We drove to Radio City Music Hall. The guys did their sound check and checked the stage out for the show the next night. I say in the front row watching the guys rehearse a little bit. I just looked around the hall. I had never been inside Radio City. I had only seen it from the outside. I remembered hearing stories from my mom when she was younger and how her mom took her to see the Christmas show every year. I was still daydreaming when Brian came and sat down next to me. "Whatcha thinking about?" he asked. "Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about all the stories my mom told me about her coming here every year to see the Christmas show. Anyway, are you guys done?" I asked standing up and grabbing his hand. "Yeah, let's go." We got up and walked onto the stage and out the stage door to the van that was waiting for us. We climbed in and sat down. "So what do yall want to do tonight?" I asked. "I nominate the idea that we go clubbing," said Erika. "Sounds good to me," said AJ with a grin. So we went back to the hotel.
I was laying on the bed watching some TV while Brian was working on some lyrics that he and Tommy had been working on. When there was a knock at the door. I got off the bed and walked to the door and answered it. It was Nick. "Hi," he said visibly uncomfortable. "Hi, do you want to talk to Brian?" I asked. "No, actually I was wondering if I could talk to you." "Sure, why don't we go down to the coffee shop." "Ok." "Bri, I'm going down to the coffee shop with Nick. I'll be back in a bit," I said into the room. "Ok," Brian said without taking his eyes off his song. I left the room shutting the door behind me.
We walked to the elevator and took it down to the main floor and walked over to the coffee shop. We each ordered a coffee and a muffin and started talking. "About what happened earlier," he started. "Nick it was an accident. I was upset and you were just comforting me. Nothing more," I said as the waitress brough us our coffee and muffins. He nervously ran his finger around the rim of the coffee mug. I grabbed his hand. "Nick it's alright." He looked at me and nodded his head. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked. "Sure," I said blowing on my coffee and taking a sip. "What's it like to go to a high school football game?" I stopped and looked at him. He looked at me like a child does when they are about to be told a story. "Well," I said putting my mug down. "I really don't know. I mean I went to every single football game at my high school for four years. But I was trapped in the bleachers for the entire game. Except at halftime when the band performs." I looked at him and came up with an idea but I had to talk to Brian first. After we drank our coffee, Nick payed and we went back upstairs. When I opened the room door, Brian was still sitting in his chair with a pencil behind his ear and Tommy was sitting on the bed with his keyboard. "Hey hon, did you have fun at the coffee shop?" Brian asked looking at his sheets of music. "Yeah, but it would have been more fun with you," I said putting my arms around his neck. He turned his head and kissed me. "Ahem," coughed Tommy. We pulled apart. "Sorry," we both laughed. "You two are worse than Tim and Angie." "I'll take that as a compliment," Brian said looking back down at the music. "Ya know what? My brain is fried. We'll do this some more when I can think straight." "Alright," Tommy said gathering his stuff. As he walked towards the door he began to sing, "lovers in the night." Brian laughed. "Good-bye Tommy," he laughed. Shutting the door as Tommy turned around to serenade us again.
Brian came back in the room with a smile on his face. He went over to the table and started to clean up the sheets of paper that were scattered all over the table. "So what did Nick and you talk about?" "Stuff," I replied laying back on the bed. Brian layed down next to me. "Just stuff?" he asked kissing my neck gently. "Yeah. Honey, do we have off for Thanksgiving?" I asked. "I think we do, why?" "Well, Nick asked me what it was like to go to a high school football game." Brian looked at me trying to figure out what I was trying to say. "So I was thinking, we could take him to my high school's Thanksgiving game and then we could go to my house for dinner. How does that sound?" Brian just layed ther smiling at me. "Honey, what do you think?" "You're so beautiful when you think," he said running his fingers through my hair. "You're just saying that for a kiss," I laughed. "Did it work?" he asked smiling. "I dunno," I replied pulling him close and kissing him. He pulled away. "I guess so." We laughed.
"So what do you think?" "I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind and I'm sure Nick would have a great time." "So should I call my mom and tell her to set another seven places at the dinner table?" "Not just yet. You're just a little pre-occupied at the moment." "Doing what?" "This," he said kissing me forcefully. I ran my hands down Brian's arms, tracing little circles on his arms. We pulled away from the kiss but we continued to hug each other. "Uh, I better start getting ready," I said pulling away from Brian. I got up and went to the closet and pulled out an outfit to wear to the club.
