David was a man with no life. He was Bently's assistant. He's almost in his mid-twenty's, no girlfriend, at his parents' house still. David had one purpose and that was gossip."Guess what Hilda Baker said about you!"
"What now, David?"
"She said that you're a low-life slut who couldn't keep a man if she tried," he told her, with a sound of pleasure in him voice.
"Ah, that's what my ex- said. Look where he is now," Hailey declared, pointing to the tabloid in the trash and sitting at her laptop. "That'll be all, David."
She opened the manilla envelope and shook out a disk and a few papers:
Hailey-
In case my assumptions were correct, you know nothing about the Backstreet Boys and need to research. Get the dirt on them and then look through the disc. Focus on that Brian Littrell character.
- BentlySo, until 9:30 that night, Hailey worked through sites of the Backstreet Boys. Or the men that were in fact once Backstreet.
That Brian man was interesting. He joked around like a teenager, and yet worked like an adult. Hailey knew he was heavily affected by the stop of the group, but it never stopped him. Rumors were that he was signing to his cousin, Kevin Richardson's label. Nothing was confirmed.
Feeling stupid, Hailey took notes. She thought it was stupid to do the damned thing but as much as Bently need a bath, she need her job.
Hailey was the leading author in Chicago. She worked like hell to make it interesting. She loved her job. But she also loved her house, water, electricity and car. All of which required money. Writing books can't save you every month, so her last resort was the newspaper biz.
Hailey drove home, her eyes droopy, her whole body strained and enough on her mind. Her only ambition now was sleep.
"Hey, Hailey," Tom said when she got home. He never moved his eyes from the television.
"Why are you always here?"
"To entertain your grumpy ass," he joked and looked at her. "I got a bath ready for you upstairs."
Without asking questions, she kissed him and flopped upstairs. The bathroom smelled like green apples and the tub foamed with bubles.
"Bubbles? You are a pip, Kid!" she yelled downstairs.
"For goodness sakes! It was on saaaaale!" he replied in an airy, gay voice.
She laughed, stripping off her sweaty clothes and sank into the water. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth surround her.
"Thanks, Tom," she stated in a normal toned voice. She hadn't opened her eyes.
"How the hell did you know I wasn't downstairs?" He detoured into the bathroom and sat on the counter.
"I'm psychic." She moaned within her throat. "God, this feels great."
"How's Bentley and the crew?" he asked.
"Oh, normal. Assholes. I have to do this article or I'm fired."
"What's it about?"
"The break-up of the Backstreet Boys. How are you?"
"Great. Savage Living had a big gig at the Dome. Rave reviews."
"As always," she smirked.
"We're going national in a week. I can't wait until the kids at home hear us!" Tom was originally from Tennessee. The Kids, his friends, influenced Tom to move to Chicago.
"How's your sister doing?"
"Bitsy is probably in New York, stoned and drunk."
She smiled. Tom's geeky sister, Bitsy was a college student at Harvard, majoring in something that Tom probably couldn't even spell. She was sweet with a shy and soft voice.
"Tom? You ever regret moving here?" Hailey opened her eye and looked at him.
He shook his head. Back at his home, he was a mischief maker. He stole things, pulled pranks, everything. He had been a chick magnet...He still was.
"Well, I'm going to hit the sack," Tom announced, jumping off the counter. She leaned over and kissed her mouth a little.
"G'night, Tom."
After soaking a little while longer, Hailey climbed out and dressed. She found Tom on her bed, his body spread purposely across the entire thing.
"You are such an asswipe," she whispered in his ear, knowing he was still awake. She pushed him over and climbed in. Tom snuggled closer to her and fell asleep.