�It means, that it must be nice to have a fuck partner and a paycheck all in one!� she exclaimed directing her comment at me.
�I guess you would know. Wouldn�t you?� I replied not missing a beat. I didn�t even look at her. I just continued trying to tame Nick�s hair.
�How dare you?! He�s my boyfriend and you had better remember that! I had better not find you anywhere near him or I�ll�.�
�Or you�ll what, Jessica? What are you going to do?� I asked turning to face her for the first time since she walked in there. She just blinked at me. �For the record, I didn�t invite Nick to my bus at two o�clock in the morning. He came on his own to get away from you. I would also like this to go on record, nothing happened. We talked and got drunk and passed out, that�s all!�
On some level I could see why she would be upset with me. I mean, sure Nick had come to my bus many times to hide out from her but this was the first time he had ever spent the night there. Usually he ended up on AJ�s bus or even Howie�s bus for the night. Either way she had no right to approach me the way she did and I didn�t like her tone.
�Who do you think you�re talking to?� she asked.
�No, who do you think you are? Coming in here, yelling at me like I�m someone beneath you or something. In fact, I�m tired of the way you�ve been treating everyone around here. Let me tell you something, you have absolutely no right to treat anyone the way you have. You�re not above anyone in this room, not me, not Cookie, not Zeke, not AJ or Kevin and certainly not Nick.�
�Look, you don�t know anything about me. Why don�t you just mind your own business.�
�I do know one thing. Your boyfriend likes the company of his stylist more than his own girlfriend,� I said. I was expecting her to make one of her grand exits in a puff of smoke like the Wicked Witch of the West. To say I was shocked by her next move would be an understatement. I was making a move to turn back to Nick�s head when she leaped at me like a striking snake, letting out an almost primal scream as she did so. This bitch is actually going to try and fight me, I thought. We both went down with her on top of me. Everyone in the room was stunned and no one moved for a minute. Kevin and Nick were up first trying to pry us apart.
�You better stay the fuck away from him and I mean that!� she screamed as Nick held her.
�Are you going to be around to watch him every minute of the day! I�m his stylist or did you forget that? I get paid to be around him,� I yelled back. Kevin had helped me up but since I was the one being attacked he didn�t try to hold me back. Besides I was not about to give that girl the satisfaction of me attacking her so I can lose my job.
�Come on Nick get her out of here!� Kevin yelled to him.
�Come on Jessica,� he said to her.
�No Nick, let me go! That bitch has got to learn who the hell she�s dealing with!�
�I know what I�m dealing with, trash, that�s what you are.�
�Jessica come on, let�s go.�
�Fuck you! You�re the trash! Sleeping around with your boss. Is that how you got this job?�
�No, sweetheart that�s your job!�
�Jessica I said come on let�s go,� Nick fairly yelled. She shot me one last dirty look before following Nick out of the room.
�Well that was unexpected,� Cookie said finally.
�Yeah, I�ll say,� AJ replied.
�Come on you guys, we have work to do,� Kevin said. Then to me, �Are you ok?�
�Oh yeah, I�m fine. I�ve beaten up worse than her in middle school.� Kevin gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before taking his seat.
I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall of the room Nick took Ms. Jessica into. I bet that would have been quite a conversation, to say the least.
The next day or even that night I expected Ms. Jessica to be on the next flight home. But no, the next day she was still there. She was a little quieter than usual but still there. To top this all off Nick seemed to be avoiding me. He wouldn�t get into my chair anymore and he barely talked to me at all. This was different from when he didn�t like me. At least then I could get a rise out of him. Now I was getting nothing. I felt strangely hurt.
�So now you�re avoiding me?� I asked one day catching him alone.
�I don�t know what you�re talking about.�
�Oh come on Nick, don�t play dumb with me. Ever since Ms. Jessica and I got into that stupid fight you�ve been avoiding me. What�s going on?�
�Look Alexis, I really can�t talk about it especially not here and definitely not now.� We were in the makeup room but it was early and deserted.
�Why? There�s no one around. Why can�t you tell me what�s going on?�
�Look! I don�t owe an explanation to anyone, least of all you,� he said and left. I stood there stunned into silence.
The change in Nick wasn�t just noticed by me. Soon he was treating everyone differently. He was also quieter than usual, more introspective. One thing became abundantly clear to everyone and it was that Jessica had something to do with it. In the process of losing a happy-go-lucky Nick we gained a sweeter quieter Jessica.
�It�s creepy, Cookie. It�s like she sucked the life right out of him. She seems smug almost all the time, now,� I said. We were sitting on the floor of our hotel room playing a video game that Nick had left on the bus the last time he was there.