"Hello?" said Kevin answering the phone in his room. "Hey sexy," came the voice on the other end. A smile spread across Kevin's face. "Hi Dev, whatcha up to?" he asked putting the book that he was reading down onto the bedstand. "Nothin much. Just doing some homework and thinking about you so I thought I would call to see what you are up to." "I'm just chillin'. We are going clubbing tonight so I'm just saving my energy for the dance floor." Devon laughed. Kevin looked at his watch. "Babe, I gotte get going. I still need to shower and get ready. I'll call you from Boston." "Ok, I love you." "I love you, too." "Bye." "Bye." Kevin hung up the phone and sighed. He got up and started to get ready. "Boy, I've been watching you like a hawk," sang AJ getting ready. He continued to hum as he tied his shoes and picked out a pair of shades and jewelry. After he was done he made a quick check in the mirror to check his hair and left the room heading to the lobby. On the way he stopped at Howie's room and knocked on the door. Howie opened the door. "Yo D, ya ready man?" "Almost." He ran back into the bathroom and splashed on some aftershave. "Dude, what is that stuff?" AJ asked when they were standing in the elevator. "What did you do put some of that herbal tea on?" "No, it's a new aftershave," he laughed. Howie and AJ got off the elevator and joined me, Brian, Erika and Nick. Brian and I were sitting on the loveseat and Nick was sitting on a chair across from us with Erika on his lap. Howie sat down in the chair next to me.
All of sudden I smelled this awesome smell. I started sniffing to see where it was coming from. I sniffed Brian's neck. "It's not you," I said still trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. "Erika, do you smell that?" She start sniffing. "Yeah, what is that? It smells good." She sniffed Nick's neck. "Not you." I leaned over towards Howie and sniffed. "It's you!" I sniffed again. "Wow, that stuff smells awesome. What is it?" "Just some aftershave a fan gave me." "You guys like that smell?" AJ asked with a confused look on his face. "Yeah, it's totally awesome," Erika answered. Brian started sniffing. "Ewww, that stuff reaks!" Brian said making a funny face. "Maybe it's one of those scents that attracts females," said Erika. "Probably," Howie said. "Uh oh, don't tell Alex," I laughed. They all laughed. We kept talking till Kevin joined us and then we headed to the van that was waiting for us. Some fans recognized the guys and they stopped to sign some autographs and pose for some pictures. The one girl wanted me in the picture with her and Brian. We told them we had to go and climbed into the van. They drove us to the club. We got out of the van and went inside. They took us into the VIP part of the club. I looked around the room. It was jam packed with stars. I was holding Brian's hand as we walked into the room. Erika walked up alongside of me with Nick next to her. We just looked around the room at all the stars.
"Oh my god!" gasped Erika. "What?" I asked. "It's Christian Bale." "Who?" "Christian Bale." "Who is he?" "What do you mean who is he?" She pointed across the room. "That's him." I looked around the room to see if I recognized anyone else. "Come with me," Brian said pulling me through the crowd. "Where are we going?" "I want to introduce you to someone." "Who?" "You'll see," he said with a smile. We made our way across the room. "Puffy!" A guy turned around and I came face to face with Puff Daddy. "Yo Rok, what up?" "Puffy, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Janice." "Well hello. It's a pleasure," he said shaking my hand. "Iiiiits' so nice to see you," I stammered. "We got to get back to the group. It was nice seeing you again," Brian said. "You too, Rok. Later." We walked back over to everyone. "What happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost," Erika said. Brian laughed. "She met Puff Daddy. Give her a few minutes, she'll be fine." Everyone laughed. We managed to find some tables to sit down at. Brian and Kevin went to get us some drinks. So the rest of us just sat around and talked till they got back. "Why don't you drink, Janke?" AJ asked. "I made a promise to a friend of mine a few years back that I would stop. Haven't been able to touch the stuff since." Brian grabbed my hand. "He's one good friend," he said smiling. "Yup," I said looking off onto the dance floor. "Alright this time I'm determined to get out on the dance floor. And try not to kill myself." Everyone laughed.
I stood up and grabbed Brian's hand. I pulled him out of his seat. "Come on you, let's go have some fun." We walked onto the floor and started dancing. The song ended and a slow song came on. "They are so cute together," cooed Erika from her seat at the table. She was watching Brian and I dance. "Wanna go out there?" she asked Nick. Nick was staring off into space. "Nick," she said shaking him. "Huh?" "Honey, what's wrong? You've been off in your own world since this morning." "Nothing, I've just been tired that all." He looked back over to where he was staring before. "So do you wanna dance?" he asked with a smile. Before he got her answer she had dragged him onto the floor and started dancing with him.
