softly, before pulling away and biting her lip. No, she wasn't going to start
crying, she wasn't going to get upset, not yet…
"Let's go," the
security guard waved Tara out, tapping his foot impatiently when she continued
throwing things into her box. "Come on…"
"FINE!" She
shouted, throwing some last things onto the box and stomping out. "I'm
gone."
"I am sorry, Tara," Leo was standing in the
hallway as she walked by, an apologetic expression on his face.
"You know what,
Leo?" Tara stopped to look at him, shaking
her head. "If this company really cares so little about what happens to
the people who use its site, than I'm really better off not working here. And
you know, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for all the crimes we could have prevented,
all the pain we caused by keeping our mouths shut, but you just don't care, do
you. And for that…FUCK you. I hope you're happy here."
Leo just stared at her,
not expecting the angry diatribe.
Tara smirked, and nodded, sure of her
words. "Yeah. Fuck you." She continued walking down the hallway
before adding, "and fuck the goddamn FBI, and fuck the Backstreet Boys!
May you ALL rot in hell."
"Honey, you'll get
another job," Andy reassured Tara, holding her tight as she cried.
"I don't want
another job, I want that one!" She shoved him away and wiped off her
cheeks, sniffling. She had called Andy the moment she'd gotten home, and he'd
immediately left work to join her, bottles of wine in hand. They'd spent the day
talking, crying, and drinking. Well, Tara had done most of the crying, switching between that,
and angry rants about the stupidity of the FBI and her former co-workers.
"I've been crying all day, haven't I," she remarked, laughing through
her tears when Andy nodded solemnly. "Sorry."
"No problem, you
needed a good cry," he handed her a tissue and smiled. "Feeling
better yet?"
"No," she
pouted, and blew her nose loudly. "I still hate that fucking bitch. I
can't believe she turned me in."
"Bitch," Andy agreed.
He gave a start when the phone rang, looking at Tara curiously when she made no move
to answer it. "You're not going to get?"
Tara shook her head no. "There is
nobody I want to talk to right now."
"What if it's Nicky
boy?" Andy asked, picking up the phone and holding it to her. "Come
on, you'll ignore puppy?"
Tara chose to pick up her wine glass
instead, and took a deep sip. "He's ignored me for the last two days, why
would he suddenly decide to call now? Not to mention, it's the damn Backstreet Boys
that got me into this mess in the first place."
Andy rolled his eyes at Tara, before answering the phone
himself. "Hello? Puppy?" His eyes widened when he heard the voice on
the other end, and he jumped off of the couch, walking back and forth across
the living room eagerly. "Kevin! Oh, she's not doing so well…" he
shot a look at Tara before running out of the room,
talking in a conspiratorial tone.
"ANDY!" Tara got up to chase after him, but
was struck by a wave of drunken dizziness, and fell back on the couch, holding
her head. "Goddammit, get off the phone,"
she called weakly.
"No!" Andy
continued running around the small apartment until he realized Tara wasn't after him, finally taking
a seat in the kitchen as he continued to talk to Kevin. "Ok, so it's set,
then?" He walked back into the living room and grinned at Tara, giving her a thumbs up.
"Thanks, sexy," he giggled, and hung up the phone.
"Thanks, sexy?"
Tara asked dryly.
"He is, isn't
he?"
Tara shrugged, "I suppose. So are
you going to tell me what you and your new best friend were talking
about?"
Andy grinned, and flopped
down onto the couch next to Tara, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "You, my dear, are
going on a trip tomorrow."
Tara stared at him for a moment,
before shaking her head, "oh no, Andy, you didn't…"
"Yes, I did. You're
going to join them on tour. Nick needs you, and hon," Andy looked her up
and down with a critical eye. "You need him."
"I do not," she
argued, shaking her head. "He's doing just fine without me, clearly, or
else he would have called."
"He's falling apart
without you, darlin, and that's why he hasn't called," Andy told her
firmly. "You're going. I'll see you next week when the tour hits LA. I
still got my backstage passes, you know," he reminded her with a grin.
"Gonna give me the grand tour?"
Tara laughed lightly. "You know,
I've never seen a concert?"
"You've been
spending all this time with them, and you've never seen them on stage?"
Andy gasped comically, his hand going to cover his mouth. "Good god,
woman, you're going to die!"
"You know, Andy, I
don't much like that phrase anymore…" she said solemnly, her expression
growing serious. "Hits a bit too close to home these days."
"Pass out, then.
They are pure sex on stage," he told her, wiggling his rear. "All of
them. Even puppy."