�I know. Maybe he�s a pod person and Jessica is an alien,� she replied. We both started to laugh at that. After our laughter died Cookie said,
�You know he asked me about this game. . . and you.�
�Did he? What did he say?� I was trying my hardest to not seem too interested. Suddenly the game seemed so much more important.
�Well first, he asked if we still had the game system. I told him �yes� and that we were enjoying it immensely.�
�What did he say about that?�
�He said that, that was good and that we could keep it as long as we liked.�
�Cool, more Tekken tournaments on the bus. What did he say about me?� I tried to ask that question nonchalantly instead of sounding like a schoolgirl.
�He asked how you were and he apologized for the way he yelled at you. That boy likes you,� she said.
�I know that, we�re friends.�
�No Alexis, he likes you. I don�t mean like friends. Whatever Jessica has on him or is hanging over his head it must be huge because, she�s got that boy walking a tight rope.�
�Ok Cookie it�s time for you to be going to bed. I think you need your rest, dear.�
�No, I�m serious.�
�And how do you know all this?� I asked.
�I just know,� she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
�Oh yeah that�s concrete evidence. Did he tell you that he likes me?�
�No, but he sought me out to ask me about the game system. I think that was just an excuse to ask me about you. For whatever reason he can�t talk to you. That�s probably Jessica�s doing. But when he apologized he looked so sincere as if he was worried you were hurt or angry with him or something.� Well I was kind of hurt by the way he talked to me that day but I�d never let anyone know that.
�You�re crazy. We all know that Nick is crazy about his video games. I�m sure he was beginning to miss his Playstation. As for him asking about me I don�t know. . . we haven�t talked in awhile maybe he was just curious. He apologized because he knew he was wrong. All I did was ask him a simple question. So there, that explains that.�
�Ok Alexis, if that�s what you think. I still think he likes you and I think you like him too.�
One day I got the idea to return the Playstation 2 to Nick. We were finally in New York City and had just arrived early that morning. All that morning the Boys worked, which means I worked too. They did sound bites for the local radio station, appeared on morning shows and made an appearance at MTV later that afternoon. The concert was the next night which was a good thing because I was wiped out. That night I intended to go to dinner with Joshua and Derek. Which is where I was headed before I stopped by Nick�s room. I had to gather my courage to knock on the door. There was a fifty-fifty chance that Nick wouldn�t be the one to answer the door and I wasn�t in the mood to encounter Ms. Jessica. I knocked.
�Hold on a sec, � I heard. After a minute or two the door swung open. It was Nick, I breathed a silent sigh of relief.
�A little birdie told me that you were missing this,� I said holding it up to him.
�Yeah thanks Alexis. Hey do you want to come inside? I wanted to talk to you about something.�
�Oh you�re inviting me inside? Aren�t you grounded? I don�t want to get you into trouble.�
�Ok I deserved that but she�s not here. She went out with Leighanne and Kristin.� All the significant others were in town for the show.
�I really can�t I�m meeting Joshua for dinner,� I said even though I really did want to go inside and talk to him.
�Of course, you and Joshua must be tight. . . really close and stuff.�
�Yup, I�ve known him all my life.�
�It�s nice to have someone like that.� He suddenly turned melancholy.
�Nick are you, ok? Is there something you really need to talk about. If there is I can just call Joshua.� He started to shake his head.
�No, you should go out. You look great by the way.� I did look cute if I say so myself. When Joshua called he specified that I 'look good tonight'. In his words, �You have to look good when you go out with me. Good enough to get second looks but don�t upstage me.�
�How could I ever upstage you?� I asked.
�You�re right. You can�t,� he said laughing gaily, no pun intended. So tonight I was wearing a little red dress. I felt like I was going tango dancing or something. It was short and low cut held up by skinny spaghetti straps. Let�s see who can upstage who, I thought with a devilish giggle.
�Thank you. Look if you need to talk, later or something you can call my cell phone. You do still have the number don�t you?� He nodded. �Ok well I�m going to go now. I�ll see you later.� I started down the hall. I could just feel that Nick wanted to talk about something really important but he was having trouble getting it out. He looked shaken. I was starting to feel bad about leaving him there but he insisted that I go ahead. I got three doors away when he said,
�Alexis wait!� I turned and walked back to him.
�What is it?� I asked.
�It�s Jessica. I don�t know what to do.�
�What about Jessica?� I asked.
�She�s. . . she�s pregnant.�
It was like someone had suddenly hit the breaks on a car doing 100mph on a deserted highway.