"What's wrong with Nick?" I asked Brian. "What do you mean?" he asked looking at Nick. "I dunno he's just been staring off into space since we got here." Brian looked in the direction of Nick's stares. "Oh no," he said softly. "What?" I asked trying to see what he was looking at. "It's Bonnie," he said softly. "Bonnie? Who's Bonne?" I asked trying to see whoe was talking about. "Bonnie and Nick dated for awhile but they broke up and Nick just never got over her." "Where is she?" I asked still trying to see. "She's the blond over there in the jeans and sweatshirt," he said pointing to her. "You don't think Nick would try and get back with her, do you?" "No, he's mature now and he's not the type to play games with people's hearts like that." The song ended and me and Brian joined Nick and Erika back at the table. "Erika, are you alright, you don't look so good?" I asked. "My stomach has been bothering me and I've had this headache. I should really go back to the hotel and sleep." "Do you want me to come with you?" Nick asked as Erika got up. "No, you stay. You're so busy, you don't get a chance to have fun." "But..." he started. Erika put her finger in front of his lips. "Have fun, I trust you. Stay and hang out and have some fun. Don't worry about me." "Ok." He kissed her on the cheek. "Get some rest and I'll see ya when we get back." "Bye," Erika said as she left.
"I'm thirsty, let's go get a drink," I said pulling Brian to the bar. We got our drinks and just sat around the bar. Brian was looking at me. "You look so beautiful tonight," he said pushing some hair out of my face. "But then again you look beautiful everyday." I blushed and grabbed his hand to hold it. We sat and talked for about 20 minutes. Brian looked past me and then started to look around the room. "Who are you looking for?" I asked. "Nick, he was sitting over at the table but now I don't see him. There's Kev, Bone and D talking with Puffy but I don't see him anywhere." I started to scan the room myself and then saw him. "Brian," I said pointing over his shoulder. Brian turned around to see where I was pointing. "Oh no," he said softly. Now we were both looking at Nick and Bonnie that were talking together. Brian turned back to face me. "Bonnie is a hug flirt. That's what broke them up the first time. She couldn't be trusted and with our schedule it was just impossible. We got back from Europe once and Nick wanted to surprise her. So he went to her place." "Was she there?" "Yeah, she was there with another guy. I never seen someone so hearbroken as he was. She was his first true love." "But now he has Erika. Why would he want her?" "I guess he just never got over her." "Come on," I said getting up off the stool.
We walked over towards them. "Frack, where have you been? We've been looking all over for you." "Oh sorry Bri. Bri, you remember Bonnie." Brian smiled. "How could I forget?" he said through clenced teeth. I elbowed him. "Ow." He rubbed his ribs still smiling. "Hi Brian, long time no see," said Bonnie with a smile. "Ahem," I said looking at Brian. "Oh Bonnie, this is my girlfriend Janice Memory. Janice this is Bonnie Lewis." "It's so nice to meet you," I said warmly, extending my hand and shaking hers. "Would you like to join us?" she asked. "Actually we came over to get Nick. We have a show tomorrow night and rehearsal all day tomorrow so he needs his sleep," said Brian. "Yeah, I better get going. It was nice seeing you again, Bonnie." Nick got up and we walked over to the others, who were still talking to Puffy. We said our good-byes and walked to the van. We climbed in and sat down. "No one breathes a word of this to Erika," Brian said to Nick and I. I nodded and Nick turned and looked out the window, leaning against it. We got back to the hotle and went to our rooms. I laid on the bed and turned on the TV while he got in the shower.
I changed into a pair of mesh shorts and a baggy shirt to wear to bed. I laid back down on the bed, watching the news when Brian joined me. "Hey look, it's us," I said pointing to the screen. The local news was doing a story on the guys since their concert was tomorrow night. They were rolling some old footage of my first press conference. "Alot has changed since that conference." "Yeah, you were castless then," Brian laughed. "Oh, you think you're funny dontcha?" I said laughing. He leaned over and kissed me. "I don't think I know," he laughed. I hit him with the pillow and he kissed me again. "I don't know about you but I'm wiped and tomorrow is going to be busy and you already a grouch to get up in the morning." "I'm not grouchy." Brian crawled up to the head of the bed and got under the covers. He just sat there and smiled. "I'm not grouchy," I said crawling up to him. "You whine too," he said with a smile. "I don't whine," I whined. He began to laugh. "If you say so." He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead and shut off the light. I layed down. "I don't whine." "Goodnight." He put his arms around me and I put my head into his chest and fell asleep.
