A little later Alex found herself in a small sized bedroom
in the hotel. She was sharing with the keyboardist Leo, who at present was
eating in the restaurant. Smiling, she threw her bag down on the floor and propped
her guitar on the sidewall. Stretching her neck, she sat down on one of the
beds and sighed. Perfect.
She still couldn’t believe her luck. Everything had worked
out in an unbelievable way. She had a job and a roof over her head and for now,
she was safe.
She grabbed the remote on the night table, turned on the TV
and made herself comfortable on the bed. She hadn’t watched a lot of television
growing up. Her father had been pretty strict on what she and Kat could watch
which was anything besides music videos, talk shows, news programs and some
sitcoms. This didn’t leave them with much else.
As Alex flipped through the channels, she realized that she
and Kat had missed so much in their lives. They had been deprived of so many
things. They hadn’t been able to hang out like the other kids or do so many
things they would have loved to try, their father had been that domineering.
She turned her head when she heard a knocking at her door.
Jumping off the bed, she rushed to the door, remote still in hand. She opened
the door and peeked out to see Richard.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked smiling.
“I just came to see how you were doing,” he said walking
into the room.
“I’m good. Just relaxing.”
“Great,” he said taking a seat on Leo’s bed. “So, I just
wanted to tell you what we had planned for you in the next few days.”
Alex nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“For the next few months you’ll basically be manning the
forte. I don’t want to put you in a panic here but you have 3 days to learn all
the songs on the tour before the next venue.”
Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Three days?”
“That’s right,” Richard sighed.
“What would you have done if you hadn’t found a guitarist in
time?” Alex asked, still reeling over the information.
“We would have had to cancel two of the concerts. The
boys…well, we all hate doing that.”
Richard glanced at the television. He smiled and turned back
to look at Alex. “The guys in action.” He nodded his head towards the
television.
Alex turned towards the TV to see … Justin? Yeah, that was
his name. The video was very bright and colorful and the song was familiar.
When JC appeared and started singing, she realized what it was. Pop, Nsync’s
first single off their newest album.
Every thing clicked at once. She felt stupid, for not
figuring it out sooner. Of course, that was why Charlie and Richard had asked
her if she knew who they were. She would be playing for the group.
She blinked. She was going to be working with a group that
had really, as corny as it sounded, changed her life even if it had only been
in a very small way.
She felt a coldness seep in the pit of her stomach. In a
weird way, they had become important to her. Something that was secure,
something she could count on. This made everything different.
They weren’t just any group anymore; they were people who
made music she had relied on to help her through some tough times.
She looked over at Richard, who was looking back at her in
bemusement. She hadn’t said anything since his last comment.
She gave a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah, I noticed them. They
sound good.”
Richard beamed. “Yes. They are very good at what they do.
They’re a group of very hard working men. They’re just five normal guys who
just happen to be pretty famous.”
Alex nodded. Maybe she should take what he said to heart.
They were normal guys, normal people. Yeah, so, their music had affected her,
but that was no reason at all for her to act differently around them just
because of it. Besides what did she really know about them besides their names
and their songs? Not much. So it was pretty stupid to elevate them to some
pedestal before she even knew who they were.
With that concluded in her head, she smiled. It was going to
be okay.
“…you’ll have to start rehearsing.”
Alex blinked at Richard. She had missed most of what he’d
just said because she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts.
“What was that you said?” she asked sheepishly.
Richard laughed. “I just said that Johnny has sent us the contract.
As soon as you sign it you’ll have to start rehearsing.”
“Oh. Oh right.” Alex nodded. Contract? Crap. She hadn’t
thought of that.
Seeing Alex’s face, Richard got up and patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry kid. We’re keeping you on for the whole tour, which is for the
next 3 months, if you do well, we’ll probably set something up for a little
longer.”
Alex gave a strained smile. Richard had assumed that she was
worried about them firing her. She was more upset that she hadn’t thought about
the fact that she’d be with them longer than a few weeks. She had only wanted
the job so she could make some money to get to Kat, nothing more. Now it looked
like she would have to be with them for a lot longer than she’d planned.
She didn’t know if any of this was such a good idea anymore.
She didn’t know anything about the music industry and she was supposed to do
concert tours with a well-known group?
But really what other choice did she have? She needed money
and at least she would make some before she got to Kat.
“I guess we better go down then,” she said finally, getting
up off the bed.
Richard smiled and led her to her fate.