"Puppy?"
"Nicky!"
Tara shook her head slowly,
"where the HELL did puppy come from, Andy?"
Andy giggled, and stood
up, pulling her up with him. "You pack, and I'll fill you in, ok?"
She sighed, and allowed
herself to be pushed into her bedroom. "All right. Tell me about
puppy."
Tara walked into the airport, looking
around the crowded gate for the familiar bulk of one of the boys' bodyguards.
Her brow furrowed when she didn't see anyone, and slung her bags over her
shoulder as she continued to look. Maybe Andy had misunderstood Kevin, maybe
this was all just a big mistake? She'd woken up this morning with one hell of a
hangover, and one horrible feeling in her stomach, coming from the realization
of what had happened the day before. She'd been fired. She was unemployed.
"Are you Tara, ma'am?" A soft voice asked
her, pushing a sign with her name on it under her nose. She turned to see a man
dressed in a chauffeur's outfit, hat, and sunglasses smiling at her.
"Yeah," she
replied, slightly startled, and looked over the man offering to take her bag.
Under the circumstances, she wasn't exactly about to walk off with anyone she
didn't know. "Who sent you?" She asked harshly, holding her bag far
away from his reach.
"Tara," he said in exasperation,
reaching for the bag again. "You know me."
"I do not," she
shot back, narrowing her eyes as she looked him over. Full beard, heavyset, not
a chance in hell she knew this man.
He pushed the sunglasses
down his nose, revealing a pair of bright green eyes. "I'm sorry you lost
your job," he said apologetically. "I would give you a hug, but right
now I just want to get out of here, you don't know how much I had to beg Marcus
to let me do this."
Tara started to laugh, and handed
Kevin her bag, smiling. "Damn that's a good disguise, you gave me a
scare," she told him, following him through the airport.
"Under the
circumstances, I suppose putting on a disguise like this wasn't the smartest
thing in the world to do," Kevin admitted sheepishly, smiling at her from
underneath the fake beard. "I wasn't thinking about how you would react
when someone you didn't know showed up to get you."
"I guess I'm a
little suspicious these days," Tara agreed. "I do need to fill you in on some
stuff," she added. Like the fact that the guy now knew who she was, and
had called her. Like the fact that the BITCH Palmer had turned her in.
"We need to do the
same for you," Kevin nodded, and waved her out to a waiting van. "But
first I think we need to get you back to the hotel, and in to see Nicky, as
soon as possible."
"How is he?" Tara asked, sliding into the back of
the van. She found Marcus sitting in the front seat with the driver, and waved
a hello before turning her attention back to Kevin.
Kevin got in next to her
and made a face. "Really bad off, Tara, he hasn't been eating, or
sleeping, he isn't talking to anyone….and he nearly passed out on stage last
night. Well, I strongly suspect he DID pass out, although he denies it
completely."
Tara gasped, and stared at Kevin.
"Oh god.."
"Yeah," he
nodded sadly. "One minute Nick was standing, the next he was flat on his
back. His eyes were open by the time we all got to him, and he claims he just
tripped but," Kevin sighed. "I saw him. He didn't trip over anything.
He just went down."
"You think that's
because he's not eating?"
"Not eating, not
sleeping, I know he's gotta still be in pain, although he's denying that too,
it could be anything," Kevin said sadly. "I'm hoping once he sees you
he'll perk up a little. At least maybe he'll talk to you, or be able to get
some sleep with you around."
"I'll do what I can,
Kevin, but my head's kind of messed up at the moment too," Tara said softly. "Nowhere near
as bad as Nick's, of course, but…."
"I am so sorry, Tara," Kevin gave her that hug
he'd promised before, pulling her into his arms and squeezing her tight.
"I know we're responsible for it, in one way or another, and I swear to
you, we'll make it up to you."
Tara fought an urge to start to cry,
and pulled away, smiling into Kevin's green eyes. "You're not, really. I
mean, yeah, it's because I told you, but…I blame Palmer, not you. She's the one
who told them."
"I'm sorry about
that too."
"Me too," Tara sighed. "Now, there's
something else I need to tell you."
Kevin bit his lip, and
looked at her carefully. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like
this?"
"Well, you know that
song you sing called Get Another Boyfriend?"
Kevin nodded slowly.
"Yeah…"
"Someone sang it to
me on my answering machine the other night. At home."
Kevin's eyes widened, and
he stared at her for a moment before bowing his head. "Oh god. He's
getting to you too?"
"So it seems," Tara said grimly. "I guess I've
moved up in the world, if he sees me as a target."