"Janice, Janice," Brian said shaking me. "Come on, it's time to get up." "I don't wanna," I said pulling the pillow over my head. He pulled the pillow off my head. "Let's go rise and shine," he said pulling the covers off me. I finally sat up and sheilded my eye from the sunlight that was pouring in from the windows. "I'm rising but I ain't shining," I grumbled. He laughed. "No, you aren't griouchy in the morning," he said sarcastically. "Ah, shut up," I said laying back onto the bed. "Don't even try it," he said pulling me back up. "We have to be on the bus soon. So let's go." I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I took off my boot and got into the shower making sure not to stand on my foot with all my weight. I got out toweled off my lege and put some baby powder on it so the boot didn't hurt when it rubbed against my leg. I finished getting dressed. Brushed back my hair and decided to let it air-dry. Spritz some Body Splash on and went back into the room. "Ready?" Brian asked throwing some clothes and things into his warm-up bag. He was wearing windpants and his Tour windbreaker with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. "I just need to get some things and I'll be ready." I ran around the room collecting things.
Five minutes later we were walking down the hallway to the elevator. We stood on the elevator. Brian had his warm-up bag over his shoulder and his University of Kentucky hat on with a pair of sunglasses. I was in black windpants and the Tour windbreaker with my warm-up bag on one shoulder, my schoolbag on the other adn I was carrying my laptop bag. We stepped off the elevator and were met by Jeff and Tim, who escoted us out to the bus. We got onto the bus and I dropped my bags on the couch. As I got comfortable on the couch everyone else began to stumble on the bus and plop into seats. We were all wearing identical outfits and sneakers. As the bus pulled away I leaned my head against the wall. The next thing I remembered Howie was waking me up. I gathered my bags and followed the guys into the music hall. We all went into the large dressing room and collapsed on the couches. "I'm so tired it's not even funny," yawned Howie. "Me too," said AJ as he took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes, in an attempt to stay awake.
"I don't know about y'all, but that coffee is calling me," I said walking to the table where the coffee pot was sitting. "Did you say coffee?" asked Kevin perking his head up. "You, and if yall don't start moving. I'm going to drink the whole pot." They all jumped up. AJ made a funny face and fell back onto the couch. "Moved too fast. Kink in the neck," he said wincing in pain and rubbing his neck. "I didn't say kill yourself," I laughed as I sat down next to him handing him a cup. "Thanks. Ow, dang it!" "Give it a few minutes it'll go away." He leaned his head forward slightle to take a sip of the coffee. "Ow," he said pulling the cup away from his mouth. "Dang, that's hot!" I laughed. "You better be careful today or you just might kill yourself with the luck you are having." "And bad luck scares the girls off," laughed Howie as he sat down on the other side of AJ with his cup of tea and donut.
Brian sat down next to me, handing me a donut and kissing me on the cheek. AJ groaned. "I really need a girl," he said leaning his head back. "Ow, damnit!" We all laughed. We all quietly sat and ate our donuts and drank our coffee or tea. A few minutes later the guys left to do some warm-ups and to do a sound check. I pulled out my lap-top and started working on some work. Denise came into the dressing room to get some coffee. She saw me working and sat down next to me to see what I was working on. I looked up from my work. "Morning," I said saving my work and shutting off the computer. "Ya know if I were to leave the group knowing that you would take over, I wouldn't worry," she said looking at me. "The way you handle school and them I know Brian made the right decision in suggesting that we pick you up as an intern." I looked up at her. "Brian suggested me for this?" I asked. "Yes, you didn't know that?" "No," I said looking off. "He approached me about it awhile ago and when you sent the letter in for the internship. Brian told Lou that it would be great if you worked for us. Well I have some more things to do. I'll see you later," she said getting up and walking out of the room.
I sat there for a few minutes, when the guys came back in from the sound check. Brian came in and sat down next to me. He put his arm around me. I shrugged his arm off and walked out of the room. Brian looked at Erika. She shrugged her shoulders. "Do you want me to talk to her?" she asked. "No, I think I should. But thanks for the offer." He got up and walked out of the room to find me. He wandered around and found me sitting on the edge of the with my foot dangling over the edge. He sat down next to me. "What's up?" Without looking at him I began to talk. "I was talking to Denise today, she said you asked her if I could work for yall. And she also said that you talked to Lou after you found out that I sent the letter in." I looked at him, he was playing with his fingers. "I wanted to be with you and I thought that if I talked to Lou it would increase your chances of coming on tour with us." I grabbed his hand. "Why didn't you tell me? For all this time I thought I got this job on my own and now I find out that you went and asked for me before I even asked." He gripped my fingers tightly. "I'm sorry. I should have told you but I thought you would have thought I was being selfish." "I would never think that. Brian, I love you. Why would it be selfish for you to want to be with the one you love?" He looked at me. "You mean that?" "With all my heart," I said with a smile. He leaned forward and softly kissed my lips. I pulled back from the kiss but laid my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me and held my hand tightly. "I love you." "I love you, too."
We just sat there for awhile. "Come on we better go back before they start worrying about us." He helped me back up. Once I steadied myself we walked back to the dressing room. We sat down on the couch and I leaned against Brian who put his arm around me and played with my fingers and kissed me lightly. "I think that was some sort of record," AJ said looking at his watch. I looked at him. "What?" I asked. "Not even 5 minutes ago, you two weren't talking and now you are all lovey-dovey again," he said sticking his finger in his mouth and making a gagging noise. I kicked him. "OW!" "Baby," I laughed. "Why I oughta." He started to come towards me. I pushed off of Brian. "You oughta what?" He backed off. "Yeah, that's what I thought." I leaned back against Brian. Everyone started laughing. I looked at my watch. "Who's up for some lunch?" "Wow, it's already lunchtime," said Kevin looking at his watch. Just then Aaron came in the room. "Hey A, how's it shakin'?" asked AJ. "It's ok. Nick, I just called mom and she say hi and be good." We all laughed and Nick blushed. "Hey Aaron, we were getting ready to grab som lunch wanna join us?" asked Erika. "Sure, where we going?" he asked. "I dunno. Do you guys know any place that's good to eat that's in walking distance?" I asked. "I'm sure if we asked someone that worked here, they would know a good place to eat," said Howie. "I suggest McDonalds," said AJ. "NO!" we all said at once. "Well, I saw one on the way here," he said sheepishly. "We are done with McDonalds for this week," said Howie.
We all got up and went to find someone that could tell us a good place to eat. We went out on the stage and found the band warming up. "Hey, do you guys know any good places to eat around her?" asked AJ. "Be still my heart, is AJ asking for some place to eat? I thought for sure you would head to Mickey D's," said Tim from behind the drumset. "We won't let him drag us down there, so we are looking for a real place to eat. Besides grease," said Howie. "Y'all are in NYC, grease food capitol of the world," laughed Obie, as he fixed his hair. "How long does it take you to do your hair in the morning?" I asked him. "Too long," sighed Tommy. We all laughed. "Well at least my feet don't smell bad," retorted Obie. "Are you saying my feet smell?" asked Tommy. "Yup," Obie said crossing his arms. Angie came out and joined us while Obie and Tommy kept going at it. "Are they still going?" she sighed. "They just started again," said Billy as he sat down on the stage resting his chin on his guitar. "Wake me when the war is over." Tim picked up his drumsticks and winged one at Tommy and one at Obie, missing them completely but in their general direction. "Will you two shut up?" he barked. "I had to listen to you the whole way here. And I'm sure the guys and their girls don't want to hear you." He sat back down on his stool behind the drum set. "Am I sensing a little hostility here?" asked Brian with a smirk. "How did you ever guess?" asked Dennis. Tommy started to play some chords on the syntheizer. And the rest started to warm up also. We left them so they could warm up.
After awhile we decided to just wander around and find someplace to eat. We got out sunglasses and hats and headed out the door. After we got out motherly warning from Denise about the city. We just started walking. It was pretty funny watching teenage girls walk by. They would do a double take as we would walk by and then shake their heads in disbelief and keep walking. We finally found a deli that we all agreed on and went in and sat down. We ordered our food and talked. Aaron told us what he had been up to since he had gotten to New York. He had a photo shoot the day before and had a radio interview that morning. And last night he played video games till it was time to go to bed. We continued to talk when our food arrived. We talked, ate and laughed. We paid our bill and headed back to the music hall. It was a beautiful August day and it was nice out. "Janke? Janke, is that you?" I turned to face the voice.